A 16/17-7
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 23 November 2016 at 11:00 am
IA. Presentation of Petition
Hon LAM Cheuk-ting and Hon Dennis KWOK to present a petition (Appendix).
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instrument | L.N. No. |
|---|---|
| Legislation Publication Ordinance (Commencement) Notice 2016 | 170/2016 |
Other Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)
The functions of the Medical Council of Hong Kong ("MCHK") include instituting, in accordance with the established mechanism, disciplinary proceedings in respect of complaints received against registered medical practitioners. However, quite a number of members of the public have pointed out that the efficiency of MCHK in handling complaints has all along been a subject of criticism over the years, and some members of the public even perceive that "doctors harbour each other" in the handling of complaints by MCHK. Given that the voice calling for a reform of MCHK has become increasingly louder in society, the Government introduced the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2016 into this Council in March this year. The Bill has aroused widespread controversies and lapsed upon the expiry of the previous term of Legislative Council ("LegCo") in July this year. Some members of the public are worried that reform of MCHK has been put off indefinitely. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the number of new complaints received by MCHK, and the accumulated number of complaints the processing of which was not yet completed by MCHK, in each of the past five years; (2) the number of complaints the processing of which was completed by the Preliminary Investigation Committee under MCHK (with a breakdown according to whether such cases were accepted or not), and the number of cases for which MCHK conducted disciplinary inquiries, in each of the past five years; and (3) the main causes for MCHK being criticized for being inefficient in handling complaints, and whether such causes include the shortage of manpower and other resources faced by the MCHK Secretariat, or the unsatisfactory work efficiency of individual committees under MCHK; the current work plan of the authorities for reforming MCHK; whether the authorities will introduce the relevant bill into LegCo as soon as possible; if they will, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
The target completion date of the Hong Kong section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is the end of 2017. Some residents on Lantau Island have pointed out that in order to capitalize on the development opportunities brought about by the commissioning of the Bridge and facilitate the continuous development of Lantau Island, it is imperative that the authorities expeditiously resolve the existing problems of frequent traffic congestion on Lantau Island arising from overloading of roads and insufficient transport infrastructure facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether, to tie in with the development of Lantau Island, the authorities will accord priority to road improvement projects on the Island, including the construction of a trunk road linking North and South Lantau, so as to enhance the connection among the various parts of the Island and alleviate the traffic burden on Tung Chung Road and South Lantau Road; (2) whether it has plans to improve the road traffic network in the vicinity of tourist attractions on Lantau Island, including expeditiously completing the road widening projects at Keung Shan Road connecting Tai O and Ngong Ping, and conducting a study on the construction of a coastal highway in North Lantau connecting Tai O and Tung Chung, etc., with a view to improving the external transport services of areas such as Tai O, etc.; if so, of the details; and (3) whether it will draw reference to overseas practices and construct a regional elevated monorail system on Lantau Island, so as to alleviate the existing traffic congestion occurring frequently on the Airport Island and in Tung Chung town centre, and to provide residents and visitors in Tung Chung with more convenient and efficient transport infrastructure facilities?
3. Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask: (Translation)
At present, quite a number of non-skilled workers are employed by outsourced service contractors ("outsourced contractors") to provide services such as cleaning and security to government departments ("outsourced workers"). It is learnt that the remuneration packages for them are far inferior to those of civil servants and employees of other private enterprises with comparable duties. Some outsourced contractors have even evaded by various means their obligation to pay outsourced workers severance payment ("SP") and long service payment ("LSP") upon expiry of outsourced service contracts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of requests for assistance received in the past three years by various government departments from outsourced workers seeking help to resolve their disputes with employers, with a breakdown by the issue involved; whether the Labour Department and the departments outsourcing services have at present designated dedicated teams or manpower to deal with the employment arrangements and disputes relating to outsourced workers upon expiry of the outsourced service contracts; (2) whether it knows the respective numbers of outsourced workers who changed jobs to work as non-civil service contract staff and civil servants in the past three years; if it knows, of a breakdown by government department; if not, whether the authorities will collect the relevant data in future; and (3) whether it will consider reviewing expeditiously the relevant tender documents for outsourced service contracts and the Standard Employment Contract concerned to prevent outsourced contractors from evading their obligation to pay SP and LSP; if it will, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury |
4. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that at present, quite a number of advanced countries have enacted archives laws to set out the requirements in respect of matters such as the preservation and management of and access to important public records on social policies and policies relating to people's livelihood, so as to ensure the integrity of public records and safeguard people's right to know. On the other hand, the Hong Kong Government has all along been using merely administrative directives and guidelines with no legal effect to regulate the management of public records. Regarding the management of public records, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Law Reform Commission formed subcommittees in May 2013 to conduct studies on archives law and access to information respectively, of the latest progress and outcome of the studies conducted by these two subcommittees; (2) given that the Government Records Service collaborated with the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer last year to conduct a study to gauge the implementation of electronic records management by various policy bureaux and government departments ("B/Ds"), of the latest progress and timetable of such study; and (3) of the B/Ds that are using the Electronic Recordkeeping System ("ERKS") on a trial basis at present or have formally adopted ERKS; whether the authorities have assessed and reviewed the use of ERKS; if they have assessed, of the relevant criteria; when the authorities will expand ERKS to cover all B/Ds, and of the estimated expenditure concerned?
5. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a former superintendent of a privately run residential care home for persons with disabilities ("RCHD"), the Bridge of Rehabilitation Company, was prosecuted for indecently assaulting two female residents with intellectual disability during the period between 2002 and 2004 but was acquitted. In addition, that person was prosecuted in 2014 for having unlawful sexual intercourse with a female RCHD resident with intellectual disability. However, the Department of Justice ("DoJ") withdrew the prosecution in May this year on the ground that the female resident was unfit to give evidence in court proceedings. The case has aroused public concerns about the monitoring of this type of residential care homes, protection for the rights and interests of the residents and law enforcement against sex crimes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that operators of RCHDs are required to comply with the principles, procedures, guidelines and standards for the operation, keeping, management or other control of RCHDs provided in the Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities), of the number of cases of contravening the Code uncovered by the authorities in each of the past three years; given that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been in force in Hong Kong since 2008, why the Government has so far not introduced any legislation on the Convention to strengthen the protection for the rights and interests of persons with disabilities; (2) of the number of prosecutions for sex crimes in each of the past three years; among them, the number of cases in which the victims were unable to give evidence in court proceedings, and the respective numbers of those cases in which DoJ withdrew prosecution for this reason and continued with the prosecution, and the number of convictions; what factors DoJ considered when deciding whether or not to continue with the prosecution; and (3) of the number of prosecutions for sex crimes in the past three years in which the victims resided in RCHDs; DoJ's considerations in deciding whether or not to institute prosecutions against the persons concerned, and whether such considerations include the previous prosecution and conviction records of them; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Dr Hon LAU Siu-lai to ask: (Translation)
From December last year to June this year, the Commission on Poverty ("CoP") conducted a public engagement exercise on retirement protection. An independent consultant has been commissioned to collate, consolidate and analyze all the views received during the public consultation and to submit a report ("public views report") by the end of this year. At the same time, quite a number of community groups separately held a number of consultation forums and some academic institutions conducted opinion surveys, during which a total of about 18 000 submissions were received and a majority of the public views supported the implementation of a universal non-means-tested retirement protection option. On the other hand, the Subcommittee on Retirement Protection of the last Legislative Council held a number of public hearings on the matter and submitted its report ("the Subcommittee's report") in July this year, urging the incumbent Government to formulate a concrete execution plan for retirement protection within its term of office. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the public views report will incorporate all of the views collected through the community groups' consultation exercises and the opinion surveys, the views set out in the aforesaid some 18 000 submissions, as well as the views in the Subcommittee's report; if the report will not, of the reasons for that; if the report will, given that the simulated options, developed on the bases of the "regardless of rich or poor" principle and the "those with financial needs" principle and put forward by CoP in its consultation document, are different from the universal retirement protection options which have all along been discussed in the community, whether the authorities know how the independent consultant will handle, in the public views report, such views collected on such different bases; (2) whether it has drawn up the contents and timetable for the follow-up actions after the publication of the public views report; if it has, of the details; on the premise that the public views report indicates that the majority of the public views support the establishment of a universal non-means-tested retirement protection system, whether the Government will undertake to the public that it will implement right away such a retirement protection system in accordance with the consultation outcome; and (3) as the Chief Executive ("CE") has promised in his election manifesto to "set aside adequate moneys in a special Fund" to support the elderly, of the current implementation progress of such policy; as CE indicated when attending a forum during his election campaign that "implementing universal retirement protection needs not to be on a spectacular scale, but requires earnestness", and some grassroots members of the public therefore have high expectations on the authorities' realization of universal retirement protection, whether it has assessed, under the circumstances that the Chief Executive fails to fulfill the pledge he made during the election in respect of implementing a retirement protection system within his term of office, if CE and the Chief Secretary for Administration in her capacity as the Chairperson of CoP should be held accountable to the public in this regard?
*7. Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask: (Translation)
The MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") is progressing with the replacement of the signalling systems of, and the conduct of on-site tests for, the East Rail Line and seven urban railway lines one after the other. MTRCL will conduct tests on the signalling system on various sections of a railway line during non-traffic hours at night, during which the new signalling system will be activated while the existing one will be suspended. MTRCL will stop testing and revert to the existing signalling system before departure of the first train in the morning. Some members of the public have expressed their worries that the testing arrangements may result in the existing signalling system not working smoothly, thus giving rise to disruptions of railway service. If such service disruptions occur during morning peak hours, tens of thousands of passengers may be affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the schedules for replacing and conducting tests on the signalling systems of various MTR lines; if it knows, set out such information by MTR line and station; (2) as MTRCL has formulated contingency plans to deal with railway service disruptions which may be caused by the tests on the signalling systems, how such plans deal with railway service disruptions during morning peak hours caused by the tests, including (i) the passenger flow management plan of MTRCL, (ii) the staffing establishment of the Customer Service Rapid Response Unit of MTRCL, and (iii) whether MTRCL has assessed if that staffing level is sufficient to cope with incidents of large-scale disruptions to railway service; whether the relevant government departments and other operators of public transport have formulated contingency plans to deal with the aforesaid service disruptions; if they have, of the details of the contingency plans; (3) whether it knows if MTRCL has briefed the relevant District Councils and local residents on (i) the railway sections and stations involved in, and the risk of railway service disruptions caused by, the tests on the signalling systems, and (ii) the details of the contingency plans formulated for service disruptions; and (4) how the authorities monitor the progress of the signalling system replacement projects and test runs as well as the appropriateness of the overall arrangements, in order to ensure that MTRCL maintains the provision of safe and reliable railway services?
*8. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, the Consumer Council has sent its staff to pose as consumers to conduct investigations at more than 10 fitness centres in the market, and found that the contract periods for membership of fitness centres were generally rather long (with 60 months being the longest), and that the pre-paid membership fees were as high as several tens of thousand dollars. The Consumer Council has also found that when a fitness centre chain was approaching closing down, the centres' employees allegedly contravened the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362) through employing various misleading or aggressive tactics to promote memberships and fitness courses among consumers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities have, since January this year, conducted investigations into and taken law enforcement actions against the various types of unscrupulous sales practices employed by fitness centres to promote services; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as it has been reported that some fitness centres have, in promoting memberships, claimed that the contracts contain cooling-off period provisions under which a refund may be made if they are cancelled within five or seven days, and yet when consumers did request to cancel the contracts, the centres refused to refund or only partially refunded the payments on various grounds unheard of when the contracts were signed (such as refund arrangements are applicable only to cases in which the services have not been used or to members registered for the first time, and entrance fees and administration fees are deductible from the refund amounts), whether the authorities have assessed if such practices of fitness centres have contravened Cap. 362; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether they will conduct investigations and take law enforcement actions; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, whether they will look into measures to curb such practices; and (3) given that, in reply to a question of this Council on 24 February this year, the authorities indicated that the operators of some industries in Hong Kong (including insurance industry, beauty industry, telecommunication industry and retail banking industry) had currently implemented self-regulatory cooling-off period arrangements, whether they know the implementation and effectiveness of such arrangements; whether the authorities will consider amending Cap. 362 expeditiously to require that contracts adopting pre-payment mode of transactions must include cooling-off period provisions, and introduce a ceiling on the contract periods for such contracts, so as to enhance protection of consumers' rights and interests; if they will not, of the reasons for that?
*9. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
In order to alleviate the financial pressure on low-income households, the Community Care Fund ("CCF") launched an assistance programme in December 2013 to disburse one-off living subsidy to "low-income households not living in public housing and not receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance" (commonly known as the "N have-nots"). CCF disbursed such living subsidy again on two occasions in January last year and January this year. On the other hand, the Chairperson of the CCF Task Force disclosed to the media in September this year that since the policy objective of the living subsidy assistance programme was to provide financial assistance for the aforesaid persons who could not benefit from the Budget's relief measures, and a number of relief measures were cut in the 2016-2017 Budget (including the relief measure of paying rent for public housing tenants), CCF would not disburse the living subsidy again next year. However, some households which have been given living subsidy previously are very dissatisfied with such a move. They pointed out that most of the N have-nots are living in sub-divided units and the living subsidy helps alleviate the financial pressure brought to them by the incessant rise in the rents of sub-divided units. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed if the policy objective of the living subsidy assistance programme has been met; if it has, of the assessment outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has compiled statistics on (i) the rate of increase in the rents of sub-divided units and (ii) the percentage of rent in the expenditure of households of sub-divided units, in each of the past four years; if it has, of the relevant details set out by District Council districts; if not, whether it will compile such statistics; and (3) given that (i) quite a number of those households which have been given living subsidy previously are strongly dissatisfied that they will not be given living subsidy again, (ii) the rents of sub-divided units are still rising incessantly at present, and (iii) the Hong Kong Housing Authority's target of maintaining the average waiting time for general applicants (i.e. family and elderly one-person applicants) for public housing at around three years cannot be met in the coming few years, whether the authorities will consider continuing to disburse living subsidy or launching alternative assistance measures; if they will, of the details; if not, how the authorities will address the discontent of the N have-nots?
*10. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that since December last year, severe red tides have repeatedly occurred in Tolo Harbour in Tai Po and neighbouring waters, resulting in massive fish deaths in the marine fish culture farms there. Massive fish deaths were also found along Shing Mun River in Sha Tin. Some mariculturists consider that the Government's current mechanism for monitoring red tides and its investigations into the causes of massive fish deaths are in need of improvement, and the assistance it provided to affected mariculturists is also insufficient. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the authorities have merely confirmed after tests that the red tides mainly comprised Karenia mikimotoi without explaining the causes of their formation, and some mariculturists suspect that the occurrence of red tides was related to the use of mosquito control pesticides and the discharge of sewage not properly treated, whether the authorities have studied the relationship between the formation of red tides and sewage discharge as well as mosquito control pesticides; of the monthly average quantities of mosquito control pesticides used along Lam Tsuen River and Shing Mun River for carrying out anti-mosquito operations in the past three years and the composition of such pesticides; how such quantities compare with those used in other watercourses; whether they have assessed the impacts of mosquito control pesticides on the marine ecological environment and the mariculture industry; if they have assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities have obtained any latest investigation result showing that apart from the red tides comprising Karenia mikimotoi, there were other causes for the aforesaid massive fish deaths in waters around Tolo Harbour; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as some mariculturists have relayed to me that this year, mariculturists affected by the massive fish deaths were given only a grant of $6,780 and a special grant of $7,260 under the "Emergency Relief Fund", making a relief fund of only $14,040 in total, which reflects that the assistance provided under the current mechanism is just a drop in the bucket for what is needed for them to resume business, of the date(s) on which the authorities last reviewed the ceilings for the relief fund and the mechanism for providing the fund, and whether they will conduct another review expeditiously, so as to help affected mariculturists to resume business as soon as possible; (3) whether the authorities will consider setting up a "natural disasters protection mechanism for the agriculture and fisheries industry", which includes (i) an insurance scheme for the mariculture industry, (ii) interest-free loans for post-disaster business resumption and (iii) post-disaster provision of fry or sea fish feed; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) given that although the tests, conducted repeatedly in the past by the Environmental Protection Department and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department on the water quality of the waters/watercourses where massive fish deaths occurred, had shown that the water quality there was normal, some mariculturists have queried whether the water quality standards concerned are so low that fish is unable to survive in the river water/sea waters even if the latter meets such standards, how the authorities currently conduct tests on whether the water quality of the marine fish culture zones around Tolo Harbour is suitable for mariculture activities, and of the relevant details; the date(s) on which the authorities last reviewed such water quality standards and the mechanism for conducting the tests; whether they will expeditiously conduct a comprehensive review in this regard and devise appropriate water quality standards for the mariculture industry; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon Jimmy NG to ask: (Translation)
Recently, a number of burglaries of residential properties have occurred in various districts. Among such cases, items of a total value of several hundred thousand dollars were stolen from a villa and at least nine burglaries occurred in one housing estate in a fortnight. Quite a number of members of the public have expressed concern that the law and order situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of a breakdown by District Council district of (i) the number of reports received by the Police on burglaries of residential properties and the estimated total value of the items stolen, as well as (ii) the number of such type of cases detected by the Police and the estimated total value of the items recovered, in each of the past three years; (2) whether the Police have, in light of the recent spate of burglaries of residential properties, taken targeted measures to curb such type of crimes, e.g. deploying more police officers to patrol districts with high burglary rates, and stepping up liaison with property management companies and District Fight Crime Committees; if the Police have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether, in respect of burglaries of residential properties involving stolen items of a total value of $500,000 or more, it has assessed if the detection rate for such cases is unsatisfactory; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the difficulties encountered by the Police in investigating such type of cases and the ways to resolve such difficulties?
*12. Hon KWONG Chun-yu to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the monitoring of residential care homes for persons with disabilities ("RCHDs") by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of reports received by SWD in the past three years on special incidents involving RCHDs, with a breakdown by name of RCHDs; (2) of the number of reports received by SWD in the past three years on accidents in RCHDs which involved RCHD residents, with a breakdown by name of RCHDs and type of accidents; the number of RCHDs in which the same type of accidents occurred more than once, and whether it knows the current condition of the residents concerned; the assistance provided to such residents by the Government; (3) of the number of reports on the death of RCHD residents received by SWD in the past three years, with a breakdown by name of RCHDs and the cause of death; (4) of the number of reports, received by SWD or the Police in the past three years, on RCHD residents allegedly having been sexually assaulted or harassed, the number of persons concerned who were prosecuted and, among them, the number of persons convicted; (5) of the number of complaints against RCHDs received by SWD in the past three years, and set out, by name of RCHDs, the subjects of complaints and the follow-up actions taken by SWD; and (6) of the respective numbers of RCHDs, since the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Ordinance (Cap. 613) came into full operation in June 2013, whose licences were cancelled and whose certificates of exemption ("CoEs") were revoked, and set out, by name of RCHDs, the reasons for cancellation of their licences and revocation of CoEs; the criteria adopted by SWD for making such decisions?
*13. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that on the 19th of last month, flooding occurred in extensive areas in Hong Kong due to torrential rains. Many places on Hong Kong Island (such as Chai Wan, Wan Chai and Tai Tam Road) experienced severe flooding, causing great inconvenience to members of the public walking through the water. Moreover, floodwater poured into a number of shopping malls, resulting in pecuniary losses to quite a number of shop operators. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of flooding reports received by the Drainage Services Department ("DSD") and the number of flooding blackspots which experienced flooding on that day; whether DSD has investigated the causes for flooding on that day at locations which have not been classified as flooding blackspots; if DSD has, of such causes; (2) as the Hong Kong Observatory had forecasted that rainstorms would be brought about by two severe typhoons hitting Hong Kong one after the other within a few days' time, whether the authorities put in place corresponding measures to prevent flooding in light of such forecast; if they did, of the preventive measures implemented by the authorities at the flooding locations prior to the onset of flooding; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the maximum hourly rainfall that the existing flood protection facilities on Hong Kong Island can handle; how the flood relieving capacity of such facilities compares with the relevant international standards; whether the rainfall on Hong Kong Island on that day had exceeded the flood relieving capacity of such facilities; and (4) whether, in light of the aforesaid severe flooding occurred on Hong Kong Island, it has conducted any comprehensive review to ascertain if there is any need to enhance the flood relieving capacity of the flood protection facilities; if it has, of the details and the measures in place to prevent the recurrence of severe flooding on Hong Kong Island?
