§ Mr. Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies to what extent senior civil servants in his Department have had actual experience of administration in the Colonial Territories.
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§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe Permanent Under-Secretary of State had spent thirty-three years in the Colonial Service overseas before taking up his present post. Both of the Deputy Under-Secretaries of State served for two years in a Colonial Territory before the war, and have paid visits of varying duration since. Of the Assistant Under-Secretaries of State one has just returned after five years' service in the West Indies. Another is now in New York after five years' service as a Colonial Governor.
Of the remaining nine, six have also served in Colonial Territories for several years. All have paid frequent visits to Colonial Territories. More than half of the Assistant Secretaries have done, or are doing, similar tours of duty abroad; and almost all of them have paid visits to Colonial Territories since the war. In addition, the great majority of the professional advisers have been appointed to the Colonial Office after quite extensive periods of service in the Colonial Territories.