A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A CPA SMALL BRANCH
A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A CPA SMALL BRANCH: THE ISLE OF MAN
Small Branches across the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) have unique challenges and opportunities. However, in many ways, CPA Small Branches can be some of the most active participants in the organisation. From COVID-19 and climate change to constituents’ individual issues, we seek to learn and share with each other, developing innovative solutions to problems which face all of us. The Isle of Man is no different, and our population of 85,000, like many Island nations are both forward- and outward-looking in approach. I hope that this article will provide ideas to other branches as to how they can increase their participation in the CPA. We have recently undertaken our latest review of the CPA Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures which showed encouraging progress in areas such as equality of franchise. Historically, the Island had one-, two- and three-seat constituencies dating back to town and rural areas as defined in the first Act of Tynwald governing popular elections in 1866. However, the exercise also noted deficiencies around the budget process and lack of an Auditor General. Reference to the CPA Benchmarks were part of the case that I put to Tynwald in November 2020 seeking parliamentary support for an Appointed Day Order to bring the 2011 Auditor General Act to life, which was ultimately agreed. We expect our first Auditor General to be appointed during 2021. In the good old days when travel was possible, we welcomed Clerk attachments, as well as sending our Clerks to other jurisdictions as part of mutual development programmes. Public Accounts appears to be a particular specialism - our Deputy Clerk, Jonathan King spent some time with the Cayman Islands Public Accounts Committee, whilst the current Public Accounts Committee Clerk, Jo Corkish has been part of CPA Post-Election Seminars and Public Accounts Committee development work
in Montserrat and the Falkland Islands. Our Deputy Clerk, Dr Jonathan King commented “There is enormous value in these opportunities. Parliamentary officers everywhere benefit greatly from the opportunity to share learning with counterparts doing similar jobs in other places. For those serving in small jurisdictions, engagement with another small jurisdictions can often be more relevant than a visit to Westminster or Ottawa, inspiring as such a visit may be.” Travel also permitted some of our latest Members and Clerks to attend the relevant courses at McGill University run by CPA, which have given all those who have attended greater confidence and understanding of our Parliament and the practices of others, allowing searching questions of our own practices which must always be welcomed. When COVID-19 hit, the Isle of Man became trailblazers in virtual Parliaments and virtual scrutiny, which I wrote about last year in The Parliamentarian. However, virtual working has become the new normal. Whilst there are obvious drawbacks about building personal networks and informal discussions that add real value to conferences, the CPA British Islands and Mediterranean Region has engaged in virtual exploratory groups bringing together Members to look at particular themes and how they have been handled to allow some comparison between jurisdictions. The first of these organised by the CPA Malta Branch and coordinated by the Regional Secretariat at the CPA Regional Conference, is on responses to COVID-19 across the themes of health and social impact, borders, residence and travel, recovery and effective Parliaments. We expect the output to be published later this year. This offers a model for future workstreams coming out of regional and global conferences where an initial brief can be agreed at the meeting and followed up virtually.
Hon. Juan Watterson, SHK has been a Member of the House of Keys since
2006 and has been the Speaker since 2016. He was previously a Minister for Home Affairs (2011-2016) and he is also the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee. He is the CPA British Islands and Mediterranean Region’s representative on the CPA Small Branches Steering Committee. Prior to entering Parliament, he was a Chartered Accountant with KPMG.
38 | The Parliamentarian | 2021: Issue One | 100 years of publishing
