A 15/16-16
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 3 February 2016 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Merchant Shipping (Prevention and Control of Pollution) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2016 | 20/2016 |
| 2. | Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation (Repeal) Regulation | 21/2016 |
| 3. | Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) Regulation | 22/2016 |
| 4. | Trainee Solicitors (Amendment) Rules 2015 (Commencement) Notice | 23/2016 |
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 63 | - | Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications
Annual Report 2014/15 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education)
| |||
| 2. | No. 64 | - | Vocational Training Council
Annual Report and Financial Report 2014/2015 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education)
| |||
| 3. | Report No. 11/15-16 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)
| |||
| 4. | Report of the Bills Committee on Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2015 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Christopher CHEUNG, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
| |||
| 5. | Report of the Bills Committee on Promotion of Recycling and Proper Disposal (Electrical Equipment and Electronic Equipment) (Amendment) Bill 2015 | ||
| (to be presented by Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
| |||
| 6. | Report of the Bills Committee on Property Management Services Bill | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Tony TSE, Chairman of the Bills Committee) | |||
IIA. Questions under Rule 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure
1. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
There have been several thousand cases of Zika virus infection in Brazil since it reported the first infection in May last year. According to the information of the World Health Organization ("WHO"), the Zika epidemic is spreading rapidly, with reported infection cases in more than 20 countries in Central and South America at present. WHO anticipates a tendency for the epidemic to spread explosively. WHO has pointed out that Zika virus may be associated with microcephaly in infants and Guillain-Barré Syndrome (an infective polyneuritis). It is learnt that Zika virus mainly spreads through the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Some experts have pointed out that the Aedes albopictus mosquito, which is commonly found in Hong Kong, can also transmit the virus, and thus the public are very concerned about a possible outbreak of Zika epidemic in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the immediate measures taken by the authorities to provide the public (in particular pregnant women and outbound travellers) and the tourism sector with information and health advice on the Zika virus; whether they will consider the issuance of an outbound travel alert immediately for countries and regions with serious Zika epidemic outbreak, and ensure that the Food and Health Bureau and the Security Bureau are in close communication on this issue, so as to avoid the recurrence of the chaotic situation in June last year caused by the incongruent information issued in relation to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in South Korea; (2) as the Zika epidemic is spreading rapidly across the globe, whether the authorities have kept themselves updated on the latest development of the epidemic, and whether they have currently assessed the risk of a Zika epidemic outbreak in Hong Kong; if they have, of the assessment outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities have immediately put in place contingency measures in case of an outbreak of Zika epidemic in Hong Kong, including anti-mosquito operations, epidemic prevention measures at boundary control points, screening of infection cases at outpatient clinics as well as accident and emergency departments, formulation of clinical and medication guidelines, etc.; if they have, of the details; if not, how the authorities ensure that the epidemic can be brought under control in case of an outbreak in Hong Kong?
2. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
Over the past few months, thousands of newborn babies in Brazil were born with microcephaly, which were suspected to be related to their mothers having been infected with Zika virus through mosquito bites during pregnancy. It has been reported that there is a trend of the Zika epidemic spreading across the globe. Apart from European countries and the United States with Zika infection cases reported one after another, the first confirmed case of Zika infection was reported on the 19th of last month in Taiwan, which is close to Hong Kong. This has raised concern among Hong Kong people that the Zika epidemic may spread to Hong Kong at any time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the immediate measures that the authorities have in place to prevent imported cases of Zika infection; whether rapid tests are currently available to detect if persons entering the territory have been infected with Zika virus; (2) as it has been reported that Zika infection cases have been reported in quite a number of popular tourist hotspots in Southeast Asia frequented by Hong Kong people, including Thailand, Indonesia, etc., whether the authorities will immediately discuss with the health authorities in those countries to establish reciprocal notification mechanisms on the Zika epidemic; and (3) as mosquito problems are relatively serious in quite a number of districts in the territory, such as Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai, Tung Chung and Tseung Kwan O, of the immediate measures taken by the authorities to prevent an outbreak of the Zika epidemic in those districts?
II. Questions
1. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
At the end of December last year, massive fish kills occurred in Yim Tin Tsai fish culture zone ("FCZ") near Sam Mun Tsai in Tai Po. Earlier this year, similar incidents also occurred successively in Sham Wan, Lo Fu Wat, Yung Shue Au and Yim Tin Tsai East FCZs. Some fish farmers have relayed to me that massive fish kills have not only caused heavy losses to them and dealt a blow to the development of the mariculture industry, but also affected the local ecological environment. Those fish farmers have pointed out that while the authorities considered that red tides were the possible cause of the fish kills, the authorities did not give warnings to the fish farmers beforehand, rendering them unable to tow their rafts away from the waters concerned in time. Those fish farmers have also pointed out that under the Emergency Relief Fund, the maximum amount of grants offered to those affected fish farmers who have not taken out relevant insurance policies is only $6,700 at present, which is insufficient to assist the fish farmers in resuming their business. Regarding the assistance provided for fish farmers affected by natural disasters, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) how the authorities will strengthen the work of monitoring the water quality of FCZs, and improve the mechanism for forecasting and monitoring red tides, so as to avoid recurrence of fish kills; (2) whether the authorities have assessed the effectiveness of the measures taken by the government departments concerned for handling the aftermath of the fish kills, including measures to render immediate support to fish farmers and help them clear up the fish carcasses, etc.; if they have assessed, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will formulate an all-round "natural disaster protection mechanism" for fish farmers which may include: setting up a business resumption fund the grant level of which is higher than that of the Emergency Relief Fund, forming a standing inter-departmental response team to handle fish kills, and drawing up contingency plans and specific guidelines for the prevention and handling of natural disasters; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
The Hospital Authority ("HA") has implemented the Surgical Outcomes Monitoring and Improvement Programme ("SOMIP") in 17 public hospitals since 2008. SOMIP benchmarks the performance of a surgical department with other participating surgical departments by measuring their surgical outcomes after full adjustment with the patients' preoperative risk factors. It has been reported that the SOMIP Report of 2014-2015 released last month by HA indicated that the performance of Tuen Mun Hospital ("TMH") in elective surgeries was rated, for the third time, as the most unsatisfactory. It has also been reported that after conducting analyses and site inspections, the expert panel of HA was unable to identify the causes of TMH's unsatisfactory performance. On the other hand, at a meeting of the Panel on Health Services of this Council held in February 2014, the representatives of Tuen Mun Hospital Doctors' Association considered that heavy workload and medical manpower constraints in TMH were the root causes that had affected its performance in surgeries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the criteria for calculating the mortality rates of elective surgeries in public hospitals; whether HA has revised such criteria since the implementation of SOMIP; if HA has, of the details; if not, whether HA has reviewed if the mortality rates of elective surgeries calculated by using such criteria can accurately reflect the performance of various hospitals in elective surgeries; (2) whether, following the aforesaid expert panel's making its conclusion in respect of the SOMIP Report of 2014-2015, HA has considered the areas in which TMH can make improvements; if HA has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether HA has assessed the correlation between the manpower constraints of TMH and its performance in elective surgeries being repeatedly rated as the most unsatisfactory; if HA has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
In December 2010, the University Grants Committee ("UGC") submitted to the Government a report entitled "Aspirations for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong", advocating that institutions funded by UGC ("funded institutions") should strengthen the elements of internationalization. However, there are comments that internationalization in various universities at present is unsatisfactory both in terms of quality and quantity, and there is even a trend of "Mainlandization". On the other hand, the Chief Executive put forward in this year's Policy Address the proposal to inject $1 billion into the scholarship fund to increase the number of offers under the "Targeted Scholarship Scheme", currently 10 per year, by about 100 in phases, in order to attract more students from the "Belt and Road" countries to pursue university studies in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities intend to confine the vision of "internationalization" of funded institutions as advocated by UGC to covering the Belt and Road countries only; whether they have assessed the tangible benefits that can be brought to Hong Kong, the effects on promoting Hong Kong's economic development and the exchange benefits that can be brought to local university students, by supporting students from the Belt and Road countries to study in Hong Kong with public money; if they have assessed, of the outcome; whether the authorities have consulted UGC, various funded institutions, the Legislative Council and the public when formulating such a policy; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the key performance indicators of such policy; (2) whether the Government's proposal of making an injection into the scholarship fund aims at broadening the international perspectives of local university students and, in particular, enhancing their understanding of the Belt and Road countries and promoting their exchanges with people from those countries; if so, why the Government does not change the use of the money earmarked for such injection to directly support local students to pursue studies in those countries, so as to groom more local talents with international perspectives; and (3) given that quite a number of local students can only study self-financing post-secondary programmes due to a shortage of publicly-funded undergraduate places at present, and that under the free quality kindergarten education policy which the Government has recently decided to implement in the 2017-2018 school year, full subsidies will not be provided for whole-day and long whole-day kindergartens, resulting in many parents still having to pay tuition fees, while the Government, on the other hand, plans to spend $1 billion to support students from the Belt and Road countries to study in Hong Kong, whether the authorities have assessed if this initiative is against the principle that the Government should accord priority to meeting the educational needs of local people; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the Government's justifications for proposing the aforesaid injection arrangement; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the justifications for that?
4. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)
The Chief Executive stated in his 2013 Policy Address that a one-off provision of $100 million would be earmarked for each District Council ("DC") to implement the Signature Project Scheme ("the 2013 Scheme"). Various DCs may decide on their own to carry out projects which will address local needs or highlight the characteristics of the districts. DCs are required to follow the established procedures to consult the relevant committees of this Council on such projects and obtain funding approval from the Finance Committee ("FC") of this Council before implementing the projects. A total of 27 projects have been proposed by the 18 DCs in the territory, but among those projects, only about 40% obtained FC's funding approval in the past two years or so. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the funding applications for more than half of the projects under the 2013 Scheme have not been submitted to FC for vetting and approval, whether the Government has plans to complete the funding application procedures for all the projects as early as possible and within the current legislative term; if it does, how this target can be achieved; if not, of the reason for that; (2) whether it has looked into the difficulties faced by each district in implementing the 2013 Scheme, and how it ensures the sustainability of the Scheme; and (3) given that the Policy Address this year has proposed implementing the "District-led Actions Scheme" across the territory, of the differences between the contents of this Scheme and those of the 2013 Scheme?
5. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
The Chief Executive has indicated in this year's Policy Address that "[s]ince taking office, the current-term Government has been increasing land supply through a multi-pronged approach and addressing the supply-demand imbalance by formulating short, medium and long-term measures". A community group has earlier publicized a study report, pointing out that the existing "brownfields" in Hong Kong cover an area of 1 192 hectares, which is 3.7 times of that of the Kai Tak Development Area. However, the Policy Address has only classified the development of brownfield sites as a research project under "Long-term Town Planning", and yet categorized the development of artificial islands in the central waters and the development of Lantau as projects under "Medium and Long-term Land Supply" which are accorded higher priority. The community group is of the view that the Government should first develop brownfield sites before considering using methods that will cause greater environmental impacts to increase land supply, such as reclamation and reduction of green areas, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the authorities have so far released information only on those brownfield sites involving new development areas (e.g. the Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area), of the details of the remaining brownfield sites available for development under study by the authorities at present, including their total area, as well as the size and current use of each of them; how the "brownfield sites" delineated by the authorities compare to the "brownfields" mentioned in the aforesaid study report of the community group in terms of land coverage; (2) whether the authorities will study the establishment of an open database keeping information about the names of the owners and the sizes of various brownfield sites, to facilitate members of the public in giving views on issues relating to the development of brownfield sites; and (3) whether the authorities will consider, pending the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive brownfields development policy, suspending the study on the development of artificial islands in the central waters and the public consultation on the blueprint for Lantau development in order to implement the "brownfields first" policy?
6. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
In September 2014, an academic said that the approved trustees and fund managers of the Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") schemes had at least collected more than 70 billion dollars of fees in total in the past 13 years, and such fees had not yet included the fund transaction costs. The academic also pointed out that even though the Government had implemented the "semi-portability" (i.e. "the Employee Choice Arrangement"), the average MPF charging rate was still close to 1.7%, gnawing nearly 10 billion dollars of MPF contributions in a year. Recently, there have been comments that MPF is of no use at all to the low-income people who are most likely to fall into the social welfare safety net after retirement, and that "one is better off without MPF Scheme as it yields low return, offers zero protection against risks and is worse than a cosmetic scheme". Meanwhile, there has all along been some members of the public questioning if the function of MPF has changed from assisting employees in "accumulating retirement savings" to safeguarding the incomes of trustees and fund managers, and thus calling for the abolition of MPF Scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the total amount of fees received by trustees and fund managers from the MPF contributions in the past 15 odd years since MFP came into operation in December 2000; (2) given that for years, employees have been forced to make MPF contributions but their contributions have been substantially gnawed by trustees and fund managers, whether the Government has assessed if such situation contradicts the objective of MPF Scheme in assisting employees in accumulating retirement savings; and (3) given that both the Tracker Fund and MPF, which were set up in 1999 and 2000, have achieved a rate of return of 2.7%, but the average expense ratio of the Tracker Fund is only 0.1%, which is much lower than MPF’s average expense ratio of 1.69%, and as the Tracker Fund distributes investment income twice per year and its dividend yield has reached 4.08% since its listing, it can play a more effective role in accumulating retirement savings when compared with MPF which does not distribute any dividends, thus highlighting the drawbacks of MPF which are high costs and low profits, whether the Government will, in light of the unreasonably high fees and low effectiveness of MPF Scheme, consider abolishing MPF Scheme so as to alleviate public grievances?
*7. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask:
I have learnt that recently the Inland Revenue Department ("IRD") has been taking disproportionately long time to process requests for adjudication of stamp duty ("requests"), causing inconvenience to both the legal profession and the parties involved in the relevant transactions. The delay has become particularly serious after the introduction of Buyer's Stamp Duty in October 2012 and doubled ad valorem stamp duty in February 2013 for property transactions by the authorities. Regarding the time taken by IRD to issue a Notice of Assessment upon receipt of a request ("processing time"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of requests received by IRD in the past two years and, among them, the respective numbers of those the processing time of which was within one to three months, more than three months to six months, and more than six months, as well as the number of requests which are still pending (set out such information in a table); (2) of the average processing time of the requests received by IRD in the past two years; (3) whether IRD has set any performance pledge for the processing time; if IRD has, of the details; if not, whether IRD will set such a pledge; and (4) whether IRD will take measures to shorten the processing time; if IRD will, of the details of the measures to be implemented and the expected outcome; if not, the justifications for that?
