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been other channels and no doubt there always will be. Many people are now bringing their problems to the C.D.O.s and the most useful way we can draw conclusions about why they do so will be by statistical analysis.
68.
The Public Enquiry Service is now incorporated into the C.D.O. scheme and P.E.S. centres as such remain only in the Central Government Offices and in Mong Kok. The wan Chai office and the temporary centres opened during confrontation have closed and the staff have been posted to the C.D.0.s. In the five permanent City District Offices that have been opened the P.E.S. counter is in the shop front. It has not been easy to train all the staff required for these counters and we are constantly faced with leave and sickness problems. Reception is most important and we hope to train additional staff in this work so that they can step in when the regular P.E.S. staff is away and also to give P.E.S. staff a chance to try their hand at liaison work. A review of the integration of the P.E.S. into the C.D.0. scheme is nearly completed. In February the P.E.S. Headquarters will move into International
Building with the rest of departmental headquarters.
69.
Apart from their authority to witness statutory declarations, C.D.O.s have no statutory powers to deal with personal cases.
Their power
rests on the status of the office and the
reputation of the staff. At first a good many cranks arrived. Another numerous class was people who expected us to handle complaints of corruption or deal with reports of gambling. We cannot deal with crime, as people well know, and the reason often given for coming to C.D.O.s
/was