A 15/16-32
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 29 June 2016 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
The annual water supply from Dongjiang ("DJ") at Guangdong Province to Hong Kong accounts for almost 70% to 80% of Hong Kong's total demand for water consumption. It has been reported that a local media organization earlier commissioned a university to conduct sample tests on the water quality along DJ River, and the results showed that eight out of 12 water samples contained environmental estrogens, and the level of one type of the estrogens contained in these samples might have exceeded the standards recommended by the European Union, thus exposing the public to potential health hazards. Moreover, it has been reported that the flood gates at the Shawan Interception Point in Shenzhen were opened for discharge of flood water during heavy rain from May to August last year and in May this year, which might have contaminated DJ water. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities sent staff to take water samples at different locations and aqueducts in DJ River Basin in the past five years for laboratory tests to ascertain the levels of environmental estrogens in DJ water; if they did, of the results of the laboratory tests; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the authorities will consider, with reference to international practices, including environmental estrogens in the list of parameters for the routine monitoring of drinking water, as well as setting monitoring standards based on the findings of scientific research, so as to safeguard public health; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities have assessed the impact of the flood discharge arrangements at the Shawan Interception Point on the quality of DJ water?
2. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Some residents of New Territories East have relayed to me the short supply of healthcare services in the New Territories East Cluster. The projected number of general hospital beds per 1 000 persons in the cluster in 2021, calculated on the basis of geographical population of catchment districts, is 2.7, which is lower than the overall 3.1 beds of the Hospital Authority ("HA"). In 2015-2016, the inpatient bed occupancy rates of North District Hospital and Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital ("Nethersole Hospital") under the cluster were as high as 92% and 84% respectively. The respective numbers of doctors in the Accident and Emergency ("A&E") departments of the two hospitals only remained at 20 and 24 in the past three years, and such manpower was tighter than that of the A&E departments of the hospitals under other clusters. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the obstetrics and gynaecology ("O&G") department and the paediatrics and adolescent medicine department in North District Hospital currently provide only midwifery clinic service and outpatient service respectively but not inpatient service, and Nethersole Hospital does not provide O&G service at present, whether the authorities have assessed the existing situation of residents of the North and Tai Po Districts seeking medical consultation at hospitals in other districts in respect of the services not provided by these two hospitals; if they have, of the number of persons concerned; (2) whether it knows if HA has considered expanding the staffing establishment of doctors in the A&E departments of North District Hospital and Nethersole Hospital; if HA has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that HA has included the expansion of North District Hospital into its 10-year hospital development plan, of the latest progress and implementation timetable of the expansion plan; whether it knows if HA has currently adopted any short, medium and long term measures to lower the inpatient bed occupancy rate in North District Hospital; if HA has, of the details; if HA has not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will consider expanding Nethersole Hospital; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
According to the Report on Manpower Projection to 2018, the total manpower requirement of transportation services, such as those of public buses, taxis, scheduled and non-scheduled public light buses ("PLB"), land transportation, passenger vessels, etc., will increase at an average annual rate of 1.4% from 128 820 in 2010 to 143 980 in 2018. The transport industry, however, has been facing manpower shortage and succession problems in recent years. Some operators have relayed to me that since they have persistently failed to recruit sufficient scheduled PLB drivers, taxi drivers and passenger vessel crew, they have no alternative but to reduce service. Such situation has not only affected service quality but has also stifled the continuous development of the industry. These operators have projected that the shortage of drivers and vessel crew will only be exacerbated in the future, seriously affecting public transport services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective current situations of the manpower supply of and demand for franchised and non-franchised bus drivers, scheduled PLB drivers, taxi drivers, container truck drivers and passenger vessel crew, including the numbers of persons in such positions (among them, the respective numbers and percentages of those working full-time and part-time), their average ages, the number of those who are expected to retire within five years, and the numbers and percentages of such positions which are vacant (set out the aforesaid information in a table); (2) of the measures taken by the authorities in the past three years to assist the transport industry in addressing the problem of manpower shortage, and set out in a table the effectiveness of the measures by the positions mentioned in (1); and (3) whether the authorities have considered new measures to boost the manpower in the transport industry, e.g. relaxing the requirement that applicants for driving licences to drive commercial vehicles must hold a valid full driving licence to drive a private car or light goods vehicle for at least three years, so as to attract more new blood to join the industry, and including professional drivers and passenger vessel crew in the Supplementary Labour Scheme to allow the operators concerned to import such workers from other places; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of Mainland women have sought my assistance regarding the problem of single-parent families being separated by the Mainland-Hong Kong boundary. They married or cohabited with Hong Kong residents and have given birth to children, but subsequently they divorced their husbands or were deserted by their partners. As a result, they are ineligible for applying for Permits for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as One-way Permits ("OWPs")) to settle in Hong Kong, and may only apply for Exit-entry Permits for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as "Two-way Exit Permits") so that they can have a brief stay in Hong Kong to take care of their minor children. As they may neither take up employment in Hong Kong nor apply for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, they are in financial straits. Their children, despite having the status of Hong Kong residents, lack the love and care of a healthy family, and have to lodge under other people's roof which may make them feel discriminated. As a result, these children encounter a lot of difficulties when growing up. Some of them may develop hatred of society due to their long accumulated dissatisfaction, which may lead to a potential youth problem. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current statistics or estimated figures on Mainland single mothers who are ineligible for applying for OWPs due to the aforesaid situations, and on their minor children residing in Hong Kong; (2) as the aforesaid single-mother assistance seekers are ineligible for applying for OWPs and some of the assistance seekers have chronic diseases, whether the Director of Immigration will consider granting, on compassionate grounds, permission for those assistance seekers who are under such special circumstances to stay in Hong Kong, so that they can take care of their minor children; and (3) how the authorities currently provide appropriate support for the aforesaid single mothers and their minor children in order to help these children grow up healthily, and of the relevant details?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Security Secretary for Labour and Welfare |
5. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)
According to the Guidelines on Election-related Activities in respect of the 2012 Legislative Council ("LegCo") Election issued by the Electoral Affairs Commission, organizations approved to conduct exit polls by the Registration and Electoral Office ("REO") "should not announce the results of exit polls or make specific remarks or predictions on the performance of individual candidate/list of candidates before the close of poll", lest the election results might be affected. The various organizations which conducted exit polls for that LegCo Election had signed an undertaking, promising not to release, directly or indirectly, the results of the exit polls to candidates or organizations to which candidates belong, etc. before the close of poll. The information on REO's website shows that the organizations approved to conduct exit polls on the polling day (i.e. 9 September 2012) of that LegCo Election did not include the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong ("DAB"). However, it has been reported that a Member of this Council who belongs to DAB disclosed on a live radio programme on the 3rd of this month that DAB had conducted exit polls on the polling day of that LegCo Election and, in the evening of that day, DAB learnt from the exit polls that some of its candidates had already garnered sufficient votes to be elected, and forthwith stopped canvassing for these candidates and switched to focus its efforts on canvassing for other candidates. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as some members of the public have pointed out that the use of exit poll results by political parties to canvass or allocate votes for candidates will seriously prejudice the fairness of elections and would do injustice to other law-abiding candidates, whether the authorities will investigate the aforesaid incident; if they will, how they will carry out such investigation; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) given that the 2016 LegCo Election will be held on 4 September this year, whether the authorities will step up the monitoring of organizations conducting exit polls, in order to curb the use of exit poll results to allocate or canvass votes during the polling; if they will, of the monitoring measures being contemplated; if not, the reasons for that, and how they will handle non-compliant situations?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs |
6. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
At present, the facilities of quite a number of school premises built in different eras in accordance with the standards prevalent at the time of construction are below the current standards. Some principals from schools with such premises have complained to me that the facilities of the school premises concerned still only meet the standards of forty to fifty years ago, and problems such as insufficient space and facilities for teaching and learning, as well as aging school premises, are prevalent. As a result, repair works need to be carried out all year round at the school premises. These problems have not only constituted a serious impediment to teaching and learning as well as school development, but also endangered the safety of teachers and students. They consider that such situation reflects the existence of injustice in the education system and blunders in the education policy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective current numbers of primary, secondary and special schools whose premises are not up to the current standards, and list by school name the years of age of the school premises, the standards which the premises have met, and whether they have been included in the School Improvement Programme ("SIP") (if included, of the phase of SIP); which of such schools, whose premises have a floor area of less than 3 000 square metres and are aged over 30 years, have never or only to a limited extent benefited from school improvement works; (2) whether it has assessed the structural safety, environmental safety and hygiene conditions of school premises that are not up to the current standards; if it has, of the assessment methods and outcome; if not, how the authorities ensure that such school premises meet the relevant statutory requirements, and which party is to shoulder the liabilities involved; whether the authorities have set ceilings on the annual expenditure on repair and maintenance of school premises; if there are ceilings, of the criteria adopted by the authorities for vetting and approving the funding applications from each school for urgent and large-scale repair works each year, the expenditure ceilings on the maintenance and repair for the schools in various districts in the past three years and the number of schools involved, and how the authorities ensure that sufficient funding is available for schools to cover the repair and maintenance expenditure; if there are no ceilings, how the authorities ensure that the repair and maintenance works conducted incessantly on dilapidated school premises are cost-effective; and (3) whether there are new and specific measures to actively help schools with facilities in their premises not up to the current standards solve the relevant problems completely and comply with the current legislative requirements; if there are, of the details and the implementation timetable of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?
*7. Hon Alvin YEUNG to ask: (Translation)
A few housing estates in areas around Pak Shek Kok were completed and occupied in recent years. With the completion of a number of residential projects in the coming few years, there will be a marked population increase in areas around Pak Shek Kok. In addition, as the Finance Committee of this Council approved the funding application relating to Stage 1 of the Hong Kong Science Park Expansion Programme last month, it is estimated that the working population within the Science Park will increase from the existing some 17 700 persons to more than 30 000 persons upon completion of the Expansion Programme in 2020. Some residents in the district have pointed out that the aforesaid development projects will bring about heavy loading to the transport and ancillary facilities in areas around Pak Shek Kok. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(1) it knows the following information on each of the residential projects in areas around Pak Shek Kok (set out in a table): (i) project name, (ii) number of flats, (iii) number of residents, (iv) number of private parking spaces, (v) number of public parking spaces, (vi) year of completion, and (vii) gross floor area (square feet); (2) it knows the following information on each of the housing projects which are under development or will be launched in areas around Pak Shek Kok (set out in a table): (i) project name/lot number, (ii) estimated number of flats, (iii) estimated number of residents, (iv) estimated number of private parking spaces, (v) estimated number of public parking spaces, (vi) anticipated year of completion, (vii) progress in land lot planning (if applicable), and (viii) estimated permissible gross floor area (square feet); and (3) the Government will take measures to alleviate the traffic pressure brought about by the population increase in areas around Pak Shek Kok; if it will not, of the reasons for that; if it will, the measures to be taken; whether it will consider extending the East Rail Line and adding Pak Shek Kok Station along the Line, as well as increasing the number of routes for public light buses and franchised buses; if it will, of the details and implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon Michael TIEN to ask: (Translation)
Since 2010, the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has raised its fares for seven consecutive years under the Fare Adjustment Mechanism. Although MTRCL has offered various fare concessions to passengers, some members of the public are still dissatisfied that albeit having recorded sizeable profits, MTRCL has raised its fares year after year, thereby increasing their financial burden. Regarding the financial data of MTRCL and the fare concessions it offered to passengers, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows, in each of the past three years:
(1) the total profit of MTRCL's underlying businesses, and the respective profits arising from (i) Hong Kong transport operations, (ii) businesses at MTR stations in Hong Kong, (iii) property rental and management businesses in Hong Kong, (iv) property developments in Hong Kong, (v) Mainland China and international businesses, and (vi) other businesses (including Ngong Ping 360, railway consultancy businesses and project management services) (set out in a table); (2) (i) the total number of shops in MTR stations, (ii) the average lease period of such shops, (iii) the annual growth rate of the floor area of the shops, and (iv) the rental income of MTRCL from the shops (set out in a table); (3) the advertisement income of each MTR station (set out in a table); (4) the number and total value of the MTR Shops Coupons offered to passengers purchasing Monthly Passes; (5) the total value of the concessions MTRCL offered to passengers for train incidents causing delays to their journeys; and (6) the projected and actual total value of the fare concessions offered by MTRCL, with a tabulated breakdown by concession item (including fare concession for children, Student Travel Scheme, fare concession for the elderly, Fare Saver Discounts, half-fare concession for persons with disabilities, MTR City Saver, Monthly Pass Extra, Early Bird Discount, 10% Same-Day Second-Trip Discount and MTR Festive Discount, etc.)?
*9. Hon CHAN Yuen-han to ask: (Translation)
The Disability Allowance ("DA") Scheme aims to assist severely disabled Hong Kong residents in meeting the special needs arising from their disabilities. In addition, the Social Security Appeal Board ("Appeal Board") under the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") is responsible for processing appeals lodged by individuals who are not satisfied with the decision of SWD in respect of welfare assistance (including DA). On the other hand, an Inter-departmental Working Group on Review of the Disability Allowance ("the Working Group") was set up by the Labour and Welfare Bureau in February 2013 to follow up the issue of allowing persons with loss of one limb to apply for DA and related matters. This year's Policy Address stated that the Working Group had completed its work, and the Government would progressively implement the various proposals put forward by the Working Group, including removing the reference to "100% loss of earning capacity" from the medical assessment form so that persons with loss of one limb may apply for DA. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has projected, upon the progressive implementation of the proposals put forward by the aforesaid Working Group, the number of persons with disabilities ("PWDs") who will lodge complaints with the Appeal Board as their applications for DA were rejected in the past; if it has, of the number of the persons concerned; (2) of the number of applications for DA rejected by the authorities in each of the past three years; among such cases, the number and percentage of those cases whose applicants lodged appeals with the Appeal Board; (3) of the number of cases, in the past three years, in which the Appeal Board overturned SWD's decisions after hearing the cases; (4) given that at present, when the Appeal Board processes cases involving medical assessment made by doctors of public hospitals or clinics, arrangements will be made for the applicants to receive medical assessment again, but quite a number of PWDs are of the view that such an arrangement does not help their cases to be processed in a fair manner, whether the authorities will reform the appeal mechanism, including introducing the assessment of social factors and making comprehensive considerations; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) given that the Ombudsman released in October 2009 its Direct Investigation Report on Granting of Disability Allowance and Processing of Appeals by Social Welfare Department and made a number of suggestions, whether the authorities have followed up such suggestions; if they have, of the details and whether they have accepted all of the suggestions; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
In April this year, the Government rolled out the Low-income Working Family Allowance ("LIFA") Scheme with an aim to relieve the financial burden of working-poor households. The eligibility criteria include: a family consisting of two or more members, the applicant meeting the working hour requirements and the family meeting the income and asset limits. Implemented in three phases, the LIFA Scheme received/will receive applications from four-person, three-person and two-person families in May, June and July this year respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following since the launch of the LIFA Scheme:
(1) the total number of applications received by the authorities; (2) the number of applications received by the authorities from the ethnic minorities ("EMs"), and the number of interpreters arranged to help EMs complete the application forms; (3) the respective numbers of applications received by the authorities from families with four persons or more and families with three persons; among such applications, the number and percentage of applications approved, with a breakdown by the applicant's gender, age, household size, residential district, industry in which they were engaged, employment pattern, monthly wage level and amount of allowance granted; and (4) the number of applications rejected by the authorities; among such applications, the respective numbers of those from families with four persons or more and families with three persons, and set out a breakdown by reason for rejection in tables of the same format as the following table?
Rejected applications from families with _____ personsReasons for rejecting the applications Number of applications The household asset has exceeded the limit The household income has exceeded the limit Family members' days of absence from Hong Kong have exceeded the limit The applicant has failed to provide the necessary information The applicant is not lawfully employed or self-employed The applicant works less than 144 hours per month The applicant has already received household-based Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Others
*11. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
The 2015 Policy Address stated that "[t]he community colleges of University Grants Committee-funded institutions have experienced rapid growth and some have accumulated large surpluses. We will ask the institutions to critically review their financial position and consider ways to use their surpluses to benefit their students, such as lowering tuition fees and offering scholarships or bursaries for underprivileged students." In reply to a question raised at the meeting of this Council of 18 May this year, the authorities stated that in response to the aforesaid recommendation put forth in the Policy Address, the authorities had issued letters to the various funded institutions to request them to review the financial position of their self-financing community colleges or other self-financing arms or affiliates offering self-financed sub-degree programmes as well as the use of their surpluses for the benefits of students. The authorities also indicated that they did not possess any information concerning the total amounts of students' tuition fees reduced or waived and scholarships or bursaries offered for underprivileged students by those institutions in the past five years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the justifications for making the statement that "some [institutions] have accumulated large surpluses" in the Policy Address; the policy bureaux or government departments that had confirmed and verified such a statement beforehand; whether there are currently systems or measures in place to ensure beforehand the accuracy of information contained in the Policy Address; (2) whether it knows how the various funded institutions conduct auditing on their financial position; whether the authorities have verified the financial information furnished by various funded institutions, and whether there are other channels available for grasping such information for the purpose of cross checking; if they have verified and there are such other channels, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the Chief Executive's report of work in July this year will give an account of the progress of the authorities' follow-up to the accumulation of large surpluses by funded institutions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
At the end of March last year, our country issued a document entitled Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, outlining the development ideas and blueprint of the Belt and Road Initiative. The Government has indicated that it will actively participate in and dovetail with the implementation of the strategies of the Belt and Road Initiative and explore the roles that Hong Kong could play, including serving as centres for capital formation and financing and international asset management under the Belt and Road Initiative. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has studied ways to assist enterprises of the Belt and Road countries in opening bank accounts in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details, including the difficulties such enterprises may encounter when opening bank accounts, and the measures the Government will take to help such enterprises tackle the relevant difficulties?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*13. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
I have earlier commissioned a professor from the Department of Physical Education of the Hong Kong Baptist University to conduct a study, and the results of which show that a number of countries and places, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Mainland, Taiwan and Japan, have formulated policies on the opening up of sports venues and facilities of schools for loan by community groups. Such a practice optimizes the use of idle sports facilities on the one hand, and helps promote sports and enhance the sense of belonging to the community among the residents on the other hand. The study has also found that the percentage of schools in Hong Kong which loan their idle sports venues for community use is on the low side: only 23% of the responding primary and secondary schools have formulated policies on loaning their sports venues, while more than 50% of the schools have indicated that they do not loan their venues. In addition, the responding schools have considered that the most effective proposals on encouraging schools to loan their sports venues include: (i) provision of additional resources by the Government to schools loaning their sports venues, (ii) the Government's resolving problems relating to legal liabilities and insurance, and (iii) provision of funding by the Government to enhance the security level of the schools concerned. Some organizations have pointed out that the sports and cultural organizations in Hong Kong have been facing a long-standing problem of insufficient venues, and the Government should therefore encourage schools to loan their sports venues and facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the statistics on government and subsidized primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong loaning their sports venues and facilities during weekends in the past three years; (2) given that it is the Government's policy to encourage schools to loan their venues and facilities after school hours, of the criteria based on which the authorities assess the effectiveness of such policy; (3) whether the Education Bureau ("EDB") will provide financial incentives (e.g. increasing the proportion of rental income from loaning sports venues and facilities shared by subsidized schools, and allowing government schools to have a share of such income) to encourage more schools to loan their venues and facilities; (4) as some schools have indicated that one of the reasons for schools having reservations about loaning their sports venues and facilities is the legal liabilities and insurance problems arising from such a practice, whether EDB can collectively take out liability insurance policies for schools which loan their sports venues and facilities, so as to allay the schools' concerns; and (5) whether EDB will provide one-off financial support for schools which loan their sports venues and facilities to enhance the security level of those schools, thereby allaying the schools' security concerns?
