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Following is a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, to a question by the Hon Chan Yuen-han on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme in the Legislative Council today (January 16):
Question:
At present, in the calculation of the amount of assistance payable to recipients under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme, the earnings from employment have to be deducted, but a maximum of $2,500 of earnings can be disregarded each month. Such an arrangement aims at encouraging CSSA recipients to find and remain in employment. However, quite a number of CSSA recipients have relayed to me that the current arrangement often makes them "work more but earn less" because their earnings from employment, after deducting the employment-related expenses, are more or less the same as the amount of CSSA payments deducted. Earlier, a young man on CSSA had been found to have earnings from employment and was therefore required by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") to return the overpaid CSSA. It was suspected that his failure to cope with the pressure of livelihood had led to his committing suicide subsequently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) in each of the past three years, of the number of CSSA cases in which disregarded earnings ("DE") were allowed and the average amount of DE, the number of cases in which DE was the maximum allowable amount of $2,500 per month, and the number of cases in which DE had been allowed and the recipients left the CSSA net subsequently;
(b) whether SWD has conducted regular home visits with regard to each CSSA case to understand in depth the needs and difficulties of the recipients' daily lives; and
(c) whether it will review the effectiveness of the DE arrangement and reconsider revising its details, so that the CSSA recipients who secure employment again can actually be financially better off, thereby achieving the aim of encouraging CSSA recipients to find employment?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme provides a safety net to meet the basic needs of those who cannot support themselves financially. It is non-contributory but means-tested.
(a) The number of CSSA recipients benefiting from monthly disregarded earnings (DE), average amount of monthly DE and the number of CSSA recipients benefiting from the maximum level of monthly DE in the past three years are set out at Annex.
The Social Welfare Department (SWD) does not keep statistics on the number of CSSA cases where recipients benefited from DE and subsequently left the CSSA net in the past three years. However, able-bodied recipients who are unemployed or working part-time are required to participate in the Support for Self-reliance (SFS) Scheme under the CSSA Scheme. Many of them have secured paid jobs and benefited from the DE arrangement. In the past three years, about 8,800 participants of the SFS Scheme successfully left the CSSA net.
(b) In processing or renewing CSSA applications, staff of SWD will conduct interviews and home visits to verify the information provided by the applicants and their family members and understand their actual situation. Apart from financial needs, they will also identify the recipients' other welfare needs in such areas as housing and counselling services. Where necessary, they will refer cases to social workers for follow-up action and proper assistance.
(c) The DE arrangement under the CSSA Scheme aims to encourage recipients who can work to find jobs and remain in employment. It enables CSSA recipients who work to be financially better off than those who do not work. Nevertheless, a more generous DE arrangement may delay recipients' exit from the CSSA net. The Administration must therefore strike a balance between the provision of incentives for CSSA recipients to work and the effective use of public fund.
The Administration has recently completed a review of the DE arrangement and relaxed the arrangement since December 1, 2007, allowing CSSA recipients to be eligible for DE from having been on CSSA for not less than three months to not less than two months and raising the no-deduction limit from $600 to $800. Under the new arrangement, the first $800 income of a CSSA recipient could be totally disregarded and half of his/her next $3,400 income (i.e. $1,700) could be disregarded, adding up to a maximum disregarded earning of $2,500. The arrangement enables CSSA recipients who work to receive an additional income up to $2,500 from employment, on top of their CSSA payment. It provides financial incentives to encourage them to find jobs and remain in employment. We will review the DE arrangement again after this new arrangement has been in operation for a period of time.
At this stage, we will focus on the implementation of the new arrangement to encourage and help able-bodied CSSA recipients achieve self-reliance. In addition, we are now considering how to provide "one-stop" employment service to further facilitate members of the community (including CSSA recipients) to find employment and receive training and employment assistance. We encourage able-bodied CSSA recipients to take full advantage of the DE arrangement under the CSSA Scheme to join the labour market and increase their income in order to improve the quality of life of their families. They can also take part in various training programmes to upgrade their work skills so as to reach the goal of "from welfare to self-reliance" early.
Ends/Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:29
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