RICS Concerned Over Independence from Government

RICS IS expressing its concern over Clause 186 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which seeks explicit powers for the Secretary of State to investigate the organisation’s work and performance of RICS.

Since the Bill’s publication in May, a number of major stakeholders have voiced their concern to RICS and to government over the potential impacts of this proposed legislation.

RICS has had discussions with the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities on the potentially harmful consequences of this clause.

Concerns centre on the proposed legislation’s potential to undermine confidence in the independence of the Institution’s work for the benefit of the market, the public, businesses and members.

Independence from Government

As a professional body with a public interest and regulatory role, RICS must be demonstrably independent in its work, the organisation says. The presence of this provision would be seen as curbing the Institution’s ability to act, and speak, in what it believes is in the public interest, even if this view may, from time to time, disagree with government policy, it adds.

Last year, the Institution’s Governing Council commissioned Lord Bichard to conduct an independent review of the governance, strategy and purpose of RICS. This was published in June.

The Governing Council is now implementing all of Lord Bichard’s recommendations in full. As part of this, RICS will commission independent reviews every five years, with their findings published openly. This will be a further safeguard over and above the governance and controls in place at the Institution, RICS says, which ensure accountability through independent oversight and scrutiny, funded entirely by the profession.

Secretary of State Michael Gove welcomed the Bichard Review’s findings and had expressed his support for an alignment between the government’s proposals and the Bichard review reforms.

RICS says it will continue to engage with peers, ministers and the Department in the hope of safeguarding the crucial independence of professions.

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