A 13/14-30

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 4 June 2014 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers



Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) Order 201463/2014
2.Schedule of Routes (Citybus Limited) (North Lantau and Chek Lap Kok Airport) Order 201464/2014
3.Schedule of Routes (Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited) Order 201465/2014
4.Schedule of Routes (New World First Bus Services Limited) Order 201466/2014
5.Schedule of Routes (Long Win Bus Company Limited) Order 201467/2014
6.Patents Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 201468/2014
7.Registered Designs Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule) Regulation 2014 69/2014
8.Trade Marks Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Regulation 201470/2014
9.Layout-design (Topography) of Integrated Circuits (Designation of Qualifying Countries, Territories or Areas) (Amendment) Regulation 201471/2014
10.Telecommunications (Control of Interference) (Amendment) Regulation 201472/2014
11.Hazardous Chemicals Control Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 2) Order 201473/2014

II. Questions for Written Replies



1. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the vocational education programmes offered by the Vocational Training Council ("VTC"), will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
  • (1)the respective numbers of full-time or part-time Diploma of Vocational Education ("DVE") and Higher Diploma ("HD") programmes offered by VTC in the academic years between 2008-2009 and 2012-2013, and in respect of such programmes, (i) the academic disciplines, (ii) the entry requirements, (iii) the durations of study, (iv) the numbers of places offered, (v) the numbers of students enrolled and (vi) the numbers of graduates, and set out a breakdown, by programme title and academic year, in tables of the same format as the table below;

    Academic year : ______________

    Level of study : DVE/HD

    Programme title Full-time/Part-time day/evening programme (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi)
            
            
            

    (2)the criteria adopted by VTC for determining the ratio of the number of DVE programmes to that of HD programmes; and

    (3)whether VTC will consider running more part-time programmes; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

2. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:


The Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586) ("the Ordinance") is the local legislation that gives effect to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ("CITES"). Under the Ordinance, a licence issued by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") is required for the import, introduction from the sea, export, re-export or possession of ivory. CITES has banned international trade of ivory since 1990, but ivory legally imported into Hong Kong prior to the trade ban may, after being registered with AFCD and issued with a Licence to Possess by AFCD, be legally traded in Hong Kong. However, such ivory is not allowed to be re-exported for commercial trade. Regarding the ivory trade in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)given that it has been recently reported that Hong Kong's top three retailers of ivory have ceased selling ivory products, and that the Government has commenced phased destruction of confiscated ivory by incineration since May 2014 to demonstrate its determination to curb illicit trade in ivory, whether the Government will consider imposing a comprehensive ban on all ivory sales in Hong Kong; if it will not, of the reasons for that;

    (2)whether AFCD will consider implementing a registration system for ivory items held in private collections, which makes use of carbon dating technology to ascertain the age of such items; if it will not, of the reasons for that;

    (3)whether AFCD will consider making public a list of holders of ivory licences, and stating on the application forms for such licences that the personal information entered thereon may be used for such purpose; if it will not, of the reasons for that;

    (4)of the following statistics on Hong Kong's legal ivory trade in each of the past five years (set out in the table below); if there is no such information, the reasons for that; and

    (i)the number of ivory licence holders;

    (ii)the quantity of raw and worked ivory legally held as inventory by ivory licence holders (in tonnes); and

    (iii)the quantity of raw and worked ivory leaving the inventory of ivory licence holders (in tonnes);

    Year(i)(ii)(iii)
    2009   
    2010   
    2011   
    2012   
    2013   

    (5)given the strong demand for ivory products on the Mainland and the surge in mainland visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in recent years, whether the Government knows if the rate of depletion of the inventory of raw and worked ivory held by ivory licence holders accelerated in the past 10 years correspondingly; if the rate did not accelerate, whether it has assessed the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

3. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)


At present, there is an indoor escalator system ("the escalator system") connecting Exit A of MTR Lam Tin Station with the Sceneway Garden and the hillside areas near Ping Tin Estate, which comprises three sections each having three escalators. Some residents and District Council members from the Lam Tin district have complained that the escalator system is overcrowded due to a rather high utilization rate, and the air is stuffy due to inadequate fresh air generated by the air-conditioning system. Besides, the escalator system often has to be partly or wholly shut down for repairs because of its ageing parts, making the system even more overcrowded and frequently giving rise to accidents. On the other hand, the Kwun Tong District Council ("KTDC") has endorsed the implementation of a district minor works project called "A stone staircase link between Ping Tin Estate and Lei Yue Mun Road" ("the staircase project") to facilitate the working people living in Lam Tin to travel to and from the bus-stops for cross-harbour buses at the Toll Plaza of the Eastern Harbour Crossing. Yet, it is learned that the works of the project are yet to commence as the Civil Engineering and Development Department, responsible for the works of the project, has failed to reach an agreement with the Kwun Tong District Office on the issue of works supervision. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the policy bureau/government department which is responsible for monitoring the operation of the escalator system, and the design capacity as well as the current actual loading of the system; whether it has assessed the loading of the system during periods of repairs and maintenance, and whether such loading has exceeded the design capacity; if it has assessed, of the outcome and the improvement measures in place; if not, whether it will conduct such an assessment immediately;

    (2)of the number of occasions, in each of the past three years, on which the escalator system was partly or wholly shut down due to malfunctioning of the system, and the repair and maintenance costs of the system;

    (3)whether it has plans to upgrade the escalator system (including the air-conditioning system and standard of its mechanical parts) to reduce the frequencies of system failures and service suspensions for repair works; if so, of the details, as well as the estimated costs for the related works, and the time needed; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)how the Government will resolve the conflicts between the two aforesaid departments on the staircase project, and which department will be assigned to be responsible for the project and of the expected time for commencement of the works; and

    (5)as the Transport Department ("TD") has indicated in its reply to KTDC on the 8th of last month that there is no need to implement the proposed staircase project because its estimated utilization rate is not high, but the residents of Ping Tin Estate and Yau Lai Estate hold contrary views, of the statistics and justifications based on which TD has given such a view, and whether TD has consulted the residents of the two districts and the District Council members concerned; if so, of the results; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct such a consultation immediately?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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


On 7 April, the Environment Bureau announced the implementation of a pilot scheme in seven housing estates for a period of six months to accumulate practical experience in respect of the three quantity-based charging modes (i.e. Weight-based by buildings, Volume-based by buildings and Volume-based by households), which will be used as reference for the implementation of municipal solid waste charging in future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)how the authorities determined the types of housing estates participating in the pilot scheme and the scale of the pilot scheme;

    (2)how the authorities recruited and selected the participating housing estates;

    (3)how the authorities publicize and promote the pilot scheme to the residents of the relevant housing estates at present;

    (4)of the operational details of the pilot scheme, including the respective dates on which the pilot scheme will start and cease to be implemented in various housing estates;

    (5)given that the pilot scheme adopts only a mock waste charge for the trial run, and the residents concerned are not required to pay any charge based on the volume of waste they dispose of, whether the authorities have assessed how the results of the pilot scheme can reflect residents' behavioural pattern when the municipal solid waste charging is implemented in future; and

    (6)given that the pilot scheme covers only multi-storey residential buildings, whether the authorities will implement pilot schemes on municipal solid waste charging in other types of buildings (e.g. commercial/residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings and village houses); if they will, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

5. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)


I have learnt that government departments, such as the Highways Department and the Civil Engineering and Development Department, erect temporary structures on construction sites from time to time for use as offices. Such temporary structures will be demolished and not be reused after the completion of the works, thus generating a substantial quantity of construction waste. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of temporary structures erected on construction sites for use by personnel of government departments as well as the expenditure so incurred in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by the names of departments;

    (2)of the number of such temporary structures demolished and quantity of construction waste (in tonne) so generated in each of the past five years; and

    (3)whether there are any policies or guidelines currently in place that require or encourage government departments to use recyclable building materials as far as possible for the erection of such temporary structures; if so, of the details, and whether it has monitored the implementation of such policies and guidelines by the government departments concerned; if there is no policy or guideline, whether the authorities will consider formulating the relevant policies or guidelines?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

6. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)


In its direct investigation report on the regime for access to information ("ATI") in Hong Kong released in March this year, the Office of The Ombudsman has identified a number of inadequacies of the regime, and recommended that the Government should consider introducing a law to underpin the citizens' right of ATI, and setting up an independent body with law enforcement powers to monitor the work relating to ATI. In addition, the report has also recommended that the authorities should, before the enactment of such a law, take nine improvement measures, some of which involve the administration of the Code on Access to Information ("the Code"). In response to the report, the Government has pointed out that the Law Reform Commission ("LRC") has started a comprehensive comparative study on the relevant laws in overseas jurisdictions, with a view to considering whether measures to improve the ATI regime should be implemented in Hong Kong and, if so, how these measures should be implemented. The Government has also indicated that it will study any recommendation LRC may have on this and then consider the way forward. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the specific timetable for studying the implementation of the recommendations made in the aforesaid report, and when it will report to the Panel on Constitutional Affairs of this Council on the progress of such work; whether it will consult the stakeholders (including universities and the media) on the relevant matters; if it will not, of the reasons for that;

    (2)whether it will implement the aforesaid nine improvement measures before LRC completes the aforesaid comparative study; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)among the requests for information made in writing received by various policy bureaux/government departments ("B/Ds") in the past three years, of the respective numbers of those requests made without citing the contents of the Code and those made without using the application form contained in the Code; and

    (4)whether it has plans to increase the transparency of the ATI regime, such as improving the web site contents of the Code, and regularly publishing in digital format the data on the requests for information received by various B/Ds; if it has such plans, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

7. Hon Christopher CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)


According to the Financial Review of the Securities Industry for the year ended 2013 ("the Review") published by the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC"), Category C brokers (i.e. brokers ranked 66th or after by monthly turnover on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong) recorded a total net profit of $1.758 billion last year, which was 3.95 times higher than that of 2012. Quite a number of small and medium brokers have questioned the credibility of the aforesaid statistics. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
  • (1)whether SFC compiled statistics, broken down by the capital background of the brokers, on (i) the number and percentage of Category C brokers recording a profit and (ii) the number and percentage of Category C brokers recording a loss, in each of the past three years; if SFC did, set out the statistics in tables of the same format as the table below;

    Year: ________

    Capital background(i)(ii)
    Foreign-funded  
    Mainland-funded   
    Local Chinese-funded  
    Others  

    (2)the types of income included in the item "Other income" in Table 2 of the Review; and

    (3)whether SFC will amend the definition of Category C brokers or create a new category in order to reflect more accurately the actual business conditions of small and medium brokers?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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


In its Annual Plan 2014-2015 published last month, the Hospital Authority ("HA") set out for the first time the actual numbers of the patients served by various Hospital Clusters ("Clusters") in 2012-2013, broken down by patients' district of residence, but it did not set out the corresponding populations in the catchment areas of the Clusters as it did in the Annual Plans of previous years. Moreover, in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in respect of the Estimates of Expenditure 2014-2015, the authorities pointed out that HA had adjusted "the statistical delineation of the geographical populations" of the Kowloon East Cluster/New Territories East Cluster and the Hong Kong East Cluster ("HKEC")/Kowloon West Cluster in view of the commissioning of the Tseung Kwan O Hospital and the North Lantau Hospital. Regarding the service statistics of HA, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
  • (1)the details of HA's adjustment to "the statistical delineation of the geographical populations" of various Clusters;

    (2)the specific method for calculating "the actual numbers of patients served" by various Clusters; whether patients who used services provided by more than one Cluster were counted separately in the "actual numbers of patients served" by the Clusters concerned;

    (3)the actual numbers of patients served by various Clusters in each year from 2006-2007 to 2013-2014 after "the statistical delineation of the geographical populations" was adjusted and, among such patients, the percentage of those aged 65 or above (set out in tables of the same format as Table 1 below); and

    Table 1: Year___________

    ClusterActual number of patients servedPercentage of patients aged 65 or above
    HKEC  
    Hong Kong West Cluster ("HKWC")  
    ...  
    Overall  

    (4)the following data of each Cluster in each year from 2006-2007 to 2013-2014 after "the statistical delineation of the geographical populations" was adjusted (set out in tables of the same format as Table 2 below):

    (i)the population of the catchment area;

    (ii)the percentage of people aged 65 or above in the population of the catchment area;

    (iii)the number of patients in the catchment area;

    (iv)the percentage of patients aged 65 or above in the number of patients in the catchment area;

    (v)among the population of the catchment area, the percentage of those people who used the general and the specialist outpatient services provided by the Cluster;

    (vi)the average median monthly income of the households in the catchment area; and

    (vii)among the population of the catchment area, the number and percentage of the people from those households with an average monthly income less than half of the median monthly household income of all domestic households in Hong Kong?

    Table 2: Year__________

    Cluster(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)
    HKEC       
    HKWC       
    ...       
    Overall       
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

9. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)


Some people have initiated the Occupy Central movement, and one of the actions of which is to gather more than 10 000 people to block the roads in Central this year ("Occupy Central"), with the intent to force the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Central Authorities to accept the proposal for the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage approved of by these people. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the Police have, in response to the recent discussions on constitutional development and the social atmosphere, conducted a new round of assessment of Occupy Central; if they have assessed, of the outcome, including the police manpower needed to be deployed for Occupy Central, the impacts of the deployment on the police manpower of other police districts, as well as the impacts of Occupy Central on the traffic and the economy, etc.; if they have not, the reasons for that;

    (2)as it has been reported that the Police recently issued an internal circular requiring all police officers to cancel their leave during the period from 22 June to 5 July this year and make themselves ready for deployment when necessary, whether this arrangement is one of the plans that the authorities have worked out in preparation for Occupy Central; if so, of the specific arrangements of the plan; and

    (3)as it has been reported that some organizations have indicated that they may occupy or encircle some landmark locations in Hong Kong, including the Legislative Council Complex, the Central Government Offices, and the building of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, of the corresponding measures the authorities will adopt, including how they will work in coordination with the personnel responsible for the management of such locations?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

10. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)


Quite a number of singletons with disabilities have relayed that as they live in cubicle apartments and sub-divided units without ancillary facilities for the disabled, they encounter inconvenience in their living and are exposed to potential hazards (e.g. difficulties to escape in the event of fire). Worse still, apart from the burden of high rentals , they have to meet various medical and rehabilitation expenses, and they therefore wish to be allocated with public rental housing units ("PRH") as early as possible. Yet, like other non-elderly singleton applicants, they have to wait for quite a long time for the allocation of PRH under the Quota and Points System for non-elderly one-person applicants ("QPS"). On the other hand, the Hong Kong Housing Authority has put in place the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme ("the Priority Scheme"), under which a shorter average waiting time target has been set for priority allocation of PRH to elderly singletons. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it has compiled statistics on the number of singletons with disabilities who are currently living in accommodations with appalling conditions (including cubicle apartments, sub-divided units, bedspaces, and so on), together with a breakdown by type of disabilities and accommodations;

    (2)of the number of persons with disabilities among the applicants under QPS in each of the past five years;

    (3)of the number of singletons with disabilities who were recommended in each of the past five years by the Social Welfare Department for compassionate rehousing and, among them, of the respective numbers of those whose applications for compassionate rehousing were approved and rejected by the Housing Department; and

    (4)whether it will, by drawing reference from the Priority Scheme, implement measures to shorten the waiting time for allocation of PRH to singletons with disabilities; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

11. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that more and more people prefer to commute by bicycle, but due to insufficient parking spaces for bicycles, illegal parking of bicycles has become a problem in a number of districts, and the problem is more acute in new towns in the New Territories. In 2010, the Government conducted studies on introducing double-deck bicycle parking racks to replace some of the existing parking facilities and implemented a pilot scheme late last year of providing such parking racks beside the MTR Fanling Station. Yet, some members of the public have relayed that such parking racks are two few in number, and that a cyclist needs more physical strength to load the bicycle onto the upper deck of the parking rack, causing inconvenience to the elderly and children. In addition, some experts have pointed out that such facilities are too costly and not cost-effective. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the respective numbers of public bicycle parking spaces in various District Council ("DC") districts in New Territories East at present;

    (2)whether it assessed in the past three years the supply and demand situation of parking spaces for bicycles in various DC districts in New Territories East; if it did, of the assessment outcome; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)of the number of abandoned bicycles removed by the authorities from public bicycle parking areas in New Territories East in each quarter of the past three years, with a tabulated breakdown by DC district;

    (4)whether it has assessed the actual effectiveness of the aforesaid double-deck bicycle parking racks; if it has, of the assessment outcome; if not, the reason for that; and

    (5)whether the authorities, apart from providing double-deck parking racks, have any new initiative to tackle the problem of insufficient parking spaces for bicycles; if they have, of the details; if not, the reason for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

12. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that some lawbreakers engage students who cross the boundary every day to attend school in Hong Kong ("students") to conduct smuggling activities. They hide the smuggled goods in the schoolbags of the students in an attempt to bypass inspections by the customs of Hong Kong and the Mainland. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of cases of students smuggling goods detected by the Customs and Excise Department at the various immigration control points ("control points") in the past three years, and the number of such cases in which prosecutions were instituted against the persons concerned, with a breakdown by age of students, category of goods and control point concerned; as the current minimum age of criminal responsibility is 10 years of age, how the authorities deal with cases of smuggling goods by students who are below the age of 10, and whether they will consider holding the parents and guardians of such students, as well as the escorts who escort such students to cross the boundary, criminally liable; if they will, of the details;

    (2)of the measures currently put in place by the Customs and Excise Department to combat smuggling activities conducted by engagement of students;

    (3)whether it knows the number of cases of students smuggling goods detected by the mainland customs at the various ports in the past three years, and the number of such cases in which prosecutions were instituted against the persons concerned, with a breakdown by age of students, category of goods and the port concerned; if such information is not available, of the reasons for that, and whether it will seek such information from the mainland customs;

    (4)whether it has communicated and discussed with the mainland customs the making of concerted efforts to combat the smuggling activities of students; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (5)as it has been reported that the mainland customs require the escorts of students to sign an undertaking to abide by the law, whether it knows the content of such an undertaking, and the penalties meted out by the mainland customs on those escorts who engage students in smuggling activities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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


Hongkong Post ("HKP") is operating under the trading fund mode on a self-financing basis. In 2012-2013, the operating loss of the trading fund amounted to about $114 million, representing a significant increase compared with the loss of about $50 million in 2011-2012. After taking into account other revenues, e.g. interest income from notes, placement with the Exchange Fund and bank deposits, the trading fund recorded a small surplus in those two years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)among the 128 post offices across the territory, of the respective numbers of those operating at a profit and those operating at a loss in 2012-2013, as well as the amount of profit/loss made by each post office; whether the authorities established any new post office and closed down loss-making one in the past five years; if they did, of the details and numbers; whether the authorities have analysed in detail the reasons for individual post offices incurring substantial loss; whether there is any plan in the coming year to close down post offices operating at a substantial loss; if there is such a plan, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)whether the authorities have assessed in detail the current financial position (including sustainability) of the trading fund and the quality of postal services; if they have, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; of the business development plan and measures that the HKP will adopt in the coming year to reduce or reverse the operating loss, in order to avoid affecting the quality of postal services; and

    (3)whether the authorities have any plan to develop new businesses in the coming year, e.g. re-examining the feasibility of providing deposit and withdrawal services at post offices, in order to increase the sources of revenue and enhance business performance; if they have such a plan, whether the authorities have studied how the new businesses will affect the efficiency of postal services; if they have studied, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

14. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that as revealed by the Blue Book of Urban Competitiveness: Report on China's Urban Competitiveness ("the Report") published by the National Academy of Economic Strategy and the Social Sciences Academic Press of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on the 9th of last month, in 2013 for the twelfth consecutive year, Hong Kong ranked first in the Comprehensive Economic Competitiveness Index among the 294 cities including Hong Kong, Macao as well as cities on the Mainland and in Taiwan. Yet, the Report has pointed out that Hong Kong "lacks strength to accelerate and sustain growth" and is gradually losing its edge in areas such as taxation, talents, as well as software and hardware facilities, while being over-reliant on a few industries such as the finance and the real estate industries. Furthermore, Zhuhai has overtaken Hong Kong to become the most livable city in China, with Hong Kong's ranking dropping to the second place. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)targeting at the aforesaid problems faced by Hong Kong as pointed out by the Report, of the authorities' new plans and measures in respect of talents, industry development and taxation, so as to enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong;

    (2)whether it has explored the causes of Zhuhai overtaking Hong Kong to become the most livable city in China; if it has, of the outcome, and whether it will take corresponding measures to maintain Hong Kong's ranking in livable cities of China or even enable Hong Kong to regain the top ranking; if it has not explored the causes, the reasons for that; and

    (3)whether it has conducted any analysis and assessment as to whether the Report's comment that Hong Kong "lacks strength to accelerate and sustain growth" is fair, as well as whether the Report has delivered a warning on the decline in Hong Kong's overall competitiveness and economic development; if it has conducted such an analysis and assessment, of the details and outcome, as well as the corresponding measures and follow-up actions; if it has not conducted any analysis and assessment, the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct the relevant analysis and assessment?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

15. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)


Earlier on, monuments were unearthed at the construction site of the To Kwa Wan Station of the MTR Shatin to Central Link ("SCL"), thus affecting the progress of the related works. It has been reported that, since the commencement of the SCL works, 50% of the operators of shops along Ma Tau Wai Road have closed down their businesses. Some shop operators are worried that the delay in the completion of the SCL works may result in more shop closures. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)given that an archaeological survey conducted in 2010 in the Sacred Hill Area revealed that the area covered by the SCL works had certain archaeological potential, whether it knows if the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") had conducted any related site investigation and formulated contingency measures before the commencement of the SCL works; if MTRCL had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)as it has been reported that the delay in the completion of the SCL works may lead to the loss of public money up to $1 million each day, whether the authorities have discussed with MTRCL any proposal to expedite completion of the works so as to reduce the loss of public money and make the railway service available to the public as early as possible; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)whether it knows if MTRCL had, before the commencement of the SCL works, explained to the shop operators concerned the possible impacts of the works on them to facilitate them to make corresponding arrangements early; if MTRCL had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)whether it knows the number and the outcome of cases of claims filed with MTRCL by shop operators whose businesses have been affected by the SCL works, as well as the number of rejected cases among them and the reasons for rejection; if the relevant information is not available, of the reasons for that; and

    (5)given that some shop operators have relayed to me that the claims handling mechanism of MTRCL is very complicated, whether the authorities have assisted those operators whose businesses have been affected by the SCL works in filing claims against MTRCL; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

16. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)


With the increasingly close relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland, more and more Hong Kong people work, study and live on the Mainland. Some Hong Kong people living in Shanghai have pointed out that since the curricula of primary and secondary schools on the Mainland do not articulate with those in Hong Kong, they can only arrange their children to study at local international schools, in order that their children can continue their studies at the international schools in Hong Kong when the whole family moves back to Hong Kong in future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it knows the number of Hong Kong people living in Shanghai at present and, among them, the respective numbers of students studying at kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools;

    (2)given that since 2008, the Education Bureau and the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau have jointly implemented, in Shenzhen for the Hong Kong children there, the scheme under which schools/classes are set up to provide learning programmes mainly following the Hong Kong curriculum ("the Scheme") and eligible primary six students who study at such schools/classes may join the "Hong Kong Secondary School Places Allocation System" for allocation of subsidized secondary one places of schools in Hong Kong, whether the Government has plans to extend, in collaboration with the mainland authorities, the Scheme to other mainland cities with a relatively high population of Hong Kong people; if it has such a plan, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (3)whether it has looked into the provision of financial incentives (such as tax concessions) to encourage Hong Kong private school sponsoring bodies to establish schools on the Mainland for Hong Kong children, so as to offer such Hong Kong children one more option for education; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

III. Bills



Committee Stage and Third Reading

Appropriation Bill 2014:The Financial Secretary

Amendments to heads of estimates in
Committee of the whole Council on the Appropriation Bill 2014

Hon Albert CHAN, Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung, Hon CHAN Chi-chuen, Hon Claudia MO, Hon WONG Yuk-man, Hon SIN Chung-kai, Hon James TO, Dr Hon Helena WONG, Hon Gary FAN, Hon WU Chi-wai, Hon LEE Cheuk-yan, Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG, Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che and Hon Cyd HO to move the Committee stage amendments in the Appendix.

(These amendments were also issued on 17, 24 and 30 April 2014
under LC Paper Nos. CB(3)566/13-14, CB(3)573/13-14 and
CB(3)602/13-14 respectively)

(Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Appropriation Bill 2014 (updated version issued on 5 May 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 615/13-14(01))

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 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
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Development

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2014:Secretary for Food and Health

IV. Member's Motion on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments



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

Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion:

That this Council takes note of Report No. 16/13-14 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 16 April 2014 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:

Item NumberTitle of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument
(3)Rating (Exemption) Order 2014 (L.N. 26/2014).

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

V. Member's Bill



First Reading

Kowloon Tong Church of the Chinese Christian and Missionary Alliance Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2014

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

Kowloon Tong Church of the Chinese Christian and Missionary Alliance Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2014:Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG

VI. Members' Motions



1.Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance

Hon Gary FAN to move the following motion:

That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into whether the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTR Corporation") has covered up the progress and causes of delay in the construction of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL"), and whether there are any problems with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the MTR Corporation in supervising and co-ordinating the construction of the Hong Kong section of XRL; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance.

Amendment to the motion
Hon Claudia MO to move the following amendment:

To add "the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and" after "to inquire into whether"; to delete "has" after "("MTR Corporation")" and substitute with "have"; and to add "whether the MTR Corporation has properly completed the site investigation work at the West Kowloon Terminus Station to avoid unnecessary works and supplementary appropriation in the future," after "("XRL"),".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

2.Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance

Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to move the following motion:

That the House Committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance to order the Secretary for Transport and Housing to attend before the House Committee on or before the date of the first meeting of the House Committee after the passage of this motion to produce the full report on the Transport and Housing Bureau's investigation into staff conduct in the Marine Department in relation to the vessel collision incident near Lamma Island on 1 October 2012.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing

3.Formulating a comprehensive elderly care policy to deal with population ageing

Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, with the rapid ageing of Hong Kong's population, the demand for elderly care services in society continues to increase, but the policy strategies to deal with demographic challenges proposed earlier by the Steering Committee on Population Policy make no mention of elderly care services in the future; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to immediately formulate a comprehensive elderly care policy, make detailed planning for elderly care services in the future and promote collaboration between the medical and welfare sectors; the contents should include:

Service planning-

(1)based on projections on the proportion and growth of elderly population in the future, to formulate medium- and long-term planning for elderly care services in the next 10 and 20 years, and on this basis, to reserve lands for developing elderly care services and train manpower, so as to ensure that social demand for community care services and residential care services for the elderly can be met every year;

(2)to make stronger efforts to implement projects on redeveloping residential care homes for the elderly and constructing new ones, and reserve lands in more public and private development projects for building residential care homes for the elderly, so as to shorten elderly persons' waiting time for residential care homes and reduce the number of elderly persons who have yet to be allocated a place in residential care homes when they passed away;

(3)based on the proportions of the elderly population in various districts, to enhance community care services, including allocating additional resources to expand the existing integrated home care services and day respite service for elders, and providing a certain number of places for emergency support services in various districts to deal with cases of serious nature and requiring immediate assistance;

Policy reform-

(4)to set up an inter-departmental office of long-term care services to co-ordinate the work of various departments which are responsible for elderly welfare, elderly care and elderly services;

(5)to immediately rename the Chinese rendition of dementia from '老人癡呆症' to '認知障礙症', adopt the recommendations of the World Health Organization to formulate a comprehensive priority strategy to deal with dementia, and allocate resources to set up a dedicated service unit;

(6)to review the standardized care need assessment mechanism for elderly services, and triage elderly persons based on their actual care needs to enable them to receive suitable services as early as possible, and in turn effectively alleviate the problem of unduly long waiting time for services;

(7)to review the requirement on the area of floor space for each resident in newly constructed residential care homes and day service centres for the elderly, so as to progressively enhance the care standard of elderly services;

(8)focusing on the segregation of the medical and welfare sectors in elderly care services at present, to strengthen healthcare and home care services in the community to support the care needs of elderly persons who are unable to get a place in residential care homes for the elderly, and in the three major directions of training, support and accreditation, formulate a dedicated policy on carers of the elderly, thereby perfecting the existing long-term care policy based on 'ageing in place';

Manpower resources-

(9)based on the medium- and long-term planning for elderly care services, to project the manpower demand for the services, comprehensively assess afresh the existing policy of manpower resources development for elderly and care services, including reviewing the training, remuneration packages and career prospects for frontline carers in elderly services, and, apart from considering how to enhance the standard of the relevant services on the whole, also raise the social status of the industry, so as to attract more new entrants; and

(10)to review the bidding system for elderly service contracts to reduce cyclical wastage of manpower.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Hon Albert HO to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "with" after "That," and substitute with "given"; to add "(4) to extensively consult various sectors of society on elderly services and formulate service indicators and criteria, so as to upgrade service effectiveness;" after "immediate assistance;"; to delete the original "(4)" and substitute with "(5)"; to delete the original "(5)" and substitute with "(6)"; to delete the original "(6)" and substitute with "(7)"; to delete the original "(7)" and substitute with "(8)"; to delete the original "(8)" and substitute with "(9)"; to add ", and further develop primary healthcare services, including increasing the number of elderly health centres to shorten the waiting time for elderly persons to enroll as members, providing more medical examination services in elderly health centres, and based on the proportions of the elderly population in the 18 districts, setting service quotas and maximum waiting periods for services in various districts, so as" after "in the community"; to delete the original "(9)" and substitute with "(10)"; and to delete the original "(10)" and substitute with "(11)".

(ii)Hon Frankie YICK to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "with" after "That," and substitute with "given"; to add "(9) to expeditiously implement a voucher scheme on residential care services for the elderly, and issue no less than $5,000 of service vouchers every month to elderly persons waiting for subsidized residential care places for the elderly, so that they can choose suitable private residential care homes for the elderly in Hong Kong or on the Mainland according to their individual needs;" after "'ageing in place';"; to delete the original "(9)" and substitute with "(10)"; to add "as it takes time to implement the measures for attracting new entrants and provide manpower training, the Government should expedite the importation of more workers, so as to alleviate the problem of serious manpower shortage in the sector at present and improve the quality of services;" after "new entrants;"; and to delete the original "(10)" and substitute with "(11)".

(iii)Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "with the rapid ageing of Hong Kong's population" after "That," and substitute with "given the continuing increase in the numbers of elderly persons with disabilities and elderly persons with dementia and chronic diseases, coupled with the ageing of persons with intellectual disabilities"; and to delete "the Government to" after "this Council urges" and substitute with "that rather than adopting age as the sole criterion, the Government should also take the needs and long-term care of elderly persons as the basis to".

(iv)Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "in 2002, the Hong Kong Government sent representatives to attend the United Nation's Second World Assembly on Ageing held at Madrid in Spain, supported the Assembly's passage of the Political Declaration and Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, 2002, and undertook to implement an elderly policy in Hong Kong;"; to add "short-," after "future, to formulate"; to delete "10" after "in the next" and substitute with "five, 10, 15"; to add "to relaunch hostels for the elderly and build a diversified range of residential care homes to enable elderly persons to live in the community without any worry; and" after "(2)"; to delete "and" after "constructing new ones,"; to add "and reserve the several bottom floors of newly constructed public housing blocks for operating small-scale residential care hostels or residential care homes for the elderly," after "building residential care homes for the elderly,"; to add "to implement community care for the elderly based on the concept of 'care in the community'; and" after "(3)"; to add "and compile detailed statistics on the service demands of service users in various districts for formulating five- and 10-year planning on community care services," after "enhance community care services,"; to delete "and" after "integrated home care services" and substitute with ", especially meal delivery, escort for medical consultation and household cleaning services, increasing the number of day service centres for the elderly and the"; to add "and establishing a central enquiry service system" after "services in various districts"; to add "(4) in order to resolve the problem of serious shortage of venues for community support services for the elderly at present, to conduct a study on the provision of diversified community support services and activities for the elderly, such as adventure activities for elderly persons;" after "immediate assistance;"; to delete the original "(4)" and substitute with "(5)"; to add "and based on the concept of 'care in the community', to map out a development strategy for the retired population and formulate a comprehensive inter-departmental elderly policy on areas such as healthcare, housing, community support, financial protection, long-term care, social participation, urban construction and cultural development for elderly persons, etc., so as to provide elderly persons with suitable education and living environment;" after "and elderly services;"; to delete the original "(5)" and substitute with "(6)"; to add "(7) to streamline the existing application procedures for the Dementia Supplement, including assessing afresh recipients' eligibility for the supplement at an interval of two years; and extend the scope of the Dementia Supplement to other community care services, so that service operators have more resources to provide services to homebound Dementia patients;" after "service unit;"; to delete the original "(6)" and substitute with "(8)"; to add "and to collate and analyze the case information obtained under the standardized care need assessment mechanism for elderly services, and assess and adjust the quality of existing services, so as to provide reference for planning and introducing new services in the future, enabling the Government to allocate resources more effectively;" after "waiting time for services;"; to delete the original "(7)" and substitute with "(9)"; to delete the original "(8)" and substitute with "(10)"; to delete the original "(9)" and substitute with "(11)"; to delete "and" after "new entrants;"; to delete the original "(10)" and substitute with "(12)"; to delete "review" before "the bidding system" and substitute with "abolish"; and to add "; and (13) to conduct planning for the manpower establishment and resources for various kinds of elderly services" immediately before the full stop.

