I M Lightbody Esq CMG Secretary for Administration Government Secretariat HONG KONG
8 July 1977
IN
1.
E
35
REC
11 2877
51
AKK 211 (625),
Thank you for your letter COU 1/866/64-II (TC 34/77) of
22 June.
2. I am sorry that the Overseas Labour Adviser's office has not previously come to your notice but I can assure you that it is not a new creation! The post of Overseas Labour Adviser goes back to the days of the Colonial Office and was established within the FCO when it came into being in 1968. The OLA at that time was George Foggon, who was succeeded last year by his Deputy, Harry Hurst. I think you will find that they are both well-known to your Labour Department! In mid-1976 the Overseas Labour Adviser's staff was augmented by the transfer from the now defunct Gibraltar and General Department of the section, now headed by Willcocks, which deals with ILO matters in relation to the non-metropolitan territories. We recently agreed that for administrative convenience it would be preferable if correspondence on ILO matters were addressed to that section direct rather than to us and that Willcocks should write in this sense to your Social Services Branch.
3. The appellation "department", adopted in the last year or 30, has been used rather loosely, since Harry Hurst and his
It has now staff are not strictly a department in FCO terms. been decided that the appropriate designation is "Overseas Labour Adviser's Office", and future correspondence with them should be addressed accordingly.
JAB Stewart
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