TNAG-1361-FCO40-1807-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1985 — Page 244

Sir,

Speech by the Hon. Sir Philip Haddon-Cave, K.B.E., C.M.G., J.P., Chief Secretary, in the Legislative Council on 6 February 1985

I

move

that

Provisions) (Customs

second time.

the

Pensions

(Special

Officers) Bill 1985 be read the

2

Regulation 3 of the Widows and Orphans Pension (Application) Regulations exempts 'rank and file'

officers in the basic recruitment ranks of the disciplined services from contributing to the Widows and Orphans Pension Scheme. When the former Preventive

Service was re-structured in 1977, a number of officers who were contributors to the Widows and Orphans Pension Scheme were regraded into the new basic recruitment rank of Customs Officer. They should then have been given an option to cease contributing to the Scheme, but, due to an omission, this was not done. Some of these officers

subsequently became contributors to the Widows and Children's Pensions Scheme, which was introduced on 1 January 1978, to replace

to replace the Widows and Orphans Pension Scheme.

3

The purpose of this Bill is to redress the

omission by offering to the staff affected a retrospective option of ceasing to contribute to the Widows and Orphans Pension Scheme. For those officers who so elect, the Bill provides for refunds of their contributions made under the Widows and Orphans Pension Scheme and also, if they had transferred to the new Widows and Children's

Scheme, their

Pensions

contributions made under the new scheme.

4

adjourned.

Sir, I move that the debate on this motion be