6.2
Proposal 2: RICS should publish the salaries of Staff paid more than the President
UK Government has a policy of publishing all Civil Servants paid more than the Prime Minister, for RICS our elected head is the President and is Honorarium (including use of the President’s Flat) is currently £82,000 pa. RICS has already adopted the Hutton Report recommendations as the Chief Executive’s pay is on a 20:1 ratio to the lowest pay bracket. We would need to take legal advice in relation to employment law and there is a risk that we could lose senior level Staff and create a level of animosity between staff members. A potential solution may well be publish pay grades of those paid in excess of the President. Clearly this could be embarrassing for RICS, depending on the salaries involved, however Members have a right to know what their money is being spent on and that RICS is getting value for money. 6.3 Proposal 3: RICS should confirm on all Policy Announcements, Initiatives and Schemes (a) Where the Policy etc originated (b) Who was consulted (c) Who authorised it RICS often does (b) Faculty Boards, prominent Members, specialist firms and (c) Governing Council, Management Board but (a) is often rather unclear, with reference made to RICS being pro-active in light of Government or EU Policies. If (a) is Leadership Team or Executive Team, then why not say so. RICS through Regulations & Schemes is increasingly going to find proposals which are unpopular or controversial and it must therefore be in a better position to justify what it is proposing, simply saying that Governing Council has approved something is not acceptable, Governing Council rightly acts on advice and recommendations. Members have a right to know where that advice and recommendations come from and where a Policy originates. 6.4
Proposal 4: RICS should ensure there are proper links between Boards
Either (a) Bottom to Top: Local on Regional, Regional on National, National on World Regional, World Regional on Governing Council or (b) Top to Bottom: World Regional Member of GC should sit on their World Regional Board, National Members of WRB should sit on National Board, Regional Members of National Boards should sit on their Regional Board, Local Members of a Regional Board should sit on the Local Board. This happens intermittently but should it be automatic to help would improve communication to create a more obvious chain of command and responsibility, which at present is lacking. 6.5
Proposal 5: RICS should adopt the UK Government Policy on Petitions