he.dc/ksw/md.1.7.3
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of another group. We would certainly expect the two sets of fees to reflect the economic costs of the stages to which they relate. I understand that this is in fact your intention and you will obviously need to ensure that the small element of UK Government costs are covered by a further clause in the Bill requiring the HKG to reimburse the UK Government. There would be no occasion for making it a requirement to obtain Treasury consent to the fees since the costs of administration and the like will be incurred in Hong Kong, and 95% or more of them will be incurred by the Hong Kong Government. Defining full costs for reimbursement by the HKG may cause you some difficulties in certain areas (eg superannuation costs and depreciation policy) on which our fees and charges experts could no doubt offer further guidance if necessary.
I have to confess that I did float the possibility here of charging for this service on a commercial basis. If you feel that any demand for the service should be dampened down it would be perfectly acceptable for the HKG to charge more than full costs or, alternatively, the cost to applicants could be increased indirectly by allowing waiting times to increase. However, charges are generally set, as I have said, to recover full cost and no more.
4.
I thought that you might also find it useful to have advance warning about the information which you will be required to provide on manpower and related resources to support the Bill and the Treasury position in relation to the treatment of fees which will be transferred from the Hong Kong Government. None of what follows concerning policy proposals and legislation will be unfamiliar to Graham Sandiford or his colleagues because they have stood the test of time and are now well established and recognised throughout Whitehall. When submitting legislative or administrative proposals to departmental Ministers, to Ministers collectively, or to the Treasury, departments are required to provide a statement showing the implications for departmental Civil Service manpower and related resources, whether these represent an addition, a saving, or can be absorbed within existing provision, so that these can be considered at the stage when policy decisions are taken. If therefore the proposals carry implications for running costs and Civil Service manpower it is essential that there should be early and continuing consultation with us. The running costs and manpower implications to be included in the statement must be agreed with the appropriate Treasury Expenditure Division before the proposals are submitted. Clearly something a good deal more sophisticated than your back of the envelope calculation will be required and the fact that you will securing receipts from the Hong Kong Government will not make it any easier to secure any additional running costs provision. We hope therefore that the Secretary of State's role will be carried out by a small team of UK Officials seconded to Hong Kong perhaps two officials with locally engaged clerical support, and that the costs associated with their deployment (which will be dependent upon the team need to be in place continually or only intermittently) can be absorbed from within existing provision in 1990-91 and again in 1991-92 should applications spill over in the following financial year.
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5. Geoff Brindle is already aware from some recent correspondence that our General Expenditure Policy Division have ruled that visa fees and fees under the British Nationality Acts 1948 and 1981 should be properly classified as revenue rather than, as at present,
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