Annual Report Number 108 1 January to 31 December 2020
IRSE Annual Report 2020
Contents
This Annual Report briefly describes the activities undertaken by the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) throughout the world during 2020. Our President from April 2020 has been Daniel Woodland from the United Kingdom.
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|An introduction from our President|2|
|The IRSE at a glance|4|
|Objectives of the Institution|4|
|Our Strategy|5|
|Governance|6|
|Professional Development|7|
|Membership and Registration|8|
|Licensing|8|
|Awards|9|
|Presidential programme|10|
|Section activities|11|
|Younger Members|11|
|International Technical Committee|11|
|London office and personnel|12|
|Annual General Meeting|12|
|IRSE Council|13|
|IT systems|13|
|Publications and communications|14|
|Collaboration|15|
|Finances|15|
|Consolidated accounts (extract)|16|
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© Institution of Railway Signal Engineers 2021. All rights reserved.
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An introduction from our President
From March onwards, the 2020 year proved to be a difficult and most unusual one for many of our members, both in their personal and professional lives. With much of the world experiencing periods of COVID-19 related ‘lockdown’ and restrictions, our usual/familiar cycle of IRSE activities has also been impacted by this.
The AGM and annual dinner were the first IRSE event casualties, followed by the members lunch, convention and technical visits … along, of course, with my own plans to visit local sections around the globe. It could have been a very quiet year for the institution, but I have been delighted to see how our staff and many volunteers have rallied around to find new, innovative, ways to facilitate continuing service of our memberships needs and fulfilment of our charitable aim to advance the science and practice of train control.
Back in 2018 (as I was becoming a Vice-President) we began to work on a ‘beyond 2020’ vision for the IRSE, which you can see summarised in the section on strategy on page 4 and laid out in full at irse.info/strategy. This encapsulated our vision, to ‘Deliver Safe and Sustainable Global Railways’ and five pillars of activity, or goals, ENGAGE, GROW, NETWORK, DEVELOP and ASSURE on which that is based.
Through 2020 it has been my privilege to lead the institution into that ‘beyond 2020’ period and we have been working to embed this vision into our planning and delivery to achieve the aims outlined in our Articles of Association. To draw out some highlights (which are by no means all that we have been doing):
1. Engage (with the sector and community)
2020 saw our first use of Civica (formerly electoral reform services ERS) to facilitate and run our Council election process – with nominations and voting now possible electronically. This was a significant step forward in engagement with our membership and represents the first stage in a review of our governance processes to explore how we can further improve representation of our global membership. I anticipate further changes coming out of this review to be implemented in 2021 and beyond. Looking further afield, throughout the year we have developed closer ties with our fellow professional institutions, the UK Railway Industry Association and Rail Business Daily, amongst others.
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
2. Grow (increase our membership)
Recognising that the expertise and experience of IRSE members and prospective members are key to addressing many of the sectors challenges, our ability to support them in developing and applying their competence depends largely on getting them to engage and join. Delivering on the Grow pillar, the IRSE therefore launched working groups during 2020 to explore our value proposition (for members and licence holders) and fee structure – looking to explore how we can tune our offering to the industry and better market that globally. Expect to see changes arising from these working groups being implemented in coming years.
3. Network (facilitate interactions globally)
As with all aspects of life, we have moved into online forms of activity and have now all become familiar with the plethora of online meetings, seminar and webinar tools! Delivering to the Network element, the programme of Presidential lectures has been able to continue as planned (completing George’s series on ‘Delivering Change’ and starting my own on ‘Complexities of Change’ in modern CCS systems), as have many local section events. By moving online, these have been able to attract wider audiences of both members and non-members. It has been pleasing to see higher attendances than we have for many years and participants joining from around the world, not just the area local to the event.
4. Develop (enhanced capability of the railway sector workforce)
The IRSE filled the void left by the decision to cancel the 2020 Convention in Toronto by proposing a joint institution seminar on ‘Practical Integration of Automated Operation in Railways: A System of Systems Perspective’. I was personally delighted that the IMechE, IET and PWI joined with us in that event, enabling a far richer and more holistic review of the topic than we could have assembled alone, delivering a fantastic set of presentations and Q&A through September and October (and now available to all members via the IRSE website). With Presidential and Local Section presentations having continued online, we have seen a wealth of material become available to aid development of our members and the wider sector workforce. Our next challenge will be to find ways of conducting ‘virtual’ technical visits – a task which is already being worked on.
5. Assure (set and uphold standards for people and processes)
“From March onwards, the 2020 year proved to be a difficult and most unusual one for many of our members”
Probably the most significant development for the IRSE over this year has been the movement of the IRSE Exams to an online format. This was (at least for our conservative industry) a radical move which required a huge effort from our staff and members of the Education and Professional Development and Examination committees – given that they only had a couple of months from realising that a physical invigilated exam would not be possible to having an online solution up and running, this was a really amazing achievement.
These highlights barely scratch the surface of all that has been going on within the institution and you will find details of more within the full annual report. My heartfelt thanks go out to our staff and volunteers for their significant efforts in keeping the institution active, relevant, and forward looking through all the trials of the year and despite all of the extra work, re-planning and challenges that has caused.
Dr Daniel Woodland, 2021
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
The IRSE at a glance
The
Professional Engineering Institution for all those engaged or interested in
railway signalling, control and communications and allied disciplines
Over 5000 members in locations across the world
Providing world-class presentations, seminars, conventions and conferences
Industry leading competence assessment and licensing scheme
The world’s leading professional examination for railway signalling, control and communications
11 issues of IRSE News
each year: our specialist railway signalling, control and communications magazine
21 Sections representing the needs of members in their geographic region or specialism
Accredited by the Engineering Council to add Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians to the Professional Register
Vibrant Younger Members Section
Run by engineers for engineers
Founded in 1912
Objectives of the Institution
The Institution’s objectives are recorded in its Articles of Association. They can be traced back to the formation of the Institution in 1912 and are:
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a) The advancement for the public benefit of the science and practice of signalling by the promotion of research, the collection and publication of educational material and the holding of conferences, seminars and meetings, and
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b) The maintenance of high standards of practice and professional care amongst those working within the industry and the promotion of improved safety standards for the protection of the general public.
Although it might appear that the IRSE is concerned only with railway signalling, the full text of the objectives makes clear that all forms of train control and traffic management, and communications systems, are all within our scope of interest.
There is a clear emphasis in the objectives on ‘public benefit’. This is most obvious in the sense of contributing to safety on the world’s railways, where train control systems play a critical role. But we are also interested in
ensuring that railways are efficient, cost-effective and sustainable (in the widest sense). We meet our obligations to the public through the following principal mechanisms:
IRSE members, the importance of safeguarding the public interest (particularly safety), environmental management, the efficient use of resources, handling conflicts of interest etc.
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∞ The dissemination of knowledge, ∞
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experience and good practice in the Undertaking specific initiatives to fields of railway signalling, control help ensure the safety and efficiency and communications and allied of railways. By bringing the IRSE topics, to help ensure that those Sections around the world together, working in the profession do so with we will facilitate the sharing of best the best available knowledge for practice and new initiatives to help the safe, efficient and cost-effective engineers and others enhance their construction and operation of the knowledge and professionalism. We world’s railways. will continue to reach out and grow
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∞ The provision and management of our network of professionals around the IRSE Licensing Scheme to assure the world to harness the collective the competence of those working knowledge they possess for the in the profession. The Scheme is benefit of all operators and users of railway transport.
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∞ The provision and management of the IRSE Licensing Scheme to assure the competence of those working in the profession. The Scheme is focused predominantly, but not exclusively, on ensuring safety in the design, construction, testing and maintenance of signalling and telecommunications systems.
The financial resources of the Institution are applied to achieve the objectives of the Institution, in addition to which members make a significant contribution to delivering the Institution’s aims by their volunteer activities. The Institution has only a small number of full and parttime staff and most of the activities are organised by our members acting in a voluntary capacity.
- ∞ Our Code of Professional Conduct, with which IRSE members are required to comply in the course of their work. It emphasises topics such as personal responsibility for work undertaken or managed by
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
Our Strategy
In 2020 we launched our new five-year rolling strategic plan ‘Beyond a 2020 vision’, details are available on the website at irse.info/strategy. The objective of making the IRSE accessible to members 24 hours a day seven days a week throughout the year, as long as you have an internet connection, was timed perfectly to address the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. You will read in this report how the Institution has swiftly responded to the challenges of maintaining services to the membership during this difficult time.
The rate of pace of change is testament to the commitment the staff and volunteers have made to continue to bring high quality information and services to you the membership.
Looking to the future the Council and its sub committees, as part of their governance activities have ensured that they continue monitor our progress ad growth in the value we provide to the signalling and telecommunications community around the world.
Progress had to be halted in developing the international dimension of the Institution, with plans for the Toronto Convention in 2020 and work on ASPECT 2021 severely hampered by the pandemic. We obtained several video conferencing licences to support the Local Sections, and the work of the Local Section Coordinator has been essential in helping to roll this out internationally.
As part of the focus on new entrants into the sector, the Institution is working with training providers in the area of apprenticeships. We continue to offer our services as an End Point Assessment service. There will be developments into 2021 to support candidates in completing their programmes.
The five key elements of the IRSE strategic plan are Engage
Digital platform for a global professional body 24/7/365, early careers support, communicate best practice in ethics, diversity, inclusion, produce technical documentation, knowledge transfer activities. Grow
Peer recognition, professional development, practice support and guidance, support in professional obligations, Advance profession.
Network
Industry Partnership Scheme, global local section development, International Technical Committee support, conferences, seminars and conventions, facilitate collaboration, latest information and news.
Develop
Signpost professional development, awards & bursaries, upskilling and re-skilling, examination, apprenticeships, promote benefits to the public. Assure
International professional recognition, flexible pathways to professional registration, offer regulation in professional conduct, operate the licensing scheme.
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Engage Membership Grow CPD
Communications Lectures Convention
Develop Sections
STEM/STEAM
Safety
Professional
Assure
Network
examination
ASPECT
Events Systems engineering
Visits
conferences
Control
Professional
Licensing
Signalling members Younger
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
Governance
Council
The IRSE is governed by an elected Council of twenty-one Corporate Members, led by the President, who are the Trustees of the Institution.
Six meetings of the Council were held during the year in which the business of the Institution was conducted. The Articles of Association permit the current Chairs of all local sections, both in and outside the UK, and also Country VicePresidents to attend Council meetings. During the year a number of Chairs and Country Vice-Presidents attended meetings using video conference facilities due to COVID-19 restrictions, with the exception of the meetings in February and March which were held in person.
In addition to conducting all the normal Council business during the year, Council discussions included the following topics:
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∞ Adoption of the ‘Beyond a 2020 vision’ strategy and the associated Implementation Plan.
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∞ Agreement to review the Governance documents.
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∞ Implement a fees structure working group to start in 2021.
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∞ Establishing a succession plan for the office of President.
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∞ Consideration of changes to voting to facilitate greater representation of members around the globe.
Council also receives and reviews the annual report from each of the international Sections of the IRSE.
Committees
The Institution has a number of Committees which are accountable to Council, through which our activities are managed. The principal Committees and their relationships to Council are shown in the diagram below. In addition, ad-hoc working groups are formed from time to time which focus on specific tasks.
Audit
External audit
A number of areas of the Institution’s business are audited on a regular basis by various external audit bodies:
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∞ All areas of finance are subject to audit annually by independent external auditors who submit their report to the Annual General Meeting.
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∞ The Licensing Scheme is subject to an annual external audit by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
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∞ As a registered Charity, the Institution is subject to periodic external review by the Charity Commission.
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∞ As the Institution is licensed by the Engineering Council in the UK to register Chartered and Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians, it is subject to a review every five years by the Engineering Council in order to ensure compliance with their registration standards.
Internal audit
The IRSE’s internal Audit Committee undertakes independent audits to complement the external audits, in
order to ensure the Institution is running efficiently and effectively. The audits focus primarily on the role and remit of each of the principal Committees of the Institution.
The Audit Committee normally performs two audits per annum. Each audit results in a report, which is presented to the Chair of that Committee and subsequently the Council, which uses the recommendations to improve the management of the Institution’s affairs for public benefit and for the benefit of its members. The Institution maintains a Risk Register, which is reviewed annually by Council, and this is used as the basis for audit.
IRSE Enterprises
IRSE Enterprises Ltd is the trading company wholly owned by the Institution. The trading company handles a number of activities which are associated with but outside the direct scope of the charity. The Directors of the company appointed for the year April 2020 to April 2021 were:
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∞ Chair (Immediate Past President): George Clark.
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∞ President: Daniel Woodland.
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∞ Senior Vice President: Ian Bridges.
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∞ Junior Vice-President: Andy Knight.
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∞ Council representative: Steve Boshier.
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∞ IRSE Treasurer: Andrew Smith.
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∞ Company Secretary (CEO): Blane Judd. Any profits from the company are, where possible, gift-aided back to the Institution.
IRSE Council
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Recruitment,
International
Licensing Membership marketing & Technical
committee committee publicity committee
committee
Education &
Professional Younger Audit Finance Management
members’
Development committee committee committee
committee
committee
Examination
committee
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
Sections
The IRSE Sections around the world exist by authority of the IRSE Council, and they operate in accordance with a set of Articles of Association (or Byelaws) that have been approved by Council. At the end of 2020 there were 23 sections in total. 15 Sections outside the UK in various parts of the world (Australasia, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia,
Netherlands, North America, Singapore, Southern Africa, Swiss, Thailand) and six of which are UK-based. The North America Section includes the USA, Canada and Mexico. The Ireland Section includes both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Two other Sections also exist – the Younger Members’ Section and the Minor Railways’ Section. These are not geographically based, although their
activities are predominantly within the UK. Some geographical Sections also have younger members’ groups.
Each Section has an organising Committee, with elected officers for key roles. Information about the activities of the Sections is provided elsewhere in this report.
Professional development
Supporting professional development of IRSE members and prospective members throughout the world is a key objective of the IRSE.
To do this, we have Judith Ward, our Director of Operations, the Education and Professional Development Committee and the Examination Committee.
IRSE Professional Examination
The IRSE professional examination is a Masters-level academic qualification which tests knowledge and understanding of railway systems with a particular emphasis on safety. A new module was introduced in October 2020, the Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals, which covers all aspects of railway control engineering at a foundation level and is a standalone qualification.
To pass the full exam, to be known in future as the Advanced Diploma in Railway Control Engineering, candidates must pass four modules including a compulsory module on safety systems.
Passing the IRSE exam is one route to obtain either Associate Member or Member of the IRSE and it can ‘top up’ engineering or technology qualifications for professional registration with UK’s Engineering Council. An accredited Bachelor’s degree with honours plus IRSE exam may demonstrate knowledge and understanding for Chartered Engineer applicants and an accredited Higher National Diploma / Foundation Degree plus IRSE exam may demonstrate knowledge and understanding for Incorporated Engineer applicants.
Many volunteers run exam study groups, the independent exam forum website and support the Younger Members’ exam workshops to provide support for prospective examination candidates.
To enable our exam candidates to sit the exam in 2020, Education and Professional Development Committee agreed to hold the exam remotely for the first time in the Institution’s history, with 286 candidates sitting the exam on 3 October. This was an increase in the number of candidates, the majority of whom were sitting the new Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals (module A). The quality of answers from candidates was similar to 2019, with the overall percentage of those achieving pass grade or higher was 57%. Candidates sat the exam across the globe, covering 16 geographic sections and several countries not covered by sections.
October 2020 was the final time candidates could sit numbered modules. From October 2021, four mandatory modules covering the whole syllabus to the same high standards will be available, the successful completion of which will be known as Advanced Diploma in Railway Control Engineering .
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
The Engineering Council requires that as of 2020, those who do not engage in the CPD monitoring process are removed from their register.
Information about the importance of developing and maintaining members’ professional competence through CPD has continued to be provided through IRSE NEWS and the website.
The IRSE recommends the use of the Mycareerpath system for CPD planning, recording, reflecting and reviewing. More information about Mycareerpath is available on the IRSE website.
Certified courses
The IRSE offers a process by which training providers can have their courses assessed and certificated by the IRSE.
This year ASAP Mobility Sdn (Malaysia), Signet Solutions (UK) and PM Training and Assessing (UK) gained IRSE certification for their courses covering railway signalling and telecommunications.
Other training providers are in the process of having their signalling and telecommunications courses assessed.
Professional Registration
The IRSE is licensed by the UK’s Engineering Council to register suitably qualified members as Chartered Engineer (CEng), Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and Engineering Technician (EngTech).
The requirements for these are defined by the Engineering Council for knowledge, understanding, competence, relevant work experience and commitment. Brief definitions are that: Engineering Technicians apply proven techniques and procedures to practical problems; Incorporated Engineers maintain and manage applications of current and developing technology; Chartered Engineers develop solutions to engineering problems using new or existing technologies and/or have technical accountability for complex systems with significant levels of risk.
Apprenticeships
IRSE are End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) for two English apprenticeships: Rail Engineering Design Technician (Level 3) and Rail Engineering Technician (Level 3).
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
Membership and Registration
Remote working due to the COVID-19 issues has been both a challenge and an opportunity for the Membership and Registration activity of the IRSE. With the ingenuity and flexibility of both staff and volunteers we have succeeded in continuing to effectively process applications for both membership and professional registration.
The IRSE has around 5000 members worldwide. They belong to the following grades of membership:
<1% Companions
1% Hon Fellows
4% Accredited Technicians
From late March the Membership Committee has been meeting online to assess applications for IRSE membership and Engineering Council registration and deal with procedural and policy matters. There were 305 successful membership applications, 130 for corporate graded and 175 for non-corporate grades, there have also been 72 members who have transferred to a different grade of membership.
The total number of members has remained static over the last year, with 4,918 members on 31 December 2020.
During 2020 the IRSE has also supported 29 engineers to achieve professional registration with Engineering Council, the UK regulatory body for the engineering profession – 13 Chartered Engineers (CEng), 2 Incorporated Engineers (IEng) and 14 Engineering Technicians (EngTech).
We have been continuing to encourage our membership to engage with us electronically by email and through the IRSE website which has been vital during 2020 with the continued disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are still hoping to pursue the development of a fully automated online application process for membership but the progress of this has not been possible over the last year.
11% Fellows 21% Associate Members 25% Affiliates 37% Members
The Institution was sad to report the deaths of the following members during 2020: Brian Foster, Denys Dyson, Paul Hepworth, Christopher Mitchell, Vivian Brown, Timothy Howard, Michael Hynd, Yoshio Ishihara, Stephen Harris, Walter Cooper, Paul Coulson, John Franklin, Michael Horne, Richard Stokes, Ray Weedon, Kevin Boyd, Derek Brown, David Norton and Ian Page.
Licensing
The IRSE Licensing Scheme continued to provide assurance for the competence of individuals to carry out technical safety critical or safety-related work on rail control systems throughout 2020. The Licensing Team was impacted by various factors relating to COVID-19 including staff working from home, a lack of access to the office and working with a slightly reduced team. Despite this, the team continued to deliver and the Scheme continues to provide a cross-industry accepted benchmark of competence for personnel.
Competence standards are reviewed at least five yearly and during 2020 nine licence standards were reviewed. Briefing notes were also published on a range of topics including:
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∞ Revisions to 1.4.230 Signalling Maintainer and Fault Finder competence standard.
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∞ Updates to 1.2, Signalling Installation Suite of Licences.
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∞ Updates to the Licensing Standard, and a number of Licensing Procedures.
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∞ Revisions to the Engineering Manager and Senior Engineering Manager suite of licences.
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∞ Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions: extension to licence validity.
During the first half of 2020 the Scheme was managed by an interim Licensing Registrar, David Weedon, who stepped down from the role in November. Sarah Loutfi joined the Institution as the new Licensing Registrar in July working under the direction of the Licensing Committee, chaired by Colin Porter.
The Licensing Team was joined in December 2020 by a further Licensing Officer to assist with the processing of applications and will soon be joined by a Licensing Co-ordinator, providing an admin support function, a new role for the team.
During the year, a total of 1076 licences were issued, slightly lower than previous years.
There has been a significant impact of the COVID-19 situation on the number of
licence applications received and issued. A six month extension to the validity of licences was agreed at the beginning of the lockdown period, and that has had an effect.
There are currently c.5816 active licence holders, which represents a slow decrease in the total no of licences held c.6800 at December 2019).
For operations within the UK, the Licensing Scheme continues to hold accreditation by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service against the competence standard for the certification of persons: ISO17024:2012, with four yearly re-accreditation successfully achieved during 2018.
IRSE Assessing Agents are approved and appointed for the purposes of performing assessments of candidates for licences, and they are an essential part of the Licensing Scheme. The number of approved assessing agencies remains at 26, with one new agency and one ceasing to operate during the year.
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
Awards
The IRSE makes several awards each year. The majority of these are to recognise, reward and encourage the professional development of engineers, particularly those in the earlier stages of their careers. The purpose behind this is not simply to
assist their career development, but to promote high standards of engineering excellence, thereby contributing to the public benefit objectives of the Institution.
Frank Hewlett Bequest and Alan Fisher Memorial Fund
Frank Hewlett was an Associate Member of the Institution. He died in September 2008 and left a very generous and substantial bequest to the Institution. In 2009 the IRSE Council launched an appeal to establish a memorial fund for Alan Fisher, who died unexpectedly during his Presidency of the Institution. The intention was to use the fund to support the development of young S&T engineers, particularly those outside the UK.
In normal times the income from the two funds is used predominantly to provide a number of travelling bursaries for younger members from all over the world to support their attendance at major IRSE events. For 2020, as a result of the pandemic, the funds paid for free places to be made available to younger members to on the virtual Rail Automation Seminar, run jointly by the IRSE, IET, IMechE and PWI. In total 32 places were provided to members from India, UK, Indonesia, Canada, Egypt, UAE, Australia, Nigeria, Hong Kong, South Africa and the Netherlands.
Thorrowgood Scholarship
The Thorrowgood scholarship is awarded under a bequest of the late W J Thorrowgood (Past President) to assist the development of a young engineer employed in the signalling and telecommunications field of engineering.
The award is made to a candidate who has excelled in the IRSE professional examination and comprises an engraved medallion and funding for a study tour of railway signalling installations or signalling manufacturing facilities.
For the 2020 award no candidates achieved the necessary criteria in the 2019 examination.
Dell Award
The Dell award is made annually under a bequest of the late Robert Dell OBE (Past President). It is awarded to a member of the Institution employed by London Underground (or its successor bodies) for achievement of a high standard of skill in the science and application of railway signalling. The award takes the form of a plaque with a uniquely designed shield with an engraved plate being added each year with the recipient’s name.
No award was made in 2020.
IRSE-Signet Award Jonathan Farrell
IRSE Merit Award David Came, Trevor Foulkes and Mark Glover
The IRSE-Signet award is the most recent of awards, introduced in 2016 and sponsored by Signet Solutions. This Award is given annually to the person who obtains the highest marks in any single module of the IRSE Examination.
The Award takes the form of the Signet logo ‘person’ on a small plinth, engraved with the name and year of the winner, and bearing the IRSE’s logo. The Award also comprises funding for the winner to attend the IRSE Convention.
This year’s IRSE-Signet Award was presented to Jonathan Farrell of Irish Rail for achieving 90% in module 1 (safety of railway signalling and communications).
The Merit Award was introduced in 2007 In order to recognise exceptional service to the Institution by a volunteer or staff member anywhere in the world. The award is made by the Council following receipt of a nomination and takes the form of a plaque mounted on a rectangular plinth with an engraved citation.
In 2020 Merit awards were awarded to David Came MIRSE, Trevor Foulkes FIRSE and Mark Glover FIRSE.
David Came was recognised for his continuous work and support for the IRSE Plymouth Section, from inauguration to the 50th Anniversary. Trevor Foulkes played an important role
in establishing the new London and South East section which he now chairs. He has been a good contributor to the Institution for many years, presenting a number of papers particularly on telecoms topics and supporting the IRSE exam review and development of the revised arrangements.
Since late 2014 Mark Glover has undertaken the production of key Institution publications. In all his work, Mark demonstrates a high level of commitment and workmanship, and the IRSE has benefited hugely from the professional image that his work portrays.
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
Presidential programme
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, after March 2020 no group gatherings could be held. The AGM was cancelled and IRSE history was made when incoming president Dr Daniel Woodland was the first to deliver his presidential address virtually.
Our President up to April 2020 was George Clark. His theme for 2020 was ‘Delivering Change’ and his series of presidential events looked at ways in which challenges faced by change could be addressed. His final three presidential programme events were: ‘Delivering change – the race against obsolescence’ presented by Wim Coenraad in Holland in January, in February Nicola Furness and Michel Ruesen presented their paper on ‘Future reference CCS architecture’ in London and in March Steve Allday presented ‘Delivering metro travel’ in Sydney.
President Dr Daniel Woodland then faced a completely different challenge; how to carry out traditional presidential duties in the time of COVID-19.
Whilst extremely disappointed he would not be able to travel internationally to visit sections, he worked hard to deliver a full presidential programme on his theme of the ‘Challenges of change in complex command, control and signalling systems’ virtually. In addition to this programme of lectures, he was also the instigator of the first highly successful joint revenue-generating seminar between the IRSE, IET, IMechE and PWI. This online Automated Railway seminar
held across two sessions on 1 September and 8 October, delivered 17 expert presentations to a global audience of over 200 attendees.
He also took part in the first ever online Rail Broadcast Week hosted by the Railway Gazette in September and was a panellist in the ‘ERTMS & ETCS: The future of railway signalling’ conference held in December.
Three Presidential Programme webinars were presented between June 2020 and December 2020, all followed by an interactive question and answer session. In June, Professor Yuji Hirao presented ‘The forefront of system safety and its application to railway signalling’. Tom Jansen, delivered ‘The crossover between rail and autonomous road vehicles’ in October and in November Professor Rod Muttram presented ‘Cross acceptance of systems and equipment developed under different standards frameworks’. Nicholas Wrobel, presented his paper on ‘Testing modern electronic/ software systems’ in December.
All presidential papers are published in our monthly journal, IRSE News, and the presentations are available to watch on the IRSE Vimeo channel irse.info/vimeo or on the IRSE website.
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
Section activities
In addition to the Presidential Programme, every year there is a programme of lectures, seminars and technical visits organised by the Institution’s 22 sections across the globe. Our sections are in Australasia, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, North America, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, and Southern Africa. Within the UK, sections cover London & South East, Midland & North Western, Plymouth, Scottish, Western, York and Minor Railways.
The geographical sections vary considerably in size (from around 20 members up to several hundred), and in levels of activity. Each has its own organising Committee, elected officers and programme of events. They report annually to the Council on their work.
In 2020 sections were unable to meet face-to-face for the majority of the year. Some adapted and provided virtual meetings and others were unable to provide these opportunities
due to technical difficulties and the workload of the volunteers. Paul Darlington (Chair Midland & North Western) and Trevor Foulkes (Chair London & South East) produced a guide for sections organising and running virtual meetings and many of the sections who ran these have reported record numbers of attendees. Several technical presentations were recorded and can be found on IRSE’s Vimeo channel irse.info/vimeo.
The Council wishes to record its thanks to the officers, committee members and all others involved in the operation of the local sections, for the excellent work they undertake in organising technical meetings and other events particularly in this challenging year. Council also very much appreciates the help and support given by many companies in facilitating and supporting the events organised by the sections all over the world. Charles Page continues his excellent work in the role of Local Section Coordinator, supporting the sections.
Younger Members
2020 marked the spirited relaunch of the IRSE Younger Members Section chaired by Aaron Sawyer. This section exists to ensure that the activities of the Institution are relevant to the professional development of younger and less experienced members.
The expansion of the committee, and the revised energy imparted by its members, has enabled the section to grow in strength and significantly increase the benefits offered to the community. The section focused on five key areas for development: major events, attract & expand, digital initiatives, support development and sustain & improve.
Under these focus areas the section delivered on an array of existing and new initiatives with an agile shift to online events. The highlights included:
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∞ Preparation for major events including a flagship competition and accident investigation weekend.
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∞ The ‘IRSE Super Train Challenge: A Journey Around the World’ and associated online STEM webinar. The event followed the semi-fictional character Prerna the Great Inventor and her quest to build a Super Train.
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∞ International outreach where the section worked closely with younger members around the world to facilitate future collaboration and increase diversity within our committee.
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∞ A newly automated mentoring scheme that connects mentors with mentees in a simple self-managed system to be released in 2021, alongside improvements to the ‘Maintain your Competency’ system.
-
∞ A 12-week IRSE Cyber Academy course bringing together developing engineers within the field of railway cyber security.
-
∞ And of course, our continued support for the IRSE Exam through study events and over 24 hours of recorded material.
With the strength of the Younger Members section ever growing, there are now over 20 volunteers dedicated to bringing increased benefits our community. We welcome members from around the world to share in this experience and thank everyone who has supported the section in realising its ambitions.
International Technical Committee
The IRSE’s International Technical Committee (ITC) has 23 fully participating and 11 corresponding members from many parts of the world, including Japan, the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, France, Australia, Spain, Singapore and Canada. The ITC’s primary purpose is to provide thought leadership and disseminate learning on strategic or technical topics relevant to train control and communications systems in the railway environment, thereby providing value not only to IRSE members but to the wider rail industry. Its particular strength lies in its international membership at senior level, enabling engineering principles and practices from a diverse range of countries to be brought to bear upon the subjects that the ITC debates.
During the year, the ITC held four meetings. Due to COVID-19 measures all four were held as video conference meetings. The ITC experienced video conference meetings effective however live interaction in this international setting is essential. After lockdown the ITC will hold its meetings in a mix of video conferencing and live meetings. This will have also a positive effect on our carbon-footprint. The ITC produced six papers, all of which have been published in IRSE News, three of them were given as presidential papers. All ITC papers can be found on the IRSE website. The meetings are hosted by members in their country and minutes are produced for each meeting.
The ITC is aligned with the IRSE strategy. From this year the ITC has decided to keep in touch with the younger membership by having a Younger Member official position on the committee – the first Younger Member to join is Robin Lee. The ITC also focused on Safety – issues of cross-acceptance and standards as well as requirements management and system integration. The Junior Vice President and Senior Vice President are members of the ITC so that they can influence the choice of topics to be discussed, to align with the presidential theme. Papers in the pipeline also include Signalling Power Supplies and the Effectiveness of Security Measures.
11
IRSE Annual Report 2020
London office and personnel
The Institution leases a small suite of offices on the 4th floor of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1 Birdcage Walk, London, UK, from where the centrally organised activities of the Institution are managed – membership, licensing, events administration and financial administration.
The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that the offices have not been accessible since March 2020. As a result, all staff have had to make the transition to working from home. The Council and many members have on numerous occasions praised the efforts of the staff in maintaining a high level of professional service despite this significant disturbance to work patterns. It became apparent that there was a need to restructure in order to meet the differing demand of a distributed workforce and Council have overseen the work done by the Chief Executive and senior staff to effect these changes.
Chief Executive
The Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Institution is Blane Judd, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He is responsible for directing and managing the resources of the Institution in order to implement the decisions of Council in an efficient manner and in compliance with UK company and charity law. He is accountable to the Council. He also provides the focal point of contact for other Institutions and external organisations, including the UK’s Engineering Council and the Royal
Academy of Engineering, government agencies, the chief officers of other professional bodies, and the scientific, engineering and technology community. He is also responsible for ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Institution’s Articles of Association, Companies House, the Charities Commission and relevant legislation.
Office team
The office team comprises:
-
∞ Polly Whyte, Head of Membership and Registration
-
∞ Hilary Cohen, Executive Assistant
-
∞ Judith Ward, Director of Operations (part-time)
-
∞ Sarah Loutfi, Licensing Registrar
-
∞ Karen Boyd, Deputy Licensing Registrar
-
∞ Roger Button, Licensing Assistant
-
∞ Caterina Indolenti, Membership and Registration Administrator
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∞ Sophie Hunter, Membership and Registration Assistant (fixed term contract)
-
∞ Hannah Mueller, Finance Assistant (part-time)
-
∞ Swaathy Bhaskaran, Licensing Assistant (part-time)
October 2020 saw the departure of two members of the team – Anja Laitinen, after eight years with the IRSE and Laura Freeborn at the end of her temporary contract.
We also received the shock news that Hilary Cohen had been taken seriously ill and would be absent from work for some time. As many will know Hilary, who has been with the IRSE for more than ten years, is a key member of staff and is engaged in a number of member facing activities. We have appointed Deepka Kharaud to provide temporary cover for her position.
Contract support
The following members of the team work part time on a contract basis:
Marketing and Communication activities have been operated externally by Lindsay Jones of LJPR Ltd. Lindsay is a qualified journalist with a MSc in public relations and runs her own PR consultancy. She is successfully promoting the Institution to a much wider International stakeholder group. We are also receiving excellent support from Howard Elwyn-Jones of Prettybright on a wide range of social media activity, which includes the much-improved e-bulletin and video livestreaming of events.
Andrew Smith is the Institution’s Treasurer, with responsibility for the production of the budgets and accounts, and for monitoring the health of the Institution’s savings and investments.
Debbie Bailey, is the Institution’s HR Manager. She is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and runs her own HR consultancy business. Debbie has provided HR services to the staff of the IRSE for more than eight years and has been much involved this year in supporting the staff through the pandemic and in particular the transition to remote working.
Annual General Meeting
The IRSE’s intended 107th Annual General Meeting, which was to be chaired by the retiring President, George Clark, was initially postponed until July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association. It was hoped that by July the situation would have been sufficiently controlled to allow a normal AGM to take place. As the year progressed it became apparent, prior to the July date, that International lockdown restrictions would not allow a meeting to be held in person. After considerations of a number of options it was resolved by Council that there would be no AGM in 2020. All ordinary business was concluded by correspondence and it was resolved to appoint HPH Chartered Accountants for 2020.
The membership received copies of the Annual Report for 2019 (published on 1 April 2020), and there being no comments or questions received through correspondence this report was adopted.
The ballot for the election of members to Council had resulted in Harvinder Bhatia (UK), Gordon Lam (Hong Kong), Clive Roberts (UK), Rob Cooke (Singapore) and Firas Al-Tahan (N America) joining Council.
Grateful thanks go to Pierre-Damien Jourdain, Cassandra Gash and Lynsey Hunter all of whom retired from Council.
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IRSE Annual Report 2020
IRSE Council
| IRSE Council 2020-2021 | IRSE Council 2020-2021 |
|---|---|
| President | Daniel Woodland |
| Vice Presidents | Ian Bridges, Andy Knight |
| Members of Council from the class of Fellow |
Peter Allan, Ian J Allison, Harvinder Bhatia ,Steve Boshier, Bogdan Godziejewski, Yuji Hirao, Gordon Lam, Rod Muttram, Jane Power, Clive Roberts |
| Members of Council from the class of Member |
Firas Al-Tahan, Rob Burkhardt, Rob Cooke, Martin Fenner, Ryan Gould, Paul McSharry |
| Members of Council from the class of Associate Member |
Xiaolu Rao, Keith Upton |
| Co-opted Past Presidents | George Clark, Markus Montigel, Peter Symons |
| Chief Executive | Blane Judd |
| Treasurer | Andrew Smith |
IT systems
The three major IT components that support the Institution’s operations are the Membership and Licensing database, the website, and the London office IT systems.
The decision to migrate our office software systems to a more secure cloud-based server facility, could not have been taken at a better time. We could not have known that by the first quarter of 2020 we would be locked out of the offices and hence access to any IT-based systems located there.
After many years of support from Mike Tyrrell who single-handedly kept our old telephony system working, a decision to change the obsolete equipment was made in the first quarter of 2020. The initial discussions were to install a similar but more modern private automatic branch exchange (PABX). The lockdown however, made us rethink that decision and complete ‘softphone’ voice over internet protocol (VoIP) was adopted. This has facilitated us being able to make and receive calls while working from home, or on mobiles without interruption of service. The VoIP system also allows us to manage calls remotely from the office system, giving us a greater flexibility and improved communication service to members.
We have now had a year of operating with the new website which again has been extremely helpful in allowing us to maintain a high standard of service for the membership. The inclusion of video content has seen a significant increase in the number of visits to the site. Members are also able to us the site to update information, previously managed manually by staff in the office. Throughout 2021 there are plans to increase the functionality of the site in line with our vision to be accessible 24/7/365 wherever there is an internet connection.
Just after lockdown occurred, we acquired additional licenses for the online conferencing tool, GoToMeeting (GTM), which we had been using for many of the IRSE virtual meetings. Some of these licenses were offered free by LogMeIn, the company that owns GTM, as part of a support package for charities. We have been able to distribute these licenses to the sections that wanted to be able to run virtual meetings. As a result, all of the meetings that IRSE hold, both as part of its normal operational activities and with volunteers, have seen a large increase in membership engagement. We intend to continue to offer this service even once lockdown has been lifted.
The combination of GTM and Microsoft Teams has meant we have reached more of the membership that we have been able to achieve in the past.
You will read elsewhere in this report that we held IRSE examination online for the first time this year, through necessity. The platform we used, Moodle, has a lot of additional functionality which we will be looking to exploit as we become more familiar with its capabilities. The aim is to increase the educational offerings under the Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours initiative, started by Markus Montigel in his presidential year, using Moodle at the foundation for this development.
We cannot express our gratitude more strongly, to all those who work for or with the Institution, including the volunteer network. Their ability to adapt so well to the challenges that we have faced as a result of the pandemic has been a tremendous help. Hopefully 2021 will bring a better year and see us able to use much of what we have learnt during lockdown for the benefit of the membership, wherever they are in the world.
13
IRSE Annual Report 2020
Publications and communications
Publications and communications
The global pandemic has impacted on every aspect of our lives. Sometimes out of necessity comes innovation, and this has certainly been the case for the IRSE.
Towards the end of George Clark’s presidency, we successfully trialled the webinar format for his November presidential programme event. This learning was to prove invaluable in the months to come.
As it became clear that face to face meetings would not be possible for the foreseeable future, HQ staff, members and volunteers all stepped up to devise robust ways to keep the Institution running as normally as possible in the ‘virtual’ world. Section meetings were held via GoToMeeting or Zoom platforms and the presidential programme was delivered with outstanding success by GoTo Webinar. In all cases, a far higher number of members attended the events virtually than ever before from all over the world.
For the first time in the Institution’s history, a paid-for joint online seminar on Automated Railway was held in partnership with the IET, IMechE and PWI. Not only did this event generate much needed revenue for the Institution but it was watched internationally by over 200 people.
We were able to build on the work carried out since 2018 to upgrade and improve our digital communications and as a result our digital platforms came into their own enabling us to keep members informed via frequent e-bulletins and enhanced content on www.irse.org.
IRSE News
IRSE News is published monthly, its purpose being primarily to inform IRSE members worldwide about industry news, technical developments, and the work and activities of the IRSE and its Sections. Papers that comprise the presidential programme are published in IRSE News, together with a wide range of other internationally sourced educational papers and articles. We’d like to extend our thanks to the dedicated and hard -working editorial production team and committee led by Managing Editor Paul Darlington for another excellent year.
Proceedings
The Proceedings provide a summary of the Institution’s activities and have been produced annually since the very first issue in 1913. A hard copy of the Proceedings is supplied to the British Library and to the library of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and pdf versions of the Proceedings are available for all to read via our website.
Website
The website provides details of Institution events, Sections, information about the governance and operation of the IRSE, material for members taking the IRSE professional examination, how to become a member, as well as a wealth of information relating to professional development. Members
(and registered non-members) can update contact details, book events, order publications, and pay their subscriptions online. This year almost 72 000 visitors from 137 countries viewed more than a million pages at www.irse.org.
Video
During 2020 the number of videos available on the IRSE website increased significantly as we uploaded content including presidential events, section meetings and study guides. As a result in the past 12 months we saw a 1700% increase in video views and more than 3000% increase in audience size. IRSE videos received over 15 000 views.
E-Communications
A monthly email bulletin is sent to all members, containing information about upcoming events and other topical information. In addition, we send out ad-hoc electronic communications to members highlighting key presidential events and other important information.
Social Media
The Institution has a social media presence on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter which play a key role in promoting our activities and signposting our content. Key events, presentations and topical news stories are posted on all these feeds on a regular basis to help keep members informed and raise the profile of the Institution amongst the wider railway industry.
LinkedIn has seen a 90% increase in engagement in the last 12 months, boasting almost 7000 followers. On average, IRSE posts on LinkedIn which linked to content were clicked over 58 times each (7400 clicks), while over 55% of our tweets were reshared by other Twitter users. Link clicks on Twitter are up over 700% on 2019, while on Facebook, links to IRSE content were clicked 1600 times.
Rail Industry media
During this year we have developed our relationship with more key railway media. Until the lockdown, Modern Railway Magazine had included selected section events in their events section, and presidential events have been promoted in the online Railbusinessdaily.com e-zine.
Publications
The IRSE publishes a range of books on railway train control and communications systems, which provide a useful source of educational material for those relatively new to the profession, as well as providing a valuable record of the development of signalling. Extensive work continues to edit and modernise the Metro Signalling Handbook.
Library
Sadly, the IRSE Library which is housed in our London offices has been closed this year due to the pandemic. The building at Birdcage Walk which we share with several other professional engineering institutions has remained closed with all staff working from home.
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14
IRSE Annual Report 2020
Collaboration
The IRSE has formal and informal working relationships with a number of organisations in the UK and with organisations in other parts of the world. In China and South East Asia in particular, the IRSE’s sections are forging closer links with other engineering and educational organisations, and with governments.
The Industry Partnership Scheme has been slow to get off the ground mainly due to the inability to engage with senior leaders during the COVID-19 lockdown period. That said, some dialogue with employers has started to highlight the areas that would be of interest and benefit to Industry. It is expected that as the restrictions on face-to-face engagement are lifted, more work will be able to be done to move this initiative forward.
An important element of our strategy, is to strengthen our engagement with external bodies, including rail industry companies and other relevant organisations. The Institution enjoys good working relationships and support from many companies, but our ambition is to grow this further. As a result, the
development of the Future Integrated Rail Think Tank (FIRTT), a collaboration with WSP, KPMG, the Rail Delivery Group and IRSE, has focused on several key areas of railway operation, to debate key issues. The first two of these were held this year and the outputs were published on the IRSE website.
This is the second of the IRSE two-year term as chair of the Rail Engineers Forum (REF). The REF (theref.org.uk) is made up of representatives from the Professional Engineering Institutions who have a rail interest e.g., IMechE, IET, ICE, PWI, IRO, INCOSE, CILT, RCEA and the Young Railway Professionals. The chair, Andrew Simmons, a former President of the IRSE, continues to work with HQ to help focus on REF’s aim, to harmonise the various strengths of the constituent Institutions to support the railway community. In normal times this would encompass conferences, seminars, lectures, training, information services, publications and statements of policy to Government and other regulatory bodies. This year has mainly focused on maintaining links across the sector.
Regular meetings are taking place with the UK’s Railway Industry Association (RIA) to ensure that where possible the two bodies are working closer together to promote the principle of professional employees working in professional businesses. This working relationship is helping the IRSE and RIA identify where we can make a difference.
A closer relationship with the Royal Academy of Engineering and Engineering UK is helping us to gain better traction with activities focusing on encouraging young people into careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as a career opportunity. We are able to gain a better exposure working with these bodies than if we used our own smaller resources.
The UK’s Engineering Council is responsible for the regulation of engineers, particularly in the UK. The IRSE is a licensed body of the Engineering Council and is thus licensed to register Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians. We work closely with them to maintain standards of engineering excellence.
Finances
The financial results are shown on pages 16 to 20. They are extracted from the consolidated accounts for the IRSE and its wholly owned trading subsidiary, IRSE Enterprises Limited. The term ‘Group’ at the top of a set of tables refers to the two companies combined, and ‘Charity’ to the IRSE alone. As far as possible, these extracted results use the titles and the format of the consolidated accounts.
Probably the headline figure from the 2020 financial results is the Total Charity Funds in the first table on page 16. Despite the outbreak of COVID-19 and its global consequences, the Total Charity Funds have increased by £186,750. This increase is entirely due to a significant increase in value of the investments, in the form of shares, shown in Note 1 on page 18. Our activities during the year made a loss which is not unexpected, given two major fundraising activities, the annual dinner and convention, did not take place, so IRSE Enterprises did not make a surplus to donate to the IRSE.
For part of 2020 because our activities were forcibly reduced by the pandemic we were able to furlough some members of staff under the UK Government’s
furlough scheme although as we introduced innovative new ways to deliver the service to our Members, by the end of the year all employees were back working as normal. During the year we took on two new members of staff, both of whom required training in order to take on their roles. However, as we have a very small workforce, to suddenly, if only temporarily, expand our expenses to cover them would have required a sudden, significant increase in income. We could have increased subscriptions or licence fees significantly, only to put them back down again for 2021, but we identified some of our reserves as being saved to cover for eventualities like this. As a consequence, during the year there was a transfer from investments to cover these additional costs.
An issue that has come to our attention can be seen by comparing Notes 10 and 12. Note 10 includes a figure which is the total income from our main activities whilst Note 12 is the cost of running the charity. It can be seen that for the last two years the charity’s costs have been higher than the income. Historically this has been the case, but the surplus from IRSE Enterprises has topped up
the income to cover the difference, and commonly led to a net surplus. However, in 2020, clearly, this didn’t happen although additional unexpected income was realised through the Institution’s first ever and highly successful paid-for online seminar held jointly between the IRSE, IET, PWI and IMechE. In addition, the introduction of the new Module A Exam Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals created a surge in Exam income for 2020. We face a similar situation for 2021 as COVID-19 restrictions prevent us once again from holding either the annual dinner or a traditional convention. Whilst it is to be hoped these events will reappear in the IRSE’s calendar as soon as possible, it has exposed a potential challenge for the future, especially if it continues to prove difficult to organise big events for several years. As a consequence work is currently underway considering how to increase the Charity’s income. Naturally, given that most is from subscriptions, it is this area that is being particularly addressed. There are no conclusions so far, so they will have no impact on 2021, but will need to be included in the budget for 2022.
15
IRSE Annual Report 2020
Consolidated accounts (extract)
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st DECEMBER 2020
| CONSOLIDATED BALANCE | SHEET AS AT 31st DECEMBER 2020 |
|---|---|
| Notes Fixed Assets Tangible assets Investments 1 Current Assets Stocks 3 Debtors 4 Investments 5 Cash in hand Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 6 Net current assets / (Liabilities) Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: amount falling due after more than one year 7 Net assets Funds 2 Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total charity funds |
Consolidated 2020 £ Consolidated 2019 £ Charity 2020 £ Charity 2019 £ 19,558 31,227 10.395 16,871 2,055,844 1,812,394 1,488,776 1,342,570 |
| 2,075,402 1,843,621 1,499,171 1,359,441 48,862 45,110 42,416 36,076 207,530 194,705 290,623 269,580 209,668 209,205 209,668 209,205 238,466 338,188 69,062 108,013 |
|
| 704,526 787,208 611,769 622,874 (422,469) (438,934) (228,440) 237,003 |
|
| 282,057 348,274 383,329 385,871 |
|
| 2,357,459 2,191,895 1,882,500 1,745,312 (237,697) (258,883) - - |
|
| 2,119,762 1,933,012 1,882,500 1,745,312 |
|
| 2,083,971 1,896,893 1,846,709 1,709,193 35,791 36,119 35,791 36,119 |
|
| 2,119,762 1,933,012 1,882,500 1,745,312 |
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT AS AT 31st DECEMBER 2020
| Net cash (used in) operating activities Cash flow from investing activities: Purchase of tangible fixed assets Purchase of fixed asset investments Sale of fixed asset investments Interest received Dividends received Net cash provided by / (used in) investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at start of year Cash and cash equivalents at end of year |
2020 £ |
2019 £ (124,790) (44,793) (231,680) 193,471 2,534 36,371 |
(78,758) (44,097) |
|---|---|---|---|
| (5,784) | |||
| (237,983) | |||
| 237,082 | |||
| 1,825 | |||
| 29,928 | |||
| 25,068 (99,722) 338,188 238,466 |
|||
| (122,855) 461,043 |
|||
| 338,188 |
16
IRSE Annual Report 2020
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES AND INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2020
| Notes INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM: Charitable activities: Donations and legacies 9 Other trading activities: Non-ancillary trading income 10 Other activities 10 Investments: Investment Income 11 Total Income EXPENDITURE ON: Raising Funds 12 Other activities Investment Non-ancillary trading Charitable activities 12 Awards Promoting best practice Total Expenditure Net Expenditure before (loss) / gain in investments Net (loss) / gain on investments NET INCOME / (EXPENDITURE) RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD |
Unrestricted £ Restricted £ 19,092 - 354,592 - 480,916 - 31,685 68 |
Total 2020 £ Total 2019 £ 19,092 41,708 354,592 425,921 480,916 448,263 31,753 38,905 |
|---|---|---|
| 886,285 68 |
886,353 954,797 |
|
| 3,857 - 8,008 - 422,322 - |
3,857 8,567 8,008 7,865 422,322 438,884 |
|
| 434,187 - 16,195 - 481,557 - |
434,187 455,316 16,195 24,529 481,557 534,779 |
|
| 497,752 | 497,752 559,308 |
|
| 931,939 - |
931,939 1,014,624 |
|
| (45,654) 68 232,732 (396) |
(45,586) (59,827) 232,336 280,451 |
|
| 187,078 (328) 1,896,893 36,119 |
186,750 220,624 1,933,012 1,712,388 |
|
| 2,083,971 35,791 |
2,119,762 1,933,012 |
ANNUAL MEMBERS’ REPORT WITH SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
The tables set out on pages 16 to 20 are extracted from the full audited accounts of the Institution for the year ended 31 December 2020. They constitute supplementary material to this Annual Members’ Report. Section 426A of the Companies Act 2006 requires the following statements to be made in respect of the supplementary material:
-
This annual report is only part of the company’s annual accounts and reports prepared under the Companies Act.
-
A full copy of the company’s annual accounts and reports may be obtained upon request from The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers, 4th Floor, 1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London SW1H 9JJ, UK.
-
The auditor’s report on the annual accounts was unqualified.
-
The auditor’s statement under section 496 of the Companies Act (whether the Trustees’ Report is consistent with the accounts) was unqualified.
A P Smith Treasurer
Approved by the Trustees on 11 March 2021.
D Woodland I Bridges President Vice-President Director and Trustee Director and Trustee
17
IRSE Annual Report 2020
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2020
| 1 Fixed Asset Investments (Group) Market value At 1 January 2020 Additions Disposals Revaluations At 31 December 2020 |
Equities £ Government Securities £ Total £ 1,602,145 210,249 1,812,394 237,983 - 237,983 (211,545) (25,537) (237,082) 233,790 8,759 242,549 |
|---|---|
| 1,862,373 193,471 2,055,844 |
2 Movement in Funds (Group)
| 2 | Movement in Funds (Group) | Movement in Funds (Group) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 4 5 6 |
Designated funds At 1.1.20 £ Net movement in funds £ At 31.12.20 £ Scholarship fund 77,128 940 78,068 Alan Fisher / Frank Hewlett Fund 407,071 18,250 425,321 General Development 307,000 - 307,000 Future ASPECT Conference 10,000 - 10,000 International Convention 27,500 - 27,500 Textbook Preparation 7,500 - 7,500 General Fund - Unrestricted Fund 856,485 118,328 974,813 IRSE Enterprises - Non-charitable Trading Fund 204,209 49,560 253,769 1,896,893 187,078 2,083,971 Restricted funds Dell Bequest 23,432 (305) 23,127 Thorrowgood Bequest 12,687 (23) 12,664 TOTAL FUNDS 36,119 (328) 35,791 The company holds 20% or more of the issued share capital of the following company: Company Country of incorporation Share class %age owned IRSE Enterprises Limited England and Wales Ordinary 100 Share capital and reserves Profit for year IRSE Enterprises Limited £241,676 £49,590 Stock Consolidated 2020 £ Consolidated 2019 £ Charity 2020 £ Charity 2019 £ Stock 48,862 45,110 42,416 36,076 Debtors £ £ £ £ Trade debtors 122,910 58,801 - - Other debtors 12,017 9,707 12,017 9,707 Pre-payments and accrued income 6,422 78,555 - - VAT 66,181 47,642 53,571 35,995 Amounts owed by group undertakings - - 225,035 223,878 207,530 194,705 290,623 269,580 Current Asset Investments £ £ £ £ National Savings 209,668 209,205 209,205 209,205 209,668 209,205 209,205 209,205 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year £ £ £ £ Trade creditors 28,984 38,981 18,093 28,520 Deferred income and accruals 200,644 196,505 177,332 176,262 Other taxes and social security costs - - - - Other creditors 192,841 203,448 33,015 32,221 422,469 438,934 228,440 237,003 |
At 1.1.20 £ Net movement in funds £ 77,128 940 407,071 18,250 307,000 - 10,000 - 27,500 - 7,500 - 856,485 118,328 204,209 49,560 |
At 31.12.20 £ |
||
| 78,068 | |||||
| 425,321 | |||||
| 307,000 | |||||
| 10,000 | |||||
| 27,500 | |||||
| 7,500 | |||||
| 974,813 | |||||
| 253,769 | |||||
| 1,896,893 187,078 |
2,083,971 | ||||
| 23,432 (305) 12,687 (23) |
|||||
| 23,127 | |||||
| 12,664 | |||||
| 36,119 (328) |
**35,791 ** | ||||
| 48,862 45,110 |
|||||
| £ £ 122,910 58,801 12,017 9,707 6,422 78,555 66,181 47,642 - - |
£ £ - - 12,017 9,707 - - 53,571 35,995 225,035 223,878 |
||||
| 207,530 194,705 |
290,623 269,580 |
||||
| £ £ 209,668 209,205 |
£ £ 209,205 209,205 |
||||
| 209,668 209,205 |
209,205 209,205 |
||||
| £ £ 28,984 38,981 200,644 196,505 - - 192,841 203,448 |
£ £ 18,093 28,520 177,332 176,262 - - 33,015 32,221 |
||||
| 422,469 438,934 |
228,440 237,003 |
18
IRSE Annual Report 2020
7
| Creditors: amounts falling due after one year Deferred income |
Consolidated 2020 £ Consolidated 2019 £ Charity 2020 £ Charity 2019 £ |
|---|---|
| 237,697 258,883 - - |
Representing the proportion of licence fees receive which will be credited to Income after more than one year.
| Activities of IRSE Enterprises Turnover Donations Proceeds - Conventions and Conferences Proceeds - Dinners Proceeds - Technical Visits and Seminars Licensing - Licence Fees Received Licensing - Audit Fees Licensing - Assessing Agents Fees Licensing - Technical Publications Cost of sales Costs - Conventions and Conferences Costs - Dinners Costs - Technical Visits and Seminars Costs - Young Members’ Seminars and Visits Licensing - Logbooks Opening Stock Licensing - Engineer’s fees Licensing - IRSE Administration Charges Licensing - Audit Engineers Licensing - Accreditation Licensing - Logbooks Closing Stock GROSS PROFIT Other income Dividends receivable Bank interest receivable Expenditure IRSE Admin Charges Telephone Post and Stationery Officers’ expenses Accommodation and Refreshments Computer costs Sundry expenses Licensing - Treasurer’s, Chief Executive’s and Registrar’s Fees Logbook Purchases Investment Manager’s Fees Auditor’s remuneration Exchange rate variance Finance costs Licensing - Bank charges Net figure Gain / Loss on revaluation of assets Gain on revaluation of investments NET PROFIT |
2020 £ 2019 £ 4 (10) 784 15,559 - 51,466 13,008 35,453 205,404 194,321 45,042 56,022 82,306 62,564 8,044 10,546 |
|---|---|
| 354,592 425,921 |
|
| 1,812 4,801 (2,653) 31,285 13,929 35,354 - 1,104 9,034 4,721 14,503 14,081 162,753 122,032 48,195 58,825 5,385 10,980 (6,444) (9,034) |
|
| 246,514 274,149 |
|
| 108,078 151,773 |
|
| 6,105 6,413 119 **367 ** |
|
| 6,224 6,780 |
|
| 114,302 158,553 48,561 18,990 6,322 7,033 2,447 6,441 - - 675 3,584 33,598 34,522 2,910 2,975 73,201 71,500 - 9,025 3,694 3,421 2,000 4,000 (2) 7 |
|
| 173,406 161,498 |
|
| 2,402 3,238 |
|
| (61,506) (6,183) |
|
| 111,066 77,292 |
|
| 49,560 71,109 |
8 Activities of IRSE Enterprises
19
IRSE Annual Report 2020
| 9 10 11 Donations and Legacies (Group) Donations Other Trading Activities (Group) Subscriptions Professional Reviews Advertising Booklets and text books IRSE ties, badges & cufflinks Examination Fees and materials Proceeds from members’ lunch Consultancy Income IRSE Income Trading income: Turnover of trading subsidiary - Note 8 Investment income (Group) Equities and government stocks Interest receivable IRSE Enterprises Ltd 12 Analysis of Expenditure Staff Costs £ Depreciation £ Other £ Raising Funds Other Activities 1,494 93 2,270 Investment - - 8,008 Non-ancillary trading - Note 8 126,654 8,170 287,498 Total raising funds 128,148 8,263 297,776 Charitable Activities Awards 5,977 371 9,847 Promoting best practice 141,955 8,818 330,784 Total charitable activities 147,932 9,189 340,631 Total Expenditure 276,080 17,452 638,407 13 IRSE Charitable Expenditure Raising donations and legacies Fund raising dinners Consultancy Charitable activities Proceeding: editing and printing Newsletter: editing and printing Booklets and textbooks IRSE ties, cufflinks and badges Prizes Awards Activities funded by country subscription supplements Professional review costs Support costs Staff costs Office rent and services Fees and honoraria Membership database Other administrative costs Investment manager’s fees Fixtures and fittings Governance costs Auditor’s remuneration Total Expenditure |
9 10 11 Donations and Legacies (Group) Donations Other Trading Activities (Group) Subscriptions Professional Reviews Advertising Booklets and text books IRSE ties, badges & cufflinks Examination Fees and materials Proceeds from members’ lunch Consultancy Income IRSE Income Trading income: Turnover of trading subsidiary - Note 8 Investment income (Group) Equities and government stocks Interest receivable IRSE Enterprises Ltd 12 Analysis of Expenditure Staff Costs £ Depreciation £ Other £ Raising Funds Other Activities 1,494 93 2,270 Investment - - 8,008 Non-ancillary trading - Note 8 126,654 8,170 287,498 Total raising funds 128,148 8,263 297,776 Charitable Activities Awards 5,977 371 9,847 Promoting best practice 141,955 8,818 330,784 Total charitable activities 147,932 9,189 340,631 Total Expenditure 276,080 17,452 638,407 13 IRSE Charitable Expenditure Raising donations and legacies Fund raising dinners Consultancy Charitable activities Proceeding: editing and printing Newsletter: editing and printing Booklets and textbooks IRSE ties, cufflinks and badges Prizes Awards Activities funded by country subscription supplements Professional review costs Support costs Staff costs Office rent and services Fees and honoraria Membership database Other administrative costs Investment manager’s fees Fixtures and fittings Governance costs Auditor’s remuneration Total Expenditure |
2020 £ 2019 £ 19,092 41,708 |
|---|---|---|
| £ £ 407,702 404,989 3,350 915 12,555 9,075 18,730 7,138 26 26 38,553 25,413 - 707 - - |
||
| 480,916 448,263 |
||
| 354,592 425,921 |
||
| 23,824 29,958 1,705 2,167 6,224 6,780 |
||
| 31,753 38,905 |
||
| 2020 £ 2019 £ 3,857 8,567 8,008 7,865 422,322 438,884 |
||
| 128,148 8,263 297,776 5,977 371 9,847 141,955 8,818 330,784 |
434,187 455,316 16,195 24,529 481,557 534,779 |
|
| 147,932 9,189 340,631 |
497,752 559,308 |
|
| 276,080 17,452 638,407 |
931,939 1,014,624 |
|
| £ £ - 4,190 - - 4,028 4,517 98,249 94,728 5,628 5,773 - 1,295 39 1,111 767 7,020 5,974 8,821 1,203 2,682 151,739 191,176 18,524 20,202 74,017 71,070 - 8,420 128,160 127,100 8,008 7,865 9,282 15,770 4,000 4,000 |
||
| 509,618 575,740 |
v1.0, March 2021. Production, typeset and lay out www.polunnio.co.uk.
20
Registration number: 0125685
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
(Charity number: 1046999)
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
for the year ended 31 December 2020
HPH Chartered Accountants 54 Bootham
York YO30 7XZ
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
| CONTENTS | Page |
|---|---|
| Report of the Trustees | 1 - 7 |
| Auditor's Report | 8 - 10 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 11 |
| Balance Sheet | 12 |
| Cash Flow Statement | 13 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 14 - 25 |
| The following pages do not form part of the statutory financial statements | |
| Detailed Statement of Financial Activities | 26 - 27 |
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
The trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2020.
The Charity is a Public Benefit Entity.
The Financial Statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and the relevant version of the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The Institution is a Company Limited by Guarantee and governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, last amended on 27 April 2018. Trustees are members of the Institution and elected by the membership following their proposal by members or the governing Council of the Institution.
The Institution is managed by its Council, which is headed by the President, assisted by the Senior and Junior Vice Presidents. The Council constitutes committees to assist in the operation of the Institution as it sees fit. Currently, for the general management of the Institution there is a Management Committee, consisting of the President, Vice Presidents, one or more past Presidents, a number of ordinary members of Council, along with the Chief Executive and Treasurer, and Finance Committee, consisting of the President and Vice Presidents, the previous President, the Chief Executive and Treasurer and one ordinary member of Council.
There is no formal training of trustees, but they are periodically provided with the current version of the Charity Commission document ‘Charities and Investment Matters: A Guide for Trustees’. Exceptionally, in connection with these accounts, they have also been provided with information regarding the possible impact of COVID-19 on them. Formally, all decisions related to the operation of the Institution are made by the Council. Often, these decisions are based on recommendations from subsidiary committees, particularly Finance and Management. Staff involvement is only related to low-value day to day purchases for the efficient operation of the Institution.
Staff salaries are agreed by Finance Committee on the recommendation of the Chief Executive. A small number of senior management are contracted to the Institution. Their remuneration is likewise agreed by Finance Committee on the Chief Executive’s recommendation, with the exception of the Chief Executive, where the remuneration is at the discretion of the Trustees on Finance Committee. The benchmark taken for proposals is generally based on the ruling CPI as published by the Government in October.
The Institution’s operating subsidiary is IRSE Enterprises. Its managing board has the Treasurer, President, Vice Presidents, immediate past President, and a Council representative as directors. The Chief Executive is Secretary.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
Public Benefit
The Institution’s objects and principal activities continue to be the advancement of the science and practice of signalling and railway telecommunications for the public benefit by the promotion of research, the collection and publication of educational material and the holding of conferences, seminars and meetings, the maintenance of high standards of practice and professional care amongst those working within the industry and the promotion of improved safety standards for the protection of the general public. The trustees have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.
