We asked for views on proposed increases to fees payable to the Authority from 1 April 2020 in line with inflation.
We received four responses, however no significant issues were raised.
The new fees are due to come into operation on 1 April 2020, subject to the necessary Tynwald procedure.
We sought views and feedback on two proposed new Bills, namely the “Registration of Electors Bill 2020” and “Elections (Keys and Local Authorities) Bill 2020”, via the public consultation “Modernisation of the Island’s Electoral System”.
We received 140 formal responses to the consultation: 29 of these responses were received from organisations/Local Authorities/political parties and Tynwald Members and 111 individuals.
The majority of responses received were broadly supportive of the draft Bills.
The next stage of the process will now involve reviewing all responses received in order to further inform the drafting of the Bills.
For views and evidence in relation to our proposal to remove the requirement for auditor confirmations in the insurance authorisation application process in respect of Protected Cell Companies (“PCCs”) and Limited Partnerships (“LPs”). The removal of the requirement for auditor confirmation would bring the approach PCCs and LPs in line with that of conventional insurance companies.
Respondents welcomed and indicated support for our proposals
We drafted the Insurance (Protected Cell Companies and Limited Partnerships) Amendment Regulations 2020, which will be progressed to bring the changes proposed into effect.
The consultation outlined the scope and content of the Bank (Recovery and Resolution) Bill 2020. The Bill is based on international standards already adopted by jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, the Eurozone member states and Jersey, but is tailored to the Isle of Man’s needs where appropriate. This ensures that the Island will have the necessary procedures in place both to plan for the possibility of a future bank failure and the powers to intervene appropriately in such a situation. The Bill was developed following a significant period of engagement involving the Treasury, the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority, IoM licensed banks and their professional advisers. The consultation was thereafter issued for wider comment and observation.
A total of six responses were received:
The responses received were generally supportive of the objectives of the Bill. A number of responses commented on specific aspects of the Bill, with the majority of Parts of the Bill attracting no specific comments.
Following consideration of the feedback gained during the consultation process, there will be some minor modifications to the draft Bill, to address non-material matters such as typographical errors. Thereafter, it is intended to progress the Bill into the branches of Tynwald early in 2020.
The purpose of the draft Order is to temporarily modify section 14 of the Act (occasional licences) so as to enable an occasional licence to be granted for a period of a maximum of 21 days in total from Wednesday 27 May 2020 to Tuesday 16 June 2020, being the TT qualification and race period and adjoining days.
The Department received 11 unique responses to their consultation, of which 7 were consolidated responses that were representative of either the views of organisations and/or businesses.
Within these responses was a reasonable balance of those in favour of the proposed change, and those opposed, along with some views that indicated that the respondents would be in favour of an alternative extension period between the proposed 21 days, and the currently possible under existing legislation without change to law, 14 days.
The views received from 4 individual residents, the majority of whom indicated that they lived in Douglas in the immediate vicinity of an entertainment venue, whilst not overwhelmingly negative in terms of liquor licensing did express concerns around noise levels from these entertainments and the impact of this on residents for an additional week.
|
Respondent |
General Comments/content |
|
Department of Enterprise |
Positive |
|
Isle of Man Constabulary |
Positive |
|
Licensees Representative Organisation |
Licensees Representative Organisation did not support the 21 day extension however were in support of the additional weekend tied to TT period. |
|
Major Brewery #1 |
Positive |
|
Licensed Business #1 |
Did not support 21 day extension however was in support of additional weekend tied to TT period |
|
Major Brewery #2 |
Were supportive of the additional weekend tied to the TT period |
|
Licensed Business #2 |
Positive |
|
Individual #1 |
Negative primarily with concerns around noise/waste/crime |
|
Individual #2 |
Positive around liquor licensing albeit concerns are raised around noise for residents later in the evening in areas close to entertainment venues |
|
Individual #3 |
Negative primarily with concerns around noise close to entertainment venues, also raises same complaint around noise from fair |
|
Individual #4 |
Positive around liquor licensing albeit concerns are raised around noise for residents later in the evening in areas close to entertainment venues |
On careful consideration of all received views, the Department proposes that 2 days will be added to the standard period of 14 days which may be granted for an Occasional Licence. This 16 day period is proposed from Saturday 30 May 2020 to Sunday 14 June 2020 to include the TT qualification and race period and adjoining weekends. It was viewed that the inclusion of an additional weekend would enhance the entertainment offering for both visitors and residents alike while having the minimum negative impact on local residents.
Future planned action
The Department will also be interested to garner the views of the public and organisations should the proposed trial period of 16 days be granted for TT 2020. Further public communication will be made to facilitate this review in 2020, closer to the TT period, should this Order be approved at the sitting of Tynwald in December 2019.
We asked for views on proposed amendments to the Financial Services Act 2008, Insurance Act 2008, Collective Investment Schemes Act 2008 and the Designated Businesses (Registration & Oversight) Act 2015.
We received eleven responses to the Discussion Paper. There was support for the proposal to amend the regulatory framework – see the response document for further detail.
We are now developing the proposals and preparing draft legislation which will be subject to public consultation in due course.
We asked for your comments on the draft of the Public Health ‘Children’s Weight Management Strategy’, which sets out some of our local ambitions and visions that intend to prevent and reduce levels of overweight and obesity on our Island, focussing our efforts on the youngest members of our community.
The Children’s Weight Management Strategy consultation has been developed across a number of themes, including improving the food environment, transforming the accessibility and availability for physical activity in the local environment, and encouraging and enabling healthier lives. We asked for your thoughts on how we make be able to improve these environments to make a step change to prevent and reduce obesity levels across the island.
Your comments we welcomed, and a review of the overall feedback is below. The feedback will help inform our final strategy and implementation plan.
Creating an environment where it is normal and easy for us all to eat well and be physically active can make a significant difference. These nudges in our behaviours start in the places we live, shop, eat, socialise and travel, including in our nurseries and schools. We want to support making the healthy choice the easy choice.
Here’s what you said about the food environment on-island.
Of the 150 responses received, only 2% of people were unable to access healthy food, with an overwhelming 90% of people being able to have access to healthy food, and 7% responding “occasionally”.
Homes and work were considered mostly healthy environments, where as “entertainment” venues such as cinemas/theatre, sports facilities, clubs and cafes and restaurants were considered more “unhealthy” in most cases. School was an even split between those who believed that the access was to healthy or unhealthy food. Interestingly, those who were “Primary school parents” believed on balance that the meals served were healthy, as a split of 59% to 41%. “Secondary school parents” split was the opposite, with 58% responding that the food choices available were “unhealthy” as opposed to 35% who thought they were healthy.
Barriers to healthy eating in most establishments was thought to be due to a lack of healthy options available, with the high cost of the more healthy options being too expensive being an issue for 20% of the respondents. The top suggestions for making food more appealing in these environments were:
Here’s what was said about access to physical activity environments.
87% of people feel it is easy for them to be active in the area in which they live. Those that found it most difficult to be active were those who had pre-school children.
There was a wider spread of ideas to overcome barriers towards physical activity, which include improved footpaths, traffic management, better cycling infrastructure and more gym class options. When asked how can we make it easier for our children and young people to be more physically active on-island 12% said there were already enough opportunities. 14% suggested subsidised facilities and 11% suggested indoor facilities.
We asked, in your experience, what do you think are the main factors that prevent children from achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, and are there any key actions you want us to focus on?
The top 5 barriers you told us were:
And the top 5 actions were:
Public Health held a Healthy Weight Summit on the 29th November, and invited key stakeholders together to consider their roles in the wider system to help combat increasing weight of our population. This was led by Dr Nick Cavill, a specialist in whole systems approach working for public health improvement.
We presented the public opinion from the consultation hub to the stakeholders, and asked for any further feedback on the draft strategy from a work perspective from those at the Healthy Weight Summit.
The feedback will be received and collated, and the final strategy document will be available in early 2020. The implementation plan will follow, which will be across government and beyond. This will be made public.
A further update will follow with the final draft and implementation plan with timings, accountability and costs outlined.
We asked for your comments on the draft Equality Act 2017 (Age Exceptions for Pension Schemes) Order 2019.
No responses to this consultation were received via the gov.im Consultation Hub. However, we did receive comments via email from the Communication Workers Union (CWU), the IoM Financial Services Authority (“the FSA”) and the IoM Public Sector Pensions Authority (“the PSPA”).
The CWU is supportive of the Order being made stating “We recognise that there is a need for a facility in law to allow for age exceptions relating to pensions for the purposes of achieving a legitimate aim”.
The response from the FSA was confined to the precise drafting of the Order; no comments were made as to its effects.
The PSPA responded stating that it had no comments to make on the (proposed) Order.
No other comments were received.
The Treasury will now decide whether to make the Equality Act 2017 (Age Exceptions for Pension Schemes) Order 2019.
