A 12/13-12
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 12 December 2012 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No. 36 | - | Fire Services Department Welfare Fund
Report on the Administration of the Fund and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2012 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Security) | |||
| 2. | No. 37 | - | Hong Kong Tourism Board
Annual Report 2011/12 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development) | |||
| 3. | No. 38 | - | The Prince Philip Dental Hospital
Annual Report by the Board of Governors 2011/12 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health) | |||
| 4. | Report No. 7/12-13 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 Michael TIEN to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that the average overall band score of Hong Kong's candidates taking the "Academic module" test of the International English Language Testing System (i.e. "IELTS") in 2011 was 6.4, which was the same as the score in 2007. However, during the same period of time, the scores attained by candidates from Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia had increased by 0.2 to 0.3, getting closer to or even surpassing that of Hong Kong. This phenomenon indicates that the English proficiency of Hong Kong's candidates has not made any progress in recent years, but the candidates from neighbouring places have made progress. There are comments that Hong Kong people's English proficiency is very important for Hong Kong to maintain her status as a cosmopolitan city and thus the authorities should pay close attention to the quality of English language teaching and should create a bilingual environment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as it has been found in research that, compared with a large class of 38 or more students, teaching English in a small class of 21 to 25 students can provide more opportunities for teachers and students to converse in English, and students also participate in class activities more actively, whether the authorities will consider setting a ceiling of 25 students for English classes so as to enhance the quality of English language teaching; if not, of the reasons for that; (b) given that during my tenure as the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research, I found that the majority of students lacked the opportunities to be immersed in an English language environment, and English teachers in secondary schools currently had to teach more than 30 sessions per week, making it difficult to improve teaching in class, and some members from the education sector have also reflected to me that English teachers teaching 20 sessions per week will produce the most ideal teaching effect, whether the authorities will consider setting a reference benchmark of teaching around 20 sessions per week for English teachers of secondary schools; if not, of the reasons for that; and (c) as it is provided in section 3 of the Official Languages Ordinance that both the English and Chinese languages are the official languages of Hong Kong and possess equal status, and Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city, but some government documents are currently available only in Chinese without an English version (e.g. the minutes of District Council meetings), whether the authorities will conduct a survey to find out if members of the public are supportive of the Government requiring all text displayed to the public (including notices, signage, names of buildings, etc.) be available in both Chinese and English, so as to create a bilingual environment; if not, of the reasons for that?
2. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
Some organizations that offer assistance to residents from the ethnic minorities have relayed to me that the Immigration Department ("ImmD") always finds fault with ethnic minority residents (especially the Southeast Asians, South Asians and Africans who have dark skin colour) applying for naturalization as Chinese nationals, and the process and criteria for vetting and approving such applications lack transparency. These ethnic minority residents have been residing in Hong Kong for a long time and regard Hong Kong as their home, but their applications for naturalization as Chinese nationals have been refused. They are therefore not eligible for applying for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") passports as well. Such a situation not only undermines their sense of belonging to Hong Kong, but also very often causes them inconvenience when they go through immigration clearance while travelling, working or studying abroad. Also, they may be unable to receive assistance or protection from the Chinese consulates in the event of natural or man-made disasters encountered abroad. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether ImmD has formulated internal guidelines on vetting and approving applications for naturalization as Chinese nationals to ensure that applicants of different ethnicity are treated fairly; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether ImmD will, when vetting and approving applications for naturalization as Chinese nationals, take into consideration if the applicants are stateless persons, if they are non-ethnic Chinese children lawfully adopted by ethnic Chinese Hong Kong residents, as well as if they are of Chinese descent; (b) of the specific details of the rejected applications for naturalization as Chinese nationals by non-ethnic Chinese Hong Kong residents each year since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including the number of applications received by ImmD and the number rejected (with a breakdown by the ethnicity of the applicant and the reason for rejecting the application); and (c) given that section 5(1)(b) of the Chinese Nationality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance stipulates that "any decision to approve or refuse the nationality application in the exercise of the discretion ...... there shall be no need to assign any reason for the decision", whether the authorities will consider amending the provision, providing the applicants with the reasons for rejecting their applications, as well as putting in place an appeal mechanism; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, the Government announced a package of short to medium term housing and land supply measures to alleviate the problem of housing shortage, including changing the use of the sites or the premises of industrial buildings. For example, the renewal of old industrial areas will be accelerated to release more sites suitable for residential development and suitable industrial buildings will be converted into public rental housing ("PRH") or "transitional accommodation", so as to increase housing supply. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has assessed the current number of vacant industrial buildings in Hong Kong, the number of such buildings which are located on sites suitable for rezoning to residential use, and the number of those suitable for conversion into PRH as well as the reasons for the sites of certain industrial buildings being unsuitable for rezoning to residential use; of the authorities' measures to facilitate changing the use of such industrial buildings and expedite their revitalization and, alternatively, what other means the authorities will adopt to minimize vacancy of industrial buildings as far as possible; (b) whether it has assessed the differences in terms of the time and resources required between redeveloping industrial buildings into PRH and constructing PRH on newly-formed land; if it has, of the details; if not, whether it will do so expeditiously; and (c) as the authorities have said that they are exploring ways, under the policy on revitalization of industrial buildings, to facilitate wholesale conversion of industrial buildings to "transitional accommodation" use on an interim basis, whether they have assessed the number of industrial buildings whose owners will make such applications and the number of transitional accommodation units that can be provided; of the criteria for vetting and approving such applications; and whether they have formulated measures to monitor if the converted industrial buildings meet the safety standards?
4. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of middle-class people have relayed to me their dissatisfaction that while they hope to have access to the quality healthcare service of local private hospitals, the significant increase in service charges in recent years has deterred them from doing so and they can only seek medical treatment in public hospitals instead. Most of the private hospitals are charitable institutions which are exempt from tax under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance ("section 88"). They must be established solely for charitable purposes recognized by the law. The Inland Revenue Department ("IRD") will conduct reviews periodically and ask those private hospitals to submit their account statements and other relevant documents so as to ascertain whether their activities have deviated from their charitable objects, and whether their business and profits derived therefrom meet the requirements under section 88. IRD will then decide whether their tax exemption status should continue or be revoked. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of the reviews conducted by IRD in the past decade on whether the tax-exempt private hospitals were still eligible for tax exemption, including the frequency of such reviews, the years in which the reviews were conducted and the outcome for each hospital; (b) of the criteria based on which IRD determines if the uses of the private hospitals' income and assets have deviated from their charitable purposes, and whether their business meets the requirements under section 88; in cases where deviations have been identified, whether IRD will first issue a warning to the hospital concerned and revoke its tax exemption status only when the situation has not been rectified; whether IRD had issued any such warning and revoked the tax exemption status of any private hospital in the past decade; and (c) whether there are differences between the criteria applicable to private hospitals mentioned in (b) and those adopted by IRD for other charitable institutions or trusts; of the number of charitable institutions or trusts, other than private hospitals, whose tax exemption status was revoked by IRD in the past decade; whether IRD will review if the relevant criteria are too lax?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary for Food and Health |
5. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
On 21 June this year, the media uncovered a number of unauthorized building works ("UBWs") in the mansion of the Chief Executive ("CE") who was about to assume office. In a written statement issued on 23 November in relation to the issue of UBWs in his mansion, CE disclosed that an extension part of some 200 square feet on the lower ground floor of House 4 of the mansion had been demolished in November last year, and the space in question had been bricked up. He had not made any application or given notification to the Buildings Department ("BD") before carrying out such works. In reply to press enquiries, CE said that "his understanding was that an UBWs already dealt with no longer existed". Meanwhile, BD indicated on 27 November that, during a site inspection of the aforesaid mansion on 26 June, its staff had found on the lower ground floor of House 4 an external wall which did not match the original building plans, and that on 27 June, it had issued a letter to CE and the authorized person ("AP") appointed by him, requesting them to provide information about that wall. BD had issued three written reminders thereafter, but no response had been received. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that neither CE nor the AP appointed by him had responded to the four letters from BD, whether BD has taken law enforcement actions in accordance with the existing policy; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) during the period from 21 to 30 June this year, whether the former Secretary for Development had summoned the key persons involved in the aforesaid UBWs case, and requested CE to open up the wall to enable the authorities to investigate if there was any extension part behind that wall; whether the incumbent Secretary for Development had summoned such key persons since he took office; if they had not done so, of the specific reasons for that; and (c) in accordance with section 14 of the Buildings Ordinance, of the circumstances under which a property owner may carry out the aforesaid works to demolish extension parts and brick up the space in question without obtaining the Building Authority's approval and consent; whether "an UBWs already dealt with no longer existed" is one of those circumstances; whether the Government has received the relevant application from CE since 21 June this year; if it has, of the date of application, details of the processing of the application and the date of approval; if not, whether BD will take law enforcement actions (including instituting prosecutions); if it will, of the details?
6. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Coliseum ("HKC") in Hunghom is a major venue for large-scale sports events, entertainment programmes, pop concerts and conventions. Some hirers of HKC have relayed to me that although the Government has carried out large-scale renovation works in HKC for a number of times, the equipment acquired is outdated and unable to meet their needs. They have also pointed out that the terms and conditions for hiring HKC and the related policy, which have been adopted for years, are rigid and outdated. Besides, the daily rent for HKC's Arena is $55,100 or 20% of the gross ticket proceeds on that day (whichever is higher), which is among the highest in the world, with numerous other costly charges such as charges for visual recordings of performances, and hirers are also required to make extra payment for broadcasting sponsors' advertisements in HKC. On the other hand, the Stadia Office has the right to broadcast during hirers' events advertisements which it has solicited. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has formulated criteria and procedures for determining the renovation projects needed to be carried out in HKC and the equipment to be upgraded or acquired; if it has, of the details, including whether venue users from the performing arts sector and the sports sector, etc. need to be consulted so as to ensure that the equipment in HKC meets users' needs; if consultation needs to be conducted, of the details; if consultation needs not be conducted, the reasons for that; (b) whether it has planned to review the terms and conditions for hiring HKC and the related policy to ensure that they are kept abreast of the times and facilitate users in organizing activities; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) of the criteria based on which the levels of HKC's venue rental and various charges are set; whether promoting the development of the performing arts and sports industries is one of such criteria; if not, of the reasons for that; whether it reviews HKC's various charges on a regular basis; if so, of the details?
*7. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that, owing to the high resale value of smart mobile phones, the number of cases of theft and snatching of mobile phones has risen substantially in recent years. There were 5 787 cases of such crimes in 2011, representing an increase of 18% as compared with 4 892 cases in the preceding year. In order to crack down on such crimes, quite a number of overseas countries, e.g. Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, France and Germany, have set up databases to keep the International Mobile Equipment Identity ("IMEI") numbers of lost or stolen mobile phones, and the local mobile phone service operators in those countries will not provide services to such mobile phones. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as setting up an IMEI database may reduce the recycling value of stolen or snatched mobile phones because they cannot be used locally, and thus may help reduce such crimes, whether the authorities will reconsider setting up such a database and making it public, so that members of the public and recyclers may access it for reference before purchasing second-hand mobile phones; (b) whether the authorities will consider amending the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106) or the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210) to expressly prohibit the alteration of IMEI numbers of mobile phones; and (c) as there is a condition in the licences of mobile phone service operators which prescribes that the licensees shall, where directed by the Communications Authority ("CA"), refuse to provide service to any person who possesses or uses a radiocommunications apparatus which is stolen or suspected stolen, whether CA (or its predecessor, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority) has ever issued such directions; if not, of the reasons for that?
*8. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
According to an international survey on English proficiency conducted between 2009 and 2011 the results of which were published recently, among 54 non-English-speaking countries or territories around the world, Hong Kong people's English proficiency ranks 25th (having dropped 13 places compared with the ranking in the same survey conducted between 2007 and 2009) and 7th in Asia, which is below the rankings of South Korea and Japan. This indicates that Hong Kong people's English proficiency is only of a moderate level and is declining. With regard to strengthening the teaching of English at school to address the aforesaid situation, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the Government has conducted regular studies and surveys on students' English proficiency since the introduction of the Native-speaking English Teacher ("NET") Scheme in public sector primary and secondary schools in 1998, in order to assess the effectiveness of the Scheme and to make adjustments accordingly; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (b) of the average numbers of NETs currently employed by each subsidized and government primary school as well as secondary school with English as the medium of instruction; whether it has assessed if the numbers of NETs are sufficient to cope with the needs for teaching the English Subject in all classes at all levels and to achieve the objective of enhancing students' English proficiency; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the details; if the assessment result is in the negative, whether the Government will consider allocating more resources to needy schools in order to employ additional NETs?
*9. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that many types of common household electrical appliances, including television sets, computers, blowers, microwave ovens, etc., generate electromagnetic radiation ("ER"), and that prolonged exposure to ER will affect human body's central nervous system and functional capabilities. There have been comments that since the residential units in Hong Kong are generally small, the level of such ER to which Hong Kong people are exposed is higher than that in other places. On the other hand, the World Health Organization ("WHO") studied the issue of "electromagnetic hypersensitivity" in 2005; and last year the International Agency for Research on Cancer under WHO classified the electromagnetic fields produced by mobile phones as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" and is conducting research on the acceptable level of exposure to electromagnetic fields for humans. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has assessed the indoor ER level when the electrical appliances, electronic devices and mobile communications devices, etc. in a household are all in use at the same time, and whether such level will be hazardous to health; (b) whether the authorities will consider drawing up ER safety standards for household electrical appliances, and requiring that household electrical appliances shall meet such standards for them to be put up for sale, so as to ensure that consumers can pick safer products; if they will, of the detailed arrangements; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) given that while at present many countries have conducted studies on the impact of ER on health, such studies have different purposes, approaches and conclusions (e.g. in respect of the safe distance and duration for humans' exposure to ER sources), whether the authorities have carried out studies on this subject; if they have, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Breast cancer and cervical cancer ranked third and ninth respectively among the cancers causing deaths of females in Hong Kong in 2010. According to the statistics of the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation and the United Christian Hospital, education and screening are conducive to early diagnosis of breast cancer. However, there are only three Woman Health Centres ("WHCs") providing woman health services in the entire territory at present, while all the 10 Maternal and Child Health Centres ("MCHCs") with ancillary woman health services provide such services for only about three to six hours each week. Some members of the public have relayed to me that as there are few WHCs and MCHCs providing woman health services, their service hours are short and publicity is inadequate, most women have not used such services provided by the Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details (including whether screening services for breast cancer and cervical cancer and vaccinations against cervical cancer are available) of the various woman health services provided by WHCs and MCHCs at present as well as the service charges, broken down in tabulated form by District Council ("DC") district; (b) of the average waiting time for each of the woman health services provided by each WHC and MCHC, together with the number of women using each service and the percentage of such number in the female population of the district in which the WHC/MCHC is located, in each of the past three years; whether it knows if these figures are comparable to the relevant figures of neighbouring countries and areas, such as Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.; if they are not comparable, whether it has examined the reasons for that; (c) whether it will consider extending the scope of the coverage of woman health services (e.g. free screening services for breast cancer and cervical cancer) and providing free or subsidized vaccinations against cervical cancer; if it will not, of the reasons for that; (d) whether it will consider setting up at least one WHC or MCHC providing whole-day woman health services in each DC district in Hong Kong so that all women in Hong Kong can, on average, be provided with free and comprehensive woman health services once every three years; and (e) whether it will explore the introduction of a voluntary scheme which subsidizes all students of the relevant age cohort in Hong Kong to receive vaccinations against cervical cancer for early prevention of the cancer; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
*11. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
Under section 25 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 455), a person commits an offence if he knows or suspects that any property represents any person's proceeds of crime and still deals with that property (commonly known as "money laundering"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of persons penalized for breaching the aforesaid provision in the past three years, together with the amounts of crime proceeds involved in those cases in general; the penalties imposed by the court on the convicted in general; and (b) of the resources deployed by the authorities (including the amounts of actual expenses) in the past three years for promotion and public education to educate the public on how to avoid breaching the aforesaid provision, together with the details of the relevant promotion and education activities (including the number of seminars held); and whether reviews have been conducted to ascertain if the resources deployed by the authorities were adequate?
*12. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding child care services subsidized by the Government, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of child care services currently subsidized by the Government, broken down by District Council ("DC") district (set out in the table below);
District Council district 2012-2013
Estimate
of
expenditureTotal
number
of children
receiving
servicesNumber of service units Creche (Whole-day child care services) Creche (Half-day child care services) Child care centre (Whole-day child care services) Child care centre (Half-day child care services) After-school child care services Home child care project Others (Please specify) Central and Western District Southern District (b) whether it has compiled statistics on the existing number of parents who are the main child carers and the number of children concerned, and provide a breakdown by DC district and the age of the children (set out in the table below);
District Council
districtType of carers Number of parents whose children belong to
the following age groups0 to 2 3 to 5 6 to 11 Central and Western District Father and/or mother are/is the main child carer(s) Both parents are not the main child carers (including dual-income parents) Southern District Father and/or mother are/is the main child carer(s) Both parents are not the main child carers (including dual-income parents)
District Council district Number of children belonging to the following age groups 0 to 2 3 to 5 6 to 11 Central and Western District Southern District
(c) of the numbers of child care centres and kindergartens (including whole-day and half-day ones) subsidized by the Government in various districts, as well as the average waiting time by children for such places and the number of children involved, broken down by DC district; and (d) of the Government's total expenditure on child care services in the 2011-2012 financial year and a breakdown of such expenditure?
*13. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
Many residents of the North District have relayed to me that although the Government has implemented a number of measures to combat parallel trading activities since September this year, such activities still exist and have caused nuisances to the residents. It has been reported that recently, there is a trend that parallel trading activities are reviving, with the area outside Sheung Shui MTR Station constantly packed with mainland people waiting to go through the gate and queuing up for the station staff to weigh and measure their luggage, in the process of which serious conflicts occur from time to time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that the information submitted by the Government to this Council in early November this year has indicated that, from 19 September to 26 October this year, the authorities mounted a number of operations to combat on mainland residents contravening conditions of stay in Hong Kong while engaging in parallel trading activities, with 372 mainland residents suspected of contravening conditions of stay arrested, among them, 41 prosecuted (with 30 convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two months), and 331 who were not prosecuted repatriated to the Mainland, of the reasons why most of those people arrested were not prosecuted, and why among those prosecuted, about 30% of them were not convicted; (b) whether it knows if the mainland residents mentioned in (a) who were not prosecuted but repatriated will be penalized by the mainland authorities; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) as it has been reported by the media that, to circumvent the control measures of prohibiting train passengers from carrying overweight or oversized pieces of luggage, some people have been engaged as "gate runners" for parallel trade syndicates, bringing goods which comply with the weight and size requirements through the gate and then immediately handing over the goods to parallel traders for reassembling at the train platform and subsequently delivering the goods across the border, whether the authorities are aware of such situation, and what measures they will take to combat such activities; (d) whether the authorities have assessed the effectiveness of the various existing measures in combating parallel trading activities; whether new measures have been formulated, and how they will strengthen cooperation with the mainland authorities so as to continuously and effectively curb such activities; and (e) whether the authorities have assessed if the mainland authorities tightening up the policy which allows Shenzhen residents issued with endorsement for visiting Hong Kong to make multiple trips between the Mainland and Hong Kong within the same day (commonly known as "multiple entry permits"), such as by changing the arrangement to "one trip per day", will help combat parallel trading activities; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask: (Translation)
