The number of people working for Guernsey's civil service could shrink, the president of Policy and Resources has said.

Deputy Peter Ferbrache says there is 'waste in the system' and a review of the civil service needs to happen to reduce it.

Speaking to the Institute of Directors, Deputy Ferbrache added that there are many fine civil servants who go above and beyond for the island.

He revealed that he's delegated the task of civil service reform to the Deputy Chief Minister.

"The vice-president of P&R, who was a very effective health president before, Deputy Heidi Soulsby, is the person who is mandated to do that.

Deputy Soulsby will lead the Civil Service Transformation at a political level, but she will of course have the full support of the States."

Deputy Peter Ferbrache admitted that while there are many excellent staff across the public service, there needs to be an examination of the service as Guernsey seeks to live more within its financial means.

"We have very many top quality civil servants who do a very good job and work well beyond their respective hours, but, secondly, we've also got waste in the system and we've got to cut that waste out. There's no point saying we're going to do something, we've actually got to do it."