Chief Executive John Lee said in his Policy Address this morning that the Government will continue to strengthen elderly services according to the principle of “ageing in place as the core, with institutional care as back up”.

With a view to providing more choices for cross-boundary elderly care, it will explore extending the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong to residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) operated by Mainland organisations next year, while the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly will be extended to cover nursing home places as well as provide 1,000 more vouchers.

In 2024-25, the Government will inject an additional $1 billion into the Innovation & Technology Fund for Application in Elderly & Rehabilitation Care to enhance the subsidies for eligible units to procure, rent and trial technology products, improving the quality of life of the elderly and people with disabilities.

To tap into the business potential of the silver economy, the Commerce & Economic Development Bureau will establish an Advisory Panel on Silver Economy to conduct research and make recommendations on how to improve the quality of life for seniors through better products and services.

Mr Lee also outlined continued government support for people with disabilities. Nursing staff in residential care homes for persons with disabilities (RCHDs) will be enhanced in the coming year to boost care for ageing residents. Service places of the Extended Care Programme in Day Activity Centres and the Work Extension Programme will be also increased.

A three-year pilot scheme will be implemented to provide an additional subsidy of $500 per month to employed disabled recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance as a means of encouraging their employment.

To further support carers, the Government will engage care teams to help, through visits or contacts, to identify carers of the elderly and people with disabilities who need support and refer them to social welfare services.

The Government will request RCHEs under the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme; RCHDs under the Bought Place Scheme for Private RCHDs; and service units participating in the Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly to leave vacant residential care places or service places for care-receiving individuals.

Ethnic Minorities
To foster the community integration, the Government will set up two additional support service centres for ethnic minorities (EMs) next year. Each centre will be invited to set up one EM Care Team to reach out to EM households, understand their needs and introduce public services they need.

Targeted Poverty Alleviation
The Chief Executive noted that the Government will implement various targeted poverty alleviation projects catering to the needs of households residing in subdivided units (SDUs), single parent households and elderly households.

In the coming year, targeted poverty alleviation projects will include enhancing the Strive & Rise Programme for students and launching a Pilot Programme on Community Living Room, which improves the living and community environment of SDU households.

A dedicated fund of $500 million will be set up to support welfare services organisations' staff training, system enhancement and multi-disciplinary collaboration.

Labour Support
To encourage the latent labour force to enter the labour market, the Government will complete the legislative amendments early next year regarding increasing the maximum monthly retraining allowance by nearly 40% from $5,800 to $8,000.

Moreover, the roles and functions of the Employees Retraining Board will be reviewed and the continuous contract requirement will be revised to enhance labour protection.