Page 256 of 279
484
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN:-I believe that about three or four years ago a procedure was instituted whereby certain papers formerly held in Executive Council were distributed to Members of Legislative Council. That is as far as the dissemination of Executive Council papers has gone.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I would ask a question. Is that the attitude of Government, that Government does not want to have local Government in Hong Kong? (Laughter).
CHAIRMAN: ---I am sorry, Mr. Hu, I must rule that out of order. (Laughter). Mr. Hu, you have a question on the Order Paper which is in order. (Laughter).
(6) MR. HENRY H. L. Hu asked the following question:-
A.
Could the Chairman inform the Council what are the differences of treatment between members of the Hawker Control Force and the Police Force? Are members of the Hawker Control Force provided with winter uniforms or dormitories as in the case of the Police Force?
B. If the treatment between these two forces is not equal, could the Chairman give the Council the reasons? Is it not a fact that the present strength of the Hawker Control force is only about 400 members while the strength of the Hong Kong Police Force is about 100 times larger? In giving 400 members of the Hawker Control Force equal treatment as the Police Force, could it cause great financial embarrassment to the Urban Services Department? If so, what are the remedial measures to be taken by the said Department?
C.
While carrying out their statutory duties, what kind of weapons are the members of the Hawker Control Force armed with? What are their authorities to arrest and charge hawkers for offences committed by the latter? For example, if a hawker obstructs traffic, who can arrest and charge him, Police Force or Hawker Control Force?
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
The first two parts of this question concern the difference between the conditions of service of the Police Force and those of the Hawker Control Force. This subject is too wide to cover in detail, but in general the salaries of members of the Hawker Control Force are slightly lower than for the equivalent ranks in the Police, though similar to those in other disciplined services. No married quarters are provided for members of the Force, and operational and training facilities are of a much lower standard. Winter uniforms are provided.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
485
The present establishment of the Hawker Control Force is 430 and the actual strength is 352, while the strength of the Police Force is approximately 11,000. I should make it clear that the more generous conditions of service of the Police Force reflect the wider duties and greater responsibilities of its members, and the fact that the members of the Hawker Control Force do not receive the same benefits is not solely dictated by a desire to save money. For example, the members of the Police Force are provided with quarters because its members are required to work round the clock, whereas it is not policy to provide dormitories or barrack accommodation for the Hawker Control Force except where this is operationally necessary, i.e. where members of the Hawker Control Force cannot reasonably be expected to carry out their duties while living in their own homes. The Hawker Control Force does not normally operate between the hours of mid-night and 8 a.m. May I say however that in my opinion the conditions of service of the Hawker Control Force need to be improved to something like the same level as those of the Police Force if the morale and efficiency of the Force are to be raised. It has become very clear that if the Force is to be brought up to its full establishment and perhaps expanded still further it will be necessary to make it more attractive to recruits, and to reduce the rate at which the Force loses staff to other departments. Members will recall that one of the aims and objects of the Council as embodied in the Statement of Aims for 1967 is (I quote):
"To improve the structure of the Hawker Control Force with a view to providing a solid and experienced foundation for future expansion."
The answer to the third part of this question is that members of the Hawker Control Force do not carry any kind of weapon. It has, of course, always been the policy of this Council that the Force should make use of persuasion as far as possible in its dealings with hawkers. I must, however, put it on record that the number of assaults on members of the Force and the difficulty of making arrests where this is necessary have been causing the Department considerable anxiety. During 1966, there were 20 cases in which hawkers were convicted by the
Page 256 of 279