Strategic Moves in Building a Caring Society

This year's Budget outlines a number of important initiatives to strengthen support for the elderly and persons with disabilities (PWDs) as well as promote employment and assist job-seekers. They represent strategic directions in building a "caring society".

On residential care places for the elderly, additional resources will be allocated to provide over 1 000 additional subsidised places (818 nursing home places and 269 care-and-attention places), amounting to 4% of the current 26 000 subsidised residential care home places for the elders throughout the territory. The increase in nursing home places in particular represents a hefty increase of 37 percent. This underlines the Government's commitment and determination to continuously improving the supply situation so as to cut waiting time.

We will also launch a three-year pilot scheme to provide tailor-made and strengthened home care services for elders who are waiting for nursing home places. There will be stronger rehabilitation and nursing care elements to cater for the special care needs of the frail elders. Some 510 elders will benefit from this initiative, which is a forward-looking move to effectively support and facilitate home care services and fulfil the wish of most of our elders to age in place.

Equally important is the notable increase in residential care places for PWDs. Altogether 939 additional places will be provided in the next two years (460 of which are for PWDs of the severe grades with relatively long waiting time). This amounts to 14% of the 6700-plus PWDs currently on the waitlist. It is noteworthy that 490 subvented places will be available when the new Integrated Rehabilitation Services Centres converted from the former Ma Tau Wai Girls' Home and the former South Kwai Chung Jockey Club Polyclinic come on stream before the end of this year. Meanwhile, to accelerate the provision of quality residential care places for the disabled, we will also implement a pilot Bought Place Scheme to increase supply of these places.

For persons with severe disabilities who are waiting for residential care, we will break new ground and launch a three-year pilot scheme on home-based nursing care and rehabilitation training with an allocation of $163 million from the Lotteries Fund. We will start first with Kwun Tong and Tuen Mun, where there are more persons with severe disabilities on the waitlist. This pilot will save altogether 540 PWDs plus their carers the hassle of travelling to and from district centres for services - a big leap forward in providing tailor-made community care to them.

Employment is the key to people's livelihood. To motivate and assist needy job-seekers to settle in sustained employment and encourage self-reliance, the Labour Department will launch a two-year Pilot Employment Navigator Programme with 11 000 places a year. A cash incentive of $5 000 will be offered to each job-seeker who has worked full-time for three months after receiving the Department's intensive job counselling and job matching services. The scheme also aims at addressing the problem of manpower mismatch and fully utilising our labour productivity, which is conducive to the long-term socio-economic development of Hong Kong.

Unemployed youths with low educational qualifications and who suffer from learning difficulties or emotional or behavioural problems need special assistance before they can secure job placement. The Labour Department will launch a targeted programme under which non-governmental organisations will provide training and internship for one year to some 500 young people between 15 and 24.

There are concerns that transport expenses have brought pressure to low-income employees. My Bureau will look into this issue in a serious, comprehensive and in-depth manner with a view to mapping out appropriate and specific measures by the end of this year. We will need to collate detailed information on the transport expenses of low-income employees in all eighteen districts in Hong Kong, their choice of transport, as well as transport expenses as a proportion of their income and expenditure. The Financial Secretary has promised to make suitable financial provisions.

Caring for the people is our cardinal principle of governance. I will leave no stone unturned to better serve the disadvantaged and proactively promote employment.

Ends/Wednesday, March 3, 2010