An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

178A CHRONICLE OF THE ENGINEERING COUNCILDecember 2001The 2 nd Stage – Senate Meeting of DecemberAt this vital meeting the arrangements for the NRB, the formation of Electoral Colleges and adraft supplemental Charter and Bye-laws were presented by Dr Hawley and David Worskett.A new name for the NRBAn important step was taken with a fresh recommendation concerning the name of theChartered part of the ETB, until now known as the NRB. After listening to legal advice anddebates with the Institutions, including a meeting of Presidents, where the ultimately chosenname found approval, the Senate considered possible alternatives and agreed that the newname should be ‘Engineering Council (UK)’ with the abbreviation EC(UK), later changed toEC UK .The Shadow ETB Board saw decided advantages in a minimal change because, as it reported,the existing Engineering Council had developed a ‘brand’ that was recognised and respectedby the majority of actual and potential Registrants. Equally importantly, it had becomewidely known and admired overseas where it was accepted as a body able to promoteinternational recognition of UK engineering qualifications. The new name had beenrecommended by the Chairman’s Advisory Group and had been endorsed at the first meetingof the ETB that, by now, had been established with the membership identified above. Thenew Charter and Bye-laws would replace the Senate while its two Boards (the BEP and theBER) would be replaced by a single Board. The new EC(UK) Board would comprise 22members, 15 of whom were to be elected by the licensed Engineering Institutions (so givingthem their long sought representatives), and 7 of whom were to be appointed by the ETB inorder to provide balance and the necessary degree of public accountability.The new EC(UK) Board, substantially a replacement for the BER, reflected the narrowerresponsibilities of the EC(UK) compared with the EngC. It was to retain the previous Charterresponsibilities of the BER, including setting standards for accredited courses and codes ofconduct, maintaining the Register and licensing Institutions but, on the whole, with strongeremphasis on the regulatory functions. There were, however, two major new provisions in theremit for the EC(UK). The first was the requirement to ‘participate on behalf of Registrants,in the work of the Engineering and Technology Board and respond to proposals and enquiriesmade by the said Board concerning regulation of the profession’. The second was ‘to act asthe representative body of Our United Kingdom in relation to the international recognition ofRegistrants and of qualifications in engineering and related subjects and disciplines’. This lastprovision was a welcome formalisation of a semi-formal arrangement with the Institutionsthat had existed, not without difficulties, from the early days of the EngC.The Electoral CollegesThe proposals on Electoral Colleges were made in response to concerns expressed at theprevious October meeting on the question of mechanisms for democratic processes todetermine the membership of the ETB. Each College would select a number of its membersto be put to the Nominations Committee of the ETB. The Nominations Committee, consistingof the ETB chairman, and two other Board members together with the Presidents of the RoyalAcademy of Engineering, the Royal Society and the Engineering Employers Association,© Engineering Council UK 2004