The RICS / Ombudsman Services:Property - "Fake Regulation." (700)

To the Leader of the House of Commons.

For Clarity - Attempt 680.

700. The RICS / Ombudsman Services:Property - "Fake Regulation."

Dear Mrs Leadsom,

The RICS UK Parliamentary Affairs Manager when reporting on The RICS Global Residential Director's appearance at the Communities and Local Government Committee on the 4th March 2013 indirectly raised a number of issues concerning lobbying and regulation.

She said,

"Peter's appearance is part of our ongoing political influencing and engagement programme to achieve better regulation of letting agents. RICS has worked with other organisations in the sector to host events at Party Conference 2012 and in the House of Commons as well as working with Baroness Hayter to table an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill."

(Mary Thorogood. UK Parliamentary Affairs Manager RICS)

The RICS have a manager to orchestrate their political influencing and engagement work in Parliament and as a result are able to amend UK legislation.

 

    And yet The RICS,

"cannot award compensation or force Members or Regulated Firms to do anything - or refrain from doing anything - even if that means they are in breach of RICS Rules and Regulations."

These Rules and Regulations could have been written by Priti Patel or Boris Johnson.

RICS Rules and Regulations provide the definitive working definition of, "light-touch" regulation - look the other way when lifting the carpet and sweeping the detritus under it / be sure to cover all the manure in the stable with fresh carpets of straw.

If questioned blame someone else. Apart from that do nothing.

The RICS received its Royal Charter and in return for which it was expected to promote the profession and work in the public interest. Instead their Rules and Regulations are in effect a green light for their Members and (Un)Regulated Firms to develop practices that do not work in the customer's interest.

Q. Mrs Leadsom, instead of politically influencing and engaging with Ministers, Members of the House of Lords, MPs and Senior Civil Servants to amend government legislation, shouldn't RICS have been mending its own ways, putting its own house in order and achieving the effective regulation of its Members and (Un)Regulated Firms its Royal Charter demands?

As a consequence of this total failure of RICS Regulation, RICS surveyors have no incentive to improve their business practices, no incentive to resolve disputes internally and simply hand their dissatisfied clients over to their Ombudsman to administer the coup de grace.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Gilbert - Workstock Number - 510458.

The Ombudsmans61percent Campaign is seeking:

- answers from Vince Cable, Mark Prisk, Jonathan May, the government monitors of this government approved scheme, The Rev Smith, Francis Maude, Clive Maxwell, Steven Goode, Walter Merricks, Michael Fallon, Dame Janet Finch, Dame Julie Mellor, Jo Swinson, Sajid Javid, RICS politically influenced civil servants and Greg Clark.

- a public inquiry into the workings of Ombudsman Services:Property (a company formerly trading as the SOS) and the role of the RICS.

- compensation for the victims of the ombudsman's illogical Final Decisions and the executives' maladministration.

- the setting up of a truly, "fair" and "independent" redress scheme free from RICS' influence.

The Ombudsmans61percent Campaign is at: www.blogger.com and www.facebook.com - Ombudsmans Sixtyone-percent.