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2021-12-31-accounts

Charity number: 306096

Royal Statistical Society

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 December 2021

Contents

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Reference and administrative information ...................................................................................... 3 Trustees’ annual report .................................................................................................................. 6 Independent auditor’s report ........................................................................................................ 25 Consolidated statement of financial activities ............................................................................... 29 Balance sheets ............................................................................................................................ 30 Consolidated statement of cash flows .......................................................................................... 31 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................. 32

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Charity number 306096 Registered office 12 Errol Street and operational London address EC1Y 8LX Country of England & Wales registration Trustees Trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows: President/ Professor Sylvia Richardson President Vice Presidents Professor Deborah Ashby Past President Dr Sophie Carr Vice President for Education and Statistical Literacy (from 1 January 2022) Professor Christl Donnelly Vice President for External Affairs Professor Jon Forster Vice President for Academic Affairs Professor Rachel Hilliam Vice President for Professional Affairs Ms Sharon Witherspoon Vice President for Education and Statistical Literacy (to 31 December 2021) Honorary Officers Mr Kevin Barnes Honorary Treasurer Professor Paul Allin Honorary Officer for National Statistics (from 22 March 2022) Dr Shirley Coleman Honorary Officer for Discussion Meetings Mr Blaise Egan Honorary Officer for Sections & Local Groups Professor Steve Gilmour Honorary Officer for Publications (from 1 January 2022) Mr Scott Heald Honorary Officer for Conferences & Events Dr Sara Hilditch Honorary Officer for Membership (to 31 December 2021) Dr Eugenie Hunsicker Honorary Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (from 1 January 2022) Dr Johanna Hutchinson Honorary Officer for Remuneration and Staffing Professor John Kent Honorary Officer for Publications (to 31 December 2021) Mr Stephen Penneck Honorary Officer for National Statistics (to 31 December 2021) Mr Richard Pugh Honorary Officer for Membership (from 22 March 2022)

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Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Ordinary members Professor Mario Cortina Borja
Dr Mark Briers (to 31 December 2021)
Dr Sophie Carr (to 31 December 2021)
Ms Tricia Dodd (from 1 January 2022)
Professor Peter Elias
Professor Richard Emsley (from 1 January 2022)
Ms Daria Gromyko (from 1 January 2022)
Professor Beverley Hale (from 1 January 2022)
Dr Katie Harron
Professor Uma Kambhampati (from 1 January 2022)
Professor Mona Kanaan
(from 1 January 2022)
Dr Ruth King
(to 31 December 2021)
Dr Anthony B Masters
(from 1 January 2022)
Dr Anjali Mazumder
Dr Emma McCoy (to 31 December 2021)
Dr Lisa McFetridge
Dr Claire Miller
Dr Robin Mitra
Professor Brendan Murphy
Dr Murray Pollock
(from 1 January 2022)
Mr Richard Pugh
(from 1 January 2022 until 22 March 2022)
Professor Gesine Reinert
Dr Jamie Sergeant
Dr Tom Smith
Dr Lucy Teece
Dr Deirdre Toher
Dr James Weatherall
Dr Simon White (to 31 December 2021)
Senior Stian Westlake Chief Executive
Management Jack Beeby Director of IT and Digital
Team Nicola Emmerson Director of Membership and Professional Affairs
Stuart McKendrick Director of Training and Commercial
Charlotte Stovell Director of Finance

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Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Bankers Royal Bank of Scotland Drummonds 49 Charing Cross London SW1A 2DX Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane London EC1Y 0TL Investment Managers Cazenove Capital 12 Moorgate London EC2R 6DR

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Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2021

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021.

The reference and administrative information set out on pages 3-5 form part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the charity's Royal Charter, supplemental Charter, Bylaws and Regulations and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP, applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Statement from the RSS President, Professor Sylvia Richardson

2021 was the first year of my Presidency, and I’m keen to reflect here on the positive impact the Society had during a challenging twelve months. I very much enjoyed getting to know the breadth of work that the Society is involved in and was impressed by the responsiveness and energy of the fellowship. One highlight for me was the RSS conference, where there was such palpable excitement about being able to get back to the lively in-person impromptu discussion of statistical ideas that results from listening to colleagues. In 2021, through our work and engagement in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we raised the profile of statistics with the public and government, and we continue to build on these achievements.

It is gratifying and reassuring to note that, despite the difficult times we find ourselves living through, our membership has remained strong. Having broken the 10,000 barrier for the first time in 2019, at the close of 2021 we had more than 10,300 members, in over 120 countries worldwide.

Our policy and external relations work has been heavily influenced by the pandemic. Our Covid-19 Task Force continues to have an active voice on the statistical issues relating to it, from calling for better data on the vaccine roll-out to urging the UK government to publish the evidence behind its travel lists. In 2021, the Task Force also published its Covid ‘Lessons learned’ memo – outlining ten statistical lessons for the government; this is currently the Society’s most-downloaded policy document. Testing has been a particular focus, with the Task Force’s March 2021 statement on schools testing generating approx. 700 pieces of media coverage. Our Working Group on Diagnostic Tests published its review of diagnostic tests in June, and we are pursuing discussions with Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on how to take these recommendations forward.

You may be aware that I have a particular focus on increasing the Society’s interactions with the data science ecosystem – so I am especially pleased that in 2021 we helped to form, and became part of, the Alliance for Data Science Professionals. The RSS’s vice president for professional affairs, Rachel Hilliam, will serve as the inaugural Chair until the end of 2022. The Alliance is working to create industry-wide professional standards for data science, ensuring an ethical and well-governed approach so the public, organisations and governments can have confidence in how data is being used. We have also convened a Data Science Task Force to investigate how the RSS can deepen and extend its impact in the field of data science, and its offering to fellows who work as data scientists.

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I am also delighted that we are continuing our commitment to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across the organisation and the profession, with the creation of a new role of Honorary Officer for EDI. This role will be supported by a committee of fellows to drive forward this important work. I am pleased to say that in 2021 the RSS Council appointed Eugenie Hunsicker as our first Honorary Officer for EDI, and she took up this role in January 2022.

In 2022, a key focus is implementing our strategy for further engagement with data science. We have also launched a new campaign, ‘Statistics are Vital’, to promote the fantastic work that statisticians have done during the pandemic. I am delighted to be working with our members and partners to build on these remarkable achievements going forward.

Professor Sylvia Richardson

Objectives and activities

The vision of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is ‘A world where data are at the heart of understanding and decision making.’

To help achieve this vision we structure our work around the six strategic objectives outlined below. The first four of these are outward facing and demonstrate our charitable activity. The last two are more internal and governance related and support the achievement of the four external impact objectives:

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These strategic objectives are to fulfil the Society’s charitable objectives as set out in its Royal Charter:

Activities and public benefit

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section four of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit.

The RSS’s work contributes to public benefit by:

The RSS develops a detailed activity plan on an annual basis to take forward the activities of the Society. Key areas of activity are outlined below.

Statistics in the public interest

Activities include:

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Education and statistical literacy

Activities include:

Supporting the discipline

Activities include:

Professional affairs

Activities include:

Structure, governance and management

Founded in 1834, the Society is a learned society and professional body incorporated by Royal Charter. It is an international membership body with over 10,000 members (of whom over 6,000 are designated ‘fellows’). Fellows with suitable qualifications, training and experience are able to apply for professional accreditation.

The Society’s governing documents are the supplemental Charter (which came into effect on 1 April 2006), the Bylaws and the Regulations, which are reviewed annually. The Society's governance is largely in line with the recommendations of the Charity Governance Code.

The Society’s Council is its board of trustees, and consists of:

The President serves a two year term. The ordinary members of Council are elected by a ballot of all fellows. Vice Presidents and Honorary Officers are appointed by Council. If not already members of Council, Vice Presidents and Honorary Officers are co-opted to membership of Council.

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Members of Council are normally expert in one or more branches of statistical science and its applications. They bring this expertise and their knowledge of the statistical profession to the strategic management of the Society.

With respect to their duties and responsibilities as trustees of the RSS, new members of Council receive an induction into the Society including its governance, finances, strategy and activities, as well as their role as trustees. Updates to the whole trustee board are given where appropriate - due to, for example, changes in legislation or regulation. During the past year, the major risks to which the charity is exposed have been identified and Council is satisfied that adequate systems are in place to manage those risks. An Audit and Risk Committee is in place to review risks in-depth and to advise Council. On an annual basis, Council reviews the key risks and its approach to managing them. The Senior Management Team and the Audit and Risk Committee escalate any major risks to Council.

Council has a formal and detailed scheme of delegation laid out in its Regulations which are reviewed and renewed annually by Council. Responsibilities are delegated to the Executive Committee and various other committees. The Professional Affairs Committee leads on the Society’s work as a professional body. The President and Vice Presidents have the authority to speak for and represent the Society and to take urgent decisions between meetings.

The Society employs a Chief Executive to manage the day-to-day operations of the charity, its staff and facilities. The Society has a small permanent staff and is heavily dependent on the input of volunteers in the whole range of its activities. Volunteers are drawn from the membership and serve in a variety of ways including through committees and working groups.

The Society has 17 Sections, which hold meetings and discussions about their specialist area topics. For example, there are Sections on social statistics, medical statistics and business and industrial statistics. Sections are driven by the fellowship. The Society also has Local Groups which run events in their local and regional areas.

During 2021, Professor Sylvia Richardson led the Society as President . Professor Richardson’s term of office commenced on 1 January 2021 and will conclude on 31 December 2022.

Related Parties and connections with other organisations:

The RSS has a wholly owned subsidiary trading company, RSS (Services) Ltd, which gifts all of its profits to the Society. The main activities of the subsidiary are running training courses, and the sale of print and online advertising. The subsidiary also hires the Society’s meeting space to external clients; however, no bookings were taken during 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The organisation is a company limited by share capital, incorporated on 28 April 2000.

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The following persons served as directors of the company during the year and up to the date of this report:

Mr Stian Westlake Professor Paul Baxter Mr Stuart McKendrick Mr Chris Murphy Mr Ed Swires-Hennessy

The Society also works with a number of organisations in the pursuit of its charitable activities. Significance is the official magazine and website of the Royal Statistical Society, the American Statistical Association (ASA) and the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA). The magazine is published by Wiley.

The RSS is a founding member of the Council for the Mathematical Sciences (CMS) which was established in 2001 by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the London Mathematical Society (LMS) and the RSS. The CMS comprises representatives and observers from the mathematical sciences community, including the Presidents and Chief Executives of these three societies. The CMS is an authoritative and objective body that exists to develop, influence and respond to UK policy issues that affect the mathematical sciences in higher education and research, and therefore the UK economy and society in general.

Through the CMS the RSS is also a member of the Royal Society's Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) which provides advice to government and others to inform policy related to mathematics and quantitative education for 3-19 year olds, and the transition into further or higher education or employment.

Remuneration Policy: The Society sets remuneration according to a salary policy. It strives to offer a fair and affordable rate of pay for each role, seeking to ensure consistency and transparency. It is committed to ensuring that:

Staff are not discriminated against because of gender, marital or civil partnership status, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age, disability, pregnancy or maternity or because they work part-time or on a fixed-term contract.

The Society rewards staff through salary and a number of other benefits. These include a pension scheme, holiday allowance, flexible working where appropriate, season ticket loans, and access to staff development opportunities including training. The Society has three salary bands.

The Executive Committee is responsible for determining the annual salary increase for all staff. There is an annual cycle of salary review and staff are made aware of this cycle through the salary

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policy. When determining an increase, the Executive Committee takes into account a range of factors including inflation, wage increases in the wider economy, and affordability.

In addition to the annual pay award, individual salaries are also reviewed and further increases are considered to reflect changes in job roles (e.g. taking on new responsibility). The Chief Executive and Executive Committee look at a variety of factors when reviewing individual salaries including affordability in the context of the Society’s finances and the current market rate for roles (what it would cost to replace a particular role in the market).

The Executive Committee may also undertake periodic benchmarking of individual and overall salaries as and when they see a need to do so.

The ratio of remuneration of the highest paid to the median salary is 2.64 (2020: 2.64) based on the employees in place at the end of the financial year.

Reserves Policy: The Society maintains reserves according to a set policy which is regularly reviewed by the Audit and Risk Committee and Council. The Society keeps reserves for a number of purposes and these include: providing an income to the Society from investments; paying for unanticipated in-year costs such as maternity pay or long term staff sickness; allowing trustees to invest in new areas of work in order to achieve the long term vision of the Society; and providing for a gap in funding if a core funding source were to unexpectedly shrink. The Society’s level of free reserves, calculated as general reserves less tangible assets and the pension deficit from the latest FRS102 accounting valuation, was £1.538m at the end of 2021 (2020: £875k).

Fundraising: Most of the Society's income is earned from its regular activities. The RSS does not generally engage in public fundraising and does not use external fundraisers. It has received no complaints during the year relating to its fundraising practices.

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Risk: The detailed Risk Register is monitored by the Senior Management Team (SMT) and the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC). The top risks, listed below, are reported to the Society’s Council.

Risk Metrics, controls and recent developments
Strategic risks
Failure to deliver The Society’s governance is aligned with its strategy, and there is a Vice
against one of the President for each of the four outward facing goals. Council and Executive
Society’s six Committee monitor performance via regular reports on the Society’s work
strategic and hold the staff to account on this. Detail on activities for each strategic
objectives goal are listed in the annual report and the time and cost allocated to each
goal is in note 1j in the annual accounts.
Decline in Membership is a key theme of the RSS strategy. The Society are also
membership of reaching out to new communities such as data scientists. In addition, the
the Society RSS are undertaking research on membership trends within the Fellowship.
reduces the Regular monitoring of membership numbers is undertaken at Senior
impact and reach Management, Executive Committee and Council meetings. Overall
of the Society membership dipped in 2021 to 10,330 (2020: 10,700) due to a reduction in
e-student members, a free category of membership, but paid membership
has increased to 6,560 (2020: 6,304).This continues the trend of an
increase each year since 2013. See page 19 for a full breakdown.
Loss of journal Journal income is the RSS’ single largest source of income. The journal
income prevents contract with Wiley runs until the end of 2022 and gives significant
the Society from guaranteed payments. A new contract was signed with Oxford University
achieving its Press which will begin in 2023. While the terms of this contract are not as
objectives generous as open access publishing has reduced the offer any publisher is
prepared to make, it still offers an element of guaranteed income. This
means the Society has protection against changes in the academic
publishing market until 2027.
The Society fails This is a key strategic priority for the Society. In 2020 the professional
to remain relevant membership voted to add the Data Analyst membership category to
to data users and increase the diversity of professional qualifications. There is an increasing
statisticians focus on data ethics and improving the diversity of the membership with a
new honorary officer role created in 2022 specifically focused on equality,
diversity and inclusion.
Business The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database allows the RSS
intelligence is to track, collect and analyse data from members and stakeholders. The
insufficient to “MyRSS” member portal on our website captures users’ key data enabling
track and identify us to target them with personalised content and adapt to their needs. We
the key risks also conduct regular member surveys that focus on specific business areas.
facing the Society SMT collate the data and use it to determine the key performance indicators
(KPIs) required to meet business needs, improve decision making and the
appropriate allocation of resources.

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Risk Metrics, controls and recent developments
External Risks
Economic The Society has resilience in the form of free reserves and an owned central
downturn London office. The Society’s finances are monitored on a monthly basis by
reduces all SMT. Trustees actively review the situation and if reserve levels drop then
income sources expenditure is cut back when appropriate. RSS free reserves were £1.538m
and reserves at the close of 2021 (2020: £875k), calculated as general reserves less
tangible assets and including the pension deficit.
Pension deficit The Society’s final salary pension scheme was closed to new entrants on 1
requiring large January 2017. The deficit is monitored via triennial reviews. A deficit of
payments £2.029m was identified in the last triennial valuation dated 31 December
2020. A payment plan was negotiated between the Society trustees and the
pensions trustees and signed on 31 March 2022. £100k has been paid up to
the end of 2021 with a commitment of £200k each year until 2031.
Reputational Upholding data ethics is critical to the Society’s work and its reputation. All
risks Society publications have a vetting procedure, and a limited number of
designated people are able to issue statements on behalf of the Society.
The Society has implemented data protection legislation, including guidance
for Sections and Local Groups. The RSS needs to be particularly vigilant
about maintaining high standards in its use of personal data. Social media is
monitored. There were no complaints in 2021.
Virus and hacking Cyber security threats have increased in recent years, particularly following
risks the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Society holds personal data on a large
number of individuals, and therefore needs to be diligent in managing these
risks. The RSS has gained the National Cyber Security Centre’s “Cyber
Essentials” certification which ensures that best practice is being followed to
mitigate a wide range of online threats.
Staff are regularly educated about IT security and only access systems via a
dedicated business laptop with firewall, data encryption and the latest
versions of anti-virus/malware software. Laptops are monitored for threats
via cloud portals and regular manual checks by IT staff.
Data is stored within the Microsoft Office 365/Azure infrastructure giving
access to enterprise level security features such as automated alerts and
action triggers based on machine learning. Multifactor authentication is used
on all admin accounts and extensive use of granular security permissions is
made to restrict unauthorized access to functionality and data.

The Audit and Risk Committee reviews this risk annually, the latest review occurred in February 2022.

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Risk Metrics, controls and recent developments
Internal risks
A lack of The Society is dependent on volunteers to fill roles on Council, Section and
volunteers local group committees, working groups and to produce the Society’s
prevents the journals. Volunteer engagement is an increasing priority with volunteer
Society achieving workshops held in 2021 and an increase in the staff time allocated now and
its goals in the future.
Loss of key staff Notice periods mirror staff seniority and difficulty of replacement. Key
prevents the processes have been mapped, and SMT monitor the intentions of key staff
Society achieving members. In practice, when staff vacancies occur other staff rally round and
its goals cover their responsibilities.
Customer The Society is dependent on its CRM to manage operating activities. A
Relationship single supplier maintains and develops bespoke functionality for the CRM
Management and integrated website. This results in cost and efficiency savings but
(CRM) database introduces a potential single point of failure.
failure As the CRM and website are both customized versions of mature underlying
technology from Microsoft and Kentico respectively, the level of risk is
significantly reduced as data and functionality could be ported to a new
supplier. Dynamics CRM software is part of the wider Office 365. The
technology stack that is used by organisations all over the world, giving a
wide range of suppliers and support specialists that can be turned to for
help. As the CRM is cloud-based, all data is automatically backed up on a
regular schedule and stored securely.
Errol Street The pandemic has led to a change in the needs of the RSS. Its Errol Street
building not fit for building in its current state is difficult to use for hybrid events and live
purpose streaming, and is not accessible to the disabled. It is also likely that staff will
be working remotely more often. Council has nominated a taskforce to
consider all the options available to RSS from refurbishment to selling, their
recommendations will be presented to Council in June 2022. As part of this
process a valuation of the building was completed in March 2022 which
confirmed the current value of the building is well in excess of the historic
cost shown in the accounts (see note 9).
Fraud The Society has a series of financial procedures in place to minimise the
risk of fraud. ARC review internal controls regularly to determine they are
sufficient. The auditors review processes during the audit and SMT monitor
and report any incidences of fraud to the trustees and the relevant bodies.
To date there have been no known instances of fraud.
General There are a wide variety of operational risks which are outlined in a detailed
Risk Register. These are reviewed quarterly by SMT and annually by ARC.
The detailed Risk Register was last reviewed in full in February 2022.

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Achievements and Performance

The trustees are proud of what the organisation is achieving and consider that the RSS is becoming increasingly influential in its work. The majority of the activity plan was completed in 2021 with some activities carried forward into 2022. A more detailed review of the Society’s performance in 2021 against each of the goals is set out below.

Goal One: For statistics to be used effectively in the public interest, so that policy formulation and decision making are informed by evidence for the good of society.

Covid-19: During 2021, the Society and its members played an important role in the response to Covid-19. Our Covid-19 Task Force continued to have an active voice on statistical issues relating to the pandemic, from calling for better data on the vaccine roll-out to urging the UK Government to publish the evidence behind its travel lists. The Society’s Sections also played an active role in the debate. In March the Task Force published its recommendations on lessons to be learnt from the pandemic, which proved to be the Society’s most downloaded report to date. The Working Group on Diagnostic Tests set out detailed recommendations on how to improve regulation around testing, which was discussed with the Government.

Policy: The Society responded to a wide range of Government and parliamentary consultations on matters including: Covid-19 (both lessons learned and the economic impact), reproducibility and research integrity, the use of health data in research and the use of new data-based technologies in law enforcement.

Media: The Society’s media presence increased over 2021, with a continued focus on Covid-19. For example, our commentary on Covid-19 testing in schools led to over 700 pieces of coverage. We secured opinion pieces in the Times, Guardian and the Conversation as well as broadcast interviews on the Today Programme, the BBC News Channel and Times Radio.

Exams: We were pleased that the Office for Statistics Regulation took up our call for a review into the 2020 exam adjustment process, and adopted our recommendation for more transparency around the process. In the wake of the 2021 exam results, we urged the Government to engage widely on the question of how exam grades during the pandemic will impact the 2022 results, to build consensus on how this should be handled.

Goal Two: For society to be more statistically literate, so that people's understanding of data, risk and probability can inform their daily decision-making, leading to better outcomes.

Outreach: Our statistical ambassadors provided regular statistical expertise to journalists and stakeholders. They were provided with media refresher training to support them to develop their public engagement skills. We also celebrated the statistical communication skills of non-statisticians via our Statistical Excellence in Journalism award, which had 100 entries.

Education: In our engagement with Government and funding councils, we continued to emphasise the message that statistical education needs to take place in a wide range of subjects in addition to

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mathematics – so that as many people as possible gain a meaningful statistical education at school level. The Society continues its work on improving statistical literacy and, to this end, we continue to be a funder and supporter of the Royal Society’s Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education.

Significance: Significance magazine continues to grow in popularity and published many articles on Covid-19 in 2021. Over the course of the year, our articles in the Wiley Online Library were downloaded more than 431,700 times. We are delighted to report that the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) has become a partner in the production of Significance , meaning that the magazine is now a joint publication of the RSS, the American Statistical Association, and the SSA. We look forward to working with our new SSA colleagues on articles relating to Australia and the surrounding region.

Training: The range and popularity of our training programme grew in 2021, and over 340 people booked on to 30 public training courses. We also provided bespoke training for clients in both the public and private sectors.

Events: For most of 2021, no in-person events were held, because of Covid-19. However, the Society’s Sections and Local Groups rose to the challenge of lockdown, hosting over 100 online events, many of which had record numbers of attendees. Later in the year, the Society held a wellattended Q&A with David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters on their book ‘Covid by Numbers’, and a conference in partnership with the Economic Statistics Working Group and Open Innovations on the data required to track the Government’s ‘levelling-up’ agenda.

Goal Three: For a strong body of professional statisticians to maintain and develop the skills they need so that they can critically apply methodology, interpret results and communicate findings.

Accreditation: We made major improvements to our accreditation programme, including:

International Development: The Society continues to organise placements for RSS members to volunteer abroad with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), and Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21). Both these initiatives help build capacity for low-income countries to develop their statistical systems.

Corporate Membership Partnerships: During 2021, the Society successfully registered three new corporate members. At the close of the year, we had a total of 26 partners. One of our new corporate partners brought over 50 individual members to the RSS. We also welcomed 16 members from the Big Data Lab, our first Japanese partner. We worked closely with the Cabinet Office to renew their partnership status and agreed that all future entrants on the Civil Service Statistical Fast Stream will join the RSS as members.

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Data Science: Deepening the Society’s commitment to data science and improving our offering for data scientists is a major priority for us. In 2021, we co-founded the Alliance for Data Science Professionals with the British Computer Society, The Chartered Institute for IT, the Operational Research Society, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, The Alan Turing Institute and the National Physical Laboratory. This group will lead a wider consortium of organisations in work to develop and shape the profession of data science. We also assembled an RSS Data Science Task Force of international experts to help us plan future work in this area. Several projects are already underway in 2021, including:

Equality, diversity and inclusion: We are working hard to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across the organisation and the profession. As part of this, in 2021 a new trustee role was created - Honorary Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The postholder will be supported by a committee of fellows to drive this work forward.

Statistical excellence awards: We celebrated the work of UK government statisticians and nonstatisticians through our statistical excellence awards programme, which in 2021 had a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion and on Covid-19. An online awards ceremony was held in July, with presentations from key RSS fellows and our award partners.

Honours: Each year we award medals and prizes to people who have made outstanding contributions to the development of statistics. The 2021 awards ceremony was held in September during the annual conference in Manchester. The recipients were:

Goal Four: For statistics as a discipline to thrive, so that methodology is advanced, applied and made accessible, leading to greater understanding of an increasingly complex world.

Journals: The Society’s journals continued to prove popular with authors and readers. All three journals increased their Impact Factor scores in 2021. Two discussion paper meetings were held during the year, featuring four papers. An important and successful Special Topic Meeting on Covid19 Transmission was held in June. Following this, a well-attended multi-paper meeting on ‘Statistical

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aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic’ was held as a ‘blended’ event at the RSS conference. In total, the three series published just over 4,000 pages in 2021 with an increase in the number of articles published, the number published open access, the number of submissions and full article downloads.

Sections and Local Groups: Our Sections, Special Interest Groups and Local Groups continue to be very active and held over 100 events and meetings during 2021. For example, the Data Science Section held fireside chats with Artificial Intelligence researcher and entrepreneur, Andrew Ng and Kaggle founder, Anthony Goldbloom. Local Groups organised valuable outreach activities, including the Lancashire and East Cumbria Local Group and the Highlands Local Group (in collaboration with History of Statistics Section) celebrated women in statistics.

International Conference: In September 2021, we held our first ever ‘blended’ RSS International Conference, which was attended by over 500 participants both in Manchester and online. The programme featured the usual mix of keynote talks, invited topic sessions and contributed talks and posters, and for the first time over 40 hours of content was made available online via live streaming and on-demand post-conference. The Society has announced that the RSS 2022 International Conference will take place in Aberdeen in Scotland from 12-15 September 2022.

Goal Five: For an engaged and energised membership and staff to work collaboratively with partner organisations and other stakeholders in meeting these goals, so that the Society can maximise its impact.

Membership: We are pleased to report that our membership continues to grow – having broken the 10,000 members barrier for the first time in 2018 and at the close of 2021 there were over 10,300 members in more than 120 countries worldwide. Over 6,500 were fellows, with the remainder in the e-Student and e-Teacher categories.

**Membership Category ** 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Standard fellows 4,460 4,680 4,615 4,649 4,873
CStats 1,004 1,016 1,003 982 988
GradStats 616 678 669 673 687
Data Analysts 0 0 0 0 12
Subtotal ofpaid members 6,080 6,374 6,287 6,304 6,560
e-Student members 2,498 2,796 2,915 3,123 2,439
e-Teachers 597 875 950 1,273 1,331
Total members 9,175 10,045 10,152 10,700 10,330

While the number of members in paying categories increased quite substantially in 2021 (with membership resource concentrated on developing corporate partnerships), e-Student recruitment was adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. A lack of face-to-face opportunities to advertise membership and a pause on new applications for university accreditation led to a drop in numbers. We are currently contacting lapsed members, reviewing e-Student benefits and engagement, and have now re-opened for university accreditation with new, more accessible standards to attract more students.

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For the year ended 31 December 2021

Statisticians for Society: We further developed our work on supporting RSS members to provide pro bono statistics expertise to small UK charities. In 2021, we matched 22 charities with volunteer statisticians. Since the initiative began, 48 projects have been completed and over 600 fellows have registered their interest in volunteering.

Partnerships: The Society continued to work with a wide range of partners throughout the year including government statistical bodies (e.g. the Office for National Statistics); research councils (e.g. UK Research and Innovation); statistical societies (e.g. American Statistical Association, the International Statistical Institute); mathematical bodies (e.g. through the Council for the Mathematical Sciences); and scientific bodies (e.g. Royal Society).

Campaigns Advisory Group: The Society established a new advisory group – composed primarily of Council members – to improve the ability of members to set the direction of our campaign and policy work. This should provide greater transparency and accountability in how these areas of our work are pursued.

Goal Six: For the RSS to be a financially stable and well-run organisation with effective governance and use of technology, so that it will grow in relevance, exert influence and have wider impact.

Finances and operations: The Society moved most of its operations online in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fellows and staff embraced this challenge and moved most meetings, training sessions and events online. Financially, at the close of 2021 the Society’s position was stable. Membership numbers held steady despite Covid-19; falls in commercial revenue (for example from room hire) were mostly offset by the lower operating costs of online work and modest reductions in staffing costs.

IT: The launch of our new website saw traffic rise in 2021 to over one million views per year, for the first time ever. By the end of the year, members could subscribe to 34 different newsletters via MyRSS . The roll out of Office 365 to Sections and Local Groups allowed them to independently organise events, create surveys and securely share resources. All IT infrastructure was migrated to the cloud to facilitate hybrid working and comply with the latest security standards. The move to MS Dynamics CRM increased the efficiency of internal systems and allowed the development of a better understanding of members’ interests.

20

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Financial Review

The final financial performance for 2021 is a net increase of funds of £491k, which is a swing of £1.706m from the net decrease in funds of £1.214m in 2020. Total income was £2.235m, an increase of £230k from 2020. Total expenditure only increased by £30k to £2.155m meaning the RSS achieved £200k more net income for the year based only on normal activities.

Investments experienced a gain of £227k, £193k more than the gain in 2020. The most significant change between years however is the change in the defined benefit scheme. In 2020 the deficit for the scheme worsened by £1.128m while it 2021 it recovered by £184k, largely a result of an improvement in market conditions.

Free reserves position : The Society’s level of free reserves, calculated as general reserves less tangible assets and the pension deficit from the latest FRS102 accounting valuation, was £1.538m at the end of 2021 (2020: £875k). Trustees believe that given the current turnover and staffing, maintaining a level of free reserves in the range of between £1.5m and £2m is appropriate. The RSS is confident that the charity will still be financially sound for many years to come.

Income : The main income generating activities for the RSS are income from journals, membership dues, commercial training fees and income from the annual conference. While each of those activities were impacted by the pandemic, training and conference income, which were largely held in-person pre Covid-19, was severely reduced.

----- Start of picture text -----
Top income generating activities 2019-2021
Journals
Membership
Commercial Training
Conferences & Events
0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000
2019 2020 2021
----- End of picture text -----

In 2021 commercial training income increased by £51k which is an excellent indicator for future performance whilst not yet a complete recovery to pre-pandemic levels. After holding the RSS conference virtually in 2020, a blended version was held in Manchester in September 2021 with elements available virtually for a fee. Financially this was not ideal, as attendance in Manchester was lower, with international delegates discouraged by the restrictions to enter the UK and local

21

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2021

residents hesitant to attend in person. While the virtual element was popular, the fees did not offset the costs to hold the in-person event and the conference made a loss for the year.

2021 is the penultimate year of our current journals contract with Wiley and from 2023 we will be moving to Oxford University Press. The new contract reflects the emergence of open access publishing and its impact on traditional publishing. The gap in income is expected to be filled by a combination of increased commercial training income and a growth in membership subscriptions.

In the last few years, the RSS has concentrated its efforts on improving membership engagement, maintaining our relevance to the discipline by encouraging data scientists to join and we have benefitted from a higher media profile brought about by the pandemic. All of this resulted in an increase of £58k from membership fees to the highest ever recorded total of £749k (2020: £691k), assisted by freezing membership fees since 2019.

Expenditure : Total expenditure consists of staff costs, direct costs and support costs. As the RSS is largely delivering services, the highest cost at £1.294m (2020: £1.428m) is always staff. 25% of staff costs are support staff, which along with support costs, are reapportioned based on direct staff time. In 2021 there was a shift in staff time allocated to educational and statistical literacy activities towards membership services resulting in £134k less spent on educational and statistical literacy and £54k more spent on membership. Average staff numbers increased marginally from 25.3 in 2020 to 26.0 in 2021 but total staff costs were actually £133k lower.

Direct service costs increased by £148k, which is almost entirely the costs relating to holding the RSS conference in Manchester. Considering the range of activities held in 2021 and the mix of inperson and virtual events achieving £230k more income with only an additional £30k of costs highlights how efficiently the RSS has handled the impact of the pandemic.

Trading Subsidiary : The principal activities of RSS (Services) Ltd are the training and professional development activities of the Royal Statistical Society, paid advertising online at rss.org.uk and in our magazine Significance , and the hire of the Errol Street meetings rooms to external clients. The company achieved a gross profit of £161k (2020: £110k) and a net profit of £21k (2020: loss of £37k), once administrative expenses and the management charge from the charity were included. The management charge is based on actual staff time allocated to trading activities and a share of the charity’s support costs. It is the policy of the company to donate its taxable profits to the charity. In 2021 profits of £nil were distributed to the Society (2020: £nil) as the profit for 2021 was used to reduce the brought forward loss from 2020.

The surplus from training was £125k (2020: £87k) and was £22k less than was achieved in 2019. Two types of training are sold, selling places on courses to individuals and running private courses for an organisation for a flat fee. Sales to delegates have recovered with virtual courses running for the whole year and in-person courses beginning again in September 2021. Sales to organisations however were heavily impacted by the pandemic with a decrease of £21.7k in the surplus. The direct surplus from advertising was £32k (2020: £12k) and exceeded the £28k surplus reported for 2019. It was decided not to open venue hire at Errol Street in 2021. The outlook for 2022 is promising and the company is expected to recover completely and grow steadily over the next few years.

22

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Plans for the future

The Society’s Activity Plan for 2022 is available online and gives detail about the work programme for the year.

23

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The Society delegates governance activities, and detailed oversight, to the relevant committees and Sections but the ultimate responsibility is held by RSS trustees. Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the charity's financial activities during the period, and of its financial position at the end of the period. In preparing financial statements giving a true and fair view, the trustees should follow best practice and:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper 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. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and group, and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate 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.

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 22 June 2022 and signed on their behalf by

Sylvia Richardson President

Kevin Barnes Honorary Treasurer

24

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of Royal Statistical Society

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of the Royal Statistical Society (‘the parent charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2021 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the group and parent charity balance sheets, the consolidated statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group 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 that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on Royal Statistical Society’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

25

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of Royal Statistical Society

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

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 (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, 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 group and the parent 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 group or the parent charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

26

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Royal Statistical Society

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with regulations made under section 154 of that Act.

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 are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

27

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Royal Statistical Society

made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities . This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the parent charity’s trustees as a body, in accordance with section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and regulations made under section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the parent charity’s trustees 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 parent charity and the parent charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

24 June 2022 Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL

Sayer Vincent LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

28

Royal Statistical Society

Consolidated statement of financial activities

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Note
Income from:
2a
2b
2c
2d
2e
2f
2g
2h
3
10
17
15
Reconciliation of funds:
Net income / (expenditure)
Total expenditure
Net income / (expenditure) before net
gains on investments
Transfers between funds
Net income/(expenditure) before other
recognised gains and losses
Actuarial loss on defined benefit pension
schemes
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
Education & Statistical Literacy
Developing the Profession
Strengthening the Discipline
Venue hire
Net gain on investments
Engaging the Membership & Partners
Investments
Total income
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Venue hire
Statistics & Public Interest
Strengthening the Discipline
Engaging the Membership & Partners
Donations
Charitable activities
Statistics & Public Interest
Education & Statistical Literacy
Developing the Profession		 Unrestricted
£
5,347
-
62,067
259,025
1,078,146
782,668
-
48,569		 Restricted
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 2021
Total
£
5,347
-
62,067
259,025
1,078,146
782,668
-
48,569		 Unrestricted
£
7,799
10,000
59,171
206,373
948,066
709,345
7,069
52,054		 Restricted
£
-
-
-
-
5,188
-
-
-		 2020
Total
£
7,799
10,000
59,171
206,373
953,254
709,345
7,069
52,054
2,235,822 - 2,235,822 1,999,877 5,188 2,005,065
306,246
171,222
446,881
716,227
444,176
-		 -
-
-
10,486
60,992
-		 306,246
171,222
446,881
726,713
505,168
-		 331,494
305,284
459,377
565,611
390,311
9,395		 -
-
-
3,208
60,066
-		 331,494
305,284
459,377
568,819
450,377
9,395
2,084,752 71,478 2,156,230 2,061,472 63,274 2,124,746
227,487
151,070		 -
(71,478)		 227,487
79,592		 34,358
(61,595)		 -
(58,086)		 34,358
(119,681)
378,557
(2,663)		 (71,478)
2,663		 307,079
-		 (27,237)
(6,315)		 (58,086)
6,315		 (85,323)
-
375,894
184,000		 (68,815)
-		 307,079
184,000		 (33,552)
(1,128,000)		 (51,771)
-		 (85,323)
(1,128,000)
559,894
1,947,603		 (68,815)
534,867		 491,079
2,482,470		 (1,161,552)
3,109,155		 (51,771)
586,638		 (1,213,323)
3,695,793
2,507,497 466,052 2,973,549 1,947,603 534,867 2,482,470

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in note 16 to the financial statements.

29

Royal Statistical Society

Balance sheets

As at 31 December 2021

The group The Society The Society
2021 2020 2021 2020
Note £ £ £ £
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets 9 984,108 1,107,043 984,108 1,107,043
Investments 10 2,290,832 2,076,172 2,291,832 2,077,172
3,274,940 3,183,215 3,275,940 3,184,215
Current assets:
Debtors 12 515,879 577,911 565,187 707,301
Short term deposits 39,854 39,828 39,854 39,828
Cash at bank and in hand 553,270 365,492 479,255 256,135
1,109,003 983,231 1,084,296 1,003,264
Liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 13 (290,394) (297,976) (250,327) (282,819)
Net current assets 818,609 685,255 833,969 720,445
Net assets excluding pension liability 4,093,549 3,868,470 4,109,909 3,904,660
Defined benefit pension scheme liability 15 (1,120,000) (1,386,000) (1,120,000) (1,386,000)
Total net assets 2,973,549 2,482,470 2,989,909 2,518,660
Funds: 17
Restricted income funds 466,052 534,867 466,052 534,867
Unrestricted income funds:
Designated funds 1,738 1,738 1,738 1,738
General funds 3,642,119 3,368,055 3,642,119 3,368,055
Non-charitable trading funds (loss) (16,360) (36,190) - -
3,627,497 3,333,603 3,643,857 3,369,793
Pension reserve 15 (1,120,000) (1,386,000) (1,120,000) (1,386,000)
Total unrestricted funds 2,507,497 1,947,603 2,523,857 1,983,793
Total charity funds 2,973,549 2,482,470 2,989,909 2,518,660

Approved by the trustees on 22 June 2022 and signed on their behalf by

Sylvia Richardson President

Kevin Barnes Honorary Treasurer

30

Royal Statistical Society

Consolidated statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 December 2021

Note
Net income / (expenditure) for the reporting period
Depreciation charges
Gain on investments
Dividends and interest
Defined benefit pension employer contribution
Defined benefit pension adjustment
Finance lease rentals
Decrease in debtors
(Decrease) in creditors
Movement on cash held in investments
Repayment of finance lease liability
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand
Notice deposits (more than 3 months)
Total cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year
Cash flows from financing activities
Net cash used in financing activities
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash (used in) / provided by investing activities
Net cash (used in) / provided by operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of fixed assets
Purchase of investments
Dividends and interest
Proceeds from sale of investments		 £
£
307,079
169,106
(227,487)
(48,569)
(100,000)
18,000
(1,976)
62,032
(5,606)
172,579
(46,171)
358,228
(357,782)
12,381
48,569
15,225
-
-
187,804
405,320
593,124
At 1 January
2021
£
365,492
39,828
405,320
2021		 £
£
307,079
169,106
(227,487)
(48,569)
(100,000)
18,000
(1,976)
62,032
(5,606)
172,579
(46,171)
358,228
(357,782)
12,381
48,569
15,225
-
-
187,804
405,320
593,124
At 1 January
2021
£
365,492
39,828
405,320
2021		 £
£
(85,323)
157,878
(34,358)
(52,054)
(100,000)
6,000
(5,250)
234,114
(39,802)
81,205
(53,859)
240,227
(259,571)
30,879
52,054
9,730
(2,238)
(2,238)
88,697
316,623
405,320
Cash flows
At 31
December
2021
£
£
187,778
553,270
26
39,854
187,804
593,124
2020		 £
£
(85,323)
157,878
(34,358)
(52,054)
(100,000)
6,000
(5,250)
234,114
(39,802)
81,205
(53,859)
240,227
(259,571)
30,879
52,054
9,730
(2,238)
(2,238)
88,697
316,623
405,320
Cash flows
At 31
December
2021
£
£
187,778
553,270
26
39,854
187,804
593,124
2020
(46,171)
358,228
(357,782)
12,381
48,569		 (53,859)
240,227
(259,571)
30,879
52,054
- (2,238)
Cash flows
£
187,778
26
187,804
405,320		 88,697
316,623
593,124 405,320
At 1 January
2021
£
365,492
39,828		 At 31
December
2021
£
553,270
39,854
405,320 187,804 593,124

31

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

1 Accounting policies

a) Statutory information

The Royal Statistical Society is a charity registered with the Charity Commission in England & Wales and incorporated by Royal Charter.

The registered office address is 12 Errol St, London EC1Y 8LX.

b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

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 accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has since been withdrawn.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

These financial statements consolidate the results of the Society and its wholly-owned subsidiary RSS (Services) Limited on a line by line basis. Transactions and balances between the Society and its subsidiary have been eliminated from the consolidated financial statements. Balances between the two entities are disclosed in the notes of the Society's balance sheet. A separate statement of financial activities, or income and expenditure account, for the Society itself is not presented as the summary of the result for the year is disclosed in the notes to the accounts.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below.

c) Public benefit entity

The Society meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Society's ability to continue as a going concern for 12 months after the date of signing of these accounts, this is despite the likely increase in the pension deficit. A significant proportion of our income is guaranteed until the end of 2022 and the RSS owns the freehold of our Errol Street headquarters.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income

Income is recognised when the Society has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Membership subscriptions are recognised in the financial statements during the period in which a member becomes entitled to benefits.

Income from courses, conferences and meetings are recognised in the period in which the event takes place.

Income received from the sale of journals is recognised in the year in which the journal is published. Wiley Publishers undertake the marketing and distribution of the Society's journals and the Society receives a guaranteed contribution plus a share in any surplus arising.

Grants are recognised in full in the statement of financial activities in the year in which they are receivable.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

32

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

1 Accounting policies (continued)

f) Donations of gifts, services and facilities

Voluntary income received by way of donations and gifts to the Society, is included in full in the statement of financial activities when received.

In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised in the financial statements.

g) Investments, investment income and interest receivable

Investment income and interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable. Investments held as fixed assets are revalued at bid value at the balance sheet date. The gain or loss for the year is taken to the statement of financial activities. The Society's investment in its subsidiary is included at cost.

h) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund. If funds are unspent and carried forward into a later financial period, the trustees allocate the percentage, representing the investment return, including both the income earned and the unrealised gain/loss on investments, to these funds as at the balance sheet date.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

Transfers are made from general funds to designated funds or restricted funds based on decisions by the Trustees.

i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

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. Resources expended include attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.

j) Allocation of support costs

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity. Support costs are then re-allocated to each of the charitable activities on the basis of staff time on each activity as follows:

Support cost reallocation Support cost reallocation 2021 2020
% %
˜ Statistics & Public Interest 14.11 13.12
˜ Education & Statistical Literacy 7.46 12.10
˜ Developing the Profession 17.88 19.52
˜ Strengthening the Discipline 25.16 25.32
˜ Engaging the Membership & Partners 27.98 23.26
˜ Venue Hire 0.00 0.37
˜ Governance costs 7.42 6.31

k) Allocation of governance costs

Resources expended and allocated support costs relating to Governance costs are allocated to each activity proportionately.

