Independent Senator Walwyn Hughes questioned whether Government would be able to meet its promised 15 percent spending cuts as Senators debated the Budget.“In 2009-2010 the supplementary estimates to the Budget were $83 million,” he said. “In 2010-2011 it is predicted to be $11 million. This time next year we will know how successful these cuts have been,” said the former Financial Secretary.Government Sen LaVerne Furbert said Bermuda was in the current economic situation as a result of the worldwide recession and not Government mismanagement.She added that she believed an article in rg Magazine which stated one of the reasons Bermuda was now facing Budget cuts during a recessionary year was that former Premier Ewart Brown had allowed Government spending to grow too much “was taking it a bit far”.Education Minister Jennifer Smith admitted Education Ministry employees had not been following financial instructions but had since rectified the situation, she said.“It was not the Minister, it was the civil servants who did these abuses,” she said.She added: “As a single mother I understand what it is like to do more with less. Your children do not have to go without the basics like education and food but it means no flat screen TVs or three pairs of Nikes.”Opposition Sen Suzanne Roberts Holshouser said Bermuda was feeling the impact of the worldwide recession but fiscal mismanagement or a lack of oversight had taken place over the years and several in Government had already acknowledged it.She noted Government was no longer involved with GlobalHue, a company alleged to have overcharged Government by more than $1 million in advertising fees.Independent Senator Joan Dillas Wright said she had some concerns about the Premier’s multi-year budget approach. Premier Paula Cox announced she is implementing a new system that focuses on a three-year budget outline rather than the current 12-month approach.She said other countries had found that implementing a multi-year budgeting approach required a stable revenue base, something that is hard to guarantee during a recession.PLP Sen Cromwell Shakir said many people wrongly thought the economy was “just about money” when in fact it is “a way of life for us all, it’s all about our basic human needs”.He said the Budget was all about “practicing discipline” and Government had “become masters of making more with less”.Senator Shakir said: “With Bermuda being so small we have many challenges, but we are not alone in this global recession.