Overhaul of Isle of Man’s Infrastructure Department recommended

Consultants, commissioned by the Isle of Man’s Chief Minister, have found that the current structure of the Crown Dependency’s Department of Infrastructure (DOI) is not suitable to manage the large body of tasks it is responsible for.

The Department is responsible for highways services, ports, transport and housing, as well as spearheading the delivery of capital projects.

Amid concerns about recent high profile failures in project delivery on the island, the report [pdf] compiled by consultants Beamans, identifies "fundamental weaknesses in the department's organisational, management and governance arrangements".

The fact that ultimate accountability rests with the chief executive meant the department operated on a "largely reactive and transactional basis".

To counter that, it said the "co-ordination and development" of services should be the "remit and responsibility of individual directors" headed by a Chief Operating Officer with overarching responsibility for capital projects.

Specialists in each division would be "better able to focus on the delivery of services for which they are accountable", it added.

It also recommended that additional accredited project managers be appointed to help drive the capital programme forward.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive should focus on the "development of policy, strategy and management of the political interface".

The Minister for Infrastructure, Tim Baker said he supported the report's view that more resources were needed to operate the DOI effectively, but added that recruitment would take time.