Council, the Trustees of the Society, met for the first time in 2021 on 23 March in what was a very productive session.
The Society’s President, Sylvia Richardson, welcomed the newly elected Council members to their first meeting since coming into post.
Council was pleased to approve the appointment of Sophie Carr as a member of the Audit & Risk Committee, and Brendan Murphy as Council representative to the Professional Affairs Committee.
Council approved the creation of a new role – Honorary Officer for equality, diversity and inclusion – and a committee to support this postholder. Nicola Emmerson, who is leading this work, explained that this role would increase the profile of the Society's work on this issue. Council noted that the new committee's membership would be drawn from other RSS groups, including the Professional Affairs Committee, Sections and Conference Board.
Blaise Egan, Honorary Officer for sections and local groups, presented a report on the work of these groups. Council members were heartened to see that many of these groups' virtual events had attracted larger numbers of attendees than the face to face meetings which were held in previous years.
In relation to data science, the President reminded members that strengthening the Society’s engagement in this area was one of the top priorities for her presidency. She advised that she would be convening an RSS Data Science Task Force, to develop a plan of action for publications, events, training and specific projects.
Council also reviewed the work of the Covid-19 Taskforce to date, and looked at upcoming priorities in this area. Finally, there was a discussion about the broader RSS strategy, building on the plans set out in the 2021 Activity Plan.