【立法會議題】公務員的退休情況 (Retirement of civil servants, hONG KONG) ....!

立法會五題：公務員的退休情況
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　　以下為今日（四月二十二日）在立法會會議上郭偉强議員的提問及公務員事務局局長鄧國威的書面答覆：

問題：

　　公務員事務局局長於二○一三年五月向本會公務員及資助機構員工事務委員會簡介公務員退休情況，並指出由二○一七／一八至二○二一／二二年度的五年間是公務員退休的高峰期，退休人數平均每年約有7 000人。為緩解情況，當局計劃自今年年中左右起，提高新入職公務員的退休年齡。就此，政府可否告知本會：

（一）當局預計在未來十年，每年分別會有多少名各個職級的公務員退休（按高、中及低三個薪金級別以表列出分項數字）；

（二）鑑於有市民擔心公務員的退休情況會導致公務員體系出現青黃不接的現象，當局有否具體措施確保公共服務及社會的整體發展不受影響；如有，詳情為何；如否，原因為何；及

（三）當局有否考慮讓現職公務員在臨近退休年齡時選擇延後退休；如有，詳情為何；如否，原因為何？

答覆：

主席：

　　根據公務員事務局的資料，並假設所有公務員任職至正常退休年齡，計至二○一八／一九年度五年間的每年平均退休人數約6 400人，而計至二○二三／二四年度五年間的每年平均退休人數約6 800人。但在計至二○二八／二九年度的五年間會下降至每年約5 100人。公務員事務局沒有按職級劃分的相關資料。

　　雖然未來大約十年間公務員的退休人數會較多，但我們預計公務員隊伍不會廣泛出現嚴重的繼任或招聘問題。在接任人選的策劃工作方面，政府有一套既定機制以助各局及部門盡早進行有關工作，並在有需要時及早採取行動。在這機制下，公務員事務局局長定期會晤各局常任秘書長和部門首長，商討個別部門和職系的接任情況，以確保能及早識別接任問題，預先制訂計劃和及早採取適當措施。為配合接任人選的策劃工作，政府亦為各級公務員提供培訓及發展機會，讓他們擴闊眼界，學習所需知識和技能以履行職務，並為擔當更高層次的職務作好準備。

　　二○一五年《施政報告》公布，政府會採取靈活的退休及聘用措施，以延長公務員的服務年期。隨後，政府公布於二○一五年六月一日或之後聘任為公務員的新入職人員採用新的退休年齡，文職職系為六十五歲，紀律部隊職系（不論職級）為六十歲。此外，政府會採取適當措施，讓部門可更靈活地延長現職公務員的服務年期。政府在制訂延長公務員服務年期的措施時，充分考慮了諮詢期內收集到的意見以及有關的政策考慮。就新入職的公務員而言，他們會在數十年後退休，基於最新的人口推算，我們認為有充分理據提高這些人員的退休年齡。至於現職公務員，考慮因素則較為複雜，尤其是預計在未來大約十年間，公務員隊伍不會廣泛出現嚴重的繼任或招聘問題。在沒有相應擴大公務員編制的情況下，讓現職公務員自動延長服務年期而無需考慮其工作表現及技能，可能會引致不同的管理問題，包括人力資源錯配、阻礙晉升及影響公務員隊伍吸納新血。我們應避免這些管理問題。可取的做法是制訂一套機制，讓管方可因應個別職系及按不同時間而有所不同的運作需要、繼任安排及招聘情況，更靈活地挽留已屆退休年齡的現職公務員。這樣可確保不會出現青黃不接的現象，並能保持有效的運作和管理。就此，我們會對公務員達退休年齡後的繼續受僱機制作出調整，包括把甄選程序制度化，以合理及客觀的方式訂定繼續受僱的空缺數目，並按公平客觀的程序評審繼續受僱的申請。我們正制訂執行細節，並會就此與職方及職系／部門管方保持緊密溝通。

完

２０１５年４月２２日（星期三）
香港時間１１時４９分

LCQ5: Retirement of civil servants
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     Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Paul Tang, in the Legislative Council today (April 22):

Question:

     In May 2013, the Secretary for the Civil Service briefed the Panel on Public Service of this Council on the retirement situation in the Civil Service, pointing out that the retirement of civil servants would peak in the five-year period from 2017-2018 to 2021-2022, and the annual average number of retirees would be about 7 000.  To alleviate the situation, the authorities plan to raise the retirement age of new recruits joining the Civil Service from around the middle of this year.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective numbers of civil servants of various ranks retiring in each of the coming 10 years as projected by the authorities (with a tabulated breakdown by three salary bands: upper, middle and lower);

(2) as some members of the public are worried that the retirement of civil servants will give rise to a succession problem in the Civil Service, whether the authorities have concrete measures in place to ensure that public services and the overall development of society will not be affected; if they have such measures, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) whether the authorities have considered giving serving civil servants the option of deferring their retirement when they approach their retirement age; if they have considered, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     Based on the information available to the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) and on the assumption that all civil servants will only retire upon reaching their applicable normal retirement age, it is estimated that the annual average number of retirees will be around 6 400 for the five-year period ending 2018-19, and around 6 800 for the five-year period ending 2023-24.  The number will then decline to around 5 100 for the five-year period ending 2028-29.  CSB does not have a breakdown of the relevant information by rank.

     While the number of civil service retirees will be higher over the next decade, no significant succession or recruitment problem across-the-board in the Civil Service is anticipated.  As far as succession planning is concerned, the Government has put in place a well-established mechanism to facilitate bureaux and departments in making early planning and taking timely actions where necessary.  Under the mechanism, the Secretary for the Civil Service regularly meets with Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Department to discuss the succession situation in individual departments and grades, with a view to ensuring early identification of any succession problems, advance planning and timely implementation of suitable measures.  In tandem with the succession planning efforts, the Government also provides training and development opportunities for civil servants at all levels so as to enrich their exposure, enable them to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for the discharge of their duties, and prepare them for higher responsibilities.

     As announced in the 2015 Policy Address, the Government will adopt flexible retirement and employment initiatives for extending the service of civil servants.  The Government has subsequently announced that new recruits appointed to the Civil Service on or after June 1, 2015 will be subject to the new retirement age, viz. 65 for civilian grades and 60 for disciplined services grades (regardless of rank).  In addition, the Government will adopt suitable measures to facilitate departments to flexibly extend the service of serving civil servants.  In formulating the initiatives for extending the service of civil servants, the Government has fully taken into account the feedback received during the consultation period and the relevant policy considerations.  For new recruits who will retire several decades later, there is a clear case to raise their retirement age given the latest population forecasts.  The considerations for serving officers are, however, more complicated, especially where there will be no anticipated significant succession or recruitment problem across-the-board over the coming decade or so.  The different management problems that may come with automatic extension of the service of serving officers without corresponding expansion of establishment and reference to performance and skill set, including manpower mismatch, promotion blockage and impact on injection of new blood to the Civil Service, should be avoided.  It is advisable to devise a mechanism through which management could flexibly retain serving civil servants beyond retirement age in the light of operational needs, succession planning and recruitment situation, which vary from grade to grade and from time to time.  This will help avoid succession problem, while maintaining operational and management efficiency.  To this end, we will suitably adjust the mechanism for further employment of civil servants beyond retirement age, including institutionalising a selection process such that the openings for further employment will be determined in a reasonable and objective manner and that applications for further employment will be assessed by a fair and objective process.  We are hammering out the implementation details and will maintain close dialogue with the staff sides and the grade/departmental management in this regard.

Ends/Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Issued at HKT 11:50

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