Strengthening Advisory and Statutory Bodies

67. Advisory and statutory bodies form an integral part of our political system and play an important role in supporting the administration. They are also an important channel for people to participate in public policy formulation. The Government attaches importance to the function, role and composition of some 500 advisory and statutory bodies. Our objectives are -

• streamlining structure to avoid excessive duplication in organisation and membership;

• bringing in more talents from different backgrounds to enhance representativeness;

• reinforcing the role of these bodies as important partners of the administration and strengthening their participation in the decisionmaking process;

• increasing their role in reconciling different interests in our community;

• further using them as important channels for public participation in public affairs;

• enhancing their role in grooming leaders;

• reinforcing their function in connecting the Government and the community;

• explaining public policies and encouraging public discussions; and

• improving how their performance should be evaluated and elevating their status as public policy think tanks.