A 10/11-13

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 12 January 2011 at 11:00 am



I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Minimum Wage (Criteria for Approved Assessors) Notice1/2011
2.Minimum Wage (Assessment Methods) Notice2/2011

Other Papers

1.No. 56-Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications Annual Report 2009-2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

2.No. 57-Report on the Administration of the Fire Services Department Welfare Fund together with the Director of Audit's report and audited statement of accounts for the year ended 31 March 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Security)

3.Report No. 10/10-11 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)

II. Questions

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

At the meeting of the Panel on Welfare Services of the Legislative Council held on 18 December 2010, the Government indicated that "t[T]he Central Policy Unit ("CPU") is studying the sustainability of the existing retirement protection model". However, according to records, an expert panel had been formed under CPU as early as in July 2004 to conduct studies on the subject, and CPU had received the preliminary findings of the studies in 2007 and 2008. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the details of the aforesaid preliminary findings of the studies;

    (b)why it has not published the aforesaid preliminary findings of the studies; and

    (c)given that the aforesaid studies have been conducted for more than six years, when the authorities expect the studies will be completed?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

    2. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask:     (Translation)

    It has been reported that two horrifying family tragedies happened in September last year. An elderly man living in Shatin, who allegedly could not bear seeing his wife suffer from the pain of cancer, strangled his wife to death and then jumped to his death from a building after an unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide together with his wife by burning charcoal. Another case happened in Tseung Kwan O where a woman, who also allegedly could not bear to see her elderly spouse suffer from illness, suffocated her husband to death with a pillow before jumping to her death from a building. Moreover, it had also been reported last year that an elderly couple in Tai Hang Sai Estate in Shek Kip Mei and a 60-year-old singleton elder in Lei Muk Shue Estate in Kwai Chung laid dead at their homes for several days before they were found. Regarding the aforesaid incidents about the "hidden elderly", will the Government inform this Council whether:
      (a)it knows at present the total number of social workers working in elderly centres throughout the territory who are dedicated to serving the "hidden elderly"; whether such dedicated social workers have to concurrently attend to other services in the elderly centres; of the total number of the "hidden elderly" identified by these social workers on their own initiative in each of the past five years;

      (b)the Government will consider using the surplus of the Lotteries Fund or providing other additional resources so as to enhance the services for identifying and supporting the "hidden elderly"; and

      (c)the Government will review the existing elderly care policy in view of the problem of the "hidden elderly"?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

    3. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask:     (Translation)

    In late October 2010, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority suddenly announced that the annual quota of eight billion Renminbi ("RMB") yuan for conversion of RMB of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, which is the sole Clearing Bank for RMB Business in Hong Kong, has been fully depleted, and individual banks need to make use of their own positions to settle trade transactions for customers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)whether the authorities will discuss with the People's Bank of China the review of and increase in the annual quota for RMB conversion, and propose to include other financial institutions in the list of Clearing Banks for RMB Business, so as to further strengthen Hong Kong's role as an offshore RMB centre;

      (b)given that it has been reported that with the continuous growth in RMB trade settlement, coupled with the anticipated appreciation of RMB, the volume of RMB funds have been accumulating in overseas markets, whether the authorities will expedite the issue of RMB stocks in Hong Kong and urge the central authorities to expedite the launch of the small-scale Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors Scheme to make Hong Kong a platform to pool overseas RMB funds; and

      (c)given that the United States ("US") has continued to adopt monetary easing policies and the RMB exchange rate has been hitting new highs, resulting in continuous inflow of hot money into Hong Kong and further aggravation of inflation, whether the Government will review its existing monetary relations with the State and US?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

    4. Hon KAM Nai-wai to ask:     (Translation)

    It has been reported that the Government, without consulting the public, constructed a planter at the through zone outside the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("the Liaison Office") in May 2002, thereby reducing the width of the original through zone from 9 metres to 3 metres. This narrowed through zone does not meet the minimum width standard of 4.5 metres for through zones of land uses of "government, institution or community facilities", recommended by the authorities in the Transport Planning and Design Manual updated in 2008. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)whether the Government will plan to alter and reduce or remove the planter at the through zone on Connaught Road West outside the Liaison Office so as to provide for a demonstration and press area outside the Liaison Office to facilitate the expression of opinions by members of the public; if it will, of the related arrangements; if not, how the Government will improve the space of the through zone outside the Liaison Office to enable members of the public to express their opinions orderly and safely;

      (b)of the number of petitions or demonstrations staged outside the Liaison Office in the past three years, the respective numbers of participants as estimated by the Police and the police officers deployed in each of these petitions or demonstrations, the largest and smallest numbers of participants among these petitions/ demonstrations, as well as the largest number of police officers deployed among these petitions/demonstrations (set out the aforesaid figures in table format); the number of times that the Police had prosecuted those who had staged petitions or demonstrations outside the Liaison Office in the past three years; whether the Police have assessed if excessive police manpower will trigger negative emotions among the protesters; and

      (c)whether the Government will alter the through zone outside the Liaison Office so that the width of the zone can meet the planning standard as recommended by the authorities?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

    5. Ir Dr Hon Raymond HO to ask:     (Translation)

    The registration arrangement for contractors introduced by the Government for minor works has been implemented since 30 December 2009. Some members of the trade pointed out that the Government was slow in vetting and approving applications for registration of minor works contractors. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)whether the relevant experience of the electrical and mechanical professionals and technicians in the electrical and mechanical engineering professions will be recognized as the working experience required for attending the Technically Competent Person T1 Training Course organized by the Construction Industry Council Training Academy when they enrol in the course; if not, of the reasons for that;

      (b)whether the qualifications of practitioners in electrical and mechanical works and those in the construction industry will similarly be recognized under the registration arrangement for contractors in the minor works control system; if not, of the reasons for that; and

      (c)of the details of the existing procedures for registration of minor works contractors; whether the Government will consider reviewing the existing registration system again so as to further expedite the vetting and approving process to facilitate the smooth implementation of the minor works control system?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

    6. Hon Emily LAU to ask:     (Translation)

    At the Third Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress held in March 2010 when the Premier of the State Council presented the Report on the Work of the Government, he stated that the State would "create conditions for the people to criticize and oversee the government, let the news media fully play their oversight role, and exercise power openly". Yet, Hong Kong journalists, while covering news on the Mainland in recent years, have been obstructed and treated rudely on many occasions. Some Hong Kong television reporters, while covering news in Xinjiang, were assaulted, handcuffed and detained by law enforcement officers, and were even slanderously accused by the local information office of inciting disturbance and violating the rules on news coverage; another Hong Kong television reporter covering news in Sichuan was alleged by law enforcement officers of suspected possession of drugs and prohibited from going out. In December 2010, while covering news in Beijing on a case concerning a human rights activist on the Mainland, a Hong Kong reporter was even slapped and objects were hurled at a photographer. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
      (a)what actions the Government has taken to follow up the aforesaid incidents and other incidents concerning Hong Kong journalists being treated rudely, and the details of these follow-up actions;

      (b)whether they have requested the mainland authorities to investigate the aforesaid incidents; if they have, whether they know the progress and expected completion date of the investigation, as well as whether the investigation outcome will be released; and

      (c)whether they will convey to the mainland authorities the views of Members of this Council and some members of the public that it is the duty of the mainland authorities to protect the rights of the press in Hong Kong to conduct reporting activities on the Mainland, and whether they will urge the mainland authorities to ensure that Hong Kong journalists will not be treated rudely while conducting reporting activities?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

    *7. Hon Alan LEONG to ask:     (Translation)

    Since the Nam Sang Wai development project was approved by the Town Planning Board ("TPB") in 1996, development works have not yet commenced. In the meantime, public awareness of conservation of the environment and ecology has been raised. The Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499) was implemented in 1998 followed by the issuance of TPB Guidelines concerning the planning in Deep Bay Wetland Conservation Area in 1999. TPB has also introduced the "no-net-loss on wetland" principle for considering development proposals in order to protect the wetlands and fish ponds in areas around Lut Chau. Yet, there are comments that as the developer had applied for three times in 2001, 2004 and 2007 respectively and was approved each time to extend the time for commencement of Nam Sang Wai development project, and statutory regulations which were enacted after the approval of the lay-out plan of the project in 1994 do not have any retrospective effect on the project, the project is therefore not required to undergo the existing statutory Environmental Impact Assessment process, hence the current conservation standard cannot be reflected in the project. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)given that the developer only holds less than 80% of the land for the Nam Sang Wai development project, and it needs to obtain the remaining some 20% of land by means of land exchange with the Government in order to commence the project, whether the Bureau concerned will approve the exchange of land; if it will, of the conditions to be imposed;

      (b)whether it knows the respective justifications for TPB to approve the previous three applications for extending the time for commencement of the Nam Sang Wai project;

      (c)whether it knows, in the past five years, the total number of projects approved by TPB for which application for extension of the time for commencement had been made for more than once; the percentage of such number in the total number of projects for which applications for such extension had been made; whether TPB will issue new guidelines to prohibit automatic extension of the validity period of the lay-out plans of development projects after approval is given to extend the time for their commencement; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

      (d)whether the Bureau concerned will review the planning in the New Territories to focus on the development of the "brownfield" sites which have already been damaged in order to preserve wetlands and farmlands from destruction; if it will, of the timetable for the review; if not, the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

    *8. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask:     (Translation)

    In the early morning of 6 December 2010, an arson attack occurred at Fa Yuen Street in Mongkok, causing a Number 3 alarm fire, in which 50 hawker stalls were burnt down and some neighboring shops and residents living upstairs were affected. The fire has caused serious damages to neighbouring buildings and ground floor shops. Owners of open-air stalls have lost all their properties and goods, and their businesses have been seriously affected. The affected stall owners, flat owners, tenants, residents and owners' corporations ("OCs"), etc. have to face heavy financial burden after the fire as they need to repair their residential units and shops urgently. Some fire victims have indicated that as most residents and stall owners in the district are elderly persons, the grassroots or traders running small businesses, they have considerable difficulties in paying for the huge expenses in repairing and re-establishing their businesses within a short time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)what financial support or assistance have been provided by the authorities to the affected stall owners and tenants of ground floor shops since the outbreak of fire at Fa Yuen Street; and given that traders have no money to purchase goods for sale again and owners have no money to repair their homes, whether the authorities will provide subsidies or interest-free loans to them;

      (b)whether the authorities will request the Urban Renewal Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society to, under the Operation Building Bright and the Building Management and Maintenance Scheme, etc., provide express vetting service as a matter of urgency to buildings (with or without OCs) suffering serious damages in this fire, so that OCs and flat owners of these buildings will receive subsidies to repair all damaged public areas and private residential areas of the buildings as soon as possible;

      (c)whether the authorities will consider asking the Community Care Fund Steering Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration, to examine allocating funds raised from the business sector to provide emergency assistance to the fire victims, in case the current assistance schemes cannot offer help to these victims; and

      (d)given that there are comments that this fire has highlighted the problems of fire safety, management and security arising from the concentration of a large number of open-air hawker stalls on the same street, whether the authorities will learn from this lesson and take effective measures to enhance the fire safety of streets with a large number of open-air hawker stalls in various districts in Hong Kong, so as to prevent recurrence of fire?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

    *9. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask:     (Translation)

    Since December 2009, the insurance courses in the Government's Skills Upgrading Scheme have been taken over by the Employees Retraining Board ("ERB"). There is information indicating that before ERB took over the courses, the number of classes for insurance courses had to be reduced because of the imminent exhaustion of the resources allocated for organizing such courses, thus causing enrolment to drop from some 1 800 for the period between April and September 2008 to 148 for the period between October 2009 and March 2010. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the situation of classes convened for insurance courses since ERB has taken over them, whether enrolment has rebounded and whether the authorities can ensure sufficient places for insurance practitioners and members of the public who are interested in joining the industry to enrol;

      (b)whether the authorities have assessed the effectiveness and benefits of the aforesaid courses (including whether such courses could achieve the objective of enhancing incumbent insurance practitioners' actual working skills apart from allowing them to apply for Continuing Professional Development credits after completing the courses); and

      (c)whether the authorities have assessed how many trainees, who are interested in developing a career in the insurance industry, had joined the insurance industry after completing the aforesaid courses in the past three years, and whether the authorities have offered them assistance?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

    *10. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask:     (Translation)

    It has been reported that incidents of dogs killed by poisoned meat occurred from time to time at Bowen Road in Mid-Levels, and more than 100 dogs have been fatally poisoned so far. Recently, some members of the public have found poisoned baits again in the vicinity of the aforesaid area, indicating that the problem has not yet been solved. In view of the suspected wilful poisoning of and cruelty to dogs, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the number of cases the Government received in the past four years on dogs fatally poisoned or poisoned meat found in the vicinity of Bowen Road; whether it had followed up on these cases; if so, of the details and results; if not, the reasons for that;

      (b)given that it has been reported that most of the dogs fatally poisoned in the aforesaid area had owners, whether the Government has stepped up publicity among the dog owners in that area in view of the above incidents, so as to raise their concern and awareness of fatal poisoning of dogs, and to inform them what they should do if they encounter such situations; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

      (c)whether the Government will consider stepping up patrol in the aforesaid area and other popular locations for walking dogs, so as to prevent the law-breakers from continuing to fatally poison dogs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

      (d)in view of the fatal poisoning of dogs or other serious infringement of animals' rights and safety, whether the Government will consider reviewing the existing legislation and law enforcement guidelines on protection of animals' rights, so as to achieve greater deterrent effect; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

    *11. Hon Audrey EU to ask:     (Translation)

    Some environmental groups have pointed out that as only three species of shark are at present protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, more than a hundred shark species and closely related species included by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in its Red List of Threatened Species may still face the danger of extinction due to overfishing. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the number of banquets and dining parties the Government hosted at public expenses last year, the amount involved, and the number of such banquets in which the menu included shark's fin, with a breakdown by government department;

      (b)whether the various government departments had formulated guidelines on suspending the consumption of shark's fin in banquets hosted at public expenses in the past five years; if not, whether they will consider formulating such guidelines; and

      (c)whether last year the Government had educated members of the public and promoted the message of reducing consumption of shark's fin in order to safeguard the ecological balance; if it had, of the resources devoted in this regard; if not, the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

    *12. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask:     (Translation)

    Since 2009, the Government has, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Housing Society ("HKHS") and the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA"), launched the $2.5-billion "Operation Building Bright" ("the Operation") to help owners of old buildings to carry out repair and maintenance works. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the respective numbers of applications the authorities have received in the first round of the Operation (application deadline fell on 6 June 2009) and the second round (application deadline fell on 24 December 2010) for Category 1 target buildings (i.e. buildings with owners' corporations ("OCs") established); among the applications received in these two rounds, the respective numbers of those which meet the eligibility criteria or have not been withdrawn by the applicants, and the respective numbers of those which have been granted "approval-in-principle";

      (b)of the total number of buildings selected by the authorities as Category 2 target buildings under the Operation (i.e. buildings having difficulties in coordinating repair works, and with structural safety problems and defective sanitary facilities) as at the end of December 2010, and among these buildings, the number of those which need the Buildings Department to arrange their repair works, and the number of those for which the repair works have been organized/will be organized by the owners/OCs themselves;

      (c)of the total number of buildings involved in the cases under Category 1 and Category 2 target buildings in (a) and (b); as at to date, among these buildings, the respective numbers for which the repair works have been completed in the first and second rounds, are being carried out or are under preparation, and those the applications in respect of which are still being processed; among the approved cases, the largest, smallest and average amounts of grants for consultancy fees and for the works to be granted as estimated by the authorities, and the differences between such estimates and the original estimates as assessed by the authorities;

      (d)among the cases in (c) where repair works have been approved, of the respective numbers of Authorized Persons ("APs") and contractors involved; the respective percentages of these numbers in the total numbers of APs and contractors in the market; among these APs and contractors, the respective numbers of those who have been included in the approved lists of HKHS or URA;

      (e)as at the end of December 2010, of the respective numbers of target buildings the applications in respect of which have been approved by HKHS and URA, and the consultancy fees and costs of works involved, the respective amounts of grants for repair works that have been released for target buildings by HKHS and URA, and the respective percentages of these amounts in the total fundings for HKHS and URA under the Operation; and

      (f)among the repair works that have been or are being carried out under the Operation, whether the authorities have identified any cases of suspected irregularities; if they have, of the number of such cases with a breakdown by type; the total number of such cases in which the authorities have issued notices and demanded rectifications; the number of such cases that have been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption for follow-up; and the number of OCs that have decided to terminate their contracts with the consultants involved in irregularities?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

    *13. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask:     (Translation)

    It has been reported that public libraries had made little effort in recovering overdue fines for late return of books and their accounts were messy. A member of the public also claimed that although she had already returned the book she borrowed, this was not recorded in the computer system of the public library concerned and, as a result, she was asked by the library to pay a fine for late return of the book. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the amount of fines recorded for late return of books in each of the past three years, and among such fines, the amount yet to be recovered to date;

      (b)what mechanism the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") has put in place for recovering overdue fines for late return of books;

      (c)of the details of the arrangement for conducting regular inventory checks of library materials, and of the measures in place to ensure the accuracy of readers' loan records; and

      (d)given that public libraries in general have bookdrops installed near the entrances to facilitate readers to return books when the libraries are closed or after the library opening hours, and that some books were found to be missing earlier, apart from installing closed-circuit televisions near the bookdrops, what other measures LCSD has put in place to enhance safety in order to prevent theft of books?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

    *14. Hon Paul CHAN to ask:     (Translation)

    From time to time in recent years, there have been cases in which students or persons with intellectual disability ("ID") were left inside school buses or coaches. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the number of reported cases that the authorities had received in the past five years on suspected violation of the Guidelines for Ensuring Safety of Students on Student Service Vehicles ("the Guidelines") issued by the Transport Department ("TD") and, among these cases, the number of substantiated cases; how these reported cases have been followed up and the results;

      (b)given that the Guidelines are at present of an advisory nature and do not require schools to report cases of suspected violation of the Guidelines, whether the authorities will consider further refining the Guidelines, including requiring schools to report cases of suspected violation of the Guidelines and even rendering the Guidelines to have legal effect; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

      (c)of the number of cases the authorities had received in the past five years that involved persons with ID being left inside coaches; whether the authorities have any mechanism in place to follow up such cases; if they have, of the details of the follow-up results; if not, the reasons for that, and how the authorities prevent the recurrence of similar incidents; and

      (d)whether the authorities will consider organizing training courses through TD or training institutes, and requiring drivers and escorts of school buses and coaches to attend such courses, so as to raise their safety awareness; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

    *15. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask:     (Translation)

    Regarding section 39E of the Inland Revenue Ordinance ("IRO") (Cap. 112) ("section 39E"), will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)given that the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury ("SFST") indicated in his reply to my question on 24 November 2010 that "according to our understanding, in the course of upgrading and restructuring the processing trade in the Mainland, considerable Hong Kong enterprises have opted to transfer the title of their machinery and plant to the newly established Mainland enterprises as capital injection", and SFST also indicated on 8 December of the same year that the authorities learnt about this situation from the relevant authorities of the Guangdong Province, yet the relevant authorities of the Guangdong Province did not have data that indicated the number of "considerable Hong Kong enterprises", which mainland authorities are actually referred to as "relevant authorities of the Guangdong Province", when SFST asked them for such information, together with copies of the relevant correspondences and information documents; in the absence of support by actual data, how the Government proves whether the views of the "relevant authorities of the Guangdong Province" are correct;

      (b)given that the Joint Liaison Committee on Taxation ("JLCT") recommended in its review report to amend the definition related to "lease" in section 2 of IRO, why the Government refuses to accept such recommendation;

      (c)whether it has assessed if it is too loose an interpretation for the Inland Revenue Department ("IRD") to indicate that the definition related to "lease" in section 2 of IRO covers the situation of Hong Kong enterprises making available their machinery and plant for use by mainland enterprises free of charge under "import processing"; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will make such an assessment;

      (d)given that the review report of JLCT pointed out that when section 39E was amended in 1992, the situation in which Hong Kong enterprises made available their machinery and plant for use by mainland enterprises free of charge under "import processing" was not prevalent, and therefore the amendments to section 39E at that time were not aimed at handling this situation, whether the Government has assessed if this view is substantiated; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will make such an assessment;

      (e)given that SFST indicated on 24 November 2010 that JLCT had not proposed effective measures to plug possible tax avoidance loopholes, whether SFST is responsible for studying how possible tax avoidance loopholes can effectively be pluged; if so, why SFST has not proposed any measure; if not, of the work for which SFST is responsible in respect of section 39E;

      (f)given that SFST also indicated on 24 November 2010 that "we are worried that if we accede to the request of some enterprises and provide depreciation allowances in Hong Kong for such machinery and plant, we may be perceived as encouraging transfer pricing so as to avoid any perception that we are acting in violation of the 'arm's length principle', and that we are in a way encouraging transfer pricing arrangements disapproved by the tax authorities around the world", whether there were other commercial activities that had aroused similar concerns about transfer pricing in the past three years; if so, of such commercial activities, and how the Government handled them;

      (g)whether it has assessed if there are similarities between the cost effectiveness resulting from the amendments to section 39E and losses in tax revenue claimed by the Government, and the cost effectiveness and losses in tax revenue resulting respectively from the abolition of estate duty and profits tax from offshore funds in 2006 and the abolition of duty on wine in 2008 by the Government; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will make such an assessment;

      (h)given that the Government announced in the 2010-2011 Budget a series of measures to broaden tax relief and amend the tax legislation in order to develop the financial business, including the measures to "extend the stamp duty concession in respect of the trading of exchange traded funds", "amend the provisions under the Inland Revenue Ordinance that require such debt instruments to be issued to the public in Hong Kong" "to better meet market requirements", "further clarify the definition of 'central management and control' to address the industry's concern about the residency requirement for directors of the management committee of offshore funds in their applications for profits tax exemption" by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue ("the Commissioner"), and "update the lists of recognized stock exchanges and futures exchanges under the Inland Revenue Ordinance so as to extend the application of tax exemption for offshore funds engaged in futures trading", whether the Government has assessed if there are similarities between the cost effectiveness to commerce and industry generated by the amendments to section 39E and the cost effectiveness generated respectively by the aforesaid relief measures; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will make such an assessment;

      (i)given that SFST indicated in his reply to my question on 27 October 2010 that at the hearing of the case of the Board of Review ("BoR") with reference no. D61/08, the Commissioner was represented by a barrister appointed by the Department of Justice ("DoJ"), demonstrating that the implementation of section 39E by IRD is in accordance with the legislation, whether the Government has assessed if the fact that the Commissioner was represented by a barrister appointed by DoJ at the hearing equals to the fact that the current interpretation of section 39E is recognized by the independent legal opinion of DoJ; if the outcome of the assessment is in the affirmative, of the reasons for that; if the outcome of the assessment is in the negative, why SFST made such a reply;

