Isle of Man Government

The Isle of Man Government () is the government of the Isle of Man. The formal head of the Isle of Man Government is the Lieutenant Governor, representing HM Queen Elizabeth II, Lord of Mann. The executive head is the Chief Minister.
Douglas, the largest town on the Isle of Man is its capital and seat of government, where the Government offices and the parliament chambers () are located.
The Civil Service has more than 2000 employees and the total number of public sector employees including the Civil Service, teachers, nurses, police, etc. is about 9000 people. This is somewhat more than 10% of the population of the Island, and a full 23% of the working population. This does not include any military forces, as defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.
Government structure.
The Government consists of nine departments, ten statutory boards and three offices all reporting to the Council of Ministers. The departments all report directly to the Council of Ministers.
Statutory boards and offices are listed below the Department to which they report.
Brief history.
Lieutenant Governor.
Before modern times the government of the Isle of Man was in the hands of the Governor (or Lieutenant Governor), who representated the Lord of Man, assisted by his Council, consisting of the other permanent officials (the Bishop, Archdeacon, Deemsters, Attorney General, etc.). The Council became the Legislative Council, the upper chamber of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man.
After the Revestment (when the rights of the Lord of Man were "placed in" or "vested" in the King of Great Britain) in 1765, the Lieutenant Governor and his officials were the agents of the British Government, and not democratically responsible to the Manx people. Conflict between the House of Keys (popularly elected after 1866) and the Lieutenant Governor came to a head when Lord Raglan was Lieutenant Governor between 1902 and 1918.
Council of Ministers.
After World War I the Lieutenant Governor gradually gave up control to Tynwald, a process guided by the reports of commissions and other bodies in 1911, 1959 and 1969. An Executive Council, chaired by him and including members of Tynwald, was established in 1949, and gradually thereafter became the effective government of the Island. Finance and the police came under local control between 1958 and 1976. The Lieutenant Governor stopped chairing the Executive Council in 1980, and was replaced by a chairman elected by Tynwald, and the Council was reconstituted in 1985 to include the chairmen of the eight principal Boards; in 1986 they were given the title 'Minister' and the chairman was styled 'Chief Minister'. In 1990 the Council was renamed the 'Council of Ministers'.
Departments.
During the 19th century several bodies, which came to be known as 'Boards of Tynwald', were created to exercise functions under democratic control. These included the Board of Education (1872), Highway Board (1874), Asylums Board (1888), Government Property Trustees (1891) and Local Government Board (1894). However, although direct taxation was levied by Tynwald, the Boards' freedom of action before the 1960s was limited by the Lieutenant Governor's control of the Island's budget and his power to appoint certain of their members.
The structure of the Boards of Tynwald, along with other bodies variously called 'Statutory Boards' and 'Commercial Boards', became increasingly unwieldy after the 1950s, and was eventually reformed in the 1980s, when a system of 'ministerial government' was set up.
Until 1 April 2010 the Departments were as follows. Created in 1985-87, they were the successors of the former Boards of Tynwald.
The structure and functions of the Departments were re-organised with effect from 1 April 2010. The existing Departments, except the Treasury and the Departments of Education and Home Affairs, were dissolved, and the Department of Education was renamed "the Department of Education and Children". The Departments and their functions are now as follows:
Statutory Boards.
As noted above, a number of 'Statutory Boards' and 'Commercial Boards' were created at various times. Some were taken over by the Departments in 1985-1987, but others continued as separate Statutory Boards after 1987: