(a) the Hong Kong Government apparently refuses to introduce a general compensation scheme;
(b) the Hong Kong Government apparently refuses to contemplate providing a right to retirement on or after the equivalent of the appointed day with immediate pension;
(c) it is understood that such compensation as the British Government proposes to make out of British funds are not defensible on an actuarial basis. Even on the calculations made, compensation, as distinct from payments made as an inducement for further service is limited to one fifth of the sum produced by the tables. Even were the payments subsequent to the first made without any obligation to serve for any further period (and as far as I can discover only in the Western Pacific was such a provision made and there the relevant period was all before the attainment of independence), eight instalment is two more than the usual practice; (c) the British Govenment makes no provision for retirement with immediate pension;
(d) no account is taken of salary changes after the introduction of the scheme;
(e) no specific arrangements appear to be made about the place of payment of pensions, though this may be of no significance in view of the provisions
in the Joint Declaration for the free
movement of capital and the absence of
exchange control;
(f) no arrangements have been made with the
Chinese authorities to guarantee the value of pensions, or, failing such arrangements,
for
a United Kingdom guarantee. Additionally, decolonisation means that there are no longer more than a handful of posts in other territories to which members of HMOCS could be transferred, so that prospects of re-employment in those territories is almost meaningless; and, although HMG apparently makes some arrangement for notifying HMOCS officers of employment opportunities, ODA's re-employment bureau, which was established following the 1961 White Paper, has long since closed down.
9. The British Government is, of course, entitled to change its policy, which in this context means depart from
годують
as yet
น.
provisions are
continplated to
meaning 15
the conditions and principles set out in the White Papers. § 3 (4)
The disarray in the Government's handling of the issue and the nature of the present proposals for a scheme manifest its attempts to do so, and against that background, the statement by the FCO/ODA team in Hong Kong that the present proposals were for a scheme different from those that went before was a necessary precaution for the future. But, in the event of challenge either in Parliament or in an attempt to obtain judicial review, it is necessary to explore the validity of the reasons for such a change. In particular, do the arguments for the present proposals hold
up?
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