A 09/10-3

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 21 October 2009 at 11:00 am

(a)	how the Government assesses the demand and supply situation of columbarium niches in the next decade, including the estimated number of deaths, the number of new niches the Government can provide and the number of new niches which can be provided in the private sector; what plans the Government has in place to address the shortfall of columbarium niches;
(b)	of the permitted sites for the construction of private columbarium facilities under the current planning standards and land leases; what criteria are adopted by the Government for vetting and approving planning applications for the construction of columbarium facilities, and what restrictions are imposed on the construction of such facilities; and
(c)	whether the Government will consider formulating comprehensive policies and amending the law to comprehensively regulate the site allocation, construction, planning, management and charges, etc. of columbarium facilities, so as to enable the construction of such facilities at appropriate locations and, at the same time, safeguard the interests of consumers?

(a)	regarding the reform of the overall financial regulatory framework, whether any proposal (e.g. establishment of a unified regulator or the adoption of the "Twin Peaks" model of regulation and appointment of an independent financial ombudsman, or consideration of amending the existing regime only) is being studied by the authorities; if so, of the specific scope and contents of the proposals and consultation schedule therefor; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	given that one of the causes of the financial tsunami was that senior staff of European and American financial institutions, in seeking high return and robust business growth, had created a large number of complicated and high risk derivative products, resulting in incessant expansion and transmission of risks, and the G20 Summit earlier held in the United States has therefore reached an agreement to regulate the remuneration schemes of senior staff of financial institutions, how the authorities will implement this agreement in Hong Kong, including whether they will effect regulation by way of legislation and require financial institutions to set up comprehensive risk management systems; if they will, of the specific measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether the authorities will consider establishing a central clearing and trading platform for off-market derivative financial products, so as to strengthen the regulation and enhance the transparency of such products; if they will not, of the reasons for that?

(a)	of the number and percentage of diesel commercial vehicles which have been replaced under such scheme so far, as well as the total amount of grants involved;
(b)	whether it has studied the causes for the consistently low number of applications under the grant scheme; apart from the technical problems with Euro IV vehicles as reflected by the trade, whether there are other causes; how the Government will solve these problems so as to assist the trade in making applications before the expiry of the grant scheme as far as possible; and
(c)	whether it will consider the following measures, which include extending the deadline for applications of the grant scheme and raising the amount of grant, providing other support, relaxing the requirements of the grant scheme to cover younger vehicles, as well as converting the remaining funds after the expiry of the grant scheme to interest-free or low-interest loans to continue to assist the trade in replacing their vehicles with more environment-friendly ones, so as to maximize the effectiveness of the grant scheme?

(a)	it has studied who should bear the price difference of the investment product during the cooling-off period when the investor ultimately decides to cancel the order, and if the difference is to be borne entirely by the issuer or its agents (including banks), whether it will cause any damage to the operation of the relevant industries;
(b)	the authorities can implement the aforesaid proposals in the form of temporary contract, which allows the price of a product to be determined only after the investor has confirmed the transaction upon the expiry of the cooling-off period; and
(c)	the authorities have studied the feasibility of introducing cooling-off periods for different investment products; in respect of products whose prices can be highly volatile within a short period, whether the setting up of cooling-off periods will give speculators the opportunity to disrupt the smooth operation of the financial market?

(a)	regarding the statement the Government made, without conducting any independent investigation, that the Secretary had not politically interfered in the social work profession, whether the Government has harboured anyone and shielded his fault, and whether it will consider afresh the conduct of an independent investigation; if there is such a situation and an investigation will be conducted, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	given that it has been reported that the Secretary, without conducting any investigation, had commented and expressed opinion on the acts of the social workers concerned and their impact on the community, whether the Government has assessed if there has been any misconduct on the part of the Secretary; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, whether it will require the Secretary to take the blame and resign as well as provide compensation to the victims; and
(c)	how the Government rectifies and improves similar political behaviour of senior government officials, as well as how it ensures that such officials, especially Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux, will not interfere with the work of the professional sectors through politics?

(a)	whether it has collected statistics on the number of cases of Hong Kong businessmen on the Mainland seeking assistance from the offices of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Mainland, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau in the past three years; if it has, of a breakdown of such cases by the issues (including the "avoidance of double taxation") involved;
(b)	what support services were given by the Government to the Hong Kong businessmen on the Mainland in the cases in (a) which involved "Arrangement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation"; and
(c)	given that, in accordance with a document entitled "Letter related to investigating the charging of Enterprises Income Tax on the provision of service by foreign institutions to domestic enterprises through deployment of the former's personnel" issued by the State Administration of Taxation on 2 July this year, a foreign enterprise, in deploying non-Mainland residents, including Hong Kong permanent residents, to the Mainland to provide service or take up management positions in its mainland subsidiaries, may be regarded as a "permanent establishment" and will thus be subject to Business Tax and Enterprises Income Tax, whether the Government has come across relevant cases of Hong Kong businessmen seeking assistance or making enquires, and taken the initiative to understand from the mainland authorities the contents of the document and details of enforcement, as well as assessed the impact of the relevant arrangement on Hong Kong enterprises?

(a)	of the number of times in the past three years of TD failing to update the traffic signs concerned at the same time the speed limits were changed upon publication of a notice in the Gazette; the names of the roads/road sections concerned and the reasons for not updating the traffic signs at the same time;
(b)	whether it has looked into the difficulties posed by the above inconsistencies in speed limits to prosecution actions by the Police against speeding; of the respective numbers of cases involving inconsistencies in speed limits in the past three years in which the Police continued or suspended its enforcement actions, together with a breakdown of the duration of suspension of enforcement actions in respect of each road/road section concerned; and whether the Police has reflected to TD the difficulties it encounters in carrying out enforcement actions on such roads/road sections; if so, of the response; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	what measures TD will implement to tackle the above problem, as well as when such measures will be implemented?

(a)	whether it has studied the reasons for the continuous increase in electricity consumption in Hong Kong over the past few years;
(b)	of the projected electricity consumption in Hong Kong in the next five years, and the basis for the projection;
(c)	of the specific measures to be implemented to encourage domestic households and commercial establishments respectively to reduce electricity consumption; and
(d)	given that some political parties and environmental organizations have suggested the introduction of a "carbon bonus point" scheme whereby the amount of electricity saved will be converted to bonus points which can be used to exchange for government cash rebate or settle government fees, whether the authorities have studied such a scheme; whether they have discussed with the two power companies the feasibility of the scheme; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	the Civil Aviation Department will, in vetting and approving applications submitted by airlines for adjusting fuel surcharges, require the airlines to bear the expenses incurred by travel agents in collecting fuel surcharges on their behalf when selling air tickets; if it will, when the relevant measure can be implemented; if not, of the justifications for that; and
(b)	the Government will directly pay travel agents the expenses incurred in collecting APDT on its behalf, or adopt appropriate measures to make the airlines concerned pay such expenses; if it will, when the measure can be implemented; if not, of the justifications for that?

(a)	of the total volume in cubic metres of fresh water lost due to water mains bursts in the past three years, the value of fresh water lost as calculated by its unit cost as well as the other related economic losses incurred;
(b)	of the number of reports of water mains bursts received by WSD in each of the past three years and the district distribution of such incidents; and
(c)	given that in the incident of underground fresh and salt water mains bursts in Eastern Street of Sai Ying Pun this September, the repair service staff of WSD took one hour and five minutes to isolate the burst main from water sources upon receipt of report, of the details of the notification mechanism for handling incidents of water mains bursts by WSD at present, as well as the average time required for the repair service staff to isolate the burst mains from water sources?

(a)

of the progress of the feasibility study on aligning the fees and charges; if the study has been completed, of the results; and whether the fees and charges will be aligned; if so, of the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

(b)

as the Community Sports Committee of the Sports Commission has recently published the report of the study "Sport for All - Participation Patterns of Hong Kong People in Physical Activities", and one of the measures proposed by LCSD in response is to encourage members of the public to actively participate in sports and physical activities, whether the Government will adopt the lower amount of the existing fees and charges when setting the aligned fee level, so as to encourage members of the public to participate in sports?

(a)	given that the labels of some vegetables imported from the Mainland only set out the registration numbers of the collection and processing plants and do not provide any information on the vegetable farms concerned, how the authorities ensure that these vegetables come from registered farms; and
(b)	whether it will discuss with the mainland authorities ways to plug the above loophole, so as to prevent collection and processing plants from importing vegetables from unregistered farms into Hong Kong?

(a)	it has a timetable for setting up ICCMWs in other districts; if so, in which districts and when ICCMWs will be set up; and
(b)	it will increase the number of healthcare professionals (e.g. psychiatric nurses and occupational therapists) in ICCMWs?

(a)	whether the main purpose of establishing the indemnity fund is to protect public interests; and
(b)	the role of the indemnity fund in the above cases, and the measures put in place by the Government to safeguard the interests of those claimants?

(a)	the Government has plans to formulate a glass waste recycling policy; if it has not, of the reasons;
(b)	the Government will consider implementing policies (e.g. producer responsibility scheme on glass containers) to reduce the use of glass containers;
(c)	the Government will promote the use of eco-blocks made from glass containers and construction waste in order to increase the recovery of glass containers; and
(d)	the authorities have assessed the effectiveness of the glass container recycling programme for the hotel sector, which has been implemented for almost one year; if they have, of the results; and whether they will further promote the programme?

(a)	given that members of the trade are of the view that the original Notes No. 15 already reflected clearly the legislative intent of section 39E, and no problem has arisen from the enforcement of the relevant legislation, yet the Government amended in January 2006 the Notes relating to the enforcement of the Ordinance, of the reasons for that;
(b)	given that the Government had assured the former Legislative Council in 1986 that the departmental guidelines issued by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue in respect of section 39E would reflect the literal meaning and the legislative spirit of the legislation, whether the assurance was fulfilled when the Government amended the Notes concerned in 2006; if it was, how the new Notes reflect the legislative spirit of the legislation; if not, of the reasons for that;
(c)	given that the legislative intent of the above provision is to strike down acts of tax avoidance, and it has been especially stated that the provision only targets at the two leasing arrangements of sale and leaseback and leveraged leasing, why Hong Kong enterprises are denied depreciation allowances, even if they have not committed or intended to commit the above acts of tax avoidance, and have absolutely not involved in the above two leasing arrangements, but have merely made the machinery and plants available for use by factories or their outsourced manufacturers on the Mainland in accordance with general commercial arrangements (e.g. import processing arrangement), so as to manufacture commodities for sale by Hong Kong enterprises, and the profits of these Hong Kong enterprises are all subject to taxes in Hong Kong;
(d)	given that the Government had assured the former Legislative Council in 1986 that general leasing transactions and normal commercial transactions would not be affected by the provision, whether the relevant assurance is still valid today; if so, how it ensures that the assurance is complied with; if not, of the reasons for that;
(e)	whether it has assessed the actual impact of implementing the new Notes on normal economic activities; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(f)	whether, in implementing the new Notes, it has taken into consideration the situation of the northern migration of industries and regional economic integration in the Pearl River Delta at present; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(g)	whether it has taken into consideration that the new Notes have rendered Hong Kong enterprises unable to tie with the Mainland policy of requiring enterprises to upgrade and restructure, and have dealt a severe blow to the productivity and competitiveness of the manufacturing industry; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(h)	whether it has plans to review the above Notes and related legislation; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	of the opportunity cost for HA's doctors to serve as members of the above boards in each of the past five years;
(b)	whether it has plans to have the above two types of costs of services borne by employees' compensation insurance which employers take out for employees; and
(c)	as Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance (Cap. 360) and Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) stipulate that regarding the medical expenses for employees who are injured in accidents arising out of their employment or suffering from occupational diseases, the ceiling of payments which employers have to make is $280 per day, and very often this amount is not enough to cover the expenses incurred for treating those employees (e.g. the cost of the main medication which is used for treating mesothelioma and has to be paid by the patients themselves is $10,000 per injection), whether the Government has plans to raise the ceiling so that those employees will turn to private healthcare institutions for treatment and rehabilitation services, thus alleviating the burden on public healthcare services?

