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A 11/12-17
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 8 February 2012 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. |
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| 1. | Rating (Exemption) Order 2012 | 14/2012 |
| 2. | Revenue (Reduction of Business Registration Fees) Order 2012 | 15/2012 |
| 3. | Import and Export (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 2012 | 16/2012 |
| 4. | Chemical Weapons (Convention) Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 4) Order 2012 | 17/2012 |
| 5. | Communications Authority Ordinance (Commencement) Notice | 18/2012 |
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 64 | - | Report by the Controller, Government Flying Service on the Administration of the Government Flying Service Welfare Fund for the year ended 31 March 2011 and the audited financial statements together with the Director of Audit's report |
(to be presented by the Secretary for Security)
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| 2. | No. 65 | - | Employees' Compensation Insurance Levies Management Board Annual Report 2010/11 |
(to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
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| 3. | No. 66 | - | Employees Compensation Assistance Fund Board Annual Report 2010-2011 |
(to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
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| 4. | No. 67 | - | Occupational Deafness Compensation Board Annual Report 2010/11 |
(to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
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| 5. | No. 68 | - | Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board Annual Report 2010 |
(to be presented by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
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| 6. | No. 69 | - | Estimates
for the year ending 31 March 2013
General Revenue Account
- Consolidated Summary of Estimates
- Revenue Analysis by Head |
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)
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| 7. | Report No. 11/11-12 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments |
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)
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| 8. | Report of the Bills Committee on Adaptation of Laws (Military References) Bill 2010 |
| (to be presented by Hon IP Kwok-him, Chairman of the Bills Committee) |
II. Questions
1. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported earlier that the public's demand for medical services is keen, the accident and emergency ("A&E") departments and specialist outpatient clinics of public hospitals are always full, and the waiting time of the patients is too long. It has also been reported that some A&E patients of public hospitals had to wait for three days before they were admitted to the wards, and an unfortunate incident of a patient passing away while awaiting admission to the ward even happened. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
| (a) | whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") has compiled statistics on the average waiting time at present at the A&E departments of public hospitals in various districts; whether the existing pledged performance targets are achieved; the respective longest waiting times among the cases of patients seeking consultation at the A&E departments in various districts last year; if HA has not compiled such statistics, the reasons for that;
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| (b) | the average waiting time at present at specialist outpatient clinics of public hospitals in various districts, as well as respective details of the cases with the longest waiting time among the cases of patients seeking consultation at the specialist outpatient clinics in various districts last year (set out in table form); and
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| (c) | during peak seasons of influenza each year when the problem of patients having to wait too long for consultation at the A&E departments and for admission to the wards frequently occurs, whether HA will flexibly deploy its healthcare manpower to alleviate the problem; the strategies taken by the authorities to solve the problem of long waiting time for consultation at the A&E departments and specialist outpatient clinics of public hospitals in the long run? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
2. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
The Food and Health Bureau announced seven measures in April last year to tackle the problem of continuing influx of pregnant mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong. Yet the authorities announced earlier that the total number of pregnant mainland women rushing directly to the accident and emergency ("A&E") departments for delivery without appointment was 1 656 in the whole year last year, which surged by more than twice the number in the previous year, and quite a number of pregnant women were accompanied to A&E departments by the staff of agents. The Chief Executive ("CE") indicated at the Question and Answer Session of this Council last month that four new measures to rigorously combat pregnant mainland women crossing the border to enter Hong Kong will be introduced, including working with the mainland government to combat agents and vehicles bringing such women to Hong Kong, stepping up efforts to intercept non-local pregnant women at immigration control points, enhancing enforcement against unlicensed guesthouses, and reviewing the fee for non-local pregnant women giving birth at A&E departments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective implementation details of the four new measures mentioned by CE, including the government department responsible for the implementation, implementation timetable, and additional manpower and resources involved; how it will assess the effectiveness of these new measures in combating pregnant mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong;
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| (b) | of the enforcement actions taken by the Hong Kong Government to combat the illegal activities of the aforesaid agents in Hong Kong last year, and the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted, as well as the penalties imposed; and
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| (c) | when it will carry out a comprehensive review on the aforesaid seven measures announced in April last year, together with the relevant details; when it expects to announce the quotas for pregnant mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong in the coming year; and whether it will consider substantially reducing the quotas to demonstrate the Government's determination to combat pregnant mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
3. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The data from the Transport Department indicate that railway transport is a vital transport system in Hong Kong with 3.9 million passenger trips per day, which account for about 37% of all trips made on public transport each day. In December 2011, the underground railway in Singapore experienced the most serious disruption in 24 years, which resulted in a suspension of train services for more than five hours and affected hundreds of thousands of passengers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows if the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has a graded mechanism in place to deal with railway disruptions of different types and different levels of seriousness; if it has, of the details of the graded contingency plan; if not, of the details of the contingency plan of MTRCL; under what circumstances the authorities will intervene in handling a railway incident; and
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| (b) | whether the Government has any contingency plan to deal with major incidents occurring in Hong Kong (e.g. power outages, terrorist attacks and natural disasters, etc.) which may paralyse the whole railway system and render it impossible to resume operation within a short time; if it has, of the specific details of its contingency plan (including, within a short time, how to notify the public of the incident, evacuate passengers from the MTR trains and stations, coordinate road traffic to deal with a passenger flow of nearly 1 million passenger trips, and ensure that emergency ambulance services are not affected, etc.); if not, whether the relevant government departments and MTRCL will work together as soon as possible to formulate joint contingency measures; whether the Government will step up publicity on the contingency plan for railway incidents, and publish the information to facilitate public perusal? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing
4. Hon Miriam LAU to ask: (Translation)
Since the signing of the "Arrangement between the Mainland of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income" ("the Arrangement") by the Mainland and Hong Kong on 21 August 2006, quite a number of Hong Kong residents who work and stay on the Mainland for more than 183 days during a year of assessment, though having paid their income tax on the Mainland, have to pay taxes in Hong Kong as they also stay for more than 60 days and exercise employment in Hong Kong, thereby suffer under double taxation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the respective numbers of Hong Kong residents on the Mainland working inside and outside the Pearl River Delta region each year since the Arrangement was signed in 2006, and their average number of working days on the Mainland each year;
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| (b) | whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of Hong Kong people who have to pay taxes both on the Mainland and in Hong Kong for the same year of assessment and the industries to which they belong; if it has, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct relevant surveys; and
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| (c) | since the signing of the Arrangement, whether the SAR Government and the mainland authorities have discussed simplifying the method of calculating the 183 days for improvement (e.g. excluding non-working days, weekends and public holidays of the Mainland from the length of stay); if they have, of the outcome of such discussion; if not, the reasons for that; whether the SAR Government will take the initiative to put forward any proposal for simplification? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
5. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
While the number of new cancer cases in Hong Kong surged by about 22% in the decade since 2000, the number of radiological imaging scan, which is a crucial tool for diagnosing cancer and assessment of cancer stages, performed in Hong Kong was much lower than those in other places. Studies conducted by the Columbia University of the United States ("US") reveal that the breakthrough in cancer imaging technologies resulted in a drop in the number of cancer-related deaths in US by 40% in a period of 10 years. Based on the figures of the Hospital Authority ("HA") and the ratio of around nine to one for the number of people using public medical services to those using private medical services, it is projected that in 2010-2011, the average number of Magnetic Resonance Imaging ("MRI") scans performed in Hong Kong per 1 000 population was about 18.3, which was two to four times lower than those in most member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD") in 2009 (e.g. 75.5 in Iceland, 55.2 in France and 43 in Canada). Similarly, the average number of Computed Tomography ("CT") scans performed in that year was about 77.5 per 1 000 population, which was much lower than the numbers of 156.2 in Iceland, 138.7 in France and 125.4 in Canada. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given the significant increase in new cancer cases in Hong Kong in recent years, and that compared to the numbers five years ago, the numbers of MRI and CT scans performed in 2010-2011 at the hospitals under HA had already increased by about one-fifth and one-third respectively, why such numbers still lagged far behind those in the aforesaid countries;
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| (b) | given that according to the information of OECD, in 2010, there were 22.6 MRI machines per one million population in Greece and 42.5 CT machines per one million population in Australia, whether it knows the respective numbers of MRI and CT machines per one million population in Hong Kong at present; as it has been reported that last year, Tuen Mun Hospital admitted that some non-urgent patients had to wait for eight years before they could use the MRI scanning service, whether this was caused by insufficient equipment or manpower; and
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| (c) | given that of the aforesaid rate of increase in new cancer cases, the rate of increase in the two age groups of 45 to 64 and 65 or above was 44% and 17% respectively, whether the authorities have put forward any targeted measure to reduce the cancer risks of people in these two age groups; in addition, given that according to the statistics of the American Cancer Society, the rate of increase in the number of new cancer cases in Hong Kong in the five years since 2005 almost doubled the corresponding rate of increase in US, whether the authorities have analyzed the numbers and recent trends of cancer cases in Hong Kong and in other places, and compared in depth the environmental, lifestyle and genetic differences so as to identify the causes of the higher rate of increase in Hong Kong as compared to other places, and reduce the incidence of cancers at the macro policy level? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
6. Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to ask: (Translation)
The Government has implemented five-day work week in phases since 2006 to reduce the work pressure of staff and to improve the quality of their family life, and it has also promoted the message of a five-day work week in the community since then. Yet some frontline civil servants and those who have to work shifts have reflected to me that while the five-day work week has been implemented for more than five years, the departments they serve still do not have any plan to arrange them to follow a five-day week work mode. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of government employees (including civil servants, non-civil service contract staff, those employed under outsourced service contracts and agency workers) who are not on a five-day week work mode at present, and the percentage of such number in the total number of government employees, together with a breakdown of the staff number and percentage by upper, middle and lower salary band on the Master Pay Scale or equivalent salary band;
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| (b) | in various government departments, of the number of grades of which the employees are still not on a five-day week work mode at present; whether the Civil Service Bureau and the departments to which such employees belong had conducted any study or consulted the staff in the past to explore possible ways (e.g. a rotational duty roster) to enable all government employees to ultimately follow a five-day week work mode; if they had, of the progress and outcome of the study and consultation; if not, whether the authorities will comprehensively conduct study and consultation as soon as possible; and
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| (c) | whether the authorities have since 2007 conducted any survey and study on the implementation of a five-day work week in government-funded public organizations; if they have, of the findings of the survey; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will consider afresh the introduction of policies on implementing a five-day work week in government-funded public organizations in the future, to assist more employees in maintaining a balance between work and family responsibilities; if they will, of the details; if not, what specific measures the Government has in place to encourage public organizations to respond to its appeal and arrange a five-day work week for their employees on their own initiative? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service
*7. Dr Hon Samson TAM to ask: (Translation)
Regarding e-citizen engagement and e-government, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that "politics on the Internet" has become a trend, how the authorities, through information and communication technology, make use of tools on the Internet such as social media web sites, etc. to enhance communication with members of the public, in particular young people;
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| (b) | whether it has made reference to the advance experience of overseas or neighbouring cities (e.g. increasing the transparency of governance by means of technologies such as Web 2.0, etc.) to build a more open e-government and e-community which allow more citizen engagement;
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| (c) | given that the Government launched an 18-month pilot scheme in March last year to make available geo-referenced public facilities data and real time traffic data of major routes at the "Data.One" portal, of the utilization of the service at present; when it will conduct a review; whether it will consider opening up more public sector information for development and use by the market; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (d) | how the authorities will enhance the use of mobile telecommunication channels to improve service quality; of the government services for which mobile versions are available at present, and whether they will consider offering mobile versions for more government services? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*8. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that quite a number of traders are suspected of selling duty-not-paid cigarettes ("illicit cigarettes") through a major shopping web site on the Mainland; as the retail price of these illicit cigarettes is 60% lower than that of genuine duty-paid cigarettes, and traders can deliver the illicit cigarettes through courier companies to the buyers' residences in three days, thus quite a number of young people in Hong Kong are attracted to place orders. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the details of the aforesaid online selling of illicit cigarettes (including the operation of online selling of illicit cigarettes, the monthly average sales volume, the number of local buyers and their main age groups, etc.); if not, of the reasons for that;
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| (b) | whether it had seized any illicit cigarettes smuggled to Hong Kong through courier service last year; if it had, of the quantity of illicit cigarettes seized, and the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted; and
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| (c) | what measures are in place to combat shopping web sites selling illicit cigarettes to Hong Kong people, and how enforcement will be stepped up to combat the smuggling of illicit cigarettes by couriers? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*9. Ir Dr Hon Raymond HO to ask: (Translation)
Last year, a murder case in which the defendant had been convicted was ordered to be re-tried due to an error in interpretation made by the court interpreter concerned. Regarding court interpretation service, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the entry qualifications and the tests required to be passed for appointment of court interpreters; whether such standards are also applicable to court interpreters in languages other than Chinese and English or dialects other than Cantonese;
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| (b) | whether a fallback mechanism is in place in the existing trial process to rectify errors in interpretation that are not immediately noted in the trials so as to prevent the impartiality of trials from being prejudiced; and
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| (c) | how it ensures that when court interpreters in non-mainstream languages or dialects are required in court proceedings but no eligible interpreter is available, the trials are conducted in an impartial manner? |
Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration
*10. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question on 25 May 2011 concerning Hong Kong people serving imprisonment sentences on the Mainland ("imprisoned Hong Kong people"), the authorities indicated that it had not received requests for parole from imprisoned Hong Kong people, and it also refused to disclose the progress of negotiation with the mainland authorities on the mutual arrangement for the transfer of sentenced persons. Some members of the public have since relayed to me that the mainland authorities have in recent years set out the conditions for granting parole to imprisoned Hong Kong people, and in a prison in Nanjing, there was the first case of a person from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan serving imprisonment sentence on the Mainland successfully applying for parole. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the details of the aforesaid first case of parole granted to the person from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan (including the conditions for granting parole); if it does not know, whether it will take the initiative to enquire with the mainland authorities, so as to obtain more exact information to facilitate its negotiation with the mainland authorities on the mutual arrangement for the transfer of sentenced persons and reach an agreement as early as possible; if it will not, of the reasons for that;
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| (b) | given that I have learnt that one of the aforesaid conditions for granting parole is that the relatives of the imprisoned Hong Kong people on the Mainland shall be the guarantors, but quite a number of Hong Kong people can hardly meet this condition as they do not have immediate family members who are mainlanders, whether the authorities will, during the process of negotiation with the mainland authorities, request for a review of that condition, so that those Hong Kong people in need can meet the conditions for granting parole;
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| (c) | whether the authorities will, in response to the conditions for granting parole set out by the Mainland, consider assigning a relevant policy bureau or government department dedicated to handling the requests for assistance from Hong Kong people; whether they will, through the offices of the SAR Government on the Mainland, inform Hong Kong people who live and work on the Mainland of the conditions for granting parole, so that they are aware of their right to be granted parole if they are sentenced to imprisonment on the Mainland, and the Hong Kong people in need will know where to seek help; and
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| (d) | of the latest progress of its negotiation with the mainland authorities on the mutual arrangement for the transfer of sentenced persons, and whether there is a target timetable for reaching an agreement? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*11. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
A member of the public sought assistance from me, indicating that he was successful in being employed as a flight attendant, but as he was convicted of possession of dangerous drug three years ago, his application for an Airport Restricted Area Permit ("ARAP") was rejected, thus causing him to eventually lose this job opportunity. The member of the public said that, according to his understanding, as a period of three years has elapsed since his aforesaid conviction and he has not been convicted again, his criminal record shall not be disclosed unless so permitted by him under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance ("the Ordinance") (Cap. 297), but as the Ordinance is not applicable to the vetting and approval of applications for ARAP, he lost the job as a result. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | other than the aforesaid vetting and approval procedures of ARAP, what permits the vetting and approval procedures of which are also not covered by the Ordinance; further, whether there is any existing channel to notify the relevant persons that the Ordinance is not applicable to such procedures;
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| (b) | given that my Member's Office made an enquiry to the Civil Aviation Department ("CAD") about the time when an ARAP could be issued to the aforesaid member of the public, but CAD replied that this was an official secret and could not be disclosed, whether the Government has assessed if this will cause any unnecessary distress to that member of the public, and violate the original intent of the Ordinance; and
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| (c) | whether the Government will consider publishing an explicit set of criteria for vetting and approving ARAP applications (particularly the specific criteria adopted for "security vetting"), for the reference of those members of the public preparing to work for the relevant organizations; if so, of the implementation timeframe; if not, the reasons for that? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*12. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that an incident of social workers being assaulted occurred recently at the Tuen Mun Children and Juvenile Home ("TMCJH"), and two female social workers were injured, and after the girl involved was brought under control, someone from TMCJH management indicated that action not be taken to avoid trouble, and the social workers being assaulted had no choice but to report the case to the Police on their own. Regarding the handling of assaults on staff members of the Social Welfare Department ("SWD"), will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of cases in the past three years of SWD staff being assaulted while discharging official duties; the number of staff who were thus injured or even killed; and the degree of the injuries sustained by them;
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| (b) | whether the authorities have formulated guidelines and preventive measures in respect of assault on SWD staff; if they have, of the details; if not, the justifications for that;
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| (c) | whether, as a general practice, SWD management refers cases of assault on staff to the Police for follow-up; if it does, of the number of cases referred to the Police for follow-up in the past three years; the number of prosecutions instituted by the Police after investigation; and, if it does not refer cases to the Police for follow-up, the justifications for that; and
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| (d) | whether the authorities' policies or guidelines encourage not taking action to avoid trouble and dissuade SWD staff being assaulted from reporting to the Police for assistance; if they do, of the justifications for that; if not, whether any disciplinary action has been taken against those who dissuaded staff from reporting to the Police for assistance; if disciplinary actions have been taken, of the number of cases and forms of punishment? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*13. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
The Planning Department completed the Review of Rural Land Uses in Northern New Territories (the "Review") in 2001, proposing to relax the plot ratio control of "Residential (Group D)" zone from 0.2 to 0.4 and to examine the "Agriculture" and "Recreation" zones of which the functions are not in line with their respective stated planning intentions, as well as to clarify the functions and planning intentions of these areas through zoning amendment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total area of land in the New Territories which is zoned as "Residential (Group D)" and "Agriculture" zones at present; and among such area, the respective areas which are Government-owned and privately-owned;
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| (b) | whether the authorities have implemented the proposal of relaxing the plot ratio control of "Residential (Group D)" zone put forward in the Review; if they have, of the total area of land of which the plot ratio control has been relaxed; and among such area, the respective areas which are Government-owned and privately-owned; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (c) | of the total area of "Agriculture" zone which the authorities have proactively examined since the completion of the Review; and among such area, the area of agricultural land of which the use has been changed (with a breakdown by area and amended land use)? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
*14. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:
It has been reported that a four-year-old non-Chinese speaking ("NCS") child of a Native-speaking English Teacher ("NET") who settled in Hong Kong two years ago under the Government's NET Scheme has been schooled at home as there has been difficulty in finding a school place for the child in a kindergarten that uses English as the medium of instruction, despite efforts in contacting more than 50 international and direct subsidy scheme schools. It has been reported that according to one of the international kindergartens that the NET approached, the child has to wait for two to three years on the waiting list for admission to that kindergarten. It has also been reported that the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong ("AmCham") has expressed concern that the shortage of international school places has reached a "crisis point", and it has urged the Government to set up a committee to ensure that schooling would be available for children of foreign investors and professionals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed if the aforesaid situation constitutes indirect discrimination against the NCS child; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the details; if the assessment result is negative, the reasons for that; of the measures the Government has taken in promoting and publicizing messages against racial discrimination in schools, and whether it has evaluated the effectiveness of the measures; if it has, of the details of the evaluation;
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| (b) | whether it knows the number of NCS children who were schooled at home, as well as the total number of international school places for NCS students in the past three years; whether it has assessed if there is a shortage of international school places for NCS students; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether it has taken any measure including but not limited to setting a limit on the percentage of local students attending non-profit-making international schools applying for government assistance in the form of land grant or vacant school premises; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (c) | given that the NET Scheme has been implemented by the Government in improving English learning and teaching in primary and secondary schools, whether it has evaluated the education needs of the children of NETs, who will settle in Hong Kong with their parents in the coming year; if it has, of the details including whether there will be sufficient number of international school places in accommodating their education needs; if there may not be sufficient school places, whether it has considered any measure to address their education needs; if it has, of the details;
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| (d) | given that it has been reported that the waiting time for international school places is long, whether the Government has assessed if such a circumstance will discourage NETs to come to Hong Kong to teach; if it has, of the assessment result, and if the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether it will review the current policy of the provision of education by international schools; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (e) | whether it has considered the possibility of adopting AmCham's proposal of setting up a committee to address the shortage problem of international school places, as well as the feasibility of such proposal; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
*15. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that under the current system, government-aided secondary and primary schools (including schools for the physically handicapped) can apply to the Education Bureau ("EDB") for joining the Native-speaking English Teacher ("NET") Scheme, but a special school admitting students with intellectual disabilities ("ID") has been denied participation in the Scheme by EDB. There have been comments that with changes in society and the employment environment, persons with ID might work in the service industry, hence the special education system for students with ID should be reviewed. Regarding the policy on the curriculum for special schools, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of students with ID studying in government-aided special schools at present; whether it knows among these students, the number of those who take the subject of English language, and the number of those who benefit from NET services in schools for the physically handicapped;
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| (b) | given that at present, some students with ID studying in special schools and students in mainstream schools study under the same curriculum framework, and the only difference lies in the depth of content and the progress of learning, of the reason and justification for denying schools for students with ID from participating in NET Scheme;
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| (c) | whether it knows if NETs who teach in special schools at present have received training in special education; whether the authorities will take measures to attract more NETs who have received training in special education to teach in Hong Kong; if they will, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (d) | given that the nature of the curriculum for students with ID is increasingly similar to that of the curriculum adopted by mainstream schools, and that the career prospects for students with ID are different from those in earlier years, whether the authorities will consider conducting a comprehensive review of the policy on the curriculum for students with ID; if they will, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
*16. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Since the commissioning of the cable car system of Ngong Ping 360 ("Ngong Ping 360") on 18 September 2006, various kinds of incidents and suspension of services have occurred frequently, and the situation remains the same after its management has been changed. It has been reported that the cable car service was suspended again suddenly on the 25th of last month, causing 800 passengers to be stranded in the cabins for around two hours in extremely cold weather. There have been comments that the incident reflects the poor management of the Ngong Ping 360 Limited ("the Company") which has seriously affected the reputation of Hong Kong's tourism industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the Company has announced that it would conduct a detailed investigation into the incident which occurred on the 25th of last month, whether the authorities will release the investigation report; if they will, when they will do so; if not, of the reasons for that;
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| (b) | whether it knows the dates, causes, duration of stoppages and the number of passengers being affected by the service suspension incidents which have occurred since the commissioning of Ngong Ping 360; and among such incidents, the number of those involving negligence and whether any person should be held responsible, as well as the respective numbers, types and results of the complaints received, together with a breakdown in table form;
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| (c) | given that some of the passengers stranded in the aforesaid incident have openly complained to the media that the passengers were anxious as the Company failed to explain the cause of the incident to them through public announcement during the incident, whether the Government knows if the Company has any mechanism in place to ensure that it can maintain proper communication with the passengers during an incident and inform the passengers clearly and accurately of the relevant details as soon as possible; and whether the Company will review the mechanism for providing compensation to the stranded passengers (including offering multiple free rides on the cable cars again to local passengers and compensation for air tickets or hotel accommodation to overseas and mainland visitors); if so, the details; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (d) | given that there have been complaints that the Company did not stop the sale of tickets immediately after the occurrence of the aforesaid incident, whether the Government knows the reason for that, and if the Company has put in place a set of contingency measures and notification arrangement for suspension of services in respect of unexpected incidents to facilitate comprehensive and proper coordination; if it has, the details; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (e) | whether it knows if the Company has conducted regular reviews of and assessments on the daily operation and management of Ngong Ping 360, as well as on the technical support for the system, so as to ensure that its service standard is acceptable to the public; if it has, the details; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (f) | whether it knows if the Company will provide any form of compensation for the suspension of services to all shop tenants in the Ngong Ping Village, including the provision of concession in the form of "rent-free day during service suspension"; and whether it will reduce the fares or provide different forms of concessions in view of the frequent occurrence of incidents, so as to attract more visitors and improve the business environment for the shop tenants in the Ngong Ping Village;
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| (g) | whether it has assessed the impact of the various incidents on the image of Ngong Ping 360, the tourism industry of Hong Kong as well as the shop tenants in the Ngong Ping Village; and whether it has formulated any proposal to restore the image of Ngong Ping 360;
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| (h) | whether it knows if the Board of the Company will introduce an "adjustment mechanism" to provide for both upward and downward adjustments for the remunerations of the management which are linked with the frequency of incidents (e.g. if incidents occur frequently, the entire management will be subject to pay reduction); if it will, the details concerned; if not, the reasons for that;
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| (i) | whether it knows the various fare levels, rates of fare increase as well as the dates and justifications for fare increase since the commissioning of Ngong Ping 360, with a breakdown set out in table form; and whether the Government has assessed the reasons for the continuous lack of improvement in the service standard of Ngong Ping 360 despite the continuous increase in its fares; if it has, of such reasons;
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| (j) | whether the MTR Corporation Limited or the authorities have assessed if the performance of the management of the Company is satisfactory, and under what situation in the operation of Ngong Ping 360 the authorities will consider changing the management;
| | (k) | as quite a number of serious incidents which could endanger the safety of the passengers of Ngong Ping 360 (including the aforesaid incident and the cabin dislodgement incident in 2007, etc.) had occurred, whether the authorities have assessed if Ngong Ping 360 complies with the required safety standard; and how its safety standard compares with those of the cable cars in other places; and
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| (l) | whether it knows if the Company has taken out insurance for the passengers; and the maximum amount of compensation to be paid by the Company or the relevant insurance companies in respect of casualties in incidents resulting in death or injury of the passengers of Ngong Ping 360? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*17. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some pregnant mainland women rent and stay in the units in a private housing estate near Kwong Wah Hospital in recent months, in order to rush to the accident and emergency ("A&E") department for last-minute delivery; the property management office of the housing estate concerned found that some people even brought with them more than 10 pregnant mainland women to stay in such units, and suspected that some owners or tenants are operating unlicensed guesthouses to lease out units illegally to pregnant mainland women on a daily or "sublease" basis. It has also been reported that the property management office lodged complaints to the Home Affairs Department ("HAD") in writing many times, but this did not help solve the problem. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of complaints received by HAD from the aforesaid property management office, and how HAD followed up the complaints; of the reasons for failing to assist in solving the problem;
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| (b) | whether it has assessed the current number of private housing estates throughout the territory in which units are leased out on a short-term or "sublease" basis to pregnant mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong, and the number of pregnant mainland women involved;
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| (c) | given that the Court of Final Appeal handed down the judgment on Chong Fung-yuen's case that children of Chinese nationality born in Hong Kong to Chinese nationals have the right of abode ("ROA") in Hong Kong, irrespective of whether or not their parents have settled or have ROA in Hong Kong, and the problem of those pregnant mainland women whose husbands and they themselves are both not permanent residents of Hong Kong ("doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women") giving birth in Hong Kong is becoming more and more serious at present, of the authorities' stance on addressing such problem by seeking interpretation of the Basic Law and the justifications; further, whether it has assessed if the policy of the authorities to combat "doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women" giving birth in Hong Kong through administrative measures has been effective in practice; if the outcome of the assessment is in the affirmative, of the reasons why there are still pregnant mainland women renting and staying in units in a private housing estate in order to rush to A&E department for last-minute delivery as mentioned above; if the outcome of the assessment is that it is impossible or difficult to combat the relevant cases through administrative measures, whether it has studied to completely solve the problem at source through other means, such as interpretation of the Basic Law; if it has, of the outcome of the study; if not, the reasons for that; whether the Government has planned to assess the effectiveness of the measures regularly (e.g. at an interval of every three to six months), and to assess the confidence of the members of the public of Hong Kong in such measures, with a view to understanding public view; if it has, of the plan; if not, the reasons for that; and
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| (d) | given that around one thousand members of the public of Hong Kong (including pregnant women and children) staged a march despite the rain on 15 January this year, requesting the Government to deal with the problem of "doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women" giving birth in Hong Kong through interpretation of the Basic Law, of the response of the Government to their aspirations expressed in the march? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*18. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Government announced on 17th of last month that it will commence work on the amendment of the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311) to update the existing Air Quality Objectives ("AQOs"), and it expects to introduce a bill in the 2012-2013 legislative session, and officially implement the new AQOs in 2014. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that while the authorities launched a four-month public consultation on updating the existing AQOs in mid-2009, of the reasons why the outcome is only announced until now and the decision of adopting the new AQOs is made after a lapse of as long as two and a half years; of the actual work and procedures to be involved from now on up to the date of formal introduction of the bill; whether it can expedite the related work, and consider advancing the date of official implementation of the new AQOs; in addition, whether it can advance the updating of the existing method of compiling the Air Pollution Index ("API"), or simultaneously release on a daily basis the APIs compiled according to the existing AQOs and the new AQOs respectively; if not, of the reasons for that;
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| (b) | given that the new AQOs have not fully adopted the ultimate objectives set out by the World Health Organization ("WHO") (e.g. the average 24-hour AQO for sulphur dioxide will be tightened from 350 g/m3 to 125 g/m3, which is significantly different from WHO's ultimate objective of 20 g/m3; the average 24-hour AQO for respirable suspended particulates will be tightened from 180 mg/m3 to 100 mg/m3, and a gap still exists between this and WHO's ultimate objective of 50 mg/m3; regarding the newly added average 24-hour AQO of 75 mg/m3 and annual AQO of 35 mg/m3 for fine suspended particulates, an obvious gap exists respectively between the two AQOs and WHO's corresponding ultimate objectives of 25 mg/m3 and 10 mg/m3), of the specific reasons for the authorities not adopting WHO's ultimate objectives for such pollutants (including whether it is because it is impossible for Hong Kong to achieve WHO's ultimate objectives for such pollutants at present, together with the reasons why it is impossible to achieve the objectives for various pollutants); whether the authorities will draw up a timetable for achieving WHO's ultimate objectives eventually;
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| (c) | whether it has assessed the price the community has to pay upon the implementation of the new AQOs; if it has, of the specific details (including the specific impact of the new AQOs on electricity tariffs and travelling expenses in future); of the expected time when such impact will be reflected in the levels of relevant charges and fees; whether the authorities have assessed the impact on the livelihood of the grassroots, and what measures they have in place to alleviate such impact; and
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| (d) | given that the Government has expressly stated that prior to the official implementation of the new AQOs, it will endeavour to adopt the proposed new AQOs as the benchmark in conducting environmental impact assessment ("EIA") for government projects for which EIA has not yet commenced, whether the authorities will consider encouraging and facilitating other private projects to adopt the proposed new AQOs in conducting air quality assessment under EIA as well before the official implementation of the new AQOs; if not, of the reasons for that? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
*19. Ir Dr Hon Raymond HO to ask: (Translation)
The public healthcare services ("healthcare services") in Hong Kong are heavily subsidized by the Government, and only "Eligible Persons", i.e. holders of Hong Kong Identity Card or children under 11 years of age who are Hong Kong residents, are entitled to use healthcare services at heavily subsidized rates, whereas other users are "Non-eligible Persons" ("NEPs"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | the numbers of NEPs who received healthcare services in the past five years, with a breakdown by year and type of services received (i.e. emergency and non-emergency services);
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| (b) | the respective total amounts of medical fees payable by NEPs and the payments in default in the past five years, with a breakdown by year; and
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| (c) | the details and effectiveness of the actions taken by the Hospital Authority ("HA") to recover the outstanding medical fees from NEPs who defaulted on payments; whether HA will take further action against those who have not yet settled the outstanding amounts, so as to ensure that there is no abuse of the healthcare services in Hong Kong? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*20. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund ("PWIF") is mainly financed by an annual levy on each Business Registration Certificate ("BRC"). It has been reported that as PWIF has persistently recorded surpluses in recent years, the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Board ("PWIF Board") will lower the levy rate of BRC. Regarding the income of PWIF and the use of its reserve, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether any review on the adjustment mechanism of the levy rate has been conducted since the establishment of PWIF; if so, when such review was conducted and the details of the review, and whether any upper/lower limit in respect of the levy rate was set; if no review was conducted, whether there is any plan or requirement regarding when such a review will be conducted; and
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| (b) | given that according to the requirements of the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance (Cap. 380), the reserve of PWIF may only be deposited on fixed term in Hong Kong dollars, and with the prior approval of the Financial Secretary, its moneys can be invested in such other investments as the PWIF Board thinks fit, whether any application for investing the moneys of PWIF in other investments has been submitted to the Financial Secretary since the establishment of PWIF and obtained approval; if so, when such investments were made and the details of their returns; if not, of the reasons for that; whether it will, in response to the economic situation in society, review the existing requirement that moneys of PWIF may normally be deposited on fixed term in Hong Kong dollars only, so as to increase flexibility of investments under the fund and yield higher returns? |
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
* For written reply
III. Bills
First Reading
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| 1. | Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012
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| 2. | Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2012
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Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)
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| 1. | Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012 | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
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| 2. | Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2012 | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
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Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| Adaptation of Laws (Military References) Bill 2010 | : | Secretary for Security
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Secretary for Security to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 31 January 2012
under LC Paper No. CB(3)382/11-12) |
IV. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Cyd HO to move the following motion:
Resolved that in relation to the Places of Public Entertainment (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 183 of 2011, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 11 January 2012, 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 29 February 2012.
- Seeking papers, books, records or documents in relation to the 2012 tariff adjustments by CLP Power Hong Kong Limited and The Hongkong Electric Company Limited
Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:
That, since the data and information behind the 2012 tariff adjustments by the two power companies have not been fully disclosed, and the details of their five-year Development Plans approved in 2008 have also not been publicized, the Panel on Economic Development be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of the Ordinance to order the Secretary for the Environment of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to produce all papers, books, records or documents in relation to the 2012 tariff adjustments by CLP Power Hong Kong Limited and The Hongkong Electric Company Limited respectively, including:
(a) detailed information on the 2012 tariff adjustments by the two power companies; and
(b) detailed information on the five-year Development Plans of the two power companies.
Amendment to the motion
Hon Vincent FANG to move the following amendment:
To add ", but it must be ensured that the exercise of this power is in the public interest, does not interfere with normal commercial operation, and does not lead to divulging sensitive commercial information" immediately before the full stop.
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for the Environment
- Reviewing the education policy for ethnic minority students
Hon Abraham SHEK to move the following motion:
That, while the Equal Opportunities Commission ('EOC') already published 'Education for all: the Report on the Working Group on Education for Ethnic Minorities' ('the Report') in July 2011, highlighting how the mainstream education system has let down ethnic minority students who are mostly from low-income families and putting forward various recommendations to the Government on addressing their learning needs, the Government has not yet proposed any concrete measures on following up the implementation of the EOC's recommendations in the Report and offered any additional support to the 14 000 ethnic minority students in Hong Kong; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to review its education policy for ethnic minority students, so as to address their concerns, particularly the admission and assessment procedures of schools, the available choices of designated schools and mainstream schools, learning support for pre-primary ethnic minority students and provision of an alternative Chinese Curriculum and Qualification, so that ethnic minority students can enjoy equal access to quality education, which is pivotal not only to such students' pursuit of further education and employment, but also to Hong Kong maintaining its competitiveness.
| Amendments to the motion |
| (i) | Hon Tanya CHAN to move the following amendment:
To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "education is the key to success and the future of our next generation;"; and to add "; the relevant initiatives should include: (a) implementing a separate Chinese curriculum assessment scheme especially for ethnic minority students to help them meet the requirements of further education and vocational training; (b) providing pre-primary educational institutions with additional resources and relevant support to encourage the admission of ethnic minority students; (c) enhancing the training for teachers who teach Chinese as a second or foreign language; (d) designing suitable assessment schemes for adoption by schools to facilitate early identification of ethnic minority students' special needs, so that they can receive appropriate education; (e) launching a study to monitor the learning progress of ethnic minority students to enable the Government to review their needs and the effectiveness of their education, and establishing a database for systemic data collection and analysis, so as to facilitate the formulation of an education policy and the provision of support which meet the needs of ethnic minority students; (f) increasing intake quotas, providing a positive learning environment and adequate support to meet the demand of ethnic minority students with special educational needs; (g) enhancing the career guidance and vocational training services for ethnic minority graduates; and (h) enhancing public awareness of the importance of cultural diversities and ethnic integration, so as to create a better learning environment for ethnic minority students" immediately before the full stop.
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| (ii) | Hon Starry LEE to move the following amendment:
To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "all children should enjoy equal opportunities to receive quality education;"; to delete "and" after "pre-primary ethnic minority students" and substitute with ","; and to add ", development of teaching materials, creation of a comprehensive database, provision of career counselling and support as well as parental education" after "Qualification".
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education
- Formulating an industrial policy
Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation)
That this Council urges the SAR Government to formulate a comprehensive policy to promote high value-adding, new technology-intensive and innovative industries, so as to ensure Hong Kong's long-term economic development.
| Amendments to the motion |
| (i) | Hon IP Wai-ming to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", since the nineties of the last century, the massive northward relocation of factories created a structural problem of industrial imbalance in Hong Kong and large numbers of grass-roots and skilled workers became unemployed or underemployed due to industrial shrinkage, the unhealthy phenomenon of society relying solely on a handful of industries to support its economy has progressively emerged; in order to ease the problem concerned and develop industrial diversification," after "That"; to add "as well as industries capable of sustainable development and creating massive employment opportunities, and at the same time, re-design the relevant manpower training, including reviewing the Apprenticeship Ordinance and extending the relevant system to various emerging industries, as well as providing land and financial facilitation and support to emerging industries" after "innovative industries"; and to add "and different employment opportunities for local workers" immediately before the full stop.
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| (ii) | Hon Ronny TONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "create a favourable environment conducive to setting up businesses, promote better employment relationship, and expeditiously study setting standard working hours and standardizing the number of general holidays for the relevant trades," after "innovative industries,".
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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