Wednesday 27 June

It has been a great year – for me, at least.  I have enjoyed every minute of it.  I dread to think about the number of hours I have put in, but I do not begrudge a second of it.  My family has suffered quite a bit, and so has my business, but things should get back to normal quite quickly.

In the afternoon I meet up with Baroness Scott (see 21 March) who has invited me to have a look round the Houses of Parliament.  I have been asked by Sue Stevens (Director of Education & Membership) to raise the Women’s Transport Seminar (see 26 April) with Lady Scott as we know she is interested in its work and we wonder if there is anything we can do to help.

I mention WTS to Ros Scott who promptly invites me to an evening meeting being held today by WTS at London City Hall.  It is their annual Summer Reception at which Baroness Scott is giving the Keynote Address; this turns out to be quite brilliant in combining interesting facts (about herself and the Lords) with humour and her views about the need for more women in our profession.

So that’s it.  Apparently getting on for 600 people are, or have been, regular readers of this weblog.  My thanks to all of you, especially those who have sent me nice e-mails saying how much you have liked reading it.  And to Jason Munn, our Web Manager, who has had the enjoyable(?) task of putting my contributions on to the website.

I hope that my successor, Mike Slinn, will continue with the weblog, but I do not know if he will – he may not be able to find the time.  It is not a particularly difficult thing to do although, looking back over more than 17,000 words, it now seems a bit daunting!

Thank you for reading my thoughts – I hope you found them interesting and/or helpful.

Tuesday 26 June

In the morning I attend Membership Board.  This is Tim Speed’s last meeting as Chairman and, indeed, his last day on Council (there is a maximum of six consecutive years).  He’s done a great job and I have been asked by next year’s Presidential Team (subject to Council’s approval) to take on the chairmanship.

We have a full agenda, but we concentrate on reviewing the requirements for Fellowship and the criteria for awarding Certificates of Merit.  We also discuss issues around Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and look at what the Diversity Panel has been doing recently.  We overrun and so have to make do with some leftover sandwiches: the gannets on the other Boards have beaten us to it!

In the afternoon we have a short Council meeting.  The main business is a debate about how we can help Branches to get closer to the devolved governments (Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and to the English regions – so that we can, hopefully, influence their policies.  It is not easy to find a solution as we do not want to have to raise subscriptions just to pay for more permanent staff – whether based in London or elsewhere.  Fortunately we now have senior representatives from all three devolved governments on Council and, hence, on the relevant Branch Committees.  Hopefully this will improve matters – but we will continue to monitor the situation and, no doubt, the affected Branches will let us know if things do not improve.

Then we have the Annual General Meeting.  This includes consideration of the 2006 Annual Report and Accounts.  There are no hiccups and so I move on to say my ‘thank yous’ – to Council and, especially, the staff.  Then I install Mike Slinn as the 2007-08 President.  I thought you might be interested to see a close-up of the Presidential Jewel;

the main ‘picture’ is of the Appian Way, the first proper road that the Romans built.  It was built about 300 BC between Rome and Brindisi.  Mike goes on to say some nice words about me and closes the meeting.  We then have a modest celebratory session of wine and canapés – and another year comes to a close.

Monday 25 June

To London for a day of meetings.  Daniel Isichei has recently been promoted to head up the IHT’s Communications Department.  The Presidential Team has an initial brain-storming meeting with him.  He will need to put any specific proposals to one of our Boards, but at least we are sure he’s pointing in the right direction as he starts the job.

We then have a meeting with the Highways Agency: Archie Robertson and Ginny Clarke.  We tell them about what we are doing on a wide range of topics including qualifications and roadwork safety.  They seem suitably impressed and promise to help us whenever they can.

In the afternoon we have laid on a session for our Corporate Partners.  We want to know if they feel they are getting value for money from their membership.  We tell them about our ideas for developing transportation planning qualifications, achieving CEng and IEng, approving company training schemes send achieving more diverse workforce.

Thursday 21 June

Today the Conference is at the Cardiff University Conference centre – not the easiest place to find.  The Keynote Address is given by Jane Davidson, who has recently been appointed as the Welsh Assembly Government’s Minister for Sustainability & Rural Development.  She has been in post for only about 10 days, but has a good grasp of the Manual for Streets topic area.

Again I chair the morning session; Kim Jenkins (Chairman of the South Wales Branch, chairs the afternoon session).

Wednesday 20 June

Today is the third of our series of Manual for Streets Conferences (see 9 May).  We have another good turnout and the speakers do us proud.  The weather is kind and some delegates take advantage of the sun and watch the non-existent cricket!  John Smart (IHT’s Deputy Chief Executive) chairs the afternoon session.

Afterwards the IHT team and most of the speakers drive to Cardiff for another performance tomorrow.  We struggle to find somewhere sensible to eat and I am appointed chief navigator simply because I have been to Cardiff recently (this is a dangerous decision, but eventually we find the restaurant in Cardiff Bay that I have suggested – phew!).

Tuesday 19 June

By train to Taunton to chair the morning session of tomorrow’s Manual for Streets Conference at the Somerset County Cricket Ground.

Monday 18 June

I attend a meeting of the North Western Branch’s Seminars Sub-Committee.  As well as continuing to organise two seminars each year (in May and November), it now looks after the Branch’s Annual Dinner (April) and Dinner Dance (October).  In addition, it is starting to organise Chris Jackson’s 2009 Presidential Dinner & Conference which will be in Manchester on 23 & 24 September.

Saturday 16 June

We fly home via Hong Kong, Bangkok (for refuelling) and Dubai to Gatwick.  That’s four flights for Mary and I have a fifth flight – to Manchester, where Maria is waiting to take me home after travelling for 38 hours.  I am a bit tired!

The Far East trip is hard work; you are ‘on duty’ the whole time.  But it has been well worth the effort.  The Branches are committed to IHT, delighted that we go to see them and want to take an increasing role in IHT’s affairs.  I am indebted to Mary Lewis for looking after me – she really is a winner and we are lucky to have her.

Friday 15 June

Mary is unwell today and so only I have the pleasure of a day’s tourism, escorted by Aik and Yap.  We travel to Melaka for a conducted tour of the sights.  I thought some of you might be interested in this elderly (1940?) bulldozer, which used to work on the local rubber plantations.

In the evening Mary (now recovered) and I host a dinner for the Malaysia Branch at the Royal Lake Club. The Branch has organised our visit extremely well and this is our ‘thank you’ to them. Afterwards we visit Putrajaya, the newly built, and very impressive, federal administrative centre, which also includes housing for civil servants.

Thursday 14 June

I give the first ever Brunel Lecture in Malaysia.  This was originally David Hutchinson’s idea – and a good one too.  Perhaps other overseas Branches might like to follow suit?  The chosen topic is Delivering Road Safety Best Practice (and my grateful thanks are due to John Smart, Director of Technical Affairs, for drafting this for me).  I give short presentations on Congestion Charging and Road Pricing and Mary gives one on Knowledge Management.  We then field questions from the audience and so easily fill the three-hour slot (Mary knows far more about the intricacies of the London Congestion Charging scheme than I do – being a ‘local’!).

Wednesday 13 June

Today we travel to Malaysia.  The flight to Kuala Lumpur is uneventful and we are met by two of the Branch’s leading lights: Aik and Yap (the Malaysians commonly only use their surnames).  On the way to our hotel we are asked to give extra presentations tomorrow to supplement the Brunel Lecture I am already down to present, as they have a three-hour slot for us, not the 30 minutes we were expecting!

Fortunately the time difference means that the Endsleigh Street staff are at work and can come to our rescue.  Together with downloading information from the internet, by the time we are picked up on Thursday morning we have put together two extra technical presentations (on Congestion Charging and Road Pricing) and one on Knowledge Management.

Tuesday 12 June

Today we are taken to visit Stonecutters Bridge (www.stonecuttersbridge.net), which will be one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world when completed next year.  We are given a presentation about the bridge, inspect the exhibition about it and are then taken up one of the towers for a bird’s eye view of the site – and very impressive it is too.  Our thanks are due to Peter Lowther (Arup’s Chief Resident Engineer), Ted Lawton (Senior Resident Engineer) and Catherine Leung (one of the site’s young engineers) for looking after us so well.

In the evening we hold a farewell dinner for the Branch Committee.  This allows us to express our thanks for the way we have been taken care of during our visit.  In particular Raymond Tang (Branch Secretary) and Kennedy Cheung have been really helpful.

Monday 11 June

Our first duty is to attend the Hong Kong Branch’s Annual General Meeting in the HK Yacht Club (www.rhkyc.org.hk).  This is a very pleasant evening with the usual reports from the outgoing Chairman (Leo Leung) and from the Treasurer (Vincent Chan), followed by the installation of the new chairman (Philco Wong).  I then give the meeting a 20-minute overview of where IHT is, and is going, and then (with Mary’s help) answer questions.

After an excellent dinner in the Yacht Club we are taken on a cruise around the harbour so that we can admire Hong Kong by night.

Leo-Leung, AH & Philco Wong

Sunday 10 June

This is meant to be a recovery day, but we do not feel particularly tired, so Mary shows me around Hong Kong.  It is my first visit, but Mary has been with three previous Presidents and in her life before IHT!  So she is able to show me the essence of Hong Kong: we go on the Star ferries, have lunch in Kowloon, take some short tram trips and get very wet as it rains continuously and is very humid.

Saturday 9 June

Mary and I arrive in Hong Kong at 10.00 pm, but our cases do not!  They eventually turn up on Sunday evening.

Friday 8 June

Mary Lewis (Chief Executive) and I fly out to visit our Branches in the Far East: Hong Kong and Malaysia.  We leave Heathrow at 10.30 pm and fly via Dubai to Hong Kong.  We have an uneventful flight and manage a few hours sleep.

Thursday 7 June

By train to London to attend a meeting of the Society of Operations Engineers’ Membership & Professional Standards Committee – I am the Engineering Council Liaison Officer assigned to SOE and so am expected to keep an eye on how they deal with ECUK registration issues.  Their five-year audit is coming up in September and my recent experience of being involved in IHT’s recent similar audit should be useful.

In the evening we have the IHT Awards Dinner: the third major set-piece event in the IHT calendar – the others being the Presidential Dinner & Conference in September and the Annual Luncheon in December.

This is the second Awards Dinner; last year’s inaugural event was held at the Science Museum but we have moved to the Maritime Museum this year – partly for variety and partly because we need to accommodate more people.

George Alagiah (BBC) presents the Awards in a wide range of categories with consummate skill.  IHT members will have received a copy of the booklet about the Awards (giving the winners and short-listed entries) with their June magazine.  It can also be seen here.  Professor Stephen Glaister receives the 2007 Institution Award and Lee Templeman receives the Young Professionals Certificate.

Huw Jones (Bedfordshire CC)	The string quartet entertains	David Ringrow, Sally Devine (Barrett Byrd) & Jason Munn
Melanie Clarke (Alfred McAlpine) - Photo Comp	Mary Lewis, AH & Sue Stevens	Winners, Effective Partnerships Award
The venue	AH, Stephen Glaister & George Alagiah	Archie Robertson (HA) – Technological Application Award
George Alagiah	The Prime Meridian Laser	George Alagiah & AH

Friday 25 May

Mary Lewis and I attend an informal meeting with the South Western Branch Committee.   We bring the Branch up to date with happenings at Endsleigh Street and we have a general discussion about the way the Branch Conference has gone; everyone suggests ideas for the Committee to consider in an attempt to improve the event even more.

We then have a Keynote Address by Chris Saunders, Chief Executive of Transaid (www.transaid.org).  He tells us about all the good work that his charity is doing, especially in Africa.  IHT has supported Transaid, as well as RedR (www.redr.org), in recent years by, for example, donating the collection made at the Annual Luncheon in December to them.

We then have the Branch’s Annual Luncheon.  The Chairman of Torbay Council, Tracy Carter and I say a few words and an excellent Conference draws to a close.

Thursday 24 May

Today is the main Technical Seminar within the Conference.  It is on Strong & Prosperous Communities.  The Seminar is well attended - with a very commendable 22 sponsors, most of which are exhibiting.  The Branch Chairman (Tracy Carter, of Wiltshire County Council) welcomes everyone to Torquay and chairs the morning session.  I chair the two sessions after lunch.  We have eight very good presentations during the day, including one from David Hutchinson (Director of Hutchinson Vickers and IHT Immediate Past President) on Delivering Services for Local Communities – a Consultant’s Perspective.

In the evening we have the formal Conference Dinner.  The Chairman of Torbay Council (Beryl McPhail) welcomes us all to her patch and Tracy says a few well-chosen words too.  An excellent evening is rounded-off with a casino (using pretend money!).

Wednesday 23 May

Maria and I travel to Torquay for the South Western Branch’s Annual Conference, which includes a Technical Seminar, Conference Dinner, Keynote Address and Annual Luncheon – quite a programme, spread over three days, at the Grand Hotel (www.grandtorquay.co.uk)! 

Tonight there is a Speakers’ Dinner, held as a ‘thank you’ for the speakers and chairmen.  A very pleasant meal in a private dining room allows us to meet several speakers, including Jane Scott (Leader of Wiltshire County Council) and Vicki Goddard (Policy Officer at the Improvement & Development Agency, www.idea.gov.uk).  Vicki says she will include the Conference in her weblog at www.communities.idea.gov.uk/c/12404/blog/blog-display.do?id=54005, although you will have to register to read it.

Grand-Hotel -Torquay

Tuesday 22 May

I attend the North Western Branch’s spring seminar: The Changing Face of Highway Maintenance.  The Branch (my ‘home’ Branch) normally has two such events each year – in May and November – but we ‘just’ organised the Presidential Conference last year! 

The day went well, with some excellent speakers.   See www.iht.org/news/viewnewsitem.asp?cit_id=1602704&branch=north-western for copies of the presentations.

Monday 21 May

To London to chair the Executive Board for the last time.  There is always a lot to get through and it is a struggle to complete the agenda by 4.30 (we start at 12.00).  Today we take further steps towards achieving a Royal Charter (this will take some time, and we may not be successful), consider how best to move forward with a Professional Transport Planner qualification, discuss the implications of the EU Road Safety Directive (concerning the compulsory registration of road safety auditors) and debate the Audit Committee’s annual report.  The institution is in fine fettle and it is a relief that this is the case as I hand over the reins to Mike Slinn at the AGM on 26 June.

Afterwards we have a Presidential Team meeting (again, the last one I will attend).  We come to some preliminary conclusions about who we should put forward to Council as Board Chairmen and Vice Chairmen for 2007/08, although we need the results of the elections to Council before we can come to definitive recommendations.

Friday 18 May

Chris Jackson (JVP), Mary Lewis (Chief Executive) and I meet Peter Andrews (Chairman) and Rosemary Beales (Chief Executive) of CECA (Civil Engineering Contractors Association – www.ceca.co.uk).  We agree that we can do more together on areas of common interest (eg: policy development, qualifications and Health & Safety).

In the evening Maria and I go to the North Western Branch’s Annual Dinner at Chorley.  It is a bit strange to visit my own Branch with the Presidential hat on!  An excellent evening in the company of Trupti Patel (Branch Chair) and her husband Jagdish.

Jagdish-&-Trupti-Patel

Thursday 17 May

We have our quinquennial ECUK audit – to see if we are running our professional reviews properly.  Sue Stevens (Director of Education & Membership) has put together a quite brilliant portfolio of information for the four people on the ECUK audit team.  Chris Jackson, David Rogers, Alan Silver, Mary Lewis, David Pugh and Becky Sprunt complete our team.  Everything seems to go OK, but we will not know the decision until July.

Wednesday 16 May

I chair the first and second sessions of the Road-Expo Conference at Kempton Park.  The racecourse is so close to the station that you step off the platform into the car park – very convenient!

We have a good attendance (60-70) at both sessions and learn useful things about road safety partnerships (from Northamptonshire County Council’s James Butlin) and incident investigation and safety at roadworks (from TRL’s Graham Coe and Peter Dixon).

I wander around the exhibition, and then head back to London for a meeting with Mary Lewis and a certificate signing session.

In the evening we launch a new Society of Road Safety Auditors (SoRSA) under the IHT’s umbrella.  The Institution has appointed the first Chairman (Libby Sands of URS): she is a very experienced Auditor, knows how IHT has to work (eg: within the Charity ‘rules’) and is a member of our Road Safety Panel and so can provide an essential link with IHT.

We have three brief presentations and invite the assembled Auditors to volunteer for the Committee.  If any auditor would like more information, please contact John Smart (john.smart@iht.org).

Tuesday 15 May

This year’s Alan Brant Seminar is on 21st Century Solutions to Road Congestion – Making it Work.  I chair the morning session and manage to keep us to time!  We have a wide range of speakers, including Owen Paterson (www.owenpaterson.org.uk), the Conservative’s Shadow Minister for Transport.  He seems genuinely very keen to engage with the profession and find out what policies we would wish the Conservatives to pursue if/when they get into power.  I pass his contact details to Daniel Isichei, our new Head of Public Affairs – he will need to follow up on this opportunity.

Then it is off to the station to catch a train to London – another conference session to chair tomorrow!

Monday 14 May

By train to Leamington Spa in time to attend a dinner for the speakers who are contributing to tomorrow’s annual Alan Brant Seminar.  This will be the 27th such event organised by the West Midland Branch – and they do it very well indeed.

Sunday 13 May

We manage to have a couple of hours in Cambridge as tourists, then have to head for home.

Saturday 12 May

We drive on to Cambridge doing a bit of research into Maria’s family tree as we go.  When we tell the East Midland Branch Chairman and his wife (Charles & Chris Ferguson) about our day, it appears we must have walked past their house – a welcome cup of tea missed!

More chatting, a couple of short speeches, the traditional charity raffle and some lively dancing complete a very pleasant evening.

Friday 11 May

Now it is off to Nottingham for the Midland Branch’s Annual dinner.  Maria has to come with me because, whilst she is not attending tonight’s Dinner, we are then going straight to Cambridge for the East Midland Branch’s Dinner & Dance. 

The Dinner goes well.  The Chairman (Nick Thom) probably wins the prize for the shortest Branch Chairman’s speech – well done!  The guest speaker is Norman Prince (www.normanprince.co.uk), who entertained us at the Presidential Conference dinner in September.  A great northern comedian, he goes down well in the Midlands too!  I spend a couple of hours talking to potential members and CEng/IEng candidates (including several people who were unaware that membership is open to everyone working in the industry – regardless of what job they do).

Thursday 10 May

I chair a session of the 7th Wales National Transport Conference at Cardiff’s County Hall.  This is organised jointly by CILT, ICE and IHT.  This year the topic is Progress Towards Integrated Transport.  I chair the second session, which is on Moving People and Goods in Wales – The Alternatives.  I try to get the five speakers give their presentations, and still have time for questions, in a session timetabled to last only 1¾ hours – it proves to an impossible task and so lunch is a bit late! Fortunately, all the speakers throughout the day are well worth listening to, especially (of course!) the three of them who are members of IHT’s Council: Sheila Holden (The STEP Consultancy), Robin Shaw (Transport Wales) and Richard Turner (Freight Transport Association).

It is a first class conference and I am pleased that I am able to stay to the end.

Wednesday 9 May

This is the second of six conferences which we are putting on for the Department for Transport and Transport Wales to mark the launch of the Manual for Streets (www.manualforstreets.org.uk).  This important document provides guidance for practitioners in the planning, design, provision, modification and approval of residential streets.  There are about 130 people in attendance and we all receive an excellent overview of the new manual.

Then I have to catch a train to Cardiff in readiness for chairing another conference session tomorrow.

In the evening I catch up with Chris Jackson (Junior Vice president).  We put the world to rights over a pleasant meal.

Tuesday 8 May

By train to Newcastle upon Tyne to chair the morning session of a conference tomorrow.  We have a very pleasant Travelinn meal with most of tomorrow’s speakers – we appreciate them giving up their time to help the Institution.

Friday 4 May

This afternoon is John Cox’s Memorial Service.  John was President in 1982-83 and will be sadly missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.  Following the early death of his son Peter in 1989, John, with his wife Rosemary and daughter Christine, devoted many hours to persuading the NHS to set up a national organ donor register (more details at: www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/newsroom/fact_sheets/nhs_organ_donor_register_a_history.jsp).  Thus there are many people alive today who owe him their life.  A full obituary was included in the April edition of Transportation Professional; the Independent also carried one at: http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2461437.ece.  The church in Wolverhampton is full with many friends and former colleagues in attendance to pay their respects.

Thursday 3 May

Maria and I are invited to attend a ‘Return of Hospitality’ Reception at Liverpool Town Hall.  The Lord Mayor was our guest of honour at the Presidential Dinner in September 2006 and, as she approaches the end of her ‘reign’, Joan Lang is inviting representatives of all the organisations which have given her hospitality during her year to a ‘thank you’ event.  We have the pleasure of being on the top table; I am sat next to the Vice Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University and Maria sits next to a nonagenarian resident of a care home that the Lord Mayor opened earlier in the year.

We have a very pleasant evening and have time to admire the Town Hall in more detail – we were a bit busy in September!

Liverpool Town Hall Dome

Liverpool Lord Mayor

Liverpool Town Hall Staircase

Wednesday 2 May

Meeting, at the Engineering Council’s offices, of some of its Liaison Officers.  I am one of two nominated by IHT (Bob Cannon is the other) who are allocated to other institutions to provide feedback to them and ECUK on how they go about dealing with membership and ECUK registration (ie: EngTech, IEng & CEng) issues.  The idea is to suggest improvements and to feed back examples of good practice to your own Institution and, through today’s meeting, to others.  A useful and interesting meeting.  I now need to set down what I have learnt and feed it into IHT!

In the evening I attend the inaugural ICE/TRG (Transport Research Fund) Prestige Lecture.  It is given by Professor Adrian Long of Queen’s University, Belfast, on Sustainable Bridges Through Innovative Advances.  A fascinating presentation from a real expert (the paper can be read at: www.transportresearchfoundation.co.uk/PDF/lectures/Adrian%20Long%20paper.pdf).  Some of it is over my head, but most is both interesting and useful.

Afterwards we have dinner in the ICE Council Room.  An excellent meal with just a couple of very short speeches from the ICE President, Quentin Leiper.  I sit between Alan Bromage, Head of Civil Engineering at The Concrete Centre, and Alan Stilwell, Director of Operations at Merseytravel & Chairman of the ICE Transport Board.  I had useful conversations with both of these gentlemen and a pleasant evening was had by all!

Tuesday 1 May

By train to London so that I am in plenty of time for a meeting of ECUK Liaison officers tomorrow.  Meeting with Nichole Sansome (Chief Executive’s PA) to go through the next few weeks in the diary: sorting out hotels, trains, etc etc.  Sign more certificates.

Thursday 26 April

Mary Lewis, Sue Stevens and I have a short meeting with Jim Barton, Head of Trunk Road Network Management at Transport Scotland.  He is interested to hear how we can help him to put a first-class graduate training programme in place. We are delighted to help him – and not just because we establish that he, like me, hails from Preston!

Sue and I then meet Val Todd (President) and Rachel Skinner (Treasurer) from the Women’s Transportation Seminar (www.wtslondon.org).  We have a very useful exchange of information and agree to work together where we have common aims.

Wednesday 25 April

I chair the annual Professional Reviewers Refresher & Training Day.  We have a good attendance of over 20 Reviewers.  Incidentally, we could do with more to spread the load of an increasing number of reviews, so if you are interested, please contact Sue Stevens (sue.stevens@iht.org), IHT’s Director of Education & Membership, without obligation.

We have an excellent presentation on the revised CDM regulations from the Health & Safety Executive’s Andrew East – please contact Sue Stevens if you would like to see his PowerPoint slides.  Then we are brought up to speed on the work of the Self-Assessment Panel (by David Rogers), Joint Board of Moderators (Alan Silver), mentor training (David Pugh), Reviews in Hong Kong and Transport Planning Qualifications (both by Sue Stevens).

David Pugh (Professional Reviews & Training Manager) then tells us about the Career Appraisal process and Sue Stevens goes through the revised Appeals Procedure.  Then, after a question & answer session, everyone goes home – with my heartfelt thanks for doing such splendid work for the Institution and the profession.

Tuesday 24 April

I attend Membership Board on the Presidential Team rota.  I have chaired this Board in the past, so the general topics are familiar, although there are also some new things going on.  We start by looking at the ‘difficult’ membership applications: those that do not quite fit the standard criteria.  The Board can vary these criteria if it thinks there are good reasons.  But we are committed to maintaining standards as, indeed, we are required to do by Engineering Council, even though this is just membership of the Institution, and nothing to do with professional qualifications.

It is always good to see applications from people who are involved in highways and transportation work, but are not engineers or planners – many people do not realise that we welcome members who are in administration, marketing, personnel, etc etc.  We are constantly striving to adapt the membership criteria to make them more relevant to current circumstances and we spend some time looking at the FIHT criteria.

We discuss the Diversity Panel’s work, including the initial results from the diversity questionnaire we sent out with the membership renewals.  Responses are still drifting in (so it’s not too late to send in yours!) and we now have almost 1,000 - which is a very good response for this type of survey.  The results should help us to check how we are going on and whether there are barriers to membership which we can remove.  This work is essential if we are to ensure that the IHT welcomes members from all parts of society – and if we are to comply with the law.

In the afternoon I chair a meeting of the Council.  There is a good turnout and we welcome two new members: Mervyn Raisbeck (Arup), who represents the Republic of Ireland Branch, and Robin Shaw (Transport Wales), a new nominated member.  We hear from David Ringrow (Director of Finance & Administration) that 2006 was an excellent year financially, and 2007 looks to be just as good.  We debate the need for us to move to longer-term planning.  In the past we have mostly worked from year to year, but a five-year planning process is becoming more necessary.  We look at the latest risk assessment and the updated 2007 Action Plan, hear from Mary Lewis about her proposals to amend the staff structure and consider nominations for three Certificates of Merit.

I then have the pleasure of informing Council of the Executive Board’s nomination for the next Junior Vice President: Geoff Allister.  The Council approves this recommendation with a round of applause, so it must be right!  Geoff is Director of Strategic Programmes with the Northern Ireland Roads Service and a former President of the County Surveyors’ Society; I know he will be a quite splendid President in 2010/11 – provided the AGM agrees with Council’s nomination, of course!

We then have two presentations.  The first is by Tim Speed (Chairman of the Membership Board) who gives us the first results of the diversity questionnaire mentioned above.  The second is by Sally Devine, who works for Barrett, Byrd Associates, the publisher of Transportation Professional.  She is responsible for generating advertising income for IHT and has been asked to brief Council about what she does and how we can help her to achieve even greater income for us.

We then have a short Presidential Team meeting.  We have to sort out who we are going to recommend to Executive Board, and thence Council, should be next year’s Board Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen.  It is complicated because a number of people who we would like to give jobs to are up for re-election, so may not even be on Council next year!

Monday 23 April

It has been quiet on the IHT front recently – mainly due to the Easter holiday.  I have a phone call from Victoria Millins at Transportation Professional wanting a quote about this weblog for the next edition.  It seems that 350-400 different people are reading these words every month – surprising and pleasing!  I say that I hope that at least some future Presidents will keep it going, but they may not wish (or be able) to do so.

Thursday 29 March

I go to Salford University to speak at a UTP Employers’ Forum (see last Monday’s entry).  The afternoon goes very well and the employers who are there seem to get a lot out of it.  The presentations include a couple from accomplished speakers who are well known to me: Ralph Henson and Frank Montgomery (see photographs), both major contributors to the success of IHT in developing its educational remit.

After the session, the Chairman of UTP (Martin Richards) asks me to chair an event to be held in June at the Institution of Civil Engineers about employer training schemes – I am delighted to accept.  IHT is totally committed to helping employers and employees alike and we are always keen to do anything we can to help either group.

Me

Ralph Henson

250 Frank Montgomery

Wednesday 28 March

I attend the North Western Branch’s AGM.  It has been a good year.  The Branch pulled out all the stops for the Presidential Conference in Liverpool.  As usual there was a good programme of evening meetings – a credit to Keith Cameron who is stepping down from the Committee after many years with us – and a successful Annual dinner – a credit to Mark Hammersley.  It is good to learn that we have managed to attract some new members onto the Committee; new blood is always welcome.  Richard Hogg is there with his camera and takes a few photographs.  Here are a couple.  On the left are last year's Chairman (Peter Blair) and me with incoming chairman Trupti Patel.  On the right is a collection of Branch ‘dignitaries’: two Past Presidents (Mike Callery on the left and David Ogden) and Trupti, with Chris Jackson (Junior Vice President) and me behind.

Monday 26 March

A long day in London; the 0715 from Chester is getting very familiar!  At 10.00 I meet Sue Stevens (Director of Education & Membership).  I am making a presentation on 29 March to the Universities Transport Partnership (www.utp.org.uk), which is a group of eight UK universities that provide Masters-level education in transport, and Sue is putting together some words for me to build on.  The educational scene seems to get ever more complex, so I am very grateful to Sue – she somehow manages to keep tabs on everything which is going on (or she is an incredibly good bluffer!).

Afterwards I have a short session with Mary Lewis to go through the agenda for the Executive Board meeting at 12.00.  We need to agree what items of ‘Matters Arising’ there are from the last meeting and to decide who will speak to each substantive item.  It promises to be a long meeting!

The Executive Board meeting lasts over five hours – far longer than I would like, but we have to do things properly.  We hear that the Institution had a surplus of over £100,000 on its 2006 operations – about double the budgeted figure.  This is basically because we had some particularly successful conferences.

We spend some time going through the IHT's Risk Assessment; as Trustees we have to look after the Institution’s finances, buildings and staff.  Then we looked at the one and five-year planning process and agreed some minor changes to improve the way in which we run the Institution.

Then a particularly pleasant, if difficult, task: to agree who should receive the Institution Award for this year and who should receive the Young Person’s Award (for which we had nine excellent nominations from Branches).  Finally we agreed three Certificates of Merit – awarded to people who have served Branches and/or Council particularly well for many years.

Afterwards we had a very short Presidential Team meeting to agree ‘who does what’ after the Executive Board.

Wednesday 21 March

To London to chair a meeting of Past Presidents.  They get together every year to keep an eye on what the next generation is up to.  They are a great bunch with a huge amount of wisdom and experience.  We give them an overview of what we are doing at the moment and what we have planned for the immediate future.  Sue Stevens (Director of Education & Membership) gives the meeting an excellent presentation on what her Department is doing and fields the questions expertly.  We then go for lunch at the British Museum.

In the evening I attend the Greater London Branch’s Annual Dinner.  This is at One

Whitehall Place, originally part of the National Liberal Club.  Appropriately, our main speaker is Baroness Ros Scott of Needham Market, who is the Liberal Democrat spokesman in the Lords on Local Government. 

After an excellent meal, I start the speeches and introduce Baroness Scott, who gives us an informative and entertaining overview of what it is like to be created a Life Peer.  The Chairman (Andreas Markides) winds up the evening and we all go home after an interesting and most enjoyable evening, for which our grateful thanks are due to the organiser, Jacqui Dunning.

Monday 19 March

A meeting in Warrington of the North Western Branch’s seminars sub-Committee.  Having completed the 2006 Presidential conference and all the administrative and financial aftermath – and generated a healthy surplus thanks to our three sponsors (Atkins, 2020 Liverpool and Laing O’Rourke) – we are now turning our attention to the next Branch event, The Changing Face of Highway Maintenance, on Tuesday 22 May at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington.  We have excellent speakers (including from the Highways Agency, Environment Agency, WRAP and IAT); click here for more details.

We are also starting to think about Chris Jackson’s Presidential Conference in 2009 – we started thinking about mine 2½ years ahead; these events take a lot of meticulous planning which often goes unremarked by those attending as you only notice something when it goes wrong!

Thursday 15 March

A long Presidential Team meeting.  We do a lot of idea-bouncing about the future shape of the Institution.  Do we need to change the Board structure?  How quickly should we pursue our objective of securing a Royal Charter?  What staff structure should we have for the future?  These, and other, tricky questions will need to be put to Executive Board and Council at some stage, but we are able to give some guidance to Mary Lewis so that she can do the right homework before taking anything to these groups.  The Team has no powers at all, but is intended to give the IHT’s staff an initial steer on a range of ideas – we hope we save time and wasted effort.

Then back to Chester.  Chris Jackson’s company makes the train journey as far as Crewe go quickly and Maria meets me at Chester Station so I do not have to lug my case too far.  I have been away from home since Monday and the washing machine beckons.  A few consecutive nights in my own bed will be welcome too – I have been away for seven of the last nine nights. 

Wednesday 14 March

I chair the morning session of the IHT/TRL Spring Conference on Implementing the Traffic Management Act at the Royal College of Surgeons (some of the exhibits around the entrance hall are a bit scary!).  This is one of the IHT’s National Science & Engineering Week events.  We have 10 very good presentations during the day and everyone (I think!) goes home a bit wiser and knowing what they need to do in implementing the Act.  The Conference is one of Simon Hawkins’ first events since he joined us as Events Co-ordinator – well done, Simon.  Daniel Isichei, our External Affairs Executive, is also there and able to help Simon with his new role in life.

Tuesday 13 March

John Smart and I fly back to London Stansted and then by train to the IHT office.  I am fortunate that I am able to do useful work for my business wherever I happen to be, so I have a productive few hours interspersed with meetings with Sue Stevens (Director of Education & Membership) about a presentation I have to make soon and with Mary Lewis about the agenda for the imminent Executive Board meeting.

We then have our regular meeting with the President (Ian Walsh) and Secretary (Anthony Morter) of the Institute of Asphalt Technology.  We agree to continue to work together whenever this is possible (eg: to encourage joint Branch meetings).

Monday 12 March

Fly to Belfast International Airport where Geoffrey Perrin (Northern Ireland Branch Chairman) kindly picks up John Smart and me.  We go off to the Friends’ School in Lisburn (www.friendsschoollisburn.org.uk/news.asp?id=83).  John Irvine (Northern Ireland Roads Service and Branch Assistant Treasurer) has arranged for three young members to give presentations about their work in the H&T field: Roisin Boyle (Lagan), Louise McDevitt (Atkins) and Peter Shaw (Scott Wilson).  We have an audience of 50-60 Year 12 & 13 pupils who ask a lot of sensible questions at the end of the excellent presentations.  I round off the session with an overview of what it means to be an engineer and we hope a few will take the bait.  The Principal (Elizabeth Dickson) thanks everyone and we are led to a welcome plate of sandwiches in her study!

Geoffrey then takes John and me on a tour of the up-and-coming Titanic Quarter on our way to a meeting with Alan Woodside at the University of Ulster.  Alan is Professor of Highway Engineering and Director of the Transport & Road Assessment Centre (TRAC) in the School of the Built Environment.  He gives us a fascinating overview of the work being done at Ulster – both teaching and research.  I am struck by the amount of high quality research being done but which, as far as I know, does not get much publicity.  This is a shame.  I am not so much worried about publicising what the University does, as that much of the work does not become available to practitioners in the field.  I promise to do something about this.  Imelda Haran and Jonathan Seymour, both Lecturers, are also present and help Alan with our questions.  We then go to one of the laboratories to see the research that Dr David Woodward (the Reader in Infrastructure Engineering) is leading – fascinating stuff.  It has been a good visit; Geoffrey, John and I really appreciated the effort that Alan and his team have put into it.  Ulster is a world-class centre of excellence in our field and we need to treasure it.

In the evening, John and I attend the Branch Dinner at the Dunadry Hotel.  We enjoy an excellent meal.  It is the first time that I have been offered ‘seconds’ at a dinner during my year; I decline as I am determined not to put on any weight – as, I think, all previous Presidents have done (this tendency is referred to in IHT as ‘The Presidential Stone’!).  We have speeches from Gerry McGinn (Permanent Secretary in Northern Ireland’s Department for Regional Development), Geoffrey Perrin and me.  The comedy is provided by impressionist Sean Crummey (and very good he is too).  A truly excellent evening.

University of Ulster

Saturday 10 March

Back home – a very pleasant (if slow) train journey up the Wye Valley to Shrewsbury and thence Chester.  I’ve been away since Tuesday morning and next week promises to be just as busy.

Friday 9 March

By train from Paddington to Cardiff to attend the South Wales Branch’s annual dinner.  The Branch went up-market about four years ago.  Raising the price, having really top-class speakers and using a very smart hotel has increased numbers such that they could have sold five or six more tables than they could cope with.

Barry Cryer was the star ‘turn’ – an excellent choice by Paul Thomas (Branch Chairman) and Val Kacal, who organised the event.

Unfortunately attending this dinner means I have to miss the one in Northern Branch.  It is a great pity that we seem to have double bookings almost every year.  It really should not be beyond us to avoid them.  My thanks to Chris Jackson (Junior Vice President) for standing in for me.

Thursday 8 March

I attend a reception and dinner in London’s Science Museum to celebrate the launch of next week’s National Science & Engineering week (www.the-ba.net).  I sit between Jean Venables, ICE Vice President, and Catherine Coates, Director of Planning & Communication at the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (www.epsrc.ac.uk).  Both very able and interesting people.  We have some interesting speeches and I hope that the week goes really well.  Next year I am sure that even more IHT Branches will want to get involved.

Wednesday 7 March

A full day in Endsleigh Street sorting out various things, signing over 40 membership certificates and starting to plan the travel arrangements for our visit to Hong Kong and Malaysia in June.

Tuesday 6 March

To Abergele to chair the morning session of the North Wales Branch’s seminar on Designing Safer Roadsides – the Passive Revolution.  We had four excellent presentations, including one from Sweden on their zero tolerance attitude to fatal and serious injuries.  More information about the passive revolution is at: www.thepassiverevolution.co.uk.

Then by train to London for an evening Reception in Portcullis House at the Houses of Parliament.  Mary Lewis has also been invited. The event is hosted by Mark Prisk MP (Shadow Minister for Business & Enterprise) to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of CECA (the Civil Engineering Contractors Association).  Peter Andrews (Chairman), Rosemary Beales (Director) and sundry other CECA ‘top brass’ are there.  We have short speeches by Margaret Hodge MP (Minister of State for Industry & the Regions at the Department for Trade & Industry), Mark Prisk and Peter Andrews.  A very pleasant occasion, in splendid surroundings; I hope CECA goes from strength to strength.

Monday 5 March

I hear that John Cox (President 1982/83) has died.  He had been ill for some time but his death is still a shock.  John was a major player in the contracting sphere for many years and a regular contributor to IHT matters even after his retirement.  He will be sadly missed by his family, friends and colleagues.  There is to be a private cremation with a Memorial Service at some future date.

Thursday 1 March

I attend the annual national ICE Dinner at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham.  The event has been combined with the West Midland Region’s dinner this year as the President (Quentin Leiper) is from that Region.  I sit between David Hansford and Richard Coackley (both Vice Presidents of ICE).  Peter Andrews (Chairman of CECA) is on the same table, whilst Steve Pate (IHT West Midland Branch Chairman) is on a different table.

The five-course meal was almost too much of a good thing (but I managed!).  Speeches from Ed Gardiner (West Midlands Chairman), Quentin Leiper and Gordon Smith (comedian) were followed by several hours of chat.