STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
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Reference.....
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Already
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Gilbert Islands and is to be replaced by a further DS officer in 1977. A DS 9 is to be seconded as Treasurer, Tristan da Cunha in 1977. Finally a DS 4 is serving in the Falkland Islands as Deputy Governor. There is value in this practice of secondment of DS officers in the range DS 7 to DS 4 continuing and expanding wherever possible.
Appointment of Governors:
Dependent Territories Senior Appointments Board
10. Early in 1970 with the object of ensuring that the Secretary of State obtains the best available advice in making his recommendations to The Queen about Governors' appointments a Board was set up to advise him accordingly about Governorships and, as occasion might arise, about any other senior appointments in the Dependent Territories. The Chairman is the Permanent Secretary of State and senior officials from the Dependent Territories Division of the FCO and from the Ministry of Overseas Development serve on the Board. In addition the membership includes a Minister of State and a retired HMOCS officer who can advise the Board from his own experience of being a Governor.
11.
Meetings of the Board are held about twice a year and the preparation of the necessary papers causes a considerable amount of work.
Legal and Judicial Officers
12. At the request of the Legal Advisers the Staffing Unit in early 1974 took over some of the management of legal and judicial staff in Dependent Territories. Whilst ODM continue to undertake initial recruitment and after care work, the staff unit deals with promotions, transfer (including transfer of contract staff) of senior legal and judicial staff and appointments to Appeal courts. This takes up about half the time of a DS 9 officer. The work is not likely to diminish to any great extent as the result of Independence of the Solomon Islands, Gilbert Islands and Tuvalu. The Legal Advisers would not wish this work to return to ODM, and unless the work can be absorbed into the Legal Executive Branch there is no alternative but for the staffing unit 'to continue to undertake the work.
Discipline and Petitions
13. There is a fairly steady flow of 15-25 Discipline cases or petitions from staff in Dependent Territories. Most are from Hong Kong. Most cases are relatively simple ones, but there is always a hard core of complex, time consuming cases that generate a lot of paper and correspondence. The volume of this work will not decline.
Summary
14. Clearly the staffing unit must continue as a unit for a number of years. There is no case for a further reduction in the size of the unit for some time to come.
15. With the break up of the Gibraltar and General Department the obvious home for the unit is the Hong Kong Department, since quite a large percentage of work is generated from Hong Kong. Close liaison must continue, and indeed be strengthened between the unit and POD/PSD to ensure that wires are not crossed.
CODE 18 - 77
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
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