Mr Speaker, in the course of devising this scheme, the Hong Kong
Government have gone to great lengths to ensure that the
opportunity for corrupt practice has been reduced to the absolute
minimum. The Independent Commission Against Corruption, which
has wide ranging powers to prevent and to detect corruption, has
been involved in the planning and will continue to be involved,
through the presence of its Commissioner on the Governor's
Steering Group, to ensure that the system is operated correctly
and fairly.
There are other safeguards too. As a result of discussion in
this House, arrangements will be made for the Steering Group to
advise the Governor on the use of special circumstances points
on the basis of information from which the names of individuals
have been removed.
Sub-committees of the Steering Group will advise on applications
under the Entrepreneurs and Sensitive Services Classes; and the
Governor is required to submit an annual report to the Secretary
of State on the operation of the scheme.
Mr Speaker, as I said at the outset, this is a complex Order
because selecting 50,000 people for British citizenship from a
pool of many tens of thousands who could claim to be "key" to
Hong Kong's future prosperity and stability, is a complex task.
The fact that so many different people from so many walks of life
will be eligible to apply demonstrates that this is not, as some
had earlier feared, a narrow, elitist scheme. It is one based
8
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.