FROM HONG KONG UNIT, B2 DIV,
05,18,1992 15:22
NO.18
P. 4
environment. I suspect that this is mainly a problem with the head of team, but my view is that six months is probably about right for most people. Speaking personally I would be more than happy to stay on in Hong Kong for a further stint, but it can be hard to sustain interest in the work and there are obvious domestic pressures associated with being away from home for a lengthy period (especially when overseas service is not part of the usual job expectation).
7. The computer system is now working well
well and should be sufficient for the first tranche. After some trial and error the kind of data produced meets our needs as well as those of the Hong Kong government; we have concentrated on developing a data base that meets the management and information requirements of both sides, not least because it would not have been a sensible use of resources to work on parallel lines. I am afraid that in doing so we incurred the wrath of B4, but given our location it simply would not have been practical to go through the usual bureaucratic channels with all the delays and problems that would have ensued. The system is mercifully straightforward - to the extent that even I can perform some of the basic functions- but it would be prudent to ensure that every team has at least one person who has some IT skills.
8. The financial arrangements are still not working as smoothly as I would wish and it would be helpful if B2 Division could at some stage review the co-ordination between Pay Group, B5 FMU and the Hong Kong Government Office. There are continuing delays in submitting bills for payment and some aspects like reclaiming the cost of B2's administrative expenditure on the nationality scheme to have been lost altogether. I cannot judge at
at this distance where the difficulties actually lie, but I know that the Hong Kong government has funds which were earmarked for the Home office and which have never yet been called upon.
9. Finally, consideration is already being given here to the timing and arrangements for the second tranche. The Secretary for Security has suggested that the review of the first round should start this summer, although I gather that his observation was more of a throwaway remark than a formal proposition. I have given my personal view to the Security Branch that the review should not commence until early 1993 because there are still many administrative and presentational lessons to be learned from the first tranche; we will want to see, for example, what reaction there is to the 28,000 rejection letters currently being sent out and what percentage of quotas are finally filled. We have also yet to deal with many of the more difficult cases where there may be doubts about personal acceptability or qualification on residence grounds. In addition, it seems very unwise to me to anticipate the political situation in 1994; it would only take one ostensibly threatening remark by China to cause widespread alarm in Hong Kong and the volatility of the situation argues strongly in my opinion for keeping the options open to almost the
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