An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

The Fairclough InitiativeChapter 5 – 1991 to 1995 : The Fairclough YearsA New RelationshipOn 1 January 1991 Sir John Fairclough, BSc(Tech), HonDSc, HonDTech, FEng, FIEE,FBCS, took over the Chairmanship of the EngC from Sir William Barlow. Sir John wasChairman of Rothschild Ventures Ltd, Centre for the Exploitation of Science andTechnology, Systematica Ltd., Director of Oxford Instruments Group, and Non-ExecutiveDirector of UAPT-Infolink, The Generics Group. He knew the EngC situation well havingserved on its Council since its inception and during his five years as Chairman from 1991until 31 December 1995 his major aim – indeed, his mission - was to unify the profession andto raise its profile in Europe and worldwide.Sir John immediately made it clear that he intended to re-examine the goals and objectives ofthe EngC. He outlined his proposals in an EngC paper ‘A Strategy for the EngineeringCouncil’ in which he advocated a focussed umbrella body empowered to set professionalstandards and coordinate the interests of a federation of learned societies. Despite the EngC’sevident successes, Sir John felt strongly that the major reason for its failure to be, and failureto be seen to be, the focal point for the Engineering Profession was it being a Chartered body,and not the statutory Engineering Authority originally recommended in 1980 [as weexplained in Chapter 1] by Sir Monty Finniston. Any hopes of support from that source weredashed when Sir Monty died in early February 1991 at the age of 78; many EngC staffattended a memorial service held in north London remembering “Monty” as a major link inthe chain of events leading to the original formation of the EngC.Sir John Fairclough’s personal commitment to the unification mission was so clear that itsoon became termed the Fairclough Initiative. Some colleagues even believed that his visionwas overshadowing all else. In fact, the Director General Denis Filer, who had served loyallythroughout the term of the previous Chairman, felt it necessary to point out in the 1991Annual Report that whilst the unification issue had taken centre stage, excellent progress hadbeen made in other key areas of the EngC’s work such as:- Review of Engineering Education and Training:- Continuing Professional Development- Engineering Occupational Standards- Neighbourhood Engineers- Women Into Science and Engineering- Matters of National Importance- Restructuring of the Regional Organisation- The Campaign for Tax ReliefWe shall return to these activities that took place during the 1991 to 1995 period underappropriate headings later in this chapter, but let us first review the Fairclough Initiative.Sir John visualised a new single overarching body, to set standards and speak with onepowerful voice for the profession, if necessary subsuming the EngC. To the 5 th EngineeringProfessional Forum in November 1991 he gave the theme ‘Unification of the Profession’ andmade a presentation on this during the Forum. His concept was taken a step nearer on 15January 1992 at a meeting of Institutions’ Presidents who endorsed the formation of aSteering Group to investigate the role and responsibilities of a single body. An interim report81