CONFIDENTIAL
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3. In certain territories, limited powers in some of these areas have
already been delegated to local governments or given to local Public Service Commissions. It is not the intention to reverse those decisions, but only in exceptional circumstances will we now be prepared to agree to any further delegation in respect of these particular responsibilities, We will, however, be prepared to consider sympathet- ically any proposals that Governors may care to put forward for
increasing the powers of local governments in other areas.
4. Where a territory's government have announced their intention to move to independence, a programme will be agreed for the various stages of constitutional change. There can be no standard timetable for this: the pace will largely be dictated by local circumstances:
but the period during which a territory's government would exercise a greater degree of constitutional responsibility in the run-up to independence will not normally exceed 12 months. In all cases, the Governor will retain until the last moment formal responsibility for at least the first three of the matters listed in paragraph 2 above, though it will undoubtedly be appropriate for him to consult the local Premier increasingly about the way he exercises these responsibilities as independence approaches.
5. Any constitutional changes introduced as a result of a decision to move towards independence will, of course, need to be reviewed if that decision is subsequently reversed (for example as a result of a change of government in the territory concerned). This could entail the resumption by Governors of powers that had already been delegated in anticipation of independence.
The Role of British Aid
6. The reasonable needs of the Dependent Territories will continue to be a first call on our aid programme. In deciding how aid resources should be used in the Dependent Territories, our principal objective will be to create a political and economic climate that will make independence a realistic and attractive alternative to continuing colonial status. We recognise, however, that in some territories which lack natural resources the possibility of genuine economic independence is remote. In the past, a generous allocation of development aid (and in certain cases also budgetary aid) has often
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