Question 1
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Wartime relics
Prof Hon LAU Chi-pang to ask:
It has been reported that the State President has indicated that "archaeological relics and historic heritage are witnesses to history that have to be protected and utilized well". There are views that from the "Six-Day War" in 1899 where villagers in the New Territories resisted the British in defence of their territories, to the "Battle of Hong Kong" in 1941 where the Hong Kong defence forces staged a concerted and united action of resistance against Japanese aggression, Hong Kong boasts an abundant history of the wars of resistance, and the relevant wartime relics even constitute excellent teaching materials for national education. However, the current state of preservation of wartime relics in Hong Kong varies greatly, which has aroused concerns. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the current number of wartime relics in Hong Kong, and whether the Government has compiled a list of wartime relics; if it has, whether it can make available the list concerned; if it has not, whether it will compile such a list in the future;
(2)
whether the Government has devised preservation proposals for the wartime relics in Hong Kong; if so, of the specific proposals; if not, whether it will devise such proposals in the future; and
(3)
given the Government's commitment to promoting students' experiential learning beyond the classroom and integrating such learning with values education in recent years, whether the Government has plans to incorporate the wartime relics in Hong Kong into the experiential learning for the subjects of Citizenship and Social Development as well as Chinese History; if so, of the relevant plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 2
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Promoting cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland higher education institutions
Hon Stanley NG to ask:
There are views that with limited university places and an insufficient scale of academic staff members and researchers in Hong Kong, it is difficult to generate economies of scale. In order to develop Hong Kong into and consolidate its position as a regional hub for international higher education, a very important measure is to make use of and combine with the Mainland's educational resources to achieve the complementarity of advantages and combination of strengths. Hence, universities in Hong Kong should establish long-term cooperation and strategic relationships as well as deepen cooperation in academic research and teaching with outstanding universities on the Mainland, so as to achieve the complementarity of resources and mutual recognition of qualifications. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the work carried out by the Government in respect of promoting cooperation and establishing strategic relationships between Hong Kong and Mainland universities;
(2)
how the Government will facilitate and encourage cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland institutions to achieve the complementarity of advantages; and
(3)
as there are views that while the Mainland attaches great importance to vocational education and has a well-developed and multi-level vocational education system, the development of vocational education in Hong Kong is relatively slow, how the Government strengthens the mutual recognition of both academic qualifications and qualifications conferred by Hong Kong and Mainland institutions, deepens academic exchanges and connectivity between Hong Kong and Mainland institutions and their cooperation in vocational education, as well as takes advantage of the country's opportunities and vast market to provide young people with better vocational development opportunities?
Question 3
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Government public transport fare concession scheme
Dr Hon TIK Chi-yuen to ask:
Under the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities (commonly known as "the $2 Scheme"), elderly persons aged 60 or above and eligible persons with disabilities only need to pay $2 per trip to travel on public transport modes covered by the Scheme, with the exception of some routes and services. However, it has been reported that the Convenor of the Executive Council and the former Secretary for Transport and Housing have considered that the Scheme would impose a huge financial burden on the Government and requested that a review be conducted. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
as there are views that the expenditure of the $2 Scheme is a bottomless pit, and the decision to lower the eligible age to 60 years old was lightly made, how the Government responds to such views;
(2)
of the respective amounts of subsidies granted by the Government to various public transport operators under the $2 Scheme in the past five years, and whether it has investigated the amounts involved in suspected abuse of the Scheme, including but not limited to "taking long-haul routes for short journeys"; if so, of the relevant amounts, and how the Government eradicates the problems concerned; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether it has plans to raise the fare under the $2 Scheme to $3; if so, of the reasons for that?
Question 4
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Establishing a data governance system
Prof Hon William WONG to ask:
It has been reported that a number of regions have established data governance systems covering legislation and effectiveness evaluation, but the Hong Kong SAR Government has not enacted clear data laws and regulations or formulated effectiveness indicators. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it will study the enactment of a "data law" to promote the development of digital economy, foster the development of digital industries, unify information, establish a sharing mechanism and safeguard data security (in particular preventing activities that endanger national security, such as disseminating provocative information on social media platforms);
(2)
of the Government's proposals in place, prior to the enactment of a data law and the establishment of a data bureau, to promote the collection and interoperability of big data among government departments, between the Government and different sectors, and between the Government and members of the public, so as to enable the Government to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the actual situation in Hong Kong, deliver more effective public services, and facilitate the business sector to expand their businesses; and
(3)
given that according to the report "Global Data Barometer" published in 2022, the scores of Hong Kong in "data governance", "data availability" and "data capability" were 37.5, 52.9 and 58.2 respectively, whether the Government will formulate key performance indicators for these three pillars, so as to establish the direction of the Government's work on data governance and allow members of the public to monitor the effectiveness of the Government's work on data promotion?
Question 5
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Protecting labour rights and interests of non-local care workers
Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask:
It has been reported that some residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for persons with disabilities ("RCHs") have employed non-local care workers through the Supplementary Labour Scheme ("SLS"), and have deprived such workers of their labour rights and interests, such as making use of "dual contracts" to wrongfully deduct part of their salary, compensating their overtime work at an hourly rate lower than the statutory minimum wage, failing to provide accommodation allowance, and requiring them to take up work which are outside their scope of duties and to work as substitute staff on rest days. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of RCHs granted approval for importing care workers through SLS in the past three years; the total number of inspections of such RCHs conducted by the Labour Department ("LD"), together with the number and details of follow-up or punitive actions taken, including the number of RCHs on which administrative sanction was imposed;
(2)
given that there are views that as quite a number of non-local care workers are worried about being dismissed or even retaliated against by their employers, they often dare not to report their employers' acts of contravention in their employers' presence during LD's inspections, how LD ensures the confidentiality of the reports and protects the privacy of the persons who make the reports; and
(3)
how LD ensures that inspection operations will all be conducted on a surprise basis, under which RCHs will not receive notice beforehand and public officers will not divulge the operational deployment, and what measures are in place to step up inspection and monitoring efforts, so as to ensure that labour rights and interests of non-local care workers are protected?
Question 6
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Scheme of Control Agreements signed between the Government and the two power companies
Dr Hon Hoey Simon LEE to ask:
Regarding the current Scheme of Control Agreements ("SCAs") signed between the Government and the two power companies, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that under SCAs, CLP Power Hong Kong Limited and The Hongkong Electric Company Limited set up the New Eco-Building Fund and the New Smart Power Fund respectively, and the two power companies may on the one hand earn incentives for achieving the targets in relation to energy audits, energy saving from audits and the funds concerned, while on the other hand they may also receive incentives for achieving the targets in relation to energy efficiency, energy conservation and renewable energy as set out in SCAs and have their permitted returns adjusted accordingly, whether the Government has assessed if the aforesaid arrangements will result in the two power companies making double profits;
(2)
given that the Government will review the incentive and penalty mechanism under SCAs with a view to increasing the penalties for major power outage incidents, whether the Government will review the incentive and penalty mechanism for the three performance indicators of "supply reliability", "operational efficiency" and "customer services" at the same time; and
(3)
as it is pointed out in SCAs that the two power companies will cooperate with the Government in a study on the detailed arrangements for strengthening the interconnection between the power grids of the Mainland and Hong Kong as well as that between the existing power grids in Hong Kong, and on the potential access to the power grid by third parties, whether the Government has conducted studies on grid interconnection and started planning for opening the access to the power grid?
Question 7
(For written reply)
(Translation)
MTR Special Fare Days
Ir Hon Gary ZHANG to ask:
The review of the MTR Fare Adjustment Mechanism ("FAM") conducted by the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") was approved by the Executive Council in March this year. Under the enhanced FAM, MTRCL is required to adjust the amount to be set aside for incidents under the "Service Performance Rebate" ("SPR") arrangement, and to use the amount set aside to launch Special Fare Days (or "Thank You Days") to provide half-fare concessions to passengers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the actual amount of fare rebates committed by MTRCL in each of the past 10 years according to the "Service Performance-linked Arrangement" and "Profitability-linked Arrangement" under the prevailing FAM and the corresponding fare rebate periods (set out in a table);
(2)
whether it knows MTR's (i) daily patronage and (ii) daily total amount of rebate offered to passengers for its Thank You Day during the four Thank You Days that took place in April and May this year, as well as the total amount of publicity and administrative expenses involved; and
(3)
given that under FAM, MTRCL will arrange a Special Fare Day to rebate passengers once the concession amount set aside under SPR reaches $25 million, whether the Government knows how MTRCL will handle (i) the balance of the amount which has not been actually rebated to passengers on the Special Fare Days, and (ii) the amount set aside for the purpose of "special fare rebate" that does not reach $25 million by the end of each year?
Question 8
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Remuneration packages for senior management of MTRCL
Hon Starry LEE to ask:
A number of railway incidents occurred in 2022 involving the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"), resulting in serious delays in railway services. The Government pointed out in a paper submitted to this Council in March this year that the amount to be shared by MTRCL for service disruptions that took place in 2022 was $103 million. In addition, according to MTRCL's Annual Report 2022, the annual salaries and "variable remuneration related to performance" of a number of its senior management personnel in 2022 increased significantly compared to 2021. There are comments that the remuneration and bonuses of MTRCL's senior management should be linked to the performance of railway services, so as to motivate the management personnel to make their best efforts to improve management and service quality. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the criteria adopted for determining the remuneration and bonuses of MTRCL's senior management, and whether they include factors such as "providing safe and reliable railway services" and "quality of railway services meeting public expectations", etc.; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
given that the Government is the majority shareholder of MTRCL, and has appointed official representatives to the Board of Directors of MTRCL, how such official representatives discharge their duties in monitoring the fare setting, as well as operation and management of MTRCL, in particular, ensuring that sufficient human resources are made available to MTRCL's departments responsible for railway safety and repair and maintenance; and
(3)
whether it will consider pushing forward the implementation by MTRCL of a mechanism that links the remuneration or bonuses of its senior management to factors such as the level of customer satisfaction with railway services, and the frequency and severity of railway incidents, etc.; if so, of the timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 9
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Nutrition of students' lunches
Hon CHAN Hoi-yan to ask:
In 2010, the Department of Health ("DH") introduced the Nutritional Guidelines on Lunch for Students ("the Guidelines") to serve as reference benchmarks for providing balanced nutrition to primary and secondary students. However, the results of the Nutrient Testing of School Lunches in Primary Schools in Hong Kong 2018, which was jointly conducted by the Centre for Health Protection of DH and the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in 2018, showed that the sodium content of samples of primary school lunch boxes was higher than the recommended intake for a seven-year-old student's lunch, and such samples also had other problems such as inadequate dietary fibre and excessive protein. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that the Government launched the Salt Reduction Scheme for School Lunches in the 2017-2018 school year, with a target of reducing the average sodium content of each primary school lunch to not more than 500 milligrams in 10 years, of the implementation situation of the Scheme;
(2)
apart from the sodium content, whether DH has monitored other nutritional indicators for school lunch boxes (e.g. the fat and sugar contents, as well as the amount of energy provided); if so, of the details (including the effectiveness);
(3)
whether it has followed up the situations of excessive sodium, inadequate dietary fibre, excessive protein, etc. in primary school lunch boxes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4)
whether it knows the data on the health conditions of Hong Kong school children as a whole in the past five years (e.g. the proportion of those who were overweight, the average body mass index and the physical fitness performance);
(5)
whether DH has taken measures to ensure that school lunch suppliers follow the recommendations in the Guidelines or encourage them to do so; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6)
whether the Government will consider, by making reference to the practices in other regions, setting specific recommended standards for various nutrient contents in students' diets, or working out recommended recipes that accord with students' lifestyle or social changes (e.g. adding food ingredients such as carrots and blueberries to the recommended recipes in response to the problem of rising myopia incidence) for school lunch suppliers to follow, so as to ensure that students' diets can achieve nutritional balance and meet the targets required for normal development and growth?
Question 10
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Provision of support for elderly singletons and carers
Hon SHANG Hailong to ask:
The editorial of a newspaper has pointed out that recently, tragedies resulting from elderly singletons and carers with disabilities lacking support have happened one after another in Hong Kong. Such situations are worrying and have also highlighted the necessity for the authorities to step up support work. Regarding the provision of support for elderly singletons and carers, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
as there are currently no emergency support services targeted at carers in Hong Kong, and if carers fall ill, they cannot entrust their family members who need to be looked after to the care of others, whether the Government will consider setting up one-stop centres for carers in various districts to provide emergency support services;
(2)
whether it will consider, in collaboration with social welfare organizations, encouraging kaifongs to care for their elderly singleton neighbours and motivating elderly singletons to participate more in community activities through work such as organizing talks and setting up street counters in different locations, as well as conducting publicity door to door in buildings, thereby strengthening the spirit of neighbourliness, and co-building a harmonious and friendly society;
(3)
whether it will strengthen cooperation with social welfare organizations and non-governmental organizations to make every effort to enhance the work of identifying "hidden elderly singletons" and "hidden carers"; and
(4)
whether it will leverage district organizations and District Services and Community Care Teams to strengthen the outreach work in support of elderly singletons and carers (e.g. distributing promotional leaflets door to door in public housing estates, and even delivering meals to elderly singletons), so as to build up district networks and assist in finding out more hidden elderly singletons and hidden carers?
Question 11
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Performance indicators for Research and Development Centres
Hon Jimmy NG to ask:
It is learnt that the Innovation and Technology Commission ("ITC") has formulated six indicators (including "level of industry income", "number of on-going projects involving industry participation", "number of companies participating in on-going projects", "number of organizations benefitting from the Public Sector Trial Scheme", "number of researchers engaged under the Research Talent Hub" and "number of patents filed and granted") for five Research and Development ("R&D") Centres (namely the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre, Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, and Automotive Platforms and Application Systems R&D Centre) to evaluate their performance in various aspects. ITC will also add new indicators and revise the relevant indicators in a timely manner. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that ITC intends to raise the target for the indicator of "level of industry income" to 35%, of the relevant implementation timetable; whether it will set the target for that indicator at a higher level to facilitate the aforesaid R&D Centres to transfer more technologies to the industry and commercialize their research results; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
apart from "level of industry income", whether ITC will set quantifiable targets for the other five indicators; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether it will formulate new indicators for evaluating the performance of the aforesaid R&D Centres, such as the number of new projects undertaken each year, and set quantifiable targets for the new indicators; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 12
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Chinese Medicine Development Fund
Prof Hon CHAN Wing-kwong to ask:
The Chinese Medicine Development Fund ("CMDF"), which was officially launched in June 2019, is the first dedicated fund set up to support the development of Chinese medicine ("CM"). In addition, the Financial Secretary proposed in the 2023-2024 Budget the injection of $500 million into CMDF. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the total numbers of applications received, approved and rejected by the authorities, as well as the number of applications withdrawn, since the launch of CMDF; the amount of funding involved in the approved applications; the main reasons for the applications being rejected;
(2)
of the respective numbers of applications received and approved by the authorities, since the launch of CMDF, for the four projects under the Enterprise Support Programme of CMDF (i.e. the "Chinese Medicine Personal Training and Chinese Medicine Clinic Improvement Funding Scheme", the "Proprietary Chinese Medicine Quality and Manufacturing System Enhancement Funding Scheme", the "Proprietary Chinese Medicine Registration Supporting Scheme" and the "Chinese Medicine Warehouse Management, Logistics and Services Improvement Funding Scheme"), and the two projects under the Industry Support Programme (i.e. the "Chinese Medicine Industry Training Funding Scheme & Chinese Medicine Promotion Funding Scheme" and the "Chinese Medicine Applied Studies and Research Funding Scheme"), as well as the respective amounts of funding involved in the approved applications, and set out the breakdown in a table;
(3)
of the average time taken by CMDF for vetting and approving each application; whether the Government will further streamline the application procedure of CMDF, so that CM institutions with genuine needs can obtain funding support in a timely manner;
(4)
of the publicity and promotional measures taken by the Government to ensure that CM institutions are aware that they may apply for funding support from CMDF to cater for their development; and
(5)
of the latest situation regarding the usage of CMDF and its balance; given that in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in respect of the Estimates of Expenditure 2023-2024, the Government indicated that the authorities planned to enrich the coverage and depth of CMDF's funding support in the current financial year, of the specific details of the relevant plan?
