TNAG-2190-FCO40-3127-Hong-Kong-nationality-package-1990 — Page 108

CONFIDENTIAL

at this stage.

c)

(i) British links Up to 50 points (out of a maximum of 800) will be available for British links. They can be earned for a wide variety of connections with Britain but the most important will be long term employment with a British organisation. Up to 30 points will be available for this. Some might argue that the weighting should be heavier, but it would be difficult to give more points for employment with a British organisation than for employment with the Hong Kong Government, and any significant increase for employment with HKG would jeopardise the desired ratio between the public and private sectors.

(ii) Knowledge of English Given that the purpose of the scheme is to keep key people in Hong Kong, rather than have them come to the UK, it seems

seems right that knowledge of English should be reflected in points awarded, rather than that anyone should be absolutely disqualified by a lack of it. In practice, in the professional groups knowledge of English is likely to be virtually universal; while in the occupational groups where it is not, the proposed 50 points available will

will be very important in sorting out the successful from the large mass of otherwise equally qualified candidates.

(iii) Special circumstances Page 5 at the back of Annex B sets out the proposals for the allocation of special circumstance points. Although some of the 150 points under this heading will be used to recognise outstanding individual merit, others will provide the primary mechanism for resolving 'bunching' around the pass mark. Such points will be allocated

allocated according to

to the directions of the Steering Group acting in support of the Governor, and may be adjusted by the Steering Group after they have examined a computer 'profile' of the results. They might, for example, decide that in a particular category, more (or fewer) points should be awarded for

for qualifications or experience, or for particular age groups. This mechanism will be important in ensuring that the points scheme can produce the desired number of successful candidates.

Major employers

11. In the context of the General Allocation Scheme, Ministers may wish to consider specifically the position of the very small number of top people in the private sector who, by virtue of the economic clout they command and the number of people they employ, are central to the economy and to confidence in the territory. The points system is deliberately designed to focus on those in the 30-40 age group who are emigrating in significant numbers and who are important to the future of Hong Kong, and it penalises those who are closer to (or past) the normal retirement age. The

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