Revised version

OP 95/96-13(1) (Issued at 11.00 a.m. on 8.1.96)

THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
ORDER PAPER

Wednesday, 10 January 1996 at 2.30 p.m.

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I. PAPERS

Subsidiary Legislation
Sessional Papers 1995/96

II. QUESTIONS
III. MOTIONS

1. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ORDINANCE
2. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

IV. BILLS

FIRST READING
SECOND READING

• Debates to be adjourned
V. MEMBER'S MOTIONS
1. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE
2. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE
3. SEWAGE CHARGES AND TRADE EFFLUENT SURCHARGES
4. REVIEW OF INDUSTRIAL SAFETY IN HONG KONG

VI. MEMBER'S BILLS

FIRST READING
SECOND READING

• Debates to be adjourned

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I. PAPERS

Sessional Papers 1995/96

The Secretary for the Treasury to present :

1. No. 49 - Report of Changes to the Approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the second quarter of 1995-96 Public Finance Ordinance: Section 8

The Secretary for Recreation and Culture to present :

2. No. 50 - List of Revised Works approved by the Urban Council for the quarter ended 30 September 1995

The Secretary for Education and Manpower to present and to address the Council on :

3. No. 51 - Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation Annual Report 1994-95

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II. QUESTIONS

1. Mr. LAW Chi-kwong to ask : (Translation)

In recent years, many women's groups have indicated to Members of this Council that divorced women often encounter difficulties in recovering alimony and that quite a number of them apply for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) because of financial hardship or loss of financial support. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of applications for legal aid for the purpose of recovering alimony in the past three years; how many of such applications have been dealt with and how many are still being processed;
2. of the number of applications for CSSA submitted by divorced women because of the failure to recover alimony in the same period; and
3. whether any effective measures have been put in place to assist divorced women who are in financial difficulty in recovering alimony?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

2. Mr. LEE Cheuk-yan to ask : (Translation)

In the past year, the unemployment rate has been at a consistently high level, and the average duration of unemployment has also shown a tendency to become more prolonged. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following:

1. with reference to the last two years' quarterly unemployment figures, what is the connection between the duration of unemployment and such factors as industry, occupation, academic qualification, sex, and age distribution for each quarter;
2. what are the achievements and effects of each of the initiatives mentioned at the two Summit Meetings on Employment convened by the Governor last year; and
3. what other new initiatives the Government will take to alleviate the unemployment problem?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

3. Miss Christine LOH to ask :

With reference to the list of property assets owned by the Hong Kong Government which was handed over to the Chinese Government in November 1994, will the Administration inform this Council when it will make the list available to this Council?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

4. Mr. K.K. FUNG to ask : (Translation)

With the increase of one-way permit quota since 1 July 1995, the number of new Chinese immigrants arriving in the territory will amount to 55 000 each year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of one-way permit holders arriving in the territory in the past three years, as well as a breakdown of such immigrants by age, sex and the location of their residence in the territory;
2. whether it is aware of the criteria used by the Chinese authorities for approving applications for one-way permit made by residents in mainland China for permanent settlement in the territory;
3. whether any discussion has been held with the Chinese authorities on the possibility of using family as the unit for approving such applications (for example, approving applications by mother and child together), so that children coming from China on one-way permits will not be left unattended in the territory; and
4. whether it has formulated any policy (in areas such as housing, education, medical care, social welfare, etc) to assist new immigrants in adapting to the territory's life style?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

5. Mr. CHIM Pui-chung to ask : (Translation)

The Hong Kong Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) have both set up offices in overseas countries and territories to promote Hong Kong's economic and trade interests. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of overseas offices set up by the Government and the total annual expenditure incurred in each of the past three years;
2. of the number of overseas offices set up by the TDC and the total annual expenditure incurred in each of the past three years; and
3. whether the Government has considered merging its overseas offices with those of the TDC so as to achieve better utilisation of resources; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

6. Mr. MOK Ying-fan to ask : (Translation)

The Hospital Authority (HA) has recently issued a memorandum to the 41 public hospitals under its management, asking them to limit the categories of "privately purchased medical items" to 10 items. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of hospitals which have already been recovering the cost of medical equipment, drugs and medical services provided to certain groups of patients;
2. what criteria have been adopted by the hospitals mentioned in (a) above for determining which medical services should be charged in accordance with the 'recovery of cost' principle, and what is the proportion of the charges paid by patients to the cost of providing such services; and
3. why the HA has introduced a standardised list of "privately purchased medical items" in public hospitals without consulting the public?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

* 7. Mr. LAU Wong-fat to ask : (Translation)

At present, there are still some buildings constructed under a Government Land Licence (GLL) in the New Territories, and some of these buildings have been in existence for a long time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the present number of such buildings in the New Territories, the areas in which they are located, the total number of residents and the year in which they were first built;
2. whether there is any restriction on the use of building materials in the reconstruction of such buildings, and whether the reconstruction of such buildings is subject to other restrictions;
3. whether the occupiers of such buildings are eligible to apply for public housing units or Home Ownership Scheme flats; and
4. why the Government has discontinued the policy of allowing people who have held GLL for a period of over 10 years to apply for conversion of such buildings to permanent ones so as to improve the living conditions and enhance domestic safety, and whether the Government will consider re-instating this policy?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

* 8. Mr. Howard YOUNG to ask :

It has recently been reported that a public housing estate tenant has been billed for water consumption at a level which is hundreds of times higher than the previous consumption level. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of requests for water-meter checks made by consumers, as well as the respective numbers of cases resulting in adjustment of the charges after checking, in the past two years; and
2. what are the most common causes for adjusting charges after checking, and what avenues of appeal or review are available to consumers who consider that the consumption level shown on the water bills is out of line with their past pattern of actual consumption?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Works

* 9. Mr. Michael HO to ask : (Translation)

At the sitting of this Council on 17 May 1995, I requested the Government to provide a breakdown of the number of directorate posts at different levels in various public hospitals. However, the Secretary for Health and Welfare in her reply only mentioned the total number of consultant posts, without providing the information required. In view of this, will the Government provide this Council with the number of posts at the Senior Medical and Health Officer level and posts at D1 to D4 of the Directorate Pay Scale, as well as the number of hospital beds in each of the major public hospitals (including Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, Kwai Chung Hospital, Castle Peak Hospital, Kwong Wah Hospital and Caritas Medical Centre) in each of the following years in accordance with the format shown below:

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*10. Mr. HO Chun-yan to ask : (Translation)

As the staff cost and the establishment of the Hospital Authority have aroused considerable public concern, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the mechanism and criteria adopted by the Hospital Authority for determining the creation of Consultant posts; and
2. through what mechanism are Consultants promoted from D2 of the Directorate Pay Scale to D3 or above; who take part in the decision-making process in the promotion of Consultants; and whether there are independent persons such as Members of the Hospital Authority playing a monitoring role in the promotion process?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*11. Mr. IP Kwok-him to ask : (Translation)

At present, the entry requirements for certain civil service posts specify that a candidate's proficiency in Chinese should be a pass in Chinese Language in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has considered raising the entry requirements in respect of Chinese Language for such posts; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*12. Mr. David CHU to ask : (Translation)

In view of the frequent occurrence of clashes between tenants living together in "converted one-person flats" (commonly known as "split flats"), some of which may even develop into violent incidents, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total number of "converted one-person flats" at present;
2. of the number of complaint cases concerning disputes between tenants of "converted one-person flats" received by the Housing Department, as well as the number of violent incidents occurring in such flats, in the past year;
3. whether the Housing Department has put in place any special measures to resolve the disputes of these singleton tenants; and
4. whether the Government will consider replacing these "split flats" with self-contained single-person flats when formulating its long-term housing strategy?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

*13 Mr. Eric LI to ask : (Translation)

A bilingual working population competent in both Chinese and English has given Hong Kong a competitive edge. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council what measures, apart from enhancing language training in the classroom and promoting extensive reading both in Chinese and English among school children, the Government will take to encourage people with outstanding linguistic abilities to compile and translate quality books, so as to maintain or even strengthen the bilingual competence of the working population ?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*14. Mr. LAU Chin-shek to ask : (Translation)

The latest forecast made by the China Light and Power Company Limited (CLP) in 1994 predicted a 5.1% annual increase in the maximum demand of the local system over the next few years, but the demand for 1995 has shown a negative growth. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it is aware of the reasons for the negative growth last year;
2. whether the Government will ask CLP to revise its forecast on the future increase of the maximum demand of the local system in order to provide a more realistic prediction; and
3. whether, in the light of the increase in the actual demand of the local system being much lower than what was predicted, the Government will revise CLP's future development programme in order to prevent CLP from expanding its fixed assets without valid reasons to the detriment of the interest of the customers?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*15. Mr. Andrew CHENG to ask : (Translation)

According to a salary survey report released in March 1995, employees of some trades in the territory - such as the finance, business service, insurance and guarding services sectors - have to work more than eight hours a day, and some even have to work as many as 11 hours daily. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the average daily working hours of workers in the industrial and service sectors in the western countries as well as in the territory in each of the past three years;
2. whether the Government will review the existing Women and Young Persons (Industry) Regulations or introduce new legislation in order to regulate both the maximum working hours of all employees and the basis for calculating overtime payment;
3. if the answer to (b) is in the affirmative, what the legislative timetable is and when the public will be consulted; and
4. if the answer to (b) is in the negative, how the Government will ensure that employees who are constantly required to work overtime will receive fair treatment?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*16. Mr. CHOY Kan-pui to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of traffic accidents caused by objects falling from vehicles since 1992 and the number of casualties arising from such accidents, as well as the major types of the vehicles involved;
2. of the number of accidents caused by overloading vehicles or vehicles which do not conform to loading regulations, and the number of prosecutions instituted against such vehicles, during the same period; and
3. whether the Government has reviewed the existing legislation and penalties to see if they have any deterrent effect on such vehicles, and whether the Government has put in place other measures to prevent the occurrence of the kind of accidents mentioned in (a) above?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*17. Mrs. Selina CHOW to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of suspects who have committed, or have attempted to commit, suicide whilst under arrest by the police or in police detention in each of the past three years; and
2. subsequent to each such incident, what follow-up actions the police takes and what measures the police adopts to prevent the recurrence of such incidents?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*18. Dr. David LI to ask :

The Fung Hon Chu Gifted Education Centre, which is the territory's first centre for gifted pupils, was opened in December last year. Will the Government inform this Council of the following:

1. what is the total number of pupils in the territory who are identified as "gifted";
2. what is the definition of "gifted" in the context of this Centre;
3. what criteria are adopted in placing pupils in this Centre; and
4. how will "gifted" pupils benefit from the facilities of this Centre?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*19. Mr. Allen LEE to ask : (Translation)

As the Chinese and British sides have failed to reach a consensus on the issue of the handing over of files containing personal data of senior civil servants at a recent Joint Liaison Group meeting, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the stand taken by the Government on this issue;
2. of the aspects of the issue on which the Chinese and British sides cannot come to an agreement; and
3. how the Government will classify the personal data of senior civil servants in order to determine which categories of documents can be handed over to the Chinese side and which categories are to be sent back to Britain?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*20. Mr. Fred LI to ask : (Translation)

With regard to the construction of bus stop shelters by the Kowloon Motor Bus Company Ltd. (KMB), will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the normal time-frame from the planning of a bus stop shelter project to its completion;
2. what is the number of bus stop shelters constructed by KMB in 1995; whether this number has met the target planned; if not, why not;
3. why the Government has given approval for KMB to construct a bus stop shelter at Pik Wan Road in Kwun Tong without proper planning beforehand, which has resulted in the contractor having to suspend the construction work following the discovery of underground power cables upon digging up the road surface; and
4. whether the Government will conduct a comprehensive review of the planning of bus stop shelter projects in order to improve the co-ordination between various parties?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

* For written reply.

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III. MOTIONS

1. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ORDINANCE

Attorney General :

That the Application for Dismissal of Charges Contained in a Notice of Transfer Rules, made by the Chief Justice on 4th December 1995, be approved.

2. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

Secretary for Security :

(See Resolution at Annex I)

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IV. BILLS

FIRST READING

1. Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 1995
2. Road Traffic (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 1995
3. Eastern Harbour Crossing Road Tunnel (Passage Tax) Bill
4. Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No.4) Bill 1995

SECOND READING

Debates to be adjourned

1. Secretary for Home Affairs	:	Law Amendment and Reform (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 1995
2. Secretary for Transport	:	Road Traffic (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 1995
3. Secretary for Transport	:	Eastern Harbour Crossing Road Tunnel (Passage Tax) Bill
4. Secretary for Transport	:	Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No.4) Bill 1995

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V. MEMBER'S MOTIONS

1. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

Mr. LEE Wing-tat :

That the Ferry Services (Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company, Limited) (Determination of Fares) (Amendment) Order 1995, published as Legal Notice No. 545 of 1995 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 6 December 1995, be repealed.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport

2. INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

Mr. CHAN Kam-lam :

(See Resolution at Annex II)

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport

3. SEWAGE CHARGES AND TRADE EFFLUENT SURCHARGES

Mr. CHAN Wing-chan : (Translation)

That, in view of the fact that despite the current economic downturn and high inflation, the Government continues to adopt the "user pays" principle in the collection of sewage charges and trade effluent surcharges thereby increasing the burden of the public, this Council urges the Government to abolish or reduce the sewage charges on domestic users, to suspend temporarily the trade effluent surcharges on industrial and commercial users, and to review the basis of the charging scheme of trade effluent surcharges before making a decision on this matter.

Amendments to Mr. CHAN Wing-chan's motion

1. Dr. John TSE : (Translation)

To insert "notwithstanding its support for the adoption of the "polluter pays" principle by the Government to levy sewage charges on the polluters, this Council is opposed to recovering full operating costs from the users" after "That"; to delete "fact that despite the", "the Government continues to adopt the "user pays" principle in the collection of sewage charges and trade effluent surcharges thereby increasing the burden of the public, this Council", "abolish or", "to suspend temporarily the trade effluent surcharges on industrial and commercial users," and "before making a decision on this matter"; and to insert "and" before "urges the Government to".

2. Mr. K.K. FUNG : (Translation)

To delete "to adopt the "user pays" principle in" and "or reduce"; and to delete "suspend temporarily" and substitute with "consider reducing".

3. Mr. LEUNG Yiu-chung : (Translation)

To delete "or reduce", "to suspend temporarily the trade effluent surcharges on industrial and commercial users," and "before making a decision on this matter"; and to insert "as soon as possible" before "the basis of the charging scheme".

Public Officers to attend : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

Secretary for Works

4. REVIEW OF INDUSTRIAL SAFETY IN HONG KONG

Dr. Samuel WONG :

That this Council supports the recommendations in the "Consultation Paper on the Review of Industrial Safety in Hong Kong" published in July 1995 and urges the Government and other bodies concerned to implement the relevant recommendations as soon as practicable in order to improve safety standards and safety practices in workplaces in Hong Kong.

Amendments to Dr. Samuel WONG's motion

1. Mr. Ronald ARCULLI :

To delete "supports" and substitute with "calls for the implementation of"; to delete "and urges the Government and other bodies concerned to implement the relevant recommendations as soon as practicable in order to improve safety standards and safety" and substitute with "primarily by Codes of Practices which will ensure the sharing of the responsibility for and improvement in safety and health standards and"; and to add ", and urges the Government, in consultation with other bodies, to introduce a practical and realistic timetable for such implementation" after "practices in workplaces in Hong Kong".

2. Mr. TSANG Kin-shing :

To delete "supports" and substitute with "notes"; and to delete "and urges the Government and other bodies concerned to implement the relevant recommendations as soon as practicable in order to improve safety standards and safety practices in workplaces in Hong Kong" and substitute with "but regrets the delay of the Government in improving occupational safety and health for the overall Hong Kong workforce and, in order to achieve comprehensive protection of occupational safety and health for all employees, urges the Government to :

1. rectify the erroneous policy which neglects occupational safety and health;
2. strengthen the relevant legislation and set aside more resources so as to provide comprehensive occupational safety and health protection for all industrial and non-industrial employees;
3. enact legislation expeditiously to require the setting up of safety committees in all occupations and trades, giving employee representatives adequate monitoring powers; and
4. strengthen the enforcement of law and impose heavy penalties on employers for malpractices".

3. Dr. C.H. LEONG :

To insert "but regrets the delay of the Government in improving occupational health for the overall Hong Kong workforce," after "July 1995"; to delete "and other bodies concerned to implement the relevant recommendations“" and substitute with "to come up with a concrete timetable for implementing the recommendations of the consultation paper as well as to provide embracing occupational health protection for all industrial and non-industrial employees"; to insert "and health" before "standards"; and to delete "safety" before "practices".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education and Manpower

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VI. MEMBER'S BILLS

FIRST READING

1. Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1995
2. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bill
3. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (Merger of Subsidiaries) Bill

SECOND READING

Debates to be adjourned

1. Mr. Michael HO	:	Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1995
2. Dr. David LI	:	Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bill
3. Dr. David LI	:	The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (Merger of Subsidiaries) Bill

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