MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Trustees (the Trustees) of Canal & River Trust (the Trust) held on Tuesday 22 November 2016 at 8.30am at Holiday Inn London Stratford City, 10a Chestnut Plaza, Westfield, Stratford City, London, E20 1G
Present Allan Leighton, Chair Lynne Berry, Trustee and Deputy Chair Jane Cotton, Trustee John Dodwell, Trustee Frances Done, Trustee Nigel Annett, Trustee Jenny Abramsky, Trustee Janet Hogben, Trustee Tim Reeve, Trustee Ben Gordon, Trustee
In attendance Richard Parry, Chief Executive Stuart Mills, Director Sandra Kelly, Director Sophie Castell, Director Heather Clarke, Director Ian Rogers, Director Julie Sharman, Director Simon Bamford, Director Gill Eastwood (minute taker) Darren Leftley, Head of Commercial Water Development
16/186 APOLOGIES No apologies were received. 16/187 CHAIR’S WELCOME AND REMARKS The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting. 16/188 REGISTER OF INTERESTS AND DECLARATION OF INTERESTS IN ANY MATTER ON THE AGENDA The attendees declared interests and set out in Report CRT224. redacted 16/189 MINUTES AND SCHEDULE OF ACTIONS The minutes of the following meeting were approved: • Board of Trustees, Friday 23 September 2016 Summary of actions arising from Board Meetings All matters arising were in hand or on the agenda. 16/190 redacted
16/191 redacted
16/192 redacted
16/193 redacted
16/194 redacted
16/195 redacted
16/196 redacted 16/197 GOVERNANCE REPORT GE presented paper CRT232 which drew attention to various matters of Governance. Revisions to the Scheme of Delegation were reported as having been actioned and the Fundraising Committee has been deleted. Trustees agreed to add paragraph 13t to the Scheme of Delegation, thereby reserving the following as a matter for the Board: “Authorise persons to act as representatives of the Trustees of the Trust for the purposes of giving such certificates as are required to be given by the Trustees under the provisions of Part 7 (Charity Land) of the Charities Act 2011 for the proper disposition by or in favour of the Trust of land held by it or to be held by it (in either case whether or not as a trustee).” redacted
The Board appointed JH as the Trustees’ representative on the Waterway Ombudsman Committee The Board ratified the following appointments: • Samantha Worrall as a member of the Kennet and Avon Waterway Partnership (3 years until 7 December 2019) • Jenny Ballinger as a member of the South East Waterway Partnership (3 years until 19 September 2019) • Richard Atkinson to serve a second term of 3 years as a member of the North West Waterway Partnership (to 14 November 2019) • Peter Rowlinson to serve a second term of 3 years as a member of the North West Waterway Partnership (to 14 November 2019) • Robert Moreland to serve a second term extension of 18 months (to 1 April 2018) • Phil Hughes to serve a second term extension of 18 months (to 1 April 2018). 16/198 redacted 16/199 FORWARD PLAN RP presented paper CRT233 which sets out the Forward plan for the next few meetings of the Board and the Council. 16/200 CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT RP presented paper CRT234 and the Director information reports which appeared as attachments. redacted 16/201 redacted
16/202 redacted 16/203 redacted 16/204 redacted 16/205 redacted 16/206 redacted 16/207 redacted 16/208 BOARD COMMITTEES redacted 16/209 redacted
------Chairman
Board Meeting 22 November 2016 Decision Report CRT232 Text in red confidential GOVERNANCE REPORT Author: Gill Eastwood Head of Governance Audit & Risk
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The purpose of this report is to draw the Trustees’ attention to various matters affecting the governance of the Trust and to ask for Trustee approval in relation to authorisations.
2. SCHEME OF DELEGATION
2.1 The revisions to the Scheme of Delegation reported at the September Board have now been actioned, as have the associated amendments to the Board Committees’ Terms of Reference. The Fundraising Committee has been deleted. All revised documents have now been loaded onto Diligent Board, and published on the Trust’s website. We have emailed revised Terms of Reference to the Committee Chairs.
3. AUTHORISATIONS TO ACT AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TRUST
3.1 In making the amendments to the Scheme of Delegation noted in paragraph 2, the Head of Legal spotted a further omission from the Scheme of Delegation which we have already corrected by adding the following as a reserved matter for the Board to the revised Scheme (new paragraph 13t): “Authorise persons to act as representatives of the Trustees of the Trust for the purposes of giving such certificates as are required to be given by the Trustees under the provisions of Part 7 (Charity Land) of the Charities Act 2011 for the proper disposition by or in favour of the Trust of land held by it or to be held by it (in either case whether or not as a trustee).”
3.2 The Board is asked to approve this change and to further approve the resolution which sets out the list of staff so authorised attached as Appendix 1.
4. AUTHORISATION OF PERSONS WHO MAY AUTHENTICATE APPLICATION OF THE COMPANY SEAL OF THE TRUST
4.1 The Scheme of Delegation (paragraph 13j) has, as a reserved matter for the Board of Trustees, the authority to authorise persons to authenticate application of the company seal of the Trust. The current authorisations are out of date.
4.2 The Board resolution attached as Appendix 1 also enables the Trust to update the required revisions to the sealing arrangements which were approved by the Board at the 24 September 2015 meeting.
5. Redacted
6. WATERWAY OMBUDSMAN COMMITTEE
6.1 Based on discussions with the Chair and other Trustees following Tom Franklin’s resignation, Trustees are asked to confirm that they wish to appoint Janet Hogben as the Trustees’ representative on the Waterway Ombudsman Committee
7. TRUSTEE RECRUITMENT
7.1 At the September Council meeting, Allan Leighton proposed that Nigel Annett, Jenny Abramsky, Janet Hogben and Tim Reeve be appointed as Trustees on the recommendation of the Appointments Committee. These appointments were unanimously agreed.
8. WATERWAY PARTNERSHIPS
8.1 Central Shires. The Partnership held its last meeting on 23 September 2016 and has now closed. At the September Council meeting, Lynne Berry thanked Charlotte Atkins, Chair, and the members of the Partnership for the extraordinary work carried out over the last four years.
9. PARTNERSHIP MEMBERS
9.1 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 being made to enable rotation. Members may serve a maximum of 6 years.
9.2 Since the September Board meeting, there have been 2 new appointments, and 4 2nd term renewals which now require ratification by Trustees, and these are listed below with a short biography.
9.3 East Midlands, North West, South East and South Wales & Severn are all actively looking for new members to join the Partnerships.
9.4 Appendix 8 sets out the number of Partnership members, their remaining terms of office, and the number serving a second term.
Appointments to fill casual vacancies.
9.5 The following appointments are to fill casual vacancies:
9.5.1 Kennet & Avon
Samantha Worrall, 3 years to 7 December 2019 Sam lives on her boat on the Kennet & Avon Canal and works for Julian House, a charity offering direct support to the socially excluded, as gypsy, traveller and boater outreach and engagement officer.
9.5.2 South East
Jenny Ballinger, 3 years to 19 September 2019 Jenny is a former live-aboard boater having spent 17 years afloat. She has retained her passion and enthusiasm for the history, architecture and environment of canals and rivers and currently lives canal-side in a village along the Oxford Canal. She has a professional background in heritage, with specific interests in buildings, landscapes and industrial archaeology. She works for local government in a Design and
Conservation Team, advising on schemes which affect heritage assets, and is in the process of undertaking an MSc in Spatial Planning.
Second Term Renewals/Extensions.
9.6.1 North West
Richard Atkinson, 2nd term, 3 years to 14 November 2019 Richard is head of the waterways and environment department for British Canoeing (BC), having previously worked for the Environment Agency as Recreation Officer and Regional Principal Officer for Recreation and Fisheries. He is qualified in ecology and management of the natural environment as well as in fisheries management. Richard has experience in welcoming volunteers into British Canoeing. He is on the Canal & River Trust/BC National Group bringing together a national Canoeing Development Plan. Richard is also a CRT Council member.
Peter Rowlinson, 2nd term, 3 years to 14 November 2019 Peter has a long history of involvement with the canals in the North West. As a qualified town planner and Deputy Director of Planning and Regeneration for Wigan Council, and Director of Planning and Economy at Rochdale, he was proactively involved in regeneration schemes around waterways. He is now a trustee of two other charities, the director of a community centre, has his own planning and heritage consultancy and on a voluntary basis leads on a number of high-profile heritage initiatives close to the canal network.
9.6.2 South Wales & Severn
Robert Moreland, 2nd term extension of 18 months to 1 April 2018 Robert is a former MEP and Gloucester City Councillor, a member of the Cotswolds Canal Trust, Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Trust, and Friends of Gloucester Waterways Museum.
Phil Hughes, 2nd term extension of 18 months to 1 April 2018 Phil is responsible for the Fourteen Locks Canal Centre Project. He is a former director of Capital Region Tourism.
10. RECOMMENDATIONS
10.1 Trustees are asked to:
10.1.1 Approve the addition to the Scheme of Delegation of a reserved matter for the Board under Structure and Governance relating to persons authorised to act as representatives of the Trust (Section 3) 10.1.2 Pass the resolution set out in Appendix 1. (Sections 3 and 4). 10.1.3 redacted 10.1.4 Confirm that Janet Hogben is appointed to the Waterway Ombudsman Committee as set out in Section 6, and 10.1.2 Ratify the Partnership member appointments and renewals as set out in Section 9.
Gill Eastwood Head of Governance, Audit & Risk November 2016
Board Meeting 22 November 2016 Information Report CRT234 Text in Red Confidential CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT – NOVEMBER 2016 Richard Parry
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This report covers the first half of the year, to the end of September 2016, with updates for recent weeks where available. Since the last Board, the shock of the Brexit decision has been compounded by the outcome of the US presidential election, although there is little indication yet of the impact on markets and economies.
2. PERFORMANCE 2.1 Appendix 1 sets out performance for the half year across the range of KPIs agreed by the Board. At this stage of the year, only one of the measures is shown as ‘red’. Friends recruitment was identified as at risk last time and since then the shortfall has increased to around 1,450 behind the phased target which is now reckoned to be too large a gap to close during the winter, especially as attrition rates have risen slightly. Other measures are ‘amber’ status as they are behind the target to date, but can catch up later in the year. Redacted
2.2 Appendix 2 presents the review of our performance against the key 35 Strategic programmes that the Executive is tracking to ensure the Trust’s principal change actions are delivered, to complement the KPIs which measure our day-to-day delivery. Redacted
3. EXECUTIVE REPORTS 3.1 The Executive’s reports feature as Appendices 3 to 8. The main points to draw to the Board’s attention are: • Redacted • Appendix 4 (Customer Service and Operations) reports on the very successful Leeds & Liverpool canal bi-centenary celebration, which drew thousands of people from communities all along its length as the historic short-boat Kennet replicated the original end-to-end journey; redacted. • Appendix 5 (Asset Delivery) reports the re-opening of the Rochdale canal and progress at Elland to have the bridge re-open by the end of the year. The new MEICA (Mechanical and Electrical supply contract) tender process has been extended to provide time to bidders to complete their submissions, and trustees will be asked to approve the contract award before the next Board meeting. • Appendix 6 (Property and Commercial) summarises our strong property performance and the recovery in non-property investment performance • Appendix 7 (Marketing/Communications/Fundraising) describes the recent success in securing the hard-fought Montgomery canal HLF award of c.£2.5m and the allocation of £500k contribution from Cumbria’s flood response Access fund for repair works to Stainton Aqueduct. • Appendix 8 (HR report) updates on the successful outcome to our Policy review which was overwhelmingly approved by Trade Union members earlier this month.
