Working groups, liaison groups and other exchanges with
customers and public

To assess customers' changing needs and expectations, the Land Registry communicates closely with them. Various working committees have been established for us to work together with our partners:

Customer Liaison Groups

Two Customer Liaison Groups, one for private sector customers and one for government departments, have been established.

The objectives of the Customer Liaison Groups are to:

• improve the Registry's understanding of customers' needs and expectations;
  

• improve customers' understanding of the Registry's policies, services and procedures; and

• exchange views on operational and service delivery issues.

The private sector group is composed of representatives from the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Association of Banks, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, the Hong Kong Real Estate Agencies General Association and the Society of Hong Kong Real Estate Agents Limited. The public sector group comprises representatives from government departments which are frequent users of the Registry's services. Each group meets three times a year.

In 2004/05, a total of 5 Customer Liaison Group Meetings were held. Our IRIS contractor gave a demonstration on the IRIS online services to our members before the IRIS rollout. We also collected views from the members on the design of the Property Information Hub through a questionnaire survey.

We thanked the following members from the private sector for their continuous support to the Registry:

Standing Members of the Land Registry Customer Liaison Group (Private Sector) 2004/05

Land Registry Joint Standing Committee

The Land Registry Joint Standing Committee, comprising the Land Registrar, his senior staff and representatives of the Law Society of Hong Kong, meets regularly to discuss and exchange views on land registration matters and the Registry's services provided to the legal practitioners.

The Committee held its first meeting on 11 February 1964 and, over the years, has proven to be very useful in promoting closer co-operation between the Land Registry and the legal profession.

The Committee will continue to play a significant role in assisting the Registry to maintain an efficient and effective land registration system.

Overseas Liaison

Our relationship with customers is beyond geographical boundary. We maintain close ties with our overseas counterparts. In 2004/05, we received 5 delegations comprising over 40 visitors from the Mainland, Canada, Brunei and Thailand. In May 2004, the Information Technology Manager     attended;    theLand    Registrars'

Development Officers' Conference 2004 in Australia. The Land Registrar also attended the 32nd Australasian Land Registrars' Conference held in Australia in October. These contacts gave us a good opportunity to benchmark our services with overseas jurisdictions, exchange experience in land for new ideas on improving our operations and registration and information on development projects, and look services.

New Publications

• Land Registry Circular Memoranda

In 2004/05, 3 circulars were issued, two covering the changes introduced by the Central Registration system, one announcing the latest editions of the Street Index and New Territories Lot/Address Cross Reference Table.

• Land Registry News

To keep customers and business associates abreast of the Land Registry's current activities and progress of the development project carrying out in the Registry, a regular newsletter, the "Land Registry News", is published for general distribution. 2 issues were published in the 2004/05.

• Information Pamphlets

During the year, the Land Registry published the following pamphlets to give a detailed account of the various activities and achievements of the Registry over the year and the progress of the development project as well as the performance pledge of the year:

Interactive Voice Response System

To enhance our communication with customers, a Customer Service Hotline, telephone number 3105 0000, equipped with an Interactive Voice Response System has been set up. A wide range of information is available by listening to recorded messages or ordering information leaflets and forms by fax. Callers may choose from a range of services or speak to a live operator during office hours. A voice mail facility is also available. Since IRIS live run, the hotline has received an average of 570 calls per day.