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LCQ12: Policy on and support for homeless people
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     Following is a question by the Hon Leung Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, in the Legislative Council today (May 2):
 
Question:
 
     The findings of some surveys have shown that the number of homeless people increased from 1 414 in 2013 to 1 614 in 2015.  There were 57, 256 and 384 homeless people in 2013, 2015 and 2017 respectively who stayed overnight in fast food restaurants operating 24 hours a day, showing an upward trend in such numbers in recent years.  However, the number of homeless people as recorded by the computerised registry of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) as at February 2018 was only 1 091.  Some members of the social welfare sector have pointed out that the Government has failed to put in place a homeless-friendly policy, and the existing measures are not conducive to helping homeless people overcome their difficulties and reducing the number of homeless people.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of homeless people in each of the past five years, with a tabulated breakdown by (i) their gender, (ii) the age group to which they belonged, (iii) for how long they had been sleeping outdoors, (iv) the reason(s) for them to sleep outdoors, (v) the location where they slept outdoors and (vi) the District Council district to which such location belonged, as well as the latest number of homeless people who currently stay overnight in fast food restaurants operating 24 hours a day and the criteria adopted in the surveys; if such figures are unavailable, of the reasons for that, and whether it will consider compiling such statistics; whether it will consider streamlining SWD’s current procedure for registering homeless people, and reviewing the criteria adopted for the registration and surveys concerned, so that the data collected can more accurately reflect the number of homeless people; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(2) whether SWD will review and improve the approaches adopted for compiling statistics on the number of homeless people, and include people residing in urban hostels for single persons and temporary shelters (hostels/shelters) in the relevant statistics; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(3) as currently there are only a total of 640 accommodation places which are subvented by SWD or offered by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on a self-financing basis, and such number is far below the actual number of homeless people, whether the Government will consider increasing the number of accommodation places; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(4) whether the Government has studied the reasons why some homeless people (i) are reluctant to move into the hostels/shelters, and (ii) have reverted to sleeping outdoors after living in the hostels/shelters for a period of time; if not, whether it will conduct such a study; if it has studied, of the reasons for homeless people's reluctance to move in and for checking out from the hostels/shelters (whether such reasons include the poor hygiene conditions inside and outside the hostels/shelters as well as air conditioning not being provided in such hostels/shelters), and a breakdown, by the reason for checking out, of the number of people who checked out from such hostels/shelters in each of the past five years; whether the Government will conduct a comprehensive review on the effectiveness of the hostels/shelters and take improvement measures (including improving the hygiene conditions of the hostels/shelters); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(5) in respect of the homeless people who stayed in each hostel/shelter in each of the past three years, of (i) their respective average, shortest and longest periods of stay, and (ii) a breakdown on the number of such people by the number of months for which they had stayed in the hostel/shelter; whether the Government will consider extending the six-month maximum period for staying in hostels/shelters; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(6) whether it will consider providing additional hostels for the female homeless people; if so, of the details (including the locations of and the numbers of places in such hostels as well as the implementation timetable); if not, the reasons for that;
 
(7) of the respective numbers of operations of removing the property of homeless people placed at public places which were carried out in each of the past five years by the government departments concerned (i) with and (ii) without prior notices; whether it will formulate policies, enact legislation and establish mechanisms for protecting the personal property of homeless people (including a mechanism for homeless people to reclaim their property); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(8) as currently there are only three integrated services teams operated by NGOs that provide services for homeless people, whether the Government will consider allocating additional resources to expand such services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(9) whether the Government will consider (i) conducting a comprehensive study on the reasons for homeless people to sleep outdoors, and (ii) conducting a comprehensive review on the existing policies and measures as well as drawing reference from overseas practices, so as to draw up a comprehensive policy on and service guidelines for homeless people; if so, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will consider setting up a dedicated department to deal with matters relating to homeless people; if so, of the details (including the scope of work and staff establishment of such department and the implementation timetable); if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     After consulting the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) and the Food and Health Bureau (FHB), my consolidated reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
 
(1) & (2) The Social Welfare Department (SWD) has been collecting information of street sleepers in Hong Kong through its units and the four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that serve street sleepers.  The information concerned will be input into the SWD's Street Sleepers Registry (the Registry) with periodic updates.
 
     The total numbers of street sleepers registered in the Registry in the past five years, by gender, age group, duration of street sleeping and reason of street sleeping, are set out in Tables 1 to 4 at Annex.  As regards the number of registered street sleepers by location of street sleeping, the SWD has the relevant information only for 2017-18 (Table 5 at Annex), of which the field of "Others" has included the number of registered street sleepers staying in 24-hour fast food restaurants.  The SWD has not compiled the information on which District Council districts the street sleeping points are located.  At present, the SWD has no plan to change the Registry's registration procedures and statistical standards, but will continue to closely monitor the situation of street sleepers and conduct professional assessments through social workers in order to continuously upload information onto the Registry, and review the methods for collecting data from time to time to ensure the data accuracy.
 
