Exco endorses plan to reform social worker board
The Executive Council on Tuesday approved a plan to reform the statutory body overseeing social workers that will change the composition so that appointed members outnumber those elected.  Speaking on the revamp, Labour and Welfare Secretary Chris Sun said the sector doesn't need to worry about the autonomy of the Social Workers Registration Board. At present, six of the board's 15 members are appointed, eight are elected and there is one official from the Social Welfare Department. In future, 17 members will be appointed, eight will be elected and there will be two social welfare officials. Last week, Sun said governance of the body must be improved because it has deviated from the spirit of the law. He said, for example, the board had appointed to its disciplinary body a social worker who was facing a charge of rioting. Sun told reporters on Tuesday that in future, all board members must take an oath of allegiance to the SAR. "The board exercises public authority. What this means is that the registration of Hong Kong's 27,000 social workers, the disciplinary hearings involving them, all these are to do with public authority," he said. "So requiring members of a statutory body exercising such authority to swear allegiance, this is only natural. It will ensure that members can safeguard our national security and that they uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the SAR government." Sun said at least 14 of the 27 members of the board in future will be social workers. "Everyone needs to understand that the source of social workers should actually be diverse. Some of them would be elected, others would be appointed," the minister said. "The diversity at the board means that some of the social workers might be renowned professors, some might be respected leaders at social welfare organisations. This would allow for the board's operations to be more diverse and balanced." He added that the board will also be tasked with setting continuing professional development requirements for the sector. The government added in a statement that the relevant legal changes, if passed by lawmakers, will enable "the prompt removal" of social workers convicted of serious offences. It said the proposed legal changes will be gazetted on Friday, with a bill to be tabled to the legislature on May 22.