Richard's update on the recent IRRV Council Meeting

This week saw the first Council Meeting of my year. It always surprises me as to how much business there is to get through at these quarterly meetings. The various Committee meetings and Council extend from 10.15am - 4.15pm. 

There were some pleasant duties as well.   I was able to give Dave Chapman his Past President’s badge and thank him for his very successful year as President. 

The Nominations Committee also appointed  Jim  McCafferty as the Junior Vice President for 2013-2014. This election had been delayed by the necessity to get the Council Elections completed first. Congratulations to Jim who I am sure will do an excellent job for the Institute. 

Much of this meeting was used to review the Conference and agree a strategy for the next one. Those discussions continue and everyone will be notified in due course.

Richard's latest update

One of the first events of this presidential year was a lunch for the Past Presidents and Honorary Officers which was held at the end of last week. We had a very small room in a restaurant in Covent Garden and 17 or 18 past presidents turned up covering a very considerable time span. 

It was jointly hosted with last year’s President as the event did not take place last year.  It is very nice to see the Past Presidents, many of whom retired from Council some time ago and it is a leisurely event with a great deal of nostalgia. We also remembered those who are not well enough to come. A lovely occasion.

Next week sees the Council Meeting and I look forward to chairing that for the first time this year.

This week's news about the Public Accounts Committee view of Universal Credit was very interesting and it will be interesting to see how that debate unfolds over the next few days.