好色先生TV

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors should continue to be a 鈥渢ruly international institution鈥�, the organisation鈥檚 leadership has said following the publication of a landmark review into its future purpose.

Former civil servant Michael Bichard today unveiled his long-awaited independent review of the institution, launched last year after a governance scandal which led to the resignations of four of the institution鈥檚 most senior members.

The 68-page report proposes a series of sweeping reforms to the 154-year-old body designed to prevent future governance mishaps, including a clearer reporting structure, a shake-up of senior roles and greater influence for members.

Bichard has also said that the RICS should seek to continue to increase its influence overseas despite admitting that the policy has been 鈥渧ery contentious鈥� among the institution鈥檚 140,000 members.

> Also read: Key recommendations in the RICS review

The RICS鈥� transformation into an international body, greatly expanded under former chief executive Sean Tompkins, has led to frequent criticism that it has left the UK under-represented despite 70% of members being located in this country.

But Bichard told 好色先生TV that the chartered surveying profession is not bound by national borders and has proposed changes to the institution鈥檚 global strategy instead of dialling down overseas activities.

He said: 鈥淚 think there are some members, maybe in rural parts of the UK, who don鈥檛 think [RICS] should be an international institution. Well I鈥檓 afraid I don鈥檛 agree with them. 

鈥淭here are some people overseas who think that not enough attention has been given to regional boards - I think it鈥檚 the wrong attention in a way. 

鈥淪o I鈥檓 not pleasing either lobby. I鈥檓 saying this is international; you just need to get your strategy right.鈥�

Bichard argued the institution had in the past focused too much on increasing income through driving up international members, and in future should change to increasing its influence through partnerships, collaborations and working with overseas governments.

Current governing council chair Nick McLean said that he still expects both UK and overseas membership to see 鈥渟ubstantial growth鈥�, adding: 鈥淲e want to continue to be a truly international organisation and set standards wherever our members practice.鈥�

McLean is set to stand down as governing council chair on 5 October, with the role to be abolished as part of Bichard鈥檚 recommendations and its responsibilities given to the institution鈥檚 president. McLean said he is considering applying for the role of chair of the board.

The role of chief executive will also be replaced by a new director general, a position which current interim chief executive Richard Collins said he was 鈥渧ery much hoping鈥� to apply for when it is advertised.

The management shake-up is a response to Alison Levitt QC鈥檚 report into the dismissal of four non-executives from the RICS鈥� governing council in 2018 after they questioned why a damning financial report into the institution鈥檚 treasury management had been suppressed.

Bichard said the new governance structure will be 鈥渕uch clearer, simpler and much less likely to fall foul of the problems that happened in 2018/2019, in other words much more transparent鈥�.

His proposals also include a new public interest panel reporting directly to the governing council, which will provide advice on public interest issues which the RICS should be involved in.

Bichard suggested the panel should be chaired by someone 鈥渧ery senior, maybe a past president鈥� and should have free reign to tell the governing council how the RICS could improve its reputation in the public domain.

Other reforms include a new members鈥� services committee dedicated to driving up satisfaction levels and ensuring that members feel 鈥渧alued and engaged鈥�.

A review of fees is also set to get under way, which Maclean said will aim to simplify the fee system, make it more transparent and make sure members feel the RICS is value for money.

RICS fees, the second highest of any professional membership body in the world, were a frequent target for complaints in the wake of the governance scandal investigated by Levitt.

But Collins said that a review had found that members had not wanted fees to be reduced, but for them to be made more transparent and offer more value for money.

The publication of Levitt鈥檚 report in September last year led to the immediate resignation of Tompkins, president Kathleen Fontana, management board chair Paul Marcuse and governing council chair Chris Brookes.

It found that the four non-executives had been unfairly dismissed amid a 鈥減ower struggle鈥� at the top of the institution caused partly by confusion over the responsibilities of senior roles.

Earlier this year, the government said it would give itself powers to carry out independent investigations of the RICS to ensure it is operating effectively. Bichard has also proposed carrying out reviews of the institution every five years.