The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) is one of the 15 policy bureaux under the Government Secretariat of the Government of Hong Kong and is responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies on the management of the Hong Kong Civil Service.

Civil Service Bureau
公務員事務局
Emblem of the Hong Kong SAR
Agency overview
Formed1973
Headquarters9/F, West Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Clement Leung, Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service
  • (etc.)
Parent agencyChief Secretary for Administration
Child agencies
  • (etc.)
Websitewww.csb.gov.hk
Civil Service Bureau
Traditional Chinese公務員事務局
Simplified Chinese公务员事务局

The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) is led by the Secretary for the Civil Service and has approximately 600 staff.

The CSB absorbed the Official Languages Agency (from 1 July 2003) and the Civil Service Training and Development Institute (from 1 April 2004).[1]

On 15 January 2021, the CSB announced that civil servants must either sign an oath or a declaration to pledge loyalty to the government.[2] In response, Leung Chau-ting, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Civil Service Unions, said that the requirements were too vague and that the requirement would give the government power to discipline civil servants.[3]

In February 2021, the CSB announced that they will build both a temporary and permanent academy to teach civil servants about national affairs and the national security law.[4]

In July 2022, figures were released, showing the CSB had the highest amount of employee resignations since the 1997 handover across multiple pay levels, in addition to declining applications for open positions.[5]

In August 2022, the CSB said it would take more measures against misbehaving civil servants, after civil servants represented about a third of all fired government employees.[6] Additionally, 70 others were fired after not signing an oath to pledge loyalty to the government.[6]

In October 2022, Ingrid Yeung, head of the CSB, said that they would remove the requirement of "political neutrality" as one of the six core values in the Civil Service Code, a value which previously allowed non-high ranking civil servants to join any political party or take part in related activities if it does not raise a conflict of interest or bias.[7]

From 1 April and 30 June 2022, the CSB had 944 employees quit.[8]

Civil Service College edit

The Civil Service College is administered by the CSB.[9] In October 2022, the head of the college, Oscar Kwok Yam-shu, said that some civil servants lacked a deep understanding of the country or national identity.[10]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Official website of the Civil Service Bureau
  2. ^ Kwan, Rhoda (16 January 2021). "Hong Kong civil servants given four weeks to sign declaration of allegiance or face possible dismissal". Hong Kong Free Press.
  3. ^ "Civil service union calls for clarity on declaration - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  4. ^ "Civil service to get lessons on constitutional order - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  5. ^ Standard, The. "Hong Kong's civil service sees record high number of resignations". The Standard. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  6. ^ a b "'Prompt action to tackle misbehaving civil servants' - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  7. ^ "Hong Kong plans to drop 'political neutrality' rule for civil servants". South China Morning Post. 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  8. ^ Chau, Candice. "Over 900 Hong Kong civil servants quit in 3 months in 2022, gov't document reveals - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  9. ^ "Civil Service Bureau - Establishment of the Civil Service College". www.csb.gov.hk. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  10. ^ Standard, The. "'Hitchhikers' have no place in civil service, says college chief". The Standard. Retrieved 2022-10-03.

External links edit