SFST speaks on quick-win measures proposed by Task Force on Review of Government Procurement Regime (with video)
Following are the remarks by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, on quick-win measures proposed by the Task Force on Review of Government Procurement Regime today (October 20):
Reporter: We would like to ask if the Government would consider mobilising the senior civil servants accountability mechanism if human error was identified among such kind of civil servants. And would you elaborate a little bit on the role of the new Procurement Management Audit Section (Procurement and Stores Management Audit Section) of the GLD (Government Logistics Department) compared to its previous roles? Thank you.
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury: I'll address the second part of your question first. Basically, if you look at the current setup or the role of the GLD's audit team, it's more about the goods, also inspection of goods and services being available, and at the same time to ensure compliance with the relevant government regulations in the procurement process. But as I said at the outset, one of the key elements that we've identified in this current exercise is that the importance of due diligence is something we need to pay more attention to. That's why, in line with this discovery and also in line with this revelation, the scope of work of this audit team was expanded to cover and to ensure that the due diligence work of our colleagues is being well taken care of in the process of their procurement efforts. And that's why, to couple with that, we also have clear guidelines being set out in such a way that they know what to do. The audit team will, on a random checking basis, identify those high-risk areas and also high-risk items, and look at those items to ensure that proper due diligence is being looked into. This is the response to your second question.
For the first question about the interface of this investigation with the accountability system set out in the Policy Address: As you may appreciate, the accountability system set out in the Policy Address needs certain legislative amendments to be effective. This is something to be done by our Civil Service Bureau. So this current exercise is undertaken in the context of the current regime with no regard to the future regime because that future regime is yet to be effective.
Reporter: Firstly, what was the issue with the past due diligence checks and what way can the Government rectify the problem, if you could elaborate more. And secondly, on the disciplinary investigation, how many people are subject to this investigation? Why is Ms Lau the right person to be in charge? Did the Government consider having a retired judge to head the probe? Could the internal disciplinary investigation eventually lead to any criminal proceedings? Thank you.
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury: If you look at how the current procurement is being done, as I said earlier and also responded to some of the questions asked, basically we very much relied on submissions or documents being presented to us. But in this fast-changing world, in light of the fact that fraud can take different forms, I think we need to take a more proactive approach in terms of enhancing our due diligence capabilities. That's why, throughout these interim measures I just introduced, which are being implemented, one of the key areas that we look into is how we can enhance that area. Like, for example, we already issued guidelines to make sure that our colleagues on the procurement side are here to do due diligence work, including not just the paper exercise, but also checking of information online. And also, at the same time, if there's a need, they could do on-site inspection to really look into the information being available to them, to see if they are genuine or not. At the same time, there will also be provisions being given to them to allow third-party checking of the information that they're given, so they don't really have to rely solely on the source of information to verify the information but rather they can resort to third-party checking to ensure that information that they are given is genuine. So what we are trying to do is to ensure first of all, our colleagues are being empowered with the right tools and means to enhance their due diligence work. At the same time, in terms of mindset, they have the ability and also have the willingness to exercise those rights and powers. That's exactly one of the key areas that we emphasise.
In terms of your second question about the scope of work of the investigation, as I said and also as Alice (Administrative Officer Staff Grade A1 Ms Alice Lau) just mentioned, taking into account the scope of the current work, it will include around more than 10 of our GLD and also our FSTB (Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau) colleagues. At the same time, regardless of whether they are retired or not, they are also subject to the investigation. For those that involved criminality, these will be taken care of by our law enforcement agencies. This is not something that we are looking into. But rather, as said by Alice, we will look into potential disciplinary and also management issues and deal with them head-on in light of the current regime.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)
Source: AI-found images
