ADMINISTRATION IN CONFIDENCE
22.
I have yet to inspect the other Asian departments and South Pacific Department (which may no longer have a full load). If a reshuffle of these departments were necessary and HKGD had to be split and regrouped, the right place for the Hong Kong Section would be with the China Section of FER. The political and practical implications have recently been explored again. The Governor has commented that he does not believe amalgamation will be seriously misunderstood in Hong Kong to be a prenegotiation move, but there would be problems of presentation - more if Hong Kong were brigaded with China alone than if merged with both China and Japan. Less time would be devoted to Hong Kong affairs by the Head of Department. Taking account of all factors which I will not rehearse here, such a merger, bringing together within one department two sides of a major foreign policy problem, would be preferable to an arbitrary merger of, say, Hong Kong Section with SPD, particularly if the new department were physically separated from FED.
23. If such a reshuffle were to take place the opportunity should be scized to redeploy the General Section. Its staffing work should, I believe, go to Curtis Green. Nine out of thirteen senior administrative appointments (DS4 and above) in the Dependent Territories are now held by DS officers. A paper approved by Ministers last December recommended that DS officers should occupy posts at DS5 level in the Colonies in preparation for appointment as Governors. It would make good sense for the staffing work to be consolidated in Curtis Green, even if many of the 118 posts administered by HKGD, eg judges, were not DS type appointments. I think it would be best if the little remaining policy work on the Dependent Territories together with supervision of postage stamp policy were to pass to WIAD or possibly CCD. (Comments on the detail of this at present hypothetical transfer are contained in Part II.) It would not lead to the saving of more than one post but would assure consistency of personnel policy and practice.
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ADMINISTRATION IN CONFIDENCE
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