Tynwald’s Commissioner for Administration refused to investigate a complaint made by a resident who was not allowed to return to the island during the border lockdown.

The complainant was stranded abroad as they were not prepared to quarantine at the Comis Hotel.

Commissioner Angela Main Thompson has outlined her reasons for refusing to consider the complaint in a report to this month’s Tynwald sitting.

Returning residents were controversially required to quarantine at the Comis Hotel in the first few weeks of the border lockdown until a policy U-turn saw the government agree to allow them to isolate at home.

The first group of returnees were taken by coach to the hotel under police escort, a move that provoked widespread condemnation.

One resident who was abroad at the time and was not prepared to quarantine at the Comis formally complained to the Chief Constable and to the Cabinet Office, questioning the legality of their treatment.

Unsatisfied with their response of ’no case to answer’, he took his case last April to the Tynwald Commissioners for Administration.

But Mrs Main Thompson told the complainant, referred to only as Mr T - and presumably not a member of A-Team! - that she did not have jurisdiction to consider the complaint.

Following the state of emergency declared by the Lieutenant Governor on March 16, 2020, the Manx borders closed 11 days later.

Residents could return, provided they isolated for 14 days.

Initially, they could self-isolate at home but on April 6 the government announced that anyone returning to the island would have to spend 14 days in isolation at the Comis Hotel before returning home and would be required to pay up to £1,000 for the cost of the ferry, accommodation and meals.

At the time this restriction was imposed, Mr T was in a European country.

He was not prepared to be quarantined in a hotel and moved to another European country where he remained until the restriction was lifted.

On his return, he made a formal complaint to the Cabinet Office and the Department of Home Affairs before then taking his case up with the Tynwald Commissioner.

In her report to Tynwald, Mrs Main Thompson said that while she was prepared to accept that Mr T was likely to have suffered hardship by being unable to return to his home had he returned to the Isle of Man, she was unable to identify maladministration or a service failure.

All actions were undertaken in accordance with the regulations made under the Emergency Powers Act 1936 and these were political rather than administrative decisions.

She rejected the complaint on jurisdictional grounds, without consideration of its merits.

Others who were quarantined at the Comis Hotel wrote to her when they learned of the outcome of Mr T’s complaint, describing themselves as ’internees’.

The commissioner accepted that they suffered hardship in not being able to return home but again said she had no jurisdiction to consider their complaints.