TNAG-0827-FCO40-1035-Dependent-Territories-Senior-Appointments-Board--1979-1979 — Page 67

HKA 431/2

ADMINISTRATION IN CONFIDENCE

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. S

-

9 AUG 1979

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

P.

Secretary of State. Secreta

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Qui Mr. Michauen

Mrs Gregon

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Appraced The 4.6.

DEPENDENT TERRITORIES SENIOR APPOINTMENTS BOARD

1.

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In recent years appointments of Governors and certain other senior staff in our remaining Dependent Territories have been handled separately from Diplomatic Service appointments. They have been considered by a special Board (the Dependent Territories Senior Appointments Board) which has met from time to time under my Chairmanship to make recommendations to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State has been represented on the Board by a Minister of State. Apart from myself, the other members of the Board include the Chief Clerk, the Head and Deputy Head of Personnel Operations Department, and senior officials concerned with Dependent Territories. A former Governor (currently Sir David Tench who was Governor of Hong Kong from 1964-71) and a representative of the Overseas Development Administration are also members.

2. The Dependent Territories Senior Appointments Board was established in 1969, soon after the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices. Since then there has been a steady decline in the number of our dependent territories, and there are now fewer than 20 posts which come within the Board's terms of reference. The Board has seldom had cause to meet in recent years, most appointments having been satisfactorily dealt with out of Committee. the traditional source of Governors and Chief Secretaries, Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service, is now drying up, and we are having to look more and more to the Diplomatic Service to fill these senior posts.

Moreover

3. Against this background there is no longer any real need for separate machinery to handle senior dependent territories appointments. If you agree, I will arrange for these appointments to be dealt

Their with in future by the appropriate Diplomatic Service Boards. recommendations would, of course, be submitted to you in the usual

way.

4. A meeting of the Dependent Territories Senior Appointments Board has been arranged for 4 June. It will be the first for 18 months. There is just enough business to justify a meeting. But it could equally well have been handled by one of the normal Diplomatic Service Boards. I propose to hold it as planned, partly to provide an opportunity to bring it to a decent conclusion. I doubt

ADMINISTRATON IN CONFIDENCE

/however