A 15/16-28
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 1 June 2016 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No. 99 | - | Report of changes made to the approved Estimates of Expenditure during the fourth quarter of 2015-16
Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
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| 2. | No. 100 | - | Employees Retraining Board
Annual Report 2014-15 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
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| 3. | Report No. 19/15-16 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)
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| 4. | Report of the Bills Committee on Patents (Amendment) Bill 2015 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Martin LIAO, Chairman of the Bills Committee) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
The Government introduced in 2006 and 2007 for franchised buses and MTR respectively the Fare Adjustment Mechanisms (collectively referred to as "FAMs"), which provided for both upward and downward adjustments of fares, and it emphasized the objectivity and transparency of such mechanisms. However, in nearly a decade's time since the implementation of FAMs, fares of both the franchised buses and MTR have only gone up but never gone down, regardless of the economic environment of Hong Kong and the movements in energy prices. Some members of the public have queried that such mechanisms have failed to fully reflect the actual economic conditions, resulting in a continuous increase in their travelling expenses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the aspects of FAMs on which reviews or studies have been conducted by the authorities since the implementation of FAMs; whether such aspects included the objectivity and fairness of the mechanisms, the extent to which the data used were time-lagged, and the impacts of the fare adjustments made under FAMs on inflation rates and the burden on the public; if so, of the specific outcome of such reviews and studies; (2) of the respective numbers of times, since the implementation of FAMs, in which franchised bus companies and the MTR Corporation Limited offered fare concessions under the mechanisms, the projected amount of money to be given back to the passengers each time, and the details of the concessions concerned (including the concessionary periods, the number of trips made by the passengers benefited from the concessions, and whether there were monies left in the projected amounts to be given back to the passengers); and (3) as some members of the public have pointed out that the fare adjustment formulae under the existing FAMs are incomprehensive (e.g. they fail to reflect accurately the movements in energy prices and the data used are time-lagged, resulting in the fare adjustments pushing up inflation rates and creating a vicious cycle, etc.), whether the authorities will comprehensively revise the fare adjustment formulae and invite academics and stakeholders to join hands to take part in the reviews, with a view to making FAMs fairer and more objective; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)
When the Government announced the appointment of Professor Alfred CHAN Cheung-ming ("Prof. Chan") to be the new Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission ("EOC") on 18 March this year, the selection board concerned praised Prof. CHAN of his "clear vision, passion and commitment in respect of the promotion of equal opportunities". However, before taking the office, Prof. CHAN said in a media interview that the equal rights movement for people of different sexual orientations "was not a rational form of policy discussion", and that enactment of legislation to regulate discrimination against sexual orientation was "the least preferable". He also pointed out that EOC should, where possible, take the same stance as the Government on promoting equal opportunities. Besides, he expressly stated that he "felt kind of bored when approaching retirement and thought he might as well try out the hot kitchen". He also admitted that he was not familiar with the existing anti-discrimination ordinances (e.g. he mistakenly thought that sexual minorities were already protected from discrimination under the existing anti-discrimination ordinances, and confused "gender identity" with "sexual orientation"). Some comments have pointed out that Prof. CHAN's views reflect that he does not understand the controversial nature of the work on promoting anti-discrimination and is not committed to protecting the basic rights of the disadvantaged before making the decision to enter the hot kitchen. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the requirements on the applicants for the post of EOC Chairperson as set out in the recruitment advertisement included "a strong commitment to promoting equal opportunities", whether the authorities know if the selection board and the human resources consultant responsible for the recruitment had agreed on the ways to assess if an applicant satisfied this requirement, such as by conducting a test of the applicant's extent of knowledge of and experience in the work on human rights, and if the applicant could reflect the views of the disadvantaged who were subjected to discrimination; (2) as there are views that the two former EOC Chairpersons, Dr York CHOW and Ms Anna WU Hung-yuk, dared to openly criticize the Government for its inadequacies in the work on promoting equal opportunities and even applied for judicial review to challenge the Secondary School Places Allocation System adopted by the Government, whether the authorities know if the selection board had any information showing that Prof. CHAN's commitment to promoting equal opportunities was no less than that of his predecessors; and (3) whether it has approached members of the selection board to find out why they recommended, for appointment as the EOC Chairperson, someone who subsequently admitted that he was not familiar with the anti-discrimination ordinances and claimed that he felt kind of bored when approaching retirement and thought he might as well try out the hot kitchen, and whether it will put forward remedial measures in this regard to prevent any damage to the credibility of EOC?
3. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") divested in 2005 certain retail and car parking facilities of its public housing estates to a trust, which has been renamed as Link Real Estate Investment Trust ("the Link"). Under the land leases for the relevant car parks, the parking spaces may only be let to the residents, occupiers and their bona fide visitors. However, the Link may apply to the Lands Department ("LandsD") for waivers of the relevant land lease conditions to change the number of parking spaces or let some of the parking spaces to non-residents, and in doing so, it has to pay waiver fees and comply with the conditions set out by LandsD in the short term waivers. On the other hand, it has been reported that an owner who purchased a car park from the Link two years ago is recently planning to sell the parking spaces in the car park owned by him one by one. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it was uncovered in September 2009 that the Link had breached the land lease conditions by letting the parking spaces in its car parks to non-residents, whether the authorities have imposed penalties on the Link in addition to requiring it to pay the outstanding waiver fees retrospectively; if they have, of the details; whether there are channels for the residents who have suffered losses due to the breach of the land lease conditions by the Link to seek compensation from the Link; whether the regulators concerned have investigated if the breach of the land lease conditions and sale of assets by the Link have contravened the relevant securities legislation and codes; (2) of the annual number of short term waiver applications received by LandsD from the Link for changing the number of parking spaces since the listing of the Link, the number of parking spaces involved, as well as the waiver fees involved in the approved applications; how LandsD calculates the amount of waiver fees; the mechanism in place to ensure that the Link and new owners comply with the land lease conditions, and the respective numbers of short term wavier applications made by them which are awaiting vetting and approval; and (3) given that the Link changed the monthly fixed parking spaces of some 50 car parks to floating ones a few months ago, which may render the relevant tenants unable to park their vehicles right away and need to await parking spaces when the car parks are fully occupied, whether the authorities have studied if this practice of the Link has breached the relevant land lease conditions and contravened the provision under section 4(1) of the Housing Ordinance, which stipulates that HA shall exercise its powers and discharge its duties under the Ordinance so as to secure the provision of housing and such amenities ancillary thereto as HA thinks fit for such kinds or classes of persons as HA may, subject to the approval of the Chief Executive, determine?
4. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)
Under the law, all pharmaceutical products must be registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board before they are put up for sale in the market. Medicines under Categories 1 and 2 may be dispensed and sold only by Authorized Sellers of Poisons, commonly known as "pharmacies", under the supervision of registered pharmacists, and medicines under Category 1 (i.e. prescription medicines) are required to be sold on a doctor's prescription. Listed Sellers of Poisons, commonly known as "medicine companies", are only allowed to sell medicines under Category 3 (e.g. medicines for common cold and antipyretics). People engaged in retail business of Chinese herbal medicines are required to obtain the relevant licence issued by the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong. It has been reported that recently some shops which are not medicine retailers (e.g. shops selling household and baby products) have been found selling unregistered medicines, some of which contain prescription medicine ingredients such as antibiotics, steroids. In addition, some people sell medicinal herbal packs, weight-loss drugs and psychedelic drugs through Internet social networking platforms. Some people even sell a medicine for rheumatism which is subject to a recall order issued by the authorities and deliver the products to buyers at MTR stations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) how the authorities monitor the compliance of pharmacies and medicine companies with the relevant legislation at present; whether the authorities instituted any prosecution in the past 12 months against persons after they had been found to have sold or possessed unregistered medicines; if they did, of the number of such cases; (2) whether the authorities have taken enforcement actions against the illegal sale of medicines in shops which are not medicine retailers and at random locations; if they have, of the number and details of such cases cracked by the authorities in the past 12 months; and (3) how the authorities combat the illegal sale of pharmaceutical products and medicines on the Internet at present, and whether they will review the relevant legislation to curb such activities?
5. Hon Christopher CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road ("the Belt and Road Initiative") is a concept of multinational economic cooperation proposed by our country in the recent two years. The Chief Executive has indicated in his Policy Address this year that a steering committee for the Belt and Road ("Steering Committee") and a Belt and Road Office ("the Office") will be set up, with the former responsible for formulating strategies and policies for Hong Kong's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and the latter responsible for taking forward related studies and coordinating work between government departments and local organizations, as well as liaising with the central ministries and provincial and municipal authorities. Besides, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ("AIIB") is an integral part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The Government has indicated that it will send officials as part of the delegation of China to attend AIIB meetings and participate in the preparatory work for establishing AIIB, and it has also seconded experts to AIIB to support AIIB's operation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the progress of the preparatory work for the Steering Committee and the Office; the government department responsible for the preparatory work for the Office, and how that department handles the coordination work; the progress of the Government's participation in the preparatory work for establishing AIIB; (2) whether the Steering Committee and the Office will examine Hong Kong's edge in taking forward the Belt and Road Initiative, especially how the development deliverables in innovation and technology in Hong Kong can be leveraged to consolidate Hong Kong's status as a treasury centre in the Asian region and as an international financial centre, foster the long-term development of Hong Kong, and increase employment opportunities for the young people in Hong Kong; and (3) whether the Government, apart from bidding successfully the organization of the "Belt and Road Summit" in Hong Kong last month, will seek to conduct ministerial conferences relating to the Belt and Road concept in Hong Kong in future, so as to give further play to Hong Kong's role as an international metropolis?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury |
6. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
Currently, where there are runway slots of Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA") remaining after allocation to passenger and cargo flights, general aviation and business aviation ("GA/BA") operators may apply for them. Since mid-March this year, the Civil Aviation Department ("CAD") only accepts applications for runway slots made via the online e-filing system for flight application. Some members of the trade have indicated that the arrangement under which the system only processes applications within seven days ahead lacks flexibility, and the successful rate of applications in recent months was lower than that in the past. Quite a number of GA/BA flights had no choice but to head to the neighbouring regions as they had not been allocated runway slots or stands. Besides, the Hong Kong Aviation Club has indicated that there are insufficient spaces available for the movements of helicopters and light aircrafts and their parking, which is unfavourable to the development of the local aviation industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of applications for runway slots made for GA/BA flights which were turned down by CAD and whether it knows the respective numbers of movements of GA/BA flights in the airports of Hong Kong, Macao and Shenzhen, in each of the past three years; of the respective current numbers of stands available for helicopters, light aircrafts and GA/BA flights in these three airports; (2) of the role of GA/BA services in the authorities' planning for air transport services; whether the authorities have set a growth target for the numbers of runway slots and stands available for GA/BA flights; if they have, of the details; if not, the authorities' plan, before the commissioning of HKIA's three-runway system, to assist those GA/BA flights intending to come to Hong Kong in getting suitable runway slots and stands more easily; and (3) as I have learnt that quite a number of GA/BA flights currently use more environment-friendly aircraft to reduce fuel consumption and emission of pollutants, whether the authorities will allocate more runway slots (including those in the early hours) for application by GA/BA flights meeting the relevant environmental protection requirements; if they will, when such arrangement will be implemented; if not, of the reasons for that?
*7. Hon Albert HO to ask:
Under the Radiation Ordinance (Cap. 303), possession or use of tritium self-luminous exit signs ("TES") requires a licence issued by the Radiation Board of Hong Kong ("RBHK") unless an exemption has been granted. In reply to my question at the Council meeting of 27 March 2013, the Government advised that the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("USEPA") had stated that TES were potentially hazardous and RBHK's licensing policy on "the justified use of tritium exit signs where the use of electrical power is not possible or feasible is well echoed by the USEPA". Nevertheless, I have learnt that there are other views that the Government should pay attention to. For instance, the International Atomic Energy Agency ("IAEA") has classified TES containing up to 740 GBq. of gaseous tritium as category 5 (i.e. "most unlikely to be dangerous to the person"). Also, IAEA's guidelines on "Exemption from Regulatory Control of Goods Containing Small Amounts of Radioactive Material" have stated that (i) regarding TES, "the regulatory body should only concern itself with the risk from the tritium in normal use, in accidental conditions and following disposal" and it is "not within its competence to assess the more conventional risks such as those arising from broken glass following an accident or to take decisions on the basis of these risks", (ii) the justification relating to the use being a net benefit from the device concerned is "normally applied to a type of practice and therefore need not be applied to each and every application for authorization or candidate for exemption... [and] the existence of a technical standard for a particular type of practice may often be taken to indicate that the type of practice is justified", (iii) "[t]he benefits from a practice could therefore be of many different types, not just possible saving of life or prevention of injury or illness, but also technical benefits, prevention of property damage, improvements in security or simply improvement in the quality of life", and (iv) the requirement for justification relates to there "being a net benefit from the particular type of device [while] to search for the best of all the available alternatives is a task that is beyond the responsibility of the regulatory body". Besides, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("USNRC") has stated that (i) TES "serve an important safety function by marking exits to be used during power outages and emergencies", (ii) TES "pose little or no threat to public health and safety or security", and (iii) TES "are designed to be inherently safe so they can be used without the need for radiation training" and facilities do not need a specific licence to use TES. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether RBHK has considered the aforesaid views and practices of IAEA and USNRC; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as I have been told that since there is hardly any building requiring exit signs for emergency evacuation of its occupants is not supplied with electrical power, RBHK's current licensing policy on the justified use of TES where the use of electrical power is not possible or feasible is tantamount to a total ban on TES, of the types of buildings or premises that would be allowed to install TES under such policy; and (3) of the buildings in Hong Kong in respect of which RBHK has issued licences for the installation of TES therein and the relevant details; if there is no such building, of the reasons for that?
*8. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
At present, high pressure sodium ("HPS") lamps are widely used in the lighting systems in the vehicular tunnels in Hong Kong. On all of the occasions when the Panel on Transport of this Council discussed the replacement of the lighting system in the Kai Tak Tunnel at its meeting held on 12 May last year, and other committees discussed lighting systems in vehicular tunnels, officials from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department ("EMSD") said that a research on the supply and performance of light emitting diode ("LED") lights available on the market ("the research") had been conducted, and the findings of the research indicated that there were only a few suitable models of high-wattage LED lights available and their prices were significantly higher than those of HPS lamps, and hence EMSD would not recommend a switch to high-wattage LED lights. Moreover, officials from the Highways Department ("HyD") stressed that although LED road lights had better colour rendering and higher reliability than HPS lamps, their cost-effectiveness was low as the prices of LED road lights meeting the necessary certifications (such as certifications for lighting tests as well as product safety and protection) were very high. Nonetheless, HyD commenced a trial scheme in 2009, under which a total of 171 LED road lights were installed in seven districts for performance testing ("the trial scheme"). The findings of the trial scheme reached the same conclusion. Regarding the lighting systems in the vehicular tunnels in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following information of the various government vehicular tunnels: (i) the length of the tunnels, (ii) the number of HPS lamps therein, (iii) the commissioning dates of the lighting systems, (iv) the annual electricity expenditure on tunnel lighting and annual expenditure on the repair and maintenance of tunnel lighting devices in the past three years, and (v) the names of the companies responsible for the repair and maintenance of the lighting systems and the relevant contract values (set out the information by tunnel name); (2) given that it is learnt that there have been success cases in overseas where LED lights are used for lighting in tunnels over 10 kilometres in length, but the authorities have not conducted any on-site test of the effectiveness of LED lights in vehicular tunnels so far, how the authorities have reached the conclusion that there are insufficient justifications at the present stage for supporting the use of LED lights for tunnel lighting; (3) whether EMSD and HyD have compared the life expectancies, energy efficiencies and costs of LED lights and HPS lamps when conducting respectively the aforesaid research and trial scheme; if they have, of the outcome; (4) whether EMSD and HyD had commissioned consultants through open tender processes when they conducted the aforesaid research and trial scheme respectively; if they had, of the relevant information, including the names of the successful bidders, the specific dates on which the consultants worked and the relevant contract values; (5) of the latest progress of the replacement of the lighting system in the Kai Tak Tunnel, including whether the tender process has completed, the name of the successful bidder, the energy-saving requirements (e.g. the type of lights required to be used) in the contract concerned and the contract value; and (6) given that HyD has said that it installed 54 LED lights in certain tunnels in 2015-2016, of the names of these tunnels and the installation points of these LED lights?
*9. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") and the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau signed a cooperation agreement in Shenzhen on 27 April this year, under which frozen meat/poultry (collectively known as "frozen meat") intended to be imported into Hong Kong from overseas would be allowed to be stored temporarily in Qianhaiwan Bonded Port Area ("QBPA") of Shenzhen before its importation into Hong Kong in batches. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) why it allows frozen meat intended to be imported into Hong Kong from overseas to be stored temporarily in QBPA; (2) whether the authorities have consulted the relevant sectors before signing the aforesaid agreement; if they have, of the views so obtained; if not, the reasons for that; (3) according to the assessment of the authorities, whether the wholesale and retail prices of frozen meat in the local market will come down as a result of the implementation of the aforesaid arrangement; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the details; (4) whether the authorities have projected, for the period between 2016 and 2018, the average daily quantity of frozen meat (in tonnes) to be imported into Hong Kong which has been temporary stored in QBPA, and the percentage of such quantity in the average total daily quantity of frozen meat to be imported into Hong Kong; and (5) whether the authorities will deploy staff to regularly inspect the storage of frozen meat intended to be imported into Hong Kong in the cold stores located in QBPA, including the conduct of sampling tests to examine if the frozen meat meets the relevant hygiene standards as prescribed in Hong Kong legislation; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
Last month, the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") announced the replanning of the Chun Tin Street/Sung Chi Street development project ("the redevelopment project") and the implementation of one-off special measures ("special measures") for domestic owner-occupiers ("the owners concerned") affected by the project. Under those measures, URA will, within around three months, make offer to purchase the properties of the owners concerned at market prices and further provide a special Home Purchase Allowance ("HPA") for those owners upon approval given by the Town Planning Board ("TPB") for the redevelopment project later. The entire acquisition process may need to be delayed for a period of two years or more. It is learnt that some owners have queried that URA has replanned the redevelopment project, ostensibly for improving the traffic and pedestrian access of the redevelopment project in the future, but in actual fact to increase revenue by doubling the number of flats that may be built under the project from 150 to 310. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that as the owners concerned will not be entitled to the special HPA in the event that TPB ultimately does not approve the redevelopment project, those owners consider the special measures tantamount to requiring them to share the risk of the project with URA, whether the authorities knew and agreed to beforehand the implementation of the special measures by URA; if so, of the justifications for that; (2) whether it knows if URA adopted similar special measures for its redevelopment projects in the past; if URA did, of the details; (3) whether it will require URA to consider giving up implementing the special measures for the redevelopment project and reverting to the usual practice of employing surveyors to estimate the value of a notional replacement flat which is defined as a seven-year old flat of comparable size, situated in a similar locality and located at the middle floor with average orientation, and using the relevant estimated average price per square foot to calculate the amount of HPA payable for disbursing that allowance in one go to the owners concerned when making offer to purchase the relevant properties; and (4) given that URA will rehouse the tenants affected by the redevelopment project only after the project has been approved by TPB, whether there is any discrepancy between such an arrangement and the existing policy; whether the authorities have assessed if such an arrangement is reasonable; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the justifications for that?
*11. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Centennial College, a self-financing post-secondary institution established by the University of Hong Kong in 2012, offers self-financing undergraduate programmes. It has been reported that due to a continuous decline in local student population in recent years, coupled with the requirement of the Mainland authorities that Hong Kong's self-financing post-secondary institutions authorized to award degrees should not commence their enrolment of Mainland students and the related publicity work before formal approval has been granted by the State Ministry of Education, the Centennial College has been experiencing poor student enrolment over the years and facing financial difficulties (e.g. its fiscal deficit in 2014-2015 was more than $13 million) as a result. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the total number of places and the total enrolment of the self-financing post-secondary programmes offered by various self-financing post-secondary institutions in Hong Kong in the current school year; the projected number of school-age students enrolling in universities or post-secondary institutions in each of the coming five school years (set out in a table); (2) whether it knows the number of self-financing post-secondary institutions which are now having a deficit; whether the authorities have measures in place to help such institutions address their financial difficulties, so as to prevent them from closing down one after another and thus affecting the studies of the students concerned; (3) given that at present, eight local self-financing post-secondary institutions, including the Centennial College, have not been granted formal approval by the State Ministry of Education, whether the authorities will help these institutions obtain formal approval expeditiously, so that the work for enrolment of Mainland students may commence; and (4) as it is learnt that at present, the academic qualifications attained by Mainland students upon completion of the programmes offered by the eight local self-financing post-secondary institutions may not necessarily be recognized by the relevant parties on the Mainland, thus wasting the students' time and money studying the programmes, whether the authorities have grasped the situation; if they have, whether they have taken any follow-up action?
