§ Mr. Rees-Williamsasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the constitution of the body by whom recruits to the Colonial Service are selected, and what special qualifications are required of non-university applicants.
Mr. Creech JonesThe constitution of the Colonial Service Appointments Board is based upon the report of a committee on the System of Appointment in the Colonial Office and the Colonial Services, Cmd 3554 of 1930 It is a body of independent persons under the chairmanship of the First Civil Service Commissioner, and its members include persons who have achieved distinction in such spheres of public life as the universities, the trade unions and the Civil Service. These form a panel upon which we draw for constituting the selection boards, and we also make a practice of associating experienced officers of the Colonial Service with the boards as assessors.
4WExcept of course in the case of professional and technical posts no specified qualifications are laid down for non-university applicants. Such applicants have to satisfy my appointments department and the selection board that by reason of their educational background and their experience in civil life or in His Majesty's Forces they are suitable for the appointments which they seek I have asked that while men of high academic quality should be selected among applicants from all the universities, regard should also be had in the case of non-university applicants to wider experience and qualification in such walks of life as law, local government, industry, commerce, finance, etc.