Cicra “terminated” by Jersey

Thursday 23 April 2020

Jersey politicians have disbanded the Channel Islands’ joint competition watchdog – however, our Economic Development President has hit back, saying Guernsey will be better off from focussing solely on our own regulatory priorities.

Deputy Charles Parkinson mapped out in the States how an insular regulator – the Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority – can be extracted from the current Cicra model by the end of June this year.

That the island has a need to transition to a Guernsey-only competition watchdog boils down to a difference in mindset between Guernsey and Jersey politicians.

Deputy Parkinson said his committtee believed that issues within the Cicra model could be resolved, whereas his Jersey colleagues felt the islands’ shared path could be followed no further.

“On 17 February I received a telephone call from Senator Lyndon Farnham. During the call Senator Farnham advised me of Jersey's intention to terminate the pan-island sharing of cost, expertise and administration support under the Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authority joint operating model and revert back to separate insular competition and regulatory authorities in Jersey and Guernsey.”

Pictured: Senator Lyndon Farnham, Jersey’s Economic Development Minister.

The decision was confirmed in a letter from Senator Farnham last month.

“Whilst the Committee was aware, during 2019, that the States of Jersey has a different view of the future role of the pan-Channel Islands Cicra model, these were felt to be issues which could be addressed within the existing Cicea model. In that context it would be fair to say that Jersey's request came as surprise to myself, and my fellow Committee members. Whilst this was not something which we would have wanted, the nature of Cicra meant that we had to accede to Jersey's request.”

Officers from the GCRA have since analysed the potential impact the separation of the two authorities will have and how the transition to the new setup will work.

The GCRA has confirmed that the transition away from the CICRA brand can be completed by 30 June 2020 with no additional competition grant or telecoms licence fee funding needed for 2020.

Pictured: Economic Development’s proposals for a 5G network will need to be scrutinised by a regulatory body.

In addition, the separation provides an opportunity for the Economic Development committee to work with the GCRA in reconsidering the scope of its work, and on emphasising the role of the authority on making markets work for consumers.

And despite the difference in thinking on this matter, Deputy Parkinson did not rule out working with Jersey in the future.

“I would emphasise that, from our perspective, the termination of the CICRA brand does not mean the end of the islands working together in respect of competition matters where our objectives are aligned. In anticipation of this the GCRA is currently working on the development of a Memorandum of Understanding to allow for the two insular authorities to work together, where appropriate, going forward.”

 Pictured top: Deputy Charles Parkinson.