On 11 December, 1996 I issued Circular No. 54 together with Guidelines on the new classification of Senior Officer. At that time, I indicated that I may subsequently devolve the evaluation of Senior Officer positions to Department Heads. Accordingly, I have determined that Department Heads should exercise this responsibility without the requirement for evaluation of position descriptions by the Public Sector Management Office, hereby amending the current guidelines in this respect. As with the Devolution of Sizing Senior Executive Service Positions (Circular 97-36), the Senior Officer Guidelines advise that classification and grading will initially be based upon work value determined by officers trained by Sedgwick Noble Lowndes Cullen Egan Dell and using CED job evaluation methodology. Agencies are still able to utilise the services of the Public Sector Management Office for evaluations, if required. It is anticipated that in many cases, Senior Officer positions will supersede the payment of Skill Shortage Allowances. Recently, Officers of my Department have validated existing records on the number and size of SES positions, Senior Officer positions and Skill Shortage Allowances within each agency. I have sought advice from the Chief Executives' Committee and been encouraged to confirm this information directly with each Chief Executive Officer. I will subsequently write to each Chief Executive to confirm the SES profile of each agency, excluding submissions currently under consideration. Based upon the information available to me, I have also established a notional number of Senior Officer positions for each agency. Increases beyond the numbers established for either the SES or Senior Officer may be approved, subject to negotiation with the Public Sector Management Office. These negotiations will necessarily canvass the number of Skill Shortage Allowances paid within the agency. Any enquiries about this process can be directed to Paul Stewart, Public Sector Management Office on (02) 9228 5512. C GellatlyDirector-General