In August 2012, the then APM chairman Mike Nichols released a statement on behalf of the association restating its case for achieving Chartered status on behalf of the project management profession.

The statement reiterated APM’s belief that 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 is now in a position to provide an update on its application for the benefit of its members, supporters and other stakeholders.

In February 2013, Association for Project Management (“APM”) was informed that, in his role as the Lead Privy Council Adviser in this matter, the Minister for the Cabinet Office had decided to recommend that a Royal Charter should be granted to APM.

APM’s application was then considered by a committee of the Privy Council that included the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Secretary of State for Defence. In July 2013, APM was informed that this committee had unanimously reached its recommendation that a Royal Charter should be granted to APM, and that this recommendation would be placed on the list of business for the meeting of the Privy Council to be held in October 2013.

This decision was subsequently challenged by Project Management Institute (“PMI”) who sought permission for Judicial Review, naming the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Privy Council Office and the Attorney General as Defendants, and APM as an interested party.

A substantive hearing of the Judicial Review claim has now been scheduled for 8th and 9th July 2014 at the High Court in London. In the event that the claim is finally rejected by the court, this would allow APM’s application for chartered status to progress to a formal meeting of the Privy Council.

See here  for article on the APM website.

Background information on APM’s application for a Royal Charter can be found at http://www.apm.org.uk/CharteredStatus. The Privy Council Office provides briefing on Royal Charters and the application process at: http://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/.