Posts
20 Assistant C.D.O.s
60 Liaison Officers
Held By
8 Executive Officers
9 S.C.A. Liaison Officers
2 seconded Officers
1 vacancy
14 Executive Officers
21 S.C.A. Liaison Officers
23 seconded Officers from 10 Departments
2 vacancies
21. Although some of the Liaison Officer posts do not require Executive Officers experienced in office management each C.D.O. does require one Executive Officer Class I to fill the post we call Assistant C.D.O. (Internal). At the time of writing there is still difficulty in finding the last such officer. Whilst these rather makeshift arrangements have worked well for the purpose of getting the scheme into operation, there may be a case for making these liaison posts Executive Officer posts, and the position is still under examination. It may well be that the best permanent arrangements will prove to be different from the initial expedients we have had to use in order to get the scheme off the ground quickly.
22. Meanwhile the rather novel scheme for large-scale secondment of officers other than Executive Officers has produced men and women who are enthusiastic and are working well, and most of the officers concerned seem to want to stay permanently in the department. This would be in conflict with the new policy I have described above. There are opportunities for transfer to the Executive Grade and some of those concerned have applied for this in the current recruitment exercise. We hope to arrange for the secondment of permanent S.C.A. staff to other departments, though the necessity to build up our strength means that we cannot do so yet. Secondment is certainly useful but the real purpose behind the movement of staff into and out of the department can, in the present structure of the Civil Service, be achieved best by the use of Executive Officers for the liaison duties, and this is the principal source to which we must look.
23. The permanent S.C.A. staff who have worked in the narrower traditions of a more passive intercourse with the kaifong and similar associations have proved good at this type of liaison work. The C.D.O. scheme does however envisage that the officers concerned should, in their contacts with the public, engage in a broader and more free exchange
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