DFDS freight contract

WQ.319/2025

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT

BY DEPUTY K.M. WILSON OF ST. CLEMENT

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 8th SEPTEMBER 2025 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 15th SEPTEMBER 2025

Question

"Further to his correspondence of 1st September 2025 to the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel, in which he reported the Chief Economic Advisor "assessed an impact of approximately 0.4% increase to grocery prices" of the introduction of the DFDS freight contract, will the Minister –

1. set out any methodology to be used to test that projection against actual price changes following the commencement of the contract;
2. advise whether the Statistics Unit has been asked to publish, in conjunction with the next Retail Price s Index bulletin, a breakdown of any related changes in the price of –

1. average grocery basket prices;
2. construction materials;
3. medical supplies; and
4. fuel; and

3. explain what monitoring framework, if any, is in place to track freight operator costs, including any unexpected charges such as retrospective port dues, and if there is no monitoring framework in place, why not?"

Answer

1. The Economics Unit has assessed that the introduction of the DFDS freight contract will add approximately 0.4% to a shopping basket of goods, all else being equal.

This assessment used analysis from the JCRA Groceries Market Study showing that freight and distribution costs account for between 5% and 8% of the total price of goods. The Economics Unit is monitoring food prices in Jersey using the grocery price data collected by the Jersey Consumer Council. The Economics Unit also collects data on the prices charged in the UK for equivalent products (on a like for like basis) and is using both sets of data to monitor the difference in prices.

This monitoring began in early March prior to the commencement of the DFDS contract. This monitoring will identify whether or not the difference between prices charged in the UK and in Jersey has changed. However, it is not possible to specify a single cause for any such change as the difference in prices charged in Jersey compared to the UK could be caused by a wide range of factors.

Preliminary analysis points to c.60% of the cost of freight being represented by the costs applied by freight companies, c.35% being the lane metre cost applied by the ferry operator (including surcharges like BAF) and around 5% being port charges levied at Portsmouth and St Helier.

2. The RPI data published by Statistics Jersey includes both headline measures of inflation (RPI, RPIX etc) and also the inflation by group. These groups include food, clothing and footwear, fuel etc. The goods and services in the inflation statistics reflect the spending patterns of Islanders and were updated in December 2024, based on data from the Living Costs and Household Income Survey (LCHIS).

Statistics Jersey have not been asked to collect or publish any additional price data.

3. The Ferry Services Monitoring Committee tracks compliance with a range of contractual obligations including the mechanism for pricing of freight. In earlier correspondence to the Economic & International Affairs Scrutiny Panel I have also set out general expectations around timeliness of communication between the ferry operator and its customers.