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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

EPERFICO. 882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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members of the Legislative Council, and they were practically unanimous in their opinion that, while we must avoid the present bottleneck system of the Colonial Secretariat, some one Executive Committee must be placed in a special relation to Government Agents. They did not scruple to make clear their conviction that if this were not done the State Council as a whole would regard Government Agents with great suspicion. With their point of view I concur, and I propose that, for purposes of general supervision' " and for budget purposes, Government Agents should be placed under the Committee for Home Affairs, which is, in fact, concerned with a greater part of their activities than any other Committee. I propose, therefore, that the Statement of Administrative Procedure, after elaborating tlie subjects and functions allotted to each Committee under the Order in Council (Schedule nine) should go on to state that, in order to enable the Committees to exercise their duties in connexion with these subjects and functions, they will, respectively, exercise the general super- vision laid down in Clause 117 (i) of the Order in Council over the Departments whose Heads will be specified in a subjoined list, and will be responsible for preparing the estimates of those Departments for submission to the Board of Ministers. Under the list of Heads of Departments allotted to the Committee of Home Affairs will be a note to the effect that Government Agents will, for these two purposes, be treated as Heads of Departments under that Committee. It will be provided, however, that in the case of subjects and functions not allotted to the Committee of Home Affairs, there will be direct correspondence between Government Agents and the Heads of Departments dealing with those subjects and functions or the Executive Committees under whom such Heads of Departments have been placed. This proviso will apply also to certain other officers, such as the Government Analyst and the Registrar-General, who also deal with subjects and functions other than those allotted to their own Executive Committee.

I have considered whether this provision should be included in the Order in Commeil itself, but have decided that its proper place is the Statement of Administrative Procedure. It is, however, of such importance that I have considered it desirable to refer to it in this despatch.

Clause 122.

11. I consider that Heads of Departments should have the right to attend meetings of Executive Committees. If, as I propose in Clause 122 (2), Committees are given the right to require the attendance of subordinate officers of Departments it is of particular importance that Heads of Departments should have the right to attend. Were they not given this right it would be possible for a Committee to go behind the back of a Head of Department and discuss business with a subordinate, an obviously undesirable procedure. The Statement of Administrative Procedure will lay down that a subordinate officer can only be summoned through the Head of his Department.

Clause 123.

12. In this connexion I would invite a reference to Sir Herbert Stanley's despatch No. 261 of 31st March.* The Clause as drafted appears to me to give the proper latitude to the State Council and to Executive Committees in deciding what are matters of " major importance" and "minor importance," respectively. It also gives the Governor a useful safeguarding power should he consider that Executive Committees are using their discretion in this regard too freely.

Clause 124.

13. I do not consider that the Council should have the power to amend the decisions of an Executive Committee without reference back to the Committee. The provision to this effect contained in Clause 100 of the Colonial Office draft has, there- fore, been omitted.

Nor do I consider it desirable that the final decision of the Council should, as suggested in the Colonial Office draft, be conveyed to the Governor through the Board of Ministers. Such a procedure would make for delay, and would serve no useful purpose, as the Board would have no right of comment.

Clause 124 (4) indicates the manner in which the final decision of the Council,

as ratified by the Governor, should be communicated to the Department concerned. The wording of this Clause is important as it is necessary to guard against undue inter- ference by an Executive Committee in the details of the administrative action necessi- tated by the decisions of the Council.

* C. 73230/8/30 [No. 6]: not printed.

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Clauses 127 to 145.

14. The provisions contained in these Clauses differ considerably from those contained in Clauses 98 and 106 to 109 of the Colonial Oflice draft. In his Conli- dential telegram of 10th March,* Sir Herbert Stanley pointed out that the provisions of the Colonial Office draft involved a radical departure from the proposals of the Donoughmore Commission, and in your telegram of 27th March† you intimated that no such departure was intended.

(1) I have not considered it necessary to prescribe that the Officers of State shall attend at all meetings of the Board. Such a provision would be inconsistent with that permitting the appointment of another member to preside in the absence of the Chief Secretary.

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(2) I do not consider the title "Head of the Ministry suitable for the Vice- Chairman of the Board of Ministers, and have substituted Leader of the State Council, which is in closer accord with the recommendations of the Donoughmore Commission. Further, I consider it most unsuitable that the Vice-Chairman should be the channel of communication between the Board and the Governor. Such a procedure would be derogatory to the position of the Chief Secretary as Chairman of the Board. It is true that the Chief Secretary may have to convey to the Governor a decision of which he disapproves I see no harm in this. It would, I consider, be improper for him, when conveying such a decision, to intimate his disapproval at the same time. But, besides being Chairman of the Board of Ministers, he will also be the chief political adviser to the Governor and in that capacity it will be his duty to advise the Governor should he disagree with any decision either of the Board of Ministers or of the State Council.

(3) I have considered it necessary to make provision for an acting Vice-Chairman, to meet the case of prolonged absence of the Vice-Chairman for any unavoidable cause.

While deprecating the immediate steps towards the assumption by the Board of full Cabinet responsibility which were implied in the Colonial Office draft of the Order in Council, I feel that any development of a sense of corporate responsibility on the part of the Board, not only in financial matters, but in other important matters affecting the general welfare of the country, will be of considerable value in future constitutional developments. I consider, therefore, that it should be the obiect of the Chief Secretary to encourage the Board to discuss informally any matters of importance. Individual Ministers who wish to initiate important changes of policy will, it is to be hored, make a practice of discussing their proposals in the Board of Ministers before putting them before their Executive Committees. There will, I feel sure. be a natural tendency in this direction. It should receive every encouragement. But any extension of the formal corporate responsibility of the Board beyond that suggested in the Donoughmore Com- mission's report will be a constitutional change of considerable importance, and should, I feel. be regulated by a new Order in Council. The draft therefore, limits the formal corporate responsibility of the Board to the matters indicated in the Donoughmore Commission's renort.

The financial provisions contained in Clauses 133 to 145 may annear somewhat elaborate. The necessite for these provisions is fully explained in the comparative table, to which I have nothing to add.

Clause 146.

15. Provision for the financing of essential services in the event of a dissolution in consequence of a rejection of the Budget is clearly necessary. I can see no alter- native to giving the Governor the power indicated in this Clause.

Clauses 161 to 163.

16. These Clauses involve an important change from the present system, and are necessary to carry out the recommendations of the Special Commissioners that the Auditor shall be responsible to the State Council.

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Clauses 164 to 170.

The Clauses dealing with the public services are of great importance, and

the provisions in this regard contained in the Colonial Office draft were inadequate.

It is essential that all power as regards appointment, promotion, dismissal, and disciplinary control should be vested in the Governor. Delegation of these powers to

* No. 121.

+ No. 122.