Local Government in the Isle of Man What is “Local Government”? The parliament of the Isle of Man is Tynwald. Tynwald has responsibility for the government of the Isle of Man as a whole. It makes policies and decides on levels of taxation and spending. Through its branches (the House of Keys and the Legislative Council), it passes laws and debates the work of the nine government departments. But there is another layer of government in the Isle of Man. Each of the Island’s 24 towns, villages, districts and parishes has a Local Authority. In Douglas the Local Authority is known as Douglas Borough Council (Douglas was granted the status of “Borough” by an Act of Tynwald over a hundred years ago) but in other parts of the Island the Local Authority is called the Town, District or Parish Commissioners. These Local Authorities set a local tax (known as the “rates”) and organize local services ranging from waste removal (eg supplying and emptying “wheelie bins”) to the provision of local parks and children’s play areas. This is what is meant by “local government”. The Isle of Man’s Local Authorities vary considerably in size. For example, Douglas Borough Council has 18 members serving a total population of 26,218 people whereas Bride Commissioners has 5 members serving just 418 people (2006 Census). Indeed, there are just 176 households in Bride so there is one Commissioner to every 35 households whereas in Douglas there is one Councillor to every 602 households. 1 Borough Council 3 Town Commissioners 3 Village Commissioners 2 District Commissioners 15 Parish Commissioners A map of the twenty-four Local Authority areas Onchan District was formed when Onchan Village and Onchan Parish joined together. Similarly, Michael Village joined with Michael Parish to make Michael District. The two Local Authority areas with the most seats, Douglas with 18 and Ramsey with 12, are both divided into smaller constituencies or “wards”. Ramsey has 2 wards: North Ward and South Ward. There are 6 members of Ramsey Town Commissioners elected from each of these wards. Douglas has 6 wards: Athol, Derby, Hills, Murrays, St George’s and Victoria. Each ward has 3 seats on Douglas Borough Council. The 18 Councillors elected in Douglas work for the good of the whole town but they represent their own areas of the town. The same is true of the 12 Commissioners in Ramsey. The remaining 22 Local Authorities have just one constituency. A map of the six Douglas wards www.douglas.gov.im Area Seats Andreas 5 Arbory 5 Ballaugh 5 Braddan 5 Bride 5 Castletown 9 Douglas 18 German 5 Jurby 5 Laxey 7 Lezayre 5 Lonan 5 Malew 5 Marown 5 Maughold 5 Michael 7 Onchan 7 Patrick 5 Peel 9 Port Erin 9 Port St Mary 9 Ramsey 12 Rushen 5 Santon 5 TOTAL 162 Population (2006) Persons per seat 1,381 276 1,723 345 1,042 208 3,151 630 418 84 3,109 345 26,218 1457 995 199 659 132 1,768 253 1,237 247 1,563 313 2,304 461 2,086 417 950 190 1,640 234 9,172 1310 1,294 259 4,280 476 3,575 397 1,913 216 7,309 609 1,591 318 680 136 80,058 494 The number of seats on each Local Authority is determined by that Local Authority. The larger Local Authorities often have several committees and need more members to do the work of each committee. For example, Douglas Borough Council currently has the following committees: Policy and Resources, Leisure Services, Public Works and Public Health & Housing in addition to special committees for Commercial Lettings and Boundaries. Smaller Local Authorities do not have a committee structure but may need members to represent them on District committees. For example, the Commissioners of Peel, Patrick, German, Marown and Michael are represented on the Committee for the Western District Civic Amenity Site where householders can take their garden waste and items for recycling.