RICS comment on the House of Lords debate of c 213 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) has continued its passage through the parliamentary process, and on Monday 22 May, it was debated in the UK House of Lords. RICS has engaged closely with its membership and stakeholders to input expert advice on many aspects of the Bill, (such as planning, compulsory purchase and infrastructure financing) and we continue to support the Government on its levelling up aims at this crucial time for the UK economy.

Clause 213 of the LURB specifically relates to RICS and seeks explicit powers for the Secretary of State to review the work and performance of the organisation. In the 22 May debate, members of the House of Lords spoke in support of RICS’ remit and its work.

Since the Bill’s original publication in May 2022 RICS has remained in close discussion with the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities on the potential consequences of this clause.

Concerns, shared by peers and many other stakeholders, centre on the absence of any evidenced rationale for the proposed legislation. The clause’s purpose is unclear, as are the circumstances in which it would be proposed to be used. In this light it has potential to undermine confidence in the independence of the Institution’s work for the benefit of the market, the public, businesses and members. As a non-statutory, member funded professional body with a critical public interest role, RICS must be demonstrably independent from commercial or political interests in its work. These matters are of concern not just to RICS but all similar chartered bodies.

Following the 2022 publication of Lord Bichard’s comprehensive, independent review of RICS (Commissioned by the Governing Council), The institution is implementing all of Lord Bichard’s recommendations in full, with a wide-ranging set of reforms relating to governance, strategy, and purpose of RICS. As part of this, RICS will commission independent reviews every five years, with their findings published openly. This is a further safeguard over and above the governance and controls in place at the Institution, which ensure accountability through independent oversight and scrutiny, funded entirely by the profession. Given the pace and importance of the changes at this time, RICS has committed to undertaking the next review earlier than required, in 2025. It is unclear how the proposed powers in c213 would interact with these arrangements already being put in place.

On 22 May peers emphasised the vital importance of the Institution’s independence to develop and uphold standards and regulation for the sector. They also praised the progress RICS has made in implementing the recommendations of the Bichard RICS Review promptly and transparently. RICS agrees with the sentiments of the speeches given in the House of Lords, and we look forward to continuing dialogue with UK Government on this and more widely, as the Bill passes to its next parliamentary stage in the House of Lords.

You can read the full transcript on Hansard or watch on UK Parliament TV.

Some key comments regarding RICS from the Lords included:

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town said that RICS: “...has played a vital role in independent standards setting as well as in the enforcement of those high standards. Across the world, regulators and clients depend on RICS standards of ethics and good practice, as well as RICS technical standards. RICS valuers are recognised and admired worldwide and perform a vital service for a swathe of industries.

“However, the real issue is that this clause is unnecessary. RICS asked the noble Lord, Lord Bichard, to review its structure and working, and has made many adjustments in the light of his report. Recommendation 14 of the report called for a similar independent review every five years to be laid before Parliament. In fact, however, RICS, valuing that suggestion and the help provided by the noble Lord, Lord Bichard, has decided to do just that—to have another independent review—after every three years, not five. The first will be in 2025. This seems timely and sensible, and enables a report to Parliament, independent of the Government of the day.”

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The Earl of Caithness added: “As the noble Baroness said, the General [sic] Council of the RICS commissioned the noble Lord, Lord Bichard, to do a review by its own will. He undertook that review within a very short time, and it reported in June 2022. By the end of November 2022, eight out of 36 amendments had already been implemented and the rest were on their way to being so.”

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Lord Thurlow said: “The noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, and my noble friend Lord Lytton have mentioned the worldwide influence of the RICS. I was slightly involved with it many years ago; it is extensive and has done ground-breaking work across the world in bringing together the numerous different property-related organisations in the advisory field to try to create common standards internationally.”