A policy has not been implemented to slash the number of work permits approved, but the numbers of work permits have dropped since September 2001, Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Terry Lister revealed on Friday.

The Minister was responding to comments made this week by Shadow Home Affairs spokeswoman Patricia Gordon-Pamplin that Government embarrassment over rising numbers of foreign workers is behind growing time lags before work permits are issued.

He said it was untrue that Government had planned to cut down on work permits or that the foreign workforce was increasing.

"The Shadow Minister is wrong. There has been no policy mandating the cutting back of work permits. This Government has revised work permit policies and strictly applied them to ensure that Bermudians' interests are protected," he said.

"More administrative controls have had to be put in place as some employers constantly try to get around the policies. These bad corporate citizens make it harder for everyone."

In response to the alleged rising numbers of work permits he said: "Since the third quarter of 2001 - September 11, 2001 - the numbers (of work permits) have dropped in each successive quarter at a rate equivalent to 625 - eight percent - a year." During a press conference the Minister also dismissed other criticisms by Ms Gordon-Pamplin and printed in the Royal Gazette last Tuesday.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin said that by keeping applications pending, Government hoped to massage the figures for the election after breaking promises to slash expatriate numbers.

However, Mr. Lister said: "Estimates of the number of work permit holders at the end of each quarter are based on applications so that accelerating or slowing application processing would have no effect on the numbers.

"These figures are based on an old formula to keep them comparable from year to year. Some analyses based on actual work permit grants indicate that the estimate based on the old formula, which dates from 1988, may be low by a few hundred. Hence the Chief Immigration Officer's statement that the number of work permit holders is about 7,500 to 8,000."

Mr. Lister also revealed that over the past four years quarterly estimates for one-year-five-year permit holders starting at the third quarter 1998 were steady at 7,330 peaking at 7630. During the past three months 970 three-month temporary work permits had been applied for.

Mr. Lister claimed that it was "nonsense" that a ministerial minutiae was creating a bottleneck or that the Minister was meddling. He stated that the Minister saw a small number of files compared to the volume processed and those are applications that fall outside policy.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin had also said that some people were applying for renewals of work permits that were not issued in the first place and indicated that she had heard of delays which placed employees in the position of applying for renewals shortly after they had received their permits.

But Mr. Lister said that mistakes are made and that it was hard to reply to anecdotes of work permit delays.

Mr. Lister also clarified that there is no such thing as a fast track application responding to Ms Gordon-Pamplin's statement that it was fraudulent if people were paying for fast track applications if it was not fast track.

Responding to questions posed after the press conference, Mr. Lister said that the foreign workers who come to Bermuda should be leaders in their field.

And he said some delays in processing permits result from documentation problems.