LCQ11: Low-income Working Family Allowance Scheme
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Question :
In May this year, the Government rolled out the Low-income Working Family Allowance Scheme (LIFA Scheme) with an aim to relieve the financial burden of working-poor families. Some members of the public have relayed to me that the application threshold for LIFA Scheme is too high, resulting in quite a number of low-income families not submitting applications as they are ineligible, or their applications being rejected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following since the launch of LIFA Scheme:
(1) the number of applications rejected by the authorities, and set out in the table below a breakdown by reason for rejection;
| Reasons for rejection | Number of applications |
| Family members' days of absence from Hong Kong have exceeded the limit | |
| The applicant has worked less than the required hours per month | |
| The applicant has failed to provide the necessary information (e.g. income proof) | |
| The family income has exceeded the limit | |
| Other reasons | |
| Total |
(2) the number of applications received by the authorities from non-single-parent families, as well as the respective numbers of such applications for which (i) full-rate Higher Allowance and (ii) full-rate Basic Allowance have been granted;
(3) the number of applications received by the authorities from single-parent families, as well as the respective numbers of such applications for which (i) half-rate Higher Allowance and (ii) half-rate Basic Allowance have been granted;
(4) the number of applications received by the authorities from ethnic minority families, as well as the respective numbers of such applications for which (i) full-rate Higher Allowance and (ii) half-rate Basic Allowance have been granted;
(5) the number of applications received by the authorities from self-employed persons, as well as the number of such applications for which allowance has been granted; the reasons for some of the applications being rejected; and
(6) the number of applications approved by the authorities, together with a tabulated breakdown by (i) District Council district in which the applicant resides, and (ii) whether the applicant has any family member aged below 15 or aged between 15 and 21 receiving full-time education?
Reply :
President,
My reply to the question raised by the Hon Leung Yiu-chung is as follows:
(1) Since the implementation of the Low-income Working Family Allowance Scheme on May 3, 2016 up to mid-November 2016, the Working Family Allowance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency received over 37 000 applications. Up to November 18, 2016, a total of 27 957 applications were approved the allowance while 2 945 applications were not approved the allowance, 1 722 applications were withdrawn and over 5 000 applications are being processed. The breakdown by reasons for not approving the allowance is as follows:
| Reason for not approving the allowance | Number of cases |
| Breaching the Absence Rule | 257 |
| Failing to meet Working Hour Requirement | 269 |
| Exceeding the Income Limit | 423 |
| Exceeding the Asset Limit | 61 |
| Other reasons (mainly applications not further processed due to insufficient information) | 1 935 |
| Total | 2 945 |
(2) and (3) As of mid-November 2016, around 32 000 applications were from non-single-parent families and around 5 000 applications were from single-parent families.
Of the 27 957 applications approved, a breakdown of the applications by family status and the type of allowances approved is as follows:
| Type | Non-single-parent families | Single-parent families | Total | ||||
| Full- Rate |
Half- rate |
Sub- total |
Full- rate |
Half- rate |
Sub- total |
||
| Basic Allowance | 2 177 | 492 | 2 669 | 137 | 9 | 146 | 2 815 |
| Higher Allowance | 16 963 | 4 978 | 21 941 | 2 439 | 762 | 3 201 | 25 142 |
| Total | 19 140 | 5 470 | 24 610 | 2 576 | 771 | 3 347 | 27 957 |
(4) As of mid-November 2016, based on preliminary vetting, there were over 900 applications from families of ethnic minorities. Among them, 717 applications were approved the allowance while 122 applications were not approved the allowance, 47 applications were withdrawn and over 40 applications are being processed. The breakdown of the approved applications by the type of allowances approved is as follows:
| Type | Full-rate | Half-rate | Total |
| Basic Allowance | 59 | 19 | 78 |
| Higher Allowance | 468 | 171 | 639 |
| Total | 527 | 190 | 717 |
(5) As of mid-November 2016, there were around 2 300 applications from self-employed persons, of which 1 845 applications were approved the allowance while 133 applications were not approved the allowance, 23 applications were withdrawn and over 300 applications are being processed. A breakdown by reasons for not approving the allowance is as follows:
| Reason for not approving the allowance | Number of applications |
| Breaching the Absence Rule | 13 |
| Failing to meet Working Hour Requirement | 11 |
| Exceeding the Income Limit | 14 |
| Exceeding the Asset Limit | 8 |
| Other reasons | 87 |
| Total | 133 |
(6) As at November 18, 2016, the breakdown of the 27 957 approved applications by residential districts is as follows:
| Districts | Number of approved applications |
| Kwun Tong | 3 617 |
| Yuen Long | 3 047 |
| Kwai Tsing | 2 793 |
| Sham Shui Po | 2 313 |
| Tuen Mun | 2 110 |
| Sha Tin | 1 976 |
| Wong Tai Sin | 1 895 |
| Kowloon City | 1 727 |
| North | 1 534 |
| Eastern | 1 288 |
| Sai Kung | 1 103 |
| Tsuen Wan | 1 011 |
| Yau Tsim Mong | 941 |
| Tai Po | 827 |
| Southern | 622 |
| Islands | 604 |
| Central and Western | 383 |
| Wan Chai | 166 |
| Total | 27 957 |
(7) As at November 18, 2016, of the 27 957 approved applications, a breakdown by the families with the Child Allowance granted and without the Child Allowance granted is as follows:
| Type | Number of approved applications |
| Number of families with eligible child(ren) and are granted the Child Allowance | 26 231 |
| Number of families not granted the Child Allowance | 1 726 |
| Total | 27 957 |
Ends/Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:19
Issued at HKT 14:19
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