CS. 41A
2600077
10,000-6/70-B74525
CONFIDENTIAL
REF.
COLONIAL SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
4th June 1971
REF. (33) in CR 2/511/67 IV
LAST
My dear Land
NEW
REF.
With his Confidential letter dated
25th May to Sir Leslie Monson Sir Hugh forwarded copies of the Executive Council memorandum containing our proposals for the Urban Council, and he has asked me to let you know the outcome of Ex.Co.'s consideration of this paper last Tuesday. I am happy to say that the Unofficials went along with our proposals, and had only comparatively minor reservations on the details. The points they raised were as follows :
(1)
(2)
-
the paper proposes that any rate increase which the Urban Council might seek and be granted in future (that is, after the initial rate has been settled) will result in a rise in total rates; this seemed to them difficult to justify. The answer was that the preservation of the Government rate at the initial level would be perfectly proper as the cost of maintaining the Police Force was much in excess of the yield from that rate. Members accepted this answer, as well as the argument that this method of regulating the Urban Council's level of expenditure was an essential feature of the scheme;
the method of calculating the initial Urban Council rate as illustrated in the table attached to Annex D to the paper made no provision for funds to service capital borrowings. It was pointed out that the formula included the current block vote of $3 million for parks and playgrounds, and that in addition there were the arrangements proposed in paragraphs 3(5) and 13 of Annex D; the former suggests a pump-priming grant of up to $20 million, and the latter provides for continuing capital works for several years
E.O. Laird, Esq., C.M.G., M.B.E., Hong Kong Department,
Foreign & Commonwealth Office,
King Charles Street,
London, S.W.1., ENGLAND.
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IN
R.GISTRY No.51 - JUN 1971
CONFIDENTIA
HKK 18/2