| Presentation by Sir Michael Pitt, Chairman Infrastructure Planning Commission |
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Council heard a presentation on the role of the planning system in delivering national infrastructure. Sir Michael described the activities of the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), the independent body which examined applications for nationally significant infrastructure projects. The IPC was currently working with the Planning Inspectorate on the integration of a major new infrastructure planning unit as part of a restructured Planning Inspectorate.
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| Council Business |
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Council agreed that a summary of matters discussed in Council would be placed on the website thus making an informal report promptly available to ICE members. It was hoped that this would generate interest and raise awareness among members of Council’s role in directing Institution affairs.
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| Appointment of Director General and Secretary |
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Council received a confidential report on the outcome of the recruitment of a successor to Director General Tom Foulkes who is due to retire in December 2011. A press release would be issued shortly.
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| Governance Review |
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Council discussed a report on the emerging findings of the Governance Review. No major change was proposed to the composition of Council, which should remain as the trustee body, but a new annual cycle was suggested to enable Council to operate at a more strategic level. Key proposals were :
■ Introduce Council Annual Review Meeting (ARM) to allow Council to provide direction for the business planning / budget setting cycle
■ Executive Board and Finance Committee to be merged to form a new ‘Management’ Board
■ Three Graduate members on Council
■ A Vice President to take the role ‘VP UK Regions’ and chair UKRAC (role of UKRAC currently being developed with UKRAC)
Feedback from Council members on the findings and proposed course of change would be taken into account in the paper to be presented to Council for decision in July 2011.
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| Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) – Accreditation Statements on University Websites |
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Council received a report of actions taken by ICE and JBM to address misleading or inaccurate accreditation information on university/college websites and a timeline of future action planned for following up those whose website information remained incorrect or misleading. The ultimate sanction that could be taken by the parent institutions through the JBM was the de-accreditation of a course/courses.
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| Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements to 31 December 2010 |
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The Council approved the Trustees Annual Report and Accounts which had been endorsed by the ICE Audit Committee. This would be available on the ICE website from mid-June.
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| Proposal for Honorary Fellow |
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The Council aggreed a proposal to elect an Honorary Fellow.
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| Mortgage Agreement |
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Council approved a formal minute required in relation to a mortgage arrangement.
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| Member Satisfaction Survey 2011 |
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Council received a presentation on the results of the 2011 survey. Top line indicators were as follows:
■ Overall Satisfaction – 70.3% (same as 2010)
■ Regional Satisfaction – 65.6% (65.1% in 2010)
■ Drop in satisfaction of value and accessibility of knowledge outputs
■ Perceived improvement in ICE staff keeping promises
■ High recognition of the changes in the website ‘improved’
Members were most satisfied with: ICE providing a route to an internationally recognised qualification; ICE maintaining a high professional standard for membership; ICE promoting continuing professional development (increased ranking from 2010) Members were least satisfied with: ICE influencing politicians and decision makers; the subscription level; ICE raising the profile of a civil engineer
Proposed actions aimed at improving member satisfaction levels would be to continue to:
■ Tackle communication channels, making them more relevant
■ Better communicate what ICE does for our members via its improved channels
■ Engage members to increase their satisfaction
■ Manage expectations and keep promises
■ Review and refine knowledge outputs
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| Membership ‘The numbers game’ |
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Council heard a presentation from Council member Ed McCann around the question ‘What is the societal need for engineers in the 21st century?’ The intention was to provide food for thought to enable Council to consider the issues in more detail at a later date.
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| ICE Conditions of Contract – Transfer of Ownership |
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It was reported to Council that the transfer of ownership to ACE and CECA of the Conditions of Contract would take place on 31 July 2011.
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