A 14/15-17
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 11 February at 11:00 am,
Thursday 12 February and Friday 13 February 2015 at 9:00 am on each day
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Allowances to Jurors (Amendment) Order 2015 | 29/2015 |
| 2. | Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 (Commencement) Notice | 30/2015 |
Other Papers
II. Questions for Written Replies
1. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
The 2015 Policy Address has pointed out that some tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC-funded institutions") have accumulated large surpluses through the self-financing programmes offered by their community colleges. The Government will therefore ask the UGC-funded institutions to critically review their financial position and consider different ways to use their surpluses to benefit their students, e.g. lowering tuition fees and offering scholarships or bursaries for underprivileged students. Regarding the full-time and part-time self-financing post-secondary programmes ("self-financing programmes") offered by the departments (such as community colleges) of UGC-funded and non-publicly funded ("non-funded") tertiary institutions, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, in respect of the various types of self-financing programmes offered by the departments of each UGC-funded institution in each of the past five academic years, the respective numbers of such programmes, as well as (i) the student intakes, (ii) the tuition fee income, (iii) the number of full-time and part-time teaching and non-teaching staff members employed, and (iv) payroll expenses for such staff members, of such programmes respectively; (2) whether it knows the amounts of surpluses/deficits as a result of offering self-financing programmes by the departments of each UGC-funded institution in each of the past five academic years, and whether the amounts of such surpluses/deficits were shared/borne between the departments and their parent institutions; if so, how the institutions use the surpluses; whether the departments are required to pay fees to their parent institutions in respect of their self-financing programmes; if so, of the details of such fees; (3) how the authorities will ensure that the UGC-funded institutions will use their surpluses, derived from offering self-financing programmes, to benefit their students, as well as monitor the use of such surpluses by the departments of these institutions; (4) whether it knows, in respect of various types of self-financing programmes offered by the departments of each non-funded institution in each of the past five academic years, the respective numbers of such programmes, as well as (i) the student intakes, (ii) the tuition fee income, (iii) the number of full-time and part-time teaching and non-teaching staff members employed, and (iv) payroll expenses for such staff members, of such programmes respectively; and (5) whether it knows the amounts of surpluses/deficits as a result of offering self-financing programmes by the departments of each non-funded institution in each of the past five academic years?
2. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)
In order to take forward the private residential development project at the former Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine site, the Government is carrying out the planning procedure for amending the relevant Outline Zoning Plan. Under the Government's plan, the site will be used for constructing 15 private residential blocks of 16 to 22 storeys each, providing a total of 2 200 small and medium sized units for 6 000 residents. On the other hand, some residents of Laguna City, a private housing estate near the site, have relayed to me that the population of the housing estate is now about 24 000, and the current vehicular throughput of Cha Kwo Ling Road and Sin Fat Road, the main access roads used by the residents, is already very high, and serious traffic congestion occurs during peak hours. These residents are worried that the population in the area is bound to increase drastically after the completion of the development project, hence aggravating the traffic congestion there. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the latest details concerning the aforesaid development project, including measures to enhance the road networks in the surrounding areas and the number of parking spaces in the development area; (2) of the respective volumes of traffic throughput to be generated during the construction stage of the development project and after the intake of residents according to the assessment conducted by the consultant; if such information is not available, of the reasons for that; and (3) as the authorities indicated to the Kwun Tong District Council early last month that according to the traffic impact assessment conducted by the consultant, the levels of traffic throughput generated by the development project would be acceptable following the construction of a link road to Sin Fat Road and the implementation of traffic relief measures at the road junctions in nearby areas, of the relevant justifications and detailed statistics?
3. Hon Andrew LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Report on Study of Road Traffic Congestion in Hong Kong issued by the Transport Advisory Committee in December last year points out that private cars have been a major contributor to the overall vehicle growth in Hong Kong. From 2003 to 2013, the total number of private cars increased by 40%. As of September last year, the total number of registered private cars was 535 537, representing an annual growth rate of 4.6%. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it increased the number of parking spaces in public car parks in the past decade in response to the continuous increase in the number of private cars; if it did, of the relevant figures; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has regularly reviewed the standards for the provision of parking spaces set out in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines and, in accordance with the latest standards, specified in the newly granted land leases for residential development projects the numbers of public parking spaces to be provided by developers; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it has considered following the practice of Singapore by introducing a system for bidding the quota of private car registrations, so as to restrict the growth of private cars; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) given that the authorities have already provided park-and-ride facilities at a number of public transport interchanges to facilitate drivers to change to public transport after parking, whether the authorities have reviewed the effectiveness of these facilities in reducing the number of private cars entering the urban areas; and whether the authorities have plans to construct additional park-and-ride facilities and provide more concessions (e.g. concessionary bus fares) with a view to encouraging more people to park at such facilities and then change to public transport; if they do not, of the reasons for that?
4. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
At present, the population of the Wong Tai Sin ("WTS") district is about 420 000, the second highest among the five District Council ("DC") districts in Kowloon. Among that population, 16.7% are people aged 65 or above, and this percentage is the highest among the 18 DC districts. Some WTS residents have relayed to me that residents in the district who need to use accident and emergency ("A&E") services of public hospitals have to seek medical treatment in other districts. Such a situation causes inconvenience to the elderly and may cause delays in the treatment for patients. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the attendance of WTS residents using the A&E services of public hospitals in other districts in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by hospital cluster and hospital; (2) the average waiting time for the A&E services of the three hospital clusters of Kowloon in the past five years, with a breakdown by hospital cluster and hospital; (3) the average, shortest and longest time taken from WTS residents' calling for emergency ambulance service to their arrival at the hospital in the past five years, and how such figures compare with the relevant figures territory-wide; (4) given that the Kai Tak Hospital under planning will provide A&E services to WTS residents, but the authorities have anticipated that the first phase of the construction works of the hospital will not be completed until 2021, whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") will improve the A&E services for WTS residents before 2021, including whether HA will consider afresh providing A&E services in Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether HA has planned to rationalize the areas covered by various hospital clusters upon the commissioning of the Kai Tak Hospital; if HA has, of the details, and how such plan will affect the A&E services for WTS residents; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
According to the information published by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, 30 649 day school candidates sat for the examination on the subject of Chinese History in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination ("HKCEE") in 1999, representing about one-third of the total number of the candidates, and 6 464 day school candidates sat for the examination on the subject of Chinese History in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination ("HKDSEE") last year, representing about one-tenth of the total number of the candidates. There are comments that the subject of Chinese History is at risk of "dying out" owing to the decreasing number of candidates year after year. As the Government explained in its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 12 November last year, Chinese history is taught at junior secondary level in all secondary schools in Hong Kong, albeit the adoption of different curriculum modes. The curriculum guide promulgated by the Curriculum Development Council ("CDC") in 2001 has stated that Chinese history and culture is the essential learning content at junior secondary level. In this school year, 392 (i.e. 88.29%) secondary schools offer Chinese History as an independent subject at junior secondary level, with 350 (i.e. 78.83%) of these schools offering Chinese History as an independent subject throughout the junior secondary level, and 42 of them offering Chinese History as an independent subject in any one or two years of the junior secondary level. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the numbers of students taking the subject of Chinese History at senior secondary level in the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years; the number of candidates sitting for the examination on the subject of Chinese History in the HKDSEE in 2015 and its percentage in the total number of day school candidates, as well as how such number and percentage compare with the relevant figures of the candidates sitting for the examination on the subject of Chinese History in HKCEE held for the last time; (2) since CDC is reviewing the junior secondary curriculums of the subjects of Chinese History and History, and the Chief Executive has said in this year's Policy Address that the authorities will renew the curriculum content of Chinese History and World History, enrich the learning experience of students, and enhance the training of teachers, with the objectives of reinforcing students' interest in and understanding of Chinese history and culture and broadening their global outlook, whether the authorities will make the subject of Chinese History compulsory for all junior secondary students through the present curriculum review exercise; if they will make, of the details; if not, how the authorities will encourage young people to acquire a more comprehensive and correct understanding of the country's history; and (3) whether the authorities will consider adjusting the curriculum design and examination format of the subject of Chinese History at the senior secondary level (e.g. switching to use a more diversified question-and-answer format to assess candidates' level of knowledge about Chinese history), so as to reduce the need for candidates to learn the details of the country's history by rote; if they will consider, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported by some media that some picnickers plucked red leaves at Tai Tong Shan Road in Tai Lam Country Park and its vicinity early last month, while some others left behind a lot of garbage after watching sunrise at Lantau Peak in the early morning of the New Year's Day this year. Some people even cooked food in naked flame as well as urinated and defecated casually at the Peak, which raised many eyebrows. It has also been reported that such damaging acts to the ecological environment of country parks have occurred from time to time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past three years about picnickers damaging the ecological environment of country parks (including littering, illegal use of fire and damaging plants), and whether such numbers are on a rising trend; (2) of the number of prosecutions instituted by the authorities in the past three years against persons who damaged the ecological environment of country parks, with a breakdown of (i) such number and (ii) prosecution outcome by type of offence; and (3) of the specific improvement measures in place to prevent picnickers from damaging the ecological environment of country parks?
7. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
After a meeting with the mainland authorities in Beijing held in June last year, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development said that he had discussed with the mainland authorities the Individual Visit Scheme ("IVS"), including the policy on one-year multiple-entry Individual Visit Endorsements (commonly known as "multiple-entry endorsements"), and would announce the improvement measures upon reaching a consensus. The Secretary also said that he would relay to the mainland authorities the views on IVS policies expressed by various sectors in Hong Kong, including the suggestion of changing the multiple-entry endorsements to "certain number of trips per endorsement". However, the Government has yet to give an account of the progress on this issue. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the progress of its discussion with the mainland authorities on improving IVS and whether it has set a timetable for announcing the discussion outcome and the improvement measures; (2) whether it has assessed the feasibility of requesting the mainland authorities to cancel the multiple-entry endorsements arrangement and setting a ceiling on the number of visitors under IVS; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that and whether it has considered other options; and (3) of the specific new measures to diversify the sources of visitors, with a view to attracting visitors from long-haul markets (such as Europe, the United States and Australia, etc.) and short-haul markets in Asia (such as Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, etc.) to visit Hong Kong, so as to prevent the tourism industry from exceedingly relying on IVS?
8. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that, each year, quite a number of persons entering Hong Kong on employment visas (including foreign domestic helpers) become pregnant, give birth or terminate their pregnancy in Hong Kong. As they are non-Hong Kong residents, the maternity support provided for them is inadequate and the medical and education services provided for their children born in Hong Kong are also limited. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of requests for assistance received in each of the past five years by the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong from persons entering Hong Kong on employment visas; (2) whether it knows the respective numbers of cases, in each of the past five years, in which persons entering Hong Kong on employment visas were pregnant, gave birth or terminated their pregnancy in Hong Kong, with a breakdown by nationality and job type of their employments; the arrangements made for the children born in Hong Kong to such persons (e.g. being sent back to their parents' countries of origin, being adopted, etc.); (3) whether the Government currently provides sex education (including knowledge of contraception) to persons entering Hong Kong on employment visas, antenatal check-ups and support for the pregnant among them, vaccination services to their new born babies, and services such as education for their children born in Hong Kong; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it has reviewed if the existing labour and anti-discrimination legislation provides adequate protection for the maternity and related rights of those persons entering Hong Kong on employment visas; if it has reviewed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
9. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some trade union representatives have relayed to me that due to the remote location of the Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA") and the inadequacy of its external public transport services, the commuting hours of the staff working on the airport island ("airport staff") are relatively long and the companies and organizations operating at the airport have all along encountered difficulties in recruiting enough staff. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers and frequencies of buses of the 24-hour and overnight franchised bus routes running between HKIA and the urban areas; whether the authorities will request the franchised bus companies concerned to enhance their services; (2) whether it will request the franchised bus companies to increase the frequencies of the bus routes calling en route at the various facilities in HKIA, so as to cope with the transport demand of airport staff; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it will request the Airport Authority Hong Kong ("AA") to join hands with the franchised bus companies to provide more bus-bus interchange concessions for airport staff, such as fare concessions for bus passengers interchanging at the bus stops in the Lantau Link Toll Plaza for other bus routes bound for the urban areas; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it knows if AA will provide 24-hour shuttle bus services for transporting airport staff to and from HKIA, Lantau Link Toll Plaza and the urban areas; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether it knows if AA will establish a liaison group comprising representatives of AA, the Transport Department and trade unions for exchanging views on problems relating to the external transport for airport staff and putting forward solutions; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
10. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)
Some residents in Hung Hom and To Kwa Wan have complained to me that as a number of shops and hotels in the districts are dedicated to providing services to mainland people visiting Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme, a large number of coaches park and pick up/drop off tourists in the districts every day, resulting in traffic obstructions. Moreover, the noises produced by tourists have also caused nuisances to the residents. As a number of new hotels in the Hung Hom district will be completed in the next few years, these residents are worried that the aforesaid problems will worsen. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective average daily numbers of coaches parking in the two aforesaid districts on weekdays; and (2) how the authorities, when vetting and approving planning applications for changing land uses for hotel developments, currently assess the impacts of visitor flows and traffic flows to be brought by the relevant projects on the traffic and lives of residents in the districts concerned, and of the measures put in place to minimize such impacts; under what circumstances the authorities will reject such applications?
11. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
The Chief Executive ("CE") has stated in the 2015 Policy Address that the Government agrees that protection for needy citizens after retirement should be improved and he has asked the Financial Secretary to earmark $50 billion for this purpose. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that retirement protection concerns people from various strata of society, why the authorities have entrusted the Commission on Poverty with the responsibility of devising a framework and setting out the details for a public consultation on retirement protection; (2) how the Government came to the decision that the fund earmarked for retirement protection be set at a level of $50 billion, and whether it will further shoulder the expenditure to be incurred by any new retirement protection scheme; (3) whether it has plans to require employers and/or employees to shoulder the expenditure to be incurred by any new retirement protection scheme; if it has such plans, whether it has prudently considered the affordability for small and medium enterprises; (4) as CE has stated in the Policy Address that in exploring the issue of retirement protection, the Government must fully consider the sustainability, affordability and robustness of various policy options and focus social resources on helping those most in need, whether the authorities have made such a statement on the basis of the assessment outcome that the recommendations set out in the Research Report on Future Development of Retirement Protection in Hong Kong are not feasible; if they have not, of the reasons for that; and (5) as CE has reportedly indicated that it is his wish that a decision on the issue of retirement protection can be made within the tenure of the current-term government, and given the controversies in society surrounding this issue which have lasted for years, of the measures the authorities have put in place to ensure that the current-term government can make a decision on this issue in the remaining two years or so of its tenure?
12. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
At present, operators of data centres who intend to set up data centres in the Industrial Estates ("IEs") owned and managed by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation ("HKSTPC") must obtain the approval of HKSTPC, and the accommodation values in IEs are far lower than the market prices. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has reviewed if the existing procedure of HKSTPC for vetting and approving applications for setting up data centres in IEs has sufficient transparency, and if unfair competition has been created between data centres set up in IEs and those set up in other places; of the measures put in place to enhance the transparency and fairness of the vetting and approving procedure (such as introducing appropriate monitoring and making public the relevant approval criteria and marking schemes); (2) whether it knows what monitoring mechanism HKSTPC has put in place to prevent operators of data centres in IEs from letting or sub-letting the lands granted to them to third parties; whether such cases were uncovered in the past five years; if so, of the details, and how HKSTPC handled such cases; and (3) whether it will comprehensively review the existing policies and measures for supporting data centres, so as to create for the industry a business environment with a lower start-up threshold, conducive to fair competition and with highly transparent systems; whether it will make reference to overseas practices and construct a large-scale data centre park, so as to lower the costs of establishing and operating data centres through resources sharing?
13. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the problem of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") being abused by their employers or family members of their employers, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) of the total number of FDHs granted employment visas to work in Hong Kong in the past three years, with a breakdown by their nationality; (2) of the total number of complaints or requests for assistance received by the authorities in the past three years involving FDHs being subjected to violence by their employers or family members of their employers; among these cases, of the respective numbers of those which were (i) initiated by the FDHs concerned, (ii) referred by intermediaries, and (iii) referred by other persons; (3) of the total number of cases, in which prosecutions were instituted by the authorities in the past three years, that involved FDHs being subjected to violence by their employers or family members of their employers; the respective numbers of employers and other persons involved, as well as the penalties imposed by the Court on the convicted persons; (4) of the existing legislation and measures in place to protect the personal safety of FDHs; the new measures the authorities have put in place for protection of FDHs since the occurrence of an incident early last year in which an FDH was allegedly abused by her employer, which aroused wide public concern, together with the details of such measures; and (5) as the authorities indicated in February last year that the Labour Department was considering how best to strengthen the present licensing mechanism for employment agencies placing FDHs with a view to enhancing the protection of the interests of both employers and FDHs, of the progress of such efforts?
14. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported earlier that despite having returned the loaned materials to the public libraries ("libraries/library") on time, a patron was still advised by the relevant library that she had failed to return the materials and she was even requested by library staff to provide a proof by completing a "Claimed Return Form" ("CRF"). Yet, the materials were later recovered in the libraries. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department subsequently explained that the library staff concerned had made an error in the procedure of handling the return of materials and had not successfully scanned the bar codes of the materials. As a result, the return procedure was not completed and the borrowing record in the library computer system was not updated. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of library materials returned belatedly by patrons in each of the past three years, and its percentage in the total number of loaned materials; (2) of the number of CRFs received by libraries from patrons in each of the past three years and, among them, the respective numbers of cases the materials involved in which were recovered later in libraries, returned by patrons and yet to be recovered (set out in a table); (3) of the current procedure for handling cases of late return of materials; whether libraries will check if the materials concerned are inside their premises or have been mistakenly transferred to another library prior to approaching the patrons concerned; if they will check, of the relevant procedure; if not, the reasons for that; (4) of the procedure adopted by libraries for handling CRFs; the number of days usually taken to complete the procedure (including checking if the materials concerned are inside their premises and notifying patrons on the outcome of the checking); the respective numbers of CRFs accepted and not accepted by libraries in each of the past three years, and the penalty imposed on those patrons whose CRF were not accepted by libraries; (5) whether the authorities will review the manpower and computerized procedure for handling the return of materials by libraries, with a view to minimizing the chances of making errors (including ensuring the successful scanning of bar codes of returned materials and updating borrowing records in the computer system); (6) whether the authorities will review the current checking procedure regarding the transfer of materials among libraries (e.g. ensuring the completion of the return procedure and updating borrowing records prior to transferring the materials reserved by readers to another library); and (7) of the procedure for conducting the annual stock taking of materials by libraries and the results of such exercises conducted in each of the past three years (set out the relevant figures in a table)?
15. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Some social workers have relayed to me that students with special educational needs ("SEN") from low-income families have encountered much difficulties in receiving education and rehabilitation services. While these students need to receive different rehabilitation training and treatments, such services are hardly affordable to their families as they generally charge as high as several hundred dollars per hour. Moreover, the Government does not provide specialized social services for SEN students at present. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of the aforesaid type of students; if it has, of a breakdown by type of SEN at present; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will provide targeted assistance measures for the aforesaid type of students, such as providing them with a one-off subsidy for procuring assessment and rehabilitation services from the private sector; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that in view of the positive comments received, the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") has incorporated the "training subsidy for children who are on the waiting list of subvented pre-school rehabilitation services" implemented by the Community Care Fund into the regular assistance programme, whether the Government will consider expanding the target beneficiaries of such programme to cover the aforesaid type of students; and (4) given that no specialized social services are provided by SWD for SEN students at present, and the services offered by non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") on a self-financing basis are expensive and lack quality supervision, whether the Government has compiled statistics on the current quantity of such services, as well as the areas covered by such services; whether it will consider providing NGOs with recurrent subvention for the provision of such services?
16. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
Some police officers at the rank-and-file level have relayed to me that due to a shortfall of departmental quarters ("DQ"), their waiting time for quarters is getting longer and longer. On the other hand, during the Occupy Central movement, since many police officers had to be on duty for long hours around-the-clock, it was difficult for them to return to their quarters for a rest. Moreover, they have pointed out that while their entry pay point is higher than those of general clerical posts in the Government, clerical staff get promotions and pay increments faster than they do after joining the Civil Service, and the pay gap between the two shrinks with the increase in years of service. Regarding improvements to the salary and fringe benefits of police officers, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Civil Service Bureau ("CSB") has assessed and reviewed the situation of police officers (particularly those at the rank-and-file level) having to wait for a long time for quarters due to the shortfall of DQ; if it has, of the outcome; the average and the longest waiting times for DQ at present; if not, whether it can conduct such an assessment and review immediately; (2) given that during such time when police officers are handling unexpected incidents which last for a long period of time, it is difficult for them to return to their quarters which are far from their work locations for a rest, whether the authorities will consider, when constructing DQ in future, siting such quarters in the vicinity of police stations or operational planning locations (such as the Police Training School in Wong Chuk Hang) as far as possible, with a view to saving the time required for police officers to travel to and from the quarters, and affording them more rest time after work; and (3) whether CSB is concerned about and has conducted a review of the aforesaid pay gap, and explored ways to maintain the gap between the remuneration packages of police officers at the rank-and-file level and those of clerical staff; if it has, of the outcome; if not, whether it can expeditiously conduct such a review?
17. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the development of public healthcare services, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Government said in reply to my question in October 2013 that the Hospital Authority ("HA") would conduct service planning for the Kai Tak Hospital and was reviewing and assessing the overall demand-and-supply situation of healthcare services in Kowloon to facilitate planning work, whether it knows the latest progress of the two tasks (including the planning for the redevelopment of Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital), and the anticipated earliest completion dates of the tasks; (2) as this year's Policy Address has pointed out that upon completion of Phase 1 construction works, Kai Tak Hospital will houses an oncology centre, as well as in-patient and ambulatory services, of the other specialist out-patient and in-patient services which the Hospital will then provide, as well as the commencement dates of post-Phase 1 works and the number of phases by which such works will be carried out; (3) as this year's Policy Address has pointed out that upon completion of the improvement works to barrier-free facilities in general out-patient clinics and acute hospitals at the end of last year, HA will complete the improvement works in the remaining hospitals by the end of next year, whether it knows the details of the improvement works completed last year and those to be completed by the end of next year (including the locations of the clinics/hospitals with such facilities, types of the facilities, completion dates/anticipated completion dates and project estimates); (4) as HA is planning to consolidate the facilities of HA and the Department of Health at the Robert Black General Out-patient Clinic in Wong Tai Sin, with a view to increasing its number of consultation rooms and out-patient service quota, whether the Government knows the latest progress of such work, and whether HA has any plan to conduct similar exercises in other clinics for the purpose of upgrading clinic facilities or service enhancement; if so, of the details (including the details of the clinics involved, work progress, project estimates, completion dates and services to be improved); and (5) of the details of the works projects implemented so far since the Finance Committee of this Council approved in 2013 a one-off grant to HA for minor works projects, including the hospitals/clinics concerned, types of works projects, commencement/anticipated completion dates and estimates of such projects?
18. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
The authorities have earlier conducted a review of the Third Technical Memorandum for Allocation of Emission Allowances for Power Plants. The focus of the review is to study, based on the electricity demand forecast of 2019, the measures that could be employed to introduce the best practicable means to further reduce the allowances on emission of the three specified air pollutants, namely sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and respirable suspended particulates, by power plants. However, there are views that the Government's current practice of merely restricting the emissions of the three aforesaid air pollutants without control on carbon dioxide emissions by power plants is unsatisfactory. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as some green groups have pointed out that power plants create a considerable level of carbon emissions, whether the authorities have plans to regulate the carbon emissions from electricity generation by the power plants of the two power companies; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as energy efficiency maximization helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the authorities have provided the two power companies with financial incentives in respect of energy saving and energy audits in order to incentivize them to enhance energy efficiency performance, whether the authorities will consider increasing such financial incentives and requiring the two power companies to set energy efficiency targets; if they will, of the details; (3) as the authorities are currently providing economic incentives to the two power companies in terms of a higher permitted rate of return for their investment in renewable energy ("RE") facilities, and an additional bonus in permitted return depending on the proportion of RE being used in their electricity generation, whether the authorities have considered increasing such economic incentives so as to encourage the two power companies to use more RE in electricity generation; if they have considered, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) as buildings account for about 90% of electricity consumption in Hong Kong at present, and the Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance (Cap. 610), which came into effect as late as 2012, only requires the major building service installations of new buildings as well as existing buildings undergoing major retrofitting to comply with the relevant energy efficiency standards, of the measures put in place by the Government to encourage the users and managers of existing buildings to use energy-efficient building service installations with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and whether it has conducted any review of the effectiveness of such measures; if it has, of the outcome?
19. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
According to the Transparency Report published biannually by Google, an Internet search-engine service provider, the Hong Kong Government made 359 requests to the company for disclosure of its users' information ("requests for information disclosure") in the first half of 2014, but about half of such requests were not acceded to by the company. In addition, the Law Enforcement Requests Report published by Microsoft, a computer technology company, indicated that the company received 229 requests for information disclosure from the Hong Kong Government during the same period, and it provided part of its users' information in response to about 85% of such requests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the annual numbers of requests for information disclosure made by the Government to Internet service providers/Internet platforms/web sites (collectively referred to as "service providers") and the nature of the information sought (whether requests were made for providing metadata and/or content of communication) during the period from February 2011 to September 2014, with a breakdown by government department; if such information cannot be provided, of the reasons for that; (2) of the annual numbers of requests made by the Government to service providers for removal of their users' information ("requests for information removal") and the number of service providers involved during the period from February 2011 to September 2014, with a breakdown by government department; if such information cannot be provided, of the reasons for that; (3) of the details of the requests for information disclosure made by the Government to service providers since October 2014, including: (i) names and types of service providers, (ii) total number of service providers, (iii) dates on which the requests were made, (iv) deadlines for processing the requests (irrespective of whether such requests were acceded to or not), (v) types of requests made, (vi) reasons for making the requests, (vii) number of requests made, (viii) number of requests made under a court order, (ix) number of accounts involved, (x) amount of information requested, (xi) nature of information requested (whether requests were made for providing metadata and/or content of communication), (xii) number of requests acceded to, and (xiii) reasons given by service providers for not acceding to the requests, with a tabulated breakdown by government department; if such information cannot be provided, of the reasons for that; (4) of the details of the requests for information removal made by the Government to service providers since October 2014, including: (i) names and types of service providers, (ii) total number of service providers, (iii) dates on which the requests were made, (iv) deadlines for processing the requests (irrespective of whether such requests were acceded to or not), (v) types of requests made, (vi) reasons for making the requests, (vii) number of requests made, (viii) number of requests made under a court order, (ix) number of accounts involved, (x) amount of information requested for removal, (xi) nature and details of information requested for removal, (xii) number of requests acceded to, and (xiii) reasons given by service providers for not acceding to the requests, with a tabulated breakdown by government department; if such information cannot be provided, of the reasons for that; (5) as a member of the public has relayed to me that he had enquired with certain government departments about the records on the requests they made to service providers for information disclosure/removal but such departments indicated that no such records were maintained, and it was not until he subsequently made further enquiries under the Code on Access to Information that he was provided with part of the information by the departments concerned, whether the authorities have reviewed the practices currently adopted by various government departments for maintaining these records; if they have reviewed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether it will consider (i) establishing a separate department dedicated to scrutinizing the procedures adopted by various government departments for making requests to service providers for information disclosure/removal, (ii) establishing a unified application system to facilitate the compilation of relevant statistics, and (iii) discussing and agreeing, before making the requests, with service providers on whether the Government can make public the information on the service providers involved in such requests; if it will consider, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
20. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The parent of a visually impaired student who was admitted to a local tertiary institution in September last year has sought my assistance recently, alleging that as the student has not yet been provided with adequate assistive devices by the institution concerned, he has to carry heavy assistive devices to the campus to attend classes every day. Regarding the support received on campus by tertiary students with special educational needs ("SEN"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the current number of such tertiary students, with a breakdown by institution and type of SEN of the students; (2) whether it will discuss with the University Grants Committee ("UGC") and various tertiary institutions the formulation of a set of uniform guidelines on the provision of support for such students; if it will, of the details of the discussion and the work plan for formulating the guidelines; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the amount of relevant funding provided by the Government and UGC for the tertiary institutions in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by institution; whether it will consider improving the relevant funding policy, increasing the amount of such funding and providing funding to non-governmental organizations for provision of relevant support; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) apart from providing financial support to tertiary institutions, whether it will consider setting up a unit under the Education Bureau to coordinate matters relating to the provision of support by tertiary institutions to such students; if it will, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
21. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, the Government has been promoting the greening of buildings to save energy and reduce carbon emissions through enhancing the thermal insulation capability of buildings. Various government departments, statutory bodies and subvented organizations have also implemented greening projects for their buildings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has set effectiveness indicators in respect of the policies and measures for promoting the greening of buildings, and when such policies and measures were last revised; (2) of the total size of the greened areas of the greening projects undertaken and completed by the aforesaid departments and organizations for their buildings in each of the past three years, and set out in a table, by the District Council ("DC") districts where the buildings are located, the names of such buildings as well as the types of greening projects (e.g. roof greening and/or vertical greening, etc.) implemented and the sizes of the greened areas concerned; (3) of the respective total expenditure, in each of the past three years, on the greening projects for the buildings of the aforesaid departments and organizations, with a breakdown of the expenses on the works, repair and maintenance, etc.; (4) of the projected total size of greened areas to be provided by the greening projects that the aforesaid departments and organizations will undertake for their buildings in the next three years, and set out in a table, by the District Council ("DC") districts where the buildings are located, the names of such buildings, as well as the types of greening projects (e.g. roof greening and/or vertical greening, etc.) to be implemented and the sizes of the greened areas concerned; (5) of the reference standards adopted by the aforesaid departments and organizations when determining the sizes of the greened areas to be provided and the species of the plants to be planted under the various greening projects for their buildings, and whether it has considered factors such as the air pollution indexes, carbon emissions and urban heat island effects in the districts where the buildings concerned are located; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) of the irrigation systems for the plants currently used in the roof greening and/or vertical greening projects for the buildings under the aforesaid departments and organizations; whether the energy and water consumption of such irrigation systems have been measured; if so, of the details and the specific figures; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether the aforesaid departments and organizations have assessed the effectiveness of the various greening projects, including measuring, upon completion of such projects, the drop in carbon emissions and average indoor temperature of the buildings concerned, the amount of energy saved, as well as the effectiveness in improving the air quality of the surrounding areas; if so, of the details and the specific data obtained from such assessments; if not, the reasons for that; and (8) whether, in order to tie in with the recommendation made in 2008 by the consultant of the Environmental Protection Department of the adoption of a carbon intensity reduction target of 50% to 60% by 2020 when compared with the 2005 level, the Government will review afresh the existing planning standards for greening projects for buildings, as well as the measures taken by government departments and statutory bodies for enhancing building energy efficiency, with a view to reducing carbon emissions; if so, of the details and the specific work to be carried out; if not, the reasons for that?
22. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:
The international trade in ivory has been banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ("CITES") since 1990. Ivory legally imported before the ban ("pre-Convention ivory") may not be re-exported for commercial purposes, but may be traded locally in Hong Kong if they have been registered with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") and are kept under a valid Licence to Possess ("Possession Licence") issued by AFCD. According to a recent study carried out by leading elephant experts, 100 000 elephants in Africa were illegally killed for their ivory tusks between 2010 and 2012. If nothing is done, the African elephant species might become extinct within our lifetime. According to media reports, Hong Kong has been highlighted time and again as an important transit and consumption hub for illegal ivory, and the legal ivory trade is cloaking a parallel illegal trade in ivory poached from illegally killed African elephants. Wildlife conservation groups have called for the Government to review and reform its licensing and control system on ivory possession and trade. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Government decided in 2014 to dispose of the confiscated ivory in its stockpile by incineration in batches, of (i) the weight and the number of batches of ivory disposed of since 15 May 2014, (ii) the weight and the number of batches of ivory to be disposed of, and (iii) the anticipated completion date of the disposal of the entire stockpile; (2) as some wildlife conservation groups have pointed out that a large quantity of small pieces of ivory (e.g. trinkets and jewelry) are on the local market but many of which have not been attached with certification, of AFCD's measures to ascertain if such ivory products come from pre-Convention stock rather than poached elephants; whether such measures include the employment of updated technology (including DNA analysis and bomb curve dating using radioactive isotopes); if they do not, of the reasons for that; (3) whether it will consider raising the maximum penalty for ivory trafficking offences in sections 5 and 10 of the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586), from imprisonment for two years and a fine of $5 million to imprisonment for six years and a fine of $15 million; if it will not, of the reasons for that; (4) as the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation indicated in his letter to me dated 22 August 2014 that from 2011 to 2013, 42 persons had been convicted of smuggling ivory, of the full details of such cases, including the names, ages and nationalities of the convicted persons, the provenance of the seized ivory, the destinations for the ivory, and the weight of ivory seized; if such information cannot be provided, of the reasons for that; (5) as some wildlife conservation groups have pointed out that the quantity of registered ivory stock under Possession Licences in recent years should have decreased swiftly with the marked increase in the number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong, whether the Government will explore why the ivory stock barely moved from 116.5 to 117.1 tonnes between 2011 and 2013; (6) of the weight of the registered ivory stock in each year between 1989 and 2014 and set out in a table the breakdown by (i) whether or not the ivory was pre-Convention ivory, (ii) whether or not the ivory was imported before elephant was listed in CITES Appendix I, and (iii) the purpose of transaction listed in the Possession Licence application form; (7) as a wildlife conservation group has uncovered that over 20 shops in Hong Kong without Possession Licences illegally displayed ivory for sale in 2014, whether AFCD will immediately implement measures to curb these illegal activities, including (i) announcing a moratorium on all new Possession Licences, (ii) cancelling inactive Possession Licences , and (iii) removing "Commercial" from the list of "Codes for Purpose of Transaction" in the Possession Licence application form; if it will not, of the reasons for that; (8) as a list of the retail stores and factories engaged in the processing and sale of ivory (with names and addresses) on the Mainland is posted on the web site of the relevant mainland authorities, which is updated biennially, whether AFCD will follow such practice and arrange to make public the current list of 447 holders of Possession Licences in Hong Kong together with their names and addresses, so that the media and wildlife conservation groups can better assist in uncovering illegal activities of ivory traders; and (9) whether the Government will consider afresh imposing a comprehensive ban on all ivory sales in Hong Kong; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
III. Bill
| First Reading
Interception of Communications and Surveillance (Amendment) Bill 2015 | |||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned) | |||
| Interception of Communications and Surveillance (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Security | |
IV. Members' Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the - | |
| (a) | Minimum Wage Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 2015, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 6 of 2015; and | |
| (b) | Employment Ordinance (Amendment of Ninth Schedule) Notice 2015, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 7 of 2015, | |
| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 21 January 2015, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 18 March 2015.
