Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

A 15/16-33

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 6 July 2016 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instrument	L.N. No.
Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Amendment) Rules 2016 (Commencement) Notice	110/2016

Other Papers

1.	No. 106	-	Provisional Insurance Authority Budget for 2016-17
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
2.	No. 107	-	The Standing Committee on Legal Education and Training Annual Report 2015 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015
(to be presented by the Secretary for Justice)
3.	No. 108	-	Hong Kong Trade Development Council Annual Report 2015/16
(to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
4.	No. 109	-	J.E. Joseph Trust Fund Report for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016
(to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)
5.	No. 110	-	Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund Report for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016
(to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)
6.	No. 111	-	Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation Annual Report 2015-16
(to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
7.	No. 112	-	Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation Annual Report 2015-2016
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
8.	No. 113	-	Construction Industry Council Annual Report 2015
(to be presented by Secretary for Development)
9.	No. 114	-	Prisoners' Welfare Fund Report by the Commissioner of Correctional Services on the administration of the Fund for the year ended 31 March 2016
(to be presented by Secretary for Security)
10.	No. 115	-	Independent Commission Against Corruption Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Annual Report 2015
(to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, member of the Advisory Committee on Corruption of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, who will address the Council)
11.	No. 116	-	Independent Commission Against Corruption Complaints Committee Annual Report 2015
(to be presented by Hon Jeffrey LAM, Chairman of the Committee, who will address the Council)
12.	No. 117	-	The Ombudsman, Hong Kong Annual Report 2016
(to be presented by the Chief Secretary for Administration)
13.	Report of the Committee on Members' Interests on complaints against Hon Michael TIEN and Dr Hon LAU Wong-fat
(to be presented by Hon IP Kwok-him, Chairman of the Committee, who will address the Council)
14.	Report of the Bills Committee on Private Columbaria Bill
(to be presented by Hon IP Kwok-him, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
15.	Report of the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene 2015-2016
(to be presented by Hon Tommy CHEUNG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)
16.	Report of the Panel on Public Service 2015-2016
(to be presented by Hon POON Siu-ping, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)
17.	Report of the Panel on Constitutional Affairs 2015-2016
(to be presented by Hon TAM Yiu-chung, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)
18.	Report of the Panel on Home Affairs 2015-2016
(to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)
19.	Report of the Panel on Economic Development 2015-2016
(to be presented by Hon James TIEN, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)
20.	Report of the Legislative Council Select Committee to Inquire into the Background of and Reasons for the Delay of the Construction of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link
(to be presented by Hon Martin LIAO, Chairman of the Select Committee, who will address the Council)
21.	Minority Report on an Inquiry on the Background of and Reasons for the Delay of the Construction of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Chinese version only)
(to be presented by Hon Gary FAN, who will address the Council)

II. Questions

1. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)

According to the findings of a survey that I conducted earlier, the remunerations of local arts workers (including performers, behind-the-scene workers, arts administrators) are generally on the low side. There are comments that while quite a number of arts workers persevere with staying in the arts and cultural sector to pursue their ideals, the persistently low levels of remunerations and the lack of career development prospects have resulted in a constant drain of talents from the arts and cultural sector, which is detrimental to the long-term arts development in Hong Kong. On the other hand, owing to resource constraints of private arts groups, the remunerations offered by them to arts workers cannot match those offered by public organizations. As a result, these arts groups cannot retain talents and their development is hindered. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether the levels of remunerations offered by arts groups to arts workers is one of the considerations when the Leisure and Cultural Services Department selects local arts groups to co-organize, or receive sponsorships for organizing, arts and cultural programmes at present; if so, of the details; if not, whether the Department will consider taking the remuneration levels offered by such arts groups as one of the considerations, and what measures it has put in place to ensure that the arts workers concerned are reasonably remunerated;
(2)	whether it has conducted any survey on arts administrators' remunerations in the past three years; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; given that the Government stated in the 2013 Policy Address that within the five years from 2013, it would allocate an additional funding of $150 million to strengthen the training of arts administrators with different levels of experience, whether the authorities have adopted, when implementing the relevant training programmes, any measure to make the remunerations of such administrators reach a reasonable level; if they have, of the details; and
(3)	whether the authorities have adopted any measure to raise the remunerations of arts workers employed by private arts groups, so as to narrow the gap between public organizations and private arts groups in terms of the remunerations they offer to arts workers; if they have, of the details, and how they assess the effectiveness of such measures; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

2. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)

Five Hong Kong people who were shareholders or employees of the Causeway Bay Books went missing one after another from October last year to early this year. Last month, Mr LAM Wing-kee, one of the missing persons, made public what he had experienced on the Mainland, which included his being detained by Shenzhen Customs and placed under residential surveillance by officials of the central special investigation task force for eight months. He was even forced to sign a document giving up his right to hire a lawyer and inform his family. On the other hand, in accordance with the Arrangements on the Establishment of a Reciprocal Notification Mechanism between the Mainland Public Security Authorities and the Hong Kong Police, the circumstances under which the Mainland Notification Unit shall notify the Hong Kong Police include the imposition of criminal compulsory measures by the Mainland public security authorities on Hong Kong residents suspected of having committed crimes, and the criminal compulsory measures concerned include summons for questioning, putting on bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that the detention of Hong Kong residents and their being placed under residential surveillance on the Mainland are within the scope of notification, and Mr LAM had been detained and placed under residential surveillance by the Mainland authorities, whether and when the Government has received the relevant notifications; if it has not, whether it has approached the Mainland Notification Unit to find out the reasons for that;
(2)	whether the Government has so far received any notification concerning each of the other four missing persons of the Causeway Bay Books; if it has, of the respective dates of receiving such notifications, and whether it knows the offences they were suspected to have committed or the judicial proceedings which they will be subjected to; whether the imposition of criminal compulsory measures by the central special investigation task force on Hong Kong residents is within the scope of notification; and
(3)	as some members from the legal profession have pointed out that the process during which Mr LAM was interrogated and detained by the Mainland has breached a number of provisions concerning the rights of criminal suspects under the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, whether the Government will negotiate with the Mainland authorities to safeguard the legal rights of those Hong Kong people who have been imposed criminal compulsory measures, and ensure that no Hong Kong people will be investigated and dealt with by Mainland's law enforcement and judicial authorities without the knowledge of HKSAR Government for acts committed within the boundary of HKSAR which do not contravene the laws of HKSAR, so as to safeguard the rights, freedoms and legal protection enjoyed by Hong Kong people under the Basic Law?

Public Officers to reply

Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Security

3. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)

The Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Excess Lead Found in Drinking Water released at the end of May this year has pointed out that "what we have seen is a collective failure on the part of all stakeholders to guard against the use of non-compliant solder in the plumbing system … every party transferred the duty of supervision to the other(s), resulting in a classic case of buck-passing. Trust was misplaced and in the end it was the residents who suffered the most". Subsequently at a press conference, the Secretary for Development, Secretary for Transport and Housing as well as Director of Water Supplies apologized to the affected residents for the incidents of excessive lead content in drinking water ("the lead-tainted water incidents"), but the Chief Secretary for Administration ("CS") did not. CS remarked that "even though the inquiry of the Commission has revealed that there has been inadequate alertness among government departments and a flawed regulatory system, it does not necessarily mean that there is any individual public officer who has not abided by the law or has neglected his or her duties and should thus be held personally responsible". On the other hand, the aforesaid report recommended that "in order to put the minds of all public rental housing ("PRH") residents at ease, the Government should undertake to test the drinking water of all PRH estates again using an appropriate sampling protocol that would include the testing of stagnant water as well". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that when the accountability system for principal officials was launched in 2002, the authorities indicated that "principal officials under the accountability system … will be accountable to the Chief Executive for the success or failure of matters falling within their respective portfolios. They will accept total responsibility and in an extreme case, they may have to step down for serious failures relating to their respective portfolios. These include serious failures in policy outcome and serious mishaps in the implementation of the relevant policies", if the authorities have assessed whether, in the lead-tainted water incidents, there is any serious failure in policy outcome and any serious mishap in the implementation of the relevant policies on the part of the principal officials concerned, and whether such officials should be held responsible and step down; if the authorities have assessed, of the outcome; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, of the justifications, and whether they have reviewed if the accountability system for principal officials has existed in name only and has been reduced to a "buck-passing system for high ranking officials";
(2)	whether it will request CS to apologize to the public for the lead-tainted water incidents; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and
(3)	whether the authorities will immediately conduct sample tests on the lead content of the "initial draw-off" taken from all PRH estates, and whether they will make public all the data obtained from the water tests and blood tests conducted in relation to the lead-tainted water incidents; if they will not, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

4. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)

Last year, the authorities rezoned several Green Belt sites in Tai Po to residential sites. Assisted by a green group, a tertiary student applied for judicial review ("JR") seeking to overrule the aforesaid decision and was granted leave by the High Court. It has been reported that last month, a High Court judge withdrew the aforesaid leave for JR and criticized the applicant for misleading the Legal Aid Department into granting him legal aid by providing documents with incomplete information and then making use of the legal aid to lodge JR, which was tantamount to abusing the judicial procedures. The judge indicated that she would consider requiring the applicant to bear the legal costs of some $1,900,000 of both parties to proceedings. Regarding members of the public applying for legal aid to lodge JR, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has assessed if the failure to disclose or withholding of material information, by legal aid applicants and the people assisting them when they apply for legal aid or lodge JR, constitutes a breach of law or an abuse of the relevant mechanisms; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the penalties concerned; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, whether it will review the existing thresholds for application for JR and legal aid; if it will, of the timetable;
(2)	of the details of each case in each of the past three years in which legal aid was granted for lodging JR, including the names of both parties to proceedings, the issue(s) involved, the legal aid expenditure, the amount to be borne by the legal aid recipient(s), the result of JR, and the impact of the proceedings concerned on public administration (e.g. the delays in public works), and set out such information in a table; and
(3)	given that among the some 2 000 cases of legal aid applications involving JR in the past five years, less than one fourth of them were approved, whether the authorities have plans to impart to members of the public, through public education, the functions of the JR and legal aid mechanisms under the existing legal system, and the impacts on society caused by abusing these mechanisms; if they do, of the details and timetable?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

5. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)

Recently, two large-scale entertainment events (i.e. the concert held at the Central promenade and a music party originally planned to be held at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal) could not be held as scheduled one after another due to the authorities' refusal to issue a Temporary Places of Public Entertainment Licence ("the licence"). It is learnt that by the time the organizers of these two events received the notice that their licence applications had been rejected, it was already very close to the starting time of the events. As such, the respective organizers had to postpone the concert and cancel the music party. Apart from the economic losses suffered by the organizers, quite a number of fans, who had purchased the tickets and come from afar, not only ended up in great disappointment but also wasted money on airfare and hotel accommodation. Some members of the public are worried that Hong Kong's international image has been tarnished by the aforesaid incidents and that such incidents will result in overseas tourists losing confidence in Hong Kong's ability in holding events on schedule in future, thereby hindering the development of performing arts-related tourism in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the number of licence applications received by the authorities in each of the past five years, and the number of rejected applications (with a tabulated breakdown by reason of rejection);
(2)	as the organizer of the aforesaid music party has alleged that one of the reasons for its licence application being rejected was its failure to satisfy the additional conditions suddenly imposed by the relevant government departments, of the licensing conditions newly introduced by the authorities in the past six months and the reasons for introducing such conditions; the specific reasons why the aforesaid two major events were not timely issued with the licences; and
(3)	whether the authorities will consult the relevant industries on improving the guidelines for licence application so as to prevent recurrence of similar incidents; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

6. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that an environmental group attached 200 trackers equipped with global positioning system to electronic waste ("e-waste") in the United States and subsequently found that 66 such trackers were exported out of the United States with the e-waste, of which 51 (i.e. 80%) were transported to Hong Kong, indicating that Hong Kong has been reduced to a dumping ground for e-waste. As such e-waste has mainly ended up being dumped in the rural areas in the New Territories, the toxic metal in the waste may enter the ecosystem via rainwater and cause severe damage to the environment. It has also been reported that in importing e-waste into Hong Kong, importers often declare such goods as "scrap metal" in order to evade inspection by the Customs and Excise Department. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the number of cases in which the authorities instituted prosecutions, in each of the past three years, against persons importing e-waste illegally, the number of convictions among such cases, and the penalties imposed by the court on the convicted persons; whether the authorities will conduct more stringent inspections of imported goods to prevent e-waste from being imported illegally; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether the authorities will step up law enforcement actions against illegal dumping of e-waste; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	whether the authorities have plans to enhance intelligence exchanges with overseas law enforcement authorities for prevention of transboundary movements of e-waste, so as to intercept illegal import of e-waste; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*7. Hon Alvin YEUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Court of Final Appeal ("CFA") made an order on the W case in July 2013, holding that a person in a situation same as that of Ms W, the applicant, (i.e. male by birth, but changed to female after undergoing full sex reassignment surgery ("SRS")) was qualified as a "woman" under the relevant legislation and was therefore entitled to marry a man. CFA decided at the same time to suspend the order for 12 months to allow the Government and this Council sufficient time for discussion and carrying out work to amend legislation. Subsequently, the Government introduced the Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014 into this Council on 19 March 2014, but the bill was negatived by this Council. On the other hand, the Government set up an Inter-departmental Working Group on Gender Recognition ("IWG") in January 2014 to consider legislation and administrative measures that were required to protect the rights of transsexuals in all legal contexts, and to make reform recommendations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the work progress of IWG;
(2)	of the legislation and administrative measures being studied by IWG;
(3)	whether IWG has finalized the drafting of reform recommendations; if IWG has, of the details;
(4)	as one of the tasks of IWG is to study other jurisdictions' legislation, case-law and systems concerning gender recognition, of the details and progress of the task;
(5)	as CFA mentioned in the W case the gender recognition problems faced by transsexuals (including those who had not fully completed SRS) and hoped that the executive authorities and the legislature would consider how to deal with those problems, whether the authorities have conducted studies in this regard; if they have, of the details, including the legislation and administrative measures that have been/are being studied; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6)	when the authorities will introduce a bill to amend the Marriage Ordinance (Cap. 181) into this Council again?

Public Officer to reply : The Secretary for Justice

*8. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)

On the 21st of last month, a No. 4 alarm fire broke out on several storeys of an industrial building in Kowloon Bay, which have been sub-divided into hundreds of rental mini-storages. The fire raged for several days before it was extinguished. According to the authorities, the complicated layout of the fire ground with corridors intertwining one another, coupled with the fact that all the mini-storages were locked, had increased the difficulty in putting out the blaze. The fire has aroused concern about the fire safety and regulation of mini-storages. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it knows the current total number of mini-storages in Hong Kong as well as their geographical distribution;
(2)	whether owners of industrial building units are required to obtain the authorities' prior approval before they convert the units into mini-storages; if so, of the application procedure and the government departments responsible for vetting and approving such applications;
(3)	of the fire services and structural requirements that mini-storages have to comply with at present; given that the authorities indicated in November last year that there was no dedicated legislation regulating mini-storages, whether the authorities will explore enacting dedicated legislation to regulate such storages; and
(4)	whether the authorities have formulated any codes and requirements specifying the items and types of items permitted to be stored in mini-storages for compliance by the industry; if they have not, how the authorities and operators of mini-storages ensure that the tenants will not store inflammable or dangerous items in the storages?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*9. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Chief Executive announced in the 2014 Policy Address that the Government would explore ways to develop the eastern waters off Lantau Island and neighbouring areas with a view to developing an East Lantau Metropolis ("ELM") for accommodating new population and serving as the third core business district of Hong Kong. Subsequently, the Lantau Development Advisory Committee proposed to carry out reclamation in the waters near Kau Yi Chau and Hei Ling Chau Typhoon Shelter in order to develop ELM. Moreover, the public engagement exercise for the proposed development strategy for Lantau was completed at the end of April this year. The Development Bureau has indicated that after consolidating opinions from the public and the relevant information, a blueprint for Lantau development is expected to be published at the end of this year. On the other hand, during the inspection visit of a Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee cum Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("the Chairman") to Hong Kong last month, the Secretary for Development made use of a model to brief the Chairman on the blueprint for Lantau development. It has been reported that the components of the land to be reclaimed near Kau Yi Chau and Hei Ling Chau were included in the model, with roads and railways connecting the reclaimed land to Mui Wo. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	when the aforesaid model was made; of the costs and time involved in the production of the model;
(2)	whether the model was displayed in the aforesaid public engagement exercise; if so, of the dates and venues concerned; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	as the authorities have planned to publish the blueprint for Lantau development at the end of this year and officials of the Development Bureau have repeatedly emphasized that the ELM project is merely a preliminary concept with no finalized plan on the reclamation site and area, of the reasons why the Secretary for Development, under such circumstances, had included the components of the land to be reclaimed near Kau Yi Chau and Hei Ling Chau in the model he used for briefing the Chairman; whether such an act reflects that the Development Bureau has in fact drawn up an ELM draft in mind; if so, of the details;
(4)	given that, according to the minutes of a meeting of the Islands District Council held on 1 February this year, the Development Bureau pointed out that the area of reclamation near Kau Yi Chau would be about 600 to 800 hectares but further studies were necessary before it could ascertain the actual reclamation site and area, of the justifications and information based on which the Development Bureau initially came up with the aforesaid reclamation site and area for the production of the relevant components in the model; and
(5)	of the location where the model is currently placed; whether the authorities will make the model available for public viewing; if they will, of the application procedure for viewing?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*10. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)

According to government papers, Landscape Architects are responsible for landscape planning and design, including planning and implementing suitable landscape works in the delivery of public works projects, and taking forward greening. According to the 2016 Policy Agenda, the Development Bureau's on-going initiatives on greening, landscaping and tree management include continuing to "deliver higher quality landscape planning and design in the upstream and more diligent vegetation management and maintenance in the downstream". However, some members of the public have queried whether the Government has recruited an adequate number of relevant professionals (particularly Landscape Architects) for implementing the relevant initiatives. According to the information provided by the Secretary for the Civil Service, there are at present approximately 91 posts in the establishment of the Landscape Architect grade in the Government, but among such posts, only one post of Chief Landscape Architect is ranked at Directorate Pay Scale (Point 1) level. Some members of the public and members from the sector have pointed out that there are apparent inadequacies in the structure of the Landscape Architect grade and the ratio of directorate posts to non-directorate posts in this grade is on the low side, as compared with other relevant professional grades responsible for land development, housing, engineering, etc. Moreover, in view of the Government's plans to roll out a number of major development projects, the spate of tree collapse incidents in the past and the recent incident of the collapse of the greened roof of a hall at the City University of Hong Kong, the Government should increase the manpower in the Landscape Architect grade and revamp its grade structure, so as to enhance (i) the delivery of landscaping works in public works projects and (ii) the vetting and approval as well as monitoring of greening works for buildings. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the establishment and strength of the Landscape Architect grade in each of the past three years, and whether there were situations in which the strength was bigger than the establishment; if so, of the reasons for that;
(2)	whether it will comprehensively review the structure (including the ranks, establishment, ratio of directorate posts to non-directorate posts, etc.) of the Landscape Architect grade; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct such a review; and
(3)	whether it has assessed if the current establishment of the Landscape Architect grade can meet the needs arising from the Government's implementation of various relevant policies and measures; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the negative, whether it will expand the establishment of the Landscape Architect grade and improve the existing grade structure; if it will, of the details and the implementation timetable; if it has not assessed, the reasons for that and whether it will conduct such an assessment in future?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*11. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)

The current four vehicular boundary crossings are located in Shenzhen Bay, Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok respectively. The Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai ("LT/HYW") Boundary Control Point ("BCP"), now under construction, is expected to be commissioned in 2018 at the earliest. Recently, some members of the freight transport industry have indicated that they were notified by the Mainland authorities that starting from 2018, they may only use the two boundary crossings in Shenzhen Bay and LT/HYW for land freight transport purposes ("the new arrangement"). They have pointed out that the ancillary facilities at the Hong Kong side of the Shenzhen Bay Port ("SBP") are inadequate and it is still uncertain whether LT/HYW BCP can be commissioned in 2018 as scheduled. As a result, some members of the freight transport industry are very worried about the new arrangement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether the authorities are aware of the new arrangement; if so, of the details and when the authorities will consult the industry on the new arrangement; if they are not aware, whether the authorities will discuss with the Mainland authorities the implementation of the new arrangement only after the formal commissioning of LT/HYW BCP and the confirmation of the proper operation of the BCP in all aspects;
(2)	as it has been reported that the traffic at SBP is already very congested and close to saturation at present, and some members of the freight transport industry have criticized that the ancillary facilities (e.g. the logistic support for transport companies, the space for drivers to take a break, convenient store/refreshment kiosk, toilet, etc.) at SBP are far worse than those of the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port, whether the authorities made any improvements to the transport and ancillary facilities at SBP in the past three years; if they did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	whether the authorities will consider setting up an inter-departmental working group, which includes also representatives from the freight transport industry, to be responsible for rationalizing the operation of boundary crossings to complement the development of land-based cross-boundary transport; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*12. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)

In recent years, a number of sites along the Castle Peak Road - Castle Peak Bay section in Tuen Mun have been or are being zoned as sites for housing development. Nevertheless, the traffic capacity of the road section could not cope with the additional vehicular flows arising from the growing population, resulting in extremely serious traffic congestions at the road section. In addition, as most of the students of an international school in the vicinity of the road section commuting to and from school by private cars, and quite a number of such vehicles park at the roundabout during the periods before and after school, the traffic congestion problem at the road section has been aggravated. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the designed capacity of the aforesaid road section, and its traffic volumes during rush hours and non-rush hours, as well as the number of reports received in the past three years by the authorities relating to the traffic congestions at the road section;
(2)	given that last year, some members of the Tuen Mun District Council put forward suggestions on addressing the aforesaid traffic congestion problem, including (i) implementing traffic control measures at the roundabout near the aforesaid international school during rush hours, (ii) diverting vehicles travelling along Tsing Ying Road (Tuen Mun bound) to the old route that passes by the Crossroads Foundation, and (iii) building a slip road on Castle Peak Road near So Kwun Wat connecting Tuen Mun Road for the purpose of diverting traffic, whether the authorities have followed up on such suggestions; if they have, of the progress; and
(3)	given that the new campus of a post-secondary institution near the road section will be commissioned in September this year, whether the authorities have assessed if the traffic congestion problem at the road section will be aggravated by the vehicular flows to be brought about by the commissioning of the campus; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the authorities' counter measures?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*13. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

In 1997, the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") carved out the fourth to 38th floors of Hing Tung Estate Phase 3 in Shau Kei Wan, which were originally designed for public rental housing ("PRH"), and put them up for sale as Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats (i.e. the later Tung Lam Court), while the first to third floors were retained to be used as rental Housing for Senior Citizens ("HSC"), in which each set of kitchen and toilet facilities was to be shared by two units ("Tung Lam Court HSC"). Since elderly people applying for PRH prefer self-contained PRH units with independent kitchen and toilet facilities and, with the increased supply of such units, quite a number of applicants refused the offers of HSC units. As such, HA has since 2011 successively converted HSC units with high vacancy rates (including Tung Lam Court HSC) into flats with independent kitchen and toilet facilities, and changed their use to normal PRH flats for offering to eligible applicants (including non-elderly applicants) on the waiting list for PRH. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether HA had, prior to converting Tung Lam Court HSC into normal PRH flats in 2011, consulted other HOS flat owners of Tung Lam Court, apart from briefing the chairman and two members of the management committee of the Incorporated Owners of Tung Lam Court on the conversion plan; if HA had, when and how the consultation had been conducted; if not, of the reasons for that;
(2)	how HA rehoused those tenants who had moved into Tung Lam Court HSC before the commencement of the conversion plan; of the respective current numbers of tenants who have moved out and those who have not;
(3)	of the reason why HA, after converting the Tung Lam Court HSC units into flats with independent kitchen and toilet facilities, did not continue to use such flats as HSC;
(4)	of the current number of elderly people on HA's waiting list for HSC units; the number of HSC units that will be completed in the coming two years, with a tabular breakdown by district of allocation (i.e. urban areas, extended urban areas, the New Territories and Islands);
(5)	whether the authorities have assessed if the conversion of Tung Lam Court HSC into normal PRH flats by HA has lengthened the waiting time for HSC; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the additional waiting time;
(6)	of the increase in the population of Tung Lam Court as a result of the conversion of Tung Lam Court HSC by HA into normal PRH flats for rent; whether the authorities have assessed if the common facilities in Tung Lam Court are insufficient to meet the demand as a result; if they have assessed, of the details; if they have not assessed, the reasons for that; and
(7)	of the number of HSC units converted by HA into normal PRH flats in the past five years, with a tabular breakdown by the districts mentioned in (4)?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*14. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)

