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The following is issued on behalf of Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (October 24) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on the universal retirement protection system.
The motion, to be moved by Dr Fernando Cheung states: "That the problem of elderly poverty in Hong Kong is serious at present, and according to a study of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, in the first half of 2011, 33.4% of the elderly were households in poverty, with the elderly population in poverty reaching 290 000, but the existing Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ('CSSA') scheme and Old Age Allowance ('OAA') of the Government cannot resolve the problem of elderly poverty; at present, the income test under the CSSA scheme is on a household basis, requiring the family members of the elderly persons to sign what is colloquially called a 'bad son statement' to declare not providing support to parents, damaging elderly persons' relationship with their families and depriving them of dignity; according to the survey findings published by Oxfam Hong Kong in 2010, some 160 000 eligible elderly persons in Hong Kong did not receive CSSA; on the other hand, the amount of OAA is insufficient to maintain a basic living; at present, various advanced countries or regions around the world, including Canada, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan, have put in place universal retirement protection in the forms of social insurance and special funds earmarked for specified purposes, which have been proven to be effective retirement protection systems; in this connection, this Council urges the authorities to:
(a) give an account of the studies on retirement protection matters conducted by the Central Policy Unit in the past; provide the frameworks, specific statistics and conclusions of such studies;
(b) expeditiously establish a universal retirement protection commission with responsibilities including formulating the contents of a proposal, conducting public consultation, and setting an implementation timetable;
(c) before the implementation of a universal retirement protection scheme, refrain from introducing any asset and income test for the newly proposed 'Old Age Living Allowance Scheme', in order for the scheme to serve as a transitional measure leading to the universal retirement protection scheme; and
(d) immediately allow elderly persons to apply for CSSA on an individual basis, exempting their family members from having to make any declaration arrangement for not providing support to them."
Mr Tam Yiu-chung, Mr Wong Kwok-hing, Mr Chan Kin-por, Mr Michael Tien, Mr Albert Ho and Mr Gary Fan will move separate amendments to Dr Fernando Cheung's motion.
Meanwhile, Members will debate a motion on the North East New Territories New Development Areas Planning and Engineering Study. The motion, to be moved by Ms Emily Lau states: "That the proposal of the North East New Territories New Development Areas Planning and Engineering Study put forward by the authorities has aroused extensive discussion and great controversies in society due to the large-scale development involved; in this connection, this Council urges the authorities to withdraw the relevant proposal, conduct extensive consultation and take account of Hong Kong's policies on population development, housing demand, employment, environmental conservation, rebuilding the agricultural industry, rehousing non-indigenous inhabitants and Hong Kong-Shenzhen integration, etc. as well as problems such as property developers' unscrupulous land resumption practices and the situation of the affected persons before launching studies on the relevant planning proposal."
Mr Frederick Fung, Mr Chan Hak-kan, Ms Chan Yuen-han, Mr James Tien, Mr Abraham Shek and Mr Gary Fan will move separate amendments to Ms Emily Lau's motion.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary for Administration will present the Government Minute in response to the Report of the Public Accounts Committee No. 58 of July 2012 and address the Council.
In addition, 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/Monday, October 22, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:45
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