H.—l4.

be reduced still further. We hold strongly to the view that administrative posts can, and should, be graded in the same way as any other post instead of being left to the present uncertain methods. As it is, the comparison is rendered even more unfavourable when the appointment of a person from outside the Public Service is made or when a skilled professional recruit is sought. Regrading Inspections. It was not possible in last year's report to deal exhaustively with the matters arising from the regrading inspections. Emphasis has been given to certain points of weakness by the experience of cases coming before the Board of Appeal. It will therefore be of interest to further discuss certain points arising. Office Establishment. It appears necessary in the larger departments that some system be adopted under which the establishment and allocation of duties in the various district offices should be apparent at a glance in Head Office and should be kept up to date. In those Departments where effect is given to this phase by graphical records there is found a more intimate knowledge of the duties and individuals comprising the Department. It is not necessary that elaborate machinery should be set in process, but it is vital that m each Head Office there should be proper appreciation of the duties performed by the individual officers in the districts. It is also necessary that steps should be taken to ensure that officers whose designations are similar, should, in the absence of very special circumstances, have delegated to them similar duties. Too frequently is the claim made by officers that they are performing duties which do not usually fall to the lot of officers holding similar positions in other centres. Much heartburning has been caused amongst officers deemed to be in equivalent positions carrying out widely different duties. There is also difficulty when questions of transfer arise. Many difficulties of this type have been straightened out as a result of the regrading. Controlling Officers. In some cases it was found that there was a lack of appreciation by controlling officers of their responsibilities. Generally there was no uncertainty as to their privileges, but the same could not be said for their knowledge of the liability which those privileges carried. Unless junior members of the staff feel that their controlling officers take a live interest in their work and training, unless they feel that their seniors have a higher appreciation of them than as'mere cogs in the machine, unless they are assured that in any critical matters they will be adequately supported in action properly taken, the esprit de corps so vital in an effective organization will be lacking. One Service. It should not be out of place in a report of this nature to call attention to the fact that the various Departments under the control of the Public Service Commissioners constitute one Service. There is, in some quarters, a tendency to regard some Departments as water-tight and to overlook the fact that the closer & the co-operation existing between Departments the more effective will be the service rendered. This is one of the reasons why provision exists in the Public Service Act for an interchange of officers between Departments, and any suggestion that one Department is functioning as an entirely separate entity is to be strongly discouraged. Mortgage Relief Acts. It is noticeable that, due to the great increase of work that has been occasioned temporarily by the various mortgage relief Acts, the staffs in several Departments have substantially increased. The work under the Mortgagors and Lessees Rehabilitation Act should be finalized during the current financial year and it should then be possible to release from the Departments affected trained staffs for transfer to other Departments. The position is being closely watched, and as the work finishes in certain centres the existing staff will be reviewed to ensure that only sufficient officers are retained for the activities of the Department.

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