THE deal between Jersey and DFDS – which sets out the terms of the Danish ferry operator’s service for the next 20 years – will be published by the end of next month.
The ‘concession agreement’ which was signed at the end of last year after a delayed and controversial tendering process will be released with redactions after the Government agreed to do so, facing pressure from backbenchers and the wider public to give more information.
Providing an update to Scrutiny on when Islanders would get sight of the deal, Economic Department Chief Officer Richard Corrigan said: “The agreement went to DFDS’s in-house legal team earlier this week for them to consider our redactions and any other changes they would wish us to consider making.
“We will consider that and then it will go through the Law Officers’ Department.”
He added: “We don’t want to publish a dry contract that would only be of interest to lawyers but put some explanatory notices around it as to why certain clauses exist and what they mean in practice.”
Asked by Economic and International Affairs Panel member Deputy Karen Wilson what would be redacted, Mr Corrigan replied that an example would be DFDS’s target return on equity and passenger pricing model.
He said: “The fare structure [set out in the agreement] is on a minimum fare, a mean average fare and a maximum fare; some elements of that will be redacted because it gives away part of the passenger pricing model which is important to DFDS.
“We will work with DFDS to work out what can be published and what is commercially sensitive.”
Mr Corrigan added that Condor had also committed to fare structure in their failed tender to Jersey and that was also commercially sensitive.
Asked about the expected reaction to the publication of the agreement, Mr Corrigan replied: “I don’t see any complication but will it generate another wave of speculation and interest? Quite possibly: some hold a view that things are hidden or not discussed.
“This contract is far more comprehensive than the outgoing operator agreement which, from Jersey’s standpoint, was a really poor agreement which meant that when we had to act on something, we didn’t have the teeth. But that was negotiated by a different minister, a different chief officer and a different team at a different time.
“I believe that we now have a contract that has teeth, that is commercially appropriate, that underwrites resilient services well into the future, and secures significant investment in the passenger experience and the resilience of freight.”
