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that this proposal, whereby the greater part of the detailed
arrangements for the transfer of services will be left for
settlement until after the time when the new Municipal Council
has come into being, will be found to have certain very definite
advantages and I shall hope to find support for this view in the
consultations in which I expect to be engaged up to the time when
I formulate my final recommendations.
Let me now say a few words about two matters of general principle
which I have already touched upon. The constitution of a Municipal
Council will necessarily involve the transfer to the service of the
Council of a number of Colonial Civil Servants of all grades and it
will be necessary to make provision for the protection of existing
pension rights. After the transitional stage the engagement,
discharge and superannuation of its employees will be a matter for the
Council, subject to the approval by Legislative Council of such
enactments as may be necessary. The Council will thus have the
opportunity of giving effect to the desire which has been widely
expressed, and which I may say I fully share, that a greater number
of posts in the administration and better opportunities for advancement
should be available for locally recruited persons.
There remains the question of finance, with which I am not
attempting to deal at this stage beyond saying that it is clear that
certain revenues should from the outset be handed over by the Central
Government to the Municipal Council and that further transfers of
revenue or grants in aid will be contingent on the assumption by the
Council of responsibility for transferred services. The aim will be
to ensure that the Municipal Council is supplied with funds adequate
for its requirements and, subject to audit and to the requisite assent
of the Legislature so far as new taxation is concerned, to give the
Council the fullest possible control over municipal finance.
The Municipality would be the rating authority and would be
responsible for the assessment and collection of rates as well as the
collection of certain taxes. It would be premature at this stage to
attempt to dfine its relations with the Port Authority. It is clear
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