Council Meeting (Agenda) 23 May 2012

A 11/12-29

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 23 May 2012 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (State of Kuwait) Order	96/2012
2.	Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief with respect to Taxes on Income) (Switzerland) Order	97/2012
3.	Inland Revenue (Double Taxation Relief and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income) (Malta) Order	98/2012
4.	Banking Ordinance (Amendment of Seventh Schedule) Notice 2012	99/2012
5.	Public Health and Municipal Services (Fees and Charges) (Leisure Facilities) Regulation	100/2012
6.	Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment of First and Third Schedules) Order 2012	101/2012
7.	Road Traffic (Breath Analysing Instruments, Screening Devices and Pre-screening Devices) (Amendment) Notice 2012	102/2012

Other Papers

1.	No. 94	-	Securities and Futures Commission Approved budget of income and expenditure for the financial year 2012/2013
(to be presented by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
2.	Report of the Bills Committee on Mediation Bill
(to be presented by Dr Hon Margaret NG, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Hon LI Fung-ying to ask: (Translation)

With the commencement of the 10 major infrastructure projects ("MIPs") one after another, the manpower demand in the construction industry will rise continuously. Some contractors are eager to put forward requests for importation of foreign labour, and some members of the labour sector are gravely concerned that the Government will ultimately give green light to the importation of foreign labour. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	apart from the studies commissioned by the Development Bureau and the Construction Industry Council in 2007 and 2008 respectively on manpower supply and demand in the construction industry in the next few years, whether the authorities have specifically assessed the trades and skills required by the 10 MIPs in order to organize as early as possible the relevant training courses for the construction industry; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	whether the authorities have any mechanism in place to coordinate the progress of the works of the 10 MIPs so as to avoid contractors of various works projects commencing similar works at the same time and competing for the employment of labourers of the trades concerned, thus creating a man-made manpower shortage; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether the authorities have a set of objective criteria for assessing the manpower supply and demand in respect of the various trades required by the 10 MIPs; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

The surge in energy prices in recent years raises the chance of upward adjustment in Hong Kong's electricity tariff in the future, and members of the public may face a substantial level of increase in electricity tariff. The new-term Government will commence negotiation with the two power companies next year in respect of the Interim Reviews of the Scheme of Control Agreements ("SCAs") and the Five-year Development Plans, which are closely related to people's livelihood, the environment and the economy and will affect the sustainable development of Hong Kong in the future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the timetable for conducting the Interim Reviews of SCAs and formulating the Five-year Development Plans next year with the two power companies, as well as the contents of the Interim Reviews proposed by the Government; whether the authorities will consult the public on SCAs and the Five-year Development Plans of the two power companies; whether the authorities will make public the background information (including data on projected electricity sales and maximum electricity demand in Hong Kong for the next decade) on Hong Kong's electricity market; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	given that it has been reported that CLP Power Hong Kong Limited has claimed that with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Co-operation between the SAR Government and the National Energy Administration in 2008, Hong Kong's long-term reliance on natural gas supply from the Mainland and uncompetitive fuel prices would result in drastic increases in local electricity tariff, whether the authorities have assessed the impact of the increasing use of natural gas for power generation on the investment on fixed assets of the two power companies in the next decade; if they have, of the details; whether the authorities have estimated if the two power companies need to install additional new natural gas-fired generation units and transmission and distribution networks as well as the expenditure involved; if they have, of the details; and the other impact of the contents of the Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Co-operation on Hongkong Electric Company Limited; and
(c)	whether the authorities will make reference to the experience of overseas electricity markets and introduce a new bill to determine the charges to be imposed by an electricity network owner on a third party for hiring its transmission facilities, with a view to implementing the segregation of the generation sector from the network sector in the electricity market; whether the authorities have assessed the feasibility of making direct government investment in facilities for full interconnection of the networks of the two power companies or in the installation of energy-saving equipment in the buildings in Hong Kong to reduce the expenditure on electricity tariff?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

3. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the Chairman of CLP Power Hong Kong Limited ("CLP") ridiculed the Government on 8 May this year by saying that the West Kowloon reclamation and the site of the old Kai Tak Airport had been lying vacant for quite a number of years, and if the speed and efficiency of decision-taking and implementation by CLP in operating the electricity supply system for Kowloon and the New Territories had matched those standards, these areas would be in darkness today. Quite a number of Members have pointed out that the remarks of CLP's Chairman were threats to members of the public and the Government. CLP has estimated that fuel costs will increase in the coming few years and the rate of tariff increase will possibly go up to 40% three years later. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given that CLP increased its tariff by 4.9% early this year and it now estimates a possible 40% tariff increase three years later, whether the authorities have assessed the accuracy of such estimation of tariff increase; if they have, of the details; whether they have examined if the justifications for CLP to increase its tariff drastically in the coming few years comply with the provisions of the Scheme of Control Agreement; if they have, of the outcome;
(b)	whether it has assessed if the establishment of the Tariff Stabilization Fund ("TSF") is a total failure when with TSF, CLP still has to increase its electricity tariff by 40% in the next three years; if it has, of the details; whether the authorities will review the mechanism of TSF; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	given that CLP is a public utility and its electricity tariff is closely related to the livelihood of all people in Hong Kong and yet, it has been reported that CLP's senior executive has said that CLP would increase its tariff substantially in the future and has criticized the Government's excessive intervention in affecting the tariff and, as pointed out by some Members, he has made the aforesaid threatening remarks, whether it has assessed if the remarks of CLP's senior executive may cause the public to panic; if it has, of the details and the follow-up actions to be taken by the authorities on such remarks?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

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

It has been reported that the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited ("HKEx") will introduce after-hours futures trading ("AHFT") in the second half of this year. I have received complaints from the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Professionals Association, pointing out that such an arrangement may pose substantial risks to investors and securities dealers, and may also easily cause drastic fluctuations in the market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows if HKEx, in conducting the consultation on the aforesaid arrangement last year, had given a clear account on the positive and negative impacts of such arrangement on various aspects (including the impact on the fluctuations of the local financial market and that on additional liabilities of securities dealers and additional risks for investors, as well as the impact of dealers not participating in AHFT, etc.) and the relevant measures (including margin calls, management of the risk of breach of contract, delisting procedures and the price limit range during AHFT) required to be introduced in respect of such impacts; if it had, the views collected and the conclusions drawn; if not, whether HKEx has assessed if the consultation was comprehensive, and whether HKEx might have misled the public;
(b)	whether it knows if HKEx, in introducing various new measures in recent years, has assessed the risks and impacts that such measures bring, and accorded priority to considering the impacts on the overall interests of the local financial market as well as the risks that it can bear; whether the authorities have assessed if HKEx, in introducing the aforesaid arrangement, has put commercial interest before the security and stability of the financial market of Hong Kong; how HKEx and the regulatory authority ensure that the local market will not be under attack or will also not be manipulated because there are loopholes in such an arrangement, and subject to drastic fluctuations; regarding the confidence crisis in the market and financial turmoil that may be triggered by such an arrangement, who will be and how they can be held accountable by members of the public for that; and
(c)	given the concerns of the industry, and that members of the public and investors have indicated that they do not understand the impacts that may be brought about by the aforesaid arrangement on their investments, whether the authorities will request HKEx to temporarily suspend its plan to implement such an arrangement in the second half of this year, conduct consultation afresh, and set out the impacts and the measures required to be introduced as listed in (a), with a view to facilitating in-depth discussion by various parties, and decide whether to implement the arrangement only after announcing the detailed outcome; if not, of the reasons for that, and what risk management mechanism will be put in place upon the implementation of such arrangement?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

The Chief Executive-elect's Office ("CEEO") has recently announced the appointment of Ms Fanny LAW as the Head of CEEO, the rank of which is equivalent to that of a Director of Bureau. According to the Code for Officials under the Political Appointment System ("the Code"), politically appointed officials who step down from office have to observe the following three rules: first, within one year after stepping down from office, they shall seek the advice of a committee appointed for this purpose by the Chief Executive ("CE") before commencing any employment; second, within one year after stepping down from office, they shall not represent any person in connection with any claim, action, demand, proceedings, transaction or negotiation against or with the Government; and third, within one year after stepping down from office, they shall not engage in any lobbying activities on matters relating to the Government. It has been reported that the Government has exempted Ms Fanny LAW, who is a politically appointed official, from certain provisions under the Code, so that she will not be subject to part of the Code after stepping down from office. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)	of the provisions of the Code from which Ms Fanny LAW has been granted exemption by the Government; the justifications for such exemption; whether the consent of the Secretary for the Civil Service to grant such exemption has been given; if not, whether CE-elect has exercised the power of exemption to enable her to enjoy such privilege of exemption; if not, who has exercised the power of exemption;
(b)	as it has been reported that recently, in the cases of Miss Ran CHEN and Ms Fanny LAW, the Government has exceptionally exercised the power of exemption, whether the authorities have assessed if the granting of such exemption one after another will cause the public to think that CEEO possess the privilege to incessantly grant exemption without being subject to any regulation; and
(c)	given that society has queried and expressed objection to the granting of exemption to Ms Fanny LAW, and there are concerns that personal interests and transfer of benefits may be involved, whether the authorities will re-assess if the granting of exemption this time is correct, and whether they will consider withdrawing it?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

