ADMINISTRATION IN CONFIDENCE
b.
this period. The outward programme of visit to floug Long Provider that the Head of Department should go twice a year and the Assistant and the two desk officers once a year. Each visii lagis about two weeks, which means that with five visits, ten working wooks a year are "lost" to the Department in this way.
4. The Department's increased work load in competion with the Planning Paper has been accompanied by continuing parliamentary and public interest in Hong Kong's affairs generally. Mr Morgan remarked on the number of PQs being handled by HK OD in paragraph 7 of his report: 126 on Hong Kong in the 1974-75 Parliamentary Session. The number of PQs has, in fact, increased since his Inspection. There were 151 on Hong Kong in 1976 and we have had 40 already this year.
was 42.
5.
The total number of MPs' letters on liong Kong in 1976
The time has, therefore, come to carry out the review of HKD' {} establishment that was implicitly recommended in úr Morgun report. Until about three months before Mr Morgan's Iuspeel, con there were three desk officers in the Department but the D56 ud the DS9 were then swopped for a DS5. Experience since the PI
Plooming Paper was approved has shown that there is too much work for the two desk officers (now one DS5 and one DS7(A)) and that a certain Funount of work in the Department could be done by a more jumior desk officer, e.g. initial work in PQs, routine enquiring from members of the public, other Departments, the Hong Kone Government.
A Grade 9 offi Office, etc, and aid work in Hong Kong.
"
would be
best suited, in my view, for this kind of work and I should be grateful if you would now authorize such an increg in the establishment of Hong Kong Department. If Ministers approve the proposed transfer of the Gibraltar Internal Section to SED (The PUS minute of 27 January) the rump of GGD will, all being goll merged with my Department on 1 March. I have al poly
I have already been in touch with the Head of GGD about this move and we are making preliminary practical arrangements for it. It is already clear that the General Section and the Administrative, Legal and Judicini 3offing Sections currently forming part of GGD will continue to open Le as self-contained units and I see no scope for transferring my of the staff concerned to work on Hong Kong. I shall be ready, of
course, to review the position after, say, six months' experience of working the enlarged Department but in the interest of
し
efficient handling of the Hong Kong work in the way suggested in paragraph 5 above, I must now ask for the Department to Do reinforced. The Under-Secretaries supervising the Department hove more than once told me that I would have their support in sook ing to strengthen the establishment and Mr Male spoke to r thin bout the matter a few months ago.
3 February 1977
JAV Stewart
Stewart
Hong Kong Department