Tag Archives: China

     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Siu-hung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (March 20):

Question:

     There are views that as the Government has lowered the eligible age for the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities (commonly known as the $2 scheme) to 60 ‍from February 27, 2022, the number of beneficiaries has increased substantially, thus imposing a heavy burden on public finance. Moreover, the $2 scheme has given rise to problems such as “taking long-haul routes for short journeys” and abuses, resulting in an increase in the amount of relevant subsidies granted by the Government. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the amount of subsidies granted by the Government to various public transport operators participating in the $2 scheme, and the recurrent expenditure and administrative cost of the scheme from April 2023 to the end of last month; the estimated amount of relevant subsidies in each of the next five financial years;

(2) in respect of (a) persons aged between 60 and 64, (b) persons aged 65 or above, and (c) eligible persons with disabilities, of the average monthly (i) number of public transport rides (set out in the table below) and (ii) amount of relevant travelling expenses involved for each designated Octopus card or JoyYou Card under the $2 scheme from March 2022 to the end of last month;
 

Month

No. of rides

No. of beneficiaries

Percentage share

Cumulative percentage

(a)

(b)

(c)

Total

(a)

(b)

(c)

Total

(a)

(b)

(c)

Total

10 or less

11-30

31-50

51-100

Over 100

(3) as there are views that with some beneficiaries of the $2 scheme taking long-haul routes for short journeys, public funds have been wasted as a result, whether the Government has considered enhancing the scheme by setting a monthly ceiling on the concession (e.g. $500, $1,000 or $1,500) provided for the beneficiaries, and calculating the amount of concession used on the basis of original fare; if not, of the reasons for that;

(4) as it is learnt that many elderly persons do not understand that taking long-haul routes for short journeys will create a financial burden on the Government, of the details of related publicity and education work in the past three years (including the means and frequency of publicity, as well as the expenditure involved), and whether measures are in place to educate elderly persons to avoid taking long-haul routes for short journeys; if so, of the details; and

(5) of the number of law enforcement actions taken by the relevant law enforcement agencies to combat abuses of the $2 scheme by ineligible persons in each of the past five years, as well as the number of abuse cases found and the number of cases with summonses issued against the persons concerned?

Reply:

President,

     The Financial Secretary announced in the 2024-25 Budget to review the mode of operation of the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities ($2 Scheme) with a view to maintaining the financial sustainability of the Scheme. The Government has stated clearly that it will maintain the policy intent of the $2 Scheme to build a caring and inclusive society by encouraging the beneficiaries to participate more in community activities, and has no intention to cancel the Scheme or change the existing beneficiary groups.

     The reply to the question raised by the Hon Chan Siu-hung is set out below:

(1) The amount of Government’s reimbursement of the revenue forgone to the participating public transport operators (PTOs) under the $2 Scheme for 2023-24 (as at February 29, 2024) is at Annex 1. The revised estimate of the recurrent expenditure of the $2 Scheme for 2023-24 is about $4.05 billion. Of this, the revised estimate of the Government’s reimbursement of the revenue forgone to the participating PTOs is about $4.0 billion and the revised estimate of the administrative cost is about $50 million.

     In 2024-25, the estimated Government’s reimbursement of the revenue forgone to the participating PTOs under the $2 Scheme is about $6.01 billion. Future expenditure of the $2 Scheme will depend on a number of factors including changes in the population of eligible beneficiaries, fare adjustments, changes in PTOs participating in the $2 Scheme, the effectiveness of the anti-abuse measures, etc. The Government will closely monitor the operation of the $2 Scheme, prepare for the estimates of expenditure and reflect in the estimates of the corresponding years.

(2) Monthly statistics concerning the average daily passenger trips under the $2 Scheme from March 2022 to December 2023 with breakdown by beneficiary groups and the relevant percentages are at Annex 2. The Transport Department (TD) does not maintain information relating to the monthly numbers of trips taken by individual beneficiaries under the Scheme and the amounts of transport expense of individual Octopus or JoyYou Card.

(3) The Government would take into account the effectiveness of different options in containing the growth of expenditure in the review and factors including the practicability of these options.

(4) The Government has all along been enabling the beneficiaries to understand how to make proper use of the $2 Scheme through publicity and education. The Government has rolled out TV and radio APIs and posted posters at major public bus and public light bus termini as well as public light bus compartments on the routes for which two-way section fares are offered to encourage beneficiaries of the Scheme to make appropriate use of short-haul routes and to assist passengers to understand the arrangement of two-way section fare, so as to reduce the differential fares under the $2 Scheme and ensure proper use of public funds.

(5) The TD has all along been requesting PTOs to strengthen ticket inspection and passenger identity verification work, and strictly enforce the penalty as set out in relevant legislation and by-laws to prevent abuses of the $2 Scheme. The TD also conducts surveys and monitors the situation.

     During site monitoring surveys jointly conducted by the TD and PTOs in the past five years on the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), buses, ferries, kaitos, minibuses, trams and residents’ buses, 1 419 suspected abuse cases were found.

     To step up enforcement actions against abuses of the $2 Scheme by ineligible persons, the TD has enhanced joint enforcement actions with PTOs such as franchised buses and ferries from June 2023 onwards. As at end-February this year, a total of around 350 joint enforcement actions were conducted across 650 routes with about 2 360 persons inspected for suspected abuse of $2 Scheme, and two suspected abuse cases were found and referred to the Police for follow-up. The court hearing of one of the cases has been completed and the passenger involved was fined approximately $14,000 and required to repay the underpaid fare (totalling around $2,000). The other case is currently under the Police’s investigation. The TD will continue to conduct joint special inspection and enforcement actions with PTOs and refer suspected abuse cases to the Police for follow-up and criminal investigation where there is sufficient evidence so as to ensure that the resources of the $2 Scheme are spent on target beneficiaries. During the same period, the MTR Corporation Limited, in its enforcement actions, imposed surcharges to around 4 260 ineligible persons for abusing the $2 Scheme. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Leung Man-kwong and a reply by the Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, in the Legislative Council today (March 20):   Question:        The Hong Kong Housing … read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (March 20):

Question:

     It has been reported that in a fatal industrial accident which happened at Tsim Sha Tsui Austin Road West on September 24 last year, two male workers in their sixties were suspected to have been poisoned to death after inhaling a high concentration of hydrogen sulphide in an underground cooling main. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the measures in place to prevent the recurrence of similar industrial accidents in confined spaces; whether the authorities will conduct regular inspections of workplaces where confined space works are carried out, so as to ensure the protection of workers’ occupational safety and health;

(2) given that the Labour Department is revising the “Code of Practice – Safety and Health at Work in Confined Spaces” (CoP), of the relevant work progress; how the Government ensures that the industry and workers will practically implement the CoP upon completion of the revision work;

(3) whether it will consider subsidising the industry to adopt advanced technology and equipment for confined spaces works, such as installing closed-circuit television cameras, continuous air quality checking systems and locking alarm systems in large-scale confined spaces, as well as introducing machines that can replace workers to carry out works in confined spaces, so as to minimise the risk of accidents; and

(4) whether it will consider enacting legislation to require that tenders involving confined spaces works must specify clearly that the relevant works involve working in confined spaces, to make it mandatory for contractors to comply with the CoP, and to institute prosecutions against contractors or subcontractors who are non-compliant with the CoP?

Reply:

President,

     The Labour Department (LD) is highly concerned about the fatal industrial accident that occurred at a construction site on Austin Road West in September 2023. The accident caused the death of two workers. The LD is deeply saddened by the accident and once again expresses our deepest sympathy to the bereaved families.

     My reply to the Hon Kwok’s question is as follows:

(1) Upon notification of the accident, the LD’s officers immediately commenced on-site investigation and will complete the investigation as soon as practicable. The LD is following up on the accident seriously. Shortly after the accident, the LD issued suspension notices to stop the works concerned. The duty holders need to submit safe method statements for the LD’s consideration and the work can only be resumed upon the LD’s permission. If there is adequate evidence, the LD will prosecute against those having violated the occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation.

     According to the information available at the moment, the accident involved extremely serious OSH contraventions, i.e. involving extremely high culpability or severe negligence and leading to serious consequences of the death of two workers. The LD is working closely with the Department of Justice and actively considering to prosecute against duty holders through indictment with a maximum fine of $10 million and imprisonment for two years according to the newly amended OSH legislation. Moreover, the Police have charged two persons involved with manslaughter.

     The LD is very concerned about OSH in confined space work and carries out surprise inspections of workplaces carrying out confined space work from time to time and checks relevant work processes and equipment to ensure workers’ OSH is safeguarded. After the accident, the LD launched a two-week special inspection exercise from September 25 to October 6, 2023 targeting the confined space work in construction sites over the territory to curb unsafe work practices and ensure the safety of workers. During the exercise, the LD’s officers paid special attention to check whether the duty holders have complied with the requirements on confined space work, including conduction of risk assessments, formulation of appropriate safe work systems, provision of personal protective equipment, etc. During this special inspection exercise, the LD inspected 190 construction sites, issued one improvement notice and 88 written warnings.

(2) In light of the past experience gathered from the investigation of accidents involving confined space works, the LD is revising the “Code of Practice – Safety and Health at Work in Confined Spaces” to strengthen the protection of the safety and health of relevant workers. The LD consulted relevant stakeholders on this matter in November and December 2023, and refined the content of the Code according to the opinions received. Advice from the Department of Justice is being sought. We expect the revision will be completed by the first half of 2024 and the revised Code will be implemented as soon as possible after a suitable time frame for necessary preparation by the industry.

     The LD has all along adopted the combination of legislation and enforcement, education and training, and publicity and promotion to prevent the occurrence of work accidents. On the education, publicity and promotion front, the LD organises seminars and OSH training courses regularly, together with various promotional activities, to raise stakeholders’ OSH awareness in confined spaces. Moreover, in OSH inspections, the LD will pay attention to the qualification of confined space workers and remind them to cooperate with contractors and employers by implementing OSH measures related to confined spaces to avoid endangering themselves and others.

(3) The LD has all along encouraged the proprietors or contractors to use new technology, as far as reasonably practicable, thus avoiding workers from entering confined spaces for work, e.g. inspecting the internal part of a sewer by remote control monitoring, using suitable equipment and tools to perform sampling and cleaning work from outside of the confined space, etc.

     Since 2022, the LD and the Occupational Safety and Health Council have rolled out the “OSH Star Enterprise – Confined Space Safety Accreditation Scheme”. The Scheme provides a series of free-of-charge services to the participating organisations, including training courses related to confined space work, OSH consultancy services and safety management certification. Moreover, the scheme provides subsidies for purchasing safety equipment suitable for working in confined spaces such as safety rescue harnesses, tripods and winches, and approved breathing apparatus to heighten OSH level of the participating organisations.

(4) The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation (Confined Spaces Regulation) has a clear definition of confined space which means any place in which, by virtue of its enclosed nature, there arises a reasonably foreseeable specified risk. Moreover, the Confined Spaces Regulation stipulates that the proprietors or contractors shall take safety precautions, including appointing a competent person to carry out an assessment of the working conditions in the confined space and make recommendations on necessary measures to be taken, providing an effective forced ventilation, using approved breathing apparatus and safety harness when conducting underground pipework, formulating and implementing appropriate procedures to handle emergency situations, etc. Hence, no matter whether a tender indicates confined space work involved or not, the relevant proprietors, contractors and duty holders must comply with these legal requirements.

     The LD has issued the “Code of Practice – Safety and Health at Work in Confined Spaces” to provide practical guidance and technical information in relation to confined space works for proprietors, contractors and relevant persons of industrial undertakings. As each workplace has its individual uniqueness, proprietors or contractors might not be able to adopt the recommendations and safety guidance in the Code fully. Therefore, it may not be reasonable and practicable to require the proprietors or contractors to comply with the Code compulsorily.

     Nevertheless, the Code is issued by the Commissioner for Labour under section 7A of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance. The Code has a special legal status. Failure to observe any provision of the Code may be taken by a court in criminal proceedings as a relevant factor in determining whether or not a person has breached the relevant safety and health legislation under the Ordinance. read more

     The Education Bureau (EDB) announced today (March 20) that in the First School Allocation Exercise (SAE) 2024, two vacant school premises in Sha Tin District are open for application by eligible school sponsoring bodies (SSBs) in Hong Kong for reprovisioning existing aided or Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) primary schools, with a view to improving the learning and teaching environment. The application deadline is 5pm on May 22.
      
     The two vacant school premises are the former Hong Kong and Kowloon Chiu Chow Public Association Ma Chung Sum Secondary School at Pok Hong Estate and the former Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School at Sun Chui Estate. Details of the premises are set out in the Annex.
      
     An EDB spokesman said, “Infrastructure improvements to existing schools built to previous planning standards and designs may be infeasible due to the lack of space or other physical constraints. Existing aided or DSS primary schools in need of infrastructure upgrade may apply for the vacant school premises mentioned above for reprovisioning, regardless of districts. Nevertheless, priority will be accorded to applicant schools from Sha Tin District if their overall performance is comparable to that of applicant schools from other districts.”
      
     “In light of the continuous decline in school-age population, the EDB, when planning for the supply of school places, will adjust the number of schools in a gradual and orderly manner with an aim of ‘soft landing’ to ensure education quality and optimal use of public resources. As such, this SAE is only open to applications for school reprovisioning,” the spokesman continued.
      
     The SAE is conducted on a competitive basis among SSBs. The School Allocation Committee, which comprises official and non-official members, will assess the applications and make recommendations on allocation of school premises. The assessment will take into consideration factors including the school plan submitted by the SSB, the operation track record of the SSB and the school proposed to be reprovisioned, the demand and supply situation of school places in the district in which the school falls within and the physical condition of the school’s existing premises, with quality of education as the prime consideration. In general, applications from schools with a site area smaller than 3 000 square metres and premises older than 30 years, which have not benefited or have only marginally benefited from the School Improvement Programme, will be given priority consideration if their overall performance is comparable to that of other applicants.
      
     In line with the established arrangement for reprovisioning, the successful SSB must, upon the school’s moving to the new premises, return its existing school premises to the Government. If the school premises are located on a private lot under the ownership of the SSB, the school or a third party related to the SSB/school, the land owner must surrender the site concerned together with the existing school premises to the Government upon the school’s moving to the new premises. The EDB will not hand over the new premises to the SSB until the SSB or the land owner activates the aforesaid procedures.
      
     Details of the First SAE 2024 and the application form are available on the EDB website (www.edb.gov.hk/en/sch-admin/sch-premises-info/allocation-of-sch/index.html). read more

     The Government today (March 20) announced the appointments of three new members to the Steering Committee on Construction Innovation and Technology Fund for a term from April 1, 2024, to September 6, 2026.       &nb… read more