TNAG-2333-FCO40-3394-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Hong-Kong-Court-of-Final-Appeal-Hong-Ko-1991 — Page 61

CONFIDENTIAL

that preparatory

work should continue, to enable this Bill to go

forward in a first Session programme.

Additional Bills for a first Session

7.

Our proposals for additional Bills on which preparatory work is to be undertaken with a view to their possible inclusion in a

first Session programme now include some but not all of those we have deleted from the fifth Session programme. These are listed in Annex C; and Annex D comments on those changes which have been made. Clearly it would be impossible to accommodate all these

Bills as well as the fifth Session list in any

realistic first

Session programme,

this stage.

Drafting

to.

but this approach preserves flexibility at

8. We agreed that we must continue to insist on tight deadlines

for the submission of instructions. For fifth Session candidates

in our original proposals the deadline for the submission of instructions was the end of this month and that must be adhered

For new fifth Session candidates we must insist that

instructions should be submitted by the end of June. The same goes for candidates for preparatory work except where the notes in Annex D indicate that a slower timescale is envisaged. If

these deadlines cannot be met, the place of Bills in the

programme will have to be reconsidered. Within the resources available to Parliamentary Counsel priority will, of necessity, be given to fifth Session Bills.

Parliamentary Handling

9.

We envisage a further review of our proposals in July, to begin to plan a more detailed strategy for introduction and the determination of business management priorities during the Session. In preparing our proposals we have had in mind the need for a satisfactory balance between Commons and Lords starters.

CONFIDENTIAL