A 18/19-16

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 23 January 2019 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers



Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Minimum Wage Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 3) Notice 20198/2019
2.Immigration (Amendment) Regulation 20199/2019
3.Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 201910/2019
4.Employment Ordinance (Amendment of Ninth Schedule) Notice 201911/2019

Other Papers

1.No. 67-Legal Aid Services Council Annual Report 2017/18
(to be presented by Chief Secretary for Administration)

2.Report No. 9/18-19 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the House Committee)

3.Report of the Bills Committee on Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Bill
(to be presented by Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT, member of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions



1. Hon KWONG Chun-yu to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the protection of animal rights, interests and welfare, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)as it has been mentioned in the 2017 Policy Agenda that the Government would "study the existing legislation related to animal welfare, and explore introducing a concept of positive duty of care on animal keepers", of the latest progress of that task, the approach for amending the law, and the timetable for public consultation in this respect;

    (2)given that while there are now over 540 000 cats and dogs being kept as pets in Hong Kong according to an estimation made in a consultancy report, most means of public transport currently prohibit people carrying animals with them from boarding, whether the authorities have plans to explore with the relevant public transport operators permitting passengers to carry animals with them when travelling in designated train compartments and in franchised buses of certain routes, so as to make it more convenient for pets to travel with their owners; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (3)given that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has planned to turn six existing parks into "Inclusive Parks for Pets" and launched a one-year trial scheme this month, but some members of the public have criticized that the relevant facilities are unavailable in such parks, whether the authorities have plans to make improvements and expand the trial scheme to cover every District Council district; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Food and Health
Under Secretary for Home Affairs
Under Secretary for Transport and Housing

2. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)


Section 3(1) of the United Nations Sanctions Ordinance stipulates that the Chief Executive shall make regulations to give effect to the instructions given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Chief Executive on the implementation of the sanctions decided by the Security Council of the United Nations ("sanctions regulations"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the government department(s) currently responsible for enforcing the various sanctions regulations, as well as the relevant staffing establishment; whether it, in view of the sanctions regulations being updated from time to time and the ever-changing international landscape, provides sufficient guidelines and training for the staff concerned on a regular basis; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)of the number of reports received by the authorities on activities suspected of violating the sanctions regulations, the respective numbers of such activities in respect of which the authorities monitored and investigated (with a breakdown by type), the number of activities involving violations of the sanctions regulations that they forestalled, as well as the respective numbers of the relevant prosecutions and convictions, in each of the past five years; and

    (3)whether it will release regularly the details of the law enforcement actions taken in relation to the sanctions regulations (including the number of cases and their summaries), so as to demonstrate to the public and the international community Hong Kong's strict enforcement of the sanctions; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

3. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)


In recent years, the various subsidized sale flats projects ("subsidized projects") launched by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Hong Kong Housing Society and the Urban Renewal Authority have received overwhelming responses and have often been oversubscribed by dozens or even hundreds of times, resulting in slim chances for applicants to purchase flats. It is learnt that quite a number of members of the public have, in recent years, subscribed for the flats of the various subsidized projects for a number of times but in vain, and their home ownership aspirations have turned into feelings of disappointment and even despair. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of applications received from each category of applicants (such as Green Form applicants and White Form applicants), and the number and percentage of each category of applicants who purchased a flat, in each sale exercise for the various subsidized projects launched since 2014;

    (2)whether the authorities concerned have kept records on the cumulative number of times in the past that an applicant had made an application but was unsuccessful in purchasing a flat; if so, of the average and highest number of times in respect of the last sale exercise of each type of subsidized projects; if not, the reasons for that, and whether they will start keeping such figures; and

    (3)whether the authorities concerned will suitably boost the chance to purchase a flat for those applicants who repeatedly failed to do so, for example, by offering an applicant, whenever the number of times for which he was not invited to select and purchase a flat has accumulated to three, an additional application number when he makes the next application, so that such applicants will have a greater chance to purchase flats; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

4. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)


The Independent Review Committee for the Prevention and Handling of Potential Conflicts of Interests ("the Review Committee") submitted its report to the Government in May 2012, recommending the enactment of legislation to provide that the Chief Executive ("CE") must obtain permission from a statutory independent committee prior to the acceptance of advantages, so as to make the system under section 3 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance ("POBO") applicable to CE. In addition, the incumbent CE has undertaken in her election manifesto that she would "resolve as soon as possible those constitutional and legal issues aiming at amending the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance to extend the scope of sections 3 and 8 to cover the Chief Executive". In his reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on 5 July 2017, the Chief Secretary for Administration ("CS") indicated that "[u]pon completion of the study on such constitutional and legal issues, the Government will initiate the legislative procedure as early as possible". CS also stated that, in respect of a relevant private bill proposed by me, the Government would "examine whether the bill involves public expenditure, the political system, government operation, and so on". Regarding the efforts to amend POBO, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it will propose legislative amendments in accordance with the proposal made by the Review Committee; if not, of the reasons for that, and the alternative proposals under consideration;

    (2)whether it will complete the legislative amendment exercise within the current term of the Government; if so, of the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (3)whether it will undertake that it will, for the period from the present to the time of submission of the proposed legislative amendments to this Council, report on a half-yearly basis the progress of the legislative amendment exercise to this Council or any of its committees; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Chief Secretary for Administration

5. Hon Holden CHOW to ask: (Translation)


On the early morning of 30 November last year, a serious traffic accident involving a non-franchised bus happened on Cheung Tsing Highway, resulting in a number of casualties. It has been reported that as the majority of the passengers on the bus concerned at the time of the accident were employees of an airline company but the bus had not been issued with an employees' service endorsement by the Transport Department, the operator concerned has allegedly breached the law. Regarding the follow-up work on the accident, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)how the authorities currently monitor the road safety of non-franchised buses providing transport service for employees;

    (2)of the number of prosecutions instituted by the authorities in the past five years against operators who had illegally provided transport service for employees; the new measures to be put in place to step up efforts to combat such unlawful act; and

    (3)given that some people working at the airport have indicated that the transport services between the urban areas and the airport during early morning hours are insufficient and limited in choice, and the situation will aggravate with an increase in job opportunities at the airport upon completion of the airport's third runway, of the measures the authorities have put in place to address such problems; whether they will request the various franchised bus companies to enhance overnight bus services, and discuss with the MTR Corporation Limited the extension of the Tung Chung Line to the airport island and the service hours of the Line, so as to facilitate residents in the urban areas and Tung Chung to take up employment at the airport?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

6. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that the number of Mainland residents joining low-fare tours to Hong Kong for leisure travel has been increasing incessantly in recent years. As such tour groups arrange their tour group members to have meals and shop mainly at districts such as Kowloon City and Tung Chung, serious impacts are caused persistently on the daily lives of the residents and the traffic in those districts, and there has been a trend of such situation spreading to other districts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)given that travel agents are required, before taking their tour group members to designated shops for shopping, to register with the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong ("TIC") the information of those shops, whether the Government will request TIC to stop processing the registrations for shops located at districts flooded with tourists or impose on them stricter registration conditions (such as the requirement that those shops which have repeatedly caused nuisances to the districts may have their registration cancelled), and coordinate the relocation of registered shops to other places for operation;

    (2)given that quite a number of Mainland tour groups joining the Victoria Harbour cruises gather mainly at certain piers for embarkation and disembarkation, thereby causing inconvenience to the residents nearby, whether the Government will adopt improvement measures, such as adjusting the berthing time, and stepping up traffic management on the streets near those piers; and

    (3)whether it will discuss with the Mainland authorities the setting up of a notification mechanism so as to grasp the daily number of inbound Mainland tour groups and that of tour group members, so as to formulate suitable policies and measures accordingly?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*7. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)


Under the Food Business Regulation (Cap. 132X), a factory canteen may only serve factory employees who work in the building where the canteen is located. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department implemented new conditions for the Factory Canteen Licence ("FCL") in February 2018 to stipulate that (i) a licensee must display a notice reading "FACTORY EMPLOYEES OF THIS BUILDING ONLY" outside each entrance of the canteen, and (ii) a factory canteen may only serve persons who possess employee identity cards issued by their employers or other acceptable proof. Some proprietors of factory canteens have relayed that the aforesaid requirements have led to a plunge in their businesses. They had applied for converting their canteens into general restaurants but their applications were rejected on grounds that the industrial buildings in which their canteens were located did not meet the fire safety and building structure requirements applicable to general restaurants. They have also pointed out that with the gradual decline of industries in Hong Kong, the existing legislation that regulates factory canteens is obviously outdated. On the other hand, while the Government has, since 2010, implemented measures to revitalize industrial buildings under which owners are permitted to convert or redevelop some industrial buildings for non-industrial uses (such as offices, art studios, cultural and creative industries, light industries, logistics), the authorities have not correspondingly adjusted the licensing conditions of FCL to dovetail with such measures. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it will, in view of changing times and in order to dovetail with the measures to revitalize industrial buildings, amend the legislation to the effect that a factory canteen is permitted to serve, in addition to factory employees who work in the industrial building where the canteen is located, also other employees who work in the same industrial building as well as the employees of those organizations which have business dealings with the organizations situated in the industrial building; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)of the respective numbers of applications for converting factory canteens into general restaurants received, approved and rejected by the authorities in the past eight years; if some applications were rejected, the main reasons for that; and the average processing time taken in respect of the approved applications;

    (3)of the respective current numbers of industrial buildings and licensed factory canteens in Hong Kong, and whether it knows the number of factories that are in active operation in industrial buildings and the number of their employees, with a breakdown by District Council district; and

    (4)whether it has compiled statistics on the numbers of units in industrial buildings used for non-industrial uses in each of the past three years and the numbers of employees involved; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will compile such statistics, so as to grasp the clientele size of factory canteens?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*8. Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask: (Translation)


At present, operators of money changers are required to possess a licence granted by the Commissioner of Customs and Excise for operating remittance and/or money changing service(s). It has been reported that recently, a member of the public entrusted a money changer to remit money to the Mainland but the designated recipient has still not received the money after a lapse of several days. That member of the public has sought, for a number of times, the assistance from the Police, the Consumer Council and the Customs and Excise Department, but to no avail. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of complaints against money changers received (with a breakdown by the subject of the complaints) and, among such complaints, the number of those about money changers' failure to execute remittance instructions of their clients, in each month of the past three years; and

    (2)how it monitors the remittance service provided by money changers at present; whether it will step up efforts in monitoring this type of business; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*9. Hon LAM Cheuk-ting to ask: (Translation)


Cathay Pacific Airways Limited announced on 24 October last year a leakage of the personal data of more than 9 million passengers. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD") announced on the following day and on 5 November respectively that it would initiate a compliance check on the incident and a compliance investigation against the company. Besides, there are comments that the number of compliance investigations initiated and the number of investigation reports published by PCPD in recent years have decreased drastically when compared with those before then. In response, PCPD stated that in accordance with the relevant legislation, a compliance investigation report would only be published where the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("Privacy Commissioner") was of the opinion that it was in the public interest to do so. Upon the completion of significant compliance checks or compliance investigations, PCPD would issue press statements, and receive and respond to media enquiries, thereby achieving the same effect as publishing an investigation report without employing the practice of "naming and shaming" the party investigated. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
  • (1)the differences between a compliance check and a compliance investigation, including those in the areas of the relevant procedure and follow-up actions;

    (2)the respective numbers and details (including the topics, the dates on which the reports were published (if any) and the follow-up actions taken) of the compliance checks and compliance investigations completed by the incumbent Privacy Commissioner and the preceding two Privacy Commissioners during their terms of office;

    (3)whether PCPD has assessed if its refrainment from adopting the practice of naming the organizations that have breached the data protection principles has undermined the effect of making other organizations to stay vigilant that may be achieved by PCPD conducting checks or investigations; and

    (4)the criteria adopted by the Privacy Commissioner for determining whether it is in the public interest to publish a certain compliance investigation report?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

*10. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)


The Government has indicated that it is committed to promoting the development of Hong Kong insurance trade and enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness as an insurance hub. Earlier on, the insurance trade has proposed that the Government establish a "Health Insurance Connect", an online medical insurance sales platform covering the entire Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("the Greater Bay Area"), so that Mainland residents in the Greater Bay Area can complete the procedure for taking out insurance and lodging claims with Hong Kong insurance companies through the Internet without the need to come to Hong Kong. The platform is proposed to be a closed system under which the premiums paid by Mainland policyholders to Hong Kong insurance companies will be used in future as funds for settling such persons' claims or paying bonuses to them. This will ensure that such funds will be retained within the Mainland financial system, thereby addressing the Mainland authorities' concern about an outflow of funds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the progress of the study by and discussions between Hong Kong's and the Mainland's authorities concerning the Health Insurance Connect;

    (2)of the new measures to assist Hong Kong insurance trade in developing businesses in the Greater Bay Area, and the implementation timetable for such measures; and

    (3)whether it will consider allocating additional resources to subsidize the insurance trade in adopting innovative technologies and providing relevant staff training, so as to enhance the competitiveness of the industry?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*11. Hon CHU Hoi-dick to ask: (Translation)


The Import and Export Ordinance (Cap. 60) imposes controls on the import or export of strategic commodities. Moreover, in accordance with the United Nations Sanctions Ordinance (Cap. 537) and the relevant regulations, Hong Kong enforces sanctions imposed by the Security Council of the United Nations against certain countries. It was reported that when the authorities of the United States ("US") announced, in 2016, the imposition of export restrictions on ZTE Corporation ("ZTE"), they had made public some internal confidential documents of ZTE which revealed ZTE's violation of US's export bans. It was mentioned in one of the documents that in 2008, as ZTE had violated Hong Kong's export control laws (made in line with the US laws), there were four separate occasions on which ZTE's cargos were seized and confiscated by the Customs and Excise Department ("C&ED") and ZTE was fined. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the details of the aforesaid four occasions of cargo seizure (set out in Table 1);

    Table 1

     Date of seizureDetails of commoditiesOrdinance allegedly violatedPenalty/amount of fine
    Name of owner of commoditiesDescription and model numberQuantity and total valueCategory of controlled commoditiesPlace of originDestination of export/
    re-export
    1         
    2         
    3         
    4         

    (2)of the respective numbers of cases of suspected violation of export control requirements in respect of which C&ED (i) conducted investigations and (ii) instituted prosecutions in the past five years, and the details of such cases (set out in Table 2 and Table 3); and

    Table 2: Details of investigation cases

    Date of seizureDetails of commoditiesOrdinance allegedly violated
    Description and model numberQuantity and total valueCategory of controlled commoditiesPlace of originDestination of export/
    re-export
           

    Table 3: Details of prosecution cases

    Date of seizureDetails of commoditiesOrdinance allegedly violated/ found to have violatedDetails of penalty
    (if convicted)
    Name of owner of commoditiesDescription and model numberQuantity and total valueCategory of controlled commoditiesPlace of originDestination of export/
    re-export
             

    (3)among the investigation and prosecution cases mentioned in (2), of the number and details of those cases which involved the violation of the export requirements by exporting or re-exporting telecommunications products to Iran (set out in Table 4)?

    Table 4

    Date of seizureDescription and model number of the telecommunications productsQuantity and total value of the productsPlace of origin
        
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*12. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)


To promote the development of renewable energy ("RE"), the Government has introduced the Feed-in Tariff ("FiT"). It has been reported that following the authorities' relaxation of the height restriction on the solar photovoltaic ("PV") systems to be installed on rooftops of village houses, there has been a surge in the number of FiT applications. Nevertheless, quite a number of applications have been hindered by issues such as the proposed generating capacity has exceeded the current capacity of the power grids for supplying electricity to the customer or district concerned, resulting in certain FiT applications being approved with a lower generating capacity only. This has seriously upset the plans of the applicants and the relevant industries and even dampened their desire to develop RE for electricity generation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)if it knows, since the introduction of FiT, (i) the respective numbers of applications received by each power company, (ii) the vetting and approval status of the applications (including having been approved, being processed, having been rejected, etc.), (iii) the customer category to which the applicants belonged, (iv) the category of RE (i.e. solar energy or wind energy) involved, and (v) the number and details of the applications for which revisions to the scale of electricity generation were necessary (including the originally proposed generating capacity, the revised generating capacity as requested by the power company concerned, and the reasons for the revision);

    (2)whether it envisaged, when considering and formulating FiT, the issue that the generating capacities of some applications need to be lowered as appropriate because they are too large; if so, of the details (including the percentage of the relevant cases and their impact on the output of electricity to be generated by RE) and the solutions;

    (3)whether targeted improvement measures are in place to address the issues mentioned in (2); if so, of the details (including actions to be taken and the timetable); if not, the reasons for that; and

    (4)as the Government has recognized that promoting the development of RE is an integral part of mitigating climate change, whether the authorities will consider adopting more aggressive measures to encourage the installation of solar PV systems in all suitable buildings and promote the healthy development of local RE industries like the solar energy industry, such as by making reference to the policies and measures implemented in other countries and regions for supporting the development of the solar power generation industry and streamlining the application procedure for installing solar PV systems on building rooftops under the premise of conformity with the safety principles, offering tax concessions to households which have installed such systems, promoting the development of the leasing market for such systems, and setting up investment funds for subscription by the public for developing RE industries; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*13. Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that in 2012, a taxi driver who became agitated and kept struggling when being arrested was dragged, by means of holding in a headlock, into a police car by police officers. The driver consequently suffered from a cervical vertebra dislocation and died after hospitalization for about one month. In October last year, a Coroner's Court held an inquest into the cause of death of that driver and the jury returned a verdict that he was "unlawfully killed". On the other hand, the Police have formed a working group dedicated to following up how the guidelines, procedures and training on the use of force can be improved. Regarding the use of force by police officers while discharging duties, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)given that the jury of the aforesaid death inquest has made four recommendations, including installing closed-circuit television cameras with voice recording function inside Emergency Unit vehicles and providing police officers with training on the technique for transferring arrested persons to police cars, whether the Police will adopt these recommendations;

    (2)whether the Police will enhance the training of police officers, particularly young officers who have left the Police College not long ago, on how to control their emotions properly while discharging duties and exercise a high level of restraint in using force; and

    (3)whether the Police will, in the light of the outcome of the aforesaid death inquest, update and make public the guidelines for police officers on the use of force?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*14. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)


Some groups have relayed to me that the employment support currently provided by the Government for persons with disabilities ("PWDs") is inadequate, and quite a number of PWDs have still been unsuccessful in securing employment several years after graduation from tertiary institutions. Moreover, quite a number of PWDs who had secured employment through the Work Orientation and Placement Scheme ("WOPS") were dismissed immediately after the end of the nine-month payment period of the government allowance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it knows (i) the respective rates of employment, unemployment and underemployment of PWDs, and (ii) the number of PWDs with tertiary education qualifications and their respective rates of employment, unemployment and underemployment, in each of the past five years;

    (2)of the top three government departments with the highest percentages of the number of PWDs in the total number of employees in each of the past five years;

    (3)of the respective numbers and percentages of government job vacancies filled by PWDs who were (i) transferred from other posts in the Government and (ii) appointed through open recruitment processes, in each of the past five years;

    (4)of the respective numbers of PWDs and employers who were provided with employment and recruitment services by the Selective Placement Division of the Labour Department, and the number of PWDs who secured employment through such services, in each of the past five years;

    (5)of the total amount of allowance granted under WOPS in each of the past five years to employers who were employing PWDs; the number of PWDs in the past two years who stayed in employment for more than 10 months after securing employment through WOPS;

    (6)of the number of PWDs who underwent productivity assessments and were issued with a Certificate of Assessment on the Degree of Productivity each year since the implementation of the Statutory Minimum Wage ("SMW") regime in May 2011;

    (7)given that a PWD may choose to reach an agreement with an employer under which he accepts the arrangement for undergoing a trial period of employment of not more than four weeks, and the level of the wage paid by the employer to such an employee during the period must not be lower than 50% of the SMW rate, whether the Government knows, among the PWDs mentioned in (6), the number of those who, based on the assessment results, were entitled to wages at a level higher than 50% of the SMW rate; and

    (8)whether the Government will consider, by following the practices in some Mainland provinces and municipalities and overseas countries, taking the lead in introducing an employment quota system for PWDs in government departments?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*15. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)


Some public light bus ("PLB") trade organizations have relayed that they are unable to recruit sufficient PLB drivers. As a result, the succession and ageing problems of the drivers (whose current average age is 69) have become increasingly serious, and more than 10% of PLBs are left idle due to a lack of drivers, thereby affecting PLB services. Regarding the shortage of PLB drivers, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of holders of valid PLB driving licences and, among them, the number of those who were new holders of the driving licence, at the end of each of the past five years, with a tabulated breakdown of such numbers by the age group (i.e. 29 or below, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, 70 to 79 and 80 or above) to which the holders belonged at that time;

    (2)whether it will provide subsidies for the fees of PLB driving courses, PLB driving tests and the pre-service course for PLB drivers, so as to attract new blood for the industry;

    (3)of the measures taken by the Government in the past three years to assist PLB operators in recruiting drivers, as well as the details and effectiveness of each of such measures; and

    (4)whether it will consider, as a short-term measure to address the problem of manpower shortage of drivers, allowing the PLB trade to import, at salaries not lower than those of local PLB drivers, drivers from outside Hong Kong to drive green minibuses; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*16. Hon HO Kai-ming to ask: (Translation)


Will the Government inform this Council of the respective numbers of applications (i) received and (ii) approved in the past five years which were made under the Supplementary Labour Scheme for importation of care workers for residential care homes for the elderly; in respect of the applications approved, a breakdown of the number of care workers by education level and type of qualifications, as well as their current median monthly wage?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*17. Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask: (Translation)


Under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), when a Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 or above or a Red/Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is in force, an employer is liable to pay compensation if his employee sustains an injury or dies as a result of an accident while travelling by a direct route from his place of residence to his place of work within a period of four hours before the time of commencement of his working hours for that day, or from his place of work to his place of residence within a period of four hours after the time of cessation of his working hours for that day. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the Labour Department will compile statistics on the following: the respective numbers of accidents occurring to employees while (i) at work and (ii) commuting to and from work when the aforesaid warning signal(s) is/are in force, and a breakdown of those numbers by type of accidents as well as by the industry and type of work in which the employees are engaged; and

    (2)given that the aforesaid requirement is applicable only to accidents occurring while such warning signal(s) is/are in force but employees often need to, upon cancellation of the warning signal(s), commute to and from work when the safety of the roads has yet to be ascertained, whether the authorities will extend the ambit of the requirement concerned to cover accidents occurring within a period of four hours after the cancellation of the warning signal(s); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*18. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)


The Government has commissioned the University of Hong Kong ("HKU") to conduct a study on the risk factors associated with breast cancer for local women, so as to help formulate the future strategies for breast cancer screening in Hong Kong. The study is expected to be completed in the latter half of this year. Besides, some studies have pointed out that as compared with conventional 2D mammography, 3D mammography is more accurate and carry a lower dosage of radiation, and therefore is more suitable for carrying out breast cancer screening on Asian women (including Hong Kong women) who have a higher density of mammary glands. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
  • (1)the membership list of the HKU team that is in charge of the aforesaid study and the professions to which the team members belong, as well as the scope and the latest progress of the study;

    (2)whether the team will meet with relevant overseas organizations (e.g. organizations in Taiwan and Singapore which advocate breast cancer screening) so as to learn from the experience of other countries or regions in implementing breast cancer screening; if the team will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (3)whether the team will, by making reference to medical papers on mammography devices, put forward recommendations on the selection by the Government of mammography devices which will better meet the needs of Hong Kong women; if the team will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*19. Hon Andrew WAN to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that some drivers have recently found a number of metal nails commonly known as "caltrops" or "crow's feet" on the roads in the vicinity of Tsuen Wan and Sham Tseng. A number of vehicles had a blowout after running over such metal nails. Some members of the transport trade have pointed out that vehicles may lose control due to blowouts, which may subsequently cause traffic accidents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the Police have so far made any arrest in relation to the aforesaid incidents, and whether the Police will step up its efforts in monitoring and patrolling the roads concerned;

    (2)of the legislation violated by the act of placing sharp object(s) on roads; the number of persons who were prosecuted for that in the past five years; and

    (3)whether caltrop is one type of "prohibited weapons" the possession of which is prohibited under the Weapons Ordinance (Cap. 217); if so, of the number of persons prosecuted in the past five years for possession of caltrops; if not, whether any legislation is currently in place to regulate the possession, use and import of caltrops; if not, whether it will consider enacting such legislation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*20. Hon SHIU Ka-chun to ask: (Translation)


At present, trainees with disabilities ("trainees") who receive vocational training at sheltered workshops may receive monthly incentive payments and training allowances. On the other hand, when calculating the amount of money payable to recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA"), the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") makes a deduction by some of the recipients' employment earnings; for people with disabilities, the first $1,200 of monthly earnings may be totally disregarded while half of the next $5,600 may be disregarded (i.e. the maximum total amount of disregarded earnings is $4,000 per month, and all earnings beyond $6,800 per month are not disregarded). As SWD regards the training allowances received by the trainees as employment earnings, some trainees temporarily stop going to sheltered workshops for training after they have earned a training allowance of $6,800 or more in a month. Besides, sheltered workshops are not required to pay trainees training allowances at a rate not lower than the statutory minimum wage ("SMW") rate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the mechanism for setting and adjusting the amount of the incentive payment; whether the amount was adjusted in the past five years; if so, of the number and magnitudes of adjustments; whether it has plans to review the amount; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)whether it knows the maximum, minimum, average and median amounts of monthly training allowances paid to the trainees at present;

    (3)whether it has compiled statistics on the number of trainees in each of the past five years who were CSSA recipients and were paid a training allowance of over $6,800 in certain month(s) of the year; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will compile such statistics expeditiously;

    (4)why SWD, in calculating the amounts of CSSA payments payable to trainees who are CSSA recipients, regards training allowances received by them as employment earnings, and whether SWD will review and change that practice, so as to avoid trainees temporarily stopping to receive training lest their CSSA payments will be deducted; and

    (5)as sheltered workshops receive purchase orders like a factory and trainees are engaged in production work like factory workers, why the trainees are not protected under the SMW regime; how the authorities tell clearly whether the trainees are engaged in production work or are receiving training in a workshop, so as to prevent persons with disabilities from being exploited?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*21. Hon Jeremy TAM to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that the flight movements at Gatwick Airport in London were suspended twice late last year due to the intrusion of unmanned aircraft systems ("UASs"), which in total lasted for over 30 hours and affected about 1 000 flights and 140 000 passengers. Despite the presence of legislation in the United Kingdom banning UASs from flying inside and within 1 000 metres surrounding the airport and from flying above 400 feet, the aforesaid incident still happened and the law enforcement agencies have failed to track down the perpetrators so far. After the aforesaid incident, the authority of the airport has procured an anti-UAS system at a cost of £5 million to deal with similar incidents in future. On preventing the operation of the Hong Kong International Airport from being affected by UASs, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of (i) the number of reports received by the authorities concerning the illegal flying of UASs within the Bylaw Area prescribed in the Airport Authority Bylaw (Cap. 483 sub. leg. A), (ii) the respective numbers of persons arrested, prosecuted and convicted for illegally flying of UASs within the Bylaw Area, and (iii) the punishments imposed on those convicted, in each of the past five years;

    (2)whether it has formulated measures for the expeditious handling of the situation of UASs illegally flying within the Bylaw Area, so as to avoid disruptions to flight movements; if so, of the details (including the procedure for activating the contingency measures); if not, the reasons for that; and

    (3)whether equipment with the following functions has been installed at the Hong Kong International Airport: detecting UASs flying within the Bylaw Area, manipulating such UASs to land safely and stop operating, and tracking down the location of the person who has flown the UASs; if so, of the details, if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*22. Hon Vincent CHENG to ask: (Translation)


Some shop operators in Kowloon City have relayed to me that in order to implement the Shatin to Central Link ("SCL") project, the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has since 2014 enclosed several large construction sites with wire fences on a number of roads in the district and closed several road sections (such as a lane of Nam Kok Road bound for Prince Edward Road East). Due to sight line obstructions, coupled with the dust and noise generated by the works, the shops located on numbers 4 to 24 Nam Kok Road have suffered a plunge in business. Although they have filed compensation claims in accordance with the Railways Ordinance (Cap. 519) ("the Ordinance") and submitted detailed information, none of the claims have been approved so far. Regarding complaints and compensation claims arising from railway projects, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)among the 26 compensation claims in respect of the SCL project received by the authorities in the past five years, of the number of those rejected and the reasons for the rejection, with a tabulated breakdown by type of claimants and District Council district;

    (2)of the respective numbers of complaints received by the authorities in each of the past five years involving the works carried out at Ma Tau Wai Road, Kiang Su Street, Lok Shan Road and Nam Kok Road under the SCL project, with a breakdown by the contents of the complaints; the measures taken by the authorities to mitigate the impact of the works on nearby shop operators and residents;

    (3)of the anticipated time for (i) the completion of the works at the roads mentioned in (2) under the SCL project, and (ii) the removal of the wire fences erected thereon for the purpose of the works; the expected commissioning dates of To Kwa Wan Station and Sung Wong Toi Station which are related to such works;

    (4)of the respective numbers of compensation claims filed under the Ordinance which were received, approved and rejected by the authorities, and the number of them referred to the Lands Tribunal (with a tabulated breakdown by the handling results and District Council district), in each of the past five years;

    (5)given that the Government is a major shareholder of MTRCL, whether the Government will refer the compensation claims arising from railway projects to an independent third-party organization or a committee comprising non-official members for assessments, in order to show impartiality; and

    (6)whether it will review the Ordinance with a view to improving the mechanism for compensation claims?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

* For written reply

III. Government Bills



First Reading and Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

National Anthem Bill:Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Consideration by Committee of the Whole Council and Third Reading

Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Bill:Secretary for Food and Health

Secretary for Food and Health to move amendments

(The amendments were issued on 11 January 2019
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 306/18-19)

(Debate and voting arrangements for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Bill in committee of the whole Council (issued on 22 January 2019 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 343/18-19(01)) (same as the Appendix to the Script of Council meeting of 23 January 2019))

IV. Members' Motions



1.Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Hon Starry LEE to move the following motion:

That this Council takes note of Report No. 9/18-19 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 23 January 2019 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:

Item NumberTitle of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument

(4)Fugitive Offenders (France) Order (L.N. 240/2018).

Public Officers to attend:Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Security

2.Motion under Article 73(5) and (10) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

Hon Dennis KWOK to move the following motion:

That, pursuant to Article 73(5) and (10) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, this Council summons the Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa CHENG, S.C., to attend before the Council at its earliest meeting after the passage of this motion to produce all relevant papers, books, records or documents and to testify or give evidence on her handling of the case of alleged corruption and/or alleged misconduct in public office of former Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mr LEUNG Chun-ying, her failure to comply with the Department of Justice's briefing out policy to seek legal advice from Queen's Counsel and/or Senior Counsel on the case, and her decision of not prosecuting Mr LEUNG Chun-ying, and relevant matters.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Justice

3.Motion on "Enacting legislation to protect the rights and interests of rare disease patients"

Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation)

That quite a number of countries have laid down definitions, enacted legislation and formulated evidence-based and regularized long-term policies on rare diseases as early as the 1980s, making it more convenient for rare disease patients to apply for approval of drugs, subsidy, and so on, and enabling them to receive more efficient and more proper treatment and care; and the United States, member states of the European Union and the neighbouring countries and regions of Hong Kong, such as Singapore, Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Korea have long laid down definitions of rare diseases, formulated support policies, established a database of rare disease cases, etc.; however, the Hong Kong Government has yet to lay down any definition and formulate any concrete policy on rare diseases to provide support for rare disease patients; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to enact legislation on rare diseases, in order to protect and promote the rights of rare disease patients and enable them to receive proper diagnosis, treatment and care, thereby fulfilling the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the relevant contents include:

(1)establishing a policy committee on rare diseases to advise on a strategic development direction for a policy on rare diseases, monitor the implementation of the policy on rare diseases by government departments and statutory bodies, report on the implementation of the policy on rare diseases, etc.;

(2)establishing an evaluative committee on rare diseases to evaluate whether a disease meets the definition of rare diseases;

(3)defining a disease which affects no more than 1 in 10 000 individuals in Hong Kong and is clinically definable as a rare disease;

(4)introducing a registration system for rare disease drugs whereby rare disease patients, medical practitioners and pharmaceutical companies can apply for the inclusion of new drugs in the list of drugs for rare diseases;

(5)introducing a subsidy system to ensure that rare disease patients will receive safe, quality, effective and affordable drugs and treatment, instead of laying emphasis only on cost-effectiveness; and

(6)introducing a rare disease information system which contains a list of rare diseases and their prevalence rates, the demographic information of patients and usage statistics of rare disease drugs.

Prof Hon Joseph LEE and Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to move amendments to the motion

(The amendments were issued on 17 January 2019
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 330/18-19)

Public Officers to attend:Secretary for Food and Health
Under Secretary for Food and Health

4.Motion on "Creating opportunities to assist small and medium enterprises and promoting upward mobility of young people"

Hon Tony TSE to move the following motion: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to create opportunities to assist small and medium enterprises ('SMEs') and promote upward mobility of young people; specific measures are as follows:

(1)reforming the procurement and tendering systems of the Government and public organizations, including attaching more importance to creative designs and innovative technology in evaluation, rather than only putting emphasis on the 'lowest bid wins' principle and imposing unnecessary requirements on the experience, qualifications and capital of tenderers; and splitting projects and service contracts as appropriate to avoid unnecessary bundled tender of multiple contracts, thereby reducing the monopoly by large enterprises and multinational groups, increasing local SMEs', start-up enterprises' and young professionals' chances of tendering and success in bidding;

(2)actively assisting local SMEs and young people to develop markets and seize the opportunities presented by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ('the Greater Bay Area'), including setting up more offices in the Greater Bay Area to facilitate the provision of more support to SMEs and young people who wish to seek development on the Mainland, and at the same time striving with the Mainland for more tax concessions and facilitating measures;

(3)holding architectural design competitions for suitable small and medium public works projects and allowing winners to participate in the projects, and providing unsuccessful entrants whose works have reached a certain standard with reasonable design fees as encouragement;

(4)raising the subsidy ceiling for the Continuing Education Fund and expanding the funding scope, and providing SMEs with staff training allowance to promote concurrent improvement of enterprises and staff;

(5)providing young people with aspirations for starting their own business with free or low-rent shared offices on a time limited basis, and offering one-stop start-up support services; and

(6)building a home ownership ladder with clearly defined levels to assist young families and young professionals with repayment ability yet unable to afford the high rate of down payment in acquiring their first property, thereby helping them to move upward.

Hon WU Chi-wai, Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok, Hon Charles Peter MOK, Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki, Hon LUK Chung-hung, Hon Paul TSE and Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to move amendments to the motion

(The amendments were issued on 17 January 2019
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 331/18-19)

Public Officers to attend:Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Home Affairs

Clerk to the Legislative Council