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CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-Would that be considered?

MR. KENNETH LO (in English):-I have already indicated that the question will be gone into, but bearing in mind the very low attendance rate, this may not be justified.

6. MR. LO KING-MAN asked the following question (in Cantonese):--In my brief experience as a District Board member over the past six months, I have observed that not all members of my Board are sufficiently familiar with the policies, procedures and constraints involved in the various areas of the Urban Council's work which include the provision of facilities and services for their district and their communities. I believe this situation is not unique in my District Board and can cause misunderstandings and difficulties in the Council's relationship with the District Boards. Does the Council see the necessity to make special effort to improve communication, information and mutual understanding in this regard, and if so, what are its plans?

MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG, CHAIRMAN of the DISTRICT RELATIONS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):—The question asks if the Urban Council considers it necessary to improve the communication with the District Boards in respect of the Council's policies, procedures and constraints in the provision of facilities and services so as to facilitate better mutual understanding in this regard.

It has always been Council's policy to establish, maintain and improve good working relationships between the District Boards and the Council, the common aims of both being to serve the local community and to make Hong Kong a better place to live in.

On each of the District Boards, at least two of its members are Urban Councillors who often present the Council's works to District Board members. In addition, Regional Assistant Directors also sit on District Boards and other standing or ad hoc committees of the Boards to provide supplementary information. On the other hand, District Boards have in the past been invited to attend meetings of the Council's sub-committees, notably the Clean Hong Kong Committee.

Liaison and co-operation between the District Boards and the Council has been, on the whole, satisfactory and continues to improve. Although the District Boards have been in existence for about three years, they already organize and carry out a large number of local joint operations. Many of these successful joint ventures relate to environmental improvements, hawker control, etc., which have been beneficial to the Council's activities, whereas the Council has spared no effort in supporting the District Boards in their work and programmes such as in the promotion of recreation and sports, culture, Mei Fa, provision of amenities etc. As regards activities related to the Council and

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organized by the District Boards, the Council has always tried, as far as possible, to lend its support by assisting or co-sponsoring activities with the District Boards.

The District Boards have, since 1983, been consulted on major matters affecting their own districts. For example, it is now normal for the Council's 5-year Capital Works Programme in respect of a district to be presented to the relevant District Board for discussion and comments before formal approval by the Council; Regional Assistant Directors consult District Boards on the schedules of accommodation and layout plans for the individual facility proposed before final approval by the Council and subsequent construction.

Another example is in respect of hawker matters where, between June and July this year, all District Boards were invited to discuss the Council's present hawker policies and future policy needs with Members of the Council's Working Party to Review Hawker and Related Policies. Further, District Boards are habitually consulted about hawkers and markets matters through discussion of specific operational plans for the reordering, resiting or clearance of hawkers in particular districts.

I should perhaps add that the functional District Relations Select Committee was set up in early 1981 with the express objective of achieving and maintaining good relationships with the District Boards. It is the aim of this Committee to continue to find ways to enhance its relationship with the District Boards through close co-operation and mutual understanding. Undeniably, liaison between the Council and the District Boards could be further improved. This will be stepped up in the future.

MR. LO KING-MAN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, Miss Yeung in her answer has made reference to the Five-Year Capital Works Programme and she informs us that before final approval, we would present them to District Boards for discussion. Very often, during the consultative process, the District Board members may not really know about the constraints faced by the Urban Council, and the District Board members really do not know that we are limited by land use and other regulations concerning allocation of land. I would like to know whether Miss YEUNG's select committee will in future explain to the District Boards these regulations in layman's terms. For example, will you consider printing out brief information materials to the District Boards member, so that they will understand more about the constraints faced by the Urban Council?

MISS CECILIA YEUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, Mr. Lo has given us a piece of very valuable suggestion but every time when we go to the District Boards, the Assistant Director will solely explain the constraints faced by the Urban Council to the District Board members. We already have a pamphlet concerning that, but of course, we have not distributed the information paper to the District Boards, but Mr. Lo makes such a suggestion and perhaps we can consider distributing our information papers to the District Boards.