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Following is a question by the Hon David Li and a written reply by the Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, at the Legislative Council meeting today (October 31):
Question:
The Business Facilitation Advisory Committee ("BFAC") was established in January 2006 to take forward the business facilitation advisory role of the former Economic and Employment Council ("EEC"), which was disbanded in December 2005. Since then, the four Task Forces established by EEC to conduct regulatory reviews on various trades have been reporting to BFAC. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether BFAC and its Task Forces have completed work on the priorities identified by EEC; if not, of the expected time frame for the delivery of a final report on these initiatives and the winding up of its Task Forces;
(b) of the current mechanism for prioritising the present and future work of BFAC;
(c) of the work plan of BFAC for the coming year; and
(d) whether the Government has assessed if, by implementing the initiatives identified by EEC and BFAC which are aimed at cutting red tape and streamlining procedures, it has made meaningful improvements in efficiency and cost savings in the delivery of government services; if such improvements have been made, whether any personnel in any government department(s) have been re-deployed to other duties as a result?
Answer:
Madam President,
(a) Four dedicated Task Forces, namely the Pre-construction Task Force (PCTF), the Town Planning Task Force (TPTF), the Retail Task Force (RTF) and the Task Force to Review the Construction Stage of the Development Process (CTF), were established under the former Economic and Employment Council (EEC) to undertake sector-specific regulatory reviews on the construction, real estate and retail sectors. The EEC accorded priorities to these areas based on regulatory impact and employment considerations. Under the Business Facilitation Advisory Committee (BFAC), the four Task Forces have continued to make good progress-
(i) The CTF completed its work with the conclusion of the study on private certification of building submissions earlier this year. It was disbanded following the dissolution of the former Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board and the establishment of the Construction Industry Council on February 1, 2007.
(ii) The PCTF completed its reviews on land matters that were commenced under the EEC. There were substantive recommendations to simplify lease conditions and streamline lease modification procedures. Under the BFAC, the PCTF conducted a follow-up study on the processing of lease modification and land exchange applications, which was completed in early 2007. The PCTF has recently formed a Working Group to review the premium assessment process and to examine the use of an Expert Determination Mechanism to resolve deadlock during premium negotiation.
(iii) The TPTF aims to review the town planning issues encountered during the planning stage of a development and to recommend measures to improve the operational efficiency of the processes involved. After completing a review of the main planning processes and another review on the processing of town planning appeals, the TPTF is currently inactive. It will re-convene to review the progress of implementation of its recommendations later.
(iv) The RTF aims to review the regulatory activities affecting the retail sector. It completed reviews that were started under the ECC, namely those relating to non-restaurant food licences, regulation of volatile organic compounds and registration of pharmaceutical products containing New Chemical Entities. Under the BFAC, the RTF has continued with its work to conduct regulatory review and to facilitate communication between the trades and the Administration.
(b) The BFAC and its Task Forces will continue to focus their work on simplifying regulatory regimes that have impact on business, in particular new legislative proposals causing major concerns to the trade. In addition, issues of common concerns to the business community such as adequacy of international school places or utilisation of vacant industrial premises also feature on the agenda. In setting its work priorities, the BFAC will continue to take into consideration input from its members, views and suggestions from the community as well as survey findings.
(c) Following the sector-specific approach, the BFAC has expanded its work programme through the establishment of a new Food Business Task Force (FBTF) to cover the food business sector. The FBTF has so far completed reviews on liquor licence and outside seating accommodation, and will continue to conduct reviews on food factory licence and the transfer of food-related licences. The other two active Task Forces, the PCTF and RTF, will continue with their current regulatory reviews. The BFAC will monitor closely the progress of the Government's comprehensive review on business licensing and application procedures, facilitate consultation with the business community and put up recommendations for consideration by the Government. Other issues of concerns to the business community will also be included in the agenda.
(d) The initiatives identified by the EEC and BFAC aim primarily to cut red tape and streamline procedures to facilitate business. In implementing these initiatives, the Government has achieved the key objective of reducing cost of compliance to the trade. For example, with the introduction of a provisional licence for cinema, the lead time for a cinema to commence business has been reduced by half. The processing time for liquor licences has on average been shortened by 25%. The processing time by the Lands Department for lease modification and land exchange applications will reduce by some 20% after implementation of all recommendations of the relevant review. In the process, the Government has also been able to improve efficiency in delivering its services. It is expected that there will be moderate savings in staff as a result of streamlined procedures. Under established practice, any savings in staff achieved will normally be redeployed internally within the bureau/department concerned to strengthen existing services, to cope with increasing demands for services and/or to support new services.
Ends/Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:27
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