MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Items in red are confidential
Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Trustees (the Trustees) of Canal & River Trust (the Trust) held at 8.30am on Thursday 25 January 2018 at the Ramada Hotel, The Butts, Earlsdon, Coventry, CV1 3GG.
Present Allan Leighton, Chair Dame Jenny Abramsky, Trustee and Deputy Chair Frances Done CBE, Trustee Ben Gordon, Trustee Janet Hogben, Trustee Tim Reeve, Trustee Sir Chris Kelly,Trustee Sue Wilkinson, Trustee
Apologies Nigel Annett CBE, Trustee Manish Chande, Trustee
In attendance Richard Parry, Chief Executive Julie Sharman, Chief Operating Officer Stuart Mills, Chief Investment Officer Sandra Kelly, Finance Director Heather Clarke, Strategy, Impact and Engagement Director Simon Bamford, Asset Improvement Director Yetunde Salami, Assistant Company Secretary (minute taker) Redacted Jon Horsfall, Waterway Manager North East (Item 18/007 only) Matthew Symonds, Strategy and Engagement Manager (Item 18/007 only) Mark Stephens, Work Development Manager (Item 18/007 and 18/008 only)
18/001 APOLOGIES Apologies were received as noted above.
CHAIR’S WELCOME AND REMARKS The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting. The Chair reported that notice of the meeting had been given to all trustees entitled to receive it and that a quorum was present.
18/002 REGISTER OF INTERESTS AND DECLARATION OF INTERESTS IN ANY MATTER ON THE AGENDA The attendees declared interests and set out in Information Report Trust319. No further declarations of interest were made.
18/004 MINUTES AND SCHEDULE OF ACTIONS The minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting held on Wednesday 23 November 2017 was approved. Summary of actions arising from Board Meetings All matters arising were in hand or on the agenda.
18/011 Governance Report [Trust328] RP presented the Decision Report Trust328 draw the Trustees’ attention to various matters affecting the governance of the Trust.
Following discussion the Board: ▪ Noted the proposals to rename the Waterway Partnerships as Regional Advisory Boards (RABs). ▪ Noted that two new members had been appointed to the Appointsments Committee to replace outgoing members. ▪ Approved the appointment of Heather Clarke as a Trustee Director on the Roundhouse Birmingham’s Board of Trustees. ▪ Ratified the Partnership member appointments set out as follows: ➢ Graham Fisher, West Midlands, adjustment: extension of 1 year to 2nd term appointment to November 2018 ➢ Len Cresswell, West Midlands, adjustment: extension of 1 year to 2nd term appointment to 14 November 2018 ➢ Ivor Caplan, West Midlands – extension of 4 months to 2nd term, to 31 March 2018 ➢ Vaughan Welch, West Midlands – extension of 4 months to 2nd term, to 31 March 2018 ➢ Ben Seal, West Midlands – extension of 4 months to 2nd term, to 31 GE March 2018 ➢ Stephen Burt, West Midlands – extension of 4 months to 2nd term, to 31 March 2018
18/013 Chief Executive’s Report [Trust330] The Board noted the Chief Executive’s Information Report Trust330 and the appendices which had been prepared by the Executive Directors.
• The Trust’s Performance against KPIs is largely satisfactory in the circumstances. In relation to Appendix 3 Health & Safety Report, JS drew attention to the fact that unfortunately in the last week there have been 2 employee Riddor reportable injuries - manual handling and a slipping incident which are now under investigation. Pontoons in Liverpool where visitor imjuries had occurred have been addressed. In relation to Appendix 4: Operations Report JS highlighted various items in her report. In relation to Appendix 5: Asset Report SB highlighted:
• the good team work and local engagement at Marple Lock Flight
• progress with the winter stoppage programme
• the REACTEC individual vibration monitoring equipment which is currently being trialled by the North construction team to determine the safety and operational benefits of the equipment in relation to the Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). 18/014 Finance Director’s Report [Trust331] SK presented her Information Report Trust331 which was noted.
18/017 AOB None.
17/088 Close Date of the next meeting – Thursday 22 March 2018 (North East – York).
There being no further business, the Chair closed the meeting.
Chairman
Board Meeting 25 January 2018 Decision Report Trust328 Items in red confidential GOVERNANCE REPORT Gill Eastwood, Head of Governance Audit & Risk
1. PURPOSE
1.1. The purpose of this report is to draw the Trustees’ attention to various matters affecting the governance of the Trust.
2. RECOMMENDATIONS
2.1. Trustees are invited to:
2.1.1. Note the proposals to rename the Waterway Partnerships as Regional Advisory Boards (Section 3).
2.1.2. Redacted
2.1.3. Redacted
2.1.4. Redacted
2.1.5. Redacted
2.1.6. Redacted
2.1.7. Approve the appointment of Heather Clarke as a Trustee Director on the Roundhouse Birmingham’s Board of Trustees (Section 8).
2.1.8. To ratify those Partnership member appointments set out in Section 9.
3. PROPOSED CHANGES TO WATERWAY PARTNERSHIPS & TRUST RULES
3.1. In December 2017, the Trust commenced a consultation with its senior management. A key feature of the proposals is that we move away from the current 10 Waterways to 6 larger regions as this will help our management structure to better face the outside world and to engage and influence our partners effectively. Subject to the outcome of this consultation, we are also minded to change the Waterway Partnerships so that they mirror these 6 large regions – and to help the Waterway Partnerships still further the Appointments Committee has supported a proposal to change their name so that they will become known as Regional Advisory Boards.
3.2. Trustees may rest assured that this renaming does not in any way deviate from the requirement to have Waterway Partnerships as set out in the Trust’s Articles (paragraph 26.1) which states that, “The Trustees shall recommend rules to the Council for establishing a structure of advisory Waterway Partnerships by reference to particular functions or particular geographical territories to provide advice and support to the Trust’s management of those functions or territories”.
