Policy on reserves expected in early 2025

A commitment to create an overall reserves policy for the Isle of Man government, which had been due this year, will be released next year, the Treasury has said.

Its department plan for 2024-25 has provided an update on the financial management and monitoring of the island's economic performance.

The document said reserves policies were being considered and a policy on the size and scope of the National Insurance fund would be presented to Tynwald in February.

Despite that delay, the department has met other objectives, including targets on compliance with international tax and anti-money laundering standards.

The review also confirmed there had been an increase of Customs and Excise law enforcement activity at the borders.

Treasury Minister Alex Allinson said the merging of the division with the Immigration Divisions had "required a lot of work to share skills and training" but it would "help strengthen our border enforcement".

While a project to replace the Customs and Excise IT system, the document said several targets for the current financial year remain in place.

They included the introduction of a new bill on legal aid and the continuation of a review on the organisational structure of the department.

However, the review revealed a project to replace the computer systems used in keeping track of government’s financial figures, originally scheduled to be in done by June 2024, had a new target of August 2025.

Creating a policy on the island's reserves has been due to be complete by this year's budget, but financial pressures meant the government once again drew down from the funds, postponing taking an overarching stance until the 2025-26 financial plan.

Allinson said: "The last few years have presented a number of economic and social challenges to our island and its people.

"The Council of Ministers and Treasury are demanding more focussed attention from departments to ensure services are delivered within budget and achieve greater efficiency and productivity in the delivery of services."

A recently released snapshot of government spending showed four departments were over budget between April and June and a forecast £16.4m overall overspend was forecast.

The Treasury's department plan is set to be debated at the October sitting of Tynwald, which begins on Tuesday.

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