Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):

Question:

     It is learnt that cases of complaints against veterinary surgeons and veterinary clinics are very common, but about 90 per cent of the complaint cases are unsubstantiated in the end. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) given that the Consumer Council has pointed out that there are many disputes over the fees charged for veterinary services, including insufficient transparency of such fees, of the Government's new measures in place to address the relevant issues;
 
(2) as it is learnt that being veterinary assistants are not required to hold any qualifications at present, whether the Government will step up the regulation of veterinary assistants, including establishing a voluntary or mandatory registration system;

(3) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of veterinary assistants and, among them, the number of those who have received formal training in veterinary nursing or veterinary technology; if so, of the details; if it has not compiled such statistics, whether it will do so;

(4) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number of veterinary assistant programmes available locally; if so, of the details, and set out the programme information by the names of such programmes; if it has not compiled such statistics, whether it will do so;

(5) given that at present, complainants are required to provide proof to the Veterinary Surgeons Board of Hong Kong (VSB) in respect of complaints about veterinary surgeons being alleged to have fallen below standards in their performance and caused the death of animals, as well as arrange necropsies for the animals and obtain the reports, of the number of reports received by VSB in respect of the relevant complaints in each of the past five years;

(6) given that at present, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) provides animal necropsy services, but such services require referrals from the veterinary surgeons against whom complaints have been made, (i) of the number of animals involved in complaint cases on which the AFCD conducted necropsies in each of the past five years, as well as the fee for each necropsy, and (ii) whether the AFCD will consider cancelling the referral requirement to allow complainants to arrange necropsies on their own;
 
(7) whether it will, by drawing reference from the practice of the Electronic Health Record Sharing System, allow pet owners to request veterinary surgeons to upload the medical records of their pets to the relevant system, so as to facilitate proper management of the records and avoid improper alteration of the records;

(8) as it is learnt that for quite a number of complaint cases involving veterinary surgeons, investigations cannot commence due to insufficient evidence, whether the Government will recommend the installation of closed-circuit televisions in veterinary clinics;

(9) whether it will require veterinary surgeons to state their full names in conspicuous places in their clinics; and

(10) as the Government indicated in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on June 7 this year that among the cases which VSB received and in respect of which inquiries were completed in the past five years, the average processing time was about 10 months and the longest was about 37 months, of the Government's new measures in place to expedite the processing of complaints?

Reply:

President,

     The Veterinary Surgeons Board of Hong Kong (VSB) is a statutory body established under the Veterinary Surgeons Registration Ordinance (Cap. 529) (the Ordinance), and is responsible for the regulation, registration and disciplinary control of veterinary surgeons, to ensure a high standard of veterinary services in Hong Kong. All veterinary surgeons must comply with the Ordinance and Code of Practice for the Guidance of Registered Veterinary Surgeons (the Code) promulgated by the VSB. The Code provides veterinary surgeons with guidelines on various aspects of conduct, including professional ethics, clinic premises and equipment, advertising and other operational details, etc. If a veterinary surgeon breaches the Code, the VSB may take disciplinary actions against the surgeon.

     On the questions raised by Hon Chan Hak-kan, the Environment and Ecology Bureau would like to reply as follows:

(1) The Code stipulates that registered veterinary surgeons must always fully discuss anticipated outcomes of the various options available as well as cost estimates with clients before treatment, and should not charge exorbitant, discriminatory, inconsistent, etc, regardless of the purpose. Furthermore, the VSB issues letters to registered veterinary surgeons from time to time (the latest one issued in September this year), reminding them to pay attention to regulations regarding fees and related aspects.
 
(2) The Ordinance stipulates that persons who are not registered veterinary surgeons (such as veterinary assistants) are allowed to perform certain veterinary acts on the premises of the practice, and under the direction/supervision/direct and continuous supervision, but these acts do not include diagnosing, prescribing medication or performing a surgical operation. The Code also stipulates that veterinary surgeons should assess the capabilities of the person under their instruction or supervision, and ensure that the person performs the duties in an appropriate manner. Whilst the Ordinance currently does not require veterinary assistants to conduct registration or enrolment, the Government and the VSB will explore the feasibility of setting up such regime (e.g. considering the setting up of a voluntary enrolment register before statutory requirements are in place).
 
(3) and (4) The VSB does not maintain comprehensive information regarding the local veterinary assistants and veterinary assistant training courses. We understand that some local veterinary organisations offer training courses related to animal care, recognised under the Government's Qualifications Framework, to veterinary assistants, etc. When we explore with the VSB on the setting up of the veterinary assistant enrolment regime, we will also suggest that the VSB collect relevant information.
 
(5) At present, when lodging a complaint to the VSB (including cases involving dead animals), it is not compulsory for complainants to provide post-mortem examination reports as supporting document. The complainant is only required to provide some basic information, including details of the complainant and animal, sequence of events, grounds for the complaint and details of the registered veterinary surgeon being complained about. In general, if expert opinion on the case is needed, the VSB would directly approach relevant experts. The VSB already lists the standard complaint form and other information regarding lodging complaints on the VSB website. The VSB does not keep figures on post-mortem reports received.
 
(6) The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) provides animal post-mortem examination services for a fee, and there is no requirement that the application must be made by the veterinary surgeon being complained about. Members of the public may choose a registered veterinary surgeon to make such application without stating a reason. When a post-mortem examination of an animal carcass is completed, the report concerned will be provided to the registered veterinary surgeon who made the application. Fees charged for the AFCD's animal post-mortem examination services depend on the species of animals concerned, with a basic fee of about $550 to $1,400 charged per animal carcass, with additional charges for extra ancillary tests if needed. From 2021 to 2023 (as at September), the AFCD conducted post-mortem examinations on 138, 108 and 114 carcasses respectively. The AFCD does not keep figures of post-mortem examinations conducted in relation to veterinary surgeon complaints.
 
(7) The Code already stipulates that all veterinary surgeons have the responsibility to maintain systematic, true, adequate, clear and contemporaneous medical records. Material alterations to a medical record can only be made with justifiable reasons, and must be clearly documented. For electronic records, the veterinary surgeons should adopt software which allows subsequent amendments to records to be tracked (i.e. why and when the amendments are made, etc). The Government will urge the VSB to review and update the Code as necessary.
 
(8) The majority of complaints received by the VSB are related to the disregard of professional responsibility to animals, with medical records being crucial supporting information. If the Preliminary Investigation Committee (PIC) of the VSB considers there is a prima facie case concerning misconduct or neglect in any professional respect, cross examination of witnesses will be conducted during the inquiry hearing by the Inquiry Committee (IC), to obtain comprehensive information for determination of the case. CCTV footage is not essential evidence.
 
(9) The Code already stipulates that if asked, a veterinary surgeon shall inform a client or prospective client of the name by which he is registered with the VSB, and shall instruct lay staff and other persons under his professional supervision who are not registered veterinary surgeons to do likewise. The Government will propose to the VSB to consider stipulating in the Code, the requirement for veterinary surgeons to prominently display their full names in clinics.
 
(10) If a complaint is received, the VSB must conduct investigation and follow up on the case, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Ordinance and Rules of the Veterinary Surgeons Board (Disciplinary Proceedings). Every case should first be investigated by a PIC of the VSB, to decide if it should be referred to an IC established under the Ordinance for disciplinary inquiries.
 
     In the past five years, apart from the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, due to inadequate IC members and the suspension of disciplinary inquiry hearings to complement the holding of the first election of VSB members in 2020, etc, there was a delay in disciplinary inquiry hearings. Upon the reconstitution of the VSB in 2020, the membership increased from 10 to 19 and a panel of 18 assessors was set up. These members and assessors can join PICs and ICs, thus helping expedite the processing of complaints. The VSB's processing of inquiry cases resumed normal arrangements since last year, and members of the reconstituted VSB are now promptly dealing with inquiry hearings. In 2022 and 2023 (as at August), the VSB received 89 complaint cases. During the same period, investigations and inquiry hearings were completed for 78 cases, of which 17 cases were found to be substantiated. We will continue to keep in view the progress and consider further increasing membership if deemed necessary.

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     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (October 18) that due to big waves, red flags have been hoisted at St Stephen's Beach, Shek O Beach and Big Wave Bay Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island; Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach in Islands District; and Silverstrand Beach, Clear Water Bay First Beach and Clear Water Bay Second Beach in Sai Kung District. Beachgoers are advised not to swim at these beaches.

     Following is a question by the Hon Kingsley Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):

Question:

     According to the figures of the Labour Department, there were a total of 529 fatal cases of occupational injuries and deaths in 2021 and 2022. However, it is learnt that not all fatal cases were classified as "accidents", thus resulting in quite a number of fatal cases being not eligible for the compensation for death provided under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282). Besides, there are views that as workers under "informal employment" (e.g.‍ delivery workers, as well as practitioners in the transport and entertainment industries) have no clear employment relationship with the organisations they work for, coupled with the prevalence of "false self-‍employment", relevant practitioners can hardly obtain reasonable compensation for accidents encountered at work, and such cases will also not be included in the statistics on occupational injuries and deaths. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) as some trade unions have relayed that while quite a number of occupational injuries and deaths involving non-industrial accidents were probably triggered by factors such as overexertion at work and heat stroke, the relevant injuries and deaths often happened only until lunch or rest breaks, whether the Government has conducted studies on the relevant cases with a view to improving occupational safety through targeted measures;

(2) whether it will amend the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) to prevent employers from evading their responsibilities by means of false self-employment, thereby protecting workers under informal employment;

(3) given that the Government indicated at the meeting of the Panel on Manpower of this Council held on February 21 this year that it would study whether and how data relating to injuries and deaths of self-‍employed persons at work could be kept, of the progress of the relevant study; and

(4) whether it will make reference to the more lenient approach adopted under the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme and set up a similar assistance fund, or launch an assistance programme under the Community Care Fund, so that all cases of injuries and deaths in the course of work can receive a certain amount of compensation, thereby improving the protection for occupational injuries and deaths in Hong Kong?

Reply:

President,

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

(1) In some of the occupational injury cases that are not caused by industrial accidents, occupational health issues may be involved. The Labour Department (LD) will conduct investigation on these cases in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, and collect information (such as details of their work and environmental conditions, statements from relevant persons, medical and autopsy reports, etc.). If the investigation results indicate that there are irregularities in respect of occupational safety and health, appropriate follow up measures will be taken by the LD. This includes taking corresponding enforcement actions if there is violation of relevant provisions. Depending on the situation, the LD may also update relevant guidelines and codes of practice, etc.

(2) Employers cannot evade their obligations under labour laws by falsely labelling an employee as a "self-employed person". Whether an individual is genuinely an employee does not depend on which industry he is in, his occupation or job title, but rather on the specific work arrangements. If there exists in substance an employment relationship between the contractual parties, the employer must fulfil his liabilities under the Employment Ordinance and pay the employee the statutory employment benefits. Otherwise, the employer will be held criminally liable for relevant offences.

(3) Occupational injuries refer to injury cases in workplaces reported under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO), resulting in death or incapacity for work of over three days.

     Industrial accidents refer to injuries and deaths arising from industrial activities in industrial undertakings as defined under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance.

     In response to Members' query at the Panel on Manpower in February 2023, the LD has conducted an assessment and studied the definitions of the relevant ordinances and the operational feasibility. We are of the view that it is not easy to define self-employment. There is no single conclusive test to distinguish whether a person is an employee or a self-employed person.

     In view of the above, the statistics on occupational injuries and industrial accidents do not include a breakdown of self-employed persons.

(4) The current employees' compensation system is premised on a no-fault principle and employers' liability to pay compensation on the basis of the ECO.

     Under the ECO, employers are liable to pay compensation to their injured employees (and family members of their deceased employees) for incapacities or fatalities resulted from accidents arising out of and in the course of employment or resulted from the prescribed occupational diseases. If injured employees/family members of deceased employees encounter financial difficulties, the LD will, taking account of their needs and wishes, refer them to the Social Welfare Department or related organisations for assistance and/or support of relevant funds.

     The Government at present has no plan to set up a separate programme or assistance fund on compensation for employees' work injuries outside the employees' compensation system.

     Following is a question by the Hon Chu Kwok-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):

Question:

     It is learnt that currently, primary schools operating 11 or fewer classes do not have a deputy head rank, and the Education Bureau (EDB) has pitched the rank of heads of such primary schools at the rank of Senior Primary School Master/Mistress, which is equivalent to the deputy head rank in primary schools operating 12 or more classes. As the EDB's requirements for and assessment of schools will not be relaxed even they are operating a smaller number of classes, schools with a smaller number of classes are under manpower constraints, with their average workload being heavier than schools operating a larger number of classes. As a result, quite a number of problems have emerged, including frequent staff turnover, prolonged instability of the management, difficulty for schools to sustain their development, hindrance to the professional development of teachers, and serious impact on the learning of students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has plans to create the post of deputy head for primary schools operating 11 or fewer classes to share the work of the head; if so, of the implementation timetable;

(2) whether it has plans to upgrade the rank of heads of primary schools operating 11 or fewer classes to the Headmaster/Headmistress II rank; if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) of the measures in place to support primary schools operating 11 or fewer classes so that they can sustain their development?
 
Reply:

President,

     Generally speaking, the staffing and resources required of a school depend on the number of classes it operates. Under the existing mechanism, the Education Bureau (EDB) will, based on the Codes of Aid and the principles set out in the relevant circulars, provide schools with regular teaching posts on the approved establishment according to the number of approved classes. Public sector primary schools operating 11 or fewer classes are smaller in scale, the middle management is taken charge by senior teachers and school operations are led by the school head. As such, the teaching staff establishment is comprised of three levels, including basic rank teachers, senior teachers and school head at the corresponding ranks of Assistant Primary School Master/Mistress (APSM), Primary School Master/Mistress (PSM) and Senior Primary School Master/Mistress (SPSM) respectively. My consolidated reply in response to the questions raised by the Hon Chu Kwok-keung is as follows:

     To enhance the quality of education, the Government has been allocating substantial resources in recent years to improve the manpower arrangement of schools and enhance teaching and learning. The Government set up the Task Force on Professional Development of Teachers (the Task Force) in November 2017 to review on issues relating to promoting professional development of teachers. After extensive consultation, in-depth studies and deliberation, the Task Force submitted a report in March 2019, putting forward a total of 18 recommendations related to establishing a professional ladder for teachers, implementing the all-graduate teaching force policy, enhancing the ranking arrangement of school management, etc. The Government has accepted all the recommendations of the Task Force and relevant measures have been implemented, which include improving manpower at the middle management level and rationalising salaries for school heads in public sector primary schools, so as to improve the school management standard, strengthen professional capacity and support for the holistic development of schools and enhance the quality of education.

     In recent years, the EDB has implemented various initiatives to increase manpower, maintain the stability of the teaching force and enhance teachers' professional roles, benefiting primary schools of different scales, including those operating 11 or fewer classes. With effect from the 2017/18 school year, the EDB has increased the teacher-to-class ratio for public sector primary and secondary schools across the board and provided public sector schools with around 2 200 additional regular teaching posts. The EDB also fully implemented the all-graduate teaching force policy in the 2019/20 school year with a view to facilitating teachers' professional development, as well as enhancing their professional roles and functions. The "one executive officer for each school" policy was implemented in the same year to strengthen school administrative support and at the same time reduce the administrative work of teachers and school heads, thereby creating room for them to focus more on education tasks. In addition, the EDB has also provided additional regular teaching posts for schools under various initiatives, together with cash grants featured by their deployment flexibility so that schools can, according to school-based circumstances, employ additional teaching and non-teaching staff and/or hire services to support school development and meet students' needs.

