EC(2020-21)12 on 31 March 2021
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For discussion EC(2020-21)12 on 31 March 2021 ITEM FOR ESTABLISHMENT SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE HEAD 33 – CIVIL ENGINEERING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD 118 – PLANNING DEPARTMENT HEAD 60 – HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT Subhead 000 Operational expenses Members are invited to recommend to the Finance Committee the creation of the following eight supernumerary posts upon approval of the Finance Committee up to 31 March 2025 – Civil Engineering and Development Department 1 Principal Government Engineer (D3) ($208,500 - $227,600) 1 Government Town Planner (D2) ($179,350 - $196,050) 3 Chief Engineer (D1) ($150,950 - $165,200) 1 Chief Town Planner (D1) ($150,950 - $165,200) Planning Department 1 Chief Town Planner (D1) ($150,950 - $165,200) /Highways ….. EC(2020-21)12 Page 2 Highways Department 1 Chief Engineer (D1) ($150,950 - $165,200) PROBLEM We need staffing support at the directorate level in the following departments for implementation of development and conservation projects related to Lantau – (a) Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) - to provide directorate support to its Sustainable Lantau Office (SLO) for the implementation of new and on-going development and conservation initiatives in Lantau; (b) Planning Department (PlanD) - to provide high-level steer for various strategic planning tasks for the sustainable development of Lantau; and (c) Highways Department (HyD) - to provide technical support to its Railway Development Office (RDO) for the planning and implementation of the proposed priority rail links and the possible rail links for the longer term under the “Studies related to Artificial Islands in the Central Waters” (the Central Waters Study). PROPOSAL 2. We propose creating eight supernumerary posts upon approval of the Finance Committee (FC) up to 31 March 2025 as below – CEDD (a) To re-create the following four supernumerary posts, which will lapse on 1 April 2021 – (i) one Principal Government Engineer (PGE) (D3) post designated as Head (Sustainable Lantau Office); (ii) one Government Town Planner (GTP) (D2) post designated as Deputy Head (Planning and Conservation); and /(iii) ….. EC(2020-21)12 Page 3 (iii) two Chief Engineer (CE) (D1) posts designated as Chief Engineer/Lantau 2 and Chief Engineer/Lantau 3; and (b) To create the following two supernumerary posts – (i) one CE (D1) post to be designated as Chief Engineer/ Lantau 4; and (ii) one Chief Town Planner (CTP) (D1) post to be designated as Chief Town Planner/Lantau, to provide directorate support, steer and monitoring as well as implementation of new and on-going development and conservation initiatives in Lantau. PlanD (c) To create one supernumerary CTP (D1) post to be designated as Chief Town Planner/Studies and Research 2, to provide high-level steer to various strategic planning tasks arising from the sustainable development of Lantau and to dovetail the territorial development strategy with various long-term strategic initiatives/targets of the Government which are related to land development. HyD (d) To create one supernumerary CE (D1) post to be designated as Chief Engineer/Railway Development 2-3, to provide technical support for the planning and implementation of the proposed priority rail links and the possible rail links for the longer term under the Central Waters Study. JUSTIFICATION 3. Details of our proposal for CEDD, PlanD and HyD are at Encls. 1 - 3 Enclosures 1, 2 and 3 respectively. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 4. The proposed creation of the eight directorate supernumerary posts in CEDD, PlanD and HyD will involve a total additional staff cost in terms of notional annual salary cost at mid-point of $16,476,000, and full annual average staff cost, including salaries and staff on-cost, of about $22,738,000. A breakdown is set out below – /Department ….. EC(2020-21)12 Page 4 Department Directorate No. of Notional annual Full annual posts Posts salary cost at average staff cost mid-point ($) ($) CEDD PGE (D3) 1 2,650,800 3,719,000 GTP (D2) 1 2,283,600 3,108,000 CE (D1) 3 5,770,800 7,868,000 CTP (D1) 1 1,923,600 2,710,000 Sub-total: 6 12,628,800 17,405,000 PlanD CTP (D1) 1 1,923,600 2,710,000 HyD CE (D1) 1 1,923,600 2,623,000 Total: 8 16,476,000 22,738,000 5. For CEDD and HyD, non-directorate support to the respective proposed supernumerary directorate posts will be through internal redeployment. For PlanD, 22 out of 27 non-directorate posts supporting the proposed supernumerary CTP post will be internally redeployed and five new non-directorate posts will be created which will require an additional notional annual salary cost at mid-point of $3,911,250 and full annual average staff cost, including salaries and staff on-cost, of about $6,015,000. 