Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

A 14/15-28

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 27 May 2015 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

1.	No. 95	-	Securities and Futures Commission Approved budget of income and expenditure For the financial year 2015/2016
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
2.	No. 96	-	Report of changes made to the approved Estimates of Expenditure during the fourth quarter of 2014-15 Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
3.	No. 97	-	Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Annual Report 2014
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)
4.	Report No. 21/14-15 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)

II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that members of the public are concerned about the situation that the retail prices of auto-fuel have been quick to rise and slow to drop in recent months, and the various oil companies are alleged of collusive price-fixing as they have made similar numbers of adjustments of oil prices. In addition, when the international crude oil price drops, the oil companies often do not lower auto-fuel prices by similar magnitude, and the price adjustment mechanism also lacks transparency. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(1)	whether they will, by making reference to the practice of the Macao Government, set up a dedicated committee to monitor issues relating to adjustments in auto-fuel retail prices, study the operating cost structures of oil companies, and keep track of the sales cycles and the stock levels of auto-fuel; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether they have plans to request oil companies to make public more information relating to auto-fuel retail prices (such as the sales cycles and the stock levels), analyze regularly the trend movements of auto-fuel retail prices, and assess if the timing and magnitude of price adjustments are reasonable and transparent; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	whether they have plans to investigate how oil companies determine auto-fuel prices, so as to find out if oil companies have engaged in anti-competitive practices; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

2. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the statistical information on private residential properties and domestic household incomes provided by the Census and Statistics Department ("C&SD"), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	as there are views that the yearly surveys conducted by the Rating and Valuation Department on the vacancy situation of private domestic units fail to reflect the actual situation, whether C&SD will, when it conducts the population by-census next year, concomitantly carry out a survey on the vacancy situation of private domestic units; if C&SD will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	as the information on the Long Term Housing Strategy published by the Transport and Housing Bureau in December last year showed that the total number of subdivided units ("SDUs") was estimated at 86 400, whether C&SD will, when it conducts the population by-census next year, conduct a survey for the purpose of providing a more accurate number of SDUs;
(3)	whether C&SD lists the domestic household income data in 10 decile groups when it conducts the General Household Survey; if C&SD does, whether it will publish the relevant data; if not, whether it will consider adopting such a statistical tool; and
(4)	as the domestic household income data, such as the median household income, currently published by C&SD are expressed in nominal prices, whether C&SD will consider publishing the relevant data in constant prices as well?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

3. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)

The construction works of the Main Bridge of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project ("HZMB Project") commenced in 2009 and is targeted for commissioning in 2016, and the various other local infrastructural projects involving the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities and link roads connecting the existing transport network, including the Hong Kong Link Road, Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link and Tuen Mun Western Bypass ("local projects") are expected to be completed one after another between 2016 and 2018. It is learnt that as affected by the judicial review case on Environmental Impact Assessment reports and the construction difficulties encountered, the works projects under the HZMB Project have experienced delay of varied durations, and the tight works schedule has resulted in excessive overtime work and a much higher risk of industrial accidents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the latest progress of each works project under the HZMB Project (set out the differences between the expected and the current percentages of completion), and the latest anticipated completion dates;
(2)	of the total number of works contracts involved in the local works projects under the HZMB Project; the key information of the contracts concerned, including the dates on which the contracts were signed and the completion dates;
(3)	whether it knows if all the works projects under the HZMB Project involved workers undertaking overtime work in the past three years; the average monthly hours of overtime work per worker in each works project;
(4)	in respect of each works project under the HZMB Project, of (i) the respective numbers of fatal and non-fatal industrial accidents occurred, and (ii) the number of days of work stoppage due to industrial accidents, in each of the past three years; and
(5)	of the number of meetings on the HZMB Project held in the past three years between Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and mainland officials?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

4. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

At the House Committee meeting of this Council on the 24th of last month, a Member questioned why the authorities did not institute any prosecution against persons who had failed to provide a registration officer with their changed particulars (including residential addresses and correspondence addresses) in accordance with Regulation 18 of the Registration of Persons Regulations (Cap. 177 sub. leg. A), and the authorities were thus criticized for not enforcing the law. Besides, it is pointed out in Report No. 64 of the Director of Audit that the Buildings Department has been slow in handling "actionable" unauthorized building works, and the Department is alleged of being too lax in law enforcement. On the other hand, the Independent Commission Against Corruption has often been queried of faultfinding in its examinations of the election expenses incurred by Legislative Council or District Council election candidates, and is alleged of being too stringent in law enforcement. Regarding law enforcement by government departments, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has assessed why there are significant discrepancies in the degree of stringency in law enforcement among various government departments;
(2)	of the criteria based on which various government departments determine the degree of stringency in their law enforcement; and
(3)	whether it has assessed how the significant discrepancies in the degree of stringency in law enforcement among various government departments affect the public perception of the Government and whether they will confuse members of the public?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

5. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Chief Executive raised in the 2013 Policy Address: "[d]o we have the courage to make it our vision to improve the living space for the future generation?" Recently, some public rental housing ("PRH") tenants affected by the redevelopment programmes of Shek Kip Mei Estate and Pak Tin Estate have relayed to me that they have found that a new design has been adopted for the redeveloped PRH flats allocated to them, rendering their living space smaller than that in the past. They feel very disappointed that their living space will be reduced rather than increased. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has drawn up short, medium and long term plans for achieving the aforesaid vision; if it has not, of the reasons for that; if it has, the details of the plans; of the specific work it has carried out so far, and whether such work includes increasing the space standards of PRH flats; if so, of the specific work to be carried out;
(2)	of the changes in the space of PRH flats completed in the past decade, broken down by the designed number of occupants per flat; the reasons for reducing the space standards of the new type of PRH flats, and whether such reasons include an attempt to increase the production of PRH flats; if so, of the details, including the relevant percentage increase; whether it has assessed the impact of the new type of PRH flats on the living space of the tenants; and
(3)	whether it has assessed if the construction of the new type of PRH flats with a smaller size is contrary to the aforesaid vision; whether it will consider reviewing afresh and revising the design of PRH flats; whether it will amend the layout plans for the redevelopment programmes of Shek Kip Mei Estate and Pak Tin Estate to increase the living space of the redeveloped flats, so that the living environment of the local residents can be improved through the redevelopment and aforesaid vision can be achieved; if it will not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

6. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

In order to save energy, the Government has for many years encouraged the public to switch to use energy-saving lighting products such as light emitting diode ("LED") lamps, fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lamps ("CFLs"), which are more energy-efficient than incandescent light bulbs ("ILBs"). It is noted that the blue rays emitted by LED lamps may impair vision, and some CFLs and fluorescent tubes when broken will release phenol and vaporized mercury, a toxic heavy metal, and prolonged contact with such chemical substances is harmful to the human body. On the other hand, the Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Programme currently launched by the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") provides households with free collection and treatment for all used fluorescent lamps containing mercury, including fluorescent tubes, CFLs and high intensity discharge lamps. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it assessed in the past three years the effectiveness of the various measures aiming to promote the use of energy-efficient lighting products; if it did, of the details;
(2)	whether EPD at present handles separately the various types of waste energy-efficient lighting products collected; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	of the quantity of waste energy-efficient lighting products collected by EPD in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by type of products;
(4)	of the quantity of waste energy-efficient lighting products containing mercury handled by EPD in each of the past five years;
(5)	of the quantity of waste energy-efficient lighting products sent to the landfills for disposal in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by type of products and landfill; if such figures are not available, of the reasons for that;
(6)	of the quantity of energy-efficient lighting products imported for local use in each of the past five years;
(7)	whether it regulates the disposal of energy-efficient lighting products by households as well as industrial and commercial users; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(8)	whether it has assessed the impacts of energy-efficient lighting products on the health of humans and animals in the course of their use, collection and disposal; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(9)	whether it regulates the chemical substances contained in LED lamps, and assesses the quality of such kind of products; if it does, of the details and the channels through which the authorities disseminate such information; if not, the reasons for that;
(10)	given that the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department ("EMSD") currently incorporates LED lamps into the "recognition type" of the Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme ("EELS"), whether EMSD will consider the incorporation of such kind of products into the "grading type" of EELS, so as to allow consumers access to more information; if EMSD will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(11)	whether it has compiled statistics on the existing number of LED lamps installed at outdoor venues, and assessed the amount of glare and brightness of such lighting equipment; if it has, of the details, and set out the relevant information by District Council district; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

7. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)

At present, various policy bureaux publicize and promote their policies and measures through a number of channels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the respective expenditures incurred by various policy bureaux last year on publicizing policies and measures, with a breakdown by publicity means (including (i) television announcement in the public interest, (ii) radio announcement, (iii) newspaper supplement, (iv) outdoor publicity activity, (v) Internet and (vi) social media) according to the table below;

	(i)	(ii)	(iii)	(iv)	(v)	(vi)	Others	Total
Civil Service Bureau
Home Affairs Bureau
Security Bureau
Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau
Food and Health Bureau
Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
Commerce and Economic Development Bureau
Education Bureau
Labour and Welfare Bureau
Development Bureau
Transport and Housing Bureau
Environment Bureau

(2)

whether it regularly assesses the effectiveness of the publicity work of various policy bureaux; if it does, of the assessment criteria and outcome of the last assessment; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

how the authorities tackle the situation where the publicity work is not cost-effective?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

8. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)

Some members of the cross-boundary container freight industry have pointed out that the industry has all along been facing the problems of driver shortage and succession gap in recent years. According to the information at the end of 2012, over 40 000 people held a licence for driving container trucks in Hong Kong, but there were merely about 4 700 registered cross-boundary container truck drivers. They have also said that since the mainland authorities have set an age limit for container truck drivers and in-service drivers are generally of older age, it is increasingly difficult for them to hire cross-boundary container truck drivers. They are worried that there will be an even greater demand for cross-boundary truck drivers upon the commissioning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and that if the shortage of drivers cannot be alleviated, the development of Hong Kong’s logistics industry will be stifled. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it knows the respective number of drivers in the cross-boundary container freight industry in each of the past five years, and set out a breakdown by age group in the table below;

Age (years)	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
Below 20
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60 or above

(2)

of the measures currently taken by the authorities to alleviate the shortage of drivers in the cross-boundary container freight industry; whether they have assessed the effectiveness of such measures; whether the authorities will enhance such measures to dovetail with the development of the logistics industry; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

whether it knows if the relevant mainland authorities have currently suspended the handling of applications from Hong Kong drivers for mainland heavy vehicle driving licences ("mainland driving licences"); if so, whether it has assessed the impacts brought about by the continuation of such a situation on the cross-boundary container freight industry of Hong Kong; whether the authorities will take the initiative to look into this matter and assist Hong Kong drivers in applying for mainland driving licences; whether it will, in the long run, explore with the mainland authorities the direct issuance of mainland driving licences without test to container truck drivers in Hong Kong; if it will, of the details; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

9. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Territory-wide System Assessment ("TSA"), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	as some primary school teachers have relayed to me that while the authorities launched the enhancement measures of TSA in April 2014 and ceased to disclose to individual primary schools the number and percentage of their students achieving basic competencies ("attainment rates") in Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics, schools can still derive the attainment rates of their students based on their scores in various sub-papers of the subjects, reflecting the limited effect of the enhancement measures on relieving the pressure on and workload of teachers and students, whether the authorities have collected the preliminary views of teachers and schools on the effectiveness of the enhancement measures; if they have not, how the authorities will review the effectiveness of the enhancement measures; whether they have plans at present to improve the enhancement measures; and
(2)	as an official of the Education Bureau said at the meeting of the Panel on Education of this Council on 13 April this year that the authorities had set up a steering committee on TSA to review the implementation of TSA, of the following information on the committee:
	(i)	the membership list, and whether any of the members are representatives from the education sector and representatives of frontline teachers and parents; if there are no such representatives, of the reasons for that;
	(ii)	the terms of reference;
	(iii)	the work targets and tasks involved (including whether it will make recommendations on further enhancement of TSA), and the time when it is required to complete its work;
	(iv)	the approach for work, including whether and how it will collect the views of the education sector, frontline teachers and parents; if it will not collect views, of the reasons for that; and
	(v)	whether it will consult the education sector on the draft report; if it will not, of the reasons for that; whether it will publish the review report; if it will, of the arrangements?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

10. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)

At present, under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance ("MPFSO")(Cap. 485), an employer may use the accrued benefits derived from his contributions to a Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") scheme for an employee to offset the severance payments or long service payments payable to that employee under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) ("the offsetting arrangement"). Regarding the suggestion put forward by labour organizations that the offsetting arrangement be abolished, some members of the industrial and commercial sectors have pointed out that this suggestion not only deviates from the legislative intent of MPFSO but also is, in effect, an additional provision of "double benefit" to employees, which increases the burden on and is unfair to the employers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that at the meeting of the former Legislative Council on 27 July 1995 during the scrutiny of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Bill, the then Secretary for Education and Manpower advised that "[a]t present, the employers’ contributions to a retirement scheme may be set off against any amount paid out for severance payments or long service payments. It is not appropriate to expect employers to pay twice", whether the authorities’ current stance is consistent with that view; if it is not, of the reasons for that;
(2)	given that before MPFSO was enacted, it had been stipulated in the law that employers’ contributions to retirement schemes could be used to offset severance payments or long service payments, of the authorities’ detailed justifications, including the factors considered and their respective weightings, for following this established practice when they subsequently enacted MPFSO;
(3)	whether it has assessed (i) the percentage increase in staff costs for employers (especially those of small and medium enterprises), and (ii) the impacts on the business environment and economy of Hong Kong that the abolition of the offsetting arrangement will bring about; and
(4)	whether it has reviewed how to make optimal use of the Government’s ample fiscal reserves to provide better support and protection to the grassroots’ retirement life, instead of shifting the responsibility to employers; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

11. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)

In March this year, the Hong Kong Public Libraries ("HKPL") under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and an educational body jointly organized the 26th Secondary Students’ Best Ten Books Election ("the Election"), in which secondary students elected, among 60 shortlisted books, 10 favourite books of secondary students. Recently, some parents have complained to me that one of the shortlisted books advocates extreme and radical political ideas, and they are worried that the book will instill wrong concepts in secondary students, thereby causing undesirable impact on them. Regarding how HKPL selects and handles books for children and youths, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the role of HKPL in organizing the Election;
(2)	of the amount of public money spent on the Election this year;
(3)	whether HKPL knew the titles and contents of the shortlisted books before the list of shortlisted books was announced; whether HKPL objected to the inclusion of any individual books in the list of shortlisted books in the Election in the past;
(4)	whether HKPL has drawn up any criteria or guidelines for shortlisting books in the Election, so as to ensure that the books shortlisted are suitable for children and youths;
(5)	of HKPL’s current procedures for purchasing books, the ranks of the staff mainly by whom the book order lists are drawn up, and whether any mechanism is in place for reviewing the list before the books are purchased;
(6)	whether, in the past five years, HKPL removed any books with undesirable notions from the library shelves on its own initiatives or in response to public complaints; if so, of the details;
(7)	whether HKPL has put in place any mechanism for removing books from library shelves; if so, of the details; and
(8)	what procedures HKPL has in place for ensuring that it will not purchase books which are unsuitable for children and youths (e.g. books that exaggerate violence, pornography, vulgarism and undesirable notions, or propagate ethnic/religious hatred, etc.)?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

12. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)

On 15 October last year during the occupation movement, seven police officers allegedly assaulted a protester and were interdicted from duty on the following day. On 17 March this year, the Commissioner of Police said that the Police had completed investigation of the case, and had referred it to the Department of Justice ("DoJ") for consideration and was awaiting advice from DoJ. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether the seven police officers are still interdicted from duty at present; of the remuneration arrangement during their interdiction, and the regulations under which such arrangement has been made; and
(2)	of the anticipated time when DoJ will provide advice to the Police on whether to institute prosecution against those police officers?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

13. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)

The Hong Kong Childhood Immunization Programme ("the Programme"), implemented by the Centre for Health Protection under the Department of Health, provides vaccination for eligible children in Hong Kong for the prevention of 11 types of infectious diseases such as measles and varicella. On the other hand, it has been reported that the numbers of measles cases in Hong Kong and many places in the world have shown a rising trend in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the respective vaccination rates of the various vaccines under the Programme in each of the past five years;
(2)	whether parents have the right under the existing mechanism to refuse to make arrangements for their children to be vaccinated; if they do, of the types of vaccines involved, the number of such cases in the past five years, and the reasons for their refusal of vaccination; whether the authorities have put in place measures to follow up such cases; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	of the criteria based on which the authorities determine whether to include a certain type of vaccine in the Programme; whether there is plan in the short term to include more types of vaccines in the Programme; if there is, of the details;
(4)	whether the authorities regularly update the list of vaccines under the Programme; if they do, of the intervals between the updates; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5)	whether the authorities assessed the effectiveness of the Programme in the past three years; if they did, of the outcome?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

14. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that recently quite a number of parents bring their children to the newly-popular indoor integrated children’s playgrounds ("playgrounds") for recreational activities. These playgrounds, which are quite large in scale, provide users with a variety of services and facilities, including food, rock climbing exercises, trampolines, several-story-high slides, gun-shooting computer games, gigantic ball ponds, motor racing circuits and various kinds of toys. I have received complaints alleging that some children were injured at a playground and the complainants learnt afterwards that the playground had obtained merely a business registration certificate and no licence. The complainants are worried that with the lack of monitoring, there is no assurance of the safety, quality and hygiene conditions of the playgrounds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	how the Food and Health Bureau ("FHB") ensures that the ball ponds and other recreational facilities in the playgrounds will not become hotbeds for spreading bacteria and viruses; when an epidemic is suspected to have spread via the playgrounds, whether the authorities may, in accordance with the legislation, demand the playgrounds concerned to suspend business; whether FHB will consider putting the playgrounds under its communicable disease surveillance; if it will not, of the reasons for that;
(2)	given that the playgrounds often receive many children at the same time, whether the Education Bureau and the Labour and Welfare Bureau will consider bringing them under the ambit of the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279) and the Child Care Services Ordinance (Cap. 243); if they will not, of the reasons for that;
(3)	given that the gun-shooting computer games provided by some playgrounds show bloody and violent scenes, and rock climbing and trampolining are relatively high-risk activities which are prone to accidents causing serious injuries, whether the Home Affairs Bureau will consider bringing the playgrounds under the ambit of the relevant legislation; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and
(4)	of the institutions, other than the Consumer Council, from which members of the public may seek assistance when they are dissatisfied with the facilities or services of the playgrounds?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

15. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)

At present, there are bilateral Working Holiday Scheme agreements entered between the Hong Kong Government and the governments of 10 countries, including Australia. It has been reported that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation recently broadcast a programme about the situation of foreign young people working in Australia on working holiday visas and uncovered that some young people had been grossly exploited by employers, e.g. by deduction of wages or provision of accommodation with appalling conditions, and some young women had even been sexually harassed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it knows the respective numbers of working holiday visa applications made by young people of Hong Kong to the aforesaid countries in the past three years, with a breakdown by the job type of the short-term employment they intended to take up and country;
(2)	whether the authorities received in the past three years requests for assistance from young people of Hong Kong working overseas on working holiday visas; if they did, provide a breakdown by the nature of such cases; whether the authorities followed up such cases; if they did, of the details;
(3)	given the instances revealed in the aforesaid programme, whether the authorities will take the initiative to inquire into the situation of young people of Hong Kong working overseas on working holiday visas to find out whether they have been subjected to wage deductions, sexual harassment, etc.; whether the authorities will formulate measures to protect the safety of such young people; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)	whether the authorities will formulate guidelines to help young people intending to apply for working holiday visas understand and identify the backgrounds of overseas employers so as to avoid being exploited; if they will, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

16. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

In reply to my question at the meeting of this Council on 11 June 2014, the Government indicated that to minimize the impact of aircraft noise on the districts near the flight paths, the Civil Aviation Department had implemented a series of aircraft noise mitigating measures in accordance with the balanced approach to aircraft noise management promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization ("ICAO"), and the measures included requiring aircraft to avoid overflying populated areas, to adopt the noise abatement departure procedures prescribed by ICAO during take-off and the Continuous Descent Approach for landing, etc., in the small hours as far as possible. Yet, I have learnt that aircraft noise during the hours between 11pm to 7am the next day still often causes nuisance to the residents of quite a number of housing estates at present, making it difficult for them to fall asleep. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the monthly data recorded between May 2014 and April 2015 by various aircraft noise monitoring terminals on aircraft noise levels which reached 70 to 74, 75 to 79, and 80 decibels ("dB") or above during the aforesaid hours;
(2)	of the types of aircraft with noise levels reaching 80 dB or above last year, and the names of the airline companies to which such aircraft belonged; and
(3)	whether it will further enhance the existing aircraft noise mitigating measures to reduce the nuisance caused to residents in the districts concerned; if it will, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

III. Bills

First Reading Special Holiday (3 September 2015) Bill
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
Special Holiday (3 September 2015) Bill	:	Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Committee Stage and Third Reading
Appropriation Bill 2015	:	The Financial Secretary
Amendments to heads of estimates in committee of the whole Council on the Appropriation Bill 2015
Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN, Hon Claudia MO, Hon WONG Yuk-man, Hon Albert CHAN, Hon Gary FAN, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Hon CHAN Chi-chuen, Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung, Hon Emily LAU, Dr Hon Helena WONG, Hon Albert HO, Hon WU Chi-wai, Hon James TO, Hon Cyd HO, Hon LEE Cheuk-yan, Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che and Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move Committee stage amendments in the Appendix. (These amendments were also issued on 20 and 21 April 2015 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 602/14-15 and CB(3) 613/14-15 respectively) (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Appropriation Bill 2015 (issued on 20 April and 12 May 2015 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 607/14-15 and CB(3) 670/14-15))
Other Public Officers to attend the Committee stage	:	The Chief Secretary for Administration The Secretary for Justice Secretary for Transport and Housing Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary for Security Secretary for Education Secretary for the Civil Service Secretary for Food and Health Secretary for the Environment Secretary for Development Under Secretary for Home Affairs Under Secretary for the Environment Under Secretary for Transport and Housing Under Secretary for Security Under Secretary for Food and Health Under Secretary for Education Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Under Secretary for Development Under Secretary for Labour and Welfarement

IV. Motions

1.	Proposed resolution under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move the following motion: Resolved that the Resolution made and passed by the Legislative Council on 29 October 2014 and published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 132 of 2014 be repealed.
	(The above motion was also issued on 30 April 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 646/14-15)
2.	Proposed resolution under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move the motion in the Annex.
	(The above motion was also issued on 30 April 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 646/14-15) Hon CHAN Chi-chuen and Hon Albert CHAN to move amendments to this proposed resolution (The amendments were issued on 19 May 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 684/14-15)
	(The debate and voting arrangements for the two proposed resolutions and the amendments were issued on 26 May 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 700/14-15)

V. Members' Motions

Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion:

That this Council takes note of Report No. 18/14-15 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 6 May 2015 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:

Item Number	Title of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument
(2)	District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 7) Order 2015 (L.N. 49/2015)
(3)	Maximum Amount of Election Expenses (District Council Election) (Amendment) Regulation 2015 (L.N. 50/2015).

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Enacting legislation on standard working hours

Hon CHAN Yuen-han to move the following motion: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to expeditiously enact legislation on standard working hours, the contents of which must set the number of standard working hours at 44 per week and rates of overtime pay.

Amendments to the motion

(i)

Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add "the Standard Working Hours Committee earlier proposed to enact legislation to stipulate in employment contracts the hours of work, rest periods and meal breaks, as well as the method of overtime compensation, etc.; this Council strongly opposes the Government’s attempt to use ‘contractual working hours’ proposal in lieu of enactment of legislation to regulate working hours, and expresses deep regret that the Chief Executive fails to honour his pledge to ‘examine legislative proposals on standard working hours’ as set out in his election manifesto;" after "That"; and to add "and endeavour to complete the relevant legislative procedures within the current term of the Legislative Council" after "on standard working hours".

(ii)

Hon IP Kin-yuen to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", as the problem of overtime work is serious among employees in Hong Kong and the weekly working hours of some job types, such as teachers, can be as long as 60 hours," after "That"; and to add "; in setting standard working hours, the Government must take into account the situation of different trades and industries, and particularly in respect of education, it should conduct a study on the regulation of the teaching hours or periods of school teachers modelled on the practices in other countries, so as to maintain a reasonable workload for teachers and prevent them from being fatigued at work, thereby enhancing the quality of teaching" immediately before the full stop.

(iii)

Hon YIU Si-wing to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", given the differences in the job nature of various trades and industries," after "That"; to delete "expeditiously enact legislation on standard working hours, the contents of which must" after "urges the Government to" and substitute with ", when conducting studies on enacting legislation to"; and to add ", fully consult various trades and industries (including the tourism industry) and assess the impact of the legislation on the relevant trades and industries, so as to avoid creating negative and far-reaching impact on society and the economy as a result of hasty enactment of legislation" immediately before the full stop.

(iv)

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "urges the Government to expeditiously enact legislation on standard working hours, the contents of which must set the number of standard working hours at 44 per week and the rates of overtime pay" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "requests the Standard Working Hours Committee to continue to promote in-depth discussion in society on matters relating to the regulation of working hours, and make recommendations to the Government after forging a consensus on enacting legislation on standard working hours or other proposals for regulating working hours, and the Government must adopt appropriate measures to implement the relevant recommendations".

(v)

Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "at 44" after "the number of standard working hours".

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare

Abolishing the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System and the competitive bidding system implemented in the social welfare sector

Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, on 1 January 2001, the Government abolished the previous reimbursement-based subvention system on the grounds that the system was ‘inflexible, complex and bureaucratic’, and introduced the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System and subsequently a competitive bidding system to commission services through a bidding process open to non-governmental organizations (‘NGOs’); however, so far there has been no objective study confirming that the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System may enhance NGOs’ flexibility in deploying resources to address social needs; on the contrary, for increasing cumulative reserves, some NGOs have resorted to layoffs and pay cuts and some NGOs even have to return to the Government their excess amounts of reserves exceeding the cumulative limit, whereas the Best Practice Manual formulated by the Administration for NGOs has no binding effect; in fact, the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System and the competitive bidding system have seriously affected the ecology of the social welfare sector, including affecting the normal movements of ‘Snapshot Staff’, causing a high turnover rate of newly recruited contract staff, and giving rise to unequal pay for equal work between NGOs and the Social Welfare Department as well as among NGOs, thus resulting in the delink of staff salaries from the salary structures and pay scales of the civil service, the absence of protection from inflation-based annual adjustments to pay rates and performance-based pay increases for staff, the maximum salaries for most positions being forced to be set below the mid-point of the salary scale of common posts in the NGOs, with the salaries of some staff members even below the entry pay point on that pay scale, giving rise to phenomena such as succession gap in the profession, short-term contract employment and excessive workloads, etc.; in respect of the provision of services, the two systems have also caused NGOs to treat each other as bidding competitors, thereby impeding the possibility of experience sharing and joint exploration of promoting service development among themselves; some NGOs have even increased fees and charging items and employed less staff to increase financial revenue, while the Government also allows NGOs to set aside large amounts of subventions as reserves without using them for providing social services, thus affecting the quality of social services and long-term social welfare planning; given that most of these NGOs are important service providers for the grassroots and the underprivileged, the cap on expenditure and the absence of staff establishment have directly hindered the provision and development of social services, eventually affecting members of the public in need; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to immediately abolish the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System and the competitive bidding system, and reinstate the reimbursement-based subvention system, so as to restore the healthy ecology of the social welfare sector, improve social welfare services and promote long-term social welfare planning.