The Education Bureau ("EDB") has pointed out in the blog it posted on 30 May this year that at present there are altogether some 3 000 teachers on contract terms in the public sector primary and secondary schools across the territory. However, according to the information provided by EDB for the Finance Committee of this Council, in the school year 2015-2016, the number of non-establishment teachers (i.e. teachers on contract terms) in aided primary and secondary schools across the territory alone stands at 4 170, raising doubt over the accuracy of the relevant figures provided by EDB. Besides, EDB has, in the blog, referred to teaching assistants, associate teachers and assistant teachers as "non-teaching staff", and even pointed out that they "usually do not take up any teaching posts at schools". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the reasons for the discrepancy between the two aforesaid statistical figures;
(2)	given that EDB has indicated that it has not kept the number of and relevant information on teaching assistants, associate teachers and assistant teachers engaged by aided primary and secondary schools across the territory, of the justifications for the authorities' assertion that such staff do not take up any teaching posts and are categorized as "non-teaching staff", and whether they have gained an understanding of the current duties of the aforesaid categories of staff;
(3)	given that the number of teachers on contract terms engaged by aided primary and secondary schools across the territory did not drop in the past three years, whether the authorities have assessed if the teaching posts vacated by regular teachers through natural wastage alone are sufficient to absorb all the existing teachers on contract terms into the establishment in the near future; if they have assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)	whether it has formulated any definite plan to provide, by improving the class-to-teacher ratio for primary and secondary schools, more new regular teaching posts for teachers on contract terms to switch to, and thereby alleviate the heavy workload of teachers; if it has not, how the authorities will address the problem of a lack of career prospect for teachers on contract terms?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*15. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Hong Kong's existing legislation permits import and export of electronic waste ("e-waste") without hazardous components for recycling, while import and export of that with hazardous components (such as liquid display monitors and computer monitors) are subject to regulation, including the requirement that importers and exporters must hold import and export permits issued by the Environmental Protection Department. It has been reported that an international environmental group attached 200 trackers equipped with global positioning system to e-waste in the United States ("US") and subsequently found that 66 such trackers were exported with the e-waste from US to various places in the world, of which 51 (i.e. 80%) were transported to Hong Kong. It has also been reported that some of those trackers were re-exported with the e-waste from Hong Kong to other places. However, as at the 1st of last month, 36 trackers still remained in Hong Kong. As the e-waste in question contains cathode ray tubes and liquid display monitors with hazardous components, the incident reflects that the import of e-waste with hazardous components into Hong Kong is rampant. Regarding Hong Kong's import and treatment of e-waste, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the current procedure for treating e-waste with hazardous components in Hong Kong; the details of the facilities for treating and disposing of e-waste at present, and the locations of the sites the current permitted land uses of which include the treatment of e-waste;
(2)	of the names and locations of the existing licensed chemical waste treatment facilities, and the types of e-waste permitted to be treated and the work procedure permitted to be performed thereat;
(3)	of the respective numbers of import and export permits for e-waste issued in each of the past five years by the authorities;
(4)	whether it knows the respective quantities of regulated and non-regulated e-waste that were (i) produced locally, (ii) imported, (iii) exported, (iv) re-exported, (v) disposed of at landfills, and (vi) disposed of at other waste treatment facilities, in each of the past five years (set out in a table);
(5)	of the quantity of illegally transferred e-waste intercepted by the authorities in each of the past five years, and the number of cases in which prosecutions were instituted against the persons concerned;
(6)	whether the authorities will consider reviewing the definition of e waste with hazardous components contained in the existing legislation, with a view to bringing circuit boards and electronic products with circuit boards under regulatory control;
(7)	whether the authorities will strengthen the monitoring of e-waste treatment workshops; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(8)	given that the existing legislation permits import of e-waste without hazardous components into Hong Kong for recycling, whether the authorities have imposed regulation on the treatment of the materials left over from the recycling process of such e-waste; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*16. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

It is mentioned in the Budget of this year that "at the district level, community health centres will be set up in Mong Kok, Shek Kip Mei and North District. Additional services for 410 000 attendances will be provided at the general outpatient clinics each year". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether the authorities conducted any review in the past five years on the effectiveness and usage of community health centres; if they did, of the results; if not, the reasons for that; and

(2)

of the criteria adopted for making the decision to set up community health centres in the aforesaid three districts; the detailed plans (including the exact locations, the timetable from the planning to the completion and commissioning of those centres, as well as the anticipated service capability) regarding the setting up of community health centres and general outpatient clinics in the three districts?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*17. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)

