Council, the Society's trustees, met on 24 November 2021 in a very productive final meeting for the 2021 session.
Council members congratulated Anthony Masters, Beverly Hale, Daria Gromyko, Mona Kanaan, Murray Pollock, Richard Emsley, Richard Pugh, Tricia Dodd and Uma Kambhampati on their recent election win.
Council members were pleased to approve Dr Sophie Carr's appointment as Vice President for Education and Statistical Literacy, Dr Eugenie Hunsicker as inaugural Honorary Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Professor Steven Gilmour as Honorary Officer for Publications.
The Society senior management team (SMT) outlined the plans for 2022, which covered the RSS's annual activity plan, future planning and 2022 budget. Council members approved the plan and budget for the coming year and looked forward to the exciting developments in data science, training, education and accreditation, policy and communications.
Council approved the recommendations of the Audit and Risk Committee to move all investments to a Responsible Multi-Asset Fund over the next 12 months and SMT's recommendation to sign-up to the Climate Action Charter.
Council approved a 10-year payment recovery plan from January 2022 – December 2032 due to the triennial valuation of the closed defined benefit pension scheme deficit being significantly higher than hoped.
Council received an update on the status of Errol Street, which is experiencing a serious damp problem. Furthermore, the Society is facing higher than expected building maintenance costs in the coming year. Therefore, Council agreed on the formation of a working group to investigate the options for the Society's premises, with a view to making a recommendation to Council by June 2022.
Council welcomed Sach Mukherjee to the meeting in his capacity as editor of the new Data Science Journal to update the journal's progress and the recent work of the Data Science Task Force. Council is encouraged by the progress and commended the work of the task force members during 2021.
Council members concluded the final meeting of the year by thanking Sharon Witherspoon (VP Education and Statistical Literacy), Sara Hilditch (HO Membership), Steve Penneck (HO National Statistics), Ruth King (Ordinary Officer), Mark Briers (Ordinary Officer), Emma McCoy (Ordinary Officer) and Simon White (Ordinary Officer); who will retire from Council on 31 December 2021.