XN000022-1980-04-16 — Page 15

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 1960

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BEFORE FINALISING ITS OWN PROPOSALS FOR A LIST OF RETRIEVAL COURSES WHICH COULD QUALIFY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, MR HO SAID THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT INVITED VOLUNTARY AGENCIES KNOWN TO BE INTERESTED IN ADULT EDUCATION TO SUBMIT THEIR PROPOSALS FOR CONSIDERATION AND PRESENT INDICATIONS WERE THAT 16 VOLUNTARY AGENCIES WOULD BE RESPONDING.

+WHEN THESE RETURNS HAVE BEEN ANALYSED THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT WILL PREPARE PROPOSALS FOR SUBMISSION TO FINANCE COMMITTEE WHICH WILL, NATURALLY, ALSO HAVE REGARD TO THE CRITERIA SET OUT IN THE 1978 WHITE PAPER, HE SAID.

MR HO ALSO THANKED REV THE HON JOYCE BENNETT FOR HER TRIBUTE TO THE UNIFIED CODE OF AID WHICH ENSURED ACCEPTABLE STANDARDS IN ALL OF THE AIDED SCHOOLS.

HOWEVER, MR HO POINTED OUT THAT AS THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS WERE MORE OR LESS ́HOMOGENEOUS ENTITIES, A CODE OF AID WAS FEASIBLE, AND THIS NEED NOT, AND INDEED COULD NOT, BE THE ANSWER IN OTHER AREAS WHERE THE SERVICES PROVIDED, OR THE INSTITUTIONS PROVIDING THEM, WERE MORE HETEROGENEOUS.

MR HO SAID THE GOVERNMENT CONSIDERED THAT MORE SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FINANCING SOCIAL WELFARE SERVICES BEING PROVIDED BY THE VOLUNTARY AGENCIES WERE REQUIRED,

IN ORDER TO GIVE AN ASSURANCE OF ADEQUATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE ORGANISATIONS PROVIDING THEM, AND FOR GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY.

+A GOVERNMENT WORKING PARTY HAS BEEN EXAMINING WAYS AND MEANS OF ACHIEVING THIS, AND I EXPECT TO RECEIVE ITS REPORT SHORTLY. THERE WILL THEN BE FULL CONSULTATION WITH THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR BEFORE ANY FINAL DECISIONS ARE TAKEN.+

REPLYING TO A SUGGESTION BY DR THE HON HARRY FANG THAT CARE AND ATTENTION HOMES FOR THE ELDERLY SHOULD BE MADE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT RATHER THAN THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT, MR HO SAID THAT FOLLOWING A RECENT

INTER-DEPARTMENTAL REVIEW OF ADMISSION CRITERIA AND OF EXISTING CASES, IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT WHERE THE DISTINCTION NEEDED TO BE DRAWN WAS BETWEEN THOSE CASES WHO REQUIRED ONLY PERSONAL CARE AND MINIMUM NURSING CARE, AND THOSE WHO REQUIRED A GREATER NURSING CARE BUT NOT REGULAR MEDICAL ATTENTION,

THOSE IN THE FORMER CATEGORY WOULD IN FUTURE BE ACCOMMODATED IN HOMES FOR THE AGED WHICH ARE AND WILL REMAIN THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT WHILE THE LATTER CATEGORY WILL BE PLACED IN INFIRMARIES OR NURSING HOMES TO BE RUN BY OR SUBVENTED THROUGH THE MEDICAL AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT, MR HO SAID.

ON THE QUESTION OF DELAY IN THE CREATION OF CERTAIN POSTS NEEDED BY THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT TO TAKE OVER FROM THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT AND TO EXPAND THE SELECTIVE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE, MR HO SAID A PAPER SEEKING THE CREATION OF NEW POSTS FOR THE SELECTIVE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE HAD BEEN CIRCULATED TO MEMBERS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT SUB-COMMITTEE AND SUBJECT TO THEIR ENDORSEMENT THIS WOULD BE CONSIDERED BY THE FINANCE COMMITTEE ON APRIL 30 THIS YEAR.

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