A 14/15-15
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 28 January 2015 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 63 | - | Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications Annual Report 2013/14 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education) | |||
| 2. | No. 64 | - | Vocational Training Council Annual Report and Financial Report 2013/2014 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education) | |||
| 3. | Report of the Bills Committee on Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Bill 2014 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Tony TSE, Chairman of the Bills Committee) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
In the Policy Address recently delivered by him, the Chief Executive ("CE") has stated that despite the measures rolled out in April last year to enhance the Supplementary Labour Scheme specifically for the construction industry in relation to public sector works projects, the relevant measures have yet to fully address the demand of the construction industry for skilled workers and there is a need to launch further enhancement measures. If these measures still cannot effectively resolve the acute shortage problem of skilled workers in the construction industry, the Government will explore with the construction industry and labour sector the introduction of other more effective and appropriate measures to reduce the adverse effects of the problem on Hong Kong's economic and social development. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) apart from the assessment made by the Construction Industry Council, whether the Government has made its own assessment on the future shortfall in skilled construction workers on the basis of the current number of additional new construction works projects; if it has, of the details; if not, why CE is able to provide specific figures on future housing supply while no estimation on the shortage of skilled construction workers has been made; (2) of the specific details and implementation timetable of the "further enhancement measures" and "other more effective and appropriate measures" as mentioned by CE, and whether it will consider afresh the introduction of a special labour importation scheme for public housing and infrastructure works projects, by making reference to the practices adopted by the authorities for constructing the Hong Kong International Airport and carrying out the relevant works projects at Chek Lap Kok; and (3) as CE has stated that if the shortage of skilled workers cannot be properly dealt with, it will seriously affect the implementation of public housing, hospital, school and public transportation projects, and will also indirectly lead to the escalation of construction costs, whether the authorities have assessed the economic and social losses to be caused to Hong Kong by such a situation?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Development Secretary for Labour and Welfare |
2. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that with the completion of a number of public and private housing development projects in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long providing a total of some 140 000 residential units over the next decade, the population in the Northwest New Territories is expected to increase by about 400 000. Given that information from the Census and Statistics Department indicates that the average daily patronage of the Light Rail ("LR") in September 2014 was as high as more than 500 000 passenger trips, some people are concerned that LR will have difficulties in meeting the transport needs of the existing and the additional population, and that the aging of the LR system has caused frequent occurrence of incidents in recent years. Moreover, the fare concessions of LR offered by the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") are inadequate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of service disruptions of LR and traffic accidents involving LR as well as the resultant casualties, in each of the past three years; and the number of cases among such service disruptions in which MTRCL was fined under the Service Performance Arrangement and the amounts of fines involved respectively; (2) given that MTRCL currently implements monthly pass schemes for several railway lines but does not offer similar fare concessions for LR, except for free interchange of LR provided for West Rail passengers only, whether the authorities will suggest MTRCL to consider reintroducing the monthly pass scheme for LR so as to alleviate the financial burden of residents who frequently take LR, such as those who work or study in the districts as well as housewives; if they will not, of the reasons for that; and (3) given that the Secretary for Transport and Housing, in response to a motion on "Enhancing the railway service in the Northwest New Territories" moved by me at a Legislative Council meeting in December 2013, stated that upon the completion of the study for the review and update of the Railway Development Strategy 2000, the Government would commence studies on the long-term development and management of public transport in the territory, including a review on the LR system, when the authorities will start the review on the LR system, and whether the scope of the review will include LR's retention or otherwise and the conversion of parts of the LR tracks to viaduct or underground sections?
3. Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask: (Translation)
The major financial source of the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund ("the Fund") is the annual levy on business registration certificates ("BRCs"). The Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Board ("the Board") is tasked to administer the Fund and make recommendations to the Chief Executive with respect to the BRC levy rate. Some operators of small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") have pointed out that as the economy of Hong Kong has remained stable in recent years, the Fund's expenditure on ex gratia payments disbursed to employees has been declining, resulting in a huge surplus accumulated by the Fund. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of claims received by the Fund from employees since April last year; the total amount of ex gratia payments and the number of companies involved in those claims; the industry which attracted the largest number of claims; whether there is an upward trend on the number of claims; (2) of the amount of BRC levy income credited to the Fund since April last year and the projected income for the next financial year; whether the authorities expect a growth in such income in the future; and the current accumulated surplus of the Fund; and (3) as there are views that the persistent uncertainties in the global business environment may impact adversely on the economy of Hong Kong, whether the Government knows if the Board will consider recommending once again a downward adjustment of the BRC levy rate, so as to reduce the operation costs of SMEs in Hong Kong?
4. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that Asia Television Limited ("ATV") has been plagued with financial problems recently. Apart from repeatedly defaulting on payments of employees' wages since September last year, ATV has even defaulted on its carrier licence fee and the fee for domestic free television programme service licence ("TV licence") for 2014-2015 payable to the Communications Authority ("CA"). In addition, ATV's TV licence will expire on 30 November this year and the Chief Executive ("CE") in Council is considering its licence renewal application. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have grasped the latest situation in respect of ATV's default on payments of employees' wages and the aforesaid licence fees, and whether they have regularly reported the latest situation to CE in Council; if they have not, of the reasons for that; (2) given that ATV reportedly defaulted on payments of the aforesaid licence fees for 2012-2013, whether the authorities know if CA will assess afresh whether ATV's financial position complies with the requirements of the TV licence; and the circumstances under which CA will suspend ATV's TV licence under section 31 of the Broadcasting Ordinance ("BO"); and (3) given that BO stipulates that where CE in Council decides not to extend or renew a TV licence, he shall notify the licensee at least 12 months before the expiry of the validity of the licence, and that ATV's TV licence will expire on 30 November this year, whether the authorities have assessed if the fact that CE in Council has not yet made a decision on the renewal of ATV's licence is tantamount to extending the validity period of the licence, and whether the purpose of not making a decision is to allow ATV more time to look for new investors so as to facilitate the subsequent approval for the renewal of the licence; if this is not the case, when the authorities expect to announce the outcome of the licence renewal application?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Secretary for Labour and Welfare |
5. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that at a seminar held earlier in Beijing, a former Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council cum Chairman of Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies said that some young people in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") "are grossly lacking" in national and civic awareness, and that the Education Bureau and school sponsoring bodies of the SAR should be held responsible for that. He also considered that the Secretary for Education had to be subject to the supervision of the Central Authorities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the work of the various Directors of Bureaux within the scope of affairs which the SAR administers on its own is subject, under the Basic Law, to the supervision of the Central Authorities; if so, of the relevant legal basis and details of the supervision; (2) whether it has received any directions or instructions issued by the Central Authorities on the education policy of the SAR (e.g. the implementation of national education) since the establishment of the SAR; if so, of the details; and (3) whether the authorities will take measures and use vast educational resources to provide school sponsoring bodies, advisory bodies and educators, etc., with guidance on how to further deepen students' understanding of the Basic Law and the "One Country, Two Systems" concept as well as enhance the national identity of young people; if so, of the details?
6. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
At its inception in 2001, the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") was mainly tasked with urban renewal and building rehabilitation. It operates on a self-financing basis. In recent years, the Government has entrusted URA with more and more tasks, including the launch of the "Operation Building Bright" in 2012 to provide subsidies and technical support to the owners of dilapidated private buildings, as well as taking over all the building rehabilitation work from the Hong Kong Housing Society ("HKHS") within a short period of time. Moreover, in the Policy Address recently delivered by him, the Chief Executive has proposed that URA be invited to assist in developing subsidized-sale flats. However, URA predicted last year that it would experience budgetary constraints. Some members of the public worry that URA may not have sufficient resources and manpower to cope with the additional work. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will make further capital injections into URA to ensure that URA has sufficient funds to operate and undertake the additional work; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has assessed if the continued expansion of URA's scope of work by the Government will make URA focus only on certain work while neglecting other work, thus slowing down the pace of redevelopment of old buildings and old districts; and what measures are in place to ensure the main work of URA will not be affected; and (3) whether it knows if URA has estimated the additional manpower and expenditure needed for taking over the building rehabilitation work from HKHS in order to ensure that the quality of service can be maintained; if URA has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*7. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of people have relayed to me that currently, non-Chinese speaking students ("NC students") with special educational needs ("SENs") have to wait for a long time for the services provided for them by the Government, and the existing support provided by ordinary schools for students of this type is also rather inadequate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number of NC students with SENs, together with a breakdown by the type of disabilities they have and whether English is their first language; (2) given that the aforesaid people have pointed out that currently, tools for assessing and identifying the SENs of NC students are lacking, resulting in some educators mistakenly perceive the SENs of such students as language and cultural variations, of the measures that the Government has put in place to improve the related assessment and identification work; (3) of the details of the training on the SENs of NC students currently provided by the authorities to educational psychologists and teachers; (4) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past five years about the inadequate support given to NC students with SENs, together with a breakdown by the nature of the cases (including issues concerning assessment and identification, as well as teaching and learning); (5) of the details of the services currently provided by the authorities to NC students with SENs, including the relevant pre-school services, and the respective services provided to students attending ordinary schools which offer integrated education, special schools and international schools, together with the demand and supply situations of such services as well as the relevant waiting time; and (6) of the details of the support services currently provided by the authorities to parents of NC students with SENs?
*8. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
The legislation which bans trawling activities ("trawl ban") came into operation on 31 December 2012, and the Fishermen Claims Appeal Board ("FCAB") was also set up in November of the same year to handle appeals lodged by fishermen concerning ex-gratia allowances and one-off grants related to the trawl ban. However, some fishermen have recently pointed out that FCAB has procrastinated the processing of appeal cases, resulting in more than 800 outstanding cases at present. Regarding the processing of appeal cases by FCAB, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) why there are still many outstanding appeal cases awaiting processing; (2) of the criteria adopted by the authorities for determining the order of priority for processing appeal cases; and (3) of the time, as estimated by the authorities, still needed to complete the processing of all the appeal cases?
*9. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
On 15 October 2013, the Chief Executive ("CE") in Council decided that the applications for a domestic free television programme service licence from Fantastic Television Limited ("Fantastic TV") and Hong Kong Television Entertainment Company Limited ("HKTVE") be granted approval-in-principle, but the application of Hong Kong Television Network Limited ("HKTVN") be rejected. It has been more than a year since the authorities made that decision, but there is still no definite date for Fantastic TV and HKTVE to start broadcasting. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the work progress of Fantastic TV and HKTVE in preparing for television broadcasting, and why the Communications Authority ("CA") is still unable to reach a consensus with the two television broadcasters in respect of licence conditions; (2) of the allocation principles and justifications for arriving at the current arrangements for television spectrum; whether the authorities plan to allocate television spectrum to the above two new television broadcasters for their use; if they do not, whether the authorities will re-allocate the television spectrum; (3) when the authorities expect Fantastic TV and HKTVE to start broadcasting; and (4) given that HKTVN has earlier re-submitted an application for a domestic free television programme service licence, of the current progress in processing the application; whether CA has made recommendations to CE in Council in respect of the application?
*10. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
Currently, at the Discretionary Places Admission stage ("DPA") under the Primary One Admission ("POA") System, parents may submit applications for admission of their children to any government or aided primary school without the restriction of the school net. It has been reported that while more than 52 000 students participated in DPA of POA for September 2015, only 42.9% of them have been admitted by their preferred schools. A number of parents of students consider the "Points System" set by the Education Bureau for the DPA unfair. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective total numbers of the discretionary places provided by the schools participating in DPA, the remaining discretionary places, and the places for Central Allocation provided in POA for September 2015 by the schools in various districts as demarcated in the "POA 2015 Primary School Lists by School Net for Discretionary Places Admission Stage"; and (2) whether it will review the Points System for DPA, including increasing the weightings of the criteria for "first-born child" and "applicant child of the right age," so as to increase the chances of students meeting these criteria to be admitted to their preferred schools; if it will review, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:
A local English newspaper has reported that a man who came to Hong Kong on a dependant visa was refused by three local banks one after another to open a bank account for him allegedly because he was a Pakistani. It has also reported that banks often have to review every account opened overseas by citizens of countries such as Pakistan because they do not want to be accused by the United States of aiding South Asian terrorist organizations, and that global bank regulators have, in recent years, tightened rules on foreign nationals opening bank accounts overseas in a bid to stop money laundering. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:(1) whether it has assessed if the refusal of banks to open an account based on nationality considerations constitutes discrimination under the existing discrimination ordinances; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, of the reasons for that, and whether it will introduce legislation to outlaw such practices of banks; if it will, of the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) whether it has reviewed if the guidelines issued by the authorities to the banking and financial sectors on prevention of money laundering by terrorists have caused differential treatments based on nationality considerations?
*12. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
I have received complaints from quite a number of public rental housing ("PRH") tenants that The Link Management Limited ("The Link") has, in recent years, repeatedly and substantially increased the monthly rentals of the parking spaces in its car parks in PRH estates, aggravating the burden on the PRH tenants renting those parking spaces. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it received complaints in the past three years from PRH tenants about the increase by The Link of the monthly rentals of its parking spaces; if it did, whether the authorities enquired with the company about the average annual increase in such monthly rentals and which car park registered the biggest increase in monthly rentals; (2) whether it has studied if the monopolization of the parking spaces in the districts concerned by The Link's car parks has enabled the company to substantially increase the monthly rentals of these parking spaces in recent years; if the study result confirms such a situation, of the solutions; and (3) whether it has assessed the impact of The Link increasing the monthly rentals of its parking spaces on the PRH tenants who need to rent such parking spaces because of their work; if it has made such an assessment, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
In January last year, the Development Bureau submitted to the Panel on Development of this Council a paper setting out some 150 potential housing sites. The Secretary for Transport and Housing announced the Long Term Housing Strategy on 16 December last year, stating that the Government had accepted the projection methodology of the Long Term Housing Strategy Steering Committee and had updated the projection of long-term housing demand for the 10-year period from 2015-2016 to 2024-2025. A total housing supply target of 480 000 units was adopted for the coming 10 years, with the public-private split maintained at 60:40. Hence, the public housing supply target would be 290 000 units, comprising 200 000 public rental housing ("PRH") units and 90 000 subsidized-sale flats, whereas the private housing supply target would be 190 000 units. On 18 December last year, the Financial Secretary announced the establishment of a Housing Reserve ("the Reserve") to meet the public housing supply target on the financial front, and the transfer of all the investment return on the Government's fiscal reserves in 2014 (about HK$27 billion) to the Reserve. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of PRH units, subsidized-sale flats and private residential units which (i) were completed in the past five years, (ii) will be completed in the next five years, and (iii) are vacant at present (set out such information in a table); (2) regarding the aforesaid 150-odd potential housing sites, of (i) their specific locations, (ii) their sizes, (iii) the latest progress of amending the relevant statutory plans, (iv) their proposed uses (for public or private housing), and (v) whether they are "Green Belt" sites (set out such information in a table); (3) regarding the idle residential sites currently owned by the Government, of (i) their number, (ii) their specific locations, (iii) their sizes, and (iv) their planning progress (set out such information in a table); whether the authorities will undertake to give priority to planning such sites for the use of public housing; (4) of the specific criteria for determining the quantity of land put up for sale in each quarter; whether the authorities will ensure that they will review the quantity of land put up for sale in a timely manner when the total housing supply target has been met; (5) whether it knows the information of the sites owned by private developers; if so, of (i) the number, (ii) the specific locations, and (iii) the sizes of the idle residential sites among those sites (set out such information in a table); (6) of the details concerning the regulations requiring private developers to complete the construction of residential units within a designated period after successfully bidding for a residential site; whether it will explore imposing a requirement that private developers must put up residential units for sale within a designated period after the units are completed; if it will, of the details; if not, how the authorities will attain the target set for private housing supply; (7) whether it knows the profit and loss situation, as well as the cash and investment balance of the Housing Authority ("HA") in each of the past five years and each of the next five years (set out such information in a table); how the authorities will regulate the price levels of the subsidized housing units to be sold by HA in future; (8) of the details of the arrangement of using the Reserve to support HA in constructing public housing; how the authorities will monitor the use of the Reserve; the amount of funds the authorities intend to transfer to the Reserve in each of the next five years (set out such information in a table); and (9) whether it will increase the supply of other types of public housing (such as the re-introduction of the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme); if it will, of the details?
*14. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
International oil prices have plummeted in recent months, with the average prices of NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil Futures and ICE London Brent Crude Futures tumbling from the peak of over a hundred US dollars/barrel to below fifty US dollars/barrel, the lowest closing price in six years, and the downward trend is comparable to that after the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008. Some analysts have anticipated that oil prices will remain at low levels for a prolonged period of time in the future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed the impacts of tumbling oil prices on the various aspects of the Hong Kong economy, including the economic environment, the inflation rate and the foreign exchange market, etc.; if it has, of the outcome; of the impacts of low oil prices on government tax revenue as well as its expenditures on fuels; (2) whether it has assessed the impacts of low oil prices on the energy market as well as the import prices of fuels for electricity generation and vehicles, etc.; if it has, of the outcome; whether, as estimated by the authorities, a substantial portion of the rate of reduction in the import prices of fuels will be reflected at the retail level, including whether the electricity tariff and retail prices of auto-fuels will drop to a similar extent; if they will not, of the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has assessed how the persistently low oil prices have impacted on the operating costs of public utilities that are sensitive to oil prices, and whether there is any room for public transport operators, including franchised bus companies that have sought fare increases on grounds of high oil prices, to make downward adjustments of their fares; if there is not, of the reasons for that?
*15. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Under the Civil Service Regulations, if an officer who is receiving a Private Tenancy Allowance ("PTA") changes to a new private tenancy before an existing tenancy expires ("a change of tenancy"), the officer shall continue to receive, for the original remaining period of the existing tenancy, PTA on the scale of rates prevailing on the commencement date of the existing tenancy ("locking condition"). However, in case an officer is required to make an application for a change of tenancy and a change of accommodation under assistance because of his landlord's instigation of a break clause provided in the existing tenancy, the Director of Accounting Services ("DAS") may exempt the officer from the locking condition. I have received complaints from some civil servants that their tenancies were terminated by their landlords, and DAS has exempted them from the locking condition regardless of their wishes, thereby subjecting them to PTA on the most recently announced scale of rates under the new tenancies. However, this has caused them to suffer losses as the new rates are lower than the old ones. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the various factors for determining the PTA rates and the formula for arriving at the rates; (2) whether DAS exempts, without exceptions, all cases which may be exempted from the locking condition; if DAS does not, of the specific procedures for deciding whether exemption will be granted; and (3) of the policy objectives of exempting civil servants from the locking condition; for cases in which the existing tenancies are terminated involuntarily by PTA claimants, whether DAS will consider if they wish to be exempted and special circumstances (e.g. the granting of exemption will cause them to suffer losses), and exercise discretion not to grant the exemption?
*16. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public who frequently use the open-air heated public swimming pools under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") during winter have relayed to me that swimmers often feel chilly and are susceptible to catching a cold when they leave the pool, as the pool water temperature is much higher than the air temperature. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) among the heated swimming pools under LCSD, which ones are fitted and not fitted with warm passages made of windbreak tents connecting directly to the changing rooms ("warm passages"); (2) whether it has plans to retrofit warm passages to those open-air heated swimming pools under LCSD which are not yet fitted with such facilities; if it has such plans, when the related works will commence; if not, of the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will, on the premise of not affecting swimmers' safety, study the placing of fan heaters or other portable heating devices on the pool decks of open-air heated pools so as to reduce the impact on swimmers caused by temperature difference between the pool water and the air; if it will, when it will conduct the study; if not, of the reasons for that?
