1971 — Page 148

Urban Council Proceedings 市政局議事錄 All AI Reviewed

Page 148

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I thank the Commissioner for his promise, but point out that although only 1,100 people are waiting, 1,100 people is still quite a lot of people.

(2) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-

When does the Department intend to proceed with allocation of the current year's 5,000 units set aside for compassionate cases?

What is the reason for the delay?

THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:

For the record, it should be noted that the current year's quota for compassionate cases is now 7,500, having been raised recently to this level from the figure of 5,000 mentioned in the question.

The question implies that we have not even started to allocate from this quota, and asks what is the reason for the delay. The position is that in March the Social Welfare Department and the Medical Department were asked to refer only urgent cases until such time as better arrangements could be introduced for dealing with compassionate cases; the difficulty was the Resettlement Department staff were getting involved in making all sorts of judgments, in allocating rooms, that should in fact be made by trained welfare staff. Nonetheless, since 1st April this year, we have housed 2,800 persons, which includes some 1,500 brought forward from the previous quota period. This is nearly 1,000 more than when this question was discussed in Council in August this year. On a steady progression since April we should have housed just under 3,000 persons by now, that is, as many cases as we have the capacity to deal with; in this sense, the partial suspension has not had a noticeably adverse effect.

The Director of Social Welfare and I have now jointly considered the referral system and have agreed on certain changes which should considerably improve the handling of these cases and which should come into force at the end of this year; briefly, under this new system we will keep the Social Welfare Department informed as to what rooms in which estates can be made available for these cases; the Social Welfare Department will discuss accommodation requirements with each applicant and will match up applicants and rooms in the light of the special needs and problems of the applicant. Thus my department will no longer maintain a waiting list, and the matching job will be done by those best qualified to do it.

Pending the introduction of this new system at the end of the year, all compassionate cases will continue to be handled in my department in the old way, and with the recent resumption of this system we expect to receive some 300 cases in the next few weeks. At our normal rate of 110 such cases a month, we should be able to make good progress on these over the next few months. Each case of course involves a family and requires an average of 5 places, so 300 cases means that up to 1,500 places might be required to meet their needs. Once these have been dealt with there will still be accommodation left within the quota for a further 600 or so cases, that is, for something over 3,000 persons.

The only other significant backlog we have at present is a group of about 140 singleton cases. These are a very real problem because even our smallest rooms are designed for family use and have to be shared by singletons or converted in some way to provide a small, separate unit for each. Sharing presents problems and so does conversion. We are experimenting with conversion arrangements but the omens are not good. Meantime, we will continue to consider how best to meet the needs of singleton compassionate cases, a problem which can be even more difficult than that of ordinary singletons.

MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to take the Commissioner up on his statement in the middle of the second paragraph in which he talks about the difficulty of the Resettlement staff getting involved in all sorts of judgments. Mr. Chairman, is it not correct that these cases are all referred after a Social Welfare investigation and therefore the staff of the Resettlement Department do not need to be Social Welfare workers.

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, we do indeed consult them, we have the views of the Social Welfare Department at this stage, that is true, but, nonetheless, all sorts of judgements are involved in deciding whether, for example, to agree that a particular case should be housed on a particular floor or in a particular estate because of occupational problems, or because of family problems. There are many issues of this kind, Mr. Chairman, which we feel are best done by the Welfare Department. We would rather not, as amateurs, dabble in these matters.

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Page 148 HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I thank the Commissioner for his promise, but point out that although only 1,100 people are waiting, 1,100 people is still quite a lot of people. (2) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:- When does the Department intend to proceed with allocation of the current year's 5,000 units set aside for compassionate cases? What is the reason for the delay? THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows: For the record, it should be noted that the current year's quota for compassionate cases is now 7,500, having been raised recently to this level from the figure of 5,000 mentioned in the question. The question implies that we have not even started to allocate from this quota, and asks what is the reason for the delay. The position is that in March the Social Welfare Department and the Medical Department were asked to refer only urgent cases until such time as better arrangements could be introduced for dealing with compassionate cases; the difficulty was the Resettlement Department staff were getting involved in making all sorts of judgments, in allocating rooms, that should in fact be made by trained welfare staff. Nonetheless, since 1st April this year, we have housed 2,800 persons, which includes some 1,500 brought forward from the previous quota period. This is nearly 1,000 more than when this question was discussed in Council in August this year. On a steady progression since April we should have housed just under 3,000 persons by now, that is, as many cases as we have the capacity to deal with; in this sense, the partial suspension has not had a noticeably adverse effect. The Director of Social Welfare and I have now jointly considered the referral system and have agreed on certain changes which should considerably improve the handling of these cases and which should come into force at the end of this year; briefly, under this new system we will keep the Social Welfare Department informed as to what rooms in which estates can be made available for these cases; the Social Welfare Department will discuss accommodation requirements with each applicant and will match up applicants and rooms in the light of the special needs and problems of the applicant. Thus my department will no longer maintain a waiting list, and the matching job will be done by those best qualified to do it. Pending the introduction of this new system at the end of the year, all compassionate cases will continue to be handled in my department in the old way, and with the recent resumption of this system we expect to receive some 300 cases in the next few weeks. At our normal rate of 110 such cases a month, we should be able to make good progress on these over the next few months. Each case of course involves a family and requires an average of 5 places, so 300 cases means that up to 1,500 places might be required to meet their needs. Once these have been dealt with there will still be accommodation left within the quota for a further 600 or so cases, that is, for something over 3,000 persons. The only other significant backlog we have at present is a group of about 140 singleton cases. These are a very real problem because even our smallest rooms are designed for family use and have to be shared by singletons or converted in some way to provide a small, separate unit for each. Sharing presents problems and so does conversion. We are experimenting with conversion arrangements but the omens are not good. Meantime, we will continue to consider how best to meet the needs of singleton compassionate cases, a problem which can be even more difficult than that of ordinary singletons. MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to take the Commissioner up on his statement in the middle of the second paragraph in which he talks about the difficulty of the Resettlement staff getting involved in all sorts of judgments. Mr. Chairman, is it not correct that these cases are all referred after a Social Welfare investigation and therefore the staff of the Resettlement Department do not need to be Social Welfare workers. COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:-Mr. Chairman, we do indeed consult them, we have the views of the Social Welfare Department at this stage, that is true, but, nonetheless, all sorts of judgements are involved in deciding whether, for example, to agree that a particular case should be housed on a particular floor or in a particular estate because of occupational problems, or because of family problems. There are many issues of this kind, Mr. Chairman, which we feel are best done by the Welfare Department. We would rather not, as amateurs, dabble in these matters. Page 149

Baseline (Original)

242 Page 148 of 242 276 HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I thank the Commissioner for his promise, but point out that although only 1,100 people are waiting, 1,100 people is still quite a lot of people. (2) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:- When does the Department intend to proceed with allocation of the current year's 5,000 units set aside for compas- sionate cases? What is the reason for the delay? THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows: For the record, it should be noted that the current year's quota for compassionate cases is now 7,500, having been raised recently to this level from the figure of 5,000 mentioned in the question. The question implies that we have not even started to allocate from this quota, and asks what is the reason for the delay. The position is that in March the Social Welfare Depart- ment and the Medical Department were asked to refer only urgent cases until such time as better arrangements could be introduced for dealing with compassionate cases; the difficulty was the Resettlement Department staff were getting involved in making all sorts of judgments, in allocating rooms, that should in fact be made by trained welfare staff. Nonetheless, since 1st April this year, we have housed 2,800 persons, which includes some 1,500 brought forward from the previous quota period. This is nearly 1,000 more than when this question was discussed in Council in August this year. On a steady progression since April we should have housed just under 3,000 persons by now, that is, as many cases as we have the capacity to deal with; in this sense, the partial suspension has not had a noticeably adverse effect. The Director of Social Welfare and I have now jointly con- sidered the referral system and have agreed on certain changes which should considerably improve the handling of these cases and which should come into force at the end of this year; briefly, under this new system we will keep the Social Welfare Department informed as to what rooms in which estates can be made available for these cases; the Social Welfare Department will discuss accom- modation requirements with each applicant and will HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL 277 match up applicants and rooms in the light of the special needs and problems of the applicant. Thus my depart- ment will no longer maintain a waiting list, and the matching job will be done by those best qualified to do it. Pending the introduction of this new system at the end of the year, all compassionate cases will continue to be handled in my department in the old way, and with the recent resumption of this system we expect to receive some 300 cases in the next few weeks. At our normal rate of 110 such cases a month, we should be able to make good progress on these over the next few months. Each case of course involves a family and requires an average of 5 places, so 300 cases means that up to 1,500 places might be required to meet their needs. Once these have been dealt with there will still be accommodation left within the quota for a further 600 or so cases, that is, for something over 3,000 persons. The only other significant backlog we have at present is a group of about 140 singleton cases. These are a very real problem because even our smallest rooms are designed for family use and have to be shared by singletons or con- verted in some way to provide a small, separate unit for each. Sharing presents problems and so does conversion. We are experimenting with conversion arrangements but the omens are not good. Meantime, we will continue to consider how best to meet the needs of singleton compas- sionate cases, a problem which can be even more difficult than that of ordinary singletons. MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to take the Commis- sioner up on his statement in the middle of the second paragraph in which he talks about the difficulty of the Resettlement staff getting involved in all sorts of judgments. Mr. Chairman, is it not correct that these cases are all referred after a Social Welfare investigation and therefore the staff of the Resettlement Department do not need to be Social Welfare workers. COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--Mr. Chairman, we do indeed consult them, we have the views of the Social Welfare Department at this stage, that is true, but, nonetheless, all sorts of judgements are involved in deciding whether, for example, to agree that a particular case should be housed on a particular floor or in a particular estate because of occupational problems, or because of family problems. There are many issues of this kind, Mr. Chairman, which we feel are best done by the Welfare Department. We would rather not, as amateurs, dabble in these matters.

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Page 148 of 242

276

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I thank the Commissioner for his promise, but point out that although only 1,100 people are waiting, 1,100 people is still quite a lot of people.

(2) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question:-

When does the Department intend to proceed with allocation of the current year's 5,000 units set aside for compas- sionate cases?

What is the reason for the delay?

THE COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT replied as follows:

For the record, it should be noted that the current year's quota for compassionate cases is now 7,500, having been raised recently to this level from the figure of 5,000 mentioned in the question.

The question implies that we have not even started to allocate from this quota, and asks what is the reason for the delay. The position is that in March the Social Welfare Depart- ment and the Medical Department were asked to refer only urgent cases until such time as better arrangements could be introduced for dealing with compassionate cases; the difficulty was the Resettlement Department staff were getting involved in making all sorts of judgments, in allocating rooms, that should in fact be made by trained welfare staff. Nonetheless, since 1st April this year, we have housed 2,800 persons, which includes some 1,500 brought forward from the previous quota period. This is nearly 1,000 more than when this question was discussed in Council in August this year. On a steady progression since April we should have housed just under 3,000 persons by now, that is, as many cases as we have the capacity to deal with; in this sense, the partial suspension has not had a noticeably adverse effect.

The Director of Social Welfare and I have now jointly con- sidered the referral system and have agreed on certain changes which should considerably improve the handling of these cases and which should come into force at the end of this year; briefly, under this new system we will keep the Social Welfare Department informed as to what rooms in which estates can be made available for these cases; the Social Welfare Department will discuss accom- modation requirements with each applicant and will

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

277

match up applicants and rooms in the light of the special needs and problems of the applicant. Thus my depart- ment will no longer maintain a waiting list, and the matching job will be done by those best qualified to do it.

The only other significant backlog we have at present is a group of about 140 singleton cases. These are a very real problem because even our smallest rooms are designed for family use and have to be shared by singletons or con- verted in some way to provide a small, separate unit for each. Sharing presents problems and so does conversion. We are experimenting with conversion arrangements but the omens are not good. Meantime, we will continue to consider how best to meet the needs of singleton compas- sionate cases, a problem which can be even more difficult than that of ordinary singletons.

MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to take the Commis- sioner up on his statement in the middle of the second paragraph in which he talks about the difficulty of the Resettlement staff getting involved in all sorts of judgments. Mr. Chairman, is it not correct that these cases are all referred after a Social Welfare investigation and therefore the staff of the Resettlement Department do not need to be Social Welfare workers.

COMMISSIONER FOR RESETTLEMENT:--Mr. Chairman, we do indeed consult them, we have the views of the Social Welfare Department at this stage, that is true, but, nonetheless, all sorts of judgements are involved in deciding whether, for example, to agree that a particular case should be housed on a particular floor or in a particular estate because of occupational problems, or because of family problems. There are many issues of this kind, Mr. Chairman, which we feel are best done by the Welfare Department. We would rather not, as amateurs, dabble in these matters.

1971 — Page 148

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