A moderate drop in the number of Government employees was reported to the House of Assembly by Premier Michael Dunkley, with a concurrent drop in wages and overtime expenditure.

Responding to Parliamentary questions from the Progressive Labour Party’s Derrick Burgess, Mr Dunkley said that at the end of this August, there were 5,055 people on the Government payroll, as opposed to 5,133 at the end of August, 2013.

During the periods September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013, and September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014, Government paid out overtime to the tune of $21.3 million and $18.9 million respectively, Mr Dunkley said.

Total wages and salaries for the periods of September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013 and September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014 were $404.3 million and $383.9 million respectively.