Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

A 14/15-32

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 17 June 2015 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Patents Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2015	121/2015
2.	Registered Designs Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule) Regulation 2015	122/2015
3.	Trade Marks Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Regulation 2015	123/2015
4.	Layout-design (Topography) of Integrated Circuits (Designation of Qualifying Countries, Territories or Areas) (Amendment) Regulation 2015	124/2015

Other Papers

1.	No. 99	-	The 26th Report on the Work of the Advisory Committee on Post-service Employment of Civil Servants (1 January - 31 December 2014)
(to be presented by Secretary for the Civil Service)
2.	No. 100	-	Securities and Futures Commission Annual Report 2014-15
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)
3.	No. 101	-	Investor Education Centre Annual Report 2014-15
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)
4.	Report No. 23/14-15 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)
5.	Report of the Subcommittee on Proposals on the Method for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2017
(to be presented by Hon TAM Yiu-chung, Chairman of the Subcommittee, who will address the Council)

II. Questions

1. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)

In recent months, quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me that some staff members of financial intermediaries, impersonating staff members of banks, telephoned them to persuade them to refinance their properties. Such financial intermediaries even colluded with finance companies to charge the victims exorbitant intermediary fees. Should the victims concerned refuse to pay the fees, the financial intermediaries would harass and intimidate them incessantly, causing great distress to them and their families. It is learnt that some financial intermediaries could accurately tell the victims' personal particulars when telephoning them, thus winning their trust. So far, I have received 69 such complaints involving a total sum amounting to over $49 million, indicating that the problem is serious. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has studied if the aforesaid business practices of financial intermediaries are in contravention of the Money Lenders Ordinance, the Trade Descriptions Ordinance or other legislation; if the study outcome is in the affirmative, of the number of prosecutions against such contraventions instituted by law enforcement agencies in the past three years; whether the authorities will step up law enforcement actions in response to such increasingly rampant practices; if they will, of the specific measures; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	given that among the complaints I have received, nearly half of them involved the owners' refinancing of their subsidized sale flats with unpaid premium, whether the authorities will step up publicity to remind owners of subsidized sale flats of the requirement to obtain approval from the Director of Housing before they may refinance their flats with unpaid premium; whether the authorities will further streamline the current procedures of vetting and approval of refinancing applications; if they will, of the specific measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	whether, in order to combat the aforesaid malpractices of financial intermediaries, the authorities will adopt new measures, including (i) amending the relevant legislation to limit the fees charged by financial intermediaries, (ii) making public the information about the finance companies and financial intermediaries involved in such malpractices, so as to prevent members of the public from inadvertently falling into lending traps, and (iii) requiring banks, other financial institutions and credit reference agencies to review their mechanisms for protecting the personal data of their customers; if they will, of the specific measures; if not, the reasons for that?

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

2. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

At present, it is not uncommon to see long queues of women, waiting for their turn to use the toilet, outside the female toilets in public places such as shopping arcades, department stores, cinemas, etc. The Government indicated in 2011 that it was planning to amend the Building (Standards of Sanitary Fitments, Plumbing, Drainage Works and Latrines) Regulations ("the Regulations"). Since it takes time to amend the law, the Buildings Department updated the relevant Practice Note for Authorized Persons, Registered Structural Engineers and Registered Geotechnical Engineers in 2012 to promote voluntary adoption by the industry of the new standard of provision of male and female sanitary fitments for newly developed public places, i.e. with the relevant ratio being amended from the existing 1:1 to 1:1.5. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that the authorities have not yet honoured their undertaking to submit early this year the amended Regulations to this Council for scrutiny, of the latest progress of the task, and when the authorities will submit the amended Regulations;
(2)	whether it has currently adopted the new standard of provision of male and female sanitary fitments for the newly developed government facilities in order to implement gender mainstreaming and encourage the industry to follow suit; if it has not, whether it will adopt such standard; and
(3)	whether it will consider deploying staff to conduct on-site surveys in public places after the implementation of the amended Regulations in order to review the need for amending the relevant standard again to further increase the proportion of female sanitary fitments?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

3. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)

Some members of the public have relayed to me that the Legislative Assembly of the Macao Special Administrative Region generally approved the animal protection bill last year and the relevant committee is discussing the bill. The Taipei City Government has recently announced that it would implement various animal-friendly policies, including imposing heavy penalties on persons who maliciously abandon animals and encouraging the establishment of animal care homes in the community by providing rent subsidies. In Hong Kong, on the contrary, the Government has neither put in place explicit animal-friendly policies nor reviewed the effectiveness of the existing measures for the protection of animals' rights, resulting in incessant occurrence of cases of cruelty to animals by increasingly brutal means. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department set up a working group in 2011 jointly with the Police, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) to explore ways of handling animal cruelty cases, of the work progress of the working group, including whether it has proposed measures to combat cruelty to animals; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; given that the Police also launched the "Animal Watch Scheme" in 2011, of the details and the effectiveness of the work concerned;
(2)	whether it will consider following the practices of the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, etc., to establish an animal police team dedicated to handling animal cruelty cases, as well as authorizing, through enacting legislation, animal welfare organizations in the community to perform frontline patrol, handle complaints and conduct investigations, and refer cases to the Police for law enforcement actions after they have gathered sufficient evidence; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	whether it will consider amending the existing legislation to create offences concerning animal abandonment; whether it will enhance the support for animal welfare organizations in the community, so as to help them operate animal care homes to provide proper shelters for stray cats and dogs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

4. Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask: (Translation)

The Office of The Ombudsman has pointed out in its Direct Investigation Report on the Safety Regulation of Eco-friendly Refrigerants ("the Report") published last month that in 2013, an explosion occurred and a fire broke out in the air-conditioning plant room of a restaurant in Ma On Shan during the repair of the air-conditioning systems, injuring 20 persons. The incident might have been caused by the use of unsuitable and flammable refrigerants for the relevant air-conditioning systems. The Report has also pointed out that the use of flammable refrigerants on unsuitable air-conditioning systems involves a degree of risks. However, the three government departments concerned (i.e. the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Fire Services Department and the Labour Department) all consider that this issue does not fall within their respective ambits of regulation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has, in response to the aforesaid incident, reviewed the existing mechanism for regulating the safety of refrigerants and explored the establishment of a uniform mechanism to rationalize the present situation under which different government departments are responsible for regulating the different aspects of refrigerants; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	as the Report has pointed out that new-generation refrigerants that are more flammable but more eco-friendly are getting more commonly used in places outside Hong Kong, and some advertisements on the Internet also promote such refrigerants to Hong Kong users, whether the authorities have, in response to this trend, sought to understand the regulatory arrangements adopted by other places for flammable refrigerants, including import and export management, safety requirements for installation and repair, training of air-conditioning technicians, etc.; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	as some traditional refrigerants have to be phased out according to the timetables set out in the Montreal Protocol, whether the authorities will cooperate with the relevant industries to formulate a list of compliant refrigerants for convenient selection by the public and to step up publicity on the safety of refrigerants among employees in the relevant industries and the public; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officers to reply

Secretary for the Environment
Secretary for Security

5. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Some members of the aviation industry have relayed to me that in recent years, the manpower in air traffic management ("ATM") has been grossly inadequate to cope with the workload under inclement weather conditions or during the implementation of air traffic flow control ("ATFC") by the mainland authorities, thus putting such personnel under enormous pressure. Regarding ATM in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the details of the notification mechanism established between the Civil Aviation Department and the civil aviation authorities of the Mainland on the implementation of ATFC;
(2)	whether it has assessed the impact of the implementation of ATFC on the Mainland on ATM of Hong Kong, including whether ATM of Hong Kong is smooth, and whether the current manpower responsible for such task is sufficient to deal with sudden changes in air traffic flow; and
(3)	whether the authorities have, in response to the problems posed to ATM of Hong Kong by the implementation of ATFC on the Mainland and having regard to the expansion plan of the Hong Kong International Airport, conducted a comprehensive study on the human resources for ATM, including issues such as recruitment, training, remuneration packages, etc. of the personnel, in order to dovetail with and promote the long-term development of the aviation industry?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

6. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)

One of the major sources of air pollutants in Hong Kong is emissions from vessels. Recently, it has been reported that the air pollution problem in the area of Kwai Tsing District is serious (e.g. the concentration of sulphur dioxide in the air has exceeded the standard in Hong Kong's Air Quality Objectives), with air pollutants coming mainly from container vessels berthing at the Kwai Chung Container Terminals ("KCCT"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	how the air pollution level in the area of KCCT in the past three years compared to those in other districts;
(2)	whether it has recorded each month the number of container vessel calls at KCCT; whether it has currently installed air quality monitoring equipment in the area of KCCT; if it has, of the air quality in the area and the relevant data in the past six months; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	as I have learnt that quite a number of container terminals around the world have installed onshore power supply facilities, so that container vessels may switch to use electricity while berthing, whether the authorities have plans to require operators of container terminals to install such facilities at their terminals; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the Government's initiatives to alleviate the air pollution problem in Kwai Tsing District?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*7. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)

Some members of the securities industry have relayed to me that, in recent years, quite a number of listed companies first consolidated shares by a high ratio and then conducted rights issue at a significantly discounted price to raise funds from shareholders. As a result, the share prices of the companies concerned kept dropping, giving rise to the scenario of "downward price manipulation". The major shareholders of such companies acquired a large number of shares when the share prices were at a low level, thus diluting the shareholding of those minor shareholders who had not subscribed for new shares. Those members of the securities industry have also pointed out that since the management and the major shareholders of the companies have very close relationship, such financial activities might involve insider dealings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

(1)	the respective numbers of cases in which listed companies consolidated shares and conducted rights issue in each of the past five years and, among such cases, (i) the number of those in which consolidation of shares was followed by rights issue, and (ii) the respective highest ratios of consolidation of shares and rights issue involved; how such figures compare to the relevant figures of other major financial centres during the same period and to those of Hong Kong in the preceding five years; whether the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong ("SEHK") have analyzed those figures; if they have, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether SFC and SEHK have examined if there have been cases of listed companies abusing the arrangements for consolidation of shares and rights issue; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	whether listed companies are required to obtain the approval of SFC and SEHK before conducting rights issue; if so, of the procedures and the general reasons for rejecting such applications; whether there is any prevailing restriction on the highest ratios of consolidation of shares or rights issues for listed companies;
(4)	whether SFC investigated, in the past five years, into the substantial fluctuations of the share prices of listed companies during the relevant period in which consolidation of shares was followed by rights issue; if it did, of the outcome and the number of such cases in each year; if not, the reasons for that;
(5)	whether SFC has looked into the situation in which minor shareholders suffered losses because listed companies raised funds from shareholders by first consolidating shares and then conducting rights issue; if it has, of the details and the measures adopted by SFC for protecting the rights and interests of minor shareholders; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6)	whether SFC and SEHK have reviewed the relevant requirements governing listed companies in consolidating shares and conducting rights issue; if they have, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that?

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

*8. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)

The Action Plan to Reduce Alcohol-related Harm in Hong Kong ("the Action Plan"), published in October 2011 by the Working Group on Alcohol and Health ("the Working Group") set up by the Department of Health, made a series of recommendations on preventing and controlling alcohol-related harm. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	as paragraph 3.8 of the Action Plan pointed out that there was insufficient information on the psychosocial and demographic profile of drinkers, so the existing population-based health surveys should be reinforced by including measurement of psychosocial risk factors, whether the Government conducted any health surveys covering such risk factors in the past four years; if it did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	as paragraph 3.10 of the Action Plan mentioned that the Department of Health would obtain more useful epidemiological information on alcohol consumption when conducting the Population Health Survey in 2013-2014, and would provide the updated epidemiology on alcohol consumption by 2015, when the Government will announce such information; if it will not announce, of the reasons for that;
(3)	as paragraph 3.11 of the Action Plan recommended the Government to make use of appropriate research means to monitor the pattern of alcohol consumption among the youth, whether the Government conducted any relevant research in the past four years; if it did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4)	as paragraph 3.12 of the Action Plan recommended the Government to strengthen surveillance of alcohol-related harm so that the burden of alcohol-related harm could be estimated and monitored more closely and accurately, whether the Government carried out any work in this regard in the past four years; if it did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(5)	as paragraphs 3.36 and 3.37 of the Action Plan pointed out the absence of any age restriction on off-premise sale of alcohol in Hong Kong at present, and that local studies were limited, whether the Government has any plan to launch a feasibility study on introducing such an age restriction; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6)	of the number of meetings held by the Working Group each year since its establishment in 2009, and the number of Working Group members who attended each of these meetings?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*9. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)

After the end of the occupation movement late last year, a group of people have set up and lived in the tents, erected study rooms and placed miscellaneous items such as tables and chairs, etc., on the pavements outside the Central Government Offices and the Legislative Council Complex. The number of tents has been increasing in recent months, with the area of pavements occupied expanding as well. It has been reported that cases of theft and indecent assault have occurred in the area. Some members of the public have pointed out that since some people cook food and place a large quantity of wood inside the tents, they are worried about the fire hazards thus caused. They are also worried that the occupation of pavements may turn into a second occupation movement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has recorded, on a regular basis, the situation of occupation of the aforesaid pavements; if it has, of the details (including a breakdown of the number of tents by size and the number of various types of miscellaneous items); if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether it has assessed if the worsening of the occupation of the aforesaid pavements will give rise to the following incidents: people who work in the vicinity cannot gain access to their workplaces because of blockage of pavements, and emergency rescue services are even disrupted due to traffic obstruction; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	of the number of cases of theft, indecent assault and other crimes that occurred in the aforesaid area since late last year; and
(4)	given that some people cook food inside the aforesaid tents, whether the Police have carried out inspections to check if inflammable substances and other dangerous goods are stored in such tents; if the Police have done so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*10. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that a child, who claimed to have 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 exit permit") at the age of three and stayed in Hong Kong for nine years, earlier went with his grandmother to the Immigration Department ("ImmD") where they surrendered themselves. A spokesperson of ImmD indicated that if there was sufficient evidence, it would institute prosecutions against those concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, in the past 10 years:

