<\/p>\n
Civil Society<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n In a letter sent to the charity\u2019s trustees, OSCR said the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) had failed to ensure the \u201cappropriate supervision\u201d of its former treasurer Neil Baxter.<\/p>\n Baxter, who was treasurer and secretary of the charity from 2008 to 2017, was alleged to have increased his remuneration without the knowledge or agreement of the council.<\/p>\n OSCR identified issues with the financial information supplied to the charity\u2019s council as not being sufficiently detailed or specific….<\/p>\n This may have contributed to the misuse of the charity funds going \u201cunnoticed and unchallenged over a number of years\u201d, the regulator said….<\/p>\n The letter reads: \u201cThere was really no effective oversight of his activities by the charity trustees. This resulted in clear financial damage and loss, as well as reputational damage, to the charity.\u201d<\/p>\n While OSCR ruled this as mismanagement between 2008 to 2017, it said there is no evidence that it was intentional or that any charity trustees benefited from it.<\/p>\n A report in Architect\u2019s Journal\u00a0states that in November 2017 almost 100 architects called for an overhaul of the charitable organisation.<\/p>\n The charity said in a statement that it had subsequently asked Baxter to step down.<\/p>\n Police Scotland investigated RIAS\u2019s finances but closed its inquiry this year.<\/p>\n In the letter to trustees, OSCR said it was satisfied that in dealing with the issues raised by this misuse of funds \u201cthe charity\u2019s then trustees acted in the interests of the charity and with the level of diligence required of charity trustees\u201d….<\/p>\n The regulator thanked the charity for its \u201cconsistent positive engagement with OSCR\u2019s inquiry\u201d and said that they were \u201cvery conscious of the length of time\u201d it had taken to conclude it, so thanked the trustees for their patience throughout the process.<\/p>\n RIAS did not wish to provide a comment.<\/p>\nBackground<\/h2>\n
OSCR: \u2018Consistent positive engagement\u2019<\/h3>\n