Get involved with ICE London’s Informing Opinion activities
As many of you will know, the Institution of Civil Engineers works closely with the Government and politicians to provide expert advice on infrastructure issues.
This comes in the form of the annual State of the Nation Report (look out for the next one on digital engineering to be published in March), assisting the National Infrastructure Commission with the National Needs Assessment and responding to consultations and emerging policy issues.
What you may not know is that we also work closely with the devolved nations and regional authorities, such as the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority.
In London, we work on a whole range of policy issues, from the devolution of taxes to air quality. In the run up to the Mayoral elections, we published our Infrastructure for London Manifesto and held a hustings for representatives of the main political parties.
We’ve also provided evidence to politicians on the London Assembly, the body that scrutinises the Mayor. Recently, we successfully saw the take up of our recommendations on congestion in the Assembly’s latest report, London Stalling.
And with a new Mayor there is much more for us to be getting on with. Currently, the GLA under Mayor Khan are reviewing the London Plan, the capital’s spatial strategy, and are drafting a number of other strategies covering London’s environment, planning and transport systems.
These plans will affect how the Capital develops far into the future — as well as the work of the 9,000 ICE London members living and working in the city. With a rising population, set to reach 11 million by 2050, a more unpredictable weather system due to climate change and a transport system rapidly reaching full capacity, it will be vital that we have our voice heard.
We are already working to influence these strategies. On 6th February we held a workshop with TfL on the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and produced a document giving our members’ initial thoughts on what should be included.
So how can the ICE London G&S get involved? The main route is through the London panels and networks — the groups of members who set out our policies. We have two panels covering water and the circular economy, that both meet once a quarter to discuss policy issues and respond to consultations. We have also recently set up networks, which are larger groups meeting on an ad hoc basis. We have two networks — energy and transport — that both hold regular events and policy sessions. You can see the full list here.
I’d encourage any G&S member looking to get involved to consider joining one of the networks or panels. Alternatively, just send me an email telling me what you’d like to get involved in — with so much going on, they’ll definitely be something!
By Max Sugarman, the ICE London and South East England External Relations Executive. @maxsugarman1 max.sugarman@ice.org.uk
