TNAG-2099-FCO40-2988-HM-Overseas-Civil-Service-(HMOCS)-policy-matters-1990 — Page 36

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gratuities.

staff

It follows that it is misleading to suggest that HMOCS staying for nine years will do as well as they would under a traditional scheme.

7.

We can discuss the detailed text of a submission when we have the views from Hong Kong.

I doubt whether we would wish to repeat some of Mr Fifoot's comments without additional commentary. For example the spectre of "serious" parliamentary repercussions would seem to be remote given that we could demonstrate that HMOCS will be doing very well indeed in relation to what UK public servants receive. However we decide to deal with Mr Fifoot's points, I think the submission should give examples of current Hong Kong salaries and the amounts HMOCS staff can expect to receive through the incentive package.

8. I suspect that we would be more likely to face criticism for introducing a divisive measure into what is a unified service. We might seek advice from the Governor about the likelihood of local staff who benefit from the nationality package seeking similar treatment to their fellow "British" colleagues.

9. Finally, I wonder whether we ought not to remind Ministers that our package only stands up as long as the Joint Declaration (JD) continues to be a credible guarantee. This may seem rather obvious, but if it became clear that the prospects for а continuing career with no less favourable terms and conditions of service, was no longer a reality, we would be forced to go back to the drawing board on compensation.

бдин

D S FISH

Overseas Pensions Department 27 April 1990

CODE 18-77

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