RICS apologises and drops Fieldfisher as legal adviser

The RICS has dropped Fieldfisher as its legal adviser and issued public apologies to the four former non-executive directors at the heart of its governance scandal, as it adopts Alison Levitt QC’s recommendations for far-reaching reform at the institution. The organisation will not give Fieldfisher any new instructions after Levitt’s report raised critical questions over the law firm’s role in the governance row. A new framework for procuring legal advisers is being drawn up, with a tender process expected to begin in January next year. The embattled organisation has also appointed employment agency Gatenby Sanderson to find an individual to lead a new external independent review into its governance, purpose and relevance. It is aiming for the review to begin before the end of November. Whistleblowing charity Protect will advise on an agreement to deliver an improved whistleblowing process. A member of governing council will oversee whistleblowing, with all investigations conducted by a third party. An annual report will also be published. A review into reward structures and levels for senior executives will be undertaken, with a procurement process set to take place for external advisers to run it. Additionally, the institution has defined six key cultural values of “integrity, transparency, inclusion, collaboration, advocacy and passion”, which it intends to put in place through policies and actions. These will be measured through independent benchmarking, “regular” feedback and reporting against “clear targets”. Internal reporting processes have also changed. All minutes of board and committee meetings will be shared with governing council, management board, audit committee and standards and regulations board by the end of October. The management board will now meet eight times a year, with the presidential team excluded from meetings. Any RICS board member can now raise matters directly with governing council. ‘Unacceptable and indefensible’ In his public apology to the NEDs, Nick Maclean, acting chair of the governing council, said on behalf of the RICS: “The governing council is absolutely clear that you deserve a full apology for the way you were treated by RICS. “We believe that the way several of our executives, our officers and non-executives behaved towards you in your role as a non-executive director of the management board, including your wrongful dismissal, was unacceptable and indefensible. “On behalf of the governing council and RICS, I apologise unreservedly for the way you have been treated. We thank you for your courageous persistence in the pursuit of unacceptable conduct. It is an exemplar for the behaviours we expect of office holders of this nature.” He added: “We also apologise for any anxiety and inconvenience you have suffered from RICS’ initial response to the media reporting from December 2020 and are grateful for your having supported the independent review process fully.” Maclean said that should the NEDs wish to apply for future non-exec roles with other organisations, RICS will affirm their “complete exoneration of blame”. ‘Inexcusable’ actions To the governing council of that year, Maclean wrote: “A number of members of ‘GC19’ were inappropriately threatened by legal action for defamation in January 2021 which was unacceptable and inexcusable. On behalf of the council and RICS, I [apologise] unreservedly for this action.” He added: “I also apologise for the anxiety which will have been felt because of RICS’ actions and the inconvenience caused to those who have supported the independent review process. “Through its action in commissioning the review, in ensuring the independence of the review, in publishing an unredacted version of the report and in publicly accepting each of Alison Levitt’s recommendations, governing council has taken steps to respond to what went wrong in the past and is determined to ensure that such actions are not repeated in the future.” Earlier this year, former chief executive Sean Tompkins told EG that he did not see the need to apologise for how RICS handled the situation. The apologies can be read in full here and here. See also: Rudderless RICS urged to reform after crisis To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews Image © Jeff Blackler/Shutterstock