A report set to go before Tynwald later this month suggests that members do not have sittings during school half-term breaks.

It says that the dates of sittings should avoid these and that presiding officers should determine and publish each year’s sitting timetable as soon as relevant school term dates are known.

This is in addition to the provisions already in place for sittings to not take place during the Easter holiday or TT race week.

Douglas North MHK David Ashford will move the report by the Standing Orders Committee of Tynwald at the sitting scheduled for May 16.

It makes two other recommendations to alter the sitting dates of the House of Keys and that the session which began on October 1, 2022 ends on August 31, 2023.

It says in the report that soon after the 2021 general election Tynwald decided to start a systematic review of standing orders.

The present, or second, report contains more substantive proposals relating to sitting dates and other matters.

A consultation was done with members of Tynwald in June 2022 to find out their thoughts on sitting dates and times and after refining its proposals the committee consulted members again in February 2023 on sitting dates and times, questions and committee annual reporting.

Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper said: ‘This doesn’t mean any less work, just rescheduling sittings around school holidays (which largely happens anyway).

‘[There are] plenty of good reasons but the core one is trying to remove barriers to people being able to stand and do the job effectively.’

He added that many people don’t stand in the first place because ‘the job can be incompatible with having a family’, which he in turn described as impacting representation.

The MHK explained work ‘doesn’t stop’ over the summer, only the sittings stop.