Poverty Alleviation, Elderly Care Andsupport for the Disadvantaged

Poverty Alleviation, Elderly Care andSupport for the Disadvantaged

Released in November 2014 theupdated official poverty line.With the implementation of povertyalleviation measures including theOld Age Living Allowance, the overallpoor population dropped to 970 000,below 1 million for the first time andthe poverty rate fell to a 5-year lowof 14.5% in 2013.

Secured funding approval of the LegCoFinance Committee in January 2015for the implementation of theLow-income Working Family AllowanceScheme (LIFA). The estimated annualexpenditure for the allowance isaround $3.1 billion and will benefitover 200 000 low-income households(involving 710 000 persons, includingover 170 000 eligible children).The Scheme is expected to beimplemented in the second quarterof 2016.

The Commission on Poverty approved3 new assistance programmes underthe Community Care Fund, includingthe provision of a one-off specialsubsidy for students on full grantunder the School Textbook AssistanceScheme so that timely assistance canbe made available to support studentsfrom low-income families beforethe launch of LIFA; the provision ofcash grant for ordinary schools withrelatively more students with specialeducational needs (SEN) and financialneeds to arrange SEN coordinators;and enhancing the academicexpenses grant for students withSEN pursuing post-secondaryprogrammes. The total commitmentsof the programmes concerned exceed$700 million, which will benefit morethan 140 000 persons. In addition,the Extra Travel Subsidy for NeedySpecial Schools Students will also beregularised from the 2015/16 schoolyear onwards to benefit 1 700 primaryand secondary students each year.

Announced in January 2015 that theCommission on Poverty will launcha public consultation on retirementprotection in the latter half of 2015,and earmarked $50 billion to underlinethe commitment of improvingretirement protection for the elderly.

Announced in February 2015 theallocation of $130 million to strengthenchild care services for supportingwomen in achieving work-familybalance. The strengthened child careservices will include (a) from 2015-16onwards, increase by phases theExtended Hours Service (EHS) placesfor children aged below 6 by about5 000, from about 1 200 at presentto about 6 200, at aided child carecentres and kindergarten-cum-childcare centres in districts with highdemand; (b) from 2015-16 onwards,provide resources for aidedstandalone child care centres andservice units providing EHS andOccasional Child Care Service toenhance supervisory andadministrative support; and (c) from2017-18 onwards, provide about100 additional aided long full-day childcare places for children aged below 3.

Invited non-governmental welfareorganisations to submit proposalsfor the Navigation Scheme forYoung Persons in Care Services fromFebruary to April 2015. Enrolment oftrainees is expected to commence inthe third quarter of 2015. A total of1 000 places will be provided in thecoming few years for training youngpersons to take up care work.

Announced in January 2015 theextension of the IntegratedEmployment Assistance Programmefor Self-reliance for 2 years toMarch 2017, involving an additionalexpenditure of $223 million. About22 800 participants are expected tojoin the programme.

With effect from February 2015, theincome and asset limits of the WorkIncentive Transport Subsidy Schemehave been increased again underthe annual adjustment mechanism.Over 92 000 low-income earnershave received subsidy from theScheme since its introduction.

Provided 1 666 additional EnhancedHome and Community Care Serviceplaces and enhanced the servicecontent of all 7 245 places startingfrom March 2015, involving anadditional annual allocation of$170 million.

Provided about 330 additionalsubsidised day care places from2014-15 to 2016-17. Sites at11 development projects have beenreserved for the provision of day carecentres/units. About 550 new daycare places are expected to beprovided.

Provided about 1 710 additionalsubsidised residential care places forthe elderly from 2014-15 to 2017-18through a multi-pronged approach.Sites at 11 development projects havebeen reserved for the construction ofnew residential care homes for theelderly. Some 1 200 new places areexpected to be provided.

As at May 2015, about 1 985 carersfor elderly person have joined thePilot Scheme on Living Allowance forCarers of the Elderly Persons fromLow Income Families financed bythe Community Care Fund. Theproject will incur some $126 millionin additional expenditure.

Regularised the Bought Place Schemefor Private Residential Care Homes forPersons with Disabilities in October2014. An annual estimated expenditureof about $40 million is earmarked toprovide 450 bought places forpersons with disabilities.

