Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Fu-yung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (October 14):

Question:

     The Government launched the Universal Accessibility Programme (UA Programme) in August 2012 to provide more barrier-free access facilities (i.e. lifts and ramps). As at the end of December 2025, a total of 270 items under the UA Programme had been completed. The Highways Department has commissioned the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department to engage registered lift contractors for the repair and maintenance of the completed lifts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the total expenditure on the repair and maintenance of completed lift items under the UA Programme in each of the past five years, and the average annual maintenance expenditure per lift;

(2) of the respective numbers of lifts under the UA Programme that had to be suspended from service for more than 24 hours and for more than seven days due to breakdowns in each of the past three years; and the details of the case involving the longest service suspension due to a single breakdown and the case involving the highest number of breakdowns in a year (including the location involved, cause of the breakdown, number of days of suspension and the repair costs concerned);

(3) of the respective numbers of lift items completed, under construction and at the planning stage under the UA Programme in the southwest New Territories (including Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi) at present; and the respective average numbers of hours of service suspension of completed lifts in the southwest New Territories due to routine maintenance and breakdowns over the past three years;

(4) whether the authorities will attach greater importance to the whole-life cycle maintenance costs of lifts when vetting and assessing lift maintenance contracts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(5) as there are views that with the continuous increase in the number of completed lift items under the UA Programme, both the day-to-day repair and maintenance and the emergency repairs of these items rely on professional engineering talent, whether the Government has assessed the demand for and the shortfall in manpower for lift repair and maintenance at present and over the next five years; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The Universal Accessibility (UA) Programme aims to retrofit public walkways with barrier-free lifts and ramps to enhance the convenience of the public in using these walkways. The Government attaches great importance to the maintenance works of the lifts. The lifts under the UA Programme are maintained by registered lift contractors appointed by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD). The lift contractors perform routine maintenance inspections and arrange preventive maintenance early as needed, in order to enhance the safety and reliability of the lifts.

     In consultation with the Highways Department (HyD) and the EMSD, my reply to the Member's question is as follows:

(1) and (4) The recurrent expenditure for each lift under the UA Programme, including electricity charges, the necessary maintenance costs and other relevant expenses, varies depending on the design of each lift (including capacity, size specifications, other ancillary facilities, service age, usage conditions etc) and is estimated to be on average around $370,000 per lift per annum. The HyD and the EMSD do not maintain breakdown figures of maintenance expenditures.

     When preparing lift maintenance service contracts, the HyD and the EMSD take into account a range of factors, including the lift's condition, age, usage rate, maintenance cost-effectiveness, and breakdown risk. Furthermore, when assessing lift maintenance service contracts, the EMSD considers the technical aspects of the contractors, such as their maintenance proposals and technical support.

(2) According to the EMSD's records, over the past three years (i.e. from October 2023 to September 2026), 87 and 13 lifts completed under the UA Programme had to be suspended from service for more than 24 hours and for more than seven days respectively because of a single breakdown. The longest suspension caused by a single breakdown lasted for 19 days. The lift concerned is located at the footbridge across Aberdeen Praya Road near Nam Ning Street. Its ground floor landing door glass was damaged by an external object, and it took time to order replacement parts for the repair. During the service suspension, members of the public could alternatively use the footbridge's barrier-free ramp.

     The lift with the highest number of breakdowns is located at the King's Road Flyover across Kornhill Road near Taikoo Shing. The breakdowns were mainly caused by debris in the door track and obstructed door sensors, which stopped the lift doors from opening and closing properly. The lift broke down 14 times in total over the above three-year period, and each suspension lasted about two hours on average. Most of the breakdowns happened in 2024. Upon the replacement of components, the number of breakdowns of the lift dropped significantly in 2025 and 2026. The EMSD does not maintain breakdown figures of the maintenance expenditure of each case.

(3) As at the end of September 2026, 19 and five UA Programme items had been completed and were under construction respectively in Tsuen Wan District, and 27 and 11 items respectively in Kwai Tsing District. After consulting the Tsuen Wan and Kwai Tsing District Councils in August this year, six newly proposed items in Tsuen Wan District and 10 newly proposed items in Kwai Tsing District are initially identified. The HyD will carry out preliminary planning and technical feasibility studies for the newly proposed items in phases.

     According to the EMSD's records, over the past three years (i.e. from October 2023 to September 2026), among the 65 completed lifts under the UA Programme in New Territories South West, the average service suspension time due to routine maintenance was about 1.2 hours per lift per week. There were about 330 cases of service suspension involving breakdown repairs (including repairs requiring the replacement of parts), with each suspension lasting about 11 hours on average.

(5) There are currently over 70 000 lifts in Hong Kong, of which about 580 are under the UA Programme. These lifts therefore have little impact on the overall demand for lift and escalator maintenance across the territory. Furthermore, for the completed lifts under the Programme, the EMSD's lift contractors have met the performance pledge in terms of the time taken to complete repairs. The EMSD has been closely monitoring the manpower situation of the lift and escalator industry, and regularly conducts manpower surveys with registered contractors. The number of registered engineers and general workers increased from about 7 600 in 2019 to about 9 670 in September 2026, representing an increase of about 27 per cent, which is significantly higher than the about 11 per cent increase in the total number of lifts and escalators during the same period. Overall, the industry's manpower situation has improved over the past few years. There are now enough lift and escalator workers to meet the manpower needs of lift and escalator maintenance. The Government has also implemented various measures to attract local youth to join the industry, enhance talent training, establish clear career promotion pathways, and introduce various talent admission schemes, so as to prepare for the growing engineering demands for lifts and escalators in the long run.

     ​Three owners were convicted and fined $317,440 in total at the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts yesterday (October 13) for persistently failing to comply with removal orders issued under the Buildings Ordinance (BO) (Cap. 123).  

     The first case involved several projecting structures with a total area of about 5.4 square metres in a composite building on Woosung Street, Jordan. As the unauthorised building works (UBWs) were carried out without prior approval and consent from the Buildings Department (BD), a removal order was served on the owner under section 24(1) of the BO. Failing to comply with the removal order, the owner had been prosecuted by the BD two times and was fined upon conviction by the court. As the owner persisted in not complying with the removal order, the owner was prosecuted for the third time and was fined $139,700 upon conviction by the court, of which $123,700 was the fine for the number of days that the offence continued.

     The second case involved an unauthorised structure with an area of about 20 sq m on the flat roof and the removal of a fire-resisting door at the unit entrance in a composite building on Hip Wo Street, Kwun Tong. As the unauthorised works were carried out without prior approval and consent from the BD, and affected the fire-resisting construction of the building, contravening the Building (Construction) Regulation, a removal order was served on the owner under section 24(1) of the BO. Failing to comply with the removal order, the owner had been prosecuted by the BD and was fined upon conviction by the court. As the owner persisted in not complying with the removal order, the owner was prosecuted for the second time and was fined $105,640 upon conviction by the court, of which $90,640 was the fine for the number of days that the offence continued.

     The third case involved an unauthorised structure erected in the means of escape and the removal of several fire-resisting concrete block walls and fire-resisting doors in an industrial building on Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong. As the alteration and addition works were carried out without prior approval and consent from the BD, and affected the fire-resisting construction of the building, contravening the Building (Construction) Regulation, a removal order was served on the owner under section 24(1) of the BO. Failing to comply with the removal order, the owner had been prosecuted by the BD three times and was fined upon conviction by the court. As the owner persisted in not complying with the removal order, the owner was prosecuted for the fourth time and was fined $72,100 upon conviction by the court, of which $32,100 was the fine for the number of days that the offence continued.

