4. Salaried Consular Officers should include, in the trial balance statements rendered with their quarterly accounts, figures showing the total receipts and total payments on behalf of each department including the Foreign Office.

It will follow that Inspecting Officers, when visiting Consular posts, will have before them complete information as to all the official business of the posts and they will frame their reports accordingly; it is understood that the Secretary of State will notify Departments concerned of the quarterly cash balances certified by the Banks to be held on their behalf by individual Consular Officers, and, in the absence of comment from Departments concerned will assume that the balances reported are satisfactory.

In this connection it is to be realised that the cash balances certified by bankers will not always agree precisely with the balances shown on quarterly accounts for the reason that allowance must be made for cheques not presented for payment, etc., and My Lords assume that the Secretary of State will instruct Consular Officers that Departments concerned must be furnished with accounts in such a form as to establish accurately the relation between cash and account balances.

As regards unsalaried Consular Officers My Lords understand that few of these have transactions with other Departments and that their accounts to the Foreign Office are, as a general rule, rendered through superintending officers who are salaried Consular Officers; also that their transactions are generally small. My Lords therefore do not consider the arrangements outlined above apply to these officers, though They rely on the Secretary of State applying the above procedure as far as possible in the cases where unsalaried officers render direct accounts to the Foreign Office.

Copies of this letter have been sent to the Admiralty, the War Office, the Board of Trade, the Ministry of Pensions, the Office of Works and the Paymaster General.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,
(Signed)

R. R. SCOTT.

The Under-Secretary of State,

Foreign Office.

APPENDIX No. 14.

PAPER forwarded by Sir F. G. A. Butler, K.C.M.G., C.B.

[Copy]

(K 3643/13/250).

COST OF TRANSFERS OF CONSULAR OFFICERS AND OF INSPECTORS' JOURNEYS UNDER SUBHEAD P OF THE VOTE FOR DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICES, 1924-25. (Qs. 1172-6.)

The balance of the expenditure for 1924-25 (£8,085) was for travelling expenses of officers during journeys on leave of absence or on special public duty (e.g. to visit outlying posts in their districts, to relieve officers proceeding on leave, etc.).

Outfit allowances are given to cover all expenses incidental to the removal of officers' establishments not comprised within the payment of travelling expenses; for the cost of uniforms, and special clothing suitable to climatic changes, etc. The allowances are on a fixed scale prescribed by the Foreign Office and the Treasury.

Cases in which travelling expenses but not outfit, or outfit but not travelling expenses, appear in the annexed list, are those where the remaining item appears in the accounts of another financial year.

The total expenditure for 1924-25 (£35,250) may be compared with that in 1913-14 (£28,875). The latter figure was above the average owing to an unusual number of movements, but against this should be set off the greatly increased cost of travelling since 1913-14, and the greater activity now required from the Consular Service.

*

002

41 9 2

192

33 30 9 4

10,352 16 9 14,685

Probationers prior to transfer, and available for service wherever needed. (a) On becoming due for promotion.

(b) Special appointment from the Diplomatic Service.

(c) For reasons of health.

(d) To fill vacancy left by promoted officer.

(e) On suppression of post.

(f) Transfer from an unhealthy post.

(g) Married officer, unable to support his family on his official pay, owing to expensiveness of Guatemala. No outfit allowance was paid.

(h) For special political purposes.

APPENDIX No. 15.

PAPER handed in by Mr. A. E. Watson, C.B.E.

LEGAL EXPENSES.

(Q. 2096.)

The following statement shows the cost of staff of legal divisions of Government Departments, and incidental expenses where separately recorded::

In addition the Public Trustee Office, the Land Registry and the Registry of Friendly Societies have work which is largely legal, and their staff have in many cases legal qualifications. The Votes for Supreme Court Law Charges, County Courts, etc., bear also the salaries of the Law Officers, The Director of Public Prosecutions and the staffs maintained for administration of justice.