For discussion
FCR(97-98)83
on 9 January 1998

ITEM FOR FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 98 - MANAGEMENT SERVICES AGENCY
Subhead 700 General other non-recurrent

Members are invited to approve a new commitment of $13.9 million for implementing Phase III of the Records Management Strategy.

PROBLEM

We need to complete the final phase of a five-year service-wide Records Management Strategy (the Strategy) in order to achieve the full benefits of the Strategy.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Management Services and the Government Records Service Director, with the support of Head, Efficiency Unit and Director of Administration, propose to create a non-recurrent commitment of $13.9 million for implementing Phase III of the Strategy, as a further step to improve the overall management of records in Government.

JUSTIFICATION

Major Phase III tasks

3. Phase I of the Strategy has laid the foundation for the implementation of the Strategy and Phase II has developed and implemented improvement measures to cover a wider spectrum of government departments. In order to reap the full benefits of the Strategy as originally envisaged in drawing up the timing and objectives of the exercise, we intend to proceed to Phase III of the Strategy. This final consolidation phase will enable us to implement and further develop improvement measures introduced in the previous phases. We plan to implement Phase III over a period of 18 months upon completion of Phase II in May 1998. We set out the proposed tasks under Phase III at Enclosure 1. A gist of these tasks is as follows -

(a)Facilities Support and Enhancement

  1. To develop a multi-user version of Bar-coding File Management System (BCFMS) to facilitate location of files through local area network;

  2. to enhance the BCFMS to a bilingual version to support the management of files with Chinese subject titles;

  3. to develop a Storage Allocation Management System (SAMS) for the Government Records Service (GRS) to facilitate transfer of inactive files from bureaux and departments to Records Centres;

  4. to review the effectiveness and service level of the Government Microfilming Service Centre;

  5. to assess the potential demand for microfilming/electronic filing interface and to identify technological and managerial solutions for meeting such demands; and

  6. to conduct a bulk purchase tender exercise for the supply of standardised mobile racking systems to enable implementation of the first mobile racking zone in the new Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices Building.

(b)Departmental Support on Records Management

  1. To conduct about 15 departmental reviews on records management by adopting a ""total system "approach with a view to addressing the overall records management needs of selected departments;

  2. to assist departments to implement the recommendations arising from the studies conducted in Phases II and III;

  3. to develop a comprehensive target-oriented curriculum for training courses on records management for departmental records managers and registry staff;

  4. to review, develop and publish guidelines/instructions on five different aspects of records management practices to help bureaux and departments improve their records management systems themselves; and

  5. to conduct an overall review of the Strategy to evaluate its effectiveness, assess whether or not it should be continued and if so, in what form, and recommend the way forward.

Benefits

4. Phase III of the Strategy will build upon the benefits which we derive from Phases I and II. The details are at Enclosure 2. In brief, the main benefits of Phase III include -

  1. Containment of records growth - We aim to maintain our target set in Phase II, i.e. to contain records growth to below 6% per annum and if possible, to reduce it to 4.5% by 1999-2000;

  2. Increased records grouping and reduction of records retention period - We aim to assist and facilitate bureaux and departments in formulating their records scheduling and disposal programmes so that they can transfer inactive records to Records Centres and/or destroy the records at the appropriate time. The aim is to introduce records scheduling and disposal programming to at least 85% of bureaux/departments by 2001-02, which will help reduce the average records retention period;

  3. Greater utilization of Records Centres - The prompt transfer of inactive records to Records Centres, which cost about one-fourth of the rental cost in ordinary offices, will result in notional and/or realizable rental savings. We aim to transfer under Phase III a further 60 000 linear metres of the inactive records from departmental office premises to the Records Centres by the year 2001-02. This would release about 15 800 square metres of office space for other purposes, which is estimated to be $61 million in notional rental savings per annum;

  4. Greater use of more space-efficient storage furniture - The use of mobile, open and top-up racks as well as lockable tall cupboards can increase storage capacity by around 50% to 130%. We estimate the benefits of Phase III in this regard to be another 2 800 linear metres of storage capacity, or around $3.8 million notional rental savings per annum;

  5. Greater use of modern technology - We aim to further promote the use of bar-coding, microfilming, electronic filing and other related technology to improve records retrieval and reduce demand for storage space;

  6. Achievement of department-specific benefits - The conduct of departmental reviews on records management will improve departmental efficiency and staff productivity in records keeping and management. In Phase I, notional savings of $10.8 million per annum are achieved in the five departmental pilot studies. We have so far completed six further departmental studies in Phase II, from which notional savings of $13.6 million per annum are identified.

