A 14/15-2
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 22 October 2014 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (Republic of Korea) Order | L.N. 119/2014 |
| 2. | Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (Socialist Republic of Vietnam) (Amendment) Order 2014 | L.N. 120/2014 |
| 3. | Child Abduction and Custody (Parties to Convention) (Amendment) Order 2014 | L.N. 121/2014 |
| 4. | Overseas Lawyers (Qualification for Admission) (Amendment) Rules 2014 (Commencement) Notice | L.N. 122/2014 |
| 5. | Fourth Technical Memorandum for Allocation of Emission Allowances in Respect of Specified Licences | S.S. No. 5 to Gazette No. 42/2014 |
Other Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon Michael TIEN to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have complained to me that at present during peak periods, as buses of certain routes are already fully packed with passengers at the first few stops, it is difficult for passengers awaiting buses at en route stops to get on board. However, the Transport Department ("TD") has refused to improve the frequencies of such bus routes on the ground that the occupancy rates of such routes have not yet met the relevant standard, i.e. 100% during the busiest half-hour of peak periods and 85% during that one hour, or 60% during the busiest one hour of the off-peak periods. Those members of the public have pointed out that the standard currently adopted by TD with respect to bus occupancy rates is outdated due to a change in riding habits of the public in recent years, including unwillingness to board a bus that is too crowded as well as reading newspapers and using tablet computers on board, etc., which have reduced the actual patronage of buses. As a result, the bus occupancy rates of the aforesaid routes in fact can never meet the standard for frequency improvement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has any plan to review the standard with respect to bus occupancy rates required for frequency improvement; if it does, of the timetable and whether the scope of the review will include the abolition of the existing means of assessing bus patronage by visual inspection, the inclusion of the numbers of passengers awaiting buses at bus stops in the standard, and the calculation of bus occupancy rates with reference to the standard of accommodating four persons (standing) per square metre newly adopted by the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"); if it has no such plan, of the reasons for that; (2) given that traffic congestion has aggravated the situation of lost bus trips during peak periods which results in passengers awaiting buses being unable to get on board, of the Government's measures to tackle such a problem, and whether the Police will step up law enforcement efforts with a view to reducing traffic congestion; and (3) whether it will urge franchised bus companies to follow the practice of MTRCL and conduct a trial programme of early bird discount promotion, so as to relieve the demand for bus services during peak periods?
2. Hon Christopher CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect ("S-HK SC") will soon be launched. There are comments that S-HK SC marks an important step in the financial reform on the Mainland and it will help promote the internationalization of Renminbi. Regarding matters relating to S-HK SC, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that it takes six months to launch S-HK SC, whether the authorities will, upon the formal launch of S-HK SC and in collaboration with the mainland authorities, carry out a comprehensive review and draw up a blueprint for its future development, so that S HK SC can better meet the needs of the financial market and can be perfected; (2) as it has been reported that when local issuers of derivatives issue warrants and callable bull/bear contracts constituted by stocks listed or indexes in Hong Kong or Shanghai, and upon the listing of such products in the other market, the gains from them will be shared equally between the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, whether the authorities know the justifications for such an arrangement, and whether they have examined the differences between this arrangement and the relevant practices currently adopted by the Hong Kong stock market; and (3) whether it has plans to promote business opportunities for Mainland and local securities dealers to further develop their business in each other's markets, such as striving for local securities dealers being allowed to operate wholly-owned S-HK SC business on the Mainland; if it has such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that on the first day of this month, an international hackers' group declared cyber war codenamed "Operation Hong Kong" and threatened to hack, in a joint effort with hackers around the world, into the web sites of the Hong Kong Government and make public the Government's confidential information and personal data of officials. The group also announced a few tens of web sites as the targets of their attacks, which included those of the Hong Kong Police Force, Department of Justice, Customs and Excise Department, certain local media organizations and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited. Subsequently, there were reports about local web sites being attacked by hackers leading to temporary suspension of their network operation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has examined the modus operandi used by the aforesaid hackers' group for launching cyber attacks and the economic losses caused by such attacks; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the authorities have comprehensively reviewed and enhanced the cyber security measures of various government departments since the declaration of cyber war by the hackers' group; whether they will take measures to ensure that public and private organizations, including individuals, will be protected from attacks by local or overseas hackers; if they will, of the details, if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has investigated if the hackers' group has any direct or indirect connections with overseas governments or organizations; if it has conducted such an investigation, of the outcome?
4. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some loss adjusters and recovery agents have conspired to make fraudulent insurance claims on traffic accidents. Such loss adjusters, dedicated to the provision of one-stop services in making claims for car owners involved in traffic accidents, exaggerate in their reports the property losses caused and the degree of injuries sustained by the injured in traffic accidents so as to get larger sums of compensation, while the recovery agents are engaged in champerty. The Police have earlier cracked down on a syndicate of such type. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the authorities' new measures to eradicate such illegal acts and to prevent members of the public from unknowingly becoming an accomplice of frauds; (2) of the penalties imposed in the past three years by the court on persons engaged by loss adjusters who had engaged in frauds; and (3) whether it has investigated the current number of loss adjusters in Hong Kong dedicated to the provision of services for making traffic accident claims, and whether it has verified the qualifications of the professionals employed by such firms; whether the authorities will consider stepping up the regulation of loss adjusters, including the qualifications required for establishing loss adjuster firms, the qualifications of the professionals employed by such firms, their standard fees and charges, as well as the responsibility to be borne by such firms for the reports they issued; if they will consider, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that there has been a trend in recent years that the craze for electronic cigarette ("EC") smoking has spread to Hong Kong from overseas. It has also been reported that since ECs are of unknown composition, it is difficult to gauge their impact on the smokers' health, including the addictive effect. In addition, the regulation on the sale of EC products in Hong Kong is so lax that underage persons can easily purchase various kinds of EC products. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of EC products currently available on the Hong Kong market which have been registered under the relevant legislation; the conditions to be met before such products can be registered; whether the authorities conducted any survey in the past three years on the sale and use of ECs in Hong Kong; if so, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the relevant government departments instituted prosecution against offences involving EC products in the past three years; if so, of the number of prosecution cases and the major charges laid; and (3) as the World Health Organization has proposed to bring ECs under regulation, whether the authorities will consider stepping up the regulation of EC products, including extending the application of the relevant provisions of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance to ECs, introducing legislation to require the listing of the composition of EC products on their packaging, and prohibiting the sale of ECs to underage persons?
6. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)
In July this year, the Government erected, on grounds of security enhancement, a perimeter fence at the East Wing Forecourt of the Central Government Offices ("CGO") at Tamar, commonly known as "the civic square" ("the square"). A number of Members of this Council met with officials of the Administration Wing in early August for the matter and received Administration Wing's written undertaking that "when the works on the perimeter fence are completed, members of the public visiting CGO or the Legislative Council ("LegCo") daily will not be affected and they will still have access to the East Wing Forecourt as usual. This is roughly in line with the arrangement, put in place upon the commissioning of the new CGO, for the public using the East Wing Forecourt as a passageway". However, the Government has implemented since late last month access control measures at the square, under which only staff of CGO, LegCo Members and personnel holding relevant permits issued by the LegCo Secretariat are given access to the square. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed if the Administration Wing's implementation of the aforesaid access control measures at the square constitutes a breach of the undertaking that members of the public will still have access to the square as usual upon erection of the perimeter fence, and if this has deprived the public of their right to use the square; (2) of the detailed justifications for the Government implementing the aforesaid access control measures at the square; whether those measures are temporary in nature; if so, when such measures are planned to be lifted; and (3) of the criteria adopted by the Government for determining when access control measures should be implemented at the square?
*7. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, a study report on "Sports for All: participation of people with physical disabilities" pointed out that people with disabilities ("PWDs") encountered various difficulties in using sports facilities provided by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") and participating in sports activities organized by LCSD. Regarding the promotion of PWDs' participation in sports activities, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities organized any sports activities for PWDs on the Sport for All Day in the past three years; if they did, of the number of PWDs participating in such sports activities; if not, whether the authorities will consider organizing such sports activities on the Sport for All Day; (2) of the nature of and the number of participants in the sports activities organized by the authorities for PWDs in each of the past three years; whether the authorities have considered organizing territory-wide sports competitions for PWDs with reference to the mode of the Hong Kong Games; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether LCSD currently provides ancillary equipment for PWDs, such as canoes suitable for use by people with physical disabilities, to assist them in participating in sports activities; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether LCSD has provided its full-time and part-time staff with training, information or guidelines on assisting PWDs in participating in sports activities; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) of the details of the existing barrier-free facilities provided for PWDs, including the visually impaired, the hearing impaired and the physically handicapped, in the various sports facilities managed by LCSD; whether the authorities will consider allocating additional resources to improve the barrier-free facilities in various sports facilities; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) whether the authorities will consider formulating specific policies and measures, as well as allocating additional resources to encourage more PWDs to participate in sports activities; if they will, of the details of the relevant work; if not, the reasons for that; and (7) whether the authorities will consider reviewing the operation and governance of national sports associations with a view to improving their work in the promotion and development of sports activities for PWDs; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The CUHK Hong Kong Quality of Life Index 2013 released earlier by The Chinese University of Hong Kong indicated that the housing "affordability ratio" of Hong Kong people hit a record low in 12 years. The price of a residential flat with an estimated area of less than 400 square feet in Kowloon is equivalent to the total income of a household with a monthly income of $20,000 (i.e. the median monthly household income of all domestic households in Hong Kong) in 14.19 years, and such a duration is longer than the 4.68 years in 2002 by over two times. As such, the soaring property price makes it difficult for fresh university graduates or newly-wed couples to purchase homes. A survey even pointed out that nearly 70% of young people were worried about their personal financial situation, which mainly involved home-purchase difficulties. Although the Government has plans to provide full funding to non-governmental organizations for building youth hostels, and the first batch of hostel units can be completed in 2016-2017 at the earliest, quite a number of young people were still perplexed about difficulties in home purchase. It has been reported that more and more young people prefer to emigrate overseas, which may result in a brain drain and a possible weakening of Hong Kong's competitiveness in the long run. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has considered implementing short-term measures to alleviate home-purchase difficulties faced by young people and newly-wed couples, including providing rent allowance for them to rent flats in the first place and then purchase homes; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has considered implementing different measures to encourage unmarried young people to live with their parents, thereby reducing their demand for home purchase; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it has made reference to the policies on and application eligibility for youth hostels in overseas countries; if it has, of the details and conclusions; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) of the statistics on young people emigrating overseas due to home-purchase difficulties in the past three years; whether it has conducted any study on this issue; if it has, of the details and conclusions; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that more and more mainland visitors use the leisure and sports facilities (including swimming pools, holiday camp sites, ball game pitches/courts, etc.) managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") during their stay in Hong Kong. Since 1 February this year, only holders of Hong Kong Permanent Identity Cards ("HKPICs") / Hong Kong Identity Cards ("HKICs") may apply for registration as Leisure Link Patrons ("LLPs"), while people granted temporary stay in Hong Kong and visitors may apply for registration as Leisure Link Temporary Patrons ("LLTPs"). LLPs and LLTPs may make bookings for leisure and sports facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of bookings for leisure and sports facilities made in each year from 2011 to August this year by LLPs/LLTPs who registered as such using HKPICs, HKICs (i.e. non-permanent residents) or other identity documents, as set out in the table below;
Year LLPs/LLTPs who registered as such using HKPICs HKICs Other identity documents 2014 (up to August) 2013 2012 2011 (2) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of bookings for leisure and sports facilities made by visitors to Hong Kong through Leisure Link in the past four years, with a breakdown by the country/place they came from in the following table;
Country/Place Number of bookings Mainland China Taiwan Japan and South Korea Others Total (3) of the criteria currently adopted by LCSD for determining the number of major leisure and sports facilities (including sports centres, various kinds of ball game pitches/courts, etc.) to be constructed in various districts; whether the authorities, when setting those criteria, have taken into account the demand for leisure and sports facilities of visitors to Hong Kong; and (4) given the comments that the hiring of LCSD leisure and sports facilities by a large number of visitors to Hong Kong has reduced the opportunities of Hong Kong residents in using such facilities, whether the Government will amend the relevant regulations and disqualify visitors to Hong Kong from applying for registration as LLTPs, so as to discourage them from coming to Hong Kong to use leisure and sports facilities?
*10. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Telematics connects smart devices and cloud platforms through radio waves to provide drivers with driving information, communication and web page browsing features, etc. On the other hand, section 37 of the Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374A) stipulates that a visual display unit used for displaying information about vehicle navigation, the current closed-circuit view of the area surrounding the vehicle, or the current state of the vehicle or its equipment, may be installed at a point forward of the driver's seat or other points visible to or within reach of the driver whilst in the driving seat. However, installation of visual display units which enable the display of restricted information such as television programmes and stored visual images is not allowed. Some members of the industry and drivers have pointed out that the said provision fails to keep pace with the rapid development of telematics, causing new-generation systems being banned in Hong Kong and impeding the development of related technologies in the territory. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the development of telematics is heading towards an interactive mode of operation, whether the authorities will study amending the aforesaid provision, so as to strike a balance between the need to apply new-generation systems in Hong Kong and the consideration for maintaining road safety; and (2) whether the authorities have plans to study the application of new-generation telematics in Hong Kong, so as to cater for the development of intelligent transport systems and traffic management?
*11. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It was reported last month that the Financial Analysts Journal published a research report on investments of over a 40-year period ("the report"). The report pointed out that the annual average return rate for passive funds was 6.6%, while that for active funds was only 3.9%. Even if the performances of both active funds and passive investment index funds were the same, part of the returns of the former would still be nibbled away by management fees involved. Moreover, Mr Warren BUFFETT, who is regarded as the god of stock investments, also has much confidence in passive investments. He has advised his estate trustee to invest 90% of their cash in Standard & Poor's 500 Index funds which have low operating costs as he considers that such funds' long-term returns will out-perform most of the funds managed by professional investors. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will, in the light of the aforesaid report and Mr BUFFETT's advice, conduct a study on amending Hong Kong's mandatory provident fund ("MPF") system to allow contributors to choose whether or not to invest all or part of their contributions directly in passive investment index funds such as the Tracker Fund of Hong Kong without involving any trustee or fund manager, so as to reduce management fees of MPF schemes and to raise investment returns in the longer term; if it will conduct such a study, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the legal basis for the existing compulsory requirement for contributors of MPF schemes to make investments through trustees or fund managers; and (3) whether it has assessed if the existing compulsory requirement for contributors of MPF schemes, in particular those who do not know how to select investment funds, to make their investments through trustees or fund managers irrespective of gains or losses is tantamount to unreasonably forcing contributors to ensure the income of fund managers and to allow fund managers to nibble away the returns of contributors, and whether it has assessed if such an arrangement is contradicting MPF's original goal of providing retirement protection for employees?
*12. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
Regarding review of the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines ("HKPSG"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the current standard of provision is one public swimming pool complex per 287 000 persons, i.e. one square metre water surface area per 85 persons, and a site area of two hectares is required for a swimming pool complex, of the date of the last review of such standards; as there are views that the number of public swimming pool users has exceeded the relevant capacities, whether the authorities will review the standard; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that the current standard of provision is one district public library for each district and a district public library for every 200 000 persons, and that most of the residential sites in various districts are currently used for high density development, whether the authorities will consider reviewing such standard and providing downsized "small public libraries" in communities with a population of 40 000 to 50 000; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as there are views that the definition of "industrial use" stipulated in HKPSG (i.e. "the use of any place, premises or structure for the manufacture, alteration, cleansing, repairing, ornamenting, finishing, adaptation for sale, breaking up, or demolishing or transformation of goods and materials; for the storage, loading, unloading or handling of goods and cargo; or for the training, research, design and development, quality control and packaging in relation to the above processes") is already outdated and fails to keep pace with the diversified development of industries nowadays, whether the authorities will consider revising the definition to facilitate interested parties to engage in different industries (such as art workshops or indoor planting) in the units of industrial buildings; and (4) of the number of meetings held in the past three years by the Planning Standards Sub-Committee, which is responsible for formulating and reviewing HKPSG, and the details of the revisions made to HKPSG (including dates and contents of the revisions)?
*13. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that when attending a student event on the 25th of last month, the Chief Executive ("CE") remarked that the Government had earlier commissioned a polling organization to conduct an opinion poll and the results indicated that nearly 70% of the respondents said that if the selection of CE by universal suffrage on the basis of "one person, one vote" was implemented in 2017, they would vote in the election. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following details of the opinion poll: (i) the date on which the poll was conducted, (ii) the organization commissioned to conduct the poll, (iii) the number of respondents, (iv) the sampling method, (v) the exact wording of the questions put forward to respondents, and (vi) the results; (2) whether the Government conducted in the past two years other opinion polls on constitutional development; if so, of the details of such polls, including (i) the dates on which the polls were conducted, (ii) the organizations commissioned to conduct the polls, (iii) the numbers of respondents, (iv) the sampling methods, (v) the exact wording of the questions put forward to respondents, (vi) the results, and (vii) the expenses; and (3) whether it will consider regularly publishing the results of the opinion polls commissioned by the Government as a manifestation of the public's right to know?
*14. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, the Government introduced the Private Columbaria Bill ("the Bill") to the Legislative Council, proposing to establish a licensing regime to regulate private columbaria. The Government also points out that it cannot guarantee consumers that any private columbaria may be licensed in future upon passage of the Bill. It is learnt that some consumers feel that they are not being protected in this respect. With regard to the arrangements before passage of the Bill, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Government will provide more public temporary niches for the people in need to store interred ashes temporarily; (2) since the Government has indicated that it would step up public education to remind members of the public of the need to exercise extra caution when buying niches before passage of the Bill, of the progress of the related publicity work; (3) whether it will step up law enforcement actions under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362) against private columbarium operators making false trade descriptions during the sale process; (4) whether it has plans to provide assistance to members of the public who have bought niches in private columbaria that are eventually not licensed; if it has such plans, of the details; (5) since the authorities regularly update the list of private columbaria which are compliant with user restrictions in the land leases and statutory town planning requirements, and are not illegally occupying Government land, of the circumstances under which the columbaria on the list will not be licensed; when the authorities will issue licences to such columbaria, so that members of the public can have an additional legitimate choice; and (6) since I have learnt that there are still some operators of private columbaria not on the list mentioned in (5) seeking to sell all the niches before passage of the Bill by adopting a "low-cost with high commission" marketing strategy, in order to facilitate their bargaining with the Government in future, how the authorities deal with such a situation, so as to safeguard the rights and interests of members of the public?
*15. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)
During the period from the 28th of last month to the early morning of the following day, the Police used tear gas and pepper spray against protesters for a number of times at several places on Harcourt Road and Connaught Road Central in Central and Tim Mei Avenue in Admiralty, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) during the period from noon on the 28th of last month when the Police declared the assembly at Tim Mei Avenue unlawful to the time when tear gas was first fired, whether and how the Chief Executive ("CE"), the Chief Secretary for Administration ("CS"), the Secretary for Security and the Commissioner of Police ("CP") participated in the decision-making process regarding the handling of the assembly; from the time when tear gas was first fired by the Police to 12 o'clock at noon of the following day, whether the aforesaid officials continued to participate and how they participated in the decision-making process regarding the handling of the assembly; (2) of the models of the 87 canisters of tear gas fired by the Police, and the time and locations at, and the means (shooting or throwing) by which they were fired, together with a map clearly showing the locations and time at which they were fired; the total number of canisters of pepper spray used by the Police during the aforesaid period, with a breakdown by model and canister size; (3) as some witnesses claimed that the Police had continuously fired tear gas at the protesters at the section of Connaught Road Central outside the former Legislative Council Building but there were only about 20 protesters there at that time, of the reason why the Police needed to use tear gas; (4) of the name and rank of the official who decided to fire tear gas; if the rank of the official is lower than that of CP, whether the official sought prior instructions from the latter and/or any official of a higher rank; if he did not, whether the principal officials participated in the decision-making process during the period from the time when the Police first fired tear gas to the early morning of the following day; if they did, of the specific time; (5) as an Assistant Commissioner of Police said at the press conference on the 29th of last month that the firing of tear gas was decided by the commander at the scene, and CS told the media that CE was aware of and consent to the decisions made by the government departments concerned in the light of the situations arising from the Occupy Central movement, when CE became aware of, and gave consent to, the Police's deployment for handling the protests, and what the decision-making process on the 28th of last month was; and (6) whether government officials had any form of communications (including giving notification or seeking instructions) with the officials of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region about the handling of the aforesaid assembly?
*16. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (Cap. 593), which has been fully implemented since December 2007, provides for the regulation of the sending of commercial electronic messages, but it does not cover person-to-person telemarketing calls. The Do-not-call Registers administered by the Office of the Communications Authority ("OFCA") allow members of the public to register their fax or telephone numbers to unsubscribe from commercial electronic messages. In August this year, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("OPCPD") and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau ("CEDB") gave different views on the regulation of person-to-person telemarketing calls. OPCPD holds that Cap. 593 should be amended to the effect that in addition to the existing Do-not-call Registers, a Do-not-call Register for Person-to-person Telemarketing Calls should also be established, while CEDB is of the view that such telemarketing calls involve personal data, and members of the public have already been empowered by the existing Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) to protect their personal data. However, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD") has pointed out in his blog that, according to the results of a public opinion poll conducted by OPCPD in 2014, the majority of the person-to-person telemarketing calls are cold calls that do not involve the use of personal data, and therefore are not subject to the regulation of Cap. 486. PCPD has also remarked that, reading between the lines of the letter from CEDB to OPCPD, he gathers that it is CEDB's view that the proposed register should be set up under Cap. 486 and the related matters should therefore be followed up by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau. Yet, PCPD considers that if the registers concerned are to be administered by two different regulatory organizations, the public will find the arrangement confusing and less than customer-friendly. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will consider afresh regulating person-to-person telemarketing calls; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, as well as how the authorities will seriously address the problem of such calls causing nuisance to the public; (2) whether it has plans to amend Cap. 593 to establish a Do-not-call Register for Person-to-person Telemarketing Calls with OFCA administering the Register together with other Do-not-call Registers currently under its administration; and (3) whether it has considered establishing a registration and regulatory regime for telemarketing call centres in order to crack down on local telemarketing call centres which contravene the regulations, and requiring such centres to use telephone lines bearing designated first few digits to make telemarketing calls, so as to facilitate the public to identify calls made from these centres; if it has, of the details?
*17. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the flat in-take of Kai Ching Estate and Tak Long Estate in the Kai Tak Development Area has been postponed due to construction delays. According to the information provided by the Housing Department to the Kwun Tong District Council in July this year, the forecast completion date of the Lower Ngau Tau Kok Phase 2 project under construction has also been postponed from the second quarter to the third quarter of next year. Regarding the construction of public rental housing ("PRH") estates and Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") courts by the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the information on the PRH and HOS projects completed in the past three years and the current year, including: (i) the names of the projects, (ii) the numbers of flats provided, (iii) the commencement dates of the works, (iv) the completion dates as forecast when the works commenced, (v) the actual completion dates, (vi) time lags between the forecast and actual completion dates, (vii) the reasons for project delays (if applicable), (viii) the expenditures as forecast when the works commenced, (ix) the final expenditures, and (x) whether the project expenditures were met by public money other than the reserves of HA, and set out such information in Table 1;
Table 1
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) (ix) (x) (2) of the information on the PRH and HOS projects commenced in the past three years but not yet completed up till now, including: (i) the names of the projects, (ii) the numbers of flats to be provided, (iii) the commencement dates of the works, (iv) the completion dates as forecast when the works commenced, (v) the expenditures as forecast when the works commenced, and (vi) whether the project expenditures will be met by public money other than the reserves of HA, and set out such information in Table 2;
Table 2
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (3) of the information on the PRH and HOS projects the construction works of which will commence in the coming 18 months or for which tender is being invited, including: (i) the locations of the projects, (ii) the areas of the sites, (iii) the numbers of flats to be provided, (iv) the forecast commencement dates of works, (v) the forecast completion dates of works, (vi) the forecast project expenditures, and (vii) whether the project expenditures will be met by public money other than the reserves of HA, and set out such information in Table 3;
Table 3
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (4) of the respective differences between the forecast and actual volumes of PRH production in each of the past three years; given that in December last year, the authorities has briefed the Panel on Housing of this Council on the completion of PRH estates and HOS courts in the coming five years (i.e. from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018) (including the projects to be completed, the number of flats available and the completion dates), whether it has assessed whether the situation has changed so far; and (5) whether it has compiled statistics on the average time taken to complete the various stages of PRH projects (including planning and construction) in the past five years, and whether there has been an upward trend in such time spent; apart from those measures for stabilizing the supply of PRH and HOS flats as mentioned by the authorities to the Panel on Housing in December last year, whether the authorities have adopted other new measures to shorten the time required for completing the respective stages?
