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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kenneth Chan Ka-lok and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (November 21):
Question:
While the Finance Committee (FC) of this Council has not yet approved the funding application relating to the Old Age Living Allowance (OALA), the Government has already been broadcasting an Announcement on Public Interests (API) recently on the electronic media to provide detailed information on OALA such as the eligibility requirements and enquiries hotline, etc. Besides, while the Government has not yet made a final decision on the project of the North East New Territories New Development Areas, it has recently been broadcasting an API on the electronic media to promote the idea that the project will provide a better living environment for the people of Hong Kong. Moreover, the Government has also placed a full-page advertisement in the press to explain briefly that the authorities will adopt transitional measures to relieve the problem of the temporary decline in Secondary One student population before its re-bounce. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective broadcast hours of the APIs on the two aforesaid subjects so far; how such figures compare with the broadcast hours of government APIs on other subjects in the same period; and the percentages of such figures in the total broadcast hours of all government APIs in the same period;
(b) as some members of the public have relayed to me that it has all along been the Government's practice to broadcast APIs on the details of a policy or measure only after it has been implemented, whether the Government has changed this practice; if it has, of the details of and reasons for the change; if not, the justifications for broadcasting the aforesaid APIs at the present stage;
(c) whether it has considered if broadcasting the API on OALA when FC is still considering the funding application will give the impression that the Government is trying to use public opinion to exert influence on the Legislative Council and will impact on the relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature; if it has considered such situations, of the reasons why the Government has nonetheless made such an arrangement; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) of the justifications for the Government for placing the aforesaid advertisement in the press, as well as the expenditure on this; whether the Government had placed any advertisement in the press in the past five years for the purpose of explaining government policies; if it had, of the details and the expenditure involved?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the four parts of the question raised by Dr Hon Kenneth Chan Ka-lok is as follows:
(a) The Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) TV Announcement in the Public Interest (TV API) was first broadcast on October 19, while the two North East New Territories New Development Areas (NENT NDAs) TV APIs were launched on October 24 and November 7 respectively. All three APIs remain on air on five local TV stations with a total of 37 channels.
The OALA TV API has received an average of about 2.1 slots a day on each channel since its first broadcast, while the two NENT NDAs APIs combined have received an average of 2.6 slots a day on each channel. These three APIs are among more than 160 TV APIs covering over 60 different topics that are available for scheduling at the same time.
In percentage terms, the OALA API and the two NENT NDAs APIs have accounted for about 6.5% and 8% respectively of total free TV airtime over the same period, or 0.53% and 0.55% respectively of total free TV airtime over the past 12 months. As both issues are topical and rank high on the government's policy priorities, the allocation of airtime is considered to be very reasonable.
Other TV APIs receiving comparable exposure over the past month include those on the 2013 Policy Address and 2013-14 Budget consultation, and the launch of the Employee Choice Arrangement of the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme Authority.
(b) The Government informs the public about its policies and initiatives, or matters of concern to the general population through a wide range of publicity avenues. TV APIs, radio announcements and newspaper supplements are often used by the Government because they reach a wide cross-section of the community.
In determining whether or not to carry out publicity exercise and its scale, Government bureaux and departments will consider such factors as whether it is in the public interest to do so; whether it relates to issues of public concern; and whether it is directly related to government policies or policy objectives.
All three issues mentioned in the question – that is, OALA, NENT NDAs and measures to cope with the declining Secondary One (S1) student population – are of considerable public interest, relate to government policy objectives and also involve the allocation of resources. As such, it is appropriate for the Government to inform the public about these matters by using TV, radio and newspaper media.
In the case of OALA and NENT NDAs, both issues have generated much comment and public discussion. As such, the government is obliged to clearly explain its policy objectives to the community so that the rationales behind the policy proposals, the benefits of them and the key features of the proposals, are well understood.
(c) We do not believe that informing the public about the proposed initiatives of the Government would have a negative impact on the relationship between the Administration and the Legislative Council.
(d) Newspaper supplements placed by the Education Bureau (EDB) aim to inform the stakeholders and the public of the temporary decline in the number of S1 students in the coming few years, as well as a basket of relief measures proposed by the EDB. This is not the first time the Government has explained its policies and initiatives through newspaper supplements or advertisements. Newspaper supplements had been placed for other topics previously.
Publicity through newspaper supplements is not arranged in a centralised manner but rather by individual bureaux and departments. Advertising rates for supplements vary from paper to paper, and the related expenses have been met by recurrent expenditure of individual bureaux. We have not compiled statistics on the amount of expenditure incurred by various bureaux and departments of placing advertisements in newspapers over the past five years.
Ends/Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:30
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