3.3. Redacted
3.4. Redacted
3.5. Redacted
3.6. Redacted
4. APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE
4.1. Redacted
4.2. Redacted
4.3. Redacted.
4.4. Trustees may like to note Mark Penny and Alison Ward have stood down from the Appointments Committee. Mark has stepped down because his term of office as a Partnership Chair and hence as a Council member comes to an end in March. Alison stepped down because, although she is very keen to continue to support the work of the Trust she unable to give the Committee’s work the time it required.
4.5. In accordance with the Committee’s terms of reference, Council members were invited to volunteer to fill any vacancies arising. Andrew Phasey, an elected Private Boating Council member and Ian McCarthy, an elected Volunteer Council member volunteered to fill these vacancies and have therefore been duly appointed.
5. Redacted
6. Redacted
7. Redacted
8. APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR TO THE ROUNDHOUSE BIRMINGHAM BOARD OF TRUSTEES
8.1. Roundhouse Birmingham is a collaborative partnership between the Trust and the National Trust. The partnership has created a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity, with a Board comprised of an equal number of individuals from both Trusts.
8.2. The departure of Ian Rogers as a Director of the Canal & River Trust leaves a vacancy. We therefore request the Board to approve the appointment of Heather Clarke as a replacement Trustee Director on the Roundhouse Birmingham’s Board of Trustees.
9. PARTNERSHIP MEMBERS
Partnership Chairs
9.1. Bob Pointing, Chair North West, has resigned from the Partnership effective 28 November 2017.
9.2. Brenda Harvey, Chair North Wales & Borders, has now completed the extension to her 1st term of office and does not wish to be appointed for a 2nd term.
Partnership Members
9.3. Partnership Member appointments are the responsibility of each Partnership Chair. However, appointments are subject to ratification by Trustees. Members are usually appointed for 3 years but some shorter terms of appointment are made to enable rotation
9.4. Since the November Board meeting, there have been no new appointments, two adjustments to 2nd term appointments, and four extensions to 2nd term appointments.
9.5. Graham Fisher, West Midlands, adjustment: extension of 1 year to 2nd term appointment to November 2018 Voted Inland Waterways Personality of the Year in 2005 and was chair of the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Society. Graham received an MBE for services to the waterways, and has written a number of books about the inland waterways and is a boat-owning enthusiast.
9.6. Len Cresswell, West Midlands, adjustment: extension of 1 year to 2nd term appointment to 14 November 2018 Len is Director of a health and safety consultancy and borough councillor on Solihull MBC, where he is the representative on the West Midlands Metropolitan Area Canal Partnership. He was a founder member of Earlswood Lakes Partnership and has been chair for half its lifetime. In the 1960s, Len volunteered at the Stratford upon Avon Canal restoration.
9.7. Ivor Caplan, West Midlands – extension of 4 months to 2nd term, to 31 March 2018 Ivor is an IWA trustee, a member of its promotions committee and planning officer for the West Midlands. Currently he’s secretary of the BCN Society. He has been boating for 35 years of which 15 years were spent living afloat, and has held a number of positions at various waterways organisations, including chair of IWA Birmingham, company secretary of Droitwich Canals trust and chairman of the RBOA. He managed Waterways for Youth, taking it to the WoW initiative.
9.8. Vaughan Welch, West Midlands – extension of 4 months to 2nd term, to 31 March 2018 Vaughan is a retired trustee of the Inland Waterways Association, and for three years was its deputy national chairman, with a waterway restoration portfolio of more than 14 years including attendance at the All Party Parliamentary Waterways Group to represent restoration interests. Vaughan is a trustee of the Avon Navigation Trust and former chairman of the Droitwich Canals Trust; he was their representative on the partnership that saw the reopening of both canals in 2011. He is also a former director of the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Trust and the Lapal Canal Trust. For several years, Vaughan was the Southern Regional Judge for the British Waterways’ Lock and Bridge Competition.
9.9. Ben Seal, West Midlands – extension of 4 months to 2nd term, to 31 March 2018 Ben works for Canoe England where he focuses on developing participation at grass roots level and actively engages and supports 38 volunteer-led canoe clubs. He works with a number of commercial centres, charities, youth groups, schools and County Sports Partnerships in the region and is a regular active user of the waterways
9.10. Stephen Burt, West Midlands – extension of 4 months to 2nd term, to 31 March 2018 Stephen held a number of voluntary positions on the waterways, including chairman of Stratford upon Avon Canal Society and commodore of St Pancras Cruising Club, where he negotiated a lease with British Waterways and secured funding for a dry dock. He has organised five Russell Newbery boat rallies and is currently on the organising committee of Stratford River Festival. Stephen has been boating for 25 years and has owned a boat since 1994
9.11. East Midlands, North West, South East and South Wales & Severn are all actively seeking new members to join the Partnerships.
9.12. Appendix 6 sets out the number of Partnership members, their remaining terms of office, and the number serving 2nd and 3rd terms.
January 2018
Board Meeting 25 January 2018 Information Report Trust330 Items in Red Confidential CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT – JANUARY 2018
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This report covers the period to the end of November, with more recent updates where available.
2. EXTERNAL CONTEXT 2.1 Redacted
3. INTERNAL CONTEXT 3.1 The organisation re-structure was announced on 8 December, with all senior managers put ‘at risk’ on that day. Redacted
4. PERFORMANCE 4.1 Appendix 1 sets out performance across the range of KPIs agreed by the Board for 2017/18. As well as the number of active ‘Friends’ missing target, some other measures are now shown as ‘red’ status as achieving the year end now looks beyond us, as now also does the generation of fundraising income overall. Redacted, the awareness measure is now unlikely to reach the 40% we targeted Redacted Community adoption growth has been slower than anticipated and is now likely to be around 200 at year end rather than the 220 we ambitiously targeted.
4.2 Visitor number results have been strong in the autumn, meaning we may be close to the 4.5m target at year end.
4.3 Appendix 2 presents the update on our progress against the key Strategic programmes for 17/18, which we track to ensure the Trust’s principal change actions are delivered. The only red status programme is the volunteer journey where long term staff absence (together with the departure of Caroline Killeavy, the senior manager responsible) means that some of the lower priority aspects of the programme have been deferred to next year (and will be reviewed to confirm they align with our future plans).
5. EXECUTIVE REPORTS 5.1 The Executive’s reports feature as Appendices 3 to 8. The main points to draw to the Board’s attention are: • Appendix 3 (Health & Safety) shows that – whilst our run of very good safety performance continued until the end of December - we have just started the year with two employee RIDDOR injuries; • Appendix 4 (Operations) is in a new form with more information on the core operation of the network, including water resources, and reports that we have at last been able to re-open the GU Leicester line.
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• Appendix 5 (Asset Improvement) reports on the progress of the first phase of the winter works programme. • Redacted • Redacted • Redacted.
January 2018
Page 2
Certain Key Performance Indicators
Jan 18 Target Actual Defra Waterway Targets – improving our waterways/assets actuals 2017/18 2016/17 Towpath condition graded C or better (requirement to be above 60% threshold) not due ≥79.0% 78.5% Principal assets grade C or better (requirement to be above 77% threshold) 86.8% ≥85.0% 86.0% Condition of flood management assets graded C or better (requirement to be above 96% threshold) not due ≥98.5% 99.0%
Jan 18 Target Actual Waterway measures actuals 2017/18 2016/17 Number of individual visitors to our waterways in typical two-week period (over last 12 months) 4.4 m 4.5m 4.3m Public safety – number of reported incidents 263 350 382 Combined employee, volunteer and contractor RIDDOR accident frequency rating (accidents per 100,000 hours) 0.15 0.24 0.26 Customer satisfaction rating of visitors and towpath users 91% 86% 85% % of prompted people (living in close proximity of a waterway) that are aware of/recognise the value of their local waterway 65% TBC N/A Propensity to support the waterways 2.1 m TBC N/A Customer satisfaction rating of boaters not due 72% 76% № of days of unplanned closures to navigation within our control (individual instances over 48 hours) 458 400 441
Jan 18 Target Actual Other measures actuals 2017/18 2016/17 % of employees engaged as per employee engagement survey result not due 68% 66% Volunteer satisfaction/recommendation ratings 96.0% 90% 94% Number of volunteer hours per annum 489,794 600,000 540,700 Annual total return on our endowment portfolio 7.9% 7.5% 10.0% Annual total return from non-property investments 8.0% 7.9% 18.8% Non-investment income to grow >CPI plus 1% (on three year rolling basis) 5.4% 2.8% 3.5% £ million secured from restricted statutory and voluntary funding, philanthropic and individual giving and contributions in kind £14.4m £21.9m £25.9m Support costs share of total cost 9.5% 9.8% 9.4% People aware of the Trust 36% 40% 33% № of adoptions of our waterways (each adoption scheme roughly equates to 1 mile) 205 220 181 Diversity - % staff BAME 4.6% 5.0% 4.8% Diversity - % senior management Female 22.4% 25% 24% № of active Friends attracted and retained, regularly donating 23,514 28,500 20,600 Number of children who have participated in face to face education sessions each year 59,086 75,000 92,660
Green indicates that the KPI is ahead of target Yellow indicates that the KPI is behind target Red indicates that the KPI target cannot be achieved
Printed: 15/03/2018 08:05 KPI report - p10 January 2018 Compressed - Summary Page 1 of 1
Board Meeting 25 January 2018 Information Report Trust330 Red Text Confidential APPENDIX 3: HEALTH & SAFETY Author: Julie Sharman, Chief Operating Officer
1 PURPOSE
1.1. This paper provides a review of Health and Safety for the period of November and December 2017. The report covers Visitors, Employees, Volunteers and Contractors.
1.2. The report includes an update on Health and Safety KPIs for the operating year
2 KEY POINTS
2.1 KPI’s
2.1.1 Trust people Riddor accident frequency rate is 0.15 – target 0.21. To initiate the journey from ‘Good to Great’ health and safety performance the Trust will deliver a sustained campaign on slips, trips and low falls. This cause accounts for half the serious injuries and 25% of all incidents involving Trust people. The first phase of the campaign will be of 3 months duration running to March 2018 with a focus on stoppage type activities. In April through to June we will continue the campaign but with a change of emphasis to short term and mobile working typical of activities undertaken in that period of the year. Simultaneously we will refresh of safe behaviour and hazard reporting which will be interwoven with the focused campaign
2.1.2 The analysis of incidents involving members of the public reported up to the end of December 2017/18 indicates 239 incidents were reported where loss or injury occurred, of which 26 incidents could be related to infrastructure (10.9%). The total number of incidents is within our target of 350 for the year but the rate of infrastructure related is above the target of 7.2%. We will conduct a detailed analysis of the incidents which are driven by an increase in the proportion of slip, trip and low fall incidents and are affecting all types of visitor.
2.2 Visitor Safety
2.2.1 There were 4 fatalities in November and 2 in December on our property. The year to date total is 30. None we believe are related to a failing of the Trust. An incident on New Year’s Eve involved a car entering the MB&B canal from an adjacent parking place. The deceased was not found inside the car. We are investigating if any measures needed to reduce the risk of further incidents
2.2.2 During the period, there were 2 reportable visitor incidents. Both occurred at the same location and within an hour of each other. 2 boaters slipped on algae covered timber pontoons in Liverpool Docks suffering serious injuries. The pontoons have been subsequently been steam cleaned and will be subjected to more frequent cleaning in future.
2.2.3 Inquest into the death of Alex Wilson, Victoria Quays, Sheffield, was held on the 9th of January. It was adjourned until 24th January as a witness failed to appear in court. It is
supposed that Alex walked without looking ahead from the site access some 50m directly into the canal. Redacted
2.2.4 Inquest into the death of Owen Jenkins, Beeston Weir, Nottingham – was also held on the 9th of January. The Trust and Local Council have worked jointly to place warning signs and rescue equipment on local authority land as agreed with the water safety partnership. The coroner was complimentary regarding the water safety partnership.
2.2.5 Unfortunately, there was another attempted suicide from Pontcysyllte Aqueduct: on the 27th November 2017 at approximately 12:30hrs. A young lady in her mid-twenties was seen by a passing boater on the outside of the handrails of the aqueduct. The police were called and they managed to talk the young lady down and bring her to safety. The lady was taken to the safety of the visitor centre office where she was made comfortable until an ambulance arrived. 2.2.6 Inquest into the death of Kristopher McDowell at Pontcysyllte 31/5/16 – Coroners expert is preparing an independent report the Trust has had no contact with him since September. There is no date set for the resumed inquest.
2.3 Employees
2.3.1 The accident analysis included in this report is up to December 2017, unfortunately in the last week there have been 2 employee Riddor reportable injuries, manual handling and a slipping incident which are now under investigation. A more detailed update on these will be given at the Trustees meeting.
2.4 Volunteers
2.4.1 In the period, there has been no reportable volunteer injury. Volunteers have remained free from serious injury in their work for over 2 years
2.5 Contractors
2.5.1 In the period, there has been no reportable contractor injury. Our contract partners are 15 months Riddor reportable injury free
2.6 Health
2.6.1 Occupational Health - During the annual Hand Arm Vibration Screening (HAVS) 3 new cases of early stage HAVS had been identified and reported to HSE since the last report. The individuals are not subjected to any work restrictions. The Trust is taking measures to reduce the risk of further injury to these individuals
3 SECTIONS CONTAINING DETAILED INFORMATION
3.1 Visitors 3.1.1 The analysis of incidents involving members of the public reported for the operating year up to the end of December 2017/18 indicates 239 incidents were reported where loss or injury occurred, of which 26 incidents could be related to infrastructure (10.9%). The details are: • 13 pedestrians injured; Redacted • 9 boaters injured; Redacted • 4 cyclists injured; Redacted
3.1.2 In the operating year, Trust volunteers and safety advisors have completed assessments on 330 locks and 16 moveable bridges. 141 locks and 156 bridges remain with assessments over 5 years old. Resulting from the fatality at Beeston Weir in Nottingham we are reviewing the risk assessments at our larger river weirs. Of the 73 Trust owned river weirs over 20m wide, 26 have updated assessments. Our plan is to complete the outstanding 47 risk assessment reviews by mid-2018.
3.1.3 The first chart shows the trend in Infrastructure related injuries and total incidents reported. The target is 350 total incidents. The current performance is 239 incidents which is in line with achievement of the annual target (See visitor incidents by month trend in the 2nd chart, the 3rd chart shows the trend of infrastructure related incidents). The rate of infrastructure related incident at 10.9% is above the target of 7.2%. We will conduct a detailed analysis of the incidents to see what action may be necessary. The change is driven by an increase in the proportion of slip, trip and low fall incidents and are affecting all types of visitor
Total loss & injury incidents
50.0 % infrastructure related 450 45.0 incidents/million visits 373 384 400 353 40.0 320 334 350 35.0 287 283 300 30.0 244 239 250 25.0 200
20.0 Incident 150 15.0 11.9 10.2 10.2 9.4 9.4 8.5 7.8 10.0 7.0 100
incidents/million visits 10.9 % Infrastructure related 5.0 0.91 0.88 0.95 1.12 1.01 0.98 0.74 0.99 50 0.0 0
Total Visitor Incidents by Month 100
50
0 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 Average incidents per month 12-17
Infrastructure Related Visitor Incidents by Month 10
5
0 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 Average infrastructure related per month 12-17
3.2 Employees There have been no reportable accidents since the last report
Riddor Injuries (Emp, Vol, Con) Contractor RIDDOR Monthly Occurences Volunteer RIDDOR 6 Emp RIDDOR
5 Ave Riddors/month
4
3
2
1
0
The chart below shows the trend for all recorded injuries
Injury - no treatment Employee Recorded Injuries & First aid cases Monthly Trend LTI 20 Emp Reportable injuries 18 Ave total injuries/month 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
3.3 Volunteers
3.3.1 In the period, there has been no reportable volunteer injury. Volunteers continue to remain free from serious injury in their work for over 2 years 3.4 Contractors
3.4.1 In the period, there has been no reportable contractor injury. Our contract partners are 15 months Riddor reportable injury free
4 HEALTH 4.1.1 Occupational health screening is underway for the 760 employees exposed to the health risks from vibrating tools – Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). This is an annual health check. 3 new cases of early stage HAVS had been identified. The individuals are not subjected to any work restrictions but are under increased surveillance going forward.
4.1.2 Health and wellbeing – Health and wellbeing appointments are being offered over the next 2 months to employees not subjected to health surveillance. The Trust continues to target mental wellbeing through a range of interventions supported by Leeds MIN
5 OVERALL HEALTH and SAFETY PERFORMANCE 5.1 The Accident Frequency Rate per 100,000 hours worked (AFR) is our main safety performance indicator and the table below shows AFR rolling over the past 12 months for each component of the Trust’s workforce - employees, contractors, and volunteers. Injuries in past Injuries this Target TRUST People AFR 12 months operating year Employees [1780 FTE] 0.22 8 3 Volunteers [300 FTE] 0.0 0 0 0 Contractors [630 FTE] 0.0 0
0.15 8 3 0.21
Board Meeting 25 January 2018 Information Report Trust330 Items in Red Confidential APPENDIX 4: OPERATIONS REPORT Author: Julie Sharman Chief Operating Officer
1. PURPOSE 1.1. This paper provides an update on waterway operations and customer service team activities.
2. WATER RESOURCES 2.1. We are still in discussion with Staffordshire County Council about repairs to Chasewater reservoir (which they own and to which we are joint undertakers) in order that we can resume drawdown this spring. An MoU is being drafted to agree responsibilities going forward. 2.2. The Oxford & Grand Union hydrological unit has substantially benefitted from the rainfall and snowmelt during the second half of December. All reservoirs are much healthier than this time a month ago and are now at or near long term average (LTA) for the time of year, with the exceptions of Wormleighton and Clattercote that feed the South Oxford Summit, and these are typically slow fillers. We have reopened the Leicester Line for a period before the planned stoppages in March. 2.3. The groundwater fed Tring Reservoir group in the Grand Union South hydrological unit showed some steady improvement during December. The temporary pump installed at Tringford pumping station operated successfully over the Christmas period feeding from Wilstone, the total Tring Reservoir group holding currently remains below long-term average for the time of year. Restrictions currently at the Marsworth flight will be reviewed later this month with a view to lifting them. 2.4. Redacted 2.5. Pebley and Hartshill Reservoirs feeding into the Chesterfield Canal hydrological unit have also seen an improvement in refill. This hydrological unit remains at 20% risk of not reaching a target holding of 80% by the start of the main boating season. 2.6. The groundwater situation impacting on the K&A hydrological unit has also finally started to recover. Further rainfall is required to recover groundwater to ‘normal’ levels by the spring and summer. 2.7. Similarly, rainfall and snow has improved flows within the Upper Lee & Stort Navigations for now. Further rainfall is also required to recover groundwater levels (which support the river flows) to terminate the legacy of last years prolonged dry weather.
3. OPERATIONS 3.1. Redacted 3.2. Redacted 3.3. Open Days schedule 2018 th Lincomb lock virtual open day took place on Monday 27 November. Use this link on our Facebook page to see the new lock gates craned in plus pre-recorded footage with the team who have worked on the stoppage. There is a schedule of open days for the new year and if any Trustees are keen to attend please let us know, the schedule is as follows: • 27th January, Johnson’s Hillock Locks, Leeds & Liverpool Canal
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• 3rd & 4th February Meaford Lock, Trent & Mersey Canal • 3rd & 4th February Leeds lock • 10th & 11th February Foxton Locks 8 to 16 • 3rd & 4th March, Grindley Brook locks, Llangollen Canal • 4th March Dudley Canal, Lock 3 Parkhead • 10th March K&A Canal, Seend Lock. 3.4. Winter Stoppages The winter stoppage season works were all completed pre-Christmas on schedule with a slight delay in Manchester requiring an extra 2 days to clear site. One interesting event at this site was a Bomb Alert; the Bomb squad were called to the Manchester stoppages due to a world war hand grenade being discovered during the volunteer clean up event being held in the bottom of the canal following the open day event. The remainder of the annual stoppage works have continued this month and run through to the 16th March.
3.5. Arising and Emergency Works 3.5.1. Jacksons Aqueduct, L&L Canal – in the run up to Christmas this structure developed extensive leaks which required the attention of our Framework Partner Kier. A stoppage notice was promptly issued pre-Christmas and a temporary dam installed. Repairs will take place this month. 3.5.2. Regents Canal in December staff reported a collapse of a section of waterway wall near Victoria Park. The site was made safe. The senior asset engineer provided a temporary fix solution and the team implemented within 48hrs and the towpath was re-opened. Further repairs will be planned in for delivery 3.5.3. Shropshire Union Canal - Road collapse on the A41 Chester Road –The Principal Engineer is leading on the ongoing discussions with the local Authority and Utility Company. Redacted. 3.5.4. Redacted 3.5.5. Pollution Incidents – over the Christmas period we suffered a pollution incident on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in the Wigan-Adlington area which resulted in c5,000 fish being killed. Investigations are ongoing as to the source and the problem was well dealt with by EA and Trust staff. There has been some negative publicity which we are managing by providing accurate information. Pre-Christmas we also managed a pollution incident on the River Lee, with effluent discharged from the Pimm’s Brook (photo) being cleared by our staff; EA informed. 3.5.6. Tree falls– The recent heavy snow falls across the Staffordshire area caused around 15 trees to be brought down in two main locations, blocking both the towpath and navigation in some cases. Customer operations teams joined forces with Fountains operatives using workboats to remove the blockages After storm Ophelia we had 10 trees fall on the Mon & Brec which are now all cleared. 5 fallen trees in the South East due to storm Eleanor over the new year.
3.6. Safety related issues
3.6.1. River Trent - Beeston Weir – The Nottingham Water Safety Partnership was presented with options for limiting access, as suggested by its sub-group which included the Trust.
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The partnership has requested we progress with the options for a gate and a fence on the weir. 3.6.2. Redacted.
3.7. Operational Challenges
3.7.1. Redacted. 3.7.2. Redacted 3.7.3. Llangollen Canal, Hurleston Lock 4 –We have received more reports that boats have become stuck in the lock chamber because of the alleged narrowing of the chamber walls. The laser survey has confirmed the towpath chamber wall has moved between 5 and 10mm since the last survey. Works are planned to improve accessibility of the lock chamber for wider boats. 3.7.4. Redacted 3.7.5. Redacted.
