A 98/99-16(1)

Legislative Council

Agenda
Wednesday 18 November 1998 at 2:30 pm

I. Papers

Subsidiary Legislation	L.N. No.
1. Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance (Amendment of First Schedule) Order 1998	346/98
2. Prevention of the Spread of Infectious Diseases Regulations (Amendment of Form) Order 1998	347/98
3. Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment of First Schedule) Order 1998	348/98
4. Food Business (Regional Council) (Amendment) (No.2) Bylaw 1998	349/98
5. Frozen Confections (Regional Council) (Amendment) Bylaw 1998	350/98
6. Milk (Regional Council) (Amendment) Bylaw 1998	351/98
7. Fisheries Protection (Amendment) Ordinance 1998 (36 of 1998) (Commencement) Notice 1998	352/98

Sessional Papers

1.No.57	-	Accounts of the Government for the year ended 31 March 1998
(to be presented by Secretary for the Treasury)
2.No.58	-	Environment and Conservation Fund Trustee Report 1997-98
(to be presented by Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands)
3.No.59	-	Report of the Director of Audit on the Accounts of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the year ended 31 March 1998
(to be presented by the President)
4.No.60	-	Report No. 30 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits - June 1998
(to be presented by the President)
5.No.61	-	Report No. 31 of the Director of Audit on the results of value for money audits - October 1998
(to be presented by the President)

Report

Report of the Bills Committee on Securities (Amendment) Bill 1998
(to be presented by Hon Ronald ARCULLI, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

II. Questions

1. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)

It is reported that 20 bank robberies took place in the first nine months of the year, representing a 53% increase compared to the same period last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total amount of money stolen in these robberies and the number of casualties involved;
   
   
2. of the reasons for a large increase in the number of bank robberies this year; and whether it has estimated how the number of bank robberies next year will compare with the figure this year; and
   
   
3. whether it has assessed if the banks in Hong Kong have currently taken adequate security measures to prevent robberies and protect the safety of their staff; if the assessment indicates inadequacies in such measures, of the suggestions for improvement which the Administration will make?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

2. Hon Margaret NG to ask:

The recent trial of several residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Guangzhou for kidnapping allegedly committed in Hong Kong has caused wide concern. With reference to Articles 18, 19, 22 and 39 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, will the Government inform this Council what steps it has taken to ensure that:

1. these residents were tried in the right jurisdiction and given a fair and open trial;
   
   
2. crimes committed in Hong Kong will be tried only in Hong Kong; and
   
   
3. acts done in Hong Kong will not be the basis for criminal proceedings in mainland China?

Public Officers to reply :

Secretary for Justice Secretary for Security

3. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask:

As there are 30% more immigration counters in the new airport at Chek Lap Kok than in the old airport at Kai Tak, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether the target of clearing 92% of passengers within 30 minutes previously set for the old airport has been raised at the new airport; and

2. whether the processing time for holders of various types of travel documents (including the Hong Kong Identity Cards of permanent residents) by the immigration personnel at the new airport has been shortened; if so, what the details are; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

4. Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to ask:

Will the Administration inform this Council of the activities it has planned to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1998?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Home Affairs

5. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the Government's efforts to improve the efficiency of the civil service with the use of information technology, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of civil servants who are currently provided with an Internet account by their departments, its percentage in the total number of civil servants, and the measures in place to encourage civil servants to obtain various kinds of information via the Internet;
   
   
2. if it has assessed whether it is more cost-effective to communicate by electronic mail system through the Internet than by manual delivery; if it is the case, whether any specific timetable has been drawn up for replacing manual delivery with e-mail transmission where appropriate, as the means of communication among Government departments; and
   
   
3. whether it has any plan to include Internet e-mail addresses of civil servants who are provided with an Internet account in Government directories and Government web pages, so as to facilitate communication among Government departments and with the public?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

6. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of commercial premises under the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA") which have never been leased out as at the beginning of this month, together with a breakdown by the vacancy period of such premises;
   
   
2. whether it has assessed if the failure to lease out these commercial premises is related to the upset rents currently set by the HA; if they are related, whether the HA will lower the upset rents for its commercial premises in order to lease them out; and
   
   
3. whether the HA has any plan to let such vacant commercial premises as short term tenancies?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Housing

*7. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the provision of accommodation for women who were battered by their spouses and subsequently left their residence with their children, and the arrangements for the transfer of their children to other schools, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of such women who are eligible under the Conditional Tenancy Scheme but have not been rehoused directly from their refuges to public housing over the past three years, and the reasons why such rehousing arrangements have not been made; and

2. if these women and their children are arranged to move away from the districts in which they originally resided, how long the Administration will take on average to transfer the women's school-age children to primary and secondary schools in the district where their new homes are located, and whether any performance pledge has been set in this respect?

Public Officer to reply:Secretary for Health and Welfare

*8. Hon CHAN Kwok-keung to ask:(Translation)

It is learnt that the Water Supplies Department plans to conduct a feasibility study on private sector participation in the provision of water supply services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the reasons for conducting the study;
   
   
2. of the scope and content of the study;
   
   
3. when the consultant selection process in respect of the study is expected to commence; and
   
   
4. whether it has considered setting up a steering committee to monitor the progress of the study; if such a committee is to be set up, of its composition; and whether representatives of staff members will be included?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Works

*9. Hon WONG Yung-kan to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that if the heights of those structures which are built upon agricultural land and are used solely for livestock farming (commonly known as arm structures") exceed the height prescribed limits, the concerned farm structures have to be demolished. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the present height limits for farm structures used for livestock farming;

2. of the number of farm structures demolished in the past three years on the grounds that their heights exceeded the limits; and

3. whether consideration will be given to relaxing the height limits for farm structures, in view of the current shortage of land; if not, why not?

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

*10.Hon LAW Chi-kwong to ask: (Translation)

In the 1998 Policy Address, the Chief Executive undertook that the Government would provide over 400 extra day and residential places for disabled people in 1999-2000. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether these places include the 40 residential places which are still in the pipeline;

2. of a breakdown of these places according to the types of service and target clients; and

3. of the specific plan for fulfilling the undertaking?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*11. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)

It is reported in the findings of a survey that some of the General Studies textbooks for primary schools which have been included into the Recommended Book List by the Education Department (ED) contain incorrect and outdated information, including that describing the government structure. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the procedure adopted by ED for reviewing textbooks; how the procedure can be refined;
   
   
2. the mechanism to ensure that errors in textbooks as identified by ED in the course of the review are corrected by publishers; and
   
   
3. whether consideration will be given to the means of assisting publishers in obtaining up-to-date information, such as through the ED taking the initiative to provide them with up-to-date information on certain subjects?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*12. Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council of the total volume of water consumption of domestic households and the average volume of water consumption per capita in Hong Kong in each of the three years before and after the commencement of collection of sewage charges in accordance with the Sewage Services (Sewage Charge) Regulation (Cap. 463 sub. leg.)?

Public Officer to reply

: Secretary for Works

*13. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

Does the Government know:

1. of the number of incidents, since the introduction of the Octopus system, in which passengers could not use Octopus cards due to the malfunctioning of its debit devices;

2. of the failure rate of Octopus cards since the introduction of the system and whether it is higher than expected; and

3. how the company concerned will reduce the incidence of malfunctioning of debit devices and cards?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*14. Hon Howard YOUNG to ask: (Translation)

In respect of the past three years will the Government inform this Council:

1. of a breakdown of traffic accidents by class of vehicles involved;

2. of the ratio of the number of traffic accidents to
   1. the number of registered vehicles;
      
      
   2. the average number of kilometres travelled by each vehicle in each class of vehicles; and
      
      
   3. of the measures in place to reduce the number of traffic accidents in respect of those classes of vehicles with higher ratios above?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*15. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it knows the total number of cases involving extra-marital affairs for which the assistance of the Social Welfare Department or voluntary agencies has been sought, and of the districts where these cases are more prevalent, indicated by a breakdown of the numbers of cases by district; and
   
   
2. whether it has reviewed the adequacy of the counselling and support services provided in connection with matrimonial problems at present; and whether consideration will be given to providing more counselling and support services in this respect?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health and Welfare

*16. Dr Hon David LI to ask:

It is reported that there is a 20% increase in the number of single-parent families in receipt of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, compared to January this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has any plans to provide more child-care centres in order to relieve the burden of single parents and to enable them to take up employment?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health and Welfare

*17. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)

At present, quite a number of students attending whole-day primary and secondary schools place group orders for lunch-boxes with food suppliers through schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the respective numbers of complaints received by the Administration in the past two years against food suppliers about their unlicensed operation, undesirable hygiene conditions in their food factories or unsanitary food supplied by them; of the number of cases in which these suppliers were prosecuted; and the average penalty imposed for each successful prosecution;

2. how it will ensure that these suppliers operate under licences and the lunch-boxes that they supply meet hygiene standards; and
   
   
3. whether it will step up inspection of the food factories concerned and eliminate unlicensed operators?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Health and Welfare

*18. Hon Fred LI to ask: (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether the Administration had early this year considered conducting a study to determine if there were justifications for the introduction of an insurance system for bank deposits:

1. if the Administration had considered conducting such a study and
   
   
   1. the result was that the above-mentioned study would be conducted, of the specific timetable for the study and the reason for the Administration not including the study as one of the policy initiatives in the 1998 Policy Address; or
      
      
   2. the result was that the above study would not be conducted, of the reasons for that; and

2. if the Administration had not considered conducting such a study, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

*19. Hon YEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

The Chief Executive stated in the 1998 Policy Address that the Hong Kong Institute of Education would be developed into a degree-awarding teacher training institute. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following in respect of the Institute:

1. the total number of lecturers at present and among them, the number of those with a bachelor's degree in education or a postgraduate diploma in education;
   
   
2. the present number of lecturers holding a doctoral degree and among them, the number of those with a doctorate in education;
   
   
3. the number of lecturers currently taking doctoral degree programmes and their percentage in lecturers who do not have a doctoral degree; and
   
   
4. the requirements for the Institute to be upgraded to a university and whether the requirements include that the number of lecturers with doctorates has to reach a certain percentage; if so, what the percentage is; and what measures the Institute will take to meet the upgrading requirements as early as possible?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower

*20. Hon Eric LI to ask: (Translation)

In accordance with the Juvenile Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 226), children under the age of 7 years will not be prosecuted for criminal offences. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of criminal cases in which the alleged offenders were not prosecuted because they were below the age of 7 years in the past five years; and

2. whether it will consider reviewing the age of criminal responsibility stipulated in the Ordinance?

Public Officer to reply: Secretary for Security

* For written reply.

III. Bills

First Reading

1. Industrial Training (Clothing Industry) (Amendment) Bill 1998

2. Adaptation of Laws (No.7) Bill 1998

3. Adaptation of Laws (No.8) Bill 1998

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1. Industrial Training (Clothing Industry) (Amendment) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Trade and Industry
2. Adaptation of Laws (No.7) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands
3. Adaptation of Laws (No.8) Bill 1998	:	Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Securities (Amendment) Bill 1998: Secretary for Financial Services

IV. Motions

Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Housing:

(See Resolution at Appendix)

V. Members' Motions

1. Amending legislation to regulate wage reductions
Hon CHAN Wing-chan: (Translation)

That, in view of the successive cases of private companies reducing their employees' wages and benefits on the grounds of cutting costs, this Council urges the Government to:

1. expeditiously amend the Employment Ordinance, with a view to ensuring that employees will be given sufficient time to consider the changes in the conditions of employment initiated by employers, and stipulating that employers must give an undertaking to revert their employees' wages and benefits to the original levels after the companies have tided over the period of difficulties; and in circumstances where employees have to be laid off or made redundant, their severance payments and long service payments should be calculated on the basis of their original wages before reduction; and
   
   
2. amend the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance to stipulate that ex gratia payments should be calculated on the basis of the employees' existing wages or their wages before reduction, whichever is higher.

Amendment to Hon CHAN Wing-chan's motion
Hon Andrew CHENG: (Translation)

To delete "private companies" and substitute with "wage reduction in the past year, the failure of existing labour legislation to provide reasonable protection for employees whose wages have been reduced, and the continuing trend of employers"; to delete "expeditiously" and substitute with "immediately"; to delete ", with a view to ensuring that employees will be given sufficient time to consider the" and substitute with "to provide that employers must give at least 14 days' written notice to their employees when initiating"; to delete "initiated by employers" and substitute with "thus allowing them sufficient time to consider the wage reduction proposals,"; to delete "stipulating" and substitute with "stipulate"; to delete "give an undertaking to revert their employees'" and substitute with "increase the"; to add "of the employees whose wages have been reduced" after "wages and benefits"; to add "or higher" after " to the original"; to delete "companies" and substitute with "companies' financial conditions"; to delete "tided over the period of difficulties" and substitute with "stabilized"; to delete "in circumstances where" and substitute with "to provide that if"; to delete 蘔ave to be" after "employees" and substitute with "whose wages have been reduced are"; to add "they can choose to have" after "laid off or made redundant,"; to delete "should be" from "long service payments should be calculated"; to delete "original" from "on the basis of their original wages"; to add "the first" after "wages before"; to add "effected during a certain period of time prior to being laid off, so that the rights and benefits of employees will not be affected by wage reductions" after "reduction"; to delete "to stipulate" from "amend the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance to stipulate" and substitute with ", with a view to ensuring"; and to delete "should be calculated on the basis of the employees' existing wages or their wages before reduction, whichever is higher" and substitute with "to employees under the Ordinance will not be affected by wage reductions".

Public Officer to attend :

Secretary for Education and Manpower

2. Resumption of land sales
Hon LEE Wing-tat: (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to resume land sales in April 1999, so as to maintain the supply of land and housing and to stabilize Government revenue.

Amendments to Hon LEE Wing-tat's motion
1. Hon Ronald ARCULLI: (Translation)

To add ", when conducting its review in early 1999 on whether" after "That this Council urges the Government"; to delete "so as to maintain the supply of land and housing and to stabilize Government revenue" and substitute with "to take into consideration all relevant factors, including the importance of a stable property market, the restoration of public confidence, the level of interest rates, the supply of land, the demand for housing, and external factors".

2. Hon LAU Kong-wah: (Translation)

To add "and to review the current mode of land sales with a view to introducing a flexible mechanism whereby the future provision of land can be adjusted according to the demand and supply in the market," after "That this Council urges the Government to resume land sales in April 1999"; to delete "maintain the supply of" and substitute with "meet the needs for"; and to add "in doing so," after "land and housing and".

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

Clerk to the Legislative Council