6. CEDD, PlanD and HyD have included sufficient provision in the Estimates to meet the cost of this proposal. PUBLIC CONSULTATION 7. On 23 February 2021, we consulted the Legislative Council Panel on Development on the proposal. Most Members generally expressed support to submitting the staffing proposal to the Establishment Subcommittee for consideration, whereas there were Members requesting additional information on the latest progress of the Planning and Engineering Study on Sunny Bay Reclamation and the detailed justifications for the creation of the proposed supernumerary directorate post of CTP in PlanD and the proposed supernumerary directorate post of CE in the RDO of HyD. We provided the requested supplementary information to the Panel on Development on 18 March 2021. /CIVIL ….. EC(2020-21)12 Page 5 CIVIL SERVICE BUREAU COMMENTS 8. The Civil Service Bureau supports the staffing proposal in CEDD, PlanD and HyD up to 31 March 2025 for implementation of development and conservation projects related to Lantau. The grading and ranking of the proposed posts are considered appropriate having regard to the level and scope of responsibilities involved and the professional input required. ADVICE OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON DIRECTORATE SALARIES AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE 9. As the posts proposed to be created are on a supernumerary basis, their creation, if approved by the FC, will be reported to the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service in accordance with the agreed procedure. ---------------------------------- Development Bureau Transport and Housing Bureau Civil Engineering and Development Department Planning Department Highways Department March2021 Enclosure 1 to EC(2020-21)12 Proposal for the Creation of One Supernumerary Principal Government Engineer (PGE) (D3), One Government Town Planner (GTP) (D2), Three Chief Engineer (CE) (D1) and One Chief Town Planner (CTP) (D1) Posts in the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) JUSTIFICATION Government’s Commitment to the Promotion of Sustainable Development of Lantau The Government promulgated the Sustainable Lantau Blueprint (the Blueprint) in June 2017 to provide guidance to the long-term development of Lantau towards the direction of “Development in the North, Conservation for the South”, with a view to formulating proposals on development and conservation of Lantau in the short, medium and long terms. 2. The 2018 Policy Address announced the Lantau Tomorrow Vision (LTV), enhancing the recommendations under the Blueprint. The Government commits through five policy directions, namely increasing land supply; according priority to transport infrastructure; promoting economic development; enhancing environmental capacity; and increasing leisure and entertainment facilities, to implement the various large-scale and complex proposals under LTV, so as to take forward the sustainable development of Lantau and even Hong Kong as a whole. Work of the Sustainable Lantau Office (SLO) in the Coming Years 3. Since its establishment on 1 December 2017, SLO has been carrying out the planning, assessment, design and implementation of various initiatives in Lantau in a well-prioritised, coordinated and integrated manner. These include (a) major development projects; (b) local improvement works; (c) conservation and recreation initiatives; (d) smart, green and resilient initiatives; and (e) public engagement, education and promotion activities. 4. In the coming years, SLO will continue taking forward considerable number of exceptionally challenging tasks in full swing. Details of which are set out in the ensuing paragraphs. /(a) ….. - 2 - (a) Major Development Projects 5. SLO is pressing ahead with the implementation of the Tung Chung New Town Extension (TCNTE) (including reclamation, site formation and infrastructure works in Tung Chung) in phases. The whole project will provide 62 100 housing units for a population of 184 000 and create 40 000 job opportunities. Currently, over half of the 130-hectare reclamation works at Tung Chung East (TCE) have been completed, and the remaining works are expected to be completed in 2023. SLO obtained funding approval from the Finance Committee (FC) on 19 February 2021 for launching the First Phase Development of the project with approved project estimate of about $19.3 billion in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices, and is inviting tender for the works contract of which is expected to be completed in phases from 2024 to 2028. In addition, SLO is carrying out the detailed design of site formation works and infrastructure facilities for the remaining phases. The respective construction works are planned to be completed in 2030. 6. FC approved in December 2020 a sum of $550.4 million in MOD prices for the Studies related to the Artificial Islands in the Central Waters (the