A 15/16-4
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 4 November 2015 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instrument | L.N. No. |
|---|---|
| Post Office (Amendment) Regulation 2015 | 214/2015 |
Other Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)
The Finance Committee of this Council approved in May 2007 a funding of $1,565 million for the Civil Aviation Department ("CAD") to procure a new Air Traffic Control System ("ATCS"). It is learnt that CAD implements the new ATCS through eight major contracts, including the Air Traffic Management System ("ATMS") contract. Seven of the eight contracts were generally completed on schedule, but there has been substantial delay in the implementation of the ATMS contract due to a number of software-related problems. As a result, the whole ATCS cannot be commissioned at the end of 2012 as planned. The Public Accounts Committee of this Council published a report on "Administration of the air traffic control and related services" in June this year, urging the Transport and Housing Bureau ("THB") to consider engaging external and independent experts immediately to assess the safety and performance of ATMS. On the other hand, it has been reported that the flight data processor broke down during the test of ATMS conducted by CAD at the end of July this year, rendering the whole ATMS inoperable. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the justifications of CAD management for insisting on using the said ATMS, which is plagued with quite a number of software problems; the stance of THB on such approach taken by CAD; (2) of the circumstances under which CAD will abandon the use of ATMS; and (3) given that THB has decided to appoint an overseas consultant in respect of ATCS, of the details of the work for which the consultant will be responsible?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing Under Secretary for Transport and Housing |
2. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Recently, 12 countries, including the United States, Japan, Singapore and Australia, reached an agreement on the formulation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP"). The combined gross domestic product ("GDP") of these countries accounts for 40% of the world's GDP. Although some pro-establishment commentators consider that TPP is a move of the United States aimed to exclude China or even a tool used to blockade China, there are comments that TPP will have impacts on Hong Kong's future economic development, economic independence, role positioning and international status. It has been reported that when he was asked the question about Hong Kong's accession to TPP, the Chief Executive only said that the work regarding the Association of South East Asian Nations would be done well. In contrast, the Department of Commerce of the United States welcomes the accession of Hong Kong to TPP. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has conducted studies on Hong Kong's accession to TPP; if it has, of the details; whether it has analyzed if Hong Kong will encounter difficulties in meeting the requirements imposed by TPP on its member states; if it has, of the outcome; whether the authorities have studied or analyzed issues such as the impacts of the implementation of TPP on the future economic development of Hong Kong and whether Hong Kong will be marginalized as a result; if they have, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as Article 151 of the Basic Law provides that "[t]he Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may on its own, using the name 'Hong Kong, China', maintain and develop relations and conclude and implement agreements with foreign states and regions and relevant international organizations in the appropriate fields, including the economic, trade, financial and monetary, shipping, communications, tourism, cultural and sports fields", whether, in considering and deciding on Hong Kong's accession to TPP, the authorities will take into account only the economic interests of Hong Kong or also other factors such as political considerations; whether the authorities have discussed relevant issues with the Central People's Government through formal or informal channels and whether they have received any relevant instructions; if they have, what the instructions are; and (3) whether the authorities will proactively consider Hong Kong's accession to TPP having regard to Hong Kong's future economic development, economic independence and international status as well as from the perspective of risk diversification, so as to avoid making the same mistake of over-reliance of economic development on a single market (such as over-reliance of the tourism industry on the mainland market); if they will, of the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Currently, students of Primary 3 and 6 as well as Secondary 3 are all required to take part in the Territory-wide System Assessment ("TSA") administered by the Education Bureau. The purpose of TSA is to gauge students' attainment of basic competencies in the three subjects of Chinese Language, English Language and Mathematics at various stages, with a view to improving learning and teaching. However, some education concern groups and parents have earlier remarked that some schools drill their students in the hope that they will get good scores in TSA, and this practice has exerted great pressure on teachers, students and parents. Also, TSA has dominated learning and teaching as well as the test and examination modes in schools, thus causing a metamorphosis of education. Hence, they request the Education Bureau to abolish TSA. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Secretary for Education stated on 27 June this year that TSA was welcomed by most of the schools and teachers, and that it would not exert pressure on students, parents, schools or teachers, of the grounds for such conclusions, and whether such conclusions were based on survey findings; if so, whether it will publish such survey findings; if it will not publish them, whether the Secretary for Education will withdraw the aforesaid conclusions and apologize to the schools and teachers; (2) whether it will consider abolishing Primary 3 TSA for this school year, and launching a review of Primary 6 TSA; if it will, of the detailed arrangements and work plan; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will conduct a comprehensive consultation with teachers, parents, students and the public to gauge their views on TSA's operations and future direction, and decide, in the light of the consultation outcome, if TSA should be abolished or maintained; if it will, of the details of such a consultation exercise; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") has decided to entrust, without going through an open tender procedure, the Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront Revitalization Plan ("the Plan") to New World Development Company Limited ("NWD") for implementation under a partnership approach. Under the Plan, NWD will fully fund and carry out the revitalization works of Salisbury Garden, Avenue of Stars ("AoS") and Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade. The Plan extends the AoS model to the waterfront of MTR Hung Hom Station, and the day-to-day operation of Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, covering a total area of about 310 000 square feet, will be taken up by a non-profit-making organization set up under NWD. LCSD will set up a management committee to oversee the operation and performance of the non-profit-making organization. LCSD also intends to sign a new 20-year management contract with NWD to replace the existing contract. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the current management contract for AoS still has nine years to go before it is due to expire, of the reasons why the authorities have decided to sign a new 20-year management contract with NWD; whether the authorities have conducted a detailed assessment on the past performance of NWD in managing AoS before making such decision; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the composition of the management committee responsible for overseeing the aforesaid non-profit-making organization and the legal basis for its oversight authority; (2) since when the partnership approach has been adopted; of the purpose of and criteria for adopting such an approach, as well as the mechanism under which the decisions to adopt such an approach are to be made; the names of the projects run under the partnership approach in the past 10 years, together with the names of the partner organizations and the details of the partnership; and (3) as an LCSD official said in August this year that as the Plan was "not for profit making" and was not a commercial project, the Introductory Guide to Public Private Partnerships, including the requirement for launching an open invitation for proposals contained therein, was not applicable to the Plan, how LCSD determines whether or not a project is "not for profit making"?
5. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
In 2010, the Finance Committee of this Council approved fundings of $55 billion and $11.8 billion respectively for the railway and non-railway works under the project to construct the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL project"), to be entrusted by the Government to the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"). As at 30 June this year, the cumulative expenditure on the railway works exceeded $45.1 billion, while the total amount of unresolved claims from contractors was $17.4 billion. It has been reported that the funding for the XRL project is bound to run out by the end of this year, given the current project progress and expenditure trend as well as the cost for settling the claims. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that MTRCL officially confirmed in April and June 2014 respectively that the XRL project had experienced delay and the project cost would exceed the approved project estimate ("cost overrun"), and that the Independent Board Committee appointed by MTRCL and the Independent Expert Panel appointed by the Government have respectively submitted their investigation reports on the delay of the XRL project, why the Government has not reached a consensus with MTRCL to date on the liability issues in respect of the delay and cost overrun of the XRL project; how much longer it will take, as estimated by the authorities, to reach such a consensus; (2) of the expenditure situation, as at the end of September this year, of the railway and non-railway works under the XRL project, with a breakdown of the expenditure on the railway works by expenditure items (i.e. civil works, architectural works, building services, railway electrical and mechanical works and contingencies); given that the Government must adhere to the "dedicated-fund-for-dedicated-use" principle in the use of fundings, of the Government's measures to deal with the situation where the cumulative expenditure on the railway works has exceeded the approved estimates of expenditure of $55 billion and the authorities are unable to secure new funds; and (3) as it has been reported that some contractors of the XRL project are plotting an en masse walkout due to their dissatisfaction over the delay on the part of the Government and MTRCL in handling their claims, of the means by which the authorities can prevent such situation?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing Under Secretary for Transport and Housing |
6. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)
The incumbent Chief Executive ("CE") made the following two pledges relating to employee benefits in his election manifesto, which I quote: "we will adopt measures to progressively reduce the proportion of accrued benefits attributed to employer's contribution in the Mandatory Provident Fund account that can be applied by the employer to offset long-service or severance payments" and "a special committee … will be set up to follow up on the study on standard working hours conducted by the current administration. This committee will examine issues relating to … legislative proposals on standard working hours". Only 20 months are now left in CE's term of office, but the Executive Authorities have not yet submitted the legislative timetable concerned to this Council. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") accounts from which employers withdrew the accrued benefits derived from their contributions made for their employees to offset long-service or severance payments payable to the employees concerned under the Employment Ordinance ("the offsetting arrangement") in each year since the implementation of the MPF scheme, and the relevant amounts of money involved, as well as the respective percentages of such amounts in the total amount of accrued benefits derived from employers' contributions before withdrawal; the number of MPF accounts from which the accrued benefits were withdrawn more than once; (2) as CE indicated at the Question and Answer Session of this Council held on the 22nd of last month that, at this stage, he could not "make any pledge or state explicitly or implicitly the approach to be adopted by the Government" in respect of the abolition of the offsetting arrangement, of the reasons why the Government took such an attitude; whether one of the reasons is that "confidential information is involved"; if so, why the timing for CE to fulfil his election pledges is a piece of confidential information; and (3) of the channels for the authorities to collect views from employees and the business sector on the abolition of the offsetting arrangement; the authorities' measures to ensure that the relevant legislative work will be completed within the term of office of the current Legislative Council or the incumbent CE's term of office, so as to honour the pledges made by CE in his election manifesto in relation to standard working hours and the abolition of the offsetting arrangement; of the authorities' plans to resolve the problem of employees' MPF being gnawed by the offsetting arrangement should the business sector refuse to abolish it, and to ensure that the Government will take the responsibility of safeguarding the retirement protection of employees?
*7. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
It has been over three months since the occurrence of incidents in which the drinking water for households of public rental housing ("PRH") estates was found to have a lead content exceeding the provisional guideline value set out in the World Health Organization's "Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality" ("incidents of excessive lead content in drinking water"). The problem has even spread to schools. According to the latest information released, the Government has completed sampling tests on the drinking water for all PRH estates completed in or after 2005, among which the drinking water samples from 11 estates were found to have an excessive lead content. The Government is now conducting sampling tests on the drinking water for those housing estates completed before 2005. Besides, the Government has conducted sampling tests on the drinking water in 414 kindergartens and 28 schools, with drinking water samples from six kindergartens being found to have an excessive lead content. Following that, one more secondary school was also found to have excessive lead content in its drinking water. Since 11 July, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has been arranging blood tests for the more easily affected groups (namely children aged below six, lactating women and pregnant women) residing in the affected estates, and the scope of blood tests has subsequently been extended, on a discretionary basis, to children of full age below eight. HA has completed tests on blood lead level for a total of 4 913 residents, and 3.3% (i.e. 163 residents) of which were found to have borderline elevated blood lead level. In response to these incidents, the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") and the Housing Authority have formed a task force and a review committee respectively. The preliminary findings of the investigations conducted by the task force confirmed that leaded solder joints of pipe components were the cause of the excessive lead content in drinking water of Kai Ching Estate and Kwai Luen Estate Phase 2. Also, in its interim review report, the review committee pointed out that all of the drinking water samples taken from estates which had not used solder joints did not have an excessive lead content. Moreover, the Chief Executive in Council appointed on 13 August a Commission of Inquiry into Excess Lead Found in Drinking Water ("the Commission"). The Commission is expected to submit its report within nine months. The Government explains that the occurrence of incidents of excessive lead content in drinking water is the result of insufficient awareness among the various relevant industries of the implications of lead in drinking water and lead on human health. Such remarks have aroused quite a number of repercussions in the community. There are comments that the way the Government handles the incidents of excessive lead content in drinking water will directly affect its popularity rating and will easily turn into a political bomb. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the total expenditure incurred so far in the installation of water filters for more than 8 000 affected households; the number of households for whom water filters have not been installed (with a breakdown by name of estate); (2) as the authorities have indicated that they will replace, on a free-of-charge basis, the filter cores for the households concerned within two years, whether they have estimated the total expenditure needed; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the number of bottled distilled water supplied to affected households so far and the total expenditure involved; (4) when it will stop supplying bottled distilled water to affected households; (5) as the authorities will arrange for the replacement of the substandard water pipes in common areas and rental flats of affected estates, of the details of the project, including the commencement and completion dates of such works, as well as the estimated expenditure (with a breakdown by name of housing estate); (6) as the authorities have indicated that they will conduct water tests again for those households for whom water filters have been installed, how the authorities will handle the situation in which the drinking water is once again found to have an excessive lead content; (7) whether it will provide long-term medical support to children and pregnant women who have been found to have elevated blood lead levels; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (8) whether it will request contractors of the estates concerned to compensate the affected households; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (9) whether it will request the contractors of the estates concerned who have contravened the relevant requirements to refund to the Government the payments made to such contractors for the plumbing works; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will consider instituting prosecutions against such contractors; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (10) whether it will introduce more stringent penalties in future PRH estate works contracts so as to deter contractors and their sub-contractors from contravening requirements when carrying out the works; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (11) of the latest work progress of the aforesaid task force, review committee, and the Commission formed to investigate the incidents of excessive lead content in drinking water; (12) whether it has followed up on the current quality of the drinking water in those schools (including primary schools, secondary schools and kindergartens) where the drinking water has been found to have an excessive lead content; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (13) whether it has assessed if public confidence and trust in the Government have been undermined by the incidents of excessive lead content in drinking water; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (14) whether it has assessed if the incidents of excessive lead content in drinking water have caused a drop in the popularity ratings of the Government and the relevant officials; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a number of cases of drivers of passenger vehicles being attacked by passengers have recently occurred, arousing concerns about the personal safety of such drivers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of work injury and death reports involving passenger vehicle drivers being attacked by passengers which were received by the Labour Department, the Transport Department and the Police in each of the past five years; (2) of the number of reports received by the authorities in the past five years about passenger vehicle drivers being attacked by passengers, together with a breakdown by the class of vehicles; the number of such cases in which the Police conducted criminal investigations, and the penalties generally imposed by the court on the convicted persons; (3) whether it will consider amending the relevant legislation to raise the penalties on attacking drivers of passenger vehicles, so as to enhance the protection for the personal safety of such drivers; whether it knows the measures currently put in place by various public transport operators to prevent the drivers employed by them from being attacked by passengers; (4) whether drivers who have sustained injuries from attacks by passengers are eligible to apply for the interim maintenance grant under the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme; if they are eligible, of the total amount of grant approved in respect of such applications in the past five years, and the average amount granted for each application; whether the authorities will consider raising the level of such grant and providing extra assistance for self-employed drivers of passenger vehicles; (5) whether it knows the number of claims indemnified in the past five years that were filed under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) by drivers who had sustained injuries, or by the families of drivers who had died, due to attacks by passengers, and set out a breakdown of the number by class of vehicles, and the total amount of compensation involved; and (6) whether the authorities have put forward to franchised bus companies, public transport operators and taxi associations improvement measures and proposals for the protection of drivers' personal safety?
*9. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
To promote the use of electric vehicles ("EVs") in order to improve roadside air quality, the Government has been exempting EVs from the payment of first registration tax ("FRT") since 1994. Since the higher the retail price of a vehicle, the higher the amount of FRT is payable, it follows that the higher the retail price of an EV, the higher the amount of FRT is to be exempted. It has been reported that as luxury sports EVs have become very popular among the public in recent years, such tax concessions have resulted in a huge sum of tax revenue forgone for the Government. Some members of the public have queried that such tax concessions are in effect subsidizing the well-off people to purchase luxury goods by public money, thus contravening the principle of fairness. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective total numbers of newly-registered EVs being exempted from the payment of FRT in each of the past 10 financial years (and set out a breakdown by the ranges of vehicle prices in the table below);
Financial year Retail price of EVs $300,000
or belowOver
$300,000 to $500,000Over
$500,000 to $600,000Over
$600,000 to $700,000Over
$700,000 to $800,000Over
$800,0002005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 (2) of the respective total amounts of tax revenue forgone in each of the past 10 financial years due to exempting EVs from the payment of FRT; and (3) whether it will consider amending the legislation to cease exempting certain types or models of EVs (such as high-priced sports EVs) from the payment of FRT or to grant such exemptions only for those EVs used for public transportation, so as to avoid subsidizing the public to purchase luxury goods by public money; if it will, of the implementation timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that the Motor Vehicle Idling (Fixed Penalty) Ordinance (Cap. 611) ("the Ordinance"), which has come into operation since December 2011, has failed to effectively curb drivers' practice of keeping the engines of their vehicles idling and, as a result, the roadside air pollution problem has not been alleviated. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received about drivers' violation of the Ordinance, and the number of fixed-penalty tickets issued to offending drivers, by the authorities since January this year; (2) whether there has been an upward trend in the numbers of relevant complaints received and the fixed-penalty tickets issued by the authorities since the Ordinance came into operation; if so, whether they have assessed the reasons for that; and (3) of the measures put in place by the authorities to step up law enforcement efforts?
*11. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that community groups or organizations may submit applications to the Police for hiring police officers to help maintain order in the activities held by them. Moreover, film and television production organizations, such as film companies and television stations, may apply for hiring police officers for intermittent traffic control to facilitate location filming. The Police will charge fees for the provision of such services ("charged services"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) apart from facilitation of location filming, of the types of activities for which the Police will provide charged services, and whether such activities include public assemblies and processions; (2) of the respective numbers of applications received and approved by the authorities for the provision of charged services, the number of police officers deployed for the purpose and the total revenue concerned, in each year from 2012 to end of June this year (set out in the table below);
Year No. of applications received No. of applications approved No. of police officers deployed Total revenue 2012 2013 2014 2015
(January to June)(3) of the considerations and criteria based on which the Police determine whether or not to approve applications for the provision of charged services and the number of police officers to be deployed; (4) whether a uniform set of fees is applicable to the charged services provided for activities of different nature; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, as well as the criteria and factors based on which the Police determine the fees concerned; (5) whether it conducted any review of the fees mentioned in (4) in the past five years; if so, of the dates of the last review and revision, as well as the details of the revision; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct a review in the coming year; (6) whether it has assessed the pressure and impacts on police work brought about by the provision of charged services; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (7) of the respective numbers of police officers deployed by the Police to maintain order during the "1 January march" and the "1 July march" each year from 2012 to 2015 and the total revenue, calculated on the basis of the fees at that time, that would have been received respectively had the same numbers and ranks of police officers been deployed to provide charged services (set out in the table below)?
Year Activity No. of police officers deployed Total revenue 2012 1 January march 1 July march 2013 1 January march 1 July march 2014 1 January march 1 July march 2015 1 January march 1 July march
*12. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
As at September 2015, around 560 government premises had access to free Wi-Fi network services provided through the Government Wi-Fi ("GovWiFi") service, and there were about 2 900 GovWiFi hotspots. However, it has been reported that the results of some surveys have found that quite a number of members of the public consider that the connection speed via GovWiFi is unsatisfactory. Regarding Wi-Fi network services, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective government premises where the highest and the lowest GovWiFi usage rates were recorded in the past 12 months; (2) whether it has compiled statistics on the average (i) connection speed, (ii) percentage of service disconnection and (iii) connection time, at the GovWiFi hotspots in various districts; if it has, of such data in each of the past three years; if not, whether it will compile such statistics; (3) of the date and findings of the last review conducted by the GovWiFi Maintenance Board on the service performances of GovWiFi contractors; (4) as the Finance Committee of this Council approved $217.6 million and $68 million in 2007 and 2011 respectively for the provision of GovWiFi service, of the uses of such funds so far; (5) of the latest situation and related statistics regarding the installation of Wi-Fi devices by telecommunications services operators at government facilities (such as footbridges, flyovers and lamp posts); and (6) as some rural areas are currently not yet covered by fibre-to-the-home service, whether the Government will consider extending the coverage of GovWiFi service to such areas, so that the residents concerned can enjoy high-speed Internet access services; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council of the following information regarding the domestic households ("households") in public rental housing ("PRH") and subsidized home ownership housing ("SHOH"), derived by arranging their monthly household income into deciles in ascending order:
(1) the respective percentages of the total monthly household income of the first to the third deciles of PRH households, in the aggregate monthly household income of all PRH households, in each of the past 10 years, and whether such percentages show an upward or a downward trend; whether it has examined which of the public housing policies implemented in the periods concerned contributed to such a trend; if it has, of the outcome; (2) the respective percentages of the total monthly household income of the eighth to the tenth deciles of PRH households, in the aggregate monthly household income of all PRH households, in each of the past 10 years, and whether such percentages show an upward or a downward trend; whether it has examined which of the public housing policies implemented in the periods concerned contributed to such a trend; if it has, of the outcome; (3) the respective percentages of the total monthly household income of the first to the third deciles of SHOH households, in the aggregate monthly household income of all SHOH households, in each of the past 10 years, and whether such percentages show an upward or a downward trend; whether it has examined which of the subsidized housing policies implemented in the periods concerned contributed to such a trend; if it has, of the outcome; and (4) the respective percentages of the total monthly household income of the eighth to the tenth deciles of SHOH households, in the aggregate monthly household income of all SHOH households, in each of the past 10 years, and whether such percentages show an upward or a downward trend; whether it has examined which of the subsidized housing policies implemented in the periods concerned contributed to such a trend; if it has, of the outcome?
*14. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that recently on the Tolo Highway near Tai Po, a wooden door fell off the goods compartment of a moving goods vehicle onto the ground. Fortunately, the vehicle immediately following that goods vehicle swerved in time to avoid the obstacle and a traffic accident had not occurred. Moreover, many residents of Tseung Kwan O have relayed to me that incidents of goods and rubble falling off the goods compartments of goods vehicles on Wan Po Road have happened from time to time, terrifying them whilst driving. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number of registered goods vehicles in Hong Kong and, among them, the number of trucks for carrying construction waste materials ("trucks"); (2) given that in reply to my question raised at the Legislative Council meeting of 3 December 2014, the Secretary for the Environment said that trucks with a "design adopting full enclosure may not necessarily meet operational needs", of the operational needs which cannot be met by a fully enclosed truck; whether it has conducted a detailed study on the proposal of requiring trucks to adopt a full-enclosure design; if it has, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it will review and amend the existing legislation to step up prosecutions against those drivers who have failed to ensure the goods are secured to and contained on their goods vehicles (including trucks) in motion; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it will consider tightening the height limits for loads carried by goods vehicles (including trucks) so as to reduce the hazards which may be caused by tall loads; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether it will consider raising the penalties for failure to ensure the goods are secured to and contained on goods vehicles (including trucks) in motion, or for allowing rubble to fall off such vehicles, so as to enhance the deterrent effect; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether it will conduct a study on ways to effectively prevent the goods or rubble from falling off the goods compartments of goods vehicles (including trucks), so as to protect the safety of road users; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Hon Emily LAU to ask:
In February this year, a woman was sentenced to six years' imprisonment after being convicted of 18 charges, including assaulting and criminally intimidating Erwiana, a foreign domestic helper ("FDH") from Indonesia employed by her. During the trial, Chan's Asia Recruitment Agency ("CARA"), the employment agency which placed Erwiana and other FDHs with that employer, was alleged to have overcharged Erwiana for the agency fees, withheld her passport and Hong Kong identity card and, by passing her passport to her employer, facilitated her employer in sending her back to Indonesia after injuring her. It has been reported that despite these allegations, CARA is still operating with a valid licence administered by the Employment Agencies Administration ("EAA"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that CARA still placed Erwiana with the aforesaid employer after two FDHs previously in her employ had left within six weeks and six months respectively, and the Court has found that the testimonies given by two employees of CARA were "measured and deliberate", serving to distance themselves from any wrongdoing, whether EAA has conducted any investigation into the professional conduct of CARA; and (2) given that on conviction of that employer, the Labour Department has undertaken to continue to closely monitor the operation of CARA through proactive inspections and complaint investigation, of the number of such inspections made by EAA and whether EAA has received any complaint against CARA since the Labour Department made that undertaking?