For many years, the textile and apparel wholesale markets in the area of Cheung Sha Wan and Sham Shui Po have attracted quite a number of merchants from Southeast Asia, the Mainland and overseas to buy merchandise there, similar to the situation of Dongdaemun in South Korea, and South Korea has even developed Dongdaemun into a tourist attraction. The Chief Executive indicated in his election manifesto that he would draw up an overall economic development strategy and industry policy after assumption of office. He also indicated that he would take steps to enhance and promote wholesale businesses, for example, electronic products in Sham Shui Po, and apparel and textiles in Cheung Sha Wan; that he would "introduce tourists to visit the wholesale markets and in so doing bring vitality to such neighbourhood businesses; and that he would study and identify a site for constructing a major and long-term exhibition venue so as to promote the industry". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has compiled statistics on the trade volume of the wholesale of textiles and apparel in Hong Kong in the past five years; whether it has studied how to help the industry grasp business opportunities for the full development of the textile and apparel wholesale markets in Hong Kong; (b) whether it will formulate afresh the policy on the development of the textile industry to promote innovation in the industry, e.g. promoting the development of the textile and apparel wholesale markets in Sham Shui Po, nurturing talents for fashion design, building exhibition venues, recasting the textile industry as a trendy industry, and studying whether it will follow the practice of Dongdaemun in South Korea to repackage such wholesale markets as tourist attractions with characteristics, for the mutual benefits of various industries such as the textile and tourism industries, etc., which interwine closely; and (c) how it will honour the pledge made by the Chief Executive in his manifesto to enhance and promote the wholesale businesses; what the specific ideas are and when it will introduce the related measures?
*15. Hon Ronny TONG to ask: (Translation)
Several years ago, the Hong Kong Housing Society was entrusted by the Government to implement the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme ("SCHS") to enable middle-income families, whose income had exceeded the income limits for the Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") but was insufficient for buying private residential properties, to buy residential flats at concessionary prices. Altogether 10 SCHS developments were completed between the completion of the first one in 1995 and the Government's decision to suspend the sale of subsidized housing flats in 2001. Some SCHS owners have told me repeatedly that the Government does not have a policy to help the sandwich class purchase their homes and has never taken heed of their plights in housing. In response to the increasing public demand for home ownership, the Government has introduced "My Home Purchase Plan" ("MHPP"), resumed HOS and will allow eligible white form HOS applicants ("WF applicants") to purchase HOS flats with premium not paid in the Secondary Market, but it has not mentioned the secondary market of SCHS. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of cases in which the owners of SCHS, HOS and the Tenant Purchase Scheme ("TPS") flats paid premium for their flats in the past decade and the total amount of premium paid; (b) of the number and percentage of cases of first-hand owners of SCHS, HOS and TPS flats selling their flats in the past decade; (c) as the Hong Kong Housing Authority decided last month to significantly increase the income limits of WF applicants for buying HOS flats with premium not paid (i.e. for households with two members or more the limit is increased to $40,000 a month), and that the new income limits are close to those for SCHS applicants (i.e. $25,000 to $50,000 a month) in those years, whether the Government will consider extending the scheme to include SCHS flats and allow SCHS flat owners to sell their flats with premium not paid, so as to boost the market turnover of SCHS flats; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and (d) as the MHPP which will be introduced soon is similar to SCHS in that the prices of its flats fall between those of private residential flats and HOS flats, with the objective of providing the group of individuals or families with higher income the opportunities to purchase their homes, but the number of such flats is small, whether the Government will consider allowing eligible MHPP applicants to buy SCHS flats with premium not paid; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
*16. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
Under the Road Traffic (Driving Licences) Regulations (Cap. 374 sub. leg. B), the Commissioner for Transport may directly issue a Hong Kong full driving licence without test to an applicant who, some time within three years before the date on which the applicant makes the application, had held a full driving licence issued by a competent authority in a "recognized country or place" (including the Mainland) ("direct issue of driving licences"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the followings in the past five years:
(a) the number of applications for direct issue of driving licences received by the authorities each year; the number of applications approved each year, and the respective numbers of such applications the applicants of which were Hong Kong permanent residents ("HKPR") and non-HKPR, with a breakdown of the applications from non-HKPR by the country or place that issued the driving licence held by the applicant; and (b) the number of applications for direct issue of driving licences rejected by the authorities each year, with a breakdown by the country or place that issued the driving licence held by the applicant and by the reason for the rejection; the number of rejected cases in which the applicants were HKPR?