     For those staying in urban hostels for single persons and emergency shelters (hostels/shelters), social workers will not de-register them from the Registry unless it has been confirmed that they have quit street sleeping.  If the de-registered cases resume street sleeping, social workers have to re-register the cases in the Registry so that the Registry would keep the most updated data.
 
(3) To address the emergency and short-term accommodation needs of street sleepers, the SWD subsidises six NGOs to operate hostels/shelters.  In 2016-17, the SWD provided 20 additional subvented hostels/shelters places, increasing the total number of subvented places to 222.  Taking into account the 418 places provided by 11 hostels operated by other NGOs on a self-financing basis, there are a total of 640 subvented/self-financed places providing over-night or temporary accommodation for street sleepers.
 
     As at the third quarter of 2017-18, the average utilisation rate of subvented hostels was about 80 per cent.  Therefore, the SWD has no plan to increase the number of places for the time being.  However, the SWD will, in response to changes in social circumstances, closely monitor the supply and demand of places and conduct service planning regularly.
 
(4) The SWD does not have available information on the reasons for street sleepers being reluctant to move into hostels/shelters or for them to resume street sleeping after staying at hostels/shelters for a certain period of time.  The SWD has no plan to conduct any such study or review, but will continue to monitor the performance of all subvented service operators in accordance with the requirements stipulated under the Funding and Service Agreement, so as to ensure that their services meet the standards.  In addition, NGOs may, when necessary, apply for the Lotteries Fund to meet the non-recurrent expenses incurred for environment improvement measures.
 
(5) In respect of the service users staying in each hostel/shelter, the SWD does not have available information on their respective average, shortest and longest periods of stay, or a breakdown of the number of such service users by the number of months for which they have stayed in the hostel/shelter.
 
     Since the service objective of the above hostels/shelters is to provide transitional placements to assist street sleepers' transition to long-term accommodation arrangements, the maximum period of stay is normally six months.  However, the social workers responsible may consider extending the service users' period of stay in accordance with the needs of individual cases.  According to the Funding and Service Agreement of subvented hostels, a hostel can flexibly extend about half of its service users' duration of stay, so that they can carry out their long-term accommodation plans smoothly.
 
(6) Among the 20 subvented hostels/shelters places increased by the SWD in 2016-17, five are female places situated in West Kowloon, increasing the number of subvented female places to 31. Together with the 132 female places provided by other NGOs on a self-financing basis, there are a total of 163 female places.  As at 2017-18, the number of female street sleepers was 104.  The SWD will closely monitor the relevant supply and demand condition, and will conduct service planning regularly.
 
(7) The HAB and the FHB advised that, to deal with problems as arising from unlawful occupation of Government land by street sleepers or the environmental hygiene of street sleeping locations, etc, the relevant departments (including the respective District Offices, District Lands Offices and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department) will conduct inter-departmental joint operations when necessary, so as to improve the situation.
 
     The relevant departments will post notices at prominent positions prior to the joint operations, so as to inform street sleepers of the date and time of the relevant operations, and require street sleepers to cease the unlawful occupation of Government land and remove their personal belongings before a deadline.  The relevant departments will also deploy staff to remind street sleepers of the joint operation at least one day in advance.  In the morning of the operation day, the relevant departments will designate an area for street sleepers to dispose of their articles.  After the street sleepers have left, the relevant departments will, in accordance with their respective purviews, clear the illegal structures, clean up the public places, and clear the articles voluntarily discarded by street sleepers.  Any valuable items (such as purses or identity documents), if found by the cleaning staff, will be passed to the Police immediately for handling.
 
     The Government has not compiled the number of inter-departmental joint operations in the past five years.
 
(8)  At present, apart from the three Integrated Services Teams for Street Sleepers (ISTs) operated by NGOs providing services to street sleepers, there is another NGO assisting the vulnerable groups (including street sleepers) in West Kowloon to reintegrate into society, through outreaching service, case counselling, groups service and support service.  Besides, the 65 Integrated Family Service Centres and the two Integrated Services Centres operated by the SWD or NGOs also provide outreaching, counselling, crisis intervention, enquiry and referral services (including short-term accommodation) etc.  Therefore, the SWD has no plan to allocate additional resources to expand the ISTs' services, but will, in response to changes in social circumstances, closely monitor the supply and demand of places and conduct service planning regularly. 
 
(9)  Street sleeping is a complex social problem, involving various policy bureaux and departments. Various Government departments and service units in districts have been collaborating closely to support street sleepers and improve their motivation for receiving support, with the hope to encourage them to quit street sleeping as soon as possible.
 
     The SWD and some NGOs provide appropriate assistance to street sleepers, including, providing annual resources to various ISTs as emergency fund for eligible service users to pay for various expenses; referring needy persons to apply for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, or arranging them to apply for charitable/trust funds; as well as subsidising NGOs to operate hostels/shelters to cater the emergency and short-term accommodation needs of street sleepers.
 
     On medical services, needy street sleepers can use various medical and mental health services under the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health.
 
     The Government will continue to closely monitor the situation of street sleepers and take appropriate measures in response to the changing service demands.
 
Ends/Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Issued at HKT 16:50
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