§ Mr. Martenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how long, on average, a Third Secretary, a Second Secretary and a First Secretary, respectively, in his Department remains in his post overseas before being transferred to another post; and how this compares with the average time in these posts in 1938.
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§ Mr. R. AllanThe length of posting depends on many factors, including climatic conditions and amenities, and any exact average would be misleading. Second and Third Secretaries are moved fairly frequently to enable them to acquire experience and to show what branch of the work they are likely to do best. They usually stay between two and three years in each post. Officers from First Secretaries upwards, who have acquired experience and specialist skills, or shown particular aptitudes, generally stay between three and four years in their posts, but occasional postings are longer than this.
Comparison with pre-war conditions is impossible. Before the war there were three separate services with different conditions of service—Diplomatic, Commercial Diplomatic and Consular. The latter included regional services such as the China Consular Service, whose members spent their whole careers in China. Their functions are now performed by the unified Foreign Service. A possible comparison would be between the prewar Diplomatic Service and the present Foreign Service. Postings in the pre-war Diplomatic Service were of about the same length as those in the Foreign Service today.