Senators approved Government’s budget for several Ministries yesterday at the final Senate sitting before the new fiscal year begins.Senator Alexis Swan introduced the Ministry of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy’s $27.5 million budget to her colleagues — down by $580,000 from the current year.Responding to her brief was Opposition Senate Leader Diallo Rabain who questioned why Government was estimating less revenue from planning application fees and building permit fees if it was certain that decreasing fees for non Bermudian purchasers of local property will stimulate construction.“Are we saying that we believe this policy will work?” said Sen Rabain. “We can’t have it both ways. We can’t say one thing is sure to increase productivity but when it comes to the actual department that the productivity is showing a decrease.”Revenue from fees for planning applications and building permits is expected to decrease by $20,000 and $55,000 respectively.Sen Rabain also called for a consistent approach to planning applications, saying that individual officers handle the same application differently.Sen Swan also laid out the Ministry of Community and Cultural Development’s budget for the coming year, which increased by one percent due in large part to funding increased for the Bermuda Housing Corporation.A large number of headings under the Ministry faced budget cuts, including the Department of Financial Assistance, the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation and the Department of Child and Family Services.Sen Rabain said the cuts demonstrated a lack of sensitivity and social agenda by the Government, harming the agencies that the least fortunate rely on.While he said the OBA had repeatedly attacked budget cuts to the Mirrors Programme while in opposition, they cut the programme’s budget by three percent in their first budget.And he noted several Youth and Sports programmes suffered cuts while the budgets for sports facilities had grown significantly.“We are improving the facilities but cutting the budget that would use the facilities,” he said.Sen Swan responded that the Ministry had been tasked with doing more with less, and stated that the Mirrors Programme had been able to reduce its budget by strategically partnering with the private sector.She also stated that the facilities budget for Youth and Sport was increasing only to account for the cost of the new Aquatics centre.Senator Nalton Brangman meanwhile covered the budget of the Ministry of Tourism and Transportation, which experienced a three percent budget cut.The Senator said $3 million has been invested in ten new buses — the first new buses brought to the Island since 2009 — and that the Government is working to implement a new bus schedule to reduce overtime and improve service.And while Opposition Senators Marc Bean and Renee Ming questioned a reduction in the Tourism’s marketing budget, Sen Brangman said a greater focus on digital promotions is hoped to provide a better bang for Bermuda’s buck.