UK Civil Service experts recruited to modernise their Bermuda equivalents could be on the Island by June, it was revealed yesterday.

And Cabinet Secretary Leo Mills will visit the UK's Civil Service College next month in advance of the review.

Premier Jennifer Smith said: "This important review will contribute towards the modernisation of the Bermuda Civil Service by pointing the direction for the Bermuda Civil Service to advance into the 21st century.

"We expect the review to identify both the strengths and weaknesses of the Civil Service and to propose solutions, including training and development for Civil Servants aimed at equipping them with new skills to meet the challenges that lie ahead.'' Mr. Mills yesterday declined to comment on the reasons for his trip to the UK.

He said: "There is very little I can say right now because there are a lot of details which have to be worked out.'' In February, The Royal Gazette reported that a survey -- likely to last more than two months -- would be carried out by outside consultants from the UK.

Ms Smith said then that she had discussed recruiting UK help for a review of the Island's public employees on a visit to the British Civil Service College -- the bureaucrats' equivalent of the Army's Sandhurst.

Earlier, a UK Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegation led by British Labour veteran Lord Ashley discussed the Bermuda Civil Service with the Premier.

Lord Ashley later met Foreign Office junior Minister Baroness Symons, who is in charge of the Overseas Territories. She confirmed she backed the plan, although Bermuda would be expected to pay for the expertise.

The UK Civil Service suffered huge cutbacks under the Conservative Government, ditched in 1997 for Labour. The Tories claimed the public service was overmanned and inefficient.

The Island Government in its election-winning manifesto pledged to "introduce new standards of efficiency of revenue management and root out waste and inefficiency.'' The PLP also promised to review all the operations of the massive Works and Engineering Ministry -- including contracts -- with a view to "increasing efficiency and curbing wastage in expenditure''.

And -- in a newspaper advert published just after the election -- Ms Smith said she planned to appoint a "scissorman'' to cut out "crippling rigidity -- or pockets of sloppiness in our systems.'' While Government has never said it planned to cut jobs in Bermuda's huge Civil Service, it is possible the UK consultants could recommend job cuts.

Ed Ball Jr., head of the white collar union BPSA, said he was not against efficiency improvements -- but insisted they could not be at the expense of job cuts.

He added the union would take a "wait and see'' attitude -- but warned against the route of privatisation of public services taken under the former UK Conservative Government to cut costs.