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In the October 2007 sitting of Tynwald John Houghton asked again about the introduction of an Ombudsman. Although the answer was positive, it should be noted that,in answering another question the Attorney General stated that it was no exaggeration to say that his Chambers are completely overloaded with work, with 58 Bills to be drafted before July 2008. |
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Chief Minister Brown has issued information to members of Tynwald in response to a Manx Radio interview P A G had on 'Morning Mandate' (10 July 2007) and on 'Talking Heads' the following day. This may be viewed here. It is encouraging that P A G gets recognition, dare one say acceptance, by the Minister. It's interesting that Petitions for Redress of Grievance will continue and also that an Auditor General is promised. |
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During the House of Keys sitting of Tuesday, 22nd May 2007 John Houghton (Douglas North) inquired about progress towards establishing a statutory Ombudsman service - see below. |
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| Oral Answers Statutory ombudsmanIntroduction by Government 1.2. The Hon. Member for Douglas North (Mr Houghton) to ask the Chief Minister: When will a statutory ombudsman service be introduced by Government? The Speaker: Question 2, Hon. Member for Douglas North, Mr Houghton. Mr Houghton: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name, sir. The Speaker: Again, I call the Hon. Member for Castletown, the Chief Minister, Mr Brown. The Chief Minister (Mr Brown): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I wrote to all Members of Tynwald on 4th May this year, enclosing a copy of the Government’s legislative programme for the next three years. Hon. Members will have noted that contained in that programme was the Ombudsman Bill, scheduled for introduction into the House in the 2007-08 legislative session. I can confirm that drafting instructions were sent to the Attorney General’s Chambers in April this year to progress the Bill. Following the initial drafting of the Bill, the draft Bill will be released for a period of consultation, prior to being introduced into the House, the timing of which I would expect to be in the autumn of this year. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Speaker: Mr Houghton. Mr Houghton: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The case was made for the ombudsman in the Isle of Man well over 20 years ago. The report was in Tynwald to progress this legislation in July 2004 for the 2004-05 legislative programme. I note that the previous Government did not bring this forward and I appreciate the Hon. Chief Minister’s comments, but can he make sure that this legislation now is kept on schedule as to his legislative programme that has been produced by his Office, sir? The Speaker: Chief Minister to reply. The Chief Minister: Thank you, Mr Speaker. As Hon. Members will be aware, one of the issues that I have made clear to my ministerial colleagues and to officers, and back through to Departments, is that greater priority has to be given to legislation, as that is important for the well-being of the Isle of Man. This is one example of that and, therefore, I can assure Hon. Members, that my officers and myself will be keeping pressure to move these things along. All I can say is that it is expected that we hope to be in a position in the autumn of this year to have this Bill before the House. However, that will be subject to delays, if there are consultation issues that we need to revisit, but the ambition is to get this Bill in as quickly as we can. Mr Houghton: Thank you.
The Speaker: Hon. Member for Douglas East, Mrs Cannell. Mrs Cannell: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can the Chief Minister advise which Department is actually sponsoring this particular Bill? The Speaker: Chief Minister. The Chief Minister: Yes, sir, it is through the Chief Secretary’s Of.ce. The Speaker: Hon. Member for Onchan, Mr Karran. Mr Karran: Vainstyr Loayreyder, could the Ard-shirveishagh be a little bit clearer, as far as what date we are going to see the First Reading of this Ombudsman Bill, so we do not end up with a situation where it is then put out for further consultation, allowing for the fact that a motion was put back in 1987 for this Bill and I sat on the committee for some time? So, I do believe that we need to know some sort of date. Could we have it clarified as far as the date is concerned, that the First Reading of the Ombudsman Bill will be the first sitting in November or the first sitting in December of this year? The Speaker: Chief Minister. The Chief Minister: As far as the date is concerned, the answer is no, sir, I cannot and will not, because it is important to make sure the Bill is right and if consultation means that we have to reconsider some facts, then that is more important All I can say is the commitment is there to get this Bill into the House as soon as we can. Mr Karran: A supplementary, Vainstyr Loayreyder. Would the Ard-shirveishagh not agree that when it comes to the priorities of… we have seen Private Members’ Bills for financial institutions and the fat cats of our society can be rushed through, and yet we hear that we are going to have to make sure that every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed. Does he not feel that some people will be looking upon this as just further stalling from the position that it should have been done 20 years ago? The Speaker: The Chief Minister has answered the question adequately. |
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