TNAG-2658-FCO40-3854-Future-of-Hong-Kong-British-Consulate-General-1992 — Page 104

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CODE 18-77

CONFIDENTIAL

Reference

(£)

Based on new staff levels and reduced waiting areas (from 550m2 to 300m2) the revised SOR shows an overall reduction of 540m2 . This has now been agreed with Consulate, NTCD and MVD. If more space is later required there is flexibility in the SOR, e.g.from some of the residential units to cater for additional Consular, Passport and Immigration/Visa requirements.

Staff Accommodation and Amenities

(g)

(h)

(i)

Suitable staff accommodation is difficult to obtain and rents are extremely high. The BTC confirmed, the Departmental views, that as much staff accommodation as practical should be included in the new building. The Management officer considered that the mix should be Grades 7/8 and Grades 9/10: he also advised that it is the norm in Hong Kong to provide, in an accommodation complex, maids quarters and some amenities (minimum:- swimming pool and

games/fitness room). The revised SOR now includes units of accommodation for 2 x DS7/8, 7 x DS9/10, one maid's quarter for each staff unit plus minimum amenities: these are the maximum that can be fitted into the currently agreed 19,000m2 without any reductions to other Sections.

The Management Officer advised that (1) adequate medical facilities already exist and are likely to continue for the foreseeable future and (ii) a squash court and badminton court, while desirable, are not essential. In these circumstances these amenities, which were previously proposed, have now been excluded from the revised SOR.

If space later becomes available the provision of additional amenities should, in my view, be reconsidered.

British Council

Two useful sessions with the British Council resulted in some additions (Placement room, smoker's room and Corporate Relations Assistant), a redistribution of space and better definitions of the relationship between various sections e.g. Library and Education Counselling Service. the overall space requirements remain approximately the same. Again there is

But

flexibility in the SOR to cater for changes such as a reduction in classroom requirements.

pcas2.446

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