Minister for Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) Julie Edge has said more work is needed to prepare for the regional sports hub plans.

The scheme, which was introduced earlier this year, would see the DESC take over the island’s swimming pools to secure their short-term future.

In a debate in January this year, it was agreed that the DESC and the Department of Infrastructure would produce a costed long-term plan ‘to develop regional sports hubs as part of a newly branded offer’ for the island.

The plan is set to be put together in a report along with a motion for a decision which was due to go before Tynwald in its October sitting on Tuesday.

However, Ms Edge told the sitting that although a significant amount of work had been undertaken on the plans, they weren’t ready to be presented.

‘Unfortunately that piece of work hasn’t been finalised yet as more time has been necessary to analyse what has proved to be quite a complex project, which depending on the options, could have legal and financial implications,’ she said.

She said that to ensure the full requirements of the Tynwald motion, the report would need further time to be developed and would be on the Register of Business before the January 2024 sitting.