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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The delegation of the Legislative Council Subcommittee to Study the Subject of Combating Poverty last Friday (September 21) ended its six-day overseas duty visit to Spain and the United Kingdom (UK).
During its stay in the UK, last stop of the duty visit, the delegation visited the Furniture Resource (FRC) Group in Liverpool on September 20. FRC is a major social enterprise with business activities covering design, manufacturing, collection, selling and delivering furniture in Liverpool and other parts of England. The delegation met Cr Waren Bradley (Leader of Liverpool City), Professor Erik Richard and Professor Adrian Henriques of Salford University as well as key staff members of FRC Group to exchange views on ways to foster the development and sustainability of the social enterprises. The delegation also visited Bulky Bob's business (a furniture recycling company of FRC Group) in operation.
On September 21, the delegation met Ms Stephanie Dickinson from Employment Division, Work, Welfare and Equality Group, Department for Work and Pensions, and Ms Hilary Norman, Deputy Director of Social Enterprise and Finance, Office of the Third Sector under the Cabinet Office to receive briefings on policies and measures to promote social enterprise development.
The four-member delegation was led by Hon Frederick Fung Kin-kee, Chairman of the Subcommittee. Other members were Hon Leung Yiu-chung, Hon Leung Kwok-hung and Dr Hon Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung.
Ends/Monday, September 24, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:54
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