Governance and management quality

Duties and way in which the management and governing bodies are elected (I_02)

Chairship

The duties and way of electing the Chair are set out in Article 31 of the Consolidated Text of the Ports of the State and Merchant Navy Act. The relevant authority of the Autonomous Region, in our case the Governing Board of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia and as proposed by the relevant Regional Minister, appoints, and removes, the Chair of the Port Authority from among people of recognised professional expertise and suitability. The appointment or removal, once notified to the Minister for Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, is published in the relevant State and Regional Official Gazette.

Pursuant to Decree 384/2019, of 19 February, the Cabinet of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia appointed María del Pilar Miranda Plata as Chair of the Huelva Port Authority, an appointment that met with the disclosure requirement, pursuant to Article 31.1 of the Consolidated Text of the State Ports and Merchant Navy Act, and published by means of Order FOM/259/2019, of 25 February, in Spanish Official Gazette No. 58, of 8 March 2019.

The Chair is entrusted with overseeing compliance of the legal obligations of the Port Authorities towards Puertos del Estado, particularly in relation to the provisions and acts whose approval or reporting is the remit of the latter, along with supplying to the latter any information of interest for the State port system.

Management

Their duties as a management body and means of election are as envisaged in Article 33 of the Consolidated Text of the Ports of the State and Merchant Navy Act.

The Manager is appointed and removed by the absolute majority of the Board of Directors, as proposed by the Chair, from among individuals who must have completed higher education, have recognised professional standing and, at least, five years’ experience in port management and techniques.

Board of Directors

Its members are as elected as set out in Article 30.3 of the Consolidated Text of the Ports of the State and Merchant Navy Act.

The ordinary members are appointed by the Regional Minister in charge of Ports of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia at the proposal of the Public Administrations and Bodies represented on the Board of Directors. In the case of the General State Administration, the proposal is made by the Chair of the Puertos del Estado Public Body.

The ordinary members of the Board of Directors are appointed for four years and can be renewed. Their removal shall be agreed by the relevant authority of the Autonomous Region, as proposed by the organisations, bodies and entities that they represent.

The duties of the Board of Directors are those established in Article 30.5 of the Consolidated Text of the Ports of the State and Merchant Navy Act.

Structure of the Board of Directors (I_03)

Following the restructuring of the Board of Directors required by Act 33/2010, of 5 August, the Autonomous Region of Andalusia passed Decree 2/2011, of 11 January, regarding the appointment of individuals to form part of the governing bodies of the Port Authorities of the ports of general interest in Andalusia, pursuant to the legal established remits for that purpose. That decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia on 25 January 2011.

During the meeting on 5 April 2011, the Huelva Port Authority Board of Directors was again formed following the restructuring. This involved a significant reduction in the number of ordinary members, but maintained the same representation system with the distribution of the different members unchanged. The different local, regional and state public administrations, as well as the important sectors in the business, trade union, economic and port spheres, therefore continue to be presented.

Composition

The composition of the Board of Directors is as follows:

• Chairship which is held by the Chair of the Port Authority.
• An ex officio member who is the Harbourmaster.
• 15 ordinary members:
  • 4 ordinary members. General State Administration (including the Harbourmaster)
  • 5 ordinary members. Autonomous Region (including the Regional Premier's Office)
  • 4 ordinary members. Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation, business and trade union organisations and important economic sectors in the port setting.
  • 1 ordinary member. Huelva City Council
  • 1 ordinary member. Palos de la Frontera local Council

The Manager and the Secretary are also on the Board, but in a non-voting role.

The composition of the Board as of 31 December 2020 was as follows:

Support and management systems (I_04)

Huelva Port Authority certified its integrated quality and environmental management system pursuant to ISO 9001 and 14001 standards, with the scope of "General services, as defined in the regulatory framework of the state port system and management of the port public domain" in early 2020. During the year, it had to overhaul its integrated management system, due to a notable change in the organisational chart and the organisation of the works in that regard. The improvements to the system include the use of a much more visual and interactive internal communication tool that allows feedback from the workers to be received more smoothly.

With respect to the Health and Safety management, the Huelva Port Authority has contracted an external prevention service for the specialities or areas of: safety at work, industrial hygiene, ergonomics and applied psychosociology and occupational medicine including medical health surveillance.

Since 2018, Huelva Port Authority had had a Rail Safety Management System, as required by legislation as it is and rail infrastructure administrator of the General Network (Royal Degree 810/2007, of 22 June, approving the Regulations on safety in the circulation of the General Interest Railway Network, subsequently repealed by Royal Decree 929/2020, of 27 October, on railway operational safety and interoperability).

Management Commitee (I_05)

The Management Committee is designed as an instrument to ensure government efficiency and the correct performance of the routine management of the Port Authority, particularly with regard to affairs of relevant importance or which involve coordinated interdepartmental processing.

Furthermore, it is tasked with regular reviews of the progress and proposals during the implementation of the established port planning goals, agreeing on the adaptations or reviews in that regard that it deems necessary in order to fulfil the set goals.

The Management Committee is made up of the Chair and the Director, the heads of the Financial-Economic, Infrastructure and General Secretariat areas; along with the Operations; Planning, Internal Control and Management Systems; Human Resources and Industrial Relations; Port Public Domain; Business Development; Commercial; Technology and IT Systems; and Communications and External Relations Departments. The Management Committee usually meets fortnightly.

Another broader forum, known as the Extended Management Committee, has also been consolidated since 2016. It regularly meets at the end of each half year to conduct a broader assessment of the management of the entity, where the members include other managers of the Port Authority, together with the members of the Management Committee and the Chair.

Sectoral technical committee advising the Board of Directors (I_06)

Pursuant to the New Composition and Functioning Rules, approved by the Board of Directors of the Huelva Port Authority, during the meeting held on 13 May 2012 (Province of Huelva Official Gazette, number 123, of 27 June 2012) and having completed the processes to appoint its Ordinary Members, the Navigation and Port Board of Huelva Port Authority has been acting as an advisory body to the Chairship of the Port Authority and to the Harbourmaster. That role had been nearly completely interrupted after 2000, as only one of its committees – the Navigation Committee – remained active and assumed the duties of the Port Services Committee.

The Navigation and Port Board of the Port Authority met for the first time after its restructuring on 7 November 2012 and it was then proposed for it to include the Port Services Committee envisaged in Article 124 of the Consolidated Text of the State Port and Merchant Navy Act, which then began to assume the legally assigned functions regarding the terms and conditions of providing port services. In 2020, the Navigation and Port Board adapted its composition to the recommendation of Puertos del Estado to update its representativeness to current times. Its new structure was published in the Province of Huelva Official Gazette Number 126 of 6 August 2020.

In 2020, the Navigation and Port Board met on 3 December and the Port Services Committee on 4 December.

Representation on the Navigation and Port Board after the aforementioned restructuring is as follows: