XN000022-1974-02-18 — Page 4

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Monday, February 18, 1974

ASSURANCE TO NON-SUBVENTED VOLUNTARY AGENCIES

The Director of Social Welfare today assured effective non-

subvented welfare organizations that are now providing useful welfare

servicec in public housing estates that they need not fear about their

operations in future.

Fr. Kenneth Topley gave this assurance to the Hong Kong Council

of Social Service and its member agencies when he spoke at the Council's

spring quarterly meeting held at Caritas House in Caine Road, Hong Kong.

The theme of the meeting was "Public Housing Rental Policy and

its offects on Social Services".

Rent increases for premises occupied by these agencies have

been deferred for a year by the Housing Authority to give time for the

Social Welfare and other government departments to study their cases in

more detail with a view to providing the money to them.

The increases for those agencies which are already subvented by

the Social Welfare Department will, however, come into effect on April 1,

but these will be paid in full for them by the department.

The Housing Authority decided last year that for reasons connected

with financing, it was no longer acceptable that only nominal rents be paid

by wolfare crganizations, and therefore rents would, from April 1 this

year, be calculated at the rate of 50 cents per square foot.

"The Social Welfare Department noted this intention and made

arrangements to include in its subvention proposals for 1974/75 adequate

funds to cover these increased rents for those welfare agencies which receive

subventions through the department," Mr. Topley said.

/This was