A 17/18-40
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 4 July 2018 at 11:30 am
(or immediately after the meeting for the Chief Executive's Question Time
to be held at 11:00 am that day)
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 (Commencement) Notice | 129/2018 |
| 2. | Medical Council (Election and Appointment of Lay Members) Regulation (Commencement) Notice | 130/2018 |
Other Papers
| 1. | No. 117 | - | J.E. Joseph Trust Fund
Report, Financial statements and Report of the Director of Audit for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health) | |||
| 2. | No. 118 | - | Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund
Report, Financial statements and Report of the Director of Audit for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health) | |||
| 3. | No. 119 | - | Sir Robert Black Trust Fund
Report of the Trustee on the Administration of the Fund, Financial statements and Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 March 2018 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs) | |||
| 4. | No. 120 | - | Hong Kong Trade Development Council
Annual Report 2017/18 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development) | |||
| 5. | No. 121 | - | Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation
Annual Report 2017-18 |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development) | |||
| 6. | No. 122 | - | The Ombudsman, Hong Kong
Annual Report 2018 |
| (to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration) | |||
| 7. | No. 123 | - | Independent Commission Against Corruption
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Annual Report 2017 |
| (to be presented by Hon Abraham SHEK, member of the Advisory Committee on Corruption of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, who will address the Council) | |||
| 8. | No. 124 | - | Independent Commission Against Corruption
Complaints Committee Annual Report 2017 |
| (to be presented by Hon Jeffrey LAM, Chairman of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Complaints Committee, who will address the Council) | |||
| 9. | Finance Committee Report on the examination of the Estimates of Expenditure 2018-2019 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon CHAN Kin-por, Chairman of the Finance Committee, who will address the Council) | |||
| 10. | Report No. 17/17-18 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the House Committee) | |||
| 11. | Report of the Bills Committee on Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 6) Bill 2017 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Kenneth LEUNG, Chairman of the Bills Committee) | |||
| 12. | Report of the Panel on Environmental Affairs 2017-2018 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Tanya CHAN, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council) | |||
| 13. | Report of the Panel on Security 2017-2018 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon CHAN Hak-kan, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council) | |||
| 14. | Report of the Panel on Development 2017-2018 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Tommy CHEUNG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council) | |||
| 15. | Report of the Panel on Home Affairs 2017-2018 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon MA Fung-kwok, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council) | |||
| 16. | Report of the Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting 2017-2018 | ||
| (to be presented by Hon Charles Peter MOK, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council) | |||
II. Questions
1. Hon SHIU Ka-chun to ask: (Translation)
In the past four years, the number of street sleepers registered with the Social Welfare Department rose from 746 to 1 127 (representing a 50% increase) and, among them, the number of female street sleepers rose from 35 to 104 (representing a two-fold increase). Moreover, the findings of a survey on homeless people who stay overnight in fast food restaurants operating 24 hours a day have shown that there were 57 such type of homeless people across the territory in 2013, whereas the number in four districts alone was 384 at the end of last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will conduct a survey on the number of street sleepers (including homeless people) across the territory as well as the districts and locations where they sleep or stay, so as to provide reference when a policy on street sleepers is formulated; (2) whether it has studied the causes for the rise in the number of female street sleepers in recent years, and whether it will enhance the support for them, such as increasing the number of accommodation places provided for them; and (3) whether it will, by making reference to the service model of the Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement Street Action Teams in New York, set up a dedicated department to deal with the issue of street sleepers and send out outreach workers to show them care, provide immediate assistance as well as arrange long-term accommodation; if so, of the implementation timetable?
2. Hon HUI Chi-fung to ask: (Translation)
Under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance, Mai Po and the adjacent marshes ("the Mai Po Marshes") are designated as a restricted area. It has been reported that as mudskippers have become a gourmet dish on the Mainland in recent years, and the Mai Po Marshes are close to the Mainland, quite a number of people (mainly Mainland fishermen) trespass on the mudflats in the Mai Po Marshes to catch mudskippers illegally, thus scaring away migratory birds and depriving them of staple food. Furthermore, quite a number of migratory birds have been injured by the hunting appliance deployed in the area. Such activities have had a severe impact on the ecological environment there. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of reports received, and the number of law enforcement operations conducted, by the authorities in each of the past three years on illegal fishing or hunting activities in the Mai Po Marshes; the respective numbers of offenders arrested, prosecuted and convicted (with a breakdown by whether they were Hong Kong residents) as well as the maximum and minimum penalties imposed on the convicted persons; (2) of the details of the law enforcement work carried out by law enforcement departments at the Mai Po Marshes, including the training received by the law enforcement officers, frequency of and manpower for patrol, as well as the expenditure and strategies of law enforcement work; and (3) whether, in order to conserve the ecological environment of the Mai Po Marshes more effectively, the authorities will raise the relevant penalties, increase law enforcement resources, step up efforts in public education, strengthen the cooperation with the Mainland authorities in combating illegal fishing, and review the relevant policies and legislation?
3. Hon Andrew WAN to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have suggested the development of transitional housing using a 60-hectare site which has been reserved for the second phase development of the Hong Kong Disneyland ("Phase 2 site"), in order to improve the living environment of more than 200 000 residents in sub-divisions of flat units (commonly known as "sub-divided units"). On the other hand, a Hong Kong-based event organizer signed cooperation agreements with a Dutch floriculture expert last month on the development of a flower-themed garden in Hong Kong, and is considering locating the garden at the Phase 2 site. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the criteria adopted for vetting and approval of applications for short-term tenancies for the Phase 2 site; whether it has received or approved the application concerning the flower-themed garden; (2) whether the Government conducted, in the past three years, any study on the construction of transitional housing at the Phase 2 site; if so, of the details and the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that due to the restrictions imposed by the Deed of Restrictive Covenant signed between the Government and the Hongkong International Theme Parks Limited ("HKITP"), the permitted land uses of the Phase 2 site do not include residential use, whether the Government will discuss with HKITP amending the Deed to the effect that the provision of transitional housing such as modular housing is a permitted land use of the site; if so, of the details and the expected completion time for the discussion; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
Given that the Victoria Harbour is an important leisure and tourist resource which is unique and beautiful, the Government has been actively promoting harbourfront enhancement in recent years, including the construction of uninterrupted world-class promenades to enable members of the public and tourists to appreciate the beautiful scenery of the two sides of the harbour at a close distance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective details of the harbourfront enhancement projects that have been completed, are under construction and are under planning at present; (2) whether it has formulated short, medium and long term work objectives and timetables for linking up various harbourfront enhancement projects; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will add leisure and consumption facilities to various harbourfront enhancement projects having regard to the latter's environmental characters, and develop promenades with characteristics under a public-private partnership approach; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a person in custody ("PIC") lodged a judicial review in 2016 against the decision of the Correctional Services Department ("CSD") to refuse to arrange for him to receive Chinese medicine ("CM") diagnosis and treatment, but he died of illness before the case was tried. Last month, the Coroner's Court held an inquest into the cause of death of that PIC and the jury recommended that the authorities consider providing CM diagnoses and treatments for PIC. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of applications from PICs for receiving CM diagnoses and treatments which were received, approved and rejected by the authorities in each of the past 10 years, and the criteria adopted for deciding whether to approve such applications; (2) given that the Chinese Medicine Ordinance has put in place a regulatory regime for CM and established the professional status and standards of CM practitioners, whether the authorities will allow PICs to choose to receive CM diagnoses and treatments; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that the aforesaid PIC had requested to receive CM diagnosis and treatment in addition to western medicine diagnosis and treatment, but CSD requested that PIC to prove that a combination of Chinese and western medicine diagnoses and treatments would not create an adverse effect, whether the authorities will offer PIC medical advice and support according to the medical needs of individual PICs, and ensure that they can safely receive CM diagnoses and treatments or a combination of Chinese and western medicine diagnoses and treatments; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)
The Hong Kong Policy Act Report published by the Department of State of the United States ("US") in May this year pointed out that the Chief Executive had turned down, in October last year at the behest of the Central Government, a fugitive surrender request made by the US Government. The Report also alleged that certain actions by the Central Government had been inconsistent with its commitment in the Basic Law to allow Hong Kong to exercise a high degree of autonomy. Some members of the public are worried that the US authorities may no longer recognize Hong Kong's status as a separate customs territory on the grounds that Hong Kong has lost its high degree of autonomy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it will refuse fugitive surrender requests made by other jurisdictions on the grounds that the identity of the fugitive concerned is sensitive or that surrendering the fugitive will arouse political and national defense concerns; and (2) whether it has assessed the resultant impacts on Hong Kong's economic and trade activities, as well as Hong Kong residents' entry into US and their personal safety, in the event that the US authorities amend or repeal the Hong Kong Policy Act; if so, of the assessment outcome, relevant data and contingency measures?
| Public Officers to reply | : | Secretary for Security
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development |
*7. Hon Vincent CHENG to ask: (Translation)
In 1986, the Government launched a programme for the resumption and maintenance of private streets ("the Resumption Programme") with a view to improving environmental hygiene. Between 1986 and 1995, 166 private streets were selected and included in the Resumption Programme. As at the end of last year, among such streets, 70 were resumed by the authorities, nine were pending assessment by the Buildings Department and the remaining had been deleted from the Resumption Programme for a number of different reasons (including issues relating to compensation claims). Some members of the public have relayed that a number of private streets (e.g. some private streets in Kowloon West which have never been included in the Resumption Programme) have serious environmental hygiene problems, and some of such streets have become the hotbed for activities such as retail operations occupying street space, vehicle parking and dumping of construction waste and refuse. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of private streets that have been resumed to date by the authorities under the Resumption Programme, and the assessment results and follow-up work in respect of the aforesaid nine private streets; (2) of the respective numbers of complaints received by various government departments in the past three years concerning environmental hygiene problems of private streets; the major contents of the complaints received by the Highways Department and the Transport Department and the ways by which such complaints were handled respectively; (3) as the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") will, where resources permit, respond to the requests of the District Councils ("DCs") to provide routine street-cleaning service for private streets and related rear lanes with persistently poor hygiene conditions, of the number of private streets for which FEHD provided such cleaning service in each of the past three years (with a breakdown by DC district); (4) as the authorities will conduct urgent repair works for private streets to ensure public safety, of the number of occasions on which such works were carried out by the authorities in each of the past three years (with a breakdown by DC district); the party who mainly bore the relevant costs; (5) whether the authorities will review the work on improving the environmental hygiene of private streets; if so, of the details; (6) whether the authorities will conduct a detailed survey on the environmental hygiene conditions of all private streets in Hong Kong; if not, of the reasons for that; if so, the details including whether targeted follow-up measures will be taken; and (7) as quite a number of private streets currently have cave-ins or are in a state of dilapidation, etc., whether the authorities will review comprehensively the management of private streets (especially those open for public use) and study the provision of incentives to encourage the owners concerned to surrender the title of the streets to the Government; whether the authorities will strengthen communication with the owners' corporations concerned so as to improve the management of private streets?
*8. Hon KWONG Chun-yu to ask: (Translation)
In 2014, more than 29 000 new cancer cases were recorded in Hong Kong, representing an increase of 32% as compared with the figure of a decade earlier. The incidence rate of cancers among elderly persons (i.e. persons aged 65 or above) more than doubled that among non-elderly persons. In addition, one of every three deaths was due to cancers. Regarding the prevention and treatment of cancers, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of colonoscopy examinations conducted in public hospitals, and the average waiting time (and the relevant figures by hospital cluster) for such examinations, in each of the past three years; if such figures are not available, of the reasons for that; (2) as an overseas medical organization, after analysing the outcome of relevant studies, has recently pointed out that there is a downward trend in the age of people suffering from colorectal cancer, and the organization has recommended that the minimum age of people who should receive colorectal cancer screening be lowered to 45, whether the Government will lower the minimum age of eligible participants of the Colorectal Cancer Screening Pilot Programme from 61 to 45; (3) whether it has considered launching new subsidy schemes for preventing or diagnosing other types of cancers; if so, of the details; (4) whether it knows, in respect of the waiting time for patients with cancers listed in the table below in each hospital cluster for receiving the first treatment after diagnosis, (i) the median and (ii) the 90th percentile, as well as (iii) the target set by the Hospital Authority ("HA") (set out in tables of the same format as the table below); and
Cluster: _____________Cancer Waiting time for receiving
the first treatment after diagnosis(i) (ii) (iii) Colorectal cancer Lung cancer Breast cancer Liver cancer Prostate cancer Corpus uteri cancer Nasopharyngeal cancer Thyroid cancer Stomach cancer Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer (5) given that when cancer patients cannot take, owing to undesirable side effects, the first-line drugs in the Hospital Authority Drug Formulary and the second-line drugs with safety net coverage (by the Samaritan Fund or Community Care Fund) for cancer treatment, they have to take drugs without safety net coverage at their own expenses, whether the Government will request HA to expeditiously include more second-line drugs (including T-DM1 for treating breast cancer) into the safety net so that cancer patients can receive effective treatment; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that nine units in Yung Shing Court ("YSC") in Fanling, a Buy-or-Rent Option ("BRO") estate, originally used as a children hostel, have been left vacant since the social welfare organization ("SWO") concerned moved out in 2006. The Housing Department ("HD") intends to change the use of those units as rental housing units. However, the Lands Department has indicated that the owners' corporation of YSC must obtain the consent of all owners before the use of such units may be changed. As it is difficult to get in touch with some of the owners, the matter has been caught in a gridlock, resulting in a waste of housing resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current total number of subsidized housing units which have been left vacant for more than one year and the average duration for which they have been left vacant, with a breakdown of such units by the vacant period (i.e. more than one year to three years, more than three years to five years, and more than five years); among such units, the number of those which have been left vacant since the moving out of SWOs; (2) of the required procedure for changing the use of the aforesaid units; (3) whether the Government has specific solutions to the problem that some units in YSC and other housing estates (if any) have been left vacant for prolonged periods of time; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that and whether it will devise such solutions expeditiously; and (4) whether HD had, before deciding to put a particular public rental housing estate into a subsidized home ownership scheme (e.g. BRO), taken into account the possibility that there might be a need in future to change the uses of certain units in that estate; if so, of the reasons for the occurrence of the situation that some units have been left vacant for prolonged periods of time; if not, whether it will conduct a review and streamline the arrangements for effecting a change in the uses of units, in order to avoid the occurrence of similar situations?
*10. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
At present, there are more than 220 service reservoirs across the territory, which are used for providing transient storage for fresh water or sea water. The Water Supplies Department ("WSD") allocates the space on the rooftops of some service reservoirs to other government departments and private organizations as venues for recreational and other activities. Regarding service reservoirs with space on their rooftops available for allocation (which stood at 100 across the territory as at the 14th of last month), will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective (i) names, (ii) capacities, (iii) numbers of air vents, (iv) roof areas, and (v) live loads of the roofs (and whether they are 5 kPa or above) of various service reservoirs, and set out such information one by one by the District Council district to which the service reservoirs belong; (2) since when the policy of allocating the space on the rooftops of service reservoirs has been implemented; of the reasons for implementing this policy and its specific details; (3) of the details of the allocation of the space on the rooftops in each of the past five years, including (i) names of government departments/private organizations to which the space was allocated, (ii) allocation periods, (iii) ways of leasing/granting, (iv) annual rents and rates payable (if applicable), and (v) use of the space on the rooftops, and set out such information by name of service reservoir; and (4) of WSD's specific measures to regulate activities conducted on the space on the rooftops of service reservoirs, in order to prevent contamination of the fresh water stored in the service reservoirs?
*11. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government provide the following statistics for each quarter in 2017 and in the first half of 2018 (adopting the first quarter of 2004 as the base period, i.e. first quarter of 2004=100):
(1) in respect of various industries and occupations, the respective (i) numbers of employed persons, (ii) Nominal Wage Indices and (iii) Real Wage Indices, broken down by gender; and (2) the Nominal Gross Domestic Product ("GDP") and the Real GDP, as well as the growth rates of such figures?
*12. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
The Government has indicated that in order to reduce the impact of aircraft noise on areas in the vicinity of flight paths, the Civil Aviation Department has implemented a number of aircraft noise abating measures in accordance with the balanced objectives, promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization ("ICAO"), of managing aircraft noise. Such measures include requiring aircraft in the small hours to avoid, as far as possible, overflying populated areas, and adopting ICAO's noise abatement departure procedure during take-off and the continuous descent approach for landing. However, in recent months, I have received complaints from quite a number of residents in Ma Wan who pointed out that quite a number of aircraft overfly Ma Wan at an altitude below 5 000 feet after taking off in late hours (i.e. between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am the following day), thus generating tremendous noise and making it difficult for them to fall asleep. In addition, a number of residents in Clear Water Bay and Tseung Kwan O have relayed that aircraft have been overflying the two districts at an extremely high frequency in late hours since May this year, causing serious noise nuisance to the residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of aircraft departing Hong Kong which overflew Ma Wan at an altitude (i) below 5 000 feet, (ii) between 5 000 and 7 000 feet, and (iii) above 7 000 feet, from May last year to May this year (set out in a table); (2) of the respective numbers of times, as recorded by the various aircraft noise monitoring terminals in late hours in each month from May last year to May this year, for which aircraft noise levels reached (i) 70 to 74 decibels ("dB"), (ii) 75 to 79 dB and (iii) 80 dB or above (set out in a table); (3) among the aircraft departing Hong Kong from May last year to May this year, of the types of those with noise levels reaching 80 dB or above, and the airlines to which such aircraft belonged; (4) of (i) the number of flights overflying Sai Kung District in late hours, and (ii) the number of complaints about aircraft noise received by the authorities from the residents there, in each month from January to June this year; (5) of the measures to be put in place to further abate aircraft noise; and (6) whether it will set up an aircraft noise monitoring terminal in Sai Kung District; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*13. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
The Transport Department ("TD") introduced the Driver Improvement Scheme ("DIS") in 2002 with an aim to improve the driving attitude of the participants, thereby reducing traffic accidents. From February 2009 onwards, persons falling within the following categories are required under the law to attend driving improvement courses offered by designated driving improvement schools: (a) persons who have been convicted of serious traffic offences, and (b) persons who have accumulated 10 or more Driving-offence Points ("DOPs") within two years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in each of the past three years, of (i) the respective numbers of persons of the aforesaid two categories who attended driving improvement courses, (ii) the number of persons who, upon completion of such courses, had three DOPs deducted from their total number of DOPs incurred, and (iii) the respective numbers of persons who, within six months, one year and two years after having three DOPs deducted upon completion of the courses, incurred DOPs again or were disqualified from obtaining or holding a driving licence for having incurred 15 or more DOPs, with a breakdown by the type of vehicle they drove; (2) as some members of the public have pointed out that DIS has been implemented for 16 years, and the contents of the driving improvement courses have remained the same and are outdated, whether the authorities will review and improve the course arrangements (e.g. adding new modes of training like road tests, developing different improvement courses for participants driving various types of vehicles, as well as offering courses with enhanced contents or increased training hours for participants who have repeatedly committed the same type of traffic offences) in order to enhance the effectiveness of DIS; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that according to TD's information, the major factors involving drivers which contributed to the traffic accidents in recent year are (i) driving inattentively, (ii) driving too close to the vehicle in front and (iii) careless lane changing, whether the authorities will examine implementing measures to encourage drivers to attend on their own initiative driving improvement courses on a regular basis, so as to improve their driving attitude; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)
The Government anticipates that the civil service establishment will increase by 6 700 posts to about 190 000 posts by the end of 2018-2019, representing a rate of increase of about 3.7%. However, quite a number of civil servants have relayed to me that as the offices of many government departments are already very crowded, it is difficult to make room for the offices of newly recruited civil servants. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities had, when deciding to increase civil service posts, formulated measures to ensure that the required additional office accommodation could be provided according to the approved schedules of accommodation as laid down in the Accommodation Regulations ("the Regulations"); (2) in respect of those government departments which need to handle and store a large amount of documents, such as the works departments handling a large amount of large-sized building plans, whether the authorities will, having regard to the actual needs of such government departments, plan larger office areas for them; (3) in respect of those government departments which need to have direct contact with members of the public and members of the industries concerned, whether the authorities have set standards for the sizes and numbers of the relevant (i) conference rooms, (ii) service counters, (iii) office desks and (iv) seats; (4) of the policy bureaux and government departments (including district offices) whose actual office areas at present are below the relevant standards in the Regulations; and (5) given that, according to my observation, most of the offices of the Buildings Department ("BD") are very crowded, thereby affecting BD officers' everyday work and health as well as causing inconvenience to members of the relevant industries who need to visit BD frequently to deal with various kinds of business, whether the authorities will address such problems squarely and make improvements; if so, of the implementation timetable for the improvement measures?
