Governance Organisational structure Meningitis Now is based and operates in the UK, with its headquarters in Stroud, Gloucestershire. During 2020-21, we were governed by a board of 9-11 Trustees, who during this exceptional year met monthly or bi-monthly in order to oversee the challenging affairs of the charity. The Trustees operate with four sub-committees that review specialist aspects of our work, or that undertake work on behalf of the full Board of Trustees: Audit and Risk, Investment, Remuneration, and Nominations. Each comprises a subset of Trustees with invitations to attend made to members of the Senior Leadership Team with appropriate skills or knowledge. As a result of Covid-19 restrictions, which limited and even prohibited face-to-face meetings during the year, the charity took advantage of flexibility provided by the Charity Commission to allow Trustee meetings to take place via video conference. In October 2021, it is anticipated that we will change our Articles of Association to explicitly reference the acceptability of meeting by electronic means. It is expected that Trustees will use both face-to-face and electronic meetings in future. Day-to-day running is delegated to the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team. During 2020-21, faced with the unprecedented challenges created by the pandemic, we did not follow our usual timetable of operational and budget planning. However, despite the unpredictable and changing environment, budgets and plans in 2020-21 were regularly reviewed, debated and approved by the Board throughout the year, with performance subsequently reported against plans and budgets.
Remuneration and conflicts of interest In determining our remuneration policy, the Remuneration Committee takes into account all factors which are deemed necessary. The objective of the policy is to ensure that the CEO and staff team are remunerated in line with market rates for the skills, competencies and experience they bring. To facilitate this and to ensure that we remain competitive in the employment market, it has created an internal Pay Review Panel. This body sits regularly to ensure that we remain sensitive to issues such as pay and employment conditions. Delivery of our charitable vision is primarily dependent on our staff, which is the largest single element of charitable expenditure. In the year 2020-21, there was no cost-of-living pay increase. Only one member of staff earned more than £60,000 in the year. Further information on pension arrangements and on the salary costs for the year, with comparisons with the previous year, are presented in the notes to the financial statements in note 7. No Trustees are remunerated for their role within the Charity, receiving only out-of-pocket expenses. A Conflicts Register is maintained to ensure no Trustees receive indirect remuneration for their involvement.
30
