By Gareth Finighan

Government agencies, quangos and other public bodies will be subject to close financial scrutiny by a new authority under proposed laws.

In the House of Assembly this morning, Premier Michael Dunkley tabled the For Information” Public Bodies Reform Bill 2014, which seeks to establish an Efficiency and Reform Authority, tasked with improving efficiencies.

Premier Dunkley said: “The Bill provides for wide consultation before reforms can be made and any reform affecting the Government’s organisational structure will require a Public Bodies Reform Order. The Order can only be advanced following the required consultation with all affected parties.

According to a Government spokesman, the public is encouraged to review the contents of the Bill and provide feedback and submissions by Friday, August 29.

E-copies of the Bill can be downloaded from the home page of the Government Portal — www.gov.bm and submissions should be directed to the Financial Secretary at the Ministry of Finance.

Premier Dunkley added: “The Government aims to be completely transparent in the development of the legislation and therefore the ‘For Information Bill’ tabled today is for the purpose of public consultation as well as further stakeholder consultation.”

“We are pleased to submit the Bill for information and consultation, with the matter to be taken up again in the next session. And we are inviting members of the public and stakeholders to review the ‘For Information Bill’ and make final submissions.

“The establishment of the Reform Authority complements the body of work being undertaken by the various working groups that have been established to advance the Public Service Reform Initiative. These working groups have been mobilised to look at Government assets and how they are managed, Government services and how we can better utilise technology to deliver public services, the sustainability of Government pension funds, and Government’s human resource model and its human resource policies and how these can be refined to effect the most efficient use of Government’s vast talent pool.”