The plan would take the total number of bureaus from 13 to 15, with Lam saying she hoped to provide “more dedicated high-level steering” in major policy areas.

But during her question-and-answer session on Wednesday, Lam acknowledged she had no plans to realise the proposal in the eight months left in her term.

Instead, she suggested that the next chief executive, to be elected in March, could consider taking her plans forward in the Legislative Council and implementing them when the next government term commences in July.

Under Lam’s blueprint, the new Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau would be tasked with helping to achieve the central government’s goal of developing Hong Kong into a “hub for arts and cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world”. However, it was unclear if the new bureau would oversee public broadcaster RTHK and the Government Information Service, as was earlier proposed by pro-establishment parties.

With its cultural and sports-related duties passing to the new office, the Home Affairs Bureau would be rebranded as the Youth and District Affairs Bureau, with the goal of better addressing local needs and formulating policies aimed at young people.

“Some youth policies are now scattered at the Chief Secretary’s Office and the Social Welfare Department. We could integrate these to provide a one-stop platform for improving their development,” Lam said.

The Transport and Housing Bureau, meanwhile, would be split into two distinct entities – one focused on transport infrastructure and consolidating the city’s role as an aviation hub, and one tasked with boosting land supply for residential use.

While some pro-establishment lawmakers had proposed creating a combined housing and development bureau, Lam argued the two should be kept separate.

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She also suggested that heritage protection should remain under the existing Development Bureau.

“As the bureau’s secretary for five years, it would be a pity if we further split it and scattered the duties,” she said.

The plan would also see the Trade and Industry Department – currently under the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau – incorporated into the city’s existing Innovation and Technology Bureau. The renamed Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau would have the goal of highlighting the role of tech in promoting and developing industry.

The government is also considering rebranding its mainland offices to strengthen their role in fostering cultural exchange – an attempt to distinguish their duties from its other overseas Economic and Trade Offices, which focus mostly on business.

In her policy address, Lam also announced measures to address the “undesirable situation of fragmentation of responsibilities among different departments”, including tasking commissioners, who are not in civil service, to take up more responsibilities.

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Starry Lee Wai-king, leader of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, welcomed the restructuring plan, but said her party would continue to advocate for the creation of an official think tank, similar to the former Central Policy Unit, to focus on research relating to the city’s integration with mainland China.

Kenneth Leung Yuk-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong United Youth Association, said he hoped the revamped Youth and District Affairs Bureau would catalyse meaningful reforms and deepen young people’s ties with their communities.

“Instead of relying on citywide NGOs to implement policy initiatives, the new bureau will need a creative, bottom-up approach to engage our youths with its district connections,” he said.

Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong vice-president Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, meanwhile, said he hoped a cross-disciplinary approach would be adopted by the new Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau. “More cross-disciplinary collaboration between culture, sports, technology and finance … would achieve a more vigorous development of the industry,” he said.