A 03/04-25

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 28 April 2004 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Shipping and Port Control (Ferry Terminals) (Amendment) Regulation 2004	57/2004
2.	Boundaries of Ferry Terminals (Repeal) Order	58/2004
3.	Boundaries of Restricted Areas of Ferry Terminals (Repeal) Notice	59/2004
4.	Immigration (Places of Detention) (Amendment) Order 2004	60/2004
5.	Immigration Service (Designated Places) (Amendment) Order 2004	61/2004
6.	Chemical Weapons (Convention) Ordinance (26 of 2003) (Commencement) Notice 2004	62/2004

Other Papers

1. No.78 -	Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Fund Annual Report for the year from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)
2. No.79 -	Summary and Revenue Analysis by Head, General Revenue Account, Estimates for the year ending 31 March 2005
(to be presented by Financial Secretary)
3. No.80 -	Annual Report 2003 Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation
(to be presented by Financial Secretary)

II. Questions for Written Replies

1. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the employment statistics for 2003 compiled by the Census and Statistics Department, will the Government inform this Council of the number of employed persons (excluding unpaid family workers, foreign domestic helpers and employed persons who worked less than 35 hours during the seven days before enumeration due to vacation), broken down by the groupings in the form appended below?

Number of employed persons Monthly employment earnings
Gender/Hours of work during the seven days before enumeration	Less than $3,000	$3,000 to $4,999	$5,000 to $7,499	$7,500 to $9,999	$10,000 or above	Total
Female
Less than 35 hours
35 to 49 hours
50 to 59 hours
60 hours or above
Sub-total
Male
Less than 35 hours
35 to 49 hours
50 to 59 hours
60 hours or above
Sub-total
Female and male
Less than 35 hours
35 to 49 hours
50 to 59 hours
60 hours or above
Total

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

2. Hon Miriam LAU to ask: (Translation)

The Administration advised in February last year that it was considering the introduction of new measures to further enhance the safety in road works, including the use of Variable Message Signs ("VMSs") and the installation of Truck Mounted Attenuators ("TMAs") at the back of road works vehicles. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the unit price of VMSs and the approximate number of VMSs required each day for road works;
(b)	of the number of road works vehicles involved and the unit cost of installing TMAs at the back of such vehicles; and
(c)	whether it plans to implement these measures; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?

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

3. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the percentage of compliance with the statutory orders concerning defective drainage repair/investigation that were issued in the last three years to owners of private buildings which do not have owners' corporations;
(b)	of the measures taken by the Buildings Department to ensure compliance with statutory orders issued last year to owners of such private buildings;
(c)	whether it has considered creating a specialist contractor list for plumbing and drainage works; and
(d)	whether, for ease of control and administration, it has considered classifying these works into one work category, and delegating the responsibility of monitoring them to one government department?

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

4. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of local domestic helpers in each of the past three years and the number of those required to live in their employers' homes, as well as the percentages of those helpers who have completed the relevant domestic helper training courses offered by the Employees Retraining Board;
(b)	whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the above training courses in expanding the employment market for local domestic helpers; if so, of the assessment results; and
(c)	whether it plans to provide incentives to encourage current helpers to take up jobs as live-in domestic helpers; if so, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

5. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

Regarding wavier of medical fees, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the operation of the medical fee wavier mechanism applicable to the accident and emergency service charges ("A&E charges") of public hospitals, as well as the procedure for making fee wavier applications;
(b)	of the number of applications for fee wavier submitted under the above mechanism and successful cases in each of the past months since the introduction of A&E charges and up to the end of February this year, broken down by applicant category (such as low-income patients, chronically ill patients, elderly patients with little income and assets, etc), as well as the average validity period of the fee wavier granted;
(c)	how the above numbers of applications and successful cases compare to those of similar cases under the enhanced medical fee wavier mechanism; and
(d)	whether it has measures to promote the enhanced medical fee wavier mechanism; if so, of the amount of expenditure involved; if not, the reasons for that?

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

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

In connection with those Government's outsourced services for which a large number of non-skilled workers are employed, such as cleaning and security services, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the following over the past three financial years:
	(i)	the top 20 departments that granted the largest number of such outsourced contracts each year, the numbers of contracts involved, as well as the daily numbers of hours of work to be performed by such non-skilled workers and the wages payable to them, as proposed by contractors of outsourced services;
	(ii)	the number of complaints received each year from such workers about their remuneration and the follow-up actions taken by the Administration; and
	(iii)	the respective numbers of contractors prosecuted and convicted each year for suspected violations of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) and the penalty imposed on them;
(b)	whether it has assessed the effectiveness of its monitoring efforts regarding whether the contractors have given their workers reasonable wages; if it has, of the assessment results and the follow-up actions taken; if not, the reasons for that;
(c)	of the specific measures to implement the Chief Executive's pledge in his Policy Address this year that the Administration "will pay attention to whether those working on Government contracts are receiving a reasonable wage"; and
(d)	whether the Administration will consider adopting a marking scheme for tenders of outsourced services according to the market wages of such non-skilled workers; if it will, the details of its consideration; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows if the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") has plans to:

(a)	revise the basis (i.e. the market value of an approximately seven-year-old flat of a similar size in the same locality of the acquired flat) for calculating the Home Purchase Allowance, or reduce the level of other allowances; if so, of the details of the plans; if not, the specific means the Administration has to help URA resolve its financial difficulties; and
(b)	provide additional assistance to the elderly property owners affected by redevelopment programmes, in particular assistance in rehousing and financial provision; if it has, of the details of the assistance; if not, the reasons for that?

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

8. Hon Henry WU to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the offices in international organizations taken up by directorate civil servants and persons in charge of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Securities and Futures Commission and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, and the time they spent on such duties, as well as the amount of the resultant expenses on travelling, accommodation, logistical support, etc. paid by their employers in each of the past five years, broken down by their respective bureaux and public bodies? Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

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

Regarding cross-boundary coach services, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the details of unauthorized cross-boundary coach services, including their routes, frequencies as well as the pick-up/drop-off points, and what actions have been taken to crack down on such services; and
(b)	whether it will consider strengthening authorized cross-boundary coach services?

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

10. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the developers which participated in the Hunghom Peninsula Private Sector Participation Scheme ("PSPS") project intend to demolish and rebuild the completed but not yet occupied PSPS blocks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the estimated weight and volume of the construction and demolition ("C&D") waste involved, as well as the estimated costs borne by public funds if such waste materials are disposed of in landfills;
(b)	of the methods to prevent the developers from demolishing the unoccupied blocks and thereby producing C&D waste as well as wasting public money; whether the authorities will convey, through public education, the message that such a demolition approach will waste the resources of the earth and run counter to the principle of sustainable development; and
(c)	whether it has assessed if the transport facilities in Hung Hom can support a redevelopment project on the site at a plot ratio higher than the existing one, and the conditions under which the authorities will not approve such a redevelopment project; if it has, of the assessment results?

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

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

The Inter-departmental Working Group on Computer Related Crime released its report in December 2000, in which recommendations for improving the existing measures to tackle computer-related crimes were made. In July 2001, the Security Bureau announced that some of the recommendations proposed by the Working Group had been adopted and would be implemented in phases. It also advised that a Committee on Computer Crime would be established to monitor the development trend of computer crimes and co-ordinate the efforts among relevant parties. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the details of the progress of those recommendations that have been adopted, broken down by short, medium and longer term and, among them, those of which the implementation work has been completed, is in progress and is yet to commence; and
(b)	the details of the progress in establishing the Committee on Computer Crime?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

12. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

In connection with the projects under the Airport Core Programme, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective total expenditures of various projects as at the end of last month and the differences between the figures and the estimated expenditures originally approved; where there is over-spending, of the organization(s) to shoulder the extra expenditures;
(b)	whether it is aware of the number and amounts of claims ultimately received by the Airport Authority in respect of the relevant construction contracts, together with a breakdown by cases settled and not yet settled; where there is over-spending, of the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it has formulated measures to minimize over-spending and claims in respect of large-scale infrastructure projects in future; if it has, of the details of the measures; if not, the reasons for that?

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

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

It was reported that a patient suffering from a liver tumour died in early March this year, allegedly because he had not been given timely consultation and treatment due to the long waiting time for specialist out-patient service in public hospitals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the respective average waiting times for the first specialist out-patient appointments for medical, cardiac and oncologic consultations at public hospitals in Hong Kong over the past year;
(b)	who determine(s) the waiting time for these first appointments and the determining criteria; and
(c)	if the Hospital Authority will put in place a mechanism to shorten the waiting time; if it will, of the details?

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

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

Concerning robberies targeting hikers, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the percentage of illegal entrants among the suspects arrested for such robberies since last year;
(b)	of the detection rate for such cases in the past three years, and how it compares with the overall detection rate for robberies;
(c)	of the specific measures in place to combat such robberies; and
(d)	whether it will consider setting up police posts at entrances and exits of country parks and hiking trails?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

15. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

At a press conference on 14 March, the State Premier said that recently, the Chief Executive ("CE") had again raised with him requests for measures which could further boost Hong Kong's economic development. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)

of the specific contents of the requests CE raised with the Premier and the reasons for making such requests; and

(b)

given the current pace of recovery of Hong Kong's economy as well as the wealth and income levels of the Government and the people (with the gross domestic product forecast to grow by 6% in real terms this year, the official foreign reserve assets exceeding $960 billion, deposits with authorized institutions totalling over $3,600 billion and the gross domestic product per capita exceeding $181,000), whether they have assessed if there is still a need to request the Central Authorities to help Hong Kong; if an assessment has been made, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary

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

Regarding cases of sexual offences, will the Government inform this Council of the following in each of the past two years:

(a)	the respective numbers of reports to the Police involving various sexual offences e.g. rape, indecent assault, incest, intercourse with girl under 16 and intercourse with mentally incapacitated person, with a breakdown by the victims' gender and age (in groups of five years);
(b)	the respective numbers of cases in which the victims withdrew the charge, the Police discontinued the investigation, the offenders admitted the acts concerned and were cautioned by police superintendents, and the Department of Justice ("D of J") decided not to institute prosecution; and
(c)	the respective numbers of cases in which the D of J instituted prosecution and the defendants were convicted, and the number of victims involved in such cases?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

17. Hon Henry WU to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)

the mechanism for the declaration, approval and renewal of approval for serving civil servants to take up paid outside part-time work including long-term and short-term employment; and

(b)

the number of civil servants who applied for approval for taking up such work in each quarter of the past three years and the bureaux to which they belonged, broken down by the salary bands set out in Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Public Officers Pay Adjustments (2004/2005) Ordinance; among them, the number of persons whose applications were rejected and the reasons therefor, as well as the number of civil servants currently taking up such work and the bureaux to which they belong?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

18. Hon Michael MAK to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that 3 054 or 9.6% of the electors who were already registered in 2000 for the Health Services functional constituency ("FC") have not been included in the 2003 final register concerned. The main reason for their deletion from the register is that their registered addresses are no longer their principal residential addresses (i.e. they have not informed the Registration and Electoral Office ("REO") of the change of address). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it regularly verifies the information in the register of the Health Services FC by sampling; if it does, of the criteria and method of sampling;
(b)	of the respective numbers of cases in which enquiries or inquiries were made on whether the registered addresses of the registered electors in the above register were their principal residential addresses and the replies received over the past three years; the information they were requested to provide and the time they were given to make their replies; whether the Administration has made such inquiries on each of the above deletion cases; if it has, of the method and timetable of the inquiries; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	of the information on which it based for judging that a registered elector has moved but not informed the REO?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

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

It was reported that a woman in Lei Tung Estate, Ap Lei Chau, fell to death allegedly because she lost balance while collecting the laundry on the drying rack of an old design commonly known as the "three joss sticks". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has assessed the safety of this type of drying racks; if so, of the assessment results;
(b)	whether replacement drying racks that comply with safety standards have been installed free of charge over the past three years for the public housing flats using this type of drying racks; if so, of the names of the housing estates concerned and the design of the newly installed drying racks; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	of the current number of public housing estates where this old type of drying racks is still used, and whether it plans to install replacement drying racks that comply with safety standards for these estates?

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

20. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

Will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether:

(a)	they have conducted investigations into reports that the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation has wasted public money; if so, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	they know if the Audit Commission will carry out a value-for-money audit on the accounts of the Corporation; if it will, when it will commence work; and
(c)	they will introduce measures to strengthen the supervision over the Corporation to ensure good use of public money; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?

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

III. Bills

First Reading

Revenue Bill 2004

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Revenue Bill 2004

:

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Appropriation Bill 2004 : Financial Secretary

(i)	Proposed resolution under Rule 69(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to move the following motion: RESOLVED that head 21 be reduced by $1,900,000 in respect of subhead 000.
(ii)	Proposed resolution under Rule 69(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hon James TO to move the following motion: RESOLVED that head 122 be reduced by $55,500,000 in respect of subhead 000.
(iii)	Proposed resolution under Rule 69(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hon James TO to move the following motion: RESOLVED that head 122 be reduced by $80,000,000 in respect of subhead 103.
(iv)	Proposed resolution under Rule 69(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to move the following motion: RESOLVED that head 144 be reduced by $3,232,000 in respect of subhead 000.

IV. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that -

(a)	the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Regulation 2004; and
(b)	the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 2004,
made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 8 March 2004, be approved.(The two Regulations have been issued on 15 March 2004 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 474/03-04)

V. Members' Bills

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

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill :

Dr Hon David LI

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

Clerk to the Legislative Council