Council Meeting (Agenda) 30 May 2012

A 11/12-30

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 30 May 2012 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

1.	No. 95	-	Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Annual Report 2011
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)
2.	Report No. 20/11-12 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)
3.	Report of the Bills Committee on Competition Bill
(to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)

It has recently been discovered in Hong Kong that the amount of chromium contained in the capsules of some proprietary Chinese medicines ("pCms") in capsule dose form exceeds the recommended limit. The Department of Health ("DH") has pointed out that ingestion of very large amount of chromium may be harmful to health, and may even cause death. Given that apart from pCms, some generic western drugs produced by local pharmaceutical manufacturers are also in capsule dose form, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	apart from the three pCm products the capsules of which contain amount of chromium exceeding the recommended limit, as announced by DH, of the types, quantities and exceedances of other pharmaceutical products in capsule dose form which have so far been found by the authorities as containing excessive amount of chromium;
(b)	of the existing mechanism adopted by the authorities to test the safety of the capsules of pharmaceutical products; whether they will immediately conduct large-scale testing to ensure that pCms in capsule dose form available on the market comply with the specifications; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether they have assessed if the existing mechanism can effectively prevent problematic pharmaceutical products in capsule dose form, including western drugs and pCms, from being put on the market; and
(c)	whether the authorities will, with a view to safeguarding public health, initiate as soon as possible the full implementation of the Good Manufacturing Practice in respect of Proprietary Chinese Medicines, or before the full implementation of that, make reference to the practices of other countries to improve the existing pCm testing mechanism, so as to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

2. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution, expressing grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Since 1995, Hong Kong has enacted several anti-discrimination ordinances and set up the Equal Opportunities Commission. However, these ordinances only deal with discrimination against sex, family status, disabilities and races, and Hong Kong has not enacted any legislation with regard to discrimination against sexual orientation, resulting in people of different sexual orientations not being able to build families under statutory procedures and not being entitled to treatment on par with that enjoyed by legally married couples in respect of various aspects such as public housing application, tax allowance for spouses, healthcare insurance, application for entry of family members for family reunion, criminal liabilities and estates handling, etc., and this situation has persisted for quite a number of years. The authorities' efforts in eliminating discrimination against different sexual orientations are limited to including same-sex cohabitation relationship in the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance, publishing the Code of Practice against Discrimination in Employment on the Ground of Sexual Orientation, setting up a working group for case follow-up, and subsidizing activities with a small amount of funding. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the effectiveness in eliminating discrimination achieved by the Government's efforts to eliminate discrimination against different sexual orientations since 1995;
(b)	why the authorities did not draw up a concrete timetable for eliminating discrimination against different sexual orientations in the aforesaid policy areas of housing, taxation, healthcare, immigration matters, criminal liabilities and marriage of same sex couples, etc., and whether any assessment has been conducted to ascertain if the authorities have thus contravened Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that "all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law"; and
(c)	given the efforts of civil society to promote the acceptance of different sexual orientations in society through popular culture since 1995, whether the authorities conduct any opinion poll on a regular basis to track the changes in people's attitudes as well as explain and highlight to community groups which are against equal opportunities for people of different sexual orientations the obligation and responsibility for Hong Kong to implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and observe the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

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

At present, under the definition adopted by the SAR Government, a small and medium-sized enterprise ("SME") is any manufacturing business which employs fewer than 100 persons in Hong Kong, or any non-manufacturing business which employs fewer than 50 persons in Hong Kong. With the development of the economy, quite a number of businesses in Hong Kong at present actually employ fewer than 10 persons, with some of them even employ one staff member only, and such companies are micro-enterprises. As these micro-enterprises will face declining business and increasing costs in times of economic downturn, they will bear the brunt of adversity and can hardly carry on their business. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the criteria to which the Government has made reference in adopting the current definition of SMEs, and when it began using that definition; whether it will, in response to the economic conditions at present, review that definition and formulate afresh a definition for SMEs that suits the actual market conditions (including formulating a definition for micro-enterprises); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	whether it will compile statistics on the number of micro-enterprises in Hong Kong at present and seek to understand their modes of operation, so as to formulate a policy to provide micro-enterprises with more specific policy support (including assisting micro-enterprises in financing and market exploration); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it will consider introducing profits tax rates of different levels for micro-enterprises, SMEs and large enterprises (including setting a lower tax rate and offering more tax concessions for micro-enterprises); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

4. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

The authorities have indicated that it is the international trend to gradually focus on community and ambulatory services in the treatment of mental illness, and therefore the Government has allowed more patients to receive treatment in the community in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows the respective numbers of people suffering from various types of mental illnesses in Hong Kong in the past five years, and among them, the number of those who had received treatment in the community; the number of psychiatric patients discharged from hospitals under the Hospital Authority each year, and among them, the number and percentage of those who directly returned to and lived in the community; among them, the respective numbers of those who were arranged to live alone in public housing units, as well as those who rented and lived in private housing units and paid the rents with Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments; the respective numbers of patients who had, after being discharged from hospitals, lived in various types of subsidized and private residential institutions, as well as those who then left the residential institutions and lived on their own; of the respective turnover rates of the places of various types of residential institutions; if it knows, list the information in table form; if not, how the authorities assess the demand for and effectiveness of various types of community mental health services; whether they will conduct longitudinal studies and set up a comprehensive database;
(b)	regarding the suggestion by a Member of this Council on formulating a community treatment order to require discharged mental patients who pose a threat to the community to receive medication and therapy, counselling, follow-up care and supervision, of the progress and specific timetable of the authorities to conduct detailed study in this regard; whether it knows the manpower required for service provision and case management after a community treatment order is formulated; based on the existing manpower and service capacity of the Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness and case managers, whether it is sufficient for providing such services and dealing with the follow-up work; and
(c)	given that the Equal Opportunities Commission ("EOC") has over the years continuous to advocate the establishment of a high powered and broad based Mental Health Council, preferably taken charge by the Chief Secretary for Administration, with a view to coordinating and monitoring mental health support services, and formulating and implementing both short-term and long-term policies and action plans, but the proposal has not been accepted by the Government, and in September this year, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ("UNCRPD") will examine the report of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, whether it knows if EOC will relay the relevant proposal to UNCRPD?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

5. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

The former Broadcasting Authority ("former BA"), the predecessor of the Communications Authority, has completed its assessment of the applications for domestic free television programme service licences ("the licences") from three companies (including City Telecom (Hong Kong) Limited, Fantastic Television Limited and Hong Kong Television Entertainment Company Limited). Yet, an existing free television broadcaster recently raised strong objection to the issuance of additional licences by the Government, pointing out that this would dilute the advertising revenue of such television broadcasters and increase their operating costs, and some television broadcasters might close down as a result. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a)	when the Government will issue the licences to the aforesaid three companies, and the expected time when the Chief Executive in Council will make the decision;
(b)	given that the aforesaid three companies separately applied to the former BA between end-2009 and early-2010 for operating free television programme services and the Government has indicated that vetting and approval of the applications would be completed within the first half of 2011, and that it has been over a year since then but the licences have not yet been granted, whether the Government needs to postpone the issuance of licences because of technical, financial or other problems of the three companies; and
(c)	whether the dissatisfaction expressed by Asia Television Limited and Television Broadcasts Limited over the Government's plan to issue additional licences has affected the Government's consideration of not issuing licences to the three companies at a faster pace, and whether the Government has assessed if the former BA only took into account the interests of existing television broadcasters but ignored the views of the public when considering the results of public consultation?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

Civil servants recruited in the 1980s will soon retire one after another in the next few years. The Civil Service Bureau has projected that the annual number of civil servants reaching their retirement age will be around 6 900 in the five-year period ending 2020-2021, reaching a peak of the number of civil servants retiring. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the authorities have any specific policy in place to expedite the recruitment and promotion processes, so as to fill the vacancies arising from the aforesaid retirement of civil servants; if they have, of the timetable and details;
(b)	whether the authorities will reconsider directly employing non-civil service contract staff with good performance as civil servants through internal recruitment and test, so as to shorten the recruitment process and save the time for training the staff afresh; if they will, of the details; if not, the difficulties they encounter; and
(c)	given that based on the age profile of the Civil Service during the period from 1986 to 2011, the age group with the largest number of civil servants shifted upwards from 20-29 to 40-49, whether the authorities have any measure to expedite the employment of more younger staff in the Civil Service (e.g. more proactively recruit graduates from tertiary institutions to join the Civil Service), so as to tackle the serious ageing problem in the Civil Service; if so, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*7. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether the Food and Health Bureau had appointed any consultant in the past two years to conduct an assessment of the governance (e.g. issues such as resource deployment, manpower planning, mode of service delivery or waiting time, etc.) of the Hospital Authority; if it had, of the assessment results; if not, whether such an assessment will be conducted in the future, and of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*8. Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

In recent years, there were some cases in which the higher courts overturned the original judgments when appeals were lodged by the parties concerned, and there were even cases in which the judges of the appeal courts criticized the trial judges for making mistakes. Furthermore, according to a paper provided to this Council by the Judiciary Administrator in March this year, against the establishment of 189 judicial posts at that time, only 144 were filled substantially and there were 45 vacancies, and in 2011, 65 deputy judges and judicial officers ("JJOs") were engaged to cope with the workload in all levels of courts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

whether it knows the information on the appeal cases handled by various levels of courts (set out in the table below):

