Diallo Rabain will retain responsibility for the Department of Planning despite being moved back to the education ministry in last week’s Cabinet shuffle.

Mr Rabain was responsible for planning in his previous job as Minister of the Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation.

A government spokesman said this week: “To clarify, minister Rabain retains responsibility for planning following the recent focused realignment of ministerial responsibilities.

“There is no change to the name of the ministry. Minister Rabain remains Minister of Education, while also retaining responsibility for planning.”

She added: “Planning remained with minister Rabain for continuity purposes, as he was already familiar with the ongoing policy, legislative and operational matters in that area.”

Ben Smith, the Opposition leader, questioned the rationale for Mr Rabain keeping responsibility for “part of his former ministry”, asking why it had not stayed with the Reverend Emily Gail Dill, the new Minister of the Cabinet Office.

Ms Dill will primarily have responsibility for electoral reform in her first Cabinet role. Digital innovation, which also fell under Mr Rabain, has been moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Mr Smith added: “There’s a backlog in planning, a need for affordable housing and major projects which need attention. How will Mr Rabain prioritise?

“Will Minister Dill be taking a cut in salary? Will the education minister’s increase?

“Parents are frustrated, educators feel unheard and the system is failing. Bermuda’s youth deserve an education minister who can give 100 per cent of his attention to his portfolio.”

The shuffle back to the education ministry marked Mr Rabain’s return to a role he first assumed in July 2017.

Mr Rabain switched ministries after the February 2025 General Election, moving to the Cabinet role while Crystal Caesar, who had been Cabinet Office minister, took the helm for education.

Ms Caesar had served as Acting Minister of Education since the previous month, when Mr Rabain had to take medical leave.

David Burt addressed the switch last week, when Mr Rabain reclaimed education after Ms Caesar resigned from her education role as well as from the Senate.

At that time, the Premier said: “She stepped in as acting minister when the minister was on well publicised medical leave. At that point in time, I made the judgment that she should continue in that particular role, and now I have made a different judgment.”

The Premier insisted that the switch did not reflect on the job performance of any minister.

He highlighted Mr Rabain’s close involvement in the creation of an Education Authority and said the legislation needed to be finalised and brought soon to the House of Assembly, to fulfil a Progressive Labour Party election campaign pledge to bring it to fruition.

Responsibility for the Department of Planning was moved to the Cabinet Office ministry from the Ministry of Home Affairs in November 2023, when the former government MP Vance Campbell held the Cabinet Office portfolio.