TNAG-0876-FCO40-1086-Development-of-social-welfare-policy-in-Hong-Kong-1979 — Page 110

UNCLASSIFIED

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN HONG KONG

1.

The publicly declared policy of the Hong Kong Government is to

ensure that social services in the territory are equal to the best

available in any of the countries in the region apart from Japan.

Spending on the social services now accounts for 46% of Hong Kong

Government expenditure. The main elements in the social development

programme are:

Housing

2. The Government housing programme has so far provided homes for

more than 2 million people (46% of the population). New public

housing is now being built at a rate of 30-35,000 units a year -

sufficient to house some 200,000 people. This programme was drawn

up with the intention of providing public housing for 65% of the

anticipated population by the mid-eighties, and then maintaining it

at that level. This would have met the full demand for subsidised

Government accommodation. However, the programme is now being

threatened by the very high level of immigration from China, and it

seems probable that the full demand for Government housing will not

now be met until some years after the original target date.

3. The influx of immigrants from China has coincided with a slight

reduction in the targets for new public housing. This was necessary

because of the strains that were being placed on the Hong Kong

economy by the excessive demands of the construction industry (a

situation that was, however, partly caused by the unexpectedly high

level of private housing construction

units per year).

also running at some 30,000

/Education