TNAG-0592-FCO40-725-Inspection-of-Hong-Kong-and-Indian-Ocean-Department-1976 — Page 50

ADMINISTRATION IN CONFIDENCE

5.

Mr Bailey is a very experienced and capable officer and the conclusion we have reached, in consultation with him, is that he could manage to look after all the papers on Hong Kong. The fact that he would be accommodated alongside the Desk Officers would produce a certain saving in time and effort. There would, however, have to be one proviso to such an arrangement. The work on Hong Kong involves a large number of submissions to Ministers and is such as to require a lot of photocopying. It currently falls to the registry to do a good deal of this. What they cannot do is done by the Secretarial, Staff in Room K243. Mr Bailey is doubtful whether he could cope alone with all the papers on Hong Kong unless he is helped out with regard to photocopying and other routine tasks. The solution would appear to be for the photocopying of papers on Hong Kong to be done by the Paperkeeper sitting in the registry in Room K271. It is stated in paragraph 3 of the Inspectors' Report that the Paperkeeper currently provides some very occasional assistance" to the HKIOD registry officers. In practice, I gather that even this very qualified observation over- states the extent of the assistance actually provided by the Paperkeeper. If Mr Bailey is to be integrated with the Hong Kong Desk Officers, it would, I think, have to be understood that the Paperkeeper would assist him with photocopying and other routine tasks.

6. In short, I should like to suggest the following:

7.

(a) that, following the transfer of responsi-

bility for Seychelles and the BIOT from HKIOD, there should be one Registry Officer to deal with Hong Kong papers;

(b)

that Mr Bailey, as the Registry Officer currently employed full-time on Hong Kong papers, should become solely responsible for these papers in future;

(c) that Mr Bailey should be accommodated in

room K245 from the end of June onwards; and

(a) that the Paperkeeper in the Registry in

room K271 should assist Mr Bailey in carrying out his enlarged duties.

Provided that you and Mr Morgan agree, I hope that the necessary action can be set in hand at the appropriate time.

4 May 1976

Copied to:

Mr Morgan Inspector R CG616

D F Milton

Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department

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