Tony Hales forced out?

THE Canal & River Trust (CaRT) Chairman, Tony Hales, has twice avoided stepping down, but the third time is different, writes Allan Richards.

Vice Chairman, Lynne Berry, has announced that he will step down at the next council meeting in September and be replaced by another trustee, Allan Leighton.

Months became years

It was first suggested that Tony Hales would step down in April 2013 after completing 12 months in office. However, ‘vesting date' (the date that British Waterways became Canal & River Trust) was delayed form April 2012 to July 2012 which gave rise to an announcement he was staying on for a ‘few months' because the Trust was late in starting.

However, those few months have become two years!

The next excuse for not going was the sudden resignation of his chief executive, Robin Evans. CaRT's press release at the time stated 'Tony Hales has been asked by Trustees to stay on as chair to help ensure a smooth transition and he has kindly agreed to do so'.

Term of office

Tony Hales' term of office as a trustee ended in April 2013 but he managed to get himself reappointed for a further three years by CaRT's Council. Not surprising really, as not only is he chairman of CaRT's board of trustees but also chairman of its council which appoints those trustees!

How did that happen?

Out of state control

CaRT's announcement of the appointment enthuses:

‘Under the leadership of Tony Hales so much has been achieved for the nation's waterways. He had the vision and passion to take the waterways out of state control in what was the largest ever transfer of state infrastructure into a charitable organisation. Since that remarkable achievement in 2012, he has set the path for a bright future for the waterways for generations to come'.

This of course is a complete nonsense!

British Waterways vision

It was Tony Hales' failure as BW's Chairman to achieve its 2012 vision that allowed government to dump it on the third sector without adequate funding. BW's 2012 vision read:

'Our ambition is that by 2012 we will have created an expanded, vibrant, largely self sufficient waterway network used by twice as many people as in 2002. It will be regarded as one of the nation's most important and valued national assets. Visitors will be delighted with the quality of the experience and as a consequence many will become active participants'.

Kicked or pushed?

Those more interested in the future rather than the past may wish to consider that after three years, CaRT is spending about £50m less per year than needed to stop its waterways continuing to deteriorate. Indeed, this year (2015/16) it is spending significantly less on maintaining its waterways than suggested just three years ago.

.... and as as for being largely self sufficient, government funding via grant still represents over half the inadequate amount it does spend!

It matters little if Tony Hales finally decided to go (two years into a three year term of office) or was forced out by his fellow trustees in favour of Allan Leighton. His abysmal record speaks for itself.

Allan Leighton

However, an examination of CaRT's published minutes indicates that Allan Leighton, who will replace Tony Hales, did not attend the last Council meeting (Low attendance for Council meeting). Worse still, based on published minutes, he has only attended one meeting of CaRT's Board since he was appointed a trustee in September 2014.

Hopefully, now that Mr Leighton is chairman rather than just a trustee, he will devote slightly more of his time to our waterways!