Caring and sharing for a more inclusive society underpins Government Budget

Recent events and the controversy surrounding the proposed relief measures of the 2011-12 Budget have overshadowed the compassion and care for the disadvantaged in our community, which underlies this fiscal blueprint.

Specifically, recurrent expenditure on social welfare in 2011-12 will rise by 11%, representing the largest increase among all policy areas. An additional $4.2 billion will be allocated to social welfare spending, taking the total to $42.2 billion or 17.4% of the Government's total recurrent expenditure, just second to education.

A key focus this year is to provide support to the elderly and those with disabilities, with $1.5 billion allocated for a host of new initiatives.

These include raising payments under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme; increasing the supply of residential care places and enhancing service quality; strengthening day care and home care services, as well as improving barrier-free facilities.

On the CSSA Scheme, the Government has increased its spending by over $900 million on two initiatives to raise payments for the elderly, persons with disabilities and those in ill-health.

To cater for an ageing population, funding for elderly care services has increased by 11.8% from $3.9 billion to about $4.4 billion in 2011-12. We have taken care to strike a balance between residential and community care services, in line with our strategy of promoting "ageing in place as the core, institutional care as back-up".

The new money will improve both the quantity and quality of residential care services. The Government will spend $131 million to provide 1 270 new places of various types. Notably, for nursing home places which are not readily available in the private market and yet very much in demand, we are increasing the number by 234, which is about 10% of the existing provision.

Taken together with the 1 000 new places funded in previous budgets, we shall have about 2 300 new residential care places within four years. The recurrent expenditure on the provision of subsidised residential care places now takes up 62% of the total expenditure on elderly services.

To enhance the quality of private elderly homes, we will raise the purchase price of higher quality (EA1) places under the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme. This will enable homes for the elderly to provide physiotherapy and rehabilitation training for their residents. Extra resources are also provided to strengthen the support for dementia patients and the elderly who are infirm, by way of special supplements for elderly homes and day care centers.

Most elderly people cherish the support of their families and prefer living in their own home. The Government therefore makes available a wide range of community care services to assist the elderly at home and alleviate the burden of their carers. In 2011-12, we will spend $224 million to enhance community care and support services.

These include providing 185 day care service places and an additional 1 500 home care places (the latter representing a significant increase of 32% over the existing provision), as well as implementing the Integrated Discharge Support Programme for Elderly Patients (IDSP) territory-wide. Through offering one-stop pre-discharge planning/training plus post-discharge rehabilitation programmes and intensive home support services, the IDSP will benefit some 33 000 elderly patients a year.

Persons with disabilities are always close to our heart. In the coming financial year, recurrent expenditure for rehabilitation services will increase by 10% to $3.7 billion. New services coming on stream will account for more than $140 million.

In line with our rehabilitation policy objectives in promoting the development of the capabilities of persons with disabilities and their full integration into the community, we are moving ahead steadily in increasing the provision of rehabilitation places. Coupled with the recurrent funding earmarked earlier, the Government will provide a total of 1 046 residential care places, 926 places for pre-school services and 986 places for day training and vocational rehabilitation services in the current and coming financial years.

We are also gearing up to purchase between 150 and 233 places in the first phase of the pilot Bought Place Scheme for Private Residential Care Homes for Persons with Disabilities.

Mental health social rehabilitation services will also be enhanced by strengthening the manpower of the Integrated Community Centres for Mental Wellness. This will help to provide district-based one-stop services as well as dovetail with the Hospital Authority's Case Management Programme to support patients with severe mental illness living in the community. We will also step up services for former patients as well as for autistic children and their families.

It is the Government's firm commitment to provide a barrier-free environment for persons with disabilities so they can live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life. On infrastructure, the Government will spend a total of $1.3 billion in the coming few years to upgrade the barrier-free facilities in Government and Housing Authority venues. Most of the retrofitting works will be completed by mid-2012. The Rehabus service will also be strengthened. Public awareness is another important aspect and extra resources will be allocated to this area.

A decade ago, recurrent expenditure on social welfare was some $28.6 billion. It has risen to $42.2 billion today, an increase of 47.6%.

Going forward, we will spare no effort in caring for, and supporting, the underprivileged and elderly in our community. We will continue to push forward comprehensive and targeted initiatives with a visionary strategy. We will also continue to promote cross-sectoral collaboration to support the needy and promote a more caring society.

Ends/Thursday, March 8, 2011