Prising open the policy process

More than 5,000 members of the Hong Kong public serve on some 500 advisory and statutory bodies, a fair number of which are important in policy formation. In July 2002, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced a review of these arrangements, and he gave it a further push in this year's Policy Address. A few weeks ago the Home Affairs Bureau issued a progress report. Key concerns have been appositely identified. We must now wait to see what recommendations emerge for improving the system.

High on the list for attention ought to be the question of transparency. According to a Home Affairs Bureau survey three years ago, almost one quarter of the committees opened their meetings to the public, but these were almost exclusively district-level bodies. Elsewhere there is rather less glasnost - not that open meetings would generally be the answer. Granted, the bureau maintains an online listing of these bodies, and many have their own websites, so we can readily discover their membership and terms of reference. A small number even upload agendas and pro-forma minutes, and some release relevant papers. Others may issue press releases on the occasion of particularly momentous decisions.

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