STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
2
Reasons in my opinion in favour of holding this Board are:
(i) The business which we have planned for the forthcoming Board constitutes a normal load when compared with the last few DTSAB sittings.
(ii) The Board has been set up;
all preliminary work, inclu-
ding discussions with POD, has taken place. We had planned to hold it earlier in the year but altered the date to accommodate POD's need to ear-mark candidates closer to dates of vacancies.
(iii) Governors, whose terms are to be extended have been told
that recommendations are to be put to the Board in June.
(iv) The position of Sir D Trench and Mr Kirkness, ODM, might
cause problems. Their existence on the Board is primarily to advise on the merits of HMOCS candidates.
I understand that in previous years there have been occasions when the Minister to the Board was unable to be present and the Board has proceeded notwithstanding. Might the answer not be to dispose of the current crop of vacancies with the DTSAB as planned but without appointing a new Minister? The question of winding up the Board could then be discussed afterwards as the PUS decided after the 1977 Board.
E. Gagan.
ET Gregory (Mrs)
18 May 1979
Hong Kong and General Department
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
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