The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (August 11) expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) for its decision for the sixth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to continue to discharge duties, resolving the problem of a lacuna in the legislature arising from the postponement of the election of the seventh-term LegCo for a year.
 
     The HKSAR Government announced on July 31 that owing to the severe COVID-19 epidemic situation, the Chief Executive in Council decided to postpone the LegCo General Election, originally scheduled for September 6 this year, for a year in order to protect public safety and public health as well as ensure the election can be conducted openly and fairly. Article 69 of the Basic Law stipulates that the term of the LegCo shall be four years, except the first term which shall be two years. Therefore, the current term of the LegCo would end on September 30, 2020, and there would be a lacuna in the legislature of the HKSAR before the formation of the seventh-term LegCo. To resolve this problem, the Chief Executive, after the Executive Council had made the decision, submitted an urgent report to the Central People's Government seeking its support and guidance. The State Council subsequently replied and expressed support for the decision of the HKSAR Government to postpone the election of the seventh-term LegCo by one year, and stated that it would make a submission in accordance with the law to the NPCSC for a decision on the issue of the lacuna in the legislature. The Chief Executive explained in detail the grounds for the postponement of the election to the public on July 31.
 
    "The NPCSC made an authoritative decision in accordance with the relevant provisions in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law, fully resolving the issue of the lacuna in the legislature arising from the postponement of the election. It not only maintains the constitutional and legal order of the HKSAR, but also ensures the normal governance of the HKSAR Government and the normal operation of society. It demonstrates once again the care and support of the Central Government for the HKSAR," Mrs Lam said.
 
     According to the decision made by the NPCSC today, the sixth-term LegCo of the HKSAR will continue to discharge its duties for no less than one year until the commencement of the seventh-term LegCo. The decision also stated clearly that the seventh-term LegCo of the HKSAR will have a term of four years after it has been formed in accordance with the law.
 
     The HKSAR Government will publish in the Gazette the decision of the NPCSC in due course. The HKSAR Government will also publish in the Gazette the withdrawal of the decision made by the Chief Executive earlier in accordance with section 6 of the Legislative Council Ordinance on the prorogation of the sixth-term LegCo, which was made having regard to the LegCo General Election. The withdrawal will enable the sixth-term LegCo to resume operation at an early juncture when necessary.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     As at 9am today (August 11), 135 COVID-19 confirmed patients were discharged from hospital. So far, a total of 3 052 patients with confirmed or probable infections have been discharged after the adjustment.
 
     At present, there are 683 negative pressure rooms in public hospitals with 1 245 negative pressure beds activated. A total of 988 confirmed patients are currently hospitalised in 19 public hospitals and a community isolation facility, among which 32 patients are in critical condition, 61 are in serious condition and the remaining 895 patients are in stable condition.
 
     The Hospital Authority will maintain close contact with the Centre for Health Protection to monitor the latest developments and to inform the public and healthcare workers on the latest information in a timely manner.
 
     Details of the above-mentioned patients are as follows:
 

     The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has accepted the advice of the Disaster Relief Fund Advisory Committee and approved from the Disaster Relief Fund two grants totalling $9.956 million to two agencies for providing relief to flood victims in Anhui, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi and Yunnan Provinces in the Mainland.
 
     Announcing the grants today (August 11), a Government spokesman said that flooding had affected more than 37 million people in the Mainland. The two grants – one of $5.798 million to Amity Foundation, Hong Kong and one of $4.158 million to World Vision Hong Kong – will be used to provide rice, cooking oil, quilts and household items to benefit around 62 200 victims. The Committee hoped the grants would facilitate the provision of timely relief to the victims and help them restore their normal living. The grants, together with those approved earlier for this flooding in the Mainland, will take the accumulative value of grants and number of beneficiaries to $11.056 million and 74 200 respectively. As the targeted localities of relief agencies are different, there will be no overlapping of resources.
 
     "To ensure that the money is used for the designated purposes, the relief agencies will be asked to submit evaluation reports and audited accounts on the use of the grants after the relief projects have been completed," the spokesman said.

     More than 1 800 applications have been received from employers in the construction industry for the Employment Support Scheme for the Construction Sector (ESSC) under the second round of the Anti-epidemic Fund. The Construction Industry Council (CIC) is vetting the applications with an aim of starting to disburse subsidies in mid-August. 

     A spokesman for the Development Bureau said today (August 11), "Application for the ESSC closed on July 31. We noted recently that some employers of casual employees in the industry were informed that their applications for the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) had been rejected due to failure to fulfil the relevant requirements. When they received the notification, application for the ESSC had already closed and they were unable to submit applications in time. We are aware of the situation and if requested by these employers, we will relay their cases to the ESSC for consideration in order to render appropriate assistance to the qualified employers in accordance with our aim of supporting employment as far as possible. The employers concerned must call the CIC at 3199 7377 to make their requests within one month after receiving the 'Not Accepted' notification of the ESS." 

     The spokesman emphasised that the above arrangement is to assist those employers who should have submitted their applications to the ESSC instead of the ESS. It is not an extension of the application period of the ESSC per se.

     The Government has launched two rounds of the Anti-epidemic Fund so far. As of August 9, more than $4.8 billion in subsidies had been disbursed to some 490 000 construction workers and some 19 000 construction-related enterprises. The application deadline for other relief measures for the construction sector under the Anti-epidemic Fund is August 31. Further details are available at the CIC website (www.cic.hk/eng/main/anti_epidemic_fund_2nd/).

     The Employment Support Scheme (ESS) Secretariat published on the ESS website (www.ess.gov.hk) today (August 11) the name list of the seventh batch of employers that have received wage subsidies under the first tranche, the amount of subsidies received and the employers' committed headcount of paid employees.

     A Government spokesman said, "The name list of the seventh batch of employers published today covers about 16 900 employers. These employers have received wage subsidies totalling about $6.23 billion (for June to August 2020), and committed to maintaining a total paid headcount of about 277 000. Together with the published name lists of the first six batches of employers, the Secretariat has published from June 22 up to today the name lists of seven batches covering about 137 500 employers that have received wage subsidies and the relevant information."
 
     In addition, the ESS Secretariat is arranging disbursement of wage subsidies totalling about $2.6 billion to a further batch of about 7 500 successful employer applicants with a total committed paid headcount of about 116 000 employees. To date, the wage subsidies disbursed amount to about $43.2 billion, covering nearly 146 100 employers with a total committed paid headcount of about 1.87 million. 
 
     Excluding the 18 000 ineligible applicants that have not been approved for wage subsidies, the ESS Secretariat has completed processing for around 97 per cent of the eligible employers, and will continue to process the remaining 4 500 applications with a view to completing the first tranche as early as possible. Preparations are under way for the second tranche and the details will be announced in due course.

     The spokesman said, "Appropriate monitoring mechanisms have been put in place under the ESS, and the name lists of employers that have received wage subsidies and related information are uploaded to the ESS website in a timely manner. Should an employer be found to have abused or violated the conditions of the ESS, the employees concerned or members of the public can make a report to the ESS Secretariat. The Secretariat and the processing agent will follow up on all reports and complaints."

     From June 22, when the ESS Secretariat first published the name lists of employers that have received wage subsidies, up to August 10, a total of 346 reports have been received. The cases involve primarily allegations of unreasonable staff reductions and/or dismissal of employees, late payment of wages or pay cuts, company closure or change of operator. The Secretariat and the processing agent are following up on the reports and the Review Panel set up by the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office will examine the investigation report on each of the cases. The Secretariat will inform the informants of the results after completing investigation.

     If an employer is found, after investigation, to have made a false statement, misinterpreted or concealed the facts, or furnished false or misleading documents or information in an attempt to deceive the Government, the Secretariat and/or the processing agent to obtain any subsidies under the ESS, the employer may be prosecuted. If necessary, the Secretariat will pass the case to relevant enforcement departments for follow-up action. Should there be complaints relating to provisions under the Employment Ordinance or labour disputes arising from conditions of employment, such as unreasonable dismissal, withholding wage payment or unreasonable pay cuts, the Secretariat will refer the cases to the Labour Department. The Secretariat has so far referred 31 reports or complaints to the Labour Department and one case to the Customs and Excise Department. It has also referred two reports of defaulting on mandatory provident fund contributions to the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority for follow up action.
 
     The Secretariat will disburse the $7,500 one-off lump sum subsidy to 3 800 Self-employed Persons (SEPs) involving a total subsidy of $28.5 million. Taking into account the latest approvals, about 99 300 SEPs have received the one-off lump sum subsidy, totalling about $740 million.