Reference..
confidentiail
Pa
188
HKB 233 F
Mi Stone
how much? < $2m.
En
las in ow
proposals)
Good point-
but will need
Careful
drafting.
CODE 18-77
Mr Cox
Бо скоков
Mr Ricketts
Many thanks. We must him hard to get the right answer for Hem a para z aksiy
least!
VISIT TO HONG KONG: HMOCS MATTERS
26/11
2/2
1. All three of Mr Waters, Mr Wiggham and Mr Shipley told me that they though we had until about Christmas or the turn of the year before the lid blow off HMOCS matters. I attach an article on the Police and pensions generally which was waved in front of me as an indicator of things to come. Apparently the reporter involved had asked searching questions on HMOCS but had been prevailed upon not to include it in the article. Nothing particularly new emerged but I have come back with a fair number of thoughts/loose ends which we need to think about. These are as follows:
- HKG do not envisage the sterling safeguard being made available before 1997 - they say it has never been in the past been made available before independence. Thus the solution for those retiring until 1997 must be the amendments to SPOS.
- HKG do envisage a cap on the amount that any one individual can get. They envisage this as the same as for the limited compensation scheme ie 4.76 x the minimum point of the SAO
scale.
Lump sum pension payments post 1997 in lieu of pension (25% or 50%) must be covered by the sterling safeguard.
Mr Shipley considers that, vis a vis the
incentive/compensation scheme, the first 20% instalment must be paid to officers on about 1 July 1997. He thinks it could be sellable to the members that the other payments for subsequent years of service might be held back. But he does not think we could hold them all back without making the scheme totally unacceptable - bearing in mind that they are expecting full payment of compensation and early payment of pension.
When we inform HMOCS members of what we propose to do, I consider, and HKG agree, that we should include a question and answer sheet with our letter. HKG have agreed to draw up some nasty questions and answers both for this sheet and for our subsequent discussion of the scheme with members.
I put to HKG, and they agreed, that the scheme will not be sellable without a clear statement from HMG that we will review the scheme if the circumstances envisaged in the Joint Declaration are not materialising in practice.
ALKABH