TNAG-2234-FCO40-3207-FCO-sponsored-visits-from-Hong-Kong-to-the-UK-1991 — Page 78

SPONSORED VISITS 1991-92: GUIDANCE NOTES

1.

The guidance for sponsored visits as set

in DSP 62.3 remains broadly accurate (though in the process of revision) as do the notes issued in December 1988 which should be drawn to the attention of all DS and locally-engaged officers dealing with official visits.

AIR FARES

2. Personnel Services Department have instructed that all Category I air tickets should be booked through the Thomas Cook Travel Centre in London. An authority to issue the ticket or to make subsequent alterations can be sent by them to the local airline office. Exceptions can only be made when it is substantially cheaper to purchase a ticket locally. All requests for Cat I visits should therefore include the sterling equivalent of the local fare; we will then let you know where the ticket will be issued.

THEME TOURS

3. We have for many years been arranging programmes for specific groups visiting Britain under various scholarships and training schemes. These include the Commonwealth Relations Trust Bursars, the Harry Brittain Fellows and students at the Thomson Foundation, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford and Wolfson College, Cambridge. Copies of programmes and reports are sent to the relevant posts. Although posts do not participate in the selection of candidates for these programmes, we respect the various selection processes and most of the participants fall within the category of "influential people of long term value". Posts should therefore regard them as an information resource to be followed-up and monitored in the same way as normal visitors.

CATEGORY III VISITORS

4.

our

Category III visitors consume the same amount of organisational time and interlocutors' goodwill as those who visit Britain as guests, so such visits should always be justified against objectives and stand on their own merits. The Category V option is particularly suitable for independent visitors who may not be able to carry out a proper professional programme.

ACCOMPANYING DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OFFICERS

5.

Generally speaking, we cannot pay fares or expenses for officers from posts to accompany visitors. The only exceptions are when an officer is acting as interpreter or carrying out the whole range of escorting duties; in such cases, authority must be obtained from OVIS well in advance.