BACKGROUND NOTE
1. We believe, although it is unclear from the question, that Mr Stanbrook is refering to the fact that HMG has taken
over the payment of pensions for most former colonies and is
suggesting we should do the same for Hong Kong. A note on why this happened is below. There is no need for this measure in the case of Hong Kong certainly at present. Hong Kong Government can well afford to pay its pensions.
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Detail
2.
Expatriate officers serving in our former colonies were
employed by the local government and not HMG. Their
salaries were paid from local revenues. At independence responsibility for pensions passed to the incoming
government.
3.
By the early 1960s it had become clear that some
countries could not afford to pay pension increases in line
with those paid to public servants in the UK. Because of
the special obligation HMG recognised for expatriate officers who had been recruited to overseas service under
the auspices of the Secretary of State, these pensioners were included in the provisions of the UK Pension Increase Acts. They receive a supplementary pension to top up any overseas pensions increased to UK levels. Expatriate Hong Kong civil service pensioners are already covered by these
arrangements.
4. Many of the newly independent countries found it increasingly difficult to meet their pension obligations. Therefore in 1970, as an Aid initiative, the British
Government offered to relieve them of some of their pension burden by taking over responsibility for certain expatriate pensions. This exercise was not completed until the early
1980s.
ROFALR/1
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