Government has allocated money in the next budget for a court reporting office, Premier Jennifer Smith told the House of Assembly yesterday.

Some $300,000 will be spent, putting the finishing touches on a system to record and transcribe into writing Bermuda's court cases.

The long awaited plan is generally supported by the Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP).

But Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt said that Government should have opted to let the private sector take care of transcribing the tapes.

"We've all known that court reporting needs to be done. We are told that the system is in place but the most difficult part of making it work... is transcribing those tapes into a written record...I seriously suggest that the way to deal with that is to farm it out to the private sector rather than do it in house". That, he said, would likely be more cost effective.