This week, fellow industry and professional institutes/organisations have been publicly responding to the election manifestos, political statements, and pledges from the various political parties and media commentators. I have been asked a couple of times why we have not shared our views on the manifestos and so I thought I would write about this point in this week’s ‘View from the Top’.
In another lifetime (or at least it feels that way), I very much enjoyed being in the thick of organisations that lobbied and participated in politics. In fact, readers may not be aware that I once stood for local elections in Walthamstow, the same place and postcode made famous by a nineties boy band (East 17). I like nothing more than watching Politics as they play out before national elections reach their conclusion. In the early days of LCRIG, an organisation born out of councils meeting together and sharing innovative ideas, there was a clear unanimous decision that LCRIG would remain apolitical. This was a clear mandate and very much aligned to where LCRIG had grown from, and that Officers were often in politically restricted posts. That decision has continued since 2013, and we believe our role is to facilitate collaboration, share innovations, and create an environment for suppliers, councils, and other stakeholders to engage and work together for more effective services.
Do not get me wrong, we (I) are extremely interested in public funding, especially for our infrastructure, but our roots and where we came from remain important and a core tenet of who we are. In addition, this means in all our dealings with the Government and our members, it is very clear where our lines are and what we won’t do. I have strong feelings about the ethics and transparency of lobbying which aligns perfectly with our stated view that we will not engage in this type of activity. So, whilst I watch from the sideline, I am watching nonetheless to whatever will play out and how this affects all our members.
Our upcoming Innovation & Learning Festival is already breaking LCRIG records around attendees, and the widest number of highways related job roles role now attending. Once upon a time, it would have been a narrow set of roles, but not this year, as all are relevant. This was something I mentioned on last week’s Highways News podcast with Paul Hutton. Of course, the election has meant some of partners such as National Highways and DfT can’t quite be as front and centre as hoped, but they will all still attend.
I am currently enjoying the relative calm before the next burst of travelling, events (our own and others), and ISO inspections over the next six weeks. I look forward to seeing lots of people at the various events and will have lots to share.
However, a lovely result of this relative calm means I get to enjoy my usual wider reading and I would certainly recommend reading the “Anatomy of a Flood” in the Washington Post on the 12th of June. This article talks about the impact of rising sea levels and high-tide flooding. What particularly drew me to this article is the method and way they have shown the flooding over a town. If you get a chance to read the article, I would certainly recommend it.
I have always advocated that wider reading beyond our sector, curiosity, and interest in emerging technology and innovations are critical for the future of our sector and will continue to be so regardless of party manifesto pledges.
Paula Claytonsmith, CEO