Local Government Reorganisation
The structure of local government in the Isle of Man has been recognised as unsatisfactory since before the Second World War, but no consensus on how it should be reformed has been achieved. Proposals for reform were made by the Local Government Board and various committees in 1934, 1949, 1963 and 1967.
A Select Committee of Tynwald in 1985 recommended a thorough review, and an interim report of a further Select Committee in 1986 led to a consultation document Time for Change containing proposals by the Department of Local Government and the Environment, issued in December 1991. Two interim reports were succeeded in 1994 by a final report by the Department making recommendations for reorganisation, itself incorporated in a report by the Council of Ministers, which however failed to endorse those recommendations.
No progress was made by 1999, when the Council of Ministers admitted that it had been unable to agree on proposals, and Tynwald set up a further Select Committee which reported in 2001 with a scheme to reduce the local authorities to 4. However, it merely "received" the report, declining to approve its recommendations.
The next set of proposals, also for 4 local authorities, were made by the Department of Local Government and the Environment in 2004, but were shelved because of opposition from the existing authorities. An alternative plan, which would have preserved the existing authorities but transferred their waste collection and housing functions to joint boards, was produced shortly afterwards but also abandoned. The Department revived its previous proposals in 2005, but shelved them again for lack of support.
After 30 years, the only step taken towards any reorganisation of local government, apart from the mergers in Onchan and Michael (above), has been to confer on the Department power by order to merge 2 or more local authorities with their consent. The power has not been exercised.
Read more about this topic: Sheadings Of The Isle Of Man
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