PRESIDENT Richard Spoors C.Eng., M.I.C.E.
Let me start with an introduction to some important statements regarding the Institution.
Your Directors and Council of Management (COM) have met more frequently than usual to give close consideration to the proposals put forward by the Business Development Manager, Alison Stansfield, in her Strategic Review. At the COM meeting held on 20th February the proposal to manage the Institution’s affairs through a Board of Directors rather than the COM, with a new post of Chief Executive, was endorsed and this will be put forward to an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on the morning of Saturday June 26th for approval by the members. This change has required our Company Articles of Association to be redrafted and the proposed new Articles will also be put forward for approval by the members at the EGM. click for proposed revised Articles of Association
In terms of procedure, it is important that motions put to the EGM to change the Articles and management structure officers are approved before we commence the AGM.
At the AGM in the afternoon of 26th June we shall propose members for senior roles as Directors and officers of the Institution.
It is proposed to retain the current positions of the Technical, Finance, Communications and Publications Directors as well as three non-executive Directors.
I believe, with your Directors and Officers, that the changes being put forward for your approval in June will help those charged with the management of the Institution to take it forward with a clear focus to achieve our goals and provide members with the services that meet their needs in the area of track and infrastructure engineering.
There has been much discussion within the Institution over the last few years about a role we could or should play in the area of training and competence for track engineering staff. Both Network Rail and Transport for London have been developing their own strategies with considerable success, especially in the area of new apprenticeship schemes. In March the Government announced, link for launch brochure, that it had approved an Expression of Interest from the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering in competition with bids from other industry bodies to establish a business model and commence work in April 2011. Lead by the Railway Industry Association and supported by major players in the rail engineering industry, I believe that this initiative will be the precursor to broader skills attainment amongst a railway engineering workforce of over 100,000 and be an opportunity for all of the railway professional institutions to get further involved in learning and qualifications.
Whichever Government is to run the country we can be assured that high speed rail will be a feature of future policy. The publication of the High Speed 2 report brought the expected cries of “not in my back yard”. However, we must look to the future. Another West Coast Upgrade cannot be. New rail infrastructure is the right solution to ease growing capacity constraints between our major cities, and the key will be to find a compromise between the environmental impact, public nuisance and cost.
The UK rail industry certainly has some challenging times ahead!