19/4518/50
CONFIDENTIAL
27th November, 1950.
18
(Dear Howe)
Kay I first offer my congratulations on your new appointment. We look forward to your arrival and I think that like the rest of us you will find Hong Kong very interesting and very different from the ordinary type of Colony.
I am sorry to trouble you with official affairs even before you have taken up your new appointment, but it is necessary for me to approach you on an urgent matter, the Chairmanship of the Public Services Commission. This Commission was established recently and I enclose a copy of the relevant Ordi.ance. You will see from Section 4 that as the law now, stands e Civil Servant cannot be appointed as Chairman. The present Chairman is a retired Civil Servant, but he has given notice of resignation and will leave next Merch.
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when the scheme of the Public Services Commission was designed it was felt importent that the Chairman should not be an officer under the direction of the Government; also, it was not known how much work would be entailed and in consequence the retired officer was employed full time to work out the details and get the Commission started, which he has now done. It has been found by experience that the amount of work the Chairuan is now called on to do is certainly not e full day's work and yet the Chairman is in such a position under the provisions of the Ordinance as it now stands, that he cannot be employed on other work. It is difficult to determine precisely just how much work there is for the Chairman, but those most closely concerned estimate an average of less than half a day. Judging from my experience in these matters, given a strong Establishment Branch in the secretariɛt (and ours is strong), and given a competent man as Secretary of the Commission, the Chairman's work will consist of spending an afternoon, say every fortnight in holding a meeting of the Co mission and an hour or two a day on papers.
It is obviously undesirable to pay a substantial salary to a man to do only that amount of work and the suggestion has been made that we might amend the Ordinance so as to allow e Judge to be a pointed Chairman of the Comission. The Buestion I put to you therefore is whether you see any objection in principle to a Judge of the Supree Court being appointed Chairman of the Co mission in addition to his ordinary duties as a Judge.
Sir Gerard Howe, K.C.,
SIGERIA.