Victor gets help from Robin

VICTOR wants help identifying how may people there will be running Canal & River Trust (CART) when it eventually comes into being, writes Allan Richards.

Unusually, help is available from British Waterways' Chief Executive, Robin Evans. He says the answer is 150!

Current figures

Historically, British Waterways' governance has been similar to that of a private company with ten 'fat cat' executive directors and a similar number of part time remunerated Board members. In recent years the number of 'fat cats' has reduced slightly due to two directors leaving British Waterways' employ with massive golden handshakes.

The ten strong Board, appointed by the waterways minister, is also dropping in numbers as a prelude to becoming a charity.

Ten replaced by 150

However, it appears that what was a ten strong remunerated Board is to be replaced by 150 unpaid volunteers when CART comes into being. A recent report by the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee states 'In the evidence session, Robin Evans said that the governance of the new organisation will involve 150 people up and down the country'.

Ten replaced by 150? Lets see how the numbers break down.

CART trustees

Eight transition trustees were appointed. Three of those were existing Board members with five 'new faces'. Nigel Hugill, an existing Board member, has resigned but has been replaced by three new trustees. Therefore the current number of trustees is ten, the same as British Waterways Board.

Committee and Waterways Partnerships

However, CART also has a council involved in its governance. The current number of members of that council is 35 but potentially might grow as high as 50.

In addition some 13 Waterways Partnerships have been created as part of the governance structure each with between eight and 12 members.

The bottom line.

The bottom line is that governance of CART involves about 130 from Waterways Partnerships, 35 from the committee and ten trustees. That's 175! However, some duplication exists. For example, the 13 Waterways Partnership chairs automatically sit on council and other members of Waterways Partnerships are known to be council members.

Whilst, at first glance, it would appear that Robin Evans' figure of 150 is preposterously high it is actually slightly conservative.

One is left wondering how British Waterways has managed for all these years with a ten strong governance team but now needs 150 as a charity!