Senior officials may face disciplinary probes if their departments are found to have performed badly by the ombudsman or audit commissioner under the new accountability system being pushed by the Hong Kong government, the civil service minister has said.

Speaking at a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday, Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan also dismissed concerns that department heads could be subject to overlapping probes.

She was highlighting the initiatives on strengthening good governance laid down by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in his policy address earlier this month, in which he announced a heads of department accountability system to hold senior civil servants responsible for their management and execution of policies.

Yeung said the ombudsman and director of audit would produce reports that point out departments’ deficiencies. “If these deficiencies are serious, repetitive or widespread, there are chances that an inquiry under the [new accountability system] would be triggered,” she said.

“In general, the reports by the ombudsman and director of audit will point out the problems and make recommendations.

“But the inquiry under the [new accountability system] will look into who should be held responsible. So there should not be overlapping.”

The ombudsman serves as the community’s watchdog to ensure administrative fairness of the government, while the Audit Commission’s role is to carry out value-for-money audits.