25
Secondment Scheme
CONFIDENTIAL
Redacted
under FOI exemption section 27(1)
10. As indicated in my submission of 26 January, officials have
discussed with a number of firms their likely degree of interest
in the secondment scheme. Although all, without
without exception,
expressed disappointment that the scheme was to be within the
50,000 ceiling, rather than an "extra" and said that their
interest would be diminished as a result only two of the seven
said that they would be unlikely to participate. The others
thought that they
they would, though not necessarily with large
numbers. The companies who were interested were attracted by the
idea of being able to select key staff of the future and, by
arranging postings in the UK, virtually guarantee those selected
British citizenship.
11. It must be said that HKG and the Governor personally are
strongly opposed to the secondment scheme, now that it is within
the overall package. They see the secondment places as being at
the
expense of others who do not happen to work for a
participating organisation, and believe that future key staff can
most fairly be dealt with as part of the second tranche under the
General Allocation Scheme. They have also raised concerns about
the possibility that selection by companies may lead to
corruption, and about the resources necessary to check firms bona
fides. HKG is likely to participate in implementation only reluctantly.
12. Although we understand HKG's disappointment that the
CONFIDENTIAL