The Co-op has issued an urgent nationwide recall notice over seasonal food products after a food tampering scare.

It comes after two hollow milk chocolate Santa figures sold in Co-op stores in the South of England were found to contain small batteries.

The Co-op has seven branches on the island.

Around 165,000 of the figures have been recalled nationwide.

It’s thought to be the result of product tampering.

The batteries can pose a potentially lethal risk to children if swallowed.

Anyone who has bought a chocolate Santa from any of the island’s Co-op branches should return the produce to receive a full refund.

Call the Co-op customer relations team on Freephone 0800 0686 727.

Manx Gas is warning people about a telephone scam that has caused distress to one of its customers and has been reported a number of times in the UK and further afield.

The scammers are claiming to be a government backed scheme and are telling people that they need to replace their carbon monoxide detector or risk facing a huge fine of up to £5,000.

A Manx Gas spokesperson said: ‘If anyone receives these calls then please contact our customer care team on 644444 and they will be able to assist you.’

The Office of Fair Trading says anyone who gets a call from a would-be carbon monoxide cold caller is to put the phone down.

The consumer watchdogs say that cold callers may even insist that householders will incur a substantial fine for not having an alarm installed.

The fire service givese free home safety advice for smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, the safety department can be contacted on 647303.

The Festival of the Sea will be held in Port Erin next year.

It will take place on July 22 and 23 and include what was known as the beach festival.

The festival, a celebration of all things marine-related, has its roots in the Queenie Festival, which was founded by Tim Croft from Island Seafare and Graham Hall, from the basking shark watch group.

It was first held in 2009 in the summer and grew over the years and attracted thousands of people to Port St Mary.

It was a celebration of all aspects relating to the sea: recreation, history, culture, food, conservation and wildlife.

However, logistical problems meant it did not take place this year.

Although the move of the festival to Port Erin is a blow to Port St Mary, several factors mean the venue has become problematic for organisers explained Michelle Heywood from Discover Diving, which is involved.

‘It proved difficult to organise in Port St Mary,’ she said. ‘The harbour is increasingly busy, because of the (ground) resurfacing work in the harbour, they did not want us to drill down (to secure marquees).

‘There were space restrictions. It was happily welcomed (in Port Erin) by Steve George (Port Erin beach festival organiser). It’s important to get it up and running this year to keep the momentum going.’

The festival will feature the popular touch tanks, operated by Manx Wildlife Trust.

Discover Diving will again be involved in collecting exhibits for the tanks.

Steve said: ‘Tim Croft given us his blessing. Whatever we do want oto make very, very clear we are not trying to poach the festival.’

Ms Heywood said: ‘The message of the festival is still relevant, it’s education and a recognition of how well managed the Manx waters are with protected areas and the biosphere status.

‘It’s still important to put your hands under the water to raise awareness, it’s very hard to get people to care about things if they do not know what it looks like.’

A new consultant in women’s health, who has more than a decade of experience, has begun working at Noble’s Hospital.

Rehana Zaman, who undertook her full training in the east of England, will lead the island’s colposcopy services in addition to her work as a general obstetrician and gynaecologist.

Mrs Zaman has worked in large specialist hospitals as well as a busy district general hospital.

This has given her experience in all areas of women’s health, including complicated and high risk obstetrics and gynaecology.

Mrs Zaman explained: ‘What attracted me to the role was the opportunity to provide a more personal level of care.

‘This is particularly important to me, as it is for all doctors, but something that is increasingly difficult to achieve in England’s NHS.

‘There’s a busy workload at Noble’s Hospital, of course, but there is also time to get to know patients a bit better and really understand their needs.’

She added: ‘When I saw the job advert for Noble’s Hospital it piqued my interest and after a visit to the island and the opportunity to meet the consultant team and other colleagues I decided to apply for the 
job.

‘I also realised what a beautiful place the island is and the quality of life it can offer me and my family. So far I have been very happy here.

‘Everyone has been so helpful and welcoming and it is a good working environment.’

Mrs Zaman is an accredited colposcopist, which involcesusing a special microscope to perform a detailed examination of the cervix.

Her other areas of special interest are minimal access surgery, advanced labour ward practice and medical education.

In her role as chairman for one of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists international liaison groups, Mrs Zaman helps to facilitate education and training links with the South Asian country of Bangladesh.

The appointment of Mrs Zaman as a consultant, the first in six years for women’s health on the island, brings the permanent team of consultant gynaecologists back up to four, following the recent retirement of Bob Fayle.

She joins a team comprising Michele Moroney, consultant gynaecologist with a specialist interest in fertility; Mike Divers, consultant gynaecologist with a specialist interest in urogynaecology; and Tarun Ghosh, consultant gynaecologist with a specialist interest in laparoscopic surgery.

A woman has been spared a jail sentence after fraudulently claiming thousands of pounds in benefit when she was not entitled.

April Castaneda Orque, of Alexander Drive in Douglas, claimed more than £18,300 in benefits, while at the same time working for the pub chain Heron and Brearley.

For the prosecution, Michael Jelski told a court in Douglas Orque claimed benefits between 2011 and 2015. He said she was a single mother, but failed to declare the hours she had worked.

The court heard she had worked at Artisan in Douglas, as well as putting in a few hours at The Queen’s Hotel and the Boat House fish and chip shop, but did not believe this had to be declared.

Mr Jeslki said the total amount paid was £18,338, however, he said £250 had been repaid from a £50 per month standing order.

The court heard a number of factors were to be taken into account in determining sentence: whether the claim started out as legitimate or was fraudulent from the outset, whether the money was spent self-indulgently or on necessities, the duration of the claim, whether the defendant admitted the offence and whether or not they showed remorse.

Roger Kane, representing Orque, pointed out there was a wide discretion for the court in sentencing, hence the need for a pre-sentence report. He handed in references on behalf of the defendant and pointed out the claim had started off as a legitimate one. He said the claim had lasted for three-and-a-half years but she had admitted the offence.

‘She was told she could work up to 16 hours. She knew she should have asked the department but she did not. She is a 30-year-old woman, not from the Isle of Man, surrounded by a family who think a lot of her, and it has been very difficult for her,’ he said.

‘She admitted what she had done was wrong and that she should have declared the work she had done.’

Though the basic figure for the overpayment was ‘considerable’, he pointed out had she declared the work, she would probably still have been entitled to claim some benefits and the cost to the tax payer was therefore less than that.

‘The money was used to pay for everyday necessities for her and her young child,’ he said, adding: ‘I would urge a community service order.

‘But if you are considering custody, there are arguments for a suspended sentence.

‘There were times when she had no income at all from her jobs and other weeks when she earned very little.

‘She was not living a lavish lifestyle at the expense of taxpayers.’

She received 180 hours’ community service and she must also pay compensation for the overpayments she received.

The prospect of a rate rise by the US Federal Reserve was duly fulfilled last week – little surprise, as it carried a probability of 100 per cent, writes James Penn of Thomas Miller in this, his latest Business View column.

One other event which has arguably carried a near 100 per cent probability of occurring (at some stage or other) – the takeover of Sky by Twenty First Century Fox – also occurred last week.

Fox (or its previous incarnation News Corp) has owned about 40 per cent of Sky since the latter was floated on the stock market in the 1980s.

Investors have long thought that, after the unsuccessful takeover bid lapsed five years ago, Fox would strike again. It was just a question of ‘when’.

The cash bid is pitched at £10.75 per share.

Shareholders will also receive a 10p special dividend if the bid is not finalised before the end of 2017, while Sky will receive a £200m break fee if the bid is abandoned.

The break fee was just £38m last time, so the Murdoch family, who control Fox, must be fairly confident they will succeed on this occasion.

So what is different this time round, how likely is the bid to go through, and what could jeopardise it?

The price is certainly higher this time.

The last bid, made in June 2010 was at £7.

Sky shares have performed well since then, and the company is a changed entity.

Two years ago, Sky bought (from Fox, as it happens) Sky Italia and Sky Deutscheland, extending its business interests into Europe for the first time, having previously been confined to the UK.

In 2010/11 the bid was hostile, and the independent directors opposed the bid.

This time, a committee of independent directors has approved the bid (James Murdoch, reinstated as Sky chairman in April, is not on this committee).

The structure of the bid is different this time, too.

It has been structured as a ‘scheme of arrangement’, whereby the acquiring company needs to secure 75 per cent of independent shareholders to gain approval, before it can move to cancel the listing.

It is a speedier mechanism.

It also means that Fox only needs 75 per cent of voters, rather the 90 per cent it would otherwise need if it wanted to ‘squeeze out’ difficult shareholders.

Furthermore, Fox doesn’t need to put a vote to its own shareholders, who might oppose the acquisition.

Last time, it was agreed with the Department of Culture, Media and Studies that Sky News would be ‘spun off’ as an entirely independent organisation, in the interests of media plurality.

This time the Murdochs are expecting no such regulatory concessions, although Fox has agreed to invest £700m in UK TV production, and to retain Sky’s London headquarters.

The political landscape has changed.

The Conservatives are in a majority.

Last time, a coalition government was in place, and the bid was referred to the regulators by Liberal Democrat minister, Vince Cable.

The Labour Party, led by Tom Watson (who was in the vanguard of the investigations into the phone hacking scandal five years ago), are calling for a referral to Ofcom, and the Competition and Markets Authority.

The UK government has 10 days in which to call for a referral.

It is likely that they will do so.

Whether the Murdochs are ‘fit and proper’ persons, and whether there will be sufficient media ‘plurality’ after the acquisition – even in our new world of social media – remain valid questions (the Murdochs continue to control News Corp, which owns many UK newspapers, although this is now independent of Fox).

However, the probability is that this time a takeover, so long coveted by the Murdochs, will go through.

Sky shareholders, confronted with a disappointing share price performance in the year to date, and with the prospect of having to make significant investments in broadband infrastructure if Sky remains as an independent company, are likely to be relieved by this recent development.

The opinions stated are those of the author and should not be taken as investment advice. Any recommendations may not be suitable for all, so please contact your financial adviser for further guidance. The value of investments can go down as well as up.

RNLI Douglas lifeboat volunteer crew members were paged just after 1am today (Boxing Day) to help coastguards and police in a search for a missing person.

The search was being conducted b along Douglas Promenade and beach.

The RNLI all-weather lifeboat Sir William Hillary launched under the command of volunteer Coxswain Neal Corran and was tasked to carry out a sweep along the full length of Douglas beach as close inshore as the ebbing tide would safely allow.

Following several such sweeps of the shoreline without finding anyone the lifeboat crew widened the search to include the Tower of Refuge using flares to illuminate the area around the tower.

They also searched in the vicinity of the seaward side of the Victoria Pier resuming their earlier shoreline search of Douglas beach when no one was found near to either the Tower or the Pier.

By 2.15am the person reported as missing was ound safe and well.

PwC Isle of Man recently hosted the island premiere of the ICAEW’s ‘False Assurance’ drama film, shining the spotlight on the actions of accountants, auditors and company directors.

The breakfast event saw nearly 100 directors, C-Suite, IT and compliance professionals take their seats at the Broadway Cinema in Douglas.

The film was written by Duncan Wiggetts, a former partner with PwC, who is now executive director for Professional Standards at ICAEW.

The story revolves around how a fictitious company is damaged by the actions of its executive directors and a lack of courage and vigilance from its Board.

Split in to four parts, in between each section an expert panel fielded questions from Nick Halsall, partner at PwC Isle of Man, drilling down into areas highlighted in the film and, following the film, answered questions from the audience.

The expert panel included John Ormerod (itv non-executive director and audit committee chairman, and non-executive director of Gemalto a Dutch listed technology company and Constellium a NY listed manufacturing company).

The panel also had Chris Hall (non-executive directorships including Manx Telecom PLC, Utmost Limited).

And Steve Billinghurst (PwC Isle of Man advisory director) was the third panellist.

False Assurance covers many topical issues experienced by board and audit committee chairs, including cyber security risks, anti-bribery controls, executive compensation packages, whistle-blowing procedures and the reliability of internal investigations.

Steve Billinghurst said: ‘The event was able to bring home to local businesses the manner in which issues such as cyber breaches and bribery can easily creep up on Boards and committees when the directors are detached from the business and not fully aware of all the facts.

‘Staying connected to operational matters and seeking timely professional advice are important responsibilities for each board member to achieve, perhaps even more so when businesses are doing well.

‘In today’s fast moving business environment staying being ready to respond has never been more important.’

Private banking company Duncan Lawrie has announced on its website it is no longer opening any new client accounts following an announcement to the London Stock Exhange by its parent company.

Agriculture and engineering giant Camellia Plc has decided to sell most of the Duncan Lawrie businesses which have offices in the island, London, Bristol and Kent.

Camellia said the majority of Duncan Lawrie’s UK loans and certain of its Isle of Man loans have been sold to private bank Arbuthnot Latham & Co Ltd for a cash consideration of £42.7 million.

It has also agreed to sell Duncan Lawrie Asset Management Ltd to wealth managers Brewin Dolphin for £28 million.

Camellia said the proceeds from the sales will be used to repay depositors, meet any other liabilities of Duncan Lawrie and will be reinvested in other parts of the group.

Camellia added that ‘discussions are under way with a number of other parties in respect of the sale of Duncan Lawrie’s Isle of Man offshore trust services business.’

Duncan Lawrie has been based in the island for around 30 years and it is uncertain at this stage how staff will be affected by the development.

The offices are in Mount Havelock, Douglas.

Earlier this year Business News reported on how new managing director Sue Preskey, 48, admitted she thrives on a challenge and underlined her commitment to the business in the Isle of Man.

Student mental health nurse Julia Furner will be attending a course at the world’s most successful drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre as part of her studies.

Julia, aged 29, of Reayrt Ny Keylley, in Peel, will take part in an eight-day international workshop at San Patrignano in Rimini, Italy, from March 30.

San Patrignano is the largest recovery programme in the world that treats chronic drug, alcohol and gambling addiction and can accommodate 1,350 people at a time.

Its goal is full recovery and reintegration into society and the workplace.

‘This is a fantastic opportunity that I want to experience as a student,’ she said.

‘At a personal level, this course will deepen my knowledge of addiction, give me new skills and resources which I can utilise when working with affected patients.

‘My confidence in my ability to help others towards their recovery will increase which will benefit patients.

‘At a broader level, I can share all the resources I receive with other students and health professionals.’

Julia is in the final year of her mental health nursing degree at Keyll Darree and is excited about the prospect of qualifying next year.

She said: ‘San Patrignano’s recovery model is radically different to western standards.

‘They do not perceive addiction to be an illness: no pharmaceutical treatment for addiction is given.

‘Each resident is seen as a unique, exceptional individual – full of potential. Only the most motivated of individuals are accepted, and the majority recover.’

Job training, recreational activities and education are available to everyone there.

And everyone on the recovery programme must work full-time in an area they are allocated to.

Julia’s attendance on the course has been made possible thanks to the Henry Bloom Noble’s Health Care Trust, which has sponsored the course fees. And her travel expenses are being for by The Isle of Man Research Committee and Brightlife.

Julia is keen to hear from health professionals who have visited San Patrignano and any patients who have attended the centre and would be happy to share their recovery story.

Contact Julia by email on juliafurner1987@hotmail.com or call 258304/848505.

Today’s crisp, cold weather was ideal for the Manx custom of Hunt the Wren.

Boxing Day - or rather St Stephen’s Day - is the date on which people gather in groups to take part in the tradition.

These days it’s a mixture of singing and country dancing.

But its roots can be traced to a bloodthirsty ritual as gangs of youths would scour the countryside looking for a defenceless wren to trap and kill, but now a more humane option is to use an artificial bird.

The wren then became the centrepiece for a ‘bush’ - two wooden hoops set at right angles and placed on top of a pole and covered with ribbons and evergreens.’

The ‘bush’ would then be carried from house to house while the group sang the Hunt the Wren song and hoped to collect some money or treats for their troubles.

The song charts the progress of the wren from being hunted, caught, cooked and then eaten. There are many suggestions as to why the poor wren should be singled out for such treatment, such as it being a commemoration of the martyrdom of St Stephen and revenge on the wren because it is the reincarnation of an enchantress who lured men to their death in droves.

The feathers of the wren are distributed amongst the wren boys as a good luck charm, being particularly potent against witchcraft and to prevent a shipwreck.

We have some photos here from events in Kirk Michael, St John’s, Union Mills, Port St Mary and Douglas.

On this story we have included a video above from a Hunt the Wren event in 2013 to show the live dancing.

Click here to photos from last year

If you took part in a Hunt the Wren event and took photos, email newsdesk@newsiom.co.im

Please include a phone number so we can get back to you quickly if we need to.

The Isle of Man’s answer to the Wombles will attempt to retrieve its bin from the Sulby River at the Poyll Doohey tomorrow morning, Tuesday, December 27th.

Beach Buddies are hoping a few of volunteers might be able to come along and provide some muscle to place the bin back in position in the Poyll Doohey car park.

Beach Buddies founder Bill Dale said: ‘We don’t have any particular ideas in mind, but the most likely would be to tie a rope onto the bin and drag it out using the truck. Access for the truck, however, could be a problem.

‘It also seems most sensible to take the bin further downstream and try to pull it out on the northern side of the river. We may need the kind permission of local landowners to do this.’

The plan is to meet at 11am at the point where the bin is in the river, which is about half a mile below the White Bridge, and about quarter of a mile upstream from Ramsey Bridge.

Beach Buddies will be hosting hot drinks afterwards in Ramsey.

Anyone under 35 who is mystified by our reference to the Wombles should click here

Families flocked to The Children’s Centre’s Community Farm for a Christmas open day.

Places were booked up well in advance of the event, which gave animal lovers the chance to view the farm abased on the headland overlooking Douglas and meet the animals.

Youngsters enjoyed the chance to enjoy a Santa’s sleigh ride around the land thanks to ‘Rudolph’ Revill and to visit Santa in his grotto.

Activities also included decorating gingerbread, planting kitchen herbs to grow, festive story-telling and face painting.

• Order copies of these pictures and more taken by our photographers at www.iomtoday.co.im/buyaphoto

Russian Ice Stars will present Snow White on Ice at the Gaiety Theatre in April.

Tickets have gone on sale for the show, which take places from April 5 to 9, with a mixture of matinee and evening performances.

Cast members were in the island on Monday to launch Snow White on Ice at the ice rink at Tynwald Mills on Monday.

The original story of an enchanted mirror, a beautiful girl, the ultimate Prince Charming and a shiny red apple will come to life on ice, with ballet, gymnastics and aerial aerobatics to create a breathtaking and mesmerising experience.

It’s described as a spell-binding production that promises to be both lavish and spectacular, dazzling with its sheer beauty and elegance that will thrill the whole family.

Tickets cost £25 for adults; £17.50 for under 16s. Family tickets are also available.

See www.villagaiety.com

Losing the free movement of people after Brexit would be of major concern to the island, Chief Minister Howard Quayle told a House of Lords select committee.

He was giving evidence to the Lords European Union select committee alongside Jersey and Guernsey’s Chief Ministers Ian Gorst and Gavin St Pier.

Committee chairman Lord Boswell of Aynho told them that he wanted to make sure the Crown Dependencies were not overlooked in the UK’s Brexit negotiations and ‘your interests are properly understood and safeguarded’.

Mr Quayle said that as the Isle of Man is not part of the EU it might appear that Brexit will not have an effect on us but the situation was ‘not quite so straight forward’.

He said that with the island facing an ageing population, the Manx government was looking to grow the working population and ‘losing the freedom of movement of people we are reliant on would be one of our major concerns’.

The island’s unemployment rate of 1.2 per cent was ‘dangerously low’, when we ‘really need to grow our 20-40-year-olds skilled workforce, he said, adding: ‘Losing access or having considerable hurdles to attract a workforce from the EU on top of the UK would be of significant concern for our island’. Mr Quayle said the island would want to maintain ‘as much as possible’ the current relationship with the freedom of movement of goods and people, with the freedom of movement of people especially being ‘absolutely paramount’.

The Government wants a centralised, comprehensive, database of citizens. writes Steve Burrows in his latest IT Matters column for Business News.

They tell us that they currently have around 60 databases which are used by a couple of hundred IT systems.

Unsurprisingly the Government has difficulty keeping all these databases complete and up to date, so they hold bad data about citizens - out of date address, occupation, marital status, duplicate records, missing records etc. Failing to ensure that personal data is accurate is a breach of data protection. It’s a common problem, many larger organisations used to have multiple databases which were supposed to hold the same, up to date, data, but didn’t. It’s easy to see why the government would want to fix this problem, it must hinder government efficiency, and it is a previously solved problem.

Master Data Management is the jargon used to describe the processes and methods which define and manage the critical data of an organization to provide a single point of reference.

approaches

There are two common approaches, either create a central database of commonly needed data to which every system refers, or have a central database of that data which automatically updates all the other databases whenever the data is changed.

Either method works fine, and in the second method it is customary to include a regular consistency checking process to validate that the other databases still match the master. Because the authors of the software using those sixty Government databases will not have written them to use any database other than the one they designed, having a single master database to which all systems refer is conceptually easy but sometimes practically difficult. In general it is easier to hold a master database which updates all other subsidiary databases,

The government is later than most organisations in addressing this problem, but for good reason - the division of government into multiple legal entities each with responsibility for its own conformance to data protection creates a legal barrier to the idea of a pan-government database.

It would be easy for Tynwald to sweep this barrier aside, and the government needs to address the problem to improve efficiency and quality of service, but the potential implications are complex and dangerous - hence some of the concerns voiced by the public.

So what are the issues?

Data Sharing:

Because each Government ministry is a separate legal entity, they can only share our data between departments with either our individual permission or the establishment of law which permits the sharing - so for example it would, rather absurdly, be unlawful for the Cabinet Office to share our names and addresses out to the databases used by individual departments, and vice versa.

Data Purposes:

Even if sharing were permitted, data permissions are based upon purposes. For example permission to collect and process our personal data for operation of the Electoral Roll, even though it is mandatory for us as residents to provide our information for the Electoral Roll, would not permit that data to be used to see if we exist on Tax or Health databases; the purposes for which our data is used must be pre-declared. This is fundamental data protection law to protect us from undeclared abuses of our data.

If the simple name and address data gathered for the Citizen’s Database were used to enable cross-referencing between databases, for instance cross-referencing the electoral roll with health department data to check whether someone who claims to be ineligible for jury service is actually exempt, that would be a clear breach of the law. This example of a potential but currently illegal benefit of the Citizen’s Database was suggested in the evidence given by civil servants to the Tynwald Select Committee on the Operation of the Jury System and would imply that a civil servant could have it revealed to them, without the person’s express permission, that someone was ineligible on health grounds.

While no detail about the person’s medical impairment might need be exposed, the very existence of a disqualifying impairment might be considered sensitive personal data which someone would not wish to disclose to anyone but their doctor. Any system which could create new purposes for data could be considered a serious risk to privacy.

Trust and Compulsion: Normally when we give up our personal data to an organisation it is a voluntary act and that concept is enshrined in European law, albeit that we may effectively have no choice if we want the service provided by the organisation; however with Government that’s not the case. There are numerous provisions in law to penalise us if we do not provide Government with our data.

Despite the penalties the Government has an enormous problem in collecting data; a senior civil servant reported to the Select Committee on the Operation of the Jury system that as many as thirty percent of us eligible to vote and forty percent of us who are eligible for jury service have declined to register on the Electoral Roll despite it being mandatory, giving up our right to vote and risking prosecution, in order to avoid handing our data to the government.

The reality is clear that many of us do not trust the Government with our data, and any compulsion to provide data which is not absolutely necessary goes against the whole ethos of European data protection law.

Theft and Abuse:

Campaigners have raised the spectre that if the Government puts all our data in one place then it will become a more attractive target for cyber criminals, and as many previous large data breaches have proven, there is no such thing as perfect security.

Campaigners have also raised the concern, which harks back to trust, that giving Government greater access to our personal data will increase the frequency with which our data is abused for unsanctioned purposes by irresponsible or criminal public sector employees.

Misuse and careless custody of citizens’ personal data by public servants has long been a problem both here and across, and theft of bulk data for financial reward has become a criminal industry in its own right with even European governments openly buying stolen data on the black market.

Public concerns about weak data protection practices and poor cyber security are sadly probably well founded.

serious risks

So on the one hand we have an opportunity to help streamline the functioning of Government through the use of Master Data Management, which should result in significant public sector efficiency improvements and a reduction in the cost of Government, but on the other hand there are serious risks both to us as individuals and to the credibility of our data protection regime.

The credibility of our data protection regime is an important consideration. We currently have an EU Data Protection equivalence ruling based upon the old Data Protection Directive - and in some ways we are barely compliant; the island’s penalties for data protection breaches are far lighter than current European expectations.

appropriate penalties

While I am sure our authorities are working out how they will achieve Isle of Man compliance with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation, which brings in much stiffer penalties than the old Directive, if Government really wants to be more sophisticated in its use of our data we need to have appropriate controls and penalties that meet modern European expectations.

Data sharing between departments is a simple barrier to remove - either pass legislation permitting it or make the Government a single legal entity as is already under consideration.

Data Purpose is harder to solve, but possible.

Probably the simplest solution is a declared set of purposes (a long list), independent supervision of all Government data usage (perhaps by the Information Commissioner), and the design of new Government reports, systems and data-linkages on a need to know basis such that it is hard for public servants to misuse or inappropriately access our data.

It is entirely possible to design most data extracts and reports so that people only see the data appropriate for their individual job roles, but the Government would need to adopt this as an internal design standard and enforce it on all the new data views enabled by data sharing and linkage.

Finally, we can link the Trust, Compulsion, Abuse and Cyber Security issues together, they are all faces of the same problem.

Some compulsion to provide data is necessary because not all citizens are responsible or honest, however we’re never going to see high levels of trust in government handling of our data while there are regular reports of personal data abuses and slack security procedures which effectively go un-punished. Currently the maximum fine for a data breach on the Isle of Man is, if I’ve read the rules correctly, five thousand pounds.

To match the new EU General Data Protection Regulation that would need to rise to twenty million Euros or four percent of turnover - whichever is greater.

It is however no use fining the Government, all that means is that we the victims wind up paying as taxpayers for public servant’s abuses of our data - a double whammy against the citizen.

In order to restore public faith in Government’s handling of our data, and to enable public trust in a Citizens Database, we are going to need a data protection regime which imposes high data protection standards and levies hefty penalties directly on to public servants for any public sector data protection breaches.

King William’s College has appointed Joss Buchanan as its new principal.

The news comes following the resignation of the previous principal, Martin Humphreys, who had been on compassionate leave since March. Martin’s wife, Francesca, died in October following a long illness.

And in another development Janet Billingsley-Evans has been appointed as head of The Buchan School.

Her appointment comes following the retirement of the previous head Jane Corlett in March.

Joss Buchanan joined the College in 1997 to teach History and Politics.

He subsequently became head of History and then the College’s first head of sixth form.

More recently he was the academic deputy and since March he has been the acting principal.

Before joining the College he taught in Shropshire and also worked for a number of years as an intelligence analyst at GCHQ in Cheltenham.

Joss said: ‘Having been at the College for so long I know the School extremely well and am very fond of it. It is above all a strong community and it is a huge privilege to be asked by the Governors to lead it.

‘The School is as successful as it has been for many years and thanks to the IB (International Baccalaureate Diploma) it has a growing national reputation.

‘I look forward to working with all members of the community – pupils, staff and parents – in the years to come.’

Nigel Wood, chairman of Governors, wrote to parents: ‘We are fortunate indeed to have an individual of the calibre of Joss Buchanan now in post and I am sure you will join with me, in wishing him well and much good fortune in his promotion to principal.’

Meanwhile new Buchan head Janet Billingsley-Evans joined The Buchan School in 2002 as the head of the pre-preparatory department.

She later became the deputy head of the school and has been the acting head of the Buchan since March this year.

Janet said: ‘I am absolutely delighted to be in a position to lead the Buchan into the future. I am privileged to work with such a talented and professional team.

‘We have exciting times ahead as a school and our children will always remain the focus of everything we do.’

Mr Wood, chairman of the Governors, wrote to parents: ‘As you will be aware, the Governors undertook a thorough search for candidates internally, within the UK and overseas.

‘There was significant interest in the role and a number of candidates were considered from a wide range of UK preparatory and independent schools, some of which were very familiar names indeed.

‘In both stages of the interview process, Mrs Billingsley-Evans impressed the panels with her grip of the issues facing The Buchan School and her specific ideas and evident determination to address them with, at heart, the happiness and education of your children.

‘This might be thought to be an obvious advantage for an incumbent, but the extent of her passion and drive to ensure the school succeeds in the future was breath-taking, with the result that her suitability for the role was eminently evident.

‘I trust you will join with me in wishing Janet every success in her new challenge.’

King William’s College opened on August 1, 1833. The Buchan School was founded in 1875.

Police want to find Lee Cowell, aged 42, from Douglas.

Officers are looking to speak to him in relation to what they call ‘an ongoing matter’.

A spokesman said: ‘Although there is no risk posed to the public we are urging anyone who may know of his whereabouts to get in touch either directly on 631212 or via the Freephone crime stoppers number 0800 555 111.’

The first athletics event of 2017 is the St John’s Fell Race on New Year’s Day.

It will be over a challenging 5km route that takes competitors to the summit of Slieau Whallian and back.

Start time is 1.30pm with registration at St John’s Football Club from 12.15pm until 1.15pm. The race will not count towards the 2017 Callin/Wild fell league as the main emphasis will be raising money for charity. All entry fees will be shared between Children in Need and Cherish and Develop in Mann.

Everyone is invited to run in fancy dress if they so wish. Minimum age 12 years. Safety gear is not compulsory but runners are advised to carry a waterproof jacket.

St George’s clinched a record seventh successive Cu-Plas Railway Cup by beating St Mary’s in the final at the Bowl on Boxing Day.

Chris Bass Sr’s side twice came from behind to eventually get the better of Kevin Middleton’s players after the latter were reduced to 10 men late on.

By surpassing the record of six consecutive wins - a mark shared with rivals Peel - Geordies secured yet another piece of Manx footballing history.

Captain Frank Jones also continued his remarkable run of scoring in successive Railway Cup finals when he netted an early equaliser for the Glencrutchery Road side after Darren Hudgeon had given St Mary’s the lead in the fourth minute.

Hudgeon restored St Marys’ lead soon after but talented young centre-back Adam Long equalised for Geordies with a header shortly before half-time.

The Glencrutchery Road juggernauts took the lead for the first time just after the hour mark when Ciaran McNulty slotted in following Jack McVey’s pass, before their opponents were reduced to 10 men when Brian Crellin was shown a straight red for a robust challenge on Jones.

St Mary’s battled on valiantly but the game was put beyond doubt late on when McVey lashed home a superb strike from the edge of the box and McNulty headed in Joey Morling’s cross to complete a 5-2 victory and ensure the Railway Cup remains in the Geordies trophy cabinet for another year at least.

Full report in today’s Isle of Man Examiner, plus reaction and more photographs in Thursday’s Manx Independent.