The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has appointed Mike Driver, president of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and a former senior Whitehall official with more than four decades in public service, as the new chair of its audit committee.
He takes on the role with immediate effect and will serve an initial three-year term.
During his 42-year civil service career, he served as interim permanent secretary at the Ministry of Justice and more recently he was the senior responsible officer, borders programme and managed quarantine at the Department of Health and Social Care.
In his new role as chair of the audit committee, where he will work alongside RICS members Peter Lewis MRICS and Tom Barclay FRICS in addition to independent member Brigid Sutcliffe, Driver will operate independently, reporting to Governing Council.
The responsibilities of the committee include monitoring the integrity and effectiveness of RICS’ financial reporting, internal control and risk management systems, reviewing anti-fraud measures and recommending the appointment of the external auditor.
Driver said: “I am delighted to be able to join RICS as the chair of the audit committee. RICS is a globally recognised professional body and I look forward to providing the strong independent oversight and constructive challenge that it needs and, in particular, to lead and modernise the audit committee.”
Nick Maclean, interim chair of RICS Governing Council, added: “I am delighted Mike has agreed to join us as chair of our audit committee. He has a wealth of experience in senior roles during his long and distinguished Whitehall career, combined with his role as president of one of the UK’s leading membership organisations. He was the perfect choice to take over one of our most important committees and we are fortunate that he is bringing his considerable experience to RICS.”
The 153-year-old institution has been engulfed in a governance crisis since allegations emerged late last year that four directors were dismissed in 2019 for raising the alarm over a 2018 BDO financial report.
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