H—lB

SECTION I.—ORGANIZATION (i) The Rehabilitation Board 9. The members of the Rehabilitation Board are as shown in Table I of the Appendix. 10. During the twelve months ended 31st March, 1948, Mr. J. J. Granville was appointed a member of the Board, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of the Honourable E. L. Cullen, M.P. 11. By the Rehabilitation Amendment Act, 1947, the Commissioner of Works has been appointed an additional member of the Board and has been represented at meetings since November last. It is expected that this additional appointment will be of material assistance to the Board, particularly as regards housing for ex-servicemen. 12. The Board met on eleven occasions throughout the year. (ii) The Couneil 13. The personnel of the National Rehabilitation Council is as set out in Table II of the Appendix. 14. Additional members appointed during the year were Mr. W. Gr. Harrison, nominee of the New Zealand Employers' Federation, and Mr. J. J. Granville. The Hon. Mr. E. L. Cullen, Mr. T. R. Lees, and Mr. W. Marshall have resigned during this period. 15. The Council met on four occasions during the year in pursuance of its function as advisory body to the Hon. the Minister and the Board. SECTION lI.—DEPARTMENTAL ADMINISTRATION (i) Decentralization 16. Except for certain specified types of transactions which are reserved for Head Office decision, the administration of individual cases is wholly a local responsibility. 17. Loan applications are handled by the nine District Executive Committees. (ii) Staff and Organization (a) Rehabilitation Department 18. The continued heavy turnover of staff has been a constant problem to be faced in the efficient organization of the work, and during the year the number of officers who resigned or transferred to other Departments was 277, which was 34 per cent, of the total staff at the beginning of the year. New appointments totalled 200. The net reduction in the staff was 9 per cent. 19. In several large districts the staff losses were between 40 per cent, and 50 per cent., and in effect there has been almost a complete staff turnover in two years. 20. It is doubtful whether any other Department has had a task of such complexity and magnitude as this Department has, and to carry it out it has been necessary to take men with little or no experience and fit them for the work. 21. By far the greater percentage of appointees were untrained, but it was found that by giving them a clear lead as to what was required and by attempting to do things in a systematic way, satisfactory results have been obtained from the men available. The issue of the " Office Manual," codifying in a loose-leaf binder all office instructions, has assisted in these results. 22. Prior to the recent conversion of temporary staff to permanent status, approximately 75 per cent, of the whole staff of the Department and 70 per cent, of the administrative and clerical staff were temporary employees. The conversion reduced these to 30 per cent, and 10 per cent, respectively.

5