Memorandum submitted by the Isle of Man
Pensioners Association (IOMPA)
RELEVANT TERMS
OF REFERENCE
(i) The role of the Ministry of Justice in managing
the UK's relationship with the Crown Dependencies including inter-departmental
liaison and co-ordination. (ii) Recommendations to improve the
Ministry of Justice's management of the relationship between the
UK and the Crown Dependencies.
1. This is an organisation, which campaigns
for all pensioners who have been resident on the Isle of Man for
10 years to be paid the Isle of Man Pension Supplement as
recommended by the Chislett Report (1992).
2. At that time the Isle of Man's National
Insurance Fund had a significant surplus owing to a large input
from the United Kingdom.
3. Among other things the intention of the
Supplement was to compensate for losing the link between earnings
and pensions at that time.
4. At present the Pension Supplement, which
amounts to an extra 50% of the State Retirement Pension, is only
given to those who have paid National Insurance contributions
for 10 full tax years into the Isle of Man National Insurance
Fund.
5. In the course of getting information
and pursuing our campaign we have been in contact with the Ministry
of Justice over the past eight years.
6. The Isle of Man does not have a Freedom
of Information Act. Where information has not been forthcoming
here we have turned to the UK to obtain it. Thus the UK authorities
have dealt with reasonable requests that have been refused by
Isle of Man bureaucrats. We consider this to be a vital role for
the Ministry of Justice to oversee.
7. In dealing with the Ministry our experience
has been that we are basically a political football and neither
the United Kingdom nor the Isle of Man will accept responsibility
for us.
8. Our recommendations for action by the
Government to improve the Ministry of Justice's management of
the relationship between the UK and the Crown Dependencies are:
(a) Regular visits to the island with opportunities
to explain the role of the Ministry of Justice to the general
public.
(b) Provision for British Nationals who are resident
on the Isle of Man to meet with members of the Ministry of Justice
during these visits.
(c) Acceptance that for some residents, the Ministry
of Justice will be the source of some information that cannot
be obtained on the Island because of lack of a Freedom of Information
Act on the Isle of Man.
(d) Our experience through correspondence with
the United Kingdom Government via the Ministry of Justice and
also the Isle of Man Government has clearly indicated that they
are not prepared to acknowledge responsibility for the people
represented by IOMPA. We feel that there must be closer contact
between the Ministry of Justice, the Isle of Man Government including
the relevant departments and the residents affected by their respective
decisions.
IOMPA would like the committee to consider our
recommendations in Paragraph 8 for inclusion in its Report
to the House.
| 
