The House of Keys sits tomorrow, but it may be short and sweet.
There are 11 questions tabled for oral answer for the November 10 sitting. And nothing else.
At least one question may not go ahead. It is tabled for Housing and Communities Minister Rob Callister.
We understand he and fellow Onchan MHK Rachel Glover will be allowed leave of absence to attend the court-ordered recount for the election result in Onchan, which is also taking place tomorrow.
They will be back for the next sitting. There’s no suggestion the result will change.
For the record, the question for Mr Callister would have been on vacant properties.
The effect of increases in road fuel prices features heavily in this week’s sitting. with questions from both Ayre and Michael MHK Stephen Broad and Glenfaba and Peel MHK Katryna Baptist.
Particular emphasis will be on support for the agriculture and road haulage industries.
Broad will certainly be keeping Treasury Minister Michael Crowe busy. He also wants to know what options are under consideration “to address the structural deficit of £92 million in public sector spending” projected for the financial year.
Middle MHK James Cochrane will ask whether there is a reason why Loganair’s flight schedules for the Isle of Man do not stretch past the end of March.
Other issues on the question paper include discharge of sewage from Peel Breakwater toilets, immigration checks, and waiting lists for cataract surgery.
Quiet Week for Thomas?
An interesting oddity is there are no questions tabled for the Chief Minister, nor the Cabinet Office Minister.
That might come in handy for Chief Minister/Cabinet Office Minister Chris Thomas, should he have been working on anything else major in the past couple of days.
Sadly, after last week’s entertaining interactions, former Chief Minister Alfred Cannan has not tabled any questions for Infrastructure Minister Jason Moorhouse.
The sitting gets underway at 10am.
No Legislative Council
Again, there is no sitting of the Legislative Council today. Criticism should be tempered, however. One of its main purposes is to act as a revising chamber on legislation from the House of Keys.
No such legislation is forthcoming yet, given the infancy of the elected chamber.
You can view the full House of Keys Order Paper here:
