TNAG-0747-FCO40-951-Visits-of-Foreign-and-Commonwealth-officials-to-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 164

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that the role of the factory inspectorate might indeed change to one of consultancy especially as increasing safety regulations were enacted. He asked the Commissioner for Labour whether steps were being made to improve standards. In reply, C for L said that proposals on this had been included in his Industrial Health and Safety Plan. The proposals in the Plan were now being processed

in the Secretariat. C for L also asked whether Mr. Hurst could assist in providing increased training opportunities in the UK for the local inspectors, and Mr. Hurst agreed to do what he could.

2. ILO Conventions

Mr. Hurst said that he was pleased to see the progress made in applying ILO Conventions in Hong Kong and hoped that over the current year, further progress would be made to enact the two ordinances on Workmen's Compensation, affecting compensation for silicosis and asbestosis victims and on the repair and replacement of prostheses. H E said that the present pace made in fting ILO

applying

conventions would naturally continue in the next 2 to 3 years but Hong Kong would by then have moved as much as could be expected on this front and that the pace must then slacken.

3. Housing and the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS)

Mr. Hurst said that he was impressed with the good progress made in the Housing Programme and felt that the HOS seemed a most effective and acceptable way to provide housing for the Chinese community. He wondered whether more money could be allocated to the HOS. H E remarked that the basic reason for creating the HOS was a social measure to meet an apparent deficiency in the social security scheme at present which was the absence of mortgage facilities for the low income groups on housing. He added however that a majority of the lower middle income groups would still require cheap rented accommodation over the years to come and therefor the Government would review the HOS in a few years to see whether the need for ownership of accommodation had been met. It would be quite easy to adjust the balance of future new construction between public housing for rental and HOS.

4. Social Welfare

Mr. Hurst asked whether in view of an estimated budgetary surplus of $1,000 m for 1977/8 it was possible to increase in real value the public assistance rates, as he had understood that an average family of 4 or 5 could only claim up to $400 to 500 at