REPORT ON THE SOCIAL SERVICE MASTER PLAN

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Community Development whether his Ministry has accepted the Report on the Social Service Master Plan.

The Senior Minister of State for Community Development (Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon) (for the Minister for Community Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Report of the Social Service Master Plan is a confidential and internal report submitted by a Work Group comprising representatives from the Ministries of Community Development, Health, Education and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). The Work Group was set up by MCD and the NCSS to look at the extent of and possible directions for the delivery of social service in Singapore. The findings and recommendations were strictly meant to serve as internal references for both MCD and NCSS in their planning.

Nevertheless, as the Member for Hougang has enquired about the report, I will briefly respond to his question.

One of the recommendations in the Master Plan was the formation of an inter-ministry committee to look into:

a) compiling data to obtain a comprehensive picture of the various types of social welfare services;

b) determining their total expenditure, both from the Government and the community; and

c) the extent of overlaps in welfare effort by the Government and VWOs (voluntary welfare organisations).

Both MCD and NCSS agreed that a computerisation programme should be put in place in the voluntary sector to obtain the required data. Such a computerisation programme is being implemented and is jointly funded by the Government and the NCSS.

Other recommendations of the Work Group touch on issues which are already being addressed by both MCD and NCSS. These include:

a) the setting of standards and the development of resource management for various social service programmes to ensure more efficient and cost-effective service delivery; and

b) the review of existing services and programmes to ensure their relevance to meet changing needs.

The Government and NCSS have and will continue to assist VWOs to extend their reach and enhance their service delivery to individuals and families in need. The formation of work groups or task forces to look at various issues such as the one mentioned by the Member is therefore not uncommon.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): Sir, has MCD accepted all the recommendations in the Social Service Master Plan submitted to the Ministry?

Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon: As I have answered earlier, this is a confidential report and is meant for internal reference. All the recommendations in the Report of the Master Plan are already being implemented. What we are doing first is to implement the recommendation in the Report on the computerisation programme which I have already mentioned just now. The others are already on-going.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: From the Senior Minister of State's answer, can I take it that MCD has accepted all the recommendations in the Social Service Master Plan? Secondly, it was mentioned that it is a confidential report. Why is it confidential in the first place? This is a Social Service Master Plan. It is not something to do with national defence.

Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon: Sir, it is actually an internal working paper and it is confidential in nature.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Why is it confidential in nature and cannot be released since MCD has accepted the recommendations?

Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon: It is a matter agreed to between the Government and NCSS.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Does the Senior Minister of State agree that it would be good for public information to know the future and the Master Plan that we have for Singapore in terms of social service and whether it would be good for Singaporeans to know how the Government would tackle future social service issues in view of the fact that our population is aging? Therefore, I think it is important that the Social Service Master Plan be made known so that we know what are the future plans and what are the commitments of the Government in social service.

Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon: Sir, I cannot see the usefulness of releasing this working paper to others. It has already been released to the relevant ministries and NCSS for planning and delivery of social service. NCSS also uses it to monitor follow-up action on the recommendations.

Dr Kanwaljit Soin (Nominated Member): Sir, I would like to declare my interest. I am a board member of NCSS. Would the Minister agree that the reason why the paper has remained as a working paper is that there has been some difficulty in obtaining statistics from other ministries and that is the reason why it has not become a full-fledged master plan but has remained as a working paper?

Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon: Sir, as Dr Soin is a board member of NCSS, I suggest that she bring up this matter and discuss it within NCSS.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Sir, I wonder why Dr Soin should bring it up and discuss it within NCSS since the question has been put in Parliament. I would appreciate it if the Senior Minister of State could clarify whether it is true that certain statistics requested by NCSS which are necessary to map out the Master Plan for social service in Singapore could not be obtained from the various Government ministries and I believe part of the data concerns the future Government's commitment in terms of funding social services in Singapore and its development.

Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon: Sir, the Member wants to know the future commitment of the Government. I can assure him that the Government and NCSS have and will continue to assist all the VWOs to extend their reach and enhance their service delivery to individuals and families in need.

The Member asked why the report cannot be disclosed. I think there is no need to do so. As I said earlier, the report is confidential and it is an internal document. I do not have my Minister's clearance to release it.