MISSION
1.1
The Social Welfare Department (SWD) is committed to building a caring community with self-sufficiency, dignity, harmony and happiness for people of Hong Kong.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
1.2
The endeavours of SWD are along the following guiding principles:
- to provide the disadvantaged groups who are unable to attain self-subsistence with a safety net
- to cherish the family as a core value of social harmony and fundamental to the stability and prosperity of our society
- to assist the poor and the unemployed with an emphasis on enhancing, not impeding, their will to be self-reliant
- to foster a caring culture in the society and encourage those with sufficient means to show concern for the community
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
1.3
SWD is dedicated to:
- caring for the elderly, the sick and the underprivileged
- ensuring provision of a safety net to the needy while encouraging and assisting those with ability to work to become self-reliant
- preserving and strengthening family solidarity and nurturing harmonious interpersonal relationships amongst family members
- mobilising community resources and promoting volunteerism to foster mutual care and support in the community
- developing social capital and encouraging partnerships among segments of the community on the basis of shared responsibilities for the social development of Hong Kong
WELFARE EXPENDITURE
1.4
In the 2012-13 Revised Estimate, the total recurrent government expenditure on social welfare Note 1 reached $42.7 billion, taking up 16.2% of the total recurrent government expenditure and ranked the third amongst various policy areas as shown in Chart 1 below.
Note 1
(a)Social welfare policy area expenditure includes the bulk of SWD’s expenditure (except those programmes contributing to internal security and district and community relations policy areas) and other expenditure directly under the control of the Labour and Welfare Bureau.
(b)To give a better picture of the long term trend of recurrent expenditure on social welfare, one-off additional payments to recipients under Comprehensive Social Security Assistance and Social Security Allowance Schemes have been provided for under non-recurrent expenditure since 2010-11.
TOTAL EXPENDITURE OF SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT AND LOTTERIES FUND EXPENDITURE
1.5
In 2011-12, the total actual expenditure of SWD was $42.2 billion. Of the $42.2 billion, $29.3 billion (70%) was for financial assistance payments Note 2, $9.3 billion (22%) was for recurrent subventions to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), $0.9 billion (2%) was for hire of services, and the remaining balance of $2.7 billion (6%) was for departmental expenditure.
1.6
In 2012-13, the total estimated expenditure of SWD was $44.4 billion. Of the $44.4 billion, $30.3 billion (68%) was for financial assistance payments Note 2, $10.2 billion (23%) was for recurrent subventions to NGOs, $1.1 billion (2%) was other payment for welfare services, and the remaining balance of $2.8 billion (7%) was for departmental expenditure.
1.7
Analysed by programme as shown in Chart 2 below, elderly services took up the second largest share amongst the various welfare services, just after social security, in both 2011-12 and 2012-13.
1.8
Established with income from the Mark Six Lottery, investment income and auctions of vehicle registration numbers to finance the development of social welfare services, the Lotteries Fund (LF) is a major source of capital funding for NGOs. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, payments from the LF were $0.9 billion (Actual) and $1.0 billion (Revised Estimate) respectively.
note 2 The financial assistance payments included $1.8 billion and $2.0 billion for one-off additional payments to recipients under Comprehensive Social Security Assistance and Social Security Allowance Schemes in each of the years of 2011-12 and 2012-13.
