A 17/18-8
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 22 November 2017 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No. 23 | - | Insurance Authority
Annual Report 2016-17 |
| (to be presented by Financial Secretary)
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| 2. | No. 24 | - | Immigration Service Welfare Fund
Report on the administration of the Fund, Financial statements and Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 March 2017 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Security)
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| 3. | No. 25 | - | Report of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the year ended 31 March 2017 |
| (to be presented by the President of the Legislative Council)
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| 4. | No. 26 | - | Report No. 69 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits - October 2017 |
| (to be presented by the President of the Legislative Council)
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| 5. | No. 27 | - | Accounts of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the year ended 31 March 2017 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
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II. Questions
1. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
The Government is currently inviting views from various stakeholders and sectors of society on the Report of Consultancy Study on Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong submitted by a consultant in June this year, and it expects to publish a smart city blueprint in the third quarter of next year. The recommendations put forward in the aforesaid Report include the implementation of small-scale trials, such as the setting up of a smart region living lab by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation in collaboration with The Chinese University of Hong Kong for the purpose of assessing the practicality of different pilot projects under the local environment and operational constraints. In fact, quite a number of public and private organizations have separately or jointly implemented a number of small-scale trials relating to smart cities. For example, the Hong Kong Productivity Council has, on its own, researched and developed smart street lamps and a wireless charger for electric vehicles, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has joined hands with a Mainland car hailing software company to promote the transfer of research and technology achievements in the area of intelligent transport systems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the details of the pilot projects relating to smart cities being carried out separately or jointly by public and private organizations in Hong Kong at present; if so, set out by project name in a table the contents of the various projects and the amounts of subsidies provided by the Government (if any); (2) whether it will proactively contact the organizations mentioned in (1), so as to collect the data obtained from their trials and, through appropriate procedure, make use of such data to take forward the work on the development of a smart city; and (3) as it has been reported that the pilot projects on cashless transactions, unmanned driving, etc. to be carried out in the aforesaid smart region living lab need about three to five years to complete, whether the Government will consider publishing a smart city blueprint only after all such pilot projects have been completed and the relevant data have been thoroughly analysed; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Dr Hon Pierre CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some members of the medical sector have expressed to me their concerns about the engagement in private clinical practice ("PCP") by teaching staff of the faculties of medicine of the two universities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it can comprehensively set out the details of the rules and guidelines made by the two faculties of medicine on the engagement in PCP by their teaching staff, including the qualifications for engagement, the maximum number of hours allowed, the systems for reporting and auditing the figures of consultations, and the additional restrictions on the engagement in PCP by part-time teaching staff and doctors with limited registration, and provide copies of the relevant documents; whether it knows the number of cases of violations of such rules and guidelines uncovered by each faculty of medicine in the past five years, and the number of teaching staff involved; whether the two faculties of medicine have established a mechanism for handling complaints about PCP; if so, of the details; (2) whether it can comprehensively set out the mechanisms adopted by the two faculties of medicine for sharing the income generated from PCP, as well as provide the relevant documents, and set out in a table the PCP data of each faculty of medicine in each of the past five years, including the number of doctors engaging in PCP, the number of patient attendances, the total amount of income generated, the amount of income apportioned to the Hospital Authority, the amount of income apportioned to the teaching staff, and the amount of relevant income received by each of the five teaching staff members who received the largest amounts of income generated from PCP; and (3) if it knows how the Hospital Authority and the two faculties of medicine verify the number of hours of engagement in PCP as reported by the teaching staff, and whether the time they spend on conducting ward rounds, providing consultation services at outpatient clinics, performing operations and handling administrative work in respect of PCP will be counted?
3. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Some practitioners of the information technology ("IT") sector have relayed to me that in the latest round of tender exercises for IT products and services projects conducted by the Government, the situation that "the lowest bid wins" has not improved, and contractors are also required to bear unlimited legal liability, resulting in quite a number of IT companies not participating in the bidding for such projects. On the other hand, the Chief Executive has indicated in the Policy Address recently delivered by her that the Government will explore the inclusion of innovation and technology as a tender requirement in the procurement arrangements of government departments and will not award contract only by reference to the lowest bid, so as to encourage local technological innovation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the concrete measures for effecting the policy direction of not awarding contract only by reference to the lowest bid in procurement arrangements, and whether it will review the requirement in IT procurement contracts regarding the legal liability to be borne by contractors, with a view to attracting more IT companies to participate in the bidding; whether, in order to enhance the transparency of tender exercises, it will consult members of the sector and stakeholders before conducting tender exercises for larger-scale or complicated IT projects; (2) whether it will introduce measures to encourage local small and medium enterprises as well as start-up enterprises to bid for government IT projects, and set a target ratio of participation in the bidding by such enterprises; and (3) of the measures in place to encourage policy bureaux and government departments to collaboratively develop commonly needed IT projects, adopt the Agile Software Development Methodology in taking forward IT projects, and put into application technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics and machine learning, with a view to enhancing the daily operation of government departments, improving the quality of public services, as well as enhancing information security and privacy protection?
4. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some members of the public sought my assistance, saying that they had bought, from a developer of the United Kingdom ("UK") through a registered estate agent of Hong Kong in a property fair held in Hong Kong in 2015, a number of uncompleted housing units involving a total of five development projects, all of which had subsequently gone "failed". It has been reported that over 200 Hong Kong people have suffered financial losses totalling hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current legislation and codes of practice to be observed by registered estate agents of Hong Kong in promoting completed or uncompleted overseas properties in Hong Kong; whether it has assessed if such legislation and codes of practice are sufficient to safeguard the rights and interests of Hong Kong buyers; whether the practices and processes adopted by estate agents in promoting those properties are subject to regulation; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider establishing a mechanism to regulate such practices and processes; (2) as it has been reported that similar incidents of failed development projects of UK occurred in 2012, 2014 and 2016, whether the Government has so far discussed with the relevant UK departments ways to render assistance to those buyers outside UK who have suffered losses, and the establishment of a mechanism to safeguard the rights and interests of that type of buyers; and (3) given that it has become increasingly common for Hong Kong people to buy properties overseas in recent years and, due to the huge costs and excessively long time involved as well as a lack of the relevant knowledge, it is often difficult for them to travel overseas to seek compensation when their rights and interests have been undermined, whether the Government will, apart from carrying out public education, consider reviewing the relevant policy with a view to establishing a mechanism to enhance the protection for the rights and interests of Hong Kong people?
5. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
At present, some manufacturers add microbeads of less than 1 mm in diameter to toilette products for the purpose of achieving the claimed effects of cleansing the skin and exfoliating dead skin cells. Some studies have found that microplastics (i.e. plastic pellets or flakes of less than 5 mm in diameter or length, including plastic fibres as minute as having a diameter or length of only 1 μm) are commonly present in the potable water of a number of countries. Some green groups have pointed out that the toxic substances that have adhered to and accumulated onto the surface of microplastics may find their way into the human body through the food chain, thus posing health hazards. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the authorities have indicated in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in April 2015 that in Hong Kong, there was limited information and research on microbeads, and the authorities had no statistics or inventory on those beauty and skin care products containing microbeads on sale in Hong Kong, whether the authorities have subsequently conducted the relevant researches and compiled the relevant statistics, and whether they have evaluated the impacts of microplastics on Hong Kong's ecosystem and human health; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the Water Supplies Department will consider conducting regular tests on the concentration of microplastics in the water bodies of reservoirs and domestic fresh water, and publishing such results on a regular basis; whether any technology is currently employed in sewage treatment works to remove microplastics from sewage; whether the Drainage Services Department ("DSD") has tested, on a regular basis, the concentration of microplastics in treated effluent; if DSD has conducted tests, since when such tests were conducted and of the outcome of those tests; if not, whether DSD will consider conducting such tests; and (3) given that the Government of the United States legislated in 2015 against the production and sale of toilette products that contain microplastics, and the governments of places like Taiwan and Korea have indicated that they will legislate in this regard expeditiously, whether the authorities will enact legislation expeditiously to regulate the sale of products containing microplastics in Hong Kong?
6. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
The Government holds a ceremony on 13 December annually since 2014 in commemoration of the victims who died in the Nanjing Massacre and those killed during the war of Japanese invasion of China. Moreover, the Government holds a ceremony on Chung Yeung Festival annually to pay tribute to those who died in defence of Hong Kong during the Second World War ("WWII"). However, Hong Kong has not yet set up any memorial hall or erected any sculpture dedicated to the commemoration of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will set up a memorial hall of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Hong Kong and allocate resources to study, collate and permanently preserve information on those historical events which members of the public are less familiar, such as the Nanshitou Massacre and the heroic anti-Japanese campaigns waged by the Hong Kong Independent Battalion of the Dongjiang Column, and to display the relevant historical information as permanent exhibitions in the aforesaid memorial hall, so as to let the public, in particular the young people, deepen their knowledge of the history related to WWII, such as Nanjing Massacre and Hong Kong residents' resistance against Japanese aggression; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that some cities, such as San Francisco in the United States and Seoul of Korea, have erected bronze statues of comfort women in public places, whether the authorities will erect statues of comfort women in public places in Hong Kong to console and commemorate the comfort women who were subject to the coercion and brutality of Japanese soldiers during WWII; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will incorporate the relevant historical information mentioned in (1) and (2) into the Chinese History curriculum for secondary schools so as to educate the young people about the relevant history; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Home Affairs
Secretary for Education |
*7. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
At present, Yuen Long Division, Pat Heung Division and Tin Shui Wai Division are established under the Yuen Long Police District. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of crimes, together with a breakdown, which occurred in the aforesaid three police divisions in the past three years; (2) of the respective current establishments of front-line police officers in the three police divisions; whether it will consider expanding the establishments of police officers in these divisions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the respective current police-to-population ratios in various police divisions across the territory (set out in descending order); whether the relevant ratios in the three divisions are lower than the territory-wide average; if so, whether it will consider boosting the former to bring them on par with the territory-wide average; and (4) given that the present population in Tin Shui Wai district has exceeded 300 000, whether the authorities will consider upgrading Tin Shui Wai Division to a police district; if so, of the implementation schedule; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
Many bus drivers have relayed to me that in order to cope with the traffic demand brought about by the population growth in the districts of Tuen Mun and Yuen Long in recent years, the number of bus routes passing those districts and their service frequencies have increased substantially. As a result, the sizes of many bus termini in the districts (including the bus terminus at Yuen Long (West) and the bus termini at Leung King Estate, Tin Heng Estate and Tin Yan Estate), which were built many years ago, and the facilities of the bus regulator's kiosks provided there can no longer cope with the demand. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the sizes of and facilities at the aforesaid bus termini currently meet the relevant standards stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines and the Transport Planning and Design Manual; (2) of the respective numbers of applications from franchised bus companies for operating new bus routes and increasing bus service frequencies rejected by the authorities in the past five years on grounds of the constraints of the aforesaid bus termini; and (3) whether it has plans to expand the aforesaid bus termini; if so, how the authorities will overcome the technical difficulties?
