With $24M cuts to the civil service in next year’s budget beginning July 1^st 2013 this should mean fewer civil servants.

Most of the general public, excluding the ones affected, will be pleased, as this is something they have been shouting for.

There can be no denying we have a colossal civil service expense per capita of population compared to other countries.

It is not only internally here that has noticed it. Externally, too, with no less than the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office saying the same thing.

I can understand the reluctance of the premier to do this because it is not going to win him any votes and is guaranteed to lose him a lot, especially with a General Election getting ever closer.

However, this is something he could and should have done at least two years ago and then a lot of potential voters might have forgotten about it. He might even, if he had done this, been able to announce a limited civil service recruitment drive.

Alas he couldn’t take the step and he announced he couldn’t do it because it lay with H.E the Governor. The Governor hired and fired he said many times. The premier doesn’t recruit or fire civil servants.

As Minister of Finance all he had to do was cut the budget. And guess what? He has been forced to do it now.

The reductions were set out in the Strategic Policy Statement made public in the Legislative Assembly (LA) Monday (26).

The statement said the proposals resulted from three phases of efficiency reviews completed by the public service that will be implemented in “the short to medium term”.

The reductions proposed for the 2013/14 budget year include:

*Discontinuation of the government’s housing assistance programme – savings $3.7 million

*Reductions in the PRIDE programme and Nation Building Fund – savings $2.8 million

*Attrition in the civil service [during the 2013/14 year only] – savings $5 million

*Consolidation of statutory authorities – savings $4.9 million

*Centralisation of procurement operations – savings $2.4 million

*Improved risk management [through self-insurance] – savings $3 million

*Reduction of interest costs [debt repayment] – savings $1.9 million

Additional reductions in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 budget years include further attrition-related reductions in the Cayman Islands civil service of $8 million, and reductions in the Nation Building Fund of $2 million.

The government also expects further reduction in interest costs over those two budget years.

Of course, we will now hear the heavy hand of the premier beating the drum for all its worth that’s its not his fault. The UK and the PPM are to blame.