**Annual Report** Financial Statements and Auditor’s Report 1 October 2020 – 30 September 2021 ecpr.eu
2020–2021
2020–2021
## **Contents**
ECPR Annual Report covering the period 30 September 2020 – 1 October 2021
**06**
**08**
**12**
**04**
Report of our Executive ECPR Chair David Farrell Committee for the period and Director Tanja Munro ending 30 September 2021. reflect on the ‘new normal’. **16 17**
Who we are, and what we do: ECPR’s full mission statement. **15**
A year in review, including the impact of the pandemic on ECPR’s work.
**16**
**18**
Data tables for all our Key Performance Indicators; headline stats in Appendix.
Prizes – recognising Studies and policies: Monitoring impact: event service and achievement Membership survey; Gender fees, membership fees, across ECPR’s community. Study and Equality Plan. and publications royalties.
**19**
**21**
**22**
**24**
Engaging with the ECPR The environment around us: Operating responsibly: Financial review: income community: how we serve the challenges posed by Brexit, risk management, staff welland expenditure; surplus and individual, and their institution. climate change, and more. being, handling complaints. deficit.
**29**
**30**
**34**
**37**
Structure, governance Profiles of ECPR’s new Independent Auditor’s and management: staff, cohort of Trustees, serving Report by Scrutton Bland Trustees and administration. May 2021 – April 2024. LLP and Statutory Auditor.
Primary financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended 30 September 2021.
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ECPR | Annual Report
ECPR | Annual Report
**Founded in 1970, ECPR is the leading European academic association with a mission to advance political science. We bring scholars together across our global network to develop research and grow the discipline.**
**Our members are universities, and the communities within them, engaged in the research and teaching of social sciences.**
**Through our events, publications and research groups, we foster scholarly collaboration across borders. We support academics at every stage of their career, providing training, research opportunities and professional development.**
**ECPR helps interpret the world’s complex and changing political landscape for the benefit of all.**
2020–2021
2020–2021
## **Report of the Executive Committee**
The European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) is pleased to present the Trustees’ Report together with the financial statements of the charity for the 12 months ending 30 September 2021
**The financial statements comply with the requirements of the ECPR’s Constitution, the charity’s trust deed, the Charities Act 2011 and ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities:**
**Statement of Recommended Practice’, in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland, published in October 2019.**
## **About us**
The ECPR is a learned society and UK registered charity that supports the advancement of political science.
Our mission is to advance political science. We do this in two ways:
by providing platforms and opportunities for scholars to collaborate and share research, with the purpose of strengthening the discipline and growing the volume and impact of its output worldwide; and
Our members are universities and research institutes concerned with the teaching and research of political science and related disciplines.
Within these institutions is a community of tens of thousands of scholars, from PhD student to senior professor, all of whom benefit directly from ECPR membership. While the ECPR is a membership association, our activities are open to all.
by delivering training and development opportunities to scholars at all career stages, with the purpose of enhancing professional skills to strengthen and support the community.
a range of funding opportunities to support the participation of students and early career scholars in our events;
a broad and diverse publishing portfolio providing opportunities for scholars to publish and read the most up-to-date research in their field, via subscription and Open Access platforms;
a number of high-profile prizes celebrating academic achievement across all career stages;
a programme of support to nurture and grow our sub-disciplinary research groups which, in turn,
extends the reach and focus of the organisation; and
the development of a range of studies and policies aimed at understanding the state of the profession across Europe and the rest of the world, and supporting all scholars working within the discipline.
This report provides a summary of these activities carried out in the 2020–21 financial year.
## **Grant-making policy**
As a membership association, we provide a range of funding opportunities to individual scholars and to groups affiliated with ECPR. This provision of funding and financial support to our affiliates and Standing Groups and Research Networks is one of the primary ways in which we achieve our charitable objectives.
In 2019 the EC reviewed ECPR’s funding provision with the aim of increasing and improving the value to affiliates and, in turn, their institution. The changes, to be implemented from the financial year 2019–20 onwards, were detailed in last year’s Annual Report. The only change to this provision in 2020–21 was the removal of funding for the Rising Star Award from the Bonus Fund into the central Prizes budget; thus, leaving the full Bonus Fund for Standing Group Research Funds.
Every year we award a significant number of funding grants to students and early career researchers to help them attend our events. In 2020–21, all events continued to be held virtually, so, as in the previous year, the full fund was used to cover fee waivers, once again making ECPR’s virtual events more accessible to those who could not access funding elsewhere. In the period we funded 211 participants to engage with our events. This funding was worth nearly £70k.
We support the development and activities of our Standing Groups and Research Networks by providing funds to enable them to hold training schools, workshops, and conferences, and to help them support the attendance of younger scholars. Funding is available to support internal events managed directly by the Standing Groups and Research Networks, and to allow them to sponsor external events arranged by other parties which align with the thematic topic on which the group is focused. The budget available is nearly €80k (the budget is set in Euros) but, since events continued to be held virtually in 2020–21, we received fewer funding applications. ECPR approved funding worth €25k, and €19k was provided during the period to our groups and networks to support these activities.
## **Our charitable status**
## **Public benefit**
The Executive Committee has a duty to ensure that the activities undertaken by the ECPR fulfil its charitable objectives and provide a public benefit. Our public is the academic institutions which make up our membership and those scholars who study and teach within them. It is also the wider general public, whose lives are influenced by the resulting research. The EC ensures this public benefit is met through the creation and continued
development of a range of activities and initiatives to foster deeper and more productive collaboration between scholars worldwide, with the aim of producing the best quality research. These activities include:
an annual programme of international workshops, conferences and training events designed to develop ongoing research and provide professional and skills-based training to scholars;
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2020–2021
Welcome
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## **Living the ‘New Normal’**
The ECPR’s annual report is an important moment to review our activities over the past year, reflecting on the challenges we’ve faced, and on our achievements. It also provides an opportunity to preview our plans for the coming years. We do this to ensure that we stay relevant, and that we continue to provide you with the services and support you need from your ECPR.
For many of us, 2021 was a year of the ‘new normal’. What began in 2020 as a crisis response requiring short term and sometimes _ad hoc_ measures gradually established itself as operational eh oF \ : j practice for 2021. For all of us in our daily lives, the world remained unpredictable, but people took control where they could and shaped this uncertainty into something new or more normal. In this, >-|set the ECPR was no exception. Despite the pandemic, we reached Our fourth strategic objective is to redouble our efforts in new milestones in connecting people from all over the globe by maintaining and developing our links with you, our members. enabling the collaboration and exchange of knowledge. It has been In last year’s annual report we reported on the efforts we made a busy year, one that allowed us to deliver more events, services, to investigate the views of our members about the ECPR and seminars, workshops and publications to our community than ever its activities. Flowing from that are a number of new initiatives, ‘ 4=, , : ¥ “a™be! ge; ,})\ ] \,‘ before. It has also seen a considerable expansion of our digital and social media offering. For this we thank the wonderful team establishing annual meetings with official representatives of at Harbour House, but most of all we thank you, our members. our member institutions and starting a process of outreach
Our fourth strategic objective is to redouble our efforts in maintaining and developing our links with you, our members. In last year’s annual report we reported on the efforts we made to investigate the views of our members about the ECPR and its activities. Flowing from that are a number of new initiatives, including providing more information about membership benefits, establishing annual meetings with official representatives of our member institutions and starting a process of outreach and engagement with leading national political science organisations to seek areas of potential collaboration.
2021 also saw the election of a new Chair and a fresh cohort of Executive Committee members. We have used this opportunity to set out our strategic priorities for the next three years, as discussed at last year’s Council meeting. There are five key goals. First, we want to place climate change front and centre of our agenda. Covid-19 has shown the potential of online meetings, and we want to continue learning from this. Our Events and Training subcommittees have been tasked with bringing forward proposals to meet the challenges posed by the climate crisis.
Last, but not least, our fifth strategic objective is to review the levels and range of supports that we give to our Standing Groups and Research Networks. These are core groups in our organisation and we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to support them. As set out in our annual report over the past few years, we have extended the financial and operational supports we give to them. Our Events and Finance subcommittees have been tasked with examining existing supports to see what more we can do in this space.
We are developing a new plan on equality, diversity and inclusion, building on, extending and broadening our gender action plan
Second, we are developing a new plan on equality, diversity and inclusion, building on, extending and broadening our existing gender action plan. To that end, a working group has been established, tasked with producing a report for our Executive Committee meeting in the autumn of 2022. Third, we want to prioritise academic freedom, something that is becoming increasingly prominent in our lives as academics and that covers a number of dimensions, including threats to academic freedom from governments and institutions, online threats and attacks on individual academics, and scholars at risk. There are reasonable questions to ask over what we currently do as an Association to respond to this, and what more we might reasonably be expected to do. A working group has been established on this too, which will also be reporting back to the Executive Committee in the autumn of 2022.
We will be reporting back on our progress in implementing these strategic goals in our next annual report.
In the meantime, we are eager to see what 2022 will bring – we hope an end to the pandemic and a new era of cooperation across our membership where we take on the new, and take care of your normal.
## **David Farrell, Chair, ECPR Executive Committee, 2021 – 2024 Tanja Munro, ECPR Director**
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ECPR | Annual Report
2020–2021
2020–2021
**2021 was a year of the ‘New Normal’**
**For all of us in our daily lives, the world remained unpredictable, but people took control where they could and shaped this uncertainty into something new or more normal. In this, the ECPR was no exception.**
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ECPR | Annual Report
ECPR | Annual Report
2020–2021
2020–2021
## **A year in review**
## **Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic**
The global pandemic continues to impact the services we offer, most significantly and visibly our events, which for 2021 all took place virtually. In 2020 we launched our bespoke virtual platform, built in-house, for the General Conference. We continued to use it in 2021, not only to host our General Conference and Joint Sessions of Workshops, but also a number of Standing Group conferences and seminars, and our House Lecture series. We implemented significant improvements to the platform, including new features to enhance networking.
Behind the scenes, our staff continued to work predominantly from home, striving tirelessly to keep up standards and maintain our reputation for delivering high-value services while juggling the challenges that arise from blended home and work environments. During the period we recruited eight new members of staff, who were all interviewed and brought on board remotely. All EC and subcommittee meetings took place virtually, and the planned farewell dinner for the outgoing Executive Committee members, who completed their terms in May 2021, was postponed.
We also invested in learning management system Canvas, which we used successfully as the platform for our Winter and Summer Schools. A number of Standing Groups also used it to host their own summer schools, and it allowed us to soft-launch a Training Academy, with courses taking place outside the Methods School.
However, despite an overall decline in income of 9.5% since the last financial year which completed prior to the pandemic (£1,933,738, down from £2,136,398 in 2018–19), expenditure also decreased significantly, by 16.6% (£1,608,509, down from £1,929,320 in 2018–19). This is because costs for virtual events are considerably lower than for in-person events. Investment gains rose by 47.7% (£88,007, up from £59,588 in 2018–19). ECPR recorded a record surplus of £413,236, making 2020–21 our most successful financial year since we incorporated in 2016. This is a fantastic achievement considering all the difficulties we have faced as an organisation, and means that we will have additional funds to reinvest in the services we offer to the community.
The virtual events proved popular. Including Standing Group events, they attracted over 4,000 participants, and generated more than £900k in income. This does, however, represent a 11.8% drop in income since 2018–19, the last financial year in which all events took place in person, which generated over £1.2m. This drop in income is because General Conference and Joint Sessions fees were significantly lower for the virtual than the in-person events.
## **Membership**
The membership year runs concurrently with our financial year, 1 October–30 September. The highest membership recorded to date was 350 in 2015–16; since then, there has been a general decline in member numbers. In 2020–21 that trend continued and we recorded 308 members compared to 320 in 2019–20. This is a concern for the EC, and we are currently looking at how we might offer more value to our members to restore membership levels.
Our membership comprises more than 300 of the world’s leading academic institutions concerned with teaching and researching political and social science. From this membership stems a network of tens of thousands of individual ‘affiliate’ members across some fifty countries. The activities and services we provide are aimed primarily at these affiliates but, indirectly, they also benefit the affiliate’s institution.
## **Relations with other organisations**
We continue to work closely with a number of scholarly associations operating in the same field of interest , to share best practice and develop joint initiatives to serve the community. These include the American Political Science Association (APSA), International Political Science Association (IPSA), UK Political Studies Association (PSA), British International Studies Association (BISA) and International Studies Association (ISA). Our Standing Group on International Relations also works closely with the
European International Studies Association EISA in the oversight of the _European Journal of International Relations_ .
We are members of the Association for Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Science Council (ISC), with whom we award the Stein Rokkan Prize. We also award an annual prize with the Mattei Dogan Foundation.
## **Events**
- **Methods School** Offers a comprehensive programme of cutting-edge qualitative and quantitative methodological courses organised across two annual events, one in winter and one in summer.
We organise a comprehensive programme of academic and professional events every year. This consists of:
- **Joint Sessions of Workshops** A week-long event comprising around thirty Workshops running concurrently. Participants must present their own research to attend the full Workshop, so these events are incredibly valuable to scholars, and therefore highly competitive.
- In addition to the core programme, a wide variety of other events are organised each year by our **Standing Groups** .
- **House Lecture Series** Inspired by ECPR’s Harbour House headquarters, which provides a literal and metaphorical ‘home’ for the ECPR family, this lecture series seeks to open doors to some of the most pressing issues and challenges in the discipline.
- **General Conference** Follows the traditional format of Sections, Panels and Papers; all subjected to rigorous peer review prior to acceptance. The event has become the largest annual gathering of political scientists in Europe.
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Event or Standing Group / Research Network name Event type Dates
Standing Group on Latin American Politics Seminar Series 6 October 2020 – 29 October 2021
Research Network on Food Policy and Governance Seminar Series 3 November 2020 – 31 July 2022
Standing Group on International Relations Seminar Series 19 November 2020 –
10 December 2021
Standing Group on Knowledge Politics and Policies Conference 23 November 2020
The Resurgence of Nationalism House Lecture 1 December 2020
Standing Group on Political Violence Seminar Series 2 December 2020 – 11 May 2022
Standing Group on Migration and Ethnicity Seminar Series 20 January 2021 – 31 July 2022
How Low Can You Go? House Lecture 2 February 2021
Declining Standards of Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe
Winter School Methods School 15 – 26 March 2021
Standing Group on Kantian Political Thought Seminar Series 30 March 2021 – 31 July 2022
Standing Group on Human Rights and Transitional Justice Seminar Series 31 March – 31 July 2021
Political Science at Risk in Europe: Frailness and the Study of Power House Lecture 6 April 2021
Research Network on Differentiated Integration Seminar Series 13 May 2021 – 31 July 2022
Joint Sessions of Workshops Workshops 17 – 28 May 2021
Standing Group on Organised Crime and (Anti-)Corruption Roundtable Series 19 May – 7 July 2021
Stein Rokkan Lecture – Bridging the East-West Divide House Lecture 25 May 2021
Standing Group on Organised Crime Summer School 7 – 25 June 2021
Standing Group on the European Union Conference 10 – 12 June 2021
Standing Group on Religion and Politics Summer School 21 – 25 June 2021
Standing Group on Concepts and Methods for Research on Far-Right Politics Summer School 28 June – 2 July 2021
Standing Group on Interest Groups: Summer School 30 June – 8 July 2021
Interest Groups and Lobbying in the Policymaking Process
Standing Group on Parliaments Conference 1 – 2 July 2021
Standing Group on Politics and Gender Conference 7 July 2021
Summer School Methods School 2 – 20 August 2021
General Conference Conference 30 August – 3 September 2021
Standing Group on Kantian Political Thought Summer School 27 September – 1 October 2021
Kantian Political Thought Today: Global Challenges
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ECPR | Annual Report
2020–2021
2020–2021
## **Publications**
quantity of its output far exceeding initial expectations. From January – December 2021, The Loop published 218 blogs, by 238 authors (some pieces are multi-authored). Contributors hailed from 38 countries worldwide, and 70% were working or studying at an ECPR Member or Associate Member institution. After attracting 43% female contributors in the launch phase of late 2020, gender split had dropped to 38% by the end of 2021 as a whole. The editors will work to rectify this trend in 2022.
Our publishing programme enables us to share the best new thinking and research across the community and beyond. We publish five journals, a book series and our own imprint, in partnership with leading scholarly publishers, alongside an in-house political science blog. Partnerships allow us to harness the expertise, reach and new technologies of the publisher, while retaining editorial oversight through our appointment of the editorial teams. Our programme consists of: � _European Journal of Political Research (EJPR)_ � _Political Data Yearbook (PDY)_ and _PDY:Interactive_ � _European Political Science Review (EPSR)_ � _European Political Science (EPS)_ � _European Journal of International Relations (EJIR)_ � _Political Research Exchange (PRX)_ � Comparative Politics Book Series � ECPR Press � The Loop
In 2021, The Loop introduced two discrete content strands. The first of these, _Science of Democracy_ , involves blog pieces carrying a 🦋 icon. By the end of 2021, the series had attracted 32 contributions. The second series launch, charting the surge of an ‘Illiberal Wave’ in world politics, is marked with a 🌊 . The Loop aims to instigate at least one more of these branded strands of content in 2022, possibly on a theme connected to populism.
At the General Conference in early September, Production Editor Kate Hawkins delivered a lively presentation entitled _First-Time Blogger_ , encouraging early career scholars to submit to The Loop. The presentation covered writing style and structure, what to expect from The Loop’s editorial and production process, guidance on picture research, and tips for improving a blog’s readership post-publication.
In 2021 we signed a new, three-year contract with Wiley for _EJPR_ and appointed a new editorial team for _EJIR_ through the journal’s Joint Management Committee, comprised of representatives from the European International Studies Association (EISA) and our Standing Group on International Relations. We also took the decision to end our partnership with Rowman & Littlefield for ECPR Press, as of 30 April 2022.
Also at the General Conference, The Loop’s editorial team hosted Meet-the-Editor sessions to discuss Loop submissions with prospective authors. These well-attended sessions were intended in particular for early career scholars, and those who may have been familiar only with dealing with academic journals.
## **The Loop**
In its first calendar year of operation, The Loop developed into a thriving resource for the political science community, with the
## **Standing Groups and Research Networks**
Over 50 thematic research groups operate under the auspices of ECPR, covering the full breadth of the discipline. Each group has its own membership and the opportunity to deliver a range of activities; some are small and provide a forum for networking or sharing of ideas, others are large and organise their own regular events. These groups play a key role in shaping the academic programme of the Joint Sessions and General Conference through an annual allocation of workshops and sections. We support them, practically and financially, to develop their own activities. **Prizes** We offer a broad range of prizes, which recognise service and achievement across the ECPR community. These prizes honour individuals at many stages of their careers, from distinguished senior scholars to exceptional PhD students. 14 ECPR | Annual Report
In 2020–21 we once again redistributed the budget normally used for travel and accommodation for funded event participants and allocated an amount to each SG or RN with an endorsed section in the General Conference. We used the additional funding to offer fee waivers to participants most in need of support to attend, as identified by steering committees and section Chairs. This was well received by all groups, and meant that the number of funded places at the 2021 General Conference was 117, compared to a pre-pandemic number of 29 for the 2019 General Conference.
Over time, the portfolio has grown, so 2021 proved an opportunity for review, to ensure all processes behind how and why the prizes are awarded are fair, rigorous, and transparent; and to ensure our winners receive the publicity and public recognition they deserve.
## **All ECPR prizes awarded 2020 – 2021**
|**Prize**|Awarded for|Winner
~~3~~|
|---|---|---|
|**Cora Maas Award 2021**
**(November 2021)**|**MS course**_Interpretive Research Methods_|**Marie Østergaard Møller**
Aalborg University
~~3~~|
|**Cora Maas Award 2020**
**(award date unknown)**|**MS course**_Ethnographic Field Research Methods_|**Cai Wilkinson**
Deakin University
~~3~~|
|**Dirk Berg-Schlosser Award 2021**
**(November 2021)**|**MS teaching assistant; course**_Qualitative Data Generation_|**Clare McKeown**
University of Stirling
~~3~~|
|**Dirk Berg-Schlosser Award 2020**
**(March 2021)**|**MS teaching assistant; course**_Multilevel Modelling_|**Ameni Mehrez**
Central European University
**Alberto Stefanelli**KU Leuven
~~3~~|
|**Hans Daalder Prize**|_On hold_
~~3~~||
|**Jean Blondel PhD Prize 2021**
**(November 2021)**|**Thesis**_Grievances, Identity, and Political Opportunity: The Effects_
_of Corporate and Liberal Power-Sharing on Ethnic Conflict_|**Andreas Juon**
University College London
~~3~~|
|**Jean Blondel PhD Prize 2020**
**(November 2020)**|**Thesis**_The Politics of Turning Coat: A Comparative_
_and Historical Analysis of Party Switching_|**Elisa Volpi**
University of Geneva
~~3~~|
|**Mattei Dogan Foundation Prize 2021**|_Biennial prize; not awarded in 2021_
~~3~~||
|**Mattei Dogan Foundation Prize 2020**
**(May 2020)**|**Contributions to European Political Sociology**
**in leadership, research, teaching, and other activities**|**Niilo Kauppi**University of Helsinki,
CNRS, Sciences Po Strasbourg
~~3~~|
|**Stein Rokkan Prize 2021**
**(September 2021)**|**Book**_City, State: Constitutionalism and the Megacity_|**Ran Hirschl University of Toronto**
~~3~~|
|**Stein Rokkan Prize 2020**
**(July 2020)**|**Book**_The Wealth Effect: How the Great Expectations of the_
_Middle Class Have Changed the Politics of Banking Crises_|**Jeffrey M. Chwieroth**LSE;**Andrew**
**Walter**University of Melbourne
~~3~~|
|**Rudolf Wildenmann Prize 2021**
**(January 2022)**|**Joint Sessions Paper**_Information and Motivation – How Do_
_Attitudes Towards International Organizations Develop?_|**Paul Meiners**
University of Münster
~~3~~|
|**Rudolf Wildenmann Prize 2020**|_Reduced Joint Sessions programme meant the prize was not awarded in 2020_
~~3~~||
|**Lifetime Achievement Award 2021**|_Biennialprize; not awarded in 2021_
~~3~~||
|**Lifetime Achievement Award 2020**|**Contributions to European Political Science as leader,**
**teacher, and theorist**|**David Miller**University of Oxford
~~3~~|
|**Joni Lovenduski PhD Prize in**
**Gender and Politics 2021 (July 2021)**|**Thesis**_The Politics of Intersectional Practice:_
_Representation, Coalition and Solidarity_|**Ashlee Christoffersen**
Universityof Edinburgh
~~3~~|
|**Joni Lovenduski PhD Prize in**
**Gender and Politics 2020**|_Biennial prize; not awarded in 2021_
~~3~~||
|**Jacqui Briggs EPS Prize 2021**|_Not yet awarded_
~~3~~||
|**Jacqui Briggs Prize 2020**
**(April 2021)**|**Article**_Does Ideological Polarisation Mobilise Citizens?_|**Tuuli-Marja Kleiner**
Thünen Institute of Rural Studies
~~3~~|
|**Hedley Bull Prize in International**
**Relations 2021 (June 2021**|**Book**_The Closure of the International System: How_
_Institutions Create Political Equalities and Hierarchies_|**Lora Anne Viola**
Freie Universität Berlin
~~3~~|
|**Hedley Bull Prize in International**
**Relations 2020 (July 2020)**|**Book**_Anatomies of Revolution_|**George Lawson**
Australian National University
~~3~~|
|**Rising Star Award 2021**
**(January 2022)**|**Early career excellence in publications, research, teaching,**
**service to the profession, and commitment to open science**|**Julia Schulte-Cloos**Ludwig
Maximilian University of Munich
~~3~~|
|**Rising Star Award 2020**
**(November 2020)**||**Veronica Anghel**European University
Institute, Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies
~~3~~|
|**Political Theory Prize 2021**
**(September 2021)**|**Book**_The Privatized State_|**Chiara Cordelli**
University of Chicago
~~3~~|
> ECPR | Annual Report 15
2020–2021
2020–2021
## **Studies and policies**
Regular engagement with our community is vital to ensure we continue to serve a changing membership. This year we worked to improve the representation of women in the discipline, and conducted a survey of our membership
## **Membership survey**
General Conference than the Joint Sessions. We found that female scholars are in greater need of financial support; more in favour of an ECPR that defends gender equality; more open to online meetings and training; and willing to limit their travel. The final variation in response we found was by geography. The geographical region in which respondents work makes a difference. Western Europe and East-Central Europe are not two homogenous blocks, but there are striking variations between them. We found that scholars from EastCentral Europe are more likely to take part in the General Conference before either the Methods School or the Joint Sessions; less likely to participate in events generally; less likely to receive funding from their universities and therefore more in need of financial support; more active on Facebook and less on Twitter; less supportive of an ECPR defending gender equality; and more likely to favour an ECPR that gives access to data and resources, and help for publishing. The full analysis is published at ecpr.eu and was the basis for the online Official Representative (OR) engagement sessions in early 2021. All of which together helped inform strategic discussions.
In late 2020 we asked all scholars interacting with the organisation to complete a survey looking at how and why they engage with ECPR, what they value most, and what more we can do to support them. Younger and early career scholars reported very specific opinions and expectations. They are more likely to attend the General Conference before the Joint Sessions, while students' ‘entry point’ into ECPR is often taking part in a Standing Group summer or winter school. Younger scholars are less likely to participate in ECPR events and those of other associations; more likely to need to develop their methodological skills and therefore to expect methodological training; less likely to be members of one or more Standing Groups; more active on social media, especially on Twitter; in favour of more funding: grants for participation, and funding to support their own research; and more in favour of a more politically active ECPR, defending academic freedom and gender equality. The survey found men and women responded differently to certain questions; partly because female scholars in our sample tended to be younger than the men. The first event women attend is more likely to be the
## **Gender Study and Equality Plan**
54% of the total (compared to less than a third just four years ago); and 47% of our editorial teams are women. The proportions are less impressive across our full publishing programme, however: there is still a 60:40 split in favour of men. We expect recent editorial appointments to improve things in 2022. There are a number of areas where more work is needed. We still need gender balance across all areas in our training portfolio. This is also the case for the peer review process in our publications portfolio (though this needs to take account of the risks of over-burdening women), and in nominations for ECPR’s various prizes. Finally, the EC reached parity for the first time in its history this year, when gender quotas for EC elections were adopted for the 2020–21 process.
In 2021 the Gender Equality Plan came to an end. We reviewed it against the results of the past five Gender Studies. The plan identified areas requiring action to improve gender balance across ECPR activities. Clear targets were set, with action plans to meet them. The pandemic somewhat complicates over-time comparisons (and we will have to allow at least another year to get a true sense of the gendered nature of its impact); nevertheless, signs are promising. For events, the Plan aimed at achieving 50% female Joint Sessions Workshop Directors, and General Conference Section Chairs. We reached and even slightly exceeded that target, in both events. For publications, we have made some more progress in our editorial boards and editorial teams: in the former, women now comprise
## **Monitoring impact**
Our income is derived from three main streams: membership fees, event fees, and publications royalties
In addition to the full academic programme, our networking, social, roundtable and publishing sessions were a major contributor to the increased engagement from participants.
We closely monitor the impact and success of these activities in terms of the benefit they bring to individual scholars and their institutions; the impact they have across the community and in raising the profile of the organisation; and the income they generate. For the purposes of this Annual Report, we employ a number of key performance indicators to monitor year on year.
The Winter and Summer Methods School instalments both took place virtually on our new learning management system.
Launched at the end of last year, the House Lecture series and our Standing Group seminars have been taking place as free events with a variety of speaker formats, and are growing in success, frequency and numbers. We also saw a large increase in our Standing Group Event offering. Conferences on our virtual platform and five SG schools through our learning management system took place over the summer.
## Membership
Participation in our activities is not limited to scholars affiliated with one of our member institutions, but ECPR is a membership association, and a significant portion of our annual income derives from membership fees. We therefore carefully monitor trends in membership renewal and acquisition each year. The past five years have seen a steady fall in overall membership numbers, which is a cause for concern and an issue we are monitoring closely, including through continuing dialogue with our Official Representatives.
## Publications
The mission of our publishing programme is to bring cutting-edge new research and thinking across the political science discipline to the community, providing the very best quality platforms for authors and readers. There are many ways in which we evaluate the impact and health of our individual publications, and the programme as a whole, but, for the purposes of this report, we apply the following indicators:
## Event participation
Attendance at our events is a strong indicator of the popularity and relevance of our programme. Participant numbers fluctuate, particularly for the General Conference, which can experience spikes in number depending on the popularity of the location, and its capacity. Virtual events are quite different and do not have the maximum capacity constraints of physical host institutions. Online events depend more on the number of people willing and able to engage with the technology required to attend. This therefore opens up event attendance up to a new demographic of scholars who may not have been able to attend in-person events.
- the number of article submissions (which shows the popularity of the journal as a publishing destination);
- the rejection rate (which shows the competitiveness / benchmark to be accepted for publication given the quality of the article and the available space within the journal volume).
- The impact factor (a calculation used to determine the value, quality and readership of a journal based on the number of citations its articles received in a given period of time).
The 2021 virtual Joint Sessions and General Conference, delivered through our bespoke platform, proved very popular, with increased participation numbers, and full academic and social programmes.
The virtual Joint Sessions gave Workshop Directors full flexibility in scheduling. This resulted in a record 45 Workshops and over 600 participants, allowing more scholars to attend without compromising the high quality our community has come to expect.
You can find further, contextual information about our publications in the appendix to this Report. Please note that ECPR publications follow the calendar year; and some data were therefore unavailable at the time of going to press.
