TNAG-1444-FCO40-1928-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 49

i

8.

The final item on the agenda

agenda for the Council's

This provides

an

meetings will be "Any Other Business".

opportunity for Members to raise matters requiring urgent

attention, or to discuss other matters of exceptional

importance which may have arisen since the agenda was issued.

In recent years there has been a steady increase in

This

the range and importance of issues put to

of issues put to the Council. In

the first six months of 1986 the Council met for over 100

hours and considered over 420 different items.

compares with 1980 when in twelve months the Council met for

103 hours and dealt with only 524 items.

The Council and the future of Hong Kong

In the autumn of 1982 the Executive Council

shouldered the important new responsibility of providing the

Governor and the British Government with advice on the

negotiations on the future of Hong Kong. Arguably this was

the most difficult and demanding task ever to be laid on the

Executive Council since, by agreement with the Chinese

Government, the negotiations were conducted in secrecy.

Members of the Executive Council had therefore to remain

closely in touch with the mood of the public, to provide

leadership and reassurance, and to suffer prolonged exposure

to the media. At the same time they advised the Governor

and Ministers in the United Kingdom who had ultimate

responsibility for the negotiations, not only on the

strategy for the negotiations but on the detailed tactics./

The satisfactory outcome of the negotiations is in no small

measure due to the contribution of the Executive Council.