A
Mr Ricketts
Mr Hum
MANGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE
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13
FROM:
DATE:
J C Morris
Hong Kong Department
12 February 1993
CC:
Mrs Barnes Jones
FUTURE CONSULATE-GENERAL: CONSTRUCTION
1.
I attach a minute by Mrs Barnes Jones recording an OED meeting on the new Consulate-General building which she attended on 10 February. I have the following comments:
para 4: The cuts which Mr Bertram is now proposing go somewhat beyond the remit of the Steering Committee, which did not specifically approve the loss of one more flat (in addition to the one lost by deleting a floor) nor the removal of the link between the two buildings. But I do not think it should be necessary to reconvene the Committee for this purpose. However, if Farrells' revised costings (which OED were expecting this week) point to the need for further cuts, I think the Committee should be consulted.
para 8: The background to this paragraph is that RMD believe that the British Council should contribute to the extra building costs. Mr Bertram has said that the BC have no capital funds of their own, and we know that they are reluctant to pay rent (partly) on the grounds that the PES bid is a joint FCO/BC one. But as OED are now proposing to find all the post-cuts budget shortfall from FCO resources, (with the Treasury picking up the exchange rate difference) it could reasonably be argued that the BC should also make a proportionate contribution to the extra costs; (perhaps this might be an annual rent equivalent to the interest payments on one third of OED's contribution over the life of the lease:- as a rough indication, a ball park figure for £1million over 50 years might be £64,000 pa.)
para 9/footnote: I do not see why OED wish to defer submitting on these matters until after Mr Goodlad's visit to their Croydon offices (on 24 February). It seems to me that the submission would equip the Minister to make the best use of any discussion of our building during his visit, and in any case we need to press on without further delay.
Thori
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R:
HILD 406/2
406/2
12 FEE 1993
J C Morris
INC
min.constr JM CONGEN MANAGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE