Replies to LegCo questions
Legislative Council Question No. 7 (Written Reply)
Date of Sitting
: 8 May 2002
Asked by : Hon. WONG Sing-chi
Replied by : Secretary for Health and Welfare
Question :
It has been
reported that the Government is reviewing the Comprehensive Social Security
Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme and the Old Age Allowance Scheme. In this
connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the current number of elderly people who rely mainly on the old age
allowance (commonly known as "fruit grant") to meet their living
expenses, together with a breakdown of the number by age groups (each covering
five years);
(b) of the progress of the review on the Old Age Allowance Scheme, the items
being studied, and when the report will be completed and published; and
(c) whether the areas of study have been set for the review of the CSSA Scheme,
including the desirability of setting an upper limit on the annual expenditure
for the Scheme?
Reply :
Madam President,
The Government is committed to providing a safety net to offer assistance to
those members of our community who are in need. In this connection, our
Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme provides assistance for
the financially vulnerable, while the Social Security Allowance (SSA) Scheme
(which consists of the Old Age Allowance (OAA) and the Disability Allowance)
specifically provides assistance to the elderly and severely disabled to meet
their special needs.
We will provide a total of $22 billion for the CSSA and SSA Schemes in 2002-03,
an increase of 57% over the provision of that in 1997-98 and roughly 10% of this
year's recurrent public expenditure. This is a strong testament to our
commitment to providing financial assistance to those members of our community
who suffer financial difficulties due to various reasons to help them meet basic
needs. Currently, our CSSA system is helping about 411 000 needy recipients,
while another 440 900 elders and 94 000 disabled persons are receiving cash
allowances intended to provide assistance under the SSA Scheme.(1)
Given the enormous resources involved in the CSSA and SSA Schemes, we do review
the situation from time to time to ensure that the resources are directed to
those genuinely in need, and examine whether there are options in utilizing the
resources even more effectively and efficiently, so as to enhance our capacity
to target even greater assistance to those most in need. But this does not imply
that decisions have been taken and that there are plans at hand for major
changes.
Regarding the specific questions :
(a) The number of elders who are receiving the OAA are 440 900, as at the end of
March 2002. They include 113 200 elders aged between 65-69 who are receiving the
Normal Old Age Allowance (NOAA), and 327 700 elders aged 70 and above who are
receiving the Higher Old Age Allowance (HOAA). A breakdown of the numbers by age
groups (each covering five years) is at the Annex. NOAA recipients are subject
to means declaration. The asset and monthly income limits for a single person
are set at $169,000 and $5,910 respectively, and those for a married couple are
set at $254,000 and $9,740 respectively. HOAA recipients are not subject to any
means declaration. We cannot therefore assume that all elders who currently
receive the OAA rely mainly on the OAA to meet their living expenses. In this
connection, a survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department in 2000
to study, among other things, the economic profile of non-institutional elderly
people and soon-to-be-old people showed that for those elderly people who had
monthly personal income (99.6% of the elderly population), 89.0% had
"interest from savings/fixed deposits or dividends from stocks"; 58.4%
had "financial support from children"; 51.6% had "Old Age
Allowance"; 12.5% had "salary"; and 12.0% had "Comprehensive
Social Security Assistance".
(b) In view of the ageing of our population and the differences in the
socio-economic and demographic profiles of the current generation and the future
generations of older persons, we have been considering the provision of
financial support for needy elders in the context of the 3-pillar model
recommended by the World Bank.(2) The objective of
our study is to develop a long-term sustainable safety net that better targets
resources at those needy elders to meet their basic needs, and which takes into
account our local circumstances, particularly our low and simple taxation
system. How to achieve the objective is a complex issue which we are examining
very carefully. If and when there are proposals to introduce major changes to
the system, we will certainly consult the Legislative Council and the public
first.
(c) In 2002-03, we will provide a total of $16 billion for CSSA, an increase of
9% over the approved provision of 2001-02. As mentioned above, we do review the
situation in the CSSA system from time to time to ensure that the resources are
directed to those genuinely in need, and examine whether there are options in
utilizing the resources even more effectively and efficiently. If and when there
are proposals to introduce major changes to the CSSA system, we will certainly
consult the Legislative Council and the public first.
Note:
1. As at the end of March 2002, there were about 458 000 active cases under Old Age Allowance and 103 000 under Disability Allowance which included cases under processing.
2. The "3-pillar" model comprises the first pillar of a compulsory public plan for poverty alleviation and prevention, the second pillar of a privately managed compulsory pension plan for income maintenance, and the third pillar of a voluntary savings-annuity plan to supplement the two above.
Annex
| Number of Persons Receiving Old Age Allowance by Age Group | |
| (as at end of March 2002) | |
| Age Group | Number of Persons |
| 65-69 | 113 200 |
| 70-74 | 149 800 |
| 75-79 | 98 900 |
| 80 or over | 78 900 |
| Note:
1. Figures may not add up to the total due to rounding. |
|