A 12/13-8
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 21 November 2012 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instrument | L.N. No. |
|---|---|
| Import and Export (General) Regulations (Amendment of Schedule 7) Notice 2012 | 173/2012 |
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 26 | - | Prisoners' Education Trust Fund Report by the Trustee for the period from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Security)
| |||
| 2. | No. 27 | - | Report of changes made to the approved Estimates of Expenditure during the second quarter of 2012-13 Public Finance Ordinance: Section 8 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
| |||
| 3. | Report No. 4/12-13 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the implementation of the statutory minimum wage ("SMW") has changed the salary structure of the labour market, resulting in a "reshuffle effect" and quite a number of restaurants as well as small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") have therefore encountered great difficulties in recruitment of staff. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) apart from commissioning a consultancy study on pay hierarchies in the retail and catering trades, whether the Government has conducted any survey on the impact of the implementation of SMW on the business environment; if it has, of the rates of increase in wage cost for various trades (particularly the catering and retail trades); (b) whether it has surveyed how the implementation of SMW has caused a "reshuffle effect" in the labour market, as well as the difficulties in staff recruitment posed to restaurants and SMEs by such a situation; if it has, of the number of trades affected and the extent to which they have been affected; if not; the reasons for that; and (c) whether it has surveyed the situation where enterprises passed onto consumers the cost increases arising from the implementation of SMW (e.g. property management companies raising management fees), as well as the ripple effect on commodity prices triggered by such a situation; if it has conducted such a survey, of the rates of increase in commodity prices?
2. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
It is a government policy not to encourage members of the public to use bicycle as a mode of transport in the urban areas, and cycling is regarded merely as a leisure and recreational activity. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities will comprehensively review the role that bicycle should assume in the entire transport system and consider afresh making bicycle a mode of general transport, with a view to promoting the development of low-carbon transport effectively; if they will, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (b) of the amount of resources allocated (including those allocated for publicity and education) in the past three years by the authorities for formulating bike-friendly policies and perfecting complementary measures and planning for cycling in various districts, as well as the results achieved (e.g. the length of cycle lanes increased and number of bicycle parking spaces newly provided, the efforts in improving safety facilities, etc.), with a breakdown by year and work initiative; whether they know the arrangements made and restrictions imposed by public transport operators on carriage of bicycles by passengers; and whether they will take the initiative to require various public transport operators to put in place arrangements which are more convenient and bike-friendly; and (c) whether it has formulated objective criteria for assessing if it is suitable to adopt bicycle as a major mode of transport and implement relevant trial schemes in new development areas ("NDAs") (e.g. West Kowloon Reclamation Development and Kai Tak Development); if it has not, of the reasons for that; if it has formulated such criteria, the details and the NDAs which have been assessed with such criteria, as well as details of the planning concerned?
3. Dr Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of vehicular flyovers (e.g. Kwai Chung Road Flyover which passes through Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Ma Tau Wai Road Flyover in Hung Hom and Tsing Fung Street Flyover in Tin Hau) and expressways in Hong Kong cut through the old districts. Many residents living beside such flyovers and expressways have relayed to me that they have been affected by the traffic noise nuisance for a long time, but the authorities have not implemented effective improvement measures so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the number of traffic noise black spots throughout Hong Kong which are similar to the aforesaid situations, as well as the number of residents affected; (b) whether the authorities measure the noise levels at the black spots concerned on a regular basis and assessed their impact on the residents' health; and (c) of the reasons why the authorities have not yet retrofitted noise barriers at such vehicular flyovers and expressways?
4. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
The yearly number of days on which the Air Pollution Index exceeded 100 (i.e. air pollution reaching a "very high" level) as recorded by the roadside air quality monitoring stations of the Environmental Protection Department had increased continuously in the past seven years. The Secretary for the Environment indicated earlier that in order to address this problem, the authorities would examine the phasing out of old diesel commercial goods vehicles, including making reference to the practices on the Mainland and places outside Hong Kong of not renewing the licences of diesel goods vehicles which had reached 15 years of age. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of a breakdown of the current number of commercial vehicles by vehicle class (including light, medium and heavy goods vehicles, public and private light buses, non-franchised buses as well as franchised buses) and the emission standard (i.e. pre-Euro, Euro I, Euro II, Euro III, Euro IV or above) with which they comply, and among such vehicles, the numbers of those which are 15 years old or above; (b) of the number of applications received by the authorities since the introduction of the incentive schemes in 2007 from owners of diesel commercial vehicles to switch to more environment-friendly commercial vehicles, as well as the total amount of grant approved; of the classes of vehicles in respect of which the numbers of applications are relatively smaller, and whether they have assessed the reasons for that; how the authorities assess the effectiveness of these incentive schemes; and (c) apart from considering the aforesaid measure of not renewing vehicle licences, whether the authorities will consider providing greater incentives (including extending the implementation period of the above-mentioned incentive schemes, increasing the amount of grant, providing low-interest loans or exempting the vehicle first registration tax, etc.), so as to encourage the trade to switch to more environment-friendly commercial vehicles; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)
On 30 August this year, the Chief Executive put forward 10 measures to increase housing supply, including a project to convert the Chai Wan Factory Estate ("CWFE") under the Hong Kong Housing Authority for public rental housing ("PRH") use ("conversion project"). The conversion project will provide about 180 one-person flats and one-bedroom flats and, in response to the local community's aspiration for conserving this only remaining H-shape factory building in Hong Kong, will preserve the original structure and appearance of the factory building. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether, prior to the Chief Executive's announcement of the conversion project, the Antiquities Advisory Board had conducted any historical building assessment for CWFE or deliberated on its conservation work; if so, of the details; if not, whether studies on the conservation of CWFE will be conducted before works of the conversion project commence; (b) given that CWFE was not originally designed for residential use, if it has assessed whether the conversion project will involve numerous structural alterations inside the building (such as adding lifts, windows and toilets, etc.), whether the alterations will make the appearance of the factory building lose its original characteristics, and whether this will thus defeat the original intent of conserving the factory building; if it has, of the assessment outcome; and (c) given that CWFE is located at the centre of Chai Wan near the MTR station, if it has assessed whether the conversion project is cost-effective as it will provide merely 180 PRH units, how far the conversion project will help alleviate the public housing demand, how many PRH or Home Ownership Scheme flats may be provided by redeveloping the factory building, and whether the conversion project is the best option for comprehensive conservation of CWFE; whether it has studied converting the factory building for other uses, such as art and culture, information technology or a base for young people's start-up multi-media businesses?
6. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
Early this year, the Government identified 25 potential reclamation sites outside Victoria Harbour for public consultation, six of which are in Ma On Shan, Tai Po and Tseung Kwan O. Residents from these districts have pointed out to me that the six sites are either areas with picturesque natural landscapes, important ecological environments, or fish farms; therefore, many people in and outside these districts oppose the Government reclaiming these sites. Some residents have further pointed out that given the lack of public bathing beaches in Tolo Harbour of New Territories East at present, the authorities should designate one of the suggested reclamation sites, namely the Wu Kai Sha Beach, as a gazetted beach (commonly known as "statutory beach"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the progress of the technical studies conducted by the authorities in respect of reclamation in the aforesaid 25 sites, and the estimated time for making public the outcome of the studies and the list of possible reclamation sites for further consideration; (b) whether it will, as a priority measure, remove Wu Kai Sha Beach, which is closest to residential areas, from the list of potential reclamation sites and designate it as a statutory beach; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) given that the Government has indicated that when selecting reclamation sites, it will attach importance to the impact on the community and fully consider the views of members of the public, whether the authorities will remove the other five sites from the list of potential sites, so as to ease the worries of the residents as early as possible?