5. Apart from the tangible benefits outlined above, the service quality in departments would also be improved through -

  1. Proper tracking of retrieval and movement of records, thereby reducing the risk of loss or delay in record transfer;

  2. more efficient access to records; and

  3. better protection of vital paper records.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Non-recurrent costs - new commitment

6. We estimate that we will require a new commitment of $13.9 million for Phase III implementation. Details are as follows -


1998-99

$'000

1999-2000

$'000

Total

$'000





(a) Development of SAMS and enhancements of BCFMS

1,130

600

1,730





(b) Departmental reviews on records management

4,000

8,000

12,000





(c) Production of guidelines/instructions on records management

100

_______

50

_______

150

_______

Total

5,230

8,650

13,880



Say $13.9 million


_______

_______

_______

7. As regards paragraph 6(a), the expenditure of $1,730,000 is for the purchase of scanners, hardware and software for development, personal computers and other equipment, and the production of manuals for developing SAMS and enhancing BCFMS to multi-user and bilingual versions.

8. As regards paragraph 6(b), the expenditure of $12,000,000 is the one-off cost for implementing the recommendations of the departmental reviews on records management in 15 departments. We intend to allocate an average of $800,000 per review for implementing the recommendations. Funding for any major capital items identified by the review will have to be separately justified and sought by the bureaux/departments concerned.

9. As regards paragraph 6(c), the expenditure of $150,000 is the one-off cost for producing guidelines/instructions on five different aspects of records management.

Non-recurrent costs - staff costs

10. To implement Phase III, the Management Services Agency (MSA) and the GRS will require additional staff for a period of 18 months from June 1998. Details are as follows -


1998-99

$'000

1999-2000

$'000

Total

$'000





(a) MSA (15 posts)

6,714

5,371

12,085





(b) GRS (seven posts)

5,048

4,039

9,087


_________

_________

_________





Total one-off staff costs

11,762

9,410

21,172


_________

_________

_________

11. As regards paragraph 10(a), the expenditure of $12,085,000 is to meet the one-off staff cost of MSA. This will involve the creation of 15 posts on a project basis. MSA will re-deploy another 15 posts within its existing establishment to support the implementation.

12. As regards paragraph 10(b), the expenditure of $9,087,000 is to meet the one-off staff cost of seven posts to be created in GRS. To support the implementation, GRS will re-deploy another eight posts within its existing establishment.

Recurrent cost

13. The proposed Phase III implementation will not incur any additional recurrent expenditure.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

14. In January 1994, we held a Records Management Exhibition to promote the importance of records, to draw the attention of all government departments to proper records management and to promote the use of efficient records systems and the latest technology in records management.

15. In February 1994, we formed a Steering Group on Records Management chaired by Head, Efficiency Unit to oversee the formulation and implementation of a service-wide Records Management Strategy. The objective of the Strategy is to help departments reduce record stock, reduce record growth, improve quality of service and improve cost-effectiveness in records management.

16. In April 1994, we conducted a service-wide Records Management Survey with a view to defining the scale of records management problems, quantifying the records improvement needs of departments and estimating the resource implications of Records Management Strategy. Taking into account the level of coverage and complexity, the service and improvement demands, the systems and technology involved, the resource and financial implications of the Strategy, we have adopted a three-phased approach for implementing the Strategy in about five years.

