Andrew Turner welcomed today’s announcement from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that they are to launch a market study into Isle of Wight ferry services as ‘absolutely the right decision for the Island’. The OFT confirmed, this morning, that they will be investigating a number of competition issues following a successful campaign which has been ongoing on for more than a year led by the Island’s MP Mr Turner. The campaign has been boosted by over 8,000 individuals and organisations who have registered their support, many of whom have given evidence on matters they think should be investigated.
Mr Turner said:
“This is absolutely the right decision for the Island. I am particularly concerned that, as the ferry companies have changed hands for ever-increasing sums of money, the levels of debt have grown very substantially. The money to repay that debt can come only from ferry users, most particularly Islanders, who rely on it all year round.
“The Island has until 27th March to put evidence before the OFT on three key areas: whether the market is working well, what prospects there are for new ferry services and the importance of the services to Island residents and the our economy. We must make the most of this opportunity. If we fail to make the case there will be no further action by the OFT. If we are able to convince them that there is a case to answer they will consider making a reference to the Competition Commission for a full market investigation.
“The OFT are aware that individuals and companies may not have documentary evidence of some of the concerns that are raised, but they have statutory powers to view internal documents held by the ferry companies and will be able to investigate issues raised with them.
“Only a small proportion of the matters referred to the OFT each year are investigated. I recognise this has been a long time coming, but there has been a lot of work going on in the background and I took the view that it was far more important that we got the right decision, rather than a quick one.
“There are simply too many people to thank individually, but notably the Island’s media did a great job of getting the message across together with our Women’s Institutes and Townswomen’s Guilds. There have been a small group of businessmen helping me with the submission – without their input I simply don’t think this would have happened. I should also thank my staff, who have coped with the extra work this has brought in very good humour, and my particular thanks go to my partner, Carole Dennett who spent many hours drafting the two submission documents and researching the issues, much of it outside work time.
“I should also like to thank the OFT for listening to our arguments and taking them on board. Most of all this is a victory for everyone who has supported the campaign. I have already thanked mainland colleagues from the Conservatives, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats for their support – I should also like to thank almost all of the town and parish councils for supporting me on this issue and the local political parties on the Island.
“More details about the campaign can be found on Mr Turner’s website at www.IslandMP.com”
Contact : Andrew Turner’s office 01983 530808
