Outgoing RICS standards and regulations board speaks out

The directors resigning from the RICS’s standards and regulation board have spoken out about being “treated more as the enemy than as the regulator within the RICS”. The news comes after EG reported yesterday the entire 10-strong SRB board had resigned, following an e-mail sent to RICS members. The departures consisted of chair Dame Janet Paraskeva, four board members and five non-executives. In a joint statement signed by nine outgoing SRB directors and seen by EG, the directors described how they resigned in support of Paraskeva after she handed in her notice last Friday (23 June). The statement said the decision was reached unanimously after the RICS showed its intent to remove her from the role. According to the statement, the SRB had agreed a regulatory framework for the institution. However, the statement claims the RICS indicated it wanted to break it up and remove staff and budget for the changes, as well as isolate the SRB. “The SRB was set up to regulate the profession in the public interest as an independent board,” said the outgoing directors.  “But we were treated from the outset by the leadership more as the enemy rather than as the regulator within RICS. It became increasingly difficult to do our job.”  The statement said that last autumn, the SRB was involved in a process to establish a regulatory framework agreement, setting out clear lines of responsibility and financing for the independent SRB and the representative side of RICS.  “Within six months that agreement was shattered by a decision to transfer responsibility for standards – and the vast majority of the staff and budget which went with it – away from the board with responsibility for standards and regulation to the representative side,” said the directors. “That decision was a clear attempt to reduce the effectiveness and power of the independent regulator within RICS and hand power back to the representative side.” Sources told EG the SRB tried “numerous times” to reach a compromise with no success. “Hearing the news that [Paraskeva] faced dismissal left us with no choice but to resign our positions in the manner we have always operated – collectively and in accordance with the [principles] of good governance,” said the statement. “We are genuinely sorry to leave behind the excellent staff teams who have worked tirelessly with us from the start to fulfil their regulatory roles.” To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@eg.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @EGPropertyNews Image © EG