A 14/15-5
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 12 November 2014 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No. 24 | - | Customs and Excise Service Welfare Fund
Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2014 and its summary, together with the Report of the Director of Audit |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Security)
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| 2. | No. 25 | - | Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated
Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2014 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
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| 3. | No. 26 | - | Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund
Report of the Board of Trustees for the Period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
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| 4. | Report No. 2/14-15 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)
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| 5. | Report of the Bills Committee on Competition (Amendment) Bill 2014 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the Bills Committee) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
In 2005, the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") divested certain retail and carpark facilities of its public housing estates to The Link Real Estate Investment Trust. The Link Management Limited ("The Link"), which manages the Investment Trust, sold the shopping centres and car parks of nine housing estates ("the resold facilities") this year. Some shop tenants and residents of these housing estates have relayed to me their concern that the new owners may raise parking fees and shop rentals significantly, leading to increased commodity prices in their estates, and that the quality of managing the resold facilities may deteriorate. Meanwhile, the Housing Ordinance provides that HA shall secure the provision of ancillary facilities fit for public rental housing estates, including amenities and commercial retail facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if The Link had informed various stakeholders (including HA and the owners' corporations ("OCs") of the housing estates concerned) prior to the sale of the relevant facilities; whether, after learning of The Link's intention to sell such facilities, the authorities have implemented corresponding measures, such as assessing the impact of the resale of the such facilities on HA as well as on the shop tenants and residents of the housing estates concerned, and providing consultation and support services to the OCs and residents concerned; if they have implemented such measures, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the authorities have approached the new owners of the resold facilities and explained to them the service targets of such facilities and their management responsibilities, and that in managing such facilities, priorities should be given to addressing the needs of residents of housing estates; if they have, of the responses of the new owners; if not, how the authorities ensure that the new owners will continue to shoulder the responsibilities of the former owners; and (3) as some residents of housing estates have relayed to me their concern that the new owners may transform the shopping arcades in the resold facilities into ones that mainly serve tourists or residents outside the estates, or they may even refuse to shoulder the maintenance responsibilities associated with public areas and facilities, how the authorities will prevent such situations from occurring, with a view to ensuring the continuous provision of suitable facilities to the residents; whether the authorities will set up a task force to monitor and follow up the management issues of the resold facilities?
2. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
According to Article 25(b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR"), citizens shall have the right and the opportunity, without unreasonable restrictions, to vote and to be elected at elections. On the other hand, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("NPCSC") made a decision on 31 August this year on issues such as the selection of the Chief Executive ("CE") of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") by universal suffrage ("the NPCSC decision"). The United Nations Human Rights Committee ("UNHRC") convened a meeting in Geneva on the 23rd of last month to consider matters relating to the implementation of universal suffrage for the selection of CE in the Hong Kong SAR in accordance with ICCPR. It has been reported that UNHRC was of the view that Hong Kong should take all necessary measures to implement the rights of universal suffrage in conformity with ICCPR and that Hong Kong's performance in following UNHRC's recommendations was not satisfactory. In this connection, will the executive authorities inform this Council:
(1) whether they have assessed if the selection of CE by universal suffrage in 2017, conducted under the framework of the NPCSC decision, will comply with the requirement of UNHRC; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, how the authorities will deal with the issue, including how and when they will give a reply to UNHRC; whether the authorities will formulate a universal suffrage system for the selection of CE in 2017 in compliance with the requirement of UNHRC, so as to ensure that Hong Kong people will enjoy the equal right to vote and to stand for election without unreasonable restrictions; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether they have assessed if the Government has an obligation to ensure that the method for selecting CE by universal suffrage in 2017 complies with the relevant requirements of ICCPR; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, how the authorities will honour such obligation; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, of the justifications; and (3) as officials of both the Central Government and the Hong Kong SAR Government have said that Hong Kong shall follow the Basic Law and the NPCSC decision but not ICCPR in implementing universal suffrage and that the Government of the United Kingdom made a reservation not to apply Article 25(b) when it extended ICCPR to Hong Kong, what justifications, apart from the reservation, the authorities have in support of the statement that the universal suffrage system in Hong Kong is not regulated by ICCPR?
3. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the appointment of members to the Independent Police Complaints Council and the Minimum Wage Commission, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the basis and reasons for the authorities giving only a simple account of the justifications for appointing the chairmen but not any justifications for appointing the other members to the aforesaid Council and Commission in the press releases announcing their appointments; (2) when the authorities were considering whether or not to re-appoint individual members of the aforesaid Council and Commission, which government departments were responsible for evaluating the past performance of the members concerned in the Council and Commission, and of the specific indicators based on which they conducted such evaluations; and (3) whether the authorities will make public the candidates who had been considered but were eventually not appointed to the aforesaid Council and Commission; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Security |
4. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)
At present, Dongjiang water is the main source of fresh water for Hong Kong, meeting around 70% to 80% of the total water consumption in Hong Kong. Yet, there are uncertainties in the supply of Dongjiang water, which include droughts occurring from time to time in some mainland provinces as a result of global climatic change, the significant increase in demand for water resources on the Mainland in recent years, as well as the potential impacts of urban development in cities along the Dongjiang River on the quality of Dongjiang water. Meanwhile, the current agreement for the supply of Dongjiang water is due to expire at the end of this year, and the Government has reached another agreement with the Guangdong authorities for the supply of Dongjiang water in the next three years. The new agreement will continue to adopt the "package deal lump sum" approach in the calculation of water price, i.e. a fixed amount of annual lump sum payment will be made to the Guangdong side for the supply of an annual agreed quantity of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong. The annual increase in water price under the new agreement will be around 6%, and the lump sum to be paid over the three-year period will amount to $13.49 billion. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the unit price of Dongjiang water imported to Hong Kong in the past two years, as well as the unit price of Dongjiang water under the scenario of the quantity of water imported reaching the annual supply ceiling; whether it has assessed if the water price calculated according to the package deal lump sum approach can be reduced with a lower annual supply ceiling; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the Government's reasons for maintaining the annual supply ceiling in the new agreement at 820 million cubic metres; if such an assessment has not been conducted, the reasons for that; (2) in addition to the several seawater flushing systems under construction and the desalination plant at Tseung Kwan O which is expected to commence operation in 2020, of the details of the other projects on water resources under study by the authorities; and (3) as the Secretary for Development has advised that the authorities had studied various options such as expanding the reservoirs and interconnecting them, and the results showed that these options were not cost-effective as the cost involved would far exceed that of collecting rainwater and purchasing Dongjiang water at present, whether the Government can provide information on the relevant studies, including the names of the reservoirs studied, the scopes and estimated costs of the works projects, as well as the government department(s) responsible for the studies?
5. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
On 15 July this year, the Chief Executive ("CE") made a report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("NPCSC") on whether there is a need to amend the methods for selecting CE of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") in 2017 and for forming the Legislative Council ("LegCo") of HKSAR in 2016 ("the July 15 Report") in accordance with the Interpretation by NPCSC of Article 7 of Annex I and Article III of Annex II to the Basic Law of HKSAR of the People's Republic of China ("the Interpretation"). After considering the aforesaid report, NPCSC made a decision on 31 August on issues relating to the selection of CE by universal suffrage and the method for forming LegCo in 2016. Many members of the public have occupied roads in a number of districts since 28 September to fight for the selection of CE by universal suffrage in 2017 ("the occupation movement"). On 21 October, government officials had a dialogue with representatives of the Hong Kong Federation of Students. At the meeting, the Chief Secretary for Administration said that the SAR Government would submit a public sentiment report regarding constitutional development to the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the legal and policy bases for the authorities submitting the public sentiment report; whether they have assessed if such an action complies with the requirements on amending the methods for selecting CE and forming LegCo as set out in the Interpretation; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the details; what the authorities expect the submission of the public sentiment report will accomplish, including whether it will facilitate a peaceful conclusion of the occupation movement; (2) which government officials are responsible for drafting the public sentiment report; when the report will be completed; how the authorities ensure that the report will fully reflect the public opinions in Hong Kong and NPCSC will go along with the wishes of the public when making decisions on the constitutional development of Hong Kong; and (3) whether CE will, in response to the public aspiration for the selection of CE by universal suffrage in 2017, re-submit the July 15 Report after making amendments or a supplement to it; if he will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that industrial accidents occurred incessantly at the construction sites of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge related local projects ("the HZMB projects") since their commencement in 2009, including cases occurring this year in which several workers died after falling into the sea and one in which several workers fell from a collapsed working platform. Some trade unions have expressed worries that the contractors may neglect industrial safety in a bid to catch up with works progress to meet the target of completing HZMB in 2016. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in each year since 2009, of a breakdown of the number of industrial accidents related to the HZMB projects by accident type, the resultant casualties, the causes and injury rate of such accidents, and how such rate compares to that of the industrial accidents of the construction sector throughout Hong Kong; the respective numbers of regular and surprise inspections conducted at the construction sites of the HZMB projects, the respective numbers and a breakdown of suspension notices and improvement notices issued, and the number of prosecutions instituted against contractors under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, by the Labour Department ("LD"); and the total fines imposed on contractors; (2) of the monitoring measures put in place by LD to ensure the safety of the medium-risk and high-risk processes for the HZMB projects, such as work-at-height, lifting operations, operation of heavy plant and machinery and work-at-height above sea level; whether the authorities will review the legislation governing the relevant work processes; if they will, of the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it knows if the current progress and costs of the HZMB projects are on target; if there are delays in the HZMB projects, whether contractors have required their workers to work overtime to catch up with the works progress; if they have, of the average duration of overtime work that workers (including imported labour) need to perform each week; what measures the authorities have put in place to ensure sufficient rest time for workers so as to prevent the occurrence of industrial accidents?
*7. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that at present, some patients receiving public healthcare services are dispensed tablets in dosages which do not match those prescribed by doctors. As such, they need to cut the tablets to the required dosages by themselves before taking them. Some patients have relayed that patients' cutting the tablets by themselves often results in inconsistent dosages or even crumbling of the tablets, and elderly patients or patients with disabilities also lack the skills to cut the tablets by themselves. This has resulted in patients taking inaccurate dosages of medications. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) in each of the past five years, the number of patients receiving public healthcare services who were dispensed tablets that had to be cut by themselves as well as the types and quantities of the medications involved, broken down by hospital cluster and specialty; (2) why the Hospital Authority ("HA") and the Department of Health ("DH") do not dispense tablets of appropriate dosages to all patients; (3) given that administration of medications in insufficient dosages will reduce their efficacy while excessive dosages may lead to drug safety incidents, how HA and DH ensure that patients are able to cut tablets accurately to the appropriate dosages; and (4) if HA and DH will review and improve the drug procurement system and procure tablets of different dosage levels according to the dosages generally prescribed by doctors to obviate the need for patients to cut the tablets themselves; if they will, of the details and the resources involved each year; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
On 8 September 2012, the Chief Executive announced changes to the policy on implementing the Moral and National Education ("MNE") subject in secondary schools. Under the new policy, school sponsoring bodies may decide on their own whether the MNE subject should be taught and whether it should be taught as an independent subject in the curriculum of the secondary schools under their sponsorship. In view of the latest political situation in recent days, quite a number of members of the education sector have pointed out that young people in Hong Kong have inadequate understanding of our country and its situation, and they have therefore requested that the MNE subject be implemented again and the Chinese History subject be made compulsory in the secondary school curriculum. However, in reply to my question on the 29th of last month, the Secretary for Education did not directly respond to whether he would revoke the decision on shelving the implementation of the MNE subject and said that students could learn Chinese history through the subjects of Chinese Language, Liberal Studies and Geography. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will consider afresh requiring various secondary schools to teach Chinese History as an independent subject in the curriculum of the junior secondary level; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will make the Chinese History subject compulsory in the curricula of the junior and senior secondary levels; if it will, of the respective details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of secondary schools which currently teach Chinese History as a compulsory subject in the curriculum of the junior secondary level; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of secondary schools which currently teach Chinese History as a compulsory subject in the curriculum of the senior secondary level; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether it has gauged the effectiveness of students learning Chinese history through the subjects of Chinese Language, Liberal Studies and Geography; if it has, of the details and effectiveness; if not, the reasons for that; (6) whether it knows the respective candidates who applied to sit for the examinations of the Chinese History subject in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination and the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination in each year since 1997; (7) whether it knows the number of local secondary school students admitted by each local university as undergraduates majoring in Chinese History and the total number of undergraduates majoring in Chinese History, in each year since 1997; (8) given that following the decision of the Education Bureau in 2000 not to make the Chinese History subject compulsory, there has been a general downward trend in the number of students sitting for the examinations of the Chinese History subject in public examinations, whether it has reviewed if the decision made in that year was wrong; if it has conducted such a review, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (9) whether the authorities will revoke within the current term of the Government the decision to shelve the implementation of the MNE subject; if they will, of the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (10) whether it has regularly and comprehensively reviewed the feasibility of revoking the decision to shelve the implementation of the MNE subject; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (11) whether it knows the numbers of primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong which are currently implementing the MNE subject and the relevant details (including the mode of teaching, teaching hours and qualifications of the teachers concerned); and (12) whether it has provided guidance or support for the primary and secondary schools which are implementing the MNE subject and monitored the effectiveness of teaching and learning of the subject; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that quite a number of self-financing post-secondary institutions charge students applying for admission to their study programmes application fees, and charge those admitted non-refundable enrolment deposits. On the other hand, some self-financing post-secondary institutions have relayed to me that given the rapidly changing demand for the places of the study programmes operated by them, their student intakes have become highly volatile, which is not conducive to the long term development of the institutions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, in the past three academic years, the respective total amounts of application fees and enrolment deposits collected by various self-financing post-secondary institutions, as well as the total amount of non-refundable enrolment deposits paid by students who subsequently declined offers, with a breakdown by academic year and institution; (2) whether it knows the respective numbers of places and actual student intakes of various self-financing post-secondary institutions in the past two academic years, with a breakdown by institution and programme type (e.g. sub-degree, top-up degree and degree programmes); (3) whether it has reviewed the supply of and demand for the places and operation of the study programmes of self-financing post-secondary institutions as well as the future development of such institutions; if it has, of the details and outcome of such review(s); if not, whether the authorities will embark on the reviews shortly; if they will, of the details of their work plans; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given the comments that secondary student population will drop year by year in the coming few years, and the student enrolment and even viability of various self-financing post-secondary institutions will be directly affected, whether the authorities have formulated targeted measures to support self-financing post-secondary institutions in exploring new development directions; if they have, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) as it was reported in June this year that the City University of Hong Kong ("CityU") planned to sell the Community College of City University, which was established by CityU to provide self-financing associate degree programmes, whether the authorities have received any notification from CityU about the matter; if they have, of the details; whether the authorities will take any follow-up action; if they will, of the details; if they will not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities have received any request for assistance from the students or staff of the College?
*10. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
At present, quite a number of developers of mobile applications for taxi-call services ("Apps") offer, for the purpose of soliciting business, partial fare rebates to passengers using their Apps to call taxis by various means, e.g. transferring cash to passengers' bank accounts, providing cash coupons redeemable at gift redemption centres, or offering credit card spending credit rewards through partner banks. Some taxi associations have relayed to me that as the aforesaid practices employed by the developers are in effect offering fare discounts to taxi passengers, taxi drivers not using the relevant Apps are facing unfair competition. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that regulation 40 of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374 sub. leg. D) provides that no taxi driver or person acting or purporting to act on behalf of a taxi driver shall in any manner attract or endeavour to attract any person in order to induce such person to make use of the vehicle, and regulation 57 provides that any person who without reasonable excuse contravenes regulation 40 commits an offence ("offence of soliciting"), how the authorities define "a person acting on behalf of a taxi driver" as referred to in regulation 40, and of the criteria adopted for that; whether the aforesaid developers are persons acting on behalf of taxi drivers according to such a definition; if they are, whether the authorities have assessed if the developers have committed the offence of soliciting by offering fare rebates to taxi passengers; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, whether the authorities have issued warnings or instituted prosecutions against these developers; if warnings have been issued or prosecutions have been instituted, of the details; and (2) whether it has assessed the impacts of the Apps on the operating environment of the taxi trade, and whether it will consider establishing a unified platform for taxi-call service, so as to ensure a level playing field for all taxi drivers?
*11. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
In October 2011, the Community Care Fund ("CCF") launched an assistance programme to provide low-income elderly people on the waiting list for the Integrated Home Care Services (Ordinary Cases) ("ordinary case service") with a subsidy for household cleaning and escorting services for medical consultations, with a view to enabling the elderly people to maintain household hygiene and attend medical consultations as scheduled. In February last year, the authorities submitted an evaluation report on the assistance programme to the relevant committee of this Council, in which it was confirmed that the assistance programme could help the elderly beneficiaries but it needed not be incorporated into the regular subsidized services of the Government due to the low utilization of the subsidies. CCF plans to discontinue the assistance programme at the end of this year. Some non-governmental organizations worry that the elderly people currently receiving such subsidies will suddenly lose financial support upon the discontinuation of the assistance programme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of elderly people who applied for and were granted the subsidies each year since the assistance programme was launched; the annual numbers of elderly people who ceased to receive the subsidies upon being provided with the ordinary case service, and the average duration for which the elderly people received the subsidies; (2) whether the Social Welfare Department will increase the places for the ordinary case service after the discontinuation of the assistance programme in order to cater for the needs of the elderly people currently receiving the subsidies; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will review afresh the efficacy of the assistance programme and consider continuing with the programme?
*12. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
The Food Safety Ordinance (Cap. 612) came into full operation in 2012. The Ordinance introduces a food tracing mechanism enabling the authorities to identify the sources of food more effectively and take prompt actions when dealing with food incidents. The food tracing mechanism includes the setting up of a registration scheme for food importers and food distributors ("food traders") and a requirement for food traders to maintain food transaction records. However, some members of the public have pointed out that the recent incident of substandard edible lard from Taiwan revealed that the food tracing mechanism currently in place has failed to trace the sources and distribution of substandard lard expeditiously. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will consider amending the relevant legislation to require food traders to make public their records on the acquisitions and supplies of food, raw materials or ingredients, as well as establishing an electronic database on food safety, so that the authorities and consumers will have better access to information on food manufacturers or suppliers, thereby enhancing the management of food safety information in Hong Kong; if it will consider, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that the radio frequency identification ("RFID") technology has been in use in Hong Kong for years, which government departments are currently applying the RFID technology in their provision of services; whether it has conducted any study on the application of RFID technology to enhance the efficiency of the food tracing mechanism; if it has conducted such a study, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will allocate additional resources to assist food traders in applying the RFID technology in such areas as food testing and maintenance of transaction records?
*13. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Recently, the Government reached an agreement with the Guangdong authorities for supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong in the next three years. While the agreement has specified an annual supply ceiling, the quantity of Dongjiang water to be imported to Hong Kong may be adjusted flexibly according to the actual need. The agreement also retains the "package deal lump sum" approach for calculating water prices adopted since 2006, under which the Government pays the annual lump sum water prices regardless of the actual quantities of Dongjiang water imported to Hong Kong. There have been comments that as the quantities of Dongjiang water imported to Hong Kong over the past years were lower than the supply ceiling specified in the agreement, it will help save public money if the calculation of water prices is based on the actual quantity of water imported. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the annual quantity of Dongjiang water imported to Hong Kong and its percentage in the agreed supply ceiling since the adoption in 2006 of the package deal lump sum approach for calculating water prices; (2) whether the authorities will reconsider discussing with the Guangdong authorities the adoption of an alternative approach for calculating water prices under which payment is based on actual supply quantity; and (3) whether the Guangdong Investment Limited, which is responsible for water supply operation, participated in the discussion process in respect of the aforesaid agreement; if it did, of the role of the company?
