COVERING SECRET
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we are in the habit of receiving bi-monthly progress reports from all the principal Branches. Some Branches seem to be more punctilious than others in sending in reports and I think some Branches may occasionally have failed to send in reports. The 2 most conscientious Branches seem to be the Social Services Branch (which oversees the work of the Departments of Education, Labour, Medical and Health and Social Welfare) and the Housing Branch. The responsibilities of these 2 Branches are in operational terms the most important b Dogmes of the programme of action set forth in the Planning Paper.
2. I think that we might ask in future to receive progress reports from the Finance Branch, though it may have been excluded from the understanding originally arrived at between the Governor and
Mr Stuart. The same may have been true as regards the Home Affairs and Information Branch. So far as reporting on political matters and policy issues is concerned, I think we will have to continue to rely on the Governor's letters, despatches, etc.
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3. We have not hitherto made it a practice to comment on matters arising from the progress reports, though this has occasionally been done, eg Mr Duffy's letter of 5 May on a point arising from the Housing Branch's report for January-March this year. I think that this is partly because we have been somewhat overawed by the amount, but not necessarily the quality of the information provided in the progress reports and partly here seemed little point in doing so when we were not aiming, as we will be in future, to "monitor" developments. I suspect also that when the Governor agreed that- progress reports should be provided he indicated that these were for information only and were not to provide a vehicle for correspondence about the particular matters dealt with in the reports. The fact that the reports have been marked for this Department's use only suggests that the Governor did not want specialist advisers, eg Economists Department and the OLA, to react with comments which may have been "tiresome" to the authors of the reports. Now that we are to monitor progress in certain key sectors, I think that the Governor, as I said in my minute of 29 July, might not object if the progress reports were to be given a wider circulation in the Office. I should also say that Mr Morgan, the Deputy Secretary for Social Services, indicated to me when I was in Hong Kong that he would appreciate receiving reactions to his Branch's reports.
I agree therefore, with respect, that the time may have come when we should consider offering comments on any particular points in progress reports which are either important and/or require clarification. However, I think that we should concentrate our attention on the reports of those Branches whose work is of primary importance in connection with the new programme of action ie Social Services and Housing. I doubt, for example, whether there is much point in our pursuing points in other Branches' reports in order to show that we have read what they have to say. I am still in favour of attempting to draw up some kind of score card or checklist against which to measure progress in the principal areas of activity covered by the programme of action. I have it in mind that we should identify particular measures in the programme and endeavour to keep track of the various stages in their implementation, eg internal consideration within the Departments concerned, publication of proposals in the form of Green Papers, White Papers etc; submission to and consideration
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