(a)	whether the authorities have issued any guidelines or criteria for determining what services must be provided by audiologists only;
(b)	whether the authorities have received any complaint in the past five years about people impersonating audiologists to provide audiological services; if they have, of the details;
(c)	whether the authorities have put in place any system to monitor audiological services; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(d)	how many audiologists had provided the services concerned in Hong Kong in the past five years; whether the authorities have assessed the manpower supply of audiologists in Hong Kong in the next five years; if they have, of the situation; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e)	whether the Government has considered widening the scope of application of elderly health care vouchers to cover audiological services (e.g. hearing tests); if it has, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	given that UNESCO requires that the governments concerned must put forward specific supporting policies for the conservation and preservation of items designated as world intangible cultural heritages, whether the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") Government has formulated specific policy proposals and plans for the preservation, conservation and development of Cantonese opera in accordance with such a requirement; if it has, of the details; if not, when the Government will formulate and introduce the relevant measures;
(b)	apart from the Yau Ma Tei Xiqu Activity Centre, the Ko Shan Theatre in Hung Hom which is being extended, and the Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District, whether the Government has plans to set up a dedicated permanent venue on Hong Kong Island for Cantonese opera performances; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c)	given that the relevant authorities on the Mainland have enacted specific legislation on the conservation of local traditional operas, whether the Government will follow the practices of the Mainland to conserve Cantonese opera or other traditional operas; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(d)	of the details of the latest cooperation programme drawn up by the HKSAR Government, the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Macao Special Administrative Region Government for the conservation and preservation of Cantonese opera;
(e)	whether the Government has conducted a review of the existing financial sponsorship mechanism for the development of Cantonese opera and increased the amount of such support as needed; if it has, of the details of the review and the outcome; if not, whether the Government will conduct the review shortly; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and
(f)	whether the Government has specific new plans at present to promote Cantonese opera and provide relevant training in schools to enable more young people to have exposure to and get to know Cantonese opera; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

(a)	of the number of repeaters in HKCEE in each of the past five years and, among them, the number and percentage of those who obtained S6 places;
(b)	in respect of S5 graduates in the current year who fail to obtain S6 places for the 2010-2011 academic year,
	(i)	what further education pathways will be available to them, and how these pathways differ from those of the past;
	(ii)	whether they will have the opportunity of repeating S5 in government and aided secondary schools and taking the 2011 HKCEE as school candidates; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for their being deprived of this choice and right;
	(iii)	whether they will have the opportunity of repeating S5 in private day schools or evening schools and taking the 2011 HKCEE as private candidates; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
	(iv)	whether they can choose to switch to Secondary 4 under the New Senior Secondary ("NSS") Academic Structure; if they can, how the authorities ensure that sufficient places are available in schools to accommodate these students; and
	(v)	whether they can choose to switch to S5 under the NSS academic structure; if they can, how the authorities ensure that sufficient places are available in schools to accommodate these students and appropriate subjects are offered to them; and
(c)	given that S6 places under the current academic structure will no longer be provided in 2011, what further education pathways will be available then to those candidates scoring 14 points or more in HKCEE to facilitate their articulation to local universities; how the authorities assess and appropriately address these candidates' demand for studying in government and aided secondary schools?

1. Facing up to the transport needs of people with disabilities
   
   Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung: (Translation)
   
   That this Council passed motions on a number of occasions over the past few years calling for improvement to transport facilities for people with disabilities and offer of concessionary transport fares to them, but the Administration, some statutory transport corporations and other public transport operators still fail to fully face up to and give effect to the motions; this Council strongly demands the Administration and various public transport operators to immediately and fully respond as well as give effect to the relevant motions previously passed by this Council and the recommendations in the Report of the Council's Subcommittee to Study the Transport Needs of and Provision of Concessionary Public Transport Fares for Persons with Disabilities in the last term, which include that the Government must implement the following measures:
   
   

   (a)	in order to effectively assist people with disabilities in integrating into society, to adopt legislative, administrative and financial measures to press various major public transport operators to offer concessionary fares to them;
   (b)	to put forth, in the near future, specific proposals and a timetable for introducing half-fare concession on public transport for all people with disabilities, so as to help them integrate into society and improve their life;
   (c)	to allocate additional resources to comprehensively improve the Rehabus service and, in particular, enhance such service for people with disabilities living in remote areas and new towns; and
   (d)	to step up consultation with people with disabilities to fully realize the concept of 'Transport for All', and strictly regulate public transport operators in providing barrier-free facilities, so as to enable more people with disabilities to use public transport and integrate into society.

   
   

   Amendment to the motion Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation) To add ", given that" after "That"; to add ", and the crux of the problem is the Government's lack of a specific policy on fare concessions for people with disabilities and determination to make improvements" after "give effect to the motions"; to delete "and" after "this Council strongly demands the Administration" and substitute with "to take the lead in implementing and pushing"; to delete ", which include that" after "last term" and substitute with "; in addition,"; to delete "measures" after "the Government must implement the following" and substitute with "concrete measures to more comprehensively address the transport needs of people with disabilities so as to enable them to integrate into society"; to add "(a) to take the lead in formulating a policy on fare concessions on public transport for people with disabilities; (b) to take the lead in setting an example and expeditiously implement the fare concession for people with disabilities as announced earlier by the MTR Corporation Limited;" after ":"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(c)"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete "and" after "new towns;" and substitute with "(f) to request the MTR Corporation Limited to expeditiously install facilities such as platform screen doors and automatic mechanical gap fillers for all its rail lines in order to strengthen platform safety and minimize the danger of blind people falling onto the rail tracks; (g) to study subsidizing people with disabilities in need to purchase electrical wheelchairs so as to facilitate them to use public transport; (h) to request the Transport Department to explore waiving the licence fee for people with disabilities who purchase private cars with a cylinder capacity of over 1 500 c.c. so as to make it convenient for them to carry larger and heavier electrical wheelchair and supporting equipment, provide additional auto-fuel allowances for people with disabilities, subsidize drivers with disabilities for using private tunnels and provide parking spaces for them, so that people with disabilities do not have to pay high transportation fees; and"; and to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(i)".

