Afternoon Legislative Council sittings to be trialled

Sittings of the Legislative Council take place on Tuesdays

The start time of sittings of the upper chamber of the Manx parliament is set to be moved to later in the day to avoid a clash with the House of Keys.

The gathering of members of the Legislative Council traditionally starts at 10:30 GMT, but will in future commence at 14:30.

A trial of the new timings, which will be in place for up to six months, is set to begin on 6 February.

The Legislative Council is primarily a revising chamber for legislation that has been progressed by MHKs.

Sittings of the House of Keys are scheduled to start at 10:00 on Tuesday, with the first hour of the sitting allocated for question time, which almost always means the sittings run concurrently for a time.

'Reduce overlap'

While the passage of a bill traditionally takes several weeks, or in some cases months, to progress through its stages, emergency legislation can be rushed through both branches in one day, requiring the sittings of each to take place at different times.

The most recent time that occurred was in December, when new legislation to prevent vulnerable gas customers from being disconnected in the winter was fast tracked.

A spokeswoman for the Clerk of Tynwald’s Office said the trial was being held to “reduce the occasions on which sittings of the branches overlap”.

Where it was anticipated the business on the order would “require a longer sitting”, the Council would revert back to the earlier start time, she added.

The Legislative Council consists of 11 members including eight MLCs chosen by members of the House of Keys and the President of Tynwald, who is a presiding officer elected by both branches of Tynwald in a combined vote.

The Bishop of Sodor and Man and the Attorney General are automatically given seats, however only the Bishop has a vote.