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A. Introduction. A
core business of the Housing Authority (HA)
is to provide rental housing. This involves
the management and maintenance of 167 public
rental housing (PRH) estates, comprising
1,215 blocks, accommodating 2.3 million
people. The Housing Department (HD), the
executive arm of the HA, provides management
services in PRH estates. As at 1 October
1998, the HD had a total establishment of
8,531 staff for these services.
B. In the 1998-99 revised budget for rental
housing business, the estimated expenditure
is $11,432 million. As the estimated income
is only $9,181 million, the operating deficit
will amount to $2,251 million. A recent
audit review has revealed that there are
certain areas in the operations of management
services of the HD where improvements could
be made and substantial financial benefits
up to $465.9 million a year could be achieved
(para. 113). This would substantially reduce
the estimated operating deficits for the
next few years. These areas for improvement
are summarised in paragraphs C to G below.
C. Refurbishment of vacant flats.
The HD on average took 144 days to refurbish
vacant flats while the target was 57 days.
The average time of 144 days was too long,
having regard to the small size of the flats
and the standard nature of the works. By
meeting the time target, the HD could increase
the rental income by $34.4 million a year.
The families on the waiting list will also
benefit from a reduced waiting time for
allocation of a PRH flat (paras. 6 to 26).
D. Hawker control. The HD spends
$161 million a year for hawker control.
The cost-effectiveness of hawker control
operations needs to be reviewed, having
regard to the fact that illegal hawking
activities in PRH estates are not as serious
as before (71 estates or 43% were found
to have no hawkers). By critically reviewing
the staffing level for hawker control, a
total annual saving of $59.5 million on
staff cost could be achieved (paras. 33
to 53).
E. Under-utilisation of estate Artisans.
The productive time of the 716 estate Artisans
was only about 43%. By reviewing the staffing
requirement of estate Artisans to reduce
surplus staff, an annual staff cost of $73
million could be saved (paras. 56 to 69).
F. Deployment of Estate Assistants.
By reviewing the staffing requirement of
Estate Assistants to avoid duplication of
work with Tower Guards/Tower Guard Supervisors,
a substantial proportion of the $141 million
a year for hiring Tower Guards/Tower Guard
Supervisors could be saved. Moreover, by
making better use of the service of Tower
Guard Supervisors who could provide the
same service of Estate Assistants at a lower
cost, a further saving of $53 million a
year could be achieved (paras. 72 to 82).
G. Staffing complement for estate management.
In December 1997, the Government announced
a Tenants Purchase Scheme whereby PRH flats
in selected estates would be sold to tenants.
Subsequently, the HD introduced a thin and
lean staffing complement for the management
of these estates. If the new staffing complement
for estates of the Tenants Purchase Scheme
could be applied to all PRH estates, there
would be a staff reduction of 28%, or 23%
in terms of staff cost. The potential staff
cost savings would amount to $372 million
a year (this amount subsumes the staff cost
savings for estate Artisans and Estate Assistants
mentioned in paragraphs E and F above).
Audit considers that adopting the new staffing
complement could address the problem of
idle and unproductive time of staff identified
by Audit in the management of PRH estates
(paras. 97 to 110).
H. Audit recommendations. Audit
has made the following main recommendations
that the Director of Housing should:
(a) take prompt and effective action to
reduce the time required for refurbishing
vacant flats (para. 30);
(b) critically re-examine the problem of
illegal hawking, and consider reducing the
number of hawker control teams and Hawker
Control Guards in the estates where no hawkers
were found (para. 48);
(c) consider reducing the number of Workmen
II in a hawker control team, and consider
employing fewer Hawker Control Guards (para.
51);
(d) urgently address the problem of idle
time and review the staffing requirement
of the estate Artisans so as to ensure that
they are fully utilised (para. 70);
(e) ascertain the extent of duplication
of work of Estate Assistants and Tower Guards/Tower
Guard Supervisors, and consider reducing
the number of Estate Assistants in view
of the fact that some of their duties are
also performed by Tower Guards/Tower Guard
Supervisors (para. 79);
(f) formulate a strategy and draw up an
action plan for employing more Tower Guard
Supervisors to replace Estate Assistants
so as to reduce the operating costs (para.
83); and
(g) consider applying a new staffing complement
to all PRH estates and devise a strategy
to redeploy the surplus staff (para. 111).
I. Response from the Director of Housing.
The Director of Housing has said that he
is in general agreement with the audit findings.
The HD has already taken positive measures
to improve the situation. Good progress
has been made in both cutting costs and
enhancing staff productivity in certain
areas (para. 115).
J. Response from the Chairman, HA.
The Chairman, HA has said that, in general,
she agrees with the audit findings. The
audit recommendations will be carefully
considered by the HA and will be put into
implementation wherever practicable (para.
116).
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