March 6, 2023

Members, and again for our listening audience, we are now at the stage where we will enter into Committee to resume the debate on the respective ministries and departments for the annual Budget De-bate. This morning the first Ministry up is that of the Ministry of Economic Development and I mmigration.
And there are three hours allotted for that. Then this
afternoon we will be doing the Cabinet Office, and there
are five hours allotted for that. In total, eight hours today, again for our listening audience. And when we go into Committee, the Speaker has to be out of the House. So the House will be in the hands of a chair-man, who will run the Committee of Supply. And the
first Chairman up this morning is MP Famous.
MP Famous . . . well, one second.
Would you like to lead us into Committee, Mr.
Premier?
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now resume in Committee of Supply to consider the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for fiscal year 2023/24.

Good morning to the listening audience and my honourable colleagues. We are now in
Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24. We are doing the Ministry of Economic Devel-opment and Immigration. Heads 94 and 27 are to be debated. I now call upon the Minister, Honourable Ja-son P. Hayward, in charge, to proceed.
Minister, you now have the floor.
MINISTRY OF ECONOMYAND LABOUR
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I move the following Heads: Head 94—Economic Development; and Head 27—Immigration be now taken under considera-tion.

Please proceed, Minister.
HEAD 94 —ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I will now present the estimates of expenditure and revenue for Head 94—the Economic Development Department [EDD] , which can be found on pages B-1 92 through B195 and C-1 9 of the Budget Book.
The subjective analysis for the EDD is found on
page B -193. It shows that the total expenditure for the
EDD is estimated to be $8,394,000 for 2023/ 24, which
represents an increase of $699,000 over last year’s budget. It is of note that this increase is attributed to an increased budgetary allotment to the Business Development Agency. It is also of note that the EDD and the Economic Development Corporation have had reduced budgetary allotments for the coming fiscal year.
In terms of r evenues, which are shown on page
B-194, the EDD is expected to generate up to $6.5 million in revenue related to both land acquisition fees and
to the Incentives for Job Makers Programme, combined.
Turning to page B-1 92, I note that the mission
of Head 94, the EDD, is To advance the sustainable
growth, development and diversification of Bermuda’s economy . Since its creation in April 2020, the EDD has
been focused on identifying opportunities that would stimulate the growth, development and diversification of Bermuda’s economy. That work is not limited to bringing to our shores economic stimuli such as foreign investment. Beyond just that, the work of the d epartment includes working with stakeholders , both internal
and external to the g overnment , to examine the various
facets of our jurisdiction. It aims to facilitate their work
together to ensure that the jurisdiction is welcoming to foreign investment in different ways —not just thanks to
758 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the Island’s fortuitously advantageous geographical location, but also thanks to its legal and regulatory frame-work, its workforce and its infrastructure.
Mr. Chairman, in the coming year the d epartment plans to continue its work as it aims to achieve its mission. It will do so by the following measures:
a) facilitating, creating and implementi ng policies
to support the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP);
b) positioning Bermuda as an ideal test market for
innovative product and industry development in collaboration with stakeholders;
c) analysing innovative developments and trends
through research and stakeholder engage-ment;
d) identifying the jurisdiction’s market fit, clearly
communicating its message and driving oppor-tunities that lead to economic activity;
e) processing various land licences and Incentives for Job Makers applications in a timely, efficient and professional manner;
f) facilitating opportunities for technology education, mentoring and training, and supporting e-entrepreneurship; and
g) creating a more attractive regulatory environ-ment for business and enhanced communica-tion between the Gov ernment of Bermuda and
the private sector.
Mr. Chairman, I will now briefly go over the
work of each of the EDD’s various divisions and what each plan to achieve over the next fiscal period. Before I go in that direction, allow me to note that the d epartment’s budget includes the annual operating budgets
of two distinct quangos : the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation (the BEDC) ; and the Bermuda
Business Development Agency [ the BDA].
For 2023/24, the BEDC’s operating grant is
$2,239,000, while the BDA’s is $4,320,000, as per
page C -19. Both quangos are highly active and focused
on separate but complementary aspects of economic development. Both also fall in natural alignment with the Economic Development Department , which supports both their management and their operations.
Mr. Chairman, the EDD’s Concierge and Engagement Services Division provides concierge ser-vices to Bermuda's inbound investors by streamlining and expediting government processes. It also provides companies wishing to establish a meaningful presence in Bermuda with services along several lines such as facilitating meetings with g overnment officials, regulators and other stakeholders. In addition, the division
closely works with public authorities such as the De-partment of Immigration, the Department of Social In-surance, the Office of the Tax Commissioner and the Registrar of Companies. This ensures that companies who are relocating to the Island from overseas are duly registered and in good standing with the g overnment.
More widely s peaking, this d ivision advises on
applicable policies and initiatives aimed at attracting and sustaining international business, provides guid-ance on immigration strategy, ensures the expedited processing of regulatory applications and arranges for the expedited arrivals processing for certain business visitors. In doing so, the EDD’s Concierge and Engagement Services Division aim s to add value to Bermuda’s
proposition. It helps smooth the transition from busi-ness prospects to meaningful investors by, for i nstance, shortening the amount of time it takes for new businesses to start operating in Bermuda, and as a re-sult allowing for faster job creation and revenue gener-ation.
May I note that while performing its duties, the
EDD’s Concierge and Engagement Serv ices Division
pays particular attention to job creation trends as re-ported by the new businesses which it assists. For 2022/23, [the division] reports that companies that it as-sisted during the year created 156 jobs on the Island, 68 of which were filled by Bermudians. In 2021/22 these figures amounted to the creation of 141 jobs, 25 of which were filled by Bermudians. When comparing these data, the number of jobs created increased by 10.6 per cent and the number of these jobs filled by
Bermudians grew by 172.0 per cent.
Mr. Chairman, the EDD’s Research and Legislative Support Division is focused on activities related to international business, including legislative reform and working in partnership with and in support of the Bermuda Business Development Agency. To maintain the Island’s competitiveness and its reputation as a leader in the offshore business community, Bermuda must continue to monitor its legal framework and when necessary take swift yet thoughtful steps to amend cur-rent legislation or adopt new legislation. Working with internal and external stakeholders, the EDD’s Research and Legislative Support Division therefore as-sists in advancing new policies and legislative initia-tives to help improve Bermuda’s standing as a jurisdic-tion of choice for international business.
Initiatives progressed by the Research and
Legislative Support Division are targeted at meeting market demands through comprehensive and carefully tailored policies related to corporate products and ser-vice offerings. These polici es are integrated into what
is already a robust yet flexible regime designed to meet the needs of even the most sophisticated businesses. To accomplish this, the division works with various en-tities including the following:
a) government ministries and depart ments;
b) the Bermuda Monetary Authority;
c) the BDA and its industry groups;
d) the Joint Select Committee on Private Bills; and
e) other members of the private sector.
Mr. Chairman, in 2022/23 the EDD’s Research
and Legislative Support Division worked with these stakeholders to coordinate the internal consultation process and lead the government’s position to the Joint Select Committee for Private Bills and to provide onBermuda House of Assembly going support to several other important legislative initiatives in the facilitation thr ough the drafting process of
updated legislation governing intellectual property and the production of other legislative proposals regarding family offices.
Mr. Chairman, the EDD’s Research and Legislative Support Division through the Ministry of Economy and Labour assisted with the modernisation of the leg-islative framework governing intellectual property rights. This initiative includes collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Registry General. The objec-tive of this legislative initiative is to make legislation governing trademarks, patents, registered designs and copyrights more fully aligned with the United Kingdom and with global standards and best practices. Petitions for an updated IP legislative framework have come from both the Registry General and industry practition-ers, particularly following the advent of the FinTech leg-islation and economic substance requirements to allow Bermuda to better compete for the business.
There is broad support for new government
measures to address this issue and wide agreement that its initiatives will demand much time and collabora-tive effort amongst relevant ministries. Consistent with the recommendations of both the Registry General and the task force, overhauls of both the Trade Marks Act
1974 and the Patents and Designs Act 1930 are cur-rently in progress. Updates to the Copyrights and De-signs Act 2004 will also be completed.
Mr. Chairman, it is anticipated that updated
legislation and regulations gov erning intellectual property will be tabled before this Honourable House in the upcoming fiscal year. Once the legislative updates are in place, Bermuda will be better suited to attract more
companies to register their intellectual property rights in Bermuda. Increased registrations from global market participants, increased government revenues, updated and more efficient administrative practices and pro-cesses, and access to well -established case law in the
United Kingdom are all benefits that are anticipat ed
from this modernisation initiative.
Mr. Chairman, in 2022/23 the EDD’s Research
and Legislative Support Division through the Ministry of Economy and Labour assisted with formulating policy recommendations to continue to strengthen product of-ferings and pursue viable opportunities to stimulate and
diversify the economy, including growing the private wealth management sector by focusing on activities of family offices. The initiative has involved collaboration with the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of F inance
through the Registrar of Companies, Bermuda Mone-tary Authority, Bermuda Business Development Agency and industry representatives of the private and trust industry.
Mr. Chairman, Bermuda’s investment environment offers several advantages for busines ses competing in the global market. This includes the ease of access to investors in capital markets in New York, London and Europe, and well -defined and well -regulated regulatory framework that is attractive to interna-tional clientele. With a heavy focus on private wealth management, family offices manage key areas of fam-ily assets such as real estate holdings and other invest-ments, tax matters and estate management. Family of-fices also serve as the central hub for a family’s legacy, governance and success ion; and they often support the
education and development of family members, coordi-nate communication and resolve issues within the fam-ily enterprise.
Mr. Chairman, while the focus of this initiative
was initially intended to offer solutions and incentives for family offices, the Government is also looking to seize the opportunity to implement changes that would be helpful to various types of businesses and that may encourage greater use of existing products.
Mr. Chairman, in the upcoming fiscal year the
EDD will assist in the completion of ongoing legislative initiatives and projects. At a minimum, this will include completion of legislative changes related to the family office initiative as well as updates to the laws governing intellectual property, as I previously mentioned.
Mr. Chairman, Bermuda’s investment in digital
assets is showing steady progress. Having established the Digital Asset Business Act [DABA] framework in 2018, Bermuda has been gradually attracting compa-nies, building experience in navigating the risks of this innovative new space and refining its regime. This strategy is bearing fruit, as Bermuda has developed a reputation for a clear, well -thought -out approach to the
industry that differs from many other jurisdictions at-tempting to build industries in this new and changing space.
Bermuda now has 16 licensed digital asset
businesses, with six of those licences having been is-sued in 2022. Early indications are that 2023 will be a strong year of growth with more companies getting li-cenc es, as Bermuda has become more attractive to
those players seeking to differentiate themselves through strong regulatory oversight. In parallel, Ber-muda has seen strong growth in the digital asset insur-ance business through the innovative insurer regime in-troduced in 2019. We now have eight licensed insurers working with digital assets, four of whom were issued a licence in 2022. This includes what may be the world’s first licensed insurer for digital asset life insurance.
Mr. Chairman, as businesses get established
and grow, we have seen corresponding job growth. Im-portantly, the commitment to Bermudian job growth by the industry is promising and welcomed. Companies such as Relm Insurance and Bittrex Global (Bermuda) have strongly invested in all -Bermudian staffing of 13
and 6 employees, respectively. The impact of a strong commitment to Bermudian hiring cannot be [over-stated], as today Bermudians are receiving training and experience that will be invaluable as the industry grows.
760 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Digital assets are an innovative and dynamic
new space. The rapid pace of innovation means it is not
possible to simply hire experienced industry people from other jurisdictions. It necessitates investment in the training and development of talent. It is encouraging to see strong investment in the training of Bermudians and to recognise that these individuals are getting in on the ground floor and will likely be the future leaders of the local and global digital assets industry.
Mr. Chairman, in the coming fiscal year the
EDD’s Of fice of FinTech will continue to work closely
with stakeholders in the Bermuda Monetary Authority and the Bermuda Business Development Agency to promote Bermuda’s story in order to attract businesses seeking a clear and well -thought -out approach to regulation in this space. It will also continue supporting the
industry to drive innovation and experimentation by DABA- licensed entities in the local market.
The EDD’s Education and Training Programme, which I will expand on shortly during this presentation, wi ll also be prioritised as we develop Bermudian talent and expand the number of Bermudians building businesses and entering the workplace in the FinTech and digital asset spaces. Bermuda’s approach is to build a strong reputation in the digital asset space and to make itself attractive to those who actively seek to be regulated by an experienced, thoughtful and com-petent regulator. The industry continues to develop strong momentum with an increasing number of com-panies getting licences. Those licences transl ate into
growing businesses as companies get established. And as those companies grow, they have demon-strated commitment to investing in and hiring Bermudi-ans. It is this commitment to creating opportunities for Bermudians that explains why Bermuda remains committed to the future of this industry and why it looks for-ward to continuing to build on the momentum that it has achieved so far.
Mr. Chairman, the EDD’s Business Services
Division is focused squarely on advancing various eco-nomic development project s. In this post -pandemic era,
the department continues to encourage investment in the local economy. In doing so, it solidifies relationships with inbound interest as guided by the Economic Re-covery Plan.
Mr. Chairman, the alien land licence programme, pursuant to the Economic Development Act 1968 and as detailed in Part VI of the Bermuda Immi-gration and Protection Act 1956, aims to protect land in Bermuda for ownership of persons who possess Ber-mudian status by:
a) requiring persons to have licences to hold or acquire land in Bermuda and preventing them from appropriating it;
b) requiring trustees to have licences to hold or acquire land in Bermuda for the benefit of re-stricted persons and preventing them from ap-propriating it; and c) preventing corporations from acquiring or hold-ing land in Bermuda unless they do so in ac-cordance with legislation.
The alien land licence programme includes applications by restricted persons to hold or acquire land in Bermuda, to let their Bermudian properties, to take a mortgage or charge on land and to apply for deferral
certificates. In 2022/23 the alien land licence pro-gramme earned the government over $5.9 million in revenues. This is reflective of 49 land- holding charges
received and 151 land licence applications received. In total, 151 applications were approved as follows:
• 79 land licence applications to acquire land;
• 31 short -term rental applications;
• 23 permission to let applications;
• 10 deferral certificate applications;
• five permissions in principle to let;
• one application to provide financial assistance;
and
• two Financial Assistance applications.
The EDD remains committed to processing alien land licence applications in a timely manner and is committed to working with the Bermuda real estate market to ensure that the process remains efficient.
Mr. Chairman, through the Incentives for Job
Makers programme, companies can apply to obtain the concession of having their senior executives, who are responsible for the continued presence of jobs for Ber-mudians in Bermuda, exempt from needing a work per-mit. Successful applicants are exempt from needing a work permit, and their family is accordingly granted per-mission to reside with them. In 2022/23, the Incentives for Job Makers programme earned the government $360,000 i n revenues, reflecting 18 successful exemption applications. That is on par with the revenue
earned in the previous fiscal year. The EDD will con-tinue to process Incentives for Job Makers’ applications as they are received and is determined to streamline the process to improve the processing time of each application.
Mr. Chairman, in 2022/23 the EDD engaged in
an aggressive social media campaign that launched its presence on multiple platforms including LinkedIn, In-stagram and Facebook. It used them to com plement its
appearances in the local conventional media, but also to further introduce the EDD team to the public that it serves to publicise its activities, to advertise its events and to communicate the numerous times that the de-partment caused Bermuda t o be highlighted in international publications like The European, the World Commerce Review and the Climate Change Review . The
EDD also communicated its message to the local reader by strengthening its presence in local publica-tions such as Visit Bermuda, the Bermuda Business
Review, Your Future Magazine and others.
In terms of its communications efforts, the EDD
also used social media to demystify basic FinTech def-initions and concepts and to familiarise its public with


Bermuda House of Assembly trusted and recommended industry sources of information through its own FinTech- focused podcast, titled
FinTech Fridays, which is available on most podcasting apps including Spotify, and on YouTube. The podcast aims to demystify FinTech, its core concepts and its im-portance for Bermuda, inc luding its impacts on the local
economy and on our daily conversations about it. In-creasing the public’s awareness of and familiarity with FinTech will lay the foundation for a knowledgeable workforce and for a confident and comfortable innova-tor and end user.
In its first season, the first episode of FinTech
Fridays introduced the Office of FinTech team and gave a general overview of the Island’s FinTech sector. The remaining episodes focused on young Bermudians who are making their mark in the industry, including Ka-ree Luna, founder of Unda de Wave, who discussed non-fungible tokens (NFTs); Kevin Richards of Bermuda Asset Management, who talked about Bermu-da's FinTech ecosystem and how tech companies are working together to grow the economic activity in B ermuda using FinTech; and last but not least the speak-ers who made a direct impact on hundreds of high schoolers at the EDD’s annual Tech Education Day and included:
• Charissa Ball, Counsel at Carey Olson Ber-muda;
• ConnecTech founder and CEO Coral Wells
and Zär'a Cardell;
• Richard Augustus; and
• Stephanie Smellie.
Mr. Chairman, may I recall to the attention of
this Honourable House the mission of the EDD, which
is To advance the sustainable growth, development
and diversification of Bermuda’s economy. In caref ul
and thoughtful support of that, the EDD’s Communica-tions, Education and Compliance Division works to de-velop a sustained, informed, skilled and connected tal-ent pool for Bermuda. Its purpose is to propel the juris-diction as it works to consolidate its position as a global leader in tech and FinTech. And it is carrying out this task with the department’s triple focus in mind: (1) economic diversification and development; (2) revenue
generation; and (3) job creation. This triple- focus requires the active and deliberate inclusion of all who are willing and able to join this effort. It is imperative that as many Bermudians as possible be invited to take part in and benefit from the growth of the new economic sec-tors that are coming on board.
To that effect, over the past period the EDD
continued to strengthen and implement its Education and Training Programme. It encourages inbound inter-est to participate in nurturing the skilled workforce that is required to flourish and contribute to the economy. The plan builds on the following cornerstones:
a) theoretical education;
b) practical on- the-job learning; and
c) active mentorship straight from industry.

Minister, let me pause you there for a
second, please.
For the benefit of the listening audience and
the Honourable Members, we are now in Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24. We are doing the Ministry of Economic Development and Im-migration. Head 94 is now being debat ed.
Minister, you may resume.
Hon. Jason Hayward: May I note that the EDD’s Education and Training Programme, which launched in the summer of 2022 with a focus on tech and FinTech, saw 13 Bermudians complete a rigorous eight -week syllabus that required t hem to attend weekly virtual classes,
complete various assignments, deliver a final project and attend networking sessions hosted by leaders in the local FinTech industry, oftentimes at the C -Suite
level. This was the result of a close collaboration be-twee n the Government of Bermuda, through the EDD,
with ViableEdu and NEXT, the Island’s first digital asset industry association.
In addition to providing multiple yearly learning
and networking opportunities, the EDD’s FinTech Edu-cation and Training Programm e demands that the EDD
support and host events that are aimed at the Bermuda public in order to achieve the following:
a) Share information and arrange for subject -matter experts to speak directly to the Bermuda-based learner and consumer, which takes place in formal training sessions as well as dur-ing events like the annual Tech Education Day and the Reverse Pitch, both of which are geared specifically toward Bermuda’s students and which the EDD organises every year. The
EDD also supports tech and FinT ech education opportunities such as the Bermuda Tech Summit and the International Tech Summit.
b) Celebrate the Bermuda- based entrepreneurs
who continue to innovate and lead the charge locally and foster an ecosystem that is support-ive of e- entrepreneurship. This is achieved with
such flagship events as the TechAwards, which the EDD organises every year, and the Rocket Pitch, a Global Entrepreneurship Week event that the EDD sponsors annually.
c) Nurture an environment where industry leaders are easy to reach, and provide realistic role models, mentors and innovative employers. This is carefully planned by the EDD and achieved in a systematic and [organic] way, peppered throughout the year by providing am-ple opportunity for meetings and networking to occur naturally at various organised events.
Mr. Chairman, the EDD also supported the efforts of other parties who are equally as passionate about informing the youth about innovative tech. These organisations, which were supported by the EDD, in-clude the following:
762 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly • ConnecTech Coding, who took the 23- personstrong Bermuda Team to Switzerland to compete in the First Global international robotics competition.
• Bermuda Island Games, who organises regular boot camps to instruct Bermuda’s youth
about game development and design. In 2022/23 it was oversubscribed. It offered the training opportunity to 40 students in total, which at the time exceeded the camp’s maxi-mum capacity.
• The Technology Leadership Forum which, as it does every year, provided enriching opportuni-ties to s ix interns with the aim of accommodating the growing need for qualified Bermudians in the ICT field.
This coming year the EDD will continue to operate in innovative ways to strengthen ties with innova-tive local tech educators and employers as it imple-ment s its Education and Training Programme for the
benefit of Bermuda’s employment market.
Mr. Chairman, the EDD’s Communications,
Education and Compliance Division also works to raise awareness on the work of the EDD as well as, most importantly, publicising Bermuda’s work as it established itself as a global leader in FinTech as well as an ideal test market for innovation. In doing so, the EDD is utilising several media to show how Bermuda is nurtur-ing a diverse FinTech ecosystem where everyone has a role to play, as well as how it is developing a sustained, informed and skilled workforce that has the right knowledge, experience and network.
It is of note that the jurisdiction not only aims to
build a skilled labour force; it also aims to nurture a community of knowledgeable end users. Both groups
must be comfortable with, for instance, FinTech as a new sector of the economy so that they may readily en-gage it by joining its workforce and/or by partaking of its products and services. And the EDD, using social media as well as conventional media, is communicating that message locally and internationally. And so in ad-dition to its regular publications, both locally and over-seas, over the past year the EDD’s Communications, Education and Compliance Division launched an ag-gressive social media campaign that almost quadru-pled its communications output.
Mr. Chairman, the third arm of the EDD’s Communications, Education and Compliance Division fo-cuses on compliance on both ends —internally for the
EDD as a government department and externally as it works with clients who are contracted to do business with the government. Compliance in this instance is along two lines of ensuring that actions, processes and procedures are in accordance with the Personal Infor-mation Protection Act (2016); as well as with the Gov-ernment’s Security Policy, which takes into considera-tion among other things data protection and cybersecu-rity. Mr. Chairman, last but not least, the E -Commerce Advisory Board [ECAB] is a statutory board cre-ated under the Electronic Transactions Act (1999) [the ETA] to advise the minister responsible for e- commerce. This board comes into effect upon publication in the official Gazette . With secretarial support from the
EDD and for this coming fiscal year, the E -Comm erce
Advisory Board continues to focus on updating and modernising the ETA along three distinct lines:
a) Electronic Transactions Act 1999, general up-dates and amendments;
b) Standard for electronic transactions; and
c) ETA harmonisation with the Personal Infor-mation Protection Act 2016 (PIPA).
Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who have made a difficult year a successful one. The team representing the EDD [Economic Development Department] have worked tirelessly to assist with b reathing life back into our economy. Thank you to all of the staff for your assistance.

Bermuda Busines s Development Agency
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I will now present the estimates of expenditure and revenue for Head 94—the Bermuda Business Development Agency, which can be found on page C -19 of the
Budget Book. I will now speak about the Bermuda Busi-ness Development Agency, or the BDA, its activities over the past year and what it has planned for the next year. Celebrating its 10
th anniversary this year, the BDA
was founded on the 1st of April 2013 when Business
Bermuda merged with the Insurance Development Council to act as an independent public –private partnership that encourages inward direct investment and growth for Bermuda.
The BDA’s purpose is to promote and protect,
in collaboration with government and the private sector, sustainable and equitable economic growth, diversifi-cation and prosperity in Bermuda. The BDA’s vision is to be an energetic, committed and sustainable re-source for Ber muda locally and internationally. And the
BDA’s mission, in service of its vision and purpose, is to facilitate and lead efforts to promote Bermuda and consistently deliver outstanding value to its stakehold-ers. The BDA is recognised as one of Bermuda's best
outward- reaching arms to grow and diversify our economy. This is because of its deliberately unique ability to get in front of overseas business makers, reminding them about the Island’s key attributes and setting it apart in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
Mr. Chairman, last year was a watershed year
for the BDA. As the world cautiously re- opened after a
two-year forced travel hiatus, the BDA organised no
less than five separate business development missions
to the United States. I was fortunate to attend the first two missions. The first included the RIMS RISK-WORLD event, Climate Risk Finance Road Show


Bermuda House of Assembly along with the Honourable Premier and Minister of Finance, and the second to the BDA’s New York City ex-ecutive forum. The BDA, as led by the Honourable
Premier and Minister of Finance, attended Consensus 2022 in Austin, Texas, after which the BDA attended both InsureTech Connect and Innsure.
On the other side of the Atlantic, a BDA delegation led by the Honourable Premier and Minister of Finance, and industry stakeholders, engaged with lead-ing global capital allocators, law firms, wealth manag-ers and tech incubators in London specifically to dis-cuss Bermuda’s aspirations to develop and grow new FinTech and climate risk finance economic pil lars.
After an absence of over three years, the BDA was ex-cited to return to Canada in 2022, organising 10 tar-geted business development meetings with risk and in-surance, private equity, legal services and technology firms.
In terms of the Asian market, following a webinar with the Honourable Premier and Minister of Fi-nance for the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the BDA sent a business development mission to Singapore where over 20 meetings were held with several quality service pr oviders including law
firms, high -net-worth services, FinTech and asset management providers. Immediately following the promo-tion of Bermuda as a climate risk finance capital from COP27, the BDA and industry stakeholders partici-pated in a Bermuda private c lient/high- net-worth services delegation.
Mr. Chairman, on the Island the BDA is also
the key first point of contact for the Government’s Eco-nomic Investment Certificate (EIC) initiative which in 2022 attracted over $371 million in direct investment, comprising $111 million in real estate and the balance
being investment in new and existing businesses. For the next fiscal period the BDA aims to pursue targeted business development opportunities across five key in-dustries, strategically aligned with the Ber muda Government’s Economic Recovery Plan to create eco-nomic growth, expand business and increase inward investment. The five key industries are:
1. Risk and Insurance Solutions, with a particular focus on climate risk finance;
2. High-Net-Worth Services (i.e., t rusts, private
clients and family offices);
3. Asset Management (this includes funds, insur-ance- linked securities and private equity);
4. Technology with a particular focus on Financial Technology and Insurance Tech (or Insur-Tech); and finally,
5. Infrastructure (w hich includes hotel development, subsea cables, space/satellites, renew-able energy and the blue economy).
Allow me to speak to how these activities directly relate to economic growth here locally:
• They all support economic diversification by creating new jobs in burgeoning industries. • They all support expanding Bermuda’s popula-tion by boosting the working population.
• They often support sustainability/green recovery policies and/or regulatory frameworks for
technological innovation as outlined in the Eco-nomic Recovery Plan.
In terms of business development, marketing
and promotion around these five key industries, the BDA organised and/or participated in the following cli-mate risk finance initiatives in 2022:
The BDA presented the first -ever Bermuda Climate Webinar on February 3, 2022. This was followed
by organising a Climate Risk Finance Road Show to Silicon Valley on April 13, 2022. Then on May 24 the
BDA presented its inaugural Bermuda Climate Summit drawing 150 attendees to Rosewood Bermuda, 70 from overseas, to discuss wide- ranging climate issues including the science of climate change, the regulatory needs of green investors and Bermuda’s leadership role in this new area.
The BDA’s media partnership with Bermuda
Re + ILS [insurance- linked securities] created 15 post -
summit articles and positive mentions. In connection with the Bermuda Climate Summit, the BDA released the first -ever ESG [Environmental, Social and Governance] in Bermuda Report with Oxbow Partners. The re-port was released on May 24 with an accompanying
webinar airing on July 19. On October 12, the BDA assisted with organising an ESG luncheon in Hamilton with KBRA [Kroll Bond Rating Agency]. Finally, from November 9 to 15, the BDA attended COP27 in Egypt, partnering with Hub Culture to hol d a targeted Bermuda
luncheon, along with business development meetings with asset management leaders, entrepreneurs, tech innovators and NGOs [non- governmental organisations] interested in financing mechanisms to build cli-mate resiliency.
Mr. Chairman, t he BDA supported Bermuda’s
globally significant risk and insurance solutions industry in the following ways in 2022: On February 28, the BDA spoke on a special edition of the official podcast of RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society, entitled Ber muda Opportunities in 2022. From
March 14 to 16 the BDA presented the inaugural Bermuda Risk Summit, attracting 350 delegates to the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, including nearly 100 business travellers.
The BDA’s media partnership with The Insurer ,
an industry publication with 22,500 subscribers, reaching an audience of 45,000 across 300 businesses and 70 countries, generated 13 positive videos and articles. From April 11 to 12 the BDA organised Bermuda’s par-ticipation at RIMS’ RISKWORLD conference in San Francisco. This was followed by sponsoring and speak-ing at the Bermuda Healthcare Forum from April 27 to
28, participating in Bermuda Finance’s ILS and life roundtables in June, and travelling to and presenting at the Florida Insurance Council summer s ymposium from
July 26 through 28.
764 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly In Q3 [third quarter] 2022, the BDA sponsored
the Bermuda Captive Conference from September 12
to 14 and the Bermuda Insurers and Long- Term Insurers and Reinsurers [BILTIR] annual event on September 20. This was followed by the BDA attending the InsureTech Connect event in Las Vegas from September 20 to 27, where BDA moderated a panel and partici-pated in 30 business development meetings; and the Innsure event in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Octo-ber 6, where several targeted business development meetings were held.
Back at home the BDA sponsored the ILS Convergence event from October 12 to 14, NetDiligence event on 17 November and the InsuranceERM [insur-ance enterprise risk management] event on Novem-ber 22. Finally, given t he important ties between the
Bermuda and Florida risk markets, the BDA organised a webinar with Florida’s Speaker of the House immedi-ately following a special session of the State Legisla-ture on insurance on December 20.
Mr. Chairman, the BDA continued t o develop
Bermuda’s burgeoning technology sector in 2022 by partnering with Bermuda’s new FinTech industry asso-ciation, NEXT Bermuda and the EDD to advance Ber-muda’s national technology strategy and form partner-ships with newly formed technology incubators and
startups on Island. The BDA’s Technology Legal and Regulatory Subcommittee also continued to work with both regulators and industry throughout the year to identify opportunities for growth and benefits of Ber-muda’s existing digital asset business fram ework.
Internationally, the BDA continued to ensure
Bermuda had a presence in the global tech space and hosted several FinTech roundtable events at our New York City executive forum in May, generating positive
coverage by Bloomberg, which has 62.7 million global
monthly unique visitors; the Wall Street Journal , which
has 83.5 million monthly unique visitors; as well as the Financial Times and Think Advisor . The BDA also attended Consensus in Austin, Texas, in June and FinTech Islands in Barbados from October 3 to 8.
The BDA also collaborated on the production
of Bermuda Tech Week, in particular by organising the week’s signature event, the fourth annual Bermuda Tech Summit, developed in partnership with EDD and NEXT Bermuda. Held between October 26 and 28, the
event attracted over 300 delegates, nearly 80 from overseas, to the Hamilton Princess and Beach Club and provided an immediate economic impact including lodging, transportation, food and beverage, retail and recreation.
Beyond these short -term impact s, long- term
economic impacts included an opinion piece by Mi-chael Casey, Chief Content Officer, CoinDesk, being featured on CoinDesk’s website and social media and two money reimagined podcasts (19,000 downloads and over 2.8 million views as of January 2023). Other long- term impacts of Bermuda’s Tech Summit include
enabling overseas innovators to meet all of the major players in Bermuda’s tech ecosystem and the requisite service providers.
Mr. Chairman, throughout 2022 the BDA
worked to shape Bermuda's Hi gh-Net-Worth [HNW]
Services product offering and legislative framework via monthly trust and private client advising group meet-ings. The BDA also played an important role in attract-ing the return of the first in- person High- Net-worth Services events in Ber muda since 2019. The BDA cosponsored the sold- out Private Client Exchange Bermuda 2022 event, which brought 50 of the world’s top lawyers to the St. Regis Bermuda Resort, from June 28 to 29. The BDA was an associate sponsor of Transcon-tinental Trust: Berm uda 2022, attracting 200 delegates
at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club from June 29 to 1 of July. And the BDA sponsored the Institution of Pri-vate Investors’ [IPI] three- day Campden Wealth summer forum, attracting about 70 delegates to the St. Regis from July 10 to 12.
In addition, the BDA continued to work closely
with STEP Bermuda in 2022, participating in the in- person STEP Bermuda conference in November, as well as hosting STEP webinars throughout 2022. Govern-ment’s EIC [Economic Investment Certificate] initiative was a hot topic of conversation at the numerous busi-ness development missions organised by the BDA in 2022, including London, Toronto, Singapore, Lake Como and other individuals of high net worth in- person
events such as STEP Bermuda, Campden Wealth and Legal Week.
Mr. Chairman, in terms of developing Bermuda’s asset management industry, the BDA’s Busi-ness Development Committee remained active in this space bringing several roundtables to the New York City executive forum in May 2022. In 2022, major
groundwork was laid to hold the first in- person asset
management event in Bermuda in several years. This new annual in- person asset management event is looking to be organised adjacent to the annual ILS Conver-gence event. Stay tuned for more detai ls.
In terms of infrastructure, which includes hotel
development, space and satellites, and subsea cables, in June the BDA conducted a fact -finding mission to the
Caribbean Association of Investment Production Agen-cies (CAIPA) in Jamaica. Following this v isit, we were
invited to participate in a pitch presentation at the Saudi –Caribbean Investment Forum for representatives of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, private banks, investors and hotel developers, held in the Do-minican Republic in July 2022. Space, satellites and subsea cables were also featured in Bermuda’s Tech Summit panels; the BDA continues to develop leads in this area.
In addition to social media, the BDA also produced several key communications and marketing pieces in 2022, including the following: creating a Con-servation Central video as part of new ESG Factor webpages; and creating special BDA business cards to give to leads at business development missions. These


Bermuda House of Assembly cards also link to the BDA’s Invest in Bermuda brochure, as well as the BDA’s EIC, FinTech and Climate
Risk Finance pages. The BDA assisted with the pro-duction of the Bermuda Business Review 2022/23 publication; placed advertisements and editorials in the World Commerce Review publication and in partnership with EDD, provided articles to the Climate Change Review publication.
The BDA also placed advertisements in the International Chamber of Commerce [ICC] Trade for
Prosperity publication, provided articles and advertisements in The European and placed advertisements in
Captive Review, Captive International, and Bermuda:Re+ILS .

