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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
standards. It was other government departments, the Buildings Department in particular, that dragged down the process. That could have given rise to the idea that the fault is not ours, but the blame is on us. However, the applicants and the general public often criticized the Urban Council as the licensing authority. I understand how Mr. Suen feels when seeking to push the responsibility back to the applicants and other government departments.
In December last year, we introduced the Provisional Licensing System for general restaurants and eateries. To match that, we now have this panel made up of USD, BD and FSD representatives to inspect and scrutinize cases. This new panel system with USD as the coordinator is directed at coordinating measures and cutting delays. Under the new procedure, when an application is received, a Senior Health Inspector of the USD conducts a quality check, i.e. to make sure that the application is complete with details. We don't want to pass an application to departments which is later returned for being incomplete. That causes delay. 10 days after the receipt of an application, USD, the applicant, representatives of the BD and FSD make a joint site inspection. After another 10 days, the three departments hold a joint panel meeting. If a premises is found suitable in principle for the issuance of a licence, the applicant will be informed of the licensing requirements. The required improvements will be listed in the letter of requirements. The time taken from making an application to the issuance of a letter of requirements will not be more than 6 weeks. If an applicant can provide certification by an authorized person, he can apply for a provisional licence. Such measures will cater for the qualified applications and those requiring minor amendments before starting operation, as well as put an end to the unlicensed operations.
Of course, these new measures will not fully solve the problem of delay because there may still be other inefficient departments and applicants may not meet licensing requirements after altering designs or making amendments. The Democratic Party does not believe that pushing the responsibility back to the applicant is the way to solve the problem, nor is putting the blame on other government departments. That approach is bureaucratic, and not a way to eradicate the root of the problem. The time required before the issuance of licences will not be shortened. Mr. SUEN's motion asks the applicant to apply separately to the BD and FSD and then take the application to the Council after obtaining safety certificates from them. That way, the overall time required for the issuance of a licence may be longer and there may be less coordination and cooperation of government departments. It goes against the panel system and the provisional licensing system I mentioned before. In fact, in many third world countries including China, investment application procedures have been simplified to the so-called one-stop system whereby only one government department, being the co-ordinator, is contacted. Why should Hong Kong take a retrogressive step?
As the provisional licensing system was introduced in December last year, the Democratic Party feels it should be reviewed after a longer period of time.
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