*14. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
At present, a poor household is defined as one whose monthly household income before policy intervention (i.e. before tax and social benefit transfer) ("pre-transfer monthly income") is lower than 50% of the median pre-transfer monthly income of all households with the same number of members. Regarding the statistics on the working hours of working members of poor households and other households in 2015, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) in the poor households in 2015, the respective total numbers of working members who worked (i) less than 144 hours and (ii) between 144 and 192 hours a month on average, broken down by the household sizes listed in the table below;
Household size (i) (ii) One Two Three Four Five Six and above (2) in the households whose pre-transfer monthly income in 2015 was lower than 60% of the median, the respective total numbers of working members who worked (i) less than 144 hours and (ii) between 144 and 192 hours a month on average, broken down by the household sizes listed in the table below;
Household size (i) (ii) One Two Three Four Five Six and above (3) the respective total numbers of working members, in the households whose pre-transfer monthly income in 2015 was (i) 50% of the median or below, (ii) 60% of the median or below and (iii) 70% of the median or below, and their breakdowns by the household sizes listed in the table below; and
Income range Household size Total One Two Three Four Five Six and above (i) (ii) (iii) (4) the respective numbers of working persons whose average monthly working hours in 2015 were (i) less than 36 hours and (ii) between 36 and 72 hours?
*15. Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask: (Translation)
Since 1997, the Government has provided aided primary and secondary schools as well as special schools with the Chinese Extensive Reading Scheme Grant and English Extensive Reading Scheme Grant ("the two reading grants"), which aim at subsidizing these schools in the procurement of Chinese and English reading materials to facilitate the development of reading habits among students, thereby enhancing their reading literacy. On the other hand, the Education Bureau ("EDB") promulgated the updated "Expanded Operating Expenses Block Grant User Guide" in August 2016, in which EDB stated that it would cease the provision of the two reading grants with effect from the 2016-2017 school year. As a result, the amount of grant provided to an aided school each year will be reduced by a sum ranging from $8,298 to $34,468. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of EDB's saving in annual expenditure by cancelling the two reading grants; (2) of the regular programmes to be put in place by EDB to promote extensive reading after cancelling the two reading grants; and (3) as the Secretary for Education stated on 20 September this year that the main reason for cancelling the two reading grants was the substantial changes in students' reading pattern in recent years, including the increased use of online information and e-books, whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the efforts in promoting e-learning in schools; if it has assessed, of the outcome; whether it has grasped the present situation of setting up e-book systems by various aided primary and secondary schools as well as special schools?
*16. Hon Alvin YEUNG to ask: (Translation)
To combat parallel trading activities, the Immigration Department ("ImmD") has drawn up a "watch list of suspected parallel traders" ("the watch list") to step up the interception of suspected parallel traders and refuse their entry. In addition, the Mainland authorities announced on 13 April last year the tightening of the policy on Shenzhen permanent residents visiting Hong Kong, under which the issuance of one-year multiple-entry Individual Visit Endorsements was stopped with immediate effect, and was replaced by the issuance of one trip per week Individual Visit Endorsements only (i.e. the "one trip per week policy"). On the other hand, a political party has suggested that in order to raise the cost of parallel trading activities, the Government should levy a same-day land departure tax on visitors who depart by land within the past 24 hours after entry by land ("the departure tax"), and where the number of departures made by a visitor exceeds a certain number within a certain period of time (e.g. six months in the past), the relevant tax payable will increase progressively with the number of such departures. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following information per month from April 2014 to March this year (i.e. from one year before to one year after the implementation of the "one trip per week policy"): (i) the number of Shenzhen permanent residents who departed on the same day of their entry, (ii) the number of cases of such persons being found by the Customs and Excise Department to have violated the restriction on powdered formula (i.e. each person aged 16 or above may carry, on his/her departure from Hong Kong within a 24-hour period, powdered formula for infants and young children under the age of 36 months of a total net weight no more than 1.8 kilograms), and (iii) the number of times for which ImmD refused entry of such persons in accordance with the watch list, and set out such figures in a table; (2) whether it has regularly revised the watch list; if it has, of the criteria for such revisions; and (3) given that the Government mentioned in the 1999-2000 Budget that it would consider levying a land and sea departure tax, and it introduced in 2003 the Boundary Facilities Improvement Tax Bill to this Council (but eventually did not take forward the enactment of the Bill because of the divergent views on the Bill within the Council and the community at that time), whether the Government has examined (i) if it is reasonable in principle to levy a departure tax on parallel traders, (ii) if it is technically feasible to levy a departure tax, and (iii) the methods other than departure tax that can raise the cost of parallel trading activities; if it has examined, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
The Government set up the Continuing Education Fund ("CEF") in 2002. Upon completion of a course on the "Reimbursable Course List" ("the List"), a CEF applicant may be reimbursed 80% of the course fee, subject to a lifetime maximum subsidy of $10,000 per person ("subsidy ceiling"). It has been reported that the results of a survey show that only 27.4% of Hong Kong people are pursuing continuing education, a percentage lower than those of other countries and places. Some members of the public have pointed out that as the scope of the courses covered by the List is not comprehensive and the subsidy ceiling is too low, CEF is ineffective in encouraging members of the public to pursue continuing education. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) since CEF's establishment, of (i) the annual numbers and successful rates in respect of the applications for fee reimbursement, (ii) the average amount of subsidy for each successful application, and (iii) the number to-date of people to whom the cumulative amount of subsidies granted has reached the subsidy ceiling; (2) whether it will raise the subsidy ceiling for CEF so as to encourage more working people to pursue continuing education; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the criteria currently adopted for deciding whether or not to include certain types of courses in CEF's scope for subsidies; whether the Government will consider including driving courses and courses on ethnic minority languages (including Urdu, Tagalog, Indonesian, Thai and Nepali) on the List; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the Government will increase the flexibility of the application procedure for CEF, such as relaxing the existing requirement that an application must be lodged before the commencement of a course; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
The Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link ("TM-CLKL") under construction consists of the Southern Connection and the Northern Connection, with construction works of the former to be completed in tandem with the commissioning of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and those of the latter estimated to be completed within 2018. The proposed Tuen Mun Western Bypass ("TMWB") will connect Kong Sham Western Highway in the north, Tsing Tin Road and Tuen Mun Road in the middle as well as TM-CLKL in the south. While the planning for TMWB has started 10 years ago, its alignment has yet to be confirmed and, therefore, no definite date has been set for its commissioning. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the planning and study carried out by the authorities for the TMWB project since its formulation (set out in a table by date in chronological order), as well as its final works schedule; (2) of the criteria based on which the authorities will implement the final proposal for the alignment of TMWB; (3) given that construction works of TMWB will not be completed when TM-CLKL is commissioned, whether the authorities have assessed (i) the additional traffic volume for various roads in Tuen Mun, and (ii) the increase in vehicle/capacity ratio of such roads, which will be brought about by the commissioning of TM-CLKL; if they have assessed and the outcome shows that some of the roads will be saturated, of the proposals in place to relieve traffic congestion; and (4) how the traffic volumes in Northwest New Territories and Lantau estimated during the initial planning of TM-CLKL and TMWB compare with the current traffic volumes in those areas?
*19. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Some residents of Tin Shui Wai have relayed to me that various retail banks often only pay regard to profits and losses when deciding whether or not to set up bank branches in a particular district, resulting in an extremely uneven distribution of bank branches at present. For example, in Mei Foo Sun Chuen, a middle-class community, there are 16 bank branches (i.e. one bank branch per 2 400 people), while in Tin Shui Wai North, a grass-roots community, there is only one bank branch (i.e. only one bank branch for some 120 000 people). Moreover, there are quite a number of disadvantaged groups (e.g. the elderly and persons with disabilities) living in communities without bank branches. As a result, they have to travel long distances to bank branches located in other districts in order to use banking services. Those residents consider that the banks' practice of not setting up branches in grass-roots communities amounts to the ignoring of residents' basic needs in daily lives, which constitutes banks' disregard for their social responsibilities and gives rise to an allegation of discrimination. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the following figures in each year since 2000: (i) the number of bank branches serving general customers, (ii) the number of bank branches serving selected customers exclusively, (iii) the number of automatic teller machines ("ATMs"), (iv) the number of bank branches closed, and (v) the number of bank branches set up (set out the relevant information by District Council district); (2) whether the authorities have studied the impact of closure of bank branches on disadvantaged groups; if they have, of the details and whether they have formulated measures to ensure that the persons concerned have convenient access to basic banking services; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it knows if the Hong Kong Association of Banks will urge various banks to put in place compensatory measures after closing branches, such as introducing easy-to-use ATM cards to facilitate the elderly's access to basic banking services via ATMs?
*20. Hon Kenneth LAU to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, with the increasing popularity of members of the public using various types of online payment facilities for conducting online transactions, there are concerns about the risk of personal data disclosed by consumers in the process of such transactions being misused by traders. The Consumer Council has revealed earlier that some traders keep, after termination of service by the customers, those customers' personal data for up to seven years and even indefinitely. Moreover, the provisional liquidator of a closed fitness centre chain plans to sell the personal data of the centre's members for use in direct marketing. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past five years about misuse of consumers' personal data disclosed to traders in the process of online transactions and, among them, the number of those involving the use of cross-border payment services; the measures in place to curb the practice of non-local traders misusing the personal data disclosed by Hong Kong residents when conducting online transactions; (2) of the existing mechanism or legislation restricting traders from keeping customers' personal data for a prolonged period or misusing such data after the closing down of their business or expiry of the actual time required for the fulfillment of the purpose for which the personal data are collected; and (3) whether it will consider amending the legislation to stipulate that traders are not permitted to keep customers' personal data beyond (i) a statutory period or (ii) such period that they have indicated to their customers for which the data will be kept?
*21. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in the first half of this year, the Police received respectively 65 reports of indecent assaults and 55 reports of "under skirt photo-taking" which occurred within the Railway Police District. The figures rose by more than 20% compared to the same period last year, with the youngest suspect being just 13 years old. As pointed out by the Police, the perpetrators mainly chose to commit crimes in train compartments as well as on platforms and escalators, which were crowded. Some members of the public have pointed out that the MTR train compartments are getting more and more crowded due to increase in patronage, creating opportunities for perpetrators to commit crimes. They therefore suggested that the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") should designate during specified hours, on a trial basis, some train compartments for the exclusive use of women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities. However, MTRCL refused to implement the suggestion on the grounds that such a measure might constitute discrimination, and there were difficulties with train compartment design and manpower deployment, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of reported cases of sex crimes received by the Railway Police District in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by sex and age of the victims and by sex and age of the perpetrators; (2) given that in reply to my question on 22 May 2013, the authorities indicated that MTRCL would consider installing closed circuit television ("CCTV") system in train compartments that were not equipped with such system, whether the authorities know if all train compartments have currently been installed with CCTV system; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and MTRCL's timetable for installing such system in all train compartments; (3) whether it knows if MTRCL has made reference to the experience of places, such as Japan and Taiwan, in providing women's compartments; if MTRCL has made reference, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the authorities reviewed in the past three years the effectiveness of MTRCL's efforts in combating sex crimes; if they did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Government Bill
| First Reading
Private Columbaria Bill | |||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned) | |||
| Private Columbaria Bill | : | Secretary for Food and Health | |