A 15/16-15
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 27 January 2016 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No. 61 | - | Hospital Authority
Annual Report 2014-2015 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)
| |||
| 2. | No. 62 | - | Samaritan Fund
Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2015 and Report on the Fund |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)
| |||
II. Questions
1. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ("the Convention") has applied to Hong Kong since 1992. On the 13th of this month, when the Chief Executive attended a press conference after delivering this year's Policy Address, a reporter asked whether Hong Kong could consider withdrawing from the Convention. In response, the Chief Executive said that "if needed, we could do so". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed if it can achieve the outcome of the Convention ceasing to apply to Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has assessed the resultant impact on Hong Kong's international image on protection of human rights in the event that the Convention ceases to apply to Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as China is a State Party to the Convention and matters about the Convention ceasing to apply to Hong Kong should be dealt with by the Central Authorities, whether it has raised the relevant proposal with the Central Authorities; if it has, of the response of the Central Authorities; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)
On the sixth of this month, Global Times, a state-run newspaper of the Mainland, published an editorial entitled "Hype and distortion of Hong Kong bookseller's co-operation with investigation". When referring to the way by which a shareholder of Causeway Bay Books, who was reported missing last month, entered the Mainland, the editorial pointed out that "powerful agencies across the world generally have their own ways to circumvent the law and make the person under investigation to work with them, so that they can proceed with their work without crossing the bottom line of the system". There are comments that such statement aroused concerns that some mainland law enforcement officers had caused the missing person to enter the Mainland by using, in Hong Kong, ways which circumvented the law, and that such an act is a blatant breach of the "one country, two systems" principle. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, in the past five years, if any "powerful agencies" of the Mainland caused any Hong Kong people to enter the Mainland by using, in Hong Kong, ways of arrests, transport in custody or other ways which circumvented the law; if there were such incidents, of the details; (2) whether it received requests for assistance from any "powerful agencies" or other agencies of the Mainland in the past five years to facilitate their causing any Hong Kong people to enter the Mainland by using, in Hong Kong, ways of arrests, transport in custody or other ways which circumvented the law; if there were such incidents, of the details and the Government's responses to such requests; and (3) whether it has made enquiries with the Central Authorities to see if the "powerful agencies" or other agencies of the Mainland know whether any Hong Kong people entered the Mainland in the past five years by using ways which circumvented the law; if it has made such enquiries, of the replies received?
3. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask: (Translation)
Regarding issues relating to the Chief Executive ("CE") paying duty visits to report on his work to the Central People's Government ("CPG") ("reporting visits"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will, in composing CE's reports for reporting visits in future, consider consulting the public on the outline and the main contents of such reports, and making public such reports and relevant documents expeditiously after the reporting visits, so as to manifest the constitutional responsibility that CE shall be accountable to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and to enhance the transparency of policy implementation by the Government; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the authorities, during the previous reporting visits made by the incumbent CE or in his reports for such reporting visits, proposed matters for which they intended to secure CPG's support; if so, whether they can provide the relevant list and details; if they cannot provide such information, of the reasons for that; and (3) whether the incumbent CE, during his previous reporting visits, received directives or instructions given by CPG in verbal, written or other forms; if so, whether the authorities can provide the relevant list and details; if they cannot provide such information, of the reasons for that?
4. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, five shareholders or employees of Causeway Bay Books were reported missing one after another, which has aroused wide public concern. It has been reported that the wife of one of the missing persons received consecutively two calls (the displayed caller number being a Shenzhen phone number) and a video footage from that missing person to assure her of his safety, and an associate of the bookstore received a handwritten fax from that missing person, disclosing that he had "returned to the Mainland using his own way to work with the authorities concerned in an investigation". Moreover, when commenting on the way through which that missing person entered the Mainland, the editorial of a mainland newspaper pointed out that "powerful agencies across the world generally have their own ways to circumvent the law and make a person under investigation work with them, so that they can proceed with their work without crossing the bottom line of the system". Also, a Member of this Council quoted a message from his friend saying that the five missing persons illegally entered the Mainland one after another to visit prostitutes and were arrested by public security authorities. Such remarks have sparked strong repercussions. The aforesaid cases have aroused concerns about whether the "one country, two systems" has been weakened, the way the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") Government handles cases of Hong Kong residents reported missing, whether some persons have left Hong Kong by ways which circumvented the laws, whether mainland law enforcement officers have crossed the boundary to take law enforcement actions in Hong Kong, and whether the Government has assisted them in conducting investigations in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of Hong Kong residents found after they had been reported missing, their conditions when they were found (i.e. whether they were alive or dead), the number of those who have not yet been found, the number of Hong Kong residents intercepted by law enforcement departments when they were trying to leave the territory illegally, and whether it knows the number of persons who successfully left the territory illegally, since the reunification; (2) whether it knows, since the reunification, if any government officials and officers of law enforcement departments of the Mainland conducted investigations in Hong Kong into criminal offences, commercial crimes, cases of persons missing, etc., and whether the SAR Government has provided assistance to them; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the SAR Government has sought, since the reunification, assistance from the mainland authorities to locate missing Hong Kong residents and the number of those who were found on the Mainland; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
According to the latest statistics, the total, mainland and non-mainland visitor arrivals last year decreased by 2.5%, 2.9% and 1.2% respectively as compared with those of the year before, and the decrease in the second half of last year was higher than that in the first half. The business income of tourism-related industries, including the retail, catering and hotel industries, as well as tourist attractions has dropped significantly. Some members of the industries envisage that there is little sign of optimism this year. The Chief Executive has stated in the 2016 Policy Address that "[t]o move our tourism industry up the value chain, the Government will highlight the unique and diversified experiences Hong Kong offers and showcase our gourmet culture. It will also promote cultural and creative tourism, organize mega events, and draw more conventions and exhibitions to Hong Kong". However, the tourism promotion projects put forward in a paper submitted by the authorities to the Panel on Economic Development of this Council are all ongoing projects, except the theme-based exhibition area featuring local comic characters to be set up at the Golden Bauhinia Square, "Lumières Hong Kong" to be funded by the Mega Events Fund, the "Big Station" due to open soon in the Central and Western District, and the FIA Formula E Championship to be held in October which are new ones. Members of the tourism industry are therefore of the view that these projects would be of little help in enhancing the market competitiveness of the tourism industry. Quite a number of members of the tourism industry have relayed to me their hope that to allay their concern, the Government will give a clear account of the specific contents of the various tourism promotion projects and programmes which will be launched within this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has formulated short, medium and long term targets and measures to move the tourism industry up the value chain; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) apart from the aforesaid tourism promotion projects, of the details of the tourism promotion projects and programmes which will be launched by the Government within this year, including whether there are specific effectiveness indicators; if there are no indicators, of the reasons for that; and (3) given that tourism-related industries are facing hardship amid a business downturn, whether the authorities have plans to allocate more resources to help those industries and the practitioners concerned to tide over the difficult times; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
The Antiquities Advisory Board ("AAB") published in January last year the Report on the Policy Review on Conservation of Built Heritage. AAB recommended in the Report that the Government should set up a dedicated fund on the conservation of built heritage to provide funding for public education, publicity activities, academic researches, as well as public engagement and consultation programmes. In his recently delivered Policy Address, the Chief Executive indicated that the Government would earmark $500 million to implement AAB's recommendation for the establishment of the fund. However, some conservationists have pointed out that the Government has not put forward any specific proposals in respect of AAB's recommendations on encouraging private owners to conserve their historic buildings and pursuing the conservation of historic buildings on the premise of respecting private property rights. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the work on establishing the aforesaid fund, including the work objectives, the timetable for accomplishing the various objectives and the performance indicators; whether the authorities will consider making the fund a statutory one; (2) given that, as the first step to prepare detailed records of historic buildings, the Antiquities and Monuments Office ("AMO") has deployed its work team to conduct 3D scanning for historic buildings which are either under threat or worthy of public viewing, whether AMO has selected the historic buildings according to their assigned grading; how AMO carries out the relevant work when owners of privately-owned historic buildings refuse to co-operate with AMO; and (3) given that in recent years, quite a number of privately-owned historic buildings have been demolished before they are graded, of the experience which the Government has learnt from such cases and whether it has, in the light of such experience, formulated afresh a set of proposals on historic building grading and conservation which "respect our heritage while looking ahead"?
*7. Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask: (Translation)
Currently, several government departments (including Planning Department, Housing Department, Civil Engineering and Development Department, Drainage Services Department, Water Supplies Department, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, Transport Department, Highways Department and Environmental Protection Department) have employed persons of the construction and related engineering professions (the "relevant professions"). Some of those people are civil servants, while some others are employed on non-civil service contract ("NCSC") terms. Some of these NCSC staff have relayed to me that the fact that their remuneration packages are inferior to those of civil servants who have comparable responsibilities (which means different pay for the same work) coupled with the uncertain job prospects have affected their morale. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in each of the past five years, (i) of the respective numbers of NCSC staff and civil servants in the relevant professions who were employed by the aforesaid government departments, and (ii) among them, the number of NCSC staff who had been employed for five consecutive years or more; (2) whether it has formulated specific plans to assist those NCSC staff who have relatively long service years and whose positions have long-term service needs in being appointed as civil servants; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that a number of infrastructure projects (including the Hong Kong section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link project as well as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities and Hong Kong Link Road projects) in recent years have experienced delays, coupled with the occurrence of incidents in which drinking water samples were found to have a lead content exceeding the provisional guideline value set by the World Health Organization, whether the various government departments have plans to create more posts of the relevant professions and improve the remuneration packages for such professionals to retain talents, with a view to enhancing the planning and monitoring standards of the various projects; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)
In view of the growing residential developments in Tseung Kwan O district and local residents' concern over the odour arising from the South East New Territories Landfill ("SENT Landfill"), the Government has amended the legislation to require that the Landfill (and its extension) be designated for receiving only construction waste, and that municipal solid waste (i.e. domestic waste and commercial and industrial waste) and other waste be diverted to other waste management facilities. The diversion plan has been implemented since the 6th of this month. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the numbers of housing estates and buildings from which the domestic waste delivered to SENT Landfill for disposal in the past three years came, and the geographical distribution of such housing estates and buildings; (2) given that some of the waste collection routes have to be changed as a result of the implementation of the diversion plan, and that a longer travelling distance will incur more expenses, such as fuel cost, and reduce the number of times a refuse collection vehicle can transport waste each day, whether the authorities have estimated the additional expenditures arising from the diversion plan on the part of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD"), its outsourced waste collection contractors as well as private waste collectors; if they have, of the details, and the average amount of additional waste collection service charges to be borne by each residential unit; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether FEHD has received requests from its outsourced waste collection contractors for adjusting contract service charges for the reason that the operating costs have increased as a result of the diversion plan; if FEHD has, of the additional amount of expenditure involved each year; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether there are objective data showing that the air quality of Tseung Kwan O district has improved upon implementation of the diversion plan?
*9. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that skip operators from time to time place their skips at roadside in various districts across the territory and most of them do not comply with the relevant guidelines issued by the Transport Department. Those guidelines include: affixing reflective strips in alternate red and white to the four vertical edges of a skip, marking the company name(s) and emergency contact telephone number(s) on the two sides of a skip at an elevation of 1.5 metres above ground level, and, during the hours of darkness, attaching yellow flashing lights to each upper corner of a skip or placing traffic cones around a skip with yellow flashing lights being placed on traffic cones. Furthermore, a roadside skip placed on a two-lane two-way road often takes up more than half of a lane, making it necessary for vehicles passing by to run in the opposite direction of the traffic when they detour around the skip, which may easily result in traffic accidents. On the other hand, some skip operators have pointed out that currently there is insufficient space for placing skips and they have no choice but to place their skips at roadside. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
(1) the number and contents of the complaints about roadside skips received, and the number of skips removed, by the authorities in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by District Council district; the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted against skip operators by the authorities in each of the past three years, the number of convicted cases and the penalties generally imposed by the court on the convicted persons; (2) the number of traffic accidents involving roadside skips in each of the past three years, the causes for such accidents and the resultant casualties; (3) the details of the regulatory work currently conducted by the authorities on roadside skips, including arrangements for the division of work among the relevant government departments and ways by which roadside skips are handled; and (4) the details and progress of the authorities' work on identifying suitable sites for storing skips?
*10. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Currently, there are five Clinical Psychology Units ("CPUs") under the administration of the Clinical Psychological Service Branch of the Social Welfare Department ("SWD"), which provide various types of psychological services (including psychological and intellectual assessment, psychotherapy, etc.) to help individuals in mental, emotional or psychological distress to overcome their crises and problems. According to the information on the SWD web site, members of the public who wish to seek clinical psychological services may visit the Integrated Family Services Centres ("IFSCs") under SWD in the districts where they live or call the Departmental Hotline for registration. After conducting initial screening and counselling for people seeking assistance, the social worker on duty may refer their cases to CPUs for follow-up or treatment if necessary. Besides, some non-profit-making organizations also provide paid psychological counselling services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of requests for assistance received from people in distress by SWD in each year between 2011 and 2015 and, among such requests, the percentage of those requests which were referred to CPUs, as well as the average and median waiting time of new cases of CPUs; (2) of the specific criteria adopted, by the social workers on duty at IFSCs when they conduct the initial screening and counselling for people seeking assistance, for deciding whether the cases should be referred to CPUs for follow-up or treatment; (3) whether the reception duties at the IFSC registry and the call answering duties for the Departmental Hotline are all undertaken by registered social workers; if not, given that the psychological state of people in distress is more sensitive and fragile as well as less stable than that of ordinary people, and that they are apprehensive of being labelled as patients with mental illness, whether SWD will consider arranging registered social workers to undertake such duties to provide people seeking assistance with services which are more professional in nature; if SWD will not, of the reasons for that; (4) given that incidents of students committing suicide due to study pressures or other distress have occurred from time to time in recent years, whether SWD has deployed staff members to regularly visit various universities as well as secondary and primary schools to impart to students the importance of mental health awareness, and whether SWD has actively reached out to students showing signs of distress for early identification and handling of the cases; if SWD has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) given that quite a number of working persons face tremendous work pressure, whether SWD has regularly collaborated with public and private organizations to conduct briefings for working persons on the importance of mental health awareness, and whether SWD has actively reached out to working persons showing signs of distress for early identification and handling of the cases; if SWD has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) as I have learnt that the psychological counselling services provided by some non-profit-making organizations are expensive (e.g. the services provided by experienced registered social workers and clinical psychologists are charged at $600 to $900 and $1,500 per hour respectively), which are beyond the affordability of the general public, whether the Government will consider providing subsidy to non-profit-making organizations with a view to lowering the fees for such services; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
*11. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)
The Centre for Food Safety ("CFS") under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is responsible for food safety matters and takes food samples for testing according to a risk-based principle. Some members of the public have relayed to me that food safety incidents involving eateries of fast food chains have occurred one after another recently. For instance, the eateries of an American-style fast food chain sold meat containing antibiotics, while those of a Hong Kong-style fast food chain were repeatedly fined by the court for selling food containing insects, and did not keep chilled chicken under refrigeration at a temperature between 0°C and 4°C during transportation as required. Those members of the public are worried that their health may be affected as they often patronize such eateries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether CFS assessed, in the past three years, the risks of food safety incidents posed by the food sold by the eateries of fast food chains; if CFS did, of the assessment outcome, how such eateries compare to other eateries in this regard, and the justifications for arriving at the relevant assessment outcome; and (2) whether CFS will step up its efforts in conducting regular and surprise inspections on the hygiene conditions and food handling at the eateries of fast food chains; if CFS will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
A certain number of public markets and cooked food centres ("markets and centres") managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") were built many years ago. Some stall operators in those premises have pointed out that the fresh water pipes in such markets and centres have aged seriously and corroded, resulting in impurities such as rust being found in the fresh water. Given that the stall operators need to use fresh water to wash the food ingredients for sale and cook food for patrons' consumption, the situation that the fresh water is of inferior quality will harm public health and undermine the business environment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the materials used for the fresh water pipes in various markets and centres in the territory, the number of years for which they have been used, and the dates on which the maintenance works were last carried out; (2) whether FEHD regularly checks the conditions of the fresh water pipes in various markets and centres as well as carries out maintenance works; if FEHD does, of the details, if FEHD does not, the reasons for that; (3) whether FEHD has plans to replace the fresh water pipes in various markets and centres; if FEHD does, of the details; if FEHD does not, the reasons for that; (4) whether FEHD will, when co-ordinating works to replace the fresh water pipes, adopt an implementation method that will cause less disruption to the operation of the stalls, such as removing the old pipes only after installing new ones; if FEHD will, of the details; if FEHD will not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether FEHD regularly monitors the quality of fresh water in various markets and centres; if so, of the guideline value adopted; the results of the last three monitoring exercises; whether FEHD has formulated measures to ensure that the fresh water in various markets and centres is safe for consumption; if FEHD has, of the details; if FEHD has not, the reasons for that?
*13. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
According to the Code of Practice for the Lighting, Signing and Guarding of Road Works published by the Highways Department, at night or at times of poor visibility, all road obstructions or works must be delineated with prescribed road hazard warning lanterns ("warning lanterns"), and such warning lanterns must show an intermittent or revolving light to allow road users to know the limits of the obstructions and works. However, a number of members of the public have recently complained to me about the prolonged malfunctioning of warning lanterns for some road works, which may easily cause traffic accidents. They have also pointed out that some road works contractors use solar warning lanterns which are environmentally friendly, but such warning lanterns often malfunction because they have not been installed with rechargeable batteries or are undercharged, resulting in such warning lanterns existing in name only. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints about the operation of warning lanterns received by the authorities in each of the past three years; (2) of the current mechanism for regulating the operation of warning lanterns; whether the regulatory work is undertaken by the works consultants concerned and government departments conduct regulatory work only after they have received complaints; whether the authorities will review such regulatory mechanism and step up inspections of road works so as to ensure that warning lanterns operate according to the requirements; (3) whether the authorities have grasped the situation in which the aforesaid solar warning lanterns malfunction because they have not been installed with rechargeable batteries or are undercharged; whether the authorities are aware that some contractors use solar warning lanterns without installing rechargeable batteries due to their relatively high prices; and (4) whether the authorities have encouraged or required contractors to use environmentally friendly equipment for the lighting and signing of road works; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the procedures for vetting and approving applications for using such environmentally friendly equipment (including solar warning lanterns) by contractors; whether they will review the existing procedures for contractors to introduce environmentally friendly equipment so as to ensure that such equipment really serves the intended purposes; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
*14. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
The Government has planned to launch the Colorectal Cancer Screening Pilot Programme ("the Pilot Programme") in the middle of this year to subsidize members of the public of specific age groups for receiving colorectal cancer screening. However, the Government has not announced the details of the Pilot Programme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) why it has not announced the details of the Pilot Programme; (2) whether the original estimated expenditure of $420 million for the Pilot Programme needs to be revised; if so, of the details; whether there is any change in the target population and estimated number of beneficiaries under the Pilot Programme; if so, of the details; (3) given that colonoscopy services will be provided by private healthcare institutions under the Pilot Programme, of the average amount of fee per attendance for such services, and the amount of subsidy to be funded by public money in such a fee, as estimated by the authorities; and (4) given that the fees for colonoscopy services currently provided by private healthcare institutions vary greatly (for instance, individual clinics may charge a fee of as low as about $5,000, which is far lower than those charged by private hospitals), whether the authorities will, when implementing the Pilot Programme in future, require various private healthcare institutions participating in the Pilot Programme to publicize details and fee levels of their services, so as to enhance transparency and boost competition, thereby enabling members of the public to make informed choices; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Article 24(2)(3) of the Basic Law stipulates that HKPRs include persons of Chinese nationality born outside Hong Kong of those residents listed in categories (1) and (2) in Article 24(2). Recently, a Hong Kong permanent resident ("HKPR") residing in a member state of the European Union ("EU") sought my assistance, claiming that when she brought her first child born in that EU country back to Hong Kong in 2013, the Immigration Department ("ImmD") approved her application for the issuance of a Hong Kong Identity Card ("HKIC") to that child but, when she brought her second child born in that EU country back to Hong Kong last year, ImmD refused to issue an HKIC to that child. ImmD indicated that the assistance seeker had settled abroad and, by virtue of Article 5 of the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China ("the Nationality Law"), her children should not have Chinese nationality. The assistance seeker has indicated that as she has not yet acquired citizenship or permanent resident status of the country where she is residing at present, she cannot understand the justifications for ImmD's making the decision. Regarding the issuance of HKICs to children of HKPRs born overseas, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the existing channels through which HKPRs may apply for HKICs for their children born overseas, and the details of the relevant application procedures; (2) of the number of applications for HKICs received by ImmD in each of the past three years which were made by HKPRs for their children born overseas and, among such applications, the number of those rejected because the applicants should not have Chinese nationality by virtue of Article 5 of the Nationality Law; (3) whether the authorities have formulated guidelines on the interpretation and enforcement of Article 5 of the Nationality Law in Hong Kong; if they have, whether they will make public the guidelines; if they will not, of the reasons for that; if they have not formulated such guidelines, whether the authorities will consider formulating and making public the relevant guidelines shortly; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) given that the immigration policies adopted by foreign countries may change from time to time, whether the authorities will, in the light of such changes, regularly review and amend the policy on the enforcement of Article 5 of the Nationality Law in Hong Kong; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether the authorities will step up efforts in publicizing in Hong Kong and overseas the policy on the enforcement of Article 5 of the Nationality Law in Hong Kong to enable HKPRs to understand the procedures for applying for the issuance of HKICs to their children born overseas, as well as the criteria for vetting and approving such applications; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
At present, owners of private lands are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the fresh water pipes within the boundaries of their lands. Nevertheless, due to the fragmentation of ownerships of quite a number of private lands in rural areas, the authorities often find it difficult to expeditiously identify the parties to which the maintenance responsibility fall when fresh water pipes on private lands in those areas have burst, resulting in large quantity of fresh water running off the burst pipes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of reports of incidents of fresh water pipe leakage or burst received by the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") in the past three years and, among them, the number of those involving fresh water pipes on private lands, together with a breakdown by District Council district; (2) whether, under the current requirements, developers or builders applying for water supply to the private properties constructed by them are required to install valves at the connection point where the water supply system enters the private land concerned, so as to enable WSD to disconnect water supply to the properties concerned when necessary; (3) whether WSD has produced publicity materials to educate water users in rural areas on ways of handling incidents of bursting of fresh water pipes on private lands, including the need to know in advance the locations of the valves to enable rapid disconnection of water supply; if WSD has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether WSD has formulated internal guidelines to require the WSD staff concerned to issue a Repair Notice to the relevant user(s) within a certain time period from the confirmation of the occurrence of an incident of bursting of fresh water pipe on private land; if WSD has, of the details; and whether the notices will specify a deadline for the users concerned to complete the repair works; if so, of the details; (5) of the criteria based on which WSD decides whether or not to disconnect water supply to avoid fresh water running off the burst water pipes; in the past three years, of the number of times for which WSD disconnected water supply because of incidents of bursting of fresh water pipe on private lands, as well as the average duration of water disconnection each time; and (6) whether it has considered amending the Waterworks Ordinance (Cap. 102) to introduce a mechanism which enables repair works to be carried out first and the costs to be recovered from the users concerned afterwards, so as to enable WSD to immediately arrange repair works for fresh water pipes on private lands in case of emergency, thereby reducing the quantity of fresh water running off the burst water pipes; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In 2010, the Government announced that its policy objective was to have ultimately only zero-emission buses running in the territory. Subsequently, it provided a funding of $180 million to fully subsidize five franchised bus companies to purchase eight super-capacitor buses and 28 battery-electric buses (i.e. 36 buses in total) as well as related charging facilities for trial runs in a two-year period ("the trial scheme"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the first batch of five battery-electric buses, after undergoing trial runs at the end of last month, were once returned to the manufacturer for repair due to a safety problem of the gates of those buses, of the details of that problem as well as the functionality and performance of those buses; whether the authorities have followed up on the issue by checking if there are similar problems in other electric buses to be put on trial runs; (2) whether it has plans to gradually replace the existing diesel buses with electric buses after the conclusion of the trial scheme, and whether it has any implementation timetable for the policy objective of having ultimately only zero-emission buses running in the territory; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) how the 36 electric buses, which will be of the two aforesaid types, will be allocated among the various franchised bus companies, and of the respective manufacturers of such buses; whether it has considered introducing electric buses manufactured overseas for trial runs so as to compare the functionality and safety of the electric buses manufactured in different countries; (4) whether it has, gearing to the unique climate conditions and rough terrain in Hong Kong, set functionality and performance standards for public electric buses for compliance by manufacturers when they manufacture electric buses for use in Hong Kong, so that the franchised bus companies, on receiving electric buses, do not need to make extensive modifications to the buses for adapting them to Hong Kong's environment; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) given that the Hong Kong Productivity Council has spent $38 million to participate in the development of the first "Brand Hong Kong" single-deck electric bus, which was designed in Hong Kong and manufactured on the Mainland and, following road tests conducted in Hong Kong in October last year, the bus was suddenly burnt down last month in a car park, whether the authorities know the cause of that incident and whether they have investigated if the design of that electric bus has any serious safety problems; and (6) whether it knows the respective charging facilities currently available in Hong Kong which can cater for the operations of the two aforesaid types of electric buses, as well as their functionality and performance; whether it has any plan to provide more of such charging facilities; if it does, of the details (including such facilities' locations, technology for charging batteries, etc.); if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that while the prices of international crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") have plunged by about 50% since last year, the local retail prices of auto-fuels and domestic LPG have dropped only by some 30% during the same period, reflecting the problem that retail prices "rise substantially but hardly fall". On the other hand, to improve the transparency of prices of auto-fuel products, the Environment Bureau posts onto its web site movements in local import and retail prices of auto-fuels on a weekly basis. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that in April last year in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council, the Government indicated that it was discussing with the oil companies about posting information on prices of domestic piped LPG on the Government's web site, of the latest progress of such discussion and the details of the related arrangement; whether it has considered extending such an arrangement to other fossil fuel products, such as cylinder LPG; (2) as the Government has indicated that "the present price adjustment mechanism of the oil companies is able to reflect movements of international LPG prices", whether it has studied the causes for the long-standing situation that the local retail prices of LPG "rise substantially but hardly fall"; (3) as some comments have pointed out that the retail prices of fuel products set by various oil companies have been more or less the same for a long time, arousing suspicion of "collusive price-fixing", whether it knows if the Competition Commission has launched any related investigation on its own initiative or in response to complaints; and (4) whether it has any plan to publish, on a regular basis, information on suggested prices for auto-fuels and domestic LPG to let consumers know the reasonable prices?
*19. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
In this year's Policy Address, the Government states that it will foster a "bicycle-friendly environment" in new towns and new development areas. However, there are comments that the Government's specific policies and measures in this respect are inadequate, failing to address the needs of cyclists. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Civil Engineering and Development Department is developing by phases a cycle track network of a total length of about 104 kilometres, which will link up the east and west of the New Territories and pass through the North District, Tai Po, Sha Tin, Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan, whether the Government will conduct a study on linking up the cycle tracks in the Sai Kung District (including Tseung Kwan O) with the aforesaid network; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that the Sha Tin District Council has commissioned The Chinese University of Hong Kong to conduct a feasibility study on the introduction of a self-service bicycle hiring system and the outcome of the study is positive, whether the Government will reconsider implementing a trial scheme on the system in Sha Tin District with a view to extending the system to other districts upon successful trial; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether the Government will reserve lands for the construction of cycle tracks when planning redevelopment projects in Kowloon and on the Hong Kong Island so as to progressively improve the cycle track networks in Kowloon and on the Hong Kong Island; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) as more and more members of the public use bicycles as the mode of transport for them, and their demand for cycle parking spaces as well as ancillary facilities for cycle tracks is on the rise, whether the Government will review its policy of positioning bicycles as recreational sport equipment and re-position bicycles by making reference to overseas experience, so as to foster a bicycle-friendly environment; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) as more and more people ride bicycles on the road, whether the Government will consider incorporating bicycle-friendly elements in road design; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) given that regulation 51 of the Road Traffic (Traffic Control) Regulations (Cap. 374G) provides that no person shall ride a bicycle on a road during the hours of darkness or in poor visibility conditions unless he shows a white light at the front and a red light at the rear of the bicycle, but the regulation does not set out any requirement on the brightness, illumination area and angle of the white light at the front, whether the Government will add the relevant requirements to this regulation so as to protect the safety of cyclists and other road users; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask:
At present, there are some 341 000 foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") in Hong Kong, accounting for almost 9% of the workforce and making valuable contributions to the community. Concerning the support for FDHs in Hong Kong, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities currently offer shelter services to FDHs in emergency situations; if they do, of the number of such shelters, the capacity of each shelter, and the number of FDHs received by such shelters in the past three years; (2) whether the authorities offer subsidies or support to charitable or non-governmental organizations for them to provide shelter services for FDHs; if they do, of the number of such organizations and the details of the subsidies or support (in money or in kind) received by such organizations in the past three years; (3) given that an Indonesian domestic helper was killed by a concrete slab fallen from heights on 11 March last year when she was staying in a temporary hostel provided by an employment agency, whether the authorities have plans to regulate the provision of temporary hostels by employment agencies for FDHs, and step up inspections of such hostels; if they do, of the details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) as the authorities operate several centres for FDHs to gather and carry out activities, of the number of applications for the use of such centres in the past three years, and the outcome of the applications; given that quite a number of FDHs congregate in pedestrian precincts, gardens and parks on their rest days, whether the authorities have plans to operate more centres so as to provide FDHs with more places to go on their rest days?
*21. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
According to the Government Requests Report published biannually by Facebook, Inc., which operates an Internet social networking platform under the same name, the Hong Kong Government made 71 requests, involving 239 accounts, to the company for disclosure of its users' information ("requests for information disclosure") in the first half of 2015. The numbers of such requests and the accounts involved were respectively 82% and 368% higher than those in the preceding half year, and more than half of such requests were not acceded to by the company. Moreover, the Transparency Report published biannually by Google, an Internet search-engine service provider, indicated that the company received from the Hong Kong Government 246 requests, involving 402 accounts, for information disclosure in the first half of 2015, yet the company acceded to only 35% of those requests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) why the number of requests for information disclosure made by the Government to Facebook, Inc. in the first half of 2015 and the number of accounts involved were significantly higher than those in the preceding half year; of a breakdown of the number of such requests by government department; the legal bases and considerations (including but not limited to the facts and legal bases) for making such requests; (2) whether government departments are required to obtain the relevant court orders before making requests for information disclosure; if so, of the details; of the internal guidelines and mechanism based on which government departments make such requests; (3) of the biannual numbers of requests for information disclosure made by the Government to Internet service providers/Internet platforms/web sites (collectively referred to as "service providers") from 2011 to 2015, and the nature of the information involved (i.e. whether requests were made for providing metadata and/or content of communication), with a tabulated breakdown by government department; if it cannot provide such information, of the reasons for that; (4) of the biannual numbers of requests made by the Government to service providers from 2011 to 2015 for removal of their users' information ("requests for information removal") and the number of service providers involved, with a tabulated breakdown by government department; if such information cannot be provided, of the reasons for that; (5) of the details of the requests for information disclosure made by the Government to service providers since February 2015, including: (i) names and types of service providers, (ii) total number of service providers, (iii) dates on which the requests were made, (iv) the last dates on which the requests were processed
(irrespective of whether such requests were acceded to or not),(v) types of requests made, (vi) number of requests made, with a breakdown by reason (e.g. for investigation of cases, law enforcement and other reasons), (vii) total number of requests made, (viii) number of requests made under a court order, (ix) number of accounts involved, (x) volume of information requested for disclosure, (xi) nature of information requested for disclosure (i.e. requests for providing metadata and/or content of communication), (xii) number of requests acceded to, and (xiii) number of requests not acceded to, with a breakdown by reason received (e.g. the request was not made under a court order, failure to provide appropriate legal documents, insufficient justifications, not complying with the policies of service providers, and other reasons), with a tabulated breakdown by government department; if such information cannot be provided, of the reasons for that; (6) of the details of the requests for information removal made by the Government to service providers since February 2015, including: (i) names and types of service providers, (ii) total number of service providers, (iii) dates on which the requests were made, (iv) the last dates on which the requests were processed
(irrespective of whether such requests were acceded to or not),(v) types of requests made, (vi) number of requests made, with a breakdown by reason (e.g. for investigation into copyright infringement, sale of obscene and indecent articles, auction and sale of unregistered commodities, etc., and other reasons), (vii) number of requests made under a court order, (viii) number of accounts involved, (ix) volume of information requested for removal, (x) nature and details of information requested for removal, (xi) number of requests acceded to, and (xii) number of requests not acceded to, with a breakdown by reason received (e.g. the request was not made under a court order, failure to provide appropriate legal documents, insufficient justifications, not complying with the policies of service providers, and other reasons), with a tabulated breakdown by government department; if such information cannot be provided, of the reasons for that; (7) given that according to the information published in the Korea Internet Transparency Report, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of Korea and the Korea Communications Standards Commission have proactively released statistics on the requests made by the Korean Government to service providers for disclosure/removal of users' information, and that the Taiwanese Government has also progressively released the relevant statistics, whether the Government will consider making similar arrangements for the release, in a unified manner, of the numbers of such requests made by various government departments, so as to increase the transparency of the Government's work; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (8) as a member of the public has relayed to me that when he enquired with certain government departments about the records on the requests they made to service providers for information disclosure/removal, the departments concerned indicated that no such records were maintained, and when he subsequently made enquiries again under the Code on Access to Information, he was only provided with part of the information; furthermore, some members of the public have pointed out that the replies given by different government departments on one same enquiry were contradictory and the bases for the replies were different, of the Government's justifications for claiming that the relevant mechanism has all along been functioning effectively; whether the Government has reviewed the practices currently adopted by various government departments for maintaining records and disclosing information; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (9) given that the Innovation and Technology Bureau has already been established, whether the Government will scrutinize if the procedures adopted by various government departments for making requests to service providers for information disclosure/removal are consistent with the principle of providing a fair and open business environment to the information technology sector, and if such procedures have invaded the privacy of members of the public; whether the Government will discuss with service providers to allow government departments to make public the information about the service providers involved in such requests; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)
Regarding medical complaints and claims of medical negligence received by the Hospital Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the number of claims of medical negligence received by each public hospital in each of the past five years (i.e. from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2015), and set out a breakdown by case type in tables of the same format as Table 1;
(Table 1) Numbers of claims of various types
Hospital: ___________________Case type Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (2) among the complaints handled by each public hospital in each of the past five years, the number of cases which were found to be substantiated and needed follow-up actions, the respective numbers of cases in which different types of healthcare personnel (i.e. doctors, nurses and allied health professionals) involved were punished and the forms of punishment they received, and set out a breakdown of those cases by type and rank of such personnel in tables of the same format as Table 2;
(Table 2) A breakdown of the cases in which healthcare personnel were punishedHealthcare personnel Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Doctors:
(of different ranks)Nurses:
(of different ranks)Allied health professionals:
(of different grades and ranks)(3) given that complainants may appeal to the Public Complaints Committee ("PCC") of HA against the decisions made by public hospitals in respective of their complaints, the number of such appeal cases received by PCC in each of the past five years; among them, the number of those found to be substantiated or partly substantiated (set out in Table 3);
(Table 3) Number of appeal cases received by PCCAppeal cases Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total Number of cases found to be substantiated or partly substantiated (4) the number of claims of medical negligence in each of the past five years, broken down by different handling methods/results (set out in Table 4);
(Table 4) Number of claims of medical negligence, broken down by different handling methods/resultsHandling methods/results Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Settled out of court Referred to mediation Settled during mediation Settled after mediation Referred to arbitration Settled through arbitration Ruled by the court Total (5) the number of claims for which compensation was paid to the patients concerned or their families by HA in each of the past five years, and the respective total amounts of compensation paid and relevant costs incurred for various types of claims (set out in Table 5); and
(Table 5) Total amounts of compensation paid and relevant costs incurred for various types of claimsType of compensation/costs Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total amount of compensation paid Total amount of compensation paid in respect of cases settled out of court Total amount of compensation paid pursuant to the agreements reached by mediation Total amount of compensation paid pursuant to arbitration awards Total amount of compensation paid pursuant to court rulings Mediation fees paid by HA Mediators Lawyers Others Arbitration fees paid by HA Arbitrators Lawyers Others Legal fees paid by HA Lawyers Court Others*
*excluding fees related to mediation and arbitration(6) given that the target response time set by HA for handling complaints is within six weeks (for complex cases, within three months), while that by PCC is within three to six months (possibly longer time for complex cases), among the complaints received by each public hospital and by PCC in each of the past five years, the respective numbers of those in which such targets were not met (set out in Table 6); and the reasons for failure to meet the targets?
(Table 6) Number of complaints in which the target response times were not metYear PCC Public hospitals 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
* For written reply
III. Bills
| Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2016
First Reading | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned) | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014
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| Remaining proceedings after the Second Reading | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
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| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 (issued on 8 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 227/15-16(01)))
Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move
Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 9 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 230/15-16) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 15 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 252/15-16(01)))
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IV. Motion
Proposed resolution under the Road Traffic Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion:
Resolved that the period extended to 20 June 2016 by Legal Notice No. 54 of 2011, and for which there remains in force the limit on the number of vehicles which may be registered as public light buses specified in the Public Light Buses (Limitation on Number) Notice (Cap. 374 sub. leg. K), be further extended to 20 June 2021.
V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
VI. Member's Bill
| First Reading
Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned) | |||
| Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill | : | Hon NG Leung-sing
| |
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
| |||
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| |||
| Kowloon Tong Church of the Chinese Christian and Missionary Alliance Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG
| |
VII. Members' Motions
| 1. | Actively studying the establishment of a middle class commission
Hon Tommy CHEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council requests the Government to actively study the establishment of a middle class commission. | ||||
| Amendments to the motion | |||||
| (i) | Hon Frankie YICK to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "the middle class has always been an important force for maintaining social stability and promoting economic development, but in recent years, the long-standing concerns in the external economic environment, the seriously lopsided development of Hong Kong's industries, the short supply of housing, the polarization between the rich and the poor, and the never-ending political wrangling have caused the middle class to face problems of housing, taxation, education and healthcare, etc., and created a trend of downward mobility of the middle class; the Government's support for the middle class has all along been limited to one-off relief measures such as providing tax rebates, increasing tax allowances, exempting rates or offering electricity charge subsidies, etc., but these measures are just utterly inadequate for the middle class and have not practically alleviated their plight; in addition, as currently there is no precise definition of the middle class, and the Government does not regularly provide statistics and information specific to the middle class, if the authorities or community organizations use such information to formulate policies or measures to support the middle class, such policies or measures will very often be out of focus, biased and superficial; in this connection," after "That"; and to add "to comprehensively review the policies or measures relating to the middle class from a focused and higher-level perspective, so as to alleviate the various problems faced by the middle class and consolidate the strength of the middle class, thereby promoting afresh economic development and strengthening the momentum of upward mobility of the community as a whole; the relevant measures should include: Definition (1) to lay down a clear and precise definition of the middle class, and regularly publish relevant statistics in respect of the definition; Development of industries (2) to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promote diversified development of industries in Hong Kong, so as to create more jobs at the middle and senior levels as well as business start-up opportunities in various industries and professions; (3) to further strengthen regional economic development for integration with the economic development circles of different regions on the Mainland, so as to provide more and better career development opportunities for middle-class professionals within or outside the territory; Housing (4) to expedite the identification of land for developing new development areas, optimize the use of rock caverns and carry out reclamation on an appropriate scale outside Victoria Harbour, so as to increase the supply of residential land on all fronts; and to increase the transparency of the housing plans as well as the supply of and demand for residential land for the next 10 years, and conduct an interim strategic review of and make corresponding adjustment to the relevant plans every five years; (5) to actively study the exploitation of green belt areas and 'brownfield sites' for the purpose of residential development; (6) to introduce a tax allowance for rentals for the marginal middle class; Taxation (7) to adjust salaries tax downwards, in particular widening tax bands for salaries tax and lowering the marginal rate, so as to vigorously alleviate the burden of the marginal middle class; (8) to relax the restrictions on the dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance by relaxing the eligibility requirement from living in the same unit to living in the same housing estate; Education (9) to introduce a tax allowance for children's education to alleviate the burden of children education expenses on middle-class families; (10) to substantially increase the salaries tax deduction for self-education expenses and the subsidy under the Continuing Education Fund; Healthcare (11) to provide tax deduction for medical insurance contributions; and (12) to provide tax deduction for medical examinations to encourage the middle class to undergo such examinations on a regular basis" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (ii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "as the Government has disregarded the needs of the middle class over the years," after "That"; to delete "establishment of a" after "study the" and substitute with "concerns of the"; and to delete "commission" immediately before the full stop and substitute with ", which include: (1) raising the various tax allowances, including the basic allowance for individuals, married person's allowance as well as dependent parent allowance, and widening the tax bands for salaries tax and abolishing the standard rate for salaries tax, so that members of the public pay their salaries tax according to the marginal tax rate, thereby alleviating the tax burden on the middle class; (2) reintroducing the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme to increase the opportunities for the middle class to acquire homes; (3) increasing the numbers of days of paid maternity leave and paternity leave and introducing flexible working hours to perfect family-friendly policies and promote a culture of work-life balance; (4) reviewing the teaching quality of government and subsidized schools, and allocating additional resources for such schools to adopt the teaching mode of Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and the merits of International Baccalaureate programmes, so that children of middle-class families can enjoy quality education; (5) upholding local core values and combating corruption to rebuild a society with integrity and fairness, thereby providing the middle class with an environment with fair competition; and (6) formulating proposals for electing the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council by universal suffrage with equal rights to make nomination, to vote and to stand for election in an open, fair and impartial manner, with a view to forging a consensus on promoting democracy, thereby strengthening the middle class's sense of belonging to Hong Kong". | ||||
| (iii) | Hon Christopher CHEUNG to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "the middle class, despite being the mainstay of Hong Kong society, has to bear increasingly heavy livelihood and financial burdens and face pressures of downward mobility; in this connection," after "That"; to delete "actively study the establishment of" after "Government to" and substitute with "expeditiously establish"; and to add "to formulate permanent and focused policies and measures, with a view to alleviating the livelihood and financial burdens of the middle class and providing them with more opportunities for upward mobility and room for development" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (iv) | Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "as the Government's measures to assist the middle class in recent years have no merit worth mentioning, the middle class has been unable to resolve their livelihood difficulties; in this connection," after "That"; to delete "actively study the establishment of" after "Government to" and substitute with "expeditiously establish"; and to add "whose functions include studying the following matters: (1) immediately constructing subsidized housing on idle Government land and increasing the number of subsidized sale flats to provide the middle class with a home acquisition ladder, and to enable the middle class to purchase flats for self-occupation at reasonable prices; (2) expeditiously implementing 15-year free education and stepping up the regulation of Direct Subsidy Scheme schools to ensure that the tuition fees of such schools are set at a reasonable level, thereby alleviating the burden of children education expenses on middle-class families; (3) refraining from using a salary-based approach to define the scope of application of standard working hours to ensure that the middle class has more leisure time to enjoy life; and (4) stepping up the regulation of private hospitals, enhancing the service quality of public hospitals, allocating additional land for constructing private hospitals, and immediately abolishing the Drug Formulary system, so as to alleviate the healthcare burden on the middle class" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (v) | Hon Starry LEE to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", as the middle class is the mainstay of society," after "That"; and to add "to cater for the interests of the middle class and respond to their different demands, as well as to create more opportunities for upward mobility to expand the ratio of the middle-class population, thereby enabling the society to develop in a sustainable, stable and harmonious manner" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
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| 2. | Reconstructing the image of Hong Kong's tourism industry
Hon YIU Si-wing to move the following motion: (Translation) That according to the Third Quarter Economic Report 2015 published by the Government in November 2015, inbound tourism slackened further in the third quarter of 2015, and overall visitor arrivals to Hong Kong fell by 6.4% as compared to the same period last year, the first decline since the third quarter of 2009; the Report also points out that exports of travel services (covering visitors' spending on shopping, food and beverages, accommodation and entertainment, etc.) fell by 5.6% in real terms in the third quarter, and the average achieved hotel room rate also dropped by 13.1% as compared to the same period last year; as the share of tourists' shopping expenditure in retail sales value has been substantial (around 42% in 2014), the further slackening of inbound tourism has led to a decline in Hong Kong's total retail sales value for seven consecutive months this year, recording the longest downward trend over the past six years; this will also further affect Hong Kong's economy and employment; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to seriously review the reasons for the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong, formulate corresponding measures and allocate additional resources to reconstruct the positive image of the tourism industry, with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect Hong Kong's economic development. | ||||
| Amendments to the motion | |||||
| (i) | Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", the tourism industry has all along brought a large number of middle-level and elementary job opportunities to the hotel, catering and transport sectors, etc.; however," after "That"; to add "to reverse the present development trend of the Hong Kong tourism industry, which emphasizes quantity rather than quality, so as" after "resources"; to delete ", with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect" after "tourism industry" and substitute with "and enable healthy development of the tourism industry, with a view to creating more job opportunities and promoting"; and to add "; the relevant measures should include: (1) to expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to centrally monitor travel agents, tour escorts and tourist guides; (2) to adopt decisive measures to combat the use of unscrupulous operation practices in the tourism sector such as 'zero/negative/low-fare' tours and coerced shopping, etc., and step up publicity among visitors to Hong Kong on the need for vigilance against those unscrupulous operation practices and on the channels for lodging complaints; and to examine regulating the proportion and duration of 'arranged shopping' in the daily itinerary of inbound tours from the Mainland; (3) to formulate an overall development strategy for the tourism industry, which should not only facilitate visitors in retail consumption, but also strengthen the development of exploration tourism, including local in-depth tourism, cultural tourism and eco-tourism, so as to attract visitors of different types (including visitors who are with high spending power, young or stay overnight) to Hong Kong; (4) to promote the development of tourism supporting facilities and scenic spots, such as home-stay lodgings, creativity bazaars and night markets, etc., and to amend existing legislation to support and dovetail with such development; (5) to improve the infrastructural facilities (including water and power supply facilities) and transport links on some outlying islands, such as Po Toi Island and Tung Ping Chau, etc., so as to make good use of their rich tourism resources for developing these places as new tourist spots and benefit the economic development of local residents; (6) to improve the hardware ancillary facilities at existing scenic spots and step up the promotion of a 'hospitable culture' among the tourism sector and the public, with a view to upgrading the tourism quality of Hong Kong; and (7) to closely keep in view changes in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong and activities of visitors carrying duty-free commodities into the Mainland for sale (commonly known as 'parallel trading activities'), and to join hands with the Mainland authorities to continuously combat parallel trading activities and formulate timely and appropriate measures, so as to deal with the problem at root and reduce unnecessary conflicts between Mainland visitors and local people" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (ii) | Hon POON Siu-ping to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", as the Hong Kong tourism industry and related industries employ over 200 000 employees, which is around 7.6% of the overall employment population in Hong Kong, the livelihood of the 200 000-odd employees will directly be affected if the tourism industry development continues to shrink; yet," after "That"; to add "effective" after "formulate"; and to add "enhance the binding effect of the industry directives issued by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to ensure protection of the rights and interests of front-line staff in the tourism industry, expeditiously establish a tourism industry authority to balance the rights and interests of the operators and practitioners in the tourism industry, and" after "resources to". | ||||
| (iii) | Hon Gary FAN to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "the Government has proposed in the 2015-16 Budget that an additional $80 million will be allocated to the Hong Kong Tourism Board to step up its promotion of the tourism industry; however," after "That"; and to add "to develop a greater variety of tourism, including cultural tourism and eco-tourism with local characteristics, etc., to welcome tourists from around the world, and to step up efforts to combat rip-offs such as 'zero/negative-fare' tours and 'shadow tour group members', etc., adopted by Mainland travel agencies, so as" after "resources". | ||||
| (iv) | Hon Paul TSE to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "tourism and related industries are of utmost importance to the economy of Hong Kong, but" after "That"; to add "establish a tourism bureau to consolidate the various tourism-related departments and institutions, and" after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; and to delete "and allocate additional resources" after "measures" and substitute with "to conduct studies on effective use of resources and overall planning, execution and regulation". | ||||
| (v) | Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "Hong Kong's tourism industry is now facing challenges;" after "That"; and to add "; when formulating measures on promoting the development of the tourism industry, the Government should focus on enhancing the visitor receiving capacity of Hong Kong society, including increasing the number of tourist spots and improving transportation and other ancillary facilities, etc., and take full account of the actual situations in Hong Kong, so as to avoid any adverse impacts on people's daily lives; at the same time, the Government should expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to enhance the regulatory regime for the tourism industry, and step up law enforcement to combat unscrupulous shop operators who rip off visitors" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (vi) | Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "coupled with the fact that Hong Kong lags behind other Asian competitors due to its shortage of large-scale convention facilities," after "past six years;"; and to add "and expedite the expansion of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and the planning of new convention facilities to enhance Hong Kong's capacity to hold conventions and attract more high value-added business travellers," after "tourism industry,". | ||||
| (vii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to strengthen the monitoring of local travel agents, tour escorts and tourist guides," after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; and to add "step up promotion in the international market and" after "resources to". | ||||
| (viii) | Hon Jeffrey LAM to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "and" after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; to delete "and allocate additional resources to" after "measures" and substitute with ", including giving consideration to examining afresh the entry arrangements and policy for Mainland visitors and relieving Mainland visitors' sentiments, with a view to reversing the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in the short run; in the long run, the Government should also formulate a comprehensive development strategy and blueprint for the tourism industry, and make stronger efforts to develop different tourism facilities and scenic spots, so as to"; and to delete "continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong" after "preventing the" and substitute with "persistent shrinkage of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong". | ||||
| (ix) | Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete ", with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect Hong Kong's economic development" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "; the relevant measures include: monitoring visitor arrivals to Hong Kong based on the actual visitor receiving capacity of Hong Kong, so as to attract visitors from different countries to Hong Kong with planning and promote the sustainable development of the tourism industry; and regulating activities of carrying duty-free commodities into the Mainland for sale (commonly known as 'parallel trading activities') to avoid the impacts of massive parallel trading activities on Hong Kong people's quality of life". | ||||
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| 3. | Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Claudia MO to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the successive 'forced disappearance' of the shareholders and managers of Causeway Bay Books. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security | ||||