The paper to be laid on the Table of the Council set out in Appendix 1

Members to ask 19 questions (4 for oral replies and 15 for written replies)

Contents of 19 questions, Members to ask such questions and public officers to reply set out in Appendix 2

(Standing over from the meeting of 27 May 2020)

(Standing over from the meeting of 3 June 2020)

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 502/19-20 issued on 5 June 2020)

Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) Regulation (L.N. 32 of 2020)

(Standing over from the meeting of 27 May 2020)

(No public officer will attend this item)

(Standing over from the meeting of 20 May 2020)

(Standing over from the meeting of 20 May 2020)

(Standing over from the meeting of 23 October 2019)

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 195/19-20 and CB(3) 218/19-20 issued on 9 and 17 December 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 23 October 2019)

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 195/19-20 and CB(3) 218/19-20 issued on 9 and 17 December 2019)

(Items 8 to 12 standing over from the meeting of 23 October 2019)

(Item 13 standing over from the meeting of 13 November 2019)

(Item 14 standing over from the meeting of 11 December 2019)

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 195/19-20 and CB(3) 218/19-20 issued on 9 and 17 December 2019)

(Item 15 standing over from the meeting of 13 November 2019)

(Item 16 standing over from the meeting of 27 November 2019)

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 195/19-20 and CB(3) 218/19-20 issued on 9 and 17 December 2019)

(Items 17 and 18 standing over from the meeting of 15 January 2020)

(Items 19 and 20 standing over from the meeting of 20 May 2020)

(Standing over from the meeting of 12 June 2019)

(Standing over from the meeting of 3 June 2020)

Hon Kenneth LAU to ask:

Some Lung Kwu Tan residents have relayed that quite a number of obnoxious facilities and heavy industries (including two power plants, a landfill, a columbarium, sludge incinerators, a steel mill and a cement plant) are located in the vicinity of their residences, causing serious air and noise pollution, as well as odour and traffic congestion problems. They are worried that the Government's plan for reclamation at Lung Kwu Tan may aggravate such problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon SHIU Ka-fai to ask:

Last month, the Government announced the extension of the coverage of the Employment Support Scheme ("ESS") to include, among others, those mature employees (i.e. aged 65 or above) for whom their employers have made voluntary Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") contributions. However, those self-employed persons (except persons in particular trades) and those mature employees who do not have an MPF account, as well as those mature employees with an MPF account but their employers have not made voluntary contributions for them, are all not covered by the Scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Frankie YICK to ask:

Some taxi owners have relayed that recently, the comprehensive insurance premiums and third party risks insurance premiums for taxis have increased by 35% and 20% respectively when compared with the same period last year. Besides, insurance companies have charged additional premiums of 15% to 25% for taxis with high vehicle age and those driven by elderly drivers, and have substantially increased the amounts specified in insurance contracts to be paid by insured persons for contributing towards insurance compensation (commonly known as "insurance excess"). In addition, some insurance companies have refused to underwrite insurance for taxis reaching the vehicle age of 20, and some insurance companies have recently ceased to underwrite insurance for taxis, thereby lessening competition in the market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

In 1998, the Government changed the planned uses of the sites in the Yau Tong Industrial Area ("YTIA") from "Industrial" to "Comprehensive Development Area", "Residential" and "Commercial" zones. With the completion of and intake of residents for a number of residential projects in that area in recent years, its population has been increasing incessantly. Some residents have relayed that currently a concrete batching plant is still in operation in the area, causing environmental pollution and affecting the daily living and health of the residents in the vicinity. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon James TO to ask:

A Review Panel under the Equal Opportunities Commission ("EOC") conducted, between 2017 and 2019, a process review to examine EOC's governance, management structure and complaint handling process, with a view to improving the services of EOC. In parallel, a retired High Court Judge conducted, upon EOC's invitation, an independent review of EOC's complaint handling process and submitted an independent report thereon. The Review Panel subsequently submitted to EOC the Report on Review of the Equal Opportunities Commission Governance, Management Structure and Complaint Handling Process ("the Report"), setting out its responses to the various recommendations put forth in the independent report. The Report was endorsed and then published by EOC in December 2019. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Vincent CHENG to ask:

One of the questions in Paper 1 of the History subject of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education ("HKDSE") Examination this year was about the Sino-Japanese relations in the first half of the 20th century. The question provided two pieces of information and requested candidates to answer the following: "Japan did more good than harm to China in the period 1900-45. Do you agree?" There are comments that the question was silent on the fact that the invasive war waged by Japan on China back then had resulted in the death of tens of millions of compatriots. As the information attached to the question was grossly one-sided and carried a leading sense, as much as 38% of the candidates reached a "more good than harm" conclusion. The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority ("HKEAA") has advised that as in the case of other HKDSE subject examinations, a moderation committee ("MC") is responsible for setting questions and drafting marking guidelines for the History subject. The MC of the History subject comprises a chief examiner, a setter or co-setters, moderators and an assessment development manager of HKEAA. It has been reported that the manager concerned has repeatedly made biased remarks on social media. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Hoi-yan to ask:

With subventions provided by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD"), three non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") currently operate an Integrated Services Team for Street Sleepers each to provide integrated services for street sleepers. In addition, the Integrated Family Service Centres and Integrated Services Centres run by SWD or NGOs provide relevant support for street sleepers. The economic downturn that occurred over the past six months has rendered quite a number of people homeless, and the number of street sleepers has been on the rise. I have learnt, however, that owing to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, the support received by street sleepers has been reduced rather than increased. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask:

According to the guidelines of the Hospital Authority ("HA"), healthcare personnel should undergo a facial contour fit test ("fit test") before using an N95 respirator ("respirator"), in order to ensure that they are given appropriate respirators. Healthcare personnel with a significant change in facial contour should take the fit test afresh. Earlier on, some nurses working in public hospitals have relayed to me that after the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") epidemic, HA had, without conducting the fit tests for them, given them respirators of the models concerned on the basis of the results of the fit tests they underwent in as early as 2003. HA had not conducted the fit tests for them until the time when HA had to check whether respirators of another model were suitable for use by them because the respirators of the models concerned had become out of stock. As the fit test results have revealed that they had all along been using respirators that did not fit their facial contour, they consider that such a situation had unnecessarily increased their risks of infection at work. Regarding the conduct of fit tests by HA for its healthcare personnel, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

Some suppliers of electric vehicle ("EV") charging facilities ("suppliers") install for private residential buildings EV charging-enabling infrastructure ("the infrastructure") in their common parts, as well as install chargers at the public parking spaces and private parking spaces of interested owners of such buildings. Such suppliers charge the owners' corporations ("OCs") concerned a fee for installation of the infrastructure and enter into a five-year service contract with the owner of each of such private parking spaces. Under such contracts, the owners of the parking spaces concerned, after making a lump-sum payment and a monthly fee, may charge their EVs for unlimited number of times. Given that the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) provides that any goods or services the value of which exceeds or is likely to exceed the sum of $200,000, or a sum which is equivalent to 20% of the annual budget of the OC concerned, must be procured by the corporation by way of invitation to tender, such suppliers pass on part of the installation cost of the infrastructure to the owners of private parking spaces when such cost exceeds the said sum, so as to avoid the situation that OC is obliged to invite tenders. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:

Since June last year, some demonstrators have wantonly vandalized public facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Prof Hon Joseph LEE to ask:

To cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, Emergency Response Level was activated in public hospitals on 25 January this year. The Hospital Authority ("HA") subsequently announced that staff members engaging in high risk duties in response to the epidemic might be granted Special Emergency Response Allowance (with retrospective effect from 25 January), and that those staff members performing duties in high risk areas who needed to rent hotel rooms or temporary accommodation might be granted Special Rental Allowance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Michael TIEN to ask:

To tackle the epidemic, the Government has, since February this year, requisitioned the unoccupied Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan as quarantine facilities. Some prospective tenants who have accepted advance allocation of the units in the said estate have relayed to me that the deferral of the intake date has seriously upset their plans, and the prolonged delay in specifying a handover date for the units concerned has rendered them unable to make appropriate living arrangements. Some prospective tenants have suffered a drop in income as a result of the economic downturn, and yet they still have to continue to pay exorbitant rents for private housing. Also, quite a number of prospective tenants who have arranged their children to change schools even need to make arrangements for their children to travel to other districts to attend schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask:

The Financial Secretary announced in this financial year's Budget that a Cash Payout Scheme would be launched to disburse $10,000 to each Hong Kong permanent resident ("resident") aged 18 or over. However, the lead time for the Scheme is rather long, as registration by residents is not expected to commence until the end of this month and disbursements to the majority of residents is not expected to be made until the end of August this year. Some members of the information technology sector have pointed out that the Government should, in the long run, establish an e-payment platform and make good use of e-payment means (e.g. stored value facilities, prepaid cards and debit cards), so as to facilitate the expeditious disbursements of various types of subsidies and allowances to residents, as well as to promote the development of fintech. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask:

On facilitating the development of the fifth generation ("5G") mobile communications and technology, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:

One of the questions in Paper 1 of the History subject of this year's Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education ("HKDSE") Examination requested candidates to make reference to the information provided in the question and then answer whether they agreed to the following statement: "Japan did more good than harm to China in the period 1900-45". There have been public comments that since the invasion of China and atrocities committed by Japan in that period were too numerous to list, causing indelible pain to the country and nation, the statement obviously confounds right and wrong. The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority ("HKEAA") has responded that, as in the case of other HKDSE subject examinations, a moderation committee ("MC") is responsible for setting questions and drafting marking guidelines for the History subject. The MC of the History subject comprises a chief examiner, a setter or co-setters, moderators and an assessment development manager of HKEAA. It has been reported that the manager concerned has repeatedly made biased remarks on social media. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

A question in Paper 1 of the History subject of this year's Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education ("HKDSE") Examination requested candidates to make reference to two pieces of information and then answer the following question: "Japan did more good than harm to China in the period 1900-45. Do you agree?" There are comments that the question was inappropriate in the selection of topic and was ill-intended, downplaying the painful historical facts of Japan's invasion of China, thereby leading candidates to reach a conclusion which turns the truth upside down. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon WU Chi-wai to ask:

On the 28th of last month, the National People's Congress decided that its Standing Committee be entrusted to formulate laws relating to establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") to safeguard national security. The Department of State of the United States ("US") forthwith submitted a report to the US Congress stating that as HKSAR had failed to maintain a high degree of autonomy, it did not warrant special treatment. The US President then announced the commencement of the process for revoking the special treatment for Hong Kong, e.g. statuses as a separate customs territory and as a separate travel territory, and exemptions from the US export controls on dual-use technologies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

Since the eruption of the disturbances arising from the opposition to the proposed legislative amendments in June last year, incessant violence and unlawful acts have hard hit the economy and people's livelihood. Although the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal pointed out in his statement issued on 25 May this year that judges had a responsibility, owed to the community, to adjudicate on cases fairly and impartially, many members of the public have complained to me that some judges misconducted themselves (e.g. signing a joint public petition in opposition to the proposed legislative amendments) and the sentences they imposed in relation to some of the cases involving the movement of opposition to the proposed legislative amendments were inappropriate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:

It has been reported that the treatment method which makes use of the convalescent plasma ("convalescent plasma treatment") donated by people recovered from Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") has certain curative effect on treating COVID-19 patients. The conditions of two patients of serious cases were substantially improved after they had received such treatment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: