The Statistics Advisory Board reviewed the main lines of government statistical work and its recent developments at a regular meeting on June 1.
The Statistics Advisory Board is a non-statutory advisory body which advises the Commissioner for Census and Statistics on matters pertaining to official statistics work.
"The Statistics Advisory Board meets regularly and provides very useful advice on government statistical work," said the Commissioner for Census and Statistics and Chairman of the Statistics Advisory Board, Mr Frederick Ho today (Monday).
"We will continue to inform the public from time to time of the major issues discussed by the Board."
The Board reviewed the statistical activities and developments undertaken since the previous meeting held in November 1998.
It also considered several specific items at the meeting. These included actions taken in response to the Audit Review on the Field Officers of the Census and Statistics Department; estimation of the number of mainlanders with right of abode in Hong Kong; deseasonalisation of data series; contingency planning in the Census and Statistics Department to tackle the Year 2000 problem; and research into statistics on "offshore trading" and related activities.
An Outline of Statistical Development in 1999
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The Board reviewed the statistical activities and developments undertaken by the Government Statistical Service during November 1998 to May 1999. The Government Statistical Service comprises the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) and statistical units established in various government departments and policy bureaux. Following are the more important items noted and discussed by the Board:
* The first set of complete Balance of Payments (BoP) account for Hong Kong for the reference year of 1997 had been compiled by C&SD and was released on 23.4.99. This was a major statistical development for Hong Kong. To collect the required data for compiling the detailed components of the financial account, a new survey entitled "Survey of External Claims, Liabilities and Income" was launched in May 1999.
* Through supplementary enquiries conducted via the General Household Survey, C&SD continued to collect socio-economic data as required by other government departments and policy bureaux for planning and policy review purposes. To enhance the service of the supplementary enquiries, C&SD would launch a new series of Omnibus Surveys, which would adopt the "user-pays" principle. Work connected with the Omnibus Surveys would be contracted out to private firms and the first two rounds of the survey would be conducted in the third and fourth quarters of 1999.
Actions Taken in Response to the Audit Review on the Field Officers of the Census and Statistics Department
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In response to the Audit Commission's Report No. 31, which was released in November 1998, C&SD had devised and put in place enhanced measures to strengthen the supervision and control of field officers. These included enhanced time-logging and work-checking systems and closer monitoring of itinerary planning and travelling time.
In December 1998, C&SD established an interdepartmental committee to conduct an in-depth review of the supervision system of field staff and to explore areas where productivity gains could be identified to meet the goals of the Government's Enhanced Productivity Programme.
A number of measures to improve field work productivity had been identified and put in place or to test since mid January 1999. These included tailor-made work plans to maximize field visit hours (e.g. better scheduling of the pre- and post-survey work); pooling of field resources to carry out enumeration work so as to save travelling time and one-stop approach in enumerating establishments. Other measures being deliberated included employment of contract staff and contracting out of data collection.
Estimates of the Number of Mainlanders with Right of Abode in Hong Kong
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C&SD conducted a Special Topic Enquiry via the General Household Survey from March to May 1999 to collect data relating to mainlanders who had the right of abode in Hong Kong.
Through proper sampling design, the selected households for March and the first half of April together formed a separate and scientific random sample by themselves and data collected on them could be used to draw inference on the overall situation. Relevant data thus obtained had been made public in the motion debate on the right of abode issue at the Legislative Council Meeting held on April 28.
At the Special Meeting of the House Committee of the Legislative Council held on May 6, C&SD submitted a paper. The paper provided the data obtained in the Special Topic Enquiry and a general description of major technical issues involved.
Furthermore, Commissioner for Census and Statistics was invited to attend two Special Meetings of the House Committee held on May 11 and May 13. At the meetings, he explained in detail the technical issues of the Special Topic Enquiry to Legislative Council Members and academics invited to attend the meetings and discuss the matter. Subsequent to the meetings, more detailed supplementary information including additional technical details and statistics was also provided to Legislative Council Members.
The Board considered that the survey concerned was a rather difficult task. Nevertheless, the method used was professional and objective. Despite some technical constraints, the preliminary findings of the Special Topic Enquiry released had provided an adequate basis for Government's assessment of the implications on infrastructure, social services and employment.
The Board also noted that all the field work relating to the Special Topic Enquiry would be completed shortly after end May. The finalised findings were expected to be available in July.
Deseasonalisation of Data Series
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Board members discussed the existing method in compiling seasonally adjusted data for a number of statistical series, such as the Consumer Price Indices and retail sales, and were informed of C&SD's latest development in this respect.
The first set of seasonally adjusted series of the aggregate GDP was released publicly in end May this year. The quarter-to-quarter changes in such a series were generally more sensitive in revealing turns in economic cycles than the year-on-year changes traditionally referred to.
Contingency Planning in the Census and Statistics Department to Tackle the Year 2000 Problem
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Rectification work related to the tackling of the Year 2000 problem for various computer systems in C&SD had all been completed in mid May 1999. This was ahead of the original schedule of completion by end June 1999.
Board members were pleased to note that C&SD had already formulated in May 1999 outline plans to tackle contingencies related to the Year 2000 problem for its key business processes, namely, all statistical data releases and major statistical publications. Based on the information gathered in developing such system-specific outline plans, C&SD was formulating a practicable and comprehensive organization-wide contingency plan, targeted to be completed by mid July.
Statistics on "Offshore Trading" and Related Activities
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Board members were informed that C&SD was undertaking work in enhancing conceptualisation and data collection work in regard to the assessment of the economic contribution of "offshore trading" (i.e. trading where the goods involved do not cross Hong Kong's customs boundary) and related activities. Work being undertaken included studying the feasibility of collecting more data, adequacy of survey coverage and improvement in the timeliness of data.
Furthermore, the Board noted that consultations were being conducted by C&SD with relevant parties (especially the trading community) to gain greater understanding about trade practices before implementing modifications in the relevant data collection processes.