LCQ6: Restriction on height above the ground floor imposed on residential care homes for the elderly
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     Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kwok-fan and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, in the Legislative Council today (May 2):
 
Question:
 
     Section 20 of the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Regulation (Cap. 459 sub. leg. A) stipulates that no part of a residential care home for the elderly (RCHE) shall be situated at a height more than 24 metres above the ground floor.  Some members of the public have pointed out that with the population of Hong Kong ageing continuously, the problem of a shortage of RCHE places has become more acute in recent years, but the aforesaid provision has hindered the supply of RCHE places.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) as the aforesaid provision stipulates that the Director of Social Welfare may, by notice in writing served on an RCHE operator, authorise that any part of such RCHE may be exempted from the provision, whether the Director granted such authorisation in the past ten years; if so, of the reasons for granting such authorisation and other details;

(2) whether the existing legislation has imposed restrictions on height above the ground floor on other buildings with relatively more elderly persons staying overnight (e.g. hospitals); if not, of the reasons for that;

(3) as it has been mentioned in this year's Budget that the Government will pursue a "single site, multiple use" model in multi-storey developments on "Government, Institution or Community" sites, whether the Government will grant authorisation to exempt across the board RCHEs located at mixed-use high-rise buildings from the provision; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(4) whether it will expeditiously amend the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Regulation to relax the restriction on height above the ground floor imposed on RCHEs; if so, of the details and the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     Residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) are regulated under the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance.  According to section 20(1) of the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Regulation (the Regulation), subject to section 20(2), no part of an RCHE shall be situated at a height more than 24 metres above the ground floor.  This requirement is safety considerations for elderly residents.  As at the end of March 2018, there were 734 RCHEs in Hong Kong, amongst which 726 were care-and-attention homes.  Many of the elderly residents therein are wheelchair-bound or even bed-ridden.  In the event of fire or other emergencies, they need extensive assistance to escape.  Furthermore, the difficulties of fire personnel and other rescue teams in evacuating a large number of frail elderly persons with mobility problems to the ground floor cannot be neglected.  Therefore, stipulating a height restriction for RCHEs helps protect the safety of elderly persons in the event of fire or other emergencies, and can effectively shorten the time for fire personnel to rescue or evacuate residents.  My reply to the Member's question is as follows:

(1) Under section 20(2) of the Regulation, the Director of Social Welfare may by notice in writing served on an operator authorise that any part of such RCHE may be situated at a height more than 24 metres above the ground floor as may be indicated in the notice.  In the past ten years, the Social Welfare Department has not received any applications made pursuant to the above provision.

(2) At present, the height of hospitals is not subject to any restrictions under prevailing legislation.  As hospitals are normally situated in stand-alone and purpose-built premises, with the facilities within the whole building under a single management, and where the fire-resisting construction, design of the means of escape, as well as fire services installations and equipment, etc. of the premises must comply with relevant requirements, the spread of fire and smoke can be effectively controlled.  Hospital patients can also be evacuated temporarily to other locations of the same floor not affected by a fire.

(3) and (4) The 2018-19 Budget announced that the Government will pursue the "single site, multiple use" model in multi-storey developments on "Government, Institution or Community" sites.  In planning multi-purpose complexes, the Government will place RCHEs on storeys not exceeding 24 metres above the ground floor, while placing other service units or facilities without similar height restrictions on higher storeys, so as to optimise land use.
 
     As mentioned above, stipulating a height restriction for RCHEs helps protect the safety of elderly persons in the event of fire or other emergencies, and can effectively shorten the time for fire personnel to rescue or evacuate them.  As the height restriction on RCHEs involves safety considerations, whether the requirement should be relaxed has to be carefully studied.  At the same time, the Government will continue to increase subsidised residential care places for the elderly under a multi-pronged approach.

Ends/Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:50

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