FCR(98-99)38
For discussion
on 30 October 1998
ITEM FOR FINANCE COMMITTEE
LOTTERIES FUND
HEAD 341 - NON-RECURRENT GRANTS
Subhead 820 Sheng Kung Hui Diocesan Welfare Council
Members are invited to approve a grant of $104,223,000 in money-of-the-day prices to the Sheng Kung Hui Diocesan Welfare Council for constructing, furnishing and equipping a purpose-built welfare complex for the elderly at Tseung Kwan O Area 22, Sai Kung.
PROBLEM
There is a need for additional welfare services for the elderly to meet the increasing demand.
PROPOSAL
2. The Director of Social Welfare (DSW) proposes a grant of $104,223,000 in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices from the Lotteries Fund to the Sheng Kung Hui Diocesan Welfare Council (DWC) for constructing, furnishing and equipping an elderly service complex at Tseung Kwan O Area 22, Sai Kung.
JUSTIFICATION
3. The proposed welfare complex, which will have three storeys with a gross floor area of 5 765 square metres, will provide premises for the following services -
| Service | Capacity
|
|---|
(a)Care-and-attention (C&A) home for the elderly
(self-financing)
| 60 places
|
(b)C&A home for the elderly
(subvented)
| 186 places
|
(c)Multi-service centre for the elderly
(subvented)
| Open membership
|
A location plan of the building is at Enclosure 1.
4. C&A homes provide accommodation with general personal care and some nursing care to elderly who suffer from poor health or physical or cognitive disabilities. At present, there is a great demand from the elderly for such residential care services. According to the demand assessment conducted by the Elderly Commission, there are currently about 13 000 people on the waiting list who have genuine demand for residential care. The proposed welfare project will provide 60 self-financing C&A places and 186 subvented C&A places. Together with other projects coming on-stream, an additional 7 980 subsidised places (including subvented places and places purchased under the Bought Place Scheme) will be provided between 1998-99 and 2001-02 to help reduce the shortfall.
5. A table showing the provision of subsidised residential care places for the elderly by 2001-02 as pledged is at Enclosure 2.
6. Multi-service centres for the elderly provide community support services for the elderly including social and recreational activities, laundry, bathing and canteen facilities, counselling and home help service. According to projection, the Sai Kung District will have an estimated elderly population of some 20 000 by 2000-01 and will therefore require at least one multi-service centre for the elderly (M/E) based on the planning ratio of one M/E per 17 000 persons aged 65 and above. At present, there is no M/E in the Sai Kung District. The provision of an M/E in this project will be the first one to meet the service demand in the District.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
7. The estimated capital cost of this purpose-built welfare complex is some $130.279 million in MOD prices, calculated as follows -
| $'000
|
|---|
| Construction
|
| (a) Foundation and sub-structure
| 5,776
|
| (b) Builders works
| 33,054
|
| (c) Plumbing and drainage
| 4,211
|
| (d) Building services
| 17,582
|
| (e) External works
| 10,424
|
| (f) Contingencies
| 7,816
|
| (g) Professional fees and site supervision
| 10,399
|
| (h) Preliminaries
| 7,573
|
| (i) Furniture and equipment
| 6,729
|
| ______
|
| Sub-total
| 103,564
(December 1997 prices)
|
| (j) Inflation adjustment to convert to MOD prices
| 26,715
|
| ______
|
| Total
| 130,279
|
|---|
| ______
|
8. DWC has undertaken to contribute 20% of the recognised final capital cost of the project in return for naming after the project. We therefore propose a grant of $104,223,000 from the Lotteries Fund, calculated as follows -
|
| $'000
|
|---|
| Total capital cost
| 130,279
|
| Less
| Contribution from DWC
| (26,056)
|
| _______
|
| Grant required
| 104,223
|
|---|
| _______
|
9. DSW, in consultation with the Director of Architectural Services, has vetted DWC's plans and projected estimates and consider them reasonable.
10. The estimated cashflow for the project is as follows -
| $'000
(December 1997)
| Price adjustment
factor
| $'000
(MOD)
|
|---|
| 1999-2000
| 14,646
| 1.14878
| 16,825
|
| 2000-2001
| 64,147
| 1.24642
| 79,954
|
| 2001-2002
| 24,771
| 1.35237
| 33,500
|
| _______
|
| _______
|
| Total
| 103,564
|
| 130,279
|
|---|
| _______
|
| _______
|
11. The estimated total recurrent subvention (including reimbursement of rates and government rent) to DWC for operating the proposed facilities is $20.2 million per annum, calculated as follows -
|
| $'000
|
|---|
| C&A home for the elderly
|
|---|
| (a) Personal emoluments
| 14,613
|
| (b) Other charges
| 3,439
|
| (c) Government rent and rates
| 630
|
| _________
|
| Sub-total
| 18,682
|
| Less | Fee income
| (3,620)
|
| _________
|
| Subvention required
| 15,062
|
|---|
| _________
|
| Multi-service centre for the elderly
|
|---|
| (a) Personal emoluments
| 4,766
|
| (b) Other charges
| 310
|
| (c) Government rent and rates
| 69
|
| _________
|
| Sub-total
| 5,145
|
| Less
| Fee income
| (89)
|
| _________
|
| Subvention required
| 5,056
|
|---|
| _________
|
| Total subvention required
| 20,118
|
|---|
| Say
| $20.2 million
|
|---|
| _________
|
Feasibility Study
12. DWC 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
13. The Sai Kung District Lands Conference has examined the site plan and the draft building layout plan and considered that the proposed level of site utilisation is acceptable. A piece of government land under a lease up to
30 June 2047 at Area 22, Tseung Kwan O was granted to DWC on 15 March 1997 for developing the proposed welfare complex. No land clearance is required.
14. We expect to commence the piling works for the proposed welfare development in February 1999 and to complete the building in December 2000.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
15. DWC completed a Preliminary Environmental Review (PER) of this project in January 1998 which concluded that traffic noise is the only major issue. The PER recommended that noise mitigation measures, including site boundary noise barrier, acoustic insulation and air-conditioning at affected facades, should be provided to protect the development from the traffic noise impacts to within established criteria. The PER has also confirmed that sufficient buffer distances have been incorporated into the layout plan of the development to avoid adverse impacts from vehicle emissions. DWC has agreed to implement all the mitigation measures as recommended by the PER. Appropriate pollution control clauses will also be incorporated into relevant contracts to control the environmental impacts during construction to within established standards and guidelines.
Public Consultation
16. The project has the support of the Sai Kung 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. That financial limit has been raised to $10 million since October 1996 when Members revised the limit of delegated authority to the Financial Secretary in approving supplementary provision under recurrent expenditure subheads to $10 million. As this project will incur recurrent Government expenditure in excess of $10 million per annum, we are seeking Members' approval for the proposal.
---------------------------------------------------------
Health and Welfare Bureau
October 1998
Enclosure 2 to FCR(98-99)38
Provision of subsidised residential care places for the elderly
|
| Pledged targets |
|
|---|
| Service
| Provision up to end of 1997-98
(a)
| Additional provision
to be made available
by end of 1998-99
(b)
| Additional provision
to be made available by
2001-02 (including
DWC's project)
(c)
| Total provision by 2001-02
(a)+(c)
|
|---|
| (a) Subvented residential care places
| 14 766
| 821
| 3 300
| 18 066
|
|---|
| (b) Bought places
| 1 200
| 600
| 3 280
| 4 480
|
|---|
| (c) Nursing home places
| -
| 1 400
| 1 400
| 1 400
|
|---|
| Total provision
| 15 966
| 2 821
| 7 980
| 23 946
|
|---|
