A 03/04-22

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 17 March 2004 at 2:30 pm

(a)	of the number of cases reported to the authorities regarding unlawful acts committed by using the camera functions of mobile phones in the past year, whether there is an upward trend for such unlawful acts, and whether the authorities have instituted prosecutions in such cases; if prosecutions have been instituted, of the offences involved and the prosecution results;
(b)	whether there are express provisions prohibiting users of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's venues, in which changing rooms are provided, from bringing their mobile phones with built-in camera functions into these changing rooms; if so, how such provisions are implemented; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether the authorities have any plans to monitor the use of the camera functions of mobile phones through legislation or other measures, so as to safeguard privacy and prevent unruly elements from engaging in unlawful activities using such functions?

(a)	whether it has decided to provide noise enclosures for the above road section in order to mitigate the traffic noise; if it has decided to do so, of the timetable and other relevant details of the works; if it has decided otherwise or not yet decided, the reasons for that; and
(b)	of the measures to prevent falling objects from endangering users of the road section concerned, and the amount of expenditure on these measures?

(a)	of the amount of public money spent on the promotion and publicity of the Basic Law in each of the past six years; whether certain provisions of the Basic Law have been selected as the focal points in such promotional activities; if so, of the provisions selected;
(b)	whether it has assessed changes in the understanding of the Basic Law among civil servants, employees of subvented organizations and members of the public respectively over the past six years; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether, in conducting consultations on policies involving provisions in the Basic Law, it has assessed the level of understanding of the relevant provisions among members of the public, and whether it has taken corresponding measures to ensure that they understand the contents of the provisions when discussing these policies?

(a)	of the criteria for determining the types of public works projects to be delivered by way of the PPP approach;
(b)	of the public works projects which will be delivered by way of the PPP approach in the next three years; and
(c)	given that Article 73(3) of the Basic Law stipulates that the Legislative Council shall exercise the powers and functions to approve public expenditure, how it will ensure that the delivery of public works projects by way of the PPP approach will not contravene the spirit of that provision?

(a)	the respective specific responsibilities and the total annual expenditure on the salaries, benefits and performance incentive awards of each of these posts;
(b)	how the establishment of the above posts will enhance the quality of service of public hospitals; and
(c)	if HA will conduct a value-for-money assessment on the above posts; if it will, of the assessment criteria to be adopted?

(a)	the number of reports to the Police on the above cases in the past three years; and
(b)	the concrete measures and plans to curb such crimes?

(a)

of the criteria and procedures adopted by the authorities in vetting and approving applications from overseas airlines for introducing new air services and increasing flight frequencies; the respective numbers of these two types of applications rejected in the past three years and the reasons for rejection, and whether, as a result of the rejection, any overseas airline has excluded Hong Kong from its aviation network; and

(b)

whether it knows the Hong Kong Airport Authority's plans for securing the sustained growth of its air passenger/cargo business and maintaining Hong Kong's position as an aviation hub in the Asia Pacific Region?

(a)	of the reasons for constructing a heliport at that location, the estimated construction cost and average number of helicopter flights per day;
(b)	why the heliport is to be used exclusively by the Government Flying Service, and whether it plans to open up the heliport for commercial helicopter flights; and
(c)	whether it has plans to construct a permanent heliport in the vicinity of that location or at another location; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	of the respective numbers of complaints received by the relevant departments over the past three years about the obstruction of private roads by vehicles and the unrepaired surfaces of private roads;
(b)	how existing legislation regulates the problem of emergency vehicles' access to private roads being blocked by vehicles parked on such roads; and
(c)	whether the departments concerned have advised the relevant owners to carry out repairs on rugged private roads; if they have, of the respective numbers of cases of compliance and non-compliance with the advice by the relevant owners over the past three years; the reasons for non-compliance and how such cases were followed up; if they have not, the reasons for that?

(a)	the total area of slab-paved pavements at present, as well as its percentage in the overall area of pavements in the territory; and
(b)	the frequency of inspections on such pavements conducted by staff of the Highways Department?

(a)	of the number of cases received by the Police over the past three years from the public complaining that someone took photos of or peeped at them clandestinely with intent in public places, broken down by months and districts in which such cases occurred, and the number of persons convicted for carrying out such illegal activities, as well as the sentences imposed on them;
(b)	of the means generally used by those who are involved in clandestine photo-taking or peeping with intent; and
(c)	whether it has reviewed if the Police's general practice in preventing and handling such cases and the relevant anti-crime publicity are effective and timely; if it has, of the review results?

(a)	of the number of people arrested for crimes involving IT over the past 18 months and, among them, the number of youngsters who were aged 18 or below;
(b)	whether it has formulated measures or guidelines to strengthen the security level of online games, such as requiring that game systems meet specific security standards or be subject to regular security audits; and
(c)	whether it has formulated measures to strengthen the promotion of "Cyber Ethics" and awareness of information security, so as to educate children and youngsters on the correct attitude and conduct to adopt when using IT, and enhance the level of the public's security awareness in handling day-to-day computer information; if it has, of the details of such measures?

(a)	of the number of injuries involving the use of escalators in each of the past three years and the respective numbers of such injuries involving escalators installed before the CoP came into effect;
(b)	of the number of escalators which had been installed before the CoP came into effect, and the number of them that are currently fitted with deflector devices; and
(c)	whether it will strengthen the regulation on the construction of escalators and standardize the safety specifications for escalators installed in different periods; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	of the number of directional signs provided for the pedestrian subway;
(b)	of the respective numbers of complaints about ambiguous directional signs and requests for more directional signs from the public since the opening of the subway; and
(c)	whether it has assessed if the above directional signs are ambiguous; if the assessment results indicate that they are, the improvement measures in place?

(a)	how the number of thefts in various districts in the first six months since the implementation of the Individual Visit Scheme compares with that of the previous six months;
(b)	of the number of Mainlanders holding individual visit endorsements arrested for alleged thefts so far;
(c)	of the details of the Police's plan to set up the anti-theft squad; and (d) whether the Police has redeployed its manpower to cope with these crimes?

(a)	the current number of intermediaries who have complied with the Guidelines' requirement of segregating the research function from the sales, dealing and corporate finance functions in their firms, and their percentage in the total number of intermediaries;
(b)	the measures adopted by SFC to ensure that intermediaries and their representatives strictly comply with the relevant requirements of the Code and the Guidelines;
(c)	the number of cases in the past three years in which SFC took disciplinary actions against intermediaries and their representatives for suspected breaches of the requirements of the Code and the Guidelines and, among such cases, the number of those in which the persons were penalized by civil sanctions or convicted for having engaged in "market misconduct" under the Securities and Futures Ordinance; and (d) the details, including the implementation timetable and the resources required, of SFC's plan to step up investor education with the objective of enhancing investors' awareness of the conflict-of-interest issues relating to securities analysts?

(a)	the respective average daily numbers of passengers who have enjoyed the above discount since the opening of the West Rail, and the total amount of the discount involved; and
(b)	if MTRCL will make the above concession plan a long-term practice and give further concessions so as to alleviate the burden of travelling expenses on passengers and attract more West Rail passengers to change to take MTR trains at these two stations; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

1. Proposed resolution under the Legal Aid Ordinance
   
   Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion:
   
   RESOLVED -
   
   

   (a)	that the Legal Aid Ordinance (Cap. 91) be amended -
   	(i)	in section 5(1), by repealing "$169,700" and substituting "$155,800";
   	(ii)	in section 5A(b) -
   		(A)	by repealing "$169,700" and substituting "$155,800";
   		(B)	by repealing "$471,600" and substituting "$432,900"; and
   (b)	that this Resolution shall come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Director of Administration by notice published in the Gazette.

2. Proposed resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance
   
   Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in Appendix I.
   
   
3. Proposed resolution under the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance
   
   Secretary for Security to move the following motion:
   
   That the notice, as annexed to this Motion, which specifies the revised criteria that a person must satisfy before the Commissioner of Police may, under the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance, issue to him a permit to do security work, be approved.

   (The annex to the Motion is in Appendix II)
   
   

1. Respecting and complying with the principles prescribed in the Basic Law
   
   Hon James TO: (Translation)
   
   That this Council urges the Task Force on Constitutional Development to consult, in a pragmatic manner, the public on concrete proposals of constitutional reform, to avoid unnecessary arguments, causing social polarisation and instability; and to express to the Central Government that the principles prescribed in the Basic Law shall be respected and complied with in implementing constitutional reform.
   
   Amendment to Hon James TO's motion
   Hon TAM Yiu-chung: (Translation)
   
   To delete "consult," after "Task Force on Constitutional Development to" and substitute with "expeditiously clarify,"; to add "with the Central Government the principles and procedure relating to constitutional development, and promote rational discussions among various sectors of the community; and to establish positive and interactive discussions with the Central Government, with a view to formulating, on the basis of respecting and strictly complying with the principles prescribed in the Basic Law, a constitutional development proposal that fully implements the concept of 'One Country, Two Systems' whereby Hong Kong people rule Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy, so as to develop a democratic and stable situation in Hong Kong and avoid" after "in a pragmatic manner,"; to delete "the public on concrete proposals of constitutional reform, to avoid unnecessary arguments," before "causing social polarisation"; and to delete "; and to express to the Central Government that the principles prescribed in the Basic Law shall be respected and complied with in implementing constitutional reform" after "and instability".
   
   

   Public Officers to attend

   :

   Chief Secretary for Administration Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

   
   
2. Corporate social and environmental responsibility
   
   Hon CHOY So-yuk: (Translation)
   
   That, in order to enhance Hong Kong's international image and its position as a financial centre and achieve sustainable development, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously develop a partnership relationship with the business sector, public organizations and voluntary agencies, etc, and to discuss with them to jointly formulate effective ways to implement the concept of corporate social and environmental responsibility; at the same time, the Government should direct the public sector to take the lead in implementing the relevant actions and, through extensive education and publicity, raise the public's awareness of corporate social and environmental responsibility as well as give impetus to the corporations concerned to shoulder their responsibility.
   
   Public Officer to attend : Chief Secretary for Administration