There is a packed Tynwald agenda this week.
The court sits today and the session could last till Thursday.
With government stung by a UK barrister’s verdict on the legality of the Sefton bail-out deal, Liberal Vannin leader Kate Beecroft is calling for an independent legal opinion on another controversial issue.
Douglas South MHK has written to Chief Minister Allan Bell, saying she is ‘extremely concerned’ that the appointment of Ci65 Limited as consultants for the second phase of the social security and National Insurance review may be ‘contrary to law’.
She urged him to halt Ci65’s contract while proper consideration and advice is sought and she is requesting an emergency debate on the issue during this week’s Tynwald sitting.
During question time today (Tuesday), she will call for Mr Bell to obtain an independent opinion on the legal vires of Ci65’s appointment.
Mrs Beecroft wnts this to be circulated to Tynwald members before the court debates a Public Accounts Committee investigation into the £770,000 review.
{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/ministers-played-fast-and-loose-with-taxpayers-money-says-damning-report-1-6708040|That damning findings of the report were leaked to Isle of Man Newspapers earlier this month.}
It concludes that Ministers ‘played fast and loose’ with financial regulations, exposing the public purse to ‘unquantified risks’.
The call by Mrs Beecroft for an {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/sefton-loans-were-not-lawful-1-6677978|independent legal opinion into another matter - the loans to the Sefton Group} – led to the resignation of Economic Development Minister John Shimmin.
Government was rocked last month by the findings of UK barrister Richard Moules, whose independent legal advice concluded that ‘more likely than not’ both the original £450,000 loan made to the Sefton Group in 2012 and a £1.3m cash loan given the following year were ‘ultra vires – i.e. not lawful’.
Consultants ci65 were appointed for the second phase of the NI Fund review after a decision by CoMin in September 2013, without it going to competitive tender or a waiver being issued by Treasury under financial rules.
In its report, the PAC concluded that Treasury had the legal authority for the £770,000 expenditure without reference to Tynwald, but that it should have been put to members given the ‘scale and significance of the review’.
And it says an express Tynwald vote would have put the legal vires for the expenditure on the review beyond doubt.
Giving evidence to the PAC, chief financial officer Malcolm Couch admitted it could be argued that the strict terms of the financial regulations had not been adhered to – but as CoMin had already made the decision to proceed, Treasury could not give a retrospective waiver.
He told the committee that Treasury had the vires or power to withdraw money from the NI Fund to pay for the review and it was not correct to say that Tynwald approval was needed first.
In Mrs Beecroft’s letter to Mr Bell, she says section 3 of the Treasury Act states that ‘failure to comply with any financial directions would render any expenditure incurred contrary to law’.
She adds: ‘I am extremely concerned that the appointment of Ci65 Limited was “contrary to law”.’
Mr Bell has denied that Ministers played fast and loose with the financial regulations. He said the report actually exonerates the Ministers ‘when you strip away the rhetoric’. He said the only question was whether financial regulations were adhered to and CoMin would review whether there is a need for changes.
The Sefton loans affair will be the subject of a statement from the Chief Minister about the situation.
The purchase of the Middlemarch site (on the corner of Lord Street and Walpole Avenue in Douglas) as part of the Sefton bailout deal is also on the agenda.
The Treasury Minister will also ask for Tynwald’s approval for the £3.2m transfer from the capital transactions account.
In addition, he will seek official approval for the 2013 purchase of Finch Hill House for £6.65m. It is where the FSC and IPA are based.
Government previously rented parts of the building, so it felt the purchase represented a good strategic investment.
Other matters include securing funding for a custody block at police headquarters and a development at Isle of Man College.
The court will also be asked to approve phase 3 of work on the Snaefell Mountain Railway at a cost of £720,000, and phase 2 of the Douglas Promenade scheme at a cost of £1.36m.
At the sitting, Chief Minister Allan Bell will make a statement about collective responsibility, the practice by which ministers stick together once they’ve made a decision after agreeing to a ‘party line’, the practice adopted in most parliamentary democracies, and on modernising ministerial government.
If a minister opposes a decision, he should resign, as Peter Karran did over the Pinewood deal.
Chris Robertshaw MHK, the Minister for Policy and Reform, will make a statement about the Big Debate, on the future of social care and pension provisions in the Isle of Man.
Other statements will include Health and Social Care Minister Howard Quayle on age-related macular degeneration; Education Minister Tim Crookall on proposed changes to qualifications for 14- to 16-year-olds; Agriculture Minister Richard Ronan on local food production and Treasury Minister Eddie Teare on funding for care for the elderly.
John Houghton (Douglas North) has a motion asking Tynwald to guarantee that there will be no more cuts to the police force and to have a minimum of 210 officers.
Peter Karran (LibVan, Onchan) wants a committee to be set up to consider whether former members of Tynwald and public servants should accept directorships or other paid work from companies with which they had done business in the course of their public duties.
Mrs Beecroft (LibVan, Douglas South) has also put forward a simple motion saying: ‘Tynwald is of the opinion that Ministers must adhere to all legislation and regulations.’
She is clearly alluding to the recent Sefton loans affair, in which a legal expert said the government did not act lawfully when it agreed the terms, and the Public Accounts Committee’s verdict on use of National Insurance Fund money for consultants which it said ought to have gone through Tynwald rather than simply being agreed by a government minister.
Mr Karran is also calling for Tynwald to allow non-Tynwald members to be co-opted to the Public Accounts Committee and other committees to ‘enhance’ them.
This month’s Tynwald members will be limited in the amount of time they can speak as an experiment.
They’ll have no more than 20 minutes to make a statement or move a report; 15 minutes to move a motion; 10 minutes to speak to a motion or an amendment; and five minutes to answer a tabled question.