Hong Kong social welfare groups fear budget cuts will hurt service

Welfare chief Chris Sun meets representatives over 7 per cent funding cut, which has stirred concerns over service quality and manpower retention

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A tenant in a subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po. Lawmaker Tik-Chi-yuen stressed that funding cuts would not be able to create the solid safety net the city needed. Photo: Eugene Lee

Published: 8:30am, 4 Mar 2025

Services and staffing levels of social welfare organisations in Hong Kong will be hit by the government plan to cut funding by as much as 7 percent in the coming three financial years, lawmakers and operators have warned.

The sector raised their concerns after they were briefed on Monday by Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han about the funding cut aimed to ease the pressure on the public coffers after the finance chief announced the deficit had reached HK$87.2 billion (US$11.2 billion) in 2024-25.

Sun told the media after the meeting that 58 big social welfare organisations receiving more than HK$50 million annually would see their amounts cut by 7 per cent by the 2027-28 financial year.

The budget also calls for a 3 per cent funding cut for 121 small to medium-sized groups, with the Social Welfare Department shouldering a 4 per cent reduction.

In his address last week, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said he would step up the government’s productivity enhancement programme to achieve a cumulative 7 per cent expenditure cut from 2024-25 to 2027-28.

“We do not want to reduce the carer allowance and foster family subsidies or short-term food assistance. We have to support these within a budget that has already been reduced,” Sun said.