New Hong Kong accountability system aims to improve, not blame, John Lee says

    New Hong Kong accountability system aims to improve, not blame, John Lee says

    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…

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    Advisory body to be given power to probe government department heads for serious offences

      Advisory body to be given power to probe government department heads for serious offences

      A statutory advisory body in Hong Kong will be given new powers as early as June to investigate government department heads over “serious, widespread or systemic” problems, as part of a broader push to institutionalise accountability for top officials. A Civil Service Bureau spokeswoman stressed that the new system targeted “implementation failures” by senior officials,…

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      Explainer | Pouring over the facts: what is behind Hong Kong’s water procurement scandal?

      Explainer | Pouring over the facts: what is behind Hong Kong’s water procurement scandal?

      Hong Kong police have arrested a married couple suspected of being at the centre of a rapidly unfolding controversy surrounding a HK$52.9 million (US$6.8 million) contract to supply drinking water to some government offices. The pair allegedly defrauded the government and are suspected of breaching the Trade Descriptions Ordinance by providing false information about the…

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      Opinion | Happiness in Hong Kong must be the focus, along with civil service efficiency

      Opinion | Happiness in Hong Kong must be the focus, along with civil service efficiency

      Poised to deliver his fourth policy address in September, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is gearing up to show that his administration is delivering on his “result-oriented” leadership. This may be the reason he revealed last month that the government was considering a new accountability system for senior officials. Lee seems to have started paving…

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