Tynwald members vote to shorten parliamentary session times

Sittings of Tynwald will start earlier from next month

Sessions of the island's parliament are set to be shortened after Tynwald members backed the changes.

Politicians agreed that sittings should start 30 minutes earlier at 10:00 BST, and finish 90 minutes earlier at 18:30.

It was one of a raft of amendments to the rules governing the conducting parliamentary business, put forward by the Tynwald Standing Orders Committee.

But, a suggestion to change the dates of sittings to exclude the October and February school holidays was rejected.

Tynwald, the Legislative Council and the House of Keys previously had different scheduled times and each had not been laid in standing orders.

Prioritising questions

Members agreed each should adopt the revised times, with a shorter lunch break between 12:30 and 13:30.

A range of other recommendations by the committee were backed, including the introduction of annual reports and end-of-term reports by permanent scrutiny committees.

Politicians also agreed the number of weeks Tynwald business has to be submitted in advance should be reduced from six to four weeks, and a "starred question" system should be introduced in all chambers.

Douglas North MHK David Ashford said the process, which would allow members to prioritise one question to be answered first, would mean "if a member only tables one question, there would be much more chance of their question being reached".

Members also agreed that residents should not need to have a personal grievance to be able to present a petition to Tynwald, and that the sub judice principle be formally applied to laid papers and the work of committees.

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