Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ6: Disability Allowance
Following is a question by the Hon Tam Heung-man and a reply by the Secretary
for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(January 31):
Question
Two kinds of allowances, namely the Disability Allowance (DA) and the Old Age
Allowance (OAA), were provided to eligible persons under the Social Security
Allowance Scheme administered by the Social Welfare Department (SWD). In her
direct investigation report published in November last year, the Ombudsman found
many loopholes in the DA scheme, resulted in allowances being erroneously paid.
In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has, in response to the aforesaid report, formulated concrete
measures to improve the DA scheme; if it has, of the details of such measures;
if not, whether and when it will formulate such measures;
(b) whether it has conducted internal investigations into whether the erroneous
payment of allowance involved maladministration by government officers and
instituted disciplinary proceedings against the officers concerned; if it has,
of the progress of the investigations; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) given that loopholes have been found in the DA scheme, whether SWD has
reviewed if there are inadequacies in the OAA scheme as well; if it has, of the
outcome of the review; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Disability Allowance (DA) under the Social Security Allowance (SSA) Scheme
includes Normal Disability Allowance (NDA) and Higher Disability Allowance (HDA).
DA is non-contributory and non-means tested. It is designed to provide a monthly
cash allowance to Hong Kong residents who are severely disabled to meet their
special needs arising from disability.
(a) The Ombudsman has completed a direct investigation into the Social Welfare
Department's (SWD) system for processing DA cases and published a report on
November 16, 2006. A number of recommendations were made with regard to the
dissemination of information to applicants, mechanisms for approving
applications, and mechanisms for detecting errors. The Ombudsman also requested
the SWD to submit a progress report in this regard within six months. The SWD is
now following up on the Ombudsman's recommendations and working on the
implementation details. The progress report will be submitted to the Ombudsman
within the timeframe as requested.
Since DA is paid in advance, overpayment is unavoidable due to unreported
changes or late reporting of changes particularly in cases involving
hospitalisation of severely disabled persons who understandably cannot report
promptly to the SWD. Currently, the SWD has put in place various cross-checking
mechanisms, periodic case reviews and random checks to detect unreported changes
to minimise the chances of overpayment.
As DA payments are public money funded entirely by general revenue, the SWD will
seek to recover the overpaid amount when cases of overpayment come to light in
order to safeguard public funds. In working out the repayment arrangements, the
SWD takes into consideration the financial situation of the recipients concerned
to ensure that the repayment will not lead to undue hardship.
The SWD will continue its efforts to minimise the chances of overpayment and
will continue to keep under review its services to DA recipients, including the
processing and handling procedures as well as internal workflow.
(b) For overpayment cases obviously caused by human errors, the Administration
will conduct internal investigation and institute disciplinary proceedings
against the officers concerned.
Two cases concerning erroneous payment of allowance due to the negligence of the
SWD staff were quoted in the Ombudsman's report. One of these cases involved
erroneous payment made to an NDA recipient who had passed away years ago while
the other involved NDA erroneously paid to a Normal Old Age Allowance (NOAA)
recipient. The SWD has completed the internal investigation into these two cases
and already instituted appropriate disciplinary proceedings against the officers
concerned.
(c) The SSA Scheme also includes the Old Age Allowance (OAA), which comprises
NOAA and Higher Old Age Allowance (HOAA). The OAA is designed to provide a
monthly cash allowance to Hong Kong residents aged 65 or above to meet their
special needs arising from old age. It is non-contributory. To be eligible for
the allowance, the total income and assets of NOAA applicants aged 65 to 69 and
their spouses must not exceed the prescribed limits whereas HOAA applicants aged
70 or above are not subject to a means test.
The applicant or his/her relative/friend can make an application directly to a
social security field unit near to his/her place of residence by phone, by fax,
by e-mail, by post or in person. An application may also be made through a
referral to the SWD by another government department or non-governmental
organisation. The applicant can also download the application form from the SWD
homepage and return the completed application form, together with photocopies of
relevant supporting documents, to the social security field unit by mail or in
person. Upon the receipt of the application, the SWD will arrange an interview
with the applicant and cross-check the information given by the applicant. Same
as processing DA applications, the SWD will also conduct data matching with
other government departments and organisations to detect any unreported changes
to the information provided.
The well-established mechanism for OAA payments has been working in an effective
manner. We do not see a need at this stage to conduct a review in this regard.
Ends/Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:44
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