LIBERAL Vannin leader Peter Karran is taking another job in government.
A month after he was sacked as Minister of Education and Children, the Onchan MHK has accepted a position as a member of the Department of Home Affairs.
Before the general election in September last year, Mr Karran refused to take on membership of any department and acted in opposition as the sole representative of Liberal Vannin.
However, when he became Chief Minister after the general election, Allan Bell wooed him and persuaded him to become a minister in the so-called Government of National Unity.
While Karran joined the Department of Education and Children as the minister, fellow party members newly-elected as MHKs joined government departments too. Kate Beecroft joined Environment, Food and Agriculture, while Zac Hall joined Education.
Hall was sacked from both the department and the Liberal Vannin Party when he failed to support Karran’s plan for the proposed privatisation of the pre-school nurseries.
Karran was sacked last month as a minister after he broke ranks with his ministerial colleagues over the Pinewood film deal.
Other moves announced today include:
>John Houghton MHK to be chairman of the Water and Sewerage Authority (subject to Tynwald approval) and to be a member of the Department of Infrastructure. Houghton remains vice chairman of the Manx Electricity Authority.
>Alan Crowe MLC to leave the Department of Home Affairs, remaining a member of the Department of Economic Development.
>Leonard Singer MHK to leave the Civil Service Commission, joining the Department of Health and the Public Sector Pensions Authority. Singer will remain a member of the Department of Social Care.
>Dudley Butt MLC to leave the Public Sector Pensions Authority, joining the Civil Service Commission. Butt will remain a member of the Department of Health.
Accepting a government position affects take-home pay.
A member of Tynwald receives a salary of £37,432. Department members get 30 per cent more, taking their salary to £48,661. Members of the Treasury get 40 per cent more.
Ministers get 50 per cent extra, taking their salary to £56,148. The Chief Minister gets 80 per cent more, although he declined to take the 1.2 per cent pay rise that members received in March.
The Speaker, Steve Rodan, receives 60 per cent more while the chairman of the Civil Service Commission, Alfred Cannan, gets a 40 per cent uplift.
All members get expenses on top of their salaries.