Top civil servants John Drinkwater and Stanley Oliver are to move to the Cabinet Office, Premier Jennifer Smith announced yesterday.

And -- as predicted in The Royal Gazette last month -- Mr. Drinkwater will become Cabinet Secretary, while Mr. Oliver will take over the new role of Head of the Civil Service.

The jobs -- currently combined under Cabinet Secretary Leo Mills, who is due to retire -- will be split as part of the recommendations of a major review of the Civil Service carried out earlier this year.

Mr. Drinkwater is Permanent Secretary at Home Affairs and Public Safety, while Mr. Oliver holds the same post at Works and Engineering.

Job swaps with the private sector and a fast-track scheme for public servants with promise will also be introduced.

And Ms Smith told the House of Assembly that Government would take on board the review team's proposal to set up a Central Policy Unit in the Cabinet Office.

Ms Smith said: "I am conscious that in selecting this option some may be unable to resist the temptation to criticise us for growing Government.

"However, I should stress that the process of change is complex and challenging and must be accomplished quickly and efficiently while the business of Government continues unimpeded.'' And she added: "It is our expectation that once the process of change is successfully completed and tested, the two positions will be merged, hopefully within a maximum of two to three years.'' Ms Smith said: "I think it fair to say that the coordination of policy throughout Government has been a traditional area of weakness.

"The report calls for the creation of a central policy unit to ensure that policies being developed in Ministries are carefully considered for the impact they are likely to have on other organs of Government and to encourage a more corporate approach to policy-making generally. We have accepted that recommendation.'' And Ms Smith said work had already begun on seconding an experienced Civil Servant -- probably from the UK -- to help set up the Central Policy Unit.

She added that the Civil Service rule book -- General Orders -- would also be rewritten to speed up decision-making.

Ms Smith said: "The review and rewrite of General Orders is critical to the process of modernising the Civil Service.

"The current Orders are designed to support a rigid, top-down system of management and are no longer relevant or adequate to meet the needs of a progressive Civil Service.'' She added a special steering committee had provided a "general framework'' for the new rule book and another committee of Department heads would be tasked with finishing the job.

Ms Smith added that it was hoped to make the Civil Service more attractive as a career for high-flyers -- which will include two-way secondments between the public and private sectors to boost skills.

She said: "One of the very few negatives about the presence of a vibrant international business sector in Bermuda is that it increases the competition for Bermuda's best brains.

"The Civil Service must be able to compete for that talent.'' And Ms Smith added: "That will only be possible if we can offer the brightest of our young people opportunities for rapid advancement where that is justified.

"I also believe strongly that in order for Civil Servants to broaden their perspectives there is an urgent need for a structured system of secondments to and from the private sector, both here in Bermuda and overseas.''