Source:
https://scmp.com/article/319190/independent-welfare-body-proposed

Independent welfare body proposed

A new social welfare commission has been proposed to allow independence from government bureaucrats preoccupied with financial bottom lines and politics.

The commission would take over from the Social Welfare Advisory Committee. The 21-member committee had already formed a working group to propose the changes, committee member Darwin Chen Tat-man said.

Mr Chen, a former chief executive of the Community Chest, said the Government too often emphasised finance and politics when determining policy, disregarding the social implications of its decisions. He said the committee had limited power as an advisory body because the Finance Bureau was ultimately the decision-maker.

'Why should the committee be under tight government control?' he said. 'It should become a commission with more responsibility and community input. Corporate involvement could bring in expertise.' The new body would be similar to the Elderly Commission and Housing Authority, brainstorming ideas and monitor strategies, he said.

Social implications would be assessed before major government policies were decided.

Mr Chen pointed to education reforms as an example of where government policy was creating future social problems.

The reforms, which take away principals' discretionary right to accept students, would prevent good schools from accepting good students and make bad schools worse, he said.