TNAG-2091-FCO40-2977-Royal-Hong-Kong-Police-Force-1990 — Page 62

· ROYAL: HONG KONG (POLICE •

Dear Foreign Secretary,

CONFIDENTIAL

Mc Struc

SUPERINTENDENTS' ASSOCIATION

OF THE

ROYAL HONG KONG POLICE FORCE POLICE HEADQUARTERS

PL Cordinate

a suitable toply

ARSENAL STREET

HONG KONG

13 January 1990

√241.

due

The four Police staff

staff associations have only been allotted three places at your meeting on Monday, 15 January and through democratic process, therefore, the Superintendents' Association will not be represented. As such, I am writing to you instead.

are

The Superintendents' Association (SPA) comprises some 550 members of Superintendent, Senior Superintendent and Chief Superintendent rank. Membership is open to both 'local' and 'expatriate' officers, to use the terms of the day. Officers of the rank of Assistant Commissioner (the next rank up), and higher, may join as associate members, and a proportion have done so.

In common with the other three Police associations, the SPA is not a trade union. Indeed, uniquely, in

of Hong Kong, officers the Royal Hong Kong Police (RHKP) prohibited by law

law from joining trade unions and, for that matter, taking any form of industrial action in support of employment-related objectives.

As Government's 'agency of last resort' these restrictions are perfectly understandable and accepted, without question, by all Police officers. I make these points, however, to show that, again uniquely, the Police Force has to depend on Government goodwill for improvements to matters such as terms and conditions of service. If requests for such are rejected, there is

no other recourse.

I imagine your primary objective in meeting representatives of the public sector is to gain an impression of matters of major concern to them, in the context of the future stability and effectiveness of the public service. You will, doubt less, already be well informed, through discussions with Mr Maude and with senior official and unofficial figures

figures in Hong

in Hong Kong. What I will, therefore, content myself with, in the hope that it will be of some value to you, is a short synopsis of these issues, from the Police perspective. I appreciate that many are specifically covered in the Joint Declaration.

I will not allude to matters which are the responsibility of the Hong Kong Government.

Security and Value of Pensions

There is

is still concern that the payment of pensions after 1997 is at risk. There is a continuing call that these be underwritten by Her Majesty's Government (HMG), in the event of default. There should be

а mechanism whereby such pensions are protected from currency fluctuations.

CONFIDENTIAL