STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE POSTS
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For posts of Deputy Governor etc, the major requirements are experience of administration and the ability to advise the Governor on the exercise of his constitutional functions (see paragraph 3 (a) above). The work is much closer to that of a Home Department in Whitehall (including the Cabinet Office) than to that of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or a Diplomatic Service post abroad. It is arguable that Home civil servants with the right personal qualities could perform most senior dependent territory jobs better than Diplomatic Service officers; and if the posts themselves were to be transferred into the Diplomatic Service this could provide a useful additional outlet for inter-change. If members of the Home Civil Service were to be appointed to senior dependent territory posts a period first in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office would be desirable, and essential in the case of a Deputy Governor appointment. In the case of members of the Diplomatic Service, however, a tour within an FCO Department dealing with dependent territories would be of relatively limited value, and previous direct experience in a dependent territory (preferably more than a three month tour) would be very relevant.
8 Providing suitable staff for such specialised posts as Financial Secretary and Attorney General poses considerably greater difficulties than finding senior administrators, and it is in the case of these specialised posts that the pressures for localisation are likely to be strongest, and the objections to localisation weakest. I doubt whether any Diplomatic Service officer could step straight into a Financial Secretary post if he had not had previous experience in a more junior financial post in a dependent territory; someone from the Treasury or from a major spending Department in Whitehall would certainly have less difficulty. The range of responsibility covered by an Attorney General is rather outside that of the qualified legal staff in Whitehall Departments. Should we be looking to Hong Kong for help in particular in filling senior legal posts in dependent territories; including judicial posts?
GIBRALTAR
9 The paper prepared by Hong Kong and General Department suggests that the post of Deputy Governor in Gibraltar might be graded Diplomatic Service Grade 4/5. I think it is unrealistic to envisage filling the job from Grade 5. The Deputy Governor must be able to deal at least on equal terms with the Flag Officer Gibraltar, a Rear Admiral, and to prevail over him when he is the OAG. The post of Assistant to the Deputy Governor in Gibraltar, at present Grade 6, should not be left out of account in considering a cadre of DS officers with dependent territory experience. The post is at present more political than administrative, but it provides very useful experience in dependent territory administration. Because of the importance to Gibraltar of relations with Spain, it is likely to be desirable that the post of Deputy Governor should be filled by a Diplomatic Service officer throughout the coming decade.
RJ O'Neill
Gibraltar
21 January 1981
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STAFF IN CONFIDENCE