A 03/04-20

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 3 March 2004 at 2:30 pm

(a)	the number of primary and secondary school students arrested by the Police for suspected involvement in triad activities in each of the past three years, and the percentage of such cases in the total number of primary and secondary school students arrested, and provide a tabulation of the figures by police districts;
(b)	the respective numbers of police officers currently assigned to be School Liaison Officers ("SLOs") for Secondary and Primary Schools, and the average number of schools under the charge of each SLO, and provide a tabulation of the figures by police districts; and
(c)	the measures other than the School Liaison Programme to curb triad infiltration in schools?

(a)	the total number of claims made by lending institutions for defaulted guaranteed loans, and the number of them settled so far;
(b)	the average time taken for processing such claims; and
(c)	the respective numbers of claims which have been outstanding for 12 months or less, over 12 months but less than 24 months, and 24 months or over?

(a)	the average monthly occupancy rates of the beds in various wards of HA's hospitals over the past three years, and the average waiting time for admission to various wards at present;
(b)	whether the staff side of HA has reflected to HA's management the problems arising from the shortage of beds in the medical wards of HA's hospitals; if so, of the response of HA's management; and
(c)	of the measures taken by HA to address the long-standing shortage of beds in the medical wards of its hospitals?

(a)	whether the people who initiated and participated in the procession on 1 July last year are "patriots";
(b)	whether members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and the people who participate in the candlelight vigil held in memory of the June 4th Incident every year are "patriots"; and
(c)	whether, in order to ensure the administration of Hong Kong affairs by "Hong Kong people, with patriots forming the main body of administrators", it is necessary to amend the existing legislation on elections to subject the candidates for the elections of the Chief Executive or Legislative Council Members to political vetting and benchmark tests for patriots?

(a)	it has provided the civil servants responsible for works projects with training programmes in environmental protection, including educating them on the criteria and measures for reducing site noises and protecting the ecological environment and trees, etc; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b)	it knows if the engineering courses offered by universities and tertiary institutions include the environmental protection training programmes mentioned in (a); if so, of the weightings of such training programmes in the relevant engineering courses?

(a)	whether it has studied the recommendations in the report; if it has, of the reasons for not responding to the recommendations;
(b)	whether, in developing the West Kowloon Cultural District, the authorities have taken into consideration the report's recommendations, especially in terms of hardware facilities and the mode of operational management; if so, of the outcome of their consideration; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	when the authorities will formulate an overall policy on cultural development and, in doing so, whether the authorities will adopt some or all of the principles and strategies on cultural development as recommended in the report; if so, of the recommendations which will be adopted and those which will not; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	of the reasons for the sharp increase in the quantity of abandoned plastic bags;
(b)	of the annual expenditure on the disposal of abandoned plastic bags in each of the past three years, and whether it has calculated the quantity of degradable plastic bags among such plastic bags; if so, of the results, and whether there are any treatment processes that can facilitate smooth decomposition of degradable plastic bags;
(c)	whether the authorities have plans to promote the recycling of abandoned plastic bags; if so, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d)	whether the authorities have plans to introduce measures to reduce the use of plastic bags; if so, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	whether complaints about scalping admission tickets on the Internet have been received over the past three years; if so, of the number of such complaints;
(b)	whether the existing legislation regulates the above scalping activities; if not, whether the authorities will consider enacting legislation to do so; and
(c)	of the measures currently adopted by the authorities to combat and prevent such scalping activities?

(a)	why the possession of a relevant master's degree or taking of relevant courses is set as one of the entry requirements for APN posts;
(b)	the number of APN posts created;
(c)	the numbers of applications received and appointments made so far, and the numbers of appointees who have a relevant master's degree and are attending relevant courses respectively;
(d)	if HA has assessed whether the appointment of APNs on contract terms makes the appointees feel that their jobs are not permanent, and in turn affects the quality of nursing services; if so, of the assessment results; and
(e)	the criteria that will be adopted for assessing whether APN posts should be created on a territory-wide basis upon the completion of the pilot scheme?

