 |
A 10/11-34
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 29 June 2011 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
|
|---|
| 1. | Antiquities and Monuments (Declaration of Historical Building) Notice 2011 | 109/2011
| | 2. | Employees Retraining Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) (No. 2) Notice 2011 | 110/2011
|
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 97 | - | Airport Authority Hong Kong Annual Report 2010/11
| (to be presented by the Financial Secretary)
| | 2. | Report No. 27/10-11 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
| (to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)
| | 3. | Report of the Bills Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Bill
| (to be presented by Hon CHAN Kam-lam, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
| | 4. | Report of the Bills Committee on Buildings (Amendment) Bill 2010
| (to be presented by Hon IP Kwok-him, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
| | 5. | Report of the Bills Committee on Communications Authority Bill
| | (to be presented by Hon LAU Kong-wah, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
|
II. Questions under Rule 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure
1. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
The cumulative number of cases of scarlet fever ("SF") this year has exceeded 600, nearly three times over the record high of 235 infected cases in 2008, and two fatal SF cases have occurred. An increase in the number of SF cases is also noted in neighbouring Macao and the Pearl River Delta ("PRD") region, reflecting that the epidemic is spreading in the region. At present, the epidemic in Hong Kong has not yet come under control and is posing a threat to the health of children. The Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong has earlier on performed a genetic study on the bacterium and has discovered the condition of a mutated strain which increases its resistance to antibiotics and transmissibility. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | as the genetic mutation of the scarlet fever prevailing in Hong Kong at present has increased the disease's resistance to antibiotics and transmissibility, whether the Government has put in place emergency measures to cope with the spread of SF, such as guidelines on clinical practices and drug utilization, isolation arrangements and early commencement of the summer break for schools, etc.; if it has, of the circumstances under which the Government will implement such arrangements; if not, whether the Government is of the view that the SF epidemic at present is still under control and its impact on the health of the public is limited; and
| | (b) | whether there is evidence showing signs of abnormality in the spread of SF in the PRD region; if there is, whether the Hong Kong SAR Government, the Macao SAR Government and the health authorities of Guangdong Province have held discussions on the spread of SF and have explored immediate measures to deal with the situation?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
2. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)
There has been a rapid increase in the number of cases of scarlet fever ("SF") infection in recent months, including the fatal cases of two young children, and a study conducted by the University of Hong Kong has revealed that a mutated strain of the SF bacterium has increased its transmissibility. Some microbiologists has pointed out that such genetic variation of the bacterium may be attributed to the abuse of antibiotics, which is an issue that the Government should address proactively and seriously. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows if the SF bacterium with mutated strain has been found in other countries or regions; whether there is a rapid increase in the number of SF infection cases in the neighbouring regions recently; whether cases found in Hong Kong are mainly local infectious cases or imported cases from other regions; whether the authorities have examined if there is a need to boost surveillance measures at entry control points;
| | (b) | of the respective numbers of cases with complications and even causing death due to contracting SF in each of the past six months; whether the critical cases are caused by the mutated bacterium; whether it has affected treatment method; if so, whether the authorities have provided public and private medical practitioners with the relevant information; and
| | (c) | what emergency measures have been put in place to prevent the epidemic from worsening; given that most patients are young children and institutional outbreaks have happened in kindergartens, child care centres and primary schools, what measures the authorities have to prevent large scale outbreaks in schools and organizations holding summer activities; and under what circumstances requests will be initiated for closure of nurseries, kindergartens, child care centres and secondary and primary schools or early commencement of the summer break?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
IIA. Questions
1. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in the recent two years, the Hong Kong property market has been heating up and the cumulative increase in property prices has exceeded 60%, while the prices of some properties have even exceeded the high levels in 1997. Quite a number of members of the public consider that the continuous influx of capital from the Mainland and external sources has led to the continuous increase in property prices, which are already beyond the affordability of the general public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | among the property transactions registered in the past three years, of the respective ratios of transactions involving local buyers to those involving non-local buyers, broken down by flat size, i.e. below 40 square metres ("m2"), 40 to 69.9 m2, 70 to 99.9 m2, 100 to 159.9 m2 and 160 m2 or above; given that the Chief Executive ("CE") earlier indicated at a Question and Answer Session of this Council that only when faced with "a hopeless situation" would the Government consider imposing restrictions on the target buyers of local properties, what specific situation was the "hopeless situation" CE was referring to;
| | (b) | whether the authorities have assessed the trend of capital from the Mainland or mainlanders entering the local property market, as well as its impact on the local community and economy as a result; if they have, of the specific situation; whether they have assessed the additional number of residential sites and flats that have to be provided each year in order to meet the demand for properties in Hong Kong; and
