A 17/18-26
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 25 April at 11:00 am and
Thursday 26 April 2018 at 9:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| 1. | No. 98 | - | Employees Retraining Board
Annual Report 2016-17 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
| |||
| 2. | No. 99 | - | Report No. 70 of the Director of Audit
on the results of value for money audits - April 2018 |
| (to be presented by the President of the Legislative Council)
| |||
| 3. | Report No. 11/17-18 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 for Written Replies
1. Hon AU Nok-hin to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that early this year, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation ("HKSTPC") installed in the Hong Kong Science Park ("HKSP") a total of eight multifunctional smart lampposts ("smart lampposts") developed by five partner companies. Each smart lamppost is equipped with a number of functions, such as surveillance by closed-circuit cameras, provision of light-emitting diode lighting, monitoring of pedestrian and traffic flow, provision of quick charging for electric vehicles and collection of meteorological data. The various real-time data collected by the smart lampposts will be shared with the Data Studio of HKSP. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the names of the aforesaid five partner companies, and set out in the table below the details of the collection of data by such companies through the smart lampposts; Company name Type or field of data Usage of data Technology/system used for collecting data and data format Frequency of data updating
(2) whether it knows if those partner companies and HKSTPC will provide the data collected from the smart lampposts to the Government for its use, including allowing the Government to publish such data through the data.gov.hk portal; (3) whether it knows if those partner companies and HKSTPC will, through the smart lampposts, collect data on identifying particulars of an individual; if they will, (i) how they ensure that the collection, use and processing of the relevant data are in compliance with the data protection principles stipulated in the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486); (ii) whether they will review the relevant arrangements on a regular basis; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (iii) whether they will provide such data to the Government for its use (including transferral of the data to a third party); if so, how they ensure that the data subjects are informed of the relevant arrangements; and (4) as the Chief Executive indicated in the Policy Address delivered in October last year that the Government would push ahead with three infrastructure projects to develop Hong Kong into a smart city, including (i) providing an "eID" for all Hong Kong residents, (ii) launching a pilot "Multifunctional Smart Lampposts" scheme at selected urban locations, and (iii) reforming the development technology of e-Government systems and building a big data analytics platform, whether the Government will draw reference from the relevant experience of HKSTPC when pushing ahead with those projects; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in recent years, some fraudsters randomly sent messages to different mobile phone numbers, requesting the mobile phone users concerned to forward them, through WhatsApp (an instant messaging application) the verification codes for WhatsApp accounts upon receipt. When mobile phone users were hooked, the fraudsters immediately hijacked, by using the verification codes received, the WhatsApp accounts of the mobile phone numbers concerned, and then sent WhatsApp messages, impersonating the mobile phone users, to the relatives and friends of such users to defraud money from them under various pretexts (e.g. borrowing money and purchasing stored-value cards or virtual point cards on their behalf) ("instant message frauds"). In the first quarter of this year alone, the Police received 270 reports of this type of frauds, with the total amount of money defrauded standing at $2.6 million. Such figures have already surpassed the corresponding figures for the whole of last year (i.e. 146 reports and $1 million), indicating that this type of frauds are on the rise. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of reports of the various types of technology crimes received by the Police in each of the past five years; among such reports, the number and percentage of instant message frauds, and the respective numbers of those cases in which the suspects were subsequently prosecuted and convicted; (2) of the standard procedure adopted by the Police for handling reports on instant message frauds, and the difficulties they encountered when conducting the relevant investigation and evidence collection work; whether the Police will refuse to handle such reports on the ground that the informants have not suffered any monetary loss and whether the Police will provide the informants with assistance, e.g. assisting them in preventing their relatives and friends from falling prey to such frauds; and (3) whether the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Police will, in the coming three years, take measures to further (i) combat the ever-evolving technology crimes and (ii) heighten public vigilance against the approaches adopted in instant message frauds and other types of technology crimes; if so, of the details?
3. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
As at the end of 2014, there were about 4 500 persons with permission to drive cross-boundary container trucks to commute between Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, with nearly 70% of them being persons aged 50 or above. The Mainland authorities have stipulated that drivers aged over 60 are not permitted to drive heavy vehicles. Some members of the logistics industry have pointed out that with the upcoming commissioning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("HZMB"), the cargo hinterland of Hong Kong will be expanded. However, as the freight industry is plagued with the long-standing succession problem of drivers, Hong Kong may miss out the business opportunities to be brought about by the commissioning of HZMB. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of cross-boundary container truck drivers in each of the past three years, and set out in the table below a breakdown by the age group to which they belonged; Age (years) 2015 2016 2017 Below 20 20 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 to 59 60 or above Total
(2) whether it knows the number of courses related to the cross-boundary container freight and related industries offered in each of the past five years by the Employees Retraining Board ("ERB") under its Skills Upgrading Scheme Plus, and a breakdown of the number of trainees by (i) course title and (ii) whether they are in-service cross-boundary container truck drivers or persons outside the trade; (3) of the measures taken by the Government in the past three years to alleviate the shortage of cross-boundary container truck drivers, and the effectiveness of such measures; and (4) of the measures the Government will take to boost the number of cross-boundary container truck drivers to dovetail with the commissioning of HZMB; whether such measures will include: (i) making reference to the arrangement of the Professional Training and Examination Refund Scheme under the Maritime and Aviation Training Fund and granting tuition and examination fees subsidies to persons enrolled in training courses for cross-boundary container truck drivers, (ii) suggesting ERB to offer placement-tied courses for cross-boundary container truck drivers, and (iii) relaxing the restrictions on importing Mainland drivers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and what other measures are in place to attract new blood into the industry?
4. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
At present, the general out-patient ("GOP") services under the Hospital Authority ("HA") are primarily targeted at low-income people, the elderly and chronically ill patients. Some members of the public have relayed that the services provided by general out-patient clinics ("GOPCs") are unsatisfactory. For instance, consultation quotas are in short supply, the coverage of service hours is inadequate, and the clinics are unevenly distributed among districts. Currently, among the 73 GOPCs in the territory, only 23 of them provide evening consultation services (i.e. from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm) from Mondays to Fridays, and only 13 of them provide, in addition to evening consultation services, consultation services on Sundays and public holidays. On the other hand, the Chief Executive indicated in the Policy Address delivered in October last year that the Government would allocate resources to improve the healthcare system and services, and the relevant measures included vigorously promoting primary healthcare, reducing repetitive admission of patients to hospital, and rectifying the phenomenon where accident and emergency ("A&E") services were regarded by members of the general public as the first point of contact in seeking medical consultation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will allocate additional resources to HA to strengthen the provision of evening GOP services on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that at present, while no GOP services on Sundays and public holidays are provided by HA in six District Council districts (i.e. the Central and Western District, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City, Kwai Tsing, Sai Kung, the Islands District), the aggregate population in those districts has all along been accounting for about 30% of Hong Kong's total population in the past few years, whether the Government will allocate additional resources to HA to enable it to provide the relevant services in those districts, so that patients need not go to other districts for seeking medical consultation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) given that as GOPCs and the vast majority of private clinics do not provide consultation services in late hours, members of the public who are taken ill during those hours, albeit with relatively mild symptoms only, have no alternative but to seek medical consultation from the A&E departments of public hospitals, thereby exerting extra pressure on the latter and wasting public resources, whether the Government will request HA to provide round-the-clock GOP services; if so, of the details; if not, how the Government rectifies the phenomenon where A&E departments are regarded by members of the public as the first point of contact in seeking medical consultation; (4) given that the ratios of the number of low-income households (i.e. those with monthly household income below $10,000) to the number of GOP consultation quotas in various districts are varied (with the overall ratio in Hong Kong being 4:1 last year, Sham Shui Po having the highest ratio of 5.6:1 and Islands District having the lowest ratio of 2.5:1), whether the Government will request HA to redeploy the resources allocated to GOPCs in various districts, so that the low-income households in various districts have equal access to the relevant services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether it will allocate additional resources to the Department of Health for the provision of GOP services, so as to strengthen the provision of public GOP services and alleviate the pressure on the GOPCs operated by HA; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
In December 2014, the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use promulgated a Guideline for Elemental Impurities ("the Guideline"), which provides for qualitative and quantitative limits on metal impurities in drug products and ingredients. It has been reported that a drug manufacturer which produced a potassium supplement named "Slow K" notified the Department of Health ("DH") in December last year that taking a high dose of that drug by patients might result in their intake of lead exceeding the standards stipulated in the Guideline. The drug manufacturer concurrently informed the Hospital Authority ("HA") of its decision to cease the production of that drug product for the aforesaid reason. However, due to an insufficient supply of alternative drugs, pharmacies of public hospitals and outpatient clinics continued to dispense Slow K to patients without telling them the associated risks. Only after the aforesaid incident had been disclosed in newspapers in mid-March this year did those pharmacies switch to dispense alternative drugs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether drug products applying for registration in Hong Kong are currently required to meet certain metal impurities standards; if so, of the details, including the international organizations or overseas drug regulatory authorities which promulgated the standards concerned; if not, the reasons for that and whether relevant standards will be set; (2) whether the authorities have reviewed if the existing registered drug products meet the metal impurities standards stipulated in the Guideline; if they have, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; (3) how the authorities handle the following situations: where a registered drug product is found (i) to contain metal impurities of levels exceeding the relevant standards promulgated in the Guideline or by other international organizations or overseas drug regulatory authorities, or (ii) to be no longer suitable for prescribing to patients; (4) how DH and HA handle the unexpired Slow K in stock; (5) whether it knows if HA will recall the Slow K which has been dispensed to its patients, and whether the authorities will deregister that drug product; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (6) whether it knows if HA will arrange blood tests for those patients who have taken Slow K for a long period of time to ascertain if their blood lead levels are normal; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
The Drainage Services Department ("DSD") announced on 12 February this year that replacement and maintenance works would be carried out from early this year to early 2020 for the electrical and mechanical facilities at the Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works ("SISTW") under the Habour Area Treatment Scheme ("HATS") Stage 1. The works include the replacement of two large inlet penstocks installed deep underground at the Main Pumping Station No. 1 of SISTW. During the works period, DSD needs to discharge effluent, which has been initially treated at some of the upstream preliminary treatment works, into the Victoria Harbour by five bypasses, with each bypass not expected to exceed two weeks. DSD has indicated that according to the outcome of a consultancy study, the potential impact of the bypasses on the water quality of the Victoria Harbour is expected to be mild and transient, and DSD has devised appropriate contingency and mitigation measures. However, the water quality monitoring results published earlier by DSD showed that on some days during the first bypass (from 20 February to 5 March this year), the total Escherichia Coli ("E. coli") levels in three beaches near Tusen Wan ranged from 180 to 610 counts/100 millilitres ("mL") (a "poor" ranking for beach water quality), and the total E. coli levels in the two typhoon shelters in To Kwa Wan and Gin Drinkers Bay ranged from 10 000 to 50 000 counts/100 mL (a "very poor" ranking for beach water quality). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it has been reported that the aforesaid inlet penstocks needing replacement were made of cast iron and wrapped with phosphor bronze on all sides, and they have suffered serious corrosion due to prolonged exposure to effluent, of the details of the new inlet penstocks (including their design, materials used, how they compare with the original ones in terms of anti-corrosion capacity, anticipated service periods and replacement procedure in future); (2) whether the materials used for and the design of the inlet penstocks of the Main Pumping Station No. 2 under HATS Stage 2A are the same as those of the aforesaid inlet penstocks needing replacement; whether DSD will examine the corrosion condition of the former during the said replacement and maintenance works to assess when they need to be replaced; (3) whether DSD activated the aforesaid contingency and mitigation measures during the first bypass; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) of DSD's new measures to further alleviate the impacts on the water quality brought about by the bypasses yet to be carried out; (5) as DSD has indicated that it will, after conducting the first bypass, review (i) the arrangements for the replacement and maintenance works and (ii) the effectiveness of the contingency and mitigation measures, whether the review has been completed; if so, of the outcome; and (6) whether DSD will take measures to (i) reduce the number of bypasses that need to be carried out and (ii) shorten the duration of each bypass?
7. Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that in order to alleviate a shortage of nursing manpower in the public hospitals, the Hospital Authority ("HA") at present not only employs part-time nurses, but also hires the services provided by nurses employed by agencies ("agency nurses"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the respective numbers of days for which (i) part-time nurses and (ii) agency nurses worked in the public hospitals under each hospital cluster ("cluster") last year, as well as the respective expenditures involved; (2) of the respective (i) entry requirements (including working experience), (ii) employment terms, (iii) range of salaries (including minimum pay point and maximum pay point) and (iv) duties, of part-time nurses and agency nurses (set out in a table); (3) the criteria based on which HA determines (i) whether there is a demand for extra nursing manpower, and (ii) whether such demand is to be met by employing part-time nurses or hiring the services provided by agency nurses; (4) whether HA has (i) provided pre-employment training to part-time nurses and agency nurses to ensure that the care services provided by them are up to professional standards, and (ii) put in place a mechanism to evaluate their performance; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) the respective numbers of days for which (i) part-time nurses and (ii) agency nurses worked/will work in the public hospitals under each cluster from March to May this year, as well as the respective expenditures involved?
8. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority ("MPFA") launched, in late 2016, an e-Enquiry of Personal Account ("ePA") platform and an ePA mobile application to enable members of Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") schemes to access and manage their MPF personal accounts more easily ("ePA service"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) the current number of MPF scheme members who have registered and activated the ePA service; (2) whether MPFA has reviewed the effectiveness of the ePA service since its launch; if so, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether MPFA has any plan to expand the scope of information available for enquiry under the ePA service so as to enable MPF scheme members to have access to (i) the latest balances in their MPF personal accounts, and (ii) information on the contributions made by their current employers to the MPF accounts set up for them; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
9. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
I have often received complaints from members of the public that due to regular feeding by some people, large numbers of birds often congregate in certain public places, which causes noise and public hygiene problems as well as increases the risk of diseases being transmitted from birds to humans. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (i) the number of reports received by the authorities in each of the past three years on bird carcasses found in public places, and (ii) the number of cases in which such bird carcasses were tested positive to avian influenza virus, with a breakdown by District Council ("DC") district; (2) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past three years about people feeding birds in public places, with a breakdown by DC district; (3) whether the authorities will step up the cleansing and disinfection of bird-feeding black spots, so as to reduce the risk of diseases being transmitted from birds to humans; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) as persons dirtying public places by feeding birds may be prosecuted, whether the authorities will consider installing closed-circuit television cameras at bird-feeding black spots and deploying additional staff to patrol such places, so as to step up law enforcement efforts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether currently there is any legislation which directly prohibits the acts of feeding birds in public places; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider enacting such legislation?
10. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
The Conditions of Carriage of Luggage issued by the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") stipulate that each passenger travelling on the trains of the urban lines may carry one piece of luggage only, with dimensions not exceeding the specified limits. In November 2015, MTRCL implemented a Trial Registration Scheme for Carriage of Oversized Musical Instruments ("the Scheme") under which a passenger holding a permit issued by MTRCL may carry one piece of large musical instrument with dimensions not exceeding relaxed limits while travelling on the trains of urban lines. The Scheme was regularized in March 2016, and its coverage was extended to sports equipment in August of the same year. On the other hand, there are restrictions on the weight of luggage carried by passengers travelling on the trains of the East Rail Line ("ERL"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) in each of the past three years, (i) the number of actions taken by MTRCL to enforce the size or weight restrictions on luggage, and (ii) the respective numbers of persons who were given a verbal warning, given a written warning, prosecuted and convicted (and among such numbers, the respective numbers involving oversized musical instruments or sports equipment); (2) the respective numbers of applications for registration of oversized musical instruments received, approved and rejected by MTRCL since the launch of the Scheme in November 2015, with a breakdown of the rejected cases by the reason for the rejection and the type of musical instruments involved; (3) the respective numbers of applications for registration of oversized sports equipment received, approved and rejected by MTRCL since the Scheme's coverage was extended to sports equipment in August 2016, with a breakdown of the rejected cases by the reason for the rejection and the type of sports equipment involved; (4) the details of the training and guidelines provided by MTRCL for its frontline staff on the handling of cases of passengers' carrying oversized musical instruments or sports equipment; whether frontline staff may, under such guidelines, exercise discretion to allow passengers who have applied for but have not been issued a permit to carry oversized musical instruments or sports equipment; (5) whether MTRCL will consider improving the Scheme, such as relaxing the size restrictions on luggage, streamlining the application procedure, designating additional locations for collection of the permits; if MTRCL will, of the details; if MTRCL will not, the reasons for that; and (6) given that there used to be a baggage car at the front and rear of ERL trains operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation before the rail merger, whether MTRCL will draw reference from such practice and designate parts of the trains for exclusive use by passengers carrying relatively bulky objects to avoid their causing inconvenience to other passengers; if MTRCL will, of the details; if MTRCL will not, the reasons for that?
11. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
Under the Student Travel Scheme implemented by the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"), students between the ages of 12 and 25 who are currently studying in full-time day courses offered by recognized institutions in Hong Kong may enjoy fare concessions. Full-time post-secondary students aged 26 or above are therefore unable to benefit from the Scheme. Some members of the public have pointed out that in recent years, quite a number of young people have, after working for several years, chosen to go back to school to take full-time courses. As these people have become financially self-reliant, the economic pressure borne by them may be greater than that borne by students aged 25 or below. As a result, such people have a greater need for fare concessions. It has been learnt that similar provisions on an upper age limit for the beneficiaries are not found in the student fare concession schemes offered by the railway services in certain overseas places (e.g. Sydney and Singapore). Regarding the fare concessions for students offered by public transport operators, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the fare concessions for students currently offered by the public transport operators in the territory (including whether there is any upper age limit for the beneficiaries); (2) whether it knows the justifications for MTRCL setting an upper age limit for the beneficiaries of its Student Travel Scheme; (3) whether it will suggest to MTRCL that the upper age limit for the beneficiaries be removed; and (4) whether it will consider including, in the new franchise/service concession agreements for public transport service to be granted in future, a provision requiring the operators concerned to provide fare concessions for students?
12. Hon Wilson OR to ask: (Translation)
Many residents in the districts of Kwun Tong and Wong Tai Sin have complained to me that rodent infestation is a serious problem in their districts. They have also pointed out that although the authorities have all along been implementing the Keep Clean campaign and carrying out anti-rodent campaigns at small targeted areas, the hygiene conditions in the back alleys of private buildings and nearby streets in the districts remain poor. Not only do rodents appear in markets, back alleys, streets, etc., but they also trespass on residential premises to find food. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will step up the cleaning and anti-rodent work in the aforesaid districts, review the effectiveness of the Keep Clean and anti-rodent campaigns, and revise the strategy for rodent prevention and control; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that the rodent infestation rate ("RIR") of a certain district is calculated with reference to the proportion of baits placed in the district bitten by rodents, but the extent to which baits are bitten by rodents may be affected by a number of factors (e.g. whether there is other food which is more appealing), whether the authorities will review and improve the calculation method of RIR so that it can reflect more accurately the real situation of rodent infestation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as the authorities are implementing an Internet Protocol Camera Scheme at the hygiene black spots across the territory to combat indiscriminate refuse dumping, of the latest progress of the Scheme; whether the authorities will expedite the implementation of the Scheme so as to reduce the food sources of rodents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
13. Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some trade union representatives have relayed to me that although the Government has implemented a number of measures in recent years to encourage young people to pursue a career in the maritime industry, the local vessel sector and river trade sector are still facing manpower shortage and succession problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of persons employed in the two aforesaid sectors in each of the past five years (with a breakdown by age group), and the respective anticipated manpower demand of the two sectors in each of the coming five years; (2) whether it knows the respective (i) average monthly vacancy rates and (ii) median monthly wages, of seamen in the two sectors in the past five years; (3) whether it knows the respective numbers of seamen in the two sectors who will retire within the coming five years; (4) whether it knows the respective numbers of persons who joined the two sectors as seamen in the past five years upon completion of the relevant training; and (5) whether it will formulate new measures to attract members of the public to pursue a career in the two sectors so as to mitigate their manpower shortage and succession problems?
14. Hon HO Kai-ming to ask: (Translation)
The Government, the Vocational Training Council and the Hong Kong Retail Management Association jointly launched in 2014 a Pilot Earn and Learn Scheme for the Retail Industry ("Earn and Learn Scheme") to provide student-workers with an opportunity to "earn and learn" as well as a well-defined progression pathway, aiming to attract talents to join the retail industry. According to the arrangement under the Earn and Learn Scheme, if the student-workers of the Foundation Diploma ("FD") programme, upon graduation, become full-time employees of the same employers as those during the training period, they will be entitled to a monthly income of not less than $11,000. It has been learnt that the first three runs of FD programme were completed between 2016 and this year, and the fourth run is underway. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) in respect of the second and third runs of the FD programme respectively, (i) the number of enrollees, (ii) the number of dropouts with a breakdown by reason therefor, (iii) the number of graduates, (iv) the dates of graduation, and (v) the number of graduates who are still currently employed by the same employers as those during the training periods; (2) the respective total numbers of positions offered by the employers participating in the Earn and Learn Scheme to the graduates of the second and third runs of the FD programme; among such positions, the respective numbers of those with a monthly basic salary of $11,000 or more and less than $11,000, and among the latter, the respective numbers of positions with a monthly basic salary (i) of less than $5,000, (ii) from $5,000 to $7,000, (iii) from $7,001 to $9,000, and (iv) of more than $9,000; (3) among the graduates of the first to third runs of the FD programme, (i) the number of those who still work in the retail industry (with a breakdown by position and monthly income range), and (ii) the number of those who have left the retail industry (with a breakdown by reason for leaving); and (4) the number of enrollees for the fourth run of the FD programme; when the enrolment for the courses of the fifth run will begin and when they will start?
15. Hon Jeremy TAM to ask: (Translation)
The Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong ("the Blueprint"), released in December 2017 by the Government, has proposed measures to promote the development of Hong Kong into a smart city, and made recommendations for development in respect of six major areas: smart mobility, smart living, smart environment, smart people, smart government and smart economy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that, on smart government, the Blueprint has proposed to develop Common Spatial Data Infrastructure ("CSDI") by 2023 to facilitate the sharing of geo-spatial data across government departments and government-to-business ("G2B") applications, and the relevant work includes the launch of a related portal, 3D digital maps and an electronic submission hub for building plans, (i) of the respective budgeted expenditures for construction and management of CSDI, (ii) of the file format to be adopted for the 3D digital maps, (iii) of the government departments responsible for such work, and (iv) of the details of the G2B applications to be developed within the coming three years and the types of enterprises to be involved; (2) given that, on smart mobility, the Blueprint has mentioned that the Government will continue to explore and formulate relevant initiatives to tie in with the technological and industrial developments in vehicle-to-everything and autonomous vehicles, (i) whether it has plans to amend the relevant legislation and law enforcement procedure; if so, of the details; if not, the justifications for that; (ii) whether it launched in the past three years, and whether it has plans to launch in the coming three years, relevant pilot schemes; if so, of the details; if not, the justifications for that; and (iii) whether it has established a mechanism for reviewing if the initiatives concerned can catch up with the latest technological development; if so, of the details; if not, the justifications for that; and (3) given that My Kowloon East ("MyKE"), a mobile application developed by the Government's Energizing Kowloon East Office and Lands Department with the aim to promote smart city initiatives and provides real-time traffic and pedestrian walking paths information of the Kowloon East district, has reportedly received a lukewarm response from the public since its launch in 2016 (only about 6 800 person-download-times recorded as at February this year, representing about 0.6% of the population in the district), (i) of the expenditure incurred by the Government for developing MyKE, (ii) of the number of times for which MyKE was updated so far, and the relevant dates of such updates, (iii) of the number of active users of MyKE in each of the past three months, (iv) of the annual expenditure on the maintenance/management of MyKE, and (v) whether it has plans to incorporate, within the coming three years, information of other districts into MyKE; if so, of the implementation timetable, the names of the government departments and service contractors responsible for such work, the budgeted expenditure, and the estimated return on investment?
16. Hon Kenneth LAU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a data analytics and political consulting firm in the United Kingdom ("UK") was recently found to have allegedly harvested, through a psychological quiz mobile phone application ("App"), the Facebook account data of the users of the App as well as such data of their friends, and used the data to help the firm's clients to influence the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election of the United States and the UK Brexit referendum. The number of Facebook users affected is as high as 50 million. The incident has aroused concerns about whether the privacy of users of social media platforms (such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram) is adequately protected and whether the data in their accounts will be misused. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of complaints received by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD") in each of the past five years about the personal data in social media accounts having been misused; among such complaints, of (i) the first three types with the highest number of complaints by complaint nature, and their respective numbers, as well as (ii) the number of those complaints relating to electoral activities; (2) whether it knows if PCPD has gained an understanding from Facebook's office in Hong Kong on whether the company has, in the light of the aforesaid incident, stepped up the protection for Hong Kong users' personal data in their Facebook accounts, including strengthening its examination on those Apps which are connected to Facebook, so as to ascertain if such Apps have intruded on users' privacy; if PCPD has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it will consider enacting dedicated legislation to regulate the collection of and protection for users' account data by social media platforms so as to protect users' privacy and prevent misuse (including sale) of such data; if so, of the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it has plans to raise the awareness of members of the public of protecting their own privacy when using social media; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) as PCPD has in recent years received quite a number of complaints about the use of personal data in electoral activities without the data subjects' consent, and it has become increasingly common for candidates of elections to use social media platforms for conducting their electioneering campaigns, whether the authorities will step up the regulation of activities of using social media platforms to influence election outcome (e.g. posting advertisements); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
17. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
In the 2018-2019 Budget delivered on 28 February this year, the Financial Secretary ("FS") proposed a number of measures for sharing the fruits of success, including (i) reducing salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the last financial year by 75% (subject to a ceiling of $30,000), (ii) waiving the rates for the four quarters of the current financial year (subject to a ceiling of $2,500 per quarter for each property), (iii) providing a one-off grant of $2,000 to each student in need, and (iv) providing an extra allowance to social security recipients, in an amount equivalent to two months of the standard rate Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments, Old Age Allowance, Old Age Living Allowance or Disability Allowance. FS announced on the 23rd of last month a Caring and Sharing Scheme ("the Scheme"), under which an eligible person will receive a sum of $4,000 or the difference between $4,000 and the amount received under the aforesaid fruit-sharing measures. The Scheme will be implemented by the Working Family Allowance Office ("the Office"). Regarding the details of the Scheme, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that where the amount receivable by social security recipients from the aforesaid fruit-sharing measures is less than $4,000, they will automatically be given the shortfall under the Scheme, of the application procedure for other eligible persons under the Scheme; when the Scheme will disburse payments, as forecast by the authorities; (2) given that those persons who own self-occupied properties but have been granted rates concession of less than $4,000 may receive the difference between $4,000 and the rates concession, how the Office will calculate the rates concession which have been received by persons who own only part of a property title; (3) whether the amount receivable under the Scheme by students who have received the aforesaid grant of $2,000 and are eligible to apply for the Scheme is $4,000 or $2,000 (i.e. the difference between the two); (4) given that as the owner and the occupier of a property may settle on their own which party is responsible for paying the rates, the beneficiaries of the rates concession may not necessarily be the owners, whether owners who have not benefitted from the rates concession may apply for receiving $4,000 under the Scheme; if not, of the justifications for that; (5) given that the current Demand for Rates and/or Government Rent ("Demand") does not contain information which can be used to verify the property owner's identity (e.g. identity card number), how the staff of the Office, upon finding that the owners' names stated on some Demands are the same as that of a certain applicant under the Scheme, will ascertain whether those owners and the applicant concerned are the same person; and (6) whether it has assessed if, according to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and relevant legislation, the Inland Revenue Department and the Rating and Valuation Department may transfer the information in their respective possession relating to salaries tax and rates to the Office for vetting and approval of applications made under the Scheme; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the negative, of the authorities' solution in order to implement the Scheme?
18. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)
The Government of the United States ("US") announced last month its plan to impose tariffs respectively of 25% and 10% on certain steel and aluminium products (including aluminium products imported from Hong Kong). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (i) the figures of Hong Kong's surpluses/deficits in merchandise trade with US and (ii) the quantity of aluminium products exported from Hong Kong to US, in each of the past five years; (2) whether it knows the current number of local enterprises that engage in the businesses of manufacturing and export of aluminium products; whether the Government has estimated the number of such enterprises which will be affected by the measure of imposition of tariffs; and (3) given that the Government has requested US to exempt Hong Kong from the measure of imposition of tariffs, of the details of such request; whether the Government has any contingency plans to mitigate the impacts on local enterprises in the event that US imposes additional tariffs on other imports from Hong Kong?
19. Hon Jimmy NG to ask: (Translation)
According to the information published by the Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff in August 2013, the nurse-to-patient ratio of night-shifts in public hospitals in that year was 1:24, i.e. each nurse needed to take care of 24 patients on average, and such ratio was far worse than the ratio of international standard at 1:6. Some nurses of public hospitals have relayed that their workload has increased continuously in the past few years and their work pressure has therefore become greater. In addition, the Hospital Authority ("HA") has all along been facing shortages of various types of healthcare staff. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows (i) the average doctor-to-patient ratio and (ii) the average nurse-to-patient ratio, in each public hospital for each of the morning, afternoon and night shifts in each of the past five years (set out in a table); (2) whether it knows the respective average rates of pay increases for staff of various ranks in each healthcare grade in public and private hospitals in each of the past five years (set out in a table); (3) whether it will consider drawing up a target nurse-to-patient ratio to ensure the quality of nursing care services, alleviate the work pressure on nurses and reduce nurse wastage; (4) as the Chief Executive announced on 30 January this year that an additional one-off allocation of $500 million would be provided immediately to HA to alleviate the tremendous work pressure faced by frontline healthcare staff during the winter surge in service demand, whether the Government knows if HA will use the funding to implement new measures for retaining healthcare professionals; if HA will, of the details; and (5) as some frontline healthcare staff members have pointed out that the use of the $500 million funding by HA to reduce nurses' clerical work in the wards is not conducive to solving the long-term manpower shortage problem, and coupled with the fact that the influenza summer surge is forthcoming, whether the Government will expeditiously and comprehensively review if the nursing manpower in public hospitals is sufficient to meet the ever increasing service demand, and formulate new short and medium term measures to solve the problem; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
20. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the World Health Organization plans to classify "gaming disorder" as one of the diseases hazardous to mental health when it updates the International Classification of Diseases ("ICD") in the middle of this year. On preventing youths from being addicted to video game playing, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of requests for assistance received by the authorities in each of the past three years concerning youths' addiction to video game playing (with a breakdown by age and gender of addicts), and how the authorities helped the assistance seekers; (2) of the details of the public education efforts currently made to prevent youths from being addicted to video game playing; (3) whether it will allocate additional resources to assist parents in handling the problem of their children being addicted to video game playing; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (4) whether it has assessed if the inclusion of gaming disorder in ICD will impact on the implementation of the existing insurance laws; if it has, of the details; if it has not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether it has conducted studies on the adverse impact of the development of the electronic sports industry on youths; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct such studies?
21. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
The Chief Executive indicated in the Policy Address delivered in October last year that the Government would launch a pilot Multi-functional Smart Lampposts scheme at selected urban locations to support the building of a smart city with city-wide coverage of data and network, and complement the future infrastructure development for 5G mobile communications services in Hong Kong. Some members of the information technology sector have pointed out that in addition to lampposts, quite a number of existing on-street facilities (e.g. telephone booths and bus stops) can be converted into infrastructural facilities needed for building a smart city ("smart infrastructural facilities"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has studied which types of existing on-street facilities are suitable for conversion into smart infrastructural facilities; if so, of the number of each type of such on-street facilities and, among them, the respective numbers of those which are government-owned and privately-owned; (2) as it is learnt that quite a number of advanced cities are gradually converting existing telephone booths into smart electronic information kiosks which provide services such as free WiFi, telephone communications, power charging through USB ports and provision of city information, as well as installing detectors on on-street facilities to collect various real-time city data in order to strengthen traffic and city management, whether the Government has plans to make reference to such practices and convert Hong Kong's on-street facilities into smart infrastructural facilities; if it has no such plans, of the reasons for that; if it has such plans, whether the Government will (i) designate the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office or set up an inter-departmental task group to undertake the relevant work, so as to strengthen the coordination among the various government departments and shorten the related vetting and approval time, as well as (ii) adopt a public-private partnership approach to take forward those conversion works involving privately-owned on-street facilities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) regarding the suggestion of converting existing on-street facilities into smart infrastructural facilities, whether the Government will (i) conduct public consultation, and (ii) implement pilot schemes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
22. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Drainage Services Department announced in February this year that replacement and maintenance works would be carried out from early this year to early 2020 for the electrical and mechanical facilities at the Stonecutters Island Sewage Treatment Works ("SISTW"). The works include the replacement of two large inlet penstocks at the Main Pumping Station No. 1 installed deep underground that have been operating for over 16 years. It has been reported that the inlet penstocks need to be replaced due to corrosion, and during the works period when the pumping station concerned needs to be closed, around 930 000 cubic metres (equivalent to 370 standard swimming pools) of preliminarily treated/screened effluent will be discharged into the Victoria Harbour each day. Regarding the impact of sewage treatment on the quality of water bodies in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the estimated expenditure for the aforesaid replacement of inlet penstocks; the other sewage treatment works ("STWs") currently using inlet penstocks of the same model; and whether it has regularly monitored the corrosion situation of those inlet penstocks; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the following information in respect of each STW: (i) the year of commissioning, (ii) the average volume of sewage treated per day, (iii) the average volume of treated effluent discharged per day, (iv) the water control zone ("WCZ") into which the treated effluent is discharged, and (v) the name(s) of the beach(es) in the vicinity, with the locations of the various STWs, their outfalls and nearby beaches marked on a map; (3) of the respective Water Quality Objectives ("WQO") compliance rates of the water bodies in each WCZ in terms of total inorganic nitrogen, unionized ammonia nitrogen, E. coli bacteria, etc., in each of the past five years (set out in a table); (4) of the respective WQO compliance rates of the water bodies in the various gazetted beaches in the vicinity of each STW in terms of dissolved oxygen, E. coli bacteria, turbidity, etc., in each of the past five years (set out in a table); (5) in respect of the incidents in the past five years in which STWs discharged effluent not having gone through the established treatment procedure, of the following details of each incident: (i) the name of the STW concerned, (ii) the date on which the incident happened and (iii) the number of days the incident lasted, (iv) the cause(s) of the incident, and, during the incident, (v) the level(s) of treatment which the discharged effluent had undergone, (vi) the average volume of sewage treated per day and (vii) the volume of effluent discharged per day (set out in a table); and (6) whether it has assessed the impacts of the incidents mentioned in (5) on the quality of water bodies in the vicinity, and whether it has monitored the relevant situation and adopted mitigation measures; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
III. Government Bills
| First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| Companies (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume)
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| Appropriation Bill 2018 | : | Financial Secretary
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