TNAG-1330-FCO40-1757-Future-of-Hong-Kong-test-of-the-acceptability-of-the-Joint-D-1984 — Page 111

Mr Pow

Mr Gosworthy

pa

CONFIDENTIAL

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Reference..

HKK 040/46

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

0 1 NOV 1984

UÊS OFFICER

INDE

180

PA

RE! RY

Action Taken

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TEST OF ACCEPTABILITY: FORMAT OF REPORT

1.

When we submitted to Mr Luce the report on the public response to the Green Paper on Representative Government to see if he found it a suitable format for the Assessment Office report, he asked "if there were any other precedents or guidelines on reports to Parliament on which we might usefully draw".

2.

In search of such precedents or guidelines, I have made extensive enquiries and spoken to Parliamentary Unit, Research Department, Library and Records Department and several geographical

Dep

rtments. The problem is that the report of the Assessment Office will be a precedent in itself. It is a unique exercise and very difficult to find any sort of a parallel. Parliamentary Unit has commented that the report will be acceptable to Parliament in any form as long as it is legible.

3. I have managed to find only two reports which bear some resemblance to the assessment process in Hong Kong. One is the report of the Commission on Rhodesian Opinion under the Chairmanship of the Rt Hon the Lord Pearce of 1972. Chapters 8, 10 and 11 of this report are the most relevant. The other report is that of the Northern Frontier District Commission which was set up 1962 "to ascertain and report on, public opinion in the Northern Frontier District regarding arrangements to be made for the future of the area in the light of the likely course of constitutional development in Kenya". Chapter VI of this report gives an assessment on a geographical Lots of opinion in the Northern Frontier District.

4.

For your information, I looked at a couple of Royal Commission reports (eg the Roskill Commission report on a third airport for London) and the guidelines for the use of secretaries to Royal Commissions. Unfortunately they were of no use. I considered with Research Department, whether any former dependent territories had sounded out local opinion before moving to independence. This proved to be a deadend since the process of moving to independence is usually one of a gradual extension of self-government through elections. We could discover no exceptions. I also wondered whether opinion had been sought in Bermuda on the question of independence. Although a Green and White Paper were produced by the Government of Bermuda some years ago, it does not contain an

ssment of

of the views of the Local people.

ass

The report of the independent team of monitors

5.

I have also sought to find precedents for the report of the

CODE 18-77

CONFIDENTIAL