A Tynwald committee has concluded the island’s ministerial system of government has worked well over its first 40 years but requires significant reform to address key weaknesses.
The Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Justice Committee’s report examined the changeover from the board system of governance in 1986 to the current ministerial system.
Former Chief Minister Sir Miles Walker told the inquiry the system felt like “a great improvement” on what had gone before.
He said the original aims included identifying decision-makers, adding: “It seemed to me that the ministerial system was going to enable our constituents to identify those people who really worked and wanted to take the Island forward.”
However, the committee identified several areas of concern, including the reliance on key individuals, difficulties with cross-departmental working, and a perception that the Chief Minister has less power than is generally understood.
Former Chief Ministers Tony Brown and Howard Quayle both highlighted the need to amend the Treasury Act. Mr Brown said: “Treasury used to go into executive Government and say, ‘This is our budget’ and whether they liked it or not, that was the budget.”
Mr Quayle added: “I think under the 1990 Council of Ministers laws, the Treasury had too much power when it came to interfering with departments and government policy.”
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Current Chief Minister Alf Cannan told the inquiry the Chief Minister’s role was “very much a chair-type role” and dispelled “that myth that exists that under the current system the Chief Minister holds any responsibilities for decision making per se.”
The committee concluded that a single legal entity model would not solve the cultural issues around departmental co-ordination and recommended that the next Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Justice Committee “seek solutions to the issues with the ministerial system of government which have been identified in this report”.