Finance, Administration and Planning

Finance Wing
For the financial year ending March 31, 2001, the total expenditure of the Force is estimated to be $11.997 billion — amounting to about six per cent of the Government's total budget for 2000/2001. Salaries and allowances account for about $10.529 billion, with the remaining $1.468 billion covering departmental expenses and capital items. Fines, penalties and other fees and charges are expected to produce about $505 million in revenue.

Administration Wing
Civilian Administration
For the performance of duties which do not require the exercise of constabulary powers, the Force employs about 6 000 civilians, or about 17 per cent of the total establishment. They are deployed throughout the Force to provide administrative, secretarial and technical support services to police operations.

Administrative initiatives — In line with the Enhanced Productivity Programme, a Voluntary Retirement (VR) Scheme was introduced service-wide in July 2000 to enable surplus staff identified in 59 designated civil service grades to retire from the service voluntarily with retirement benefits and compensation. Up to the end of 2000, the Force approved 618 civilian applications for retirement over a phased period, mostly within 2001.

Other measures taken to improve cost efficiency included the first phases of programmes to contract out cleansing of Force premises, towing and translation services.

Civilian Staff Consultative Committees — Staff representatives of the eight committees attended 33 meetings during the year when their views on various matters concerning civilian staff were raised and discussed with the Force management.

Establishment and Civilian Staff Relations Division — maintained close liaison with civilian staff through regular meetings with individual staff associations and goodwill visits to all formations.

Police Museum — the former Wan Chai Gap Police Station continued to be popular with local residents and tourists, attracting more than 75 000 visitors during the year.

Planning and Development Branch
To meet the demands of a burgeoning population set to increase from the current 6.8 million to 8.9 million within 15 years, the Force must constantly review future manpower needs and deployment of resources. Research indicates the biggest growth areas will be in the northern New Territories, particularly around Yuen Long and Sheung Shui.

Rather than continue to add District and Divisional police stations to serve the growing population, the Planning and Development Branch is reviewing the boundary alignments between the two New Territories Regions with a view to achieving more equal distribution of resources. The ultimate goal is to provide a better level of service to the community at a lower cost.

Funding for the construction of a new Police Headquarters complex cum Wan Chai District and Divisional Police Station on the former May House site was approved in April 2000 and construction work started in November. The state-of-the-art building, due for completion in 2004, will employ the latest technology in facilities and building design, providing a working environment that can match the challenges in the new millennium.

The Station Improvement Project is continuing to bring about significant changes and improvements to the public areas of police stations. By the end of 2000, work was progressing well in 36 stations with a further 20 due to be improved by June 2002. Many design innovations have been incorporated to focus services in one area. Together with procedural improvements, the project's objective of providing a user-friendlier environment has been achieved, while at the same time reinforcing the positive, efficient and caring image of the Force.

Planning for the construction of new regional headquarters cum operation base complexes for Kowloon East and New Territories South Regions is advancing well. The two facilities will provide modern accommodation for officers presently working in regional headquarters as well as those in operational bases such as Traffic, EU and PTU. Bringing the regional headquarters and operational units under one roof will enhance their efficiency in terms of command, co-ordination as well as deployment. In addition, the Kowloon West Regional Headquarters project will also incorporate a new Tai Kok Tsui Division and Mong Kok District Headquarters to police the increasing demand for our services in the developing Kowloon West reclamation area.