************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Raymond Wong, in the absence of Secretary for the Civil Service in the Legislative Council today (October 9):
Question:
Some disciplined services staff have relayed to me recently that quite a number of disciplined services staff had applied for public rental housing (PRH) flats under the Civil Service Public Housing Quota Scheme before they retired but had yet to be allocated a PRH flat when they formally retired, and were thus unable to move out from the married quarters for disciplined services staff (married quarters). The situation has seriously slowed down the turnover of married quarters, resulting in lengthening of the waiting time for serving disciplined services staff to move in such quarters. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of serving disciplined services staff who had applied for married quarters, and the number of retired/retiring disciplined services staff who had applied for a PRH flat under the Civil Service Public Housing Quota Scheme as at September 1 this year; of the respective average waiting time for these two types of applications;
(b) of the number of retired disciplined services staff living in married quarters as at September 1 this year; why they have yet to move out from such quarters; of the anticipated number of retired disciplined services staff who will need to stay in married quarters in the coming three years because they have not been allocated a PRH flat; and
(c) given the keen demand for PRH flats by retired disciplined services staff, whether the authorities have studied how to solve the problem; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Civil Service Public Housing Quota Scheme (CSPHQ), introduced in 1961, aims to provide better opportunities for allocation of public rental housing (PRH) to junior civil servants with lower income and rank and file officers of the Disciplined Services Departments (DSDs). The scheme is not part of their terms of appointment, nor is it an in-service or retirement benefit prescribed under their conditions of service.
Separately, disciplined services quarters are provided by the relevant DSDs for their married officers, in accordance with established government policies and subject to the availability of resources. However, these quarters do not constitute a benefit under the conditions of service for the DSD officers concerned.
Currently, departmental quarters of the DSDs are mainly provided for their serving married officers. The eligibility of these officers to departmental quarters lapses on the date of their leaving the service or commencement of pre-retirement leave. Officers residing in departmental quarters are required to return the quarters to their respective departments within two months. If an officer is unable to move out within the specified period, the head of department may consider exercising discretion to extend the period by a month, depending on whether the case is well justified. Besides, an officer who has applied for CSPHQ may be allowed to stay in the quarters while his application is being processed. However, he would be required to vacate his quarters within two months of the announcement of application results, regardless of whether his application had been successful.
My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows, seriatim;
(a) According to the information provided by the Security Bureau, as at September 1, 2013, the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), Fire Services Department (FSD), Correctional Services Department (CSD), Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), Government Flying Service (GFS) and Immigration Department (ImmD) had received a total of 12,127 applications for married quarters during this year.
In line with the established policy, the Government provides married personnel of DSDs with quarters, subject to the availability of resources. However, it is not a condition of service. DSD personnel can apply for quarters units according to their eligibility. To facilitate allocation, the heads of DSDs would formulate a quartering point system for determining the priority in allocating the quarters. The system in general takes into account the applicant's rank, seniority, number of children, the unit applied for and other factors. Each DSD conducts several quarters allocation exercises each year. On average, it takes around one to three months for an applicant to be allocated a unit after the submission of application in each exercise.
As for the CSPHQ, in the past two years (i.e. 2011/2012 and 2012/2013) the Housing Department (HD) has received 77 and 207 applications, respectively, from DSD retirees. It has also received 186 and 271 applications, respectively, from retiring officers (i.e. those are going to retire or commence pre-retirement leave within 6 months of the closing date for applications) in the DSDs. In line with the established rules, DSD retiring officers/retirees living in departmental quarters are given priority in processing. According to past experience, the processing of their applications can be completed within eight months at the earliest, but the actual time of their moving into the PRHs may vary with circumstances, such as whether the successful applicant accepts the unit offered by the HD and the number of units available in the housing estate of his preference.
(b) According to the information provided by the Security Bureau, as at September 1, 2013, 404 DSD retirees from the HKPF, FSD, CSD, C&ED, GFS and ImmD were residing in the married departmental quarters of the DSDs.
Since the family circumstances and individual preferences may vary from one person to another, different DSD officers may have different plans and preparations to cater for their retirement, including accommodation after retirement. Hence, it is not possible to predict the number of DSD retirees who will need to stay in disciplined services married quarters in the coming three years. The departments concerned will continue to observe and follow the regulations and guidelines regarding the return of departmental quarters upon retirement.
(c) The Government is committed to the overall well-being of civil servants. Over the years, in appreciation of the aspirations of colleagues for assistance in housing and accommodation, Government has introduced various housing benefit schemes and improvement measures, apart from the implementation of the CSPHQ. These include the Home Purchase Scheme, Housing Loan Scheme and Non-accountable Cash Allowance.
On the question of provision of PRH for DSD retirees, as pointed out above, the CSPHQ is not part of the terms of appointment of the officers concerned, nor is it an in-service or retirement benefit under their conditions of service. Moreover, the existing retirement benefits provided by the Government for civil servants are confined to medical services and pensions/provident fund. Nonetheless, we will continue to work with colleagues to improve the operation of the CSPHQ so as to enhance efficiency and to optimise the utilization of the limited resources.
Ends/Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:10
NNNN
