aefl.kw/docs/1.30.3
HM Treasury
Nigel Whitney Esq
Hong Kong Department
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
LONDON
SW1A 2AH
Den Nigel
HONG KONG PENSION SAFEGUARD
Parliament Street London SWIP 3AG Telephone 071-270
Mr Man's -
of 1/4.
4902
cc. P.ffort.
31 March 1993
Thank you for your letter of 3 March. I am sorry not to have been able to reply sooner, caused in part by sick-leave.
--
I can confirm that the safeguard arrangements set out by the Chief Secretary in his letter of 15 January to the Foreign Secretary inter alia that HMG would only step in with safeguard payments when the amount the pensioner receives from both Hong Kong and ODA falls below the safeguard level -- did represent an advance on the position paper that was earlier drafted by officials. Our position has always been that the mechanics of the safeguard would have to dovetail with the safeguard already afforded by SPOS. The Chief Secretary felt it was entirely appropriate for the safeguard trigger to operate only after taking into account pension income from Hong Kong and the UK taxpayer which is already provided through ODA. We did not feel able to advise the Chief Secretary that he should ignore the substantial protection which the UK taxpayer would already be providing, and comparison with the income of a UK counterpart in retirement. The Foreign Secretary's letter of 29 March indicates that
he now taken on board the full import of what the Chief Secretary
intends.
has
The same point governs our current thinking on your proposed amendment to the SPOS Regulations. We understand the pressures there are to amend SPOS, but given the link between SPOS and the safeguard, our Ministers clearly have it in mind that the two should be viewed together. We do not see that it would be sensible to commit ourselves to one aspect of the package before there is agreement on the rest of it. Indeed, your 3 March letter notes that the Foreign Secretary and the Chief Secretary had agreed to put the proposed amendment to SPOS to one side for the moment.
I will be responding separately to your letter of 23 March on a compensation scheme for Hong Kong HMCCS officers.
I am copying this letter to Dave Fish at ODA.
Yours,
مستقل
KEVIN WOODFIELD
Switchboard 071-270 3000
Fax 071-270 5653
Telex 9413704