One of the questions for oral answer in the House of Keys yesterday (8 November) asked what plans the Department of Economic Development might have to relax work permit legislation in order to overcome skills shortages. As part of his response, the Minister indicated that: ‘The Department is… looki…
A blog posted on this website on 24 October ('Population indicators provide mixed messages') prompted today's Manx Independent newspaper front page article with the headline: 'Is population of island falling?' (Nikki Allan, Manx Independent, 27 October 2016). The same newspaper also carried a relat…
The September 2016 pupil numbers in schools have not confirmed that the slow decline in the Island's population has stopped. In the final pages of the Isle of Man Population Atlas there was a suggestion that the quarterly economic reports to the Council of Ministers should routinely include a popul…
The latest quarterly economic report to the Council of Ministers (covering April - June 2016) was published last week. For the second time, the report included a population estimate or, more accurately, an estimate of population movement based on what the report refers to as 'GP Capitation numbers…
The final chapter of the Population Atlas refers to a motion placed before Tynwald in April 2015 that led to a call for a debate on population policy. That debate still needs to happen. Government has established an Enterprise Development Scheme which has, as one of its aims, a growth of 500-1,000…
At a Chamber of Commerce briefing in August 2016, House of Keys candidates were told of the Chamber’s wish to see the Island’s population grow to 100,000 by 2026. This would amount to a growth of 15,000 residents (nearly 18%) in ten years. This is much more ambitious than the estimates behind the E…
