Licensing Scheme for Private Residential Care Homes for Persons with Disabilities 8.12 To prepare for the introduction of a licensing scheme to regulate the operation of residential care homes for persons with disabilities (RCHDs) in order to ensure that a reasonable standard of service is provided to residents of RCHDs, SWD set up the Registration Office of Private Residential Care Homes for Persons with Disabilities (the Registration Office) in September 2006. A Voluntary Registration Scheme (VRS) for private RCHDs has been implemented as an interim measure to encourage private RCHD operators to enhance their service quality. The Registration Office conducts regular visits to private RCHDs registered under VRS. Information on private RCHDs meeting the requirements in general management, fire safety, building safety and health care is uploaded to the SWD homepage for public viewing. As at 31 March 2011, eight private RCHDs have successfully joined the VRS.     8.13 The Government introduced the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Bill (the Bill) into the Legislative Council on 30 June 2010 to implement a statutory licensing scheme for all RCHDs in order to regulate their operation.     8.14 In tandem with the proposed licensing scheme, the SWD launched the four-year pilot Bought Place Scheme (BPS) in October 2010 which aims at encouraging private RCHDs to upgrade their service standards, increasing the supply of subsidised residential care places, thereby shortening the waiting time for subsidised residential service; and helping the market develop residential care homes of different types. The Government will also implement a Financial Assistance Scheme after enactment of the Bill to provide subsidies for private RCHDs to carry out improvement works in compliance with the licensing requirements in building and fire safety.   Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities in Need Central Fund for Personal Computers 8.15 The Central Fund for Personal Computers was set up in 1997 to assist eligible persons with disabilities to acquire computer facilities for self-employment or receiving supported employment at home. As at 31 March 2011, the Fund has granted a total of $4.12 million to 323 applicants.   Jockey Club IT Scheme for People with Visual Impairment 8.16 The Jockey Club IT Scheme for People with Visual Impairment was set up under the auspices of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charitable Trust in October 2005. The Scheme aims at supporting organisations to acquire high-performance Chinese screen readers and Braille displays for installation at communal access points to facilitate the access of persons with visual impairment (PVI) to IT, and to subsidise individual PVI with genuine financial difficulty to acquire these computer assistive devices for the purpose of studies or employment. As at 31 March 2011, 28 organisational applications and 124 individual applications were supported with $4.03 million committed.   Pursuing for Excellence Hong Kong Paralympians Fund 8.17 The Hong Kong Paralympians Fund (HKPF) aims at fostering the development of sports for athletes with disabilities and to support their pursuit of sporting excellence in international events. In 2009-11, a total of $7.86 million was approved for allocation. Of the $7.86 million, $4.43 million was allocated to the sports organisations for supporting their development of target sports, which included swimming, athletics, table-tennis, rowing, gymnastic, skating, junior squad, badminton, boccia, judo for blind persons, shooting, wheelchair fencing and riding; $3.43 million to the athletes with disabilities for their pursuing of sporting excellence.