Statement on APM’s application for Chartered status

We are aware that an open letter concerning APM’s application for chartered status has recently been sent to the UK membership of the Project Management Institute (PMI) under the joint signatures of the President & CEO of PMI and the President of PMI’s UK Chapter.

As with the earlier PMI UK newsletter to which I responded on behalf of APM in June 2012, APM’s position remains unchanged and is absolutely clear. 

As a UK charity dedicated to acting for the public good, APM is committed to gaining Chartered status on behalf of the project management profession in the UK. That will secure recognition, status and enhanced standards for the profession at a time when the UK’s need for effective and efficient project sponsorship and delivery is greater than ever.

The views and version of events put forward in PMI’s latest open letter offer no new information which bears on APM’s application.  

Even the international aspect on which PMI now appears to place such weight has been comprehensively addressed by APM already. APM fully recognises that project management is a global profession. APM was one of the earliest members of the International Project Management Association (IPMA), and is a highly active participant within it.  The letters of support for APM’s chartered application include many from blue-chip UK organisations which operate globally and work closely with a variety of other UK Chartered bodies. IPMA itself also supports APM’s application for Chartered status.  

Any organisation seeking a charter has to show that it would be in the UK public interest if one were granted. APM made that case in its initial application for Chartered status submitted to the Privy Council Office in April 2008. That case remains unchanged at the heart of APM’s application.

It remains for the Privy Council to decide, in the light of its published guidance and the individual circumstances of the organisation, whether a charter ought to be granted.  APM continues to look forward to the Privy Council determining the application in due course.

Mike Nichols

APM Chairman

16 August 2012