Chapter 19 Correspondence and Public Business

Security of Official Documents

1900. Government servants are strictly forbidden to give any person information relating to the business of The Public Service otherwise, than in the course of their duty.
1901. There are three security classifications. These are, in the order of their importance:

Top Secret / Secret / Confidential

1902. The classification "Top Secret" or "Secret" will be employed whenever a document is of such a nature that it is undesirable that its existence, or; contents should be known other than to those senior officers those duties make this knowledge essential.
1903. The classification "Confidential" will be used where any information, or; material requires security protection but does not require the special precaution mentioned in General Order 1902 (.e.g. papers dealing with the consideration of Government Policy, certain personnel matters including disciplinary recommendations, and any matter of knowledge which is to be restricted entirely to Government officers).Any staff matter that is not of a nature to warrant the classification of "Confidential" must be regarded and marked "In Confidence." Such matters must receive the treatment that accords with the sense of the term "In Confidence" and files and papers relating to such matters must travel under sealed cover.
1904. Confidential and secret correspondence, or; documents must always be kept separate from open correspondence and material, and must be kept under lock and key. No reference to facts contained in confidential or secret correspondence shall be made in any open correspondence.
1905. It is the responsibility of Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments to ensure that no member of their staffs, other than officers designated for the purpose, shall be in a position to handle, or; see confidential or secret documents.
1906. All correspondence marked "Top Secret", "Secret" or "Confidential" must be opened by Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments personally. Heads of Departments shall themselves be responsible for the security of secret and confidential material that comes into their hands. One clerk must be appointed in each Ministry or Department to whom all secret and confidential work must be entrusted.
1907. All secret documents must be enclosed in two envelopes, one inside the other. The inner envelope must be marked "Secret" or "Top Secret", as the case may be, and addressed to the officer by name, and the outer envelope must bear only the official address and title. The inner envelope should be folded rather smaller than the other, so that both will not be opened at once.
1908. Care must be exercised that secret and confidential papers do not pass about the office, or; between one office and another, except in sealed covers properly marked.
1909. All officers are responsible for the security of any classified documents held in their custody.
1910. Documents received from other officers must not be declassified, or; downgraded without the approval of the originating office.
1911. Decisions affecting an officer personally shall be conveyed to him in writing. No officer through whose hands such correspondence passes may communicate any of the contents to any person or persons without instructions from The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service, the Financial Secretary, The Permanent Secretary of The Ministry, or the Head of Department, according to the circumstances and the content of the correspondence.
1912. Copies of communication from Government must not be conveyed to any private person without the permission of a responsible senior officer. If the orders therein contained are intended to be communicated, they will be embodied in a letter addressed to the person concerned.
1913. When it is necessary to make use of an opinion of a member of the Attorney General's Chambers it must not be quoted as such, and it must not be quoted that it is the opinion, or; advice of that person. The addressee should be informed that the Ministry or Department is advised in a certain sense, giving only a paraphrase of the advice. There should be no quotation and care must be taken that the exact sense of the advice is not altered by the paraphrase. The sense of these rules shall be observed also when it is necessary to refer to decisions of the Cabinet.
1914. No officers may take copies of communications and reports referring to themselves, and any officer found in possession of such information which has not been given to him by due authority, but which has passed through his hands in the course of his duties may be charged with an offence against discipline.
1915. Officers are strictly forbidden to give "an impression" of any official seal to any private person; the use of such seals must be strictly confined to official requirements.
1916. In any case where there is prima facie evidence of a breach of the foregoing security rules, the officer concerned shall be immediately suspended from the performance of his duties pending an investigation of the circumstances of the case.

Security of Officers

1917. Anyone appointed to hold public office in The Bahamas may be required to give security for the proper and faithful discharge of his duties, and he may be called upon to submit as such security any guarantee society established and carrying on business in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Dominion of Canada, or; within The Bahamas.
1918. Government will pay all premiums, which become due and payable to an approved guarantee society entering into any bond on behalf of a public officer.
1919. An officer in respect of whom a bond is executed by a guarantee society will be, bound by the conditions imposed upon him as if he had himself entered into the bond correspondence with The Ministry of The Public Service and The Public Service Commission.
1920. All staff matters, except those expressly delegated to Permanent Secretaries (or Heads of Departments where there is no Permanent Secretary) and those matters which come clearly within well defined rules such as General Orders', Establishment Circulars and Rulings of General Application, are to be referred to The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service. Where necessary, and as appropriate, The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service will refer cases to The Deputy Prime Minister, who is The Minister responsible for establishment matters, or; to The Public Service Commission. Training matters only may be referred directly to the Deputy Director of The Public Service (Training), if that is more convenient.
1921. Correspondence to The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service and the Director of Training should normally come from The Permanent Secretary of The Ministry concerned, but in those Departments which do not come under a Permanent Secretary (for example, the Legal and Judicial Departments), it should come from the Head of Department. The correct channel of approach from Ministries to The Public Service Commission is via The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service. It is normally unnecessary for carbon copies of correspondence to be addressed to The Public Service Commission, because The Commission receives the original correspondence for action on the relevant Department of Public Service file.
1922. (A). An individual should address himself on staff matters to his immediate superior officer. But, if an individual asks for his representation to be passed on to his Head of Department, or; to his Permanent Secretary, or; to The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service, this must be done through the appropriate channels, which are as follows: Officers within a Department should refer matters to the Head of Department; the Head of Department in turn should refer matters to The Permanent Secretary; and, if necessary, The Permanent Secretary should refer to The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service, or; the Director of Training. It is for The Permanent Secretary to decide whether or not he writes a separate letter, or; memorandum to The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service, or; Director of Training, or; simply endorses the paper prepared by the Head of Department, so long as it is clear what The Permanent Secretary's views on the matter. It is important that The Permanent Secretary make a firm recommendation on all matters referred to The Department of Public Service.
1923. (B). Correspondence from The Ministry of The Public Service will always be addressed to The Permanent Secretary or to an individual "through" his Permanent Secretary. If the officer concerned serves in a Department (as opposed to a Ministry Headquarters), The Department of Public Service and the Director of Training will enclose an extra copy of his Memorandum, or letter to be passed to the Head of Department concerned. In matters concerned with Finance, such as: wages, salaries, allowances, etc., The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service, or the Director of Training will send a copy of his paper direct to The Treasurer.

