A 10/11-25

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 4 May 2011 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Employees Retraining Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Notice 201159/2011
2.Food Safety Ordinance (Commencement) Notice60/2011
3.Hong Kong Airport (Control of Obstructions) (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 201162/2011

Other Papers

1.No. 89-Language Fund
Audited financial statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 August 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

2.No. 90-Report by the Trustee of the Correctional Services Children's Education Trust for the period from 1st September 2009 to 31st August 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Security)

3.Report No. 20/10-11 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)

4.Report of the Bills Committee on Securities and Futures and Companies Legislation (Structured Products Amendment) Bill 2010
(to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)

Given that there have been comments that as motorists may make toll payments for tunnels and roads only by Autotoll or in cash at present, it is inconvenient to them and results in longer time for cars to pass through the toll booths, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the current number of Autotoll accounts, and the percentage of vehicles paying by Autotoll in the total number of vehicles using these tunnels and roads in each of the past five years;

    (b)given that the authorities have indicated that they keep an open mind about and encourage the introduction of new toll collection systems for tunnels and roads, whether the Government has discussed with the Octopus Cards Limited the payment of tolls by Octopus cards; if it has, of the progress; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the Government or tunnel operators had conducted any survey in the past three years to obtain the views of tunnels and roads users on the means of toll payments; whether they had conducted a feasibility study on accepting toll payments by Octopus cards; if they had, of the outcome of the study; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

2. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

At present, unless patients can prove that they must be taken to designated hospitals for treatment because of special medical needs, emergency ambulances managed by the Fire Services Department in general will take them to the Accident and Emergency ("A&E") department of the nearest public hospital. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the current number of private hospitals offering A&E services and 24-hour out-patient service in Hong Kong; whether the Government has any plan to encourage private hospitals to provide A&E services; of the Government's estimation, in view of the expansion of services by private hospitals, of the division of work between public and private hospitals and their respective positioning in the provision of A&E services;

    (b)whether the Government will study amending the guidelines for conveyance of patients by emergency ambulances, such as setting up a mechanism under which ambulances may take patients, who are in semi-urgent condition, to private hospitals for treatment according to their requests even if they cannot prove that they have special medical needs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the authorities have tried to collaborate with the trade and charity organizations to develop the market for paid semi-urgent and non-urgent ambulances services, or even cross-boundary patients conveyance service, so as to facilitate patients who are financially better-off to switch to private healthcare services, thus alleviating the burden on public healthcare services; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

3.For Dr Hon Margaret NG,
Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Central Policy Unit ("CPU") had recently commissioned the Center for Communication Research of The Chinese University of Hong Kong to conduct an opinion survey, and one of the questions asked was whether it was necessary for the Financial Secretary to resign. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the objective of CPU's conducting the aforesaid opinion survey;

    (b)whether CPU had previously conducted any opinion survey on the question of whether it was necessary for a particular government official to resign; if it had, of the details; if not, why the question of whether it was necessary for the Financial Secretary to resign was included in the aforesaid opinion survey; and

    (c)whether CPU will make public the results of the aforesaid opinion survey; if it will, of the date and form of publication; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

4. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the problems of the short supply of and the speculative surge in the prices of milk powder locally, the Secretary for Food and Health, in reply to a question at the Council meeting on 16 February this year, advised that the Government had been proactively liaising closely with major milk powder suppliers, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Pharmacy and major retailers, and that the suppliers and retailers of milk powder had actively taken steps to meet the market demand. Yet, it has been reported that as milk powder has remained in short supply in Hong Kong at the retail level since the Chinese New Year, members of the public still have difficulties in purchasing milk powder, and apart from relying solely on the voluntary actions and self-discipline of the suppliers and retailers of milk powder, the Government has not taken any measure to stabilize the supply and prices of milk powder in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will consider setting up milk powder retail outlets at the hospitals and clinics under the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health, or setting up milk powder retail outlets in collaboration with other social welfare organizations, and giving priority to Hong Kong people with infants or young children in making purchases at these retail outlets, in order to solve the problem of Hong Kong people being unable to purchase milk powder; if it will, when the plan will be implemented; if not, of the reasons for that and whether other effective measures are in place to help members of the public purchase milk powder?
    Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

    5. Hon CHIM Pui-chung to ask:     (Translation)

    Given that cross harbour tunnels have an impact on transport and the economy of Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council whether it has any plan to construct the fourth road harbour crossing in the near future; if it has such a plan, when and where the harbour crossing will be constructed; if not, of the reasons for that?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

      6. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask:       (Translation)

      There have been comments that the duration of road closure for the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon was too short, and the race routes lack attractive features and are boring. The event fell short of the standards of world class marathon races, and failed to promote Hong Kong's image as Asia's World City. Over the years, the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association ("HKAAA"), i.e. the event organizer, has been subject to criticisms, including that it had not organized the wheelchair race on a trial basis until this year, its accounts lack transparency, and it had awarded contracts to its former Chairman despite conflict of interest. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)given that there are tens of thousands of runners for the 10-kilometre Challenge, Half Marathon Challenge and Full Marathon Challenge each year, and together with their friends and family members, there are many members of the public paying attention to the event, whether the Government will consider designating more road sections in the urban areas for inclusion in the race routes and extending the duration of road closure, so that the event will be more attractive to runners from foreign countries, runners will not have to set off in the early hours and more people may line along the routes to cheer on the runners;

        (b)given that it has been reported that the Hong Kong Marathon is making profits, but every year it is hosted by HKAAA, whether the Government will consider introducing tendering or competition to grant the right to host the event, with a view to enhancing the standards in organizing the event; and

        (c)given that marathon races of most metropolises include the wheelchair category, whether the Government will request the organizer of next year's Hong Kong Marathon to introduce wheelchair races so as to highlight Hong Kong's international image as a city of pluralism and equality?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

      It has been reported that after visiting a lunar new year fair in Sha Tin on 13 February 2010, the Chief Executive ("CE") indicated that as the Lunar New Year's Day ("LNY's Day") of 2010 fell on a Sunday, which was a general holiday, the arrangement of designating the day immediately preceding that day (i.e. Saturday), as the additional general holiday might result in some members of the public losing one day's holiday; and in order to keep the legislation abreast of the times, the Government was considering amending the legislation to allow greater flexibility for the substitution of holidays. Moreover, in his reply to my question on 27 October 2010, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare ("SLW") said, "Earlier this year, the Chief Executive undertook to review the present arrangement whereby in the event that LNY's Day falls on a Sunday, the day before, i.e. Saturday, will be designated as the additional general holiday. As this scenario will not occur until 2013, the Labour Department will make use of this interval to conduct a thorough review and consult stakeholders in due course. Nevertheless, as Saturdays are not designated as general holidays under GHO (General Holidays Ordinance), there is no question of making arrangements for additional general holiday when a general holiday falls on a Saturday." In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)given that SLW pointed out that there was no question of making arrangements for additional general holiday when a general holiday falls on a Saturday, of the reasons for CE indicating that the Government was considering changing the current arrangement of designating a Saturday as the additional general holiday of LNY's Day in order to keep the legislation abreast of the times, and what the arrangement to keep abreast of the times referred to by CE is;

        (b)given that some members of the public believe, on the basis of the above remarks of CE, that the Government will solve the problem that members of the public working five days a week are losing one day's holiday when Saturdays are designated as general holidays, whether the authorities will address the problem; if not, of the reasons for that;

        (c)given that the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) provides that when LNY's Day, the second or third day of LNY falls on a Sunday, the day immediately preceding LNY's Day will be designated as an additional general holiday, and GHO (Cap. 149) provides that if two general holidays fall on the same day, the next following day that is not itself a general holiday is to be observed as an additional general holiday, whether it has assessed if the two provisions contradict each other;

        (d)given that the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day fall on the same day in 2012, and the authorities have designated 2 October as an additional general holiday in accordance with the aforesaid provision on additional general holidays under the GHO, whether 2 October 2012 is the additional general holiday of the National Day or the day following the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival; and

        (e)given that 1 October 2011, which is a Saturday, is the National Day and the general holiday of that day, while no other day is designated as additional general holiday, thus resulting in some members of the public losing one day of holiday, whether the authorities have assessed if such an arrangement contravenes patriotism?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

      Recently, some members of the public have relayed to me that the management right of the public open spaces outside Times Square in Causeway Bay belongs to a property management company under the developer of the Square (i.e. the Wharf (Holdings) Limited ("the Wharf Holdings")), and they are worried that such arrangement will hinder the use of the aforesaid public open spaces. Regarding the management of public open spaces in private developments ("POSPD"), will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)regarding the case in which the Wharf Holdings is suspected of making use of the said public open spaces to generate profits and contravening the deeds, of the latest follow-up actions taken by the Government;

        (b)whether the Government had imposed special restrictions on the Wharf Holdings in respect of the management of the public open spaces outside the Square in the past three year, including new clauses to prevent the company from contravening the "deeds of dedication" ("the deeds"); if it had, of the details; if not, whether the Government can explain the reasons and justifications for not imposing special restrictions on the company which is suspected of making use of the said public open spaces to generate profits and contravening the clauses of the deeds;

        (c)of the details of the public open spaces managed by private organizations at present, including the parties responsible for their management, as well as the arrangements and restrictions for the loan of these open public spaces by members of the public; if it cannot provide such information, of the reasons for that; and

        (d)in response to the aforesaid case, whether the Government will review the implementation of the guidelines issued in respect of the management of POSPD at present; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

      *9. Hon Andrew LEUNG to ask:       (Translation)

      In July 2010, the Government published a consultation paper on enhancing protection for consumers against unfair trade practices, and the proposal of providing mandatory cooling-off periods for consumer transactions of timeshare rights or long-term holiday products and those concluded during unsolicited visits to consumers' homes or places of work is made in the paper. In January this year, the Government proposed to expand the scope of mandatory cooling-off arrangements to cover consumer transactions involving goods and/or services with a contract duration of not less than six months, and some members of the trade have expressed grave concern about this modification. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)given that as revealed by the information provided by the authorities, 131 written submissions were received during the consultation period, among them, of the number of submissions which made the request for expanding the scope of mandatory cooling-off arrangements;

        (b)of the Government's rationale for the proposed expansion of the scope to be covered by mandatory cooling-off arrangements; whether it has consulted the trade on the new scope to be covered;

        (c)whether it knows the number of complaints involving the use of pre-payment mode of consumer transactions in the following types of goods/services in the past two years and in the first quarter of this year (set out in the table below); and

        Year Beauty care Fitness and/or yoga centre Travel club membership Tele-communications General merchandise Catering
        (including cake/soup coupons)         		Wedding/banquet Others
        2009







        2010







        2011
        (the first quarter)








        (d)whether it knows the prepaid amounts involved in the complaints in (c) (set out in the table below)?

        Year Beauty care Fitness and/or yoga centre Travel club membership Tele-communications General merchandise Catering
        (including cake/soup coupons)         		Wedding/banquet Others
        2009







        2010







        2011
        (the first quarter)








      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

      *10. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask:       (Translation)

      It has been learnt that in recent years, quite a number of parents of students with special educational needs ("SEN students") and concern groups have expressed concern and dissatisfaction about the lack of special schools in Islands District. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)of the current numbers of the various types of special schools and the numbers of places provided by them, broken down by school nets;

        (b)of the current numbers of the various types of SEN students; among them, whether it knows the total number of students living in Islands District (with a breakdown by areas, e.g. Cheung Chau, Lamma Island, Ping Chau, Tung Chung, Discovery Bay and Lantau Island);

        (c)whether it knows the current number of SEN students living in Islands District who attend schools in other districts (broken down by areas of residence, together with a breakdown of the number of students in each area of residence by the areas in which their schools are situated); of the measures taken by the authorities to assist such students (especially in respect of the burden of travelling expenses and safety of students attending schools not in the districts of their residence), so as to relieve the pressure and worries of parents;

        (d)of the reasons why the construction of the school for children with intellectual disability in Tung Chung, which was proposed by the authorities back in 2004, has not yet been completed; the current progress of the project and the anticipated commissioning date;

        (e)whether it has planned to construct special schools in areas of Islands District other than Tung Chung to meet the local demand; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

        (f)whether it has planned to conduct a comprehensive review of the various policies relating to special education, including the integrated education approach, the school places allocation system, distribution of school places and schools, amount of subsidies and teaching facilities, etc., with a view to providing a better learning environment and equal learning opportunities to SEN students; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

      *11. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:       (Translation)

      At present, most of the babies born in private hospitals who are in need of intensive care will be transferred to neonatal intensive care units ("NICUs") of public hospitals, bringing workload and pressure on these units. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
        (a)it knows the number and percentage of newborn babies in each private hospital who were transferred to NICUs of public hospitals for treatment in the past three years, and provide the breakdown in table form by the names of the private hospitals;

        (b)it knows the wastage and turnover rate of healthcare staff in the NICU of each public hospital in the past three years, and provide the breakdown in table form by the names of the public hospitals;

        (c)it has assessed the impact of capping the total number of deliveries in this and next year in Hong Kong at last year's level of around 88 000 on the demand for neonatal intensive care services, and if there is a need to increase the number of beds and healthcare staff in NICUs; of the impact on the demand for beds and healthcare manpower when the total number of deliveries exceeds the aforesaid level; and whether it knows the measures public hospitals have put in place to cope with such circumstances;

        (d)the Department of Health ("DH"), which is responsible for monitoring private hospitals, has assessed the current capacity of various private hospitals to treat babies with health problems; whether DH will introduce a requirement for private hospitals to strengthen the services of their high dependency units as a condition for re-registration; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

        (e)it has considered requiring mainland pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong to undergo more antenatal checks, so as to reduce the risk of their newborn babies having health problems; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

      *12. Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to ask:       (Translation)

      At present, the Government has sought to shorten the waiting time for subsidized places in residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs") through implementing the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme ("EBPS") and contract RCHEs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)of the respective numbers of RCHEs under EBPS (broken down by EA1 and EA2 categories) and contract RCHEs in the past three years; the numbers of subsidized places provided by each of these types of RCHEs, as well as the average annual amounts of government subsidies provided for each place; the criteria for determining the level of subsidies;

        (b)whether the Social Welfare Department knows the respective wage levels of all health workers, care workers and ancillary workers employed in the aforesaid RCHEs; if it knows, of the current maximum and minimum hourly wages for these positions; if it does not know, the reasons for that, as well as whether the authorities will consider collecting relevant information;

        (c)whether, in response to the implementation of the Minimum Wage Ordinance (Cap. 608)("the Ordinance"), the authorities will consider disbursing an additional one-off grant to the aforesaid RCHEs to alleviate the pressure on their operation; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

        (d)whether the authorities have any new monitoring measures to ensure that RCHEs have sufficient manpower and the wage levels of their staff comply with the requirements under the Ordinance; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

      *13. Hon James TO to ask:       (Translation)

      In recent years, I have received from time to time complaints from members of the public about the worsening situation of scheduled trips of franchised buses being cancelled without notice ("lost trips") or delayed. In this regard, I have repeatedly requested the Transport Department ("TD") to follow up the issue, but there is no improvement to the situation. It has been reported that, apart from bus captains taking sick leave, one of the reasons why certain trips were cancelled without notice or delayed is the increase in staff turnover due to the unsatisfactory pay package offered to the bus captains who were recruited in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)whether it knows the respective numbers of complaints received by franchised bus companies, TD and the 1823 Call Centre about lost or delayed bus trips in each of the past three years; among such complaints, the number of substantiated cases; the 10 bus routes with the largest number of complaints and substantiated complaints each year;

        (b)whether TD, after receiving complaints about lost or delayed bus trips, sent its staff to the bus stops to check the bus frequency on site; if it did, how long TD usually took to conduct such on-site checks after receiving the complaints; whether TD will take the initiative to send its staff to check the bus frequency of those routes regarding which complaints about lost or delayed trips are particularly numerous; if it will, of the number of such on-site checks conducted in each of the past three years; whether the franchised bus companies will be penalized for lost or delayed trips, and of the current penalties;

        (c)whether it knows, in each of the past three years and for each franchised bus company, the respective numbers of full-time and part-time bus captains who joined the company, the turnover rate of its bus captains, the percentage of those with less than two years of service in the total number of bus captains who left the service in the year, the number of bus captains, the average daily number of trips made for the bus routes it operates, and how the ratio of the number of bus captains to the number of trips made each day varied over the years;

        (d)whether it has discussed with the franchised bus companies in the past three years ways to improve bus services and the pay packages of bus captains; and

        (e)whether it will introduce intelligent technologies to obtain real-time information about the franchised bus operations, so as to monitor the service and minimize the inconvenience caused to passengers by lost or delayed bus trips?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

      In relation to the equity linked structured notes issued and guaranteed by Lehman Brothers ("LB ELNs"), the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") reached an agreement with Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited ("Standard Chartered") in March this year, under which Standard Chartered agreed to repurchase the products from eligible customers holding an outstanding LB ELN distributed by Standard Chartered. The authorities indicated in the relevant announcement that, following an investigation by SFC and HKMA, both regulators were concerned that Standard Chartered might have exposed LB ELN customers to higher levels of risk than were suitable for them by not adequately considering the risk that a customer's available assets for investment were overly-exposed to the same set of risks ("concentration risk") when assessing the suitability of LB ELNs for customers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)given that SFC and HKMA also reached similar agreements with Dah Sing Bank Ltd and Mevas Bank Ltd in December 2009 and DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited in July 2010 respectively, whether it knows if SFC and HKMA have identified any issue relating to concentration risk in their investigations; if such issues have been identified, whether the cases were similar to those involving Standard Chartered, and whether such factor has been taken into account in determining the repurchase rate; if not, the reasons for that;

        (b)whether it knows if SFC and HKMA have hitherto identified any issue relating to concentration risk in cases involving banks which have not yet reached any collective repurchase agreement (such as Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited); given that under the collective repurchase agreement in relation to the Lehman Brothers Minibonds announced on 22 July 2009, the banks concerned are required to implement special enhanced complaints handling procedures to handle the remaining complaint cases involving customers not eligible for taking part in the repurchase scheme, whether the authorities have identified any issue relating to concentration risk in such cases;

        (c)whether it knows if SFC and HKMA have examined whether Standard Chartered had overlooked the concentration risk in its sale and distribution of LB ELNs because there were inadequacies in the risk assessment procedures in the bank's sale and distribution process, resulting in the failure of the bank or its frontline staff to carefully consider the level of concentration risk of their customers' investments; whether there were other major inadequacies, and whether they have identified any systemic issue within the bank with regard to the sale and distribution of financial products; and

        (d)given that SFC and HKMA have reached the relevant agreements with individual banks without the banks' admission of liability in order to facilitate repurchase of LB products by the banks, whether it knows if SFC and HKMA will adopt similar arrangements to handle systemic errors of banks in the sale and distribution of their products; if such arrangements will not be adopted, how the authorities will handle such problems?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

      It has been reported that on 11 April this year, due to a serious disruption to its online trading system, a bank in Hong Kong sold stocks on behalf of its customers at severely diminished prices, causing quite a number of customers to suffer losses. Furthermore, different compensation packages were offered to the affected customers afterwards by the staff of different branches of the bank. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)whether it knows the number of incidents of disruptions to the online trading systems of financial institutions in the past five years, the number of customers affected and the amount of money involved, as well as the percentages of such amounts in the average daily turnover handled by the systems concerned;

        (b)whether the financial institutions involved had, immediately after the occurrence of the incidents in (a), reported them to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA"); if they had, of the causes of the incidents, and the follow-up actions taken and improvement measures implemented by the institutions concerned; if not, under what circumstances the financial institutions involved are required to report such incidents to HKMA; whether HKMA has looked into why the staff of different branches of the aforesaid bank had offered different compensation packages to the affected customers, and whether it has assessed if the explanation given by the bank is acceptable; and

        (c)given that the General Principles for Technology Risk Management ("the Principles") are set out in the Supervisory Policy Manual issued by HKMA to financial institutions, when the Principles were last reviewed by the authorities, what improvement measures were recommended after the review, as well as how the authorities monitor whether or not financial institutions observe the Principles when managing technology-related risks?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

      I understand that dog keeping has become an important part of living for quite a number of members of the public. Yet, the number of dog parks in Hong Kong remains limited, causing much inconvenience to those members of the public who walk their dogs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)of the respective areas of the dog parks in each District Council district at present (set out in a table); and

        (b)whether it will consider amending the relevant planning guidelines to require the construction of a dog park or the opening up of an existing park to provide a dog park, once the population in a community has reached a certain size; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

      *17. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask:       (Translation)

      Quite a number of elderly people, persons with disabilities and concern groups for these people have complained to me that recently, several taxis (commonly known as "diamond cabs") which boast their special design for wheelchair users, do not charge fares according to taximeters ("meters") but bargain the fares with passengers according to the distance of their trips, and the fares so charged are very often higher than those charged according to meters. The complainants also considered that these diamond cabs had violated the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) for not charging fares according to meters, while the practice of adopting a charging method for wheelchair users which is different from that for other passengers has contravened the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 487). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)whether taxis are required to charge fares according to meters under the existing legislation; if so, of the penalties for contravening such legislation;

        (b)whether it has granted approval for diamond cabs or other taxis not to charge fares according to meters from passengers picked up on the streets or through telephone bookings; if so, in respect of diamond cabs and other taxis, when such approval was granted, of the number of taxis granted such approval and the terms and conditions for granting approval; if only diamond cabs are granted such approval, of the reasons for that; if diamond cabs are not granted such approval, of the reasons for them not charging fares according to meters blatantly;

        (c)whether it will request the Equal Opportunities Commission to investigate immediately if diamond cabs' practice of adopting a charging method for wheelchair users which is different from that for other passengers has contravened the Disability Discrimination Ordinance; if so, when it will make such request; if not, of the reasons for that;

        (d)whether it will institute prosecution immediately against taxi drivers who do not charge fares according to meters; if so, when it will do so; if not, of the reasons for that; and

        (e)of the number of cases in which taxi drivers were prosecuted in the past five years for not charging fares according to meters?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

      *18. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask:       (Translation)

      According to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China ("NBSC"), consumer prices on the Mainland in March this year rose by 5.4% year-on-year, which is a record high in 32 months and even exceeds the 4% price control target set by the Central Government. Among the consumer items, food prices have surged the most, by 11.7%. It has been reported that when responding to the questions raised by Hong Kong reporters, a spokesman of NBSC said that the rise in the prices of commodities on the Mainland, such as agricultural products and daily necessities, would certainly have some impact on Hong Kong. Some Hong Kong economists have even anticipated that inflation on the Mainland may push up this year's inflation rate in Hong Kong to 6%. Moreover, as the exchange rate of Renminbi against the US Dollars has hit new high several times recently, imported inflation in Hong Kong has accelerated significantly and prices of imported food in Hong Kong have been escalating, for example, the price of cooking oil increased by nearly 40% in the past four months. The costs of clothing, food, accommodation and transport are generally on the rise, for example, bus and railway fares have increased recently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)whether it has assessed the impact of the latest situation of inflation in the Mainland and the increase in various living expenses on the local economy and community, including the impact of the surge in food prices, etc. on the livelihood of the middle and lower classes; if it has, of the results; moreover, whether it will adjust upward the inflation forecast for this year; and

        (b)given that the authorities are planning to introduce a number of measures to assist the public in coping with inflation (including issuing iBond, granting subsidy on electricity charges, paying two months' rent for public housing tenants, increasing the funding for food banks, and providing a one-off sum of $6,000 to each Hong Kong permanent resident aged 18 or above), of the timetable for implementing those measures; whether they will be implemented as expeditiously as possible in response to the recent trend of accelerated inflation; whether it has drawn up further measures to cope with possible aggravation of the inflation problem in the future; if it has, of the measures; if not, the reasons for that?
      Public Officer to reply : The Financial Secretary

      *19. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask:       (Translation)

      According to recent media reports, a consultancy company owned by Mr LEUNG Chin-man, former Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (Housing), has been hired by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited, the parent company of the New World Group, since last month. It was also reported that the incident had caused a public outcry because quite a number of people considered that the incident was obviously a suspected case of "deferred reward" and seriously undermined public confidence in the control of post-service employment of directorate civil servants. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
        (a)of the stance taken by the authorities on the aforesaid incident, and whether they will invite Mr LEUNG to meet with them so as to understand the details of the appointment; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

        (b)whether, in response to the expectations of some members of the public, they will consider ordering the law enforcement agency concerned to initiate an investigation into whether the problem of "deferred reward" has arisen from the fact that Mr LEUNG took up employment indirectly with the New World Group through the consultancy company he operates; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

        (c)as there have been comments that what Mr LEUNG did was a blatant challenge to the credibility of the Executive Authorities and the Legislature of the SAR, whether the authorities will expeditiously decide whether or not the control of post-service employment of senior officials in the private sector should be tightened up, and use action to convince the public that directorate civil servants serve Hong Kong impartially during their service in government departments; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

      *20. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:       (Translation)

      The Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment)(Specification of Lower Percentage) Notice specifies, in respect of three classes of lot, a lower threshold for application for compulsory sale of land i.e. from owning not less than 90% of undivided shares in the lot to not less than 80%. It is learnt that since the commencement of the Notice on 1 April 2010, the number of applications for compulsory land sale orders made under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance (Cap. 545)("the Ordinance") received by the Lands Tribunal has increased significantly: there were only 64 cases in the decade from 1999 to January 2010, but there were 21 cases last year, and 12 applications have been received so far this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
        (a)whether it has assessed the impact on the housing supply on redevelopment projects using land secured by invoking the Ordinance, including the number of residential flats supplied by these projects in the past five years, and among them, the respective numbers of residential flats with areas ranging from 35 to 40 m2 and 40 to 60 m2;

        (b)in view of the keen demand for small and medium residential flats, whether the authorities have any measure to encourage the developers to build more small and medium residential flats under their redevelopment projects on land secured by invoking the Ordinance; and

        (c)whether it has market data on the number of residential flats which may be supplied in the next five years under the redevelopment projects on land secured by invoking the Ordinance; if it has, of the number?
      Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

      * For written reply

      III. Bills

      First Reading

      1.Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2011

      2.Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011

      Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

      1.Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2011:Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

      2.Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

      1.Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (Amendment) Bill 2011:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

      2.Securities and Futures and Companies Legislation (Structured Products Amendment) Bill 2010:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

      Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move
      Committee stage amendments

      (The amendments were issued on 19 April 2011
      under LC Paper No. CB(3) 678/10-11)


      IV. Members' Motions
      1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

        Hon Albert CHAN to move the following motion:

        Resolved that the Public Revenue Protection (Dutiable Commodities) Order 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 32 of 2011 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 March 2011, be repealed.

        Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health

      2. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

        Hon Vincent FANG to move the following motion:

        Resolved that the Public Revenue Protection (Dutiable Commodities) Order 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 32 of 2011 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 March 2011, be repealed.

        Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health

      3. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

        Hon KAM Nai-wai to move the following motion:

        Resolved that the Public Revenue Protection (Motor Vehicles First Registration Tax) Order 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 33 of 2011 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 March 2011, be repealed.

        Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

      4. Enhancing the My Home Purchase Plan

        Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to move the following motion: (Translation)

        That the Government put forward the My Home Purchase Plan ('MHPP') in the Policy Address announced in October last year, under which a total of 5 000 small and medium flats will be made available to eligible people to 'rent-and-buy', yet the community generally considers that there are still inadequacies in MHPP; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to resume the construction of Home Ownership Scheme flats, build additional public rental housing flats and enhance MHPP; the relevant enhancement measures should include:

        (a)to make MHPP more flexible, and enhance the measure of 'rent-and-buy' to become 'rent-or-buy', thereby enabling applicants to purchase their flats at any time;

        (b)to offer discounts on flat prices and impose restrictions on the resale of flats to prevent speculation;

        (c)to increase the quantity of flats to be launched in the first year to 2 000;

        (d)to allocate additional sites, including studying the use of some suitable sites on the Application List for constructing MHPP flats, with a view to increasing the supply of flats; and

        (e)to review and expedite the various procedures of MHPP, so as to shorten the time between the planning and completion of projects.

        Amendments to the motion
        (i)Hon Frederick FUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To add ", although" after "That"; and to delete "yet the community generally considers that there are still inadequacies in MHPP; in this connection, this Council urges the Government" after "people to 'rent-and-buy'," and substitute with "in the meantime private residential property prices have soared to a level which exceeds the peak in 1997, and the middle and lower classes still face housing difficulties, reflecting that MHPP is unable to satisfy people's aspiration for acquiring their homes and even fails to resolve the long-term housing demand; in this connection, targeting at the overall housing problem and the inadequacies of MHPP, this Council urges the Government to formulate a stable, sustainable and long-term housing policy, accept the mainstream public opinion as well as the almost unanimous proposal of this Council".

        (ii)Hon Ronny TONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To add ", although" after "That"; to delete "yet" after "people to 'rent-and-buy',"; to add "more expeditiously" after "this Council urges the Government to"; to delete "enhancement" after "relevant"; to delete "and" after "supply of flats;"; and to add "; (f) to appropriately increase the annual supply of public rental housing flats, so as to truly implement the pledge of three-year waiting time for public rental housing allocation; review the public rental housing allocation system for single persons, and set the time by which they may be allocated public rental housing flats at the latest; and (g) to re-launch the construction plan of Home Ownership Scheme flats, so as to also enable persons with low and middle income to have opportunities of acquiring their homes" immediately before the full stop.

        (iii)Hon LEE Wing-tat to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To add ", as property prices soar higher and higher, making it difficult for people to acquire their homes," after "That"; to add ", re-launch the Tenants Purchase Scheme" after "public rental housing flats"; to add "(c) to offer home mortgage guarantees, enabling applicants to obtain 90% bank mortgage and purchase a flat with only 10% down payment;" after "speculation;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; and to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)".

        (iv)Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To add ", in order to satisfy the mainstream demand of the general public for living and working in contentment," after "That"; to add ", so the Government should accept extensively the various social sectors' suggestions on further enhancement and improvement" after "inadequacies in MHPP"; to add ", simultaneously," after "this Council urges the Government to"; to add ", reinstate the Tenants Purchase Scheme" after "Home Ownership Scheme flats"; to add "further" after "public rental housing flats and"; to add "and formulate the measure of post-sale premium payment at the time of property sale," after "flat prices"; to delete "to" after "resale of flats" and substitute with ", such as priority selling-back to the Government, so as to"; to delete "2 000" after "first year to" and substitute with "the range between 3 000 and 5 000, and make available 3 000 to 5 000 flats annually thereafter"; to delete "MHPP flats" after "constructing" and substitute with "flats under the further enhanced MHPP"; to delete "flats; and" after "the supply of" and substitute with " 'rent-or-buy' flats;"; and to add "; and (f) to make reference to the effective systems of green forms and white forms under Home Ownership Scheme, enabling both public rental housing tenants and private housing residents to have opportunities of making applications" immediately before the full stop.

        (v)Hon Paul CHAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To delete "Government" after "That the" and substitute with "Chief Executive refused to resume the construction of Home Ownership Scheme flats, but instead"; to add ", so that members of the public can purchase flats which are affordable to them" after "enhance MHPP"; to add "(a) to stipulate in the Conditions of Sale in the future that only Hong Kong citizens are permitted to purchase MHPP flats, and that such flats can only be resold to Hong Kong citizens;" after "include:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(b)"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; and to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)".

        Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

      5. Promoting regional economic integration between Guangdong and Hong Kong

        Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation)

        That our country's Twelfth Five-Year Plan proposes to promote joint regional economic development, intensify exchanges and co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong, continue to materialize the Framework Agreement on Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation, and implement the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement and its seven Supplements; with the construction and completion of cross-boundary transport networks between the two places, the SAR Government must adopt a forward-looking attitude and formulate policies and measures which are conducive to promoting the development of the two places; in this connection, this Council urges the SAR Government:

        (a)to assist Hong Kong businessmen with manufacturing businesses in the Pearl River Delta Region in upgrading and restructuring;

        (b)to set up funds for promoting Hong Kong brand names, products and professional services on the Mainland market, so as to assist local small and medium enterprises in expanding into the Mainland domestic market;

        (c)to provide support to local enterprises for developing small-scale technology industries and commercializing the achievements of their scientific research;

        (d)to formulate appropriate policies to help Hong Kong businessmen on the Mainland enhance their innovation and scientific research capability, and assist enterprises in undertaking technological innovation and developing green economy in Guangdong Province;

        (e)to jointly develop Qianhai New District in Shenzhen into a 'Hong Kong/Guangdong modern service industry innovation and co-operation exemplary zone';

        (f)to strengthen financial co-operation and innovation by fostering on all fronts intensive co-operation between Guangdong and Hong Kong in financial markets, financial institutions and financial businesses, etc.;

        (g)to jointly promote the formulation of an exchange mechanism for developing the logistics industry, with a view to establishing an international logistics centre and building a modern economic circulation sphere;

        (h)to expand the scope of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao tourism co-operation; and

        (i)to introduce tax provisions for cross-border workers and encourage Hong Kong's talents who are engaged in service industries as well as scientific and technological research to work on the Mainland, so as to support the development of high-end service sectors, manufacturing industries and technologies on the Mainland,

        thereby enabling Hong Kong's professional services to radiate into the entire Guangdong Province, assisting in the rapid development of the high value-added Mainland economy, and developing Guangdong and Hong Kong into a world-class urban agglomeration to grasp the new opportunities of the regional economy.

        Amendments to the motion
        (i)Dr Hon Samson TAM to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To add ", given that" after "That"; and to add "the SAR Government, while assisting Hong Kong enterprises in going north to open up the Mainland market, must formulate a long-term and sustainable policy to attract more enterprises on the Mainland to establish international headquarters in Hong Kong, facilitate the inflow of Mainland and overseas capital to Hong Kong and create more employment opportunities for Hong Kong; therefore," after "two places,".

        (ii)Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To add ", given that" after "That"; to delete "intensify" after "economic development,"; to add "must be intensified before it is possible to" after "between the Mainland and Hong Kong"; to delete "and" after "tourism co-operation;"; to add "; (j) to expeditiously conduct studies on establishing a fourth industrial estate and formulate an implementation timetable, with a view to creating better conditions for expanding local industries with competitive edge, so as to dovetail with the Twelfth Five-Year Plan and regional economic integration between Guangdong and Hong Kong, thus creating more new employment opportunities for Hong Kong; and (k) to expeditiously and comprehensively review and reform Hong Kong's schemes for investment immigrants, draw on the successful experience of Singapore or the United States in introducing entrepreneurial investment immigration, enhance the entrepreneurial environment in Hong Kong for increasing employment opportunities, and formulate a review timetable in this regard" after "technologies on the Mainland"; and to add ", while at the same time raising Hong Kong's level and enhancing its value-adding" after "Mainland economy".

        (iii)Hon Miriam LAU to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To add ", given that" after "That"; to add "and the progressive inauguration of Qianhai New District, and having regard to the operating difficulties as well as upgrading and restructuring problems faced by Hong Kong's small and medium enterprises" after "between the two places"; to add "expeditiously review the existing support arrangements and tax concessions," after "SAR Government must"; to add "provide appropriate support, such as setting up funds for the upgrading and restructuring of small and medium enterprises, so as to" after "(a) to"; to add "or incentive schemes" after "set up funds"; to add "(c) to discuss with the Mainland to further improve the situation of 'Big doors are open, but small doors are shut', including further relaxing the threshold of market access and strengthening mutual recognition of professional qualifications, so as to facilitate Hong Kong's small and medium enterprises to expand their business on the Mainland;" after "Mainland domestic market;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete "support to" after "to provide" and substitute with "tax concessions to support"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to add ", including the provision of financing channels and professional advice," after "appropriate policies"; to add "(f) to strive to ensure that cross-boundary infrastructures, including the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project, etc., can be completed as scheduled, and avoid incompatibility with Mainland transport networks; (g) to streamline the customs clearance procedures of both Guangdong and Hong Kong, and actively conduct studies on establishing additional control points with the co-location of immigration and customs facilities or on adopting additional measures to facilitate immigration and customs clearance, so as to facilitate the smooth and unobstructed two-way flows of people and goods;" after "in Guangdong Province;"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(h)"; to add ", and strive for the adoption of more early and pilot implementation policies there" after "exemplary zone' "; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(l)"; to add "avoid double taxation, expeditiously" before "introduce tax provisions"; and to delete "and" after "workers" and substitute with "or relax the taxation threshold regarding the stay of Hong Kong residents on the Mainland for employment to".

        (iv)Hon CHAN Kam-lam to move the following amendment: (Translation)

        To add "assist Hong Kong's service industries in entering the Guangdong market, and" after "(e) to"; to add "(g) to encourage Guangdong enterprises to invest in Hong Kong, and use Hong Kong for going global and making overseas investments;" after "financial businesses, etc.;"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete "and" after "tourism co-operation;" and substitute with "(j) to improve the co-operation mechanisms to jointly develop a Greater Pearl River Delta metropolitan area; (k) to ensure that large-scale cross-boundary infrastructures such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Express Line, etc., can be completed as scheduled; and"; and to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(l)".

        Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

      Clerk to the Legislative Council