Welcome to the July 2015 eBulletin.

Appointment of Registrar – At our recent Board meeting we were delighted to welcome Karen Holmes in her role of Registrar and Chief Executive following her recent appointment which took effect on 1 July 2015. Karen had been carrying out this role on an interim basis for nearly two years and we know she is a highly capable leader with extensive regulatory experience.

Future work programme – At the meeting the Board discussed our future work programme covering business planning and budgeting arrangements for 2016. The Board also agreed ARB’s Investment Strategy for the next 12 months. We received an update on DCLG’s periodic review timeline, and it appears that the report is now likely to go to the Minister in September 2015. The Board heard reports from two of the Board’s Committees – the Investigations Oversight Committee and the Prescription Committee – which both oversee key elements of our regulatory role.

Equality and diversity survey – There has been an excellent response to the Equality and Diversity survey. It was first circulated in May 2015 and over 4500 people have already responded bringing the total number of architects who have provided us with data to 6800. ARB is an inclusive organisation and we are committed to ensuring that the services we offer are free from discrimination and suitable for everyone we deal with. The equality and diversity data will inform our work in this regard. The survey is still open and we are keen to encourage more architects to complete it. If you would like to do this please contact us and we will send you your unique link.

Code of conduct consultation – The Code of Conduct consultation continues and we would urge those of you who have not yet responded to complete this consultation. You can complete this here.

Please have a read through this eBulletin to find out about what we have been working on recently. As always, if you have any questions we’re happy to help. You can contact the staff team via email at info@arb.org.uk or via phone on 0207 580 5861.