The redacted concession agreement between operator DFDS and the Government will contain “explanatory notices” about what certain clauses mean in practice.
The document, which sets out the terms for ferry freight and passenger services, is due to be published by the end of next month.
Economic Department Chief Officer Richard Corrigan told the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel last week that the contract will be published alongside “explanatory notices”.
He explained: “We don’t want to publish a dry contract that would only be of interest to lawyers but put some explanatory notices around it as to why certain clauses exist and what they mean in practice.”
It comes after the Economic Development Minister agreed to publish an “appropriately redacted version” of the concession agreement earlier this month.
Mr Corrigan said that the contract is currently with DFDS’s in-house legal team for them to consider the redactions and suggest any other changes.
“We will consider that and then it will go through the Law Officers’ Department,” he added.
Asked by Economic and International Affairs Panel member Deputy Karen Wilson what would be redacted, Mr Corrigan replied that an example would be DFDS’s target return on equity and passenger pricing model.
He said: “The fare structure [set out in the agreement] is on a minimum fare, a mean average fare and a maximum fare; some elements of that will be redacted because it gives away part of the passenger pricing model which is important to DFDS.
“We will work with DFDS to work out what can be published and what is commercially sensitive.”
Mr Corrigan added that Condor had also committed to fare structure in their failed tender to Jersey and that was also commercially sensitive.
Asked about the expected reaction to the publication of the agreement, Mr Corrigan replied: “I don’t see any complication but will it generate another wave of speculation and interest? Quite possibly: some hold a view that things are hidden or not discussed.
“This contract is far more comprehensive than the outgoing operator agreement which, from Jersey’s standpoint, was a really poor agreement which meant that when we had to act on something, we didn’t have the teeth. But that was negotiated by a different minister, a different chief officer and a different team at a different time.
“I believe that we now have a contract that has teeth, that is commercially appropriate, that underwrites resilient services well into the future, and secures significant investment in the passenger experience and the resilience of freight.”