In a heated exchange in the House of Assembly yesterday, Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon questioned Premier Jennifer Smith about an alleged intrusion into the workings of the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Ms Gordon claimed that Ms Smith had written to the Governor requesting that normal procedure -- whereby job vacancies are advertised -- be waived in relation to two senior posts in the civil service.

Ms Gordon said such interference was outside of the norm in respect to ministers agreeing not to interfere in certain Government organisations.

Premier Smith was outraged at the suggestion that such a letter had been written and said: "I don't deal in rumour and innuendo.'' She did say however that there were provisions in place for the PSC to waive advertising a position if promotion was being made from within the civil service.

The PSC, whose objective is to make sure that all disciplinary matters are dealt with fairly, is made up of a chairman and four others.

Shadow Minister of Development, Opportunity and Government services, Allan Marshall asked how many times the PSC had met and how many non-Bermudians were employed in the civil service.

New Minister without portfolio, Randolph Horton later answered that the PSC had met 39 times and considered 315 positions, and there were 132 non Bermudians currently employed in the civil service.

The Opposition also attacked Government's 48 percent increase in the travel Budget which is now $4.4 million.

Ms Smith said that $700,000 of the Budget was dedicated to Bermuda's involvement in the Smithsonian Folkflife Festival taking place in Washington DC from June 27 to July 8.

Also provisioned was $200,000 which was set aside to send Bermudians employed with the civil service overseas for additional training as Ms Smith said the travel budget included provisions for "professional development''.

Ms Gordon said that she could understand if Government ministers needed to travel more in the first year of being in power so they could make connections and acquaintances, but by the third year in power, these contacts should have been made.

Ms Gordon claimed such an increase was a significant cause for concern it could be spent in an area more fitting to help the general public.

Ms Gordon also spoke about the Central Policy Unit (CPU) which was formed less than a year ago and whose function is to gather information from all ministries and departments to improve the decision making process for Cabinet.

Government's Budget has made provisions to ensure the training of those employed in the CPU, but Ms Gordon questioned whether all the training was to have civil servants work better with each other or with the general public.

And she also questioned whether Government still intended to hire a Government ombudsman with the CPU now up and running.

Ms Gordon criticised: "yet another highly paid Government civil servant''.

Ms Gordon also said that it was a major issue of concern when a Government expands the civil service so quickly as she said Government does not create wealth and added: "the taxpayer will pay for the growth.'' Government has increased the number of civil servants by 211 since coming to power in November 1998 -- a rise of about six percent.

Ms Smith told MP's in the House yesterday that she wanted Government to be "the first choice employer for Bermudians''.

MPs debated non-ministry departments in the Budget yesterday morning which included provisions for the Governor and staff, the office of the Auditor, the Public Service Commission, the Cabinet Office, the Statistics Department, Management Services, Archives, Personnel Services, Government Information services, and the Parliamentary Registrar.

NON-MINISTRY DEPARTMENTS 2001/02 estimates Ministry responsibility: Each of the 12 departments shown has its own separate objective and does not fall within the portfolio of a particular cabinet minister cabinet office, personnel, management services, information services, statistics & archives which are included in the Premier's portfolio.

Budget estimate: $27,578,000 (last year $25,303,000) Revenue: $4,959,000 Budget allocations Governor & staff $1,067,000 Legislature $2,905,000 Judicial Department $6,995,000 Office of the auditor $1,868,000 Public Service Commission $87,000 Cabinet Office $3,050,000 Statistics $2,577,000 Management services $945,000 Archives $782,000 Personnel services $5,162,000 Government Information services $1,322 Parliamentary Registrar $818,000