An opposition MP claimed today that a response to parliamentary questions demonstrated “a fear of public scrutiny” after information about public officers who accompany ministers on overseas travel was withheld.

Michael Fahy, of the One Bermuda Alliance, received written answers to queries he asked of Alexa Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs, who has responsibility for tackling the island’s high cost of living.

He was told that the minister’s travel expenses were posted on the government website, which showed that the bills for four trips taken by Ms Lightbourne since she assumed her appointment in February amounted to $23,606.57.

Mr Fahy had asked for the response to include “names, roles and costs of any person charged to the Government of Bermuda that accompanied the minister on the said trips since February 18, 2025, to September 15, 2025”.

A ministry response, seen by The Royal Gazette, said: “Please be advised that recent convention regarding expenses for public officers accompanying ministers on official travel overseas has been that such expenses would not be subject to parliamentary questions.”

Mr Fahy, the shadow home affairs minister, said: “I have never heard of the alleged convention on answering questions about public officers.

“This is unacceptable and shows that there is a fear of public scrutiny.

“The public have a right to know how their funds are being spent.”

The Government was asked for comment in response to the remarks.

Mr Fahy’s questions — listed in the Order of Business for the House of Assembly session today — were scheduled for written responses.

He also asked: “Will the honourable minister please inform this honourable House of the total number of consultants working for the Ministry of Home Affairs and related departments and quangos, listing the names of the consultants, their roles including contract start and end dates, and professional fees incurred by the ministry relating to those consultants from February 18, 2025, to September 15, 2025?

“Will the honourable minister please inform this honourable House of the total cost of hosting the Cost of Living Summit in June 2025, broken down by each vendor and sum incurred by the Government of Bermuda in hosting same?”

In response to the first question, the opposition MP was told that the total number of consultants for the period was five, with the amount of fees paid totalling $91,196.78.

They included an agreement with Majiedah Azhar, known as Rozy, a former permanent secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs who was hired to provide support to the minister and PS on matters including energy and the Marine Development Act.

Her fees for the period were said to total $14,473.20.

The response showed that Dennis Pimentel — a former Belco president and recently appointed to the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda’s board of commissioners — was contracted from May 1 to October 31 to provide advisory and technical support on energy-related matters, with fees amounting to $4,725.

CB Ltd was hired to prepare a report on the Bermuda cost-of-living strategy at a cost of $20,000 from June 30 to July 18, the response said.

Other consultants listed were for the Land Title and Registration Office, where Richard Foulds was paid almost $30,000 to provide operational support and technical advice to the department, as well as Fluentcore LLC — paid $22,000 for work related to data upload and “automation GIS mapping”.

Mr Fahy was told that the total amount paid for the cost-of-living summit held in June was $57,009.64, with the breakdown including $38,151.15 in events charges — listed as being paid to the Fairmont Southampton, although the gathering was held at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club. The Gazette has asked the Government for clarification.

Whitfield Group was paid $12,250 as a consulting retainer, $2,538.51 as an incidental cost for registration platform fees and $1,590, another incidental, for “stage decor and floral”.

Q the Shot Global Media received about $1,000 for photography services, Imprint received about the same amount for “table cover”, and Gerri Saltus was paid $400 for PowerPoint and artwork edits.

Mr Fahy said today: “The questions were posed since we have been told by the minister a number of times that the costs of the cost-of-living summit would be presented in the House. They were not.

“In addition, I flagged up in the Budget debate that the Ministry of Home Affairs is a consultant-led ministry — the costs revealed prove the point.

“What is most disturbing, however, is the failure by the minister to reveal all travel costs of civil servants and consultants that are paid from the public purse.

“While we can review the costs of the minister, which are posted intermittently on the government portal, it excludes anyone else that went with the minister.

“We have to assume that [the cost for] each person is at least the same as the minister or more.

“The public deserve to know how their money is being spent, especially in a ministry set up to lower the cost of living for Bermudians.

“The minister should tell us and not hide behind an unknown convention.”

Travel expenses listed on the government website showed that Ms Lightbourne’s trip to New York to attend the Forbes Power Women Summit cost $7,266.56.

Dates of the visit were listed as September 9 to 11, and the travel calendar said the minister’s attendance was on September 10.

It added that the experience provided “a platform to exchange bold ideas”, strengthen relationships across business, philanthropy and media networks, and gather practical insights to support Bermuda’s priorities.

The travel calendar showed that Ms Lightbourne’s air travel cost $3,059.01 and accommodation amounted to $3,698.12.

Ground transport for the trip cost $471.32 and meals totalled $38.11.

A visit by the minister to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the second Africa-Caricom Summit came with expenses of $10,094.49.

The travel calendar said: “During the trip, the Minister of Home Affairs engaged with Caricom heads of government and regional bodies to deepen ties with Caricom, and to advance Bermuda’s strategic objectives.”

It added that the delegation visited Shashamane, where Ms Lightbourne had the chance to engage members of the Bermudian diaspora and explored ways to diversify imports, strengthen food security and support the Government’s cost-of-living agenda.

“The host country covered hotel and transport expenses for government ministers and heads of state for the conference days,” the entry said.

Air travel for that trip — from September 3 to 9 — totalled $7,814, the website showed, while accommodation cost $1,214.31.

Ground transportation expenses reached $227.62, meals cost $630.22 and another $208.34 was listed for miscellaneous expenses.

Expenses for Ms Lightbourne’s attendance at the 49th Caricom Heads of Government Meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica, were listed as $3,134.96.

In July, the minister joined David Burt, the Premier, and Christopher Famous, a Progressive Labour Party backbencher, to take part in the conference, hosted by Andrew Holness, the Caricom chairman and Prime Minister of Jamaica.

“During her time at the conference, minister Lightbourne engaged in both formal and informal discussions with regional ministerial colleagues and Caricom Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett,” the travel calendar entry said.

Ms Lightbourne also went to Kingston with a stop-off in St Mary Parish, where she toured the Mulberry Valley Estate, “a sustainability-focused, agro-ecotourism project aligned with Bermuda’s goals for food security and community-based development”.

The website said: “She participated in meetings with regional energy sector leaders to exchange insights on renewable energy policy, energy justice and strategies to support a just transition across small island developing states.”

Ms Lightbourne’s attendance at the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum 2025 in May generated costs of $3,110.56.

Her participation there included a women in renewable energy luncheon, a ministerial round table and a bilateral meeting with Theresa McCarthy, the British parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.