Land Registry News

A Message from the Land Registrar

"In the month of February Mr. Power, the accountant and clerk of the deed registry, submitted an application for leave of absence for one year, upon medical certificate for the benefit of his health. This having been granted, the duties of his office were performed by Mr. Morgan (auditor's clerk) until the month of August, when the state of his health required a change of air, and he was obliged to proceed on medical certificate to England, but unhappily only reached Ceylon, where he died. During the period of Mr. Morgan's services in the office, I regret to say, his health was so bad it was impossible for him to give that attention to it which it necessarily demanded, and a variety of arrears accumulated. … The duties required from the holder of the office of the clerk of deed registry and accountant, are not like those of a clerk in other offices: in this office they are of a peculiar and miscellaneous character, and it required both diligent care and the closest application on the part of Mr. Reinhard to bring the office again into proper working order."

Extract from the Report of the Surveyor General, Hong Kong, 1853.

The outbreak of SARS earlier this year showed that threats to health in this, the world's most densely populated city, remain and cannot be taken lightly. Every company and every branch of Government in Hong Kong, including the Land Registry, was involved in the response. Equally, the rapid containment and limited impact of the outbreak show how far standards of health and health care have changed since the 1850s. No member of the Land Registry was affected, no services were impaired.

What has not changed since the 1850s is the special character of work in the Land Registry, the "diligent care and the closest application" that are needed to give the best service to the community. That character has been well displayed over the last few months as staff throughout the department have been heavily engaged in the preparation work for IRIS, creating our new customer service centre and other refurbishment work, and assisting the Legislative Council's deliberations on the Land Titles Bill. At the same time we have completed a review of customer service needs and expectations. This will serve as a benchmark against which to measure the effects when IRIS is brought into service and has helped us to design new training and service enhancement practices.

The second half of the year will bring an even more testing time as IRIS is readied for operation and our new organization structure is put in place. The thin business volumes over the first half of the year add increased financial pressure to our other concerns. But the reforms will be achieved and service improvements will be delivered to our customers, of that I have no doubt. And our customers, like me, will have the men and women of the Land Registry to thank for that.

K A SALKELD, J.P.
The Land Registrar & General Manager
The Land Registry Trading Fund, Hong Kong

Update: Information Systems Strategic Plan Implementation

During the first half of 2003, the Land Registry achieved significant progress in the implementation of our Information Systems Strategic Plan. At the core of the strategy lies a re-engineered and streamlined business process, supported by an Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS), to give better service to our customers.

Since the start of system development of IRIS in August 2002, we have been working closely with our contractor in the design and construction of the new computer system. We have included versatile system functions and developed a user-friendly interface by employing a portfolio of advanced technological solutions. To realize the full capacity of IRIS, we are planning and preparing for thorough testing of the new system to be conducted after the construction. The testing will include function tests and load tests of each component of IRIS and also dress rehearsals covering every business process of our operations.

With reference to the best practice developed for land registration forms elsewhere as well as to the needs of clients here, we have designed a new memorial form. This will be an integral part of the future one-stop IRIS counter service. The new design provides a clear focus on the property affected by the transaction. It also includes improved features such as enlarged boxes, bilingual headings, check boxes and explanatory notes. The new form will be available for sale before the operation of IRIS.

The Land Registry is planning for the service migration to the new system to ensure a seamless transition. To let customers familiarize themselves with the new Internet search service, an on-line self-learning kit will be available in advance. The flexibility of the e-learning approach will allow users to manage the training at their own pace. Customers will be advised on the details for obtaining the kit in due course.

Update: Land Titles Bill

A Bills Committee was formed in March 2003 for scrutiny of the Land Titles Bill. 11 meetings were held before the summer recess. Extensive representations have been made by various parties on many aspects of the Bill. Deliberation is expected to extend into 2004.

Interested parties may visit our website at http://www.info.gov.hk/landreg/ to which a hyperlink to the website of the Legislative Council has been established for reference to the papers on the Bill.

2003/2004 Annual Staff Development Theme Training - Teaming up with IRIS

To support the smooth rollout of the Integrated Registration Information System (IRIS), leadership and team-building was selected as the Staff Development Theme for 2003/2004. The programme was named "Teaming up with IRIS" to invigorate staff with ideas of teaming and partnership, enhancing standards and implementing IRIS.

