silently underway for several months, the Premier and other Government officials said yesterday.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan said the `Access to Government' programme will develop gradually but will eventually make a huge difference in the way people interact with Government and the more than 4,000 people it employs.

Sir John likened it to British Prime Minister John Major's `Citizen's Charter', a promise last year to make the British Government more accountable, accessible and responsive to its `customers'.

"Bureaucracy builds up and up over a period of time,'' Sir John said. "We are asking various civil service teams to cut through those layers. What you want to be able to do is make it as easy as possible for the users -- and also for the people who have to administer it.'' The reform effort began late last year under the supervision of Cabinet Secretary Mr. Kenneth Richardson and Sen. Michael Winfield, Minister of Management and Information Services. A series of committees of senior civil servants was set up at the beginning of this year to carry on the work.

Some recommendations are being implemented as they arise while others, such as those involving motor vehicles or licensing, will require legislative changes.

Sen. Winfield emphasised that, while significant, the changes will be gradual and sometimes undramatic.

For example, receptionists and secretaries throughout Government are receiving courses in telephone manners as part of the programme. The public should be able to notice greater courtesy in their telephone dealings with Government, he said.

The recent publication of some direct telephone numbers of many civil servants, allowing the public to bypass the central Government switchboard, was part of the `Access to Government' programme, he said.

And an improved Government `Blue Section' in the Bermuda Telephone Directory is likely to follow.

Other committees are assigned to review the paperwork and procedures the public must go thorough when dealing with Government, and find ways to reduce and simplify it.

In almost every department, Sen Winfield said, "there's a tremendous history of process. Customs have been built up to an extent that it generates its own paperwork.'' Sir John stressed that he believes Bermuda has a relatively small and inexpensive civil service. But it can be better and more efficient, he said, and in today's "information age'' it is increasingly important for it to interact quickly and efficiently with the public.

The sort of the questions the committees are asking, Sir John said, are why dogs and boat moorings have to be licensed every year instead of every two years, or why buildings must be inspected by so many different people at so many different stages of construction.

One committee, headed by environment secretary Dr. James Burnett-Herkes, has been assigned to review inspections carried out by Government "with a view to reducing, eliminating or privatising''.

Mr. Richardson pointed out that technology can also play a part in improving Government's dealings with its customers. He pointed to increased use of X-ray machines by the Post Office, to avoid tearing open private and business parcels, as a way Government can make its own job easier while reducing irritation and inconvenience to the public.

One committee is studying possible incentive programmes for Government employees, Mr. Richardson said, although direct financial incentives have been ruled out as ineffective.

Another is assigned to find ways of providing better information about Government. One result of their work is that the Immigration Department will soon be publishing a large number of brochures for the public explaining such things as how to obtain passports or work permits.

The idea of creating a Government `ombudsman' position was considered but rejected on the grounds that Bermuda was too small, Mr. Richardson said. In a country as small as Bermuda, where the Premier is listed in the telephone book and Cabinet Ministers are easily accessible, the addition of an ombudsman's position might hinder access rather than help it.

"The world is changing and Bermuda has to change,'' Sir John said. "We have to ask the fundamental questions: How can we make Government user friendly and deliver better services and maximise value for money.''