*12. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of staff members of the nursing and allied health grades have complained to me that nurses and allied health professionals employed by the Hospital Authority ("HA") on or after 15 June 2002 will not be granted an annual increment within the first two years following their promotion ("increment freeze policy"). However, prior to the implementation of such policy, staff members of such grades were entitled to an annual increment provided that their salaries had not reached the maximum pay points and their performance was satisfactory. These staff members are of the view that such policy is extremely unreasonable and has even led to the situation of different pay for the same work, hence seriously affecting their morale. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the number of staff members of the nursing and allied health grades employed by HA on or after 15 June 2002 and, among them, of the number of staff members who have been affected by the increment freeze policy, broken down by their grade, year of entry and year of promotion; (2) the justifications for HA to implement the increment freeze policy; whether such policy is applicable to staff members in the nursing and allied health grades employed before 15 June 2002; if it is not, whether HA has assessed if such policy has created the problem of different pay for the same work; (3) whether HA will consider abolishing the increment freeze policy so as to boost staff morale; if HA will, of the total expenditure involved and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) regarding those staff members of the nursing and allied health grades who have been affected by the increment freeze policy, whether HA will consider making back payments to them to compensate for their loss of salary income as a result of the implementation of such policy; if HA will, of the total expenditure involved and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
The Chief Executive stated in his 2016 Policy Address that the Government supports "major vocational and professional education and training providers to organize large-scale skills competitions to select representatives of Hong Kong to take part in world skills competitions". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the large-scale skills competitions to be organized by vocational and professional education and training providers in the coming five years which the authorities plan to support, with a breakdown by occupation; the respective modes of support and estimated amounts of subsidies involved; and (2) given that at present, quite a number of large-scale skills competitions organized or co-organized by trade unions are highly regarded by the relevant sectors (e.g. the Chinese Cross-straits Fashionable Hairstyling and Make-up Competition, the Hong Kong and Macau Professional Cooking Competition and the Hong Kong Welding Vocational Skills Competition), whether the Government will consider giving full support to these skills competitions, e.g. by providing subsidies, assisting in their publicity, providing free venues for holding such competitions and sending officials of policy bureaux to attend the activities concerned; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the promotion of animal welfare and prevention of acts of cruelty to animals, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, in conjunction with the Police, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department as well as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong), set up a special working group in 2011 to enhance cooperation in handling cases of cruelty to animals, of the number of meetings held by the working group so far; (2) as I have learnt that at present only five police districts have set up designated Crime Investigation Teams to investigate suspected cases of cruelty to animals, whether the Government will consider setting up such kind of teams in all police districts; if it will not, of the difficulties encountered by the Police; (3) given that this Council passed the amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169) in 2006 to increase the penalty level of offences concerning cruelty to animals, but cases of animal abuse were still often heard of in recent years, whether the Government will reconsider introducing further amendments to Cap. 169 to increase the penalty level of such offences; if it will, of the legislative timetable; (4) whether it will consider establishing a system under which law enforcement departments may issue, to persons who are negligent in taking care of animals but the circumstances of their cases are not serious, "Care Enhancement Notices" ordering them to treat animals kindly; (5) whether it will reconsider enacting legislation to make it compulsory for persons convicted of animal cruelty offences to receive psychological counselling and attend courses on caring for animals; (6) whether it will consider amending existing legislation or enacting new legislation to permit specific eateries to allow customers to patronize the eateries together with their pet cats or dogs, and to subject such eateries to appropriate regulation, so as to improve animal welfare; (7) given that section 56 of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap.374) stipulates that when an accident occurs whereby damage is caused to an animal, the driver of that vehicle shall stop and report the accident to the Police as soon as possible, but the animal referred to in that provision does not include dogs and cats, whether the Government will amend Cap. 374 or Cap. 169, in the hope that drivers will drive with more caution to avoid hitting and injuring cats or dogs, and cats and dogs injured after being hit by vehicles will be able to receive treatment as soon as possible; and (8) whether it will allocate more resources to animal welfare organizations with a view to stepping up the promotion of animal rights and interests in the territory?
*15. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
Recently, quite a number of members of the public have relayed to me that they have seen, on franchised buses, a series of publicity videos on various Directors of Bureaux ("D/Bs"). For example, individual D/B and Deputy D/B displayed their cooking skills in the videos while another D/B rode a bicycle for a short journey to demonstrate the hard work he had put in. These members of the public consider that the contents of some of the publicity videos are frivolous and meaningless, which have nothing to do with the official duties of the D/Bs concerned, and that such videos are merely used as a means of soft promotion for D/Bs to blow their own trumpets in order to boost the reputation of D/Bs. Such members of the public also opine that instead of wasting public money in an attempt to use public relations tactics to cover up its incompetence in policy implementation, the Government should identify its deficiencies in policy implementation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective policy bureaux or government departments ("B/Ds") responsible for the production of various parts of the aforesaid publicity videos; the reasons for producing such publicity videos, and whether such reasons include the persistently low popularity ratings of the governing team of the Government of the current term; the purposes of producing such publicity videos, and whether such purposes include rebuilding the personal image of the D/Bs concerned; (2) how various D/Bs had participated in conceptualizing the contents of the relevant publicity videos; whether it has reviewed if the contents of such publicity videos contain fictitious stories or exaggerated and misrepresented scenes; (3) whether public relations firms or production companies have been hired for the purpose of producing the aforesaid publicity videos; if so, of the selection procedures and the names of the companies hired; (4) of the various items of expenditures involved in the aforesaid publicity videos; the B/Ds the estimates of expenditure of which the said expenditures were paid from; how the authorities assess the effectiveness of such publicity videos; (5) whether there is currently any plan to produce similar publicity videos for the Chief Executive ("CE"); if there is such a plan, of the reasons for and timetable of it, and whether it will shelve such a plan to avoid wasting public money and provoking criticism against CE for electioneering for his re-election; and (6) whether the authorities will, in the light of the aforesaid public views, identify the deficiencies in policy implementation and listen carefully to public views to enhance its policy implementation, instead of producing publicity videos of the aforesaid nature; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
*16. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("the Chairman") visited Hong Kong from the 17th to the 19th of last month to attend the Belt and Road Summit and related activities. To ensure the personal safety of the Chairman and dignitaries of other countries participating in the Summit, the Police deployed substantial police manpower, and the Transport Department also made special traffic arrangements. Some members of the public have complained to me that the relevant arrangements involved the temporary closure of a number of roads and pedestrian facilities, which had greatly affected their daily living. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the road sections or lanes closed off temporarily during the Chairman's visit to Hong Kong, including (i) the names of the roads involved, (ii) the numbers of road sections or lanes concerned, (iii) the dates, time and total numbers of hours of the closures, and (iv) the estimated number of vehicles affected (set out in a table by name of the road and road section); (2) of the details of the pedestrian facilities (e.g. pedestrian crossings, footbridges and pedestrian subways) fully or partially closed off during the Chairman's visit to Hong Kong, including (i) the locations of the pedestrian facilities, (ii) the dates, time and total numbers of hours of the closures, and (iii) the estimated number of pedestrians affected; whether the authorities had announced the relevant arrangements and informed the management staff of the buildings nearby before closing off such pedestrian facilities; if they had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as it has been reported that the vehicle fleet of the Chairman had travelled in contravention of road markings and traffic signs, including driving in an opposite direction of the traffic and failing to stop in compliance with traffic light signals, whether such driving situations were part of the special traffic arrangements; if so, of the details, including (i) the number of times of driving in contravention of regulations and (ii) the relevant reasons, as well as (iii) the names of the roads and road sections involved; and (4) of the number of police officers performing duties relating to the Chairman's visit to Hong Kong on each day of the visit, with a tabulated breakdown by the (i) region and (ii) operation unit to which they belong as well as by their (iii) rank and (iv) specific duty?
*17. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)
The Education Bureau ("EDB") launched the strategies on Information Technology ("IT") in Education ("ITEd strategies") in 1998 to provide schools with necessary IT facilities and digital resources for learning and teaching, and connect them to the Internet. In addition, EDB implemented Phase Two of the E-textbook Market Development Scheme ("EMDS") in 2013 to encourage potential and aspiring developers to develop e-textbooks in line with the local curricula, and to try out a quality vetting and assurance mechanism for e textbooks with a view to drawing up a Recommended Textbook List for e textbook ("e-RTL"). However, currently only about 10% of primary schools and less than 20% of secondary schools in Hong Kong use e-textbooks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of ITEd strategies; if it has reviewed, of the outcome and the follow-up actions taken; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as some members of the education sector have pointed out that although WiFi infrastructure has been installed in various public schools, there are inadequate hardware (e.g. tablet computers and their chargers) and IT technicians to support e-learning, whether EDB will subsidize schools to purchase equipment necessary for e-learning and list the relevant expenses as a recurrent expenditure item, with a view to creating an environment conducive to e-learning for students; if EDB will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (3) as some members of the education sector have pointed out that for many subjects, either none or very few textbooks have been placed under e-RTL, whether EDB has studied the reasons for publishers not actively developing e-textbooks; if EDB has studied, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will consider providing incentives to encourage publishers to compile more e-textbooks; (4) as it has been reported that EDB has no intention to implement a new phase of EMDS, whether EDB has responded to such reports; if EDB has, of the details; if EDB plans to implement a new phase of EMDS, of the timetable; and (5) give that with smartphones becoming a major communication device in daily life, there is a keen demand for the skills of smartphone application programming, and some primary schools are therefore providing lessons to students on the basic knowledge in smartphone application programming, whether EDB will take the initiative to train teachers so that all secondary and primary school students in Hong Kong can acquire the relevant knowledge; if EDB will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
The Labour Department ("LD") promulgated on 15 April this year a draft Code of Practice for Employment Agencies ("CoP") and launched a public consultation on it. CoP enunciates the minimum standards which the Commissioner for Labour ("the Commissioner") expects of licensees of employment agencies ("EAs"), including those engaged in the placement of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") ("FDH-EAs"), in operating their business. On the 3rd of last month, I and several representatives of non-governmental FDH organizations held a discussion with the Commissioner on the draft CoP. During the discussion, some representatives pointed out that some FDH-EAs often committed illegal acts/engaged in malpractices, including overcharging commission from FDHs, arranging FDHs to borrow money from finance companies and withholding their personal identification documents such as passports and bank debit cards, but the authorities seldom prosecuted those EAs due to difficulties in adducing evidence. These representatives considered CoP unable to curb the illegal acts/malpractices of FDH-EAs. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of complaints received by the authorities in the past three years about various types of illegal acts committed/malpractices engaged by FDH-EAs, as well as the investigation procedures; whether the authorities will conduct proactive investigations on various types of cases, including conducting decoy operations jointly with other government departments, and conducting more frequent inspections of EAs; and (2) whether the authorities have assessed if the existing penalties can curb the illegal acts/malpractices of FDH-EAs; whether the authorities will consider afresh amending the legislation to render such malpractices unlawful and raise the relevant penalties?