(1)	of the number of overstaying cases handled by ImmD each year, with a tabulated breakdown by gender, age group, place of origin and period of overstay of the persons concerned;
(2)	of the number of prosecutions instituted by ImmD against overstayers each year, the penalties imposed on the convicted persons among them, and the number of such persons who were repatriated immediately after being convicted or having served a sentence, with a breakdown by place of origin of such persons;
(3)	of the number of overstayers repatriated to their places of origin by ImmD each year;
(4)	of the shortest and the longest periods for which overstayers were allowed to stay on the strength of Recognizance Forms (commonly known as "going-out passes") issued by ImmD;
(5)	of the number of overstayers who were allowed to stay in Hong Kong on the discretion of the Director of Immigration (with a breakdown by gender, age group, place of origin and period of overstay of the persons concerned), and the procedures for the Director to exercise discretionary power; and
(6)	of the number of overstaying children who were assisted by EDB in seeking schooling in Hong Kong (with a breakdown by gender, age group, place of origin and period of overstay of the children concerned), as well as the procedures and the justifications for EDB to provide such assistance?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*11. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)

In 2013, the Government decided to re-assign one-third of the 2 x 59.2 MHz of paired spectrum in the 1.9 - 2.2 GHz band ("3G Spectrum") by way of auction upon the expiry of the existing assignments in October 2016 on the ground that there were intense competing demands in the telecommunications service market for the 3G Spectrum. On the other hand, when the Government decided last month that the domestic free television programme service licence ("TV licence") of a television station be renewed for 12 years, it concurrently decided to administratively assign broadcasting spectrum to that television station. Some views query that the Government has adopted double standards in allocating the 3G Spectrum and the spectrum for television broadcasting. Such a situation has deterred potential investors from investing in the telecommunications or television industries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has assessed if managing the spectrum for television broadcasting by way of administrative assignment has violated the principle of fair competition;
(2)	how the authorities will assign the 1.5 digital multiplexes to be vacated by Asia Television Limited next year following the expiry of its TV licence; whether the authorities will consider allocating some parts of the spectrum to existing or prospective TV licensees by way of auction to encourage competition; if they will not, of the reasons for that; and
(3)	given that one of the existing television stations has been alleged of re-running its programmes frequently, thereby wasting the precious spectrum, whether the authorities will consider charging a spectrum utilization fee to promote the efficient use of spectrum; if they will not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

Some media workers have relayed to me that in recent years, there has been a lack of transparency in the dissemination of information to the media by the Education Bureau, the Food and Health Bureau as well as the Labour and Welfare Bureau. For example, when they roll out major policies, they often merely explain the relevant policies in their blogs, or just upload the relevant documents onto their web sites, rather than proactively announcing the policies to the media. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the respective staff establishments responsible for disseminating information to the media in the three aforesaid policy bureaux (including the numbers of Information Officers);
(2)	of the respective numbers of occasions on which information was disseminated to the media by staff members of the three aforesaid policy bureaux each year in the period between 2011 and May this year through the following means, and the respective policies involved (with a tabulated breakdown by policy bureau):
	(i)	releasing articles in specific web pages on the web sites of policy bureaux (e.g. "Insider's Perspective" and "Clear the Air" of the Education Bureau) (set out one by one),
	(ii)	convening closed-door briefings (commonly called "informal briefings"),
	(iii)	convening press conferences, and
	(iv)	uploading documents onto the web sites of policy bureaux;
(3)	of the respective numbers of occasions on which information was disseminated to the media by the Secretaries of the three aforesaid policy bureaux each year in the period between 2011 and May this year through the following activities (with a tabulated breakdown by policy bureau):
	(i)	delivering speeches in public functions,
	(ii)	answering questions from the media when attending public functions,
	(iii)	releasing articles in specific web pages on the web sites of policy bureaux (e.g. "Insider's Perspective" and "Clear the Air" of the Education Bureau),
	(iv)	attending closed-door informal briefings,
	(v)	attending press conferences,
	(vi)	attending interviews in programmes of electronic media,
	(vii)	attending exclusive interviews by other media, and
	(viii)	releasing photographs and press releases on duty visits to the media;
(4)	of the existing criteria adopted by the Education Bureau for determining the means through which the Secretary for Education and other officers are to contact the media and disseminate information externally; and
(5)	given the criticisms made by some media workers against the practices adopted by the Education Bureau for disseminating information on new policies to the media in recent years (such as deliberately refraining from mentioning certain contents of new policies, selectively disseminating information to individual media, and simply uploading the relevant documents onto the web site of the policy bureau when announcing new policies without actively notifying the media), of the ways in which the Education Bureau will improve the arrangements for disseminating information to the media?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

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

It is learnt that during their investigation into an incident in which a girl fell to death in April this year, the Police uncovered that her Filipino mother had overstayed in Hong Kong for as long as 21 years. In addition, a child had hidden in Hong Kong ever since he came to the territory from the Mainland nine years ago. Recently, the child and his family member surrendered themselves to the Immigration Department ("ImmD"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of overstayers in Hong Kong at present, with a breakdown in the table below; whether the authorities know the reasons for their overstaying;

Duration of overstay Entered the territory on the strength of the following instruments	Below one year	One year or above
Exit-entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao
Visit visa
Student visa
Employment visa for foreign domestic helper
Other employment visas
Other visas

(2)

of the procedures and measures currently adopted by ImmD for handling overstaying cases; and

(3)

of the respective numbers of overstaying children issued with Recognizance Forms (commonly known as "going-out passes") who were, in the past 10 years, (i) repatriated to their places of origin, and (ii) granted permission to stay in Hong Kong on the discretion of the Director of Immigration?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*14. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that earlier on, an airline company refused to let a patient of osteogenesis imperfecta (commonly known as "brittle bone disease") to board a plane. Regarding the provision of equal and reasonable civil aviation services for persons with disabilities ("PWDs"), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the number and details of the complaints received by the authorities in the past five years about PWDs being treated unfairly or unreasonably when they were using civil aviation services;
(2)	whether the authorities have formulated any guidelines on or requirements for the provision of assistance and arrangements by airline companies and ground handling service companies ("civil aviation service providers") for PWDs using their services; if they have, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider formulating such guidelines or requirements; if they will, of the details of the work; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	whether the authorities will consider enacting legislation to require civil aviation service providers to provide equal and reasonable services and arrangements for passengers who are PWDs, as well as prescribing penalties for contravention of the law; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

It is learnt that at present, subsidized child care services for primary, kindergarten and pre-school children are all seriously inadequate, failing to meet parents' needs for the services. Taking the Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin districts as examples, there is no subsidized child care service in the districts, and the number of places offered by long whole-day kindergartens ("LWD KGs") is also inadequate. On the other hand, quite a number of non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") at present operate fee-charging child care and after-school care-cum-tutorial services ("NGO-operated child care services") in the community, and some primary schools even invite NGOs to operate these services in their school premises after school. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has plans to increase the quotas of subsidized child care services in various districts, in particular the Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin districts; if it does, of the details; given that the public housing under the development at Anderson Road will soon be available for intake, whether the authorities have assessed the demand for child care services in the Kwun Tong district; if they have, of the details;
(2)	whether it has compiled statistics on the number of secondary/primary schools which offer NGO-operated child care services at present; if it has, set out a breakdown of such information by individual school; whether it has plans to encourage more schools to offer NGO-operated child care services;
(3)	of the number of LWD KGs, the number of places offered by them and the number of their students at present, with a breakdown by District Council district; whether the authorities have plans to encourage more school sponsoring bodies to operate LWD KGs; and
(4)	given that quite a number of parents have indicated that it is difficult for them to compare the quality of subsidized and NGO-operated child care services, and it is also difficult for them to obtain information on service quotas, etc., whether the authorities will consider providing one-stop information service so as to consolidate the information on various types of child care services for parents' reference?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

According to the information released by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, currently about 10% of the elderly persons (i.e. people aged 65 or above) in Hong Kong, i.e. about 100 000 people, are suffering from dementia. With an ageing population, the number of such patients is estimated to reach 280 000 by 2036. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has compiled, in the past five years, statistics on the annual changes in the number of dementia patients in order to project the demand for the relevant services; if it has, of the relevant data; if not, whether it will consider compiling the statistics;
(2)	among the current users of subsidized community care and support services for the elderly (including day care centres for the elderly and integrated home care services (frail cases)) and the residents of care-and-attention homes, of the respective numbers of persons confirmed to have dementia;
(3)	among the elderly persons currently assessed to be of mild, moderate and severe impairment levels under the Standardized Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services, of the respective numbers and percentages of those who are suffering from dementia and, among them, the number of persons who are waiting for subsidized long-term community care and support services;
(4)	of the details of the services provided in the past three years by the Government for the elderly persons suffering from dementia, including the name of the services, the amount of the annual public expenditure and the number of service recipients; and
(5)	whether it knows the number of places and the utilization of the services provided by non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") for elderly persons suffering from dementia; if it knows, of the details of such services last year; in view of the rising trend in the number of dementia patients amid an ageing population, whether the authorities will consider subsidizing, through the Community Care Fund or other means, the patients to use the fee-charging services operated by such NGOs?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*17. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

Some members of the public have pointed out to me that while the authorities drove away in 2012 those people street sleeping on the pavements in the Sham Shui Po district and removed their personal belongings, they have remained silent and turned a blind eye to the situation that some people have occupied, since the end of the "Umbrella Movement", the pavements along Tim Mei Avenue outside the Central Government Offices and the Legislative Council Complex for an extended period of time, and erected tents and pitches there without permission. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	why the authorities adopted entirely different law enforcement approaches in respect of the aforesaid two cases of pavement occupation;
(2)	whether it has assessed if such prolonged occupation of the pavements along Tim Mei Avenue has given the public an impression that the Government is selective in taking law enforcement actions, bullies the weak and fears the strong, and even does not act in accordance with the law; and
(3)	whether the authorities will issue warnings to the occupiers on the pavements along Tim Mei Avenue and demand them to expeditiously remove those structures; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities have assessed the legal or administrative consequences that may arise from the authorities' turning a blind eye to such structures for an extended period of time?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*18. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

Quite a number of elderly persons have relayed to me their hope that the Government lowers the eligibility age for the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme ("EHCVS"). Besides, I have recently received quite a number of complaints from elderly persons who alleged that some private clinics had employed various means to charge patients using Health Care Vouchers ("HCV patients") consultation fees higher than those for other patients, e.g. charging the former administrative fees or offering concessions to the latter. They considered that this practice was tantamount to gnawing the healthcare subsidies provided by the Government for the elderly, thus reducing the actual healthcare services they could receive. Regarding the implementation of EHCVS, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the current number of elderly persons eligible for using health care vouchers in Hong Kong and, among them, the percentage of those who have never used any health care voucher; whether the authorities will consider lowering the eligibility age for EHCVS to 65; if they will not, of the reasons for that;
(2)	of the number and the main contents of the complaints about EHCVS received by the authorities in the past three years; whether such complaints involved overcharging or collection of medical fees higher than those for other patients; if so, how the authorities followed up such complaints and what measures are currently in place to curb such practices;
(3)	whether the authorities have provided any guidelines or imposed any regulation regarding the items and levels of medical fees charged by healthcare service providers under EHCVS; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)	whether it has conducted any detailed analyses, comparisons and studies concerning the data on the reimbursements under EHCVS and healthcare expenditure in the past; if so, (i) whether healthcare expenditure has increased due to the implementation of EHCVS, (ii) whether there is any evidence showing that some healthcare service providers have charged, for the same disease, HCV patients medical fees higher than those for other patients, and (iii) whether it has found any elderly persons using their health care vouchers without the medical needs to do so, thus increasing public expenditure; how the authorities tackle the issues of moral risks arising from EHCVS?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*19. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)

It has recently been uncovered by the press that the staff of a private residential care home for the elderly ("RCHE") in Tai Po frequently gathered a group of female residents who lacked self-care skills on the outdoor podium of the RCHE, and stripped them of all their clothes for bathing them in turn. There are comments that since the residents of the surrounding buildings could see the naked residents on the podium, such an act is in total disregard of the dignity of the residents and reflects the authorities' improper supervision of RCHEs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has studied why the staff members of the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") all failed to discover the aforesaid situation during their numerous inspections of the aforesaid RCHE in the past; whether the authorities will review the existing mechanism for inspecting RCHEs; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	as the aforesaid RCHE reportedly converted part of its premises into a supermarket early this year, thus allegedly contravening the licensing conditions for RCHEs, whether the staff members of SWD discovered this situation during their inspections of the RCHE; if they did not, of the reasons for that;
(3)	whether it will review if the provisions of the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance (Cap. 459) and the Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) regarding the manpower ratios, area of floor space per resident, the service needs of the elderly persons, as well as the methods for regulating RCHEs and the relevant penalties are outdated, and amend the outdated provisions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4)	whether it will consider establishing an official accreditation system for the service quality of RCHEs and making public the results of such accreditation for the reference of the public in their selection of RCHEs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(5)	whether it will consider introducing a demerit points system for RCHEs and formulating corresponding penalties, so as to step up the deterrent effect against contraventions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(6)	as some members of the social welfare sector have pointed out that the service quality of quite a number of RCHEs has declined due to manpower shortage, yet SWD is unable to supervise RCHEs properly due to the shortage of inspection staff, of the authorities' measures to resolve this problem; whether the authorities have plans to attract young people to join the elderly care industry; if they do, of the estimated number of young people joining the industry in the coming three years;
(7)	of the number of people currently waiting for places in subsidized RCHEs; and
(8)	as the supply of places in subsidized RCHEs is unable to meet demand but there are surplus places in private RCHEs, whether the authorities will allocate more resources to increase the number of places in subsidized RCHEs and enhance the services of day care centres for the elderly, so as to enable more elderly persons to lead a comfortable life in their twilight years; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*20. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)

Earlier on, a group of manipulative physiotherapy practitioners and instructors have relayed to me that although there is growing public recognition of the efficacy of manipulative therapy ("MT") and the Employees Retraining Board ("ERB") has offered a considerable number of relevant training courses, the development of the industry has been hindered by the relevant policies of the Government. For example, MT establishments (other than premises for practising Chinese medicine operated by a registered Chinese medicine practitioner or listed Chinese medicine practitioner) are required to apply, under the Massage Establishments Ordinance (Cap. 266), for licences for operation. They consider that as MT and healthcare massage are different in nature from that of general massage, the authorities should revise the regulation of MT establishments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the number of MT establishments holding valid licences for operation of massage establishments, as well as the respective numbers of applications for such licences received and approved by the authorities, in each of the past five years;
(2)	whether the authorities will review the regulation of MT establishments and amend the relevant legislation, so as to boost the development of the MT profession;
(3)	whether it knows, in each of the past five years, (i) the number of courses on MT and healthcare massage organized by ERB, (ii) the respective numbers of trainees who enrolled in and completed such courses, and (iii) the number of trainees who joined the industry after completing such courses;
(4)	as I have learnt that most Chinese medicine hospitals on the Mainland have MT specialties, whether it knows if the Hospital Authority has plans to set up a MT specialty in the first Chinese medicine hospital in Hong Kong, which is currently under planning; if there are no such plans, of the reasons for that; and
(5)	whether the authorities will conduct a comprehensive study and review on the development of the MT profession (including training, manpower resources, qualifications accreditation, regulatory system, etc.) and recognize the MT profession as one of the supplementary medical professions?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

The Quality Education Fund, which was established in January 1998 with an allocation of $5 billion from the Government, mainly caters for worthwhile non-profit making initiatives within the ambit of basic education. As indicated by the financial statements of the Fund for the year ended 31 August 2014 submitted by the authorities to this Council on 6 May this year, the surplus of the Fund for the year was about $804 million. The expenditure on grants and awards stood at $75,641,000 and the accumulated surplus was about $8,259 million. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the existing number of staff members in the Secretariat of the Fund (and the number of those among them who are responsible for handling applications for grants), and the payroll expenses last year;

(2)

of the respective application procedures for grants exceeding $150,000 and not exceeding $150,000; the average length of time taken by the Assessment and Monitoring Sub-committee ("the Sub-committee") under the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee ("the Steering Committee") to vet and approve an application last year, the documents required to be submitted by the applicants, and the respective average numbers of pages of the various types of documents submitted by the applicants last year;

(3)

of the number of projects financed by the Fund in each of the past five years, and set out a breakdown by project durations according to the table below;

Projects	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
Less than 6 months in duration
6 months to less than 1 year in duration
1 year to less than 2 years in duration
2 years to less than 3 years in duration
3 years or more in duration
Total

(4)

of the criteria adopted by the Sub-committee for assessing whether an application is an initiative; the respective titles of, and amounts of grants allotted to, the initiatives that were financed for the first time by the Fund in the past five years;

(5)

given that in recent years, the projects financed by the Fund included subsidizing schools to purchase equipment to set up campus television stations, introduce smart card systems, etc., why the recurrent funding provided by the Education Bureau ("EDB") to schools may not be used for purchasing such basic equipment; whether the expenditure of the Fund is included in the recurrent expenditure on the field of education set down in the Budget every year;

(6)

whether it has assessed why the accumulated surplus of the Fund has reached as much as $8,259 million;