*17. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of elderly persons have relayed to me that while the Hospital Authority ("HA") has introduced the General Out-patient Clinic ("GOPC") Phone Appointment Service ("Phone Appointment Service") with the original intent of facilitating members of the public (in particular elderly persons) to book appointments over the phone so that they are not required to visit clinics in person and queue for consultation quotas early in the morning, the Phone Appointment Service has all along been unable to provide any genuine convenience to them. These elderly persons pointed out that the lines of the Service were always busy; they could not complete the booking procedure due to failure to press the buttons as instructed within the short time limit; and they were not allocated consultation quotas even though they had completed the booking procedure. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(a) among the number of attendances in each of the public GOPCs in the past three years, the number and percentage of attendances of those patients who were allocated consultation quotas through the Phone Appointment Service; (b) as the Introduction of the Phone Appointment Service stipulates that patients who have failed to attend an appointment and have not cancelled the booking for three or more separate occasions within two months will be prevented from using the Service, the number of patients since 2006 who were prevented from using the Service for this reason, and their age distribution; (c) the effectiveness of the various improvement measures implemented by HA since the launch of the Phone Appointment Service in 2006; and (d) whether HA has any plan to implement measures in future to further enhance the Phone Appointment Service, so as to address the problems encountered by the elderly persons in using the Service at present; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that while the unemployment rate in Hong Kong has remained at a low level recently, the number of tertiary institution graduates receiving payments under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (“CSSA”) Scheme due to unemployment has been on the rise. Regarding the situation of unemployed persons receiving CSSA (“unemployed CSSA recipients”), will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of unemployed CSSA recipients aged 15 to 59 in each year from 2007 to 2011, broken down by their age and academic qualification (set out according to the table below);
Year: _______
Academic qualification Number of recipients belong to the following age group Total number of recipients 15-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Tertiary or above Junior and senior secondary Primary or below Number of recipients in the age group and its percentage in the total number of recipients
(b) of the number of unemployed CSSA recipients participating in the Support for Self-reliance (“SFS”) Scheme, rate of their securing employment and their average duration of stay on CSSA, in each year from 2007 to 2011, broken down by their age and academic qualification (set out according to the table below);
Year: _______
Academic qualification Number of recipients belonging to the following age group Total number of participants 15-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Tertiary or above:
(a) Number of participants (b) Rate of securing employment (%) (c) Average duration of stay on CSSA (year(s)) Junior and senior secondary: (a) Number of participants (b) Rate of securing employment (%) (c) Average duration of stay on CSSA (year(s)) Primary or below: (a) Number of participants (b) Rate of securing employment (%) (c) Average duration of stay on CSSA (year(s)) (c) of a breakdown by age and duration of stay on CSSA of the existing number of unemployed CSSA recipients (set out according to the table below); Duration of stay on
CSSANumber of recipients belonging to the following age group Total
number of
recipients15-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Less than 1 year
More than 1 year to
2 years
More than 2 years to
3 years
.
.
.
10 years or above
(d) of the criteria for calculating the rate of securing employment of CSSA recipients participating in the SFS Scheme; if securing employment is defined as staying employed for three months or longer, of the rate of securing employment of the Scheme and the difference of such rate from the existing rate calculated by the authorities in each of the past five years; whether it has assessed the reasons why some CSSA recipients, after having secured a job through the Scheme, quitted in less than three months; of the current number of CSSA recipients who have participated in the SFS Scheme and received CSSA payments for more than half a year; whether the authorities have reviewed the effectiveness of the Scheme; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (e) of the total amount of CSSA payments provided by the Government to unemployed CSSA recipients aged 15 to 59 in each year from 2007 to 2011, broken down by age and academic qualification of the recipients (set out according to the table below)?
Year: ________Academic qualification Total amount of CSSA payments to recipients
belonging to the following age groupPercentage in the
total amount (%)15-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 Tertiary or above
Junior and senior secondary
Primary or below
Amount spent on the
recipients of the age group
and its percentage in the
aggregate amount (%)
*19. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
Between April and September this year, the Government approved 4 140 entry applications for employment in Hong Kong made under the "Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals". The largest portion (35%) of such applications were submitted by employers from the "academic research and education" sector, which stood at 1 452. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) among the talents admitted to work in the academic research and education sector under the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, of the number of those who were employed by tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC-funded institutions") in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by institution, department, length of contract, rank and remuneration; whether it knows if it was due to a shortage of local talents possessing relevant professional qualifications and experience, inability to employ local talents at the remuneration offered to mainland talents, or other reasons that such institutions had employed mainland talents; of the criteria and procedures adopted by the authorities for ascertaining that such mainland talents are in shortage in Hong Kong; (b) whether the authorities have assessed the manpower requirement for developing the education industry, as well as the professional qualifications and experience required; whether they have formulated policies on the provision of the required manpower; if they have not, of the reasons for that; if they have, whether their policy directions focus on training local talents or importing overseas talents, and whether they have set any target ratio between training talents locally and importing talents; if they have not, of the reasons for that; (c) whether any strategies, plans and timetables have been formulated for training local talents to work in the academic research and education sector so as to dovetail with the Government's strategy on developing the education industry; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether it knows the number of Hong Kong permanent residents among the local graduates of doctoral degree programmes in each of the past three years; and among such graduates, (i) the percentage of those who did not work in the academic research and education sector, (ii) the number of those who were employed by the UGC-funded institutions, together with a breakdown by age, rank and length of contract, and (iii) the number of those who had applied for posts in the UGC-funded institutions but were unsuccessful; and (e) whether it has assessed if local graduates of doctoral degree programmes have an edge over mainland and overseas graduates when applying for positions in the academic research and education sector in Hong Kong; if it has, of the outcome?
*20. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that an environmental protection group has recently conducted tests on water samples collected at Lung Mei in Tai Po, and the results have revealed that the number of Escherichia coli contained in the water samples has exceeded the standards by 8 to 26 times, which means that the water quality in that area is of "very poor" grade according to the water quality grading system of the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD"). On the other hand, the Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") Report for the works project on "Development of a Bathing Beach at Lung Mei, Tai Po", submitted in 2007 by the consultant commissioned by the authorities, has projected that upon the completion of a new sewerage network at Lung Mei and its vicinity, and based on a conservative estimate that about 60% of the dwellings in the four villages nearby Lung Mei should have been connected to the new public sewers prior to the opening of the bathing beach, the water quality of the proposed man-made bathing beach will reach a standard suitable for swimming. Nevertheless, the Report has also predicted that there will still be 24% and 14% of the time during which the water quality in that area will be graded "poor" and "very poor" respectively, meaning that almost 40% of the time failing to meet EPD's water quality objective for bathing beach. Furthermore, some comments have pointed out that man-made beaches may be susceptible to sand loss and replenishment of sand may damage the ecological environment and increase carbon emissions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the water quality monitoring data and grading for Lung Mei since January 2012; (b) as the authorities have stated in a paper submitted to this Council in November this year that they believe that before completion of the Lung Mei beach in late 2014, there would be at least 80% of the dwellings connected to the sewerage network, and as the aforesaid EIA Report was published five years ago, whether the authorities have made predictions anew on the water quality in that area upon completion of the Lung Mei man-made bathing beach works project; if they have, of the percentage of time during which the water quality in that area will be graded "poor" or "very Poor" based on the latest prediction; and (c) of the source of the marine sand for the proposed Lung Mei man-made bathing beach; although the authorities have pointed out in the paper mentioned in (b) that "Lung Mei enjoys the protection offered by topographical features and is less prone to extreme wave attack. Moreover, with the construction of two groynes at the ends of the beach, significant sand loss is not expected", whether they have drawn up measures to monitor sand loss in that area; if replenishment of the marine sand is needed, where the authorities have planned to obtain sand from and what the estimated costs involved are?
* For written reply