17. In October 1994, the Legislative Council Panel on Information Policy (the Panel) supported the broad approach of the Strategy and asked the Administration to implement the proposed improvement measures as soon as possible. In November 1994 and January 1996, the Finance Committee approved funds of $35.7 million and $25.62 million for implementing Phases I and II of the Strategy respectively. We have reported progress of Phases I and II implementation to the Panel regularly. We have summarised at Enclosure 3 the major tasks of Phases I and II and the progress to-date.

Efficiency Unit, Chief Secretary for Administration's Office

December 1997


Enclosure 1 to FCR(97-98)83

Records Management Strategy
Major Tasks for Phase III Implementation

Facilities Support and Enhancement

Bar-coding File Management System

Multi-user Version

So far, we have installed over 1 700 Bar-coding File Management Systems (BCFMSs) in various bureaux/departments. To facilitate individual officers and secretaries to locate files through their local area networks, some registries have requested for the enhancement of the existing standalone BCFMS to a multi-user version. We plan to develop the proposed multi-user version for installation in Phase III.

Chinese Facilities

2. The existing BCFMS was developed for English input. It is anticipated that there will be an increasing number of files with Chinese subject titles in the near future. We plan to enhance the BCFMS to a bilingual version in Phase III.

Storage Allocation Management System

3. One of the functions of BCFMS is to help departmental records managers identify inactive files and transfer them to Records Centres (RCs) of the Government Records Service (GRS). To facilitate the transfer of inactive files from departments to RCs, it is necessary to set up in each RC a Storage Allocation Management System (SAMS) that can accept the file information transferred from the BCFMS and assist GRS in allocation of storage space for the files. In addition, the SAMS will also facilitate the RCs in monitoring the records retention and disposal schedules. We plan to develop and install the SAMS in Phase III.

Microfilming/Electronic Filing Interface

4. The Government Microfilming Service Centre (GMSC) commenced operation in mid 1997. The GRS and Management Services Agency (MSA) will continue to advise users on choice of suitable microforms, conversion preparation, microfilm indexing, computer assisted retrieval, film storage and handling and records disposal. We will conduct a review of the effectiveness and service level of GMSC in Phase III. The review will also assess potential demand, justifications and applications for microfilming cum electronic filing systems, which can help user departments scan paper records into both microfilm and digitized format to meet their operational and archival requirements. We will look into technological and managerial solutions for meeting such demand, and install pilot systems if there are suitable applications identified through departmental reviews (to be described in paragraphs 6 and 7 below).

Mobile Racking Zone

5. In Phase II, we have planned to install Standardized Mobile Racking Systems (SMRS) for six departments in the new North Point Government Offices Building. In the course of planning such installations, it has been developed that a Mobile Racking Zone (MRZ) should be included as a standard provision in future Government office buildings. To enable implementation of the first MRZ in the new Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices Building targeted for completion in 1999, MSA will conduct a bulk purchase tender exercise for the supply of SMRS in Phase III.

Department Support on Records Management

Departmental Reviews

6. As a result of the five departmental studies conducted in Phase I and 12 more studies in Phase II, we have established the benefits of reviewing records management in selected departments, using a total system approach. To help those remaining bureaux/departments that are in need of "total system" solutions to their records management problems, we will conduct reviews for about 15 selected bureaux/departments in Phase III. In addition, we will assist departments to implement the recommendations arising from the studies conducted in Phases II and III.

7. The departmental reviews will be jointly conducted by MSA and GRS. In each review, we will ascertain whether proper records management practice (including the protection of vital records) has been established in the bureaux/departments concerned, assess its overall records management needs (including any difficulties it has encountered in consolidating the improvement measures implemented in Phases I and II), and render advice/assistance as necessary. We intend to allocate an average of $800,000 per review for implementing the recommendations. Any major capital items identified by the review will have to be separately sought by the bureaux/departments concerned.

Training

8. To raise the level of know-how and change the mindset of the civil service towards better quality and cost-effectiveness of records management, GRS plans to develop in Phase III a comprehensive target-oriented curriculum which would comprise courses covering general concepts of records management as well as addressing topical issues throughout the life-cycle of records. Each course will be structured to achieve specific objectives and targeted at specific client groups. It is intended that these courses would be run on a credit basis so that a trainee who has completed certain modules will be awarded a certificate in recognition of his level of competency in records management.