*14. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
The Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") issued a statement on 21 May 2013 announcing that after going through the relevant procedure, it had withdrawn the authorization of automated trading services granted to the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange Limited ("HKMEx") as a result of the deterioration in HKMEx's financial position. Moreover, SFC and the Police had respectively initiated an investigation into the suspected irregularities of HKMEx. However, three years have passed and the investigation progress or outcome has yet to be announced. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as there are views that the prolonged delay of SFC and the Police in completing the investigations into the aforesaid case and announcing the investigation outcome was due to the fact that the former chairman of HKMEx had served as chairman of the election campaign office of the incumbent Chief Executive ("CE") and a member of the Executive Council, whether the Government has assessed if such views are justified; if it has assessed, of the details; (2) whether it knows if CE or other people have, in respect of such investigations, approached SFC or the Police directly or indirectly and made any request explicitly or implicitly; (3) as it has been reported that the former chairman of HKMEx still gives advice to CE from time to time after the suspected irregularities of HKMEx has been uncovered, whether the authorities have gained an understanding from CE in respect of such reports; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) of the number of cases of suspected irregularities in the past five years the investigations into which by SFC took more than three years, and a summary and the actual investigation time of each case (set out in a table); and (5) whether it has studied if the prolonged delay of SFC and the Police in completing the investigations into the aforesaid case and announcing the investigation outcome has created a negative impact on Hong Kong's international image (including fairness, impartiality, probity and rule of law); if it has studied, of the outcome?
*15. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
To encourage more outstanding students from economies along the "Belt and Road" region ("B&R economies") to pursue studies in Hong Kong, the Chief Executive ("CE") proposed in the 2016 Policy Address to inject $1 billion into the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund and use the investment income thus generated to increase the number of scholarships offered to outstanding students from B&R economies to about 100 by phases ("the scholarship scheme"). Having regard to public views, the Government subsequently modified the scholarship scheme to make it a two-way initiative, i.e. apart from scholarships to be offered to attract outstanding students from B&R economies to pursue undergraduate studies in Hong Kong ("the inbound scholarship"), an "Outbound B&R Scholarship" ("the outbound scholarship") will be provided at the same time for Hong Kong students to pursue undergraduate studies in B&R economies. Members of this Council have expressed diverse views on the scholarship scheme, including (a) while the spirit of the scholarship scheme deserves recognition, it should be taken forward on the premise that the admission of local students to funded undergraduate programmes in the territory will not be affected, (b) as Hong Kong students know nothing about the education situations in B&R economies, it is doubtful how many Hong Kong students will pursue university studies in these regions, and (c) CE's taking forward the scholarship scheme in fact aims to flatter and toady to the Central Authorities for political advantages. Besides, it has been reported that the Government intends to submit the funding proposal for the scholarship scheme to the Finance Committee ("FC") before the prorogation of the current term of the Legislative Council ("LegCo"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that it is now only about two weeks away from the prorogation of the current term of LegCo and that there are a number of funding proposals pending processing by FC, whether the Government has assessed if it is justifiable to submit the funding proposal for the controversial scholarship scheme to FC for scrutiny and whether there is urgency in doing so; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has assessed the likelihood of the funding proposal for the scholarship scheme getting FC's approval before the prorogation of the current term of LegCo; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it has estimated the respective numbers of applications for inbound scholarship and outbound scholarship in each of the first five years following the implementation of the scholarship scheme; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it will set a relative ratio of approved inbound scholarship cases to approved outbound scholarship cases; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (5) whether it will grant scholarships for the whole duration of study to awardees in one go; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that and the academic performance criteria the Government will adopt for determining whether such awardees may continue to receive scholarships in the following year; (6) whether drop-out awardees are required to return their scholarships to the Government; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (7) whether it will modify the scholarship scheme into one which sponsors exchange students to pursue short-term (e.g. half-year or one-year) programmes, in B&R economies; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (8) whether it understands the education situations in B&R economies, including information such as the names of the universities and their programmes available for enrolment by Hong Kong students, the admission criteria adopted by various universities, designs of the disciplines, how far the qualifications are recognized, career prospects of graduates, etc.; if it does, how the Government will make public such information; (9) how it will assist students who are interested in applying for scholarships in understanding the education situations in various B&R economies; whether it will provide the relevant information on government websites; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (10) whether it has examined how far the undergraduate degrees awarded by universities in B&R economies are recognized, including whether the relevant qualifications are considered equivalent to those of the undergraduate degrees awarded by various institutions in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (11) whether it will discuss with the education departments of B&R economies the implementation of partnership schemes for students to enrol in mutually designated universities and programmes; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (12) whether it will consider sponsoring Hong Kong teachers to pursue or further studies in, or take part in exchange activities at, the universities in B&R economies; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that quite a number of financial technology ("Fintech") start-up companies ("start-up companies") have chosen Singapore, instead of Hong Kong, as their first choice for establishing their presence when developing their businesses in Asia. There have been comments that such situation is attributable to the Singaporean government's ample financial support for Fintech development and a more flexible regulatory regime. Moreover, Singapore provides a testing environment (the so-called "sandbox") for conducting trials on innovative products and services, and similar practices have also been adopted in the United Kingdom and Australia. On the other hand, the "risk-based" and "technology-neutral" regulatory approach currently adopted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority lacks flexibility and has thus discouraged quite a number of start-up companies from developing their businesses in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will study the provision of a "sandbox" testing environment in Hong Kong, so as to encourage start-up companies to come to Hong Kong for business development, and make Hong Kong the base of their businesses in Asia; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether there is any other option that can achieve the same effect; (2) given that Hong Kong's existing rules and regulations are also applicable to activities conducted under new business models (including peer-to-peer online lending or equity crowdfunding), and that if such activities involve making offers to the public to purchase securities, they will be subject to requirements more stringent than those applicable to activities involving professional investors only, whether the authorities have reviewed if the exemptions provided under the existing regulatory regime are conducive to the development of start-up companies, and whether they have studied the feasibility of introducing more exemptions, so as to allow start-up companies to provide their new products and services to non-professional investors on a limited scale; if they have reviewed and studied, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) of the respective numbers of (i) Mainland entrepreneurs, (ii) venture capital funds, and (iii) related Mainland organizations that participated in the StartmeupHK Festival launched by Invest Hong Kong in January this year; the the authorities' current measures to enhance Hong Kong's role as the springboard for Fintech enterprises to enter the Mainland market; whether the authorities will be more proactive in cooperating with the Mainland authorities in organizing more large-scale Fintech exchange activities, and step up their efforts in inviting Mainland investors to participate in such activities, so as to enhance Hong Kong's role as the Fintech hub of Asia; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a research report published earlier on in the United Kingdom has pointed out that the abusive use of antibiotics by humans has led to the emergence of a variety of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and it is estimated that 10 million people will die from diseases caused by such kind of bacteria each year by 2050. In addition, it has been reported that the number of cases of locally acquired carbapenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae received by public hospitals during the first 10 months of last year soared by nine times when compared with the figure in 2013. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of patients confirmed to have been infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in public hospitals in each of the past three years, and the number of such patients who subsequently died from related diseases; whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") has examined the channels through which such patients were infected in the hospitals; if HA has, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the measures and guidelines currently put in place by HA to prevent patients from being infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in public hospitals, as well as the effectiveness of the same; whether, in view of the upward trend of such kind of cases, the authorities will consider increasing manpower to step up infection control and ward cleaning work (such as changing bed linens and curtains more frequently); (3) whether the authorities, in planning the construction of new hospitals and the redevelopment of existing hospitals, have dedicated efforts on various fronts, such as building design, environment and staff establishment of the hospitals concerned, so as to reduce the risks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria growing and spreading in public hospitals; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) as a bacterium which is resistant to all existing antibiotics or antimicrobial drugs has been found earlier in the United States, whether the authorities have studied the possibility of such bacterium being found in Hong Kong, as well as the authorities' counter-measures should such a situation arise; and (5) whether the authorities have currently put in place any mechanism to detect if the imported livestock and fish for human consumption have been fed with excessive antibiotics; if they have, of the number of such cases uncovered in each of the past three years, and the follow-up actions taken by the authorities; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
