Transcript of FS on the Report of the Commission on Poverty (with photos and video)

Transcript of FS on the Report of the Commission on Poverty (with photos and video)
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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the press conference by the Financial Secretary, Mr Henry Tang, on the Report of the Commission on Poverty at the Conference Hall at CGO New Annexe this morning (June 14):

Reporter: Mr Tang, can you explain what kind of timeframe will you be giving CSSA unemployed recipients to get back to work, and what will happen if they refuse to go back to work, and how long do you think these measures, which have been recommended, will take to take effect.

Financial Secretary: Christine actually explained earlier that we do not feel, at this point in time, we wish to introduce a time limited CSSA for able-bodied (recipients) because the current system is designed on a household basis. So once a household receives CSSA and if we were to force someone to work and therefore take them out of the CSSA net, their income would very well be less than what they are receiving under CSSA now. It would place undue hardship on that family. So on the way forward, we feel it is more appropriate to supplement, or to introduce what we call a one-stop shop so that able-bodied person who is now a CSSA recipient, if he wishes to work he can go to that shop, receives counsel on what retraining facilities or programmes are suitable for him, finds a job so that he can join the workforce and work. Help those to help themselves. We have not recommended what kind of timeframe the next government should implement our recommendations. Indeed, some of the recommendations have already been taken on board, such as the re-organisation of labour, welfare and manpower together so it will facilitate the introduction of this one-stop shop because it will all be under one bureau.

So some of them are already being implemented. We are waiting on passage of the resolution in Legco today. Once it is passed, some of them will be implemented in the next (term of) government.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Thursday, June 14, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:39

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