Planning and preparations are continuing apace for this year’s Innovation & Learning Festival. The excitement in the team is palpable; the CPD sessions are fully booked, the new (for this year) Innovation Think Pavilion themes are being finalised, demos are being finalised, the Primary Engineer public gallery is coming, exhibition spaces are almost fully booked and final LA places are filling fast!
My week has nicely involved meetings with Birmingham University around PIARC, rural roads and Asset Management. I’ve attended the Southeast Regional Group meeting, where there were plenty of conversations around AI, and I’ve also been at the LCRIG Infrastructure and Innovation Board meeting giving updates and discussing the next Innovators who might want to access the board for guidance and support. I’ve also been preparing for our ISO 44001 inspection, which will happen this year after the Innovation & Learning Festival, which seems wholly appropriate. The Festival is a very collaborative environment, and indeed our regular mantra of “connecting the sector through Innovation and Collaboration” is a critical part of our DNA, so the timing couldn’t be more perfect.
With a slightly quieter week this week, I’ve also been able to reflect on all the conversations we held at Traffex last week, and just how lovely it was to see so many members come to see us on the stand. The election announcement (not surprisingly) triggered several conversations, particularly with those who I know I watch politics very carefully. One of the main areas of conversation and comments was around which policies would still be in place after the election and in a year of spending review, this will be doubly important.
What also makes for a challenge post-election, especially this one, is the financial situation in some councils. According to the 2024 survey from the respected Local Government Information Unit (LGiU), half of councils (51%) have warned they are likely to issue a section 114 notice in the next five years, and 14 local authorities (9%) said they are likely to issue such a notice within the next financial year. Section 114 notices which once seemed rare are becoming more known sadly. In fact, I am starting to hear more and more Highways teams mention that they are being asked (and are already starting to operate) at legal minimum service levels.
In such a constrained environment, the short term not only exacerbates challenges of planned maintenance, but also encourages opportunities for innovation. As a non-lobbying organisation, I am watching the “words” and commitments said by all parties especially in the current funding maelstrom. I hope that each commit to long-term funding, which helps councils and suppliers alike. The election has also impacted on the RIS3 announcement too, I was set (along with others) to attend the national stakeholder meeting on Tuesday and I know this delay will create some bated breaths in the sector.
This week, I have also had a chance to start thinking about this year’s Strictly Highways programme, and the themes that are starting to be suggested by Local Authorities. A couple of years ago, we established a policy that presentations at Strictly Highways should be Council-led, with support from a supplier (if appropriate), and the final programme curated by our LCRIG Advisory Board members. This process will remain the same this year, so if you are a council or supplier, do bear this in mind. Any requests for speaking should be sent to ourselves from a council and should fit into one of the four overarching themes of Innovation, Collaboration, Skills and Decarbonisation, that we cover at each Strictly Highways.
Paula Claytonsmith, CEO