Explanatory note

The 1996 Order provides for the making of certain supplementary payments to overseas public servants and their dependants if their income from Hong Kong service or dependants' pensions is reduced as a consequence of a significant fall in the exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar and the pound sterling. This Order amends the 1996 Order to include among the officers to whom it applies, certain pensionable officers in the service of Hong Kong who, though not members of Her Majesty’s Overseas Civil Service, were appointed on expatriate terms. The officers in this group are currently eligible for supplementation of their pensions under the Supplementary Pension for Overseas Service scheme under the Pensions (Increase) Act. The amendment will also have the effect of extending the principal Order to the dependants of such officers if they are entitled to a dependant’s pension.

The Order also brings the formula for calculating a widow’s entitlement under the principal Order into line with the relevant Hong Kong law.