 |
A 05/06-31
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 14 June 2006 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
|
|---|
| 1. | Marine Parks and Marine Reserves (Amendment) Regulation 2006 | 134/2006
| | 2. | Dangerous Goods (Consignment by Air) (Safety) (Amendment) Regulation 2006 (Commencement) Notice 2006 | 135/2006
| | 3. | Dangerous Goods (Consignment by Air) (Safety) Regulations (Amendment of Schedule) Order 2006 (Commencement) Notice 2006 | 136/2006
| | 4. | Air Navigation (Hong Kong) Order 1995 (Amendment of Schedule 16) Order 2006 (Commencement) Notice | 137/2006
|
Other Paper
Report of the Bills Committee on Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2005
(to be presented by Hon SIN Chung-kai, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
II. Questions
1. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)
The three-month public consultation conducted by the Housing Authority on the review on the rent policy for public housing concluded last Friday. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it will first introduce rent reduction for public housing and then review the rent adjustment mechanism, as proposed in the motion passed by the Panel on Housing of this Council at its meeting on 25 May; and
| | (b) | given that the authorities' proposals on the rent policy for public housing have not received wide support, whether new options will be introduced for another round of public consultation?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
2. Hon Alan LEONG Kah-kit to ask: (Translation)
In March this year, the Housing Authority further relaxed the eligibility for rent assistance ("RA"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the current numbers of RA applications being processed and public rental housing ("PRH") tenants receiving RA, with a breakdown of the latter by the rate of rent reduction granted;
| | (b) | the estimated number of PRH tenants currently eligible for RA and, among them, the percentage of those who are receiving RA; and
| | (c) | the total number, since the implementation of the RA Scheme, of RA recipient tenants who have been asked to move to units in older-type blocks which charged lower rents?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
3. Hon Mrs Selina CHOW to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some amateur Chinese opera performers stage their performances at Tuen Mun Park from time to time and attract crowds of on-lookers. However, the noise from their loudspeakers causes nuisance to some nearby residents. Since the middle of last year, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") has received a number of complaints about the noise from the performers' loudspeakers. On several occasions, when LCSD officers handled the complaints at the scene, conflicts with the performers and the on-lookers occurred. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of complaints received by LCSD since the middle of last year about the noise generated by the Chinese opera performers using loudspeakers at Tuen Mun Park; and how such complaints are normally handled;
| | (b) | whether LCSD has conducted any on-site investigations and assessments at Tuen Mun Park in response to these complaints and look for other venues outside Tuen Mun Park for long-term use by the Chinese opera performers; and
| | (c) | whether the gathering of Chinese opera performers and enthusiasts at Tuen Mun Park is due to the authorities' failure to provide sufficient and suitable venues in other parts of Tuen Mun that are convenient to these performances?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
| 4. | For Hon Albert CHAN,
Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
|
Recently, I have received complaints from members of the public that, since the implementation of the construction waste disposal charging scheme on 20 January this year, illegal dumping of construction waste has taken place in many streets, rear lanes and agricultural lands. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of complaints received by the authorities each month about illegal dumping of construction waste since the implementation of the above scheme, the number of cases of illegal dumping of construction waste found during inspections, as well as the respective numbers of such complaints and cases in the same period last year;
| | (b) | of the number of prosecutions instituted in respect of the above illegal dumping cases, and the quantity of construction waste illegally dumped since the implementation of the scheme; and
| | (c) | whether there are measures to crack down on illegal dumping of construction waste; if so, of the details of the measures; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
5. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
Concerning the expeditious implementation of the election of the Chief Executive ("CE") and all Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") by universal suffrage ("dual elections by universal suffrage"), will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the fact that CE and the Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux repeatedly call Members of this Council who support the expeditious implementation of dual elections by universal suffrage as "the opposition" is due to their opposing the motions on constitutional reform put forth last December by the authorities; given that in democratic countries and places, "the opposition" refers to those political parties which are not in power following defeat in an election, whether the authorities have reviewed if it is appropriate to call these Members as "the opposition", when they obtained 60% of the votes in the last LegCo elections;
| | (b) | whether they have assessed if CE, who is not elected by universal suffrage and may not be a member of any political party, can exercise effective governance, regardless of how high his support rates are in opinion polls; and
| | (c) | as a recent opinion poll has indicated that more than two thirds of the members of the public are supportive of the expeditious implementation of dual elections by universal suffrage, whether the authorities will lobby those who are resistant to that for a change of attitude?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
6. Hon Ronny TONG Ka-wah to ask: (Translation)
In January 2004, the Government tightened the eligibility for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") by increasing the period of residence in Hong Kong required of adult CSSA applicants from one year to seven years. However, the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") may, at its discretion, waive such requirement. I have been told that some people who are badly in need of financial assistance but have stayed in Hong Kong for less than seven years have not received any reply from SWD two years after submitting their applications for CSSA. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of such CSSA applications received, approved with discretion and rejected by SWD in each of the past two financial years; the number of applications withdrawn by applicants, and the reasons for withdrawal;
| | (b) | whether it will review the above residence requirement as it has been implemented for more than two years; and
| | (c) | of the average and the longest time taken for processing such CSSA applications; and whether consideration given to exercising discretion has resulted in a longer time for processing such applications?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*7. Dr Hon David LI to ask:
Some companies employing United States ("US") citizens to work in Hong Kong, as well as individual US citizens residing in Hong Kong, are concerned that, by significantly lowering the ceiling of housing costs that may be deducted from taxation, the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act signed by the US President on the 17th of last month has greatly increased the tax burden of US citizens in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it has studied the impact of the Act on Hong Kong's attractiveness as a regional base for US companies and as a workplace for US citizens; if so, of the results of the study; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | it has referred to the US Government the concerns of these companies and individuals; and
| | (c) | it intends to make representation to the US Government for Hong Kong to be considered as one of the overseas jurisdictions with high housing costs, hence enabling the US citizens concerned to become eligible for more allowable tax deduction under the provisions of the Act?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*8. Hon LAU Chin-shek to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government:
| (a) | provide a breakdown, by the number of family members, of the following in each of the past three years
| (i) | the average monthly payments under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme to recipient families; and
| | (ii) | the number of families whose monthly income is less than the average amount received by the CSSA families with the same number of family members; and
|
| | (b) | provide a breakdown, according to the table below, of the total number of persons from the low-income families in item (a)(ii) above?
| Age |
Sex |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
| below 15 |
female |
|
|
| | male |
|
|
| | sub-total |
|
|
| | 15 to 29 |
female |
|
|
| | male |
|
|
| | sub-total |
|
|
| | 30 to 49 |
female |
|
|
| | male |
|
|
| | sub-total |
|
|
| | 50 to 64 |
female |
|
|
| | male |
|
|
| | sub-total |
|
|
| | over 65 |
female |
|
|
| | male |
|
|
| | sub-total |
|
|
| | Aggregate |
female |
|
|
| | male |
|
|
| | sub-total |
|
|
|
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*9. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)
Regarding home care services for the elderly, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the current number of non-urgent cases of elderly persons waiting for services such as household cleaning, meal delivery, escort for medical consultations, bathing for frail elderly persons, nursing care and physiotherapy, and the respective average and longest waiting times for the same type of cases in various districts;
| | (b) | as an additional $20 million will be earmarked annually from this financial year onward to strengthen home care services for the elderly, of the services on which the provision will be used, and the estimated reduction in the waiting time of the service users and workload of frontline care workers as a result of the additional resources; and
| | (c) | whether it will review, in the near future, the mode of and demand for the integrated home care services specifically provided for the elderly, so that such services can immediately be available to all the elderly in need?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*10. Hon MA Lik to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the supply of sea water for flushing, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the number of water accounts for which sea water for flushing is currently not provided, with a breakdown by district, as well as by residential and commercial users; and
| | (b) | the projects for the supply of sea water for flushing which are in progress and under planning respectively; as well as the expected completion dates, latest progress and estimated costs of these projects, and the areas which will benefit from these projects?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*11. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the monitoring of the levels of pesticide residues in fruits imported to Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether there is a mechanism for monitoring imported fruits; if so, of the scope and process of monitoring; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | of the methods for determining the levels of pesticide residues in imported fruits, the criteria used for comparing the highest levels of pesticide residues in different fruit samples, and the way to determine the maximum residue limits for fruits which are not prescribed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the United Nations;
| | (c) | of the details of the sample checks conducted by the authorities on the levels of pesticide residues in imported fruits in the past three years, including the respective numbers of samples taken in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories for inspection, the respective percentages of each type of the fruits involved in the total number of samples inspected, the respective numbers of samples of each type of fruits which contain pesticide residues exceeding the permitted levels and their respective percentages in the total number of such samples; and
| | (d) | whether different monitoring methods or standards are applied to fruits imported from different places of origin, and whether, according to the risks posed by various types of fruits in different seasons, higher-risk fruits are particularly targeted for inspection during a particular season; if so, of the relevant methods or standards, the list of higher-risk fruits in different seasons and the number of relevant samples taken for inspection; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*12. Hon TAM Heung-man to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of applications from new arrival women with less than seven years' residence in Hong Kong to the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") for financial assistance, in the past three years, and the number of such applications approved by SWD by exercising its discretion;
| | (b) | whether it has reviewed the procedures and criteria for exercising discretion as well as the consistency in processing the above applications by SWD officers; if it has, of the details of the review results and follow-up actions; if not, when it will conduct such review; and
| | (c) | whether it will consider formulating a social security policy for new arrival women who are currently not eligible for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance but have genuine financial needs, instead of providing assistance to them by discretion; if it will, of the details and timetable of such a policy; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*13. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Some residents have reflected to me that many banks closed their district branches in recent years, causing great inconvenience to the residents, especially the elderly and the disabled, of the districts concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the following information on the branches of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Hang Seng Bank, the Bank of China (Hong Kong) and the Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, which were closed in the past five years:
| Name of Bank
| | District | Address of branch | Date of closure | | Central and Western |
|
| | Wanchai |
|
| | Eastern |
|
| | Southern |
|
| | Yau Tsim Mong |
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| | Sham Shui Po |
|
| | Kowloon City |
|
| | Wong Tai Sin |
|
| | Tsuen Wan |
|
| | Kwun Tong |
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| | Tai Po |
|
| | Yuen Long |
|
| | Northern |
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| | Tuen Mun |
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| | Kwai Tsing |
|
| | Sha Tin |
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| | Sai Kung |
|
| | Islands |
|
|
| | (b) | whether it has requested the banks to assess, before closing their branches, the impact of such closure on the elderly and the disabled in the relevant districts; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether it has taken measures to ensure that, after closure of those district branches, basic banking services are still available to the elderly and people with disabilities in the relevant districts; if it has, of the details of the measures; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*14. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some institutions made use of the grey areas in the Travel Agents Ordinance to organize study tours. At present, 20% of the study tours are not organized by registered travel agents, and participants of such tours will not be protected by the Travel Industry Compensation Fund. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of complaints received in the past three years about study tours and the main contents of such complaints;
| | (b) | of the measures in place to eliminate unlicensed travel agents so as to protect the participants of study tours; and
| | (c) | whether it will consider making a mandatory requirement that study tours must be organized by licensed travel agents and led by Tour Escort Pass holders; if so, of the time it plans to implement the requirement; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*15. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
The Innovation and Technology Commission ("ITC") implements the Patent Application Grant scheme and has appointed the Hong Kong Productivity Council as the implementation agent. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the measures adopted by ITC to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the scheme;
| | (b) | whether it plans to commission more organizations or law firms to implement the scheme for patent applicants to choose; and
| | (c) | whether it will expand the funding model of the scheme by reimbursing part of the patent application fees to those local companies or individuals who have applied for and obtained patents at their own expense?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
*16. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the nursing sector is planning the setting up of a nursing academy to accredit the specialist qualifications of nurses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has taken the initiative to discuss the above matter with members of the nursing sector; if it has, of the details of the discussions; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (b) | how it will offer support to the nursing sector in terms of site selection, policies and funding, etc, together with a timetable in this respect?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*17. Ir Dr Hon HO Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in a head-on collision between a private car and a taxi earlier on, while the driver and passenger of the private car were protected by the automatically inflated safety airbags and sustained slight injuries only, the taxi driver and passenger died in the accident because airbags were not installed in the taxi. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has considered legislating to require that safety airbags be installed in all taxis in Hong Kong; if it has, whether the authorities will consider providing subsidy to help alleviate the financial burden of installing airbags on taxi owners; and
| | (b) | of the ratio and respective numbers of taxis with and without safety airbags, and whether the number of taxis with safety airbags has been increasing over the past three years?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*18. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
It is reported that the Labour Department ("LD") closed the employment-related injury registration counters at accident and emergency departments of hospitals from 1990 and require people who suffer injuries to notify LD instead. In 1992, LD also worked out a new compensation package with respect to minor employment-related injuries. Under the new package, if a person suffers an injury in an industrial accident and has been granted sick leave of more than three days but not exceeding seven days, and does not suffer permanent incapacity as a result of the accident, he/she is not required to undergo any assessment arranged by LD. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in respect of the past year, of the respective numbers of occupational injuries and industrial accidents and the respective injury rates per 1 000 employees and workers, as well as the method for calculating such rates, including the definitions of the units involved in the calculation, and the respective data for these units; and the changes in the calculation methods and definitions adopted before and after 1992 as well as the reasons for those changes;
| | (b) | whether LD has reviewed the above-mentioned changes in 1990 and 1992 regarding the notification system for employment-related injuries, and how it will assess the effects of such changes on the compilation of statistics on minor injury cases and the overall industrial accidents;
| | (c) | as LD used to publish various information on industrial accidents, including the sex of the injured and their distribution by industries, in its annual reports prior to 1992, of the reasons for LD not listing such information in its annual reports thereafter, together with details of the information involved; and
| | (d) | whether LD has established a statistical database on industrial accidents, including the distribution of the types of companies and injury assessments involved; if it has, whether it will make the database accessible to the public and academics, and thoroughly study and analyze the causes and profiles of industrial accidents in Hong Kong every year?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*19. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the regular broadcast of information through electronic screens on public buses, light buses and train compartments of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it has studied how similar devices are regulated overseas; if so, whether it will tighten up the regulation of the broadcast of information mentioned above by making reference to overseas practice in this respect;
| | (b) | it will consider establishing proper channels for receiving complaints from passengers about nuisances caused by the above-mentioned broadcast or the broadcast of false information; if so, whether the number of such complaints will be one of the considerations in determining whether or not to approve the renewal of the franchises or licences of the organizations or operators concerned;
| | (c) | it will consider making it a mandatory requirement that the organizations or operators concerned must designate a reasonable quiet zone on train compartments or vehicles before they are allowed to install such electronic broadcasting devices on the vehicles; and
| | (d) | it will consider amending the Broadcasting Ordinance to regulate the information broadcast on vehicles or trains compartments?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
*20. Dr Hon Joseph LEE Kok-long to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the Hospital Authority ("HA") will employ additional community nurses next year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the expenditure on community nursing services in each of the past three years;
| | (b) | whether it has assessed the effectiveness of community nursing services over the past three years; if it has, of the assessment results;
| | (c) | of the respective numbers of community nurses in the general and psychiatric streams and the ratio of community nurses to patients in each hospital cluster at present;
| | (d) | of the criteria adopted by HA for working out the demand for community nursing services, and whether HA has set a target ratio of community nurses to patients and regularly reviews the ratio;
| | (e) | of the expenditure involved in HA's plan to employ additional community nurses; and
| | (f) | whether it has made any prediction on how the quality and development of community nursing services will be enhanced as a result of employing additional community nurses?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*For written reply.
III. Bills
First Reading
Supplementary Appropriation (2005-2006) Bill
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)| Supplementary Appropriation (2005-2006) Bill | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury |
Second Reading (Debates to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading| 1. | Freight Containers (Safety) (Amendment) Bill 2006 | : | Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
| | 2. | Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2005 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury |
IV. Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:
Resolved that the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2006, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 9 May 2006, be approved.
(The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2006 has been issued on 18 May 2006
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 568/05-06)
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- Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Israel) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 7 February 2006, be approved.
(The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters
(Israel) Order has been issued on 17 February 2006
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 354/05-06)
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- Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Poland) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 7 February 2006, be approved.
(The Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters
(Poland) Order has been issued on 17 February 2006
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 354/05-06)
|
V. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that in relation to the -
| (a) | Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants (Exemption for Appendix I Species) Order, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 105 of 2006; and
| | (b) | Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants (Exemption for Appendices II and III Species) Order, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 106 of 2006,
| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 24 May 2006, 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 12 July 2006.
|
- Vigorously promoting the development of social enterprises
Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG: (Translation)
That, as social enterprises can effectively achieve social objectives, including promoting community development and helping the disadvantaged, through corporate strategies and commercial operations, and they attach more importance to social values than to pursuing maximum economic benefits, this Council urges the Government to vigorously promote the development of social enterprises, with the objectives of enhancing social capabilities and establishing positive social values, by actively implementing the following measures:
| (a) | establishing the value and raising the public awareness of social enterprises through publicity and education programmes in schools and the community;
| | (b) | promoting cross-sector collaboration and developing a platform for participation in different aspects and facilitating the establishment of partnership, so that various sectors can expand the scope for collaboration in a complementary and mutually beneficial environment;
| | (c) | putting in place support services to meet the actual needs of social enterprises, including the provision of information, basic training and mentorship support, in order to enhance the social capital of the disadvantaged;
| | (d) | eliminating administrative and policy barriers which may hinder the development of social enterprises, so as to create an environment conducive to their growth; and
| | (e) | enhancing the training for the general public so as to teach them how to develop social enterprises;
| in addition, as local and overseas experience in developing social enterprises indicates that the successful ones possess such management elements as professionalism and market sensitivity, the Government and various sectors of the community should, in developing social enterprises, break away from the confines of the pure social work sector by encouraging and embracing the participation of willing and capable talents from the business sector.
|
| Amendments to motion
| | (i) | Hon CHAN Yuen-han: (Translation)
To add "Hong Kong has been stuck with the problem of structural unemployment for a long time, it is very difficult for the grassroots people to seek employment; the monopoly of consortia and the tilting of government policies towards large consortia have also deprived the grassroots workers of the opportunities to start small businesses; in addition, since" after "That, as"; to add "(a) amending the Co-operative Societies Ordinance to facilitate the setting up of social enterprises; (b) stipulating in the outsourcing contracts of government departments and public organizations that social enterprises be given priority in tender exercises;" after "implementing the following measures:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(c)"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(g)"; and to delete "break away from the confines of the pure social work sector by encouraging and embracing" after "various sectors of the community should, in developing social enterprises," and substitute with "encourage and embrace".
| | (ii) | Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG: (Translation)
To delete "and" after "with the objectives of enhancing social capabilities" and substitute with ","; to add "and introducing rules and regulations conducive to the operation of social enterprises" after "establishing positive social values"; to delete "and" after "basic training" and substitute with ","; to add "and tax concessions" after "mentorship support"; to add ", including giving priority to social enterprises when renting out spaces of the Government, public bodies or organizations providing outsourced services, and reviewing the existing legislative provisions relating to social enterprises (e.g. Co-operative Societies Ordinance)" after "so as to create an environment conducive to their growth"; to add ", including co-operative societies" after "teach them how to develop social enterprises"; and to delete "local and overseas experience in developing social enterprises indicates that the successful ones possess such management elements as professionalism and market sensitivity, the Government and various sectors of the community should, in developing social enterprises, break away from the confines of the pure social work sector by encouraging and embracing the participation of willing and capable talents from the business sector" after "in addition, as" and substitute with "the development of successful social enterprises must be capable of being sustained, and as the experience of local and overseas social enterprises indicates that dedication to the social service profession, policy support and market sensitivity are the three major indispensable elements for sustainable development, the Government, in developing social enterprises, should encourage various sectors of the community to understand and support the social objectives of social enterprises, relax the legislation on social enterprises in its business policies, formulate policies conducive to their sustainable development as well as foster their viability by concrete actions".
| | (iii) | Hon Frederick FUNG: (Translation)
To delete "putting in place support" after "(c)" and substitute with "setting up a one-stop social enterprises support services centre to provide support, training and advisory"; to add "seed money, short-term rent remission," after "including the provision of"; to add ", including formulating a government procurement policy which helps promote social enterprises and giving impetus to government departments and public organizations to outsource more service contracts to such enterprises" after "an environment conducive to their growth"; to delete "so as to teach them how" after "the general public" and substitute with "and providing courses for those who aspire to join such enterprises in order"; to delete "break away from the confines of the pure social work sector by encouraging and embracing" after "the community should, in developing social enterprises," and substitute with "encourage and embrace"; and to delete "willing and capable" after "the participation of".
| | (iv) | Hon Albert HO: (Translation)
To delete "break away from the confines of the pure social work sector by encouraging and embracing" after "in developing social enterprises," and substitute with "encourage and embrace".
Public Officer to attend : Financial Secretary
|
- Measures to combat drink driving
Hon LAU Kong-wah: (Translation)
That, as many motorists are not alert to the danger of drink driving, serious traffic accidents caused by drink driving have occurred frequently in recent years, posing a serious threat to the safety of other road users, this Council urges the Government to step up publicity and education, review the deterrent effect of existing penalties for the drink driving offence, and study amending legislation to empower the Police to conduct random roadside screening breath tests on motorists, so as to strengthen its efforts in combating drink driving and enhance motorists' alertness to the danger of drink driving, thereby reducing traffic accidents caused by drink driving and safeguarding public safety.
Amendment to motion
Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)
To delete "and" after "existing penalties for the drink driving offence,"; to add ", including drawing on the practice in other countries of suspending the driving licences of drivers on first conviction of the offence, and making it a mandatory requirement that the offenders must attend a driving improvement course to improve their driving habits, as well as to pass a driving test before driving licences are re-issued to them, and" after "study amending legislation"; and to add "stop checks on vehicles and, where there is reasonable doubt," after "to empower the Police to conduct random".
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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