CODE 18.77
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Reference...
some idea of the numbers of contract-officers involved and how many are likely still to be serving in 1997 (to give some idea of the impact on our compensation proposals of the recommendation that we should move the HMOCS qualification deadline in their case from 1985 to 1992).
4. I suggest that it might make the problem clearer if yopu began the Background with a passage on the following lines:
Membership of HM Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS) is a matter for the Secretary of State. The White Paper(s) of 1954 (and 1960?) and subsequent practice established certain general criteria which we have followed in deciding whether to enrol an overseas officer employed by the government of a Dependent Territory as a memeber of HMOCS. One criterion is that the officer should be serving on permanent and pensionable terms, ie officers on contract or agreement terms are not eligible.
Almost all DT governments ceased to offer expatriates permanent and pensionable employment many years ago. However in Hong Kong until the negotiation of the Joint Declaration the British and Hong Kong Government judged it necessary to maintain an expatriate core in the public service, and recruitment to pensionable employment continued. Contrary to our original objectives, the JD set limits on the positions which might be held by expatriates after 1997. It was therefore decided to cease new recruitment of overseas officers to pensionable employment with effect from March 1985. Any further recruitment of overseas officers would be on contract terms. However contract officers originally appointed before March 1985 retained the option to transfer to permanent and pensionable terms; the deadline for exercising this option has been extended several times, partly because of changes to Hong Kong's pensions legislation: it is now set at 30 June 1992.
Against this background, our view has until recently been that our HMOCS arrangements will cover only: (a) certain overseas officers recruited to pensionable employment before March 1985; and (b) certain overseas officers recruited on contract terms before March 1985 who have since opted, or who opt before 30 June 1992, for pensionable terms. We have assumed that there are no other officers with a claim to enrolment in HMOCS.
However we have now discovered that the judiciary are in a different position from that described above....
N J Cox
Hong Kong Department
23 June 1992
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cc Mr Fifoot
Mr Fish, ODA.