Beaten rebels attack ICAEW.

District society rebels have called on the ICAEW to get its house in order after their failed bid to halt its new regional network.

After losing a vote at an institute special general meeting last week, Don Heady, co-organiser of the protest, demanded a judicial review to prevent recurrence of ‘dubious’ voting procedures.

‘In this kind of situation, it is vital to test the procedures in court,’ Heady said. ‘If not, the issue will remain a festering sore.’

His outburst came after the climax of the district society row that has been raging since the institute began to revamp its local infrastructure last year.

Heady said he believed the institute’s executive had engaged in ‘unethical’ and ‘bully boy’ tactics to defeat the protest motions.

These included the recommendation to vote against the motions printed on all official material, the reversal of the ‘for’ and ‘against’ boxes on the ballot paper, and use of the Electoral Reform Society to chase up members who had failed to vote.

Heady was also angry with some Big Five firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, which circulated an email from institute officers urging members to vote against the protest.

Heady urged the council to address his concerns.

Institute president Michael Groom, who announced the result of the vote at the lengthy and sombre meeting, said the institute had taken the advice of lawyers and felt everything had been handled fairly and legally.

– More at www.icaew.co.uk

– For more district society news see www.accountancyage.com

HOW THEY VOTED

The rebels lost their resolutions by 67% to 33% in a vote of around 22,000 of the institute’s 118,000 members.

– Resolution one – noted failure ‘to provide a local infrastructure’ to bring institute closer to members: for 7,376 (32.7%); against 15,179

(67.3%).

– Resolution two – demanded institute stop implementation of local infrastructure plan: for – 7,365 (32.65%); against – 15,192 (67.35%).