Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Revised version
A 97/98-31(1)

Provisional Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 18 March 1998 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

Subsidiary Legislation	L.N. No.
1. Housing (Amendment) Ordinance 1997 (108 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998	180/98
2. Housing (Amendment) Ordinance 1998 (3 of 1998) (Commencement) Notice 1998	181/98
3. Consumer Goods Safety Regulation (L.N.110 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998	182/98
4. Toys and Children's Products Safety Regulation (L.N.111 of 1997) (Commencement) Notice 1998	183/98

Sessional Papers

1. No.91-	Estimates for the year ending 31 March 1999 General Revenue Account Summaries and Revenue Analysis by Heads and Subheads
(to be presented by Financial Secretary)
2. No.92-	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Sing Tao Foundation Students' Loan Fund together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 August 1997
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)
3. No.93-	Audited Statement of Accounts of the Hong Kong Rotary Club Students' Loan Fund together with the Director of Audit's Report for the year ended 31 August 1997
(to be presented by Secretary for Education and Manpower)

Report

Report of the Bills Committee on the Building Management (Amendment) Bill 1998

(to be presented by Mr CHAN Kam-lam, Chairman of the Bills Committee, who will address the Council)

II. Addresses

Mr James TIEN, Ms CHOY So-yuk, Mr CHAN Kam-lam and Secretary for Economic Services to address the Council separately on the Telecommunication (Amendment) Regulation 1998 and Telephone (Repeal) Regulation 1998, which are subsidiary legislation laid on the Table of the Council on 11 February 1998.

III. Questions for Written Replies

1. Mr Eric LI to ask : (Translation)

With regard to promoting young persons' awareness of maintaining their mental and physical health, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it has reviewed if the school curriculum on health education meets the objective of instilling in students the awareness of mental and physical health; if so, what the results are;
whether the Education Department has made reference to the relevant surveys and studies conducted by the Department of Health or other institutions when developing the curriculum on health education for primary and secondary schools; if so, what the details are;
of the measures it will adopt to help young persons acquire proper awareness of and attitude towards mental and physical health; and
whether it will consider issuing guidelines to require schools to strengthen the curriculum on physical education so as to improve the physical fitness of students?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Education
and Manpower

2. Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask : (Translation)

It is reported that, in order to improve the quality of bus services, the Transport Department is considering introducing a point-deduction system for franchised bus companies and, in assessing the rates of fare increase proposed by bus companies, will take into account the rate of traffic accidents and the number of substantiated complaints. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the details of the point-deduction system;
whether, before formulating a scheme for assessing proposed fare increases, the Transport Department will study if the quality of service of franchised bus companies will be affected by a reduction in the proposed rates of increase and, if the service quality will be affected, of the remedial measures to be adopted in this regard; and
whether the Transport Department has conducted any study on the quality of the existing service of franchised bus companies; if so, of the progress of the study; if not, whether such a study will be conducted?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

3.Dr LAW Cheung-kwok to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of:

the government advisory boards and committees which have not fully opened up their meetings to the public; and
the specific measures in place to fully open up the meetings of these boards and committees to the public in the next three years, so as to enhance the transparency of their operation and their accountability to the public?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

4. Mr CHAN Choi-hi to ask : (Translation)

It has been the practice of some government departments (such as the Urban Services Department (USD)) to contract out part of their work. However, the wages of the workers employed by the contractors are far lower than those of civil servants undertaking the same kind of work. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

whether it knows the disparities in the number and the wages of workers involved between the cases where the USD provides the cleansing services by itself and where such services are contracted out to private companies;
whether the government departments concerned are required to prescribe in the contracts the number of workers to be employed and the minimum wage to be paid by the contractors; and
of the policy on contracting out works by government departments; and whether it has assessed the impact of this policy on the number of posts in the civil service at present and in the next three years?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

5. Mr NG Leung-sing to ask : (Translation)

It is reported that, since the outbreak of the financial turmoils, the net assets of the Land Fund have decreased by almost HK$4 billion in the three months up to the end of last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has any plan to adjust the investment strategy and portfolio of the Land Fund in order to turn its deficit around?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Treasury

6. Mr LEE Kai-ming to ask : (Translation)

In the wake of the recent spate of bus accidents, the police will step up the prosecution of bus drivers in breach of traffic regulations. It is claimed that such a move has placed further strain on bus drivers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it is aware of the measures to help bus drivers alleviate their stress?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

7. Mr NG Leung-sing to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether, before deciding to promote fixed-rate mortgages in Hong Kong, the authorities had studied the extent to which the banks can secure a stable source of long-term fixed-rate funds and assessed the potential risks posed to banks by fixed-rate mortgages; if so, what the findings are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

8. Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask : (Translation)

It is learnt that the Education Department has been implementing a pilot scheme since last September to provide full-time course lasting for not more than three months in five primary schools for newly arrived school children, so as to facilitate their integration into mainstream schools. Regarding this scheme and other induction programmes and English Extension Programmes for newly arrived school children, will the Government inform this Council:

of the names and addresses of the five primary schools participating in the scheme;
of the objectives and contents of the course under the scheme, and the similarities and differences between such course and other induction programmes and English Extension Programmes for newly arrived school children;
of the number of school children who have participated in the scheme since last September, and the average length of time each school child has participated in the scheme;
whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the scheme and the way forward in this regard; if so, what the details and findings of the review are; if not, when the review will be conducted; and
of the respective numbers of newly arrived school children who have applied for enrolment in induction programmes or English Extension Programmes and who have been allocated places in such programmes in each of the past three years?

Public Officer to reply

Secretary for Education
and Manpower

9. Mr NGAN Kam-chuen to ask : (Translation)

In view of the recent series of incidents involving objects throwing from a height, will the Government inform this Council of:

the total number of reported cases involving falling objects in the past three years, together with the number among them which occurred in public housing estates;
the number of casualties involved in these reported cases, together with the number of cases resulting in conviction; and
the specific measures in place to prevent the occurrence of such incidents?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

10. Mr HUI Yin-fat to ask : (Translation)

Regarding the impacts brought about by new arrivals on the population structure and the development and planning of social welfare services in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

of the respective percentages of new arrivals in the territory overall population in the respective areas, in terms of number, sex and age groups (using every ten years as the basis for each age group), in each of the past three years;
of the respective percentages of new arrivals in the overall newly arrived population, in terms of sex and age groups, in each of the past three years;
whether it has studied how new arrivals have brought about changes in the population structure of the territory, and the correlation between population structure and development and planning of social welfare services; if so, what the respective findings are; and
of the concrete measures in place to ensure that the future development and planning of social welfare services can cater for the needs of new arrivals and the changing population structure of the territory?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

11. Mr Kennedy WONG to ask : (Translation)

Owing to the economic downturn in Hong Kong, a number of large and small scale companies have successively laid off employees and some of them have even closed down. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

of the number of companies applying for bankruptcy since the beginning of this year as compared with that in the same period in each of the past three years;
of the number of companies applying for holding-over of provisional tax since the fourth quarter of last year as compared with that in the same period in each of the past three years;
of the percentages of medium and small scale enterprises among the companies in (a)and (b)above; and
whether it will consider taking measures to help these medium and small scale enterprises tide over this difficult time; if so, what the details are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

12. Dr TANG Siu-tong to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether there are rules prohibiting people from taking the sea water from certain water zones in the territory for keeping seafood; if so:

of such water zones;
of the number of cases in breach of the relevant rules in the past 3 years;
whether the recent cholera cases in Hong Kong are related to the consumption of seafood kept in the sea water from such water zones; and
of the measures in place to further prevent people from taking sea water from such water zones?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

IV. Bills

Second Reading

Debates to resume

1. Appropriation Bill 1998	:	Financial Secretary
2. Merchant Shipping (Registration) (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Economic Services
3. Building Management (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Home Affairs

Committee Stage and Third Reading

1. Appropriation Bill 1998	:	Financial Secretary
2. Merchant Shipping (Registration) (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Economic Services
3. Building Management (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Home Affairs

V. Motions

1. Mass Transit Railway Corporation Ordinance

Secretary for Transport :

That the Mass Transit Railway (Transport Interchange) Bylaw, made by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation on 2 March 1998, be approved.

2. Family Status Discrimination Ordinance

Secretary for Home Affairs :

That the Code of Practice on Employment issued under section 47 of the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance, published as Government Notice No. 635 of 1998 and laid on the table of the Provisional Legislative Council on 18 February 1998, be amended -

in paragraph 1.3, by adding " " before " ";
in paragraph 2.4, by adding " " after " ";
in paragraph 3.1, by adding "daughter," after "son";
in the Chinese text, by repealing paragraph 3.2 and substituting - "3.2 ";
in paragraph 4.3, by repealing " ";
in paragraph 6.1, by repealing everything from " " up to and including the colon and substituting - " ";
in paragraph 7.1, by adding "reasonably" before "intended";
in paragraph 12.1.2, by repealing " " and substituting " ".

VI. Members' Motions

1. Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Mr Ronald ARCULLI :

That the Lifts and Escalators (Safety) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulation 1998, published as Legal Notice No. 64 of 1998 and laid on the table of the Provisional Legislative Council on 11 February 1998, be repealed.

2. Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Mr CHAN Kam-lam :

That in relation to the Attachment of Income Order Rules, published as Legal Notice No. 118 of 1998, and laid on the table of the Provisional Legislative Council on 25 February 1998, the period referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap.1) for amending subsidiary legislation be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 1 April 1998.

Clerk to the Provisional Legislative Council