Government House has extended the deadline for submissions on how changes to the Constitution should be made in the future.

Governor Sir John Vereker sought consultation on future changes after the Progressive Labour Party ruled out a constitutional conference and instead asked for the changes to be made by Order in Council in London after a debate in the House of Assembly.

The deadline was originally December 31, but has been extended to January 31, Deputy Governor Nick Carter said yesterday.

He said Sir John will send a report on the suggestions to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office when the submissions have been completed, and he did not rule out further consultation before the report is sent to London.

Mr. Carter said there had been just under ten submissions, but Government House had been asked by some Bermudians for more time.

?There is a combination of things. Christmas, people still focussing on getting back on a level pegging after the hurricane and some people rang and said it would help if the deadline was extended,? said Mr. Carter.

?We said why not. It?s no skin off our nose if it results in us getting a better product.

?There is no agreed process. We haven?t worked out how and when we will send it to London. We?ll wait and see what the product looks like before sending it to London.?

Mr. Carter added he was unable to disclose the details of any of the submissions.

The PLP insisted the constitutional changes could be brought in by order in council in London after MPs had debated the issue in the House of Assembly.

But the United Bermuda Party argued any changes to the constitution should only happen after wide public consultation and a constitutional conference.

Announcing he was seeking suggestions, Sir John said in November: ?Although not widespread, there were some concerns raised at the time regarding a clear and standard procedure for considering future proposals for constitutional amendment.

?As a result, the Governor was asked by the UK Secretary of State to explore the issue locally and determine if interested parties in Bermuda could come forward with acceptable proposals for procedures to be followed in future.?