I want to pause for a minute.
For the benefit of the listening public and Honourable M embers in the Chamber, we are now in Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Esti-mates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24. We are doing the Ministry of Economy and Labour, and Immigration. We are now on Head 94. The Honourable Min ister Jason P. Hayward is delivering.
You may proceed, Minister.
Hon. Jason Hayward: In terms of what lies ahead this
year, the BDA, in partnership with its industry stake-holders, will hold its second annual Bermuda Risk Summit. The inaugural edition of this event, which I was pleased to attend in 2022, created long- term business
development growth potential in the form of insurance and reinsurance deal -making opportunities around the
event in front of an extremely important June 1 renewal season. It also created immediate short -term economic
impacts by attracting nearly 100 business travellers to
Bermuda and supporting 200 jobs, mostly in the hospi-tality sector.
In addition to the Bermuda Risk Summit, the
BDA will also hold its second annual Bermuda Clim ate
Summit and the Bermuda Tech Summit, both of which have similar long- and short -term economic impacts for
the climate risk finance and technology industries, re-spectively. I hasten to add that the Bermuda Tech Sum-mit is part of Bermuda Tech Week and is supported by the EDD.
Relating to overseas missions, last week I was
pleased to accompany the BDA and several industry stakeholders on the BDA’s Legal Week Private Client Forum Americas event. This event was attended by High-Net-Worth Services lawyers from the US, UK and
Europe and is part of the BDA’s focus on the Latin American market.
As part of its continued work to sustain and
grow Bermuda’s risk and insurance and technology in-dustries, the BDA will hold Bermuda business develop-ment receptions at the world’s largest FinTech event,
Consensus, in Austin, Texas, followed afterward by at-tending the world’s largest event for risk management professionals, RIMS’ RISKWORLD in Atlanta, Georgia. For the remainder of the year, the BDA will organise several other overseas missions in key markets. It will also continue to promote Bermuda as the world’s cli-mate risk finance capital by attending the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28).
Mr. Chairman, as I conclude my remarks about
the BDA, I thi nk it is important to give those listening
today here and at home a few concrete examples of how all of the aforementioned relates to actual eco-nomic growth in Bermuda, as well as how the two enti-ties, the EDD and BDA, each use their unique skill sets and connections to work hand in hand for the betterment of Bermuda.
What follows are excerpts from the soon- to-bepublished BDA End of Year Report 2022:
“A client reached out to the BDA for assistance
in getting a Class 4 reinsurer set up in Bermuda. The company was looking for guidance and support as they
had a limited timeframe to set up. The BDA assisted the client with a quick introduction to the EDD Govern-ment concierge service. The company was later incor-porated in December 2022 and is currently working on
establishing its presence in Bermuda in time for a Q1 -
2023 launch.”
“The BDA’s concierge staff assisted a company headquartered in the US with a referral to a local realtor to assist in finding real estate for a company that they were looking to set up in Bermuda. The US com-pany also needed solutions for shipping and storage of IT infrastructure to support their move, which the BDA referred to local companies. The US company was also in need of Immigration, Social Assistance and Tax Commissioner servi ces, which led to the BDA handing
off to the government concierge service. Following this, in March a local company was incorporated in Bermuda, an office was secured in Hamilton and five new roles were advertised locally and filled.”
“Dan Thomson, CMO of InsurAce said, ‘We did
not know what to expect from the Bermuda Tech Sum-mit, but we have been blown away by the incredible hospitality and innovation shown by local government, businesses and individuals. InsurAce has been looking for a regulatory framew ork that fits our future vision,
and we are delighted to be exploring the opportunity to build our business in Bermuda. We cannot wait to come
back.’”
Mr. Chairman, I would like to once again take
this opportunity to thank the people who have made a difficult year a successful one. The staff and volunteers
representing the BDA have worked tirelessly to assist with breathing life back into our economy. Thank you to your teams for all of your assistance.

Bermuda Economic Development Corporation
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, it now gives me
great pleasure to present the budget for the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation [BEDC], a quango
766 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly presently under the Ministry of Economy and Labour,
found on page C -19 of the Budget Book.

BEDC’s Remit
Hon. J ason Hayward: BEDC is currently responsible
for overseeing the operations of the Economic Empow-erment Zones [EEZs], for providing financial support and technical advice to small and medium -sized businesses, for managing the operations of outside vendor markets, and for managing vendors and issuing vending licences. The organisation’s key objective remains to assist the government in encouraging economic growth for Bermuda’s local small and medium -sized
businesses.

2023/24 Projected Revenue and
Expenditure Overview
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, the BEDC Board
of Directors approved total operating expenditure for salaries, rent, overhead, services and programmes, es-timated at $6.2 million for fiscal year 2023/24. In addi-tion to the operating expenditure, the board of directors has approved setting aside $2,675,000 for capital in-vestment projects and initiatives aligned with the Gov-ernment’s Economic Recovery Plan and economic de-velopment goals. BEDC’s estimated combined operat-ing and capital expenditure for fiscal year 2023/24 to-tals $8,875,000 and represents a decreased budget of 4.78 per cent, or $445,347 compared to the revised
2022/23 budget of $9,320,347.
For fiscal year 2023/24, BEDC will receive an
operating grant from the Economic Deve lopment Department in the amount of $2,238,752, as per page C -
19 of the Budget Book consistent with the grant pro-vided to BEDC in fiscal year 2022/23. The 2023/24 budget comprises the government grant, carryover funds from the 2022/23 budget, revenues from products and services, sponsorship for events and pro-grammes, and realised investment funds.

2022/23 Revenue and Expenditure Overview
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, for this current
fiscal year 2022/23, BEDC received a grant from the Economic Development Department in the amount of $2,238,752 for general operations and annual BEDC programmes. In addition, [balances from the] grants for the Uptown Development Authority initiative and the Fishing Cooperative initiative in the amounts of $974,176 and $120,000, respectively, were carried over from fiscal year 2021/22 to continue to progress these projects in 2022/23.
Additionally, a balance of $4,776,116 from the
supplementary grant that the Ministry of Finance pro-vided BEDC during fiscal year 2020/21 to directly sup-port local small and medium -sized businesses impacted by COVID -19 was carried over into fiscal year 2022/23. Businesses continued to require funding sup-port due to the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus, which was provided through t he range of
BEDC’s COVID- 19 Business Sustainability and Continuity Funding products.
Funding applications have slowed down, since
the loosening and eventual ending of COVID -19 public
health restrictions in 2022 have enabled businesses to reopen and start to recover. However, providing advisory services and support remains high. In 2022, BEDC approved 29 funding applications totalling $871,410, of which $145,000 has been deployed in 2023 thus far.
As of February 2023, BEDC has approved a
total of 343 appl ications deploying $6,442,838 in financial support under the COVID -19 programme since
April 2020 consisting of the following:
• $3,244,971 in loans;
• $1,806,020 in grants; and
• $1,391,847 in guarantees.
Fifty-four per cent, or $6.4 million, of the $12
million grant has been disbursed thus far to local small
and medium -sized enterprises [SMEs] in a range of
funding products, and BEDC currently has applications in process.
BEDC will continue to develop new products
that continue to support local small and medium -sized
enterprises. Products under development to assist lo-cal SMEs are as follows:
• guarantees for facilitating purchase of com-mercial buildings within the EEZs;
• increased direct micro loan lending levels up to
$70,000 loans;
• professional services grants for businesses to
access needed accountancy, legal, website, e-commerce and marketing services; and
• innovation grants to support the development of innovative business concepts.
BEDC knows that there will continue to be demand in fiscal year 2023/24 as the impacts of COVID -
19 remain within Bermuda’s economy and businesses require continued long- term funding support. Funding
in the amount of $1.1 million has been allocated in 2023/24 for direct funding to assist local small and me-dium -sized enterprises.

Capital Expenditure
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, BEDC completed capital works on its three Economic Empower-ment Zones (EEZs) Incubator Hubs in 2022. In the Somerset Economic Empowerment Zone [SEEZ], the EEZ Incubator Hub is located at Forth House, 68 Som-erset Road, Sandys, in the prominent location of the former Il Palio restaurant space.
In the St. George’s Economic Empowerment
Zone [SGEEZ] capital works are being completed on the EEZ Incubator Hub located on the top floor of the St. George’s Post Office at 11 Water Street, Town of St. Geo rge’s, part of the former police station.


Bermuda House of Assembly In the North East Hamilton Economic Empowerment Zone [NEHEEZ] capital works are being completed on the EEZ Incubator Hub and Uptown Develop-ment Authority offices located in the Donald French Building, 19 Elliot St reet, City of Hamilton, in the former
Bermuda Sun location.
COVID -19 had delayed the completion of the
hubs, but all were opened in June 2022 for those ac-cepted in the Enterprise Bermuda Incubator pro-gramme with successful open houses held in Septem-ber 2022. The Somerset Hub can accommodate up to six businesses, the St. George’s Hub can accommo-date up to seven businesses, and the NE Hamilton Hub can accommodate up to twelve businesses, providing physical support for 25 startups.
A revised budget of $185,000 was allocated in
fiscal year 2022/23 for infrastructure and capital works associated with developing the three incubator spaces across the Island.
Building off of the success of the Enterprise
Bermuda Incubator (EBI) originally started in BEDC’s main office, these Incubator Hubs will ensure entrepre-neurs get beyond the idea stage and start to bring their businesses to fruition while regenerating the EEZs. Each location will not only be used to conduct client meetings and facilitate community engagement, but
also to expand on the incubator programme. BEDC has partnered with the world- ranked Accelerator Centre, a
tech accelerator located in Waterloo, Canada, to offer curriculum, mentorship and opportunities to startups in the incubator programme.
Funding of $45,000 was earmarked for infrastructure costs to build an accessible Wi -Fi network
within the North East Hamilton EEZ in the second half of fiscal year 2022/23 as one of several initiatives to
attract and enhance the visitor and resident experience within the zone. Economic development tools such as
accessible Wi -Fi in public urban areas are commonplace in many jurisdictions around the world. This pro-ject was put on hold in fiscal year 2022/23 to focus on progressing the Economic Recovery Plan priority pro-jects, and the project will be advanced in fiscal year 2023/24 with a budget allocation of $90,000.
Mr. Chairman, as mentioned earlier, under the
projected 2023/24 budget BEDC has set aside $2,675,000 for major capital investment projects and initiativ es aligned with the Government’s Economic Recovery Plan [ERP] and economic development goals. Specifically, these projects are investment in the devel-opment of the Vertical Farm project to facilitate food se-curity, lower food costs, develop farm co -ops and create jobs in a new evolving area of the agriculture indus-try; as well as investment in the Approved Residential Schemes project facilitating foreign direct investment in the construction of residential developments and pur-chase of residential units within the Economic Empow-erment Zones, thereby increasing the residential popu-lation within the city and the other zones. Lastly, progress has been made on the plan for
the Fisheries Development Centre [FDC]. Pricewater-houseCoopers [PwC] was contracted in fis cal year
2022/23 to assist BEDC with financial modelling for the business plan. The goal is that the draft business plan is reviewed by BEDC’s board before March 31 and next action steps progress steadily shortly after, subject to the majority of the Island’s fishers committing to partic-ipate within the Fisheries Development Centre [FDC] cooperative.

BEDC’s Manpower
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, for all that it
achieves, BEDC is a relatively small organisation. In 2022/23 BEDC’s board approved the conversion of four temporary one- year posts to permanent posts. As
such, BEDC currently has a staffing complement of 18 full-time posts as follows:
• one executive director;
• one executive administrative officer;
• one director of micro, small, and medium en-terpri se;
• three micro, small, and medium enterprise of-ficers;
• one loan portfolio management officer;
• one director of economic and cooperative de-velopment;
• one economic and cooperative development officer;
• one economic and cooperative development
projects officer ;
• one director of communication and development;
• one communication and development officer;
• one assistant communication and development officer;
• one director of finance, data and administration;
• one business data and policy analyst;
• one operations and offi ce manager;
• one client services officer; and
• one administrative assistant.
There are currently two vacant posts actively being re-cruited.

2022/23 Outcomes
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, 2022/23 also
continued to be an extremely busy year for the Corpo-ration given the overriding goals to assist as many busi-nesses as possible due to the ongoing impact of COVID -19 on local businesses, and to tangibly progress the eight Economic Recovery Projects allocated to the Corporation. I would like to share som e of
BEDC’s major achievements over the past year. Key achievements were as follows:
768 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Entrepreneurship Financing. As mentioned
earlier, as a direct result of the Finance Ministry’s grant
funds provided in fiscal year 2020/21 and the carryover of those funds into last year and this fiscal year, BEDC has approved 343 funding applications since April 2020. The breakdown of the $6,442,838 deployed is as follows:
• COVID -19 BSCF micro loans/grants —133;
• COVID -19 BSCF micro loans —2;
• general/debt consolidation micro loans —86;
• general loan guarantees —6;
• COVID -19 loan guarantees —13;
• COVID -19 guaranteed overdrafts —4; and
• COVID -19 emergency grants —99.
Multiple applications are still actively being processed by BEDC’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enter-prise (MSME) Unit for al l funding types. Although
March 31, 2023, will bring BEDC’s three- year COVID -
19 funding products to an end, BEDC will continue to support the Island’s small and medium -sized enterprises through new and evolving funding products aimed at growing the Island’ s local businesses.
Entrepreneurship Advisory Services. In 2022,
BEDC held 755 one- on-one advisory meetings with entrepreneurs and still surpassed the numbers held in 2019 of 610 meetings. The increase in advisory meet-ings held continues to be a direct response to meeting the COVID -19 impacted needs of businesses. In 2022,
a full 61 per cent, or 457, were new clients to BEDC,
reflecting the outreach BEDC has conducted in order to reach businesses who would not ordinarily be a client of BEDC. Business owner s needed to have advice and
support coming out of the pandemic. The MSME Unit, BEDC’s frontline business support and development section, held the majority of the advisory meetings, assisting 588 clients in 2022.
In addition to processing funding applicat ions
and providing business advice, the MSME Unit man-aged to hold 75 meetings with external stakeholders in 2022, ranging from EEZ initiatives to vendor markets catalysation, through to business group advocacy and everything in between.
Entrepreneurship C atalyser. The entrepreneurial spirit prevailed in 2022/23 although there was an understandable contraction in start -ups due to the
lingering economic impacts of COVID -19. In 2022,
there were 10 new businesses that took advantage of both the New Start -ups P ayroll Tax Relief and the EEZ
Payroll Tax Relief, resulting in 27 new jobs brought to the market. Likewise, the resilience of micro- entrepreneurs and vendors was visible with people seeking a vending licence. As such, 67 vending licences were ap-proved in 2022. A total of 33, or 49 per cent, of the applications were new applicants in 2022, indicating con-fidence and a desire to jump into the entrepreneurial landscape through testing new products or concepts.
Entrepreneurship Education. Entrepreneurs
continued to commit to building their knowledge of en-trepreneurship post -pandemic. It was important for BEDC to continue providing educational support includ-ing our multi -week workshops that provide guidance at
various stages of business development including idea
validation, startup and financial literacy. This year we decided to host the multi -week workshops once a year
instead of twice a year. We continued to supplement the multi -week courses with a variety of webinars and
seminars that cover topics that focus on industry -specific information and general business development guidance. In the fiscal year 2022/23, there were 681 entrepreneurs committed to sharpening their skills who registered for the BEDC’s multi -week courses, seminars and webinars.
Post-pandemic , it has been important for the
BEDC to return to in- person events in this fiscal year.
As a result, we hosted a total of 45 events, of which 34 were in -person. By contrast, 100 per cent of our events
and courses were hosted virtually last fiscal year.
Youth Entrepreneurship. The BEDC continues
to partner with the community, providing a valuable re-source of information about entrepreneurship and how young people should consider it as a viable career op-tion. In addition to running its own programmes, the BEDC team participated in other events throughout the year including entrepreneurship presentations to local schools, career fairs and bespoke youth events. This had a direct impact on hundreds of students and young people in Bermuda.
Summer Student Entrepr eneurship Programme [SSEP]. The fifth Annual Summer Student En-trepreneurship Programme for students between ages 14 and 25 was held for eight weeks from July 4 to August 29. The programme promotes a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship as a viable career option and inspires young people in the local community to
learn and succeed through enterprise. During this fiscal year, seven students completed the programme, and to date 48 young entrepreneurs have built businesses bringing 48 jobs to the market. The Summer Student Entrepreneurship Programme students received start -
up funds, training and mentorship to establish busi-nesses that earned revenues over an eight -week period, resulting in these young people getting valuable life skills and developing an entrepreneurial mind- set
while generating thousands of dollars in sales.
Youth Pitch. The Youth Pitch is an annual competition created to inspire young people to develop and pitch a business idea. Since its start, the competition has helped 62 students pit ch ideas, and some have
gone on to start their businesses. During this fiscal year, two young people were selected as finalists in the Rocket Pitch Finals held during Global Entrepreneur-ship Week. The top prize was awarded to Oseah Doug-las for her business Smart Snaxx, a business focused
on providing healthy snacks in bulk to schools and shops. Twelve- year-old Summer Student Entrepreneurship Programme graduate, Aaron Lugo, Jr., took home the second- place prize for Lugo’s Mighty Mower
lawn service business.


Bermuda House of Assembly Entrepreneurship Networking and Promotion.
Global Entrepreneurship Week [GEW] continues to be
the world’s largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare. During this fiscal year, Bermuda again joined with over 200 countries in celebrating entrepreneurship. During this fiscal year we returned to hosting in- person events
to deliver on the four core objectives of Global Entre-preneurship Week —Inspire, Engage, C onnect and
Mentor the local community around entrepreneurship. Bermuda’s 2022 celebrations resulted in 25 events held, 12 partners committed, 4,950 participants in-volved, and a total reach of over 60,000 people using a variety of media including TV, social media and radio
with cumulative exposure totalling 75,078 impressions.

Entrepreneurship Development
Hon. Jason Hayward: Enterprise Bermuda Incubators
[EBI]. The Enterprise Bermuda Incubator offers entre-preneurs in the incubator personalised assistance to help them refine their business ideas and implement strategies for success. The 12- month programme
walks participants through an in- depth development
process, ensuring that entrepreneurs get beyond the idea stage and start to bring their busi nesses to fruition.
During this fiscal year, the BEDC increased its
acceptance rate by 300 per cent, receiving 60 applications and accepting 24 [burgeoning] entrepreneurs into the programme. This increase was partly due to the es-tablishment of three new hubs in each of the Economic Empowerment Zones. The three additional locations al-lowed the BEDC to support entrepreneurs regionally in North East Hamilton, Somerset and St. George’s. In
addition, the BEDC entered into a licence agreement with the number -one private incubator in North America, The Accelerator Centre [AC] out of Waterloo, Can-ada, to provide a dedicated curriculum for incubates. The partnership with AC provided the entrepreneurs in the Enterprise Bermuda Incubator with access to soft-ware and tools to help support the development of their businesses. Currently, 19 entrepreneurs remain com-mitted to the 12- month curriculum with an expected
graduation date of May 2023.
Enterprise Bermuda Accelerator (EBA). The
Enterprise Bermuda Accelerator launched in February 2022 with eight entrepreneurs currently participating. This seven- month intensive programme provides support to established small and medium -sized business
owners to help them scale their businesses. Utilising the award- winning StreetWise ‘MB A’™ curriculum and
a facilitated peer -learning method, entrepreneurs receive hands -on training, networking and industry support to help them scale their businesses. During the seven- month period, participants will receive tools to
help advance their business acumen, fiscal manage-ment, marketing and sales strategies, human resource tactics, business strategy development and strategies to access capital and develop contracts. The Enterprise Bermuda Accelerator supports business owners who have been in busines s for over three years, have at
least one full -time employee besides the owner and
earn a gross annual revenue between $100,000 and $5 million. During this fiscal year, the eighth cohort was launched on January 26, accepting 13 CEOs into the
programme.

Members of the listening audience and
Honourable Members, we are now in Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24. We are doing the Ministry of Economic Development and La-bour, and Immigration, Head 94. The Honourable Min-ister Jason P. Hayward is discussing the Bermuda Eco-nomic Development Corporation.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Entrepreneurship Communication and Outreach. BEDC actively pushed its brand and the programmes it offers to the publi c and its stakeholders through a variety of resources including the www.bedc.bm
website and a local radio show, Mind
Your Business (MYB) that airs weekly on Ocean 89 on Thursdays from 4: 00 pm to 4:30 pm. The BEDC increased its reach by recording the Mind Your Business shows in -house and establishing its own podcast,
which allows the content to be aired on Ocean 89 and on YouTube. As a result, the reach has increased ex-ponentially with the addition of live video content accessible from the BEDC website, social media platforms and its own YouTube Channel.
The BEDC continues to utilise direct marketing
to its stakeholder group and membership via direct emails, a monthly newsletter and social media. The
Mind Your Business show highlights entrepreneurs and provides guidance in the form of a 30- minute conversation with industry experts on a variety of topics including incorporating a business, marketing and technology, just to name a few. During this fiscal year, 52 shows will
be hosted. The Mind Your Business show will continue throughout the 2023/24 fiscal year offering the public and BEDC stakeholders ’ access to information and
providing new entrepreneurs with valuable exposure that will assis t with business growth.
Likewise, BEDC sends out its monthly newsletter to over 1,900 of its stakeholders at the end of each month. The monthly newsletter is another chance for the BEDC to highlight the entrepreneurs it supports. Over this fiscal year, 12 newsletters will have been sent
highlighting the opportunities at the BEDC, in the com-munity and BEDC clients.

Economic Empowerment Zones (EEZs)
Hon. Jason Hayward: Business Outreach. As businesses work to regain a sense of normal, BEDC's
MSME Unit has also worked to engage in close- contact
770 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly activities. Over the fiscal year BEDC’s officers have reintroduced walkabouts and conducted 317 visits to EEZ businesses. In 2022/23, BEDC had also hosted several large events within the EEZs including the St. George’ s
Marine Expo, six market events with the Court Street Market, and most recently the BEDC Small Business Expo which was held at Willowbank Resort in Somer-set. For 2023/24, BEDC will continue with initiatives and partnerships to encourage community engage-ment, economic events and growth within the EEZs.
Uptown Development Authority [UDA]. BEDC
was tasked with the establishment of an authority which will oversee the regeneration of the North East Hamil-ton Economic Empowerment Zone [Uptown] through facilitating residential and mixed- use development projects. In May 2022 the Uptown Development Authority was established with the engagement of Ms. Meka Steede, owner of Architectural and Planning Consul-tancy and Mr. Shawn Brown, owner of Atlantic Real Es-tate Advis ory Services Ltd., to progress the authority’s
remit. Progress has been made on completion of key tools needed for the success of this authority such as an office on Elliot Street within the Incubator Hub in North Hamilton, the new North Hamilton Local Plan, the business directory and map, the online platform for de-velopment opportunity sites and the Approved Resi-dential Scheme policy and process.
Approved Residential Schemes. This scheme
allows for developers and investors to have a tool and a process for government support of residential and
mixed -use development schemes in all three EEZs.
The scheme was launched in July 2022, and the Up-town Development Authority has been actively promot-ing and meeting with interested parties on the benefits of the econom ic development tool. The team have
been leading meetings and discussions with area stakeholders, property owners, developers, investors, companies, the Bermuda Housing Corporation, the Corporation of Hamilton, the Department of Planning, key government departments and other key stake-holder bodies such as realtors over the last eight months and is making tangible traction with regard to redevelopment of the zone.

Economic and Cooperative Development
Hon. Jason Hayward: Fisheries Development Centre.
In the 2020/21 Budget Speech the Government com-mitted to allocating $1.5 million over two fiscal years to support the development of a Fisheries Co- Operative
via a shoreline facility at Southside. In October 2020 the Government tasked the Economic and Cooperative Development [ECD] Unit of the BEDC with developing the economic recovery initiative, now named the Fish-eries Development Centre [FDC]. In March 2021 the Economic Cooperative Development Unit formed a steering committee comprising the Fishers Association of Bermuda [FAB] and the Bermuda Government Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR].
The steering committee has met bimonthly,
many times weekly, over the last two years to develop this initiative and has produced a draft business plan. The plan was disseminated to fishers six months ago
to understand the myriad of economic, social and infra-structure benefits that can be provided to themselves and the fishing industry through the development of a first-class Fisheries Development Centre. Disc ussions
with fishers are ongoing, as [a] majority of fishers com-mitting to support the FDC is key for the facility to be successful.
Cooperative Legislation. BEDC’s Economic
and Cooperative Development Unit has been charged with creating a cooperative bus iness ecosystem in Bermuda. Work has concluded on the research of the leg-islative framework to underpin the development of a co-operative legislation policy document, which is now in the process of being vetted by key industry stakehold-ers through consultat ion.
Co-op Public Relations. This is currently being
rolled out to the public as a tangible way for successful development of cooperative public relations in Ber-muda. The multimedia campaign delivers co- op awareness, educational content and calls to action, while showcasing cooperative business development works that the ECD Unit is currently involved in. The promo-tion of the Commercial Kitchens project is a key exam-ple of shared cooperative success.
Underutilised Commercial Kitchens for Community Users. The overarching goal of the Underuti-lised Commercial Kitchens Programme [CKP] is to pro-vide interested entrepreneurs with an affordable, quality work environment to support their business start -up
or expansion, and at the same time provide commercial kitchen owners with facility income that it would otherwise not receive. Last year BEDC launched a multi -media marketing campaign to feature its commercial kitch-ens programme successes inclusive of small business kitchen users, partnering facility landlords and photos
of the available, fully equipped and Health Department -
approved commercial kitchens. With four commercial kitchens currently in the portfolio, BEDC has matched eight entrepreneurs in 2022 and is actively in discus-sions with landlords to bring new k itchens into the programme.

2023/24 Focus
Hon. Jason Hayward: Although much progress has
been made in ensuring new products and services are developed to continue to facilitate entrepreneurship and new business formation on Island, with the lasting negative impact of the global pandemic on local busi-nesses the Government continues to be desirous of BEDC’s focusing on key projects and initiatives in 2023/24, many of which are in the Economic Recovery


Bermuda House of Assembly Plan and can provide further benefit and positive impact economically in Bermuda. These areas are as fol-lows:
Virtual M arket. The BEDC recognises that access to an affordable online presence is vital for small business success. As a result, a virtual market, buyber-muda (dot com) is actively being developed to provide an affordable solution for micro and small business owners who cannot afford to list on existing platforms or establish bespoke payment processing. The primary purpose of the BEDC virtual market is to promote eco-nomic development in Bermuda by providing small businesses with an online platform to allow them to sell their goods locally and internationally. The BEDC soft -
launched the BuyBermuda virtual market last fiscal year. Due to design issues discovered during the test-ing phase, the BEDC has identified a new vendor and will be launching the enhanced BuyBermuda market before the end of March 2023 within this 2022/23 fiscal year.
Agricultural Cooperatives. BEDC’s ECD Unit is
currently facilitating the development of an agricultural cooperative [co- op], or collaborative, located on government -owned Walsingham agricultural lands in Hamilton Parish in partnership with the Ministry of Public Works [MPW]. The goal is to establish one or more co-ops housed on the one- acre plot of agricultural land at
Walsingham. Suggested ideas for proposals were as follows:
• the creati on of a destination hot spot with agriculture, food, entertainment and community;
• a purpose- built facility to house a commercial
kitchen, bar and bathrooms;
• the design of farm -to-table amenities with a
farm store to sell produce grown on- site;
• agriculture business incubation models for
youth and seniors; or
• agriculture technology -focused building projects with community linkages.
The closing date for the RFI [request for information] was January 16, 2023, with 14 expressions of
interest received. The ECDU are currently meeting with all of the applicants and will work with the MPW to pro-gress the selected business ideas in fiscal year 2023/24.
Fisheries Development Centre. In fiscal year
2023/24, the next stage of work to develop a successful Fisheries Deve lopment Centre is important for the reasons stated. The BEDC is actively engaged with the Fishermen’s Association Bermuda executive to under-stand, given the current industry challenges, how the Fisheries Development Centre business planning works can best continue.
Underutilised Commercial Kitchens for Community Users. Building on the success of successful placement of food entrepreneurs in commercial kitch-ens, BEDC will continue to enlist interested kitchens and community users who desire to participate w ithin
the programme. With a current waitlist of 11 businesses within the first quarter of 2023/24, BEDC will further de-velop its programme business plan for prudent growth to increasingly serve interested parties who desire to participate.
Cooperative Legislation. To shore up and progress the cooperative framework, cooperative legisla-tion is needed as another option, a business model for businesses to consider. It is expected that consultation on the draft policy with key stakeholders will be com-pleted by the end April 2023, after which time the draft policy approved by BEDC’s board will be forwarded to the Cabinet for the next steps to create cooperative leg-islation for Bermuda.
Cooperative Educational Seminars and Workshops. In fiscal year 2023/24, BEDC will continue to promote international partner co -op educational opportunities through offering a calendar of regularly sched-uled lunch- and-learn sessions and will also deliver content via digital channels for the new remote learners. BEDC will also introd uce deeper -dive co- op start -up,
multiweek workshops, and co- op incubator and accelerator experiences, along with more foundational -level
co-op training such as working together, resolving conflict, understanding inclusive economy, social enter-prise, buildi ng trust and worker ownership. US -based
Start.Coop
is a great example of a cooperative incubator/accelerator programme for BEDC to model in this regard.
Co-op Economic Development Opportunities.
BEDC will continue to publish RFIs and RFPs [requests for proposals] to invite would- be co- op developers to
develop and present creative cooperative development interests in targeted areas such as food, commercial kitchens, agriculture, fisher ies and youth development.
BEDC will also develop a pilot cooperative grant prod-uct for early start co- op developers to build business
plans, engage other business founders, invest needed time/energy and beta test co -op concepts for next -level
growth.
Southeast Hamilton EEZ Extension. BEDC’s
MSME Unit has been working to gauge the feasibility of extending the North East Hamilton EEZ to businesses bounded by Victoria Street to the north, King Street to the east, Front Street/Hamilton Waterfront to the south
and Court Street to the west. GIS mapping has been used to identify the buildings, businesses and uses, and a survey has been conducted to area businesses. Analysis has taken place with a recommendation report currently being drafted for Cabinet. The goal is to facilitate synergy within the two EEZs, extend economic de-velopment tools to the expanded zone, and facilitate more investment and development within the zones.
Uptown Accessible Wi -Fi. In 2023/24, BEDC
will restart this infrastructure project and actively pro-gress the development and building of an accessible Wi-Fi network within the North East Hamilton EEZ to
attract and enhance the visitor and resident experience within the zone. Economic development tools such as
772 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly accessible Wi -Fi in public urban areas are commonplace in many jurisdictions around the world.
Annual Business Registration. Unlike many
other countries, Bermuda does not require sole proprietor businesses to register and obtain a licence or per-mit to operate. While Bermuda Economic Dev elopment
Corporation’s Act indicates that BEDC must maintain a register of businesses, it does not state that businesses must register with BEDC. To date, this has been purely voluntary. As such, this has caused a gap in oversight of sole proprietors and i n collecting key data such as
number of start -ups, number of closures, size of business, employee number, industries of businesses and contribution to the economy revenue- wise.
Without this timely information, developing appropriate and useful public poli cies that meet entrepreneurs’ needs continues to be a challenge. The Attorney General’s Chambers has commenced the initial work in reviewing BEDC’s current legislation, a policy paper has been prepared and Cabinet will soon be deliberat-ing on the recommendations within the Cabinet memo, requesting that legislation be drafted.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, businesses create
jobs, and jobs employ people, thereby growing our economy. In fiscal year 2023/24, the Bermuda Eco-nomic Development Corporation will continue to en-hance its products and services to provide further op-portunities for Bermuda’s local micro, small and me-dium -sized businesses with the goal of facilitating economic growth and empowerment in this sector.
BEDC is grateful for the support the Bermuda
Government has shown over the years in supporting and growing the Corporation’s remit for developing a strong, viable, local small and medium entrepreneurial and business ecosystem. SMEs are the lifeblood of any
economy, and without sustainable local bus inesses
within the mix of enterprise on the Island, Bermuda’s people, culture and economy would be markedly chal-lenged. It is therefore vital that BEDC receives the budgetary support it requires to continue fostering eco-nomic stability and growth in Bermuda’s local entrepre-neurs. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

For the benefit of the listening audience, we are in Committee of Supply for further consid-eration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24. We are on the Ministry of Econ-omy and Labour, and the Department of Immigration. Honourable Jason P. Hayward is giving his presenta-tion. And we will go on until lunch, which is another 15 minutes.
Please continue, Minister.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

HEAD 27—DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I will now move
to Head 27—Department of Immigration, found on pages B -17 through B -181 of the Estimates of Revenue
and Expenditure.
Mr. Chairman, notwithstanding the financials
contained in the Immigration Department’s budget
brief, the brief contains and highlights the following:
• work from Bermuda applications;
• PRCs for long -term residents;
• new policy —actuarial talent;
• enhancement/public clarity on the process for emergency passport applications;
• extension of restricted and closed job categories; and
• recruitment of vendors and impact on passport
and work permit processes.

New Current Account Funding
Hon. Jason Hayward: As noted on page B -177, the
Department of Immigration has been allocated a budget of $6,138,000 for the fiscal year 2023/24. The expenditure has increased by $620,000, thus repre-senting an 11 per cent increase in comparison to our
current fiscal year 2022/23.
Mr. Chairman, the material changes of the
Subjective Analysis of t he current account estimates as
compared with the 2022/23 can be found on page B -
178 and are as follows:
• Salaries increased by $137,000, or 4 per cent.
This increase is required to cover the overtime cost for the Compliance Section. Overtime is required when commercial flights arrive late or medical emergency jets arrive/depart outside of normal operating hours. Lastly, overtime is also incurred when officers conduct deporta-tions;
• Professional Services. During fiscal year
2022/23, a supplemental increase was issued
to cover the cost to on board consultants to as-sist with the backlog and high volume of appli-cations. This budget type increased by 85 per
cent in comparison with the original budget for the period. Fiscal year 2023/24 budget further increased by 6 per cent, $58,000, from the revised budget of 2022/23;
• Rentals. The revised estimates increased mar-ginally from $70,000 in 2022/23 to $102,000 in comparison to the original 2022/23 estimates, but is projected to be $70,000 in 2023/24. This increase was also related to the costs associ-ated with the onboarding of additional staffing. Initially the department sought to rent office space externally; however, office space be-came available within the Government Admin-istration Building at no cost; and
• Other Expenses. The electronic platform due to launch in 2022 was postponed. As a result, the funding estimated to cover the cost of credit card commissions was not budgeted in the next fiscal year.


Bermuda House of Assembly Revenue Summary

Hon. Jason Hayward: The revenue summary is outlined on page B -178. The total revenue estimate for
2023/24 is $19,784,000, an increase of $6,009,000, or 44 per cent, in comparison to 2022/23. Immigration’s
revenue estimates are in line with the collected revenue during 2022/23 and the previous two fiscal y ears. The
most material changes are as follows:
Passport Issuance. Estimated revenue has increased by $84,000, or 11 per cent, with a projected
collection of $823,000. Passport submissions have steadily increased throughout the current fiscal year. It is expected that the revenue for passport applications
will continue to generate high collections during the up-coming year.
Work Permits. Full -time and part -time have increased by $4,644,000, or 52 per cent of the original
estimates of 2022/23. Despite various closed catego-ries, the revenue collected during financial year 2022/23 was consistent with previous years. It is ex-pected that the upcoming revenues for the line item will exceed current collections.

Minister, would you repeat that,
please?
Hon. Jason Hayward: It is expected that the upcoming
revenues for the line item will exceed current collec-tions.
Work Permits. Temporary has increased by
$866,000, or 51 per cent of the original estimates of
2022/23. It is expected that the revenue collections for temporary permits will be in line with previous years.
Work Permits, Work and Reside. Estimated
revenue for 2023/24 has decreased in comparison to 2022/23 by $757,000, or 66 per cent. This decrease of
collections is based on current year collections. It is predicted that the department will be able to achieve the same level of collections, as not as many work and reside applications were submitted for 2022/23.
Work Permits Appeals. Estimated revenue for
this also decreased by $47,000, or 41 per cent, in comparison to 2022/23.
Nationality. During the 2022/23 fiscal this application submission type increased by $111,000, or 90 per cent, in comparison to the estimated revenue
collections for the period. As a result, the 2023/24 revenue has been estimated to collect a similar level.
Status and Naturalisation, Other. On January 1, 2022, Immigration started accepting applications
for permanent resident certificates for long- term residents, which resulted in an influx of applications. It was expected for application submissions to plateau during the current financial year; however, collections have doubled in 2022/23. The estimated collections for 2023/24 have be set based on current year revenue, which is expected to achieve the same results.
Existing and New Capital Projects
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, no capital acquisitions funding has been allocated for 2023/24, which can be found on page C -13.

Highlights of Key Accomplishments for
Fiscal Year 2022/23
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, there was an active flow of applications throughout the year for the One- Year Work from Bermuda [WFB] Certificate. During the period April 1, 2022, to February 4, 2023, the
Department of Immigration received 226 appli cations
representing $59,438 in fees. Since its inception on Au-gust 1, 2020, the following are the current totals:
• total applications received, 1,449;
• total applications approved, 1,174;
• total applications refused, 197;
• total applicants who continue to res ide in Bermuda, 269; and
• total renewals/extensions, 181.
Applications are refused for a myriad of reasons, including the following:
• incomplete or bogus application;
• applicant possessing insufficient funds to fully sustain themselves; and/or
• role does not allow for remote working (i.e., a
fireman).
The Work from Bermuda Certificate continues
to be promoted by the Bermuda Business Development
Agency and the Bermuda Tourism Authority. The result of their support means that the Work from Bermuda programme continues to meet its intended purpose—to boost economic activity, to enrich Bermuda’s brand
and reputation as an ideal place to live (work or study remotely), to increase the local real estate market, and to change short -term resident opportunities into longterm investments. The fact that the Work from Bermuda programme prevents persons from being employed in Bermuda by a local business means that such persons cannot compete for local jobs, thereby allowing for more local employment opportunities for Bermudians.
Mr. Chairman, as a reminder the Work f rom
Bermuda policy encourages people who meet the fol-lowing criteria:
• can effectively work remotely;
• have financial means to fully sustain them-selves;
• would like to work in Bermuda in a non- Bermuda- based or non- Bermuda- registered legal
entity or partnershi p; or
• would like to complete their post -secondary
studies from Bermuda.
Individuals can apply for a Work from Bermuda
certificate via the portal at forms.gov.bm
. A list of Frequently Asked Questions assists individuals with gain-ing knowledge about the policy.
774 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, just over a year ago, January 1,
2022, the Department of Immigration started to receive
Permanent Resident Certificate applications from long -
term residents. Since inception, the department has re-ceived 194 applications, and more than half of this number are well advanced in the process. This number is almost four times greater than the total number of 51 reported in the Budget Brief for 2022/ 23. Processing of
the applications can take approximately six to nine months from submission to a decision, depending on the volume of applications to be processed as matched with available human resources.
[As of] February 6, 2023, there were 53 applications that had already been approved and 45 had already been vetted and need to undergo second- level
vetting by a supervisor. As with the Work from Bermuda Certificate policy, the [Bermuda Immigration and Pro-tection Amendment Act 2021] is meeting its intended goal. It is addressing the associated issues that affect the following real -life scenarios:
a) persons who were born or arrived in Bermuda at an early age and have been ordinarily resi-dent in Bermuda;
b) persons who have been ordinarily resident in Bermuda seeking to remain and who have con-tinuously contributed to the Bermuda commu-nity;
c) a divorced parent of a Bermudian child;
d) an unwed parent of a Bermudian child; and
e) children of first - and second- generation Permanent Resident Certificate holders who have been ordinarily resident in Bermuda.
Allowing long -term residents to apply for and
become PRC holders in Bermuda means that the stressful thought of certain family members being
asked to leave Bermuda and/or indefinitely being under Immigration control now means that families remain to-gether and are able to provide meaningful contributions to Bermuda’s social and economic strata.

Good after noon Honourable Members
and members of the listening public. We are now in Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24. This is the middle of the debate on [the Minis-try of] Economy and Labour. We are hearing from the Honourable Minister Jason P. Hayward on Head 94, and he has now moved on to Head 27. This is a three-hour debate concluding at 2:52 pm.
Honourable Minister, you have the floor.
Hon. Jason Hayward: During 2022/23, the Department of Immigration either enhanced long- standing
processes and/or introduced new processes. I will now focus on these areas.
Mr. Chairman, there is high worldwide demand
for qualified actuaries and to attract quality candidates to Bermuda is a very compet itive process. Due to the
expansion and evolution of the re- insurance industry in
Bermuda, there is even more demand for actuaries.
These factors combined have made it essential that Bermuda companies move quickly to secure the talent required to execute t heir business plans within the
backdrop of these human resource shortages.
A new process which would help with expediting work permit applications for qualified actuaries was introduced in April 2022 for 12 months. To be eligible for the quicker turnaround time for the approval of a work permit, applicants must be a member which achieved fellowship or associateship status in compli-ance with one of the following actuarial associations:
• Canadian Institute of Actuaries;
• Society of Actuaries;
• American Academy of Actuaries;
• Institute of Actuaries;
• other country’s equivalent officially recognised actuarial body. [They] must have a minimum of three years of
relevant professional experience in the insurance, rein-surance or consulting industries. Work permit applications submitted for qualified actuaries are processed within five business days. Although advertising is not required, employers must apply for a waiver of adver-tising and pay the advertisement waiver fee. Addition-ally, the process allows a simultaneous application for an applicant’s spouse/partner to reside and seek em-ployment in Bermuda, provided a complete application


Bermuda House of Assembly is submitted and the relevant fee is remitted to the department.
As there is no statutory body in Bermuda for
actuaries, applications are not referred at all, not even to the CPA Bermuda. Questions regarding this initiative may be directed to the Chief Immigration Officer, Dr. Danette Ming at: 444- 1048 or at dwmin g@gov.bm
.
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Immigration
receives several requests for emergency passports for medical travel. And to settle the issue for what is re-quired for eligibility for an emergency passport, the de-partment formally prepared written guidance. In November 2022, the guidance for requesting an emer-gency passport for medical reasons was published on the Government portal ( www.gov.bm
). To dat e, the
guidance is proving to be extremely helpful because it provides the necessary clarity to potential emergency passport applicants. The following requirements must be satisfied in order the Department of Immigration to consider an application for an emergency passport for medical travel:
1) Complete passport application form. The appli-cation form can be accessed at www.gov.bm.
2) The expired passport. If the expired passport has been lost/stolen, a Lost/Stolen Form must also be submitted.
3) Two passport photos.
4) If patient needs an emergency passport letters [must be received] from the local physician and from the overseas care facility. Letters must in-clude the patient’s full name, date of birth, and appointment date.
5) If patient needs to be accompanied by some-one who does not have a valid passport, letters from the local physician and from the overseas care facility must include the patient’s full name, date of birth, and appointment date, and also expressly state that the patient must be accompanied by som eone and provide the full
name and date of birth of the person who is in-tending to accompany the patient.
6) Application must be hand- delivered to the Department of Immigration. Once the department has considered the request (and if approved), the required f ees will be confirmed. Note, the
assessment may require the submission of additional documents.
7) Fees. The standard, temporary and express passport fees apply and are payable online only. Current fees and bank details can be found at www.gov.bm. Proof of payment must be submitted to the Department of Immigration.
8) Once the application is deemed complete, in-cluding receipt of proof of payment, the emer-gency passport will be processed and the ap-plicant will be contacted when it is ready to be issued. Weekend emergency passport service will only be subjected to medevac travel and the Department of Immigration will only liaise with social workers at the Bermuda Hospitals Board.
Mr. Chairman, I will now discuss the moratorium on job categories. The Ministry of E conomy and
Labour appreciates the current challenges within our labour market and the significant impact the pandemic has had on many local businesses. Our aim is always to ensure the effective use of policies that create jobs for Bermudians.
Dating back to August 1, 2021, a moratorium
was placed on certain job categories to restrict employ-ment in Bermuda of non- Bermudians. The initial moratorium was for a three- month period. The moratorium
remains in place, having had the following extensions:
• February 1 to July 31, 2022 (six months)
• August 1 to December 31, 2022 (five months)
• January 1 to May 31, 2023 (five months)
At the announcement of the current extension,
general bartenders was moved from the restricted list to the closed list and guest service agents was added to the closed list.
Mr. Chairman, in accordance with the [Immigration] Work Permit Policy, section 3.7, the application process for jobs in the restricted category is the same as that for the open category, except the employer must apply f or a maximum term of one year and submit evidence that any candidates screened and recom-mended by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) have been appropriately considered. DWD is expected to respond to enquiries by employers within 10 working days. Should no response be forthcoming
from DWD, the employer may submit the application with written evidence that they made enquiries. The partner of a Bermudian, Permanent Resident Certifi-cate holder, non- Bermudian on a work permit, or other
legal resident of Bermuda who has already received permission to reside may now apply to seek employ-ment. Partners who do not have permission to reside may apply to reside and seek employment.
The closed list comprises 46 jobs in total: administrative assistant, airline ground agent, bank teller,
carpet installer, cashier, childcare assistant, courier, customer care/service rep, debt collector, deckhand, dispatcher road transport, entertainer/musician, execu-tive secretary/assistant, fisherman, general bartender, general labourer, golf instructor, grocery packer, guest
service agent, handyman, HR officer/manager, interns, laundry attendant, legal clerk, librarian, office recep-tionist, painter, para- professional, photographer,
pool/beach attendant, public relations officer, real estate agent, retail floor supervisor, room attendant, salesperson, seasonal work permits, security guard, senior clerk, taxi driver, teaching aide, technician sales-person, telephone switchboard operator, tourist retail salesperson, travel agent/cons ultant, wallpaper technician, and warehouse clerk.
The restricted list comprises 11 jobs in total:
dish/pot washer, electrician, general carpenter, general mason, kitchen assistant, kitchen porter, landscape
776 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly gardener, plumber, residential/commercial cleaner,
tennis instructor, and waiter/server.
Mr. Chairman, in September 2023, the Department of Immigration hired 10 vendors/customer service reps to assist with the backlog of applications in the Bermuda Passport Section, in particular. Some were deployed t o assist with the backlog of work permit applications. Prior to this date, there were delays in pro-cessing British Overseas Territories Citizen Bermuda [BOTC] passports. The processing timeline signifi-cantly exceeded the published 11- week timeframe.
Several factors contributed to the delays including the volume of applications, human resource shortages, sick absences due to the pandemic, and the in- depth
requirements by His Majesty’s Passport Office [HMPO] in the UK for vetting a passport application.
Although the vendors did not all start at the
same time, each underwent in- house training so that
they were [acclimated] with key processes, policies and legislation. The department has made significant strides in reducing the application timeframe and un-doubtedly, the team will, by March 31, 2023, return to
processing passports within 11 weeks.
Mr. Chairman, I wish to communicate that the
overarching issues —the inability to print full validity
passports in Bermuda and the GBR code—are not lost on the Mini stry or department. We are conscious of the
fact that BOTC Bermuda passport holders are still en-countering problems when they travel to certain juris-dictions. A solution is being sought to address these is-sues.
Mr. Chairman, I will now advance to talk about
new [and the] continuance of initiatives. A few initiatives which were started in 2022/23 will continue in the new fiscal year. For instance:
• review/re -write the Work Permit Policy;
• digitisation of immigration applications;
• extend the use of the eGates at the L. F. Wade
International Airport;
• enhance border control monitoring at the sea-ports.
Mr. Chairman, I would like re- state the objectives of the digitisation of immigration applications. The objective of the Automation Project is still to transition as much as possible away from paper -based processes. Due to the cost and complexity of automation of the processes the department is implementing the project in phases. The functionality in the early phases will be basic in nature with further enhancements being released later. This current phase of the project in-cludes, but is not limited to electronic submission of ap-plications, payment of application fees via a payment gateway, workflow, vetting and validation, status up-dates with log- in ability, approval by the Minister or by
Immigration senior leadership, production and dis-bursement of final immigration documents, and ability for the department to run reports.
The benefits of the Automation Project are to • eliminate paper from the application in- take
process and reduce the volume of data entry required to move an application through the various phases in the process;
• reduce the turnaround time required to complete all the work on an application and present
the customer with a response of the decision made;
• provide a dashboard to management and staff to analyse operations and performance;
• improve the communication with customers and stakeholders in terms of frequency and time delivered;
• improve the standard operating procedures
along with providing a clear audit trail and improved quality assurance;
• eliminate the submission of incomplete applications and reduce the rework associated with this; and
• reduce the hassle and travel involved in the submission of applications by customers.
Mr. Chairman, the other initiative is Immigration Reform. As already alluded to earlier, plans are afoot for immigration reform which seeks to modernise the country’s immigration laws and supporting policies, and create operational efficiencies through process im-provement . Immigration reform initiatives consist of the
following strategic priorities:
1) Achieve a simplified, fair, and modern immigra-tion legislative framework.
2) Leverage technology to improve operations which will lead to greater levels of efficiency, process c onsistency, and sustainability.
3) Strengthen enforcement of laws and policies.
4) Support economic growth and the expansion of
job opportunities in Bermuda.
It is envisioned that these strategic priorities
will provide the required restructuring to rebuild and strengthen our immigration system. The new system is also intended to allow this Government to provide the necessary protections and opportunities for current and future residents of Bermuda.
The goal of immigration reform is to ensure that
the big pic ture is one that benefits all of Bermuda. In
the past, we have discussed reforms to immigration in a very myopic way, such as, work permits, permanent residency or the emotive and politically divisive issue of granting status. Unfortunately, that dialogue has over-shadowed the immediate need to overhaul and com-pletely revise the laws, policies, systems and resources required to ensure that Bermuda has an immigration system that is unbiased and beneficial for today’s Ber-muda.
Mr. Chairman, the department’s r ecruitment
update is as follows. The number of employees re-quired for the department to operate efficiently is out-lined on page B -179. There are 44 established full -time
posts, of which, 13 of these posts are currently vacant. A list of the vacant posts consist of


Bermuda House of Assembly • corporate services manager –1
• personal services manager –1
• business systems officer –1
• client service officer –1
• customer service representatives –3
• processing clerk/cashiers –2
• processing administrator –1
• industry relationship officer –1
• compliance manager –1
• principal compliance officer –1
Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I would like to
thank the dedicated members of staff at the Department of Immigration. I would like to thank the Immigra-tion team under the leadership of Dr. Danette Ming, Chief Immigration Officer, and Ms. Marita Grimes, As-sistant Chief Immigration Officer, together with Ms. Lauren Sadler -Best of the Attorney General’s Chambers, and the Immigration Appeal Tribunal headed by Mr. Charles Richar dson.
Finally, I would also like to thank Mrs. Tionea
Effs, Mr. B. Terrence Smith, Ms. Shawnea Lewis, Ms. Nekia Richardson, Ms. Ashleigh Lambert, and their re-spective teams, as well as the Collector of Customs, Mrs. Lucinda Pearman and her airport team for admin-istering the airport border control on behalf of Immigra-tion.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That concludes my
submission for the Heads for debate today.

Thank you, Honourable Minister.
Honourable Members, we are now in Committee of Supply for further consideration of Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24. We have been hearing from Honourable Minister Jason P. Hayward on the Ministry of Economy and Labour, more
specifically Heads 94 and 27 (Head 27 bei ng Immigration). Does anyone wish to speak? MP Jarion Richardson, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I thank the Honourable Minister for his presenta-tion.
Today on the Economic Development Department and Immigration, Mr. Chairman, I would start my contribution by asking the Minister for further infor-mation as it relates to [page] B -179 under Head 27 Immigration, more specifically, professional services. In the 2022/23 original, $168,000 was estimated to be spent on professional services, and we see that a fur-ther $998,000 was actually spent. The Minister ex-plained that this was due to recruiting to assist with the processing of delayed applications. And the Minister said that consultants were hired for this. Would the Minister be able to inform this Honourable House if those consultants are Bermudians? The Chairman: Minister.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, all of the vendor/consultants are Bermudian.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I thank the Honourable Minister for confirming
that all of the consultants are in fact Bermudians and that they are paying for all of the benefits themselves and not receiving any others. To that end, I would ask the Minister about something which is not appearing in the Budget Book but which he spoke about just very briefly in h is Statement. Mr. Chairman, with your indulgence, I will refer to some of the Hansards on this one, more specifically on 18 February 2022. Speaking under Head 22, the Minister spoke to this. The Minister up-dated the House on the automation project, which he referred to as digitisation. And he said on 18 February 2022 that that process was already underway and that
“the current phase of the project includes, but is not lim-ited to:
"1. submission of applications;
"2. payment of application fees via a payment gateway;
"3. electronic workflow;
"4. vetting and validation; . . .” et cetera.
He then mentioned the budget. And [in] his
brief from last year in the Hansard (and I am looking at 11 March [2022]), the Minister, again speaking about phase 1 of this project, current phase of the project in-cludes . . . (and he restates what he said on 18 February 2022) “submission of applications” et cetera. Fur-ther, he said that this project would be launched in that month.
Now, given that phase 1 of this project was discussed in last year ’s budget in 2022/23 as a new initiative, and we have already paid $151,000 for this pro-ject, my question to the Minister is, Is phase 1 com-plete? In other words, the matters that he spoke of last year in February and March (and then it sounds like he just spoke of in his ministerial brief) . . . what is the current status of this project? What of these items have been completed?
778 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Minister.

Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I first would like
to provide clarity. The vendors which I thought the Member was talking about are the vendors that I men-tioned in the statement that were used to assist with the processing of applications. There was a separate pro-fessional services for vendors which were used to as-sist with the digitisation process that w e had capital allocation come to. Those vendors were not Bermudian. But the vendors which were assisting with the work per-mit process are all Bermudian, so they will have the re-spective vendor contracts.
The project got underway and we went through
a process where we liaised with industry to do testing and do a trial phase for the digitisation process. I was not pleased with the outputs of the particular process which [caused] us to revise the process in which we move forward with the digitisation process . It is one
thing if you want to digitise a paper process. But if you are only changing paper forms, including electronic forms, you are not creating the necessary efficiencies that you may require to maximise the output. And it may be more onerous on both the department and consumers by doing manual inputs into a system and then you just . . . you are not creating the process and efficiencies. So, we do have a business analyst working with the Department of Immigration now to create the effi-ciencies that are required so that the final output is what we desire, which is a more efficient and effective way to process applications within the Department of Immi-gration.
The other thing is that you can digitise a process, but automating a process is another step. Automating a process is another step. Automating a process means that you reduce the level of human re-sources required as inputs in the process. And we de-termined that we will receive the same bottlenecks if the same human resources are required and, say,
somebody was out sick or on vacation or we had hu-man resource shortages, it still creates a process in a digitised system.
So, we want an automated system so that we
can reduce the level of human resources in the process so that we can achieve the effici encies that we desire.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
thank you Minister.
Would the Minister be able to inform this Honourable House when he anticipates phase 1 being completed? The Chairman: Minister.
Hon. Jason Hayward: I will endeavour to provide a full
Ministerial Statement on the Immigration Reform Initia-tives as well as the specific strategic priority of the dig-itisation of the Immigrat ion Department. It is something
important for the Government, and it is something im-portant for customers and industry. And I think that the public is due a full explanation as to how we are pro-ceeding with that particular project.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
and I thank the Honourable Minister for that. I am cer-tainly looking forward to that update, which, again, we read about for going on a year now.
With that being said, Mr. Chairman, I would like
to ask the Minister as it relates to Head 27 on page B -
180, specifically under business unit 37010, corporate services. We note that the average processing times in the year 2021/22 was two to three months. And then
we anticipated in the year 2022, the original forecast 2022/23, that it was going to take 20 days. But we see that it actually stayed and was stuck on processing these work permits at two to three months. The depart-ment is now estimating again that i t will be reduced to
20 working days to undertake this process.
Mr. Chairman, the Honourable Minister in his
brief spoke to the role of actuaries in our economy. And there are many other specialised positions that our lo-cal economy requires to be staffed. So work permits are, in fact, quite crucial to making sure that our econ-omy stabilises and grows. To that end, this is quite a key area that we are developing some expertise at and the faster we can expedite these necessary matters the
better. Why does the department, or why does the Honourable Minister think the work permit processing will get better this year [as compared to] last year? Thank you.

