Understanding ANIMAL RESEARCH
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Understanding ANIMAL RESEARCH ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2009 - 2010 UNDERSTANDING ANIMAL RESEARCH FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2009 Contents Pages List of Officers, Council members and Vice Presidents 1 Report of the Council 2 - 3 Statement of the Council's responsibilities 4 Independent auditors' report 5 Income and expenditure account 6 Balance sheet 7 Notes to the financial statements 8 - 11 Understanding Animal Research President Lord Taverne QC Chairman Professor Frances Balkwill OBE FMedSci Honorary Treasurer Mr Paul Sanders Members of Council Professor Roger Lemon Dr Tony Causey Ms Gill Hilsdon Professor Peter Hollins Mr Alastair Kent Professor Clive Page Dr Mark Tricklebank Dr Ian Viney Dr Philip Wright Honorary Vice Presidents Sir Colin Berry DSc FRCPath FRCP FFPM FMedSci Professor Colin Blakemore FMedSci FRCP(Hon) FRS Sir Walter Bodmer FRCPath FRS FMedSci Sir Arnold Burgen FRCP FRS FMedSci Sir Roy Calne FRCS FRS Mr Tam Dalyell Sir Colin Dollery FRCP Sir Michael Drury OBE FRCP FRCGP Sir Andrew Huxley OM FRS FMedSci Dr Leslie Iversen FRS Sir David Jack CBE DSc FRS Baroness Knight of Collingtree DBE The Lord Mayhew Sir Stanley Peart FRCP FRS FMedSci Dr Peter Read CBE Professor Nancy Rothwell DBE FRS Sir Richard Sykes DSc FRS FMedSci Lord Turnberg of Cheadle FRCP FMedSci Professor Owen Wade CBE FRCP Lord Walton of Detchant FRCP FMedSci Baroness Warnock of Weeke DBE Sir David Weatherall FRCP FRCPath FRS FMedSci Lord Winston of Hammersmith DSc FRCP FRCOG FMedSci - 1 - Understanding Animal Research Year ended 31 December 2009 Report of the Council Vision and mission The vision of Understanding Animal Research (UAR) is to achieve understanding and acceptance of the need for humane animal research in the UK. The mission is to maintain and build informed public support and a favourable policy climate for humane animal research in the UK. The role of the Council is to ensure good governance of the organisation, and to ensure that its strategy is properly developed and implemented. Members of Council are expected to bring relevant knowledge, experience and expertise to the running of the organisation, and do not sit on Council as representatives of particular organisations. The detailed work of the organisation is driven forward by three sub-groups that provide advice and strategic direction for policy, communications and education. UAR uses a range of activities to meet its objectives. It will seek to engage with, inform and educate its target audiences, as well as ultimately to influence when necessary. Under the existing strategy, Understanding Animal Research focuses on the following as its core audiences: A. The public B. The media (as a channel to reach the wider public) C. Government, policy-makers and regulators D. School children and teachers E. The entire animal research community, including commercial organisations, funders, learned societies, universities and individual scientists. Background and creation of UAR A multi-stakeholder review chaired by Simon Denegri was published in summer 2008. This recommended that a new organisation be created out of the existing Research Defence Society (RDS) and Coalition for Medical Progress (CMP). RDS changed its name to Understanding Animal Research (UAR) following a resolution at its AGM on 5 December 2008. At that AGM a new Council for the organisation was formed, with six members from CMP and six from RDS. This new Council met for the first time on 10 December 2008, immediately after the AGM of CMP. Subsequently, on 31 December 2008, CMP transferred all its assets and liabilities to UAR, completing the merger. CMP was wound up as a company at the end of 2009. At the end of 2009 Council committed to undertake a review of the legal status of UAR to determine what is in the best interests of the organisation going forward. This review would be carried out in 2010 and would investigate the possibility of conversion to a limited company or a charity. A new strategy was developed for UAR following consultations throughout the second half of 2008. This was adopted by the new Council at its first meeting on 11 December 2008. Council is committed to moving forward the organisation to build on past achievements. This will focus initially on staff development and reward structures. Council also plans to review the organisational strategy during 2010. - 2 - Activities and finances The major activities of the organisation are to communicate to the public and other audiences, to inform our members on policy development and influence this when necessary, and to run a schools education programme. 2009 was the first full year of activities for the new organization. All of our sub-groups are up-and- running, and providing advice to guide the organization. The key challenges for 2009 were to: 1. Provide a professional website rich in information and multimedia 2. Develop new publications to reflect the combined perspective of the two organisations 3. Establish ourselves as the lead organisation giving comment on animal research in the UK, particularly to the media 4. Influence the revision of the European Directive EU 86/609 on animal experimentation (mainly through the UK Bioscience Coalition in which UAR takes a lead facilitation role). 5. Develop the school-speaker programme within the new organisation as the most substantial element of the schools education programme The principal funding source of the organisation in 2009 was subscriptions from member organisations. UAR has over 100 institutional members, most of which pay an annual subscription. These organisations are listed on the website. The category of “individual subscribing member” was largely phased out during 2009, as part of the governance changes agreed on forming the new organization. In 2009 the organisation was also in receipt of a grant from Universities UK for running the "Resource Centre" which gave advice to universities and other academic institutions on how to be resilient in the face of animal rights extremism. The offices of UAR house the organisation “Sense about Science”, which pays a service charge in respect of its occupancy. In 2009 the Council sought a balanced budget for UAR, and this was achieved. The accounts for 2009 reveal a significant potential liability, as yet unknown, in respect of a legacy company pension scheme. Once this is resolved, Council will be able to adopt a proactive approach to managing its reserves. Approved by Council on 24 June 2010 Professor Frances Balkwill OBE FMedSci On behalf of Council - 3 - UNDERSTANDING ANIMAL RESEARCH STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2009 The Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968 requires the Council to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of Understanding Animal Research ("the Organisation") and of the results of the Organisation for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Council is required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. - prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to assume that the organisation will continue in operation. The Council is responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Organisation and to enable it to ensure that the financial statements comply with The Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968. It is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Organisation and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. - 4 - UNDERSTANDING ANIMAL RESEARCH INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE MEMBERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2009 We have audited the financial statements on pages 2 to 11 of Understanding Animal Research ("the Organisation") for the year ended 31 December 2009 which comprise the Income and Expenditure Account, the Balance Sheet and the related notes. These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and the accounting policies set out therein. This report is made solely to the members, as a body, in accordance with The Friendly and Industrial Provident Societies Act 1968. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Organisation's members 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 Organisation and the Organisation's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ORGANISATION AND AUDITORS As set out in the Council's Statement of Responsibilities on page 1, the Council is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom law and accounting standards. Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the Friendly and Industrial and Provident Society's Act 1968. We also report to you if, in our opinion, the Organisation has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law regarding Council members' remuneration and transactions with the Organisation is not disclosed. BASIS OF AUDIT OPINION We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.