*16. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that although international crude oil prices have dropped cumulatively by about 50 per cent since July 2014, the prices of products and services of oil-related businesses over the same period have been adjusted to varying extents. While some airliners lowered the passenger fuel surcharges levied by them last year by over 70%, the retail prices of auto-fuel registered a reduction by merely 20% over the past two years. Further still, fares of franchised buses even went up instead of going down, e.g., Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited increased its fares for three times since 2011, with an average increase rate of 3.6%, 4.9% and 3.9% respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compared the respective impacts of hydrocarbon oil duty and the various operating costs on (i) determination of the retail prices of auto-fuel by oil companies and (ii) determination of passenger fuel surcharges by airliners; how the authorities will assess whether it is reasonable for the retail prices of auto-fuel and passenger fuel surcharges to have dropped by unequal magnitudes; (2) whether it has reviewed if it is the case that at times when the operating costs of franchised bus companies fall with the oil prices, the basket of factors taken into account under the existing "Fare Adjustment Arrangement for Franchised Buses" and the mode of operation of fare adjustment formula not only have failed to work out a corresponding decrease in fares, but instead have given rise to an incessant increase in fares, thus rendering passengers unable to benefit from the falling oil prices; if it has conducted such a review, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has considered lowering the duties for various types of hydrocarbon oil or adopting other appropriate measures, as so as to help alleviate the financial burden imposed on the public by the persistently high retail prices of petrol and the ever-increasing bus fares; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
On the 5th of last month, the Police launched the Hong Kong Police Facebook page ("FB page"), aiming to provide a platform for more direct and interactive communication with the public so as to reach out to different sectors of the community. At a press conference held on the same day, a police spokesperson pointed out that any person committing an offence on the Internet, same as in the physical world, would face the consequence of criminal sanctions. Quite a number of members of the public have complained to me, alleging that the Police not only have not responded to their comments posted on the FB page, but also have deleted their comments without giving any reason. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the FB page is managed by police officers; if so, of the number and ranks of the police officers involved, and whether they work on shifts on a round-the-clock basis; (2) of the annual public expenditure on operating the FB page; (3) of the respective numbers of (i) "likes" obtained, (ii) people who have posted comments, (iii) comments posted in total, (iv) comments to which the Police have not responded; and (v) comments which the Police have deleted, since the launch of the FB page; (4) whether it has assessed if the Police's practice of not responding one by one to the comments and enquires posted by the public on the FB page is contrary to the original intention for launching the FB page and disregarding public comments and enquiries; whether the Police will consider responding to the comments one by one; if they will not, whether the Police only wish to boast about their performances by one-way communication with the public through the FB page; (5) on what grounds that the administrator of the FB page deleted the public comments; whether it has assessed if the practice of deleting public comments has created the perception that the Police are unwilling to listen to public opinion and accept criticism, deceiving themselves and others, and reluctant to face the reality; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether the administrator of the FB page will take the blame for the practice of deleting public comments and resign; (6) whether, since the launch of the FB page, the Police have investigated any offence suspected to have been committed by members of the public when posting their comments on the FB page; if they have, of the number of persons suspected to have committed such offences, and whether prosecutions have been instituted against such persons; (7) given that some members of the public have posted comments on the FB page, requesting the Police to take stern law enforcement actions and immediately institute criminal prosecutions against the following persons: (i) the police officers who had allegedly given false evidence when the court was hearing cases relating to the Occupy Central movement and, as a result, were criticized by the magistrate or judge, (ii) the seven police officers who allegedly assaulted a protester in Tamar Park, Admiralty on 15 October last year, and (iii) the police superintendent (now retired) who allegedly assaulted protesters on 26 November last year, whether the Police have assessed if the persons posting such comments have committed any offence; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the offences concerned, the number of persons who have committed such offences, as well as the number of persons who have been arrested by the Police so far; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the reasons why the Police have not responded to such comments so as to achieve the purpose of communicating with members of the public; (8) of the respective numbers of comments relating to the persons mentioned in (7)(i), (ii) and (iii) above posted on the FB page, that the Police have deleted since the launch of the FB page; and (9) whether the Police have made any performance pledge in respect of the time for the administrator of the FB page to respond to the enquiries made by the public; if they have, of the time pledged?
*18. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that zero-fare, low-fare or even negative-fare shopping tours from the Mainland have given rise to quite a number of problems. In 2010, a female local tourist guide hurled abuses at her mainland tour group members on a tourist coach because she was dissatisfied that they had done little shopping, and a mainland tourist died of heart attack after quarrelling with his tourist guide over the issue of shopping. Subsequent to those incidents, recently a mainland tourist was allegedly beaten to death after a quarrel when he was taken to a shop for shopping. Quite a number of members of the tourism industry have relayed that the inbound tourism industry of Hong Kong is plagued with many problems, including inadequate regulation, the source of tourists being too concentrated, the lack of new tourist attractions, the operation of unlicensed guesthouses remaining unchecked despite sustained law enforcement actions, etc. Although the authorities have announced that a Travel Industry Authority will be established, they have not provided any work schedule so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed the magnitude of the negative impacts on the tourism industry of Hong Kong caused by the recent incident in which a tourist died after being attacked, which had been reported and exaggerated on the Internet; of the authorities' corresponding measures to alleviate those impacts and make remedies; (2) as tourist attractions and spots in Hong Kong highlighting a mix of Chinese and western cultures or arousing nostalgic sentiments are gradually disappearing, and the annual government subvention provided to the Hong Kong Tourism Board ("HKTB") for its operation and promotion of tourism has been ever increasing (with the current financial year's estimated expenditure standing at $747.9 million), whether the Government has considered reallocating part of the subvention in future for protecting and preserving tourist attractions, so as to enhance their attractiveness to tourists; and (3) whether it will consider afresh the proposal put forth by me in 2009 on the establishment of a dedicated policy bureau, i.e. the "Tourism Bureau", to take charge of all tourism affairs, so as to consolidate the government departments and non-governmental organizations responsible for planning, regulating and promoting tourism as well as handling other tourism affairs, and on entrusting the Tourism Bureau with the responsibility of formulating and implementing tourism-related policies; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
While the primary role of the Hospital Authority ("HA") is to provide public healthcare services, some of its public hospitals, including the two teaching hospitals, namely the Queen Mary Hospital ("QMH") and the Prince of Wales Hospital ("PWH"), also provide private patient services. HA has adopted the following principle in respect of private patient services: public funds should not be used to subsidize private patients. However, it has been reported that some mainlanders attended the private specialist outpatient ("SOP") clinics of the two teaching hospitals for the purpose of buying very expensive self-financed drugs at relatively low prices and then reselling them for profit. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the respective attendances of the various SOP services provided by QMH and PWH in each of the past five years as well as this year (as at September) and, among those figures, the respective private SOP attendances (set out in tables of the same format as the table below);
Year: ___________
SOP service Attendance Private SOP attendance QMH PWH QMH PWH Clinical Oncology Medicine Obstetrics & Gynaecology Ophthalmology Orthopaedics Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Paediatric Cardiology Pain Division - Department of Anaesthesiology Psychiatry Surgery Cardiothoracic Surgery Division of Clinical Psychology (2) the total expenditures incurred in the past five years by the two pharmacies of QMH and PWH on procurement of drugs; in respect of the various SOP services provided by QMH and PWH, the average net expenditures for providing drugs to patients in each of the past five years and, among those sums, the respective net expenditures for providing drugs to private patients; the respective percentages of the aforesaid two types of expenditures in the total expenditures incurred by the pharmacies of the hospitals for procuring drugs (set out in tables of the same format as the table below); if such records are not available, of the reasons for that;
Year: ___________
SOP service Net expenditure for providing drugs to patients Net expenditure for providing drugs to private patients QMH
(%)PWH
(%)QMH
(%)PWH
(%)Clinical Oncology Medicine Obstetrics & Gynaecology Ophthalmology Orthopaedics Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Paediatric Cardiology Pain Division - Department of Anaesthesiology Psychiatry Surgery Cardiothoracic Surgery Division of Clinical Psychology (3) as it has been reported that private patients of SOP services under QMH and PWH only need to pay the at-cost price of the self-financed drugs plus an administrative charge of $50 for each drug item when they are prescribed with such drugs, the total amount of administrative charge collected from private patients in each of the past five years; since when that practice was implemented and the rationale for implementing such practice; (4) whether HA will revise its current practice with a view to avoiding the situations of using public funds to subsidize private patients as well as using public funds to subsidize private patients who are non-local residents to buy drugs and then resell them for profit; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether HA has uncovered any cases of private patients reselling self-financed drugs for profit; if HA has, of the number of cases in the past five years, broken down by hospitals in which medical consultations were made?
*20. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the statistics of the services provided by the hospital clusters under the Hospital Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the following information (set out in tables):
(1) the following data of HA as a whole and of the catchment areas of various clusters in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015: (i) the population of the catchment area; (ii) the percentage of people aged 65 or above in the population of the catchment area; (iii) the number of patients in the catchment area; (iv) the percentage of patients aged 65 or above in the total number of patients in the catchment area; and (v) among the population of the catchment area, the percentage of those people who used the general and the specialist outpatient services provided by the cluster; (2) the following data with regard to common non-urgent surgical operations performed in public hospitals in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 (set out the data by HA as a whole, clusters and public hospitals respectively): (i) the respective waiting time of the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentile; (ii) the number of cases; and (iii) the lowest, highest, average and median unit costs; and (3) the following data with regard to common medical examinations performed in public hospitals in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 (set out the data by HA as a whole, clusters and public hospitals respectively): (i) the respective waiting time of the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentile; (ii) the number of cases; and (iii) the lowest, highest, average and median unit costs?