| | (c) | apart from "My Home Purchase Plan", whether the authorities will introduce in the near future other subsidized housing measures to assist the local citizens who wish to buy properties for self-occupation in acquiring home ownership by such means; if they will, of the specific measures?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
2. Prof Hon Patrick LAU to ask: (Translation)
Each year, a significant amount of funding is earmarked in the Budget for the Government to set up various funds, through which subsidies are granted to individuals and institutions to organize programmes and activities for specific purposes. Regarding the subsidies granted from these funds, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in the past five years, of the total amount of government funding allocated to the funds set up by it; and the respective percentages of the amount of subsidies granted from these funds in the amount of funding allocated (and the respective actual amounts), as well as the starting dates of accepting applications for subsidies and the deadlines for applications (list by the various funds);
| | (b) | of the channels through which the Government had conducted publicity and encouraged members of the public, organizations or professional institutions to apply for subsidies under the aforesaid funds in the past five years; whether it had assessed their effectiveness; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether it has assessed if the rates of subsidies granted in the past five years from various funds were on the low side; if the rates were on the low side, of the reasons for that; whether it has reviewed the existing mechanism, so as to improve the operation and utilization of funding of various funds; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
3. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)
The media earlier reported that the Chief Secretary for Administration ("CS") deployed public resources of the Government to prepare for his Chief Executive ("CE") electioneering campaign, including the design of a relevant web site, which has aroused public concern. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the authorities will investigate the aforesaid matter to ascertain if the alleged deployment of public resources by CS for preparing his CE electioneering campaign has contravened the Guidelines on Election-related Activities in respect of the Chief Executive Elections, and if the provision of advice by some civil servants on the design of and technical support for the aforesaid web site has contravened the Civil Service Code; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | as it was reported that the contents of the aforesaid web site focused mainly on CS, and the Internet Professional Association ("iProA") was involved in the production of the web site, whether the aforesaid web site was set up for CS to discharge his public duties; given that one of the organizations commissioned by the Government to implement the Internet Learning Support Programme ("ILSP") is formed by iProA and another organization, if the aforesaid web site was set up for the discharge of public duties, whether the ILSP selection board members knew about the involvement of iProA in the production of the aforesaid web site; if the web site was not set up for the discharge of public duties, whether CS has made a declaration to the government department responsible for implementing ILSP; and
| | (c) | whether the Government will consider formulating guidelines to explicitly require that principal officials under the accountability system and Executive Council Members who plan to stand for elections to public office must resign at a specified time, so as to avoid the allegation of using public resources to conduct electioneering campaigns and to ensure that elections to public office are conducted in a fair, just and open manner; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
|
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Secretary for the Civil Service
|
4. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)
According to the information of the Transport Department, the overall utilization rate in February 2011 of the Autotoll toll collection system ("Autotoll") at tolled tunnels and roads was only 47%, and that the Autotoll utilization rate at the Cross Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom was only 39%. Quite a number of drivers have reflected that owing to insufficient provision of Autotoll lanes at the cross harbour tunnels, there are often long vehicle queues and some drivers who have already opened an account with Autotoll are therefore forced to give up using such lanes and switch to using manual toll booths where the queues are shorter, and thus the automatic toll collection system at the tunnels fails to achieve the effect of easing traffic flow. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the authorities have conducted a review on the aforesaid situation, including re-assessing the number of Autotoll lanes available at various tunnels; if they have, of the situation;
| | (b) | whether the authorities have conducted a study on how to facilitate the enhancement of the Autotoll utilization rate so that the automatic toll collection system can achieve a greater effect in easing traffic flow; and
| | (c) | given the serious traffic congestion at the Cross Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom, whether the authorities will first consider increasing the number of Autotoll lanes at the Cross Harbour Tunnel in Hung Hom so as to attract more drivers to use the automatic toll collection system and reduce the frequency of long queues appearing at such lanes at present; if they will, of the time of implementation; and whether the authorities will consider converting some of the manual toll collection lanes to Autotoll lanes during rush hours?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
5. Hon IP Wai-ming to ask: (Translation)
On Radio 5 of Radio Television Hong Kong ("RTHK Radio 5"), there are quite a number of programmes (e.g. Chinese operas, education and cultural programmes, as well as programmes catering for minority interests, etc.) the target audience of which is the elderly. However, quite a number of elderly people have recently relayed to me that as RTHK Radio 5 needs to broadcast Legislative Council ("LegCo") meetings on Wednesdays, the scheduled programmes have to be re-scheduled until after the meetings have been adjourned. Some elderly people have further pointed out that as LegCo meetings in the current session often last for several days, they cannot listen to the scheduled programmes for several consecutive days. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in the past five years, of the total number of hours of RTHK Radio 5 programmes the target audience of which is the elderly; the average audience rating, number of listeners and age profile of listeners of this radio channel; in the past two years, of the total number of hours and audience ratings of broadcasting LegCo meetings on RTHK Radio 5;
