Council Meeting ( Agenda ) 10 December 2003

A 03/04-11

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 10 December 2003 at 2:30 pm

I. Tabling of Papers

1. No.34	-	Emergency Relief Fund Annual Report by the Trustee for the year ending 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food)
2. No.35	-	Report by the Controller, Government Flying Service on the Administration of the Government Flying Service Welfare Fund for the year ended 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)
3. No.36	-	Police Welfare Fund Annual Report 2002/2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)
4. No.37	-	Annual Report on The Police Children's Education Trust and The Police Education and Welfare Trust for the period from 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)
5. No.38	-	Hong Kong Sports Development Board Annual Report 2002-2003
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
6. Report of the Bills Committee on Public Officers Pay Adjustments (2004/2005) Bill
(to be presented by Hon TAM Yiu-chung, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

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

Regarding the wastage of police officers, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of police officers who left the Force in the past three years, whether the main reasons for their departure include work pressure, and the estimated loss of resources caused to the Force by such wastage each year;
(b)	of the impact of the wastage of police officers on the day-to-day operation of the Police in the past three years; and
(c)	how the authorities will improve the wastage situation; and whether there is a dedicated department in the Force for assessing and following up the psychological conditions of police officers in terms of their sense of belonging, job satisfaction and work pressure, as well as assisting them in solving any problems in these areas, so as to reduce the wastage of police officers?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

2. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Green Island Cement Company Limited has been occupying without authorization a piece of government land in Hung Hom since 1992. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council of:

(a)	the details of the case and why the company could have occupied government land without authorization for as long as 11 years; and
(b)	the follow-up actions taken and to be taken by the authorities?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works

3. Hon Margaret NG to ask:

It was reported that on 3 November this year, the Air Pollution Index ("API") recorded at the Mong Kok Roadside Station of the Environmental Protection Department reached 181, which was the highest since 1998. In response to media's questions on that day about the worsening air quality, the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works said that it was a regional problem and had to be tackled from the source. In a speech delivered on the same day, she explained the cross-border co-operation measures that the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Guangdong Provincial Government would take to reduce the emissions of the four major pollutants in the air. She also said that the Government was examining with the Mainland authorities how to take forward emissions trading among power plants in the region using a trading pilot scheme, with a view to launching the scheme in three years' time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the progress of the discussions with the Mainland authorities on the trading pilot scheme, and the level of air pollution reduction which the scheme expects to achieve;
(b)	as the Secretary has been advocating emissions trading between Hong Kong and Guangdong to reduce air pollution in Hong Kong since she took up the post in July last year, why three more years from now are required for implementating the scheme; and
(c)	of the other cross-border co-operation measures which are currently or will be put in place to reduce air pollution?

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

4. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the respective quantities of various types of fire service installations and equipment installed in toll road tunnels, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the criteria and factors adopted for determining the types and quantities of fire service installations and equipment to be installed in each toll road tunnel;
(b)	of the respective quantities of various types of fire service installations and equipment installed in each toll road tunnel; and
(c)	of the date(s) at which the existing quantities of various types of fire service installations and equipment installed in Hung Hom Cross-Harbour Tunnel was (were) stipulated; whether it has assessed if the quantities of these installations and equipment are adequate to cope with fire and emergency incidents in the tunnel caused for various reasons; if so, of results of the assessment?

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

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

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective numbers of fake Renminbi notes and coins seized in each of the past three years; and
(b)	as local banks will soon offer Renminbi banking services in Hong Kong, of the measures that the authorities have to enhance the exchange of information and surveillance co-operation between the Hong Kong and Mainland authorities in relation to fake Renminbi notes and coins, and to teach the community as well as the trades and industries in Hong Kong how to identify fake Renminbi notes and coins?

Public Officers to reply

Secretary for Security
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

6. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

To implement the Electronic Service Delivery ("ESD") Scheme, the Government has commissioned a private company to develop and operate the "ESD life web-site". The Government provides online public services through the web-site, while the contractor is allowed to use the web-site for conducting e-commerce activities. However, I notice that the "Household" page of the web-site contains information on some 30 restaurants which fall into the "private kitchen" category, and I have learnt that quite a number of such restaurants have not obtained any food business licences. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	the relevant operating contract has stipulated that no illegal activities should be promoted on the web-site; if so, of the details of the stipulations; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	the web-site contains information on unlicensed restaurants; if so, whether the authorities will ask the web-site operator to remove the information on the unlicensed restaurants, so as to safeguard the rights and interests of consumers as well as licensed restaurants; and
(c)	it will, based on the web-site's information, take enforcement actions against the unlicensed restaurants concerned?

Public Officers to reply

Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

*7. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the number of charitable bodies and Leisure and Cultural Services Department's ("LCSD") arrangements for granting reduction/waiver of venue hire charges to charitable bodies, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of cases in which LCSD granted reduction/waiver of venue hire charges to charitable bodies in each of the past three years, and the total amount of venue hire charges foregone;
(b)	of the contents of the guidelines issued by LCSD to frontline staff on whether reduction/waiver of venue hire charges should be granted; and whether such guidelines are reviewed on a regular basis;
(c)	of the number of charitable bodies currently exempted from tax and, among them, the number of subvented ones; and
(d)	whether subvented and non-subvented charitable bodies are subject to the same arrangement for granting reduction/waiver of venue hire charges by LCSD; if not, whether LCSD will consider revising the relevant arrangement with a view to making the concessions available to all charitable bodies; if it will, when the new arrangement will be implemented; if not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Home Affairs

*8. Hon LI Fung-ying to ask: (Translation)

It is reported that some disciplined services have been exempted from the freeze on staffing level and allowed to proceed with their recruitment exercises immediately. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the total number of staff members that the disciplined services plan to recruit and the resultant increase in expenditure;
(b)	of the ranks and numbers of staff members to be recruited by various disciplined services as well as the criteria and assessment results based on which the authorities determine the relevant ranks and numbers;
(c)	how the salary and conditions of service of the staff members mentioned in (b) above compare to those of the existing staff; and
(d)	whether it has deployed staff from other government departments to the disciplined services concerned so as to ease the problem of surplus staff in these departments and reduce the number of staff members required to be recruited by the relevant disciplined services; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

*9. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

In June this year, the Education and Manpower Bureau ("EMB") accepted the Action Plan to Raise Language Standards in Hong Kong submitted by the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research. EMB will re-deploy its resources to provide more training places for new language teachers who do not possess the recommended entry qualifications and set up an incentive grant scheme for serving language teachers to encourage them to acquire the recommended qualifications. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the current respective numbers of serving and new language teachers who do not have the recommended entry qualifications, broken down by the language they are teaching;
(b)	of the total expenditure to be incurred for the incentive grant for serving language teachers to acquire the specified qualifications, the details of and the ways to apply for the grant, the names of the tertiary institutions that provide courses which serving language teachers have to take to obtain the grant, together with a list of the institutions, course titles, course duration and number of annual intake;
(c)	of the details regarding training courses provided by tertiary institutions for new language teachers to acquire the specified qualifications, including the names of the institutions and the titles, annual intake, commencement dates and entrance requirements of the courses, as well as the ways of enrolment, and whether the courses provide sufficient places for new language teachers; and
(d)	whether serving certificated masters with a degree or equivalent qualification and meeting the Language Proficiency Requirement for Teachers in the 2005-06 school year are eligible for exemption from the Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

It has been reported that although the Government has recently given approval for some disciplined services to recruit a total of 560 staff members, the disciplined services may still need further downsizing to meet the requirements of the Government to reduce expenditure in future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the existing establishment and strength of each disciplined service that has been given approval to recruit;
(b)	of the staff recruitment timetables of the disciplined services, broken down by the grade of the staff to be recruited;
(c)	of the respective numbers of staff members to be recruited due to natural wastage and for filling new posts in the relevant disciplined services;
(d)	if there are disciplined services which recruit staff members for filling new posts, whether the authorities have allocated additional funds for the recruitment; if they have, of the amount of funds received by each of the disciplined services and whether the additional funds count towards the expenditure of the disciplined services for the coming year; if the authorities have not allocated additional funds, the reasons for that and how the authorities ensure that the disciplined services will not be barred from recruiting staff members due to financial problems; and
(e)	of the changes in the establishment and strength of the various grades in the relevant disciplined services in the next three years; whether the authorities have assessed if the future manpower of the disciplined services is adequate to cope with the future workload, and the measures that the authorities have to ensure that the staff morale of the disciplined services will not be adversely affected by shortage of staff?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

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

Regarding the management of energy demand, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the details and the progress of various programmes or measures on the management of energy demand implemented by the Administration, as well as the annual amount of public funds spent on them;
(b)	whether it has assessed and quantified the effectiveness of such programmes and measures; if it has, of the results of the assessment and quantification, including whether there have been changes in the public's habits in the use of energy and the consumption trends of various types of energy; if it has not, the reasons for that;
(c)	of the impacts on and the benefits to the public due to the implementation of such programmes and measures; and
(d)	of the long-term plans it has formulated in the management of energy demand?

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

*12. Hon Kenneth TING to ask: (Translation)

It was reported that the China Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Association had lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Communications last year and requested the authorities to investigate whether the terminal handling charges ("THC") levied by shipping lines violated the State Regulations on Maritime Transportation and the Price Law of the Mainland. The Ministry of Communications has officially accepted the case this year and is carrying out investigation. On the other hand, the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council considers that if the Ministry of Communications rules that the shipping lines violate the relevant legislation, Hong Kong may study the application of such ruling for reducing the export charges for local cargo so as to enhance competitiveness. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will closely monitor the publication date of the investigation report and the investigation results, and to try to follow them up with a view to striving for a reasonable THC level for Hong Kong shippers? Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Economic Development and Labour

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

Regarding the projects awarded under the Information Technology Professional Services Arrangement ("ITPSA") which was implemented last year, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective percentages of the number of projects with delayed completion in the total numbers of projects awarded under ITPSA and those which have been completed;
(b)	of the details of the projects with delayed completion (including their categories, prices and contractors), and the reasons for the delay;
(c)	whether projects under ITPSA are awarded to contractors who offer the lowest bid; if so, whether there were projects for which the contractors had increased the tender price as the specific job requirements were revised by the authorities after completion of the tendering procedures; if there were such projects, the number of projects involved, the original and the revised tender prices of these projects and the final tender price approved by the authorities; and the difference between the final approved tender price and the second lowest bid offered for the projects concerned during the tendering process; and
(d)	if the final approved tender price mentioned in (c) is higher than the original tender price, of the procedures and criteria adopted by the authorities for deciding to increase the tender price concerned?

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

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

It has been reported that the tuition of the Open University of Hong Kong ("OUHK") is high as it operates on a self-financing basis, imposing a heavy burden on students and violating the principle of life-long learning. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows if the open universities in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada and Australia receive subsidies from their respective governments annually; if so, of the details;
(b)	whether subsidies have been granted to OUHK since it started to operate on a self-financing basis; if so, of the total amount of subsidies granted; and
(c)	of the reasons for OUHK not being an institution funded by the University Grants Committee, and whether the authorities have received any complaints in this regard; if so, of the total number of complaints received by the authorities since the establishment of OUHK?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

*15. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

It has been reported that in order to fully implement the Native-speaking English Teacher and English Language Teaching Assistant Scheme for primary schools, the Government has recruited 150 additional native-speaking English teachers ("NETs") for primary schools this year. Besides, there have been criticisms that apart from not understanding the weaknesses and difficulties Chinese people have in learning English, NETs provided by the authorities for primary and secondary schools also have such shortcomings as speaking with a strong accent, lack of grammar training, failure to understand the syllabuses of Hong Kong's public examinations and so on, thereby rendering teaching results unsatisfactory. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the annual expenditure on the 150 additional NETs recruited for primary schools;
(b)	whether the authorities have reviewed the schemes to provide NETs for primary and secondary schools in the light of the above criticisms; if so, of the review results; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	in view of the Government's budgetary constraints and the reduction in teaching posts, whether the authorities will consider redeploying the funding for employing NETs to providing training for local teachers and increasing teaching posts; if they will, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Education and Manpower

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

It is learnt that some organizations regularly collect used clothes in public places and then resell them for profit. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it knows the number of organizations which regularly collect used clothes in public places, and how many of them are tax-exempt charities; and
(b)	the relevant authorities are regulating the collection of used clothes in public places; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

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

*17. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

Since 1999, the Transport Department has erected two types of traffic sign posts on the sides of roads bearing the wording: "Waiting will be prosecuted" and "Waiting at yellow hatched marking area will be prosecuted without warning" respectively. Such traffic signs are meant to be advisory but their wording has prohibitory connotations, thus giving rise to confusion. Moreover, as these two traffic signs are not among those set out in the offence provision of the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) Regulations (Cap. 374 sub. leg. G) in respect of failure to comply with traffic signs by drivers, law enforcement officers therefore cannot institute prosecutions by invoking the provision against drivers for failure to comply with these traffic signs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	law enforcement officers have, by invoking the above provision, wrongly instituted prosecutions against drivers for failure to comply with any one of the traffic signs; if so, of the number of such prosecutions and the total amount of fines involved each year since 1999;
(b)	the Police have issued internal circulars to frontline police officers, instructing them not to institute, by invoking the above provision, prosecutions against drivers for failure to comply with any one of the traffic signs; if so, of the date(s) on which the circulars were issued and their contents; and
(c)	it will consider revising the wording of the two types of traffic signs, or incorporating them into the relevant provision through legislation, so as to avoid confusion?

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

*18. Dr Hon TANG Siu-tong to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the demand and supply of parking spaces for medium and heavy goods vehicles ("M/HGVs") and container vehicles ("CVs") in the New Territories, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the demand and supply figures of parking spaces for the two categories of vehicles in each administrative district in the New Territories and, among them, the number of on-street overnight parking spaces, as well as the anticipated demand and supply figures of parking spaces for M/HGVs and CVs in the next two years; and
(b)	whether it knows if the Housing Authority has planned to provide additional parking spaces for M/HGVs in its car parks in the New Territories; if it has, of the progress of the plan; if it has not, the reasons for that?

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

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

It has been reported that little communication and cooperation exists at the operational level between public and private medical systems. When a patient discharged from a public hospital seeks medical treatment from a private hospital or clinic, it is difficult for the doctor consulted to obtain the patient's medical record from the public hospital concerned, constituting a barrier to continuous treatment of the patient. In view of this, Kwong Wah Hospital, in cooperation with private hospitals and the Hong Kong Medical Association, has started from September last year to provide private hospitals with medical records of its patients to facilitate the treatment of these patients in private hospitals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	how Kwong Wah Hospital safeguards the privacy of patients in the implementation of the above measure;
(b)	whether similar measures are taken by other public hospitals; and
(c)	whether other measures are adopted by public hospitals to enhance their cooperation with private hospitals?

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

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

The Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390) prohibits the publication of indecent articles to juveniles (i.e. persons under the age of 18 years), whereas the Film Censorship Ordinance (Cap. 392) prohibits the exhibition to juveniles films classified by censors as "APPROVED FOR EXHIBITION ONLY TO PERSONS WHO HAVE ATTAINED THE AGE OF 18 YEARS". In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of complaints received by the relevant authorities about shops publishing indecent articles to juveniles in the past three years, and the respective number of persons in charge of such shops prosecuted and convicted for such offence;
(b)	whether they have any plan to educate parents and encourage members of the public to report to the authorities the shops which publish indecent articles to juveniles; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether they have any plan to require importers of optical discs of films to submit those discs yet to be classified to the Film Censorship Authority for classification before selling them; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?

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

*For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2003

2. Clearing and Settlement Systems Bill

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1. Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2003	:	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
2. Clearing and Settlement Systems Bill	:	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Public Officers Pay Adjustments (2004/2005) Bill : Secretary for the Civil Service

IV. Members' Bills

First Reading

Ling Liang World-Wide Evangelistic Mission Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2003

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Ling Liang World-Wide Evangelistic Mission Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2003

Hon Kenneth TING

V. Members' Motions

Repercussions of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on employees compensation insurance

Hon Bernard CHAN:

Amendments to Hon Bernard CHAN's motion

(i)

Hon Andrew CHENG:

To add ", on the premise of ensuring full protection of the statutory rights and benefits of employees," after "That"; and to add "; at the same time, this Council also urges the Government to examine plans for improving workplace risk management in order to reduce the chance of transmission of infectious diseases in the workplace" after "and other issues potentially affecting stakeholders".

(ii)

Hon LAU Chin-shek:
To add ", and the desirability and feasibility of establishing a central employees compensation scheme" after "and other issues potentially affecting stakeholders".

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

Supporting the middle class

Dr Hon David CHU:

Amendments to Dr Hon David CHU's motion

(i)

Hon MA Fung-kwok: (Translation)

To add ", as the Government has all along failed to sympathize with the plight of the middle class in the wake of the bursting of the bubble economy," after "That"; to add ", based on fair and reasonable principles," after "this Council urges the Government to expeditiously introduce"; to delete "long-term" after "a series of effective"; to add "in areas of taxation, housing and social policy for the middle class," after "policies"; and to delete "supporting the middle class" after "with the objective of" and substitute with "relieving the pressure and hardship they face".

(ii)

Dr Hon YEUNG Sum: (Translation)

To add ", including relieving the tax burden on the middle class and providing appropriate help to the negative-equity property owners among them," after "a series of effective long-term policies".

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

Legislative Council

Agenda Wednesday 10 December 2003 at 2:30 pm

Agenda

Wednesday 10 December 2003 at 2:30 pm