The Youth Select Committee will hold two oral evidence sessions as part of its inquiry into Housing and Young People.

At these sessions the Youth Select Committee will hear from a range of witnesses with views on the support available for young people to find ‘a suitable and affordable place to call home’ in the Island.   This will include those with direct experience of how the current housing crisis is affecting young people in the Island, as well as civil society and business representatives who have policy proposals for how to address the crisis.   The Committee will also question politicians on how the Government is planning to address housing issues faced by young people.

The Committee will hear from the following witnesses at the times listed below:

Thursday 19^th September 2024

2.30 pm: Massimo Formby

3 pm: Karl Brew, Manager, Housing Matters and Elaine Higgins, Secretary, Housing Matters

3.30 pm: Lawrie Hooper MHK, Leader, and Paul Weatherall, Chair, Liberal Vannin; John Sheppard, Technical Director, Wren Sustainable Limited; Kathryn Sharman, Chair, and Sam Tipper, Vice Chair, Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce Think Tank Group

Friday 27^th September 2024
2.30 pm: Dawn Kinnish MLC, Departmental Member for Infrastructure

3.15 pm: David Ashford MBE MHK, Chair of the Housing and Communities Board​
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Attending the Youth Select Committee evidence sessions:
The evidence will be heard in public in the Legislative Council Chamber, Legislative Buildings, Bucks Road, Douglas; members of the public are welcome to attend.  An Access Guide to the building can be found here.

The evidence can be heard via the “live and listen again” audio webcast service on the Tynwald website.  The hearing will also be video-streamed via tynwald.live.

Notes for Editors:

The Youth Select Committee
The Committee was formed in October 2023 and is made up of young people aged 15 to 24 years old. The Committee mirrors the Tynwald Select Committee structure and gives young people the opportunity to scrutinize and hold inquiries into topics of importance to them. More information is available on the Committee’s webpage.

The Inquiry
The Committee is examining the support available for young people (in particular those aged 16-25) to find ‘a suitable and affordable place to call home’ in the Island.  The Committee will examine the Government’s progress against its own ambitions to tackle the housing crisis, particularly in relation to policies affecting young people. 

Video streaming trial

The first public meeting of the Youth Select Committee will also be the first meeting in the Legislative Council Chamber to be video streamed in full. The video streaming facility being trialled has been developed by the Office of the Clerk of Tynwald at the request of the Tynwald Management Committee. If the facility is successful with the Youth Select Committee, it is the intention of the Clerk of Tynwald to extend the trial to public meetings of all parliamentary committees.

Development of a video capability for Tynwald Court and the Branches is an aspiration but no commitment can be made at this stage as to when it may become affordable. The learning from the committees trial will be of assistance when considering future options. Meanwhile all public proceedings of Tynwald Court and the Branches have been audio streamed in full since 2014 and this service will continue.

For further information contact:

Francisca Gale
Clerk to the Committee
Legislative Buildings, Douglas, IM1 3PW
Tel: (01624) 685500
Email: ysc@tynwald.org.im

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