ICAEW drops out of CPD collaboration
Inter-institute relations nosedive as CCAB plans for coordinating development lose key player
The ICAEW has sparked further controversy between UK institutes after pulling
out of collaboration on continuing professional development.
The board-level decision to quit working through the accounting umbrella
body, the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies, to provide better CPD
training has provoked surprise and disappointment among other institutes.
‘We’re disappointed that they feel they need to make this decision,’ said an
ACCA spokesman. ‘We believe CPD is an area with a need for considerable
co-operation.’
The move came just days after ICAS ended its fast-track membership scheme
with CIPFA. But ICAS, which has argued with the ICAEW over the proposed
super-institute name, did not believe the decision was a tit-for-tat response.
ICAS chief executive Des Hudson also insisted that he would attempt to
persuade the ICAEW to come back on board. ‘We hope for the chance for a mature
discussion,’ he said.
The ICAEW stated that ‘significant competition between institutes for
students and eventually membership’ left the institute’s board to ‘reluctantly’
end its collaboration on CPD. ‘We see the provision of membership support and in
particular, CPD support, to members as an essential feature of differentiation,’
the statement added.