   
   

   Public Officers to attend

   :

   Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Transport and Housing

   
   
2. Defending freedom of the press
   
   Hon Emily LAU: (Translation)
   
   That some Hong Kong journalists, while covering news in Xinjiang, were assaulted, handcuffed and detained by law enforcement officers, and even accused slanderously by the local information office of inciting disturbance and violating the rules on news coverage; also, some Hong Kong journalists covering news in Sichuan were alleged by law enforcement officers of suspected possession of drugs and prohibited from going out; the above incidents have seriously undermined the freedom of news coverage and the public's right to know as well as damaged the core values of freedom of the press; this Council condemns such acts and urges the Government to adopt the following measures:
   
   

   (a)	to solemnly reflect to the Mainland authorities that the law enforcement officers on the Mainland be requested to respect civic rights and freedom of the press, refrain from illegally detaining, arresting or assaulting journalists, and request the Mainland authorities to impose severe punishment on the offenders and ensure that similar incidents will not happen again;
   (b)	in regard to the unjust investigation of the abovementioned incidents and the slanderous accusation against journalists by the Mainland authorities, to request the Mainland authorities to make clarifications and apologies, conduct a just investigation afresh and release the investigation results to the public; and
   (c)	to enquire with media organizations about the problems and difficulties encountered by journalists when covering news on the Mainland, so as to provide as much assistance as possible;

   
   this Council also urges media organizations to adopt the following measures to safeguard the security of journalists when covering news on the Mainland:
   
   

   (a)	to provide training to journalists to enrich their knowledge about the laws of the Mainland and enhance their abilities to handle unexpected serious incidents;
   (b)	to send more experienced journalists to take up news coverage of a more sensitive or dangerous nature; and
   (c)	to review the remuneration, insurance coverage and working hours of journalists and safeguard their personal safety, so as to avoid journalists leaving the profession and attract talents to pursue a career in journalism.

   
   

   Amendments to the motion
   (i)	Dr Hon Philip WONG: (Translation) To add "according to media reports, recently" after "That"; to delete "accused slanderously" after "and even" and substitute with "alleged"; to delete "seriously undermined" after "incidents have" and substitute with "obstructed"; to delete "damaged" after "as well as" and substitute with "affected"; to delete "condemns" after "the press; this Council" and substitute with "expresses grave concern about"; to delete "solemnly" after "(a) to"; to add "the concerns of the press in Hong Kong that the Mainland authorities are expected to ensure" after "reflect to the Mainland authorities"; to delete "be requested to" after "law enforcement officers on the Mainland" and substitute with "will"; to delete "request the Mainland authorities to" after "journalists, and"; to delete "and ensure that similar incidents will not happen again" after "the offenders" and substitute with ", in order to prevent such incidents from happening"; to delete "unjust investigation of the abovementioned incidents and the slanderous" after "in regard to the" and substitute with "serious"; to add "in the abovementioned incidents" after "by the Mainland authorities"; to delete "make clarifications and apologies," after "to request the Mainland authorities to"; and to delete "afresh" after "a just investigation".
   (ii)	Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong: (Translation) To add "expresses deep regret at some Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress refusing to issue a joint submission conveying their dissatisfaction to the Central Authorities; in this connection, the Council" after "such acts and".
   (iii)	Hon Miriam LAU: (Translation) To add "the Central People's Government to" after "apologies,".
   (iv)	Hon Ronny TONG: (Translation) To delete "and" after "the public;"; and to add "and (d) to strive for the Central Government's pledge to respect freedom of the press and abolish the requirement for Hong Kong journalists to apply for a press card before they can cover news on the Mainland; " after "possible;".

   
   Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs