Chief Executive Carrie Lam has urged legislators to expedite their scrutiny of public works projects.

She made the call today saying the process of scrutinising public works projects in the Legislative Council has been slow in recent years.

She said only 18 projects, accounting for 40% of total funding applications, were approved in 2016-17.

In 2017-18 only 16 of more than 100 projects have been approved so far.

The delays have affected the construction industry, Mrs Lam said, adding legislators presently spend four hours discussing a project on average, three or four times more than in the past.

Noting only eight Financial Committee meetings and 10 Public Works Subcommittee meetings are left before LegCo's summer recess, Mrs Lam said she is worried hospital and redevelopment projects will not be approved.

She urged legislators to speed up their debates to approve as many projects as they can in the coming months.