Premier Alex Scott is beginning to put his own stamp on Government, both in terms of appointments and policy.

Last week?s Cabinet shuffle showed some of his thinking. While the shuffle was forced by the death of Finance Minister Eugene Cox as opposed to a conscious effort by Mr. Scott to put ?his own people? in place, it does give some indication of what direction he plans to take.

The appointment of Paula Cox as Finance Minister demonstrated his recognition of the need to retain the business community?s confidence and his commitment to pursuing a market-friendly approach to the economy.

Clearly, Mr. Scott also wanted to keep the shuffle simple, and would have done so had Dale Butler accepted the Education Ministry. That would have seen Ashfield DeVent replace Mr. Butler in Community Affairs, a relatively obvious move.

Instead, Mr. Butler?s refusal to accept the move meant that Terry Lister was moved from Works to Education and Mr. DeVent took over Works, a more rapid promotion than would have been normal.

But Mr. Scott clearly is trying to bring together the pro-Jennifer Smith and the ?rebel 11? camps in the PLP parliamentary group by doling out jobs in roughly equal proportion. Nonetheless, the pro-Jennifer Smith camp retains the upper hand in terms of appointments.

More importantly, Mr. Scott?s speech to Rotary on Tuesday added flesh to Government?s policy direction first outlined in October?s Throne Speech.

To steal a phrase from the early Tony Blair governments, Mr. Scott clearly wants to ?put people first? under his government while recognising the growing concerns of the community over issues like crime and alienation among the young.

Apart from the unpopularity of Ms Smith, it was the public?s perception that the Government had failed to deal with social issues like housing, education and health care that reduced the PLP?s popularity in the last parliamentary term.

Now Mr. Scott rightly wants to show that the Government is doing something about these issues. To be sure, talking about focusing ?on the social agenda addressing the negative elements in society to improve the overall quality of life for all Bermudians? sounds good. Actually doing something about it is harder.

Similarly, most people would concede that ?simply locking up every offender? will not solve the crime problem, whereas ?focusing our attention and energy on correcting unacceptable behaviour? is the long term answer. Again, it is much easier said than done.

This has been the challenge facing all ?third way? governments. Voters want a stable and growing economy and they also want social problems solved. But no government has bottomless wells of money, people and time with which to solve the problems.

The coming Budget will shed some light on how Mr. Scott plans to move from words to action. But he will also have to deal with the costs from Hurricane Fabian, and making sure that the economy continues to grow.

That means not raising taxes too heavily and crimping an economy whose growth remains fairly slow. And it also means restoring tourism.

Mr. Scott is predicting a better 2004 and that?s a relatively safe bet given that the last four months of 2003 were essentially a write-off after Fabian struck. The fate of Minister Renee Webb, who received a strong endorsement from consultant Evan Ettenberg in yesterday?s newspaper, remains uncertain. Of course, Ms Webb is implementing Mr. Ettenberg?s proposals, so that is no surprise.

But Ms Webb has been saying the right things about tourism. It is her management style and a tendency to shoot from the lip that has landed her in trouble.

How Mr. Scott deals with the latter problem will be a test of his management ability.

The other test of Mr. Scott?s leadership will come when the by-election for Mr. Cox?s Sandys North seat occurs. The fact that half the Country is seemingly vying for the PLP candidacy is something of an endorsement.

But of any Sandys seat, this one is the least secure and how the PLP performs will determine if Mr. Scott is as good as his words.