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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (December 10):
Question:
The Government presently provides subvention for 10 uniformed groups to fund the provision of non-formal education and training to their members, aiming at, inter alia, fostering positive values among young people and thereby helping to promote civil education. In this financial year, the total amount of subvention granted to these groups by the Government was $41.48 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.1 per cent. However, as the Government reduced the amount of relevant subvention for two consecutive financial years in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, the said total amount of subvention is even smaller than that in the year of 2003-2004. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the amount of subvention obtained on average by each member of each uniformed group in each of the past five years;
(b) what criteria are adopted by the Government for determining the respective amounts of subvention obtained by these uniformed groups as a whole and individually; and
(c) given that Government revenue may decrease under the impact of the financial tsunami, whether the Government presently plans to reduce the amount of subvention to these uniformed groups in the next financial year; if so, whether it will assess the impact of such a move on the services provided by these uniformed groups?
Reply:
President,
In addition to recurrent subvention from the Home Affairs Bureau, uniformed groups are also encouraged to proactively seek donations from other bodies or the general public, in order to expand their services and allow youths to further benefit from their programmes. My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows: –
(a) The amount of subvention obtained on average by each member of each uniformed group in each of the past five years has remained approximately the same:
2004-05: $314.9
2005-06: $289.2
2006-07: $282.6
2007-08: $284.2
2008-09: $299.7
(b) We provide annual subvention to the uniformed groups with a view to achieving our policy objectives on youth development, including promoting positive values among young people; enhancing their understanding of Chinese culture and heritage; encouraging their participation in voluntary and community work; broadening their international perspective; and promoting leadership training among them. We will adjust the level of subvention annually in the light of the overall resources available.
(c) The Government is currently preparing the draft Estimates for 2009/10. We will review the amount of subvention to be allocated to uniformed groups having regard to the overall resources available.
Ends/Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Issued at HKT 11:45
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