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The first of these, which proposed an increase of one in the staff side membership (i.e. to a total of ten) to facilitate appointment of a staff side secretary was acceptable. At this point Mr. Chung said he wished notice to be taken of a letter he had handed to the Establishment Officer just before the meeting giving his association's separate proposals on the review of the Agreement. Mr. Hodson and Mr. Lai said they too had been given copies of the H.K.C.C.S.A. letter just before the meeting. They said they disassociated them- selves from its contents and regretted that the H.K.C.C.S.A. had seen fit to write such a letter without first discussing its terms with the other members of the staff side - especially as Mr. Chung had signed the joint staff side letter now under discussion. Mr. Clinton said he was most disturbed to note the contents of the H.K.C.C.S.A. letter which, inter alia, suggested the Senior Civil Service Council had been a failure. He pointed out that the Council had served as a most useful forum on both sides for consultation and had made a good start; admittedly there had been some delay in dealing with certain difficult matters but there had been no discord and no deadlock.
44/2.
At Mr. Mok's suggestion the staff side withdrew at 5.15 to consider their position. On their return at 5.30 Mr. Chung said the staff side had decided to consider the H.K.C.C.S.A. letter separately at a future date; in the meantime the Council need only deal with the joint staff side letter of 11th June. Discussion then resumed on the amendments proposed therein, the first of which Mr. Clinton had already indicated was acceptable. Mr. Hodson said the staff side would now arrange for the selection of a secretary and requested that the officer selected should be sufficiently freed from official duties for half a day every day if necessary to allow him or her to cope with staff side matters. Mr. Henderson said this request would be met as far as possible.
443. Mr. Clinton said the staff side's second proposal, that the terms of the Agreement should be reviewed again in one year's time (and thereafter at two-yearly intervals) was also acceptable.
4440
Fir. Clinton said the third amendment, which sought inclusion in the Aims of the Council of the words "That the Aim of this Consultative Agreement and Senior Civil Service Council is to become an embryonic Whitley Council" was not acceptable as its implications (although somewhat vague) were in conflict with the constitutional position of the Government. The staff side noted the official side view and after some
/discussion