assistance in Bermuda, the House of Assembly was told yesterday.

Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said parish councils were not being abolished, they were only losing their role in issuing social assistance cheques under The Parish Assistance (Repeal) Act 1994, which received its second reading.

The future role of the councils, which also ran rest homes in some parishes, was being reviewed by Human Affairs Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill.

The councils administered relief to the poor for many years, but "as the social service department became more sophisticated it became obvious that the (councils') job of simply handing over the cheque was getting to be more and more redundant, and really an unnecessary stopgap measure,'' Mr. Edness said.

Cheques could be processed about a month more quickly if they were sent directly from the department to the recipient, he said.

The councils never had formal or clearly delineated powers to monitor eligibility for social assistance, he said. Over time, "the actual function became redundant''.

Section 5c of the Parish Councils Act, which gave councils the authority to issue the cheques, would also be repealed, he said. So would the Prisoners Maintenance Order 1952 and the Trainees Maintenance Order 1952.

Those orders, which had been long out of use, authorised councils to require repayment of assistance paid to the family of a prisoner or trainee.

"Many administrations ago it was determined that was not in the best interests of that particular family,'' Mr. Edness said. "I consider those orders to be somewhat immoral.'' Instead, Government felt a released prisoner should receive further assistance.

Social assistance cheques were issued as a matter of Government policy, he said. Rather than immediately replacing the Act, Government planned to wait until after the recession, then "look at the social assistance needs of the country and devise an Act to address them.'' Shadow Health and Social Services Minister Mr. Nelson Bascome said the Opposition would support the legislation.

But he questioned why Mr. Dill, whose new Ministry had assumed responsibility for parish councils, had not brought the legislation forward. "One has to question again exactly what is happening here, and who is really in charge,'' he said.

He also wanted to see a copy of a study of parish councils completed by Management Services.

Parish councils were "not just a rubber stamp'', but often discovered facts that sent administrators back to the drawing boards.

While there were some advantages with the new method of issuing cheques, there were also problems, Mr. Bascome said. For some people, it took "at least two months'' for an application for social assistance to be processed.

As a result, tenants were late with their rent, landlords with their mortgage payments, and a negative spiral resulted, he said.

There were questions about the way the Paget Parish council handled a lease for a boat slip, and he hoped things would be closely monitored.

On the positive side, he felt parish councils could play a role in fighting drugs and improving relations between parents, teachers, and students in the Education system.

Mr. Edness agreed there were problems in the social assistance system, but they were being reviewed.

More than 700 applicants a month were dealt with, he said. PHOTO Mr. Nelson Bascome.