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less than 2700 per annum more than his Governor could possibly draw. Lest you should think that I am speaking exclusively in hypothetical terms, the present Chief Justice of Hong Kong, who is due to retire in 1970, will, if he lives that long, have earned and be drawing a pension of £5,760. The mystique on which the maximum figure of £5,100 was computed was based on allowing a Governor not more than two-thirds of the salary of a Permanent Secretary in the Home Civil Service. I understand that it has been agreed with your Superannuation Division that Statutory Instruments to amend the Governors' Pensions Act 1957 should only be made when a need actually arises, which is normally when there has been a change in the salary of Permanent Secretaries in the Home Civil Service and a Governor dies or is due to retire. On this basis, the salary of a run-of-the-mill Permanent Secretary in the Home Civil Service having gone up to £8,600, it would be normal practice to expect that you would be automatically ready at the appropriate time to publish a Statutory Instrument raising the figure of £5,100 to £5,733. This would, however, not quite get over the anomaly which I have just outlined. But if, which I submit would be perfectly proper, you were to compute the calculation on the basis of the maximum salary which a Permanent Secretary in the Home Civil Service could earn, which is of course £9,200 in the case of, for example, your Permanent Secretary or the Head of the Diplomatic Service, the maximum figure for a Governor would go up to £6,133, which would overcome all our difficulties. Because it is desirable manifestly to eradicate the anomaly mentioned above, I hope that you will agree that the maximum figure should in future be based . upon the higher level of Permanent Secretary salary. This would of course affect only those Governors earning a salary above that figure who have substantial service to reckon for pension; and in practice the only other Governor affected at the present time is the Governor of the Bahamas.. The Governor of Hong Kong is due back in London for consultations at the end of this month. He could in the normal course of events retire early next year and we should like to be in a position to let him know now how this matter stands. But in any case, Sir Ralph Grey, the Governor of the Bahamas, who is our most highly paid Governor, is due to retire at the end of October and is starting his retirement leave in July. This fact alone would seem to justify or indeed to require the early issue of a Statutory Instrument to raise the maximum figure to £6,133 to cover his case. It would therefore be very encouraging indeed if you could see your way to giving early clearance on this point so that we could let him know.
Topping-Up Payments
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4. These were the subject of your letter under reference. have been anxious to play fair by the Governors concerned but equally not to make any unreasonable requests of you. On this basis I think that I need only ask for your help at this stage in respect of the following cases.
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