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Its main
5. In 1977, proposals were put forward for a series of secondments
of Diplomatic Service officers to work in Dependent Territories.
This scheme produced some practical results but did not contain
either formal training or go very far in career planning.
aim was to introduce Diplomatic Service officers to Dependent
Territory work for the first time so as to draw on this initial
experience later in an officer's career. It has partly served this purpose, although there has been a tendency for Diplomatic Service officers to fill these jobs only if they have had previous
HMOCS experience.
6. Again in 1977, serving Governors were asked for their views on future staffing. Three main suggestions emerged:
a) the retirement age for HMOCS should be raised to 60
or even 65;
b) Hong Kong should supply most future Governors for other
territories;
c) future Governors should be drawn from the Diplomatic
Service, and not necessarily from officers with HMOCS experience, but an Inspector-General of Dependent Territories (a retired, distinguished Governor) should be appointed to make regular visits to the territories in order to give advice, comfort, etc to the new breed
of Governors.
(a) was rightly seen as a stop-gap and has been used on occasion, eg Caymans and Bermuda; (b) has failed, except on the odd occasion, because the high emoluments paid to Hong Kong officers make it
difficult to second them for service in other territories without
expensive topping-up; and (c) has not been pursued because it has not yet proved necessary. However, as the number of non-HMOCS Governors increases, there could in fact be a case for it. This
is reflected in the recommendations.
/Trend
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