ITEM FOR FINANCE COMMITTEE

LOTTERIES FUND
HEAD 341 - NON-RECURRENT GRANTS
Subhead 896 Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

Members are invited to approve a grant of $118,888,000 in money-of-the-day prices to the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals for constructing, furnishing and equipping the Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building at Sheung Shing Street, Ho Man Tin.

PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Feasibility Study
Land Acquisition
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

Public Consultation
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Brief description of subvented services to be provided on TWGHs’ Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building
Demand and provision for elderly and rehabilitation services to be provided in Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building

PROBLEM

There is a need for additional welfare services including day and residential welfare services for the elderly and people with a disability in 1998 and beyond.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Social Welfare (DSW) proposes a grant of $118,888,000 in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices from the Lotteries Fund to the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGHs) for constructing, furnishing and equipping the Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building at Sheung Shing Street, Ho Man Tin.

JUSTIFICATION

3. The proposed Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building, which will have eight storeys with a gross floor area of 9 250 square metres, will provide the following subvented services -

A brief description of these services is at Enclosure 1. A location plan of the building is at Enclosure 2.

4. According to the current planning standard, the projected demand for care-and-attention (C&A) service for elderly people aged 65 and above in 1998-99 will be 11 076 places. The planned provision (excluding the C&A places in this project) will be 10 219 subvented places. The C&A home in the proposed social service building would provide an extra 252 places to meet the service demand.

5. We estimate that by 1998-99 the Kowloon City District will have an elderly population of 50 500, and will therefore require three multi-service centres for the elderly (M/E) and three day care centres for the elderly (D/E) to meet service need. At present, Kowloon City District has two M/Es and one D/E. With another D/E coming into operation in December 1996, the provision of one additional M/E and one additional D/E in the proposed social service building will make up for the shortfall.

6. Based on the Review of Rehabilitation Programme Plan 1996, we estimate the projected demand for hostels for moderately mentally handicapped adults (HMMH) and sheltered workshops (SW) in 1998-99 to be 2 113 and 9 690 places respectively. Based on present and planned provision figures, the shortfall in HMMH and SW places are projected to be 519 and 2 045 places respectively. The additional HMMH providing 100 residential places and the additional SW providing 100 day places in this proposed social service building will help to reduce the anticipated shortfall.

7. A table on the estimated demand for and provision of these services by 1998-99 is at Enclosure 3.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8. The estimated capital cost of the TWGHs’ Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building is $148.61 million in MOD prices, as follows -

9. The TWGHs has undertaken to contribute 20% of the recognised final capital cost of the project in return for naming the project as Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building. We therefore propose a grant of $118,888,000 from the Lotteries Fund, calculated as follows -

10. DSW, in consultation with the Director of Architectural Services, has vetted TWGHs’ plans and project estimates and consider them acceptable.

11. The estimated cashflow for the project is as follows -

12. The estimated total recurrent subvention (excluding reimbursement of rates) to TWGHs for operating the proposed facilities is $31.7 million. We will establish the amount of rates to be reimbursed to TWGHs after the Rating and Valuation Department has assessed the exact amount of rates of the proposed Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building.

Feasibility Study

13. TWGHs has conducted a feasibility study on the project. The outcome of the feasibility study demonstrates that the project is viable and detailed planning can proceed.

Land Acquisition

14. The District Land Office has given agreement in principle to grant a piece of government land at Sheung Shing Street, Ho Man Tin to the TWGHs to set up the proposed social service building. No land clearance is required.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

15. The Director of Environmental Protection vetted the Preliminary Environmental Review of this project and agreed that an Environmental Impact Assessment would not be necessary. TWGHs will nonetheless implement appropriate mitigation measures to abate the traffic noise impact and to prevent polluting materials from entering into public drains. The operation of the project will not produce any chemical waste and effluent discharge from medical facilities. For short term impact during construction, TWGHs will control noise, dust and site run-off to within established standards and guidelines through the implementation of appropriate mitigation measures in relevant contracts.

Public Consultation

16. The project has the support of the Kowloon City District Board and the Subventions and Lotteries Fund Advisory Committee.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

17. Under Section 6(4) of the Government Lotteries Ordinance, the Financial Secretary has the authority to approve payments from the Lotteries Fund to finance the development of social welfare services. However, as a matter of practice, he would seek Members’ approval for any proposal that has recurrent financial implications exceeding a certain limit. Members approved in October 1996 vide FCR(96-97)63 the revised limit of $10 million of delegated authority to the Financial Secretary in approving supplementary provision under recurrent expenditure subheads. In line with this revision, the Financial Secretary has raised the limit for projects funded by the Lotteries Fund carrying recurrent financial implications to the same level. As the recurrent cost of this proposal would exceed $10 million, we seek Members’ approval for the proposal.

18. We expect to commence the piling works for the proposed Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building in February 1997 and to complete the building in December 1998.

Health and Welfare Branch
December 1996

Enclosure 1 to FCR(96-97)82

Brief description of subvented services to be provided on TWGHs’ Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building

Care and attention home for the elderly

To provide accommodation with general personal care and some nursing care to elderly people who suffer from poor health or physical or mental disabilities.

Multi-service centre for the elderly

To provide community support services for the elderly including social and recreational activities, laundry, bathing and canteen facilities, counselling and home help service.

Day care centre for the elderly

To provide day care for old people who require personal care during the day but who can be looked after by their family members at home during the night. Services provided at the centres include bathing and hair cutting, meals, simple nursing care, physical exercise, physiotherapy, and social and recreational activities.

Hostel for the moderately mentally handicapped

To provide a kind of home living with a capacity of 50 for moderately disabled persons who lack self-care and daily living skills and are in need of intensive training and maintenance programme.

Sheltered workshop for people with a disability

To provide people with a disability who are not able to enter into open employment with meaningful occupation and help them to establish or develop social and economic potential to the fullest extent possible.
To provide a planned and controlled working environment to accommodate the limitations arising from the physical or mental conditions of people with a disability.
To provide opportunities for work adjustment and advancement with the ultimate objective of moving on to open employment whenever possible.

Enclosure 3 to FCR(96-97)82

Demand and provision for elderly and rehabilitation services to be provided in Wong Cho Tong Social Service Building