The Administration and Development Branch provides various management and support services to the Department.
Grade Management
There are three major grades of the Department - Health Inspectors, Hawker Control Officers and Foremen.
Health Inspectors are responsible for various duties concerning environmental hygiene and food safety, such as handling environmental nuisance cases, hygiene inspections to food establishments, licensing, prosecution, meat inspection, cleansing services, outsourcing, pest control, hawker control, management of markets, cemeteries and crematoria, regulation of private columbaria, food control and health education.
Hawker Control Officers are responsible for controlling on-street hawking activities, managing hawker permitted places and taking law enforcement action against illegal hawking activities. They also play an important part in prosecuting people who have committed cleanliness offences, such as littering and spitting.
Foremen are mainly responsible for supervising the work of frontline staff in street cleansing, waste collection, pest control, cemeteries and crematoria and market management. They are also responsible for transport services and monitoring the performance of the Department's service contractors. Members of the grade also take legal action against cleanliness offenders.
Training
Training and development programmes are an important part of our work. They are designed to enhance individual and organisational performance in providing quality service for the public. Internal training programmes are mainly to meet the Department’s daily operational needs, support departmental initiatives, help bring out the best of staff and develop their leadership competencies, with elements on occupational safety and health being included in the programmes. Furthermore, the Department also actively arranges staff members to attend training programmes related to National Security and National Studies applicable to different levels of staff.
In 2023, the Department organised 551 classes, which were attended by 9,393 trainees, with a total of 28,760 trainee-days. These included induction training programmes for a total of 287 new recruits to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to discharge their duties. Eight officers were placed in 5 training programmes outside Hong Kong. Apart from in-house trainers, subject matter experts in various fields were also invited to conduct training. In addition, 1,086 staff members attended 209 training programmes organised by the Civil Service College, with a total of 1,689.5 trainee-days. The Department also approved 12 applications for sponsorship for staff members to pursue employment-related studies outside office hours.
Management Services
The Management Services, Survey and Statistics Section mainly provides management consultancy and statistical services, assisting the Department to improve the delivery of public services, monitor the standard of performance and formulate policy in the provision of services and staffing. Ongoing consultancy services are provided to assist the Department in implementing the recommendations of studies, and technical advice is offered to help the Department conduct statistical surveys and analyse data. During the year, five consultancy studies/ projects and one statistical survey were completed.
Financial Management
All matters relating to expenditure and procurement, including payment processing, financial advice and monitoring, are handled by the Finance and Supplies Division.
In 2023, the Department spent $10,508 million, including $4,626 million on salaries and allowances and personnel related expenses, $5,647 million on departmental expenses and other charges, and $235 million on capital and non-recurrent expenditure.
By activities, the majority of the expenditure ($5,786 million) was on environmental hygiene. This was followed by $2,209 million on market management and hawker control, $1,522 million on food safety and public health, $476 million on monitoring the food trade, $460 million on administration and development and $55 million on public education and community involvement.
During the year, the Department received a revenue of $641 million. Most of the revenue came from the rental of stalls in public markets managed by the Department ($189 million), and cemeteries and crematoria services ($126 million). Other sources included slaughterhouse and other concessions ($102 million), licence and permit fees ($96 million), revenue from court fines and statutory penalties ($90 million) and miscellaneous services ($38 million).
Capital Works
In 2023-24, the funding earmarked for capital works for food and environmental hygiene services is estimated at $452.6 million, and will be spent on various types of works project.
Refuse Collection Points
As part of the continuing efforts to improve Hong Kong's living environment, the Department will continue to build new off-street refuse collection points (RCPs) in enclosed buildings equipped with modern facilities.
Construction works for a permanent RCP at Hung Yuen Road, Yuen Long are underway, and are expected to be completed by end-2024 to replace a village type RCP at Hung Tai Road. In June 2023, the Department commenced construction works for another new permanent RCP at Site G5 of Anderson Road Quarry development, which are expected to be completed by end-2025.
Public Toilets
As promulgated in the 2019-20 Budget, the Government has allocated about $600 million to carry out refurbishment or facelifting works for about 240 public toilets (PTs) of the Department in phases from 2019-20 to 2023-24 under the Enhanced Public Toilet Refurbishment Programme (EPTRP). The projects would improve toilet facilities and enhance their cleanliness and hygiene condition. The number of PTs to be refurbished annually has been substantially increased since then. In 2023, 44 public toilets were refurbished/ facelifted, including three public toilets at major tourist spots. To expedite the completion of projects under the EPTRP and to start the planning work for the next stage, the Government announced in the 2022 Policy Address that refurbishment projects of about 430 PTs would be rolled out progressively from 2024 to 2028. As at 31 December 2023, refurbishment / facelifting of 251 is in progress or being planned.
Public Markets and Cooked Food Centres
The Government is taking forward a number of new public market projects that are at different planning stages, including construction of new markets in Tin Shui Wai, Tseung Kwan O and Kwu Tung North New Development Area. These projects aim to provide more choices to the public in purchasing fresh provisions. FEHD Sunlight Market (formerly known as Tung Chung Temporary Market) at Fu Tung Street in Tung Chung was commissioned in March 2023.
Apart from the development of new public markets, the Department is pressing ahead with the implementation of the Market Modernisation Programme (MMP). Aberdeen Market, which is the pioneer overhaul project of the MMP, reopened in May 2023; while Lai Wan Market was closed in February 2023 for overhaul works and could reopen before the Lunar New Year in 2024. The Department is also carrying out the preparatory and consultation work for the proposed overhaul or redevelopment projects in five other markets, namely Ngau Tau Kok Market, Kowloon City Market, Yeung Uk Road Market, North Kwai Chung Market and Causeway Bay Market. In addition, the Department has carried out minor refurbishment or improvement works in 16 markets, of which 14 have been completed.
