Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak said on Wednesday that care teams should not consider whether they have a District Council seat when deciding whether to continue serving the community.

Her comments came after a care team in Tin Shui Wai said it was winding up because its leader missed out on nomination for last month's District Council election and it did not have enough resources to operate. The district will now be served by a care team from a neighbouring area.

Speaking to reporters, Mak said it is always a challenge for care teams to work with limited resources, noting that each team is allocated between HK$800,000 and HK$1.2 million every two years.

But she said losing the election and the resources that come with a seat on the council had not stopped other care teams from doing their work.

"I can see several candidates who lost in the district council election and still insist on serving the community. They still insist on joining and participating in the service of the care teams, and deliver very high quality community service," she said.

"So I pay tribute to those who serve the community and do not ask for their own social status or anything for themselves."

Mak urged people to support the 451 care teams in the territory.