REGULATORY
Core Policy
Manage the harbour in an open and accountable manner.
Strategic Plan Objectives
5 year Strategic Plan: Consult and agree CHC’s Strategic Plan for 2016 - 2021. 2016
The Strategic Plan was agreed by the CHC Board of Commissioners in 2016.
Governance policies: Review CHC’s governance policies, including stakeholder dividend and
charitable requests. 2016-2017
Work is ongoing to review governance policies but has not yet been completed.
Charitable trust: Review the possibilities of charitable investment into stakeholder dividend
projects. 2017-2018
Investigations into charitable trust status have started but are not completed.
Governance Policy
Cowes Harbour Commission (CHC), constituted under the Cowes Harbour Act and Orders 1897-2012, is the statutory
harbour authority for Cowes Harbour on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is a Trust Port, designated and recognised by the
Department for Transport. As such, it is an independent statutory body, run by an independent board for the benefi t
of stakeholders.
CHC is expected to operate the port in accordance with the government’s standards and practices as set out in the
Department for Transport’s new document “Ports Good Governance Guidance” (PGGG), published in April 2018:
cowesharbourcommission.co.uk/governance
CHC’s business objectives are set out in a strategy document, currently the Strategic Plan 2016-2021. Progress
towards these objectives is reported to Commissioners, the Harbour Advisory Committee, as well as at a Public
Meeting and in an Annual Report.
Port business is conducted in the interests of the whole community of stakeholders openly, accountably, and with
commercial prudence. The Department of Transport requires CHC to operate as a commercial business, seeking to
generate a surplus to be ploughed back into the port, or otherwise directed towards the interests of stakeholders.
Board of Commissioners
The CHC Board consists of nine independent non-executive Commissioners and the Harbour Master/Chief Executive:
cowesharbourcommission.co.uk/board_of_commissioners
Commissioners are appointed on merit after an open recruitment process to ensure the professional skills and
experience required to provide strategic leadership to the decision making Board. The Commissioner selection panel
is led by the CHC Chairman, a stakeholder and an independent member. The Commissioners’ positions are voluntary
and they have agreed not to receive remuneration. Appointments run for a term of three years and Commissioners can
serve two terms. Up to two additional Commissioners can be co-opted and serve for 12 months.
Commissioner attendance rates averaged 84% at the 10 full Board meetings in 2017. Full details are listed in the
‘Cowes Harbour Commission Report of the Commissioners and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December
2017’: cowesharbourcommission.co.uk/financial_accounts
CHC Chairman David Riley is in his fi rst term of offi ce, which runs through to May 2019. In November 2017,
Michael Greville resigned as Commissioner due to work commitments. Following a competitive recruitment process in
early 2018, the Board appointed James Evans as a Commissioner, effective from 1 st May. In compliance with CHC’s
governance procedures for re-selection for a second term, the Board also agreed for Chris Preston and Jonathan
Gillespie to be appointed for a second term from 1 st May 2018.
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cowesharbourcommission.co.uk
/cowesharbourcommission
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