RIBA rejects advice to hold fire on Arb as report says institute should wait until after election to demand change
The RIBA has stepped up its fight to take over regulation and registration from the Arb, despite a report arguing it should refrain from tackling the issue until after the election. In a statement released following the RIBA Council meeting on Tuesday, the institute said it had decided that the duties of the Arb should be transferred to it following a process of research and consultation, with statutory protection of title maintained.
President Ruth Reed said that the move was supported by the findings of a new independent report carried out for the RIBA by academic Christopher Ball.
The report admitted the relationship between Arb and the RIBA resembled a “bad marriage” and predicted that RIBA leaders would wish to see Arb scrapped.
But it downplayed the importance of the issue, saying there was no consensus in the profession on how to deal with it, and warned that all options should be left open until a new government is formed.
The report, for which Ball consulted with Arb, the Department for Communities & Local Government and other architects, said: “The best interests of the profession will be served if the RIBA plays a waiting game, and resists the temptation to choose a favoured option [until after an election].”
It said the RIBA should first make a serious attempt to reach an accommodation with the regulator, thoroughly consult members and work out the cost and staffing implications before pursuing its likely favoured option.
And it added: “While the issues raised… are indeed awkward, they are not particularly significant in the wider scheme of things. Neither the public nor the profession are — or should be — particularly concerned about them…
“There is evidence of considerable confusion among architects about the whole question of registration and regulation. A divided and confused profession is unlikely to persuade a government to legislate to help it.”
The Conservative Party has pledged to abolish the Arb, and Reed said it was right for RIBA to lobby for this now. Former president Sunand Prasad is the senior figure understood to have argued most strongly for the latest move and Reed admitted she does not see regulation as a key issue.
“It’s not right for this to be a priority for the institute or the membership,” she said. “I feel quite strongly it’s not the issue of the moment although it does get a lot of media interest.”
Arb chief executive Alison Carr said: “Although we do not agree with all of the detailed points [Ball] made in his report, we take his key message that the Arb and RIBA must seek to work collaboratively together wherever possible.”