*19. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Early this year, the Government introduced a new agriculture policy after conducting a review. However, some farmers have pointed out that the Government's support for the modernization and sustainable development of agriculture remains insufficient. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it is learnt that thousands of members of the public are waiting for leasing leisure-farming lands of a non-profit-making farm in Ma On Shan, reflecting the increasing popularity of community farms, whether the Government will set aside idle government lands for lease application by non-profit-making organizations to develop community farms, as well as provide basic utilities of water and electricity for such lands; whether the Government will, when carrying out land use planning in future, reserve lands for the development of community farms to meet public demand for leisure farming; (2) as quite a number of people have criticized that the application procedures for Sustainable Fisheries Development Fund are cumbersome and that applicants are required to furnish a large number of supporting documents, whether the Government will formulate simple and convenient application procedures when it introduces the Sustainable Agricultural Development Fund ("SADF"); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that while the authorities proposed in March this year to set up a Farm Improvement Scheme under SADF to provide each recipient with a one-off subsidy of up to $30,000, there are comments that a subsidy of such an amount is insufficient for enhancing the facilities and productivity of the farms, and the restriction of one subsidy per recipient is running against the Government's objective of promoting sustainable development of agriculture, whether the Government will consider increasing the maximum amount of subsidy and allowing a recipient to receive such subsidy repeatedly; if it will; of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) as some persons engaged in hydroponic farming have relayed that they currently have to pay high rents for practising hydroponic farming in units of industrial buildings, whether the Government will review the policy on promoting hydroponic farming to provide support and subsidy for the persons concerned; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether it will consider discussing with representatives of the relevant trades the formulation of an official certification system for organic food products, so as to safeguard food safety and consumers' interests for the public and to boost public confidence in organic food products, thereby facilitating the development of organic farming; if it will; of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Before each Legislative Council ("LegCo") general election, the Electoral Affairs Commission ("EAC") updates and publishes the Guidelines on Election-related Activities in respect of the Legislative Council Election ("the Guidelines"). After revising the Guidelines, EAC put forward in March this year the Proposed Guidelines on Election-related Activities in respect of the Legislative Council Election ("the Proposed Guidelines"), and launched a 30 day public consultation. The major changes set out in the Proposed Guidelines in respect of election advertisements ("EAs") include: (i) reminding any person/organization publishing materials to appeal directly or indirectly to electors to vote or not to vote for certain candidates or candidates of certain organizations that such materials may be regarded as EAs, and (ii) reminding candidates and web surfers that messages published through Internet platforms with the intention to promote or prejudice the election of any candidates would be regarded as EAs, but if web surfers merely share or forward different candidates' election campaigns through Internet platforms for expression of views and do not intend to promote or prejudice the elections of any candidates, such sharing or forwarding will not normally be regarded as publishing EAs. There are comments that as members of the public expressing personal views on Internet social networking platforms (such as "Facebook") is very common nowadays, but the aforesaid guidelines on EAs are too vague, members of the public may easily contravene section 23 (Illegal conduct for persons other than candidates and election expense agents to incur election expenses) of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance (Cap. 554). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of (i) complaints received by EAC in each of the past two LegCo general elections relating to publication of EAs through disseminating messages by certain individuals on Internet social networking platforms, (ii) candidates involved in such complaints, and (iii) those complaints which were found substantiated after investigation by the relevant authorities, as well as the details of such substantiated cases; (2) whether it has assessed if, according to the Proposed Guidelines, a member of the public (i) changing the profile picture of his/her personal account with an Internet social networking platform into a picture of supporting a certain candidate, and (ii) adding a topic symbol (i.e. hashtag) relating to a certain candidate when posting messages on an Internet social networking platform, will be respectively regarded as EAs; (3) whether it will consider providing a more detailed guideline on "intention to promote or prejudice the elections of any candidates", so as to prevent members of the public from contravening the law inadvertently; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it knows if individuals' publishing personal political opinions on the Internet not under the instruction of a candidate or his agent may be exempted from being regarded as EAs in other jurisdictions, and therefore will not be subject to the regulation by the relevant ordinances relating to election expenses; if it may be exempted, of the details; if it may not, the reasons for that; (5) given that the Proposed Guidelines provide that if a candidate "instructed" the relevant person to publish the aforesaid materials or online messages, the candidate has to include the costs so incurred in his/her election expenses, of the specific meaning of "instructed"; whether it has assessed if EAs of a candidate forwarded by web surfers on their own accord have to be regarded as EAs; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the relevant considerations and the method for calculating such expenses on EAs; whether the authorities will consider drawing up a clear method for calculating election expenses to ensure fairness of an election; if they will, of the details, if not, the reasons for that; (6) whether it has assessed if the costs of the following items have to be included in the expenses on EAs: (i) fees for preparation, design and release of advertisements, (ii) fees for website-hosting, (iii) costs incurred for setting up and maintaining the hardware and software of a website, and (iv) costs for placing fee-charging advertisements on Internet social networking platforms; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the justifications for that; and (7) as the advancement of the Internet technology has enabled any person to publish his/her opinions and disseminate messages to the public easily and at a very low cost, whether it has any plan to conduct a review to see if the provisions relating to EAs under Cap. 554 still suit the present circumstances; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*21. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
During a visit to Hong Kong in August 2013, a delegation from the Asian Football Confederation ("the delegation") inspected four soccer pitches in the territory, namely the Hong Kong Stadium ("HKS"), Mong Kok Stadium, Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground and Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground, to examine if these venues met the conditions for staging matches of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League. It was reported that after inspection, the delegation pointed out that, among the four pitches, only HKS met the conditions for staging such matches, but the turf quality of HKS was in need of improvement. As for the remaining three venues, they did not meet the conditions due to their insufficient facilities, lighting and seating capacity, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has, in the light of the aforesaid comments by the delegation, carried out improvement works for the soccer pitches in the territory, in the hope that there will be more venues in Hong Kong that meet the conditions for staging international soccer matches; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the authorities have, upon the completion of turf pitch reconstruction works for HKS in July last year, conducted regular inspections and tests on the turf quality; if they have, of the details of the mechanism and the manpower involved; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the mechanism that the authorities have put in place to manage and maintain the turf quality of those soccer pitches, other than HKS, designated for holding matches of the Hong Kong Premier League ("HKPL"), so as to minimize the likelihood of soccer players sustaining injuries, as well as the details of such mechanism and the manpower involved; and (4) whether the authorities have established any mechanism for holding regular discussions with representatives of the Hong Kong Football Association and the HKPL participating teams on issues relating to the facilities, turf maintenance and renting of various venues, to ensure that these venues meet the needs and standards of HKPL; if they have, of the details of such mechanism; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
