ICE Council update April 2025

At its second meeting of the 2024-2025 session, the council took part in another busy and engaging session.

Strategy refresh

The director general and secretary provided the council with an update on the development of the five-year strategy.

Council members provided some valuable comments on the proposed strategy which will be updated to reflect the conversation and then shared with trustees for review in June.

I would like to thank members of the principal committees for all of their contributions to the strategy over the last three months.

Website refresh

Following feedback from members on the ease of use and functionality of the ICE’s website, the communications team have been working with a web development agency, Anything Agency, to improve the site.

The director of communications and experts from the agency shared the work that has been done so far.

This includes a refreshed information architecture to improve user experience across the site and an enhanced third-party search function which has made it easier for visitors to find content more easily.

The next stage of the project is to look at rebuilding the entire website and the council was invited to share any feedback or suggestions they had on what a new version of the site could look like.

The council provided some useful feedback, and it was great to hear so much support for a project which could transform the way we engage with members.

The director of communications will provide further updates to the council and trustees as the project progresses.

Knowledge programme

The director of engineering knowledge provided an update on how the 2025 knowledge plan is progressing.

The first half of the year has gone well, with State of the Nation downloads almost exceeding their annual target in just the first five months.

Building on the success of PAS 2080, the Learning Society Committee (LSC) has initiated two new PAS standards which are due to be launched in 2026:

• PAS 4010 – Infrastructure Productivity
• PAS 3090 – Climate Adaptation Pathways

Following on from the water theme in this year’s State of the Nation report, the Coastal Management Conference will be held in Bristol in September. A Resilient Transport Conference is being planned for autumn 2026.

In the coming months, we can also expect the publication of ICE Past President Paul Sheffield’s safety risk review. This will address the key developments in safety risk since the publication of In Plain Sight in 2018.

2025-2026 ICE Trustee Board

The director general reported that the Nominations Committee (NOMCO) had met in January to make recommendations about the trustee board.

These were then agreed by the trustee board in March and brought to council at this meeting for approval.

I am pleased that the council unanimously elected the following existing trustees to remain on the board for 2025/2026:

• Julie Wood (will become President in November 2026)
• Richard Bayfield (will become President in November 2027)
• Lewis Barlow
• Professor Priti Parikh
• Lucy Rew
• Ohis Ilalokhoin
• Jonathan Spruce
• Paula McMahon

In addition, two new trustees were confirmed. Andrew McNaughton was elected as a succeeding vice president with a view to becoming president in November 2028.

Andrew Enston was elected as the nominated trustee with a portfolio of communications.

They will both join the trustee board this November alongside Yvonne Murphy who will be the council-appointee member.