§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many civil servants have become redundant in his Department since 1950 as a result of granting independence to those areas of the Commonwealth which were formerly under the care of the Colonial Office; and what action was taken in this connection in view of their redundancy.
§ Mr. ProfumoWith the granting of independence this year to Ghana and the Federation of Malaya ten of the eleven officers who dealt solely with these territories became redundant. Five transferred70W to the Commonwealth Relations Office and the rest were posted to sections in the Colonial Office where there were vacancies. The remaining officer will shortly be reposted. The other territorial, or geographical, departments were unaffected by the changes, and in the twenty-two departments which deal functionally with nearly forty administrations the "graduation" of two territories has made little difference. Nevertheless, five posts in these Departments have also been abolished and the officers have been posted to under-staffed sections. Further economies will be made when the diminution in work becomes more marked.