Call to investigate size of Isle of Man public sector rejected

About 23% of the island's working population works in the public sector

The Isle of Man chief minister has rejected calls for a review into the size of the island's public sector.

Alfred Cannan told the House of Keys 313 full-time staff had been taken on since 2016 but insisted payroll budgets were managed by "strict controls".

Middle MHK Stu Peters had said the government was "overloaded with bureaucrats" and the roles needed to be reviewed to see if they were necessary.

However, Mr Cannan said there were no plans for a "wholesale review".

More than 9,000 people on the island are employed by the government, roughly 23% of the working population.

Pointing to recent reviews of government departments, Mr Peters said an independent assessment of the size of the public sector was "overdue", but added he accepted that "running a country is not the same as running a company".

A review would help identify areas where "we might have one person working and three or four people managing or monitoring that work", Mr Peters added.

But, Mr Cannan said told MHKs personnel numbers were managed through the government's budget-setting process by a system to control employment costs.

A new requirement for all departments to produce an annual plan justifying staffing levels would provide "an extra level of accountability", he said.