MANAGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE b. I can remain on the books of Cabinet Office andbe seconded to the FCO for the duration. c. I can resign from the service and after aminimal break (say one day) I can be re-employedby the FCO in my present rank until the end ofthe year. Solutions b. and c. have the merit that the terms and conditionsof my service would be clear, unambiguous and familiar to everyone.They represent, if you like, the tidy bureaucratic solutions. Onthe other hand both present problems in respect of Diamond - b.more than c. - and I would expect Robert Armstrong to wish toconsult the Prime Minister further before adopting either of them.This would not be an absolute barrier to either course but amatter of common prudence given the present activities of theSelect Committee and the fact that we would, I think be breakingnew ground. Solution a. avoids these problems but requires us to devise, andagree upon, a contract. Time passes and it is for this reason thatI suggested in my letter of 10 August that we should now seekto establish what terms of such a contract might be. I am no expert in these matters but it seems to me that the minimumrequirements of such a contract, from my point of view, would be: a. Cover against sickness, accident, death etc on allfours with what I would receive were I to continue asa serving civil servant. b. Allowances - subsistence, clothing, entertainmentetc etc - on the same basis. c. A daily fee, negotiable, but essentially based onthe cost to the government employing me had I remainedin its full-time service. The essential elements in such a calculation are I think: i. Current annual salary - £40,685 pa risingto £42,000 on 1 November 1984. ii. Effective working days in a standard year- on my calculation 223. iii. Uplift for pension - the Government Actuary'scurrent assessment of the value of civil servicepensions is I believe 24 per cent of pay. N MANAGEMENT IN CONFIDENCE
