Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Council Meeting (Agenda) 26 February 2020

The results of an opinion poll, conducted in November last year on members of the public's satisfaction with the disciplinary forces, have shown that 40% of the respondents gave zero mark when asked to give scores to the Hong Kong Police Force ("HKPF"). On the other hand, it has been reported that in January this year, a large outdoor billboard located next to the Hong Kong Island entrance of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel displayed an advertisement of the Police which invited members of the public to join the Police Force. It is learnt that the relevant advertising costs amounted to as high as several hundred thousand dollars per month. Regarding the advertisements placed by HKPF, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the total expenditure of the aforesaid advertisement, together with a breakdown, including the rent of the advertising station, advertisement design fee, works costs, and (if an advertising agency was engaged) the name of the advertising agency and the fees charged by it;

(2)

of the criteria adopted by HKPF for engaging advertising agencies;

(3)

of the estimated and actual expenditures spent on publicity and promotion activities by the Police Public Relations Branch in each of the past two financial years; among such expenditures, the amount of those involving advertising, and set out, by name of publicity programme, the theme of the advertisement, the expenditure involved and the name of the advertising agencies engaged (if any); and

(4)

whether HKPF has formulated a mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of its advertisements; if so, whether HKPF has evaluated if the relevant publicity work in the past 12 months could effectively improve the image of the department?

Question 2
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Combating illegal parking

Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask:

It has been reported that the problem of illegal parking in various districts has aggravated since June last year. Illegally parked vehicles not only cause traffic obstructions, but may also jeopardize the safety of road users. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it has studied the reasons for the aggravation of the problem of illegal parking in various districts in recent months; whether the Police's work of combating illegal parking has been affected due to the need for deploying a lot of manpower to deal with public events in recent months;

(2)

of the number of complaints about illegal parking received by the Police in each of the past 24 months, with a breakdown by (i) the type of follow-up actions taken and (ii) the interval between the receipt of the complaint and the taking of such action(s) (in terms of hours);

(3)

of the number of fixed penalty notices issued in respect of illegally parked vehicles, as well as the manpower deployed to deal with illegal parking, by the Police in each of the past 24 months, with a breakdown by police region; and

(4)

whether the Police will deploy additional manpower to combat illegal parking so as to avoid illegally parked vehicles causing traffic obstructions and jeopardizing the safety of road users; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 3
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Supply of anti-epidemic items

Hon James TO to ask:

As the novel coronavirus epidemic has been serious recently, various government departments, public organizations and members of the public have a strong demand for anti-epidemic items. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of (i) the quantities received and (ii) the stock held, by the public healthcare system in respect of the various types of anti-epidemic items each day from 21 January to 21 February this year;

(2)

in respect of the face masks produced by the Correctional Services Department ("CSD"), of (i) the quantity retained for use by the Department, and (ii) the respective quantities supplied to the following government departments, public organizations and non-governmental organizations each month since December last year (set out in a table): Hong Kong Police Force, Customs and Excise Department, Immigration Department, Hong Kong Fire Services Department, Independent Commission Against Corruption, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Department of Health, Administration Wing of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office, Hongkong Post, Auxiliary Medical Service, Home Affairs Department, and the various public health-related organizations such as the Hospital Authority ("HA");

(3)

of the protection specifications of the face masks currently produced by CSD, and whether such specifications meet those prescribed by HA for face mask procurement; if not, whether CSD will produce face masks which meet the specifications prescribed by HA;

(4)

of CSD's current stock of face masks available for distribution;

(5)

of the stock of the various raw materials (including aluminum/plastic strips, elastic bands, non-woven fabrics and filter papers) currently used by CSD for producing face masks, and the places of origin of those raw materials; the number of face masks that can be produced with such stock;

(6)

whether CSD will recruit volunteers who possess the knowledge of operating sewing machines to join the production line of face masks so as to increase output; if so, when the recruitment will be conducted; if not, of the reasons for that; and

(7)

whether it will distribute face masks free of charge to the elderly in Hong Kong; if not, of the reasons for that?

Question 4
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Use of copyright work by the authorities

Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask:

It has been reported that on 27 December last year, the Police used on its social networking platform a photograph, the copyright of which was owned by an online media organization, without obtaining prior consent from the organization. In response to queries on their copyright infringement, the Police argued that under section 54A of the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), "[f]air dealing with a work by the Government…for the purposes of efficient administration of urgent business does not infringe the copyright in the work". Some members of the public and media organizations are worried that the Police may abuse the said provision, making the protection for copyright owners under the Copyright Ordinance exist only in name. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it will immediately put forward a clear definition for the term "urgent business" in section 54A of Cap. 528, so as to allay the concern of members of the public and media organizations; and

(2)

whether it will consider, prior to invoking the provision and using the photographs and video clips the copyright of which is owned by media organizations, informing the media organizations concerned and seeking their consent; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 5
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Training courses commissioned by
the Employees Retraining Board

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:

The Employees Retraining Board ("ERB") has commissioned various training bodies to offer training courses. To help the upgrading of skills and the self-enhancement of those persons who became unemployed or under-employed on or after 1 June last year, with a view to assisting them in re-entering the employment market as early as possible, ERB launched a six-month "Love Upgrading Special Scheme" ("the Scheme") in October last year to provide such persons with integrated training courses of two to three months. Those trainees who have attained an attendance rate of 80% may be granted special allowances, capped at $4,000 per month per person. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it knows the number of applications for enrolment on the courses received under the Scheme so far, and a breakdown by course title of the enrolments for the training courses under the Scheme;

(2)

whether the authorities will raise the ceiling of the special allowances that the trainees of the various courses under the Scheme may be granted;

(3)

whether it has compiled statistics on the number of trainees so far who, after completing the courses under the Scheme, have been engaged in course-related jobs; if so, of the titles of the top three courses with the highest number of trainees engaged in related jobs;

(4)

whether it knows the respective enrolments on and graduates of the various training courses commissioned by ERB in the financial year of 2018-2019 (set out by training body); and

(5)

whether it knows the percentage of those graduates of the training courses in the financial year of 2018-2019 who have engaged in course-related jobs?

Question 6
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Government mobile applications

Hon Paul TSE to ask:

It is learnt that the Government has launched more than 200 mobile applications ("apps") in recent years, costing the public coffers more than $22 million. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer promulgated in 2018 the Practice Guide for Developing Mobile Apps, requesting government departments to review whether those apps that have been launched for many years but not yet reached 10 000 accumulated downloads should be decommissioned. It has been reported that just a few government departments integrated or decommissioned their apps last year. As of now, as many as 80 of such apps remain available for public download, involving an annual recurrent expenditure of more than $2 million. Among such apps, quite a number of them recorded zero growth in the number of downloads from April to October last year (e.g. the "1069 Test Finder" launched by the Department of Health). Furthermore, some apps overlap with one another in function (e.g. Radio Television Hong Kong offering seven different apps for public download with "RTHK On The Go" (which has the largest number of downloads among such apps) featuring at the same time those functions provided by the other six apps), causing members of the public to query whether the Government is wasting public money. In addition, some members of the public have relayed to me that government apps are often launched for the sake of launching and could not cater for the needs of members of the public. On the other hand, they suggest that in view of the scattered anti-epidemic information at present, the Government should consider developing a platform for central dissemination of the relevant information. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

in view of the severe situation of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic at present and the prevalence of voluminous fake news and rumours on the Internet, whether the Government will, in response to the criticisms and suggestions of members of the public, launch apps that meet the needs and demands of the community as far as possible, and provide various sorts of real-time information on the epidemic (including information on the face masks and other supplies purchased by the Government and distributed to various government departments, the provision of subsidies or assistance to local organizations in producing face masks, as well as the supply situation of anti-epidemic items); if so, of the details of the apps, the costs of development and the recurrent expenditures involved;

(2)

whether various government departments have launched any new apps for public use since the end of April 2019; if so, of the intent and purposes of developing these apps, the target users, the costs of development, and the monthly recurrent expenditures involved;

(3)

of the respective (i) numbers of downloads and (ii) month-on-month growth rates of the numbers of active users in respect of the new apps mentioned in (2) since their launch; whether those figures have reached the targets set for the apps when they were first launched;

(4)

of the total number of apps currently provided by the Government for public download; among such apps, the number of those which have experienced no growth in their numbers of downloads or active users in the past six months; whether reviews have been conducted to identify the reasons for the unpopularity of those apps; and whether the needs of the target users had been taken as the basis for consideration before a decision was made on whether or not those apps should be developed; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(5)

whether it has assessed if the apps with no growth in their numbers of downloads or active users referred to in (4) have met the criteria for the decommissioning of apps as specified in the Practice Guide for Developing Mobile Apps; and

(6)

as some members of the public have criticized that some apps launched by government departments overlap with or resemble one another in function and are wasting public money in effect, whether the Government will consider further urging the various government departments to step up their efforts in integrating the apps, so as to avoid confusing members of the public on the one hand and cut back unnecessary public expenditure on the other?

Question 7
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Financing difficulties of small and medium enterprises

Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask:

Some persons-in-charge of small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") have relayed that many SMEs, having been hit simultaneously by the slowdown of the global economy, the uncertainties of the external environment and the disturbances arising from the opposition to the proposed legislative amendments that have persisted for half a year, have tremendous business difficulties. Such SMEs urgently need liquidity to tide over the difficult times so as to avoid layoffs or closing down of business. Although the Financial Secretary extended in August last year both the application period of the 80% Guarantee Product under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme ("SFGS") and the validity period of the relevant enhancement measures to 30 June 2022, and the HKMC Insurance Limited ("HKMCI") introduced in December last year a new 90% Guarantee Product under SFGS, the procedure for banks to vet and approve SME loan applications is complicated and time-consuming and the eligibility criteria are stringent (such as requiring applicants to put up their properties as collaterals and submit documentary proofs of their business turnovers). As such, bank loans have failed to serve the function of "providing timely relief". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the respective numbers of applications under SFGS received by HKMCI in the previous and the current financial years to date as well as the year-on-year percentage change of such applications, with a breakdown of the numbers of applications by loan amount and the type of industry to which the SME applicants belonged;

(2)

of the respective numbers of the relevant applications received and approved by HKMCI since the launch of the 90% Guarantee Product, with a breakdown by the type of industry to which the SME applicants belonged; and

(3)

whether it will discuss with the banking industry the simplification of the procedure for vetting and approval of SME loan applications and the relaxation of the application criteria, so as to resolve the financing difficulties encountered by SMEs?

Question 8
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Insurance premiums for taxis

Hon Frankie YICK to ask:

Some members of the taxi trade have relayed that the insurance premiums for taxis rose by nearly 50% during the first nine months of last year, with comprehensive insurance premiums increasing to over $40,000 per annum and third party risks insurance ("third party insurance") premiums increasing to over $30,000 per annum. They have also pointed out that currently the limited number of insurance companies operating insurance business for taxis has resulted in a lack of competition in the market, which has in turn caused an incessant rise in insurance premiums for taxis. Soaring insurance premiums, together with a drastic drop in the patronage for taxis over the past six months arising from the social movements, have caused business difficulties to the taxi trade. On the other hand, some insurance companies have indicated that due to the rampant illegal activities such as insurance frauds and champerty in recent years, the number of traffic accident claims and the compensation amounts have increased significantly, leading to the soaring insurance premiums for taxis. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it knows, in respect of the top five insurance companies which had the highest market shares in the taxi insurance market in each of the past five years, (i) the market shares achieved, (ii) the numbers of taxis insured, and (iii) the total premiums received, respectively by them each year;

(2)

of the respective average amounts of comprehensive insurance premiums and third party insurance premiums for taxis, as well as the respective rates of changes of such premiums, in each of the past five years;

(3)

of the respective numbers of suspected insurance frauds and champerty cases in respect of which the Police took the initiative to conduct investigations in the past five years; the relevant (i) number of prosecutions instituted, (ii) number of persons convicted and (iii) penalties imposed; the new measures put in place to step up efforts in combating such illegal acts; and

(4)

as third party insurance must be taken out for taxis before they are allowed to be used on roads, of the measures put in place by the Government to assist the taxi trade in addressing the problem of high and soaring insurance premiums?

Question 9
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Access to television programmes in digital format

Hon James TO to ask:

The authorities have set to switch off the analogue television ("TV") broadcasting ("analogue switch-off") on 30 November this year to make way for the implementation of full digital TV broadcasting from 1 December onwards. Some residents living in tenement buildings in the urban areas (such as Kam Wa Street in Shau Kei Wan) and remote areas (such as Ma Wan Village) have relayed that owing to problems relating to the reception of digital TV signals at their premises (such as poor reception or no signal at all), they currently have access to local free TV programmes ("TV programmes") in analogue format only; and they will no longer be able to access TV programmes after the analogue switch-off. On the other hand, to tie in with the analogue switch-off, the Government has commissioned the Hong Kong Council of Social Service for the implementation of the Community Care Fund Digital Television Assistance Programme ("the Assistance Programme") to help analogue TV households with financial need to obtain digital TV receivers (including set-top boxes or TV sets), so that they can continue to access TV programmes after 30 November. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the districts currently having problems relating to digital TV signal reception, as well as the respective numbers of households involved;

