A 14/15-31
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 10 June 2015 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Import and Export (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2015 | 105/2015 | |
| 2. | Imported Game, Meat and Poultry (Amendment) Regulation 2015 | 106/2015 | |
| 3. | Food Business (Amendment) Regulation 2015 | 107/2015 | |
| 4. | Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage) (Amendment) Regulation 2015 | 108/2015 | |
| 5. | Competition Tribunal Rules | 109/2015 | |
| 6. | Competition Tribunal Fees Rules | 110/2015 | |
| 7. | Competition Tribunal Suitors' Funds Rules | 111/2015 | |
| 8. | Rules of the High Court (Amendment) Rules 2015 | 112/2015 | |
| 9. | Declaration of Increase in Pensions Notice 2015 | 113/2015 | |
| 10. | Widows and Orphans Pension (Increase) Notice 2015 | 114/2015 | |
| 11. | Allowances to Jurors (Amendment) Order 2015 (Commencement) Notice | 115/2015 | |
| 12. | Criminal Procedure (Witnesses' Allowances) (Amendment) Rules 2015 (Commencement) Notice | 116/2015 | |
| 13. | Coroners (Witnesses' Allowances) (Amendment) Rules 2015 (Commencement) Notice | 117/2015 | |
| 14. | Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Ordinance (Commencement) Notice | 118/2015 | |
Other Papers
Report of the Committee on Members' Interests on complaints against Honourable Alan LEONG Kah-kit, Honourable Claudia MO and Honourable James TO Kun-sun
(to be presented by Hon IP Kwok-him, Chairman of the Committee, who will address the Council)
II. Questions
1. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
This Council will debate and vote on the proposals on the method for selecting the Chief Executive in 2017 ("the constitutional reform proposals") later this month. It has been reported that the convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front has indicated that it plans to mobilize 100 000 people to besiege the Legislative Council Complex ("the Complex") before the voting on the constitutional reform proposals, so as to exert pressure on the Members of this Council. The representatives of some student bodies have also indicated that if the constitutional reform proposals are passed, they may take radical actions, including storming the Complex with hard objects and occupying the Complex. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Police have assessed the possible risks of the public safety outside the Complex under threat and disruption of the public order, and made corresponding deployment; (2) in the light of the possible siege and storming of the Complex, of the measures (including aspects such as the police manpower and traffic arrangements at the scene, etc.) the Police will take to uphold the law and maintain public order; and (3) whether the Police have discussed with the Legislative Council Secretariat ways to prevent protesters from storming and entering the Complex causing disturbances, so as to ensure that this Council can vote on the constitutional reform proposals without interference, and the Members and staff of this Council can safely enter and leave the Complex during the period concerned?
2. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
According to the results of the analysis on the open data on international crude oil and local petrol pump prices from 2013 to 2014, published by the Consumer Council in February this year, there were signs of "quick going up, slow coming down" in the pump price adjustments made by the five local oil companies in specific periods. Moreover, while the international crude oil prices dropped continuously in the second half of last year, the oil companies did not lower the petrol pump prices to a corresponding magnitude. On the other hand, the authorities have pointed out that import price of refined oil products is only one of the costs of local petrol retail price, and the retail price also includes tax and other operating costs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective rates of increase in various operating costs of the various oil companies in the second half of last year; if it does, of such rates of increase; of the new measures the authorities have put in place to ameliorate the situation where petrol pump prices are "quick to go up but slow to come down", such as requesting the oil companies to make more frequent adjustments to petrol pump prices in response to the daily changes in international crude oil prices; (2) as it is learnt that some countries regulate their oil industries by competition laws, and the Competition Ordinance of Hong Kong has yet to come into full operation, whether the authorities will request the Competition Commission to formulate measures to regulate petrol pump prices, such as requesting the oil companies to enhance the transparency of their mechanisms for adjusting petrol pump prices, so as to facilitate the monitoring by consumers; and (3) as some members of the public have queried why public transport fares have not been lowered correspondingly given the continuous drop in international crude oil prices, whether the authorities know the percentages of fuel expenses in the operating costs of various public transport operators; if they do, of such percentages in the past three years; whether they know if public transport operators have plans to lower fares?
3. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In the Special Topics Report No. 62 published at the end of last year, the Census and Statistics Department presented the results of the supplementary enquiries conducted via the General Household Survey in respect of persons with disabilities and chronic diseases. As pointed out in the Report, there was an estimate of 578 600 persons with disabilities ("PWDs") in Hong Kong in 2013, an increase of about 60% from 361 300 PWDs in 2007, and among the PWDs, 53% were aged 70 and over. Besides, 18% of the PWDs indicated that they had a lot of difficulties in day-to-day living due to their disabilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as some social workers have relayed to me that the current Integrated Support Service for Persons with Severe Physical Disabilities does not cover household cleaning service, and the proposed services under the Hong Kong Rehabilitation Programme Plan ("HKRPP") fail to meet the additional demand brought about by the increase in the population of PWDs, whether the authorities will review the current home care services and formulate new HKRPP to provide appropriate services to PWDs; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that the authorities are now working on the Elderly Services Programme Plan ("ESPP") and are consulting different stakeholders, of the details of the implementation of ESPP by the authorities; how the authorities ensure that the proposed ESPP can cater for the needs of elderly with different severity of disabilities; and (3) given that the building standards set out by the Government in 2008 in the Design Manual: Barrier-Free Access do not apply retroactively and are not applicable to the premises under the management of the Government or the Hong Kong Housing Authority, and that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has expressed regret in this regard and has recommended that the Government strengthen the monitoring of barrier-free access, whether the authorities will, in response to the increase in the population of PWDs, amend the design manual as well as accept the observations and recommendations of the Committee; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
Investment-linked assurance schemes ("ILAS") are long-term investment-cum-life insurance products and the related policy values (and may also include death benefit) are subject to investment risks and market fluctuations. The Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") pointed out in the Circular Clarifying the Licensing Requirements arising out of the Promotion, Offering or Sale of Investment-Linked Assurance Schemes to the Public ("the Circular") issued on 13 August 2009 that even if the underlying funds selected by ILAS policyholders usually are securities, advising or making recommendations to ILAS policyholders concerning the selection of funds does not constitute advising on securities as specified in Schedule 5 to the Securities and Futures Ordinance ("SFO"). SFC is of the view that insurers, corporate insurance brokers and individuals who are insurance agents or insurance brokers (collectively referred to as "insurance intermediaries") are not required to be licensed by SFC under SFO by virtue of their engaging in promoting, offering or selling ILAS to the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if SFC, since the issuance of the aforesaid Circular, has changed its policy on regulation of ILAS products; if SFC has, of the reasons for and the details of such changes; (2) given that ILAS involves fund investments, market risks and the interests of policyholders, whether it knows the justifications of SFC for not regulating the sale of ILAS (including advising the policyholders concerning the selection of funds) by insurance intermediaries and not requiring such persons to apply for licences for engaging in relevant activities; and (3) whether the authorities will step up regulation of the selling activities of this kind of investment performance-linked insurance products, including enacting legislation to classify relevant selling activities as regulated activities under SFO, so as to better protect the interests of the policyholders of this kind of insurance products; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon Michael TIEN to ask: (Translation)
I have noticed that since the Finance Committee ("FC") of this Council scrutinized the funding proposal in relation to the North East New Territories New Development Areas last year, FC and the Public Works Subcommittee ("PWSC") have been slow in their progress of scrutinizing funding proposals for public works projects. The Government originally expected to submit 89 funding proposals for public works projects to PWSC and FC in the current legislative session, but up to the end of last month, these two committees passed respectively merely 28 and 22 funding proposals, i.e. less than 32% and 25% of them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the time required in general for a public works project from initial planning to completion, and the time required for each procedure involved; how such lengths of time compare with the relevant time lengths of the public works projects for which the authorities submitted funding approvals to FC last year and this year; if the time lengths involved in those projects are longer than those of the projects in the past, of the amount of the relevant additional expenditure; among the funding proposals for public works projects submitted by the Government to PWSC and FC in each of the past five legislative sessions, of the respective percentages of them approved; (2) of the number of public works projects the tendering exercises for which were deferred due to the failure in obtaining funding approval in time, and the number of public works that were delayed due to the failure in obtaining approval for supplementary provisions in time, since last year, and whether the Government was required to pay any compensation to the contractors for such delays; if so, of the amounts and sources of the funds involved; and (3) as it has been reported that the poor relationship between the executive and the legislature has posed many obstacles to funding proposals for public works projects and other work of the Government, whether the Government has assessed if the far-below-target number of projects passed by PWSC and FC so far involves any maladministration; of the measures that the Government has in place to ameliorate the situation, such as whether it will review the tendering system, or adopt the arrangement of "tendering before funding application" for certain public works projects, so as to enhance the efficiency of policy implementation?
6. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The Government plans to amend the approved Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau Outline Zoning Plan to rezone a piece of harbourfront government land at Ap Lei Chau, at which the Hong Kong School of Motoring ("the School site") is presently sited, to residential use for taking forward a residential development project to provide around 1 500 units. Some Ap Lei Chau residents have relayed to me their grave concerns about the land planning in the district. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) when the authorities will commence the statutory procedures for amending the planned use of the School site, as well as the concrete work plan and timetable; whether the authorities will consult Ap Lei Chau residents on the amendment; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will consider rezoning the harbourfront lots in the area of the School site for use as district sitting-out or water sports facilities; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the impact of the new use of the School site on the traffic flow of the Ap Lei Chau Bridge, the trunk roads in Aberdeen and Wong Chuk Hang as well as the Aberdeen Tunnel was taken into account in the traffic assessment conducted by the authorities in respect of the amendment to the planned use of the School site; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as quite a number of residents have indicated that they are worried about the hazards posed by the liquefied petroleum gas and oil products transit depot at Ap Lei Chau to the residents of South Horizons nearby, whether the authorities will consider amending the planned use of the site of the oil depot in the course of amending the planned use of the School site, in order to address the safety concerns of the residents; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*7. Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the United States Food and Drug Administration published an updated Import Alert on the 20th of last month, and continued to prohibit the import of Japanese food products which fail to pass the physical examination. The food products include milk, butter, milk-based formula, milk-based infant formula and other milk products, vegetables and vegetable products, rice, whole grain, fish, meat and poultry, venus clams, sea urchin, yuzu fruit, kiwi fruit and so on. This is because the food products concerned are at risk of radionuclide contamination as a result of the radionuclide contamination problem in Japan. It has also been reported that the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan announced last month that, starting from the 15th of last month, strict control over the import of Japanese food products would be imposed. Taiwan will continue to prohibit the import of food products from the five prefectures of Japan most affected by the Fukushima nuclear incident, namely Fukushima, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Chiba and Gunma. It also requires that certificates of origin must be presented for food products from other areas of Japan, while radiation inspection certificates must be produced for more than 800 food items in three classifications (including marine products, tea and baby food) from Tokyo Metropolis and Shizuoka Prefecture, before these food products may be imported into Taiwan. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the work on testing of food products imported from Japan performed by the Centre for Food Safety ("CFS") under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in the past 12 months, and the number of food samples that failed to meet food safety standards (tabulate the information by type of food); (2) how the authorities ensure the safety of food products imported from Japan; whether CFS will step up sample laboratory tests on those food products, particularly the radiation level of such food products; (3) whether the authorities will, by making reference to the practices of the United States and Taiwan, require the production of certificates of origin for all the food products imported from Japan and prohibit the import of Japanese food products which fail to pass the radiation examination; and (4) as it was reported last month that some food products from radiation-contaminated areas of Japan were imported via container terminals and put on the market without testing, whether the authorities will establish food inspection facilities for food products imported by sea so as to ensure that prohibited food products will not be imported into Hong Kong?
*8. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Some employers have relayed to me that they must register the people whom they employ, who came to Hong Kong under the Working Holiday Scheme ("the Scheme"), in a Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") scheme and make contributions for them, as in the case of local employees. Such employers have pointed out that this requirement both increases the administrative work of employers and causes inconvenience to such employees because when employees leave Hong Kong and return to their home countries, they must undergo complicated and time-consuming procedures, as well as make a declaration about their permanent departure from Hong Kong before they can claim the accrued benefits in their MPF accounts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of people who came to work in Hong Kong under the Scheme last year, and whether the authorities know the total amount of MPF contributions made by them and their employers; (2) given that some people, who had come to Hong Kong under the Scheme, did not claim the accrued benefits in their MPF accounts upon their permanent departure from Hong Kong, whether the authorities know how their MPF trustees handle the monies concerned; and (3) whether it will consider amending the relevant legislation to exempt people who come to work in Hong Kong under the Scheme from participation in MPF schemes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
The authorities set up the Steering Committee on Mediation ("the Steering Committee") in late 2012 to promote the more extensive use of mediation to resolve disputes. The Steering Committee has three sub-committees, namely the Regulatory Framework Sub-committee, the Public Education and Publicity Sub-committee and the Accreditation Sub-committee. One of the functions and powers of the Accreditation Sub-committee is to consider whether and when a statutory accreditation body is to be set up to replace the Hong Kong Mediation Accreditation Association Limited ("HKMAAL") which was established in April 2013 and charged with functions including setting accreditation standards for mediators. The authorities indicated in July last year that as HKMAAL had only been operating for a short period of time and that the setting up of a statutory body required detailed consideration of numerous complicated issues, more experience should be gained from the operation of HKMAAL before issues relating to the setting up of a statutory accreditation body to replace HKMAAL are studied. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the utilization of mediation services; if it has, of the total number of mediation cases (including those cases in which the parties to legal proceedings were required by the court to conduct mediation, or cases in which mediation was conducted with the assistance of mediation service providers) as well as the numbers of parties and mediators involved, in the past three years and, among them, the percentage of cases reaching agreement (set out the information by type of cases); if it has not compiled such statistics, the reasons for that, and how the authorities assess the utilization of mediation services by means of objective data; (2) whether it has set an annual target, say 50%, on the percentage, among the mediation cases, of cases reaching agreement after mediation; if it has, of the target; if not, how the authorities assess the effectiveness of mediation services; (3) given that HKMAAL has operated for more than two years since its establishment, whether the authorities have assessed if it is opportune to conduct a study on the setting up of a statutory accreditation body; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, when the study will commence; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, of the reasons for that; (4) for those mediators whose qualifications have not been accredited by HKMAAL, how the authorities assess their qualifications and monitor their conduct in the mediation process as well as the way in which they handle conflicts of interests; (5) of the mechanisms currently adopted by the authorities for handling complaints about the following matters: (i) the conduct of mediators whose qualifications have not been accredited by HKMAAL, (ii) the operation of organizations which have not joined HKMAAL as members, and (iii) the quality of mediation courses provided by such organizations; and (6) whether it has considered promoting mediation services in the community, so as to encourage members of the public to make more use of such services to resolve disputes; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Recently, quite a number of residents of the Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing ("Tsuen Kwai") districts have relayed to me that there is a shortfall in the daily consultation quotas available for advance booking at the public general out-patient clinics ("clinics") in the districts. They have also pointed out that, with the completion of new public housing blocks in the Tsuen Kwai districts one after another in the coming few years, the population of the two districts will increase significantly, aggravating the burden on the public healthcare system in these districts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the consultation quotas of the various clinics in the Tsuen Kwai districts in each of the past three years (set out in the table below);
Clinic 2012 2013 2014 Ha Kwai Chung General Out-patient Clinic Mrs Wu York Yu General Out-patient Clinic North Kwai Chung General Out-patient Clinic South Kwai Chung Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic Tsing Yi Cheung Hong General Out-patient Clinic Tsing Yi Town General Out-patient Clinic Lady Trench General Out-patient Clinic Yan Chai Hospital General Practice Clinic (2) whether it knows (i) the average daily number of attendances and (ii) the average consultation time per patient in respect of each of the clinics set out in (1) last year (set out in table form); (3) whether it knows the unused quotas of each of the clinics set out in (1) in each month of last year (set out in table form); (4) whether it knows the factors considered by the Hospital Authority ("HA") in setting the daily consultation quotas to be allocated by various clinics, and how the number of doctors actually staffed at the clinics on a particular day affects the consultation quotas that day; whether there is a mechanism to review if such quotas are sufficient to meet the demand; if so, of the details, and how often such a review is conducted; and (5) whether it will request HA, apart from uploading the relevant information onto its web site, to announce the consultation quotas and unused quotas of various clinics each day by other means (e.g. by posting notices at various clinics or through the existing General Out-patient Clinics Telephone Appointment System), so that members of the public may identify more quickly the clinics at which treatment services are available?
*11. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of residents in Ma On Shan (including Wu Kai Sha) have complained to me about the serious mosquito problem in the district. Besides, in recent years, a large number of mainland tourists have stayed in the Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village, and there have been very serious garbage problems in the nearby area from To Tau beach to Wu Kai Sha beach. Some members of the public have repeatedly lodged complaints through the 1823 Call Centre or with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD"), but FEHD has not deployed staff to follow up the cases. Some residents have created a group called "Friends of Ma On Shan" on Facebook and invited dozens of residents to clear the litter on those beaches on holidays. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Government carried out, in the past six months, anti-mosquito operations in the following areas in the Ma On Shan district: (i) the public area from Kam Tai Court to Oceanaire; (ii) the public area along Chevalier Garden and the hillside nearby; (iii) the public area along Kam Ying Court and the hillside nearby; (iv) the public area from Ma On Shan Tsuen to Ma On Shan Country Park and the hillside nearby; (v) the public area from the Youth Village to To Tau Village and the seashore nearby; and (vi) the public area from Lee On Estate to To Tau Village and the hillside and seashore nearby; if it did, of the respective numbers of such operations and whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the operations; if it did not, when it will do so; (2) whether it will carry out more anti-mosquito operations in Ma On Shan in the coming three months; if it will, of the number of operations to be carried out each week; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether, in the past five years, it issued warnings and fixed penalty notices to members of the public or tourists for littering in the area from To Tau beach to Wu Kai Sha beach; if it did, of the respective numbers; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether, in the past five years, it deployed staff to inspect the environmental hygiene conditions in the area from To Tau beach to Wu Kai Sha beach; if it did, of the number of inspections conducted each week and the average duration of inspection each time; if not, the reasons for that and whether it will immediately deploy staff to inspect the environmental hygiene conditions of the area each day, institute prosecution against offenders, and deploy staff to clear the litter; if it will, when it will do so; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) given that the local residents have to clear the litter in the area from To Tau beach to Wu Kai Sha beach themselves during holidays because of the poor environmental hygiene conditions there, whether the Government will apologize to them; if it will, when it will apologize; if not, of the reasons for that and how it manifests the Government's public accountability?
*12. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that nine years ago, a Hong Kong resident arranged for her three-year old mainland-born grandson to come to Hong Kong on the strength of an Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as Two-Way Permit ("TWP")) which belonged to another person, and kept hiding the child in Hong Kong since then. That resident has recently brought the child to the Immigration Department ("ImmD") and surrendered herself in the hope that the Director of Immigration ("the Director") would exercise discretion under the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115) to permit the child to stay in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of adults and minors from the Mainland who overstayed in Hong Kong in each year since 1 July 1997; among them, the respective numbers of persons who entered the territory on the strength of TWPs, the Individual Visit Scheme ("IVS") endorsements and multiple-entry Individual Visit Endorsements ("multiple-entry endorsements"); (2) among those persons who entered the territory on the strength of TWPs, IVS endorsements and multiple-entry endorsements and overstayed in Hong Kong since 1 July 1997, of the respective numbers of persons who have been found to be overstaying because they (i) surrendered themselves to ImmD and (ii) were under investigation by ImmD, and the respective numbers of persons who (iii) have been repatriated to the Mainland by ImmD, (iv) have been permitted to stay in Hong Kong on the discretion by the Director, and (v) are still holding only recognizance forms (commonly known as "going-out passes") issued by ImmD (with a tabulated breakdown by year, type of travel documents held and whether the person concerned is adult); (3) of the number of cases in which applications for admission to school from minors holding going-out passes were supported by ImmD in the past five years, as well as the general criteria based on which ImmD considered such cases; (4) of the numbers of overstayers who were permitted to stay in Hong Kong on the discretion of the Director in the past five years, with a breakdown by (i) their place of origin and (ii) the Director's reason for granting such permission; (5) of the criteria that the Director must consider in exercising his discretion (particularly on humanitarian grounds) to permit overstayers to stay in Hong Kong; and (6) of the existing mechanism for ImmD to conduct proactive investigation into suspected cases of overstaying?