(7)

whether EDB and the Steering Committee have assessed, since establishment of the Fund, the effectiveness of the Fund and its contributions to education in Hong Kong; if they have, of the number of assessments made as well as the date and findings of each assessment; if not, the reasons for that; and

(8)

of the strategy formulated by EDB in respect of the future development of the Fund, and how EDB ensures the proper utilization of the resources under the Fund?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

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

In recent months, some residents on Po Toi Island have relayed to me that a permanent and stable supply of water for daily consumption and electricity is lacking on the island, thus seriously affecting their daily lives. Besides, there is also no barrier-free access between the pier and the villages on the island, causing difficulties for the transportation of supplies and rescue work. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that the supply of water for daily consumption on Po Toi Island depends mainly on a raw water supply system which comprises a water storage facility for collecting and storing rain water, whether the authorities know the capacity of the relevant water storage facility, and whether the water stored in that facility at present is suitable for drinking;
(2)	whether it will consider increasing the supply of water for daily consumption on the island by, for example, opening up underground water sources or constructing a desalination facility, and laying water mains for providing residents with water for daily consumption; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	whether it knows the existing number of public lighting facilities on the island;
(4)	whether it will encourage the relevant power companies to make use of renewable energy ("RE") to provide residents on the island with electricity, such as (i) installing a RE power generation system, (ii) applying RE comprehensively to public lighting, and (iii) using a RE power generation system for supplying electricity to public facilities; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5)	whether it knows if there were incidents in the past three years in which residents or tourists who had fallen sick could not be saved in time due to the lack of a barrier-free access between the pier and the villages on the island; if there were such incidents, of the details; whether the authorities will adopt concrete measures to resolve this problem; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

* For written reply

III. Motion

Motion concerning the Amendment to the Method for the Selection of the Chief ‍Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs to move the following motion:

Pursuant to Article 7 of Annex I to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the Interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of Article 7 of Annex I and Article III of Annex II to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China of 6 April 2004, and the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Issues Relating to the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by Universal Suffrage and on the Method for Forming the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the Year 2016 of 31 August 2014, the "(Draft) Amendment to Annex I to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Concerning the Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" appended to this Motion is hereby endorsed by this Council by a two-thirds majority of all Members.

Annex

(Draft) Amendment to Annex I to the Basic Law
of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
of the People's Republic of China Concerning the
Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

1.	Starting from 2017, the Chief Executive shall be selected by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative Nominating Committee in accordance with democratic procedures and appointed by the Central People's Government.
2.	The Nominating Committee shall be composed of 1200 members from the following sectors:
	Industrial, commercial and financial sectors		300
	The professions		300
	Labour, social services, religious and other sectors		300
	Members of the Legislative Council, representatives of members of the District Councils, representatives of the Heung Yee Kuk, Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress, and representatives of Hong Kong members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference		300
	The term of office of the Nominating Committee shall be five years. In the event that the office of Chief Executive becomes vacant within the five-year term of office of the Nominating Committee and a by-election is held, the term of office of the new Chief Executive shall be the remainder of the previous Chief Executive.
3.	The delimitation of the various sectors of the Nominating Committee, the organizations in each sector eligible to return Nominating Committee members and the number of such members returned by each of these organizations and how to return them shall be prescribed by an electoral law enacted by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in accordance with the principles of democracy and openness. Corporate bodies in various sectors shall, on their own, elect members to the Nominating Committee, in accordance with the number of seats allocated and the election method as prescribed by the electoral law. Members of the Nominating Committee shall discharge their duties in their individual capacities.
4.	A person seeking nomination by the Nominating Committee may be recommended jointly by not less than 120 members and not more than 240 members of the Nominating Committee. Each member may recommend only one person. The Nominating Committee shall, from the persons recommended as aforesaid, nominate two to three persons seeking nomination to become Chief Executive candidates by secret ballot. Each Nominating Committee member shall vote for at least two persons, and may at most vote for all persons seeking nomination by the Nominating Committee. Each candidate must have the endorsement of more than half of all the members of the Nominating Committee. The specific nominating method shall be prescribed by the electoral law.
5.	All eligible electors of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region who have registered in accordance with the law shall, from the list of candidates nominated by the Nominating Committee, elect one Chief Executive designate by secret ballot. The specific election method shall be prescribed by the electoral law.
	Other Public Officers to attend	:	The Chief Secretary for Administration The Secretary for Justice

IV. Member's Motion

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. 23/14-15 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 17 June 2015 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:

Item Number	Title of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument
(11)	Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 (Commencement) Notice 2015 (L.N. 98/2015).

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

Clerk to the Legislative Council