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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The agenda of the Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting, scheduled for today (July 4) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex, has been revised.
On Bills, Members will continue to consider the amendments to the Companies Bill.
Members will also resume Second Reading debates on the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2010, the Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2011, the Buildings Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2011, the Trade Descriptions (Unfair Trade Practices) (Amendment) Bill 2012, the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2012 and the Supplementary Appropriation (2011-2012) Bill. If the Bills are supported by Members and receive their Second Readings, they will then go through the Committee stages and be read the Third time.
In addition, the Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2012 will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Second Reading debate on the Bill will be adjourned.
On Government motions, the Chief Secretary for Administration will move a proposed resolution under Article 73(7) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and section 7A of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap. 484) to seek the Council's approval to endorse the appointment of the Honourable Mr Justice Robert Tang Ching as a permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal; the appointment of the Honourable Mr Justice Syed Kemal Shah Bokhary as a non-permanent Hong Kong judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal; and the appointment of the Right Honourable The Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers as a judge from another common law jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs will move a proposed resolution under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance on the re-organisation of the Government Secretariat.
The Secretary for Home Affairs will move a proposed resolution under the Legal Aid Ordinance to amend the Legal Aid Ordinance (Cap. 91).
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Eastern Harbour Crossing Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to endorse the Eastern Harbour Crossing Road Tunnel (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the New Hong Kong Tunnel Company Limited on March 30, 2012.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to endorse the Tate's Cairn Tunnel (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Company Limited on March 30, 2012.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Western Harbour Crossing Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to endorse the Western Harbour Crossing (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Western Harbour Tunnel Company Limited on March 30, 2012.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Tai Lam Tunnel and Yuen Long Approach Road Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to endorse the Tai Lam Tunnel and Yuen Long Approach Road (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited on April 3, 2012.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury will move a proposed resolution under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to endorse the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2012, made by the Chief Executive in Council on May 8, 2012.
The Secretary for Food and Health will move a proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to endorse the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2012 and the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2012, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on May 22, 2012.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare will move a proposed resolution under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance to amend the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), with effect from July 14, 2012.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare will move a proposed resolution under the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance to amend the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance (Cap. 360), with effect from July 14, 2012.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare will move a proposed resolution under the Occupational Deafness (Compensation) Ordinance to amend the Occupational Deafness (Compensation) Ordinance (Cap. 469), with effect from July 14, 2012.
The Secretary for Development will move a proposed resolution under the Buildings Ordinance to amend the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123).
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare will move a proposed resolution under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to endorse the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 5) Notice 2012, made by the Chief Executive in Council on May 8, 2012.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare will move a proposed resolution under the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance to amend the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance (Cap. 360).
The Secretary for Development will move a proposed resolution under the Construction Industry Council Ordinance to amend the Construction Industry Council Ordinance (Cap. 587).
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development will move a proposed resolution under the Import and Export Ordinance and the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to endorse the Import and Export (Registration) (Amendment) Regulation 2012, made by the Chief Executive in Council on April 17, 2012.
On other motions, Ms Miriam Lau will move a motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure. The motion states, "That this Council takes note of Report No. 18/11-12 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on May 9, 2012 in relation to the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 2) Order 2012."
Mr Tam Yiu-chung will move a proposed resolution under Article 75 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China to amend the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as set out in the Schedule on the day when the 2012-2013 session of the Council begins.
Mr James To will move a proposed resolution under Article 159 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The motion states: "Resolved that this Council consents to forwarding the following amendments to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China to the delegation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the National People's Congress, for submission to the National People's Congress -
"Article 1
Article 24(2)(1) of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China which provides that '(1) Chinese citizens born in Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;' shall be amended as: '(1) Chinese citizens born in Hong Kong before or after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, during which either one or both of their parents were lawfully residing in Hong Kong;'."
Mr Lee Cheuk-yan will move a motion on the 4 June Incident. The motion, states: "That this Council urges that: the June 4 incident be not forgotten and the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated."
Mr Wong Yuk-man will move an amendment to Mr Lee Cheuk-yan's motion.