(v)Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "demand for elderly care services in society continues" after "Hong Kong's population, the" and substitute with "dependency ratio will rise from 355 dependent persons per 1 000 working age persons in 2012 to 712 per 1 000 by 2041, and the demand of elderly persons, especially retired elderly persons, for elderly care services will also continue"; to add ", including introducing elderly dental services in public hospitals, arranging manpower to answer phone calls for booking out-patient services, improving the non-emergency ambulance transfer service, introducing elderly healthcare vouchers in paper form and strengthening publicity on the list of service providers participating in the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme, so as" after "in the community"; to delete "and" after "new entrants;"; and to add "; and Other aspects- (11) to immediately implement a universal retirement protection system, so as to ensure that people are able to meet the expenses on elderly care and healthcare services after retirement" immediately before the full stop.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

4.Improving the implementation of the education policy and allocating additional funding for education

Hon IP Kin-yuen to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, as education is an important policy area, many countries and regions attach great importance to education and strive to allocate resources in education improvement, so as to upgrade their people's overall quality and enhance their societies' competitiveness in the future; yet, the SAR Government's funding allocation in education has been shrinking continuously in recent years, and the Education Bureau has also neither listened seriously to the views of the sector nor taken forward many measures on which the society has reached consensus, showing its ineptitude and belated awareness when faced with new problems and challenges, and failing to respond to people's needs and allay their concerns, such as its erroneous planning for kindergarten and primary school places, delay in implementing 15-year free education, disregard for the views of the sector and reluctance to adopt effective measures to stabilize the teaching and learning environment of secondary schools, turning a blind eye to young teachers' difficulty in joining the profession, and turning a deaf ear to the demands for improving the teaching establishment in public-sector schools and increasing the number of publicly-funded university places; the education sector considers that since the Secretary for Education Mr Eddie NG took office, parents have worried about a shortage of places for their children's education, teachers' job satisfaction has declined, and students have been tormented by the education policy, rendering people to rock their confidence in the local education system and be greatly disappointed at the education policy led by Eddie NG, considering that he lacks work competence and enterprise, and that while he cannot effectively lead the officials of the Education Bureau to properly implement the education policy, he still frequently pays overseas duty visits, causing widespread grievances about the education policy in society in general; in this connection, this Council expresses dissatisfaction with the work performance of Eddie NG, requests him to reflect deeply on himself, and hopes that the SAR Government can improve the implementation of the education policy, allocate additional funding for education, and extensively solicit public opinions, so as to rebuild the public confidence in the education system.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add "according to the opinion poll results of the Public Opinion Programme of The University of Hong Kong, the popularity of the Secretary for Education Mr Eddie NG has persistently remained low, indicating the public's intense discontent with his performance;" after "That,"; to delete "the Secretary for Education Mr" after "considers that since"; and to delete "reflect deeply on himself" after "requests him to" and substitute with "immediately resign".

(ii)Dr Hon Helena WONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "and" after "joining the profession,"; and to delete "places" after "publicly-funded university" and substitute with "undergraduate places, and failing to face up to the serious ratio imbalance between local and non-local students enrolled in research postgraduate programmes of graduate schools, resulting in precious education resources not being spent on local students on a priority basis".

(iii)Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "and" after "joining the profession,"; and to add ", and failing to ever conduct any comprehensive review of the mode of integrated education which has been in place for a decade or so and is full of flaws and loopholes" after "publicly-funded university places".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education

Clerk to the Legislative Council