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• Appendix 9 (Policy and Planning report) updates on redacted.
4. UPDATE ON OTHER ACTIVITIES 4.1 Our Northern Powerhouse Prospectus has now been shared at a meeting with Manchester City Council’s chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein and widely distributed to other interested parties. redacted.
4.2 Redacted.
4.3 Redacted.
4.4 Reacted.
4.5 Redacted.
RICHARD PARRY Chief Executive November 2016
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Organisational KPIs and Targets for 2016/17
Reporting Sep Sep F6 Forecast Target Actual Mission Critical Measures Frequency Actual Target 2016/17 2016/17 2015/16 Number of principal assets in Condition D or E Quarterly 13.6% 15.0% 15.0% 13.8% (requirement to be below 23% threshold) Annual total return on our endowment portfolio Bi-annually 8.46% -0.4% 13.8% (to exceed market benchmark, GVA Forecast) Annual total return from non-property investments Quarterly 5.97% 6.86% -2.8% (to exceed market benchmark, CPI + 5%) % of prompted people (living in close proximity of a waterway) that Bi-monthly TBD TBD TBD are aware of/recognise the value of their local waterway % of people surveyed who are aware of the Trust - Bi-monthly 31% 31% 33% 29% ‘brand awareness’ (over last 12 months) Aware of the Trust - monthly figures 0% № of individual visitors to our waterways in a typical two week period Bi-annually 4.3 m 4.6 m 4.75 m 4.4 m (over last 12 months) Individual visitors to our Waterways - monthly figures 4.3 m Customer satisfaction rating of visitors and towpath users Bi-monthly 85% 84% 85% 83% (linked to visitor experience) Users - % satisfied with experience - monthly figures 0% № of adoptions of our waterways Bi-monthly 161 164 180 147 (each adoption scheme roughly equates to 1 mile) № of Volunteer Hours per annum Bi-monthly 247,902 242,000 520,000 481,700 (assumes 7 hours per day) 35415 days 34571 days 74286 days 68814 days Volunteer satisfaction / recommendation % ratings Bi-annually 87% 90% 90% 89% Reporting Sep Sep F6 Forecast Target Actual Other Measures and Government Contractual Obligations Frequency Actual Target 2016/17 2016/17 2015/16 Public Safety: % of reported safety incidents attributable to the Bi-monthly 8.3% 7.5% 7.5% 7.8% Trust’s assets (infrastructure, facilities & equipment) Number of infrastructure related public injuries (year to date) 20 22 Number of public injuries (year to date) 241 283 Employee, Volunteer and Contractor Safety: RIDDOR Accident Bi-monthly 0.31 0.25 0.25 0.34 Frequency Rate (accidents per 100,000 hours) Number of RIDDOR accidents 5 18 Customer satisfaction rating of boaters Annually not due 70% 70% 68% № of days of unplanned closures to navigation within our control Bi-monthly 254 330 570 630 (individual instances over 4 hours) № of days of unplanned closures to navigation within our control Bi-monthly 175 297 500 556 (individual instances over 48 hours) Non-investment income to grow by more than CPI plus 1% Bi-monthly 2.25% 1.78% 3.27% (on a three year rolling basis) £ million secured from restricted statutory and voluntary funding, Bi-annually £12.2m £8.0m £27.6m £16.0m £14.8m philanthropic and individual giving and contributions in kind Enterprise Income 11,032,111 24,444,569 12,346,431 Charitable Income 1,166,402 3,161,160 2,506,390 Less: CRT Trading CIC Fundraising - - (34,605) Support Costs share of Total Cost Bi-monthly 12.6% 13.5% 12.3% 12.8% 12.7% % of employees engaged per employee engagement survey Bi-annually 40% 45% 45% 40% № of active Friends attracted and retained, regularly donating Bi-monthly 19,356 20,805 22,500 15,800 № of children participating in face to face ‘Explorer’ educational Bi-monthly 43,281 36,000 70,000 63,944 sessions Towpath Condition % at Grade A - C Annually not due 78.0% 78.42% (requirement to be above 60% threshold) Flood Management - % of principal culverts/ embankments in Annually not due 98.5% 98.56% Condition grades A - C (requirement to be above 96% threshold) Reporting Sep Sep F6 Forecast Target Actual KPIs under Development Frequency Actual Target 2016/17 2016/17 2015/16 Asset condition index covering engineering, heritage, environmental and water assets currently in development Brand Strength Score (incorporating public and political perception / reputation index) to be introduced in 2017 KPI linked to income yielded from visits / visitors to be developed Diversity measure under development Measure of contribution made by volunteers and voluntolds / ”free” resources to the organisation’s core work programme (i.e that offsets / enables reduction in core costs) 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 Board of Trustees Meeting 22 November 2016 CRT 234 For Noting TEXT IN RED CONFIDENTIAL APPENDIX 3: HEALTH & SAFETY Report by Julie Sharman – Director of Asset Management
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. This report covers the period of September and October 2016. The report covers Visitors, Employees, Volunteers and Contractors.
2. VISITOR SAFETY 2.1. There were 3 fatalities in September and October on our property. None we believe are related to a failing of the Trust.
2.2. Redacted
2.3. The Inquest into the fatality is also expected in around three months’ time and the Trust has declared itself an interested party. No date has been set yet.