*21. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that psoriasis is a type of chronic inflammatory disease involving complex pathology and is difficult to cure completely. Patients not only have to endure prolonged pain caused by itchy and swollen skin, but also have to face the great psychological stress arising from appearance issues caused by this disease. Since 2002, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has gradually taken over the general outpatient clinics under the Department of Health ("DH"), with the exception of skin clinics. On the other hand, HA added to the Drug Formulary in 2012 a type of biological agent effective for treating psoriasis, and brought the drug into the Samaritan Fund safety net in 2013. However, skin clinics under DH still do not provide such drug for psoriasis patients at present. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of psoriasis patients in Hong Kong; if it has, of the relevant statistics; (2) of the number of new cases of psoriasis received by skin clinics in each of the past five financial years (and set out a breakdown by age group in the table below);
Age group Financial year 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 Below 18 Between 18 and 64 65 or above Total (3) of the diseases that can be induced by psoriasis, and whether psoriasis will induce mental illness; whether it has compiled statistics on the number of cases in which diseases have been induced by psoriasis; if it has, of the details; if not, whether it will consider compiling the relevant statistics; (4) of the respective current numbers of psoriasis patients who regularly seek follow-up consultations at skin clinics and general outpatient clinics; (5) whether skin clinics will refer psoriasis patients to general outpatient clinics for treatment; if so, of the relevant mechanism and the number of cases referred in the past five financial years; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether it will consider reviewing the list of drugs for treating psoriasis at skin clinics, including whether it will align the list of drugs for treating psoriasis at such clinics with that at general outpatient clinics?
*22. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that parking spaces are in tight supply in the territory, and the shortage of private car parking spaces is particularly severe. For instance, more than 500 people have recently queued up, before dawn while the amber rainstorm warning signal was in force, to apply for renting monthly private car parking spaces in a government car park in a certain district. According to the information in the Hong Kong Fact Sheets, as at the end of June this year, while there were 509 207 licensed private cars in Hong Kong, there were only around 24 100 public parking spaces provided by the Government (including around 6 100 parking spaces in government car parks and around 18 000 on-street metered parking spaces) and only around 197 000 public parking spaces in commercial, residential and industrial buildings, indicating a shortfall in parking spaces. Regarding the supply of and demand for parking spaces for various classes of vehicles, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective current shortfalls in parking spaces for various classes of vehicles in each District Council district, in accordance with the standards and guidelines on parking facilities set out in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines; the specific plans the authorities will put in place in the next five years to increase the numbers of parking spaces for various classes of vehicles to meet the relevant standards and guidelines, and the respective percentages by which the numbers of parking spaces for various classes of vehicles will increase upon the implementation of such plans; (2) given that in its Report on Study of Road Traffic Congestion in Hong Kong published in December last year, the Transport Advisory Committee recommended an increase in the first registration tax and annual licence fee of private cars in order to curb the growth of private cars, whether the authorities have assessed the impact of increasing the first registration tax rate and annual licence fee by various degrees on the number and growth rate of private cars; if they have assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the authorities' specific plans to implement the various recommendations in the Report in relation to the supply of and demand for parking spaces; (3) given that the parking spaces provided by the Government are very popular among motorists due to their lower fees, whether the authorities have plans to build more multi-storey car parks in order to meet the public demand for parking spaces; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it will expeditiously review the standards and guidelines on parking facilities set out in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, with a view to setting a higher standard for the provision of parking spaces; (5) of the current utilization situations of the park-and-ride car parks managed separately by the Transport Department and the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"); whether the authorities will urge MTRCL to provide more park-and-ride concessions for motorists so as to encourage them to avoid driving to those areas where traffic is more congested; and (6) given that the parking spaces in various districts are in severe shortage at present, and it is learnt that the numbers of the sites which are originally used for temporary car parks and available for developing multi-storey car parks are dwindling due to the "grabbing of land" by the Government in a bid to increase the supply of residential sites, of the authorities' measures to tackle the shortage of parking spaces, including the introduction of parking systems that make better use of space (such as the rotary parking system widely used in Japan) to increase the number of parking spaces, and the adoption of real-time parking space information systems to enable motorists to obtain information on vacant parking spaces nearby, so as to enhance the utilization rate of parking spaces?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| 1. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| 2. | Clearing and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move
Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 28 October 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 85/15-16) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Clearing and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 3 November 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 111/15-16(01)))
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| 3. | Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| 4. | Supplementary Appropriation (2014-2015) Bill | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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