MOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
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CONFIDENTIAT.
possibility of establishing a department of
this kinä.
La
Coinciding with these developments, the
Diplomatic Service Inspectorate made a thorough
inspection in 1970 of the four departments in
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office dealing
with dependent territories, and as a result
made various suggestions for improving the
staffing. Some of these have already been
put into effect; the rest are in hand.
5. Given the reviews that are already in
hand it is not necessary to employ any outside
body to advise on the situation. The
Diplomatic Service and the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office have been the object of
so many mergers and reviews in the past few
years that what is needed is a little time
for consolidation and for the departments
themselves to work out the best practical
arrangements.
The nature of the problem and
the emphasis to be placed on any area have
been changing rapidly in the past few years,
but the pattern is now beginning to settle.
6. We do not wish to enter into any
commitment about the extent to which Diplomatic
Service officers can or should take up
administrative posts in the dependent
territories. There are complex structural
and operational problems involved. There are
basic differences between the machinery for
the administration of the Diplomatic Service
and of Administrative Officers serving on
whatever terms under the governments of
dependencies. The former are members 02 a
single service administered centrally under a
/common
CONFIDENTIAL