A 17/18-4
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 25 October 2017 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 11 | - | The Land Registry Trading Fund Hong Kong Annual Report 2016-17 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Development)
| |||
| 2. | No. 12 | - | Property Management Services Authority Annual Report 2016/2017 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
| |||
| 3. | No. 13 | - | Office of the Communications Authority Trading Fund Report 2016/17 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
| |||
| 4. | No. 14 | - | Hong Kong Productivity Council Annual Report, Independent Auditor's Report and Financial Statements 2016-17 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Innovation and Technology)
| |||
| 5. | No. 15 | - | Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation Annual Report, Report of the Directors and Financial Statements 2016-2017 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Innovation and Technology)
| |||
| 6. | No. 16 | - | Electrical and Mechanical Services Trading Fund Report 2016/17 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Development)
| |||
| 7. | No. 17 | - | Hongkong Post Annual Report 2016/17 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
| |||
II. Questions
1. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
There are comments that as the workload of the staff of the Fire Services Department ("FSD") has become increasingly heavy and rescue work cannot afford any delay, the authorities should review afresh the facilities, staffing establishment and grade structure of FSD. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether each fire station is currently equipped with hydraulic platforms, major pumps and light rescue units; if not, of the improvement measures put in place by FSD; (2) given that FSD officers of various ranks (including fire personnel, ambulance personnel and staff in the control stream at the Fire Services Communications Centre) are all required to undergo various in-service training regularly, but no manpower has been set aside under the current staffing establishment of FSD for relieving staff undergoing training, which makes it necessary for the duties originally performed by the staff undergoing training to be shared out by other staff, thereby aggravating the problem of manpower shortage, whether the authorities will expand the staffing establishment of FSD so as to provide manpower for relieving staff undergoing training; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as it has been almost a decade since the last comprehensive review of the grade structure of Disciplined Services (including FSD) was conducted by the Government in 2008, the entry requirements on academic qualifications for FSD officers of various ranks have been raised over the past decade, the workload for them has become increasingly heavy and the pressure and difficulties encountered by them when discharging duties have been increasing, whether the Government will expeditiously conduct afresh a comprehensive review on the grade structure of FSD, and put forward recommendations for improvements in the light of the review outcome; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
According to the Guidelines on Bus Captain Working Hours, Rest Times and Meal Breaks ("the Guidelines") issued by the Transport Department ("TD"), the longest duty hours of a bus captain in a working day should not exceed 14 hours, of which driving time should not account for more than 11 hours. Some representatives of bus staff unions have pointed out that bus captains currently work for 10 hours a day on average and, given their low basic salaries, it is very common for them to request to work overtime in order to earn additional income. However, unduly long duty hours will result in bus captains driving in a persistent state of fatigue, which makes traffic accidents prone to occur. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of traffic accidents involving the buses of each of the franchised bus companies in each of the past three years, as well as the average ages of the bus captains involved and the number of hours they had worked on average in the week prior to the accidents; (2) whether TD will amend the Guidelines to stipulate that bus captains must not be allowed to work overtime for a period of time after working consecutively for more than 10 hours each day for a specified number of days, so as to prevent them from driving in a persistent state of fatigue; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether TD will request the various franchised bus companies to improve the remuneration of bus captains, increase their rest times and enhance the rest room facilities for them; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
Some public rental housing ("PRH") residents have complained that as Link Asset Management Limited ("the Link") has incessantly raised substantially the rents charged to the shop operators of the shopping centres and markets in public housing estates under its management in recent years, small businesses have been replaced one after another by shops run by chain groups, resulting in higher commodity prices and fewer shopping choices for them. On the other hand, in a radio programme during her election campaign in February this year, the incumbent Chief Executive indicated that as the Link was an organization operated on fully commercial terms, the Government had no intervention point and could only propose to redevelop public markets, with a view to providing more shopping choices for PRH residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the list of the public markets the redevelopment of which are being studied and those which have been confirmed; and (2) whether it will consider relaxing the hawker management policy to enable hawkers trading near the shopping centres managed by the Link to have more room for survival so as to provide more shopping choices for PRH residents; if not, of the reasons for that?
4. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
The revised Housing Subsidy Policy and Policy on Safeguarding Rational Allocation of Public Housing Resources ("the revised Well-off Tenants Policies"), implemented by the authorities since this month, have tightened up the relevant requirement under which public rental housing ("PRH") households are required to vacate their PRH units if their family incomes or total net assets have exceeded the relevant limits. It has been reported that some PRH tenants have, one after another, made applications for the deletion of young working household members from the tenancy of public housing so as to avoid their family incomes exceeding the limits. In the first half of this year, 21 800 applications for deletion of household members from the tenancy of public housing were approved, representing 60% of the 33 800 applications for the whole of last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as some comments have pointed out that, while the benefits are yet to be seen, the revised Well-off Tenants Policies have already given rise to the situation of split families, rendering young household members being unable to live with and take care of their senior household members, whether it has assessed if such policies are running contrary to the Chinese tradition of filial piety; (2) whether it will consider introducing, under the revised Well-off Tenants Policies, less stringent household income limits applicable to households of young people and senior family members living together, so as to encourage young people to live with senior family members for happy family life and, at the same time, to tie in with the Government's policy direction of ageing in place; and (3) whether it has assessed, as a result of the implementation of the revised Well-off Tenants Policies, the additional annual numbers of PRH units to be recovered, as well as the respective additional annual numbers of persons who need to rent a private residential unit and those who need to apply for a PRH unit after vacating their PRH units; of the measures in place to help young people whose tenancy of public housing has been deleted but who are unable to afford the rents of private residential units?
5. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
A study has pointed out that the convention and exhibition ("C&E") industry is characterized by "three highs", namely high growth potential, high added-values and highly beneficial innovations. Not only can C&E industry improve the international image of the city where C&E facilities are located, it can also attract business visitors, thereby driving the development of high value-added tourism. In 2015-2016, overnight C&E and incentives arrivals in Hong Kong reached 1.72 million and their per-capita spending exceeded HK$8,400, which is 16% higher than that of inbound visitors in Hong Kong in general. On the other hand, in recent years quite a number of Asian cities (e.g. Singapore and Bangkok) have identified the C&E industry as a key industry for development. According to a statistical report of the International Congress and Convention Association, Hong Kong was ranked the 19th worldwide last year in terms of the number of international meetings hosted, which was a drop of four places from that of the previous year and fared worse than the rankings of Singapore, Bangkok and Beijing, indicating that the C&E industry in Hong Kong is facing severe challenges from competitors in the region. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have reviewed the causes for the drop in the aforesaid ranking of Hong Kong; what difficulties the authorities encountered in the past five years in the course of developing the C&E industry; (2) whether the authorities have analyzed the resources injected by the authorities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macao into the C&E industry there in recent years and the development trends of the industry there; if so, of the findings, and the plans and preparation put in place by these cities for developing the C&E industry there in the coming five years; and (3) in the light of the plans and preparation made by the competitors to Hong Kong in respect of C&E industry and the development trends of their C&E industry, whether the authorities have formulated corresponding measures in the short, medium and long terms so as to enhance the status of Hong Kong's C&E industry in the Asia-Pacific region; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In July this year, the General Office of the State Council promulgated the Implementation Plan for Prohibiting the Entry of Foreign Garbage and Promoting the Reform of Solid Waste Import Management System. Measures introduced under the Plan include gradually and systematically reducing the types and quantities of imported solid waste, raising the threshold for importing solid waste, and banning the import of household waste plastics, unsorted waste paper, etc. On the other hand, in light of the temporary suspension of issuance of approval documents earlier on by the relevant Mainland departments for importing waste paper, a number of local waste paper recyclers initiated a campaign last month to cease the collection of waste paper. As a result, huge quantities of waste paper piled up on the street, causing environmental hygiene problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective quantities of waste paper and waste plastics collected last year; among such waste materials, the respective quantities exported and retained locally for recycling; a breakdown of the respective quantities of exported waste materials by export destination; the estimated increase in the quantity of solid waste to be delivered to landfills in Hong Kong each year upon the full implementation of the measures to reduce the types and quantities of imported solid waste by the Mainland authorities; the measures in place to assist the recycling industry in improving the quality of solid waste so as to meet the Mainland's raised threshold; (2) whether it knows the latest situation of exporting local waste paper to the Mainland; whether the authorities have, in respect of the temporary suspension of issuance of approval documents by the relevant Mainland departments for importing waste paper, drawn up any contingency plan, such as enhancing the support rendered to recyclers for exploring other export markets; if so, of the details; and (3) whether the authorities will establish waste paper recycling plants in Hong Kong to replace the approach of relying on export to dispose of local waste paper; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*7. Hon Wilson OR to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the statistics on households and residential properties, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number of households across the territory, as well as the number and vacancy rate of residential units; (2) of the respective numbers of households currently residing in (i) owner-occupier private housing units, (ii) owner-occupier subsidized sale flats, (iii) public rental housing units, and (iv) private rental housing units; (3) among the households currently residing in private rental housing units, of the respective numbers of those who are (i) sole tenants, (ii) co-tenants, and (iii) tenants in units provided by their employers; (4) of the number of private housing units in respect of which mortgage loans are outstanding and/or which are used as collaterals for loans, and among them, the respective numbers of those which (i) are negative-equity properties, (ii) involve second mortgage but not third mortgage loans, and (iii) involve third mortgage loans; and (5) among the private housing units in respect of which mortgage loans are outstanding and/or which are used as collaterals for loans, of the respective (i) numbers, (ii) average loan-to-value ratios and (iii) average loan amounts, of the units in respect of which the relevant loans are made by authorized institutions specified under the Banking Ordinance (Cap. 155) and by other financial institutions respectively?
*8. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
In an ongoing bid to promote ecological civilization, our country promulgated in July this year the Implementation Plan for Prohibiting the Entry of Foreign Garbage and Promoting the Reform of Solid Waste Import Management System, which stipulates that it will impose, by the end of 2017, a total ban on the imports of solid waste that cause great environmental damage and raise strong public concerns, and will phase out, by the end of 2019, the imports of solid waste that can be replaced by domestic resources. It has been reported that the Mainland authorities have notified the World Trade Organization that they will no longer import 24 types of waste from overseas by the end of this year. The local recycling industry, which has all along been heavily dependent on the Mainland market, is bound to bear the brunt of the blow. There are also voices from the community expressing worries that if local recyclables cannot be exported to the Mainland, it will create additional pressure on the already overloaded landfills in Hong Kong and even lead to a chaotic situation of "the city being surrounded by garbage". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the Secretary for the Environment has indicated that the relevant incident will bring both "risks" and "opportunities" to Hong Kong which should make the most of this favorable circumstance to turn risks into opportunities, of the details of the "risks" and "opportunities" referred to by the authorities and the measures taken by the authorities to tackle the issue; (2) as the authorities have indicated that they will incubate and support the development of environmental recycling industry for more efficient use of locally generated recyclables, as well as progressively increase the quantity of recyclables that can be handled locally, of the details of such initiatives; apart from rendering assistance, as mentioned by the authorities earlier, to the local recycling industry in the reuse of locally recycled waste plastics for manufacturing degradable plastic bags to be used in huge quantities under the waste charging scheme, whether they have formulated other specific plans which can achieve that policy objective; whether they have set a percentage of locally generated waste to be absorbed by the local recycling industry, and a target of making use of such an opportunity to boost the growth of Hong Kong's environmental protection industries; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will at the same time devise new policies and measures in respect of the import and re-export of waste from overseas (commonly known as "foreign rubbish") to and from Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some representatives of trade unions have relayed to me that at present, about 64% and 47% respectively of the current jobs and vacancies of the Hong Kong International Airport are of a technical nature, such as ground handling service and maintenance. However, as the programmes offered by the Hong Kong International Aviation Academy ("HKIAA") established by the Airport Authority ("AA") focus on the training of management staff, they cannot help alleviate the shortage of technical staff, which reflects a mismatch between training needs and resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(1) it knows the gender ratio, age distribution, education level distribution, median wage and wastage of the employees currently working at the Airport; the current number of vacancies at the Airport, together with a breakdown by job nature (i.e. (i) management, (ii) professional, (iii) skilled and (iv) low skilled/manual); (2) it knows the number of technical staff training programmes to be offered by HKIAA in the coming five years; the main contents, numbers of places, durations, admission requirements and tuition fees of such programmes, and whether such programmes will be operated jointly by HKIAA and the business partners of AA; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) it will take measures to encourage graduates of HKIAA programmes to join the aviation-related industries; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) it will advise HKIAA to make reference to the "Earn and Learn" Pilot Schemes operated by the Vocational Training Council and take the initiative to contact the business partners of AA for the provision of on-the-job training places, and to attract talents to join the aviation-related industries by offering incentives such as subsidy, "incentive allowance", as well as employment and salary guarantees; if not, of the reasons for that?
*10. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
Over the past few years, my office received several complaints from residents of public rental housing estates (including Wang Tau Hom Estate, Upper Wong Tai Sin Estate, Lower Wong Tai Sin Estate, Lok Wah (North) Estate, Lok Wah (South) Estate, Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate and Tak Tin Estate), members of the owners' corporations of some Home Ownership Scheme courts and representatives of property management companies of some housing estates, which are located in Kowloon East. They suspect that there are design defects in the prefabricated building components used in public housing (e.g. the air-conditioner hoods are very close to the ceilings of the units). When the air-conditioners in those units have kept running for a long time, the temperature of the floor of the units on the upper floor will drop below the indoor temperature, thus causing condensation on the floor of the units on the upper floor ("condensation problem"). It has been reported that some elderly residents slipped and fell due to the slippery floor of their units and were sent to hospital for treatment. Mouldy and deformed flooring as well as electricity leakages from electrical appliances have also occurred in some units. The problem showed no improvement even though the residents concerned have adjusted, on the instruction of the Housing Department, the direction of the air vanes at the air outlets of their air-conditioners. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints involving condensation problem received by the authorities in each of the past five years; (2) of the other actions, apart from issuing advisory letters to residents causing condensation problem to the units on the upper floor, that the authorities have taken to follow up such complaints; (3) as some residents and veteran members of the construction industry have alleged that the inherent design defects in the prefabricated building components used in public housing (e.g. the air-conditioner hoods being too close to the ceilings or the floors, and the floor slabs being too thin) have caused condensation problem in various housing estates, whether the authorities have conducted an analysis on the differences between private residential buildings and public housing in terms of the positions of the air-conditioner hoods as well as the thickness of and the materials used in the floor slabs, and whether such differences have led to the more frequent occurrence of condensation problem in public housing than in private residential buildings; if so, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will conduct the relevant analysis immediately; (4) given that the Chief Executive has, in her recently delivered Policy Address, recommended to regularize the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Pilot Scheme ("GSH"), whether all of such housing will be constructed using prefabricated building components; whether the authorities will study ways to revise the design of the prefabricated building components, such as thickening the floor slabs as well as widening the distance between the air-conditioner hoods and the floor slabs, so as to prevent condensation problem occurring in GSH units completed in future; if no such study will be conducted, how the authorities ensure that condensation problem will not occur in the relevant units; and (5) as the Secretary for Development has, after his visit to Guangdong in August this year, indicated that the Government was studying the introduction of the construction technique of "modular construction" with an aim of speeding up public housing construction, whether, in view of the prefabricated building components being alleged to have design defects, the authorities have plans to improve the design of and the materials used in the prefabricated building components before introducing the technique, so as to avoid the occurrence of condensation problem?