On the 21st of last month, a No. 4 alarm fire broke out at the Amoycan Industrial Centre in Ngau Tau Kok. The blaze raged for several days before it was extinguished, causing a number of fire personnel to die on duty or be injured. The fire incident has aroused concern about the adequacy of manpower of fire personnel as well as the equipment and training for them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that when fighting fires, fire personnel need to face fast-changing situations such as being engulfed in thick smoke or hit by a flashover, whether the authorities have assessed if the training provided for fire personnel on tackling different types of fires and understanding the signs and symptoms of fire and smoke behaviours is adequate; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the negative, whether the Government will allocate additional resources in this regard; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	as it has been reported that the PBI Matrix Structural Firefighting Protective Suit (commonly known as "the gold suit") provided for fire personnel is non-breathable, rendering fire personnel more susceptible to "heat exhaustion", whether the Government will review the need for introducing protective suits using new materials as well as the adequacy of the fire resistance capability of other equipment for fire personnel; whether the Government will allocate additional resources for introducing new equipment to protect the safety of fire personnel; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	whether it has assessed if the training and equipment provided for fire personnel in respect of emergency rescue work other than firefighting work is adequate; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the details; if the outcome is in the negative, whether the Government will allocate more resources in this regard; and
(4)	whether it has assessed if the Fire Services Department has sufficient manpower for performing various duties, including firefighting, fire safety inspection, etc.; if it has assessed, of the outcome?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*18. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)

Being the easternmost island of Hong Kong and having been incorporated into a marine park, geopark and country park designated by the authorities, Tung Ping Chau is an island of Hong Kong with fairly distinctive features. Some residents of the island have pointed out that although Tung Ping Chau is blessed by nature, quite a number of its public facilities are desolate and dilapidated due to years of mismanagement by the relevant government departments, which not only cause inconvenience to the living of the residents but also deter visitors from going to the island. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the following information regarding the existing facilities installed on Tung Ping Chau to provide mains water the quality of which meets hygiene standard: distribution, types, capacity, years of service, condition and the department/party responsible for their maintenance (set out in a table);
(2)	of the frequency and results of tests conducted in each of the past five years by the authorities regarding the quality of the potable water supplied by various mains water supply facilities on Tung Ping Chau, as well as the frequency of maintenance and repair works being carried out and the relevant expenses (set out in a table);
(3)	of the government premises/facilities on Tung Ping Chau at present; the average power consumption of such premises/facilities in each of the past five years (set out in a table); the quantity and types of power generation facilities currently supplying electricity to those government premises/facilities, as well as the power generation output and surplus electricity of those power generation facilities in each of the past five years (set out in a table);
(4)	whether the authorities have plans to install renewable power generation facilities on Tung Ping Chau in the coming five years to increase electricity supply; if they do, of the details and the implementation timetable; whether the authorities will supply electricity to the residents of Tung Ping Chau directly on a user-pay principle;
(5)	whether the authorities have plans to comprehensively repair the hiking trails and paths connecting various public facilities on Tung Ping Chau to facilitate the use of such facilities by residents and visitors; if they do, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(6)	of the frequency of the kaito ferry service plying between Tung Ping Chau and the city area, and the respective average patronages on weekdays and holidays; whether the authorities will discuss with service operators increasing trip frequencies or introducing new routes; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities will consider extending the coverage of the "Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities" to include the Tung Ping Chau kaito ferry services for the benefits of the elderly and persons with disabilities; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(7)	whether the authorities will consider providing barrier-free access and facilities at the Tung Ping Chau kaito pier to facilitate the boarding and disembarking of elderly persons and persons with disabilities, and providing facilities for cargo loading and unloading; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(8)	given that Tung Ping Chau is not covered by any fixed or mobile telecommunications networks at present and residents and visitors could hardly get in touch with the outside world, of the ways currently available for residents and visitors for calling for emergency rescue in the event of emergency; the number of times for which emergency rescue was rendered by the authorities to residents and visitors of Tung Ping Chau in the past five years, as well as the modes of rescue; whether the authorities will encourage telecommunications service operators to install transmitting stations on the island to enable residents and visitors to connect with the outside world;
(9)	whether the authorities will consider rehabilitating the various graded historical buildings on Tung Ping Chau; if they will, of the details; whether it knows if the Antiquities Advisory Board ("AAB") assessed the conditions of the historical buildings on Tung Ping Chau in the past five years; if AAB did, of the assessment outcome; whether, in order to further promote geopark, the authorities will consider providing more day camp or residential camp facilities on Tung Ping Chau and formulating policy on home-stay lodging to provide lodging for visitors (including students); and
(10)	whether the authorities have plans to carry out large-scale cleaning campaign on Tung Ping Chau to help conserve the environment of the geopark; whether the authorities have monitored the quality of the waters along the coast of Tung Ping Chau on a regular basis to ensure the well-being of swimmers; if so, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*19. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that due to circumstances unforeseen in the contracts of public works projects (such as inclement weather and alterations of works designs), works departments (including Highways Department ("HD"), Civil Engineering and Development Department ("CEDD"), and Drainage Services Department) issue from time to time variation orders ("VOs") to the works contractors, for which additional project costs will be incurred. It was reported that a corruption case was uncovered in 2009, in which certain staff members of HD had allegedly accepted bribes for issuing unnecessary VOs to the works contractors. Regarding the monitoring of VOs for public works projects, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of complaints concerning corruption in public works projects received by the authorities each year between April 2008 and March 2016; among such complaints, the number of those relating to VOs and the follow-up actions taken on such complaints;

(2)

of (i) the number of, and (ii) the total additional project costs incurred by, the VOs issued in each of the past five years (i.e. from 2011-2012 to 2015-2016), broken down by works department and by value band of works contracts (i.e. (a) below $30 million, (b) between $30 million and $100 million, and (c) above $100 million) (set out such information using tables of the same format as the table below);

