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4. This issue is linked to the so called Carr-Robertson
assurance given by Mr Robert Carr, the then Secretary for
Technical Cooperation, to Sir James Robertson, the then
President of OSPA. In that letter Mr Carr said "I am now
therefore authorised to tell you that if for any reason it
should so happen in relating to the payment of a pension
that a pensioner funds himself in financial difficulties, HM
Government would feel obliged to take appropriate remedial action". In 1968 Sir Reginald Prentice, the Minister
for Overseas Development, told the House of Commons that the
assurance "does not amount to a formal commitment to pay loan advances (in leiu of pensions) if there has been a
default, but it has been understood since by OSPA and by the
British Government that this would in effect happen if there
was a default." We have been expecting for some time for
OSPA or an HMOCS members to ask us outright whether HMG will
abide by the Carr-Robertson assurance. This has not occured
but to refuse to restate the assurance would amount to
saying that we no longer felt ourselves tied by it. In 1985
Ministers agreed that if asked we would give the assurance.
5. In order to safeguard ourselves against the possibility
of having to pay loan advances should the Hong Kong SARG
default on payment pensions to HMOCS members, an option open
to us is to try to seek the Hong Kong Government's agreement
to make over to us the capitalised value of HMOCS pensions
before 1997. The value of the capitalised pensions would in current prices be considerably more than £210 million.
6.
At that time Sir G Howe concluded that the heavy balance
of argument was against taking early action on this question
but that it should be looked at again perhaps in about 1990.
The Prime Minister noted that it was proposed to review this
matter in 1990 but regretted that it appeared not to be
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