COMMERCIAL competition is in many cases good for the economy and of benefit to the general public because it encourages business efficiency and tends to drive down prices.

Competition is not, however, a universal good, inevitably capable of delivering positive results.
If this view is to be substantiated we have to look no further than the absurd situation which has arisen in respect of Jersey Post and organisations which, it appears, will be granted licences to operate in the area which generates the majority of the present service’s profits.

As matters stand, Jersey Post, an entity owned by the States and hence the people of this Island, subsidises most ordinary postal deliveries through the service it offers to fulfilment companies exporting goods such as CDs. A decision by the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority means that revenue from this vital part of Jersey Post’s operations will be shared with – or lost to – two new players in the same field. The knock-on effects could well include the loss of as many as 100 jobs and domestic mail deliveries on just three days of the week instead of the current six.

All this has the appearance of a monstrous own goal. The JCRA might be operating in line with the letter of competition law, but can there really be any fundamental sense in hamstringing a publicly owned body for the benefit of private companies, while simultaneously creating a situation in which a vital public service will be severely curtailed?

The position becomes even more farcical if we reflect on the probable cost benefits to ordinary individuals or businesses whose primary interest is in receiving mail securely and in timely fashion. There are, alas, unlikely to be any.

The question many Islanders will now be asking is this: Was the JCRA set up with the intention that it should operate for the benefit of the man in the street or was it born out of the purely doctrinaire view that competition, no matter its unintended consequences, is always to be fervently encouraged?

There are, moreover, further questions which demand prompt answers. What do we know about the companies about to be handed a prime slice of Jersey Post’s business on a plate, where will they or their principals pay tax, and what service level agreements will be put in place to ensure that they perform satisfactorily?