Report highlights issues with transport contracts

The Jersey Audit Office's report covers ferry, air, bus and road services

A report released on Friday found the government had not closely monitored a loan of £8.5m loan to an airline, with £7m still unpaid.

The loan funding was provided to Blue Islands during the COVID-19 pandemic to secure it's services.

The report from Jersey's audit office said the repayment schedule for the loan was restructured in June 2024 to extend it to December 2028 and on 30 June, the outstanding capital balance was £7m.

States of Jersey Infrastructure and Environment and Blue Islands have been approached for a comment.

The report also claimed a 20-year ferry contract was signed with no documented "formal assessment of the impact, benefits and risks", and a £5m backup ferry deal was put in place without proper review.

The Jersey Audit Office said there was a lack of evidence to "demonstrate adequate monitoring against key performance indicators (KPIs) by the Government during the period of the loan, outside of the attendance as observers at Blue Islands Board meetings by representatives from Treasury and Exchequer, and Ports of Jersey".

Blue Island's services were key to the ability of islanders to attend healthcare appointments in the UK, it said.

New contracts

The audit office report also found several new contracts had been put in place for ferry and bus services.

The island bus service contract was re-awarded to LibertyBus for 10 years from April, following a 2024 procurement exercise.

It said pilot east-to-west bus service was expected to cost £180,000 a year, funded by the Climate Emergency Fund.

The Jersey Emergency Transfer Service (JETS) has been operated under a contract with an air ambulance provider, which is also under contract with Guernsey.

In June 2020, each island signed a five-year contract and both islands extended the contract in November last year, to run from June this year to May 2026.

The report showed the Ports of Jersey's operational management, the associated infrastructure and systems were heavily regulated.

The latest Ports of Jersey annual report confirmed that all compliance audits were completed without any significant non-conformities being recorded.

The conclusion of the audit showed a framework of standard developed to promote "island-wide resilience under a proposed new resilience law," but this work had been paused.

New arrangements have been or are due to be put in place for critical ferry, air, air ambulance and bus services.

It said it was important to monitor provision of these critical services more effectively to ensure transport link resilience.