The current-term Government is committed to taking forward reforms of our governance system to strengthen governance effectiveness. Under the leadership of the Chief Executive (“CE”), we have built a result-oriented government. In parallel, we have been instilling in the civil service a culture that emphasises proactiveness, commitment, dedication and loyalty. During the first three years of the current-term Government, we have updated the Civil Service Code to highlight twelve core values that civil servants should uphold together, introduced a mechanism to mobilise the Government at all levels to enhance emergency response and further strengthened the reward and punishment system in civil service management.
In the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2025, we ranked second globally in “Government efficiency”, which was a high affirmation of the achievement of the Hong Kong SAR Government’s governance as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of the civil service. With our consistent outstanding and professional competence, coupled with our up-to-date training programmes, I am confident that we will see improvements incessantly. In addition to the sustained efforts of individuals, we should also keep strengthening departmental management so that individuals can give full play to their capabilities in a well-functioning organisation. As a step forward in strengthening departmental management, the Chief Executive’s 2025 Policy Address proposes to establish the Heads of Department Accountability System (“HoD Accountability System”) and a more rigorous performance appraisal system for civil servants.
The significance of the HoD Accountability System lies in clearly spelling out and institutionalising the roles and responsibilities of the Heads of Department (“HoDs”) in exercising proactive leadership and consistently enhancing the performance of their departments. HoDs shoulder full responsibilities for the performance of their departments, and should foster a proactive organisational culture for their departments and establish appropriate mechanisms for the delegation of authority, supervision and management at all levels, so as to supervise their departments effectively, thereby facilitating prevention, or early detection and solving of problems. HoDs should also lead their departments in implementing rigorous and effective human resources and financial management, drawing up various risk management and contingency plans, and establishing systems for collecting feedback from key internal and external stakeholders.
We issued a paper on the HoD Accountability System to the Legislative Council Panel on Public Service (“the Panel”) today, setting out the principles of the HoD Accountability System and a gist of the proposed Public Service Commission (Investigation) Regulation (“the Regulation”), which will empower the Public Service Commission to conduct Tier II Investigations under the HoD Accountability System. Our target is to consult the Panel at end-April 2026 and table the Regulation at the Legislative Council for negative vetting in June 2026. It is expected that the legislative exercise will be completed by October. That said, the investigation mechanism is only a “standby” component of the HoD Accountability System. Widespread or repetitive systemic problems as well as serious problems could be prevented under an effective departmental management regime, and activation of the investigation mechanism will not be required.
Although the HoD Accountability System emphasizes the management responsibilities of HoDs and the senior management of departments, management must be carried out tier by tier. I hope that all colleagues with management responsibilities, including managerial and supervisory officers from the senior to the frontline level, will make concerted and dedicated efforts to fulfil management duties under their purview in accordance with departmental operating procedures, standing instructions, internal rules and procedures, while working in unison to drive and achieve the effective operation of the entire department.
In the coming months, we will progressively roll out measures to strengthen the civil service performance appraisal system, with a view to clearly distinguishing the performance levels of the staff. The establishment of the HoD Accountability System and the introduction of a more rigorous civil service performance appraisal system are mutually reinforcing, with the aim of further consolidating the people-oriented service ethos of the civil service, and instilling in civil servants the mindset of proactively delivering tangible benefits for and promoting the well-being of the public. These two measures together serve as the driving force for the enhancement and progression of the civil service.
It is a fundamental requirement for civil servants to fulfil their duties with diligence and be held accountable for their performance. We must build a highly efficient and professional civil service dedicated to serving the community. The key to further enhancing service efficiency and effectiveness lies in better realising the ethos of serving people and readily shouldering responsibilities. More specifically, civil servants need to act with empathy, put themselves in others’ shoes and show genuine understanding. They should be committed to tackling challenges head-on, adopting a proactive approach and fostering effective communications, so that they can truly address the pressing needs of the community and better meet society’s expectations.
I look forward to colleagues at all levels supporting and facilitating the implementation of the HoD Accountability System and the development of a more rigorous performance appraisal system. We shall continue to strive for excellence and render full support to the CE’s administration, not least in formulating Hong Kong’s first Five-Year Plan to align with the National 15th Five-Year Plan. By serving the public proactively, we shall contribute to the high-quality development of our country and Hong Kong.