*13. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that recently some intermediaries in Shenzhen have launched Hong Kong companion-study programmes for parents of doubly non-permanent resident ("DNR") children (i.e. children born in Hong Kong but whose parents are non-permanent residents of Hong Kong), which assist them to enrol in post-secondary programmes offered by local tertiary institutions, so that they may legally stay in Hong Kong to take care of their DNR children and apply to bring in their mainland spouse and minor children as dependants to live in Hong Kong. Moreover, the intermediaries suggest such parents to take a two-year sub-degree and a four-year undergraduate programmes and then stay in Hong Kong to work for another year in order to fulfil the residence requirement of having ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than seven years, thereby obtaining the right of abode in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of mainland people studying locally-accredited self-financing post-secondary programmes ("self-financing post-secondary programmes") (including sub-degree, undergraduate and postgraduate programmes) in Hong Kong and its percentage in the total number of students studying the relevant programmes in each of the past five academic years (with a tabulated breakdown by type of programmes); (2) whether it knows, among the mainland people studying post-secondary programmes funded by the University Grants Committee ("funded post-secondary programmes") or self-financing post-secondary programmes in Hong Kong in each of the past five academic years, the number of those who were parents of DNR children (with a tabulated breakdown by type of programmes); (3) among the mainland people studying funded post-secondary programmes or self-financing post-secondary programmes in Hong Kong in the past five academic years, of the number of those whose applications for bringing in their dependants to live in Hong Kong were successful and the number of dependants involved; (4) of the number of non-local graduates of post-secondary programmes taking up employment in Hong Kong in the past five years, with a breakdown by their country/territory of origin and type of programmes they studied; (5) of the respective numbers of mainland people, who had studied funded post-secondary programmes or self-financing post-secondary programmes in Hong Kong, and their dependants who obtained the right of abode in Hong Kong in each of the past five years; and (6) whether it has reviewed the system for issuing entry visas to people for coming to Hong Kong to study post-secondary programmes and their dependants; if it has reviewed, of the outcome and the authorities' improvement measures?
*14. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that on 29 April this year, personnel from the Buildings Department ("BD"), in collaboration with police officers, executed closure orders and carried out demolition works against two sub-divisions of flat units (commonly known as "sub-divided units") in Wing Fung Industrial Building in Tsuen Wan. Subsequently, over 20 affected occupants and representatives of support groups petitioned at BD's Mongkok office to request the authorities to "rehouse before clearance" and waited overnight at the corridor outside the office for several days. The incident has aroused wide public concern about the authorities' rehousing arrangements for the affected occupants when carrying out operations to eradicate sub-divided units in industrial buildings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have grasped the current number of sub-divided units in industrial buildings; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the respective occupancy rates of various Interim Housings ("IHs") in the past three years; whether the authorities will consider using IH units as temporary accommodation for the occupants affected by operations to eradicate sub-divided units in industrial buildings; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that the aforesaid operation to eradicate sub-divided units led to strong resistance from the occupants, whether the Government will suspend those eradication operations which are under planning; and (4) as the authorities indicated in 2012 that they were exploring ways, under the policy on revitalization of industrial buildings, to facilitate the owners of suitable industrial buildings to undertake wholesale conversion of such buildings to transitional accommodations compliant with relevant requirements for use on an interim basis, of the current progress of such work?
*15. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
Some residents of old districts have relayed to me that the problem of prostitution in the districts is serious, causing nuisance to the residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following in the past three years:
(1) the number of anti-vice operations mounted by the Police, with a breakdown by District Council district or police district; (2) the respective numbers of persons arrested in anti-vice operations for (i) allegedly soliciting for immoral purposes and (ii) allegedly breaching their conditions of stay for engaging in prostitution, with a breakdown by District Council district or police district; (3) the number of persons arrested by the Police for allegedly controlling over persons for the purpose of prostitution, and the penalties generally imposed on those convicted; (4) the number and male-to-female ratio of persons under the age of 16 or students found to be engaging in prostitution activities by the Police during anti-vice operations, with a breakdown by age group; how the Police handled these persons; and (5) the measures taken by the authorities to combat prostitution activities organized through the Internet; whether they have assessed the effectiveness of such measures; if they have assessed, of the outcome?
*16. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
The Census and Statistics Department collected data on the proportions and characteristics of employees taking statutory holidays ("SHs") and general holidays ("GHs") in Hong Kong through a supplementary questionnaire to the General Household Survey conducted in the second quarter of 2011. The survey results show that among the 2 343 500 employees entitled to paid SHs in Hong Kong, the numbers of those taking GHs and those not taking GHs were 1 365 400 (49.5%) and 852 200 (30.9%) respectively. Regarding the taking of GHs by employees, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, among the small and medium-sized enterprises (i.e. manufacturing businesses employing fewer than 100 persons and non-manufacturing businesses employing fewer than 50 persons) at present, (i) the numbers and percentages of those granting and not granting employees GHs and (ii) the total numbers of their employees and the percentages of such numbers in the total workforce, with a breakdown by industry and employment size class; (2) of the action taken by the authorities in the past five years to promote the alignment of the number of SHs with that of GHs by increasing the number of SHs to 17 days a year, as well as the progress of such actions; and (3) whether it has plans, in the remainder of its term, to expeditiously enact legislation on the alignment of the number of SHs with that of GHs by increasing the number of SHs to 17 days a year; if it does, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Many members of the public have relayed to me that although it has been months since the occupation movement ended in the end of last year, there are at present quite a number of people still occupying the pavements along Tim Mei Avenue in Admiralty and the public places nearby. Apart from putting up unauthorized structures such as tents, pitches, huts, etc., these occupiers have also placed large quantities of miscellaneous objects there. Such acts not only have caused serious obstructions on passageways, but are also alleged of breaking the law. These members of the public have indicated that they do not understand why the Government has not yet taken any action to tackle the situation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has surveyed (i) the numbers of structures such as tents, pitches, huts, etc., (ii) the respective areas occupied by such structures, and (iii) the number of such occupiers, at the aforesaid location; (2) whether it has looked into the purpose of such occupiers in occupying public places; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it has looked into the organizations, groups and political parties to which such occupiers belong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) of the daily quantity of garbage and level of noise generated by such occupiers at present; the extra manpower and resources deployed by the authorities to deal with the garbage; (5) whether it has assessed the impact of the occupation of public places on various social aspects (including the accessibility of pedestrian passages, law and order, environmental hygiene, public order, pedestrian safety, etc.); if it has assessed, of the details; if it has not assessed, the reasons for that; (6) whether it has assessed if the aforesaid occupation of public places has breached the law; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the legislation contravened, and whether and when the authorities will institute prosecutions; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the reasons for that; (7) of the numbers of related complaints which the Police have dealt with, followed up and replied, as well as their details; (8) of the government departments which are responsible for tackling the aforesaid occupation of public places; their follow-up actions taken in respect of such situation; (9) whether the authorities have put in place a set of law enforcement criteria against illegal occupation of public places for the purpose of street sleeping; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (10) why it has not carried out clearance operation all along; (11) whether it will consider setting a deadline by which the occupiers have to remove their structures and miscellaneous objects on their own, and taking actions to remove such objects after the deadline; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (12) whether the Chief Executive and the principal officials under the accountability system have visited the aforesaid sites to understand the situation; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (13) whether it has assessed if the Government continuously turning a blind eye to the occupation of public places for several months has undermined the credibility of its governance, affected the overall image of Hong Kong, and hindered the development of the tourism industry; and (14) whether the authorities will tackle the occupation of pavements immediately after this Council has voted on the proposals on the method for selecting the Chief Executive in 2017; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
The Government formulated a set of guidelines in April 2009 to encourage various policy bureaux and government departments to carry out regular carbon emission audits for government buildings with construction floor areas exceeding 10 000 square metres. Moreover, the authorities launched in September 2012 a three-year programme to conduct energy-cum-carbon audits for government buildings and public facilities. Regarding the promotion of carbon emission audits and reduction of carbon emissions by buildings, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) of the respective performance, in terms of (i) total carbon emissions and (ii) electricity consumption, of each policy bureau and government department participating in the energy-cum-carbon audits in each of the past three years; (2) given that the target of the aforesaid three-year programme is to conduct energy-cum-carbon audits for 120 government buildings and public facilities, but only half of the target was met as at March this year, whether they have assessed if the target can be achieved on schedule; and (3) of the measures, apart from the launching of the "Green Hong Kong•Carbon Audit" campaign in 2008 and the enactment of relevant statutory requirements such as the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap. 610), the authorities have in place to motivate owners of private buildings to conduct carbon emission audits and implement energy saving measures for their buildings?
*19. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, there has been a growing concern about animal rights among members of the public, but incidents of cruelty to animals still occur from time to time. Besides, quite a number of cats and dogs which have been abandoned by their owners or have gone astray are left homeless in the streets, and stray cats and dogs caught by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") will be euthanized if they are not reclaimed or re-homed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of reports on lost pets received by (i) the Animal Management Centres under AFCD, (ii) the Police and (iii) the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in each of the past five years, and among such cases, the number of those involving multiple reports filed with more than one organization; (2) among the cases in (1), of the number of pets which were found, with a tabulated breakdown by type of pet and their percentages in the total number of cases; (3) given that the Rabies Regulation (Cap. 421A) provides that any persons keeping any dog over the age of five months must obtain a licence, and the licensing procedures include microchipping the dog for identification, among the number of reported cases of lost dogs in the past five years, of the number of those in which the owner of the dog was located with the information contained in the microchip implanted in the dog; (4) whether it has plans to enact laws to require owners of cats to arrange for microchipping their cats and obtain licences for keeping the cats, so as to facilitate the authorities to locate the owners of the cats they have caught; (5) of the number of animals euthanized by AFCD in the past five years, with a breakdown by type of animal; (6) whether it will (i) draw up a blacklist of persons who were convicted of the offences under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169) for having committed acts of cruelty to animals, (ii) permanently forbid them to purchase or adopt any animals, and (iii) refuse their applications for licences for keeping animals; and (7) given that the authorities indicated in July 2014 that they would proceed to prepare the legislative amendments to the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Traders) Regulations (Cap. 139B), with a view to enhancing animal health and welfare through better regulation of animal trading, as well as the breeding and selling of dogs, and they expected to table the amendment regulation within the 2014-2015 session of this Council, of the current progress of the relevant drafting work?
*20. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in recent years, quite a number of items of play equipment for the elderly and children in public housing estates had been left damaged for long periods but the Housing Department ("HD") still failed to have them replaced or repaired, thus attracting criticisms from public housing residents. A spokesperson for HD explained that there had been delays in repairing such equipment because it took time to procure the required parts. Meanwhile, as HD upgraded the relevant safety standards last year, some or all of the items of the play equipment in the playgrounds of public housing estates have to be replaced. Such items of play equipment are unavailable for use by public housing residents during the periods when repair and replacement works are in progress. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of enquiries or complaints concerning the replacement of the aforesaid play equipment received by HD in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by District Council district; (2) of the number of sets of play equipment for which repair or replacement works were carried out by HD in the past five years, and list by equipment (i) the type of equipment, (ii) the housing estate involved, (iii) the type of works (replacement of parts or the entire equipment), (iv) the cost involved, and (v) the commencement date and completion date of works; and among such equipment, of the number of sets of equipment which have to be replaced due to the upgrading of safety standards, and the replacement details; (3) whether HD has formulated any performance pledge with regard to the time taken for the repair of play equipment; if HD has, of the details, and the percentage of repair works meeting the performance pledge in the total number of repair works carried out in the past five years; if not, whether HD will formulate such a performance pledge; and (4) of HD's guidelines or means to ensure that contractors will complete the repair works for play equipment as quickly as possible, and whether HD will review such guidelines with a view to improving repair works?
*21. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
On 26 April this year, a fatal explosion accident occurred at a vehicle repair workshop (“workshop”) in Tsz Wan Shan. It has been reported that as the accident might have been caused by the leakage of liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) from an LPG taxi under repair at the scene, the public and the transport sector are concerned about the safety of LPG workshops and the adequacy of the authorities’ regulation of workshops. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details (including titles of the instruments, abstracts, dates of publication and gazettal, dates of updating/amendments, and the penalties for non-compliance) of the relevant guidelines, directions and regulations or codes of practice on issues relating to repair of LPG vehicles formulated under the Gas Safety Ordinance (Cap. 51) by the authorities in the past five years; of the mechanism for ensuring compliance with such instruments by relevant personnel; (2) regarding the existing Guideline for Revalidation of LPG Fuel Tanks for LPG Vehicles, the Code of Practice for Servicing and Maintenance of LPG Vehicle Fuel System, the Guideline for LPG Fuelled Vehicles Workshop in Hong Kong and the Guideline for Disposal of LPG Vehicle Fuel Tanks issued by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (“EMSD”), of (i) their dates of publication, updating/amendments, and (ii) the details of amendments made; whether such code of practice/guidelines have been gazetted, whether they have any legal effect, and the penalties for non-compliance; (3) of the safety requirements (including choices of location, facilities for fire prevention, ventilation, discharge of pollutants and storage of dangerous goods, as well as the safety equipment that repair mechanics are required to be equipped with) for compliance, under the existing legislation, by workshops engaged in the general maintenance and repair of vehicles (“general workshops”); whether there are additional and more stringent requirements, under the existing legislation, for workshops which may carry out the repair and maintenance of LPG vehicle fuel systems (i.e. those which have hired Competent Persons (Class 6) who are qualified for supervising and carrying out the relevant repair work) (“qualified workshops”); if there are, of the specific requirements; if not, whether it will review the relevant requirements; (4) whether the relevant government departments conducted, in the past three years, regular inspections of qualified and general workshops for compliance with the safety requirements; if they did, of the respective average numbers of inspections for such workshops; of the date on which the authorities last inspected the workshop in which the explosion occurred; (5) of the numbers of workshops inspected by EMSD in the past three years and, among them, the number of those which: (a) were approved for storing LPG fuel tanks of more than 130 litres i.e. LPG “notifiable gas installations” workshops, (b) hired Competent Persons (Class 6) to carry out repair work for the fuel systems of LPG vehicles, and (c) were general workshops; the number of workshop owners prosecuted by EMSD in the past three years for (i) unauthorized storage of LPG fuel tanks of more than 130 litres, and (ii) carrying out replacement of LPG fuel tanks or the maintenance, repair or replacement of related parts without the supervision of Competent Persons (Class 6); (6) of the safety requirements (including choices of location, facilities for fire prevention, ventilation, diof the number and age distribution of Competent Persons (Class 6) and their percentage in the total number of vehicle repair mechanics in each of the past five years; among them, of the ratio of those who worked in qualified workshops to those who worked in general workshops; (7) of the safety requirements (including choices of location, facilities for fire prevention, ventilation, dias the Register of Competent Persons (Class 6) published on the web site of EMSD only contains the names of such persons and information about the relevant vehicle servicing courses they have completed, whether the authorities will consider publishing, for public inspection, more information, such as the addresses of the workshops they work for or means of contact; (8) of the safety requirements (including choices of location, facilities for fire prevention, ventilation, dias it has been reported that the workshop in which the explosion accident occurred was merely a general workshop but not a qualified one, and it did not hire any Competent Persons (Class 6) to supervise and carry out relevant repair work for LPG vehicles, whether the authorities have reviewed if EMSD’s regulation of general workshops carrying out repair work for LPG vehicles is inadequate; and (9) of the safety requirements (including choices of location, facilities for fire prevention, ventilation, diwhether it has plans to amend the relevant legislation or formulate statutory guidelines to enhance the regulation of the safety of all workshops carrying out repair work for the fuel systems of LPG vehicles?
*22. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Currently, the "eligible persons" (e.g. fellows and full members) of those bodies specified in the Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap. 542) may register as electors in the Information Technology Functional Constituency ("ITFC") of the Legislative Council. Last year, I submitted a proposal on ITFC to the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau ("CMAB"), with a view to amending the definition of the "eligible persons" in respect of three bodies (i.e. the Information Technology Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, The Institution of Engineering and Technology Hong Kong and the Professional Information Security Association), and to including the eligible persons in respect of six new bodies (i.e. the Information Security and Forensics Society, the IT Service Management Forum Hong Kong Chapter, the Hong Kong Retail Technology Industry Association, the Chamber of Hong Kong Computer Industry Co. Ltd., the Hong Kong Electronic Industries Association and the Government Information Technology Professionals Association) as electors. I also requested to have a meeting with the authorities together with the relevant bodies to discuss the proposal, but no meeting was arranged. On the other hand, in March this year, CMAB submitted a paper on legislative amendments regarding the 2016 Legislative Council election to the Panel on Constitutional Affairs of this Council, proposing, among other things, to include "fellows and full members of the Information Security and Forensics Society entitled to vote at general meetings of the Society" as new electors in ITFC. However, some members of ITFC have pointed out that this proposal does not have any obvious effect on expanding ITFC. Regarding the authorities' consultation work in relation to updating the electorate of functional constituencies ("FCs"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether CMAB consulted the nine aforesaid bodies on updating the electorate of ITFC before formulating the aforesaid proposal; if it did, of the dates of the meetings and details of the discussions; the views put forward by these bodies, whether the authorities have accepted such views and the justifications for that; (2) given that at the meeting of the Bills Committee on Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2015 of this Council on 18 May this year, the Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs said that the authorities had consulted the relevant bureaux when formulating proposals on updating the electorate of FCs, of the details of the views given by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau to CMAB; whether the former consulted the nine aforesaid bodies before tendering such views; if it did, of the details and the correspondence exchanged, communications or records of meetings; (3) of the bureaux which CMAB consulted on updating the electorate of FCs, and the FC electorates views on which were offered by each of the bureaux consulted; (4) whether the practice of CMAB consulting the relevant bureaux on updating the electorate of FCs is a long-standing policy of the Government; if so, by whom and when the decision of adopting this practice was first made, and whether this practice was made public at the time; if it was made public, of the details; and (5) whether the authorities, when reviewing the electorate of Legislative Council FCs, liaised with the relevant bodies on the definition of "eligible persons" belonging to the bodies under the FCs specified in Cap. 542, including enquiring whether the membership qualifications of such bodies had undergone any changes after such bodies were included as the bodies under FCs; whether such bodies have any statutory obligation to report such changes to the authorities; if such bodies do, of the details; whether the authorities will review afresh the definitions of "eligible persons" related to such bodies after noting that there have been changes in membership qualifications of such bodies; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion: That the notice, as annexed to this Motion, which specifies the revised criteria that a person must satisfy before the Commissioner of Police may, under the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance, issue to him a security personnel permit, be approved. |
| (The annex to the motion is in Appendix I and was also issued on
27 May 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 707/14-15) | |
| 2. | Proposed resolution under the Buildings Ordinance
Secretary for Development to move the motion in Appendix II.
|
| (The motion was also issued on 28 May 2015
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 711/14-15) |