30 items of subsidiary legislation and 5 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

Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan to ask:

Last month, a university student union issued a statement expressing "gratitude" for and "paying tribute" to a suspect who had killed himself after attacking a police officer, and a young man was arrested for suspected hurling of flammable objects at the Government House. Moreover, the Police cracked a terrorist ring, seizing raw materials for explosives and plots for attacks as well as arresting a number of secondary school students. Some members of the public pointed out that the aforesaid incidents reflected that some young people's minds have been poisoned by terrorist ideologies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Tony TSE to ask:

From the 20th to the 21st of last month, Henan Province was hit by record-breaking severe rainstorms, which caused serious flooding. Some underground railway conduits and road tunnels in Zhengzhou City, the provincial capital, were inundated, resulting in a number of casualties and serious economic loss. Some members of the public are worried that natural disasters of similar magnitude caused by extreme weather may occur in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask:

It has been reported that Zhengzhou City of Henan Province was hit by once-in-a-millennium rainstorms last month, resulting in the roads and underground railway conduits at a number of places being inundated and inflicting heavy casualties; and a number of European countries have also been devastated recently by floods of the century, which caused heavy casualties and economic losses. Regarding the Government's work on assessment and forecast of, and coping with, extreme weather, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon YUNG Hoi-yan to ask:

Tai Wai Market reopened in October last year upon completion of the works for retrofitting an air-conditioning system. However, quite a number of the tenants of the market have relayed that there has been no improvement in respect of air stuffiness in the market. They have pointed out that the cooling capacity of the air-conditioning system is insufficient and the system breaks down from time to time. In addition, the air curtains at the entrances/exits of the market are often turned off, resulting in cool air flowing away. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:

As revealed by the findings of a survey, nearly 20% of the respondents indicated that they had participated in football betting and, among them, nearly 20% had not reached the legal gambling age (i.e. 18 years of age). On curbing young people's participation in gambling, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask:

It has been reported that the spaces of disused staff quarters in certain public markets (e.g. the quarters with an area of over 4 600 square feet in Tsuen Wan Market) under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") have been left vacant or converted into storage for many years. Moreover, the spaces in Tsuen King Circuit Market, which was closed in March 2018, have henceforth been used as storage or left vacant. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Kenneth LAU to ask:

Regarding the support for athletes, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask:

It is learnt that the number of elderly persons (i.e. persons aged 65 or above) in Hong Kong with swallowing difficulties has risen continuously in recent years due to an ageing population and, consequently, the demand for meal service suitable for them (including soft meals) has surged. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:

The Government announced on 29 June 2020 that it had awarded a one-year public relations contract valued at US$6,289,215 to Consulum FZ LLC ("Consulum"), a global strategy and communications consultancy firm, for providing services under the theme of "Relaunch Hong Kong". According to the contract, Consulum was required to develop for the theme (i) a communications strategy as well as (ii) a marketing and advertising plan to highlight Hong Kong's economic recovery and help rebuild confidence in Hong Kong as a place to invest, do business, work and live. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Vincent CHENG to ask:

Under the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance (Cap. 447), a bedspace apartment (commonly known as a "caged home") means (i) any flat, or (ii) where the partitioning wall or walls between two or more adjoining flats in a building has or have been demolished, such two or more adjoining flats, in which there are 12 or more bedspaces used or intended to be used as sleeping accommodation under rental agreements. Any person who has not been issued with a certificate of exemption or a valid licence by the Bedspace Apartments Authority (i.e. the Secretary for Home Affairs) shall not operate, keep, manage or otherwise control a bedspace apartment. However, a grass-roots concern group has pointed out that as many as 5 000 people are estimated to be living in illegally operated bedspace apartments at present. On the other hand, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said last month that it is hoped that by the time the country's second centenary goal is achieved, Hong Kong has bid farewell to subdivided units ("SDUs") and caged homes. Regarding inadequate housing, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon YIU Si-wing to ask:

The Government launched a three-year Multi-functional Smart Lampposts Pilot Scheme ("Pilot Scheme") in 2019 to promote the development of Hong Kong into a smart city and support the construction of the fifth generation wireless network. Under the Pilot Scheme, the Government will install in phases some 400 smart lampposts in four districts across the territory with higher pedestrian and traffic flows. Regarding the development of Hong Kong into a smart city, will the Government inform this Council:

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:

The Government has, since the 2014-2015 academic year, implemented the Mainland University Study Subsidy Scheme ("MUSSS") to provide subsidies for Hong Kong students pursuing undergraduate studies on the Mainland, thereby ensuring that none of them will be deprived of post-secondary education opportunity because of a lack of means. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

In the Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0 ("Blueprint 2.0") released in December last year, the Government put forth 130 initiatives to further enhance and expand existing city management work and services. On promoting the development of "Smart Government", will the Government inform this Council:

Hon CHAN Chun-ying to ask:

To prevent the importation of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19"), the Government has been implementing stringent inbound prevention and control measures, including requiring inbound travellers to undergo virus testing upon arrival in Hong Kong, undergo compulsory quarantine at designated places, and undergo repeated virus testing during the quarantine period. Under the law, the Chief Secretary for Administration may exempt certain categories of persons from the compulsory quarantine, and may impose conditions for the exemption, including imposing restrictions on activity areas. It has been reported that earlier on, three children of a staff member of a foreign consulate in Hong Kong were exempted from compulsory quarantine upon arrival in Hong Kong, and were subsequently confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. The authorities learnt, after investigation, that they had gone out and visited a number of places during the self-isolation period, thereby breaching the exemption conditions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Paul TSE to ask:

At the end of March, the Government announced that it had accepted a proposal from members of the tourism industry and would spend $150 million for creating some 2 000 short-term jobs for hiring practitioners of the tourism industry, who would carry out administrative support work at 24 community vaccination centres for a period of five months starting from 1 May. The Government entrusted a new company, set up by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong ("TIC") and a number of other organizations of the industry, to undertake the recruitment work concerned. Some persons who are familiar with the operation of TIC and the tourism industry have pointed out that the company, despite having been allocated $2 million as administrative fee by the Government, has inappropriately collected a fee from the wage of each recruited person. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Starry LEE to ask:

There are views that proficiency in Putonghua helps young people integrate into the overall development of our country and seize the opportunities arising from the development of our country and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In order to upgrade young people's Putonghua standard, there is a need for the Government to emphasize the importance of Putonghua at schools, as well as enhance the standard of Putonghua teaching and the atmosphere for learning Putonghua, so as to encourage more young people to learn Putonghua and upgrade their Putonghua standard. On upgrading the public's Putonghua standard, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Frankie YICK to ask:

The authorities of the United States ("US") announced in October last year that starting from 1 January 2021, they would terminate the Agreement Constituted by Exchange of Notes between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Hong Kong for Double Taxation Relief in respect of Income from International Operation of Ships ("the Agreement") (Schedule to Cap. 112J) signed with Hong Kong. Following the termination of the Agreement, both the Governments of US and Hong Kong have ceased to grant tax exemption to the income derived from international operation of ships by shipping companies of the other side. Members of the shipping industry are concerned about the impacts of the termination of the Agreement on Hong Kong's shipping industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:

Since 20 June this year, a number of franchised bus routes plying between Yuen Long (including Tin Shui Wai) and North Lantau (including the airport) have been diverted. They no longer pass through Tai Lam Tunnel ("TLT") and instead run on Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Tunnel. Quite a number of residents in Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai who work at the airport have relayed that during peak hours, buses of such routes frequently encounter serious traffic congestion when they pass through Tuen Mun (particularly along the section of Tuen Mun Road ("TMR") near Hung Kiu and that where TMR turns into Wong Chu Road), resulting in a longer rather than shorter journey time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask:

Regarding the Arts and Sport Development Fund ("ASDF"), will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

At present, a legal aid recipient is required to contribute towards the legal costs incurred for his/her case on the basis of his/her financial resources, i.e. to pay a contribution to the Legal Aid Department ("LAD"); LAD may also recover from the opponent the legal costs incurred (collectively referred to as "the arrears of legal costs"). It is learnt that in recent years, cases of LAD failing to recover such arrears have been on the rise, with millions of dollars involved annually. On the other hand, the Audit Commission ("Audit") conducted in 2005 an audit on the recovery of legal costs by LAD, and pointed out that as LAD had allowed legal aid applicants to decide on their own whether to give consent to Audit's access to their files, Audit had been unable to examine hundreds of selected files. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask:

From June 2019 to February this year, the Director of Legal Aid ("the Director") received 1 059 legal aid applications submitted in respect of criminal cases relating to incidents of opposition to the proposed legislative amendments, and granted legal aid to 82% of such applications. Besides, a woman who had been injured in her right eye at the scene of a demonstration for opposition to the proposed legislative amendments was granted legal aid for filing an application for judicial review ("JR") in respect of the Police's refusal to produce to her a search warrant for obtaining her medical records, but her application was dismissed by the Court of First Instance in December 2019. In January of the following year, she applied for legal aid for lodging an appeal against such judgement, but her application was refused by the Director. After appealing to the Registrar of the High Court ("the Registrar") against the Director's decision, she was granted legal aid. The woman reportedly left Hong Kong in September last year, and the Court of Appeal heard in February this year her appeal on the JR application. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:

An organization supporting cross-boundary families has relayed to me that due to the epidemic, there are at present quite a number of Hong Kong people residing on the Mainland who cannot return to Hong Kong to have their Re-entry Permits and Documents of Identity for Visa Purposes ("Hong Kong identification documents") renewed before such documents expired. As a result, they cannot have their Hong Kong and Macao Residents Entry and Exit Permits (commonly known as "Home Return Permits") renewed on the Mainland. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: