Last week it was reported that Alison Levitt QC had delivered to RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) the findings of her inquiry into the controversial goings-on at the institution which resulted in four whistle-blowing directors being dismissed in 2019. They had raised the alarm over the content of the body’s 2018 financial report.
The findings have not yet been made public and pressure is mounting on the embattled RICS to publish them sooner rather than later.
Now Steve Williams, one of the ousted four and a former president of RICS, has written an open letter to the institution’s Council warning that any redacting or tempering of the report “will only exacerbate the damage done”.
RICS says the content of the report will be “carefully considered” before “formal response” is issued.
An open letter to RICS from past president Steve Williams:
Dear Council,
I applaud you for commissioning the Levitt inquiry after the now ‘”dismissed four” sought to advise Council via the then President that they it should look further into the matter of the 2019 internal audit.
Having known many of you for a long time and having myself chaired Governing Council, (the Institution’s ultimate member-led, decision-making, authority), I have every confidence that you, as concerned members yourselves, will use the findings to restore trust in the Institution.
Redacting or tempering the report to protect any of us who may have come in for criticism (including, for all we know, the four of us who were terminated) will only exacerbate the damage done.
Those who have voted you into office and who have, in effect, funded the Levitt report via their subscriptions, will look forward to transparency and fair dealing.
Steve Williams
RICS Past President
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