A 15/16-8
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 2 December 2015 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
The Environment Bureau published "A Food Waste & Yard Waste Plan for Hong Kong 2014-2022" in February last year and planned to implement various options to reduce food waste. One of the options is the donation of surplus food to other people for consumption. It is learnt that at present, quite a number of non-governmental organizations in Hong Kong collect surplus or soon-to-expire food from commercial organizations (e.g. supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, etc.) and then distribute the food which is still suitable for human consumption to the needy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have estimated the quantity of food suitable for human consumption discarded by various commercial organizations in the past three years; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the means through which the authorities encourage commercial organizations to donate surplus or soon-to-expire food; (2) given that in recent months, the French Government enacted legislation to prohibit supermarkets from discarding unsold food products, whether the authorities will consider enacting similar legislation; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will consider enacting legislation with exemption clauses for food donors, just as the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act passed by the United States Congress in 1996, which will not only make commercial organizations feel at ease to donate food but also encourage more organizations to donate food, thereby reducing food waste; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage ("the Convention") was extended to Hong Kong in 2004. In the middle of last year, the Government promulgated the first local intangible cultural heritage ("ICH") inventory, which covered 480 items. It is stated in the Policy Address this year that, to enhance the protection of ICH, the Government will strengthen such work as identification, documentation, research, preservation, promotion and transmission of the heritage. A representative list of ICH will also be drawn up to accord priority to the protection of those ICH items which have high cultural value and require urgent preservation. It is learnt that the authorities plan to set up a dedicated office with an annual funding of $10 million for taking forward the work on safeguarding and promoting ICH. However, some community groups have relayed to me that while the Convention has been extended to Hong Kong for over 10 years and quite a number of items have been included into the ICH inventory, the relevant preservation work has yet to be carried out and the promotion of ICH has been progressing slowly. They consider that the Government should provide resources for the relevant community groups to facilitate the collaboration between the Government and the community in safeguarding and promoting ICH. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the progress of the authorities' initiatives in safeguarding and promoting ICH in the past five years; the ICH items which have high cultural value and require urgent preservation, and the more noticeable results achieved by the authorities in safeguarding such items; (2) of the manpower resources allocated by the authorities for promoting ICH in the past five years and the expenditure incurred, and among such expenditure, of the amount of expenditure incurred in subsidizing community groups to undertake relevant projects; whether the authorities have plans to expand their collaboration with community groups in the coming five years to proceed with the work to secure the transmission of ICH; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will consider setting up a dedicated fund for the purpose of enhancing and strengthening the work on the promotion and transmission of ICH; if they will, of the objectives and the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
The Government has implemented one-off relief measures for several times in recent years, disbursing one-off extra payments to recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA"). It has been reported that an elderly singleton saved the monies received under the aforesaid relief measures ("relief monies") for possible future needs, thus causing his assets to exceed the asset limit under the CSSA Scheme. Upon discovering this situation, staff of the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") suspended his CSSA payments and even considered requiring him to return the overpaid CSSA payments during the period when his assets exceeded the asset limit. In reply to media enquiries, SWD indicated that the relief monies granted to CSSA recipients would be exempted from being counted as their assets for one year, but the same would be regarded as part of their assets thereafter. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of cases since 2011 in which CSSA recipients' assets exceeded the asset limits under the CSSA Scheme as a result of their saving the relief monies; if it has, of the number; among these cases, of the number of cases in which CSSA payments were stopped, and the percentage of the number in the total number of cases in the same period in which CSSA payments were stopped; (2) whether it will consider making special arrangements for the elderly person mentioned in the aforesaid report as well as other elderly persons whose CSSA payments were stopped for the same reason, to resume disbursement of CSSA payments to them; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and (3) given that the grant of the relief monies by the Government is meant to alleviate the hardship of CSSA recipients, but this has resulted in the thriftier recipients being penalized by stoppage of CSSA payments, whether the Government will consider extending the exemption period for counting relief monies as assets of CSSA recipients, or even granting a permanent exemption; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the Government has plans to raise the relevant asset limits to avoid the occurrence of similar situations?
4. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
The value-for-money audits conducted by the Audit Commission have uncovered a number of incidents involving serious maladministration and massive misuse of public funds which have provoked public outcry. For instance, the former Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption had shortcomings in handling official entertainment during his tenure, there was undue delay in implementing the new Air Traffic Control System of the Civil Aviation Department ("CAD"), and the new CAD headquarters was not built in accordance with the approved schedule of accommodation, etc. Some members of the public consider that there was alleged dereliction of duty on the part of the officials concerned. Given the constraints on its manpower and time, and in line with past practices, the Public Accounts Committee ("PAC") of this Council will conduct public hearings only on selected topics in the Director of Audit's reports upon receipt, and then will submit reports to this Council thereafter. Under most circumstances, the government departments and organizations concerned will accept the recommendations made by the Audit Commission and PAC and undertake to make improvements. There are views that the Government should allocate additional resources to the Audit Commission and PAC for identifying more maladministration problems with a view to ensuring the proper use of public funds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has plans to expand the establishment of the Audit Commission so as to allow it to carry out more value-for-money audits; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will allocate additional resources to The Legislative Council Commission so that PAC can conduct more public hearings and take evidence in greater depth, in order to enhance the monitoring of the proper use of public funds by the Government and related organizations; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the Audit Commission has drawn up indicators for the effectiveness of its value-for-money audits with a view to further improving its work performance; if the Audit Commission has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Some concern groups for women's interests have pointed out that the investigation process and trial proceedings of sexual offence cases have caused embarrassment and humiliation to quite a number of the victims concerned, thus making them feel being "assaulted a second time". For instance, the attitude and behaviour of police officers often make the victims feel disrespected, and the victims are tormented by repeated demands to retell the course of their traumas. Moreover, when the victims give evidence during court proceedings, they are often questioned on their sexual experience and they are not provided with any privacy protection measures, which makes them extremely distressed. Besides, the existing legislation on sexual offences overlooks the possibility of the victim being a male. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will enhance the training for police officers on the skills of and knowledge in handling sexual offence cases, and consider referring sexual offence cases involving adult victims to a dedicated investigation team, with reference to the handling of the cases of sexual abuse of children; (2) given that section 154 of the Crimes Ordinance provides that except with the leave of the judge, no evidence and no question in cross-examination shall be adduced or asked at the trial, by or on behalf of any defendant at the trial, about any sexual experience of a complainant with a person other than that defendant, whether the authorities will draw up detailed guidelines to state clearly the circumstances under which the judge may grant such leave; whether the authorities will extend the definition of "witness in fear" in the Criminal Procedure Ordinance to cover all victims in sexual offence cases so that live television link is provided for them on a mandatory basis in giving evidence; whether the authorities will consider amending the relevant legislation to stipulate that in order to protect the privacy of victims in sexual offence cases, the court must shield such victims behind screens when they give evidence and provide special passageways for them to enter and leave the court; and (3) given that the consultation paper on Rape and Other Non-consensual Sexual Offences published by the Law Reform Commission in 2012 recommended that any reform of the substantive law on sexual offences should be guided by a set of guiding principles, including gender neutrality and avoidance of distinctions based on sexual orientation, whether the authorities have plans to carry out reforms on the laws on sexual offences based on those guiding principles; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officer to reply | : | Solicitor General
(in the absence of the Secretary for Justice) |
6. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the information technology industry have relayed to me that with the rapid development of technologies such as cloud computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, data analysis and Internet of Things, the development of high-tier data centres and high-end manufacturing industries will bring about a new driver of growth for Hong Kong's economy. It is learnt that due to the unique site requirements of such industries and the shortage of land in Hong Kong, such industries have difficulties in identifying suitable sites in Hong Kong. As a result, some international and local enterprises have relocated their businesses to other Asian cities, such as Singapore. These people have pointed out that this trend is not conducive to the competition for large enterprises and production facilities to settle in Hong Kong, and stifles the continuous development of innovation, information and communication technology industries in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed, in the coming five years, the total floor area that can be provided by the industrial estates managed by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation ("HKSTPC") for the development of high-tier data centres, and the total floor area that such data centres may need; whether it has formulated measures to attract multinational enterprises to locate their high-tier data centres in Hong Kong so as to promote the development of digital economy in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the measures currently taken by HKSTPC to increase the land for accommodating the production facilities of high-end manufacturing industries; whether the Government has plans to allocate additional land to HKSTPC for the development of the Hong Kong Science Park Phase 4 and reserve part of the land for such use, so as to promote the development of high value-added industries in Hong Kong, encourage investment in innovation, information and communication technology industries, and create jobs; if it has such plans, of the details; and (3) of the authorities' measures to promote "re-industrialization" in Hong Kong, including how to attract and support high-end manufacturing industries to locate their production facilities in Hong Kong, as well as the objectives, implementation schedule and details of such measures?
*7. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
Under the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("Listing Rules"), where listed securities are offered to the public for subscription or purchase, issuers, their directors, sponsors and underwriters (commonly referred to as "the parties involved in the issue") must take reasonable steps to ensure that multiple or suspected multiple applications are identified and rejected. On the other hand, investors may choose to subscribe for initial public offering ("IPO") shares in their own names or electronically through the accounts maintained by intermediaries (such as brokers or banks) in the Central Clearing and Settlement System. However, at present, intermediaries are not required to furnish their clients' personal data when subscribing for IPO shares on their behalf, thus making it difficult for the parties involved in the issue to identify multiple applications for subscriptions for IPO shares. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the total number of complaints about multiple applications for subscriptions for IPO shares received by the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited ("SEHK") in the past five years, the follow-up actions and the outcome, including the number of multiple applications rejected; (2) whether it knows if SEHK has plans to amend the Listing Rules to stipulate that intermediaries should furnish, for facilitating identification of multiple applications, the full personal data of their clients when applying for subscription for IPO shares on their behalf; if SEHK has such plans, of the details; if SEHK has no such plans, of the authorities' measures to ensure that intermediaries will adopt a consistent practice in furnishing their clients' personal data, and that the parties involved in the issue can easily identify multiple applications; and (3) given that some members from the finance industry have pointed out that it is not against the law for investors to make multiple applications for subscriptions for IPO shares and they therefore will not incur legal liability, whether the Government knows if SEHK will consider putting such investors on a central blacklist to prohibit them from applying for subscriptions for IPO shares in future; if SEHK will consider, of the details; if SEHK will not consider, SEHK's measures to step up efforts to combat the making of multiple applications for subscriptions for IPO shares, so as to ensure the fair operation of the securities market?
