Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ14: Burial services

Following is a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (November 21):

Question:

I have received complaints from quite a number of members of the public and groups saying that they have encountered many problems when dealing with cremation and burial matters for the deceased, including applying to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) for cremation permits, requesting for using eco-coffins, scattering cremated human ashes in Gardens of Remembrance (GoRs) and waiting for niches, etc. Moreover, they have also encountered the problem of not being able to secure bookings of mourning halls in funeral parlours as they were fully booked. On the other hand, it has been recently reported in the press that the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour (GPFP), which was just granted the right to operate the former Hung Hum Public Funeral Parlour (HHPFP) by the Government this year, is having difficulties in its business. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) as some members of the public have pointed out that there are "queuing gangs" representing different undertakers to queue up round-the-clock for booking cremation sessions provided by FEHD, and that each person will be allocated a maximum of five chips, making it impossible for the underprivileged people to book cremation sessions, whether the authorities will formulate measures to eradicate the activities of "queuing gangs"; if they will, of the implementation time; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) of the amount of the burial grant currently provided to recipients of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme; whether it has assessed if the amount is adequate to cover the costs for holding a basic funeral or religious service for the deceased in a funeral parlour; if the assessment is in the affirmative, of a list of the names of those funeral parlours which charge no more than this amount; if the assessment is in the negative, whether it will adjust the amount of the burial grant;

(c) whether it will help all the 10 non-governmental organisations or charities which provide burial support services in obtaining undertakers' licences, so that they can specialise in providing "one-stop" and non-profit-making undertaking services for the poor, and the elderly with no relatives and friends, who rely on the burial grants from the Social Welfare Department; if it will, of the launching time; if not, the reasons for that;

(d) whether FEHD can immediately take forward a plan to build no less than 50 000 additional niches every year in its eight columbaria, so as to alleviate the current shortage of niches and meet the demand for niches that comes along with an ageing population; if so, of the implementation time; if not, the reasons for that;

(e) of the respective numbers of applications for cremation services, cases of using eco-coffins, cases of scattering cremated human ashes in GoRs, and the accumulated registrations on the waitlist for public niches last year and this year so far (listing the numbers in Annex);

(f) facing an ageing population and in view of the constant shortfall in supply of mourning halls in funeral parlours, whether the Government will consider constructing new funeral parlours in the next three years; if so, when the works will commence and in which districts it plans to build these new funeral parlours; if not, of the reasons for that;

(g) given that the Government of the last term had identified 24 sites in 18 districts across the territory for conducting studies on columbarium development, whether the Government of the current term will implement the plan; if so, when the plan will be launched, and the number of niches to be provided in each district; if not, how it will handle the numerous registrations on the waitlist for public niches;

(h) given that it has been reported that GPFP, which was granted by tender in April this year the right to operate HHPFP for a consideration of $13.95 million in quarterly rental, has to secure loans due to poor management, what regulatory measures the authorities have to ensure that the services to the public will not be affected in case of sudden closure of GPFP; whether they have assessed if the fee for the right to operate the facility is the reason for the difficulties in GPFP's business; whether they know if there has been any significant change in the shareholders of GPFP (e.g. shares sold to financial institutions, etc.) since it signed the contract with the Government; and

(i) as some members of the public have complained that GPFP has breached its contract with the Government by not providing low-cost basic funeral services to people in need (such as CSSA recipients) as recognised by the Social Welfare Department or other relevant agencies, how the Government will prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, and what penalties it will impose on the contractor for breaching the contract?

Reply:

President:

On funeral matters, it is the Government's policy to encourage cremation and to provide the public with efficient and dignified cremation service. At the same time, we are committed to promoting wider use of environmentally friendly and sustainable means for the disposal of the dead. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is empowered under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) to regulate business related to burials. Any person interested in undertaking burial services must apply for a licence from FEHD and comply with statutory requirements covering such matters as the handling of human cadavers and maintaining records. To meet future demand, the Government is striving to identify suitable sites for building more funeral-related facilities with appropriate design. Besides, the Government will review the provision of cemetery, columbarium and crematorium facilities from time to time so as to keep the further development of our funeral-related facilities and installations abreast of the times. My reply to the Hon Leung Kwok-hung's question is as follows:

(a) At present, applicants for cremation services have to produce, for verification by FEHD, the original copy of requisite documents (e.g. the certificate of registration of death, cremation permit, etc.) before booking a cremation session. Applicants may either apply in person or authorise licensed undertakers of burials to act on their behalf. Since a vast majority of the applicants choose to use the one-stop after-death service offered by licensed undertakers of burials for the deceased, FEHD had, after discussion with the representatives of the funeral trade, introduced since 2003 the arrangement whereby a person waiting for booking cremation service may be allocated up to five "chips", provided that they are able to produce the aforesaid original documents as evidence of their having obtained an equal number of authorisations for booking cremation service.

The above arrangement came about largely because the choice of entrusting after-death services to undertakers of burials has become the mainstream practice. Irrespective of whether applications for booking cremation service are made through undertakers of burials or by the applicants in person, FEHD will offer, in line with its performance pledge, a cremation session within 15 days following the day on which an application is made. In addition, FEHD is making preparations for implementing an on-line registration service for booking cremation sessions. The service is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2013. By then, the public will have one more channel for booking cremation sessions.

(b) For recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) who have passed away, their relatives may apply for a grant from the Social Welfare Department (SWD) to meet burial-related expenses, such as charges for death certificate and basic funeral services. The amount of the grant payable is equivalent to either the actual outlay after deducting donations from others (including condolence contributions) or the prescribed maximum level, whichever is the less. The current maximum amount of this burial grant is $12,120, which is pegged to the burial grant payable under the Emergency Relief Fund and is adjusted annually in accordance with the movement of the Consumer Price Index (A).

In accordance with the Agreement signed between the Government and the operator of the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour, the operator is required to provide low-cost funeral services to people in need (e.g. CSSA recipients) referred to the funeral parlour by SWD or other relevant organisations at a service fee not exceeding the maximum amount of the above burial grant (currently $12,120) for each case. The fee may be adjusted over time, with the amount involved determined by the Government. The fee should be sufficient to cover all the outlay for the conduct of basic and holistic service necessary for the disposal of a dead body, including but not limited to expenses for the transport of the dead body from the hospital or mortuary to the funeral parlour, the procurement of a coffin, the conduct of funeral ceremony at the funeral parlour, the delivery of the dead body from the funeral parlour to the final disposal site, and cremation. In addition to the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour, other licensed funeral parlours, such as the International Funeral Parlour and Diamond Hill Funeral Parlour, also provide basic funeral services for those in need (e.g. CSSA recipients) at a fee not exceeding the maximum amount of the above burial grant.

(c) Under the existing legislation, burial matters must be handled by licensed undertakers of burials. Any person (including non-governmental organisations or charitable organisations) interested in undertaking operations connected with burials may apply for a licence from FEHD. After initial screening, FEHD will circulate the application to departments concerned for comments, including the Home Affairs Department, the Lands Department and the Planning Department. The relevant District Office will also conduct local consultation. Among the present 104 licensed undertakers of burials, there are social welfare organisations. According to its records, FEHD has not received any application for an undertaker's licence from social welfare organisations in the past five years.

(d) Since early 2000, FEHD had started to study the feasibility of extensions to the eight public columbaria under its management. The first extension project in Cheung Chau Columbarium was completed in 2004, and others in Wo Hop Shek Columbarium, Kwai Chung Columbarium, Cape Collinson Columbarium and Diamond Hill Columbarium were subsequently completed in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 respectively. Besides, a new public columbarium and garden of remembrance (GoR) under FEHD at Kiu Tau Road, Wo Hop Shek was completed in July 2012. About 43 000 niches are made available for allocation in phases.

FEHD will continue to review the feasibility of building additional niches in public columbaria. However, the scale of extension works is often subject to such constraints as space, transport infrastructure support and other factors which include the views of nearby residents.

(e) The respective numbers of applications for cremation service, cases using eco-coffins and the scattering of cremated human ashes in GoRs from 2011 to September 30, 2012 are in Annex.

(f) At present, the average utilisation rate of the seven existing funeral parlours in Hong Kong is around 70%. The International Funeral Parlour tops the list with 86%. The running of a funeral parlour is a commercial undertaking. On its part, FEHD will handle applications for funeral parlour licences according to the established licensing procedures. To address the demand for such services in the medium and long term, the Government plans to develop public funeral facilities (including a funeral parlour with around 30 halls, a crematorium and columbarium facilities) at the Sandy Ridge Cemetery, with a view to providing the public with modern, all-inclusive funeral services at one location. The project is expected to be completed by phases from 2022 onwards.

(g) The Government has identified 24 potential sites in all 18 districts across the territory for developing columbarium facilities. Whether these sites could eventually be used for developing columbarium facilities will depend on the results of the technical feasibility studies or traffic impact assessments (where applicable). Upon completion of the relevant studies, FEHD will consult the relevant District Councils (DC) before going firm on developing the sites for columbarium use.

Since May 2011, FEHD has been consulting the relevant DCs on individual sites. With support from the relevant DCs, the extension project of Diamond Hill Columbarium (providing 1 540 niches) was completed in April 2012, while the extension project of Cheung Chau Columbarium (providing 990 niches) will commence in early 2013 for completion by end 2013. As for the Wo Hop Shek Cemetery extension in North District (providing about 44 000 niches); the site at the Tsang Tsui ash lagoon in Tuen Mun (providing about 110 000 niches); the site at Tsing Tsuen Road near the Tsuen Wan Chinese Permanent Cemetery in Kwai Tsing District (providing about 20 000 niches), as well as the construction of funeral parlour, crematorium and columbarium facilities at the undeveloped areas within the Sandy Ridge Cemetery (providing about 200 000 niches) together with relevant site formation and infrastructure works, the relevant DCs were consulted between April and November this year. FEHD is forging ahead with the technical feasibility studies related to the remaining sites to ascertain their suitability, and will consult various DCs in due course. Subject to the support of DCs and the Legislative Council, and taking into account the number of niches to be supplied by the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries, it is estimated that the Government will be able to provide about 120 000 new niches (including the 43 000 new niches in Kiu Tau Road, Wo Hop Shek completed in July 2012) between 2012 and 2016, and that the supply of new niches will cumulatively increase to hundreds of thousands in the medium and long term (i.e. between 2017 and 2031).

(h) On the basis of the professional assessment and advice furnished by the Rating and Valuation Department (namely an annual market rental of $24 million), FEHD has pitched the minimum tender price for the Hung Hom Public Funeral Parlour (HHPFP) at the level as it is, i.e. a quarterly rental of $6 million. In other words, the upset price for the 5-year tender agreement period is $120 million. The current operator of the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour has obtained the right to provide services for a period of five years from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2017 at a quarterly rental of $13.95 million. The operator's tendering decision is a matter of commercial consideration.

The contract was entered into between the South China Memorial Park and Funeral Service Limited and FEHD, whereas the business is operated under the name of the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour. The South China Memorial Park and Funeral Service Limited, being the legal entity responsible for execution of the contract, is not required to notify FEHD of any change in its shareholding and shareholders.

As for fees payable by the operator of the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour, FEHD has laid down appropriate provisions in the agreement. FEHD will vigorously enforce the terms of the agreement so as to protect the Government's interest. Besides, FEHD will closely monitor the service standard of the new operator and conduct inspection from time to time to ensure that the operator observes the licensing conditions and the provisions of the Agreement.

(i) The operator running the Grand Peace Funeral Parlour is required to display, at a conspicuous location of the funeral parlour, information about the availability of low-cost funeral service with details, as well as to maintain records of low-cost funeral service provided during the agreement period. Such records shall be made readily available for inspection by FEHD on demand at all times. FEHD will conduct monthly inspection to ensure that the operator is complying with the licensing conditions and the provisions of the Agreement. FEHD will direct the operator to upgrade the standard of low-cost funeral service if such service is found to be unsatisfactory or inadequate. According to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, the Government shall be entitled to terminate the Agreement forthwith if the operator is in material breach of or has repeatedly committed breaches of any of his obligations under the Agreement.

Since the inception of service on April 27, 2012, the operator has provided low-cost basic funeral service to a total of 26 persons in need. FEHD has not received any complaints from the needy on refusal of service requests.


Ends/Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Issued at HKT 13:48

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LCQ14 Annex (Question)
LCQ14 Annex 1 (Reply)