     Regarding school management, the EDB has been enhancing the ranking arrangement for the management of primary schools. For instance, starting from the 2020/21 school year, the Primary School Curriculum Leader post in public sector primary schools operating 11 or fewer classes has been upgraded from the provision of an APSM post or Curriculum Leadership Grant to a PSM post in order to strengthen the support for smaller schools in curriculum leadership. With the implementation of the measures to improve the manpower at the middle management level in primary schools starting from the 2022/23 school year, all primary schools (including those operating 11 or fewer classes) have been provided with more senior teachers to take up school management duties with a view to improving the school management standard, strengthening professional capacity and enhancing the quality of education. Besides, the EDB has implemented the measure to rationalise the salaries for school heads and deputy heads in public sector primary schools since the 2022/23 school year, thereby benefiting the school heads in small-scale schools.

     With the implementation of the above enhancement measures, the manpower at the management level and principals' remuneration in primary schools of different scales have been reasonably improved. At present, the schools have been actively utilising the new resources, properly deploying their staff, enhancing the teaching and learning as well as promoting the schools' development. Various enhancement measures are yielding results progressively. As regards Member's concerns about the manpower and management issues encountered by individual schools, this Bureau considers appropriate solutions should be sought by focusing on the crux of the issues, instead of simply relying on improving the manpower or principals' remuneration to address the issues. Schools should properly utilise public funds, leverage their professionalism and ensure the provision of quality education. Therefore, the EDB does not agree to address the issues by adjusting the manpower arrangement or upgrading the rank of school head in primary schools operating 11 or fewer classes. We reiterate that, with the decline in school-age population, there may be changes in the scales for certain schools. The EDB will work along with different stakeholders, with the interests and well-being of students as its prime consideration and through multipronged measures, such as to encourage school sponsoring bodies to plan ahead and explore possibilities to consolidate and integrate school resources, to stabilise the learning and teaching environment and ensure the quality of education.

     The Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Disposal Gain by Holder of Qualifying Equity Interests) Bill 2023 will be gazetted on October 20 and introduced into the Legislative Council on November 1. The Bill seeks to introduce a tax certainty enhancement scheme to provide greater certainty of non-taxation of onshore gains on disposal of equity interests (the gains) that are of capital nature.

     The scheme will help enhance the attractiveness of Hong Kong as a premier international investment and business hub, in particular with regard to facilitating business expansion and restructuring as acquisition and disposal of equity interests are common in this process.

     To determine the nature of the gains, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) presently adopts a "badges of trade" approach where considerations are given to the relevant facts and circumstances of the case. The scheme will provide upfront certainty on the non-taxation of the gains which meet certain specified criteria. Specifically, the gains will be treated as capital in nature and not chargeable to profits tax if the investor entity concerned has held certain equity interests in the investee entity throughout the continuous period of 24 months immediately before the date of disposal and those equity interests having been held amount to at least 15 per cent of the total equity interests in the investee entity.

     To strike a balance between facilitating businesses and upholding the integrity of the tax system, the scheme excludes certain gains which are not normally considered as capital in nature and those arising in circumstances where the risk of abuse is relatively high.

     Where the gains are not eligible for the scheme or taxpayers do not make an election for the scheme, the IRD will continue to use the "badges of trade" approach as it does at present to consider the tax treatment of the gains.

     A Government spokesman said, "Hong Kong is renowned for its simple and competitive tax system which does not tax gains on disposal of equity interests of capital nature. The scheme will further increase the competitiveness of our tax regime through greater upfront tax certainty of non-taxation of the gains based on simple and clear rules, faster tax determination and lower compliance cost of businesses."

     Going further, as compared to similar schemes in other tax jurisdictions, the scheme will be more competitive in that it has a wider coverage of businesses and equity interests, as well as lower equity holding threshold. It also provides more flexible arrangements such as allowing the minimum equity holding percentage of 15 per cent to be met on a corporate group basis, and covering disposal of equity interests in tranches subject to certain restrictions. The scheme also does not specify an expiry date.

     The scheme will be applicable to the gains where the disposal occurs on or after January 1, 2024, and the gains accrued in the basis period for a year of assessment beginning on or after April 1, 2023.

     The full text of the Bill will be available from the Government Gazette website on Friday (October 20).