*8. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
In October last year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") launched the Coin Collection Programme which uses a mobile approach to collect coins ("Collection Programme"). The Collection Programme provides, in addition to the existing banking system, one more channel for members of the public to exchange their coins for banknotes or for adding value to Octopus cards. Under the Collection Programme, two Coin Carts station in all 18 districts in Hong Kong on a rotational basis to collect coins kept by members of the public. It has been reported that the Collection Programme is well received by members of the public. However, quite a number of members of the public (in particular elderly persons) have relayed to me that since they do not know the service arrangements of the Coin Carts, they are unable to use this service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will step up its efforts in publicizing the details of the Collection Programme, including the locations at which the Coin Carts station and their service hours, so as to enable more members of the public to use this service; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the approaches adopted by HKMA for handling the coins collected; (3) whether it has plans to enhance the coin collection service to meet the demand of members of the public and small business operators; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) given that the two-year Collection Programme will end in September next year, what factors HKMA will consider in deciding whether it will provide the service on a long-term basis?
*9. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a number of incidents of the railway services of the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") have occurred recently. For instance, in September this year, a train on the Tung Chung Line skipped stations, and incidents in which escalators suddenly broke up while in operation occurred at the MTR Quarry Bay Station and Wong Tai Sin Station. Besides, staff members of MTRCL are alleged of having adopted double standards in enforcing the regulation on the size of passenger luggage, i.e. parallel traders with bulky luggage are allowed to board MTR trains while students carrying musical instruments are forbidden to enter the paid areas or issued with warning letters. Some members of the public have queried whether the Government, as the major shareholder of MTRCL, has properly monitored the service performance of MTRCL. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that under the existing "Service Performance Arrangement", MTRCL is required to notify the Transport Department of and submit reports on any railway service disruption which has lasted, or is expected to last, for eight minutes or more, and pay a fine for any service disruption of 31 minutes or more, but such arrangements are not precautionary measures, of the standing measures taken by the Government to ensure that the incidence of service disruption has been minimized; (2) given that the authorities indicated in June this year that after obtaining funding for the creation of new posts in the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Department would enhance the monitoring of MTRCL's train service to cover the proactive inspection of its railway system, the examination of MTRCL's work procedures and safety management system as well as the enhancement of the transparency of MTRCL's operation in addition to the purposeful investigations regularly conducted after the occurrence of railway incidents and their follow-up, of the relevant manpower arrangements and work plans; and (3) given that among the incumbent members of the Board of Directors of MTRCL, four of them are government officials, whether the Government will consider instructing those officials to make public the views they expressed at the Board meetings after each meeting, so that the public would have a better understanding of the role of the government officials in such meetings?
*10. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
Given that the reputation of Hong Kong's tourism industry had been seriously tarnished due to a spate of incidents concerning mainland inbound tours in the past few years, such as tourist guides hurling abuses at tourists and forcing tourists to shop, and that the effectiveness and impartiality of the existing industry self-regulatory regime administered mainly by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong ("TIC") had been called into question, the Government launched a public consultation exercise on the review of the operation and regulatory framework of Hong Kong's tourism sector in April 2011. In December of the same year, the Government announced that a Travel Industry Authority ("TIA") would be set up as the overall regulatory body of the tourism sector and expected that the relevant bill could be introduced into this Council within 2014 so that TIA could come into operation in 2015 at the earliest ("the regulatory proposals"). Nevertheless, the Government has not yet introduced the bill into this Council and no date has been set for the establishment of TIA. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that in reply to a question raised last month by a Member of this Council, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development said that in the past two years, the Government had continued its discussion with the tourism trade on the detailed arrangements in relation to the aforesaid legislative proposals and on TIC's future role, and it had to make appropriate amendments to the original regulatory proposals having regard to the trade's views, of such views put forward by the trade to the Government, and the Government's plans for amending the regulatory proposals and the justifications thereof; (2) given that the Government put forward the regulatory proposals in 2011 after conducting a ten-week public consultation exercise, and that it had subsequently consulted Members of this Council on the proposals, why the Government has planned to amend the regulatory proposals without making any announcement nor consultation with Members of this Council; (3) whether it knows the situations since the implementation of the 10 measures introduced by TIC in February 2011 for improving the operation of mainland inbound tours, including the number of inspections conducted each month, as well as the respective numbers of travel agents, tourist guides and shops penalized; if such information is not available, of the reasons for that; (4) how the Government has monitored the implementation of the six measures recently introduced for strengthening the regulation of mainland inbound tours, and whether it will regularly review the effectiveness of such measures; given that incidents relating to unscrupulous practices of the tourism trade still occur one after another despite new regulatory measures have been introduced incessantly by TIC in recent years, whether the Government will expedite the implementation of the regulatory proposals; and (5) in light of the current work progress, of the Government's expected dates of (i) completing the drafting work of the aforesaid bill, (ii) submitting the bill to this Council for scrutiny, and (iii) TIA's establishment and coming into full operation for carrying out its duties; if no specific timetable is available, of the reasons for that?
*11. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that earlier a team, comprising an amputee runner and two able-bodied persons from Hong Kong, took part in an extreme desert marathon in Chile, which is one of the four extreme desert races, and won the championship in the team division of the race. The amputee runner concerned is the first-ever amputee athlete to have completed the race. Regarding the support for athletes with disabilities ("AWDs"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that apart from undergoing sports training, quite a number of AWDs have to work and receive rehabilitation treatments, of the policies formulated by the authorities to support and train such athletes; (2) whether the authorities have put in place policies to encourage AWDs to participate in international sports events held locally or overseas, including whether commendations are given to AWDs who have outstanding performance; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities have reviewed if the sports training and employment support currently provided to AWDs are sufficient; if they have reviewed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
At present, fixed telecommunication network service providers must have obtained a Block Licence issued by the Lands Department ("LandsD") before they may lay their telecommunication systems and associated facilities on unleased Government land (including roads). Also, pursuant to the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28), they must make an application to the Highways Department ("HyD") and secure an excavation permit ("XP") before carrying out any excavation works on roads. It has been reported that in 2013 and more than a decade before that year, HyD issued more than 300 XPs to TraxComm (a fixed telecommunication network service provider wholly owned by the MTR Corporation Limited) to carry out excavation works on roads in various districts for laying optical fibre telecommunication systems although TraxCommm had not obtained a Block Licence. The company has been earning an annual revenue amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars from the rental of its optical fibre networks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) why HyD, in vetting and approving the applications for the aforesaid some 300 XPs, had not asked TraxComm to produce a Block Licence issued by LandsD; (2) whether HyD and LandsD have put in place a communication mechanism in respect of the vetting and approval of XP applications to ensure that XPs will be issued only when relevant requirements are satisfied; if they have, why the aforesaid case occurred; and (3) how the authorities will handle the aforesaid case, including whether they will take over the optical fibre telecommunication systems concerned or request the company to remove such systems, and whether they will institute prosecutions against the company?
*13. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that two incidents occurred early this year in a day activity centre providing training in daily living skills and simple work skills to persons with intellectual disabilities ("PWIDs"), in which three centre staff members had treated two female trainees with intellectual disabilities rudely. After investigation, the Police arrested the three staff members for allegedly having committed the offence of wounding others. In connection with the monitoring of residential care and day services for PWIDs (collectively referred to as "PWID services"), will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) whether they know if non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") arrange basic training for newly-recruited and existing staff members providing PWID services to enable them to understand the needs of PWIDs and acquire the skills for getting along and communicating with such persons; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether, in the past three years, the authorities reviewed the demand for PWID services and, in the light of the outcome of the review, allocated additional resources and manpower for service improvement; (3) of the standards based on which the authorities monitor the quality of PWID services operated by NGOs; and (4) whether they have, in the light of the aforesaid incidents, requested NGOs to further remind their frontline staff who provide PWID services that they must strictly adhere to professional ethics; how the authorities avoid the recurrence of incidents of the same type?
*14. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, some press reports alleged that the Associate Vice-President and Comptroller of Lingnan University ("LU") had plagiarized concerning his doctoral thesis and he subsequently resigned from the position. Later on, there were also press reports that Lifelong College, the Principal of which was a member of LU's Council, had allegedly assisted its students in making forged documents to fast-track those students' being awarded bachelor's and higher degrees by overseas institutions ("non-local degrees"); and some staff members of LU, the Hong Kong Shue Yan University, the City University of Hong Kong ("CityU"), the School of Continuing and Professional Education under CityU, the Hong Kong Community College of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the School of Continuing and Professional Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as quite a number of celebrities from the political and commercial sectors, had enrolled in the non-local programmes ("NLPs") jointly offered by the overseas universities concerned and Lifelong College. The Hong Kong Management Association ("HKMA") and the Spare Time Study Centre of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions ("HKFTU") have also co-organized such programmes. On the other hand, the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications ("HKCAAVQ") has indicated that all of the 13 NLPs currently provided by Lifelong College have been allowed to register with the Non-local Courses Registry ("NCR") of the Education Bureau ("EDB"), but the College has not yet applied to HKCAAVQ for accreditation of these programmes. EDB has indicated that it has requested Lifelong College to provide information such as the student registers of its programmes, records of transfers/exemptions of credits, attendance records of classes/tutorial classes, and if any suspected violations of regulations are identified, the Bureau will investigate and handle the cases, as well as refer them to law enforcement agencies for follow-up where necessary. Regarding the regulation of tertiary institutions and the standards of their programmes, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) how the authorities may, under the existing legislation, hold local education institutions (e.g. those institutions which have assisted their students in making forged documents to fast-track those students' being awarded non-local degrees) which have contravened regulations responsible and penalize them; (2) whether it knows how the institutions funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC") ("UGC-funded institutions") penalize those teaching staff members who have tendered false information on their academic qualifications or have obtained their academic qualifications through improper means; (3) given that LU is one of the UGC-funded institutions, how the authorities will follow up the aforesaid incidents and hold it responsible; (4) whether the authorities will step up the monitoring of LU; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether it has assessed if the aforesaid incidents will impact on the image, ranking and student intake of LU, as well as the funding provided to it by UGC; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the details; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the reasons for that; (6) whether the authorities and the various UGC-funded institutions thoroughly checked the background of the members of the supreme governing bodies (generally known as "the Council") of these institutions (including the Council member of LU involved in the aforesaid incident) in the past five years; if they did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether it knows if the various UGC-funded institutions require their Council members (including the Council member of LU involved in the aforesaid incident) to declare interests when handling matters relating to the appointment of teaching staff; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (8) whether it will review if there is any inadequacy or loophole in the existing system for the appointment/election of the Council members of the various UGC-funded institutions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (9) whether it has looked into the reasons why the 13 NLPs of Lifelong College have been allowed to register with NCR, but the College has not applied to HKCAAVQ for accreditation of such programmes; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (10) of the total number of programmes offered by Lifelong College which have been allowed to register with NCR since the establishment of the College; (11) whether it knows the total number of programmes for which Lifelong College has applied to HKCAAVQ for accreditation since the establishment of the College; among such programmes, of the respective numbers of those which have been accredited and acquired a recognized status equal to that of accredited local programmes, as well as those which have failed to be accredited; (12) whether EDB will proactively deploy staff to conduct a comprehensive investigation in the office of Lifelong College, so as to expedite the completion of the investigation; if EDB will, when EDB will do so; (13) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of education or commercial institutions in Hong Kong that are similar to Lifelong College and offer NLPs; if it has, of the details (including the background of the operating institutions and the responsible persons) of such programmes; if not, the reasons for that; (14) whether it has examined how the standards of Lifelong College's NLPs co-organized by HKMA and HKFTU compare to those of accredited local programmes; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (15) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of NLPs in the territory which are allowed to register with NCR but have not been accredited by HKCAAVQ; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (16) whether the authorities have regularly examined if the standards of the local programmes and NLPs offered by private universities, education or commercial institutions are comparable to those of accredited local programmes; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (17) regarding the teaching staff members of UGC-funded institutions who have been awarded non-local degrees after completing NLPs, whether it has followed up if these people have obtained their academic qualifications through improper means; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (18) whether it knows if HKCAAVQ will review the existing accreditation criteria for NLPs in the light of the aforesaid incidents; if HKCAAVQ will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (19) whether it will review the existing registration procedures for NLPs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (20) whether it will review the Non-Local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance (Cap. 493), with a view to imposing more stringent regulation on NLPs and the relevant institutions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (21) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of civil servants and employees of subvented organizations who have been awarded non-local degrees after completing the NLPs offered by Lifelong College; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (22) whether it has assessed if the aforesaid incidents have led to a loss of confidence by the public in the capability and the standard of EDB and relevant organizations in monitoring NLPs; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (23) whether it has assessed if the aforesaid incidents will undermine the confidence of mainland and overseas students in furthering their studies in Hong Kong and dampen their incentive to do so; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the Earn and Learn Pilot Scheme ("Pilot Scheme"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of student-workers enrolled in and withdrew from the following programmes under the Pilot Scheme in the school years of 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 (up to 30 November this year) (set out in the table below), and the general reasons for student-workers' dropping out; (i) Diploma of Vocational Education ("DVE") programme for electrical and mechanical services trades as well as the construction industry, (ii) Higher Diploma programme for electrical and mechanical services trades as well as the construction industry, (iii) Higher Diploma programme for the retail industry, (iv) "Foundation Diploma (Level 3) – Retail" programme, (v) Higher Diploma in Testing and Certification programme, (vi) DVE programme for the automobile industry, (vii) DVE programme for electrical and mechanical services trades (construction), (viii) DVE programme for the printing industry, and (ix) DVE programme for the clock and watch industry; Programme 2014-2015 school year 2015-2016 school year
(up to 30 November 2015)Enrolments Withdrawals Enrolments Withdrawals (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) (ix) (2) whether it knows when the first cohort of student-workers under the Pilot Scheme for Retail Industry will graduate; and (3) whether it will conduct tracking studies on the employment situation of the student-workers graduated from programmes under the Pilot Scheme (such as surveying if the student-workers are still engaged in the industries concerned three months, one year, two years and three years after graduation, as well as the changes in their employment situation); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
Recently, I have received the views expressed by some parents of ethnic minority ("EM") students ("parents") on their communication with schools and the education received by their children. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as some parents have indicated that they have difficulties in choosing suitable schools for their children because school profiles are available in Chinese only and contain no information on the support provided by such schools for non-Chinese speaking ("NCS") students, the public examinations that such type of students may sit for after completing the courses, the ratio of Chinese speaking students to NCS students in school, etc., whether the authorities will urge schools to provide parents with such information so as to assist them in choosing schools; (2) whether it has any plan to urge all schools across the territory to admit EM students and include such arrangement into the schools' teaching programmes; (3) whether it has compiled a recommended textbook list in respect of the primary and secondary school Chinese curriculum for EM students; if it has not, whether it will do so; if it will, when it will do so; if not, of the reasons for that; (4) as some parents have criticized that the after-school extended Chinese learning programmes ("tutorial classes") provided by schools vary in quality and that the relevant arrangements lack transparency, whether the Government has monitored the quality and arrangements of such tutorial classes; if it has, how they have monitored the classes; if not, of the reasons for that; (5) as some parents have criticized that the duties of teaching assistants ("TAs") are indistinct and TAs are not respected by teachers, but the Chinese tutorial classes are often taught by TAs, whether the Government will delineate the duties of TAs and explain their duties clearly to parents through school newsletters; in the long run, whether the Government will arrange teachers who have received specialized training to teach the Chinese tutorial classes for NCS students; and (6) as some parents have often complained that since the circulars issued by schools are available in Chinese only, they cannot understand the contents of the circulars, and that teachers are not quite willing to communicate with them in English, whether the Government will increase the funding allocated to schools which have admitted EM students for hiring translators to enable schools to issue circulars in both Chinese and English to parents and facilitate more effective communication between teachers and parents?
*17. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from members of the public that while the coupons sold in the past by some retail shops (such as cake shops, department stores and supermarkets) were indefinitely valid, the coupons sold recently by those shops have expiry dates specified on them and holders of such coupons can use them only before their expiry dates in exchange for products of the specified values or in the specified quantities. Coupon holders will suffer financial losses if they are not aware of the expiry dates specified on the coupons or forget to use the coupons before the expiry of their validity periods. The complainants opine that as the purchase of coupons by consumers with cash is tantamount to a mode of consumption by pre-payment, the setting of expiry dates by the shops concerned for such coupons is unreasonable and has prejudiced the rights of consumers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the total number of disputes and complaints involving the use of coupons received by the Consumer Council and relevant government departments in the past five years, and the details of such complaints; (2) whether it has studied if the practice of shops setting expiry dates for coupons is reasonable and has prejudiced the rights of consumers; (3) given that the terms and conditions for the use of coupons generally contain a clause to the effect that "in case of any disputes, the decision of the company shall be final", whether the authorities have assessed if such a clause is an exemption clause which has legal effect; and (4) whether the authorities will consider regulating the sale of coupons by retail shops to protect the rights of consumers; if they will not, of the justifications for that?
*18. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
Under the existing arrangement, teachers of aided schools who have taken up acting appointments for 30 calendar days or more are entitled to acting allowances, and the schools concerned may apply to the Education Bureau ("EDB") for Salaries Grant ("grants") for payment of acting allowances. Some teachers have relayed to me that EDB has made quite a number of mistakes in disbursing such grants, including failure to verify, before disbursement, if the amounts that the schools applied for were correct. I have learnt that after the introduction of an additional computer system on 19 April 2013, EDB began to implement, on a trial basis, a set of establishment pre-check procedures and proceeded to review previous acting appointment cases, thereby discovering erroneous disbursement of grants in the past. There are cases involving erroneous disbursement of grants for years (as long as a decade), and cases involving erroneous payment of acting allowances to several teachers of the same school. As a result, the schools and teachers concerned were required to return a huge amount of money. Section 13.2(c) of the Code of Aid for Aided Schools (Release 1.10) provides that "[i]n the event of overpayment, the Education Bureau will adjust any overpaid salaries identified in the next immediate subvention payment to the school concerned. The school should recover any such overpayment from the relevant staff and bear any loss if irrecoverable". Besides, under the Limitation Ordinance (Cap. 347), certain actions shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued ("six-year limitation rule"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of cases uncovered by EDB in each of the past five years in which grants were erroneously disbursed to schools for payment of acting allowances to teachers, and the number of teachers involved; whether it knows, among such schools, the number of those which were unable to recover the erroneously paid acting allowances from the teachers concerned, the reasons concerned and the maximum amount of money involved; (2) in respect of the cases mentioned in (1), of the longest time lapsed from EDB's first erroneous disbursement of grants to the school concerned to the discovery of the error, the number of such cases in which six years or more have lapsed, and the number of teachers involved; whether EDB has completed reviewing those cases involving payment of acting allowances prior to 19 April 2013; if EDB has not, of the number of remaining cases and the estimated time needed to complete the review of them; (3) of the workflow, prior to the introduction of the additional computer system on 19 April 2013, followed by EDB to verify the eligibility of the teachers concerned for receiving acting allowances, and the time limit for completing each step in the workflow; given that EDB has introduced the additional computer system, whether EDB can ensure that the relevant verification work will be completed in the same school year in which the applications are received; if EDB cannot, of the reasons for that; (4) whether EDB has consulted the Department of Justice on the applicability of the aforesaid six-year limitation rule to the aforesaid cases of recovery of acting allowances erroneously paid/grants erroneously disbursed; if EDB has conducted such a consultation and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether the six-year limitation period commences on the date on which the error was first made; if not, how EDB calculates the six-year limitation period; (5) of the number of schools in the past five years whose subvention was adjusted by EDB due to overpayment of salaries, the total amounts involved, and the amount involved in the case with the largest rate of adjustment; and (6) of the number of cases in the past five years in which EDB was unable to recover from the schools concerned the grants erroneously disbursed and the reasons for that, as well as the total amount of money involved?
