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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung Kin-kee and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (November 13):
Question:
The Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme (WITSS) was launched in October 2011, and enhancement measures were introduced in January 2013 to give WITSS applicants the choice of applying for the subsidy on a household or an individual basis (commonly known as the "dual track" approach). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the current number of WITSS recipients, and the respective numbers of persons receiving subsidy at full rate (i.e. $600 per month) and half rate (i.e. $300 per month) as well as the total amount of subsidy disbursed since the introduction of WITSS, with a breakdown by the District Council district to which the applicants' residential addresses belong; and how the current number of WITSS recipients compares with the number of eligible applicants (about 436 000 people) originally estimated by the Government;
(b) of the respective numbers of enquiries and complaints received by the authorities regarding WITSS since its introduction, and the contents of such enquiries and complaints;
(c) how the authorities publicised the "dual track" approach and whether they have assessed the effectiveness of the publicity work; of the existing staff establishment for implementing WITSS as well as the annual administrative cost;
(d) as public transport fares have been increasing year after year and a survey conducted by a grass-roots organisation has found that the cross-district transport costs of grass-roots workers living in the new towns are $784 per month on average, whether the authorities have reviewed the amount of transport subsidy; whether they will, in response to the increased burden of transport costs on the public, increase the amount of full-rate subsidy to $800 per month; if they will, of the specific proposal; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e) as it has been reported that the authorities, after setting the poverty line, are studying the proposal of introducing low-income subsidy for the poor families, whether the authorities have assessed the impact of such a proposal on WITSS, including whether it is necessary to revise or abolish WITSS or incorporate it into a new low-income subsidy scheme; if they have conducted such an assessment, of the details?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the Hon Frederick Fung Kin-kee's question is as follows:
(a) As at November 7, 2013, the Work Incentive Transport Subsidy (WITS) Scheme had made subsidy payment of $467.2 million to 60 110 applicants involving a gross applicant count of 116 480, including 55 812 applicants (gross count of 107 152) receiving full-rate subsidy, 1 365 applicants (gross count of 1 984) receiving half-rate subsidy, and 6 190 applicants (gross count of 7 344) receiving a mix of full-rate and half-rate subsidies in different months of the same application. [Note: As some applicants have received different subsidy rates (e.g. full-rate or half-rate) in different rounds of application, individual items do not add up to the total.] A breakdown by District Council district according to the residence of applicants is at Annex.
Before the implementation of the WITS Scheme, the number of potential beneficiaries estimated by the Administration was based on statistics of household income and working hours. However, as the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) did not have data on household asset levels, we were unable to estimate how many of them could also meet the asset limits of the Scheme. Moreover, we appreciated that whether an eligible person would apply for the subsidy depended on other personal factors. The figure estimated at the time was no more than a rough reference for funding application and was not the target number of eligible applicants.
(b) By end-October 2013, there were 143 638 enquiries on the WITS Scheme which were mostly related to the eligibility criteria and method of application for the subsidy. At the same time, the Labour Department (LD) received 37 complaints about the Scheme, and those complaints mainly involved the handling of applications.
(c) LD has extensively publicised the WITS Scheme and its "dual track" application method (i.e. applicants may apply on an individual or household basis). The means include broadcasting television and radio Announcements in the Public Interest; publishing leaflets and posters for wide distribution and display; advertising on public transports and in newspapers and publications of target organisations; displaying roadside banners for outdoor publicity; inserting promotional message in public utilities bills; and publicising in job fairs and exhibitions, etc. Individual-based applications could be submitted in July 2013 at the earliest. Up to November 7, 2013, LD received 20 166 individual-based applications and this demonstrated that the publicity effort was effective.
As at end-October 2013, the WITS Division of LD had a strength of 175 civil service and 99 non-civil service contract staff. The administration cost for the WITS Scheme in 2012-13 was $64.1 million.
(d) According to the General Household Survey (GHS) conducted by C&SD in the fourth quarter of 2012 (the latest), the average monthly expense of WITS target beneficiaries on public transport for travelling to and from work was $436, and that for those working across districts was $489. This shows that the present full-rate WITS at $600 per month should provide sufficient support to most eligible applicants. We shall continue monitoring the relevant statistics in the GHS.
(e) Based on the analysis of Hong Kong's 2012 poverty situation, we believe that the Government's poverty alleviation efforts should focus on promoting employment and support for children. We are currently seriously studying the proposals and comments received from various organisations and academics on a supplement for low income working families.
Ends/Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Issued at HKT 13:26
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