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Following is a question by Hon Wong Yuk-man and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (May 29):
Question:
Some elderly persons have encountered difficulties in applying for Old Age Living Allowance (OALA), including inability to complete the application form for OALA (application form). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) how the Social Welfare Department (SWD) assists those members of the public who are less competent in reading and writing in filling the application form;
(b) given that an application form must be signed by a witness for it to be accepted, but some singleton elderly persons are unable to find relatives or friends to be their witnesses, how SWD handles such situation;
(c) given that some members of the public have indicated that the design of the application form is extremely complicated, the printed letters are too tiny and the space for filling in information is too small, but much and repetitive information is required to be provided, whether SWD will improve the design of the application form; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and
(d) given that some members of the public have relayed that they are unable to get through the OALA hotline over a protracted time, whether SWD will further improve the hotline service; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the question raised by the Hon Wong Yuk-man is as follows:
(a) If an applicant, including one who is less competent in reading and writing, needs assistance to complete the application form, staff of Social Security Field Units (SSFUs) of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) will render assistance as appropriate. An applicant may also call the Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) hotline at 3595 0130 to enquire about the content of the application form and how to fill in the relevant information.
(b) If an applicant is unable to find a person to be his or her witness, he or she may submit the application form without completing the particulars of the witness. SWD will contact the applicant for confirmation of the relevant information as necessary.
(c) The application form of Phase 2 – "Postal Submission" makes reference to the content and format of "Social Security Allowance Scheme Application Form" and is a simplified version of it. To make it easy for elderly persons to complete the application form, personal data of the applicant (eg name, Hong Kong Identity Card number, date of birth, SWD case-file reference, etc) are pre-printed on the forms. The elderly persons concerned are only required to complete information of their spouses (if applicable), income and asset particulars, etc.
Elderly persons under Phase 3 – "New Application" may download the "Social Security Allowance Scheme Application Form" and "Application for Social Security Allowance Guidance Notes" from SWD's website or collect them from SSFUs. The font size and format of and the information required in the application form are similar to those applicable to applications for Normal Old Age Allowance. The guidance notes will help applicants understand the content of the "Social Security Allowance Scheme Application Form" and facilitate their completion of the form.
(d) Since October 19, 2012, SWD has set up a hotline 3595 0130 (10 lines) for OALA enquiries, providing services from 8.45am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. From March 7, 2013 onwards, the number of lines has been increased to 15, with additional staff deployed to handle telephone enquiries on OALA.
From March 8, 2013 onwards, SWD has further enhanced the hotline services with a 24-hour OALA Hotline at 3142 2202. This hotline, manned by the 1823 hotline of the Efficiency Unit, assists in responding to general and straight-forward enquiries on OALA.
SWD will continue to closely monitor the situation on handling public enquiries on OALA to ensure timely follow-up.
Ends/Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Issued at HKT 11:15
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