Candidate Views - Douglas East

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With the new Hospital our health care must be in a position to offer some of the best services available.

Having to wait days for a Doctor appointment does seem rather pointless and this should be improved.

Anecdotally, one hears many 'horror stories' about GPs and the hospital but the Health Minister always seems to be on the defensive about these.

Honesty from the Govt means that blame should be accepted where due and remedies put in place.

I firmly believe that the health care service on the island is superior to similar areas within the UK. This service must be protected but of course, as in any service, can always be improved on. We have heard much in recent times about prolonged waiting lists, for example for clinics, however consultation with the professionals would show that this is not the case, but it is up to the Department to monitor this. The reciprocal health agreement with the UK which costs the island around £2m this year should be reviewed to ensure it really represents value for money.

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Its good, but it can always do with more resources.

I know this first hand when I had to wait more than two years to be seen by a specialist at Nobles hospital.

Of course this must be proteched but it will mean changes in other areas and these will have to be faced up to. Going forward the main challenge lies in responding to the trend towards ever greater gegrees of specialisation in each area of treatment.

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Statistically, we provide a high level of Education to 'most' of our Children.

With our need to save Govt spending, care must be taken to ensure that the chance of University places are not increased too much or measures introduced to discourage students seeking Uni places. This latter probably being the next measure to be tried by the Govt.

We still have far too many Children leaving school with too poor an undertanding of the basics and what this could help them achieve in the workplace, with their self-esteem and their contribution to our Society.

We should give these Children more hope for their futures.

Generally the island does provide a good education for GCSE and GCE Advanced level success rates would indicate this. With the increased diversification of the population special care should be taken to ensure that no one culture benefits educationally at the expense of another.

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The figures speak for themselves with the results posted by the schools over the last few weeks.

Lik ehealth, education will suffer if it is placed under too much cost pressure - particularly having already gone through one round of cuts. Again - if we are determined to protect our education service (and we must) then it will mean adjustments elsewhere. The International Business School does however need to be revisited.

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If it were economically sound to do so, why not?

Trouble is, our Govt release far too little info for us to either, believe them, whatever they say would be best or for us, or to be able to assess the situation for ourselves.

Some form of greater autonomy, tax controls and ties with other trading partners could serve to increase the image and self belief of the Island, for all who live here.

Don't expect control of indirect taxation to lead to lower taxes though, in our current economic situation, tax increases are more likely!

We should concentrate on strengthening home rule and keeping the stability that the island has enjoyed while keeping an eye on any further steps towards independence. The relationship with the UK has largely been satisfactory and profitable but we must be aware that the relationship with the EU as well as other international bodies may supersede our relationship with the UK. We may be forced to accept the loss of meaningful home rule or go for independence.

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The UK is our major trading partner and I cant see that changing in the next few years.

I think people like the idea of full independence but it can't happen without a full referendum, and that's not going to happen without a full breakdown into the pros and cons.

If by this you mean we should opt out of the common purse agreement then my answer is no. We will have enough to do in the next few years trying to get the government budget back into balance. The simple truth is we are still doing reasonably well out of the agreement.

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Again, lack of information from the Treasury, our true fiscal position and their assessment of the effects of various tax changes on our business sectors make it hard to trust our Govt when they tell us that tax increases are necessary.

Have they considered other means of balancing the books? Why don't they tell us what these are?

What is absolutely certain, is that the burden of our economic recovery, of increasing the govts revenue, must not fall unfairly on the different parts of our Society or business sectors.

National Insurance contributes effectively £200m which compares with £179m for the income tax division and £342m from Customs & Excise. It would seem that a disproportionate burden falls on the employee, but since this can only be addressed by addressing the entire economy it may be worth saying that we need to strengthen the private sector which should protect government revenue.

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We all enjoy living in a low tax area. Its what has made the Island so successful over the years. We have to protect that, but at the same time look at ways to make up for the VAT shortfall. VAT will remain a main source of income for the government.

We must remain a low tax jurusdiction to survive. We must also stay with the common purse agreement as stated in my earlier answer. To protect our position we must cut costs and grow our economy - both of which are considerable chalanges, each in their own right, whilst any adjustment to the tax take must be done with very great care indeed.

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Price increases always hurt and hurt most for those who can least afford to pay more for basic commodities.

A rate of around 7% RPI for July 2011 seems to be on the high side. This is likely to hurt the most vulnerable in our society and we should try to ensure that they are looked after.

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Of course it is! And we have higher rates than the UK.

It does seem that most people acknowledge that most of the big increases are out of our control. The Manx governments recent announcement to peg the price of electricity is an interesting idea and we wait to see if that has an effect on the inflation figures.

Yes of course it is. With consumer infaltion well ahead of wage inflation the impact on household budgets is very real indeed and it does not look as iff it will fall a great deal in the future. Our Island rate is made worse by the cost of ferry freight and that of course is linked to the user agreement (which must ultimately go).

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I would not favour sale and lease back of the power station or any Govt entity, it would almost cetainly lead to more increased costs to us.

Some services could be considered for sale to Private sector companies, with carefull tendering conditions to ensure service to outlying areas, the Bus service could be one?

On an island this size with a resident population of around 85,000 it would seem impossible to operate more than one water provider for example since the scale of investment in infrastructure would seem to exclude the possibility of competition so a well run state owned or publicly owned monopoly would seem to be the best option. For the island it may be best to break functions down in to constituent parts and outsource these to private enterprise.

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Airport director Anne Reynolds has opened the debate by saying Ronaldways could run at a lower cost in private hands. Nothing should be rules out but checks and balances need to be in place before selling off the family silver.

Water - Yes

Post - the current arrangement is satisfactory

Ferry - please refer to my manifesto

Electricity - Yes but there should be greater opportunity for viable small scale self generation

Telecoms - the current arrangement is reasonable in the circumstances

Airport - please see my manifesto

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The 'Open Skys Policy' has not exactly brough low airfares has it? Would similar for sea services be any different?

Possibly, but since we did not get to see the OFT report on sea freight pricing it is difficult to comment further.

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I really don't have a yes or no answer to this. Its unlikely to happen in the next few years due to the user agreement being in place. Could it be renegotiated?

I remember the last time there was competition with Manxline and it almost brought both companies to their knees.

No - please refer to my manifesto

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We could always do more in this area but the biggest visible damage to our environment is caused by us. Why are we so mucky? Why do we think that it is acceptable to dump rubbish just anywhere?

It is a balancing act which requires different priorities in different circumstances. In general it seems as though we are blessed with lots of glens, beaches and hill walking area. In general it seems fine to me but I am open minded enough to look into this in more detail.

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I know how lucky we are to have the most fantastic countryside on our doorstep. I think the Island does look after its environment well but could always do more, subject to finance.

There is a need to do more but opportunities to do so will only evolve through a medium to long term commitment to a range of initiaitves.

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All our current business sectors are important, some are worth pursuing to encourage them to expand, stay on the Island and continue to contribute to our economy.

I would like to see much more effort put into expanding the manufacuring sector. This would be to provide job alternatives to those at the bottom end of our current job market, raise their standard of living and allow those who have missed out on our Finance sector 'boom' to enjoy some of the 'Freedom to Flourish' that they were promised by past Govts.

We should build our renewable energy industry and become a net exporter of energy rather than an importer of gas.

I see the island capitalising on its true natural resources, its people, the stability the island enjoys and the natural beauty of our island. The people of the island are world class though they are too polite to interrupt those who like to tell them that they are second class. The future is in maintaining a stable society despite the turbulence elsewhere which will ensure that the island is seen as a safe place to come and live as well as stash some cash.

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Diversity is the name of the game. By not having all our eggs in one basket makes it easier to ride out any future financial storms.

This is a very big and important question because it is on this that so much will depend. It is too big a question to answer here but I will be addressing it in my manifesto.

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Manufacturing! Without talking ourselves out of opportunities by exagerating the 'huge' expanse of Irish Sea to cross. One wonders how we get produce onto the Island!

We should build our renewable energy industry and become a net exporter of energy rather than an importer of gas.

We should exploit our long term stability for commercial gain and try to be well known as a safe haven. This could welcome wealthy entrepreneurs looking for a safe stable place to weather the economic storms ahead.

In general my strategy would be based upon attempting to keep money on the island rather than job creation per se. Money spent on island is much better for our economy than money spent off island that we shall never see again.

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In new start up industries that are looking for favourable terms and conditions. Where the government can help them develop.

This is really the same question as the above one so it gets the same answer.

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The Chief Minister, yes. There are a number of methods to achieve this.

Legco should be scrapped and replaced by 'Scrutiny Committees', selected from the body of a 32 (or less) seat Keys.

This is of fundamental importance and cuts to the quick of our style of democracy. In a nutshell at the moment we elect representatives who do what they think is best. Tynwald elects a chief minister and MLCs.

If the election of CM is done by the public, it will certainly force the introduction of some kind of party politics into the island as putting oneself forward as an individual will almost be impossible without the backing of an organisational support structure. I am not against party politics but I am dead against its domination by devious means.

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Would that make the Chief Minsters position Presidential?

It sounds interesting on paper but at the end of the day the next CM will be picked by the MHK's voted in my the electorate. I believe that will work.

Chif Minister

The short answer is yes - the longer answer is the Chief Minister should enjoy a mandate from both Tynwald and the Electorate and there are ways this can be achived.

MLC's - Yes