Ms Miriam Lau will move a motion on actively studying the establishment of a middle class commission. The motion, states: "That, given that the global and Hong Kong economies are still facing extremely unclear risks, while the middle-class people are plagued by problems such as Hong Kong's single-direction development of industries, etc., and have experienced quite a number of bottlenecks in their career development and are burdened with heavy pressure in the areas of healthcare, education, taxation and housing, etc.; as shown by the latest statistics of an organisation, the number of middle-class people seeking counselling has increased by about 30% when compared with the number some one year ago, and some people even describe themselves as the poor middle class, thus showing that the plight of the middle class has been neglected; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to actively study the establishment of a middle class commission, comprehensively review the policies and measures relating to the middle class, put forward concrete and comprehensive corresponding strategies in a focused manner to assist middle-class families in alleviating their burdens and facilitating their personal career development, so as to boost upward social mobility in the overall community; the relevant measures should include:
Career development -
(a) to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promote diversified development of industries in Hong Kong, so as to create more jobs at the middle and senior levels as well as business start-up opportunities in various industries and professions;
(b) to further strengthen regional economic development to form an economic development circle with different regions on the Mainland, etc. so as to provide more and better career development opportunities for middle-class professionals;
Housing difficulties -
(c) to increase land supply to ease property prices and launch more 'no-frills' small and medium sized flats, including 'flats with limited floor area' for Hong Kong people who are first-time home buyers, so as to alleviate the plight of marginal middle-class people in acquiring their own homes;
(d) to relax the eligibility criteria for purchasing flats in the Home Ownership Scheme secondary market, thereby enabling eligible white form applicants to make purchases;
(e) to introduce a tax allowance for rentals for marginal middle-class people;
(f) to further extend the entitlement period for deduction for home loan interest;
Taxation burden ﷿
(g) to adjust salaries tax downwards, in particular widening tax bands for salaries tax and lowering the marginal rate, so as to vigorously alleviate the burden of marginal middle-class people;
(h) to relax the restrictions on the dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance by relaxing the eligibility requirement from living in the same unit to living in the same housing estate;
Education and self-education ﷿
(i) to completely abolish the restrictions on kindergarten vouchers, so as to reduce children education expenses of middle-class families;
(j) to introduce a children's education allowance, so as to alleviate the burden of children education expenses of the middle class;
(k) to substantially increase the salaries tax deduction for self-education expenses and the subsidy under the Continuing Education Fund;
Healthcare -
(l) to expeditiously and properly tackle the problem of 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women', and ensure that local pregnant women have priority in receiving confinement service in both public and private hospitals;
(m) to provide tax deduction for medical insurance contributions;
(n) to provide tax deduction for medical examinations, so as to encourage people to undergo such examinations on a regular basis; and
Legal aid -
(o) to further lower the threshold of the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme, so as to assist more needy middle-class people in safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests by law."
Mr Alan Leong will move an amendment to Ms Miriam Lau's motion. Ms Starry Lee will move an amendment to Mr Alan Leong's amendment.
Mr Chan Hak-kan will move a motion on caring about the education, employment and housing problems faced by young people. The motion, states, "That young people are the future pillars of society, but in the face of globalisation and the rapid development of neighbouring places, Hong Kong young people not only face many challenges during their growth, but also lack upward mobility opportunities, and this is especially highlighted in their education, employment and housing aspirations; however, the Government has all along failed to formulate any support measures with young people as the main targets; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to care about young people﷿s needs, and assist them in concentrating on their education, establishing their career and resolving their housing needs; specific measures should include:
Education -
(a) to enhance the qualification recognition of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, sub-degrees and the new Yi Jin Diploma in Hong Kong, the Mainland and the international community, so as to widen young people's pathways of further studies;
(b) to dovetail with the concept of promoting students' whole-person development under the new academic structure by introducing an extra-curricular activities allowance for students to subsidise their participation in extra-curricular activities;
(c) to promote the commencement of 'career planning' at the stage of secondary education, so as to enable secondary students to make better planning for their future career development;
Employment -
(d) to review the planning of employment training support services for young people, enhance the existing Youth Pre-employment Training Programme and Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme, and raise the level of the relevant subsidies, so as to attract the participation of more employers to provide more employment and training opportunities in the market which are suitable for young people;
(e) to set up more 'Youth Employment Start' ('Y.E.S') resource centres throughout Hong Kong, strengthen the training programmes targeted at young people, enhance their employment skills, and provide one-stop employment counselling;
(f) focusing on the development of the six industries and creative industries, to enhance training and provide better support to help young people join the relevant industries;
Housing -
(g) to relax the existing eligibility criteria for applying for public rental housing, and address low-income young people's housing needs;
(h) to allow eligible white form applicants to purchase Home Ownership Scheme flats without having to pay the premium, so as to assist young people in accessing the home acquisition ladder; and
(i) focusing on young people with relatively stable financial income, to study re-launching the Home Starter Loan Scheme."
Ms Audrey Eu, Mr Ip Wai-ming and Mr Wong Sing-chi will move separate amendments to Mr Chan Hak-kan's motion.
Mr Albert Chan will move a motion on opposing Hong Kong communists ruling Hong Kong. The motion, states: "That this Council expresses deep resentment at the direct interference of the Communist Party of China in the 2012 Chief Executive Election, which ruins 'one country, two systems'; as the Chief Executive Election was conducted under the interference and manipulation of the Communist Party of China, this Council does not accept, recognise and agree to the result of the 2012 Chief Executive Election; in this connection, this Council requests the immediate implementation of universal suffrage for returning the Chief Executive and all Legislative Council seats, and calls upon Hong Kong people to resort to confrontational means to resist Hong Kong communists ruling Hong Kong."
Mr Paul Chan will move a motion on enhancing the accountability of charities and complying with the best practices in corporate governance. The motion, states: "That the Charities Sub-committee under the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong is still collating public submissions after completing its public consultation on the consultation paper on charities in end October last year, and at present, except for those charities that are incorporated as companies limited by guarantee with the Company Registry whose financial statements are accessible by the public in the Company Registry, the public has no way to know about the governance and financial information of all other charities, such as those established by way of trust; moreover, currently, except for section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, in which 'charitable purpose' is defined for the purpose of taxation, there is no other legislation regulating charities and how they use the donations, nor does the Administration have the figures regarding charities established; over the past few years, some suspected cases of charities with strange fund-raising practices, unclear accounts, indiscriminate investments and even transfer of surpluses have been uncovered in society, making the public worry that donations to charities may not be serving charitable purposes; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously release to the public the findings of the public consultation on the consultation paper on charities, and before statutory regulation is introduced, consider enhancing the transparency and accountability of charities by adopting measures such as encouraging them to comply with the best practices in corporate governance, strengthen their financial management, and disclose their financial information on a regular basis; at the same time, the Government should expeditiously implement the statutory regulatory proposals in the consultation paper on charities which are generally agreed by the community."
Mr James To, Mr Alan Leong and Mr Cheung Kwok-che will move separate amendments to Mr Paul Chan's motion.
Ms Starry Lee will move a motion on promoting family harmony. The motion, states: " That, as social problems such as the rising divorce rate, family tragedies, child abuse and neglect of children, as well as compensated dating and drug abuse among young people still occur from time to time in Hong Kong, reflecting that at present some families lack cohesion and mutual love, this Council urges the Government to make stronger efforts in promoting family-friendly policies and enhancing the resilience of families and individuals against adversities, so as to achieve family harmony and promote social inclusion; the proposed measures include:
(a) introducing an assessment system regarding the impact of public policies on families to assess the impact of existing social policies, legislation and measures on families, with a view to making relevant improvements;
(b) providing more support services to dual-income parents, including expanding community childminding services, increasing the childminding places in various districts and providing flexible childminding service hours, etc.; developing after-school remedial centres so that children of dual-income parents can receive appropriate care after school;
(c) promoting public and private organisations to implement family-friendly employment policies more proactively for creating a family-friendly working environment, including encouraging organisations to provide staff with child care services and implementing flexible working hours, as well as implementing a flexible leave policy which provides special paid leave for employees such as wedding leave, paternity leave, study leave, compassionate leave, etc., when they encounter major family events;
(d) including all general holidays other than Sundays as paid statutory holidays through a progressive approach of employer-employee negotiation; and promoting 'International Day of Families' to call on the community to cherish the value of family;
(e) promoting a housing policy which fosters mutual care between the elderly and the young and encouraging the inclusion of residential complementary facilities suitable for both the elderly and the young in the designs of private and public housing; as well as improving community facilities to provide families with more room for parent-child activities;
(f) actively stepping up publicity on positive family education on parenting, child duties and ethics, as well as promoting family education through community service organisations, schools and the media, etc.;
(g) allocating more resources for strengthening various promotional activities and research work of the Family Council;
(h) alleviating the financial burden on families in Hong Kong by offering tax concessions and subsidising pre-primary education across the board; and
(i) enhancing social welfare services to provide appropriate support to families in crisis."
Mr Wong Sing-chi, Dr Pan Pey-chyou, Mr Ronny Tong and Mr Lee Cheuk-yan will move separate amendments to Ms Starry Lee's motion.
Mr Leung Yiu-chung will move a motion on building an inclusive society for all. The motion, states: "That, although the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ('the Convention') came into force in Hong Kong on 31 August 2008, and the Administration submitted the Initial Report of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the Convention ('the Report') to the United Nations in early 2010, the contents of the Report lack guiding policies on building an inclusive society, and only focus on addressing the needs of persons with disabilities arising from their physical disabilities, instead of assisting persons with disabilities in integrating into society from social and environmental perspectives, this Council expresses its strong dissatisfaction and deep regret in this regard; in this connection, in order to fulfill the obligations under the Convention, this Council urges the Government to implement the following policies and measures:
(a) to expeditiously implement the public transport concessions scheme for the elderly and persons with disabilities ('the scheme') to assist them in integrating into society;
(b) to expand the coverage of the scheme to all holders of the Registration Card for People with Disabilities, and consider providing transport fare concessions to the escorts of persons with disabilities;
(c) to add clauses to the franchise agreements of franchised public transport operators, requiring the offer of fare concessions to the elderly and persons with disabilities as well as the provision of barrier-free ancillary facilities;
(d) to allocate additional resources for increasing the number of barrier-free transportation modes, such as Rehabus and Easy-Access Bus, so as to provide more 'point-to-point' services for persons with disabilities;
(e) to implement the concept of barrier-free access, expeditiously complete the top 10 ranked proposals on the Provision of Hillside Escalator Links and Elevator Systems, and immediately commence feasibility studies on the remaining proposals;
(f) to set up a quota system for employing people with disabilities and provide tax concessions, so as to encourage employers to employ more persons with disabilities;
(g) to provide persons with disabilities with a wage subsidy of no more than 50% of their wages, so that employees with disabilities whose productivity is assessed to be less than 100% may receive wages close to the statutory minimum wage level; and provide an allowance to carers of chronic patients;
(h) to encourage people from the various social sectors to learn sign language, and promote and teach sign language in primary and secondary schools; and expeditiously motivate healthcare personnel to learn sign language to enhance their communications with patients with hearing impairment, so as to enable them to grasp the conditions of patients with hearing impairment and help treating their diseases;
(i) to promote the popularisation of sign language, require the provision of sign language interpretation in television news broadcasts and foster a culture of respecting the use of sign language, so as to facilitate persons with hearing impairment in grasping social information; and
(j) to step up consultation with groups for persons with disabilities, so as to make the voices of persons with disabilities heard as well as materialise the integration between the able-bodied and disabled persons."
Mr Wong Kwok-hing, Dr Pan Pey-chyou, Mr Wong Sing-chi and Mr Tam Yiu-chung will move separate amendments to Mr Leung Yiu-chung's motion.
Prof Patrick Lau will move a motion on perfecting urban management in all districts of Hong Kong. The motion, states: " That, given that after the dissolution of the former Urban Council and former Regional Council, the urban management strategies for all districts in Hong Kong have failed to yield satisfactory results, this Council urges the Government to strengthen the powers and functions as well as responsibilities of the District Councils, and formulate a set of comprehensive urban management policies, including:
(a) based on the latest population projections, to plan afresh the community facilities required in the various districts, and resolve, at the district level, the site selection and timetable problems relating to the construction of schools, hospitals, public rental housing, community centres, columbaria, landfills, incinerators and recycling centres, etc.;
(b) to implement the management concept of urban beautification, and perfect the street greening and beautification work; and
(c) dovetailing with harbourfront planning and development, to establish a harbourfront authority for co-ordinating the connective work and management of harbourfronts in all districts of Hong Kong."
Mr Cheung Hok-ming and Mr Lee Wing-tat will move separate amendments to Prof Patrick Lau's motion.
Mr Fred Li will move a motion on promoting animal rights and interests. The motion, states: "That, as Hong Kong society attaches increasing importance to animal rights and interests, and in order to motivate people to treat animals well and live in harmony with animals in the community, reduce at source the number of stray animals in the community, and effectively combat crimes of animal cruelty, this Council urges the Government to:
(a) strengthen co-operation with District Councils to promote the 'Trap-Neuter-Return' programme on a trial basis, and following the success of the trial programme, implement the programme in all districts of Hong Kong;
(b) expedite the implementation of the various proposed measures for regulating the pet trade, including introducing Home Animal Breeder Permit and Commercial Animal Breeder Permit, substantially raising the maximum fine for illegal trading of animals to $100,000 and increasing the fine for breaching of licensing conditions to $50,000; and
(c) establish specialist 'animal police' teams in the Hong Kong Police Force to replace the existing 'Animal Watch Scheme', whose responsibilities include conducting specially tasked investigations into all animal cruelty cases, as well as undertaking publicity and education to make the public aware that cruelty to animals are illegal acts."
Mr Chan Hak-kan and Mr Albert Ho will move separate amendments to Mr Fred Li's motion.
Mr Ip Wai-ming will move a motion on expeditiously implementing the formulation of standard working hours. The motion, states: " That, given that minimum wage and standard working hours must complement each other in order to be able to maximise the effect of protecting grassroots workers and facilitating Hong Kong's economic development, this Council urges the current-term and next-term SAR Governments to, having regard to the well-being of employees at large, spare no efforts in making preparations for enacting legislation on standard working hours and expeditiously implement the relevant tasks, including:
(a) to set a deadline and timetable for conducting studies on regulating working hours;
(b) to establish a 'study group on legislating for standard working hours' comprising representatives of the Government, employees and employers, and academics to follow up the relevant issues;
(c) to regularly hold discussions in the Panel on Manpower of the Legislative Council and report the progress to the Labour Advisory Board, so as to strengthen the Legislative Council's function of monitoring the Government on the one hand, and increase the transparency of the relevant work on the other, so as to enable the public and the labour sector to know the progress of the studies;
(d) to proactively ascertain the views of the trade unions of various industries and the relevant stakeholders on standard working hours; and
(e) to increase the public's knowledge and understanding of standard working hours through various forms of publicity and education."
Mr Wong Sing-chi and Mr Lee Cheuk-yan will move separate amendments to Mr Ip Wai-ming's motion.
Mr Cheung Kwok-che will move a motion on the Report of the Subcommittee on Retirement Protection. The motion, states: "That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee on Retirement Protection."
Dr Lam Tai-fai will move a motion on reviewing the definition of and the support measures for small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-enterprises. The motion, states: " That, as the European debt crisis is getting worse recently, which may affect the European and even the global economies, coupled with the fact that the United States economy has yet to bottom out and the Mainland economic growth is slowing down, Hong Kong as a small and open economy can hardly remain unaffected, with its export and re-export trades bearing the brunt; internally, the continuous soaring of property prices also poses potential threats to Hong Kong's economy and society; amid the many uncertainties and crises, it is expected that small and medium-sized enterprises ('SMEs') in Hong Kong will face an unstable and difficult business environment; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to plan ahead and roll out appropriate contingency measures to assist SMEs in coping with the challenges and riding out the plight; besides, the Government should review the current definition of SMEs, draw up afresh the definitions of SMEs and micro-enterprises having regard to the actual market conditions with a view to formulating dedicated support policies and measures which are geared to their actual needs, study introducing different levels of profit tax rates for micro-enterprises, SMEs and large enterprises, and set a tax rate lower than the existing level and offer more tax concessions for the former two, so as to support their sustainable operation and healthy development."
Dr Raymond Ho will move a motion on the Report of the Subcommittee to Study Issues Arising from Lehman Brothers-related Minibonds and Structured Financial Products. The motion, states: "That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee to Study Issues Arising from Lehman Brothers-related Minibonds and Structured Financial Products."
Mr Jeffrey Lam will move a motion on maintaining a business-friendly environment in Hong Kong. The motion, states: " That, given the recent instability of the global economic environment, the worsening trend of the European debt crisis and the slackening of the Mainland's economic development, and under the situation of the ongoing transition from the current-term Government to the next-term Government in Hong Kong, this Council urges that:
(a) the Administration should closely monitor the external economic situation and devise contingency plans for coping with external impact, so as to maintain the stability of Hong Kong's investment market and overall economy as well as to avoid any external impact on Hong Kong's economy at the time of governmental transition;
(b) given that Hong Kong's economic outlook in the second half of this year is not optimistic, and even the current-term Financial Secretary has foretold that an economic growth of 3% cannot be maintained, the current-term Government should formulate corresponding measures straddling the transition to the next-term Government for coping with Hong Kong's economic slowdown and fluctuations in the property market; and
(c) the next-term Government should examine the impact of such policies as the minimum wage and those in the Competition Bill, etc., on the local economy as well as on small and medium-sized enterprises at large, so as to protect the business-friendly environment in Hong Kong and raise Hong Kong's economic competitiveness."
Mr Chan Kam-lam will move a motion on improving public healthcare services. The motion, states: "That the Government intends to implement the Health Protection Scheme for addressing the issue of public healthcare financing and reforming public healthcare services; however, with population ageing and the continuous increase in demand for primary healthcare services, public healthcare services are unable to sustain quality, and the mode of service delivery also fails to develop in the direction of a 'person-centred and community-based' approach; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to comprehensively improve public healthcare services, and the relevant measures should include:
(a) to enhance the hardware facilities of public hospitals, including reviewing the demand for specialist services in the hospitals of various clusters, acquiring more medical equipment, and expediting the expansion of United Christian Hospital as well as the redevelopment of Queen Mary Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital, so as to cope with the demand arising from changes in population structure;
(b) in response to the fact that babies born to 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women' seeking healthcare services in Hong Kong have led to an increasing demand for hospital services in the New Territories clusters, the authorities should allocate more resources for improving the services of maternal and child health centres as well as paediatrics;
(c) to develop public Chinese medicine services, expeditiously build public Chinese medicine out-patient clinics, increase the daily service quotas in public Chinese medicine clinics, and study introducing Chinese medicine in-patient services and conjoint Chinese medicine and Western medicine consultations;
(d) to draw up a timetable for establishing community health centres in the 18 districts of Hong Kong;
(e) to improve the existing public general out-patient services, including increasing daily consultation quotas, introducing overnight out-patient services, and setting up a 'manned' consultation booking hotline for the convenience of the elderly;
(f) to draw up planning on long-term healthcare service demand and personnel training, and adopt short-term measures to tackle the existing problem of healthcare manpower shortage;
(g) to improve public dental services, including introducing out-patient dental services for the elderly, and extending the Student Dental Service to secondary students, etc.; and
(h) to design specific services geared to the healthcare needs of different groups of people in society, including lowering the eligible age for elderly healthcare vouchers to 65 and increasing the amount of subsidy to $1,000; increase the service quotas in elderly health centres and women health centres; introduce a cervical cancer vaccination programme and a breast cancer screening programme for the suitable women; subsidise high risk groups to take fecal occult blood tests regularly for the prevention of colon cancer; speed up the updating of the types of vaccines incorporated under the Childhood Immunization Programme; and study the introduction of 'child healthcare vouchers'.
Dr Joseph Lee and Dr Leung Ka-lau will move separate amendments to Mr Chan Kam-lam's motion.
Dr Raymond Ho will move a motion on increasing land supply in Hong Kong and perfecting the land reserve system. The motion, states: "That Hong Kong is small but densely populated with the land falling short of the demand, and property prices have persistently remained at high levels; in order to resolve the problem of high property prices at root, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously increase land supply through different means, such as reclamation, rock cavern development, old district redevelopment, change of land use, land resumption and reusing former quarry sites, etc.; at the same time, the Government should also perfect the existing land reserve system to appropriately perform the function of adjusting land supply."
Mr Wong Yuk-man will move a motion on the vote of no confidence in the President of the Legislative Council. The motion, states: "That, regarding the decision of the President of the Legislative Council, Mr Jasper Tsang, to curtail the debate during the Committee stage of the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012 on May 17 this year, this Council has no confidence in the President of the Legislative Council, Mr Jasper Tsang."
Mr Lee Wing-tat will also move a motion on addressing the problem of small houses and village houses in the New Territories. The motion, states: " That it has been about 40 years since the implementation of the New Territories small house policy ('small house policy') in December 1972, and the dwindling village land in the New Territories is unable to meet the demand for small houses, thus making the sustainability of the small house policy questionable; at the same time, the problem of unauthorised building works in the New Territories village houses is extensive and serious; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously review the small house policy for resolving the problem of 'limited land supply but unlimited small house concessionary rights', and to review and strictly implement the enforcement policy on unauthorised building works of village houses in the New Territories, so as to align the respective enforcement policy on unauthorised building works in the urban areas with that of the New Territories for the protection of public safety."
Mr Cheung Hok-ming will move an amendment to Mr Lee Wing-tat's motion.
Members will also debate a motion on the report of the Subcommittee on Improving Barrier Free Access and Facilities for Persons with Disabilities. The motion, to be moved by Mr Wong Sing-chi, says: "That this Council notes the Report of the Subcommittee on Improving Barrier Free Access and Facilities for Persons with Disabilities."
Dr Samson Tam will also move a motion on actively implementing the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement and the relevant new measures. The motion, states: "That, since the signing of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ('CEPA'), both sides have agreed to strengthen co-operation in the following 10 areas, namely: (1) customs clearance facilitation; (2) commodity inspection and quarantine, food safety, quality and standardization; (3) co-operation of small and medium-sized enterprises;(4) co-operation in industries; (5) electronic business;(6) trade and investment promotion;(7) transparency in laws and regulations;(8)0protection of intellectual property;(9) co-operation in branding; and (10) co-operation in education; however, the actual situation is that quite a number of small and medium-sized enterprises consider that the co-operation in the aforesaid areas is still at the policy discussion stage and fails to provide any concrete assistance; in this connection, this Council urges the SAR Government to expeditiously review the current situation of implementing CEPA, give an account of the difficulties involved during the implementation process, explore adjustments to the implementation framework, enhance accountability, and at the same time adopt more concrete actions and complementary policies for actively implementing CEPA and the relevant new measures, so as to provide greater support to small and medium-sized enterprises and promote the development of new industries in Hong Kong."
Ms Miriam Lau will move, under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure, a motion for the adjournment of the Council for debating the following two issues:
(a) the impact of the announcement made by the MTR Corporation Limited to increase its fares by 5.4% under the Fare Adjustment Mechanism ("FAM") on the general public, as well as FAM, fare concession measures and the Government's corresponding arrangements (raised by Mr Cheung Hok-ming); and
(b) the suicide of Li Wang-yang (raised by Mr Leung Kwok-hung).
In addition, Mrs Sophie Leung will present the "Independent Commission Against Corruption complaints Committee Annual Report 2011" at the LegCo meeting and address the Council. Mr Chan Kam-lam will also present to the Council the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Independent Commission Against Corruption Annual Report 2011" and address the Council. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the LegCo Public Accounts Committee, Dr Philip Wong, will table the Committee's Report on the Director of Audit's Report No.58 at the meeting and address the Council. Mr Fred Li will present the Report of the Subcommittee on Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation and address the Council.
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found in the LegCo website.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also watch or listen the meeting via the web broadcast system on the LegCo website.
Ends/Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Issued at HKT 10:51
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