A 03/04-12

Legislative Council

Agenda



Wednesday 17 December 2003 at 2:30 pm

(a)	if HA has conducted prior consultations with the doctors working in the liver transplant centre in PWH, patients' rights groups and those patients waiting to undergo liver transplant operations in PWH; if so, of the results of the consultations; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	the reasons for HA members or management turning down the proposal of using donations from the public to subsidize the liver transplant centre in PWH; and
(c)	if HA has any further plan to merge other organ transplant centres; if so, of the details of the plan?

(a)	of the statutory, administrative and other mechanisms or measures in place to prevent situations that may give rise to real or potential conflict of interests or favouritism on the part of DoA in discharging his duties, for example, where an audit review conducted by the Audit Commission involves a decision which DoA had made, or had taken part in making, during his service in government departments, or where the controlling officer of an audited body is his relative or former colleague in the civil service;
(b)	whether such mechanisms or measures have spelt out how to deal with the situation in which a former DoA may take up employment in a government department or an organization within the purview of DoA after his departure from office; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	of the actions to be taken to ensure that such mechanisms and measures are effective in preventing the situation in (a) above, and in handling the situation in (b) above?

(a)	of the total number of such duty visits made by CE since the reunification, the dates of each duty visit, whether CE has subsequently briefed LegCo on the details and outcome of the visits, and whether he will brief LegCo on his latest duty visit; if he will, when the briefing will take place;
(b)	whether CE is obliged to brief LegCo every time he returns from a duty visit to manifest the Executive Authorities' accountability towards LegCo; and
(c)	whether it plans to make it a convention for CE to brief LegCo upon his return from duty visits?

(a)	apart from the Lands Department, whether other government departments responsible for overseeing road traffic, environmental hygiene and road construction have exercised control over the cargo compartments being placed on roadsides or pavements; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	of the total number of applications for placing cargo compartments on the streets received by the authorities over the past three years, and the total number of persons prosecuted for unauthorized placing of cargo compartments on the streets; if the authorities have not instituted prosecutions, of the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether the authorities will consider treating the unauthorized placing of cargo compartments on the streets as illegal parking, littering or causing obstructions on passageways, so that the Police Force, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department or the relevant departments may prosecute the owners of the cargo compartments concerned?

(a)	of the progress of the above measures;
(b)	among the jobs which have been created by the relevant measures, of the types and number of jobs which will expire by March next year; and
(c)	whether the authorities will extend the employment periods of the jobs mentioned in (b); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	of the health control facilities currently installed in various control points;
(b)	whether it has conducted surprise checks to ensure strict enforcement of the health control measures by frontline staff at various control points;
(c)	of the respective numbers of travellers who refused to complete and return health declaration forms and those who refused to undergo health checks since March this year; how these cases were handled; and
(d)	of the number of complaints received from travellers regarding the health control measures?

(a)	of the types of work each disciplined service intends to outsource; and the numbers and ranks of the staff members whose work will be outsourced, broken down by whether they are civil servants, non-civil service contract staff, temporary staff and part-time staff;
(b)	whether the disciplined services have set timetables for the outsourcing exercise; if they have, of the detailed timetables; if not, the reasons for that and whether such reasons are related to their financial provision for the coming year;
(c)	how the disciplined services will deploy the manpower saved from the outsourcing exercise;
(d)	of the financial implications of the implementation of the outsourcing exercise on the disciplined services; whether additional financial provision will be allocated to the disciplined services concerned as a result of the exercise; if so, of the respective additional provision for each disciplined service; if not, the reasons for that;
(e)	of the criteria adopted by each disciplined service for deciding whether its work will be outsourced; whether the relevant disciplined services will consult their staff and staff unions prior to the decision to outsource their work; if so, of the form of consultation; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the authorities have assessed if the staff morale of the disciplined services will be affected by the outsourcing of some of their work; if they have, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;
(f)	how the authorities monitor the entire outsourcing process and the quality of the outsourced work; and
(g)	whether the authorities will conduct regular reviews on the outsourcing exercise with regard to its effectiveness, quality of the outsourced work and its impact on the relevant disciplined services and their staff?

(a)	whether it has plans to authorize lawyers to officiate at marriage registration, and to allow prospective couples to hold weddings at places other than the marriage registries or authorized places of public worship; if so, of the details and progress of the plans, and the qualifications required of the lawyers to be so authorized; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b)	of its plans to obtain the Mainland authorities' recognition of mainlanders' marriages which are registered in Hong Kong, so as to attract prospective couples from the Mainland to travel to Hong Kong and hold their weddings here, and thus boost the tourism of Hong Kong?

(a)	of the total number of accidents involving private medical laboratories in the conduct of laboratory tests over the past three years;
(b)	whether it knows if the United States and Canada have legislation for regulating private medical laboratories; if so, of the details; and
(c)	whether there is legislation regulating private medical laboratories; if so, of the details; if not, whether such legislation will be enacted?

(a)	of the number of relevant complaints received by the authorities concerned last year, the locations and number of people involved and, as well as the follow-up actions they have taken; and
(b)	whether it will consider stepping up enforcement actions against activities of driving goods vehicles around to collect discarded articles; if it will, of the details of such actions; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	whether the Police have obtained concrete information on such complaints and conducted investigations accordingly, and of the penalties to be imposed on those police officers confirmed to have committed the above acts;
(b)	whether the Police have taken the initiative to contact and follow up with the concern group; if so, of the details of such contacts and follow-up; if not, the reasons for that;
(c)	of the measures the Police have adopted for monitoring the conduct of police officers in anti-vice operations;
(d)	whether the relevant internal guidelines of the Police have specific provisions on the permissible body contacts between police officers carrying out anti-vice operations and sex workers; if so, of the details of such provisions; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e)	whether the Police have reviewed the procedures for instituting prosecutions against the sex workers arrested, in order to identify possible areas for improvement?

(a)	how it treats abandoned pets (such as dogs and cats); whether it knows the assistance offered by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) in this respect and whether the Society will provide shelter for abandoned pets; if it will, of the details;
(b)	of the number of pets put down because they have been abandoned or no adopters have been found for them in each of the past three years and the expenses involved, broken down by animal species; and
(c)	of the measures the authorities have to enhance public education on being kind to animals and to promote such a message to the community?

(a)	whether AFCD has consulted the relevant organizations and experts on the methods to be used when planning its operations to rescue or capture wild animals;
(b)	of the reasons for AFCD's inviting the Australian expert to come to Hong Kong to capture the crocodile, without first allowing or inviting local or Mainland experts to do the job; and
(c)	of the communication and cooperation between AFCD and local experts and voluntary organizations engaging in the study or conservation of wild animals; and whether their experiences and resources have been fully utilized to tackle problems in the management, rescuing, capturing and handling of wild animals?

(a)	of the reasons for having spent more than one month in establishing the panel of inquiry, as well as the difficulties encountered;
(b)	of the reasons for not appointing the panel under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance (Cap. 86) so that it will be vested with statutory powers to summon witnesses and gather evidence; and
(c)	whether they have stipulated that the panel of inquiry shall hold public hearings?

(a)	of the airport's level of attack risk each year based on the assessment results and overseas intelligence collected over the past three years, and whether the authorities have adopted special security measures in response to the risk level; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	of the number and types of forbidden items found by airport security officers in the course of inspecting passengers and goods in each of the past three years; and
(c)	whether the Aviation Security Company Limited ("AVSECO") provides updated training for its security officers on a regular basis, including training on security procedures such as passenger inspection, so as to enable them to act against the many and varied tricks of terrorists; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and of the details of the Airport Authority regular monitoring of the AVSECO's performance in the provision of security services?

(a)	of the total number of cardiologists in public hospitals and its ratio to the total number of such patients;
(b)	of the average waiting time for first appointments for cardiac consultation at each public hospital;
(c)	whether there are sufficient cardiologists in public hospitals to meet the demand for service;
(d)	of the percentage of the cardiologists in public hospitals who work in Grantham Hospital; and
(e)	of the measures to resolve the shortage of cardiologists in Grantham Hospital?

