TNAG-0593-FCO40-739-Maintenance-of-Government-houses-in-Dependent-Territories-1977 — Page 31

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This has

Miss Stoddart

paff

Mr Duff

Reference

HK.GD is new

largely overtaken by

been largely initiative. Als 27/6.

GOVERNORS TERRITORIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Sir Bruce Greatbatch's letter of 16 May refers.

2. I recall that we discussed these points in a round-up meeting following the Stanley/Duff visit earlier this year. We also took in other matters in which HMG has an interest eg responsibility for internal security ie police.

3. In Anguilla we had problems with Government Howe and the police which were solved by

a) using dev aid funds for the capital costs of equipping HMG's residence and asking the local government to ensure adequate provision for maintenance in the recurrent budget, and

b) increasing budgetary aid to pay for increased police establishment.

4.

Maintenance of Government houses is always very difficult. Colonial Regulations (Col Reg 281) state quite clearly that the territory is in all cases responsible for the maintenance of Government houses and for their repair and re-equipment as necessary. At present we can only urge Governors to ensure that they get adequate provision in the recurrent estimates for these costs. It is all too easy however for local politicians to either (a) deny or reduce the original estimate, or (b) jib when it actually comes to paying when these funds could be used more productively elsewhere. There is after all a white face in Government House and he is neither job creating nor revenue producing.

5. It appears to me that we have saddled these island governments with archaic buildings in which we expect our Governors to perform their representational duties as Her Majesty's representative and in which to live as the territory's Governor. Surely from the purely representational point of view we should assist. We already make some concession in that we "top-up" Governors' salaries to enable them to live at a standard appropriate to their standing and recogise that the territories could not possibly afford the increased costs of an expatriate Governor. This argument can be applied equally to the payment of Governors' passages to and from the territories; if there were a "local" Governor (cf the Associated States) he would not expect to be repatriated every 12-18 months for leave.

6. I agree with Colonial Regulations in that we should expect the territories to pay something towards the upkeep of their Governors and their residencies. However I do not think this should extend so as to keep them in the "inflated" style which we expect. Whilst I appreciate that the dividing line of a Governor's dual function is pretty hazy, I think

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