Local government law changes face further debate

Proposed new laws governing the Isle of Man's local authorities that have caused some concern among the boards of commissioners will be further debated by the House of Keys.

MHKs are set to consider amendments made to the Local Government Amendment Bill by the Legislative Council, which include a review of how it is functioning after three years.

Several local authorities have called for clause five of the legislation to be scrapped, raising fears it could lead to more functions being imposed, with the need for rate rises.

However, Infrastructure Minister Michelle Haywood said the proposed new laws could not impose any functions on the boards that they were not already responsible for in law.

Following an evidence session organised by the Legislative Council - which saw 16 out of 21 authorities provide their view on the proposed bill - a number of amendments were made to the legislation.

These included a mandatory consultation with affected local authorities, financial impact reports which would provide details about how much a new function could affect budgets, and a review of clause five after three years.

The bill also includes updates to rules surrounding members' expenses and interests, and minute taking - changes that have been welcomed by local authorities.

However, many have spoken out against clause five, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

That clause was introduced by Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper in March 2025, who at the time said he wanted to ensure there was "parity" of service provision in each area of the island.

Andreas Commissioners were among those to raise concerns, stating it would allow decisions about cost to be made without a full parliamentary debate, adding that the clause undermined local democracy.

"Local authorities say this is not the level of scrutiny you would expect for a change that could affect household bills," the commissioners added.

Chairman of Onchan Commissioners Anthony Allen said it was "potentially dangerous" due to the power it would give the Department of Infrastructure (DoI), while the Port St Mary authority said the move would lead to "untold" increases for residents.

Responding to some of the concerns raised, Haywood said: "The notion that government is going to transfer functions to local authorities using the Local Government Amendment Bill is just wrong, and that would be unlawful."

She said the bill would allow government to "protect services in our communities".

"Currently there is no statutory obligation for local authorities to do some of the services that communities rely on and that we pay rates for," she said.

"They can just decide to stop and government has very little power to get these things sorted."

She said clause five itself had "a number of safeguards in its use", including the need for the government to "consult and evaluate the service and the costs".

It would then "present the case for Tynwald to debate and approve", she said, adding: "It's not possible for the DoI - or any other department - to transfer any of our functions to local authorities."

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