*15. Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask: (Translation)
According to the consultation document on population policy released by the Steering Committee on Population Policy in 2013, the median monthly salary of young people aged between 20 and 29 in full-time employment basically hovered around $10,000 in the past decade. As the cumulative inflation rate during the same period was more than 10%, the monthly salaries of young people in the past decade dropped in real terms. Some young people have become discouraged by the lack of opportunities for upward mobility. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective annual averages of the (a) nominal and (b) real median monthly salaries of persons in full-time employment in various age groups (i.e. below 20, 20 to 29, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70 or above) in each year from 2013 to 2017; and (2) of the measures taken by the authorities in the past five years to improve the overall employment environment so as to enable young people to earn higher income, thereby increasing upward mobility opportunities for them?
*16. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
The Government announced in this year's Budget that it would set up a steering committee to take charge of the co-ordination, review and monitoring of the work of supporting ethnic minorities ("EMs"). Also, the Government would earmark $500 million to strengthen the support for EMs. Regarding the provision of support and services for EMs, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as it is learnt that the authorities held a sharing session earlier to collect views on the work of the aforesaid steering committee, of the details of the views collected and the list of organizations and individuals who attended the sharing session; whether interpretation services are among the items for which support will be strengthened; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that the authorities promulgated the Administrative Guidelines on Promotion of Racial Equality ("the Guidelines") in as early as 2010, but it is learnt that only 23 government departments have currently formulated relevant measures in accordance with the requirements of the Guidelines, whether the authorities will encourage more government departments to adopt the Guidelines; if so, of the details and timetables of the work; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the number of occasions in each of the past three years on which the relevant policy bureaux/government departments ("B/Ds") arranged interpretation services for EMs in accordance with the requirements of the Guidelines, and the names of the organizations which provided the interpretation services, with a breakdown of the relevant information by B/D; (4) of the number of occasions in each of the past three years on which each B/D engaged the interpretation services provided by the Centre for Harmony and Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents operated by the Hong Kong Christian Service, with a breakdown by (i) category of services (i.e. telephone interpretation service, on-sight interpretation service, on-site (escort) interpretation service, simultaneous interpretation service, translation service and proofreading service) and (ii) EM language; (5) given that from the 2014-2015 school year onwards, the Education Bureau ("EDB") has introduced the Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework ("Learning Framework") to further address the need for learning Chinese by non-Chinese speaking students, and has undertaken to review the Learning Framework at a three-year interval, of the progress of the relevant review; whether there is any review that has yet to be conducted; the expected time for EDB to report the review results to this Council; (6) given that some civic organizations have advocated the formulation of an Independent Curriculum on Learning Chinese as a Second Language by EDB to replace the Learning Framework, whether EDB will consider launching that curriculum in primary schools in the form of a pilot project; if EDB will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (7) whether the Labour and Welfare Bureau ("LWB") will consider implementing the following proposals: (i) to extend in phases the "Employment Services Ambassador Programme for Ethnic Minorities" to cover more job centres, (ii) to study the launching of a trial scheme on EM job centres for the provision of one-stop employment support services, and (iii) to consolidate the resources of LWB and the Labour Department for the establishment of an EM employment division to take charge of the formulation of strategies that are effective in assisting EMs in seeking employment; if LWB will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)
In June last year, the Government released the Elderly Services Programme Plan ("ESPP") formulated by the Elderly Commission. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as ESPP has made it a primary strategy to achieve "ageing in place" and reduce institutionalization rate through significantly strengthening community care services ("CCS"), and put forward a number of recommendations in this respect (e.g. enhancing Integrated Home Care Service ("IHCS") and reviewing the funding modes of IHCS and Enhanced Home and Community Care Service), of the follow-up actions taken by the Government on such recommendations (including the specific measures to be implemented); (2) as ESPP has pointed out that in order to actualize the principles and strategic directions set out in ESPP, it is necessary to forge the partnership among the pivotal players in the interface between welfare, healthcare and housing, whether the Government will consider setting up an inter-departmental task force to coordinate the relevant work; (3) as ESPP has put forward a number of recommendations to strengthen the financial sustainability of elderly services, how the Government follow up such recommendations; whether it has assessed the annual recurrent expenditure involved in implementing the recommendations set out in ESPP; (4) as ESPP has come up with indicative planning ratios for the year 2026 of 21.4 subsidized residential care services places and 14.8 subsidized CCS places for every 1 000 elderly persons aged 65 or above, whether the Government will adopt such indicative planning ratios; if not, of the reasons for that; and (5) of the progress of the work of the Government on the other recommendations set out in ESPP; whether the Government has drawn up an implementation timetable for the various recommendations?
*18. Dr Hon Pierre CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have relayed to me that recently, quite a number of people from the Mainland who have resided in Hong Kong for less than seven years ("new arrivals") receive various types of long-term medical treatments such as dialysis treatment at public hospitals, thus further straining public healthcare resources. In order to make more accurate projections on the resources needed for meeting the medical services demand of new arrivals in future, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of new arrivals coming to Hong Kong in each of the past five years and their percentage in the population of Hong Kong; (2) whether it knows the number of new arrivals receiving long-term medical treatments at public hospitals in each of the past five years and the amount of public money involved; (3) whether it knows (i) the respective numbers of new and old cases of patients receiving dialysis treatment at public hospitals, (ii) the unit cost of dialysis treatment, and (iii) the median and the 90th percentile of waiting time for new cases, in each of the past five years; (4) whether it knows the number of new arrivals receiving dialysis treatment at public hospitals in each of the past five years; among them, the number of those who were recipients of comprehensive social security assistance payments, and the number of those who had resided in Hong Kong for less than one year (with a tabulated breakdown by hospital cluster); (5) whether it knows the number of people, who had received kidney transplants outside Hong Kong, being prescribed anti-rejection drugs at public hospitals or clinics in each of the past five years and the unit cost per consultation, with a breakdown by the countries/places where the kidney transplant surgeries were performed, and the number of new arrivals among them; and (6) whether it knows (i) the strength, (ii) the number of new recruits, (iii) the number of departures, and (iv) the wastage rate, of full-time urologists and nephrologists at various public hospitals in each of the past five years, with a tabular breakdown by rank?
*19. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)
Some residents near the alignment of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL") in Yuen Long District have relayed that since the commencement of XRL trial operations by the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"), they feel vibrations and noise whenever XRL trains pass by. They also suspect that the cracks which have appeared on the floor and walls inside and outside their residential units recently might have been caused by such vibrations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if MTRCL had, before carrying out the XRL trial operations, made projections of the vibrations and noise which would be generated as well as the damages which would be caused to nearby buildings by XRL trains in motion, and devised solutions accordingly; if MTRCL had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the number of complaints about the XRL trial operations received by the Government and MTRCL so far, with a breakdown by type of complaints and district involved; the means and timetable for handling such complaints; whether they will offer compensation to the affected residents; (3) whether a mechanism is currently in place for tackling immediately the problems relating to such complaints; if so, of the details; and (4) how it ensures that such complaints will be satisfactorily resolved before the commissioning of XRL?
*20. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the public have pointed out that when formulating service quality standards (e.g. the area of floor space per resident and manpower ratios) for places for the elderly, the Government often give a lot of weight to the views of the operators of non-subsidized residential care homes for the elderly ("RCHEs"). As the operators have claimed that the implementation of the reform proposals put forward by community groups will lead to waves of closures of RCHEs, the Government has brushed aside such proposals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following information on the provision of places for the elderly (to set out in tables):
(1) the following information on non-subsidized places for the elderly in each of the past 10 financial years: (i) number of homes (and among which the number of those participated in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme ("EBPS")), (ii) number of places (and among which the number of those provided by homes participated in EBPS), (iii) number of residents (and among which the number of recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance), (iv) vacancy rate of places, and (v) the area of floor space per resident; (2) the respective numbers of non-subsidized RCHEs opened and closed down in each of the past 10 financial years, and the number of places involved (and among which the number of those provided by homes participated in EBPS); (3) the following information on subsidized places in each of the past 10 financial years: (i) the number of persons waiting, (ii) average waiting time, (iii) the number of elderly persons who passed away while waiting for those places and (iv) the number of applications withdrawn; (4) the respective numbers of elderly persons in each of the past 10 financial years who expressed willingness and unwillingness to choose EA1 and EA2 places under EBPS when being assessed under the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services, and their reasons; and (5) the following information respectively on (i) the scheme to encourage developers to provide RCHE premises in new private developments, (ii) the Pilot Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong and (iii) the Special Scheme on Privately Owned Sites for Welfare Uses, in each financial year since their implementation: number of places provided, vacancy rate and average waiting time of these places, as well as the area of floor space per resident and manpower ratios of the homes concerned?
*21. Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to ask: (Translation)
The Government formulated in 2009 criteria for assessing proposals for construction of hillside escalator links and elevator systems. Upon completion of assessment, the Government decided in 2010 to take forward 18 proposals. So far, the progress for implementing those proposals has been slow as only three of them have been completed and four are under construction. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that among the aforesaid 18 proposals, the Escalator Link System between Hong Sing Garden and Po Hong Road which is ranked the 14th in priority, the Lift and Pedestrian Walkway System between Saddle Ridge Garden and Sai Sha Road which is ranked the 16th, as well as the Escalator Link System between Sui Wo Court and MTR Fo Tan Station which is ranked the 18th, are still stuck at the stages of feasibility studies or internal discussion within the Government, of the original and latest timetables for the various work stages of these three proposals (including completion of design work, submission of funding applications to this Council, invitation of tenders, commencement and completion of works), the reasons for their slow progress and their latest cost estimates; the respective timetables for the various work stages and the actual costs/cost estimates of the remaining 15 proposals; and (2) of the measures to be put in place to expedite the progress of the three proposals mentioned in (1)?
*22. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
The Joint University Programmes Admission System ("JUPAS") is the main platform for students holding Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination results to apply for admission to undergraduate programmes funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC"). Students holding other academic qualifications may only apply to individual UGC-funded universities ("funded universities") directly for admission ("non-JUPAS"). However, some members of the public have relayed to me that the various funded universities have not made public details of the two methods of admitting students via the JUPAS and non-JUPAS routes (e.g. the ratios of places, the admission criteria), raising doubts as to whether funded universities treat those two types of students fairly in student admission. Regarding information on admission of local students holding overseas academic qualifications by funded universities, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) in respect of the publicly-funded first-year-first-degree programmes offered by each funded university in each of the past five academic years, (i) the total number of students and, among such students, (ii) the number of those admitted via the non-JUPAS route; among the students in (ii), the respective numbers and percentages of local students and non-local students (set out in a table); among those local students admitted via the non-JUPAS route, the respective numbers and percentages of those holding various types of overseas academic qualifications (e.g. International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Programme), together with the respective names of the relevant academic qualifications (set out in a table); (2) in respect of the 20 programmes with the largest numbers of local students admitted by each funded university via the non-JUPAS route in each of the past five academic years, the respective median and minimum academic qualifications of the local students who were admitted to each programme (set out in a table); (3) the method currently adopted by various funded universities for ensuring that the admission thresholds for applicants holding different types of academic qualifications are consistent; and (4) whether the local students admitted by funded universities via the non-JUPAS route will take up the places reserved for (i) international students or (ii) JUPAS students; whether UGC and funded universities have formulated guidelines to ensure fair treatment for students applying for admission via the JUPAS and non-JUPAS routes; if so, of the details?
* For written reply
III. Government Bills
| First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| 1. | Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2018 | : | Secretary for Justice
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| 2. | Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Bill | : | Secretary for Food and Health
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Consideration by Committee of the Whole Council and Third Reading
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| Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 6) Bill 2017 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move amendments
(The amendments were issued on 26 June 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 749/17-18) | |||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 6) Bill 2017 in committee of the whole Council (issued on 3 July 2018 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 790/17-18(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 4 July 2018))
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IV. Members' Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Dr Hon Helena WONG to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the Food Adulteration (Metallic Contamination) (Amendment) Regulation 2018, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 113 of 2018, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 13 June 2018, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the first sitting (within the meaning of section 34(6) of that Ordinance) of the next session of the Legislative Council. | ||||
| 2. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Hon Claudia MO to move the motion in the Appendix. | ||||
| (The motion was issued on 21 June 2018
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 727/17-18) | |||||
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| Stand-over item: Member's motion no. 3 (since the meeting of 27 June 2018)
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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) | |||||
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Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Innovation and Technology
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| 4. | Report of the Subcommittee on Children's Rights
Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee on Children's Rights. | ||||
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| 5. | Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon KWONG Chun-yu to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: subsidence of viaduct piers of Yuen Long section of MTR West Rail Line. | ||||
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