Local government in the Isle of Man

[4] Parish boundaries broadly followed physical features such as rivers and watersheds, but there were many detailed divergences.

An Act of Tynwald of 1777[5] provided for the appointment of a High Bailiff for each of the four towns, Castletown, Douglas, "Peeltown" (Peel) and Ramsey, with various judicial and administrative responsibilities.

In 1989[13] the office of alderman was abolished, leaving the council composed of the mayor and councillors.

Port St Mary was created a village district in 1890, Laxey and Onchan in 1895, and Michael in 1905.

Such an authority, now called a "joint board",[20] is a body corporate, and its members are appointed from the members of the constituent local authorities (and in some cases representatives of the Department of Local Government and the Environment).

[25] The structure of local government in the Isle of Man has been recognised as unsatisfactory since before the Second World War, but no consensus on how it should be reformed has been achieved.

[26] A Select Committee of Tynwald in 1985 recommended a thorough review,[27] and an interim report of a further Select Committee in 1986[28] led to a consultation document Time for Change containing proposals by the Department of Local Government and the Environment, issued in December 1991.

In 1999, as no progress had been made, the Council of Ministers admitted that it had been unable to agree on proposals, and Tynwald set up a further Select Committee which reported in 2001 with a scheme to reduce the number of local authorities to four.

[34] An alternative plan, which would have preserved the existing authorities but transferred their waste collection and housing functions to joint boards, was produced shortly afterwards but also abandoned.

The Department revived its previous proposals in 2005,[35] but shelved them again due to lack of support.