Enterprise minister defends appointment process amid scrutiny over tourism chair departure

Tim Johnston insists there has been no failure in the government's due diligence process

The enterprise minister has defended the government’s due diligence procedures following the resignation of the Chair of Visit Isle of Man.

Tim Johnston told Tynwald the Department for Enterprise has "robust" processes in place and said he does not believe there has been a failure in how appointments are made to agency boards.

His comments came in response to a question tabled by Arbory, Castletown and Malew MHK Tim Glover, who asked what checks are carried out before appointing people to agency boards and supporting companies to establish on the Island.

Andrew Mackness resigned as Chair of Visit Isle of Man earlier this month, after just nine months in the role.

His departure came shortly after Manx Radio received an anonymous dossier detailing his past involvement as a Conservative councillor in Kent and director of a local authority-owned company now at the centre of a live police fraud investigation in England.

Mr Mackness described the claims as "politically motivated", and "pure mischief-making".

The Department for Enterprise has launched an internal investigation into the matter - but Mr Johnston would not commit to making its findings public, nor could he confirm when the investigation would conclude.

He did confirm that Chairs of executive agencies are classed as employees and are paid for their roles.

While Mr Johnston reiterated that it is not the role of the political member to carry out individual background checks, he acknowledged there may be room for improvement in the overall process.

Several Tynwald members voiced concern during the exchange.

Onchan MHK Julie Edge said: "We're all thinking there has been a failure - the public think there has been a failure.” Mr Glover said there were concerns that the matter might be “swept under the carpet.”