A 17/18-9
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 29 November 2017 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
In the Policy Address she delivered last month, the Chief Executive indicated that the Government would "expand the existing fish culture zones, improve the fish culture environment and promote the development of marine fish culture". However, some fishermen have pointed out that following the changes in the industry profile and society, the existing policies and legislation have become outdated and have hindered the development of marine fish culture, but the Government has not conducted any review of such policies and legislation over the years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the authorities have banned raft area extensions in existing fish culture zones ("FCZs") by mariculturists since the 90s of the last century, and those mariculturists who wish to expand the sizes of their culture areas can only purchase fish culture licences from other mariculturists, making it difficult for mariculturists to expand their businesses, whether the authorities will lift the ban; whether, in the long run, the authorities will, by making reference to the development plan for the Lok Ma Chau Loop and the development approach of the Hengqin Macau Youth Innovation Valley, discuss with the Mainland authorities the designation of an area in the waters near Hong Kong for use as a marine FCZ for Hong Kong or for other agriculture and fisheries related purposes, and provide related complementary facilities, in order to solve the problem of shortage of space in Hong Kong waters for the development of the fisheries industry; if not, whether they will expeditiously explore other alternatives to solve the problem; (2) given that mariculturists are required to obtain permits issued by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department before they may temporarily move their mariculture rafts out of FCZs, but the vetting and approval of the permits takes time although the authorities have streamlined the relevant administrative procedure, whether the authorities will consider the proposal of setting up temporary sites for relocating mariculture rafts to avoid massive fish deaths in FCZs in case of contingencies (e.g. red tides, parasites or aquatic hypoxia); whether the authorities will consider amending the existing legislation to protect mariculturists' rights and interests more effectively; and (3) as I have learnt that at present, the authorities will remove sediment in a FCZ or approve individual mariculturists to conduct recreational fishing activities on mariculture rafts only with the consent of all the mariculturists of the FCZ concerned, but it is impossible to obtain the consent of all mariculturists, thus causing difficulties in the improvement of the water quality of FCZs and the livelihood of mariculturists, whether the authorities will adjust the said practice, e.g. by making reference to the arrangement under which the retrofitting of air-conditioning systems in public markets may be carried out provided 80% of the tenants have given support, so as not to hinder the sustainable development of marine fish culture; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that during the two weeks from the end of last month to early this month, the medical inpatient bed occupancy rates of a number of public hospitals exceeded 100%. Given that the winter surge of influenza will soon arrive, some healthcare personnel have anticipated that the overcrowding situation in public hospitals will worsen. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, whether it knows, in each week of the past two months:
(1) in respect of each acute hospital, the attendance of emergency services, the average waiting time for patients at the accident and emergency ("A&E") department, the number of A &E patients diagnosed to be in need of hospitalization for continued treatment, and the average waiting time for them to be admitted to the wards; and (2) the bed occupancy rates and the numbers of nurses in the specialties of various public hospitals, with a tabulated breakdown by department; given that the Hospital Authority will recruit more nurses in this financial year to cope with the service demand during the winter surge of influenza, the latest progress of the recruitment exercise?
3. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)
On 25 July this year, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") Government announced the proposed arrangement for Hong Kong and Mainland customs, immigration and quarantine procedures to be carried out at the West Kowloon Station of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("the co-location arrangement"). Subsequently, on the 18th of this month, the Chief Executive signed on behalf of the SAR Government with the People's Government of Guangdong Province the Co operation Arrangement for implementing the co-location arrangement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the reasons why the counterpart with which the SAR Government signed the Co-operation Arrangement was the People's Government of Guangdong Province, and whether it knows if such a practice complies with the requirements and procedures under the relevant Mainland laws; the local legislation governing the Co-operation Arrangement; whether such legislation provides a legal basis for the signing of the Co-operation Arrangement between the authorities of Guangdong and Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it is now still seeking, according to what it proposed in July this year, the NPCSC's granting SAR the power to implement matters in relation to the co-location arrangement in accordance with Article 20 of the Basic Law; if not, of the reasons for that, and the legal basis for applying Mainland laws at the Mainland Port Area in the West Kowloon Station; whether it has assessed if it is necessary for SAR to invoke the provisions of the Basic Law in order to implement the co location arrangement; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the details and justifications; if not, the reasons for that; as the Chief Executive has remarked that a decision by NPCSC on the Co-operation Arrangement will provide "a solid legal foundation" for the co-location arrangement, of the justifications for such remark, and whether it has assessed if such remark has the effect of the Basic Law and the principle of "one country, two systems" being bypassed or undermined; if it has assessed, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the legislation on the co-location arrangement to be enacted by this Council in future must be consistent with the Co-operation Arrangement; if not, whether corresponding amendments will be made to the Co-operation Arrangement; if so, of the procedure; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
In the Policy Address she delivered recently, the Chief Executive has proposed to develop and explore tourism products and projects with local and international characteristics, including cultural tourism, heritage tourism, green tourism and creative tourism. Furthermore, she has proposed to enhance the conservation of the natural ecology and cultural resources of remote countryside areas, and to revitalize the architectural environment of the villages concerned, thereby not only bringing new life to the remote countryside, but also promoting eco-tourism. To this end, the Government will establish a Countryside Conservation Office to coordinate countryside conservation projects, and has earmarked $1 billion for such efforts and revitalization works. However, some comments have pointed out that quite a number of popular green tourism attractions currently lack supporting facilities, thus affecting tourists' experience. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has conducted a study to identify the countryside areas which currently have the potential to be developed into popular green tourism attractions for tourists but lack adequate supporting facilities; if so, of the findings; if not, whether it will expeditiously conduct such study; (2) whether the Countryside Conservation Office will accord priority to the tourism development planning for the countryside areas mentioned in (1), and use the earmarked fund to carry out conservation efforts and revitalization works for such areas; if so, of the details, including the countryside areas to be covered; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as quite a number of local residents and tourists wish to have accommodation in the vicinity of green tourism attractions so as to experience rural life, whether the authorities will, on the premise of compliance with the relevant fire and structural safety requirements, consider developing countryside home-stay lodgings with unique characteristics so as to promote green tourism; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my question on the 1st of this month, the authorities indicated that the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority ("MPFA") was conducting a study on allowing Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") Schemes members to withdraw part of their MPF accumulated contributions before attaining the retirement age for first home purchase ("the MPF first home purchase arrangement"). The proposed arrangement has sent considerable reverberations across the community and, for consecutive days, the following public comments have come up: (i) in the MPF first home purchase arrangement, one can "at least secure a place to live in, and also obviate the need to pay fund management fees"; (ii) home ownership offers the best protection for a person's retirement life and, for those with no child, retirement protection can also be provided by way of reverse mortgage; (iii) proposals that allow flexible use of MPF contributions for down payment of home purchase should be supported; (iv) members of the public have the right to control their own assets, and the Government has no right to forcibly withhold part of their wages for retirement purpose; (v) it is undoubtedly more conducive to increasing the value of the personal assets of wage earners if members of the public can opt for early withdrawal of MPF contributions for home purchase to pay for part of the down payment or miscellaneous fees involved; (vi) the MPF first home purchase arrangement will force MPF trustees to lower their fund management fees and to enhance their investment performance, thereby leaving more returns in the hands of members of the public; and (vii) in the long run, it has always been the hope of employers and employees that the MPF system will be abolished so that they can keep money in their own hands which is far better than having their money nibbled up by fund managers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the effectiveness of the Reverse Mortgage Programme since its launch in 2011; whether the authorities will, in the light of the above comments, study the implementation of the MPF first home purchase arrangement in parallel with reverse mortgage, so that the needs for first home purchase and the needs for retirement protection can be addressed in one go; (2) whether it has considered that the MPF first home purchase arrangement can help MPFA (which was ridiculed by some academics as being "unable to fend for itself" and having "failed to make ends meet for seven consecutive years") try its best in cutting the loss and enhance public confidence in MPFA's ability to monitor the MPF system, as well as urge MPF trustees to lower their fund management fees and enhance their investment performance; if so, of the details; and (3) of the anticipated time for the completion of the feasibility study on the MPF first home purchase arrangement, and whether it will undertake that in case the study finds the arrangement practicable, it will expeditiously implement the arrangement, so that prospective first-time home buyers will not miss the opportunity for acquiring a property when property prices fall to a level acceptable to them?
6. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
Some members of a political party held a press conference in July last year, claiming that they had received information from some very senior personnel of the Independent Commission Against Corruption ("ICAC") and they had been informed by three insiders of ICAC that the personnel appointment for a senior post in ICAC had something to do with an investigation being conducted by ICAC at that time. Recently, one member from that political party told the press that during the period after the completion of the first trial of a case involving a former Chief Executive and before the start of the retrial of that case, ICAC had invited a banker to give statement in connection with that case but the invitation was declined. Some members of the public have relayed to me that in order to protect the reputation of those under investigation and in compliance with the confidentiality requirements, ICAC will not openly comment on individual cases, making it difficult for them to judge whether the remarks made by such political party members are true or not. They are therefore worried that such remarks may in the long run undermine public confidence in ICAC's adherence to the principle of confidentiality when conducting investigations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that section 30(1) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance provides that any person who, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, discloses the identity of the person under investigation for suspected commission of the bribery crimes under the Ordinance or details of such investigation shall be guilty of an offence, of the respective numbers of prosecutions and convictions involving this section in each of the past three years; whether there has been an upward trend in the number of such cases in recent years; if so, whether counter-measures have been formulated; (2) whether ICAC reviewed its internal confidentiality procedure in the past three years to step up prevention of information leakage; if so, of the details, including the measures adopted to raise the awareness of ICAC staff so as to avoid their disclosure of confidential information on the investigations; and (3) whether it has assessed if the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance prohibit the disclosure by any person of ICAC's internal information containing confidential information; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the number and details of prosecutions instituted in the past three years; if the assessment outcome is in the negative, the measures to be put in place to prevent any person from disclosure of ICAC's internal information, which will undermine public confidence in ICAC's adherence to the principle of confidentiality when conducting investigations?
*7. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
Last month, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare pointed out, by citing the preliminary data of a recently completed survey on the manpower situation of subsidized residential care homes for the elderly and home care services teams, that the current vacancy rates of domestic helpers and personal care workers had been on the rise and already exceeded 18%. The Secretary also indicated that importation of foreign labour would only be a matter of time. Regarding the manpower shortage in the elderly service sector, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the aforesaid survey, including the (i) vacancy rates and (ii) existing remuneration packages of the various types of elderly service positions; (2) whether it knows the current total number of vacancies of elderly service positions; among them, of the respective numbers of vacancies of home managers, welfare workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, care workers, personal care workers, health workers and domestic helpers; of the respective wastage rates of holders of such positions in each of the past five years; the positions with higher wastage rates of their holders, and whether it has studied the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will, by making reference to the practice of the Task Force on Manpower Development of the Retail Industry set up in 2013, set up a task force on manpower development of the elderly service sector to review the manpower situation of the sector and put forward recommendations for improving its overall manpower development; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
With the incessant population growth in Kowloon East and Tseung Kwan O in recent years, serious traffic congestions have frequently occurred on several major roads in Kowloon East. The various stations along the MTR Kwun Tong Line and the MTR Tseung Kwan O Line are also overcrowded during peak hours. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective hourly average (i) patronages, (ii) loadings calculated based on an accommodation of six persons (standing) per square metre, and (iii) loadings calculated based on an accommodation of four persons (standing) per square metre, per direction on critical links of the Kwun Tong Line and the Tseung Kwan O Line during morning and evening peak hours in each year since 2013; (2) whether it knows if the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") implemented last year any passenger flow management measures at the various stations along the Kwun Tong Line and the Tseung Kwan O Line; if MTRCL did, set out the details of the measures by station; (3) whether it knows if MTRCL is now undertaking or planning to carry out station improvement works to ease passenger flow at the various stations along the Kwun Tong Line and the Tseung Kwan O Line; if MTRCL is, of the details and progress; of the progress of the several projects proposed by the government departments concerned and the Energizing Kowloon East Office under the Development Bureau to enhance pedestrian connectivity facilities in Kowloon East (including the construction of a pedestrian subway near the MTR Ngau Tau Kok Station) ; (4) of the latest progress of the planning work of the MTR East Kowloon Line, including whether or not the Government has completed examining the proposal submitted by MTRCL in July this year; the difference between the proposed alignment of the East Kowloon Line and that mentioned in the Railway Development Strategy 2014; the timing for consulting the public on the railway alignment and commencing the detailed design work of the project, as anticipated by the Government, with a view to achieving the target of commencing the railway project by 2025; (5) given that the construction projects of the Central Kowloon Route and the Tseung Kwan O–Lam Tin Tunnel have commenced with specified completion dates, when the Government will submit the funding proposal for the construction project of the Trunk Road T2 connecting the route and the tunnel to the Finance Committee of this Council; of the anticipated commencement time of the project and the time to be taken for its completion; and (6) apart from the series of road and junction improvement measures proposed to tie in with the Anderson Road Quarry Development, whether it has conducted planning for other improvement measures for the roads in Kowloon East to alleviate the traffic congestions at the roads, such as Prince Edward Road East, Kwun Tong Road, Lei Yue Mun Road, New Clear Water Bay Road and Hip Wo Street?
*9. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In the Policy Address she delivered last month, the Chief Executive mentioned that the Government and the Hospital Authority agreed to extend the scope of the assistance programme to provide subsidies for specific drug treatments for patients with special clinical needs according to individual circumstances, including subsidizing suitable patients to participate in compassionate programmes on the use of drugs of individual pharmaceutical companies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following information in respect of each of the drugs listed below which are used for treating patients with uncommon diseases: (i) its indications, (ii) whether it has been registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, (iii) whether it is listed in the Drug Formulary of the Hospital Authority; if so, (iv) of the category in the Formulary to which it belongs (i.e. General Drug, Special Drug, Self-financed Item with Safety Net, Self-financed Item without Safety Net); if not, (v) whether the Government or the Hospital Authority has subsidized suitable patients to participate in the compassionate programmes on the use of that drug (set out in the table below)?
| Name of drugs | (i) | (ii) | (iii) | (iv) | (v) | ||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
|
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*10. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
Regarding mental health services, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective attendances of the services provided by each of the subvented Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness ("ICCMW") for the following persons in each of the past three years: (i) discharged mental patients aged 15 or above, (ii) persons with suspected mental health problems aged 15 or above, (iii) family members/carers of those two types of persons, and (iv) residents interested in understanding/improving their mental health; (2) given that only 15 out of the 24 existing ICCMWs operate in permanent premises, whether the Government has plans to provide permanent premises for the remaining nine ICCMWs; if so, of the implementation timetable, and whether it will, before permanent premises are provided to them, grant rent allowances to ICCMWs operating in smaller premises to facilitate their relocation to larger premises; if so, of the details (including whether the amount of allowance will be capped); if not, the reasons for that; of the principles based on which the Government determines the amount of subvention allocated to each ICCMW; (3) whether it has plans to increase the manpower for psychiatric services in order to implement the recommendations put forward by the Review Committee on Mental Health in its report released in April this year; if so, of the respective numbers of additional (i) psychiatrists, (ii) psychiatric nurses, (iii) community psychiatric nurses, (iv) clinical psychologists, (v) medical social workers and (vi) occupational therapists that it has planned to recruit in the coming five years, with a tabulated breakdown by service target (i.e. children and adolescents, adults and the elderly); (4) as the Government has indicated in the Policy Address delivered in January this year that it will set up a standing advisory committee to review and follow up the development of mental health services, of the progress and schedule of the preparatory work for setting up the committee, as well as the time when the Government will annouce the membership of the committee; and (5) whether it will establish a high-powered Mental Health Commission with members comprising various types of stakeholders (e.g. medical personnel, mentally ill persons and their carers, ex-mentally ill persons, social workers, social and welfare organizations, academics and concern groups) and responsibilities for drawing up a comprehensive policy on mental health services and keeping the policy reviewed from time to time as well as promoting the collaboration among various policy bureaux and relevant organizations in the area of mental health services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
At present, certain subjects at primary and secondary levels are classified as compulsory subjects and independent compulsory subjects by the Education Bureau ("EDB"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the party who is responsible for deciding whether a certain subject should be classified as a compulsory, independent compulsory or other type of subject, as well as the procedure and criteria to be followed in making such a decision; (2) of the respective compulsory subjects and independent compulsory subjects at various primary and secondary levels at present; whether the relevant classification is applicable to schools of various finance types (including government, aided, caput, Direct Subsidy Scheme, as well as special schools); (3) whether schools of various finance types are required to set class arrangements and teaching timetables according to EDB's classification of subjects; (4) of the documents and channels through which EDB informs school management and teachers of the lists of compulsory subjects and independent compulsory subjects; and (5) as the Chief Executive has indicated in the Policy Address delivered by her last month that the Government will "include Chinese history as an independent compulsory subject for the junior secondary level" in the next school year, whether the Government has consulted the stakeholders before making that decision; if so, of the mechanisms through which and the dates on which the consultation was conducted; if not, the reasons for that; whether the Curriculum Development Council discussed the relevant arrangements beforehand; if so, of the dates and outcome of such discussion; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
At present, investors can engage in cross-boundary stock trading through Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect ("SH-HK Stock Connect") and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect ("SZ-HK Stock Connect"). It has been reported that the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited will implement next year a real-time investor identification system for northbound trading under SH-HK Stock Connect and SZ-HK Stock Connect ("real-name registration system"), and such an arrangement will give both the Mainland and Hong Kong regulators direct access to the data of traders' identities. The Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") has indicated that public consultation is unnecessary as the proposed real-name registration system does not involve any revision to the Listing Rules. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council, whether it knows if SFC:
(1) has assessed (i) the views of different stakeholders on the implementation of the real-name registration system, (ii) the difficulties that may arise in the implementation of the system and (iii) whether there are loopholes in the system to ensure that the implementation of the system will not affect the stability of the Hong Kong stock market; if SFC has assessed, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (2) has consulted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data on the arrangements for cross-boundary transfer of personal data involved in the proposed real-name registration system, including issues on the holding, processing or use of the personal data transferred to places outside Hong Kong by a person authorized by the data subject to make the transfer to ensure that the arrangements do not contravene the provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) has made reference to the experience of the stock markets in other places on the implementation of real-name registration systems; if so, of the places the experience of which reference has been made to and the conclusions drawn; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the marine insurance industry have relayed that at present, the Government imposes restrictions of operating in Hong Kong on overseas companies which engage solely in marine insurance, and there are no marine insurance-related training programmes on offer in Hong Kong. As a result, it is difficult for those aspiring to join the marine insurance industry to acquire the relevant knowledge and to receive professional training. They are worried that such a situation will make it difficult for Hong Kong to maintain its leading position in the global maritime industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the existing number of marine insurance brokers in Hong Kong, and its percentage in the total number of local insurance practitioners; (2) whether it knows the names of the marine insurance programmes currently offered by tertiary institutions and other organizations; (3) given that the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, the Maritime Services Training Institute and the Institute of Professional Education and Knowledge are jointly offering a professional certificate programme in marine insurance and the authorities will provide subsidies to the students, whether the authorities know the progress of preparation and implementation timetable of the programme as well as the details of the subsidies; and (4) of (i) the amount of subsidies provided under the Maritime and Aviation Training Fund for offering marine insurance training programmes and its percentage in the total amount of subsidies given out in the year, and (ii) the number of marine insurance practitioners who benefited from the Fund, in each year since its establishment in 2014?
*14. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the use and disposal of drugs, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the quantity of antibiotics for human use imported to Hong Kong in each of the past three years; (2) whether it knows the quantity of antibiotics prescribed by public hospital doctors in each of the past three years, broken down by the targeted bacteria (if applicable); (3) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective numbers of patients who (i) were infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria locally and (ii) developed serious complications after the use of drugs (and, among them, the number of those by whom the drugs used were antibiotics), in the past three years; (4) whether it has studied the situation and impact of abusive use of antibiotics in the past three years; (5) of the quantity of expired drugs received by the Government in each of the past three years and, among them, the quantities of those transported to the Chemical Waste Treatment Centre for handling; (6) whether it has compiled statistics on the quantity of drugs discarded at landfills in each of the past three years; whether it has studied the impact of those drugs on the ecological environment; (7) as some overseas cases have shown that discarding drugs casually at landfills or sewage pipes may pollute the ecological environment and the compounds concerned may enter human body through the food chain, thus posing health hazards, whether the Government conducted laboratory tests in the past three years to see if the water bodies of reservoirs contained antibiotics and hormone-related compounds; if so, of the outcome; (8) whether it knows the current number of collection points in Hong Kong for unused drugs, and the quantity of drugs collected by those collection points in each of the past three years; and (9) whether it will consider cooperating with private medical practitioners and owners of pharmacies in setting up collection boxes for expired drugs at clinics and pharmacies, in order to ensure that the drugs concerned are handled properly; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, hackers broke into the computer system of a local travel agency, encrypted the personal data of 200 000 customers stored therein and then blackmailed the agency. There are views that the crimes of hacker attacks have become increasingly serious, but the information security awareness of local enterprises is inadequate. On the other hand, quite a number of countries and regions have put in place cyber security strategies with a view to building a secure cyberspace. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(1) the authorities will review the existing cyber resilience of the various regulated industries (e.g. banking, tourism and public utilities) and require operators of those industries to attain ISO/IEC 27001 information security management system certifications for the specific scopes of their business; (2) whether the authorities will (i) assist local enterprises (especially small and medium enterprises) in assessing the adequacy of their information security measures and provide them with the relevant technical support, and (ii) provide them with more comprehensive training on information security, so as to enhance the levels of the information security management of those enterprises; (3) the authorities have, for the sake of nurturing more information security talents, plans to (i) encourage more information technology practitioners to join the information security profession, (ii) collaborate with industry associations in subsidizing employees to receive on-the-job training on information security and providing relevant job-matching service, and (iii) introduce measures to increase the interest of local students in joining the information security industry; (4) the authorities will review if the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) is still up-to-date amid the rapid development of information technology; whether they will increase the liabilities of data users in guarding against the leakage of personal data, and introduce a mandatory requirement for reporting data leakage incidents; and (5) the authorities will, for the sake of enhancing the cyber resilience of local enterprises, adopt the following strategies: (i) formulating the short, medium and long term specific action plans, (ii) advising and assisting various organizations to enhance their cyber security defence frameworks and recruit more information security professionals who have attained the certifications, (iii) requiring the enterprises concerned to conduct information security risk assessments, (iv) providing enterprises with training to develop their information security incident response capability, (v) strengthening information security of the supply chain, and (vi) continuously monitoring and conducting risk assessments of the information security of local enterprises?
*16. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
Under the law, the Commissioner for Transport may for the purpose of authorizing the use of a private car for the carriage of clients of a designated travel agent, issue in respect of the private car a Hire Car Permit–Tour Service ("Permit"). Some members of the tourism industry have recently relayed to me that the Transport Department ("TD") takes a very long time to vet and approve applications for that type of Permits, and there has been a case in which the interval between the submission of all the information required and the granting of the Permit ("vetting and approval time") spanned 18 months, which is unacceptable. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of new Permit applications received and approved by TD in the past five years; the average and longest vetting and approval time taken in those cases; the number of those cases the vetting and approval time of which exceeded six months, as well as the general reasons why a longer vetting and approval time is needed for some cases; (2) given that under the existing procedure, Permit applications are first considered by the Contract Hire Car Permits Selection Board and a decision is then made by the Commissioner for Transport based on the Board's recommendations, whether (i) there was any delay in the past year caused by the failure of any Board member to reply to the Secretary of the Board on time, and (ii) TD has set a performance pledge on the time taken by the Board to consider Permit applications; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether TD will review the existing mechanism and streamline the vetting and approval procedure for Permit applications with a view to shortening the vetting and approval time; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)
Some farmers affected by planned developments in recent years have relayed to me that, due to the strict regulations imposed by a number of laws (including the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Licensing of Livestock Keeping) Regulation (Cap. 139 sub. leg. L) and the Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354)) on livestock farms, they have difficulties in identifying suitable sites for building new livestock farms or reprovisioning existing farms. It is also difficult for them to suitably increase the space and adopt more advance technology for livestock keeping (including enhancing biosecurity measures) through building new farms. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the distribution of those sites currently designated as (i) livestock waste prohibition areas, (ii) livestock waste control areas and (iii) livestock waste restriction areas (mark the locations and boundaries of such sites in different colours on a map); the respective numbers of (i) pig farms and (ii) chicken farms operating in those three types of areas in each of the past five years; the differences in respect of the restrictions (including the requirements and procedure regarding application for operating a livestock farm) imposed by the Government on the operation of livestock farms in those three types of areas; (2) of the sites which are in compliance with the relevant provisions of the two aforesaid pieces of legislation and other relevant legislation and are available to farmers for building new livestock farms or reprovisioning existing farms, as well as the areas of such sites (mark the locations of such sites on a map); (3) as farmers may, through the Agricultural Land Rehabilitation Scheme, identify sites for relocating their livestock farms, whether any farmers who had been affected by planned developments succeeded in identifying suitable sites for relocating their farms through the Scheme in the past three years; if so, of the details; if not, whether the Government has put in place new measures to help such farmers in reprovisioning their livestock farms and suitably expanding their farms to improve their livestock keeping technology; and (4) whether it will, by making reference to the mode adopted by Macao of renting land on Hengqin Island from the Mainland authorities for its development, discuss with the Mainland authorities the renting of land or islands near Hong Kong for Hong Kong farmers to operate livestock farms and for other agriculture and fisheries related purposes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the supply of residential units and sites for residential developments in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of units of (i) public rental housing ("PRH"), (ii) subsidized sale housing and (iii) private residential developments, which were completed in each of the past five financial years and which are expected to be completed in the current and each of the next four financial years (set out in Table 1 and Table 2); whether it knows the respective numbers of vacant units of those three categories of residential units at present;
Table 1Year Number of units completed (i) (ii) (iii) 2016-2017 2015-2016 2014-2015 2013-2014 2012-2013 Total
Table 2Year Expected number of completed units (i) (ii) (iii) 2021-2022 2020-2021 2019-2020 2018-2019 2017-2018 Total (2) in respect of each of the 210 sites which the Government has identified as having housing development potential, of (i) its area, (ii) its existing use, (iii) the latest progress of amending the relevant statutory plan, and (iv) whether the new use proposed for it is (a) the development of subsidized housing (including PRH, as well as the Home Ownership Scheme, the Green Form Subsidized Home Ownership Scheme and the "Starter Homes" Scheme for Hong Kong Residents) or (b) private residential developments (set out in Table 3 by location of each site);
Table 3Location (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (a) (b) 1. 2. … 210. Total (3) of the respective numbers of idle government residential sites and government sites leased out under short-term tenancies at present; in respect of each of the sites, (i) the area and (ii) the planning progress (set out in Table 4 and Table 5 by location of each site); whether the Government will undertake to accord priority to using the sites for the development of subsidized housing; if not, of the reasons for that;
Table 4: Idle government residential sitesLocation (i) (ii) 1. 2. … Total
Table 5: Government sites leased out under short-term tenanciesLocation (i) (ii) 1. 2. … Total (4) of the specific criteria currently adopted by the Government for determining the numbers of residential sites put up for sale in a year and in each quarter, and whether it has regularly reviewed the land sale programme, in order to ensure that the supply of housing will meet the targets concerned; whether it has monitored private developers' progress in the development of their residential sites; if so, of the current number of such sites which are idle and, in respect of each of the sites, (i) the area and (ii) whether the developer concerned has plans to commence housing construction within the next decade (set out in Table 6 by location of each site); if it has not monitored, the reasons for that;
Table 6Location (i) (ii) 1. 2. … Total (5) whether it has reviewed the current provisions in the conditions of sale of residential sites regarding the time limit on completion of residential development by the developer concerned, so as to ensure that the residential units concerned will be put up for sale in the market as scheduled; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (6) of (i) the surplus and (ii) the balances of cash and investment of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") in each of the past five financial years, and such estimated figures in the current and each of the next four financial years (set out in Table 7 and Table 8);
Table 7Year (i) (ii) 2016-2017 2015-2016 2014-2015 2013-2014 2012-2013
Table 8Year (i) (estimated) (ii) (estimated) 2021-2022 2020-2021 2019-2020 2018-2019 2017-2018 (7) of (i) the amount of funds injected/to be injected by the Government into the Housing Reserve ("the Reserve"), and (ii) the actual/estimated expenditure involved in managing the Reserve (including the expenditure items), each year since its establishment in 2014 and in the current and each of the next four financial years (set out in Table 9 and Table 10); the latest arrangements regarding the Government using the Reserve for supporting HA to develop public housing, and its plan on allocation of funds from the Reserve to HA in the coming decade; and
Table 9Year (i) (ii) 2016-2017 2015-2016 2014-2015 Total
Table 10Year (i) (estimated) (ii) (estimated) 2021-2022 2020-2021 2019-2020 2018-2019 2017-2018 Total (8) whether it has plans to introduce additional categories of subsidized housing, including re-launching the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Over the years, Mainland residents who wish to come to settle in Hong Kong must apply for Permits for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as "One-way Permits")("OWPs") from the Public Security Bureau Offices where their household registrations are kept. According to the guidelines on Mainland residents' applications for proceeding to settle in Hong Kong published by the Mainland Public Security Bureau, Mainland residents to whom any one of the following situations is applicable may apply to proceed to settle in Hong Kong: (i) one's spouse is settled in Hong Kong (who may at the same time apply for bringing along his/her children aged under 18); (ii) one is aged above 18, under 60 and needs to go to Hong Kong to take care of his/her parents settled in Hong Kong both of whom are aged above 60 and have no children in Hong Kong; (iii) one is aged above 60, has no children on the Mainland, and is dependent on his/her children aged above 18 settled in Hong Kong; (iv) one is aged under 18 and is dependent on his/her parents settled in Hong Kong; and (v) one is a child of a Hong Kong permanent resident. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of Mainland residents who came to settle in Hong Kong on OWPs in each of the past 10 years, together with breakdowns by the age group to which they belonged (i.e. 0 to 15, 16 to 24, 25 to 40, 41 to 64 and 65 years old or above) and gender; (2) of breakdowns, of the number of Mainland residents who came to settle in Hong Kong on OWPs in each of the past 10 years, by the following reasons for which they were issued OWPs: (i) to reunite with one's spouse (who was not accompanied by any children aged under 18), (ii) to reunite with one's spouse (who was accompanied by his/her children aged under 18), (iii) to take care of parents, (iv) being dependent on his/her parents, (v) being dependent on his/her children and (vi) other reasons; (3) in respect of the cases in which OWPs were issued for "other reasons" as mentioned in (2), of the 10 most common situations; and (4) whether it will subject the entry of Mainland residents who come to settle in Hong Kong on OWPs to its vetting and approval; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
A number of District Councillors, members of local organizations and owners' corporations ("OCs") in the districts of Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin have relayed to me that the greatest hindrance to improving district administration and enhancing community facilities is the shifting of responsibilities among government departments, public organizations and other organizations such as MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") and Link Asset Management Limited ("the Link"), as well as their bureaucratic practices. Examples include: (i) the Housing Department ("HD"), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Link in respect of the rodent control and hygiene problem in the vicinity of Tsui Ping North Shopping Circuit; (ii) HD and the Link in respect of the responsibility of repairing the communal facilities of Tsui Ping (South) Estate; (iii) HD and The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited in respect of the responsibility of repairing the gas pipes of Chuk Yuen (North) Estate; (iv) the Lands Department ("LandsD"), HD and MTRCL in respect of the proposal to retrofit covers for the barrier-free access at the exits of Lok Fu Station and Yau Tong Station; (v) the Highways Department ("HyD") and LandsD in respect of the problem that the cover of a covered walkway constructed by HyD outside Fung Chuen Court in Wong Tai Sin being extremely close to the trees, making the OC of the Court being unable to prune the trees; and (vi) the Civil Engineering and Development Department, the Food and Health Bureau and the Hospital Authority in respect of the proposal to build lifts and a footbridge between the United Christian Hospital and the Sau Ming Road Park. In all these incidents, there is shifting of responsibilities among the parties involved, resulting in indefinite delay in the implementation of proposals for improvement of community facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the policy bureau or government department that members of local communities may approach to seek assistance when they encounter shifting of responsibilities among a number of government departments; (2) of the long-term policy and measures put in place to resolve the problems of unclear delineation of responsibilities, bureaucratic practices and a lack of accountability; (3) whether it will consider establishing an inter-departmental organization to take the lead in resolving problems that involve a number of government departments, public organization, public utility companies, and organizations such as MTRCL and the Link; and (4) whether it has assessed if it should first examine the ways to resolve the problems of bureaucratic practices and shifting of responsibilities among government departments before implementing the proposals to augment the civil service establishment by at least 3% and to establish a civil service college in the financial year of 2018-2019 as set out in the Policy Address; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct such an assessment immediately?
*21. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that last month, a private medical practitioner who was also a part-time Associate Professor in the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong left the operating theatre in the midst of supervising a liver transplant which was underway in Queen Mary Hospital ("QMH"), and went to a private hospital to perform a surgery for another patient. The chief surgeon paused the surgery to wait for the return of the supervising doctor, resulting in a three-hour delay in the completion of the liver transplant surgery. QMH has initiated an investigation into the incident. Some members of the public have expressed concern about the monitoring by the Hospital Authority ("HA") of the surgeries carried out in public hospitals and their part-time doctors. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) whether a part-time doctor of a public hospital is required to inform the management of the hospital concerned and obtain its consent before leaving the hospital during a surgery to perform surgeries in another hospital; (2) whether there were surgeries performed in public hospitals in the past three years which were not completed or were delayed in completion because the doctor-in-charge performed more than one surgery at the same time; the measures to be taken by HA to address such problem; (3) whether HA has drawn up any manpower backup plan and notification mechanism in respect of a public hospital doctor leaving the operating theatre in the midst of a surgery for whatever reasons; if so, of the details; (4) the division of responsibilities between the supervising doctor and the chief surgeon in a surgery performed in a public hospital; whether the chief surgeon has the authority to complete a surgery in the absence of the supervising doctor; if not, the measures put in place by HA to prevent the recurrence of incidents in which the doctor-in-charge leaves the operating theatre in the midst of a surgery; (5) the current number of private medical practitioners working as part-time doctors for HA, and whether any full-time doctors of HA work as part-time doctors in the private healthcare system; if so, of their number; (6) how HA's part-time doctors compare with their full-time counterparts at present in terms of number and remuneration package; (7) the reasons why HA employs private medical practitioners to work as part-time doctors; whether HA has put in place a comprehensive system or guidelines to monitor the performance of those doctors in order to maintain the quality of public healthcare services; and (8) the number of medical incidents in the past decade caused by the negligence of those part-time doctors, and set out in a table the details and investigation outcome of each incident; the measures to be taken by HA to reduce the occurrence of such kind of medical incidents?
*22. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
In the Policy Address she delivered recently, the Chief Executive has proposed that "the Government takes the lead to provide telecommunications companies with financial incentives in the form of subsidies to encourage the extension of fibre-based network to villages in remote locations. The plan will cover about 380 villages currently without high-speed broadband network coverage and is expected to benefit nearly 170 000 villagers" ("the village fibre network plan"). On the other hand, there are at present quite a number of tenement buildings in urban areas having access to fixed network broadband service ("FNBS"), which is provided by a single FNBS operator and has an Internet access speed of 8 Mbps only, but the operator concerned charges users in these tenement buildings, owing to a lack of competition, a service fee which doubles that other users are charged. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the village fibre network plan, including the names of the villages involved, the estimated expenditure and the implementation timetable; (2) whether it knows the number of tenement buildings currently not covered by fibre-based networks and the number of residents in such buildings (with a breakdown by District Council district); (3) whether the authorities will make reference to the village fibre network plan and formulate measures to encourage FNBS operators to extend their fibre-based networks to tenement buildings; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the authorities will examine the inclusion in the licence conditions a requirement for the licensees to extend their fibre-based networks to tenement buildings upon the renewal of licences or issuance of new licences for FNBS operators; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Government Motion
| Stand-over item (since the meeting of 12 July 2017)
Proposed resolution under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance Secretary for Home Affairs moved the following motion: Resolved that the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Amendment) Rules 2017, made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee on 2 May 2017, be approved. |
| (The Rules are in Appendix I and were issued
on 20 June 2017 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 713/16-17) |
| Other Public Officer to attend : Under Secretary for Home Affairs
|
IV. Members' Motions
| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 1 (since the meeting of 15 November 2017)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1. | Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Starry LEE to move the following motion: That this Council takes note of Report No. 3/17-18 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 8 November 2017 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. | Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Starry LEE to move the following motion: That this Council takes note of Report No. 5/17-18 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 29 November 2017 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 3 (since the meeting of 18 October 2017)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. | Motion under Rule 49B(1A) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Claudia MO to move the motion in Appendix II. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (The motion was issued on 10 October 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 21/17-18) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stand-over items: Members' motions nos. 4 and 5 (since the meeting of 12 July 2017)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4. | Establishing a comprehensive 're-industrialization' policy regime
Hon Jimmy NG to move the following motion: (Translation) That given the new opportunities brought about by global reforms in industrial technologies, many countries or places are proactively developing high value-added advanced manufacturing industries, and Hong Kong is no exception; the Government has already made it clear that re-industrialization is a potential new area of economic growth for Hong Kong, and announced the establishment of a committee on innovation, technology and re-industrialization; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to conduct a timely review and elevate the positioning of the 're-industrialization' policy, with a view to upgrading the existing industrial policy regime led by innovation and technology to a comprehensive industrial policy regime which is more independent, forward-looking and systematic; the Government should also examine the role of industries in the local economic structure and societal development, and study the 'external development' feature of Hong Kong's industries, with the aim of providing tax support for those offshore Hong Kong manufacturers engaging in manufacturing and production industries, thereby consolidating the economic foundation of Hong Kong and promoting the diversification of industries. Hon HO Kai-ming, Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan, Hon WU Chi-wai, Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok, Hon Charles Peter MOK and Hon Jeremy TAM to move amendments to the motion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (The amendments were issued on 29 June 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 760/16-17) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Innovation and Technology
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. | Conducting a comprehensive review of labour legislation to improve labour rights and interests
Hon HO Kai-ming to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council urges the Government to make safeguarding labour rights and interests its priority task and expeditiously conduct a comprehensive review of and make amendments to the various legislation relating to labour matters, so as to ensure that such legislation keeps pace with the times. Hon LUK Chung-hung, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Dr Hon Helena WONG and Hon Andrew WAN to move amendments to the motion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (The amendments were issued on 29 June 2017
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 759/16-17) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||