Open recruitment of civil servants will resume from April 1, Financial Secretary Henry Tang says. He told legislators in his Budget Speech today that the move will complement the creation of new posts and pre-empt possible succession problems arising in the civil service.

"Since we must strictly control the size of the civil service, we will consider filling existing vacancies or creating new posts only after critically reviewing our manpower situation and exploring the feasibility of other options for service delivery," he said.

The civil service establishment will have slightly expanded to 162,900 by the end of March 2008, a rise of less than 1%, to implement various policy initiatives and meet the community's increasing demand for public services.

However, the recruitment freeze will still apply to grades covered by the 2nd Voluntary Retirement Scheme, unless otherwise approved.

The Secretary for the Civil Service is discussing with staff representatives how best to apply the findings of the recent Pay Level Survey and develop an improved civil service annual pay adjustment mechanism.

Should a decision be made on a civil service pay adjustment, it is estimated that the 2007-08 Budget could meet this need.