Police today (April 3) appealed to the public for information on a woman who went missing in Sau Mau Ping. Wong Hoi-ling, aged 23, went missing after she was last seen in Upper Ngau … read more
Following is a question by the Hon Shiu Ka-chun and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, in the Legislative Council today (April 3):
Question:
Currently, persons in custody (PICs) may make applications for early release under the “Release under Supervision Scheme” and the “Pre-release Employment Scheme” provided for in the Prisoners (Release under Supervision) Ordinance (Cap 325). The recommendations made by the Release under Supervision Board (the Board) after consideration of such applications are submitted to the Secretary for Security for his decision by exercising the powers delegated to him by the Chief Executive under Cap 325. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of applications for early release made under the two aforesaid schemes by PICs which were rejected in each of the past five years, together with the reasons;
(2) as some PICs alleged that staff members of the Correctional Services Department had, on various grounds, withheld their applications for early release which were intended to be submitted to the Chief Executive through the Board, whether the various correctional institutions have currently kept written records of the early-release applications submitted by PICs, so as to safeguard PICs’ rights and interests; and
(3) as PICs must have secured employment before they may apply for early release under the Pre-release Employment Scheme, of the policies and measures currently put in place to encourage employers to offer jobs for PICs?
Reply:
President,
Persons in custody (PICs) may apply for release from prison under supervision under the Release under Supervision Scheme and the Pre-release Employment Scheme provided for in the Prisoners (Release under Supervision) Ordinance (Cap 325) (the Ordinance). Any PIC who is serving a determinate sentence of imprisonment of three years or more and has served not less than half or 20 months of that sentence (whichever is longer) may apply for early release under the Release under Supervision Scheme. Any PIC who is serving a determinate sentence of imprisonment of two years or more and is within six months prior to the earliest date of discharge may apply for early release under the Pre-release Employment Scheme. Both schemes aim at facilitating PICs’ early reintegration into society as law-abiding citizens.
The Release under Supervision Board (the Board), established pursuant to the Ordinance, considers applications made by PICs under the two schemes and makes recommendations. Recommendations made by the Board are submitted to the Secretary for Security, who may make decisions by exercising the powers delegated to him by the Chief Executive under the Ordinance.
My reply to the various parts of the Hon Shiu’s question is as follows:
(1) The numbers of applications considered and rejected under the two schemes between 2014 and 2018 are detailed at Annex.
The Board must consider every application in accordance with the procedures and criteria stipulated by the relevant legal provisions. For instance, the Board shall, pursuant to Schedule 1 of the Prisoners (Release under Supervision) Regulations (Cap 325A) (the Regulations), examine the reports of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) and the Police Force, the reports prepared for the court of trial to assist the judge in determining sentence, as well as the medical reports on the applicant. Furthermore, before it considers an applicant’s case, the Board shall, pursuant to the Regulations, inform the applicant in writing of the right to make written representations to the Board for consideration. The Board shall also consider factors listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations, such as the applicant’s criminal record, his conduct in prison, his ability and readiness to assume obligations and to undertake responsibilities, etc.
The main reasons for rejection of applications include – it is unlikely that the applicant will comply with the conditions of his supervision order; early release and making of a supervision order in respect of the applicant would be inappropriate having regard to the gravity of the offence he committed; and continuing training in a correctional institution would substantially enhance the capacity of the applicant to lead a law-abiding life if he were released at a later time.
(2) The head of a correctional institution will refer PICs’ application documents in relation to the Release under Supervision Scheme or the Pre-release Employment Scheme to the Board through CSD’s Post-Release Supervision Office. All relevant documents will be recorded in writing. Upon receipt of an application, the Secretariat of the Board will inform the applicant in writing through CSD of his application number and his right to make written representations to the Board.
(3) Post-release employment is conducive to PICs’ positive change and reintegration into society. Therefore, CSD proactively encourages employers in the business sector to register as “Caring Employers” and offer jobs to rehabilitated persons. At the request of employers, CSD will endeavour to make arrangements for employers or their representatives to conduct job interviews with PICs in correctional institutions or in the form of video-conference or tele-conference. Job vacancies in various trades are displayed in correctional institutions regularly through different means. As at end of 2018, over 700 organisations have registered as “Caring Employers” and offered 2 319 jobs to rehabilitated persons, whereas 1 450 job applications have been received and referred by CSD, amongst which 635 rehabilitated persons have been promised a job by the employers.
Besides, CSD organises the “Employment Symposium for Rehabilitated Offenders” in collaboration with a tertiary education institution in Hong Kong biennially, appealing to employers to provide fair employment opportunities for rehabilitated persons and commending “Caring Employers” who have offered job opportunities to rehabilitated persons.
Apart from encouraging employers to employ rehabilitated persons, CSD has also provided market-oriented vocational training and education to PICs. In recent years, CSD has collaborated with various training bodies (such as the Employees Retraining Board, the Construction Industry Council and the Vocational Training Council), having regard to local market situation, to provide over 40 full-time and part-time vocational training courses every year. CSD will also, taking into account the overall employment market situation and labour demand, review the content of the vocational training courses from time to time, as well as make adjustments in the light of the employment rate of individual trade and the response of PICs. Besides, CSD will regularly join hands with the trades to conduct reviews and introduce various new courses, and make use of the employment follow-up service provided by the training bodies to keep abreast of market changes and the post-release employment situation of the trainees, so as to continue to enhance the vocational training programme. read more
Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kwok-fan and a reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, in the Legislative Council today (April 3):
Question:
It has been reported that there are currently quite a number of government properties located in the urban areas which have, for years, been left vacant or put to temporary uses only, which appears to be a waste of precious land resources. For instance, the former Mong Kok Market has all along been used for temporary storage only since it was closed nine years ago. On the other hand, non-government organizations currently may apply for lease of certain vacant government sites under short-term tenancies (STTs) for community, institutional or other non-profit-making uses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the address and gross floor area of each government property in the urban area which is currently vacant or used for temporary storage and has a gross floor area of over 1 000 square feet, as well as the duration for which the property has been left in such a state (set out such information in a table); given that the Government has proposed in the Budget of this financial year an allocation of $20 billion for the purchase of 60 properties for the provision of additional welfare facilities, whether the Government had considered using the government properties just mentioned for welfare facilities before it made such a proposal; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) whether, in the long run, the Government has plans to convert the government properties mentioned in (1) to welfare, transitional housing or other public uses, so as to put them to optimal uses; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) of the respective numbers of applications for lease of vacant government sites under STTs received and approved by the Government so far; the average processing time for each approved application, and whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the relevant measures; if so, of the details?
Reply:
Acting President,
Government properties are primarily used as offices for government departments and for the provision of public services. Departments responsible for the management of the properties should ensure that the properties are put to optimal use. When the properties become surplus to their operational needs, the managing departments should release the properties for use by other government departments, lease out the properties through commercialisation or open the properties for use by non-government organisations (NGOs) in accordance with the established mechanism.
Having consulted the Development Bureau (DEVB), Education Bureau (EDB), Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB), Government Property Agency (GPA) and Housing Department (HD), the consolidated reply of the Government to the three parts of the question is as follows:
(1) and (2) Vacant government properties can be broadly classified into school premises and non-school premises.
According to the information from EDB, as at end-February 2019, there were five vacant school premises (VSP) under EDB’s purview which were government premises located in urban areas. These VSP are earmarked or retained for school or other educational uses. Information on the address, site area and the year of ceasing operation of these VSP is set out in Annex I. Under the prevailing central clearing house mechanism in handling VSP, once EDB confirms that the VSP are no longer required by EDB for reallocation for school use, EDB would inform the Planning Department (PlanD) and other relevant departments (such as the Lands Department (LandsD) and HD) for PlanD’s consideration of suitable alternative long-term uses.
For non-school premises, according to the information provided by the relevant departments to GPA, the vacant government properties surplus to the Government’s operational needs, with a total floor area of over 100 square metres (m2) and located in urban areas are set out in Annex II. Information of the properties that provide a total floor area of over 100 m2, located in urban area and used for storage is at Annex III.
Departments are required to review the government properties under their management from time to time, with a view to ensuring the optimal utilisation of the properties. If a government property is no longer required for its original use, the managing department would first review if the property could be deployed to meet other needs of itself. If in the negative, the department may seek GPA’s assistance in identifying other user departments. If it is confirmed that the property is surplus to the operational needs of the Government, the managing department may, with the assistance of GPA, lease out the property through commercialisation, or open the property for use by NGOs, or disposal of the properties by sale. In the course of switching the use of properties, the managing department should continue to manage and make good use of the properties (such as arranging temporary use (e.g. storage)) as far as possible.
In addition to internal review by departments, GPA also initiates regular reviews on the properties and sites managed by departments. GPA also suggests ways for departments to enhance the utilisation of the properties (e.g. converting a resource room into a multi-purpose facility). Where circumstances permit, GPA will also study with the relevant departments including PlanD the possibility of releasing the sites for other suitable uses through reprovisioning the existing offices or facilities. Relevant departments will keep the use of the properties and sites in the annexes under review, including consideration of various public use such as welfare and housing.
In future, the Government will adopt a more proactive attitude and co-ordinated approach through the multi-storey development under the “single site, multiple use” principle to consolidate and provide more “Government, Institution or Community” facilities on under-utilised government sites, in order to maximise the potential of these sites and provide more community facilities.
Regarding the planning of social welfare facilities and services, the Government has all along been adopting a multi-pronged approach for the provision of welfare facilities. These include identifying suitable government premises and sites such as VSP by LWB / Social Welfare Department; imposing requirements of the construction of welfare facilities in land sale conditions where feasible; and acquiring premises for the provision of welfare facilities as a short-term strategy.
(3) The list of vacant government sites (including vacant school premises) managed by LandsD and available for application by NGOs or social enterprises for use by short-term tenancy (STT) is published on the Government’s GeoInfo Map web page (www.map.gov.hk/gm/map/search/faci/__VGS?lg=en). As far as vacant built premises are concerned, no VSP currently on the list are located in the urban area. In the past four financial years (up to the end of January 2019 for 2018-19), LandsD received around 90 applications for these sites in total. In the same period, LandsD approved 16 such STTs (Note 1). The processing time will depend on the nature and complexity of issues involved, while the processing of most applications can be completed within one to two years. LandsD will, where practicable and appropriate, continue to arrange suitable temporary uses for sites pending implementation of long-term development uses to optimise the utilisation of land resources, including uploading information of the vacant sites to the Internet for application by interested organisations. At the execution level, LandsD will continue to keep in view the processing of applications, and suitably review and improve as and when necessary.
In order to assist NGOs in using vacant government sites, a $1 billion non-recurrent commitment was approved by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council in January this year for setting up a funding scheme to support NGOs in using vacant government sites and restoring school premises for various short-term uses that are beneficial to the community. DEVB has started inviting funding applications.
Thank you, Acting President.
Note 1: As the processing of applications received during a year may not be completed within the same year, the application cases approved during the year may not correspond with the application cases received during the year. read more
The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 is 103.3 (down 0.1 against yesterday’s index). read more
Following is a question by the Hon Charles Mok and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan, in the Legislative Council today (April 3):
Question:
The authorities have indicated that it will commence auctions of a total of 380 MHz of the spectrum in the 3.3 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands from July to August this year for the development of the fifth generation (5G) mobile network and services. Some members of the industry have pointed out that as it takes about two years for telecommunications service operators (operators) to make preparation after the assignment of the spectrum to them, it may lead to the situation that 5G services can only be launched by the latter half of 2021 at the earliest, and such a pace lags far behind that in South Korea, Japan, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that last year, the authorities briefed the relevant Panel of this Council on the auctioning arrangements seven months prior to the auctioning of the spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1 800 MHz bands and then introduced amendments to the relevant subsidiary legislation, why the authorities have not yet announced the auctioning arrangements for the 5G spectrum, when it will give an account of this matter to this Council, and how it will ensure that the auctions will be held as scheduled; of the respective timetables for the various auction-related work and amending the law;
(2) given that operators need to install, for 5G networks, base stations which will be more densely distributed than the existing ones, and the authorities will open up about 1 000 suitable government premises for this purpose, of the progress in opening up the premises; whether they will provide more premises to help operators address the difficulties in identifying sites for base stations; and
(3) given that for the avoidance of interference with satellite earth stations, the authorities have imposed restriction zones in Tai Po and Stanley such that the 3.5 GHz band inside the restriction zones may not be used for providing 5G services, which will result in the relevant research and development work in the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science Park and the use of 5G communications by more than 700 000 members of the public being affected, of the latest progress of the authorities’ efforts in solving this problem; the estimated costs for relocating the satellite earth stations at Tai Po to Stanley; whether they will allow outdoor use of the 3.3 GHz band, and of the additional band(s) of the spectrum that they will make available for operators to provide 5G services in the restriction zones?
Reply:
President,
The fifth generation (5G) mobile network is an important telecommunications infrastructure in Hong Kong and has immense potential for various business services and smart city applications. The Government and the Communications Authority (CA) are promoting 5G developments in Hong Kong on various fronts, from the supply of spectrum, the support for technical trial to the implementation of various facilitating measures to assist operators in extending the 5G network.
On the assignment of spectrum, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and the CA issued three joint statements on December 13, 2018 to promulgate the decisions made on the assignment or auction arrangements for a total of about 4 500 MHz of spectrum in various frequency bands in preparation for 5G development in Hong Kong.
My reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:
(1) 5G development needs to be supported by spectrum in the high, mid and low frequency bands. Regarding the high-bands, the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands will be the first batch of spectrum available for use for the provision of 5G services. The CA has offered assignment of 400 MHz of spectrum in late March to each of the three operator applicants as per their applications, and the spectrum can be used starting from this month.
As for the mid-band spectrum in the 3.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands, the Government and the CA are currently making the necessary preparations for their auctions, including drafting the relevant subsidiary legislation and drawing up information memoranda for the spectrum auctions. Our aim is to complete the amendments to the relevant subsidiary legislation within the current legislative session and to conduct the auctions in the latter half of this year.
These three blocks of spectrum in the mid-bands include 200 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band, 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band and 80 MHz of spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band.
The spectrum in the 3.3 GHz and 4.9 GHz bands can be used shortly after completion of the auction while the spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band can be used from April next year onwards.
(2) To tie in with the 5G development in Hong Kong, the Government has just launched a pilot scheme in March this year to proactively open up suitable government premises for the installation of base stations by mobile service operators. The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA), with the support of a number of departments including the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Government Property Agency, the Architectural Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Planning Department and the Lands Department, etc., has identified over 1 000 government premises for operators’ selection, and together with streamlined application processes, provides facilitation to operators in establishing public mobile services networks. The Government will consider whether to provide more premises having regard to the response to and progress of the pilot scheme.
(3) The satellite earth stations in Tai Po and Stanley are currently using the 3.5 GHz band for the telemetry, tracking and control of satellites in orbit. To ensure that satellite services operated by these satellite earth stations can coexist with future 5G services, the CA, based on technical considerations, has set up restriction zones in Tai Po and Stanley to constrain the deployment of mobile base stations operating in the 3.5 GHz band in the area.
The OFCA has set up a working group comprising representatives of mobile network operators, satellite operators, the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute and the Hong Kong Science Park to explore whether there are feasible technical arrangements for deployment of base stations operating in the 3.5 GHz band within the restriction zones. The working group will soon complete its work and will submit a report to the CA for consideration. After considering the working group’s report, the CA will formulate technical requirements for setting up mobile base stations in the restriction zones, and will set out relevant details in the Information Memorandum for the spectrum auction.
Whether or not to relocate existing satellite earth stations is a commercial decision of the satellite operators, and the Government needs to respect the lawful rights of the operators concerned. If the satellite operators intend to relocate their facilities so as to solve the problem of restriction zones in the long run and to promote the comprehensive development of 5G in Hong Kong, we stand ready to provide assistance. The Government currently does not have the estimate on the cost of relocating the satellite earth stations concerned.
For the mid-band spectrum, in addition to the above-mentioned 3.5 GHz band, spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band is available for indoor deployment, and spectrum in the 4.9 GHz band can be used anywhere in Hong Kong to provide 5G services.
For the low-band spectrum, the CA plans to vacate up to 160 MHz of spectrum in the 600/700 MHz band for public mobile services (including 5G services) mainly for indoor use from mid-2021 the earliest after the switching off of analogue television broadcasting on November 30, 2020.
In addition to the above-mentioned frequency bands, mobile network operators also have the flexibility to re-farm spectrum in other frequency bands used for the second to the fourth generation mobile services under their existing licences to provide 5G services in different districts of Hong Kong.
In accordance with the global spectrum allocation decision to be made by the World Radiocommunication Conference at the end of this year, the CA will strive to supply more suitable spectrum for the development of 5G services in Hong Kong. read more