A 12/13-25
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 24 April 2013 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 91 | - | The 24th Report on the Work of the Advisory Committee on Post-service Employment of Civil Servants (1 January - 31 December 2012) |
| (to be presented by Secretary for the Civil Service)
| |||
| 2. | Report No. 15/12-13 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 for Written Replies
1. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
Some teachers of the subject of Liberal Studies ("LS") under the New Senior Secondary academic structure have pointed out room for improvement to the subject in three aspects, namely course content, teaching support and assessment by public examination, since its launch in 2009, and LS teachers are also facing heavy pressure in teaching the subject. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given the criticism about the fragmentary content and unclear positioning of the LS curriculum, whether the authorities will conduct a comprehensive review of the curriculum design of the subject (e.g. deleting part of the content or realigning the proportion of the core units while incorporating theoretical knowledge related to critical thinking by drawing reference to the curriculum of the subject of Ethics and Religious Studies); if they will, of the review timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (b) given that the one-off Liberal Studies Curriculum Support Grant ("LSCSG") of $320,000 provided to each publicly-funded secondary school in the 2010-2011 school year will expire on 31 August this year, whether the authorities will consider afresh providing LSCSG on a recurrent basis, so as to help schools deploy additional manpower and resources to conduct small-class group teaching for the LS subject, thus promoting the healthy development of the subject as well as alleviating LS teachers' workload and pressure; and (c) since the passing rate of the LS subject in the first Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination ("HKDSEE") held in 2012 is as high as 90.8%, why the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority still reduced the number of questions in one of the LS papers in the 2013 HKDSEE and the weighting allocated to the paper on grounds of allowing ample time for students to answer the questions and grasp them more easily; whether the authorities will analyze if the high passing rate in the LS examination last year reflected that the assessment by public examination was too lax, resulting in a failure to accurately assess students' learning results?
2. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
With effect from 1 April 2011, eligible mainland "overage children" of Hong Kong residents (i.e. mainland residents who were under the age of 14 when their natural fathers or mothers obtained their first Hong Kong identity cards on or before 1 November 2001) may apply, in phases, for Permits for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as "One-Way Permits") for reunion with their natural parents in Hong Kong. The applications by over-age children whose fathers or mothers obtained their Hong Kong identity cards in 1980, 1981 and 1982 or earlier were/are processed in Phases I to III respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the respective numbers of applications for settlement in Hong Kong made by over-age children which the mainland authorities have received to date for Phases I and II, and since the commencement of Phase III; the numbers of such applications which had undergone preliminary vetting, had been approved and turned down respectively after completion of the vetting procedures, together with their respective percentages in the total number of applications; the reasons why some of the applicants have not yet been or were not issued with One-Way Permits; (b) whether the Hong Kong authorities have received, since 1 April 2011, any requests for assistance, complaints and reported cases involving over-age children applying for settlement in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; (c) whether it knows the number of additional vetting phases that the mainland authorities need to launch in order to process all the applications for settlement in Hong Kong submitted by eligible over-age children; and (d) whether it has compiled statistics on the average time of stay in Hong Kong each year of the over-age children whose applications were successful and have entered Hong Kong with One-Way Permits, and among such persons, of the number of those who ordinarily reside in Hong Kong; whether the authorities have conducted any survey on the over-age children's lives in Hong Kong, as well as their job seeking and employment situation, etc., with a view to finding out the assistance they need and their impact on the local labour market; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will consider conducting such surveys expeditiously?
3. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some green minibus ("GMB") operators have relayed to me that under the impact of the ripple effect of the minimum wage, they have found it difficult to hire drivers. As a result, quite a number of GMB routes have lost trips or have even been forced to suspend services. They therefore urge the authorities to examine the relaxation of the eligibility requirements for applying for the relevant driving licence, so that more people can become GMB drivers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the situation of shortage of GMB drivers in the territory in the past three years, and the number of GMB routes which have lost trips or have been forced to suspend services due to a shortage of drivers; whether the authorities have examined the implementation of measures to increase the number of GMB drivers; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (b) whether the authorities will, on the premise of not affecting road safety, examine the relaxation of the eligibility requirements for applying for the private/public light bus driving licence tests (e.g. lowering the existing requirement on the period for which the applicants have held a valid full driving licence for private car or light goods vehicle before they may take the relevant driving test, from "at least three years" to "at least one year"); if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
To promote the development and application of spatial data in Hong Kong, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer ("OGCIO") completed a study in 2007 on the need and feasibility of developing Spatial Data Infrastructures ("SDIs"). Subsequently, OGCIO collaborated with the Lands Department and established a geo-spatial information hub to provide geo-spatial information services to the public through GovHK. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the items which have been implemented and those which will be implemented among the recommendations made in the aforesaid study report, and the respective details, expenditure, implementation schedules and progress of such items; (b) of the SDIs which have been developed and those which will be developed, broken down by the responsible policy bureau and government department, together with the respective details, annual expenditure and implementation schedules of such SDIs; whether the authorities will integrate the operation and management of the SDIs developed separately by various policy bureaux and government departments; if they will, of the details and implementation schedule; if not, the reasons for that; (c) of the spatial data which are available for public use free of charge and for a fee; whether the authorities will consider digitizing all spatial data and make them available for public use free of charge; if they will, of the details and implementation schedule; if not, the reasons for that; and (d) whether it has formulated specific policies on establishing SDIs; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether OGCIO has provided government departments with guidelines for the development and application of spatial data; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Some Health Surveillance Assistants ("HSAs") employed by the Department of Health ("DH") on Non-Civil Service Contract ("NCSC") terms have told me that while they are responsible for conducting health surveillance on travellers at immigration control points ("control points"), facilities for sterilizing uniforms have not been made available to them at various control points. They worry that in case of an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or other epidemics, they will be the first to bear the brunt of being infected, and the work of preventing the import of epidemics into Hong Kong will thus be affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether DH has considered providing front-line personnel, e.g. HSAs, etc., responsible for epidemic prevention work with facilities for bathing and sterilizing uniforms at control points, so as to avoid their spreading the bacteria after they are infected, and to protect their health; if not, of the reasons for that; and (b) given that conducting temperature checks on travellers by HSAs at control points is a measure adopted on the recommendation of the World Health Organization, and therefore such a task does not meet the condition of being "time-limited, seasonal, or subject to market fluctuations" (one of the conditions to be met by government departments intending to recruit NCSC staff), whether the Government has considered converting the HSA posts to civil service posts, so as to facilitate the conduct of steady and effective epidemic prevention; if not, of the reasons for that?
6. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of members of the public and trainees under the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme and Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme ("the Scheme") of the Labour Department ("LD") have relayed to me that, owing to LD's inadequate monitoring of those organizations ("training bodies") appointed for providing the training programmes under the Scheme ("training programmes"), public money has not been put to optimal use. However, when problems concerning the training programmes arise, front-line social workers as the case managers often become the scapegoats and the trainees, the victims. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the training bodies appointed by the Government since 2009, and set out the details of the training programmes provided as well as the amount of funding received by each training body in the following table;
Training body Training programme Name Date Total number of hours planned Total number of hours actually provided Total number of sessions planned Total number of sessions actually provided Name of the school planned to cooperate with
(if any)Number of supervisory social workers or supervisors planned to include Number of front-line social workers planned to include Amount of funding
(b) whether, in appointing the training bodies, the Government has imposed strict requirements on: (i) the number of supervisory social workers or supervisors ("supervisory staff") to be included in the training programmes; if it has, of the details; and (ii) regular inspections of the training programmes to be conducted by the supervisory staff; if it has, of the frequency of such inspections and the number of hours for each inspection required, as well as whether the supervisory staff are required to record each of their inspections on a log book to facilitate the Government's scrutiny; if there is no requirement for regular inspections, whether the supervisory staff monitor the programmes merely by reading in the office the reports submitted by front-line social workers; (c) whether the Government has deployed staff to regularly inspect each training programme after appointing the training bodies; if it has, of the frequency of such inspections and the number of hours for each inspection; if not, whether the Government monitors the actual situations and results of the programmes merely by reading in the office the reports submitted by the training bodies; (d) whether the Government has uncovered any problems in the training programmes (e.g. failing to complete the programme as planned) since 2009; if so, of the number of programmes and names of the training bodies concerned, whether the Government has investigated the causes of the problems in each case, whether it has held the relevant training bodies or supervisory staff responsible for the improper monitoring and imposed penalties on them, or whether it has merely requested or allowed such training bodies to name a front-line social worker as the scapegoat without holding the relevant training bodies or supervisory staff responsible for the improper monitoring; (e) when the training bodies have to submit reports on the training programmes to the Government according to the contract of appointment with the Government; and (f) of the number of training bodies to be appointed by the Government in 2013-2014 to run the training programmes, and set out the details of such programmes in the following table?
Training body
(if appointed)Training programme Name Date Total number of hours planned Total number of sessions planned Name of the school planned to cooperate with
(if any)Number of supervisory social workers or supervisors planned to include Number of front-line social workers planned to include Amount of funding
7. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
Elderly persons who are currently receiving or have previously received Normal Old Age Allowance ("Normal OAA") are all eligible for receiving Old Age Living Allowance ("OALA") introduced this month. The Social Welfare Department ("SWD") issued green notification letters to them in late February to enable them to receive OALA through Phase One "Auto-conversion". I have recently received quite a number of complaints from these elderly persons that they had waited for a long time but had not yet received the green notification letters. SWD explained that the situation was due to the fact that some old data had not been transferred to the current computer system. In addition, some elderly persons have indicated that they encountered difficulties in making enquiries through the OALA hotline or with SWD's front-line staff. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of elderly persons currently receiving OAA who are unable to receive OALA through the "Auto-conversion" procedure; among them, the respective numbers of elderly persons who are currently receiving (i) Normal OAA (for application by the elderly aged 65 to 69), (ii) Higher OAA (for application by the elderly aged 70 or above) but have never received Normal OAA, and (iii) Higher OAA and have previously received Normal OAA; (b) for how long, as estimated by SWD, elderly persons applying for OALA through Phase Two "Postal Submission" will lag behind those elderly persons under Phase One in receiving the allowance; (c) of the respective numbers of enquiries and requests for assistance received by the authorities to date since the OALA hotline came into operation in October last year; of the average number of enquiry calls received each day; among them, the total number of cases involving requests for assistance concerning elderly persons not receiving the green notification letters and how SWD follows up such cases; (d) of the respective numbers and hours of training or briefing sessions on OALA provided by SWD to its frontline staff to date since the announcement of the introduction of OALA in July last year, and of the number of staff members who had participated in such sessions; whether SWD has completed the recruitment for the additional staff required for the implementation of the OALA Scheme; whether those staff have reported for duty; (e) how SWD will handle cases involving elderly persons who did not receive OALA due to various delays caused by SWD and passed away during the waiting period; and (f) whether SWD will expeditiously put forward concrete improvement measures (e.g. reviewing the information management of its computer system, increasing frontline manpower, strengthening training and enhancing publicity targeted at elderly persons), so as to minimize the possibility of making mistakes in the payment of OALA; if it will, of the details of the measures?
8. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
As incidents of throwing/falling objects from heights in public rental housing ("PRH") estates have occurred repeatedly in recent years, the Housing Department ("HD") has installed close-circuit television monitoring systems ("monitoring systems") at the black spots of a number of estates, so as to deter such acts and gather evidence for enforcement of the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates ("Marking Scheme") by HD against such offenders or for prosecution by the Police. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the PRH estates currently installed with monitoring systems, the number of systems, as well as the respective models, functions and costs of such systems, set out separately by District Council district; (b) of the relevant information on incidents of throwing objects from heights that occurred in PRH estates during the period from 2009 to the end of March this year (set out in the table below): Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
(as at end of March)Total Number of reports on throwing objects from heights
Number of cases of PRH tenants being allotted penalty points
Number of cases of PRH tenants being convicted
(c) of the number of criminal prosecutions instituted in the past three years against PRH tenants for throwing objects from heights; among such cases, the number of those in which the information recorded by the monitoring systems had been used as evidence; whether there were cases in which prosecution could not be instituted ultimately because there had been "blind spots" in the monitoring systems concerned, resulting in failure to record the related situations of throwing objects; if there were such cases, of the number and the details concerned; (d) of the number of appeals lodged with HD by those PRH tenants who had been allotted penalty points for throwing objects from heights and the number of successful appeals, in the past three years; the details of the existing appeal mechanism; whether any regular review has been conducted to see if such mechanism is fair to the appellants; if not, of the reasons for that; (e) of the number of PRH tenants whose tenancies were terminated, since the implementation of the Marking Scheme in 2003, because a total of 16 or more penalty points had been allotted to them for throwing objects from heights; and (f) of the current establishment of HD's Special Operation Teams against Throwing Objects from Height; and the respective numbers of inspections conducted and prosecutions instituted by such teams in the past three years?
9. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
A survey conducted by a political party has found that almost 70% of the responding women are willing to go out to work in order to improve the financial situation of their families. Owing to a shortfall in child care services, quite a number of them are forced to stay at home to take care of their young children aged below 12 to avoid committing the offence of leaving children unattended at home. Some single mothers receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") have relayed that they once intended to take up part-time jobs under the Support for Self-reliance ("SFS") Scheme in order to help their families make ends meet. However, as the service hours of home-based child carers failed to dovetail with their schedules (as most of these carers get off work at 6 pm each day) and their services were unreliable, they very often had to take unscheduled leave in order to look after their children at home. Moreover, part of the income from part-time jobs would be deducted by the Social Welfare Department when calculating the amount of allowance payable to CSSA recipients, so much so that the remaining income was even unable to cover the costs for engaging home-based child carers. In the end, they had no alternative but to give up taking up part-time jobs as the losses outweighed the gains. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as some parents have indicated that the places for services of independent child care centres, kindergarten-cum-child care centres, occasional child care and child care provided under the Neighbouring Support Child Care Project ("NSCCP") in their districts have been fully taken up and they are unable to register for waiting for such services as there are no waiting lists for such services, whether the authorities will compile statistics on the number of families who were denied of such services because the places for such services had been fully taken up, and whether it will increase the quotas of such services and set up waiting lists to facilitate assessment of the service demand; (b) of the details of the child care services provided by various NSCCP service operators, including the respective numbers of home-based child carers in each District Council ("DC") district who provide child care services: (i) at their own homes; (ii) at clients' homes, and (iii) in the premises of the service operators; (c) of the actual situation concerning the child care services provided by home-based child carers in various DC districts at present, including: (i) whether the child carers have received pre-employment training; (ii) sthe maximum and minimum service charges, and (iii) the percentage of those carers who provide services beyond 8 am to 6 pm; (d) of the implementation details of the SFS Scheme at present, together with examples illustrating the provision of disregarded earnings under the CSSA Scheme and the calculation method; (e) as CSSA recipients taking up part-time jobs may not always be exempted from making payments to home-based child carers or for child care services while the CSSA payments they receive will be deducted because of their income from part-time jobs, so much so that their income after deduction may even be unable to cover the costs for child care services, whether the authorities have assessed if the SFS Scheme can achieve its goals under such circumstances; (f) given the view that the turnover rate of home-based child carers is on the high side because (i) they are not protected by the minimum wage law as they are offered incentive payments instead of wages, and (ii) there are quite a number of better-paid jobs in the market, whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the turnover rates of home-based child carers before and after the implementation of the statutory minimum wage; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for not studying the impact of the minimum wage on the stability of the supply of home-based child carers; (g) given that the Police received 61 reported cases of leaving children unattended at home in 2012, representing a year-on-year increase of 40%, whether the authorities will review the existing home-based child care services and consider afresh requiring service operators to increase the amount of incentive payments for their home-based child carers to reasonable levels to attract more experienced women to work as home-based child carers, so that working mothers may go to work without worries and hence a larger women labour force will be released; and (h) focusing on the problem of home-based child care services failing to meet the actual demand at present, in particular the acute shortage of those services for young children aged between six and 12, whether the authorities have assessed the demand for child care services for children aged between six and 12, as well as studied and considered any policies and measures to help the needy families solve their problem; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
10. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The United Nations Human Rights Committee ("the Committee") has issued its concluding observations after its hearing held last month on the third report in the light of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights submitted by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") through the Central People's Government. The Committee has expressed concern about reports of excessive use of force by the Police in handling demonstrations, in particular the inappropriate use of pepper spray. Moreover, the Committee also considers that the HKSAR Government should draw up clear guidelines on the use of video-recording devices by the Police during demonstrations and on records of the use of such devices, and should make such guidelines accessible to the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the response of the Police to the concluding observations of the Committee, including whether they will draw up and make accessible to the public the guidelines on the use of video-recording devices and records of using such devices, as suggested by the Committee; if not, of the reasons for that; (b) when the Police introduced large canisters of pepper spray; of the justifications for the Police to introduce large canisters of pepper spray when they have already been equipped with small canisters of pepper spray; of the difference in the usage of large and small canisters of pepper spray, and whether the usage of large canisters of pepper spray includes dispersing crowds and controlling the boundaries for demonstration activities; (c) whether large canisters of pepper spray are one of the standard pieces of equipment for front-line police officers; if so, when and why the Police have made such an arrangement; if not, of the ranks and units of the police officers who are equipped with large canisters of pepper spray, and the ranks of the police officers whose approval must be obtained before, and the circumstances under which, police officers are permitted to carry and use large canisters of pepper spray; (d) whether police officers must have received additional and specific training before they may use large canisters of pepper spray; if so, of the current number of police officers who have received such training, and whether such training includes mastering the shortest safe distance at which the use of pepper spray will not cause harms to the targeted people; whether the suppliers of pepper spray have specified the shortest safe distances for spraying recommended for using large and small canisters of pepper spray, and the possible harms to the targeted people if such recommendations are not followed; if the suppliers have, of the details; if not, whether the Police have consulted the professionals in order to set the shortest safe distance for spraying pepper spray; if they have not, of the reasons for that and whether they will do so expeditiously; (e) whether pepper spray is classified as "firearm" under the relevant law; whether police officers are currently required to record in their notebooks and report to their supervisors after using pepper spray; if they are required to make such records, whether the details to be recorded include the situations and reasons for using pepper spray as well as the number of times the pepper spray has been used; if they are not required to make such records, of the reasons for that, and whether such requirement will be made in future; and (f) whether the Police had reviewed the existing guidelines on the use of pepper spray last year, if they had, of the conclusions of the review, including the recommendations made and the implementation of them?
11. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
At present, whole-day acute care services are provided for residents of West Kowloon by Kwong Wah Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and Caritas Medical Centre. The preparatory works for the redevelopment of Kwong Wah Hospital ("redevelopment project") have already commenced in March this year. Some residents have expressed their concern that the project might impact gravely on the medical services provided by the hospital and lengthen the waiting time for various kinds of services, thereby delaying treatment of patients, and exerting significant pressure on other hospitals in the Kowloon West Cluster and the acute care services of the nearby Queen Elizabeth Hospital. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(a) the present progress and implementation timetable of the preparatory works for the redevelopment project; (b) based on the latest assessment conducted by the Hospital Authority ("HA"), whether the various medical services provided by Kwong Wah Hospital, such as acute care services, operations and medical check-ups, etc. will be affected during its redevelopment; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the details of the corresponding measures and plans; whether, on the principle that neither the waiting time nor the medical care quality should be affected, HA plans to arrange for members of the public to undergo operations and medical check-ups and receive other medical treatments, which have been scheduled, in nearby hospitals; if it has, of the details; (c) whether Kwong Wah Hospital has coordinated with other hospitals (in particular those of the Kowloon West and Kowloon Central Clusters) in respect of the following matters to avoid the situation where residents seeking acute care services converge excessively on a certain hospital: assessment of the pressure on the medical services provided by such hospitals while the redevelopment project is in progress, formulation of corresponding measures, establishment of a mechanism for the various hospitals to regularly exchange information on their acute care services and provide relevant information to the public, as well as regulation of the number of people seeking treatment and patient flow; and (d) whether HA will regularly announce the progress of the works of the redevelopment project to enhance transparency; if it will, of the details?
12. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the care services for the elderly, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the progress of the authorities' follow-up actions on the following three recommendations put forward in the Elderly Commission's report on the Consultancy Study on Residential Care Services for the Elderly: (i) devising a viable and sustainable long-term care financing model, (ii) re-considering the service matching mechanism (including the service arrangements for the elderly who are suitable for the "dual option" of either residential or community care services), and (iii) further development of community care services; (b) of the details of the services currently provided by the hospitals participating in the Integrated Discharge Support Programme for Elderly Patients ("IDSP") and by the Home Support Teams under non-governmental organizations (including the number of such support teams, the numbers of the elderly and carers benefitting from IDSP, as well as the average waiting time of IDSP); whether the authorities have set separate targets on the numbers of cases to be handled by the 15 participating hospitals of IDSP; of the difference in the frequency of utilizing hospital services by the elderly before and after their participation in IDSP; of the difference in the stress level of the carers before and after their participation in IDSP; of the criteria and approach adopted by the authorities for assessing the effectiveness of IDSP; (c) given that the five-year Home Environment Improvement Scheme for the Elderly had been concluded in March this year, of the respective numbers of the elderly who had applied for and those who had benefitted from the Scheme in each of the past five years, broken down by Social Welfare Department district; whether the authorities will launch this Scheme again; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (d) of the respective numbers of subsidized places for home-based Enhanced Home and Community Care Service and Integrated Home Care Services provided by the Government to the frail elderly in each of the past five years (broken down by type of services); whether the Government will increase the numbers of subsidized places for such services in the coming five years; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
13. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)
I have recently received complaints from members of the public about the ineffective enforcement of the tobacco control legislation by the Tobacco Control Office ("TCO") under the Department of Health. Regarding the enforcement of the tobacco control legislation, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of fixed penalty notices/summonses issued to smoking offenders in each of the past five years, broken down by law enforcement agency in the following table;
Number of fixed penalty notices/summonses issued 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 TCO
Hong Kong Police Force
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Housing Department
Total: (b) whether there is any difference between TCO's procedure for handling complaints about smoking offences received during office hours and outside office hours; if so, of the details; of the criteria adopted by TCO for deciding whether or not to send their officers to the scene to look into a complaint; (c) of the mode (unannounced or regular) and frequency of inspection by TCO's officers on the black spots of smoking offences and other no-smoking areas; (d) of the number of complaints received by the authorities from members of the public in the past three years about the ineffective enforcement of the tobacco control legislation by TCO, and the top five situations with most complaints about the ineffectiveness in law enforcement; whether they have assessed the effectiveness of TCO's law enforcement work; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will conduct such an assessment; (e) how TCO follows up those complaints with evidence of smoking offences (e.g. photographs as well as information about time and places) and complainants' contact information attached; (f) of the measures taken by the authorities to tackle the situations where the venue managers condone smoking offences in their venues and disregard related complaints; (g) of the current number of TCO's law enforcement officers and whether the authorities have assessed if it is adequate; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, whether they have plans to increase the manpower in the short term; and (h) whether it is an offence to smoke electronic cigarettes in no-smoking areas?
14. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
In 1993, the authorities amended, through the Computer Crimes Bill 1992, the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) by adding section 161, which provides for the offence of "access to computer with criminal or dishonest intent" ("section 161"). During the resumed debate on the Second Reading of the Bill, the then Secretary for Security pointed out that the making of "the new offence of access to a computer with criminal or dishonest intent" aimed at penalizing "access to a computer for acts preparatory but falling short of the commission of a fraud". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following since section 161 came into operation in 1993:
(a) the annual numbers of cases in which prosecutions were instituted ("prosecution cases") under section 161 (and among them, the number of cases in which the charge was laid as an alternative charge); and among such cases, of the respective numbers of convicted cases and acquitted cases (set out in the table below);
Year Number of prosecution cases
(among them, the number of cases in which the charge was laid as an alternative charge)Number of convicted cases Number of acquitted cases 1993 ( )
(b) the annual numbers of prosecution cases under section 161 which involved "access to a computer for acts preparatory of the commission of a fraud"; and among such cases, the respective numbers of convicted cases and acquitted cases (set out in the table below); and
Year Number of prosecution cases Number of convicted cases Number of acquitted cases 1993
(c) the annual numbers of prosecution cases under section 161 other than those mentioned in (b), and among such cases, the respective numbers of convicted cases and acquitted cases (set out in the table below and type of crime involved)?