*18. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines ("HKPSG") issued by the Planning Department provides locational guidelines for various types of land uses and facilities to help the planning of a development area. However, some members of the public have relayed that with the growing population in new development areas, the recreation and community facilities in these areas are often in short supply, but it takes a long time to build additional facilities as procedures such as site identification and consultation, etc. are involved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether (i) the recreation facilities, (ii) the medical and health facilities and (iii) the community care and support facilities for elders currently available in each District Council district meet the respective standards prescribed by HKPSG, and list the relevant shortfalls in each of those districts which fail to meet the HKPSG standards for the provision of such facilities; whether it has plans to provide additional facilities in those districts with such shortfalls to bring them up to the standards required; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that in recent years, the Government has sought to increase housing land supply in various places by means of rezoning, whether the authorities have, when planning for the rezoning, considered if there are sufficient spaces in the vicinity of the relevant sites for building recreation and community facilities to meet the additional demand for such facilities brought about by population growth; if they have, whether they have made reference to the HKPSG standards; if they have not considered, of the reasons for that; and (3) as it is indicated in the relevant web page of the Planning Department that the standards and guidelines in relation to "social welfare facilities" and "recreation, open space and greening" as prescribed in HKPSG were last revised in March 2011 and December 2007 respectively, of the reasons why the authorities have not revised such standards and guidelines since then; whether the authorities will consider reviewing the existing HKPSG so as to gauge more accurately the public demand for various facilities when undertaking land planning work; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
Since April 2010, the Government has implemented a series of revitalization measures to facilitate the redevelopment and wholesale conversion of old industrial buildings ("revitalization measures"). There are views that the revitalization measures have boosted the transactions of industrial building units and caused the rentals of these units to rise continuously. As a result, those arts workers and arts bodies that are currently renting these industrial building units are facing the problems of escalating rentals or forced removal, etc. In addition, some arts and sports groups have respectively relayed that the existing fire services and town planning legislation are obsolete, posing a lot of restrictions on them when they carry out activities in industrial buildings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of applications received by the authorities so far for changing the uses of industrial buildings, and among such applications, the respective numbers of approved and rejected applications; of the reasons for some of the applications being rejected; (2) whether the new uses involved in the approved applications include the use for "Place of Recreation, Sports or Culture", and list a breakdown of the number of approved applications by the new uses; (3) whether it has collected data, since the implementation of revitalization measures, on the overall changes in the per-square-foot price, per-square-foot rental and vacancy rate of industrial building units in the entire territory and individual districts; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether any arts or sports group has sought the authorities' assistance regarding the restrictions imposed on their carrying out of activities in industrial buildings by the existing fire services and town planning legislation; if so, of the measures put in place by the authorities to assist them; whether they have plans to relax such requirements so as to allow creative, arts, music, sports and recreational activities to be carried out in industrial buildings; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether it has comprehensively assessed the effectiveness of the revitalization measures implemented so far, including whether the original objectives have been achieved, as well as the positive and negative impacts of these measures on land supply, commerce, culture and arts, etc.; if it has conducted such an assessment, of the outcome; and (6) given the comments that the revitalization measures are ineffective, whether the authorities will consider amending or even abolishing such measures with a view to mitigating the negative impacts on those bodies carrying out arts and sports activities in industrial buildings; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
The Government has all along adopted "ageing in place as the core, institutional care as back-up" as the policy objective for the provision of elderly services. Regarding community care services ("CCS"), quite a number of elderly people are of the view that the quality of the services is declining while service operators criticize that the amounts of subsidies provided by the Government are insufficient to cope with increasing costs and demand for services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective amounts, and their annual rates of increase, of the subsidies provided in each of the past five years by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") for the delivery of CCS and the services of residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs"); (2) of the amounts of funds which SWD had allocated in the past 10 years from the Lotteries Fund to provide subsidies for various types of RCHEs, Day Care Centres/Units for the Elderly, District Elderly Community Centres and Neighbourhood Elderly Centres, etc. to meet expenses such as construction, fitting-out, acquisition of furniture and installation of new equipment, etc.; (3) of the respective unit costs, and their annual rates of increase, of the services under Integrated Home Care Services ("IHCS") (Ordinary Cases), IHCS (Frail Cases) and Enhanced Home and Community Care Services ("EHCCS") in each of the past 10 years; (4) whether SWD currently awards contracts for the provision of IHCS (Ordinary Cases), IHCS (Frail Cases) and EHCCS through bidding; if so, of the total number of bidding exercises conducted in the past 10 years by SWD for various types of services, the contract period each time when contracts were awarded, the number of service places of each service as provided in the contracts, and whether each service place was given the same amount of subsidy; and (5) whether SWD has considered adopting a flexible approach in allocating funding to service operators to allow them sufficient resources to meet the increasing demand for services and to ensure service quality; if it has not, of the reasons for that?
*21. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
The family members of some elderly people have relayed to me that when elderly people residing in subsidized residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs") are staying in public hospitals because of illness, they are required to pay medical fees ("hospital fees") on the one hand, and continue to pay RCHEs accommodation fees ("RCHE fees") on the other. However, the financial assistance provided by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") may not be sufficient to cover such costs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the assistance provided by SWD to those elderly singletons who lack the financial means to pay both the hospital and RCHE fees concurrently; whether SWD will exercise discretion to pay the hospital and RCHE fees for them; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) regarding those elderly people who cannot afford RCHE fees during hospitalization and are hence required to move out of RCHEs, whether SWD will arrange temporary accommodation for them and make arrangements for their re-admission to RCHEs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the majority of the public places, tourist attractions and hotspots in Hong Kong do not provide visitors with charging services for mobile telephones and other small electrical appliances ("charging services"), and in this respect, Hong Kong has lagged behind Taiwan, Japan as well as European and American countries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the provision of charging services at the museums, theatres and parks managed by government departments, the visitor centres operated by the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the public places managed by private organizations; if it has, of the details (set out in a table); if not, the reasons for that; (2) regarding the charging services currently provided at the places mentioned in (1), how the authorities will step up publicity and provide more explanatory instructions so that tourists and members of the public can get to know how to use such services; and (3) whether it has any plan to allocate resources to provide additional charging services at tourist attractions, shopping arcades and other public places for the convenience of tourists and members of the public; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Security | ||||||||||
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IV. Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move the motion in Appendix I. | |
| (The motion was also issued on 16 June 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 723/13-14) Hon CHAN Chi-chuen and Hon Albert CHAN to move amendments to the proposed resolution. | ||
| (The amendments were issued on 27 June 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 767/13-14) | ||
| (The voting arrangement for the proposed resolution was issued on 30 June and 30 September 2014 under LC Papers Nos. CB(3)770/13-14 and CB(3)13/14-15) | ||
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Other Public Officer to attend : Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
| ||
| 2. | Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance
Secretary for Food and Health to move the following motion: Resolved that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 16 June 2014, be approved — | |
| (a) | the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014; and
| |
| (b) | the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014.
| |
| (The two Regulations are in Appendices II and III and were also issued
on 19 June 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 735/13-14) | ||