DHSC members release letter sent to chief minister after Tynwald ‘outburst’ 

Follows charges levelled at them over sacking of minister which they ‘utterly refute’

Politicians working within the Department of Health and Social Care say they ‘utterly refute’ a number of charges levelled at them in Tynwald today.

It follows what MHK’s Michelle Haywood and Joney Faragher, and MLC Tanya August-Hanson, have described as an ‘outburst' and comes after the sacking of Rob Callister as minister.

In the court this morning permission was granted for an urgent question on the impact recent ministerial changes have had on the stability of government.

Now, the three political members, say they feel they’ve been forced into commenting publicly saying they had written to the chief minister at the start of the month following a ‘series of events’.

That letter has now been released to Manx Radio.

In it they tell Alfred Cannan that they have become aware of ‘mounting unsettlement amongst staff, depleted morale and evident uncertainty” – and add this has been ‘exacerbated in recent weeks’.

The letter states: “The cumulative effect, of that which was in-train prior, and since the latest appointment, have prompted an increasing number of approaches to ourselves by public service departmental staff, who are most concerned that their positions are untenable in the current environment.

“On occasion, in the midst of board discussions or staff interactions - where opinions can, and do, diverge - communication styles have been less amicable than they ought to, and as a consequence behaviours have come into question as pressures mount whilst legacy and current issues surface.”

The letter, sent on 2 November, also states that the members had ‘offered counsel and support for departmental delivery’ but highlights a worry that without resolving issues a blame culture involving staff and political membership would prevail.

Today the members say they had ‘endeavoured to deal with matters’ within the political meetings within DHSC but the approach ‘proved impossible’.

They add: “We acted out of the wish to uphold standards and integrity. A culture of owning, and learning from, mistakes must start with us and be modelled by us or it means nothing. We started our tenure under the new minister being supportive and challenging, and remained so throughout. We consider it part of our role to provide political challenge.”

The members add they are sorry that Mr Callister feels that they have acted in any way unprofessionally throughout ‘this episode’ adding: “We have kept our counsel until now in order to allow all parties to maintain their dignity but the outburst in Tynwald Court today levelled a number of charges at us which are unfounded and we wish to utterly refute.”

They have also pledged to fully cooperate with any investigation carried out if the matter is referred to the Tynwald Members Standards Committee.