黑洞社区

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has announced the details of its future purpose review prompted by a member backlash against its botched handling of a critical financial report.

It will be chaired by president Kathleen Fontana and chief executive Sean Tompkins, it announced late last week.

An email address has also been set up for members to 鈥渟hare ideas and insights鈥� ahead of a formal consultation, which it said will start in 鈥渁 matter of weeks鈥�.

In a statement, it said the review will 鈥渁ssess the progress of existing strategic activities, focusing on member experience, membership value proposition, attracting diverse talent to the profession, enhancing the reputation of RICS globally, governance, thought leadership and embedding RICS standards鈥�.

Fontana (pictured) said: 鈥淭his will be a very important piece of work and will enable RICS to evolve as an organisation and reaffirm our strategic direction and priorities.

鈥淎s we look to the future, we are committed to supporting every RICS member from the newly qualified to our established professionals.

鈥淲e will listen carefully to the views of every member who engages with this consultation.

鈥淚 strongly encourage all our members to take this opportunity to contribute to the future of RICS鈥�.

The RICS announced the review last month after buckling under pressure from members after it emerged that four non-executive directors had been abruptly ousted from its governing council when they raised concerns about why a critical report into its corporate governance was not released.

It is an expansion of an already ongoing review into its governance and engagement, with Fontana admitting last month that 鈥渋t is clear that we need to take stock for the future鈥� after listening to the views of members.

The 10-page BDO report at the heart of the scandal was ordered by the RICS in late 2018 and looked into the organisation鈥檚 treasury management.

It gave the RICS the lowest possible 鈥渘o assurance鈥� rating for its treasury controls and warned that it was at risk of 鈥渦nidentified fraud, misappropriation of funds and misreporting of financial performance鈥�.