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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (May 2):
Question:
Regarding the New Dawn Project implemented by the Social Welfare Department, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of parents and child carers participating in the Project since its implementation and the districts where they live; the number of participants who have their Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) payments deducted for not fulfilling the obligations under the Project and the amount involved; the number of participants who have been exempted from the mandatory requirement to seek employment and the reasons for the exemption; the number of participants who have succeeded in securing full time and part-time employment, the types of their jobs and range of wages, as well as the number of such participants who have got out of the CSSA net, the number of participants whose CSSA payments have not been deducted because their earnings from employment have been disregarded by virtue of the provision of disregarded earnings arrangements under the CSSA Scheme and the total amount of earnings disregarded; and the number of participants whose CSSA payments have been deducted because their earnings have exceeded the "no-deduction" limit and the amount involved;
(b) how it ensures that participants of the Project will be paid reasonably and will not be discriminated against; of the criteria adopted by the non-governmental organisations running the Project to determine whether the employment terms and conditions are reasonable, as well as the measures to assist the employed participants in staying in employment and getting promotion opportunities;
(c) whether it will consider, by following the practice in the United Kingdom, improving the Project by offering one-year "on-the-job allowance" to single parents who have been on CSSA for a long time so as to encourage employment, and offering more allowance to recipients who live in districts with a higher cost of living; and
(d) of the results of the assessment and study of the Project, which have been commissioned to the University of Hong Kong, and the date of their publication, and whether it will consider switching the Project to a voluntary one?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The "New Dawn Project" (the ND Project) has been implemented since April 2006. Up to the end of March 2007, the ND Project had a total of 7 886 participants comprising 4 992 single parents and 2 894 child carers on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA). Please refer to the Annex for the distribution of participants in the 18 districts.
Up to the end of March 2007, a total of 5 087 eligible single parents and child carers on CSSA had $200 deducted from their monthly CSSA payments due to their failure to comply with the project requirements.
Up to the end of March 2007, a total of 9 539 single parents and child carers on CSSA were exempted from participating in the ND Project mainly for the following reasons:
(a) have to take care of vulnerable family members such as disabled, senile or in ill-health;
(b) already engaged in paid employment with monthly working hours of 32 or more;
(c) being recently bereaved;
(d) have special problems based on the social worker's assessment; and
(e) aged over 59 years and 5 months.
Up to the end of March 2007, a total of 2 215 single parents and child carers on CSSA participating in the ND Project have secured paid jobs, with 836 of them taking up full-time paid employment and 1 379 part-time paid employment. The success rate is about 28%. Among them, a total of 158 participants left the CSSA net after successfully securing employment. The participants who have successfully secured employment mainly work as cleaners, services workers, shop sales, domestic helpers and in other elementary occupations. The average monthly wage is $4,400 for full-time employment and $1,600 for part-time employment.
Under the disregarded earnings (DE) arrangement, up to the end of March 2007, 57 participants with a monthly wage of $600 or below had their earnings fully disregarded, 1 758 participants with a monthly wage ranging from $601 to $4,399 had their earnings partially disregarded, and 400 participants with a monthly wage of $4,400 or above had their monthly earnings disregarded up to a maximum of $2,500. Take the above participants who had secured employment as examples. The participants who have full-time employment with an average monthly wage of $4,400 can receive $2,500 more from their monthly CSSA payments and wage than the amount when they were not employed. The participants who have part-time employment with an average monthly wage of $1,600 can receive $1,100 more from their monthly CSSA payments and wage than the amount when they were not employed. The increase in the total income helps improve the living standard of the families.
(b) The Social Welfare Department (SWD) provides participants of the ND Project with personalised employment assistance services and refers them, where appropriate, to join the New Dawn Intensive Employment Assistance Projects run by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), so that they can receive appropriate employment assistance services which meet their needs, including the provision of updated labour market information. The NGOs render assistance to project participants when they have an employment offer, by helping them better understand their working capacity and experience, as well as their work skills and knowledge to facilitate their consideration of whether the employment terms and conditions are reasonable and whether to take up the job. The NGOs also provide participants with pre-employment and post-employment assistance if they encounter difficulties. In addition, the NGOs arrange retraining courses for participants to attend to enhance their work skills and competitiveness, thereby improving their promotion prospects.
(c) The DE arrangement under the CSSA Scheme allows CSSA recipients, including single parents, to retain part of their earnings. This will increase their family income without affecting their eligibility for CSSA. The arrangement is designed to encourage the recipients to seek employment and become self-reliant in a bid to achieve the dual objectives of improving their living standard while enriching their working experience and enhancing their capacity to lead a financially independent life. We believe that the measures of the Support for Self-reliance Scheme, coupled with the DE arrangement, will provide incentive for the recipients to seek and remain in employment.
In addition, the Administration is now planning to introduce a one-year "Pilot Transport Support Scheme" in mid 2007 to encourage unemployed and low-income people in financial difficulties who live in remote areas to seek jobs and work across districts. Eligible participants of the ND Project can apply for the allowance designed to help them seek jobs and work across districts provided that they are not concurrently receiving similar employment-related transport subsidy benefits.
(d) The SWD has commissioned the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to conduct an evaluation of the ND Project. The study is under way and scheduled to be completed in mid-2007.
The Ending Exclusion Project (EEP), launched by the SWD in March 2002 to assist single parents on CSSA with young children to seek employment. However, participation under EEP was voluntary and the outcome was not encouraging. In view of our experience with the EEP, the SWD introduced the ND Project. Participation in the ND Project is mandatory for all single parents and child carers on CSSA with the youngest child aged 12 to 14 to seek employment entailing not less than 32 hours a month. The ND Project's aim is to better help the recipients to end social exclusion, to build up their capacity for joining the labour market and start the process of becoming self-reliant through paid employment as soon as their family circumstances permit. Exemptions from joining the ND Project are allowed where justified, for example, the recently bereaved, those who have recently been victims of domestic violence and those having to care for a disabled family member.
We will review the various measures under the ND Project in light of the findings of the HKU's study with a view to providing more appropriate services for employable single parents and child carers.
Ends/Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:55
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