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Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Stephen Lam, in the Legislative Council today (May 30):
Question:
On May 2 this year, this Council resumed the Second Reading debate on the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012 (the Bill) introduced by the Government. A Member has proposed over 1 000 Committee stage amendments (CSAs) to the Bill. Some Members and members of the public have pointed out that such a move has caused difficulties in handling the CSAs and has substantially extended the meeting time of the Legislative Council (LegCo) in handling these CSAs, thereby affecting LegCo in handling other bills and livelihood issues, and even paralysing the operation of the Legislature. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the general procedures according to which the authorities had handled each CSA proposed by LegCo Members in the past three years; of the average manpower, operating expenses and working hours involved;
(b) of the manpower, operating expenses and working hours involved in handling the aforesaid 1 000-odd CSAs by the authorities;
(c) whether the authorities have assessed the number of items, which the Government has originally planned to propose for discussion by LegCo panels, bills committees and subcommittees, had been delayed because it was necessary to handle the aforesaid CSAs at LegCo meetings; of the additional manpower the authorities needed to deploy due to such delay, as well as the operating expenses and working hours involved; and
(d) whether the authorities have assessed the additional amount of public money involved for handling those 1 000-odd CSAs; whether the authorities will consider taking appropriate measures (e.g. introducing bills into LegCo as early as possible) in the future to enable LegCo to have sufficient time to scrutinise and vote on bills?
Reply:
President,
(a) As a general practice, upon receipt of a committee stage amendment (CSA) to a bill as proposed by a Member, the Legislative Council (LegCo) Secretariat will consult the bureau concerned, so that the LegCo President can take the views of the bureau into account when considering whether to approve the proposed CSA. The bureau concerned has to offer advice within a short period of time on whether the proposed CSA complies with the requirements of the Rules of Procedure of LegCo, including whether the CSA is relevant to the subject matter of the bill; whether the object or effect of the CSA will dispose of or charge any part of the revenue or other public moneys, etc. The bureau would need to consult the Department of Justice and, depending on circumstances, also consult other bureaux/departments before rendering advice. If the proposed CSA is approved by the President, the Director of Bureau and officials concerned also need to participate in the debate in scrutinising and voting on the CSAs at the relevant Council meeting. As Members may propose more than one CSA to a bill, in the case where a large number of CSAs are proposed, the policy bureau and departments concerned have to make appropriate arrangements in terms of manpower and resources for handling the CSAs.
In general, policy bureaux do not compile any statistics or keep any records on the manpower, operating expenses or working hours engaged in handling CSAs proposed by Members. The Administration is, therefore, not in a position to provide the information requested.
(b) In the case of the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012, the CSAs proposed by Members are mainly handled by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) and the Department of Justice with their respective resources. Due to the wide range of scope of the CSAs proposed, the Administration cannot provide a general quantification of the manpower, operating expenses and working hours required for processing the CSAs.
(c) The Administration does not keep any statistics in relation to the number of normal agenda items of LegCo panels, bills committees and subcommittees that have been affected as a result of the processing of the CSAs to the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012. Nor does the Administration keep any statistics relating to the additional manpower, operating expenses and working hours so incurred.
Nevertheless, according to the information available on the LegCo website, during the period between May 2, 2012 (i.e. the date on which the Second Reading debate on the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012 was resumed) and May 25, 2012, meetings of 18 panels, bills committees and subcommittees scheduled to be held on the same dates as those of the extended Council meetings were rescheduled or cancelled subsequently.
(d) As explained in (b) above, the Administration cannot provide a general quantification of the additional operating expenses incurred for processing the CSAs moved by Members to the Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012. It has been the practice of the Administration that wherever practicable, the Administration will introduce bills as early as possible to allow Members sufficient time to scrutinise the bills. The Administration will continue with this practice in future.
Ends/Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Issued at HKT 13:30
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