*8. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints that recently, an increasing number of people who are physically handicapped, old or dressed as monks beg or appeal for money on the streets in districts where pedestrian flow is heavy. The complainants suspected that these people came from the Mainland. Under section 26A of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228), any person who places himself or herself in any public place, street or waterway to beg or gather alms commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to a fine of $500 and to imprisonment (for one month for a first or second offence and for 12 months for a third or subsequent offence). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of Mainlanders arrested in each of the past five years for begging, with a breakdown by their circumstances (i.e. being physically handicapped, old, dressed as monks or others) and the districts in which they were arrested; the respective numbers of persons prosecuted and convicted among those who were arrested; the heaviest punishment imposed by the court on those convicted, as well as the number of persons on whom such heaviest punishment was imposed; (2) of a breakdown of the Mainlanders arrested as mentioned in (1) by the type of instruments on the strength of which they entered Hong Kong; among them, the number of those persons convicted for begging for two or more times, as well as the respective average and maximum numbers of times for which they were convicted; (3) as the Hong Kong Buddhist Association has pointed out that there is no need for local monks to appeal for money on the streets and that they would only raise funds in a lawful manner, of the authorities' measures to remind members of the public to maintain vigilance and that they should not casually give alms to persons dressed as monks on the streets; and (4) whether the authorities will review the relevant legislation to raise the penalties for offences relating to begging in order to enhance the deterrent effect; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
Recently, the Commission on Poverty published a consultation paper on retirement protection and launched a six-month public consultation exercise. At present, various sectors of society have not yet reached a clearer consensus on this highly important and controversial subject. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) how the authorities, when conducting the consultation exercise on retirement protection system, extensively reach out to various strata, sectors, age groups and organizations to gather public opinions, so as to enable various sectors of society to forge a consensus expeditiously; (2) whether the authorities will compose an interim report on the consultation work to give an account of the progress of and preliminary results attained by the consultation work; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as it takes time for various sectors of society to forge a consensus on the retirement protection proposals and for such proposals to be implemented, whether the Government will consider implementing less-controversial short-term measures, such as (i) abolishing the requirement that elderly people aged between 65 and 69 must pass the assets tests for them to be granted normal old age allowance (commonly known as "fruit grant"), and (ii) relaxing the requirement on asset limits for Old Age Living Allowance, so that more elderly people will benefit from the relevant welfare measures; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
According to a forecast made in 2014, the population in Sha Tin District in mid-2015 was nearly 670 000, with more than 220 000 people living in Ma On Shan. Some residents of Sha Tin District have relayed to me that public healthcare services in the District (especially in Ma On Shan) are in short supply. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the Government has stated in this year's Policy Address that the redevelopment/expansion of the Prince of Wales Hospital is included in its hospital development plan for the coming decade, of the details and works schedule for the redevelopment/expansion plan concerned; (2) as it is mentioned in a paper submitted to this Council by the Food and Health Bureau in respect of this year's Policy Address that the pilot General Out-patient Clinic Public-Private Partnership Programme will be extended to all the 18 District Council Districts of the territory in phases in the coming three years, of the date and details of the implementation of the Programme in Sha Tin District, as well as the priority assigned to Sha Tin District among the 18 Districts; (3) as a number of public and private housing projects in Ma On Shan will be completed one after another in the coming few years and the population in that area will continue to rise, whether the Government has plans to set up public general out-patient clinics in Ma On Shan; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given that among the 11 existing dental clinics with general public sessions (which provide pain relief and extraction services only) in the territory, not even one is situated in Sha Tin District, whether the Government will (i) consider setting up such clinics in that District, or (ii) make arrangements for the government dental clinics situated respectively on Sai Sha Road, Man On Shan and in Yuen Chau Kok, Sha Tin (which currently provide dental services only to civil servants and eligible persons) to provide dental services for the general public; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether the Department of Health will consider setting up woman health centres in Sha Tin District to provide mammography screening and other health services for women in the District; if the Department will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
The MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") is implementing five local railway projects, namely the projects to construct the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL project"), the Shatin to Central Link, the extended Island Line to Western District, the South Island Line (East) and the Kwun Tong Line Extension. All of those railway projects have experienced work delays, with the delay in XRL project being particularly serious. Meanwhile, MTRCL has been actively developing its railway-related businesses on the Mainland and overseas. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the details of the railway businesses being developed by MTRCL outside Hong Kong at present, including the titles, investment amounts and scales of the projects; (2) the respective models under which MTRCL develops the railway businesses mentioned in (1) above; the following information of each of the projects developed under a service franchise model: (i) the project title, (ii) the city where the project is located, (iii) the commencement and expiry dates of the franchise, and (iv) the (target) commissioning date of the relevant railway; (3) the details of the manpower resources deployed by MTRCL to the development of railway businesses outside Hong Kong, including the number of Hong Kong employees who are dedicated to undertaking such businesses and the number of Hong Kong employees seconded from Hong Kong on a short-term basis; the job descriptions of those two types of employees; (4) the details of the manpower shortage situations encountered by MTRCL in implementing the aforesaid five local railway projects; and (5) the specific measures and mechanism put in place by MTRCL to ensure that the implementation of local railway projects will not be affected in the course of developing railway businesses outside Hong Kong?
