19 Jul 2016 Tynwald Question Paper Published By

PP 2016/0127a TYNWALD Tinvaal

QUESTION PAPER Pabyr Feyshtyn

DOUGLAS Tuesday 19th July 2016 at 10.30 am

For Oral Answer

1. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Chief Minister –

Whether it is his policy to support an open, transparent and accountable system for building registration that is independent from executive Government?

2. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Chief Minister –

When an application for the registration of a building is submitted, why it does not receive the same due process that a planning application is given?

3. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Chief Minister –

How serious reputational threats to the Island are reported and recorded?

4. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Treasury Minister –

What plans he has to establish a rate rebate scheme to protect those with limited incomes from future rate increases?

5. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

Whether the contract with Dependability Ltd has been terminated; and if so on what grounds?

6. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

How many assessments have been validated by Dependability Ltd; whether they are all being treated by his Department as being valid; how many primary assessments have been carried out by Dependability Ltd; of those, how many included a physical assessment; and whether such primary assessments are treated as valid?

7. The Hon. Member for Malew and Santon (Mr Cregeen) to ask the Minister for Infrastructure –

How many radar installations the contractor and provider of the replacement radar at Ronaldsway has provided in the UK?

8. The Hon. Member for Malew and Santon (Mr Cregeen) to ask the Minister for Infrastructure –

If he will publish the deflectograph survey results and the priority list of future works?

9. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Infrastructure –

What in the past five years was the biggest waste of taxpayers’ money in his Department?

10. The Hon. Member for Malew and Santon (Mr Cregeen) to ask the Minister for Policy and Reform –

How many meetings have taken place with the BBC regarding provision of a free TV licence for the over 75s; and whether the Cabinet Office obtained an agreement that the BBC will provide Isle of Man residents over 75 with a free licence the same as the UK?

11. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Policy and Reform –

Why publicly funded salaries are not published identifying the recipients and the actual amounts paid?

12. The Hon. Member for Peel (Mr Harmer) to ask the Minister for Policy and Reform –

If he will make a statement regarding the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act? 2 PP 2016/0127a 13. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask HM Acting Attorney General –

Whether the Isle of Man is bound by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; and to what extent the Island’s courts are bound to apply its principles?

14. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask HM Acting Attorney General –

What provisions are in place to ensure that members of the public have equality of arms and access to justice when in conflict with Government Departments; and whether the present limits on access to legal aid are appropriate where individuals have to fight cases against Government?

15. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask HM Acting Attorney General –

What sanctions might apply in the case of a Planning Enforcement Officer who unreasonably fails to implement an Enforcement Notice in line with advice received from the Attorney General’s Chambers?

16. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

Whether the developer of Salisbury Street Care Home had assistance from his Department?

17. The Hon. Member for Douglas West (Mr Thomas) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

What policy options are considered to accelerate economic growth; and what the specific target of each of these options is?

18. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

What action he is taking to deter fraudulent conduct on the part of applicants for economic grants to identify offenders and to bring them to justice?

19. The Hon. Member for Peel (Mr Harmer) to ask the Minister for Education and Children –

What progress has been made towards a STEM block for QEII School?

20. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Education and Children –

What in the past five years was the biggest waste of taxpayers’ money in his Department?

3 PP 2016/0127a 21. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Education and Children –

What plans he has for spending taxpayers’ money in his Department during the period the House of Keys is dissolved; and whether those items of expenditure have been subject to the scrutiny and approval of Tynwald?

22. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture –

What in the past five years was the biggest waste of taxpayers’ money in his Department?

23. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture –

What plans he has for spending taxpayers’ money in his Department during the period the House of Keys is dissolved, and whether those items of expenditure have been subject to the scrutiny and approval of Tynwald?

24. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture –

What his policy is on prosecutions for failing to maintain and repair property in Douglas; and what criteria he applies to decide on what action to take?

25. The Hon. Member for Malew and Santon (Mr Cregeen) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

How many (a) UK (b) EU (c) non-EU residents have been treated by the Isle of Man Health Service; how much has been billed for these services; and how much of the costs has been recovered in each of the last 2 years?

26. The Hon. Member for Ramsey (Mr Singer) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

Whether it is the policy of his Department to delay operations, particularly for hip and knee problems owing to a patient being overweight or a smoker?

27. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

How many consultants there are at each salary spine point?

4 PP 2016/0127a 28. The Hon. Member for Ramsey (Mr Singer) to ask the Minister for Home Affairs –

What proposals his Department has for the future use of the former Post Office premises at the Courthouse in Ramsey?

29. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Home Affairs –

What in the past five years was the biggest waste of taxpayers’ money in his Department?

30. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Home Affairs –

31. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Chairman of the Office of Fair Trading –

Whether Manx Gas can lawfully reduce their tariff instead of issuing a refund?

32. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Chairman of the Office of Fair Trading –

Whether the Office of Fair Trading will seek to extend its remit to deal with complaints about private dental and optician services?

33. The Hon. Member of the Council, Mr Cretney, to ask the Chief Minister –

What consideration the Government has given to additional support for childcare provision on the Island and in particular to implementing the scheme recently introduced in the UK?

34. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Chief Minister –

How he defines value for money in the context of Government Department expenditure of public money?

35. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Chief Minister –

What progress has been made with settling the case of the Attorney General?

36. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

How often the Insurance and Pensions Authority reported to Treasury?

5 PP 2016/0127a 37. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

How often the Financial Supervision Commission reported to Treasury?

38. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

How often the Financial Supervision Authority reports to Treasury?

39. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Infrastructure –

40. The Hon. Member for Douglas West (Mr Thomas) to ask the Minister for Policy and Reform –

If he will make a statement on the recommendations and action plan arising from the Council of Ministers review of the existence, purpose, nature, membership, functioning and cost of all committees and quasi-autonomous entities?

41. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Policy and Reform –

What disciplinary sanctions are in place in respect of a failure on the part of senior staff members in a Department to undertake appropriate due diligence checks on prospective employees?

42. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Policy and Reform –

How many staff served in the public service broken down by (a) grade and (b) whether they are staff directly serving the public in each of the last three years?

43. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

How many Companies, Directors, or persons associated with them have been identified as having made a fraudulent application for Government Assistance from records kept in his Department in the last five years?

6 PP 2016/0127a 44. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

How many prosecutions have been undertaken by his Department to recover money fraudulently claimed; and how much money has been recovered in the last five years?

45. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

What measures he is putting in place to enhance the number of visitors to the Island as a result of lowered costs because of the devaluation of the pound?

46. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

How many hours consultants need to work in order to be considered full time?

47. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

How much overtime was done by each grade of consultant in the last twelve months?

48. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

What the waiting times were for each of the medical specialities including general physician in the last month?

49. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Chief Minister –

What consideration has been given to the rôle and contribution of the relevant legal advisers in relation to the MEA loan and the extent to which they can be held responsible?

50. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

Pursuant to his statement in Tynwald on 22nd June that the Financial Supervision Authority would report to him on Powerhouse Insurance Limited, whether he has received the Report and, if so, what it says?

51. The Hon. Member for Douglas West (Mr Thomas) to ask the Treasury Minister –

What public expenditure is ring-fenced in coming financial years? 7 PP 2016/0127a 52. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Treasury Minister –

How much it will cost per annum to employ two full-time inspectors to support efforts to prevent benefit cheats claiming taxpayers’ money to which they are not entitled?

53. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Policy and Reform –

What plans he has to investigate and report to the next Tynwald on safeguarding of the public purse from conflicts of interest of senior staff, local agencies, and former senior staff who are serving as directors of private companies with a direct interest in the areas of their previous employment in Government?

54. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Policy and Reform –

What increase there has been in management posts in the public service broken down by grade and salary band in each of the last three years?

55. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mr Malarkey) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

Whether the contract with Vision Nine has been signed?

56. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

What in the past five years was the biggest waste of taxpayers’ money in his Department?

57. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Economic Development –

58. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

What his policy is regarding the use of the drug Translarna?

8 PP 2016/0127a 59. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

Whether it is the practice of staff within the Department: a) to schedule meetings with families without consulting them on their availability; and b) where families cannot attend such meetings because of other obligations, to proceed with their meeting without them?

60. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

What due diligence is performed on prospective members of staff in the Department, with particular reference to past employment history and performance?

61. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Treasury Minister –

Whether in the last financial year a record level of benefit fraud was identified and the sum of money misappropriated was more than £700,000?

62. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Treasury Minister –

If he will conduct a 70 year whole of life costing and comparison of the remaining regional sewage provision west, namely Peel and St John’s regional sewage works, against a pipeline link from Peel to Crosby and the IRIS network and report to the October sitting of Tynwald?

63. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Quirk) to ask the Treasury Minister –

What assessment he has made of public interest in the proposed £50 million Isle of Man bonds; and when they will be available?

64. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

Further to his statement of 10th May 2016, whether families are entitled to make their own recordings of meetings with representatives of the Department?

65. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

Whether families are entitled to bring a support person of their choice to meetings with representatives of the Department and whether that support person can be an advocate or a worker from a third sector organization?

9 PP 2016/0127a 66. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

What in the past five years was the biggest waste of taxpayers’ money in his Department?

67. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Treasury Minister –

What in the past five years was the biggest waste of taxpayers’ money in his Department?

68. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Treasury Minister –

69. The Hon. Member for Peel (Mr Harmer) to ask the Treasury Minister –

What progress has been made towards amending legislation for Credit Unions?

70. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

71. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

Whether consultants at Noble’s Hospital deal with the same workload and patients as their UK counterparts; and what restrictions there are on performance of private work?

72. The Hon. Member for Peel (Mr Harmer) to ask the Treasury Minister –

If he will make a statement on the introduction of pension freedoms and current annuity provision?

For Written Answer

73. The Hon. Member for Malew and Santon (Mr Cregeen) to ask the Chief Minister –

What the cost was of all publicly funded international travel for each Tynwald Member in each of the last five years? 10 PP 2016/0127a 74. The Hon. Member for Malew and Santon (Mr Cregeen) to ask the Chief Minister –

If he will give a commitment that future swearing-in of the Lieutenant Governor will be carried out at Castle Rushen?

75. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

What the total amount of the taxable incomes was of the companies resident in the Isle of Man for the purposes of Manx income tax which were (a) partly owned and (b) wholly owned by individual persons residing in the Isle of Man for the income tax year of assessment 2014/15; and how many such companies there were?

76. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

Whether a Manx resident who has saved from their earnings for most of their life into a personal pension in the UK will be taxed by the Isle of Man tax office on the tax free cash element of their pension when another Manx resident who has worked for a large UK company who may never have contributed, or contributed very little will receive their tax free cash from their UK occupational pension scheme without Manx taxation?

77. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

Whether a Manx resident who has a UK defined benefit scheme requires a UK adviser to advise them on the suitability of transfer options of their plan?

78. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Treasury Minister –

Whether anyone who would like to invest into a new personal pension scheme must opt for a Manx Self Invested Personal Pension?

79. The Hon. Member for Douglas West (Mr Thomas) to ask the Treasury Minister –

For comparison with information provided on 8th March 2016, what the 2014-15 tax year profiles were (broken down by total income, number of taxpayers, effective tax rate, tax raised, percentage of total individual tax raised) for individual and jointly assessed taxpayers further broken down into four income quartiles:

(a) below personal allowance threshold; (b) above personal allowance threshold and within 10% band only; (c) above personal allowance threshold and within both 10% and 20% bands; and (d) tax cap cases? 11 PP 2016/0127a 80. The Hon. Member for Douglas West (Mr Thomas) to ask the Treasury Minister –

If he will publish the document describing how the Final Expenditure Revenue Sharing Arrangement will work in practice?

81. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mr Malarkey) to ask the Treasury Minister –

How many people claiming income support in 2015/16 were aged: (a) 60-75; and (b) 75 plus?

82. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Treasury Minister –

What safeguards are in place to make sure that any disposals of publicly owned properties are open and transparent?

83. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask HM Acting Attorney General –

What plans he has to introduce legal aid for those before Immigration Tribunals who are suffering from domestic abuse?

84. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask HM Acting Attorney General –

If he will instruct Departments to give the full reports not edited versions to judges who are dealing with (a) child care cases; and (b) other cases?

85. The Hon. Member for Douglas West (Mr Thomas) to ask the Minister for Education and Children –

If he will publish (a) the most-recently available class size data for each Island primary school broken down by school year, and (b) additional information which is needed to clarify and explain class arrangements?

86. The Hon. Member for Malew and Santon (Mr Cregeen) to ask the Minister for Education and Children –

What progress his Department has made in progressing plans for a new school at Castle Rushen?

87. The Hon. Member for Douglas East (Mr Joughin) to ask the Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture –

Whether current legislation is adequate to protect residents from the nuisance of nesting gulls? 12 PP 2016/0127a 88. The Hon. Member for Peel (Mr Harmer) to ask the Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture –

What action is being taken in the Foxdale Mines and Deads area to reduce erosion, restricting access and capping to allow regeneration of growth and thereby reduce contaminants into waterways?

89. The Hon. Member for Malew and Santon (Mr Cregeen) to ask the Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture –

How many biomass boilers Government has installed; what the cost was of each installation; how many are operational; and how many breakdowns each installation has had?

90. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mrs Beecroft) to ask the Minister for Health and Social Care –

If he will list all of the recommendations made by West Midlands Quality Review Service to date and report on those which have been actioned, and of those that have not been actioned if he will list them in order of those classed as having short term, medium term and long term timescales?

91. The Hon. Member for Onchan (Mr Karran) to ask the Minister for Home Affairs –

Where additional sensors are required by the new Fire Precaution Regulations he will make a 100% grant available to landlords; where an existing building, whether approved under the 1996 Fire Precautions (Flats) Regulations, fails to comply with the 2016 Fire Regulations without substantial structural change whether he will grant an exemption; where the 2016 Fire Regulations seek an uplift on periods of fire resistance to a minimum of 60 minutes if he will make a 100% grant available together with full compensation for the loss of rental income while modifications are undertaken; where modifications to an historic building reduce its value and compromise architectural features whether the owners of the building will be compensated for their loss; whether the owner of any business caused to close as a result of new fire regulations will receive full compensation; and what future the rich architectural heritage of older buildings has if new fire regulations are adopted?

92. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mr Malarkey) to ask the Minister for Infrastructure –

What the budgeted rent income was from the local government housing held by his Department in 2014/15, 2015/16 and what the actual rent collected was in each of those years?

13 PP 2016/0127a 93. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mr Malarkey) to ask the Minister for Infrastructure –

What the budgeted value was of the maintenance budget for the local government housing held by his Department in 2014/15, 2015/16; what the actual amount spent was in each of those years; and whether those amounts include staff salaries for those employed in the maintenance section and if so what the total value of this was in 2014/15, 2015/16?

94. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mr Malarkey) to ask the Minister for Infrastructure –

How many social housing stock units were held by each housing authority broken down by (a) general stock and (b) sheltered?

95. The Hon. Member for Douglas South (Mr Malarkey) to ask the Minister for Infrastructure –

What were (a) the budgeted and (b) the actual local authority housing deficiency incurred in the financial years 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, broken down by each housing authority?

14 PP 2016/0127a