Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
HKB 431/4
C5 DEC 1990
London SW1 2AH
From The Minister of State
29 November 1990
Dea Keith,
Thank you for your letter of 7 November enclosing one from your constituent, Mrs Mansell, about Hong Kong HMOCS pensioners.
Mrs Mansell refers to the Supplementary Pensions for Overseas Service (SPOS). The purpose of SPOS is to top up the sterling value of the locally awarded increases paid to former Colonial Civil Servants to the same level as the increases paid on an equivalent UK public service pension. It is not designed to provide a safeguard against fluctuations in the sterling value of the basic pension as a result of exchange rate movements.
Mrs Mansell asks for an explanation of the statement made by my predecessor, Mr Francis Maude, that "most Hong Kong pensioners continue to do reasonably well, certainly in comparison with their UK public service counterparts".
Firstly Hong Kong pensions accrue at a faster rate than UK pensions: a Hong Kong Civil Servant (including HMOCs members) can achieve full pension benefits after 33 years' service, whereas it takes their UK counterparts 40 years. Secondly, the Hong Kong Government has for many years awarded larger pensions increases than those awarded by HMG. Thirdly, at the middle ranking and the more senior levels, which is where HMOCS members tend to serve, Hong Kong salaries have for many years been higher than those in the UK. Their pensions naturally reflect this.
Keith Speed Esq RD MP
House of Commons
LONDON
SW1A OAA
/I appreciate
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