*11. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
The Government announced on 25 July this year the arrangement for the implementation of Hong Kong and Mainland customs, immigration and quarantine procedures in respect of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL") at the West Kowloon Station ("co-location arrangement"), and has been promoting, through various means, XRL and the aforesaid arrangement to members of the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the total number of publicity channels through which the Government has employed to promote XRL and the co-location arrangement since 25 July this year, as well as the details of the various publicity channels and the expenditure incurred; (2) given that the Government has entrusted the MTR Corporation Limited to produce television infomercials and conduct roving exhibitions in various districts, so as to enhance public understanding of the XRL project, of the details of such publicity efforts (including the amount of expenditure incurred, and whether such expenses are met by public funds); whether the Government will provide the public with a copy of the entrustment agreement; and (3) whether it has formulated plans or a timetable to launch new publicity initiatives for XRL and the co-location arrangement; if so, of the details and the relevant estimates of expenditure?
*12. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Currently, various policy bureaux and government departments ("B/Ds") may, through a term contract ("T-contract") centrally administered by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, engage contractors to employ information technology ("IT") contract staff ("T-contract staff") to provide IT services to B/Ds. Some practitioners of the IT sector have relayed that while B/Ds have the authority to directly assign work to T-contract staff, B/Ds have not endeavoured to ensure that such staff members are offered reasonable remuneration packages. The Government has not prescribed any annual pay adjustment mechanism nor minimum remuneration and fringe benefits (including paid annual leave and basic medical benefits) for T-contract staff. T-contract contractors also impose requirements in the employment contracts that such staff members may not work for other T-contract contractors within a certain period of time after their departure (commonly known as "sanitization period"). Those practitioners have also pointed out that the Government's taking the lead to outsource IT services through T-contracts is not conducive to enhancing professionalism of and attracting talents to the IT industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (i) the total number of IT officers under the civil service establishment and (ii) the total number of vacancies of such posts in various B/Ds, as at September 2017, with a tabulated breakdown of (i) and (ii) by rank, as well as a tabulated breakdown of (i) by B/D (sorted in descending order of the number of such officers under B/Ds); (2) of the total number of full-time non-civil service contract ("NCSC") staff members providing IT services to various B/Ds as at September 2017, with a tabulated breakdown by B/D (sorted in descending order of the number of such staff members under B/Ds); (3) of (i) the total number, (ii) the year-on-year percentage change of the total number, (iii) the average year of service and (iv) the average monthly salary, of T-contract staff working in various B/Ds as at September 2017; (4) of the total number of T-contract staff members who had worked continuously for five years or more in various B/Ds in each year from 2015 to 2017 (up to September), with a tabulated breakdown by (i) B/D and (ii) post; (5) of the number of T-contract staff members who had worked continuously for five years or more but whose contracts were not renewed, in various B/Ds in each year from 2015 to 2017 (up to September), with a tabulated breakdown by B/D and post; among the posts vacated each year by such staff members upon completion of their contracts, the number and percentage of those posts which were and will be filled by internal redeployment of staff members in the civil service; (6) whether the authorities will explore measures to improve the employment conditions of T-contract staff, e.g. by stipulating, when conducting the next round of T-contracts tendering exercise, in the tender documents (i) the minimum remuneration and fringe benefits (including paid annual leave and basic medical benefits) that the successful bidders must offer to T-contract staff, and (ii) the requirement that successful bidders must disclose the salary ranges of T-contract posts for reference by job seekers; and (7) whether the authorities will consider (i) by making reference to the civil service pay adjustment mechanism, devising a standardized annual pay adjustment mechanism for T-contract staff, (ii) stipulating that the employment contracts for T-contract staff must not contain any sanitization period clause, and (iii) offering T-contract staff members with specified years of service the option of being converted to civil servants or NCSC staff; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
At present, domestic tenants who are affected by redevelopment projects carried out by the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") ("tenants affected by redevelopment") are eligible for allocation of flats in the four rehousing blocks (i.e. Shun Sing Mansion at No. 466, Des Voeux Road West, Western District; Rich Building at Nos. 163-165, Lai Chi Kok Road, Sham Shui Po; Bedford Tower at Nos. 68-72, Bedford Road, Tai Kok Tsui; and No. 12, Soy Street, Mong Kok) under URA, provided they meet the relevant criteria. URA has decided to renovate and convert some of the rehousing flats for living by tenants affected by redevelopment. In addition, URA also participates in the Community Housing Movement facilitated by the Government by providing social welfare organizations with some of the flats originally earmarked for rehousing tenants affected by redevelopment, so as to provide transitional community housing for needy grass-roots households. Regarding the statistics and allocation of URA's rehousing flats, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows from the 2015-2016 financial year to September this year, among the tenants affected by various redevelopment projects in respect of which acquisition and rehousing had been completed, the number of tenants who were allocated rehousing flats by URA, and set out in Table 1 a breakdown by rehousing block and flat type (i.e. (i) one-person flat, (ii) two-person flat, and (iii) family flat);
Table 1Commencement year Project No. Project title Rehousing block Shun Sing Mansion Rich Building Bedford Tower No. 12, Soy Street, Mong Kok (i) (ii) (iii) (i) (ii) (iii) (i) (ii) (iii) (i) (ii) (iii)
(2) whether it knows (i) the number of occupied flats, (ii) the number of vacant flats available for allocation to tenants affected by redevelopment, (iii) the number of flats leased to social welfare organizations, and (iv) the total number of flats, in various rehousing blocks as at September this year, and set out in Table 2 a breakdown by rehousing block and flat type;
Table 2Rehousing block One-person flat Two-person flat Family flat (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Shun Sing Mansion Rich Building Bedford Tower No. 12, Soy Street, Mong Kok
(3) whether it knows (i) the number of flats for which renovation or conversion works will be carried out, (ii) the number of flats which will be available for allocation upon completion of conversion works, and (iii) the smallest and the largest living area of the converted flats, in various rehousing blocks, and set out in Table 3 a breakdown by rehousing block and flat type; and
Table 3Rehousing block One-person flat Two-person flat Family flat (i) (ii) (iii) (i) (ii) (iii) (i) (ii) (iii) Shun Sing Mansion Rich Building Bedford Tower No. 12, Soy Street, Mong Kok
(4) whether the Development Bureau will discuss with URA the construction of new buildings to rehouse tenants affected by redevelopment?
*14. Hon POON Siu-ping to ask: (Translation)
The Guidelines on Bus Captain Working Hours, Rest Times and Meal Breaks ("the Guidelines") issued by the Transport Department ("TD") stipulate that the longest duty hours (including all rest times) of a bus captain in a working day should not exceed 14 hours, of which driving time (i.e. longest duty hours minus all rest times each lasting 30 minutes or more) should not account for more than 11 hours. It is learnt that it has been seven years since TD last revised the Guidelines. On the other hand, TD has indicated that it engages independent contractors to conduct surveys on the working hours, rest times and meal breaks of bus captains annually. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of contractual and average actual duty hours each day of the bus captains employed by each of the franchised bus companies according to the findings of the latest surveys, as well as a breakdown of the number of bus captains by the number of overtime hours they work each day (set out in the table below); and Franchised bus company The Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited Long Win Bus Company Limited Citybus Limited New World First Bus Services Limited New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited
(2) as some representatives of bus staff unions have pointed out that　 basic salaries of bus captains being on the low side has resulted in captains often requesting to work overtime in order to earn additional income, and captains driving under the state of persistent lack of rest affects road safety, whether the authorities will take measures to ensure that the basic salaries of bus captains keep up with the overall median monthly wage of the land transport industry, such as including provisions in the franchise agreements to be signed with bus companies in future to require such companies to allocate a certain proportion of their profits of a year for increasing the basic salaries of captains for the next year?
*15. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Section 6(2A) of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) stipulates that annual leave to which an employee is entitled in law shall not be included under section 6(2) of the Ordinance in the length of notice required to terminate a contract of employment. According to the judgment of the Court of Final Appeal handed down in 2008 on a civil appeal case (Case No. FACV7/2008), section 6(2A) is intended to provide statutory protection for an employee's entitlement to paid annual leave. The trial judges pointed out in the judgment that while section 6(2A) had not expressly said that the protection under that section was only for the benefit of employees to the exclusion of employers, an employee was entitled in law to choose to utilize his annual leave entitlement as part of the length of notice. However, some employees have relayed to me recently that employers and employees are generally unaware of the aforesaid judgment, and they mistakenly think that under section 6(2A), when an employee makes a request to his employer for the termination of his contract of employment, he is not allowed to utilize his annual leave entitlement as part of the length of notice. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will, in the light of the aforesaid judgment of the Court of Final Appeal, amend section 6(2A) to expressly state that the protection under that section is only for the benefit of employees to the exclusion of employers; if so, of the timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) whether the authorities will, before making the aforesaid amendment to section 6(2A), adopt measures to ensure that an employee may exercise his legal right to utilize his annual leave entitlement as part of the length of notice; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Severe Typhoon Hato hit Hong Kong in August this year, causing widespread impacts and damages. The authorities received nearly 700 reports of fallen trees, eight reports of flooding and one report of landslide, and more than a hundred people sustained injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment. Hong Kong's local and external transport was almost paralyzed. Moreover, the rainstorm during the typhoon flooded several underground car parks, resulting in a number of cars being damaged. Regarding contingency plans for handling natural disasters, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed the probabilities of the onslaught of typhoons and other types of natural disasters on Hong Kong in the next three years; if so, of the details; (2) whether the flood relieving capacities of the drainage systems of underground car parks are subject to regulation by the existing legislation; if not, whether the Government will consider formulating relevant design guidelines to prevent flooding in newly-built underground car parks during rainstorms; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as some scientists have pointed out that extreme weather will become more common as a result of global warming, leading to more frequent occurrence of natural disasters (e.g. landslides), whether the authorities will step up publicity and education to further heighten public awareness of disaster preparedness; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the authorities will review in the coming year the overall contingency measures for the prevention and handling of natural disasters, as well as examine the effectiveness of the Contingency Plan for Natural Disasters and the series of forward-looking initiatives; if so, of the details?
*17. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
The revised Housing Subsidy Policy and Policy on Safeguarding Rational Allocation of Public Housing Resources ("the revised Well-off Tenants Policies"), implemented since this month, have tightened up the relevant requirement under which public rental housing ("PRH") households are required to vacate their PRH units if their family incomes or their total net assets have exceeded the revised limits. It has been reported that such requirement has triggered a spate of applications by PRH tenants for deletion of higher-income household members from the tenancy of public housing to avoid their family incomes exceeding the limits. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of applications for deletion of household members from the tenancy of public housing received by the Housing Department ("HD") in each of the past three years; (2) of the respective numbers of applications for deletion of household members from the tenancy of public housing received and approved by HD since the revised Well-off Tenants Policies was endorsed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority in December last year, with a breakdown by the reason for deletion (including that the member concerned no longer resides in the unit or has deceased) and by whether the member concerned was the tenant's child; (3) of the number of enquiries regarding the revised Well-off Tenants Policies received by HD from PRH tenants since this month; the measures currently in place to help those PRH households who are required to vacate their PRH units under the revised policies but have practical difficulties in doing so; and (4) as the Chief Executive has indicated in her Policy Address just delivered that the Government will, in future, substantially increase the supply of units under the Green Form Subsidized Home Ownership Scheme ("GSH") so that PRH households with the means may apply for purchasing such GSH units and then vacate their PRH units for allocation to PRH applicants, whether the authorities will consider suspending the implementation of the revised Well-off Tenants Policies so that tenants who are required to vacate their PRH units under the revised policies will not lose the opportunity for purchasing GSH units?
*18. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
The Government indicated in the 2009-2010 Policy Address that the policy objective of promoting electric vehicles ("EVs") was to make Hong Kong one of the Asian region where EVs were most widely used. While the number of registered electric private vehicles surged by 152 times from 69 in April 2011 to 10 588 in April 2017, the number of public recharging facilities for EVs increased merely from 872 in 2011 to 1 518 in 2016, or by an increase of less than one-fold. Regarding the policy and measures to promote EVs, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have studied the reasons why the increase in the number of public recharging facilities for EVs lagged far behind the increase in the number of electric private vehicles; (2) given that starting from this financial year, the Government has changed the first registration tax concessions for electric private vehicles from full exemption to setting a cap at $97,500, how the number of electric private vehicles newly registered in the first two quarters of this financial year compares with the numbers in the same periods of the past three years; (3) of the number of complaints, received by the authorities from owners of electric private vehicles in the past three years, about public recharging space for EVs being occupied by non-EVs; (4) as the Government has proposed in the latest Policy Agenda to continue to enhance the recharging network for EVs, of the details of the relevant plan; (5) as the Government has proposed in the latest Policy Agenda to install a new generation of on-street parking meters which can provide parking space vacancy information and accept remote payment through mobile applications, whether the authorities will consider fitting public recharging facilities ancillary to the new parking meters; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) given that the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department ("EMSD") has established a dedicated team and a hotline to provide information for people who intend to install recharging facilities, of the number of cases for which EMSD provided technical support in the past three years and, among them, the number of cases with installation of recharging facilities completed, together with a breakdown by the type of the party (e.g. property management companies, operators of private car parks) who had sought support in the said cases; and (7) of the work achievements of the Steering Committee on the Promotion of Electric Vehicles since its establishment?
*19. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
July 1 of this year marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR"). Regarding the celebration events held by the Government for the anniversaries of the establishment of HKSAR, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in respect of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of HKSAR, of (i) the number of celebration events held locally by the Government so far and, in respect of each of the events, the name and description of the event, the number of participants in the event, the expenditure incurred for the event and its achievements; (ii) the number of celebration events to be held locally by the Government and, in respect of each of the events, the name and description of the event, the expected number of participants in the event, the estimated expenditure to be incurred for the event and its expected achievements; (iii) the number of celebration events held outside Hong Kong by the Government so far and, in respect of each of the events, the name and description of the event, the number of participants in the event, the expenditure incurred for the event, its achievements and the location at which it was held; and (iv) the number of celebration events to be held outside Hong Kong by the Government and, in respect of each of the events, the name and description of the event, the expected number of participants in the event, the estimated expenditure to be incurred for the event, its expected achievements and the location at which it is to be held; (2) of the respective numbers of celebration events held by the Government in the relevant financial years for the 1st, 5th, 10th and 15th anniversaries of the establishment of HKSAR, as well as the respective expenditures and achievements of each of the events; how the total expenditures of the celebration events held in those years compare with the relevant total expenditure estimated for this year; and (3) whether it will assess if the various celebration events have accomplished or will accomplish their expected achievements, so as to ensure the proper use of public money?
*20. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
Upon the successive completion of the related works of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point, there will be three additional boundary control points in Hong Kong next year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of staff members to be deployed in each of the coming five years by the Customs and Excise Department and the Immigration Department to those three boundary control points to perform duties; and (2) whether the two Departments will have sufficient manpower for deployment in the coming five years; if not, whether and when the authorities will allocate additional resources to the two Departments so as to embark on the relevant recruitment and induction training work?
*21. Hon Kenneth LAU to ask: (Translation)
The Government entered into the post-2018 Scheme of Control Agreements with the two power companies on 25 April this year. Under the Agreements, the Government will introduce the Feed-in Tariff to encourage the private sector and the community to consider investing in distributed renewable energy to generate power which can be sold to the power companies at a rate higher than the normal electricity tariff rate to cover the cost of their investments in the renewable energy systems and generation. Quite a number of owners of village houses in the New Territories have relayed to me that while they are interested in installing solar power devices on the rooftops of their village houses in response to the Government's policy to develop renewable energy, the complicated technologies as well as laws and regulations involved in the installation of such devices have deterred them from installing the devices. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of solar power devices installed at village houses in each of the past five years, together with a breakdown by the type of devices installed; (2) when owners of village houses are planning to install solar power devices on rooftops, apart from the Guidance Notes for Household-Scale Solar Water Heating Systems at Village Houses issued by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department ("EMSD"), whether there are other guidelines formulated by the authorities to assist them in determining if such devices are compliant with the requirements under the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) (including whether such devices would be regarded as unauthorized structures) and other legislations; (3) as the authorities have advised in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on the Estimates of Expenditure 2017-2018 that EMSD has commissioned a consultant to conduct a specific study on the potential of installing photovoltaic systems on rooftops and facades of buildings, whether the authorities will concurrently assess (i) the potential of installing similar devices on rooftops of village houses, and (ii) how such potential compares with that of installing those devices on rooftops and facades of buildings; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether, apart from introducing the measure of Feed-in Tariff, the authorities will consider implementing other measures to encourage owners of village houses to install renewable energy systems, such as launching a pilot subsidy scheme for installing solar power generation systems in selected villages and evaluating its effectiveness; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
The automated bicycle rental service named bicycle-sharing service has become increasingly popular in Hong Kong. It has been reported that a number of new operators have launched such service in the New Territories in recent months. However, some members of the public have relayed that shared bicycles have taken up a large number of public bicycle parking spaces, and that quite a number of shared bicycles are indiscriminately parked in public places, causing inconvenience to pedestrians and other bicycle users. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Transport Department, the Lands Department and the Home Affairs Department have regular meetings with operators of bicycle-sharing service to convey to them the views and concerns of members of the local communities; if so, of the number of meetings held since the introduction of such service by the operators concerned and the details thereof, as well as the operators' responses to such views and concerns; (2) given that at the meeting of this Council on 21 June this year, the Secretary for Transport and Housing indicated that the authorities had in June this year met with an operator who had undertaken to follow up on relevant issues, but the authorities subsequently found the progress of the follow-up work unsatisfactory, whether the authorities will consider tightening up the regulation of such service; (3) of the number of operations conducted by the authorities in the past 12 months to clear illegally parked bicycles in the New Territories and the total number of bicycles confiscated and, among them, the number of those which were shared bicycles; given that the problem of illegal parking of shared bicycles in the New Territories has become increasingly serious, whether the authorities will step up law enforcement actions in that region; (4) with a number of operators of bicycle-sharing service having commenced operation, whether the authorities have assessed if the existing and planned provision of bicycle parking spaces in the New Territories are sufficient to meet the demand in the coming three years; whether the authorities will study the provision of designated parking areas for shared bicycles in order to mitigate the problem of shared bicycles occupying public bicycle parking spaces, and whether the authorities will set a timetable for introducing new bicycle rack designs such as "double-deck parking system" and "1-up-1-down parking rack" in the New Territories; and (5) whether the authorities will conduct a study on the development of bicycle-sharing service in Hong Kong, including the role that bicycle-sharing service should assume in the Government's bicycle-friendly policy, the ancillary facilities and government support required for the development of bicycle-sharing service, and ways to reduce the impact of shared bicycles on pedestrians and other bicycle users?
* For written reply
III. Government Bill
| First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| ||
| Banking (Amendment) Bill 2017 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
|
IV. Government Motions
| 1. | Motion on taking forward the follow-up tasks of the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Regarding the arrangement for conducting Hong Kong and Mainland customs, immigration and quarantine procedures ("the co-location arrangement") at the West Kowloon Station of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL"), this Council supports the Government in taking forward the follow-up tasks of the co-location arrangement pursuant to the "Three-step Process" proposal announced on 25 July 2017, including reaching a Co-operation Arrangement with the Mainland, seeking the approval and endorsement of the Co-operation Arrangement by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress through a decision to be made by the Standing Committee, as well as commencing the local legislative process thereafter, so as to meet the target of implementing the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon Station upon the commissioning of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL in the third quarter of 2018, with a view to fully unleashing the transport, social and economic benefits of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL and maximising convenience to passengers. Hon Claudia MO, Hon Tanya CHAN, Hon Jeremy TAM, Hon Dennis KWOK, Hon Alvin YEUNG, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG and Hon WU Chi-wai to move amendments to the motion | ||
| (The amendments were issued on 20 and 25 October 2017
under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 57/17-18 and CB(3) 77/17-18) | |||
| Other Public Officers to attend | : | Secretary for Justice Secretary for Security Under Secretary for Security Under Secretary for Transport and Housing | |
| Stand-over items: Government motions nos. 2 and 3 (since the meeting of 12 July 2017)
| |||
| 2. | Proposed resolution under the Energy Efficiency (Labelling of Products) Ordinance
Secretary for the Environment to move the following motion: Resolved that the Energy Efficiency (Labelling of Products) Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2017, made by the Secretary for the Environment on 2 May 2017, be approved. | ||
| (The Order is in Appendix I and was issued
on 27 June 2017 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 758/16-17) | |||
| 3. | Proposed resolution under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance
Secretary for Home Affairs to move the following motion: Resolved that the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Amendment) Rules 2017, made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee on 2 May 2017, be approved. | ||
| (The Rules are in Appendix II and were issued
on 20 June 2017 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 713/16-17) | |||
V. Members' Motions
| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 1 (since the meeting of 18 October 2017)
| ||
| 1. | Motion under Rule 49B(1A) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Claudia MO to move the motion in Appendix III. | |
| (The motion was issued on 10 October 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 21/17-18) | ||
| Stand-over items: Members' motions nos. 2 and 3 (since the meeting of 12 July 2017)
| ||
| 2. | Establishing a comprehensive 're-industrialization' policy regime
Hon Jimmy NG to move the following motion: (Translation) That given the new opportunities brought about by global reforms in industrial technologies, many countries or places are proactively developing high value-added advanced manufacturing industries, and Hong Kong is no exception; the Government has already made it clear that re-industrialization is a potential new area of economic growth for Hong Kong, and announced the establishment of a committee on innovation, technology and re-industrialization; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to conduct a timely review and elevate the positioning of the 're-industrialization' policy, with a view to upgrading the existing industrial policy regime led by innovation and technology to a comprehensive industrial policy regime which is more independent, forward-looking and systematic; the Government should also examine the role of industries in the local economic structure and societal development, and study the 'external development' feature of Hong Kong's industries, with the aim of providing tax support for those offshore Hong Kong manufacturers engaging in manufacturing and production industries, thereby consolidating the economic foundation of Hong Kong and promoting the diversification of industries. Hon HO Kai-ming, Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan, Hon WU Chi-wai, Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok, Hon Charles Peter MOK and Hon Jeremy TAM to move amendments to the motion | |
| (The amendments were issued on 29 June 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 760/16-17) | ||
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Innovation and Technology
| ||
| 3. | Conducting a comprehensive review of labour legislation to improve labour rights and interests
Hon HO Kai-ming to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council urges the Government to make safeguarding labour rights and interests its priority task and expeditiously conduct a comprehensive review of and make amendments to the various legislation relating to labour matters, so as to ensure that such legislation keeps pace with the times. Hon LUK Chung-hung, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Dr Hon Helena WONG and Hon Andrew WAN to move amendments to the motion | |
| (The amendments were issued on 29 June 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 759/16-17) | ||
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
| ||