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A 20/21-21

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 24 March 2021 at 11:00 am

I.
Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

6 items of subsidiary legislation and 4 other papers to be laid on the Table of the Council set out in Appendix 1

II.
Questions

Members to ask 22 questions (6 for oral replies and 16 for written replies)
Questions for oral replies to be asked by
Public officers to reply
1.
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
2.
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
3.
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Transport and Housing
4.
Secretary for Education
5.
Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai
Secretary for Food and Health
6.
Secretary for Food and Health
Contents of 22 questions, Members to ask such questions and public officers to reply set out in Appendix 2

III.
Government Bills

First Reading and Second Reading (debate to be adjourned)
1.
:
Secretary for the Environment
2.
:
Secretary for Security
3.
:
Secretary for Transport and Housing
4.
:
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
5.
:
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

IV.
Government Motion

Motion on taking forward the follow-up tasks of implementing co-location arrangement at the Huanggang Port
Mover
:
Secretary for Security
Wording of the motion
:
Other attending public officers
:
Secretary for Transport and Housing
Secretary for Development
Secretary for Innovation and Technology
Under Secretary for Development
Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Transport and Housing

V.
Members' Motions

1.
Proposed resolution under Article 75 of the Basic Law to amend the Rules of Procedure
Mover
:
Hon Paul TSE
Wording of the motion
:
2.
Motion on "Formulating a comprehensive rural development policy"
Mover
:
Hon Kenneth LAU
Wording of the motion
:
Amendment mover
:
Hon Steven HO
(Amendment set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 218/20-21 issued on 7 December 2020)
Public officers to attend
:
Secretary for Development
Secretary for Home Affairs
Under Secretary for Development
Under Secretary for Home Affairs
3.
Motion on "Thoroughly reforming the subject of Liberal Studies"
Mover
:
Hon Elizabeth QUAT
Wording of the motion
:
2 amendment movers
:
Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG and Hon KWOK Wai-keung
(Amendments set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 208/20-21 issued on 3 December 2020)
Public officers to attend
:
Secretary for Education
Under Secretary for Education



Clerk to the Legislative Council




Appendix 1

Council meeting of 24 March 2021

Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

Subsidiary legislation
Legal Notice No.
Other papers




Appendix 2

22 questions to be asked at the Council meeting of 24 March 2021

Subject matters
Public officers to reply
Questions for oral replies
1
Hon YUNG Hoi-yan
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
2
Hon Kenneth LAU
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
3
Hon Paul TSE
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Under Secretary for Transport and Housing
4
Hon Holden CHOW
Secretary for Education
5
Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai
Secretary for Food and Health
6
Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan
Secretary for Food and Health
Questions for written replies
7
Hon Tommy CHEUNG
Secretary for Food and Health
8
Hon LAU Kwok-fan
Secretary for Development
9
Hon Mrs Regina IP
Secretary for Security
10
Hon Frankie YICK
Secretary for Education
11
Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok
Secretary for Transport and Housing
12
Hon YIU Si-wing
Secretary for Food and Health
13
Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
14
Hon Jimmy NG
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
15
Hon Wilson OR
Secretary for Development
16
Dr Hon Pierre CHAN
Secretary for Food and Health
17
Hon LUK Chung-hung
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
18
Hon KWOK Wai-keung
Secretary for Education
19
Hon Alice MAK
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
20
Hon CHAN Han-pan
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
21
Hon Tony TSE
Secretary for the Environment
22
Hon CHAN Hak-kan
Secretary for Education




Question 1
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

The governance and management of
Radio Television Hong Kong

Hon YUNG Hoi-yan to ask:
Last month, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau ("CEDB") released the Review Report submitted by a dedicated team to review the governance and management of Radio Television Hong Kong ("RTHK"). Regarding the governance and management of RTHK, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the details of RTHK's plan for implementing the recommendations made in the Review Report in respect of its mechanisms for editorial management and complaints handling, performance measurement and evaluation, as well as management of its workforce (including the implementation priority and schedule of the various recommendations);
(2)
whether CEDB has comprehensively reviewed its role and performance in monitoring RTHK, and if any senior staff of CEDB and RTHK should be held responsible for RTHK's previous governance and management problems; how CEDB will strengthen its role in monitoring RTHK in future; and
(3)
how CEDB will, in the coming three years, instruct the Director of Broadcasting to lead RTHK to strictly comply with (i) the Charter of Radio Television Hong Kong ("the Charter") (in particular to fulfill the following purposes of RTHK as the public service broadcaster as stipulated in paragraph 4 of the Charter: providing accurate and impartial news, information, perspectives and analyses; promoting the public's understanding of "One Country, Two Systems" and its implementation in Hong Kong; and engendering a sense of citizenship and national identity through programmes that contribute to the understanding of the community and nation), (ii) the Communications Authority's code of practice on programme standards, and (iii) RTHK's internal Producers' Guidelines; whether CEDB has plans to update the Charter in order to reflect the latest situation of Hong Kong (including the National Security Law for Hong Kong having been implemented in Hong Kong)?




Question 2
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Extension of fibre-based networks to remote areas

Hon Kenneth LAU to ask:
The Government launched the Subsidy Scheme to Extend Fibre-based Networks to Villages in Remote Areas ("Subsidy Scheme") in 2018 to subsidize fixed network operators ("FNOs") to extend fibre-based networks to 235 selected villages located in remote areas, so that the villagers therein can enjoy broadband services of speed of at least 25 megabits per second ("Mbps"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it knows, among the villages covered by the Subsidy Scheme, the names of those villages for which the works to roll out fibre-based lead-in connections have been completed by now, as well as the respective expected completion time of such works for the remaining villages;
(2)
given that the selected FNOs are only subsidized to roll out fibre-based lead-in connections to the entrances of the villages, and the villagers need to negotiate with service providers on their own the roll-out of fibre-based networks within their villages, whether the Government has measures in place to assist the villagers in overcoming the relevant difficulties, so that they, just like residents in the urban areas, can enjoy fibre-to-the-home broadband services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
of the villages with a broadband speed not reaching 25 Mbps but not yet covered by the Subsidy Scheme at present; the measures that the Government has put in place to enable the villagers of such villages to enjoy broadband services with a higher speed?




Question 3
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Improving policy implementation

Hon Paul TSE to ask:
Last year, the Government injected $27.3 billion into Cathay Pacific Airways Limited ("CX") which had fallen into financial difficulty, and later disbursed around $0.6 billion of wage subsidies to CX under the Employment Support Scheme. However, CX still recorded a record-breaking deficit of $21.6 billion and needed to reduce approximately 8 500 positions last year. Some members of the public have criticized that the public money involved in the injection is sufficient for handing out $5,000 each to all members of the public in Hong Kong, or making contributions to MPF schemes on behalf of all employers and employees in Hong Kong for half a year. There have been comments that the Government has made policy blunders, such as disbursing wage subsidies to supermarket chains whose business has bloomed amid the epidemic, reducing tax concessions for the current financial year by half, proposing to issue electronic consumption vouchers with all sorts of restrictions, refusing to allow members of the public to withdraw the accrued benefits in their MPF accounts to help themselves, and failing to publish vaccination guidelines in a timely manner, which have resulted in the Government's persistently low popularity. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has reviewed if the Government's practice of spending, without consulting the public, huge amounts of public money on injecting money into CX and disbursing wage subsidies to supermarket chains with huge profits but ignoring that more and more members of the public have fallen into financial difficulty amid the epidemic, will give members of the public a perception of not helping those who should be helped, and deal a blow to public confidence in the Government's governance;
(2)
as it is learnt that the level of Mainlanders' satisfaction with the Central Government has remained persistently high in recent years, whether it has studied which of the relevant reasons are of reference value to the SAR Government to facilitate its review and adjustment of the existing policies on developing the economy and combating the epidemic; and
(3)
whether it will change the practice of helping individual enterprises and instead adopt a fairer and more cost-effective approach for assisting all enterprises and employees who have fallen into financial difficulty, such as considering afresh the proposal of the Government making contributions to MPF schemes temporarily on behalf of all employers and employees in Hong Kong, so as to ensure the proper use of public money?




Question 4
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Ordering teachers alleged to have breached
the law to be suspended from duties

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:
During the disturbances arising from the opposition to the proposed legislative amendments, quite a number of teachers were arrested for suspected participation in unlawful activities. The Education Bureau ("EDB") has written to schools requiring them to order an immediate suspension from duties of those teachers who were arrested for involvement in cases of serious offences, so as to protect students' safety and safeguard schools' operation. It is learnt that some schools have decided that such teachers are to be suspended from duties only upon conviction by the Court. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that as the conviction threshold for criminal offences is rather high, the acts, committed by those teachers who were prosecuted for taking part in a riot or an unlawful assembly but have been acquitted in a criminal trial, may still constitute professional misconduct, whether EDB will issue further guidelines to schools in the territory, stipulating that schools must enforce the arrangements for suspension from duties more stringently, so as to avoid students from being led astray by such teachers; and
(2)
given that those teachers who were suspended from duties but have subsequently been acquitted by the Court may claim compensation from the schools for the losses they incurred by being suspended from duties, whether the Government will, on behalf of the schools, bear the liabilities for compensation so as to allay the concerns of the schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?




Question 5
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme

Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask:
The Government authorized the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") vaccines "Comirnaty" and "CoronaVac" on 25 January and 18 February this year respectively for emergency use in Hong Kong. It has been reported that since the commencement of the Vaccination Programme on 26 February, a number of members of the public have felt unwell after receiving vaccination, and there have been several incidents in which members of the public died within a short period of time after vaccination. As a result, the daily number of people receiving vaccination has shown a downward trend. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it will urge the company which researched and developed CoronaVac to expeditiously publish the third phase clinical research data of the vaccine in medical journals, or make public the relevant data by other means; and
(2)
whether the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation has studied the circumstances under which the Vaccination Programme needs to be suspended pending re-assessment of the pros and cons of receiving vaccination?




Question 6
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Patients waiting at the accident and
emergency departments for transfer to the wards

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:
Some members of the public have relayed that some patients in need of hospitalization for further treatments after receiving diagnoses and treatments at the accident and emergency ("A&E") departments of public hospitals needed to wait for quite a long time before they were transferred to the wards. Recently, a patient even died while he was waiting at the A&E department for transfer to the ward. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1)
in respect of the patients who were admitted to the public hospitals via the A&E departments last year, the average time for which they had waited before they were transferred to the wards after completing the registration procedure at the A&E registries, with a breakdown by the triage category to which the patients belonged;
(2)
whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") will take new measures to shorten the time for which patients wait at the A&E departments for transfer to the wards; if HA will, of the target waiting time; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether HA will deploy healthcare personnel to regularly monitor the conditions of those patients who are waiting at the A&E departments for transfer to the wards, so as to ensure that they receive appropriate care; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?




Question 7
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Subsidy schemes implemented for the catering outlets

Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask:
Regarding the various subsidy schemes implemented for the catering outlets by the Government under the Anti-epidemic Fund, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the total number, as at the 4th of this month, of those subsidy applications for which approval has been given but subsidies have not been disbursed, and the amount of subsidies involved;
(2)
when the disbursement of the relevant subsidies is expected to be completed;
(3)
of the expected balances of the relevant commitments upon completion of processing the applications under the various subsidy schemes; and
(4)
whether it will consider making good use of the sum mentioned in (3) to provide further subsidies for operators of nightclubs, karaoke establishments and bars whose businesses have likewise been hard hit by the epidemic and the anti-epidemic measures?




Question 8
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Wetland Buffer Area

Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask:
In early years the Government demarcated and designated a strip of land of about 500 metres in width covering about 1 000 hectares along the boundary of the Deep Bay Wetland Conservation Area ("WCA") as a Wetland Buffer Area ("WBA"). No development project may commence in WBA unless an ecological impact assessment has been conducted with the assessment outcome being that the development project will not cause any insurmountable adverse impacts. There have been comments that as the freshwater fish farming industry has declined in recent years, quite a number of fish ponds in WBA have been left deserted at present. In view of this, the Government should conduct a re-planning of WBA to unleash the development potential of the lands concerned and optimize the utilization of land resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether, since the Study on the Ecological Value of Fish Ponds in the Deep Bay Area was completed in 1997, the Government has conducted studies on the ecological value of the fish ponds in that area and conducted reviews of the policies on the protection of WCA and WBA; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it will conduct such studies and reviews; if so, of the timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether it will reduce the coverage of WBA to release those lands therein with relatively low ecological value for housing or other development uses; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
given that at present, certain sites in WBA, albeit having been successfully rezoned as residential sites, may be used only for low-density residential developments due to the plot ratio restriction, resulting in underutilization of land resources, whether the Government will consider raising the plot ratio of the residential sites in WBA from the current figure of 0.2 to 0.4 to 2 to 3, with a view to increasing housing supply and at the same time encouraging, through providing incentives, developers to revitalize, with a new mindset, the fish ponds surrounding development projects in WBA, so as to strike a balance between development and conservation?




Question 9
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Disciplined services quarters

Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:
Some disciplined services staff have relayed to me that as there is a surplus of units of departmental quarters of certain grades (e.g. quarters for officer rank staff) but an acute shortage of units of quarters of some other grades (e.g. quarters for married rank and file staff), there is a mismatch between the supply of and demand for such quarters. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
in respect of the quarters of each disciplined services department, of (i) the number of units available for allocation, (ii) the number of applicants for such units, (iii) the number of applicants allocated such units, and (iv) the vacancy rate of such units, in each of the past three years, with a tabulated breakdown by (a) grade of the quarters and (b) district in which the quarters were located;
(2)
of the current waiting time for each grade of quarters under each disciplined services department; whether the Government has (i) set a target waiting time and (ii) put in place new measures to shorten the waiting time; and
(3)
whether it will put in place new measures to mitigate the mismatch between the supply of and demand for such quarters?




Question 10
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Resumption of face-to-face classes of schools

Hon Frankie YICK to ask:
Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, the Education Bureau ("EDB") has, on several occasions, announced suspension of face-to-face classes of schools along with a shift to online teaching and learning. After the schools' Chinese New Year holidays this year, schools may arrange for no more than one-third of the total number of students of the school to return to school to attend classes on a half-day basis. In addition, where a school can arrange all its teachers and staff to undergo regular virus testing once every 14 days, it may apply to EDB for whole-school resumption of half-day face-to-face classes. It is learnt that the prolonged suspension of face-to-face classes has not only affected the learning progress of students, but also significantly affected the operation of support services related to school operation (e.g. school bus services provided by school private light buses, private school buses and non-franchised public buses). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the respective up-to-date numbers of applications from schools for whole-school resumption of half-day face-to-face classes received and approved by EDB, with a breakdown by school type (i.e. kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and tutorial school); the measures in place to encourage more schools to make applications;
(2)
as some school bus operators have relayed that since they still need to meet expenses such as salaries for drivers and escorts despite a substantial reduction of income due to a drastic drop of 90% in the number of student passengers, and the subsidy provided by the Government is just a drop in the bucket, most of the operators have used up their savings and teetered on the brink of closing down their businesses, what measures the Government has put in place to assist school bus operators in tiding over the difficult times, so as to ensure that adequate school buses will be available for providing services in the next school year;
(3)
given that following the implementation of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, the epidemic may hopefully be mitigated, of the circumstances under which EDB will announce the full resumption of face-to-face classes of schools; and
(4)
given that some school buses have been left idle for a long time, whether, in order to ensure that such vehicles can resume operation safely, the Government will provide school bus operators with a "business resumption allowance" before the full resumption of face-to-face classes of schools, so that they can repair and maintain their vehicles to protect the safety of students, drivers and other road users; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?




Question 11
(For written reply)

(Translation)

New railway projects

Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask:
The Railway Development Strategy 2014, which was released in September 2014, recommends that the Government implement the projects of (i) the Tuen Mun South Extension of the West Rail and (ii) the Northern Link and Kwu Tung Station from 2019 to 2022 and from 2018 to 2023 respectively. Nevertheless, according to a paper recently submitted to this Council by the Government, the works of the two railway projects are not expected to commence until 2023. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the reasons for the delay in the implementation dates of the aforesaid two railway projects, and the measures to be put in place to prevent the occurrence of similar situations in other railway projects;
(2)
of the latest details of the two railway projects, including the estimated costs and the completion dates of the works;
(3)
given that the intake of residents of the housing development projects in the Kwu Tung North New Development Area is expected to commence in 2026, but the works of the Kwu Tung Station are expected to be completed by 2027 at the earliest, of the Government's measures to ensure that adequate public transport services are available to meet the demand of those residents who have moved into units of the development projects concerned before the commissioning of the Kwu Tung Station; and
(4)
of the latest progress of the implementation of the proposal for establishing the Railways Department under the Transport and Housing Bureau?




Question 12
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Restarting the economy amid the epidemic

Hon YIU Si-wing to ask:
To cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, the Government has, on a number of occasions since early last year, implemented various anti epidemic measures (including social distancing measures), which have dealt a heavy blow to the business of industries such as retail, catering, entertainment and tourism, as well as triggered waves of business closures and layoffs. There are views that as the Government has been carrying out anti-epidemic work continuously for more than a year, it should have grasped sufficient data and experience for launching a gradual restart of the economy on the premise that anti-epidemic needs are met concurrently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it will set criteria that are more objective (e.g. the number of local confirmed cases or cases from unknown sources having risen/fallen to a specified level) for deciding if there is a need to tighten or relax the various social distancing measures; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
what new measures are in place to enhance its work on tracing the close contacts of confirmed patients, so as to cut the silent transmission chains in the community; what more stringent infection prevention measures are in place to cope with a worsened epidemic situation; and
(3)
whether it will formulate a plan for a gradual restart of economic activities (including tourism activities) which can meet anti-epidemic needs concurrently (e.g. allowing scheduled premises directed to suspend operation due to the epidemic to resume business and tourism activities to resume when the number of local confirmed cases or cases from unknown sources has dropped to a specified level); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?




Question 13
(For written reply)

(Translation)

The BUD Fund

Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask:
The Government launched the "Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales" ("BUD Fund") in 2012 to assist small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") (including start-ups) in Hong Kong in grasping economic opportunities and boosting their competitiveness. Also, it injected funds into the Fund in 2018 and 2019 respectively to implement enhancement measures (including raising the cumulative funding ceiling per enterprise, and extending the geographical coverage from initially covering the Mainland only to also covering the Association of Southeast Asian Nations markets and all economies with which Hong Kong had signed Free Trade Agreements). As indicated in the Budget just published, the Government plans to further inject funds into the Fund to implement enhancement measures. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of applications received since the launch of the BUD Fund and, among such applications, the number of those approved and the total amount of funding involved; the total number of enterprises involved in the approved applications, with a tabulated breakdown by enterprise scale and industry type;
(2)
of the plans in the coming three years to further assist, through the BUD Fund, Hong Kong's SMEs in grasping economic opportunities; and
(3)
given that in recent years, quite a number of Hong Kong enterprises which have set up factories on the Mainland or overseas are planning to relocate their factories back to Hong Kong, whether the Government will relax the application restrictions on the BUD Fund to allow Hong Kong enterprises which have proceeded with their plans for relocating back to Hong Kong to apply for the Fund, so as to promote Hong Kong's re-industrialization and enhance the "Made in Hong Kong" brand?




Question 14
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Assisting enterprises in exploring overseas business opportunities

Hon Jimmy NG to ask:
The Chief Executive ("CE") indicated in the 2019 Policy Address that the Government would seek the policy support of the relevant Central ministries to provide Hong Kong enterprises intending to develop businesses in the nation's overseas Economic and Trade Co-operation Zones ("ETCZs") with the same incentive measures and facilitation policies as those provided to Mainland enterprises. CE subsequently indicated in the 2020 Policy Address that the State Ministry of Commerce supported the Hong Kong SAR Government in encouraging Hong Kong enterprises to develop businesses by leveraging ETCZs, and that both sides had selected five ETCZs set up by the Mainland in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia, and priorities would be given to promoting the electronics, toys and electrical appliances industries, etc. on a pilot basis. On assisting enterprises in exploring overseas business opportunities, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the details of the aforesaid incentive measures and facilitation policies as well as the latest progress of the relevant work;
(2)
of the respective numbers of Hong Kong enterprises (i) whose enquiries have been answered and (ii) which have been offered assistance, by the Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and the number of enterprises which have succeeded in developing businesses in the aforesaid five ETCZs (with a breakdown by scale of enterprise and type of industry), since the introduction of the incentive measures and facilitation policies;
(3)
given that the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province promulgated the Support Policies of the Guangdong Province for overseas Economic and Trade Co-operation Zones on 4 August last year, of the Government's specific measures to dovetail with the implementation of the policies;
(4)
in order to reduce the costs and risks faced by Hong Kong enterprises in developing businesses in ETCZs, whether the Government will consider establishing an "overseas expansion support fund", strengthening the loan guarantees for the enterprises concerned, and amending sections 39E and 16EC of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap. 112) to enable enterprises to claim tax allowances in respect of the machinery, equipment and intellectual property rights used in their production processes outside Hong Kong;
(5)
of the measures in place to assist the commodities produced by Hong Kong enterprises in ETCZs in being granted preferential treatments in respect of access to the Mainland market, in order to tie in with the economic development strategy of "dual circulation" adopted by the Mainland authorities;
(6)
given that the preparatory work of Hong Kong enterprises on developing businesses in ETCZs has inevitably been affected amid the epidemic, of the Government's measures to assist them in taking forward the relevant work; and
(7)
whether it will strive for the support from the State Ministry of Commerce to allow Hong Kong enterprises to develop businesses in more ETCZs; if so, of the details?




Question 15
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Private land suitable for public housing development

Hon Wilson OR to ask:
In the 2019 Policy Address, the Chief Executive ("CE") put forward proposals "to adopt a more focused approach for rezoning private land for public housing development, and then exercising public power to resume private land for public purpose, [which] is indeed a breakthrough in thinking", and "to resume private land which is zoned for high-density housing development in [the] statutory outline zoning plans [of various districts] but without any development plans due to various reasons (e.g. fragmented ownership, infrastructural constraints) and assessed to be suitable for public housing development". Furthermore, on 20 October 2019, the Secretary for Development ("SDEV") mentioned in his blog entitled "My Blog" that "[a]part from brownfield sites in the New Territories, we will also review the land suitable to be zoned as Comprehensive Development Area or Residential (Group A) development with higher plot ratio ... and with relatively low-rise existing structures ... and that the owner(s) has no concrete development plan. Based on the information available, around 10 land parcels that meet such criteria have been identified ... We hope we could make public our preliminary views on which of these sites are suitable for public housing development by the middle of next year". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether the "private land which is ... assessed to be suitable for public housing development" mentioned by CE in the 2019 Policy Address is in fact the "10 land parcels" mentioned by SDEV in the aforesaid "My Blog"; if so, why the Government did not "make public [its] preliminary views" in the middle of 2020 as pledged;
(2)
of the respective locations, areas and existing uses of the sites involved in the "10 land parcels"; among such sites, the number of those which have finally been assessed to be suitable for public housing development; whether the Government will rezone those sites that are considered unsuitable for public housing development for other public uses (e.g. subsidized residential care homes for the elderly);
(3)
as CE stated in the 2020 Policy Address that "as proposed in last year's Policy Address, the [Development Bureau] has reviewed private land zoned for high-density housing development but without any specific development plan, and assessed whether any such land is suitable for public housing development. It is expected that the related work will be completed by the end of this year", whether such work was completed at the end of 2020 as planned; if so, of the number of pieces, area and other details of the private lands that have been confirmed to be suitable for public housing development; and
(4)
of the number of pieces of private lands, excluding the private lands in the planned new development areas, for which the Government commenced, within the 36 months before and the 12 months after the publication of the 2019 Policy Address, studies on the rezoning of land use for public housing development, and the total area of such lands?




Question 16
(For written reply)

(Translation)

District Health Centres

Dr Hon Pierre CHAN to ask:
Kwai Tsing District Health Centre ("KTDHC"), which is the first District Health Centre in Hong Kong, commenced operation in September 2019. In addition, the Government is taking forward its plan to construct Wan Chai District Health Centre ("WCDHC") at Caroline Hill Road. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the following information about KTDHC (including its satellite centres):
(a)
the respective (i) total operational expenses with breakdowns, (ii) staffing establishment, and (iii) total expenses on remunerations with breakdowns by staff rank, in the two financial years of 2019-2020 (from September 2019) and 2020-2021 (as at the end of February this year),
(b)
the (i) service attendance, (ii) number of referrals received from public hospitals, and (iii) number of referrals made to service providers and community partners, in each month since commencement of operation, and
(c)
the respective service attendances by (i) obese persons, (ii) patients with hypertension and (iii) patients with diabetes mellitus, in each month since commencement of operation;
(2)
of (i) the number of days of temporary closure of KTDHC due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, and (ii) the details of the work carried out by KTDHC for preventing and combating the epidemic;
(3)
of the details of the Government's making use of big data for (i) planning the primary healthcare services needed in Kwai Tsing District, and (ii) enhancing the services of KTDHC; and
(4)
as the proposed WCDHC will be built by the developer of the commercial development on the Caroline Hill Road site, and then handed over to the Government, how the Government will ensure the workmanship of the construction works of WCDHC, and of the arrangements and estimated costs for the repair and maintenance of WCDHC upon commissioning?




Question 17
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Staff of a law firm before it was intervened

Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask:
Earlier on, the Council of the Law Society of Hong Kong ("the Council") intervened in the operation of a law firm ("the firm") because the Council suspected after investigation that a former employee of the firm had dishonestly misappropriated the money of the clients of the firm, and was satisfied that the firm had committed serious breaches of the Solicitors' Accounts Rules (Cap. 159F). The firm's practice forthwith ceased, and all the money of the firm has been held by the Council on trust. The Council has appointed another law firm as the Intervention Agent ("Agent") to handle the follow-up work. It is learnt that dozens of staff who worked in the firm prior to cessation of its practice were employed by an independent company. As the company's money deposited with the firm has been held by the Council, it is unable to pay such staff wages totalling over $4 million (which include salaries, pay for untaken annual leave and statutory holidays, wages in lieu of notice and severance payments). On the other hand, some of such staff have assisted the Agent, upon its request, in handling the follow-up work, but have not been paid any wages. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether the Labour Department ("LD") has received requests for assistance from the aforesaid staff; if so, how LD assists them in recovering the wage defaults, including whether it has assisted them in taking legal actions and applying for legal aid;
(2)
whether LD will discuss with the Council and the Agent the payment of salaries to the aforesaid staff for the period during which they assisted in handling the follow-up work; and
(3)
whether it will amend the Legal Practitioners Ordinance (Cap. 159) to stipulate that when similar cases occur in future, the Agent appointed by the Council to handle the follow-up work of a law firm which has been intervened should (i) handle the severance matters for all staff who worked in that law firm (irrespective of whether they were directly employed by the law firm concerned) (including verifying the amounts of wage defaults, so as to help the staff concerned expeditiously recover such wage defaults), and (ii) pay salaries to the staff who assist the Agent in handling the follow-up work?




Question 18
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Mental health of students

Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask:
The findings of a number of surveys conducted last year have shown that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic has resulted in the aggravation of the emotional stress and mental health problems of secondary and primary students. The prolonged suspension of face-to-face classes and changes in the mode of learning have exerted certain pressure on students and affected their emotional and psychological health. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of students who committed suicide and died in each of the past five school years, broken down by age;
(2)
whether it knows the respective numbers of students in each of the past five years who (i) received treatments by the psychiatric services of public and private hospitals/clinics, and (ii) waited for such treatments and their average waiting time, together with a breakdown by age and type of mental illness;
(3)
whether it knows the number of requests for assistance received, since the outbreak of the epidemic, by schools relating to students suffering from emotional disturbance and mental stress, with a breakdown by type of issues pertaining to the requests for assistance; and
(4)
of the work currently undertaken by the Education Bureau on education about students' control of emotions; the new measures in place to (i) strengthen the resilience of students, and (ii) help schools, teachers and parents deal with students' emotional problems more effectively and identify at an early stage students suffering from emotional disturbance, as well as enhance their knowledge of and skills in coping with the relevant situations?




Question 19
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Assisting street sleepers

Hon Alice MAK to ask:
It has been reported that the number of street sleepers has obviously increased since the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic in January last year. The reasons for them to street sleep include: inability to afford paying rent as a result of the loss of jobs due to the epidemic, the immigration restrictions and quarantine measures making it difficult for persons who travelled between the Mainland and Hong Kong on a daily basis before the epidemic to cross the boundary to return home, and the fast food restaurants operating 24 hours a day where homeless people used to stay at night being required to suspend operation at the specified hours as directed by the Government. Furthermore, as a result of voluntary organizations cutting back on their services of distributing free food items to street sleepers due to the epidemic, street sleepers are facing a more difficult situation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has compiled statistics on how the number of street sleepers has varied with the fluctuations of the epidemic situation during the past 12 months; if so, of the outcome;
(2)
whether it has endeavoured to provide meals on an emergency basis for street sleepers amid the epidemic;
(3)
whether it will consider opening temporary shelters at night for street sleepers to stay overnight on a temporary basis;
(4)
whether it will follow the following practice adopted in countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Australia: renting hotel rooms to provide temporary accommodation for street sleepers in the light of the severe epidemic situation; whether it will allocate additional resources and increase the manpower of social workers to enhance the service of assisting street sleepers in finding more stable accommodation; and
(5)
whether it will set aside some of the transitional housing units for street sleepers to wait for admission?




Question 20
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Making inquiries to registered voters

Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask:
The Electoral Affairs Commission (Registration of Electors) (Legislative Council Geographical Constituencies) (District Council Constituencies) Regulation (Cap. 541A) provides that the Electoral Registration Officer may issue inquiry letters to persons registered in an existing final register of electors ("register"), and remove from the new register the voter registration ("VR") of persons who have failed to make a valid reply by a specified deadline. It is learnt that a new VR cycle has commenced. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the total number of registered voters, in the last VR cycle and since the commencement of the current VR cycle, who failed to reply to the inquiry letters by the specified deadline; whether the Registration and Electoral Office ("REO") knows the reasons concerned;
(2)
whether REO has, apart from issuing inquiry letters, confirmed the registered particulars, such as the principal residential addresses, of registered voters by means of making telephone calls, sending emails and paying home visits, etc. during the last VR cycle and since the commencement of the current VR cycle; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether measures are in place to ensure that the VR of registered voters, who are absent from Hong Kong for reasons such as the epidemic, will not be removed due to their failure to reply to the inquiry letters in time; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?




Question 21
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Control on import and export of wastes

Hon Tony TSE to ask:
Under the new amendments to the Basel Convention ("BC") on regulating the transboundary movement of waste plastics, with effect from 1 January 2021, any person must, prior to conducting transboundary movement of regulated waste plastics, obtain a permit or written consent from the states of export, import and transit concerned. Some environmental groups have pointed out that Hong Kong is the largest export destination for waste plastics from the United States, which, however, is not a signatory to BC. They are worried that the aforesaid requirement along with the Mainland's implementation of measures on banning the import of "foreign rubbish" will turn Hong Kong from a transit point into the final destination of such wastes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the respective quantities of (i) regulated and (ii) non-regulated waste plastics exported from, imported to and re-exported through Hong Kong, in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by export and import destinations;
(2)
of the number of crimes in each of the past five years relating to the import and export of waste plastics, with a breakdown by type of offences involved; the respective numbers of relevant prosecutions and convictions;
(3)
of the number of operations of random inspections conducted in each of the past five years by the Customs and Excise Department or the Environmental Protection Department for export, import and re-export containers of waste plastics and other foreign rubbish; whether the Government has assessed the effectiveness of such operations;
(4)
of the number of waste plastics containers repatriated to Hong Kong in each of the past five years after they had been exported or re-exported from Hong Kong, and the ways in which such wastes were disposed of; and
(5)
of the measures in place to reduce the impacts of the aforesaid amendments to BC on Hong Kong in order to prevent Hong Kong from being turned into the final destination of foreign rubbish?




Question 22
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Newly established schools

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:
It has been reported that Queen's Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court, which are located at Queen's Hill in Fanling, will be completed for intake within this year, and two primary schools (namely TWGHs Tseng Hin Pei Primary School and The Salvation Army Queen's Hill School) in the vicinity are under construction. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it knows if the aforesaid two schools will commence classes in September this year as scheduled, and the latest progress of their teacher recruitment, student admission, etc.;
(2)
of the approved class structures, numbers of classes, numbers of students at each grade, numbers of teachers, and amounts of regular subventions in respect of the two schools;
(3)
whether the Education Bureau ("EDB") has formulated a contingency plan which specifies the arrangements for the teachers employed and students admitted in the event that the two schools cannot commence classes as scheduled;
(4)
given that the two schools have not been included in the Choice of Schools List for Central Allocation (Primary One Admission 2021) for selection by parents, how EDB assists the schools in admitting students, particularly the admission of those primary students who will soon move into Queen's Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court;
(5)
whether EDB has formulated plans to assist those students who are studying in other primary schools in transferring to the two schools after they have moved into Queen's Hill Estate and Shan Lai Court; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6)
as some members of the education sector have pointed out that the regular subvention received by an aided school is calculated on the basis of the number of students, but the student intakes of newly established schools at the initial stage are often lower than the target numbers, and such a situation is not conducive to the development of these schools, whether EDB has plans to improve the method for calculating the subventions received by newly established schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?