Whilst it's probably true that few read the annual accounts in great detail, publishing them in the magazine at least gives every member the chance to scrutinise the final financial position, and the number of members, for example. After all, the opportunity for people outside management and board of directors to know about the organisation is what the audited accounts are for.
Not publishing them in the magazine must surely be a highly retrograde step, and one that is difficult to justify in terms of the commercial interests of RadCom, because it isn't actually sold anywhere. Three pages not printed once a year about the accounts is not three pages particularly detrimental to the magazine.
The Board of Directors has decided, seemingly with no consultation with society members, to instead only publish the accounts online. They may claim this increases transparency, making it readily available to all, whenever they want (which is exactly what they then did claim - see RSGB's response, below).
But, as a result, I think it is inevitable that from now on, far fewer people will chance upon the accounts whilst flicking through an old or current copy. Thus, the doors to transparency might well close, rather then open, a little further.
Rightly or wrongly, it has not been uncommon to find comments online and amongst members in the street, that the RSGB has not historically been very strong on openness. The term 'bunker mentality' has appeared on more than one occasion.
Only eight years ago, that kind of belief that people 'on the outside' would never really get to know about misdeeds led to the RSGB's era of the 'Great Fiasco'. Then, we saw a Luso Tower bought for £31,000 (please read that amount again, it is staggering), only to be (quite rightly) refused planning permission for its erection at Bletchley Park, and thus forcing its offering for sale for a 56% reduction in value.
We also had allegations that the then General Manager, Peter Kirby, had somehow (the details were never aired fully in public) run up a 'debt to the Society' of some £41,000 on an RSGB credit card. With legal action in the offing, Kirby left the RSGB's employment, paying all the money, plus the RSGB's legal costs, back. The 'debt' was run up, despite the then auditors signing off the accounts as being in order. Maybe more eyes on the numbers would have helped?
I really hope that the society reconsiders its decision to withdraw the accounts from RadCom, because it could be perceived by members as too much like a patronising decision that readers don't really want to look at them.
For those who, justifiably, feel that, as members who pay for the RSGB's very existence and thus have every right to hold the society to account, you can find the audited financial statement from here from April 01, 2019.
The RSGB's current General Manager gave the following response:
"It is not a legal requirement, nor is it in our Memorandum & Articles of Association
that we publish our accounts however the RSGB Directors have always produced these in the true spirit of openness.
It
is common practice for organisations such as ours to make their
financial statements
available online, i.e. RSPB and National Trust, the RSGB is delighted
to now be able to offer this method of sharing it’s Director’s and
Financial Reports for the year.
We certainly don’t see this as a
retrograde step but as progress where as your say, every
member has an opportunity to view these Reports at any time without
having to find their copy of RadCom first.
Online is of course not the
only way you can view these accounts and their associated reports; they
were available, for members to request from
the General Manager, available at the AGM and of course they can be
downloaded from the Companies House website."
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