New MHKs make presence felt

Newly elected MHKs made their presence felt in the first full sitting of Tynwald this morning with a series of pressing questions.

Twelve out of the 17 asked came from new members with 14 awaiting an oral reply shortly and three requesting a written response.

Member for Michael Alf Cannon asked chief minister Allan Bell if he had yet established a clear five-year socio-economic plan to safeguard the Island’s success – 

And Douglas South’s Kate Beecroft asked Infrastructure’s David Cretney what plans he had to prioritise basic roads improvements rather than capital schemes.

In response Mr Cretney said it was his department’s intention to prioritise basic maintenance over capital schemes, but the budget did allow design work on major projects such as Douglas Prom and Peel Road to also begin shortly.

And we’ll have more on that from the minister himself on this afternoon’s lunchtime news.

Other questions posed regarded issues such as Sarah’s Law, the land exchange agreement with Kirk Michael School and waiting times at Noble’s Hospital.