Publications

9. In Phase III, GRS proposes to set up a team headed by an Archivist to review, develop and publish guidances and instructions on different aspects of records management practices. Publications of this sort will help bureaux/departments improve their records management systems themselves in this rapidly changing information world.

10. The proposed team will produce the following five publications by the end of Phase III -

  1. Guidelines on Vital Records Protection;

  2. Checklist for Proper Records Management Practices;

  3. Chapters on Vital Records Protection and Checklist for Proper Records Management Practices for the Handbook on Records Management;

  4. Managing Records in Chinese; and

  5. Revision of the Records Centre User Guide.

Overall Review of Records Management Strategy

11. Since the Records Management Strategy was formulated in 1994, there is a need to conduct an overall review of the Strategy towards the end of Phase III. The proposed review will evaluate the effectiveness of the Strategy, assess whether or not it should be continued, and recommend the way forward.


Enclosure 2 to FCR(97-98)83

Records Management Strategy
Targets and Achievements To Date



Targets (as compared with 1995-96 situation)


Issue

Situation as at 1995-96

Two years after Phase I implementation

Cumulative, two years after Phase II implementation

Cumulative, two years after Phase III implementation

Achievements

up to 30 November 1997

1. Record growth

12.5% per annum (p.a.)

Reduce to 6% p.a. by 1997-98

Sustain at 6% and, if possible, aim to reduce to 4.5% p.a. by 1999-2000

Sustain at 6% p.a. and, if possible, reduce to 4.5% p.a.

To be available upon completion of the service-wide Records Management Survey in early 1998

2. Record retention period

Average retention period ranges from 7 to 11 years

Reduce by 10% by 1997-98

Reduce by 20% by 1999-2000

) Introduce records

) scheduling and

) disposal programming

) to at least 85% of

) bureaux/departments

About 1 400 records series with average retention period of 4.9 years in 64 bureaux/departments have been drawn up and 93% of record files have been grouped

3. Record files grouping

63% of record files are grouped

Increase to 90% of record files by 1997-98

Increase to 100% of record files by 1998-99

) by 2001-02

)

4. Use of Records Centres (RCs)

Still 100 000 linear metres of inactive records in department

Transfer 10 000 linear metres of inactive records to RCs before 1997-98

Transfer a total of 40 000 linear metres (30 000 linear metres being targeted under Phase II) of inactive records to RCs before 1999-2000

Transfer a total of 100 000 linear metres (60 000 linear metres being targeted under Phase III) of inactive records to RCs before 2001-02

About 40 000 linear metres of inactive records have been transferred to RCs

5. Use of storage furniture

Four-drawer filing cabinets are widely used for storage purpose

The proposed use of mobile, standard open and top-up racks will give rise to a net gain of 12 000 linear metres of storage capacity

The proposed use of mobile, standard open and top-up racks will give rise to a total net gain of 21 000 linear metres (9 000 linear metres being targeted under Phase II) of storage capacity

The proposed use of mobile, standard open and top-up racks as well as lockable tall cupboards will give rise to a total net gain of 23 800 linear metres (2 800 linear metres being targeted under Phase III) of storage capacity

Installation of mobile, standard open and top-up racks has achieved a total net gain of 12 000 linear metres of storage capacity



Targets (as compared with 1995-96 situation)


Issue

Situation as at 1995-96

Two years after Phase I implementation

Cumulative, two years after Phase II implementation

Cumulative, two years after Phase III implementation

Achievements

up to 30 November 1997

6. Use of new technologies

Not being commonly used

The use of bar-coding, microfilming, electronic filing and other related technology will improve records retrieval and reduce storage space requirements

Further exploration of technologies

Further exploration of technologies

1 721 Bar-coding File Management Systems and 70 Electronic Filing Systems have been installed, and 174 linear metres of records have been microfilmed to improve records retrieval. In addition, a total space savings of 800m2 have been achieved

