3.5

The IPCC is supported by a full-time Secretariat, headed by an Administrative Officer Staff Grade 'C' (as Secretary) with 21 general grades staff and a Senior Government Counsel serving as legal adviser to the IPCC.  The major function of the Secretariat is to examine all complaint investigation reports submitted by CAPO in detail to ensure that each and every case is investigated in a thorough and impartial manner before recommending them to IPCC Members for endorsement.  Under the supervision of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary (Chief Executive Officer), three teams, each comprising one Senior Assistant Secretary (SAS) and one Assistant Secretary (AS), pitched at Senior Executive Officer and Executive Officer I levels respectively, are responsible exclusively for vetting complaint investigations.  The fourth team, Planning and Support, comprising one SAS and 13 executive, clerical and secretarial staff, is responsible for general administration, research, publicity and other support services, as well as servicing the Serious Complaints Committee.  During the second half of the year, a number of non-civil service contract staff, including a Special Duty Team, a Senior Public Relations Officer, and an Assistant Information Technology Officer, were employed to deal with matters arising from the Personal Data Leakage Incident (please refer to Chapter 2 for more details). An organization chart of the IPCC Secretariat, as at 31 December 2006, is at Appendix I.