Since last autumn, when Martin Richards, the Society’s Director for Skills for the last decade, announced his intention to retire during 2015, the Society has been developing plans for his succession and the future management of this key area of its work. It is an area which has grown in both scope and demands on time as a result of
* increasing uptake of the Society’s Professional Development Scheme(PDS);
* introduction of the PDS Review Process
* continuing promotion of the TPP qualification. and
* the development of a transport planning technician apprenticeship.  
It is expected that the level of activity will continue to expand with further increases of participants in the PDS and seeking the TPP, as well as with the planned introduction the apprenticeship scheme.

Thus, in addition to appointing a new Director for Skills, the Society is extending its skills team to meet the evolving needs and challenges.

Martin will be succeeded on 1 July by Keith Buchan, a past Chair of the Society and a current elected Board member, with almost 40 years experience in transport planning in the public and private sectors.  Keith will be assisted by two experienced transport professionals Keith Youngman and Christine Crossley to support the Society’s PDS operations.  The fourth member of the Skills Team is Andy Costain, the Society’s Development Officer who, like Martin, has been involved in the TPS Skills initiatives from the beginning.

As a first stage in the Society’s succession plan, Keith Youngman took up his role as PDS Review Manager from 1 February.  Until 2010 he was Mouchel’s PDS manager, and in 2012/13 he co-authored Version 3 of the PDS and played a key role in first developing and then operating the PDS Review Process. Reporting to Keith, are four regional PDS Reviewers visiting licensee offices across the UK.

Christine Crossley will shortly be joining the team as the PDS Operations Manager.  As Atkins’ Training Manager for Highways and Transportation, Christine has been deeply involved in the PDS since its launch and, like Keith Youngman, was a co-author of Version 3.  

Although Martin will be retiring as Director for Skills at the end of June, he will continue to undertake PDS Reviews and work with the Technician Apprenticeship Consortium developing transport planning technician apprenticeship
 
The Society’s work is supported by a Skills Committee of Board members and former TPS Chairs Victoria Hills, Keith Mitchell and Bill Wyley.

John Dales, the Society’s newly elected Chair welcomed the arrangements, saying ‘skills is a vital part of our work and I am very pleased that we have been able to assemble such a strong team to succeed Martin and to continue to develop our essential role in skills’.

TPS Skills timeline
* TPS Transport Planning Skills Initiative, launched 2002
* TPS and GoSkills prepare the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Transport Planning and Transport Planning Technical Support, which gained Ofqual approval in 2007
* The Transport Planning Professional, TPP, qualification based on the NOS, launched jointly with CIHT 2008
* The TPS PDS, based on the NOS, launched 2008
* PDS Version 3 launched, 2013.
* PDS Review Process, introduced 2014
* First TPS PDS trainee completes the Scheme, March 2015.