     A spokesman for the BD said today (October 14), "UBWs, including the unauthorised alterations affecting the fire-resisting construction of a building, may lead to serious consequences. Owners must comply with removal orders without delay. The BD will continue to take stringent enforcement action and instigate prosecutions against owners again if they persist in not complying with removal orders to ensure building and public safety."

     Failure to comply with a removal order without reasonable excuse is a serious offence under the BO. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $200,000 and one year's imprisonment, and a further fine of up to $20,000 for each day that the offence continues.

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     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (October 14) that due to big waves, red flags have been hoisted at Stanley Main Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island, and Clear Water Bay Second Beach in Sai Kung District. Beachgoers are advised not to swim at these beaches.

     The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau welcomed an inaugural issuance of insurance-linked securities (ILS) in the form of "sidecar" by the PICC Property and Casualty Company Limited (PICC P&C) in Hong Kong, with a size of US$12 million (equivalent to about HK$94 million), providing quota share reinsurance protection for offshore windfarm property insurance businesses on the Chinese Mainland. 

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, said, "To support the National 15th Five-Year Plan, which identifies the enhancement of the catastrophe risk protection framework and risk-pooling mechanisms as a key task, the Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan published last month proposed fully leveraging Hong Kong's competitive edge in the international insurance, reinsurance, and capital markets to advance the synergised development of traditional insurance and non-traditional risk management tools. This will enable us to unleash the synergy effect of multilayered risk transfer and pooling mechanisms through ILS and other tools, thus consolidating our strategic role as a regional and global catastrophe and specialty risk management hub.

     "We welcome PICC P&C’s issuance of Hong Kong's first 'sidecar'. This demonstrates Hong Kong's combined strengths in reinsurance and capital markets. The issuance marks the significant progress gained for Hong Kong's insurance industry and capital markets in risk transfer and the use of alternative capital under the support of our country. It will further enhance the market's capacity to manage catastrophe and other specialty risks, and consolidate Hong Kong's position as an international risk management centre. As announced by the Chief Executive in the 2026 Policy Address, we will continue to work with the Insurance Authority in promoting ILS, narrowing the protection gap for catastrophe and other specialty risk, and reviewing investor restrictions to invigorate the ILS fund trading market. Meanwhile, we will explore legislative amendments to introduce a 'protected cell company' structure, which will help further reduce the costs of issuing ILS, thereby attracting more companies of different scales to choose Hong Kong as a base for managing group or regional risks."

     Mr Hui added, "ILS and captive insurance, which we have long been promoting, can provide enterprises 'going global' with diversified means of spreading and managing risks. We expect this combination of financial policy measures will allow enterprises to leverage Hong Kong as a safe haven for 'going global' with greater ease of mind."

     Since the establishment of the bespoke regulatory regime for ILS and the launch of the pilot grant scheme in 2021, seven catastrophe bonds and one "sidecar" have been issued in Hong Kong to date, with a total issuance amount of about HK$6.3 billion, securing protection against catastrophe and other specialty risks on the Chinese Mainland and overseas. In September 2025, the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued the "Notification on the Issuance of Insurance-linked Securities on Hong Kong Market by Domestic Chinese Insurers", which supports interested Mainland insurers to issue "sidecar" ILS in Hong Kong, with a view to diversifying the channels for dispersing catastrophe insurance risks.

     A "sidecar" is an ILS structure through which investors provide capital to support a specific insurance or reinsurance portfolio. Generally speaking, a "sidecar" is typically capitalised through equity or a debt instrument (such as preference shares or participating notes), and enables investors to share, on a quota-share basis with the sponsor the premiums, claims and underwriting results of a designated insurance or reinsurance portfolio.

