The “vitally important” Information Commissioner’s Office is “dying by a thousand cuts” owing to inadequate funding from the Government, the Opposition has alleged.

Jarion Richardson, the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, claimed thatthe independent oversight body, which upholds the public’s access to information rights, was “losing effectiveness over time gradually” and the decline would continue if it is not given the money to hire more staff.

Meanwhile, Jason Outerbridge, the Information Commissioner, told The Royal Gazette: “Sustained understaffing and reliance on overstretched personnel is not a viable operating model for a national independent oversight body for access to information.

“The ICO cannot deliver at full effectiveness while operating below its approved core staffing levels.”

Both spoke after Diallo Rabain, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation, told the House of Assembly during a Budget debate last week that the office would “remain unfunded” for two full-time posts, despite an “increasingly complex” and “growing backlog” of work.

The ICO has five staff, but should have eight. It will hire an investigation officer this year and obtain a senior investigation officer through internal promotion, but will still be left without another investigation officer and an administrative assistant.

The minister admitted the two vacancies represented a “quarter of the ICO’s operational capacity” but said the money required for the positions — $201,867 a year, according to Mr Outerbridge — would not be forthcoming in 2026-27.

The ICO oversees public authorities’ compliance with the Public Access to Information Act 2014, with dissatisfied Pati requesters able to ask it to independently review decisions on disclosure.

Mr Richardson said it was not “just like any other organisation” because of the crucial role it played in terms of government “accountability and, fundamentally, democracy”.

He said like most other “non-ministry” public authorities it was “actually vitally important”.

“Operating at 25 per cent under capacity … that doesn't just weaken the ability of the Opposition, it weakens the ability of the other parts of society, the other civic parts, to participate and play their role,” he said. “The public are now disadvantaged.”

The One Bermuda Alliance MP added: “That's why this is a particularly nefarious budget, because it undermines the ability of other parts of our society to hold the Government accountable.

“It's not a budget that's going to empower or enable the ICO to do their job.”

Mr Richardson, a former Leader of the Opposition, said that the ICO’s work was becoming more demanding but its funding did not reflect that.

“We have to make the department more effective,” he said. “And as it stands right now, they're losing effectiveness over time gradually.

“They’re … dying by a thousand cuts, because if they're at the stage right now where they have a loss of 25 per cent operational capacity, then what's next?

“They're going to have to make that up, just to sustain their level of effectiveness, never mind getting better at it, even though the fact is they're facing more challenges.”

He pointed to the ICO’s recently published performance measures as evidence of a decline.

The office was forecast to complete and close three quarters of valid appeal applications within an eight-month window during 2025-26 but revised that to half, according to the latest Government Budget Book.

It has set a 75 per cent target for 2026-27.

Mr Richardson said it was unacceptable for the Government to demand a certain performance from a public authority while “knowingly under-resourcing the team that is going to actually perform”.

He added: “What I find admirable in the head of department is that they had the courage to report that to Parliament.

“That takes a tremendous amount of courage to stand up and say ‘I am not funded for the job you’ve given me’, to publicly say that.

“More of Bermuda would function better if more people had that kind of courage to stand up and say that something is simply not sufficient.”

Mr Richardson added that he was “stunningly underwhelmed by the performance measurement system in the Budget Book altogether”.

He said: “I find it to be shallow, arbitrary, anaemic, backwards and outdated.”

Mr Outerbridge, who was appointed on March 1 last year, provided written answers to questions from the Gazette.

He shared that the investigation officer annual salary was $121,948 and the admin assistant post was $79,919.

He said: “Underfunding and understaffing have resulted in a structural capacity gap that affects investigations, compliance oversight, public awareness and timely completion of reviews.

“For an office of this small size, leaving these two posts unfilled represents the loss of one quarter of the ICO’s operational capacity.

“That impact over the years is not marginal; it is systemic.”

The Information Commissioner said the ICO, which got an allocation of $1.28 million for 2026-27, followed the Government’s budget submission process, including preparing various zero-based-budget proposal packages for Cabinet’s consideration.

“The Cabinet decides what level of funding is approved by way of a budget ceiling,” he said.

“Funding for staffing forms part of the ICO’s core budget.

“The ICO has consistently justified its core staffing requirements during the budget submission process.”

He insisted that “funding for the remaining two vacancies is not a request to expand the office, but an urgent need to resource the office at established core staffing levels so that it can effectively meet its statutory obligations and mandate”.

Mr Outerbridge added: “I am incredibly inspired by our staff, who remain deeply committed to our mission as we persevere in our duty to uphold the right of every Bermudian and resident to have access to public records.

“While the funds appropriated for the 2026-27 fiscal year present clear challenges for the ICO, we will continue to apply the Pati Act diligently, leaning on our expertise to innovate and optimise our operations to ensure that public funds are used as effectively as possible.”

The Gazette contacted the Ministry of Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation for comment but none was received by the time of publication.