7
2600224
C.S. 84
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XCR(69)221
It is not the intention to argue a case for particular grades of staff in this paper. These matters will be examined by Establishment and Finance Branches and submitted to the Finance Committee in the usual manner. (For information of Honourable Members, however, the Annex outlines the approximate scale of staffing. A rough costing indicates that the annual cost of this establishment will be around $827,000 against the present $573, 000). As a general rule, it is proposed that the staff for the re-organised Office other than clerical or junior staff not required to have a personal knowledge of Hong Kong, should be seconded from Hong Kong.
Recommendation 7: That the detailed staffing requirements be scrutinised by Establishment and Finance Branches and proposals submitted to the Establishment Sub-committee of the Finance Committee.
(h) Administration arrangements
22
With the recommendation to make the London Office a branch of the Colonial Secretariat it follows that the block financial provision under the Commerce and Industry Department is inappro- priate and accordingly a new head of expenditure will have to be included in the Estimates under the heading of 'Colonial Secretariat and Legislature London Office'. The provision of specific posts and other charges can then be controlled in the normal way. British rates of pay, where appropriate, would continue to apply and salary changes made by HMG would be automatically applied.
Recommendation 8: That, subject to the approval of the Finance Committee, a new head of expenditure for the new reorganised London Office be created to facilitate administration and control of expenditure..
(i) Accommodation
23
The reorganisation of the various agencies into a single multi-purpose organisation may make it desirable for administrative convenience to concentrate at least three of the Sections (Commerce, Information and Administration) into one office building. Furthermore it can also be claimed that there would be advantages in having the Trade Development Office in the same building. Trade promotion activities are normally undertaken abroad by all-purpose Government offices and the Hong Kong practice of entrusting this information to a non-Government office is an exception. As a result, it seems very likely that interested parties may visit the Hong Kong Government Office when in fact their business lies with the Trade Development Office and vice versa, The juxta-positioning of the offices would thus be convenient for the public and also ensure the closest possible liaison between the three agencies dealing with Hong Kong's trade in Britain.
24
The Students' Office is at present located in Victoria Street and the Chinese Liaison Office is in the same building. Some expansion of both offices is likely. Whether these offices need to be included in the building in the office complex envisaged in paragraph 23
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