*9. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
The Mega Events Fund ("MEF") ceased operation in March this year after eight years' operation. On the other hand, the Government has, in this financial year, adopted the following four new strategies to encourage and support different organizations to stage events or activities in Hong Kong: (1) providing one-stop support for large-scale commercial events with significant tourism merits, (2) cultivating home-grown events to enhance their status, (3) supporting international events with significant branding impact on Hong Kong, and (4) introducing a pilot scheme to support tourism activities showcasing Hong Kong's local characteristics. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, among the events previously supported by MEF, the number of those which will be/have been held again in this financial year; of the channels through which the organizers of such events can apply/have applied for financial and other support from the Government when holding the events again; the number of the relevant applications received by the Government in the past six months, and set out by name of event the support rendered by the Government (if any); if there are events not receiving any support, of the reasons for that; (2) of the criteria adopted by the Government for determining whether an event is a "large-scale commercial event with significant tourism merits"; whether it knows if there were events of this category held in Hong Kong in the past six months; if so, of the number of those which were cultural, arts or sports events, and the support provided by the Government for those events and the achievements of those events; (3) how the Government determines whether an event should be regarded as "an international event with significant branding impact on Hong Kong"; whether the Government provided funding support for events of this category in the past six months; if so, of the details of the events which were funded (including the amount of public funding received) and, among such events, the number of those which were cultural, arts or sports events; if there were cultural, arts or sports events which did not obtain any funding support, of the reasons for that; (4) whether it knows the details of the pilot scheme to be launched by the Hong Kong Tourism Board to promote tourism projects with local characteristics, including the implementation timetable and the eligibility criteria for funding support; whether it has assessed how the scheme may help promote the development of cultural, arts or sports events in Hong Kong; and (5) of the measures that the authorities have put in place to strengthen their collaboration with the local cultural, arts and sports sectors, so as to motivate them to organize more events?
*10. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the facilities and operation of public swimming pools, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as I have learnt that the four public swimming pools in Kwai Ching District are inadequate to meet the demands of the residents in the district and, among them, only Tsing Yi Southwest Swimming Pool, which was commissioned in July this year, is provided with a heated pool, whether the authorities have considered carrying out renovation and improvement works (e.g. building new heated pools) at the other three public swimming pools in the district (including Kwai Shing Swimming Pool, the facilities of which are dilapidated); if so, of the details and timetables; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) given that cases of temporary closure of public swimming pools due to insufficient lifeguards on duty have occurred from time to time in recent years, whether the authorities have devised long-term solutions (including reviewing the grade structure of lifeguards to recognize their professional status, improving their remuneration packages, increasing their promotion opportunities, etc.) to ensure that there will be sufficient lifeguards on duty in public swimming pools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
As at February this year, the authorities have spent nearly $800 million to implement the "Government Wi-Fi service" and the "Wi-Fi Connected City" programmes, under which more than 19 000 free Wi-Fi hotspots have been provided. The average speed for Internet access of those hotspots is 4 Mbps and the Government has pledged that the Internet access speeds at some hotspots (e.g. libraries and museums) will be raised to 8 Mbps. It has been reported that the findings of an on-site survey, conducted by a media organization at a number of government Wi-Fi hotspots throughout Hong Kong, show that the Internet access speeds of the Wi-Fi service at a number of popular tourist spots were extremely low (e.g. the Internet access speed in the vicinity of the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower was only 1/27 of the target speed). At some hotspots such as the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Hong Kong Space Museum and the airport, not only were the Internet access speeds far below 8 Mbps as pledged by the Government, but the service connection was also unstable and the service would be disconnected just several metres away from the hotspots. Moreover, there are other problems such as the uneven distribution of Wi-Fi hotspots and the extremely low usage rates at some Wi Fi hotspots (e.g. a daily average of only 1.6 users at the Wi-Fi hotspot at the Sai Ying Pun Dermatology and Chest Clinic). On the other hand, as the publicity undertaken by the authorities on the provision of free Wi-Fi hotspots by the Government and public organizations is unsatisfactory, some tourists who have visited Hong Kong for several times have indicated that they are unaware of the availability of free Wi-Fi service at the airport. In the Policy Address delivered last month, the Chief Executive proposed to develop Hong Kong into a smart city. However, some academics have criticized that the Government has been implementing free Wi-Fi service for many years, but such efforts are ineffective, resulting in the Wi-Fi network infrastructure of Hong Kong lagging far behind the level required of a smart city. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have looked into the causes of the problems of extremely slow Internet access speeds and extremely low usage rates at the aforesaid Wi-Fi hotspots, and whether these problems are attributable to mismanagement on the part of government departments or the relevant public/private organizations; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will look into the matter immediately; (2) of the recurrent expenditure incurred by the Government on the provision of free Wi-Fi service in each of the past three years; (3) of the number of government Wi-Fi hotspots in the two districts of Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin, as well as their distribution and usage rates; (4) of the average monthly number of users at various government Wi-Fi hotspots in the past three years; whether it will explore ways to boost the usage rates at these hotspots (in particular those with low usage rates) in order not to waste public resources; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether it regularly conducts tests on the Internet access speeds of the various government Wi-Fi hotspots to see if the target speed has been reached; whether it has plans to raise the Internet access speeds of the Wi Fi hotspots across the board, and of the measures in place to address the problem of the Internet access speeds at some Wi-Fi hotspots being far below the target; and (6) in view of some overseas visitors' ignorance of the availability of free Government Wi Fi service, of the authorities' new measures to promote free Government Wi-Fi service among the tourists, as well as the manpower and expenditure involved in the task?
*12. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that several incidents of animals (including tortoises, guinea pigs, rabbits and dogs) being abused en masse have occurred recently. In addition, quite a number of people have released animals casually, thus affecting the local ecological environment, and quite a number of the released animals died as they were unable to adapt to the environment. Regarding the protection of animal rights, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of reports on animal abuse received by the authorities and the respective numbers of persons prosecuted and convicted, in each year since January 2014; the maximum and minimum punishments imposed on those persons convicted; (2) as it has been mentioned in the Policy Agenda published recently that the authorities will study the existing legislation related to animal welfare, and explore introducing a concept of positive duty of care on animal keepers, of the details of such work (including the legislation to be covered and the work schedule); (3) given that in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on the 18th of last month, the Government indicated that regarding the suggestion to bring cats and dogs into the scope of section 56 of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) (which stipulates that when an accident involving a vehicle has occurred on a road and caused damage to an animal, the driver of that vehicle must stop the vehicle and report the accident to the Police as soon as possible), "we are reviewing the matter with reference to overseas practices. We will, upon conclusion of the review, consider amending the relevant legislation", of the progress of the review and the specific legislative timetable; (4) of the number of complaints about activities on release of animals received by the authorities each year since January 2014, broken down by the species of the animals involved and the location where the release was conducted; whether they have, in response to such complaints, taken animal rescue operations and law enforcement actions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) as places such as Taiwan, Macao and Singapore have reportedly enacted legislation to regulate acts of release of animals, whether the authorities will consider afresh enacting legislation to regulate acts of release of animals in Hong Kong, and prohibit the release of animals at locations of high ecological value; if not, of the reasons for that; (6) as quite a number of people participating in activities on release of animals do not understand the possible impacts of such activities on the ecological environment, whether the authorities will step up public education with a view to reducing that type of activities; (7) whether it has conducted studies on the impacts of releasing animals of alien species on those animals of local species and on the ecological environment; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (8) whether it will make reference to the practices of foreign countries and consider afresh establishing an animal police team to step up protection of animal rights; if not, of the reasons for that?
*13. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Since 2006, the United Nations Security Council ("UNSC") has adopted a series of resolutions to impose sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ("North Korea"). Pursuant to the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government has made, under section 3(1) of the United Nations Sanctions Ordinance (Cap. 537), a relevant regulation and amendments thereto to implement the sanctions in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR"). On the other hand, it has been reported that for many years, a number of companies registered in Hong Kong have allegedly been helping the North Korean authorities circumvent the sanctions and earn foreign remittance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as UNSC adopted on 11 September this year Resolution 2375 (2017) to impose a new round of sanctions against North Korea, whether HKSAR Government has, for the purpose of implementing the sanctions under that resolution: (i) liaised with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (ii) drawn up a specific work plan and an implementation timetable; if so, of the details; if not, when it will draw up the work plan; (2) whether it has studied the impacts of HKSAR implementing the sanctions against North Korea on the trade relations between the two places and on Hong Kong's financial regulatory system and economy; if so, of the findings of the study; if not, whether it will conduct such a study expeditiously; and (3) whether it has, since 2006, conducted any investigation and instituted any prosecution in respect of locally registered companies suspected of helping North Korea circumvent the sanctions; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will expeditiously conduct a comprehensive investigation into the activities of the companies concerned so as to uphold Hong Kong's reputation as an international financial centre?
*14. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
The Government put forward in the Policy Address released last month the idea to provide an electronic identity ("eID") for Hong Kong residents so that they could use a single digital identity and authentication to conduct government and commercial transactions online. However, notwithstanding that when members of the public applied for smart identity ("ID") cards in the past, they could choose to have their cards embedded with an e-Cert which they could use free of charge for the first year, such e-Certs had persistently low utilization rates. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the applications and e-government services to which eID authentication will be applicable, and the transactions and records in respect of which digital signatures can be replaced by eID authentication, as envisaged by the Government; the plans in place to promote the adoption of eID authentication for the online services of public organizations and private enterprises (e.g. banks); (2) whether the eID authentication platform will be developed by the Government itself or by outsourced service contractors; of the implementation timetable for the authentication service; whether it has set a target utilization rate of the service three years after its implementation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as the Government will, starting from next year, gradually replace the existing ID cards with the next generation smart ID cards for members of the public, whether it has studied how eID can be integrated into the functions of the next generation smart ID cards to provide members of the public with a more convenient usage experience; (4) as the eID system will store and process important personal data of all Hong Kong people, of the encryption technologies to be adopted for eID authentication, and whether higher information security standards and more reliable authentication methods, e.g. one-time password authentication and two-level authentication, will be used; of the measures in place to ensure the long-term reliability of those technologies; whether it will conduct regular information security and privacy risk assessments on the eID system, and put in place measures to safeguard the information security of the system; and (5) whether it will make reference to the experience of overseas countries (e.g. Australia) and conduct an extensive public consultation exercise on issues such as the security of eID authentication and the protection of personal data?
*15. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
A government lifeguard union has relayed to me that the lifeguards employed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") have all along not received appropriate professional training, thus affecting their service quality and swimmers' safety. Furthermore, the wastage of lifeguards is serious and the management lacks an understanding of the work of lifeguards. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following statistics in respect of the public swimming pools and beaches under LCSD's management: (i) number of swimmers who were injured but refused to be sent to hospital, (ii) number of swimmers who were seriously injured or got drowned, and (iii) number of ambulance calls made, in each of the past 10 years (with a tabulated breakdown by name of swimming pool and beach); (2) as the union has relayed that the basic adult first aid training of around 30 hours currently provided by the Auxiliary Medical Service to the lifeguards is not adequate for enabling lifeguards to properly handle various practical situations, whether the Government will consider appointing a specialist consultant physician as the medical director for lifeguard training to help formulate a series of appropriate training programmes and practical guidelines for lifeguards; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that some new recruits of lifeguards received practical training only after commencing duties, and that lifeguards have not been provided with proper diving rescue training, whether the Government will consider the union's suggestion that a lifeguard training school be established (i) to provide lifeguards with appropriate and systematic training programmes which have long-term goals (including training on the use of various types of rescue equipment) and, after the school has obtained the accreditation by the International Life Saving Federation, (ii) award lifeguards with accredited certificates; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) as the union has pointed out that LCSD's practice of recruiting seasonal lifeguards afresh each year has deprived lifeguards of job security, which has resulted in young people being unwilling to join the grade, the number of experienced lifeguards dwindling and recruitment difficulties, and that the number of swimmers going to swimming pools and beaches during winter time has increased in recent years due to the opening of new heated public swimming pools and the warm weather, whether the Government will recruit more lifeguards on permanent employment terms; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) given that the entry requirement on academic qualification for swimming pool and beach trainees is completion of Secondary Three, while that for lifeguards is completion of Primary Six, of LCSD's considerations in setting such entry requirements; whether LCSD will consider reviewing the entry requirement on academic qualification for lifeguards; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) as it is learnt that, at present, some public swimming pools and beaches are situated in locations where ambulances have difficulty in arriving at the spot within the target response time of 12 minutes, of LCSD's measures to address the issue; whether it will consider the union's suggestion that joint rescue services for such swimming pools and beaches be provided by lifeguards, the Government Flying Service, the Fire Services Department and the Marine Police; if so, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether the directorate grade officers who are now responsible for managing public swimming pools and beaches are required to have knowledge on and experience of life-saving and first aid; if not, whether it will consider setting such requirement so that the management will have a better understanding of the life-saving and first aid tasks performed at swimming pools and beaches; and (8) whether the officers-in-charge of swimming pools and beaches are currently required to have received training on life-saving and first aid; if not, whether it has assessed if such officers are able to effectively coordinate the life-saving and first aid tasks involved at swimming pools and beaches; given that currently only the officers-in-charge are authorized to make ambulance calls, of LCSD's measures to prevent any delay in life-saving operations caused by the officer-in-charge not being at the scene?
*16. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
The free trade agreement and the investment promotion and protection agreement signed earlier this month between Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ("ASEAN") can promote the trades in goods and services and cross-border investments between Hong Kong and the ASEAN member states, thereby benefiting the economy of Hong Kong. Moreover, the agreements are conducive to attracting the enterprises in ASEAN member states to set up business operations in Hong Kong and enter the Mainland market, as well as facilitating Mainland enterprises to make use of Hong Kong as a springboard for developing their businesses in Southeast Asian countries. On the other hand, the Government established an Economic and Trade Office ("ETO") in Singapore in 1995 and another one in Jakarta in July this year, and is planning to establish an ETO in Thailand. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the situation of cross-border investments between Hong Kong and various ASEAN member states in each of the past three years; if so, of the details, and set out in a table, by name of ASEAN member state, the numbers of enterprises, the investment amounts and the types of industries involved; (2) whether it knows the situation of personal cross-border employment and investments between Hong Kong and various ASEAN member states in each of the past three years; if so, of the details, and set out in a table, by name of ASEAN member state, the numbers of people (together with the percentages of such numbers in the relevant totals), the investment amounts and the types of industries involved; (3) whether it knows the number of person-times of residents of Hong Kong and various ASEAN member states visiting each other (including sightseeing and business trips) in each of the past three years; (4) of (i) the details of the work conducted (e.g. the numbers of contacts made with the local government officials and promotional activities held to promote Hong Kong as well as the contents of such activities), and (ii) the details (e.g. the contents of the projects and the amounts involved) of the projects on which agreements reached with the local governments, by the ETO in Singapore in the past three years and by the ETO in Jakarta since its establishment; and (5) of the details of the work to set up an ETO in Thailand (including the proposed location and the timetable for setting up the ETO); the specific division of labour among the three ETOs in Singapore, Jakarta and Thailand?
*17. Hon Jimmy NG to ask: (Translation)
As indicated in a paper submitted to this Council by the Government, during the period from 2006 to 2016, the total number of registered vehicles across the territory increased by 35% while the total number of parking spaces increased merely by 9.5%. On the other hand, the Government has closed down one after another several multistorey car parks in urban areas as well as lowered the standards of provision of parking spaces for public and private housing in recent years, thereby aggravating the shortage of parking spaces and causing inconvenience to motorists. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the projected numbers, in the coming five years, of (i) new parking spaces which will be provided by the Government and private developers and (ii) private car parking spaces among them (with a tabulated breakdown by District Council district); (2) of the projected numbers, in the coming five years, of (i) public multistorey car parks which will be completed and commissioned, and parking spaces which will be provided therein, and (ii) government sites to be let by way of short-term tenancies for use as temporary car parks; the respective locations of such sites and the numbers of parking spaces to be provided therein; (3) given the acute shortage of parking spaces, whether the Government will expeditiously revise the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines to raise the standards of provision of parking spaces stipulated therein; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it will consider commencing a consultancy study on the demand for private car parking spaces so as to grasp the specific situation of the shortage of private car parking spaces; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) as the Buildings Department, for the purpose of encouraging developers to provide underground public parking spaces, revised the relevant guidelines in March this year to provide that underground public car parks in private development projects will be granted 100% gross floor area concessions subject to compliance with certain requirements, of the outcome of the measure so far (including the resultant number of additional private car parking spaces); and (6) as I have learnt that only a few privately operated car parks are currently providing real-time parking information to the mobile application called "Hong Kong eRouting" developed by the Transport Department, whether the Government will provide incentives to encourage more operators of privately operated car park to do the same; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon CHAN Chun-ying to ask: (Translation)
To step up its efforts on the provision of talents housing and make Shenzhen a more attractive place for talents, the People's Government of the Shenzhen Municipality last year promulgated the "Measures on Improving the Talents Housing System", with a target of supplying not less than 300 000 units of talents housing during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (i.e. from 2016 to 2020). Such measures include that in respect of the additional sites supplied each year for residential developments, the site area for talents housing and government-subsidized housing should not be less than 60% of the total site area of such sites; and that no less than 10% of the total gross floor areas of the sites for commodity housing projects, which are transferred through bid invitation, auction or quotation, should be designated for building talents housing. Regarding the measures for attracting talents to Hong Kong for career development, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will make reference to the aforesaid measures adopted by the Shenzhen municipal authorities and formulate residential land supply policies and housing measures to address the housing needs of talents, so as to attract talents from professions such as finance, science and technology to come to Hong Kong for career development; if so, of the specific measures; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as the Shenzhen municipal authorities have set up a dedicated organization for talents housing to take charge of talents housing matters across Shenzhen such as construction and capital-raising, investment and financing, as well as operation and management, whether the Government will consider establishing a dedicated organization to take charge of the comprehensive review and planning of the talents housing matters in Hong Kong; if not, of the reasons for that and which bureau is currently responsible for such work; and (3) as cities adjacent to Hong Kong and around the world are all thirst for talents, of the specific policies that the Government will introduce in the coming five years to attract more talents to come to Hong Kong for career development and choose Hong Kong as the base for their career and for starting and expanding their businesses; whether it knows how such policies compare with the relevant policies adopted in Singapore, Beijing and Shenzhen?
*19. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of concern groups have relayed to me that the Administrative Guidelines on Promotion of Racial Equality ("the Guidelines") is ineffective in ensuring the fair provision of public services to the ethnic minorities ("EMs") by various government departments. Regarding the review of the Guidelines, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) when it will launch a comprehensive review of the Guidelines according to its plan, and whether it will consult this Council, concern groups and EMs when conducting such a review; if not, of the reasons for that; (2) whether it will consider stipulating in the Guidelines standard guidelines on and procedure for various government departments to arrange the provision of interpretation services to EMs receiving public services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it will consider stipulating in the Guidelines the requirement that various government departments must regularly collect data on the use of their services by EMs, so as to accurately assess (i) EMs' demand for public services and (ii) the performance of the departments concerned in delivering such services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it will consider stipulating in the Guidelines the performance indicators for evaluating and monitoring the implementation of the Guidelines by various government departments; if not, of the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Kenneth LAU to ask: (Translation)
The Government implemented the Rural Planning & Improvement Strategy Minor Works Programme in the 90s of the last century to facilitate the development of infrastructures in and the improvement of the living environment of villages in the New Territories. The Programme was replaced by the Rural Public Works Programme ("RPWP") in 2000. Quite a number of villagers have relayed to me that the works carried out under RPWP are comparatively small in scale and thus are of limited benefits. They have pointed out that in focusing on implementing various large scale infrastructure projects in the New Territories in recent years, the Government has neglected the improvement of infrastructures in the rural areas, rendering the living environment of villagers remains to be improved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the total number of works projects with funding approved under RPWP since its inception and the total amount of funding involved; (2) of the number of works projects with funding approved in the past five years, broken down by (i) the District Working Group concerned and (ii) works category; the locations of the works sites and the average amount of funding approved for each works project; (3) given that the Chief Executive has indicated in the Policy Address recently delivered by her that a Countryside Conservation Office will be established to promote sustainable development of remote countryside and that $1 billion has been earmarked for implementing the relevant conservation efforts and revitalization works, whether the funding will be used to carry out improvement works projects on village infrastructures; if so, of the types of works projects to be included, as well as the relevant application as well as vetting and approval procedures; (4) whether the Rural Planning & Improvement Strategy Minor Works Programme will be reinstated in order that works projects of a larger scale and greater benefits can be carried out in villages; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons and the considerations for that; and (5) whether it has drawn up mid-term and long-term strategic plans for improving the rural environment?
*21. Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask: (Translation)
In 1986, the Government launched a programme for the resumption and maintenance of private streets under the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance (Cap. 370) with a view to managing and maintaining those streets more effectively ("the Resumption Programme"). Between 1986 and 1995, 166 private streets in the urban areas were selected and included in the Resumption Programme. It was reported in September this year that the authorities had resumed only 70 streets and deleted 85 streets from the Resumption Programme, and some of the deleted streets currently still have serious environmental hygiene problems. Moreover, there are serious problems such as flooding, road blockage and poor environmental hygiene in some streets that have never been selected and included in the Programme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number of private streets open for public use across the territory and, among them, the respective numbers of managed and unmanaged streets; (2) of the respective numbers of complaints received by various government departments in the past five years concerning private streets, together with a breakdown by the problem (e.g. environmental hygiene, traffic and damaged road surface) involved in the complaints; (3) of the latest progress of the Resumption Programme, and set out the numbers of streets (i) resumed and (ii) deleted from the Programme since 1986 (in groups each covering five years) in the table below; 1986 to 1990 1991 to 1995 1996 to 2000 2001 to 2005 2006 to 2010 2011 to 2015 2016 to 2017
(Up to October)(i) (ii)
(4) whether the Resumption Programme has now been completed; if so, whether it has conducted a review and drawn a conclusion, and whether it will publish a report; if the Programme is not yet completed, of the expected completion time; (5) of the current number of private streets the resumption procedure for which has not yet been completed due to problems such as complicated ownership and existence of unauthorized building works; whether it has studied how the problems concerned can be addressed expediently in order to complete the resumption procedure; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) whether it now regularly inspects the conditions (including the hygiene conditions) of the streets that have been deleted from the Resumption Programme, and explores improvement measures; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (7) regarding the private streets which have not been included in the Resumption Programme and which have serious environmental hygiene problems, of the measures the Government has in place to assist the owners concerned in improving the management of such streets, including whether it will consider launching a new round of the Resumption Programme; and (8) whether it will introduce measures (e.g. encourage the owners, through the provision of incentives, to voluntarily return the streets to the Government, and strengthening communication with the owners' corporations concerned) to facilitate improvement to the conditions of all the private streets across the territory that are open for public use; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
A network security company has pointed out that the crimes of hackers breaking into computer systems, encrypting the data therein and then blackmailing the victims ("hacker blackmailing") have become increasingly rampant. The number of relevant requests for assistance received by the company in the last two years increased continuously: an increase of 50% to 60% in the Asian region and even a 100% surge in Hong Kong; and the victims were mainly small and medium enterprises and personal computer users. In May this year, the Finance Committee of this Council gave funding approval for the creation of a post of Chief Superintendent of Police to lead the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau ("CSTCB") of the Police. Regarding combating crimes of hacker blackmailing, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of reports received by the Police in the past five years about enterprises being blackmailed by hackers and the total amount of money involved, with a tabulated breakdown by type of crime and type of enterprise; (2) of the progress of CSTCB's work in investigating the crimes of hacker blackmailing; whether it has assessed if CSTCB can timely increase its manpower and upgrade the level of its technology and facilities to counter the increasingly sophisticated criminal techniques of hackers; if so, of the assessment outcome; of the number of such kind of cases detected by CSTCB since its establishment in 2015; (3) whether new measures are in place to combat crimes of hackers breaking into the computer systems of enterprises; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it has gained an understanding of how Hong Kong compares with overseas in terms of network security awareness among enterprises; if so, of the details; whether the authorities have put in place new measures to enhance network security awareness among enterprises and encourage them to strengthen network security; if so, of the details; in addition to the provision of technology vouchers, whether the authorities will strengthen the provision of relevant assistance to small and medium enterprises in order to guard against hacker blackmailing; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Government Motion
| Stand-over item (since the meeting of 12 July 2017)
Proposed resolution under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance Secretary for Home Affairs to move the following motion: Resolved that the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Amendment) Rules 2017, made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee on 2 May 2017, be approved. |
| (The Rules are in Appendix I and were issued
on 20 June 2017 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 713/16-17) |
| Other Public Officer to attend : Under Secretary for Home Affairs
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IV. Members' Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Frankie YICK to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (a) | Shipping and Port Control (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 171 of 2017;
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| (b) | Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (General) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 178 of 2017;
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| (c) | Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (General) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulation 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 179 of 2017; and
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| (d) | Shipping and Port Control Regulations (Amendment of Schedules) Notice 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 180 of 2017,
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| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 25 October 2017, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 13 December 2017.
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| 2. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (a) | Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration of Electors) (Legislative Council Geographical Constituencies) (District Council Constituencies) (Amendment) Regulation 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 172 of 2017;
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| (b) | Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration) (Electors for Legislative Council Functional Constituencies) (Voters for Election Committee Subsectors) (Members of Election Committee) (Amendment) Regulation 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 173 of 2017; and
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| (c) | Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration of Electors) (Rural Representative Election) (Amendment) Regulation 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 174 of 2017,
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| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 25 October 2017, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 13 December 2017.
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| 3. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon CHAN Chun-ying to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (a) | Banking (Capital) (Amendment) Rules 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 175 of 2017;
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| (b) | Banking (Liquidity) (Amendment) Rules 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 176 of 2017; and
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| (c) | Banking (Specification of Multilateral Development Bank) (Amendment) Notice 2017, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 177 of 2017,
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| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 25 October 2017, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 13 December 2017.
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| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 4 (since the meeting of 15 November 2017)
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| 4. | Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Starry LEE to move the following motion: That this Council takes note of Report No. 3/17-18 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 8 November 2017 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 5 (since the meeting of 18 October 2017)
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| 5. | Motion under Rule 49B(1A) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Claudia MO to move the motion in Appendix II. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (The motion was issued on 10 October 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 21/17-18) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stand-over items: Members' motions nos. 6 and 7 (since the meeting of 12 July 2017)
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| 6. | Establishing a comprehensive 're-industrialization' policy regime
Hon Jimmy NG to move the following motion: (Translation) That given the new opportunities brought about by global reforms in industrial technologies, many countries or places are proactively developing high value-added advanced manufacturing industries, and Hong Kong is no exception; the Government has already made it clear that re-industrialization is a potential new area of economic growth for Hong Kong, and announced the establishment of a committee on innovation, technology and re-industrialization; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to conduct a timely review and elevate the positioning of the 're-industrialization' policy, with a view to upgrading the existing industrial policy regime led by innovation and technology to a comprehensive industrial policy regime which is more independent, forward-looking and systematic; the Government should also examine the role of industries in the local economic structure and societal development, and study the 'external development' feature of Hong Kong's industries, with the aim of providing tax support for those offshore Hong Kong manufacturers engaging in manufacturing and production industries, thereby consolidating the economic foundation of Hong Kong and promoting the diversification of industries. Hon HO Kai-ming, Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan, Hon WU Chi-wai, Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok, Hon Charles Peter MOK and Hon Jeremy TAM to move amendments to the motion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (The amendments were issued on 29 June 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 760/16-17) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Innovation and Technology
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| 7. | Conducting a comprehensive review of labour legislation to improve labour rights and interests
Hon HO Kai-ming to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council urges the Government to make safeguarding labour rights and interests its priority task and expeditiously conduct a comprehensive review of and make amendments to the various legislation relating to labour matters, so as to ensure that such legislation keeps pace with the times. Hon LUK Chung-hung, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Dr Hon Helena WONG and Hon Andrew WAN to move amendments to the motion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (The amendments were issued on 29 June 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 759/16-17) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
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