Amendments to the motion

(i)

Hon IP Kin-yuen to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "non-governmental organizations (‘NGOs’) in the social welfare sector are very important social welfare service providers, and many social welfare organizations, apart from operating various front-line social services, also operate quite a number of kindergartens and child care centres to provide early childhood education;"; to delete "non-governmental organizations (‘ " after "open to"; to delete " ’) " before "; however"; to add "recently, it has even been reported that the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System will also be applied to the implementation of free kindergarten education, with the amount of subsidies calculated on the basis of the median salary of kindergarten teachers across the territory, letting the organizations operating kindergartens set their own salaries for kindergarten teachers;" after "in need;"; and to add "; in addition, the Government should not further extend the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System to the operation of subsidized kindergartens by calculating the amount of their subsidies on the basis of the median salary of kindergarten teachers, and allowing the social welfare organizations or other agencies operating kindergartens to deploy at their own discretion the total subvention for operating costs and salaries of teaching staff, so as not to seriously affect the quality of services and subject kindergarten teachers to pay freezes and pay cuts" immediately before the full stop.

(ii)

Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete ", on 1 January 2001, the Government abolished the previous reimbursement-based subvention system on the grounds that the system was ‘inflexible, complex and bureaucratic’, and introduced the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System and subsequently a competitive bidding system to commission services through a bidding process open to non-governmental organizations (‘NGOs’); however, so far there has been no objective study confirming that the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System may enhance NGOs’ flexibility in deploying resources to address social needs; on the contrary, for increasing cumulative reserves, some NGOs have resorted to layoffs and pay cuts and some NGOs even have to return to the Government their excess amounts of reserves exceeding the cumulative limit, whereas the Best Practice Manual formulated by the Administration for NGOs has no binding effect; in fact, the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System and the competitive bidding system have seriously affected the ecology of the social welfare sector, including affecting the normal movements of ‘Snapshot Staff’, causing a high turnover rate of newly recruited contract staff, and giving rise to unequal pay for equal work between NGOs and the Social Welfare Department as well as among NGOs, thus resulting in the delink of staff salaries from the salary structures and pay scales of the civil service, the absence of protection from inflation-based annual adjustments to pay rates and performance-based pay increases for staff, the maximum salaries for most positions being forced to be set below the mid-point of the salary scale of common posts in the NGOs, with the salaries of some staff members even below the entry pay point on that pay scale, giving rise to phenomena such as succession gap in the profession, short-term contract employment and excessive workloads, etc.; in respect of the provision of services, the two systems have also caused NGOs to treat each other as bidding competitors, thereby impeding the possibility of experience sharing and joint exploration of promoting service development among themselves; some NGOs have even increased fees and charging items and employed less staff to increase financial revenue, while the Government also allows NGOs to set aside large amounts of subventions as reserves without using them for providing social services, thus affecting the quality of social services and long-term social welfare planning; given that most of these NGOs are important service providers for the grassroots and the underprivileged, the cap on expenditure and the absence of staff establishment have directly hindered the provision and development of social services, eventually affecting members of the public in need" after "That" and substitute with "seven years have passed since the Government conducted its first review on the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System in 2008 and during that period, the economic and social environment of Hong Kong has changed tremendously"; to delete "immediately abolish the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System and the competitive bidding system, and reinstate the reimbursement-based subvention system, so as to restore the healthy ecology of the social welfare sector," after "the Government to" and substitute with "review afresh the Lump Sum Grant Subvention System, including the amounts of subventions of Lump Sum Grant as well as the benefits and remuneration packages for front-line staff and the competitive bidding system, and to examine the compliance with the Best Practice Manual by social welfare organizations, etc., so as to provide social welfare organizations with sufficient resources to"; to delete "social welfare" after "improve"; and to add "retain talents, and at the same time to enhance the financial transparency of these organizations to ensure proper utilization of public resources to" before "promote".

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare

VI. Request for Special Leave of the Council to Give Evidence of Council Proceedings

Request made under section 7 of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) and Rule 90 of the Rules of Procedure for special leave of the Council to give evidence of Council proceedings

The request of Y.S. LAU & Partners has been set out under LC Paper No. CB(3) 679/14-15 issued on 14 May 2015.

Clerk to the Legislative Council