Conduct of Business

1924. Personnel questions, (other than those which are for determination by The Public Service Commission, and establishment matters that may be resolved within the terms of these General Orders amended from time to time, will be dealt with by The Permanent Secretary in each Ministry (or the Head of Department if there is no post of Permanent Secretary), except that personnel matters that have a service wide implication and establishment matters that raise a question of interpretation, or; intention of any provision of General Orders, or; suggest a departure from existing policy, or; the establishment of a novel principle, or; a new provision, or; define an issue that may have repercussions throughout The Service, shall be referred to The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service.
1925. Where proposals concern more than one Ministry, it will usually be necessary for a draft to be sent to the other Ministry or Ministries for their concurrence, or; for their views. However, discussions between senior officers, between Ministry and Ministry, and between Ministry and Department, shall be resorted to freely in order that the business at hand may be conducted expeditiously and a conclusion reached with the minimum of delay. The fact that this had been done must be made clear in the correspondence and a note shall be made in the files of the issues raised, the considerations that have been taken into account, the opinions expressed and the reasons for those opinions, and the conclusions arrived at.
1926. When a Minister grants an official interview to a Head of Department or to any other departmental officer a record of the interview will be made by the officer and submitted to The Ministry for confirmation. Records should be kept as short as possible and will normally be limited to the decisions taken. They should be submitted in duplicate, typed on one side of the paper only and transmitted under "Confidential" cover. Conversations with a Minister on official matters must not be quoted in official correspondence unless a record of such conversations, made at the time they took place, has been submitted for written confirmation.
1927. Officers answering telephone calls must immediately identify themselves.
1928. Any matter which can properly be disposed of by telephone, or; interview should not form the subject of correspondence. The action taken and any decision reached should be recorded on the appropriate file.
1929. Heads of Departments are, however, responsible for seeing that due economy is exercised in the use of the telephone and in particular that it is not used by officers for their private affairs except in cases of real necessity.
1930. Subordinate officers desiring to make representations to The Governor General, to The Permanent Secretary, Department of Public Service, or; to their Permanent Secretary, should do so through the head of Department. Generally, an officer will communicate officially with a senior officer of another Ministry, Department or Section, only through his own senior officer.
1931. All official correspondence should be couched in a tone of courtesy with careful avoidance of any expression of personal feelings, and should be as concise as possible. The language should be as simple as is consistent with courtesy.
1932. Heads of Departments must not send to their Permanent Secretary the letters they may receive from their subordinates, or; others when they can embody all the necessary information so received in their own minutes and reports. This does not, however, apply to letters on important matters; and it is to be borne in mind that the Head of Department is bound to forward to his Permanent Secretary any letter which he may be requested by a subordinate officer so to forward (unless couched in improper or insulting language), accompanying it with his own remarks.
1933. All incoming mail must be seen and initialed by a Head of Department or other senior officer, immediately upon receipt. In a large Department it may be necessary for incoming mail to be sorted according to subject and seen by the officer in charge of the Section concerned.
1934. All communications, whether from The Public, or; from other Ministries, or; between a Ministry and its Departments, must be answered with least possible delay. Where it is not possible for a prompt reply to be sent, an interim acknowledgement must be made and a reply sent as soon thereafter as possible.
1935. When a reminder is received it will be the responsibility of the senior officer receiving incoming mail to call for the relevant files and personally ascertain why the matter has not already been dealt with.
1936. All mail remaining unfiled 48 hours after receipt must be shown to a senior officer who will then give instructions in writing how it should be dealt with, i.e., filed in a temporary file, or; held for a further 48 hours.
1937. Correspondence and files must not be put in any place, such as cupboards, or; drawers, where they may be overlooked.
1938. Any authority of law, regulation, or; standing decision on any point submitted for consideration must be quoted in the submission, and Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments will personally satisfy themselves as to the accuracy of such references.
1939. Any disregard of any particular of the procedure laid down in General Orders 1925 to 1938 will be dealt with as a breach of discipline and the officer dealt with accordingly.

Correspondence and filing

1940. The subject of which a communications treats must be briefly stated as a heading to it, and a reference must be quoted.
1941. In all cases in which a communication relates to a matter which has formed the subject of previous correspondence the previous reference must be quoted.
1942. Communications within Ministries and Departments must be as concise as possible, but must in every case be so full and detailed as to obviate the necessity for a reference to the sender for further information.
1943. Communications within the administration shall be addressed to The Permanent Secretary of The Ministry, or; where there is no Permanent Secretary, to the Head of Department, and as far as possible, be confined to a single subject. Where it is found to be essential that more than one subject is dealt with in one communication, additional copies, according to the number of subjects, must be furnished. In every communication, paragraphs must be numbered consecutively throughout and each page must be numbered. Enclosures must be noted in the margin.
1944. Letters to members of the Judiciary in their official capacities, and to non-official persons, must be couched in formal style. All official letters must be signed by, or; on behalf of The Permanent Secretary or the Head of Department, and in all cases Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments are responsible for the contents of all official correspondence that is sent from their offices.
1945. Where it is obvious or probable that a copy of correspondence will need to be sent to another Department or Ministry or some other authority such correspondence must be submitted with as many copies as may be necessary.
1946. When reference is made to any particular provision in the estimates of revenue and expenditure, the head and sub-head under which the provision is made must be quoted not only by number but also by description.
1947. Heads of Departments requiring advice on legal questions should address The Permanent Secretaries of their Ministries and not the law officers. Provided always that the Commissioner of Police may address the law officers direct on matters concerning criminal cases.
1948. Only the Permanent Secretaries of Ministries and Heads of Departments may address The Permanent Secretary of The Public Service direct. Ordinarily, an officer will not directly address the Head of a Department other than his own, he should raise the subject through the Head of his own Department.
1949. Files should not be passed to another Ministry or Department except on instructions contained therein. Marginal notes are not to be made on a file by an officer to whom it has been referred; no uninvited criticism should be made by any third party on minutes addressed by one officer to another, other than to correct errors of fact.
1950. All officers before sending an official Telegram must satisfy themselves that it is restricted to official business and that it contains as few words as possible consistent with clarity and intelligibility. Mere auxiliary words which can obviously be filled in by the addressee must be omitted, and reference numbers and dates of connected correspondence must not be inserted unless such particulars enable the sender to shorten the Telegram in other respects.
1951. In each Department there shall be kept a Precedent Book in which shall be entered, from time to time, all instructions given by The Governor General, a Minister, or; Permanent Secretary or Head of Department for the guidance of officers. The book should be carefully indexed to facilitate reference to it.

Destruction of Documents

1952. The preservation and the destruction of Government Documents are regulated by the following rules:
      1. No correspondence or document shall be considered for destruction before it is five years old.
      2. Any file that is put away after having been marked closed, shall bear a direction by a senior officer in the Ministry responsible for the subject that it shall be brought up for a first review on a specified date after the period of mandatory retention formally agreed with the Archivist; at which even the file will subsequently be scheduled for:
         1. a period of further retention;
         2. destruction on a certain date, or; after a certain period;
         3. preservation, in part, or; whole, in the Archives.
      3. If a file is retained in accordance with (2)(a) it shall be kept for fifteen years from the date of its closure, and shall then be considered for destruction, or; for further retention, by The Permanent Secretary of The Ministry concerned with the subject, acting conjointly (or in on junction / collaboration) with the Archivist who under the Public Records Act and Regulations made, under that Act, has overall, responsibility for the coordination and supervision of all activities in connection with the destruction and preservation of Public Documents. 
      4. documents relating to land and the ownership thereof, and to the value of land and property, especially Crown Lands;
      5. documents that are more than a hundred years old, unless they are of a routine nature.
      6. Documents that, as a rule, must be kept, are those referring to policy decisions, precedents, legal opinion and the preparation of legislation; to evidences of rights and obligations of Government, and claims for compensation not subject to time limit; to reports on field trails and experiments; to Departmental Committees and working parties deliberations; to organization and staffing and the Curricula Vitae of public officers.

1953. An officer in each Ministry and Department should be nominated to constantly survey and regularly destroy useless documents, to weed files and to report his activity, at stated intervals, to a designated senior officer.
1954. The provisions of General Orders 1970 and 1971 do not apply to Legal and Judicial Departments and the Department of the Registrar General.

Stationary and Postage

1955. Official stationery must, on no account, be used for private correspondence, or; for any purpose not directly connected with the work of the Ministry or Department. Permanent Secretaries will ensure that the strictest economy in the use of stationery is exercised in all Departments of their Ministries.All orders for stationery must be scrutinized, before they are issued, by a responsible officer deputed for this purpose.
1956. Unpaid, or; under paid letters, or; postal packets from private parties should generally not be accepted. If they are accepted as being official, the postage need not be paid; but if they are returned to the Post Office with an intimation written thereon by the Head of the Department to whom they are addressed, that the letters have not been accepted officially, they will be returned to the sender.
1957. Official correspondence is exempt from charge for redirection and shall be forwarded by air mail if it was received by that means.
1958. Telegrams and Saving Rams may only be authorized for dispatch

Signing the Visitors Book at Government House

1959. Senior officers are required to note that it is customary to sign the Visitor's Book at Government House on the following occasions:
      1. on the occasion of the Official Celebration of the Birthday of The Sovereign;
      2. on first arrival in The Bahamas;
      3. on departure from The Bahamas for more than a month, when the letters P.P.C. should be inscribed after the name;
      4. on return to The Bahamas after an absence of more than a month.

The Visitor's Book is a convenient means by which those who wish to do so may formally pay their respects to the Queen's Representative. To write one's name in the Book is the equivalent of paying a call. The Book is also a convenient means by which persons may indicate whether they wish to be received at Government House. The Visitors Book is available for signature every day, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.