8 items of subsidiary legislation/instruments and 10 other papers to be laid on the Table of the Council set out in Appendix 1

Members to ask 20 questions (6 for oral replies and 14 for written replies)
(Standing over from the meeting of 10 July 2019)

Contents of 20 questions, Members to ask such questions and public officers to reply set out in Appendix 2

(Standing over from the meeting of 10 July 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 10 July 2019)

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 760/18-19 and CB(3) 55/19-20 issued on 27 June and 21 October 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 10 July 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 23 October 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 12 June 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 10 July 2019)

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 771/18-19 issued on 27 June 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 23 October 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 3 July 2019)

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 723/18-19 issued on 19 June 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 23 October 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 12 June 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 12 June 2019)

Hon Martin LIAO to ask:

In recent years, the Government has been committed to developing Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology ("I&T") hub, as well as continuously enhancing policies on and measures for attracting talents outside Hong Kong to come here for work, with a view to maintaining Hong Kong's edges amid the keen international competition for talents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask:

A large group of demonstrators surrounded the Police Headquarters ("PHQ") for the whole day of 21 June this year, barring entry and exit of vehicles and persons. At night of that day, some persons inside PHQ reported feeling unwell and called emergency ambulance service. The Police subsequently accused that the demonstrators' blocking the roads had delayed the rescue work. However, it has been reported that the Police refused to clear the way for the ambulances which had arrived in the vicinity of PHQ, and only after a protracted period of time did they open the eastern entrance gate of PHQ for entry of the ambulancemen. Furthermore, some of the persons who had been conveyed to the accident and emergency ("A&E") department by ambulance left without receiving diagnoses and treatments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Paul TSE to ask:

Since June this year, tens of thousands of people took to the street for many times to protest against the proposals to amend the law concerning surrender of fugitive offenders, and to demand the Chief Executive and relevant officials to take responsibility by stepping down. Some demonstrators blocked roads, besieged government buildings and clashed with the Police on a number of occasions. There are comments that the aforesaid situation shows that there is a serious dissension within society and a complete loss of mutual trust between the Government and the people. Also, disputes and agitation in society have caused instability in the economy as well as anxiety in people's mind. For example, a developer gave up, undeterred by forfeiture of the deposit it had paid, a site which it had won in a bidding exercise, and some companies shelved their listing plans. Moreover, it is learned that a tide of emigration from Hong Kong has recurred. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

In May this year, the operation of Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse ("SSSH") was suspended for several days on two occasions as some pig samples collected there had been tested positive for African Swine Fever ("ASF") virus, with the import of Mainland live pigs being suspended during such periods of time. It is learnt that since the resumption of the operation of the slaughterhouse on 6 June, the average daily number of live pigs imported from the Mainland has been below 1 700, which is way lower than last year's daily average of around 4 000. It has been reported that as live pigs imported from the Mainland account for more than 90% of the total live pig supply, and with demand outstripping supply, the auction price of live pigs and the retail price of fresh pork are substantially higher than the levels in the past. Furthermore, owing to the drop in the number of pigs slaughtered, there is a pressure for live pig delivery and slaughtering fees to rise. Therefore, the retail price of fresh pork might rise further. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

In the past decade, the annual numbers of newly reported child abuse cases stood at around 1 000. Yet, among such cases, the annual numbers of neglect cases showed an upward trend. Regarding the law and measures for protecting children, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:

At present, the North Lantau Hospital ("NLH") is not a general hospital, making it necessary for quite a number of Tung Chung residents to travel a long distance to seek consultation at the Princess Margaret Hospital. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

Hon Starry LEE to ask:

A Hong Kong man was suspected of murdering an accompanying Hong Kong woman in Taiwan in February last year and returned to Hong Kong afterwards. As the Government may not, under the existing legislation, transfer the man to Taiwan for trial, the Security Bureau submitted to this Council in February this year a legislative proposal seeking to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503) and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance (Cap. 525). On the 23rd of this month, the Government formally withdrew the bill concerned. On the other hand, that man, who had been sentenced to imprisonment for convicted offences of money laundering, finished serving the sentence and was released this month. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether, at present, it has any plans (e.g. through the existing mechanism) to expeditiously transfer the man to Taiwan for trial, in order to seek justice for the deceased, thereby upholding justice; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Hon Alvin YEUNG to ask:

It has been reported that on 9 June this year, over a million members of the public participated in a procession to protest against the Government's proposed legislative amendments concerning the surrender of fugitive offenders. After the end of the procession at night and up till the small hours of the following morning, some demonstrators who had stayed behind to continue to protest in the vicinity of the Legislative Council Complex had physical confrontations with police officers. Police officers used Oleoresin Capsicum ("OC") foam (commonly known as "pepper spray") against the demonstrators, hit them with batons, and arrested 19 young persons aged between 19 and 34. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask:

After serious confrontations between police officers and demonstrators in the vicinity of Admiralty on 12 June this year, some demonstrators who had gone to the accident and emergency ("A&E") departments of public hospitals for treatment of injuries were arrested there by the Police. It was reported in the press on 18 June that any person could access, through the computers in the A&E departments without going through the procedure for logging in with a password, the patient information contained in the Accident and Emergency Information System ("AEIS"), and that the system had a page designated "For Police". The Hospital Authority ("HA") subsequently clarified that AEIS was for the exclusive use of healthcare workers and the page concerned was only a printing option in the "Disaster" module of AEIS. HA also indicated that from 20 June onwards, AEIS could be accessed only after going through the procedure for logging in with a password. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Martin LIAO to ask:

It has been reported that from time to time, certain driving test centres ("DTCs") under the Transport Department are closed during opening days due to a shortage of driving examiners. As a result, candidates have to wait for a long time before they can take road tests of driving tests ("road tests"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Tanya CHAN to ask:

On 12 June this year, quite a number of demonstrators gathered in the vicinity of the Legislative Council Complex, protesting against the Government's proposed legislative amendments concerning the surrender of fugitive offenders. Police officers used force to disperse the demonstrators and arrested quite a number of demonstrators on the spot and in the accident and emergency ("A&E") departments of public hospitals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask:

In recent years, while the overall employment rate in Hong Kong has remained at high levels, the employment rate of persons with disabilities ("PWDs") has been persistently low. According to the findings of a survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department in 2013, the employment rate of PWDs aged 15 and above was 13.6%, and that of the 43 000 PWDs holding post-secondary qualifications among them was around 34.7%. On the other hand, the percentage of civil servants with disabilities in the total number of civil servants had declined for five consecutive years, dropping from 2.1% in 2013-2014 to 1.7% in 2017-2018. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask:

Some members of the education sector have complained to me that in recent years, the Education Bureau ("EDB") has, from time to time, conducted open recruitment exercises for positions the entry requirements of which include a certain number of years' teaching experience. As the appointees are usually serving teachers, the schools at which such teachers originally teach often have to recruit teachers midway through a school term in order to fill the vacancies, thus affecting the operation of the schools and the learning progress of the students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon YUNG Hoi-yan to ask:

The Elderly Dental Assistance Programme ("the Programme"), launched by the Community Care Fund in September 2012, provides free removable dentures and related dental services to low-income elderly persons who are users of home care service or home help service subvented by the Social Welfare Department. The eligibility for participating in the Programme was relaxed in September 2015, October 2016, July 2017 and February 2019 to cover elderly persons who were/are Old Age Living Allowance recipients aged 80 or above, aged 75 or above, aged 70 or above and aged 65 or above respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask:

In view of the persistent shortage of talents faced by the insurance sector as well as the asset and wealth management sector, the Government launched a three-year Pilot Programme to Enhance Talent Training for the Insurance Sector and the Asset and Wealth Management Sector ("Pilot Programme") in August 2016 to help promote these two sectors and enhance the professional competence of their practitioners. The initiatives under the Pilot Programme include public education, financial incentive schemes for professional training, summer internship programmes and a work-and-learn programme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon HUI Chi-fung to ask:

It has been reported that a former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, who arrived in Hong Kong with a diplomatic passport in June this year, was denied entry into Hong Kong after having been held by the Immigration Department ("ImmD") for questioning for over five hours. In May this year, a former Ombudsman of the Philippines, who arrived in Hong Kong with an ordinary passport, was also held for questioning, notwithstanding that she was eventually granted entry. On the other hand, in March this year, these two persons, together with some Filipino fishermen, filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court against various Chinese officials, including the State President, for alleged crimes against humanity. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Steven HO to ask:

From time to time in recent years, there have been people displaying large vertical banners on prominent cliff faces or posting slogans and painting graffiti on both sides of hiking trails within country parks for expressing political aspirations or publicizing political messages. The Government has to spend public money and deploy manpower to remove such items and carry out clearance work. In recent months, there were again a spate of cases of displaying large vertical banners. Some members of the public are annoyed at this, and have expressed concern that the Government has all along been unable to curb such acts over the years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask:

It has been reported that the Education Bureau ("EDB") has planned to lend the premises of a primary school, which will soon be vacated, to a service organization for the visually impaired, for use as a decanting site for the sheltered workshop under it. Regarding the vacant school premises under EDB, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Vincent CHENG to ask:

The Financial Secretary announced in this year's Budget the allocation of $20 billion for the Government to purchase properties over some three years for the operation of welfare facilities and services, such as child care centres ("CCCs"), day care centres for the elderly, neighbourhood elderly centres, and on-site pre-school rehabilitation services. On the other hand, the Government has, in accordance with the recommendations in the Final Report of the Consultancy Study on the Long-term Development of Child Care Services, formulated a planning ratio for aided CCC places (i.e. 103 places for children aged below three per 20 000 persons). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask:

Will the Government inform this Council of (i) the number of training courses offered by each Training Body as commissioned by the Employees Retraining Board ("ERB"), and (ii) the amount of funding provided by ERB to each Training Body for offering such courses, in each of the financial years from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020?