ADMINISTRATION IN CONFIDENCE
Mr Jasper (G & GD K 270)
ACCOMMODATION FOR "HONG KONG AND GENERAL DEPARTMENT"
1.
Mr Harrington, ASD, and one of his colleagues looked in on me this morning to discuss the proposals in my minute of
2017 February.
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2. I began by showing Mr Harrington the minutes beginning with the PUS's of 27 January and ending with Mr Cortazzi's of 21 February, the upshot of which seems to be that a decision on the merger of the Gibraltar Section of Gibraltar and General Department with SED should be postponed pending an announcement on the future of the dockyard in Gibraltar. We therefore seem to have no definite date to work towards for the connected merger of the General Section etc of G & GD with HKD. In these circumstances, Mr Harrington did not think there was much point in trying to reach agreement now on accommodation for "HKGD". Even so, he has taken a copy of the layout of the accommodation requirements set forth in my minute of 17 February and undertaken to consider it. He remarked that he was very doubtful whether K 271 could be made available since this is earmarked for FLD. I, for my part, said that since I had written my minute you had conceived the idea, with which Mr Stewart agreed, that X 248 should be occupied by two PAs. Mr Harrington welcomed this saving.
3.
I do not think that we can take matters further for the moment. However, I suppose it is possible that we may shortly arrive at a situation in which there is a de facto merger of the two parts of G & GD with SED and HKD (I note that the Chief Clerk has said in his minute of 11 February that it may not be easy to save the Grade 4 post if and when Mr Lewis retires). In those circumstances, it may be that, as Mr Stewart has said to me, we shall wish to consider a re-arrangement of accommodation along the lines of that which we have in mind in the event of "HKGD" being formally established. We had better keep in touch.
D F Milton
3 March 1977
Hong Kong Department K 247 233 4381
ADMINISTRATION IN CONFIDENCE
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