Page 5 - Linkline Spring 2017

Building a Stronger Institute
We hit the ground running early in the year with national council ratifying both our updated business plan and our budget for 2017. Our key objectives fall under three clear strategies which I have shared with you before and are set out as follows:
• Education and services
• Governance – continued application of strong principles
and implementation of best practice
• Developing a stronger CILT brand.
We have had input from each of our committees and from our regional sections in developing these objectives to ensure that we have agreement and alignment across the Institute. Our 2017 objectives have been initiated and progress is being tracked via our monthly action plan review. The latter is a key process in ensuring we remain on target to deliver our vision (to be recognised as the first choice for our profession) and purpose (to promote professionalism in logistics, transport and supply chain).
We continue to make positive progress in key areas but much more remains to be done. We are determined to build on our achievements and further enhance our performance while serving the best interests of our membership and industry sector. It is worth reflecting on and sharing some of our achievements and initiatives in early 2017.
Education and Services
CILT Skillnet was formally launched in November 2016 with over 30 companies signing up to join the network. Since then more companies have joined and our training programmes are gaining traction. Members use the network to avail of grant assisted training and networking opportunities for staff at all levels. The long term strategy is to continue to support our network members in meeting their training and development needs, help them sustain competitiveness and enable growth in our industry sector.
We have entered into discussions with IT Carlow to accredit our Diploma in Logistics and Supply Chain Management to QQI Level 6 on the national framework. The many changes introduced to this course over the last two years have prepared us well and I hope to have positive news in relation to our accreditation application soon. We have also agreed to continue our successful collaboration with IT Carlow in delivering our Level 7 Bachelor of Business and Supply Chain Management. In addition, we intend to provide a Level 8 programme for those who wish to continue with their studies.
The Institute’s contract with the Health and Safety Authority to act as the examination agent for the Dangerous Goods Safety Advisers (DGSA) and Dangerous Goods Driver (ADR) exams has been extended. The HSA approved the annual rollover of the contract without conditions and the Institute looks forward to continuing this valuable work. We held a meeting with our panel of subject matter experts in March to review all aspects of the provision of our service with a view to continuously improving our end to end processes.
The Institute also acts on behalf of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport as the examining body for the Certificate
Pat Treacy CILT CEO
of Professional Competence (CPC) in respect of both road freight and road passenger operations. The Institute has reviewed and agreed criteria with the department regarding the provision of CPC courses; we hope that these actions will prove beneficial for providers and exam candidates alike.
Governance
The Internal Audit Committee (IAC) engaged an internal auditor (Clare O’Meara) to undertake an initial high level review of the effectiveness of the Institute’s financial control, internal control and risk management systems and to prepare a multi-annual audit plan.
The overall conclusion of the internal auditor’s review was as follows: “In my opinion, the components for an effective
The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport 5
CEO'S INTRODUCTION