Amendments made in June 2008 by statutory instrument established rules for the recognition of professional qualifications enabling migrants from the European Economic Area or Switzerland to register as architects in the United Kingdom.

The changes had been made on the basis of a government consultation document dated 19 July 1994 which the Department of the Environment had issued with the title "Reform of Architects Registration".

As a safeguard of due process in accordance with the rule of law the statutory provisions for constituting the Professional Conduct Committee in Part II of Schedule 1 of the Act (and as later amended) reflect the usual practice for appointing a legally qualified chairman, with appropriate experience, who can be held to have a professional and judicial responsibility for protecting the basic right of any accused person, whose reputation and livelihood could be at stake, to a fair and unprejudiced hearing and trial.

Under the legislation, the registration body has been a statutory corporation from its inception, first as a Council of numerous persons nominated mainly by professional bodies under the 1931 Act, and, from July 1997, as a Board of fifteen persons, of which the majority has been appointed by the Privy Council in the manner prescribed by paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 1 of the Act, that is: Members of the general public clearly have an interest to the extent that the legislation makes it a criminal offence to infringe the restrictions placed upon the freedom of individuals (including qualified architects), and of firms and partnerships, and companies and corporations of all kinds, to use the word "architect".

This has brought in its train questions about the criteria and standards for deciding upon equivalence of professional qualifications in EU and EEA countries, and the legitimate expectations of those who have qualified.

This Department's official website published the Prime Minister's letter and stated its vision to be of "prosperous and cohesive communities, offering a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for all".

The website also had a page for describing the Architects Registration Board where it offered a summary of the effect of the legislation, but which had a thread of inaccuracy in three out of four sentences, namely: