05-JUL-1990
11:05
FOO FINANCE
P.08
Hong Kong is a special case but, in general, the British Council pays the FCO rent for the space it occupies in our buildings. In each case, the payments are set out in a "Memorandum of Terms" governing the licence. The rent charged is a negotiated commercial rent that is related to the local circumstances. You might like to know, for example, that in 1991 the Council decided to move permanently out of the Embassy building in Budapest because the FCO and the Council could not reach agreement on the rent and other terms.
I can confirm that the project to build the new Consulate General in Hong Kong is at the top of our priority list. As a result we would have to go ahead regardless of the outcome of the current PES round and the severe pain that could result.
I
It has taken me longer than I would have liked to reply to your letter because I had to consult widely on the facts. pointed out to Kim Elliman that I hoped your questions on the British Council would not delay the overall consideration you are giving to this project. The FCO's Steering Committee on the Consulate General project asked me how long I anticipated it would take to obtain Treasury approval and I would be grateful for an indication.
A.J.Wootton RFD
OED/hangkg, bc, tsy
2