The Housing Authority has approved a voluntary exit scheme for about 650 surplus staff arising from the divestment of its retail and car-park facilities.

The scheme's benefits and eligibility rules are the same as those offered last year under the Second Voluntary Retirement Scheme for selected civil services grades.

There will not be any forced redundancy of surplus staff and it will be up to individual staff to decide whether to join the scheme, the authority stressed.

The Housing Department will exhaust every possible opportunity to gainfully re-deploy those who choose to remain in the civil service on other duties.

The benefit package includes a lump-sum ex-gratia payment plus immediate payment of pension benefits. Officers with more than five years' active service prior to normal retirement will be eligible for the scheme.

The surplus civil service posts are mainly responsible for managing or maintaining the authority's retail properties of about 1 million square metres and 100,000 car-parking spaces covered by the divestment plans.

The Government will bear the cost of the commuted pension and monthly pension of the staff concerned while the authority will be responsible for the ex-gratia lump-sum payment.