FRIST learnt today that the Judicial Review application by
the IOS Steamship Group is being allowed to proceed to a full hearing. All applications for Judicial Review are
screened by a judge to weed out cases that are deemed to have no prospect of success
at all.
FRIST’s position on the matter of the IOSSG’s request for
Judicial Review is as follows:
FRIST is appalled at
the obvious attempts by the Steamship Company to use the Judicial Review
process to further what are obviously commercial and anti-competitive
arguments. They argue for example that there are not enough passengers to
sustain a helicopter service. That has nothing
to do with the planning application for a heliport at Penzance.
The Isles of Scilly
Steamship Company is in no position to criticise a potential competitor on what
are clearly delaying tactics to further their own monopoly. The Islands, the
island community and their visitors deserve better! They need choice and they
need some competition and alternatives in getting to and from the Islands. FRIST believes that the planning process followed
by Cornwall Council was correct and should stand rather than be challenged on
spurious legal grounds that could delay the helicopter service for years. What is good for IOSSG is not necessarily
good for the Islands.
Additional Comment.
Judicial Review is an expensive and time consuming process. If the application fails at the first hurdle
then costs are usually limited to a few thousand pounds. Once you are into a full JR hearing the costs
are usually £50,000 +. With a monopoly
to protect then the commercial calculation could well be that the legal costs are
entirely justifiable and the reputational damage largely irrelevant because
with a monopoly on an essential service the customers have no alternative choice of transport provider. It is however a course of action which
challenges the Government’s Competition and Markets Authority to intervene to
protect the public interest so it is not a course of action without risk to IOSSG shareholders.
Press reports:
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