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Minister of State
Secretary of State
GIBRALTAR
31/1/77
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1. In my view we have slightly too many Departments in the Office, with in consequence unnecessary cost, dispersal of effort and resultant loss of efficiency. Accordingly, the FCO Inspectors have been reviewing the work of the Joint FC0/ ODM Departments and Southern European Department (SED).
2. I have accepted on grounds of both economy and efficiency recommendations which inter alia involve disbanding Gibraltar and General Department. Apart from Aid work, which the ODM will now take on with continuing political guidance from SED- all responsibility for Gibraltar affairs will be consoli- dated in SED, who already handle the colony's external affairs. But before putting this into practice, I think I ought to warn you of one possible consequence.
3. Although this change is purely an administrative measure and one which should, in practice, result in greater efficiency in the conduct of their business, it is possible that some Gibraltarians may put a political interpretation on it and claim to see in it an attempt to push them towards Spain. On balance I do not expect serious trouble on this score, such as could, for example, confidently be expected from the closure of the Gibraltar dockyard. But I think it would be a prudent first step - which, if you agree, we shall take now -
to have the Governor tell Sir Joshua Hassan informally and in confidence that we plan to make the change with effect from, say, 1 March and that it is merely a part of a necessary administrative reorganisation. If Sir J Hassan's reaction were very unfavourable, we might have to think again about the timing, but not, I hope, about the substance. The present arrangement no longer makes sense.
Michael
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Michael Palliser
27 January 1977
bcc
Chief Clerk
Mr Unwin PPD
Mr Winchester SED
Mr Lewis GGD ✓
ML
CONFIDENTIAL