Increases in pay for the Civil Service are to go hand-in-hand with a major overhaul of Government that will see every civil servant's job description re-written.

As reported in the on Saturday, top executives and members of the judiciary already on salaries of $115,000 or more are to receive increases that, in some cases, amount to $20,000 as part of a re-assessment of the pay scale system.

Difficulties recruiting and retaining high-fliers is one of the main reasons for the pay hikes, which are designed to make them more competitive with salaries offered in the private business sector.

Cabinet Secretary John Drinkwater said concern about Civil Service pay lagging behind what is offered in the private sector had been an issue for a number of years and this had prompted a review of the 50-step pay scale, which has included input from the UK National School of Government.

"They looked at the pay and grading system to see if it was still appropriate today," said Mr. Drinkwater. "They have created a report and we have a team looking at that now."

One of the report's recommendations is for all civil servant job descriptions to be re-written as part of a re-evaluation of pay and job terms. This huge task is expected to be undertaken before the next phases of the pay scale review get underway.

Increasing pay for the most senior officials and members of the judiciary, including judges, magistrates and Department of Public Prosecution lawyers was viewed as a critical step that needed to be made sooner rather than later, said Mr. Drinkwater.

"We had been concerned for several years that we have fallen behind and senior civil servants' salaries have been uncompetitive. We have found it hard to retain or recruit people," he said.

"When we went to recruit overseas in place like the UK and Canada we found it hard to bring those people here with the money that we could offer."

The top nine levels of the 50-level pay scale have now been re-assessed. It means those who were receiving salaries between $115,164 and $171,152 will move up either one, two or three levels to receive salary increases between $5,000 and $20,000.

"This was chosen as phase one because that was where things were most critical," said Mr. Drinkwater. He explained the review and the use of the UK National School of Government was designed to create benchmarks for pay using recognised research.

There is also to be an introduction of performance agreements for civil servants ? a mechanism favoured over systems such as performance-based pay assessments used elsewhere.

Bermuda Public Services Union president Ed Ball said there was a real issue with private sector businesses being able to lure high ranking civil servants with the offer of greater pay incentives.

Mr. Drinkwater agreed, although pointing out that many who decide on a career in public service are not primarily driven by a desire to reap the biggest pay cheque.

But he could see the dilemma faced by a civil servant earning $120,000 and with two children to educate who is offered $200,000 with bonuses to move into the private business sector.

The Cabinet Secretary added: "We will never compete with the private sector, but we need to be competitive."