*12. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In August last year, the Government notified the stall owners of Yen Chow Street Temporary Hawker Bazaar ("YCS Bazaar") in Sham Shui Po that the bazaar would be closed down so that the site concerned could be used for providing subsidized housing. Some affected stall owners have relayed to me that some cloth hawkers started to move into YCS Bazaar as early as the 1970s. At present, there are a few dozens of stalls selling cloth in the bazaar, and their customers are mainly practitioners of the fashion design industry and students taking the relevant programmes, as well as textile lovers. However, the authorities have not fully consulted the stall owners before deciding to close down the bazaar and, upon the issuance of the notice, they invited only those stall owners holding a hawker licence ("licensed stall owners") to a meeting to offer the latter compensation options. Those options include surrendering their hawker licences in exchange for an ex-gratia payment, and drawing lots to select or bid for other stalls on their own to continue their business. Some stall owners are of the view that such compensation options have not taken into account the economic value, social value and historic significance of YCS Bazaar. Quite a number of the affected stall owners, their customers and even local residents have relayed to me their hope that the authorities will shelve the decision of closing down YCS Bazaar. However, should the authorities maintain the decision, they hope that the authorities would relocate the stall owners of the bazaar in the same district en masse, so that the fabrics market with Sham Shui Po characteristics which offers inexpensive goods of good quality can be preserved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the deadline for licensed stall owners to give a reply regarding their selected compensation options expired on the 11th of last month, of the details of the replies received by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department so far; whether any stall owner chose to surrender his licence; if so, of the reasons as understood by the authorities; (2) whether the authorities will offer other compensation options to those licensed stall owners who do not accept any of the proposed options; if they will not, whether the authorities intend not to offer them any compensation at all; (3) given that a number of stall owners without hawker licences have been doing business in YCS Bazaar for years, and some of them were originally registered assistants of licensed stall owners who have passed away or surrendered their licences, how the authorities will relocate such stall owners; (4) of the specific timetable set by the authorities for the evacuation of YCS Bazaar stall owners, the closing down of the bazaar and the construction of subsidized housing on the site concerned; given that the majority of the stall owners have relayed to me that they are dissatisfied with the authorities' failure to fully consult them beforehand, and they hope that the authorities can relocate them in the same district, whether the authorities will suspend the plan to close down the bazaar until the discussion with the stall owners has been completed and a proper relocation option has been worked out; (5) given that the authorities have recently proposed to relocate the relevant stalls to Tung Chau Street Temporary Market but some stall owners consider the market unsuitable for selling cloth, whether the authorities have studied the feasibility of relocating these stalls en masse to other places within the Sham Shui Po District (e.g. under the Tung Chau Street Flyover); if they have, of the options which they have studied and the reasons for not adopting such options; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether the authorities will, by making reference to the mode of Tin Sau Bazaar in Tin Shui Wai, lease a piece of idle land in the Sham Shui Po District to a non-profit-making organization for operating a market, with priority given to stall owners of YCS Bazaar when leasing the stalls of that market, so as to enable such stall owners to continue to do business side by side in the same district; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
In October 2000, the then Secretary for Security and the Director of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the mainland Ministry of Public Security signed the "Arrangements on the Establishment of a Reciprocal Notification Mechanism between the Mainland Public Security Authorities and the Hong Kong Police" ("the Notification Mechanism"). The Notification Mechanism has operated since January 2001. Under the Notification Mechanism, the Liaison Officer of the Ministry of Public Security ("the Mainland Notification Unit") shall be responsible for giving notifications to the Liaison Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force ("the Hong Kong Notification Unit") on the imposition of criminal compulsory measures by the Public Security authorities and customs authorities (with the coverage of the Notification Mechanism having been extended to include cases handled by the People's Procuratorates and the Ministry of State Security since 1 June 2003) on Hong Kong residents suspected of having committed crimes, and unnatural deaths of Hong Kong residents on the Mainland. The Hong Kong Notification Unit shall be responsible for giving notifications to the Mainland Notification Unit on the criminal prosecutions instituted by the Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department and the Immigration Department against mainland residents, and unnatural deaths of mainland residents in Hong Kong. The Notification Mechanism is an administrative arrangement operating on the basis of mutual respect for the relevant laws of both parties. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, in the past five years:
(1) of the respective numbers of notifications gave by the Notification Units of both sides each year, with a breakdown by the time between the date on which a case occurred and the date on which notification was given on that case; the number of cases as notified by the Mainland Notification Unit in the past five years, broken down by the province in which the relevant case occurred; whether it knows, where a case occurred in places outside the Guangdong Province on the Mainland, if notification of such a case to Hong Kong is required to be given through the Guangdong Province; (2) of the number of cases in which the Mainland Notification Unit gave notifications each year on the imposition of criminal compulsory measures on Hong Kong residents and the number of Hong Kong residents involved, with respective breakdowns by the authorities and offences involved; among such residents, of the respective numbers of those arrested, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment; (3) of the number of unnatural deaths of Hong Kong residents on the Mainland as notified by the Mainland Notification Unit each year; (4) whether the Government, upon receipt of notifications, took the initiative to provide assistance to the Hong Kong residents concerned and their families; if so, of the form of assistance provided and the outcome; and (5) whether the Security Bureau conducted regular reviews in collaboration with the mainland Ministry of Public Security, on the implementation of the Notification Mechanism; if so, of the details; if not, how the authorities ensure that the Notification Mechanism can perform the function of enabling the authorities to render, as early as possible, the support needed by the Hong Kong residents concerned and their families, and how they assess the effectiveness of the Notification Mechanism?
*14. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
In 2014, the Housing Department ("HD") offered free of charge to replace the laundry pole holders (commonly known as the "three joss sticks" laundry racks) and the old-type see-through collapsible gates in the flats of public rental housing estates and unsold flats of Tenants Purchase Scheme estates in the territory. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) regarding the replacement of laundry racks, of a list of the housing estates in respect of which, at present, (i) the relevant works have been completed, (ii) the relevant works are in progress, (iii) the relevant works contracts have been awarded, and (iv) the tendering exercises for the relevant works have yet to be conducted; whether, according to HD's estimation, all such works can be completed in 2017 as scheduled; (2) regarding the housing estates in respect of which the laundry racks replacement works have been completed, of the respective numbers and percentages of households which consented and refused to have the relevant works carried out in their flats by HD; whether HD has studied the reasons why some households have refused to have such works carried out; if so, of the outcome; whether HD will improve the relevant arrangements in the light of the households' feedback; (3) whether there have been cases in which the newly-installed laundry racks needed to be replaced because they had been broken; if so, of the number of laundry racks involved, with a breakdown by (i) the name of the housing estate, (ii) the parts which were broken, and (iii) the time between the date on which the works were first carried out and the date on which the parts were found to be broken; (4) as HD has indicated that elderly households and tenants with disabilities will be given priority in relation to the works to replace old-type see-through collapsible gates, whether the relevant works have all been completed; if not, of the current progress and the anticipated completion time of all such works; and (5) of the respective current number of housing estates in respect of which (i) the works to replace collapsible gates have been completed, (ii) the relevant works are in progress, and (iii) the relevant works have not yet commenced; whether, according to HD's estimation, such works can all be completed within five years as scheduled?