7. Departmental studies

Records management issues in departments are

addressed on a piecemeal basis

"Total system" approach adopted to improve records management in five departments

"Total system" approach adopted to improve records management in a total 17 departments (12 departments will be covered in Phase II)

"Total system" approach adopted to improve records management in a total 32 departments (15 departments will be covered in Phase III)

11 departmental studies have been completed. Notional rental savings of $10.8 million per annum have been achieved and $13.6 million per annum identified


Enclosure 3 to FCR(97-98)83

Major Tasks and Progress of Phases I and II
Implementation of Records Management Strategy
( Position as at 30 November 1997 )

Phase I (December 1994 to May 1996)

Major tasks

Progress of implementation

1. To develop departmental record creation, retention and disposal instructions.

1 500 copies of the first five chapters of Records Management Handbook were issued to all Departmental Records Managers and the directorate management. Basic training on records management was provided to 1 022 Assistant Departmental Records Managers. The Government Records Service (GRS) will issue an interim version of the manual on "General Administrative Records Disposal Schedules" in March 1998.



2. To implement a service-wide bar-coding file management system (BCFMS).

A total of 1 235 installations in 81 bureaux/departments were completed.



3. To implement electronic filing systems and other record improvement systems in departments.

A total of 64 electronic filing systems were installed in 32 departments.



4. To improve record storage handling and facilities in departments.

1 438 bays of mobile racking systems with a total storage capacity of 8 295 linear metres were installed in six departments. 3 640 top-up racks and 1 726 other storage racks were provided for departments.



5. To improve the level of service of Records Management Office of the Government Records Service Division.

The target of transferring 10 000 linear metres of inactive records from departments to Records Centres (RCs) was achieved.



6. To review the feasibility and effectiveness of establishing a microfilming bureau centre.

The review recommended the establishment of a Government Microfilming Service Centre (GMSC).



7. To conduct and implement pilot studies in selected departments.

Five pilot studies for Buildings Department (BD), Treasury (Tsy), Architectural Services Department (Arch SD), Information Services Department (ISD) and Drainage Services Department (DSD) were completed. All the recommendations for BD, Tsy, ISD and Arch SD have been implemented. We will continue to support DSD to implement the agreed recommendations.



Phase II (June 1996 to May 1998)

Major tasks

Progress of Implementation

1. To extend BCFMS to the remaining 402 registries not covered in Phase I.

Additional 486 BCFMSs have been installed. The Management Services Agency (MSA) will continue to provide system support and maintenance to the existing 1 721 installations.



2. To develop and implement a bar-coding non-file records management system (BCNRMS).

A "Windows" based bilingual BCNRMS is being developed. The system development will be completed in December 1997.



3. To further implement records storage facilities and systems in departments, particularly in the promotion of standardized mobile racks.

A bulk purchase contract for the supply of standardized mobile racking systems was awarded in June 1997. 417 bays of mobile racking systems have been installed in four departments. About 1 940 bays of standardized mobile racking systems with a total storage capacity of 9 800 linear metres will be installed in North Point Government Offices Building for six departments in early 1998.



4. To study the need and feasibility of establishing a service-wide Records Transfer and Delivery System.

MSA completed the study in September 1997 and the Steering Group on Records Management discussed the study report in November 1997. Consultation has commenced.



5. To conduct another service-wide Records Management Survey in 1998.

The survey has commenced and will be completed in March 1998.



6. To conduct 12 departmental studies on records management.

Six studies have been completed. Five studies are under way. The conduct of the remaining study is being planned.



7. To conduct reviews on microfilming needs of individual departments and to establish GMSC for providing microfilming and related services to departments.

GMSC was established in April 1997. Trial run of GMSC has been successfully completed. GRS will issue a call circular in December 1997 and a user's guide in the first quarter of 1998.



8. To study the need and feasibility of establishing a Government Records Backup and Recovery Centre (BRC).

A consultancy study has been completed. In the light of the findings and recommendations of the consultancy study, the Steering Group on Records Management considered that emphasis should be placed on the protection of vital records rather than the establishment of a BRC for which the need has not yet been established at this stage.