Review Report on the Lump Sum Grant Subvention ... - lwb.gov.hk

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certification to expedite the vetting process; and(d) where a project is proposed to be named after a donor, the SWD may maintainthe requirement that the donor makes a contribution of at least 20% of the projectcost, but of which only an amount equal to 10% of the project cost will be usedto offset the LF grant, while the NGO concerned may use the remainder toupgrade the project.Supply of paramedical staff9.18 In Chapter 3, we mentioned that NGOs which need to employ paramedicalstaff (mainly nurses) were having great difficulty catching up with their rising paytrends, and had to offer them better remuneration packages in order to attract andretain them, often at the expense of other staff members. We pointed out that thiswas a cross-sectoral problem arising from the shortage of labour supply and that itcould not be satisfactorily addressed by improvements to the LSGSS alone.9.19 In the welfare sector, the NGOs most affected are those running specifictypes of services, such as rehabilitation institutions, special child care centres andelderly institutions. They are in keen competition with the public sector, privateclinics and each other for the limited labour supply. The shortage of paramedicalstaff in these NGOs, coupled with the poor morale of other staff whose salaries haveto be reduced to make up for the higher salaries of paramedical staff, has exerted greatpressure on the NGO management. Both the management and staff have urged theGovernment to assist.9.20 The IRC understands that the SWD, in collaboration with the HospitalAuthority (HA), had launched three batches of the Enrolled Nurse (EN) TrainingProgramme for the Welfare Sector (Training Programme) between March 2006 andDecember 2007. Together with five additional Training Programmes to be launchedfrom 2008 to 2011, the total number of EN training places to be provided is 930.Tuition fees are fully subsidised by the SWD, and in return the trainees have toundertake to work in the welfare sector for at least two consecutive years aftergraduation, otherwise they will have to repay SWD the tuition fees in full or in part.Despite this requirement, the retention rate of the graduates is not high. For instance,the first batch of 96 ENs graduated in April 2008. By the end of May 2008, onlyabout 70% of them were working in the welfare sector; some 20% had gone to othersectors, e.g. private hospitals, while 10% were employed by the HA under short-term- 111 -
contracts or had not yet joined the work force.9.21 The IRC agrees that increasing the manpower supply, through the provisionof additional training places, should help tackle the problem at source. However,there is a limit to the capacity of training institutions as well as the availability ofsuitable trainees at any point in time. As can be seen from the experience of theTraining Programmes, the current demand has exceeded the supply to such an extentthat the problem is unlikely to be resolved in the near future. This will continue tohave an adverse impact on NGOs in terms of their financial viability, staffmanagement and service quality. To help the welfare sector tide over this difficultperiod, the IRC considers it necessary for the SWD to provide, in the next three years,additional resources to welfare NGOs which need to employ paramedical staff or hiretheir services, so that they may offer more competitive salaries to recruit and retainthese staff. The actual amount of resources to be provided should be based onservice needs. Hopefully, the problem will ease in three years’ time as more ENsgraduate from the Training Programmes. In the longer term, the relevantGovernment authorities should monitor closely the manpower situation of theparamedical professionals and the provision of training places to ensure a steadylabour supply.Recommendation 36The SWD should, in response to the labour market situation, provide additionalresources for three years to welfare NGOs which need to employ paramedical staff orhire their services, so that they may offer more competitive salaries to recruit andretain these staff.Diversity in the provision of welfare services9.22 Throughout this report, as guided by the IRC’s terms of reference, we haveexamined issues that concern the subvented welfare sector, primarily those related tothe implementation of the LSGSS. The services provided by the subvented NGOsare core services most needed by our community. The availability of Governmentsubvention ensures that the service provision and the quality of service are maintainedat the agreed level.9.23 However, we appreciate that the welfare sector in Hong Kong is vibrant anddiverse.There is an array of organisations providing social welfare services that are- 112 -
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Review Rep
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ANNEXES1. Stakeholder groups which
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Government, NGOs, staff, service us
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10. Feedback is essential for the i
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issues. The resources thus released
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(c) where a project is carried out
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NGO to run a particular service, it
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following chapters. In summary, the
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Staff and had sufficient time to ad
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major events described above would
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1.31 Shortly after its formation, t
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Chapter Two --- Overall Assessment2
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enhancement. Greater autonomy and f
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and community sectors are redefined
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to develop their own human resource
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3.12 More importantly, the civil se
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Recommendation 2The Government shou
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adjustments in accordance with thei
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sector-wide transition scheme as pr
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3.40 The IRC considers that contrac
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3.47 IFSCs run by the SWD function
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Table 3: Wastage rates (C) of socia
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e detrimental to the professional d
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Chapter Four -Financial Issues and
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their services, and indeed a large
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Recommendation 7In view of the chan
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LSG reserves4.21 Before the introdu
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of staff. NGOs are encouraged to be
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Recommendation 11NGOs should fully
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4.42 Indeed, the re-engineering eff
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4.52 The LSGSC is an important plat
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the LSG, the PF provision for Snaps
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stakeholders which look to the manu
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Recommendation 16The SWD should rat
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edirected and innovative thinking e
Page 73 and 74: SWD’s audit procedures5.8 Many NG
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Page 77 and 78: Recommendation 20The SWD should rev
Page 79 and 80: with an annual subvention of more t
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Page 83 and 84: The figures do seem to support the
Page 85 and 86: their existing services.existing on
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Page 89 and 90: Chapter Six -Accountability and Cor
Page 91 and 92: 2001-03 : Issued booklets on five b
Page 93 and 94: practice guidelines currently avail
Page 95 and 96: 6.17 Chapter 4 of the LSG Manual on
Page 97 and 98: of income and key expenditure items
Page 99 and 100: cherished no less in the welfare se
Page 101 and 102: ief, it monitors NGOs' performance
Page 103 and 104: 7.11 Frontline staff have also poin
Page 105 and 106: planning mechanism described in the
Page 107 and 108: (iii) have obtained SWD’s prior a
Page 109 and 110: Chapter Eight - Handling of Complai
Page 111 and 112: ight of appeal or objection or a re
Page 113 and 114: Underinvestigation4 17 16 37Total :
Page 115 and 116: community will expect intervention
Page 117 and 118: eferral unreasonable.8.27 The IRC h
Page 119 and 120: Chapter Nine - Related Issues9.1 Th
Page 121 and 122: eplenishment of F&E items costing n
Page 123: eliance on their professional certi
Page 127 and 128: additional resources, not only can
Page 129 and 130: Chapter Ten - Recommendations10.1 T
Page 131 and 132: passion of the many people we have
Page 133 and 134: Chapter 5(17) The SWD should conduc
Page 135 and 136: e informed of the ICHC’s decision
Page 137 and 138: Annex 1Page 2 of 343. Hong Kong Alz
Page 139 and 140: Annex IIPage 0 of 8Report</
Page 141 and 142: Australian system at that time.Anne
Page 143 and 144: Annex IIPage 4 of 8Hong Kong 2008-0
Page 145 and 146: Annex IIPage 6 of 8in reducing the
Page 147 and 148: Annex IIPage 8 of 8is consistent wi
Page 149 and 150: Annex 3Page 2 of 26. 終止合
Page 157 and 158: Annex 6Page 1 of 1Flowchart on how
Page 159 and 160: Page 2 of 9Chief Executive announce
Page 161 and 162: Page 4 of 9services operated by NGO
Page 163 and 164: Page 6 of 9Lump Sum Grant Steering
Page 165 and 166: Page 8 of 9Social Welfare Advisory
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