Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow says formulating how to consolidate new and existing resources and services is the most important task for the welfare sector in the coming year.

Speaking at an annual consultation session with the sector today, Dr Chow said since the introduction of the lump-sum grant subvention mode, the Government has received many views.

"Some said this subvention mode provided greater flexibility for non-governmental organisations to meet the changing service and community needs, and hence no change should be made.

"The use of competitive bidding in welfare sector could enable the organisations to bring more innovation and more effective deployment of resources. Such a practice should be continued."

Dr Chow also encouraged cross-organisation and cross-sector collaboration in service delivery.

Items for discussion

He today listened to the views of more than 200 sector representatives for considering the priorities in 2007-08 and beyond. Discussion was mainly centered on:

* areas for refinement in consolidating the welfare services;

* enhancement or streamlining of services that may be considered within the resources available; and,

* service gaps that may need to be filled.

Dr Chow said though the discussion concentrated on the priorities in the following year, the meeting also touched on longer term development.

The annual consultation provides another channel for the welfare sector to exchange views with the Government, he said. Taking into account the sector's views, the Government could set the priorities to tie in with its policy and resource planning cycle. The views gathered could be reflected in the Policy Address where appropriate.