| | (b) | whether the authorities know if, apart from RTHK, there are other free television and radio channels which at present also broadcast LegCo meetings and important meetings of its committees (e.g. meetings of the Finance Committee, etc.); how RTHK at present informs its listeners in advance of the changes in programme schedules necessitated by the broadcast of LegCo meetings on Wednesdays; and
| | (c) | given that local television and radio stations are developing digital broadcasting, whether the authorities have any plan to establish dedicated television and radio channels for the live or relay broadcast of LegCo meetings, while at the same time developing digital broadcasting, so that the broadcast of the meetings will not affect elderly people listening to the scheduled programmes; if they have, of the details and the timetable of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*6. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
It has been pointed out in the First Quarter Economic Report 2011 that the ratio of mortgage payment for residential properties to median income of households ("repayment-income ratio") among members of the public has soared further from 45% in the fourth quarter of 2010 to around 49% in the first quarter of this year. It has been reported that the Financial Secretary has indicated that if banks raise interest rates of mortgage loans by 3% in the future, such ratio will rise to 63%. Regarding the daily living expenses among the general public and the impact of the banks raising interest rates on such expenses, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the repayment-income ratio among members of the public in the past three years;
| | (b) | whether it has conducted any survey on the ratio of monthly housing rental expenses to income among the general public; if it has, of the figures in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (c) | whether it has conducted any survey on the ratio of monthly expenses on transportation to income among the general public; if it has, of the figures in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (d) | whether it has conducted any survey on the ratio of monthly expenses on education to income among the general public; if it has, of the figures in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (e) | whether it has conducted any survey on the ratio of monthly expenses on healthcare to income among the general public; if it has, of the figures in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (f) | whether it has conducted any survey on the respective ratio of monthly expenses on meals bought away from home and home-cooking to income among the general public; if it has, of the figures in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (g) | whether it has conducted any survey on the ratio of monthly expenses on daily necessities such as clothing and footwear, etc. to income among the general public; if it has, of the figures in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (h) | whether it has conducted any survey on the ratio of monthly expenses on basic living necessities of families such as water, electricity and gas, etc. to income among the general public; if it has, of the figures in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (i) | whether it has conducted any survey on the ratio of monthly expenses on entertainment to income among the general public; if it has, of the figures in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (j) | whether it has assessed the impact of the banks raising interest rates of mortgage loans on the aforesaid expenses which are related to the livelihood and needs of the people, and what corresponding measures the authorities have to improve people's livelihood?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*7. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the impact of the changes in various education policies including academic structure reform, integrated education and Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers, etc. in recent years on the pressure of secondary school teachers, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the difficulties and pressure faced by secondary school teachers relating to teaching and their emotions; what supportive measures and improvement proposals the authorities have in place; whether they will conduct a comprehensive study to find out the current working hours, workload, difficulties encountered in teaching, as well as sources of pressure of secondary school teachers, and to assess the impact of such conditions on teaching quality and students' development; if not, of the reasons;
| | (b) | given that the Government has implemented integrated education to arrange as far as possible students with special educational needs ("SEN students") (e.g. intellectual disabilities, autism and dyslexia, etc.) to study in ordinary schools, teachers have to take care of students with mixed abilities, while also coping with the emotional and behavioural problems of students which affect order in the classroom, whether the authorities will review if the existing assessment mode which still focuses relatively more on examination results is causing greater difficulties for SEN students in their study, and thus resulting in an obvious gap between their learning abilities and progress and those of ordinary students; whether the authorities will enhance the promotion of multiple intelligence education to allow different students to develop various kinds of potential; what measures the authorities have in place to give further support to teachers in dealing with the gaps in learning abilities and progress among their students so as to improve the teaching quality and effectiveness of learning, as well as to relieve teachers' workload and pressure; and
| | (c) | given that a study has revealed that small class teaching enables teachers to feel more relaxed and enthusiastic in teaching, which will benefit both teaching and learning, but in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 1 December last year, the Secretary for Education indicated that "the time is not ripe" for introducing small class teaching and that "the Voluntary Optimization of Class Structure Scheme" must be implemented first to "stabilize the situations in schools", of the factors considered in deciding when "the time is ripe"; apart from the number of students enrolled, of the factors considered in concluding that "the time is not ripe"; of the objective criteria based on which the authorities assess if the time is ripe, and whether they will make public these criteria; whether the authorities have at present carried out any preparatory work (including the adjustments in teacher training, classroom ancillary facilities, teaching mode and the assessment system, etc.) so as to complement the gradual reduction in the number of students per class in secondary schools in future; if they have, of the details?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
