Meetings of the Harbour Working Party and Port Users Group

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE HARBOURS AND AIRPORT COMMITTEE BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. JOHN

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 21st JUNE 2005

Question

Would the President inform members –

1. of the membership of the Harbour Working Party, the date ofit'slast meeting andwhoattended?Ifno meeting has been held in 2005, please would the President state the reasons why?
2. whether theHarbourWorkingPartyhas been notified that theTrust Port Status for Harbourshas now been superseded bythe possibility of a Limited Liability Company, and, if so, whatwas the response, if any? If the WorkingParty has not been notified, please would the President state the reasons why?
3. of themembershipofthe Port UsersGroup, the date of its last meeting and whetherithas been notified of any possible changes from a Trust Port to a Limited Liability Companyand,if so, what response, if any,has been received?

Answer

1. M  embershipofHarbourWorkingParty

1 . P r esident of the Harbours and Airport Committee.

2 . C h airman and Members of the Jersey (Commercial) Port Users Association. 3 . H  arbour Master.

4 . Senior Managers of Jersey Harbours as appropriate.

The Harbour Working Party, as formally constituted, last met on 4th December 2003.

H  owever, meetings continued during 2004 as and when required, for example, 9th and 21st June, 28th July,

18th August, 17th November 2004.

E ven though not formally constituted as Harbour Working Party meetings, meetings have continued

throughout 2005.

I n addition to port users, officers of Jersey Harbours attended each meeting.

T  he formation and frequent meetings of a range of port user groups now means that issues are addressed

much more effectively than in the past. For example, a formal meeting was held between the Chairman of the Jersey (Commercial) Port Users Association and the Port Engineer on 18th February 2005, concerning the planned developments within the Elizabeth Harbour and a presentation was made to commercial port users concerning the development of the New North Quay on 3rd June 2005.

T h e possibility of future formally constituted full Harbour Working Party meetings very much depends on the

constitution of the Jersey (Commercial) Port Users Association. The Harbour Master wrote to the Chairman of the Association on 17th November 2004, last and awaits a response.

2. Notification to the HarbourWorking Party ofPlans to prepare Jersey Harbours to be a wholly States owned company

A formal presentation of the Deloitte and Touche recommendations was made on 24th February 2004.

Discussion of issues arising continued through subsequent meetings during 2004.

T h e Strategic Plan and Cost Benefit Analysis was sent to all members in April 2005. This described in some

detail the plans for the future of Jersey Harbours.

3. M  embershipof the Port Users Group

C o ndor Logistics

C o ndor Ferries

H  uelin- Renouf

E m eraude Ferries

F e rr y S peed

C h annel Express

C h annel Logisitics

S t. H  e lier Port Services H  arbour Facilities Ltd.

T ro y s Stevedores

S p ecial Branch

C u stoms and Immigration Je r s e y Harbours.

F r om the outset, meetings take place at least every two months. The most recent meeting occurred on 2nd

June 2005. The next meeting is on 4th August 2005.

T h e Deputy will appreciate that members of the Harbour Working Party are also attendees of the Port Users

Group; thus they received the presentation on 24th February 2004, as referred to above. At this meeting they were advised that the preferred option was for Jersey Harbours to become a States owned company. This was subsequently confirmed by the Strategic Plan and Cost Benefit Analysis provided to them at approximately the same time as States members received their copies in April 2005. No formal response has been made.

S o me who are members of the Port Users Group are not members of the Harbour Working Party. Thus we

need to resolve how it might be possible to ensure that the Harbour Working Party is truly representative. As explained above, the last contact concerning this matter rests with a letter from the Harbour Master to the Association dated 17th November 2004. The Harbour Working Party might then meet again on a formal basis, if considered appropriate and necessary.