A cabinet minister is set to be questioned about the handling of negotiations to secure an operator for Jersey’s ferry services.
The States Assembly announced that an additional hearing of the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel will take place on Tuesday at 15:30 GMT. The session aims to address concerns surrounding the tender process.
Deputy Montfort Tadier, who chairs the panel, called for the meeting to pose "unanswered questions" to Deputy Kirsten Morel, the Sustainable Economic Development Minister.
On Wednesday, Morel revealed that a new expedited tender process would begin this week to identify a ferry operator to manage services until 2040. This decision follows the failure of bids from DFDS and Condor. Previously, Jersey and Guernsey had been conducting a joint tender process.
While the States of Guernsey recently confirmed Brittany Ferries, Condor’s parent company, as its preferred bidder, Jersey’s leaders have yet to reach a decision.
Morel explained that the DFDS bid was disqualified due to a "technical, legal" issue, while Condor’s proposal failed to meet mandatory criteria related to the age of its fleet and the company's financial standing.