Chief Minister Howard Quayle has pledged his Programme for Government policy blueprint will be reviewed as his administration reaches the halfway point.

In the House of Keys on Tuesday, he was asked by Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew), what key initiatives could be expected in the next six months.

Mr Quayle said: ’The Council of Ministers are reviewing where we would like to see the changes needed, because obviously if you look at the Programme for Government we have already achieved some of the items that we have set out to achieve, and we will be holding a meeting with all members of Tynwald to discuss changes that they would like to see in the Programme for Government to take it forward.’

He said he had always described the Programme for Government as a living document that was ’not set in tablets of stone’.

Among the most significant moves by the government since Howard Quayle took the helm are the decision to buy the Steam Packet, the pushing through of the Brexit Bill and a fundamental review of services and costs at the Department of Health and Social Care.

Mr Moorhouse said the government’s lasting legacy should have started to form, with the halfway point of the current term arriving before Easter. He asked Mr Quayle what his priorities were for delivery between now and the 2021 election.

Mr Quayle said the main priority was to deliver the Programme for Government to build ’an inclusive and caring society, an Island of enterprise and opportunity, and a financially responsible government’.

He added: ’I came into politics with an aim to ensure a sustainable future for the island and our young people.

’I was aware that there were difficult, unpopular choices that needed to be taken, not kicked down the road, in order to ensure that our children and grandchildren were not facing a bleak future on this island.

’Therefore, ensuring sustainable and affordable services provided by government for the next generation always has been and always will remain a priority for me.’