IT was an idea perhaps more worthy of a parochial parish council rather than a national parliament.
In the House of Keys, Liberal Vannin MHK Kate Beecroft came up with the suggestion for a suggestion box – and was soon told where to put it.
Mrs Beecroft (Douglas South) proposed that a suggestion box should be sited at the Sea Terminal in Douglas for members of the public who came up with ideas to save or create income for the government.
She asked the Chief Minister to consider making cash payments, perhaps a percentage of any savings, for those whose ideas were adopted. Not everybody wanted to make their identities known, she said, which was why she suggested the box be placed away from the government offices.
But Chief Minister Allan Bell pointed out that there were already several ways in which the public could contact government to suggest ideas for raising income or reducing costs.
He said they can directly contact departments, boards and offices of government with their ideas and people can get in touch via letter, email or on the telephone. There were also several internal suggestion schemes in government where staff can suggest improvements to the way government operates, Mr Bell added.
‘When one considers the options already available to the public, I think the member’s suggestion will only serve to create an additional administrative burden to government officers,’ he said.
He added that he had not considered giving cash awards: ‘I certainly get a steady flow of anonymous letters suggesting all sorts of things – some of them perhaps not repeatable here!’