     Following is the speech by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, at the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) Silver Economy Summit today (October 14):
 
Mr Douglas Woo (Vice Chairman of the HKGCC), Mr Zhou (Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department and Head of the Commercial Office of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Zhou Qiang), distinguished speakers and guests, ladies and gentlemen,
 
     Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to join you at the HKGCC Silver Economy Summit. I would like to thank the HKGCC for organising this timely Summit and bringing together leaders from business, finance, healthcare, technology, professional services and other sectors. The diversity of expertise represented here demonstrates that the silver economy offers opportunities across a wide range of sectors.
 
     Hong Kong is entering a new era of longevity. As at mid-2025, there were nearly 1.8 million persons aged 65 and above in Hong Kong, accounting for almost one quarter of our population. By 2046, this figure is projected to rise to 2.74 million, or 36 per cent of the population. This demographic shift will drive growing demand for products and services that support healthier, more independent and more fulfilling later lives.
 
     The silver economy is about much more than elderly care. It covers different aspects of daily life, from food, retail and travel to healthcare, financial planning, lifestyle and technology. It is about recognising the diverse needs and preferences of older persons, and providing them with more suitable, accessible and quality choices. These needs also create new business opportunities, encouraging enterprises to develop age-friendly products and services, meet growing demand and strengthen their competitiveness while bringing economic and social benefits.
 
     The Government has established the Working Group on Promoting Silver Economy and rolled out 30 measures under five areas of work since May 2025, including boosting "silver consumption", developing "silver industry", promoting "quality assurance of silver products", enhancing "silver financial and security arrangements", and unleashing "silver productivity". The two panel discussions today reflect these priorities and highlight the diverse opportunities presented by the silver economy.
 
     These measures cover various policy areas and are being implemented by the relevant policy bureaux. My Bureau has been working closely with the industry to promote "silver consumption" and quality assurance, with encouraging progress. We have been encouraging businesses to incorporate silver economy elements into major exhibitions and to introduce products and services tailored to the needs of older persons. For example, more restaurant chains and food companies are now offering soft meals for older persons with swallowing difficulties. We are also working with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to make more senior-friendly products available in physical stores and e-commerce platforms.
 
     Quality assurance is equally important in building consumer confidence and supporting the sustainable development of the silver economy. The Hong Kong Registration – Silver-friendly Series launched by the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency has received more than 160 applications covering venues, products and services across sectors. Meanwhile, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Standard for care food and Hong Kong's first Care Food Product Certification Mark Scheme are helping businesses build trust, improve their offerings and capture opportunities in the silver market.
 
     Beyond promoting the silver economy, the Government is taking a broader and more comprehensive approach to addressing the challenges and opportunities arising from an ageing population. Last year, we set up the Working Group on Ageing Society Strategies to review the policies and measures of various bureaux. The Working Group released its report last month, which sets out 73 measures across 11 areas. These include developing the silver economy to meet the changing needs of older persons and create new business opportunities.
 
     Among other initiatives, we will collaborate with the industry and relevant organisations to explore extending silver certification to a wider range of age-friendly products and services. In particular, we will study the development of standards for mobility aids, such as walking sticks, wheelchairs and exoskeleton systems, and explore the possibility of incorporating these standards into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Standards framework.
 
     We will also continue to boost "silver consumption" by encouraging the industry to better incorporate the needs and preferences of the elderly into its business strategies and planning. Our efforts include staging more silver economy exhibitions, offering retail and catering concessions to the elderly, encouraging e-commerce platforms to diversify their range of silver products and facilitate online shopping, and expanding the availability of silver products in restaurants and other retail outlets.
 
     Ladies and gentlemen, the silver economy is about creating better choices and better lives for older persons. It is also about fostering innovation, unlocking new market opportunities and creating fresh momentum for Hong Kong's economic development. I am confident that, by bringing together the strengths of the business community, professional sectors and different partners, we can develop more quality products and services, capture the opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Mainland and beyond, and make Hong Kong a more age-friendly and vibrant city.
 
     I wish the HKGCC Silver Economy Summit 2026 every success, and all participants a fruitful and rewarding morning. Thank you.