Archived decisions

Governance Committee

Part I

Report to the Council

River Hamble - governance arrangements

1. In 2007 a review of the governance arrangements for the River Hamble was commissioned to assess the effectiveness of the governance arrangements introduced in 2005. The Governance Committee has considered the outcomes of the review as have both the River Hamble Management Committee and the River Hamble Harbour Board.

2. As required by the Constitution, the Cabinet has considered the matter. The Cabinet supports the Governance Committee's proposals and accordingly the County Council is asked to approve the following amendments to the governance arrangements for the River Hamble, and to amend the terms of reference of the Management Committee accordingly:

(a) That a single additional Member should be appointed to the Management Committee to represent the interests of all mooring and berth holders on the River and that this be balanced by the appointment of an additional Hampshire County Council Member to the Committee, the Management Committee to recommend what criteria and selection process should be invoked in the event that more than one person applies to be the mooring and berth holders representative.

Note: If the proposal in (a) above is agreed, political group representation on the Management Committee will move from 5:4:0 to 6:4:0 given that the majority party must be allocated a majority of the seats available to County Councillors. A revised proportionality table is appended to this report. The increase of one has no material impact.

(b) That the Chairman and members of the Hamble Estuary Partnership (HEP) should be invited to provide an additional forum for consultation with River Hamble stakeholder groups.

(c) That the Chairman of the HEP should be allowed direct access to the Harbour Board so that the views and advice of the HEP can be taken into account before decisions are made.

3. In broad terms, the review found that most of the objectives set out when the governance arrangements were revised in 2005 have been achieved and that the Harbour Authority is generally compliant with the Municipal Ports Review. However, some adjustments were required and those which have a direct impact on the governance arrangements are covered in this report. Other constructive adjustments and improvements that did not require the County Council's approval have been agreed by the River Hamble Harbour Board and the Management Committee.

4. In parallel with this review, the independent `Trust Ports Study Group' (TPSG), Chaired by Mr Peter Nicholson, submitted a report based upon 18 months of research which concluded that, subject to satisfactory transition arrangements, the River Hamble should be converted to Trust Port status and governed independently from Hampshire County Council. This has been considered by this Committee, the Cabinet and the Harbour Board and the Management Committee and has been rejected on the grounds that the existing governance arrangements are in line with legislation and current government guidance, fit for purpose and in the best interests of river users and the wider population of Hampshire. The Cabinet also considered a compromise that would have set up a quasi-trust board with rotating chairmanship between an elected member of the County Council and a `user of the river' representative. This was also rejected. The River Hamble will, therefore, continue to be governed as a Municipal Port under the control of the County Council.

RECOMMENDATION:

5. That approval be given to the proposals set out in paragraphs 2(a), (b) and (c) above and the terms of reference of the River Hamble Management Committee be amended accordingly;

6. That, subject to the approval of the previous recommendation, consideration be given to the revised proportionality table appended to this report.