The Opposition Leader told Parliament that his party was delighted that a law giving the public access to information is to be drawn up by the Attorney General's chambers.

Kim Swan, speaking of the $200,000 allocated in this year's Budget for Public Access to Information (PATI) legislation, said: "When we heard that the Attorney General's chambers are going to be working on access to information there are those of us on this side saying: 'hip, hip, hip hooray!'."

Referring to The Royal Gazette's A Right to Know: Giving People Power campaign, which is urging Government to pass PATI legislation this year,Mr. Swan said on Monday evening: "We have got no less than the Gazette waging its own 'right to know' campaign. Certainly, this is a move in the right direction."

Mr. Swan urged Government to commission the Cabinet Office's Central Policy Unit, which gets $678,000 in the 2008/9 Budget, to conduct a study on poverty.

He said: "One of the areas that needs a great deal of understanding in Bermuda is the big problem that we have of poverty.

"I would encourage the Government, certainly as it relates to the Cabinet Office, to ensure that a wider understanding of this particular subject be garnered."

Mr. Swan said the Cabinet Office was the hub of Government and needed to "wrap its collective mind around this thorny issue".

The debate on the planned expenditure for the Cabinet Office, which gets $6.16 million in total in the Budget, included discussion about $1.46 million for a "London office" which is being set up.

Mr. Swan and Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons said that was a lot of money and questioned exactly what the office was for.

Dr. Gibbons asked: "Do we have an absolutely clear sense that it will provide the kind of return that we are looking for?"

Junior Government Minister Walter Roban said London was an expensive place but the office was vital to Bermuda's success as an "international centre" and "tourist destination".