Government plans to hit the ground running in the 2005/06 legislative year, with plans to have legislation on new Social Agenda policies drafted by the time the new policies are announced during the 2005 Throne Speech.

With the legislation already drafted when Parliament opens after the summer break, Government will for the first time in history have those drafts at its fingertips when the Throne Speech is read in November ? hopefully expediting their passage through Parliament, as opposed to previous years when new policies were announced during the Throne Speech and then the legislation was drafted.

Yesterday Cabinet and the Civil Service Executive (the Secretary to the Cabinet, Ministry Permanent Secretaries, and the Assistant Cabinet Secretaries) met at the Fairmont Southampton Princess for a day-long working session discussing the proposed initiatives for 2005/06.

?Each Minister presented their legislative and Social Agenda proposals for the year ahead, giving the rest of us the opportunity to discuss and determine if the proposals are robust enough to deliver our commitments to the people of Bermuda on our Social Agenda,? the Premier said at a Press conference at the hotel yesterday afternoon.

The process allowed Cabinet to review the success of the ?first generation? of Social Agenda initiatives and gave lawmakers the opportunity to consider consolidating some of the policy initiatives developed over the year.

The timing of the work session was key, Mr. Scott said. ?Holding this session at this time allows our Parliamentary Draftspersons the opportunity to work with Ministry technical officers over the summer to ensure that we can deliver against the legislative proposals that will be outlined in the 2005 Speech from the Throne.?

Last night the Premier said the day had been ?excellent? and ?very productive?. The chance for the Draftspersons to hear the Ministers present their ideas in person gave them a first-hand view of the intent behind the ideas, he said. ?It is going to impact greatly on the Throne Speech.?