Question 13
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Hong Kong Dollar-Renminbi Dual Counter Model
Hon Rock CHEN to ask:
It has been reported that the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited ("HKEX") has arranged to conduct testing for the Hong Kong Dollar-Renminbi Dual Counter Model ("the Model") between May and June this year, but a number of securities brokers have relayed that the testing was unsatisfactory (e.g. the technical backwardness of the relevant system and its inability to do automatic conversion for day-trade clearing, as well as inadequate support provided by HKEX). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1)
the latest progress and preliminary results of the aforesaid testing;
(2)
whether HKEX has explored solutions to address the aforesaid issues; and
(3)
the current number of listed companies that have applied for the setting up of an additional Renminbi stock counter under the Model?
Question 14
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Boosting the utilization rates of community halls and community centres
Hon CHAN Chun-ying to ask:
It is learnt that the community testing centres and community testing stations set up in response to the COVID-19 epidemic have ceased operation in batches in recent months, and the relevant community halls and community centres ("CHs/CCs") have been returned to the Home Affairs Department ("HAD") and reopened for hiring by local organizations. However, according to HAD's website, the occupancy rates of some facilities in CHs/CCs have been relatively low. For instance, as at 3 April, less than 3% of the available time slots for booking of some function rooms in the Kennedy Town Community Complex were booked for the whole month of April, while the available time slots for booking of some other function rooms were almost fully booked. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the monthly utilization rates of various facilities (including halls, function rooms and conference rooms) in CHs/CCs in various districts from January to May this year;
(2)
whether it has looked into the reasons for the relatively low utilization rates of some facilities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether it has drawn up plans to boost the utilization rates of the under-utilized facilities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 15
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Measures to support the daily lives of persons with disabilities
Hon YUNG Hoi-yan to ask:
Some wheelchair-bound people have relayed that the number of restaurants equipped with barrier-free facilities in Hong Kong is inadequate and quite a number of restaurants are unable to receive wheelchair-bound people, making it difficult for them to eat out. Regarding measures to support the daily lives of persons with disabilities ("PWDs"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of complaints received by the Government in the past five years from PWDs about inadequate barrier-free facilities at venues frequented by them in their daily lives (including but not limited to restaurants, shopping malls, supermarkets, markets and banks, etc.);
(2)
whether it has compiled statistics on the number of restaurants equipped with barrier-free facilities across the territory (and its proportion in the number of restaurants across the territory) as well as the number of wheelchair-friendly seats provided by such restaurants, together with a breakdown by District Council district;
(3)
whether it has plans to formulate policies to encourage restaurants to provide barrier-free facilities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)
whether it has plans to allocate more resources to the Integrated Home Care Services under the Social Welfare Department so that eligible persons (including PWDs) can receive meal service expeditiously; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 16
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Provision of medical treatment to patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019
Hon YANG Wing-kit to ask:
It has been reported that the number of confirmed cases of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") in Hong Kong has increased in recent months. Some confirmed patients have relayed that it is difficult to make appointments for general outpatient clinic ("GOPC") services of public hospitals, and that only a small number of private doctors are willing to treat COVID-19 patients, resulting in a shortage of consultation services and long queues at private clinics in many districts. Moreover, quite a number of grass-roots people have indicated that they can hardly afford the high consultation fees or administrative fees charged by private clinics, and have no choice but to seek consultation at the accident and emergency ("A&E") departments of public hospitals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
as it has been reported that some private clinics charge COVID-19 patients higher consultation fees, whether the Government knows the reasons and criteria for private doctors to charge COVID-19 patients additional administrative fees or consultation fees; if so, of the details, and whether it will appeal to such private doctors to charge COVID-19 patients the normal fees; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether it knows under what circumstances the Hospital Authority ("HA") will increase the GOPC consultation quotas reserved for COVID-19 patients and reopen the designated clinics for COVID-19 confirmed cases, so that the patients can receive appropriate medical treatment as early as possible;
(3)
as it is learnt that some COVID-19 patients do not know how to use the mobile application "HA Go" to make appointments for consultation services, whether the Government will assist COVID-19 patients in making mobile appointments and request HA to provide an additional on-site quota allocation arrangement; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4)
whether it knows if HA will keep data on the number of COVID-19 patients seeking consultation at A&E departments, as well as their symptoms; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(5)
whether it will collect and publish information on the consultation fees, administrative fees and drug fees charged by private doctors providing medical treatment to COVID-19 patients, so as to enhance the transparency of their charges; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6)
