Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam said savings of $75.65 million have been realised or identified under the accountability system.

Mr Lam's announcement was one of the highlights of the Constitutional Affairs Bureau's interim report on the accountability system's implementation.

The report says heads of Housing, Planning & Lands, Education & Manpower, Civil Service and Financial Services & the Treasury Bureaux have effected or identified savings through re-organisation of the bureaux and departments under them.

Mr Lam said the savings have come by:

* Merging the Housing Bureau and Housing Department on January 1, resulting in savings of $25.98 million in terms of full annual average staff cost.

* Merging the Education & Manpower Bureau and the Education Department on the same date, bringing an annual staff cost saving of about $14 million.

* Revamping the Civil Service Bureau's internal organisation structure and devolving more human resources management responsibility to bureaux and departments last November. It will delete 34 posts by the end of March, bringing savings of about $9.2 million in full annual average staff cost.

Mr Lam said the Government has now adjusted to the accountability system, issuing the Policy Agenda within six months.

The report states that the net increase in full annual cost of the system amounted to $42.228 million when it was introduced on July 1.

However, Mr Lam said the Government would effect sufficient savings within the next year to neutralise the exercise cost.

The Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau has plans to merge the Government Land Transport Agency, Government Supplies Department and Printing Department into a new body called the Government Logistics Department on July 1, pending Legislative Council approval.

The proposal is expected to cut 60 posts and bring annual savings of almost $26.5 million.

The report also highlighted some cases where the Government responded speedily to situations as they developed.

Some examples:

* The Chief Secretary for Administration completed a report on Population Policy by the end of 2002, as requested by the Chief Executive.

* To tackle the fiscal deficit problem, the Financial Secretary determined the level of operating expenditure of the Administration to be $200 billion by 2006/07. This resulted in a series of cost-saving measures being devised.

* The efforts of the Commerce, Industry & Technology and Economic Development & Labour Secretaries led to the voluntary One Company, One Job campaign to provide employment and training opportunities for fresh graduates.

* Work by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works led to public transport fare concessions.

* The Government took the lead in fostering the transparency and accountability of the accounting sector's self-regulatory regime.

* And Mr Lam, responding to public opinion, increased the number of elected seats in the District Council.