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Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Kwok-che and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (October 17):
Question :
Since the one-off reduction of the maximum levels of rent allowance (MRA) under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme by 15.8 per cent in 2003, only a slight upward adjustment has been made this year. For instance, the monthly MRA for singleton has been increased from $1,265 to $1,335. Some CSSA recipients have told me that as the rent allowance is insufficient to cover the soaring rent payment (eg the monthly rent for a cubicle apartment in Sham Shui Po now costs $1,600), they have to resort to saving on food and clothing to make up for the shortfalls in rents, affecting their livelihood and health. According to a document from the Social Welfare Department (SWD) as quoted in the press, among the CSSA households receiving rent allowances, the ratio of cases of the actual rent payments being higher than the MRA has been increasing in recent years: 56.4 per cent in 2009-2010, 57.4 per cent in 2010-2011 and 60.3 per cent in 2011-2012, reflecting that the problem is acute and worsening. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it is aware of the reality that the rents of private housing are soaring and whether it has any data on the rents of cubicle apartments and sub-divided units; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the Government will review the MRA immediately so as to help the recipients cope with the pressure from rising rents; if it will, of the earliest time when it will complete the review and adjust the MRA; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) whether the Government will introduce any temporary measures during the MRA review to help the people in dire straits, such as providing extra rent allowance for them to cover the shortfalls in rent payments; if it will, of the time to implement such measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) as some CSSA recipients have pointed out that the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) on CSSA Households, which is updated by SWD only once every five years, simply cannot reflect the livelihood pressure faced by them, whether SWD will change its practice and conduct the HES annually to update the weighting system of the Social Security Assistance Index of Prices; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply :
President,
The Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme helps families in financial hardship meet basic needs. Rent allowance is payable to CSSA households for meeting accommodation expenses. The amount of the allowance is the actual rent paid by the household, or the maximum rate determined with reference to the number of members in the household who are eligible for CSSA, whichever is the less.
My reply to the Hon Cheung Kwok-che's question is as follows:
(a) Using the adjustment mechanism approved by the Legislative Council in 1998, the Government adjusts the maximum levels of the rent allowance (MRA) annually in accordance with the movement of the Consumer Price Index (A) rent index for private housing. The index is compiled by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) based on information collected through a monthly sample survey on private rented households and is used to measure the rental movements of private housing, including those of the relatively low expenditure non-CSSA households and households residing in rooms/cubicles.
The Social Welfare Department (SWD) last increased the MRA by 5.7 per cent in February 1, 2012 in accordance with the above mechanism. The prevailing MRA is set out at Annex. We will continue to monitor the situation, and adjust the MRA in accordance with the established mechanism.
(b) As at June 2012, the MRA could fully cover the actual rent paid by the majority (88%) of CSSA households.
For CSSA households living in private housing and on the waiting list either for compassionate rehousing or admission to a subvented home for the elderly, the Director of Social Welfare may exercise discretion to approve a rent allowance higher than the applicable MRA to cover the actual rent paid.
As regards short-term measures, the Community Care Fund launched an assistance programme, namely the "Subsidy for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Recipients Living in Rented Private Housing" in October 2011 to provide CSSA households living in private housing and paying a rent which exceeded the MRA under the CSSA Scheme with a one-off subsidy, so as to relieve their financial burden in face of periodic rent increase. This assistance programme is administered by SWD and each eligible one-person and two-or-more-person CSSA household is provided with a one-off subsidy of $1,000 and $2,000 respectively. About 22 500 CSSA households have benefited from this assistance programme.
(c) Standard payment rates under the CSSA Scheme are adjusted on an annual basis, taking into account inflation/deflation reflected by the Social Security Assistance Index of Prices (SSAIP), in accordance with the established adjustment mechanism. The weighting system of the SSAIP truthfully presents CSSA recipients' expenditures on individual categories of goods and services as a proportion of their total expenditures. It is compiled using data obtained from the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) on CSSA Households. Applying these weights in the calculation of the SSAIP can reflect more accurately the impact of price changes on CSSA recipients.
As in the case of the main HES, the HES on CSSA Households is conducted once every five years in order to keep track of changes in the expenditure patterns of CSSA households, including changes in consumption volume and consumption patterns. As changes in consumption volume and consumption patterns usually take place gradually over time and become relatively significant only after a long period of time, the updating of the weighting system of the SSAIP once every five years by C&SD based on the results of the HES on CSSA Households is an appropriate arrangement, and also conforms to international practices. It is also in line with the arrangement adopted by C&SD in updating the weighting system of consumer price indexes.
Ends/Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Issued at HKT 14:54
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