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2020–2021
## **KPI data tables**
_**Please refer to separate Appendix for headline statistics on all ECPR publications**_
**Key Performance Indicators for Membership numbers, 2016–2022**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22
Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target Actual Target
Membership 345 340 345 338 345 331 345 320 340 308 320
**----- End of picture text -----**
**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**
|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|**Key Performance Indicators for participation numbers at events, 2017–2022**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||2017
**Target**
**Actual**||2018
**Target**
**Actual**||2019
**Target**
**Actual**||2020
**Target**
**Actual**||2021
**Target**
**Actual**||2022
**Target**|
|General Conference|**1,500**|**2,006**|**1,500**|**2,463**|**1,846**|**1,801**|**1,850**|**2,214**|**2,000**|**2,352**|**2,000**|
|Winter School|**350**|**391**|**350**|**399**|**378**|**441**|**400**|**415**|**400**|**484**|**400**|
|Summer School|**250**|**345**|**300**|**348**|**308**|**379**|**350**|**493**|**400**|**384**|**400**|
|Joint Sessions|**400**|**393**|**400**|**460**|**407**|**448**|**425**|**87**|**400**|**628**|**400**|
## **Engaging with our community**
**Key Performance Indicators for book sales, 2016–2021**
|**Key Performance Indicators for book sales, 2016–2021**|**Key Performance Indicators for book sales, 2016–2021**|**Key Performance Indicators for book sales, 2016–2021**|**Key Performance Indicators for book sales, 2016–2021**|**Key Performance Indicators for book sales, 2016–2021**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||ECPR Press||Oxford University Press Comparative Politics Series||
||**New titles published**|**Units sold**|**New titles published**|**Units sold**|
|2016|**25**|**4500**|**3**|**1143**|
|2017|**9**|**3820**|**3**|**1276**|
|2018|**17**|**4257**|**4**|**1548**|
|2019|**11**|**2763**|**2**|**931**|
|2020*|**7**||**4**|**840**|
Our mission and membership model means we exist to serve the individual but must work closely with their institutions, too. We cater across all career stages, geographical regions and thematic sub-fields, engaging with different sections of our community throughout the year in a number of different ways
**Key Performance Indicators for journal publishing, 2016–2021**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
European Journal of
Political Research European Political European Political European Journal of Political Research
(including PDY ) Science Science Review International Relations Exchange
2016 361 82.3% 2.891 86 41.86% 1.292 152 68% 1.722 381 90% 2.277
2017 406 64.2% 3.576 77 60% 0.806 199 73% 1.755 375 89% 2.545
2018 415 88.3% 3.066 100 59% 1.141 176 73% 1.545 365 90% 2.756 27 59%
2019 433 95.6% 2.83 86 47.67% 1.429 197 74% 2.327 391 87% 43 44%
2020* 519 90% 110 45.74% 230 83% 87 66%
Total submissions Rejection rate Impact Factor Total submissions Rejection rate Impact Factor Total submissions Rejection rate Impact Factor Total submissions Rejection rate Impact Factor Total submissions Rejection rate Impact Factor
**----- End of picture text -----**
*2020 data is provisional, because not all manuscripts have completed the peer review process. The 2019 figures have been updated to reflect decisions taken after submission of data to the previous report
## **Digital engagement**
At grass roots we have a very large community of individuals who engage with ECPR through social media, the website and email marketing. Over the past two years this form of engagement has become even more important as opportunities to engage face to face have declined. Alongside the online event offering we developed as a response to the pandemic, we have grown our digital content during 2021, for example through prize-winner videos, recorded seminars
and lectures via our podcast channels, and enhanced email communications. This has led to an increase in followers and subscribers across all of our social media platforms and mailing lists.
## **Event participants**
Attendance at one of our events is the foremost way in which people interact with the organisation, and often constitutes their first introduction to ECPR. In 2021 we built on the infrastructure we developed in the previous year
to deliver a range of new event formats to support our community. As a result, we were delighted to welcome even more scholars than ever to engage with the organisation.
The development of new-format events and the functionality of our digital platform has provided opportunities to enhance the user’s experience and highlight other ECPR benefits and services to those from member and non-member institutions; and from across all corners of the community.
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2020–2021
## **Standing Groups and Research Networks – members**
Each Standing Group and Research Network has its own members who can communicate directly via a messaging system built into the ECPR website, via their social media channels, and during activities and events. This enables groups and networks to share information about their activities with the aim of developing and growing their membership. It also increases their visibility within the community. Across ECPR’s 57 groups and networks there are around 4,000 individuals (from ECPR member and nonmember institutions) who are interacting with the organisation at this level.
## **Standing Groups and Research Networks – Steering Committees**
Each of our Standing Groups and Research Networks appoints a Steering Committee to run the group for a period of time. The size of these committees can vary, but across 57 groups, it constitutes a large community of scholars engaged in a leadership and strategic function for the organisation. Since 2018 we have held an annual two-day Groups and Networks
Retreat at our Colchester headquarters, Harbour House, to which we invite representatives from across these groups. In 2021 we again held this event virtually, but it still provided a valuable opportunity to discuss key issues affecting the organisation, the discipline, and the work of our groups.
## **Affiliates**
A large part of our community comprises individuals affiliated to a member institution and who can therefore receive the benefits of membership. This number currently sits at c.11,000. Regular and positive engagement with this group is essential to understanding how ECPR can continue to meet the needs of our community, and how we can retain and grow our membership.
## **Official Representatives**
Each member institution appoints an Official Representative (OR) to act as the main point of contact with ECPR and to form part of the Council. The OR’s role is critical in ensuring continuation of membership each year, because they are often the main advocate for membership at their institution. While we currently communicate regularly with our ORs to
keep them abreast of key information about the organisation and invite them to the annual Council meeting (held virtually in 2021) we have launched a new engagement project, with the aim of building closer working relationships with these important stakeholders.
## **Editors and publishers**
The editorial teams for our publications are appointed from the membership community. These scholars play a key role in shaping the content and output of our journals and book series and, in turn, shaping the conversation across the discipline more generally.
We work closely with these scholars throughout the year, and every spring since 2015 we have invited them to Harbour House for a two-day Publications Retreat. In 2021 this event took place online. The Retreat is an opportunity for the full editorial team from each publication to meet one another – as well as the editorial assistant and publisher – to review the progress of the past year, and plan for the year to come.
Each team also presents their annual report to the EC, who use this as an opportunity to discuss key contractual or financial issues with the publishers.
## **The environment around us**
## **Brexit**
the number of OA articles published in ECPR journals alone. While we remain supportive of the principles of Open Access, concern still remains that the shift to an ‘author pays’ model brings with it unintended barriers to publication for those without access to funds. We therefore continue to work closely with our publishing partners and members to navigate the best path forward.
Ever since the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, the potential impact of this on the organisation has been a key concern, particularly with regard to VAT; increased travel costs; availability of funding; the impact on Data Protection regulations; and the impact on exchange rates. So far, none of these concerns have been realised. However, after two years during which most of our events have been held virtually, it may be that we have not yet felt the impact of any changes in regulations. The EC continues to monitor the situation and has contingency plans in place should any problem arise.
## **Climate change**
Large-scale events attracting global participation can have a detrimental effect on the environment. ECPR had been considering the effects of climate change and ways to reduce our carbon footprint even before the pandemic. As a first step, we took the decision not to produce print programmes and Annual Reports, and have subsequently decided to extend this to include our own working documents at Harbour House and for our EC.
## **Academic freedom**
When ECPR was founded, it was on the principle that all member institutions should be politically free. As democracy grew across Europe, so did our membership. Recent years, however, have seen a resurgence in authoritarianism, prompting the EC to examine the impact of potential restrictions to academic freedom on our members and their work. The current EC has identified this as one of its three areas of focus for 2022, and has established a working group to consider further what ECPR can do to support its community of scholars.
Meeting the needs of our academic community while reducing the overall impact on the planet is now one of our five strategic initiatives as an organisation, and a standing item in our event and training portfolios.
impact on the planet is now one of locations. We will aim to ensure that staff our five strategic initiatives as an attending an event will use sustainable organisation, and a standing item in our forms of transport such as trains and will event and training portfolios. only travel by air when it is unavoidable. Finally, we are planning to deliver Having delivered a full year of virtual in-person elements of future events as events, we plan to continue to offer sustainably as possible. We will also virtual elements where possible when be checking the green credentials of planning next year’s events, allowing institutions applying to host an ECPR participants from farther afield to attend event, considering initiatives around virtually without contributing to high elements such as catering, to ensure carbon emissions from air travel. We are that these requirements can be sourced also actively promoting more sustainable locally and sustainably. We are currently means of travel to our events, as well looking forward to our first ‘green’ as favouring hosts in more accessible General Conference, in Innsbruck.
## **The publishing landscape**
The Open Access movement in Europe continues to gather pace. The past year alone has seen a rapid increase in
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ECPR | Annual Report
**w**
2020–2021
2020–2021
## **Operating responsibly**
## **Supporting our volunteers**
## **Procurement and sustainability**
own personal situations. Staff required to work additional hours at times of high workload can accrue time off in lieu, in addition to the standard 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
Volunteers are defined as people who conduct work on behalf of ECPR without financial reward; currently, we define members of Steering Committees of ECPR’s Standing Groups and Research Networks and Associate Editors of the PRX journal as volunteers. We recognise the contribution of this group to meeting the mission of the organisation and aim to support them in a number of ways, including opportunities to meet with staff and trustees, and offering advice and training.
We have adopted a Procurement Policy which seeks to balance the need to protect the resources of ECPR by achieving value for money, with factors such as sustainability and supplier values. The policy seeks to achieve this by requiring any Trustee, volunteer or member of staff considering a purchase to evaluate the following criteria: price of product; quality of product; ability of the product to fulfil the charity’s need; supplier’s reputation, range of products, service, delivery ability and sustainability principles.
Homeworking has always been an option for staff in certain circumstances, but the pandemic has proven that staff are able and capable of working from home on a regular basis, with minimal disruption to our operations. Going forward, we will adopt a more flexible approach to homeworking, allowing staff to choose whether they wish to work from home or the office, to allow them to better manage their commitments outside of work.
We have developed a number of policies to help support and protect staff who are working away from the office, and the organisation reimburses all necessary costs incurred whilst travelling for work purposes. We provide a defined contribution pension scheme for all employees, to which ECPR doubles any contribution made by staff, up to 16% of salary. We also provide staff with a benefits package that includes shopping discounts; reduced train tickets; spreading the cost of technology, childcare and vehicles; access to over a thousand e-learning modules and courses; free coffee and movies; and discounts on gym memberships.
## **Complaints Handling Policy** ~~eS~~
For large purchases or long-term supplies, we seek formal quotes and tenders from at least two competitors. Quotes made by charities or other notfor-profit organisations, and those local to our headquarters or event host (as appropriate), are considered favourably.
We work hard to ensure that we always deliver the best service to our members and affiliates; to support this effort we have developed a complaints policy to allow us to receive, review and take action on any concerns raised. Complaints can be made in person, over the phone or via a dedicated confidential email address: **complaints@ecpr.eu** . Once received, complaints are processed by our Management Group or Director. We have also published a **Code of Conduct** on our website, revised in March 2021, which explains explicitly to our community what we consider to be appropriate conduct.
## **Risk management**
We regularly evaluate the risks facing the organisation through the Risk Register, which then informs the degree of reserves required to sustain the business in the event of one or more of these factors materialising.
We are also committed to maintaining the good mental health of our staff. We have trained Mental Health First Aiders and, through our staff benefits package, we provide access to a free counselling service. We have also introduced a daily no-contact hour, which gives staff a period of time every day where they can choose to relax and switch off from their work, and, if they choose to, take some exercise or spend some time with their families.
The ECPR Press contract has been terminated with Rowman & Littlefield and we are in ongoing negotiations with them regarding the future of the imprint. Sustained loss of surplus for events is also a new risk as we consider the potential impact of hybrid events and the significantly higher costs that may be involved with this type of event, without necessarily increasing income. Brexit is an ever-changing
## **Staff wellbeing**
Our staff at the Colchester headquarters work hard to deliver an extensive range of benefits and services to a large community of scholars across the world. All staff benefit from flexible working, so they can work the hours that suit their
situation, and the pandemic may mean that we may have not yet felt its true impact. But we continue to monitor the situation, and have contingency plans in place. Exchange rate volatility remains unchanged, and it does not seem likely that it will have a significant impact in the short-term future. The risk of loss of members also remains unchanged. While the EC is responsible for adopting the annual budget, and for ensuring that the accounts are properly audited, day-to-day management of our income and expenditure lies with the operational staff, and specifically, our Finance Department and Management Group, with regular oversight by the Chair of the Finance Subcommittee.
## **Reserves policy**
ECPR aims to maintain reserves equivalent to the risks identified in the Risk Register. At the end of the 2020–21 year, Net Reserves were £1.7m. The Risk Register as at February 2022 identified a Net Reserves Goal of £1.6m, so the reserves held were at 109% of target.
Current principal ongoing or ‘standing’ risks faced by ECPR
|**Risk**
~~f~~|**Contract for**
**the ECPR Press**
**terminating**
~~f~~|**Sustained loss of**
**surplus from events**
~~f~~|**Brexit – VAT**|**Exchange rate volatility**|**Loss of members**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Impact**
~~f~~|**Publishing is coming**
**back in-house;**
**purchase of the titles**
**is under negotiation**
~~f~~|**Increased costs for hybrid**
**events resulting in loss of**
**surplus across all events**
~~f~~|**Risk of having to seek**
**re-clarification of our**
**VAT position in EU**
**countries; increased**
**VAT costs for countries**
**that were exempt**|**GBP value increasing**
**against Euro increases**
**post-Brexit**|**Reduction in**
**subscription income**|
|**Mitigation**
~~f~~|**We are seeking**
**legal advice**
~~f~~|**Making careful decisions**
**about which events are**
**held as true hybrid events**
**in the wider context of all**
**events’ income and costs**
~~f~~|**Evaluation of**
**possible impact and**
**identification of**
**mitigating actions**|**Monitoring and**
**potentially sourcing**
**as much in the UK as**
**possible if costs do rise**
**due to declining GBP**|**A membership**
**retention strategy**
**is in development**|
|**Net risk**
**rating**
~~f~~|**Likely**
~~f~~|**Medium**
~~f~~|**Minimal**|**Minimal**|**Minimal**|
ECPR | Annual Report
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ECPR | Annual Report
2020–2021 ~~=~~
2020–2021
## **Financial review**
## **Income**
## _**EJPR**_ **income** increased slightly by 6.3%, from £297k to £315k.
_**EPS**_ **income** declined by 50.8% to £39k. The 2019–20 figure was unusually high, showing an increase of 51.2% to £80k compared to the prior year. The figure recorded in the 2020– 21 accounts is therefore a more accurate reflection of income from this activity.
**Our four primary income streams are:**
� Registration income from the annual General Conference
� Membership subscriptions
� Publications income, of which the majority is produced by the _European Journal of Political Research_ � Methods School registration income
_**EPSR**_ **income** decreased by 19.9% to £34k. As with _EPS,_ the prior year accounts recorded an increase in income of 19.4% to £41k, so the figure recorded in the 2020–21 accounts reflects a return to expected levels of income.
Overall income in 2020–21 increased by 4.2%, from £1.86m in 2019–20 to £1.93m.
Income from publications remained stable at £438k compared to £439k in the prior period.
_**EJIR**_ **income** increased by 32.6% to £24k. The 2019–20 accounts recorded a drop in income of 13.9% to £18k, so this reflects a recovery in the anticipated income.
## **Broken down across our portfolio of journals and book series:**
**ECPR Press** income increased by 250% from a deficit of £7k to £11k. This reflects a return to expected levels of income.
_**PRX**_ **recorded income** increased by 29.1% to £13k. The prior year accounts recorded a drop of 33.2% to £10k, so this reflects a recovery in anticipated income.
Income
**Joint Sessions Investment income income £61,250 £13,407 3% 1%**
## summary
_Breakdown of income received in 2020–2021_
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Donations
£299
Conference Publications 0%
Other event income income £438,094
£38,753 £268,529 23%
2% 14%
**----- End of picture text -----**
## Income compared to prior year
_Variance 2020–2021 income against previous year_
**----- Start of picture text -----**
600K
500K
400K
300K
200K
100K
0K
Donations Membership Publications Conference Other event Methods Joint Sessions Investment
subscriptions income income School of Workshops income
£589,106
£579,646 £573,745
£533,760
£438,094 £439,685
£268,529
£228,054
£61,250
£38,753
£299 £2,316 £7,088 £0 £13,407 £15,360
**----- End of picture text -----**
**Current year income**
**Prior year income**
## **Event income increased to £902k in 2020-21, up from £809k in 2019-20.**
by 20.1%, from £308k to £247k. There was a rise of 69 in Winter School participants. This increased Winter School income by 8.5%, from £265k to £287k.
**General Conference** income increased by 17.7% to £269k from £228k. This was due to a rise in participant numbers from 2,214 in the prior year to 2,352 in the current year.
**Other event** income, which includes income from Standing Group events, increased by 446.7% to £39k, having dropped in 2019–20, by 74.6% to £7k. This was as a result of most events being cancelled or postponed because of the pandemic. There was an increase in the number of virtual events which took place in 2020–21.
**Joint Sessions** income increased by 100% to £61k because no fees were charged for attendance at the virtual event in 2019–20 but fees were reintroduced in 2020–21.
**Membership subscription** income reduced slightly, by 1.6%, from £589k to £580k.
**Methods School** income dropped by 7% from £574k to £534k, having risen by 7.6% in the prior year. This was caused by a decline of 109 in participants at the Summer School, which resulted in Summer School income dropping
**Investment** income declined by 12.7%, from £15k to £13k.
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ECPR | Annual Report
ECPR | Annual Report
2020–2021 ~~a~~
2020–2021
## **Expenditure**
**Overall expenditure decreased by 9.4% in the period, from £1.8m to £1.6m.**
in-house. The increase in staff meant that more support costs were allocated.
: **Support costs** remined stable at £868k for 2020–21 compared to £867k for 2019–20. Office costs decreased by 27.1%, from £409k to £298k, but staffing costs rose by 24.4%, from £459k to £570k. Included in office costs were governance costs of £27k, which was a decrease of 39.6% from £45k compared to the prior year, because in the early part of the prior year, some EC members travelled before the pandemic caused all meetings and events to migrate online. Support costs are reallocated to our charitable activities based on the % of charitable expenditure the activity generated.
**Conference expenditure** remained stable, decreasing slightly by 1.6%, from £95k to £94k.
## **Other events and Standing Groups and Research**
**Networks expenditure** decreased by 52.8%, from £268k to £126k. This was mainly due to lower staffing costs, which led to a decrease in support costs allocated.
**Methods School expenditure** decreased by 14.5%, from £922k to £789k. We saved £70k because in 2020 the Winter School took place in-person but by 2021 it had migrated to a virtual event. We saved £25k in course set-up fees, which had been paid in the prior financial year to help get the online courses ready to deliver. These savings meant that there were fewer support costs allocated to the current year’s activity.
**Expenditure on raising funds** (membership subscriptions) increased by 64.5% from £46k to £76k. This was due mainly to an increase in staffing costs, which also led to an increase in support costs allocated.
**Expenditure on publications** increased by 26.9%, from £381k to £483k. This was caused by an increase in staffing costs which was partly offset by bringing editorial support roles
**Joint Sessions expenditure** decreased by 35.1%, from £63k to £41k. We saved £3k on VAT costs and £6k on staffing costs, meaning that fewer support costs were allocated.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Joint Sessions
Expenditure summary of Workshops Membership
£40,653 subscriptions
Breakdown of charitable expenditure 2% £75,972
2020–2021 5%
**----- End of picture text -----**
## Expenditure compared to prior year
**----- Start of picture text -----**
900K
800K
700K
600K
500K
400K
300K
200K
100K
0K
Membership Publications Conference Other events, Methods School Joint Sessions
subscriptions expenditure including Standing of Workshops
Groups
£921,829
£788,831
£482,778
£380,566
£126,315
£93,960 £95,460
£75,972 £267,950 £62,633
£46,175 £40,653
**----- End of picture text -----**
**Current year expenditure Prior year expenditure**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Other
events,
including
Standing
Groups Conference
£126,315 expenditure
8% £93,960
6%
**----- End of picture text -----**
ECPR | Annual Report
**----- Start of picture text -----**
7
ECPR | Annual ReportECPR | Annual Report , “ Te 27 4k
**----- End of picture text -----**
26
2020–2021
## 2020–2021 **Surplus and deficit** ne
**Surplus generated by the investments portfolio** rose by 383.6%, to £101k from £21k.
**Surplus from donations** was down 87.1%, from £2k to £300. Donations were higher in the prior year because money was pledged to our 50[th] Anniversary Fund, including three Joint Sessions registration fees, which could not be refunded.
## **Investment policy and performance**
**Surplus from subscriptions** decreased by 7.2%, from £543k to £504k.
When we make a surplus, we use this money to build reserves which can be called upon to keep the organisation functioning should it meet any of the risks highlighted by our Risk Register.
**Publications** recorded a deficit in the period of £45k, compared with a surplus of £59k in the prior period. This represents a decline of 175.6%.
Some of our reserves are held in an investment portfolio. After a review by the EC in 2017, we decided that our managed fund was not bringing us value for money, so we transferred the £855k to Vanguard Investments UK Limited, split 50/50 across two funds: Vanguard Lifestrategy 40% Equity Fund and Vanguard Lifestrategy 60% Equity Fund. These index-tracking funds tend to be less volatile than active funds, and attract lower management costs, at 0.24%.
**Surplus for conferences** increased by 31.7%, from £133k to £175k.
Deficit made by **Other Events and Standing Groups** decreased by 66.4%, from £261k to £88k.
Deficit made by the **Methods School** decreased by 26.8%, from £348k to £255k.
By the end of the 2020/21 financial year, our total investment portfolio was valued at £1.1m compared to £976k in 2019–20. This represents a rise of 10.2%, with a gain on the valuation of the portfolio of £88k, and a dividend accumulated of £12k.
**Joint Sessions** recorded a surplus of £21k compared with a deficit of £63k in the prior period. This represents an increase of 132.9%.
## Surplus for all activities
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Current year surplus and deficit Prior year surplus and deficit
600K
500K
400K
300K
200K
100K
0K
-100K
-200K
-300K
-400K Donations Membership Publications Conferences Other events, Methods School Joint Investments
subscriptions including Sessions of
Standing Workshops
Groups
£542,931
£503,674
£132,594
£101,414
£59,119
£299 £2,316 £174,569 £20,597 £20,969
-£255,071 -£348,084
-£44,684
-£62,633
-£87,562 -£260,862
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Structure, governance, and management**
The activities of ECPR are divided into five portfolios of work, each with an associated Subcommittee comprising two to three members of the EC, plus the Chair and Vice Chair. The Director, related Manager and their staff work with the Subcommittees day-to-day to operationalise EC decisions. Subcommittees have decision-making authority delegated to them via a Scheme of Delegation, and bring key items to the EC in plenary for decision and strategic discussion.
## Organisation and control
We are governed by our board of Trustees, the EC, with dayto-day operational management delegated to the Director and Management Group. The EC is responsible for ensuring ECPR acts solely to further its charitable objects. It reports to Council, which is made up of Official Representatives from member institutions.
## **Staff at Harbour House in Colchester**
Employed 1 October 2020 – 30 September 2021
## **Director**
**Bridie Gaynor** Events **Sean Judge** Coordinator _From March 2021_ Finance Apprentice **Órlaith Donnelly** Events _From September 2021_ Coordinator _From April 2021_ **Fatima Syed Operations** Junior Events Coordinator _From September 2021_ **Savanna Allum Kim Jesney** Events Assistant _From September 2021_
## **Helen Cooper**
**Sean Judge** Finance Apprentice _From September 2021_
Communications Officer **Kate Hawkins** Marketing & Communications Officer **Olga Dovzhanchuk** Events Marketing Coordinator **Rebecca Delve** Communications Assistant
**Tanja Munro**
## **Management**
**Kim Jesney** Administrator
**Rebecca Gethen** Events Assistant Communications Manager **Events** _From September 2021_ **IT and Website Mark Kench** IT Manager **Helen Morgan Finance** Finance Manager **Nirusha Vigi** Manager **Mark Kench** Manager **Nirusha Vigi** Events Manager **Anna Foley James Freke** Developer Events Coordinator **Helen Morgan** Manager _Until December 2020_ **Communications** _Until August 2021_ **Bianca Taylor James Gooch** Developer **Marcia Taylor** Events Senior Finance Assistant _From February 2021_ Coordinator _Until January 2021_ **Shaun Klotia-Clottey Antoni Christodoulou Rebecca Gethen** Manager **Diane Towler** Sales & Purchase Junior Web Developer **Mary Cenci** Editorial Assistant Events Coordinator Ledger Assistant **Richard Lay-Flurrie Kaez Condon** Publishing and _Until November 2020_ **Darran Harrington-Keeton** Junior Web Developer Communications Coordinator **Alexandra Turner** Data Analyst **Colin McPhie** _From June 2021_ Events Assistant _From September 2021_ Systems Administrator
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## **Trustees 2021 – 2024**
**David Farrell, Chair** Full Professor of Politics, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin
**Petra Meier, Vice Chair** _Awards, Prizes, and Funding Decisions Subcommittee;_ Professor of Politics, University of Antwerp
a Representation, elections and parties, constitutional deliberation.
7 Gender politics and policies; democracy and representation; electoral inclusiveness; inequality in multi-level systems.
**Ladislav Cabada** Vice-Rector for Research, Quality and Development, Metropolitan University Prague
## **Giliberto Capano** _Publications_
_Subcommittee_ ; Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Bologna
7 Regionalism and development studies in Central and South-Eastern Europe.
7 Comparative higher education policy, policy design and policy instruments, and the role of agents in public policy.
**Christian Haerpfer** Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Vienna
**Daniela Irrera** Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations, University of Catania
" Europe (Central and Eastern), Comparative Politics, Democracy, Political Participation, Electoral Behaviour, Public Opinion, Survey Research.
7 Positive and negative action and influence on global politics by non-state actors.
**Hana Kubátová** _Events and Finance Subcommittees;_ Head of the VITRI Research Centre, Charles University in Prague Majority-minority relations, identity & construction, politics of memory and microdynamics of (ethnic) violence).
**Gianluca Passarelli** Professor of Political Science and Comparative Politics, Sapienza University of Rome
Electoral systems’ influence on voting behaviour; presidential political parties.
**Thomas Saalfeld** _Organisation and Training Subcomittees_ ; Professor of Comparative Politics and Vice President for Research, University of Bamberg
**Anne Rasmussen** Professor of Political Science, University of Copenhagen
Representation, (inequality in) political representation, public opinion, political parties, and public policy.
Legislative behaviour, legislative organisation, parliamentary accountability.
> [=] **Sabine Saurugger** _Training and Events Subcommittees;_ Professor of Political Science, Director, Sciences Po Grenoble
**Amy Verdun** Full Professor, University of Victoria, British Columbia
European integration widely defined: political economy, policy, governance, integration theories, comparative politics.
: Public policy, comparative politics, interest groups, European integration, European public policies and the politics of law.
**Retired; served May 2018 – April 2021**
**Petri Koikkalainen** University of Lapland **Maurizio Carbone** University of Glasgow **Anna Sroka** University of Warsaw **Reuven Hazan** Hebrew University of Jerusalem
**Kris Deschouwer** Vrije Universiteit Brussel **Mary Farrell** University of Plymouth
## **Administrative information**
**Website Bankers Investment Principal Office Managers** Harbour House https://ecpr.eu/ Bank of Scotland 6–8 Hythe Quay Teviot House Vanguard Investments Colchester **Auditors** South Gayle Crescent UK Limited Essex CO2 8JF Edinburgh EH12 9DR PO Box 10315 ~~a~~ Chelmsford **Registered Charity** Scrutton Bland LLP **Solicitors** Essex CM99 2AT Chartered Accountants **Number** 820 The Crescent ~~|~~ Colchester Business Park Birkett Long LLP 1167403 CIO – Charitable Colchester Faviell House, 1 Coval Wells Incorporated Organisation Essex CO4 9YQ Chelmsford Essex CM1 1WZ
## **Key management remuneration**
cover their absence while they are serving their term of office.
All Executive Committee members give their time freely. No remuneration was paid to them during the year. Trustees are
reimbursed travelling and subsistence expenses when working away on ECPR business. Accommodation is usually organised and paid for by ECPR. The Chair’s institution is provided with financial support to
No remuneration is made to serving EC members or volunteers of ECPR, without the express approval of the EC and in line with the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ regulations.
## **Staff Remuneration Policy**
## **As a UK registered charity, the ECPR seeks to ensure that:**
there is transparency in all aspects of our operations.
staff are paid fairly, in line with local market rates, appropriately for their level of responsibility and in line with the pay of colleagues who perform similar tasks;
To achieve the above goals, we must balance the need to ensure value for money when expending the Charity’s resources with the need to recruit and retain the best people for the job.
The EC is responsible for setting management pay, including that of the Director, usually by delegation to the Management Subcommittee; the EC is also responsible for the recruitment and appointment of the Director. Staff are awarded an annual cost of living pay increase, which is also approved by the EC.
staff salaries are awarded based on skills and experience
and are free from discrimination;
- we comply with our obligation to expend our incoming resources responsibly;
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## **Conflicts of Interest Policy**
**ECPR Trustees have a legal duty to ensure they always act in ECPR’s best interest when making decisions. It is a legal requirement that Trustees report a potential conflict of interest as soon as it arises. A conflict of interest would arise if:** a Trustee could benefit financially from a decision . over which they have influence, whether directly or indirectly through a personal connection;
a Trustee’s loyalty to the ECPR conflicted with a duty or loyalty to another organisation or person.
## **Conflicts of interest are common in charities, so we adopted practices aimed at reducing the risk of / to:**
making decisions that could be overturned;
ECPR’s reputation;
Trustees having to repay ECPR for unauthorised payments.
## **ECPR has adopted the following practices to safeguard against the above risks occurring:**
clauses 7.8 and 8 of the **ECPR Constitution** ;
implementation of a Register of Interests, which is updated annually with appropriate procedures for managing conflicts.
Where Trustees delegate their decision-making powers to staff members under the terms of the organisation’s Scheme of Delegation, those staff are also expected to declare any potential conflict of interest and absent themselves from any discussions.
## Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements
**As a group of Trustees, the EC is responsible for preparing its Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).**
assets of the Charity and hence, for taking reasonable steps for
the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
## **In so far as the EC is aware:**
there is no relevant audit information of which the Charity’s auditor is unaware;
The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the EC to prepare financial statements for each financial year that give a true and fair view of the Charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the Charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
it has taken all steps that it ought to have taken to make itself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
The EC is responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the Charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue to operate.
The EC is responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of ECPR’s Constitution. It is also responsible for safeguarding the
**On behalf of the Executive Committee** 14 March 2022
**On behalf of the Executive Committee** 14 March 2022
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# **Independent Auditor’s Report**
**Scrutton Bland LLP, Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor**
## **Opinion**
## **Basis for opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of the European Consortium for Political Research (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 30 September 2021 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.
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 charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
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).
## **Conclusions relating to going concern**
## **In our opinion, the financial statements:**
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
give a true and fair view of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 30 September 2021, and of its incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended;
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 entity’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.
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.
Our responsibilities and the Trustees responsibilities with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## ~~——_——_~~ **Other information**
The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the financial statements 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. In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
the information given in the Report of the Executive Committee is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements; or
sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
## **Responsibilities of Trustees**
As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement, 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 charity’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 charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of 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 identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our general commercial and sector experience, through discussion with the Finance Manager (as required by auditing standards) and senior management, inspection of the Charity’s regulatory and legal correspondence and we have discussed with the Finance Manager the policies and procedures regarding compliance with laws and regulations. We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of noncompliance throughout the audit. The potential effect of these laws and regulations on the financial statements varies considerably.
Firstly, the Charity is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the financial statements, including financial reporting legislation and taxation legislation, and we assessed the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items.
Secondly, the Charity is subject to many other laws and regulations where the consequences of non-compliance could have a material effect on amounts or disclosures in the financial statements; for instance, through the imposition of fines or litigation. We identified the following areas as those most likely to have such an effect: compliance with the requirements of The Charity Commission,
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health and safety, corporate governance, including safeguarding and wellbeing, human rights and employment law, anti-bribery and corruption, and GDPR. Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Governors and other management, and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.
Audit procedures undertaken in response to the potential risks relating to irregularities (which include fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations) comprised of: enquiries of management and those charged with governance as to whether the Charity complies with such regulations, enquiries of management and those charged with governance concerning any actual or potential litigation or claims, inspection of any relevant legal documentation, review of board minutes, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and the performance of analytical review to identify any unexpected movements in account balances which may be indicative of fraud.
No instances of material non-compliance were identified.
There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Irregularities that result from fraud might be inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error. As explained above, there is an unavoidable risk that material misstatements may not be detected, even though the audit has been planned and performed in accordance with ISAs (UK).
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is on the **Financial Reporting Council’s website** . This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the charity’s Executive Committee, as a body, in accordance with Section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and with regulations made under Section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s Executive Committee 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 charity and the charity’s Executive Committee as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
## **Signature and approval**
**14 March 2022, Timothy O’Connor (Senior Statutory Auditor)** Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor, 820 The Crescent, Colchester Business Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 9YQ _Scrutton Bland LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006_
## Statement of financial activities
## **Year ended 30 September 2021**
## **Note** 2021 £ **2020 £** ~~a~~
The notes on pages 40–45 form part of these financial statements
|The notes on pages 40–45 form part of these financial statements
~~a~~|~~a~~|~~a~~|~~a~~|
|---|---|---|---|
|~~a~~|**Note**
~~a~~|2021 £
~~a~~|**2020 £**
~~a~~|
|**Income from**||||
|Donations||**299**|2,316|
|Charitable activities|2|**1,340,386**|1,248,572|
|Subscriptions from members|3|**579,646**|589,106|
|Investments|4|**13,407**|15,360|
|**Total income**||1,933,738|1,855,354|
|||||
|**Expenditure on**||||
|Raising funds|6|**75,972**|46,175|
|Charitable activities|7|**1,532,537**|1,728,438|
|**Total expenditure**||1,608,509|1,774,613|
|||||
|Realised and unrealised investment gains||**88,007**|5,609|
|**Net income and net movement in funds for the year**||**413,236**|86,350|
|Reconciliation of funds||||
|Total funds brought forward||**2,820,857**|2,734,507|
|**Total funds carried forward**||3,234,093|2,820,857|
**Continuing operations Total recognised gains and losses** All incoming resources and resources The statement of financial activities expended derive from continuing activities. includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
## **Funds**
All of the income, expenditure and gains for the last two financial periods relate to unrestricted funds.
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2020–2021
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## Statement of cashflows
## Period ended 30 September 2021
The notes on pages 40–45 form part of these financial statements
|Balance sheet
gy
Pr:
||Pr:|**Note**
2021 £
**2020 £**
**Cash flows from operating activities**
Net income for the year
**413,236**
86,350
**_Adjusted for_**
Depreciation of tangible assets
**16,039**
14,460
Unrealised investment gain
**(88,007)**
(5,609)
Dividend accumulated in fund
**(11,830)**
(14,815)
~~a eee~~|**Note**
2021 £
**2020 £**
**Cash flows from operating activities**
Net income for the year
**413,236**
86,350
**_Adjusted for_**
Depreciation of tangible assets
**16,039**
14,460
Unrealised investment gain
**(88,007)**
(5,609)
Dividend accumulated in fund
**(11,830)**
(14,815)
~~a eee~~|
|---|---|---|---|
|||Interest received
**(1,573)**|(538)|
|As at 30 September 2021
The notes on pages 40–45 form part of these financial statements
**Note**
2021 £
**2020 £**
**Fixed assets**
Tangible assets
11
**423,150**
405,348
Investments
12
**1,075,729**
975,892
**1,498,879**
1,381,240
**Current assets**
Debtors
13
**324,200**
415,699
Cash and cash equivalents
14
**2,214,585**
1,900,487
**2,538,785**
2,316,186
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
15
**(803,571)**
(876,569)
Net current assets
**1,735,214**
1,439,617
Other investment income
**(–)**
(7)
(Increase) / decrease in debtors
**91,499**
(20,026)
(Decrease) in creditors
**(72,998)**
(11,446)
**Net cash generated from operating activities**
346,366
48,369
**Cash flows from investing activities**
Interest received
**1,573**
538
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
**(33,841)**
(3,422)
Other investment income
7
**Net cash used in investing activities**
**(32,268)**
(2,877)
**Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year**
**314,098**
45,492
**Cash and cash equivalents brought forward**
**1,900,487**
1,854,995
**Cash and cash equivalents carried forward**
**14**
2,214,585
1,900,487
~~~ rrrrr————C—CCCCCETD/=E~~
~~=T=—=—=—ases te~~
~~a~~
~~———<_<_~~
~~Oe~~
~~SS~~
~~es~~
~~$$~~
~~tr~~
~~a~~
~~eee~~||||
|**Net assets**
**3,234,093**
2,820,857||||
|**Funds**||||
|Unrestricted funds
**3,234,093**
2,820,857
~~Oe~~||>||
**On behalf of the Executive Committee** 14 March 2022
**On behalf of the Executive Committee** 14 March 2022
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## **Notes to the Financial Statements**
Year ended 30 September 2021
## 1. Accounting policies
## **a. Basis of**
## **e. Fund accounting**
## **c. Income**
accounts in accordance
## **accounting**
with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK
and Republic of Ireland (FRS The financial statements have 102) issued on 16 July 2014 been prepared under the rather than the Accounting historical cost convention, with and Reporting by Charities: the exception of investments, Statement of Recommended which are included at market Practice effective from value. The financial statements 1 April 2005, which has have been prepared in since been withdrawn. accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: The charity constitutes Accounting and Reporting a public benefit entity by Charities preparing their as defined by FRS 102. accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting The financial statements Standard applicable in the UK are rounded to the nearest £1 and Republic of Ireland (FRS and are prepared in sterling. 102) issued on 16 July 2014
Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity.
Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to funds; any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met; it is probable that the income will be received; and the amount can be reliably measured.
Reserves are targeted to be approximately 12 months’ regular expenditure.
## **f. Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT**
Income from subscriptions from members is accounted for in the year to which they relate.
The financial statements are rounded to the nearest £1 and are prepared in sterling.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party; it is probable that settlement will be required; and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
are rounded to the nearest £1 Income from publications in there is a legal or constructive and are prepared in sterling. the form of royalties is received obligation to make a payment to in relation to the journals. a third party; it is probable that **b. Going concern** Royalty income is accounted settlement will be required; and for in the year that it becomes the amount of the obligation receivable, which is when can be measured reliably. Having considered the Charity’s the publication is sold. forecasts and projections, Expenditure is classified under the Trustees are satisfied that Income from conferences the following activity headings: the Charity has adequate is accounted for in the year resources to continue in in which the conference occurs. **Costs of raising funds** operational existence for the comprise the costs of foreseeable future, and for a **d. Interest** commercial trading, including period of at least 12 months investment management and **receivable** from the date of approving their associated costs. these financial statements. For this reason the Trustees Interest on funds held on **Expenditure on charitable** continue to adopt the going deposit is included when **activities** includes the costs of concern basis in preparing receivable and the amount publications, methods schools, the accounts. The Trustees can be measured reliably by conferences and other activities are not aware of any material the charity; this is normally undertaken to further the uncertainties with regard upon notification of the interest purposes of the charity, and to going concern. paid or payable by the bank. their associated support costs.
and the Financial Reporting
Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011 and UK Generally Accepted Practice as it applies from 1 January 2015.
The financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair’ view. This departure has involved following Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their
## **m. Cash and cash equivalents**
## **i. Fixed assets**
||**i. Fixed assets**|**m. Cash and**
**cash equivalents**||
|---|---|---|---|
||||of income or capital gains|
|**Governance costs**represents|Individual assets costing||received within categories|
|the costs of governance|£250 or more are capitalised|Cash and cash equivalents|covered by Part 11, Corporation|
|arrangements and include|at cost and depreciated|include cash and short-term|Tax Act 2010 or Section 256|
|costs associated with|over their estimated useful|highly liquid investments with|of the Taxation of Chargeable|
|compliance with constitutional|economic lives on a straight-line|a maturity of three months or|Gains Act 1992 to the extent|
|and statutory requirements.|basis as follows:|less from the date of acquisition|that such income or gains|
|||or the opening of the deposit|are applied exclusively to|
|**Irrecoverable VAT**is charged|�Freehold buildings,|or similar account.|its charitable purposes.|
|as a cost against the activity|between 2% and|||
|for which the expenditure
was incurred.|10% per annum.
�Offce and IT|**n. Creditors**
**and provisions**|**q. Pension costs**|
|**g. Allocation of**
**support costs**|equipment, 25%.
�Freehold land|Creditors and provisions are
recognised where the charity|The Charity operates
a defned contribution plan
for its employees. A defned|
||is not depreciated.|has a present obligation|contribution plan is a pension|
|**i. Fixed assets**
**m. Cash and**
**cash equivalents**|**i. Fixed assets**
**m. Cash and**
**cash equivalents**|
|---|---|
|**Governance costs**represents
the costs of governance
arrangements and include
costs associated with
compliance with constitutional
and statutory requirements.
**Irrecoverable VAT**is charged
as a cost against the activity
for which the expenditure
was incurred.
Individual assets costing
£250 or more are capitalised
at cost and depreciated
over their estimated useful
economic lives on a straight-line
basis as follows:
�Freehold buildings,
between 2% and
10% per annum.
�Offce and IT
Cash and cash equivalents
include cash and short-term
highly liquid investments with
a maturity of three months or
less from the date of acquisition
or the opening of the deposit
or similar account.
**n. Creditors**
**and provisions**
of income or capital gains
received within categories
covered by Part 11, Corporation
Tax Act 2010 or Section 256
of the Taxation of Chargeable
Gains Act 1992 to the extent
that such income or gains
are applied exclusively to
its charitable purposes.
**q. Pension costs**||
|**g. Allocation of**
**support costs**
equipment, 25%.
�Freehold land
is not depreciated.|Creditors and provisions are
recognised where the charity
has a present obligation
The Charity operates
a defned contribution plan
for its employees. A defned
contribution plan is a pension|
|Support costs are those
functions that assist the work
of the charity but are not directly
attributable to charitable
activities. Support costs
represent costs attributable to
the management of the charity’s
assets and organisational
administration. These costs have
been allocated between costs
of raising funds and expenditure
on charitable activities based
on the proportion of direct costs
which relate to each activity.
The basis on which support
costs have been allocated
are set out in note 8.
**h. Foreign currency**
Monetary 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 rates of
exchange ruling at the date
of the transaction. Exchange
differences arising in the normal
course of trading are dealt with
in the statement of fnancial
activities for the year.
**j. Fixed asset**
**investments**
Listed investments are
stated at market value at
the Balance Sheet date.
Realised and unrealised gains
or losses are calculated based
on the market value at which
the investments are recorded
in the fnancial statements
and are shown on the
face of the statement of
fnancial activities.
**k. Stock**
Stocks are stated at the lower
of cost and net realisable
value after making due
allowance for obsolete
and slow-moving items.
**l. Debtors**
Trade and other debtors are
recognised at the settlement
amount due after any trade
discount offered.|
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.
**o. Financial**
**instruments**
The charity only has fnancial
assets and fnancial liabilities
of a kind that qualify as basic
fnancial instruments. Basic
fnancial instruments are initially
recognised at transaction value
and subsequently measured
at their settlement value.
**p. Taxation**
European Consortium for
Political Research is a charity
within the meaning of the
Charities Act 2011 and as such
is a charity for tax purposes
in line with Paragraph 1 of
Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010.
Accordingly, ECPR is potentially
exempt from taxation in respect
plan under which the Charity
pays fxed contributions into
a separate entity. Once the
contributions have been paid,
the Charity has no further
payment obligations.
The contributions are recognised
as an expense in the Statement
of Financial Activities when
they fall due. Amounts not
paid are shown in accruals
as a liability in the Balance
Sheet. The assets of the plan
are held separately from the
Charity, in independently
administered funds.
**r. Signifcant**
**judgements**
**and estimates**
The more signifcant
judgments and estimates
involved in the preparation
of the fnancial statements
include assessing the
depreciation rates applicable
to tangible fxed assets and
the way in which certain
costs should be apportioned.
Further details regarding these
points are included within
the accounting policies.|
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2020–2021
## 2. Income from
## 4. Investment income
## charitable activities
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Income from fixed-asset investments 11,834 14,822
Bank interest receivable 1,573 538
Total 13,407 15,360
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Publications (note 5) 438,094 439,685
Conference income 268,529 228,054
Other event income 38,753 7,088
Joint Sessions income 61,250 –
Methods School income 533,760 573,745
Total 1,340,386 1,248,572
Income from charitable activities can be further analysed as:
2021 £ 2020 £
Income from rendering of services 902,292 808,887
Income from royalties 438,094 439,685
Total 1,340,386 1,248,572
**----- End of picture text -----**
## 5. Publications income
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
ECPR Press 10,767 (7,147)
European Journal of Political Research 315,244 296,700
European Political Science (journal) 39,123 79,535
Palgrave / Sage / OUP 2,393 536
European Political Science Review
(journal) 33,571 41,912
European Journal of
International Relations 24,413 18,406
Political Research Exchange (journal) 12,583 9,743
Total 438,094 439,685
**----- End of picture text -----**
## 3. Subscription from Members
|Subscription from members|2021 £
**579,646**|**2020 £**
589,106|
|---|---|---|
## 6. Fundraising expenditure
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Directly attributable activities
for generating funds 34,963 23,603
Support costs allocated 41,009 22,572
Total 75,972 46,175
**----- End of picture text -----**
100% of the subscriptions from members – £579,646 (2020 : £589,106) relates to the provision of services.
## 7. Expenditure on charitable activities
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Direct costs £ Direct wages £ Allocated £ 2021 £ 2020 £
Publications 100,297 121,881 260,600 482,778 380,566
Conference expenditure 19,289 23,952 50,719 93,960 95,460
Other event expenditure 5,641 3,326 10,518 19,485 37,800
Standing Groups & Research Networks 43,852 5,312 57,666 106,830 230,150
Methods School 264,111 98,915 425,805 788,831 921,829
Joint Sessions of Workshops 5,122 13,587 21,944 40,653 62,633
Total 438,312 266,973 827,252 1,532,537 1,728,438
**----- End of picture text -----**
## 8. Support costs
||2021 £|**2020 £**|Total support costs are made up of
the expenditure for generating funds in
note 6 of £41,009 (2020: £22,572) and
the expenditure on charitable activities
in note 7 of £827,252 (2020: £844,918).|
|---|---|---|---|
|Offce costs|**298,406**|409,293||
|Staff salaries and wages|**569,855**|458,197||
|Total|868,261|867,490||
## Basis of allocation
Support costs have been allocated against charitable activities in line with the percentage of other expenditure directly attributable to the activity as follows:
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Support cost Support cost Direct cost
per activity % per activity £ per activity £
Subscriptions – Allocated 4.72 41,009 –
Subscriptions – Direct costs – – 34,963
Publications – Allocated 30.02 260,600 –
Publications – Direct costs – – 222,178
Conferences – Allocated 5.84 50,719 –
Conferences – Direct costs – – 43,241
Other event expenditure – Allocated 1.21 10,518 –
Other event expenditure – Direct costs – – 8,967
Standing Groups & Research Networks – Allocated 6.64 57,666 –
Standing Groups & Research Networks – Direct costs – – 49,164
Methods School – Allocated 49.04 425,805 –
Methods School – Direct costs – – 363,026
Joint Sessions of Workshops – Allocated 2.53 21,944 –
Joint Sessions of Workshops – Direct costs – 18,709
Total 100.00 868,261 740,248
Included within support costs are £26,947 (2020: £44,579) of expenditure which relates to governance costs. This is broken down as follows:
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Executive Committee expenses, and Director remuneration 12,347 30,169
Audit fee (note 10) 14,600 14,410
Total 26,947 44,579
**----- End of picture text -----**
All members of the Executive Committee are reimbursed travelling and subsistence expenditure incurred in the course of their duties. During the year reimbursed expenses amounted to £80
(2020: £8,166), this amount is included within governance costs. No emoluments have been paid to any member of the Executive Committee.
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## 9. Staff costs
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Wages and salaries 705,430 642,859
Social security costs 65,855 57,750
Pension costs – defined contribution 92,048 84,254
863,333 784,863
Directly attributable wages (note 7) 266,973 309,376
Directly attributable wages for activities
for generating funds (note 6) 26,505 17,291
Total wages cost to be included in support
costs allocation (note 8) 569,855 458,196
Management and administration
of the Charity 21 19
**----- End of picture text -----**
The charity considers its key management personnel to comprise the Executive Committee and the Director who held the position during the year.
The total employment benefits, including employer’s pension contributions for the key management personnel, were £73,853 (2020: £71,865). One employee had employee benefits in excess of £60,000.
## 10. Audit fee
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Auditors’ remuneration
in respect of audit services 13,300 13,300
Auditors’ remuneration in respect
of tax and other advisory services 1,300 1,110
Total 14,600 14,410
**----- End of picture text -----**
## 11. Tangible fixed assets
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Freehold
Office and IT land and
equipment £ buildings £ Total £
Cost
At 1 October 2020 19,739 446,739 466,478
Additions 5,293 28,548 33,841
At 30 September 2021 25,032 475,287 500,319
Depreciation
At 1 October 2020 11,300 49,830 61,130
Charge for year 6,249 9,790 16,039
At 30 September 2021 17,549 59,620 77,169
Net book value
At 30 September 2021 7,483 415,667 423,150
At 1 October 2020 8,439 396,909 405,348
**----- End of picture text -----**
## 12. Investments
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Assets held for charity use and
to provide investment return 2021 £ 2020 £
Banco Santander shares 1,135 1,135
Funds held with Vanguard Investment
UK, Limited 1,074,594 974,757
Total 1,075,729 975,892
The movement in the year is as follows 2021 £ 2020 £
Market value as at 1 October 2020 975,892 955,468
Gain on valuation 88,007 5,609
Dividend accumulated in fund 11,830 14,815
Market value as at 30 September 2021 1,075,729 975,892
**----- End of picture text -----**
|The investments shown above comprise
UK and overseas investments. Below
are investment holdings by category:|2021 £|**2020 £**|
|---|---|---|
|Managed funds|**1,075,729**|975,892|
## 13. Debtors
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Trade debtors
(including subscriptions due) 217,067 241,866
Other debtors 72,864 149,541
Prepayments
Conferences 22,977 17,072
Insurance 9,435 6,126
Publications 337 –
HR costs 426 –
Rates 1,094 1,094
Total prepayments 34,269 24,292
Total debtors 324,200 415,699
**----- End of picture text -----**
## 14. Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents consist of the following items for the purpose of the Statement of cash flows:
||2021 £|**2020 £**|
|---|---|---|
|Total cash and cash equivalents|2,214,585|1,900,487|
## 15. Creditors
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Deferred income 621,241 671,042
Accruals 105,573 131,295
Trade creditors 36,401 12,640
Other taxation and Social Security 36,997 56,039
Credit card 3,359 5,553
Total 803,571 876,569
**----- End of picture text -----**
## 16. Deferred income
Amounts invoiced in advance represent income in respect of future events; subscription income from members where the subscription year starts on 1 October 2021; and publications income for the three-month period to 31 December 2021.
## 17. Financial instruments
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 £ 2020 £
Financial assets
Financial assets measured 289,931 391,407
at amortised cost
Financial assets measured 1,075,729 975,892
at fair value
Total 1,365,660 1,367,299
Financial liabilities
Financial liabilities measured 132,033 130,635
at amortised cost
**----- End of picture text -----**
Financial assets measured at amortised cost comprise trade debtors and other debtors.
Financial assets measured at fair value comprise listed investments.
Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost comprise accruals and trade creditors.
## 18. Related parties
The related parties of ECPR are the members of the Executive Committee. ECPR is controlled by its Executive Committee.
No other transactions were identified which should be disclosed under Financial Reporting Standard 102.
The managed funds with Vanguard relate to two Vanguard LifeStrategy funds. The LifeStrategy 40% equity fund is made up of 40% equity and 60% bonds. The LifeStrategy 60% equity fund is made up of 60% equity and 40% bonds. The investments are split equally between the two managed funds.
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**----- Start of picture text -----**
2020–2021
What
will 2022
bring?
**----- End of picture text -----**
**We hope an end to the pandemic, and a new era of cooperation across our membership, where we take on the new, and take care of your normal.**
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**Encouraging the training, research, and cross-national co-operation of political scientists**
## **Principal Office**
Harbour House | 6 – 8 Hythe Quay Colchester | CO2 8JF | United Kingdom
ecpr.eu
**Registered Charity Number 1167403 Charitable Incorporated Organisation** 48
ECPR | Annual Report