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15. They asked what help HMG could give, as foreshadowed in
the White Papers, so that Hong Kong HMOCS officers could
find alternative employment. Posts in other DTs had
previously been notified regularly to Hong Kong HMOCS
officers. For several years there were no such
notifications, and they had resumed only recently as a result of requests from the HMOCS Association. They wished
to know whether HMOCS officers' applications for these posts
had been considered and whether any priority could be given to HMOCS applications, before and after 1997. They asked also about the possibility of arranging for transfers of
HMOCS officers and ex-HMOCS officers to posts in the Home
Civil Service or Diplomatic Service. Some years ago the HKG
had told HMG that it was not interested in such transfers,
but they had not consulted HMOCS officers about this. They
also asked whether the old Resettlement Bureau could be
revived to help officers find new employment. There would
be a recurring demand before and after 1997.
16.
They said that Mr Maude's letter of 21 August 1989 to
Mr Matthew Taylor MP, saying that the right of early
retirement was not envisaged in Hong Kong context, was not
widely circulated at the time but caused alarm to those who
saw it. It was their first intimation that this might not
be provided in Hong Kong. This had stimulated the formation
of the HMOCS Association and thus sparked the present
process. They had read Mr Paul's (HKD) letter of 9 July
1990 to Mr Rowse, in response to his letter to Mr Maude, as indicating that the question of early retirement remained
open.
Details of scheme
17. Date of first payment. They considered that
compensation should be paid well before 30 June 1997: in
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