- 23 -
Consultation
Mr President, the Administration has consulted widely in preparing the Bill. We have discussed the main issues with non-governmental welfare organisations, with professional staff in the Social Welfare Department, with the Welfare Panel of this Council and with the Social Welfare Advisory Committee. Most importantly, we have discussed at great length all the issues with the existing Social Welfare Personnel Registration Council whose views have been of great assistance to us on the many complex issues involved.
Mr President, I commend this Bill to the Council.
End
Child Care Centres (Amendment) Bill
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, in moving the second reading of the Child Care Centres (Amendment) Bill 1996 at the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
I move that the Child Care Centres (Amendment) Bill 1996 be read the Second time. This Bill proposes a package of amendments to the Ordinance which comprise -
(a)
new provisions to prevent unsuitable persons from acting as childminders;
(b)
new provisions to exempt mutual help child care centres from the full provisions of the Ordinance; and
(c)
technical amendments to the Ordinance.
We have all heard of incidents in which children and babies have suffered serious neglect or physical abuse at the hands of the childminder in whose care they had been placed. Such cases have prompted calls for the introduction of controls over childminders. We have sought to strike a balance in devising new controls.