TNAG-0694-FCO40-844-Inspection-of-Hong-Kong-Department-1977 — Page 102

CODE 18 - 77

Reference......

Mr Stewart

ACCOMMODATION FOR "HONG KONG AND GENERAL DEPARTMENT"

1.

Mr Jasper and I have been pursuing the question of accommodation for "HKGD" (as I will call it for convenience) following the meeting that we had with Mr Lewis the other week.

2.

Following a further discussion between Mr Jasper and myself on 3 February Mr Jasper discussed the matter with ASD. (I would have joined in the discussion but we were tied up with Hong Kong matters at the time.) The upshot of Mr Jasper's meeting with ASD/set out in his minute of 3 February.

3. I agree with Mr Jasper that the requirement for accommodation is as set out in para. 4 of his minute. I fear, however, that the proposals that ASD have put forward (para. 5 of Mir Jasper's minute) do not satisfactorily meet this

requirement. As I have pointed out to Mr Jasper, ASD's proposals would have the effect of

(a) breaking up the Hong Kong Section into two rooms, which would be

a retrograde step;

(b) not providing a separate room for the Head of Department's PA;

(c) not allowing for the integration of the Hong Kong Section Clerks,

though this is less important than (a) and (b) and a situation with which we may have to live; and

(d) pducing overcrowding in Room K.245, which is not really large

enough for four persons

In order to seek to remedy these drawbacks, at least those at (a) (b) and (a), I suggest that we should go for the following allocation of accommodation:-

(i) K.246 - Kr Stewart (no change)

(ii) K.247 Kr Kilton (no change)

(iii) K.248 - Head of Department's PA (currently occupied by Mr Hayward

and Mr Richards, FED)

(iv) K.251 Mrs Gregory (currently occupied by Mr Stimson)

(v) K.245 Hong Kong Section - 2/3 Desk Officers (no change)

(vi) K.243 - Three S2/3, being the secretarial establishment for the

new department, minus the PA (the two FED Secretaries currently in the rooom will be replaced by the two we hope to obtain when the merge occurs)

(vii) K.242 - Two Hong Kong Section Clerks to join PDTD's registry,

though one PDTD Section Clerk might be integrated

/(viii)