3.8. Planned works
3.8.1. Mon & Brec Canal Llangynidr Locks - De-watering works to repair leakages, rebuild wash walls between locks 66 – 67 and raise the crest are on target. A considerable amount of this work was completed with volunteers. In addition, our contractors have refurbished the Llangynidr toilets. The work was completed as part of our Customer Service Improvements project. 3.8.2. Gloucester & Severn Canal Hedge laying project is ongoing from Fretherne Bridge to Sandfield Bridge. The Towpath Work Party team are continuing to develop their skills and are really enjoying the challenge. Volunteer Dave Hassall said… “it’s one of the best jobs we’ve done and is one of the most enjoyable and satisfying tasks. The Trust has given us some great training which has enabled us to develop our skills in this area” 3.8.3. Shropshire Union Canal, Grub Street Feeder: The final section of a two year program of works to reinstate the Grub Street Feeder channel on the SUC has commenced with some positive feedback from local land owners. This essential maintenance will now be to our regular PPM maintenance schedule to ensure we can manage and plan our future worksprograms and costs. Total works costs £56k.
4. REDACTED 5. ENGAGEMENT
5.1. Volunteering Volunteer time so far this year: 410,963 hours (target: 600,000 hours for the whole year) is slightly behind although with the holiday period some delay in activity and time capture is to be expected.
3
Volunteer Hours
70,000 60,320 63,184 60,000 50,000 45,526 44,189 38,674 40,000 33,654 28,563 29,483 30,468 30,000 21,884 20,000 15,774 10,000 - East Mids K&A London MP&P North NW&B North South SW&S West National East West East Mids teams Across the country we celebrated volunteer’s contribution, with ‘thank you’ events and Christmas lunches. 5.2. Redacted 5.3. Adoptions:192 including 7 Million Hands adoptions (target: 225 adoption agreements)
East Mids 24 NW&B 13 K&A 15 North West 21 London 16 South East 23 MP&P 21 SW&S 12 North East 16 West Mids 24 Propensity to Recommend – 96% (target 91%)
5.4. Redacted. 5.5. Redacted. 5.6. Redacted
5.7. Employee Volunteering in 2017 25 companies engaged to date who have donated over £61,000 (cash) to the Trust and 1,102 employee days’ time. Companies who have committed to working with us in 17/18 include Salesforce, Severn Trent Water, National Grid, HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) and Yorkshire Water. BAML have confirmed that they will give $20,000 over 3 years for the continued partnership in Chester (photo of recent action with them).
Partnership Volunteering: We were very pleased to be able to present to Brenda Harvey her gold pin badge for having completed over 2000 hours of volunteering as Chair of the Waterway Partnership- a fantastic achievement. Brenda retired from the chair role in December.
5.8. Local Engagement 5.8.1. Shropshire Union Canal - New Adoption with HMP Stoke Heath: we have signed up a new adoption- the first adoption in the country with a prison! The prison has formally adopted one mile of canal. We have worked closely with HMP Stoke Heath, an adult male training prison near Market Drayton, to provide vocational training opportunities on the canal towpath at Tyrley
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Locks to help prisoners close to release gain valuable work experience.
5.8.2. Connect Foundation, (Bangladeshi community foundation in Smethwick) have been working on their adopted section and recently rebuilt, painted, and cleared out the bin store used by resident boaters on the Engine Arm Aqueduct. They have plans running through till April next year. They are also hoping to assist in the renovation of the working Boat Thame for use by volunteer groups from across Birmingham.
5.8.3. Working with us to manage the offside vegetation on the Chesterfield Canal, are the canal trust with their heritage workboat, the Python. The team of 42 volunteers have given over 1000 hours of volunteer time in delivering works across 32 miles of the Chesterfield Canal this year. The work has included vegetation surveys, offside vegetation management. 5.8.4. Newark Sensory Garden the team of volunteers, partners and staff who have worked hard to restore the garden had already played a role in supporting Newark’s success in achieving its first gold award as part of the East Midlands in Bloom campaign. The Sensory Garden team were awarded the judges special award. This success was more recently followed by success in the ‘In your Neighbourhood’ awards. 5.8.5. Shropshire Union Canal There has been a launch of the murals in Market Drayton involving local community members as well as local primary school pupils. Lots of media attention including Shropshire Star and BBC Shropshire: The murals were designed through a school competition led by the local community group.
5.8.6. Birmingham & Fazeley Canal - A great day with students from the Deaf Children’s Society – a first for us. Our staff required training with the student leaders on how to communicate with students with hearing loss, and protocol around the students and some basic “signing”. They cleared vegetation from the offside walls on the Farmers Bridge Flight in Birmingham and they also got the chance to go in the work boats and operate the locks which they thoroughly enjoyed. 5.8.7. Staffs & Worcester Canal, we completed a 4-day work party with the Baswich community adoption group and the company that they have volunteering alongside them, Risual. External funding, circa £2k had been granted to the adoption group to cover the cost of the works. This group already undertake vegetation and grass cutting works for us saving £3k per year on contract costs.
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5.8.8. Jewellery Quarter Neighbourhood Forum are adopting Farmers bridge lock flight in Birmingham City Centre and have carried out two volunteering days clearing weeds and vegetation from the Towpaths and Quadrants around Lock number 5 5.8.9. Foxton Locks Illuminated Boat Festival 16th & 17th December brought in up to 2800 visitors which was below capacity for the 2-evening event of 10,000 and signed up 19 friends (redacted). It was a well-received with good comments on social media even though the weather was less than ideal. An annual evaluation of events is underway. 5.8.10. On the Staffordshire & Worcester Canal, 2.3km of towpath between Wolverley Lock and Cookley Tunnel delivered via volunteers from the Direct Service team and local waterway. Improvements were requested by the local community and £500 funding was received towards the cost.
5.9. Education & Interpretation
Number of children who have participated in face to face education sessions this year: KPI May 2017 July September November January March 2018
Target 7,000 20,000 35,000 38,000 54,000 75,000 Actual 7,323 28,251 38,987 45,595
5.9.1. We are currently revamping our teacher evaluation forms. They will soon be paperless, and will capture key outcomes for the Trust. This information will be easily accessible through database reports, and will be used to demonstrate the impact of the Trust’s charitable objectives. 5.9.2. Corridor for Nature Competition. The PPL funded nature garden at Grewelthorpe Primary School is now complete and will be launched in the Spring when the plants have had time to bed in, (hopefully making the launch more attractive to the press). To see all the winners and runners up go to - https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and- views/blogs/the-education-team/corridor-for-nature-competition-the-winners. We will now be evaluating the competition process and the school experience to see how we can improve and deliver more school competitions in the future.
5.10. Youth Engagement
5.10.1. Youth Engagement Framework – Following the development of the youth framework it has now been rolled out to all teams with ongoing support from our youth team. The team is also working to develop local Youth Engagement Action Plans with each waterway, aligning the key areas of the framework to local priorities. 5.10.2. Desmond Family Canoe Trail in 2017 we attended six festivals along different parts of the trail including, Leeds, Eldonian Village, Wigan and Leigh, Botany Bay, Burnley and Skipton. These festivals saw 1250 people accessing the water through kayaking, canoeing and paddle boarding. December 2017 saw the third annual and most successful Santa Splash event to date with 50 families taking part. This year we have worked with: 2,552 Individual community members, 493 Hub members & 26 Hub Leaders in total. As per the project plan, 3 new project leaders have been recruited and will start in February. 5.10.3. A Million Hands – There are currently 34 active projects with Scouts Association groups (cubs to Network) across the Trust. Not all of this is formalised as AMH / Pocket Adoptions. The youth team is currently carrying out an audit of all activity and is developing a communications plan to promote each group and celebrate the success of the project and
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the impact it has had locally and nationally. The official partnership is due to end in October 2018 but there is potential for this to be continued for another year.
5.11. External Engagement
5.11.1. For the first time, we held a live webcast of a waterway partnership Annual Public Meeting, our South Wales & Severn Waterway Annual Partnership Meeting, the audience reached so far is now in excess of 10,000 people - you can watch it here. 5.11.2. We have held meeting between Matthew Offord MP (Hendon and Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group on Rowing), Sorwar Ahmed and Matthew Symonds to discuss draft LMS and rowing issues; a positive meeting and agreement to a presentation to All Party Group in March/April. 5.11.3. In East Midlands, our Development & Engagement Manager is working with Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Trent University & Beeston Canalside Heritage Centre to develop “Enchanted Water” – community arts event as part of Nottingham Light Night 2018 which will involve the new Canal Laureate. Nottingham City Council has secured £14.5k from the Arts Council towards the event with the Canal & River Trust as a major partner. 5.11.4. Our national ‘Don’t drink and drown campaign’ was a national success with Leeds & Sheffield alone reaching triple that of the previous year.
5.11.5. Manchester Open Day, the open weekend went well. Stoppage cost c£100k. Nearly 3,500 people attended; a public dance night event on the Friday was covered on regional TV, and live-web cast by Manchester Evening News attracting 65,000 likes; 43 Friend signs ups and around £300 taken in gifts/ merchandise. Overall it was a great collaboration between national and local teams, fantastically supported by volunteers and staff from across the country. 5.11.6. Social Media – Twitter Milestone The MP&P waterway have just passed their 1000 Twitter followers landmark. This follows a concerted effort in the year to grow this contact group, with forward planning of tweets and includes introduction of a local weekly competition. This figure is up by nearly 200 in the year. Our Tweet impressions are at 25k+ for the third month running compared to 8-10k the same time last year.
6. FUNDING & FINANCE 6.1 We have been awarded the second of two grants from Hillingdon Community Trust of £8k for the Hayes Canal Festival 2018. The grant is to deliver the Hayes Canal Festival as a sustainable annual community led event. There will be no cost to the Trust other than staff time. 6.2 London Waterways have been granted a three-year PhD studentship as part of a partnership led by Queen Mary’s University London and Geffrye Museum of the Home on an inter- disciplinary project “STAYING AFLOAT?” researching making home and creating place on London's canals and rivers. This will identify the needs of liveaboard boaters and their environmental impacts and provide pointers as to policy responses. 7
6.3. Leeds & Liverpool Canal Finsley Gate – we recently secured a £2.3m grant from HLF to restore the Grade II listed Finsley Gate site. This has now been further supplemented by an additional £530k for additional landscaping works both on the FG site and surrounding canal corridor. 6.4. Working in partnership with Brecon Beacons National Park a digital animation project of Tramroad Trails has been started with £25K funding from Visit Wales as part of Year of the Sea 2018. The project will be completed by April 2018 and launched at Theatre Brechiniog. 6.5. Cashless Payments our new Izettle card reader terminal went live on the 1st December with our Manchester Pennine & Potteries team it has been used at event to sell gifts and Trust merchandise taking £300 at the recent Manchester Open day. 6.6. Redacted 6.7. European Funding – two youth projects are currently being developed to apply to the Interreg Innovation Fund and Erasmus+. The first will see young people leading the development of wellbeing zones across the waterways and the second will support young people to take on leadership roles within Museums and key heritage sites. 6.8. Youth Wellbeing Hubs - There is an ambitious project in development to engage and support young people to develop pop up wellbeing hubs across the network. UK Youth (representing c4000 youth groups and c800,000 young people nationally) have expressed interest in becoming a formal partner. 7. CUSTOMER SERVICE 7.1 Moneypenny’s call volume was as forecast for December 2017 and predicted to remain so for January. Email volume remains lower than forecast in line with recent trends. 7.2 The customer service team have introduced a successful Live Chat trial during November and December 2017. The initial trial was delivered at no cost to the Trust and was well received by customers. Two versions were tested (manual and proactive) and 1177 chats delivered overall. 1034 chats were resolved at first point of contact with only 143 being passed to Trust teams for further investigation. Such was the success of this that the trial has been extended to the end of March 2018 within existing budgets. 7.3. Customer Satisfaction - call handling has improved during December to 91% of callers satisfied with the service they received. In addition, 91% of our licensing customers told us our conversations with them were good or very good in December which is an improvement from 88% seen in September. 7.4. A pilot project looking to retain volunteer opportunity enquiries at the initial point of contact has been successful during the latter part of 2017 and is now embedded within the team. A further pilot project to signpost customers to our national Newsletter has begun and ensures all calls and interactions end with a positive call to action.
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Page 1 of 8 Board of Trustees Paper
th 25 January 2018 For Information Trust 330 Appendix 5
Report by the Asset Improvement Director
1. Introduction 1.1. This appendix provides an update on the Asset repair and works programme.
2. Waterway Infrastructure Maintenance and Repair (WIMR) 2.1. Priority Projects and Enterprise Funded Works- IDT Redacted 6 construction projects were completed in the period, with a further 15 either started or on site. 2 dredging projects were completed in the period, with a further 11 either started or on site with the B17 programme on target to be delivered. The disposal licence for the dredged material from Canning Half Tide Dock was received in December and dredging will start in January. The most significant programme of works is the various projects being completed at Marple following the failure of the wall at Lock 15. The design works are complete for the repair solution to lock 15 and Kier are on site. While the lock flight is closed we have taken the opportunity to bring forward planned works in future years to complete grouting to 9 locks and undertake nearly 100 separate repair tasks. These tasks are being managed as one programme but will be delivered using contractors, direct services team, customer operations team and volunteers. The investment in Marple for these projects is: • Lock 15 Repairs £940k • Marple Flight Repairs £375k • Marple Lock grouting £650k With the £450k to be spent on the Marple Aqueduct safety fencing project and Direct Services changing lock gates on the flight, there will be over £2.5m spent on improving the Marple flight and Aqueduct this winter, £1.4m of which will be funded by income from the Peoples Postcode Lottery.
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Temporary works installation at Lock 15
Lock 5, Marple being grouted
Page 3 of 8 2.2. Priority Works - Direct Services
Steady progress has been made on the Priority Works programme with 96% of the planned works being delivered by the end of November including 23% of agreed changes due to arising works. The M&E programme is on target with routine maintenance achieving 98% of planned tasks completed.
The volume of arising tasks decreased compared to previous months. This is mainly due to the winter stoppage season starting in November, thus reducing the ability to undertake arising works.
All the pre-Christmas planned stoppages were completed and the network opened as per the programme on 15th December. 74 stoppages were completed during November and December.
The Direct Services team continue to drive efficiency and cost saving achieving savings of around £750k ytd through such things as the use of materials from stock, recycling, procurement, productivity, volunteers and innovation.
Rochdale Canal – Lock 90 & 91 preparing for Open Weekend – Scaffold edge protection and decked out Lock Chamber – requirement for the Lock Disco
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Chesterfield Canal – Lecture Room Bridge Stoppage, waterline brick replacement / repointing – before and after photographs
Lock 9 Lincomb, River Severn Works have been undertaken to replace the bottom gates in greenheart timber for additional strength. Obtaining a seal on the dams proved to be problematic, but this was finally achieved with the installation of over 2 tonnes of ballast & 2 large tarpaulins. The installation of the lock gates was streamed live on Facebook & Twitter.
Page 5 of 8 Grantham Canal – Lock 15
Works have continued to progress at a pace at lock 15 with the additional work to
the lock retaining walls being completed already, the downstream lock approach walls have been completed with just the copings needing to be laid; works to the top side will be completed after Chrismas
Safety
Redacted
REACTEC individual vibration monitoring equipment is currently being trialled by the North construction team to determine the safety and operational benefits of the equipment which records an individual’s actual vibration exposure rather than relying on a handbook figures and time used to assess exposure.
2.3. Operational Contracts
Redacted Winter works such as offside vegetation and tree works resulting from the surveys are ongoing. NW, NW&BC, London, SWS and WM are undertaking planned tree work using data collected using the Collector application mobile technology which has been a recent innovation to improve data quality and improve efficiency.
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Aquatic Weed Clearance: Walbut Lock, Pocklington Canal
Offside vegetation clearance at Bruce tunnel approach on the Kennet & Avon
Planned maintenance of MEICA assets is ongoing through the winter and planned MEICA project works commenced in December. Numerous schemes have been priced and agreed with a busy programme scheduled over the next three months.
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Shirley Lift Bridge: Control system replacement including barriers and pedestal works to assist sight lines and road approaches.
Bath Deep Lock: Repairs and improvements to hand wind mechanism on lower lock gates
Site Services Contracts
Draft documents are in place for the new Site Security and Site Scaffold contracts with tenders scheduled to be issued for pricing late January 2018.
Page 8 of 8 Waste Cost Reduction Project
Work is underway to make ‘quick win’ improvements to some of the top 12 most
expensive bin collection sites on our network following the completion of the audit and review of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ sites. To date circa. £7k of annual savings have been realised from these bins sites, with additional improvements to be made over the next quarter.
A full audit of all Trust waste sites was complete in December. All the data will now be reviewed with suggested improvements and investments for each site being reported in Spring 2018.
2.4. Volunteer Delivery The Volunteer Delivery team have continued to develop work for the winter period. Most recently they have been concentrating their efforts on off side vegetation management with significant work on the Coventry, Trent and Mersey and Caldon canals. Over 30 volunteers have been involved in the works alongside the IWA group from Lichfield.
Other works have involved carrying out bank reinstatement works along the Chesterfield canal.
Board Meeting January 2018 Information Report Trust331 Items in Red Confidential FINANCE DIRECTOR’S REPORT Author: Sandra Kelly, Finance Director
1 PURPOSE
1.1 This paper provides a review of:
1.1.1 The F8 full year forecast and the eight-month’s performance to 30 November 2017; 1.1.2 the balance sheet at 30 November 2017 and year end forecast balance sheet; 1.1.3 the cash flow forecast; and 1.1.4 the financial KPIs.
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3 RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1 The Board notes this report.
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