LCQ9: Provision of sports facilities
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Question:
While the Government has indicated that it has all along been committed to promoting "Sports for All", there are views pointing out that there has been a persistent short supply of sports venues of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), and in particular, popular sports facilities such as badminton courts and basketball courts are in high demand. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective usage rates of the LCSD's major sports facilities in various districts during peak hours (i.e. at or after 6pm from Mondays to Fridays, and any time on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) in the past three years;
(2) whether the LCSD has short, medium and long-term plans in place to increase the number of sports facilities in the community to encourage more members of the public to participate in sports; if so, of the plans; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) given that the Government launched the "Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme" (the Scheme) in 2017 to encourage schools to open up their school facilities for leasing to sports organisations, of the implementation situation of the Scheme in the past year, including the number of schools participating in the Scheme, the total number of occasions in which and duration for which the facilities were leased out, as well as the total amount of subsidies disbursed; and
(4) as there are views that at present, the Scheme is exclusively available for facility rentals by specific sports organisations and limits its ability to benefit more members of the public, whether the Government will gradually open up the eligibility criteria of the Scheme to allow more community groups (e.g. District Council members and the District Services and Community Care Teams) to use the facilities, as well as study the feasibility of opening up school facilities for booking by members of the public through the LCSD's intelligent sports and recreation services booking and information system "SmartPLAY", thereby increasing the provision of sports venues in various districts in the long run; if so, of the specific plan and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
In consultation with the Education Bureau, the reply to the questions raised by the Hon Chan Yuet-ming is as follows:
(1) The usage rate of major land-based sports facilities under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) during peak hours in the past three years are at Annex 1.
(2) To encourage broader public participation in sports, the LCSD has been adopting a multi-pronged approach to enhance different types of sports and recreation facilities to promote sports development.
The LCSD is actively implementing the five-year plan for upgrading football pitches to provide more football pitches meeting international standards. As at end-April 2025, out of the 61 works projects commenced, 59 were completed. The LCSD will continue to work with relevant works departments to conduct technical feasibility study for other improvement projects for gradual implementation with a view to promoting the development of football in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the LCSD is implementing the Five-Year Plan for Sports and Recreation Facilities and the 10-Year Development Blueprint for Sports and Recreation Facilities, which include 41 works projects. So far, out of the 25 projects commenced, 13 have been completed or partially completed. In addition, technical feasibility studies for 16 projects have been completed or are in preparation. We are reviewing the order of priority of the works projects under planning with a view to using the public resources more effectively to plan for new sports and recreation facilities and improve existing ones continuously.
Besides, the LCSD plans and takes forward works projects in collaboration with other government departments to increase and improve existing sports and recreation facilities. For instance, the re-provisioned skateboard ground at the On Lok Mun Street Playground in Fanling, which opened in April 2025, has been upgraded to meet the relevant international standards.
The LCSD will continue to increase and improve sports and recreation facilities with a view to meeting the demand of the public and fostering a strong sporting culture.
(3) The data for the "Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme" is as follows:
| 2023/24 school year | |
| Number of participating schools | 225 |
| Number of schools paired with sports organisations | 116 |
| Number of programmes | 535 |
| Total duration of programmes (Note) | 12 840 hours |
| Total amount of subsidies disbursed | $15.56 million |
(4) The Government encourages schools to open up their facilities for outside sports organisations to hold sports programmes after school hours through the "Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme". To ensure that the sports organisations have the capability to effectively conduct sports programmes at schools, the Scheme is currently opened for National Sports Associations recognised by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and their affiliated club members, district sports associations, and sports organisations subvented by the LCSD. Other organisations that are interested in participating in the Scheme and meeting the specific criteria (see Annex 2) may also apply to the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau for participation.
The main purpose of school premises is for students to learn and engage in extracurricular activities. Opening up school facilities to all organisations and/or members of the public would involve complicated administrative arrangements. In addition to management, security, health, and liability insurance concerns, many schools are concerned about the additional costs arising from opening up school facilities. The Education Bureau has been encouraging schools to assume social responsibility by opening up, as far as practical, their school facilities and premises to public groups. However, given that the education sector remains conservative about opening up school facilities to all organisations and/or members of the public, the Government has no plan to open up school facilities to all organisations and/or members of the public for direct bookings at this stage.
Ends/Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Issued at HKT 14:16
Issued at HKT 14:16
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