TNAG-1875-FCO40-2666-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-other-British-Dependent-Terr-1989 — Page 25

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT FOR GOVERNORS IN BUDGETARY-AIDED DEPENDENT TERRITORIES IN THE CARIBBEAN

CAD, ODA paper for discussion in the Dependent Territories' Liaison Group

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to whether financial and executive responsibility for support costs of Governors, such as the residency, car, office etc - in practice, all costs except salary and allowances should fall to the FCO, ODA or the territor

itself.

There has, for many years, been debate as

2.

The last written guidance on the subject, and on which current policy is based, is the 1981 submission by Hong Kong and General

It made the following Department, FCO, to the (?) AUS Mr Adams.

recommendations:

3.

"(a)

(b)

the basic day-to-day maintenance of Government Houses and Governors' offices up to a minimum standard which the territory can afford should continue to be covered in the local estimates of the territory concerned;

in the case of grant-aided territories, any extra expenditure, eg minor capital works or additional furnishings, should be the subject of a special supplementary grant-in-aid from the ODA."

In the background to this submission, the rationale behind (b) was described as follows:

"Colonial Regulations 281-284 require that Government

the cost House should be kept in substantial repair at of the territory, and the expenditure incurred on furniture, crockery, cutlery should be borne against territorial funds. This rule is accepted in principle by all the territories. However, where the costs of major renovations, and in some instances, relatively minor works, look like competing seriously with other commitments, local politicians and legislatures often fail to live up to it. In these circumstances it can often be embarrassing for the Governor to press his

own case."

14.