TNAG-0205-FCO40-241-Pensions-policy-1970 — Page 4

imprecision/

Reference......

1.. Stewart-

Mr. Combs

Pensions Policy:

RIPA

Former HMOCS Officers

It was agreed at your meeting this morning that we would try to get ODM agreement to the inclusion of all dependent territories; but that if this proved impossible (as seemed likely) we would fall back on obtaining a limited inclusion of dependent territories on the following basis:-

2.

(i) special arrangements on the lines to be offered to independent countries would be offered to those dependent territories having executive Public Service Commissions as and when they reached that stage of constitutional development:

(ii) for the other dependent territories we would undertake to take account of their expenditure on expatriate pensions in assessing their needs for development aid.

If we succeed in getting ODM agreements to the inclusion of all dependent territories, we shall of course need to insert a very different piece in sub- stitution of paragraph 42 of the ODM memorandum and I think that prior to Lord Chalfont's discussion with Mrs. Hart it would be too early to judge what that might be. But on the assumption that we have to be content with the fall-back position outlined above I suggest the following redraft of the first two sentences of paragraph 42:

"It would be difficult not to extend these arrangements to dependent territories having executive Public Service Commissions and we should offer to take over expatriate pensions from such territories. Similar arrangements would be applied to other dependent territories as and when they reached the same stage of constitutional development. Prior to such arrangements being made, expenditure on expatriate pensions by dependent territories would be taken into account in assessing their needs for development aid".

The last sentence of paragraph 42 as drafted by ODM could stand as it is.

3. I would find it difficult in any circumstances to accept the second sentence of the ODM's paragraph 42 which reads: "Meanwhile the matter in their case will presumably be dealt with on merit and according to need", The impression of the words "on merit and according to need" would cause us major difficulty in relation to Hong Kong. There could be endless argument on what constituted "merit". If "merit" was designed to enable us meet certain awkward political situations in some dependent territories, then we should try to specify the political situations that will "merit" special treatment for some territories and it seems to me that we shall probably have covered the worst of these if we agree to extend the arrange- ments to those dependent territories which have executive Public Service Commissions.

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