A 03/04-23

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 24 March 2004 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Shipping and Port Control Regulations (Amendment of Eighteenth Schedule) Notice 2004	42/2004
2.	Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2004 (L.N. 5 of 2004) (Commencement) Notice 2004	43/2004
3.	Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules) Notice 2004 (L.N. 6 of 2004) (Commencement) Notice 2004	44/2004

Other Papers

1.	No.73	-	AIDS Trust Fund 2002-2003 Annual Accounts together with the Director of Audit's Report
	(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)
2.	No.74	-	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Hong Kong Rotary Club Students' Loan Fund together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 August 2003
	(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
3.	No.75	-	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Sing Tao Foundation Students' Loan Fund together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 August 2003
	(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
4.	Report of the Bills Committee on Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2001 and Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2003 in respect of the second bill (to be presented by Hon SIN Chung-kai, Chairman of the Bills Committee )

II. Questions

1. Hon Kenneth TING to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of applications for Certificates of Origin under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ("CEPA") made to the authorities since its implementation, broken down by type of trades;
(b)	whether there were rejected cases among such applications; if so, of the number of such cases and the main reasons for rejection; and
(c)	whether the applicants for Certificates of Origin under CEPA have sought assistance from the authorities in connection with the submission or rejection of their applications; if they have, of the number of such cases and the major issues on which they require assistance?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

2. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask:(Translation)

Regarding the collection of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") payments by guardians or appointees on behalf of the elderly living in residential care homes, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the number of cases in which CSSA payments are currently collected by guardians or appointees on behalf of the elderly residents concerned, broken down by their relations to the elderly concerned;
(b)	the number of cases reported to the authorities in each of the past three years in which the guardians or appointees were suspected of embezzling CSSA payments to the elderly residents concerned, together with a breakdown of these cases by their relations to the elderly concerned; the average amount of CSSA payments involved in each case, as well as the follow-up actions taken in respect of such cases and the results thereof; and
(c)	the monitoring measures to prevent the embezzlement of CSSA payments to elderly residents, and whether it will consider appointing social service agencies as their guardians or appointees?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

3. Hon LEUNG Fu-wah to ask:(Translation)

It has been reported that the Hong Kong Fire Services Department Ambulancemen's Union has reflected the shortage of ambulancemen to the Administration, and its adverse impact on the quality of accident and emergency ("A&E") service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the current number of serving ambulancemen, the average numbers of times and hours per shift for which they are deployed to provide A&E service, and how these figures compare with those 12 and 24 months ago;
(b)	of the planning details of the A&E service for the next three years, including the performance pledge and staffing establishment; and
(c)	whether, other than the recruitment of 28 ambulancemen earlier to fill some of the vacancies, it plans to recruit more ambulancemen to relieve the work pressure of the serving staff; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

4. Hon Albert HO to ask:(Translation)

The authorities concerned have ceased selling Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats since 2003, and indicated in October the same year that no unsold and returned HOS flats would be offered for sale as subsidized housing before the end of 2006. They also invited Expression of Interest from the public on the option of converting into hostels two unoccupied HOS blocks which have never been offered for sale. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective overall amounts of maintenance fees, management fees, and other expenses pertaining to the unsold and returned HOS flats since their completion to date, and from now to the end of 2006;
(b)	other than selling unsold and returned HOS flats to Green Form applicants in the future, whether the authorities concerned have other specific plans to dispose of these flats; if so, of the details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	of the concrete proposals raised in the Expression of Interest received by the authorities concerned on the conversion of two HOS blocks into hostels; whether they have shelved this disposal option for unoccupied HOS flats; if so, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

5. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask:(Translation)

A number of elderly property owners living in tenement buildings in old districts have reflected to me that there are no lifts in their buildings, which makes it difficult for them to go up and down. The rates and government rent of these properties also pose a heavy burden on them and drive them into straitened conditions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of elderly property owners living with their elderly spouse or alone in old tenement buildings of over 30 years;
(b)	whether it has plans to provide assistance to those elderly owners in tenement buildings who have difficulties getting about, so as to solve their problems in daily life; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it has plans to waive the rates and government rent for poor elderly owners in tenement buildings who do not receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, so as to alleviate their financial burden; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply:

Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

6. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

In its document published in January this year, the University Grants Committee ("UGC") pointed out that it should strengthen its role in strategic planning and policy development, so as to advise and steer the higher education sector, and that it would introduce performance and role related funding mechanism into the UGC funding methodology for the 2005-08 triennium. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	how it ensures that the academic autonomy of tertiary institutions under UGC's purview will not be undermined by implementing the above funding mechanism;
(b)	whether it knows if UGC has consulted these institutions in the course of drafting the document; if it has, of the views of individual institutions; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it has assessed if the scope of UGC's responsibility of advising the Government on the development and funding needs of higher education institutions includes steering the higher education sector; if such steering work is assessed to fall outside UGC's scope, whether the authorities will review such responsibility?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

*7. Dr Hon LO Wing-lok to ask:(Translation)

It has been reported that in response to the campaign of the Frontline Doctors Union, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has agreed to employ all the 300 interns graduating this year and to renew the contracts of all resident doctors who will acquire specialist qualifications this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether the Administration will ask HA to review the arrangement of determining on a yearly basis the number of doctors to be employed, as well as to formulate a set of long-term policies on the employment of doctors, having regard to the manpower requirement of public hospitals and HA's responsibility to train specialists; if such a review will be conducted and policies formulated, of the details; if not, of the measures in place to ensure that HA will train up an adequate number of specialists and that the quality of public health care service will not be affected by the sense of insecurity of contract doctors? Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*8. Hon CHAN Kwok-keung to ask:(Translation)

The assistant clerical officer ("ACO") is a rank of the clerical grade in the civil service establishment. In recent years, the grade has been experiencing wastage due to the implementation of the Voluntary Retirement Schemes by the Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective numbers of ACOs and those who departed through natural wastage or by joining the Voluntary Retirement Schemes in each of the past five years;
(b)	whether it plans to abolish the rank and replace existing ACOs by contract staff or through internal redeployment of staff from other grades in the civil service; if it has, of the justifications; and
(c)	if it has the plan mentioned in (b), how the authorities will deploy the existing ACOs, e.g. whether they will be promoted or arrangements will be made for them to receive internal training and transfer to other civil service grades?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Civil Service

*9. Hon Cyd HO to ask:(Translation)

With effect from 29 November 2002, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has charged each patient $100 for each attendance at the accident and emergency ("A&E") departments of public hospitals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the number of persons who used the A&E services of public hospitals each month since the introduction of the charges up to the end of February this year, broken down by triage category (i.e. critical, emergency, urgent, semi-urgent, non-urgent and unclassified), as well as their respective percentages in the total number of persons who used such services;
(b)	the average waiting time for the relevant services in each month of the above period;
(c)	the total amount of A&E service charges collected by HA during this period and the respective sums of revenue apportioned to the Government and HA; and
(d)	the uses of the revenue mentioned in part (c) above; if such sums have not been wholly used for provision of medical services, whether the authorities will consider requiring the relevant sums to be used for such purpose?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*10. Dr Hon LAW Chi-kwong to ask:(Translation)

In October 2001, the Government issued to the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") the Urban Renewal Strategy, which specified that the Strategy would be reviewed and updated regularly every two or three years; whereas the Urban Renewal Authority Ordinance provides that URA shall follow the guidelines set out in the Strategy when preparing its five-year corporate plans. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the reasons for not having completed the first review on the Strategy and the latest position of the review; and
(b)	whether it has consulted the public on how the contents of the Strategy should be reviewed and updated, including consultation with the residents affected by the redevelopment projects and local organizations; if it has, of the outcome of the consultation; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

*11. Hon Henry WU to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the respective numbers and dates of press releases issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance in each of the past three years, the numbers of those which were on enforcement actions, and also provide a breakdown of the violation involved in each of the actions set out in these press releases, the legislation or rules breached, the dates at which the violations were committed and the disciplinary actions taken? Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*12. Hon Michael MAK to ask:(Translation)

It has been reported that with effect from next month, the Social Welfare Department will reduce the subsidies for the private residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs") under the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the subsidized items affected and the rate of reduction in respect of each item;
(b)	of the justifications for reducing the subsidies;
(c)	of the respective numbers of RCHEs and subsidized places affected, and the average amount of subsidy reduced for each RCHE;
(d)	of the amount of public funds saved each year as a result of the reduction of subsidies;
(e)	whether there are plans to further reduce the subsidies concerned; and
(f)	whether it has assessed the impact of subsidy reduction on the services of RCHEs; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*13. Hon Fred LI to ask:(Translation)

Regarding the prices of air tickets, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the numbers of public views and complaints received by the government departments concerned and the Consumer Council respectively regarding the prices of air tickets in each of the past three years;
(b)	how the per flight-mile prices of air tickets to and from Hong Kong compare with those to and from other major Asian cities; and
(c)	whether it has examined if the prices of local air tickets are affected by our aviation policy, and whether such policy has undermined our competitiveness in the international tourism and aviation industries; if it has, of the results?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

*14. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask:(Translation)

Under the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528), the persons concerned can seek civil remedies against a person who knowingly makes or sells devices specifically designed or adapted to circumvent the copy-protection employed. In its report published in September last year, the Working Group on Digital Entertainment set up by the Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee under the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau recommended that the Government should consider criminalising such offences. I have learnt that such offences have already been criminalised in the Mainland and other countries such as the United States, Australia, Malaysia and the Netherlands. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it has studied the situation of the above offences in Hong Kong; if it has, of the findings; and
(b)	it will accept the above recommendation of the Working Group; if it will, of the legislative timetable and other relevant details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

*15. Hon Albert CHAN to ask:(Translation)

In connection with the transfer of relevant technology from foreign consultancy firms engaged in the ten Airport Core Programme projects to local construction firms and professionals, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the types and details of the technology transferred;
(b)	of the numbers of local professionals and companies to whom the technology has been transferred;
(c)	whether it knows if local professionals to whom the technology has been transferred are now engaged in the relevant work; and
(d)	whether it has evaluated the effects achieved in these projects in terms of technology transfer, if it has, of the evaluation criteria and outcome?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*16. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether requests for more heated swimming pools have been received from the public over the past three years; if so, of the number of such requests;
(b)	how the operational costs of heated swimming pools compare to those of non-heated ones; and
(c)	whether it has plans to build new heated swimming pools in the next three years; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Home Affairs

*17. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask:(Translation)

It has been reported that since the implementation of 24-hour passenger clearance at the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang crossings in January last year, the number of passengers who cross the boundary via the crossings has been rising continuously. To increase the passenger-handling capacity at Huanggang Port, the Shenzhen authorities are considering rearranging the cross-boundary facilities there. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the average hourly numbers of passengers who crossed the boundary via the Lok Ma Chau Control Point at various time slots in each month of last year, how the growth rates in the numbers of such cross-boundary passengers compare with the Administration's forecast made before the implementation of 24-hour passenger clearance; and
(b)	whether it knows the details of the Shenzhen authorities' plan to rearrange the cross-boundary facilities at Huanggang Port, and whether it has assessed if the facilities at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point will match the new facilities at Huanggang, and how the control of passenger flow at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point will be affected; if no assessment has been made, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

*18. Hon Emily LAU to ask:(Translation)

Article 107 of the Basic Law provides that "the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall follow the principle of keeping expenditure within the limits of revenues in drawing up its budget, and strive to achieve a fiscal balance, avoid deficits and keep the budget commensurate with the growth rate of its gross domestic product". While the Financial Secretary ("FS"), when presenting this year's Budget, forecast that the gross domestic product will grow by 6% in real terms in 2004 with a 3.8% real economic growth over the medium term, he plans to implement a year-on-year reduction of government operating expenditure in the following five years. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)	of the implementation of Article 107 of the Basic Law since the reunification;
(b)	whether they have assessed if the budgets for the past seven years complied with the requirement for keeping "the budget commensurate with the growth rate of its gross domestic product", as stipulated in the above Article; if so, of the assessment result; and
(c)	given that despite forecasting a 6% growth for this year's gross domestic product, FS still needs to exercise stringent control over expenditure in order to achieve fiscal balance, whether or not the authorities have assessed if this situation reflects that the above Article is self-contradictory; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, how the authorities will address the issue; if the assessment result is in the negative, of the justifications for the finding?

Public Officer to reply: Financial Secretary

*19. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask:(Translation)

Regarding the operation of Continuing Education Fund ("CEF"), will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the total number of applications received and the total amount of subsidy committed since CEF was open to applications in June 2002;
(b)	among the applications and total amount of subsidy mentioned above, the number of applications submitted by degree holders and the amount of subsidy they were granted; and
(c)	whether it will abolish the upper age limit of CEF applicants, so as to allow people aged over 60 to qualify for the subsidy for continuing education and training in order to promote lifelong learning; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

*20. Hon CHAN Kwok-keung to ask:(Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective numbers of cyclists who were prosecuted and convicted for speeding over the past three years and the details of the penalties imposed by the court;
(b)	whether those who were convicted and who also held vehicle driving licence incurred points under the Driving-offence Points System; if so, whether the authorities have assessed if the system is unfair to them; if they have, of the results; and
(c)	whether it has reviewed the existing legislation that regulates speeding to see if there are defects in the provisions regulating cyclists; if the review results indicate such defects, whether the authorities will amend the relevant legislation?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Merchant Shipping (Security of Ships and Port Facilities) Bill

2. Airport Authority (Amendment) Bill 2004

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1.	Merchant Shipping (Security of Ships and Port Facilities) Bill	:	Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
2.	Airport Authority (Amendment) Bill 2004	:	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2003

:

Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

IV. Motions

1. Proposed resolution under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance
   
   Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:


RESOLVED that Schedule 1 to the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance be amended, in paragraph 1A of Part III -

(a)	in subparagraph (a), by repealing "31 March 2004" and substituting "31 December 2004";
(b)	in subparagraph (b), by repealing "1 April 2004" and substituting "1 January 2005".

Proposed resolution under the Copyright (Suspension of Amendments) Ordinance 2001

Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Copyright (Suspension of Amendments) Ordinance 2001 (Amendment) Notice 2004, made by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology on 3 March 2004, be approved.

V. Members' Bills

First Reading

1. Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2004

2. Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1.	Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2004	:	Dr Hon Eric LI
	Public Officer to attend	:	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
2.	Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill	:	Dr Hon David LI
	Public Officer to attend	:	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

VI. Members' Motions

1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
   
   Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:


RESOLVED that in relation to the -

(a)	Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Certification and Licensing) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 27 of 2004; and
(b)	Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels) (Typhoon Shelters) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 28 of 2004,

and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 3 March 2004, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 21 April 2004.

Conservation of monuments and heritage

Hon CHAN Kwok-keung:

(Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to expeditiously revise the relevant policies upon completion of the consultation on the Review of Built Heritage Conservation Policy; as it takes time to revise the policies, in order to prevent the monuments and heritage from destruction or demolition in the interim, the Government should provide incentives to encourage owners to retain, repair and maintain the built heritage that has conservation value; furthermore, in addition to retaining their intrinsic characteristics, the Government should consider enriching the built heritage with economic values such as to tourism and entertainment, thereby promoting local community economy that has cultural characteristics and creating job opportunities.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs

Combating crimes relating to automatic teller machine cards and credit cards

Hon LAU Kong-wah:

(Translation)

That, as the numbers of automatic teller machine frauds and credit card thefts are rising continuously and such crimes are committed in many varied ways, dealing a heavy blow to the public's confidence in electronic banking services and to Hong Kong's tourist and retail industries, this Council urges the Government to adopt the following measures to secure the confidence of the public and tourists in using electronic banking services:

(a)	deploy sufficient resources and strengthen co-operation with overseas law enforcement agencies to enhance its capability to investigate and combat such crimes;
(b)	extensively publicize the ways in which such crimes are committed to enhance the alertness and vigilance of the public and tourists; and
(c)	actively explore, in conjunction with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, banks and other card-issuing institutions, the introduction of products of new technology with more sophisticated security features to safeguard the interests of users.

Public Officers to attend

:

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary for Security

Clerk to the Legislative Council