Members of the public will have a unique opportunity to vote on the challenges facing the future of the Island when The Big Debate takes to the road next month.
 
Hundreds of residents, randomly selected from the public voters list, are to be invited to meetings at which they will be able to submit their feedback anonymously using individual remote control devices.
 
The unprecedented exercise in democratic engagement will mark the start of a broad national conversation on how Government needs to change to make it fit for the future.
 
Launching The Big Debate today Minister for Policy and Reform Chris Robertshaw MHK explained: ‘The Island has a great tradition of public meetings but they do not always reflect the views of the quiet majority, who might be hesitant about attending such meetings and speaking out.
 
‘By inviting a random cross-section of people to our Big Debate meetings we hope the audience will be more representative of the general population. And by providing an anonymous voting system we can gather the views of the whole audience, not just the minority who are prepared to make an open contribution.’
 
Mr Robertshaw added: ‘Residents who receive invitations to these meetings are clearly under no compulsion to attend. But I would urge them to do so and be part of a new experiment in democratic participation. The questions around The Big Debate – including how we reinvent Government and its relationship with the citizen – have real implications for every man, woman and child in the Isle of Man.’
 
Letters of invitation to the meetings, signed by Mr Robertshaw, are due to be sent out this week. The meetings are scheduled as follows: Peel, October 2; Ramsey, October 7; Port Erin, October 15; Douglas, November 4.
 
The Minister said that around the world established models of government are being reviewed under the pressures of fiscal constraints and ageing populations, and in the light of the opportunities presented by modern information technology.
 
‘In the Isle of Man as elsewhere there is a growing frustration, within government as well as without, that traditional bureaucratic structures are too inward-looking and preoccupied with process. The system struggles to connect effectively with the interests of communities, families and individuals,’ he commented.
 
Mr Robertshaw said The Big Debate would be wide-ranging, embracing a variety of relevant issues, and would develop and unfold over the next year or two.
 
There will be three core themes, however:
 
•       Making Government smaller and smarter.
 
•       Working with communities, families and individuals to create an environment that produces better responses to their needs.
 
•       Modernising our welfare state.
 
The Minister concluded: ‘The idea of The Big Debate is to look beyond the next general election and to start talking seriously about what kind of Island we will leave to be inherited by our children and grandchildren. There is no subject more important than this.’