Hong Kong top civil servants to be held accountable for policy failures under new system

Hong Kong's top-ranking civil servants will be held accountable if they fail to provide adequate support in policy formulation, the city's leader has said, despite a new investigation mechanism that primarily targets department heads. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the proposed "Heads of Department Accountability System" was intended to promote self-improvement within departments rather than "picking on" individuals. Under the new mechanism, the chief executive, department secretaries or bureau directors may initiate investigations by the Public Service Commission – an independent statutory body that advises on civil service appointments and promotions – into "widespread, repetitive and systemic" management problems, or cases where department heads are personally implicated. About 60 department heads will fall under the new investigation framework, while all police personnel and most bureau permanent secretaries – the highest-ranking civil servants – are excluded. "Permanent secretaries usually assist ministers in formulating policies, so ultimate responsibility lies with the ministers," Lee said before a weekly meeting of the city's top decision-making body, the Executive Council. "If they fail to provide adequate support in policy formulation, ministers will hold them accountable immediately." Lee emphasised that all officials must be held accountable for their actions, adding that the new mechanism would cover all civil servants.