Author Archives: hksar gov

     â€‹The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, today (August 17) met with the Mayor of the Zhuhai Municipal People’s Government, Mr Huang Zhihao, and the Director of the Zhuhai Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, Mr Yan Weimin, in Zhuhai to exchange views and explore opportunities to strengthen collaboration. The Permanent Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Joe Wong, and the Commissioner for Tourism, Ms Vivian Sum, as well as representatives from the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Travel Industry Authority also joined Mr Yeung for the visit.
      
     Mr Yeung visited the Zhuhai Grand Theatre to check on its facilities which accommodate a variety of large-scale integrated performances, as well as learning about its operation and development. Facilities of the Zhuhai Grand Theatre include a main theatre and a multipurpose small theatre. The design of the Zhuhai Grand Theatre, with the large and small theatres built in the form of two shells, was inspired by the concept that a pearl is formed inside a shell which could be found in the ocean. The theatre is an architectural landmark of Zhuhai and many Hong Kong performing arts groups have performed there.
      
     Mr Yeung started his itinerary in Jiangmen yesterday (August 16). He met with Vice Mayor of the Jiangmen Municipal People’s Government Mr Lin Jiansheng and the Director of the Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, Mr Kuang Jikang, to discuss the direction for co-operation on culture and tourism development. He also visited the Jiangmen Wuyi Museum of Overseas Chinese. Located in Jiangmen, hometown of many Chinese now living abroad, the museum showcases the contributions of overseas Chinese to the development of the world.
      
     Mr Yeung said, “The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau has been adhering to the principle of ‘shaping tourism with cultural activities and promoting culture through tourism’ to achieve the goal of developing Hong Kong into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange under the National 14th Five-Year Plan. With the country’s support, Hong Kong, Jiangmen and Zhuhai could actively leverage the rich cultural and tourism resources, facilitate the collaboration in culture and tourism within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, showcasing the rich heritage of Chinese culture to the world, contributing to creating unique experiences in Chinese culture and tourism, and telling good stories of China.”
      
     Mr Yeung will return to Hong Kong this afternoon.

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     â€‹The Education Bureau (EDB) today (August 17) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan to enhance education collaboration between the two places.
      
     The MOU was signed by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, and the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr Sayasat Nurbek.
 
     “The MOU marks an important milestone in the partnership between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan in the field of education. We have signed 10 MOUs with countries along the Belt and Road to date. It demonstrates the Government’s efforts in strengthening educational ties and exchanges with the Belt and Road countries and commitment to developing Hong Kong into a regional education hub. I am confident that the MOU will further strengthen education interflow and collaboration between the two places,” Dr Choi said.
      
     The MOU provides for a framework to facilitate strategic education collaboration between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan and covers mutually beneficial initiatives, including the exchange of expertise and experience; exchange of educational literature, teaching aids and demonstration materials; as well as exchanges of scholars, teachers, experts, students and other education personnel.
 
     After the signing of the MOU, Dr Choi met Kazakh students studying in the University Grants Committee-funded universities to learn about their school life in Hong Kong and encouraged them to stay in Hong Kong for career development after graduation. She said that the Government will continue to implement measures to attract outstanding non-local students to pursue their studies in Hong Kong.
 
     The EDB has been offering the Belt and Road Scholarship since the 2016/17 academic year to encourage outstanding students from designated Belt and Road countries/regions to pursue undergraduate studies in Hong Kong. The scholarship scheme has since expanded to cover students from all Belt and Road countries/regions as well as those pursuing research postgraduate studies. Following the signing of the MOU, up to 10 scholarships will be offered annually to students from Kazakhstan from the 2024/25 academic year onwards. 

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     The Office of the Ombudsman today (August 17) released a report on its direct investigation into the Government’s enforcement against defective sewage works of New Territories Exempted Houses (NTEHs). The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) thanked the Office for proactively carrying out the investigation. The EPD agreed and accepted recommendations as suggested in the report and will actively follow up. The Office also recognised the EPD’s work in introducing new technologies as additional investigation tools to spot the source of pollution. The EPD will continue to make good use of new technologies with a view to enhancing law enforcement efficiency.

     On the report’s recommendation to further enhance the use of electronic media, social platforms and the Announcement in the Public Interest to provide relevant information and to promote to residents of village houses in the New Territories the importance of proper use of septic tank systems and their maintenance, the EPD launched a publicity campaign at the end of 2022, including the set-up of a thematic webpage on “Tips on Proper Operation of a Septic Tank System” (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/sites/default/files/epd/english/environmentinhk/water/guide_ref/files/tips_septic_tank.pdf) and distribution of publicity materials to residents living in village houses that have not yet been connected to public sewage systems, with the support of the Heung Yee Kuk New Territories. Up to July 2023, over 30 000 sets of publicity materials had been distributed to more than 300 villages. The Department will continue to carry out the publicity work.

