Policy and objectives for PoJ

WQ.356/2025

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT

BY DEPUTY I. GARDINER OF ST. HELIER NORTH

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 22nd SEPTEMBER 2025 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 29th SEPTEMBER 2025

Question

"Will the Minister –

1. provide details of the specific policy directions given to the Ports of Jersey (PoJ) for the period 2024-2026 and the objectives that were to be achieve during 2024 and 2025;
2. advise how these objectives connect, if at all, to the Island Outcomes Indicators, the procedures used to measure whether the PoJ is contributing effectively to the wider Island Outcome and what metrics are used to evaluate this contribution with specific examples provided for 2024;
3. advise how the Minister is assured the policy directions and objectives are being implemented as he intended and remain on track, and further advise how often they are reviewed;
4. detail how he co-ordinates with the Minister for Treasury and Resources (as shareholder representative) to ensure that the policy priorities are consistently reflected in the PoJ's strategic business plans and Memoranda of Understanding; and
5. outline the policy directions and objectives he is considering for the PoJ for the year 2026, and how they will align with infrastructure regeneration priorities?"

Answer

1. In January 2024, the Government published the Ports Policy Framework (PPF) which sets out eight strategic priorities for Jersey's ports sector. The PFF was developed to provide Ports of Jersey Ltd, and all other stakeholders within Jersey's aviation and maritime ecosystem, with a clear policy platform for sustainable development and diversification.

More specifically, I have issued two revisions to Jersey's Sea Transport Policy to give the Harbour Master the requisite authority to manage ramp licences following the appointment of DFDS as Jersey's principal ferry operator. The Sea Transport Policy gives the Harbour Master the ability to confer a level of exclusive access to DFDS as part of the Government's Concession Agreement with operator. The most recent update to the policy allows for the issuance of ramp licences to other Ropax ferry operators (namely, Brittany Ferries) in order for them to fulfil inter-island services only between Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Ramp licences have since been issued accordingly.

Jersey's Air Transport Policy has largely remained unchanged since 2003 when Jersey adopted "Open Skies", allowing greater commercial dynamism in the service of Jersey's overall connectivity.

2. I refer to Page 14 of the Ports Policy Framework which outlines how Jersey's Island Outcome Indicators are central to how the PFF's priority areas were identified, and how it is Government's expectation that the sector develops in line with Jersey's Island Outcomes. Given the expanse of Jersey's ports sector as an island nation, environmental, community, and economic protections and successes are ubiquitous to the development of the sector. Specifically for 2024, I would point to Harbour and Airport Master planning, and Ferry Services procurement as three processes that were closely guided by, and assessed with, the tenets of the PFF and Island Indicators at their centre.

3. The Ports Policy Ministerial Group, which I chair, and which is attended by the Minister for Treasury and Resources, Minister for Infrastructure, and Chief Minister, meets quarterly to review progress against priority areas within the PPF, and to provide guidance to Ports of Jersey Ltd around major projects and discrete initiatives. The PPMG last convened on 22nd July 2025.
4. The primary interface between me as the MSED and the Minister for Treasury and Resources on ports matters is the Ports Policy Ministerial Group. Treasury, fulfilling the stakeholder function for Ports of Jersey, leads on oversight of POJ's strategic business planning.
5. I do not readily foresee circumstances in which the PFF will be substantially reviewed or altered during the remaining months of this political cycle. Ports of Jersey's Elizabeth Harbour redevelopment plan, which gained planning approval in October 2024, was supported by the PFF and its progress is central to enhancing Jersey's maritime connectivity, supply chain, and community place-making in St Helier.

As we continue to develop Jersey's new partnership with DFDS, the efficacy of the Sea Transport Policy will kept under regular review in order to ensure both the resilience of Jersey's Ropax ferry services and a vibrant local maritime ecosystem, particularly around inter-island connectivity and for enhancing economic and cultural links with northern France.