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Wednesday, January 9, 1974
PROMPT PAYMENT FOR URGENT NEEDY CASES
Public assistance payments in urgent cases are usually made on
the day of application, or at the latest within 48 hours, the Secretary
for Social Welfaro, the Hon. F.K. Li, said today.
About 100 such payments are made every week.
In the majority of cases, however, where no immediate serious
hardship was likely to arise, applications were dealt with in the normal
turn, he told the Legislative Council.
The processing procedure, he explained, consisted of a home visit
to chock facts about the applicant and to ascertain the circumstances of
calculation of the amoun, of allowance, and authorisation and
the case,
issue of a cash order book.
"The natural desire for prompt payment must not be allowed to
override the need to exercise proper control over public funds which
includes ensuring that applicants receive their proper entitlement."
The enquiry stage normally took up to two weeks, although this
could vary depending on the complexity of the case and whether there was
difficulty in locating the applicant, Mr. Li said. About 700 applications
were under enquiry at any given time.
Calculation and issue of a cash order book normally took a week
to complete, he went on, and about 2,000 cases were awaiting payment at
the momont.
/For those