| LC: Speech by SCMA to move a motion on approving the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 3) Order 2013 |
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Following is the speech (English translation) by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam, to move the motion on approving the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 3) Order 2013 in the Legislative Council today (January 22): Acting President, I move that the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 3) Order 2013 (the Order) be approved. The purpose of this piece of subsidiary legislation is to implement the adjustment to the boundaries of the Eastern and Wan Chai Districts and the related amendment to the number of elected members of the Eastern and Wan Chai District Councils (DCs), starting from the fifth-term DCs which will commence operation on January 1, 2016.
Background During the review of the number of elected seats for the fifth-term DCs, there were views suggesting that the Wan Chai DC would have a relatively small number of elected seats and the Eastern DC would have a relatively large one, resulting in possible impact on the operation of both DCs, and views suggesting that the Government might consider adjusting the boundaries of the Eastern and Wan Chai Districts by transferring some DC elected seats from the Eastern DC to the Wan Chai DC. The proposal to transfer the area of the existing Tin Hau and Victoria Park DC constituency areas (DCCAs) from the Eastern District to the Wan Chai District was considered as the most feasible options. We launched a formal consultation last summer with the Eastern and Wan Chai DCs, local residents and the public on the following two options, namely, whether to transfer the two existing Tin Hau and Victoria Park DCCAs from the Eastern District to the Wan Chai District or to maintain the status quo. The outcome of the consultation indicates general support by the Eastern and Wan Chai DCs, local residents and the public for the transfer of the existing Tin Hau and Victoria Park DCCAs from the Eastern District to the Wan Chai District. Therefore, our recommendation is to amend Schedules 1 and 3 to the District Councils Ordinance to formally adjust the boundaries of the Eastern and Wan Chai Districts in order to reflect the transfer of the existing Tin Hau and Victoria Park DCCAs from the Eastern District to the Wan Chai District, and to correspondingly revise the number of elected seats of the Eastern DC from 37 to 35 and the number of elected seats of the Wan Chai DC from 11 to 13. The Chief Executive in Council made the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 3) Order 2013 at the Executive Council meeting on October 22, 2013 to implement these adjustments. The House Committee of the Legislative Council examined the Order at its meeting on November 1, 2013 and decided that there was a need to form a Subcommittee on Subsidiary Legislation to scrutinise the Order. The Subcommittee on Subsidiary Legislation has completed the scrutiny after holding three meetings. I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Hon Ip Kwok-him, Chairman of the Subcommittee and other Subcommittee members for their work.
School net arrangement The school net arrangement for the three public schools in the area of the two DCCAs is the major concern of Subcommittee members during the scrutiny of the Order. At present, admission of students to Primary One and Secondary One in public sector schools is administered through the Primary One Admission (POA) System and the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) System respectively. School places without any restriction by virtue of school net, i.e., those under the Discretionary Places stage and Part A "Unrestricted School Choices" of the Central Allocation stage, could take up about 55 per cent of a school's Primary One places and about 39 per cent of a school's Secondary One places. Subject to the passage of the Order, a primary school and two secondary schools will become located in the Wan Chai District instead of the Eastern District from January 1, 2016. Any implication that the Order may bring about to the school net of the schools concerned or the so-called "school places allocation system" should however take effect from the 2016/17 school year, i.e., the school year beginning in September 2016. According to established mechanism, the Education Bureau has consulted the POA Committee and SSPA Committee, and will adopt the following arrangements to facilitate the concerned schools to adjust to the change in school net. For the primary school concerned, the POA Committee has advised that, in principle, the practice of demarcation of school nets based on district administration boundary should continue to be adhered to, and that relevant stakeholders should be consulted through the kindergartens on the proposed transfer of the primary school from Net 14 to Net 12 under the POA. The POA Committee has also reconfirmed that the established arrangement of avoiding disruption to students already in the primary school concerned should in principle be adopted. Specifically, students studying in the primary school who will participate in the SSPA from 2016 to 2020 will be provided with the option to choose from participating secondary schools in either the Eastern District or Wan Chai under the SSPA Central Allocation of Restricted School Choices. Besides, as regards the two secondary schools concerned, the SSPA Committee has remarked that there is still some time to prepare for the cycle of 2016; the relevant discussion will continue at the SSPA Committee's next meeting in March this year to be followed by consultation of stakeholders by the Education Bureau. In line with the administrative districts, the whole territory is divided into 18 secondary school nets. When the Order takes effect, the two secondary schools will be transferred to the Wan Chai District. This notwithstanding, to facilitate the concerned schools and students to adjust to the change in school net, the Education Bureau is prepared to follow the established practice to allow these two schools to net some school places to the Eastern District for Central Allocation to primary students studying in schools in the district, in principle, in each Secondary School Places Allocation cycle until the 2014 Primary One cohort is admitted to Secondary One in the 2020/21 school year. The Education Bureau will consult stakeholders and schools on the number of places concerned. The Education Bureau has engaged the two secondary schools on the relevant arrangements and the schools have indicated in-principle agreement to these arrangements. The Education Bureau will also follow up on the views of the schools on other facilitating arrangements and render necessary assistance.
Other concerns During the scrutiny of the Order by the Subcommittee, we have confirmed that the implementation of the Order will not affect the provision of services to the public by various bureaux and departments in the two Districts concerned.
Next steps Acting President, I hope that the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 3) Order 2013 will be approved today, so that the Electoral Affairs Commission can carry out the follow-up work as soon as possible, i.e., to make recommendations for the demarcation of constituency boundaries for the DC ordinary election to be conducted in 2015 having regard to the new District boundaries and the correspondingly revised number of seats, and to make preparations for that election accordingly. I invite Members to approve the District Councils Ordinance (Amendment of Schedules 1 and 3) Order 2013 to implement the adjustment to the boundaries of the Eastern and Wan Chai Districts and the related amendment to the number of elected members of the Eastern and Wan Chai DCs starting from the fifth-term DCs which will commence operation on January 1, 2016. Thank you, Acting President. Ends/Wednesday, January 22, 2014 |