TNAG-2431-FCO40-3533-Hong-Kong-Her-Majesty-s-Overseas-Civil-Service-(HMOCS)-poli-1992 — Page 54

FCS/92/204

CHIEF SECRETARY

for Whitney,

CONFIDENTIAL

Malé

言い

Neck HUK

Ker Kerber, OWA

our Mu

CDA

Mr Kita, ODA Faur filencie PS/ Governor of Hong Kong

Hong Kong: Arrangements for Members of HM Overseas Civil Service

Ith

1. I agreed at our meeting on 16 November to let you have revised proposals having sought the Governor's judgement on what HMOCS officers in Hong Kong could be brought to accept, and his thinking on the right to retirement.

Sterling Safeguard

2. You proposed that the rate for the HMG-funded sterling safeguard be set at HK $26: £1 to take into account average salary and pension differentials between Hong Kong and UK civil servants. In all 42 previous cases no account was ever taken of relative differences in salary and pensions between HMOCS and UK civil servants. In all of these cases HMOCS officers were provided with a safeguard which protected the full value of their pension. Many of them will have enjoyed better pension entitlements than their UK counterparts, but there was never any suggestion that they should be penalised for this.

3. Chris Patten feels strongly that we should not now seek to impose a new principle of strict comparability with salaries and pensions of UK civil servants. He is however prepared to make some allowance for the fact that Hong Kong salaries are higher than in the UK, and is willing to accept our proposal of a safeguard level of 16:1. This rate represents a 35% discount on current exchange rates.

CONFIDENTIAL