Absorption by Family Council of three commissions opposed
Concern groups have urged the government not to integrate three current commissions on welfare into the new Family Council, so that each commission can better defend its separate rights.
At the Legislative Council's panel meeting on welfare services yesterday, group representatives urged the government not to disband the Elderly Commission, the Women's Commission and the Commission on Youth after the establishment of the Family Council last December.
The government earlier said the Family Council would seek to streamline the work of the three commissions by March next year and explore ways to improve collaboration with the commissions.
'Different social-affairs commissions focus on different issues. They can provide a platform to encourage more social and civic participation,' Elsa Chiu, chief officer of family and community service development for the Council of Social Service, said at the meeting.
Caritas (Family Service) centre supervisor Kwok Chi-ying said the commissions 'have their own individual concerns and [aim to] care for the specific groups of people according to their concerns'.
She said the Family Council should discuss, study and rule on some issues of common interest of the three commissions, including tax policy, housing arrangements, city planning, immigration policy, paternity leave and flexible working hours.
