HC Deb 21 July 1960 vol 627 cc698-9
3. Mr. H. Clark

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the present feelings of insecurity in the Colonial Civil Service and their increasing reliance on the guarantees contained in Colonial Paper No. 306, 1954, he will take steps to define more clearly which officers are eligible to join Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service, and to clear up the anomalies in eligibility which at present occur in Kenya.

Mr. Iain Macleod

Eligibility for membership of the Overseas Civil Service is determined by Special Regulations made by the Secretary of State. In applying these Regulations to Kenya there has been difficulty in determining the domicile of some officers. I am taking up with the East African Governments the question of the uniform interpretation of these Regulations and will inform the hon. Member when the question is settled.

Mr. Clark

May I ask my right hon. Friend to press on with this definition as early as possible? The Civil Service Association of Kenya is quite unaware of any clear definition, and there is a great deal of difference between the categories of officers in Tanganyika who are entitled to be members of the Overseas Civil Service and those of the officers in Kenya.

Mr. Macleod

This is a Kenya problem. We have put forward a solution acceptable to the other East African Territories, but not, so far, to Kenya. We are still discussing it with them.

Sir H. Oakshott

In view of the pretty wide degree of insecurity in the Civil Service in Kenya at the moment, when my right hon. Friend 'has reached his conclusion in regard to it—about which he promised to write to my hon. Friend below the Gangway—could he make the conclusion public, in the OFFICIAL REPORT or something like that?

Mr. Macleod

Certainly. I will find some way of doing that.