CONF.DENTIAL
香港總督府
Des Andrew.
RECEIVED IN
REGISTRY No. 51 S APR 1974
NKK1/14
GOVERNMENT HOUSE HONG KONG
15th. March, 1974.
Post of Acting Colonial
Secretary.
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I would be grateful for your advice about the above. We are concerned to break the tradition here that when a senior officer goes on leave some one is always put in his place, thereby starting a ripple of movement in other posts. Wherever possible, we are endeavouring to establish the principle that leave is absorbed within a Branch or Department, the No. 2 automatically doubling up in the No. 1's absence.
This raises the question of the
Colonial Secretary's post. If the Colonial Secretary himself goes on leave clearly he has to be replaced, because of his many administrative and statutory functions. However, if the Governor is on leave we wonder whether it would be acceptable for the Colonial Secretary to combine his post with that of Acting Governor? Roberts and I both see advantage in this, because after all, the only real difference that the Governor's absence makes to a Colonial Secretary is that he does not need to mark papers up. It is true that he has to assume the burden of responsibility for final decisions, and therefore, in sensitive cases, for the soundings that would be necessary to satisfy himself they would be acceptable. But of course we are not suggesting that the posts should be doubled up if there were a long interregnum, if the Governor took leave during an active period of legislation. As you know he normally takes
A.C. Stuart, Esq.,
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
Londoň. S.W.1.
CONFIDENTIAL