A former government minister was warned to stop heckling the Chief Minister - or be asked to leave the House of Keys chamber.

The warning to Douglas Central MHK Chris Thomas came as he quizzed Howard Quayle on progress at bringing in a community infrastructure levy.

This levy, proposed to be imposed on developers, aims to fund other schemes that will benefit the wider community and economy.

But the proposed charges are unlikely to be welcomed by the construction sector.

Mr Quayle said draft proposals would be ready for April next year but revealed a proposed charging schedule suggested a levy of £50 a square metre for residential developments and £150 a square metre for employment schemes.

He said if those charges were applied, areas earmarked for development in the new east area plan could raise £49m for community schemes.

But Mr Thomas, who was policy and reform minister before he was sacked, described that £49m figure as ’shockingly large’.

He said the government had committed to have the levy in force by April and questioned how proposals could be drawn up and consulted on in time.

Mr Quayle said the legislation stated the proposals had to be ready for April but he added it could be July or August before the scheme is up and running.

Mr Thomas said this was ’shocking’, but his continued interjections prompted Speaker Juan Watterson to warn him: ’If you persist in heckling the Chief Minister I will ask you to leave the chamber.’

Mr Quayle said: ’"Shocking" says the man who was in charge of it for over four years who should have had it ready himself rather than trying to pass the buck on to a new minister who has just taken over.

’Obviously we will be moving as fast as possible as it is in everyone’s interest to have this levy ready to go.’

Education Minister Dr Alex Allinson (Ramsey) said it was important that expectations about the levy are measured in terms of the long term benefits.

And he warned that the construction industry should not be seen as ’the golden goose’. ’We know how that fable ended up,’ he added.

Mr Quayle replied: ’It would be nice to have a golden goose at the moment with the finances with Covid.’

He said it was important the levy was ’fair and equitable’ and there was no point in having such a high rate that developers were put off.

Mr Quayle told the Keys the Cabinet Office will carry out ’stakeholder engagement’ early in 2021 with groups including the Construction Forum and Planning User Group.

There will be public consultation on the draft regulations and any associated charging schedules and supporting policy documents by April, MHKs were told.