A 11/12-6

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 9 November 2011 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Child Abduction and Custody (Parties to Convention) (Amendment) Order 2011151/2011
2.Clubs (Safety of Premises) (Exclusion) (Amendment) Order 2011152/2011

Other Papers

1.No. 24-Report by the Director of Immigration Incorporated on the administration of the Immigration Service Welfare Fund together with the Report of the Director of Audit and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2011
(to be presented by the Secretary for Security)

2.No. 25-Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated
Audited financial statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 March 2011
(to be presented by the Secretary for Home Affairs)

3.No. 26-Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund
Signed and audited financial statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit and the Report of the Board of Trustees for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011
(to be presented by the Secretary for Home Affairs)

4.No. 27-Consumer Council Annual Report 2010-2011
(to be presented by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)

5. Report No. 2/11-12 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)

II. Questions

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

In recent years, a lot of pregnant women and patients from the Mainland have sought medical treatment in private hospitals in Hong Kong, and bed spaces in private hospitals are in serious shortage and their services are close to full capacity; some middle-class people are intent upon using private medical services by taking out medical insurance, but it turns out that they also have to wait for bed spaces. Twelve of the 13 local private hospitals have been established in the name of non-profit-making organizations, and among them, 10 are charitable institutions which are exempted from tax under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, and some of them have recently increased their medical service charges substantially by as much as 1.6 times. At present, there is no provision or penalty under the conditions of grant of land to private hospitals by the Government for regulating their operations or restricting them from making hefty profits, and the authorities expect that when there are new private hospitals coming into operation in 2017, the relevant provisions and penalties may be included in the conditions of land grant on a trial basis, and if proved feasible, they may consider amending the legislation to regulate the existing private hospitals as well. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the annual profits for individual non-profit-making private hospitals are as high as $400 million and their fiscal reserves are up to a few billion dollars, how the authorities at present monitor the use of the funds of non-profit-making private hospitals (including whether their profits are used for the development of healthcare services, and whether they are incline to invest their resources in services that can generate higher profits, thus compromising the quality and quantity of other services); furthermore, the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance which regulates private hospitals in Hong Kong was enacted in 1936 and the last time when major amendments were being made was in 1966, and there is no provision in the Ordinance to regulate the fees and charges, profits as well as financial conditions of private hospitals; last year, the United States endorsed a health reform to strengthen monitoring of non-profit-making hospitals (including a compliance check once every three years) to ensure that their operation mode complies with the conditions for tax exemption status; whether the authorities have any plan to make reference to the practices in the United States to review the tax exemption status of the existing non-profit-making private hospitals, and levy profits tax and land premium based on their profitability;

    (b)apart from inspecting every year whether those private hospitals operating on low-premium land grant offer low-charge beds according to the requirements of the conditions of land grant, how the authorities ensure that these hospitals do not set any threshold for such bed spaces (such as rejecting patients who undergo major operations or are covered by medical insurance), and that such bed spaces are fully utilized; whether the authorities have any plan to impose regulation as soon as possible by way of legislation, so as to improve the low occupancy rate of as low as one quarter of such low-charge beds at present; and

    (c)given that a few private hospitals have initially planned to add about 250 bed spaces in 2013-2014, and the Government has allocated four sites for the development of private hospitals to provide more bed spaces (among which 70% will be reserved for Hong Kong residents), but the four new private hospitals are only expected to come into operation in 2017, in the six years from now until 2017, how the authorities ensure that Hong Kong residents in need of private hospital services may receive priority allocation of private hospital bed spaces; why the authorities do not immediately study regulating the existing private hospitals by introducing legislative amendments?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

2. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

The "i Learn at home" Internet Learning Support Programme was launched by the authorities in July this year to help low-income families acquire affordable Internet access services and suitable computer equipment for their school-age children to undertake web-based learning at home, and to provide them with support and advice. The authorities have commissioned two organizations to implement the Programme in the Eastern and Western parts of Hong Kong respectively. In this connection, will the executive authorities inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective numbers of families and students registered with the two implementers so far and the costs incurred;
    (b)whether the two implementers have arranged for staff members to provide support and advice to participants at home; how the authorities safeguard the privacy of participants and ensure that no one can obtain personal data of members of the public through such arrangement for other uses; and

    (c)of the problems encountered in implementing the Programme and the solutions adopted?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

3. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

In view of the serious wastage problem of doctors in public hospitals in recent years, the Hospital Authority ("HA"), in addition to increasing promotion opportunities and recruiting part-time local doctors, also plans to recruit overseas doctors to practise with limited registration in Hong Kong, but the Allied Concern Group on the Standard of Medical Services in Hong Kong, which consists of doctors' associations such as the Hong Kong Medical Association, the Association of Private Medical Specialists of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association, has jointly signed a submission to the Medical Council of Hong Kong ("MCHK") to voice opposition. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the impact of non-Hong Kong residents using medical services in Hong Kong on the demand for doctors in private hospitals and specialists, and on the recruitment and retention of specialists by public hospitals; the current percentage of the number of attendances of non-Hong Kong residents in the total number of attendances of private hospitals per annum; whether the authorities will consider including a provision to prescribe the percentage of the number of attendances of non-Hong Kong residents of private hospitals when the they apply for licence renewal; further, the number of doctors who have returned to the Mainland to set up clinics and hospitals or practise under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement; the impact on the supply of doctors in Hong Kong; how the doctor-to-population ratio in Hong Kong compares to that in other advanced countries which provide medical services for a large number of non-nationals;

    (b)whether it knows the criteria adopted by HA for the initial screening of the applicants for the overseas doctor posts; the number of doctors HA intends to recruit in this way, as well as their specialties and ranks; the wastage rates of such posts in the past two years and the number of current vacancies; whether it will continue to recruit more overseas doctors to fill such posts; how the authorities will address the dissenting views of local doctors' associations and ensure that the overseas doctors recruited by HA and their local counterparts can whole-heartedly work together in the future; whether, under the existing legislation or the Professional Code and Conduct for the Guidance of Registered Medical Practitioners in Hong Kong, doctors' associations are allowed to attempt to influence the decision of MCHK regarding the vetting and approval of applications for limited registration; and

    (c)whether the authorities have reviewed the causes of the low passing rate of overseas doctors attending MCHK's Licensing Examinations; whether it knows if MCHK has a statutory obligation to make improvements to attract more quality medical personnel, having regard to safeguarding the public's health and interests?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

It has been reported that the debt crises in Europe and the United States continue to aggravate, creating uncertainties in the external economic environment as well as impacting on the external trade of Hong Kong, and banks have begun to tighten their credits. Compared with the same period last year, the exports of Hong Kong products dropped by around 29% and 25% respectively in July and August this year. The Financial Secretary stated that Hong Kong's external sector would encounter considerably serious challenges in 2012, and the external trade of Hong Kong in the remaining months of this year and even until early next year did not look optimistic, while Hong Kong's export trade and even the overall economy as well as the job market might deteriorate. In the face of various uncertainties in the external economy, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that under the existing Small and Medium Enterprises Loan Guarantee Scheme, the Government acts as guarantor for up to only 50% of the approved loans, and the Small and Medium Enterprises Financing Guarantee Scheme of the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation provides a loan guarantee ratio of up to 70% only, of the respective numbers of applications received and approved under the two schemes since January this year and the loan amounts involved; and whether it will reconsider making reference to the arrangements of the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme and expeditiously review and improve the two schemes, including raising the loan guarantee ratio to 80%, so as to meet the actual needs of the small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") and address their financing difficulties; if it will, when the relevant work will commence; if not, of the reasons for that;

    (b)whether it will reconsider reviewing afresh and amending section 39E of the Inland Revenue Ordinance for the purpose of enhancing the assistance provided to Hong Kong enterprises on the Mainland in upgrading and restructuring, boosting their sustainable competitiveness as well as developing the domestic sales market; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given that at present, many SMEs and trade associations have reflected that they are facing an increasingly harsh business environment and that the Competition Bill ("the Bill") still contains a large number of contentious provisions and details, the confidence of SMEs in the present business environment has been undermined and they are discouraged from pursuing continuous development, whether the Government will consider deferring the completion date of the legislative exercise for the Bill from the current legislative session as originally scheduled to the next term of the Government, so as to avoid increasing the uncertainties faced by SMEs at present and deepening their worries; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

5. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)

Since April 2003, four historic buildings have been declared as proposed monuments, and two of them have already been declared as statutory monuments. The latest building declared as a proposed monument is the Ho Tung Gardens on The Peak. The Government recently intends to declare the Ho Tung Gardens as a statutory monument and is negotiating with the owner of the Ho Tung Gardens on the compensation package. As the issue has given rise to public debate over the conservation policy on monuments and historic buildings, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that different compensation proposals were made by the authorities in handling the compensation for the three proposed monuments, namely the Morrison Building, King Yin Lei and Ho Tung Gardens, of the criteria based on which the authorities formulated the compensation proposals, and how the authorities have formulated the compensation proposal for the owner of the Ho Tung Gardens according to these criteria;

    (b)given that at present the authorities handle the compensation arrangement for the declaration of private properties as proposed monuments on a case-by-case basis, whether they will consider developing a specific mechanism and consistent standards for making compensation to owners of statutory monuments, as well as formulating principles and procedures for adopting which form of compensation (e.g. land swap and transfer of plot ratio, etc.), so as to avoid society forming the impression that the current compensation arrangements lack consistent standards and transparency; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)as the existing legislation provides statutory protection for proposed and statutory monuments only, without giving the same protection to the graded historic buildings confirmed by the Antiquities Advisory Board, whether the authorities will consider conducting a comprehensive review of the conservation system for proposed and statutory monuments as well as graded historic buildings, and introduce legislation to preserve graded historic buildings; if they will, of the details of such review; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

6. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

It has been learnt that upon the expiry of its licence on 31 March this year, the Star Ferry Company Limited had ceased operating the Hung Hum/Central and Hung Hom/Wan Chai ferry services. The Transport Department conducted two public tender exercises between end of last year and early this year respectively to invite bids for the operation of the two ferry routes, but no tender submission was received. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the 500-metre long promenade near the Hung Hom Ferry Pier has been opened for public use since early September this year, which connects a 4-kilometre waterfront walkway from Hung Hom to Tsim Sha Tsui where members of the public and tourists can stroll around and enjoy the magnificent views on the two sides of the Victoria Harbour, whether the authorities will consider adding tourism elements to the two aforesaid ferry routes, so that the ferry services and the waterfront promenade can complement each other and become an attraction benefiting the tourism industry, as well as conduct a tender exercise for the third time for the two ferry routes to help promote the development of the public space and tourist attractions on both sides of the Harbour;

    (b)given that the authorities obtained approval from the Finance Committee of this Council in November 2010 for a commitment of about $110 million to provide helping measures to the operators of six outlying island ferry routes during the three-year new license period commencing 2011, including reimbursing the vessel maintenance and repair cost incurred by the ferry operators, whether the authorities will consider afresh providing similar helping measures to the operators interested in operating the Hung Hum/Central and Hung Hom/Wan Chai routes in the future, so as to encourage suitable operators to operate these two ferry routes; and if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (c)given that under the Ferry Services Ordinance, in addition to invitation for tender, the Commissioner for Transport may, upon consultation with the Director of Marine and the Director of Civil Engineering and Development, consider granting a licence to operate a ferry service to any interested operators which the Commissioner thinks fit, whether the authorities will consider exercising the power under the Ordinance to proactively identify suitable operators to run the two aforesaid ferry routes; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*7. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

Given that since April 2002, ultra low sulphur diesel ("ULSD") has been the statutory minimum requirement for motor vehicle diesel, and as Japan used to be the second-largest exporter of ULSD in Asia, will the Government inform this Council whether the earthquake in Japan in March this year has affected the supply and pricing of ULSD in Hong Kong; and if so, what measures the Government has taken and will take to ensure stable supply of ULSD at the lowest possible price?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*8. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the total number of locations which have flagstaffs for raising and lowering the national flag and regional flag, among those places managed by various bureaux, including the Home Affairs Bureau, and government departments as well as the agencies within their purview;

    (b)whether the Government has provided training on the raising and lowering of the national flag and regional flag to the officers-in-charge and staff of the agencies within its purview which are required to fly the national flag and regional flag;

    (c)whether it knows if the personnel in (b) will be liable to administrative sanctions or other punishments for incorrectly flying the national or regional flag; and

    (d)whether it knows if any incident of the national or regional flag being incorrectly flown has occurred at the locations in (a) since 1997; if such incidents did occur, the total number of such incidents, and how those incidents were handled by the Government afterwards?
Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

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

It has been reported that the price of Dongjiang water in each of the years from 2012 to 2014 will increase by about 5.8%. The Government proposed to spend a sum of $11.24 billion in the next three years on an annual purchase of 820 million cubic metres of Dongjiang water from Guangdong under "the package deal lump sum approach", regardless of the actual volume consumed by Hong Kong people. Moreover, the Government is planning to develop water resources by conducting a study and field surveys on the construction of a medium-sized water desalination plant, and a site in Tseung Kwan O has been reserved for this purpose. There have also been reports that the average daily water consumption per person in Hong Kong is 220 litres, which far exceeds the daily per capita consumption of about 170 litres in the world. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective volumes of fresh water for flushing and fresh water wasted due to water main bursts in Hong Kong in each of the past three years;

    (b)of the policies in place to ensure the effective use of water resources, so that the average daily water consumption per person in Hong Kong can be lowered to 170 litres;

    (c)given that I have learnt that in quite a number of neighbouring cities, "full-flush" and "half-flush" water level cisterns are required to be used in toilets and the cistern capacity is also restricted, whether the Government will examine and adopt such measures to achieve water conservation; and

    (d)given that it has been reported that while the cost of desalinated water in Hong Kong is HK$12 per cubic metre, the desalination cost in Singapore is much lower, standing at US$0.5 per cubic metre only (i.e. HK$3.9 at the rate of US$1 to HK$7.8), whether the Government will consider introducing desalination technology from and learning from the experiences of those countries with advanced desalination facilities, so as to expedite the progress of technical studies and lower the cost in Hong Kong?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

The Police have recently introduced an "Animal Watch Scheme" ("the Scheme") with a view to stepping up work on intelligence gathering, investigation, education and publicity in respect of cases of cruelty to animals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the manpower and command structure for the implementation of the Scheme; whether representatives of other government departments are included; the differences in nature between the Scheme and the existing Animal Welfare Task Group established by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, in collaboration with the Police, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) ("HKSPCA"), and of the division of work between the two;

    (b)how frontline police officers are briefed about the principles of the Scheme and procedures for its implementation; whether it will be made a mandatory requirement for these officers to attend relevant seminars or receive training; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)in respect of the enhancement of intelligence gathering, apart from maintaining contact with HKSPCA, which animal welfare concern groups the Police will collaborate with under the Scheme to put in place a notification mechanism for cases of cruelty to animals; and of the operation mode of the notification mechanism;

    (d)given that quite a number of animals which are treated cruelly will be sent to veterinary clinics for treatment, how, under the Scheme, information of such cases is gathered from veterinarians, and how veterinarians are encouraged to co-operate with the Police;

    (e)based on the many cases of cruelty to animals which occurred in the past few years, whether the Police have indentified the black spots of such offences; if so, how they will step up the preventive work at those black spots; and

    (f)given that animal welfare concern groups have all along been advocating the formation of an "Animal Police" dedicated to investigating cases involving cruelty to animals, whether the Police have introduced the Scheme as an alternative to the formation of an "Animal Police"; of the authorities' latest attitude and stance towards the formation of an "Animal Police"?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

It has been reported that The Link Management Limited ("The Link") had recently requested shop tenants of the fresh markets under its management to install Octopus processors on the grounds of improving the operation environment and increasing consumer flow; the reports pointed out that the shop tenants had to hire the device from the Octopus Holdings Limited ("OHL") and pay commissions to OHL based on the transaction value, and some tenants in Tai Yuen Market of Tai Po worried that rejecting to install Octopus processors might have impact on the renewal of their tenancy agreements, and thus were forced to accede to the installation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the Government knows at present, apart from Tai Yuen Market, in which of its shopping arcades and fresh markets had The Link requested the shop tenants to install Octopus processors, and whether it had consulted and obtained the consent of such shop tenants beforehand; whether the Government has assessed if, by requesting the shop tenants to install the device, The Link is involved in a breach of contract in that it has unilaterally changed the tenancy terms;

    (b)whether it knows the respective amounts of monthly charges and commissions payable to OHL by the shop tenants for hiring the Octopus processors; given that the aforesaid measure implemented by The Link will enable OHL to gain direct benefits from the use of its services by the shop tenants, whether the authorities have assessed if a transfer of benefits between The Link and OHL is involved;

    (c)whether it knows, since The Link took over the shopping arcades and fresh markets of the Hong Kong Housing Authority in 2005, the respective numbers of individual small shop operators who had moved out from the premises in these shopping malls and fresh markets on their own accord or whose tenancies had been terminated, as well as the number of chain stores moving in to occupy such shop premises each year; and

    (d)whether the authorities will consider increasing the number of public markets managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, so as to offer more alternatives for the operation of small businesses as well as more shopping variety to members of the public, and safeguard the small shop operators from facing more operational difficulties as a result of the monopolization of shop premises?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

Regarding the implementation of the productivity assessment ("assessment") mechanism for persons with disabilities under the statutory minimum wage ("SMW") regime, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of employees with disabilities ("EWDs") who have completed the assessment since the implementation of the SMW regime on 1 May 2011, and the percentage of such employees in the total number of EWDs, with a breakdown by month;

    (b)of the distribution of EWDs who have completed the assessment among sectors; the results of their assessment; and the changes in their wage levels before and after implementation of the SMW regime;

    (c)whether any employer or EWD has requested for re-assessment due to unsatisfactory assessment results; if so, of the details;

    (d)whether any EWD has been assessed for more than once; if so, of the reasons for that;

    (e)whether the authorities have investigated and examined the reasons why some EWDs refuse to participate in the assessment; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they have plans to conduct such an investigation; of the means and incentives through which the authorities encourage more EWDs to participate in the assessment; and

    (f)as I have learnt that quite a number of EWDs are uninterested in participating in the assessment, whether the authorities have considered reviewing the situation as soon as possible; if they have, of the timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

Regarding road maintenance, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints or reports received about roads in need of maintenance in each of the past five years, together with a breakdown by the channel through which the complaint or report was made and the 18 District Council districts; of the time normally needed for the relevant government departments to handle the complaints or reports and repair the roads concerned upon receipt of such complaints or reports;

    (b)of the respective details of the manpower, budget, actual expenditure, random checks and monitoring work involved in road maintenance and handling of the relevant complaints or reports in each of the past five years; and

    (c)whether any mechanism is in place at present to check and monitor road conditions; if so, of the details of the manpower, budget, actual expenditure, random checks and monitoring work involved in each of the past five years; if not, the reasons for that, and how it ensures that roads are in good conditions?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

In recent years, quite a number of religious organizations have reflected to me that they wish to identify sites in New Territories West for construction of religious facilities (e.g. mosques and churches, etc.) but have encountered huge difficulties during the process, and as a result, these organizations are so far unable to identify sites for the purpose. When I helped these religious organizations to ask the Government the sizes and locations of the sites available for construction of religious facilities in various districts, the authorities refused to provide any further information. According to my understanding, so far there is not even one single mosque in New Territories West. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the locations and sizes of the sites in various districts at present which have been earmarked for application by religious organizations for construction of religious facilities (list in table form); and

    (b)whether the authorities have earmarked any land for ethnic minorities to construct religious facilities (e.g. mosques, etc.); if so, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider improving the existing policy to enable ethnic minorities to construct religious facilities in various districts (e.g. New Territories West)?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

Regarding the implementation of a five-day work week, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the actual work carried out by the Government in the past to motivate employers to implement a five-day work week;

    (b)whether any analysis or survey has been conducted to find out the prevalence of a five-day work week in society; if so, of the result;

    (c)whether it knows the reasons why employers are unable to implement a five-day work week and the difficulties encountered;

    (d)of the estimated numbers and percentages of employees in Hong Kong who are working on a five-day work week pattern at present, broken down by occupation; and

    (e)whether the authorities will set a target for implementing a five-day work week outside the Government?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*16. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the utilization of the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in Shenzhen Bay Port, other boundary control points and the SkyPier at the Hong Kong International Airport, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of cross-boundary passengers under the arrangement of co-location of immigration and customs facilities at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in the past three years and the year-on-year increase; the effectiveness of the system of "co-location" of boundary control facilities since its implementation at that control point;

    (b)whether it has compiled statistics on the respective percentages of visitors who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents joining group tours and visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme ("IVS") passing through the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in the overall number of visitors using the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in the past three years; of the average waiting time for visitors who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents to go through immigration clearance; whether it has conducted any study on the arrangement of letting different immigration counters handling visitors joining group tours and IVS visitors so as to shorten their waiting time for immigration clearance; if it has, of the plans; if not, whether such a study can be conducted expeditiously;

    (c)whether it has recently compiled statistics on the respective average waiting time for Hong Kong permanent residents and visitors who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents to go through immigration clearance at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point;

    (d)whether it has reviewed if the ancillary facilities (such as washrooms and air-conditioning) for visitors waiting for immigration clearance at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point are sufficient; if they are not sufficient, whether it has considered implementing improvement measures;

    (e)whether it knows the daily number of ferry passengers using the SkyPier at present who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents from the Mainland and the year-on-year increase in the past two years;

    (f)whether it has assessed the percentage of visitors whose destinations are the tourist attractions on Lantau Island (Hong Kong Disneyland, Ngong Ping 360 and the AsiaWorld-Expo, etc.) in the number of visitors using the various control points to enter Hong Kong at present; whether it has conducted any study on developing the SkyPier into an immigration control point to provide visitors going to tourist attractions on Lantau Island with a more convenient arrival and departure channel and, at the same time, facilitate ferry passengers from the western region of the Pearl River Delta (Jiangmen and Shekou, etc.) to enter and leave Hong Kong; whether it has assessed if such a development can alleviate the crowded conditions at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point and other boundary control points; if it has assessed, of the results; if not, whether such an assessment can be conducted expeditiously; and

    (g)of the respective utilization of other boundary control points in Hong Kong since January this year (including the number of cross-boundary passengers and the average waiting time for visitors who are non-Hong Kong permanent residents and IVS visitors to go through immigration clearance)?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that an accident occurred some time ago at Nelson Street of Mongkok, in which drain cleaner was suspected to have been splashed off the pipes on the external walls of a building, causing injuries to passers-by. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)as the "Minor Works Control System" which has been implemented since the end of 2010 regulates a total of 118 items of minor works, including the "erection, repair, alteration, addition and removal" of drains in residential buildings, as well as requires members of the public to employ "prescribed building professionals" or "prescribed registered contractors" to carry out the relevant works and submit to the authorities a certificate of completion of works, record plans and other relevant documents within 14 days of the completion of such works, how many certificates of completion of works and plans the authorities have received so far; whether any quality problem was found in individual works; whether the authorities have formulated monitoring measures to prevent flat owners from privately employing unauthorized persons to carry out the works; if they have, how many cases of non-compliance have been uncovered so far;

    (b)as plumbing works in buildings are not included in the "Household Minor Works Validation Scheme", whether the authorities have carried out inspections or tests regularly on plumbing works in old buildings completed before the "Minor Works Control System" came into effect to ensure that the pipes are in good condition; if they have, of the progress of such inspection work; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)for old residential buildings with no owners' corporation, no owners' committee and no management company (which are commonly referred to as the "three NOs"), whether the authorities will consider providing emergency subsidies to their owners for carrying out tests and maintenance on the pipes on the external walls of their buildings, in order to prevent accidents caused by ageing pipes; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (d)whether the authorities had received in the past three years any complaint about serious leakage or seepage from pipes on the external walls of buildings; if they had, of the number of such complaints; the general procedure for handling complaints received by the authorities and the number of government departments involved; and what approach the authorities have adopted at present to handle cases in which the flat owners of the buildings concerned are unwilling to repair the leaking pipes for a long time?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Mr LI Keqiang, Vice-Premier of the State Council, announced during his visit to Hong Kong in August this year that starting from 2012, students from Hong Kong will be exempted from taking the National Education Examinations Authority, People's Republic of China Joint Entrance Examination for Universities in PRC ("JEE"), and they can apply directly for admission to some mainland universities using their results in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the number of Hong Kong students attending primary and secondary schools, tertiary institutions and universities on the Mainland; if they have, of the respective numbers in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that, and whether they will compile the relevant statistics;

    (b)of the number of enquiries received in each of the past three years by government departments or offices of the Hong Kong SAR Government on the Mainland relating to Hong Kong students who intended to study on the Mainland;

    (c)of the number of requests for assistance received in each of the past three years by government departments or offices of the Hong Kong SAR Government on the Mainland from Hong Kong students studying on the Mainland;

    (d)whether it knows the names and other details (including the relevant undergraduate programmes and the number of places offered, etc.) of the mainland universities which will accept Hong Kong students who will be exempted to take JEE for admission to these universities from 2012 onwards; if it does not have such information at present, of the expected time when the details can be announced;

    (e)given that local university places have long been inadequate and thus every year there are as many as thousands of secondary school-leavers who meet the basic requirements for admission to universities but could not be admitted to any university, whether the Government will dovetail with the aforesaid initiative of the Central Government and consider providing subsidies in the form of education vouchers for these school-leavers to pursue further studies at universities on the Mainland or overseas; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (f)whether government departments and public organizations in Hong Kong will recognize the academic qualifications awarded by mainland universities as equivalent to those awarded by local universities when they are recruiting staff and, with regard to the same position, apply the same application requirements and assessment criteria to graduates of mainland universities and those of local universities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (g)whether it has any plan to encourage private organizations to accord greater recognition to academic qualifications awarded by mainland universities as well as mainland professional qualifications when they are recruiting staff; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (h)whether it has any plan to further strengthen the implementation of the mutual recognition mechanism regarding academic and professional qualifications between Hong Kong and the Mainland; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (i)whether the Government will introduce corresponding policies or measures to dovetail with the aforesaid new initiative of the Central Government; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*19. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

A women affairs concern group recently conducted a study on sexual harassment in the workplace of the service industries which engage large numbers of young women, through interviewing women taking up various jobs (e.g. nurse, flight attendant, restaurant waitress or receptionist, customer service representative, beautician, salesperson and beer promoter, etc.) in such industries, and among the interviewees, 72.6% and 32.3% of them respectively indicated that there might be chances that they could be subject to sexual harassment by customers at work or they had been sexually harassed by customers, and the sexual harassment problem was most serious among women working as beer promoters, nurses, salespersons or flight attendants. In addition, nearly 60% of the interviewees said that they did not know the work of the Equal Opportunities Commission ("EOC"). In this connection, will the executive authorities inform this Council:
    (a)given that EOC has proposed to the authorities to amend the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 480) ("SDO") since 1999 to protect providers of goods, services and facilities against sexual harassment by customers, of the reasons why the authorities still have not introduced the amendment bill into this Council despite having indicated their agreement in principle on the relevant proposal in 2000; whether the authorities will introduce a bill as soon as possible to amend the relevant provisions; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (b)whether they know if EOC has performed its statutory function to "work towards the elimination of discrimination", and has provided relevant information to the employers in the aforesaid industries in which sexual harassment of employees by customers is particularly serious so that such employers can properly manage the situation of their employees being sexually harassed, as well as enhancing publicity and education for employees in these industries so as to increase their awareness of SDO and the work of EOC?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*20. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

Earlier on, some members of the tourism industry complained that there were long stretches of roads which were closed to the public on Lantau Island, making it difficult for the tourist attractions in different parts of Lantau Island to produce a synergy effect. Not long ago, the Panel on Economic Development of this Council, together with the tourism working group formed by the management echelons of various tourist attractions on Lantau Island, as well as the Islands District Council, conducted a site visit to Lantau Island to assess the impact of closed roads on the development of tourism on Lantau Island. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the policies and measures to be adopted by the Government for reducing the coverage of closed sections of these roads after listening to the views of the aforesaid delegation, so as to improve the aforesaid situation;

    (b)what specific plans the Government has for developing tourism on Lantau Island; whether it will make reference to Singapore's experience in developing Sentosa into a major tourist attraction when it formulates its strategy for developing tourism on Lantau Island; and

    (c)whether it has consulted the management echelons of Hong Kong Disneyland, Ngong Ping 360 and the tourist attractions in Cheung Sha, Mui Wo and Tai O etc., so as to seek ways to enhance the synergy effect produced by these tourist attractions, in order to improve tourism development on Lantau Island?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

* For written reply

III. Bills

First Reading

Fisheries Protection (Amendment) Bill 2011

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Fisheries Protection (Amendment) Bill 2011:Secretary for Food and Health

IV. Motions

Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move the following motion:

Resolved that the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 111 of 2011 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 6 July 2011, be amended as set out in the Schedule.

Schedule

Amendment to Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Regulation

1.Section 5 amended (register of health workers)
Section 5(4)(d), after "section 5(4)"-
Add
"(a) or (c)".

V. Members' Motions

  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon CHAN Kam-lam to move the following motion:

    Resolved that in relation to the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor) (Amendment) Rules 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 135 of 2011, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 12 October 2011, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 30 November 2011.

  2. Assisting the public in coping with economic fluctuations

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

    That, given the uncertain prospects of the global economy, this Council urges the Government to closely monitor the economic situation and adopt suitable and effective measures to assist people from different strata and enterprises in coping with difficulties such as inflation and employment, etc., so that they can tide over the difficult times.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon WONG Sing-chi to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To delete "given the uncertain prospects of the global economy" after "That," and substitute with "as the Hong Kong economy is closely linked to the global economy, external economic fluctuations have profound and far-reaching impact on Hong Kong, and the prospects of the global economy are uncertain at present"; and to add "; focusing on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ('CSSA') recipients, the Government should adopt the following measure: to review the existing CSSA system, including shortening the interval of each adjustment cycle of CSSA, with special focus on rent allowance, so as to reflect more accurately the impact of price changes on CSSA recipients, and expeditiously reviewing the adequacy of the CSSA standard payment rates as well as the items to be included in the Social Security Assistance Index of Prices" immediately before the full stop.

    (ii)Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To delete "given the uncertain prospects of" after "That," and substitute with "as Hong Kong is an externally oriented economy, which is easy to be affected by"; to add "and recently, the economic recession of the United States and the European debt crisis, etc. have plagued the world and the economic prospects are uncertain," after "global economy,"; to add "and to ensure economic fluctuations do not impact on the employment and livelihood of local workers," after "and employment, etc.,"; and to add "; the relevant measures should include: (a) to formulate a mechanism for perfecting the management of foreign workers' employment in Hong Kong, so as to protect local workers' right of employment; (b) to advance the review of the statutory minimum wage level, so as to assist grass-root workers in coping with inflation; (c) to appoint more civil servants on permanent establishment, and improve the remunerations and grade structures of civil servants and other public officers, so as to provide a greater number of relatively stable employment opportunities; (d) to expand the various employment services, training and support schemes, and offer subsidies to students enrolled on retraining courses, so as to enhance the competitiveness of manpower resources; (e) to abolish the mechanism whereby employers' contributions under the Mandatory Provident Fund System are used to offset severance payments and long service payments, so as to protect the amounts of Mandatory Provident Funds received by employees for their retirement protection from being offset and eroded due to business closures; (f) to relieve people's housing burden by, for example, constructing more public rental housing, increasing the rent allowance for recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Allowance, and offering a tax allowance to households with no property for renting private residential units; (g) to increase the amount of Elderly Healthcare Vouchers to $1,000 per year and expand their scope of application, so as to assist the elderly in coping with increasing medical expenditure; (h) to introduce a 'monthly ticket scheme for all types of transport', so as to alleviate people's burden of travelling expenses on the public; (i) to construct more public markets under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in new towns, thereby providing residents with more choices of inexpensive and quality daily necessities; (j) to reduce the various taxes such as the salaries tax, etc. and the various government fees and charges related to people's livelihood, provide subsidies to residential electricity accounts, and waive public rental housing rents and rates, etc., so as to alleviate inflation pressure on the public; and (k) to promote the development of the six industries with competitive edge, restructure the manufacturing industries of Hong Kong, formulate the relevant development blueprint and timetable, and proactively initiate industrial diversification, so as to mitigate the impact of the fluctuations in the financial sector on Hong Kong's economy and employment" immediately before the full stop.

    (iii)Hon Tanya CHAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add "; the specific measures should include: (a) when necessary, to further expand the existing Special Loan Guarantee Scheme for small and medium enterprises ('SMEs'), including raising the maximum amount of loan guarantee and the guarantee ratio, so that SMEs can be granted sufficient working capital in a timely manner; (b) to closely monitor the vetting and approval of loans by banks, so as to ensure that banks have sufficient capital and liquidity for maintaining the stability of the banking system and the financial market; (c) to review the operation and funding criteria of the existing SME Export Marketing Fund, so that SMEs can develop emerging markets through various channels and lessen their reliance on traditional markets; (d) to review the existing land supply policy for alleviating the fluctuations of the property market, so as to curb the upward trend in rentals and reduce the operating costs of businesses; (e) to review the existing hawker policy, and on the premise of not affecting the business environment for small businesses in the districts, to allow business starters to carry out trading in more diverse forms in the communities, so as to reduce business operators' rentals and operating costs; and (f) to promote the development of social enterprises more proactively, so as to create more employment opportunities for local workers, and avoid the deterioration of the unemployment situation due to changes in economic conditions" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : The Financial Secretary

  3. Comprehensively reviewing the Disability Allowance scheme

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

    That Hong Kong's existing Disability Allowance ('DA') scheme was formulated in 1973 and, after some 30 years of operation, the protection provided by the scheme has become outdated; some people with disabilities ('PWDs') (such as people with loss of one limb) are even not entitled to the allowance and not issued with the Registration Card for People with Disabilities because the scheme was inflexible, thus rendering them unable to enjoy MTR half-fare concessions for PWDs; in this connection, this Council urges the Administration to comprehensively review the DA scheme, so as to meet the needs of society today; the relevant review should include:

    (a)to review the criteria for the granting of DA, including granting an allowance proportionate to the degree of disability of the applicant;

    (b)to consider including professional social workers' 'whole-person assessment' as one of the criteria in the vetting and approval process, rather than relying solely on medical practitioners for determining applicant's eligibility or otherwise based on the degree of disability of the applicant;

    (c)to review the Medical Assessment Form and the checklist used for assessing a DA applicant's degree of disability, and clearly specify the definition of and criteria on 'visceral diseases';

    (d)to comprehensively review the definition of 'severely disabled' under the existing DA scheme, and relax the criteria in the First Schedule to the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282 of the Laws of Hong Kong), i.e. a degree of disability broadly equivalent to a 100% loss of earning capacity, so as to strengthen the protection of PWDs; and

    (e)to comprehensively review the applicability of the various public transport concessions available at present to PWDs and the payment arrangements.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon WONG Sing-chi to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", given that" after "That"; to delete "; in this connection" after "concessions for PWDs"; to delete "and" after "protection of PWDs;"; and to add "; and (f) to apply the concept of Portable Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme to DA and remove the permissible limit of absence from Hong Kong, so that eligible PWDs residing in Guangdong and Fujian can also receive DA" immediately before the full stop.

    (ii)Hon TAM Yiu-chung to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add "the Disability Allowance ('DA') under the Social Security Allowance Scheme is a monthly cash allowance granted to severely disabled Hong Kong residents for coping with the special needs arising from severe disabilities;" after "That"; to delete "Disability Allowance ('DA')" after "Hong Kong's existing" and substitute with "DA"; to delete "and" after "protection of PWDs;"; and to add "; and (f) to allow elderly recipients of DA to receive the Old Age Allowance at the same time" immediately before the full stop.

    (iii)Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", given that" after "That"; to delete "; in this connection" after "concessions for PWDs"; to delete "and" after "protection of PWDs;"; and to add "; and (f) to abolish the existing requirement that DA recipients cannot receive the Old Age Allowance at the same time" immediately before the full stop.

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

    To add ", given that people with disabilities ('PWDs') are a special group in society that needs to be looked after, and" after "That"; to delete "people with disabilities ('PWDs')" after "become outdated; some" and substitute with "PWDs"; to delete "; in this connection" after "concessions for PWDs"; to add "and their disabilities are not recognized as an eligibility criterion for compassionate rehousing," before "this Council urges"; to delete "and" after "protection of PWDs;"; and to add ", and to strive for the progressive installation of facilities by various public transport operators for the convenience of PWDs, such as low floors and announcement displays, as a condition of license renewal; and (f) to include proof of disabilities as an eligibility criterion for approving compassionate rehousing to public rental housing ('PRH'), so that PWDs can be rehoused to PRH units as early as possible and resolve their housing difficulties" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Clerk to the Legislative Council