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The top court's ruling in July has empowered the government to amend the conditions of civil servants' service and withdraw some fringe benefits, the Legislative Council (LegCo) was told yesterday.

The Court of Final Appeal (CFA) ruled in July that it was not against Article 100 of the Basic Law for the government to trim civil servants' salaries and benefits back to the 1997 levels.

LegCo's Panel on Public Service yesterday discussed the government proposal to cut some civil service allowances after 28 submissions were received from government departments, civil service associations and individuals following the revised government proposal of September 22, 2005, and the top court's ruling.

According to a government report, it considered the staff feedback to the revised proposal to be "mild and acceptable". It also said many civil servants found that proposal had addressed staff concerns, and welcomed the retention of major benefits such as education and housing allowances.

But Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions legislator Kwong Chi-kin said several police staff unions approached him on Friday to voice their dissatisfaction against the government report. "Since fringe benefits are part of the conditions of service, the benefits can only be revised upon mutual consent rather than amended unilaterally, or we will see such revisions as unlawful," he said.

Kwong referred to a letter submitted by Police Force Council (which represents four staff associations) that criticized the description of "mild and acceptable" as wholly and unacceptably wrong. He also referred to a Commissioner of Police memo sent to the Secretary for Civil Service in November that reflected the staff's strong discontent.

Deputy Secretary for the Civil Service So Kam-shing, however, argued that the government had the right to amend the conditions of services even though fringe benefits were part of the conditions of services.

Secretary for the Civil Service Joseph Wong said it had been LegCo's stance to get rid of some outdated allowances. The government has waited till the CFA ruling to come up with the revised, milder proposal. The CFA ruling also provides the legal basis, saying that Article 100 allows reduction of pay and allowances as long as they are not lowered below that of the 1997 levels.

"Many civil servants and newspaper commentaries also said that was acceptable," Wong said. "We will make a final decision after consulting the four standing commissions on civil servants and weighing various factors such as society's views, staff morale. We will seek the approval of LegCo's Finance Committee if we decide to go ahead."

(China Daily HK edition January 17, 2006)