A 11/12-36

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 4 July 2012 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Public Swimming Pools) (Amendment of Fourteenth Schedule) Order 2012	107/2012
2.	Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Public Pleasure Grounds) (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) Order 2012	108/2012

Other Papers

1.	No. 100	-	Hong Kong Trade Development Council Annual Report 2011/12
(to be presented by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
2.	No. 101	-	The Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training Annual Report 2011 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011
(to be presented by the Secretary for Justice)
3.	No. 102	-	Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation Annual Report 2011-12
(to be presented by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
4.	No. 103	-	Independent Commission Against Corruption Complaints Committee Annual Report 2011
(to be presented by Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG, who will address the Council)
5.	No. 104	-	Construction Industry Council Annual Report 2011
(to be presented by the Secretary for Development)
6.	No. 105	-	Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation Annual Report 2011-2012
(to be presented by the Secretary for Home Affairs)
7.	No. 106	-	Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Independent Commission Against Corruption Annual Report 2011
(to be presented by Hon CHAN Kam-lam, who will address the Council)
8.	No. 107	-	Report of the Public Accounts Committee on Report No. 58 of the Director of Audit on the Results of Value for Money Audits (July 2012 - P.A.C. Report No. 58)
(to be presented by Dr Hon Philip WONG, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, who will address the Council)
9.	Report of the Subcommittee on Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation
(to be presented by Hon Fred LI, Chairman of the Subcommittee, who will address the Council)
10.	Report No. 24/11-12 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)

II. Questions

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

During the term of the last Government, a number of medical incidents and drug safety problems occurred and the manpower shortage of nurses and allied health staff became more acute. Moreover, quite a number of health policy initiatives (including enhancing primary care services, promoting public-private partnership ("PPP") in healthcare and implementing subsidy schemes which embody the "money follows patient" concept) introduced by the last Government are still underway, and how the manpower of healthcare and allied health staff will be affected by the direction of development of such initiatives in the future is of public concern. With the formal inauguration of the Government of the new term, in respect of issues such as the manpower planning of healthcare and allied health staff and their professional development in the future, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the authorities will increase the manpower of nurses and allied health staff, so as to reduce the chance of occurrence of medical incidents; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	whether the Steering Committee on Strategic Review on Healthcare Manpower Planning and Professional Development will conduct any review of or make any strategic recommendation (e.g. setting a minimum nurse-to-patient ratio) on the manpower planning of nurses and allied health staff; if it will, of the timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that; regarding the professional development of allied health staff, as no legislation is in place at present to regulate the practising qualifications of some of these staff, whether the authorities have drawn up any target or strategic recommendation, so as to complete as early as possible legislating for the regulation of such qualifications; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	regarding the promotion of primary care services and PPP programmes in healthcare, of the latest direction and target of the long-term development set by the authorities; whether they have any plan to enhance the roles of nurses and allied health staff in these two aspects; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will consider extending subsidy schemes which embody the "money follows patient" concept, etc.; if they will, of the details and whether the manpower planning of nurses and allied health staff will be affected; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

2. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)

The Government sought public view in 1981 regarding the disparity between the number of general holidays and that of statutory holidays and proposed in 1982 to increase the number of statutory holidays by one additional day, as a first step, with effect from 1983. Since then, the Executive Authorities have not taken the initiative to introduce any legislative proposal to increase the number of statutory holidays. On the other hand, under the Employment Ordinance ("EO"), an employee is entitled to seven to 14 days' annual leave with pay which in comparison with the four weeks' annual leave with pay enjoyed by employees in most advanced economies is obviously a lot less. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a)	it will amend EO during the term of office of the fourth term Chief Executive ("CE") to include all general holidays other than Sundays as statutory holidays; if it will, of the details and the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b)	it will amend EO during the term of office of the fourth term CE to increase the number of days of annual leave with pay to which an employee is entitled; if it will, of the details and the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

It has been reported that in the two mansions owned by the Chief Executive in Yue Hei Yuen at Peel Rise of The Peak on Hong Kong Island, a glass frame with an area of about 110 square feet, a garden trellis and other additional structures had been built, which are all unauthorized building works ("UBWs"), and the property owner has already arranged to demolish some of those UBWs upon receipt of media enquiries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether the authorities know when the aforesaid unauthorized garden trellis and glass frame were built; if they know, of the details; whether the demolition of such UBWs fell within the scope of works under the Minor Works Control System; if so, of the details of the regulation of such demolition works (including whether the authorities have received a notice to carry out the demolition works before or after demolition of such UBWs, and whether they have agreed to the demolition works);
(b)	whether the authorities had inspected the aforesaid properties in the past with a view to finding out if there were UBWs in the properties concerned and if demolition works had been carried out to remove the structures; of the details and results of the inspections; whether they had ascertained if the property owner had commissioned professionals to check the presence or otherwise of UBWs in his properties and the outcome; and
(c)	of the approved plot ratio and maximum permissible gross floor area ("GFA") of the properties; the respective areas of the glass frame, garden trellis and other additional structures, and whether the areas of these structures should be included in the GFA of the properties; if so, during the period when these additional structures were erected within the properties, whether the GFA of the properties has exceeded the maximum GFA permissible; if so, whether the authorities will recover from the owner the premium of the additional floor areas and thoroughly investigate if the owner has breached the law by allowing the erection of UBWs in his properties and allowing the plot ratio to exceed the approved ratio; if the property owner has breached the law, how they will follow up the case?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

4. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)

According to the Government's reply to the Legislative Council ("LegCo") earlier, both the expenditure on electricity and the electricity consumption per square metre have increased by several folds after the Government Headquarters and LegCo were relocated to the present sites. Although the new Central Government Complex ("CGC") have vertical greening and roof greening features and plans are in place to conduct energy-cum-carbon audits on the new CGC and the LegCo Complex in consultation with the LegCo Secretariat, electricity consumption still increases by folds. Given that the new-term Chief Executive and the Secretary for the Environment of the new-term Government will be taking office, and as the saying goes, "new people invariably bring new style of work", will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it has plans to review the electricity consumption and energy efficiency of the new CGC and the LegCo Complex with a view to minimizing electricity consumption and maximizing energy efficiency as far as possible; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	given that 48% of the electricity consumption in the new CGC arises from air-conditioning, whether the Government has counter-measures in place to drastically reduce the use of air-conditioning in the new CGC; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether the new-term Government has plans to study the feasibility of minimizing the use of air-conditioning in the new CGC Low Block, in which the Office of the Chief Executive is located, so as to set an example of green, low-carbon and energy conserving practices for members of the public?

Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

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

Quite a number of members of the public and environmental groups have relayed to me that as a result of the continuously rising average temperature due to abnormal local weather conditions in recent years, coupled with the lack of importance attached to green architecture in Hong Kong, members of the public use air-conditioners for long periods of time. On the other hand, temperatures are too low in some public places, such as shopping centres and cinemas, as well as modes of transport, resulting in not just discomfort but also an excessive consumption of energy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given that greening works, including vertical greening and roof greening, can help lower the room temperature in a building, of the current number of government buildings in which such works have been completed, as well as the electricity consumption reduced; whether the authorities will assume a leading role by giving priority to carrying out such works on a full scale in the government buildings and public housing estates in Hong Kong; whether it will study measures, including the provision of financial assistance or technical support, to assist building owners who intend to carry out such works; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	given that the Council for Sustainable Development has indicated earlier that the Government has launched the Energy Saving Charter and encourages the business community to sign it, and will conduct energy-cum-carbon audits in a number of public facilities in the second half of this year, of the expected reduction in electricity consumption upon the implementation of such measures; how such measures can be implemented on a long-term basis; and
(c)	given that I have repeatedly requested in my speeches delivered in this Council that the power companies should set out in the tariff bill the customer's electricity consumption and consequential carbon dioxide emission level, and implement the "Carbon Emission Reduction Bonus Point Scheme", under which reduction in electricity consumption by a member of the public can be converted into bonus points for paying water and electricity bills, etc., whether the Government will consider adopting the proposal as a new measure to promote energy saving; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

6. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)

Before the 1 July march this year, the organizer has anticipated that quite a number of members of the public will participate in the march as they are of the view that the Chief Executive ("CE") of the new term has not undertaken that the CE Election in 2017 will adopt a low nomination threshold and that all the functional constituency ("FC") seats in the Legislative Council ("LegCo") will be abolished as soon as possible; and they are also furious over the death of mainland democracy activist Mr LI Wangyang, and have no confidence in the Government of the new term even before the new-term CE takes office because of the integrity issue arising from unauthorized building works being discovered in his residence. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it will release as soon as possible the Green Paper on Constitutional Development to consult the public on the methods for forming LegCo in 2016 and selecting CE in 2017 and initiate the five-step mechanism on constitutional development, so as to respond to the aspirations of the members of the public participating in the march that CE and all LegCo Members should be elected by universal suffrage, and whether it will undertake that a high nomination threshold for screening potential candidates will not be set for the CE Election in 2017 and that all LegCo FC seats will be abolished as soon as possible; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	whether the Government of the new term will respond to and follow up the public concern about the LI Wangyang incident; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it will assess and respond to the other aspirations of the members of the public participating in the march, as so to salvage public confidence in the Government; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : To be advised by the Administration

*7. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

As revealed by a survey conducted by an organization, while the number of non-elderly one-person applicants on the Waiting List for public rental housing ("Waiting List") has increased substantially, there is a cap on the number of public rental housing ("PRH") units for allocation to non-elderly one-person applicants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the existing number of PRH applications, the number of non-elderly one-person applicants on the Waiting List, and the percentage of the number of non-elderly one-person applicants in the total number of PRH applicants;
(b)	of the numbers of PRH units already allocated to and those available for allocation to non-elderly one-person applicants;
(c)	of the number of PRH units made available for allocation to non-elderly one-person applicants in the past five years after the non-elderly one-person tenants had moved out of the PRH units or been transferred, together with the number of PRH units constructed for allocation to non-elderly one-person applicants in each year;
(d)	of the non-elderly one-person applicants' average waiting time for allocation of PRH units; the measures the authorities have in place to shorten the waiting time of non-elderly one-person applicants; and if such measures are not in place, of the reasons for that; and
(e)	whether the authorities have projected in the population estimates for 2030 the numbers of non-elderly single persons in the coming 18 years; whether the numbers are projected to increase or decrease, and of the reasons for the increase/decrease; whether the authorities have adjusted the public housing policy in the light of such a trend of demographic change to cater for the housing needs of members of the public?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

At present, able-bodied recipients under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme who are 15 to 59 years of age and unemployed or working part-time are required to participate in the Support for Self-reliance Scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the latest measures in place to assist unemployed or low income CSSA recipients in securing employment again and increasing their incomes;
(b)	whether the Social Welfare Department, Labour Department and Employees Retraining Board ("ERB") will strengthen their liaison to proactively introduce to CSSA recipients the courses organized by ERB-entrusted training bodies ("retraining courses") and encourage them to take such courses;
(c)	whether it knows the number of people who had enrolled in retraining courses in each of the past five years; among such people, of the number of those who were CSSA recipients when they enrolled in the courses;
(d)	of the numbers of CSSA recipients who had been re-employed and stopped receiving CSSA payments after completing the retraining courses in each of the past five years; in what industries and positions these people were mainly employed; and
(e)	whether it will consider making it a requirement for all CSSA recipients eligible for enrolling in retraining courses to take these courses, so as to enhance their opportunity in securing employment again; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

After I pointed out in 2010 that the president of the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association ("the Association") (who was the wife of the Chief Executive ("CE") of the last term), which is a statutory body, had breached the regulations in appointing its Hong Kong's Chief Commissioner who was already overage, I further uncovered that the Association hosted banquets with tens of tables in a hotel or in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre ("HKCEC") each year for its annual dinner party. On 16 September 2010, the Association also mistakenly pointed out through the media that "the sale of raffle tickets had been conducted for more than 20 years and the percentage of refund to its units had never been in the region of 50%", and refused to distribute refund to its units at a maximum percentage of 50% starting from the sale of the 1 001st ticket. I have learnt that the Association has issued letters to the business sector in recent months, using the invitation of the wife of the new-term CE ("new CE's wife") to the charity premiere ("premiere") on 2 July this year as a pretext to raise $600,000 in the title sponsorship and other sponsorships at various levels. Quite a number of parents, members of women's groups, staff members of the Association, unit guiders and members of the business sector have relayed to me that the public felt offended by the Association creating opportunities for collusion between the Government and the business sector. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows if the office of the next president of the Association will be held by the new CE's wife; if so, when she will do so; if not, whether she will not hold the office within the term of the new-term CE (i.e. from 2012 to 2017);
(b)	whether the Government of the new term will appoint more civil servants to the administrative structure of the Association to review the Association's arrangements of spending money on holding annual dinner parties in hotels or exhibition venues; if it will, when such appointments will be made and of the number of persons to be appointed; if not, the reason for that;
(c)	whether it knows if the president of the Association had ever contacted any person operating gambling establishments in Macao when attending the activities of the Association in the past five years; if she had, the number of such contacts;
(d)	whether it knows if the president of the Association had ever attended any annual dinner party of the Association in the past five year; if she had, whether any person from the business sector had been invited to meet her at the dinner parties; if so, the number of such invitees; whether it has assessed if such an arrangement will give rise to possible collusion between the Government and the business sector; if not, of the reasons for that;
(e)	whether it knows the sum of money raised by the Association in the premiere held in early July this year;
(f)	whether it knows why the Association has used the attendance of the new CE's wife as a pretext to get around and raise money from the business sector;
(g)	given that the Association appointed an overage Hong Kong's Chief Commissioner, which was in breach of regulations, whether it will hold the Director of Bureau ("DoB") concerned, who is a principal official under the accountability system, politically accountable and require him to step down for failure to monitor the Association; if it will, when the DoB will step down; if not, of the reasons for that; whether it has penalized any civil servant who is responsible for monitoring the Association; if it has, of the penalties; if not, the reasons for that;
(h)	given that the Government granted a site in Yau Tsim Mong District to the Association three years ago for construction of its new headquarters but no construction works have commenced yet, whether the Government will resume the site immediately; if it will, of the time to do so; if not, whether it will continue to leave this government site idle; and
(i)	whether the Home Affairs Bureau and the Audit Commission have assessed if it is a proper arrangement for government-subvented charities to spend money holding annual general meetings in high-class hotels or HKCEC each year; if they have, of the details, and whether the Secretary for Home Affairs and the Director of Audit will order immediately the government department(s) concerned to intervene and investigate such charities?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

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

The information from the Labour Department reveals that dedicated officers are arranged to follow up every case under the Job Matching Programme ("the Programme") to identify suitable candidates for employers. In connection with the implementation of the Programme in the past five years (i.e. from 2006 to 2011), will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of job-seekers registered in each year; among them, the number of registrants who had successfully secured employment as well as the percentage of such number in the total number of registrants;
(b)	of the trades in which the registrants in each year were formerly engaged; the respective numbers of registrants who had been unemployed for less than three months and those for a period of three to six months, and the respective percentages of such numbers in the total number of registrants;
(c)	regarding the registrants who had successfully secured employment in each year, of the types of jobs in which the majority of them were employed; the respective percentages of the numbers of those employed as office assistants, general workers and security guards in the total number of registrants who successfully secured employment;
(d)	of the comparative figures on the types of jobs, wages, working hours, working environment, employee benefits and employees' compensation of the posts of the registrants who had successfully secured employment before and after they had changed jobs in each year; among them, the number of those registrants whose wages reached the median wage of their respective trades;
(e)	of the number of registrants who had declined to accept employment with the matched employers in each year; among them, the respective percentages of the numbers of registrants who had declined a job offer on account of dissatisfaction with the job nature, wage level or working hours in the total number of registrants who had declined a job offer; and
(f)	if any information on (a) to (e) is not available, of the reasons for that; whether the authorities will consider embarking on the collection of such information?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

In its reply to my question at the Council meeting of 22 June 2011, the Government indicated that the Police attached great importance to combating illegal debt collection activities conducted by debt collection agencies ("DCAs"). However, I have learnt that the situation of debtors being harassed by DCAs in their debt collection activities is deteriorating recently, and it is still common for banks, finance companies, telecommunications service companies, beauty service companies and tutorial teachers to hire DCAs to collect money owed by their customers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the number of cases about harassment by DCAs reported by the public to the Police since 22 June of last year;
(b)	whether the Government will, in view of the aforesaid situation, consider afresh accepting the recommendations in the report of the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong on "The Regulation of Debt Collection Practices" published in 2002 that a criminal offence of harassment of debtors and others should be created, and that a statutory licensing system to monitor DCAs should be established; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)	whether it will consider introducing new enforcement measures to curb the harassing practices adopted by DCAs to recover debts; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

Recently, some medical social workers ("MSWs") have complained to me that the working conditions in some medical social services units ("MSSUs") are unsatisfactory, e.g. the lack of independent and confidential interview rooms, the heavy workload, and the failure to increase the manpower of MSWs over the years in spite of the increased number of beds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows the respective numbers of beds in various public hospitals and the respective numbers of MSWs in the MSSUs under the Social Welfare Department and those under the Hospital Authority in various hospitals in the past five years (and set out the breakdown in Table 1 and Table 2);
(b)	whether the authorities have established a standard ratio of hospital beds to MSWs at present; if they have, of the details; if not; the reasons for that;
(c)	whether the authorities will increase the number of MSWs in the future in order to cope with the increasing number of patients and workload; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d)	whether it knows the respective numbers and areas of offices and interview rooms for MSSUs in various public hospitals at present (and set out the breakdown in Table 3); the number of MSSUs without independent interview rooms? Table 1 Medical social services units of the Social Welfare Department 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 Queen Mary Hospital Number of beds Number of Medical Social Workers ("MSWs") Wong Chuk Hang Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Western Psychiatric Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Cheung Chau Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (Psychiatric Department) Number of beds Number of MSWs East Kowloon Psychiatric Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Tseung Kwan O Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Yung Fung Shee Memorial Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Queen Elizabeth Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Hong Kong Eye Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Kowloon Hospital (Rehabilitation Building) (Excluding Ward 2B and Patient Resource Centre) Number of beds Number of MSWs Kowloon Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Kowloon Hospital (Psychiatric Department) Number of beds Number of MSWs Prince of Wales Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Prince of Wales Hospital (Psychiatric Unit) Number of beds Number of MSWs Shatin Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Tai Po Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs North District Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Castle Peak Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Siu Lam Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Tuen Mun Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Princess Margaret Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Princess Margaret Hospital (Lai King Building) Number of beds Number of MSWs Kwai Chung Hospita Number of beds Number of MSWs West Kowloon Psychiatric Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Pamela Youde Child Assessment Centre (Kwun Tong) Number of beds Number of MSWs Central Kowloon Child Assessment Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Ha Kwai Chung Child Assessment Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Pamela Youde Child Assessment Centre (Shatin) Number of beds Number of MSWs Fanling Child Assessment Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Tuen Mun Child Assessment Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Kowloon Bay Integrated Treatment Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Table 2 Medical social services units under the Hospital Authority 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital Number of beds Number of medical social workers ("MSWs") Bradbury Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Caritas Medical Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Cheshire Home (Chung Hom Kok) Number of beds Number of MSWs Cheshire Home (Shatin) Number of beds Number of MSWs TWGHs Fung Yiu King Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Grantham Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Haven of Hope Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Kowloon Hospital (Ward 2B at Rehabilitation Building) Number of beds Number of MSWs Kwong Wah Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs MacLehose Medical Rehabilitation Centre Number of beds Number of MSWs Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Pok Oi Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Ruttonjee & Tang Shiu Kin Hospitals Number of beds Number of MSWs The Duchess of Kent Children Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Tung Wah Eastern Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Tung Wah Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs TWGHs Wong Tai Sin Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs United Christian Hospital (Non-psychiatric medical social service) Number of beds Number of MSWs Yan Chai Hospital Number of beds Number of MSWs Table 3 Number of offices Area of offices Number of interview rooms Area of interview rooms No interview room List the medical social services units in Table 1 and Table 2

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

The Chief Executive of the last term announced as early as in his 2007-2008 Policy Address the initiative to study the establishment of a multi-partite Medical Centre of Excellence in Paediatrics ("the Centre"). The Government has started preparation for the establishment of the Centre since 2008 and set up a steering committee to provide policy directions for the Centre. A site in the Kai Tak Development Area has been identified as the final location of the Centre, and construction works are planned to commence next year and are scheduled to be completed in 2017. The Centre will come into service by phases starting from mid-2018. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given that the Centre is expected to offer 468 beds and will be interfaced with 13 public hospitals with paediatric departments in Hong Kong to provide tertiary paediatric services, of the estimated number of sick children the Centre can serve in the first three years upon its commissioning; to what extent the Centre will relieve the public demand for paediatric services in public hospitals at present; whether the authorities have any plan as to when a review of the services of the Centre (including a study on whether addition of beds or expansion is necessary) will be conducted; if there is no such plan, of the reasons for that;
(b)	given that mainland pregnant women have come incessantly to give birth in Hong Kong in recent years, if the authorities have assessed whether the future demand for paediatric services in Hong Kong will be affected by the increasing number of children born locally but whose parents are non-permanent residents of Hong Kong ("doubly non-permanent resident children"), and whether corresponding planning for the Centre is necessary; if the assessment results reveal that paediatric services will be affected, how the future services of the Centre will cater for the increase in the number of doubly non-permanent resident children; if assessment has not been made, of the reasons for that; and
(c)	given that it has been learnt that there is a shortage of manpower supply in quite a number of public hospitals at present, whether the authorities have assessed if the establishment of the Centre will create further pressure on local healthcare manpower; if they have, of the results of the assessment, and the authorities' corresponding measures in place?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

It has been reported that the Energizing Kowloon East Office ("EKEO") plans to transform the 200 000 feet derelict land under an elevated section of the Kwun Tong Bypass and the Tsun Yip Street Playground into music performance area and public space, so as to vitalize the industrial zone which falls silent at night time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

apart from the development of outdoor performance area/public space, and in view of the insufficient timeslots for performances in the Hong Kong Coliseum ("HKC"), whether it has considered converting the two soccer pitches and two basketball courts in the Tsun Yip Street Playground into an indoor venue which can accommodate both cultural performances (e.g. concerts and visual arts displays) and ball games, so as to add cultural and recreational elements to the Kowloon East core business district project, as well as meet part of the demands for using HKC; if it has, of the outcome; if not, whether it can assess the feasibility of the aforesaid recommendation; and

(b)

of a comparison of the level of satisfaction in usage and construction costs between EKEO, which was built with recyclable steel structures and old containers as its essential construction materials and embodies a number of energy-conservation concepts, and traditional office buildings, which are built with materials such as steel, concrete and glasses, etc.; if the outcome of the comparison proves that the former brings about better results on land utilization and office uses, as well as being more cost effective, whether the authorities will consider constructing more government offices similar to EKEO in other areas in Kowloon East, and relocating some government departments to the redevelopment area to foster regional development and compensate for the deficiency of the recently commissioned new Central Government Complex at Tamar which has already been criticized for not having sufficient office space?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Regarding the issue of Mainlanders crossing the boundary through the land boundary control points ("BCPs") in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)	the daily statistics on Mainlanders crossing the boundary through the land BCPs in Hong Kong in June and July in each of the past five years (set out in the table below); June 2008 July 2008 June 2009 July 2009 June 2010 July 2010 June 2011 July 2011 June 2012 Day Exit Entry Exit Entry Exit Entry Exit Entry Exit Entry Exit Entry Exit Entry Exit Entry Exit Entry 1 2 3 4 …… (the rest of the month) 31
(b)	the number of pregnant mainland women whose spouses are not permanent residents of Hong Kong ("doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women") who have been intercepted by the Immigration Department at land BCPs for gate-crashing since the Chief Executive indicated in April this year that the quota of doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women to be admitted by private hospitals in 2013 would be zero; and
(c)	the number of cross-boundary Mainlanders using the Automated Passenger Clearance System ("e-Channel") since 2012 when the e-Channel service is available for use by enrolled mainland frequent visitors; the eligibility criteria for inbound mainland visitors to use the e-Channel service at present?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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

It has been reported that an employer recruited a foreign domestic helper ("FDH") through an employment agency ("EA") but, upon the arrival of the FDH, the employer found that with the middle and ring fingers of the FDH's right hand missing and two of her toes badly crippled, the FDH was unable to wring towels, stand firmly or take care of the employer's mentally handicapped daughter. Another employer recruited, also through an EA, an FDH who claimed to have four years' experience in taking care of children and babies but, upon the arrival of that FDH, the employer found that as the FDH's left thumb and index finger were deformed, she could not hold teats and milk bottles steadily, nor did she know how to hold a baby properly, and after further questioning by the employer, the FDH admitted that she only had experience in taking care of the elderly people. There was another case in which the employer recruited an FDH through an EA, but on the day following her arrival, the FDH claimed that owing to important family business, she had to resign and return to her home country immediately, with airfares paid by the employer, yet, about two months later, the employer caught sight of the FDH who had just returned from Macao. Upon enquiries by the employer, the EA replied that the FDH had signed a contract with another new employer and would not return to her home country, and the employer suspected that the FDH and the EA had colluded to obtain service charges and airfares in a fraudulent way. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows, how an employer who finds that the FDH employed by him does not meet EA's descriptions and suspects that he has been deceived by the EA, may quickly and effectively hold the EA responsible for the situation;
(b)	whether any policy bureau or government department is responsible for handling or co-ordinating the resolution of disputes similar to the aforesaid cases;
(c)	whether it knows the respective numbers of cases received by the Government and the Consumer Council ("CC") in each of the past three years and so far this year involving complaints against FDHs not meeting EA's descriptions as well as complaints against EAs not fulfilling their responsibilities and being negligent; the average time required to handle each case; how these cases were handled with; among such cases, the number of EAs being "named and shamed" or blacklisted by CC;
(d)	of the number of cases in the past three years involving complaints against suspected collusion between FDHs and EAs to obtain service charges and airfares in a fraudulent way; the number of successful prosecutions and the details of the cases; and
(e)	of the policy and measures in place to protect the interests of FDH employers; whether it has reviewed the inadequacies of the existing policy and considered adopting new measures to enhance the protection for FDH employers; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and whether it will conduct a review as soon as possible?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

It has been reported that the International Agency for Research on Cancer ("IARC") under the World Health Organization ("WHO") has raised the classification of exhaust from diesel engine exhaust ("diesel exhaust") from Group 2A "probably carcinogenic" to Group 1 "carcinogenic", and pointed out that diesel exhaust is a cause of lung cancer and is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. IARC has also pointed out that apart from motor vehicles, trains, ships and power plants powered by diesel also emit harmful exhaust. Further, some environmental groups have queried that the 11 existing general air quality monitoring stations ("AQMSs") are all located on rooftops and far away from roads and cannot reflect the roadside air pollution situation accurately. Such groups have also pointed out that the index of fine suspended particulates ("PM 2.5") adopted by the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") is two times more lenient than the "ultimate objective" set down by WHO. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	whether it knows the existing numbers of buses of the fleets under each of the franchised bus companies, including hybrid, electric and supercapacitor buses, together with a breakdown of the buses by the emission standards with which they comply;
(b)	whether it knows the numbers of old buses replaced by each of the franchised bus companies in each of the past five years, the cost required to replace each bus and the total cost involved, as well as the estimated changes of such figures in the coming five years; details of the replacement schedules of old buses of the franchised companies; if schedules have not been determined, of the reasons for that;
(c)	of the quantities of the various air pollutants recorded on the roadside in each of the past five years, together with a breakdown by source of pollution (e.g. franchised buses, commercial diesel vehicles and minibuses, etc.);
(d)	given that according to the web site of EPD, "the emission inventory of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region [compiled annually by EPD] covers five major air pollutants", but the data set out on the web site are figures of 2007, of the reasons why the data have not been updated by the authorities; when they will be updated; together with a breakdown of the relevant figures in the past five years by source of pollution (e.g. public electricity generation, road transport, navigation, civil aviation, combustion of other fuels, non-combustion sources of pollution and machines, etc.);
(e)	of the number of lung cancer and bladder cancer patients in Hong Kong in each of the past five years, and among them, the number of those who are new cases; whether it has compiled statistics on the number of cases involving cancer caused by diesel exhaust; if it has, of a breakdown by year and cancer; further, of the medical cost incurred for patients of these two types of cancer; and the respective numbers of deaths caused by these two types of cancer;
(f)	of the details, expenditure incurred, specific work schedule, current work progress and effectiveness of the various existing measures adopted by the authorities to reduce diesel exhaust and PM 2.5 at present; and
(g)	whether the authorities have planned to set up more AQMSs at present; if so, of the details and specific schedule, and whether the new AQMSs will be set up at locations closer to the road; if not, the reasons for that, and how the authorities can accurately and fully reflect the roadside air pollution situation?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

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

Some fellow workers in the social welfare sector ("fellow workers") have indicated that while the population in Hong Kong is ageing, family carers ("carers") of frail elderly shoulder an increasingly heavy responsibility, and the lack of comprehensive ancillary support for the elderly care policy of ageing in place introduced by the Government exerts enormous psychological pressure on the carers and degrades their quality of living. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	given that some fellow workers in district elderly community centres have reflected that because of the heavy responsibility in taking care of frail elderly, about 70% of the clients in the counselling cases are carers, whether it knows the number of carers in Hong Kong at present; if such data is not available, whether it will collect the data in respect of such carers in the future for reference; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b)	given that the intent of the authorities in introducing Day Respite Service for Elders ("Day Respite Service") is to support carers who provide long-term care for elderly people and share some of their responsibilities, as well as to give them an opportunity to take a short break when necessary, but there are only 109 service places of Day Respite Service in Hong Kong, of the average waiting time for such service and the numbers of persons waiting for such service in various districts at present; of the number of additional service places provided in each of the past five years; given that some elderly people have not been given Day Respite Service after waiting for an extended period of time, whether the authorities will provide counselling service for the carers suffering from inadequate rest and mental stress because they have to take care of these elderly people; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c)	given that the Residential Respite Service for Elders may also relieve the pressure on carers, of the numbers of persons waiting for Residential Respite Service for Elders in various districts at present; the average waiting time for such service in various districts; the numbers of additional service places provided in various districts in each of the past five years;
(d)	given that some fellow workers have reflected that the Carer Support Service introduced by the Social Welfare Department is ineffective in that when carers attend such skill training courses and participate in the group or social activities, the frail elderly are left at home unattended, whether the authorities will implement ancillary supporting measures in order to provide effective support service for carers; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e)	given that the Government provides home-based Enhanced Home and Community Care Service and Integrated Home Care Services for frail elderly, of the respective numbers of persons who applied for and received such home-based services in various districts in each of the past five years; in respect of the persons who received such home-based services last year, of the waiting time for such services (and set out the breakdown in the tables below)? Services Number of persons who applied for home-based services 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Home-based Enhanced Home and Community Care Service Home-based Integrated Home Care Services Services Number of persons who received home-based services 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Home-based Enhanced Home and Community Care Service Home-based Integrated Home Care Services Waiting time of persons who received home-based services last year Services Number of persons waited for one month or less waited for two months waited for three months waited for four months waited for five months or more Home-based Enhanced Home and Community Care Service Home-based Integrated Home Care Services

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*19. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)

Recently, a number of water main burst incidents occurred in Kowloon East, and on each occasion the traffic was seriously affected and the residents were inconvenienced. These incidents included the water main burst incident in Ping Shek Estate on 3 May this year, which led to the suspension of water supply to three blocks until 2:00 am on the following day before water supply was resumed; on 15 June this year, a water main burst occurred at the entrance of the Jordan Valley Swimming Pool, which led to the complete closure of a section of the traffic lane leading from Choi Ha Road in Ngau Tau Kok towards Choi Ying Estate; and on 21 May this year, an underground water main burst occurred near Rhythm Garden, which led to serious disruption to the traffic at Prince Edward Road. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective numbers of reports of water main bursts (including fresh water pipes and flush water pipes) in Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin districts received by the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") in each of the past three years; among such incidents, of the number of those caused by aged water mains or other aged parts;
(b)	of the details of the notification mechanism adopted by WSD with regard to the handling of water main burst incidents at present; of the average time required for maintenance staff to isolate the burst mains; whether the entire sections of the water mains concerned will be replaced subsequently; and
(c)	of the details and progress of the regular inspections of underground water mains, as well as the maintenance and replacement works of aged water mains carried out by the authorities at present?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Recently, the issue of land supply has aroused wide public concern, and the Government has proposed 25 sites for reclamation outside Victoria Harbour and conducted public consultation which has triggered much discussion in the community. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)	of the respective hectares of various land classes (residential, commercial, industrial, government, institution or community ("GIC"), open space, transportation, other urban or built-up land, and agriculture) in various districts, with a breakdown by the 18 District Council districts ("the 18 districts");
(b)	of the respective hectares of land lots of different land classes (residential, commercial, industrial, GIC, and open space) which are idle at present, with a breakdown by the 18 districts;
(c)	regarding the idle land lots mentioned in (b), of their average idling period so far; the respective hectares of land lots with an idling period of three years or more and five years or more, together with their distribution;
(d)	of the additional hectares of residential sites generated by the Government through land use alteration in each of the past three years, together with the districts in which they are located; and
(e)	in respect of sites with concrete development plans as well as local community and District Council support for their development and planning (e.g. the GIC site at the junction of Siu Sai Wan Road and Harmony Road), whether the authorities will set a development timeframe for those sites to avoid their being left idle for a prolonged period?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

* For written reply

III. Bills

Second Reading (Debates to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading (Bills originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)
1.	Companies Bill	:	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
	Other Public Officer to attend	:	Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
	(i) Hon Paul CHAN to move a Committee stage amendment (The amendment was issued on 29 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)998/11-12) (ii) Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 25 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)974/11-12)
2.	Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2010	:	The Secretary for Justice
	The Secretary for Justice to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 6 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)874/11-12)
3.	Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2011	:	Secretary for Security
	(i) Secretary for Security to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 5 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)869/11-12) (ii) Dr Hon Margaret NG to move a Committee stage amendment (The amendment was issued on 11 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)902/11-12)
4.	Buildings Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2011	:	Secretary for Development
	Secretary for Development to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 6 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)875/11-12)
5.	Trade Descriptions (Unfair Trade Practices) (Amendment) Bill 2012	:	Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
	(i) Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 19 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)939/11-12) (ii) Hon Vincent FANG to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 21 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)954/11-12)
6.	Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2012	:	The Secretary for Justice
	The Secretary for Justice to move Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 5 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)873/11-12)
(Bill scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)
7.	Supplementary Appropriation (2011-2012) Bill	:	Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

IV. Motions

(Motions originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)
1.	Proposed resolution under Article 73(7) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and section 7A of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484) The Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion: Resolved that the following appointments be endorsed — (a) the appointment of the Honourable Mr. Justice Robert Tang Ching as a permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal pursuant to section 7 of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484) (the Ordinance); (b) the appointment of the Honourable Mr. Justice Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary as a non-permanent Hong Kong judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal pursuant to section 8 of the Ordinance; and (c) the appointment of the Right Honourable The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers as a judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal from another common law jurisdiction pursuant to section 9 of the Ordinance.
2.	Proposed resolution under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs to move the motion in Appendix I.
	(The motion was also issued on 10 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)735/11-12)
	(i) Hon Albert CHAN and Hon Albert HO to move amendments to the proposed resolution. (The amendments were issued on 19 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)935/11-12) (ii) The Chief Secretary for Administration to move amendments to the proposed resolution. (The amendments were issued on 19 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)944/11-12)
3.	Proposed resolution under the Legal Aid Ordinance Secretary for Home Affairs to move the motion in Appendix IA.
	(The motion was also issued on 20 April 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 662/11-12)
4.	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)
5.	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)
6.	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)
7.	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)
8.	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)
9.	Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance Secretary for Food and Health to move the following motion: Resolved that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 22 May 2012, be approved — (a) the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2012; and (b) the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2012. (The two Amendment Regulations are in Appendices VII and VIII and were also issued on 24 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)805/11-12)
10.	Proposed resolution under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move the motion in Appendix IX.
	(The motion was also issued on 28 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)822/11-12)
11.	Proposed resolution under the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move the motion in Appendix X.
	(The motion was also issued on 28 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)822/11-12)
12.	Proposed resolution under the Occupational Deafness (Compensation) Ordinance Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move the motion in Appendix XI.
	(The motion was also issued on 28 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)822/11-12)
13.	Proposed resolution under the Buildings Ordinance Secretary for Development to move the motion in Appendix XII.
	(The motion was also issued on 25 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)812/11-12)
14.	Proposed resolution under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move the following motion: Resolved that the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 5) Notice 2012, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 8 May 2012, be approved.
	(The Notice is in Appendix XIII and was also issued on 10 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)743/11-12)
15.	Proposed resolution under the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move the motion in Appendix XIV.
	(The motion was also issued on 31 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)847/11-12)
16.	Proposed resolution under the Construction Industry Council Ordinance Secretary for Development to move the motion in Appendix XV.
	(The motion was also issued on 31 May 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)846/11-12)
17.	Proposed resolution under the Import and Export Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move the motion in Appendix XVI.
	(The motion was also issued on 26 June 2012 under LC Paper No. CB(3)980/11-12)

V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments

(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

(Member's motion originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)
1.	Proposed resolution under Article 75 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Hon TAM Yiu-chung to move the following motion: Resolved that the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region be amended as set out in the Schedule on the day when the 2012-2013 session of the Council begins. Schedule Amendments to Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 1. Rule 23 amended (question time) (1) Rule 23(2) – Repeal "20" Substitute "23". (2) Rule 23(3) – Repeal "6" Substitute "7".
(Member's motion scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)
2.	Proposed resolution under Article 159 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Hon James TO to move the following motion: RESOLVED that this Council consents to forwarding the following amendments to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China to the delegation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the National People's Congress, for submission to the National People's Congress - "Article 1 Article 24(2)(1) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China which provides that "(1) Chinese citizens born in Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;" shall be amended as: "(1) Chinese citizens born in Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, during which either one or both of their parents were lawfully residing in Hong Kong;"." Public Officers to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary for Security
(Members' motions originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)
3.	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.
4.	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 Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary for Development Secretary for Education
5.	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 Transport and Housing Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Education
6.	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
7.	Enhancing the accountability of charities and complying with the best practices in corporate governance Hon Paul CHAN to move the following motion: (Translation) That the Charities Sub-committee under the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong is still collating public submissions after completing its public consultation on the consultation paper on charities in end October last year, and at present, except for those charities that are incorporated as companies limited by guarantee with the Company Registry whose financial statements are accessible by the public in the Company Registry, the public has no way to know about the governance and financial information of all other charities, such as those established by way of trust; moreover, currently, except for section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, in which 'charitable purpose' is defined for the purpose of taxation, there is no other legislation regulating charities and how they use the donations, nor does the Administration have the figures regarding charities established; over the past few years, some suspected cases of charities with strange fund-raising practices, unclear accounts, indiscriminate investments and even transfer of surpluses have been uncovered in society, making the public worry that donations to charities may not be serving charitable purposes; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously release to the public the findings of the public consultation on the consultation paper on charities, and before statutory regulation is introduced, consider enhancing the transparency and accountability of charities by adopting measures such as encouraging them to comply with the best practices in corporate governance, strengthen their financial management, and disclose their financial information on a regular basis; at the same time, the Government should expeditiously implement the statutory regulatory proposals in the consultation paper on charities which are generally agreed by the community. Amendments to the motion (i) Hon James TO to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add ", as" after "That"; to add "many community organizations and members of the public have expressed worry that the activities of charities with different views may be restricted;" after "last year,"; to add ", as well as maintain the autonomy of their organizations" after "basis"; to delete "expeditiously implement" after "the Government should" and substitute with "carefully consider all"; and to delete "which are generally agreed by the community" immediately before the full stop. (ii) Hon Alan LEONG to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add ", given that" after "That"; to delete "before statutory regulation is introduced, consider enhancing the transparency and accountability of charities by adopting measures such as encouraging them" after "on charities, and" and substitute with "encourage charities"; to delete "," after "management"; to add ", so as to enhance their transparency and accountability" after "basis"; and to delete "should expeditiously implement the statutory regulatory proposals in the consultation paper on charities which are generally agreed by the community" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "must ensure that human rights and advocacy of policies are included as charitable purposes, and should also ensure that charities can maintain autonomy and are free from any political interference". (iii) Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add "besides, some people worry that the power of the charity commission mentioned in the consultation paper on charities is too great, which may lead to self-censorship on the part of charities dedicated to empowering the socially disadvantaged and charities which are concerned about such sensitive issues as human rights; at the same time, some social workers are concerned about a proposal in the consultation paper on charities that 'an activity to preserve an existing piece of legislation, where a charity opposes its being repealed or amended, would fall under "political activity"', not to be regarded as dedicated to a charitable purpose, and the proposal runs counter to clause 50 of the Code of Practice for Registered Social Workers, which provides that 'Social workers recognise the need to advocate changes in the formulation of policies and legislation to improve social conditions, to promote social justice and general welfare of the society. Social workers also recognise the need to contribute to the implementation of policies for human welfare'; they consider that the proposal will make social workers of charities act against professional ethics, and render organizations within the definition of 'charity' unable to employ professional social workers any more;" after "charitable purposes;"; to add ": (a)" after "the Government to"; to delete ", and" after "the public consultation on the consultation paper on charities" and substitute with "; (b)"; to add "first" after "introduced,"; to delete "at the same time, the Government should" after "basis;" and substitute with "(c) motivate the public to continue to hold discussions on monitoring charities and their fund-raising practices, and listen to the views of the public and stakeholders; and (d)"; and to add ", and prudently handle the controversial items in the paper, so as to ensure that while undesirable fund-raising practices are effectively monitored, charities dedicated to empowering the socially disadvantaged and charities which are concerned about such sensitive issues as human rights will not be subject to political vetting" immediately before the full stop. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs
8.	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
9.	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
10.	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
11.	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
12.	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
13.	Report of the Subcommittee on Retirement Protection Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee on Retirement Protection. Public Officers to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
14.	Reviewing the definition of and the support measures for small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-enterprises Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to move the following motion: (Translation) That, as the European debt crisis is getting worse recently, which may affect the European and even the global economies, coupled with the fact that the United States economy has yet to bottom out and the Mainland economic growth is slowing down, Hong Kong as a small and open economy can hardly remain unaffected, with its export and re-export trades bearing the brunt; internally, the continuous soaring of property prices also poses potential threats to Hong Kong's economy and society; amid the many uncertainties and crises, it is expected that small and medium-sized enterprises ('SMEs') in Hong Kong will face an unstable and difficult business environment; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to plan ahead and roll out appropriate contingency measures to assist SMEs in coping with the challenges and riding out the plight; besides, the Government should review the current definition of SMEs, draw up afresh the definitions of SMEs and micro-enterprises having regard to the actual market conditions with a view to formulating dedicated support policies and measures which are geared to their actual needs, study introducing different levels of profit tax rates for micro-enterprises, SMEs and large enterprises, and set a tax rate lower than the existing level and offer more tax concessions for the former two, so as to support their sustainable operation and healthy development. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
15.	Report of the Subcommittee Ir Dr Hon Raymond HO to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee to Study Issues Arising from Lehman Brothers-related Minibonds and Structured Financial Products. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
16.	Maintaining a business-friendly environment in Hong Kong Hon Jeffrey LAM to move the following motion: (Translation) That, given the recent instability of the global economic environment, the worsening trend of the European debt crisis and the slackening of the Mainland's economic development, and under the situation of the ongoing transition from the current-term Government to the next-term Government in Hong Kong, this Council urges that: (a) the Administration should closely monitor the external economic situation and devise contingency plans for coping with external impact, so as to maintain the stability of Hong Kong's investment market and overall economy as well as to avoid any external impact on Hong Kong's economy at the time of governmental transition; (b) given that Hong Kong's economic outlook in the second half of this year is not optimistic, and even the current-term Financial Secretary has foretold that an economic growth of 3% cannot be maintained, the current-term Government should formulate corresponding measures straddling the transition to the next-term Government for coping with Hong Kong's economic slowdown and fluctuations in the property market; and (c) the next-term Government should examine the impact of such policies as the minimum wage and those in the Competition Bill, etc., on the local economy as well as on small and medium-sized enterprises at large, so as to protect the business-friendly environment in Hong Kong and raise Hong Kong's economic competitiveness. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
17.	Improving public healthcare services Hon CHAN Kam-lam to move the following motion: (Translation) That the Government intends to implement the Health Protection Scheme for addressing the issue of public healthcare financing and reforming public healthcare services; however, with population ageing and the continuous increase in demand for primary healthcare services, public healthcare services are unable to sustain quality, and the mode of service delivery also fails to develop in the direction of a 'person-centred and community-based' approach; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to comprehensively improve public healthcare services, and the relevant measures should include: (a) to enhance the hardware facilities of public hospitals, including reviewing the demand for specialist services in the hospitals of various clusters, acquiring more medical equipment, and expediting the expansion of United Christian Hospital as well as the redevelopment of Queen Mary Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital, so as to cope with the demand arising from changes in population structure; (b) in response to the fact that babies born to 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women' seeking healthcare services in Hong Kong have led to an increasing demand for hospital services in the New Territories clusters, the authorities should allocate more resources for improving the services of maternal and child health centres as well as paediatrics; (c) to develop public Chinese medicine services, expeditiously build public Chinese medicine out-patient clinics, increase the daily service quotas in public Chinese medicine clinics, and study introducing Chinese medicine in-patient services and conjoint Chinese medicine and Western medicine consultations; (d) to draw up a timetable for establishing community health centres in the 18 districts of Hong Kong; (e) to improve the existing public general out-patient services, including increasing daily consultation quotas, introducing overnight out-patient services, and setting up a 'manned' consultation booking hotline for the convenience of the elderly; (f) to draw up planning on long-term healthcare service demand and personnel training, and adopt short-term measures to tackle the existing problem of healthcare manpower shortage; (g) to improve public dental services, including introducing out-patient dental services for the elderly, and extending the Student Dental Service to secondary students, etc.; and (h) to design specific services geared to the healthcare needs of different groups of people in society, including lowering the eligible age for elderly healthcare vouchers to 65 and increasing the amount of subsidy to $1,000; increase the service quotas in elderly health centres and women health centres; introduce a cervical cancer vaccination programme and a breast cancer screening programme for the suitable women; subsidize high risk groups to take fecal occult blood tests regularly for the prevention of colon cancer; speed up the updating of the types of vaccines incorporated under the Childhood Immunization Programme; and study the introduction of 'child healthcare vouchers'. Amendments to the motion (i) Dr Hon Joseph LEE to move the following amendment: (Translation) To delete "the Government intends to implement the Health Protection Scheme for addressing the issue of public healthcare financing and reforming public healthcare services; however" after "That"; to delete "in the New Territories clusters" after "hospital services"; to delete "and" after "etc.;"; and to add "; (i) to expeditiously set a nurse-patient ratio to enhance the quality of nursing care and facilitate long-term nursing manpower planning; (j) to review the manpower establishment of allied health staff and assess manpower needs based on service demand, so as to shorten patients' waiting time and enhance the quality of allied health service; (k) to provide referral services by optometrists and strengthen the role of optometrists in primary healthcare services at the community level, so that members of the public can receive early treatment to avoid deterioration of conditions due to delay; and (l) regarding the continuously rising demand for chiropractic services nowadays, to introduce chiropractic services under the public healthcare system, so as to provide members of the public with an additional choice and shorten the existing waiting time for the services of relevant departments" immediately before the full stop. (ii) Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add "(a) to review the resource and manpower allocation mechanism of the Hospital Authority ('HA'), so as to improve public hospital services; (b) to set up an independent audit department for HA, so as to ensure a more effective distribution of public healthcare resources among the various service items to help patients in need; (c) to separate the roles of purchaser and provider of public healthcare services, so that resources can be utilized in a more cost-effective manner; (d) to introduce a 'more work, more pay' working-hour system in HA, so as to retain healthcare personnel and address the problem of healthcare manpower wastage;" after "include:"; 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)"; and to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(l)". Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health
18.	Increasing land supply in Hong Kong and perfecting the land reserve system Ir Dr Hon Raymond HO to move the following motion: (Translation) That Hong Kong is small but densely populated with the land falling short of the demand, and property prices have persistently remained at high levels; in order to resolve the problem of high property prices at root, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously increase land supply through different means, such as reclamation, rock cavern development, old district redevelopment, change of land use, land resumption and reusing former quarry sites, etc.; at the same time, the Government should also perfect the existing land reserve system to appropriately perform the function of adjusting land supply. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Development
19.	Vote of no confidence in the President of the Legislative Council Hon WONG Yuk-man to move the following motion: (Translation) That, regarding the decision of the President of the Legislative Council, Mr Jasper TSANG, to curtail the debate during the Committee stage of the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012 on 17 May this year, this Council has no confidence in the President of the Legislative Council, Mr Jasper TSANG.
20.	Addressing the problem of small houses and village houses in the New Territories Hon LEE Wing-tat to move the following motion: (Translation) That it has been about 40 years since the implementation of the New Territories small house policy ('small house policy') in December 1972, and the dwindling village land in the New Territories is unable to meet the demand for small houses, thus making the sustainability of the small house policy questionable; at the same time, the problem of unauthorized building works in the New Territories village houses is extensive and serious; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously review the small house policy for resolving the problem of 'limited land supply but unlimited small house concessionary rights', and to review and strictly implement the enforcement policy on unauthorized building works of village houses in the New Territories, so as to align the respective enforcement policy on unauthorized building works in the urban areas with that of the New Territories for the protection of public safety. Amendment to the motion Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to move the following amendment: (Translation) To add "the Government conducted a massive resumption of land from indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories in the 1960s and 1970s to build public facilities such as public rental housing, schools, hospitals and reservoirs, etc. for developing new towns in the New Territories;" after "That"; to delete "implementation" after "40 years since the" and substitute with "introduction"; to delete "in December 1972" after "('small house policy')" and substitute with "to address the housing problem of the affected indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories at that time; after the reunification, Article 40 of the Basic Law stipulates that '(t)he lawful traditional rights and interests of the indigenous inhabitants of the "New Territories" shall be protected by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region';"; to delete "village" after "unauthorized building works in the New Territories" and substitute with "small"; to delete "serious" after "is extensive and" and substitute with "complex"; to delete "problem of 'limited land supply but unlimited small house concessionary rights'" after "resolving the" and substitute with "housing problem of indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories, to expeditiously clarify the legal disputes over the height and floor area restrictions for the New Territories village houses built before the implementation of the small house policy"; and to delete "on unauthorized building works of village" after "enforcement policy" and substitute with "of categorisation for control and management as well as prioritisation for progressive enforcement on unauthorized building works of small". Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Development
(Members' motions scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)
21.	Report of the Subcommittee on Improving Barrier Free Access and Facilities for Persons with Disabilities Hon WONG Sing-chi to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee on Improving Barrier Free Access and Facilities for Persons with Disabilities. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
22.	Actively implementing the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement and the relevant new measures to promote the development of new industries in Hong Kong Dr Hon Samson TAM to move the following motion: (Translation) That, since the signing of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ('CEPA'), both sides have agreed to strengthen co-operation in the following 10 areas, namely: (1) customs clearance facilitation; (2) commodity inspection and quarantine, food safety, quality and standardization; (3) co-operation of small and medium-sized enterprises; (4) co-operation in industries; (5) electronic business; (6) trade and investment promotion; (7) transparency in laws and regulations; (8) protection of intellectual property; (9) co-operation in branding; and (10) co-operation in education; however, the actual situation is that quite a number of small and medium-sized enterprises consider that the co-operation in the aforesaid areas is still at the policy discussion stage and fails to provide any concrete assistance; in this connection, this Council urges the SAR Government to expeditiously review the current situation of implementing CEPA, give an account of the difficulties involved during the implementation process, explore adjustments to the implementation framework, enhance accountability, and at the same time adopt more concrete actions and complementary policies for actively implementing CEPA and the relevant new measures, so as to provide greater support to small and medium-sized enterprises and promote the development of new industries in Hong Kong. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
(Member's motion originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)
23.	Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following two issues: (a) 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 (raised by Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming); and (b) the suicide of LI Wangyang (raised by Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung). Public Officers to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Clerk to the Legislative Council