NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE
EDF: IS SKELLY AFRAID TO TELL US MORE ABOUT THE ‘GIVE-AWAY’?
Last week I suggested to Laurence Skelly Minister for Economic Development that he might like to extend the window for consultation on his £50 million jackpot ‘give-away’ Economic Development Fund (EDF) and take some time to explain to the people who will be paying for this, ‘us’, just how the strategy will work and any projected loss factor (link).
https://www.celticleague.net/news/edf-consultation-should-be-extended/
I pointed out that the Government had only allowed the minimum period of consultation set down and the first few days of the EDF would have been ‘lost in translation’ anyway, so to speak!
As if to illustrate my point it turns out it was almost two weeks after the consultation launched that Minister Skelly himself got around to making a presentation on this publicly. Well I say ‘publicly’ but really it was a select band of the public i.e. Bell and Skelly’s favourite chums in the Chamber of Commerce.
Now I don’t want to do Mr Skelly a disservice because he may have publicly spread the word more widely (and I don’t mean via one of his weekly love-ins up at Manx Radio). However I cannot find any reference in the media to Skelly or anyone else for that matter briefing the Unions or even the other Island Employers body the not so glitzy IOM Employers Federation.
What I can say for certain however is that HE HAS NOT GONE OUT TO MEET THE PUBLIC and explain how/why he’s giving away £50 million of our money, at a difficult time fiscally, and fielded some questions.
Now this is ‘peculiar’ as this is a government that prided itself on engaging with the public. Remember ‘Roamin COMIN’ and all that nonsense.
I don’t want to embarrass Treasury Minister Eddie Teare by complementing him two days on the trot (see TAX CHEATS RESPONSE) but after unveiling a ‘change agenda’ earlier this year he did (together with his Officers) get ‘out on the stump’ and engage with the public.
Perhaps the Minister for Economic Development should send a subordinate around to the Treasury to get some tips on public engagement.
Returning to my point about the one public venue Skelly did use. Well it is predictable that it was the Chamber of Commerce because their members will be at the front of the queue with hands outstretched for our money!
BERNARD MOFFATT
Issued by: The Celtic News
07/09/15
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