*14. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
In 2011, the Government set up pilot low emission zones ("LEZs") in Causeway Bay, Central and Mong Kok and encouraged franchised bus companies to deploy, as far as possible, buses meeting Euro IV or higher emission standards ("low emission buses") to ply those routes passing the pilot LEZs. According to "A Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong" issued in 2013, the authorities will set up in 2015 LEZs in the aforesaid districts that ban the entry of non-low emission buses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, among the fleets of the three major franchised bus companies (i.e. Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited, Citybus Limited and New World First Bus Services Limited), the current numbers of low emission buses and their percentages in the total numbers; if it does not, of the reasons for that; whether it knows the timetables of these companies for replacing all their buses with low emission ones; (2) whether it knows, among the buses currently deployed to ply the routes passing the pilot LEZs, the number of low emission buses and its percentage in the total number; if it does not, of the reasons for that; whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the setting up of pilot LEZs in reducing air pollution; and (3) given that only non-low emission franchised buses will be banned from entering the LEZs which the authorities have planned to set up next year, whether the authorities will consider banning non-low emission vehicles of other categories (such as highly polluting commercial diesel vehicles) from entering the LEZs; if they will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
The Independent Police Complaints Council Ordinance (Cap. 604) ("the Ordinance") came into operation on 1 June 2009 and the then existing Independent Police Complaints Council ("IPCC") was also incorporated into a statutory body on the same day, with its Chinese name changed. The functions of IPCC are to ensure that complaints against the Police are handled in a fair, impartial, effective and transparent manner, and to advise on improvement to police procedures to enhance service quality and public accountability. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that section 8(1)(c) of the Ordinance provides that IPCC may identify any fault or deficiency in any practice or procedure adopted by the police force that has led to or might lead to reportable complaints, and make recommendations (as IPCC considers appropriate) to the Commissioner of Police ("Commissioner") or the Chief Executive or both of them in respect of such practice or procedure, whether it knows, since the establishment of the statutory IPCC, the situations under which the aforesaid provision was invoked to identify the related faults or deficiencies, as well as the number of times in which recommendations were made to the Commissioner or the Chief Executive under that provision and the details of such recommendations; whether there were recommendations not accepted by the Commissioner; if so, of the reasons for the recommendations not being accepted; (2) if it knows (i) the procedures adopted by IPCC for examining the practice or procedure of the police force in accordance with the aforesaid provision (e.g. site inspections and interviews with the officers concerned, etc.) and the number of times for which each of these procedures was adopted, and (ii) whether IPCC has encountered difficulties in adopting such procedures; if IPCC has encountered difficulties, of the details and the reasons for that; (3) given that section 20 of the Ordinance provides that IPCC may, at any time after an investigation report has been submitted by the Commissioner under section 17 of the Ordinance, interview the person(s) concerned for the purpose of considering the report, whether it knows, since the establishment of the statutory IPCC, if any police officer (including complainees or witnesses, etc.) has refused to be interviewed by IPCC; if so, of the relevant figures and reasons for refusal, and whether the authorities will consider relaying such situations to the Commissioner and requesting improvement; if they will, the details; if they will not, the reasons for that; and (4) given an upward trend in the number of complaints against the Police recently, whether the authorities have plans to enhance the image of IPCC and promote public awareness of IPCC in order to enhance its recognition, so that IPCC can monitor the Police more effectively; if they have such plans, of the details?
*16. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
It was reported in the press on 28 October this year that the Police had purchased arms totaling £1.4 billion from the United Kingdom ("UK") since 2008. Regarding the Police's purchase and use etc. of arms, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the countries other than UK from which the Police purchased arms in the past five years, and the criteria for choosing suppliers of arms; (2) of the quantity, expenditure involved, closing inventory and usage of the various types of arms purchased by the Police each year from 2010 till the end of October this year, and set out such information in tables of the same format as Table 1;
Table 1
Year：____________
Type of arms Quantity purchased Expenditure involved Closing inventory Usage Sniper rifle Assault rifle Machine gun Rifle Semi-automatic pistol General purpose machine gun Submachine gun Tear gas round
(3) of the respective specific criteria adopted by the Police for deciding the purchase quantity and inventory level of the arms mentioned in (2); (4) of the guidelines issued by the Police to police officers on the use of the arms mentioned in (2), and the lowest ranks of the police officers who are authorized to approve the use of such arms respectively, and set out such information in Table 2;
Table 2
Type of arms Guidelines on the use of arms Lowest rank of police officers authorized to approve the use of arms Sniper rifle Assault rifle Machine gun Rifle Semi-automatic pistol General purpose machine gun Submachine gun Tear gas round
(5) of the specific occasions on which police officers used the arms mentioned in (2) in the past five years and the respective casualties inflicted by the use of such arms, and set out such information in Table 3;
Table 3
Type of arms Specific occasions on which arms were used Casualties inflicted Sniper rifle Assault rifle Machine gun Rifle Semi-automatic pistol General purpose machine gun Submachine gun Tear gas round
(6) of the details of the complaints received by the Police in the past five years about police officers' use of the arms mentioned in (2), including (i) the number of complaints, (ii) the number of cases substantiated among these complaints, (iii) the number of police officers involved, and (iv) the number of police officers who were disciplined for misuse of arms, and set out such information in Table 4; and
Table 4
Type of arms (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Sniper rifle Assault rifle Machine gun Rifle Semi-automatic pistol General purpose machine gun Submachine gun Tear gas round
(7) whether the Police will review the guidelines or codes on the use of arms to ensure that the arms mentioned in (2) will not be abused as well as to reduce the casualties inflicted by the use of such arms; if they will, of the timetable?
*17. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
According to the 2012 Air Pollutant Emission Inventory compiled by the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD"), navigation is one of the major sources of air pollutants in Hong Kong. Following the commissioning of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal ("the Terminal") in June last year, some environmental groups and members of the public are concerned that the pollutants emitted by cruise vessels at berth will affect air quality and pose health hazards to the public. At four different meetings held by the Panel on Economic Development of this Council last year, various members expressed concern about the need for the Government to promptly install onshore power supply facilities at the Terminal to reduce the air pollution generated by berthing cruise vessels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as EPD indicated last year that it had commissioned the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department ("EMSD") to undertake a technical feasibility study on the installation of onshore power supply facilities at the Terminal and the study is expected to be completed by the middle of this year, of the latest progress of the study, and whether EMSD can publish the study report by the end of this year; if it can, of the follow-up actions the authorities will take; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) whether it has set a timetable for the installation of onshore power supply facilities at the Terminal; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that since the occurrence of the road occupation movement ("the occupation movement") on 28 September this year, there were some unusual fluctuations in the securities market of Hong Kong, including a significant drop in the Hang Seng Index and the more active trading activities to build stock index futures positions, etc. The reports have further pointed out that foreign hedge funds and local individuals participating in the occupation movement had seized the opportunity to make profit by block sale of index futures contracts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities concerned have conducted an investigation into the aforesaid fluctuations in the securities market; if they have, of the methods and outcome of such investigation; if not, the reasons for that; (2) in the light of the involvement of foreign-funded institutions or local individuals participating in the occupation movement in the aforesaid profit-making acts, how the authorities prevent market manipulation and avoid the recurrence of substantial fluctuations in the securities market due to such acts; (3) given that the Financial Secretary remarked in his blog in August this year that "the multitude of complicated and entangled risk factors (which by themselves cannot be tackled easily), if combined with political instability locally, may trigger a perfect financial and economic storm and open up the opportunities for international speculators, with consequences too ghastly to contemplate", whether the authorities have assessed the likelihood of Hong Kong being attacked by international speculators at present; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it has assessed the impact of the occupation movement on the launch time and specific arrangements of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect as well as the credit ratings of Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Some residents of villages have relayed to me that some villages located in remote areas are not provided with basic living facilities at present. For example, since Wo Liu Village in Sai Kung is not provided with emergency vehicular access ("EVA"), residents of that village have to carry sick elderly on their back and walk out of the village to seek medical treatment; also, since there is no treated water supply in Mui Tsz Lam in Sha Tin, residents of that village have to fetch water from nearby streams every day during dry seasons for domestic consumption. The residents of such villages hold the view that the Government is duty bound to provide members of the public with basic living facilities such as emergency rescue service and treated water supply, etc., and that it should not refuse to provide such facilities on grounds of cost effectiveness issues. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective current numbers of villages not provided with EVA and those without treated water supply, as well as the names of these villages; (2) whether it has plans to construct EVAs and provide treated water for the villages mentioned in (1); if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as some villages are currently located within country parks or conservation areas, and certain works relating to rural basic living facilities (such as the construction of vehicular access) are prohibited by law, whether the Government will amend the relevant legislation so that the residents of such villages may be provided with basic living facilities on the premise that no ecological impact will be caused; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
Some Tung Chung residents have relayed to me that since the commissioning of the North Lantau Hospital ("NLH") last year, there has all along been a shortage of healthcare personnel in NLH. One of the causes is that NLH is located far away from other residential areas, and the Hospital Authority ("HA") has not provided travel allowances to those staff members who have to travel long distance to work at NLH, resulting in healthcare personnel unwilling to work at NLH. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether they know:
(1) the shortage of healthcare personnel in various specialties since the commissioning of NLH, and if there have been occasions where service demand cannot be met or new services cannot be launched as scheduled due to a shortage of healthcare personnel; if so, of the details; and (2) if HA will consider providing travel allowances or other incentives to its staff members who are not residing in Tung Chung district, so as to attract them to work at NLH; if HA will, of the details; if it will not, the reasons for that?
