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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, to a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-kin on elderly CSSA applications in the Legislative Council today (October 29):
Question:
At present, the Social Welfare Department takes into account the total income and assets of applicants and their family members in vetting and approving applications for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA"). For those elderly people who live with family members but wish to apply for CSSA on their own, their family members are required to make a statement on non-provision of financial support. Some elderly people have expressed that this requirement has made them feel bad and affected their relationship with family members. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of elderly CSSA applications which were rejected over the past three years on grounds of the applicant's failure to provide the above statement;
(b) whether it will remove the requirement for elderly people living with family members and applying for CSSA on their own to submit the above statement; if it will not, of the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it will review the existing eligibility criteria for and the amounts of assistance provided to elderly CSSA applicants, as well as the coverage of and the application procedure for special grants, so that the elderly will have a more comprehensive protection?
Reply:
President,
The Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme is designed to bring the income of families and individuals who cannot support themselves financially up to a prescribed level to meet their basic needs. It is a non-contributory social security scheme funded entirely by the general revenue. Since it involves a very large amount of public funds, we must act with prudence and caution to ensure the sustainability of this safety net.
CSSA applicants living with their families are required to apply on a household basis since families constitute the core units of our community. Members of the same family should render assistance and support to each other. The income-earners should take up the responsibility of supporting their family members who have no financial means.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has not maintained statistics on elderly CSSA applications which were not approved over the past three years on grounds of the applicants' failure to provide a declaration on their financial situation.
(b) The CSSA scheme is non-contributory and applicants are subject to income tests. The provision of a declaration by CSSA applicants on their financial situation is only for verifying whether they have other sources of income such as contributions from their children.
Under special circumstances, for example, when elderly applicants have poor relationship with their family members or there are special reasons that their children cannot provide support to them, SWD will consider such circumstances on a case-by-case basis and may allow an elderly person in need to apply for CSSA on his/her own. When necessary, our staff will refer such cases to social workers for follow-up action and appropriate assistance. All elderly people who apply for CSSA on their own must submit the declaration regardless of whether they are living with their family members. This is to ensure that the CSSA payments are provided to families and individuals with genuine financial difficulties.
(c) Under the CSSA scheme, the asset limit for an elderly is already higher than that of an able-bodied adult. The value of an owner-occupied residential property is totally disregarded for cases where there is any elderly member. In addition, the CSSA Scheme also takes care of the special needs of the elderly through the provision of higher standard rates, special grants and supplements. For example :
(i) the CSSA scheme provides higher standard rates for the elderly (defined as people aged 60 or above) than for able-bodied adults with the rates of payment ranging from a minimum of $2,335 to a maximum of $4,220 per month per person depending on the circumstances of the elderly recipients;
(ii) elderly recipients are entitled to other special grants to meet their special needs, such as glasses, dental treatment, removal expenses, burial grants, fares to and from hospital/clinic, costs of medically recommended diets and costs of medical and rehabilitation appliances; and
(iii) families with elderly recipients are entitled to receive an annual long-term supplement for the replacement of household and durable goods if they have received assistance continuously for 12 months or more.
At present, the average monthly CSSA payment for a singleton elderly recipient is $3,875.
We consider that the existing CSSA Scheme has been providing an effective safety net to meet the basic needs of the elderly people who cannot support themselves financially.
Ends/Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:10
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