*19. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, buying fresh or frozen food on the Internet has become popular among Hong Kong people. Earlier on, the Consumer Council has examined over 40 local shops selling fresh food products online ("online shops") and found that only 11 of them have provided on their web sites information on how they ensure freshness of food during delivery, and that varying methods were adopted by online shops for freezing and delivering chilled food and food for raw consumption. Notwithstanding that food safety hazards might be caused by improper handling of food by online shops, the authorities instituted merely 35 prosecutions under the Food Business Regulation (Cap. 132 sub. leg. X) from June 2012 to September this year against unlicensed food premises selling food online. Regarding the regulation of the sale of food online, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the authorities have indicated that they will step up the regulation of the sale of food online, of the framework and implementation timetable of the relevant plan; (2) as the Consumer Council has pointed out that it is often difficult for consumers to differentiate whether an online shop has been issued with the relevant licences or written permission, whether the Government will consider stepping up sample laboratory tests on food sold by the online shops and sparing no efforts in tracing the sources of food found to be unfit for human consumption; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as the Consumer Council has pointed out that varying methods have currently been adopted by online shops for freezing and delivering food, whether the authorities will consider adding provisions to the relevant food business licences to stipulate that online shops selling food of high risk, such as meat, milk, sashimi and oysters for raw consumption, are required to comply with a set of guidelines on freezing, packaging and delivery so as to ensure food safety; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it will consider following the practice on the Mainland to require online trading platforms to register online shops under their real names to facilitate the liaison and tracing efforts of the Centre for Food Safety, so as to step up the regulation of the sale of food online; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
According to the information on the web site of the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD"), the Highways Department ("HyD") has so far made nine applications for variations in the conditions of the environmental permit ("EP") granted to it by EPD in 2009 in respect of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities ("HKBCF") Project. One of such applications was to change the method for constructing the sea walls of the HKBCF artificial island from traditional fully-dredged to non-dredged. After that change, the sea walls of the artificial island would comprise steel cellular ("SC") sea walls and rubble mound ("RM") sea walls of length 5.1 kilometers ("km") and 1 km respectively. On the other hand, it was reported last month that without submitting an application to EPD for variations in the conditions of the EP, HyD had changed the method for constructing part of the sea walls on the western and southern sides of the artificial island by replacing SC steel walls, as originally designed, with RM sea walls. After that change, SC and RM sea walls would be 3.6 km and 2.5 km long respectively. Some green groups have pointed out that even if silt curtains have been installed, compared to constructing SC sea walls, constructing RM sea walls is more likely to have construction waste used for reclamation overflowing into the sea. According to the response from HyD, EPD considered that as the change in the method for constructing the aforesaid sea walls involved no change to the environmental impact assessment ("EIA") report, there was no need for HyD to apply for variations in the conditions of the EP and make public the change. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the differences between the contents of the aforesaid EP after the first variation (No. EP-353/2009/A) and those of the EP after the latest variation (No. EP-353/2009/I); (2) whether the authorities have compared the respective impacts on the water quality and marine ecosystem on the periphery of the artificial island which would be caused by the works for constructing SC sea walls and RM sea walls; if they have, of the details; whether they have assessed if constructing SC sea walls has a lower likelihood of causing water pollution than constructing RM sea walls; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether EPD has drawn up guidelines on the circumstances under which the holder of an EP is required to apply for variation in the conditions of the EP in respect of change in construction method; if EPD has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given that constructing SC sea walls and constructing RM sea walls are different methods of reclamation and land formation, of the rationale based on which EPD decided that HyD was not required to (i) apply for variations in the conditions of the EP in respect of the aforesaid change in construction method, and (ii) make public the change; and (5) given that it is stipulated in section 13 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499) that the Director of Environmental Protection ("the Director") may, upon receipt of an application for a variation in the conditions of an EP by EPD, amend the relevant EP without calling for an EIA report if he is satisfied that there is no material change to the environmental impact of the project with the mitigation measures in place and the project complies with the requirements described in the technical memorandum, whether the Director has, in respect of any of the aforesaid applications for variations in the conditions of the EP, requested HyD to submit an EIA report; if so, of the details; if not, the rationale based on which the Director made such a decision at that time?
