Ministers have decided that all elements of the package mentioned in the Foreign Secretary's statement of 20 December
will have to be accommodated within the ceiling of 50,000 households. In the light of public reaction in the UK to the announcement so far, Ministers would not be prepared to contemplate a solution which involved breaching the 50,000 ceiling set for the package. They are particularly concerned that at this delicate stage in the parliamentary process, any suggestion of loopholes in, or additions to, the HMG's proposals would go down
extremely badly in Parliament, and might even jeopardise the successful passage of the package through the House of Commons.
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four
The package as proposed will include the following schemes which will be open to qualified local residents who are Hong Kong British Dependent Territories Citizens or British National Citizens (Overseas):
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(a) General Allocation Scheme,
(b)
(c)
Disciplined Services Scheme,
Sensitive Service Scheme, and
(d) UK Secondment Scheme.
In the light of various competing demands, and the Administration's determination that the civil service should not be the major beneficiary under the package, it has been proposed to HMG that the 50,000 households places should be allocated to the four schemes along the lines of Annex A. Under this proposal 65% of the total places available would go to private sector beneficiaries, and 86% of the 50,000 household places would be allocated in the first batch of the package. This proposal is being considered by Ministers and decision has yet to be made on it. Each of the four schemes is briefly discussed below.
GENERAL ALLOCATION SCHEME
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A necessary requirement under this General Allocation Scheme is that the applicant must be actively engaged in business or an occupation in Hong Kong.