Chief admits need for better welfare monitoring
Monitoring of benefits needed to be improved, the Social Welfare chief admitted yesterday.
Andrew Leung Kin-pong said improvements would have to be made in checking the operation of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme. A committee would be set up to study ways for changes to be introduced.
The Department of Social Welfare has also adopted plans to cross-check data with five more departments and check on cost-effectiveness when deploying more staff members in field audits.
The Auditor's Report revealed that overpayment of social security benefits amounted to $80 million in 1997-98 due to misunderstandings and fraud, amid criticism that the Government was exaggerating abuse of the scheme to gain support for cutting welfare payments.
Mr Leung was questioned by Public Accounts Committee members on how seriously the scheme was being abused.
In more than 3,000 complaints reported by the public, only a few hundred were referred to police, with about 10 of them prosecuted.
'The number of prosecutions compared to the total number of more than 866,000 recipients is relatively small. We suspect there should be more cases of abuse,' Mr Leung said.
It was difficult to detect welfare recipients who took up jobs, he said.
Lau Kong-wah of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong said: 'It seems that Mr Leung is still not sure about how serious the abuse is.' Fred Li Wah-ming of the Democratic Party queried a case in which a recipient who was in jail received $40,000.
Mr Leung denied there had been dereliction of duty and pledged to step up efforts to conduct more home visits to recipients.
