New policy at Onchan Commissioners could 'improve governance'

Lead members will present quarterly reports from its department quarterly

Onchan Commissioners will be 'improving' its governance by having lead members bring forward a report each quarter about their departments. 

At last night’s meeting, Commissioner Derek Crellin’s motion suggesting the change was partly approved.

Lead Members are in charge of different departments, including housing, finance and environmental and technical services.

Mr Crellin said the ‘benefits’ would be ‘improved governance’ because lead members will have to work with officers, ensure people are ‘adhering’ to the standing orders and allow for more informed decision making.

He listed examples of times when he believed his fellow board members hadn’t carried out their roles, which Commissioner David Quirk promptly disputed.

Commissioner Robin Turton said he agreed with the motion, but had concerns about the workload of the local authority’s staff.

He said a report should be presented quarterly, in line with when a housing report is published.

This was agreed with by Commissioners Anthony Allen and David Quirk.

Mr Crellin amended his motion and was voted through unanimously.

Mr Allen brought up a debate about the ‘special collection’ service and why the local authority still runs it.

The service allows the local authority to collect items from residents and take them to the tip or store them for collection.

He was concerned that it was making a loss to the local authority and there’s no ‘legal obligation’ for the commissioners to run it.

However, Mr Turton defended the service, saying it works out at 45 pence per household, and the board should wait until a report has been produced by officers – which was agreed last week.

Also on the agenda was the plan for ‘Party in the Park’ which the local authority has organised for the summer, and is a replacement for the former village fair.

The plans were met with hesitation from the board, with Mr Allen asking for the budget to be increased to ‘beef up’ the music offering, whilst a request was made by Mr Turton to monitor the number of people in attendance.