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Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (November 30):
Questions:
Will the Government inform this Council of the following in each of the past two years:
(a) the number of crimes attributable to gambling debts and its percentage in the total number of crimes;
(b) the details of the initiatives financed by the Ping Wo Fund, including researches and studies into the issues and problems relating to gambling, public education and other measures to prevent or alleviate problems relating to gambling, as well as the expenditure on the provision of counselling, treatment and other support services for problem and pathological gamblers and those affected by them;
(c) the sources of income of the Fund (including the donations from the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Government and the public, etc) and the respective amounts of funds contributed by these sources; and
(d) the number of cases in which the authorities have utilised the resources from sources other than the Fund to provide social services (including family counselling, childminding and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, etc) for problem and pathological gamblers and those affected by them, together with the expenditure involved in such cases?
Reply:
Madam President,
My reply to the questions is as follows:
(a) The Police do not have specific statistics on crimes attributable to gambling debts.
(b) The Ping Wo Fund (the Fund) was set up in September 2003. Its objective is to finance measures to address gambling-related problems. The breakdown of the expenditure of the Fund by major categories of measures as at October 2005 are set out as follows:
Initiatives
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Researches and studies on issues and problems relating to gambling
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* Benchmarking studies for the counselling and treatment services for problem and pathological gamblers:
2003: $150,000
2004: --
2005: --
* Evaluative studies on the effectiveness of the services provided by the two counselling and treatment centres for problem and pathological gamblers:
2003: --
2004: --
2005: $1,170,000
* Study on "Hong Kong People's Participation in Gambling Activities":
2003: --
2004: --
2005: $200,000
Public education and other measures to prevent or alleviate problems relating to gambling:
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* "Say No to Gambling Action":
2003: $600,000
2004: $2,600,000
2005: $2,000,000
* "Say No to Gambling" youth creative awards:
2003: --
2004: $2,000,000
2005: --
* TV docu-drama on gambling-related problems - "Win and Lose":
2003: $700,000
2004: --
2005: $800,000
* Posters, TV and radio commercials:
2003: $200,000
2004: --
2005: $300,000
Counselling, treatment and other support services for problem and pathological gamblers and those affected by them
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* Two counselling and treatment centres for problem and pathological gamblers:
2003: $1,750,000
2004: $7,000,000
2005: $7,532,000
* Sponsorship for "1st Hong Kong Problem Gambling Conference":
2003: --
2004: $60,000
2005: --
* Sponsorship for "Inaugural Asia Pacific Problem Gambling Conference":
2003: --
2004: --
2005: $100,000
Total:
2003: $3,400,000
2004: $11,660,000
2005: $12,102,000
(c) The Hong Kong Jockey Club has made a commitment to contribute $24 million to the Fund for the first two years of operation (from September 2003 to August 2005) and $12-$15 million for each of the three subsequent years of operation. The Fund also accepts public donations.
The year-by-year breakdown of funding sources for the Fund for the period from September 2003 to October 2005 is as follows:
Source 2003 2004 2005
------ ---- ---- ----
Contribution
from Hong $5,000,000 $11,000,000 $12,000,000
Kong Jockey Club
Public donations $500,000 -- --
Total $5,500,000 $11,000,000 $12,000,000
(d) There is an extensive network of 61 Integrated Family Service Centres (IFSCs) and two Integrated Services Centre (ISCs) which are providing a continuum of preventive, supportive and remedial services for the needy, including problem and pathological gamblers and their family members, to tackle their personal and family problems. Social workers of IFSCs / ISCs will thoroughly assess the problems and provide appropriate services according to the needs.
Services provided by IFSCs / ISCs include counselling services to resolve family relationship or debt problems arising from gambling behaviour, as well as to enhance skills in budgeting and coping with stress. Besides, based on the needs of individual cases, referrals for financial assistance (such as Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or charitable trust fund), child care services, housing assistance (including Compassionate Rehousing), clinical psychological services, psychiatric treatment, therapeutic, supportive or mutual help groups, educational or developmental programmes, etc will be made. In case of need, social workers of IFSCs / ISCs will also refer problem and pathological gamblers to the two pilot counselling and treatment centres for problem and pathological gamblers for services.
Social Welfare Department does not have breakdown on the number of cases involving problem and pathological gamblers and the Government expenditure incurred.
Ends/Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Issued at HKT 15:52
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