HK$6,000 for new arrivals costs HK$109 each to administer, lawmakers balk

Legco’s home affairs panel discussed injecting an extra HK$1.5 billion into the Community Care Fund to pay HK$6,000 to eligible new arrivals aged 18 or above. Home affairs secretary Tsang Tak-sing said administration costs of HK$25 million — under 2% of the total payout — but lawmakers called that too high.

Why so expensive?

About HK$109 in admin cost per case. The fund would pay HK$6,000 to new arrivals over 18 meeting income criteria, totalling HK$1.5 billion for roughly 230,000 beneficiaries. Tsang said HK$25 million of that is administration, no more than 2% of payouts — which works out to about HK$109 per case.

How will fraud be prevented?

180 temporary staff to spot-check. Community Care Fund executive committee chairman Law Chi-kwong said the government will hire 180 temporary workers to process and spot-check applications, checking as many as possible to deter abuse of public money.

What else did lawmakers question?

Does this set a yearly handout precedent? Industrial legislator Lam Tai-fai warned the precedent could turn into an “annual one-off” payout. Liberal Party’s Miriam Lau said the government should seek funding directly from the Finance Committee. Democrat Wong Sing-chi accused the government of using the fund as a “political shield”. Tsang stressed the payout is one-off and any future round would go through the Finance Committee.

To understand the difference between cash handouts and MPF injections, visit MPF fund comparison.