1
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES - continued
Custodian Trustee Disclosures
No assets were held by any trustee or by the Institution on behalf of any other charity.
Regular Activities
The Institution’s main fund raises money by way of subscriptions, joining fees and donations. The Institution issues a magazine to its members 11 times a year, containing papers, articles and other information pursuant to the Institution’s objects. It also sells technical papers and books it publishes itself or buys for re-sale.
The Institution normally organises a number of technical meetings, conferences, seminars and dinners, for some of which it makes a charge. These provide a forum for discussion and the transfer of knowledge. To open up the access to these events some of them are filmed and made available at the time and subsequently through an on-line video link. The COVID-19 pandemic meant from March meetings and seminars were organised using internet-based meeting software and no in-person events took place, including dinners and conferences.
The Licensing scheme, run through the subsidiary IRSE Enterprises, provides accreditation to individuals and organisations within the industry after having complied with certain laid-down standards. Various fees are charged in connection with this. Licences issued are for a 5-year period and therefore one-fifth of the income is credited each year to the Income and Expenditure account, the balance being carried forward as a liability in the Balance Sheet. Following the initial COVID-19 outbreak, a 6-month grace period on licence renewals was introduced. This has now expired but meant there was a significant reduction of licence income for 6 months.
Whilst no formal criteria are applied to measure the success or otherwise of all charged events, there is an expectation they will, at least, break even, whilst for free events a visibly full venue is considered a success. During COVID 19 these measures have been adjusted as a full venue is unacceptable as a measure in a virtual environment. Instead, success has been measured by comparison of online attendance, both live and post event, with equivalent face to face attendance seen previously. It is noted attendance has exceeded expectation and engaged a wider geographical spread, assisting in promoting the charitable objects. In the case of the Institution’s exam, the criterion is a suitably high pass-rate.
The Institution is a fully nominated Body of the Engineering Council licensed to register Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians.
GRANT-MAKING
Bursaries and prizes are made available for some events, in particular conventions and conferences. Bursaries are allocated based on an application form and interview by senior members of the Institution. Prizes are based on documented criteria, some of which depend on suitable success in the Institution’s exam.
VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers provide considerable assistance in the operation of the Institution, both in its local sections and technical societies, where the objects mirror those of the Institution itself, and centrally, to provide a source of expert input and background assistance. This applies, particularly, in the operation of the Institution’s professional exam and the production of the Institution’s magazine IRSE News.
SOCIAL INVESTMENT
No financial social investment is undertaken, but the high-level object regarding the maintenance of high standards and the promotion of safety standards is directed towards the protection of the general public whilst on or near railways.
2
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
FUNDRAISING
No fundraising activities are undertaken by the Institution.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the ability of the IRSE to organise its events as normal. This had a considerable impact on the finances of the Institution during 2020 as the budget was based on their contribution of the overall income. One success, though was the transfer of the Institution’s Exam to an on-line platform, allowing all except Module 2 to go ahead as usual. The planned programme of lectures (provided through on-line platforms) was supplemented by two ‘webinars’ which have suggested that this communication medium may prove more successful than in-person events.
Beyond the events discussed above, there are no specific fundraising activities. No expenditure has been incurred to raise that income, beyond that involved in the organisation of the events themselves.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The results of the Institution are set out in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities and Income and Expenditure Account which may be found on page 11.
The net deficit of the group for the year before fair value adjustments to the carrying value of investments was £45,586 (2019: £59,827) and total funds carried forward are now £2,119,762 (2019: £1,933,012). The closing funds comprised of £35,791 relating to restricted funds (2019: £36,119), £855,389 relating to unrestricted designated funds (2019: £836,199) and £1,228,582 relating to unrestricted general funds (2019: £1,060,694).
The annual budgets are normally based on the status quo. During 2020 two additional people were employed, one with a view to replacing a current employee moving towards retirement and the other to take on a senior role temporarily being covered by an experienced volunteer. The costs associated with these activities were considered ‘development’ and covered by transfers from reserves.
As in previous years, the accounts of each of the individual funds of the Institution, which are listed below, have been prepared and approved by the Trustees.
The Trustees’ Report and Accounts set out in the following pages include the following:
Restricted funds: Robert Dell bequest Thorrowgood Scholarship bequest
Unrestricted funds: General IRSE Main fund
Designated Scholarship fund Fisher / Hewlett fund General development fund Future Conventions fund International conferences fund Textbook preparation fund Unrealised investments revaluation reserves.
3
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
INVESTMENTS
Investment policy and objectives
Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association the charity trustees have the power to invest the assets of the Institution in such a manner, as may from time to time be considered desirable. The Trustees take advice from their investment managers, Rathbones. Dividends received are immediately reinvested.
KEY RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES DISCLOSURE
A Risk Register is held by the Chief Executive and regularly reviewed by Management Committee. Significant risks for the long-term health of the Institution may be summarised as:
Loss of membership and membership income; Loss of key staff including contractors, given the size of the organisation; Loss of support for the Licensing Scheme; Claims against the Licensing Scheme following an incident on a railway; Long-term loss of IT systems; Members’ personal data loss; Financial failure of a major event.
PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS
It is hoped that the planned 2020 Convention to be held in Toronto, can be rearranged in 2021, but this will depend on the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic. The same will apply to other events that might normally occur during the year. It is currently a working assumption that events proposed for 2022 will be able to go ahead.
The impact of the loss of events on the finances of the Institution initiated a review of the subscription rates towards the end of 2020 with a view to rebalancing the balance of income between the charity and IRSE Enterprises.
The work to revise / update / republish the Institutions’ publications, starting with the Metro textbook, has been underway during the year, but the planned re-publication will not happen until 2021.
PENSION LIABILITIES
The Institution’s pension scheme is a defined contribution scheme through an external provider and there are no liabilities arising to the Institution.
RESERVES
The Institution has a Reserves Policy in accordance with the Charity Commission’s requirements. This is reviewed annually by Council. The current values of the reserves are detailed in these accounts. The value of the Hewlett / Fisher fund has been reduced to cover the recent costs of providing the bursaries for recent Conventions and conferences. The General fund will be used to refund the costs of the renewal of the Institution’s website during the next financial year. The planned return to a modest surplus will help to replenish this, along with movements in the stock market.
Funds in Deficit and Going Concern
No funds are currently in deficit. There is no current reason to believe that the Institution is unable to continue as a going concern.
4
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Registered name of the Charity
The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers
Registered Company number 0125685 (England and Wales)
Registered Charity numbers 1046999
Principle address and registered office
4[TH] Floor, 1 Birdcage Walk Westminster London SW1H 9JJ
Trustees and Directors
The Trustees and Directors who served during the year were: P A Allan I J Allison S W Boshier I Bridges R E Burkhardt G E Clark M R Fenner B Godziejewski R C Gould Y Hirao A Knight P H J McSharry M Montigel R Muttram J E Power X Rao P Symons K Upton D N Woodland H S Bhatia (Appointed 23 April 2020) R L Cooke (Appointed 23 April 2020) G B S Lam (Appointed 23 April 2020) C Roberts (Appointed 23 April 2020) F Al-Tahan (Appointed 23 April 2020)
Resigned from the Board:
C K Gash (Resigned 23 April 2020) L M Hunter (Resigned 23 April 2020) P-D Jourdain (Resigned 23 April 2020) C R Page (Resigned 23 April 2020)
Company Secretary
B Judd
5
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS - continued
Chief Executive Officer
B Judd
Names and addresses of advisers:
Auditor Bankers HPH,Chartered Accountants National Westminster Bank Plc 54 Bootham Clapham Common Branch York 145 Clapham High Street YO30 7XZ London SW4 7SZ
Solicitors
Tozers LLP 10 St. Pauls Road Newton Abbot Devon TQ12 4PR
Investment managers
Rathbone Investment Management 8 Finsbury Circus London EC2M 7AZ
Key Management Personnel
B Judd – Chief Executive Officer A Smith – Treasurer D Bailey – HR Advisor
6
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES
The Trustees (who are also the Directors of The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers for the purposes of Company Law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland".
Company Law requires the Trustees to prepare Financial Statements for each financial period which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charitable Company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the Charitable Company for that period. In preparing those Financial Statements, the Trustees are required to:
-
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
-
observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;
-
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
-
prepare the Financial Statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charitable Company will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charitable Company and to enable them to ensure that the Financial Statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charitable Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the Trustees are aware:
-
there is no relevant audit information of which the Charitable Company's auditors are unaware; and
-
the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Auditors are aware of that information.
AUDITOR
The auditor, HPH is appointed under section 487(1) of the Companies Act 2006.
Approved by order of the board of trustees on 11 March 2021 and signed on its behalf by:
D N Woodland
President and Trustee
7
HPH
Chartered Accountants
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
OPINION
We have audited the financial statements of The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 December 2020, which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet and the related notes, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion the financial statements:
-
give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 December 2020 and of the group’s incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended;
-
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
-
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
BASIS OF OPINION
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the United Kingdom, including the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
CONCLUSIONS RELATING TO GOING CONCERN
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’/director's use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
8
HPH
Chartered Accountants
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
OTHER INFORMATION
The trustees/directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Auditor's report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
OPINION ON OTHER MATTERS PRESCRIBED BY THE COMPANIES ACT 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
-
the information given in the Trustees' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
-
the Trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
MATTERS ON WHICH WE ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT BY EXCEPTION
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees' report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
-
adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
-
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
-
certain disclosures of directors' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
-
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF DIRECTORS
As explained more fully in the Trustees' responsibilities statement on page 7, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
9
HPH
Chartered Accountants
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
AUDITOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
We considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas: timing of recognition of commercial income, posting of unusual journals along with complex transactions and manipulating the charitable company’s key performance indicators to meet targets. We discussed these risks with client management, designed audit procedures to test the timing of commercial revenue, tested a sample of journals to confirm they were appropriate and reviewed areas of judgement for indicators of management bias to address these risks.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Auditor's report.
USE OF OUR REPORT
This report is made solely to the charitable company's members in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
......................................
Robert Woolley (Senior Statutory Auditor)
For and on behalf of HPH, Statutory Auditor
54 Bootham York YO30 7XZ
15 March 2021
10
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES AND INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| Unrestricted Note Funds £ Income and endowments from: Charitable activities Donations and legacies 4 19,092 Other trading activities Non-ancillary trading income 5 354,592 Other activities 5 480,916 Investments Investment income 6 31,685 Total income £ 886,285 Expenditure on: Raising funds 7 Other activities 3,857 Investment 8,008 Non-ancillary trading 422,322 434,187 Charitable activities 7 Awards 16,195 Promoting best practice 481,557 497,752 Total expenditure £ 931,939 (45,654) Net gain / (loss) on investments 13 232,732 Net income / (expenditure) for the year 187,078 Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward 1,896,893 Total funds carried forward £ 2,083,971 Net (expenditure) / income before gain / (loss) on investments |
Restricted Funds £ - - - 68 £ 68 - - - - - - - £ - 68 (396) (328) 36,119 £ 35,791 |
Total 2020 £ 19,092 354,592 480,916 31,753 £ 886,353 3,857 8,008 422,322 434,187 16,195 481,557 497,752 £ 931,939 (45,586) 232,336 186,750 1,933,012 £ 2,119,762 |
Total 2019 £ 41,708 425,921 448,263 38,905 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ 954,797 | |||
| 8,567 7,865 438,884 |
|||
| 455,316 24,529 534,779 |
|||
| 559,308 | |||
| £ 1,014,624 | |||
| (59,827) 280,451 |
|||
| 220,624 1,712,388 |
|||
| £ 1,933,012 |
The notes on pages 14 to 25 form part of these financial statements.
Income and net movement in funds derive wholly from continuing operations.
11
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2020
Registration number: 0125685
| Consolidated | Consolidated | Charity | only | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Fixed assets: | |||||
| Tangible fixed assets | 12 | 19,558 | 31,227 | 10,395 | 16,871 |
| Investments | 13 | 2,055,844 | 1,812,394 | 1,488,776 | 1,342,570 |
| Total fixed assets | 2,075,402 | 1,843,621 | 1,499,171 | 1,359,441 | |
| Current assets: | |||||
| Stocks | 14 | 48,862 | 45,110 | 42,416 | 36,076 |
| Debtors | 15 | 207,530 | 194,705 | 290,623 | 269,580 |
| Investments | 16 | 209,668 | 209,205 | 209,668 | 209,205 |
| Cash at bank and in hand | 26 | 238,466 | 338,188 | 69,062 | 108,013 |
| Total current assets | 704,526 | 787,208 | 611,769 | 622,874 | |
| Liabilities: | |||||
| Creditors: amounts falling due within one year | 17 | 422,469 | 438,934 | 228,440 | 237,003 |
| Net current assets | 282,057 | 348,274 | 383,329 | 385,871 | |
| Total assets less current liabilities | 2,357,459 | 2,191,895 | 1,882,500 | 1,745,312 | |
| Creditors: amounts falling due after more | |||||
| than one year | 18 | 237,697 | 258,883 | - | - |
| Total net assets | £ 2,119,762 | £ 1,933,012 | £ 1,882,500 | £ 1,745,312 | |
| The funds of the charity: | 19 | ||||
| Unrestricted funds | 20 | 2,083,971 | 1,896,893 | 1,846,709 | 1,709,193 |
| Restricted funds | 21 | 35,791 | 36,119 | 35,791 | 36,119 |
| Total charity funds | £ 2,119,762 | £ 1,933,012 | £ 1,882,500 | £ 1,745,312 |
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 11 March 2021 and were signed on its behalf
D N Woodland President and Trustee
I Bridges Vice President and Trustee
The notes on pages 14 to 25 form part of these financial statements.
12
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| Note £ £ Net cash used in operating activities 25 (124,790) Cash flow from investing activities: Purchase of tangible fixed assets (5,784) Purchase of fixed asset investments (237,983) Sale of fixed asset investments 237,082 Interest received 1,825 Dividends received 29,928 25,068 27 (99,722) 338,188 26 £238,466 Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year 2020 Net cash provided by / (used in) investing activities |
£ £ (78,758) (44,793) (231,680) 193,471 2,534 36,371 (44,097) (122,855) 461,043 £338,188 2019 |
£ £ (78,758) (44,793) (231,680) 193,471 2,534 36,371 (44,097) (122,855) 461,043 £338,188 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| (122,855) 461,043 |
||
| £338,188 |
The notes on pages 14 to 25 form part of these financial statements.
13
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Legal entity
The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers is regulated by the Charities Commission (1046999), limited by guarantee and is registered in England and Wales. The address of the registered office and principal place of business is 4th Floor, 1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London, SW1H 9JJ.
In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the relevant version of the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102), the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.
The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).
The consolidated accounts include the results of Institution of Railway Signal Engineers and IRSE Enterprises Limited, which are consolidated on a line by line basis. In accordance with section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, no separate Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) or Cash Flow has been presented for the Charity alone.
Going concern
As described in the Trustees' Annual Report, special consideration has been given to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trustees/Directors have prepared financial projections, taking into consideration the current economic climate and its potential impact on the sources of income and planned expenditure. They have a reasonable expectation that adequate financial resources are available to enable the Charitable Company to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, and have adequate contingency plans in the event that income streams are reduced. Consequently the financial statements have been prepared on the basis that the Charitable Company is a going concern.
Income
All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
For donations to be recognised, if not received before the year end, the charity will have been notified of the amounts and settlement date in writing.
Fixed asset gifts in kind are recognised when receivable and are included at fair value. They are not deferred over the life of the asset.
Investment income is earned through holding assets for investment purposes such as shares and property. It includes dividends, interest and rent, included on a receivable basis.
Revenue in the trading subsidiary is recognised to the extent that it is probable that the economic benefits will flow to the company and the revenue can be reliably measured. Revenue is measured as the fair value of the consideration receivable, excluding discounts, rebates, value added tax and other sales taxes. The company has no long term contracts or on-going projects.
14
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT
Expenditure is accrued as soon as a liability is considered probable, discounted to present value for longer-term liabilities. Expenditure attributable to more than one cost category is apportioned to them on the basis of the estimated amount attributable to each activity in the year, either by reference to staff time or the use made of the underlying assets, as appropriate. Expenses are shown net of VAT with the irrecoverable element included within direct costs.
Raising funds includes all expenditure incurred by the charity to raise funds for its charitable purposes and includes costs of fundraising activities, events and non-charitable trading.
Governance costs represent those costs attributable to the management of the charity's assets, organisational administration and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.
Support costs are those costs that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs and governance costs, including payroll costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objectives of the charity. Where support costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to costs of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources.
Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets are included in the financial statements at their historical cost. Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost of fixed assets over their expected useful lives on a straight line basis. The rates used are as follows:
Fixtures and fittings 20% per annum straight line IT and software 33% per annum straight line
Stocks
Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving stock.
Fund accounting
General funds - These are funds which can be used in accordance with the charity's charitable objectives at the discretion of the board.
Designated funds - these comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Restricted funds - These are subject to specific restrictive conditions imposed by the donors of funds received for specific purposes and projects.
Financial instruments
The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and any short term deposit accounts with a maturity of three months or less from the date of opening.
Other financial assets
Other financial assets are initially measured at fair value, which is normally the transaction price. Such assets are subsequently carried at fair value and the changes in fair value are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities, except investments that are not publicly traded and whose fair values cannot be measured reliably are measured at cost less impairment.
Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
Investments
The investment portfolios have been valued at market value at 31 December 2020. The Statement of Financial Activities includes the net gains and losses on investments arising on revaluation at the year end and on disposals throughout the year. Realised gains and losses on sales of investments are calculated as the difference between the sale proceeds and opening market value. Unrealised gains and losses represent the movement between market values.
15
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
Other financial instruments
All other financial instruments are initially recognised at fair value, which is normally the transaction price. Other financial instruments are subsequently measured at fair value with any changes in the fair value recorded in the Statement of Financial Activities.
Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
Operating leases
Rentals payable under operating leases are charged in the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the lease term.
Foreign currencies
Assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rate of exchange ruling at the date of transaction. Exchange differences are taken into account in arriving at the operating result.
Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits
The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.
Significant judgements and estimates
In the application of the group's accounting policies, the directors are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions in areas where this information is not readily available from other sources. In particular the directors use judgment in assessing the carrying amount of assets and liabilities. The estimates and assumptions are based on the historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Investments
Investments are included on the Balance Sheet and are stated at market value as at the balance sheet date. Gains and losses on disposal and revaluations of investments are charged or credited to the Statement of Financial Activities.
2 TAXATION
As a registered charity, The Institute of Railway Signal Engineers is exempt from the tax on income falling within sections 466 to 493 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 to the extent that this is applied to its charitable objects. No tax charges have arisen in the Company.
| 3 | OPERATING SURPLUS | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The surplus for the year is stated after charging: | £ | £ | |
| Depreciation | 17,453 | 22,948 | |
| Auditor's remuneration | 6,000 | 8,000 |
16
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| 4 CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES - DONATIONS AND LEGACIES Donations All donations related to unrestricted funds. 5 OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES Other activities Subscriptions Professional reviews Advertising Booklets & textbooks IRSE ties, cufflinks and badges Examination fees and materials Proceeds from members' lunch All other activities relate to unrestricted funds. Trading income IRSE Enterprises Limited 6 INVESTMENT INCOME Equities & Government stocks Interest receivable IRSE Enterprises Limited |
2020 £ £ 19,092 2020 £ 407,702 3,350 12,555 18,730 26 38,553 - 480,916 354,592 2020 £ 23,824 1,705 6,224 £ 31,753 |
2019 £ £ 41,708 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 £ 404,989 915 9,075 7,138 26 25,413 707 |
||
| 448,263 | ||
| 425,921 | ||
| 2019 £ 29,958 2,167 6,780 |
||
| £ 38,905 |
£68 of investment income relates to restricted funds (2019: £61).
7 ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE
| NALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | |||||
| costs | Other | Depreciation | 2020 | 2019 | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Raising funds | |||||
| Other activities | 1,494 | 2,270 | 93 | 3,857 | 8,567 |
| Investment | - | 8,008 | - | 8,008 | 7,865 |
| Non-ancillary trading | 126,654 | 287,498 | 8,170 | 422,322 | 438,884 |
| Total raising funds | 128,148 | 297,776 | 8,263 | 434,187 | 455,316 |
| Charitable activities | |||||
| Awards | 5,977 | 9,847 | 371 | 16,195 | 24,529 |
| Promoting best practice | 141,955 | 330,784 | 8,818 | 481,557 | 534,779 |
| Total charitable activities | 147,932 | 340,631 | 9,189 | 497,752 | 559,308 |
| Total Expenditure | £ 276,080 | £ 638,407 | £ 17,452 | £ 931,939 | £ 1,014,624 |
All raising funds expenditure relates to unrestricted funds.
£nil of charitable activities expenditure relates to restricted funds (2019: £300).
17
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
8 GOVERNANCE COSTS
| OVERNANCE COSTS Auditors' remuneration All governance costs relate to unrestricted expenditure. |
2020 £ £ 6,000 |
2019 £ £ 8,000 |
9 AUDITOR'S REMUNERATION
Amounts payable to the auditor for statutory audit services of the group are £6,000 (2019 - £8,000) and of the charity are £4,000 (2019 - £4,000).
10 TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS
Trustees' travel expenses totalling £2,030 were reimbursed to 2 Trustees during the year. In 2019 Trustees' travel expenses totalling £2,551 were reimbursed to 2 Trustees.
| 11 STAFF COSTS Wages and salaries Social security costs Defined contribution pension costs The average number of employees during the year was as follows: Administration |
2020 £ 237,796 20,095 18,189 £ 276,080 2020 10 |
2019 £ 256,872 15,665 18,200 |
|---|---|---|
| £ 290,737 | ||
| 2019 10 |
There are no employees who received total employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) of more than £60,000 (2019 - None).
The key management personnel of the charitable company, comprise the Trustees and Chief Executive Officer as disclosed on page 6. The total amount of employee benefits (including employer pension contributions) received by key management personnel for their services to the charitable company was nil (2019: nil). The total amount paid to the key management personnel in respect of their services totalled £80,729 (2019: £79,278).
18
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| 12 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS - GROUP Cost: At 1 January 2020 Additions Disposals At 31 December 2020 Depreciation: At 1 January 2020 Charge for the year Re-classification At 31 December 2020 Net book values: 31 December 2020 31 December 2019 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS - CHARITY Cost: At 1 January 2020 Additions Disposals At 31 December 2020 Depreciation: At 1 January 2020 Charge for the year Re-classification At 31 December 2020 Net book values: 31 December 2020 31 December 2019 All of the tangible fixed assets relate to unrestricted funds. |
Fixtures and fittings £ 322,896 5,784 - |
|---|---|
| 328,680 | |
| 291,669 17,453 - |
|
| 309,122 | |
| £ 19,558 | |
| £ 31,227 | |
| Fixtures and fittings £ 295,907 2,808 - |
|
| 298,715 | |
| 279,036 9,284 - |
|
| 288,320 | |
| £ 10,395 | |
| £ 16,871 |
All of the tangible fixed assets relate to unrestricted funds.
19
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| 13 FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS - GROUP Market value At 1 January 2020 Additions Disposals Revaluation At 31 December 2020 |
Equities £ 1,602,145 237,983 (211,545) 233,790 £ 1,862,373 |
Government securities £ 210,249 - (25,537) 8,759 £ 193,471 |
Total £ 1,812,394 237,983 (237,082) 242,549 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ 2,055,844 |
£35,666 of investments relates to restricted funds (2019: £36,062).
£396 of losses on investments relates to restricted funds (2019: £329).
| FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS - CHARITY Market value At 1 January 2020 Additions Disposals Revaluation At 31 December 2020 |
Subsidiary company £ 4,415 - - - £ 4,415 |
Equities £ 1,173,504 137,854 (88,580) 115,686 £ 1,338,464 |
Government securities £ 164,651 - (25,537) 6,783 £ 145,897 |
Total £ 1,342,570 137,854 (114,117) 122,469 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ 1,488,776 |
£35,666 of investments relates to restricted funds (2019: £36,062).
£396 of losses on investments relates to restricted funds (2019: £329).
The charitable company's investments at the balance sheet date in the share capital of companies include the following:
IRSE Enterprises Limited
Registered office: 4th Floor, 1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London, SW1H 9JJ Nature of business: Administration & finance support for parent
| % | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Class of share: | holding | ||
| Ordinary | 100 | ||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||
| £ | £ | ||
| Aggregate capital and reserves | 241,676 | 192,116 | |
| Profit / (loss) for the year | 49,560 | 71,109 |
No donation (2019: £nil) was made from the company to the charity in the year due to the fact that the company did not make a taxable profit.
| 14 STOCKS - GROUP STOCKS - CHARITY Stocks Stocks |
2020 £ £ 48,862 2020 £ £ 42,416 |
2019 £ £ 45,110 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 £ £ 36,076 |
20
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| 15 DEBTORS Trade debtors Other debtors Prepayments and accrued income VAT Amounts owed by group undertakings |
2020 2019 £ £ 122,910 58,801 12,017 9,707 6,422 78,555 66,181 47,642 - - £ 207,530 £ 194,705 Consolidated |
2020 2019 £ £ - - 12,017 9,707 - - 53,571 35,995 225,035 223,878 £ 290,623 £ 269,580 Charity |
2020 2019 £ £ - - 12,017 9,707 - - 53,571 35,995 225,035 223,878 £ 290,623 £ 269,580 Charity |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ 269,580 |
All debtors relate to unrestricted funds.
| URRENT ASSET INVESTMENTS - GROUP | 2020 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| National Savings | £ 209,668 | £ 209,205 |
16 CURRENT ASSET INVESTMENTS - GROUP
All debtors relate to unrestricted funds.
17 CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year
| Trade creditors Accruals and deferred income Taxation and social security Other creditors |
2020 2019 £ £ 28,984 38,981 200,644 196,505 - - 192,841 203,448 £ 422,469 £ 438,934 Consolidated |
2020 2019 £ £ 18,093 28,520 177,332 176,262 - - 33,015 32,221 £ 228,440 £ 237,003 Charity |
2020 2019 £ £ 18,093 28,520 177,332 176,262 - - 33,015 32,221 £ 228,440 £ 237,003 Charity |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ 237,003 |
All creditors relate to unrestricted funds.
18 CREDITORS: amounts falling due after more than one year - GROUP
Other creditors
| 2020 | 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | ||
| £ | 237,697 | £ | 258,883 |
Representing the proportion of licence fees received in advance, which will be credited to income after more than one year.
19 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
| Net current | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tangible | (liabilities)/ | Long term | Total | ||
| fixed assets | Investments | assets | liabilities | 2020 | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Unrestricted funds | 10,395 | 1,448,695 | 383,205 | - | 1,842,295 |
| Restricted funds | - | 35,666 | 125 | - | 35,791 |
| Total Charity Funds | 10,395 | 1,484,361 | 383,330 | - | 1,878,086 |
| IRSE Enterprises Limited | 9,163 | 571,483 | (101,273) | (237,697) | 241,676 |
| Total for the group | £ 19,558 | £ 2,055,844 | £ 282,057 | £ (237,697) | £ 2,119,762 |
21
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
19 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS - continued
| 2019 comparatives Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total Charity Funds IRSE Enterprises Limited Total for the group 20 UNRESTRICTED FUNDS Designated funds Scholarship Alan Fisher memorial / Frank Hewlett Bequest General Development Future ASPECT Conference International conventions Textbook Preparation Unrestricted funds General Fund Charity Non charitable trading funds Total for the group 2019 comparatives Designated funds Scholarship Alan Fisher memorial / Frank Hewlett Bequest General Development Future ASPECT Conference International conventions Textbook Preparation Unrestricted funds General Fund Charity Non charitable trading funds Total for the group |
Balance at 01/01/2020 £ 77,128 407,071 307,000 10,000 27,500 7,500 836,199 856,485 1,692,684 204,209 £ 1,896,893 Balance at 01/01/2019 £ 76,232 423,017 307,000 10,000 27,500 7,500 851,249 691,352 1,542,601 133,100 £ 1,675,701 |
Tangible fixed assets £ 16,871 - 16,871 14,356 £ 31,227 Income £ 940 19,017 - - - - 19,957 505,512 525,469 360,816 £ 886,285 Income £ 896 40,774 - - - - 41,670 480,365 522,035 432,701 £ 954,736 |
Investments £ 1,302,093 36,062 1,338,155 474,239 £ 1,812,394 Expenditure £ - (767) - - - - (767) (508,850) (509,617) (422,322) £ (931,939) Expenditure £ - (6,720) - - - - (6,720) (568,720) (575,440) (438,884) £ (1,014,324) |
Net current (liabilities)/ assets £ 385,813 57 385,870 (37,596) £ 348,274 Gains on investments £ - - - - - - - 121,666 121,666 111,066 £ 232,732 Gains on investments £ - - - - - - - 203,488 203,488 77,292 £ 280,780 |
Long term liabilities £ - - - (258,883) £ (258,883) Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - - £ - Transfers £ - (50,000) - - - - (50,000) 50,000 - - £ - |
Total 2019 £ 1,704,777 36,119 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,740,896 192,116 |
||||||
| £ 1,933,012 | ||||||
| Balance at 31/12/2020 £ 78,068 - 425,321 307,000 10,000 27,500 7,500 |
||||||
| 855,389 974,813 |
||||||
| 1,830,202 253,769 |
||||||
| £ 2,083,971 | ||||||
| Balance at 31/12/2019 £ 77,128 407,071 307,000 10,000 27,500 7,500 |
||||||
| 836,199 856,485 |
||||||
| 1,692,684 204,209 |
||||||
| £ 1,896,893 |
22
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| **21 ** | RESTRICTED FUNDS | Balance at | Losses on | Balance at | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/01/2020 | Income | Expenditure | investments | 31/12/2020 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Restricted funds | ||||||
| Dell Bequest | 23,432 | - | - | (305) | 23,127 | |
| Thorrowgood Bequest | 12,687 | 68 | - | (91) | 12,664 | |
| £ 36,119 | £ 68 | £ - | £ (396) | £ 35,791 | ||
| 2019 comparatives | Balance at | Losses on | Balance at | |||
| 01/01/2019 | Income | Expenditure | investments | 31/12/2019 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Restricted funds | ||||||
| Dell Bequest | 23,985 | - | (300) | (253) | 23,432 | |
| Thorrowgood Bequest | 12,702 | 61 | - | (76) | 12,687 | |
| £ 36,687 | £ 61 | £ (300) | £ (329) | £ 36,119 |
Dell Bequest
The Dell Award is made annually under a bequest of the late Robert Dell OBE (Past President). It is awarded to a member of the Institution employed by London Underground Ltd (or its successor bodies) for achievement of a high standard in the science and application of railway signalling. The award consists of a plaque with a uniquely designed shield, engraved with the recipient’s name together with a cheque.
Thorrowgood Bequest
The Thorrowgood Scholarship is awarded annually to a candidate who has excelled in the IRSE’s Professional Examination. The award, which is presented at the Institution’s AGM in the April following the examination, comprises the Thorrowgood Scholarship Medallion and a cheque.
22 OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS
As at 31 December 2020 the charitable company had future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows:
| Within one year Between one and five years |
2020 £ 10,291 - £ 10,291 |
2019 £ 41,164 10,291 |
|---|---|---|
| £ 51,455 |
23 RELATED PARTIES
Other than those detailed in notes 10 and 11, there were no other related parties in the year.
24 ULTIMATE CONTROLLING PARTY
There is no ultimate controlling party. The charity is managed by its board of trustees. The liability of each of the charity's trustees is limited to £1.
23
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| **25 ** | RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO NET CASH FLOW | 2020 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES | £ | £ | ||
| Net income for the reporting period | 186,750 | 220,624 | ||
| Depreciation of tangible Fixed Assets | 17,453 | 22,948 | ||
| Gains on Investments | (242,549) | (280,451) | ||
| Interest received | (1,825) | (2,534) | ||
| Dividends received | (29,928) | (36,371) | ||
| (Increase) / decrease in Stocks | (3,752) | 1,736 | ||
| Increase decrease in Debtors | (12,825) | (18,356) | ||
| Increase in Current Asset Investments | (463) | (1,498) | ||
| (Decrease) / increase in Creditors | (37,651) | 15,144 | ||
| Net cash used in operating activities | £ (124,790) | £ (78,758) | ||
| **26 ** | ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS - GROUP | 2020 | 2019 | |
| £ | £ | |||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 238,466 | 338,188 | ||
| Total cash and cash equivalents | £ 238,466 | £ 338,188 | ||
| ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS - CHARITY | 2020 | 2019 | ||
| £ | £ | |||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 69,062 | 108,013 | ||
| Total cash and cash equivalents | £ 69,062 | £ 108,013 | ||
| **27 ** | ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT | |||
| At | At | |||
| 01/01/2020 | Cash-flows | 31/12/2020 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | ||
| Cash | 338,188 | (99,722) | 238,466 | |
| (99,722) | ||||
| 338,188 | (99,722) | 238,466 |
24
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
28 COMPARATIVE CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES AND INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
| Income and endowments from: Charitable activities Donations and legacies Other trading activities Non-ancillary trading income Other activities Investments Investment income Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds Other activities Investment Non-ancillary trading Charitable activities Awards Promoting best practice Total expenditure Net gain / (loss) on investments Net income / (expenditure) for the year Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward Net (expenditure) before gain / (loss) on investment |
Unrestricted Funds 2019 £ 41,708 425,921 448,263 38,844 £ 954,736 8,567 7,865 438,884 455,316 24,229 534,779 559,008 £ 1,014,324 (59,588) 280,780 221,192 1,675,701 £ 1,896,893 |
Restricted Funds 2019 £ - - - 61 £ 61 - - - - 300 - 300 £ 300 (239) (329) (568) 36,687 £ 36,119 |
Total 2019 £ 41,708 425,921 448,263 38,905 £ 954,797 8,567 7,865 438,884 455,316 24,529 534,779 559,308 £ 1,014,624 (59,827) 280,451 220,624 1,712,388 £ 1,933,012 |
Total 2018 £ 1,763 590,739 452,035 37,102 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ 1,081,639 | ||||
| 9,714 8,067 562,274 |
||||
| 580,055 32,102 557,098 |
||||
| 589,200 | ||||
| £ 1,169,255 | ||||
| (87,616) (118,978) |
||||
| (206,594) 1,918,982 |
||||
| £ 1,712,388 |
25
The following pages do not form part of the statutory financial statements and contain unaudited information
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| Income Donations and legacies Donations Total donations and legacies Other trading activities Advertising Booklets & textbooks IRSE ties, cufflinks & badges Examination fees & materials Subscriptions Professional reviews Proceeds from functions Total other trading activities Investments Equities & government stocks Interest receivable Total income from investments Total income Expenditure Raising donations and legacies Fund raising dinners Total raisings donation and legacies Carried forward Proceedings: editing & printing Newsletter: editing & printing Charitable activities Activities funded by country subscription supplements Booklets & textbooks IRSE ties, cufflinks & badges Prizes Awards Professional Review Costs |
£ £ 19,092 19,092 12,555 18,730 26 38,553 407,704 3,350 - 480,918 23,824 1,705 25,529 525,539 - - 4,028 98,249 5,628 - 39 767 5,974 1,203 115,888 115,888 2020 |
£ £ 41,708 41,708 9,075 7,138 26 25,413 404,989 915 707 448,263 29,958 2,167 32,125 522,096 4,190 4,190 4,517 94,728 5,773 1,295 1,111 7,020 8,821 2,682 125,947 125,947 2019 |
£ £ 41,708 41,708 9,075 7,138 26 25,413 404,989 915 707 448,263 29,958 2,167 32,125 522,096 4,190 4,190 4,517 94,728 5,773 1,295 1,111 7,020 8,821 2,682 125,947 125,947 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12,555 18,730 26 38,553 407,704 3,350 - |
9,075 7,138 26 25,413 404,989 915 707 |
||
| 23,824 1,705 |
29,958 2,167 |
||
| - | 4,190 | ||
| 522,096 | |||
| 4,190 | |||
| 4,028 98,249 5,628 - 39 767 5,974 1,203 |
4,517 94,728 5,773 1,295 1,111 7,020 8,821 2,682 |
||
| 115,888 | 125,947 | ||
| 115,888 | 125,947 |
26
THE INSTITUTION OF RAILWAY SIGNAL ENGINEERS
DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
| £ £ Brought forward 115,888 131,525 9,402 8,499 2,313 Office rent & services 18,524 Fees & honoraria 74,017 Membership database project - Other administrative costs 128,160 Investment manager's fees 8,008 Fixtures and fittings 9,282 Total support costs 389,730 4,000 509,618 509,618 Net income / (expenditure) before gains and losses 15,921 121,269 Net Charity income 137,190 49,560 £ 186,750 Charitable activities - continued Social security Support costs Wages Governance costs Pension Auditors' remuneration 2020 Total expenditure on charitable activities Total expenditure Staff training Gains on fixed asset investments Net income Profit arising IRSE Enterprises Limited |
£ £ 125,947 168,825 7,244 10,310 4,797 20,202 71,070 8,420 127,100 7,865 15,770 441,603 4,000 571,550 575,740 (53,644) 203,159 149,515 71,109 £ 220,624 2019 |
£ £ 125,947 168,825 7,244 10,310 4,797 20,202 71,070 8,420 127,100 7,865 15,770 441,603 4,000 571,550 575,740 (53,644) 203,159 149,515 71,109 £ 220,624 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 441,603 4,000 |
||
| 575,740 | ||
| (53,644) 203,159 |
||
| 149,515 71,109 |
||
| £ 220,624 |
27