No jobs will be lost as race group CURE transfers responsibilities to the Department of Statistics, Culture and Social Rehabilitation Minister Neletha Butterfield said yesterday.

Government has already begun its review of the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality amid concerns racial discrimination is not being eliminated quickly enough, Ms Butterfield told a Throne Speech press conference.

The review was announced in Friday's speech, with the Minister explaining yesterday: "This review is expected to consider CURE's original mandate, its statutory framework and how best to address historical inequities with respect to racial discrimination."

She said of the handover of data collection, analysis and reporting functions to the Department of Statistics: "This should be a relatively seamless transfer, given that CURE presently derives data for the Annual Review of Workforce Survey from the Department of Statistics.

"We anticipate that any implications for staff at CURE will be manageable, and that no job losses are expected as a result of the transfer of functions.

"The review of CURE is already in progress and we expect to be in a position to make recommendations to Cabinet early in the new year."

Ms Butterfield also spoke about the plan to locate an island on which the Mirrors programme can be based.

"At present, Mirrors is constrained by a need to conduct several of its transformation programming components at different locations throughout Bermuda," she said.

"Residential events are held at one location, while volunteer recruitment and youth participant enrolment functions are held at others.

"It is expected that the move towards consolidation of the Mirrors programme at a single location will allow for greater opportunities for service delivery, in terms of engaging and transforming the lives of larger numbers of our disaffected youth."

She said the Ministry will encourage parents of special needs children to write in as Government seeks to improve inadequate facilities for such youngsters.

"A problem-solving, creative approach will be pursued in order to address this challenge," she said. "Money is not necessarily the answer, but the Ministry will encourage stakeholders to tackle the problem with compassion and empathy."

And Ms Butterfield said her Ministry would also be involved in the digesting of the recent report on young black males, to strengthen efforts to keep young black men out of prison, drug-free and available for employment.