Care teams 'show advance in HK social welfare'
China strategist Andrew Leung says Hong Kong has made advances in the field of social welfare over the past two years, although government departments still need to take more initiative when it comes to talking to one another. He made the comments on RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme as he was discussing next week's 27th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the two years in office of Chief Executive John Lee and his governing team. "There are a number of achievements, for example on the social welfare front. You know, I have been Director of Social Welfare for four years before [former Chief Executive] Carrie Lam. So I'm quite familiar with this kind of improvement of various services," he said. "The establishment of the care teams, for example, actually translates kind of empty ideas into concrete actions. So I think that's very good." Care teams were announced in the 2022 Policy Address. Coming under the Home Affairs Department, they support the government's district work, including visiting the needy and providing support during incidents and emergencies. Leung also said many government departments still tended to operate within their own structures, undermining efficiency. "Regularly, people are not satisfied with the kind of people-oriented delivery of various government systems because various departments still tend to work in silos and they just sort of follow their own rule book," he said. Leung said there needed to be better coordination among government departments.