We are currently recruiting for people to join our Audit and Risk Committee (ARC).

In this blog, Andrew Harvey outlines his ARC experience at Registers of Scotland. You can also find out more about how to apply for the roles available with us.

“The beauty of the ARC has been the way in which we've been able to fashion different skills and different backgrounds and mould them together, to achieve great results.”

It is the ‘calibre’ and ‘commitment’ of its people that Registers of Scotland’s ARC Chair and Non-Executive Director, Andrew Harvey, has been most impressed by during his almost ten years at the organisation.

He says:

“In my experience, the work that I’ve seen has rarely not been done well. That speaks to the professionalism and the experience of people as well as really strong governance internally.”

Due to step down from the role next year, Andrew has brought a wealth of experience to RoS since joining the organisation in 2015 – first as an ARC member then as ARC Chair and Non-Executive Director from 2019.

His professional experience spans governance, communications, leadership and change management, across a range of sectors including government, regulatory bodies, not-for-profit, professional services and passenger transport.

With Andrew’s tenure coming to an end, it has opened up the opportunity for someone new to take on the vital role.

Speaking about who would make a good candidate, Andrew thinks the most important credentials are for someone to be ‘inquisitive’ and ‘curious’ but to equally understand that they are not in an executive role.

He comments:

“Our job is to seek assurance and then provide that assurance to the Board and to the Keeper.

“So, we need somebody who isn't afraid of looking at the papers and going ‘well, that doesn't make any sense to me’. And asking the questions to quickly determine if that’s the case or not.”

The successful candidate will also have a unique role within the wider governance model as Andrew explains:

“I used to really like Venn diagrams at school because all you had to be able to do was draw around the bottom of a saucer. And I could do that!

“Unlike the majority of organisations, in the RoS ARC model, you've got this Venn diagram where the only person who sits in the overlap of the ARC and the Board is the ARC Chair. So, all the other people on the ARC are not Board members. That means you can recruit for specific ARC-related skills, rather than saying who are the best three we've got on the Board who might make up an Audit and Risk Committee.

“So, it's a slightly different model and you know a lot of people look at ARC and go well, isn't it just part of the Board? And the answer here is no. It has a fair degree of independence from the Board. It also means the ARC Chair has a vital role as lynch pin between the two.”

Andrew admits that he didn’t know much about RoS when he first applied but after some research and a successful interview, he was delighted to accept when he was offered an ARC member role.

He says:

“Did I know very much about RoS? No, I didn't. And I certainly didn't appreciate the distinct nature of RoS. Whilst land is a central part of what we do, there's a lot more to RoS than the land register. So, I came with I don't know whether you should say an open mind or a blank sheet of paper.

“But something I quickly learned that is fantastic about RoS is that the organisation takes a very broad view of risk.

“I'm not the accountant. My professional background is in comms and general management so the fact that RoS was prepared to consider appointing somebody like me who had neither an audit nor a risk background said a lot to me about the openness of the organisation.”

For this reason, Andrew would encourage people from different backgrounds to consider applying:

“There are lots of places where to be audit and risk chair, it would be assumed that you had to be a chartered accountant, which I am not. Don’t get me wrong, I can add up but if the numbers are a bit bigger, I get my calculator out!

“And while that means I can’t always contribute as much as some colleagues when it comes to financial risk, if there's a debate and we get into something around reputational risk, given my comms background that's completely relevant.

“So, I would say, if we get a chartered accountant that becomes ARC Chair then that would be great, but it would be just as great if somebody has a digital background, or a comms background, or a people leadership background because there is risk in all of those areas of operations, for any organisation not just RoS.”

And for the successful candidate while he says it will be a ‘chunky’ role, it is also one which is incredibly varied, interesting and rewarding.

He notes:

“It is a fairly significant role in terms of time - and investment of time upfront is really important because effective, productive working relationships take time to build.

“But it is also an incredibly interesting role that would suit someone who likes a continuous change of pace and working with people across a whole organisation.

“You get to meet a lot of really interesting people from a range of professional backgrounds and also to pick up learning. You know, it wouldn't be the first time that I've introduced somebody in the RoS team to somebody in another organisation, because I think the other organisation could learn from RoS or vice versa.

“And you absolutely have a voice in the organisation. ARC’s view, and I think that's due to the quality of its members, is respected and listened to and it's never dismissed. Never. So, you know you make a contribution, and that contribution has an impact which is, all you can ask for in the role like this.”

When asked to sum up his experience at RoS in one word, Andrew remarks:

“It would have to be either ‘learning’ or ‘developing’ - and I mean both me and the organisation in that! I've learned an awful lot from my time at RoS and I think RoS itself is an organisation that continues to be keen to learn.”

And for people considering putting in an application, Andrew says:

“I want to debunk the sense that this is purely a finance or audit role - it's not that at all. RoS’ ARC is a much broader church than many others, so if it whets people's appetite, then I would say apply!”

Andrew is a non-executive director at the Civil Nuclear Police Authority; he is also a non-executive director (and Chair of the Remuneration Committee) of the Cost Lawyer Standards Board, the statutory regulator for costs lawyers in England and Wales.

Andrew chairs Fitness to Practise panels at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, is Deputy Chair of the Investigating Committee of the General Pharmaceutical Council, Chair of the Professional Conduct Committee at the General Osteopathic Council and is a tribunal member of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in Ireland. He is also an independent recruitment panel member, and Chair, for the Judicial Appointments Commission.

His governance work (which includes undertaking reviews and providing on-going board advice) extends across a range of clients including the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, GS1 (the barcode standards body) and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

Andrew’s past experience includes a ten-year term on the board of the European Marketing Confederation (the association of marketing professional bodies across Europe) including five years as Chair, as well as two terms (one as Chair) on the Board of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Find out more

Watch our video to hear our Chief Executive Jennifer Henderson talk about the opportunities that have opened up to join our ARC.