The Government, the Vocational Training Council ("VTC") and the Hong Kong Retail Management Association jointly launched a Pilot Earn-and-Learn Scheme for the Retail Industry ("the Pilot Scheme") in 2014 to provide participants with an opportunity to "earn and learn" and to pursue a well-defined progression pathway, aiming to attract talents to join the retail industry. The leaflet and the web page of the Pilot Scheme clearly indicated that graduates of Diploma of Foundation Studies would be entitled to a monthly income of not less than $11,000 and the monthly income of graduates of Higher Diploma could even reach $13,000, provided they continued to be employed by the same employer as during the training period. However, in April this year, some graduates of the Pilot Scheme relayed to the trade union concerned that upon graduation, they were employed by the same employer as during the training period, and really earned a monthly income of $11,000 in the first three months, but subsequently, they were only given a basic monthly salary of about $5,000, plus a sales performance-linked commission. In mid-April this year, VTC issued a press release, indicating that a graduate's monthly income of not less than $11,000 referred to the basic salary plus commission. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have conducted an investigation into the situation of Pilot Scheme graduates receiving a monthly income of less than $11,000; if they have, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether the reference that Pilot Scheme graduates will be entitled to a monthly income of not less than $11,000 is confined to an applicable period, such as the first three months of employment; if so, of the reasons for that; if not, how the authorities exercise monitoring to ensure that the monthly salary paid by employers to graduates is not less than $11,000; (3) why the authorities, in the past, had all along not stated clearly in the leaflet and on the web page of the Pilot Scheme that a monthly income of not less than $11,000 referred to the basic salary plus commission; (4) whether it knows the respective numbers of positions with a monthly salary of not less than $11,000 offered to the graduates by the first and second cohorts of employers under the Pilot Scheme; among such positions, of the number of those with commission included in the salary, as well as the average basic salary of such positions; and (5) given the under-enrolment in the past two cohorts of the Pilot Scheme, whether the authorities have formulated measures to increase the enrolment in the third cohort of the Pilot Scheme; whether they will consider inviting employee representatives to co-monitor the implementation of the Pilot Scheme; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
I raised a question on the 8th of this month enquiring about the assistance rendered to Hong Kong people serving sentences in the Philippines, including Mr TANG Lung-wai and the late Mr CHEUNG Tai-on in the same case. The Secretary for Security ("the Secretary") indicated in his reply that over the years, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines ("the Embassy") had attached great importance to the Hong Kong people serving sentences in the Philippines. Apart from deploying staff to visit them at prison, the Embassy had approached the local judicial authorities for a number of times to understand the circumstances and progress of the cases, and had urged them to hear the cases in accordance with the law and in a prompt and impartial manner. It is learnt that Mr TANG was infuriated after learning of the Secretary's aforesaid reply and queried that the claim of the Embassy attaching great importance to those Hong Kong people serving sentences in the Philippines was not true. Mr TANG pointed out that only in 2013 and 2014 had the Embassy staff visited the seven Hong Kong people who had applied for returning to Hong Kong to serve their sentences, and there were at least eight to nine people whom the Embassy staff had never visited in the past 12 years. Apart from those seven Hong Kong people, there are currently 15 to 17 people (eight to nine of them being holders of the British National (Overseas) Passport, and the rest being holders of the Hong Kong Certificate of Identity or the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") Passport) serving long-term sentences there. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has looked into Mr TANG's claim that a number of Hong Kong people serving sentences in the Philippines had not been visited by the Embassy staff; if it has and the claim is substantiated, how the authorities have come up with the statement that the Embassy had attached great importance to them; whether the authorities will discuss with the Embassy the provision of more assistance to these Hong Kong people; (2) as the Secretary indicated in his aforesaid reply that the authorities were handling seven applications from Hong Kong people serving sentences in the Philippines for returning to Hong Kong to serve the remainder of their sentences, and the earliest application had been referred to the HKSAR Government by the Embassy in 2002, and yet 14 years have passed but the HKSAR Government is still waiting for the Philippine authorities to provide documents pertaining to the cases concerned, with some of the assistance seekers getting very old, how the Secretary will, as stated in his reply, "continue to follow up [the cases] with the Philippine Government through various practicable channels"; and (3) as it is learnt that the Philippine Department of Justice has demanded Mr TANG to first pay a penalty of 500,000 pesos before his appeal will be processed, and it is estimated that if Mr TANG wishes to appeal to the Philippine Supreme Court, he will need to pay a legal fee of about HK$90,000, and yet Mr TANG has indicated that he cannot afford them, of the HKSAR Government's means to help him solve such imminent problem, including whether it will urge the State Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss with the Philippine Government waiving or lowering the penalty, or exploring other feasible options?
