Key facts
- Lawmakers questioned whether the government assessed the Student Aid Society's management capacity before backing the rebuild.
- Labour and Welfare Bureau deputy secretary Ho Kai-ming said the Social Welfare Department is still investigating the complaints.
- Ho said funding the building would not mean the society operates it permanently, with the department monitoring service quality.
- Chief Executive Cheng Ting-yan said the society had improved communication with service users and staff.
- The society's approved grant from the Lotteries Fund for consultants and early works exceeded HK$31.4 million.
- The society receives about HK$80 million a year in lump-sum grant subsidies, according to the report.
Hong Kong lawmakers on November 9 pressed for tighter scrutiny of a government proposal to fund a HK$377.3 million redevelopment for the Hong Kong Student Aid Society, the welfare group at the center of a dispute over its child care operations.
The Legislative Council's welfare panel discussed plans for a 19-storey building at Lei Yue Mun Path in Yau Tong, which would house the society's headquarters and its Holland Hostel and expand services including children's homes and a hostel for people with severe intellectual disabilities. The society would apply to the Legislative Council's Finance Committee for construction funding, with the main works targeted for completion within three and a half years.
Residents and former staff of the society's child care facilities alleged severe staffing shortages, high employee turnover and an inadequate food budget that reportedly left them with HK$250 (US$32) to feed 10 people two meals a day. The society denied the allegations and in late October filed a High Court writ against three former staff, accusing them of breaching confidentiality agreements and disclosing confidential documents. It also sought an injunction and the identities of third parties who received the material, including journalists.
At the panel meeting, lawmaker Chan Wing-kwong asked whether the government had assessed the society's management capacity to ensure adequate care. Ho Kai-ming, deputy secretary at the Labour and Welfare Bureau, said the Social Welfare Department is still investigating the complaints and that funding the building would not mean the society operates it permanently. The department's assistant director for planning and development, Chan Suk-wah, said services would be monitored under existing rules and service agreements.
Society chief executive Cheng Ting-yan said the organization had followed the department's service quality standards for 70 years and had improved communication with service users and staff, including adding booked meetings alongside surprise inspections. Lawmaker Tang Ka-piu raised concerns about staff morale, while lawmaker Leung Man-kwong asked whether the society was fit to expand services, some of which would be self-financed rather than publicly funded.
A Labour and Welfare Bureau principal assistant secretary, Ching Chung-cham, said it was too early to say whether a finding against the society would affect the redevelopment, pending the investigation's outcome. The society's chairman, Lok Man-fai, and Cheng did not respond to reporters' questions on the allegations or the litigation, according to the report.