Question 1
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Obesity in the population
Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask:
In 2018, the Government launched the "Towards 2025: Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent and Control Non-communicable Diseases in Hong Kong", setting out the targets for preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases to be achieved by 2025, which include "halting the rise in diabetes and obesity". However, according to the Department of Health's "Report of Population Health Survey 2020-2022", 22% of the people in Hong Kong aged 15 to 84 are overweight and 32.6% are obese, which is an increase as compared with the 2014-2015 data, indicating that obesity is on the rise. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the latest data relating to the obese population available to the Government, and the gap between such data and the target set in 2018; the frequency of surveys on the obese population in Hong Kong conducted by the Department of Health and the timing of the next survey;
(2)
of the measures taken by the Government to halt the rise in obesity; whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of such measures and the reasons for their failure to effectively halt the rise in obesity; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
the National Health Commission launched a three-year "Weight Management Year" initiative last year, aiming to reduce the average annual increase in obesity rate by 10%, of the measures put in place by the Government to tie in with the relevant policy?
Question 2
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Raising students' awareness of their hometowns and ancestral origins
Prof Hon LAU Chi-pang to ask:
It has been reported that every year around Ching Ming Festival, a large number of members of the public travel north with their children to pay tribute to their ancestors and visit their ancestral hometowns. On raising students' awareness of their hometowns and ancestral origins, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that in the reply to my question in 2022, the Government has indicated that it would keep in view the suggestions from various sectors of society for follow-up action regarding the suggestion of adding the item on "native place" back to the Student Information Form of students of kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools, of the progress of the relevant work, including whether it will explicitly require students to fill in the correct information about their native places; if so, of the specific implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether the Education Bureau will consider incorporating the element of "exploring one's roots" into the teaching according to the students' native places, so as to raise their awareness of their hometowns and ancestral origins; if so, of the specific plans; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
as there are views that the activities under the Government's Clansmen Culture Promotion Scheme are all organized by clansmen associations, it is difficult for such activities to cover the student level, whether the Government will consider launching clansmen cultural activities targeted at students; if so, of the specific plan; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 3
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Roadside skips
Hon CHAN Pui-leung to ask:
There are views that roadside skips unlawfully occupying public roads not only affects the safety of road users, but also poses environmental hygiene problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the information on the enforcement actions taken by the Hong Kong Police Force and the Lands Department against roadside skips in the past five years, including the number of complaints or referrals received, the number of statutory notices posted or warnings issued to operators, as well as the number of skips removed; among them, the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted and the number of convicted cases, as well as the relevant penalties imposed;
(2)
of the current utilization situations of the four sites made available for use by the trade for storing skips; as the Government indicated in its reply to a question raised by this Council in May 2023 that the skip storage site in Tseung Kwan O Area 137 would become part of the new community, and that the Government would make arrangements in due course, of the progress of the relevant arrangements, including whether alternative sites will be identified for the operation of the skips trade; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
as there are views that the regulation of roadside skips involves a number of government departments, whether the Government will consider assigning a designated department to take full responsibility so as to improve enforcement efficiency; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 4
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Unleashing "silver productivity"
Hon LAM Chun-sing to ask:
In May this year, the Government announced various measures to promote the silver economy. There are views that in terms of unleashing "silver productivity", the authorities should introduce more measures to help grass-roots elderly to overcome employment difficulties and improve employment conditions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
as quite a number of grass-roots elderly persons have relayed that under the existing labour importation policies, employers tend to hire younger imported workers, resulting in fewer job opportunities for the elderly, particularly for the job categories covered by Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme, whether the Government will consider tightening such scheme, for example, by setting quota ceilings for all job categories, so as to enhance employment opportunities for the elderly;
(2)
as some elderly job seekers have relayed that even if they met the job requirements, some employers explicitly indicated that they refused to hire them due to their advanced age, whether the authorities will actively study the enactment of legislation to combat age discrimination in the workplace; and
(3)
given that the Government proposed in 2023 to increase tax deduction for Mandatory Provident Fund voluntary contributions made by employers for their employees aged 65 or above to encourage them to make contributions for mature employees, with a view to increasing the retirement savings of the silver-haired group, and proposed in the 2024 Policy Address to put the relevant measure under the work of the Working Group on Promoting Silver Economy, of the progress of taking forward the relevant measure?
Question 5
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Application of legal technology and artificial intelligence
Hon Maggie CHAN to ask:
It is learnt that the Department of Justice has been actively promoting the application of legal technology ("LawTech") and artificial intelligence ("AI") in the legal sector. There are views that the Government should actively develop AI tools (e.g. large language model developed by the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center) for application in areas of the common law, so as to enhance the operational efficiency and competitiveness of the legal sector. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has currently developed large language models for application in areas of the common law; if so, of the specific details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether it has plans to organize LawTech and AI summits or international exhibitions with the Mainland on a regular basis, so as to promote exchanges and cooperation between the Mainland and Hong Kong in LawTech; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it has plans to introduce LawTech from the Mainland and apply it in areas of Hong Kong common law, as well as promote the Mainland's AI legal service products to Hong Kong and overseas; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
of the measures in place to ensure that small and medium-sized law firms in Hong Kong can benefit from the development of LawTech and AI, such as providing technical support, introducing a tax allowance for "LawTech equipment" and subsidizing their procurement of LawTech-related equipment?
Question 6
(For oral reply)
(Translation)
Indecent assault cases on public transport
Hon LAM San-keung to ask:
In recent years, there have been sporadic cases of indecent assault on public transport which arouse public concern. On the other hand, there are views that physical contact between individuals is difficult to avoid in crowded vehicle compartments and could be mistaken for indecent assault. Moreover, society's expectations for safety, comfort and mutual respect among passengers on public transport are increasing. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of indecent assault cases occurred on public transport that the Police received in each of the past five years, and the percentage of these cases out of the total number of cases occurring on public transport; the number of convictions among these indecent assault cases; whether it knows the average time taken by the courts to adjudicate these indecent assault cases; and
(2)
whether it will consider introducing women-only or men-only zones or compartments on public transport mass-carriers (e.g. the MTR and franchised buses); if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 7
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Labour importation in the lift and escalator industry
Hon Dennis LEUNG to ask:
The Government has been implementing the Labour Importation Scheme for the Construction Sector ("Scheme") since 2023. Among the lift and escalator-related trades for applying importation under the Scheme, there are three trades of skilled workers (i.e. lift and escalator mechanic (master), lift mechanic and escalator mechanic) and one trade of technicians (i.e. lift/escalator technician). On the other hand, a union of lift and escalator employees has recently indicated that it hopes the Scheme can effectively ensure "priority employment for local lift and escalator workers". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
from 2023 to March of this year, of the number of (i) lift and escalator mechanics (master), (ii) lift mechanics, (iii) escalator mechanics, and (iv) lift/escalator technicians imported annually under the Scheme (set out in the table below);
Year | (i) | (ii) | (iii) | (iv) |
2023 |
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2024 |
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January to March 2025 |
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(2)
given that the Scheme requires imported lift and escalator mechanics (master), lift mechanics, escalator mechanics, and lift/escalator technicians to have a minimum of three years of relevant work experience, of the documentary proof required by the Government to verify the length of experience of such skilled workers/technicians; whether there are cases where such skilled workers/technicians fail to provide documentary proof of their length of experience; if so, of the criteria adopted by the Government to verify the length of experience of such skilled workers/technicians; and
(3)
as it is learnt that the current qualification requirements for lift/escalator technicians in Hong Kong include holding a valid registration as a lift/escalator worker under the Lifts and Escalators Ordinance (Cap. 618), whether the Government has, regarding the verification of the qualifications of such technicians under the Scheme, established a system for mutual recognition of professional qualifications with other regions and countries; of the current procedure for the Government to verify the professional qualifications of each imported lift/escalator technician (including the documents required to be submitted by them)?
Question 8
(For written reply)
Arrangement for approving property lettings under Mortgage Insurance Programme
Hon Louis LOONG to ask:
In order to help homeowners under the Mortgage Insurance Programme ("MIP") meet their special needs arising from changes in personal or family circumstances, the HKMC Insurance Limited ("HKMC") announced in August last year a new arrangement, in which a waiver of the owner occupancy requirement under MIP will be granted, on a case-by-case basis, to an eligible homeowner applying for renting out the property subject to the fulfilment of one of the following three conditions: (i) the homeowner's family is expecting newborn(s) or adopting child(ren), resulting in a change in housing needs; (ii) the homeowner has become unemployed and requires more flexible housing or financial arrangements; or (iii) the homeowner has other special needs to rent out the property, and has been residing in the relevant property for not less than 12 months. In addition, homeowners whose applications are approved will be subject to undertakings that so long as the waiver is in effect, they or their spouses or cohabitants who are also obligors under the MIP should not purchase any additional residential properties in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it knows the respective numbers of applications received and approved for waiver of the owner occupancy requirement by HKMC on the basis of the conditions (i), (ii) and (iii); and
(2)
whether consideration will be given to the enhancement of the existing arrangement to provide further assistance to homeowners under MIP who wish to seek alternative accommodation by waiving their restriction on purchasing additional residential properties in Hong Kong for a period of up to 12 months, so as to give them a window of time to dispose of their properties under MIP upon acquisition of new properties; if not, of the reason for that?
Question 9
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Regulation of medical devices
Dr Hon David LAM to ask:
At present, Hong Kong has only put in place a voluntary Medical Device Administrative Control System ("the System"), and there is no legislation to regulate such devices. On the other hand, it is learnt that some merchants are promoting and marketing parallel-imported contact lenses on the Internet, but these products do not have any medical device labelling on their packaging boxes, or the labelling shows signs of alteration (e.g. "the unique device identifier" has been cut off or covered), thus making it difficult to identify whether the products belong to problematic batches, and the quality of such products cannot be guaranteed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that contact lenses is a class II medical device under the system, of the Government's control over the importation and sale (including online sale) of contact lens products;
(2)
of the number of reports and requests for assistance received by the Government in the past three years in relation to parallel-imported contact lenses, as well as the categories of such cases (e.g. improper packaging labels, discomfort after use, etc.); whether it has taken law enforcement actions against merchants who have made unauthorized alterations to the packaging information of contact lenses (including parallel-imported contact lenses); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
as the Government indicated in June last year that it was conducting a comprehensive review of the proposed legislative framework for medical device regulation, whether the Government will draw up a concrete timetable for introducing legislative amendments to regulate the manufacture, importation, quality assurance, sale and post-sale follow-up of medical devices; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 10
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Home ownership by the public
Dr Hon Wendy HONG to ask:
The Government published A White Paper on Long Term Housing Strategy in Hong Kong in 1998, formulating specific indicators to enhance home ownership by the public, with a view to achieving a home ownership rate of 70% by 2007. However, the Government abandoned this target as it re-positioned its housing policy in 2002. Following the announcement of the new Long Term Housing Strategy ("LTHS") in 2014, the Government has not set any targets for the home ownership rate for households to date. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has compiled statistics for each year over the past 10 years on (a) the number of owner-occupied households, (b) the type of their owner-occupied flats (including (A) private housing, (B) subsidized sale flats, and (C) temporary housing), and (c) the number of households having mortgages; if so, set out in the table below a breakdown by age group (i.e. aged (i) below 35, (ii) 35 to below 45, (iii) 45 to below 55, (iv) 55 to below 65, and (v) 65 or above); if not, the reasons for that;
Year:
Age group | (a) | (b) | (c) |
(A) | (B) | (C) |
(i) |
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(ii) |
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(iii) |
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(iv) |
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(v) |
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Total |
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(2)
whether it has compiled statistics for each year over the past 10 years on the median monthly income and the median value of monthly mortgage repayment of local owner-occupied households; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)
as there are views that home ownership can enhance people's sense of belonging to community and foster strong work values, but according to a research brief published by the Legislative Council Secretariat in March 2021 and data from the Census and Statistics Department, the overall local home ownership rate and the home ownership rate among young people aged below 35 have both declined in recent years, whether the authorities will consider setting a home ownership rate afresh in LTHS in the future; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(4)
of the specific measures that are currently in place to encourage home ownership in the community, and the effects of such measures?
Question 11
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Care workers in residential care homes
Hon CHAU Siu-chung to ask:
Regarding the care workers in various types of residential care homes ("RCHs"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of (i) local care workers and (ii) imported care workers in all RCHs in Hong Kong in the past three years (up to the end of that year) and at present, together with a breakdown by type of RCHs (i.e. residential care homes for the elderly, residential care homes for persons with disabilities and nursing homes) and mode of operation of RCHs (i.e. (a) subvented RCHs, (b) contract RCHs, (c) non-profit-making self-financing RCHs and (d) private RCHs) (if applicable) (set out in Table 1);
Table 1 Type of RCHs:
Mode of operation of RCHs | End of 2022 | ……. | At present |
(i) | (ii) | Total | (i) | (ii) | Total | (i) | (ii) | Total |
(a) |
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…… |
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(d) |
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Total |
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(2)
in respect of the first to the sixth rounds of applications under the Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes ("the Special Scheme"), of (i) the number of applications, (ii) the number of imported care workers applied for (set out by new quotas and quotas for contract renewal), (iii) the number of approved applications, and (iv) the number of imported care workers approved (set out by new quotas and quotas for contract renewal), together with a breakdown by three types of RCHs and four types of mode of operation of RCHs (if applicable) as mentioned in (1) (set out in Table 2); and the main reasons for not approving the applications;
Table 2 Type of RCHs:
Mode of operation of RCHs | First round | …… | Sixth round |
(i) | …… | (iv) | (i) | …… | (iv) | (i) | …… | (iv) |
(a) |
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…… |
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(d) |
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Total |
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(3)
since the implementation of the Special Scheme, of the following information on the spot checks conducted by the authorities on applicant RCHs in accordance with the mechanism of spot checks of local recruitment records during the processing of each round of application: (i) the staffing establishment and strength of personnel conducting the spot checks, (ii) the number of RCHs which had been requested by the Social Welfare Department in its letters to submit detailed local recruitment records, and (iii) their percentage in the total number of applicant RCHs; whether the authorities had found malpractices such as RCHs being suspected of having provided false information or withheld any information during such spot checks; if so, of the details, including the number and nature of the cases, and whether the authorities had imposed administrative sanctions on or instituted prosecutions against the RCHs concerned, together with a breakdown by type of RCHs and their mode of operation;
(4)
given that according to the requirements of the Special Scheme, RCHs must not displace their existing local care workers with imported care workers and they must comply with the specified ratio of local employees to imported care workers, of the number of RCHs alleged or substantiated to have breached the aforesaid requirements since the implementation of the Special Scheme, as well as the details of the relevant follow-up actions (including the number of cases in which written warnings were issued to and administrative sanctions were imposed on non-compliant RCHs), together with a breakdown by type of RCHs and their mode of operation;
(5)
since the implementation of the Special Scheme, of the following information on the authorities' inspections of the workplaces and accommodations of imported care workers provided by employers in Hong Kong: (i) the staffing establishment and strength of personnel conducting the inspections, (ii) the number of inspections conducted, (iii) the number of workplaces inspected and (iv) the number of accommodations provided by employers which were inspected;
(6)
since the implementation of the Special Scheme, of the respective numbers of complaints involving the exploitation of labour rights of imported care workers received by the Government (i) during the inspections mentioned in (5) and (ii) through other channels, and the main nature of such complaints; the respective numbers of administrative sanctions imposed on or prosecutions instituted against the RCHs concerned by the authorities in respect of the complaints received by ways of (i) and (ii), together with a breakdown by type of RCHs and their mode of operation; among the prosecutions instituted, the number of convicted cases and the average penalty imposed; and
(7)
as there are views pointing out that the median wage currently stipulated for imported care workers in RCHs under the Special Scheme is lower than the market level, and that the remuneration of local care workers employed by subvented RCHs is in general much higher than the median wage, resulting in less motivation for RCHs to employ local workers, whether the authorities will consider stipulating appropriate median wages for imported care workers in RCHs with different modes of operation, so as to enhance protection for local care workers concerned; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 12
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Capital works expenditure
Hon Tony TSE to ask:
It is indicated in the Budget for this financial year that the average annual capital works expenditure will grow from about $90 billion to about $120 billion over the next five years. Some members of the land development and construction industries hope that the expenditure will not be biased in favour of infrastructure and civil engineering works at the expense of building works and consultancy projects, such as those relating to planning, design, transport and the environment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
(1)
the estimated capital works expenditure and the actual expenditure for each year from the 2020-2021 financial year to the 2024-2025 financial year, with a breakdown by project type (i.e. (i) infrastructure/civil engineering works, (ii) building works, and (iii) consultancy projects);
(2)
the estimated capital works expenditure for each year from 2025-2026 financial year to 2029-2030 financial year, with a breakdown by the project types mentioned in (1); and
(3)
the measures in place to ensure that the overall capital works expenditure does not unduly favour a certain type of work or project, in order to promote more balanced and comprehensive land development and construction in Hong Kong?
Question 13
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Making good use of public housing resources
Hon CHAN Hoi-yan to ask:
According to the latest information of the Housing Department ("HD"), as at the end of March this year, the average waiting time for general applicants who were housed to public rental housing ("PRH") in the past 12 months maintained at 5.3 years, reflecting that PRH supply is still in severe shortage. However, the Office of The Ombudsman, Hong Kong, launched a direct investigation in 2023 into the Housing for Senior Citizens ("HSC") and converted one-person ("C1P") units, which were introduced by HD in the 1980s, pointing out that these units are outdated in design due to the need to share facilities such as bathrooms and kitchens, resulting in persistently high vacancy rates and failure to make effective deployment of public housing resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the following information on HSC units (i.e. (i) HSC Type 1 design units, (ii) HSC Type 2 design units, (iii) HSC Type 3 design units, and (iv) C1P units) across the territory at present: (a) the total number, (b) the number of vacant units, and (c) the names of the PRH estates to which they belong;
(2)
of the current status of the vacant units of the various types of HSC units mentioned in (1), together with a breakdown by vacancy period (i.e. (i) less than 1 year, (ii) 1 year to less than 2 years, (iii) 2 years to less than 5 years, (iv) 5 years to less than 10 years, and (v) 10 years or more);
(3)
of the total number of individuals who were allocated various types of HSC units in the past three years, and among which the number of those who refused to accept the allocated units, with a breakdown by type of applicant (i.e. (i) those who joined the Express Flat Allocation Scheme ("EFAS") and (ii) those who did not join EFAS);
(4)
given that the authorities have recovered HSC Type 1 design units and C1P units and converted them into PRH units suitable for six persons or more, of the number of units recovered and converted in each of the past five years, as well as the names of the PRH estates involved; and
(5)
whether the authorities will consider converting some HSC units for other purposes, such as Light Public Housing, temporary shelters or other forms of interim housing, so as to alleviate the demand pressure on PRH; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 14
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Ocean Park Cable Car
Hon Michael TIEN to ask:
According to information from the Ocean Park Corporation, the total visitor numbers of Ocean Park ("OP") in 2023-2024 reached 3.14 million. It is learnt that the OP Cable Car is an immensely popular attraction that offers visitors the opportunity to relish scenic views during their journey. However, quite a number of members of the public have recently relayed to me that while the OP Cable Car is a two-lane ropeway system comprising two sets of round-trip cable cars with a total of four lanes, OP only operates one set of two-lane ropeway for visitors on most weekends and public holidays, and as a result the waiting time for cable cars is at least half an hour, which has significantly undermined visitors' experience and their image of Hong Kong. I have learnt that as cable car operators are required to have high-angle rescue skills and obtain a licence, OP is unable to put all four cable car lanes into full operation on all weekends and public holidays throughout the year (approximately 120 days) due to limited manpower resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1)
whether OP has assessed the additional manpower required to operate all the cable car lanes on all weekends and public holidays throughout the year (approximately a total of 120 days); and
(2)
whether OP will consider recruiting experienced cable car operators from the Mainland or other regions to cope with the growing visitor demand; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 15
(For written reply)
(Translation)
International Organization for Mediation
Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask:
With the support of our country, the headquarters of the International Organization for Mediation ("IOMed") has been formally established in Hong Kong and is expected to come into operation by the end of this year or early next year. In addition, 33 countries signed the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation ("the Convention") on the 30th of May this year. There are views that as IOMed is the first international inter-governmental organization setting up its headquarters in Hong Kong, the position of Hong Kong as "the leading centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific Region" will further be strengthened. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has estimated the benefits to be brought to Hong Kong by IOMed or set the relevant performance indicators (e.g. the numbers of additional positions, such as mediators, translators and researchers, etc., to be created, as well as the numbers of international organizations, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions which will establish a new presence in Hong Kong); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will consider making the relevant estimations and setting performance indicators;
(2)
whether it knows if IOMed has formulated the specific selection criteria for mediators, as well as the relevant guidelines and review mechanism, so as to ensure that mediators are able to provide mediation services at a reasonable professional standard; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and when such formulation will be completed; and
(3)
while it has been reported that all countries, not limited to the signatories of the Convention, have access to the services of IOMed, there are views that given the nature of the law which is highly specific to a particular region (i.e. different jurisdictions have different legal systems and regimes), the outcome which can be achieved through mediation services may significantly fall short of expectation of the parties to a dispute since legal concepts may subject to different interpretations by different parties, whether the headquarters of IOMed will formulate coordination policies to ensure that its mediation services will bring a reasonable level of satisfaction to the parties to disputes from different jurisdictions?
Question 16
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Supporting the employment of elderly and middle-aged persons
Revd Canon Hon Peter Douglas KOON to ask:
To support the employment of elderly persons, the Labour Department has implemented the Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged ("EPEM") to provide employers with on-the-job training allowance to encourage them to engage unemployed job seekers aged 40 or above. On supporting the employment of elderly and middle-aged persons, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of employers involved in the placements eligible for joining EPEM in the past five years;
(2)
whether it will formulate performance indicators for EPEM, such as setting separate targets for the participation rates of persons aged 40 to 59, 60 to 64 and 65 or above in the total labour force, and review in a timely manner the effectiveness of EPEM in promoting the employment of elderly and middle-aged job seekers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)
whether it will allocate additional resources to enhance the existing measures to support the employment of elderly and middle-aged persons and provide targeted employment support, including organizing different types of thematic job fairs (e.g. job fairs on part-time jobs specially designed for elderly and middle-aged persons), enhancing employment training for elderly persons, as well as providing personalized employment counselling and job-matching services, thereby assisting elderly and middle-aged persons in re-entering the workforce in a holistic manner; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)
whether it will consider drawing reference from the practices of neighbouring countries and formulating, by way of legislation, guidelines for employers on the re-employment of elderly persons, as well as designing suitable job types and setting remuneration according to the abilities of elderly persons, thereby regulating the responsibility of enterprises in employing elderly staff; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 17
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Combating online investment scams
Prof Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask:
According to the data provided by the Government in its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in June this year, the Police recorded a total of 1 534 cases of online investment scams involving an amount of about $1.02 billion in the first four months of this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") has launched anti-scam publicity and education programmes targeting three common investment scam scenarios, whether the Government has formulated specific measures to support SFC's anti-scam publicity programmes, so as to raise public vigilance against investment scams; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether it has plans to strengthen its cooperation with SFC to update and enhance investor education, so as to ensure that investors can effectively identify and guard against emerging investment risks as well as evolving fraudulent practices and technologies; and
(3)
whether it has devised further strategies or allocated additional resources to extend the impact of the "Don't be Sucker" anti-scam publicity campaign launched by SFC, so as to enable more investors to benefit from the campaign and avoid becoming victims of online investment scams; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 18
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Hong Kong elderly people spending retirement years in the Mainland
Hon Erik YIM to ask:
The 2024 Policy Address proposes to strengthen elderly services and foster an elderly-friendly building environment. There are views pointing out that the choice of Hong Kong elderly persons to spend their retirement years in the Mainland, particularly other Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), can not only improve elderly persons' quality of life, but also free up valuable living space in Hong Kong and ease the burden of public welfare on the Government. Moreover, amid the recent significant adjustments in property prices in the Mainland, such as areas like Huidong County in Huizhou and Shaxi Town in Zhongshan, some members of the public have proposed that the SAR Government may study the construction or purchase of buildings in the Mainland with better views, affordable rents, and more spacious and brighter interiors at lower costs for use as public rental housing ("PRH"), so as to provide Hong Kong elderly people with new opportunities to spend their retirement years in the Mainland. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it will consider acquiring vacant properties pending sale in the Mainland cities of GBA for use as PRH flats with which the elderly people can replace their existing PRH flats in Hong Kong, thereby encouraging them to spend their retirement years in the Mainland cities of GBA; if so, of the details;
(2)
given that at present, under the Pilot Scheme for Direct Cross-boundary Ambulance Transfer in the Greater Bay Area, arrangements can be made for patients to be transferred directly from designated sending hospitals in Shenzhen to designated public hospitals in Hong Kong in a point-to-point mode, whether the Government will further deepen the collaboration mechanism concerned by expanding the scope of the pilot scheme this year to cover other major cities in GBA and include emergency cases, so that emergency transport to Hong Kong can be arranged when necessary for elderly patients retiring in such cities, with a view to increasing the incentive for them to go north for retirement; and
(3)
whether it will strengthen collaboration with the Mainland cities of GBA, such as jointly promoting remote diagnosis and AI medical consultation, to enhance healthcare service efficiency, as well as driving the development of gerontechnology and relevant industries, thereby better supporting Hong Kong people in spending their retirement years in such Mainland cities?
Question 19
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Parking arrangements around the Kai Tak Sports Park
Hon YANG Wing-kit to ask:
It is reported that whenever concerts and major games are held at the Kai Tak Sports Park ("KTSP"), many private cars are illegally parked on roads around KTSP, causing severe traffic congestion and posing dangers to other road users. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the enforcement actions taken by the Police against persons involved in driving offences in areas surrounding KTSP, and whether the effectiveness of such actions has been assessed;
(2)
given that private car parking spaces and pick-up/drop-off areas at KTSP are temporarily closed when concerts and games are held there, whether the Government will consider adjusting such arrangements to allow public access to private car parking spaces and pick-up/drop-off areas at KTSP during major events; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether it has conducted studies on constructing a multi-storey car park in the vicinity of KTSP to address the shortage of parking spaces in the area; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Question 20
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Enhancing clearance efficiency
Hon Rock CHEN to ask:
It has been reported that serious congestion occurred at various land boundary control points ("BCPs") in Hong Kong on 21 and 22 June this year, and crowd management measures had to be implemented at the Heung Yuen Wai/Liantang Control Point, the Shenzhen Bay Port and the Hong Kong Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. On the night of 22 June, Hong Kong vehicles travelling under the "Quota-free Scheme for Hong Kong Private Cars Travelling to Guangdong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge" ("'Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles' Scheme") even caused serious congestion on the Zhuhai Highway when they returned to Hong Kong. In addition, there are views that some vehicles under "Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles" Scheme have not travelled according to the reserved time slot, thus affecting the clearance efficiency at BCPs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has reviewed the main reasons for the serious congestion at land BCPs during the aforesaid period (e.g. whether it was related to factors such as the end of the examination seasons of primary and secondary schools, the improvement of the weather or activities organized by shopping malls in Shenzhen); whether the Government has put in place an interdepartmental joint early warning mechanism which incorporates school calendars and daily schedules of schools in general, weather forecasts as well as information on commercial activities in Shenzhen, so as to make advance assessments and forecasts on the passenger flow at BCPs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
as it has been reported that during the aforesaid period when crowd management was implemented at the Heung Yuen Wai/Liantang Control Point and when there were the peak hours for people returning to Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Bay Port, the authorities did not issue real-time alerts through official channels, whether the Government has reviewed the existing information dissemination mechanism; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)
in order to avoid the aforesaid similar serious congestion in the future, whether the Government will consider implementing new measures, such as formulating temporary crowd management plans or deploying additional BCP personnel to enhance clearance efficiency; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)
of the number of vehicle owners who have been penalized since the implementation of the "Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles" Scheme for failing to travel according to the reserved time slot or failing to make a reservation (set out by penalty measure, including refusing to allow their vehicles to travel to Guangdong Province, suspending their eligibility for making another reservation and revoking the relevant licences issued to them); whether the authorities have reviewed the effectiveness of the existing penalty mechanism, and whether they will consider adjusting the mechanism to further ensure that vehicles under the "Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles" Scheme will travel according to the reserved time slot?
Question 21
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Safeguarding the employment of local workers
Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask:
According to the general requirements of the sector-specific labour importation schemes and the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme ("ESLS"), employers shall fulfil a manning ratio of 2:1 for full-time local employees to imported workers ("the manning ratio"), and ESLS also requires applicant employers to undertake a four-week local recruitment exercise and accord priority to employing suitable local workers to fill the job vacancies. However, some workers have reflected that some employers have taken advantage of the loopholes in the relevant policies to dismiss local workers or switch them from full-time to part-time after submitting their labour importation applications to the Labour Department ("LD"), and some employers even have no intention of recruiting local workers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that in the reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 18 of last month, the Government indicated that upon completion of the four-week local recruitment procedures, LD would contact each of the local job seekers who was not employed by the employers and assess whether the employers are genuinely committed to recruiting local workers, of the number of contacts made by LD with job seekers who were not employed since the launch of ESLS, and the reasons for the relevant employers' refusal to employ them; the criteria adopted by LD for assessing the validity of the employer's reasons for refusal to recruit;
(2)
whether it has taken the initiative to investigate if employers have made "excessive demands" on local job seekers (i.e. excessively high recruitment thresholds and heavy workload but relatively low salary, etc.); if so, of the number of investigations conducted by LD and the follow-up actions taken; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)
of the mechanism in place to monitor whether employers have strictly adhered to the requirement for conducing four-week local recruitment; whether employers will be required to, before applying for ESLS, publish the job vacancies on LD's Interactive Employment Service website and retain for at least four weeks;
(4)
since 2023, (i) of the number of labour importation applications rejected by LD due to the failure of the information submitted by the employers to meet the manning ratio; and (ii) of the number of complaints received by LD regarding employers allegedly failing to continuously meet the manning ratio, the follow-up actions and the corresponding penalties;
(5)
since 2023, of the respective numbers of (a) surprise and (b) non-surprise inspections conducted by LD (i) at workplaces with imported workers, and (ii) cases detected and follow-up actions taken in respect of non-compliance with the manning ratio requirement, with a breakdown as set out in the table below; and
Year | (a) | (b) |
(i) | (ii) | (i) | (ii) |
2023 |
|
|
|
|
2024 |
|
|
|
|
Since 2025 |
|
|
|
|
(6)
of the measures in place to combat the non-compliant acts under various labour importation schemes in order to prevent abuse of the labour importation policy; whether employers will be required to report to LD the number, name, working hour, wage and so on of their local employees and imported workers on a monthly basis after their labour importation applications have been approved; if so, of the details; if not, not reasons for that?
Question 22
(For written reply)
(Translation)
Support for public rental housing tenants
Hon Kingsley WONG to ask:
It has been learnt that a number of cases involving deaths of public rental housing ("PRH") tenants in their own PRH flats occurred in Hong Kong in the past, in which the deaths of such tenants remained unknown for a long time, and there were even cases where their bodies had been reduced to skeletons by the time they were discovered; and there were also cases in which carers died suddenly in their PRH flats, but the relatives living with them were forced to "stay with the dead bodies" as their relatives were unable to seek assistance and report to the Police due to mental incapacity or other reasons. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of cases in each of the past 10 years, in which staff of the Housing Department ("HD") found people dead in the flats concerned during home visits or flat recovery work (e.g. breaking into the flats concerned);
(2)
of the number of cases in each of the past 10 years, in which the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") found people dead in the flats concerned in the course of following up the welfare service matters of PRH tenants;
(3)
it is learnt that, following the default on rental payment for two consecutive months by PRH tenants, HD will make several attempts to contact the tenants concerned by means of telephone, written notification or home visits, etc., of the criteria adopted by HD for determining whether it is necessary to refer the cases to other departments for follow-up or to report to the Police after repeated unsuccessful attempts to contact the tenants;
(4)
regarding cases in which HD is unable to contact the tenants successfully, whether HD will consider seeking assistance from the Police within a shorter period of time, so as to decide if further actions will be taken in respect of the tenants concerned (e.g. breaking into the flats); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(5)
as there are views that enhanced cooperation among different departments will facilitate early detection of death cases in PRH flats and even save lives, whether HD, SWD, the Home Affairs Department and the Police will consider setting up a mechanism for information sharing and cooperation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(6)
whether it will promote and encourage the District Services and Community Care Teams ("Care Teams"), management companies and PRH tenants to set up a system for assuring safety, so that PRH tenants who live alone or need relevant support may participate on a voluntary basis;
(7)
given that HD has launched the pilot scheme of Door Sensor Installation for Elderly Households to equip the elderly households who have voluntarily participated in the scheme with the system which allows designated relatives or friends to keep track of the movement of the elderly in and out of their flats, whether the authorities will extend the scheme to cover non-elderly PRH tenants in the future; whether they will promote and encourage the Care Teams and management companies to become one of the designated contact persons, so as to expeditiously follow up the situation of the tenants concerned; and
(8)
given that the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions and the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited have joined forces to launch the Gas Guardian Care Network programme, which utilizes smart meters to monitor the gas usage patterns of the elderly in real-time, whether the authorities will make reference to the programme and launch other projects in collaboration with the business sector and community organizations to enable carers to check the condition of the elderly, so as to enhance home safety of the elderly?