*17. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)
Given the expected completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("HZMB") in late 2017, the public are increasingly concerned about the regulatory arrangements for cross-boundary vehicles. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of registration of, as well as the average daily and full-year numbers of crossings made by, each type of cross-boundary vehicles (i.e. cross-boundary coaches, cross-boundary hire cars, Hong Kong cross-boundary private cars, mainland official/enterprise vehicles, vehicles of the Hong Kong Government and cross-boundary goods vehicles) which were given approval for regular quotas (commonly known as "cross-boundary vehicle licences"), in each of the past three years; (2) of the respective monthly numbers of applications received and quotas approved under the Ad Hoc Quota Trial Scheme for Cross Boundary Private Car since implementation of the Scheme in 2012, as well as the monthly quotas actually utilized by the applicants and their percentages in the total quotas approved; whether the authorities have plans to review the effectiveness of the Scheme; if so, of the review timetable; (3) whether the authorities have drawn up the details of the regulatory arrangements for using HZMB by cross-boundary vehicles, and whether such arrangements will follow the recommendations made in the consultancy study reported in 2009 to the Panel on Transport of this Council, i.e. the existing regulatory arrangements for cross-boundary coaches/hire cars/goods vehicles be maintained, and the existing quota system for private cars be relaxed through managed control; if so, of the details, including whether the regular quotas for cross-boundary vehicles and ad hoc quotas for cross-boundary private cars will be increased, and whether the eligibility criteria for applying for these two types of quotas will be relaxed; (4) given that the supplementary information on the total traffic projections per day for HZMB submitted by the Government to the Public Works Subcommittee of this Council on 21 May 2008 indicated that the total traffic volumes per day of HZMB would be 9 200, 15 350, 27 400 and 35 700 in 2016, 2020, 2030 and 2035 respectively, and such projections were based on the assumption that the existing quota system for cross-boundary private cars would remain unchanged, of the respective estimated percentages of the aforesaid traffic projections in the design capacity of HZMB per day; and (5) whether the Government will set a minimum traffic volume target for HZMB; if it will, whether it will relax the quotas for cross-boundary vehicles in order to achieve such a target; if it will relax the quotas, of the additional quotas?
*18. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that during a police operation to disperse supporters of the road occupation movement in Mong Kok on 26 November last year, some police officers allegedly hurled discriminatory remarks at a protestor of South Asian descent. Some members of the public are concerned whether police officers have received adequate training on racial equality. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) how many workshops were organized by the Police in collaboration with the Equal Opportunities Commission for raising serving police officers' awareness of racial equality, and how many police officers participated in such workshops, in each year since the enactment of the Race Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 602) in 2008; (2) of the respective contents of the courses on human rights and racial equality, as well as the respective proportions of such courses, in the regular training courses for police officers at rank-and-file level and those of the Inspectorate rank; and (3) whether they have provided training courses on human rights and racial equality to police officers at senior levels; if so, of the ranks of the target trainees; if not, whether they will consider providing such training courses; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
*19. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
In his 2015 Policy Address, the Chief Executive put forward measures to unleash the potential of local labour force, as well as recruit talent and professionals from outside Hong Kong etc., in order to address the challenges brought by demographic changes. Such measures include the extension of the retirement ages of new recruits for the civilian grades and the disciplined services to 65 and 60 respectively as from the middle of this year. However, the extension of the employment of serving civil servants beyond retirement age will be subject to operational needs, succession planning and recruitment situation of departments. Moreover, the Government suspends the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme ("CIES") with immediate effect. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed how far the local labour force can be unleashed by extending the retirement age of civil servants; if it has assessed, of the details and set out the relevant figures for each of the next 10 years; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the number, as estimated by the authorities, of serving civil servants who will be willing to have their retirement age extended, with a breakdown by department; (3) whether it has assessed how internal promotion opportunities in government departments will be affected by the extension of the retirement age of civil servants, and whether this measure will dampen people's desire to join the Government's work force; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it has assessed which government departments will make arrangements for the extension of the retirement age of serving civil servants due to operational needs, succession planning or not being able to recruit the manpower required, as well as of the respective grades and numbers of such civil servants; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) of the impact, as estimated by the authorities, on the Government's expenditure brought by the extension of the retirement age of civil servants, including the annual additional expenses to be incurred by various departments in future for civil service remunerations and fringe benefits such as medical, housing and retirement protection benefits; (6) whether it has assessed the impact of the extension of the retirement age of civil servants on the turnover of civil servant quarters, including whether the average waiting time of staff of various disciplined services for allocation of quarters will be longer; if it has assessed, of the details; (7) given that the staff of disciplined services have to meet specific requirements for physical fitness in order to cope with the operational needs, whether it has assessed the impacts of the extension of the retirement age of disciplined services on the quality of their service; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (8) of the number of meetings held by the Government with civil servant groups and disciplined services unions on the proposal to extend the retirement age of civil servants, as well as the Government's follow-up actions and responses; (9) of the average annual economic gains brought about by CIES to Hong Kong since its implementation; (10) of the total investment in Hong Kong made by persons permitted to reside in Hong Kong under CIES in the past decade, with a breakdown by country/place of origin of such persons; (11) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of enterprises which have benefited from the investment projects under CIES; whether it has assessed if the suspension of the scheme will affect the employment rate and types of jobs available in Hong Kong, as well as whether the suspension will dampen overseas investors' desire to invest in Hong Kong; (12) why the authorities had not considered enhancing CIES but decided to suspend it, and whether the reasons include that the scheme was ineffective in the past; (13) whether it has assessed the annual economic losses to Hong Kong as a result of the suspension of CIES, and the respective annual decreases in the amounts of overseas and mainland capital investments in Hong Kong in the coming five years; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (14) of the new specific plans in place for recruiting talent and professionals from outside Hong Kong who meet the needs of Hong Kong's economy and long-term development, as well as the industries which will mainly be covered by the relevant measures?
*20. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
During the road occupation movement ("occupation movement"), some parts of the tramway along Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay were obstructed, resulting in suspension of tram service between the east and west of the Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong Tramways Limited ("HKT") has pointed out that the patronage of tram service during that period dropped as compared to previous years, and tram maintenance work was also affected as some of the tramcars could not return to the depot in the Western District. Some tram drivers have pointed out that the incident not only affected tram service but also caused their income to drop. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the average daily (i) patronages, (ii) numbers of trips (iii) distances in kilometres travelled, as well as (iv) incomes from tram fares, in respect of the tram service during the three periods from 1 to 27 September, 28 September to 14 December and 15 December 2014 till now; how such figures differ from those in the same period of the preceding year in terms of percentage points; (2) as HKT has pointed out that during the occupation movement, some tramcars were taken out of service for safety reasons as maintenance of them could not be carried out, whether HKT had reduced the number of tram trips as a result; if so, of the number of trips so reduced and the resultant loss in fare income; whether HKT has indicated that it is under pressure to increase fares due to reduction in income; (3) the respective numbers of tram drivers in each shift, and their average numbers of working hours and hours of overtime work each day during the three periods mentioned in (1); whether HKT had requested some of its staff members to take no pay leave during the occupation movement; and (4) the additional expenses incurred by HKT for procurement of heavy-duty machines and cables wiring for the Sai Wan Ho Depot to facilitate tram maintenance work to be carried out there during the occupation movement, and whether HKT has plans to procure more machines for the depot, so as to ensure that tram maintenance work will not be affected by similar incidents in future?
*21. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some motorists have complained that at dusk, the glass curtain walls of the International Finance Centre reflect sunlight from a low angle right in front of them, making them unable to keep their eyes open and thus affecting road safety. Some residents of the Yau Tsim Mong District have also complained that the glass curtain walls of the International Commerce Centre reflect sunlight into their homes, affecting their daily lives. Regarding light pollution caused by sunlight reflected by glass curtain walls of buildings, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received by various government departments in the past five years about light pollution caused by glass curtain walls of buildings, broken down by government department and the District Council district in which the building is situated, together with the names of the buildings involved; among the complaints, of the numbers of those made by residents and motorists respectively; (2) besides the Environmental Protection Department, whether other government departments are responsible for handling and following up such kind of light pollution complaints; and (3) whether the government departments concerned will take follow-up actions after receiving such kind of complaints; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
On 18 December last year, the Financial Secretary announced the establishment of a Housing Reserve ("the Reserve") to meet the 10-year public housing supply target on the financial front, and the transfer of all the investment return on the Government's fiscal reserves in the current fiscal year (about $27 billion) to the Reserve. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the cash and investment balance of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") is projected to decrease significantly and continuously over the coming few years, whether the authorities have estimated the amount needed to be transferred each year from the Reserve to HA in support of its public housing construction projects; (2) of the specific measures put in place to urge HA to enhance the cost-effectiveness of its public housing construction projects; and (3) whether it has assessed if the establishment of the Reserve will affect the levels of expenditure of other public services?
* For written reply
III. Bill
Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Bill 2014 : Secretary for Development