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wisdom of proceeding. The secondment scheme would be likely to
give me a central role in the allocation of citizenship places which I would not have in any other element of the package, and
the discretionary powers which I would need would open up the
scope for challenge by way of judicial review in the UK. The
necessary enabling provisions would also complicate the drafting
of the Bill. I would, therefore, prefer not to proceed with the
secondment scheme.
5. However, I know that the Foreign Secretary is concerned
about the implications of dropping the proposal now that it has
been announced. He and I will discuss the issues further, and
I hope that we will be
be able
able to reach an agreement on a
recommendation to put to OD (K) at the meeting on 15 March.
THE SELECTION SCHEME
6. If the approved secondment scheme is dropped, the selection scheme will have four components:
a)
b)
c)
d)
a General Allocation Scheme (GAS) covering broad
Occupational groups across the public and private sectors and based on a points system;
a Key Entrepreneurs Scheme (KES) under which the
Governor may recommend for citizenship selected
entrepreneurs the extent of whose investments and the
numbers they employ make them invaluable to Hong Kong;
a Disciplined Services Scheme (DSS) based on a points system; and
be
a Sensitive Services Scheme (SSS) under which persons
occupying particularly sensitive posts would
nominated for citizenship.
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