Besides, the Government has been taking forward measures to improve the operating environment of public markets, including replacement of aged lifts and escalators, improvement of ventilation, lighting systems and fire service equipment, refurbishment of external walls and toilets, etc. as appropriate. We have earmarked $558 million to replace, in phases, 70 lifts and 164 escalators in 37 public markets.
Cemeteries, Crematoria and Columbaria
The Government has been exploring various feasible measures to increase the supply of public columbarium facilities. These include promoting the columbarium development scheme and providing additional niches in existing cemeteries and columbaria.
The construction works for 40,000 niches at Shek Mun are underway, and are expected to be completed in 2025. The Government will continue to take forward other new projects, with a view to ensuring a stable medium-and long-term supply of public niches.
As regards the construction of crematorium facilities, the Government will continue to review the situation and take forward crematorium projects in response to the projection on the overall demand for cremation services as appropriate.
Outsourcing of Services
The outsourcing policy aims at greater cost-effectiveness and flexibility in the delivery of services. By end-2023, 197 contracts valued at about $14,424.5 million were in force for the provision of services by private contractors. The breakdown is as follows.
| Type of outsourcing services | Number of contracts | Contract value ($) | Outsourced contract value by type of service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Street cleansing (including public toilet cleansing) | 41 | 8,764.3 million | 60.76% |
| Waste collection | 17 | 1,469.2 million | 10.19% |
| Market/Hawker bazaar cleansing | 7 | 313.2 million | 2.17% |
| Market management and related services | 18 | 707.0 million | 4.90% |
| Municipal services building cleansing | 8 | 71.2 million | 0.49% |
| Security guard | 27 | 336.3 million | 2.33% |
| Pest control | 25 | 1,551.5 million | 10.76% |
| Other services | 54 | 1,211.8 million | 8.40% |
Outsourcing services include: street cleansing, waste collection, market/ hawker bazaar cleansing, market management and related services, municipal services building cleansing, security guard, pest control, mechanical street sweeping, mechanical street washing, mechanical gully cleansing, animal carcass collection, cleansing and horticultural maintenance services for cemeteries and columbaria, tree risk assessment and arboricultural services, etc.
Measurable performance standards are written into contracts to ensure the quality of services provided. Labour protection and occupational safety clauses have also been included in contracts to safeguard the rights and promote the well-being of non-skilled workers. In addition to daily checking on the relevant records, surprise site inspections are conducted by the Department to ensure compliance with contract requirements by contractors at all times.
Complaints Management
The Complaints Management Section is responsible for formulating and reviewing policies on, and procedures for, handling all types of complaints. In 2023, the Department received 229,632 cases of request for assistance or complaint from the public.
Quality Assurance
Continuous improvement is one of the priority tasks of the Department to ensure provision of quality services to the public.
The primary objective of the Quality Assurance Section is to monitor and improve service quality. To achieve this objective, the section conducts routine inspections on mechanical cleansing services provided by the Department and service contractors. Recommendations are made for improvements to services in cases of identified inadequacies in existing operational systems, procedures and guidelines. The section also conducts thematic inspections to recommend good performers for Quality Assurance Awards and Certificates of Meritorious Performance to give recognition to outstanding and hardworking frontline staff. In addition, the section investigates staff-related cases of dereliction of duty and employment-related complaints concerning non-skilled workers of service contractors in an independent, objective and fair manner. The section also conducts audit inspections and employment-related inspections to check service contractors' compliance with employment-related commitments.
Public Education and Publicity
Public education plays an indispensable role in ensuring food safety, improving environmental hygiene and promoting green burial as a more sustainable form of disposal of cremated human ashes. To this end, the Department organises publicity and educational programmes including talks, exhibitions and outreaching programmes to enhance the general public's awareness of these issues.
The Department operates a Health Education Exhibition and Resource Centre (the Centre) inside Kowloon Park. It arranges group visits and guided tours for schools, elderly centres, other non-governmental organisations and the public. Talks and outreaching activities are also conducted regularly. To sustain the appeal to the public and attract more visitors, the Department enhances the Centre’s facilities and updates its exhibition panels from time to time. In 2023, the Department transformed the resource centre on 1/F to a multi-purpose room to enhance the Centre’s health education services. During the year, the Centre attracted 46,050 visitors, and organised 374 talks-cum-activities for kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools, along with 788 talks for the general public. The Mobile Education Centre (a publicity vehicle) also conducted 102 visits to schools, housing estates and public parks as part of the Department's outreaching efforts in promoting health education. Amid the pandemic when the services of the Centre were suspended, two healthy living handbooks were distributed to students of kindergartens and primary schools respectively to encourage them to cultivate good hygiene habits at the early stage. Besides, relevant videos and information were distributed to elderly centres and homes to keep up the elders’ awareness of food safety and personal hygiene.
In 2023, the Department continued its publicity on environmental hygiene, food safety and green burial through various channels, including Television and Radio Announcements in the Public Interest, social media such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, mobile applications, banners, posters, pamphlets and leaflets, as appropriate. Through the dedicated Facebook page and the Instagram page of Keep Clean Ambassador Ah Tak as well as Ah Tak's presence at public occasions and community functions, the Department disseminated various information on personal, household and environmental hygiene to the public and appealed for their co-operation and support in keeping Hong Kong clean. Anti-rodent and anti-mosquito campaigns were organised to solicit public support and participation in pest control.