(a)	the development intensities, which the authorities decide to adopt following the above consultation, will be applicable to the development pattern of new public rental housing in the future planning; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(b)	it knows the criteria to be adopted by HA for optimizing the land resources for public housing development?

(a)	of the total number of jobs originally expected to be created by the Project, with a breakdown by job types;
(b)	whether it has assessed the impact of the postponement on Hong Kong's economy (including the recovery rate) and employment situation; if it has, of the results of assessment; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	of the circumstances under which the Administration will resume the Project?

1. Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance
   
   Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food to move the following motion:
   
   RESOLVED that -
   
   

   (a)	the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulation 2003; and
   (b)	the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulation 2003,
   made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 26 November 2003, be approved. (The two Regulations have been issued on 1 December 2003 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 218/03-04)

2. Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance
   
   Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food to move the following motion:
   
   RESOLVED that -
   
   

   (a)	the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulation 2003; and
   (b)	the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulation 2003,
   made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 26 November 2003, be approved. (The two Regulations have been issued on 1 December 2003 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 218/03-04)

1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
   
   Hon Margaret NG to move the following motion:
   
   RESOLVED that in relation to the Summary Disposal of Complaints (Solicitors) Rules, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 251 of 2003 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 26 November 2003, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 14 January 2004.
   
   
2. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
   
   Hon Cyd HO to move the following motion:
   
   RESOLVED that the -
   
   

   (a)	Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Cap. 549) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 227 of 2003;
   (b)	Chinese Medicine (Fees) Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg. E) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 228 of 2003; and
   (c)	Chinese Medicines Regulation (Cap. 549 sub. leg. F) (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 2003, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 229 of 2003,
   and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 29 October 2003, be repealed.

   Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
   
   
3. Digital 21 Strategy
   
   Hon SIN Chung-kai: (Translation)
   
   That this Council considers that the Government should take the opportunity of reviewing the Digital 21 Strategy to promote the use of information technology ("IT") by local enterprises, the public and the Government itself so as to achieve the target of enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness and creating business opportunities for the IT industry; the Government should also tie in with the Mainland's IT policies and understand the complementary advantages of the IT industries in both places, with a view to facilitating co-operation between enterprises in Hong Kong and the Mainland in receiving IT goods orders from the world market, developing products jointly or promoting Mainland products in the world market, thereby achieving mutual benefits.
   
   
   Amendment to Hon SIN Chung-kai's motion
   Hon Howard YOUNG: (Translation)
   
   To add "enhance the exploitation of the market opportunities in the Mainland for the local telecommunications industry brought about by the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement," after "the Government should also"; to delete "co-operation between" after "with a view to facilitating"; and to delete "and the Mainland" after "enterprises in Hong Kong" and substitute with "in developing the Mainland market or co-operating with the Mainland enterprises".
   
   Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
   
   
4. Labelling Scheme on Nutrition Information
   
   Hon Fred LI: (Translation)
   
   That this Council urges the Government to expeditiously introduce a mandatory labelling scheme on nutrition information for prepackaged food and draw up a legislative timetable to implement, in three years' time, the first and second phases of the scheme as proposed in the consultation paper, so as to facilitate consumers in choosing foods that are beneficial to health; besides, as the international community has not yet arrived at a consensus on how to regulate foods for infants and foods prepared for people with special dietary needs, this Council also asks the Government to carry out a study as soon as possible, to explore the feasibility of including these food products in the scheme.
   
   Amendment to Hon Fred LI's motion
   Hon Mrs Selina CHOW: (Translation)
   
   To delete "the Government to expeditiously introduce" after "That this Council urges" and substitute with "that, before introducing"; to delete "and draw up a legislative timetable to implement, in three years' time, the first and second phases of the scheme as proposed in the consultation paper" after "prepackaged food" and substitute with ", the Government should conduct a regulatory impact assessment, taking into account the views of the public, consumers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, suppliers and retailers, and make reference to relevant overseas experience and practices"; and to delete "; besides, as the international community has not yet arrived at a consensus on how to regulate foods for infants and foods prepared for people with special dietary needs, this Council also asks the Government to carry out a study as soon as possible, to explore the feasibility of including these food products in the scheme" after "foods that are beneficial to health".
   
   Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food