	2009	2010	2011
(1) Appeals handled by the Court of Appeal:	No. of cases
Criminal cases:
Appeals against the judgments of the Court of First Instance
Appeals against the judgments of the Court of First Instance, and part of the original judgments being varied by the Court of Appeal
Appeals against the judgments of the District Court
Appeals against the judgments of the District Court, and part of the original judgments being varied by the Court of Appeal
Civil cases:
Appeals against the judgments of the Court of First Instance
Appeals against the judgments of the Court of First Instance, and part of the original judgments being varied by the Court of Appeal
Appeals against the judgments of the District Court
Appeals against the judgments of the District Court, and part of the original judgments being varied by the Court of Appeal
(2) Appeals handled by the Court of First Instance:
Appeals against the judgments of the Magistrates' Courts
Appeals against the judgments of the Magistrates' Courts, and part of the original judgments being varied by the Court of First Instance

(b)

whether it knows if the Judiciary has compiled any statistics on the rate of erroneous judgments (including overturning original judgments, revising sentences, ordering for retrial, etc.) of various levels of courts; if it has, the details; if not, whether it will consider compiling and making public the relevant data; what mechanism is in place for the Judiciary to prevent judges from making errors in handing down judgment;

(c)

whether the Government has assessed the impact (e.g. quality of the trial and waiting time for cases, etc.) of an almost 25% vacancy rate in the Judiciary; whether it knows if the Judiciary has any plan to expeditiously fill all the vacancies; and

(d)

whether it knows the difference between the remuneration of deputy JJOs and that of substantive JJOs; of the number of deputy JJOs at present who have been appointed for more than three years; whether any restriction is imposed on the years of appointment for deputy JJOs?

Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

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

On 2 May this year, this Council resumed the Second Reading debate on the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012 ("the Bill") introduced by the Government. A Member has proposed over 1 000 Committee stage amendments ("CSAs") to the Bill. Some Members and members of the public have pointed out that such a move has caused difficulties in handling the CSAs and has substantially extended the meeting time of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") in handling these CSAs, thereby affecting LegCo in handling other bills and livelihood issues, and even paralyzing the operation of the Legislature. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the general procedures according to which the authorities had handled each CSA proposed by LegCo Members in the past three years; of the average manpower, operating expenses and working hours involved;
(b)	of the manpower, operating expenses and working hours involved in handling the aforesaid 1 000-odd CSAs by the authorities;
(c)	whether the authorities have assessed the number of items, which the Government has originally planned to propose for discussion by LegCo panels, bills committees and subcommittees, had been delayed because it was necessary to handle the aforesaid CSAs at LegCo meetings; of the additional manpower the authorities needed to deploy due to such delay, as well as the operating expenses and working hours involved; and
(d)	whether the authorities have assessed the additional amount of public money involved for handling those 1 000-odd CSAs; whether the authorities will consider taking appropriate measures (e.g. introducing bills into LegCo as early as possible) in the future to enable LegCo to have sufficient time to scrutinize and vote on bills?

Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

*10. Hon Ronny TONG to ask: (Translation)

In respect of the issue of overseas duty visits made by politically appointed officials, including Secretaries, Under Secretaries and Political Assistants, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the Government has at present set ceilings on the expenditure incurred by politically appointed officials for their overseas duty visits; if it has, of the details (set out in table form); of the criteria based on which the authorities set such ceilings; whether annual reviews are conducted; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b)	whether the frequencies and destinations of the overseas duty visits made by various Secretaries, Under Secretaries and Political Assistants, as well as the total amount and breakdown of the expenditure incurred for such visits, have been recorded during the current term of the Government; if so, set out such records in table form?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*11. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the numbers of meetings of the Legislative Council and District Councils and other public forums attended by politically appointed officials (Under Secretaries and Political Assistants) as well as the number of times they had spoken at such meetings since the Government's further expansion of the Political Accountability System in 2008, and set out the relevant information in the following tables:

(a)

the number of meetings of the Legislative Council attended by politically appointed officials and the number of times they had spoken at such meetings;

Financial Secretary’s Office

Civil Service Bureau

Commerce and Economic Development Bureau

Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau

Labour and Welfare Bureau

Development Bureau

Education Bureau

Environment Bureau

Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau

Food and Health Bureau

Home Affairs Bureau

Security Bureau

Transport and Housing Bureau

Under Secretaries

Number of meetings attended

Number of times they had spoken

Political Assistants

Number of meetings attended

Number of times they had spoken

^{# relevant posts not created}

(b)

the number of meetings of District Councils attended by politically appointed officials and the number of times they had spoken at such meetings; and

Financial Secretary's Office

Civil Service Bureau

Commerce and Economic Development Bureau

Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau

Labour and Welfare Bureau

Development Bureau

Education Bureau

Environment Bureau

Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau

Food and Health Bureau

Home Affairs Bureau

Security Bureau

Transport and Housing Bureau

Under Secretaries

Number of meetings attended

Number of times they had spoken

Political Assistants

Number of meetings attended

Number of times they had spoken

^{# relevant posts not created}

(c)

the number of other public forums attended by politically appointed officials and the number of times they had spoken at such meetings?

Financial Secretary’s Office

Civil Service Bureau

Commerce and Economic Development Bureau

Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau

Labour and Welfare Bureau

Development Bureau

Education Bureau

Environment Bureau

Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau

Food and Health Bureau

Home Affairs Bureau

Security Bureau

Transport and Housing Bureau

Under Secretaries

Number of meetings attended

Number of times they had spoken

Political Assistants

Number of meetings attended

Number of times they had spoken

^{# relevant posts not created}

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*12. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)

In recent years, economic cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland has become more frequent, and transportation between these two places is very convenient, and quite a number of Hong Kong permanent residents have chosen to settle or work on the Mainland. Some of them reside or work on the Mainland for a prolonged period, thus not meeting the eligibility criterion of an elector that he "ordinarily resides in Hong Kong" and cannot register as electors in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	in the past three years, of the number of voter registration ("VR") applications lodged by Hong Kong permanent residents who resided or worked on the Mainland but had a place of residence in Hong Kong; the respective numbers of those whose VR applications had been accepted and rejected; the vetting and approval procedures of the authorities for such applications;
(b)	whether, under the existing VR system, the authorities will consider allowing Hong Kong permanent residents who work in Hong Kong but reside on the Mainland to provide, in addition to their own residential addresses, their employers' company addresses or friends' residential addresses in Hong Kong as their correspondence addresses for receiving letters issued by the Registration and Electoral Office upon submission of new VR applications by them; if they will, how they will proceed to verify the residential addresses of registered electors; if not, the reasons for that;
(c)	whether the authorities allow Hong Kong permanent residents working in Hong Kong but residing on the Mainland to register as eligible electors, so as to enable them to vote at the various elections in Hong Kong as well as exercise their civic rights and fulfil their responsibilities; if so, of the criteria and procedures for vetting and approving their VR applications; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d)	whether the authorities will allow persons who have registered as eligible electors but are residing on the Mainland to return to Hong Kong during elections to vote; if so, of the relevant arrangements and details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*13. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Recently, I have received complaints from members of the public pointing out that the labels on the packages of pre-packaged beverages sold in Hong Kong, such as beer and milk products, etc., do not provide information on the sources of manufacture. I have also found that alcoholic beverages of an alcoholic strength by volume of more than 1.2% are not required to show their nutrition information. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the legislation under which the aforesaid beverages are exempted from the requirement of showing their sources of manufacture and nutrition information on their labels, together with the justifications for the exemption;
(b)	whether it will consider amending the relevant legislation to require that the aforesaid relevant information must be shown on the labels of the aforesaid beverages; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it has assessed if not showing such information on the packaging labels is unfair to consumers when they choose their beverages; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

Will the Government inform this Council of the number of consultancy firms engaged by the offices of the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Financial Secretary and the Secretary for Justice ("offices of the Secretaries"), policy bureaux and government departments to assist in their work between 2001-2002 and 2007-2008 as well as the expenditure involved, together with a detailed breakdown by year and office of the Secretary, policy bureau and government department?

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

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

It has been reported that, according to the latest figures released by the Inland Revenue Department ("IRD"), the authorities completed field audits of about 1 804 cases in total in 2011-2012, and found that the understated earnings and profits amounted to about $34 billion, and the assessed back tax and penalties were more than $6 billion in total, representing a 57% surge from last year and hitting a record high over the years. The aforesaid cases included 10 "major tax avoidance cases" each involving over $100 million. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the details of the amount of tax and penalty of each of the aforesaid 10 "major tax avoidance cases";
(b)	given that the aforesaid amount of tax recovered in 2011-2012 hit a record high over the years, whether this is due to other reasons in addition to the fact that the aforesaid "major tax avoidance cases" involved huge amounts of money;
(c)	of the respective numbers and details, including the understated tax items and the successfully recovered tax amounts and penalties, etc., of the field audit cases completed by IRD in each of the past five years, broken down by type of tax; and
(d)	whether the Government will consider increasing the resources for IRD to employ additional staff to conduct field audits, so as to step up efforts in combating tax avoidance and tax evasion, and recover more uncharged tax due to omissions in tax returns and undercharged tax?

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

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

In 2003, the Government re-engineered the community support services for the elderly, converting most of the Social Centres for the Elderly into Neighbourhood Elderly Centres ("NECs") and setting the standard of net operational floor area ("NOFA") of NEC at 303 square metres ("m²") (about 3 370 square feet). At present, there are 118 NECs in Hong Kong, yet after conversion, the NOFA of some NECs which were converted at the original sites is below the standard, and service operators provide services under insufficient spaces. The authorities provide some NECs with appurtenant grounds, but at the same time require those NECs to provide seven sessions of drop-in services at the appurtenant grounds each week. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of NECs provided with appurtenant grounds by the authorities at present; the number of NECs with areas not meeting the standard of 303 m² as set out under the Schedule of Accommodation; according to the authorities' estimation, when all NECs will be provided with premises of sufficient area;
(b)	given that the authorities request NECs to provide seven sessions of drop-in services at the appurtenant grounds each week, during which NECs' staff need to be on duty, whether the authorities have stipulated the time at which NECs provide drop-in services at the appurtenant grounds each week; if they have, of the details; whether the authorities will consider increasing the manpower (e.g. social workers, welfare workers and programme workers) of NECs, so as to cope with the provision of drop-in services required by the Social Welfare Department; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c)	given that the appurtenant grounds are part of NECs, and NECs are already required to provide 12 sessions of drop-in services per week, why the authorities still require NECs to provide seven additional sessions of drop-in services at the appurtenant grounds each week; given that NECs, together with their appurtenant grounds, provide a total of 19 sessions of drop-in services each week, whether the service operators can substitute the drop-in services for some of the services required in the Funding and Service Agreements; if they can, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will accept the proposal of some fellow workers of NECs to require appurtenant grounds to be opened only when activities are being held; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d)	given that some fellow workers in the trade have pointed out that with the substantial increase in the demand for elderly services in various districts at present, NECs are playing the role of a small-scale district elderly community centre, and fellow workers in the trade have requested for a review of the functions, manpower and services of NECs (e.g. handling with flexibility the requests for setting up canteens in NECs, increasing the allied health manpower and simplifying the Standardized Care Need Assessment Mechanism, etc.), whether the authorities will conduct a review in this regard; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

Recently, there has been wide public concern about the expenditure incurred during the overseas duty visits made by the Chief Executive ("CE"). It has been reported that the number of duty visits made by CE has increased in recent years, and the total expenditure for CE's duty visits, including the expenses for his entourage, amounted to HK$10.67 million last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

at present, whether the authorities have formulated criteria in respect of overseas duty visits made by CE and politically appointed officials, so as to determine if such visits are appropriate and necessary; further, whether they have drawn up guidelines for the expenditure items for each overseas duty visit (e.g. hotel room rate, amount of subsistence allowance, flight ticket class and the number of entourage, etc.); and whether they have set ceilings for the expenditure items for CE's overseas duty visits; and

(b)

at present, whether the authorities have formulated criteria in respect of overseas duty visits made by senior civil servants, so as to determine if such visits are appropriate and necessary; if they have, of the criteria; whether they have drawn up guidelines and set ceilings for the expenditure items for each overseas duty visit (e.g. hotel room rate, amount of subsistence allowance, flight ticket class and the number of entourage, etc.); if so, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

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

I have received complaints one after another from residents of Yan On Estate in Ma On Shan, Hung Hom Estate (Phase 2) in Kowloon City and those who are moving into the new phase of Shek Kip Mei Estate pointing out that because the payments made by the Housing Department ("HD") to the outsourced property management services contractors ("the contractors") of the estates are so low that HD has allowed the contractors to employ every means without legal basis and illegally to collect from the residents who are moving into the estates an excessive charge called "debris removal charge" ("DRC"), and HD just turns a blind eye to it. The residents have pointed out that the contractors insist on collecting DRC before they assist applicants for public rental housing ("PRH") in making move-in arrangements and signing tenancy agreements. Some residents have even relayed to me that their renovation companies have already collected from them charges for disposal of wastes from renovation works under the Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354) and the aforesaid contractors are not companies authorized by the Government to collect charges. They are very angry that some residents are forced to pay double charges and that the Government has turned a blind eye to unauthorized persons collecting excessive charges. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

of the total numbers of PRH flats in Yan On Estate in Ma On Shan, Hung Hom Estate (Phase 2) in Kowloon City and Shek Kip Mei Estate which will be ready for occupantion soon, the estimated numbers of households moving in, and the total amounts of DRC that the contractors have collected or plan to collect, and list the information according to the table below;

Name of public housing estates	Debris removal charge ("DRC") amounts for small flats	DRC amounts for medium flats	DRC amounts for large flats	Total numbers of households	Total amounts
Yan On Estate
Hung Hom Estate (Phase 2)
Shek Kip Mei Estate (New phrase which will be ready for occupation in 2012)

(b)

whether the aforesaid contractors are authorized under the laws of Hong Kong to collect DRC from each household; if so, of the legislation under which they are authorized; if not, whether HD has turned a blind eye to the contractors collecting without legal basis and illegally an excessive DRC from residents who are moving into the estates;

(c)

whether cleaning services for estate buildings are included in the contracts signed between HD and the contractors; if so, why the contractors are allowed to collect DRC excessively; whether HD will immediately terminate the contracts signed with the contractors concerned and assist the residents in demanding refunds from the contractors; whether it will assess if the prices of the contracts signed between HD and the contractors for cleaning services in housing estates are too low, and whether HD will immediately adjust upward the prices of such contracts;

(d)

whether HD or its contractors have any statutory power under the existing housing ordinances to penalize residents for disposing wastes from renovation works casually or illegally; if so, of the penalties and the number of households penalized for this in the past five years; if not, whether the Government will amend the housing ordinances immediately;

(e)

whether the Government requires the contractors to collect DRC before they assist PRH applicants in making move-in arrangements and signing the tenancy agreements; if so, of the legislation under which such arrangement has been made; if not, whether such contractors have the statutory power not to assist residents who refuse to pay DRC in making move-in arrangements and signing the tenancy agreements, and the legislation under which such power is exercised;

(f)

whether authorization was given under the housing ordinances for printing HD's emblem on the receipts given to residents after they pay DRC; if so, of the ordinance; if not, whether it knows if such receipts are issued by the contractors, and the legislation under which the contractors are authorized to issue such receipts; why such contractors do not use HD's official receipts;

(g)

when residents moved into Yan On Estate in Ma On Shan and Hung Hom Estate (Phase 2) in Kowloon City and the HD contractors collected DRC from them, whether such contractors had established billing accounts for disposal of construction waste under the Waste Disposal (Charges for Disposal of Construction Waste) Regulation (Cap. 354N); if so, of the respective dates on which they obtained approval to establish such accounts; if not, of the ordinance under which such contractors collected DRC from the residents; and

(h)

given that some residents have settled the charges for disposal of wastes from renovation works with their renovation companies under the Waste Disposal Ordinance but they are forced to pay DRC to the contractors at the same time, whether HD will assist such residents in demanding refunds from the contractors; if it will, when it will do so?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

The MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has increased its fares under the Fare Adjustment Mechanism ("FAM") for three consecutive years since 2010, with an accumulative rate of increase of about 10%. MTRCL will increase its fares again this year and the rate of increase is 5.4%. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given the soaring inflation and prices nowadays, whether it knows if MTRCL will consider putting its fare increases on hold or adjusting its fares downward with a view to fulfilling its corporate social responsibility and alleviating the burden on the public; if it will, the details; if not, the reasons for that; and what better ways it has to pass on the benefits to society and improve the livelihood of the general public;
(b)	given that quite a number of members of the public have indicated to me that the promotional schemes introduced by MTRCL in the past, such as "Ride $100 Get 1 Free" introduced in July 2011, did not bring them real concessions and benefits, whether it knows:
	(i)	the details of the concession schemes to be introduced by MTRCL this year, the amount involved and the estimated number of beneficiaries;
	(ii)	if MTRCL will introduce more practical concession schemes (e.g. Day Pass, Weekly Pass and Monthly Pass schemes for all railway lines, and providing "same day return half-fare concessions" to "long-haul" passengers); if it will, the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
	(iii)	during the period when the "Ride $100 Get 1 Free" promotional scheme was implemented by MTRCL, the numbers of Octopus cards whose holders did not take enough MTR journeys to spend $100 on their Octopus cards from Mondays to Fridays within a week and the percentage of such numbers in the total number of Octopus cards; among such Octopus cards whose holders did not take enough MTR journeys to spend $100 on their Octopus cards within a week, the numbers of those with an accumulated spending on fares between $90 and $94.90 and those between $95 and $99.90, as well as the percentages of such numbers in the total number of Octopus cards, together with a breakdown by month;
	(iv)	if MTRCL had consulted the Legislative Council prior to the introduction of each type of concession schemes in the past three years; if it had not, the reasons for that, and if it will adopt such an arrangement in the future; and
	(v)	the justifications for MTRCL to introduce each promotional scheme in the past three years, and if it had reviewed such schemes; if it had, the details; if not, the reasons for that; and set out the information by year and by title of promotional scheme;
(c)	given that when MTRCL increased its fares in 2010, there were around 100 journeys under which Octopus fares were higher than single journey ticket fares, whether it knows the numbers and details of those journeys under which Octopus fares were higher than single journey ticket fares in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by year and by railway line; and
(d)	given that MTR fares and FAM involve major public interests and well-being, whether the Government had, in its capacity as the major shareholder of MTRCL, given any advice to MTRCL on matters relating to MTR fares and FAM in the past three years; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and the justifications for the Government to maintain its status as the major shareholder of MTRCL?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

The statistics of the 2011 Population Census reveal that the population of Hong Kong continued to grow older during the last 10 years, and the number of people aged 65 and over had exceeded 940 000, representing approximately 13% of Hong Kong's total population. With a growing elderly population, the demand for healthcare services will increase. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given that in reply to a question from a Member of this Council on 11 January this year, the authorities indicated that having considered the information submitted by the Hospital Authority ("HA"), the Government had accepted in principle the proposals on the redevelopment of Kwong Wah Hospital and Queen Mary Hospital, and the redevelopment plans of Yan Chai Hospital and Caritas Medial Centre had also been initiated, whether the authorities have any plan at present to redevelop other hospitals; if so, of the plan;
(b)	given that the Chief Executive announced in the 2008-2009 Policy Address that the Government would explore the concept of Community Health Centres ("CHCs") as one of the policy initiatives on enhancing primary care, and the first CHC was set up in Tin Shui Wai in the first half of 2012, when the Government will review this policy initiative and set up CHCs in other districts; of the relevant details;
(c)	whether the Government will, in the coming five years, construct additional general or specialist outpatient clinics for use by the grassroots; if so, of the breakdown by year and district;
(d)	given that the public housing estates in the Kai Tak Development Area are expected to accommodate approximately 34 000 residents, and the first batch of units will be available for occupation in 2013, whether the Government will, in response to the growing population of the district, establish additional public clinics or public hospitals in the district, or strengthen the connections between hospital clusters, so as to cater for the healthcare needs of additional residents in Kowloon East; if so, of the details;
(e)	given that there will be an upsurge in the demand for healthcare personnel, the Chief Executive stated in the 2011-2012 Policy Address that $200 million would be allocated to increase the number of first-year first-degree places in medicine by 100, nursing by 40 and allied health professions by 146, but, with the redevelopment of the hospitals referred to in (a), whether the Government needs to train additional healthcare personnel, so as to meet the manpower needs after the completion of redevelopment; if so, of the details; and
(f)	given that the Chief Executive-elect stated in his policy platform that in order to respond to changes in society such as an expected ageing population, HA should embark on an overall review of its management and staff systems, working hours, cost benefits and service levels in accordance with its own positioning, whether it knows if HA is conducting similar studies at present, so as to enhance the cost-effectiveness in using resources; if HA is conducting such studies, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : 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)

Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Hon WONG Yuk-man to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 23 May 2012 under
LC Paper No. CB(3)796/11-12)

(Bill scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)

Competition Bill

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

(i)	Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move Committee stage amendments
	(The amendments were issued on 24 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)802/11-12)
(ii)	Hon Albert HO, Hon Ronny TONG, Hon Mrs Regina IP and Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to move Committee stage amendments
	(The amendments were issued on 23 and 25 May 2012 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3)799/11-12 and CB(3)811/11-12 respectively)

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

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 Eastern Harbour Crossing Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the motion in Appendix II.
(The motion was also issued on 21 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)782/11-12)
3.	Proposed resolution under the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the motion in Appendix III.
(The motion was also issued on 21 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)782/11-12)
4.	Proposed resolution under the Western Harbour Crossing Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the motion in Appendix IV.
(The motion was also issued on 21 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)782/11-12)
5.	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 motion in Appendix V.
(The motion was also issued on 21 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)782/11-12)
(Motion scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)
6.	Proposed resolution under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion: Resolved that the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2012, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 8 May 2012, be approved.
(The Amendment Regulation is in Appendix VI and was also issued on 10 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 742/11-12)

V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments

(Members' motions originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last 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.

(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 Fred LI to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 73 of 2012, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 9 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 27 June 2012.
Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon James TO to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Securities and Futures (Futures Contracts) Notice 2012, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 81 of 2012, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 9 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 27 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".
(ii)	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

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

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

Promoting animal rights and interests

Hon Fred LI to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, as Hong Kong society attaches increasing importance to animal rights and interests, and in order to motivate people to treat animals well and live in harmony with animals in the community, reduce at source the number of stray animals in the community, and effectively combat crimes of animal cruelty, this Council urges the Government to:

(a)	strengthen co-operation with District Councils to promote the 'Trap-Neuter-Return' programme on a trial basis, and following the success of the trial programme, implement the programme in all districts of Hong Kong;
(b)	expedite the implementation of the various proposed measures for regulating the pet trade, including introducing Home Animal Breeder Permit and Commercial Animal Breeder Permit, substantially raising the maximum fine for illegal trading of animals to $100,000 and increasing the fine for breaching of licensing conditions to $50,000; and
(c)	establish specialist 'animal police' teams in the Hong Kong Police Force to replace the existing 'Animal Watch Scheme', whose responsibilities include conducting specially tasked investigations into all animal cruelty cases, as well as undertaking publicity and education to make the public aware that cruelty to animals are illegal acts.
Amendments to the motion
(i)	Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete ", as Hong Kong society" after "That" and substitute with "the keeping of pets among Hong Kong people has become increasingly common, and our society also"; to delete ", and" after "interests" and substitute with ";"; to add "(a) establish 'animal police' teams specially tasked to investigate cases of animal cruelty and abandonment, enhance the training of frontline enforcement officers on handling cases of animal cruelty and their awareness of such cases, and set up a 'dedicated hotline for reporting animal cruelty', with a view to curbing the situation of animal cruelty and abandonment from becoming prevalent; (b) by making reference to the present animal protection legislation in developed places, review and amend the existing Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance for the purpose of catching up with international standards, and classify the intentional abandonment of animals as animal cruelty, as well as explore the provision of compulsory psychological counselling and courses on animal protection to convicted persons; (c) request the Department of Justice to pay close attention to the sentencing for cases of animal cruelty, and where sentencing for the cases concerned cannot fully reflect their seriousness, seek sentencing guidelines by applying for reviews of sentences to the relevant courts, so as to truly reflect the social concern about offences of animal cruelty;" after "the Government to:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(d)"; to add "and animal rights organizations" after "District Councils"; to delete ";" after "of Hong Kong" and substitute with ", and use humane means to deal with the problem of stray cats and dogs; (e) provide subsidy to the public for neutering their pets, and train more veterinary health care personnel to meet the social demand for the services concerned; (f) improve the hygiene conditions in the animal management centres under the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and enhance the transparency of stray animal management by allowing Members and animal rights organizations to conduct regular inspections, increase the number of qualified animal adoption organizations and expand the scope of animals for adoption to reptiles and amphibians, so as to facilitate the adoption of animals by a greater number of people and organizations;"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete "and" after "$50,000;" and substitute with "(h) enhance people's understanding of endangered animals and relevant regulatory systems, and require that animal traders must provide appropriate labels for identifying endangered species, as well as provide buyers with points to note on keeping endangered species, with a view to strengthening the management of endangered animals;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(i)"; to delete "establish specialist 'animal police' teams in the Hong Kong Police Force to replace the existing 'Animal Watch Scheme', whose responsibilities include conducting specially tasked investigations into all animal cruelty cases, as well as undertaking" before "publicity" and substitute with "set up an 'animal protection fund', so that organizations can make applications for organizing more animal welfare activities, and undertake"; and to add "and learn to be a responsible pet owner; (j) introduce appropriate measures, including identifying sites for constructing more parks for pets, and exploring the opening of various recreational venues such as parks and beaches partially or at specific time slots, so that members of the public can bring in their pets; (k) actively identify suitable locations for the provision of public toilets for dogs, increase the number of dog excreta collection bins on street side, and step up the frequency of cleaning and washing, with a view to improving environmental hygiene; and (l) explore the regulation of hospice service for animals through licensing" immediately before the full stop.
(ii)	Hon Albert HO to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete ", as Hong Kong" after "That" and substitute with "Hong Kong is a civilized cosmopolitan city, and the local"; and to delete "implement" after "trial programme," and substitute with "openly invite various organizations through the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to apply for implementing".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health

Expeditiously implementing the formulation of standard working hours Hon IP Wai-ming to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, given that minimum wage and standard working hours must complement each other in order to be able to maximize the effect of protecting grassroots workers and facilitating Hong Kong's economic development, this Council urges the current-term and next-term SAR Governments to, having regard to the well-being of employees at large, spare no efforts in making preparations for enacting legislation on standard working hours and expeditiously implement the relevant tasks, including:

(a)	to set a deadline and timetable for conducting studies on regulating working hours;
(b)	to establish a 'study group on legislating for standard working hours' comprising representatives of the Government, employees and employers, and academics to follow up the relevant issues;
(c)	to regularly hold discussions in the Panel on Manpower of the Legislative Council and report the progress to the Labour Advisory Board, so as to strengthen the Legislative Council's function of monitoring the Government on the one hand, and increase the transparency of the relevant work on the other, so as to enable the public and the labour sector to know the progress of the studies;
(d)	to proactively ascertain the views of the trade unions of various industries and the relevant stakeholders on standard working hours; and
(e)	to increase the public's knowledge and understanding of standard working hours through various forms of publicity and education.
Amendments to the motion
(i)	Hon WONG Sing-chi to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "given that" after "That" and substitute with "minimum wage has been implemented for one year or so, the grass-root workers' living has improved but the working hours of some workers are too long, so"; to delete "and" after "stakeholders on standard working hours;"; and to add "; and (f) to expeditiously implement more family-friendly policies to dovetail with the formulation of standard working hours, so as to help employees give equal attention to their families, relieve their pressure, and also boost their work efficiency and morale" immediately before the full stop.
(ii)	Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "to," after "SAR Governments" and substitute with "not to waste any more time, and"; to delete "spare no efforts in making preparations for enacting" after "employees at large," and substitute with "to expeditiously enact"; to delete "expeditiously implement the relevant tasks" after "legislation on standard working hours and" and substitute with "immediately commence preparation for the legislative work"; to delete "deadline and" after "to set a" and substitute with "legislative"; to delete "conducting studies on" after "timetable for"; to delete "follow up the relevant issues" after "and academics to" and substitute with "finalize the details of the bill on regulating working hours"; to delete "studies" after "know the progress of the" and substitute with "legislative work"; to delete "standard" after "stakeholders on" and substitute with "the details of the bill on regulating"; and to delete "standard" after "understanding of" and substitute with "the details of the bill on regulating".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

(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 30 May 2012 at 11:00 am

Agenda

Wednesday 30 May 2012 at 11:00 am