Year ________

Works department	Value band of works contracts	(i)	(ii)
HD	(a)
	(b)
	(c)
CEDD	(a)
	(b)
	(c)
…

(3)

of the details of the existing procedures to be followed by works departments when issuing VOs, including (i) the ranks of the officers designated to make the relevant decisions; (ii) the mechanism for preventing the issuance of unnecessary VOs; and (iii) the procedures for handling those VOs which are found irregular after issuance;

(4)

of the number of cases in the past five years, in which works departments were found to have issued unnecessary VOs, and the outcome of the follow-up actions; and

(5)

whether the authorities have reviewed the mechanism for issuing VOs since the aforesaid corruption case was uncovered; if they have, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*20. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)

According to the Annual Report of the Hong Kong Jockey Club ("HKJC"), the football betting turnover in the 2014-2015 financial year was as high as $78.249 billion (a nearly 26% increase as compared with the preceding year) and accounted for 41.41% of the total betting turnover (an increase of 5.64 percentage points as compared with the preceding year), showing the increasing prevalence of football betting. In addition, it has been reported that some individuals illegally accepted football bets on matches of this year's UEFA European Football Championship, with betting turnover of about $10 million. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the respective numbers of prosecution and conviction cases related to illegal football betting activities in the past five years, as well as the total betting turnovers involved; whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the related law enforcement operations;
(2)	whether the authorities will step up the regulation of HKJC's conduct of football betting by adding provisions in the licence for football betting to restrict the bet types of football betting; if not, of the reasons for that, and whether there are other measures in place to impose regulation;
(3)	as the findings of a survey showed that 42% of the respondents who had ever placed bets on football matches indicated that they placed such bets for the first time at an age below 21, whether the authorities will consider afresh raising the legal gambling age to 21; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)	whether it will comprehensively step up public education and publicity efforts to curb the prevalence of gambling; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*21. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the employment characteristics (listed in the tables below) of the employees of all sectors, the retail industry, the catering industry, as well as the estate management, security and cleaning services industry in Hong Kong in each of the past three years (set out the information by using tables of the same format as Tables 1 and 2)?

Table 1: Comparison of working hours by industry

(year)

Working hour/day	All sectors	Retail industry	Catering industry	Estate management, security and cleaning services industry
Median weekly working hours (Full-time)
Median weekly working hours (Part-time)
Number and percentage of employees who worked less than five days per week
Number and percentage of employees who worked five days per week
Number and percentage of employees who worked over five days but not more than five and a half days per week
Number and percentage of employees who worked over five and a half days but not more than six days per week
Number and percentage of employees who worked over six days per week

Table 2: Comparison of wages by industry

(year)

Industry	Median monthly wage ($)		Median hourly wage ($)
Industry	Full-time	Part-time	Full-time	Part-time
All sectors
Retail industry
Catering industry
Estate management, security and cleaning services industry

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*22. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

A study report released by a human rights organization on 15 March of this year pointed out that among the foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") surveyed, (i) 17% of the respondents displayed all the indicators required to be counted in forced labour (among them, 14% were in such situations as a result of human trafficking), (ii) 66.3% of the respondents showed strong signs of exploitation, (iii) all respondents worked more than 70 hours a week on average, and (iv) over one-third of them were not allowed by their employers to take statutory rest days. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether the authorities have responded to the aforesaid study findings; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(2)	whether the authorities will conduct a survey on the situation of employers disallowing their FDHs to take rest days; whether they will step up the publicity among FDHs to promote such a right and encourage them to lodge complaints in case they are treated unreasonably?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

* For written reply

III. Government Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2016

Secretary for Food and Health

(i)	Secretary for Food and Health to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 24 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 735/15-16)
(ii)	Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 28 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 746/15-16)

(Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2016 (issued on 28 June and 5 July 2016 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 748/15-16(01) and CB(3) 785/15-16))

Private Columbaria Bill

Secretary for Food and Health

(i)	Secretary for Food and Health to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 4 July 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 772/15-16)
(ii)	Hon Cyd HO to move a Committee stage amendment
(The amendment was issued on 4 July 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 778/15-16)

(Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Private Columbaria Bill (issued on 5 July 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 783/15-16(01)))

Fire Services (Amendment) Bill 2015

Secretary for Security

(i)	Secretary for Security to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 22 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 718/15-16)
(ii)	Hon WONG Yuk-man to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 28 June 2016 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 745/15-16)

(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

Proposed resolution under Article 75 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

Hon IP Kwok-him to move the following motion:

Resolved that the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region be amended as set out in the Schedule.

Schedule Amendment to Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
1.	Rule 83 amended (registration of interests)
	After Rule 83(2)----
		Add
		"(2A)	Notwithstanding the provisions in subrules (1) and (2), particulars of a Member's registrable interests under subrule (5)(d)(i) shall be furnished to the Clerk within the period for lodging election returns in relation to a Legislative Council election provided in section 37 of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance (Cap. 554).".

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.

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Security

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.

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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".

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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.

Public Officers to attend

Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Security

Clerk to the Legislative Council