*21. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the development of information systems by franchised bus companies to provide passengers waiting for buses with information on the real-time departure and estimated arrival times of their buses ("real-time bus service information"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the respective current numbers and percentages of bus shelters of each franchised bus company (with a breakdown of the figures by franchise if the bus company concerned holds more than one franchise) that are equipped with electricity supply and thus can be installed with real-time bus service information display panels (set out in tables of the same format as the table below with a breakdown by District Council district);
Franchised bus company (franchise)：_________________
Region District Council district Bus shelter Number Percentage in
the total numberHong Kong Island Central & Western District Wan Chai District Eastern District Southern District Kowloon Yau Tsim Mong District Sham Shui Po District Kowloon City District Wong Tai Sin District Kwun Tong District New Territories Kwai Tsing District Tsuen Wan District Tuen Mun District Yuen Long District North District Tai Po District Sha Tin District Sai Kung District Islands District Total﹕ (2) the respective numbers of (i) public transport interchanges, (ii) bus-bus interchanges, (iii) bus termini and (iv) bus shelters that are installed with real-time bus service information display panels and their respective percentages in the total numbers, the number of bus routes the service information of which is displayed on those panels respectively, and the respective locations of (i) to (iii) (set out the information in the table below); and
Location Number Percentage of the number in the total number Number of bus routes the service information of which is displayed Public transport Interchange Bus-bus interchange Bus terminus Bus shelter (Not applicable) (3) if real-time bus service information is available on the web sites and smartphone apps of various franchised bus companies at present; if so, of the respective (i) numbers and (ii) percentages of the bus routes, operated by such companies, the service information of which is available through these two channels (set out in the table below)?
Franchised bus company Company web site Smartphone apps (i) (ii) (i) (ii) Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Ltd. Citybus Limited (franchise for Hong Kong Island and cross-harbour bus network) Citybus Limited (franchise for the Airport and North Lantau bus network) New World First Bus Services Limited New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited Long Win Bus Company Limited
*22. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
Since 1998, the Government has placed three-colour waste separation bins ("three-colour bins") in various districts throughout the territory and encouraged the public to separate paper, plastics and metals from other waste for disposal into the recycling bins designated for collecting such waste. However, the media revealed in 2013 that the contractors responsible for collecting waste from three-colour bins dumped the recovered waste at refuse depots and other litter bins. Some recyclers of waste plastics have recently indicated that they have already stopped buying waste plastics due to their declining export prices. They therefore reckon that quite a lot of waste plastics have been sent to landfills for disposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of sets of three-colour bins which were in use throughout the territory at the beginning of each year from 2013 to this year; (2) of (i) the respective quantities of waste paper, waste plastics and waste metals recovered, (ii) among such waste, the quantities and percentages of those collected through three-colour bins, and (iii) the respective quantities of these three types of waste sent to landfills for disposal, in each year from 2012 to the first half of this year (set out in Table 1);
Table 1
Year Waste paper (tonne) Waste plastics (tonne) Waste metals (tonne) (i) (ii)
[%](iii) (i) (ii)
[%](iii) (i) (ii)
[%](iii) 2015
(first half-year)2014 2013 2012 (3) of the expenditure incurred for the management of three-colour bins and the fees payable to the contractors responsible for collecting waste from those bins in each of the past five years; whether it has regularly reviewed and monitored the work performance of such contractors; if it has, whether it has uncovered any malpractices; if it has not reviewed and monitored, of the reasons for that; (4) whether it has regularly reviewed the effectiveness of waste recovery through the provision of three-colour bins; if it has, of the details; (5) of the expenditure incurred and the channels used for promoting among the public the use of three-colour bins for disposal of waste in each year from 2013 to the first half of this year (set out in Table 2);
Table 2Year Publicity channels TV announcements
in the public interests
(No. of times broadcast)Radio announcements
(No. of times broadcast)Bus stop posters
(No. of days of display)MTR station posters
(No. of days of display)Community talks
(No. of talks organized)2015 (first half-year)
No. of times/daysTotal expenditure ($) 2014
No. of times/daysTotal expenditure ($) 2013
No. of times/daysTotal expenditure ($) (6) of the expenditure incurred and the channels used in each of the past five years for promoting among the public the message of using less disposable cutlery and avoiding buying bottled drinks (set out in a table of the same format as Table 2); (7) of the respective quantities of paper, plastics and metal materials used for the packaging of beverages consumed by members of the public in each of the past five years; whether it has formulated policies to encourage beverage producers to use less of such materials and more of environmentally friendly materials; if it has, of the details; and (8) whether it has maintained regular contact with the recycling industry to gain an understanding of the operation of the industry and the difficulties encountered by the industry; if it has, of the details; whether it has formulated policies to facilitate the development of the recycling industry; if it has; of the details; if not, how the authorities address the problem of ever increasing waste loads in Hong Kong?
* For written reply
III. Bill
| First Reading
Financial Institutions (Resolution) Bill | ||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| ||
| Financial Institutions (Resolution) Bill | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury |