9 items of subsidiary legislation and 3 other papers to be laid on the Table of the Council set out in Appendix 1

Members to ask 22 questions (6 for oral replies and 16 for written replies)

Contents of 22 questions, Members to ask such questions and public officers to reply set out in Appendix 2

(Debate and voting arrangements set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 764/20-21 issued on 8 July 2021)

Hon Vincent CHENG to ask:

The Tokyo Summer Olympic Games ("TOG") will start soon. Some members of the sports community have pointed out that a craze for TOG and sports is expected to sweep throughout Hong Kong, but the Government has not made sports development a priority in policy implementation, and there is much room for improvement in respect of its promoting sports development on a regular basis and through TOG. On promoting sports development, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Kenneth LAU to ask:

At present, South Lantau Road is the only road connecting various places of South Lantau, and Tung Chung Road is the only road that links North and South Lantau. During holidays, a large number of countryside visitors queue up at Mui Wo and Tung Chung for franchised buses to travel to various places of South Lantau. On the other hand, the Government commenced a Study on Traffic, Transport and Capacity to Receive Visitors for Lantau in 2017. Regarding the transport services for and infrastructure of South Lantau, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:

On 11 August 2019, a woman at the scene of a demonstration for opposition to the proposed legislative amendments was injured in her right eye. Immediately afterwards, there were media reports that the woman's eye injury was serious, and the injury had allegedly been caused by a bean bag round fired by the Police hitting her in the eye. Also, the incident was greatly played up on the Internet, causing more widespread and intense unrest in society. However, it was uncovered by the press in May this year that the woman's eye injury had in fact not been serious, and yet the Hospital Authority ("HA") had not, on grounds of protecting patients' privacy, made any clarification on the false reports for over one year. On the other hand, the Police had, pursuant to a search warrant, obtained from HA the woman's medical records. Subsequently, the woman was granted legal aid for filing an application for judicial review in respect of the Police's refusal to produce the search warrant to her. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon CHENG Chung-tai to ask:

The Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") announced in May this year its decision to demolish four of its factory estates in order to rezone the sites concerned for residential use. It has been learnt that more than 2 000 tenants are affected and quite a number of them are small and medium enterprises which have been in operation for decades and supplying daily life commodities to the community. HA will disburse an ex-gratia allowance amounting to 15 months' rent to each affected tenant and an additional cash sum of $100,000 to each tenant who moves out by February next year. Some affected tenants have indicated that the amounts of such disbursements are too small, which are insufficient for them to find other places to continue their businesses or meeting the expenses to be incurred in winding up their businesses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:

The MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") and a real estate developer are jointly developing The Pavilia Farm, a topside property development project at MTR Tai Wai Station. On the 8th of this month, the developer announced its decision to demolish and rebuild two buildings under construction in Phase III of the project because the concrete of the wall bases of those buildings had not met the requirements of the approved design in the strength tests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

The Tuen Ma Line ("TML") of the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") was fully commissioned on the 27th of last month. Some members of the public have pointed out that the fare structure of TML is unreasonable. For example, the fares for shorter journeys are conversely higher than those for longer journeys (a situation commonly known as "higher fares for shorter journeys"), and there is quite a great variance in the fares for different journeys of comparable lengths. Regarding MTR fares, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask:

Regarding the specialist outpatient ("SOP") services of the Hospital Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Steven HO to ask:

Kai Lung Wan Fish Culture Zone ("FCZ") is located in East Kiu Tsui Chau, which has been zoned as a Speed Restricted Zone ("SRZ"). Some members of the sector have relayed that, over the years, there have often been vessels proceeding at a high speed in the waters near East Kiu Tsui Chau, and the swells so created have damaged the rafts in the FCZ, dealing a blow to the livelihood of mariculturists and seriously endangering the safety of operators in the FCZ. Although the Government extended the boundaries of East Kiu Tsui Chau SRZ last year, the situation has shown no improvement. Regarding SRZs, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask:

As announced in the 2020 Policy Address, the Government has identified 330 hectares of land needed for constructing 316 000 public housing units to meet the demand for public housing units in the coming decade (i.e. the financial years from 2021-2022 to 2030-2031). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Martin LIAO to ask:

The number of hot nights (i.e. the daily minimum temperature being equal to or higher than 28°C) in Hong Kong as recorded by the Hong Kong Observatory in recent years has been on the increase, with a record high of 50 hot nights recorded last year. In May this year, 14 hot nights and the longest duration of consecutive hot nights (i.e. six nights) were recorded, breaking the past records for May. A study conducted by scholars of a local university has found that the health threats posed to members of the public by the weather conditions of hot nights (especially consecutive hot nights) were greater than those by the weather conditions of hot days, with the grass roots living in crowded, poorly-ventilated sub-divided flats and residential units being most affected. The study has suggested improving the city's and indoor natural ventilation through urban planning and building design as a starting point, as well as adopting measures such as increasing the greenery ratio, with a view to mitigating the impacts of hot nights. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon SHIU Ka-fai to ask:

Under the Dangerous Goods Ordinance (Cap. 295), any person who manufactures, stores, conveys or uses dangerous goods under the Ordinance is required to obtain a licence. Compressed gases are classified as a category of dangerous goods. Some suppliers of compressed gases have relayed to me that the Government has not provided sufficient sites for lease under short-term tenancies ("STTs") to the industry for setting up large-scale (i.e. with a storage capacity of 100 cubic metres of liquid, 100 tonnes of solid, or 15 000 cubic metres of gas or above) depots for imports and exports of compressed gases. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask:

I have recently received complaints from quite a number of members of the public who claimed that they had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on hiring companies through online decoration platforms to carry out renovation works or produce custom-made furniture, but the works concerned had ended up unfinished, and the furniture had not matched the specifications. They have no way to recover their money and the swindlers continue to deceive others with the same tactics. Regarding deception cases involving renovation works or custom-made furniture, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

It is learnt that the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") implemented, from 1990s to 2003, an Estate Social Services for the Elderly Scheme (commonly known as "the Estate Liaison Officer Scheme") to provide appropriate support for elderly residents of public housing estates ("PHEs") with special needs. Regarding the provision of support for elderly residents (i.e. residents aged 60 or above) of PHEs, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Chun-ying to ask:

In June last year, the authorities of the Mainland, Macao and Hong Kong made a joint announcement on the decision to implement a two-way cross-boundary wealth management connect pilot scheme in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which would allow residents in the Greater Bay Area to carry out cross-boundary investment in wealth management products distributed by banks in the area. They also signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year on matters such as the principles of supervisory cooperation involved. On 6 May this year, the People's Bank of China Guangzhou Branch issued the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cross-Boundary Wealth Management Connect Pilot Scheme implementation details (Consultation Paper) ("Consultation Paper"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Paul TSE to ask:

In 2000, the Government allowed schools to teach Chinese history not as an independent subject at the junior secondary level. Some members of the public have criticized that since then, quite a number of schools have combined Chinese history with other subjects, resulting in fragmented contents on Chinese history in the junior secondary curriculum and, consequently the new generation of young people "have forgotten about their history", have insufficient knowledge of the history of the nation and lack a sense of belonging towards the Chinese people and the nation. The aforesaid members of the public have also pointed out that since the reunification of Hong Kong in 1997, members of the public are required to provide only their nationalities or places of birth, and are no longer required to provide their native places when they complete the forms of the various government departments, which have also made young people "forget about their roots" and lose the means of knowing their personal identities and their links with the Motherland. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Starry LEE to ask:

An international language education institution conducted last year a survey on the English proficiency of adults around the world, the results of which showed that Hong Kong ranked the 33rd among the 100 countries and regions surveyed and the fifth in the Asia region. On the other hand, the Government has indicated that it is necessary for Hong Kong people to maintain excellent English proficiency in order to consolidate Hong Kong's status as a metropolis. Regarding the English proficiency of students, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask:

Quite a number of members of the public have relayed that while they are very willing to receive vaccination against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("vaccination"), they have not taken any action because they do not know whether it is suitable, given their health conditions, for them to do so. Besides, as some members of the public residing in remote areas have difficulty in travelling to and from the Community Vaccination Centres, they have not received the vaccination. On encouraging and facilitating members of the public to receive vaccination, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask:

The Government launched the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme ("VHIS") on 1 April 2019. Certified Plans offered under VHIS by insurance companies are categorized into Standard Plans and Flexi Plans. Regarding VHIS and health expenditures, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Frankie YICK to ask:

In light of the blow dealt to the transport sector ("the sector") by the epidemic, the Government launched a subsidy scheme last year to provide members of the sector with fuel subsidies or one-off subsidies to help relieve their operating pressure. Some members of the sector have relayed that as fuel subsidies have not only given breathing space to various public transport operators but also increased the income of self-employed drivers, such subsidies are conducive to attracting those drivers who have changed their occupation to return to the sector. However, the disbursement of fuel subsidies has ceased since the 30th of last month. While the epidemic has subsided lately, some anti-epidemic and social distancing measures have not yet been removed. As a result, the passenger volume of public transport is still lower than the pre-epidemic level by 20% to 30%, and various operators are still faced with severe financial problems. Given that fuel cost is a major expenditure item of the sector, and that oil prices have shown an upward trend recently, the cessation of fuel subsidy disbursement has put the sector under heavy financial pressure. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:

It is learnt that the Shenzhen Municipal Government is now pressing ahead in full steam with the planning and construction of a port economy belt on the Shenzhen side along the Shenzhen-Hong Kong boundary, and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") has also put forward a development blueprint for New Territories North. Moreover, this Council passed a Member's motion in May this year, urging the Government to drive the development of New Territories North with port economy, including opening up the Sha Tau Kok Closed Area. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask:

In response to the "Early Vaccination for All" campaign launched by the Government, quite a number of commercial and community organizations have rolled out, one after another, various vaccination reward programmes ("reward programmes") to encourage members of the public to receive vaccination against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19"). However, members of the public need to fill in their personal data on different electronic platforms one by one in order to participate in the reward programmes. Some members of the public consider that such arrangement is time-consuming and cumbersome, undermining the effectiveness of the reward programmes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Tony TSE to ask:

The Government currently adopts an "integrated approach" for tree management, under which the departments responsible for the government facilities or land concerned are also tasked with inspecting and taking care of those trees at the places under their purview ("tree management departments"). In October 2019, the Greening, Landscape and Tree Management Section of the Development Bureau established a dedicated Inspection Squad, tasked with randomly checking and auditing the tree inspection reports completed annually by the tree management departments, as well as proactively inspecting every year the trees located in areas with high pedestrian and vehicular traffic flows ("heavy traffic areas"), and taking follow-up actions on problematic trees. However, tree failure incidents still happen every now and then. For example, during the heavy rainstorms on the 1st and 28th of last month, a number of trees located beside pavements or carriageways collapsed, crushing and damaging a number of vehicles and causing traffic jams. Regarding tree management work, will the Government inform this Council: