An MHK who tried to give Tynwald members a final vote on the terms of the Steam Packet sea services agreement says he is not surprised his amendment failed.

Tynwald this week agreed to the ’heads of terms’ of an agreement with the Steam Packet.

That deal will determine the minimum service the ferry company should provide the island and will run for 25 years.

But the ’heads of terms’ is not the full agreement and does not go into the full detail.

Chris Robertshaw (Douglas East) wanted to force the Department of Infrastructure to bring back the final full deal for Tynwald approval.

Mr Robertshaw’s amendment was defeated in both the Keys (four for to 16 against) and in Legislative Council (three to six).

He believed the Council of Minister’s block vote killed off any chance he had of success.

He told the Courier: ’I’m not surprised it failed as CoMin is committed to its position and then all the department members migrate over to support their position.

’I am however surprised we got ourselves into this silly position. The sea services agreement is strategically vital for the island and we’ve been asked to agree to the non-legally binding heads of terms and been denied the opportunity for a final vote.’

Mr Robertshaw was supported by Jane Poole-Wilson MLC in Tynwald who said that, in her experience as a lawyer, heads of terms could change when a final deal was reached and agreed they were not legally binding.

Lawrie Hooper (Liberal Vannin, Ramsey) also agreed and said he could not see why the request for a vote could cause any delay.

business

Mr Robertshaw added: ’No one in business would sign something like this without knowing the full detail, but we’ve been required to support this.’

While he praised the work of Treasury in securing the deal to buy the Steam Packet, most of Mr Robertshaw’s criticism was reserved for the Department of Infrastructure.

A DoI spokesman said: ’The sea services agreement is due to be completed by the end of May 2019 and will be published soon afterwards.

’Lengthy contract documents that result from commercial negotiations cannot easily be finalised by a process of line-by-line micro-management.

’The contracts for the purchase of the Steam Packet were not approved in detail by Tynwald for similar reasons.

’Such an approach would also be inconsistent with the desire for the Manx government to remain at arm’s length from operational matters.

’The Steam Packet must be given certainty in order to plan with confidence, with regard to buying a new vessel, for example. A final agreement will be delivered that meets the approved heads of terms and allows the company to plan for the future.

’Legal advice has been taken prior to the heads of terms being agreed by Tynwald, and the minister will continue this process to ensure the final agreement is fully compliant.’

lTynwald debate: See this week’s Manx Independent, on sale now.