A 12/13-26
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 8 May 2013 at 11:00 am
IA. Presentation of Petition
Hon Dennis KWOK and Hon Cyd HO to present a petition (Appendix IA).
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Paper
| No. 92 | - | Early Retirement Ex-gratia Payment Fund for Aided Secondary School Teachers
Financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2012 | |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education) | |||
II. Questions for Written Replies
1. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
The contents of Liberal Studies ("LS") curriculum include the theme of "rule of law and socio-political participation", which aims to encourage students to discuss Hong Kong people's participation in socio-political affairs. An organization which supports in principle the "Occupy Central" Campaign has recently compiled a teaching kit for use by LS teachers for explaining the Campaign to their students. However, it has been reported that only one page of the 39-page teaching kit, which is less than 3% of the total volume of the kit, contains materials that lead students to discuss different views. Some teachers have pointed out that the teaching kit shows an obvious political orientation, and it lacks elements of diversification and critical thinking which should be included in LS teaching materials. On the other hand, under section 98(2) of the Education Regulations (Cap. 279 sub. leg. A), the Permanent Secretary of the Education Bureau may give directions in writing or other guidance to the management authority of any school as to the dissemination of information or expression of opinion of a political nature in that school, so as to ensure that the information or opinion is unbiased. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has assessed if the aforesaid teaching kit meets the requirement of the Curriculum and Assessment Guide for Liberal Studies, which is recommended for use by the Education Bureau, i.e. "helping each student to respect pluralism of cultures and views, and be a critical, reflective and independent thinker", and hence is not biased political information; if the assessment results are in the negative, whether the authorities have given any directions in writing or other guidance to the management authority of schools on the use of the teaching kit; (b) whether any measures are in place to prevent teaching materials with obvious political orientations from becoming promotional materials for advancing political movements in schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (c) whether it has given any guidance or formulated any measures according to the aforesaid provision to ensure that students will not be influenced by biased political propaganda in LS lessons; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
I have often received complaints from members of the bar industry that members of the public often wrongly put the blame on them for the nuisance caused by unlicensed bars, which is unfair to them. They have pointed out that unlicensed bars have become the hotbed for serious criminal activities such as selling liquor without a licence, drug trafficking, drug abuse and substance abuse. However, as the Police need to apply for warrants before they may enter unlicensed bars operated in private premises to conduct investigation, the successful rate in cracking down on the unlicensed bars has been extremely low. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have estimated the current number of unlicensed bars in Hong Kong; if they have, of the number, together with a breakdown by district; if not, whether they will do so in order to facilitate the planning of combat operations; (b) of the respective numbers of reports received about and combat operations mounted against unlicensed bar operations by the Police, as well as the respective numbers of people arrested in those operations and prosecuted subsequently, in each of the past three years; (c) whether the authorities have conducted studies to see if the number of unlicensed bars has been rising continuously and the situation is aggravating; if the findings of the studies are in the affirmative, of the details and the reasons for that; if the authorities have not conducted such studies, whether they will do so in order to find an appropriate solution to the problem; (d) of the policies and measures put in place by the authorities to combat the operation of unlicensed bars; and (e) whether the Police will strengthen their intelligence work focusing on unlicensed bars, including enhancing the cooperation and liaison with social workers who counsel young people or with members of the bar industry, and holding regular meetings with them, so as to facilitate communication and intelligence gathering; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
The Government launched the Government Bond Programme ("Bond Programme") in 2009 and issued two rounds of inflation-linked retail bonds ("iBond") under the Bond Programme, with a view to promoting the development of the retail bond market in Hong Kong and providing an investment alternative to Hong Kong residents in the high inflation environment. The Government is at present preparing to re-issue iBond of up to HK$10 billion. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective amounts of retail and institutional bonds issued in the past four years and their ratios in the issued amounts of the Bond Programme, as well as the respective numbers of investors successfully subscribing for the bonds; (b) whether it has conducted an analysis of the background of the investors who subscribed for the aforesaid bonds; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it has put in place policies to broaden the base of investors in bond subscription; (c) of the measures in place to increase the liquidity of government bonds in the secondary market; (d) whether it has planned to issue Renminbi-denominated bonds or bonds denominated in other foreign currencies; if it has, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (e) given that the sums received from issuance of bonds by the Government must be credited to the Bond Fund, and that the Bond Fund is placed with the Exchange Fund for investment purposes, of the respective annual returns, rates of return and administrative fees of these investments in the past three years, and the total amount of interests paid by the Government in respect of the various types of government bonds; and (f) whether the authorities have assessed if the Bond Programme has affected the quantities of bonds issued by private institutions, and if it has achieved its objectives of assisting to promote the development of the retail bond market in Hong Kong and providing an investment alternative to Hong Kong residents; if they have, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
A Number 4 alarm fire broke out at South Horizons, Ap Lei Chau on 11 April this year. It has been reported that the firefighting efforts encountered difficulties, including fire appliances being unable to enter the access roads in the vicinity of the fire scene, insufficient water pressure from the building's fire hydrants, as well as some residents not hearing the alarm bells ring. Although the Fire Services Department clarified on the following day that the fire appliances had not been obstructed when entering the emergency vehicular access ("EVA") to the fire scene, some members of the public still expressed concern about the potential fire hazards in relation to the narrow EVA to the building and the inadequate maintenance of fire service installations and equipment, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the numbers of buildings and housing estates in Hong Kong which do not have a six-metre wide EVA as specified by the Building Authority under the Building (Planning) Regulations (Cap. 123 sub. leg. F); if such figures are not available, whether it will consider conducting a comprehensive survey; (b) as it has been reported that buildings completed before the commencement of the requirement in (a) (i.e. 2004) are not subject to the regulation by the provision concerned, whether the Government will consider requiring the buildings and housing estates completed before 2004 to review their designs to see if they comply with the aforesaid requirement, and assisting the buildings and housing estates concerned in putting forward comprehensive plans for improvement; and (c) as it has been reported that although annual and quarterly inspections of the fire service equipment at South Horizons had been conducted by the fire service installation contractor in July last year and on the day before the fire respectively, malfunctioning still occurred in the form of insufficient water pressure from the fire hydrants and failure of the alarm bells to ring, whether the Government will (i) set up an expert group to examine in depth the causes of the malfunctioning of such fire service equipment, (ii) require a comprehensive inspection to be conducted immediately of the fire service equipment in the buildings in Hong Kong, and (iii) consider prescribing requirements on strengthening the maintenance of such equipment, in order to ensure that the equipment can function in the event of fire?
5. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
In its Global Financial Stability Report published on 11 April this year, the International Monetary Fund ("IMF") points out that the bold policies introduced by the central banks of various countries after the financial turmoil in 2008 have been conducive to stabilizing their markets in the short run, but the financial risks will increase the longer those policies are in place, and such risks may shift to other non-bank financial realms such as "shadow banks", pension funds and insurance companies. IMF also recommends that those responsible for monitoring the system-wide risks on non-bank financial institutions should improve their data collection. On the other hand, banks, financial institutions other than authorized institutions, funds companies and insurance companies in Hong Kong are currently regulated by different organizations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has set up any organization to collect and analyze all relevant data on the risks concerning the financial system; if it has, of the details of its data analyses and the outcome of its assessment of the composite financial risks at the present stage; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
6. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
At present, quite a number of sites have been zoned "Comprehensive Development Area" ("CDA") for years, but up till now, they have yet to be developed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of CDA sites newly zoned and in aggregate in each of the years from 2007-2008 to 2012-2013, broken down by region (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories) and their current leasing status (i.e. unleased government land, land which has been/will soon be leased to quasi-government bodies, land which has been leased to the private sector, and others); the total area of such sites and their total permitted floor area for residential use; (b) among the sites mentioned in (a), of the respective numbers and total areas of those with developments completed, in progress and pending; the overall floor area provided for residential use by those sites with developments completed; among those sites with developments pending, the respective numbers of those with and without approved master layout plans, as well as those which are originally zoned for other uses; (c) among the CDA sites with developments pending at present, of the number of those having been zoned for such use for six years or more, as well as the total area of such sites and the reasons for them not being developed to date; (d) of the anticipated number of sites to be zoned CDA in 2013-2014, the total area of such sites and their total permitted floor area for residential use; and (e) whether it has regularly reviewed the implementation and effectiveness of its land development policy of zoning land as CDA; if it has, of the details and results of the review; if not, the reasons for that and whether it will conduct such a review?
7. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)
According to the reply of the Government on 24 April this year to my question on the Youth Pre-employment Training Programme and Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme ("the Scheme") under the Labour Department ("LD"), LD paid a total of over $9.8 million of training course fees to the New Territories Association Retraining Centre ("NTARC") in the past three Programme Years. Such amount was far higher than the course fees LD paid to some traditional youth service organizations, e.g. The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups ("HKFYG") and Caritas Hong Kong ("Caritas"). Quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me that LD has showed favouritism towards pro-China organizations in the appointment of training bodies as it procured a great number of training courses from such organizations. On the other hand, some front-line social workers who are case managers of the Scheme's training courses have complained to me that LD's monitoring of the Scheme is not as stringent as what the Government has said. When problems of the courses arise, LD very often allows the training bodies concerned to shift the blame to their front-line social workers without verifying the facts, and has not held the persons-in-charge and supervisors of such training bodies responsible. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective total numbers of training courses under the Scheme offered by NTARC, HKFYG and Caritas in the past three Programme Years (set out the details in the table below); Name of training body Training course Name Date Total number of hours planned Total number of hours actually provided Amount of funding (b) whether LD had conducted inspections on the courses offered by the three training bodies mentioned in (a) in the past three Programme Years; if so, of the total number of courses inspected, and set out by training body the names of the courses inspected, commencement date of such courses and mode of inspection (e.g. visits with advance notice, surprise visit and other formats); if it had not conducted inspections, of the reasons for that; (c) as the Government has indicated that since the 2009-2010 Programme Year, LD has issued a total of nine written advice/warnings to five training bodies concerning breaches detected in the courses, of the related details (set out in the table below details such as the names of the five training bodies, names of the courses concerned, breaches involved and the form of penalty imposed on the training bodies concerned);
Name of training body Course name Breaches Form of penalty imposed Date of imposing penalty Numbers of supervisors and social workers involved Whether the training body has been appointed again to offer training courses afterwards (Yes/No) 1 ___supervisor(s)
___social worker(s)2 3 4 5 (d) whether LD has conducted in-depth investigation into each of the cases (including gathering information from various persons concerned) before issuing advice/warnings to the five training bodies mentioned in (c); if it has, of the approach of its investigation; if not, whether LD's officers have made their judgement merely on the basis of the reports submitted by the training bodies concerned and issued such advice/warnings without conducting any investigation; (e) whether the course fees paid to the training bodies, as mentioned in the Government's reply to the aforesaid question, included case management service fees and administrative fees for handling trainees' applications for training allowances; if so, of the respective amounts of these two categories of fees paid by LD to the three training bodies mentioned in (a) in the past three Programme Years; (f) of the number of trainees trained by each training body appointed by LD in each of the past three Programme Years;
Name of training body Number of trainees trained in the Programme Year 2009-2010
(attendance)2010-2011
(attendance)2011-2012
(attendance)(g) of the average amount of fees paid by LD to the training bodies for each trainee for the "job-search and interpersonal skills" course of the Scheme in each of the past three Programme Years; (h) of the average number of hours of case management service provided to each trainee under the Scheme and the average hourly fee paid by LD for each trainee for such service in the past three Programme Years; (i) whether LD had uncovered any false information on the training courses submitted by the training bodies of the Scheme or their staff in the past three Programme Years; if so, of the names of the training bodies concerned and the numbers of supervisors and social workers involved; whether LD had immediately stopped payments to the training bodies concerned for the course fees after uncovering the aforesaid problem; and (j) given that the Government has indicated in its reply to the aforesaid question that, according to LD's requirements, the training bodies are required to submit the attendance records online within one week after the completion of the training course, and other relevant reports (including the summary of course evaluation questionnaires and the original course evaluation questionnaires completed by the trainees, etc.) within two weeks after the completion of the training course, whether each of the reports submitted by the training bodies must be verified by the persons-in-charge or the supervisors responsible before submission; of the time allowed for LD to verify the information after receiving the reports, and whether LD has stringently vetted each and every report received to ensure authenticity of the information; of the current mechanism put in place by LD for penalizing the persons-in-charge or supervisors of the training bodies which have submitted reports with inaccurate information?
8. Hon Gary FAN to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council of a breakdown, by the following value brackets, of the numbers and total values of the transactions of private residential properties in each of the past four years and from January to March this year (set out separately in tables of the same format as the following table):
(a) below $4 million; (b) from $4 million to $8 million; (c) from over $8 million to $20 million; and (d) over $20 million?
Year Number of transactions Total value of transactions Residential properties acquired by
non-Hong Kong permanent residentsResidential properties acquired in the name of a company Number of transactions Total value of transactions Number of transactions Total value of transactions 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
(as at end of March)
9. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
The Government announced in this year's Policy Address the launch of the "Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign" to mobilize the public as well as the industrial and commercial sectors to reduce food waste. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the amount of food waste in Hong Kong in the past five years; the respective amounts of such food waste originating from households ("household food waste") and from commerce and industry ("business food waste"), as well their respective percentages in the total amount of municipal solid waste in Hong Kong; (b) of the respective amounts of household food waste and business food waste recycled in Hong Kong and their percentages in the total amounts of such food waste, in the past five years; (c) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective numbers of public housing estates ("PHEs"), Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") estates and private housing estates implementing food waste recycling schemes in each of the past five years; if so, of the details of such schemes, including the numbers of participating households and the percentage of such households in the total number of households in Hong Kong, the average amount of food waste collected from each household every year, as well as the outlets for the recycled food waste; whether the authorities have assessed the effectiveness of the schemes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether the authorities have any plan to provide more food waste recycling facilities in PHEs, HOS estates and private housing estates, and to set up food waste collection points in the community to enhance the food waste recycling network, with a view to raising both the household participation rate and the amount of household food waste collected; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities have studied the feasibility of extending the "Community Garden Programme" to make use of the organic fertilizers converted from the food waste collected in the community; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) whether the authorities have considered following the example of South Korea to select some PHEs on a pilot basis for installing self-service food waste recycling machines to promote recycling of household food waste, and to collect data and accumulate experience for the waste charging scheme to be implemented in future, with a view to facilitating the formulation of relevant waste reduction policies; (f) whether it knows the number of food waste recycling schemes launched for the industrial and commercial sectors by the Government or non-governmental organizations in the past five years; the details of such schemes, including the average amount of food waste recycled each year and the outlets for the recycled food waste; of the policies put in place by the authorities targeting at reducing business food waste, as well as the anticipated results of such policies; and (g) of the implementation timetable of Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign; and the objective and anticipated results of the relevant activities?
10. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask:
Article 63 of the Basic Law provides that "[t]he Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall control criminal prosecutions, free from any interference". Against this constitutional background, the Securities and Futures Commission ("the Commission") is rather unique in being empowered, under section 388 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) ("the Ordinance"), to make prosecution decisions and to initiate prosecution "in its own name" for an offence under any of the relevant provisions in the Ordinance which is triable summarily before a magistrate. Also, the Commission is empowered, under sections 252 and 252A of the Ordinance, to "institute proceedings" before the Market Misconduct Tribunal upon obtaining the consent of the Secretary for Justice ("SJ"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the role of the Department of Justice ("DoJ") in the Commission's process for making prosecution decisions under section 388 of the Ordinance, including (i) what actual oversight DoJ has over the process, (ii) whether DoJ has reviewed the Commission's internal guidelines (if any) and/or past prosecution decisions to ensure that they are in line with the DoJ's own guidelines on making prosecution decisions, and (iii) how differences in opinion between DoJ and the Commission are to be resolved; (b) of the statistics on the Commission's seeking SJ's consent to institute proceedings under section 252 of the Ordinance in the past three years, including (i) the total number of requests made, (ii) the number of cases for which consent had been given, and (iii) the number of those for which consent had not been given (together with the reasons for refusal); and (c) whether the Government has reviewed the current arrangement for endeavouring to adhere to the basic principle of a separation and independent exercise of investigation powers from prosecution powers, including whether the Government has plans to introduce legislation or enhance its existing policies to ensure that, in line with the constitutional requirement of Article 63 of the Basic Law, DoJ retains the ultimate control over all criminal prosecutions in Hong Kong; if it has, of the outcome and the details of the review; if not, the reasons for that?
11. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)
The Government launched the "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign ("the Campaign") on 23 April and will stage more than 480 events and activities in various districts throughout the territory over the next eight months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the amount of money to be allocated by each policy bureau/department participating in the Campaign, from its approved estimates of expenditure, for implementing the Campaign (and set out the amount and usage of each expenditure item); (b) whether various policy bureaux/departments (in particular, the Information Services Department which is the Secretariat of the Campaign) have engaged public relations or design companies for the Campaign; if so, of the names of the companies engaged and the amounts involved; (c) of the publicity materials, apart from file folders, badges and Octopus Card holders, to be produced by the Government for the Campaign; the parties responsible for designing various types of publicity materials and the design fees involved; the quantity to be produced and the estimated expenditure for each type of publicity materials; the channels through which the Government will distribute those publicity materials; (d) of the amount of expenditure incurred and the number of government employees deployed for the launch ceremony held on 23 April this year; (e) of the amount of expenditure incurred and the manpower deployed for the three-day district cleansing operations which started on 26 April this year; (f) since the Government will distribute gift packs to 2 000 needy families on the Hong Kong Positive Energy Day to be held on 26 May this year, of the department(s) responsible for the activity, the name of the manufacturer of those gift packs and the amount of expenditure involved, the distribution channels as well as the organizations assisting in the distribution of the gift packs; (g) how the Government evaluated, when preparing for the Campaign, whether the activities proposed by partner organizations could tie in with the theme and objectives of the Campaign; who was/were responsible for such evaluation and the criteria based on which the decisions were made; whether activities involving commercial elements could be included in the Campaign; (h) whether the Government had evaluated, when it approved the inclusion of the "Eco-Quality Home" activity organized by The Hongkong Electric Company Limited ("HKE") in the Campaign, if commercial elements would be involved in the activity (which includes providing market information of high energy efficiency products and visiting HKE's Electric Appliances Display Centre, etc.), and if such activity could tie in with the nature and theme of the Campaign; and (i) whether the Government had evaluated, when it approved the inclusion of activities involving dinner gatherings (e.g. "Gorgeous Stage Tonight") in the Campaign, if such activities could tie in with the theme of the Campaign?
12. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask:
It was reported that on 27 October 2012, fire appliances and ambulances could not get to a fire scene in Wing Hing Wai, Yuen Long because the walls of some village houses in that village had encroached onto the road. It has also been reported that this has become a common, systemic and growing problem in the village environs due to the prevailing small house policy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) how many New Territories Exempted Houses (i.e. small houses) ("NTEHs") are at present not provided with any emergency vehicular access ("EVA"); (b) how many NTEHs are expected to have no EVA once all lands zoned for "Village Type Developments" are utilized under the prevailing small house policy; (c) whether and how the authorities enforce the implementation of fire safety alternatives in NTEHs without EVA after the issue of certificates of compliance in respect of such NTEHs; if enforcement actions are not taken, of the reasons for that; whether the authorities have assessed if the existing fire safety alternatives are adequate for such NTEHs; if such an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome; (d) whether and how the authorities enforce the implementation of fire safety alternatives in NTEHs which are not provided with any vehicular access; if enforcement actions are not taken, of the reasons for that; whether the authorities have assessed if the existing fire safety alternatives are adequate for such NTEHs; if such an assessment has been conducted, of the outcome; (e) whether the authorities have reviewed if NTEHs without EVA need to have additional means of escape for occupants of upper floors; if such a review has been conducted, of the outcome; (f) whether the Secretary for Development ("SDEV") will instruct the Director of Lands to ensure that EVAs will be provided before approving applications for building new NTEHs; if he will not; of the reasons for that; and (g) how SDEV will ensure that fire safety in the village environs will be improved and will not deteriorate?
13. Hon Ronny TONG to ask: (Translation)
The 2013-2014 Budget has mentioned that the Government is conducting a study on the proposal of constructing Container Terminal 10 in Tsing Yi to examine the technical feasibility and assess the environmental impact of the proposal. It has been reported that the Government will upgrade the shipping industry of Hong Kong and develop Hong Kong into an international shipping service centre which is comparable to that in London. However, the labour dispute at the Hongkong International Terminals ("the dispute"), which has lasted for weeks, has revealed the existing operational problems at the terminals, including workers having to work 24-hour shifts non-stop over a long period of time, as well as the problems regarding the working conditions for workers (including mealtime and toilet break arrangements, etc.) and operation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that during the past few rounds of negotiations between the employers and employees, some representatives of the employers left the negotiation meetings halfway on various grounds (e.g. the need to have meals and take medication), causing the meetings to end halfway, whether it has assessed if this situation indicates that the authorities have not actively undertaken the mediation work; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the reasons for that, including whether the Government is unable to carry out the mediation work; if the assessment result is in the negative, why the labour dispute has lasted for weeks and the authorities have still failed to urge both the employers and employees to return to the negotiation table; (b) given that under the Labour Relations Ordinance (Cap. 55), if ordinary conciliation or special conciliation fails to settle a trade dispute, the Chief Executive in Council ("CE in Council") may (i) with the consent of the parties, refer the dispute to arbitration, (ii) refer the dispute to a board of inquiry, or (iii) take such other action as warranted, of the criteria based on which CE in Council decides whether to intervene in a trade dispute; if there are no such criteria, of the reasons for that; (c) whether it has assessed, in this dispute, if the interests of the workers have not been adequately protected because legislation on the right of collective bargaining has not been enacted in Hong Kong; if it has, of the results; whether the Government will consider commencing the work on the legislation on the right of collective bargaining; if it will, of the details (including legislative timetable); if not, the reasons for that; (d) whether the Government has assessed the losses caused by the dispute, which has lasted for weeks, to the economy of Hong Kong; why the Government has all along not made public such information; and (e) whether it has studied which kind of operation mode should be used to run the new Container Terminal 10, so as to improve the working conditions for workers at the Terminal (e.g. avoiding the adoption of the arrangements of 24-hour non-stop shifts and three consecutive shifts, as well as improving the mealtime and toilet break arrangements for the workers); if it has not, of the reasons for that?
14. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Statistics of the World Health Organization show that, in 2010, 54.8 women in every 100 000 women in Hong Kong had breast cancer. Compared with the world average ratio (39 women had breast cancer in every 100 000), Hong Kong is a place with an above average incidence rate. According to the statistics of the Hospital Authority ("HA"), breast cancer tops the list of the "Top Ten Cancers" for women in Hong Kong. In 2010, the life-time risk of Hong Kong women having breast cancer was one in 19. Also, eight women were diagnosed with breast cancer and at least one died of breast cancer every day on average. The Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation has pointed out that information of the International Cancer Screening Network shows that population-based breast cancer screening can reduce the mortality rates of various countries/regions by 20% to 38% and, at present, more than 34 countries and regions around the world (including Mainland China and Taiwan) have implemented population-based breast cancer screening. As Hong Kong has not implemented such screening, less than 5% of the 1.5 million women aged 40 to 69 have undergone the screening. On the other hand, statistics of HA indicate that, in 2010, the life-time risk of women having cervical cancer was one in 145, and one in every 445 women died of cervical cancer. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of newly confirmed cases and deaths of breast cancer and cervical cancer in Hong Kong in each of the past five years; (b) of the respective total expenditure on prevention and treatment for breast cancer and cervical cancer by public healthcare institutions in each of the past five years, and set out in a table the details of the amounts of expenditure on health education, medical examination and assessment, specialist treatment, operations and in-patient services, and follow-up rehabilitation, etc.; the total and a breakdown of the projected expenditure in each of the next five years; (c) whether public healthcare institutions have provided subsidized breast cancer screening for women with family history of the cancer; if so, of the number of women screened, the expenditure incurred, and the breast cancer detection rate in each of the past five years; of the number of women to be screened and the projected expenditure in each of the next five years; (d) whether it knows the number of women screened for breast cancer on their own expenses in private healthcare institutions, the fees involved and the breast cancer detection rate in each of the past five years; (e) whether it has assessed the expenditure to be incurred each year for implementing a free breast cancer screening programme for women aged 40 to 69; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (f) of the number of women of the relevant age cohort who received screening for cervical cancer provided by public healthcare institutions, the expenditure incurred, and the cervical cancer detection rate in each of the past five years; the number of women to be screened and the projected expenditure in each of the next five years; (g) whether it knows the number of women who received cervical cancer screening and cervical cancer vaccinations on their own expenses in private healthcare institutions and the fees involved in each of the past five years; (h) whether it has assessed the respective expenditure to be incurred each year for implementing a free cervical cancer screening programme and a free cervical cancer vaccination programme for all women; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (i) of the respective numbers of women who received screenings for breast cancer and cervical cancer provided by each of the Woman Health Centres ("WHCs") and Maternal and Child Health Centres ("MCHCs") under the Department of Health in each of the past five years; whether there were differences in the numbers of women screened among various WHCs and MCHCs; if so, of the reasons for that; of the respective estimated numbers of women using such services in each of the next five years; whether there are measures to enable more women to know about such services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
15. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a retired public officer is suspected of having taken advantage of his positions for personal gains and committed misconduct during his tenure as the Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption ("ICAC") and during his even earlier tenure as the Commissioner of Customs and Excise ("CCE"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of ICAC's policies and measures currently in place which are sufficient to convince the public that ICAC will, upon receipt of any complaint about that former ICAC Commissioner, conduct an investigation in a just and impartial manner; (b) whether the authorities have reviewed if the existing appointment mechanism for the ICAC Commissioner (i.e. the Commissioner shall be appointed by the Central People's Government on nomination and report by the Chief Executive ("CE") under the Basic Law and the mechanism of the ICAC Commissioner being directly accountable to CE are proper and have sufficient credibility; if they have, of the progress and results; if not, the reasons for that and whether they will conduct such a review immediately; (c) of the policies and measures for tracing whether that former ICAC Commissioner, upon receipt of the complaint(s) about the suspected corruption of and dereliction of duty by the former CE (who had nominated him as the Commissioner), had stalled or impartially handled the case; and (d) of the circumstances under which the authorities may impose deduction from or even suspension of pension payments as a punishment for a retired civil servant who has been proved to have committed misconduct and dereliction of duty during his tenure as ICAC Commissioner and/or CCE?
16. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Under regulation 43 of the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) Regulations (Cap. 374 sub. leg. G), "[n]o person shall use any audible warning device on a vehicle on a road except to warn any person on or near a road of danger." Moreover, the Commissioner for Transport may, in accordance with regulation 3 of the Regulations, erect on a road a traffic sign to prohibit a driver from sounding a horn within a restricted zone. However, I have received a complaint from a member of the public alleging that the situation of abusive use of audible warning device (i.e. indiscriminate sounding of horns) by drivers has been getting increasingly worse. The member of the public requested the Police to provide the figures on the relevant prosecutions and complaints, but the Police advised that such information was classified as personal data under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) ("PD(P)O"), and therefore the public had to apply for access to such information in accordance with the Code on Access to Information ("the Code"), with the possibility that such applications might be ultimately rejected after undergoing a complicated vetting and approval process. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of prosecutions instituted for indiscriminate sounding of horns, and the respective numbers of relevant complaints received by the Police and the Transport Department, in the past five years; (b) how the authorities have followed up the aforesaid complaints; whether they have examined if the penalties need to be raised; if they have, of the results; and how the authorities ensure effective law enforcement; (c) of the current number of restricted zones prohibiting the sounding of vehicle horns in Hong Kong, and the criteria for designating such zones; whether the authorities will, upon request by members of the public and after conducting on-site assessments, designate the black spots of indiscriminate sounding of horns as such restricted zones; if they will not, of the reasons for that; (d) of the reasons for the Police classifying the figures on the prosecutions and complaints against indiscriminate sounding of horns as personal data under PD(P)O and the detailed criteria for so doing; and what other figures pertaining to prosecutions and complaints are classified as personal data; and (e) how long it normally takes a member of the public to have access to the figures on the prosecutions and complaints against indiscriminate sounding of horns requested under the Code; of the respective numbers of such applications received and rejected by the Police in the past five years, as well as the reasons for rejecting those applications and the types of information requested?
17. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
The labour dispute at the Hongkong International Terminals ("HIT") ("the dispute") has been going on for several weeks. There are comments that all parties concerned, including the workers, employers and even the freight industry of Hong Kong as a whole, have become losers in the incident, and the occurrence of the dispute will only further weaken the capability of the freight industry of Hong Kong to withstand keen competition from the Mainland and other international terminals. Although the Government has been continuously urging all parties to exercise restraint, keep calm and resume negotiations, such efforts are of little avail so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have assessed the impacts caused by the dispute in terms of the following: (i) the aggregate amount of wages lost by the workers on strike; (ii) monetary losses suffered by various contractors; (iii) specific impacts on the operation of HIT, including the average number of days delayed for goods delivery; (iv) monetary losses suffered by HIT; and (v) financial losses of the import, export and re-export sectors in Hong Kong; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (b) as there are comments that the dispute has escalated from an incident of labour dispute to social conflict, of the measures put in place by the authorities to effectively prevent similar disputes from recurring and the situation from deteriorating in future; (c) when the Labour Department commenced its mediation work; of the number and ranks of the officers deployed by the Department to engage in the mediation work, and how they differ from those for handling other labour disputes in the past; of the process of negotiations and specific difficulties therein; whether it has investigated if there was any dereliction of duty on the part of government officers in the incident; (d) whether it has assessed the impact of foreign unions' intervention in the dispute on the development of labour movement in Hong Kong and the Government's mediation effort; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (e) as Global Stevedoring Service, one of the contractors, has recently closed down its business, whether the Labour Department has received any request of assistance from the affected terminal workers; if it has, of the details; whether it has proactively contacted other contractors to assist the unemployed workers to return to work; (f) whether it has assessed the threat of the rapid development of the terminals on the Mainland in recent years to the terminals in Hong Kong and its impact on the development prospect of the freight industry in Hong Kong (with illustration of the trend of the turnover volume of the containers handled by the terminals in Hong Kong in the past five years), and if the freight industry in Hong Kong can withstand the impact of the persisted dispute; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (g) whether it has assessed if, under the trend of mechanization and automation in terminal operation, the terminal workers of some job types will face unemployment, which will result in labour disputes emerging one after another; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the reserved manpower for the terminals in Hong Kong at present and in future respectively?
18. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
The Government announced earlier that the review on MTR's Fare Adjustment Mechanism jointly conducted by the Government and the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") had been completed, and the new mechanism and the new fares would take effect in June this year. MTRCL will also launch new concessionary schemes, including the "MTR City Saver" ticket ("City Saver ticket") scheme and the "Monthly Pass Extra" scheme, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(a) the new fares for the following five types of MTR journeys, and how the fare paid by a passenger who commutes 44 times each month on the same journey using an Octopus card compares with the fare paid by him using an adult Single Journey ticket; (i) from MTR Tung Chung Station to other MTR stations; (ii) from MTR Sheung Shui Station to other MTR stations; (iii) from MTR Wu Kai Sha Station to other MTR stations; (iv) from MTR Tuen Mun Station to other MTR stations; and (v) from MTR Tin Shui Wai Station to other MTR stations; (b) given that after the MTR fare increases in 2010, there were situations in which the Octopus fares for 100 fare combinations were higher than their corresponding Single Journey fares, and such situations continued in 2012, whether such situations will continue after the implementation of the new fares in June this year; if so, of the reasons for that, as well as the fare combinations for which such situations will occur, and whether the authorities will instruct MTRCL to make improvement; (c) given that holders of City Saver tickets, set at a price of $400 each, are entitled to 40 rides within 30 days (i.e., the average fare per ride needs to exceed $10 for the ticket holder to really enjoy a concession), but there is no limit on the number of rides for other monthly passes, of the justifications for MTRCL capping the number of rides for City Saver tickets; and of the number of fare combinations with fares exceeding $10 after the implementation of the new fares (set out the details in a table); (d) given the cap on the number of rides for City Saver tickets, whether passengers using City Saver tickets need to buy another Octopus card to pay for the fares of shorter journeys in order to benefit from City Saver tickets; if they need to, of the number of additional Octopus cards expected to be issued by MTRCL as a result; (e) given that the Government has indicated that City Saver tickets will also cover all the stations of the additional railway lines (including South Island Line (East) and West Island Line) to be constructed in the urban area, of the details of the relevant fares; (f) given that quite a number of members of the public who have to work across districts have relayed to me that it is difficult for them to benefit from the City Saver ticket scheme and the "Monthly Pass Extra" scheme (e.g. passengers who take MTR from Ma On Shan to Hong Kong Island must buy several monthly passes in order to enjoy price concessions, and passengers who travel between Tseung Kwan O and Shatin also cannot benefit from City Saver tickets), of the remedial measures taken by MTRCL, and whether it will consider introducing territory-wide monthly passes; if it will, of the details; if not, how it will enable members of the public who have to work across districts to enjoy price concessions; and (g) given that MTRCL indicated last year that it would give back to MTR passengers within one year the additional income of $670 million generated by fare increases, of the actual amount that MTRCL has hitherto given back to its passengers through various concessionary schemes, and the number of passengers benefitted so far?
19. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has recently been reported in the press that on the cycle tracks, pavements and roads of various districts in Hong Kong, there are people riding electric bicycles, which look like normal bicycles but installed with small motors, at high speeds and carrying passengers and goods, thereby seriously endangering the safety of pedestrians and drivers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of persons who used electric bicycles and shop operators who sold electric bicycles, and were thus arrested, prosecuted and convicted in the past five years; (b) of the number of reports of accidents involving electric bicycles received by the authorities in the past five years and the respective numbers of injuries and deaths in such accidents; (c) whether it knows the places of origin and import channels of the electric bicycles mentioned in (b); whether the Customs and Excise Department has taken any special measure to block their import to Hong Kong; and (d) given that Taiwan, the United Kingdom and various provinces/municipalities on the Mainland permit the use of electric bicycles if certain requirements are complied with, whether the authorities have plans to legalize electric bicycles and impose regulation through a licensing system; if they have, of the details; if they do not have such plan in the short term, whether the Police will step up law enforcement actions against the illegal sale or use of electric bicycles?
20. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some elderly persons have relayed to me that the private clinics which they had been attending for medical consultation have withdrawn from the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme ("the Scheme"), rendering them unable to benefit from the Scheme when attending those clinics. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of clinics which joined and withdrew from the Scheme each year since its implementation (broken down by type of healthcare profession); (b) of the current number of private clinics in the territory which have not joined the Scheme; (c) of the current average and the longest time taken for reimbursement of health care vouchers to the clinics participating in the Scheme; (d) whether the authorities will streamline the administrative procedures that service providers have to deal with and shorten the time required for reimbursement of health care vouchers, so as to attract more service providers to join the Scheme; and (e) given that, in reply to a question of this Council on the 2013-2014 Estimates of Expenditure, the authorities have indicated that to encourage the participation of service providers, they "have issued letters to service providers, private hospitals and medical organizations informing them of the latest increase in annual voucher value as well as conducting briefings to service providers where appropriate", of (i) the number of letters issued to those service providers which have not yet joined the Scheme, as well as (ii) the number of briefings conducted last year and (iii) the number of briefings to be conducted next year for them?
21. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
The Planning Department ("PlanD") has recently consulted members of the Yuen Long District Council on 10 planning applications for sites in Yuen Long. These applications are related to the sites in Kam Tin, Fung Lok Wai of Lau Fau Shan, Mai Po, Ngau Tam Mei, Nam Sang Wai and Lut Chau, Ma Tin Pok, Ha Ko Po Tsuen of Kam Tin and Yuen Lung Street. Most of these applications involve residential developments, while the rest of them are commercial, community facilities and nature conservation projects. Some Yuen Long residents have relayed to me their concern that the development projects involved in these applications may lead to a rapid growth in the district's population, thereby increasing the load on the traffic and other facilities in the district, as well as significantly impacting on the district's environment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the total site area involved in the aforesaid applications and the area of government land therein; the number of residential blocks to be built, the estimated number of residential flats that can be provided, and the respective resultant increases in the district's population and residential density; (b) whether PlanD has recently received other applications involving residential developments on sites in Yuen Long; if so, of the total number of such applications and their application numbers, the total site area involved and the area of government land therein, the number of residential blocks proposed to be built, the estimated number of residential flats that can be provided, and the respective resultant increases in the district's population and residential density; (c) of the respective numbers of residential flats under construction and those completed but not yet occupied in Yuen Long at present; (d) of the current volume/capacity ratios of the major roads in Yuen Long (including Castle Peak Road (Yuen Long Section), Kam Tin Road, Yuen Long Highways, San Tin Highway and Long Tin Road); of the respective load factors of various franchised bus routes and minibus routes in Yuen Long as well as the West Rail Line during peak hours; whether it has assessed the impacts of the works and the subsequent population increase arising from the aforesaid applications on the load of such roads and public transport facilities; if it has, of the details; (e) given that at present shopping and leisure facilities in Yuen Long are concentrated in the Town Centre, and the pedestrian walkways and roads in the town centre are already very congested, whether it has assessed the impact of the population increase arising from the aforesaid applications on the load of the existing pedestrian walkways and roads in Yuen Long town centre; if it has, of the details; (f) whether it has assessed the impacts of pond/land filling involved in the aforesaid applications on the drainage systems of the nearby areas and if such works will aggravate the problem of flooding; if it has, of the details; (g) of the total Green Belt area in Yuen Long at present, and the respective areas for Conservation Area and wetland therein; whether the aforesaid applications involve any reduction in the Green Belt area; if so, of the area to be reduced and the respective areas of Conservation Area and wetland therein; (h) whether it has assessed the impact of the population increase arising from the aforesaid applications on the load of the existing recreational facilities in Yuen Long; if it has, of the details; (i) whether the authorities have plans to improve the roads, pedestrian walkways, public transport services, recreational facilities and drainage systems in Yuen Long to address the problems caused by the implementation of the development projects involved in the aforesaid applications; if they have, of the expenditure involved in such plans; and (j) whether the aforesaid applications involve the Government's resumption of land and resettlement arrangements for residents; if so, how it plans to proceed with such work?
22. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
The chairman of the newly established Financial Services Development Council ("FSDC") reportedly said earlier that FSDC members would declare their interests according to the Government's "established" requirements for advisory bodies. While FSDC would not require its members to make specific declarations of interests, FSDC would advise members to exercise self-discipline in making declarations and withdrawing from meetings on their own volition in the event of a potential conflict of roles. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(a) of the existing "established" arrangements for declaration of interests of advisory bodies of the Government; whether there are differences among the systems of declaration of interests for such bodies; if so, of the details; whether the declarations made by the members of such bodies are open for public inspection; (b) of the arrangement for declaration of interests by FSDC members, as well as the differences between that arrangement and those for other advisory bodies; (c) why FSDC will not require its members to make specific declarations of interests; (d) whether FSDC have declared their interests according to the "established" requirements; if not, when they are required to make the declarations; whether the declarations made by them will be made public; if not, of the reasons for that; and (e) given that the interests of some FSDC members are very closely related to those of the finance industry, how the authorities will prevent FSDC members from making recommendations in which they themselves or their companies have direct or indirect interests?
III. Bills
| First Reading
| |||
| 1. | Hong Kong Arts Development Council (Amendment) Bill 2013
| ||
| 2. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013
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| 3. | Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2013
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| Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)
| |||
| 1. | Hong Kong Arts Development Council (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Home Affairs
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| 2. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| 3. | Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for the Environment
|
| Second Reading (Debates to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
(Originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting) | |||
| 1. | Appropriation Bill 2013 | : | The Financial Secretary
|
| Amendments to heads of estimates in
Committee of the whole Council on the Appropriation Bill 2013 | |||
| Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung, Hon Albert CHAN, Hon Gary FAN, Hon WONG Yuk-man and Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to move the Committee stage amendments in Appendix I.
(These amendments were also issued on 22 April 2013 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 502/12-13) | |||
| Other Public Officers to attend the Committee stage | : | The Chief Secretary for Administration
The Secretary for Justice Secretary for Transport and Housing Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Secretary for Security Secretary for Education Secretary for the Civil Service Secretary for Food and Health Secretary for the Environment Secretary for Development Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Under Secretary for Home Affairs Under Secretary for the Environment Under Secretary for Transport and Housing Under Secretary for Security Under Secretary for Food and Health Under Secretary for Education Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs | |
| (Scheduled to be dealt with at this Council meeting)
| |||
| 2. | Pilotage (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
|
IV. Motion
| (Originally scheduled to be dealt with at the last Council meeting)
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 28 March 2013, be approved - | |
| (a) | the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2013; and
|
| (b) | the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2013.
|
| (The two Regulations are in Appendices II and III
and were also issued on 11 April 2013 under LC Paper No. CB(3)478/12-13) | |
V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
VI. Member's Bill
| First Reading
Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2013 Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned) | ||
| Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Hon Kenneth LEUNG
|
| Public Officer to attend | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
|
VII. Members' Motions
| 1. | Drug Formulary and drugs subsidy system
Hon Alice MAK to move the following motion: (Translation) That the Hospital Authority ('HA') has implemented the Drug Formulary ('the Formulary') system since July 2005 to standardize its policies on procurement and use of drugs; at present, HA's annual drugs expenditure only accounts for around 10% of its overall expenditure, and the responsibilities of including new drugs in the Formulary and reviewing the Formulary rest with HA's Drug Advisory Committee and Drug Utilization Review Committee respectively; yet, the lack of transparency in the relevant work and low participation of other stakeholders have led people to question that the Formulary does not put patients' rights and interests first, resulting in patients having to purchase at their own expense drugs which are of significant efficacy but expensive; although the Government has put in place safety net systems such as the Samaritan Fund, etc., situations of patients suffering delays in treatment due to their inability to afford better but expensive drugs, having to sell their properties in order to purchase drugs, or relying on lower-quality drugs to extend their lives still arise, etc., reflecting the existence of many loopholes and inadequacies in the existing system; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to review the existing drugs policies and perfect the relevant mechanism, so as to provide assistance for more people in need; the relevant measures should include: | ||
| (1) | to reform HA's Drug Advisory Committee and Drug Utilization Review Committee, include more representatives of stakeholders (including representatives of patients' organizations) and make public the records of meetings of those Committees, so as to increase the transparency of the process of formulating and reviewing the Formulary;
| ||
| (2) | when updating the Formulary, to correspondingly devote adequate resources to ensure that medical practitioners can prescribe the most suitable drugs according to patients' medical conditions;
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| (3) | to take out HA's drugs expenditure from its overall expenditure estimates and allocate it to the various hospital clusters as an independent fund, so as to ensure that the funding is fully used for drugs expenditure and not used for other expenditure items;
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| (4) | to expand the Formulary to include more drugs which are of significant efficacy but expensive as General Drugs and Special Drugs, so that more patients can use such drugs at standard fees and charges;
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| (5) | to increase the expenditure estimates on drugs, and when considering whether to include certain drugs in the Formulary and the relevant categories, reduce the weighting of costs and prices and adopt efficacy and patient safety as the overriding principle, so that patients will not be forced to take lower-quality drugs due to the lack of financial means;
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| (6) | to include more drugs in the subsidy coverage of the Samaritan Fund, and further relax the assessment criteria of the financial test of the Samaritan Fund by using the income and asset of individual applicants instead of households as the basis;
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| (7) | to provide tax relief, so as to alleviate the financial burden of patients or their family members arising from the purchase of drugs at their own expense; and
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| (8) | to consider abolishing the Formulary system in the long run.
| ||
| Amendments to the motion | |||
| (i) | Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", in view of patients' growing demand for expensive drugs," after "That"; to delete ", and" after "expenditure estimates on drugs" and substitute with "to around 15% of HA's overall expenditure, and use a scientific and objective method to measure cost-effectiveness"; to delete ", reduce the weighting of costs and prices and adopt efficacy and patient safety as the overriding principle, so that patients will not be forced to take lower-quality drugs due to the lack of financial means" after "relevant categories"; to delete "further relax" after "coverage of the Samaritan Fund, and" and substitute with "revise"; and to delete "financial test of the Samaritan Fund by using the income and asset of individual applicants instead of households as the basis" after "criteria of the" and substitute with "relevant financial test and its subsidy approach, allowing applicants to choose 'individual' or 'household' as the assessment basis; when a patient's drugs expenditure exceeds 10% of the patient's income, the shortfall in the drugs fees would be paid by the Fund, so that the patient will not be forced to take lower-quality drugs due to the lack of financial means". | ||
| (ii) | Dr Hon Joseph LEE to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", given that" after "That"; to delete "to standardize" after "July 2005" and substitute with ", resulting in"; to add "being too rigid and unable to help patients appropriately" after "use of drugs"; to delete "in the relevant work and" after "lack of transparency" and substitute with "and the excessive conservativeness in their work, which is unable to respond timely to patients' needs, coupled with the"; to add "," after "other stakeholders"; to delete ", so as" after "those Committees"; to add ", so that the Committees concerned can respond to patients' medical and healthcare demands in a more open and appropriate manner" after "formulating and reviewing the Formulary"; to delete "and" after "purchase of drugs at their own expense;"; and to add "; and (9) when assessing new drugs, to introduce objective and standardized assessment tools to assess the safety, efficacy, cost-effectiveness, etc. of new drugs with objective criteria for determining whether to include the new drugs in the Formulary, and to enhance transparency" immediately before the full stop. | ||
| (iii) | Hon CHAN Han-pan to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", in view of the hospitals in various clusters of" after "That"; to add "following different policies on drug management in the past, HA" after "Hospital Authority ('HA')"; and to delete "consider" after "(8) to" and substitute with "expeditiously and comprehensively review the Formulary system, give priority to the inclusion of drugs proven to be of significant efficacy but extremely expensive as HA's general subsidized drugs to benefit more patients, and study the feasibility of". | ||
| (iv) | Hon Albert HO to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", to ensure equitable access by patients to the drugs required," after "That"; to delete ", etc.," after "such as the Samaritan Fund" and substitute with "('the Fund'), etc., and under the persistent striving of the civil society, the Government injected $10 billion into the Fund last year,"; to add "conduct studies on making such committees institutionally independent of HA," before "include more representatives"; to add "use the Fund properly," after "(6) to"; to delete "Samaritan" after "coverage of the"; to delete "Samaritan" after "financial test of the"; to delete "(7) to provide tax relief, so as to alleviate the financial burden of patients or their family members arising from the purchase of drugs at their own expense;" after "as the basis;"; to delete the original "(8)" and substitute with "(7)"; to delete "to consider abolishing the Formulary system" before "in the long run"; and to add ", under the existing Formulary system, to reform the drug subsidy system to the effect that subsidies should be provided for all drugs clinically assessed by attending doctors to be needed, and the patients concerned only need to pay the standard charges instead of having to purchase the drugs at their own expense" immediately before the full stop. | ||
| (v) | Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "('the Fund')" after "such as the Samaritan Fund"; to add "and of patients' family members' organizations" after "patients' organizations"; to delete "more drugs which are of significant efficacy" after "expand the Formulary to include" and substitute with "all drugs which are of significant efficacy and marginal benefits"; to add "medical practitioners can prescribe drugs with greater flexibility, and" after "Special Drugs, so that"; to add "(5) where the drugs needed by patients fall outside the Formulary, to put in place a discretionary mechanism for medical practitioners to exercise their professional judgment to provide such patients with the drugs concerned;" after "standard fees and charges;"; to delete the original "(5)" and substitute with "(6)"; to delete the original "(6)" and substitute with "(7)"; to delete "Samaritan" after "coverage of the"; to delete "Samaritan" after "financial test of the"; to add "(8) to consider setting a ceiling on the proportion of medical expenditure to income for the Fund, whereby any medical fee in excess of the ceiling will be fully subsidized by the Fund; and" after "as the basis;"; to delete the original "(7)" and substitute with "(9)"; and to delete "; and (8) to consider abolishing the Formulary system in the long run" immediately before the full stop. | ||
|
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health
| |||
| 2. | Maintaining a business-friendly environment in Hong Kong
Hon Jeffrey LAM to move the following motion: (Translation) That, given the slow recovery of the global economy, this Council urges the Government to adopt proactive policy measures to maintain a business-friendly environment in Hong Kong and devote more resources to assist small and medium enterprises. | ||
| Amendments to the motion | |||
| (i) | Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "given" after "That," and substitute with "under the broad environment of economic globalization,"; to add "has certain impacts on Hong Kong's economy, and the unemployment rate in Hong Kong has started to rebound; in this connection" after "the global economy"; to add "and make good use of local human resources" after "policy measures"; and to delete "and" after "Hong Kong" and substitute with "; the relevant measures should include: (1) to review the supply of manpower resources in various industries, and devote resources to training the relevant talents, enable local workers to play to their strengths and use what they have learnt and avoid labour importation, and encourage enterprises to employ disadvantaged people (e.g. South Asians, the middle-aged and persons with disabilities), so as to make good use of the local labour force, enabling local employees to share the fruits of economic development and employers to have adequate labour supply, thus creating a win-win situation for employers and workers; (2) to improve the working conditions and environment, e.g. setting standard working hours and standardizing the number of statutory holidays and public holidays, so as to assist enterprises in retaining talents through upgrading the quality of work life for employees; (3) to study the alleviation of the burden of transport expenses on workers working across districts, so that enterprises can recruit sufficient manpower more easily; (4) to reduce rental costs for enterprises, and alleviate their business difficulties; and (5) to". | ||
| (ii) | Hon Michael TIEN to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "given" after "That," and substitute with "with"; to add "and rapid ageing of Hong Kong's population, the welfare spending is bound to increase significantly, and Hong Kong must vigorously expedite its economic development to 'make a bigger cake', the prerequisite of which is to maintain a business-friendly environment for small and medium enterprises ('SMEs'); in this connection" after "the global economy"; to delete "adopt" after "the Government to" and substitute with ", apart from adopting"; to delete "to maintain a business-friendly environment in Hong Kong and devote" after "policy measures" and substitute with "and devoting"; and to delete "small and medium enterprises" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "SMEs, make strenuous efforts to mitigate the increasingly tense labour relations in Hong Kong in recent years, and ensure employees not only having reasonable protection for their rights and interests but also fully recognizing the impacts of various labour policies and measures (e.g. reviewing the minimum wage level and conducting studies on the regulation of working hours and the right to collective bargaining, etc.) on the business environment of SMEs, in an endeavor to achieving mutual understanding and a win-win situation for both sides, with Hong Kong's economy being also developed in a consistently rapid way". | ||
| (iii) | Hon IP Kin-yuen to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "high-quality human resources have all along been pivotal to Hong Kong's economic development;"; and to add ", and devote resources to enhance educational and manpower training, implement 15-year free education and small-class teaching in secondary schools, strengthen vocational education and training, and increase the numbers of publicly-funded sub-degree programme places, publicly-funded bachelor's degree programme places and local students admitted to postgraduate programmes in graduate schools of universities, so as to nurture local talents to provide manpower resources for the sustainable development of pillar industries and the diversified development of the economy;" after "in Hong Kong". | ||
| (iv) | Hon WU Chi-wai to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "given the slow recovery of" after "That," and substitute with "as Hong Kong's business environment is closely related to the global economy, but"; to add "has been recovering slowly" after "the global economy"; and to add "; specific measures include: (1) to construct Container Terminal 10, and pass it to a new operator to undertake the operation, so as to increase the competition among container terminals for lowering terminal handling charges; (2) to fully open up the fifth freedom traffic rights on a reciprocal basis, enabling more overseas flights to carry passengers and freight in Hong Kong, so as to lower transport fees; (3) to expeditiously implement the Competition Ordinance, lift the exemptions for statutory bodies from the Competition Ordinance, and provide adequate resources to the Competition Commission; regularly review the Competition Ordinance, and study whether the Competition Commission should be empowered to examine if any public policy has directly or indirectly created market monopoly, and when an enterprise is found to have taken a large proportion of market shares, to advise the Government on measures for preventing market monopoly, so as to maintain the competition environment of the Hong Kong market, curb monopoly by large consortia, and improve small business operators' room for survival; and (4) to assist in promoting the overseas sale of local brands and technologies" immediately before the full stop. | ||
| (v) | Hon YIU Si-wing to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "and the various departments to take the initiative" after "the Government"; to add "devote more resources to assist small and medium enterprises according to the characteristics of different industries, and" after "policy measures to"; and to delete "and devote more resources to assist small and medium enterprises" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "; the relevant measures include: (1) to subsidize small and medium enterprises, so as to motivate the relevant enterprises to make use of information technology; (2) to increase the expenditure on subsidizing the training of practitioners in industries, so as to raise the professional standards of industries; (3) to regularly co-ordinate industries of the same kind to jointly organize external promotional activities, and appropriately subsidize such activities; and (4) to reduce or waive the licence fees for the relevant enterprises of industries with operating difficulties". | ||
| (vi) | Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "(especially those in relation to the innovation and technology industries); this Council also urges the Government to implement the following measures in three areas, namely market development, capital and talents: (1) to review and reform the Government's information technology procurement policy, reform the guiding principle that 'the lowest bidder wins' and the requirement for huge amounts of performance bonds, which have all along been criticized by the industry, strengthen the assessment elements of 'local research, original applications' to encourage innovation in its procurement policy, and increase the opportunities for small and medium enterprises to participate in the bidding for the Government's information technology contracts, so as to accumulate more capital and experience for expansion of their enterprise scale; (2) to open up more Government data and, putting the public interest first, encourage developers to make use of such data at liberty and free of charge, so as to promote the development of more mobile and internet applications conducive to people's livelihood and social-economic activities, so as to foster innovative applications by small and medium enterprises, enhance work efficiency, and create room for developers to identify business opportunities; (3) through policy support and venture capital funds involving Government investments, to encourage the development of local 'Angel Funds' and venture capital activities, so as to provide local start-up companies with more effective early-stage seed funding; and (4) to inject capital into and re-activate the Small and Medium Enterprises Training Fund, so that small and medium enterprises may have sufficient resources for training staff and enhancing competitiveness" immediately before the full stop. | ||
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
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