A 12/13-34
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 3 July 2013 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instrument | L.N. No. |
| Arbitration (Appointment of Arbitrators and Mediators and Decision on Number of Arbitrators) Rules | 115/2013
|
| 1. | No. 101 | - | Construction Industry Council
Annual Report 2012 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Development)
| |||
| 2. | No. 102 | - | Construction Workers Registration Authority
Work Report for 2012/13 (From 1 April 2012 to 31 December 2012) |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Development)
| |||
| 3. | Report of the Bills Committee on Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2013 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Tommy CHEUNG, Chairman of the Bills Committee) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that since the reform of the secondary school curriculum in 2001, quite a number of secondary schools have cancelled teaching Chinese history as an independent subject in their junior secondary curriculum, resulting in a continuous decline in the number of senior secondary students taking the subject in recent years. This year, only some 7 400 candidates took the examination on the subject of Chinese History of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, representing a sharp drop of over 1 000 candidates from that of last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of secondary schools currently teaching Chinese history as an independent subject in both their junior and senior secondary curricula, the number of those which have a combined subject of Chinese history and world history in their junior secondary curriculum, and the number of those which only teach Chinese history using a thematic approach under the subject of Integrated Humanities in their junior secondary curriculum, and the respective percentages of such numbers in the total number of secondary schools offering mainstream curriculum; (b) of the respective numbers and percentages of Secondary Four to Six students taking the subject of Chinese History each year since the implementation of the new senior secondary curriculum; and (c) as some academics have pointed out that knowledge in the history of one’s nation is the foundation for his sense of national identity, whether the Education Bureau will consider afresh requiring all secondary schools offering mainstream curriculum to teach Chinese history as an independent and compulsory subject at the junior secondary level; if so, when it will be implemented; if not, of the reasons for that?
2. Hon Vincent FANG to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme has been on the rise over the past decade, and the places where they go shopping concentrate in shopping malls, shops and traditional shopping areas along the railway lines. According to the statistics of the Census and Statistics Department, the gross proceeds of the retail industry had grown by 1.3 times between 2002 and 2011 but the retail floor area had increased only by 30% during the same period. As the demand far exceeds the supply, rents of shops in traditional tourist shopping areas have surged continuously and caused the rise in commodity prices, thereby giving rise to discontent among members of the public towards mainland visitors. On the other hand, the Chief Executive said when he took office that he would take measures to increase retail floor area and ancillary facilities. However, relevant measures have not yet been taken so far, and as a result, the development of the retail industry still faces serious constraints. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that although the Secretary for Development told this Council on 6 February this year that more retail floor area would be provided in Kowloon East, Kai Tak Development area, as well as in the new development areas in the North East New Territories and Hung Shui Kiu under planning, he did not reveal the number of large shopping malls to be developed in such development areas, nor the estimated retail floor area to be provided and the completion time, whether the Government has plans to increase retail floor area and ancillary facilities in the short term, build large shopping malls at places near the boundary or along the railway lines, and increase the retail floor area in traditional shopping areas (e.g. by building an underground shopping centre in Causeway Bay, etc.) so as to meet the pressing demand for shopping facilities arising from the increase in the number of visitors at present, and to ease the conflicts between local consumers and mainland visitors; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether, in the medium to long term, the Government has any plan to increase the proportion of retail floor area for the sites scheduled for sale; of the estimated retail floor area to be provided by the sites to be put up for auction by the Government in this financial year, and the percentage of retail floor area in the total floor area to be provided by those sites; and (c) if it knows, the proportion of retail floor area to residential floor area in the development projects under the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") which are in progress or will soon be launched, whether URA will consider increasing the retail floor area in those projects to meet market demand given that those development projects are all located in densely populated districts, and whether URA will consider leasing the former Central Market on short-term tenancies for retail purpose before the commencement of the revitalization project for the Market; if URA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Development
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development |
3. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the Secretary for the Environment has indicated that energy saving is one of the directions of the interim review of the Scheme of Control Agreements ("SCAs") entered into by the Government and the two power companies. Under SCAs, the Government will assess the performance of the two power companies based on the number of energy audits they perform for customers and the actual energy saved ("energy saving targets"), and a maximum award of 0.02 percentage point in permitted return will be given as an incentive. It has been reported that the actual energy to be saved by customers as specified under SCAs accounts for only about 0.03% to 0.04% of the annual local electricity sales of the two power companies, and the two power companies provide such service only to commercial customers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective annual number of energy audits performed by the two power companies for their customers, the actual energy thus saved, and the amount as well as the ratios of the bonus return so earned, since the implementation of SCAs; whether the Government and the two power companies had set energy saving targets in the past based on any scientific criteria, and whether they had ascertained that such targets were appropriate and feasible based on any standards or researches; (b) whether the authorities have assessed if the aforesaid terms of SCAs are operating effectively; if they have, of the outcome; whether the interim review of SCAs being conducted includes a review of the aforesaid terms; if so, whether they have demanded the two power companies to raise the targets for the energy to be saved for their customers to at least 1% of their annual electricity sales, required the two power companies to provide energy audit service to domestic customers, and prescribed penalties for failure to meet the energy saving targets, etc., so as to improve the relevant terms; if they have, of the responses of the two power companies so far; and (c) whether it has made reference to relevant overseas experience before drawing up the aforesaid terms; if it has, how the mainstream terms adopted by overseas countries compare with the aforesaid terms; if there are differences between them, of the main reasons for that and the impact of such differences on the customers of the two power companies?
4. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that recently the way in which a former Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption ("the Commissioner") handled expenses on official entertainment, bestowal of gifts and duty visits during his term of office has aroused public concern and has seriously damaged the image and reputation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Quite a number of members of the public have pointed out that it was likely that the former Commissioner had adopted such practices for the purpose of building a social network that was conducive to his post-service advancement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has established guidelines for the appointment of the Commissioner, to assist the Chief Executive in identifying a suitable candidate for appointment as the Commissioner; whether the authorities have objective criteria for determining the suitability of candidates for the post of the Commissioner; whether it will consider conducting open recruitment for the post of the Commissioner and establishing a selection board to select the suitable candidate; (b) whether it will review the mechanism for appointing the Commissioner, and give priority to retired judges or retired public officers with good reputation in considering candidates for the post of the Commissioner, so as to prevent the occurrence of the situation of the Commissioner utilizing his official capacity during his term of office to build a social network that is conducive to his post-service advancement; and (c) whether it has formulated guidelines to govern the Commissioner’s post-service employment and business arrangements; whether the authorities have in place measures to prevent the Commissioner’s discharge of duties from being affected by his concerns about the chance of being appointed to certain public offices after leaving the office; if there are such measures, of the details?
5. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Article 30 of the Basic Law stipulates that "the freedom and privacy of communication of Hong Kong residents shall be protected by law. No department or individual may, on any grounds, infringe upon the freedom and privacy of communication of residents except that the relevant authorities may inspect communication in accordance with legal procedures to meet the needs of public security or of investigation into criminal offences." At present, the interception of communications and specified kinds of covert surveillance operations by public officers are regulated by the Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance ("the Ordinance"). In order to obtain authorization, the investigation operations concerned must be carried out for the purpose of preventing or detecting serious crime or protecting public security. At the same time, the two vetting and approval criteria of proportionality and necessity must also be met. However, the Ordinance only governs the interception of communications and covert surveillance operations by law enforcement agencies, and is not applicable to non-government parties, individuals or countries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have examined and assessed the collection of confidential information in the communication of residents and infringement upon the privacy of residents in Hong Kong by bodies or individuals outside local law enforcement agencies (including non-government parties or individuals, private organizations, government intelligence services of foreign countries and the Mainland, etc.); if they have, of the outcome; whether they have detected any interception of communications and covert surveillance operations carried out by such organizations in Hong Kong; if they have, of the details; whether the Government or individual law enforcement agencies have obtained through such organizations relevant information or intelligence which clearly involved infringement upon the privacy of communication of Hong Kong residents; if so, of the details; (b) of the regulation under existing legislation of the operations carried out in Hong Kong by bodies or individuals outside local law enforcement agencies (including non-government parties or individuals, private organizations, government intelligence services of foreign countries and the Mainland, etc.) which infringe upon the freedom and privacy of communication of residents; whether it has assessed if such legislation has been enacted to counter such kind of operations; and (c) given that private organizations and organizations outside Hong Kong are not governed by the Ordinance, and the authorities had stated clearly when the Ordinance was enacted that the relevant conduct of non-government parties or individuals would not be dealt with at that stage, whether the authorities will now consider introducing legislation to regulate such matters, with a view to further implementing the requirement under Article 30 of the Basic Law on the protection of the freedom and privacy of communication of Hong Kong residents by law; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development |
6. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
In the first four months of this year, the Consumer Council received 122 complaints in relation to intermediaries for foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs"), which is a sharp increase of 60% from the 75 cases for the same period last year. The subject of the complaints included overcharging of fees, the services provided not meeting the descriptions of the intermediaries, and FDHs employing various tactics to make the employers terminate the employment contracts with them. Some employers have indicated that since the Philippine Government has, in recent years, prohibited the collection of placement fees by intermediaries in the Philippines from domestic helpers working overseas, such fees have been passed on to the employers in Hong Kong, some of them have therefore hired Indonesian domestic helpers instead. However, prior to their coming to Hong Kong, such helpers usually have to sign loan documents with the intermediaries in Indonesia and then repay the loans with their wages by instalments after arriving in Hong Kong. Some employers have suspected that, for the purpose of early settlement of loans, the newly employed FDHs have deliberately displayed bad attitude to make their employers terminate the employment contracts with them, so that they can get one month’s wages in lieu of notice and free passages to return to their places of domicile. However, they return to work in Hong Kong again after merely departing for Macao once, without actually returning to their places of domicile. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that the Government may allow a FDH to change employer without having to return to the place of domicile under some special circumstances such as the employer being unable to continue with the contract because of migration, death or financial difficulty, or there is evidence that the FDH has been abused, of the following figures in the past three years: the number of such cases approved, the respective numbers of FDHs who had not completed the two-year contracts and had returned to their places of domicile as well as those who had returned to work in Hong Kong after departing for Macao, and the number of FDHs whose employment contracts had been prematurely terminated and the percentage of such number in the total number of FDHs; (b) given that the authorities have stipulated that employers have to give FDHs free passages to return to their places of domicile upon termination of employment contracts, what measures the authorities have in place to ensure that the FDHs whose contracts have been terminated with free return passages provided actually return to their places of domicile; in cases where the FDHs return to work in Hong Kong again after departing for Macao once without actually returning to their places of domicile, whether the authorities will require the FDHs to refund their previous employers the passages for returning to their places of domicile; if not, whether the Government will consider revising the existing requirements to do justice to the employers; and (c) whether the authorities will consider introducing FDHs from other regions to increase the supply of FDHs and to alleviate the employers’ pressure arising from the need to pay expensive intermediary charges; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Security |
*7. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the number of study tours organized by organizations such as travel agents, educational bodies, youth centres, schools, etc., has been on the rise in recent years, but the quality of such study tours varies. In addition, participants of outbound tours which are not organized by licensed travel agents are not protected by the Travel Industry Compensation Fund and the Package Tour Accident Contingency Fund Scheme. Some parents have relayed that the requirements under the Guidelines on Study Tours Outside the HKSAR ("Guidelines") of the Education Bureau are less stringent than those under the Code of Business Practice on Study Tours ("Code") of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, and the protection for students joining study tours is inadequate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that the Code requires travel agents, when organizing studying tours, to assign at least one tour-accompanying helper who holds a valid Tour Escort Pass (i.e. one who has completed the Certificate Course for Outbound Tour Escorts and passed the relevant examination) to each study tour, whereas the Guidelines only require that "all escorts in the study tour should have experience in leading students to take part in outdoor activities or overseas visits", whether the Education Bureau will raise the professional requirements for study tour escorts to the same level as those set by the Code; if so, of the specific arrangements; if not, the reasons for that; (b) as the Guidelines require that "each participant of the study tour should prepare suitable travel and medical insurance" but they have not specified what a "suitable" insurance is, whether the authorities will learn a lesson from the hot-air balloon explosion accident in Egypt and formulate uniform standards and guidelines on travel insurance for study tours; if so, of the specific arrangements; if not, the reasons for that; (c) whether it has assessed if students concerned will have adequate protection in the event that the study tours organized by local organizations (which are not licensed travel agents) or directly by non-local receiving organizations are involved in disputes or accidents; if it has, of the assessment outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and (d) whether the authorities will formulate uniform standards on the quality of receiving organizations at destinations of study tours, accommodation and transport arrangements, etc., so as to ensure that study tours are of good quality and participants are safe; if so, of the specific arrangements; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon Christopher CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Financial Secretary mentioned in the Budget of this year that to strengthen its position as a premier international asset management centre, Hong Kong would provide relevant legal and regulatory frameworks, and a clear and competitive tax environment with a view to attracting more funds of various types to base in Hong Kong. Yet, the total value of the fund assets managed in Hong Kong in 2011 decreased by more than 10% when compared to that of 2010. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the year-on-year change in the total asset value of fund management business in Hong Kong as at the end of last year, together with a breakdown by asset components; (b) whether it knows the progress in expanding the distribution network of the fund industry of Hong Kong (including discussing with the Mainland the preparatory work for making Hong Kong the trial area for the "Qualified Domestic Individual Investors Scheme"); of the measures put in place to ensure that the local small and medium-sized securities brokers can still benefit from the Scheme despite the restrictions such as threshold and qualifications for qualifying as the undertaking securities companies; (c) whether it knows the number of licensed institutions engaged mainly in dealing in securities and financing (commonly known as "Type 1 licence" holders) and the rate of success of such licensed institutions in applying concurrently for an asset management licence (commonly known as "Type 9 licence") in the past five years; the number of applications of which the processing time exceeded the normal 15 weeks; the longest time taken to process a relevant application; apart from the qualifications of the applicants and their responsible personnel and the capital requirements for companies, the factors taken into account by the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") in vetting and approving applications; (d) of the details of the "Private Wealth Management Association" which the Government intends to advocate the industry to establish (including the establishment objective, legal standing, members’ qualifications, functions and establishment date, etc.); and (e) as the Government has proposed to SFC to offer financial support for the curriculum development of suitable training courses in asset management in the market, of the relevant details; the measures put in place by the authorities to cater for the need for continued professional training of the small and medium-sized securities brokers?
