Work must be done to rebalance the Civil Service to better help the public, according to statistician Cordell Riley.

Speaking at an open forum organised by the Progressive Labour Party, Mr Riley argued that while less civil servants might be required in some areas, changes in the Bermuda population will require the creation of more jobs in other areas.

He told a packed Sweeting-Ball Memorial Hall that while the civil service has grown since 2000, it has already begun to shrink. While he said that some have called for broad cuts, he argued that the Civil Service should be guided by the changing needs of the Island’s declining and ageing population.

“In 2017, we will see a major event take place in Bermuda,” Mr Riley said. “The senior population will overtake the youth population in Bermuda. The senior population being 65 and over, the youth population being under 18. According to government forecasts, that will take place in 2017. So as a result of that, there will be shifts in what the Civil Service has to do.”

Mr Riley said that in order to better focus the civil service to help the community, more information should be collected. He noted the lack of real data on people leaving the country, making it difficult to calculate the net migration of people.

He also said that there has not been a study done on the Civil Service itself since 2005, adding: “The reality is we don’t know. Nobody knows if it’s too big or too small.

“That sort of study is what needs to be done now. A study that looks at each department, looking at what it is that they do, whether their services are being required and, if not how to go about scaling down, and then in other departments you might find a need to be increased, such as a department that deals with seniors which might have to provide more services.”

Mr Riley was just one of several speakers who addressed the crowd on a range of topics, particularly the challenges facing the Island’s seniors and the need to get young people more involved politically.