Competition Act 1998 (Coronavirus) (Public Policy Exclusions) (Revocations) Order 2021 — House of Lords, 2021-11-01
Topic: Transportation
John Bassam (Labour, Centre-left): My Lords, first, I thank my noble friend Lord Berkeley for securing today’s debate via his Motion of Regret, which clearly comes from a good place—designed, as it is, to protect consumers from high prices and to keep ferry routes accessible to all. The debate has generated more heat than I expected, but it is important because in our communities at the periphery, there is a strong sense that they suffer from high prices, are forgotten because they are at the end of the line, and get left out in government considerations. I join my noble friend Lord Berkeley, the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, and the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, in thanking the Government on behalf of the Isles of Scilly for their £48 million contribution to improving the quality of the sea services to those islands, because what is there at the moment is clearly not fit for purpose and needs to be improved. It is a lifeline service and helps the tourist economy of those islands As we heard, in March 2020, the Government announced that ferry services to and from the Isle of Wight were at significant risk of disruption due to the pandemic, so they introduced regulations which allowed the two ferry operators to share information and staff to ensure that ferries continued to run regularly across the Solent. That was for all the reasons and purposes that noble Lords have outlined: for economic, health, education and welfare reasons Now, of course, the Government have decided that the Covid pandemic is at an end and seem to think it is the right time to end the suspension of competition law, believing it is no longer needed. I do not know that the pandemic is at an end: the figures tell us otherwise. People are getting Covid at the rate of about 40,000 a day, and about 1,000 people a week are dying from it, so I am not sure that we are at the end of it. People are still very cautious in their travel plans for that very reason. The absence of people travelling means that those services could be under threat in future. I do not buy the line that there is no more threat of severe disruption to the Isle of Wight ferry crossing services Can the Minister explain how the Government reached the conclusion that now is the right time to end the Covid provisions? Although I am not a local of the Isle of Wight, it is a place that I have visited on many occasions. I think the first time I went there was in 1970, to a pop festival. Back in those days, Sealink, a nationalised industry, ran the service. It was a very good and very cheap service, actually, by the standards of the time. As a Brightonian, I am familiar with the ferry service: it goes from just down the road in Newhaven, along the coast from the Isle of Wight. It strikes me that ferry prices there are quite expensive. Ironically, my wife recently used the service and complained to me about it. I can understand how local people who have to make multiple journeys for work, health, education and other purposes see their ferry ticket prices adding up and becoming a serious expense and, by default, an inhibition on business on the island. I must acknowledge that there is genuine concern from some that there is insufficient competition I think that my noble friend Lord Berkeley said that there were two monopolies, and I think that is probably a fair description of how it works, and that that has undoubtedly resulted in high fares. I suspect that the companies see those two services, in particular, as providing a regular flow of income that they can pretty much rely on. Does the Minister think that fares are too high? Clearly, local people do. That is reflected in the attitude of the local MP and local councillors. Are there too many barriers to entry to new ferry companies, I wonder It has been reported that an island-based consortium may well be working up a plan to run a community vehicle ferry service and has asked the local council for its help. Are the Government planning any additional support for such a move? Do they see that it has a role in stimulating some genuine local competition? If they do, I suspect there will be quite a lot of takers for that service, given the high cost of the service as it currently is So are the Government planning to ensure that there is real competition? Do they accept that services are expensive? What comfort can be offered to the community of the Isle of Wight in ensuring that ferry services can be provided in future at a reasonable price?