Junior home affairs minister Sylvan Richards detailed the 2016-17 Budget for the Department of Workforce Development, but left no time for debate.

While 2½ hours were scheduled for the debate, Mr Richards used the entirety of the time allotted to deliver his budget brief. The department saw its budget reduced by $219,000 — about 5 per cent. The bulk of the reductions came out of the Labour Relations headings, which had its budget reduced by $166,000.

However, the training section saw its budget increase by about $30,000, while career development also received a marginal budget boost.

Mr Richards said that cracking down on compliance issues was a priority for the department moving forward, noting that amendments to strengthen the department’s enforcement powers were expected to come before the House this summer.

The junior minister also referred to the evolution of the Job Board initiative, noting that nearly 7,000 job seekers had registered with the programme since its inception, along with nearly 2,000 employers. More than 4,000 job applications have been submitted through the programme so far.

Meanwhile, he celebrated the success of the department’s summer employment programme, which last year found posts for 102 college and university students.

And he said the department was continuing its work to help unemployed Bermudians become better job candidates by offering courses to improve soft skills and working with bodies like the Bermuda College to ensure that training opportunities are available.