2
4(i). Para 3(b): One of the points that James Morgan, former Assistant Under Secretary in this Office, made to Sir Leslie Monson when the Dependent Territories Division was set up in the early 1970s was that the Desk Officer in the Colonial Office stayed on one schedule for a long time. He and his supporting staff therefore built up a close relationship with the Dependent Territory with which he was concerned. The Desk Officer nowadays moves off overseas for a relatively short period. Whilst they are able officers their frequent movement cannot but help to give Dependent Territories a feeling of unease unless they have had the opportunity to gain DT's experience by a secondment at some time.
4(ii). If we are to build up a cadre of DS Officers with experience in Dependent Territories sevice both in a DT and in a Division must be recognised as part of a normal DS career. I get the impression that the Dependent Territories Division is thought of as a "4th Division".
5. Para 4: I am not sure that paragraph 4 really explains the position. I agree that generally the Hong Kong Flyers are reluctant to be seconded away because they fear they will lose their place on the promotion ladder. However there are some very good officers with experience elsewhere in Hong Kong who at some stage in their career are likely to stand still for sometime whilst they wait for "dead men's" shoes. Certainly promotion from Staff Grade B to Staff Grade A is slow. It is at this stage that a breath of fresh air elsewhere might be considered. The high salaries of Hong Kong are a deterrant but we have already had two Senior Officers who have accepted secondment out of Hong Kong on the local salary, but with retention of the Hong Kong pensionable base, and I see no reason why we should not get the occasional officer out of Hong Kong again on similar terms. Inotherwords if the best available officer is in Hong Kong and he is willing to go he should be selected and we should overcome the terms of service problems. Hong Kong has already agreed that they would be willing to release officers on secondment for three years and continue to consider them for promotion in the normal way.
6. Para 9: I do not think that the job contained for the post of Governor in a small Dependent Territory (eg Caribbean Islands etc) has changed. The Governor will not be engaged to a larger extent on International negotiations etc. Because more of the internal Administration will be in the hands of the local Administration the Governor will have to involve himself even more in the local management of the territory. This is something that DS Officers will have to involve themselves in (eg lobbying before an Executive Council paper is presented or Legislative Council meets), and I see no reason why they should not be good at it.
26 May 1977
E. Gregory
C J Hall
Hong Kong and General Department K273B
233-8768