*7. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Early last year, I received complaints from residents of Whampoa Garden alleging that the ground floor access to a lift (lift no. 11) for use by persons with disabilities ("PWDs"), which was situated in Phase 7 of the housing estate, had been blocked with a metal gate by a shop at that location. This situation had caused great inconvenience to the elderly with mobility problems and PWDs. In reply to me regarding the complaints, the Buildings Department ("BD") indicated that it had written to the property owner concerned on 23 November 2011 to advise it to rectify the aforesaid irregularities. As the situation had not improved, BD issued a statutory order on 9 January this year to the property owner ordering it to make rectifications within 60 days. During a visit to the aforesaid location made by me and BD's officers in August, it was found that the property owner had not yet complied with the statutory order. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of BD's procedures for handling complaints about unauthorized building works received from members of the public; how BD will follow up the situation of property owners failing to comply with statutory orders within the specified period; whether the authorities will institute prosecutions against and impose additional penalties on those property owners who have all along failed to comply with statutory orders; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) given BD's indication in its written reply to me on 10 January this year that "[u]pon expiry of the deadline of the order, BD will send its staff to conduct inspection again. If the property owner concerned still fails to comply with the requirements in the order, BD will take further law enforcement action by instituting prosecution against the property owner", but up to August the aforesaid property owner had still failed to rectify the irregularities, whether the authorities have instituted prosecution against it; if not, of the reasons for that; and (c) of the latest development of the aforesaid case; whether it has assessed if the irregularities in the aforesaid case contravene the provisions in the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 487); if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, how the authorities will follow up the matter?
*8. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
It has been 15 years since the Transport Department commissioned the Third Comprehensive Transport Study ("CTS") in August 1997. During this period, the population, the number of visitors to Hong Kong as well as the volume of cross-boundary passenger and traffic flows have grown significantly, and public demand for public transport service has also changed and increased following the development of new towns as well as the implementation of the Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities. While the residents of some districts frequently complain about the inadequacy of public transport service, some public transport operators claim that they have incurred losses year after year due to insufficient patronage and are hence under pressure to increase fares. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the implementation progress of the various recommendations made in the Third CTS; whether any of the recommendations has not yet been implemented; if so, of the reasons for that; and (b) given that the Third CTS has formulated a transport strategy up to 2016 only, whether the authorities will commence the Fourth CTS within this year or early next year to make forward planning for the development of the transport system in the 10-odd years thereafter, and to position various modes of public transport in a clearer and more specific way, so as to facilitate their healthy development; if they will, of the details of the study (including the commencement date, contents and methodology, when the study can be completed and when the transport sector and the public will be briefed on the outcome); if not, of the data or reasons based on which the authorities decide not to conduct such study at this stage, and under what circumstances the authorities will consider commencing the study?
*9. Hon POON Siu-ping to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council of:
(a) the numbers of occupational injuries and deaths since January this year, and their respective breakdowns by industry; and (b) the annual number of prosecutions instituted by the authorities against employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (Cap. 509), the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance (Cap. 59) and the relevant subsidiary legislation since 2010, with a breakdown by the charges laid, the numbers of injuries and deaths involved and the court judgments; the general and the maximum penalties imposed on employers for various offences by the court?
*10. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask:
Since December 2009, the Government has implemented an "enhanced screening mechanism", which is a non-statutory and administrative scheme ("the Current Mechanism"), for handling torture claims made under Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ("CAT"). Even though the claimants have access to legal representation under the Current Mechanism, there has not been one successful claim so far. The Immigration (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 ("Amendment Ordinance"), which provides for a statutory process for making and determining claims, will come into operation on 3 December 2012. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that there has not been a successful claim under the Current Mechanism so far, whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the assessment criteria under the Current Mechanism in identifying persons in danger of being subjected to torture and protecting them from torture in accordance with CAT; if it has, of the outcome and details of the review; if not, the reasons for that; and (b) whether the assessment criteria to be employed to weigh the relevant considerations as set out in the Amendment Ordinance are different from those employed under the Current Mechanism; if not, of the reasons for that; if so, what the differences are, whether it has assessed if the number of successful claims will increase upon the commencement of the Amendment Ordinance, and how it will monitor the new assessment criteria's effectiveness in identifying persons in danger of being subjected to torture and protecting them from torture in accordance with CAT?
