CODE 18-77
Miss Williams
Mr Stone o/r
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HKA 233/6
(separate copy)
Reference.......
HMOCS: POSTS IN OTHER DEPENDENT TERRITORIES
Enter pls + Bu 2114
1717 شها
1. Thank you for your answers to my questions on the 12 attached copy of Mr Tunstall's (PMD) letter of 7 July to Mr Waters (CSB, Hong Kong).
2.
EW/8
It remains my view that we need to be careful about what we say on this subject to the HMOCS Association in Hong Kong: any false note will be seized on and used against us in the wider HMOCS context. Thus it is disturbing to find WIAD saying (Mr Holland's minute of 10 July), that DS and HMOCS candidates will not necessarily have any preference over outsiders; if so the second sentence of paragraph 4 of Mr Tunstall's letter is inaccurate.
3.
4
I therefore telephoned Mr Harbinson, Deputy Secretary for the Civil Service, who is covering HMOCS matters in Mr Waters' absence on leave. He had not yet received Mr Tunstall's letter (no doubt sent by bag). I asked him to treat its contents as for CSB's own information at this stage; we would be in touch as soon as possible about what they might say to the HMOCS Association.
The
4. Subject to your views, I think that we should now try to draft a line for use with the HMOCS Association (eg in a letter from the Minister of State, if they raised this question with him), clear it with CSB and then submit. line should be phrased as positively as possible, preferably emphasising that applications from HMOCS officers will enjoy full parity of treatment with those from DS officers.
5.
I note that Ministers wish to build up a cadre of DT expertise within the DS, but I doubt that they have hitherto been asked to consider the implications of that policy for HMOCS officers: Mr Tunstall's paragraph 4 may be read as implying that, other things being equal, DS officers may be given preference over HMOCS officers. I think Ministers should be asked if that is in fact what they want. They should be warned that such a policy could be represented as putting the interests of the DS above the interests of the DTS: if we are serious about improving DT administration, the natural course might be to give preference to good-quality Hong Kong HMOCS officers, who already have relevant experience, positively encouraging their applications for DT posts and perhaps inviting younger officers to join the DS with a view to specialising in this
(But this could raise Hong Kong difficulties.)
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