TNAG-1668-FCO40-2317-Future-of-Hong-Kong-continuity-of-administration-civil-serv-1987 — Page 130

CODE 18-77

AWO Ltd. 7/84

MANAGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE

Reference.....

233/2

Mr Thomas HK

WH 312

FORFEITURE OF PENSION BENEFITS

1.

R+R to Mr both

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With

12

Letter from Sherly with

an

You asked for advice on how to reply to an enquiry from the Hong Kong Government about the circumstances under which UK civil servants would forfeit their pensions.

2.

I attach a copy of rule 8 of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme which lays down the conditions whereby the Treasury have the power to withhold pension benefits.

3. As far as I am aware there has only been one case in the last 10 years where we have had to approach the Treasury about forfeiting a pension under this rule. The case in point being one of serious fraud (theft of over £300,000) which had attracted extensive publicity.

4. The Treasury, in considering our request replied that "there are no standard rules nor any accumulation of precedents for determining cases. Each which may be thought to approach the extreme circumstances for which this power provides needs to be considered on its merits. The modern powers of pension fortfeiture are wholly exceptional". They concluded that the "offences do not seem to have involved gross abuse of the special trust the public place in the Civil Service", and also that they were "generally unwilling to use forteiture in the cases of relatively junior staff." The Treasury mentioned that in only one instance a case of corruption a proportion of pension benefits withheld. Clearly corruption would be

judged more harshly in terms of 'public confidence' (see Rule 8 of the

PCSPS) than large scale theft.

5.

were

I hope this provides you with enough information to reply to the questions raised by the Hong Kong Government Secretariat.

25 February 1987

I M Birks

Personnel Services Department

MANAGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE

CT