Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung has refuted claims the Government has no long-term policies for tackling poverty, saying social welfare ranks very high in its policy agenda.
Speaking to the media after attending the 2016 Welfare Agenda & Priorities Setting Exercise today he said social workers and non-governmental organisations discussed various social welfare issues at the meeting, including the Low-income Working Family Allowance.
He said accusations of the Government having no long-term poverty plan are wrong.
"I think the comments are entirely unfounded and also unfair because now we have got the Commission on Poverty with a layout of a clear blueprint. We have got a poverty line.
"We have also devised various policies. We have got various groups to tackle various cohorts of people in need. We have also rolled out the Low-income Working Family Allowance which is a flagship measure to tackle working poverty and provide opportunities for upward mobility for children. So we have got measures already in train and we will be doing more in this direction."
On the California Fitness wage arrears, Mr Cheung said 540 former employees have sought help from the Labour Department, adding it has been in touch with the provisional liquidator to ask them to verify wage records.
The department will trigger the process for granting ex-gratia payments under the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund once the verification work is completed, he added.
