Let's face it, although we call them 'principal officials' or 'bureau chiefs', this is Basic Law speak. In common parlance, they are our ministers. At present, they shoulder their responsibilities with little help, unless they employ their permanent secretary in a dual role - as both head of the executive departments they control and as a ministerial deputy.
Without the support of a full-time deputy, ministers are unable to do enough to develop and promote the policies that are covered by their portfolio.
They need to get out and about in their constituencies, visit schools, factories, science parks and hospitals, and gain first-hand knowledge of local points of view by meeting people, not in committees, but on the streets. They need to travel abroad and to exchange views with foreign officials and ministers.
Having a deputy would release them from some of their day-to-day bureaucratic drudgery and enable them to perform this ministerial role. Hong Kong has now moved on from the days when there were few, if any, elected legislators.
Today there are 60, with panels and special committees all demanding ministerial attention.
How often have we heard it said by our senior civil servants that their work is frustrated by having to deal with this situation?
There are some who decry the ministerial, or 'accountability', system and complain that it is destroying the civil service and undermining morale. I totally disagree. They are 'demoralised' by the present situation of having to deal with the Legislative Council.