Top official to determine responsible department in complex 1823 cases

A top official, Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Warner Cheuk Wing-hing, will determine which department is responsible when a public complaint involves multiple government departments under a new handling mechanism for the 1823 hotline. This system, set to be implemented early next year, will ensure a "fair" division of responsibility for complaints that span more than one department.

Cheuk will make the final call on which bureau or department should handle these complex cases. If all departments share responsibility equally, a roster system will be used, with each department taking turns to lead in coordinating the response. If a department disagrees with the assignment, it must appeal within a few days, after which Cheuk will make a final decision.

Cheuk explained that the lead department, on behalf of all teams involved, would provide a preliminary response within 10 days and a substantive response within 30 days. The new mechanism aims to reduce finger-pointing by departments claiming others have similar capacity to handle cases.