2.4. Infrastructure related issues: 2.4.1. During the period there was no reportable visitor incident, The analysis of incidents involving members of the public reported up to the end of October 2016/17 indicates 270 incidents were reported where loss or injury occurred, of which 21 incidents were related to infrastructure (7.8%). The details are: • 12 pedestrians injured – from towpath related defects • 5 boaters injured – 2 slipped on pontoons, 2 falls on towpath surface/voids, 1 fell from quadrant (balance beam longer than the quadrant) • 3 boats hung-up in locks – 1 on bulge in lock wall, 1 on cill due to leaking bottom gate, 1caught under defective coping stone. • 1 disabled visitor- fell into canal after electric buggy overturned on pothole
2.4.2. The following chart shows the trend in Infrastructure related injuries and incident type:
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Total loss & injury incidents % infrastructure related 50.0 373 400 353 45.0 334 320 350 40.0 287 283 270 300 35.0 244 250 related 30.0 25.0 200
20.0 150 Incidents 15.0
Infrastructure 100
% 10.0 11.9 10.2 9.4 9.4 10.2 50 5.0 8.5 7.8 7.8 0.0 0
3. EMPLOYEES 3.1. The chart below shows the trend in the number of all reported employee injuries. Although there is an increase in first aid and LTI injuries the rise since December is in line with previous trends. A series of “Safety Stand Down” days are being held with our Direct Services Team to emphasis the importance of safety and good planning in preparation for the stoppage season
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Employee All Recorded Injuries & Injury - no treatment Monthly Trend First aid cases 20 LTI Emp Reportable injuries 18 Ave total injuries/month 16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Riddor Injuries (Emp, Vol, Con) Contractor RIDDOR Monthly Occurences Volunteer RIDDOR 6 Emp RIDDOR Ave Riddors/month 5
4
3
2
1
0
3.2. Riddor incidents recorded in the period to the end of October There were 1 incident involving a loss of more than 7 days of work time; • On 10th October an Asset Delivery operative was boarding a boat at Castleford yard when his leg went into a hole at the back of the waterway wall resulting in a serious knee injury. The poor condition of the landing was known but it was still in use. This section has now been fenced off until repairs are completed.
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4. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH 4.1. The new occupational health provider, Medigold, has taken over provision of medical services to the Trust and the occupational health screening is continuing with an assessment of exposure to Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) via a mandatory questionnaire of those employees working with vibrating equipment.
5. VOLUNTEERS 5.1. In the period there has been no reportable volunteer injury in the period.
6. CONTRACTORS 6.1. In the period there has been 1 reportable contractor injury;
• On 1st September a Fountains’ operative suffered 2 fractured ribs when he was trapped between a large pedestrian mower and a tree on a sloping site. Changed working methods require the use of a smaller, more manoeuvrable mower in the tree line of this site.
7. OVERALL SAFETY PERFORMANCE 7.1. 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. The target overall performance for 2016/17 is an AFR of 0.24. Following a significant improvement in 2014/15 there was an increase in the number of employee Riddor reportable injuries in 2015/16, although no single root cause has been identified. Our focus is on ensuring greater awareness of the working environment and safety behaviour of our employees and volunteers. The Safety Stand Down days delivered in October have focused on addressing these issues. Asset delivery by the nature of the work have the majority of the more significant injuries. Number of Number of Target Injuries in Injuries this CRT People AFR past 12 operating months year CRT Employees [1800 0.28 10 6 FTE] CRT Volunteers [280 0.18 1 0 FTE] CRT Contractors [630 0.32 4 2 FTE] ALL CRT 0.28 16 8 0.24
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8. EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY ACTIONS
Review of Boxing Day flooding incident management Progress
Restatement of Waterway Manager as default ‘Gold’ incident Done 23/3/2016 commander Establish executive ’Gold’ command role to take overall control of Done 10/3/2016 the most serious/extensive incidents. Escalation criteria established and included in updated Emergency Management Standard Emergency response portal established on Gateway. Links to site Done 10/3/2016 on Gateway front page and Safety front page. Competence assessment framework for Duty supervisors to ensure Framework we continue to have competent people in our front line response developed end of team. May 2016 Competence New Duty Supervisors (<1yr on rota) in initial phase of framework piloted training/assessment withy existing Duty Experienced Duty Supervisors to follow Supervisors. Additional material incorporated as result of ongoing review of ‘call-out’ system. Emergency Response app specified and in the Digital Technology Implementation Team’s project list. following roll-out of new mobile phones Online training and testing tool procured for incident response and Procured and used business continuity. This will be used to test and develop managers during business incident management skills continuity testing. Multi-agency exercise, 14th October Calderdale. Multi-agency Completed exercise undertaken in response to Winter flooding 2015. The Trust played full part in the exercise. Full debrief to be undertaken with partners in November. Initial feedback is Trust systems worked well Training for Gold and Silver commanders available Delivered as required Review Holiday period resources required over Christmas – level of Key admin support customer service provision to determine for emergency response will on cover during holiday period
Julie Sharman Director of Asset Management
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Board of Trustees Meeting 22 November 2016 For Information
CRT234 Text in Red Confidential APPENDIX 5: ASSET REPORT Report by Simon Bamford – Director of Asset Delivery
1. Introduction 1.1 This appendix provides an update on the Asset repair and works programme.
2. Flood Response Update 2.1 Work to deliver the recovery programme continues to progress in accordance with the plan.
The Rochdale and the Calder & Hebble Canals are now open with the section between Lock 14 and Todmorden on the Rochdale Canal with navigation restored as planned at the end of September 2016 and remained open until the end of October when the Calder & Hebble at Elland and Crowther were closed again to facilitate works to the bridges.
Progress Update
At Elland Road Bridge, the canal remained open since June whilst work to the bridge continued but closed again at the end of October to allow the completion of below water work suspended to reopen the canal for the summer. The seven pre-cast concrete arch sections were successfully lifted into place in late September which then allowed utility ducts to be installed and concrete poured to bring the bridge up to road level. Northern Gas Networks, Yorkshire Water and BT have been on site renewing their services and connecting to the new bridge. The gas supply will be the first service to be diverted off the temporary service bridge and into the new bridge in early November. Stone Masons have continued to lay masonry faces to the spandrel walls and have laid the first of the large Voussoir arch stones on the western elevation. The project is on programme for re-opening the bridge to road traffic by the end of December.
Elland Bridge – Arch section and service ducts
Elland Bridge Stone masonry work to west elevation
At Crowther Bridge preparation work has been underway for foundation piling to start in November when the piling rigs have completed the construction of the retaining walls at Elland Bridge. Clay dams will be constructed and the canal closed at the beginning of November.
The development of the solution for and design of the bridges at the same time as construction has been underway has resulted in cost pressures that are being addressed with Calderdale Council.
Embankment 19 Rochdale Canal
All works were satisfactorily completed with the opportunity taken to remove rubbish from bridge holes and to significantly reduce in length a water abstraction pipe that was causing an obstruction to navigation.
Cutting 17 Rochdale Canal
With the sheet pile retaining wall completed the canal bed has been relined with puddle clay and the wash walls rebuilt repairing both flood damage and long term erosion that had undermined the walls.
The toe of the slope on the landowner’s property has been reprofiled and seeded to further improve stability.
Soon after the canal was reopened the press were invited to see a boat from Shire Cruises be the first to navigate the sections at Cutting 17 and Embankment 19. There was interest from the BBC with features on Look North and Radio Leeds with the story also covered in the Hebden Bridge Times.
Volunteers have erected 100m of temporary timber fencing along the boundary wall of the slip site and will return in the winter to rebuild the dry stone walls damaged during the flood. Redacted.
Remaining Flood Response Works
Aside from the completion of Elland and Crowther Bridges the works remaining to be completed include spot dredging in the rewatered sections of the Rochdale Canal, repairs to Kirklees Low Lock and Ganny Overflow Weir on the Calder and Hebble Canal and Knostrop Lock Sluice on the Aire and Calder Navigation.
Kirklees Low Lock repair is on site and planned for completion in December with work starting on site at Ganny Weir in January. The reconstruction of Knostrop Lock sluice will be delivered by Bam Nuttall as the most economic delivery route as they on site as contractor for the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme.
3. Waterway Infrastructure Maintenance and Repair (WIMR) 3.1 Priority Projects and Enterprise Funded Works- IDT Redacted.
There were 21 sites where works were underway during the period. Work started on the Llangattock relining project at the end of October as planned; this being the largest of the four schemes to be delivered as part of the Welsh funded programme of works being undertaken on Monmouth and Brecon Canal. Work will also commence at Marsh Lock, Llangollen Wet Abutments and Oxford Lift Bridge 193 during November.
Redacted.
The national dredging programme is being delivered to plan with works commencing on the Birmingham Fazeley, River Weaver, Claverton feeder and River Severn navigations. Target costs are being prepared for works on the Caldon and Lancaster Canals which are due to start on site later in the year.
The National Dredging Contract (NDC 2017-2027) tenders are due for return on the 4th November. The commercial and technical assessment teams will then over the coming months assess the tender submission with the aim of making recommendation for award in January 2017.
Tame Valley Aqueduct – External Scaffold installation and works inside barrel
Birmingham Cycle Revolution 2 W&B, Primrose Hill Bridge, Kings Norton
3.2 Priority Works – Direct Services
In the last 2 months lock gate replacement and asset repairs at Hampstead Locks 1A and 1B, Regents Canal and Saul lock, Gloucester and Sharpness Canal were completed. The work at Saul Lock was part funded by Heritage Lottery and Friends Fund and has removed a Building at Risk from the Stroud District Council register. Open Days were held at both Saul Lock and Hampstead Lock with a new element to open days being tried at Hampstead Locks with the introduction of a silent disco. The event attracted 2,638 visitors and signed up 15 Friends.
New Lock Gates, Saul Lock
In order to complete an extensive programme of lock gate replacements and lock repair a large number of summer/autumn stoppages have taken place where alternative routes have been available to maintain navigation. At Rushall the Direct Services team completed 5 locks in under 5 weeks with teams brought in from Stoke on Trent, Fradley & Birmingham to complete the works. All of the team were working on a lock flight outside of the areas where they are based and under Supervisors who were not their own.
Heritage Trainees & Apprentices from Stoke & Birmingham took part in the works to gain valuable experience.
Rosalind Lee (Heritage Trainee) gaining experience in Lime Mortar pointing 3.3 Operational Contracts
The winter tree programme to address dangerous trees identified from surveys, offside vegetation and hedge cutting have started on site and progressing to programme with favourable weather conditions. Asset Delivery are working with the Asset Management and Customer Service and Operations Directorates to review vegetation management standards and specifications to achieve the appropriate balance between asset maintenance and customer service. The proposals will be developed with the Navigation Advisory Group (NAG) to benefit from their input and to ensure customer support for the outcome.
We are currently experiencing significantly higher waste volumes than in previous years which is challenging the budget and impacting upon customer service. There are multiple reasons for this increase and we have engaged with the waterways to mitigate immediate issues of fly tipping at the bin stores at customer service sites. The reasons for this increase are many and varied but include the fact that local authorities are increasingly charging for waste disposal and reducing collections so local people are using our facilities to dispose of their waste. A group has been set up to take a more strategic view of the waste disposal facilities we provide to customers and of our operational waste and we will be engaging with NAG in this review.
3.4 MEICA Contract
Redacted.
The MEICA Contract delivers works associated with the maintenance, renewal, upgrade, repair and emergency repair of mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, telemetry, instrumentation, pumping, control and automation systems covering approximately 1,000 assets.
These assets can generally be defined as navigation and water control structures.
Navigation structures are critical to allow full access to navigation for our customers and are typically lift bridges, swing bridges or mitre gate locks and so regular maintenance and timely repair are essential to maintaining customer service.
Water related assets are predominantly water level and flow monitoring installations, pumping stations and sluices with SCADA systems where again, regular maintenance and timely repair are essential to maintaining customer service.
There are also some unique and very complex structures such as the Anderton Boat Lift, the River Weaver Bridges, Three Mills Lock and Tees Barrage that will require additional specialist services such as software support and monitoring.
In addition to maintenance and reactive repair, this contract will also facilitate planned repair, refurbishment, upgrades and renewal projects.
Redacted
3.5 Volunteer Delivery
Since he started at the beginning of August, Andrew Morris, Asset Delivery Volunteering Manager has made good progress in identifying tasks that will be undertaken by volunteers this winter to reduce our contract costs such as off side vegetation management on the Kennet and Avon, Macclesfield, Trent and Mersey and Caldon Canals. Other activities where volunteers will undertake works include towpath improvements on the Coventry Canal, stoppage support and the painting and refurbishment of work boats.
4. Safety
In response to an increase in injuries resulting from slips, trips, falls and manual handling we held the first ever Safety Stand Down Day during October. The agenda for the events was developed by a team of high potential staff all of whom have benefitted from working in a cross functional team and from delivering well-received events. Four regional events were held over 4 days during w/c 17th October with all Asset Delivery staff attending together with our contractors, waterway staff, volunteers and members of Cotswold Canal Trust. The subjects covered included Hand Arm Vibration, PPE, Driving at Work and Stress interspersed with a safety quiz. Feedback from attendees has been positive supported by many positive ideas for how we can improve safety management and performance. We will now follow up on these ideas and ensure that we continue to focus on effective safety management and interventions to improve safety for our staff.
Simon Bamford Director of Asset Delivery
Board Meeting 22 November 2016
CRT 234 For Noting
Section 1, and text in red in Section 2 are confidential APPENDIX 7: MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS AND FUNDRAISING Report by Director of Marketing, Communications and Fundraising
1 PERFORMANCE HEADLINES a) Redacted
2. ACTIVITY REPORTS 2.1 Fundraising 2.1.1 Enterprise/ Statutory Fundraising Project Headlines 2.1.1.1 North a) Montgomery Canal Restoration – the bid for £2.5m to HLF (total project value is £4.01m) was successful. Work is scheduled to commence in earnest in March 2017. 2.1.1.2 Midlands a) Roundhouse Birmingham has secured planning permission for the proposed redevelopment. A bid to bid is now anticipated to be submitted in December. A stage 2 bid to the Wolfson Foundation, f0r capital funding is in development. b) Skills for the Future 2 – A stage 1 HLF bid for approx. £40,000 of development work has been submitted for our next phase of skills trainees. Stage 2 funding would total £640,000. c) Towpath Grantham – Nottinghamshire CC have confirmed new funding of £200,000 for investment in upgrading towpaths close to Nottingham. Work is underway to develop the delivery route. a) 'Transforming the Trent Valley' - the Living Landscapes Partnership, led by Staffs Wildlife Trust has been awarded stage 1 HLF funding. The full project includes £500,000 for canal-related works. HLF described the application round as fiercely competitive with 19 applications nationally, with a total ask of £40million, for the available £20million.
2.1.1.3 South a) Paddington to West Drayton Quietway –Transport for London funding secured to deliver c.13km of towpath improvements. The total project value will be £2.8M grant, supported by an additional £700k of developer Section 106 funding and directly delivered third party works. Funding is to be phased over three financial years. b) G&S Canal, Sims Bridge to High Orchard Bridge towpath Improvements S106 - Following discussions with Gloucestershire County Council Section 106 planning gain has been secured for the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal between Sims Bridge and High Orchard Bridge to improve the towpath. The monies come to GCC via six monthly payments of £100k from the developer and it is anticipated around £500k in total will come forward over the next two years. c) River Severn Fish Passes: Unlocking the Severn - The first full Board Meeting of ‘Unlocking the River Severn’ fish passes project has been held. The Operational team, which includes several CRT
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representatives will continue to meet on a regular basis up to the submission of the Stage II application to the Heritage Lottery Fund next summer. d) Devizes Towpath Improvements Phase III - Discussions with Wiltshire Council have brought forward the opportunity in B16 to commence the next phase of the Devizes towpath improvement programme. The intention would be to commence the project on site in March and straddle financial years enabling CRT to find a small contribution to the £170k project next FY. e) Two Arms on Two Legs – this running festival was held on Sunday 11th September. It comprised a Half Marathon on the Aylesbury and Wendover Arms of the Grand Union, together with a 10k and a short Fun Run. We had almost 600 entries to the event, which was the flagship of the Sport England/ PP-funded Sports Participation Programme. f) Towcester Canal Arm – Arcadis has completed a high-level study into the technical feasibility of constructing a completely new 6.3km section of waterway. This £21k study has been fully funded by the trustees of a charity based in the town. With a construction cost of around £37m, it is estimated the project would generate over £6m per annum for the local economy. 2.1.1.4 European a) EU Funding – with the news that Government will underwrite any EU grants that are contracted before we withdraw from the EU, and assuming that Article 50 will be triggered as currently indicated in March 2017 at the latest, this gives us a 30 month window to secure additional EU grants. b) Sullied Sediments – c£100,000 has been secured from EU Interreg North Sea Programme which will develop new techniques for removing contaminants from dredging spoil. This should deliver significant savings on our annual dredging costs. 2.1.2 Voluntary Fundraising Project Headlines a) Individual giving – Our number of Friends continues to grow via the Face to Face/ Towpath programme, albeit at a slower rate than targeted. We are currently very reliant on towpath recruitment and therefore at risk due to variations in weather and staffing. As part of business planning we are reviewing the overall performance of the Individual Giving Programme to (a) focus on high impact, high return activity, (b) open up more channels to increase the monthly run rate and (c) potentially, develop some additional offerings like ‘family Friends’. A complete review of all governance and regulatory compliance is also underway during Q3, this will be reviewed with the internal auditors in December. b) Leadership giving – we continue to develop relations with Corporate Partners. PPL have awarded us an additional £350k from their Green Trust Fund, which will be used to support work to upgrade 10 of our SSSIs and to extend the Helping Hedgerows project. A £20,000 Legacy has been received from a previously unknown member of the public. We are currently processing this and carrying out research into the donor.
2.2 Marketing & Communications 2.2.1 External & Public Affairs Project Headlines. a) Media profile: The Trust had 732 episodes of media coverage during August and September (compared to 523 over the same period in 2015). 89.9% of coverage was positive. We are currently ahead of target across volume, tone and profile of coverage. Our best performing stories were the summer safety campaign, the discovery of an eel in the West Midlands, and a poll on towpath etiquette for the Share the Space campaign. Negative stories took a slightly higher percentage of the total score in this period (1.9% compared to 1.1%) and included the death of some ducklings at a lock in the north east, and the removal of a historic lightship from the docks in Liverpool due to non- payment of fees.
2 b) Campaigns: Our summer Open Days drew to a close in September with events taking place in Camden, Stanley Ferry workshop and Saul Junction. The programme of summer open days attracted 5,594 visitors. We are now preparing for our season of winter Open Days. The Go Fish campaign to introduce more people to angling and the waterways included 35 events hosting nearly 1,000 people. Many of the events were sold out after widespread regional broadcast coverage and an article on Mirror online. Twitter posts reached 74,363 people and 58,440 people on Facebook and the Trust’s fishing pages rose to 6th most viewed webpages. Our second push this year of the Share the Space, Drop your Pace campaign was backed up by a public attitudinal survey and events at busy locations in each of our 10 waterways. Our Facebook Live video has been viewed over 2,500 times and we secured strong regional radio and TV coverage. c) Corporate Communications: The Living Waterways Awards took place at the Town Hall, Birmingham on 14 September with a good spread of projects being recognised across the country. The Annual Public Meeting took place at Austin Court on Thursday 22 September with a focus on our asset management strategy. d) Public Affairs: In terms of MP engagement, Richard Parry met with new Waterway Minister Therese Coffey, Antoinette Sandbach MP and Charles Walker MP (Chair of the Angling APPG). Ed Fox met with Rachael Maskell (Shadow Environment Secretary), Nick Thomas-Symonds (Chair of the Industrial Heritage APPG) and Daniel Dalton MEP. At the party conferences the West Midlands team and Waterways Partnership welcomed around 80 delegates (incl. MPs and councillors) on board a Canal & River Trust-branded boat in the secure zone of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. Richard Parry spoke at a Labour Conference fringe event on flooding. The Trust’s annual Autumn Parliamentary reception was sponsored by Wendy Morton, on the Commons Terrace on 11 October. Minister Therese Coffey gave a supportive speech, followed by speeches from Richard Parry and historian & TV presenter Liz McIvor. The event was attended by approximately 60 other MPs and Peers including Rachael Maskell (Shadow Environment Secretary), Ben Gummer (Minister for the Cabinet Office), Gavin Williamson (Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury) and Andy Burnham. Redacted. We have appointed a new Public Affairs Manager for the Trust, Tom Fewins who joins us from the Ramblers Association and will start in January 2017. e) Arts on the Waterways: on October 16, international composer Ian Stephens and local choirs and musicians premiered a new choral rhapsody based on the poems of Ian McMillan to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal as part of Super Slow Way. Arts Alive Wales and the Trust hosted artists Rob Smith and Charles Danby who presented a live streaming event of limelight projected onto the lime quarry cliff above Llangattock. The live illumination was streamed direct to people in the centre of Cardiff as part of Cardiff Contemporary. The installation will remain open to the public until 19 November. The Trust is supporting the artist Mahtab Hussain, who is delivering The Auspicious Journey, part of the Ikon’s Black Country Voyages art programme. Free family-friendly workshops during 26-29 October Brindleyplace, Birmingham. f) Filming: Filming income stands at £76,293.34. Highlights filmed during this period include: Celebs Up The Canal (with Simon Callow, Nigel Havers etc.); Guerrilla (Channel 4 drama filmed extensively on the Regent’s); Snatch (TV series based on Guy Ritchie film – Rochdale Canal); Lucky Man (Sky TV series with James Nesbitt); Paddington 2 (Little Venice); On Chesil Beach (Hackney); Finding Your Feet (with Timothy Spall & Imelda Staunton on a narrowboat in Little Venice). Broadcasts featuring our waterways included: Great Canal Journeys (Channel 4); Young Hyacinth (BBC2); Paranoid (ITV); Let’s Go Club (CBeebies); Absolute Genius (CBBC); A Street Cat Called Bob.