Governance cost reallocation Governance cost reallocation 2021 2020
% %
˜ Statistics & Public Interest 15.24 14.00
˜ Education & Statistical Literacy 8.05 12.91
˜ Developing the Profession 19.32 20.84
˜ Strengthening the Discipline 27.17 27.03
˜ Engaging the Membership & Partners 30.21 24.82
˜ Venue Hire 0.00 0.40

33

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

1 Accounting policies (continued)

l) Finance leases

Assets purchased under finance leases are capitalised as fixed assets. Obligations under such agreements are included in creditors. The difference between the capitalised cost and the total obligation under the lease represents the finance charge. Finance charges are written off to the statement of financial activities over the period of the lease so as to produce a constant periodic rate of charge.

m) Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are valued at historic cost. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £250. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use. Major components are treated as a separate asset where they have significantly different patterns of consumption of economic benefits and are depreciated separately over its useful life.

The trustees have reviewed the carrying value of the freehold building. There is a regular maintenance programme which is designed to ensure its continual useful life. They are therefore happy to depreciate the building over the longer period of 100 years.

n) Heritage assets

A heritage asset is defined as “a tangible asset with historical, artistic, scientific, technological, geophysical or environmental qualities that is held and maintained principally for its contribution to knowledge and culture”. The Society is of the opinion that information on the cost or valuation of such assets is not available and such information cannot be obtained due to the specialist nature of the assets, many of which are unique.

o) Short term deposits

Short term deposits represent amounts held on deposit with a maturity of between 3 months and one year.

p) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

q) Foreign exchange

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 rate of exchange offered by the bank on the day of the transaction.

r) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

s) Pensions

The Society operates a defined benefit scheme, The Staff Pension and Life Assurance Plan of the Royal Statistical Society. The pension scheme members' years of employment, counted in the scheme, ceased to increase with effect from 1 January 2017. The cost of providing pension and related benefits is charged to the statement of financial activities over the employees' service lives on the basis of a percentage of earnings which is an estimate of the regular cost. Variations from regular cost, arising from periodic actuarial valuations are allocated over the expected remaining service lives of current employees on the basis of a percentage of current and estimated future earnings. Any difference between the charge to the statement of financial activities and the contributions payable to the scheme shown as an asset or liability in the balance sheet.

The Society also operates a group person pension plan which is a defined contribution scheme. Contributions are charged to the statement of financial activities in the periods to which they relate. The Society has no liability under the scheme other than for the payment of those contributions.

34

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

2 Analysis of income

a) Donations
b) Statistics & Public Interest
Receptions & Public Events
c) Education & Statistical Literacy
Significance Magazine
Grants & Sponsorship
d) Developing the Profession
Accreditation Scheme
Commercial Training
e) Strengthening the Discipline
Publications
Conferences & Events
Medals & Prizes
ISO 18404 sector scheme
f)
Engaging the Membership & Partners
Subscriptions
Advertising
Grants & Sponsorship
g) Venue hire
h) Investments
Dividends
Interest receivable
Total income		 Unrestricted
£
5,347		 Restricted
£
-		 2021
Total
£
5,347		 Unrestricted
£
7,799		 Restricted
£
-		 2020
Total
£
7,799
- - - 10,000 - 10,000
- - - 10,000 - 10,000
38,734
23,333		 -
-		 38,734
23,333		 41,338
17,833		 -
-		 41,338
17,833
62,067 - 62,067 59,171 - 59,171
55,750
203,275		 -
-		 55,750
203,275		 54,250
152,123		 -
-		 54,250
152,123
259,025 - 259,025 206,373 - 206,373
903,124
169,984
-
5,038		 -
-
-
-		 903,124
169,984
-
5,038		 879,298
57,997
-
10,771		 -
-
5,188
-		 879,298
57,997
5,188
10,771
1,078,146 - 1,078,146 948,066 5,188 953,254
749,949
31,969
750		 -
-
-		 749,949
31,969
750		 691,905
11,940
5,500		 -
-
-		 691,905
11,940
5,500
782,668 - 782,668 709,345 - 709,345
- - - 7,069 - 7,069
48,454
115		 -
-		 48,454
115		 50,640
1,414		 -
-		 50,640
1,414
48,569 - 48,569 52,054 - 52,054
2,235,822 - 2,235,822 1,999,877 5,188 2,005,065

35

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

3a Analysis of expenditure (current year)

Direct Costs
Staff costs (note 5)
Other staff costs
Direct service costs
Trading costs
Support costs
Establishment costs
IT costs
Office costs
Legal and professional
Irrecoverable VAT
Depreciation
Other expenses
Total expenditure
Governance costs reallocated
Total expenditure 2021
Total expenditure 2020		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Charitable activities Venue Hire
£
-
-
-
-		 Governance
costs
£
97,476
3,012
36,411
-		 2021 Total
£
1,254,115
40,600
351,270
80,315		 2020
Total
£
1,323,224
105,356
203,215
71,570
Statistics &
Public Interest
£
194,110
5,730
19,998
-		 Education &
Statistical
Literacy
£
111,241
3,027
11,308
-		 Developing the
Profession
£
247,419
7,260
3,701
79,015		 Strengthening
the Discipline
£
310,825
10,215
250,331
1,300		 Engaging the
Membership &
Partners
£
293,044
11,356
29,521
-
219,838
12,416
12,294
999
790
7,159
23,866
3,153		 125,576
6,559
6,495
528
417
3,782
12,607
1,665		 337,395
15,732
15,578
1,266
1,001
9,070
30,240
3,995		 572,671
22,134
21,918
1,781
1,408
12,762
42,547
5,620		 333,921
24,606
24,366
1,980
1,565
14,187
47,299
6,248		 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 136,899
6,527
6,463
525
415
3,763
12,547
1,657		 1,726,300
87,974
87,114
7,079
5,596
50,723
169,106
22,338		 1,703,365
55,093
94,573
13,803
17,936
36,336
157,878
45,762
60,677
280,515
25,731		 32,053
157,629
13,593		 76,882
414,277
32,604		 108,170
680,841
45,872		 120,251
454,172
50,996		 -
-
-		 31,897
168,796
(168,796)		 429,930
2,156,230
-		 421,381
2,124,746
-
306,246 171,222 446,881 726,713 505,168 - - 2,156,230 2,124,746
331,494 305,284 459,377 568,819 450,377 9,395 -

Direct service costs in the governance section include investment management fees of £11,053 (2020: £9,868).

36

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

3a Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

Direct Costs
Staff costs (note 5)
Other staff costs
Direct service costs
Trading costs
Support costs
Establishment costs
IT costs
Office costs
Legal and professional
Irrecoverable VAT
Depreciation
Other expenses
Total expenditure
Governance costs reallocated
Total expenditure 2020		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Charitable activities Venue Hire
£
5,047
395
-
1,825		 Governance
costs
£
70,063
6,653
34,486
-		 2020 Total
£
1,323,224
105,356
203,215
71,570
Statistics &
Public Interest
£
208,704
13,818
34,414
-		 Education &
Statistical
Literacy
£
201,279
12,744
22,497
-		 Developing the
Profession
£
259,602
20,570
3,973
64,241		 Strengthening
the Discipline
£
322,975
26,678
69,709
5,504		 Engaging the
Membership &
Partners
£
255,554
24,498
38,136
-
256,936
7,226
12,404
1,810
2,352
4,766
20,706
6,002		 236,520
6,664
11,440
1,670
2,170
4,395
19,097
5,535		 348,386
10,756
18,465
2,695
3,502
7,094
30,824
8,935		 424,866
13,951
23,947
3,494
4,541
9,202
39,980
11,588		 318,188
12,811
21,991
3,210
4,171
8,449
36,711
10,641		 7,267
206
354
52
67
136
591
171		 111,202
3,479
5,972
872
1,133
2,294
9,969
2,890		 1,703,365
55,093
94,573
13,803
17,936
36,336
157,878
45,762
55,266
312,202
19,292		 50,971
287,491
17,793		 82,271
430,657
28,720		 106,703
531,569
37,250		 97,984
416,172
34,205		 1,577
8,844
551		 26,609
137,811
(137,811)		 421,381
2,124,746
-
331,494 305,284 459,377 568,819 450,377 9,395 - 2,124,746

37

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

4 Net incoming resources for the year

This is stated after charging:

This is stated after charging:
2021 2020
£ £
Depreciation
Owned 169,106 156,570
Leased - 1,308
Trustees' expenses 125 459
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 12,000 11,500
Pension Audit - 3,000
Other services 1,000 6,620
Finance lease rentals
Equipment 1,976 5,250

In 2021 2 trustees (2020: 4) were paid for expenses relating to travel, subsistence, telephone and postage.

5 Analysis of staff costs and the cost of key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:

Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Life assurance
Net interest expense
Pension contributions
Defined benefit pension contributions
Defined contribution pension contributions		 2021
£
997,998
96,144
-
18,000
138,265
3,708		 2020
£
1,061,366
105,496
(4)
6,000
143,152
7,214
1,254,115 1,323,224

Staff are entitled to carry over a maximum of 10 days allowance of unused annual leave. In 2020 it was decided to remove this limit for all staff and in 2021 the maximum was raised temporarily to 13 days due to the pandemic. For the 2021 accounting year the value of the accrued leave was calculated at £26,294 (2020: £34,396). This amount is not material and so is not included as an adjustment in the salary and wages expense.

As part of the recovery plan to reduce the shortfall in funding for the defined benefit pension scheme the employer contributed £100,000 (2020: £99,996) during the year. The actuarial gains and losses on the Scheme for the year, are recognised in the statement of financial activities in accordance with FRS102.

The contributions made during the year ended 31 December 2020 for the defined contribution scheme were at a rate of double that made by the contributor (between 1% and 8%) of pensionable salaries. The cost to the Society was £138,265 (2020: £143,152).

Insurance premiums for death in service benefits were payable in addition.

38

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

5 Analysis of staff costs (continued)

The following number of employees received employee benefits in excess of £60,000 (excluding employer pension costs and employer national insurance) during the year between:

national insurance) during the year between:
£60,000 - £69,999
£80,000 - £89,999
£90,000 - £99,999
£70,000 - £79,999		 2021
No.
1
-
-
1		 2020
No.
1
1
-
-
2 2

The key management personnel of the Society comprise the Chief Executive, the Director of Membership and Professional Affairs, the Director of Finance, the Director of Training & Commercial and the Director of Digital & IT. The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer national insurance contributions) of the key management personnel were £420,265 (2020: £423,512).

The trustees were not paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the Society in the year (2020: £nil). No trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the Society with the exception of those detailed in note 7.

6 Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:

Total staff 2021
No.
26.0		 2020
No.
25.3
26.0 25.3

7 Related party transactions

For teaching and developing commercial training courses one trustee, Mark Briers (MJO Data Consulting Ltd) was paid £2,000 (2020: £2,000). There were no amounts outstanding at 31 December 2021 (2020: £nil).

8 Taxation

The Society is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes. The Society's trading subsidiary RSS (Services) Ltd distributes available profits under Gift Aid to the Society. Its charge to corporation tax in the year was £nil (2020: £nil).

39

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

9 Tangible fixed assets

The group and Society

The group and Society
Cost
At the start of the year
Additions in year
Disposals in year
At the end of the year
Depreciation
At the start of the year
Charge for the year
Eliminated on disposal
At the end of the year
Net book value
At the end of the year
At the start of the year		 Freehold land
and buildings
£
1,067,145
-
-		 Fixtures and
fittings and
equipment
£
342,671
-
-		 Computers
and Laptops
£
44,341
21,196
-		 Database,
Servers and
Audio-visual
Equipment
£
514,356
24,975
-		 Total
£
1,968,513
46,171
-
1,067,145 342,671 65,537 539,331 2,014,684
259,907
10,071
-		 215,890
37,292
-		 44,341
10,598
-		 341,332
111,145
-		 861,470
169,106
-
269,978 253,182 54,939 452,477 1,030,576
797,167 89,489 10,598 86,854 984,108
807,238 126,781 - 173,024 1,107,043

Land with a historic value of £60,000 (2020: £60,000) is included within freehold property and not depreciated. The trustees believe that if sold at the current time the land and building would realise in excess of the net book value of the asset and that there is no indication of impairment.

A finance lease with an original value of £7,850 (2020: £7,850) is included within fixtures and capitalised in accordance with FRS102.

The RSS maintains the oldest part of its historical book collection on site at Errol Street. The collection comprises approximately 500 volumes and includes all the pre 1800 dated books as well as the collections donated by William Newmarch and George Udny Yule.

The majority of post-1800 books are held on permanent deposit at the University of Essex library. This collection consists of back runs of around 30 periodicals, a large book collection, and an important series of tracts – bound volumes of pamphlets on diverse topics. The core of the collection relates to statistics and statistical history, and contains much material of interest in the field of social and economic history, particularly for the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The trustees regard the Book Collection as a Heritage Asset and it is not their intention at any time in the future to sell the collection. The collection is included at nil value.

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

40

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

10 Listed investments

Listed investments
Cash movement
Total market value at year end
Investment in subsidiary undertakings
Bonds
Shares listed on recognised stock exchanges including unit trusts
Property fund
Cash
Market value at the start of the year
Investments comprise:
Additions at cost
Disposal proceeds
Net gain/(loss) on revaluation		 2021
2020
£
£
2,076,172
2,053,349
(12,381)
(30,879)
357,782
259,571
(358,228)
(240,227)
227,487
34,358
2,290,832
2,076,172
2021
2020
£
£
304,451
308,229
1,705,287
1,494,360
258,577
238,685
22,517
34,898
-
-
2,290,832
2,076,172
The group
The group		 2021
2020
£
£
2,077,172
2,054,349
(12,381)
(30,879)
357,782
259,571
(358,228)
(240,227)
227,487
34,358
2,291,832
2,077,172
2021
2020
£
£
304,451
308,229
1,705,287
1,494,360
258,577
238,685
22,517
34,898
1,000
1,000
2,291,832
2,077,172
The Society
The Society
2,290,832 2,076,172 2,291,832 2,077,172

Dividends of £48,454 were received in the year (2020: £50,640).

41

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

11 Subsidiary undertaking

The Society owns the whole £1,000 of the issued ordinary share capital of RSS (Services) Ltd, a company registered in England (company number 0398652). The subsidiary is used for non-primary purpose trading activities. All activities have been consolidated on a line by line basis in the statement of financial activities. Available profits are distributed under Gift Aid to the Society. Current Directors are Professor Paul Baxter, Mr Stuart McKendrick, Mr Chris Murphy, Mr Ed Swires-Hennessy and Mr Stian Westlake. No trustees of the Society are currently directors. Mr Stuart McKendrick and Mr Stian Westlake are employed by the Society in the positions of Head of Training and Commercial and Chief Executive respectively.

A summary of the results of the subsidiary is shown below:

2021 2020
£ £
Turnover 240,282 181,903
Cost of sales (80,315) (71,570)
Gross profit 159,967 110,333
Administrative expenses (4,286) (5,588)
Management charge from parent entity (135,851) (140,935)
Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 19,830 (36,190)
Taxation on profit on ordinary activities - -
Profit / (loss) for the financial year 19,830 (36,190)
Retained earnings
Total retained earnings brought forward (36,190) -
Profit / (loss) for the financial year 19,830 (36,190)
Distribution under Gift Aid to parent charity - -
Total retained earnings / (loss) carried forward (16,360) (36,190)
The aggregate of the assets, liabilities and funds was:
Assets 82,806 122,724
Liabilities (99,166) (157,914)
Funds (16,360) (35,190)
Parent charity
The parent charity's gross income and the results for the year are disclosed as follows:
2021 2020
£ £
Gross income 2,358,878 1,998,424
Result for the year 471,249 (1,177,160)

Gross income for the year includes a gain from investments of £227,487 (2020: £34,384)

42

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

12 Debtors

Amounts owed by subsidiary company
Other debtors & prepayments
Trade debtors		 2021
2020
£
£
6,739
11,326
509,140
566,585
-
-
515,879
577,911
The group		 2021
2020
£
£
6,739
11,326
509,140
566,585
-
-
515,879
577,911
The group		 2021
2020
£
£
-
-
506,285
564,544
58,902
142,757
565,187
707,301
The Society		 2021
2020
£
£
-
-
506,285
564,544
58,902
142,757
565,187
707,301
The Society
515,879 577,911 565,187 707,301

In October 2019 the RSS was awarded a grant of £396,121 from the National Lottery for the Statisticians in Society project, this money will be paid in instalments until 2023. Currently £162,534 (2020: £242,032) is being held as an other debtor.

13 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Other creditors, provisions and accruals
Trade creditors
Deferred income
Finance lease commitments
Taxation and social security costs		 2021
2020
£
£
1,065
2,813
71,157
110,903
188,573
165,202
-
624
29,599
18,434
290,394
297,976
The group		 2021
2020
£
£
1,065
2,813
71,157
110,903
188,573
165,202
-
624
29,599
18,434
290,394
297,976
The group		 2021
2020
£
£
-
-
58,396
108,626
162,332
155,135
-
624
29,599
18,434
250,327
282,819
The Society		 2021
2020
£
£
-
-
58,396
108,626
162,332
155,135
-
624
29,599
18,434
250,327
282,819
The Society
290,394 297,976 250,327 282,819

14 Deferred income

The deferred revenue below represents prepayments by our customers and members for goods or services that have yet to be delivered. £158,608 (2020: £145,410) relates to membership subscriptions for the future year with the remaining balance consisting of delegate fees for events and training courses for the upcoming year.

Balance at the beginning of the year
Amount released to income in the year
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at the end of the year		 2021
2020
£
£
165,202
153,184
(164,557)
(152,566)
187,928
164,584
188,573
165,202
The group		 2021
2020
£
£
165,202
153,184
(164,557)
(152,566)
187,928
164,584
188,573
165,202
The group		 2021
2020
£
£
155,135
128,596
(154,490)
(127,978)
161,687
154,517
162,332
155,135
The Society		 2021
2020
£
£
155,135
128,596
(154,490)
(127,978)
161,687
154,517
162,332
155,135
The Society
188,573 165,202 162,332 155,135

43

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

15 Pension scheme

The Society operates a defined benefit scheme, The Staff Pension and Life Assurance Plan of the Royal Statistical Society. The most recent actuarial assessment for accounting purposes was at 31 December 2020, it showed a funding shortfall (technical provisions minus value of assets) of £2,297,000. An allowance for the impact of contributions, changes in the gilt yield and inflation curves and actual investment returns since the valuation date reduced the funding shortfall to £2,029,000 as at 31 December 2021. On 31 March 2022 the Society agreed a recovery plan to pay contributions to meet the shortfall in funding. The employer will pay monthly contributions of £16,667 from 1 January 2022 to August 2031. £400,000 was paid between 2019 to 2021 to fund the shortfall identified in the previous triennial valuation. Please note this assessment is calculated on a different basis from the deficit included in the financial statements, which is calculated in accordance with FRS 102.

The pension scheme members' years of employment, counted in the scheme, ceased to increase with effect from 1 January 2017.

The Scheme has a number of purchased annuities in respect of past retirements. The annuity contracts held by the trustees are included as both an asset and liability, with the fair value of the asset taken to equal the present value of the liability.

Insurance premiums for death in service benefits were payable in addition.

The employee benefit obligations recognised in the balance sheet are as follows:

Fair value of plan assets
Present value of funded obligations
Net interest expense
Liabilities
Assets
Net (liability)
Amounts recognised in net incoming resources are as follows:
Actual return on plan assets
Total
Amounts in the balance sheet:		 2021
£
(6,395,000)
5,275,000		 2020
£
(6,459,000)
5,073,000
(1,120,000) (1,386,000)
(6,395,000)
5,275,000		 (6,459,000)
5,073,000
(1,120,000) (1,386,000)
2021
£
(18,000)		 2020
£
(6,000)
(18,000) (6,000)
419,000 228,000

44

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

15 Pension scheme (continued)

Changes in the present value of the defined benefit obligation are as follows:

Net actuarial (loss) on defined benefit pension scheme
Actuarial gain/ (loss) on plan obligations
Actuarial gain on plan assets
Retail Price Inflation assumption
Benefits paid
Opening defined benefit obligation
Principal actuarial assumptions at the balance sheet date (expressed as weighted averages):
Closing fair value of plan assets
Contributions by employer
Benefits paid
Consumer Price Inflation assumption
Future pension increases
Life expectancy - Male
Interest cost
Actuarial losses
Interest Income
Actuarial gains
Closing defined benefit obligation
Future salary increases
Changes in the fair value of plan assets are as follows:
Opening fair value of plan assets
Life expectancy - Female
Statutory revaluation in deferment
Discount rate at the end of the year		 2021
£
6,459,000
88,000
165,000
(317,000)		 2020
£
5,205,000
108,000
1,254,000
(108,000)
6,395,000 6,459,000
2021
£
5,073,000
70,000
349,000
100,000
(317,000)		 2020
£
4,853,000
102,000
126,000
100,000
(108,000)
5,275,000 5,073,000
2021
£
(165,000)
349,000		 2020
£
(1,254,000)
126,000
184,000 (1,128,000)
2021
%
3.20%
2.80%
1.75%
2.80%
3.30%
3.50%
87 years
89 years		 2020
%
2.80%
2.40%
1.40%
2.40%
2.90%
3.40%
87 years
89 years

Amounts for the current and previous four periods are as follows:

2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
£ £ £ £ £
Defined benefit obligation (6,395,000) (6,459,000) (5,205,000) (4,644,000) (5,006,000)
Plan assets 5,275,000 5,073,000 4,853,000 4,487,000 4,583,000
Deficit (1,120,000) (1,386,000) (352,000) (157,000) (423,000)
Experience loss on benefit obligation (250,000) (113,000) (14,000) (26,000) (98,000)
Asset return less expected return on assets 349,000 126,000 208,000 (205,000) 149,000

45

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

16a Current year analysis of group net assets between funds

Investments
Net current assets
Net assets at the end of the year
Defined benefit pension liability
Tangible fixed assets		 General funds
£
984,108
2,290,832
350,819
(1,120,000)		 £
-
-
1,738
-
Designated
funds		 Restricted
funds
£
-
-
466,052
-		 Total funds
£
984,108
2,290,832
818,609
(1,120,000)
2,505,759 1,738 466,052 2,973,549

16b Prior year analysis of group net assets between funds

Net assets at the end of the year
Tangible fixed assets
Net current assets
Defined benefit pension liability
Investments		 General funds
£
1,107,043
2,076,172
148,650
(1,386,000)		 Designated
funds
£
-
-
1,738
-		 Restricted
funds
£
-
-
534,867
-		 Total funds
£
1,107,043
2,076,172
685,255
(1,386,000)
1,945,865 1,738 534,867 2,482,470

17a Current year movements in funds

Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
General funds
David G. Kendall Award for Young Researchers
Bradford Hill Medal Fund
Cathie Marsh Memorial Bursary Fund
Mardia Interdisciplinary Workshop Prize Fund
Barnett Award Fund
Restricted funds:
Greenfield Industrial Medal Fund
Research Prize Fund
Pension fund
Francis Wood Memorial Medal Fund
Total funds including pension fund
Total unrestricted funds
C. Oswald George Prize Fund
Chambers Medal Fund
Guy Medal Fund
John Howard West Bursary & Medal Fund
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds:
Non-charitable trading funds
Statisticians for Society (Big Lottery Fund)		 At the start of
the year
£
5,247
9,302
2,417
2,377
3,941
74,906
4,882
26,984
28,805
5,188
34,763
336,055		 Incoming
resources
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Outgoing
resources
£
(440)
(272)
(720)
(439)
(440)
(2,001)
-
(875)
-
(1,750)
(3,549)
(60,992)		 Transfers
£
610
1,146
216
246
445
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 At the end of
the year
£
5,417
10,176
1,913
2,184
3,946
72,905
4,882
26,109
28,805
3,438
31,214
275,063
534,867 - (71,478) 2,663 466,052
1,738 - - - 1,738
1,738 - - - 1,738
3,368,055
(36,190)		 1,957,027
240,282		 (1,680,300)
(220,452)		 (2,663)
-		 3,642,119
(16,360)
3,333,603 2,197,309 (1,900,752) (2,663) 3,627,497
(1,386,000) 266,000 - - (1,120,000)
2,482,470 2,463,309 (1,972,230) - 2,973,549

46

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2021

17b Prior year movements in funds

Statisticians for Society (Big Lottery Fund)
Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
General funds
Restricted funds:
Cathie Marsh Memorial Bursary Fund
Total funds including pension fund
C. Oswald George Prize Fund
Non-charitable trading funds
Total unrestricted funds
Pension fund
John Howard West Bursary & Medal Fund
Barnett Award Fund
Unrestricted funds:
Designated funds:
David G. Kendall Award for Young Researchers
Research Prize Fund
Bradford Hill Medal Fund
Francis Wood Memorial Medal Fund
Chambers Medal Fund
Greenfield Industrial Medal Fund
Guy Medal Fund
Mardia Interdisciplinary Workshop Prize Fund		 At the start of
the year
£
5,038
8,932
3,529
2,283
3,784
73,929
4,688
25,911
27,660
-
34,763
396,121		 Incoming
resources
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5,188
-
-		 Outgoing
resources
£
-
-
(1,208)
-
-
(2,000)
-
-
-
-
-
(60,066)		 Transfers
£
209
370
96
94
157
2,977
194
1,073
1,145
-
-
-		 At the end of
the year
£
5,247
9,302
2,417
2,377
3,941
74,906
4,882
26,984
28,805
5,188
34,763
336,055
586,638 5,188 (63,274) 6,315 534,867
1,888 - (150) - 1,738
1,888 - (150) - 1,738
3,459,267
-		 1,852,332
181,903		 (1,937,229)
(218,093)		 (6,315)
-		 3,368,055
(36,190)
3,461,155 2,034,235 (2,155,472) (6,315) 3,333,603
(352,000) - (1,034,000) - (1,386,000)
3,695,793 2,039,423 (3,252,746) - 2,482,470

Purposes of restricted funds

All restricted funds represent grants, donations, bequests etc received by the Society, along with interest earned thereon. They are used to meet future costs of awarding medals, prizes and bursaries. The Barnett Award is a named lecture in the field of environmental statistics. The Mardia Interdisciplinary Workshop Prize funds events or workshops in emerging interdisciplinary areas. The Statisticians for Society project was begun in 2018 as a pilot programme to support RSS members to give their skills on a pro bono basis to organisations in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. In 2019 we were awarded a further grant from the National Lottery Fund to build on the learning gained during the development phase and to continue the development across the UK over the next five years.

In accordance with accounting policy on fund accounting (h) the trustees have transferred the percentage, representing the investment return, including both the income earned and the unrealised gain/loss on investments, from the General fund to these funds as at the balance sheet date.

Purposes of designated funds

The C. Oswald George Prize Fund has been awarded to the authors of the best article in Teaching Statistics since the magazine launched in 1979.

47