Following is a question by the Hon Jimmy Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, in the Legislative Council today (June 19):

Question:

In recent years, the darts sport has become increasingly popular in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's darts athletes have repeatedly attained great results in international competitions.  Quite a number of darts athletes and enthusiasts hope that the Government supports the development of the darts sport.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether the Government provided, in the past five years, the darts sport with support on aspects such as finance, venues, organisation of events and promotion; if so, of the respective details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2) whether it has plans to provide, in the coming five years, the darts sport with the various support mentioned in (1); if so, of the respective details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) whether there is now any subvention scheme open for application by darts sport associations; if so, of the eligibility requirements and other details;

(4) whether the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) has plans to provide, in the coming five years, venues for the darts sport; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(5) given that LCSD is conducting a review on the Sports Subvention Scheme, whether the scope of the review includes relaxation of the eligibility requirements so as to cover new sports such as the darts sport; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(6) whether LCSD will, in the coming five years, include the darts sport in the School Sports Programme so as to cultivate students' interest in the darts sport; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(7) whether it will ask the Commissioner for Sports to (i) include the promotion of the darts sport in his work plan for the coming five years, (ii) strengthen his communication with darts sport associations, and (iii) assist in striving for the inclusion of the darts sport as a medal sport in the Asian Games and the Olympic Games; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The Government has been committed to promoting the development of different sports through the Sports Subvention Scheme (the Scheme) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), under which 60 eligible national sports associations (NSAs) are provided with subvention to organise various sports activities.  Since 2011-12, subvented NSAs under the Scheme must fulfil six criteria (Note), including that the NSA must be a member of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) and concurrently be affiliated to the relevant International Federation (IF).  However, 26 organisations which could not fulfil all the six criteria had long been subvented under the relevant subsidy scheme of the two former municipal councils in the past, and were therefore transitioned and included in the current Scheme.
 
     The reply to the enquiries raised is as follows:

(1) to (3) Currently, there is no NSA responsible for darts among the members of the SF&OC.  However, the Hong Kong Darts Association (HKDA) had long been subvented under the relevant subsidy scheme of the two former municipal councils in the past, and was therefore transitioned and included in the current Scheme.  The HKDA may apply for subvention from the LCSD in accordance with the regulations of the Scheme to organise various activities, including promotional activities, training and local events.  The HKDA may also reserve venues for activities subvented under the Scheme and enjoy rental subsidy in accordance with LCSD's booking procedures for recreational and sports facilities.  In addition, the HKDA may apply for funding support from the Arts and Sport Development Fund (ASDF) (Sports Portion) to organise international events in Hong Kong.

     In the past five years, we did not receive any application from the HKDA on the Scheme or the ASDF (Sports Portion).

(4) To cater for the needs of different sports, most of the leisure venues under the management of the LCSD are multi-purpose sports venues.  Some of these venues would be available for use by various new sports, such as darts.  We have no plan to provide dedicated venues for darts at this stage.

(5) To further enhance the development of sports in Hong Kong, the LCSD is conducting a comprehensive review of the Scheme, covering the funding principles and eligibility for NSAs and/or sports organisations.  The findings and recommendations will be announced upon completion of the review at the end of 2019.

(6) The LCSD has all along been committed to providing a wide range of sports and recreational activities for the public.  It would keep in view the development of new sports.  Relevant eligible organisations may request to include new sports in the School Sports Programme.  The LCSD would take into consideration a number of factors, including community adoption, venues and relevant technical support, when making a decision.

(7) The work of the Commissioner for Sports includes promoting and implementing the policy objectives of promoting sports in the community, supporting elite sports and developing Hong Kong into a centre for major international sports events, as well as taking forward the various initiatives for promoting and supporting sports development.  If NSAs or other organisations have relevant suggestions, they are welcomed to put them forward to the Commissioner for Sports.

     The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) are responsible for the events and organisation of the Olympic Games and the Asian Games respectively.  Both the IOC and the OCA are non-governmental organisations.  The SF&OC, which is a member of both the IOC and the OCA, is responsible for the participation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in these two major games. 

Note: Since 2011-12, the LCSD has required that any sports organisation applying for the Scheme must fulfil all of the following criteria:

(1) it is a member of the SF&OC;
(2) it is affiliated to the IF of the respective sports;
(3) it is registered under the Companies Ordinance and has Articles of Association;
(4) it is a non-profit-making sports organisation;
(5) it has been in operation and has organised sports programmes for at least three years; and
(6) the kind of sports it promotes is one of the medal sports/potential medal sports of the following major games: Asian Games, Asian Winter Games, Asian Youth Games, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, Asian Beach Games, Asian Para Games, Asian Youth Para Games, Olympic Games, Olympic Winter Games, Youth Olympic Games, Winter Youth Olympic Games, World Games, Paralympic Games and Paralympic Winter Games.

     Following is a question by the Hon Charles Mok and a written reply by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, in the Legislative Council today (June 19):
 
Question:
 
     In August last year, the Government launched a Reindustrialisation and Technology Training Programme (RTTP) to subsidise staff members of local companies to receive training in advanced technologies. Training courses that are open for applications by various companies (public courses) and training courses that are designed for particular companies (tailor-made courses) are subsidised under the RTTP. In respect of public courses, course providers should submit applications for course registration at least eight weeks before course commencement, and eligible companies should submit applications for training grants at least two weeks before course commencement. For tailor-made courses, eligible companies should submit applications for course approval and training grants in one go. Some members of the trade have relayed that the procedure for registration and approval of the training courses are cumbersome and time-consuming, leaving course providers and eligible companies only a very short time for recruiting students and submitting applications for training grants respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of companies subsidised under the RTTP (broken down by type of business), and the number of staff members who participated in the training courses (broken down by post title), as at the end of last month;
 
(2) of the average number of working days taken for completing the registration of public courses, and the average number of working days prior to course commencement were course providers notified that registration was successful, as at the end of last month; and
 
(3) whether it has plans to review and streamline the procedure for course registration and approval, so that more companies can make arrangements for their staff members to receive training in advanced technologies; if so, of the details?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     In order to nurture local innovation and technology talent, the Government launched the Reindustrialisation and Technology Training Programme (RTTP) in August 2018 to subsidise existing staff of local enterprises on a 2(Government):1(Enterprise) matching basis to receive technology training, especially those relating to Industry 4.0. The Vocational Training Council administers the RTTP and serves as its secretariat.
 
     Our reply to various parts of the question is as follows:
 
(1) As at end May 2019, the RTTP has funded a total of 831 staff from 335 local enterprises to receive technology training with a total funding amount of about $5.57 million. The distribution of the type of business of these enterprises is as follows:
 

 
     The RTTP requires enterprises applying for training grants to fill in, among others, the post of the staff nominated for training in the application form. As the post titles of different industries and enterprises vary, the secretariat has received a large variety of post information and does not maintain a breakdown by different post titles. In general, the staff subsidised to receive technology training are engaged in a broad range of duties, such as quality management, product design and research and development, information technology, marketing and promotion, sales and human resources, etc. They also include senior management of the enterprises (such as chief executive officers and chief financial officers), other management personnel and frontline staff, etc.
 
(2) As at end May 2019, the secretariat takes an average of 30 working days to process applications for public course registration submitted by training providers, and on average, training providers would be notified of the result of application 71 working days before the start of the training course.
 
(3) Since the launch of the RTTP, the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) and the secretariat have been closely monitoring the application and vetting situation, and have implemented enhancement measures. For example, since May 2019, training providers could re-run the same public course previously registered for a maximum of two times by notifying the secretariat in writing, without the need to go through the secretariat vetting process again. In addition, we launched an online application system on the website of the RTTP (rttp.vtc.edu.hk/) in March 2019 to facilitate training providers in submitting applications for registration of public courses. Enterprises can also submit applications through the system for organising tailor-made courses and training grants. We have also enhanced the design and function of the website to enable enterprises to search registered public courses that suit their staff more easily.
 
     The ITC and the secretariat will continue to maintain contact with training providers and enterprises, and will review and improve the arrangements of the RTTP as appropriate.

     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Chun-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, in the Legislative Council today (June 19):
 
Question:
 
     Some members of the banking industry have relayed that the granting of eight virtual banking licences by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority so far may aggravate the shortage of manpower of the various professional grades in the industry, which will affect the operation and development of the banking industry in the long run. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the numbers of members of the various professional grades in the banking industry listed in the table below;
 

 
(2) whether it has estimated the numbers of members of the various professional grades to be employed by virtual banks in each of the coming three years; (i) of the respective percentages of such numbers in the relevant total numbers in the banking industry, and (ii) out of such numbers, the respective numbers of those who will come from conventional banks and from places outside Hong Kong;
 
(3) given that experienced professionals in Fintech are included in the Talent List of Hong Kong promulgated by the Government in August last year, and such professionals may apply to work in Hong Kong through the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, of the respective to-date numbers of the relevant applications received and approved by the Government, and the average time taken for the vetting and approval of each approved case; of the measures in place to expedite the vetting and approval process; and
 
(4) whether it will introduce incentive measures (e.g. accommodation, education allowances for children and medical allowances) to attract experienced professionals in Fintech from the Mainland and overseas to work in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Having consulted the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Security Bureau, the reply to the different parts of the question is as follows:
 
(1) and (2) The HKMA does not collect statistics on the number of practitioners of professional grades in the banking sector. According to the business plans of the eight licensed virtual banks, the manpower required for the first three years of their operation only represents a tiny fraction of that of the banking sector in Hong Kong. The HKMA expects that the impact of virtual banks on the manpower of the banking system should be manageable. The HKMA does not collect information on the background of employees of virtual banks and is not in a position to provide any estimate to this end.
 
(3) and (4) The Government promulgated on August 28, 2018 the first Talent List of Hong Kong. The Talents List covers 11 professions, including "Fintech Professionals", "Data Scientists and Cyber Security Specialists" and "Asset Management Professionals". Applicants who meet the requirements of the Talent List will be awarded 30 bonus points under the General Points Test of the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme (QMAS).
 
     As at April 2019, a total of 11 applicants under the QMAS have met the eligibility criteria of the said professions, of which seven applicants have been allotted quotas by the Advisory Committee on Admission of Quality Migrants and Professionals (the Advisory Committee). The remaining four applications are being processed. The breakdown statistics on such applications and the quotas allotted are as follows:
 

 
     The processing time mainly depends on whether the required documents and information are submitted by the applicant to the Immigration Department within the specified timeframe. Upon submission of the required documents and information, it normally takes two weeks to process applications which will then be submitted to the Advisory Committee for further assessment. The Immigration Department may also seek professional advice from relevant trade and professional bodies having regard to individual cases and verify each application. In accordance with the existing assessment criteria, all applications which satisfy the prerequisites and the minimum passing mark will be shortlisted and submitted to the Advisory Committee for further assessment.
 
     The selection exercise is conducted quarterly for quota allocation to applicants and the Advisory Committee will recommend to the Director of Immigration how best to allocate available quota. Results of each selection exercise will be published on the Immigration Department website within 15 days.
 
     The Immigration Department will ensure efficient processing of QMAS applications through flexible staff deployment and streamlined workflow.
 
     Apart from the QMAS, professionals can also apply to work in Hong Kong through the General Employment Policy (GEP) for overseas, Taiwan and Macao residents and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) for the Mainland residents.
 
     The statistics on applications approved under GEP and ASMTP from applicants who were from the "Financial Services" sector in the past three years are as follows:
 

 
     The Government will review the relevant schemes and measures from time to time with a view to encouraging talents from the Mainland and overseas to work in Hong Kong.

     Following is a question by the Hon Ip Kin-yuen and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, in the Legislative Council today (June 19):

Question:

     The Social Welfare Department (SWD) provides three types of rehabilitation services for pre school children with disability respectively through (i) the Early Education and Training Centre (EETC), (ii) the Integrated Programme in Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centre (IP/KGs) and (iii) the Special Child Care Centre (SCCC). It is learnt that due to the shortage of service places of SCCCs, quite a number of children waiting for such services attend ordinary kindergartens and kindergartens-cum-Child Care Centres (collectively known as KGs). Furthermore, SWD provides On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services (OPRS), under which inter-disciplinary service teams from non-governmental organisations provide on-site training services for children with mild disability who are studying in participating KGs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) Whether it knows the annual numbers of children waiting for SCCC services in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years whilst studying in KGs, and the number of KGs involved;

(2) Whether it knows, among the children mentioned in (1), the respective annual numbers of (i) those receiving EETC services, (ii) those receiving OPRS and (iii) those not receiving any of these two types of services, in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years (set out in the table below);
 

(3) Of the annual numbers of children in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 assessed to be in need of SCCC services; among such children, the respective numbers of (i) those waiting for the services provided by IP/KGs, (ii) those waiting for EETC services, (iii) those waiting for OPRS, and (iv) those not waiting for any of those services (set out in the table below); and
 

(4) Whether the Education Bureau (EDB) has provided additional resources to KGs which have admitted children who are waiting for SCCC services, so as to ensure that those children can receive appropriate education, training and care; if so, of the details; if not, whether EDB will, by making reference to the approach adopted by it for supporting non-Chinese speaking students with special educational needs, provide additional resources to those schools?

Reply:

President,

     My reply to the Member's question is as follows:

(1) and (2) Pre-school children on the waiting list of special child care centres (SCCCs) may also apply for and receive transitional services of early education and training centres (EETCs) or on-site pre-school rehabilitation services (OPRS) until they are allocated SCCC places. Besides, pre-school children waiting for SCCCs and who have not received transitional services may apply for non-means-tested training subsidies under the Training Subsidy Programme for Children on the Waiting List of Subvented Pre-school Rehabilitation Services (TSP), so that they can receive self-financing pre-school rehabilitation services operated by recognised service providers as soon as possible to facilitate their learning and development.

     In 2017-18 and 2018-19, there were 1 984 and 2 205 pre-school children on the waiting list of SCCC services respectively. Details of these pre-school children who received other pre-school rehabilitation services or training subsidies under the TSP are set out in the table below:
 

Note: OPRS commenced in October 2018. The Social Welfare Department (SWD) does not have statistics on the number of applicants who received services under the Pilot Scheme on OPRS while on the waiting list of SCCCs.

     The SWD does not have information on the kindergartens (KGs) where children on the waiting list of SCCCs are attending and the number of KGs involved.

(3) Pre-school children may ascertain the level of their disabilities and their special needs as well as the type of pre-school rehabilitation services required through assessments by relevant government departments/bodies, including child assessment centres of the Department of Health (DH), and the Hospital Authority (HA); or paediatricians/clinical psychologists/educational psychologists/psychiatrists, etc. in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or private practice. In 2017 and 2018, the Child Assessment Service of the DH arranged pre-school and school placements for training, remedial and special education for 14 294 and 17 539 children aged under 12 who were suspected to have problems during their growth respectively. The DH does not maintain a breakdown by age of children who underwent assessments, nor does it maintain a breakdown of various types of support services for which the children concerned were referred. In 2017-18 and 2018-19, there were 218 and 232 cases referred for SCCC after assessment by the HA respectively. The Government does not have statistics on the number of cases where children were assessed by paediatricians/clinical psychologists/educational psychologists/psychiatrists, etc. in NGOs or private practice to be in need of SCCC services.

     Pre-school children with disabilities or special needs may register their applications in the Central Referral System for Rehabilitation Services of the SWD for designated services according to their assessment results. Those diagnosed as or suspected of having moderate to severe disabilities will be put on the waiting list of SCCC services, and they may also wait for and receive other pre-school rehabilitation services as transitional services. The SWD does not have statistics on the number of cases assessed to be in need of SCCC services and not on the waiting list of any pre-school rehabilitation services.

(4) In view of the fact that children attending ordinary KGs and on the waiting list of SCCC services may wait for and receive other pre-school rehabilitation services as transitional services, and that the EDB has been providing KG teachers with structured in-service training to enhance their professional capacity of catering for learner diversity, and has also enhanced the teacher-to-pupil ratio in KGs to strengthen support for teachers to address the developmental needs of KG students, the EDB indicated that it has no plan to provide additional resources for KGs at this stage.

     Following is a question by the Hon Tony Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (June 19):
 
Question:
 
     Some members of the tourism industry have relayed that, in recent years, with the Government developing the brownfield sites in the New Territories and gradually resuming, for long-term development, a number of temporary car park sites let by way of short-term tenancies, the number of parking spaces for tourist coaches has been reduced. Meanwhile, the rise in the number of visitors to Hong Kong year after year has resulted in a rise in the utilisation rate of tourist coaches, leading to a more acute shortage of parking spaces for tourist coaches as well as aggravating the problems of illegal parking of tourist coaches and traffic obstruction. In addition, some parking spaces for tourist coaches in hotels and industrial buildings are available for picking up/dropping off passengers or stopping and waiting only. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      
(1) of the number of parking spaces for tourist coaches in the territory in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by the locations of such parking spaces (i.e. private premises, hotel, industrial building, roadside, and other places) and the modes of parking/stopping (e.g. available for parking 24 hours a day, for picking up/dropping off passengers only, and for those tourist coaches with drivers on board stopping and waiting); and
 
(2) of the details and implementation timetable of the various measures to increase the number of parking spaces for tourist coaches?

Reply:

President,

     The reply to the various parts of the Hon Tony Tse's question is as follows:
 
(1) The numbers of parking spaces and picking up/setting down spaces for tourist coaches in Hong Kong over the past three years are provided in the Annex.
 
(2) To cope with the parking demand of tourist coaches, the Government will continue to pursue actively the following measures to increase the supply of parking spaces:
 
(a) designating suitable on-street locations as night-time parking spaces: From 2016 to end April 2019, a total of 18 night-time parking spaces for tourist coaches were newly provided, whereas 25 such parking spaces are under planning, with five of them expected to be put into service by 2020;

(b) following the principle of "single site, multiple uses" to provide public car parking spaces in suitable "Government, Institution or Community" facilities, public open space projects and public housing developments: A total of about 20 works projects are under planning providing about 5 100 parking spaces, of which eight projects providing about 100 parking spaces for tourist coaches are anticipated to be put into service progressively in the next few years;
 
(c) increasing the number of parking spaces and picking up/setting down facilities for tourist coaches: In 2018-19, the Transport Department (TD) increased a total of 41 on-street parking spaces and 85 picking up/setting down facilities for tourist coaches in such areas as Tsim Sha Tsui, Southern District, Wan Chai, Eastern District, Jordan (near the Express Rail Link station), Tsing Yi and Sai Kung. In 2019-20, TD has planned to provide 137 additional parking spaces and 52 additional picking up/setting down facilities in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong, Wan Chai, Southern District, North Point, Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun, Tung Chung, etc.;

(d) specifying in the tenancy agreements of suitable short-term tenancy (STT) car parks a minimum number of parking spaces to be reserved for commercial vehicles such as tourist coaches and goods vehicles: Currently, 21 STT car parks are required to provide a total of about 900 coach parking spaces in accordance with the tenancy conditions under this arrangement; and
 
(e) continuing with the consultancy study to assess the parking demand of commercial vehicles (including tourist coaches) and formulating short, medium and long-term measures to address the anticipated demand: The study is scheduled to be completed in end 2019.