Letters | District council reform must deliver value for taxpayer money

Readers discuss the implications of role duplication in district administration, why AI is a false master, and the need to import psychiatrists

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A Southern District Council meeting in 2021. The Legislative Council has passed a bill to reform district councils. Photo: May Tse

Published: 11:30am, 9 Jul 2023

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Reform of the district councils is kicking off. The Legislative Council passed the District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2023 on July 6. Following the pro-democracy camp’s landslide victory in the 2019 district council elections, public participation has been reduced. Only 88 out of 470 seats, or 19 per cent, will now be directly elected by voters. But how important are the district councils anyway? Many have nearly ceased to function over the years.

There is no doubt that the government is keen on improving district administration. Many resources have been put into enhancing district governance and boosting citizen interaction through social media.

But the government still has to prove to the public that an executive-led system can do a better job than the previous district councils.

Currently only about one-third of the seats are still filled, since most of the district councillors elected in 2019 have either resigned or been disqualified.

Instead of seeking advice from district councillors like in the past, the government now relies heavily on local organisations including District Fight Crime Committees, District Fire Safety Committees and Area Committees to garner community support for policies and collect people’s views. These district committee members are directly appointed by the government (and include former pro-establishment district councillors who lost in the last election).