Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, in the Legislative Council today (May 20):
Question:
It has been reported that an industrial building unit in Tai Po Industrial Estate has been converted into a large-scale children activity centre catering specifically for parents bringing their babies or infants to play and join interest classes. The centre offers rooms for rent for other uses, and baby products for sale. It has also been reported that while the centre can accommodate more than 50 people, its fire service installations and equipment are not in compliance with the relevant requirements, posing safety hazards to the parents and infants inside the premises in the event of fire. Moreover, given that there are various types of trucks frequently entering and exiting the industrial building, and loading and unloading goods in the vicinity, it is not advisable for infants to stay there. Moreover, some members of the public have relayed to me that similar children activity centres have been found in the industrial buildings in Sham Shui Po, Cheung Sha Wan, Sha Tin and Fo Tan districts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the current number of the aforesaid type of children activity centres in the territory;
(2) whether the setting up of children activity centres and selling of products for baby and children are prohibited by the land leases of industrial buildings; if so, whether the authorities conducted inspections in this respect in the past five years; if they did, of the number of lease-breaching cases; whether they instituted prosecutions; of the penalties imposed on the persons convicted; whether they have published a list of children activity centres in breach of land lease conditions; if they have, how the list has been published;
(3) whether operators of children activity centres may apply to the authorities for waivers of the relevant land lease conditions; if they may, of the criteria for vetting and approval of such applications; whether setting up children activity centres in the name of "private clubs" in industrial buildings to provide service for or lease rooms to their members, commercial organisations and registered organisations under a membership system is in breach of the land lease conditions;
(4) whether the aforesaid type of children activity centres are regulated under the Child Care Services Ordinance (Cap. 243); if so, how many of them are child care centres registered under the Ordinance; of the number of illegal children activity centres operating in the past five years; whether the authorities instituted prosecutions; of the penalties imposed on the persons convicted; whether the authorities have published a list of illegal children activity centres; if so, how the list has been published; and
(5) whether the authorities conduct regular inspections on children activity centres in the territory; if so, of the frequency of such inspections; if not, the reasons for that; of the number of days within which the authorities normally conduct inspections upon receipt of reports concerning the operation of an illegal children activity centre, and the government department responsible for conducting the inspection?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the five parts of the question is as follows:
(1) The Government does not have statistics on children activity centres.
(2) Whether a certain use in an industrial building is in breach of the land lease depends on the terms and conditions of the relevant lease of the lot and the actual circumstances and cannot be generalised. If the relevant land lease specifies "industrial and/or godown" use only, the use of the industrial building for other purposes, including the setting up of children activity centres and the sale of products for babies and children, generally will not be in compliance with the uses stipulated in the land lease, unless the owner has applied to the Lands Department (LandsD) for a waiver of the relevant lease conditions and such approval has been given.
Given the huge number of private land leases and the extensive area and uses involved, LandsD's manpower does not allow LandsD and its District Lands Offices to patrol every piece of private land (including industrial buildings) regularly, nor is it cost-effective for them to do so. Therefore, LandsD mainly acts on complaints, referrals or enquiries and, where necessary, inspects black spots involving frequent breaches. LandsD will consider the actual circumstances of individual cases and the relevant lease conditions, and determine whether there are any breaches of land leases upon seeking legal advice. If there is a breach of lease conditions, LandsD will issue a warning letter to the owner concerned, requesting rectification of the breach. If the owner does not rectify the breach by the deadline, LandsD will register the warning letter at the Land Registry, commonly known as "imposing an encumbrance", so that the breach will be known to the public and the creditors of the owner (if applicable). If the use involved in the breach poses a significant potential safety risk and the breach is not rectified, LandsD will proceed with the re-entry of the industrial building unit. As a land lease is a form of private contract and is enforced by LandsD as the landlord and a party to the contract, such action does not involve prosecution.
LandsD does not have information on the number of lease enforcement actions taken against the setting up of children activity centres and the sale of products for babies and children in industrial building units.
(3) If a proposed use is not in compliance with the lease conditions, the owner of the unit concerned may submit a waiver application to LandsD for a change in use, but the proposed use has to comply with the relevant ordinances and criteria, including the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap. 95) and the relevant safety criteria, to ensure public safety. In the course of processing the application, LandsD will consult the relevant departments.
As mentioned in part (2) above, if the relevant land lease specifies "industrial and/or godown" use only, unless the owner has applied to LandsD for a waiver of the relevant lease conditions and such approval has been given, the use of the industrial building for other purposes, including the setting up of children activity centres, regardless of their mode of operation or the name under which they operate (including operating as a "club"), are not in compliance with the uses stipulated in the land lease.
(4) Information provided by the Labour and Welfare Bureau indicates that, according to the Child Care Services Ordinance (Cap. 243), any premises which habitually receive at any one time more than five children under the age of three years for the purposes of care and supervision, require registration as a registered child care centre. Children activity centres, which provide venues for parents to spend time with their babies or infants for fun, are not under the ambit of the Child Care Services Ordinance.
(5) Depending on the locations of the children activity centres, the operation of such activity centres is regulated by the relevant ordinances and safety criteria. Relevant departments will follow up on any report on breaches. For example, if the Buildings Department receives any report on change in building use, it will take follow-up action, including site inspection as necessary.
Furthermore, children activity centres will also need to comply with the lease conditions and the land use of their locations. Taking lease conditions as an example, as mentioned in part (2) above, when LandsD receives a complaint or referral of a suspected breach of land lease, it will conduct site inspections and, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case and the relevant lease conditions, determine whether there is any breach of the land lease. As different uses are involved in cases of breaches of land leases concerning changes in the use of industrial building units, it is necessary for LandsD to accord higher priority to enforcement against cases that pose significant potential safety risks, such as cases which attract a higher flow of people (particularly that of children and elderly persons). For example, in response to the case referred to in the question about a children activity centre in Tai Po industrial building, the District Lands Office, Tai Po, took prompt action by writing to the owner of the unit, requiring that the breach be rectified as soon as possible, with a warning that re-entry action may be taken against the unit. As a result, the owner ceased the unauthorised use within two days.
Ends/Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Issued at HKT 14:30
NNNN