Extended the Government PublicTransport Fare Concession Schemefor the Elderly and Eligible Personswith Disabilities to cover green minibusesin phases starting from March 2015,following the implementation of theScheme in MTR, buses and ferries.To date, the number of eligiblebeneficiaries, including elderly peopleaged 65 or above and eligible personswith disabilities, is around 1.2 million.They can travel by the above meansof public transport at a concessionaryfare of $2 per trip. The number ofaverage daily passenger trips madeunder the Scheme is around 880 000.

Extended the Labour Departmentpost-placement follow-up servicefor job seekers with disabilities from3 months to 6 months in 2015-16.The new measure would cover over2 000 persons with disabilitieseach year.

Announced in January 2015 thatsubsidies would be provided for socialenterprises and non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs), for offeringabout 2 000 to 3 000 on-site trainingplaces for persons with disabilitiesand other groups in need, includingthe elderly and ethnic minorities,so as to enhance their employmentprospect.

Allocated additional annual fundingof $160 million from 2015-16 onwardsto strengthen the support for personswith disabilities, including the provisionof 1 271 additional places forrehabilitation services; increasingthe manpower of long stay carehomes and enhancing the alliedhealth services of hostels formoderately mentally handicappedpersons; and increasing the socialwork manpower in the IntegratedCommunity Centres for MentalWellness and the existing subventedParents/Relatives Resource Centres.

Announced in February 2015 that$150 million would be earmarkedfor rolling out a new phase of theEnhancing Self-Reliance ThroughDistrict Partnership Programme andimplementing enhancement measuresto support a wider range of socialenterprises that provide support tothe socially disadvantaged.

Rolled out 4 projects underthe Community Investment andInclusion Fund in March 2015 atKai Ching Estate and Tak Long Estatein Kowloon City, Cheung Lung WaiEstate in Sheung Shui and LowerNgau Tau Kok Estate in Kwun Tongto facilitate the building of mutualhelp networks among the residentsof newly completed or redevelopedPRH estates.

Implemented a number of initiativesto strengthen community support forethnic minorities in the second half of2014 as scheduled, including settingup a new support service centre forethnic minorities in Kwai Tsing,setting up youth units in all supportservice centres and sub-centres forethnic minorities, implementing ayouth ambassador scheme andrecruiting additional staff familiarwith ethnic minority culturesand languages.

Required all bureaux and departmentsto adopt gender mainstreaming informulating major governmentpolicies, initiatives and legislationfrom April 2015 onwards to ensurethat women and men have equitableaccess to, and benefit from, society’sresources and opportunities. At thesame time, the gender benchmark forappointing women to governmentadvisory and statutory bodies hasbeen raised from 30% to 35% toincrease women’s participation inpublic affairs. These 2 measureswould help promote womendevelopment and implement theapplicable provisions of the UnitedNations Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination AgainstWomen.

Implemented the 3-day paid statutorypaternity leave with effect fromFebruary 2015. Tens of thousandsof employees are expected to benefit.

Raised the amounts of 18compensation items under theEmployees’ Compensation Ordinance,the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma(Compensation) Ordinance and theOccupational Deafness (Compensation)Ordinance by a range of 5.73% to44.44% with effect from March 2015,affording better statutory protectionfor about 10 000 eligible persons.

Increased the Statutory MinimumWage rate to $32.5 per hour witheffect from May 2015, leading tofurther improvement to the earningsof grassroots workers.

Supported, through the second roundof Digital Inclusion Mobile AppsFunding Scheme, the development of5 mobile apps for providinginformation and services tounderprivileged groups (includingpersons beset with dementia, personswith hearing impairment, and childrenwith visual impairment, hearingimpairment or dyslexia) and assistingthe groups’ integration into society.The mobile apps were launched fromMarch 2015 onwards. Continued toorganise the Web AccessibilityRecognition Scheme to encouragepublic and private organisations toadopt accessibility design in theirwebsites and mobile apps.

Launched the ICT OutreachProgrammes for Elderly, through whichsocial workers and volunteers visitedover 1 000 institutionalised and“hidden” elderly persons betweenMarch and December 2014. Throughintroduction to tablet computers andinteresting apps, the elderly areencouraged to make use ofinformation and communicationstechnology in broadening their socialcircles and enriching their lives.