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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

CHAIRMAN :—Yes, sir, it is part of their responsibilities both to urge them to do so and to assist them to do so.

MR. SALES :-Thank you, sir.

MOTIONS.

DR. P. F. Woo moved :-

"That all Select Committees concerned with licensing duties should study the new arrangements recently adopted by the Restaurants, Food Canteens and Cafes (Licensing) Select Committee whereby their procedure has been successfully streamlined, and should consider whether a similar procedure should be adopted for the issue of those licences with which each committee is concerned."

He said: The issue of licences occupies an important part of the daily routine business of the Urban Council, but though steps have been taken to reduce the time taken to approve licences, the procedure of the issue of such licences has not yet been care- fully studied. Any procedure which could give rise to better efficiency and involve less time should be the method to be adopted by the Council.

The procedure of licensing generally adopted by the Council at present is briefly as follows. On receipt of an application, the premises concerned are visited and the lay-out plan submitted is examined. A report setting out all the requirements laid down by the Council together with the recommendation from the Health Staff for approval or refusal is submitted to the Delegated Member who in turn has to examine the plan and check the requirements. His approval of the plan and requirements will eventually mean the issue of the licence at a later date, provided that all the requirements have all been complied with. You will notice, Mr. Chairman, that the Delegated Member, who is a member of this Council, is asked to approve something only on paper without having the opportunity of inspecting the actual completed struc- ture, and without knowing how precisely the requirements are complied with.

Recently the Select Committee of Restaurants, Food Canteens and Cafes (for Licensing) accepted my recommendation for a modified procedure. By this new method the report together with

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the recommendation for approval or refusal is sent to the Secretary of the Urban Council. If the recommendation is for approval, the Secretary will examine the plan and check the requirements, and after ensuring that all the exemptions allowed have been duly authorized by the Assistant Director of Health Services, he is authorized to convey the requirements to the applicant. I must state here, Mr. Chairman, that the Secretary and the Assistant Secretaries are much more familiar with the exact requirements necessary for the different types of licences than the Delegated Member. When all requirements have been complied with by the applicant, the Health Staff visit the premises and after con- firmation, the file is sent to the Delegated Member who is then able to see for himself the premises in its finished stage and could authorize the issue of the licence. On the other hand, if the recommendation is for refusal, the file is sent to the Delegated Member and, if necessary, to the full Select Committee. Since the introduction of this procedure, it has been calculated that there is a saving in time of three to five days, and it is also estimated that the total time taken for the approval of a Restaurant or Cafe licence would possibly be reduced to a minimum of three weeks instead of much longer before.

There is no doubt that the results achieved by this new arrangement are satisfactory and the double checking first by the Secretary and then by the Delegated Member will bring about greater efficiency in the Council's licensing system. It is worth- while for the other licensing Committees to go into this method so that the same improvements could be extended to them.

MR. LI YIU BOR seconded.

He said: The Urban Council, through its various Select Committees, is responsible for the issuance of a large number and also a great variety of licences. It is therefore to the public interest that the procedure governing such issuance should from time to time be reviewed in the light of experience gained by the Select Committee.

In his motion Dr. Woo has offered for the benefit of other Select Committees the procedure of issuing licences recently adopted by the Restaurants, Food Canteens and Cafes (Licensing) Select Committee. As Dr. Woo has explained, the new procedure is more realistic, as it enables the Delegated Member to see the premises when completed before finally approving the application. I understand that it also effects a saving of time.