      (j)given that SFST indicated on 27 October 2010 that BoR had pointed out in its written decision on the case with reference no. D61/08 that section 39E had not stipulated that there should be "an intention to avoid tax" for the application of the provision, however, according to section 19 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1), an Ordinance "shall receive such fair, large and liberal construction and interpretation as will best ensure the attainment of the object of the Ordinance according to its true intent, meaning and spirit", whether the Government has assessed if the aforesaid interpretation of section 39E by BoR is inconsistent with the principle adopted by the court in the construction of legislation; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will make such an assessment; and

      (k)given that the Chief Executive indicated at the Question and Answer Session of this Council on 13 July 2010 that he expected me to follow up the issue of section 39E with SFST and the Financial Secretary ("FS"), whether SFST has discussed this issue with FS and consulted his opinion; if SFST has done so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

    An environmental concern group recently took 18 samples of the vegetables and fruits on sale in local supermarkets for tests, and the result was that 38 different kinds of pesticide residues were detected in these samples, some of which even contained highly toxic pesticide residues. The Government stated in its paper to this Council in November 2010 that it would enact legislation, and was "further refining the proposed regulatory framework for pesticide residues in food, and setting statutory maximum residue limits for different kinds of food involving about 400 pesticides". The authorities also proposed to develop a list of "exempted substances". In addition, under the Directive (2009/128/EC) of the European Union ("EU") on establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides, individual Member States of the European Union are required to set quantitative objectives, specific measures and timetables accordingly to reduce risks and impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the anticipated time for introducing the aforesaid bill into the Legislative Council for scrutiny;

      (b)whether the authorities had studied in the past three years if the effects of mixed pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits which contain more than one type of pesticide residue would exceed the aggregation of the individual effects of such pesticide residues; if they had conducted such a study, of the outcome; how the Government will regulate the level of pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits which contain more than one type of pesticide residue;

      (c)of the names of the 400 pesticides which the Government intends to regulate;

      (d)of the number of the types of the exempted substances to be proposed, together with a list of the names of such substances; and

      (e)whether it will follow the approach of EU by requiring local registered vegetable farms and those on the Mainland which supply vegetables to Hong Kong to reduce using pesticides; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

    *17. Hon Miriam LAU to ask:     (Translation)

    According to a government press release, in November last year, the Police arrested 48 people suspected of making fraudulent claims of Traffic Accident Victims Assistance ("TAVA"). Those involved in the cases claimed that they had sustained twisting injuries of various degrees of severity in traffic accidents. After obtaining the sick leave certificates, they submitted falsified information to the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") to obtain TAVA by deception, which involved more than $2 million in public money. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the total amount of TAVA paid out under the Traffic Accident Victims (Assistance Fund) Ordinance (Cap. 229) ("the Ordinance") to road traffic accident victims or dependants of deceased victims in the past five years; among these cases, of the number of cases in which the recipients were prosecuted for allegedly making fraudulent claims of TAVA, the amount of money involved in such cases, the number of cases in which the people involved were convicted and their penalties;

      (b)to ensure that TAVA can help those who are genuinely in need, of the measures that the authorities have in place to combat fraudulent claims of TAVA by law-breakers; targeting specially at dishonest behaviour of submitting falsified information to SWD after obtaining sick leave certificates, whether the authorities will establish a task force in collaboration with the Hospital Authority, SWD and other relevant government departments to review the current system for providing TAVA, including the means for strengthening the vetting of sick leave certificates and information provided by applicants to SWD, etc.;

      (c)given that some members of the public have pointed out that the financial assistance offered under the TAVA Scheme (implemented in accordance with the Ordinance) is non-means tested and does not take into account the element of fault leading to the accident, and this may give law-breakers opportunities to obtain TAVA by deception, whether the authorities will consider reviewing the eligibility requirements for the TAVA Scheme; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

      (d)whether the authorities will consider imposing heavier penalties on offences of fraud or conspiracy to defraud on TAVA so as to enhance deterrent effect, and stepping up publicity to urge the public not to commit such an offence out of momentary greed; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

    *18. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

    A large number of plans referred in various Ordinances of the Hong Kong SAR ("Ordinances") are deposited in the Land Registry ("LR") and open for public inspection. While all Ordinances can now be viewed online using the Bilingual Laws Information System ("BLIS") of the Department of Justice, such plans are not available on BLIS and members of the public need to make an appointment to visit LR in person in order to inspect them. Moreover, while members of the public may purchase the copies of some of these plans from the Government, they cannot do so for other plans or make copies of them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)of the short titles of all the Ordinances under which plans are required to be deposited in LR, whether copies of such plans are available for public sale or by special order, or whether copying of the plans is prohibited, and set out the information in the following table format;

      Chapter and short title of Ordinance under which plan(s) is/are required to be deposited in the Land Registry Copies of plan(s) available for public sale and location(s) of sales points Copies of plan(s) available by special order Copying of plan(s) prohibited





      (b)why copying of some of the plans in (a) is prohibited;

      (c)whether any plans deposited in LR under the Ordinances in (a) had been found lost in the past five years; if so, of the titles of such lost plans; and

      (d)whether the Government will take the opportunity of the implementation of a verified, authenticated and searchable electronic database of Hong Kong legislation, for which funding was approved by the Finance Committee of this Council on 14 May 2010, to make the plans in (a) available online and/or provide information on how to purchase copies of all those plans which are available for sale?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

    *19. Hon IP Wai-ming to ask:     (Translation)

    In order to complement the development of new towns and tie in with the transport policy of using railway as the backbone in the long-run, several railway lines have been commissioned in recent years in Hong Kong to serve residents in remote areas. Yet, quite a number of residents have relayed that in respect of some railway lines, train frequency is low, the train compartments are crowded with insufficient seats and, as a result, they find it inconvenient to take a long-distance train ride. Besides, the surveys conducted by some groups have indicated that 80% of the cases of women being sexually harassed on public transport occurred inside MTR train compartments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)whether it knows the respective frequency, number of cars, patronage, occupancy rate and number of seats of the trains on various railway lines at different time slots (set out in the table below);

      Railway line East Rail Line West Rail Line Tung Chung Line Ma On Shan Line Tseung Kwan O Line Light Rail
      Peak hour frequency





      Off-peak frequency





      Design capacity of the line





      Current average daily patronage





      Current average peak hour occupancy rate





      Current average off-peak occupancy rate





      Number of cars





      Number of train seats






      (b)whether at present the authorities have a set of assessment criteria or an assessment mechanism requiring the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") to make improvement to the lines on which train compartments are crowded because of a high occupancy rate (e.g., requiring MTRCL to increase train frequencies and the number of cars), so as to alleviate such situation;

      (c)given that the number of cars of the trains on the Ma On Shan Line and West Rail Line has not yet reached its maximum, whether the authorities will request MTRCL to increase the number of cars of the trains on these lines as soon as possible in order to complement the future development of the new towns along the lines and cope with the increasing population in the districts;

      (d)given that there is an upward trend in the number of cases of indecent assault and sexual harassment occurring in the compartments of MTR trains, and that female passengers are more likely to fall victim in crowded train compartments during peak hours, whether the authorities will urge MTRCL to introduce women-only compartments for rush hours as soon as possible to reduce such sex crimes; if not, of the reasons for that; and

      (e)given that in recent years, MTRCL have removed some seats in the train compartments and replaced them with additional handrails and perch seats in order to create more multi-purpose space inside the compartments, whether it knows the total number of seats removed by MTRCL from the trains of various railway lines since the implementation of the scheme and the number of cars involved; whether passengers had been consulted before the conversion scheme was conducted on various railway lines, and whether MTRCL will continue to implement the scheme in the future?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

    Recently, quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me that they are worried that more members of the public in Hong Kong will be affected by the nuisance caused by aircraft noise upon the construction of the third runway of the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      (a)whether the authorities have completed the feasibility study on the construction of the third runway; if so, of the details of the study report; if not, the reasons for that;

      (b)whether it has assessed if the commissioning of the third runway will aggravate the aircraft noise problem in Tung Chung, Ma Wan and Tsing Lung Tau; if the outcome of study is in the affirmative, of the details; if the outcome indicates otherwise, the reasons for that; and

      (c)which other districts will also be affected by aircraft noise upon the commissioning of the third runway; of the details about the areas which will be exposed to aircraft noise from the third runway, together with a Noise Exposure Forecast 25 Contour map of the third runway indicating such areas; if such a contour map is not available, of the reasons for that?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

    * For written reply

    III. Members' Motions
    1. Proposed resolution under Rule 78(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

      Hon James TO to move the following motion:

      That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into the collection and transfer of customers' personal data to third parties for monetary gains by Octopus Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries, including the roles of the Board of Octopus Holdings Limited and the Board of MTR Corporation Limited as the biggest shareholder of Octopus Holdings Limited in the above matter, the process of decision making and execution of such collection and transfer of data, the possibility of further disclosure of those personal data by the third parties, and the duties and roles of related government bureaux, departments and public agencies in the above matter, and based on the results of the above inquiry, to look into whether any related legislation and monitoring and regulatory mechanism should be improved and if necessary make recommendations to enhance protection of the privacy of members of the public; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1).

      Public Officers to attend:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
      Secretary for Transport and Housing

    2. Legislating for regulating allied health staff to protect public health

      Dr Hon Joseph LEE to move the following motion: (Translation)

      That in recent years, the Government has striven to promote healthcare reform, advocated stepping up primary healthcare services, community rehabilitation services and the policy of ageing in place, etc., and emphasized the provision of appropriate primary healthcare services to members of the public, the elderly and chronic patients, etc. through multi-disciplinary healthcare services teams; however, under the Government's policy over the years, no legislation has been enacted to regulate the registration and practice of allied health staff, such as dieticians, audiologists, psychologists, speech therapists, podiatrists, prosthetists and ancillary dental workers, etc., resulting in some people in the market falsely claiming themselves as and impersonating various types of allied health staff to provide non-professional primary healthcare services for members of the public, thus posing dangers to the health of members of the public; in this connection, this Council urges the authorities to immediately put in place a statutory registration system for the relevant allied health staff and enact legislation to regulate their practice, with a view to promoting primary healthcare services and protecting the health of members of the public.

      Amendments to the motion
      (i)Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to move the following amendment: (Translation)

      To add "the number of allied health staff involved in caring for public health is on the increase, and although the Government has formulated a statutory registration system for 12 types of healthcare practitioners, many types of allied health staff are still not regulated by legislation;" after "That"; to delete "put" after "immediately" and substitute with "collect data for ascertaining the number, qualifications and practice of various types of allied health staff and the possible risks posed to the public in case of malpractices, to extensively consult the public and the trades concerned, and to study the feasibility and necessity of putting"; and to delete "enact" after "allied health staff and" and substitute with "enacting".

      (ii)Hon Alan LEONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

      To delete "in this connection" after "members of the public;" and substitute with "in order to promote primary healthcare services and safeguard the interests of members of the public"; to add ", formulate a legislative timetable" after "relevant allied health staff"; and to delete ", with a view to promoting primary healthcare services and protecting the health of members of the public" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "; the relevant measures should include: (a) to establish related independent statutory bodies, with members drawn from the allied health staff concerned and representatives of various sectors in society; (b) to regulate the registration and licensing examinations for practitioners of the various professions, in order to ensure and facilitate the attainment of recognized standards of practice by the respective professions; (c) to put in place a framework for monitoring professional conduct, so as to ensure practitioners' professional integrity; and (d) to increase the transparency of the respective professions and provide adequate information, with a view to educating and guiding members of the public on choosing the treatment appropriate to them".

      Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health

    3. Post-office employment arrangements for politically appointed officials

      Dr Hon Margaret NG to move the following motion: (Translation)

      That, as politically appointed officials have greater access to sensitive information and stronger influence on policy formulation than directorate civil servants, the control over the post-office employment of politically appointed officials should correspondingly be more stringent than that of directorate civil servants; however, under the existing Code for Principal Officials under the Accountability System, the control over the post-office employment of politically appointed officials is very loose; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to review the vetting system for the post-office employment of politically appointed officials, including introducing a sanitization period, extending the control period, and setting up an independent and highly transparent vetting and approving committee to vet politically appointed officials' applications for post-office employment, so as to allay public concern about any possible conflicts between accountability officials' exercise of powers and responsibilities and their pursuit of private interests, and to maintain public confidence in the governance of the HKSAR Government.

      Amendments to the motion
      Dr Hon Philip WONG to move the following amendment:       (Translation)

      To delete "correspondingly be more stringent than that of directorate civil servants" after "appointed officials should" and substitute with "be very stringent"; to delete "very loose; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to review the vetting system for the post-office employment of politically appointed officials, including introducing a sanitization period, extending the control period, and setting up an independent and highly transparent vetting and approving committee to vet politically appointed officials' applications for post-office employment, so as to allay" after "appointed officials is" and substitute with "less stringent than the existing control over the post-service work of directorate civil servants; although politically appointed officials are different from civil servants in that they do not enjoy any security of tenure, in order to avoid"; and to add ", this Council urges the Government to expeditiously conduct a review of this issue" immediately before the full stop.

      Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

    4. Motion for the adjournment of the Council

      Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to move the following motion: (Translation)

      That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the HKSAR Government's handling on humanitarian grounds of matters relating to overseas pro-democracy figures' entry into Hong Kong for mourning the death of Mr SZETO Wah.

      Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security

    Clerk to the Legislative Council