1977 — Page 92

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ANNEX III

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

REPLY TO URBAN COUNCIL QUESTION RAISED BY MR. TSIN SAI-NIN

The first part of this question concerns the Urban Council's procedure for licensing restaurants. The present procedure is as follows:-

(1) On receipt of an application for a licence, the Assistant Secretary (Licensing) makes an appointment with the applicant by letter for an inspection of the premises. The appointment normally takes place 4 days from the date of this letter.

(2) A copy of the proposed layout plan of the premises is sent to the Building Authority and the Fire Services Department for comments within 30 working days.

(3) The Licensing Inspector visits the premises on the scheduled date and submits a detailed report within 4 working days to the Senior Health Inspector (Licensing).

(4) The Senior Health Inspector (Licensing) vets the report within another 4 working days and forwards his recommendations to the Assistant Secretary (Licensing).

(5) If clearance is obtained from the Building Authority and the Fire Services Department within the time limit, or, if no reply is received on expiry of the time limit, in which case it is assumed that they have no objection in principle to the application, the Assistant Secretary (Licensing) issues a letter explaining the health requirements with which the applicant is required to comply.

(6) Thereafter, it is up to the applicant to comply with the health requirements of the Urban Council within the shortest time possible. He also deals direct with the Fire Services Department on any specific conditions which that Department may impose and with the Building Authority through his authorized person (the architect) if the Authority requires any special conditions to be complied with.

(7) When the applicant reports compliance (either verbally or in writing) with the Urban Council's requirements, the Licensing Inspector inspects the premises, checks the requirements and reports to the Senior Health Inspector (Licensing) within 4 working days from the day of receipt of the file.

(8) The Senior Health Inspector (Licensing) visits the premises to confirm the Licensing Inspector's report and sends the file with his recommendation to the Assistant Secretary (Licensing) within 4 days for issue of a licence. The state of compliance with the requirements of the other Government Departments is a matter for the Departments concerned to pursue under their own legislations and the issue of a licence is not held up on this account.

(9) If the applicant has not complied with the health requirements, the file is sent by the Assistant Secretary (Licensing) to the Licensing Inspector every 3 months for him to report on the position and the progress made.

(10) The Licensing Inspector sends his report through the Senior Health Inspector (Licensing) to the Assistant Secretary (Licensing) who, within 7 days of the 3 months ending, submits the file to the Delegated Member of the Select Committee for consideration.

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

147

Annex III (Contd.)

(11) Subject to any comments made by the Delegated Member, a letter listing all the outstanding health requirements is sent to the applicant for his attention.

(12) If the applicant has not taken any steps to meet the health requirements, the Assistant Secretary (Licensing) sends another letter warning the applicant that the Council has assumed that he is not interested in establishing the business under application and that unless the Council hears from him to the contrary within 10 days, his application will be cancelled.

(13) If there is a basic health objection or an objection in principle from either the Building Authority or the Fire Services Department to the application within the time limit of 30 working days, a recommendation is made to the Delegated Member of the Select Committee that the application should be refused.

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