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2022-12-31-accounts

Charity number: 306096

Royal Statistical Society

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 December 2022

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Reference and administrative information ...................................................................................... 1 Trustees’ annual report .................................................................................................................. 6 Independent auditor’s report ........................................................................................................ 28 Consolidated statement of financial activities ............................................................................... 32 Balance sheets ............................................................................................................................ 33 Consolidated statement of cash flows .......................................................................................... 34 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................. 35

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Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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/ Andrew Garrett President (from 1 January 2023)
Vice Presidents Sylvia Richardson President (until 31 December 2022)
Deborah Ashby Past President (until 31 December 2022)
Sylvia Richardson Past President (from 1 January 2023)
Sophie Carr Vice President, Education and Statistical Literacy
Christl Donnelly Vice President, External Affairs
Jon Forster Vice President, Academic Affairs
Rachel Hilliam Vice President, Professional Affairs
Honorary Officers Kevin Barnes Honorary Treasurer
Paul Allin Honorary Officer, National Statistics
(from 22 March 2022)
Shirley Coleman Honorary Officer, Discussion Meetings
Blaise Egan Honorary Officer, Sections & Local Groups
Steven Gilmour Honorary Officer, Publications
Scott Heald Honorary Officer, Conferences & Events
Eugenie Hunsicker Honorary Officer for Equality, Diversity
and Inclusion (until 26 February 2023)
Johanna Hutchinson
Honorary Officer, Remuneration and Staffing
Richard Pugh Honorary Officer, Membership
(from 22 March 2022)

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Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Ordinary members Mario Cortina Borja (until 31 December 2022)
Tricia Dodd
Peter Elias
Richard Emsley
Emily Granger (from 1 January 2023)
Daria Gromyko
Beverley Hale
Katie Harron
Uma Kambhampati
Mona Kanaan
Theodore Kypraios (from 1 January 2023)
Altea Lorenzo-Arribas
(from 1 January 2023)
Anthony B Masters
Anjali Mazumder
Omar McCarthy (from 22 March 2023)
Lisa McFetridge
Claire Miller (until 31 December 2022)
Robin Mitra
Sarah Nevitt
(from 1 January 2023)
Brendan Murphy
Murray Pollock
Gesine Reinert
Jamie Sergeant
Donald Simeon
(from 1 January 2023)
Tom Smith
(until 31 December 2022)
Phillippa Spencer
(from 1 January 2023)
Lucy Teece
Deirdre Toher (until 31 December 2022)
James Weatherall (until 31 December 2022)
Senior Stian Westlake Chief Executive (until 22 May 2023)
Management Nicola Emmerson Director of Membership and Professional Affairs
Team Acting Chief Executive (from 23 May 2023)
Jack Beeby Director of IT and Digital
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 2022

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 2022

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.

The reference and administrative information set out on pages 1-3 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

Once again, this year, it has been reassuring to see our membership – particularly the paid membership categories – continue to grow at record levels despite the difficult economic climate. We now have our highest-ever number of fellows, at over 6,700. This is at least partly thanks to strengthening our corporate membership offering; members subscribed via corporate membership schemes now make up more than 18% of our fellowship; the highest-ever proportion.

Our professional membership offering has expanded, too. 12[th] June saw the Alliance for Data Science Professionals launch the new standards for data science, with five RSS members being amongst the first 13 individuals to beta-test the accreditation process and receive the new Advanced Data Science Professional certificate. Members will soon be able to apply for the certificate online via My RSS. We have also partnered with PushFar to trial a new self-service mentoring platform, with plans to launch a wider mentoring scheme aimed at personal and professional development and accessible to all members at every level. Development of our new data science content platform; “ Real World Data Science ”, is continuing. The editorial strategy has been drawn up, setting out the vision and goals of the platform, basic site and content structure, and ways of working. An editorial board has been appointed and content development is underway.

We’ve continued to provide volunteering opportunities for RSS fellows, including via the Statisticians for Society initiative, which supports members to provide pro bono statistics expertise to small UK charities. In 2022, we had 67 enquiries from charities and matched a further 25 charities with volunteer statisticians, and completed ten projects. More than 730 fellows registered their interest in volunteering via the scheme.

I’m pleased that we have made good progress in the past year with our commitment to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across the organisation and the profession – in 2021 the RSS appointed Eugenie Hunsicker as the inaugural RSS Honorary Officer for EDI. As part of her year in office, Eugenie successfully set up the EDI advisory group, the remit of which is to coordinate EDI activities to ensure that the Society considers EDI across the organisation, to understand the diversity of our membership and promote the impactful work achieved by members in this area. Unfortunately, Eugenie stepped down from the role of Honorary Officer for EDI at the beginning of 2023 due to work commitments, and the Society aims to appoint a replacement this summer.

Our policy and external relations work has continued apace. The past year has of course seen a continued focus on the issues surrounding the pandemic, and our Covid-19 Task Force held four successful Covid Evidence Sessions which brought together key members of the statistical

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Trustees’ annual report

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community to explore the statistical aspects of the pandemic ahead of the UK official inquiries. A major focus going forward is to shape the RSS contribution to the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry. After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, July saw a return to a successful in-person awards ceremony for our Statistical Excellence Awards with over 100 attendees from media, government and academia. We continue to engage with the media on various topics on a regular basis, with our survey of MPs’ statistical skills released in February covered by the Guardian , Times , The I , BMJ , the BBC and others.

I was delighted to see around 450 people attend the international conference in Aberdeen in Scotland in September. The feedback from delegates has been very positive. I particularly enjoyed seeing so many young statisticians and witnessing their enthusiasm for statistics. Our training offering continues to thrive, too, and we will have delivered 30 courses on our public course programme by the end of this year, as well as delivering 27 in-company courses – a new record for us.

It's been a busy year for all our publications . RSS appointed Oxford University Press (OUP) as the new publisher of the RSS Journal Series and Significance magazine and we are transitioning our journal content to OUP’s new RSS journal websites from early 2023. Significance published a special collection of articles in April to celebrate the life, career and contributions of the late Sir David Cox – and we also held a successful invited speaker talk at the conference in Aberdeen on journal papers from each Series celebrating his outstanding work. Series A, Statisticians in Society , published a record number of special issue collections this year: a celebration of Harvey Goldstein's lifetime contributions; The Future of Online Data Collection in Social Surveys; a special issue in memory of Fred Smith and Chris Skinner; and a Special Topic Meeting supplement on Covid-19 transmission. In June, we held the first in-person discussion meeting at our Errol Street headquarters since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with papers about the pandemic itself. And in October, Significance published a guest-edited special issue in support of the first International Day for Women in Statistics and Data Science. In the coming year, we are planning to launch a new journal on Data Science, so watch this space!

Professor Sylvia Richardson

(President of the Royal Statistical Society 2021-2022)

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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 work is structured around the six strategic objectives outlined below. The first four of these are outward facing and demonstrate charitable activity. The last two are more internal and governance related and support the achievement of the four external impact objectives:

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

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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

Education and statistical literacy

Supporting the discipline

Professional affairs

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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 11,400 members (of whom over 6,700 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.

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 is 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 therefore heavily dependent on the

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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 18 Sections, which hold meetings and discussions about their specialist area. 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 geographic areas.

In 2022, Professor Sylvia Richardson led the Society as President. Professor Richardson’s term of office commenced on 1 January 2021 and concluded on 31 December 2022. Dr Andrew Garrett was confirmed as RSS President-Elect from 1 January 2023.

The Society is in the process of selecting the 2025-2026 President.

In February 2023 Chief Executive Stian Westlake tendered his resignation as he was appointed as the next Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). He continued to serve until May 2023. The current President, Andrew Garrett is leading the recruitment for the next Chief Executive while in the interim Nicola Emmerson, the Director of Membership and Professional Affairs, will reprise her role as acting Chief Executive.

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. The organisation is a company limited by share capital, incorporated on 28 April 2000.

The following persons served as directors of the company during the year and up to the date of this report: Stian Westlake (until 22 May 2023)

Paul Baxter Stuart McKendrick Chris Murphy Edward 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). Both the magazine and journals are published by Oxford University Press.

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. Together with its CMS partners, the RSS is supporting the establishment of a new National Academy for the Mathematical Science, building on

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the findings of the independent review into Knowledge Exchange in the Mathematical Science, led by Professor Philip Bond.

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. Staff are not discriminated against because of gender or gender reassignment status, 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 policy 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:

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 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 2.4 (2021: 2.64) based on the employees in place at the end of the financial year.

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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 less any pension deficit from the latest FRS102 accounting valuation, was £3.020m at the end of 2022 (2021: £1.538m). The increase in the reserves is due mainly to the pension deficit moving from £1.120m to nil. The free reserves position now exceeds the £1.5m to £2.0m range recommended by the reserves policy. This is likely to be a short-term situation as the income from the new journals publishing contract is significantly lower and the building owned by the RSS requires major refurbishment.

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 management

Risk: The detailed Risk Register is monitored by the Senior Management Team and the Audit and Risk Committee. 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 to hold the staff to account. Detail on activities for each strategic goal
objectives are listed in this 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 is currently
membership of reaching out to new communities such as data scientists. In addition, the
the Society RSS is 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 increased in 2022 to 11,474 (2021: 10,330) with paid members
having increased to 6,716 (2021: 6,560). 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 ran until the end of 2022 and gave significant
the Society from guaranteed payments. A new contract was signed with Oxford University
achieving its Press which began 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 the RSS website captures members’ key data
track and identify enabling the RSS to target them with personalised content and adapt to
the key risks their needs. Regular member surveys are conducted that focus on specific
facing the Society business areas. SMT collate the data and use it to inform 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 can be cut back when appropriate. RSS free reserves were
and reserves £3.020m at the close of 2022 (2021: £1.538m), calculated as general
reserves less tangible assets and any 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’s trustees and
the pensions trustees and signed on 31 March 2022. £200k has been paid
up to the end of 2022 with a commitment of £200k each year until 2031. The
next triennial valuation is due as at 31 December 2023.
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 2022.
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 unauthorised access to functionality and data.
The Audit and Risk Committee reviews this risk annually, the latest review
occurred in December 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 2022 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 support and
its goals cover their responsiblities.
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 Microsoft 365 suite,
technology 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 not configured for hybrid events and live
purpose streaming, and it is not accessible to the disabled. Staff are working
remotely more often. Council nominated a taskforce in 2022 to consider all
the options available to RSS. Council decided to seek external funding to
undertake a major refurbishment. If the funding bid is unsuccessful the
trustees backed the sale of Errol Street and a move to a smaller building. As
part of this process a valuation of the building was completed in March 2022
which confirmed the current value of the building is 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 May 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 2022 with some activities carried forward into 2023. A review of the Society’s performance in 2022 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: The Society and its members continue to play an important role in the response to Covid19. The Covid-19 Task Force has 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 government to publish the evidence behind its travel lists. The Society’s sections have also played an active role in the debate. In March 2022 the Task Force published its recommendations on lessons to be learnt from the pandemic, which has proved to be the Society’s most downloaded report to date. The Working Group on Diagnostic Tests has set out detailed recommendations on how to improve regulation around testing, which are now being discussed with the government. Over the summer, the Task Force conducted a series of expert evidence sessions, whose findings will be fed into the public inquiries being conducted into the handling of the pandemic.

Policy: The RSS has responded to a wide range of government and parliamentary consultations. These have included Covid-19 (both lessons learned and on 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 RSS have continued to engage regularly with the media and while coverage is not as extensive as it was during the height of the pandemic, the Society has received regular media coverage throughout 2022. The survey of MPs statistical literacy skills which was released in February of this year was covered by the Guardian, Times, The I and others. The RSS’s criticism of the dismantling of several covid surveillance studies was also covered in numerous major UK publications.

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: The RSS statistical ambassadors provide expert statistical expertise to journalists and other stakeholders. The statistical communication skills of non-statisticians were celebrated via the Statistical Excellence in Journalism award, with winners from the Financial Times, Times, Sky News and others attending the July awards ceremony held at Errol Street.

Significance: Significance magazine continues to attract a large readership in print and online. Wiley Journal Insights report more than 310k downloads of Significance articles for 2022. Downloads are fewer than the record numbers seen in 2020 (386k) and 2021 (431k), when the extensive pandemic-related coverage was made freely available to all. However, downloads for 2022 are above pre-pandemic levels.

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In April 2022, Significance published a well-received collection of articles to celebrate the life, career and contributions of the late Sir David Cox. The magazine also published a guest-edited special issue in October 2022 in support of the first International Day for Women in Statistics and Data Science.

Training: The range and popularity of training programmes offered by the RSS has grown this year and sales have returned to pre-pandemic levels; 28 public courses were delivered in 2022, with over 300 people booking onto these courses. Bespoke training was provided for clients including the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Equality and the Human Rights Commission. In the first quarter of 2023 14 commissioned courses were delivered. A total of 37 public courses are planned in 2023.

Events: While many section and group events have continued to be held online, there was a gradual return to in-person events with some being held in a ‘hybrid’ format. This included the series of 4 Covid evidence sessions held at the Society. The President’s Address was held in November.

Education: In its engagement with government and funding councils, the Society has continued to emphasise the message that statistical education needs to take place in a wide range of subjects in addition to mathematics allowing as many people as possible to gain a meaningful statistical education at school level. The Society continues its work on improving statistical literacy, and to this end, the RSS continues to be a funder and supporter of the Royal Society’s Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education.

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: Major improvements have been made to the accreditation programme, including: launching a new professional membership title “Data Analyst” to recognise good statistical knowledge at a modular level. Developing a competency-based route to the GradStat title, for eligible career-young statisticians, and introducing the RSS Quality Mark, an accreditation route for individual degree modules and data skills training from other education providers.

Corporate Membership Partnerships: In 2022 and to date the Society has successfully registered four new corporate partners; Ofcom, Kuwait University, Ofsted and Kings College London. The RSS is currently in talks with more potential new partners. 18% of all RSS members are part of the corporate membership scheme and this is likely to increase in 2023.

In September 2022 a LinkedIn advert campaign was launched to promote corporate membership, directly recruiting Kings College London. Another LinkedIn campaign was launched in late spring. In 2023 a major review of the corporate package began, designed to identify how best to cater for a more commercial corporate membership and discuss strategies to make the corporate package more accessible and relevant to all sectors and industries. In February 2023 there was a focus group meeting with leaders of data and data science teams from Unilever, Roche, ITV and M&S to collect feedback on their requirements.

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There is still scope to grow membership within the existing corporate partners and get them more engaged with projects happening across the Society as well as continuing to encourage their participation and attendance at RSS events, the annual conference and RSS training courses.

Statistical excellence awards: The work of UK government statisticians and non-statisticians was celebrated through the RSS statistical excellence awards, which this year had a focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. An in-person awards ceremony was held in July, with presentations from key RSS fellows and award partners, with over 100 people in attendance.

Data Science: Deepening the Society’s commitment to data science and improving the offering for data scientists is a major priority for the RSS.

A new data science content platform was launched in 2022, Real World Data Science (www.realworlddatascience.net), with support from the Alan Turing Institute. The platform's content offer is developing, and will feature case studies, explainers, training guides and advice, created and curated by expert data science practitioners and leaders to support the delivery of high quality, ethical, and impactful data science.

The RSS co-founded the Alliance for Data Science Professionals (AfDSP) 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.

The Society also assembled an RSS Data Science Task Force of international experts to help plan future work in this area. Several projects are already underway, including the Alliance for Data Science Professionals; a partnership with the Alan Turing Institute to provide the Joint Biosecurity Centre with statistical modelling research capability; and the active work of the RSS Data Science Section, who organise regular well-attended speaker meetings and events such as the Ethics Happy Hours.

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.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: The RSS is working hard to promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusion across the organisation and the profession. As part of this, a new Honorary Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion was created, this role will be supported by a committee of fellows to drive this work forward.

Projects in development include a partnership with the Royal Society on standards for the reporting of research on sex differences, and supporting work to “decolonize” mathematics curriculums.

19

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Honours: Each year medals and prizes are awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions to the development of statistics. The 2022 awards ceremony was held in September during the annual conference in Aberdeen. 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: In April 2022, Oxford University Press (OUP) was appointed as the new publisher of the RSS Journal Series’ A-C and Significance magazine after more than 30 years with Wiley. The transition began by launching new journal homepages at OUP in early September and switching the ScholarOne manuscript submission system from Wiley to OUP in early October. Transfer of the full journal content was completed in January 2023.

JRSSA published a record number of special issue collections during the year: A celebration of Harvey Goldstein's lifetime contributions; The Future of Online Data Collection in Social Surveys; Special issue in memory of Fred Smith and Chris Skinner and a Special Topic Meeting supplement on Covid-19 transmission.

Six Discussion meetings were held as part of the 2022 programme. In June, the first in-person Discussion meeting since the 2020 pandemic took place at Errol St. with papers about the Covid-19 pandemic. A multi-paper Discussion meeting was held during the RSS Annual Conference in Aberdeen on the topic of Statistical Aspects of Climate Change. Also in Aberdeen, a well-received invited speaker talk was held on journal papers from each series celebrating the outstanding work of the late Sir David Cox.

Sections and Local Groups: The RSS Sections, Special Interest and Local Groups continue to be very active, and held over 900 events and meetings during 2022.

International Conference: In September 2022, the RSS International Conference took place in Aberdeen, which was attended by over 500 participants both in-person and online. The programme featured keynote talks, invited topic sessions and contributed talks and posters, over 30 hours of content was made available online via live streaming and on-demand post-conference. The Society has announced that the RSS 2023 International Conference will take place in Harrogate, North Yorkshire from 4-7 September 2023.

20

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 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: A record number of members were recruited in 2022 achieving the highest-ever number of fellows, at more than 6,700 – with 18% (the highest-ever proportion) subscribing via corporate membership schemes.

**Membership Category ** 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Standard Fellows 4,680 4,615 4,649 4,873 5,023
CStats 1,016 1,003 982 988 972
GradStats 678 669 673 687 698
Data Analysts 0 0 0 12 23
e-Student members 2,796 2,915 3,123 2,439 3,399
e-Teachers 875 950 1,273 1,331 1,359
Total Members 10,045 10,152 10,700 10,330 11,474

Statisticians for Society: The work on supporting RSS members to provide pro bono statistics expertise to small UK charities has been further developed. In 2022, 25 charities were matched with volunteer statisticians. Since the project began, 58 projects have been completed in total, and over 730 fellows have registered their interest in volunteering.

Partnerships: The Society has 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 campaigns and policy work. This should provide greater transparency and accountability in how these areas of 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.

IT: Online security has been a key focus with the RSS achieving the government-backed “Cyber Essentials” certification. The Society has broadened its reach on social media and significantly increased subscribers to a wider range of newsletters. Data collection and analysis of RSS members has improved, enabling more personalised targeted communications. The integration of online systems has increased in depth and more automation was implemented to deliver cost and efficiency savings.

21

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Financial Review

The financial performance for 2022 is a net increase of funds of £1.531m. This is largely a result of the £938k actuarial gain in the pension scheme. Total income was £3.108m, an increase of £872k from 2021. Total expenditure increased from the prior year by £254k to £2.410m leading to an operational surplus of £698k (2021: 71k).

Income : Total income is £3.108m (2021: £2.235m).

The main income generating activities are income from journals, membership dues, commercial training fees and income from the annual conference. 2022 was the final year of the contract with the journal publishers Wiley and publication income received was £1.337m, £434k more than in 2021. £200k is a signing bonus received from Oxford University Press who took over the publishing of the journals in 2023 and £224k is due to a significant increase in open access sales. Membership subscription income increased by £32k to £782k which is entirely due to a growth in membership as fees have been held at the same rate since 2020. The trading subsidiary returned to pre-pandemic levels with commercial training income increasing by £93k to £297k. The RSS conference reported £227k of income, £57k more than 2021 despite the death of Queen Elizabeth II the week before the conference preventing some delegates from attending.

£249k more restricted income was received in 2022 with grants received for the “Good enough statistics” and the data technician research projects which will continue into 2023. The income for these is shown in full in 2022 and the unspent income is held as restricted funds.

Expenditure : Total expenditure is £2.410m (2021: £2.156m).

Total expenditure consists of staff costs, direct costs and support costs. Staff costs were £142k higher than in 2021. The average full time equivalent number of staff employed in 2022 increased from 26.0 to 26.3 and the median wage increased by approximately 10%. The total number of staff employed in 2022 was 33 (2021: 28). Recruitment costs were higher as staff turnover was the highest in many years and some roles remained vacant for some time due to a lack of appointable candidates. A cost of living payment was paid to staff in October 2022 to aid staff retention. Direct costs were £445k (2021: £351k) with £32k more spent on the RSS annual conference and £42k more on membership engagement, in particular, the Statisticians for Society project. Support costs were £40k less than in 2021 at £390k. However, £40k more was spent on property costs for building repair and maintenance work.

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 the magazine Significance , and the hire of the Errol Street meeting rooms to external clients.

The trading subsidiary reported a gross profit of £220k (2021: £160k) and a profit of £69k (2021: £20k). After clearing the brought forward loss from 2020, £53k will be gift aided to the charity to support the Society’s activities. Training sales direct to individuals equalled the 2021 total at £187k. However, commissioned training courses, where a whole course is sold to another organisation, achieved total income of £109k (2021: £16k). Advertising sales at £34k were only £2k more than

22

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2022

  1. Venue hire at Errol Street continues to be difficult with the competition in the area coupled with the condition of the building.

Investments : The Investments held by the RSS experienced a loss of £105k reducing the total value of the portfolio to £2.180m. In March 2022 the Society transferred its investment portfolio into Cazenove’s Charity Responsible Multi-Asset Fund. The fund actively screens investments for their impact on society, the environment, and how transparent and accountable they are to avoid harm and push for sustainability.

Pension scheme : The actuarial gain in the pension scheme is due to a significant reduction in the discount rate of the corporate bonds held in the scheme. The scheme moved from a deficit of £1.120m in 2021 to a surplus of £941k. However, this surplus has been accounted for at nil as the accounting standard only allows a pension scheme to be reported as an asset if the asset is recoverable by the sponsoring employer. As the accounting valuation has no impact on the pension contributions the Society is required to make as a result of the funding shortfall identified in the last triennial valuation the surplus has been recognised at nil. The next triennial valuation is at 31 December 2023 and this is the next opportunity to review contributions to the scheme.

Free reserves position : The Society’s level of free reserves, calculated as general reserves less tangible assets less any pension deficit from the latest FRS102 accounting valuation, was £3.020m at the end of 2022 (2021: £1.538m). The increase in the reserves is due mainly to the pension reserve improving from a deficit of £1.120m to nil. The free reserves position now exceeds the £1.5m to £2.0m range recommended by the reserves policy. This is likely to be a short-term situation as the income from the new journal publishing contract is significantly lower and the building owned by the RSS requires major refurbishment.

23

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Plans for the future

The Society’s Activity Plan for 2023 is available online and gives detail about the work programme for the year.

Journals: January 2023 marked the launch of the new publishing contract with Oxford University Press (OUP) after more than 30 years with Wiley. The conclusion and bedding in of the transfer of all journal operations and the first issues of Series A, B and C were published during the first quarter of 2023.

The Society will take the opportunity of changing publisher and ongoing changes in academic publishing to take stock of journal strategy and development. Engaging with OUP partners, journal editors and other stakeholders, the RSS will seek to improve its offering and identify ways to ensure the journal’s future sustainability in an increasingly open-science publishing landscape. As well as identifying improvements to the three Series, the plan will include important preparations for the introduction of a new open-access data science journal with a prospective launch at the 2023 annual conference.

The Society will support marketing and promotional plans created with the new publisher to underpin its journal development and the potential of the journals to retain revenues in an increasingly challenging publishing climate whilst maintaining its high-quality standing.

By the end of the year, the RSS aims to have included at least 4,000 pages across the three Series and anticipates an increase in the proportion of journal articles published open-access. The initiative to attract high quality papers by producing special issues within series and themed virtual issues across the series will again have a prominent place in editorial decisions.

The Society will again support the editors to increase the number and diversity of their membership. This is an important means of attracting and encouraging authors from diverse backgrounds and at different stages of their research careers to submit their papers.

The new journal pages on OUP’s Oxford Academic website will undergo a content refresh during the year to ensure that they better meet the needs of authors, editors, RSS members and other stakeholders in the journal community.

The Discussion Meetings Committee (DMC) will continue to offer a programme of meetings presenting flagship single-paper and multi-paper discussion meetings, drawing on the expertise and knowledge of section and editorial representatives for timely and engaging topics. As in recent years, multi-paper Discussion meetings will be held at the RSS 20023 Annual Conference in Harrogate; the topic, this year, is Machine Learning.

A clear and comprehensive communications drive using available channels will continue throughout the year to support and inform authors, members and other stakeholders of changes and new initiatives.

24

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Data Science : Following the successful launch of the Advanced Data Science Professional certificate in 2022 as planned, a marketing plan will be developed and implemented to increase applicants and in turn, members. The work will continue with the Alliance for Data Science Professionals to gain new partners, jointly market the standards and introduce both a graduate-level certificate, as well as university accreditation standards. This will be advertised across the membership and targeted at RSS corporate members.

The Society launched a new data science content platform in March 2023, Real World Data Science (www.realworlddatascience.net), with support from the Alan Turing Institute. The platform's content offer is developing, and will feature case studies, explainers, training guides and advice, created and curated by expert data science practitioners and leaders to support the delivery of high quality, ethical, and impactful data science. Guided by the editorial board, and with input from relevant RSS sections and other stakeholders, content will be commissioned according to key themes and topics that have been identified as timely and of interest to the data science community.

To widen the platform’s audience and its pool of potential contributors, the RSS will look to partner with other creators in the data science space and pursue opportunities for cross-promotion of content. Similarly, the Society looks to develop the brand profile of the Data Science Platform by media-partnering various events and activities, both online and in-person.

The Society is looking to launch a new journal of statistics and data science. The RSS will be guided in this work by the Society’s Sections (including the Data Science & AI Section, Data Ethics and Governance Section, and Women in Data Science and Statistics Special Interest Group) and by the RSS Data Science Task Force.

Conference: The RSSs annual international conference will take place in Harrogate in September 2023, continuing with the successful mix of keynote talks, invited topic sessions, professional development workshops, contributed and rapid-fire talks, and poster presentations. In particular, the RSS will ensure that there continues to be a strong professional development stream, and that the exhibition continues to grow back to the levels seen in 2018 and 2019.

Member engagement: As a member-led organisation, the RSS draws heavily on its member volunteers to increase the scope and scale of its activities. The RSS will continue to grow engagement with members as volunteers through a range of opportunities, including serving on Council (the Trustee body), in Local Groups, Sections and other advisory and working groups. The RSS will continue its Statisticians for Society and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) initiatives.

Member Retention: The RSS will continue to work to retain members through communications and engagement with the membership, effective use of the CRM system and associated reporting, and the introduction of campaigns to recognise long service and to reconnect with lapsed members.

The RSS will continue to send – and regularly review – email communications to new members, and to engage telemarketing company Chord to make telephone calls to new fellows in months four and nine of their first year of membership. Chord will also continue their ‘unpaid member’ campaign on the behalf of the RSS, calling existing members who have not renewed within two to three months

25

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2022

of the due date; whereas previously this campaign has focused solely on the bulk of members due to renew in January, in 2023, this was extended to all members renewing throughout the year (including those who renew on the anniversary of joining), providing better engagement with newer members. All paying members will continue to receive a series of renewal communications via the CRM.

The RSS will make use of the CRM system to monitor member engagement and continue to track membership trends. The RSS will continue reviewing member benefits to assess their relevance and value to members.

In 2023 the RSS will continue the campaign to invite lapsed members to re-join the Society, and introduce a new email campaign to acknowledge and appreciate members’ long-service, offering digital badges for those who have been members for five, ten, twenty or more years of fellowship. The RSS will continue to profile members to demonstrate and recognise the impact and value they bring to the RSS.

26

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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. The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires 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.

Auditor

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 21 June 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Andrew Garrett President

Kevin Barnes Honorary Treasurer

27

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 2022 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 us 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.

28

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.

29

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:

30

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.

10 July 2023 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

31

Royal Statistical Society

Consolidated statement of financial activities

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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 gain 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 / (loss) 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
£
3,265
5,365
75,343
360,301
1,575,371
815,320
5,679
17,426		 Restricted
£
-
236,344
-
-
-
13,625
-
-		 2022
Total
£
3,265
241,709
75,343
360,301
1,575,371
828,945
5,679
17,426		 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
2,858,070 249,969 3,108,039 2,235,822 - 2,235,822
296,301
201,367
604,883
698,854
475,593
10,833		 21,547
-
-
13,261
87,100
-		 317,848
201,367
604,883
712,115
562,693
10,833		 306,246
171,222
446,881
716,227
444,176
-		 -
-
-
10,486
60,992
-		 306,246
171,222
446,881
726,713
505,168
-
2,287,831 121,908 2,409,739 2,084,752 71,478 2,156,230
(105,374)
570,239		 -
128,061		 (105,374)
698,300		 227,487
151,070		 -
(71,478)		 227,487
79,592
464,865
-		 128,061
-		 592,926
-		 378,557
(2,663)		 (71,478)
2,663		 307,079
-
464,865
938,000		 128,061
-		 592,926
938,000		 375,894
184,000		 (68,815)
-		 307,079
184,000
1,402,865
2,507,497		 128,061
466,052		 1,530,926
2,973,549		 559,894
1,947,603		 (68,815)
534,867		 491,079
2,482,470
3,910,362 594,113 4,504,475 2,507,497 466,052 2,973,549

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.

32

Royal Statistical Society

Balance sheets

As at 31 December 2022

Note
Fixed assets:
9
10
Current assets:
12
Liabilities:
13
15
17
15
Total unrestricted funds
Net assets excluding pension liability
Debtors
Funds:
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted income funds:
Designated funds
Pension reserve (liability)
General funds
Non-charitable trading funds profit (loss)
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total net assets
Defined benefit pension scheme (liability)
Investments
Cash at bank and in hand
Short term deposits
Tangible assets
Total charity funds		 2022
2021
£
£
888,413
984,108
2,180,100
2,290,832
3,068,513
3,274,940
784,804
515,879
39,940
39,854
1,132,402
553,270
1,957,146
1,109,003
(521,184)
(290,394)
1,435,962
818,609
4,504,475
4,093,549
-
(1,120,000)
4,504,475
2,973,549
594,113
466,052
1,588
1,738
3,908,774
3,642,119
-
(16,360)
3,910,362
3,627,497
-
(1,120,000)
3,910,362
2,507,497
4,504,475
2,973,549
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
888,413
984,108
2,180,100
2,290,832
3,068,513
3,274,940
784,804
515,879
39,940
39,854
1,132,402
553,270
1,957,146
1,109,003
(521,184)
(290,394)
1,435,962
818,609
4,504,475
4,093,549
-
(1,120,000)
4,504,475
2,973,549
594,113
466,052
1,588
1,738
3,908,774
3,642,119
-
(16,360)
3,910,362
3,627,497
-
(1,120,000)
3,910,362
2,507,497
4,504,475
2,973,549
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
888,413
984,108
2,181,100
2,291,832
3,069,513
3,275,940
859,722
565,187
39,940
39,854
1,010,518
479,255
1,910,180
1,084,296
(475,218)
(250,327)
1,434,962
833,969
4,504,475
4,109,909
-
(1,120,000)
4,504,475
2,989,909
594,113
466,052
1,588
1,738
3,908,774
3,642,119
-
-
3,910,362
3,643,857
-
(1,120,000)
3,910,362
2,523,857
4,504,475
2,989,909
The Society		 2022
2021
£
£
888,413
984,108
2,181,100
2,291,832
3,069,513
3,275,940
859,722
565,187
39,940
39,854
1,010,518
479,255
1,910,180
1,084,296
(475,218)
(250,327)
1,434,962
833,969
4,504,475
4,109,909
-
(1,120,000)
4,504,475
2,989,909
594,113
466,052
1,588
1,738
3,908,774
3,642,119
-
-
3,910,362
3,643,857
-
(1,120,000)
3,910,362
2,523,857
4,504,475
2,989,909
The Society
3,068,513
784,804
39,940
1,132,402		 3,274,940
515,879
39,854
553,270		 3,069,513
859,722
39,940
1,010,518		 3,275,940
565,187
39,854
479,255
1,957,146
(521,184)		 1,109,003
(290,394)		 1,910,180
(475,218)		 1,084,296
(250,327)
1,435,962 818,609 1,434,962 833,969
4,504,475
-		 4,093,549
(1,120,000)		 4,504,475
-		 4,109,909
(1,120,000)
4,504,475 2,973,549 4,504,475 2,989,909
594,113
1,588
3,908,774
-		 466,052
1,738
3,642,119
(16,360)		 594,113
1,588
3,908,774
-		 466,052
1,738
3,642,119
-
3,910,362
-
3,910,362		 3,627,497
(1,120,000)
2,507,497		 3,910,362
-
3,910,362		 3,643,857
(1,120,000)
2,523,857
4,504,475 2,973,549 4,504,475 2,989,909

Approved by the trustees on 21 June 2023 and signed on their behalf by

Andrew Garrett President

Kevin Barnes Honorary Treasurer

33

Royal Statistical Society

Consolidated statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Note
Net income for the reporting period
Depreciation charges
Loss / (gain) on investments
Dividends and interest
Defined benefit pension employer contribution
Defined benefit pension adjustment
Finance lease rentals
(Increase) / decrease in debtors
Increase / (decrease) in creditors
Movement on cash held in investments
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 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		 £
£
592,926
130,039
105,374
(17,426)
(200,000)
18,000
-
(268,925)
230,790
590,778
(34,344)
2,226,465
(2,243,624)
22,517
17,426
(11,560)
579,218
593,124
1,172,342
At 1 January
2021
£
553,270
39,854
593,124
2022		 £
£
592,926
130,039
105,374
(17,426)
(200,000)
18,000
-
(268,925)
230,790
590,778
(34,344)
2,226,465
(2,243,624)
22,517
17,426
(11,560)
579,218
593,124
1,172,342
At 1 January
2021
£
553,270
39,854
593,124
2022		 £
£
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
Cash flows
At 31
December
2022
£
£
579,132
1,132,402
86
39,940
579,218
1,172,342
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
Cash flows
At 31
December
2022
£
£
579,132
1,132,402
86
39,940
579,218
1,172,342
2021
(34,344)
2,226,465
(2,243,624)
22,517
17,426		 (46,171)
358,228
(357,782)
12,381
48,569
Cash flows
£
579,132
86
1,172,342 593,124
At 1 January
2021
£
553,270
39,854		 At 31
December
2022
£
1,132,402
39,940
593,124 579,218 1,172,342

34

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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.

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. Oxford University Press took over the journal publishing on 1 January 2023, for which a signing bonus was received in 2022.

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.

35

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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.

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 2022 2021
% %
˜ Statistics & Public Interest 13.89 14.11
˜ Education & Statistical Literacy 8.22 7.46
˜ Developing the Profession 22.16 17.88
˜ Strengthening the Discipline 21.30 25.16
˜ Engaging the Membership & Partners 28.04 27.98
˜ Venue Hire 0.55 0.00
˜ Governance costs 5.84 7.42

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 2022 2021
% %
˜ Statistics & Public Interest 14.75 15.24
˜ Education & Statistical Literacy 8.73 8.05
˜ Developing the Profession 23.53 19.32
˜ Strengthening the Discipline 22.62 27.17
˜ Engaging the Membership & Partners 29.79 30.21
˜ Venue Hire 0.58 0.00

36

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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.

37

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

2 Analysis of income

Analysis of income
a) Donations
b) Statistics & Public Interest
Receptions & Public Events
Grants & Sponsorship
c) Education & Statistical Literacy
Significance Magazine
Grants & Sponsorship
d) Developing the Profession
Accreditation Scheme
Commercial Training
e) Strengthening the Discipline
Publications
Conferences & Events
ISO 18404 sector scheme
f)
Engaging the Membership & Partners
Subscriptions
Advertising
Grants & Sponsorship
g) Venue hire
h) Investments
Dividends
Interest receivable
Total income		 Unrestricted
£
3,265		 Restricted
£
-		 2022
Total
£
3,265		 Unrestricted
£
5,347		 Restricted
£
-		 2021
Total
£
5,347
5,365
-		 -
236,344		 5,365
236,344		 -
-		 -
-		 -
-
5,365 236,344 241,709 - - -
50,832
24,511		 -
-		 50,832
24,511		 38,734
23,333		 -
-		 38,734
23,333
75,343 - 75,343 62,067 - 62,067
63,750
296,551		 -
-		 63,750
296,551		 55,750
203,275		 -
-		 55,750
203,275
360,301 - 360,301 259,025 - 259,025
1,337,134
227,487
10,750		 -
-
-		 1,337,134
227,487
10,750		 903,124
169,984
5,038		 -
-
-		 903,124
169,984
5,038
1,575,371 - 1,575,371 1,078,146 - 1,078,146
781,582
33,738
-		 -
-
13,625		 781,582
33,738
13,625		 749,949
31,969
750		 -
-
-		 749,949
31,969
750
815,320 13,625 828,945 782,668 - 782,668
5,679 - 5,679 - - -
14,971
2,455		 -
-		 14,971
2,455		 48,454
115		 -
-		 48,454
115
17,426 - 17,426 48,569 - 48,569
2,858,070 249,969 3,108,039 2,235,822 - 2,235,822

38

Royal Statistical Society

For the year ended 31 December 2022

Notes to the financial statements

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 2022
Total expenditure 2021		 Charitable activities Charitable activities Charitable activities Venue Hire
£
6,324
279
-
1,237		 Governance
costs
£
85,794
2,959
33,445
-		 2022 Total
£
1,397,078
50,631
445,164
127,101		 2021
Total
£
1,254,115
40,600
351,270
80,315
Statistics &
Public Interest
£
216,417
7,033
18,865
-		 Education &
Statistical
Literacy
£
129,781
4,161
22,739
-		 Developing the
Profession
£
331,073
11,218
16,900
125,219		 Strengthening
the Discipline
£
303,254
10,785
281,850
400		 Engaging the
Membership &
Partners
£
324,435
14,196
71,365
245
242,315
17,732
10,135
1,306
1,240
1,447
18,064
4,220		 156,681
10,490
5,996
772
734
856
10,687
2,497		 484,410
28,282
16,166
2,082
1,979
2,307
28,812
6,730		 596,289
27,191
15,542
2,002
1,902
2,218
27,701
6,471		 410,241
35,788
20,456
2,635
2,504
2,920
36,460
8,517		 7,840
703
402
52
49
57
716
167		 122,198
7,460
4,264
549
522
609
7,599
1,775		 2,019,974
127,646
72,961
9,398
8,930
10,414
130,039
30,377		 1,726,300
87,974
87,114
7,079
5,596
50,723
169,106
22,338
54,144
296,459
21,389		 32,032
188,713
12,654		 86,358
570,768
34,115		 83,027
679,316
32,799		 109,280
519,521
43,172		 2,146
9,986
847		 22,778
144,976
(144,976)		 389,765
2,409,739
-		 429,930
2,156,230
-
317,848 201,367 604,883 712,115 562,693 10,833 - 2,409,739 2,156,230
306,246 171,222 446,881 726,713 505,168 - -

Direct service costs in the governance section include investment management fees of £3,283 (2021: £11,053).

39

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

3b 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 2021		 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
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
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
-
306,246 171,222 446,881 726,713 505,168 - - 2,156,230

40

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

4 Net incoming resources for the year

This is stated after charging:

This is stated after charging:
2022 2021
£ £
Depreciation
Owned 130,039 169,106
Trustees' expenses 2,116 125
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit 13,200 12,000
Other services 1,100 1,000
Finance lease rentals
Equipment - 1,976

In 2022 13 trustees (2021: 2) 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:

Staff costs were as follows:
Net interest expense
Pension contributions
Defined contribution pension contributions
Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Life assurance		 2022
£
1,111,342
115,990
18,000
147,409
4,337		 2021
£
997,998
96,144
18,000
138,265
3,708
1,397,078 1,254,115

Staff are entitled to carry over a maximum of 10 days allowance of unused annual leave. In 2021 the maximum was raised temporarily to 13 days due to the pandemic. For the 2022 accounting year the value of the accrued leave was calculated at £22,638 (2021: £26,294). 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 £200,002 (2021: £100,000) 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 2022 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 £147,409 (2021: £138,265).

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

41

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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
£70,000 - £79,999
£90,000 - £99,999
£100,000 - £109,999		 2022
No.
-
1
-
-
1		 2021
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 £447,475 (2021: £420,265).

The trustees were not paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the Society in the year (2021: £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 2022
No.
26.3		 2021
No.
26.0
26.3 26.0

7 Related party transactions

For teaching and developing commercial training courses trustee Sophie Carr was paid £1,000 in 2022 (2021:£Nil). Mark Briers from MJO Data Consulting Ltd who ceased as trustee in 2021 was paid £2,000 in 2021. There were no amounts outstanding at 31 December 2022 (2021: £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 (2021: £nil).

42

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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
£
65,537
7,251
-		 Database,
Servers and
Audio-visual
Equipment
£
539,331
27,093
-		 Total
£
2,014,684
34,344
-
1,067,145 342,671 72,788 566,424 2,049,028
269,978
-
-		 253,182
42,835
-		 54,939
20,669
-		 452,477
66,535
-		 1,030,576
130,039
-
269,978 296,017 75,608 519,012 1,160,615
797,167 46,654 (2,820) 47,412 888,413
797,167 89,489 10,598 86,854 984,108

Land with a historic value of £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 (2021: £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.

43

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

10 Listed investments

The entire RSS portfolio was moved from a bespoke portfolio to the Cazenove Responsible Multi-Asset Fund (RMAF) in April 2022.

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		 2022
2021
£
£
2,290,832
2,076,172
(22,517)
(12,381)
2,243,624
357,782
(2,226,465)
(358,228)
(105,374)
227,487
2,180,100
2,290,832
2022
2021
£
£
-
304,451
2,180,100
1,705,287
-
258,577
-
22,517
-
-
2,180,100
2,290,832
The group
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
2,290,832
2,076,172
(22,517)
(12,381)
2,243,624
357,782
(2,226,465)
(358,228)
(105,374)
227,487
2,180,100
2,290,832
2022
2021
£
£
-
304,451
2,180,100
1,705,287
-
258,577
-
22,517
-
-
2,180,100
2,290,832
The group
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
2,291,832
2,077,172
(22,517)
(12,381)
2,243,624
357,782
(2,226,465)
(358,228)
(105,374)
227,487
2,181,100
2,291,832
2022
2021
£
£
-
304,451
2,180,100
1,705,287
-
258,577
-
22,517
1,000
1,000
2,181,100
2,291,832
The Society
The Society		 2022
2021
£
£
2,291,832
2,077,172
(22,517)
(12,381)
2,243,624
357,782
(2,226,465)
(358,228)
(105,374)
227,487
2,181,100
2,291,832
2022
2021
£
£
-
304,451
2,180,100
1,705,287
-
258,577
-
22,517
1,000
1,000
2,181,100
2,291,832
The Society
The Society
2,180,100 2,290,832 2,181,100 2,291,832

44

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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 Edward 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:

Profit / (loss) for the financial year
Distribution under Gift Aid to parent charity
Parent charity
The parent charity's gross income and the results for the year are disclosed as follows:
The aggregate of the assets, liabilities and funds was:
Gross income
Result for the year
Funds
Liabilities
Profit / (loss) for the financial year
Gross profit
Retained earnings
Taxation on profit on ordinary activities
Total retained earnings brought forward
Assets
Administrative expenses
Profit on ordinary activities before taxation
Total retained earnings / (loss) carried forward
Management charge from parent entity
Cost of sales
Turnover		 2022
£
346,718
(127,101)		 2021
£
240,282
(80,315)
219,617
(10,619)
(139,860)		 159,967
(4,286)
(135,851)
69,138 19,830
- -
69,138 19,830
(16,360)
69,138
(52,778)		 (36,190)
19,830
-
- (16,360)
177,432
(176,432)		 82,806
(99,166)
1,000 (16,360)
2022
£
2,761,321
1,107,673		 2021
£
2,358,878
471,249

Gross income for the year includes a gain from investments of £Nil (2021: £227,487).

45

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

12 Debtors

Amounts owed by subsidiary company
Other debtors & prepayments
Trade debtors		 2022
2021
£
£
52,482
6,739
732,322
509,140
-
-
784,804
515,879
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
52,482
6,739
732,322
509,140
-
-
784,804
515,879
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
-
-
729,256
506,285
130,466
58,902
859,722
565,187
The Society		 2022
2021
£
£
-
-
729,256
506,285
130,466
58,902
859,722
565,187
The Society
784,804 515,879 859,722 565,187

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 £81,871 (2021: £162,534) is being held as an other debtor. John Wiley the publisher pay the balance of the journal income in arrears in 2022 this totalled £384,610 (2021: £156,898).

13 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Other creditors, provisions and accruals
Deferred income
Trade creditors
Taxation and social security costs		 2022
2021
£
£
14,279
1,065
70,233
71,157
379,787
188,573
56,885
29,599
521,184
290,394
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
14,279
1,065
70,233
71,157
379,787
188,573
56,885
29,599
521,184
290,394
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
-
-
68,739
58,396
349,594
162,332
56,885
29,599
475,218
250,327
The Society		 2022
2021
£
£
-
-
68,739
58,396
349,594
162,332
56,885
29,599
475,218
250,327
The Society
521,184 290,394 475,218 250,327

14 Deferred income

The deferred revenue below represents prepayments by our customers and members for goods or services that have yet to be delivered. £176,026 (2021: £158,608) relates to membership subscriptions for the future year. £168,008 (2021: £Nil) is from our publishers OUP 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		 2022
2021
£
£
188,573
165,202
(187,374)
(164,557)
378,590
187,928
379,789
188,573
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
188,573
165,202
(187,374)
(164,557)
378,590
187,928
379,789
188,573
The group		 2022
2021
£
£
162,332
155,135
(162,096)
(154,490)
349,359
161,687
349,595
162,332
The Society		 2022
2021
£
£
162,332
155,135
(162,096)
(154,490)
349,359
161,687
349,595
162,332
The Society
379,789 188,573 349,595 162,332

46

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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 is paying 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.

At the year-end 31 December 2022, the RSS’s defined benefit pension scheme was valued for accounting purposes as an asset with a value of £1.1m. This was as a result of an actuarial gain of £2.1m. The RSS follows the accounting standard FRS 102. Under this accounting standard, an entity should recognise an asset in a defined benefit pension scheme only ‘to the extent that it is able to recover the surplus either through reduced contributions in the future or through refunds from the plan’. Any potential reduction in contributions to the scheme is not likely until the next triennial valuation is completed in mid-2025 and no refund of contributions to scheme can be considered until the scheme is wound up, as such the valuation of the defined benefit pension asset has been capped at nil.

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
Liabilities
Assets
Net asset or (liability)
Amounts recognised in net incoming resources are as follows:
Net interest expense
Actual return on plan assets
Total
Amounts in the balance sheet:		 2022
£
(3,732,000)
4,855,000		 2021
£
(6,395,000)
5,275,000
1,123,000 (1,120,000)
(3,732,000)
4,855,000		 (6,395,000)
5,275,000
1,123,000 (1,120,000)
2022
£
(18,000)		 2021
£
(18,000)
(18,000) (18,000)
(485,000) 419,000

47

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

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/ (loss) on plan assets
2022
2021
2020
£
£
£
(3,732,000)
(6,395,000)
(6,459,000)
4,855,000
5,275,000
5,073,000
1,123,000
(1,120,000)
(1,386,000)
(171,000)
(250,000)
(113,000)
(578,000)
349,000
126,000
Principal actuarial assumptions at the balance sheet date (expressed as weighted averages):
Consumer Price Inflation assumption
Plan assets
Closing fair value of plan assets
Contributions by employer
Benefits paid
Defined benefit obligation
Retail Price Inflation assumption
Benefits paid
Opening defined benefit obligation
Asset (deficit)
Experience loss on benefit obligation
Asset return less expected return on assets
Amounts for the current and previous four periods are as follows:
Future pension increases
Life expectancy - Male
Interest cost
Actuarial (gains) / losses
Interest Income
Actuarial gains / (losses)
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		 2022
£
6,395,000
111,000
(2,639,000)
(135,000)		 2021
£
6,459,000
88,000
165,000
(317,000)
3,732,000 6,395,000
2022
£
5,275,000
93,000
(578,000)
200,000
(135,000)		 2021
£
5,073,000
70,000
349,000
100,000
(317,000)
4,855,000 5,275,000
2022
£
2,639,000
(578,000)		 2021
£
(165,000)
349,000
2,061,000 184,000
2022
%
3.15%
2.85%
4.90%
2.85%
3.35%
3.55%
87 years
89 years		 2021
%
3.20%
2.80%
1.75%
2.80%
3.30%
3.50%
87 years
89 years
2019
£
(5,205,000)
4,853,000
(352,000)
(14,000)
208,000		 2018
£
(4,644,000)
4,487,000
(157,000)
(26,000)
(205,000)

48

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

16a Current year analysis of group net assets between funds

Net current assets
Investments
Net assets at the end of the year
Defined benefit pension asset
Tangible fixed assets		 General funds
£
888,413
2,180,100
840,261
-		 £
-
-
1,588
-
Designated
funds		 Restricted
funds
£
-
-
594,113
-		 Total funds
£
888,413
2,180,100
1,435,962
-
3,908,774 1,588 594,113 4,504,475

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
£
984,108
2,290,832
350,819
(1,120,000)		 Designated
funds
£
-
-
1,738
-		 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

17a Current year movements in funds

AIMS Next Einstein Project
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
David Cox 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
Data technician research (Gatsby Foundation)
Good enough statistics (FTX Future Fund)
Statisticians for Society (Big Lottery Fund)		 At the start 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
-
-		 Incoming
resources
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
10,625
3,000
-
206,344
30,000		 Outgoing
resources
£
-
-
(1,567)
-
-
(2,018)
(220)
(1,000)
-
-
(8,456)
(1,287)
(85,813)
(21,547)
-		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 At the end of
the year
£
5,417
10,176
346
2,184
3,946
70,887
4,662
25,109
28,805
3,438
33,383
1,713
189,250
184,797
30,000
466,052 249,969 (121,908) - 594,113
1,738 - (150) - 1,588
1,738 - (150) - 1,588
3,642,119
(16,360)		 2,329,352
346,718		 (2,062,697)
(330,358)		 -
-		 3,908,774
-
3,627,497 2,676,070 (2,393,205) - 3,910,362
(1,120,000) 1,120,000 - - -
2,973,549 4,046,039 (2,515,113) - 4,504,475

49

Royal Statistical Society

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 December 2022

17b Prior year movements in funds

Statisticians for Society (Big Lottery Fund)
Total restricted funds
Total designated funds
General funds
Total funds including pension fund
C. Oswald George Prize Fund
David Cox Research Prize Fund
Bradford Hill Medal Fund
Francis Wood Memorial Medal Fund
Designated funds:
David G. Kendall Award for Young Researchers
Restricted funds:
Cathie Marsh Memorial Bursary Fund
Non-charitable trading funds
Total unrestricted funds
Pension fund
John Howard West Bursary & Medal Fund
Barnett Award Fund
Unrestricted funds:
Chambers Medal Fund
Greenfield Industrial Medal Fund
Guy Medal Fund
Mardia Interdisciplinary Workshop Prize 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

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 2022 we received two grants the first was from the FTX Future Foundation to build a movement of research aware, Bayesian minded public services and the second from the Gatsby Foundation to map the data science careers ecosystem and design a framework for accreditation and training for technicians working with data.

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 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.

50