(a)	of the respective total numbers of complaints received by government departments and the Consumer Council in each of the past three years about the provision or prescription of weight-loss drugs by beauty/slimming centres and their doctors, together with breakdowns of the cases;
(b)	whether it knows if the World Health Organization has issued any guidelines on the prescription of weight-loss drugs; if so, of the details of such guidelines;
(c)	whether the relevant authorities have issued regulations on the prescription of weight-loss drugs by registered medical practitioners; if so, of the details of such regulations; if not, how the Government and the Medical Council of Hong Kong ("MCHK") prevent the abuse of weight-loss drugs; and
(d)	whether it knows if MCHK has assessed whether registered medical practitioners are in breach of the Professional Code and Conduct for the Guidance of Registered Medical Practitioners when they run businesses jointly with beauty/slimming centres or allow their names and titles to be published in advertisements or promotional materials of such centres; if MCHK has assessed this, of the results?

(a)	of the respective numbers of complaints in 2001/02 and 2002/03, broken down by type of telecommunications service (such as fixed line telephones, mobile phones, external telecommunications and broadband access to the Internet) and nature of complaints;
(b)	whether the authorities will make reference to the experience gained in the Mobile Number Portability and formulate measures to improve the existing number portability for fixed telecommunications network services ("FTNS"), such as giving directions to operators and releasing the relevant statistics on a regular basis, so as to avoid the operators' delays in processing customers' applications for FTNS number portability by improper practices; and whether the authorities will consider simplifying the existing application procedures for FTNS number portability so as to reduce the inconvenience caused to customers;
(c)	given that some new FTNS operators have pointed out that, although they can rent local access link from the Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited to provide services under the policy of "Type II Interconnection", they have encountered substantial difficulties in applying for the link and cannot activate the number portability for their customers as scheduled, and some customers' FTNS were even suspended, whether the authorities will review the existing arrangements for such kind of number portability, formulate service standards and prevent FTNS operators from wilful obstruction, so as to shorten customers' waiting time for switching between service providers and reduce the impact of such switching on the customers; and
(d)	apart from formulating the scheme for monitoring the quality of public telecommunications services, whether the authorities will formulate measures, such as imposing heavier fines and taking proactive actions against operators which adopt improper business practice, obstruct fair market competition or are in breach of licence conditions, so as to maintain a fair and effective competitive environment for the telecommunications market; if they will, of the details of such measures?

(a)	the number of days last year on which Hong Kong was engulfed in smog, as well as the concentration, composition and cause of the smog;
(b)	the impact of ambient smog on human health and the number of consultations at public hospitals last year on illnesses triggered by smog; and
(c)	the short, medium and long-term measures to address the smog problem and the estimated time for the problem to be completely solved?

(a)	of the number of cases in the past three years in which the patients were not taken to hospitals speedily due to shortage of ambulances;
(b)	of the measures to improve the situation in which patients cannot be taken to hospitals speedily due to shortage of ambulances; and
(c)	whether it has reviewed if more ambulances should be procured to meet the demand for the service; if it has, of the result of the review?

(a)	they have demanded ESF to submit a financial report audited by an independent auditor, so as to have an understanding of its accounts and management; if so, when ESF will submit such a report; if not, of the reasons for that;
(b)	as it is stipulated in the Audit Ordinance (Cap. 122) that the Chief Executive may, in the public interest, authorize the Director of Audit ("Director") in writing to audit the accounts of any body corporate, whether the authorities will consider authorizing the Director to audit the accounts of ESF; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(c)	they will set up a mechanism for handling complaints about the financial control of subvented organizations in order to strengthen the supervision over these organizations and to avoid a wastage of public money; if so, when such a mechanism will be set up; if not, of the reasons for that?

(a)	of the respective numbers of claims made against bus companies in respect of the above accidents in 2003 and those which were successful, and the reasons for failure to make claims;
(b)	of the details of serious body injuries, disabilities or even deaths caused by such accidents; and
(c)	whether the authorities have studied jointly with various bus companies measures to reduce such accidents; if so, whether the scope of the study covers the measures to reduce the possibility of passengers sustaining injuries because of difficulty in holding handrails firmly in crowded bus compartments?

(a)	the total number of civil servants in the Old Pension Scheme ("OPS"), and the number of directorate civil servants among them;
(b)	the numbers of directorate civil servants who have reached/will reach the retirement age of 55 under OPS this and in the next two years and have to/will have to retire, broken down by salary point; and
(c)	its plans to avoid a succession gap among the directorate civil servants in order to ensure the quality and efficiency in implementing Government policies?

