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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting this Wednesday (May 16) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will continue to consider the amendments to the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012.
The Bill has received its Second Reading and entered the Committee stage, the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Albert Chan and Mr Wong Yuk-man will move totally 1,307 amendments.
In addition, the Professional Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2012 will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Second Reading debate on the Bill will be adjourned.
For Members' motions, Mr Albert Ho , Mr Lee Cheuk-yan, Mr Fred Li, Mr James To, Mr Cheung Man-kwong, Mr Leung Yiu-chung, Ms Emily Lau, Mr Andrew Cheng, Mr Frederick Fung, Ms Audrey Eu, Mr Lee Wing-tat, Dr Joseph Lee, Mr Ronny Tong, Mr Kam Nai-wai, Ms Cyd Ho, Mr Cheung Kwok-che, Mr Wong Sing-chi, Mr Paul Tse, Mr Alan Leong, Mr Leung Kwok-hung, Ms Tanya Chan, Mr Albert Chan and Mr Wong Yuk-man will jointly initiate a motion under Article 73(9) of the Basic Law. To be moved by Ms Cyd Ho, the motion, states: "That, since a motion initiated jointly by not less than one-fourth of all the Members of the Legislative Council charges the Chief Executive Mr Donald Tsang with serious dereliction of duty (details as particularised in the Schedule to this motion) and he refused to resign, this Council, in accordance with Article 73(9) of the Basic Law, gives a mandate to the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal to form and chair an independent investigation committee to investigate the alleged dereliction of duty and report to this Council."
Mr Lee Cheuk-yan will move a motion on the 4 June Incident. The motion, states: "That this Council urges that: the 4 June incident be not forgotten and the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated."
Mr Wong Yuk-man will move an amendment to Mr Lee Cheuk-yan's motion.
Ms Miriam Lau will move a motion on actively studying the establishment of a middle class commission. The motion, states: "That, given that the global and Hong Kong economies are still facing extremely unclear risks, while the middle-class people are plagued by problems such as Hong Kong's single-direction development of industries, etc., and have experienced quite a number of bottlenecks in their career development and are burdened with heavy pressure in the areas of healthcare, education, taxation and housing, etc.; as shown by the latest statistics of an organisation, the number of middle-class people seeking counselling has increased by about 30% when compared with the number some one year ago, and some people even describe themselves as the poor middle class, thus showing that the plight of the middle class has been neglected; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to actively study the establishment of a middle class commission, comprehensively review the policies and measures relating to the middle class, put forward concrete and comprehensive corresponding strategies in a focused manner to assist middle-class families in alleviating their burdens and facilitating their personal career development, so as to boost upward social mobility in the overall community; the relevant measures should include:
Career development
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(a) to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promote diversified development of industries in Hong Kong, so as to create more jobs at the middle and senior levels as well as business start-up opportunities in various industries and professions;
(b) to further strengthen regional economic development to form an economic development circle with different regions on the Mainland, etc. so as to provide more and better career development opportunities for middle-class professionals;
Housing difficulties
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(c) to increase land supply to ease property prices and launch more 'no-frills' small and medium sized flats, including 'flats with limited floor area' for Hong Kong people who are first-time home buyers, so as to alleviate the plight of marginal middle-class people in acquiring their own homes;
(d) to relax the eligibility criteria for purchasing flats in the Home Ownership Scheme secondary market, thereby enabling eligible white form applicants to make purchases;
(e) to introduce a tax allowance for rentals for marginal middle-class people;
(f) to further extend the entitlement period for deduction for home loan interest;
Taxation burden
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(g) to adjust salaries tax downwards, in particular widening tax bands for salaries tax and lowering the marginal rate, so as to vigorously alleviate the burden of marginal middle-class people;
(h) to relax the restrictions on the dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance by relaxing the eligibility requirement from living in the same unit to living in the same housing estate;
Education and self-education
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(i) to completely abolish the restrictions on kindergarten vouchers, so as to reduce children education expenses of middle-class families;
(j) to introduce a children's education allowance, so as to alleviate the burden of children education expenses of the middle class;
(k) to substantially increase the salaries tax deduction for self-education expenses and the subsidy under the Continuing Education Fund;
Healthcare
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(l) to expeditiously and properly tackle the problem of 'doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women', and ensure that local pregnant women have priority in receiving confinement service in both public and private hospitals;
(m) to provide tax deduction for medical insurance contributions;
(n) to provide tax deduction for medical examinations, so as to encourage people to undergo such examinations on a regular basis; and
Legal aid
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(o) to further lower the threshold of the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme, so as to assist more needy middle-class people in safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests by law."
Mr Alan Leong will move an amendment to Ms Miriam Lau's motion. Ms Starry Lee will move an amendment to Mr Alan Leong's amendment.
Mr Chan Hak-kan will move a motion on caring about the education, employment and housing problems faced by young people. The motion, states: "That young people are the future pillars of society, but in the face of globalisation and the rapid development of neighbouring places, Hong Kong young people not only face many challenges during their growth, but also lack upward mobility opportunities, and this is especially highlighted in their education, employment and housing aspirations; however, the Government has all along failed to formulate any support measures with young people as the main targets; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to care about young people's needs, and assist them in concentrating on their education, establishing their career and resolving their housing needs; specific measures should include:
Education
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(a) to enhance the qualification recognition of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, sub-degrees and the new Yi Jin Diploma in Hong Kong, the Mainland and the international community, so as to widen young people's pathways of further studies;
(b) to dovetail with the concept of promoting students' whole-person development under the new academic structure by introducing an extra-curricular activities allowance for students to subsidise their participation in extra-curricular activities;
(c) to promote the commencement of 'career planning' at the stage of secondary education, so as to enable secondary students to make better planning for their future career development;
Employment
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(d) to review the planning of employment training support services for young people, enhance the existing Youth Pre-employment Training Programme and Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme, and raise the level of the relevant subsidies, so as to attract the participation of more employers to provide more employment and training opportunities in the market which are suitable for young people;
(e) to set up more 'Youth Employment Start' ('Y.E.S') resource centres throughout Hong Kong, strengthen the training programmes targeted at young people, enhance their employment skills, and provide one-stop employment counselling;
(f) focusing on the development of the six industries and creative industries, to enhance training and provide better support to help young people join the relevant industries;
Housing
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(g) to relax the existing eligibility criteria for applying for public rental housing, and address low-income young people's housing needs;
(h) to allow eligible white form applicants to purchase Home Ownership Scheme flats without having to pay the premium, so as to assist young people in accessing the home acquisition ladder; and
(i) focusing on young people with relatively stable financial income, to study re-launching the Home Starter Loan Scheme."
Ms Audrey Eu, Mr Ip Wai-ming and Mr Wong Sing-chi will move amendments to Mr Chan Hak-kan's motion.
Mr Albert Chan will move a motion on opposing Hong Kong communists ruling Hong Kong. The motion, states: "That this Council expresses deep resentment at the direct interference of the Communist Party of China in the 2012 Chief Executive Election, which ruins 'One country, Two systems'; as the Chief Executive Election was conducted under the interference and manipulation of the Communist Party of China, this Council does not accept, recognise and agree to the result of the 2012 Chief Executive Election; in this connection, this Council requests the immediate implementation of universal suffrage for returning the Chief Executive and all Legislative Council seats, and calls upon Hong Kong people to resort to confrontational means to resist Hong Kong communists ruling Hong Kong."
Mr Paul Chan will move a motion on enhancing the accountability of charities and complying with the best practices in corporate governance. The motion, states: "That the Charities Sub-committee under the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong is still collating public submissions after completing its public consultation on the consultation paper on charities in end October last year, and at present, except for those charities that are incorporated as companies limited by guarantee with the Company Registry whose financial statements are accessible by the public in the Company Registry, the public has no way to know about the governance and financial information of all other charities, such as those established by way of trust; moreover, currently, except for section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, in which 'charitable purpose' is defined for the purpose of taxation, there is no other legislation regulating charities and how they use the donations, nor does the Administration have the figures regarding charities established; over the past few years, some suspected cases of charities with strange fund-raising practices, unclear accounts, indiscriminate investments and even transfer of surpluses have been uncovered in society, making the public worry that donations to charities may not be serving charitable purposes; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously release to the public the findings of the public consultation on the consultation paper on charities, and before statutory regulation is introduced, consider enhancing the transparency and accountability of charities by adopting measures such as encouraging them to comply with the best practices in corporate governance, strengthen their financial management, and disclose their financial information on a regular basis; at the same time, the Government should expeditiously implement the statutory regulatory proposals in the consultation paper on charities which are generally agreed by the community."
Mr James To, Mr Alan Leong and Mr Cheung Kwok-che will move amendments to Mr Paul Chan's motion.
Ms Starry Lee will move a motion on promoting family harmony. The motion, states: "That, as social problems such as the rising divorce rate, family tragedies, child abuse and neglect of children, as well as compensated dating and drug abuse among young people still occur from time to time in Hong Kong, reflecting that at present some families lack cohesion and mutual love, this Council urges the Government to make stronger efforts in promoting family-friendly policies and enhancing the resilience of families and individuals against adversities, so as to achieve family harmony and promote social inclusion; the proposed measures include:
(a) introducing an assessment system regarding the impact of public policies on families to assess the impact of existing social policies, legislation and measures on families, with a view to making relevant improvements;
(b) providing more support services to dual-income parents, including expanding community childminding services, increasing the childminding places in various districts and providing flexible childminding service hours, etc.; developing after-school remedial centres so that children of dual-income parents can receive appropriate care after school;
(c) promoting public and private organisations to implement family-friendly employment policies more proactively for creating a family-friendly working environment, including encouraging organisations to provide staff with child care services and implementing flexible working hours, as well as implementing a flexible leave policy which provides special paid leave for employees such as wedding leave, paternity leave, study leave, compassionate leave, etc., when they encounter major family events;
(d) including all general holidays other than Sundays as paid statutory holidays through a progressive approach of employer-employee negotiation; and promoting 'International Day of Families' to call on the community to cherish the value of family;
(e) promoting a housing policy which fosters mutual care between the elderly and the young and encouraging the inclusion of residential complementary facilities suitable for both the elderly and the young in the designs of private and public housing; as well as improving community facilities to provide families with more room for parent-child activities;
(f) actively stepping up publicity on positive family education on parenting, child duties and ethics, as well as promoting family education through community service organisations, schools and the media, etc.;
(g) allocating more resources for strengthening various promotional activities and research work of the Family Council;
(h) alleviating the financial burden on families in Hong Kong by offering tax concessions and subsidising pre-primary education across the board; and
(i) enhancing social welfare services to provide appropriate support to families in crisis.
Mr Wong Sing-chi, Dr Pan Pey-chyou, Mr Ronny Tong and Mr Lee Cheuk-yan will move amendments to Ms Starry Lee's motion.
Meanwhile, Mr Cheung Hok-ming will move a motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure. The motion, states: "That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issues: the impact of the announcement made by the MTR Corporation Limited to increase its fares by 5.4% under the Fare Adjustment Mechanism ("FAM") on the general public, as well as FAM, fare concession measures and the Government's corresponding arrangements."
On Motions, the Secretary for Home Affairs will move a proposed resolution under the Legal Aid Ordinance to amend the Legal Aid Ordinance (Cap. 91).
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Eastern Harbour Crossing Ordinance to resolve that the Eastern Harbour Crossing Road Tunnel (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the New Hong Kong Tunnel Company Limited on March 30, 2012, be approved.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Ordinance to resolve that the Tate's Cairn Tunnel (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Tate's Cairn Tunnel Company Limited on March 30, 2012, be approved.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Western Harbour Crossing Ordinance to resolve that the Western Harbour Crossing (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Western Harbour Tunnel Company Limited on March 30, 2012, be approved.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing will move a proposed resolution under the Tai Lam Tunnel and Yuen Long Approach Road Ordinance to resolve that the Tai Lam Tunnel and Yuen Long Approach Road (Amendment) Bylaw 2012, made by the Route 3 (CPS) Company Limited on April 3, 2012, be approved.
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development will move a proposed resolution under the Import and Export Ordinance to resolve that the Import and Export (Registration)(Amendment) Regulation 2012, made by the Chief Executive in Council on April 17, 2012, be approved.
In addition, Ms Miriam Lau will move a motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure. The motion, states: "That this Council takes note of Report No. 18/11-12 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on May 9, 2012 in relation to the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 2) Order 2012."
During the meeting, Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found in the LegCo website.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also watch or listen the meeting via the web broadcast system on the LegCo website.
Ends/Monday, May 14, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:23
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