*9. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that apart from identifying sites for constructing new public rental housing ("PRH") estates, redevelopment of PRH estates (such as Pak Tin Estate currently being redeveloped in phases) may also increase the supply of PRH units within a short period of time. Meanwhile, the redevelopment of aged PRH estates like Wo Lok Estate and Choi Hung Estate will not only improve the living environment of residents but also tie in with the Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment which is underway. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have conducted any feasibility study on the redevelopment of aged PRH estates like Wo Lok Estate and Choi Hung Estate; if they have, of the progress and anticipated completion time for the study; whether it has drawn up a timetable for comprehensive redevelopment of PRH estates; if not, of the reasons for that; (b) of the number of PRH units in Wo Lok Estate at present; and the maximum number of PRH units that can be provided upon redevelopment; (c) as some PRH tenants have relayed to me that some units in the PRH development projects in Kai Tak Development Area and at Anderson Road intended to be carried out by the authorities should be reserved for rehousing tenants affected by the PRH redevelopments in Kowloon East, whether the authorities will reserve some units in these two projects for such purpose; if they will, of the respective numbers of units to be reserved; if not, the reasons for that, and how the affected PRH tenants will be rehoused; and (d) whether the authorities have consulted the tenants of the aged PRH estates in Kowloon East about the overall planning of PRH in the district; if they have, of the arrangements and contents of the consultation; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will launch any consultation on the redevelopment of PRH in this financial year?
*10. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
The Chief Executive has mentioned in the 2013 Policy Address that Hong Kong can examine the development of underground spaces as a source of land supply. Regarding the development of underground spaces (excluding rock caverns), will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the Government has commenced any feasibility study or planning work on the development of underground spaces at various selected sites; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether the Government has made reference to the examples of developing underground spaces into pedestrianized streets, car parks and stadiums in foreign countries; whether it has assessed the types of uses of the underground spaces which are more suitable to be developed in Hong Kong; and (c) whether the Government will conduct studies on the development of underground shopping malls/business cities in those major development projects (including the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Kai Tak Development area) the works for which have not yet commenced at present?
*11. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
On 5 June this year, a number of stray cattle were injured or killed after being hit by a vehicle/vehicles on South Lantau Road on Lantau Island. On the other hand, according to the estimate of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD"), there were 1 230 stray cattle in Hong Kong in 2012, 280 of which were on Lantau Island, and the number of stray cattle in Sai Kung/Ma On Shan had increased from 190 in 2008 to 500 in 2012. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the progress of the investigation conducted by government departments such as the Police and AFCD, etc. into the aforesaid incident, including whether the driver(s) involved in the case has/have been caught; (b) given that some residents on Lantau Island have pointed out that the problem of speeding on South Lantau Road is rather serious at night, resulting in incidents of stray cattle being hit by vehicles occurring from time to time, whether the authorities will place additional road markings and traffic signs of speed limit as well as install additional speed enforcement cameras, so as to alleviate the problem of speeding in that area and reduce the number of incidents of cattle being hit by vehicles; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) of the number of stray cattle injured or killed by being hit by vehicles in each month of the past three years, the number of cases into which investigation had been launched by the Police, as well as the respective numbers of cases in which the persons involved were prosecuted and convicted, together with a breakdown by district; (d) whether the authorities will consider providing cowsheds at suitable locations for stray cattle to stay in, so as to reduce their chance of being hit by vehicles on roads; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) given that the authorities have established a dedicated Cattle Management Team ("CAT") to handle stray cattle cases, formulated a long-term strategy, as well as implemented the relevant measures in collaboration with the relevant animal welfare organizations and local communities, of the manpower and estimated expenditure of CAT in this financial year; and (f) of the number of stray cattle cases handled by CAT in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by district; whether the authorities will review the effectiveness of the work of CAT, including whether the aforesaid incident reflects the ineffectiveness of the work of CAT, and which areas are in need of improvement?
*12. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
In connection with the conservation of declared monuments and relevant law enforcement actions, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of inspections of declared monuments initiated by the authorities in each of the past five years; the number of cases in which the monuments were found during the inspections to have been damaged or vandalized, and set out in a table the relevant details, including the names, ages of the buildings, the damage, progress of the repair works and costs of such repair works; (b) of the number of inspections of declared monuments conducted by the authorities upon receipt of reports in each of the past five years, and set out in a table the relevant details, including the names, ages of the buildings, the damage, progress of the repair works and costs of such repair works; (c) of the provisions of the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (Cap. 53) and the circumstances under which the Antiquities Authority (i.e. the Secretary for Development) and persons authorized by him may regularly inspect the conservation condition of declared monuments privately owned; (d) of the respective numbers of those monuments owned by the Government and private individuals among the existing 103 declared monuments; and (e) whether the manager or the owner of a declared monument will be held criminally liable for not taking the initiative to report to the authorities any damage to the monument which has resulted in that monument becoming beyond repair; if so, of the number of monuments involved and the penalties imposed on the persons concerned in the past five years; if not, whether the authorities will take measures to ensure constant and proper conservation of the monuments?
*13. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:
Regarding education for students with special educational needs ("SSEN"), will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that a study commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission and released in November 2012 has found that "[n]early 40% of the interviewed teaching staff (particularly teachers) lack knowledge about inclusive education", and that the Government provides schools participating in the Intensive Remedial Teaching Programme and Integrated Education Programme with additional resources such as additional teachers and teaching assistants, (i) what professional qualifications or training in relation to education for SSEN that such additional teachers and teaching assistants currently possess in general; and (ii) whether the Government will require that all such additional teachers must have attended the Basic, Advanced and Thematic Courses ("BAT Courses") on integrated education for serving teachers, and consider establishing a mechanism to enable experienced teaching staff for SSEN to transfer to other schools at the end of their employment contracts to prevent brain drain; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) given that a study conducted by the University of Hong Kong had found that the percentage of children in Hong Kong with specific learning difficulties in reading and writing ("SpLD") was between 9.7% and 12.6% in 2007, while government figures show that only 2.3% (i.e. 17 440 among 762 200) of the primary and secondary students in the 2012-2013 school year had SpLD, whether the Government can explain the discrepancy between the figures; (c) whether the Government will take measures to ensure that SSEN will be identified as early as possible (e.g. enhancing training for primary school teachers in using the Hong Kong Specific Learning Difficulties Behaviour Checklist (for Primary School Pupils) provided by the Government); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (d) whether the contents of the aforesaid BAT Courses dovetail with the 3-Tier Intervention Model ("3-Tier Model") currently adopted by the Government to support SSEN in mainstream schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the Government has adopted the "treat and test" approach under the "Response to Intervention" concept of the 3-Tier Model, so that students need not wait for assessment before being provided with needed support, especially in view of the shortage of educational psychologists; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of members of the business and industrial sectors have relayed to me that the inadequate supply of commercial sites over the past few years has caused the prices and rent levels of commercial properties, such as offices of various grades, shops and hotels, to rise continuously due to the shortfall in supply, resulting in higher business operation costs and commodity prices. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective areas of commercial sites put up for sale/made available for application for sale and those sold by the Government, as well as the floor area for commercial uses involved, in each year since 2000 (with a tabulated breakdown by type of commercial use); (b) of the number of commercial sites to be put up for sale and the floor area for commercial uses involved in each year from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018, according to the Government’s projection (with a tabulated breakdown by type of commercial uses); (c) whether it has studied the impact of the supply of commercial sites in the past decade on the prices and rent levels of various types of commercial properties; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether it has assessed the demand for various types of commercial sites in the coming decade; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) given that the Government plans to convert the current government office buildings and "Government, Institution or Community" sites in Central and Wanchai for commercial uses, develop a commercial district on the north of the Airport Island, and continue to take forward the transformation of Kowloon East into a new core business district of Hong Kong, of the anticipated commencement and completion time of such projects respectively, as well as the floor area for commercial uses which will be provided (with a breakdown by type of commercial uses); and (f) as the Chief Executive has mentioned in the 2013 Policy Address that the "Government will address the shortage of commercial land supply in a holistic, innovative and decisive manner", of the specific plans the authorities have in place to tackle the shortage of commercial sites, other than those initiatives mentioned in (e), as well as the objectives and timetables of such plans?
*15. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)
The results of the latest public opinion poll released on 20 June 2013 by the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong have revealed that a number of trust and confidence indicators of the Hong Kong people have all dropped, with some even at their new lows in recent years and worse than those registered on the eve of hundreds of thousand of people taking to the street in the demonstration on 1 July a decade ago. For example: (i) compared to the results of the same poll conducted three months ago, people’s percentage of trust in the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") has fallen from 44% to 32% as indicated in the results of the poll this month, and their distrust has risen from 26% to 37%, resulting in a negative net trust value of 5 percentage points, and the percentage of trust in the HKSAR Government has reached a record low since April 2004, while that of distrust is at a record high since December 2003; further analysis has shown that the younger the people are, the more they distrust the HKSAR and Central Governments; (ii) people’s percentage of trust in the Central Government has fallen from 37% three months ago to 25%, and that of distrust has risen from 32% to 45%, resulting in a negative net trust value of 20 percentage points, and people’s level of trust in the Central Government is at record low since February 1999, while that of distrust is at a record high since February 1997; and (iii) people’s percentage of negative appraisal of Hong Kong’s future has reached a new high since June 2003, while that of China has reached a new high since July 1997. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has reviewed the reasons for people’s level of trust in the HKSAR Government falling to a record low in the recent decade; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether it has assessed why the younger the respondents are, the lower their level of trust in the HKSAR and Central Governments is; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) whether it has policies and measures to increase people’s trust in the HKSAR Government; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether it has assessed why people’s level of trust in the Central Government has fallen to a record low in a decade; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) whether it has assessed the reasons for people’s percentage of negative appraisal of Hong Kong’s future reaching a new high, and whether intervention in local affairs of Hong Kong by the Central Government and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR is one of the reasons; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (f) as people’s confidence in the HKSAR and Central Governments as well as in Hong Kong’s future continues to fall, whether the HKSAR Government will adjust its policies which involve the Mainland and Hong Kong so as to soothe people’s sentiments; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
The Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Housing Estates ("the Marking Scheme") currently covers 28 misdeeds. Public rental housing ("PRH") estate and interim housing ("IH") households who are found to have committed any of the misdeeds will be allotted three to 15 points according to the degree of seriousness of the misdeeds involved. When a household has accrued 16 points or more within two years, its tenancy/licence is liable to termination. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the allotment of points to PRH/IH households in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by the misdeed involved; among such cases, the number of those in which the tenancies/licences of such households were terminated due to an accumulation of 16 points or more, as well as the respective numbers of PRH/IH units so recovered; (b) whether the Government will enhance the enforcement of the Marking Scheme in the coming year, including deploying additional manpower to conduct proactive inspections, enhancing its Falling Objects Monitoring System, taking stringent actions against and imposing penalties on non-compliant cases, as well as stepping up publicity on the Marking Scheme, etc.; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) given that the results of the Public Housing Recurrent Survey 2012 show that 71.3% of PRH households considered that the Marking Scheme could improve the cleanliness and hygienic conditions of their estates, which was 12.1 percentage points lower than the 83.4% in 2006, and 25.2% of the households considered that the penalties were lenient, which was 8.5 percentage points higher than the 16.7% in 2007, whether the Government will review the coverage of misdeeds and the penalties under the Marking Scheme, and consider introducing enhancement measures to reinforce the effectiveness of the Marking Scheme in improving the environmental cleanliness of PRH/IH; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
In response to media enquiries in August last year, the Chief Executive ("CE") indicated that he was holding the shares of Wintrack Worldwide Ltd. (BVI), and that company and its subsidiaries held the shares of a foreign branch of DTZ. CE also indicated that he had relinquished all his duties in DTZ and that he would transfer his shares of Wintrack Worldwide Ltd. (BVI) and its subsidiaries, and his 7 227 838 shares of DTZ Holdings Plc and its subsidiaries, to a trust. In reply to an oral question raised at the meeting of this Council on 23 January this year, the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs indicated that according to the information provided by the CE’s Office, the establishment of the trust was still in progress. On the other hand, according to my recent check on the Register of Interests of Members of the Executive Council, CE is still holding the aforesaid shares of those companies at present. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether, according to the information provided by the CE’s Office, the establishment of the trust is currently still in progress or has already been completed; if it has been completed, whether CE is required to update his registered interests in this regard under the system of declaration of interests by Members of the Executive Council; if it has not yet been completed, of the reasons for that, when it is expected to be completed, and whether the Government has assessed if this situation will undermine the credibility of the system of declaration of interests?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
*18. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") who requested, in the past three years, premature termination of their employment contracts with the employers within the first six months, first year, and contract period of their first employment contracts, after they started working in Hong Kong; (b) of the respective numbers of cases in the past three years in which FDHs filed claims with the Labour Tribunal ("LT") against their Hong Kong employers for wages in arrears and compensations for unreasonable dismissal; among such cases, the respective numbers of those in which before the cases were processed and adjudicated by LT, the claims were withdrawn by the FDHs concerned and those in which the same plaintiffs filed claims again on the same or other grounds subsequently; whether it has found situations in which FDHs tried to obtain permission to stay in Hong Kong by filing claims with LT repeatedly; if it has, of the number of such cases and their details; (c) as some employers have pointed out that after the Philippine Government prohibited intermediaries in the country from charging Filipino domestic helpers placement fees, such fees have been passed on to Hong Kong employers, whether it has studied the amount of fees that Hong Kong employers have to pay as a result, and if Filipino domestic helpers treasure their jobs in Hong Kong less as they are not required to pay placement fees, and their work stability has thus been affected; if it has, of the details; and (d) as it has been reported in the press that among the first batch of Bengal domestic helpers who came to work in Hong Kong in May this year, some of them had problems in communicating with their employers and had even been dismissed as a result, and that Indonesian and the Philippine Governments are considering stopping the export of domestic helpers from 2017 onward, whether the Government has reviewed and considered relaxing the current nationality restrictions on FDHs to allow the introduction of domestic helpers from Vietnam and other countries or the re-introduction of Nepalese domestic helpers; if it has, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