*15. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, the Government has allocated a lot of resources to promote occupational safety, but industrial accidents involving workers falling from heights have still occurred from time to time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of industrial accidents involving persons falling from heights and resultant casualties in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by the cause of the accident; (2) whether it knows the current number of buildings in Hong Kong the external walls of which have not been installed with any permanent features for anchorage of temporary structures or scaffoldings ("anchor devices") or gondola systems; the years of completion of those buildings; if such information cannot be provided, whether the authorities will conduct relevant surveys; if they will, of the details and the timetable of the work involved; if not, the reasons for that; of the measures the authorities have in place to safeguard the occupational safety of workers while they are carrying out maintenance works on the external parts of this type of buildings; (3) whether, in vetting and approving building plans in the past five years, the Buildings Department ("BD") made reference to the Practice Note for Authorized Persons, Registered Structural Engineers and Registered Geotechnical Engineers on "Facilities for External Inspection and Maintenance of Buildings" and required that anchor devices be included in the design of external walls of buildings to be constructed; if BD did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given that anchor devices have not yet been installed on the external walls of some newly completed buildings, how the authorities will step up regulation to prevent more workers from falling from heights when carrying out maintenance works on the external walls of buildings; and (5) whether BD will review the legislation and guidelines relating to work-at-height activities, e.g. whether the safety guidelines on the use of truss-out bamboo scaffolding (commonly known as "supporting brackets") still suit the present circumstances; if BD will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The Government submitted a proposal to the Town Planning Board in December 2015 to amend the approved Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau Outline Zoning Plan, in order to rezone several pieces of land at Ap Lei Chau to residential use, including the site at which New Horizon School of Motoring ("NHSM") is operating Ap Lei Chau Driving School at present. If the aforesaid rezoning proposal is approved, the driving school will have to be closed down. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of Hong Kong Island residents who received driving training and applied for driving tests in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by vehicle class; (2) of the respective numbers of persons who (i) received driver training at Ap Lei Chau Driving School, (ii) received private driving instructors' driving training on Hong Kong Island, and (iii) took driving tests on Hong Kong Island, in each of the past three years; (3) given that the Commissioner for Transport renewed the designation of the current site of Ap Lei Chau Driving School as a driving school under section 88K of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) in June 2011, and the validity period of the designation will expire on 15 June this year, while NHSM has reportedly been leasing the site, for operating the driving school, from the Lands Department by way of quarterly-renewed tenancy contracts, whether the authorities will extend the validity period of the aforesaid designation; if they will not, of the reasons for that; and (4) given that Ap Lei Chau Driving School is the only designated driving school on Hong Kong Island, whether the authorities are identifying another site on Hong Kong Island at present for relocating the driving school; if they are, of the latest progress; if not, whether the authorities will commence such work within a short period of time; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
*17. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
The University Grants Committee ("UGC") introduced the "Competitive Allocation" mechanism in the 2009-2012 triennium. Under the mechanism, each tertiary institution funded by UGC ("institutions") is required to reserve a certain percentage of its first-year-first-degree places ("places") for reallocation among the various institutions by UGC in the light of the performance of individual institutions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) in the third triennium (i.e. 2016-2019), (i) the total number of places reserved by various institutions, (ii) the number of places reserved by each institution (with a breakdown by department/programme) and its percentage in the total number of the relevant places originally offered by that institution, as well as (iii) the number of places reallocated to each institution (with a breakdown by department/programme), the percentage of that number in the total number of the relevant places originally offered by that institution, and how that number compares with the number of places reserved by that institution; and (2) whether UGC has plans to require the various institutions to reserve a higher percentage of places in the fourth triennium for its reallocation; if UGC does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485), an employer may use the accrued benefits derived from the contributions he made for an employee to a Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") scheme to offset the severance payment or long service payment payable to the employee under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57). In his election manifesto, the Chief Executive ("CE") made the pledge that "[w]e will adopt measures to progressively reduce the proportion of accrued benefits attributed to employer's contribution in the MPF account that can be applied by the employer to offset long-service or severance payments" ("offsetting proportion"). It has been more than three years and a half since CE took office but he has not yet put forward any specific arrangement for fulfilling this pledge. When attending a Question and Answer Session of this Council last month, CE said that he "would certainly strive to fulfill, during this term of office, the pledges made in the manifesto". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has so far devised any concrete plan for fulfilling the aforesaid pledge; if it has not, how the Government embodies CE's claim that he "would certainly strive to fulfill, during this term of office, the pledges made in the manifesto", and whether the Government has now given up fulfilling this pledge; and (2) whether it will make reference to the experience gained in implementing the Statutory Minimum Wage regime and the arrangements for paid paternity leave, and progressively reduce the offsetting proportion set out in the contracts to be entered with its contract staff in future, and request its outsourced service contractors and subsidized public bodies to follow such a practice, so as to take the lead in this respect and demonstrate the Government's determination to fulfill the aforesaid pledge; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
*19. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, the number of private cars in Hong Kong has grown significantly (rising by 40% over the period from 2003 to 2013), and the number of diesel private cars has also increased substantially (a growth of 68% being recorded from the end of 2013 to the end of 2014), causing the roadside air pollution problem to worsen. On the other hand, non-road mobile machinery (i.e. mobile or transportable machines or vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, e.g. excavators) accounted for about 6% and 8% respectively of the total emissions of nitrogen oxides and respirable suspended particulates in Hong Kong in 2012. With regard to reducing air pollution in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of diesel private cars, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles registered at the end of each of the past five years; (2) whether the Government will introduce new measures to further encourage members of the public to switch to hybrid and electric vehicles, so as to reduce roadside air pollution; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the progress of the Government's plan to control the emission of air pollutants by non-road mobile machinery; (4) given that the Shenzhen municipal authorities have introduced electric vehicles for public transport on a large scale through government-led and market-driven measures, which include requiring all new public buses to be purely electric vehicles, providing various types of electric vehicle charging stations throughout the city, collaborating with enterprises to supply electric taxis with longer travel ranges, providing subsidies and arrangements for bank loans for people purchasing electric taxis, etc., whether the Government will consider implementing similar policies to promote the use of more environment-friendly vehicles for public transport; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) of the respective usage rates of the 11 existing car parks across the territory which provide Park-and-Ride service; whether it has conducted any review on the effectiveness of the Park and Ride Scheme in reducing air pollution; if it has, of the details and whether it will provide more of such car parks; if it has not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that at present, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") Government and the Central People's Government (collectively known as "the two Governments") have not entered into any agreement on surrender of fugitive offenders. Regarding the arrangement for the surrender of fugitive offenders ("the surrender arrangement") between the two Governments, will the HKSAR Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the existing surrender arrangement implemented by the two Governments, including the date on which such an arrangement was set up, the departments under the two Governments which are responsible for implementing the arrangement and the offences to which the arrangement applies; whether the arrangement has been revised since it was set up; if so, of the details; (2) of the legal basis for the HKSAR Government to implement the existing arrangement for surrendering fugitive offenders to the mainland authorities; whether it has considered making the relevant arrangement by way of legislation; if it has, of the details and progress of such work; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether the law enforcement agencies of the HKSAR Government have the power under the law to arrest or deport from Hong Kong those mainland residents who stay in Hong Kong lawfully without suspicion of having committed offences in Hong Kong but are currently regarded as fugitive offenders by the mainland authorities; if they do, of the relevant legal basis; whether the law enforcement agencies of the HKSAR Government have the power under the law to arrest and surrender to the Mainland those Hong Kong residents who are currently regarded as fugitive offenders by the mainland authorities; if they do, of the relevant legal basis; (4) of the procedure followed by the law enforcement agencies of the HKSAR Government in implementing the arrangement for surrendering fugitive offenders to the Mainland, including whether it is required to obtain prior authorization from the Chief Executive, the Secretary for Security, heads of other law enforcement departments or the court; if so, of the details of the procedure for obtaining such authorizations; the procedure followed by the law enforcement agencies of the HKSAR Government in requesting the mainland authorities to return fugitive offenders to Hong Kong, including whether it is required to obtain prior authorization from the Chief Executive, the Secretary for Security, heads of other law enforcement departments or the court; if so, of the details of the procedure for obtaining such authorizations; (5) of the following since the reunification: (i) the number of requests made by the mainland authorities to the law enforcement agencies of the HKSAR Government for surrendering fugitive offenders each year and the number of fugitive offenders involved and, among them, the number of times for which the surrender arrangement was implemented and the number of fugitive offenders surrendered, (ii) the number of requests made by the law enforcement agencies of the HKSAR Government to the mainland authorities for surrendering fugitive offenders each year and the number of fugitive offenders involved and, among them, the number of times for which the surrender arrangement was implemented and the number of fugitive offenders surrendered, (iii) the respective numbers of Chinese nationals, Hong Kong residents and persons of other nationalities among the fugitive offenders surrendered from the Mainland to Hong Kong each year, as well as the respective offences in which they were involved, and (iv) the respective numbers of Chinese nationals, Hong Kong residents and persons of other nationalities among the fugitive offenders surrendered from Hong Kong to the Mainland each year, as well as the respective offences in which they were involved; and (6) in the case where a fugitive offender who is about to be surrendered to the Mainland claims that he will be subjected to prosecutions associated with political offences, death penalty, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment if he is surrendered to the Mainland, whether the law enforcement agencies of the HKSAR Government will continue with the surrender, or escort him to the boundary for arrest by the mainland law enforcement officers; if they will, whether the HKSAR Government has sought legal advice to assess if such practices are in line with the legal requirements under international human rights law, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and local legislation relating to human rights; if it has, of the relevant legal advice?
*21. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that a representative of the Hospital Authority ("HA"), when attending a public forum organized by the Equal Opportunities Commission on 24 November last year, disclosed that ethnic minority ("EM") patients normally needed to wait for about four hours for on-site interpretation service in public hospitals and clinics, and even in emergency situations, they still needed to wait for about two hours. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the numbers of times for which public hospitals and clinics provided (i) on-site and (ii) telephone interpretation services for EM patients in each of the past three years, as well as the respective average, longest and shortest waiting times for such interpretation services; (2) whether it knows the numbers of times for which public hospitals and clinics provided interpretation services for EM patients through their service contractors in each of the past three years; (3) whether it knows if the decisions to provide interpretation services for EM patients must be made by doctors in public hospitals and clinics; (4) whether it knows if there were occasions in the past three years where the diagnosis and treatment received by EM patients were affected by errors in interpretation; if there were, of the details; and (5) whether it has reviewed the reasonableness of the arrangement for EM patients having to wait for about four hours for on-site interpretation service; whether it knows the resources used by HA for providing interpretation services in each of the past three years; whether the authorities will allocate additional funding to HA for improving the relevant interpretation services; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the information technology industry have relayed to me that the authorities should devise quantitative indicators so as to assess the effectiveness of the various initiatives for promoting the development of the innovation and technology industry, and for use as the bases for conducting reviews on such initiatives as well as on related policies and resource allocation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation ("HKSTP") offers three incubation programmes for its start-up tenants, namely the (i) Incu-App Programme, (ii) Incu-Bio Programme and (iii) Incu-Tech Programme, whether the authorities know, in respect of each of these programmes, the information on the items listed in Table 1 in each of the past three years (set out in tables of the same format as Table 1); if such information is not available, the reasons for that;
(Table 1)
Name of Programme : __________
Item 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 Operating cost of this programme Number of companies which applied for admission to the programme Average number of years of establishment of the applicant companies Average time required for processing an application (working days) Percentage of successful applications Number of companies admitted to the programme ("incubatees") Accumulated total number of incubatees Average amount of financial assistance received by each incubatee Number of new technology projects, products and services developed by incubatees Number of patents registered or applications for patent registration made by incubatees Average number of full-time employees hired by each incubate Average salary of a full-time employee of an incubatee Number of incubatees rated as failing to meet the business targets in the regular milestone assessment Number of incubatees which ceased operation Percentage of incubatees which were still in business in Hong Kong three years after graduation in the total number of incubates Number of cases in which the incubatees' projects had received follow-up fund injections Average amount of investment obtained by those projects which had received follow-up fund injections Percentage of incubatees which received follow-up fund injections in the total number of incubatees Source of the funds which invested in the projects of incubatees (e.g. angel/venture capital/innovation and technology venture funds) Number of graduated incubatees which were listed or acquired, or entered into joint ventures, or had spin-off projects Average business turnover of incubates Average profit made by incubates (2) regarding the Cyberport Incubation Programme, whether it knows the information on the items listed in Table 2 in each of the past three years (set out in Table 2); if such information is not available, the reasons for that;
(Table 2)
Item 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 Operating cost of this programme Number of companies which applied for admission to the programme Average number of years of establishment of the applicant companies Average time required for processing an application (working days) Percentage of successful applications Number of companies admitted to the programme ("incubatees") Accumulated total number of incubatees Average amount of financial assistance received by each incubate Number of new technology projects, products and services developed by incubates Number of patents registered or applications for patent registration made by incubatees Average number of full-time employees hired by each incubate Average salary of a full-time employee of an incubate Number of incubatees which ceased operation Percentage of incubatees which were still in business in Hong Kong three years after graduation in the total number of incubates Number of cases in which the incubatees' projects received follow-up fund injections Average amount of investment obtained by those projects which had received follow-up fund injections Percentage of incubatees which received follow-up fund injections in the total number of incubatees Source of the funds which invested in the projects of incubatees (e.g. angel/venture capital/innovation and technology venture funds) Number of graduated incubatees which were listed or acquired, or entered into joint ventures, or had spin-off projects Average business turnover of incubatees Average profit made by incubatees (3) regarding the Cyberport Creative Micro Fund ("CCMF") programme, whether it knows the information on the items listed in Table 3 in each of the past three years (set out in Table 3); if such information is not available, the reasons for that;
(Table 3)
Item 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 Operating cost of CCMF Number of projects which had applied for CCMF Percentage of successful applications Number of projects which had received CCMF's funding Accumulated total number of projects receiving CCMF's funding Areas of technology concerned of funded projects Average time required for processing an application (working days) Total amount of funding granted Number of cases in which companies were established in Hong Kong after completion of the projects Average number of full-time Hong Kong employees hired by such companies established after completion of the projects Percentage of projects which were granted funding after submitting the interim reports Percentage of projects which were granted funding after submitting the final reports Percentage of projects which successfully developed prototypes and launched the products in the market within three years after receiving funding Percentage of the companies concerned which were still in business in Hong Kong three years after their projects had received funding Number of projects which received follow-up fund injections Average amount of investment obtained by projects which had received follow-up fund injections Percentage of projects which received follow-up fund injections Source of the funds which invested in the projects concerned (e.g. angel/venture capital/innovation and technology venture funds) Number of companies with projects funded by CCMF which were listed or acquired, or entered into joint ventures, or had spin-off projects Average business turnover of the companies with projects funded by CCMF Average profit made by the companies with projects funded by CCMF (4) given that to "revisit the work priorities and interactions of the various innovation and technology institutions" is one of the nine directions and work priorities of the Innovation and Technology Bureau, and that the authorities agree that formulating key performance indicators is an important task, of the progress (including discussions with stakeholders) and timetable of such work, as well as the expected dates for conducting extensive consultation with the industry and the public; and (5) whether the authorities will request various stakeholders, including the relevant bureaux and government departments, as well as various institutions such as research and development centres, universities, HKSTP, the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, etc., to compile and publish more diversified statistics so as to increase their transparency, with a view to facilitating the monitoring by the public of the benefits generated by the public resources invested in innovation and technology and the effectiveness of the relevant policies; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development | |||||||||||||||
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| 1. | Bankruptcy (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 9 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 230/15-16) | |||||||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 15 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 252/15-16(01)))
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| 2. | Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| 3. | Promotion of Recycling and Proper Disposal (Electrical Equipment and Electronic Equipment) (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for the Environment
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| Secretary for the Environment to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 28 January 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 340/15-16) | |||||||||||||||||
| 4. | Fixed Penalty (Public Cleanliness Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Home Affairs
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| 5. | Property Management Services Bill | : | Secretary for Home Affairs
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| Secretary for Home Affairs to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 29 January 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 345/15-16) | |||||||||||||||||
IV. Motion
Proposed resolution under the Road Traffic Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion:
Resolved that the period extended to 20 June 2016 by Legal Notice No. 54 of 2011, and for which there remains in force the limit on the number of vehicles which may be registered as public light buses specified in the Public Light Buses (Limitation on Number) Notice (Cap. 374 sub. leg. K), be further extended to 20 June 2021.
V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
VI. Members' Bills
| First Reading
Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned) | ||
| Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill | : | Hon NG Leung-sing
|
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading | ||
| Kowloon Tong Church of the Chinese Christian and Missionary Alliance Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG |
VII. Members' Motions
| 1. | Actively studying the establishment of a middle class commission
Hon Tommy CHEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council requests the Government to actively study the establishment of a middle class commission. Amendments to the motion | ||||
| (i) | Hon Frankie YICK to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the middle class has always been an important force for maintaining social stability and promoting economic development, but in recent years, the long-standing concerns in the external economic environment, the seriously lopsided development of Hong Kong's industries, the short supply of housing, the polarization between the rich and the poor, and the never-ending political wrangling have caused the middle class to face problems of housing, taxation, education and healthcare, etc., and created a trend of downward mobility of the middle class; the Government's support for the middle class has all along been limited to one-off relief measures such as providing tax rebates, increasing tax allowances, exempting rates or offering electricity charge subsidies, etc., but these measures are just utterly inadequate for the middle class and have not practically alleviated their plight; in addition, as currently there is no precise definition of the middle class, and the Government does not regularly provide statistics and information specific to the middle class, if the authorities or community organizations use such information to formulate policies or measures to support the middle class, such policies or measures will very often be out of focus, biased and superficial; in this connection," after "That"; and to add "to comprehensively review the policies or measures relating to the middle class from a focused and higher-level perspective, so as to alleviate the various problems faced by the middle class and consolidate the strength of the middle class, thereby promoting afresh economic development and strengthening the momentum of upward mobility of the community as a whole; the relevant measures should include: Definition (1) to lay down a clear and precise definition of the middle class, and regularly publish relevant statistics in respect of the definition; Development of industries (2) to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promote diversified development of industries in Hong Kong, so as to create more jobs at the middle and senior levels as well as business start-up opportunities in various industries and professions; (3) to further strengthen regional economic development for integration with the economic development circles of different regions on the Mainland, so as to provide more and better career development opportunities for middle-class professionals within or outside the territory; Housing (4) to expedite the identification of land for developing new development areas, optimize the use of rock caverns and carry out reclamation on an appropriate scale outside Victoria Harbour, so as to increase the supply of residential land on all fronts; and to increase the transparency of the housing plans as well as the supply of and demand for residential land for the next 10 years, and conduct an interim strategic review of and make corresponding adjustment to the relevant plans every five years; (5) to actively study the exploitation of green belt areas and 'brownfield sites' for the purpose of residential development; (6) to introduce a tax allowance for rentals for the marginal middle class; Taxation (7) to adjust salaries tax downwards, in particular widening tax bands for salaries tax and lowering the marginal rate, so as to vigorously alleviate the burden of the marginal middle class; (8) to relax the restrictions on the dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance by relaxing the eligibility requirement from living in the same unit to living in the same housing estate; Education (9) to introduce a tax allowance for children's education to alleviate the burden of children education expenses on middle-class families; (10) to substantially increase the salaries tax deduction for self-education expenses and the subsidy under the Continuing Education Fund; Healthcare (11) to provide tax deduction for medical insurance contributions; and (12) to provide tax deduction for medical examinations to encourage the middle class to undergo such examinations on a regular basis" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (ii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "as the Government has disregarded the needs of the middle class over the years," after "That"; to delete "establishment of a" after "study the" and substitute with "concerns of the"; and to delete "commission" immediately before the full stop and substitute with ", which include: (1) raising the various tax allowances, including the basic allowance for individuals, married person's allowance as well as dependent parent allowance, and widening the tax bands for salaries tax and abolishing the standard rate for salaries tax, so that members of the public pay their salaries tax according to the marginal tax rate, thereby alleviating the tax burden on the middle class; (2) reintroducing the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme to increase the opportunities for the middle class to acquire homes; (3) increasing the numbers of days of paid maternity leave and paternity leave and introducing flexible working hours to perfect family-friendly policies and promote a culture of work-life balance; (4) reviewing the teaching quality of government and subsidized schools, and allocating additional resources for such schools to adopt the teaching mode of Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and the merits of International Baccalaureate programmes, so that children of middle-class families can enjoy quality education; (5) upholding local core values and combating corruption to rebuild a society with integrity and fairness, thereby providing the middle class with an environment with fair competition; and (6) formulating proposals for electing the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council by universal suffrage with equal rights to make nomination, to vote and to stand for election in an open, fair and impartial manner, with a view to forging a consensus on promoting democracy, thereby strengthening the middle class's sense of belonging to Hong Kong". | ||||
| (iii) | Hon Christopher CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the middle class, despite being the mainstay of Hong Kong society, has to bear increasingly heavy livelihood and financial burdens and face pressures of downward mobility; in this connection," after "That"; to delete "actively study the establishment of" after "Government to" and substitute with "expeditiously establish"; and to add "to formulate permanent and focused policies and measures, with a view to alleviating the livelihood and financial burdens of the middle class and providing them with more opportunities for upward mobility and room for development" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (iv) | Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "as the Government's measures to assist the middle class in recent years have no merit worth mentioning, the middle class has been unable to resolve their livelihood difficulties; in this connection," after "That"; to delete "actively study the establishment of" after "Government to" and substitute with "expeditiously establish"; and to add "whose functions include studying the following matters: (1) immediately constructing subsidized housing on idle Government land and increasing the number of subsidized sale flats to provide the middle class with a home acquisition ladder, and to enable the middle class to purchase flats for self-occupation at reasonable prices; (2) expeditiously implementing 15-year free education and stepping up the regulation of Direct Subsidy Scheme schools to ensure that the tuition fees of such schools are set at a reasonable level, thereby alleviating the burden of children education expenses on middle-class families; (3) refraining from using a salary-based approach to define the scope of application of standard working hours to ensure that the middle class has more leisure time to enjoy life; and (4) stepping up the regulation of private hospitals, enhancing the service quality of public hospitals, allocating additional land for constructing private hospitals, and immediately abolishing the Drug Formulary system, so as to alleviate the healthcare burden on the middle class" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (v) | Hon Starry LEE to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as the middle class is the mainstay of society," after "That"; and to add "to cater for the interests of the middle class and respond to their different demands, as well as to create more opportunities for upward mobility to expand the ratio of the middle-class population, thereby enabling the society to develop in a sustainable, stable and harmonious manner" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
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| 2. | Reconstructing the image of Hong Kong's tourism industry
Hon YIU Si-wing to move the following motion: (Translation) That according to the Third Quarter Economic Report 2015 published by the Government in November 2015, inbound tourism slackened further in the third quarter of 2015, and overall visitor arrivals to Hong Kong fell by 6.4% as compared to the same period last year, the first decline since the third quarter of 2009; the Report also points out that exports of travel services (covering visitors' spending on shopping, food and beverages, accommodation and entertainment, etc.) fell by 5.6% in real terms in the third quarter, and the average achieved hotel room rate also dropped by 13.1% as compared to the same period last year; as the share of tourists' shopping expenditure in retail sales value has been substantial (around 42% in 2014), the further slackening of inbound tourism has led to a decline in Hong Kong's total retail sales value for seven consecutive months this year, recording the longest downward trend over the past six years; this will also further affect Hong Kong's economy and employment; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to seriously review the reasons for the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong, formulate corresponding measures and allocate additional resources to reconstruct the positive image of the tourism industry, with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect Hong Kong's economic development. Amendments to the motion | ||||
| (i) | Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", the tourism industry has all along brought a large number of middle-level and elementary job opportunities to the hotel, catering and transport sectors, etc.; however," after "That"; to add "to reverse the present development trend of the Hong Kong tourism industry, which emphasizes quantity rather than quality, so as" after "resources"; to delete ", with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect" after "tourism industry" and substitute with "and enable healthy development of the tourism industry, with a view to creating more job opportunities and promoting"; and to add "; the relevant measures should include: (1) to expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to centrally monitor travel agents, tour escorts and tourist guides; (2) to adopt decisive measures to combat the use of unscrupulous operation practices in the tourism sector such as 'zero/negative/low-fare' tours and coerced shopping, etc., and step up publicity among visitors to Hong Kong on the need for vigilance against those unscrupulous operation practices and on the channels for lodging complaints; and to examine regulating the proportion and duration of 'arranged shopping' in the daily itinerary of inbound tours from the Mainland; (3) to formulate an overall development strategy for the tourism industry, which should not only facilitate visitors in retail consumption, but also strengthen the development of exploration tourism, including local in-depth tourism, cultural tourism and eco-tourism, so as to attract visitors of different types (including visitors who are with high spending power, young or stay overnight) to Hong Kong; (4) to promote the development of tourism supporting facilities and scenic spots, such as home-stay lodgings, creativity bazaars and night markets, etc., and to amend existing legislation to support and dovetail with such development; (5) to improve the infrastructural facilities (including water and power supply facilities) and transport links on some outlying islands, such as Po Toi Island and Tung Ping Chau, etc., so as to make good use of their rich tourism resources for developing these places as new tourist spots and benefit the economic development of local residents; (6) to improve the hardware ancillary facilities at existing scenic spots and step up the promotion of a 'hospitable culture' among the tourism sector and the public, with a view to upgrading the tourism quality of Hong Kong; and (7) to closely keep in view changes in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong and activities of visitors carrying duty-free commodities into the Mainland for sale (commonly known as 'parallel trading activities'), and to join hands with the Mainland authorities to continuously combat parallel trading activities and formulate timely and appropriate measures, so as to deal with the problem at root and reduce unnecessary conflicts between Mainland visitors and local people" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (ii) | Hon POON Siu-ping to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as the Hong Kong tourism industry and related industries employ over 200 000 employees, which is around 7.6% of the overall employment population in Hong Kong, the livelihood of the 200 000-odd employees will directly be affected if the tourism industry development continues to shrink; yet," after "That"; to add "effective" after "formulate"; and to add "enhance the binding effect of the industry directives issued by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to ensure protection of the rights and interests of front-line staff in the tourism industry, expeditiously establish a tourism industry authority to balance the rights and interests of the operators and practitioners in the tourism industry, and" after "resources to". | ||||
| (iii) | Hon Gary FAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the Government has proposed in the 2015-16 Budget that an additional $80 million will be allocated to the Hong Kong Tourism Board to step up its promotion of the tourism industry; however," after "That"; and to add "to develop a greater variety of tourism, including cultural tourism and eco-tourism with local characteristics, etc., to welcome tourists from around the world, and to step up efforts to combat rip-offs such as 'zero/negative-fare' tours and 'shadow tour group members', etc., adopted by Mainland travel agencies, so as" after "resources". | ||||
| (iv) | Hon Paul TSE to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "tourism and related industries are of utmost importance to the economy of Hong Kong, but" after "That"; to add "establish a tourism bureau to consolidate the various tourism-related departments and institutions, and" after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; and to delete "and allocate additional resources" after "measures" and substitute with "to conduct studies on effective use of resources and overall planning, execution and regulation". | ||||
| (v) | Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "Hong Kong's tourism industry is now facing challenges;" after "That"; and to add "; when formulating measures on promoting the development of the tourism industry, the Government should focus on enhancing the visitor receiving capacity of Hong Kong society, including increasing the number of tourist spots and improving transportation and other ancillary facilities, etc., and take full account of the actual situations in Hong Kong, so as to avoid any adverse impacts on people's daily lives; at the same time, the Government should expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to enhance the regulatory regime for the tourism industry, and step up law enforcement to combat unscrupulous shop operators who rip off visitors" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (vi) | Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "coupled with the fact that Hong Kong lags behind other Asian competitors due to its shortage of large-scale convention facilities," after "past six years;"; and to add "and expedite the expansion of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and the planning of new convention facilities to enhance Hong Kong's capacity to hold conventions and attract more high value-added business travellers," after "tourism industry,". | ||||
| (vii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to strengthen the monitoring of local travel agents, tour escorts and tourist guides," after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; and to add "step up promotion in the international market and" after "resources to". | ||||
| (viii) | Hon Jeffrey LAM to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "and" after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; to delete "and allocate additional resources to" after "measures" and substitute with ", including giving consideration to examining afresh the entry arrangements and policy for Mainland visitors and relieving Mainland visitors' sentiments, with a view to reversing the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in the short run; in the long run, the Government should also formulate a comprehensive development strategy and blueprint for the tourism industry, and make stronger efforts to develop different tourism facilities and scenic spots, so as to"; and to delete "continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong" after "preventing the" and substitute with "persistent shrinkage of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong". | ||||
| (ix) | Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To delete ", with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect Hong Kong's economic development" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "; the relevant measures include: monitoring visitor arrivals to Hong Kong based on the actual visitor receiving capacity of Hong Kong, so as to attract visitors from different countries to Hong Kong with planning and promote the sustainable development of the tourism industry; and regulating activities of carrying duty-free commodities into the Mainland for sale (commonly known as 'parallel trading activities') to avoid the impacts of massive parallel trading activities on Hong Kong people's quality of life". | ||||
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| 3. | Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Claudia MO to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the successive 'forced disappearance' of the shareholders and managers of Causeway Bay Books. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security | ||||