TNAG-2396-FCO40-3483-Hong-Kong-Civil-Service-policy-1992 — Page 233

CODE 18-77

AH405 AH417

Mrs Johnson: Mr Power:

Reference.

735/147/001A

FROM:

A McSkimming

DATE:

March 1987

کے

copy sent with recent cares.

I refer to the attached letter from the Hong Kong Government Secretariat which has been forwarded to us by Clinton Leeks of Hong Kong Dept at the Diplomatic Wing. The Government Secretariat have asked if certain UK laws are still applicable to Hong Kong and if so, whether they need to be incorporated into the Hong Kong laws. The UK laws concerned are:-

The Pensions (Colonial Service) Act 1887

The Superannuation Act 1892

The Superannuation Act 1965

2. The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) includes a clause (clause 2.29: "Service Overseas") which provides for service in certain places overseas (including Hong Kong) to reckon under certain conditions for PCSPS purposes at one and a half times its normal length, if given before 1 June 1972, or if given after that date, but as part of a tour of duty which began before 1 June 1972. The three UK laws mentioned by the Hong Kong Government Secretariat all contain clauses dealing with the application of the UK Superannuation Acts to the Colonial Service, and as such they are the precursors of clause 2.29 of the PCSPS.

3. Both the Pensions (Colonial Service) Act 1887. and the Superannuation Act 1892 were repealed in their entirety by the Superannuation (Amendment) Act 1965. Sections 1 to 3 dealing with "Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service", and sections 6 and 7 dealing with "Employment in More Than One Public Office" are the relevant ones. These sections, along with the majority of the other sections of the (Amendment) Act, were repealed by the Superannuation Act 1965. Many of the Sections of the 1965 Act were subsequently repealed by the 1972 Superannuation Act, however some, including sections 38 and 39 ("Employment in more than one Public Office"), remained in force. It is under the auspices of these Sections that Clause 2.29 of the PCSPS operates.

I am not sure why the Government Secretariat has identified these particular Acts.

They are UK legislation and as such will only affect an officer's UK Superannuation benefits; they will not affect an officers Hong Kong pension in any way. The Acts are not mentioned in either the Pensions Ordinance, the Pensions Regulations nor any of the other Hong Kong legislation that we have a copy of in our Law Folders.

5. I therefore suggest that we write to Keith Shipley explaining that both the Pensions (Colonial Service) Act 1887 and the Superannuation Act 1892 have been repealed in their entirety; some sections of the Superannuation Act 1965 have also been repealed, but other Sections remain in force. Since the provisions of the 1965 Act apply to UK superannuation benefits only, they are applied unilaterally by HMG and do not require incorporation into the Hong Kong laws.

A. Mkimmers

A McSkimming