Following Treasury’s presentation of the Budget to Tynwald in February, the Department has been working hard to identify areas where it can positively contribute towards the Isle of Man Government’s strategy to rebalance the Budget over the medium term. Meetings with the Minister, Departmental Members and the Senior Management Team have identified a number of areas where budget savings can be made for the forthcoming 2014/2015 financial year. The budget strategy for the Department represents a combination of: keeping employment costs capped through natural wastage; reducing corporate and administration budgets; where appropriate, raising income levels through the introduction of new charges or increased to existing charges for services provided by this Department; and by making some assets work harder to generate income. This would include releasing the Fisheries Support Vessel, the Barrule, to be chartered out to the private sector and other jurisdictions, during times of low demand for the vessel in terms of the Department’s own operations.
 
The Department is also to shortly commence a review of the Sawmill operations, with a view to identifying areas to improve efficiency and potential areas for alternative means of service delivery, where they may exist. A wider review of the Department’s operations will also take place in order to identify ways of better aligning service delivery across the wide spectrum of functions, whilst keeping the impact on front-line services to a minimum. This work will run parallel with work being undertaken to identify those areas of operations that are both non-statutory and discretionary, where further budget reductions can be secured without a detrimental impact upon the Manx economy and community.
 
Minister for the Environment, Mr Phil Gawne MHK, said, “The challenges facing the public sector in terms of balancing the budget are great, and this Department is no exception. The Department has already made budget reductions of over £3 million since 2009/10, and it will continue to play its positive part in rebalancing Government’s public finances over the coming years. So much of the work of this Department is focussed on supporting the Manx economy and I can assure you that this Department is committed in its determination to maintain those areas that are contributing to and supporting the sustainable economic development of this Island.”