6 items of subsidiary legislation and 2 other papers to be laid on the Table of the Council set out in Appendix 1

Members to ask 21 questions (6 for oral replies and 15 for written replies)

Contents of 21 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 10 June 2020)

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

(Standing over from the meeting of 3 June 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 Alice MAK to ask:

In recent years, quite a number of people have solicited donations from members of the public through online platforms ("online crowdfunding") for purposes such as supporting charity, funding litigations and even sponsoring activities that undermine the interests of Hong Kong (e.g. "mutually destructive" acts such as urging the authorities of foreign countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong, as well as making preparation for "liberating Hong Kong"). Furthermore, some online crowdfunding initiators were arrested earlier on for suspected unlawful acts of fraud (i.e. misappropriation of the fund raised through crowdfunding), money laundering, etc. While application for a permit from the authorities is currently required for conducting fundraising activities at public places, online crowdfunding is not subject to any regulation, thereby giving lawbreakers opportunities to take advantage of the loopholes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Tanya CHAN to ask:

Article 18 of the Basic Law stipulates that the laws listed in Annex III shall be applied locally by way of promulgation or legislation by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR"). The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("NPCSC") may add to or delete from the list of laws in Annex III after consulting its Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("BLC") and the SAR Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask:

Regarding the Regulation under which persons arriving at Hong Kong from overseas shall be subject to 14-day compulsory quarantine, the Government has extended its expiry date to 18 September this year, straddling the polling date set for the 2020 Legislative Council General Election (i.e. 6 September). The Government has indicated that it will consider allowing electors under compulsory quarantine to go out temporarily to cast their votes. However, some Hong Kong people who are currently outside Hong Kong and intend to make a special trip to return to Hong Kong to cast their votes have indicated that the said arrangement is still unsound as they have to, owing to personal circumstances, leave Hong Kong shortly after casting their votes, and will be unable to stay in Hong Kong to complete the quarantine procedure. Regarding the polling arrangements for the Election, will the Government inform this Council:

Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask:

The Government has over the years been promoting the collaboration among the "government, industry, academic and research" sectors, and has established the Innovation and Technology Fund ("ITF") to finance projects that contribute to the innovation and technology upgrading in the manufacturing and services industries. On the other hand, the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("Outline Development Plan") promulgated by the Central People's Government in February last year outlines the vision of developing an international innovation and technology hub. On promoting the development of innovation and technology, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

Intake of residents for the eResidence, the first Starter Homes ("SH") for Hong Kong Residents pilot project developed by the Urban Renewal Authority, commenced last month. Some flat owners of that housing court have complained that they have to pay exorbitant management fees, which amount to $4.3 per square foot and are even higher than those of certain private housing courts. The exorbitant management fees, coupled with property mortgage repayments, have aggravated their financial burden. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:

To attract non-locally trained doctors to practise in Hong Kong so as to alleviate the manpower shortage of doctors in public hospitals, I and fellow members of the party to which I belong proposed in the middle of last year to amend the Medical Registration Ordinance to the effect that non-locally trained doctors who had been in employment with the Hospital Authority ("HA") under limited registration for not less than five years and with satisfactory work performance would be qualified to apply for full registration as a registered doctor, without having to go through the required examination. The Government responded that as the proposal was controversial, it was not an "opportune time" to amend the Ordinance without full consultation of the stakeholders. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Paul TSE to ask:

Earlier on, the Government sought the approval of the Finance Committee ("FC") of this Council to provide funding of over $5.4 billion to the Ocean Park Corporation for purposes such as repayment of commercial loans of over $3 billion and maintaining operation for one year. The Government refused to disclose to Members of this Council the details, e.g. the interest rates, of the loan agreements on grounds of commercial secrets being involved. In the past, the Government refused to respond, also on grounds of commercial secrets being involved, to the questions that I repeatedly raised about the information of the income and expenditure of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. Furthermore, when being questioned by Members of this Council about the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, in which the Government has invested a huge amount, making consecutive years of losses, government officials were reluctant to disclose the details of the agreement signed between the Government and the Walt Disney Company, also on grounds of commercial secrets being involved. On the other hand, regarding the details of the operation of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (including the mechanism for the Government to bear the losses), the Government refused to disclose the details of the relevant agreement, once again on grounds of commercial secrets being involved. Some members of the media and the public have criticized that the above situations show that the Government, in its management of public finance, often overemphasizes commercial interests and ignores the interests of the public, in particular taxpayers' right of access to information on public expenditures. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Chun-ying to ask:

The Government established the Smart Government Innovation Lab ("Smart Lab") in April last year to promote the development of Smart Government and facilitate the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong. Regarding the work of the Smart Lab, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

Regarding the elderly Hong Kong residents (i.e. aged over 60) on the Mainland, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Tony TSE to ask:

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic early this year, more than 1 000 members of the public have been confirmed to be infected and various trades have also been hard hit. Some members of the public have pointed out that the Government's measures to counter the epidemic have much room for improvement. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

The Customs and Excise Department regularly makes public the annual numbers of cases detected in respect of illegal imports and exports in contravention of the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586), as well as the annual quantities and values of the seizures from such cases. However, more detailed breakdowns of such figures by the species involved in the seizures are not readily available to the public. Regarding the statistics on illegal trade of endangered species, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon SHIU Ka-chun to ask:

At present, those persons whose claims for non-refoulement protection in Hong Kong on the grounds of torture risks have been rejected will be detained at the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre ("CIC"), pending repatriation to their country of origin. I have received requests for assistance made by persons from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia whose claims were unsuccessful, saying that CIC is over-crowded as quite a number of claimants are stranded there due to the recent suspension of flights between Hong Kong and various destinations because of the epidemic. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:

At the meeting of the Legislative Council Panel on Public Service held on 20 January this year, the then Secretary for the Civil Service stated that the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service and the Standing Committee on Directorate Salaries and Conditions of Service were working independently on the grade structure review for the disciplined services in accordance with their respective terms of reference and framework of review, and had invited both the management and staff sides of the various disciplined services to submit their views. Upon completion of the review and submission of reports by the two Standing Committees to the Government, the Government would consult stakeholders on the relevant recommendations, and submit the proposed way forward to the Chief Executive-in-Council for consideration. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask:

Regarding persons from the Mainland entering or transiting via Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

Since the occurrence of social incidents in June last year, quite a number of teachers and students have been arrested for alleged participation in unlawful activities. As at the 15th of last month, some 8 000 persons were arrested, and students accounted for 40% of them. There are views that the aforesaid situation shows that it is imperative to enhance law-abiding awareness among teachers and students as well as strengthen moral education in schools. Regarding the impacts of social incidents on teachers, students and parents, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask:

The Government announced last month the establishment of a dedicated team ("the team") to review the governance and management of Radio Television Hong Kong ("RTHK"). The team will carry out its work from the middle to the end of this year and then submit a report to the Government. Given that the composition of the team does not include the Director of Broadcasting nor any staff representatives of RTHK and that the review lacks public participation, some members of the public are worried that the team will make a cart behind closed doors and put forward recommendations which are detrimental to the operation and editorial independence of RTHK. Regarding the operation and development of RTHK, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask:

The innovation and technology sector as well as the information technology sector in Hong Kong are concerned about the impacts on technology enterprises as well as research and development activities which will be brought about by the initiatives of the United States ("US") of revoking the tariff preferences given to Hong Kong and imposing restrictions on the export of technology products to Hong Kong amid the trade war between China and the US. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask:

In October last year, the Finance Committee of this Council granted funding approval for the construction of the Trunk Road T2 and Cha Kwo Ling ("CKL") Tunnel to connect the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel and the Central Kowloon Route to form Route 6. The infrastructure project is expected to be completed in 2026. It is expected that the traffic load in Kowloon East will be relieved upon the commissioning of the entire Route 6. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask:

The proposed Environmentally Friendly Linkage System ("EFLS") for Kowloon East is an elevated monorail which will start and end respectively at the Kowloon Bay Station and Kwun Tong Station of the MTR Kwun Tong Line, run through the Kai Tak Development Area ("KTDA"), and connect the Kai Tak Station of the Shatin to Central Link. The Government completed the first-stage detailed feasibility study ("DFS") for EFLS in 2017 and is currently conducting the second-stage DFS. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon WU Chi-wai to ask:

The Census and Statistics Department compiles the Social Security Assistance Index of Prices ("SSAIP") on a monthly basis to reflect the impact of price changes on the recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA"). The expenditure weight of individual categories of goods and services covered by SSAIP is updated every five years with reference to the findings of the Household Expenditure Survey on CSSA Households. The Government reviews the standard payment rates under the CSSA Scheme on an annual basis taking into account the changes in the 12-month moving average of SSAIP (the compilation of which is based on the latest expenditure weights) up to the end of October. There are comments that the adjustments to the supplements and special grants under the CSSA Scheme often fail to catch up with the rise in actual living expenses of CSSA recipients. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon KWONG Chun-yu to ask:

At present, government departments and public organizations providing public services ("public service providers") will provide interpretation services for the ethnic minorities ("EMs") who understand neither Chinese nor English to facilitate their access to public services. The Centre for Harmony and Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents ("CHEER") operated by the Hong Kong Christian Service is one of the interpretation service providers. Some EMs have relayed that the frontline staff of quite a number of public service providers did not take the initiative to arrange interpretation services for them even though the staff members could not communicate with them effectively. On the other hand, the Government has amended the Administrative Guidelines on Promotion of Racial Equality ("the Guidelines") to incorporate into the Guidelines the guidance notes on language services and data collection on service users. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: