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A 06/07-31
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 6 June 2007 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| 1. | Exemption from Salaries Tax (International Finance Corporation) Order | 101/2007
| | 2. | Bankruptcy Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2007 | 102/2007
| | 3. | Tax Reserve Certificates (Rate of Interest) (No.3) Notice 2007 | 103/2007
| | 4. | Financial Reporting Council Ordinance (Commencement) (No.2) Notice 2007 | 104/2007
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Other Paper
| 1. | No.94 | - | Securities and Futures Commission
Annual Report 2006-2007
| (to be presented by Financial Secretary)
| | 2. | Report of the Bills Committee on Rail Merger Bill
| | (to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
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II. Questions
1. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding Russian nationals visiting Hong Kong as tourists, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of Russian tourists who visited Hong Kong in each of the past five years, and among them, the number of those who joined a package tour to Hong Kong;
| | (b) | of the existing channels through which Russian nationals may apply for entry visas to visit Hong Kong, and the number of applications received in the past five years as well as the average processing time taken in respect of each channel; and
| | (c) | whether it will consider granting visa-free access to Russian nationals; if so, when it will be implemented; if not, the reasons for that, and the measures to further simplify the formalities for visa application and shorten the time required?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
2. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the safety of underground drainage facilities in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether currently there is a mechanism for monitoring, on a regular basis, underground drainage facilities and assessing if there is leakage; if so, of the details;
| | (b) | as the underground drainage facilities are ageing gradually, whether the Government has plans to replace or renovate the drains to prevent accidents caused by pipe leakage or burst, which endanger the safety of the public; and
| | (c) | of the details of the current responsibilities of and division of work among the relevant government departments, such as the Buildings Department, Highways Department, Water Supplies Department and Drainage Services Department, in relation to the operation and safety of underground drainage facilities?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
3. Hon Martin LEE to ask: (Translation)
The provisions of the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2006 ("Amendment Ordinance") relating to no-smoking areas have come into operation since 1 January this year. Regarding the relevant enforcement efforts, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of complaints received by the Tobacco Control Office ("TCO") of the Department of Health about the violation of the above provisions since their coming into operation, the approximate response time taken by TCO, after receiving a complaint, to conduct an inspection at the scene, the number of inspections conducted by TCO in response to complaints and the number of prosecutions instituted as a result;
| | (b) | given that a member of the public was earlier assaulted and injured as he attempted to stop customers from smoking illegally in a restaurant, of the initiatives and supporting measures taken by the Government to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, as well as to resolve the problem of the public not daring to lodge complaints or stop others from smoking illegally for fear of being treated with violence; and
| | (c) | given that the Amendment Ordinance does not stipulate that managers of no-smoking premises shall be liable for failure to stop smoking in their premises, of the measures taken by the Government to ensure that such managers will do their best to facilitate the effective implementation of the anti-smoking provisions in the relevant premises?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
4. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Government is holding discussions with the two power companies on the post-2008 regulatory arrangements. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the latest progress of the discussions with the two power companies, including the consensus reached so far, and whether the regulatory arrangements are expected to be finalized within the current year as scheduled; whether the two power companies still insist on a higher rate of permitted return and a longer period for the agreements; if so, of the measures in place to deal with the situation, and whether it will drop its related proposals made earlier;
| | (b) | whether it knows the stance of the two power companies on the entry of new electricity suppliers into the electricity market, and of the impact of their stance on the ongoing discussions; whether it will reject any proposals for offshore supply of electricity to Hong Kong in order to protect the interests of the two power companies; whether the terms of the new regulatory arrangements will apply to new electricity suppliers in the future; and
| | (c) | of the impact of the impending change of government and the reorganization of policy bureaux of the Government Secretariat on the ongoing discussions?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
5. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
On the 1st April 2000, the Executive Authorities adjusted the starting salaries of civilian and disciplined grades downwards by one to six pay points. On the basis of the findings of a survey of the starting salaries in the private sector, the Executive Authorities decided on the 15th of last month to adjust the starting salaries of some civilian grades and most disciplined grades upwards by one to five pay points. As for serving civil servants appointed on or after 1st April 2000, their salaries will be brought up to the same level as the new starting salaries if they are below the new starting salaries for the respective ranks; and their salaries will be increased by one pay point, subject to the maximum pay point of their respective ranks, if they are the same or higher than the new starting salaries for their respective ranks. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | whether members of the public have reflected to them the view that the new starting salaries for certain grades are too high or too low; if so, of the details;
| | (b) | given that serving civil servants appointed on or after 1st April 2000 will only be given an additional pay point even though their length of service is as long as seven years, whether the authorities have reviewed if this arrangement is fair to them; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities will, in the light of the length of service of these serving civil servants, review their salaries afresh; if not, of the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service
6. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that the overall planning concept of the Central Reclamation Phase III project is to provide leisure facilities for the public along the waterfront promenade in Central, and to enable the public to enjoy the view of the Victoria Harbour. Some 150 metres of the waterfront have been reserved in the area of the project for the construction of a military dock for naval vessels of the Hong Kong Garrison of the People's Liberation Army ("PLA"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it has studied the compatibility of such a military facility with the overall planning concept of the above project; if it has, of the results of the study;
| | (b) | the use of the facilities along the above waterfront promenade by the public in the future have to give way to the operation of the military dock, and whether the view of the Harbour will be blocked by structures of the military dock; if the view will be blocked, of the building height restriction for the site; whether the periphery of the military dock will be designated as a closed area; if so, whether the closed area will impede the use of facilities along the waterfront promenade by the public; and
| | (c) | it will consider discussing with the PLA Hong Kong Garrison afresh the future location of the dock?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*7. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:
According to the paper provided by the Administration for the meeting of the Panel on Education on 14 May 2007, up to the 2007-2008 school year, 54 primary schools have ceased/will cease operation under the consolidation policy, among which 33 school premises have already been / will be returned to the Government for disposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the location, size, proposed land use and estimated value of the land plots in respect of the above 33 school premises, and which of these land plots will be disposed of, temporarily allocated or leased out through short-term tenancies?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*8. Dr Hon YEUNG Sum to ask: (Translation)
The number of babies born in Hong Kong in 2003 was the lowest in recent years. As these babies will start primary school in 2008, some primary schools may be forced to cease operation due to under-enrolment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the estimated numbers of students, places and surplus places in Primary One ("P1"), as well as the supply and demand of P1 classes, in each of the three school years starting from 2008-2009; and
| | (b) | whether it will consider relaxing the existing requirement of a minimum intake of 23 students for primary schools to operate P1 classes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower
*9. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the signalling systems of the railways under the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the names, places of manufacture and costs, etc. of the signalling systems currently used by West Rail and Ma On Shan ("MOS") Rail;
| | (b) | the respective numbers of signalling failures of West Rail and MOS Rail each year which resulted in disruptions in train service since their commissioning;
| | (c) | whether KCRC has assessed if there is any possibility that signalling failures at certain sections of East Rail, West Rail or MOS Rail may result in a complete suspension of the train service of the three rail lines; if it has and the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the measures taken by KCRC to prevent this from happening;
| | (d) | whether KCRC has requested the Hong Kong Observatory to regularly provide data on lightning strikes along East Rail, West Rail and MOS Rail, so that measures can be adopted to minimize the impact of lightning strikes on the signalling systems; and
| | (e) | whether KCRC plans to unify the signalling systems currently used by East Rail, MOS Rail and West Rail, after the commissioning of Kowloon Southern Link?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*10. Hon LI Fung-ying to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that, from time to time in recent years, metal items such as roadside railings, gutter covers and cables in private buildings were stolen and sold for money. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of cases involving the theft of the above metal items in the past three years, the location, number of items, total value and penalty involved in each case, together with a breakdown by the types of items stolen; as well as the number of accidents and casualties caused to the public in such cases;
| | (b) | of the specific measures to prevent the theft of such metal items in public places, whether it will further enhance existing measures or adopt new measures in this respect; if it will, of the specific details, as well as the manpower and costs involved;
| | (c) | how the Government, power companies, tenants and landlords can make concerted efforts to prevent the theft of electrical installations in private buildings, to avoid posing danger to the tenants concerned, and of the responsibilities to be borne by individual parties;
| | (d) | of the number of cases detected by the Police in the past three years, which involved recyclable waste collectors receiving the above loots, as well as the maximum, minimum and general penalties imposed; and
| | (e) | of the measures to prevent recyclable waste collectors from inadvertently receiving the above loots?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*11. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the problems of obstruction and noise nuisance caused by unauthorized extension of shops in Kwai Fong Circuit, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in each of the past five years, of the number of complaints received by the Government about the above problems, broken down by the subject of such complaints; what clearance operations the Government had carried out regarding such complaints, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such operations; if it has, of the results of the assessment; and
| | (b) | given that the Government had successfully curbed unauthorized extension of shops in Lo Tak Court of Tsuen Wan, whether the Government will make reference to the relevant experience and measures adopted in resolving the above problems in Kwai Fong Circuit?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*12. Hon TSANG Yok-sing to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the data of the accident and emergency departments of six hospitals under the Hospital Authority showed that from July 2005 to the end of last year, there were altogether 12 poisoning cases relating to slimming medication, and the slimming medication involved in three of such cases had been purchased on the Internet. The Administration has also indicated that it will request the medication supplier to delete the relevant information from the Internet if there is a breach of regulations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that some slimming products on the market may have side effects although they do not contain Chinese or western medicine, or any illegal or harmful substances, and even though no false information is given in their trade descriptions and labels, the possible side effects are not stated clearly, of the existing measures taken by the Government to monitor the registration, contents of the labels, advertisements and sale of such products;
| | (b) | of the number of times the Government had requested persons-in-charge of auction web sites to delete from their web sites information on problematic slimming products in the past three years; whether it has examined if it is illegal for them to reject such requests; if it has, of the examination results; if it is illegal, of the number of relevant prosecutions; if it is not illegal, how the Government follows up cases in which such requests are rejected; and
| | (c) | how it steps up publicity and education to inform the public of the hazards of abusing slimming products?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*13. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question in December last year, the Government advised that the three pieces of subsidiary legislation to be made under the Merchant Shipping (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Ordinance (Cap. 413) were expected to be published in the gazette for tabling in the Legislative Council in the first half of this year, and that the Marine Department had been conducting spot checks to monitor excessive emissions of smoke from vessels. However, the Government had not conducted a study on the extent of air pollution caused by the operation of Kwai Chung Container Terminals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the latest progress in the enactment of the above subsidiary legislation;
| | (b) | of the number of spot checks conducted by the Marine Department each month and the number of cases in which the owners concerned were convicted for excessive smoke emissions by their vessels in the past three years, with a breakdown of the convicted cases by the amount of fines and offences;
| | (c) | whether, before such subsidiary legislation is enacted, the Government will consider implementing tax concessions or other concessionary measures to encourage vessel owners to use cleaner fuel;
| | (d) | whether the Government will consider providing onshore electricity supply in the smaller cargo working areas, such as the New Yau Ma Tei Public Cargo Working Area, to encourage vessels to switch to using onshore electricity while berthing, with a view to reducing air pollution caused by vessels; and
| | (e) | whether it will consider conducting a study on the extent of air pollution caused by the operation of Kwai Chung Container Terminals?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
*14. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower to my question at the Legislative Council meeting on 18 April this year on the provision of private consultation service by the Faculties of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, will the Government provide, in table form, this Council with the following information on the use of the income generated from the provision of private consultation service by various departments under the above Faculties of Medicine in the past five financial years:
| (a) | in relation to academic researches, of the names of the relevant research projects, the amounts of money involved and names of the teaching staff in charge;
| | (b) | in relation to attending overseas seminars, of the names and venues of the seminars concerned, the amounts of subsidies, the names of the attending teaching staff, as well as whether subsidies were granted to the accompanying personnel, including family members of the teaching staff; if so, of the amounts of such subsidies; and
| | (c) | in relation to other professional development purposes, of the relevant purposes and amounts involved?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower
*15. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
Regarding Internet or computer-related crimes ("technology crimes"), will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has studied the reasons for the upward trend in the number of technology crimes in recent years; if it has, of the results of the study and the measures to curb such a trend; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | of the number of reported cases and detection rate of technology crimes in the past three years; how this detection rate compares to those of other types of crimes, and the relevant reasons therefor;
| | (c) | of the number of law enforcement officers responsible for investigating technology crimes, their turnover rate in the past three years, and whether it has assessed the impact of manpower in this respect on the detection rate;
| | (d) | of the number of law enforcement officers who have participated in the Computer Forensics Certification Course organized by the Hong Kong Police Force ("HKP") since 2005; whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the course; if it has, of the criteria adopted in making and the results of such an assessment; if not, the reasons for that; whether there are measures to encourage law enforcement officers to participate in the course; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (e) | of the channels through which the Technology Crime Prevention Unit of HKP educate the public on the measures to prevent technology crimes?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*16. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that although compact fluorescent lamps ("CFLs") are more energy efficient than conventional tungsten light bulbs, they contain heavy metals and, if disposed of improperly and casually discarded at landfills, will contaminate the land and underground water. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of waste CFLs generated within the Government last year; how the Government disposed of such CFLs, and among them, the respective numbers of CFLs collected separately and transported to the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre on Tsing Yi Island and those delivered to landfills;
| | (b) | whether it will study how to recover and dispose of waste CFLs and establish a proper recovery system; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether it will step up publicity efforts to educate the public on how to dispose of waste CFLs properly?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
*17. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
As tenants of Housing for Senior Citizens ("HSC") units provided for elderly singletons have to share the use of kitchens and toilets, the vacancy rate of such units has remained on the high side. In view of this, the Housing Authority lifted the age limit for these units in 2001. I have learnt that conflicts often arise between younger and elderly tenants because of different living habits. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of HSC units at the end of each of the past three years which had been left vacant for three months or more;
| | (b) | of the number of HSC units allocated by the Housing Department to applicants on the Waiting List in each of the past three years, and the age distribution of the persons being allocated such units; and
| | (c) | whether it will restore the age limit for HSC units; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*18. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
On 25 April this year, the Financial Secretary said in reply to my question that the Administration was considering possible options for implementing a trial scheme to facilitate social enterprises ("SEs") employing able-bodied unemployed persons to participate in the public procurement process in the direction of identifying new businesses where SEs would have a relative competitive edge (e.g. delivery of personal care services to other disadvantaged groups). The Government had also collected information from the Education and Manpower Bureau, the Labour Department, the Home Affairs Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Hospital Authority and the Social Welfare Department about the contracts known to involve procurement of goods and services from SEs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | further details of the above-mentioned trial scheme, including the responsible departments, the latest progress, expected implementation time and work schedule, as well as the estimated number of beneficiaries and the effectiveness in alleviating poverty;
| | (b) | the number of government contracts which involve the delivery of personal care services to other disadvantaged groups and the contract value involved, as well as the other businesses where SEs are relatively more competitive;
| | (c) | details of the efforts to promote the values and potentials of SEs within the Government, in particular to those responsible for public procurement, including the progress of the work, the policy bureaux and government departments to which the promotional efforts have been directed, the types of goods and services promoted, and the methods and timetable for promotional efforts; and
| | (d) | detailed information from the above-mentioned bureau and departments about the contracts known to involve procurement of goods and services from SEs, including the types, quantities or times of the goods and services procured, and whether they include goods and services which have obtained organic, environment-friendly or fair trade certifications, the estimated number of beneficiaries and the effectiveness in alleviating poverty; and whether it will consider collecting information in this regard from all government departments?
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Public Officer to reply : Financial Secretary
*19. Hon Martin LEE to ask: (Translation)
Information from the Correctional Services Department ("CSD") indicates that some CSD officers went to Thailand earlier to attend a Supervisory Criminal Investigator Course, which was conducted by the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok of Thailand. The content of the course covers criminal investigation techniques, anti-transnational crime tactics, crime scene management and evidence collection techniques, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following in the past three years:
| (a) | the number and ranks of CSD officers who attended the above course, the total public expenditure incurred, and the programme and subhead of expenditure in CSD's Estimates under which provision was made for such expenditure;
| | (b) | how the duties of those CSD officers who attended the course relate to criminal investigation techniques, anti-transnational crime tactics, crime scene management and evidence collection techniques; and
| | (c) | whether any CSD officers have been sponsored by CSD to attend courses which do not relate to prison management, prisoner rehabilitation and the correctional services industry; if so, of the names of the courses, the number and ranks of officers involved, and the total public expenditure incurred?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*20. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government:
| (a) | set out by groups each of two years and gender:
| | (i) | the average body weight of new-born babies in the past 20 years, and the respective percentages of underweight and overweight babies in the total number of new-born babies during the period;
| | (ii) | the average body weight of children under the age of two in the past 10 years, and the percentage of overweight children in the total number of children during the period; and
| | (b) | set out the respective percentages of overweight pre-school children and primary school pupils in the respective total numbers of these two groups of children according to the results of the most recent survey, and how these percentages compare to the results of the preceding two similar surveys?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*For written reply.
III. Bills
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| Rail Merger Bill | : | Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works
Secretary for Constitutional Affairs |
IV. Members' Motions
- Commission on Children
Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG: (Translation)
That this Council urges the Government to set up a Commission on Children to fulfill the obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, safeguard the well-being of children, and ensure that children's perspectives are fully taken into account in the process of formulating government policies.
| Public Officer to attend | : | Secretary for Economic Development and Labour
(in the absence of Secretary for Home Affairs) |
- Concern about students with special educational needs
Hon Bernard CHAN: (Translation)
That, as integrated education in Hong Kong is currently implemented by a whole-school approach, and as some schools do not have sufficient complementary facilities and adequate training for frontline teachers, and they have to take care of too many types of students with special needs, the result achieved is not proportionate to the efforts made; for example, although some autistic students have excellent learning abilities, not only do they fail to exploit their strengths in class, their social adjustment and communication difficulties also make it difficult for teachers to deal with their behaviour, emotions and discipline in class, this Council urges the Government to deploy more resources to mainstream schools which admit students with special educational needs, so as to consolidate the foundation of such students for learning and help them integrate into mainstream education as soon as possible.
| Public Officer to attend | : | Secretary for the Civil Service
(in the absence of Secretary for Education and Manpower) |
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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