*11. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
To tie in with the Qualifications Framework ("QF") implemented in 2008, the authorities concurrently implemented a five-year Recognition of Prior Learning ("RPL") mechanism. Under the RPL mechanism, employees may obtain a Statement of Attainment at Levels one to three without the need to undergo any assessment simply by producing proofs of years of service and relevant experience verified by an assessment agency. Regarding QF and the RPL mechanism, will the Government inform this Council, as at October this year:
(a) of the measures implemented by the authorities to promote employees' applications for RPL; (b) of the total number of industries which have set up their Industry Training Advisory Committees ("ITACs"), the respective numbers of people employed in these industries and the respective percentages of these numbers in the total workforce in Hong Kong, and which of these ITACs have completed the task of drawing up their Specifications of Competency Standards; (c) of the accumulated numbers of QF-related training courses that have been offered in the market, with a breakdown by industry and the level of qualification attained, and the respective percentages of these numbers in the total number of courses offered; and list the numbers and the percentages of people who have completed the courses, with a breakdown by industry and the level of qualification attained; (d) of the number of industries which have put in place the RPL mechanism; the respective numbers of employees from these industries who have obtained qualification recognition through the RPL mechanism, with a breakdown by the level of qualification attained; and (e) as the five-year transitional period of the RPL mechanism for the three industries of Printing and Publishing, Watch and Clock, and Hairdressing will expire in May 2013, whether it will consider extending the transitional period; if not, of the reasons for that?
*12. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Recently, several incidents involving police officers which might lead to leakage of personal data of members of the public have occurred, including the loss of police notebooks and memory sticks by police officers, as well as some Police's confidential documents being found on the Internet due to the use of peer-to-peer sharing software by police officers. In response to such incidents, the Police have set up a working group led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police to explore improvement initiatives and adopt various measures to prevent recurrence of these incidents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the working group will comprehensively review if the existing measures adopted by the Police for protecting the privacy of members of the public are adequate; if it will, whether a detailed review report will be submitted to this Council; if it will not conduct such a review, of the reasons for that; (b) of the membership list of the working group, and whether representatives from the relevant sectors (e.g. the information technology sector) and Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data are included; and (c) whether short, medium and long term measures are included in the improvement initiatives being explored by the working group, so as to ensure that short and medium term measures will be put in place to enhance the protection of personal data of members of the public before the completion of the study and the implementation of long-term measures; if not, of the reasons for that?
