Welcome to the May eBulletin.

In this issue Beatrice Fraenkel, ARB’s Chair, discusses Board Leadership and the working of the Board.

The Chair also urges architects to complete the equality and diversity survey and the consultations on the Architects Code of Conduct and ARB’s election scheme.

Dear Architect,

Thank you for taking the time to read the May ebulletin.

Board Leadership and Committee Roles – I am delighted to have been re-elected as Chair of ARB, and I look forward to continuing in this role with Richard Parnaby supporting me as Vice Chair. I very much appreciate the support that continues to be shown to both myself and Richard by the Board Members and the wider staff team. Additionally, the membership of the Board Committees was discussed at the May 2015 Board Meeting. It was decided that this will remain unchanged for the year ahead. These solid foundations will enable us to continue to deliver on our statutory remit as we await the outcome of the Periodic Review later this year.

2016 election of architect Board Members – At the May Board meeting, we also heard about the preparations for the 2016 election of architect Board Members. We have just launched a consultation on administrative changes to ARB’s election scheme to bring the scheme into line with the 2014 amendments to the Act, which increased Board Member tenure from three to four years per term.

Financial reporting – The Board discussed key financial reports including the 2014 Financial Outturn and the 2015 Management Accounts. The Board noted an underspend due to changes in staffing and the awaited outcome of the Periodic Review and this information will be taken into consideration when setting the 2016 budget and associated fees.

Professional Standards – The Board also discussed the Annual Report by the Chair of the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC), an independent Committee of the Board. We heard from Julian Weinberg, the Committee’s Chair who reported that PCC cases highlighted the importance of architects putting in place adequate written terms of engagement. The Board agreed to work on communications to highlight some of the points raised in the Report.

Equality and diversity survey – Finally, as many of you already know, we are conducting an important exercise to collect equality and diversity data from registrants and I would urge you to take a few moments to complete the survey. You can read more about our work on this here.

Please take a few moments to read this eBulletin. We have a lot to update you on and are keen to gain your views on a number of key subjects.

Sincere best wishes,

Beatrice