*8. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
As property prices in Hong Kong continue to surge, there are voices in the community alleging that the mainlanders who came to Hong Kong to speculate have pushed up property prices, while some others demand that purchase of properties in Hong Kong by people outside Hong Kong, including mainlanders should be restricted. The Chief Executive has also stated that "Hong Kong cannot do business with its door shut", the issue of whether it is in breach of the international treaties to restrict the purchase of properties by mainlanders has to be examined, and such restriction will be considered only when the property market is faced with "a hopeless situation". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | according to the authorities' information, of the situation of people outside Hong Kong purchasing properties in Hong Kong (including the number of mainlanders who had purchased properties in Hong Kong, and among them, the number of people who did not have to pay property tax because the properties were for self-occupation or not let out) in the past three years;
| | (b) | whether it knows, among the mainlanders' purchase of properties in Hong Kong in the past three years, the number of cases in which mortgage loans were acquired via banks and what the loan-to-value ratios were, as well as the number of cases in which the prices of the properties were paid in one go without the need to apply for mortgage loans from banks; and
| | (c) | whether it knows the measures taken by other places to restrict the purchase of local properties by people from abroad?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*9. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)
The costs for public hospital services have continued to rise in the past decade and the increase has outpaced that in the number of attendances and the local economic growth. According to the latest figures of the Government's estimates of expenditure for the year 2011-2012, the cost per patient day for general inpatient services, as well as the costs per accident and emergency attendance and specialist outpatient attendance will rise to $3,830, $830 and $950 and the percentages of increase will be 4.6%, 3.8% and 5.6% respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the parameters and formulas adopted by the Government in calculating the cost per patient day for general inpatient services, as well as the costs per accident and emergency attendance and specialist outpatient attendance respectively;
| | (b) | of the actual value of each relevant parameter in (a) in the past five years;
| | (c) | whether it knows if the public hospitals have independently calculated the aforesaid unit costs; if they have, of the detailed figures for the past five years; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (d) | given that the Hospital Authority ("HA") has also calculated the specialty costs of various services such as liver and bone marrow transplantation, etc., whether it knows the service items which had been included for calculating the specialty costs by HA as well as the specialty costs of and numbers of attendances for such services in the past five years?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*10. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Regarding promoting the development of chiropractic practice in Hong Kong and the enhancement of the popularity of chiropractic treatment, will the Government inform this Council whether at present it has any plan to:
| (a) | step up publicity and promotion of the efficacy of chiropractic treatment on neuromusculoskeletal disorders; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | introduce chiropractic services to the out-patient services of the public healthcare system; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | advise or encourage local tertiary institutions to offer chiropractic courses; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*11. Hon Andrew LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that mainland authorities have recently implemented a new requirement that Hong Kong drivers must produce "Registration Certificates of Temporary Residence for Visitors" issued by security departments when applying for China Driving Licences ("CDLs") on the Mainland, but some Hong Kong drivers are unable to apply for CDLs as they do not reside on the Mainland and cannot produce the relevant proof. It has also been reported that in order to make a living, some cross-border drivers are forced to seek the help of intermediaries to apply for CDLs using false Mainland address proof, and as such, these drivers will not only be liable to prosecution for using false instruments, their compensations from insurance will also be affected in the event of accidents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of Hong Kong drivers who are also holders of CDLs and, among them, the number of persons who are engaged in the transport industry for a living; if it has, of the results; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | of the number of Hong Kong drivers who have sought assistance from the Hong Kong Government as a result of the aforesaid new requirement; and
| | (c) | how the authorities assist those Hong Kong drivers who do not reside on the Mainland in applying for CDLs through legal means?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*12. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
According to the statistics (provisional figures) of the Census and Statistics Department, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 3.4% in January to March to 3.5% in February to April this year, and the underemployment rate for the same period also increased from 1.8% to 1.9%; meanwhile, the non-seasonally adjusted numbers of unemployed and underemployed persons in February to April this year were 131 900 and 68 900 respectively. On the other hand, the number of private sector vacancies received by the Labour Department in May this year was 66 000 in total, representing a 12.3% increase compared to 58 000 in April, and 25 600 of these vacancies came from the five low-paid trades of catering, retail, cleaning, security services and property management, representing a 21.4% increase compared to 21 000-odd in April. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | how the Government interprets the aforesaid figures, and whether it has assessed if there is a problem of a serious mismatch of job types in Hong Kong; if there is, of the reasons for that, and what measures the Government has to solve the problem; if not, why there are more than 200 000 unemployed and underemployed persons despite the substantial number of vacancies available in the private sector;