A Planning Action Plan was laid before Tynwald on 15 May 2018. It included a commitment to make changes to the existing Town and Country Planning Act, 1999. The Planning Act 2019 came into operation on the 20th October 2019. Whilst the Act was awaiting Royal Assent, a public consultation was carried out which sought views in relation to a number of pieces of secondary legislation which would be required to implement the changes made in the Act. The consultation is part of a joint project between the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture and the Cabinet Office to take forward the Reform of the Planning System.
There were 26 responses to the consultation. Responses were received from 5 Local Authorities, Manx Utilities, the Department of Infrastructure, the Alliance for Building Conservation the Isle of Man Antiquarian and Natural History Society, as well as developers and members of the public.
A report has been published which includes a summary of the responses and the issues they raise. The emerging legislation will be informed accordingly.
The Isle of Man Civil Aviation Administration asked for views on the proposed Civil Aviation (Reporting, Analysis and Follow-up of Occurrences) Order.
We received four responses to the consultation which were generally supportive of the legislation.
After considering the responses, it was decided not to make any fundamental changes to the order. However two of the article had been redrafted during the course of the consultation which had already resolved some of the issues raised. Some other minor changes were made to take account of comments received which we concurred with.
The responses are detailed in the consultation response document.
We would like to thank those that took the time to respond to the consultation.
The Isle of Man Civil Aviation Administration asked for views on the proposed Civil Aviation (Air Traffic Services) Order.
We received 1 response to the consultation who was supportive of the legislation but questioned a couple of the provisions.
After considering the response, we made a some changes to the legislation. These are detailed in the consultation response document.
We would like to thank the respondent for taking the time to respond to the consultation.
The Isle of Man Civil Aviation Administration asked for views on the proposed Civil Aviation (Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air) Order.
Of the 3 responses none disagreed with the proposals and no issues were raised with the drafting of the order.
After considering the responses, it was decided not to make any significant changes to the intent of the order.
The responses are detailed in the consultation response document.
We would like to thank those that took the time to respond to the consultation.
The Department of Health and Social Care asked for feedback on the publics use and satisfaction with community pharmacy services on the island; in addition, the public were asked to comment on their opinions of introducing new services into community pharmacy and what these might be.
The feedback was sought on the following main areas:
We received 325 responses in total, with 227 being submitted via the Consultation Hub and 98 written responses to the consultation. During the consultation process we also hosted a workshop to bring together members of the public to discuss their thoughts on pharmacy services and we held stands in tow large community pharmacies to answer questions and provide paper copies of the survey. Local community pharmacies and GP surgeries had paper copies available for patients to pick up and send in with pre-printed envelopes.
There were some very positive responses received with 87.4% of respondents stating it was ‘always’ or ‘mostly’ easy to obtain their medicines, and less that 1% of respondents stating it was ‘always difficult’ to obtain their medicines. Again, it was really pleasing to see that 74.5% of patients responded that they ‘always’ or ‘often’ get all the advice and support they need form their pharmacist.
Some of the potential future services received overwhelmingly positive responses, with the Winter Ailment Scheme resulting in 92% of patients who replied stating that it should be available, and NHS Health Checks being supported by 89% of respondents.
We would like to thank those that took the time to answer the consultation online or in writing. The consultation responses are being used to produce a paper to the Department of Health and Social Care to inform senior management and political members about the possible development of pharmacy services in the future.
The Town and Country Planning Act (1999) gives the Cabinet Office responsibility for some planning functions and the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture responsibility for other functions. Two draft orders were published. The Draft Town and Country Planning (Change of Use) Order made reference to the Draft TCP (Use Classes) (Development) Order. It is important therefore to ensure a co-ordinated approach whereby the two Departments are working together to deliver these measures. The consultation sought views on the two draft orders.
There were 15 responses to the consultation.
A report has been published which includes a summary of the responses and the issues they raise. The emerging legislation will be informed accordingly.
The Town & Country Planning Act (1999) sets out a definition of ‘development’. Things that fall within this definition must have planning approval before they can be carried out. Planning approval can be via individual planning applications or can be a ‘blanket’ approval by secondary legislation (aka Permitted Development). The mechanism for the latter is a Development Order produced by the Cabinet Office and approved by Tynwald. The determination of a planning application must take into account all relevant material considerations and must not take into account anything which is not a material consideration.
Development Orders may be appropriate where proposals are unlikely to be contentious or where relevant the material considerations are unlikely to benefit from case-by-case consideration. Where a proposal is contentious due to non-material issues, there is unlikely to be any benefit of case-by-case consideration by way of a planning application as the process cannot legally take into account the non-material issues which make it controversial.
A Telecommunications Development Order was implemented in 2013 and a draft replacement order was published, alongside explanatory information, for an 8 week consultation, which closed on the 05.08.19.
There were 479 responses to the consultation. 19 respondents indicated they were responding on behalf of an organisation, including 1 MHK, 4 Local Authorities, Manx Utilities, the Digital Agency, the Chamber of Commerce Digital Committee and 5G Aware IOM.
A report has been published which includes a summary of the responses and the issues they raise. The emerging legislation will be informed accordingly.
The Isle of Man Civil Aviation Administration consulted on proposed aviation safety legislation for small unmanned aircraft (SUA). Feedback was sought on a number of areas including:
We received 56 responses to the consultation.
52% of respondents did not agree that permission should be required for flying a SUA at night.
41% of respondents thought that the cut-off weight of 4kgs was too light for those SUAs that required permission to fly.
73% of respondents agreed with the ability to use first-person-view with a competent observer.
68% of respondents agreed with the requirement not to fly a SUA at more than 400 feet above the earth’s surface without permission.
55% of respondents agreed with requirement not to fly a SUA over or within 150 metres of a substantially residential, industrial or recreational area without permission.
In a number of areas, respondents felt that the penalty was too severe.
Please see the report for more detailed analysis.
Although 57% of respondents agreed with the requirement not to fly a SUA more than 500 metres away we decided to withdraw the proposal as we concurred with the points raised by respondents who did not support the requirement.
All the other proposals will be taken forward.
We would like to thank those that took the time to respond to the consultation.
The Department of Health and Social Care asked you for your views of private healthcare provision in the Island.
We asked what would be important to you in choosing whether or not to make use of private healthcare and we asked those who had previously used private healthcare for their opinions of the care they received.
We received 432 responses, which included views from medical and nursing staff along with businesses and the general public. 69% of responses were from people who had previously used private healthcare and these were roughly evenly split between those who had used only Noble’s, those who had used a different provider, and those who had used both Noble’s and another provider.
Around 50% of all respondents said that they currently have private healthcare insurance and 89% said that they may consider private healthcare in the future.
For ranking the importance of items, the consultation employed a 5 point scale (with 1 representing “least important” and 5 representing “very important”). This enabled us to produce a summary figure for each of the items ranked by how important they are to you. For each item a score of “1” would indicate that an item is not at all important relative to other items and a score of “5” would mean that the item is extremely important. Here are the top 3 ranked items, together with their scores, for each of the main topics addressed in the consultation:-
Importance when considering private healthcare options
You said:
Importance when selecting a private consultant
You said:
Importance of facilities in an outpatient clinic
You said:
Importance of inpatient facilities
You said:
Please see the full report for the complete analysis of responses to all questions. There are a number of ‘not answered’ responses to many of the questions in the consultation which many will be from users who have completed the consultation but are not or have not been past users of private healthcare and are therefore unable to comment on specific questions.
We would like to thank those that took the time to answer the consultation online or in writing. The consultation responses will be used to guide the design of a new model for private healthcare services people want to access on Island.
The Department of Health and Social Care continues to explore opportunities to partner with others to implement a new model for our private medical services. Further updates will be given by the Department in December 2019.
The Communications Commission sought your views on proposals for the definition of relevant telecommunications markets, Significant Market Power determinations, and proposed obligations to remedy identified competition issues.
In total 5 responses from licensed operators were received in response to the consultation: 4 were received using the consultation hub and 1 by email.
The Communications Commission is now considering your responses and conducting a review of the final decisions with the intention of publishing a final response and decision notices by 30th September 2019.
We asked for your views on permitting a specific type of shares in credit unions.
A summary of the comments that were received can be found here.
The new legislation came into effect on 1 August 2019.
The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) consulted on options for possible inclusion in a new climate change mitigation strategy for 2020-2030 and interim targets.
The Isle of Man is faced with an energy trilemma, of balancing energy security, affordability and minimising the impact on the environment.
The United Nations has stated that Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and that urgent action must be taken now.
As part of the consultation we asked for opinions on:
We received 1,029 responses (96% from individuals).
Please see report for a more detailed analysis.
We would like to thank those that took the time to answer the consultation online or in writing.
The Chief Minister has announced that a Climate Change Bill will be introduced in the next legislative year committing this government and future administrations to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Your consultation responses will be considered by the recently created Emergency Consultative Transformation Team to assist with producing a climate change action plan that will go to Tynwald in January 2020.
If the plan is approved by Tynwald, it will be used to assist in the drafting of the Climate Change Bill, and there will be a further consultation on the legislation and we would again welcome your feedback at that time.