Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Public Finance
251. During the pandemic, several rounds of large-scale counter-cyclical measures were launched to support enterprises and safeguard jobs. These measures, though successful in stabilising the economy and protecting people’s livelihood, have led to fiscal deficits in the past few years. The Budget last year introduced a reinforced fiscal consolidation programme, aiming at achieving fiscal balance through strictly containing the growth of government expenditure, suitably increasing revenue and consolidating the Government’s financial resources. In addition, the scale of bond issuance would be enlarged. Last year, we set the target of attaining surpluses in the Operating Account from 2026-27 onwards and the Consolidated Account in 2028-29 respectively.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Rock Chen and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (February 25):
Question:
There are views that the Government may further enhance existing fire safety education, deepen the concept of “making preventive efforts to ensure fire safety”, and introduce virtual reality (VR) technology to assist members of the public in staying calm and making appropriate escape decisions and to enhance their self-protection ability in case of fire. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the numbers of fire safety talks, seminars, exhibitions and fire drills organised by the Hong Kong Fire Services Department (FSD) for community members and the total number of times fire safety advisory service was provided in the past three years;
(2) whether the FSD will consider further enhancing the fire safety education and promotion approach to step up the fire risk assessment and escape decision-making capabilities of the public, such as encouraging or requiring building management bodies (including owners’ corporations and property management companies) to participate in and organise practical training, regularly conducting evacuation simulation drills and on-site demonstration of fire suppression methods, and teaching residents how to make appropriate judgement and choose escape routes in case of fire based on the fire location, building structure and their own physical conditions, while at the same time stepping up the overall co-ordination and response capabilities of building households and property management personnel in case of fire; and
(3) whether the FSD will consider, in collaboration with the Education Bureau, designing and promoting activities that create an immersive sense of presence by re-creating fire scenarios with VR technology and require regular participation by schools, so as to heighten students’ crisis awareness through situated education and provide them with specialised training for fire escape? President,
The Government attaches great importance to public fire safety education. In emergencies such as fires, whether members of the public can remain calm, make effective risk assessments and escape decision directly affects their safety. To this end, the Fire Services Department (FSD), apart from actively implementing a “community-based” public safety strategy, has also widely applied innovative technologies to enhance the interactivity and realism of education and training. The objective is to enable the public to acquire and practise emergency response skills in simulated yet safe situations, thereby strengthening the overall fire prevention awareness and self-rescue capabilities.
The reply to the question raised by the Member, in consultation with the Education Bureau (EDB), is as follows:
(1) The total number of fire safety talks and advisory services provided by the FSD to the community in the past three years is shown in the table below. In addition, the FSD from time to time organises disaster prevention and emergency preparedness exhibitions, fire premises open days as well as district disaster and emergency preparedness carnivals. It also conducts fire drills with residential estates and schools, among others, to continuously strengthen community fire safety promotion.
(2) The FSD has been educating and cultivating public awareness of disaster risks through conventional mass media, digital and social platforms, community outreach, and collaboration with different organisations. At the same time, the FSD has actively strengthened district-level co-operation and encouraged direct public participation in training. It has also integrated innovative technologies into public education to further enhance the public’s capability to respond effectively in the event of a fire.
Strengthening district collaboration
To enhance district collaboration, the FSD established the “Fire Services Department Community Collaboration Network” (FSDCCN) in 2022. Members of the FSDCCN include Divisional Commanders of the FSD and chairpersons of the 18 District Fire Safety Committees under the Home Affairs Department. FSDCCN members hold regular meetings to jointly formulate targeted district fire safety strategies and organise district fire and disaster prevention publicity campaigns. For example, in 2025, over 3 000 sets of “three treasures for fire protection” (fire extinguishers, fire blankets, and stand-alone fire detectors) were distributed to the public through the FSDCCN. Information on fire prevention and emergency preparedness was also provided to residents to enhance their emergency readiness. It is expected that in 2026, 5 400 sets of “disaster and emergency preparedness kits,” with the addition of smoke hoods, will be distributed across all districts in Hong Kong through the FSDCCN to continue to strengthen district collaboration efforts.
Encouraging direct participation of the public in fire safety training
Since December 2024, the FSD has launched the “Community Emergency Responder Scheme” to provide members of the public with knowledge on basic fire prevention and emergency response. As of December 31, 2025, a total of 8 420 members of the public have become “Community Emergency Responders” upon completion of the training course. In 2026, the annual recruitment target for “Community Emergency Responders” will be increased to 10 000 members, with a view to expanding the community safety network.
To ensure that residents and managerial personnel in buildings are equipped with knowledge on fire prevention and emergency response, and are able to respond correctly and immediately during the incipient stage of fires, the FSD has specifically established the “Building Emergency Responders” which provides specialised training for property management personnel, representatives of owners’ corporations (OCs) and residents on building fire safety, such as the correct usage, management, and maintenance responsibilities of fire service installations and equipment, as well as key considerations when conducting fire inspections, etc. These “Building Emergency Responders” can assist in identifying potential fire safety hazards within housing estates, participate in fire safety inspections, and report risks to the FSD or property management companies. Integrating innovative technologies into public education
The FSD has all along been actively leveraging innovative technologies for public education and publicity. As early as 2020, the FSD introduced an “Emergency Preparedness Education Bus”, which features a virtual reality game and an interactive firefighting simulation system. This allows participants to experience escaping from a fire scene, operating fire extinguishers, and using hose reels to put out a fire, etc, thereby learning the skills of “Extinguish and Prevent Fire”, “Self-help and Help Others” and “Escape and Evacuate” under the “Three Basic Skills on Emergency Preparedness”, and enhancing the participants’ self-help capabilities.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ8: Promoting Hong Kong externally through holding international meeting Question:
The Central Government has earlier on announced that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Finance Ministers’ Meeting 2026 will be held in Hong Kong in October this year. There are views that the international meeting is a major diplomatic and financial event drawing global attention, while providing Hong Kong with an opportunity for international promotion, telling the world good stories of our country, Hong Kong and Chinese culture. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: President,
China is the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2026 and is responsible for preparing for and chairing the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, as well as a series of ministerial and other meetings under the theme of “Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together”. The Central People’s Government announced earlier that the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) will be hosted by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and will be held in Hong Kong under the arrangements and organisation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government. The HKSAR Government will spare no effort in making comprehensive and meticulous preparations to support our country in successfully hosting APEC 2026. Meanwhile, the HKSAR Government will also seize this opportunity to deepen international exchanges and co-operation, further reinforcing and elevating Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre, thereby better integrating into and serving the overall national development.
The HKSAR Government attaches great importance to the relevant preparatory work. The Steering Committee on the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting 2026 preparatory work (Steering Committee), chaired by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, has convened its first meeting to review the preliminary preparatory work and discuss key follow-up tasks for the FMM with relevant policy bureaux, departments, and organisations. The Steering Committee, comprising senior representatives from 20 policy bureaux, departments, and organisations, oversees areas of work including meeting arrangements, transportation, security, publicity, cultural and arts activities, etc. The HKSAR Government will facilitate the successful hosting of the FMM in Hong Kong through close interdepartmental collaboration.
In response to the question raised by Dr the Hon Elvin Lee, our reply is as follows:
(1) With reference to past arrangements, the FMM will bring together finance ministers and senior finance officials of the 21 APEC member economies, as well as representatives of observing international organisations (such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank). We expect that around 500 visitors (including accompanying persons of delegates and visiting international journalists) will come to Hong Kong in mid-to-late October this year for the three-day FMM and related activities. We will make good use of this high-level international platform to actively showcase and promote Chinese culture to visitors from around the world, along with Hong Kong’s unique appeal and boundless opportunities as an international metropolis. This includes the thriving development of Hong Kong’s financial sector and its robust capabilities in organising meetings, conventions and exhibitions, and incentive travel activities.
(2) Finance ministers, senior finance officials, and representatives of international organisations participating in the FMM would typically need to attend multiple international conferences around the world, including the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group to be held in Bangkok in October this year. Given their tight schedules, the time they could spend in Hong Kong before and after the FMM will be limited. The HKSAR Government will leverage the FMM programme arrangements and incorporate elements of Chinese culture, as well as the unique characteristics of Hong Kong, into the venue set-up (including exhibition booths around the conference area) and the design of side events (including welcoming dinner, cultural performances, and site visits) to enable participants to experience and interact with these cultural elements firsthand, thereby effectively telling good stories of our country and Hong Kong.
(3) Hong Kong has long been recognised as an events capital for hosting major international conferences, and has extensive experience in managing media affairs and promotional activities for such events. The Steering Committee will formulate publicity and promotion strategies, with details to be announced in an opportune time after consulting the MoF. Issued at HKT 12:45
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ14: Patriotic Education Base for Hong Kong and Macao Youth Question:
There are views pointing out that the Patriotism Education Base for Hong Kong and Macao Youth, which was established in August last year at the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in Beijing Municipality with the strong support from the Central Government, will be of great significance in deepening the understanding of our country among young people in Hong Kong and Macao, as well as enhancing their patriotic spirit in the long term. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has plans to co-operate with memorial halls and museums in other Mainland cities (such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen) to set up patriotic education bases for Hong Kong and Macao youth; if so, of the time and the arrangements for implementing such plans; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) of the measures put in place by the Working Group on Patriotic Education under the Constitution and Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee to promote visits by local schools and organisations to the aforementioned patriotic education bases for Hong Kong and Macao youth; and
(3) of the mechanism currently put in place by the Government to collect feedback from teachers and students after they have visited the aforementioned patriotic education bases for Hong Kong and Macao youth, and whether it will regularly review and enhance the arrangements for the visits based on the data obtained?
Reply:
President,
Having consulted the Education Bureau (EDB) and the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB), our reply in response to the questions raised by the Hon Albert Chuang is as follows:
(1) There is a rich and diversified array of patriotic education facilities in the Mainland. These resources are highly valuable and well worth young people and students visiting and studying, so as to gain a deeper understanding of our country’s history and culture, and personally appreciate our country’s development and achievements, thereby fostering a sense of national identity, national pride and patriotic sentiment. Last year marked the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. With the support of the Central Government, the first Patriotic Education Base for Hong Kong and Macao Youth was established in August last year at the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression located by the Lugou Bridge in Beijing. The Government is actively identifying other suitable patriotic education facilities in the Mainland for inclusion as patriotic education bases of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The specific locations and relevant arrangements will be announced in due course upon further discussion with the relevant Mainland authorities.
(2) The Working Group on Patriotic Education comprises experts and representatives from different sectors, as well as the relevant bureaux and departments, including EDB and HYAB. Encouraging students and young people to visit the Mainland in person is one of the effective ways to promote patriotic education. On students, EDB has all along been committed to providing primary and secondary school students with diversified Mainland Exchange Programmes (MEPs). Since the implementation of the senior secondary subject of Citizenship and Social Development (CS) from the 2021/22 school year, all senior secondary students studying the local curriculum are provided with opportunities to participate in the Mainland study tours organised by EDB. These Mainland study tours aim at providing students with life-wide learning experiences to deepen their understanding of our country’s history, culture, economic and technological development, etc., through first-hand experience, thereby enhancing their understanding of our country’s development and achievements from different aspects, so as to strengthen their sense of national pride, patriotic sentiment and sense of national identity. Following the establishment of the Patriotic Education Base for Hong Kong and Macao Youth at the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, visits to the Base under the MEPs for primary and secondary students have already been launched. For senior secondary CS, study tours to Beijing are also planned for the coming school year, and visits to the Base will also be arranged for students.
On young people, the District Offices under the Home Affairs Department funded 20 Mainland exchange tours in the 2025-26 financial year, with over 500 youth participants in total. As 2025 marked both the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 60th anniversary of Dongjiang water supply to Hong Kong, the exchange tours covered related thematic visits, including visits to the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, anti-Japanese war memorial halls in various provinces, and the Dongjiang-Shenzhen Water Supply Project Memorial Park, etc. Through these visits, youth participants gained a deeper understanding of our country’s history of the War of Resistance and the significance of Dongjiang water supply to Hong Kong, thereby strengthening their sense of patriotism.
At present, HYAB also provides funding to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to organise youth exchange projects in the Mainland through the “HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland”, with a view to enhancing young people’s understanding of our country’s culture, history, way of life and the latest developments, and strengthening exchanges with youth in the Mainland. Under the 2026-27 round of the Scheme, HYAB will actively encourage NGOs to arrange for youth participants to visit the Patriotic Education Bases for Hong Kong and Macao Youth in their exchange projects, and applications that include such visits will be given priority consideration.
(3) EDB has been gauging views from different stakeholders to review the effectiveness of and enhance the arrangements for MEPs for primary and secondary students and CS Mainland study tours. EDB also keeps in view the learning effectiveness of MEPs and CS Mainland study tours through school visits, inspections, collection of student work (including photos, video clips and student reflections), and interviews with teachers and students, and shares students’ learning outcomes with the public. According to the results of questionnaire surveys submitted by schools, feedback from teachers and students on MEPs and CS Mainland study tours has been very positive. They agree that the Mainland exchanges and study tours help deepen their understanding of our country’s history, culture and technological development, extend classroom learning, and enhance their sense of national identity and pride. EDB also gauges participants’ feedback through deployment of staff for on-site participation, questionnaire surveys, post-trip sharing sessions, etc. to assess the appropriateness of the content of Mainland exchanges and study tours, continuously optimise visit arrangements and explore new visiting spots, thereby further promoting patriotic education.
As regards the youth exchange projects subsidised under the “HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland”, HYAB monitors the effectiveness and quality of exchange projects by collecting feedback from participants through their evaluation questionnaires completed after the projects. In addition, NGOs are required to organise debriefing and sharing sessions for participants after their return to Hong Kong. Representatives of HYAB and the Youth Development Commission also attend these sessions from time to time to understand participants’ exchange experience and learning, and enhance the Scheme as needed. Besides, participants’ feedback on each funded exchange tour will be collected by the District Offices, which will take into consideration such feedback when planning other exchange tours, with a view to continuously enhancing the relevant arrangements. Issued at HKT 12:30
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ7: Supporting youth employment Question:
There are views pointing out that youth unemployment is a serious issue, with some young people even experiencing adverse effects on their mental health and life planning due to prolonged unemployment, and that the emergence of slashies (referring to a group of people who do not rely on a single and regular job for income, but earn irregular income by engaging in multiple occupations and taking up multiple identities) and lying-flatters also indicates young people’s questioning of traditional employment models. On the other hand, quite a number of industries are facing manpower shortages, resulting in mismatches in vocational qualifications that undermine the overall productivity of society. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of unemployed young people and the youth unemployment rate over the past three years, and how these figures compare with those for the overall labour force; whether it has compiled statistics on the employment of slashies; if so, of the relevant data for the past three years, with a breakdown by industry, academic qualification and gender;
(2) whether the Government has considered relaunching the Job Creation Scheme, which was implemented in 2020 but has now concluded, or introducing other similar measures such as offering tax incentives, wage subsidies or training allowances to enterprises to encourage them to hire young people; if so, of the details and expected outcomes; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) whether it has compiled statistics on young people’s entrepreneurship over the past three years, including the number of individuals starting businesses, the number of companies established and the number of young people who became employed due to unsuccessful entrepreneurship; whether it has provided targeted measures to support those young people who were unsuccessful in entrepreneurship; if so, of the details and outcomes; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) whether it has considered introducing targeted measures to encourage young people to join industries with a large number of job vacancies, such as providing them with allowances, training subsidies or career progression planning, so as to attract them to join and stay in such industries on a long-term basis; if so, of the specific policy direction and implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) in view of the emergence of non-traditional employment models such as slashies, whether the Government has considered introducing countermeasures, such as establishing flexible job matching platforms to assist young people in matching with corporate needs through part-time or freelance jobs; whether it will promote a “diverse employment model” policy to encourage enterprises to provide arrangements such as flexible working hours and remote working, so as to enhance the overall productivity of society; whether it will consider drawing reference from the practices of other jurisdictions (such as the Mainland) to require employers to provide a certain level of welfare protection to slashies; if so, of the specific plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government attaches great importance to the employment situation of young people and has implemented various measures to promote youth employment, including career counselling, pre-employment and on-the job training, and entrepreneurship support.
In consultation with the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB), the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB), and the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), our consolidated reply to the Member’s question is as follows:
(1) Based on the results of the General Household Survey (GHS) conducted by C&SD, the number of unemployed persons and the unemployment rate among youths aged 15 to 39 (excluding foreign domestic helpers) in 2023-2024 and Q4 2025, are set out at Annex.
Slashers (i.e. persons engaged in more than one job concurrently) are classified as employed persons (including employers, employees and the self-employed) and are included in the overall labour force. However, as slashers constitute only a small proportion of the local employed population and having considered statistical accuracy, GHS does not compile separate statistics on slashers.
(2) to (4) On support for youth entrepreneurship, the HYAB has implemented two entrepreneurship-related funding schemes under the Youth Development Fund, including the HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Entrepreneurship Scheme) and the HYAB Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases (Experiential Scheme). Under the first round of the Entrepreneurship Scheme, funded organisations provided start-up capital and comprehensive support services to 217 youth start-up teams (about 400 young people), and over 97 per cent of the start-up teams continued to be in operation upon completion of the entire programme. The entrepreneurial programmes under the second round of the Entrepreneurship Scheme have been gradually launched and will support about 260 youth start-up teams starting from 2025.
The Experiential Scheme enables youth to preliminarily explore the entrepreneurial opportunities in the Mainland through short-term experiential programmes at innovation and entrepreneurial bases. There were 12 experiential programmes organised in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in the first round of the Experiential Scheme, benefiting about 300 young people. The new round of the Experiential Scheme has expanded the coverage from GBA to other provinces and cities in the Mainland. A total of 18 experiential programmes have been launched starting from 2025, offering about 600 places. According to the evaluation questionnaires completed by participants having completed the programmes, over 95 per cent of respondents respectively gave positive feedback on the effectiveness of the two funding schemes.
The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency under the CSTB funds various projects through the CreateSmart Initiative and the Film Development Fund, aiming at nurturing talent (including the youth) of relevant industries and start-ups for promoting industry development. Examples include Design Incubation Programme and Fashion Incubation Programme, which nurture design start-ups by offering financial assistance and incubation services. As at December 2025, a total of 383 incubatees were admitted. The Hong Kong Digital Advertising Industry Fresh Graduate Support Scheme and Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Industry Fresh Graduate Support Scheme provide internship opportunities and on-the job training for new graduates of relevant disciplines. As at December 2025, a total of 763 interns were admitted. The First Feature Film Initiative funded a total of 30 film productions and incubated 32 new directors.
On youth employment support, the Labour Department (LD) implements the Youth Employment and Training Programme (YETP) to provide comprehensive and free training and employment support services to young people with an educational attainment at sub-degree level or below. Since January 2025, the LD has relaxed the enrolment age for YETP from 15 to 24, to 15 to 29. The GBA Work Experience Attachment Programme, which provides YETP trainees aged 18 to 29 with workplace attachment opportunities, was also launched to enable participants to experience the work environment and living culture in GBA. Young people participating in YETP may, according to their interests and needs, select and enrol in training courses, and participate in workplace attachment training and/or on-the-job training. Employers engaging trainees in full-time or part-time on-the-job training are eligible to receive a monthly on-the-job training allowance of up to $5,000 per trainee for six to 12 months. In the 2024/25 programme year (i.e. from September 2024 to August 2025), the number of trainees applied to YETP was 4 059, which represented an increase of 43 per cent compared with the previous programme year.
The LD also operates two Youth Employment Resource Centres named Youth Employment Start, which offer one-stop integrated support services on employment and self-employment for young people aged 15 to 29 to enhance their employability.
In addition, the Employees Retraining Board currently offers around 800 market‑oriented training courses for Hong Kong residents aged 15 or above, as well as about 40 dedicated training courses for young people aged 15 to 29 to help them acquire vocational skills and access employment follow‑up services. Young people aspiring to join specific industries may also consider pre-employment or in-service training courses offered by the Vocational Training Council (VTC). The VTC has been implementing the Apprenticeship Scheme for years, providing systematic on-the-job training for young apprentices and continuously nurturing skilled professionals for various industries in Hong Kong. To encourage more young people to join relevant industries, for a period of three years starting from the 2024/25 academic year, each registered apprentice will be provided with an additional monthly training allowance and each graduated apprentice will be subsidised in undertaking upskilling courses of the relevant trade after securing employment.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Budget Speech by the Financial Secretary (11) Medium Range Forecast
281. The MRF projects the revenue and expenditure as well as fiscal position of the Government from a macro perspective. It has fully reflected the impact of the measures in the fiscal consolidation programme. From 2026-27 to 2030-31, a real economic growth rate of three per cent is adopted.Issued at HKT 13:14
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ20: Prevention of bullying behaviour among minors
Year (2) The EDB, the EOC, and the HKPF have not categorised the above cases by intention and motives. The doxxing complaint cases investigated by the PCPD involve relationship disputes and school disputes respectively.
(3) The Government adopts a zero-tolerance attitude towards bullying among minors. Various policy bureaux and departments have developed a holistic approach to jointly prevent and curb bullying at the levels of schools, community and criminal enforcement, while also promoting anti-bullying messages. The specific work is as follows:
Schools
A safe and harmonious school environment is crucial for the growth of minors. The EDB, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and the HKPF have introduced a series of measures to assist schools in building a caring school culture and nurturing students’ proper values. They also help with the prevention, early identification and handling of school bullying, and provide students in need with support and mediation. The key measures are as follows:
(a) The EDB requires schools to adopt the Whole School Approach in formulating and implementing anti-bullying policies, and has provided schools with clear guidelines, listing in details the principles, procedures, methods and follow-up actions for handling school bullying incidents. At the same time, the EDB supports schools in implementing values education within and beyond the classroom, provides schools with resource packages and teaching materials on anti-bullying, and organises diversified student development programmes and activities. The EDB continues to organise various kinds of teacher professional training activities in an ongoing manner in order to enhance school personnel’s professional knowledge and capability of preventing and handling bullying in schools. The EDB also provides parents with various information through the one-stop parent education information website Smart Parent Net, helping parents acquire the knowledge and skills for nurturing their children positively. Since 2024, the EDB has been providing the “Harmonious School: One-Stop Hotline and Counselling Services”. Registered social workers provide advice, counselling and case referral services for students and parents through the hotline and instant messaging software, as well as on-site support services for schools in need.
(b) Starting from the 2019/20 school year, the SWD has put in place the measure of “two school social workers for each school” for over 460 secondary school across the territory in order to strengthen the provision of counselling and support services for students in need.
(c) The HKPF has launched the Youth Crime Prevention Booklet since 2022 to instill anti-crime awareness and proper values in young people. Teaching materials on anti-bullying are also produced to provide parents and educators with prevention and response strategies, so as to prevent young people from bullying others or becoming victims. Meanwhile, the HKPF has implemented the Police School Liaison Programme, through which it establishes a good relationship with the school community and promotes law-abiding awareness among students, thereby preventing young people from committing crimes and falling into traps. In addition, the HKPF launched the “One-stop Child Protection Web Application” (www.childprotection.gov.hk Community Criminal enforcement ConclusionIssued at HKT 14:51
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Shiu Ka-fai and a written reply by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, in the Legislative Council today (February 25):
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ17: Making good use of Apology Ordinance to resolve disputes Question:
There are views pointing out that the Apology Ordinance (Cap. 631) (the Ordinance) clarifies the legal consequences of making an apology by stipulating that in most civil proceedings, an apology does not constitute an express or implied admission of fault or liability, thereby providing a safe and non-adversarial starting point for communication between parties in dispute and a new approach to resolving conflicts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed the effectiveness of Cap. 631 in easing conflicts and facilitating dispute resolution since it took effect on December 1, 2017;
(2) as there are views that members of the public have limited understanding of Cap. 631, whether the Government has formulated measures to further step up publicity of the initiatives and purpose of the Ordinance to all sectors of society, thereby facilitating amicable dispute resolution; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) to enhance application of Cap. 631, whether the Government will consider including the option of making an apology, applicable proceedings under the Ordinance and related content in the practice guides of various government departments to enable the Government to make good use of the Ordinance to prevent escalation of disputes and to resolve conflicts when encountering controversial public incidents or social disputes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
In response to the enquiry raised by Dr the Hon Thomas So, the reply is as follows:
(1) The legislative intent of the Apology Ordinance in Hong Kong is to provide clear stipulations regarding the effect of apologies in specified matters and applicable proceedings concerning those matters, thereby promoting and encouraging parties in dispute to voluntarily make apologies, with a view to preventing the escalation of disputes and facilitating their amicable resolution. The Ordinance does not compel anyone to make an apology.
Since its enactment, the primary effectiveness of the Ordinance has been providing society with a clear legal framework, addressing concerns that apologies may lead to admission of one’s fault or liability. This encourages voluntary communication and creates more favorable conditions for amicable resolution of disputes through means such as mediation. As evidence of an apology made is generally not admissible in applicable proceedings, and that apology and settlement processes conducted in private are not reflected in public records, it is difficult to quantify the effectiveness by statistics.
(2) The Department of Justice (DoJ) recognises the importance of continuously promoting the Ordinance to the public and various sectors and will disseminate the legislative intent and practical application of the Ordinance across different occasions and media as appropriate.
Specifically, the DoJ will integrate the promotion of the Ordinance and mediation in various suitable promotional activities (whether self-organised or co-organised ones). These include initiative such as the “Mediate First” Pledge Events and seminars arranged in collaboration with other Government departments (e.g. the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department). Through these platforms, we will explain to different sectors of society how apologies, as an effective communication method, can complement mediation and provide a more amicable and constructive path for dispute resolution. The DoJ will also utilise different channels, such as the regularly published Mediation Dispatch, to enhance awareness of the Ordinance among stakeholders and the general public. We believe that by incorporating the promotion of the Ordinance into the existing promotional framework for advocating effective dispute resolution, we can more effectively help the public and professionals understand and utilise apology to achieve the goals of promoting settlement and mitigating conflicts.
(3) The Ordinance applies to the Government. Within the Government, we encourage consideration of applying the principles advocated by the Ordinance in handling matters or disputes when appropriate.
In practice, the intent of the Ordinance complements the Government’s “Mediate First” commitment and policy. For example, mediation clauses have been progressively incorporated into Government contracts to require contracting parties to first attempt resolving disputes through mediation. During these mediation processes, the legal protection offered by the Ordinance creates an environment more conducive to the engagement in open communication and exploration of settlement proposals (including apologies) for all parties involved, including Government departments. Issued at HKT 14:16
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following are the remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, at a media session at the Legislative Council Complex after the Financial Secretary delivered his Speech on the 2026-27 Budget today (February 25):
Just now, the Financial Secretary delivered the 2026-27 Budget.