Unaddressed inefficiencies in the Civil Service mean that it continues to spend millions of taxpayer dollars unnecessarily, according to the former chairman of the Sage Commission.

“Bermuda would be better served if the Civil Service had proper accountability,” Brian Duperreault said. “The current structure we have does not allow for that.”

Mr Duperreault spoke to The Royal Gazette after Michael Dunkley, the Premier, revealed that civil servants took almost 38,665 sick days in the 2015/16 fiscal year, at a cost of $10,625,000 to the Bermuda Government.

“With focus, we can do better, hence the need for a policy on sick leave that provides for a systematic approach,” Mr Dunkley said in the House of Assembly on March 2.

“We have engaged in consultation that will continue through the next fiscal year.”

However, the statistics Mr Dunkley quoted were similar to those contained in the Sage (Spending and Government Efficiency) report, published in October 2013.

The 142-page report, which was intended to reduce government costs and streamline its practices, stated: “There is a high proportion of government workers (33 per cent) who take an unusually high level of sick leave.

“This group is responsible for the bulk of the almost 42,000 sick days taken in 2012/2013. Sick days cost Government over $10 million.”

The report suggested that there was a “large abuse” of sick leave, which was allowed to continue due to “poor monitoring by senior managers within Government”. It concluded: “There are clearly departments with chronic sick leave problems. These need to be investigated thoroughly and those determined to be abusing sick leave must be managed appropriately.”

Mr Duperreault said that the continued sick leave abuse represented “just one symptom of the management issues” within the Civil Service.

“I don’t blame the average guy,” he said. “Even with the demotivation, there are many motivated civil servants who want to come to work and actually do something meaningful. We need to help them.”

He reiterated the Sage report’s suggestion that the Public Service Commission become an independent body, as opposed to being appointed by Governor George Fergusson, thus allowing it fair oversight of the Civil Service and its employees.

“The existing commission isn’t laid out in a way that gives it full powers and clear responsibilities,” he said.

“There should be key performance indicators and real metrics around what the goals are. The consequences of performance should be there, whether positive or negative.”

Mr Duperreault said that this move “would be the single most important thing Bermuda could do”.

“If you solve that issue, it goes a long way to solving all of the issues. There has to be a concerted effort to empower the PSC, which we haven’t seen yet,” he added.

“I would strongly encourage this Government and the Governor to effect those proper controls, which would produce savings that would ultimately help reduce the deficit we have.”