§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish details, from sources available, of the trade unions, trade union membership, and central trade union organisations in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleI would refer the hon. Member to the Annual Departmental Report for 1971–72 of the Hong Kong Registrar of Trade Unions. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what law exists in Hong Kong which prohibits trade unions from establishing and using a political fund to further the interests of their members.
Mr. Anthony HoyleUnder Section 34 of the Hong Kong Trade Unions Ordinance (Cap. 332), trade union funds may not be used directly or indirectly for any political purpose, whether within or outside Hong Kong.
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§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what laws exist in Hong Kong which allow the Government to interfere with the rights of trade unions to make independent decisions about affiliations to international trade union organisations.
Mr. Anthony HoyleThe Hong Kong Trades Unions Ordinance (Cap. 332, Section 45) provides that
except with the consent of the Governor-in-Council no registered Trade Union shall be a member of any kind of any trade union or other organisation of what nature or kind so ever that is established outside the Colony. Such consent, if given, may be withdrawn at the discretion of the Governor in CouncilIn practice, however, consent has been freely given; 28 applications have been granted and none refused. There are at present 19 trade unions with overseas affiliations.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what restrictions are placed by law upon trade union membership in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleTrade union membership is restricted under Section 17 of the Trade Unions Ordinance (Cap. 332) to persons ordinarily resident in Hong Kong and habitually, casually or seasonally engaged or employed in the trade, industry or occupation with which the trade union is directly concerned.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the major public works projects under way or planned to start shortly in Hong Kong and the cost of each project; if he will name the United Kingdom companies which have been awarded contracts; and if he will estimate the total value to the United Kingdom income of these contracts.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleThe following are the major public works projects outstanding on 1st November (i.e. projects estimated to cost more than Hong Kong dollars 50 million, and for which authority has been given to create a sub-head in the estimates, to proceed with working drawings, and to call for tenders). This excludes the underground railway project on which decisions have still to be made, as well as items virtually complete, and major water supply schemes, 111W which I listened in my writen answer on 27th November:
Buildings Dollars (1) Lei Muk Shue Government Low Cost Housing Estate 76,150,000 (2) Lek Uyen (Sha Tin) Government Low Cost Housing Estate 63,650,000 (3) Kwai Shing Government Low Cost Housing Estate Sites 2 and 3 82,000,000 (4) New Lai Chi Kok Hospital 51,500,000 (5) Second Mental Hospital 64,600,000 (6) Lam Tin Area B Resettlement Estate 52,000,000 (7) Pak Tin Resettlement Estate 55,700,000 (8) Hing Wah Resettlement Estate 61,650,000 Civil Engineering (9) Clearwater Bay Road Development 62,298,000 (10) Kowloon Canton Railway, Hung Horn Development Stage III, Phase 2 50,210,000 (11) Kowloon Canton Railway, Hung Hom Development Stage III, Phase 3 (Indoor Stadium) 64,160,000 (12) Kai Tak Runway Extension 167,500,000 (13) Castle Peak New Town—Stage 1A 51,000,000 (14) Incinerator at Kwai Chung 60,000,000 Highways (15) Airport Tunnel Road—Mok Cheong Street to Kowloon Bay Reclamation 117,500,000 In the past two years no United Kingdom company has been awarded a works contract. But contracts have been awarded to locally based subsidiaries. It is not possible to estimate the total value to the United Kingdom of these contracts.—[Vol. 847, c. 16–17.]
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the labour laws in force in Hong Kong, the dates of enactment, and the purposes of each Act.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleLabour legislation up to 1970 is listed in Appendix 2 of the Annual Departmental Report of the Hong Kong Commissioner of Labour copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. The only other relevant ordinance enacted since 1970 is the Labour Tribunal Ordinance 1972. Further details of the laws are being obtained from Hong Kong. I will send them to the hon. Member as soon as they are available.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the Government of 112W Hong Kong's total expenditure in the last financial year was allocated to social welfare services, including housing; and what is the percentage of this year's total expenditure devoted to these services.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleThe percentages of total expenditure allocated to social welfare and housing in the Estimates for the year ending March, 1973, are 1.93 per cent. and 6.05 per cent. respectively. The respective percentages for actual expenditure for 1971–72 were 2.06 per cent. and 6.67 per cent. Because of the increasing size of the Hong Kong Budget these percentages conceal an absolute increase of approximately 7 million Hong Kong dollars on Social Welfare, and 8 million Hong Kong dollars on housing over the two years.