The Government has launched a series of tax measures, including the Special Stamp Duty ("SSD"), the Buyer’s Stamp Duty ("BSD") and the doubling of the ad valorem stamp duty rates ("the double AVD") on grounds of according priority to Hong Kong Permanent Residents ("HKPRs") to meet their home ownership needs and cooling down the overheated property market, etc. However, some members of the public have pointed out that these measures have resulted in a shrinking turnover in the property market as well as affected the turnover and employment rates of the related industries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether there are data proving that the aforesaid measures have effectively assisted HKPRs in purchasing their homes; if there are, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) whether it has studied if the proportion of the cases of first-time home purchases by HKPRs to the total number of transactions has increased since the launch of the aforesaid measures; if the outcome of the study shows that the proportion has decreased instead of increasing, whether it reflects that the aforesaid measures have failed to assist HKPRs in purchasing homes with priority; (c) of the Government’s estimated tax revenues generated from SSD, BSD and the double AVD respectively in the next three years; (d) given that the Federal Reserve of the United States is preparing a plan for withdrawal of the quantitative easing monetary policy, including the consideration of a gradual decrease in Treasury bond purchases in the coming few months, whether the authorities will assess afresh and consider drawing up a timetable to withdraw the aforesaid measures in the light of the recent global economic situation; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) given that the residential and non-residential property transactions have shrunk since the launch of the aforesaid measures, whether the Government has assessed the blows and impact of the situation on the related industries (e.g. property agency, interior decoration, furniture and cleansing industries, etc.); if it has, of the details, if not, the reasons for that; of the latest unemployment rates and under-employment rates in these related industries; (f) given that the Chairman of the Subsidized Housing Committee under the Hong Kong Housing Authority said last month that if a drop by 20% in the property prices could not be achieved, the Government should decisively launch further measures, whether the Government has formulated new measures to cool down the property market further; if it has, of the details, including the target rate of decrease in property prices; whether it has drawn up any indicators for launching these further measures; if it has not, of the reasons for that; (g) whether the Government had set any effectiveness indicators when the aforesaid measures were launched; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (h) whether the Government had, when launching the aforesaid measures, formulated any plans to withdraw these measures to deal with the impact brought by a sudden downturn of the property market; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (i) given that this Council is still scrutinizing the bills introduced by the authorities on implementing the aforesaid measures, whether the Government has prepared contingency plans in the event that the bills concerned are not passed by the Legislative Council; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (j) under what circumstances the Government will consider exempting companies which are wholly owned by HKPRs from paying BSD for acquisition of residential properties; and (k) given that in a number of recent transaction cases, the per-square-foot prices of some Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats have peaked time and again, while the atmosphere of the HOS Secondary Market has also been exuberant and the prices have repeatedly reached record highs, whether the Government has assessed if the measures which allow eligible White Form HOS applicants to purchase HOS flats with premium not paid in the HOS Secondary Market are contrary to the aforesaid measures for cooling down the overheated property market?
*20. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
Some social workers have recently relayed that problems such as deteriorating functional capacity, cognitive impairment, swallowing difficulties and uncoordinated limbs of persons with intellectual disabilities ("PIDs") will worsen with age, and that early onset of dementia and deteriorating functional capacity usually come very suddenly. Those social workers have also pointed out that since PIDs have difficulties in communicating with others and are unable to express their discomfort, it is difficult to assess the conditions of those persons suffering from dementia. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has currently developed a tool for assessing dementia in PIDs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and of the means currently adopted to assess whether a PID is suffering from dementia; (b) as some social workers have pointed out that frontline healthcare manpower is currently insufficient to meet the service needs arising from the ageing of PIDs, whether the authorities will review and adjust the mode and staff establishment of existing services; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (c) of the objectives of the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") in providing Dementia Supplement for Elderly with Disabilities ("Supplement") for application by residential care homes for persons with disabilities ("RCHDs"), and the application requirements; the respective numbers of applications received, approved and rejected by SWD in the past two years, and the amount approved, with a breakdown by SWD district and type of residential care homes; (d) as some social workers have relayed that over 40% of the PID residents in residential care homes showed symptoms of dementia when they reached 40 years old, but one of the application requirements for the Supplement is that the patient must be 60 years old or above, rendering residential care homes unable to apply for the Supplement to hire additional manpower for upgrading the care for such residents, whether the authorities will consider relaxing that application requirement; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) of the following figures in each of the past three years, broken down by the age group to which the PIDs belong (i.e. 20 years old or below, 21 to 30 years old, 31 to 40 years old, 41 to 50 years old, 51 to 60 years old and 61 years old or above): (i) the number of trainees with intellectual disabilities, as well as the percentage of such number in the total number of trainees, in government-subvented work activity centres; (ii) the number of trainees with intellectual disabilities, as well as the percentage of such number in the total number of trainees, in government-subvented sheltered workshops; (iii) the number of PIDs in RCHDs, with a breakdown by type of RCHDs; and (iv) the number of PIDs who received services of integrated rehabilitation services centres, as well as the percentage of such number in the total number of persons receiving services of the centres; (f) whether the authorities know the respective numbers and percentages of persons suffering from dementia in different types of RCHDs; if they do, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will collate such information; (g) given that some trainees in work activity centres and sheltered workshops are suffering from dementia, whether the authorities will consider setting up teams of professional staff (e.g. occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses and health workers) in work activity centres and sheltered workshops to provide such trainees with suitable therapeutic exercises and healthcare services; and (h) of the respective standards on staff establishment of RCHDs, work activity centres and sheltered workshops in 1990, 1995 and 2000, with a breakdown by rank of staff?
*21. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the works progress and expenditure of the West Kowloon Cultural District ("WKCD") project, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that some recent press reports have quoted information sources and pointed out that the completion date of the works of the West Kowloon Terminus of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link needs to be deferred for 500-odd days due to some geological, design and technical issues, of the works under the WKCD project that are related to the Terminus; whether it has assessed if the completion dates of such related works will be affected in the event that the Terminus project experiences any delay; if it has assessed, of a breakdown of the impacts by the works item; (b) of the details of all the consultancy services commissioned by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority since it was given a funding allocation of $21.6 billion in July 2008, the reasons for commissioning such consultancy services, names of the consultants, background and qualifications of the consultants, as well as the consultancy fees (set out in the table below); and Date Details of consultancy services Reasons for commissioning the consultancy services Name of consultants Background and qualifications of consultants Consultancy fee (c) of the respective persons/institutions/organizations responsible for drafting the guidelines for the architectural design competitions held under the WKCD project in the past and those to be held in the near future?
*22. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of members of the public and elderly people have complained to me that the shortage of places of a number of community care services for the elderly implemented by the Government in recent years has resulted in quite a number of elderly people having to wait for a long time for such services, and that support for the elderly who are waiting for such services is very much lacking. It is learnt that the situation is most acute in Kwun Tong and Sham Shui Po. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows, the attendance of service users, the number of service places, and the utilization rate of the services provided by Chin Wah Day Care Centre for the Elderly ("the Centre") under the Hong Kong Christian Service located in Kwun Tong in each of the past five years (set out in Table 1); the number of occasions on which the number of elderly people serviced by the Centre had exceeded its number of service places in the past five years; given that conflicts between the elderly of the Centre (especially those using wheelchairs) and the public housing residents in Lok Wah Estate have occurred when they used the lifts together, whether the Government can install one to two lifts for the exclusive use by the elderly of the Centre; if not, of the reasons for that, and in what ways it can solve this problem within one to two months;
(Table 1)Attendance of service users Number of service places Service utilization rate 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 (b) as the authorities are identifying suitable sites in Kwun Tong for relocating the day care centre mentioned in (a), whether the Government had, in the past five years, tried to identify sites in the public housing estates in Kwun Tong for relocating the Centre and assessed the feasibility of such sites; if it had, set out the assessment result of each site it had considered each year in Table 2; if not, how the Government addresses the needs of the elderly of the Centre;
(Table 2)Name of public housing estate Assessment result of the site considered 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 (c) whether the Government had, in the past five years, tried to identify sites in the private residential developments in Kwun Tong for relocating the day care centre mentioned in (a), and assessed the feasibility of such sites; if it had, set out the assessment result of each site it had considered each year in Table 3; if not, how the Government addresses the needs of the elderly of the Centre;
(Table 3)Name of private residential development Assessment result of the site considered 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 (d) whether the Government had, in the past five years, tried to identify suitable vacant school premises in Kwun Tong for conversion into day care centres for the elderly, and assessed the feasibility of such premises; if it had, set out in Table 4 the assessment result of each of the vacant school premises it had considered each year; if not, how the Government addresses the needs of the elderly;
(Table 4)Name of the school to which the vacant school premises considered formerly belonged Assessment result 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 (e) of the respective numbers of elderly people who died in each of the past five years while waiting for (i) day care centre for the elderly services, (ii) Integrated Home Care Services, (iii) Enhanced Home and Community Care Services, (iv) services of residential care homes for the elderly, and (v) nursing home services (set out in Table 5);
(Table 5)Number of elderly people who had died while waiting for (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 (f) of the respective numbers of elderly people who are currently waiting for and those who are receiving (i) Integrated Home Care Services and (ii) Enhanced Home and Community Care Services, in Kwun Tong and Sham Shui Po respectively (set out in Table 6);
(Table 6)Number of elderly people (i) (ii) Number of elderly people waiting for such services Number of elderly people receiving such services Number of elderly people waiting for such services Number of elderly people receiving such services Kwun Tong Sham Shui Po (g) of the respective standards of the Social Welfare Department for the quantities of meat, vegetable and rice in the lunches and dinners provided under the meal delivery service of the Integrated Home Care Services (set out in Table 7);
(Table 7)Quantity (gram/set) Meat Vegetable Rice Lunch Dinner (h) given that some operators of Integrated Home Care Services have raised funds publicly for subsidizing the costs of meal services, whether the Government has reviewed if the funding provided to these operators is adequate; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that; and (i) whether the Government has taken any measures to reduce the waiting time of the elderly in Kwun Tong and Sham Shui Po for meal delivery service under the Integrated Home Care Services; if it has, whether such measures can immediately solve the problem of the elderly having to wait for an excessively long time for such service; whether the Government will seek urgent funding approval from this Council in order to solve the problem of the excessive long waiting time for such services; if it will not, how the Government addresses the needs of the elderly who are waiting for such service?
* For written reply
III. Bill
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2013 : Secretary for Home Affairs