Mr Woolverton
Mr Kirkness
བ་ ་
cc. Mr Fogarty o/r
In view of the intended meeting between the Minister and the Chief Secretary, with officials present, to discuss ODM/Treasury relations and the need, as we see it, for a greater degree of ODM flexibility in administering the aid programme, I think you will both wish to be aware of these papers. From earlier minutes, copies of which I had seen, I knew that Mr Fogarty was attempting to persuade other Whitehall departments of the need for CPPS to be concentrated upon our larger aid recipients, but I had not seen the FCO/Treasury replies until now. Having seen them, it seems to me that there may be some danger that we could come away from the ministerial meeting believing that some greater degree of flexibility was favoured, at least in principle, but still find that our escape from the Treasury's toils was not a real one since a new ball and chain would have been fastened around one of our ankles.
2.
The point I have particularly in mind is that at 'Y' of Mr Barratt's letter at (90) suggesting that the list of prospective CPPs be annexed to the Minister's aid strategy paper each year. Since the intention of the strategy paper is to concentrate on larger policy issues and the framework summary annexed to it will show details only for the regional bilateral programmes and the larger bilateral recipients, the addition of an annex listing proposed CPPs would either be valueless or bring ministerial discussion in RD down to some of the fine detail we are hoping to avoid (and which hitherto has been taken in JAPC rather than RD discussions).
3. Mr Butler's suggestion at (87) that CPPS should be produced for all the smaller bilateral recipients not only strikes at the very roots of Mr Fogarty's proposals but also seems designed to ensure that ODM has little if any discretion in terms of "switching".
4. My own view so far as Mrs Wilkinson's minute of 29 September is concerned is therefore that it would be better to defer any response to the letters from other departments until the further meeting between Mrs Hart and the Chief Secretary has taken place. We should perhaps consider whether or not to bring this particular issue of CPPs before that meeting: on that my inclination is that it would be better not to do so; but we may need to take it on board (and so involve Mr Fogarty) if Ministers should conclude that there should be further meetings between Treasury and ODM officials to examine ways in which present procedures could be improved.
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K G Fry 2 October 1978
It
mmy
well be
useful
to bring this up at the
and the Chief Secaching
muting hitmen hos Hard
As another example of Treasury fettning.
as
Khesharter
2/10
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