Politics
Won’t Somebody Think About the Children?
The committee report will go to Tynwald in February.
A Tynwald committee is calling on the gov to introduce a Bill to ensure the wellbeing of future generations.
The committee report will go to Tynwald in February.
Taking the example of the Welsh gov, with brought in the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act 2015, which requires public bodies to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, the committee also wants all policy papers to be checked to ensure potential populations are considered.
However, while it has made these recommendations, the select committee on population rebalancing, chaired by Dr Michelle Haywood (Rushen), accepts it would be a ‘significant undertaking’ said that it should be explored as a ‘mid to longer term aspiration’.
The committee said: ‘We recognise the prospect of such wide-ranging legislation may carry with it concerns regarding scope and cost. In Wales there is both a Commissioner role, and Office, for Future Generations. Therefore, we are minded to suggest the concept be explored – but note that any solution would need refining to be appropriate for our Island, and not a direct duplication.
‘In the interim, we suggest Government adopt its own concise prompt, sense-check or impact assessment of demographic impact: for all policy papers. The form of this might be similar to existing impact assessments such as equality and the climate. The desired outcome is a tacit reminder that the population challenge is cross-governmental and a foremost shared challenge for the public service.’