whether it has formulated measures to encourage more private doctors to provide medical treatment services for COVID-19 patients; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 17
(For written reply)
(Translation)
"First-hire-then-train" on-the-job training schemes
Dr Hon NGAN Man-yu to ask:
Regarding the on-the-job training schemes implemented by the Construction Industry Council and the Employees Retraining Board on a "first-hire-then-train" basis, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it knows the following information in respect of the on-the-job training schemes organized by the aforesaid two organizations in the past three years: (i) course contents, (ii) course nature, (iii) the number of course places, (iv) enrolment situation of the courses (including the ratio of places to actual enrolments), (v) the expenditure involved, (vi) staffing establishment, (vii) the number of trainees who participated in the schemes, (viii) the number and proportion of trainees who withdrew before completing the schemes, and (ix) the number and proportion of trainees who completed the schemes;
(2)
whether it has compiled statistics on the number of trainees who eventually joined the relevant industries after completing the schemes; and
(3)
as there are views pointing out that the effectiveness of the schemes has begun to diminish significantly in recent years, and there has even been a situation of under-enrolment, whether the authorities have plans to comprehensively assess the effectiveness of the schemes and enhance the contents of the schemes, including raising the level of training allowance, adjusting the training contents and introducing more popular industries under the schemes, etc.; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 18
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Providing financial support for disabled persons
Hon LAM So-wai to ask:
The Community Care Fund launched the programme of Special Care Subsidy for the Severely Disabled ("Special Subsidy") in 2011 to provide severely disabled persons who are living in the community and are not receiving the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") with a special care subsidy to assist them in purchasing care goods and services, or for other purposes related to nursing care. However, some disabled persons have relayed that the costs of buying, repairing and maintaining medical equipment or rehabilitation products are expensive, posing a heavy financial burden on low-income physically handicapped persons ("PHPs"), bedridden persons with severe intellectual disabilities and persons with hearing impairment who are not receiving CSSA. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
as there are views pointing out that in terms of the original intention of the programme and the actual situation, the Special Subsidy has failed to meet the needs of the disabled persons for rehabilitation products, especially when most disabled persons in Hong Kong do not receive CSSA, whether the Government will, by drawing reference from the practice of the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme, allow all eligible physically handicapped applicants to receive the same subsidy amount; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
as it is learnt that PHPs aged 60 to under 65 are not only unable to apply for the Special Subsidy, but also not eligible to apply for the Old Age Living Allowance, resulting in a "window period" occurred in the welfare policy concerned, whether the Government will optimize the CSSA Scheme, so as to plug the loophole; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
as a survey conducted by an organization has found that more than 80% of disabled persons consider that their expenses on rehabilitation products have an impact on their families, but since the means test for applying for government subsidies are mostly conducted on a family basis, quite a number of applicants are worried that they and their families will be affected and consider that the assessment arrangement concerned undermines the self-esteem of disabled persons and lowers their self-worth, and at the same time, there are also views that assessments conducted on an individual basis can prevent family relationships from becoming an obstacle to the application for subsidies, whether the Government will allow disabled persons living with family members to apply for CSSA independently and only conduct assessments on the personal income and assets of applicants; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 19
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Regulation of veterinary surgeons and veterinary clinics
Hon Adrian HO to ask:
The Veterinary Surgeons Board of Hong Kong ("VSB") is a statutory body established under the Veterinary Surgeons Registration Ordinance (Cap. 529) which is responsible for the regulation of the practice of veterinary surgery in Hong Kong. Regarding the regulation of veterinary surgeons and veterinary clinics, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of veterinary surgeons registered under Cap. 529 in each of the past five years;
(2)
of the number of complaints about veterinary surgeons and veterinary clinics received by VSB in each of the past five years, and the subject matters of such complaints; among such complaints, the respective numbers of those which required the conduct of disciplinary inquiries and those in which a conviction of a disciplinary offence was obtained; the orders made by the Inquiry Committee against the veterinary surgeons convicted of disciplinary offences;
(3)
of the average time taken by VSB to complete the investigation of each case in the past five years; the longest time taken for investigating the cases and the reasons for that;
(4)
whether the authorities have regularly deployed staff to conduct inspections on various veterinary clinics across the territory; if so, of the timetable of the inspections conducted by the authorities in the past five years; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5)
as there are views that there is insufficient transparency in VSB's current practices of only publishing on its website the orders of the disciplinary inquiries made by the Inquiry Committee within one year and publishing on an anonymous basis the records of disciplinary inquiries held in the recent three years, whether the Government will recommend or request that VSB set out clearly the information of all non-compliant veterinary surgeons and the names of veterinary clinics involved, so as to ensure the public's right to know?
Question 20
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Power supply incidents of the two power companies
Hon CHAN Hok-fung to ask:
It has been reported that the Incident Investigation Report on the Incident of a 275-kV Fault in HK Electric's Power System on 19 April 2023 submitted to the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department by The Hongkong Electric Company Limited has pointed out that, a short circuit caused by its engineer's mistake in energizing a spare cable led to a power outage in some areas on Hong Kong Island in the early hours of 19 April this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it knows the respective numbers and details of power supply incidents of the two power companies in the past five years (set out in a table);
(2)
whether it knows if, in the event of a failure of the power system, the two power companies currently have installed backup systems that will activate automatically for restoring power supply, or engineers are required to manually restart the relevant systems for restoring power supply; if the two power companies do not, whether it will request them to install such systems; and
(3)
as it has been reported that the aforesaid incident was related to the failure to update the circuit diagrams of the Energy Management System of the Cyberport 275-kV Switching Station in a timely manner, whether it will request the two power companies to devise mechanisms to ensure the timely updating of various types of circuit diagrams, thereby reducing the risk of misconnection of cables?
Question 21
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Preventing crimes of child abduction
Hon Judy CHAN to ask:
It is learnt that incidents of alleged child abduction have recently occurred in a number of districts in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of reports and requests for assistance regarding alleged child abduction received by the Police in the past five years and, among them, the number of children who were successfully found;
(2)
of the number of persons arrested for allegedly to have abducted children in the past five years and, among them, the number of those who were convicted and the penalties imposed on them;
(3)
whether the Police has drawn up measures to prevent the crime of child abduction; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)
whether the Police will consider stepping up efforts in organizing talks at schools to teach school children to be aware of strangers and what they should do when they are being abducted; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 22
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Fare mechanism of franchised buses and green minibuses
Hon Tony TSE to ask:
It is learnt that when eligible elderly persons and persons with disabilities travel on franchised buses or green minibuses ("GMBs") under the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities (commonly known as "the $2 Scheme"), the beneficiaries would only need to pay $2 per trip irrespective of the distance of the journey or the fares of the routes at present. Even if these beneficiaries take a higher-fare long-haul route for a very short journey, the Government would still need to provide the operators with subsidies of the amounts equivalent to the fare differentials between the nominal fares and $2. Some members of the public are of the view that such situation has costed the Government more public money, and suggest that the Government should urge franchised bus and GMB operators to adopt section fares or distance-based fares (i.e. fares based on the distance between boarding and alighting of passengers) on a wider basis, so as to reduce such unnecessary public expenditure. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the respective amounts of public expenditure spent on subsidizing operators of franchised buses and GMBs under the $2 Scheme in each of the past five years; whether the Government and the public transport operators concerned have investigated if there is a large number of cases of "taking long-haul routes for short journeys" under the $2 Scheme;
(2)
whether it knows the situation regarding the adoption of section fares for franchised bus and GMB routes currently; what measures are put in place by the Government to require or encourage the public transport operators concerned to adopt more section fares for their routes;
(3)
whether it will consider requiring or encouraging operators of franchised buses and GMBs to adopt a distance-based fare mechanism; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(4)
whether it will consider requiring or encouraging operators of franchised buses and GMBs to install at bus stops/minibus stops "Octopus card readers at alighting" for the section fare or distance-based fare mechanism, so that passengers under such fare mechanism would not have to move to the front of the bus/minibus compartment to tap their Octopus cards again and slow down the vehicle concerned; if not, of the reasons for that?