(a)	of the target ratio of RNs(P) to patients determined by the Hospital Authority ("HA"), and the actual ratio at the end of each of the past five years;
(b)	of the numbers of patient-days in respect of psychiatry inpatient services, attendances and new cases at psychiatric specialist outpatient clinics, as well as service attendances for community psychiatric services provided by HA in each of the past five years;
(c)	of the respective numbers of RNs(P) employed by HA and the Department of Health at the end of each of the past five years, and the numbers of new appointees and those who left the service, broken down by ranks and salary points respectively, in each of the past five years; and
(d)	based on the target ratio of RNs(P) to patients, the number of such nurses in service and their wastage rate, and the number of patients, of the number of places of pre-employment courses for such nurses that should have been offered in each of the past five years; the respective numbers of actual places of those courses and graduates in each of the past five years, as well as the number of places that will be offered in each of the next three years; and provide breakdowns of the aforesaid numbers based on places and graduates by training institutions, levels of the courses, and whether such courses are public-funded?

(a)	of the number of times HKMA intervened in the money market in the past two years;
(b)	whether HKMA has recently adopted a more proactive approach in the operation of the Currency Board System; and
(c)	how the Currency Board System is now intended to operate?

1. Merger of the two railway corporations and provision of interchange concessions
   
   Hon LAU Kong-wah: (Translation)
   
   That, as the Executive Council has formally invited the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited to conduct a merger study, and given that the plan will have far-reaching implications for the future fare structures of the two railway corporations, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously announce the outcome of the merger study by the two railway corporations after it has been completed before the end of August, in order to facilitate public consultation and ensure that the merger will alleviate the burden on the public; furthermore, before the implementation of the merger plan, the Government should give impetus to the two railway corporations to reduce their fares and encourage them to cooperate in introducing interchange concessions expeditiously.
   
   

   Amendments to Hon LAU Kong-wah's motion
   (i)	Hon LI Fung-ying: (Translation) To add "the employees and" after "far-reaching implications for"; to delete "public" after "in order to facilitate"; to add "with the employees of the two railway corporations and the public," after "consultation"; to add "not affect the employment, conditions of work, and the rights and benefits of these employees, and will" after "and ensure that the merger will"; and to add "of the fares" after "alleviate the burden".
   (ii)	Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation) To add "ensure that the merged railway corporation will adopt a fare adjustment process which is based on a price-cap model for determining fares in the future, and" after "this Council urges the Government to"; to delete "and ensure that the merger will alleviate the burden" after "in order to facilitate public consultation" and substitute with "; meanwhile, the Government should also ensure that after the merger, other public transport operators can still have healthy competition with the merged railway corporation, thereby alleviating the burden of the fares"; and to delete "expeditiously" after "introducing interchange concessions" and substitute with "as a first step, and then abolish interchange fares to pave the way for implementing the recommendation in the Second Railway Development Study on closer integration of the fares of various rails to benefit the public".
   (iii)	Hon Miriam LAU: (Translation) To delete "alleviate" after "ensure that the merger will" and substitute with "be in the public interest, increase the synergy between the two railway corporations, improve the service quality and provide room for fare adjustments with a view to alleviating"; and to delete "encourage them to co-operate" after "to reduce their fares and" and substitute with "strengthen their co-operation".

   Public Officer to attend

   :

   Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

   
   
2. Restoring the public's confidence in consuming live poultry
   
   Hon Tommy CHEUNG: (Translation)
   
   That, as the successive outbreaks of avian flu in various parts of Asia has caused the public's confidence in consuming live poultry to sag drastically, dealing a severe blow to the livelihood of those engaged in the live poultry and other related trades, this Council urges the Government, while continuing to adopt rigorous measures to prevent the outbreak of the disease, to make every effort to restore the public's confidence in consuming live poultry, and provide compassionate measures for the affected stall or shop operators, including granting discretionary rent reduction or waiver to the tenants of stalls or shops in government premises and offering low interest loans to the trades concerned, so as to tide them over the difficult times until their normal business resumes.
   
   Amendment to Hon Tommy CHEUNG's motion
   Hon WONG Yung-kan: (Translation)
   
   To add "and to allow the importation of quarantined healthy live poultry, day-old chicks, and chilled and frozen poultry carcasses from farms in Guangdong Province designated for export to Hong Kong from 21 days after the occurrence of the last avian flu case in the Province," after "to make every effort to restore the public's confidence in consuming live poultry,"; to delete "stall or shop" after "and provide compassionate measures for the affected"; and to add "and employees engaged in the trades concerned" after "operators".
   
   Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food