A 16/17-19
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 29 March 2017 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 80 | - | Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund
Financial statements and Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 August 2016 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education)
| |||
| 2. | No. 81 | - | HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund
Financial statements and Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 August 2016 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Education)
| |||
| 3. | Report No. 14/16-17 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the House Committee) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
On 27 January this year, a large insurance company issued letters to private doctors, stating that policyholders of medical insurance who had undergone medical procedures (e.g. colonoscopy, oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy and cataract surgeries) which were, albeit not "medically necessary", performed on them as inpatients, might not be eligible for reimbursement of such hospital confinement. The medical profession has reacted strongly to such a move, criticizing that company for interfering with doctors' professional judgment and putting patients in a difficult dilemma, thereby undermining patients' rights and interests, and stated that doctors may disregard that company's stance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the follow-up work undertaken so far by the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance in response to the move made by the aforesaid insurance company; whether it has assessed if such move involves unilateral narrowing of policy coverage by that insurance company, thereby undermining the rights and interests of the insured, and if this will result in a significant increase in the number of disputes over claims; if it has, of the details; in future, how the insured may lodge complaints about disputes with insurance companies over the terms of insurance policies and claims arising from the aforesaid move, and of the relevant complaint handling mechanism; (2) as it has been reported that when selling medical insurance, quite a number of salespersons of medical insurance have claimed that the insured will be fully reimbursed of inpatient surgery expenses, whether the authorities have assessed if the insurance company's move of unilaterally imposing the "medically necessary" criterion in the conditions for claims is contradictory to the reasonable expectations of the insured, and if this has contravened the Trade Descriptions Ordinance; if they have assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the measures that the authorities have put in place to protect the rights and interests of the insured of medical insurance; and (3) as it has been reported that about 4 million people in the territory have taken out medical insurance, involving a total premium of as high as $17.4 billion, and as some academics have pointed out that the medical insurance market is currently divided up by several insurance companies resulting in an oligopoly, whether the Competition Commission has uncovered any situation where various insurance companies have colluded to impose or have imposed one after another more stringent conditions for claims in respect of inpatient medical procedures, thereby reducing the public's choices of medical insurance or even making them decide to take out medical insurance out of no choice, and whether the Commission will closely guard against such situation?
2. Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that 43 police officers, including senior police officers, were arrested last year, and such number represented an increase of 23% as compared with that of the preceding year. The offences allegedly committed by such officers included common assaults, drink driving, thefts, fraud, indecent assaults, corruption and perverting the course of justice. Regarding the integrity management of the Police Force, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as senior police officers are vested with the power to give orders to their subordinates, of the new measures that the authorities have put in place to ensure such officers' probity when they discharge their duties; (2) whether it has reviewed the current police complaints system, which has been in operation for many years, to see if the system is generally trusted by the public; of the measures in place to enhance the credibility of the system, and to step up the monitoring of the conduct of police officers; and (3) of the measures put in place to strengthen the integrity management of the Police Force and improve its public image?
3. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL") is expected to be commissioned by the third quarter of next year. The Special Administrative Region ("SAR") Government has all along been planning to conduct boundary checks for XRL passengers at the West Kowloon Terminus ("WKT") under the arrangements for "co-location of boundary control" ("co-location arrangements") upon the commissioning of XRL. On the 14th of this month, the Secretary for Justice ("SJ") and the Secretary for Transport and Housing went to Beijing to discuss with Mainland officials issues relating to the implementation of the co-location arrangements. SJ advised after the meeting that the current-term Government would explain to society the "broad direction" for the co-location arrangements at considerable time before the end of its term. On the other hand, the Under Secretary for Transport and Housing ("USTH"), when attending a subcommittee meeting of this Council held on the 10th of last month, advised that the current-term Government would put forward a "proposal" for implementing the co-location arrangements before the end of its term. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the essential differences and similarities between the "broad direction" indicated by SJ and the "proposal" mentioned by USTH, as well as their respective specific meanings; in relation to the implementation of the co-location arrangements, of the work to be carried out by the current-term Government and the relevant timetable, as well as the work to be carried out by the next-term Government from its inauguration onwards until the commissioning of XRL and the relevant timetable; (2) as it has been reported that recently some Mainland officials have been insisting on the adoption of a proposal under which Mainland personnel will be authorized to fully enforce the relevant Mainland laws within the Mainland port area at WKT, whether the SAR Government will agree to such proposal if certain conditions are met; if so, of the details; if not, whether the SAR Government will consider arrangements for boundary checks other than the co-location arrangements; and (3) if the SAR Government has so far sought any independent legal advice to ascertain whether, in order to enable Mainland personnel to partially or fully enforce Mainland laws in the Mainland port area, it is necessary to amend the relevant articles in the Basic Law, or to add the national laws concerned to Annex III to the Basic Law for application in SAR, or to have an interpretation of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress; if so, of the details of the advice received; if not, the reasons for that; of the current stance of the SAR Government on whether an amendment to or an interpretation of the Basic Law should be sought for the implementation of the co-location arrangements?
4. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that as a result of the enhanced controls (including the customer due diligence ("CDD") processes for existing and new customers) implemented by banks in recent years to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, quite a number of enterprises have encountered difficulties in opening and maintaining bank accounts. The responsible persons of some startups have pointed out that Hong Kong is the most challenging place in the world to open a bank account, causing quite a number of enterprises to set up businesses in other places instead. There are views that the difficulties encountered by certain groups of persons in opening bank accounts have also rendered them unable to access the financial services and products they need, and they are hence unable to lead a normal life. To address the aforesaid issue, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") issued in September last year a circular entitled "De-risking and Financial Inclusion" to authorized institutions, emphasizing that the CDD measures adopted by banks must be proportionate to the risk level, and they are not required to implement overly stringent CDD processes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether HKMA knows the respective numbers of account opening applications from new customers received, approved and rejected by banks each month since the issue of the aforesaid circular, and the average time taken for vetting and approving the applications; how the success rate and the time for the vetting and approval of such applications compare with those in the preceding year; (2) of the number of complaints received by HKMA about banks rejecting account opening applications since the issue of the aforesaid circular; whether HKMA has compiled statistics on the types of enterprises mainly involved in such applications and the reasons for rejection; and (3) whether HKMA has studied how the controls implemented by banks in Hong Kong compare with those implemented by their counterparts in places such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Singapore; if HKMA has studied and the outcome is that those in Hong Kong are more stringent, of the impact of such situation on the business environment of Hong Kong?
5. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
While tap water supply is at present available to 99% of the population in Hong Kong, quite a number of residents in remote areas (including Tai Long Village and the Sea Ranch on Lantau Island) are not yet supplied with tap water. They need to rely on stream water or well water in their daily lives, which will be affected whenever the water source is contaminated or dries up. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the names of the villages yet to be supplied with tap water, and the number of households and population of each of such villages, and set out the information by District Council district; (2) of the number of times that the authorities transported, on an ad hoc basis, potable water to such remote villages in the past three years and the expenditures involved, broken down by village name; and (3) whether it has plans to provide tap water supply systems for Tai Long Village and the Sea Ranch; if so, of the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
According to some earlier media reports, some pharmacies sell proprietary Chinese medicines ("pCms") alluding to those of well-known brands, with their names and packaging bearing strong resemblance to the latter. As some of these pCms are not attached with labels or package inserts carrying medicinal claims, they are not regulated under any legislation but regarded as health food products only. Some members of the public are worried that the consumption of such pCms alluding to well-known brands, which have unknown composition and quality, is detrimental to health. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities received any complaint about pCms alluding to well-known brands in the past five years; if so, of the number and details of such complaints, as well as how they were followed up; (2) given that some manufacturers add non-Chinese medicine ingredients to health food products adopting pCm formulae to circumvent regulation and use product names that are similar to Chinese medicines to mislead the public, and that such food products contain Chinese medicines but are not attached with usage instructions, what measures the authorities have in place to ensure that the consumption safety, quality, composition and dosage of such health food products meet the relevant safety standards and to prevent consumers from unknowingly purchasing such products; and (3) whether it will introduce a registration system for health food products to protect the health and rights of consumers; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
*7. Hon Kenneth LAU to ask: (Translation)
Regarding rural land uses, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following details of the lands in various statutory plans which are zoned for the uses listed in the table below at present: (i) the total area, as well as the respective total areas of the lots therein that are (ii) privately owned and (iii) government owned; (iv) the total area of land within country parks, and the respective total areas of the lots therein that are (v) privately owned and (vi) government owned;
Land uses (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Green Belt zone Village Type Development Agriculture zone Site of Special Scientific Interest Conservation Area Coastal Protection Area Country Park N.A. N.A. N.A. (2) of the changes in the areas of various country parks since 1 July 1997, including their areas as at year-end of each of the past five years, as well as the date of and the area involved in each change; (3) as the Government has indicated in this year's Policy Address that it will commence a study on Agricultural Priority Areas to identify quality agricultural lands with a relatively large area and formulate policies and measures for promoting rehabilitation of fallow agricultural lands, whether it can provide the following details about the study: (i) the criteria adopted by the authorities for defining whether a land is quality agricultural land; (ii) the respective total areas of agricultural lands under active farming and fallow agricultural lands across the territory at present, as well as the respective areas of such lands that are quality agricultural lands; (iii) the respective numbers of planning applications for changing the agricultural land use which were received and approved in each of the past five years by the Town Planning Board; the area of agricultural land, the planned use upon amendment and the amount of land premium payable (if applicable) involved in each of the approved applications; and (iv) the respective numbers of applications for leasing agricultural lands under the Agricultural Land Rehabilitation Scheme received by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in each of the past five years, the number of cases of leasing agricultural lands mediated, the total area of agricultural lands leased and the average waiting time for the applicants concerned; and (4) of the respective total areas of private and government lands currently available for building small houses (i.e. areas within Village Environs and zoned for Village Type Development, after deducting the lands that are not suitable for building small houses such as slopes, passageways, fragmented sites in irregular shapes); if such details are unavailable, of the reasons for that?
*8. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that since the Motor Vehicle Idling (Fixed Penalty) Ordinance (Cap. 611) came into operation in December 2011, the duties of issuing Fixed Penalty Notices ("FPNs") to drivers who have contravened the requirement that vehicle engines must not be kept idling (commonly known as "the idling engine ban") have been taken up mainly by the Traffic Wardens of the Hong Kong Police Force. Their workload has therefore increased substantially, but no adjustment has been made to the staff establishment of the grade. Some union representatives have pointed out that the lack of competitiveness of the remuneration of Traffic Wardens has led to a serious manpower wastage of the grade in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (i) the respective numbers of Traffic Wardens who departed and those who were appointed to each Land Region of the Police Force, as well as (ii) the staff establishment of Traffic Wardens of each Land Region and the year-on-year changes of that number at year-end, in each of the past three years; (2) of the respective numbers of FPNs issued last year by Traffic Wardens of each Land Region in respect of (i) illegal parking and (ii) contravention of the idling engine ban; (3) as some union representatives have pointed out that newly appointed Traffic Wardens cannot perform their duties due to the authorities' delay in arranging induction training courses and relevant assessment for them, whether the authorities will adopt measures to improve that situation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) as I have learnt that the tight manpower supply has made it difficult for quite a number of Traffic Wardens under the Old Pension Scheme to be given permission to take their annual leave, whether the authorities will adopt measures to improve that situation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether the authorities will review and adjust the remuneration and conditions of service of and the promotion opportunities for the Traffic Warden grade, so as to attract new blood to join the grade; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
Quite a number of residents have complained to me that there is often a stench coming from the area around the Tai Kok Tsui (Island Harbourview) Public Transport Interchange. They suspect that some professional drivers have poured urine carried in containers into the planters in that area and also discarded such containers there. In March last year, in reply to a question raised by me at a meeting of the relevant committee of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council, officers of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") pointed out that "for instituting prosecutions against those people suspected of pouring urine into planters, it has to be confirmed that the liquid so poured out was urine. Difficulties might arise in the course of taking law enforcement actions". Subsequently, FEHD further stated in writing that when enforcing the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation (Cap. 132, sub. leg. BK) ("the Regulation"), FEHD officers had not been empowered by legislation to seize, as an exhibit, any container suspected to have been used for containing urine. As a result, they could not institute prosecutions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past five years in relation to persons illegally pouring urine at public places, and the number of prosecutions instituted against the persons concerned, as well as the number of cases in which prosecutions could not be instituted, broken down by the reason involved (including not having the power to seize the exhibits concerned); (2) whether it has studied what other ordinances that law enforcement officers may invoke at present to seize exhibits for enforcing the Regulation; and (3) whether the authorities will study amending the Regulation to empower law enforcement officers to seize relevant exhibits, so that such officers can effectively enforce the law; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
According to a survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department in 2015, there were some 25 200 quarters with sub-divided units ("SDUs") in Hong Kong, and the total number of SDUs was about 88 800 with some 200 000 persons living therein. Quite a number of grass-roots people who have been waiting for years for but have yet to be allocated public housing units have moved into SDUs, resulting in the number of SDUs rising day by day. On the other hand, some members of owners' corporations and minority property owners have relayed to me that there are a large number of SDUs in their buildings, which has caused problems of environmental hygiene, law and order, building structure and fire safety. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of SDUs in buildings for both commercial and residential uses; if so, of the latest figures; whether it has regularly conducted inspections on such buildings to ensure that the SDUs therein will not cause any environmental hygiene and law and order problems; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that there have been cases in which alteration works for SDUs led to water seepage in buildings and the cracking of beams caused by the expansion of corroded reinforcement bars, which resulted in owners of other units having had to spend over a million dollars for repairing the damages in their units, whether the Government will adopt specific measures to protect the rights of such owners; if so, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the Government will, on the premise of striking a balance between addressing the housing needs of grass-roots people and safeguarding the rights and interests of minority property owners, conduct a study on enacting legislation to regulate SDUs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the tourism industry have relayed to me that encouraging regional tour groups (e.g. tour groups from Southeast Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand) to visit Hong Kong is highly conducive to revitalizing tourism, and can alleviate the impact of the continuous drop in the number of Mainland travellers visiting Hong Kong in recent years on the tourism industry. Besides visiting Hong Kong, tour groups of this type normally take the opportunity to make a short visit to places such as the Pearl River Delta and Macao for one day, and therefore they depart Hong Kong in the morning and arrive at Hong Kong again at night on the same day. However, it is learnt that it often takes a long time for travellers holding foreign passports to go through immigration clearance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the peak hours during which the aforesaid tour groups enter and leave Hong Kong through various boundary control points in the morning and at night every day; (2) of the average daily number of travellers holding foreign passport entering and leaving Hong Kong during peak hours last year; (3) of the average and longest waiting times for travellers holding foreign passports to go through immigration clearance at present; how such times compare with the relevant times taken by Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card holders; and (4) whether it will increase the frontline manpower of the Immigration Department to shorten the time taken by travellers holding foreign passports to go through immigration clearance during peaks hours of inbound and outbound traffic, with a view to attracting more regional tour groups to visit Hong Kong?
*12. Dr Hon YIU Chung-yim to ask: (Translation)
In reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 16 November last year regarding the renewal of land leases expiring in 2047, the authorities pointed out that, for lands under single ownership, or multiple ownerships with all owners unanimously agreeing on the lease renewal arrangement, the Government will generally renew the lease through the issuing of a lease renewal document. For lands under multiple ownerships with the owners concerned failing to unanimously agree on the lease renewal arrangement, the Government will, upon the expiry of the current lease, grant a new lease to the Financial Secretary Incorporated ("FSI"), and FSI will, upon the reaching of a formal agreement between the Government and the registered owners of individual properties, transfer the undivided shares allocated to such properties to the registered owners concerned. Some minority owners of residential buildings under multiple ownerships have expressed worries that their rights and interests will be undermined as a result of the prolonged delay of the Government in commencing the land lease renewal procedure for their properties. They have pointed out that, in a previous case involving a private housing estate in the Southern District with land lease expiring in 2006, the minority owners concerned were greatly distressed since they only received the Government's response about the completion of the lease renewal procedure shortly before the expiry date of the land lease concerned. Regarding the renewal of land leases, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following information in respect of the lands for residential use under multiple ownerships with land leases expiring between this year and 2046 (excluding those lands granted on short term tenancies): (i) the total land area, (ii) the number of lots and (iii) the number of residential units involved (including units for both commercial and residential uses), together with a tabulated breakdown by region (i.e. the four regions of the New Territories, New Kowloon, Kowloon and Hong Kong), the expiry year of the land leases and District Council district; (2) how long before the expiry of a land lease the Government will commence the relevant work in handling lease renewal for the lands mentioned in (1), which includes but is not limited to reminding owners that their leases will soon expire, discussing with owners and handling the relevant procedure; of the factors based on which the Government decides when such work should commence; whether it will commence the relevant work ahead of the schedule for the reason that a land lease involves a large number of lots and residential units; if so, of the relevant arrangements; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether the conditions in the land leases to be granted by the Government to FSI and the conditions in the agreements to be entered into between FSI and individual owners will be different from the conditions in the original land leases; if so, of the criteria for determining such differences; and (4) during the period in which a new lease has been granted to FSI, of the parties responsible for (i) managing, repairing, inspecting and maintaining the common areas and private areas of the relevant properties as well as (ii) meeting the relevant expenses thus incurred; how the assets held by the original owners' corporations ("OCs") as well as the relevant contracts signed between the original OCs and the property management companies will be dealt with?
*13. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask:
The Department of State of the United States publishes a Trafficking in Persons Report ("TIP Report") every year to evaluate the human trafficking situations in various countries/regions. The TIP Report rates the countries/regions according to their governments' performance in combating human trafficking, with Tier 1 being the highest ranking out of the four tiers. Hong Kong's ranking in the TIP Report dropped from Tier 2 in 2015 to "Tier 2 Watch List" in 2016. In response to the 2016 TIP Report, the Government advised that law enforcement officers (including police and immigration officers) received regular training, which covered specialized skills and knowledge for identifying victims of human trafficking ("HT victims"). Moreover, the Government provided diversified assistance (including welfare, medical and psychological counselling assistance), protection and care services to HT victims. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the aforesaid training received by law enforcement officers, including (i) the name(s) of provider(s), (ii) the contents, frequency and duration of the training, (iii) the participants' grades and ranks and (iv) the date(s) of revision made in the past five years to the training contents; (2) of the name(s) of the provider(s) of and eligibility criteria for the aforesaid assistance/services; the procedure for vetting and approval for applications for such assistance/services and the personnel in charge of the procedure; (3) as the British Government currently allows HT victims to stay in the country for up to two years and work as domestic helpers, whether the authorities will consider allowing HT victims to stay and work in Hong Kong for a certain period of time, so that they may seek legal redress without fear of deportation; if not, of the reasons for that; (4) as the British Government currently issues letters to confirm the persons concerned are genuine HT victims or victims of slavery, whether the authorities give recognition to this type of documentary proofs; if so, of the countries or jurisdictions whose documentary proofs are recognized; if not, the reason for that; (5) as the authorities indicated in February 2013 that an "action card" serving as a checklist/guidelines for debriefing HT victims had been widely distributed to frontline officers to assist them in identifying potential victims, of the details of the action card, including whether it sets out a mandatory initial screening procedure; if not, under what circumstances the Government conducts initial screening; whether frontline officers proactively screen a reporting person for ascertaining signs of human trafficking at present; of the criteria that need to be met by reporting persons for them to be regarded as an HT victim; (6) of the number of prosecutions instituted in the past five years against operators of employment agencies for withholding the passports of foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs"); the procedure followed by frontline officers in handling complaints about operators of employment agencies (i) withholding FDHs' passports and (ii) overcharging FDHs; and (7) whether there is a specific category of visa for application by foreigners who intend to work as entertainers in bars and clubs in Hong Kong; if so, of the relevant details, including (i) whether such visa applications must be accompanied with the information of sponsors/guarantors, (ii) the conditions of stay set out in the visas, (iii) the number of visas issued in the past five years, (iv) the countries/regions from which the applicants concerned came, and (v) if officers of the Immigration Department currently conducts inspections of the working places of visa-holders to check if the conditions of stay have been complied with; if so, of the details?
*14. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Some studies have found that persons who wear masks during public assemblies and demonstrations tend to believe that as they have covered their faces, they can still evade legal liability after committing unlawful acts. As such, they are more likely than others to commit violent acts and damage other people's property. Also, their violent acts are of greater gravity and are targeted at more innocent people. It is learnt that some overseas countries have enacted legislation to ban their people from wearing masks during public assemblies and demonstrations as well as in public places. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) among the arrestees in the occupation movement in 2014 and the riot in Mong Kok in February last year, of the respective numbers of those who were wearing masks when they allegedly committed the relevant offences; among such arrestees, the numbers of those who were eventually not prosecuted because the Police did not have sufficient evidence to prove offenders' identities; (2) whether the Police and the relevant government departments have studied if the consideration of "being able to conceal one's own identity" will make criminals blatantly engage in more severe acts of violence; if so, of the details; (3) given that police officers may not be able to arrest offenders on the spot during large-scale public assemblies, whether the Police have studied if the gathering of evidence afterwards has become more difficult due to the fact that those people were wearing masks when they committed the offences; and (4) whether, following the riot in Mong Kok, the authorities have studied the enactment of legislation to ban participants of public assemblies and demonstrations from wearing masks, and have made reference to relevant overseas practices; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Statistics from the Census and Statistics Department indicate that in recent years, there has been a trend of delayed marriage and childbearing as well as low fertility rate for the female population of Hong Kong. The total fertility rate of Hong Kong in the past year ranked the fourth lowest among 224 countries and regions in the world. In respect of measures to encourage childbearing, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the municipal government of Urayasu in Japan has introduced a subsidy scheme for freezing women's eggs, whether the Government will allocate funds for setting up an oocyte bank to assist women with advanced maternal age in childbearing; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that the current waiting time for public assisted-reproduction services is 5 to 18 months, and private services cost more than $100,000, whether the Government will increase the quota for such public services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether, to alleviate the financial burden of parents, the Government will: (i) provide childcare allowances for middle-class and low-income families with children aged three or below; (ii) increase the level of child tax allowance and introduce tax deduction for children's educational expenses, as well as provide other tax concessions; (iii) increase the subsidies for whole-day and long whole-day kindergartens so that such kindergartens will no longer need to collect tuition fees from parents; and (iv) bring early childhood education into the coverage of the School Textbook Assistance Scheme; if it will implement the aforesaid measures, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it will provide government employees with paid maternity leave and paid paternity leave which are more favourable than the statutory requirements so as to take the lead; (5) whether it will conduct a study on amending the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) to require employers to provide full-pay maternity leave and paternity leave for their employees, and raise the penalties for discrimination against pregnant female employees; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) of the new measures for promoting organizations from the public and private sectors to more actively implement family-friendly employment initiatives, such as flexible working hours, five-day work week, parental leave and workplace childcare services; and (7) of the latest progress made by the Government in implementing the initiative of providing additional childcare places mentioned in the 2017 Policy Agenda; whether it has any plan to enhance the home-based childcare service and after school care programmes, so that dual-income parents will not shelve their childbearing plans due to worries of not being able to deal with childcare issues; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*16. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
Some representatives of labour groups have relayed to me that there are a lot of inadequacies in the system for the lodging of compensation claims arising from work injuries and deaths by the employees concerned or their family members, which include the lengthy claim process, the lack of power for the Labour Department ("LD") to rule on labour disputes involving employees' work injury compensation, and the need for claimants to contact the various relevant government departments, insurance companies, medical institutions and courts concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective annual numbers of employers (i) prosecuted by LD and (ii) convicted in 2015 and 2016 for failure to take out insurance policies on employees' compensation ("labour insurance policies"); (2) of the respective numbers of (i) written warnings issued and (ii) prosecutions instituted by LD against employers defaulting on the periodical payments and the payment of medical expenses to the employees injured at work, as well as (iii) the number of such employers convicted, in each year from 2014 to 2016; (3) of the respective numbers of compensation cases received in each year from 2013 to 2016 by LD which involved work injury accidents resulting in incapacity of employees for a period (i) exceeding and (ii) not exceeding three days; (4) among the compensation cases received in each year from 2010 to 2016 by LD which involved work injury accidents resulting in incapacity of employees for a period exceeding three days, of (i) the respective numbers of those settled and unsettled (and reasons thereof) within one year, (ii) average waiting time for medical assessments and total amount of compensation involved, in respect of settled cases, as well as (iii) the number of working days lost; (5) of the respective numbers of cases in which employees injured at work were referred by LD to the Legal Aid Department in each year from 2010 to 2016; (6) whether the authorities will consider empowering LD to rule on labour disputes involving employees' work injury compensation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (7) whether it will consider setting up a central employees' compensation fund to replace the current arrangement for employers to take out labour insurance policies with authorized insurance companies; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
A survey conducted in recent months has found that secondary school students first placed their bets at an average age of 8.1 years only, and that there is a downward trend in the age of young people participating in gambling. Moreover, about 65% of the respondents indicated that they were first exposed to and learned about gambling activities through their parents. Regarding curbing the problem of youth gambling, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, in each of the past five years, (i) the respective numbers of calls for assistance received by the four counselling and treatment centres for problem and pathological gamblers operated by non-governmental organizations, and (ii) the respective numbers of new cases in which face-to-face counselling or treatment services were provided by these centres to people seeking assistance; (2) given that the legal gambling age is set at 21 in the neighbouring countries and regions such as Singapore, Malaysia and Macao, whether the Government has any plan to raise the legal gambling age in Hong Kong from 18 to 21, so as to curb the problem of gambling addiction among young people; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it will add contents about the harms of gambling to the relevant primary and secondary school curricula, and openly call for parents to set a good example and not to allow their children to participate in gambling activities, so as to prevent them from becoming addicted to gambling; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it will step up its publicity and educational efforts to make it easier for gamblers and their family members to become aware of the problem and pathological gambling behaviours and to seek assistance as early as possible; (5) whether it has reviewed if the counselling, treatment and other services provided for problem and pathological gamblers at present are effective in helping them quit gambling; if it has, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether it will inject part of the betting duty collected into the Ping Wo Fund managed by the Home Affairs Bureau to enhance the implementation of measures to prevent and alleviate problems relating to gambling; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Dr Hon Pierre CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Some patients suffering from haemophilia and thalassaemia ("patients with blood diseases") have relayed to me that they were infected with hepatitis C virus many years ago after receiving blood transfusion or treatment involving blood products at public hospitals because, prior to July 1991, the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service did not screen the collected blood for hepatitis C antibody, resulting in the blood or blood products carrying the virus. They consider that as they are innocent victims of hepatitis infection, the Government and the Hospital Authority are duty-bound to provide them with appropriate treatment for hepatitis. However, the treatment plans for hepatitis provided under the public healthcare system are not uniform, and medications having more side effects and with lower efficacy are prescribed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the number of attendances of hepatitis C patients with blood diseases receiving hepatitis treatment under the public healthcare system in the past five years and, among such patients, the number of those who were cured of hepatitis; and (2) the current number of patients with blood diseases receiving hepatitis treatment under the public healthcare system and, among them, the number of those who have been referred to hepatology specialist outpatient clinics for hepatitis treatment (and set out in a table the breakdown by hospital cluster)?
*19. Hon Andrew WAN to ask: (Translation)
Recently, I have received a request for assistance from a member of the public alleging that her daughter had been sexually assaulted in a small group home. Moreover, it is learnt that in recent years, a number of sexual assault cases have occurred in residential care homes for persons with disabilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of complaints received by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") in each of the past five years about persons with disabilities, the elderly, youth and children being sexually assaulted or harassed in subvented homes, broken down by the relationship between the suspected offender and the victim; among such suspected offenders, the number and percentage of those who claimed that they had been sexually assaulted or harassed in the past; (2) of the approach currently adopted by SWD for handling the complaints mentioned in (1); whether SWD has reviewed the effectiveness of such approach; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether SWD has formulated guidelines on the handling of such complaints for reference by frontline staff; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether SWD has provided support for the victims of those complaints mentioned in (1); if so, of the details; among such victims, of the number and percentage of them who were not provided with any support in the past five years; and (4) regarding those subvented homes with confirmed cases of residents being sexually assaulted or harassed, whether SWD will penalize the operators concerned and take follow-up actions; if so, of the details?
*20. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
Regarding information on public works, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following information (if applicable) of 15 major infrastructure projects (namely (a) construction of the Shatin to Central Link, (b) the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Hong Kong projects, (c) the Tuen Mun - Chek Lap Kok Link and Tuen Mun Western Bypass, (d) the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, (e) the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Express Line, (f) the Lok Ma Chau Loop, (g) the West Kowloon Cultural District project, (h) Kai Tak Development, (i) the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point project, (j) seven rail projects: Northern Link and Kwu Tung Station, Tuen Mun South Extension, East Kowloon Line, Tung Chung West Extension, Hung Shui Kiu Station, South Island Line (West), and North Island Line, (k) the Ex-Lamma Quarry Area at Sok Kwu Wan of Lamma Island, (l) artificial islands in the central waters, (m) the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link, (n) the North East New Territories New Development Areas and the Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area, and (o) housing sites in Yuen Long South, as well as the public works projects which commenced in the past five years and involved a total project cost of $30 million or above) (set out in a table according to the date on which funding approval was granted by the Finance Committee ("FC") of this Council): (i) initial and latest cost estimates, and actual cost, (ii) date on which funding approval was granted, (iii) actual or anticipated commencement date of works, (iv) initially anticipated, latest anticipated and actual completion dates, (v) anticipated usage or economic benefits to be achieved for the first five years, (vi) amount of funding for advance works, (vii) fee for the consultancy study for advance works, (viii) name(s) of the consultant(s) responsible for carrying out advance works, (ix) name(s) of the consultant(s), (x) name(s) of the contractor(s), and (xi) sub-contract(s) involving a sum of $30 million or above and name(s) of the sub-contractor(s); (2) among the works projects mentioned in (1), of the following information of each of those projects for which claims involving project cost were received from the consultant(s) or the contractor(s) and supplementary provisions were approved by FC, in the past five years; (i) total contract sum, (ii) name(s) of the consultant(s) or the contractor(s) submitting the claim(s), (iii) the respective total amounts of claim(s) submitted and approved, (iv) justification(s) for the claim(s), and (v) dates on which applications for supplementary provisions were received and approved by FC; (3) whether the authorities have maintained a list of the works consultants and contractors in respect of those works projects which experienced cost overruns or delays in the past five years; if so, of the respective consultants and contractors involved in the top 10 works projects with the severest cost overruns or delays; (4) of the latest outcome of the authorities' assessment of the impact of the demand and supply of skilled personnel and engineers in the construction industry on the cost and completion dates of various major infrastructure projects in the coming few years; (5) how the authorities ensure the quality of various major infrastructure projects so as to guard against shoddy construction standard; and (6) of the following information of the Project Cost Management Office since its establishment in 2016: (i) progress in monitoring the works projects mentioned in (1), (ii) whether the Office has formulated criteria and guidelines for cost control; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, (iii) whether there are works projects still experiencing cost overruns under the monitoring of the Office; if so, of the relevant details, including (1) names of the consultants or the contractors submitting the claims, (2) the amounts of and justifications for the claims, and (3) the amounts of the claims approved, and (iv) whether it has drawn up a blacklist of consultants and contractors and introduced a demerit point system for use as reference information for the selection of consultants and contractors for works projects in the future?
*21. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask:
Regarding the provision of information to non-Chinese speaking ("NCS") students and their parents by the Education Bureau ("EDB"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as EDB stated in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2016-2017 that all relevant information facilitating NCS students' integration into the community had been published in Chinese and English, but in fact some important relevant information is available only in Chinese (e.g. the web page on Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework and the Quality Review reports of kindergartens on EDB's website), of the reasons why EDB has not provided all relevant information in both Chinese and English, and when EDB will provide all such information in English; (2) of a list of the information on school choices disseminated/published by EDB through various means ((i) blog, (ii) web page, (iii) school directory, (iv) report on school qualities, (v) video and (vi) others) that is available in (a) Chinese only, (b) English only, (c) both Chinese and English, and (d) languages other than Chinese and English (please specify), and set out the information in Table 1;
Table 1Language(s) Information on school choice (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (a) (b) (c) (d) (3) of a list of the information disseminated/published by EDB, including school directories and reports on school qualities (particularly those on school choices) the printed version of which is available in Chinese only; (4) given that certain information on schools and the education system is available only in Chinese, whether it has assessed (i) how parents of NCS students can make an informed school choice for their children, and (ii) if EDB may still claim that a high concentration of ethnic minority students in certain schools is a result of parental choice; (5) how parents of NCS students can have access to information on whether a school provides a more immersed Chinese language learning environment for NCS students; and (6) in respect of the briefing sessions conducted for parents in each school year from 2012-2013 to 2016-2017 on (a) kindergarten admission, (b) Primary One Admission system, and (c) Secondary School Places Allocation system, whether it knows (i) their total number; among them, the respective numbers conducted (ii) in English, (iii) in Chinese, and (iv) with simultaneous interpretation services; (v) the total number of parents attending these sessions, and (vi) the total number of parents of NCS students attending these sessions, broken down by school district (set out separately in tables of the same format as Table 2); if such information is unavailable, how the Government measures the level of support given to parents of NCS students on school choices?
Table 2
Briefing sessions on School year:School district (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi)
*22. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
Last year, the Department of Health started the phased implementation of the Colorectal Cancer Screening Pilot Programme ("Pilot Programme") to subsidize Hong Kong residents born in the years from 1946 to 1955 to undergo faecal occult blood test and colonoscopy examination. However, some members of the public have complained to me that they have been identified as individuals at a high risk of getting colorectal cancer ("high-risk individuals") and hence not suitable to enroll in the Pilot Programme, but they cannot afford the cost of colonoscopy examination provided by private medical practitioners. Moreover, the Hospital Authority launched the Colon Assessment Public-Private Partnership Programme ("PPP Programme") last year to provide a subsidy for around 8 000 eligible public hospital patients to receive colonoscopy examination provided by private medical practitioners. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, at year-end of each of the past five years, the respective average waiting time of patients of public hospitals under various hospital clusters for undergoing colonoscopy examination; (2) given that high-risk individuals are not suitable to enroll in the Pilot Programme, whether the Government will launch another subsidy programme for colonoscopy examination for this type of people; if so, of the details; (3) whether it will subsidize those public hospital patients who have not been invited to join the PPP Programme and who are high-risk individuals to undergo colonoscopy examination; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and what other plans the authorities have to alleviate the financial burden of such patients; (4) given that there is a trend of people suffering from colorectal cancer at a younger age, whether the Government will examine the inclusion of Hong Kong residents aged 40 to 50 in the Pilot Programme; and (5) whether, apart from the aforesaid two programmes, the Government has considered implementing other subsidy programmes for the prevention or diagnosis of colorectal cancer; if so, of the details?
* For written reply
III. Government Bill
| First Reading
Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2017 | |||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| |||
| Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2017 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury | |
IV. Government Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under Article 73(7) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and section 7A of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484)
Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion: Resolved that the following appointments be endorsed - | |
| (a) | the appointment of Mr. Robert French as a judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal from another common law jurisdiction pursuant to section 9 of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484) (the Ordinance); and
| |
| (b) | the appointment of the Right Honourable Lord Reed as a judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal from another common law jurisdiction pursuant to section 9 of the Ordinance.
| |
| 2. | Proposed resolution under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance
Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion: Resolved that the Criminal Procedure (Witnesses' Allowances) (Amendment) Rules 2017, made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee on 10 February 2017, be approved. | |
| (The Rules are in Appendix I and were also issued
on 24 February 2017 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 372/16-17) | ||
| 3. | Proposed resolution under the Coroners Ordinance
Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion: Resolved that the Coroners (Witnesses' Allowances) (Amendment) Rules 2017, made by the Chief Justice on 10 February 2017, be approved. | |
| (The Rules are in Appendix II and were also issued
on 24 February 2017 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 372/16-17) | ||
| 4. | Proposed resolution under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for the Environment to move the motion in Appendix III. | |
| (The motion was also issued on 28 March 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 448/16-17) | ||