Review Report on the Lump Sum Grant Subvention ... - lwb.gov.hk

Recommendation 16The SWD should rationalise the AO system with a team of officers who are familiarwith the rules and operations of the Subventions, Finance and Service Branches andcan provide prompt advice to NGOs on all LSG-related issues. The resources thusreleased may be redeployed to step up existing work such as quality inspections orimplement new initiatives.Looking forward4.73 Resources will not be unlimited; they have never been. Notwithstandingthis, the public sector has proven itself to be highly resilient in times of difficulty andcapable of overcoming financial constraints. This is not a feat to be ignored.4.74 While many NGOs see financial issues as their major concerns under theLSGSS, the IRC observes that, following rigorous re-engineering and repeatedassistance from the Administration, the majority of NGOs have managed to attainfinancial viability in the long term, although some may not be entirely certain abouttheir funding position. If doubts can be cleared on this front, the sector should haveevery reason to be more forward looking – to deploy surplus resources for serviceimprovements, to invest more in staff and team building, to plan more progressivelyfor future developments.4.75 As the welfare sector moves ahead, so should the LSGSS and theGovernment machinery supporting it. When the system was first introduced, it hadon the drawing board careful deliberations of the funding basis, formal documentation,an AO system for operational backup and an LSGSC for solving problems. Theyshowed how the Government and NGOs had valued the new funding relationship andhad looked forward to contributing to it. And that should not be a snapshot. Everyeffort should be made to sustain the goodwill then and now, and we look to theGovernment to take the lead in reviewing service needs and ensuring that the LSGManual and various communication channels do move with the times.- 56 -