A 17/18-38
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 27 June 2018 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Public Pleasure Grounds) (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) (No. 2) Order 2018 | 119/2018 |
| 2. | Declaration of Increase in Pensions Notice 2018 | 120/2018 |
| 3. | Widows and Orphans Pension (Increase) Notice 2018 | 121/2018 |
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 113 | - | Sir David Trench Fund for Recreation
Annual Report 2017-2018 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs) | |||
| 2. | No. 114 | - | Securities and Futures Commission
Annual Report 2017-18 |
| (to be presented by Financial Secretary) | |||
| 3. | No. 115 | - | Investor Education Centre
Annual Report 2017-18 |
| (to be presented by Financial Secretary) | |||
| 4. | No. 116 | - | Airport Authority Hong Kong
Annual Report 2017/18 |
| (to be presented by Financial Secretary) | |||
| 5. | Report of the Bills Committee on Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2018 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Frankie YICK, Chairman of the Bills Committee) | |||
| 6. | Report of the Panel on Public Service 2017-2018 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon POON Siu-ping, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon SHIU Ka-chun to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some secondary school students arrived at the Victoria Park in the afternoon of the 4th of this month to get themselves ready for attending the June 4th candlelight vigil to be held there that night. During that time, a woman, for the reason of compiling statistics on the number of participating students, enquired with those students and jotted down the names of the schools they were attending, and she refused to disclose her identity to the reporters. Albeit not wearing a police warrant card, the woman was not stopped when she entered the Police Command Post on the spot. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the aforesaid woman is a police officer; if so, of the duties she was discharging at that time and why she was not wearing her police warrant card; if not, the reasons why she was not stopped when she entered the Police Command Post; (2) whether the Police will deploy plain-clothed police officers to compile statistics on the number of students participating in public assemblies; if so, of the number of participating students in the past five years; if not, how it prevents lawbreakers from collecting the personal data from students under the guise of compiling statistics; and (3) of the ranks of police officers who are generally deployed by the Police to assess the number of participants of public assemblies, and whether they will also collect the personal data of the participants; if so, of the items, uses and retention periods of the data collected, and the measures to prevent such data from being misused?
2. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the planning of facilities for the elderly and persons with disabilities ("PWDs"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the planning of various types of facilities for the elderly and PWDs has been conducted under the Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030, which is expected to be promulgated within this year; if so, of the standards adopted, as well as the numbers of various types of facilities (including residential care places) needed to be provided in accordance with the planning results, and the floor areas they will occupy; (2) as the Government indicated in October last year that it planned to reinstate "population-based planning ratios for elderly services" in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines ("HKPSG"), of the progress of such work, the reasons for deleting such ratios in the past, the ratios and per capita space standards to be adopted in providing the various types of facilities, and how the new ratios and standards compare with the old ones; and (3) whether it has plans to include the planning ratios for services for PWDs in HKPSG; if so, of the timetable, and the ratios and per capita space standards to be adopted for the provision of various types of facilities; whether such ratios were included in the past; if so, of the reasons for the subsequent deletions, and how the new ratios and standards compare with the old ones?
3. Hon CHAN Chun-ying to ask: (Translation)
In February 2015, the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited tightened the arrangements under the Mortgage Insurance Programme ("MIP") by reducing the maximum MIP coverage for eligible residential properties from 90% loan-to-value ("LTV") ratio to 80% LTV ratio, and suspending the acceptance of applications for mortgage loans exceeding 80% LTV ratio. However, those first-time home buyers with regular income and stronger repayment ability are still eligible for MIP coverage of 90% LTV ratio. Some members of the public have pointed out that in recent years, developers have calculated the maximum property price affordable to first-time home buyers on the basis of the maximum MIP coverage and the mortgage loan amounts generally approved by banks for first-time home buyers. For instance, when the per-square-foot price is $10,000, a home buyer who can afford a property price of $4 million will be able to buy a flat of 400 square feet; when the per-square-foot price rises to $20,000, he can only buy a flat of 200 square feet. As the price per square foot of flats has been rising incessantly in recent years, the size of the residential flats built by developers according to the price affordable to buyers has become smaller and smaller. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of residential mortgages covered by MIP each year since the tightening of the arrangements under MIP and, among them, the number and percentage of such mortgages involving flats with saleable floor area less than 20 square metres; how such figures compare with the relevant figures for the two years immediately preceding the revisions; (2) whether it has conducted studies on the correlation between the tightening of the arrangements under MIP and the prevalence of nano residential flats; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will consider regulating nano flats, such as stipulating the minimum size of residential flats through administrative measures?
4. Dr Hon Pierre CHAN to ask: (Translation)
The number of requests for assistance from sex crime victims received by RainLily has risen continuously in the past 17 years. Only about 10% of the perpetrators in the rape cases involved in such requests were subsequently prosecuted. Regarding law enforcement on crimes of rape and indecent assault, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows, in each of the past five years, the respective numbers of victims in rape cases and indecent assault cases receiving treatment or undergoing examinations at the accident and emergency departments of public hospitals, with a breakdown by the gender of the victims and by whether the cases were reported to the Police, as well as the reasons why some victims did not report their cases to the Police; (2) among the rape cases mentioned in (1), of the number of cases in which the victims gave witness statements to the Police and underwent forensic examinations in public hospitals; the number of cases in which any of the two procedures was not conducted in public hospitals, as well as their respective reasons; and (3) of the prosecution rates of rape cases in each of the past five years; whether it has assessed if the prosecution rates were on the low side; if it has, of the criteria adopted for and the outcome of the assessment?
5. Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to ask: (Translation)
When she attended this Council's Question and Answer Session held on the 3rd of last month, the Chief Executive ("CE") advised that the Lands Resumption Ordinance should not be invoked arbitrarily because "owners whose private ownership is being infringed upon … will apply for judicial review against the Government", and such lawsuits might last for as long as eight to nine years. However, in reply to a written question raised by a Member of this Council on the 30th of last month, the Government indicated that over the past two decades from July 1997 to December 2017, there were only eight judicial review cases lodged by landowners arising from the Government's invocation of the Ordinance for resumption of their private lands. For such cases, the time taken from the Court's granting of leave for judicial review to its handing down of judgments on the judicial review ranged from nine days, the shortest, to no more than one year, the longest. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed if CE's aforesaid statement is erroneous, and if it will mislead this Council and members of the public into believing that invocation of the Lands Resumption Ordinance will very likely give rise to litigations; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether it will advise CE to rescind that statement; and (2) whether it will undertake that it will only invoke the Lands Resumption Ordinance and not adopt the public-private partnership approach, in order to tap into private developers' agricultural lands for carrying out housing development projects?
6. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, there have been a number of incidents of suspected leak of public examination papers. Although the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority ("HKEAA") has repeatedly stated that it attaches great importance to preserving the secrecy of examination papers and a mechanism is in place to tightly monitor and control the processes of design, review, printing, packing and distribution of examination papers, and that all personnel appointed or employed by HKEAA shall, under the law, preserve secrecy with regard to all matters coming to their knowledge in the performance of any function, some members of the public have indicated that they remain doubtful. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if HKEAA, in the past three years, enhanced the mechanism for monitoring and preventing the leak of examination papers as well as for reporting suspected cases to the Independent Commission Against Corruption; (2) whether the Education Bureau ("EDB") will review the mechanism for its monitoring the performance of HKEAA; if EDB will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it knows the number of incidents of a leak of examination papers in the past five years in which HKEAA had obtained evidence on the leak; whether it has assessed if such incidents have reflected a dereliction of duty on the part of the personnel of EDB or HKEAA; if it has assessed, of the outcome?
*7. Hon AU Nok-hin to ask: (Translation)
The owner of a film props production company and a staff member of a logistics company were earlier convicted of possessing counterfeits of currency notes and sentenced to four months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, because they had in their possession 220 000 replica banknotes with the words "PROPS" printed on them. Such case has aroused grave concerns among practitioners in the film industry and members of the public that the relevant legislation have failed to keep up with the times, caused confusion among practitioners in the film industry, and neglected the need of the film industry for using realistic props. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of applications for reproducing Hong Kong currency notes to which the Monetary Authority ("MA") gave consent in writing in the past five years and last year, and set out a breakdown by use of the replicas in the table below;
Use Past five years Last year Production of textbooks Production of advertisements Production of television programmes Production of films Others Total 250 (2) of the respective numbers of persons (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted, in the past five years for possessing counterfeits of currency notes; (3) as one of the functions of the Film Services Office is the provision of one-stop services in the application for various permits required for film production, whether the Office assisted the film industry in applying for the reproduction of banknotes in the past five years; if not, whether it will provide such service immediately; (4) given that the current procedure for applying for the reproduction of Hong Kong currency notes involves a number of organizations (including MA, note-issuing banks and the Hong Kong Government, which own the copyrights of their respective currency notes, and the Police, which regulate the reproduction process as well as issues relating to the custody and destruction of replicas), whether the authorities will set up a central platform to process such kind of applications, streamline the application procedure and shorten the time needed for processing applications; and (5) as some practitioners in the film industry have pointed out that certain conditions imposed by the authorities for granting permission for the reproduction of banknotes are stringent (e.g. the replicas shall be at least 20% smaller or larger than the actual size of the genuine notes), resulting in a deterioration of the quality of the films concerned due to the use of unrealistic props, whether the authorities will review and relax the relevant conditions, so that filmmakers may use more realistic prop banknotes?
*8. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Under the existing legislation, liquor licences may be issued only to natural persons but not body corporates and companies. For trade facilitation, the Government has implemented since March last year a Reserve Licensee Mechanism ("RLM"), allowing a liquor licensee to identify and nominate at an early stage a suitable person as a reserve licensee to take over the duty of the licensee within a short period in case of sudden departure of the licensee. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of applications for nomination of a reserve licensee received and approved by the authorities since the implementation of RLM; among the bars and other types of restaurants which have been issued with liquor licences, the respective current numbers and percentages of those that have a reserve licensee; (2) as some members of the catering industry have relayed that under the existing requirements, an application for nomination of a reserve licensee may only be submitted together with an application for new issue, transfer or renewal of liquor licence, whether the authorities will consider permitting liquor licensees to submit applications for nomination of a reserve licensee at any time during the licence period, with a view to enhancing the flexibility of RLM; if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the number of applications, received by the authorities since the implementation of RLM, for authorization of a reserve licensee to manage a liquor-licensed premises (together with a breakdown by whether the liquor-licensed premises were bars or other types of restaurants), as well as the average time taken for processing those applications; and (4) whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of RLM; if it has reviewed and the outcome is that RLM is ineffective, whether the authorities will consider afresh the proposal of permitting liquor licences to be held by body corporates or companies; if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon HUI Chi-fung to ask: (Translation)
Last month, two 80-year-old Chinese banyan trees located at Bonham Road in front of Tang Chi Ngong Building of the University of Hong Kong were removed by workers sent by the Government for the reason that the trees had health and structural problems. It has been reported that some tree experts queried that (i) the risk assessment for the two trees conducted prior to the removal by an arborist of an outsourced service contractor was sloppy, and (ii) the Government had all along failed to maintain and manage the two trees in accordance with the standard for management of stonewall trees. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the contractor engaged by the Lands Department was required to conduct regular inspection and maintenance of the two trees (including pruning) every six months since mid-2015, whether such maintenance work included (i) improving the soil at the trees' trunk bases, (ii) stabilizing the structure of the low-rise wall which was wrapped around by the trees' roots, and (iii) taking measures to enhance the trees' immunity; (2) given that the two trees met the definition of stonewall trees (i.e. most of the roots spreading on or penetrating through the wall face, and with the trunk bases situated within the confines of a wall), of the reasons why the Government had never maintained and managed the two trees in accordance with the standard for stonewall trees; and (3) whether the Government conducted, in the past three years, any review on the system of outsourcing tree management, including reviewing whether the practice of awarding service contracts based on the "lowest bid wins" principle had led to poor quality of risk assessments for trees, thereby causing the Government to make wrong decisions on the need to remove trees?
*10. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
At present, 70% to 80% of the fresh water in Hong Kong comes from Dongjiang water. Regarding fresh water supply in Hong Kong in times of droughts in Guangdong Province, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it is stipulated in the Agreement for the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong signed between the Hong Kong Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government that the two governments may discuss the adjustment of quantities of water to be supplied to Hong Kong in times of severe droughts in Guangdong Province; if so, of the details; (2) whether it has formulated measures to cope with the situation that the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong is inadequate due to severe droughts in Guangdong Province; if so, of the details, and under what circumstances water rationing will be imposed; and (3) given that the daily water supply of the Tseung Kwan O Desalination Plant, upon completion of its first stage construction works, will only meet around 5% of the daily water consumption of the whole territory, and that global water resources are getting increasingly tight, whether the authorities will study the setting of a target percentage of the fresh water output of the desalination plant in the water consumption at 30%?
*11. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the surveying sector have pointed out that the work carried out by land surveyors (e.g. providing information on ground features for construction works, establishing site boundaries and setting piling positions for piling works) can reduce disputes caused by unclear land boundaries and ensure that works are carried out at accurate locations. Nevertheless, the Government has not made it mandatory for public works contractors to engage, according to the project scale and complexity, a specified number of registered land surveyors to participate in the projects. Such a situation may impact on the progress and quality of the works, and is not conducive to providing job opportunities to attract new blood. On the other hand, the Highways Department ("HyD") issued the Highways Department Technical Circular No. 5/2003 ("the Technical Circular") in 2003, providing guidelines on the qualification and experience requirements of surveyors engaged by contractors in highway projects. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it is stipulated in the Technical Circular that in respect of road works the contract value of which is over $500 million, contractors must engage land surveyors who are members of The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors in the Land Surveying Division (or persons with equivalent professional qualifications) with relevant experience, and such surveyors should be full time on site, whether the authorities know how the relevant requirements are implemented; (2) given that the Technical Circular has been issued for over a decade since 2003, whether the authorities have reviewed if the Circular can still cater to present-day needs; if the authorities have, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that and whether they will conduct a review expeditiously; (3) whether government departments other than HyD have followed the guidelines set out in the Technical Circular when implementing works projects; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it will consider formulating guidelines to stipulate that, in respect of public works projects the contract value of which is over $500 million or those with complicated site boundaries, contractors must engage a specified number of registered land surveyors (or persons with equivalent professional qualifications and work experience) to participate in works planning, and such surveyors should be full time on site; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*12. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
In April this year, a serious lift accident occurred in a housing estate, causing injuries to two residents who needed to be sent to hospital for treatment. It is learnt that lift contractors often have difficulty in keeping aged lifts under proper repair and maintenance because they are unable to source parts, thereby posing safety hazards. As at the end of last year, 20 430 out of the some 66 200 lifts across the territory were more than 30 years old. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) regarding the Integrated Building Maintenance Assistance Scheme, the Building Maintenance Grant Scheme for Elderly Owners and the Building Safety Loan Scheme, of the respective numbers of applications involving lift repair and maintenance or replacement works (i) received and (ii) approved by the authorities in each of the past five years; in respect of the approved applications, of the respective total numbers of lifts involving (iii) replacement and (iv) repair and maintenance/parts replacement, and (v) the total amount of funding granted (set out in tables of the same format as the table below);
Name of scheme: _____________
Year (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 (2) of (i) the number of staff members of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department responsible for lift inspections and (ii) the number of such inspections conducted by them, in each of the past five years; (3) as some lift repairmen have pointed out that manpower shortage has resulted in them having to work overtime excessively and long working hours have caused recruitment difficulties, thereby creating a vicious cycle, of the measures the authorities have in place to encourage new blood to join the trade; and (4) as the authorities have indicated that they will, by making reference to the approach adopted in schemes such as the Operation Building Bright 2.0, allocate funding to subsidize property owners in need to carry out lift repair and maintenance or replacement works, of the implementation timetable of the relevant scheme; apart from providing subsidy, the measures the authorities have in place to encourage lift owners to replace aged lifts expeditiously?
*13. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
On the management of water resources, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the latest progress of the works for the first stage of the desalination plant at Tseung Kwan O; whether it will adopt measures to facilitate the completion of the construction works for the plant ahead of the target date of 2022; of the progress of the works for the second stage and whether an implementation timetable is in place; if there is no timetable, of the reasons for that; (2) of the latest progress of the following measures on new sources of water supply: (i) supplying reclaimed water to the north-eastern part of the New Territories in phases for non-potable uses, and (ii) wider use of grey water recycling and rainwater harvesting systems under suitable new government projects; (3) whether it has studied exploring new water sources to diversify water resources, thereby reducing the reliance on Dongjiang water; if not, of the reasons for that; and (4) regarding the consultancy review of the Total Water Management Strategy expected to be completed within this year, of (i) its preliminary findings and (ii) the outstanding work?
*14. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some facial cleansing products available for sale in Hong Kong contain dyes that have been banned by the European Union ("EU"). In the past, some sunscreen lotions and hair dye products were found after tests to contain estrogenic endocrine disruptors which were carcinogenic and allergens respectively. On the other hand, personal care products and cosmetics for sale in Hong Kong are now required to comply only with "the general safety requirement" in the Consumer Goods Safety Ordinance (Cap. 456). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will, by making reference to the relevant practices applied in EU or internationally, formulate product safety standards applicable to personal care products and cosmetics, so as to enhance the protection for consumers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) as some personal care products and cosmetics available in the market either do not have their ingredients labelled or have their ingredients labelled only in the language of the place of origin (neither Chinese nor English), and those products may contain ingredients that may cause allergies or even deaths, whether the authorities will amend the legislation to require that those products must have their ingredients labelled in both Chinese and English, so as to enhance the protection for consumers?
*15. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)
An incessant increase in the number of new referrals (including suspected cases of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder ("ADHD")) to the Child Assessment Service ("CAS") under the Department of Health ("DH") in recent years, coupled with the high turnover rate of doctors, has resulted in the failure of CAS last year to fulfill its performance pledge that 90% of new cases are assessed within six months. In addition, in 2017-2018 (as at 31 December 2017), the longest median waiting time of the new cases of child and adolescent psychiatric specialist outpatient ("CAPSO") among various hospital clusters was 119 weeks. On the other hand, the Government will regularize the Pilot Scheme on On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services ("On-site Services Scheme") starting from the 2018-2019 school year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as some psychiatrists have pointed out that the incidence rate of ADHD among school-age children is 5% to 9%, whether the authorities have estimated the current number of ADHD children in the territory and, among them, the number of those who are undiagnosed; if so, of the details; of the authorities' new measures to identify hidden cases as early as possible; (2) whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the respective current numbers of child psychiatrists serving in DH, public hospitals and private hospitals, and the number of those in private practice; (3) whether DH has specific measures to increase the doctor manpower of CAS, with a view to shortening the service waiting time and fulfilling the aforesaid performance pledge; if so, of the details; (4) among the members of the interdisciplinary teams of the On-site Services Scheme, of the types of professionals who may prescribe psychiatric medications; the time when the Scheme will be open for application, and the anticipated impact of the regularization of the Scheme on the waiting time for CAPSO services; (5) as some non-profit-making organizations currently conduct assessments and provide therapies to low-income families' children with suspected ADHD, whether the authorities have plans to collaborate with such organizations in order to shorten the waiting time for the relevant public services; and (6) whether the Government, the Hospital Authority and local universities studied in the past three years the causes of ADHD (including its relationship with genetic inheritance), with a view to identifying the causes of ADHD and formulating specific preventive measures as early as possible?
*16. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
At present, tenants of public rental housing ("PRH") units are obliged to reinstate all the original fixtures and fittings and remove items added by them ("reinstatement works") at their own expenses upon moving out of their units. However, if both the outgoing and incoming tenants of a unit wish to retain the fixtures and fittings added to the unit and if such fixtures and fittings meet the requirements, the Housing Department ("HD") will normally allow such fixtures and fittings be retained. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (i) the number of PRH units surrendered by tenants upon their moving out, (ii) among such units, the number of those for which reinstatement works had been carried out before they were surrendered, and (iii) the number of tenants who were allocated such reinstated units, in each of the past three years (set out by District Council district); (2) whether it knows the time taken and the expenses incurred in general for carrying out reinstatement works; (3) of the number of complaints received by HD in each of the past three years about the nuisances caused by reinstatement works; (4) whether it has assessed the quantity of construction waste generated by reinstatement works in each of the past three years; and (5) whether HD will review the current reinstatement requirements and improve the existing arrangements for granting exemption to reinstatement works (including establishing a matching service/platform for outgoing and incoming tenants), with a view to reducing (i) the need for carrying out reinstatement works and (ii) the construction waste so generated?
*17. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
The Land Titles Ordinance (Cap. 585) ("the Ordinance"), enacted by this Council on 7 July 2004, aims to replace the deeds registration system with a new system for registering the title to land and the interests in the land subject to which the title is held, so as to provide greater certainty to both the ownership of land and title to property, and simplify property conveyancing procedures. However, so far no implementation date for the Ordinance has been fixed since its enactment nearly 14 years ago. On the other hand, some members of the legal sector have said that under the deeds registration system, legal practitioners have to carry out the onerous task of searching land records for property conveyancing and real estate transactions. This, coupled with the fact that their salary is generally low, has resulted in a drain of talents and acute manpower shortage. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the authorities said that various complex issues had to be resolved before commencement of the Ordinance, for example, the mechanism for converting lands under the existing system to those under the new system as well as the "daylight conversion" mechanism (i.e. automatic conversion at the end of the 12th year after commencement of the Ordinance) might affect the titles to land the registers of which showed indeterminate ownership, and cause the Land Registry to be legally liable for the compensation concerned, of the progress made by the authorities in tackling those problems; whether, according to the authorities' assessment, there is any problem which cannot be resolved in the end; (2) as the authorities said that after a broad consensus had been reached with the key stakeholders on the implementation of the Land Title Registration System on new land first ("the new land first proposal"), they would consult the Land Titles Ordinance Review Committee and the Land Titles Ordinance Steering Committee before submitting the proposal and introducing the Land Titles (Amendment) Bill to this Council, whether the authorities will draw up the relevant timetable expeditiously to facilitate members of the public and legal practitioners to make corresponding arrangements early; and (3) of the estimated amount of administrative expenditure to be saved for the legal practitioners concerned and the number of jobs to be created in the legal sector under the new land first proposal?
*18. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)
Regarding public access to the holdings of the Public Records Office ("PRO"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current volume of PRO's holdings; in respect of each type of holdings (including files, bound volumes, photographs, posters, maps and plans as well as films), (i) the volume of holdings and (ii) the percentage of holdings digitized; (2) of the current means by which the public can obtain copies of PRO's holdings free of charge; whether the Government will, by making reference to the practices of the National Archives of the United Kingdom, ensure that the public can have at least one way of obtaining copies of its holdings free of charge (e.g. taking photographs of the original records directly by themselves or downloading digital files from the Internet); (3) whether it has recently tightened the following practice: a member of the public may (i) request staff members of the PRO Search Room to print a digital file of its holdings and then (ii) take photographs of the printed copy with his/her personal digital photographic device (while the printed copy will be kept by PRO for viewing by other members of the public); if so (e.g. refusing to provide the aforesaid free printing service), of the details and its justifications for increasing the costs and difficulties of members of the public in obtaining copies of the holdings for research purposes; and (4) as the Government has indicated that it will strive to digitize those frequently accessed and popular archival records, of the progress of the digitization work?
*19. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that in recent months, some people have launched an online activity for soliciting donations in order to raise fund to support them in meeting the legal and administrative expenses, etc. that will be incurred in pursuing an investigation into an incident. Regarding the regulation of such activities, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the Inland Revenue Department ("IRD") will, on its own initiative or upon receiving reports, conduct investigations to ascertain if such activities for soliciting donations involve the tax obligations under the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112), and take follow-up actions; if IRD will not, of the reasons for that; (2) whether the law enforcement departments will, on their own initiative or upon receiving reports, conduct investigations to ascertain if such activities for soliciting donations involve (i) infiltration into Hong Kong by foreign forces and their money or (ii) money laundering activities, and take follow-up actions; if the law enforcement departments will not, of the reasons for that; and (3) whether the law enforcement departments will, on their own initiative or upon receiving reports, conduct investigations to ascertain if such activities for soliciting donations involve the offence of champerty, and take follow-up actions; if the law enforcement departments will not, of the reasons for that?
*20. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
In December 2016, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") launched a six-month pilot scheme on installation of Internet Protocol ("IP") cameras ("the Scheme") to step up combating acts of illegal refuse deposits. Extended since the 6th of this month, the Scheme will gradually cover the various districts across the territory, with the number of illegal refuse deposit blackspots to be installed with cameras increasing to 80. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether, in the past two years, FEHD (i) deployed staff to step up patrols at the aforesaid 80 blackspots and investigated the peak hours for illegal refuse deposits, as well as (ii) took other measures to combat acts of illegal refuse deposits at such places; if patrols were stepped up, of the number of such patrols and the number of prosecutions instituted; if other measures were taken, of the details and the manpower involved; (2) of (i) the costs and unit cost to be incurred as well as the cost breakdown, and (ii) the manpower to be deployed, for the Scheme in the current financial year; (3) of the anticipated completion time for installing the cameras; the resolution of the cameras and how many pixels the recorded footage has; whether the recording system is equipped with face recognition function; whether the cameras are operated on a round-the-clock basis; of the methods for storage and transmission of the footage recorded and whether encryption has been made; if encryption has been made, of the standard applied; (4) whether any staff members from outsourced service contractors are involved in the operation of the Scheme; if so, of the measures put in place to prevent such staff members from intruding on the privacy of members of the public; whether FEHD has deployed staff to conduct real-time surveillance of the images captured by the cameras; of the measures put in place to ensure that the Scheme is operated in compliance with the six data protection principles set out in Schedule 1 to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486); the reasons why FEHD has not consulted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data on the implementation of the Scheme; (5) given that, at present, any footage recorded by police officers using their body worn video cameras, which does not carry any investigative or evidential value or is not suitable for training or review purposes, must be deleted after 31 days from the date it was produced, of the justifications for FEHD to keep its recorded footage for as long as six months; (6) as FEHD has stated that the information collected from the footage is for the purpose of identifying the patterns of the acts of illegal refuse deposits with a view to formulating more effective law enforcement actions, whether the same purpose can be achieved through FEHD deploying staff to conduct on-site surveillance; if so, whether it has assessed if the collection of personal data through the Scheme complies with the following provisions under Principle 1 of the Data Protection Principles: (i) the data is adequate but not excessive in relation to the purpose, and (ii) subject to the said provision, the collection of the data is necessary for the purpose; (7) of the number of prosecutions instituted by FEHD since December 2016 using the footage recorded under the Scheme as evidence against people who had illegally deposited refuse and, among such cases, the number of convictions; and (8) of the respective numbers of occasions since December 2016 on which FEHD has (i) provided the footage recorded under the Scheme to other government departments, and (ii) approved staff members from other government departments to conduct real-time surveillance of the blackspots through the Scheme (broken down by name of department and reason for making such a request), as well as the procedure for vetting and approval of such requests?
*21. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the consultancy fees for the design stage in respect of public works projects implemented by works departments with funding approved in the past three years, will the Government inform this Council of the respective titles of the projects in respect of which the awarded prices of consultancy agreements (design stage) were (i) 20% to less-than-30% higher, (ii) 30%-or-above higher, (iii) 20% to less-than-30% lower, and (iv) 30%-or-above lower, than the original estimates; in respect of each project, the estimated costs as well as the nature of and fees for the consultancy services concerned?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development
*22. Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to ask: (Translation)
During the period from July 2010 to May 2012, the Finance Committee of this Council approved the allocation of funds respectively for carrying out a number of works under the Shatin to Central Link ("SCL") project, including: (a) Protection Works at Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter (58TR), (b) Protection Works in Wan Chai Development Phase II (59TR), (c) Construction of Railway Works - Advance Works (63TR), (d) Construction of Non-railway Works - Advance Works (64TR), (e) Construction of Railway Main Works (61TR), and (f) Construction of Non-railway Main Works (62TR). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) regarding each of the aforesaid works, of (i) the original estimated expenditure and a breakdown of the expenditure, (ii) the latest estimated expenditure/the final outturn expenditure and a breakdown of the expenditure, and (iii) the reasons leading to differences between the two sets of figures; (2) of the names of the (i) main contractor(s) and (ii) subcontractor(s) of each of the works; and (3) given that the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has been entrusted by the Government to undertake the construction, testing and commissioning of SCL, and to provide management and supervision services, how the Government monitors such work undertaken by MTRCL; of the mechanism in place for MTRCL to report to the Government the works progress and irregularities of the works?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| Ferry Services (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Consideration by Committee of the Whole Council and Third Reading
| |||
| 1. | Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
|
| Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to move an amendment
(The amendment was issued on 22 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 733/17-18) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2018 in committee of the whole Council (issued on 26 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 750/17-18(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 27 June 2018))
| |||
| 2. | United Nations Sanctions (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
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IV. Government Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under the District Court Ordinance
Chief Secretary for Administration to move the motion in Appendix 1. | ||
| (The motion was issued on 15 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 706/17-18) | |||
| 2. | Proposed resolution under the Small Claims Tribunal Ordinance
Chief Secretary for Administration to move the motion in Appendix 2. | ||
| (The motion was issued on 15 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 706/17-18) Hon James TO to move an amending motion to the proposed resolution (The amending motion was issued on 25 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 738/17-18) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for proposed resolution under the District Court Ordinance and proposed resolution and amending motion under the Small Claims Tribunal Ordinance (issued on 26 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 745/17-18(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 27 June 2018))
| |||
| 3. | Proposed resolution under the Construction Industry Council Ordinance
Secretary for Development to move the motion in Appendix 3. | ||
| (The motion was issued on 19 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 718/17-18) | |||
| 4. | Proposed resolution under the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance
Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move the motion in Appendix 4. | ||
| (The motion was issued on 19 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 718/17-18) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for two proposed resolutions under the Construction Industry Council Ordinance or the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance (issued on 22 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 736/17-18) | |||
V. Members' Motions
| 1. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to move the motion in Appendix 5. | ||||
| (The motion was issued on 15 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 707/17-18) | |||||
| |||||
| 2. | Report of the Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars
Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Bazaars. | ||||
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| 3. | Expediting the promotion of smart city development
Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to move the following motion: (Translation) That, since smart city is one of the four major areas of focused development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong, the Administration released the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong in December 2017, mapping out the policies and measures to be implemented in the next five years in six areas, namely smart mobility, smart living, smart environment, smart people, smart government and smart economy; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to proactively allocate resources to perfect various policies and ancillary measures, so as to expedite the promotion of smart city development; the relevant measures include facilitating the research and development and application of innovation and technology, upgrading the technological infrastructure of Hong Kong, promoting the intellectualization of infrastructure and green architecture, facilitating the opening of data by public and private organizations for development and application, setting up a platform for sharing big data, making optimal use of innovation and technology for improvement of people's daily living, as well as developing a low-carbon green and smart community, with a view to fostering the sustainable development of Hong Kong and facilitating the people in leading a quality life. Hon Christopher CHEUNG, Hon Tony TSE, Hon Alvin YEUNG, Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT, Hon HUI Chi-fung and Hon Charles Peter MOK to move amendments to the motion | ||||
| (The amendments were issued on 11 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 685/17-18) | |||||
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Innovation and Technology
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