"They Think It's All Over." (630)

To the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy / Chair, Ombudsman Services.

For Clarity - Attempt 630.

630) "They Think It's All Over."

(Thanks to Ben Jennings on round two of Brexit talks - cartoon. Guardian 17/07/17.)

Dear Mr Clark and Lord Tim Clement Jones.

As the Dead Woman Walking was preparing to serve underarm to stay in the match, Thick as Mince, on seeing the whites of Monsieur Barnier's negotiating papers was high-tailing it back to Blighty, Spreadsheet Phil was spreading public sector pay a little thinner, Johnson Jr was making those incoherent noises - once again - and Mike The Knife Gove was honing in - once again - on the job he'd give his right arm for.

Only he still needed it to hold his blade. There was unfinished work to be done. Only he could do it. Or so he thought.

The anarchy of deregulated, free market capitalism has returned to its spiritual home in the Conservative Cabinet where the one-time party of law and order is, day by day, descending ever deeper into lawless disorder and anarchy.

Regulatory anarchy - self regulation - has become standard operating practice from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in Great George Street, London all the way to Livewell Southwest Ltd in Mount Gould Plymouth

One of self-regulation's cheerleaders, Eve Salomon was Chair of the Regulatory Board of RICS at a very interesting time indeed. At the Leveson Inquiry she claimed, "I am a regulatory anorak" which could well be true - only she appears to have been wearing it back-to-front and inside out.

Her first message to the inquiry was, "If the press feels coerced into regulation it doesn't want, it will rebel."

It was an interesting choice of word - coerce. She could have said, "The press has been politely invited to join the rest of us in civilised society when regulating its behaviour but won't because it's far too self important to be concerned with such trivia."

In other words, in The Big Society, we - the press - are the Very Biggest. By implication the same could be said of surveyors - if coerced into regulation they too will rebel. Surveyors are, however, happy to be RICS regulated because that gives a certain cache and aura of respectability to what are all too often highly disreputable practices.

These then are the, "Rebels With A Cause" and their cause is as always; power and money. Strong and Steady - Power and Money.

Ms Salomon's second message was about the sight of blood and led, somewhat unsettlingly, to her implied third message: don't mess with us or else.....

So there we have it in a nutshell, The Rough Guide To Self-Regulatory Rebellion - rules don't apply to the rich and powerful but they do to the Little People.

Elsewhere on the subject of regulation, RICS state;

"We regulate and promote the profession, maintain the highest educational and professional standards, protect clients and consumers via a strict code of ethics and provide impartial advice and guidance."

Really? But then as standard bearers for self-regulation they would say that wouldn't they.

In the Ombudsman Services Annual Property Report January - December 2016 it states otherwise;

"Often poor record keeping alongside a lack of holistic thinking - not following the trail and incorrect assumptions drives survey reports not to accurately reflect the condition of the property on the date of inspection."

(www.ombudsman-services.org - for consumers - complaints data - Annual reports - annual report - Annual report 2016 - Annual report 2009/10 Property)

The data - what data there is - is well hidden these days at Ombudsman Services.

The RICS - far from maintaining , "the highest educational and professional standards" are in fact doing the exact opposite and maintaining the lowest educational and professional standards.

How do we know? Look at the evidence relating to their performance in delivering high quality surveys and evaluations.

One only has to look at Ombudsman Services Annual Property Reports to see what is really happening:

Annual Property Report 2009/10: No 1 Complaint - homebuyer survey/valuation

Annual Property Report 2016: No 1 Complaint - homebuyer survey/valuation.

It seems that for nearly a decade now, RICS regulated cowboy surveyors (with the connivance of their, "appointed" company) have been fleecing the consumer with impunity.

If cake-bakers baked flat cakes they'd quickly go out of business. The same laws of economics do not apply to surveyors and their, "lack of holistic thinking." They've found a platinum get out of jail free card for their dud surveys - Ombudsman Services:Property. And its all paid for by their fees so no conflict of interest there.

As for Eve Salomon-like self-regulation? The report goes on to say;

"Regulation and Enforcement - The agency sectors continue to operate largely, in an unregulated environment."

How very convenient for the, "agency sectors."

Where huge amounts of money are involved it seems that the least amount of regulation, transparency and accountability is to be found - or, as we see it at the Ombudsmans61percent Campaign: The First Law of Corruption.

Q. Lord Tim Clement Jones, you best efforts appear to be woeful. Year after year substandard surveys by RICS regulated surveyors are costing consumers untold harm in terms of their health and financial wellbeing. When are you going to step up to the mark, apply some holistic thinking, and do something to protect consumers from these cowboy operators?

Q. Mr Clark, hasn't your department's close and continuing relationship with the maladministrators at Ombudsman Services not directly contributed to the injustice of consumers paying the price for RICS regulated surveyors', "lack of holistic thinking?"

They think it's all over do those poor, conned property complainants who put their trust in Ombudsman Services:Property only to get instead an illogical Final Decision or 50 quid hand-out from the surveyors' Ombudsman.

This private redress scheme no longer even bothers to ask property complainants what thought of their customer journey as they're efficiently being shuttled into oblivion.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Gilbert - Workstock number 510458.

The Ombudsmans61percent Campaign is at: www.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com ombudsmans sixtyone-percent.