Premier Jennifer Smith accused Opposition MPs of twisting her words to score political points in a row over a massive review of the Civil Service.

And Ms Smith added that suggestions that UK experts drafted in to probe the Island's bureaucracy had had Progressive Labour Party policy "dictated'' to them was "unconscionable'' -- as well as an insult to the integrity of the UK Civil Service College.

Ms Smith said: "They are impugning the integrity of a world-renowned national institution which stands on its reputation and I think at some stage people are not going to take that lightly.'' The Premier added that -- although redundancies as a result of the review, designed to modernise the public service and boost efficiency, had been ruled out -- natural wastage could be used to cut away at the number of workers paid out of the public purse.

Ms Smith said the top consultants from the Civil Service College were briefed on a no-job-cutback policy before they began their work.

She added: "That was the premise under which they started -- their focus is on training, education and on efficiency and effectiveness.

"There may be savings where a job filled now will not be filled in the future -- that's just common sense.'' But she insisted she had not misled the public nor MPs on the range of the review which touched on constitutional matters like the number of MPs and single-seat constituencies, which the reviewers pointed out were not within their terms of reference, while adding that the arguments in favour of one-MP seats, with more evenly-sized constituencies, appeared "incontrovertible''.

The team recommended a cut in the number of Ministers from 13 to eight by combining Ministries under full-time, rather than part-time, politicians.

Opposition accused of `twisting' Smith's words Ms Smith said she had seen the report -- later leaked -- before she answered questions from Opposition Legislative Affairs spokesman John Barritt last month.

She added: "The first thing I have to establish, without people twisting my words, is that the question he asked was `had they taken up constitutional matters?' "The fact they commented on it was up to them -- but that cannot be called a recommendation.'' And she said the review was not cast in concrete -- and Government could pick and choose what it wished implemented.

The review team was due to return yesterday to concentrate on bringing the Civil Service handbook, General Orders, up to date.

Also on the cards is a close look at the structure of Cabinet Office -- one recommendation in the report was the creation of a Central Policy Unit to co-ordinate Government's planning and more areas of responsibility, like media relations, coming under the Premier's personal office -- and succession planning for top jobs.

And Ms Smith said: "We will discuss all this in concert with our partners, those who will be most affected -- the Civil Service organisation.'' The news came as Bermuda Public Services Association general secretary Ed Ball Jr. -- who has just returned from a trip to the UK Civil Service College to discuss the review -- said there was an international drive towards making the public service more accountable and efficient and that Britain and the US had conducted reviews of their own.

He added: "These outline making Government more accountable and trying to get more young people into the Civil Service so they can improve quality.'' The report highlighted a failure to carry out most of the mandatory employee performance reviews -- and said many which were carried out failed to target poor performers.

Mr. Ball said: "As far as the union is concerned, we insist that performance appraisals will be done for promotions, pay and, if need be, discipline.

That's already our policy.'' And he added that existing rules forbade redundancies after eight years' service without pension compensation -- payable for life -- and the review did not mention job losses.

Mr. Ball said: "Based on that, a union can only say `this is what I see'.'' And he added that the union was always prepared to deal with redundancy proposals -- and would if, and when, any such proposals were ever made.

Mr. Ball said performance-related pay was another trend -- and said it rewarded the best and encouraged poor performers to upgrade their skills and work records.

But he added: "There has to be training and there has to be supervision for that employee to proceed to the level required. And there is also an onus on the employee to make sure they're developing themselves.'' Mr. Ball added that he was "impressed with the level of commitment at the Civil Service College -- and with UK civil service unions, who accepted that if a country wants its gross national product to improve, there has to be a new way of doing business''.

Mr. Ball said: "The taxpayer also wants more accountability for his tax dollars -- and from a union perspective, we want to be seen as just as competitive and professional as the best in the private sector.''