The graduates of this academic year will soon join the labour market, but the statistics of recent months have shown that Hong Kong's economic situation is worsening, causing an upward trend of the unemployment rate and a persistently high unemployment rate among the young people. Moreover, according to the findings of a survey, the business index in the second quarter of this year has declined for three consecutive quarters, indicating a negative business outlook among the small and medium enterprises ("SMEs"). As such, SMEs are less eager to recruit new staff. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the latest manpower projection findings for this and next year, including a breakdown of the number of local graduates by education level (i.e. (i) upper secondary, (ii) bachelor's degree, (iii) associate degree and (iv) other academic qualifications), a breakdown of the number of jobs available by industry and education level, and a breakdown of the projected unemployment rate by industry (set out in a table); (2) of the special measures that the authorities have put in place to assist graduates in finding jobs in view of the worsening economic situation; whether they will consider (i) creating non-civil service contract posts for graduates who have no working experience to apply, (ii) encouraging non-governmental organizations to offer short-term employment opportunities for graduates, (iii) streamlining the procedure for application for deferment of student loan repayment, (iv) raising the ceiling for subsidies of tuition fees under the Continuing Education Fund, and (v) stepping up employment support and counselling services on emotional problems; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as SMEs employ a total of more than one million employees, whether the Government will introduce new measures to help SMEs tide over the economic difficulties, including new measures to provide subsidies to SMEs for enhancing their operational efficiency and competitiveness in the market, and to assist SMEs in developing new markets, with a view to securing employment for members of the public; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| 1. | Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
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| Hon WONG Yuk-man to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 19 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 609/15-16) | |||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Bill 2015 (issued on 26 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 638/15-16(01)))
| |||||||||||||
| 2. | Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2016 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | ||||||||||
| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move
Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 18 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 601/15-16) | |||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Securities and Futures (Amendment) Bill 2016 (issued on 26 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 639/15-16(01)))
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| 3. | Patents (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
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| Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move
Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 25 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 629/15-16) | |||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Patents (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 31 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 650/15-16(01)))
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| 4. | Judiciary (Five-day Week) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2016 | : | The Chief Secretary for Administration
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| 5. | Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Bill | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
| ||||||||||
| Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move
Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 22 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 543/15-16) | |||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Bill (issued on 26 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 640/15-16(01)))
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| 6. | Human Reproductive Technology (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Food and Health
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| Secretary for Food and Health to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 13 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 590/15-16) | |||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Human Reproductive Technology (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 31 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 651/15-16(01)))
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| 7. | Interception of Communications and Surveillance (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Security | ||||||||||
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| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Interception of Communications and Surveillance (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 31 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 653/15-16(01))) | |||||||||||||
IV. Government Motions
| 1. | 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. |
| 2. | Proposed resolution under the Public Bus Services Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the franchise granted on 22 September 2015 under section 5 of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) to Citybus Limited (城巴有限公司) and published in the Gazette as G.N. 7692 of 2015 is not subject to sections 27, 28, 29 and 31 of that Ordinance for the entire period of the franchise. |
| 3. | Proposed resolution under the Public Bus Services Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the franchise granted on 22 September 2015 under section 5 of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) to New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited (新大嶼山巴士(1973)有限公司) and published in the Gazette as G.N. 7693 of 2015 is not subject to sections 27, 28, 29 and 31 of that Ordinance for the entire period of the franchise. |
| 4. | Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion: Resolved that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Sweden) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 16 February 2016, be approved. |
|
(The Order is in Appendix I and was also issued on
14 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 518/15-16) | |
| 5. | Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion: Resolved that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Argentina) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 16 February 2016, be approved. |
|
(The Order is in Appendix II and was also issued on
14 April 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 518/15-16) | |
| 6. | Proposed resolution under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance
Secretary for Home Affairs to move the following motion: Resolved that the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Amendment) Rules 2016, made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee on 4 May 2016, be approved. |
| (The Rules are in Appendix III and were also issued
on 13 May 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 591/15-16) | |
V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
VI. Members' Bills
| First Reading
| ||
| Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill
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| 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. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Hon WONG Yuk-man to move the following motion: That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into the clashes between the Police and members of the public in Mong Kok from the night of 8 February to the early morning of 9 February 2016 which caused injuries to many people, and other related matters; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance.
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| 2. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Hon WONG Yuk-man to move the following motion: That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into the incident of the alleged airport security breach by the family members of Chief Executive LEUNG Chun-ying during the period from the night of 27 March to the small hours of 28 March 2016, and other related matters; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance.
| ||||
| 3. | 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. | ||||
| |||||
| 4. | 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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| 5. | 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. | ||||
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