Tynwald has approved plans to move hundreds of staff out of the government’s education department in the new year - despite stinging criticism over a lack of consultation.

Education Minister Graham Cregeen was forced to defend his department over criticism of its handling of the move, which will see education support officers (ESOs) transferred to the Public Service Commission.

And it has emerged that Department of Education, Sport and Culture chief executive Ronald Barr had to apologise after wrongly suggesting he has instructed head teachers’ to inform ESOs of the details of the transfer.

Despite this and an attempt to delay the transfer to allow more consultation to take place first, Tynwald voted to approve the switch, to take place next month.

The school support staff will face a ’job evaluation’ but Education Minister Graham Cregeen has insisted that the transfer itself will not change terms and conditions.

Staff were told about the transfer only at the start of November. In a letter they were told there would be no job losses and no one would be forced to change their role.

Mr Cregeen said staff briefings were held on the transfer later in November and there would be ’further communication and consultation with staff’.

Julie Edge (Onchan) said those meetings had not gone as well as the minister portrayed and argued it was ’premature’ to bring forward the order facilitating the transfer.

The minister acknowledged: ’There is always room for improvement on how to communicate with your staff.’

But he claimed there was support from unions for the process.

He reiterated there would be further consultation after the transfer.

Bill Shimmins (Middle) said he had received a number of complaints from ESOs and head teachers over the way the department had handled it and that the impact of the change were ’unclear’ to many staff.

’The communication of this change has been botched,’ he said.

But Public Services Commission chairman Chris Thomas claimed a ’leading union’ had said it was content with the process adopted.

Last month the PSC pledged that no changes to terms and conditions would take place until they have been negotiated with unions and staff representatives.

The switch is to ensure the government can comply with the Equality Act requirement for ’equal pay for work of equal value’.

Tabling the motion for the transfer to take place, on Tuesday, Mr Thomas pledged there would be better consultation from now on. ’What I heard this morning was clear regret that the communication and consultation has started off not ideally,’ he said.

’Everybody will do absolutely everything to ensure that process improves.’

Mr Shimmins called for ESOs to be treated with respect and asked for the order to be delayed for one month to give more time for concerns to be addressed ’the way they should have from the outset of this change’.

But that was rejected by Tynwald and the transfer was approved 22-1 in the Keys and 8-0 in Legislative Council.