     Moreover, the EPD supported the report’s recommendation of setting up an interdepartmental working group by following up with relevant departments and attending the first interdepartmental meeting held in early August to discuss and formulate referral procedures and methods for information exchange among departments, in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of following up on complaints. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:

     The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, today (August 17) announced at a press conference the completion of a direct investigation into the Government’s enforcement against defective sewage works of New Territories Exempted Houses (NTEHs) and made 10 recommendations for improvement to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Lands Department (LandsD).

     NTEHs built in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance (Application to the New Territories) Ordinance are generally exempted from certain provisions of the Buildings Ordinance. Certificates of exemption, in respect of drainage works among other items, must be obtained from the Director of Lands before NTEHs are built. The certificate of exemption in respect of drainage works stipulates that the works should comply with the Drainage and Health Requirements for Village Type Houses. In rural areas where no public sewers are available, applicants for construction of NTEHs should build sewage disposal systems including septic tanks and soakage pits pursuant to the above requirements.

     To address complaints about defective sewage works of NTEHs, the EPD enforces the Water Pollution Control Ordinance from the perspective of identifying any pollution caused to the waters of Hong Kong or sewage discharged into stormwater drains; the FEHD investigates the existence of any nuisance specified in the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance; the LandsD takes lease enforcement action, where appropriate, after examining whether the defects are in breach of the sewage provisions in the land leases.

     An investigation by the Office of The Ombudsman (the Office) found that the EPD, the FEHD and the LandsD all have constraints in handling complaints about defective sewage works of NTEHs, resulting in their inclination to refer complaints to other departments, but they only have a limited understanding of the constraints faced by the others. As a result, complaints remain unresolved even after repeated shuffling among departments. At present, there are neither established guidelines among the departments on how to pursue this type of complaint under different scenarios, nor a mechanism for information exchange, thereby compromising the enforcement efficiency. Meanwhile, the EPD and the FEHD focus on whether they can enforce their respective legislation and seldom consider joint enforcement actions.

     The Office’s case studies also revealed that the LandsD merely focuses on referring complaints to the EPD and the FEHD without fully discharging its enforcement role. Moreover, the LandsD has only recorded the total number of complaints received without any breakdown or further statistics, making it difficult to monitor the progress of complaint cases effectively. According to the prevailing land grant provisions and the Drainage and Health Requirements for Village Type Houses, NTEH owners are responsible for proper treatment and disposal of sewage, as well as periodic inspection of sewage works. However, under the prevailing regulatory regime, no substantive measures are in place to ensure NTEH owners’ fulfilment of their maintenance responsibility.

     Ms Chiu said, “Defective sewage works of NTEHs, such as rupture or leakage of septic tanks, may cause serious environmental pollution and nuisance, and even spread diseases. Although the Government has been constructing village sewerage systems throughout the territory, more than 40 per cent of villages yet to be covered by the village sewerage programme will have to continue to rely on septic tank systems for sewage treatment in the foreseeable future. As the enforcement responsibilities in respect of NTEH sewage works scatter among departments, inter-departmental collaboration is of paramount importance. In light of our findings, the EPD, the FEHD and the LandsD should reinforce collaboration and complement one another, as well as rationalise the responsibilities and procedures for inter-departmental cases. The Office hopes that the three departments can implement our recommendations as soon as possible for more effective control over NTEH sewage works.”

     The Office’s recommendations made to the EPD, the FEHD and the LandsD are: 
 

