Would-be Premier Paula Cox said she plans to keep term limits last night, as she set out her stall a week before the leadership vote.

Ms Cox also pledged to overhaul the civil service without redundancies and said she's already reviewing the way capital projects are handled.

She made her comments during a speech to Sandys Rotary Club, and a later question-and-answer session.

Quizzed about the controversial term limits policy, which critics say are off-putting to international business, Ms Cox referred to her spell as the PLP Government's first Labour and Home Affairs Minister.

"Remember, I'm the Minister who introduced term limits," she said of the policy, designed to limit the time foreign workers can stay on the Island.

She described the policy as "firm but fair," before adding "I don't anticipate any change".

Her comments came after this newspaper reported last month that Ms Cox's perceived flexibility on term limits gives her the edge over Premiership rival Terry Lister, according to key members of the business community.

Sources in local and international business named getting rid of the controversial policy as top of their wish-list for whomever succeeds Ewart Brown as Premier.

Ms Cox also told Rotarians the Ministry of Finance is reviewing the way capital projects are handled including the approval of contracts for them to ensure they meet international standards of best practise.

She pledged to reform the Government structure if she beats backbenchers Mr. Lister and Dale Butler to the top job, saying it needed to be both "efficient and cost effective". This, she said, meant "some recalibration" is needed and "part of that reform involves radical reform of the civil service".

Asked if she plans to reduce the size of the civil service through redundancies, she said that would be counterproductive at a time of economic crisis as it would produce more strain on the community and the financial assistance service.

"We're not talking about redundancies. I chose my words carefully. I talked about reform and recalibration," she told Rotarians.

l For more on her speech, see tomorrow's edition of The Royal Gazette.