§ 30. Mr. Skinnardasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many senior administrative and technical posts in the Colonial Service are now vacant; and whether he will consider creating a pool of specialist senior officers which could be drawn on for short periods of service by Colonial Governments.
Mr. Creech JonesThe number of vacancies of all kinds for expatriate staff in higher grade posts stood at 1,198 on 30th September, as against 1,395 at the end of June. The system of creating central pools of specialist officers, which can be drawn on by Colonial Governments to carry out particular undertakings, has already been adopted in various fields of research, notably in medicine and agriculture. There are also central organisations for dealing with land and geological surveys. This pooling system is one which may well be extended in the future to other specialised services.
§ Mr. SkinnardWhile thanking my right hon. Friend for that reply, may I ask him whether his answer does not tend to discount his denial that there was centralised Colonial Service recruitment in this country?