At a meeting held yesterday, Economic Development decided it was not in a position to award a subsidy to a preferred provider because it felt the information provided did not meet the criteria and provide assurance that a resilient service could be delivered.
‘This is not a decision which we have come to lightly, however the investment of public funds in the current financial climate must be supported by both quantitative and qualitative factors to satisfy internal and external scrutiny,’ said Economic Development chairman Stuart Clark.
‘On this occasion, we are not satisfied that the tender criteria were met in order to provide us with the required assurances to warrant such an investment of public funds.’
He said the committee was confident that the range of providers competing in the market would ensure that connectivity between the islands continued and they would continue to assess different options and models to strengthen connectivity in the future.
Alderney Ferry Services, which has been running for four years, had previously been awarded the subsidy for the Guernsey route.
In a statement on social media, company owners Charlie Smith and Dan Slimm said they would be increasing fares by £15 per person as a result of not receiving the subsidy.
‘Whilst this is not the decision we hoped for, we would like to assure our passengers that we remain committed to providing this vital sea link between the islands,’ they said.
‘The States of Alderney subsidy helped us to keep our ticket prices at a reduced rate, however without the subsidy we have had no choice but to increase our fares.
‘As a small family run company we don’t like increasing our fares, we understand that even the smallest increase can impact the decision to travel.’
However, they reassured passengers that they were still committed to operating the route.
The new fares will be £85 one-way for adults, £67.50 one-way for children up to 14, and £25 one-way for infants up to two years old.
Jersey company WaterTaxi CI has been running a Jersey/Alderney charter service in partnership with the States of Alderney following a successful first year last summer.
It said it had been a brilliant first month with a positive increase in numbers over last year’s trial.
The service is £78 per person each way and it operates four rotations a week between May and September.
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