[VBIANL]
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
CONFIDENTIAL
SE Alleyn Esq
Deputy Financial Secretary
Government
HONG KONG
secretariat
Dean Arlequi
f
20 December 1985
HRR 100|4
A
2 4 DEC 1985
Ry
Tarun
HONG KONG FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION
J
1.
WDEX
PA
Адван
I apologiset
Thank you for your letter of 3 June.
for the long delay in providing you with this substantive reply but
Clinton Leeks' letter of
as
you
know
from
4 October to Tony Savage, we have had to consult various departments within the Office.
2.
In view of the confusion that is being caused in Hong Kong over the matter of financial administration, we have considered very carefully your
that suggestion Chapter VIII of Colonial Regulations should 50 longer apply to Hong Kong. Although this would provide a solution to
problems, your difficulties for us.
3.
matters.
Το
I am
advised
that it
neat
poses
to
Most, if not all, dependent territories have in recent years made legislative provision for financial and audit
be consistent, we
need would consider a footnote in Colonial Regulations stating that Chapter VIII no longer applies to any territory (not only Hong Kong) which has made the parallel legislative However, as each territory's legislation
the
to
cater
respect some
for each and
case
of
a
or other it would every variation.
territory still
be
In
in
rovision. probably varies in impossible addition, in the grant-in-aid or recently emerged, we would wish to retain financial provisions laid down in Colonial Regulations. I appreciate that there is a precedent in that a special variation of Colonial Regulations 54-66 (dealing with discipline) applies to Hong Kong only. However, this does not seem to be an exact precedent. Although, on the face of it, the Secretary of State gave
the disciplining responsibility
of locally-appointed public officers, there remained a right of petition under Colonial Regulation 169. If Chapter VIII no longer applied to Hong Kong, then the Secretary of State would have no standing at all in the territory's finances or audit of accounts. I do not mean to suggest
up
any
for
CONFIDENTIAL
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