| | (b) | whether the Government has conducted any detailed analysis on the future supply of and demand for various types of jobs in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details and outcome; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it has planned to conduct such a study; if it has, when it will do so; if not, of the reasons for that;
| | (c) | whether the Government knows if there is a phenomenon of a large number of vacancies for low-paid jobs (e.g. cleaning and dish washing, etc.) remaining unfilled after the implementation of the statutory minimum wage ("SMW"); if so, whether it will formulate measures to address the problem of the continuous increase in the number of low-paid job vacancies; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (d) | as it has been reported that after the implementation of SMW, a large number of young people have joined the security services industry which requires longer working hours, thus affecting the employment of a large number of middle-aged people with low skills and educational attainment, whether, in addition to the existing measures, the Government will enhance its support for middle-aged people to find employment; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (e) | as the statistics from the Social Welfare Department show that, at the end of April this year, the total number of cases under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme was 282 351, among which 29 206 belonged to the category of unemployment, whether the Government has analyzed the reasons for these CSSA recipients being unemployed; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and in the past five years, for how long these CSSA recipients were unemployed and received CSSA respectively (set out the longest, shortest and average durations concerned for these cases in each year); the situation of the referral of these people to the Labour Department for job seeking; the success rate of job seeking; and the reasons for failing to get a job; and
| | (f) | in the past five years, of the number of able-bodied CSSA recipients who were unemployed; the number of them who found paid jobs through the Support for Self-reliance ("SFS") Scheme and whose earnings from employment were partially or totally disregarded when assessing the amount of assistance payable to them under the provision of disregarded earnings of the CSSA Scheme; the highest, lowest and average wages that they earned; the number of years for which they had received support; whether the Government had assessed and analyzed the effectiveness of the SFS Scheme; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*13. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)
I have previously requested the Education Bureau to provide the number of teachers employed by aided schools under fixed-term contracts to fill the permanent teaching posts within their approved teaching establishment and the number of schools concerned, and have noted that this is a very common employment practice among schools. As such, I have written to the Education Bureau, requesting it to ensure prevention of abuse of the practice of employing regular teachers with fixed-term contracts by schools in filling the permanent teaching posts within their establishment. The authorities replied in late June last year that they had urged schools to review such arrangements and undertook to take timely follow-up actions with those schools which had abused this employment practice, so as to ensure the job stability of teachers, and to ensure that the long-term development needs of schools will be met. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the numbers of aided primary and secondary schools which had employed contract teachers to fill the permanent teaching posts within their approved teaching establishment in the 2010-2011 academic year and the numbers of such contract teachers, together with a breakdown by District Council district as set out in the following tables, as well as the changes in those numbers as compared with those in the 2009-2010 academic year;
District
Council
district | No. of aided secondary
schools in the district | Employment of contract teachers to fill permanent teaching posts within
the approved teaching establishment (aided secondary schools) |
| No. of schools | No. of contract teachers |
No. in
2010-2011 |
Changes as
compared
with the
figure in
2009-2010 |
No. in
2010-2011 |
Changes as
compared
with the
figure in
2009-2010 |
No. in
2010-2011
| Changes as
compared
with the
figure in
2009-2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
District
Council
district | No. of aided primary schools
in the district | Employment of contract teachers to fill permanent teaching posts within
the approved teaching establishment (aided primary schools) |
| No. of schools | No. of contract teachers |
No. in
2010-2011 |
Changes as
compared
with the
figure in
2009-2010 |
No. in
2010-2011 |
Changes as
compared
with the
figure in
2009-2010 |
No. in
2010-2011
| Changes as
compared
with the
figure in
2009-2010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | (b) | whether the authorities will cap the ratio of the number of contract teachers employed by each aided school to fill the permanent teaching posts within its approved teaching establishment for compliance by schools; if they will, of the ratio;
| | (c) | of the respective numbers of primary and secondary schools the authorities had written to last year, urging them to review the relevant employment arrangements; and among them, the number of primary and secondary schools which to date have not carried out any reasonable improvement, and the number of regular teachers employed by them with fixed-term contracts, together with a breakdown by the districts in which the schools are situated; and
| | (d) | how the authorities will deal with those schools which employ regular teachers with fixed-term contracts for a prolonged period of time or employ a large number of such regular teachers and show no improvement after being urged by the authorities; whether the authorities have demanded those schools to significantly reduce the number of regular teachers employed with fixed-term contracts?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
*14. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
