The Treasury has been accused of ignoring the will of Tynwald after confirming it will not bring forward a public audit bill before the general election in September.
Treasury Minister Chris Thomas told members that the government had “reduced its ambitions for legislation that can be put through the branches before the general election”.
The decision follows a public consultation on implementing recommendations made by the Auditor General, the results of which were published on Friday.
Mr Thomas said the Treasury now intends to report back to Tynwald in July 2026 to offer “an additional perspective” on the recommendations.
Criticism
The statement drew sharp criticism from members who noted that Tynwald had endorsed the recommendations by 29 votes to two in July 2025, with a clear instruction for the Treasury to introduce a bill.
Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper said the consultation responses showed support for the proposals, including extending the Auditor General’s remit to private contractors, which was backed by 19 responses with three against from local authorities.
“The minister doesn’t get to ignore Tynwald,” he said.
“Why didn’t they come back to Tynwald and seek Tynwald approval to change Tynwald’s decision from last July that said, bring a bill?”
Mr Hooper added: “If the government can’t be trusted to do the thing it promised to do last July, why should we trust the minister now when he says he’s promising to do exactly the same thing again this July?”
Ambitious
In his response, Mr Thomas said that the original timetable set by Tynwald had been “ambitious”.
He noted that while the Council of Ministers did not seek to amend the motion, their written response had suggested a different approach involving public consultation before a bill was progressed.
“The consultation was undertaken in good faith, in line with Council’s response,” Mr Thomas said.
He said the consultation had identified concerns with some legislative proposals, giving the example that extending the Auditor General’s remit over private entities “based solely on the fact that most of their income derives from public bodies” could have unintended consequences.
“The private entities’ perception of their potential exposure to the powers of the Auditor General may dissuade them from working with the public sector,” he said.
The minister also pointed to progress made within existing legislation, noting that new directions regarding local authority accounts would see scrutiny reports published by the end of the month.
Mr Thomas stressed that the government was “not ignoring Tynwald’s will” but was prioritising other legislation, including three “hugely important bills” to assist with the island’s MONEYVAL preparations.
He said the timing of the July 2026 report would coincide with the Auditor General’s third annual report, allowing for a fuller debate on both the future role of the Auditor General and necessary legislative changes.