Thank you.
Minister, I think we are at page B -180 under
business unit 37010. Thank you, Minis ter. You have the
floor.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And
I thank the Honourable Member for that question.
Work permit processing is something that we
have a keen interest on improving the turnaround times. We do believe that we will be w ithin the 20 work -
day period. We have seen a substantial improvement in the turnaround time for work permit processing over the last six months, I would say, since we brought in the additional staffing. The bottlenecks were due to limited staffing. As a result of bringing on the additional staff, we no longer experience those bottlenecks.
I think that industry is also feeling the improved
processing times. I can go back to last week when the Bermuda Hotel Association actually put out a press


Bermuda House of Assembly statement thanking myself and the Department of Immigration for the timely turnaround time for their work permits. So, no, we do not get it right all the time. But on this particular instance we have been getting work permits processed in a timely manner.
There were t wo things that actually slow up the
processing of work permits. And that is incomplete ap-plications sometimes and then too, persons use inter-mediaries to submit the applications and the intermedi-aries are not always submitting the applications in a timely manner. Or the department gets back to the intermediaries with follow up information that is not al-ways readily available or provided to the department, which slows up processing times. But we understand that if we want to ensure that businesses can succeed
that we need to provide them with the human capital that is required on a timely basis.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
thank the Honourable Minister for his answer.
Now moving on to business unit 37020, personal services, again on page B -180, the same question as it relates to performance measurements, but for passport processing thi s time. We have passport processing, the actual outcome, that is, the amount of time it takes the department to process a passport, the ac-tual outcome in 2021/22 was 11 weeks. And then we forecast at the beginning of the last fiscal year that it would take 11 weeks but the revised forecast, in other
words it actually took 15 to 17 weeks. We heard, cer-tainly in the Opposition, undoubtedly the Minister has
received reports of very lengthy times. I know that he spoke a few times in the House about the time that it takes to get a passport processed, sometimes to the consternation of the applicant. I believe the Ministry even mentioned people missing family events and the like.
To that end, can the Minister assure the Honourable House that at this time the back log of passports
has been cleared? How long does it take a passport application for renewal to be with the department be-fore it is considered late or backlogged? So, two ques-tions there. One, has the backlog been cleared? And what exactly is a backlog? How long does it have to be
there before it is officially overdue or late? The Chairman: Thank you.
Minister Hayward.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, as it pertains to passport processing, I have been very transparent and forthright with the people of Bermuda as it pertains to the challenges that we had with processing passports where with some passports the processing had ex-ceeded even 20 weeks. That is something that we are not proud of, but we have dedicated the necessary re-sources to ensure and review the processes to ensure
that passports are processed on a more timely basis.
I am pleased to report that the average processing time falls within 11 weeks. We kept it at 11 weeks to provide us with a cushion room in case we do have any bottleneck. But certainly, with the current pro-cess we are processing passports within 11 weeks. It
does depend on passport processing types for persons with newly acquired Bermuda status. It takes a bit longer than a renewal passport. So, I can say the aver-age time period, but I cannot say as an absolute how
long it takes to process a passport because it is differ-ent based off of the complexity of what was actually submitted.
In terms of backlogs, nine times out of ten if
there is a passport that has been what we consider to
be part of a backlog it means that the passport did not have sufficient information. We have either reached out to the applicant to get the additional information or we failed to reach out to the applicant in a timely manner to get the information. So, we have to take some accountability, but we are in the process of changing our processes so that this does not happen, and we will be looking to improve the customer service experience in this next fiscal period.

Yes, and thank you Honourable Minister for that answer. I will follow up with t he following question.
I note that the performance measurements for
both corporate services and personal services do not track for complaints related to work permits and pass-ports. My question to the Honourable Minister is, Does the department in fact track complaints and can those
be reported to the Honourable House? Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.

Honourable Minister.
Hon. Jason Hayward: I certainly aware that the department receives complaints. I am unsure as to the ex-tent that the department logs complaints by type. This
is something that I will certainly follow up with the Chief Immigration Officer to determine how she monitors complaints per business unit. And then if there are com-plaints that will be registered, that would be something that I would want to track moving forward. We want to
get to a point where complaints are extremely mini-mised and actually are rare.

Thank you, Minister .
The Chair recognises MP Jarion Richardson.

780 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
couldn’t agree with the Minister more. I think that all of
us as Members of Parliament receive those phone calls, especially on the weekends or at non- business
hours, early in the morning when someone has a prob-lem with the Department of Immigration or rather a problem with the application that the department is ad-ministering. And there really is little that you can do about it, subsequently you hear about complaints, and it does make you wonder where all of this information is going. I do think it would be quite helpful if the Minister were made aware of all of these [complaints] undoubtedly in a systematic and formulated way.
With that being said, Mr. Chairman, I would like
to turn our attention to Head 94. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have?

Yes, thank you.
If I can get the Honourable Minister to confirm
on page B -192 the objectives set out. Right now we
have seven department objectives. But we have under the performance measurements ––in other words, what
we expect the Department of Economic Development to perform, those expectations are set out on page B -
195.
Mr. Chairman, you note that there are double
asterisks n ext to the vast majority of the performance
expectations for the Department of Economic Develop-ment. In fact, two -thirds are going to be discontinued
going into this new year. So we are looking at the re-quested funds for this department of $8.3 million. But with two -thirds of the performance expectations going
away, I just want to make sure that I am reading that the department’s objectives are as set out on page B -
192.

Yes. Perhaps, Minister, you can help
with this, although I think if one looks at the bottom of the chart at page B -195 the double asterisks then say
measures discontinued for 2022/23. And I think the Minister’s point, if I understood it correctly, was that the
only discontinuance for fiscal year 2023/24 was the top
column under economic development and diversifica-tion.
Was that right, Minister?
Hon. Jason Hayward: Correct. I think that is actually
correct, Mr. Chairman. What may happen is that the asterisks in the measures and indicators may have to be taken out so that the only applicable double asterisk is in the column for target outcome for 2023/24.

Thank you so much.
Would the Honourable Minister be able to give
a breakdown . . . I am now talking about the employee
numbers, full -time equivalents on page B -194, most
specifically, Minister, in last year’s debate you gave a breakdown of the staff as they are deployed within the department. Would the Minister be able to give the same statistics for this year? The Chairman: Minister Hayward. I think this is on
page B -194, business unit 104000 administration, is
where the question comes [from] .
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chai rman, I do not have the
current staffing allotment on hand. I will wait until my team provides it for me. The Honourable Member can continue with further questions.

Yes, thank you.
To that end, Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask
the Minister about the BEDC grant. Most especially, the BEDC have been allocated $2.2 million and last year I had raised that the BEDC had not . . . its last audited
accounts were in 2018, according to the Auditor Gen-eral. And the last annual report from the BEDC ––again
being funded to some $2.2 million––the last annual re-port was in 2017/18. In the last debate on 7 March 2022, the Minister said he was anticipating the comple-tion of at least an annual report if not the last audited accounts by May of 2022. We are here in March 2023, and we are again without an annual report, and again without audited accounts, and again giving $2.2 million.


Bermuda House of Assembly I would like the Honourable Minister to please explain
the status of the audited accounts and the annual re-port, mindful that we are supposed to already have the last annual report. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, MP Richardson.
Minister Hayward, I believe the question arises
on page C -19 under economic development $7,000 to
the BEDC operational grant.
Hon. Jason Hayward : That is correct.
Mr. Chairman, if the Honourable Member can
continue with his questions, I will endeavour to provide the answers to thos e questions. I am just waiting for my
team to update me with the relevant information.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Another question that I would like answered relates to the deployment of staff. I am not sure if the Min-ister has gotten that response yet, but as it stands so far, we have three pr ogrammes in the performance expectations from this department, namely, analysis and policy (I am looking at page B -195), research and legislative support and concierge and engagement. What I am trying to figure out from the Budget Book is where are we allocating resources within the department given just how crucial the department is.
My understanding is that as it stands there are
five divisions in the department, compliance, communication, education; research and legislative support; ad-ministration and business services; concierge, and en-gagement. As it stands right now, the department, again, being funded to some $6.8 million we have per-formance expectations for three of those divisions, but not two. The two missing performance expectations are compliance communications and education, admin-istration and business services. Business services last year had the [highest number] of full -time employees at
some five, whereas every other division only had one or two.
So, I definitely want to find out from the M inister
what are the performance expectations for business services and why those are not outlined in the Budget Book.

Please proceed, Minister. Hon. Jason Hayward: As it pertains to the BEDC, the
2018/ 19 audited accounts are currently being reviewed
by the OAG, so we should be expecting those accounts to be finalised soon.
As it pertains to the BEDC draft annual reports,
they have been created for 2019/20. And so, we should anticipate the tabling of those reports in the House of Assembly as well, those outstanding reports.
There is still a time delay as it pertains to the
last reports that were submitted, and I will endeavour to ensure that all of those reports are caught up on and presented to this Honourable House of Assembly so that we can have accountability of the funds that have been allocated, notwithstanding that in these budget debates I do go into great detail in terms of the work and activities of the particular organisation and in detail how those funds are actually spent.
Notwithstanding that I provide that, I understand that the audited statements are the standard as to persons having a greater understanding of the utili-sation of funds and so on. And I will endeavour to bring those to the House.
As it pertains to the BEDC staff, we have a director, a senior manager, a senior policy analyst, a reg-ulatory analyst, analyst, we have concierge service manager, administrative assistant. We do have a va-cant senior regulatory analyst. And as I explained in the submission that I presented earlier, the roles and the responsibilities of each of those sections within the Economic Development Department are clearly laid out as it pertains to the roles and responsibilities, what are actually their priori ties for the next fiscal period.
So, the research and legislative support division, we have talked about the work they will be doing in terms of updating the IP legislation and ensuring that
it assists with updating the Trade Marks Act 1974 and Patents and Design Act 1930. We also spoke about the work that we are doing in terms of re vising the family
office framework and putting a framework in place for family offices so we can attract more family offices to the jurisdiction. So, I did go into great detai l as to what
the activities of those particular business units will be doing in the next fiscal period.

Yes, I thank the Honourable
Minister for his presentation and responses. I think he brought up a great example of one of the difficulties that I have with the Budget Book which seems to reach back to the 1980s in terms of format. For example, the Min-ister brought up research and legislative . . . by the way,
I am very mindful that no one in this room designed it, but it could certainly do with an uplift.
Research and legislative support. The performance expectation as set out in this Budget Book on
782 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly page B -195 is “Separate instances of progressive business -related public and private legislation change in
the fiscal year.” And the target outcome is a number,
eight. The Minister pointed out in his brief that this de-partment is working on trademarks, regi stration, patents, all of the updating of that legislation, and they are working on family offices. How much of that legislation . . . how much of all of that constitutes that number
eight? In other words, if the number was one, did they do their jobs? If the number is 25 . . . I genuinely do not
know, so that is why I supposed that the Minister and I have been at this for a couple of years now. And I think every year I bring up that I am not entirely sure that this is the way I would manage a report.
But I take the Minister’s point that the information is there. What I would raise with the Minister as a question, though, is under Business Services. Last year he replied that there were five full -time equivalents
in Business Services, and I wasn’t sure if I heard him say that the Business Services division still exists. If so, what are its functions as outlined on page . . . or, sorry,
what are its performance expectations on page B -195?
Thank you.

Thank you, MP Richardson.
Minister Hayward.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, the Member
raised a point in terms of the eight separate instances of progressive business -related public and private legislation in the fiscal year. So, when I talk about the family office framework, that is not one piece of legislation; but it will touch on multiple pieces of legislation that ul-timately provide an ecosystem that supports family of-fices, and it could be in a number of areas. I will go into
great detail when I bring that policy and those legisla-tive changes before the House of Assembly to explain
what we are doing in terms of progressing family of-fices. So, rest assured, that [the number] eight is some-what aggressive in terms of the number of pieces of legislation that the department will touch to better im-prove our business ecosystem.
We do have a bit of a challenge in terms of the
alignment with what is actually written in the Budget Book and the way in which the department is actually constituted. So, [with] Business Services, part of that
would actually be 9405, which is Concierge and En-gagement with businesses.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would thank the Minister. He described some of the initiatives that are being undertaken under B -195.
Last year’s Hansard, 605 . . . he mentioned some of
these initiatives. I am looking at programme 9403 anal-ysis and policy, and we are talking about researching stakeholder engagement initiatives and initiatives of-fered to the community. He spoke about that some of these are regularly scheduled every year. And he men-tioned Tech Week, which I believe he mentioned last year. What, if any, are new this year? Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Honourable Minister.

Minister, if you could perhaps address
that question and then after that move your heads, please.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, just to answer
the question specifically regarding Business Services,
there are actually four employees within that particular section.
As it pertains to the activities, again I went into
great detail outlining what we were going to do in the 2023/24 fiscal year and the l evel of partnerships. But
these are large, staple events. The department has al-ways positioned itself to participate in co- sponsorship
and ad hoc events that may arise during the fiscal year. But the core of attention will be provided on making the events that we currently, one, mark -in mainstreamers.
So, you are not going to see a lot of variety in terms of
events that the Economic Development Department actually supports from its own initiatives. But you are going to see how the Economic Development Depar tment actually leverages its resources to partner with other organisations and institutions that want to put on initiatives and events that are in alignment with their strategic aims.

It has been moved that Heads 94 and
27 be approved.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Agreed to.
[Motion carried: The Ministry of Economy and Labour, Heads 94 and 27, were approved and stand part of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24.]



Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. Thank you, MP
Richardson.
Honourable Members and members of the listening public, as the next Minister gets ready for the
next debate, we are moving on to a five- hour debate on
the Cabinet Office. We are in Committee of Supply for further consideration of Estimates of R evenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24, and the next debate on the Cabinet Office will include Heads 9, 13, 43, 51, 61
and 80. Those heads are now to be debated.
I call on the Minister in charge, the Honourable
Minister Vance Campbell, to lead the debate.
Minister, if you are ready, you have the floor.

CABINET OFFICE
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I move the following heads: Heads 9, Cabinet
Office; 13, Post Office; 43, Department of Information and Digital Technologies; 51, Department of Commu-nications; 61, Department of Employee and Organiza-tional Development; and 80, Project Management and procur ement be now taken under consideration.

Thank you, Minister. Continue.

HEAD 9 —CABINET OFFICE
Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Chairman, I begin with
Head 9, Cabinet Office, which can be found on pages B-42 through B -48.
Mr. Chairman, the Cabinet Office operates at
the centre of the public service providing leadership ad-vice and guidance to ensure delivery of the Govern-ment’s policies and Government’s services. This lead-ership is to be seen in the fiscal discipline within the Cabinet Office and it gives me great pleasure to present the budget for Head 9, the Cabinet Office, as stated be-fore, found on pages B -42 through B -48 of the Budget
Book.
Mr. Chairman, the total expenditure as seen on
page B -44 is estimated to be $31,763,000 for 2023/24,
and r epresents a decrease of $399,000, or approximately 1 per cent of the original budget of 2022/23. This
decrease is due to the net effect of minimal additions in several areas of the budget and higher reductions in others, mainly the de- funding of two vacanc ies within
the Cabinet Office as well as a decrease in the grant allocation.
Mr. Chairman, the subjective analysis for the
Cabinet Office can be found on page B-45 of the Estimates Book. Please allow me to highlight the material object code increases as well as decreases.
Salaries, line item 1, is estimated at
$6,749,000 and represents a decrease of approxi-mately 2 per cent. While one administrative officer post
was added to the department, the temporary de- funding of one permanent secretary post along with that of one management accountant post resulted in an over-all decrease of $117,000 compared to the current 2022/23 budget provision. Mr. Chairman, the filling of
these two posts will be reassessed during the 2024/25 budget process.
Professional Services, line item 9, there is an
increase of $119,000 or 4 per cent compared to
2022/23. Consultancy services relating to the DC Office accounts for this increase.
Mr. Chairman, as you may recall, the intention
set last year was to establish a representative presence in Washington, DC. Mr. Chairman, we are pleased to inform the House that Mr. Anthony Howell, as of mid-year 2022, has been charged with the task of restori ng
the operations of the DC office as well as strengthening positive dialogue and engagement with business and government stakeholders in promoting Bermuda’s fi-nancial services. The objectives for fiscal term 2023/24 will build
on those efforts by: engaging with key contacts inform-ing thought leaders in the US of Bermuda’s role as an international financial services centre and tourist desti-nation; executing associated business development functions; reviewing and advising on emerging US pol-icies and legis lative measures that may impact Bermuda; advising and managing direct engagement by the Premier and Ministers with DC contacts; as well as identifying opportunities to promote Bermuda’s envi-ronmental initiatives.
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Howell, who is a Bermudian, is an expert in US politics and international relations. He has spent the last several years studying and
working overseas, where he has conducted in- depth
global comparative policy, legal, and international ad-vocacy research on various humanitarian is sues, and
has forged relationships with various policy stakehold-ers. In his role as the Government of Bermuda’s Washington, DC representative, Mr. Howell will manage and
develop diplomatic and corporate relations on behalf of Bermuda. In addition, Mr. Howell will maintain a robust and healthy relationship with the US and work to solidify economic, geopolitical and cultural ties.”
Mr. Howell earned a degree in political science
and international studies from New Jersey City Univer-sity and went on to earn an LLB in Law (Hons) from the University of Leeds. He has also earned advanced de-grees, with a dual Master of Administration and Master of Science in international and world history with merit, from both Columbia University and the London School of Economi cs, and an LLM in oil, gas and renewable
energy law with merit, from Robert Gordon University.
In addition, Mr. Howell has also earned a postgraduate certificate in global diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), as well as a FinTech specialisation certificate from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Howell has travelled extensively and has
lived and worked in Bermuda, Bangkok, Kyoto, Leeds, London, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, DC.
784 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Howell is a previous Cabinet Office Intern having
worked in Washington, DC with the Government’s lobbying agency The Group.
Mr. Chairman, returning to the subjective analysis, please note that the $63,000 increase in Rentals, line item 10, as well as the $24,000 increase in Repair and Maintenance, line item 11, are also tied to the re -
establishment of the DC Office.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, the remaining material
variance is seen in Grants and Contributions, the last line item, which shows an allocation of $19,615,000, a decrease of $550,000 from 2022/23. This results from the transfer of the $50,000 Cup Match grant to be more suitably housed within the Ministry of Community Af-fairs and Sport, as well as the reduction, Mr. Chairman, of the Bermuda Tourism Agency grant by $1,040,000,
as highlighted on page C -17 of the Budget Book. It
should be noted that $540,000 of the grant reduction has been transferred to Other Grants.
Mr. Chairman, while on the topic of grants,
please allow me a few minutes to update the House on the current year’s activities of the Bermuda Tourism
Authority (BTA) as well as its upcoming goals. Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Tourism Authority operates as
the destination marketing organisation for the I sland’s
crucial tourism sector. Over the past three year s the
global tourism industry has faced wide- reaching challenges and Bermuda has not been spared. Despite the challenges, 2022 became a pivotal year for tourism in Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman, following the wide- scale deployment of COVID -19 vaccines and booster s, visitors began to take advantage of the resurgence of both do-mestic and international travel. Bermuda navigated through a phased approach to eliminate our COVID -19
travel protocols, which ended in November 2022.
Mr. Chairman, while Bermuda has not yet returned to 2019 visitor volumes, the Island saw signifi-cant growth in 2022 when compared to 2021 across key tourism measures including air capacity, leisure air visitors and cruise travel. Though significant increases were seen in 2022, year -end statistic s underscore that
more work remains to be done before reaching the baseline numbers of 2019.
Mr. Chairman, in 2022, total visitor arrivals (air,
cruise and yacht) recovered to 68 per cent of 2019 levels; specifically air, at 54 per cent, cruise at 75 per c ent,
and yacht arrivals at 143 per cent.
Mr. Chairman, leisure air visitors recovered to
52 per cent of 2019 levels, with the UK region the fastest recovering source market for leisure air visitors, which achieved 75 per cent of 2019 levels. The US market was at 51 per cent of 2019 levels with the Canadian market at 46 per cent of 2019 levels. I would like
to note that the direct flight from Heathrow (rather than Gatwick) has accelerated the recovery from the UK market. In addition, the BTA has invested in this partic-ular market over the past few years when previously, it had not done so. Mr. Chairman, air capacity (available seats on
aircraft) recovered to 61.0 per cent of 2019 levels and
hotel inventory (open and bookable) recovered to ap-proximately 73.0 per cent of 2019 levels. Mr. Chairman,
the average air visitor spend rose to $1,852 per person, up 24.8 per cent from 2019. Total air visitor spending
reached $270.1 million in 2022, which represented 68.0 per cent of 2019. The average spend per cruise
visitor rose to $255 per person, up 13 .0 per cent from
2019. Total cruise visitor spending reached $102.7 mil-lion in 2022, which was 91.0 per cent of 2019.
Superyacht economic impact rose to $3.4 million in 2022, up 147.0 per cent from 2021.
Mr. Chairman, the vacation rentals sector,
many of which are managed by a cross -section of Bermudian homeowners, continued to perform well, with results exceeding the 2019 occupancy levels by 10 per-centage points.
Mr. Chairman, for the 2023 calendar year, the
Government wi ll invest $19 million into the Bermuda
Tourism Authority to revive the crucial tourism industry for the purpose of rebuilding our economy by creating more jobs and business in this vital sector.
Mr. Chairman, total income for the BTA is forecast to be $33.9 million ($19 million of which is the grant). The remaining $14.9 million is forecast to come from fees paid by visitors staying in our hotels, vacation rental units, and cruise ship passengers.
Mr. Chairman, the vast majority of BTA funds
are spent on selling and marketing the destination. When adjustments to operations are necessary, funds allocated for sales and marketing are protected from being cut as much as possible to ensure adequate re-sources are available for this essential component of our business.
Mr. Chairman, the estimated total income for
2023 will be allocated as follows:
• Sales will be allocated $10,012,794 represent-ing 29 per cent of the total investment.
• Marketing will be allocated $15,160,456 representing 45 per cent of the total investment.
• Research and Business Intelligence Division
will be allocated $941,202 representing 3 per
cent of the total investment.
• Experiences division will be allocated $1,465,424 representing 4 per cent of the total
investment.
• The Operations Divisio n will be allocated
$6,381,744 representing 19 per cent of the total investment.
Mr. Chairman, a key element of tourism's recovery is the growth of cruise and air arrivals as well as expansion of our hotel inventory. At 1,700 available rooms, the Island has only 43 per cent of 1990 volumes
and approximately 73 per cent of 2019 volumes. The
reduction in available hotel rooms hinders the ability to build demand for group business and limits vital on Island spending that impacts businesses directly or indi-rectly connected to tourism in Bermuda.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, airlift and hotel inventory are inter-related and co- dependent. Bermuda’s reduced hotel inventory has had a negative impact on Bermuda’s
airlift. The BTA works closely with its partners at the Bermuda Airport Authority, Skyport and the Ministry of Transport to shape and execute Bermuda’s Air Service Development Strategy. The BTA gathers and shares vital data on Bermuda’s visitors and works to build de-mand, fill seats, and expand airlift.
Airlift to Bermuda is expected to reach at least
76 per cent of 2019 levels this summer while hotel inventory remains at 73 per cent of pre -pandemic levels.
The BTA is focused on partnering with the airlines and developing co- op programmes to fill existing flights and
spur demand to necessitate an expansion of the sched-ule.
Mr. Chairman, the return of cruise ships in
2022 has played a significant role in the sector recov-ery. Bermuda looks forward to welcoming over 220 cruise ship calls this year and more passengers than in 2019.
Mr. Chairman, the BTA has shown that it is focused on improving operations and efficiency by creat-ing a staffing plan to lead recovery in the tourism indus-try. This is important for the social and economic suc-cess of Bermuda, and they are making sure subject
matter experts are in place and costs are staying within budget. Pre- pandemic, the BTA had a budgeted headcount for 55 roles. The BTA now fulfils the same func-tions with a current headcount of 42, of which 95 per
cent are Bermudian or spouses of B ermudians.
Mr. Chairman, each year the BTA sets corporate objectives to keep momentum towards achieving the long- term National Tourism Plan objectives while
addressing the immediate needs of the tourism industry. The objectives set out for the BTA team to achieve in 2023 are
• to increase visitor spending by 20 per cent to
30 per cent over 2022;
• to increase visitor spending directly influenced
by the BTA by 20 per cent to 30 per cent over
2022 (this includes group and event bookings
and leisure promotions that can be directly tied to BTA activities);
• to increase the number of leisure visitors com-ing from the UK and Europe by 30 per cent to
40 per cent over 2022;
• to increase y acht economic impact to $14 million;
• to increase air and cruise visitors’ likelihood to
recommend Bermuda to their friends/relatives
to 81 per cent; and
• to increase the diversity of leisure air visitors.
Mr. Chairman, the BTA launched the Lost Yet
Found Campaign in 2022. The new campaign displays authentic Bermuda experiences asking our visitors to dive in and discover a new layer of the Island. The campaign video highlights locations that have not been seen before––in our advertising, that is ––and have started real conversations about Bermuda and what the
Island has to offer. The BTA has not moved away from promoting the proximity message, our world- class
beaches, golf, and relative safety, but they now include all parts of the Island in sharing the full Bermuda expe-rience.
Mr. Chairman, the BTA is not just focused on
the numbers of the past. For 2023, marketing, PR and communications will be focused on re- establishing Bermuda as a top travel brand. The aim is to create strate-gic and media partnerships that will increase aware-ness of Bermuda and enhance its appeal as a tourist destination.
Mr. Chairman, the BTA’s global communications team is engaged with journalists in all forms to create awareness and education of the Island. The goal is to inform our target markets as to the range of vaca-tion experiences available from luxury to adventure, while highlighting Bermuda’s heritage and culture. The team works directly with all trade partners hosting fa-miliarisation trips (FAMs) for tour operators and trade media to provide first -hand, personalised experiences
and education of the Island.
Mr. Chairman, social media and content strategy will continue to focus on our select audiences to drive awareness and engagement. A structured influ-encer programme will be im plemented that boosts “influenced” bookings and visits. A strong focus will be placed on diversity to ensure that we reach the con-sumers as dictated by the National Tourism Plan.
Mr. Chairman, the primary objective of the
Sales and Business Development team is to drive vis-itation to the Island by utilising targeted sales tactics, data and the discovery of untapped opportunities. The team targets both domestic and international customers, reaching out to current and potential partners such as tour operators, meeting planners, and large corporate and association clients.
Mr. Chairman, each division of the sales department works to promote Bermuda as an enticing destination for various customer bases as they culti-vate, nurture and secure new and returning busi ness to
the Island. With the continued closure of the Fairmont Southampton—Bermuda’s largest conference facility —
the Sales and Business Development team has set a key focus towards driving revenue and creating con-sistent visitor presence throughout non- summer
months and with smaller groups that can be accommo-dated in existing facilities.
Mr. Chairman, new travel industry partners and
consortia have been identified to drive engagement and increase room nights and revenue in specific travel windows and markets. With the support of the new brand launch and defined marketing efforts, the BTA continues to re- educate tour operators, airline travel
agents, and other entities, through all sales channels to establish a preferred partnership with select US, Cana-dian and European tour operators.
786 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, one of the top 2023 initiatives
for Sales is to develop a Travel and Trade certification
programme that will help train tour operators and equip them with a deeper knowledge base of Bermuda. This new enterprise w ill also enable the BTA to build a database of user information, study best practices utilised by other destinations, and increase our visitor impact.
Mr. Chairman, the BTA continues to see positive inroads in Sports and Business Development. The goal of the 2023 strategy is to drive growth in the key verticals of golf, tennis, endurance, and sailing, while promoting our partnership and sponsor strategy. This team is focusing on the creation and execution of sig-nature events such as the Bermuda Celebrity G olf
Tournament (being held in conjunction with Black Golf-ers Week) and returning events like the USATF Bermuda Grand Prix (which is a track and field event) and the Butterfield Bermuda Championship (which is a golf
event) . Also, the BTA will continue to leverage our existing partnerships and highlight Bermuda as a destina-tion that can deliver high- profile sporting events.
Mr. Chairman, this year’s maritime strategy will
focus on the areas of superyachts, sports fishing, inter-national regattas, and leisure yachting. Each of these
segments demonstrates the potential to drive economic impact for the Island. The BTA has partnered with BOAT International, the global authority in superyacht-ing, who will provide the experience, access and credi-bility needed to further tap into this segment and improve our superyacht results.
Mr. Chairman, as Bermuda continues to position itself as a year -round destination, it is imperative
that there are on- Island offerings, signature events, and
experiences throughout the year that appeal to our target groups. Through the Tourism Experience Investment Programme , the BTA will support home- grown
ideas and local entrepreneurs looking to bring visitors to the Island by elevating Bermuda’s on- Island experience with authenti c offerings. This programme provides marketing and/or funding support for innovative tourism entrepreneurs and business owners whose proposals successfully meet criteria that align with the National Tourism Plan and BTA’s key strategic objec-tives.
Mr. Chai rman, when visitors come to our Island, we must ensure that their experience is friction-less. Guests are looking for those unique and immer-sive experiences that allow them to connect with who we are as a destination. Keeping our visitors top of mind, the B TA is committed to working with our tourism
partners to elevate the visitor experience around key signature cultural, arts and culinary events.
Mr. Chairman, 2023 is going to be full of activities and events that will excite people of all ages. We are especially proud to offer a wide range of signature events and sports this year that are sure to put the idea to rest that our Island is boring or that there is nothing to do. The list of events and many more promise to be the highlight of 2023 on our Island. The BTA website
will show what is available throughout the year .
Mr. Chairman, t ourism in Bermuda can only
grow through the support of its residents. That is why local involvement is a key pillar of the Bermuda Na-tional Tourism Plan. As the BTA enters int o partnerships and sponsorship agreements, it will continue to advocate for the inclusion of the local community. Be-yond key metrics such as visitor arrivals and the eco-nomic impact of each sponsored event, they measure partnership success by the positive social impact and legacy for the Island.
Mr. Chairman, the Tourism Standards and
Training team is responsible for raising awareness through local involvement. Its primary focus is on mak-ing our local community aware of various tourism -related workforce and training opportunities both at the
entry and leadership levels and, where no such oppor-tunities exist, to assist in creating pathways for industry partnerships and collaboration. This year, expect to see a greater focus on enhancing service expectations through the launch of many innovative programme s
such as: BTA+, Bermuda Hospitality Service Standards and AnchorBDA.
Mr. Chairman, Bermuda's Visitor Services
Centres offer a one- stop shop for information on the Island. There are locations in St. George's, H amilton, and
Dockyard, so visitors can always get consistent reliable information about Bermuda. Through an annual grant of $500,000, the BTA continues to support the opera-tions, promotions and activities of our Visitor Services Centres.
Mr. Chairman, the BTA’s Research and Business Intelligence team is responsible for tracking pro-gress towards the National Tourism Plan goals and corporate objectives, as well as monitoring return on in-vestment on sales and marketing activities, groups, and events. In- depth research is completed with visitors to estimate visitor spending and gain valuable feedback on their experiences on Island. Visitor arrival
statistics are analysed monthly.
More areas of focus for 2023 include:
• measuring awareness and relevance of Ber-muda’s brand amongst target audiences,
• monitoring local resident sentiment on tourism,
and
• streamlining industry performance data, forward -looking indicators, and team performance in the BTA’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and dashboards.

Mr. Chairman , in summary, for 2023 the Bermuda Tourism Authority will
• re-establish Bermuda as a top destination by
increasing awareness through targeted, strate-gic marketing activities that align with our brand campaign;
• target sales efforts, through a reengagement of
travel and trade partnership to get more group


Bermuda House of Assembly and leisure visitors to the Island while continuing the forward momentum in sports and mari-time—

Honourable Member, you may continue.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
In 2023 the Bermuda Tourism Authority will
• continue to support the Ministry of Transport’s airlift and load factor goals and to collaborate and partner with the Ministry for critical local transportation improvements;
• improve the visitor experience by focusing on
key signature and year -round events that move
the dial on visitation thereby creating local eco-nomic stimulus;
• support the enhancement of the visitor experi-ence through curated, elevated experiences;
• increase our Island’s value proposition through
creating a pathway for consistent industry ser-vice levels;
• support tourism entrepreneurship through our
investment programme;
• support tourism hotel investment; and
• increase local awareness through stakeholder
engagement, advocacy, education, certifications, and training.

Mr. Chairman, despite challenges over the
past three years, the Bermuda Tourism Authority is building the foundation not only to meet but eventually exceed 2019 levels. The organisation will pursue the ambitious goals outlined in our National Tourism Plan and the organisation’s Strategic Recovery Plan to pro-vide sustained growth for the future. Mr. Chairman, it will take all of us to do our part —

Thank you.
Continue, Minister.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Chairman, it will take all of
us to do our part to bring the destination of Bermuda
back to a place of prominence in the world of travel. Mr Chairman, while we are in the arena of tourism, I would like to mention the line item on page B -45
for revenue from vacation rental fees. You will note that we are projecting $500,000 in revenue from vacation rentals for 2023/24. Currently, there are 324 licensed vacation rental units in Bermuda, and we expect that
number to increase in the next year. At the moment, there is no fee for operating a vacation rental unit and we sh all be implementing a fee structure in the 2023/24
fiscal year. These fees will be based on the Annual Rental Value (ARV) for each property.
Mr Chairman, this Government promised
greater support for Bermuda art, culture and our enter-tainers. Members are reminded that the National Tour-ism Plan’s Pillar, Local involvement, Growing through our People, records that visitors to the Island cite inter-actions with locals as one of the best parts of their trip.
Mr Chairman, this Ministry will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport in which $540,000 in grants will be utilised to provide more ways for our visitors and locals to interact through cultural and entertainment events. The goal is that utilisation of these funds will supple-ment, or complement, the efforts of the Bermuda Tour-ism Authority in this area.
Mr. Chairman , this Ministry will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport , in which $540,000 in grants will be
utilised to provi de more ways for our visitors and locals
to interact through cultural and entertainment events. Mr. Chairman, t he goal is that utili sation of these funds
will supplement or complement the efforts of the Ber-muda Tourism Authority in this area.
Mr. Chairma n, the discussed subjective analysis line item decreases in both grant funding and salaries on page B -45 account for the majority of the
$722,000 decrease seen under the General pro-gramme 0901, cost centre 19000, Administration, on
page B -44 where the same budget is broken down by
programmes.
Mr. Chairman, remaining on page B -44, please
also note that the discussed subjective analysis line item increases for Professional Services, Rentals , as
well as Repair and Maintenance of page B -45 account
for the overall $192,000 increase seen for the Wash-ington, DC Office , cost centre 19045 under Programme
0902, Economic Policy and Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Chairman, turning to page B -46 in relation
to employee numbers , we see a total decrease of one
FTE in 2023/24 compared to the original FTE estimates
of 2022/23. This results from the net effect within General Administration of the addition of an administrative officer post against the previously mentioned tempo-rary de- funded Permanent Secretary and Managem ent
Accountant posts. Mr. Chairman, y ou will note , however, that General Administration shows a decrease of two as opposed to the expected one. Mr. Chairman,
this is merely a result of a transfer of a Senior Finance
788 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Officer post from General Administration to that of Ministry Administration, thereby only affecting the two cost
centres and not the overall bottom -line FTE decrease
of one, or 2 per cent, compared to 2022/23.
Mr. Chairman , if we quickly turn back to page
B-44, this transfer serves as explanat ion for a portion
of the $171,000 increase seen under p rogramme 0903,
Government Reform , cost centre 19040, Ministry Administration.
Mr. Chairman , in relation to Capital Expenditure, you will note that in accordance with page C -4
there are no funds allocated for Capital Development for 2023/24. B ut within Capital Acquisitions, as seen on
page C -9, Cabinet Office has been allocated a minimal
amount of $14,000 for computer equipment.

Performance Measures
Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Chairman, I shall now turn
my attention to performance measures . And, Mr. Chairman, t he measures developed for the Cabinet Office
are found on pages B -47 and B -48. Mr. Chairman, t he
majority of the measures outlined in 2022/23 have been, or are anticipated to be, reali sed by March 31,
2023, with continuance throughout the 2023/24 period.
Mr. Chairman, kindly allow me to expand upon
a few of the measures. As shown on page B -47, within
business unit 19015, Policy and Strategy [PSS], all targets set were achieved in terms of response rates to both policy advice and service requests. The unit also continued to monitor and evaluate the progress of the annual Throne Speech i nitiatives. Mr. Chairman, the
2022 edition contained 41 initiativ es, with responsibility
for the implementation of these spread across all m inistries. Mr. Chairman, progress is tracked and collated
by the Policy and Strategy group, or PSS, for future reporting purposes and to show value for money spent implementing each initiative. Mr. Chairman, i t should be
noted that not all Throne Speech initiatives were ex-pected to be completed during the fiscal year , and
therefore some information would naturally be phased. In addition to evaluating the Throne Speech initiatives, M r. Chairman, the unit also provided
• training on public policy development to senior officers participating in the Executive Leader-ship Development Programme that forms part of the succession planning initiatives led by the Department of Employee and Organi zational
Development ;
• strategic and technical guidance to the Cabinet
Office as well as weekly support to the Public
Service Executive [ PSE] to ensure proper recording and ongoing progress with public and administrative policy initiatives ;
• strategic and technical advice on the develop-ment of public policies across ministries ; and
• valuable assistance to the Public Service Ne-gotiating Team (PSNT) during their latest round of negotiations with the six u nions and/or associations representing the g overnment
workforce. The PSS ensured that negotiations
with the government for two of the negotiating entities were fully and accurately recorded and accounted for , and also provided strategic support, research and guidance as needed to the PSNT including the l ead negotiator.
And lastly, Mr. Chairman, the PSS also performed the important funct ion of Information Officer for
the Cabinet Office, a function that ensured that the Public Authority, Cabinet Office, was compliant with its le-gal obligations as outlined in the Public Access to Infor-mation Act (PATI). Under the Act, all public authorities
are required to report annually to the Information Com-missioner’s Office on the scope and status of PATI re-quests , as well as ensure that the Information Statement is accurate and current.
Mr. Chairman, as seen on page B -44, Policy
and Strategy have been allocated $719,000 for
2023/24, an increase of only $4,000 above the current budget. With this allocation, the unit will continue to pro-vide the necessary guidance and support outlined in the 2022/23 highlights.
Mr. Chairman, if we can move back to page B -
47 in cost centre 19020, Safety and Health , you will
note that in 2022/23 two Safety and Health audits were
undertaken. Mr. Chairman, the focus for this current year was safely re- integrating staff back into the office
after t he brunt of the pandemic. There were many reports of mould, leaks and overall indoor air quality re-ceived and investigated. Mr. Chairman, o f particular
note is that a S afety and Health audit review was conducted at the Department of Corrections , and assistance was provided by the Occupational Safety and
Health Officer on implementing an action plan to address legacy building issues. Mr. Chairman, i n 2023/ 24
the Occupational Safety and Health Officer will inspect the Tyne’s Bay Waste to Energy Facility and w ill continue to do likewise with our schools throughout the year.
Mr. Chairman, while the second measure,
Safety policies and programmes developed to enhance
safety management systems , shows a revised estimate
of one compared to the original estimate of t hree, it is
noteworthy that significant progress was achieved in this area during this fiscal year. Mr. Chairman, f ocus
was placed on both the workplace no smoking policy
and the d rug and alcohol policy. For example, Mr.
Chairman, to address the numerous c omplaints received regarding the frequent occurrence of people smoking outside of g overnment buildings, urns were removed by Public Works and No Smoking signage was
placed in the surrounding areas. And, Mr. Chairman,
this has had the desired effect of elim inating this problem. Mr. Chairman, I can see it on the faces of everyone
present, including yourself, that this is exciting stuff!
Mr. Chairman, although the drug and alcohol
policy that commenced in 2018 has been overdue for


Bermuda House of Assembly completion, we are now pleas ed to confirm that the policy has been signed and approved by the Head of Public Service. Mr. Chairman, t he next phase of creating a
procedures document to aid in the implementation of the policy, as well as training for public officers, will be focused on during 2023/24. Mr. Chairman, t he training
material will be produced through the combined efforts of the Department of Employee and Organi zational Development, the Department of Health and the Depart-ment of National Drug Control.
Mr. Chairman, in regard to the last measure of
business unit 19020, to increase the compliance rate,
although the optimistic original estimate of full compli-ance was not achieved during the current year, Cabinet Office is pleased with the amount of training that was conducted to enhance safety education within the pub-lic service. Mr. Chairman, t o enable staff to be more familiar with the rules and laws that govern safety and health, such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1982 and OSH R egulations 2009, three main courses
were provided. Mr. Chairman, t hey were : Introduction
to Health and Safety , Workplace Investigation, and
Health and Safety Committee training. Mr. Chairman, the feedback from departments
has been positive, and plans are in place to ensure that
training is extended throughout the public service in 2023/ 24. Naturally, by increasing safety knowledge we
shall improve the safety culture, which in turn, Mr.
Chairman, facilitates increased feedback and sugges-tions from employees that will enable us to prevent po-tentially dangerous occurrences in all of our buildings. Mr. Chairman, our efforts in increasing safety aware-ness have been very successful as shown by employ-ees steadily increasing their understanding of safety in the workplace and the importance of their role in
achieving it.
Mr. Chairman, directly below Safety and Health
you will note that business unit 19035, the London Office, has achieved the ongoing 2022/23 objectives set ,
with planned continuance throughout the upcoming 2023/24 budget year. If we turn, Mr. Chairman, back to
page B-44, it is seen under Economic Policy and Foreign Affairs that the o ffice has been allocated
$1,197,000 for the 2023/24 fiscal year.
Mr. Chairman, with that allocation the office
continues to provide a service to the g overnment by
maintaining our relationship with the United Kingdom through high- level dialogue with the UK Government,
particularly through increased engagement with d epartments of His Majesty’s Government (HMG) across Whitehall. Mr. Chairman, w hile doing so, the office
works in cohesion with Governments of the Overseas Territories on shared policy areas.
Mr. Chairman, t he London Office is responsible
for engaging with both Houses of Parliament ; the UK
Diplomatic Corps , such as embassies and high commissions; the United Kingdom Overseas Territories As-sociation; the Commonwealth Secretariat, along with all UK -based Commonwealth Associations; Bermudians li ving in the UK , including students; as well as the
general UK public, to include the private sector , civil societies and those who have a general or vested interest in Bermuda. Mr. Chairman, t he London Office continues to provide the necessary immediate as sistance
and guidance through its consular function to Bermudi-ans living and studying in the UK and throughout Eu-rope.
Mr. Chairman, f or fiscal year 2022/23 the London Office noted three focused areas of consular assis-tance affecting Bermudians overseas. The areas concentrated are student transitions into higher education primarily accessing UK tuition fee loans; delays in pro-cessing of passports by His Majesty’s Passport Office; and an increased range of requests on humanitarian assistance such as homelessness, mental health, and the need for advice as a result of financial hardship due to the UK cost of living. Mr. Chairman, the objectives of the London Office for the fiscal term 2023/24 are to
• continue to support Bermudians in the UK and Europe withi n its consular affairs;
• maintain dialogue across the UK Parliament by
engaging with UK Members of Parliament ;
• continue engagement with UK civil servants in
departments across Whitehall on all policy
matters relating to Bermuda;
• support Bermuda’s financial services regime;
and
• implement the political commitments made
through the Joint Ministerial Council.
Mr. Chairman, the London Office has been instrumental in cultivating greater opportunities for our
youth such as Bermudians speaking alongside UK
Youth Parliament in the House of Commons and preparations for the Commonwealth Year of Youth following the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year. Mr. Chairman, t his Government is ensuring that our relationships across the UK Parliament are solid, includ-ing fostering our connections with Members of Parlia-ment. Mr. Chairman, our UK Representative alongside
other Territories and the Office of the UK Speaker of the House are exploring the possibilities of establishing an Overseas Territories Office in Parliament.
The London Office budget currently has allocation for three postings: the Director and UK Repre-sentative, a Consular Officer and an Administrative As-sistant . But the need for additional support required for
consular assistance has been identified. Mr. Chairman, it is evident , with the increase of Bermudians relocating
from Bermuda to the United Kingdom and Europe to either live or study, that it is necessary to restructure
positions within the o ffice. Mr. Chairman, t his will ensure the Government provides the necessary care and support to those Bermudians living in the UK and Eu-rope. The Director will examine the creation of addi-tional posts to report to the C abinet Office.
790 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, the London Office will also continue to provide opportunities to graduates through its
current one- year internship program me enabling Bermudian students to gain experience in diplomacy, ex-ternal policy and international relat ions, including finance. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to report that c urrently there are two Bermudians benefiting from the program me: Ms. Jessica Sharpe, a graduate of the
London School of Economics with a B achelor of Science in International Relations; and Mr. Frankco Harris,
who recently completed his Master’s in Criminal Justice Policy, also from the London School of Economics. Mr.
Chairman, t he opportunity will be open to new interns
with advertising to commence in the fall.
Mr. Chairman , the Brussels Office is managed
by the UK Representative through the London Office. The work on the ground is overseen by the Govern-ment’s Senior Advisor European Affairs and Policy .
And we see that for 2023/24 (continuing on page B -44)
the office has been allocated $343,000. Mr. Chairman,
the mandate of the Brussels Office is to maintain rela-tionships with key stakeholders and decision- makers in
Brussels while establishing new connections. Mr.
Chairman, t he objectives of the Brussels Office for fiscal term 2023/24 will continue to be as follows :
• maintaining close dialogue with the European Commission, Council and European Parlia-ment , and other EU institutions;
• facilitating access of the Premier and Ministers
to key persons in upholding the Government’s
presence in Europe; and finally,
• working in cohesion with the Ministry of Fi-nance to support Bermuda’s global position as a robust regulatory financial regime. A primary function is to ensure continuous dialogue with
the European Council on the EU list of non- cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
In addition, Mr. Chairman, to ensure Bermudians gain experience in Brussels, an internship pro-gram me will be extended to Brussels with advertising
in the fall.
Mr. Chairman, while still on page B -44, you will
note that the DC Office shows an allocation in the
amount of $436,000, an increase as previously stated of approximately $192,000, or 79 per cent, higher than
the current 2022/23 allocation. This increase, Mr.
Chairman, is a direct result of the previously ment ioned
successful engagement of a representative presence in Washington, DC.
Mr. Chairman, let me redirect back to the
measures on page B -48, where I would like to turn your
attention to business unit 19080, Head of the Public
Service. Mr. Chairman, all measures have been
achieved with the exception of the first measure where you will note that an ongoing legal dispute has placed all gross misconduct cases for officers represented by the BIU [Bermuda Industrial Union] on hold, preventing
the achievement of the 60 per cent target. Mr. Chairman, in the 2022/23 fiscal year, the
Employee Wellness Programme themed Nurturing the Whole Self focused on both physical and mental health.
Mr. Chairman, public officers were trained to pay
greater attenti on to their mental health. Further, training
was provided to assist both managers and employees on how to support staff in crisis in the workplace and to recogni se issues that cause stress and negatively impact mental health.
Mr. Chairman, w ith respect to physical well -being, more than 600 government employees participated
in The Virgin Pulse, VP Go Global Challenge. Mr.
Chairman, c ombined, these employees registered
more than 300 million steps. This programme is designed to help employees improve healthy habits and achieve personal fitness goals.
Mr. Chairman, the Government also focused
on excellence in service delivery in fiscal 2022/23. Officers were trained on the Government Service Stand-ards and recogni sed for excellence in service delivery
through the Public Service Excellence Awards Programme. During the period, in excess of 500 employees, either as individuals or as a part of a team, were nominated, and each month one individual and/or team
was recogni sed for outstanding public service. Mr.
Chairm an, the programme culminated with a calendar
year-end recognition event where all nominees were
acknowledged and thanked for their contributions. And,
Mr. Chairman, t he Employee of Year, Mr. Todd Fox,
Principal of the Francis Patton School , was rewarded,
as were three other category winners: Mr. Roger Parris
for Excellence in Supporting People; Dr. Patricia Chap-man for Excellence in Project Delivery; and Carlita Lodge as the Rising Star.
Mr. Chairman, in the 2023/24 fiscal year,
$340,000 will be used to support the furtherance of the Government Employee Wellness Programme to sup-port our more than 4,000 employees. The programme
theme for 2023/24 is Empowering Yourself to Better Health . Public officers will continue to be challenged to
incorporate wellness into their daily lives through active participation. The programme will evolve on a quarterly
basis to embrace four main areas of focus. Mr. Chairman, t hese will include mental and emotional health,
physical and nutritional health, social health and sus-tainability. Mr. Chairman, t he sustainability segment will
engage public officers for the first time in the area of environmental well -being. Environmental well -being is
defined as “valuing the relationship between ourselves, the space we live and work in, and the planet .” Employees will be encouraged to adopt an environmentally healthy lifestyle for the benefit of the workplace and their personal lives.
Mr. Chairman, the VP Go Challenge, scheduled to commence in May 2023, will again feature as the signatur e physical and nutritional health segment.
This will be its third offering. VP Go is a well- being programme designed to cause employees to take steps


Bermuda House of Assembly toward improving their health through friendly competition while engaging in healthy lifestyle learning ex periences. The main event, Destination Go Challenge, is a
nine- week activity challenge where employees compete with co- workers to see who can get the most steps
while trekking across the virtual globe. Our aim in
2023/24 is to increase employee participati on in the
four segments of the Employee Wellness Programme.
Mr. Chairman, also in 2023/24 the Government
will continue to inspire excellence in public service de-livery. Persons nominated for a Public Service Excellence Award throughout the year will be ac knowledged
at the year -end recognition event scheduled for December 2023.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, the Government has already commenced a review of the Government Reform Strategic Framework 2019– 2023. During the period,
the Government prioriti sed People and IT Projects, laying the foundation for systemic change. Programmes to
motivate employees and encourage innovation in pub-lic service delivery as well as build the foundation for a
paperless government have been successfully imple-mented. In fiscal year 2023/24, the Government will
chart a pathway forward for continued reform of its ad-ministrative infrastructure—that is , people (meaning its
employees), processes, platform (meaning its physical and IT infrastructure) and perspective (meaning its public service offering). Mr. Chairman, t he evolved
Government Reform Strategic Plan will build on the foundation established over the past few years toward a Future- forward Government for the people of Bermuda.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, allow me to turn your attention t o, as well as expand on, the last business unit
under Performance Measures , 19085, the PATI/PIPA
Unit where we see both measures achieved. Mr. Chairman, the PATI /PIPA Unit is responsible for the coordination of the Public Access to Information (PATI) Act and the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) for
the Government of Bermuda. For PATI, the u nit maintains the PATI Code of Practice, provides advice and guidance to public authorities, offers information officer training and carries out administrative responsibilities as assigned to the Minister in accordance with the Act.
For PIPA, Mr. Chairman, the responsibilities of the u nit
include the development and implementation of the Pri-vacy Programme for the Government of Bermuda, as well as the establishment of the Privacy Ade-quacy/Equivalency Strategy to enable the smooth flow
of personal information between Bermuda and other in-ternational jurisdictions. Mr. Chairman, the Government of Bermuda interacts with the public, the broader community , and international entities and individuals on a regular basis. This interaction includes the collection, ex change, retention and disposal of personal information using physical and electronic methods in the course of con-ducting routine business and social processes. Mr.
Chairman, t he government therefore handles and holds a large amount of information related t o such processes, as well as a significant amount of personal in-formation. Mr. Chairman, i t is therefore important that
the rights of access to information and privacy princi-ples are ingrained in the g overnment’s operations and
culture.
Mr. Chairman, the unit ultimately supports the
government in creating an environment that underpins
our economic ecosystem, further developing our man-date of a trusted and transparent institution that pro-tects personal information. Mr. Chairman, t his unit
works in collaboration with the Offices of the Infor-mation Commissioner and the Privacy Commissioner to protect and promote information and privacy rights in the jurisdiction. The work of the u nit plays a key role in
the Government’s effort toward transformative change in how the Government and our jurisdiction manage information.
Mr. Chairman, as shown on page B -44 of the
Budget Book, the PATI /PIPA Unit has been allocated
$918,000 for the 2023/24 fiscal year. This is an increase of $37,000, or 4 per cent, as compared to
2022/23.
Mr. Chairman, r equirements specified for the
unit include the following:
• development and implementation of an organ-isational structure to enable the requirements
of the u nit;
• implementing strategic, programme, operational and administrative measures to deliver
upon the requirements of PATI and PIPA;
• policy, procedure, guidance and template ad-ministration;
• liaison with the respective regulatory authori-ties; and
• training, awareness and communication delivery.
The unit will play a significant role in the administration and facilitation of compliance requirements for
both PATI and PIPA Acts. Mr. Chairman, the PATI
framework is operational and ( in line with the Throne
Speech announcement in the fall of 2022) being reviewed to enable the optimal structure and utili sation of
resources within the u nit. In addition, the u nit is coordinating the review of PATI legislation for amendment. This activity shall include consultation with the regula-tor, the g overnment and the broader community.
Mr. Chairman, the unit has worked in collaboration with the Privacy Commissioner and the Infor-mation Commissioner to examine PIPA ahead of the next phases of it s coming into force. We will soon see
amendments to PIPA and the harmoni sation of PIPA
and PATI legislation. Additio nally, harmoni sation of
PIPA with other pieces of legislation will continue to be identified and brought forward accordingly.
Mr. Chairman, when PIPA is fully in force, it will
have significant implications for the entire jurisdiction.
The Privacy Commissioner has responsibility to pro-vide guidance relating to the implementation of PIPA in
792 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the jurisdiction. Guidance notes related to elements of
PIPA, as well as best -practice- based advice for implementation, are available on the o ffice’s website, which
is www.privacy.bm . Training on PIPA is also available
via the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, as well as
through other organi sations in the community. The u nit
also provides training on PIPA within the Government of Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman , the u nit has integrated this best
practice into the Government’s Privacy Programme and encourages all organi sations to become familiar
with the implementation steps that will help them com-ply with PIPA. This includes the following:
• Conduct an inventory and classify , or map the
personal information that is used in their pro-cesses;
• Document in policies and procedures how personal information is to be used in the organisation and how PIPA requirements will be met, such as for individual access requests and in-cident response;
• Provide appropriate training and awareness to staff and others ( like vendors and service providers ) who have access to the organisation’s
data; and lastly,
• Analyse the privacy risk to the organisation, using tools such as Privacy Impact Assessments and Vendor Assessments.
Mr. Chairman, privacy intersects with many
other requirements and processes within the g overnment. For example, information technology security, or cybersecurity, which is the protection of electronic data from criminal or unauthori sed access and use, is an important component of PIPA compliance. The PATI/
PIPA unit continues to work in collaboration with the
Ministry of National Security, the Information and Digi-tal Technologies Department (IDT) and the Cybersecu-rity Governance Board to support the implementation of the Bermuda Cybersecurity Strategy, specifically in relation to data breach requirements. The unit has also
participated in the inclus ion of PIPA requirements into
the Government’s Incident Response runbooks, ensur-ing that the proper steps are taken if personal infor-mation is affected.
Mr. Chairman, as shown on page B -45 of the
Budget Book, the next fiscal year will see fees applied for PATI requests. These fees are being implemented
to offset the onerous costs of administering PATI re-quests, some of which require copious hours to con-duct research. Mr. Chairman, a nominal fee will be charged for PATI requests that are not from private in-dividuals who are requesting information about data that the government holds about them. It is not unusual,
Mr. Chairman, for PATI fees to be charged in one form or another, as is the case in other jurisdictions such as the UK. Revenue from these fees is projected to be
$50,000.
Mr. Chairman , at this time I would like to take
the opportunity to extend my thanks to all of the staff at the Cabinet Office for their ongoing contributions and dedication to serving the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman , this concludes my presentation
of Head 9, the Cabinet Office.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to move to Head
13—the Bermuda Post Office, which can be found on pages B -49 through B -55 in the Budget Book.

HEAD 13 —BERMUDA POST OFFICE
Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda
Post Office is a member of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and works to ensure that it meets its universal service obl igation to the residents of Bermuda as Bermuda’s national postal service provider and govern-ment asset. The Post Office continues to meet its local delivery standard. That is, it delivers 98 per cent of all
local and international letter mail received into Bermuda within four working days and all arrival notifica-tions of international parcel and express mail, to advise customers of incoming package mail within two working days.
Mr. Chairman, despite the impact of COVID -19
on the postal industry worldwide, the Bermuda Post Office is competing to survive and to remain relevant. For example, [the new website] MyBermudaPost.bm
, implemented in late November 2021, has increased its membership since it commenced to over 3,000 members. Current Post Office staffing were re- aligned and
cross- trained for this new initiative, while still maintaining Government OHMS and residential local delivery and service requirements.
Mr. Chairman, the B ermuda Post Office has
set the following high- level strategic priorities for
2023/24:
• to deliver world- class customer experiences;
• to offer new and innovative services;
• to increase overall efficiency; and
• to empower staff to best serve customers.
Mr. Chai rman, it is a well- known fact that traditional letter mail is declining, and therefore the Post Of-fice is re -tooling itself to remain relevant. This means
providing a balanced approach between service offer-ings based on tax -payer funding and providing an efficient and quality service.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office’s new
website https://www.bermudapost.bm/
continues to be
a benefit to the Post Office online customers. Custom-ers can track -and-trace incoming and outgoing mail
items, open an online account and find information on all postal products and services. Stamp collectors and interested parties can also utilise the Post Office phila-telic link to buy retail items and stamps, place orders, et cetera.
Mr. Chairman, the Post Office’s MyBermudaPost, which can be found at www.mybermudapost.bm , continues to provide a cost -effective service to local residents. Contrary to concerns regarding


Bermuda House of Assembly its impact on local retailers, the site also encourages
customers to shop in Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman, to remain relevant, the Post Office has to continue to explore and to generate addi-tional revenue. The Bermuda Post Office business plan
is constantly being evaluated to explore new products and service opportunities while endeavouring to im-prove customer service.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office comprises the Administration Division and the Operations Division. The Administration Division includes Administration and Finance, Information Technology, Phila-telic Services and Quality Assurance. The Operations Division is made up of the Bermuda Mail Processing Centre (BMPC), the General Post Office (GPO), Sub-Post Office Operations, and the Facilities and Procure-ment Department.

Expenditure Overview
Mr. Chairman, as indicated on pages B -50 and
B-51 of the Budget Book, the Bermuda Post Office has
been allocated a total of $9,285,000 for the financial year 2023/24. Though this reflects an increase of $350,000, or 3.9 per cent, from the original 2022/23
budget allocation of $8,935,000, it is actually a de-crease of $189,000 from the revised 2022/23 alloca-tion.
Mr. Chairman, you will note on page B -51 that
salaries and wages continue to be the largest expendi-ture item at 81 per cent of total expenditure. The total
estimate of salaries and wages for 2023/24 is $7,495,000, down from $7,798,000 in 2022/23 revised totals.
Mr. Chairman, on page B -53 you will note the
numbers of the full -time equivalent, or FTE numbers for
the Post Office. The number of employ ees will be 133
employees in 2023/24, which is identical to the num-bers for 2022/23.
Mr. Chairman, back on page B -51 you will note
that operational expenses for the Bermuda Post Office make up the remaining 19 per cent of the expenditure
for 2023/24. The major operational expenses in the
2023/24 budget are Rent, Repairs and Maintenance, Energy Costs, and Materials and Supplies. These are explained in the next paragraphs and represent the continued efforts of the Post Office to maintain cost -effective and efficient operations.
Mr. Chairman, training costs for the 2023/24
budget are $20,000, an increase of $8,000, or 67 per
cent, over the 2022/23 budgeted amount. The Post Of-fice is committed to encouraging staff to train, enrol in job-related courses and develop professionally to increase and improve their technical skills.
Communications expenses are estimated at
$72,000 for 2023/24, with no change from the 2022/23 revised total. This expenditure includes telephone rental equipment, local and overseas call s, GPS devices and mobile devices for couriers and customer communications in delivery.
Mr. Chairman, Rental expense for the 2023/24
budget cycle is $396,000, an increase of $77,000. This is allocated as rent for the Mail Processing Centre, which will rem ain at New Venture House, Mills Creek,
as rental and related expenses such as the building maintenance contracts have increased to reflect mar-ket rates.
Mr. Chairman, Repairs and Maintenance expenses totalling $538,000 for 2023/24 include charges for New Venture House, building repairs, cleaning contracts, cycle and vehicle repairs, and security services. These expenses have increased by $75,000 compared to the previous 2022/23 original budget. And that budget amount was $463,000.
Equipment, which includes furniture and fixtures, handyman tools and equipment, BMPC lift, mail trays and racks, et cetera, remains the same at $20,000 for 2023/24 due to increased preventative maintenance throughout the facilities.
Mr. Chairman, Materials and Supplies, which
were budgeted at $195,000 for 2022/23, will be up by $30,000, or 15 per cent in 2023/24 for a total of
$225,000. This expenditure line includes increased costs for stamp production, printing, stationery and of-fice supplies. Mr. Chairman, Transport costs, which include
freight charges for the transport and handling charges of mail to foreign postal administrations, are expected to remain the same in 2023/24 at $46,000, as the Post Office looks to continue efficiencies in mail transport, frequency and route effectiveness.
Mr. Chairman, Travel costs to support BPO required conferences, workshops, et cetera, as a mem-ber of the Universal Postal Union and Caribbean Postal Union increases by $11,000 to $18,000 during the 2023/24 budget period to ensure that the Post Office remains current with global trends and innovative to re-flect the changing universal postal market.
Mr. Chairman, Advertising and Promotion expenses to cover Philatelic and increased BPO market-ing efforts is estimated at $52,000, an increase of
$3,000 over the 2022/23 budget of $49,000, or a 6 per
cent increase.
Mr. Chairman, Professional Services include
annual dues for the UPU, Caribbean Postal Union (CPU), EMS Cooperative and consultant fees for the Stamp Design Advisory Committee. The 2023/ 24 estimate of $63,000 is an increase from the 2022/23 budg-eted amount of $48,000, or 31 per cent. A large portion
of this increase is attributed to additional stamp issues for 2023, the most notable of which is the stamp issue for the coronation of King C harles III in May 2023.
Mr. Chairman, the budget for Energy costs,
which includes electricity, gasoline and diesel, remains the same for 2023/24 at $213,000. Again, Mr. Chair-man, this reflects the Post Office’s ongoing efforts to
794 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly monitor and control its energy costs throughout its operations.
Mr. Chairman, Insurance expenses to cover
the Post Office vehicle fleet remain the same at $12,000.
The Clothing, Uniform and Laundry expenses
will also remain the same during the 2023/24 financial year at $60,000. This allocation will meet negotiated union obligations and its agreement with the BPSU to provide uniform tops for its members.
Mr. Chairman, Other Expenses include World
Post Day recognition costs, staff -related costs (i.e., retirements), office supplies , paper, debit/credit card
commission fees, et cetera. The 2022/23 budget for this line item was $51,000. An increase is expected in 2023/24 of $4,000 to $55,000, or 8 per cent.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes the commentary
of the Bermuda Post Office’s 2023/24 current account expenditure.

Revenue Overview
Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda
Post Office continues to provide postal and other ser-vices as mandated by the government and as regulated by local legislation and UPU regulations. The total revenue estimate for the year 2023/24, which can be found on page B -52, is $3,176,000. This is a decrease of
$136,000, or 4.0 per cent, from the 2022/23 original estimate of $3,312,000.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office continues to collect revenue f or other government departments. In 2022/23, as of February 28, 2023, the Ber-muda Post Office collected agency receipts of $912,000, which is a 1 per cent increase in revenue collected in 2021/22 of $902,000. This is a reflection of the return to normalcy in the business community following COVID -19 and also points to the relevance of the Bermuda Post Office to local residents as Bermuda’s na-tional postal provider and a centralised service pro-vider.
Mr. Chairman, this amount is broken down as
follows:
• HMS Customs duty collected, $378,000;
• Department of Public Transportation bus
passes, tokens and tickets sold, $213,000;
• Department of Education pre- school and after -
school vouchers sold, $285,000; and
• Department of Environmental Protection dog licence fees collected, for $36,000.
Mr. Chairman, these amounts, plus the no- cost
delivery and courier services the Bermuda Post Office continues to provide to other government departments and to Government House, are not included in the Post Office Revenue figures, but should be recognised in each respective department’s budget estimates. Mr. Chairman, the services provided by the Bermuda Post Office in this context add to government -wide efficien-cies and effectiveness and the greater role the Post Of-fice plays to provide service opportunities for govern-ment departments while helping to reduce its annual operational costs. This is the Post Office’s direct contri-bution to government.
Mr. Chairman, the main revenue sources for
the Bermuda Post Office continue to be Frankpost or Postal Metre Sales, Bulk Mail, Post Office Box Rentals, Terminal Dues Revenue and General Stamp Sales.
Mr. Chairman, Frankpost or postal metre sales
are budgeted for 2023/24 at $400,000, the same as the 2022/23 estimate, as Postal metre sales are a most ef-ficient way for small to large businesses to apply post-age to letter mail and packages without having to buy physical stamps. Express and Parcel sales add an ad-ditional $60,000 of revenue.
Mr. Chairman, the Bulk Mail budget for
2023/24 is $427,000, or the same as in 2022/23. This
service is especially beneficial to small businesses and start-ups who can use the Post Office to market their
products and services using flyer mail. Flyer mail can be used to target postal codes, parishes and to specific
addressees and/or Island- wide. Business mailers continue to take advantage of flyer mail rates. This service is an inexpensive alternative when compared to other traditional and electronic media to market and reach 38,000 residences, businesses and PO Box holders.
Mr. Chairman, Total Philatelic sales for local,
foreign and general stamp sales remain the same for 2023/24 at $95,000. The Philatelic website link is ex-pected to drive online sales and increase the current standing order customer base and retail philatelic sales locally and internationally.
Direct stamp sale revenues for 2023/24 are expected to remain the same in 2023/24 at $489,000.
Though no budgeted change, the Post Office expects increased marketing efforts will be reflected in hig her
stamp sale revenue as the COVID -19 impact on business and local needs decreases. Mr. Chairman, PO Box rental fee revenue is expected to decrease with projections estimated to be $562,000 for 2023/24, compared to 2022/23 revenues of $619,000, or a 9 per cent decrease. The Post Office
will continue to market PO Box usage as an affordable, secure and private 24- hour service to increase PO Box
rental revenue.
Mr. Chairman, Terminal Dues, or mail revenue
received from foreign postal administrations for the Post Office to deliver mail received into Bermuda, is ex-pected to reduce to $350,000, or a 22 per cent reduction. This is due to the decline of international letter mail volumes year over year and the continued COVID -19
impact on mail transportation.
Customs Declaration Fees, to be split and renamed MyBermudaPost Processing, and Inbound Mail Processing Fee (for Universal Postal Union [UPU] products), for 2023/24 are estimated at $574,000, or an increase from 2022/23 revenues of $553,000, which


Bermuda House of Assembly equates t o 4 per cent. The projected increase is attributed to expected growth in parcel volumes through
UPU inbound mail, MyBermudaPost and greater mar-keting efforts.
Mr. Chairman, the Other smaller revenue line
items include Mail Handler Licence fees of $45,000, Courier Service fees of $32,000, Postage Paid Indicia fees of $15,000 and late PO Box rental fees of $29,000, plus other packaging supply and retail sale items. Mr. Chairman, none of these revenue items are expected to experience significant increases compared to 2022/23, but it is anticipated that new Post Office efforts to better market and sell its products and services will be reflected in increased revenues.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes our commentary
of the Bermuda Post Office 2023/24 current account revenue. Now, Mr. Chairman, we will move on to Capi-tal Expenditure.

Capital Expenditure
Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda
Post Office Capital Expenditure budget for 2023/24 can be found on page C -19 of the Capital Acquisition Estimates, S chedule C. The Bermuda Post Office has been
allocated $26,000 for furniture and equipment, and the purchase of new delivery cycles.

Policy Changes
Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Chairman, this budget
statement for the Bermuda Post Office is an accurate reflect ion of investment in the Bermuda Post Office by
the Government. There are no major policy changes within this budget year, but the Post Office will continue
to compete for a greater share of Bermuda’s postal market and bring goods and services to Bermuda r esidents at a reduced price point.
As mentioned last year, the Universal Postal
Union recognises that with an annual declining letter mail volume and competition, posts and the Bermuda Post Office and postal operators worldwide have to in-novate and compet e to survive. We all have to change
operationally and be innovative to adapt to an evolving industry.

Plans for the Upcoming Year
Hon. Vance Campbell: Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda
Post Office is completing a three- year strategic plan
with the appreciated help of the government’s Manage-ment Services Department. As mentioned earlier, the Post Office’s high- level objectives are
• to deliver world- class customer experiences;
• to offer new and innovative services;
• to increase overall efficiency; and
• to empower staff to best serve customers. The Bermuda Post Office’s focus is to re- assign and to better utilise staff to meet mail delivery de-mands. This includes re- tooling and re- training staff,
capacity building and cross -training staff beyond the
limitat ions of job descriptions, in collaboration with unions. The reality, Mr. Chairman, is that the volume and type of work to be done should match the staffing re-quirements to do the work.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office plans
to have three stamp issues and one Presentation Pack
in 2023/24 in addition to replacing the $22 stamp with a His Royal Highness King Charles III New Express $35 stamp. Bermuda will be the first country in the Commonwealth to issue a high- value King Charles III
stamp. The tentative stamp programme will include the
following:
• Coronation of His Royal Highness King Charles III stamp on May 6, 2023;
• Reflections, July 20, 2023;
• Backyard Birds, September 21, 2023; and
• Presentation Pack 2023, November 20, 2023 (combination pack of all stamps issued in the year).
Mr. Chairman, as mentioned last year, the Bermuda Post Office has not had a postage rate change since 2015, though inflation and the cost to provide de-livery services locally and internationally continue to in-crease annually. The Post Office has not increased postage rates in the public interest, but a recommenda-tion to raise postal rates will be made this budget year to help offset the Post Office’s annual operational defi-cit. Mr. Chairman, the recommendation will be to in-crease t he local postal rate from 50 cents to 60 cents
in 2024 to help offset increasing operational costs.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office also
intends to continue to modernise its legislation this budget year in line with ensuring compliance with UPU Acts and mandates, and international laws concerning
mail, electronic data transmission and mail item decla-rations. Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office is the
only government department that has direct competi-tion that impacts its revenue generation, services and annual deficit. To survive, the Post Office has to shift its operating model to embrace its universal service obli-gation to provide a postal service that is affordable and accessible to all.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office is
meeting its custo mer service needs, though there is still
more work to be done. A customer service survey was conducted in January 2023 with a final report due in March. At a high level, the following was highlighted in this survey:
• just under 1,000 completed responses wer e received;
• BPO’s overall satisfaction rate was 76 per
cent;
• 72 per cent of responses are satisfied with the overall quality of service of MyBermudaPost and the Post Office;
796 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly • on average, 65 per cent of respondents are
satisfied with the value for price paid and timeliness of delivery; and
• most importantly, 65 per cent feel that the Bermuda Post Office should be more competitive
and [they] support the MyBermudaPost initia-tive.
Mr. Chairman, lastly, increasing postal revenues remain the Post Office’s strategi c objective despite budgetary constraints. The postal industry has changed, particularly with parcel packages. E -commerce such as online shopping and delivery of those parcels are areas wherein the Post Office intends to grow and be more competitive. This will result in more revenue generated by the Post Office.
The Post Office, Mr. Chairman, will also be
looking to increase revenues by expanding its services. For example, since its inception in November 2021 the MyBermudaPost service and product initiativ e has generated over $600,000 in revenue for government by way of processing fees and customs duty received. Mr. Chairman, the Post Office’s new service Drop- and-Deliver to assist the local market, small entrepreneurs and e-commerce businesses who do not have a last -mile
delivery service will deliver packages Island- wide for
$7.50 anywhere in Bermuda the same day. Businesses can also drop parcel mail off at any Post Office, and the Post Office will deliver it for them. If a business cannot drop off their mail, the Post Office will collect it for them.
Mr. Chairman, for corporations, businesses
and individuals which have a PO Box address, the Post Office will also deliver mail to them. This Post Box De-livery service, at a fixed annual rate, provides added security, convenience and assurance to box holders.
The Post Office is forward- thinking and is also considering using the General Post Office as a corporate ad-dress for exempted businesses who want to also rent a mailbox.
Mr. Chairman, the Post Office cannot just deliver letter mail to survive. It is a fact that the COVID -19
pandemic helped to transform working from home, online shopping and consumer views. Courier and postal transformation has been accelerated to a future norm. Bermuda has one of the most accurate address-ing systems in the world, and the Post Office will con-tinue to capitalise on this.
Additional enhancements in 2023/24 will include the following:
• increased marketing of flyer mail, postal costs and BPO services;
• modernise and improve the look of the General Post Office (GPO) mail letter floor;
• MyBermudaPost website will become a one
stop- one payment shop. Having to pay twice
upon arrival into Bermuda will be eliminated to help expedite home delivery to local residents;
• a MyBermudaPost address in the United King-dom will be established by June 30, 2023; • the Post Office will further explore issuing money orders within the UPU’s postal infra-structure and international network of post of-fices; and lastly,
• digital NFTs (non- fungible tokens) is an unchartered market for posts. An NFT is an image that is being sold i n the digital marketplace
which is a one- off and not replaceable with another identical image—for example, a stamp image. The Post Office intends to explore the selling of out of circulation and past stamp is-sues in the digital marketplace with QR codes thereon to describe each issue.
Mr. Chairman, the Post Office continues to
serve the local community in need. A general delivery service is now available in the General Post Office (GPO) to residents who are indigent, homeless and without a home address. The GPO address can now be used for those on financial assistance and of no-fixed abode.
Mr. Chairman, as briefly mentioned last year,
the international postal market will open up to all postal and courier providers in the future. This anticipated change in the postal industry is why the Bermuda Post
Office is working to improve service offerings and prod-ucts in accordance with its universal service obligation to provide an affordable, convenient and accessible postal service.
Mr. Chairman, I conclude by thanking the hard -
working and dedicated staff of the Bermuda Post Of-fice, who are ably led by Postmaster General, Mr. Sam-uel Brangman, Jr., and his senior management team. This BPO team did not stop delivering local mail during COVID -19 and aim to continue t o deliver mail and provide excellent customer service to Bermuda.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Ms. Lovitta F. Foggo, Chairman]

Good evening to the public.
We are listening to the Minister of Cabinet. He
is presenting his brief on Heads 9, 13, 43, 51, 61 and 80.
Minister, if you are ready, you may continue.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Madam Chairman, I now move on to Head 43,
which is the Department of Information and Digital Technologies, and this can be found on pages B -56
through B -59 in the Budget Book.

HEAD 43 —DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION AND
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, it gives me
great pleasure to present the budget for Head 43—the Department of Information and Digital Technologies (IDT), found, as I said before, on pages B -56 through
B-59 of the Budget Book.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mission

Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, the mission
of the department is to provide information and digital services that streamline processes to facilitate the gov-ernment’s strategic business objectives. Madam Chairman, the department seeks to fulfil its mandate by se-curing and maintaining i ts IT infrastructure that hosts
applications that are used within government depart-ments. IDT will continue to provide governance and oversight to monitor and control the use of key systems. IDT will also provide analysis tools which will allow for data- driven decision- making. The department delivers
and manages IT and telecom services used by the gov-ernment departments, and the department has started the planning phase for delivery of a digital reform solu-tion for select government business processes.

Expenditure Overview
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, the total
current expenditure of the Department of Information and Digital Technologies, found on page B -56, is estimated to be $8,217,000 for 2023/24. Madam Chair-man, this is an increase of $510,000, or 6.6 per cent, over the 2022/23 fisc al year. This increase in the allocation for IDT will be used to fill vacant critical positions in the department.
Madam Chairman, the subjective analysis of
current account estimates of the Department of Infor-mation and Digital Technologies is found on page B -57.
I shall focus on the six line items with the greatest ab-solute change. 1. Madam Chairman, Salaries, line item one,
increased by $405,000, or 9 per cent, due primarily to
the funding of five vacant and unfunded posts, which was approved by Cabi net in 2022. These posts include
a Service Manager, Systems Engineers and Business Analysts. Additionally, there are seven other vacant funded posts to be filled in the next fiscal year. All of these positions are critical to the long- term operational
success of the department, as well as to the Govern-ment’s information and digital strategies. Madam Chair-man, they are also vital to the digitisation of our sys-tems, for example, the creation of a paperless govern-ment.
Madam Chairman, the budget for Communic ations, line item four on page 57, increased by $33,000, or 2 per cent. As IDT continues to develop future upgrades, this funding will be used to maintain our current systems in the 2023/24 fiscal year.
The budget for Rentals will decrease by
$60,000 from the original estimates for 2022/23 to
$743,000, a decrease of 7.5 per cent. Madam Chairman, rent for office space will decrease this year due to IDT moving to a new location at 44 Church Street in Hamilton. This move is scheduled to be completed by June of 2023. Madam Chairman, the budget for Professional
Services will increase by $139,000 to $229,000, an in-crease of 154 per cent. The additional funding will be
used to engage external vendors to assist with the con-tinued ongoing projects of Security, Dis aster Recovery,
Portal and paperless assistance, and digital transfor-mation of government services.
The additional funding will be used to engage
external vendors to assist with the continued ongoing projects of security, disaster recovery, portal and pa-perless assistance and digital transformation of govern-ment services.
Madam Chairman, the budget for Repair and
Maintenance will decrease by $42,000 to $650,000. A decrease of 6 per cent. This is due to a minor decrease
in software maintenance costs.
Madam Chairman, $35,000 has been allocated
for Staff Training, compared to zero dollars in 2022/23. This will predominantly consist of security training of staff as we upgrade the skill sets needed to combat cy-bersecurity threats.
Madam Chairman, Capital Acquis ition for the
Department of Information and Digital Technologies [IDT] can be found on page C -9. It makes provision for
new capital expenditure in the amount of $3,405,000, which remained the same from the revised capital budget for 2022/23.
The 2023/24 ca pital expenditure budget is for
the following areas:
• 76074 Infrastructure Computers —$300,000:
This funding is for the purchase of laptops and
other computer equipment, as well as to re-place equipment nearing their end- of-life functions.
• 76075 Development P rojects —$695,000: This
funding has been allocated for server and soft-ware upgrades, as well as disaster recovery.
This will reduce the risk of system outages and provide a more reliable disaster recovery site.
• 76169 Network Upgrade—$530,000: This
funding w ill be used for upgrades to networks,
such as telephone systems, network switches, firewalls, et cetera.
• 76172 ISeries Systems/Servers —$230,000:
This funding is for the maintenance and upgrade of servers that run key government sys-tems, for example the E1 system that houses
all of government accounting functions.
• 76463 Wintel Systems/Servers —$350,000:
This funding is for upgrades to primary servers
that house various applications throughout government. This includes Immigration and
other departments, as well as replacing infra-structure and storage servers.
• 76591 Gov’t Portal/Website—$400,000: T his
funding will be used to upgrade the outdated platform that hosts the government portal.
798 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly • 76639 E -Government Initiatives —$500,000:
This funding will be utilised to continue government’s pursuit of digitisation of processes and
systems that will achieve our goal of being a paperless government. Several processes, such as online payment for services and regis-tration fees, have already been digitised and this endeavour will continue in the forthcoming year.
• 76866 IT Security —$400,000: This funding
has been allocated to implement new security software systems to prevent cyberattacks, mal-ware, et cetera.

Manpower

Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, the Manpower for the Department of Digital and Information
Technologies, shown on page B -57,—

Thank you. Yes. You have made that
clarification. Right.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, moving on
to the Manpower f or the Department of Information and
Digital Technologies, shown on page B -57 has been increased by four. There are 50 full -time equi valents in
2023/ 24, more than the 46 in 2022/ 23. There were five
vacant positions, as mentioned earlier, which are now
funded in the 2023/24 budget.
Madam Chairman, I am happy to report that we
are actively recruiting to fill our critical posts. IDT has a
total of 12 vacant posts and now have engaged tempo-rary staff against six of them. The 12 vacant posts consist of the following:
• deputy chief information officer
• business relationship managers —4 posts
• project managers —2 posts
• systems engineers —3 posts
• security manager
• administrative assistant
The department is working with the Department of Employee and Organi zational Development to
fill seven additional vacant funded positions in the next fiscal year to increase its operational capabilities and
meet their mandate. Some of the most critical positions
to be filled include an IT project manager . Due to the
multitude of projects IDT is working on, this post will bring much needed organi sation and project management . [Also a] d eputy chief information officer ( DCIO) ;
a systems engineer ; and two department relationship
managers . Madam C hairman, the ongoing IDT recruitment programme will enable us to better manage government’s IT resources. For example, the DCIO will be responsible for leading IT operations and compliance. The chief systems engineer will manage the g overnment infrastructure, and the relationship managers will
support government departments’ IT needs.

Output Measures
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam C hairman, the Department of Information and Digital Technologies Output Measures are found on pages B-58 and B -59 of the
Budget Book. Selected indicators under each b usiness
unit are outlined as follows:

Business Unit 53030—Device Support
Hon. Vance Campbell: Indicator: Resolve and repair
service tickets within service level targets. The target
for 2022/23 was 75 per cent to be completed within service level targets. Actual Outcome 2021/22: Achieved
80 per cent within service level target.
The target for 2023/24 is 80 per cent due in
part to the implementation of the GEARS (Gov ernment
Everywhere Anywhere Remote Sign- in) system.

Business Unit 53035—Network Support
Hon. Vance Campbell: Indicator: Network monitoring.
The t arget 2022/23, the forecast was 100 per cent . Actual Outc ome 2021/22: Achieved 100 per cent . The target for 2023/24 remains at 100 per cent .
Indicator: Resolve repair tickets within service
level targets. The t arget for 2022/23 was forecast at
75 per cent . Actual Outcome 2020/21: Achieved 75 per
cent. The target for 2023/24 is likewise 75 per cent .
Indicator: Resolve service tickets within service
level targets. The t arget for 2022/23 was forecast to be
85 per cent . Actual Outcome 2020/21: Achieved 85 per
cent. The target for 2023/24 is likewise 85 per cent.

Business Unit 53040—Service Support

Hon. Vance Campbell: Indicator: Manage tickets and
resolve account administration within service level targets. The t arget for 2022/23 was 95 per cent . Actual
Outcome 2020/21: Achieved 95 per cent due in part to
fully manned service desk.
The target for 2023/24 is 95 per cent completion within service level target due in part to continued
roll-out of self -service online tools such as: password.gov.bm, service desk logging, and single sign- on.

Business Unit 53050—Digital Services

Hon. Vance Campbell: Indicator: Public satisfaction
with availability and use and selection of Government
online services. The t arget for 2022/23 was forecast to


Bermuda House of Assembly be 87 per cent . Actual Outcome 2021/22: Achieved
88 per cent due in part to additional full -time equivalent
working in this unit, which is now fully staffed.
The target for 2023/24 remains at 88 per cent.

Business Unit 53060—Business Systems Support

Hon. Vance Campbell: Indicator: Conduct routine
monthly service level review meetings with key departments, annual review of service level targets with de-partments and manage application support tickets. Actual Outcome for 2021/22: There was an achievement of 70 per cent, 80 per cent, and 75 per cent in these
areas, respectively.
The revised t arget for 2022/23 was forecast at
70 per cent , 80 per cent and 75 per cent , respectively.
The target for 2023/24 is 70 per cent , 75 per
cent and 75 per cent , respectively, due in part to the
introduction of a new IT g overnance model.

Business Unit 53090—Security
Hon. Vance Campbell: Indicator: Disaster recovery
exercises planned; servers checked on a monthly ba-sis. In 2022/23, there was a forecast t arget of 100 per
cent. Madam Chairman, 50 per cent is IDT’s total portion of the exercise plan. Actual Outcome 2021/22 is
zero per cent. The Accountant General is the key department involved in the d isaster recovery exercise and
they were focusing on developing and implementing the upgraded E1 system. So that is why it was zero per
cent.
The target for 2023/24 is 100 per cent as all E1
upgrades have been completed and IDT, working along with the Accountant General, will focus on coordinating
and executing a full d isaster recovery exercise.

Projects in the Past Year
Hon. Vance Campbell: The following IT projects were
accompl ished during the 2022/23 fiscal year:
• FortiMail migration ;
• Firewall migration ;
• Washington DC office implementation;
• London Office migration;
• Office 365 implementation ( with current licences );
• Anti-Virus upgrade;
• Implementation of EMS Radio Station (100.1 FM);
• GEARS upgrade ( Government Everywhere
Anywhere Remote Sign- in);
• New government -wide phishing programme;
• Server Vulnerability Scanning programme;
• Government Server Patching programme;
• Marine and Ports: Boats and Moorings Regis-tration application;
• Forst er Moore application— Registry General ; • Assisted with r esQwest enhancements .

Plans for the Upcoming Year
Hon. Vance Campbell: The Department of Information
and Digital Technologies will continue with the devel-opment of its core services in the upcoming year by fo-cusing on six key strategic areas:
1. Infrastructure Stability/Secure network:
Work in this area will continue by enhancing the Gov-ernment departments’ network inter -building communications performance by continuing to double the band-width requirements where applicable. This is antici-pated to continue over the next couple of years. Madam
Chairman, t his is an ongoing project and will impact
more than 140 locations across the Island.
IDT has worked with a Security Vendor to assist with the Governments security posture. IDT in con-junction with the Ministry of National Security will continue to develop the Cybersecurity Plan and Strategy. This process will be ongoing as initiatives and systems change. IDT will continue exploring tools to monitor po-tential vulnerabilities and threats. IDT will contin ue to
convert users from the old telephone system to the CISCO Unified Communications system. IDT has mi-grated approximately 1400 users to the new system.
2. Budget Efficiency Initiative: Work continues on streamlining budget spends on IT services by evaluat ing and renegotiation of vendor contracts and
service agreements. This will continue over the next fis-cal year.
3. IT Governance: The IT Governance Committee has created a new framework to evaluate IT pro-jects throughout government in part to reduce duplica-tion of services, budget verification, and provide oversight. This committee will meet every two weeks in or-der to carry out its mandate.
4. Digitis ation: IDT is continuing to work
closely with government stakeholders to identify key ar-eas for digiti sation as we move towards a digiti sed government for the people of Bermuda. IDT has identified, as appropriate, at least 20 per cent of current IT applications and systems which qualify for cloud services.
IDT has completed the IT Strategic Plan, which sets the
direction for digital government.
IDT in conjunction with Management Consulting Services (MCS) will continue conducting depart-mental assessments to determine process improve-ment, with full digitisation of the Bermuda Government being the main objectiv e of this initiative. IDT is updating its strategic plan to achieve d igital reform.
5. IDT will be embarking on a Disaster Recovery initiative. A workshop will be conducted in the spring of 2023 to examine and confirm requirements. Over the next fiscal year, IDT will execute on the requirements to improve our Disaster Recovery position.
6. The IDT Portal Team will continue to digitise and create electronic forms. The Portal Team has
again made tremendous progress during this current
800 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly fiscal year in creating digit ised forms for government
with the resultant increase in efficient processing of various services such as online applications , et cetera.
Madam Chairman, I hasten to thank the entire
Information and Digital Technologies staff for the ser-vice they continue to provide to the Bermuda Government, especially with multifarious challenges and staff shortages. They have done a very commendable job over the last year serving the Government and I ap-plaud them for their sterling efforts.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. This concludes
my budget presentation for Head 43, the Department of Information and Digital Technology.

Thank you, Minister.
I would like to remind the public that we are
currently debating the Cabinet Office with the Minister for Cabinet and Tourism.
Minister, when you are ready you may continue
with your next head.
I want to just at least let you know that we have
approximately one hour and 30 minutes remaining in this debate.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Madam Chair man, I would like to jump (if you
don’t mind) to Head 61—the Department of Employee and Organizational Development. This can be found on pages B -64 through B -67.

That is quite alright.

HEAD 61 —THE DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYEE
AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Hon. Vance Campbell: It gives me great pleasure to
present the budget for Head 61, the Department of Employee and Organizational Development, found on (as
I said) pages B -64 through B-67.

Mission
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, t he Department of Employee and Organizational Development’s
mission is T o optimize talent and transform the O rganization.

Expenditure Overview

Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, the total
current expenditure is estimated to be $7,598,000 for 2023/24 which represents an increase of $894,000 or
13 per cent compared to 2022/23. The increase is
largely attributed to funding for three positions which have been unfunded since the d epartm ent was established, annual rental costs that were formerly funded under Head 26, and consultancy fees. Madam Chairman, the subjective analysis for
the department is on page B -65 of the estimates book ,
which I will highlight.
Salaries : These are estima ted at $6,334,000
and represents an increase of 6 per cent or $335,000
compared to the current estimate for 2022/23 of $5,999,000. This increase is attributed to funding for
three positions as previously mentioned.
Other Personnel Costs : These are estimated at
$12,000 and represents a 1 per cent [sic] difference in
comparison to 2022/23.

Eight per cent difference, or $1,000
less.
Hon. Vance Campbell: I stand corrected.
These costs are associated with expenses related to acting allowance and bonuses.
Training: T he estimated $136,000 represents a
$4,000 increase. The funds will cover the annual bursary awards. The Public Service Bursary Award Scheme awards bursaries to Bermudians who are en-rolled in courses of study at a university, college or
other training institutions in order to acquire professional or technical qualifications for posts deemed crit-ical and/or difficult to fill.
Professional Services : This is estimated at
$492,000 in comparison to $316,000 for the current es-timate. There has been an increase to enable project
work to be completed towards identifying a comprehen-sive job evaluation scheme to determine relative value of public service positions.
Other costs covered under this category are
associated with such areas as the annual employee assistance programme fee, consultant fees for local and
overseas facilitators to provide services in relation to talent management , and legal fees associated with
work undertaken by the Public Service Commission.
Rentals : The estimated $348,000 is for rent
that was formerly funded under Head 26.
Energy : The total funding of $84,000 for this
area, which was formerly funded under Head 26 ( the
former Department of Human Resources ), the increase
of $29,000 regulari ses this annual expenditure.
Materials and Supplies : T he estimated
$73,000, which represents an increase of 6 per cent ,
will cover costs associated with office and educational supplies. Receipts Credited to Programme: T his is attributable to the estimated recharges back to the Public
Service Superannuation Fund [PSSF] , Ministers and
Members of the Legislature Pensions Fund [ MMLPF ],
and the Government Employee Health Insurance F und
[GEHI]. These funds cover the administrative costs incurred by the compensation and benefits business
units.

Manpower



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Vance Campbell: The manpower estimates for
the department as outlined on page B -65 is 63 full -time
equivalents which represents an increase of three positions in comparison to the original estimate for 2022/23.

Capital Acquisition
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, capital acquisition for the d epartment is on page C -10 of the estimates book. The estimated $15,000 is to cover the replacement of outdated computer equipment, i.e., lap-tops, monitors and monitor stands.

Performance Measures
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, the performance measures developed for the Department of Em-ployee and Organizational Development are found on
pages B -66 and B -67. These measures are directly related to the work of each of the business units. Time
will not permit a full and detailed review ; therefore, I will
provide a high- level summary of the 2022/23 original
and revised forecasts on significant matters.
Madam Chairman, Management Consulting
Services (MCS) completed 10 operational/organi sation
reviews as forecasted with a view to causing m inistries
and department s to function more efficiently.
Madam Chairman, MCS also served as the
Project Management Office for Government Reform.
Delivery of 100 per cent of the priority initiatives set out
in the Government Reform Strategic Planning Frame-work 2019– 2023 were track ed using the cloud- based
project management tool AchieveIt. The system is
open to 125 users to monitor and report on the implementation of the Government Reform Initiative.
As a note, and to validate Government efficiency endeavours, AchieveIt is also being used to pro-ject manage other large- scale initiatives inclusive of the
Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) and the Education Re-form Plan.
Madam Chairman, the Compensation Unit undertook to enhance onboarding by improving IT system connectivity. During 2022/23, systems testing work
commenced to establish free- flowing information between the Human Resources Information Management
(HRIM) System and Enterprise One (E1) , version 9.2.
This work will be completed following E1 upgrades
which are subject to the timelines set out by the Ac-countant General’s D epartment.
Madam Chairman, the most important deliverable by the Administration Unit is the Public Service Compensation Strategy with the aim of making the public service the employer of choice, where talented indi-viduals are rewarded fairly and valued over the long term into retirement for their contributions.
While the strategy remains a work in progress,
the critical component of job evaluation modelling has advanced. That is, work to determine the system of reasoning for pay. It is expected that the current points -
based model adopted from the UK Civil Service in the 1970s will be replaced. The Chairman: Again, for the listening public we are
debating Cabinet Office and we are debating Heads 9, 13, 45, 51, 61 and 8. The Minister is currently present-ing his brief on Head 61.
Minister, you may continue.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Madam Chairman, the HR Busines s Partnering
Section intended to Develop human capital resource plans for assigned ministries and departments. Much of
their work however focused on the backlogged recruit-ment and hiring owing to the high number of vacancies across the Service following at least two years of
greatly reduced recruitment activity as a result of the pandemic.
Forecasting activities were therefore limited to
length of time to recruit for vacant funded posts and workforce planning cent red around devising ways to
temporarily fi ll the labour gaps in the short term. As
each HR Business Partner stabili ses their portfolio recruitment issues , they will re -focus on the more holistic
matters associated with human capital resource plan-ning.
Madam Chairman, the Talent Management
Servic es section commenced the implementation of the
Government’s Succession Planning and Management Policy. Each department was required to identify posts
deemed critical, hard to fill, filled by an officer sched-uled to retire within the next five years , and posts held
by non- Bermudians. For each post identified, a succession strategy was to be determined. The preliminary
data has identified in excess of 150 “hard to fill” posts across the Service.
Madam Chairman, the Government Bursary
and Training Schemes inc luding the Bursary programme, trainee and designate development plans are existing tools used to ensure there is a cadre of com-petent viable candidates to fill hard- to-fill roles. In this
year, Bursary students such as Ms . Ania Gilbert transitioned to a Trainee Management Accountant post within the Ministry of Education. Bursary student Ms .
Taneesha Ottley continues to perform well in her stud-ies in the Public Administration and Ms . Dessiree Waldron, having completed her studies , is currently participating in work experience overseas.

Ms. Danielle Foote received her first bursary
award during this fiscal year and is targeted to fill an Assistant Planner post with the Department of Plan-ning.
Madam Chairman, in accordance with the forecast of three, some trainees transitioned to substantive
posts following the successful completion of training contracts. I am pleased to share that Ms. Andesha
802 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Busby has been appointed to the post of Designate Valuer; Dr. Jahni Smith to the post of Statistician with the Department of Statistics, and Ms . Kinika Bowers to the
post of Circulation Librarian with the Department of Li-braries and Archives. In addition, it is anticipated Matthew Frick ( pupil), will complete his training later this
month, March 2023.
Madam Chairman, in July 2022, two officers
completed the Pilot Leadership programme. Training
was provided to three groups : Those demonstrating the
ability to fill Permanent Secretary (PS) or Head of De-partment (HOD) posts within two years; those requiring more than two years of training before being consid-ered for PS or HOD roles; and those requiring support around the foundations of management.
In October 2022, the second Leadership Development Training cohort consisting of 22 officers commenced the programme.

Current Year Achievements
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, in summary, amongst other initiatives, the d epartment
• successfully managed the weekly and monthly compensation and benefits programme for in excess of 4,400 public officers;
• onboarded 218 new permanent employees;
• conducted 169 recrui tment exercises since
April 1, 2022;
• facilitated and/or organi sed 69 in- person and
virtual training programmes;
• supported four Bursary students;
• developed and managed 39 personali sed development plans;
• identified close to 200 critical posts and a further 150- plus hard- to-fill posts;
• conducted 10 organi sational reviews as previously shared;
• led the government through a system -wide
public value assessment of its services; and
• successfully managed the continued imple-mentation of the Government Reform initiative focusing on people and Information Technol-ogy.

Plans for the Upcoming Year
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, the Management Consulting Services section, in their capacity as the Project Management Office for the Government Reform initiative has already undertaken a review of
the Government Reform Strategic Framework 2019–2023 and will guide the Government through the devel-opment and implementation of an evolved Government Reform Plan 2024– 2027. A plan designed to build on
the foundation that has been laid over the past few
years.
Madam Chairman, the project teams, led by
Management Consulting Services [MCS] , will continue to deliver on people and IT initiatives, such as the fun-damentals of digital transformation which is already in
progress.
Madam Chairman, importantly, the output from
the Public Value Assessment has resulted in the iden-tification of alternative service delivery opportunities across the Service. The MCS team will work with m inistries and d epartments to review and conduct cos t
benefit analysis to support the decision- making process for the future of government’s service offering.
Madam Chairman, on the matter of employee
compensation, it is expected that a new job evaluation tool will be identified. To this end, a Request for Pro-posals (RFP) has already launched for a tool that pro-vides an objective, appropriate, analytical, and trans-parent job evaluation scheme to determine the relative value of jobs in the Service.
Madam Chairman, The Talent Management
Strategy w ill be completed, and an implementation plan
will be drafted for developing Government’s talent pipe-line to meet current and future needs at all levels of the service.
Madam Chairman, the implementation of succession planning strategies for hard- to-fill posts in the
government will be a priority. Activities to include community outreach, internal training and development plans, and local and overseas school partnerships will all evolve in support of filling critical resource gaps.
Madam Chairman, subject to a process that
anticipates a moderni sation of government recruitment
processes, it is expected that processing times for on-boarding will be greatly reduced thereby enhancing the recruitment experience and the government’s ability to effectively compet e for highly skilled resources.
Madam Chairman, the completion of systems
enhancements following the completion of E1 up-grades will result in further efficiencies in the delivery of internal HR [Human Resources] services. Further, the
current contract for the government’s first Human Resources Information Management System (HRIMS) will
soon expire; therefore, work on identifying a user -
friendly HRIMS to further improve the quality of online HR processes such as recruitment, talent management and performanc e management will commence.
Madam Chairman, the projects and initiatives
I’ve shared herein do not include the delivery of smaller special projects as well as ongoing services carried out by the d epartment and its small team of officers.
Madam Chairman, let me take this opportunity
to acknowledge and thank the devoted and diligent staff of the Department of Employee and Organiza-tional Development (DE&OD), under the leadership of the Chief Employee and Organizational Development Officer, Ms. Carlita O’Brien. Despite resource challenges, they continued to persevere throughout
2022/ 23 to deliver a range of human resource services
to ministries and departments.
Thank you and well done to the t eam!
Thank you, Madam Chairman.


Bermuda House of Assembly [Pause]

Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, the Minister
has been on his feet f or quite some time.

Thank you very much, Finance Minister and Premier.
We are now going to continue with the debate
for Cabinet Office and the Finance Minister/Premier will present Head 51.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, very much, Madam
Chairman.

HEAD 51 —DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS
Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, it gives me
great pleasure to present the budget for Head 51, t he
Department of Communications, which can be found on pages B -60 through B-63 of the Budget Book.

Mission
Hon. E. David Burt: The mission of the Department of
Communications is T o be the trusted source of information for Bermuda.

Expenditure Overview

Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, on page B -60
there is a General Summary for the department.
The total current expenditure for fiscal year
2023/24 is estimated to be $3,308,103. This is an increase of $5 00,000 or 18 per cent over the original
budget allocation for the 2022/ 23 budget.

This is a real change in pace.
Hon. E. David Burt: I’m sorry.
[Laughter]
Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, the Subjective
Analysis of Current Account Estimates can be found on page B -61 of the Budget Book.
Madam Chairman, in this year’s Communications Budget, o n line item 1 , page B -61, there is an allocation of $2,511,000 for salaries. This is an increase of $171,000. This increase accounts for posts that were vacant and are now set to be filled and also for adjust-ments in salary due to int ernal uplifts for long- serving
staff. Moving on to line item 3, on the same page, B -
61, there is an allocation of $10,000 for staff training. This is a full increase of $10,000 as there was no allocation for staff training last year. And staff training of course is important, especially when it comes to com-munications and new communication methods as well.
Also, Madam Chairman, in this year’s Communications Budget, o n line item 6, there is an allocation
of $294,351 for advertising. This represents an increase of $85,000 over the originally allocated budget
for the previous fiscal year.
Those are the major changes on page B -61
that I am highlighting. To save time I am not going to go through each and every single one of them.
Madam Chairman, during this f iscal year, there
will be an increase in Government activities, events and community engagement. To support the myriad of pro-grammes and initiatives associated with this increase in activity the Department of Communications will pro-vide promotional, advert ising and awareness support
on a variety of media platforms and forums.
Moving on to same page, B -61, on item 7 , there
is an allocation of $267,000 for Professional Services. This represents an increase of $232,248. Now, I hear murmuring from Members of the Opposition, and I am sure they are saying that we are hiring communications consultants, but I am happy to explain precisely what this figure is for.

Please do.
Hon. E. David Burt: The main increase is under page
B-60, business unit 61070, Telephone Customer Service Representatives. Madam Chairman, there is the ability to utilise
technology to greater effect to assist in providing an-swers to questions posed by the public who contact our customer service representatives. Many people wil l
think that they just transfer the phones. Sometimes they do also answer questions as well. And I know that you know one of the very hard- working customer service representatives, Madam Chairman, as she is your constituent.
This increase in funding will be used to pilot
online services that can track requests from residents to our customer service representatives who better un-derstand what information may not be easily accessible via the government website. Additionally, the system
will create a database of frequently asked questions
across government that we place in the government portal, allowing residents to better access information to better assist in accessing government services. And that is what that increase is under the Profess ional Services line item.
Madam Chairman, moving on. Repairs and
maintenance have increased by $2,000, from $52,000
to $54,000.

Staff
804 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, the Department of Communications consists of an all -Bermudian
staff, each of whom work tirelessly to achieve the department’s mission.
Currently , there are 28 full -time equivalent
posts and this includes the full -time funded post for a
Content Officer, which is currently vacant.
Madam Chairman, there are five sections
within the depart ment, and they comprise of the following:
• Administration;
• Communications ;
• CITV ;
• Creative Services; and
• Telephone Customer Service Representatives.
Madam Chairman, there are currently four
posts to be filled within the d epartment. This includes
the assistan t director, communication’s post, a content
officer, a p hotographer and a senior graphic designer.
It is anticipated that the posts will be filled in the [coming] months as the recruitment process for these positions is underway.
I am pleased to note, Madam Chairman, that
as of late last year, we were able to fill the post of Director of Communications, with a long- serving Communications Officer, who has provided support to multiple Governments. I am pleased to share, of course, that Ms. Nea Talbot was appointed to the role. Ms. Talbot
has over 20 years of experience in C ommunications
and has risen through the ranks of the d epartment,
serving as a Communications Officer, a Senior Com-munications Officer, and as the Assistant Director of
Communications. Since 2021, Ms. Talbot served as the Acting Director of Communications, providing steady
guidance and support to a team that continues to go above and beyond to ensure that the Government’s communications needs are met. Ms. Talbot will con-tinue to work with the team to ensure that the d epartment continues to support, highlight, and promote Gov-ernment’s key policies, programmes, and initiatives to the public.
Madam Chairman, as we discuss staff, I want
to provide a quick overview of the vari ous sections
within the department, starting with the Communica-tions section, b usiness unit 61030, as indicated on
page B -62 of the Budget Book. (I will give a minute for
the Opposition Leader to go to that page, if he wishes.)
The Communications section currently comprises of five communications officers, an i nternal communication officer and a social media officer.
Madam Chairman, even though we continue to
move beyond the pandemic, the demand on our team and on the services that they provide have only in-creased. While it is true that the team has been dissem-inating considerably less coronavirus -related messaging materials during this fiscal year, the workflow is now focused on the numerous Government programmes and initiatives being implemented. Madam Chairman, these seven o fficers serve
a dozen m inistries and more than 60 government d epartments. During this past year, communications offic-ers continued their mission of ensuring that residents were well informed about Government’s critical pro-grammes, policies and legislative initiatives.
During 2022, the communications officers
crafted targeted messaging, wrote hundreds of m inisterial speeches and government press releases; re-sponded to hundreds more media inquiries (I think that
might be thousands of media inquiries.) ; mitigated crisis and risk situations; and managed numerous com-munity and government -related media events and activities.
Madam Chairman, the government has approximately 4,000 public servants. The Department of Communications places a premium on ensuring that these members of the Service are informed and aware of matters that affect them by providing internal daily,
real-time information.
The Your Daily Gov digital newsletter provides
regular insights of government news and information
and encourages direct engagement and feedback from
public servants. The department has also created an
internal Facebook page and YouTube channel to di-rectly engage with the public service on matters that are of interest to them.
Madam Chairman, I now tur n to CITV, b usiness unit 61040, on page B -62 of the Budget Book.
Madam Chairman, CITV comprises a g eneral manager, programme manager, senior producer, television
editor, and two full -time videographers. Madam Chairman, throughout 2022/23, CITV completed hundreds of projects communicating vital information to the people of Bermuda.
These projects covered a broad spectrum, including live press conferences, public service an-nouncements, town hall meetings, live social media events, in- studio productions, social media projects,
and radio commercials.
CITV also provided live coverage of the Bermuda Day Parade. This was a particular highlight for the Department of Communications. This annual event is always a prominent feature on the calendar of events for residents and visitors alike. Madam Chairman, 2022 was the first year since the onset of the pandemic that saw the Bermuda Day Parade fully return to the streets of Hamilton. That parade was watched by several thousand people, both locally and abroad, and CITV continues to explore ways to expand our presentation of this
unique, signature Bermudian event.
Madam Chairman, we have heard considerable feedback from the community that CITV is one of the favourite local television channels of our seniors.
During t his past year, CITV was pleased to be able to
provide them and others in our community with a wide array of programming options, including live events such as:
• convening of the Legislature;


Bermuda House of Assembly • presentation of the Budget Statement;
• Peppercorn Ceremony;
• Remembrance Day Parade;
• Bermuda College’s g raduation and commencement ceremony; and the
• historical local observations to marking the
passing of the late Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Madam Chairman, highlighting the stories of
Bermudians is an essential part of CITV’s program-ming, and the station will continue to build upon this in-itiative during this fiscal year.
This year, CITV successfully launched the series entitled “Conversations with a Former Premier.”
The series featured interviews with former Premiers Alex Scott, Sir John Swan, and [ Dr.] Ewart Brown. And
it should be noted that all former Premiers who are not in active politics were invited to be a part.
CITV will chronicle the liv es of other Bermudians whose legacies have made an impact on Bermuda as the station continues its efforts to capture some of the essential aspects of our history. Madam Chairman,
CITV will also produce additional programmes for the series , “Through Our Eyes.” This popular series features interviews with our seniors reflecting about their
Bermuda as they remember it through the years.

Creative Services

Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, I now turn to
the Creative Services section, business unit 61050, on
the same page of the Budget Book.
This team includes the a ssistant director of creative services, a senior graphic designer, three graphic
designers, a photographer and a p hoto librarian.
Madam Chairman, the communications services we provide are wide ranging, and many m inistries
and Government d epartments have come to rely on the
quality, frequency and speed at which we provide com-munications solutions to their requirements.
Creative Services has prov en to be an invaluable resource to the Government of Bermuda. This team is small but efficient. And I gave special mention to them while I was doing the budget presentation. Of course, recognising the dedicated staff who are in that department who turn out the Budget statements in
quick . . . and any official publications, and also all of
the graphic content that you see for all government ser-vices. They work together to provide all government’s
signage, posters and e- fliers, business cards, ID cards,
socia l media graphics, animated graphics, print ads
and photography. They also provide graphics support to our CITV and to the Portals team.
Madam Chairman, successful graphic design
and photography are powerful ways to promote a mes-sage and can have a lasting impact, and the Creative
Services team is integral to helping to tell the govern-ment’s story. Customer Service Representatives
Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, the Customer
Service Representatives section, business unit 61070,
on page B -63 of the Budget Book . This currently consists of two full -time employees.
Government’s switchboard has had a considerably busy year and remains one of the most active call centres in Bermuda. On a daily basis, our customer service representatives can field between 200 and 300 calls. To cope with, and meet, the increased call demand, we have worked with the Department of Infor-mation and Digital Technology to upgrade to a new Cisco Unified [Computing] system [UCS] , which is a
digital, web -based platform.
Our customer service representatives have already completed the training associated with this new system, and we expect that it will greatly moderni se our
switchboard and will ensure an efficient service for all our callers. As I mentioned previously, Madam Chair-man, s oftware will be implemented that uses machine
learning to better collate requests coming into the switchboard to populate an online knowledge base, provide more complete information to residents with the aim of reducing the number of calls to the switchboard. If persons can serve themselves, get the information themselves they are less likely to call the switchboard, which of course increases and improves customer ser-vice to the [callers].

Administration
Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, business unit
61000, on page B -62 of the Budget Book, comprises of
the director, an a dministrative officer and an a ccounts
assistant. This unit continued to steadily ensure the efficient and effective administration of the department.

Capital Expenditure
Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, the capital expenditure [for Communications ] is on page C -10 of the
Budget Book . Capital Expenditure for this year is
$37,000. These funds are allocated for new equipment to upgrade the existing television s tation system. These
upgrades will replace equipment that is no longer fit for purpose and ultimately, will enable the CITV team to improve the quality of their productions.

Performance Measures
Hon. E. David Burt: Moving back, Madam Chairman,
to pages B -62 and B -63 of the Budget Book, focusing
on performance measures. Madam Chairman, the continued demand for CITV, b usiness unit 61040 on page
B-62 of the Budget Book, to provide live coverage of
Government events has increased tremendously.
CITV will seek to ensure that Government
press conferences are successfully carried live on
806 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly CITV and streamed live to the Government Portal, Facebook and YouTube without interruption of the broad-cast signal 100 per cent of the time. I would also like to
signal out a young Bermudian who has joined the de-partment, Omar . . . I will forget his last name and he
will get very upset at me for forgetting his last name, but he has also now managed to get Government broadcasts and live things on Twitter as well, which re-quired a s ignificant amount of work. Omar Gilbert,
that’s his name. (It came to me.)
Madam Chairman, moving on to the Creative
Services section, b usiness unit 61050, prides itself on
speed and efficiency. Creative Services is an integral component in the cost saving s necessary to make public information quickly accessible to the broader com-munity. During this past year, the Creative Services team fielded more than 1,350 job requests. Within those requests, there were a further 4,500 pieces of art-work that were requi red.
Our Photography section is an important component of the Creative Services Team. During this last year, our team of photographers have taken in excess of 138,300 individual images. Creative Services will
seek to ensure that there is a 100 per cent turnaround
timeframe on the production of photography and graphic design materials.

Plans for the Upcoming Year
Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, as shared earlier, the Department of Communications’ mission is T o
be the trusted source of information for Bermuda. The
department will continue to provide support and guidance to M inisters, Permanent Secretaries and h eads of
departments as they work to deliver on their initiatives,
both internally and externally.
Madam Chairman, these past several months
have seen a sense of normalcy return to our Island. As
we emerge from the pandemic era, we are seeing more events, activities, social gatherings and community en-gagements. The Government of Bermuda also has a number of upcoming events and activities, and the De-partment of Communications is committed to support-ing each and every single one of them.
As the Ministry of Education continues its engagement with the community on Public Education Re-form and Signature Learning programmes, the d epartment will support their awareness efforts via digital me-dia, radio and television interviews, print materials and direct stakeholder engagement.
With the return of the annual AG Show , the department is pleased to partner with the Department o f
Parks to produce all of the promotional materials for this culturally significant community event.
Madam Chairman, during this coming year, the
Department of Communications will once again support the Emergency Measures Organi sation (EMO), and the
Disaster Risk Reduction Mitigation Team to provide communications guidance during crisis and emergency situations.
Communications Officers continued to be on
the front lines providing invaluable assistance, critical updates and alerts [during] such events as the mass
power outage in February 2023 and Hurricane Fiona last September. During this fiscal year, we will be looking to enhance our methods of communication to pro-vide the widest possible coverage during critical na-tional incidents.
In fact, Madam Chairman , we have already
made some progress in this area. I am extremely ex-cited to announce that the Department of Communica-tions, in partnership with the Ministry of National Secu-rity and the Department of Information and Digital Technology, has successful ly migrated the 100.1 FM
Emergency Broadcast Station onto an online platform. The online version of the station can now be found on the home page of www.gov.bm
. It is accessible 24hours a day, and in the year ahead, we will look to provide further enhancements for the benefit of the public.
As we know, during an emergency not everyone has a radio, but as long as the power is up and the Internet stays on, you might be able to get the inform ation you
need.
Madam Chairman, other key assignments that
the Department of Communications will assist the m inistries in highlighting include the United Nations Women’s Empowerment p rogramme ; the Government’s Bursary Award p rogramme ; the Ministry of
Transport’s Electr ic Vehicle Policy ; Health Care Reform; and the Ministry of Economy and Labour’s Youth
Employment Strategy —just to name a few.

Internally, to highlight the outstanding work
they do, the Department of Communications will work closely with the Department of Employee and Organizational Development to highlight the Public Service Excellence Awards that the Minister just covered in the
previous Head, and several health and wellness pro-grammes aimed at encouraging healthy lifestyle choices and a successful work- life balance.
Madam Chairman, our digital and online platforms —Government’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
WhatsApp, Tree Frog, Zoom , WebEx, Stream Yard,
and YouTube—continue to be popular mediums for residents to receive their information. These web-based forums play a significant role in how the Govern-ment communicates with the public, and we will con-tinue to utili se these media platforms to provide information to the public.
Our Government’s WhatsApp platform continues to see heavy engagement with just over 8,000 sub-scribers and we will continue to feature Government’s activities via our digital platforms.
Madam Chairman, we support the Government’s mandate to attract, devel op and retain the best
and brightest talent. In the weeks ahead we will partner with the Department of Employee and Organi zational


Bermuda House of Assembly Development to promote public service employment
opportunities via the Department of Communications’ LinkedIn page, and so moving just from the regular email also to listing things online on LinkedIn.
One of CITV’s priorities this year is to expand
the station’s programming and services to support and highlight important Government initiatives that enhance the lives of Bermudians and Bermuda residents. Therefore, Madam Chairman, I am pleased to announce that
this year, CITV will produce a new signature pro-gramme called “This Week in Government .” This half -
hour show will interview the movers and shakers in Government and offer engaging and thought -provoking
commentary about Government initiatives and their benefits.
Madam Chairman, as I close, I wish to express
my sincere thanks and appreciation to the entire team at the Department of Communications. The philosophy
of the member s of the d epartment is that no individual
can succeed solely on their own. The team at the De-partment of Communications are dedicated public serv-ants. They have continued to do their jobs quietly while working behind the scenes effectively to serve the Gov-ernment and the people of Bermuda. They have done so as a collective and harmonious unit. These are em-ployees who are committed to the organi sation’s goals
and work hard to achieve them. For that we are grateful
to the Department of Communications.
As I close, Madam Chairman, I just want to say
that this department goes above and beyond. I speak about it often, but late night, late hours —you can get
responses from public officers. When people talk about public offices knocking off at 5:00—nonsense! Com-plete nonsense. They work to answer media queries, to
deliver items, to get out emergency messages and to
make sure they are accessible often and I, as the Min-ister, am incredibly grateful for them and their service. And I want to ask all Members to give thei r support in
this Honourable Chamber to the Department of Com-munications.
[Desk thumping]
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
This concludes the presentation for Head 51. I will now
defer to the substantive Minister.

Thank you, Finance Minister and
Premier.
Minister for Cabinet Office, you now have the
floor to deliver on Head 80.
And I want to at least let you know that we are
now at 45 minutes before this debate ends.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
The C hairman: You are quite welcome.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, I have a
history of my voice failing me so I have to be reserved in my reading so that I can last the course. But I do appreciate the respite provided by the Premier. It was much appreci ated.
Madam Chairman, I would like to address the
final head, Head 80, Office of Project Management and Procurement.

HEAD 80 —OFFICE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
AND PROCUREMENT

Hon. Vance Campbell: It gives me great pleasure to
present the budget for Head 80, the Office of Project
Management and Procurement [the Office ] found on
pages B -68 through B-70 of the Budget Book .

Mandate or Mission
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, the Office
of Project Management and Procurement's mission is ,
To provide oversight and guidance in project management and procurement to ensure transparency and value for money.

Department Objectives
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, following
are the objectives of the Office of Project Management and Procurement:
• Promote the areas covered in our statutory mandate related to good governance and best practices and continue to strengthen our office functionality.
• Use a professional approach in our capacity to
enable and help our clients achieve projects, procurement, and compliance efficiencies.
• Strengthen internal processes for enhanced team performance and development by keep-ing abreast of emerging trends.
• Help modernise the Project Management and Procurement functions in order to increase the efficiency of public s pending and building professionalism in project management, procure-ment, and compliance capacities.

Expenditure Overview
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, t he total
current expenditure is estimated to be $840,000 for the financial year 2023/ 24. This i s an increase in the budget
from the previous year in the amount of $40,000. This is mainly due to funding for professional services.
Madam Chairman, the Subjective Analysis of
Current Account Estimates of the Office of Project Man-agement and Procurement is found on page B -69.
Please allow me to highlight them.
• Other Personnel Costs —$3,000, which is not
changed from last year's budget ;
808 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly • Local Training—No change, which remains at
$3,000;
• Communications —No change, which remains
at $4,000;
• Professional Servic es—$40,000, which is a
new item for this year ;
• Rental Expenses —No change, which remains
at $1,000;
• Repair and Maintenance E xpenses —No
change, which remains at $4,000. Again, this
is highlighting the head’s efforts to maintain costs at a reasonable level;
• Material and Supplies —A decrease from
$24,000 to $22,000.

Capital Expenditure
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, a total of
$13,000 is allocated for capital expenditure for 2023/ 24, as found on page C -10 of the Budget Book.
As indicated in the Budget Book, these funds are for the purchase of furniture for the office boardroom and for replacement of outdated computer monitors for the office.

Current Year Achievements
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, t he office
filled the vacant d irector's post, and I hasten to congratulate Mrs . Elaine Blair -Christopher on her appointment.
Also, job descriptions were updated to better meet the
mandate and work of this office.
The office met their three performance measurements, from April 1, 2022, to the pres ent. These are:
1. The Minister and Cabinet received the required
quarterly waiver reports and analysis on time.
2. The office completed their Cabinet Memoranda reviews and ensured that the reviews were vet-ted within five business days after receipt ,
95 per cent of the time; and
3. The office completed two virtual training sessions on the Introduction to the Code of Prac-tice for Project Management and Procurement for 31 participants. The office also completed nine Project Management training sessions for 80 partic ipants.
Madam Chairman, t hese are noteworthy
achievements for the office during this year. I am pleased to note that the work being done by the office has greatly enhanced the processes and efficiencies in project management and procurement.
Madam Chairman, t he office continued to introduce technology into Procurement and Training. Unfor-tunately, due to internal resource issues, the RF X
Drafter (Orbidder 2.0) in- person training sessions were
not done this year. Instead, the office worked with the RFX drafting software service provider to enhance their
offering to ensure that public officers involved in pro-curement and preparing RF X documents continued to have access to online self -serve training, a help desk,
and how -to guides and videos for this application.
Madam Chairman, t he office enhanced the
online depository (Local Vault) in the RF X Drafter software for ease of access to other prescribed templates such as the Evaluation Matrix, Contract Award Recom-mendation template, sample pricing schedules, the up-dated Local Benefits ( Social, Economic and Environment ) form, the Invitational Request for Quot ation
(IRFQ) template and many other procurement docu-ments.
Of particular note, Madam Chairman, the office
contributed to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) assessment desktop review. Madam Chairman, t he office presented its first
Annual Report to Cabinet for the 2021 operations year.
The office drafted the Single- Use Plastic (SUP) Procurement Policy [the Policy] in collaboration and cooperation with key stakeholders. The Policy is being de-veloped to support the Government's aim to eliminate single -use plastic from Bermuda. The Policy will be implemented in a phased approach for all Government departments ahead of legislative bans.
The of fice is an active member of the IDT Governance Committee, the Economic Recovery Pro-gramme (Planning) (ERP) Committee and other inter-nal working groups such as Education Reform, Health Care Reform, and Universal Health Coverage.
The office is a National Anti -Corruption and
Bribery (NACB) committee member and continues con-tributing to NACB meetings and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) assessment.

Plans for the Upcoming Year

Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, t he office
will continue to produce quarterly waiver reports for the
Minister and Cabinet. The office will complete the Cab-inet Memoranda review within five business days after receipt. The office's goal is to complete these 95 per
cent of the time within the five busines s days target.
The office will increase its efforts to ensure
public officers understand its oversight and advisory roles for capital projects and acquisitions if resources permit. This will be accomplished by delivering virtual training sessions and one- on-one sessions to ensure
project and procurement policies and procedures are understood and followed. Additionally, t he office will offer four virtual training sessions on the Introduction to the Code of Practice and nine Project Management Training sessi ons during the next fiscal year.
The office will complete its analysis of the Code
of Practice for Project Management and Procurement by seeking and receiving input from senior manage-ment and practitioners in other departments. This pro-cess is already well underway, and the Code will be up-dated later this year.
Madam Chairman, t he office will continue to
work with IDT and the paperless committee to complete


Bermuda House of Assembly the development and i ntroduction of a new internal
online waiver request form and a contract register to
streamline these processes. This online feature will
greatly simplify and enhance the efficiency of the waiver request process which in turn, will expedite the granting of waivers, if applicable.
Madam Chairman, t he office will work with programme managers after the capital budget is released
to assist them in prioriti sing their capital projects and
helping them to gain an early start on the procurement planning and bidding processes.
The office will produce its Annual Report for the
Office operati onal year 2022.
Madam Chairman, t he office will investigate
and invest in a new case and record management so-lution for the various internal sections to enhance effi-ciency, transparency, productivity, recordkeeping and consistency in the Office's case and record manage-ment.
In collaboration with other stakeholders, the
Office will review the g eneral terms and conditions of
the contract associated with the EnterpriseO ne (E1)
purchase order to ensure they are appropriate, applicable, and incorporated int o this contract modality.
Madam Chairman, i n order to fill critical vacancies, the office will recruit two key posts: the p rocurement manager and contract and compliance manager,
upon completion of the job description grading.
Madam Chairman, t he office w ill continue to
advise, guide, and support the development of, and ad-herence to, project management and procurement reg-ulations and policies. It will also help develop public of-ficers on procurement and project management best practices to raise the level of expertise in these areas across the Government.
In closing, Madam Chairman, the office diligently provides oversight and guidance on all Govern-ment procurements and p roject management while
building the workforce capacity and proficiency in these areas .
Madam Chairman, let me take this opportunity
to acknowledge and commend the office of Project Management and Procurement Team and the Director, Elaine Blair -Christopher, for their hard work and dedication.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. This concludes
my budget presentation for Head 80 and completes the
presentations for Head 9—Cabinet Office; Head 13—Post Office; Head 43—Department of Information and Digital Technology ; Head 51—Department of Communications; Head 61— Department of Employee and Organizational Development ; and as I said, Head 80—
Office of Project Management and Procurement.
Thank you, Madam Chairman.

You have approximately 31 minutes.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: So, I have to go through [it]
fairly quickly.
Okay, Madam Chairman, I shall start with the
Cabinet Office. This is on page B -45. And I just have a
list of questions that I will go through quickly because I would like to give some time to my other colleague, the [Shadow] Minis ter of Tourism, under the Tourism Authority.
Head 9, page B -45, we see the budget reduced
by 1 per cent to $31.763 [million]. And salaries were reduced by 2 per cent. While on salaries, Madam Chairman, I wonder if the Minister would provide me with the details of the Premier’s personal staff. I know that we
have two Senators working for him, and we have an MP working for him, and there are other members of staff working for him personally. So, if you can provide de-tails on those employees it would be appr eciated, because it is not clear under the budget as to the scale of the Premier’s personal staff. So, I would like to get their names and salaries, please. I understand that there are two Senators and possibly two MPs. Thank you.
I would also like to com mend the government
reform committee on the health and wellness of the of-ficers and staff, under page B -45, Government Reform
Initiative. I think we should protect and provide support to our human capital, health and metal health, and em-ployee assistance, those things I think are very im-portant and responsible for any employer. You will get no objections from us on that part, because the well -
being of all officers is of upmost importance.
Going forward, the implementation team in regard to the Planned Project Management Office, again, you touched on that, and they will be addressing the Economic Recovery Plan and other initiatives that are important to the Premier. Can you also give us a status report (and this is again under Administration) on work-shops f or the leadership and management and development of human capital at a senior level? The Ministry also touches on the Tourism Authority. I will go through that fairly quickly, because, as I said, my colleague wants to speak to that. A number of issues were covered, but I still have a few questions.
In regard to the Tourism Authority, page C -17,
the line item is a grant. Can the Minister provide an up-date on the Bermuda Service Development Strategy, its priorities? Are they looking at any new markets? Ar e
they looking at any new carriers? Just an update that will help us. In addition, when it comes to the tourism
810 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly numbers, the Minister indicated that we were looking to
have (I believe) 100- plus ships calling on Bermuda this
year. I was interested to learn that when we compare ourselves to other Caribbean countries, when it came to the [cruise ship] passengers for the year, we had a target of 400,000 visitors from the cruise ships. As I said in my response [sic] , if you look at the Bahamas,
they had 3.57 mil lion in nine months.

Okay.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: [The Bahamas] had 3.574
million passenger cruise ship visitors. The Dominican Republic had 816,000; the Virgin Islands had 810,000; Saint Martin had 547,000; and Belize had 416,000 and yet we are sticking to 400,000. So, are we selling our-selves short? Can the Minister substantiate why he is targeting 400,000 on the cruise ship industry while other competitors in the south have doubled the num-ber that we are targeting? It would be interesting to see how he arrived at the 400,000 target. The Cayman [Is-lands ] has 516,000. So, I would like for him to provide
us insight on that as well, please.
He touched on the Washington, DC Office.
This is Head 9, page B -44. I commend the new appointment. The gentleman is well -qualified, and I wish him
all the very best. I thank the Minister for providing insight on the future vision for the office. I think for the London Office . . . I know them well. I have been there
many, many times. We have a sterling team there. And
I have nothing but praise for them. Kimberley Durrant
is a fine leader. She is committed. She is well -respected in the UK within the House of Parliament. And Ms. Ahad in Belgium . . . she, again, is a shining star.
So, I just want to go on record in saying that we support those two young ladies in the leader ship roles in our
offices in London and Europe. They are good ambas-sadors for our team here in Bermuda. And we wish them continued success.
The other issue that I would like to address,
which he touched on, is the brand study. And again, that is page C -17. I like the new ad. I think it was “Lost
Yet Found.” When I first saw it, I said that is truly indic-ative of Bermuda. I think it is world class. But that is one
aspect of the brand. So, if the Minister could provide more details on the brand study. What else is in that package? We did not do it just for that ad. And I would like to have learned more about how Proverb [market-ing agency] has summarised a direction when it comes to improving our brand. I think “Lost Yet Found” is su-perb. But that is not the w hole package. I would have
liked to have learned more about it. The Minister also touched on the familiarisation
trips, the FAM trips. Can he provide us with more de-tails? How many trips were there? How many tour op-erators came? How many members of the media came? And how did we get them to address our diver-sity initiatives? Again, more meat; let’s drill down on
that and provide more details , because FAM [trips] are
very important. They have been very instrumental in our success in the past, and we should not take them lightly. So, I would have liked to have known how many trips we have of that nature.

Member, while you are taking one brief
second, can I have the Government Whip approach the
bench, please?
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: The next item is the Tour-ism’s comprehensive marketing campaign. Again, would it be possible for us to have the campaign tabled just for our edification so that we can have a better ap-preciation of the details?
The other issues that I would like to address is
the s tatus of the acting CEO, Miss Tracy Berkeley.
Where do things stand with her? Where do things stand with the new CEO? We are moving forward. We have all this energy moving forward. Yet, we do not have the CEO’s role cemented at this time. So, if you can gi ve
us a brief update. We think Tracy Berkeley has done a sterling job so far. And I think the community may be disappointed if she does not [receive] that role. But I will
leave that up to you, and I am sure you can make the right decision. So, we will jus t wait to see what happens
once your search is completed.
Mr. Chairman, a couple of expenditures. I noticed last year we took some money out of the capex
[capital expenditure] fund and paid [15] clubs approximately $425,000. What is the plan for this year ? How
many clubs will be supported by the capital fund? Will it be the equivalent to the $425,000 that was paid last year? Or are you going to look at another amount going
forward to support the local community clubs? The Chairman: Just so that you are aw are, we have
approximately 20 minutes remaining.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Okay. I am trying to go as
fast as I can.
Okay. On the matter of the . . . I will just skip
the London O ffice and you can ask about them already.
The Ministry under line item 19080, page B -44.
In essence, we said that we had a total of 31 public of-ficers participate in the public leadership programme.
The public leadership programme is a structured pro-gramme designed to develop key leadership compe-tencies, and it is in line with the succession planning
programme. How many employees did we have go through the programme last year, and how many do we intend to put through the programme this coming year? And also, were there any gross misconduct cases that

Ber muda House of Assembly remain outstanding? We had a few last year. I am just
wondering if you could [tell] us if we have any pending
gross misconduct hearings outstanding so that we can have them addressed and make sure there is no eco-nomic liability involved.
The Minister spoke about the legal framework
and the review of the PATI structure. This was promised last year. It was not delivered, so obviously it is being carried forward to this year. Hopefully it will be delivered this year as well. In addition, we spoke about that $50,000 allocation for the fees for investigations of corporate entities who have a PATI request that may be labour intensive. Will this apply to the courts, the banks and any other corporate entity that may need this data? And do they see the fee as a deterrent?
There was an article talking about a compromise of the first leg of human rights in that we have a right to have access to our own information. And so, again, this is very controversial. We are following this, and we will see how this pans out. But there are con-cerns in that it may inhibit access to information.
The Department of Information and Digital
Technologies, Head 43. We had a section on security. That is page B -56, line item 53090. I am surprised that
at this point we are still working on cyberattacks. I have been advised that right now we are exposed, and we
do not have a proper infrastructure to protect Govern-ment when it comes to cyberattacks. We are only basi-cally in a reactionary status and not in a proactive, de-fensive status. So, we would like to know what type of resources will be committed to crafting a cybersecurity model that will be proactive so we can take defensive action to mitigate any risk that will be faced by our Gov-ernment when it comes to cybersecurity. Again, react-ing after the horse has bolted is not good enough. We
have to be proactive. So, I would like to know what type of commitment economically we are providing for the proactive measures that will protect us against future, if any, cyberattacks? We cannot be reactionary.
Okay. Just bear with me a second, Madam
Chairman. I am just making sure I am still on that sec-tion.

You have 16 minutes remaining.
Hon.
N. H. Cole Simons: Okay. I am on Head 43, Department of Information and Digital Technologies, con-tinuing on. There is an issue in regard to a new state -
of-the-art security monitoring system and state- of-theart telephone system. This was promised last year. Can
you give us an update for this year? They are both cru-cial. As you know, today our copper telephone lines went down. And it is occurring more regularly. And again, we need to have our telephone systems at a state -of-the-art level and have security monitoring systems th at are also at the state- of-the-art level. So, if
they can provide an update on that and let us know where we stand. You spoke about the Strategic Plan, so I will
just pass on that.
Communications. I just want to reiterate what
the Premier said in regard to the Department of Communications. They are a first -class team. They are willing whenever you ask for assistance. They are dedi-cated. And for once, the Premier and I are on the same page when it comes to this department and the players and the offic ers and senior management of the Communications Department.
The Post Office. The biggest challenge that I
have with the Post Office, Madam Chairman (that is Head 13 on page B -50) is that for the past three years,
they have an operating deficit of on average $6 million. So, for the past three and a half years, we may have seen an operating deficit of approximately $20 million. And nothing substantive has happened to reduce this $6 million operating deficit. And as I said, that has been the case for the past three years. And I would have thought that this would have been addressed by now or you would see a different trajectory. Instead of it con-tinuing at that level, we [should] have seen a reduction
of the deficit. And I have not seen that. So, I thought that was interesting. And no action has been taken to substantively address the deficit.
I am just . . . I want my colleague to speak a bit
on tourism because I promised he could have some space.
The other issue is the issue in regard to rent.
Right now, we are paying $319,000 a year for the Mill Creek New Venture House. Last year, they said they were going to try to move it to the GPO [General Post
Office] to reduce the cost. And again, I think this year
the rent has gone up.
And then we have $400,000 in maintenance
and support. So, we are spending $700,000 on New
Ventures, a building in Mill’s Creek that mail processing
is using, and you know, it is not even a
governm ent building. And this year we will be paying
over almost $800,000. Does that make sense? We
could buy that building with that type of money or
take a short-t erm loan and get it done. Because I am
sure that it is not going to cost $3 [million] or $4
million. And as I said, just this year alone, we are
going to spend $1 million in expenses for the New
Venture. So, I would like to know who is advising
Government in regard to their finances and how we
can address this issue going forward. That’s that.
Again, on the Post Office. I see that they spoke to the
operational deficit, and the Minister indicated that there
had been no raise or rate changes since 2015. We are
talking about eight years ago. And I mean, obv iously
the c ountry is going through a difficult time. B ut the people are paying out of their pockets $6 million a year. So
somehow, we need to manage this and get the right
business model in place and do what we can to r educe
this burden on Government.
Head 61, the Department of Employees and
Organizational Development. I think the issue here that
812 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly I would like to address is the issue of the number of
employees. Because from my research . . . and even
reading last year’s report, from December 2021 there was an actual head count in the Civil Service of 4,499 to today, which is 5,055. So, we have seen from De-cember 2021 to date a 12 per cent increase in the number of employees in the Civil Service.

Member, there are just under 10 minutes now remaining.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you, Madam Chair-man.
In addition, from 2022/23, we have seen an increase of 9 per cent. So again, we hav e seen an expansion of the Civil Service. So, if we are looking for efficiency, looking at how we can manage our costs more effectively and reassess our human capital, let’s look at these numbers and put them in our model for going forward from a solutions perspective.
As for succession planning, this is a real issue.
And my question is, yes, we have succession planning. An issue in succession planning came up in the PAC
[Public Accounts Committee] . And we had the head of
the Civil Service in to talk about it. And my question is:
When we are doing succession planning, what type of timelines are we talking about? Are we talking about three years, five years, six years, seven years, ten years? And what level are we addressing when it comes to succession plann ing? Is it director up, or is it
mid-management up? I would like to have heard more
details on that. Or is it just at the senior level director and PSs?
I am going to leave a few minutes for my colleague to talk about tourism because he has done work
on it. So, on that note, I will retire. And if he has any
time leftover, then I will step back up.

Seven minutes. Okay. Per-fect. Seven minutes.
Listening to the overview from the Minister, I
think I want it to be clear that we have approximately 4,000- plus people who are in our second pillar of the
community and the economy here—4,000 individuals who are hoping that we get this right, 4,000 employ ees
who, quite frankly, are struggling right now. And their average salaries are around $40,000 to $50,000 annu-ally. And when I take a look on page C -17, I take a look
and under Tourism Authority, 6835, it is clear that we continue each year to decline the allotment to the BTA. This is concerning to me because tourism is a revenue-driven entity, industry. And if we are going to get some-where with this, we have got to invest.
I am asking the Minister, at the end of the day
. . . I am asking him once we move from this budgetary
process that maybe he look for more investment, more monies that can be invested into this. This is vital to the survival of Bermudians and their families. So, if he can reconsider this $19 million and maybe pull from one of the other ministries. I don’t know , even if it is a supplementary. I know I am going to get licks for that after-wards. But even if it is a supplementary , we cannot continue at the pace that we are. It has got to be picked up.
So, you know, in the overview that the Minister
had given, I am curious as to . . . he mentioned about
visitors were coming back to Bermuda, taking ad-vantage of the wonderful way that we handled COVID -
19 and vaccines. My question is: Then why is the Car-ibbean outpacing us? I need to know and understand why they are outpacing us if we did so wonderfully dur-ing COVID- 19. I want to understand a little more. Why?
And I am sure the answer t o that is probably going to
be investment at the end of the day. You know, this is why I am asking again. We need to put our money where our mouth is. We listened to the Minister. He mentioned how the BTA is doing wonderfully. The em-ployees are doing wonderfully and doing a great work.
I guess I have one minute left, right?

They have done a wonderful work. But at the end of the day, our resources are being taken away.
And you know, the question, I guess . . . let me
just say this here. If we are going to continue to [reduce their] grant but yet our people are doing a wonderful job
at trying to get us back to pre- 2019 figures, then we
have to invest more, faster. And it can be done, because we have the right people in choice. And I am not being political here. They have done a great job. I heard the Minister say they have done a great job. So, with the leadership that is in place . . . it is Women’s Day on
Wednesday. Let’s give them a Christmas present. Let’s put these people in permanently. They have held us up during a very difficult time.
I am asking the Minister to make an appointment. We have local talent who has gotten us to this point. So, my question to that would then be: Is the Minister confident that , now that they have gotten us to this
point, can they take us further? Because that would
weigh heavily on the appointment. We are supporting what this Government has put in place, the people that they have put in place. We are s upporting it. And that
is all we are saying. We have good people. We want to see them get behind these good people and make something happen.
I am going to move on. The UK has outpaced
everyone else to our second cousin, the US , when it


Bermuda House of Assembly came to Bermuda, t he statistics he gave. I want to understand a little more. Why did the UK do so much better in coming to Bermuda as opposed to the United States ? And understanding that their COVID -19 restrictions and the likes are very similar, the way that they approached it, why was the UK drastically different then the US coming to Bermuda ( which is really our
closest cousin )?
With the … I did not understand . . . Let me say
this here because I am not going to get to all these questions. The Minister of Public Works did a wonderful
thing this year for me. All the questions that I asked that he could not get to, he put [the answers] in writing. Phenomenal. I cannot thank him enough for that. So, I am imploring. Can we get these questions to the Minister so that . . . I ha ve pages of questions to ask. Can he
respond by giving to us, you know, a written response?
Otherwise, I will have to bring them to the House and all kinds of parliamentary —

I am asking him. You are the Chairman. I have to go through you, right? I am asking the Minister if he will do like his fellow Minister and allow us to get the questions to him so that we can get a re-sponse. I must admit. They were quick answers. I mean, the Minister got them to me very quickly. I know
my time is out.

Ye s. Speak to the Chair. His
Minister read for four and a half hours.
What role has the Minister played in this here
as far as airlift and hotels in making that relationship work better together so that we can start getting some of these airlines back here? I commend the Minister. He took transport . . . he got Boston back. And there
will be question time for that.
And maybe I will get to one more of these questions. Two hundred cruise calls. [Inaudible interjection]

Your turn is coming.
Two hundred cruise calls —are any of those
cruises coming into Hamilton or St. George’s? Are any of those coming into Hamilton or St. George’s?
Also, for the BTA head count —it is at 42 now.
And they were, at one point , at 55. Maybe they did not
have all 55, but they budgeted for 55. Is there any intent
of trying to get back to 55? Or do they believe 42 is the
magic number now and we are going to kind of stay at that area?
Also, the Minister mentioned increased diversity to travellers coming. I was not quite sure what he meant by diversity. If he meant other kinds of, like, med-ical tourism and that kind of a thing. I don’t know. I was
not quite sure. And I was hoping that he can give an answer.

Okay. I wi ll go over to this
page then, some of the more important things here. He talked about targeted sales tactics, and he is talking about international and local customers. I was wonder-ing if the Minister could tell us what they have been say-ing, the local and the international customers. What
have they been saying with these new targeted sales tactics? And how can it improve our performance in the tourism industry?
Thank you, Madam Chairman.

There you go, Member. The Minister has committed to answering your questions.
Minister, move your h eads , please.
Hon. Vance Campbell: Madam Chairman, I move that
Heads 9, 13, 43, 51, 61 and 80 be approved as printed.

814 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: It has been moved that Heads 9, 13,
43, 51, 61 and 80 be approved.
Are there any objections?
There being none.

[Motion carried: The Ministry of To urism, Heads 9, 13,
43, 51, 61 and 80 were approved and stand part of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2023/24]

Good evening, Members.
Are there any objections to rise and report in
progress? There are none. Good.
This brings us to a close of the discussion under the annual debate for the two ministries that were
debated today.
We will now move on to the other order on the
[Order] Paper today. And the next item is the Police (Amendment and Validation) Act 2023 in the name of the Minister of National Security.
Minister. Minister of National Security.
Minister, you need to be in your seat , please.
Don’t greet people down there. Come get in your seat.
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Apologies, Mr. Speaker.

Are there any objections?
There are none.
Continue, Minister.

BILL
SECOND READING

POLICE (AMENDMENT AND
VALIDATION) ACT 2023
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Speaker, the Bill before this Honourable House seeks to amend the Police Act 1974 to clarify the scope of the information that may be supplied by the Bermuda Police Service. It will also val-idate the information provided and fees charged for the
information provided under the Supply of Information for Civil Proceedings Regulations 1968 prior to this Bill coming into force.
Mr. Speaker, the Supply of Information for Civil
Proceedings Regulations 1968 provides for the C ommission er of Police and his absolute discretion in each
case to direct the supply of information and evidence in the possession of the Police Service concerning traffic
and similar accidents to bona fide parties, to civil pro-ceedings, their legal representatives, tr ade unions or
friendly societies bona fide acting on the behalf of such parties and to insurance companies on application, which shall be made in writing to the officer in charge. It also provides for a fee of $100 to be charged for the Supply of Informati on.
Mr. Speaker, the Police Act 1974 provides for
the Governor to make orders for the better carrying out of the Act, including the conditions under which infor-mation, reports and statements in the possession of the Service may be made available to privat e persons, and
the payment of fees for any information, statement , or
report so made available, and for any search therefore .
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this Bill is to
amend section 32 of the Act to clarify that the infor-mation, reports, and statements m ade available to private persons , must not only be in the possession but
under the control of the Bermuda Police Service [BPS] .
It will also provide specifically that the service may pro-vide information in its possession as to whether a per-son has been convicted of an offence by a court in Ber-muda, and provide that the information, reports and statements in the possession and control of the Ser-vice, now available to private persons, may also be made available to a body of persons.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is not a great deal that needs to be said
about this Bill. And I thank the Minister for his presen-tation.
In effect, there are three things going on here.
Firstly, there is an expansion of the scope of infor-mation that the police are now lawfully entitled to pro-vide. And this is happening in two ways. Firstly, it is


Bermuda House of Assembly happening in terms of the breadth of information. The
previous 1968 regulations were quite limited in their
scope as to the categorisation of information that could be provided. And this is expanding beyond the 1968 regulations. Secondly , and as the Minister already
identified, the previous language talked about infor-mation that was merely in the possession of the police. And now this is information in their possession and con-trol. And so those are the two changes in terms of the scope of information.
The second of the three points this Bill is
achieving is to recognise the ability for fees to be charged. The fees were set, I believe at $100, by the
previous regulations. So, there is a greater degree of recognition and validation of the fees.
The third thing of three that this Bill is doing is
that it is granting a retrospective validation to all of the Acts that previously occurred. As a matter of personal
principle, I am not really in favour of retrospective leg-islation. But in this instance, I do see why it i s being
done—to justify and validate previous actions.
I anticipate, although I did not hear from the
Minster, that this Bill is being passed with the support of the Bermuda Police Service. And I would be grateful for his confirmation if that is the case. Beyond that, I do not think the Opposition has much more to say about a very straightforward Bill.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
Does any other Member wish to make a contribution?
Opposition Leader, you have the floor.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I did some research on it myself.
And as my colleague, the Shadow Attorney General
said, we have no objections to it. This process is not unusual under common law. And police are allowed to disclose provisions to the public if need be. And my
comment here is that we have to somehow set some framework as to when this should be done. And I mean
basic framework in regard to what qualifies a policeman or situation like this to occur —i.e., is it prote cting life
and property? Is it preserving order? Is this action pre-venting and detecting offend ers? Is it bringing offenders to justice , or any duty or responsibility arising from
common law or statute law ? If it meets those criteria,
we have no objections . And we also think that somehow those parameters should be defined somewhere in the regulations or the legislation to show when this type of action can be initiated.
The other issue that I found most interesting is
that in some jurisdictions they have information sharing
agreements. And these may take the form of MOUs, (Memorandum of Understanding), various service level agreements, information sharing agreements, organi-sational exchange of information. And so, again, can we tighten it up and somewhere have these types of agreements crafted and referred to in the event that you have to go to court? I know legislation is useful. But I think we can tighten it up a bit more.
The other issue that was raised, and I could not
quite understand why it would be included in this , and
it speaks to being searched. So if a policeman is searching an individual, that individual has a right to ask the officer: Why are you [searching] me and what do you intend to achieve? because the person being arrested or searched has a right to information that is on
file that pertains to him. And so, somehow can the Minister speak to the rights of the persons being arrested or searched and how those rights are being protected?
Other than that, as I said, if it clearly defines
the parameters under which these types of activities occur , and we have some type of agreement that the
persons’ rights are not eroded, then you have our full support. So, I look forward to the answers to my questions from the Minister.
Thank you.

Th ank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to make a contribution?
There are none.
Minister.
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In answer to the first question from Honourable
Member MP Pearman, the BPS does support the Bill. And for the most part, this is just some housekeeping.
The information they request generally arises
from civil proceedings . And all citizens may ask the police questions. This is not the same as asking for a re-port. So, for the most part, I do not know if I have answered the question the Opposition Leader had asked. But it does not erode any rights of anyone seeking in-formation from the police.

Thank you.
Deputy [Speaker] .

House in Committee at 8:08 pm

[Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Chairman]

COMMITTEE ON BILL

POLICE (AMENDMENT AND
VALIDATION) ACT 2023

816 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Honourable Members, we are now in
the Committee of the whole [House] for further consid-eration of the Bill entitled
Police (Amendment and Validation) Act 2023 .
Minister, you have the floor.
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to move all clauses. There are
three clauses. Can I move them all at one time? The Chairman: Continue, Minister.
Hon. Micha el A. Weeks: Okay.
An overview of the Bill the Police (Amendment)
. . . Mr. Chairman, do I have to read the overview or
should I read— The Chairman: Yes. It won’t hurt.
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: The Police (Amendment and Validation) Act 2023 amends section 32 of the Police Act 1974 by repealing and replacing subsection (1)(j) to clarify the parameters of information, reports and state-ments that may be made available to private persons and validates the information and fees charged for in-formation provided outside the scope of the Supply of Information for Civil Proceedings Regulations 1968 and the charging and payment of fees for such supply.
Mr. Chairman, clause 1 is the standard citation.
Clause 2 amends section 32 ( which is Police
Orders ) of the Police Ac t 1974 by repealing and replacing subsection (1)(j) to: (a) clarify that information, reports and statements made available to private persons must not only be in possession but under the control of the Bermuda Police Service; (b) provide specifically
that the Service may provide information in its possession as to whether a person has been convicted of an offence by a Court in Bermuda; and (c) provide that the
information, reports and statements in the possession and control of the Service, now available t o private persons, may also be made available to a body of persons.
Clause 3 validates, prior to the coming into operation of this Act, the supply of information, reports and statements outside the scope of the Supply of In-formation for Civil Proceedings R egulations 1968 and
the charging and payment of fees for such supply, un-der the purported authority of the Supply of Information for Civil Proceedings Regulations 1968.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Just one point of clarification and that is in relation to clause 2 of the Bill where a new section 32 subsection (1)(j) is being inserted into the original pri-mary Act, which is the 1974 Act. When I had read it and read the expression “possession and control ,” I had understood that to be broadening the scope. Because it seems to me as a matter of logic, there are certain things the police may possess, but the police also have an ability to control the provision of information which they may not possess. So, I had understood that to be broadening the scope.
But in the explanatory memorandum just given
by the Minister, under clause 2, it says “must not only be in the possession but under the control of the Ber-muda Police Service, ” which suggests that there is material in their possession, some of which is under their control and some of which is not. And to my mind, those are two different interpretations. One is looking at only information in their possession, some of which is under their control and some of which is not. Or alternatively over here, there is material in their possession and there is additional material that is in their control. And I had read it to be the latter , but the Minister just explained it to be the former. And I just am curious which it is. It would appear from the explanatory memoran-dum that it is the former.
Thank you, Minister. That is my only question.

We are just in Committee on the Police
(Amendment and Validation) Act 2023. And it is being led by the Minister of National Security, the Honourable Michael Weeks. We are just getting clarification on a question.
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you for your indul-gence, Mr. Chairman.
In answer to the query by the Honourable
Member on clause 2, the lawful hold of conviction rec-ords is the court. The police apply this information even though the police are not primary holders of the record.

Members. Ar e there any objections to
the Bill being reported to the House? There are none.
Thank you, Members, for your participation in
that.
That now brings us to the next item, which is
being carried over. All other items, just one after that carried over.
Minister, would you like to do your third reading?

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21

Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21 be
suspended to enable me to move the Bill entitled Police (Amendment and Validat ion) Act 2023 be now read a
third time by its title only.

Mr. Premier.

ADJOURNMENT
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that this Honourable
House do now adjourn until Wednesday, March 8 at
10:00 am.
818 6 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: T hank you.
There are no Members rising.
Thank you.
Members, the House now stands adjourned
until 10:00 am on Wednesday morning.
Get some rest, Members. And we will see you
back here on Wednesday. Thank you.

[Gavel]
[At 8:16 pm, the House stood adjour ned until 10:00 am,
Friday, 8 March 2023.]