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

The high textbook prices in Hong Kong keep on rising every year, and some parents have indicated that this imposes additional financial burden on them, and therefore, they have all along hoped that the Government will strive with textbook publishers to implement the "debundling of textbooks from learning and teaching materials for pricing", so as to bring down textbook prices. However, they have indicated that according to the newly released Recommended Textbook List, 60% of the textbooks are not debundled for pricing, and the average increase of the textbook prices is 4%; and for those textbooks which are debundled for pricing, the drop in their prices is limited, making them feel very angry and disappointed that the Education Bureau ("EDB") has been negotiating with the textbook publishers on textbook pricing for years but no progress has been made. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given that EDB has considered publishing textbooks through central tendering, whether the Government has shelved the plan; if so, given that the strategy of debundling for pricing has failed to effectively bring down textbook prices, whether the Government will consider afresh adopting the plan, with a view to providing parents with an additional choice;
(b)	given that EDB plans to develop the electronic textbook ("e-textbook") market, with a view to introducing competition and increasing the choices of textbooks available to parents and schools, whether the Government has estimated, upon the launching of e-textbooks in 2014, the savings that may be brought to parents, as well as the percentage of downward adjustment in textbook prices that may be brought about; and
(c)	whether the Government will consider subsidizing all parents in Hong Kong in buying textbooks to alleviate their burden?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

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

It has been reported that the figures from the Transport Department ("TD") reveal a continuous drop in the number of school buses in Hong Kong by as much as 14% from 4 244 in 2004 to 3 633 last year. Those reports have pointed out that one of the reasons for the continuous drop in the number of school buses is the freeze imposed by TD on the number of non-franchised buses ("NFBs") since 2005, thus the operators concerned can only acquire licences from the market in order to expand their services, resulting in rampant speculation on such licences, and the current licence price is as high as $2 million each. Those reports have also pointed out that the growing demand from the tourism industry and the cross-boundary transport sector has induced operators to convert quite a number of school buses into tour buses, resulting in the shortage of school buses and fee increase at present and, meanwhile, the operating costs of tours and cross-boundary transport have also increased. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given that the authorities control the number of NFBs in the market and operators seeking business expansion or new entrants have to acquire existing NFB licences from the market, of the respective number of existing NFB licences successfully purchased from the market by operators each year since 2005, as well as the services involved;
(b)	whether the authorities have assessed the current demand for various types of NFB services; which types of NFB services are oversupplied and which are in short supply, and the gap between demand and supply;
(c)	given that school bus services can reduce the traffic burden on the roads around schools and bring convenience to students living in remote areas but it has been reported that there is a shortage of school buses at present, of the measures taken by the authorities to assist those schools which are not able to arrange school bus services for their students; and
(d)	given that the Transport Advisory Committee conducted a review of NFBs between 2003 and 2004 in response to an oversupply of NFB services at that time but it has been reported that in tandem with the changes in economy and urban planning, NFB services (particularly those for students) are in short supply at present, whether the authorities will conduct a review of NFB services (including consideration of relaxing the licensing control on NFBs); if they will, of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*8. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

In 2010-2011, the safety net of the Samaritan Fund ("SF") covered 17 self-financed drugs ("the drugs") and the number of patients receiving SF subsidy on drugs was about 1 350 (with 720 of them receiving full subsidy and the other 630 receiving partial subsidy). The Government plans to revise the financial assessment criteria of SF, and it is estimated that this can benefit 2 300 patients (i.e. an additional 1 000 patients). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a)	the situation of provision of SF subsidy under the existing financial assessment criteria, including:
	(i)	in each of the past five years, the respective numbers of patients receiving full and partial subsidy, the total number of patients receiving subsidy, the average subsidy amount per patient, the average contribution amount per patient, as well as the total subsidy amount for each type of drug, broken down by drug type;
	(ii)	the number of patients receiving partial subsidy in each of the past five years, broken down by drug type and tier of maximum patient's contribution; and
	(iii)	how it has come to the projection that revising the financial assessment criteria may benefit an additional 1 000 patients; the numbers of patients receiving partial subsidy at present who will become eligible for full subsidy, those whose contribution to drug cost will decrease, and those who will become eligible for subsidy under SF, after the revision in the financial assessment criteria;
(b)	the respective numbers of cases which had been formally rejected (i.e. cases of applicants being turned down after they had been assessed by medical practitioners as having a need for the aforesaid drugs, had been referred to medical social workers ("MSWs") and had filled out and submitted application forms to SF with the assistance of MSWs) and cases which had been informally rejected (i.e. cases of applicants being verbally turned down by the MSWs concerned after they had been assessed by medical practitioners as having a need for the aforesaid drugs and had been referred to MSWs) in the past five years; and
(c)	the clinical criteria adopted by medical practitioners for assessing patients' needs for the 17 drug items; whether the Hospital Authority had consulted any patient group in the course of formulating those criteria?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Labour and Welfare
(in the absence of Secretary for Food and Health)

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

I have received a complaint from a member of the public who pointed out that the authorities had not legally authorized the operator to work in the Tsing Ma Control Area ("the Control Area"), and questioned the legitimacy of the toll plaza on Ma Wan Road ("the toll plaza"). That member of the public indicated that the Transport Department ("TD") had advised that in 1997, the Commissioner for Transport ("C for T") had authorized the operator to take enforcement actions in the Control Area under the Tsing Ma Control Area Ordinance (Cap. 498) ("the Ordinance"), and TD had also provided that member of the public with copies of an authorization letter and the department's internal file minutes, yet that member of the public was not satisfied that such documents could be recognized by the Court as formal legal documents and suspected that TD had not made legal authorization in accordance with section 11 of the Ordinance. That member of the public also queried whether the toll plaza was a legitimate government building, and indicated that the Buildings Department ("BD") had advised that the toll plaza, which was situated at the government site within the Control Area, was one of the infrastructure facilities constructed by the relevant company upon the Government's request and it was a government building. Yet, that member of the public pointed out that the relevant government departments (including BD, Architectural Services Department, Lands Department and TD, etc.) had not been able to provide any concrete evidence in respect of his complaint to prove that the toll plaza was a government building. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the legal basis for the authorities to authorize the operator to take enforcement actions in the Control Area, and provide this Council with authorization documents that can be confirmed as legal documents;
(b)	given that the toll plaza was only completed in 2002, of the legal justifications based on which the authorities extend the effect of the authorization made by C for T in 1997 to 2002 or beyond; and
(c)	of the evidence held by the authorities to prove that the toll plaza is a legitimate government building, and provide the relevant documents?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

Will the Government inform this Council of the total number of ordinances and regulations governing the construction of buildings on New Territories village lots enacted since the implementation of the Block Crown Lease procedure to re-rent land lots to their original owners by way of land leases, thereby rendering the land owners no longer holding the titles to the relevant land lots in perpetuity, together with a list of the said ordinances and regulations in chronological order of their enactment, the contents of the relevant provisions, which have subsequently been amended, according to the amendment date, and a comparison of the amendments with the respective previous versions of the provisions concerned?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Some members of the insurance industry have reflected to me that in recent years, some law-breakers abetted persons involved in traffic accident or occupational injury claims to apply for legal aid, and made use of the right of the aided persons to be represented by the solicitors or counsel nominated by them in court to use the huge resources of legal aid to make fraudulent insurance claims through champerty. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of legal aid cases in each of the past five years involving traffic accident or occupational injury claims, which had been handled by the solicitors or counsel nominated by the aided persons; and the total amount of compensation involved;
(b)	of the criteria adopted by the Legal Aid Department ("LAD") in vetting and approving applications from the aided persons for nominating solicitors or counsel to represent them; the number of legal aid cases in the past five years involving traffic accident or occupational injury claims, the aided persons of which had requested to nominate solicitors or counsel to represent them, but their requests had been rejected by LAD;
(c)	at present, when LAD discovers cases of champerty which make use of legal aid, how it handles such cases, together with an illustration by examples of the relevant cases it had handled; and
(d)	whether LAD has assessed if there is any loophole in the operation of the system of allowing the aided persons to nominate solicitors and counsel to represent them; whether it will consider revising the system, or what measures are in place to effectively prevent acts of champerty which make use of legal aid?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

