A 17/18-37
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 20 June 2018 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No. 112 | - | Construction Industry Council
Annual Report 2017 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Development)
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| 2. | Report No. 16/17-18 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the House Committee)
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| 3. | Report of the Bills Committee on Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
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II. Questions
1. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
Following press reports last month that the Hung Hom Station extension works of the Shatin to Central Link ("SCL") project had works quality problem, the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") admitted that its staff members had detected, on five occasions during their inspections between August and December 2015, non-compliant works, which included steel bars having been cut short and not screwed into couplers to the required depth. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the aforesaid works quality problem was detected on as many as five occasions within five months, whether it knows why MTRCL still maintained that its frontline staff members were not required to notify its Board of Directors and the Government of such problems on the grounds that they were not "persistent"; (2) as the Government undertook in 2015, in response to an expert panel's report on the works delays and cost overruns of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link project, that it would improve the monitoring and reporting work of railway projects, of the details of the monitoring and reporting mechanism; whether the Government has deployed staff to conduct regular inspections on the SCL project and perform random checks at the "hold points"; if so, of the reasons why the aforesaid works quality problem still occurred; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) apart from holding MTRCL accountable for the aforesaid works quality problem, whether the Government will also pursue the responsibilities of the main contractor and its sub-contractors concerned, and impose penalties on them?
2. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
The Annual Progress Report on the Long Term Housing Strategy, submitted by the Government last year, set a public/private split of 60:40 for the supply of housing units and a public housing supply target of 280 000 units for the 10-year period starting from this year. However, the sites which have been identified by the Government so far can provide only 237 000 public housing units in the coming decade. On the other hand, the waiting time for applicants on the Waiting List for public rental housing has been increasing continuously in recent years, and the prices of subsidized housing units, which have soared in tandem with a heating up property market, are beyond the affordability of the public. Regarding the supply of public housing, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has commenced a study on the inclusion of public housing in the development project atop the MTR Siu Ho Wan Depot; if so, of the relevant considerations and the expected completion date of the study, as well as whether the scope of the study covers the pitching of the entire project to public housing development; (2) whether it will revise the price setting mechanism for subsidized housing units so that the prices of the units are pegged no longer to market prices but to the affordability of buyers; and (3) whether it will consider forthwith raising the proportion of public housing in the overall housing supply target from 60% to 70%, so as to address the keen housing demand of the grass roots; if not, of the reasons for that?
3. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
The Government announced last month the rolling out of a three-year Technology Talent Admission Scheme ("TechTAS") to implement a fast-track arrangement for the admission of overseas and Mainland technology talents. Regarding the acquisition of the right of abode in Hong Kong by persons who came to Hong Kong under various admission schemes, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of persons who applied for and were granted entry into Hong Kong in each of the past three years under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, and the Immigration Arrangement for Non-local Graduates, as well as the number of persons, who had come to Hong Kong under the various schemes, acquiring the right of abode in Hong Kong in the past three years (with a breakdown of the figures and their percentages by Mainland resident and resident of other regions); (2) given that the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited will be responsible for examining the TechTAS applications submitted by their tenants, incubatees, grantees or occupants, as well as making recommendations to the Innovation and Technology Commission ("ITC") on the applications concerned, of the criteria adopted and the mechanisms based upon by these two companies and ITC when considering the relevant applications; and (3) given that under TechTAS, ITC will consider admission applications from technology talents who do not meet the relevant academic requirements but possess good technical skills in specialty areas, proven professional abilities or relevant experience and achievements, of the criteria adopted and mechanism based upon by ITC when considering such types of applications; the specific measures to be put in place to ensure that TechTAS will recruit the technology talents needed by Hong Kong without becoming nothing more than a shortcut for Mainland residents to acquire the right of abode in Hong Kong?
4. Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that quite a number of residential buildings newly completed in recent years were constructed with bay windows, fitted with glass curtain walls, installed with decorative components on external walls, and had air-conditioners and drainage pipes installed in concealed locations on the external walls. Such design features have added difficulties to the repair and maintenance works, e.g. the work locations being inaccessible from the inside of the buildings. Since scaffolds cannot be erected on the external walls of some buildings, the more expensive gondolas are needed to be used when works are carried out on the external walls, thus increasing the financial burdens on property owners. Furthermore, due to the design constraints of some external walls, gondolas cannot get close to the work locations. As a result, workers have to stretch their bodies out of the gondolas when carrying out works. This, coupled with the gondolas swinging with the wind, has increased the risk of workers falling from height. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of industrial accidents in the past five years in which workers fell from height while carrying out works on external walls of buildings and the resultant casualties (with a breakdown by whether the relevant works were carried out by using scaffolds or gondolas); (2) whether it will formulate policies and guidelines to stipulate that the needs of future repair and maintenance works have to be taken into account in the building designs, so as to minimize the need to carry out works at height and to ensure that scaffolds can be erected on the external walls for carrying out the relevant works; and (3) of the measures put in place to step up the regulation of works on the external walls of buildings which are already completed so as to protect the safety of workers working at height?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Development |
5. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in the year before last, the Police found in a props company a large number of replica banknotes which were claimed to be used as film props. The owner of the company was convicted last month of possessing counterfeit currency notes and sentenced to four months' imprisonment, suspended for two years. Angered and shocked by the judgment, some members of the film industry pointed out that the authorities had never issued clear guidelines on the legal requirements for reproduction of banknotes, nor had they carried out publicity in this respect, resulting in members of the industry breaching the law inadvertently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has plans to draw up for the film industry a more flexible and simpler application procedure for reproducing banknotes, including making the application form and detailed requirements available on the website of the Film Services Office ("FSO"), so as to encourage members of the industry to file applications in accordance with the law; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that representatives of FSO, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Police discussed the relevant issues with members of the film industry yesterday, of the views and suggestions put forward at the meeting, as well as the outcome; and (3) whether it will consider establishing a regime to regulate the film props industry, under which only those props companies approved by the Government may design, produce and rent out props of a high degree of resemblance to the genuine ones, such as replicas of banknotes, guns, Police Warrant Cards, government documents, so as to strike a balance between supporting the production of high-quality films and prevention of the illicit activities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon HO Kai-ming to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that last month, a company was placed into voluntary liquidation and made more than 100 employees redundant. Among them, more than 40 were members of an occupational retirement scheme (commonly known as "ORSO scheme"). However, since the liquidator has all along not furnished the employees' information to the trustee of the ORSO scheme, the employees concerned have so far been unable to withdraw the benefits totalling $40 million under the ORSO scheme. As the ORSO scheme has been granted Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") exemption, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority ("MPFA") is unable to provide assistance, and the trustee has only advised them to request the liquidator to furnish the relevant information expeditiously. Regarding the regulation of ORSO schemes, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number of ORSO schemes that have been granted MPF exemption; whether it knows the respective current numbers of employers and employees who have joined such schemes, and the total accrued benefits under such schemes; (2) whether a liquidator is required under the existing legislation to furnish, within a certain timeframe, the account information of the ORSO scheme of the company in liquidation to the trustee of the scheme; if not, whether the Government will enact legislation in this regard with a view to expediting the relevant procedure; and (3) whether it will study the enactment of legislation to include ORSO schemes in the regulatory scope of MPFA?
*7. Hon SHIU Ka-chun to ask: (Translation)
At present, an applicant may not concurrently receive more than one of the various allowances (including Old Age Allowance ("OAA"), Disability Allowance ("DA") and Old Age Living Allowance ("OALA")) under the Social Security Allowance Scheme. As such, the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") will not arrange medical assessment for those elderly persons who are receiving OALA to ascertain if they are eligible for DA. On the other hand, where a taxpayer claims Disabled Dependent Allowance ("the tax allowance") for maintaining a dependent who is not a DA recipient, the Inland Revenue Department ("IRD") may demand the taxpayer to submit a Medical Assessment Report issued by the Director of Health or the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority ("medical authorities"), certifying that the dependent's disabling condition meets the eligibility requirements for DA in the relevant year of assessment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the maximum number of years that may be covered by the aforesaid Medical Assessment Reports issued by the medical authorities based on medical records; whether IRD will refuse a claim for the tax allowance on the grounds that a taxpayer has failed to provide a Medical Assessment Report covering the relevant year of assessment; whether the authorities will review the arrangements for claiming the tax allowance; (2) whether at present, persons with disabilities may request, on their own and without being arranged by SWD, the medical authorities to issue the above Medical Assessment Reports; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that elderly persons with disabilities in general have more financial needs than those who are old but without disabilities or those who are not old but with disabilities, whether the authorities will consider afresh disbursing both DA and OAA to elderly persons with disabilities?
*8. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that in the vicinity of certain public wholesale food and fish markets, quite a number of residential developments have been completed in recent years, and the operation of such markets has affected the daily lives of nearby residents. They also hold the view that some of these wholesale markets are well poised to be developed into facilities with tourism appeal. Regarding the future plans for those markets, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will identify suitable locations for the reprovisioning of the Cheung Sha Wan Temporary Wholesale Poultry Market and the North District Temporary Wholesale Market for Agricultural Products, so that the sites thus vacated can be planned afresh for other uses which will dovetail with community needs; if so, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) whether it will, by making reference to successful examples (e.g. the Pike Place Market in Seattle, the United States, the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan and the Fish Market in Bergen, Norway), study ways to enhance the benefits that may be brought by public wholesale markets, e.g. converting the Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market into an integrated facility that brings together a market for trading fisheries products, seafood restaurants and outlets for local products, so as to boost the development of the fisheries industry and the tourism industry; if so, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
Recently, a number of swimming pool complexes under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") were wholly or partially closed temporarily due to an insufficient number of lifeguards on duty. Some lifeguard unions have estimated that 900 lifeguards will be needed to fully meet the needs during the swimming season. However, there are only a total of some 400 full-time and part-time lifeguards at present. On the other hand, there have been reports from time to time in recent years about the poor water quality of public swimming pools and its potential perils to swimmers' health. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the staff establishment, strength and number of vacancies of lifeguards of LCSD (including civil service lifeguards and non-civil service contract seasonal lifeguards) in the past three years, and set out a breakdown by name of public swimming pool complex/beach and the District Council ("DC") district to which the complex/beach belonged, as well as by peak and non-peak swimming season; (2) of the details of partial or whole closures of public swimming pool complexes/beaches (including the reasons for and number of closures and the types of facilities involved) each month in the past three years, and set out a breakdown by name of public swimming pool complex/beach and the DC district to which the complex/beach belonged; (3) of the attendance of various public swimming pool complexes in each of the past three years, and set out a breakdown by mode of admission (i.e. paying the normal rate, paying the concessionary rate, holding a monthly ticket and being a group user), name of public swimming pool complex and the DC district to which it belonged; (4) given that several new swimming pools will be completed in the coming several years and that some existing swimming pools will be converted into heated pools and have their service hours extended, whether the authorities have reviewed the staff establishment, grade structure, remuneration and promotion prospect of lifeguards, and the recruitment ratio of civil service lifeguards and non-civil service contract seasonal lifeguards, so as to ensure that there will be sufficient lifeguards on duty; (5) of the number of complaints received by LCSD in each of the past three years about the water quality of swimming pools, and set out a breakdown by name of public swimming pool complex and the DC district to which it belonged, as well as by content of complaint; and (6) as some studies have pointed out that the urea content in the water of public swimming pools is on the high side, posing potential perils to public health, whether the current filtering systems at public swimming pools are effective in filtering out urea; whether LCSD will consider making urea content in the pool water one of the parameters to be monitored; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
As at March last year, there were 19 villages across the territory with a total of around 400 residents not being supplied with tap water. Recently, a number of residents of Tsing Shan Tsuen, Tuen Mun have relayed that they have all along been getting fresh water from a storage cistern in the village and the hillside streams nearby. Those water sources dried up last month due to the very hot weather. As a result, the Water Supplies Department had to arrange for the transport of fresh water to the residents of the village. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of requests for assistance or complaints about fresh water supply received by the authorities in each of the past two years from residents of the aforesaid 19 villages, together with a breakdown by the village involved; (2) whether the authorities conducted any feasibility study and economic benefit assessment in the past two years in respect of the laying of fresh water mains connecting the aforesaid villages; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that despite the repeated requests made by Members of this Council and members of the District Councils concerned for the construction of tap water supply systems for the aforesaid villages, the authorities have been rejecting those requests on the grounds that the cost-effectiveness of the relevant works is low and the per capita construction cost is very high, whether the authorities have reviewed if the cost-effectiveness consideration of those works should override the basic needs of residents in their daily lives?
*11. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
Some residents of the Tsing Yi District have complained to me that last month, the fresh water supply to a number of public rental housing estates in the District was disrupted due to fresh water mains burst, but not until three and four hours respectively after the burst incident did the water tanks and water wagons deployed by the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") to the District to provide emergency temporary fresh water supply arrive, and the quantity of water supplied by them was also inadequate. Regarding the arrangement for emergency temporary fresh water supply, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective current numbers of water tanks and water wagons under WSD, together with a breakdown by the operational region (i.e. Hong Kong and Islands, Kowloon, New Territories West and New Territories East) to which they belong; (2) whether WSD has drawn up a performance pledge that upon learning that the normal water supply to a certain area has been disrupted, an adequate quantity of fresh water must be supplied temporarily to the area within a certain period of time; if so, of the details; if not, whether WSD will draw up such a performance pledge; (3) of the average time taken by WSD in the past three years to deploy water tanks and water wagons respectively to areas in which normal water supply was disrupted, and set out the relevant figures by operational region; (4) whether WSD has reviewed if the time taken to deploy water tanks or water wagons was too long; if WSD has reviewed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the reasons for that, whether insufficient emergency temporary water supply facilities was one of the causes, and of the authorities' improvement measures; and (5) how WSD assesses, after confirming the need to supply fresh water to a certain area temporarily, the number of water tanks or water wagons needed to be deployed?
*12. Hon Jeremy TAM to ask: (Translation)
According to the Inter-Governmental Agreement in respect of the Construction, Operation, Maintenance and Management of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, signed by the governments of Hong Kong, Guangdong Province and Macao in 2010, the three said governments will adopt the "territoriality principle" in respect of the operation and management of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("HZMB"). The three governments will handle various issues within their own jurisdictions in accordance with the respective local laws. Regarding the rescue arrangements for incidents that have occurred on the Hong Kong Link Road ("HKLR") of HZMB, which is within Hong Kong's jurisdiction, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) when an incident involving personal injuries has occurred on a lane (i) in the Hong Kong-bound direction and (ii) in the Mainland-bound direction of HKLR, of the respective routes to be taken by ambulances (a) going from the ambulance depot(s) to the scene and (b) conveying the injured persons from the scene to the North Lantau Hospital ("NLH"); (2) whether the ambulance routes mentioned in (1) will involve travelling on the shoulder in the opposite direction of the traffic; if so, whether there are measures in place to ensure traffic safety; if there are such measures, of the details and whether such measures include temporarily closing off the lane adjacent to the shoulder; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the journey distance of conveying injured persons from a section of HKLR closest to the boundary to NLH, and the respective estimated journey times during rush and non-rush hours; (4) when a traffic accident involving a number of injured persons has occurred at a section of HKLR closest to the boundary, making it necessary for ambulances to divert some of the injured persons to public hospitals other than NLH (such as the Princess Margaret Hospital), of (i) the journey distances and (ii) the estimated journey times of conveying the injured persons from the scene to such hospitals respectively; (5) of the circumstances under which the authorities will arrange for the Government Flying Service to send helicopters to convey injured persons from HKLR to public hospitals; and (6) whether the authorities have plans to arrange for maritime rescue teams to take part in the rescue operations on HKLR; if so, of the details (including the government departments involved)?
