RICS leads the way on engaging with politicians of the future

With this in mind RICS has devised a general election strategy to strengthen existing ties with political parties and engage with parliamentary candidates.

Bearing in mind the expected election in May 2010, RICS will continue to seek meetings with politicians and party staff, to brief parliamentarians, and to communicate our work to a broad external audience.

Manifesto

Our manifesto, published in September, will be used in our political dealings as a starting point for discussion. Drawing on RICS' policy development work of the last few years, the key themes of the manifesto are standards, professionalism and sustainability in land, property, construction and the built environment.

Party Conferences

The External Affairs team represented RICS at the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative party conferences throughout September and early October. Active participation in fringe events on housing, planning, regeneration, the environment, energy and the financial sector enabled us to raise our profile. As with previous years, an RICS member was invited to share a platform at the Conservative party conference with Grant Shapps MP, Shadow Housing Minister.

Parliamentary Candidates

Throughout October, RICS hosted a series of three parliamentary candidate receptions to reinforce its position as a source of impartial advice. These were designed to enable RICS to engage with Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative parliamentary candidates.

During the first of the three, Sarah Teather MP praised RICS for its briefings and described RICS as the inspiration behind her conference speech. This was followed by the Labour reception, where the Housing Minister urged candidates to "bite off the arm" of RICS and take advantage of the Institution's expertise in all matters relating to land, property and construction. At the Conservatives' reception, Shadow Secretary of State Caroline Spelman MP thanked RICS for its hospitality on more than one occasion.

Significantly, RICS was perceived by candidates to be 'leading the way' in its engagement at the same time the public affairs industry recognised RICS for its excellence in campaigning.

Whilst we have an active working relationship with CLG Ministers and Government officials, maintaining our ties with all parties is crucial in light of a general election next year.

Property Hustings

In January, RICS hosted the first 2010 property hustings in conjunction with Property Week and Building. The event gave former housing and construction minister Nick Raynsford MP (standing in for CLG Minister Ian Austin MP) and Conservative and Liberal Democrat Housing Shadows Grant Shapps MP and Sarah Teather MP the opportunity to present their key policies to 100 property professionals.

During the question and answer rounds, the panel fielded questions from the audience on subjects ranging from delivering the required housing numbers within localism policies to space standards for new private housing.

Significantly, this is the first RICS event filmed and placed on YouTube, generating over 480 hits and reaching a wide audience.

Engagement by Party - Labour

The Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report in December 2009 cited the monthly RICS Housing Market survey and described this as a leading indicator a of future price movements in the property market. Significantly, the Chancellor's report also mirrored the RICS submission, sent in November.

Since January 2010, RICS Chief Executive Louis Armstrong has been a member of the Executive Group of the Gateways to the Professions Collaborative Forum, chaired by Higher Education Minister David Lammy MP. Active engagement in the Milburn Panel has also led to RICS being thanked in a speech by Lord Mandelson.

In November, RICS met with the Housing Minister; RICS staff and members hold regular meetings with officials across Government and sit on various advisory panels. RICS is working jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government on a project to establish the link between value and energy performance of buildings.

Engagement by Party - Conservative

RICS has worked consistently to inform all parties of its position on land, property and construction matters for a number of years. Since September 2009, RICS has participated in a Construction Forum and hosted a Business Rates Summit for the Conservatives.

Informal meetings have also been held with Tory politicians - Caroline Spelman MP in June, Bob Neill MP in October, and Stewart Jackson MP in November.

Engagement by Party - Liberal Democrats

RICS has a good working relationship with the Liberal Democrats and actively briefs on related policy matters. In August, RICS met with Sarah Teather MP to discuss REITs, which the party has since adopted as policy.

More recently, we spoke with John Thurso MP on construction and skills provision. In the House of Lords, Baroness Hamwee laid an RICS amendment to the Construction Bill, which helped pave the way for a Government amendment in the Commons.

Further news of our public meetings will appear as a summary on this page. To keep informed our influencing programme, please subscribe to RICS Connect.

For more information

Danielle Yong
e dyong@rics.org