In recent years, the Government has actively promoted many environmental protection measures, and has introduced legislation to regulate the idling of motor vehicle engines (i.e. the requirement of "switching off idling engines"), yet some members of the public and environmental groups have reflected to me that the Government has all along ignored the work on environmental protection, and has not set an example itself in promoting environmental protection, e.g. at present most government private cars do not meet the qualifying standards for environment-friendly petrol private cars ("qualifying standards"); and they have also pointed out that the government vehicles provided for Heads of Departments, Directors of Bureaux, Secretaries and even the Chief Executive ("CE") are all environment-friendly private cars with large fuel tanks, high emission, high fuel consumption, and do not meet the qualifying standards. Further, they also found that the drivers of government private cars do not switch off idling engines when they are in the streets. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the current number of government private cars; among them, the number of environment-friendly private cars; and the numbers of government private cars which meet the qualifying standards and those do not, together with the average purchasing prices of such private cars, broken down by fuel tank capacity (set out in the table below);

Fuel tank capacity	Number of government private cars which meet the qualifying standards for environment-friendly petrol private cars ("qualifying standards")	Number of government private cars which do not meet the qualifying standards	Average purchasing price
Under 1 500 c.c.
1 500 to 2 500 c.c.
2 500 to 3 500 c.c.
3 500 to 4 500 c.c.
Over 4 500 c.c.

(b)

of the expenditure on fuel consumption by government private cars in each of the past five years;

(c)

whether the Government will immediately use environment-friendly private cars with capacities under 1 500 c.c. that meet the qualifying standards as government private cars across the board (including those for Heads of Departments, Directors of Bureaux, Secretaries and CE); and

(d)

whether, since the implementation of the Motor Vehicle Idling (Fixed Penalty) (Cap. 611), Penalty Notices were issued to government drivers for contravening the requirement of switching off idling engines; if so, of the total number of Penalty Notices issued to them; if not, the reasons for that, and whether these reasons include the privilege of senior government officials to enjoy air conditioning in cars without switching off idling engines to waste public money?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

In presenting his 2012-2013 Budget, the Financial Secretary announced that the Government plans to launch through the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") a further issuance of inflation-linked retail bonds ("iBond") worth not more than HK$10 billion. Calculated on the basis of the average year-on-year change of the Composite Consumer Price Index from June to November 2011, the interest rate of the first interest payment for the first batch of iBond is 6.08%. As indicated by the authorities, iBond's interest payments are made from the Bond Fund. The Bond Fund is placed with the Exchange Fund for investment purposes, and the investment income received by the Bond Fund from the Exchange Fund is based on the "fixed rate" sharing arrangement. However, the rates of return of the Exchange Fund managed by HKMA in the past few years were lower than Hong Kong's inflation rate in the second half of last year, which stood at 6.08%. According to HKMA's Annual Report 2010, for the three years from 2008 to 2010, the average rate of return of the Exchange Fund was only 1.2%, and even in the 10-year period from 2001 to 2010, the average rate of return was only 4.9%. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, given that despite the low rate of return of the Exchange Fund, HKMA is still required to make iBond's interest payments at a rate corresponding to the inflation rate of a specified period from the investment income received by the Bond Fund from the Exchange Fund, whether it knows the amount of money, calculated in terms of the size of the first batch of iBond issued, which HKMA needs to subsidize iBond's interest payments after deducting the investment income generated from an equivalent amount of the Bond Fund over the same period of time?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Recently, quite a number of residents in Tai Po and the North District have relayed to me that at present the North District Hospital does not provide paediatric in-patient service, causing the sick children in the North District having to be admitted to Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital ("Nethersole Hospital") in Tai Po, but the population in the district is increasing, and quite a number of children from the Mainland cross the border to seek medical treatment in Hong Kong, resulting in the hospital beds in Nethersole Hospital being fully occupied from time to time. They have pointed out that as such, some sick children living in Tai Po District have to go to Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin to seek medical treatment, causing inconvenience to the sick children and their parents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows the respective numbers and average occupancy rates of the paediatric beds in Prince of Wales Hospital and Nethersole Hospital in the past five years, and the numbers of in-patient children who were not Hong Kong residents;
(b)	of the anticipated numbers of people aged 18 or below in Shatin, Tai Po and the North District respectively in the next five years;
(c)	if it knows the factors and criteria based on which the Hospital Authority ("HA") at present considers whether to provide paediatric in-patient service in a hospital; when such factors and criteria were formulated and whether they are reviewed on a regular basis;
(d)	whether it knows if HA has assessed the impact of children crossing the border to seek medical treatment in Hong Kong on the paediatric in-patient service in the New Territories East Cluster ("NTEC"); and
(e)	whether it knows if HA will conduct a comprehensive review of the paediatric in-patient service in NTEC to facilitate the formulation of improvement plans; if it will, the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Labour and Welfare
(in the absence of Secretary for Food and Health)

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

Regarding the impacts of the judicial review ("JR") cases during the term of office of current-term Chief Executive ("CE"), including as reported, the delay of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("HZMB") project and the additional public expenditure of more than $8.8 billion thus incurred, as a result of the JR case on the Environmental Impact Assessment reports for the HZMB project filed by a senior citizen allegedly under the instigation by the Civic Party, the core members of which are several counsel, as well as the impact brought by supporting foreign domestic helpers in seeking the right of abode in Hong Kong, etc., will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the current-term Government and the CE-elect, who is forming a new governing team, have addressed the aforesaid issue seriously, and initiated communication and discussion on formulating counter-measures in this regard;
(b)	given that the new-term Government has proposed re-organization of its structure and creation of some 70 posts involving an estimated annual expenditure of more than $70 million, whether it knows if manpower has been set aside for the new-term Government, in the process of studying and formulating policies and initiating relevant consultation, to coordinate and discuss as early as possible with the aforesaid political party as well as other individuals who may file JR applications against the polices proposed by the Government, so as to minimize or avoid delays in policy implementation by the new-term Government and additional spending of public money that may possibly be caused by individuals filing JR applications; if so, of the plan; which bureau and newly added manpower will be responsible for the relevant work; if not, whether it can ask CE-elect to conduct study in this regard as soon as possible before the current-term Legislative Council scrutinizes his proposal on re-organization of the government structure; and
(c)	of the policies to facilitate the Judiciary to adopt appropriate measures of cases management, prioritizing the listing of hearing, as well as other administrative measures, to reduce the workload of the Judiciary which is operating under tight resources, and to minimize as far as possible the adverse impact on the implementation of government policies and the wastage of public money caused by abusing or delaying judicial proceedings?

Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

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

The Government Headquarters have been relocated to the new site at Tamar. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the expenditure on electricity and the average electricity consumption per square metre ("sq m") of the Government in the former Central Government Offices between October 2010 and May 2011;
(b)	the expenditure on electricity and the average electricity consumption per sq m of the Government in the new Central Government Complex ("CGC") between October 2011 and May 2012;
(c)	the percentage of the expenditure on electricity for air-conditioning in the overall expenditure on electricity of the Government in the new CGC at present;
(d)	the percentage of the expenditure on electricity for lighting in the overall expenditure on electricity of the Government in the new CGC at present; and
(e)	the percentage of the expenditure on electricity for lifts and escalators in the overall expenditure on electricity of the Government in the new CGC at present?

Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

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

A Number 3 alarm fire broke out earlier at a five-star hotel in North Point, and the source of fire was suspected to be related to the components of a light emitting diode ("LED") display wall ("display wall") on the roof, which is over five storeys high, over-heating or short circuiting. Some professionals in the construction industry and fire safety experts said in media interviews that at present, the fire safety capacity of display walls on external walls of buildings is not governed by any fire safety legislation in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of applications received by the authorities in the past five years for installing display walls on external walls of newly completed buildings; among them, the number of applications rejected;
(b)	of the current procedures for applying to install large-scale display walls on external walls of newly completed buildings in Hong Kong; and the criteria for vetting and approval;
(c)	whether the authorities regulate the sizes, materials, specifications and daily operating hours of display walls installed on external walls of buildings at present; if not, of the reasons for that;
(d)	whether the authorities will learn from the aforesaid fire incident and immediately step up regulation of fire safety facilities in buildings with display walls on their external walls; if they will, of the details; and
(e)	given that quite a number of buildings on the two sides of the Victoria Harbour participate in the "A Symphony of Lights" show organized by the Tourism Commission and these buildings have installed a large quantity of colourful light bulbs on their external walls, whether the authorities have assessed if this will substantially increase the fire hazard of these buildings; if they have, of the results; if not, whether such an assessment will be conducted immediately?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*18. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited ("HKEx") launched callable bull/bear contracts ("CBBCs") on 12 June 2006. According to the information provided by HKEx, the number of newly listed CBBCs increased from 391 in 2007 to 6 541 in 2010, and the turnover reached $1,460 billion. In the past three years, almost three quarters of CBBCs were mandatorily called. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it will consider requiring issuers to provide collaterals for their CBBC products (and setting up flexible and reasonable collateralization requirements with reference to the issuers' credit ratings, changes of credit ratings or other reference data), so that investors will stand a greater chance of getting compensation when the credit conditions of issuers change significantly or even when issuers breach the contracts;
(b)	whether it knows if the regulatory authorities regularly conduct investigation into the issuers' statements on their products, so as to ensure that investors will not be misled; if they do, the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c)	whether it knows if the regulatory authorities will require issuers to add explicit warning clauses for reminding investors that such products may cause significant losses, and if they will step up their efforts in monitoring and regulating media advertisements and soft-selling activities relating to CBBCs; and
(d)	whether it will consider producing more targeted media publicity programmes on CBBCs to explain the risks concerned through illustration by cases involving investment losses, so as to enhance investor education?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

Quite a number of primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong ceased operation one after another since the reunification. Some members of the education sector have pointed out that one of the reasons that have led to schools ceasing operation is the introduction of the policy on consolidation of under-utilized primary and secondary schools (commonly known as "closing schools") by the Education Bureau in 2003, and some vacant school premises have not been fully utilized. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the names and locations of the primary and secondary schools which had ceased operation in each year since 1997, as well as the reasons for their ceasing operation and the number of students affected (set out in table form);
(b)	among the premises of the schools in (a) which had ceased operation, for those which were re-used afterwards, of the respective numbers of years for which they were left vacant, and their uses as well as the bodies using them at present;
(c)	among the premises of the schools in (a) which had ceased operation, for those which are still vacant at present, of the respective numbers of years for which they have been left vacant, and the plan for using such premises in the future;
(d)	at present, how it determines whether to continue to keep the premises of the aforesaid primary and secondary schools which had ceased operation for educational use;
(e)	whether it has assessed the number of primary and secondary schools that will cease operation in each year of the next decade due to under-enrolment; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(f)	whether it has assessed if in the next decade, there will be a need to re-open the primary and secondary schools which had ceased operation, owing to a rebound in the number of students in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(g)	whether any measure is in place to encourage school sponsoring bodies to apply for using the premises of the schools which had ceased operation for setting up schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(h)	whether any measure is in place to encourage school sponsoring bodies of direct subsidy schools to apply for using the aforesaid vacant school premises to run primary and/or secondary schools under a "through train" operation mode, or operate branch schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(i)	whether any measure is in place to encourage local tertiary institutions to apply for using the aforesaid vacant school premises for teaching purposes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

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

The legislation on nutrition labelling has come into force for nearly two years since July 2010. Regarding the implementation of the legislation, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the authorities have recently conducted any survey to ascertain the level of awareness of the public about nutrition labelling and the changes in their attitude and behaviour towards choosing of food products; if they have, of the results;
(b)	given that since the beginning of this year, the Centre for Food Safety ("CFS") tested and discovered that the information on the nutrition labels of various kind of food products is seriously inaccurate, how CFS made public such incidents and whether press releases were issued; of the approach adopted by the authorities to handle and act in response to non-compliant cases since the implementation of the aforesaid legislation; of the change in the frequency of conducting sample tests of food products to verify the information on nutrition labels; the details of the non-compliant cases, including a list of food products involved, the items on their labels which were inaccurate, as well as the numbers of warning letters issued, requests for rectifying the irregularities and prosecutions instituted, etc.; and
(c)	whether the authorities have reviewed if the current approach in handling non-compliant cases is too lenient, and whether the public are unable to know clearly which food products' nutrition labels contain inaccurate information; if so, of the review results; whether the authorities will step up enforcement and prosecution efforts, and make public as soon as possible the list of food products with inaccurate information on their nutrition labels to enable the public to make informed choices; if they will not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Labour and Welfare
(in the absence of Secretary for Food and Health)

* For written reply

III. Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading (Bill originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)
1.	Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012	:	Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Hon Albert CHAN and Hon WONG Yuk-man to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 26 April and 23 May 2012 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3)693/11-12 and CB(3)796/11-12 respectively)
(Bill scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)
2.	Mediation Bill	:	The Secretary for Justice
The Secretary for Justice to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 16 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)766/11-12)

IV. Motions

(Motions originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)

1.	Proposed resolution under the Legal Aid Ordinance Secretary for Home Affairs to move the motion in Appendix I.
	(The motion was also issued on 20 April 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 662/11-12)
2.	Proposed resolution under the Import and Export Ordinance Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move the following motion: Resolved that the Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 2012, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 17 April 2012, be approved.
	(The Amendment Regulation is in Appendix II and was also issued on 23 April 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)666/11-12)
(Motions scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)
3.	Proposed resolution under the Eastern Harbour Crossing Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the Eastern Harbour Crossing Road Tunnel (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the New Hong Kong Tunnel Company Limited on 30 March 2012, be approved, subject to the amendment as set out in the Schedule.
	(The Amendment Bylaw is in Appendix III and was also issued on 21 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)782/11-12)
4.	Proposed resolution under the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the Tate's Cairn Tunnel (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Company Limited on 30 March 2012, be approved, subject to the amendment as set out in the Schedule.
	(The Amendment Bylaw is in Appendix IV and was also issued on 21 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)782/11-12)
5.	Proposed resolution under the Western Harbour Crossing Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the Western Harbour Crossing (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Western Harbour Tunnel Company Limited on 30 March 2012, be approved, subject to the amendment as set out in the Schedule.
	(The Amendment Bylaw is in Appendix V and was also issued on 21 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)782/11-12)
6.	Proposed resolution under the Tai Lam Tunnel and Yuen Long Approach Road Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the Tai Lam Tunnel and Yuen Long Approach Road (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited on 3 April 2012, be approved, subject to the amendment as set out in the Schedule.
	(The Amendment Bylaw is in Appendix VI and was also issued on 21 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)782/11-12)

V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments

(Members' motions scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)

Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon LAU Kong-wah to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the -

(a)	Fire Services Ordinance (Amendment of Second Schedule) Regulation 2012, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 58 of 2012;
(b)	Police (Discipline) (Amendment) Regulation 2012, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 59 of 2012;
(c)	Prison (Amendment) Rules 2012, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 60 of 2012;
(d)	Government Flying Service (Discipline) (Amendment) Regulation 2012, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 61 of 2012;
(e)	Traffic Wardens (Discipline) (Amendment) Regulation 2012, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 62 of 2012; and
(f)	Customs and Excise Service (Discipline) (Amendment) Rules 2012, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 63 of 2012,

and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 May 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 20 June 2012.

Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon WONG Ting-kwong to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Genetically Modified Organisms (Control of Release) (Exemption) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 69 of 2012, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 May 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 20 June 2012.

(Member's motion originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)

Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:

That this Council takes note of Report No. 18/11-12 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 9 May 2012 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:

Item Number Title of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument

(1) Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 2) Order 2012 (L.N. 38/2012).

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

VI. Members' Bills

(Member's Bill originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)

First Reading

Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2012

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2012	:	Hon Paul CHAN
Public Officer to attend	:	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

VII. Members' Motions

(Members' motions originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)

Motion under Article 73(9) of the Basic Law

Initiated jointly by Hon Albert HO , Hon LEE Cheuk-yan, Hon Fred LI, Hon James TO, Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong, Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung, Hon Emily LAU, Hon Andrew CHENG, Hon Frederick FUNG, Hon Audrey EU, Hon LEE Wing-tat, Dr Hon Joseph LEE, Hon Ronny TONG, Hon KAM Nai-wai, Hon Cyd HO, Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che, Hon WONG Sing-chi, Hon Paul TSE, Hon Alan LEONG, Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung, Hon Tanya CHAN, Hon Albert CHAN and Hon WONG Yuk-man (23 Members) and to be moved by Hon Cyd HO

That, since a motion initiated jointly by not less than one-fourth of all the Members of the Legislative Council charges the Chief Executive Mr Donald TSANG with serious dereliction of duty (details as particularized in the Schedule to this motion) and he refused to resign, this Council, in accordance with Article 73(9) of the Basic Law, gives a mandate to the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal to form and chair an independent investigation committee to investigate the alleged dereliction of duty and report to this Council.

Schedule
Details of dereliction of duty of the Chief Executive Mr Donald TSANG are set out below: Mr Donald TSANG, as the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, accepted advantages or extravagant entertainment offered by other persons without making any declaration, failing to fulfill the duties under Article 47 of the Basic Law that the Chief Executive must be a person of integrity and dedicated to his or her duties
(1)	Mr Donald TSANG accepted advantages or extravagant entertainment offered by other persons
	(a)	Mr Donald TSANG rented a 630m² odd apartment in East Pacific Garden, Shenzhen at a rate of RMB 800,000 yuan per annum. The owner of the apartment provided the renovation, and the renovation costs are reportedly about RMB 3,000,000 yuan; and
	(b)	Mr Donald TSANG and his wife accepted extravagant entertainment offered by other persons on several occasions, including:
		(i)	on their trips to Macao in April 2011 and February 2012, stayed on board the private yacht of other person and returned from Macao to Hong Kong on it, paying only about HK$500 on each occasion (amount corresponding to two tickets of one‐way Macao‐to‐Hong Kong commercial ferry ride); and
		(ii)	in February 2012, travelled to Phuket, Thailand and back to Hong Kong in a private jet of other person and stayed on board the private yacht of other person in Phuket, paying only about HK$5,900 (amount corresponding to two round-trip economy class flight tickets between Hong Kong and Phuket).
(2)	Mr Donald TSANG did not make any declaration during meetings of the Executive Council at which items relating to businesses operated by the persons who offered the aforesaid advantages or entertainment were discussed According to the reply by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs to Members' questions at the Legislative Council meeting of 29 February 2012, Mr Donald TSANG did not make any declaration of his acceptance of advantages referred to in item (1)(a) or his acceptance of entertainment referred to in item (1)(b) during meetings of the Executive Council. Mr TSANG did not make any declaration when the Executive Council deliberated on the issues of the licence of the Digital Broadcasting Corporation Hong Kong Limited ("DBC"), and the owner of the apartment referred to in item (1)(a) is a shareholder of DBC.
(3)	Mr Donald TSANG failed to formulate credible rules governing the Chief Executive's acceptance of advantages or entertainment It has been reported that Mr Donald TSANG himself formulated internal rules governing the Chief Executive's acceptance of advantages or entertainment; however, the Chief Executive's Office does not have any formal record of the above rules, and the standard claimed is much lower than that for civil servants.

Public Officers to attend

The Chief Secretary for Administration
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

The 4 June incident

Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following motion:
(Translation)

That this Council urges that: the 4 June incident be not forgotten and the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated.

Amendment to the motion
Hon WONG Yuk-man to move the following amendment:
(Translation)

To delete "incident" after "the 4 June" and substitute with "tragedy"; to delete "and" after "forgotten" and substitute with ", pro-democracy figures be released,"; and to add ", the responsibility for the massacre be ascertained, one-party dictatorship be ended and a democratic China be built" immediately before the full stop.

Actively studying the establishment of a middle class commission

Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:
(Translation)

That, given that the global and Hong Kong economies are still facing extremely unclear risks, while the middle-class people are plagued by problems such as Hong Kong's single-direction development of industries, etc., and have experienced quite a number of bottlenecks in their career development and are burdened with heavy pressure in the areas of healthcare, education, taxation and housing, etc.; as shown by the latest statistics of an organization, the number of middle-class people seeking counselling has increased by about 30% when compared with the number some one year ago, and some people even describe themselves as the poor middle class, thus showing that the plight of the middle class has been neglected; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to actively study the establishment of a middle class commission, comprehensively review the policies and measures relating to the middle class, put forward concrete and comprehensive corresponding strategies in a focused manner to assist middle-class families in alleviating their burdens and facilitating their personal career development, so as to boost upward social mobility in the overall community; the relevant measures should include:

Career development -
(a)	to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promote diversified development of industries in Hong Kong, so as to create more jobs at the middle and senior levels as well as business start-up opportunities in various industries and professions;
(b)	to further strengthen regional economic development to form an economic development circle with different regions on the Mainland, etc. so as to provide more and better career development opportunities for middle-class professionals;
Housing difficulties -
(c)	to increase land supply to ease property prices and launch more 'no-frills' small and medium sized flats, including 'flats with limited floor area' for Hong Kong people who are first-time home buyers, so as to alleviate the plight of marginal middle-class people in acquiring their own homes;
(d)	to relax the eligibility criteria for purchasing flats in the Home Ownership Scheme secondary market, thereby enabling eligible white form applicants to make purchases;
(e)	to introduce a tax allowance for rentals for marginal middle-class people;
(f)	to further extend the entitlement period for deduction for home loan interest;
Taxation burden -
(g)	to adjust salaries tax downwards, in particular widening tax bands for salaries tax and lowering the marginal rate, so as to vigorously alleviate the burden of marginal middle-class people;
(h)	to relax the restrictions on the dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance by relaxing the eligibility requirement from living in the same unit to living in the same housing estate;
Education and self-education -
(i)	to completely abolish the restrictions on kindergarten vouchers, so as to reduce children education expenses of middle-class families;
(j)	to introduce a children's education allowance, so as to alleviate the burden of children education expenses of the middle class;
(k)	to substantially increase the salaries tax deduction for self-education expenses and the subsidy under the Continuing Education Fund;
Healthcare -
(l)	to expeditiously and properly tackle the problem of 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women', and ensure that local pregnant women have priority in receiving confinement service in both public and private hospitals;
(m)	to provide tax deduction for medical insurance contributions;
(n)	to provide tax deduction for medical examinations, so as to encourage people to undergo such examinations on a regular basis; and
Legal aid -
(o)	to further lower the threshold of the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme, so as to assist more needy middle-class people in safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests by law.

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

To delete "given that" after "That," and substitute with "as"; to add "(c) to optimize the use of government land resources and increase land supply, so as to alleviate the pressure of shop rents on business operations for middle-class people;" after "middle-class professionals;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete the original "(k)" and substitute with "(l)"; to delete the original "(l)" and substitute with "(m)"; to delete "and ensure that" after "resident pregnant women'," and substitute with "including ensuring a 'zero' delivery quota for 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women' in public and private hospitals in 2013, enabling"; to delete "have priority in receiving" after "local pregnant women" and substitute with "and mainland pregnant women with Hong Kong husbands to be given priority in receiving"; to add "; strengthening the effort to combat agencies and hostels for pregnant women; in accordance with Article 22 of the Basic Law, advising the Central Government to suspend the vetting and approving entry into Hong Kong of 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women' from the Mainland; and amending the Basic Law when necessary, so that babies born to 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women' will not be entitled to the right of abode in Hong Kong;" after "private hospitals"; to delete the original "(m)" and substitute with "(n)"; to delete the original "(n)" and substitute with "(o)"; to delete "and" after "regular basis;"; to delete the original "(o)" and substitute with "(p)"; and to add "; and The elderly - (q) to allocate funding for establishing a seed fund for universal retirement protection, so as to provide all elderly people with pensions and alleviate the financial burden of middle-class families" immediately before the full stop.

Amendment to Hon Alan LEONG's amendment
Hon Starry LEE to move the following amendment:
(Translation)

To delete "in accordance with Article 22 of the Basic Law, advising the Central Government to suspend the vetting and approving entry into Hong Kong of 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women' from the Mainland; and amending the Basic Law when necessary" after "hostels for pregnant women;" and substitute with "stepping up law enforcement and enhancing entry restrictions to comprehensively block the entry of 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women', and making use of legal channels"; to delete "allocate funding for" after "(q) to" and substitute with "study"; to delete "seed fund for" after "establishing a"; and to add "scheme" after "retirement protection".

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Education
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Secretary for Development

Caring about the education, employment and housing problems faced by young people

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following motion:
(Translation)

That young people are the future pillars of society, but in the face of globalization and the rapid development of neighbouring places, Hong Kong young people not only face many challenges during their growth, but also lack upward mobility opportunities, and this is especially highlighted in their education, employment and housing aspirations; however, the Government has all along failed to formulate any support measures with young people as the main targets; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to care about young people's needs, and assist them in concentrating on their education, establishing their career and resolving their housing needs; specific measures should include:

Education -
(a)	to enhance the qualification recognition of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, sub-degrees and the new Yi Jin Diploma in Hong Kong, the Mainland and the international community, so as to widen young people's pathways of further studies;
(b)	to dovetail with the concept of promoting students' whole-person development under the new academic structure by introducing an extra-curricular activities allowance for students to subsidize their participation in extra-curricular activities;
(c)	to promote the commencement of 'career planning' at the stage of secondary education, so as to enable secondary students to make better planning for their future career development;
Employment -
(d)	to review the planning of employment training support services for young people, enhance the existing Youth Pre-employment Training Programme and Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme, and raise the level of the relevant subsidies, so as to attract the participation of more employers to provide more employment and training opportunities in the market which are suitable for young people;
(e)	to set up more 'Youth Employment Start' ('Y.E.S') resource centres throughout Hong Kong, strengthen the training programmes targeted at young people, enhance their employment skills, and provide one-stop employment counselling;
(f)	focusing on the development of the six industries and creative industries, to enhance training and provide better support to help young people join the relevant industries;
Housing -
(g)	to relax the existing eligibility criteria for applying for public rental housing, and address low-income young people's housing needs;
(h)	to allow eligible white form applicants to purchase Home Ownership Scheme flats without having to pay the premium, so as to assist young people in accessing the home acquisition ladder; and
(i)	focusing on young people with relatively stable financial income, to study re-launching the Home Starter Loan Scheme.
Amendments to the motion
(i)	Hon Audrey EU to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add "the SAR Government has all along lacked a comprehensive youth policy, and" after "That"; to delete "and" after "young people's needs,"; to add ", and promote young people's social participation" after "their housing needs"; to add "(e) to further increase the places for publicly-funded bachelor's degree programmes; (f) to review the financial assistance and loan system for students, alleviate the financial burden of young people after their graduation, and implement the abolition of the risk rate of the non-means-tested loan scheme;" after "career development;"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete ", and" after "rental housing" and substitute with "('PRH'),"; to add ", and review the existing allocation system for single-person PRH units" after "people's housing needs"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete "and" after "ladder;"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(l)"; and to add "; Social participation - (m) to review the existing composition and functions of the Commission on Youth; (n) to convene youth summits and related local forums on youth issues annually, and promote young people's participation in such summits and forums; and (o) to increase the ratio of youth participation in various statutory and advisory bodies, and set specific targets accordingly" immediately before the full stop.
(ii)	Hon IP Wai-ming to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add ", as we all know," after "That"; to add "(d) to strengthen vocational education for students of post-secondary and tertiary institutions, so that young people can get an early grasp of the objectives concerning career prospects, and lay a good foundation for upward mobility; (e) to increase the number of internship places in Hong Kong and overseas for students of the various tertiary institutions; (f) to comprehensively review the assistance as well as loans and repayment arrangements under the various existing student finance schemes, including abolishing the risk rate; significantly lower the interest rates of all loan schemes for tertiary students and waive the interest accrued during students' study periods under the Non-means-tested Loan Scheme; change the situation where interest rates of student loans are higher than those of bank mortgages; allow tax deduction on repayment amounts of university education loans; study the feasibility of allowing local students to apply for student loans for pursuing further education overseas; and increase the grant amounts for tertiary students; (g) to comprehensively review the Continuing Education Fund Scheme, including raising the cap on the amount of subsidy receivable by each applicant and extending the period of four years within which applicants must submit all claims as required by the Continuing Education Fund, etc., so as to encourage young people to pursue continuous education; (h) to strengthen the manning ratio of student guidance personnel in secondary schools and tertiary institutions, so as to assist young people in facing problems related to education, family, friends and career prospects, etc.;" after "career development;"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete "focusing on the development of the six industries" before "and creative industries," and substitute with "to expedite the upgrading of the four pillar industries, and promote the development of the six industries with competitive edge"; to add "(l) to enhance the applicability and effectiveness of the training and employment support structure for young people, and assist young people in joining industries which need new blood, such as construction industry, transport industry and shipping industry; (m) to motivate employers to provide employees with 'training leave', including offering tax concessions to such employers, so as to facilitate working young people to pursue studies, revise their lessons and acquire professional qualifications by examination; (n) to co-operate with organizations and enterprises in the public and private sectors to encourage the employment of young people with less working experience and share with them the associated salary payments, so as to enhance young people's chances of securing employment; (o) to proactively approach young people who have remained jobless for a long time and hidden youths, so as to provide career counselling and support to them; (p) to proactively develop apprenticeship programmes, including expanding the scope of industries covered by the apprenticeship system, so as to give young people a chance to practise while learning and provide them with a career ladder; (q) to establish a start-up fund for young people and provide business start-up advice and loans, so as to assist young people in devising their business start-up plans and further practice; (r) to subsidize young people from low-income families to attend self-enrichment courses, so as to enhance their competitiveness in choosing their own careers;" after "relevant industries;"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(s)"; to delete "relax" before "the existing eligibility" and substitute with "review"; to delete ", and address low-income young people's housing needs;" after "public rental housing" and substitute with "('PRH'), including studying the reasons for young people to apply for PRH as well as the required waiting time and allocation situation, so as to formulate a more reasonable and fairer method for waiting for and allocation of PRH for young people, and also putting forward measures, such as raising the household income ceiling, to encourage young people to live with their parents; (t) to increase the annual PRH production to 30 000 units or more, including resuming the construction of Group B PRH for renting by eligible young people subject to time limits, so as to address low-income young people's housing needs;"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(u)"; to add "and eligible persons currently waiting for PRH allocation" after "white form applicants"; and to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(v)".
(iii)	Hon WONG Sing-chi to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add "can make great contributions to society, and they" after "That young people"; to add "increase the places for publicly-funded bachelor's degree and various types of diploma programmes, allocate more resources for providing relevant financial subsidies, and formulate a comprehensive education and training policy for young people," after "international community,"; to add "(d) to advocate family-friendly policies, assist students' parents in understanding more deeply and caring about the needs of young people during their growth, provide adequate social workers for schools, families and the community, assist young people in facing the pressure from learning and life, and strengthen the healthy life development of young people;" after "career development;"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; to add "(h) to formulate a comprehensive employment and training policy for young people, co-ordinate the various existing youth employment training programmes, review the recognition of the various programmes, actual employment rates and the problem of job matching, assist young people in entering the labour market, including providing internship places to secondary school leavers to enhance their competitiveness; (i) to create the posts of junior attendant at tourism spots to provide employment opportunities for unemployed young people;" after "relevant industries;"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(j)"; to add "build more public rental housing flats," before "relax"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(k)"; to add "in the secondary market" after "Ownership Scheme flats"; to delete "and" after "ladder;"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(l)"; and to add "on the premise of having an adequate supply of private housing; (m) to re-launch the Sale of Flats to Sitting Tenants Scheme, so that young people can live together with their parents without being subject to means test; and (n) to assist non-government organizations in providing hostels for youths, so as to offer hostel places to young people at relatively inexpensive rents" immediately before the full stop.

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Education
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Secretary for Transport and Housing

Opposing Hong Kong communists ruling Hong Kong

Hon Albert CHAN to move the following motion:
(Translation)

That this Council expresses deep resentment at the direct interference of the Communist Party of China in the 2012 Chief Executive Election, which ruins 'one country, two systems'; as the Chief Executive Election was conducted under the interference and manipulation of the Communist Party of China, this Council does not accept, recognize and agree to the result of the 2012 Chief Executive Election; in this connection, this Council requests the immediate implementation of universal suffrage for returning the Chief Executive and all Legislative Council seats, and calls upon Hong Kong people to resort to confrontational means to resist Hong Kong communists ruling Hong Kong.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Enhancing the accountability of charities and complying with the best practices in corporate governance

Hon Paul CHAN to move the following motion:
(Translation)

That the Charities Sub-committee under the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong is still collating public submissions after completing its public consultation on the consultation paper on charities in end October last year, and at present, except for those charities that are incorporated as companies limited by guarantee with the Company Registry whose financial statements are accessible by the public in the Company Registry, the public has no way to know about the governance and financial information of all other charities, such as those established by way of trust; moreover, currently, except for section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, in which 'charitable purpose' is defined for the purpose of taxation, there is no other legislation regulating charities and how they use the donations, nor does the Administration have the figures regarding charities established; over the past few years, some suspected cases of charities with strange fund-raising practices, unclear accounts, indiscriminate investments and even transfer of surpluses have been uncovered in society, making the public worry that donations to charities may not be serving charitable purposes; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously release to the public the findings of the public consultation on the consultation paper on charities, and before statutory regulation is introduced, consider enhancing the transparency and accountability of charities by adopting measures such as encouraging them to comply with the best practices in corporate governance, strengthen their financial management, and disclose their financial information on a regular basis; at the same time, the Government should expeditiously implement the statutory regulatory proposals in the consultation paper on charities which are generally agreed by the community.

Amendments to the motion

(i)	Hon James TO to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add ", as" after "That"; to add "many community organizations and members of the public have expressed worry that the activities of charities with different views may be restricted;" after "last year,"; to add ", as well as maintain the autonomy of their organizations" after "basis"; to delete "expeditiously implement" after "the Government should" and substitute with "carefully consider all"; and to delete "which are generally agreed by the community" immediately before the full stop.
(ii)	Hon Alan LEONG to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add ", given that" after "That"; to delete "before statutory regulation is introduced, consider enhancing the transparency and accountability of charities by adopting measures such as encouraging them" after "on charities, and" and substitute with "encourage charities"; to delete "," after "management"; to add ", so as to enhance their transparency and accountability" after "basis"; and to delete "should expeditiously implement the statutory regulatory proposals in the consultation paper on charities which are generally agreed by the community" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "must ensure that human rights and advocacy of policies are included as charitable purposes, and should also ensure that charities can maintain autonomy and are free from any political interference".
(iii)	Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add "besides, some people worry that the power of the charity commission mentioned in the consultation paper on charities is too great, which may lead to self-censorship on the part of charities dedicated to empowering the socially disadvantaged and charities which are concerned about such sensitive issues as human rights; at the same time, some social workers are concerned about a proposal in the consultation paper on charities that 'an activity to preserve an existing piece of legislation, where a charity opposes its being repealed or amended, would fall under "political activity"', not to be regarded as dedicated to a charitable purpose, and the proposal runs counter to clause 50 of the Code of Practice for Registered Social Workers, which provides that 'Social workers recognise the need to advocate changes in the formulation of policies and legislation to improve social conditions, to promote social justice and general welfare of the society. Social workers also recognise the need to contribute to the implementation of policies for human welfare'; they consider that the proposal will make social workers of charities act against professional ethics, and render organizations within the definition of 'charity' unable to employ professional social workers any more;" after "charitable purposes;"; to add ": (a)" after "the Government to"; to delete ", and" after "the public consultation on the consultation paper on charities" and substitute with "; (b)"; to add "first" after "introduced,"; to delete "at the same time, the Government should" after "basis;" and substitute with "(c) motivate the public to continue to hold discussions on monitoring charities and their fund-raising practices, and listen to the views of the public and stakeholders; and (d)"; and to add ", and prudently handle the controversial items in the paper, so as to ensure that while undesirable fund-raising practices are effectively monitored, charities dedicated to empowering the socially disadvantaged and charities which are concerned about such sensitive issues as human rights will not be subject to political vetting" immediately before the full stop.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs

Promoting family harmony

Hon Starry LEE to move the following motion:
(Translation)

That, as social problems such as the rising divorce rate, family tragedies, child abuse and neglect of children, as well as compensated dating and drug abuse among young people still occur from time to time in Hong Kong, reflecting that at present some families lack cohesion and mutual love, this Council urges the Government to make stronger efforts in promoting family-friendly policies and enhancing the resilience of families and individuals against adversities, so as to achieve family harmony and promote social inclusion; the proposed measures include:

(a)	introducing an assessment system regarding the impact of public policies on families to assess the impact of existing social policies, legislation and measures on families, with a view to making relevant improvements;
(b)	providing more support services to dual-income parents, including expanding community childminding services, increasing the childminding places in various districts and providing flexible childminding service hours, etc.; developing after-school remedial centres so that children of dual-income parents can receive appropriate care after school;
(c)	promoting public and private organizations to implement family-friendly employment policies more proactively for creating a family-friendly working environment, including encouraging organizations to provide staff with child care services and implementing flexible working hours, as well as implementing a flexible leave policy which provides special paid leave for employees such as wedding leave, paternity leave, study leave, compassionate leave, etc., when they encounter major family events;
(d)	including all general holidays other than Sundays as paid statutory holidays through a progressive approach of employer-employee negotiation; and promoting 'International Day of Families' to call on the community to cherish the value of family;
(e)	promoting a housing policy which fosters mutual care between the elderly and the young and encouraging the inclusion of residential complementary facilities suitable for both the elderly and the young in the designs of private and public housing; as well as improving community facilities to provide families with more room for parent-child activities;
(f)	actively stepping up publicity on positive family education on parenting, child duties and ethics, as well as promoting family education through community service organizations, schools and the media, etc.;
(g)	allocating more resources for strengthening various promotional activities and research work of the Family Council;
(h)	alleviating the financial burden on families in Hong Kong by offering tax concessions and subsidizing pre-primary education across the board; and
(i)	enhancing social welfare services to provide appropriate support to families in crisis.
Amendments to the motion
(i)	Hon WONG Sing-chi to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "as" after "That," and substitute with "given that"; to delete "paternity leave" after "as wedding leave,"; to add "and introducing statutory paternity leave for male employees, so that husbands can enjoy paid leave to help take care of their wives and newborn babies;" after "family events;"; to add "(e) legislating for setting the number of standard working hours at 44 per week and the payment of compensation for overtime work, and assisting Hong Kong people in having an ideal mode of living, with their time evenly distributed among work, rest and leisure activities so as to achieve balanced development in different areas;" after "value of family;"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to add "(g) constructing additional small and large sized public rental housing ('PRH') flats, resuming the Sale of Flats to Sitting Tenants Scheme, allowing eligible white form Home Ownership Scheme ('HOS') household applicants to purchase HOS flats in the secondary market without having to pay the premium, reviewing the allocation and eligibility criteria of PRH to provide affordable and appropriate residential premises to families in need, and encouraging young families to live close to their elderly family members to facilitate their mutual care, strengthen the family support network and promote family harmony and integration;" after "parent-child activities;"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete "subsidizing" after "tax concessions and" and substitute with "providing 15-year free education covering"; to delete "across the board; and" after "pre-primary education" and substitute with ";"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(k)"; and to add "; (l) amending legislation and strengthening support to handle domestic violence, stepping up publicity and training to deepen the understanding and alertness of frontline staff (such as social workers, police officers, as well as education and healthcare personnel, etc.) in relation to the problem of domestic violence, and intervening in a timely manner to help curb domestic violence; (m) setting up a multi-disciplinary mechanism for reviewing family tragedy cases to draw lessons from them, so as to improve the service system and its effectiveness, and assist affected families in restoring a harmonious family life; and (n) strengthening work in family education with a view to reducing marital problems, including incorporating family life education into the secondary education curriculum; providing pre-marital family education services, and strengthening family life education through the media, etc" immediately before the full stop.
(ii)	Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "as" after "That," and substitute with "given that in recent years,"; to add "(c) relaxing the eligibility criteria of the Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme, expeditiously implementing a dual-track approach to allow applicants to calculate their incomes and assets on either a household or individual basis, so as to prevent family harmony from being affected by disputes and ill feeling arising from family members' unwillingness to disclose their asset and income information;" after "care after school;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to add "at the same time, increasing paid maternity leave and providing a period of postnatal employment protection to strengthen the protection for women against unreasonable dismissal after delivery;" after "family events;"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete "including all general holidays other than Sundays as paid statutory holidays through a progressive approach of employer-employee negotiation" before "; and promoting 'International Day of Families'" and substitute with "amending the Employment Ordinance to increase the number of statutory holidays to put them on a par with the 17 days of general holidays and at the same time requiring employers to raise the compensation to employees for working on holidays"; to add "(f) caring about the situation of employees' overtime work and expeditiously legislating for standard working hours to ensure that employees can strike a reasonable balance on their work and family life, so as to foster mutual love among family members;" after "value of family;"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(j)"; and to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(k)".
(iii)	Hon Ronny TONG to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add "economic instability makes people's life more stressful, with the result that" after "That, as"; to delete "and" after "across the board;"; and to add "; (j) flexibly handling applications under the Harmonious Families Priority Scheme to allow more families which are willing to take care of their elderly family members to receive housing allocation expeditiously, so as to achieve the policy objective of enhancing home and community care; and (k) abolishing the requirement for the submission of a 'declaration of not providing support to parents' (commonly known as a 'bad son statement') as a prerequisite for applying for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance for the elderly, so that elderly persons and the family members living with them can be spared the embarrassment of a means test, thus realizing the fundamental principle of harmony in families" immediately before the full stop.
(iv)	Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "implementing a" after "working hours, as well as" and substitute with "legislating for the introduction of"; to delete "policy which provides" after "flexible leave" and substitute with "so as to provide"; to add "legislating for the implementation of standard working hours and" after "(d)"; and to delete "through a progressive approach of employer-employee negotiation" after "statutory holidays".

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Home Affairs
Secretary for Labour and Welfare

(Members' motions scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)

Building an inclusive society for all

Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to move the following motion:
(Translation)

That, although the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ('the Convention') came into force in Hong Kong on 31 August 2008, and the Administration submitted the Initial Report of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the Convention ('the Report') to the United Nations in early 2010, the contents of the Report lack guiding policies on building an inclusive society, and only focus on addressing the needs of persons with disabilities arising from their physical disabilities, instead of assisting persons with disabilities in integrating into society from social and environmental perspectives, this Council expresses its strong dissatisfaction and deep regret in this regard; in this connection, in order to fulfill the obligations under the Convention, this Council urges the Government to implement the following policies and measures:

(a)	to expeditiously implement the public transport concessions scheme for the elderly and persons with disabilities ('the scheme') to assist them in integrating into society;
(b)	to expand the coverage of the scheme to all holders of the Registration Card for People with Disabilities, and consider providing transport fare concessions to the escorts of persons with disabilities;
(c)	to add clauses to the franchise agreements of franchised public transport operators, requiring the offer of fare concessions to the elderly and persons with disabilities as well as the provision of barrier-free ancillary facilities;
(d)	to allocate additional resources for increasing the number of barrier-free transportation modes, such as Rehabus and Easy-Access Bus, so as to provide more 'point-to-point' services for persons with disabilities;
(e)	to implement the concept of barrier-free access, expeditiously complete the top 10 ranked proposals on the Provision of Hillside Escalator Links and Elevator Systems, and immediately commence feasibility studies on the remaining proposals;
(f)	to set up a quota system for employing people with disabilities and provide tax concessions, so as to encourage employers to employ more persons with disabilities;
(g)	to provide persons with disabilities with a wage subsidy of no more than 50% of their wages, so that employees with disabilities whose productivity is assessed to be less than 100% may receive wages close to the statutory minimum wage level; and provide an allowance to carers of chronic patients;
(h)	to encourage people from the various social sectors to learn sign language, and promote and teach sign language in primary and secondary schools; and expeditiously motivate healthcare personnel to learn sign language to enhance their communications with patients with hearing impairment, so as to enable them to grasp the conditions of patients with hearing impairment and help treating their diseases;
(i)	to promote the popularization of sign language, require the provision of sign language interpretation in television news broadcasts and foster a culture of respecting the use of sign language, so as to facilitate persons with hearing impairment in grasping social information; and
(j)	to step up consultation with groups for persons with disabilities, so as to make the voices of persons with disabilities heard as well as materialize the integration between the able-bodied and disabled persons.
Amendments to the motion
(i)	Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "although" after "That," and substitute with "even though"; to delete "and" after "2008," and substitute with "the rights and interests of persons with disabilities are not yet under comprehensive protection;"; to add "also" after "Administration"; to add "but" after "2010,"; and to add ", and extend the scheme to cover trams and public light buses, so as" after "('the scheme')".
(ii)	Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "although" after "That," and substitute with "as"; to add "but" after "2010,"; to add "(a) with government departments and public organizations taking the lead to employ more persons with disabilities, so as to assist persons with disabilities in securing employment; (b) to encourage enterprises to provide non-full time posts for persons with disabilities, so as to enable them to progressively adapt to long hours of work; (c) to provide evening consultation services for persons with disabilities in need, including people recovering from mental illness, so that they can spare more time during the day for participating in community activities and integrating into society; (d) to enhance public education to increase people's understanding about persons with disabilities, with a view to eliminating misunderstanding and discrimination;" after "measures:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(h)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(l)"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(m)"; and to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(n)".
(iii)	Hon WONG Sing-chi to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "although" after "That," and substitute with "as"; to add "but" after "2010,"; to add "(h) with government departments, public bodies and subvented organizations taking the lead to set an indicator for hiring persons with disabilities and motivate various organizations to formulate recruitment policy and procedures on hiring of persons with disabilities, so as to enable persons with disabilities to have employment opportunities for giving play to their potentials;" after "chronic patients;"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(j)"; and to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(k)".
(iv)	Hon TAM Yiu-chung to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "although" after "That," and substitute with "as"; to add "but" after "2010,"; to delete "and deep regret" after "dissatisfaction"; to add "to enable persons with disabilities to have full participation and enjoy equal opportunities in both social life and personal growth, so as to realize the spirit and core values of the Convention" after "obligations under the Convention"; to add "expeditiously perfect and" after "the Government to"; to add ", and study extending the scheme to green minibuses and trams, etc." after "them in integrating into society"; to delete "commence feasibility studies on the remaining proposals;" after "immediately" and substitute with "respond to and commence feasibility studies on proposals to construct barrier-free access put forward by residents of various districts; (f) to proactively promote barrier-free community facilities, improve community facilities, and provide owners' corporations of buildings with technical and funding support for improving the main entry and exit access of their buildings;"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; to add "(h) to proactively support rehabilitation organizations to establish social enterprises, so as to provide employment opportunities for persons with disabilities;" after "more persons with disabilities;"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(j)"; to delete the original "(i)" and substitute with "(k)"; to delete "and" after "information;"; to delete the original "(j)" and substitute with "(l)"; and to add "; and (m) to promote the creation of new assistance programmes under the Community Care Fund, including subsidizing intermediary institutions to train more guide dogs specially for guiding the way for visually impaired persons so as to improve the daily life of such persons, providing an allowance for adjusting and repairing prostheses of persons with amputated limbs, and subsidizing hearing impaired children of low-income families to purchase hearing aids, etc" immediately before the full stop.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

Perfecting urban management in all districts of Hong Kong

Prof Hon Patrick LAU to move the following motion:
(Translation)

That, given that after the dissolution of the former Urban Council and former Regional Council, the urban management strategies for all districts in Hong Kong have failed to yield satisfactory results, this Council urges the Government to strengthen the powers and functions as well as responsibilities of the District Councils, and formulate a set of comprehensive urban management policies, including:

(a)	based on the latest population projections, to plan afresh the community facilities required in the various districts, and resolve, at the district level, the site selection and timetable problems relating to the construction of schools, hospitals, public rental housing, community centres, columbaria, landfills, incinerators and recycling centres, etc.;
(b)	to implement the management concept of urban beautification, and perfect the street greening and beautification work; and
(c)	dovetailing with harbourfront planning and development, to establish a harbourfront authority for co-ordinating the connective work and management of harbourfronts in all districts of Hong Kong.
Amendments to the motion
(i)	Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "given that" after "That," and substitute with "the Census and Statistics Department projects that the population of Hong Kong will continue to grow, but"; to add "to launch thematic district transformation projects with local characteristics in the various districts, such as the Yuen Long Nullah restoration project, the Tuen Mun River Beautification Project, the enhancement of the planning for Tseung Kwan O Town Centre South and the Aberdeen Tourism Project;" after "beautification work;"; and to add "; at the same time, to strive to build a new waterfront promenade in Kowloon linking up Kowloon City, Yau Tsim Mong District as well as Sham Shui Po, and stretching from the West Kowloon Cultural District to Lei Yue Mun, and a new waterfront promenade on Hong Kong Island linking up Central and Western District, Wan Chai District as well as Eastern District, and stretching from Western District to Chai Wan, so that the new waterfront promenades on both sides of the Victoria Harbour will form a world-class 'Victoria Harbour waterfront corridor'" immediately before the full stop.
(ii)	Hon LEE Wing-tat to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "resolve, at the district level," after "various districts, and" and substitute with "strengthen the co-ordination and negotiations among the various policy bureaux and District Councils to resolve".

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Home Affairs
Secretary for Development

(Member's motion originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)

Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure

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

That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issues: the impact of the announcement made by the MTR Corporation Limited to increase its fares by 5.4% under the Fare Adjustment Mechanism ("FAM") on the general public, as well as FAM, fare concession measures and the Government's corresponding arrangements.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

Clerk to the Legislative Council

Legislative Council

Agenda Wednesday 23 May 2012 at 11:00 am

Agenda

Wednesday 23 May 2012 at 11:00 am