Minutes of Board Meeting held on 24 January 2002

Minutes of Board Meeting held on 24 January 2002 (25/03/2002)

Present:

Owen Luder (in the Chair); Alan Crane; Ian Davidson; Mike Dewey; Frank Duffy; Marco Goldschmied; Humphrey Lloyd; Larry Rolland; Michael Rose; Barbara Saunders; Colin Smith; Soo Ware; John Wright

Owen Luder was in the Chair. He explained that Barbara Kelly was unable to attend as her husband was ill. The Board sent its best wishes for his recovery.

1. Apologies for Absence

There were apologies from Barbara Kelly and Keith Richards.

The Board congratulated Barbara Saunders who had received an OBE in the New Years Honours List.

2. Declarations of Interest

Marco Goldschmied and John Wright as Office Holders of the RIBA declared their interest.

3. Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2001 were approved.

4. Matters Arising from the Minutes and Action Points

Robin Vaughan referred to the report showing that the action points were either being attended to or were included as an agenda item.

5. Chair’s Report

Owen Luder reported that he and the Chairwoman had met the Chairman and Secretary of the Association of Consultant Architects. The meeting had been congenial and had focused on issues relating to Professional Indemnity Insurance, Education and ARB’s profile.

It had been agreed that meetings should be held twice yearly with the next one scheduled for July 2002.

6. Chief Executive/Registrar’s Report

Robin Vaughan reported that a list of all the new registrants in the year 2001 had been published in the Times on 11 January 2002.

He reported that Deborah Seddon had joined the Board to fill the vacant post in Education and that Paul Woodham had been recruited to assist with the work of the Competency Standards Group and Professional Conduct Committee.

He went on to report that he and Richard Coleman had recently met with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators with a view to exploring the possibility of an alternative dispute resolution mechanism for the Board. A paper would be brought to the Board on this subject at its May meeting.

7. Honorary Treasurer's Report

Mike Dewey introduced the paper and reported that the excess of income over expenditure for 2001 was £41,000 which was in line with the projected figure. He reported that in 2002 it was anticipated there would be a deficit of £221,000.

8. Movements in the Register

Robin Vaughan introduced the paper and advised members that at the end of 2001 the Register stood at 30,553. As in past years, the figures for January to March were subject to revision when strike-offs were enacted at the end of March, and were then applied to the re-registration date of 1 January.

9. Professional Indemnity Insurance

Robin Vaughan reported that, in relation to the new PII regime, 15,000 Certificates of Compliance had been returned to date. 150 enquiries about the completion of the Certificate had been received, either by phone or letter, and 90 complaints had been received about the new regime. Architects had until 31 March to return the Certificates. A reminder would be sent to those who had not returned the Certificate, before any other action was taken.

Members went on to consider a letter which had been received from the President of the RIBA which set out the Institute’s objections to the Board’s regime in respect of PII. Two further letters had been tabled: one from Elspeth Clements, RIBA Vice-President for Small Practices, and the other from the student society, ARCHAOS. Members noted that these restated the concerns expressed by the RIBA. In addition, a further letter had been received by Board members from Tim Gough, the RIBA Vice President of Practice, referring to an earlier letter from RIBA that the Board had previously considered and which had been replied to. The reply stated that the Board would not copy to the RIBA the advice of its lawyers but had, so as to avoid being confrontational, provided a summary of that advice.

Robin Vaughan went on to report a conversation he had had with the President of the RIBA on the previous day. He conveyed the President’s concern that there was a danger that small practices would be driven to carry out work unregulated and that it would be difficult for the RIBA to demand registration as a prerequisite of membership if the Board pursued its PII policy.

The Board considered a draft reply to the President of the RIBA. A number of amendments were suggested and agreed to. The final version of the letter sent to the President of the RIBA is attached to the Minutes at Annex A.

It was agreed that Robin Vaughan would reply to the letters from Elspeth Clements and ARCHAOS. The Board confirmed its original decision to review the subject of Professional Indemnity Insurance at its meeting in May. It agreed that any evidence that the RIBA wished to present to the Board in relation to PII must be received by no later than 8 April.