*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, there have been criticisms from time to time that the Executive Authorities have failed to adhere to the principle of making appointments on the basis of merits in appointing members to advisory and statutory bodies ("ASBs"). It has been reported that a Member of the Executive Council who is also a former Chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission has recently suggested the authorities to reform the mechanism for appointing members to ASBs ("appointment mechanism"), including (a) following the practice of the United Kingdom to appoint an independent commissioner to be responsible for monitoring whether appointments are made by the Executive Authorities under fair, impartial and transparent procedures, and (b) requiring that the appointments of some key positions be endorsed by a select committee upon conducting hearings for such purpose. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) of the number of persons appointed as non-official members of ASBs by the authorities since 2012 who were also members of the Election Committee for the selection of the Chief Executive, deputies of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the National People's Congress, Hong Kong members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference or members of different political parties, and set out in a table the following in respect of each appointee: (i) background and political affiliations, (ii) the names of ASBs appointed to, (iii) the positions appointed to, and (iv) the persons who made the appointments; (2) whether they have looked into and analysed the reasons why the appointment mechanism has often been criticized for failing to adhere to the principle of making appointments on the basis of merits; if they have, of the details and the specific improvement measures in place; and (3) whether they will adopt the aforesaid suggestions to reform the appointment mechanism to enable people having different policy advocacies and expertise who are recognized as competent to join various ASBs, so as to take in different views effectively; if they will, when the new appointment mechanism will be rolled out; if not, of the reasons for that?
*21. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
The Government has all along been taking forward the policy of promoting a sense of worthiness among the elderly, under which the elderly are encouraged to draw on their expertise to serve society. However, quite a number of elderly persons have relayed that there are still inadequacies in the Government's promotion of the policy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details and effectiveness of the Government's efforts to help the elderly grasp the knowledge of using information and communication technology ("ICT") (e.g. the Internet and smartphones); whether it has compiled statistics on the number of elderly persons who know how to use the Internet; whether it will allocate more resources to help the elderly grasp the knowledge of using ICT; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the number of elderly participants in the "Elder Academy Scheme", jointly launched by the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Elderly Commission, in each year since its implementation in 2007; whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the Scheme; if it has, of the details, and whether it will further promote the Scheme; if it will; of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the current policies to encourage employers to employ "the silver-haired group", with a view to allowing the elderly to return to the job market to give full play to their expertise; of the details and effectiveness of the existing retraining programmes implemented for preparing the elderly to return to the job market; (4) of the current number of parks across the territory that are installed with fitness facilities suitable for the elderly, and the ratio of this number to the elderly population; whether it will allocate additional resources to install more fitness facilities for the elderly in various parks; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) given that the Steering Committee on Population Policy has confirmed to follow up issues relating to the advocacy of longer working years for the overall working population, and to examine whether the various existing systems and regulations may pose any obstacle to the labour force's engagement in longer working years, of the progress of such work?
*22. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that the volume of local mobile data transmitted has surged over the past few years. With the growing demand for mobile communications services and the development of Internet of Things (i.e. a system in which objects in the physical world are connected to the Internet via sensors) and Smart City, the demand for radio spectrum has been increasing incessantly. However, the information released by the Communications Authority ("CA") indicates that from this year up to 2018, there will not be any new supply of frequency bands available for allocation for use by operators of mobile communications services. On the other hand, the International Telecommunication Union has recommended that the governments of various countries should make available an additional 600-800 MHz of spectrum for meeting the expected demand upon the advent of the fifth generation ("5G") mobile communications technology after 2020. Regarding the supply of and the demand for radio spectrum in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the frequency bands involved in the allocation of spectrum by the authorities in each of the past five years, the method adopted for such allocation and the revenue from spectrum utilization fees so generated (set out in the table below); Year Frequency band Allocation method Revenue 2011-2012 … 2015-2016 (2) given that CA reviews the efficiency of the use of spectrum by or on behalf of the Government once every three years and the next review will be conducted within this financial year, of the timetable and details of the work concerned; whether CA will, when conducting the review, make reference to the new measures adopted by other advanced economies for the efficient use of spectrum; if CA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given the surge in mobile data transmission in recent years, whether the authorities will conduct a comprehensive review of the local mobile communications services and the demand for spectrum, and take measures to promote the trading and sharing of spectrum, so as to better utilize the underused frequency bands, thereby improving the efficiency of use and the supply of spectrum; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the authorities will review the Radio Spectrum Policy Framework announced in 2007, and conduct studies and assessments on the middle and long-term demand for spectrum in future for the purpose of formulating a strategy to increase the supply of spectrum?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| |||||||||||
| 1. | Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2016 | : | Secretary for Food and Health
| ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2016 (issued on 28 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 748/15-16(01)))
| |||||||||||
| 2. | Fire Services (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Security
| ||||||||
| |||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Fire Services (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 28 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 747/15-16(01)))
| |||||||||||
IV. Members' Motions
V. Request for Special Leave of the Council to Give Evidence of Council Proceedings
Request made under section 7 of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) and Rule 90 of the Rules of Procedure for special leave of the Council to give evidence of Council proceedings
The request of Hon WONG Yuk-man is in the Appendix and was also issued on 3 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 664/15-16.
VI. Motion for the Adjournment of the Council
| 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. | ||||
| ||||