ARB warmly welcomes its new Board

We are delighted to introduce the members of our new Board.

Through their leadership, ARB Board members are responsible for maintaining the public’s trust and confidence in the integrity of both of the architects’ profession and ARB.

Our new Board brings valuable skills and experience that will assist us in protecting users and potential users of architects’ services and supporting architects through regulation.

Minister of State for Housing Kit Malthouse MP said: “The new board will play a crucial role in ensuring architects are suitably qualified in this country, helping maintain public confidence in their work through our high standards.

Part of my mission is to ensure architects play a much bigger role in delivering the more, better and faster new homes we need, so I look forward to working with the ARB and stakeholders as we promote this vital profession.”

Karen Holmes, Registrar and Chief Executive of ARB, said: “The entire ARB Team warmly welcomes the members of our new Board, including the familiar faces of Suzanne McCarthy and Richard Parnaby from our previous Board.

This is a great opportunity for ARB to draw upon the range of talent these individuals bring with them to ensure we continue to develop as a modern regulator with the flexibility to meet the challenges of the future.”

More information on the role of ARB’s Board can be found here.  Further details about individual members will follow shortly.

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Notes for Editors

• ARB has a Board of 11 members all appointed by the Privy Council. This includes one independent, non-executive Chair and ten non-executive Board members made up of five members of the public and five architects.

• Board members, including the Chair, have been appointed for varying tenures of either two, three or four years. This is to facilitate the smooth running of the Board by avoiding a significant number of members being replaced at one time.  Board members are eligible for re-appointment for a total period of up to eight years.

• Following a review of the regulation of architects, it was agreed in March 2017 that the constitution of ARB’s Board should change to ensure our governance more closely reflects Government’s preferred relationship with arms’ length bodies and current practices of regulatory bodies. A statutory instrument was subsequently laid before parliament in order to facilitate this structural change. The appointment process was overseen by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

• The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is the statutory body established by Parliament under the Architects Act 1997 to regulate the UK architects’ profession in the public interest. Among other duties, the Act requires ARB to:
  • Maintain the Architects Register
  • Prescribe the qualifications needed to become an architect in the UK
  • Issue a code laying down the standards of professional conduct and practice expected of architects
  • Investigate allegations of unacceptable professional conduct or serious professional incompetence
  • Investigate and where appropriate prosecute unregistered individuals who unlawfully call themselves an architect

For further information, please contact Kate Howlett, Communications Lead on 020 7580 5861 or by email at KateH@arb.org.uk.