TNAG-1734-FCO40-2447-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 344

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 11 May 1988

has achieved encouraging results and it is intended that it should be expanded through the addition of six more teams during the next three years.

The Social Welfare Department is also involved in the provision of a variety of services for young offenders. In cases of minor offences where a probation officer feels that residential training would be inappropriate, an offender is often placed on a non-residential probation order and required to undergo counselling and any other special treatment considered necessary. Alternatively, a court may make a community service order which requires the offender to perform unpaid work for the benefit of the community. This community service order approach is quite new to Hong Kong and is at present the subject of a two year pilot scheme in three magistracies. On the completion of the pilot scheme, the results will be assessed and a decision taken whether to extend the arrangements to all the magistracies. So far the indications are that this scheme is proving quite successful, and is being well used by the courts.

For more serious offences, the court may decide that a young person should be placed in a residential institution such as a remand home or a reformatory school. The Social Welfare Department currently operates seven of these institutions, each of which provides a disciplined and controlled environment where offenders can receive academic, prevocational and social training. After- care services, including counselling, family visits and assistance with accom- modation, job and school placements, are provided for all young offenders who are committed to residential institutions.

Whilst there is sufficient number of places in these residential institutions to meet the present demand, the department plans to provide a new home for girls in Tuen Mun and to reprovision two of the boy's homes.

I hope that I have said enough to reassure Members that the Social Welfare Department and the subvented welfare agencies already provide a comprehensive range of social work based services to help our young people grow up into responsible members of the community and to provide help for those who have particular problems. These services are co-ordinated through the mechanism of the Social Welfare Five-Year Plan, which is reviewed at regular intervals in collaboration with the voluntary agencies through the Council of Social Service. Sir, while it is a sad fact of life that there are young people in our society, as in all others, who go astray, I think it would be quite wrong to give the impression that they represent a majority or even a large proportion of Hong Kong's youth. I believe that most of our young people are prepared to study and work hard and to behave responsibly, and this can only be a good augury for the future of Hong Kong.

Sir, I support the motion.

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Several Members have referred to the question of the adequacy and quality of educational provision, and I had originally intended to speak on this topic. However, I did speak on it at some