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| 2. | Motion of Thanks
Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion:(Translation) That this Council thanks the Chief Executive for his address. | |
| Amendments to the motion | ||
| (i) | Hon Frederick FUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", but expresses deep regret that the address fails to respond to the demand for genuine universal suffrage raised by people through the Umbrella Movement, or even fails to learn a lesson therefrom so as to ease social tensions; on the contrary, the Chief Executive takes political struggle as the guiding principle, boasting of 'one country' while belittling 'two systems' by creating an imaginary enemy who advocates 'Hong Kong independence', labelling people arbitrarily as well as suppressing freedom of speech and academic freedom; that on specific livelihood issues, the address even prescribes wrong medicine indiscriminately and fails to make any undertakings, such as proposing to sell new public rental housing ('PRH') units to PRH tenants and Green Form applicants without conducting any consultation, disregarding that such an initiative will reduce the total number of lettable PRH units and prolong the waiting time for PRH; and that in dealing with the issue of universal retirement protection, the address uses opposition from some members of the community as an excuse to position the future development of retirement protection as a non-universal and financially unsustainable scheme, disregarding the report made by an earlier commissioned consultancy team led by Professor Nelson CHOW, and even uses consultation as a reason to continue to delay the introduction of the relevant scheme, etc" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (ii) | Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", but expresses deep regret that the Chief Executive fails to honour his undertaking to 'adopt measures to progressively reduce the proportion of accrued benefits attributed to employer's contribution in the MPF account that can be applied by the employer to offset long-service or severance payments' as set out in his election manifesto, and deliberately procrastinates the legislative work on standard working hours" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (iii) | Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", but expresses regret that the address fails to put forward concrete measures to uphold Hong Kong's core values such as human rights, democracy, freedom, the rule of law and integrity, etc., and expresses great dissatisfaction that the address lacks commitment in policy areas relating to labour, housing, education and women, etc.; this Council also requests the SAR Government to expeditiously implement the various long-delayed policies conducive to people's livelihood, including enacting legislation on setting standard working hours and the right to collective bargaining, as well as introducing a universal retirement protection scheme, etc., so as to protect the livelihood of the grassroots; this Council also requests the SAR Government to construct not less than 35 000 public rental housing ('PRH') units each year, and that saleable PRH units should be subject to a resale restriction to selling back to the Government only, as well as to establish tenancy control for private residential properties, etc., so as to alleviate the housing problem of grass-roots people; and to implement 15-year free education and comprehensively review child care services, so as to strengthen the support for the employment of women" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (iv) | Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", and the Chief Executive's concern about the official magazine of the Hong Kong University Students' Union expressed in paragraph 10 of the address arouses people's thinking of and deliberations on the political stance raised in the magazine, as well as the diminution of freedom of speech and academic freedom in Hong Kong; in addition, this Council expresses regret that the Chief Executive fails to respond to people's demands which include reactivating the process for constitutional reform, immediately implementing a universal retirement protection scheme, overhauling the public healthcare services and immediately increasing the housing supply, etc" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (v) | Dr Hon Helena WONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", but expresses regret that the address names and criticizes the articles of 'Undergrad', the official magazine of the Hong Kong University Students' Union, which undoubtedly is an act of the Chief Executive to set restrictions for freedom of speech and academic freedom in universities, causing university teachers and students to lose their valuable room for free exploration and academic discussions; in addition, this Council urges the Chief Executive to request the Central Government to reactivate the five-step mechanism for constitutional reform to implement the electoral system for the Chief Executive under the principles of universality and equality, allowing people with different political views to stand for the election, and to fully implement the election of all Legislative Council Members by universal suffrage, allowing all the five-million eligible voters in Hong Kong to have genuine choices" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (vi) | Hon Cyd HO to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", so as to follow the convention of the Legislative Council; but expresses deep regret that the address fails to respond to young people's demand for implementing genuine universal suffrage, and even names and criticizes 'Undergrad' to wage a Cultural Revolution-style denunciation" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (vii) | Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", so as to follow the convention of the Legislative Council; but expresses deep regret that the address fails to deal with the increasingly serious disparity between the rich and the poor in the society, and the problem of housing expenses being out of tune with people's affordability, resulting in the underprivileged's rights without due protection, causing many people to live in hardship" immediately before the full stop. | |
| (viii) | Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", so as to follow the convention of the Legislative Council; but expresses deep regret that the address has not made any undertaking to implement a universal retirement protection scheme, and requests the Government to set a timetable for implementing a universal retirement protection scheme formulated under the principles of sustainability, robustness, replacement ratio and affordability" immediately before the full stop. | |
| Public Officers to attend are listed in the Appendix.
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