Hong Kong (Overseas Public Servants) Bill (Hansard, 18 December 1995)

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Jeremy Hanley)
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
I explained at Second Reading that the Bill was an enabling measure that will allow the Government to offer a package of benefits to certain overseas Hong Kong officers. In particular, we propose to put in place schemes, by Order in Council, to pay officers compensation for loss of their career prospects, and to provide Hong Kong overseas pensioners with a measure of protection for the sterling value of their pensions. Officers would be allowed to retire prematurely before 30 June 1997 and be entitled to resettlement help.
I am grateful to hon. Members who served on the Standing Committee that examined the Bill. All hon. Members who spoke recognised the contribution that Hong Kong overseas officers have made to Hong Kong's success, and that they should receive benefits similar to those provided to their predecessors in 42 former British dependent territories. It is gratifying that no hon. Member questioned the Bill's object and I am especially grateful for the serious and responsible speeches made by the hon. Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett), and for the detailed study of the matter by the hon. Member for Wrexham (Dr. Marek), who kindly notified us that he was monitoring elections elsewhere, but that he had no questions to raise.
The Bill passed through Committee unamended and I do not have any Government amendments to propose. I did, however, give a ministerial undertaking in Committee to provide the House with two reports, which would set out the sort of resettlement provided to officers who decided to retire prematurely and the expenditure on the various schemes. They would also provide an assessment of the impact of early retirements on the Hong Kong civil service. The first report will be presented to the House before 1 January 1997, and a second before 30 June 1997.
I commend the Bill to the House.

§ Mr. Derek Fatchett (Leeds, Central)
Throughout the deliberations on this proposed legislation, the Labour party has backed the Government's position and its reasons have always been clear. First, the Bill ends the uncertainty faced by members of the overseas civil service. There has been a protracted negotiation period and I think that all the civil servants are delighted that that process has been completed and that the Bill is before us. Secondly, the Minister rightly says that the scheme is in line with 42 other schemes, which is why we also support the proposal, although conditions and circumstances in Hong Kong differ from those in the other 42 cases. Clearly, it is correct that the treatment of overseas civil servants in Hong Kong should be similar to that of civil servants in all the other cases. Thirdly, the Bill gave us an opportunity to give our thanks to the 1251 overseas civil servants who have worked in Hong Kong over many years, and who have helped to make a substantial contribution.
Like the Minister, I welcome the way in which the Committee dealt with the issues. As the Minister said, my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Dr. Marek) is not able to be with us today. He is monitoring elections in a much warmer climate and I am sure that he is doing that job with his usual commitment to detail. It was because of him that we had much more detailed information about how the pension scheme would work and the sterling guarantee. On behalf of all Committee members, I thank him for that.
I thank the Minister for his concession, if I may use that word, to us in Committee and for his promise this evening to make two reports available in the run-up to 1997. That will be welcomed by all hon. Members because it will give us the opportunity to continue to monitor the scheme and how it works.
I put on record the fact that we had a good debate in Committee about the nature of the sterling guarantee. I think that all of us recognised that there were anxieties about that. The hon. and learned Member for Fife, North-East (Mr. Campbell) and my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham voted for an amendment that tried to change the nature of the sterling guarantee, but I was much more minded—I think this is the Labour party's official view—by the argument that these discussions had been going on for some time, that there had been a negotiation process and that the people directly involved in those negotiations were happy with the proposals that had been made. They did not view them necessarily as ideal, but negotiations are always of that description and Ian Strachan, on behalf of the overseas civil servants, has made it clear that that was the best offer in town and that it was one that they were prepared to accept.
It is important to stress again that the guarantee is based on a pessimistic scenario, that it is in all our interests—not only all the political parties represented in the House but the people living and working in Hong Kong—that that scenario is never realised in practice and that we need to take a much more optimistic view of the way in which the system works.
I join the Minister in the words that he uttered at the end of his short speech: I put on record again our thanks to the people who have worked in the overseas civil service and to those who have worked for the Hong Kong Government. The success of Hong Kong, economically and politically, has depended greatly on the integrity and competence of those who have worked for the Hong Kong civil service. It is not without surprise that one hears time and again the comment that the rule of law, economic success and the civil service go hand in glove in Hong Kong. The Bill has given all hon. Members an opportunity to put on record our gratitude and our thanks, and the fact that we have a civilised rule of law that has operated so effectively in Hong Kong. One hopes that it will continue to operate so effectively after 1997.
We wish all those overseas civil servants well. There is an expression in terms of Hong Kong about the through train. I notice the anxiety on the Government ministerial Bench that the through train may not be working as effectively at the moment in terms of parliamentary 1252 business, but I will come to a stop as we have moved from rail privatisation to the next issue. I am sure that other hon. Members will have an opportunity to speak before the franchisee passes on the baton to whatever Minister will reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Mr. Hoon). It would be a tremendous success for my hon. Friend if, in his maiden Front-Bench speech, he could not even persuade any Minister to have the courage to come to argue against him. I congratulate him on that.
We have supported this measure throughout. We gave a promise that we would not delay it. We have not done so and we welcome its implementation.

§ Mr. Menzies Campbell (Fife, North-East)
I apologise to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and to the Front-Bench spokesmen for not being present when the debate commenced. I was at another meeting from which I found it difficult to tear myself away.
As the hon. Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett), who spoke on behalf of the official Opposition, said, we had a most interesting and illuminating debate in Standing Committee, which was characterised by a genuine desire on the part of all the hon. Members who took part to arrive at the best possible decisions, in the interests of the people in whose interests the Bill has been conceived.
The stability and the dignity of the handover, which is to take place on 1 July 1997, will undoubtedly be enhanced by the quality of the civil servants and of the civil service which has characterised the administration of Hong Kong for such a long time. It is therefore right that those who have played such a prominent part in that administration should, so far as is possible, have their interests protected and preserved.
I am sorry that the hon. Member for Wrexham (Dr. Marek) and I were not able to persuade the Minister or any other member of the Committee of the virtues of the amendment that he moved and I supported. During the debate on that amendment, however, all Committee members recognised the need to ensure that the interests of those for whom the Bill has been conceived will be properly preserved, not only for now but in the future.
There is no doubt that these are complicated times in Hong Kong—if I may put it that way—as the date of the handover approaches, but there is little doubt that the Bill is a proper recognition of the contribution that so many people have made to the stability of the colony.
I am happy that the Bill should proceed unopposed and that it should receive Royal Assent as soon as practicably possible.

§ Mr. Hanley
With the leave of the House. I am grateful to the hon. and learned Member for Fife, North-East (Mr. Campbell) for his remarks and for pointing out that we had a vote in Committee. I know, however, that, the vote having been taken, the issue is now regarded as having been satisfactorily dealt with by the hon. Member for Wrexham (Dr. Marek) and, I believe, by the hon. and learned Member for Fife, North-East. It is good that the House should hear that. I am also grateful to the hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett) for the way in which the Bill passed its Committee stage. 1253 As the Member for Leeds, Central said, the Bill has been examined in very fine detail. It now goes to the other place and, as the hon. Gentleman said, I hope that it will come back to this House unscathed and as quickly as possible, because the people for whom we are providing are the people whose contributions to Hong Kong have helped to make it such a flourishing place.
Hong Kong will continue to flourish, and it will be a great success story, up to transition and beyond. The Chinese believe that, we believe it, the world believes it, and Hong Kong also believes it—Hong Kong believes in itself. With the Bill we can reward those who have helped to make Hong Kong such a special place.