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Mr Hurst (OLA
Hurst
G 65/C)
12 Itpual.
HONG KONG: REVIEW OF THE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE SCHEME
1.
CRA
해.
S.
We had a word last week about Mr Heppell's helpful letter of 17 March to Mr Stewart and agreed that it did not seem to call for action. As regards Mr Heppell's suggestion that FCO Ministers might be informed that the likely outcome of the "Social Security" review would be a non-contributory rather than a contributory scheme, I thought that it would be sufficient to deal with this at the next meeting of the Standing Committee which is due in May. I envisaged that we would report to the Committee on our meeting with Mr Heppell on 16 March and Lord Goronwy-Roberts could be informed by means of the minutes of the meeting.
2. I now attach a copy of a second letter, dated 24 March, that Mr Heppell has sent to Mr Stewart. Although Mr Heppell is kind enough to say that his letter does not call for a reply, I sense, as in the case of his first letter, that he would welcome an assurance, if we could give him one, that his ideas for handling the review and his own part in it are in line with our own. So far as I can judge I think that this is so. If you agree, I think that we should telephone Mr Heppell before the end of the week - you will see that Friday, 1 April is his last day in the office - and tell him so.
Would you like to do this or shall I? (Mr Stewart does not expect to make more than a brief appearance in the Office on Friday afternoon, after he gets back from Hong Kong, and I would sooner not trouble him with this matter).
29 March 1977
D.F. Milton
D F Milton
Hong Kong Department
K 247
233 4381
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