Cases of financial exploitation and other forms of abuse against seniors often take longer than three months to investigate owing to their complexity and need for police involvement, the Senate heard.

Lindsay Simmons, the Junior Minister for Social Development and Seniors and Home Affairs, explained the situation in response to questions from Dwayne Robinson, the opposition senator, about performance measures aimed at reducing the time it takes to process cases of abuse against seniors.

The original 2023-24 forecast for the number of cases still active three months after opening was 15 per cent, but the revised forecast was 60 per cent.

Mr Robinson said: “Is this percentage in the revised forecast 2023-24 what was considered an acceptable percentage by experts in the field? The forecast was 15 per cent and we have exceeded that by a large amount.

“The target outcome for 2024-25 is 30 per cent. Why are we not hitting our targets for these cases that opened past three months in regards to senior abuse?

“Moving to the next line item which is percentages of cases active one year after being opened, it seems we have managed to come underneath the original forecast here.”

The revised forecast for 2023-24 for the percentage of cases still active one year after being opened was 15 per cent, outperforming its original target by 2 per cent.

Speaking during the budget debate on Wednesday, Ms Simmons responded: “Many of our senior-abuse cases are open three months versus one year due to the fact that many of these cases involve investigations conducted by the Bermuda Police Service, and said cases may take longer than three months to investigate.

“Due to the case complexities, and particularly financial exploitation cases, many of these cases are also often dependent on the input and advice from the Department of Public Prosecutions.

“Some of these cases often transition to case management once clients access Ageing and Disability Services.”

Senators had about 20 minutes to debate issues pertaining to the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors after a budget brief of two hours and 40 minutes.

Many questions that were asked remained unanswered or were only briefly touched upon.

Questions were raised about staffing levels in the Department of Financial Assistance. Ms Simmons said that as of April, three positions will be vacant and unfunded.

Douglas De Couto, the opposition senator, asked about recoverable debt. “Was financial assistance involved in Covid relief payments, and can you provide an update on the number of erroneous payments that have been recovered to date?”

Ms Simmons said: “During Covid, the financial assistance maintained a supplemental unemployment programme and there was only one case of fraud committed.”

Kiernan Bell, the Vice-President of the Senate, asked why only $8,000 was allocated to training in the department, equating to a little more than $200 per employee. She asked what the training is and how many employees receive it, but time was insufficient for a full response.

Ms Bell inquired about performance measures related to service delivery in the department to reduce the number of legitimate complaints from the previous year.

She said: “It is stated this was reduced by 50 per cent this last year. What was the total number of complaints last year? How many of those complaints were deemed to be legitimate complaints? What is the process for determining if a complaint is legitimate or not, and what was the outcome of those complaints?”

Ms Simmons responded: “All complaints are responded expeditiously. There were only two review board appeals by clients compared to four from the previous year — a reduction of 50 per cent.”

Robin Tucker, the opposition Senate Leader, questioned whether charities and organisations that have received government grants for a number of years must submit financial statements and annual reports to be eligible. Ms Simmons said the submissions are mandatory for the issuance of grant allocations.

Mr Robinson asked whether there were any interruptions in youth services as a result of them being transferred to the ministry.

Ms Simmons said: “The former department, Sport and Recreation, has reported on the 2023-24 year. There have been no interruptions of youth and family services, after-school programmes, out of school programmes, community enrichment programmes and community centres.

“Youth Affairs has transferred with all relevant staff to maintain existing services and programmes.”