The Bermuda Government has remained tight-lipped over whether controversial Public Service Commission Regulations, which critics claim will politicise the body, will be taken off the table.

The Royal Gazette has repeatedly asked the Government to clarify the status of PSC Regulations after senior civil servants demanded the 2016 amendments be revoked this month.

Yesterday afternoon, a spokeswoman said: “The Cabinet Office is aware of the concerns raised by the Bermuda Public Services Union. At this stage, the matter continues to be under review.”

On January 12, the BPSU claimed that Michael Dunkley, the Premier, had stated the regulations were published in error “on at least three occasions” and that they would be revoked. The union’s statement also called for “full transparency and openness” in the revocation process.

“The permanent secretaries and heads of departments are eager to have this matter resolved quickly, and call on the Governor and the Premier to address the revocation order immediately,” a BPSU spokesman said.

“More than a month has passed since the PSC Regulations were gazetted and to date Bermuda citizens have not seen the revocation order.”

Previously, former senior civil servant and cabinet secretary Donald Scott expressed concern at the 2016 regulations, which was in turn echoed by the Progressive Labour Party.

Mr Scott stated in a letter that the regulations would extend the role of the Public Service Commission from an “impartial appointing authority” for senior civil servants to a “politicised semi-executive body” that will set performance goals for senior civil servants.

“The change is so fundamental it raises the question of whether the Governor is stepping beyond the authority given to him by the Constitution,” he wrote.

But not everyone is against the new regulations: Tom Conyers, the former chairman of the Measurement and Metrics Committee of the Sage Commission, insists that the changes are needed.

“The changes are quite simple,” Mr Conyers said. “The amendments would make the cabinet secretary and the permanent secretaries accountable to the Public Service Commission for their performance.

“Are the amendments required? Absolutely. One need look no farther than the work being done by the Commission of Inquiry into the Auditor-General’s Report for the years 2010 to 2012 to see that the prior institutional arrangements were unable to prevent widespread political interference and inadequate control over spending of the public’s money.

“It is simply not acceptable to continue the old arrangement where the cabinet secretary, who holds both the offices of Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service, and to whom the civil and public service are accountable, is, himself, accountable to no one.

“A reformed Public Service Commission, with the cabinet secretary being responsible to them in respect of the efficiency and effectiveness with which he and the civil and public service carry out the mandate set out by the Government of the day is sensible, reasonable and critical to Bermuda’s long-term wellbeing.”