(2)

of the number of complaints/requests for assistance received by the authorities in the past five years relating to problems of digital TV signal reception, with a breakdown by District Council ("DC") district; the number of resolved cases among those cases, with a breakdown by solution (such as the installation of small-scale transposers by the residents on their own initiatives);

(3)

of the measures to help residents living in premises with problems relating to digital TV signal reception to continue to access TV programmes after the analogue switch-off; whether it will install transposers for them or resort to other means in order to enable them to steadily receive clear digital TV signals; if so, of the DC district(s) involved; and

(4)

of the measures to ensure that all households benefitting from the Assistance Programme can access all TV programmes (including the programmes of Radio Television Hong Kong) after obtaining relevant receivers?

Question 10
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Matters relating to Tenants Purchase Scheme estates

Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask:

The Chief Executive mentioned in last year's Policy Address that the Government would propose that the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") make active preparations to accelerate the sale of about 42 000 flats that remain unsold in the 39 Tenants Purchase Scheme ("TPS") estates. On matters relating to TPS estates, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that the existing Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement is not applicable to tenants of the unsold flats in the TPS estates, whether the Government will consider requesting HA to formulate a separate marking scheme applicable to such tenants; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

whether it will consider re-launching the Mutual Exchange Scheme so that those tenants of non-TPS estates who intend to purchase a flat in TPS estates may be matched against those tenants of TPS estates who do not mind moving to other estates; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

whether it will consider, by drawing reference from the Flat for Flat Pilot Scheme for Elderly Owners implemented by the Hong Kong Housing Society, allowing owners of flats of TPS estates, after selling their premium-unpaid flats, to buy again another premium-unpaid flat in the subsidized sale flats secondary market, with a view to speeding up the circulation of flats of TPS estates; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 11
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Relaunch of the Tenants Purchase Scheme

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

The Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") implemented since 1998 the Tenants Purchase Scheme ("TPS") for tenants of 39 selected public rental housing ("PRH") estates to buy the flats in which they lived at discounted prices. Although TPS was terminated in August 2005, existing and new tenants of TPS estates may still buy the flats in which they live. According to the results of a questionnaire survey targeted at PRH tenants conducted by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong in July last year, 87% of the respondents supported the relaunch of TPS. Among them, 76% even indicated that they would buy the flats in which they lived should TPS be relaunched. On the other hand, the Chief Executive indicated in last year's Policy Address that the Government would propose that HA make active preparations to accelerate the sale of about 42 000 flats that remain unsold in the 39 TPS estates, and would invite HA to seriously look into the relaunch of TPS when there was more certainty on the overall public housing supply. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that the list prices for TPS flats are set by reference to the adjusted replacement costs, of the details of the relevant calculation methods (including the various considerations and their relevant benchmarks);

(2)

given that the existing unsold TPS flats are currently on average priced at about 20% of their assessed market values, whether HA, in relaunching TPS, will (i) draw reference from such list price (if so, of the criteria adopted and the justifications for that), and (ii) maintain the current arrangement of offering a special credit, i.e. existing tenants who purchase their flats within the first two years of launch of the TPS estates, or new tenants who purchase their flats within two years from commencement of their tenancies, may enjoy a full credit for the first year and a halved credit during the second year respectively; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3)

of the following details of the studies on TPS which had been conducted by the Government when it announced the nine measures concerning housing polices (including the termination of TPS) in November 2002:

(i)

considerations for selecting estates for inclusion in TPS;

(ii)

the progress (including the anticipated completion date(s)) and results of the studies;

(iii)

whether the inclusion of the 30 estates listed in the table below in TPS falls within the scope of the studies; if so, of the progress (including the anticipated completion date(s)) and results of the studies; and

District	Name of estate	Year of intake	Progress and results of the studies
Eastern	Siu Sai Wan Estate	1990
	Yiu Tung Estate	1994
	Hing Tung Estate	1996
Southern	Ma Hang Estate	1993
Wong Tai Sin	Tsz Man Estate	1994
Wong Tai Sin	Choi Fai Estate	1995
Kwun Tong	Lok Wah (North) Estate	1985
	Tsui Ping (South) Estate	1989
	Kwong Tin Estate	1992
	Ko Yee Estate	1994
Sham Shui Po	Lai On Estate	1993
Shatin	Lee On Estate	1993
Shatin	Chung On Estate	1996
Sai Kung	Hau Tak Estate	1993
Sai Kung	Ming Tak Estate	1996
North	Wah Sum Estate	1995
North	Ka Fuk Estate	1995
Yuen Long	Tin Yiu (I) Estate	1992
	Tin Yiu (II) Estate	1993
	Tin Shui (I) Estate	1993
	Tin Shui (II) Estate	1993
Kwai Tsing	Shek Lei (I) Estate	1985
	Kwai Fong Estate	1987
	Kwai Shing (East) Estate	1989
	Cheung Hang Estate	1990
	Shek Lei (II) Estate	1994
	On Yam Estate	1994
	Shek Yam (East) Estate	1996
Islands	Ngan Wan Estate	1988
Islands	Kam Peng Estate	1996

(iv)

of the estates, other than the aforesaid estates, which fall within the scope of the studies;

(4)

as the Chief Executive and the Secretary for Transport and Housing have respectively pointed out that consideration would be given to relaunching TPS when there is "more certainty" on the overall public housing supply and such supply "can largely meet the public's demand", whether the Government has set specific and quantifiable indicators in this regard; if so, of the details; if not, how it determines whether the overall public housing supply meets the aforesaid requirements; and

(5)

as the results of a study conducted by a think tank have indicated that the relaunch of TPS will bring substantial itting by PRH tenants arising from Well-off Tenants Policies which in turn leads to an additional demand for housing, and enabling existing PRH units to accommodate an additional population of 140 000), whether the Government has conducted studies on the benefits that the relaunch of TPS may bring to society; if so, of the results; if not, whether it will conduct such a study?

Question 12
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Stopping arrestees from screaming their names

Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask:

It is learnt that while being arrested by police officers during the social conflicts over the past six months, quite a number of members of the public have tried to scream their names, so as to facilitate bystanders or people watching live broadcast in helping them obtain legal assistance expeditiously, but the police officers at the scene have, by various means, stopped them from doing so. Some of such police officers even claimed that such people did not have the right to scream their names and such act was an "invasion of privacy". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it has assessed if people's act of screaming their names on their own initiative while being arrested is an invasion of their own privacy; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the reasons for that; and

(2)

whether there is any legal basis for police officers stopping people from screaming their names on their own initiative while they are being arrested; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will immediately prohibit police officers from doing so again, so as to ensure arrestees' right of facilitating their expeditious access to legal assistance through screaming their names while being arrested?

Question 13
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Providing management training for
doctors of the Hospital Authority

Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:

Some members of the public have relayed that as public hospitals have persistently been plagued with the problems of insufficient resources, manpower mismatch, excessively long waiting time for patients, etc., there is a need to raise their management efficiency. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows: (i) among the doctors who belong to the management of the Hospital Authority ("HA"), the number and percentage of those who have received professional training in management, and (ii) whether HA has provided training allowances and offered paid study leave to doctors who possess the potential to take up senior management duties, so that they may enrol in management programmes or receive the relevant training; if HA has, of the details; if not, whether HA will consider doing so?

Question 14
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Impacts of social turmoil on scientific research and experiment projects

Hon Martin LIAO to ask:

It has been reported that amid months of social turmoil, the operation of individual universities has been disrupted, and the facilities in the laboratories on campus have been damaged and the chemicals therein stolen, resulting in some scientific research and experiment projects being delayed or disrupted, the progress of scientific research work being hindered, as well as quite a number of non-local students and overseas experts giving up their plans to come to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the Research Grants Council ("RGC") under the University Grants Committee has initially allowed the funded research projects which were affected to defer the submission of completion reports. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it knows the details of the impacts of the social turmoil on the scientific research work and RGC-funded research projects of the various tertiary institutions, including (i) the number and percentage, (ii) the contents, (iii) the originally scheduled time of completion and the additional time needed for completion, and (iv) ‍the causes of delay, of the affected research projects;

(2)

whether it knows the respective numbers, since June last year, of non-local postgraduate students and scientific research experts of the various tertiary institutions who have given up their plans to conduct researches in Hong Kong or come to Hong Kong for such purposes, with a breakdown by their places of origin and the areas of the research projects in which they were engaged; and

(3)

whether it has assessed the impacts of the delay in scientific research work and the talent wastage on the development of scientific research in Hong Kong; if so, of the details, and the appropriate relief measures in place?

Question 15
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Taking forward public housing projects

Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask:

On taking forward public housing projects, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of housing projects in each of the past five financial years which could not be completed in the year concerned as originally planned, and set out, by project name in a table, (i) the number of residential units, (ii) the causes for the delay, and (iii) the number of days of delay in respect of the various projects;

(2)

whether it has set up a mechanism for reviewing the causes for the delay in housing projects and for formulating improvement measures; if it has set up such a mechanism, whether it has reviewed its effectiveness; if it has not set up such a mechanism, whether it will do so expeditiously;

(3)

whether it will consider publishing annually the information about the housing projects under construction which have experienced delay, including the name of projects and the causes for the delay, as well as giving an account of the impact of such delays on the supply of public housing; if so, of the details; and

(4)

of the specific measures in place to ensure that housing projects will be completed on schedule?

Question 16
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Vacant government sites managed by the Lands Department

Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask:

In April last year, the Development Bureau revealed that the Lands Department ("LandsD") was managing 1 626 vacant government sites across the territory, covering a total of some 297 hectares (about 15.6 times of the size of the Victoria Park). Among such sites, those located in Kowloon East were of the highest number (with a total of 83 sites covering 55.6 hectares in total area). Regarding the vacant government sites managed by LandsD, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the current number of those sites, and set out in Table 1 a breakdown of the number and the area of such sites by (i) the districts listed in Table 1 and (ii) the number of years for which the sites have been left vacant (as grouped in Table 1);

Table 1

Number of years for which left vacant

Kowloon East

North

Yuen Long

Tuen Mun

Sai Kung

Hong Kong
West & South

Islands

Sha Tin

Hong Kong
East

Tsuen Wan &
Kwai Tsing

Tai Po

Kowloon West

Total number of sites

0 to 3 years

4 to 5 years

6 to 7 years

8 to 10 years

Total area

(2)

among the sites in (1), of the number of those for which long-term planning has been made (and, among such sites, the number of those zoned for residential development use), and set out in a table the (i) location, (ii) area, (iii) planned use and (iv) development timetable of each site;

(3)

among the sites in (1), of the number of those suitable for transitional housing development, and set out in a table the (i) location, (ii) area, (iii) planned use and (iv) development timetable of each site;

(4)

among the sites in (1), of the number of those suitable for temporary uses to be granted under short-term tenancies ("STTs"), and set out in a table a breakdown of the number and the area of such sites by the districts listed in Table 1;

(5)

of the number of STT applications received in the past five years by LandsD in respect of vacant government sites; among such applications, the number of those approved as well as the (i) location, (ii) area, (iii) temporary use and (iv) rent of each of the sites granted; if there were applications rejected, of the reasons for that; the average time taken for vetting and approval of an application; whether it will consider relaxing the eligibility requirements for making an application and streamlining the vetting and approval procedure, so as to avoid wasting land resources; and

(6)

given that some non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") have relayed that as the STTs of certain vacant sites require the tenants to bear the costs for advance works such as fire safety, repairs or slope stabilization and it takes time to vet and approve applications for the relevant subsidies, NGOs are greatly discouraged from making applications for such STTs, whether the Government will consider completing the advance works for vacant sites before opening the sites for tenancy application by such NGOs; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 17
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Physical activities for students

Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask:

It has been reported that the findings of a survey conducted in the middle of last year by the Hong Kong Elite Athletes Association have shown that school children on average were engaged in physical activities for only some 30 minutes each day at school, which was far less than the level of physical activities of 60 minutes each day as recommended by the World Health Organization ("WHO"). Furthermore, less than half of the school children surveyed were interested in taking a double-period lesson of physical education ("PE"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it will review and improve the contents (including aspects of the types and forms of activities) of PE lessons in primary and secondary schools, with a view to making PE lessons more enjoyable and thereby increasing the interest of school children in physical activities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

whether it will consider increasing the number of hours of PE lessons in primary and secondary schools, in order to increase the time spent by school children on physical activities each day; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3)

of the details and effectiveness of the measures implemented by the Government this year to encourage and support schools and sports organizations to organize extracurricular sports programmes; whether it will consider introducing more of such measures next year to encourage schools and sports organizations to organize more extracurricular sports programmes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(4)

of the number of sports programmes, since the introduction of the Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme in the 2017-2018 school year, organized by sports organizations using the facilities opened up by participating schools, as well as the number of school children participating in those programmes; the measures to be implemented by the Government next year to encourage more schools and sports organizations to participate in the Scheme and organize more extracurricular sports programmes; and

(5)

whether the Government will, in the long run, formulate a work plan and set phased targets for increasing the time spent by school children on physical activities each day to 60 minutes as recommended by WHO; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 18
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Support for children with special needs

Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask:

At present, children under 12 years old suspected to be suffering from developmental disorder may, through referral by various channels (including the Maternal and Child Health Centres, the Hospital Authority, doctors in private practice and psychologists), receive clinical assessment service provided under the Child Assessment Service of the Department of Health, and be subsequently referred for receiving follow-up services (including specialist medical services, education and training). It has been reported that the waiting time for those two types of services has lengthened in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of children waiting for the assessment service at the end of each of the past three years;

(2)

of the number of children who were assessed in each of the past three years as suffering from developmental disorder, with a tabulated breakdown by the type of follow-up services to which they were referred; in respect of each type of the follow-up services, the current (i) average waiting time and (ii) average duration for using such services;

(3)

of the new measures put in place to shorten the respective waiting time for (i) the assessment service and (ii) the follow-up services; and

(4)

regarding the children from families with financial needs who urgently need the assessment service or the follow-up services, whether the Government will consider distributing service vouchers to such children, through setting up a fund, for such children to obtain the relevant services provided by the private sector, so that they may receive the required services as early as possible; if not, of the reasons for that?

Question 19
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Issues relating to the novel coronavirus epidemic

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:

In recent months, the novel coronavirus epidemic has continued to spread and it has been confirmed that the virus is capable of human-to-human transmission. Up to the present, tens of thousands of confirmed cases have been recorded on the Mainland, and the number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong has also been on the rise. On the issues relating to the epidemic, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the latest measures to cope with the occurrence of community transmission in Hong Kong;

(2)

whether it knows the effective methods currently known for treating the infection of the virus; whether it has exchanged with the Mainland authorities the experience in treating the patients concerned; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3)

as recently a number of healthcare staff of the Hospital Authority ("HA") have taken sick leave, gone on strike or resigned, of the new counter measures put in place by the authorities to ensure that there is sufficient manpower in hospitals to deal with the epidemic;

(4)

whether it knows the types and other details of those non-urgent services which HA has reduced in order to deal with the epidemic;

(5)

whether it will consider invoking section 3 of the Reserved Commodities Ordinance (Cap. 296) to (i) specify face masks as a reserved commodity, as well as (ii) coordinate the procurement of face masks and control the storage, distribution and prices of such items, so as to avoid panic hoarding of face masks by members of the public which exacerbates the shortage of such items; whether it will provide face masks and antiseptic items for free to the grass-roots people in need; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(6)

whether it will, by following the practice of the Macao Government, set up a dedicated webpage and require retailers to report, on a daily basis, on their real-time stock of face masks on the webpage, so as to facilitate the purchase by members of the public;

(7)

as the Government has appealed to those members of the public returning to Hong Kong from the Mainland to self-isolate for 14 days as far as possible upon their return to Hong Kong, whether it will issue guidelines on whether employers may regard those employees who are absent from work due to self-isolation as having taken leave, or deduct the salaries of such employees; and

(8)

given that the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (Cap. 509) stipulates that employers must, so far as reasonably practicable, ensure the safety and health at work of the employees, whether it will require (i) employers to provide sufficient infection-protection supplies (e.g. face masks and antiseptic liquid) to employees at work, and (ii) cleansing service contractors to provide protective clothing for frontline workers; if not, of the reasons for that?

Question 20
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Planning and development of the Kowloon City district

Hon CHAN Hoi-yan to ask:

On matters relating to the planning and development of the Kowloon City district, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of private buildings in the district, with a breakdown by the age group to which the buildings belong (i.e. 20 years or below, 21 to 40 years, and 41 years or above);

(2)

of the number of buildings in the district that have participated in the various Government-led building rehabilitation schemes, as well as the measures in place to encourage owners of the remaining buildings to participate in the relevant schemes and to provide them with the assistance needed;

(3)

of the number of government buildings in the district, and set out, by name of building, the years of commissioning of such buildings, the public services provided, as well as the utilization rate of each service, in each of the past five years; whether it has plans to redevelop such buildings; if so, of the details;

(4)

of the number of applications received in each of the past three years by the Government from developers for redeveloping or converting the residential buildings in the district, as well as the number of residential flats to be built in respect of each application; and

(5)

of the latest progress of the plan to redevelop the old Kowloon City district?

Question 21
(For written reply)

(Translation)

The operation of the West Kowloon Station of the
Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link

Hon Jeremy TAM to ask:

Regarding the operation of the West Kowloon Station ("WKS") of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it knows, since the commencement of operation of WKS, if incidents of unauthorized entry into railway tracks and tunnels have occurred; if such incidents have occurred, of the following details of the incidents: (i) nature (such as falling onto the railway track by accident, committing suicide, deliberate entry (if the motives are known, please specify), and others (please specify)), (ii) the locations where and the ways in which the persons concerned entered and left, and (iii) whether the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has made public such incidents (if not, of the reasons for that), and set out such information by the identities of such persons;

(2)

since the commencement of operation of WKS, whether incidents of passengers entering Hong Kong without undergoing immigration clearance procedure have occurred; if so, of the details, including the reasons and whether the authorities have made public such incidents (if not, of the reasons for that); and

(3)

whether it knows the reasons why platform screen doors have not been fitted at WKS, and whether the Government will request MTRCL to retrofit the screen doors?

Question 22
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Preparation for full digital television broadcasting

Hon WU Chi-wai to ask:

The authorities announced in February last year that after the switching off of the analogue television ("TV") broadcasting ("analogue switch-off") on 30 November this year, a total of 160 MHz of spectrum in the 600/700 MHz bands would be vacated. The authorities planned to make use of such spectrum for indoor mobile telecommunications services, and indicated that they would conduct frequency coordination with the Mainland authorities with a view to releasing more spectrums for outdoor deployment. In addition, the Commission on Poverty ("CoP") approved in July last year the allocation of a funding of about $450 million from the Community Care Fund for implementing a Community Care Fund Digital Television Assistance Programme ("Assistance Programme"), which would help about 160 000 analogue TV households in financial need to obtain digital TV sets or multi-function set-top boxes ("STBs"), so that they can continue to access local free TV programmes after the analogue switch-off. The authorities launched the Assistance Programme in mid-January this year and estimated that the number of beneficiary households would be about 80 000. This figure is smaller than the original estimate, but the authorities did not correspondingly lower the amount of funding allocation under the Assistance Programme. The Hong Kong Council of Social Service ("HKCSS") has been commissioned to implement the Programme. HKCSS has earlier appointed, through an open tender exercise, Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited as the contractor responsible for providing services such as procurement and on-site installation of equipment for the households. The contractor may identify the most suitable option for a beneficiary household and there is no requirement on the brands and specifications of the equipment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

as the authorities indicated that they would conduct public consultation on the use of the aforesaid vacated spectrum for indoor mobile telecommunications services, of the latest progress of the work in this respect; whether a decision has been made on the eventual use of such spectrum;

(2)

of the latest progress of the work undertaken by the authorities for releasing more spectrums for outdoor deployment;

(3)

given that the latest estimated number of beneficiary households under the Assistance Programme has substantially reduced by half as compared with the number in July last year, of the reasons for the authorities not correspondingly lowering the funding allocation for the Programme; the estimated balance of funding upon completion of the Programme;

(4)

given that the Assistance Programme will help beneficiary households to obtain digital TV sets or multi-function STBs, whether the authorities have estimated the respective numbers of pieces of these two types of equipment to be provided for the households;

(5)

of the respective estimated amounts of the following items of expenses for the Assistance Programme: (i) the administration fees charged by HKCSS, (ii) the fees charged by the contractor, (iii) the respective total expenses for purchasing digital TV sets and multi-function STBs and the unit costs of the various types of equipment, and (iv) other expenses;

(6)

given that the estimated number of beneficiary households under the Assistance Programme has substantially reduced, how the estimated amounts of the various items of expenses mentioned in (5) compare with the funding allocation approved by CoP in July last year;

(7)

of the respective numbers of applications received and approved under the Assistance Programme so far and, among them, the respective numbers of cases in which digital TV sets or multi-function STBs have been installed;

(8)

of the actual expenses incurred so far on the various items mentioned in (5)(iii); the respective numbers of digital TV sets and multi-function STBs procured by the contractor, and the number of brands involved; and

(9)

whether any guidelines are currently in place to regulate the procurement procedure adopted by the contractor (e.g. requiring the contractor to conduct open tender exercises in phases so as to avoid a surge in product prices due to increased demand)?

Legislative Council

Agenda Wednesday 26 February 2020 at 11:00 am

I.Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

II.Written Questions

III.Government Bill

Council meeting of 26 February 2020 Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

22 questions to be asked at the Council meeting of 26 February 2020

Agenda

Wednesday 26 February 2020 at 11:00 am

I.
Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

II.
Written Questions

III.
Government Bill

Council meeting of 26 February 2020

Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council