The think tank "New Deal for Governing Hong Kong" with Mai Meijuan, a member of the Legislative Council of the Federation of Trade Unions serving as the convener, today (25th) held a press conference on the public procurement system, suggesting that the government set up a "Procurement Social Value Advisory Committee" to incorporate social value into the tender Scoring criteria to protect labor rights and the quality of public services.
Lu Songxiong: Outsourcing projects are monopolized to widen the gap between the rich and the poor
Lu Chung-hsiung, a member of the Legislative Council of the Federation of Trade Unions, pointed out that the current government adheres to the principle of "the one with the lowest price." Outsourcing projects are often monopolized by several companies, harming labor rights and widening the gap between the rich and the poor.
Tang Jiabiao, Director General of Kowloon East of the Federation of Trade Unions, Tang Jiabiao pointed out that although the procurement prices of some outsourcing companies are low, the quality is uneven, and the government spends a lot of public services and outsourcing. He questioned whether the funds were used properly.
Introduce social value to audit scoring criteria
The "New Deal for Governing Hong Kong" proposes to introduce a social value assessment mechanism in the Audit Office, and set up a "Social Value Procurement Advisory Committee" under the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau to invite various stakeholders, such as labor rights representatives, innovation and technology environmentalists , SME representatives, legal support persons, etc., adjusted the social value scores according to different procurement items.
Lu Songxiong believes that the government can refer to New Zealand's establishment of phased priority procurement results for public procurement, and encourage outsourcing companies to think about how to improve economic, social, and environmental well-being in order to help solve the problem of disparity between the rich and the poor and the exploitation of labor rights.
Mai Meijuan: We must start with the fundamental system to alleviate poverty
Chen Xiaofeng, a member of the All-China Youth Federation in Hong Kong, said that the current government procurement process continues to "spend first, then subsidize", which increases the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises. It is recommended that the government provide outsourcing contracts specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Deng Jiabiao added that the government can use tax incentives such as salary increases and tax credits to encourage more small and medium enterprises to take social responsibilities into consideration.
Mai Meijuan pointed out that this proposal mainly aims to narrow the gap in the first income distribution, and also believes that the transfer of resources through welfare alone will not alleviate poverty. It must start with the system.
She pointed out that the social value procurement proposal will be handed over to the Bureau of Finance and Treasury and interviewed with relevant personnel, hoping that the proposal will be adopted.
Formal think tanks propose three directions to improve governance. Mai Meijuan advocates for policy bureaus to expand the team of external staff and political circles. Mai Meijuan is expected to move to the Election Committee.
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