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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

ELLIC.O.882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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Heads of Departments is in accordance with existing practice, was recommended by the Special Commissioners, and should continue, subject only to the provisions of Clause 168. Clause 131 of the Colonial Office draft provided also for delegation to the Board of Ministers or to individual Ministers. I am strongly opposed to any such delegation. A certain amount of intervention by Executive Committees in appoint- ments and promotions will result from the recommendations of the Special Commis- ⚫sioners on page 140 of their report, and is, I fear, inevitable. The adoption of these recommendations will give considerable opportunities for nepotism and will subject Ministers, and indeed all members of Executive Committees to importunities which they will, I believe, find exceedingly irksome. To delegate to the Committees any final power of appointment or promotion would, I consider, be disastrous.

18. I propose to deal with this question under two heads of-

(4) Appointments and promotions.

(6) Dismissal and disciplinary control,

19. (a) Appointments and promotions. By promotions should be understood pro- motion to an appointment of a different nature, and promotion from one grade or class io another, when such promotion is by selection or involves the passing of an efliciency bar.

All that need be said in the Order in Council itself in this regard has been included in Clauses 164 and 168, but the subsidiary provisions which will have to be made are of such importance that I propose to mention them in this despatch. The division of appointments into three classes which will be found on page 140 of the Donoughmore Commissioners' report is fallacions. Class (a) referred to there comprises the Civil propose Service and the General Clerical Service, and Class (b) does not exist. As I that the Chief Secretary should occupy the position of a Head of a Department in regard to the Civil Service and the General Clerical Service, all appointinents, in effect. fall under Class (c). In ordering transfers in the Civil Service and the General Clerical Service the Chief Secretary will no doubt meet the reasonable wishes of Heads of Departments or Executive Committees concerned. In the case of the Civil Service transfers will, as heretofore, require the approval of the Governor.

There is, however, a more practicable division into three classes, as follows-

(i) Appointments requiring the approval of the Secretary of State.

(ii) Appointments not requiring the approval of the Secretary of State, delegated

to Heads of Departments.

(iii) A large intermediate class of appointments, not requiring the approval of the Secretary of State, and not delegated to Heads of Departments. but remaining in the hands of the Governor.

Appointments and promotions falling in Class (ii) can be dismissed in a few words. They will be made by Heads of Departments, without any reference to the Executive Committee. Persons considering themselves aggrieved will no doubt in some cases, as at present, petition the Governor, who will be at liberty to consult the Public Services Commission or the Executive Committee, or any other person he wishes. Some such persons will, I have no doubt, petition Ministers or members of Executive Committees. It will have to be made clear to Executive Committees that in these cases they will have no power of interference, though they will, of course, be at liberty to forward such petitions to the Governor with their observations, should they so desire. In the case of appointments and promotions falling into Classes (i) and (iii) the recom- mendations of the Donoughmore Commission involve the intervention of Executive Committees. While I foresee that considerable difficulties will arise, these recom- mendations must be held to have been accepted, and I do not consider that we can now go back upon them. But I propose to vary slightly the procedure recommended. I do not consider that it should be left to the Executive Committee to initiate the procedure. nor, since in every case there will be a reference to the Public Services Commission, do I see any reason why the Executive Committee should address the Governor direct. Both of these proposals of the Special Commissioners would tend to delay. I propose to provide that on the occurrence of any vacancy which is due to be filled either by a new appointment, or by promotion as defined above, the Head of the Department concerned should report the existence of the vacancy direct to the Public Services Commission and to the Ministers, giving in the latter case, but not in the former, his recommendations for filling the vacancy The Public Services Com- mission will then immediately ask the Minister for the recommendations of the Executive Committee. The Minister will, within a month of receiving the letter from the Public Services Commission, forward to the Chairman of that Commission the recommenda- tions of his Committee, or, if the Committee have reached no decision, a statement of

