§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many officers in the Colonial Service are at present serving on indefinite probation.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI regret this information is not available.
§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the maximum period that an officer on indefinite probation in the Colonial Service is normally called upon to serve.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydIt is unusual for an officer to serve on probation for more than three or four years.
§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in the case of officers in the Colonial Service serving on probation, to what extent he requires the submission of confidential reports on the work of such officers by the heads of their departments.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThere is no such general requirement, but my predecessors have suggested to Governors that heads of departments should submit reports on probationary officers when they have completed a year's service, with a view to it being considered whether any advice or warning or admonition should be conveyed to the officer concerned.
§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies when, owing to the exigencies of the service, Colonial Service officers are employed on duties other than those for which they were recruited and, whilst so employed, show faults which give rise to doubts about their fitness for confirmation, to what extent it is the practice of his department to transfer such officers to those duties for which they were originally recruited, in order to ascertain if their faults can be corrected when so employed.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydSuch cases are rare and there is no established practice.