• Set up an inter-departmental working group to provide a communication platform regarding their respective functions and constraints, with a view to complementing one another and discussing solutions to complicated cases at an early stage to achieve synergy;
• Draw up operational guidelines for frontline staff specifying concrete follow-up and referral actions in typical scenarios of complaints, thereby rationalising the responsibilities and procedures for inter-departmental cases;
• Devise a proper mechanism for information exchange so as to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of complaint handling;
• For cases of sewage discharged into stormwater drains, the EPD and the FEHD to explore room for enforcement co-operation, such as identifying the circumstances for taking joint actions to enhance the effectiveness;
• The LandsD to formulate a monitoring mechanism for complaint cases, conduct data analysis and proactively assist other departments where necessary; if a breach of land lease provisions is confirmed, take lease enforcement action decisively;
• The LandsD to strengthen the training of District Lands Offices’ staff through experience sharing by the EPD and the FEHD, such that they are well equipped to inspect sewage works upon the completion of NTEHs to prevent possible environmental hygiene problems at root;
• The LandsD to step up publicity and education on the environmental hygiene problems caused by improper alteration of sewage pipes. On one hand, NTEH owners should be reminded to obtain prior permission from relevant departments, where applicable under the prevailing requirements, for any alteration of sewage pipes for monitoring by the departments. On the other hand, even where no prior permission from departments is required, owners should be advised to seek assistance from professionals to ensure proper alterations;
• The LandsD to explore formulating concrete measures to ensure NTEH owners know how to effectively fulfil their responsibility for proper sewage treatment and maintenance of sewage works in order to comply with the requirements of the land lease and the certificate of exemption;
• The EPD to further utilise electronic means and social media, produce promotional videos, etc to raise NTEH owners’ awareness of the importance of the correct use and proper maintenance of septic tanks and related information; and 
• The EPD to consider more extensive use of new technology in due course for more effective detection of the seepage source, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of complaint handling and investigation. 

     The EPD, the FEHD and the LandsD have accepted all of the recommendations.

     The full investigation report is available on the website of the Office of The Ombudsman at www.ombudsman.hk for public viewing. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:

     The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, announced at a press conference today (August 17) the completion of a direct investigation into the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly (the Pilot Scheme) and made 11 recommendations to the Social Welfare Department (SWD) for improvement.

     In September 2013, the Government introduced the Pilot Scheme to support frail elderly persons to age in place under the “money-following-the-user” mode. With its second and third phases entered upon in October 2016 and October 2020 respectively, the Pilot Scheme has been in operation for about a decade. Based on their individual needs, holders of community care service vouchers (CCS vouchers) can receive day care service and home care service offered by service providers recognised by the SWD. The Chief Executive has stated in the 2022 Policy Address that the Pilot Scheme will be regularised in the third quarter of 2023 and the number of beneficiaries will increase in phases, from 8 000 at present to 12 000 in 2025/26. The coverage of the Pilot Scheme will also be expanded to include the rental of assistive technology products.

     An investigation by the Office of The Ombudsman revealed that as the operation of the Pilot Scheme is essentially different from that of traditional subsidised services, both the market and elderly participants needed time to understand and familiarise themselves with it. In the second and third phases of the Pilot Scheme, the SWD introduced various enhancement measures. Some of these measures, for example, extending the eligibility of recognised service providers (RSPs) to include private organisations, and expanding the coverage of the Pilot Scheme from eight districts to all 18 districts throughout the territory could not be achieved immediately. Hence, it is understandable that the SWD has taken a relatively long period of time to test the measures and operation of the Pilot Scheme for enhancement.

     The Office’s investigation also found that the SWD’s proactive steps to send invitation letters to eligible elderly persons and issue CCS vouchers have helped lift the utilisation rate (i.e. the percentage of the number of voucher holders actively using the services over the quota of vouchers) from around 60 per cent in the second phase to 86 per cent near the end of the third phase (as at the end of December 2022). The SWD’s practice has improved the utilisation of the voucher quota and is worthy of recognition. The Office’s findings revealed that many elderly persons waitlisted for community care services (CCS) on the Central Waiting List for Subsidised Long Term Care (LTC) Services (Central Waiting List) actually applied for CCS vouchers to meet potential needs before they were granted traditional subsidised services. In fact, this is in line with the SWD’s positioning of CCS vouchers as an additional option for elderly persons on the Central Waiting List to receive assistance with the vouchers issued when necessary. Under the Pilot Scheme, RSPs apply for reimbursement on an accountable basis. Unused CCS vouchers, therefore, will not waste public money or occupy resources of RSPs.  

     Regarding the local supply and demand of services, information showed that the supply and demand of home-based services in different districts could generally maintain a balance. As for services provided by day care centres (i.e. centre-based services), there was a deficit of service places in six districts, namely the Eastern District, the Southern District, Wong Tai Sin District, Sha Tin District, Islands District and Yuen Long District, assuming that one service place could accommodate 1.5 elderly persons. It is necessary for the SWD to invite more organisations to provide or extend services in districts with keen demand. Moreover, the SWD currently takes into account various pieces of data and information when analysing the demand and supply of services at the district level. The Office is of the view that the SWD should incorporate more data to ensure a comprehensive analysis. 

     In the second phase of the Pilot Scheme, the SWD set up a centralised team to support voucher holders, in collaboration with their responsible workers (Note), to help them better utilise voucher services by assisting them to resolve problems encountered, including providing assistance on service matching. In recent years, the centralised team has received fewer enquiries, indicating that elderly persons and stakeholders concerned have become more familiar with the operation and usage of CCS vouchers. There have also been fewer complaints against RSPs of late. Between April 2018 and December 2022, the SWD received only 18 complaints, of which only nine were substantiated or partially substantiated. Nevertheless, many elderly persons in Hong Kong do not have children or carers, and they are in need of greater assistance when using CCS vouchers.  

     On the other hand, the SWD conducts annual service monitoring visits at day care centres under RSPs and the homes of users receiving home care services to monitor the service quality of RSPs, with a view to ensuring their compliance with all the  SWD’s requirements. The Office’s investigation revealed that the SWD’s mechanism of conducting service monitoring visits has generally operated well and served its purpose. However, the SWD randomly interviewed only one voucher holder of centre-based services in nearly all the service monitoring visits conducted between April 2021 and December 2022. Regarding home-based services, two voucher holders were randomly interviewed in only about 20 per cent to 30 per cent of the visits.

     Information of the SWD showed that between April 2017 and December 2022, about 200 to 500 voucher holders had switched RSPs each year, but the SWD had not maintained statistical information on the reasons for their change. During the direct investigation, the Office had used the search engine on the SWD’s Elderly Information website to randomly check the information of some RSPs. The Office found that information on the number of service places and vacancy of some of these RSPs were last updated three months to more than two years ago. Although the vacancy for service places might remained unchanged for a relatively long period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation might have caused a misunderstanding that the vacancy information had expired. The Office is pleased to note that the SWD will upgrade the information technology system in the third quarter of 2023, so as to allow voucher holders to process real-time checks on information about their vouchers and service records as well as vacancies for service places of RSPs.  

     Ms Chiu said, “In conclusion, the operational arrangements for the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly have been enhanced in various ways with more obvious progress in recent years. That said, there are still areas for improvement. As the Government will regularise the Pilot Scheme and progressively increase the quota, we hope that the SWD can implement our recommendations promptly to further enhance its utilisation rate and service quality.”  

     The Office’s major recommendations made to the SWD include:
 

• Continue  with its endeavours to encourage eligible elderly persons newly added to the Central Waiting List to apply for CCS vouchers, and regularly (e.g. once every year) approach those voucher holders who have not used the vouchers received in order to identify potential areas for service improvement and re-examine elderly persons’ service needs in collaboration with responsible workers and help them choose suitable RSPs or service packages;
• Obtain from RSPs the list of elderly persons waiting for their services, approach other RSPs and the voucher holders on the list and attempt to make matching suggestions so that those elderly persons can receive necessary services as soon as possible;
• Expedite its study and test on allowing voucher holders to purchase services from more than one RSP concurrently for early implementation so that elderly persons can enjoy services under the scheme more flexibly;
• Continue to regularly provide up-to-date statistics and information about the supply and demand of CCS voucher services in each district to existing and potential RSPs, and invite more organisations to offer services or extend the modes and coverage of services in districts with keen demand so that more centre-based service places can be provided to local or cross-district elderly users;
• Incorporate the number of active voucher holders residing in each district (including elderly persons using local services and those using cross-district services) in the analysis of the demand and supply of services at district level for a more comprehensive result;
• Provide more support to voucher holders without children or carers by, for example, proactively telephoning them on occasions other than the standard contact time points so as to understand how they have been using the vouchers and offer assistance where necessary;
• Instruct its staff to conduct random interviews with at least two users or their carers during service monitoring visits for both centre-based services and home-based services so as to step up the monitoring of the service quality;
• Upon receiving notification of voucher holders’ leaving the original RSPs, approach the voucher holders concerned to understand their reasons for switching RSPs. In case it is due to the service quality of the original RSPs, the SWD should duly follow up on the matters;
• Require RSPs to provide timely updates on the vacancy for service places and step up the monitoring of their compliance with the requirement. As a further measure, the SWD should modify the functions of the Elderly Information website to allow voucher holders or carers to check the real-time vacancy for service places, saving them the trouble of calling individual RSPs for such information; and
• Consider arranging more newspaper or television interviews with real cases cited to promote voucher services among elderly persons and carers, so as to attract more eligible elderly persons to use such services.

     The SWD has generally accepted the Office’s recommendations and is taking positive steps to implement them. 

     The full investigation report has been uploaded to the website of the Office of The Ombudsman at www.ombudsman.hk for public viewing. 

Note: Responsible workers refer to social workers working for the service units under the Government or non-governmental organisations, which are responsible for assisting elderly persons by following up on their registration and allocation of LTC services. read more