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Commission on Poverty supports making work more attractive than reliance on welfare
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    The Financial Secretary, Mr Henry Tang, today (March 27) chaired the eighth meeting of the Commission on Poverty (CoP).

     The Government reaffirmed its strong desire to address community concern about high transport costs for the working poor living in remote areas who have to commute to work. The objective is to provide additional work incentive and encourage self-reliance.

     "We are keenly aware that high transport costs can be a disincentive to work, especially for low-income commuters living in remote areas. Commission members unanimously agreed that we should strive to make work more attractive than reliance on welfare," Mr Tang said.  

     "While aware of calls for immediate action to resolve the issue, we are wary that introducing a new category of long-term subsidy is a major public policy issue.  Members agreed to consider further how to provide assistance to the working poor, including the possibility of achieving the purpose through building on existing mechanisms.

     "I believe this is an important first step for further work, " Mr Tang said.  

     CoP Members urged the Government to study the issue of work incentives for the working poor, preferably built on existing employment assistance and other support services.  The Commission agreed to consider at its next meeting the existing income support available to the working poor - the low-income category in the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme including the operation of disregarded earnings and relevant employment assistance, as well as the most appropriate agency to deliver such assistance to the working poor in the future.

     Members considered the findings and 18 recommendations in the Report of the District Study on Employment Assistance which examined the delivery of employment services at district level, viz. in Yuen Long, Sham Shui Po and Kwun Tong.  

     The commission noted that a substantial part of public expenditure (almost $50 billion) had already been spent on employment assistance.  There is strong consensus among commission members that an effective mechanism is key to ensuring that our employment assistance can really benefit the unemployed, in particular the "difficult-to-employ" who need more targeted assistance to help them find work and become self-reliant.

     "I appreciate the hard work of the CoP Task Force on District-based Approach chaired by Dr CK Law.  I see that many CoP members are attracted to the idea of an integrated employment agency in providing more co-ordinated support to the unemployed and working poor. Relevant government bureaux will consider the recommendations and I look forward to a report on suggested improvements in six months' time," Mr. Tang said.

     Members also noted that the Financial Secretary had reaffirmed the Government's commitment to alleviating poverty and had committed $113 billion (more than 55% of total) on relevant social policies in the 2006-07 Budget.

     The agenda and papers of the meeting are available at the commission's official website: www.cop.gov.hk.

Ends/Monday, March 27, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:59

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