Clause 2

by deleting the definition of “commercial property” in subsection (1) and substituting the following definition:“ “commercial property” means any building or premises vested in or belonging to the Board (or part of such building or premises) which is permitted under the Planning Act (Cap. 232) to be used wholly or partly as —

a market, food centre, confectionery, bakery, restaurant or bar, or an eating house;

an office or a place of business and for conducting administrative work;

a shop or premises for the carrying on of any trade or business where the primary purpose is the sale of goods by retail or the provision of services;Examples A furniture shop, department store, supermarket, dispensary, medical clinic, dental clinic, beauty salon, ticket agency, travel agency, laundry shop, dry cleaner’s shop, pet shop, video games arcade, computer gaming centre, billiard saloon, bowling alley, bank or multimedia kiosk, or an automated teller machine.(d)a place —

for the care or education, or care and education, of children below 7 years of age; or

at which 5 or more school‑going children who are 7 years of age or older but below 14 years of age are habitually received for the purposes of care and supervision before or after school hours;

premises —

for the reception, lodging and care of aged or disabled persons or persons suffering or convalescing from any sickness, injury or infirmity; or

for any type of examination of the human body or of any matter derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of any disease or for the assessment of the health of any person;Examples A hospice, convalescent home or nursing home, or a dialysis centre, cancer screening centre or medical health centre.(f)a kindergarten registered under section 23 of the Education Act (Cap. 87) or an institution providing education or instruction;Examples A tuition centre, language school, computer school, music school, dance school, speech and drama school, child development centre or play school, or an art school or acting school.(g)a sports club, community centre, community club, family service centre or residents’ committee centre, or premises for community‑based activities, and includes an office of such a club, centre or committee; or

a police post, fire station or civil defence centre,but excludes any property specified or described by the Minister, by order in the Gazette, as not to be a commercial property for the purposes of this Act;”;

by inserting, immediately after the words “flats in the building and” in the definition of “common property” in subsection (1), the words “, for any housing estate mentioned in section 54A(4), in respect of which a handover notice issued under section 54A is in effect, and”;

by inserting, immediately after the definition of “elected member” in subsection (1), the following definition:“ “finance manager”, for a Town Council, means an individual (other than a member) who occupies a position in the Town Council and is primarily responsible to the Town Council for —

the supervision and administration of the accounting systems of the Town Council, including —

keeping proper accounts and records of the Town Council’s transactions and affairs;

ensuring that all payments out of the Town Council’s moneys are correctly made and properly authorised; and

ensuring that adequate control is maintained over the receipt, custody, investment, safekeeping and expenditure of moneys and other assets of, or in custody or control of, the Town Council;

the preparation and revision of estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the Town Council under section 37;

ensuring that the financial statements of the Town Council comply with this Act; and

generally all financial matters relating to the Town Council;”;

by inserting, immediately after the definition of “flat” in subsection (1), the following definition:“ “general manager”, for a Town Council, means an individual (other than a member) who occupies a position in the Town Council having the general control and management of the administration of the Town Council, and includes any individual, by whatever name called, who exercises such general control and management;”;

by inserting, immediately after the definition of “industrial property” in subsection (1), the following definitions:“ “inspector” means an inspector of Town Councils appointed under section 43E;“key officer”, for a Town Council, means any of the following individuals, whether or not an employee of the Town Council:

the secretary to the Town Council;

the general manager of the Town Council, if there is one;

a finance manager of the Town Council (however designated);

an individual who is appointed a deputy to any officer in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) (however designated);

a chairperson of any committee of a Town Council where formed under section 31 for any of the following matters:

internal audit;

finance;

procurement of goods or services;

publicity and public relations;

estate management;”;

by inserting, immediately after the definition of “lease” in subsection (1), the following definition:“ “managing agent”, for a Town Council, means a person (whether or not the person carries on any other business) who is engaged or appointed, for monetary or other reward, to exercise any power or perform any function or duty of the Town Council under this Act, such as (but not limited to) all of the following:

managing common property within the Town of the Town Council;

controlling the use of common property by residents of the housing estates within the Town or other persons;

maintaining and repairing common property or engaging appropriately qualified tradespersons to do so;

arranging building inspections and reports;

keeping and maintaining documents and records relating to any function, duty or power of the Town Council;

undertaking the financial management of the Town Council’s funds and books of account;

paying disbursements and expenses incurred in connection with the person’s management of the Town Council;

arranging for insurance for the Town Council;

paying accounts in relation to the Town Council, such as accounts for water and electricity charges,but excludes the following individuals when performing any activity that is a function, duty or power of the Town Council under this Act:

a member of, the secretary to or other employee of the Town Council;

an employee or similar officer of a managing agent of the Town Council;”;

by inserting, immediately after the definition of “secretary” in subsection (1), the following definitions:“ “single Member constituency” means a constituency that is not a group representation constituency;“statutory authority” means a body or an office that is established or constituted by or under a public Act to perform or discharge a public function, but does not include the Board or any Town Council;“surplus”, for any fund established under section 33, means an excess of the assets over liabilities of the fund at the end of a financial year;”; and

by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsections:“(4) In this Act, a reference to the date on which any election results for a constituency are declared is a reference to the date the results of an election in that constituency are published in the Gazette under section 51 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 218).(5) In this Act, a person is in a position to exercise a significant influence over or with respect to the management or operation of the business of the managing agent or auditor of a Town Council if the person —

holds (whether in the person’s own right or on behalf of any other person) the position of director, partner or other executive position (however designated) in the business of the managing agent or auditor;

is entitled to exercise, by voting or otherwise and whether exercisable alone or in association with others, and whether in the person’s own right or on behalf of any other person, any power to participate in any directorial, managerial or executive decision in the business of the managing agent or auditor; or

is a substantial shareholder (within the meaning of section 81 of the Companies Act (Cap. 50)) of the managing agent or auditor, which is a company.”.