Alan Jones, the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, has stepped down after the RIBA has submitted a "serious incident report" to the Charity Commission.

The Building Design reported that Alan Jones sent an email to members of the RIBA’s governing council, saying that a "matter had arisen in his personal life" and he needed to "take some time out" from his role. 

RIBA honorary secretary Kerr Robertson has been assigned to take over Jones' duties for this interim period. Jones was selected as the President of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2018. RIBA Chief Executive Alan Vallance said that Jones will not be returning to his role for "four to six weeks."

But the RIBA has reported the case to the Charity Commission over a "serious incident report", something that it must do if it suspects a serious incident has occurred, according to the Building Design. 

Although the RIBA has not made an official announcement yet, a commission spokeswoman said "the Charity Commission was looking into the matter and could not comment further." 

"The Charity Commission has not yet opened what it calls a statutory inquiry", or formal investigation, but is assessing the RIBA’s report."

In a prepared statement sent to the BD, Kerr Robertson, RIBA’s honorary secretary said: "I can confirm that we are aware of a personal issue in relation to the president. This is a confidential matter and therefore it wouldn’t be appropriate for the RIBA to comment further at this stage."

"The RIBA has acted in line with our guidance, by submitting a serious incident report to the commission in connection with the recent stepping down of the charity’s president," a Charity Commission spokeswoman told the BD. 

"We are currently assessing information provided by the charity. We are unable to comment further at this time."

Top image: Alan Jones, courtesy of RIBA

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