An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

106A CHRONICLE OF THE ENGINEERING COUNCIL“The result of this reorganisation was that all senior elected positions on the EngineeringCouncil were filled by ex-Presidents of Institutions (e.g. Alan Rudge, Robin Wilson, TonyRidley, Brian Kent etc) with other Presidents and ex-Presidents as members of the Senate.One would have supposed that this situation would have given the Institutions considerableinfluence over the Engineering Council affairs, and would have given them some sense ofownership. Unfortunately this was not so, and I heard complaints (from Institution DirectorsGeneral / Secretaries) that ex-Presidents appeared to “change their spots” when they joinedthe Engineering Council! Thus the criticism and ill feelings continued - ad nauseam.“There was a feeling amongst some Institutions that the Engineering Council should havedone the basic minimum of registering of engineers, and auditing the performance ofInstitutions. The word “subsidiarity” was mentioned frequently. However subsidiarity couldbe interpreted in two ways:-i) If a task can be carried out by Institutions then it should be.ii) If a task can be carried out better by Institutions then it should be.“I must confess that I favoured the latter.”In May 1995, Denis Filer retired as the EngC’s Director General and was replaced by thethird Director General Mike Heath CB, CBE, CEng, a Major General from REME. MikeHeath was recruited into the Engineering Council by interview after an initial approach by amember of the Council. The interview board was chaired by Sir John Fairclough andincluded Sir Frank Holroyd, Sir Geoffrey Allen, Malcolm Hutchinson and Brian Kent. Toquote Mike Heath’s own words: “I took up the post of Director General at a critical timewhen Sir John Fairclough had concluded an epic series of negotiations with the Institutions,resulting in a Declaration of Intent that sought to unify the Profession behind the leadershipof the Engineering Council. His role in this was nothing less than heroic, even though he hadnot had his own way in what was finally agreed. Decisions having been made, however, itwas my job to lead the change.”During 1995, as part of the new Director General’s policy to demonstrate that the EngC hadceased its navel gazing, Mike Heath and Brian Kent, a Senator and Chairman Designate ofthe BEP, visited 10% of the Industry Affiliates, and the Affiliates’ own newsletter, IndustryLink was given a face-lift. The EngC’s regional organisation and links with industry and itsAffiliates were reconsidered during the year 1995. Mike Heath was anxious that the newEngC should not concentrate on internal matters and that better communication was neededwithin the profession, as well as externally. It was generally agreed that the environment,transport infrastructure, communications and energy were important issues for the nation andcould be incorporated into the Government’s ‘20:20 Vision’ Programmes. In Chapter 6, weshall mention how the Joint Venture activities on these issues were led by four of the largeInstitutions, albeit with some dissent from the smaller Institutions that specialised in thesetopics that they had, yet again, been by-passed by the larger bodies.To promote a higher profile for the EngC among MPs and Peers, Mike Heath met SirMalcolm Thornton, Chairman of the Commons Select Committee of Education, and MrsAnne Campbell, Chairman of the Parliamentary Scientific Committee. Also, members of theCommons’ Scientific and Technology Select Committee visited the EngC to be briefed onunification issues.© Engineering Council UK 2004