Money paid by Government of Jersey to DFDS (FOI)

​​Request

Request is made with regard to monies paid by the Governemnt of Jersey to DFDS (or its affiliates) during the 2024 ferry tender process for berthing trials, and any other shipping costs. Now that the tender has been decided, and given that any payments will have been funded by the Jersey taxpayers, it is in the public interest to know how taxpayers money has been spent, and in what quantities. It is also requested to know on what basis these payments were made and justified given that Condor was not afforded the same treatment. In some part of the world these might be viewed as facilitation payments. Thank you.

Response

Having assessed there to be material and ongoing risk to continuity of lifeline sea connectivity, the Government of Jersey entered into contract with an independent ferry operator for contingency ferry services, including onward charter of vessels. The States of Guernsey also entered into that agreement and shared costs.  

Three vessels – Finlandia Seaways, Mistral, Seven Sisters - were trialled under this contingency arrangement with follow-on charters arranged for Finlandia Seaways and Mistral. None of those vessels had previously called at St Helier or St Peter Port and so the berthing trials established an operational window for their use should contingency be called. Two other vessels have formed part of the charter arrangements at various points over the last 12 months although berthing trials were not required in either instance due to previous calls to the islands. 

The berthing trials were not connected to a separate procurement process running during 2024 for long-term sea connectivity and nor were the vessels trialled to support the tender plans of any bidding party. 

Berthing trials conducted by Brittany Ferries of the Barfleur and Bretagne were at their request and therefore not paid for by the Government of Jersey. 

Condor was not invited to participate in the contingency arrangement as the material and ongoing risk identified was to services to be contractually provided by Condor under its Operating Agreement. 

The disclosure of the requested information regarding the total sum involved in the berthing trials would likely prejudice the commercial interests of the parties involved, including the Government of Jersey. It would further prejudice the economic or financial interests of the Government of Jersey. Therefore Articles 33 and 34 of the Freedom of Information Jersey (Law) 2011 has been applied.

Articles Applied

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Public Interest Test

Article 33(b) of the Freedom of Information Law allows an authority to refuse a request for information where its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information). 

Whilst it is accepted that the public may have an interest in the requested correspondence, it is considered that releasing this information could affect the commercial interests of the suppliers and the Government of Jersey.

Article 34 - The Economy

Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice –

(a) the economic interests of Jersey; or

(b) the financial interests of the States of Jersey.

Public Interest Test

Article 34 is a qualified exemption which requires there to be a likelihood of prejudice against the economic interests of Jersey or the financial interests of the States of Jersey. Whilst this could include reputational concerns, the larger concern is whether the economic interests of the Government of Jersey could be prejudiced by the release of information that could undermine Jersey's reputation.

The following extract from the guidance of the UK Information Commissioner should also be noted:

The exemption concerns the effect on the economy rather than the government's ability to manage the economy. However, since it is an aim of governments to improve economic prosperity, weakening the government's control over the economy may also damage the economy itself.

Public interest would not be served by disclosing information which may have a detrimental impact on the economy.​