This annual departmental training event started off in July 2003 with 81 officer grades staff attending a one-day workshop at the Jockey Club Racecourse at Happy Valley. Both the Land Registrar and the Registry Manager joined in. All participants benefited from the workshop and enjoyed the event. The workshops for other grades will be held nearer to the rollout of IRIS.

Office Refurbishment for Integrated Registration Information System

As part of our service enhancement plan, an office refurbishment programme is underway to provide an improved service environment for customers and a better working environment for staff. This exercise covers both front and back offices.

With our customers and staff in mind, the interior design is user-oriented to allow for more room and comfort. Modern ergonomic standards and environment-friendly building service technology have been adopted. There will be a wider use of information technology to enable our customers to obtain enhanced services delivered through the Integrated Registration Information System.

On the 19th Floor of Queensway Government Offices, a dedicated Customer Centre will be set up to provide one-stop customer service. The Customer Service Manager will be there while search, lodgement of documents and enquiries will also be on the same floor. Renovation of the district search offices is well underway.

Exhibition on Outstanding Customer Service

An Exhibition on Outstanding Customer Service organized by the Civil Service Bureau was held from 20 to 23 February 2003 at the Hong Kong Central Library. This showcased outstanding customer services provided by government departments to the community. A total of 48 bureaux/departments, including the Land Registry, participated in the exhibition. In addition to promoting our new IT strategy (Integrated Registration Information System) and new service (Colour Imaging of Plans), our booth also publicized our service improvement cycle and the results of the customer satisfaction survey conducted in November last year. A demonstration of the Internet search, one of the major service improvements under IRIS, was set up for trial by the visitors. A computer game in the form of a quiz was designed to enhance visitors' knowledge of our services and future developments. Over 4,000 people visited our booth and gave us very encouraging responses.

New Performance Pledges for 2003/2004

Through continuous good teamwork and staff dedication, the Land Registry has achieved all the performance pledges set for 2002/2003. We are glad that the targets for all services were met by 100%.

As an on-going commitment to providing improved and quality service to customers, the Land Registry has set higher performance standards for this year. For the supply of "All Services" search at the Central Search Office, the service standard is improved from 35 to 30 minutes. For the supply of computerized land registers and imaged copies of land records, the service standard is shortened from 22 to 20 minutes. The service standards will be further reviewed when the Integrated Registration Information System rolls out in early 2004.

Pamphlets on the new performance pledges have been released and copies are available for collection at any office of the Land Registry, the District Offices of the Home Affairs Department and major public libraries. It can also be downloaded from our website at http://www.info.gov.landreg/. A table showing the actual performance for major services of the Registry in 2002/2003 and the new service standards for 2003/2004 is given below.

[Summary]

Removal of Deeds Receipt Unit of Urban Land Registry and Islands New Territories Land Registry

To prepare for the implementation of the Integrated Registration Information System in early 2004, the Deeds Receipt Unit of both the Urban Land Registry and the Islands New Territories Land Registry were moved to the 19th Floor of Queensway Government Offices on 25 March 2003. Lodgement of deeds, issue of receipts and return of stopped deeds are now handled at Counters Nos. 13 - 16. The provision of search services at the Central Search Office on the same floor remains unchanged.

Sale of Street Index (35th Edition) and New Territories Lot/Address Cross Reference Table (4th Edition)

The 35th edition of the Street Index and the 4th edition of the New Territories Lot/Address Cross Reference Table (CRT) are available for sale at the Street Index Unit and the Islands New Territories Land Registry on the 19th Floor and the 17th Floor of Queensway Government Offices from 28 April 2003 respectively.

The price of the Street Index or the CRT is $250 per compact disc. A new licence arrangement is introduced for the use of the Street Index and the CRT compact discs on computer networks. The licence fees for a computer network linked with less than 50 terminals and a computer network linked with 50 terminals or more are $2,000 and $4,000 respectively.

Since the 34th edition of the Street Index, 1,220 amendments have been made and 19 new streets and 163 new lots/sections/subsections have been added to the Street Index data. As for the CRT, 6,781 amendments have been made and 41 new streets and 3,166 new lots/sections/subsections have been added to the CRT data since the 3rd edition. The new edition of the Street Index has also been enhanced to provide Chinese building/development names as an additional retrieval key.

For enquiries, please contact the Street Index Unit at 2867 2816 and the CRT Unit at 2867 8071.

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