Building has reported that The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has called on the government to give up plans to enable its own independent reviews into the organisation.

A clause added last May to the Levelling Up Bill gives the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) the power to appoint an independent reviewer to look into the RICS and make recommendations in a report which the government could publish. Such action might be taken if the governance of RICS is deemed to not be operating effectively.

After serious failures in RICS governance came to light, in June the Bichard Report was published and set out 36 key recommendations for improvements. These included:

• A renewed and increased focus on the public interest remit of RICS, including amending the Royal Charter and creating a public interest panel to advise Governing Council.
• Maintaining self-regulation, through greater independence for regulatory functions.
• Increased focus on Diversity and Inclusion across the profession and within RICS governance.
• Empowering and enabling members through greater support for regional boards, alongside increased member engagement, with renewed focus on younger members.
• A new simplified, clear, accountable governance structure.
• Showing greater leadership on the issues that matter most to society, such as sustainability and climate change.
• Undertaking an independent review of RICS’ governance and effectiveness at delivering against its Charter for the public advantage once every five years.

It is the five yearly review recommendation that RICS says the government is duplicating in the Levelling Up Bill.

Bichard told Building last month that the proposal to have reviews every five years was “not at all” intended to ward off ministers from carrying out their own reviews.

EYE NEWSFLASH: The much-anticipated Bichard RICS Review recommends sweeping changes at the institution