*21. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, it has often been reported that parallel trading activities have caused nuisance to residents in the North District. Recently, some residents in the North District have relayed to me that parallel traders use public transport (such as taxis, public light buses and cross-boundary coaches) to carry goods, causing inconvenience to other passengers. Regarding operations to combat parallel trading activities, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as section 41(1) of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374, sub. leg. D) ("the Regulations") stipulate that no goods other than personal hand baggage shall be carried on a public bus, public light bus or taxi, whether the authorities took law enforcement actions under this provision in the past three years; if they did, of the number of prosecutions made for each class of vehicles; (2) given that the Regulations do not impose a limit on the size of baggage that may be carried by a public light bus passenger, whether the authorities will examine amending the Regulations in this respect, so as to prevent parallel traders from using public light buses to carry goods; (3) whether it has carried out inter-departmental joint operations to combat parallel trading activities which are carried out with the use of public transport; (4) given that many people carry out parallel trading activities via the Lok Ma Chau Control Point and the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point at present, whether the authorities have stepped up, in collaboration with the law enforcement agencies on the Mainland, efforts in combating parallel trading activities carried out via those control points (such as requesting the mainland authorities to strengthen the deployment of the "flashing system", which was introduced earlier, for the examination of frequent travellers); (5) of the details of the anti-illegal employment operations jointly mounted by the Immigration Department and the Hong Kong Police Force last year (i.e. the operations codenamed "Windsand"), including (i) the number of operations conducted; (ii) the number of persons arrested for suspected involvement in parallel trading activities (with a breakdown by whether the arrested persons were foreigners, Hong Kong residents or Mainlanders); (iii) the relevant number of prosecutions made; and (iv) the highest/lowest penalties imposed on the convicted persons; and (6) given that parallel trading activities have caused problems such as obstruction and nuisance, whether the authorities have stepped up patrol and enforcement actions at black spots of parallel trading activities under the relevant ordinances (including the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), the Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) Ordinance (Cap. 570) and the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228))?
*22. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the management company of Kai Tak Cruise Terminal ("the Terminal") and a ferry company have jointly applied to the Government for the operation of a ferry route plying the Terminal, with a view to providing point-to-point ferry service plying the Terminal during the period when large-scale events are held there. A trial run of the service is expected to be conducted within this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the progress of the authorities' vetting and approval of the ferry route application and the expected time for the completion of the relevant procedure; (2) of the details of the ferry service, including the events during which such ferry service will be provided and whether a minimum estimated visitor flow will be set for the events concerned; as well as the origin, destination, en-route stops, frequencies, sailing time, service hours and fares of the ferry route; (3) whether it has studied routing the ferry service through sightseeing and shopping hotspots, such as Lei Yue Mun, Tsim Sha Tsui and Central; and (4) given that the "Wine and Dine Festival" recently held in the vicinity of the Terminal attracted as many as 180 000 visitors, and caused traffic congestion in the area, whether the authorities have, in the light of the experience gained in organizing this event, assessed if ferry service is capable of mitigating the road traffic congestion during the period when large-scale events are held at the Terminal; if they have, whether they will amend the ferry route under scrutiny or consider introducing more ferry routes that stop the Terminal en route; if they have not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Bill
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| Competition (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
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| Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 31 October 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 107/14-15) | ||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2014 (issued on 11 November 2014 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 142/14-15)
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