CPT Council agrees revised structure

CPT Council has agreed on a revised structure for the organisation.

Perhaps one of the salient results of the agreement is the organisation’s regional management structure is to be unaltered.

A consultation exercise which took place in November asked CPT members their views on a wide range of issues, including the need to reorganise CPT, the need to be more effective in engaging with government and stakeholders and the need to review CPT’s cost base for members.

A number of changes have been made to the proposed structure which was circulated to members. This was as a result of the comments and responses received from CPT members and staff during the consultation. The alterations include the retention of existing resources in CPT Scotland and CPT Wales. This is in addition to the retention of the existing Regional Manager resources across the English regions.

CPT Council agreed that the new structure should be implemented from 1 April 2019.

CPT President, Martin Dean, said: “I am pleased to confirm that Council has requested that I remain in post as CPT President for the time being in order to provide continuity and on-going support during the transitional phase. I will also Chair a Working Group, representative of the wider CPT membership, which is being formed in order to identify and recruit the new Chief Executive/External Relations Director.

“I know there was some unease about the way the proposal emerged and I do acknowledge those concerns but the consultation process did reveal an overwhelming desire for change and the way we have all worked together to come up with a structure we are all comfortable with is a testament to our ability to work together but also, I would like to think, a recognition that we are stronger together.

“In some ways this is only the beginning as we will now move forward with setting up our External Affairs team and appointing a new Chief Executive amongst other tasks but the important point is that we have achieved a level of consensus on the structure that will underpin our new approach and this is a really important and positive step forward as we move into 2019.”

Reactions

Chris Owens of Alpine Travel, a member of the council and former-CPT President, said: “The initial proposal to Council relating to a complete shake up of the industry representative body came as quite a shock, its contents were somewhat unpalatable and completely unacceptable to the smaller bus operators, supplier members and independent coach operators who make up a majority of the organisation’s membership.”

Chris and many of his colleagues on Council did appreciate the need for change though and he believes that the final version of the proposed reorganisation, that came about as a result of a great deal of consultation with the membership at large, is not perfect but certainly exceeded his earlier expectations. He believes that it is critical to the coach operating community to retain the wealth of knowledge and experience the CPT officers, who are always on hand to support the industry via the regional network or from head office.

Chris continued: “An area of concern could be our influence in Europe although ten minutes does not pass at the moment without another revelation in the media regarding the B word, so there may be no European table for us to worry about having a place at.

“As an industry we have probably hidden our light under the bushel for far too long, perhaps it is time for an External Relations unit to take a more proactive role in highlighting what we really need to play a more active role in the UK economy. This reorganisation may now allow the CPT to become a stronger and more robust organisation fit for the 21st century in a rapidly changing UK within or without the EU.”

Richard Bamber, CPT Chair of CPT North Western, said: “At first glance, it looks like they have listened to the comments that were said in the consultation. I am pleased to see the regional manager structure has not been affected. It provides effective support and is a big asset to CPT. Not everything can be controlled centrally. It looks like they have listened as much as possible, so we are cautiously pleased.

“I would like to see them live up to their promise of being more vocal. As an industry that doesn’t make ourselves heard enough, I think the CPT does need to bang the drum. We need to influence projects well beforehand, not afterwards. It’s like Sadiq Khan; we should have been courting him well before he became Mayor of London.

“If the promises they have made come true, it should be good.”