*13. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
There were both students graduating under the new and the old academic structures for senior secondary education in 2012. Among the day school candidates for the first Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination ("HKDSEE") and the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination ("HKALE"), 26 431 and 18 212 of them respectively attained results meeting the general entrance requirements for publicly-funded tertiary institutions. On the other hand, the numbers of publicly-funded places provided by publicly-funded tertiary institutions for four-year and three-year undergraduate programmes were both 15 150, and places had to be reserved under each academic structure for students recruited through the non-Joint University Programmes Admissions System (estimated at about 2 500 places). Based on the aforesaid figures, in this year, about 14 000 and 5 700 candidates for HKDSEE and HKALE respectively, albeit having met the general entrance requirements for publicly-funded undergraduate programmes, could not be admitted to such programmes ("non-admitted graduates"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the pathways for the non-admitted graduates and, among them, the respective numbers of those who sought further studies abroad, and were admitted to self-financing undergraduate programmes and self-financing associate degree ("AD") programmes; (b) of the respective numbers of self-financing undergraduate programmes offered by each tertiary institution this year and last year, and the respective numbers of places of these programmes; as there were more non-admitted graduates this year as compared to some 5 000 graduates last year, whether it has assessed if the places offered by the new self-financing undergraduate programmes of this year are sufficient to meet the demand; whether it will consider subsidizing the non-admitted graduates, in the form of education vouchers or bought places, to study in undergraduate programmes; if it will not, of the reasons for that; (c) of the number of the graduates who have not been admitted to any undergraduate programmes but have met the entrance requirements for AD programmes; whether it has assessed if the places offered by AD programmes this year are sufficient to meet the demand; which institutions have over-enrolment of students in their AD programmes, and the respective numbers of students over-enrolled; whether it has assessed the increase in the demand for articulation places for the graduates from these AD programmes two years from now as a result of such over-enrolment, and how many articulation places the authorities plan to increase two years later; and (d) the teaching staff-to-students ratios, the percentages of teaching staff holding a doctoral degree, and the percentages of teaching staff working on a part-time basis for the various self-financing undergraduate programmes and self-financing AD programmes this year and last year; given that the number of students enrolled in these programmes has increased significantly this year as compared to last year, whether the authorities have assessed if there are sufficient teaching staff with appropriate academic qualifications and experience to teach in these programmes?
*14. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from quite a number of members of the public and groups saying that they have encountered many problems when dealing with cremation and burial matters for the deceased, including applying to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") for cremation permits, requesting for using eco-coffins, scattering cremated human ashes in Gardens of Remembrance ("GoRs") and waiting for niches, etc. Moreover, they have also encountered the problem of not being able to secure bookings of mourning halls in funeral parlours as they were fully booked. On the other hand, it has been recently reported in the press that the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour ("GPFP"), which was just granted the right to operate the former Hung Hum Public Funeral Parlour ("HHPFP") by the Government this year, is having difficulties in its business. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as some members of the public have pointed out that there are "queuing gangs" representing different undertakers to queue up round-the-clock for booking cremation sessions provided by FEHD, and that each person will be allocated a maximum of five chips, making it impossible for the underprivileged people to book cremation sessions, whether the authorities will formulate measures to eradicate the activities of "queuing gangs"; if they will, of the implementation time; if not, the reasons for that; (b) of the amount of the burial grant currently provided to recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme; whether it has assessed if the amount is adequate to cover the costs for holding a basic funeral or religious service for the deceased in a funeral parlour; if the assessment is in the affirmative, of a list of the names of those funeral parlours which charge no more than this amount; if the assessment is in the negative, whether it will adjust the amount of the burial grant; (c) whether it will help all the 10 non-governmental organizations or charities which provide burial support services in obtaining undertakers' licences, so that they can specialize in providing "one-stop" and non-profit-making undertaking services for the poor, and the elderly with no relatives and friends, who rely on the burial grants from the Social Welfare Department; if it will, of the launching time; if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether FEHD can immediately take forward a plan to build no less than 50 000 additional niches every year in its eight columbaria, so as to alleviate the current shortage of niches and meet the demand for niches that comes along with an ageing population; if so, of the implementation time; if not, the reasons for that; (e) of the respective numbers of applications for cremation services, cases of using eco-coffins, cases of scattering cremated human ashes in GoRs, and the accumulated registrations on the waitlist for public niches last year and this year so far (listing the numbers in the table below);
Applications for cremation services Cases of using eco-coffins Cases of scattering cremated human ashes in GoRs Accumulated registrations on the waitlist for public niches 2012 2011
(f) facing an ageing population and in view of the constant shortfall in supply of mourning halls in funeral parlours, whether the Government will consider constructing new funeral parlours in the next three years; if so, when the works will commence and in which districts it plans to build these new funeral parlours; if not, of the reasons for that; (g) given that the Government of the last term had identified 24 sites in 18 districts across the territory for conducting studies on columbarium development, whether the Government of the current term will implement the plan; if so, when the plan will be launched, and the number of niches to be provided in each district; if not, how it will handle the numerous registrations on the waitlist for public niches; (h) given that it has been reported that GPFP, which was granted by tender in April this year the right to operate HHPFP for a consideration of $13.95 million in quarterly rental, has to secure loans due to poor management, what regulatory measures the authorities have to ensure that the services to the public will not be affected in case of sudden closure of GPFP; whether they have assessed if the fee for the right to operate the facility is the reason for the difficulties in GPFP's business; whether they know if there has been any significant change in the shareholders of GPFP (e.g. shares sold to financial institutions, etc.) since it signed the contract with the Government; and (i) as some members of the public have complained that GPFP has breached its contract with the Government by not providing low-cost basic funeral services to people in need (such as CSSA recipients) as recognized by the Social Welfare Department or other relevant agencies, how the Government will prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, and what penalties it will impose on the contractor for breaching the contract?
*15. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Some employers of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") have complained to me that their FDHs, soon after reporting for duty, employed various tactics to make the employers terminate the employment contracts with them, so as to receive wages in lieu of notice and free passage back to their places of origin. However, these FDHs did not return to their places of origin as required and took up employment in other households within a short period of time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the Government has put in place measures to ensure that FDHs comply with the requirement of returning to their places of origin upon termination of contracts; (b) whether the Immigration Department has kept records on the employment of FDHs and their termination of contracts with employers; if so, how it processes generally applications for coming to work in Hong Kong again by those FDHs who have records of early termination of contracts; and (c) whether the authorities will consider setting up a database to allow employers, on the premise of not contravening the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), to check records of fulfillment of contractual obligations or the entry and departure records of FDHs whom they intend to employ?
*16. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)
According to the 2011 Population Census, the number of people from ethnic minorities living in Hong Kong was 451 183, accounting for more than 5% of Hong Kong's population. On the other hand, as revealed by the surveys conducted by a number of concern groups, most of the South Asians residing in Hong Kong have all along been living in poverty. Recently, I have also received requests for assistance from the ethnic minorities, who said that they faced great language barriers when applying for public rental housing ("PRH"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number and percentage of applicants on the Waiting List for PRH from the ethnic minorities, together with a breakdown by nationality; (b) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of PRH applications in the past five years which had been affected (e.g. disqualification owing to delay in replying to the Housing Department ("HD")) because the applicants did not know Chinese nor English or because of other language barriers; (c) whether the documents published by HD on PRH applications and the letters sent by HD to PRH applicants are available in languages other than Chinese and English; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether HD (including the headquarters and estate offices) has currently employed any people from the ethnic minorities; if it has, of the details; (e) whether HD has issued specific guidelines to frontline staff on the handling of enquiries or complaints from PRH applicants or PRH residents who do not know Chinese nor English; and (f) of the details of the translation support provided by HD for PRH applicants who do not know Chinese nor English; whether it has considered making reference to the practice of certain government departments and public organizations and formulating policies to provide language support to PRH applicants from the ethnic minorities; if it has, of the details, including the relevant expenditure; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
Several persons with hearing impairment ("PHIs") have, through my office, urged the authorities to help PHIs integrate into the community, thereby enabling them to enjoy the same basic rights as those enjoyed by other members of the public. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities will consider listing sign language as an official language; (b) whether they know the current number of professionally qualified sign language interpreters ("SLIs") in Hong Kong, and the criteria for determining the professional qualifications of SLIs; whether they have plans to train more SLIs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) whether they have plans to increase the subsidies for provision of sign language interpretation services, or to provide PHIs with allowances to hire SLIs; if not, of the reasons for that; (d) whether they have plans to implement a bilingual mode of education offering sign and spoken languages for students with hearing impairment to choose; if not, of the reasons for that; (e) whether they have requested television stations to add sign language and subtitles to their programmes, so that PHIs may also enjoy television programmes; whether they will consider including in the licensing conditions for television stations the requirement of providing sign language and subtitles in certain television programmes; and (f) whether they have assessed how the measures taken by the Government to help PHIs overcome problems of their hearing impairment compare with those of other cosmopolitan cities?
*18. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the Public Swimming Pool Monthly Ticket Scheme ("the Scheme") launched by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in the swimming season this year, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of monthly tickets sold at full fare and with half-rate concession so far; (b) whether it has compiled statistics or conducted any study on the utilization of the monthly tickets (e.g. the frequency of utilization or in which sessions they were used); if it has not, of the reasons for that; (c) whether it has assessed if the Scheme has increased the utilization rate of the swimming pools; if such assessment has been made, of the outcome; whether any swimming pool had to suspend admission of swimmers because the number of swimmers admitted had reached its maximum capacity; and (d) whether it will consider lowering the price of the monthly tickets so as to attract more members of the public to use such tickets; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
*19. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
While the Finance Committee ("FC") of this Council has not yet approved the funding application relating to the Old Age Living Allowance ("OALA"), the Government has already been broadcasting an Announcement on Public Interests ("API") recently on the electronic media to provide detailed information on OALA such as the eligibility requirements and enquiries hotline, etc. Besides, while the Government has not yet made a final decision on the project of the North East New Territories New Development Areas, it has recently been broadcasting an API on the electronic media to promote the idea that the project will provide a better living environment for the people of Hong Kong. Moreover, the Government has also placed a full-page advertisement in the press to explain briefly that the authorities will adopt transitional measures to relieve the problem of the temporary decline in Secondary One student population before its re-bounce. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective broadcast hours of the APIs on the two aforesaid subjects so far; how such figures compare with the broadcast hours of government APIs on other subjects in the same period; and the percentages of such figures in the total broadcast hours of all government APIs in the same period; (b) as some members of the public have relayed to me that it has all along been the Government's practice to broadcast APIs on the details of a policy or measure only after it has been implemented, whether the Government has changed this practice; if it has, of the details of and reasons for the change; if not, the justifications for broadcasting the aforesaid APIs at the present stage; (c) whether it has considered if broadcasting the API on OALA when FC is still considering the funding application will give the impression that the Government is trying to use public opinion to exert influence on the Legislative Council and will impact on the relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature; if it has considered such situations, of the reasons why the Government has nonetheless made such an arrangement; if not, the reasons for that; and (d) of the justifications for the Government for placing the aforesaid advertisement in the press, as well as the expenditure on this; whether the Government had placed any advertisement in the press in the past five years for the purpose of explaining government policies; if it had, of the details and the expenditure involved?
*20. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
It has recently been reported in the press that as the foundation works of the Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") project at Wang Yip Street West, Yuen Long ("Wang Yip Street West project") have been affected by some cavern problems, it is necessary to reduce the scale of the housing estate. As a result, the number of flats to be provided in that housing estate will be 20% less than the original estimate, affecting the quantity of HOS flats to be supplied. Moreover, the building blocks in Kam Fung Court, Ma On Shan had cavern-induced unusual settlement after residents had moved in. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the site identification process for HOS projects; apart from the six sites already announced, whether the Government has made any new progress in identifying sites for HOS projects; (b) whether it has assessed if the aforesaid problem of the Wang Yip Street West project is attributable to the fact that the underground investigation work was not done thoroughly during the site identification process; in view of the exceptional circumstances of the HOS project, whether the Government will extend the structural guarantee period for the housing estate concerned; and (c) of the measures adopted and the amount of resources deployed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority to tackle the aforesaid problem at Kam Fung Court?
* For written reply
III. Motions
Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance
Secretary for Food and Health to move the following motion:
Resolved that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 30 October 2012, be approved ––
| (a) | the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulation 2012; and
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| (b) | the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulation 2012.
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(The two Regulations are in Appendices I and II and were also issued on 2 November 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)103/12-13) | ||