Year Number of prosecution cases Number of cases by type of crime Number of convicted cases Number of acquitted cases Type of crime Number of cases 1993
15. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
Under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485), members of mandatory provident fund ("MPF") schemes ("scheme members") may withdraw the accrued benefits of their MPF accounts only when they have attained the age of 65. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) the number of scheme members attaining the age of 65, the total amount of employees' contributions made by these scheme members, the total amount of accrued benefits withdrawn by them, and the highest and lowest amounts of accrued benefits withdrawn from the MPF accounts of these scheme members, in each year from 2001 to 2012 (set out in Table 1 below);
(Table 1)
Year Number of scheme members attaining the age of 65 Total amount of employees' contributions Total amount of accrued benefits withdrawn The highest amount of accrued benefits withdrawn The lowest amount of accrued benefits withdrawn 2001
2002
Total (b) regarding those scheme members who had attained the age of 65 and withdrawn their accrued benefits in each year from 2001 to 2012, the distribution of the average annual rates of investment return of their MPF accounts in the past (set out in Table 2 below);
(Table 2)
Year Rate of investment return of MPF accounts
(rounded to the nearest whole percentage)Above -10% -6% to -10% -5% -1% to -4% 0 +1% to +4% +5% +6% to +10% Above +10% 2001
2002
(c) the lowest, highest and average amounts of accrued benefits in the MPF accounts of scheme members who are currently aged 55 to 65 and, among them, the number of those who have stayed in employment for more than five years (broken down by age and set out in Table 3 and Table 4 respectively); and
(Table 3)
Accrued benefits in MPF accounts Amount of accrued benefits in the
MPF accounts of scheme members of the following age55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Lowest amount
Highest amount
Average amount
(Table 4)
Number of scheme members of the following age
who have been employed for more than five years55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
(d) whether the rates of investment returns, in the past 10 years, of those MPF accounts from which accrued benefits had been withdrawn had attained 5%, an assumption previously made by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority; whether the authorities have reviewed the investment situations (gains/losses) of the MPF accounts of those scheme members who are approaching the age of retirement; if not, whether they will consider conducting such reviews regularly; if they will not consider, the reasons for that?
16. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that with changes in society, public demand for primary health care and medical services (in particular services of Maternal and Child Care Centres and dermatological specialist out-patient services) provided by the clinics and health centres under the Department of Health ("clinics and health centres") is growing day by day, and the manpower requirement for nursing staff providing such services has also been rising. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of person-times receiving various services in clinics and health centres last year, the average waiting time for first appointments and the establishment of nursing staff at present, with a breakdown by clinic and health centre; (b) of the factors taken into account by the authorities in setting up clinics and health centres, and whether the adequacy of nursing staff has been assessed; if so, of the criteria for calculating the manpower requirement for nursing staff; if not, the reasons for that; (c) given that some members of the public have relayed that their demand for the services provided by clinics and health centres is keen but the waiting time is very long, whether the authorities have regularly assessed if there is sufficient manpower of nursing staff for various services in clinics and health centres; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (d) given the changing demographic structure (e.g. ageing population, and children born in Hong Kong to mainland women whose spouses are not Hong Kong permanent residents coming to reside in Hong Kong), there is an increasing demand for primary health care and medical services (including various services provided by the Department of Health), whether the authorities have a comprehensive plan to increase the number of clinics and health centres so as to meet the demand; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
17. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
The Mediation Ordinance (Cap. 620) was passed by the Legislative Council on 15 June 2012 and, with the support of and promotion by the Department of Justice, the Hong Kong Mediation Accreditation Association Limited ("HKMAAL") was incorporated as a non-profit-making company limited by guarantee in August of the same year. HKMAAL will discharge mediation-related accreditation and disciplinary functions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective requirements on the professional qualifications for accredited mediators and instructors of mediator training courses; (b) whether the authorities will propose to HKMAAL to provide mediator training courses directly; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) of the authorities' policy on promoting more use of mediation by the public in resolving disputes; (d) given that three of the member organizations of the Council of HKMAAL are legal professional bodies, whether the authorities have assessed if the professional development of mediation services will be dominated by the legal profession; if they have, of the assessment outcome; how the authorities ensure that mediators will come from different professions; and (e) given that at present, some mediation accrediting organizations assess student mediators by means of role-plays, in which student mediators take turns to play the roles of the mediator and the parties in dispute, resulting in the grading of a student being possibly affected by the performance of other students; whether the authorities know when HKMAAL will establish a standardized accreditation system to enhance public confidence in mediation services?
18. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
According to government information, more than 70 000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment is generated in Hong Kong annually, and such quantity is rising continuously. It has been learnt that the novelties in the functions and designs of mobile phones, notebook computers and tablet computers, which make users frequently replace old products with new ones, have contributed to the increasing quantities of the waste of such products. Regarding the procurement and disposal of the three kinds of electronic products by government departments, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective total numbers of the above three kinds of electronic products procured and disposed of by various government departments, the expenditure incurred in procuring such electronic products, as well as the respective average numbers of years that such electronic products had been used at the time of disposal, in each of the past five years; (b) whether various government departments have adopted the same criteria for deciding whether such electronic products should be replaced; if so, of such criteria, and whether such criteria are reviewed regularly; if not, the reasons for that, and the respective criteria adopted by various departments; (c) how various government departments dispose of such electronic products (including the procedure for ensuring no leakage of the information stored in such products); and (d) of the specific measures put in place by the authorities for reducing the replacement and increasing the recycling of such electronic products?
19. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The Government has approved the project of Hospital Authority ("HA") to redevelop the Queen Mary Hospital ("QMH") by phases. Yet, HA has not announced the concrete redevelopment arrangements and post-redevelopment service arrangements. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the latest progress of the redevelopment project; whether it can provide the details and schedule of the entire redevelopment project; if it cannot, of the reasons for that; (b) whether it knows the details about the number of beds and the new services to be provided as well as the healthcare manpower requirements after the redevelopment of QMH; whether HA has adopted specific measures to ensure sufficient healthcare staff to provide services in QMH upon completion of the redevelopment project; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) of the latest estimated expenditure for the redevelopment project; given the comment of some healthcare staff of QMH that the earlier estimated amount of $7 billion might not suffice, whether there is room for the authorities to increase the budget; if there is, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) given the comments of some patients that the waiting time for specialist out-patient services, examinations with the aid of advanced medical apparatus and operations is currently very long in QMH, whether it knows if the waiting time for such services will be shortened upon completion of the redevelopment project; if so, of a breakdown of the anticipated figures by specialty and type of examination item and operation; (e) whether it knows if the services provided by QMH will be reduced when the redevelopment works are in progress, and whether part of the service needs will be shared out by other public hospitals; if so, of the details; the measures to be taken by the Government and HA to alleviate the impact of the redevelopment project on the patients of QMH and the residents on Hong Kong Island as well; (f) given that some concern groups on women's affairs have all along longed for the authorities to set up a one-stop support centre for victims of sexual violence, whether the authorities will consider taking the opportunity of the redevelopment of QMH to set up such a centre in the hospital, so as to strengthen the support for victims of sexual violence; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (g) whether it knows if HA will initiate public engagement activities in the course of drawing up plans for the redevelopment project and designing the buildings, so as to gauge the views of patients, healthcare personnel and other stakeholders; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
20. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
At present, public hospitals will screen the foetuses of all pregnant women undergoing prenatal check-ups for Down's syndrome by means of ultrasound examinations and blood tests, etc., and will perform a further test in the form of amniocentesis for pregnant women of suspected cases. As amniocentesis is an invasive diagnostic test, it is associated with a 0.5% to 1% risk of miscarriage. On the other hand, a local university has successfully developed the T21 test, a non-invasive prenatal diagnostic technique, which can safely and accurately screen a foetus for Down's syndrome by conducting tests on chromosome 21 in the pregnant woman's blood plasma. It has been learnt that T21 tests have been used in quite a number of countries in the world, but they have not yet been commonly used in Hong Kong, and the tests are also more expensive than the traditional tests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the respective numbers and percentages of pregnant women who underwent amniocentesis and T21 tests in each of the past three years; among them, whether there were any miscarriages due to amniocentesis; if so, of the number of such cases; of the average age and household income of those pregnant women who underwent T21 tests in the past three years, and whether all those T21 tests performed were self-financed; (b) whether it knows the total expenditure of the Hospital Authority ("HA") for performing amniocentesis and the number of pregnant women who underwent such a test in each of the past three years; whether there were cases in which the expenses for T21 tests were borne by HA; if so, of the reasons for that; of the estimated amount of public money to be spent each year should the costs for T21 tests be fully covered by public hospitals, and how such an amount compares with the public money spent annually on direct and indirect subsidies for people with Down's syndrome; (c) of the number of newborn babies with Down's syndrome and the percentage of such number in the total number of live births in each of the past three years; and the total number of people with Down's syndrome in Hong Kong at present; and (d) whether the Government will consider a comprehensive introduction of T21 tests for public healthcare service in the next financial year; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
21. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
Some grass-roots single mothers have pointed out that as they have to take up the dual role as the carers and breadwinners of their families, their lives are extremely difficult; and among them, those newly arrived for settlement in Hong Kong ("new arrivals") are even ineligible to apply for public rental housing or Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") as they have not lived in Hong Kong for seven years. In order to make a living, most grass-roots single mothers take up low-skilled jobs with lower pay and very long working hours, and are thus unable to enjoy normal family and social lives, and there is also a lack of opportunities for them to develop their potentials. It is their hope that the Government can increase subsidized child care services and provide child care allowances for them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) apart from providing training on low-skilled jobs, whether it will consider providing subsidies for grass-roots single mothers to learn skills which they are interested in and can provide better employment prospects, so as to help them get out of poverty; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether it will consider granting living allowances and child care allowances to grass-roots single mothers, which are specifically designed for them, to obviate the need for them to work all day long in order to make ends meet, so that they may enjoy family life and work life which are better balanced and have the opportunities to develop their potentials; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) of the measures in place to support grass-roots single mothers who are new arrivals; whether it will consider providing them with support on various fronts, such as economic and community support, etc., so as to meet their basic needs in daily lives and assist them in integrating into Hong Kong society and understanding their own rights; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) given that quite a number of new arrival women can only take up low-skilled jobs because their mainland academic qualifications are not recognized in Hong Kong, whether the Government will consider providing subsidies for such women with higher academic qualifications to further their studies, so as to obtain academic qualifications awarded by locally-recognized institutions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) of the Government's total estimated expenditure on child care services and the detailed items concerned in the 2013-2014 financial year, and the estimated percentage of the number of new arrival women in the total number of female beneficiaries; (f) of the details of the means test mechanism for approving fee reduction or waiver applications under the Neighbourhood Support Child Care Project ("NSCCP"), as well as the respective numbers of service users who were granted fee reduction or waiver since NSCCP and the after-school child care services were launched, as well as the respective amounts of fees reduced or waived; (g) whether it will consider relaxing the means test requirements for the aforesaid two kinds of child care services to enable more of the indigent single mothers to benefit from such services; (h) whether it will consider giving priority to single-parent families in using the aforesaid two kinds of child care services and in granting fee reduction and waiver; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (i) whether it will consider adjusting the operating hours of the aforesaid two kinds of child care services so as to ensure that grass-roots single mothers can obtain such services also during weekends, school holidays and public holidays; (j) whether it will, in calculating the amounts of allowances payable to CSSA recipients, consider exempting the income earned as home-based child carers under NSCCP, so as to encourage more women on CSSA to work as home-based child carers and enable more low-income families, especially single-parent families, to obtain child care services; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (k) given that the provision of assistance to indigent people who have not received any support from the Government or other charitable funds is one of the operating principles of the Community Care Fund ("CCF"), and yet students subsidized by the After School Care Pilot Scheme ("ASCPS") under CCF are confined to Primary One to Secondary Three students studying in public sector schools and Direct Subsidy Scheme schools who are from families on CSSA or have received full fee reimbursement from the student financial assistance schemes, and while schools may exercise discretion to waive the fees of other indigent students, the maximum number of such students must not exceed 25% of the total number of participating students, whether the Government will propose to CCF to consider including students who are ineligible for CSSA or full fee reimbursement as the target beneficiaries under ASCPS; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (l) of the effectiveness of ASCPS since its implementation; the number of beneficiaries, the number of beneficiaries from families on CSSA, the number of students receiving full fee or half fee reimbursements and other relevant figures, broken down by the districts in which their schools are situated?
22. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the law enforcement work against illegal tree-felling, fly-tipping or illegal occupation of government land, as well as unauthorized developments on government and private land, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the manpower deployed by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") to patrol country parks and special areas to prevent illegal tree-felling and fly-tipping, as well as the number of patrol conducted (with a breakdown by country park and special area) in each of the past three financial years; (b) of the amount of fines and the number of trees felled in each of the 19 convicted cases of illegal tree-felling in country park areas in the past three financial years, and whether the authorities had sought the advice of the Department of Justice on those cases in which the penalties imposed were too lenient and considered lodging appeals; if so, of the details; (c) of the number of complaints about illegal tree-felling outside country park areas in each of the past three financial years; the respective numbers of relevant prosecution and convicted cases, as well as the details of each case (including the amounts of fines); (d) of the law enforcement procedures to be followed by AFCD when it detects fly-tipping in country parks and special areas; as the authorities have indicated that no prosecution case could be concluded in the past two financial years due to lack of sufficient evidence, of the relevant details; (e) among the 17 cases of illegal occupation of country park land which had been referred by AFCD to the Lands Department ("LandsD") for follow-up in the past two financial years, of the respective numbers of prosecution and convicted cases, as well as the details of each case; (f) as it was reported that LandsD had approved the building of two New Territories small houses ("small houses") on a site in Shan Pui Tsuen, Yuen Long, which had been formed by illegal pond filling, but the Planning Department ("PlanD") had pointed out that building small houses on that site constituted an unauthorized development and requested the owner to reinstate the site, of the reasons why LandsD still granted approval for building small houses on that site when PlanD had pointed out that building small houses there constituted an unauthorized development; whether the authorities have assessed if this case will encourage more people to engage in illegal land developments; of the number of similar cases reported to the authorities in each of the past three financial years (with a breakdown by District Council district ); and (g) apart from proceeding with the legislative work for amendments to section 16A of the Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354) to curb fly-tipping, whether the authorities have plans to review and amend the relevant legislation to curb illegal tree-felling and land developments, so as to strengthen the deterrent effect against such illegal activities?
III. Bills
| First Reading
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| 1. | Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2013
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| 2. | Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) (Amendment) Bill 2013
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| 3. | Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2013
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| 4. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2013
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| Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)
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| 1. | Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | The Secretary for Justice
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| 2. | Merchant Shipping (Seafarers) (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
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| 3. | Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Home Affairs
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| 4. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| Appropriation Bill 2013 | : | The Financial Secretary
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| Other Public Officers to attend the Second Reading debate | : |
The Chief Secretary for Administration Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Secretary for Education Secretary for Food and Health | |
| Amendments to heads of estimates in Committee of the whole Council on the Appropriation Bill 2013 | |||
| Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung, Hon Albert CHAN, Hon Gary FAN, Hon WONG Yuk-man and Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to move the Committee stage amendments in Appendix I. (these amendments were also issued on 22 April 2013 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 502/12-13) | |||
| Other Public Officers to attend the Committee stage | : |
The Chief Secretary for Administration The Secretary for Justice Secretary for Transport and Housing Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary for Security Secretary for Education Secretary for the Civil Service Secretary for Food and Health Secretary for the Environment Secretary for Development Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Under Secretary for Home Affairs Under Secretary for the Environment Under Secretary for Transport and Housing Under Secretary for Security Under Secretary for Food and Health Under Secretary for Education Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs | |
IV. Motion
| 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 28 March 2013, be approved — | ||
| (a) | the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2013; and
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| (b) | the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2013.
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(The two Regulations are in Appendices II and III and were also issued on 11 April 2013 under LC Paper No. CB(3)478/12-13) | ||
V. Member's Motion
(originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)
Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon WONG Ting-kwong to move the following motion:
Resolved that in relation to the —
| (a) | Companies (Revision of Financial Statements and Reports) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 34 of 2013; and
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| (b) | Companies (Disclosure of Information about Benefits of Directors) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 35 of 2013,
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| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 27 March 2013, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 15 May 2013. | |
Clerk to the Legislative Council