HKD
CONFIDENTIAL
340/7.
FROM:
J C Morris
DATE:
Hong Kong Department
9 October 1991
Mr Ricketts
Mr
Burns
M.
CC:
Mr Cox o/r
Me Myland
Carver
BK 20/12 pl
10/10
BRITISH NATIONALITY (HONG KONG) ACT 1990: APPROVED
SECONDMENT SCHEME
S
A
1.
When the Selection Scheme was in gestation, a number of
British firms in Hong Kong were very keen on the idea of an
Approved Secondment Scheme (ASS), under which it would have been possible to second an employee to a UK affiliate for
two years (not necessarily in one block) which, together
with a further three years working for the same company in Hong Kong, would have enabled them to naturalise as British
argued citizens. The Home Office were against this Scheme, that the provision of British links points in the Selection
Scheme made the ASS unnecessary and hoped, with the passage
of the Act, that it would die a natural death. But because
the business lobby remained keen on an ASS during the
passage of the Bill, we secured the Home Secretary's
agreement that we should monitor the operation of the Scheme
towards the end of 1991, to see whether British links points
were proving a significant advantage to employees of British
firms.
B
2. As a first step I sought Jeremy Page's views on whether
we could yet see how well British Undertakings staff were
doing. His reply (attached) indicates that HKID will not be
able to produce a computer profile until all the
POPAKP/1
сс
CONFIDENTIAL