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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (December 3):

Question:

Many national sports associations (NSAs) rely on public funding for operation and hosting sports events. However, some members of the public query some NSAs for their failure to make effective use of the funding to promote and develop sports events, resulting in a waste of public money. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the amount of public funding provided to each NSA in each of the past three years;

(b) of the principles and criteria adopted by the relevant authorities in deciding whether or not to provide funding to a NSA;

(c) whether it has formulated measures to ensure that NSAs make the best use of their funding and spend their money in a cost-effective manner; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(d) whether new measures will be devised to enhance supervision on NSAs in the use of their funding so as to promote and develop sports events more effectively; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) National Sports Associations (NSAs) mainly receive subvention from the Hong Kong Sports Development Board (HKSDB) to promote and develop sports events. Please refer to the Annex for the HKSDB's funding allocation for NSAs for the past three years.

(b) In providing subvention to the non-profit making NSAs, the HKSDB will consider whether the NSAs could meet the following criteria:

(i) registered under the Societies or Companies Ordinance with a proper constitution;

(ii) operational for at least three years;

(iii) adhering to the Code of Practice drawn up by the HKSDB; and

(iv) working within a Four-Year Development Plan accepted by the HKSDB.

(c) All NSAs in receipt of HKSDB funding will need to observe the Code of Practice established by the Board. A set of application and accounting procedures has also been established for compliance by all subvented NSAs. These requirements are published in the Handbook for NSAs. If any NSA is found in violation of these policies and procedures, funding will be suspended until the NSA rectifies the anomaly. The system of monitoring has been inspected by various bodies such as ICAC and Commission of Audit, and has found to be satisfactory.

(d) Upon the dissolution of HKSDB, Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will take over the responsibility of funding allocation to NSAs. The LCSD plans to provide one-stop service for funding allocation to National Sports Associations (NSAs) and monitoring the subvention process. LCSD and the HKSDB are now working closely with NSAs to draw up their business plan for the coming year as well as to refine future subvention procedures. The LCSD have followed Government subvention guidelines, with special emphasis on administration, accounting, sponsorship and code of conduct, and have consulted the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Department of Justice and Financial Services and Treasury Bureau to refine the subvention procedures. LCSD will set out the responsibilities of the subvented NSAs and the code of conduct they have to strictly observe. LCSD staff will attend NSAs' meetings and pay irregular visit to their sports programmes so as to evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes. Furthermore, NSAs are required to furnish LCSD with quarterly reports on their accounting and programme operation and annual audited accounts. Through the above arrangements, the supervision of NSAs in the use of subvention is expected to improve, which in turn will lead to more effective promotion of sports in HK.

Ends/Wednesday, December 3, 2003

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