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After five years of drafting,
Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners (NPHC) have finally released
copies of their proposals for a new management structure for the port.
This order has been applied for in response to the Government's
Modernising Trust Ports - A Guide to Good Governance, a copy of which
is available on the Department of Transport's web site.
Since the existing constitution was put into place
in 1996 Newlyn has, in my opinion, been a fractured and troubled port,
suffering from endless infighting, accusations of dominant sectorial
interests and a raft of prosecutions.
The proposals now put forward by NPHC to address these issues appear
more than disappointing to me. In my opinion they are basically
suggesting "more of the same" but with the patronising addition of an
"advisory body" which they can choose to ignore.
The
Guide to Good Governance is quite clear; it asks trust ports to put
forward proposals for good leadership, independence, openness,
integrity, accountability and some objective management.
But I
believe there is evidence of the inadequacy to embrace these
recommendations in the Newlyn Commissioners' proposals as follows:
Leadership
- they have failed to recognise that a port has two distinct tiers of
stakeholders with equal interest, namely those directly involved with
the port and those that form the community around it.
Independence
- all trust ports have a duty to maximise benefits available to all
stakeholders. NHPC have not done so nor do they recognise that paying
for the port's services only creates a particular interest and not one
that displaces or overrides all others.
Openness - Newlyn's trustees should be clearly accountable to their immediate stakeholders and to the wider community.
Instead,
in my opinion this is not happening. I believe there is inadequate
content in the minutes of their monthly meetings and it does not meet
what is expected of good governance, nor does it embrace the Nolan
recommendations for public office.
As a minimum, all trust ports are expected to hold a widely and effectively advertised open annual meeting.
Integrity
and accountability - the commissioners, as trustees, have an absolute
duty to be seen to be acting with integrity. The Hyder Report into
Newlyn's viability has shown that a number of commercial decisions made
by commissioners in the past have not followed any of the acceptable
principles of openness, accountability or commercial acumen.
Objective
management - management of a trust port requires that a board of
trustees is, collectively, fit for purpose, capable of standing above
sectional interests and has the capacity both to set out and to carry
through strategic direction for the benefit of all their stake-holders.
There has been invaluable input from a few of the commissioners to
Newlyn's regeneration plans but often their efforts have been thwarted.
The absence of a collective willingness and leadership to pursue the
interests of the port's stakeholders as a whole has indicated to me an
insufficient appreciation of the obligations required and the
commercial insight needed to complete the project.
The
commissioners' rejection of the main recommendations of the Department
of Trade and Industry's Guide to Good Governance, required from all
trust ports by 2002, shows to me a particular arrogance towards
accepting today's requirements for better environmental standards, more
effective performance, engagement with the community and independent,
accountable management.
Unless the existing proposals can be
heavily modified may I suggest that an alternative be put forward that
is able to meet national and local government minimum standards, and
one that can set in place the openness, accountability and community
involvement that is required.
Nick Howell
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