CONFIDENTIAL
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discharged its duties impartially
in particular, through
maintaining the passive role required of it, and in the
balanced way in which it has assessed the views of those
who are unwilling, as well as those who are willing, to
accept the draft agreement.
15.
Paragraph 5 (a) explained that the proper discharge
of the Assessment Office's duties must depend upon, among
other things, the faithful following of the procedures
presented in its terms of reference. In the light of
our auditing functions, as set out in paragraph 9, we
judge that the Assessment Office faithfully followed the
prescribed procedures, and that efficient practical
arrangements were made for that purpose.
16.
But the 'proper discharge' of the Assessment
Office's duties had to go wider than that. It is in this
context that we have considered the issue of confidentiality
to which the Commissioner has referred in paragraph
of the Assessment Office report.
17.
That issue received considerable local publicity,
and it needs to be seen in perspective. From the outset
the Assessment Office received letters of criticism and
rejection of the draft agreement, in which the names and