TRUSTEES' REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2024 35
Committee: Branch Affairs Committee (BAC)
Role
• Ensures branch governance and effective communication
across the RSPCA, its Board, regional boards, branches and
affiliated charities
• Promotes harmonious working across this network by
providing our branches with leadership and representation
Oversees
• Decision-making on branch matters
• Consultation and information sharing
• Advising the Board on branch matters, activities, governance
issues and needs
• Relationship management across the network
• Mediation and facilitation of cooperation
• Communication of our strategy and best-practice
charity governance
• Assessment of effective, sustainable performance against
Board priorities
Members/attendees
• Three trustees (from whom a chair is elected)*
• 10 regional chairs elected from our 10 branch regions*
• Director of Operations
• Assistant Director, Branches
Committee: Remuneration
Role
• Oversees, annually reviews and makes recommendations
about the RSPCA Chief Executive's remuneration.
Considers
• Market information on typical salaries for comparable chief
executive roles, provided by HR professionals
• Total reward package, including annual leave allowance,
pension, etc.
• Outcome of annual performance appraisal
Members/attendees
• RSPCA Treasurer (chair)*
• Two other experienced or skilled members, appointed annually*
Our subsidiaries
• RSPCA Trading Limited (RTL) is a trading subsidiary of RSPCA,
separately registered with Companies House (company number
01072608). Since 1991, its primary activities have been direct sales,
royalties and special events. The issued share capital is owned by
the RSPCA and, where company law allows, all potentially taxable
profits - after recovery of available losses - are transferred to the
RSPCA by a qualifying distribution by way of a Deed of Covenant.
The RSPCA appoints the company's directors, who are responsible
for its business management and conduct quarterly reviews of its
governance, financial performance and risk management. Staff
from the parent RSPCA entity support the subsidiary's operations,
and the cost of their services is subsequently recharged.
• RSPCA Assured Limited (formerly Freedom Food Limited)
is a charitable company limited by shares (company number
02723670). It was originally registered with Companies House
as a private company in 1992, and began trading in 1994.
The RSPCA is the sole member. The company became a
charity in December 1996 and is registered with the Charity
Commission for England and Wales (number 1059879) and the
Scottish Charity Regulator (number SC038199). The primary
object of RSPCA Assured is to prevent cruelty to animals by the
promotion of humane farming, transportation, marketing and
slaughter of farmed animals, by implementing a set of rearing
and handling standards developed by the RSPCA.
The RSPCA Assured Board of Trustees has the legal responsibility
for the effective use of the charity's resources in accordance with
the overall objects of the organisation, and for providing effective
leadership and direction. The Articles of Association of RSPCA
Assured Limited require a minimum of three trustees of the
Board with no maximum. The RSPCA may appoint one trustee,
who acts as chair for up to three years as the RSPCA sees fit.
The Board of Trustees meets a minimum of four times a year.
Oversight of the Trustees' report and accounts, budgeting and
financial performance, financial strategy and reporting, external
audit and risk management lies with the Finance Audit and Risk
Committee (FARCOM), which was appointed in 2023 and meets
quarterly. The Board of Trustees appoints the Executive Director
who leads the leadership team.
• In November 2023, RSPCA Europe was incorporated in Belgium
by Royal Decree as an international non-profit association
with a registered office in Brussels. The subsidiary's purpose of
international interest is to promote kindness and to prevent or
suppress cruelty to animals. It started operating in 2024. A Board
of directors, consisting of at least three members, manages
and administers the association. The General Assembly is made
up of members and holds the highest authority. Its powers
include appointing and removing Board members (RSPCA is a
permanent member), approving annual accounts and the budget,
admitting and excluding members, amending the articles of
association and dissolving the association.
Our branches
Across England and Wales, RSPCA branches work in local
communities to protect, care for and rehome or release animals in
need. This vital network of thousands of dedicated volunteers not
only makes a huge difference to individual animals' lives, it also
helps us spot and respond to emerging trends on the ground that
may have a negative impact on animals (for example, a rise in
animal abandonments, due to the pandemic-driven escalation
in pet ownership and cost-of-living crisis).