2.2.2 Marketing Project Headlines a) Marketing campaign and brand development: We are in the final stage of work on developing a brand proposition and overarching campaign for the Trust which will launch in Spring 2106 next year and run for the next 3 - 5 years. The campaign will bring our marketing and communications activities under a common umbrella and provide a focused theme for fundraising.
3 b) Brand Activation - onsite: Work is well underway on a new generation of brand presence materials, designed to be more impactful and interactive. Prototypes have been successfully trialled in Birmingham, the London trial is planned for mid-November and Liverpool Docks next February. As part of business planning we are agreeing priority high footfall locations on the network with the aim of rolling out the enhanced brand presence at new 5 – 10 sites in 17/ 18. Standard signage continues to be rolled out by the waterways - as of the end of September 114 sites have new signs installed, or audits undertaken. 14 further sites are scheduled to be completed this financial year. c) Visitor marketing: Our visitor marketing digital promotion has gone live again for the October half term, so far reaching over 680,000 individuals and driving just over 8,300 Places to Visit regional guide downloads, where we are feeding data captured into our ongoing email programme. We are using demographic and lookalike targeting to target relevant audiences with a propensity to download the guides. d) Digital: we are conducting a digital content audit to determine the right planning, people and processes to ensure the Trust delivers exceptional digital content consistently across all channels. Working with the Fundraising team, we are revamping our email newsletter (which now goes out to over 56,000 subscribers) to create a more streamlined, effective prospecting journey, focusing on converting engaged subscribers into donors, supporters and advocates. 2.3 Wales a) Welsh Government’s Green Infrastructure Fund: Work has started on the Mon & Brec project with dewatering beginning on the 31st of October and the first claim form for the £2.58m being submitted on the 4th November. BBC Countryfile have confirmed that that the Mon & Brec project will be featured in a future programme, with filming taking place on the 27th of November. b) Site visits: we are currently liaising on visits from Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs (Lesley Griffiths), Minister for Skills and Science (Julie James), the Cabinet Secretary for Education (Leanne Wood) and the Torfaen MP Nick Thomas – Symonds (All visits TBC).
Dr Sophie Castell Director of Marketing, Communications and Fundraising November 2016
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Board Meeting 22 November 2016 Information Report CRT234 Text in Red Confidential APPENDIX 8: HUMAN RESOURCES REPORT Report by Mike Goodie HR Director
1. INTRODUCTION This is the HR report for the period to the end of October 2016 setting out an overview of the Trust’s performance and key activities relating to its people and organisation.
2. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT / GROWING OUR TRUST The Growing our Trust Toolkit has been rolled out across the Trust. The closing date for completion is 9th December. The outputs will be local engagement plans and these will be monitored and reported on by local people champions.
As part of our ‘ask, analyse and act’ approach to Growing our Trust and employee engagement during September and October our network of people champions undertook 117 listening groups.
The purpose of the listening groups was to respond to the employee survey results, and the subsequent regression analysis, taking a deeper dive into what was driving the results and potential solutions.
To begin the analysis of findings People Champions (PCs) were invited to a session on 1st November to discuss their high level findings. The next steps are to create a programme of work let by the senior team to address the feedback.
3. JOB EVALUATION Job descriptions in a consistent and succinct format have now been completed for the majority of the roles in the Trust. There is a meeting with the job evaluation team on 15th November to discuss next steps, redacted.
4. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT The Executive Team had a further Leadership Session in October and is continuing to focus on developing a wider Leadership model to be embedded across the Trust (see appendix 10).
5. ABSENCE MANAGEMENT The pilot of a new simpler approach, with the Enforcement team, is well underway and appears to be going according to plan.
The Trust participated in Mental Health Awareness week and various “Tea and Talk” sessions were hosted; we also supported Stress Awareness Day on 2nd November. There is now a page on Gateway dedicated to Stress Awareness and Stress Awareness/Management sessions are now being run across the Trust - including in partnership with Mind Leeds - and more are planned up until March 2017. These courses have been over-subscribed and feedback has been excellent. Employees are recognising that this support is vital and managers are engaging with this.
6. SENIOR RECRUITMENT After a long gap we have secured a replacement lead on procurement, with Faye Pollard joining as ‘Head of Commercial Strategy & Procurement’ from the water industry in the new year. A replacement ‘Head of Group Accounting & Business Intelligence’, Ben Fairhall, starts in February 2017 and he will join the Trust for some induction days during December. New roles to address gaps in our capability at more junior levels have been successfully filled with Dominic Momcilovic joining as Participation & Development Manager (responsible for leading the Volunteering strategy) in December, and new Public Affairs manager Tom Fewins starting in January.
7. SUCCESSION PLANNING The HR Business Partners have been working with the senior leaders in their directorates to identify critical roles and key experts across the Trust. These are roles that the Trust depends upon most, and would have high impact if the individual left suddenly. These will be reviewed at the end of November and then an action plan to address succession will be created. A more comprehensive update on our approach to succession planning will be presented to the Board next year.
8. POLICY REVIEW Trade Union members have voted overwhelmingly to accept the suite of new policies, reflecting the very collaborative approach that has been taken throughout. This brings many policies where the Trust has faced a risk of challenge up to date with best practice, redacted. Employees have the opportunity to view all the reviewed policies on Gateway and a number of joint communications have been sent out to raise awareness of the review. A communication plan has been devised and a number of support tools for managers have been developed. Training will be available on specific policies.
9. DIVERSITY & INCLUSION The Executive Team are undertaking the Diversity & Inclusion training in November and plans are in place to roll out the training across the Trust in the New Year. redacted.
The Executive has also endorsed the value and benefits to the Trust of embracing flexible working in a competitive job market.
Mike Gooddie HR Director November 2016