*13. Hon Kenneth LAU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that as remote villages such as Tsing Shan Tsuen in Tuen Mun, Chau Tau in Tung Ping Chau and Mui Tsz Lam in Sha Tin currently have no supply of tap water, residents of those villages can get fresh water only from the storage cisterns in these villages and the hillside streams nearby. However, those water sources dried up last month due to the very hot weather, causing the residents to suffer from a lack of water supply and making it necessary for the Water Supplies Department to transport fresh water to solve the problem temporarily. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the name of the villages yet to be supplied with tap water and the population of each of the villages, and set out the information by District Council district; (2) of the number of times in the past three years for which the authorities transported fresh water to remote villages temporarily and the expenditures involved, broken down by name of village; (3) of the number of times to date this year for which the authorities transported fresh water to remote villages temporarily and the quantity of water supplied, broken down by name of village; (4) whether it will make good use of the fiscal surplus by constructing tap water supply systems for remote villages or improve the water storage facilities therein, so as to reduce the occurrence of a lack of fresh water supply to the residents; and (5) whether it will review the criteria used for determining if tap water supply systems should be constructed for remote villages?
*14. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the water supply arrangements and management of water resources in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the time limit, prescribed under the Agreement for the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong signed between the Hong Kong Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government, within which the Guangdong provincial authorities must notify the Hong Kong Government upon the occurrence of incidents (such as insufficient water quantity, pollution of water sources or damages to water supply facilities) on the Mainland which may lead to an interruption to the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong; (2) whether the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") has formulated a contingency plan to cope with the situation of a tight supply of fresh water in Hong Kong; if so, of the details (including the circumstances under which the plan will be activated); (3) whether various government departments have formulated plans and administrative arrangements for implementing water conservation measures (such as reducing the use of fresh water for street cleaning by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD")) when fresh water supply is tight; if so, of the details; (4) of the respective annual water consumption of the top five government departments in water consumption (including the water consumption of their outsourced service contractors) in the past three years, with a breakdown by use of the water; (5) whether various government departments have formulated (i) short-term and long-term water conservation targets as well as (ii) guidelines on water consumption; if so, of the details; as the Government said in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in 2013 that WSD was reviewing the water consumption practices in the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's parks and swimming pools as well as FEHD's markets, street cleaning and refuse collection points, and would gradually extend the scope of the review to other government departments that had relatively high water consumption, of the latest progress of such work; (6) whether it reviewed the water tariff structure in the past three years with a view to encouraging water conservation; if so, of the details and follow-up work; (7) as the Government has taken forward the Inter-Reservoirs Transfer Scheme since as early as 2004, of the reasons why the Scheme still remains at the stage of reviewing and refining the detailed design, method statements and related environmental impact assessments at present; why it has not yet submitted funding applications to the Finance Committee of this Council in respect of the major works under the Scheme; and (8) apart from the Tseung Kwan O Desalination Plant which is under construction, whether the Government has studied the implementation of other seawater desalination projects; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Hon Jimmy NG to ask: (Translation)
In 2016, the median floor area of accommodation of domestic households was about 430 square feet ("sq. ft.") and the median per capita floor area of accommodation was about 161 sq. ft., with more than 90% of households in the territory living in accommodation of less than 753 sq. ft. In addition, among the approximately 2.508 million accommodations in Hong Kong, 8.1% of them had a floor area less than 215 sq. ft., while 4.9% of them were private permanent housing. There are comments that such data shows that the accommodation area of Hong Kong people is becoming smaller, which runs counter to the vision emphasized by the Government to improve the per capita floor area of accommodation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, in respect of the private residential flats to be completed in each of the coming five years, the following information on those flats with a usable area (a) below 161 sq. ft., (b) ranging from 161 sq. ft. to less than 431 sq. ft. and (c) ranging from 431 sq. ft. to 752 sq. ft. respectively: (i) the total number of flats and its percentage in the annual flat production, (ii) a breakdown of the number of flats by District Council district, and (iii) the estimated average per-square-foot price; (2) as the Chief Executive has proposed in the Policy Address delivered in October 2017 the vision of developing Hong Kong into a liveable city, whether the authorities will consider formulating a standard of per capita floor area of accommodation for private residential flats; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether the authorities will consider, by drawing reference to the experience of countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and Korea, formulating "minimum living standards" to stipulate the minimum standards on aspects such as the (i) safety and basic facilities of accommodation, (ii) number of residents and (iii) areas of bedroom and kitchen, as a benchmark for living quality; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) as the per-square-foot prices of private residential properties have hit record high time and again in recent years, the flats built by private developers have become increasingly smaller to cater for the continuous decline in affordability among prospective buyers, whether the authorities will consider including a provision of "minimum flat area" or "maximum number of flats" in residential land leases, with a view to reversing the trend of a continuous decrease in the area of newly completed residential flats; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the authorities' measures to strike a reasonable balance between per capita floor area of accommodation and housing production?
*16. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the protection of animal rights, interests and welfare, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will study the formulation of guidelines on the space, food, water, etc. that animal keepers are required to provide for various types of animals; (2) whether it will organize courses on the knowledge and skills needed for keeping various types of animals; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the number, content and effectiveness of the dog training courses organized in the past five years for dog owners by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; (4) whether it will consider afresh making it mandatory for persons convicted of cruelty to animals or animal abandonment to attend courses relating to animal welfare; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether it will consider amending the legislation to require cat owners to arrange for microchipping their cats; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) as there are views that the number of animals being adopted has been on the low side over the years, whether the authorities will launch an animal adoption fund to support animal welfare organizations ("AWOs") to promote animal adoption; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (7) given that with the completion of the three-year "Trap-Neuter-Return" Trial Programme for Stray Dogs in January this year, the authorities indicated last month that they were open-minded about AWOs or other groups conducting this type of programme at specific locations, of the attitude taken by the authorities regarding the implementation of the same type of programme to tackle the problem of stray cats, as well as whether they will provide the relevant organizations or groups with the resources and support needed; (8) of the number of cases in which animals smuggled into the territory were seized by the authorities in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by the boundary control point where such animals were seized; among such cases, the number and percentage of those involving endangered species; the measures to be put in place to step up the efforts in combating such smuggling activities; and (9) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past five years involving pet services (including beauty, boarding, hospice services) and the use of animals in commercial activities (e.g. pet cafes); the legislation currently in place to regulate such activities, and whether it will study stepping up the regulation of the relevant activities through licensing; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") has so far signed agreements with 20 jurisdictions on the surrender of fugitive offenders ("SFO"). On matters relating to SFO, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of SFO requests made pursuant to the relevant agreements which were received, accepted and rejected by the Government in each of the past 10 years; whether it consulted the Central Government in respect of any of such requests; if so, of the number of requests involved and the consultation details, and set out such information one by one by the jurisdictions concerned; (2) of the number of SFO requests made by the Government pursuant to the relevant agreements in each of the past 10 years and, among them, the respective numbers of requests accepted and rejected; whether it consulted the Central Government before making any of such requests; if so, of the number of requests involved and the consultation details, and set out such information one by one by the jurisdictions concerned; and (3) as the Department of State of the United States ("US") stated in the Hong Kong Policy Act Report submitted to the Congress last month that the Chief Executive of SAR had rejected in October last year "at the behest of the Central Government" an SFO request made by the US Government, of the reasons of the SAR Government for rejecting the request; whether the SAR Government had consulted the Central Government upon receipt of the request; if so, of the reasons and the legal basis for that; whether the person requested to be surrendered has been arrested, detained and deported from Hong Kong by the SAR Government; if so, of the details?
*18. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
According to the information from the Hong Kong Cancer Registry under the Hospital Authority ("HA"), breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Hong Kong (with one in every 16 women developing breast cancer). In recent years, there has been an upward trend in the number of cases of women being diagnosed with breast cancer: 1 152 cases in 1993 rising by about three times to 3 900 cases in 2015 (i.e. 10 women were diagnosed with breast cancer each day on average). Breast cancer patients in Hong Kong are relatively younger than their overseas counterparts, with the lowest incidence age being 20. It has been reported that in the United States, a female terminal breast cancer patient whose cancer cells had spread to the liver and other organs was selected for participation in an immunotherapy trial ("adoptive cell transfer ('ACT') therapy"), which enlisted her own "tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes" ("TILs" which contained T cells) to fight against the cancer, coupled with drug treatment which assisted her immune system in attacking cancer cells. Forty-two weeks later, no cancer cells could be found in her body and there was no relapse of cancer within two years. The same therapy was also very effective in treating two other patients suffering from terminal liver cancer and terminal colon cancer respectively. A doctor of the United States National Cancer Institute considered that the three cases had indicated that the aforesaid therapy would hopefully provide a blueprint for treating solid tumours in body organs (e.g. stomach cancers, oesophageal cancers, etc.). Regarding the prevention and treatment of breast cancers, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of patients diagnosed with breast cancer in each of the past three years and, among them, the number of those whose cancer had reached advanced and terminal stages when they were diagnosed; (2) whether it knows, apart from palliative care, other more positive therapies for terminal breast cancer patients; the costs and efficacy of such therapies; whether there are drugs for treating terminal breast cancer in the Hospital Authority Drug Formulary at present; if so, of their prices; (3) given that ACT therapy gives terminal breast cancer patients a ray of hope, coupled with the fact that its side effects are much milder than those of conventional therapies, such as chemotherapy and electrotherapy, whether the Government and the authorities will consider studying the introduction of this technique or developing it on their own initiatives, with a view to providing an additional option for those terminal breast cancer patients who volunteer to try new therapies; (4) given that quite a number of breast cancer patients have relayed that oncologists and surgeons often have conflicting opinions, with the former mostly recommending that the patients should receive chemotherapy first and surgery to remove tumour should be performed only after the spread of cancer cells has been effectively controlled or the size of the tumour has reduced, while the latter mostly advocating surgical removal of the tumour first before chemotherapy or electrotherapy, thus leaving patients perplexed, of the measures put in place by the Government to assist the patients in making appropriate decisions after weighing the opinions of the two sides; (5) as some oncology experts have pointed out that genetic testing technique, which has been implemented in overseas countries for 10 years, analyzes the hazard of a tumour and the risk of relapse and can help patients determine whether it is suitable to receive chemotherapy and spend some $200,000 on it, but such genetic testing services are unavailable in public hospitals in Hong Kong so far, whether the Government knows the reasons for that; whether it will consider introducing such genetic testing services expeditiously; whether HA has assessed if the techniques used in Hong Kong for treating cancers were below international standards; (6) given that earlier, the Government announced the injection of $50 billion for the development of innovation and technology, whether the Government will consider, in addressing the medical needs of the terminal breast cancer patients in Hong Kong, taking the initiative to invite the medical research institutes which intend to introduce ACT therapy to apply for research grants, with a view to meeting the critical and urgent needs of the patients; and (7) whether the Government will, on the basis of the notion that prevention is better than cure, and making reference to UK's offer of breast screening services for its nationals and the successful example of the Colon Assessment Public-Private Partnership Programme launched by HA in 2016, offer non-means-tested free breast screening services for all women of the relevant age cohort in the territory; if so, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
To tie in with the launch of the fifth generation (i.e. "5G") mobile service in the market in 2020, the Communications Authority ("CA") has decided to re-allocate the radio spectrum in the 3.4 - 3.7 GHz band from fixed satellite service ("FSS") to mobile service with effect from 1 April 2020. Moreover, in order to avoid radio interference with the existing earth stations for telemetry, tracking and control of satellites in orbit ("TT&C Stations"), CA has decided to set up restriction zones in Tai Po (which will cover areas including the entire Tai Po District, Shatin, Ma On Shan, Fanling, Sai Kung, and the core areas of scientific research activities in the Hong Kong Science Park and The Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Stanley, in which the installation of mobile base stations of public mobile services operating in the 3.4 - 3.6 GHz band ("3.5 GHz band") is forbidden. Some members of the information and technology sector have relayed to me that the setting up of such restriction zones will render members of the public residing and working in the restriction zones unable to use 5G mobile service in future, directly affecting scientific research activities and smart city development. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective populations of the two aforesaid restriction zones, and the respective numbers of households, courts/estates, industrial buildings, office buildings, shopping centres, schools, universities, companies and scientific research institutions (if any) covered by them (set out in a table); (2) whether CA has assessed (i) the impact on the daily lives of the residents in the zones, (ii) the impact on the scientific research and economic activities in the zones and (iii) the losses to be sustained by the entire local economy (including the loss caused by the failure to provide 5G mobile service in the zones), to be brought about by the setting up of the two restriction zones; whether CA will remove the two restriction zones, or reduce their coverage; if CA will, of the details and the implementation timetable; (3) whether CA had, before deciding to re-allocate the aforesaid spectrum, studied (i) the identification of alternative sites for relocating the existing TT&C Stations and (ii) the minimum area to be covered by the restriction zones; if CA had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) apart from the two restriction zones, whether CA has studied forbidding the installation of mobile base stations of public mobile services operating in the 3.5 GHz band in other areas or locations; if CA has, of the areas or locations involved and the reasons for that; and (5) whether CA has plans to relocate the FSS-related facilities to avoid the impact of the setting up of the restriction zones on the use of 5G mobile service and scientific research activities; if CA does, of the details of the plans and the implementation table?
*20. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the wastage rates of correctional staff have remained persistently high in recent years. As at the end of February this year, a total of 316 rank and file correctional staff members retired, resigned or were transferred out in the 2017-2018 financial year, representing a wastage rate of 6.8%, hitting a record high in five years. On improving the work arrangements and environment for correctional staff, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Correctional Services Department ("CSD") has been providing rehabilitative services to persons in custody for more than 20 years, whether the authorities will provide special allowances to frontline staff who have completed a diploma in social work programme, certificate course in social work, certificate course in psychological approaches in working with offenders or other courses recognized by CSD and the Qualifications Framework; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the authorities will, on the premise that the number of weekly working hours remains unchanged, extend the five-day work week arrangement to all correctional staff to enable them to have more rest time, and use this work mode as the basis for calculating the number of leave days to be deducted when they take vacation leave; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether the authorities will provide transport for correctional staff working in remote correctional institutions to commute to and from work so as to reduce their commuting time; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given that while the authorities will, under extremely adverse weather conditions, arrange means of transport to pick up correctional staff to accommodation facilities to perform sleep-in standby duty, some means of public transport still maintain limited services under such conditions at present, whether the authorities will cancel the sleep-in standby duty arrangement and instead arrange means of transport to pick up staff at designated places to commute to and from work; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether the authorities will, in view of the fact that the social environment and service demand have changed, consider reviewing, enhancing and shortening the recruit training programmes for correctional staff, so that those staff members may perform frontline duties as early as possible; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) whether the authorities will consider reducing the weekly working hours of correctional staff from the current 48 hours to 44 hours in order to enhance their quality of life; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether the authorities will deploy resources and manpower for building "smart prisons", including the introduction of smart wristbands which can monitor the pulse rates of persons in custody and a closed circuit television system with facial recognition features in order to provide a safer custodial environment, thereby reducing the workload of frontline staff; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (8) as some correctional staff members have relayed that the foot protection capability of the leather shoes they wear will be undermined with the wear and tear of the shoes, causing strain injuries to them, whether the authorities will proactively consider improving the design of these shoes in accordance with ergonomics and by adopting advanced materials; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (9) given that as the gates in correctional institutions are mainly installed with mechanical locks at present, it is time-consuming to lock and unlock them and extensive and complicated procedures are involved in the safe keeping and transfer of keys, of the progress of the authorities' work to replace the locks of the gates in individual correctional facilities with electric locks; whether various correctional institutions will completely switch to using electric locks; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (10) as some correctional staff members have recently relayed to me that the staff common rooms in correctional institutions are small with insufficient number of beds and facilities, of the authorities' specific improvement measures?
*21. Hon HO Kai-ming to ask: (Translation)
Electronic payment services have become popular in recent years, bringing considerable convenience in consumption to members of the public. However, as some third-party payment platforms fail to properly verify payers' identities when processing online transactions (for instance, payers are only required to input credit card/debit card numbers and security codes, as well as cardholders' names), unauthorized transactions are prone to occur. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints involving third-party payment platforms received by the authorities in the past three years, with a breakdown by type of complaints; (2) of the measures taken by the authorities in the past three years to step up the regulation of the operation of third-party payment platforms (including collection of users' personal data and charging of handling fees or other fees); (3) whether the authorities will consider making it a mandatory requirement for third-party payment platforms to adopt, when processing online transactions, two-factor authentication for verifying payers' identities, such as by requiring payers to input a one-time password either sent via short message service or generated by security tokens, in addition to credit card/debit card numbers and cardholders' names; and (4) whether it has plans to promote the acceptance of payment for all government bills and payment notices through third-party payment platforms; if so, of the details and timetable?
*22. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a number of staff members, including those at the rank of Division Heads, of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD") departed in recent years. Some members of the public worry about the impact of manpower wastage on the daily operation of and the handling of cases by PCPD. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the current staffing establishment of PCPD, with a breakdown by (i) whether the posts are at the managerial level and (ii) the mode of employment; (2) whether it knows the respective numbers and percentages of the staff members of each of the divisions under PCPD who departed each year since 2012, broken down by the mode of employment; and (3) whether the authorities requested, in the past five years, PCPD to review its mode of employment, remuneration packages and workflow, with a view to boosting staff morale and reducing staff wastage?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| Employment (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Labour and Welfare
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Consideration by Committee of the Whole Council and Third Reading
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| Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
|
| Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move an amendment
(The amendment was issued on 12 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 697/17-18) | ||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018 in committee of the whole Council (issued on 19 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 722/17-18(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 20 June 2018))
| ||
IV. Government Motion
| Proposed resolution under the Import and Export Ordinance
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move the motion in the Appendix. |
| (The motion was issued on 31 May 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 654/17-18) |
V. Members' Motions
| Stand-over items: Members' motion nos. 1 to 3 (since the meeting of 13 June 2018)
| |||||
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | ||||
| (a) | Securities and Futures (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 (Commencement) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 96 of 2018;
| ||||
| (b) | Securities and Futures (Open-ended Fund Companies) Rules, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 97 of 2018; and
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| (c) | Securities and Futures (Open-ended Fund Companies) (Fees) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 98 of 2018,
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| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 11 July 2018.
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| 2. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Holden CHOW to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) (Amendment) Rules 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 99 of 2018, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 11 July 2018. | ||||
| 3. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | ||||
| (a) | Telecommunications (Designation of Frequency Bands subject to Payment of Spectrum Utilization Fee) (Amendment) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 103 of 2018;
| ||||
| (b) | Telecommunications (Level of Spectrum Utilization Fees) (Second Generation Mobile Services) (Amendment) Regulation 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 104 of 2018;
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| (c) | Telecommunications (Determining Spectrum Utilization Fees by Auction) (Amendment) Regulation 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 105 of 2018; and
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| (d) | Telecommunications (Method for Determining Spectrum Utilization Fee) (Administratively Assigned Spectrum in the 1800 MHz Band) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 106 of 2018,
| ||||
| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 11 July 2018.
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| 4. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Frankie YICK to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | ||||
| (a) | Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 83 of 2018;
| ||||
| (b) | Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) (North Lantau and Hong Kong International Airport) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 84 of 2018;
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| (c) | Schedule of Routes (Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 85 of 2018;
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| (d) | Schedule of Routes (Long Win Bus Company Limited) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 86 of 2018;
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| (e) | Schedule of Routes (New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 87 of 2018; and
| ||||
| (f) | Schedule of Routes (New World First Bus Services Limited) Order 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 88 of 2018,
| ||||
| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 May 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 11 July 2018.
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| 5. | Proposed resolution under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon James TO to move the following motion: Resolved that the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) (Amendment) Rules 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 99 of 2018 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 May 2018, be repealed. | ||||
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Stand-over items: Members' motion nos. 6 and 7 (since the meeting of 6 June 2018)
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| 6. | Cross-boundary elderly care
Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to move the following motion: (Translation) That, all along, quite a number of elderly persons in Hong Kong have chosen to spend their twilight years on the Mainland, but the current cross-boundary portability arrangements for welfare benefits made by the SAR Government have a very narrow scope, benefiting only eligible elderly persons who are receiving the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments or the Old Age Allowance and have moved to reside in Guangdong or Fujian Province on the Mainland; to facilitate more elderly persons in spending their twilight years on the Mainland, this Council urges the SAR Government to: | ||||
| (1) | extend the arrangements of the Guangdong Scheme and the Fujian Scheme to other provinces on the Mainland;
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| (2) | introduce cross-boundary portability arrangements for the Old Age Living Allowance to support eligible elderly persons who are receiving the allowance and have moved to the Mainland;
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| (3) | abolish the existing absence limit for various welfare benefits under the Social Security Allowance Scheme, and conduct a study on developing an identity verification system with the relevant Mainland departments to obviate the need for elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland to return to Hong Kong for making applications for continuous collection of such benefits on a yearly basis;
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| (4) | introduce cross-boundary portability arrangements for the Disability Allowance such that eligible elderly persons with disabilities aged 65 or above can choose to reside on the Mainland;
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| (5) | optimize the existing Pilot Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong by, for example, purchasing residential care places for persons with disabilities from Mainland residential care homes, and purchasing more quality residential care places for the elderly in various major cities on the Mainland, as well as providing needy elderly persons who choose to reside on the Mainland with one-stop escort arrangements for travelling to and from Hong Kong;
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| (6) | conduct a study on the implementation of a scheme for the transfer of medical records of Hong Kong residents under which, with the consent of the elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland, their medical records will be transferred to designated Mainland hospitals so that they can seek medical consultation conveniently;
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| (7) | conduct a study on extending the scope of application of Hong Kong's Health Care Vouchers to cover major hospitals and clinics on the Mainland, with a view to alleviating the burden of medical expenses on elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland;
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| (8) | by drawing reference from the model of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, co-establish hospitals in major Mainland cities by Hong Kong and the Mainland and adopt Hong Kong-style management to jointly provide quality healthcare services to elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland; and
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| (9) | by drawing reference from the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly, conduct a study on providing elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland with support services for ageing in place.
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| Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG, Hon WONG Kwok-kin and Hon Alvin YEUNG to move amendments to the motion
| |||||
| (The amendments were issued on 18 May 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 606/17-18) | |||||
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| 7. | Developing venues and creating room to support the development of local culture, arts, recreation and sports
Hon MA Fung-kwok to move the following motion: (Translation) That the lack of venues and room has all along been plaguing local cultural, arts and sports groups, and it is also an important barrier to the development of local culture, recreation and sports; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to take every possible means to create more venues and room for the local cultural, arts and sports sector, so as to promote further development of local culture, arts and sports; the relevant measures include: | ||||
| (1) | building more cultural venues and sports facilities, and expeditiously implementing the outstanding leisure and cultural services projects of the former municipal councils;
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| (2) | reviewing the policy on industrial buildings and updating the definition of 'use of industrial buildings', so that cultural, arts and sports groups can operate in industrial buildings in a sensible, reasonable and lawful manner, and ensuring that future policies proposed on revitalizing industrial buildings will be able to cater to the development needs of such groups and safeguard their room for survival;
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| (3) | making better use of vacant school premises and vacant sites for cultural, arts or sports purposes;
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| (4) | opening up more public spaces for cultural and arts purposes;
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| (5) | enhancing the Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme, including providing more assistance to schools that open up their school facilities, and extending the scheme to make it accessible by cultural and arts groups;
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| (6) | enhancing the leasing policy for government venues to make such venues available for full utilization by cultural, arts and sports groups, and curbing the recurrence of touting activities; and
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| (7) | stipulating in the land lease covenants of suitable new development projects that developers should set aside space to develop certain cultural and arts facilities that have been compressed by market and business factors, such as performance venues and bookshops.
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| Hon Mrs Regina IP, Hon Tanya CHAN, Hon LAU Kwok-fan and Hon AU Nok-hin to move amendments to the motion
| |||||
| (The amendments were issued on 21 May 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 607/17-18) | |||||
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