CONFIDENTIAL
FCO
5. Hong Kong have agreed there is no need to pursue the
proposal to amend the Pensions Ordinance given the agreed
amendments to Regulation 59, and the agreed use of Regulation 55.
It was also agreed that Section 8 should be concerned with
retirement age and not with discipline.
6.
Suggested amendment of Regulation 55 to allow the grant of
a pension or gratuity, in order to avoid amendment of Fensions
Ordinance (Section 7).
7. Agreed that there should be power to grant a pension under
Regulation 55. But even if the regulation is amended, whether
any pension could be granted would still seem to depend on the
terms in which Her Majesty's Pleasure was signified, ie whether
those terms were compatible with Section 7 of the Pensions
Ordinance.
8.
Regulation 65 stipulates that the Public Services Commission
Blair-Kerr be consulted before an officer is required to retire. The Governor
wished to exclude reference to FSC on the grounds that Regulation
59 is not technically a punishment and the fewer people who know
about corruption cases the better.
FCO
9. Given that Regulation 59 will remain part of the armour of
administrative action in cases other than suspected corruption
there would seem every advantage in retaining the obligation to
consult the PSC. In cases where the evidence is too delicate to
be given to the PSC the Governor is likely to be using Regulation
55 where the requirement does not arise and in other such cases
the FSC can be consulted quickly and in confidence. From our
point of view the concurrence of the PSC is a safeguard against
/Parliamentary
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CONFIDENTIAL