The number of civil servants in Government has increased dramatically since the Progressive Labour Party came to power, an Opposition senator claimed yesterday.

United Bermuda Party Senator Bob Richards told the Senate that Government needed to make a policy decision to control its size.

?There has been a huge increase in the number of civil servants under this Government,? he said. ?It requires a top-down approach decision from the Government on a policy of controlling the size of government itself.?

Sen. Richards did not quote figures but statistics gained by yesterday do not back up his claim.

Figures for 1998, 1999 and 2005 were not available from the Statistical Information office but in 2000 there were 2,875 civil servants compared to 2,561 in 2004. That does not include teachers, police officers, fire service officers or prison officers.

Sen. Richards was responding to comments made by Works and Engineering Minister Sen. David Burch, who had said in his Budget brief to the Senate that he planned to ?rein in the appetite for expansion of Government office space in the city of Hamilton?.

Sen. Burch said the Government spent $8.5 million dollars a year on private sector rental accommodation but that was going to be reduced by using government-owned properties to house civil servants.

Sen. Richards said: ?The Minister made a strong statement about how he was going to put his foot down to stop the demand for increased office space.

?If they keep hiring more civil servants, they are going to have to find some place for these people to work. It requires more than just the Minister?s say so.

?The size of government has become almost the same size as the tourist industry. It requires an overall policy decision by the Government to control its size.?

Sen. Richards praised Sen. Burch for the work he had done in the Ministry since coming to office. But he warned that the Colonel had inherited a ?poisoned chalice?.

?He?s been sent, so to speak, into the breach like a fireman to subdue a blaze before it destroys the entire structure,? he said, adding that the Ministry of Works and Engineering had seen a ?veritable parade of failed ministers?.

?It will take all of the Minister?s leadership skills to try to right the ship. Under the current administration Works and Engineering has been the epicentre of government?s attempts to spread its largesse.?

He said the Ministry had never been known as the ?world headquarters for efficiency and high productivity? but that the PLP had added ?controversy, waste and favouritism? to the mix.

Sen. Burch had earlier said that Bermuda Housing Corporation would move to newly renovated office space at Southside in August as part of his money-saving plan. But he added that it would retain an office in Hamilton City.

Civil servants will also be moved into the space vacated by Police and court staff when the new combined building is completed.

Independent Senator Carol Anne Bassett said she was glad to hear that work was due to begin on the new courts and Police station in May.

?I know that people in our Police service have been calling for proper work areas for quite a number of years. I?m sure they?ll be happy to know that that?s getting the attention it deserves.?