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Following is a question by the Hon Tam Heung-man and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June 14):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of applications from new arrival women with less than seven years' residence in Hong Kong to the Social Welfare Department (SWD) for financial assistance, in the past three years, and the number of such applications approved by SWD by exercising its discretion;
(b) whether it has reviewed the procedures and criteria for exercising discretion as well as the consistency in processing the above applications by SWD officers; if it has, of the details of the review results and follow-up actions; if not, when it will conduct such review; and
(c) whether it will consider formulating a social security policy for new arrival women who are currently not eligible for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance but have genuine financial needs, instead of providing assistance to them by discretion; if it will, of the details and timetable of such a policy; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
The seven-year residence requirement under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme was recommended by the Task Force on Population Policy, and has been implemented since January 1, 2004. Under the requirement, one has to meet the seven-year residence rule in order to enjoy non-contributory social benefits which are heavily subsidised by public funds. The rationale for the requirement is to ensure a rational basis on which the heavily subsidised social services are allocated. Nevertheless the Director of Social Welfare (DSW) may exercise discretion to waive the residence requirement for provision of welfare in cases of genuine hardship. The replies to the sections are as follows:
(a) Since the requirement became effective in 2004, the DSW has exercised discretion to waive the seven-year residence requirement in a total of 373 cases of single parents. However, the SWD has not collated a breakdown of these cases by gender.
(b) Since the SWD started to implement the seven-year residence requirement in 2004, it has issued guidelines to its frontline staff at Social Security Field Units on how to exercise the discretion to help people in genuine hardship. To ensure that the Senior Social Security Officers at the district level would exercise the discretion in a consistent manner, the SWD has prepared examples of typical cases for reference of approving officers.
In light of the practical experience in implementing the seven-year residence requirement and the views of various parties, the SWD has refined the procedures and criteria for exercising the discretion. These include the applicants' means of livelihood, the causes of their present hardship, resources available and other possible sources of assistance in Hong Kong, as well as the possibility of returning to their places of origin. To enhance transparency in this respect, the SWD has incorporated the information in a pamphlet entitled "The Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme and the Social Security Allowance Scheme - Residence requirements for applicants and permissible limits of absence from Hong Kong during receipt of payment" for distribution to public starting from October 2004. The pamphlet is also available on the website of the SWD.
In processing applications for CSSA from applicants who do not meet the seven-year residence requirement, the SWD considers each case on its own merits, with due regard to the special circumstances of each case.
The SWD would periodically review its various services provided to social welfare recipients, including the vetting procedures for CSSA applications, and make improvements where necessary.
(c) The Administration is committed to providing care for the needy and the disadvantaged. There has been a significant growth in welfare expenses which, together with heavy subsidies for public health, housing and education, has built up a comprehensive safety net. The CSSA is the safety net of last resort to cover the basic needs of those in need. Where necessary, the staff of the Social Security Field Units of the SWD would refer CSSA applicants to other service units or Government departments for appropriate services. For those in genuine hardship, the DSW may exercise discretionary power to waive the residence requirement to provide a safety net of last resort. Therefore, we do not consider it necessary to draw up a separate welfare policy for new arrivals who are not eligible for the CSSA.
Moreover, the CSSA is not the only form of assistance for people in need. Subject to the individual need and assessment, other forms of assistance and support are available to new arrivals who are in need disregard of their length of residence in Hong Kong. These include employment assistance, emergency relief, cash assistance from charity trust funds, medical fee waivers, assistance in kind, referrals to singleton hostels for accommodation and to day relief centres for meals.
Ends/Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:05
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