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their reasons for failing to do so. This communication will intimate what recom- mendation has been made by the Head of the Department, and, if the Committee disagree with that recommendation, their reason for so doing. The Public Services Commission will then, after making any further inquiry which they may deem necessary, make their recommendations to the Governor, sending a copy to the Minister concerned. Where, as will occasionally happen, promotion from one grade or class to another over an efficiency bar is not necessarily incident upon the occurrence of a vacancy, a slight variation in this procedure will be necessary. This procedure, as I have indicated, will apply both to Class (i) and to Class (iii) I have, however, drawn a distinction between these two classes. In Class (i) there will be a natural tendency for Executive Committee to prefer Ceylonese to European candidates, but in Class (iii) they will almost always be choosing between rival Ceylonese candidates, and it is in dealing with this class that they may. I fear, sometimes be guided by personal considerations. In any case they will inevitably be flooded with representations from interested persons. It is in regard to this class that I fear that the acceptance of the recommendations given on page 140 of the Donoughmore Commissioners' resort will create the greatest difficulty. It will, of course, be within the power of the Clovernor at any time to reduce the number of appointments in this class by increasing the number of those in Class (ii), and it is possible that he may be driven to exercise this power not only in the interests of efficiency, but in the interests of Ministers and Executive Committees themselves.

Appointment and promotion to posts in Departments controlled by the Officers of State will be regulated by a procedure similar in all ways to that indicated above, and Officers of State will follow the procedure laid down for Ministers in all cases where they act otherwise than as Heads of Denartments.

20. In paragraph 32 on page 153 of their report the Special Commissioners suggested that the Order in Council should include an article giving the Secretary of State

power to fix the ratio of recruitment of Europeans and Ceylonese in all branches of the Public Service. On page 130 of their report they state that it is essential that a definite ratio should be laid down for each department. On this point I venture to disagree with the Special Commissioners. I can see no advantage, but several dis- advantages, in laying down a fixed ratio. The fixing of a ratio would, I believe, give rise to the friction which the Special Commissioners desired to avoid. The fixing of a definite ratio of recruitment would almost certainly result (as has happened in the case of the Civil Service) in a departure from that ratio in favour of the Ceylonese. Any attempt to lay down a fixed rate of Ceylonization of the services will, I believe, arouse friction rather than avoid it. That rate must depend on different factors in different Departments, and on factors which are constantly altering. The Secretary of State will naturally always prefer a Ceylonese candidate to a less well qualified European, and if in the case of any particular Department he considers, with due regard to the efficiency of that Department, that Ceylonization is proceeding too slowly, he will be at liberty to approve the appointment of Ceylonese candidates instead of more highly qualified Europeans. For the reasons urged above I have not suggested that this question should be referred to the Salaries Commission. I consider that the

powers already held by the Secretary of State are sufficient to secure that Ceylonization proceeds at a suitable rate.

21. I now turn to the question of (b) Dismissal and disciplinary action. Clause 131 of the Colonial Office draft suggests that the power of dismissal should be delegated to the Board of Ministers and to Executive Committees. I am strongly opposed to this suggestion, for which I can find no authority in the Donoughmore Commissioners' report. It appears to cut right across the principles underlying the appointment of a Public Services Commission. The power of dismissal and disciplinary action should remain in the hands of the Governor, subject, as heretofore, to delegation to Heads of Departments. The Public Services Commission will normally be consulted by the Governor before he makes his order in cases where he has retained the power in his own hands, or before he decides upon a petition against the order of a Head of a Department. The Public Services Commission will, of course, be at liberty to ask for the views of an Executive Committee, should they desire to do so. Clause 131 of the Colonial Office draft contains a proviso safeguarding the rights of officers appointed before the date of the Order in Council. This proviso is impracticable in that it nostu- lates the continued existence of the Executive Council. The appointment of a Public Services Commission will in itself provide the necessary safeguard. Provided that the principles suggested above are accepted, the provisions contained in Clauses 164 and 169 are all that need be inserted in the Order in Council. The elaboration of detailed procedure will be a comparatively simple matter.