The registration system for chiropractors has been implemented in Hong Kong for nearly 10 years, and the practising qualification of and the code of practice for chiropractors are under statutory control. In recent years, the demand for chiropractic services has continued to increase but the medical certificates (commonly known as "sick leave certificates") issued by chiropractors have still not been recognized under labour legislation. The Inter-bureaux/departmental Working Group ("the Working Group") set up by the Government in 2005 to conduct a study on whether the sick leave certificates issued by chiropractors should be recognized under labour legislation pointed out that the chiropractic sector has yet to provide a set of guidelines on the issuance of sick leave certificates, and the Code of Practice issued by the Chiropractors Council of Hong Kong does not contain any explicit requirement on the maintenance of medical records of patients by chiropractors. Having considered various factors which include, inter alia, only a small number of members of the public have sought chiropractic treatment at present, reflecting that the public have limited knowledge of chiropractors, the Working Group does not recommend recognizing the sick leave certificates issued by chiropractors. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that some members of the chiropractic sector have relayed to me that at present, some organizations of the sector in Hong Kong (such as the Chiropractic Doctors' Association of Hong Kong) have already drawn up guidelines on the issuance of sick leave certificates for reference by their members, and quite a number of chiropractors have maintained medical records of their patients, whether the authorities have looked into and considered this latest situation; if not, of the reasons for that; whether they can provide the detailed report of the Working Group;
| | (b) | whether it has assessed if the situation that only a small number of members of the public have sought chiropractic treatment and the public have limited knowledge of chiropractors is due to the fact that at present the Government has not yet introduced chiropractic services to public medical services; moreover, as the registration system for chiropractors has been implemented for a long time and the practising qualification of chiropractors is already subject to regulation, why the authorities have not yet introduced chiropractic services to public medical services;
| | (c) | whether the authorities have planned to consult the public on issues including the registration system for chiropractors and the issuance of sick leave certificates by chiropractors, etc.; if they have, of the timetable and details; and
| | (d) | whether at present, the authorities have any plan to review afresh the feasibility of recognizing the sick leave certificates issued by chiropractors under labour legislation; if they have, of the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*15. Hon Ronny TONG to ask: (Translation)
Given that the decline in secondary student population has caused under-enrolment in some secondary schools and thus they face the crisis of school closure, the Education Bureau has implemented the Voluntary Optimization of Class Structure Scheme ("VOCSS"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the Government has set target numbers under VOCSS for the reduction of secondary school places in the territory as well as in each secondary school in each of the next five years; if it has, of the details; of the criteria and justifications adopted by the Government in setting such target numbers, and whether they include the merits of the schools' operation and their locations;
| | (b) | whether the authorities have implemented VOCSS mainly from the cost effectiveness perspective or for the purpose of safeguarding teachers' livelihood; also, of the education philosophy based on which VOCSS has been implemented; and
| | (c) | given that the former Education and Manpower Bureau ("EMB") indicated in a paper submitted to the Bills Committee on Education (Amendment) Bill 2002 in June 2004 that "[a]ll Government schools have established their own School Management Committee ("SMC") to manage the school and formulate the school development plans", yet, recently some traditional Government schools (such as the King's College and the Queen's College) were said to have voluntarily participated in VOCSS to reduce the student enrolment number at secondary one level, but the schools indicated that the authorities had not put the plan to vote in their SMCs, whether the authorities have assessed if this approach is contradictory to the statement by the former EMB in the past; if so, whether they will start afresh discussion with SMCs of the Government schools concerned on whether or not the schools will participate in VOCSS?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
*16. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the promotion of Chinese art and culture, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the Government has any policy or measure to promote Chinese art and culture, provide more opportunities for displaying valuable artistic works and cultural relics in Hong Kong and, at the same time, tie in with the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District, as well as step up liaison with the Mainland in the promotion of Chinese art and culture;
| | (b) | given that the Animated Version of the Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival was enthusiastically received by the public when being displayed in Hong Kong, and that the recent display of the reunited painting Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains at the National Palace Museum of Taiwan after its first half section, the Broken Mountain, and the second half section, the Wu-yung Version, had been separated for more than 360 years across the Strait has attracted a large number of tourists, and that it has been reported that the Taiwan authorities concerned spent nearly 100 million Hong Kong dollars (NT$368 million) on producing a digital 3D animated version of the Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains which will be displayed at the end of next month, and may be exhibited on the Mainland in September this year, whether the Government will consider discussing with the Taiwan authorities concerned to strive for the exhibition of the 3D animated version of the Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains also in Hong Kong during the period when it is on display on the Mainland, so that the people of Hong Kong can appreciate the artistic value of the painting, and seize the opportunity to promote Chinese art and cultural knowledge; and
| | (c) | given that it has been reported that the display of the Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains has triggered a surge in tourism with overseas travel industry organizing package tours for viewing the painting, which indicates that the organization of the exhibition brings certain business opportunities, whether the authorities will, in the event that they succeed in striving for the exhibition of the 3D animated version of the Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains in Hong Kong, consider taking this opportunity to tie in with the promotion of the related trades to attract tourists from the neighbouring Guangdong Province and Macao to come to Hong Kong, so as to facilitate the promotion of Chinese art and culture as well as create business opportunities for Hong Kong?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*17. Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to ask: (Translation)
In Hong Kong, there are many consumer transactions adopting a pre-payment mode, which require consumers to sign contracts of relatively longer duration and pre-pay large amounts of money. Recently, I have received a complaint in which the complainant's family member who had been suffering from mental illness for 20 years was allegedly induced by the staff of a fitness centre using improper selling tactics to sign a contract for joining fitness courses and buying membership packages, and to pre-pay over $60,000 in total. They subsequently requested for a refund and produced a medical certificate on the mental illness of the family member concerned, but their request was rejected by the fitness centre on the ground of "respecting the spirit of contract". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the number of complaints involving unfair trade practices in the sale of products or pre-paid services to persons with disabilities ("PWDs") received or handled by the Consumer Council ("CC") and the relevant law enforcement departments in the past three years; the reasons for and the amounts of money involved in such complaints as well as the outcome;
| | (b) | whether it knows the number of cases involving unfair trade practices in the sale of products or pre-paid services in which the victims had resorted to civil litigation to claim compensation in the past three years; the amounts of money involved; the average time required by the courts to handle such cases; and whether the claimants were successful in their claims;
| | (c) | what government departments at present offer assistance and advisory services to PWDs aggrieved by the unfair trade practices used in the sale of products or pre-paid services; whether the authorities have any plan to amend the legislation to allow PWDs who can prove their disabilities to enjoy longer "cooling-off periods" and claim periods for consumer transactions than those applicable to able-bodied persons; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (d) | whether the authorities have any plan to enlarge CC's scope of investigation power and improve its redress mechanism to enable it to handle in a timely manner in the future disputes between consumers and business operators arising from the pre-payment mode of consumer transactions, and to empower CC to suspend the instalment payments by bank credit cards for the pre-payments involved in the complaint cases, so that the complainants will not have to claim for compensation through complicated and prolonged litigation proceedings; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*18. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints one after another from the first batch of residents who moved into Yan On Estate ("the Estate") in Ma On Shan in May this year, indicating that when they moved into the Estate, the property management services contractor ("the contractor") of the Housing Department ("HD") collected excessive charges from them, and that the facilities and shops in the Estate were not yet open, and the car park was misused by the staff members of the contractor, thus causing great inconvenience to them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of residents who will reside in the Estate upon its formal occupation date in July this year; the number of shops that will open in the Estate by then and the types of business operated by these shops;
| | (b) | whether it has carried out an assessment to ensure that shops in the Estate will have started operation when the residents move in; if it has, of the reasons why no shop is open at present; if not, how it can ensure that the needs of the residents are not neglected as a result;
| | (c) | given that among the aforesaid residents, some Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") recipients, elderly people and people with disabilities indicated that the contractor required them to first settle a debris removal charge ("DRC") before it would assist them in signing their tenancy agreement and making arrangements to move in, and even though some residents signed a declaration stating that they would not renovate their flats, the contractor still requested them to pay DRC first, whether such practice is in compliance with the Government's existing requirements; if so, of the reasons for not stipulating such a charge in the "offer letters" issued to the residents in respect of the allocation of public rental housing flats; if not, whether HD has followed up the collection of excessive charges by the contractor and has immediately assisted those residents who have signed a declaration or who will not renovate their flats by demanding the contractor to refund DRC to them, as well as ordered it to stop collecting such a charge;
| | (d) | given that the aforesaid residents indicated that when residents who are CSSA recipients moved into the Estate, the contractor requested them to pay a deposit with their CSSA payment first and refused to give them any immediate remission, thereby causing difficulties in their livelihood, whether the Government has assessed if such an arrangement is tantamount to a reduction of money for meeting these CSSA recipients' living expenses, and whether the Government will immediately rectify this wrongful arrangement and immediately return the deposits to such CSSA recipients;
| | (e) | when the car park of the Estate will open for use by the residents; and whether the Government has procured "third party risks insurance of building" for the car park before it is formally open for use;
| | (f) | whether the Government has found out if there are private vehicles parking in the car park before it is open for use by the residents; and whether such vehicles belong to the staff of the contractor and whether they have paid the parking fee;
| | (g) | whether the Government will immediately install additional traffic lights at road junctions of the Estate so as to enable residents to go safely to the petrol stations nearby for shopping or to the parks for doing exercise; if it will, when it will implement this proposal; if not, of the reasons for that; and
| | (h) | whether the Government will immediately request the relevant franchised bus companies to increase the number of bus routes running via the Estate, so as to facilitate the residents to travel from and to the Estate; if it will, when it will make the request; if not, of the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
*19. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have recently relayed to me that disputes on copyright infringement of news reports have arisen frequently among various media organizations in recent years, and there is a trend of the problem worsening acutely, as quite a number of media organizations took legal actions against one another over copyright infringement of news reports, which caused serious economic loss to both parties, adversely affected the development of media and journalism as well as drove up the operating costs of media organizations substantially, hampering their daily operation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the authorities have tried to look into the problem of frequent disputes on copyright infringement of news reports among media organizations in recent years and offered them assistance; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether it knows the respective numbers of litigation cases involving copyright infringement of news reports among media organizations in each of the past three years; and
| | (c) | whether the authorities will consider conducting an in-depth study on the aforesaid problem and formulating policies or amending the legislation to reduce litigation and disputes involving copyright infringement of news reports; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
* For written reply
III. Bills
First Reading
Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2011
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| | Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2011 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
| Second Reading (Debates to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| | 1. | Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Financial Institutions) Bill | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 24 June 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 949/10-11)
| | 2. | Buildings (Amendment) Bill 2010 | : | Secretary for Development
| |
| (i) | Secretary for Development to move Committee stage amendments
|
| (The amendments were issued on 21 June 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 936/10-11)
|
| (ii) | Hon KAM Nai-wai to move Committee stage amendments
|
| (The amendments were issued on 27 June 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 964/10-11)
|
| | 3. | Communications Authority Bill | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
| |
| (i) | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move Committee stage amendments
|
| (The amendments were issued on 22 June 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 938/10-11)
|
| (ii) | Hon Emily LAU to move a Committee stage amendment
|
| (The amendment was issued on 22 June 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 943/10-11)
|
| (iii) | Dr Hon Margaret NG to move Committee stage amendments
|
| (The amendments were issued on 27 June 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 965/10-11) |
|
IV. Motions
Proposed resolution under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:
Resolved that the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Notice 2011, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 14 June 2011, be approved.
| (The Notice is in the Appendix and was also issued on
17 June 2011 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 913/10-11)
|
V. Members' Motions
- The 20th anniversary of implementing the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance
Hon Emily LAU to move the following motion: (Translation)
That the fact that Hong Kong is a city in the People's Republic of China which has greater freedom as well as a higher respect for the rule of law and human rights is directly related to the implementation of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance ('HKBORO') for 20 years, because under HKBORO, most of the human rights safeguarded by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are brought within the ambit of local legislation; in this connection, this Council urges the authorities to firmly uphold the principles of respecting the rule of law and protecting human rights, take the opportunity presented by the 20th anniversary of implementing HKBORO to promote human rights education and enhance the public's understanding of HKBORO, and to establish a dedicated committee for promoting human rights education, so as to enhance the effects that can be achieved by HKBORO.
Amendment to the motion
Dr Hon Philip WONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To delete "in the People's Republic of China" after "city"; to delete "greater" after "which has"; to delete "a higher" after "as well as"; to delete "directly related to the implementation of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance ('HKBORO') for 20 years, because under HKBORO, most of the human rights safeguarded by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are brought within the ambit of local legislation" after "human rights is" and substitute with "attributable to the clear protection under the Basic Law and its stipulation that the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and shall be implemented through the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance ('HKBORO')"; to delete "firmly uphold the principles of respecting" after "the authorities to" and substitute with "continue to abide by the Basic Law and 'one country, two systems' and respect the principles of"; to add "and to" after "protecting human rights,"; to add "continue to" after "HKBORO to"; and to delete "and to establish a dedicated committee for promoting human rights education," after "understanding of HKBORO,".
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
- Proposal on the constitutional reform in Hong Kong
Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to move the following motion: (Translation)
That on 1 July 2003, over 500 000 Hong Kong people took to the streets in protest, demanding the implementation of dual universal suffrage and opposing the enactment of legislation to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law; since then, the aforesaid public view has remained unchanged, and was manifested in the several Legislative Council elections held in the past; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to enact legislation on referendum and conduct a referendum on the proposal on constitutional reform in Hong Kong, so as to realize the principle of a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong people, allow Hong Kong people to decide whether to enact legislation to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law and on the selection of the Chief Executive and the election of all Legislative Council Members by universal suffrage in 2012, fully comply with the relevant requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations, and return the political power to the people.
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Clerk to the Legislative Council
|
|
|
|