2024 AGM - Agenda Item (e) Fixing of membership fees

Since 2019 Mountaineering Scotland has faced and continues to face significant increases in costs and despite continuing efforts to control costs allied to a small surplus being delivered in 2023-24, the budget forecast for 2024-25 is projecting a deficit of £49k and, if we do nothing, a further deficit of £76k in 2025-26.

Clearly this is unsustainable and if left unaddressed will severely impact on the services we deliver on your behalf.

A number of key factors have led to this situation:

• We are still facing very significant post-covid inflationary pressures throughout the organisation following a 3 year period between 2020-22 when membership fees were fixed. Once covid restrictions were lifted we were able to recommence our activities in full & costs have subsequently bounced back.
• Membership has been affected by the cost of living and general economic situation, and rather than continuing to grow as forecast, this year we have seen a plateauing of membership.
•  Several long serving staff members have retired in the past 18 months and in order to attract the right candidates we’ve had to offer higher salaries to remain competitive with current  market rates.
•  In the past 5 years the cost of insurance has continued to shoot up, rising by a staggering 191%, or almost £100,000, meaning the cost per member has increased from £2.97 to £8.23. Expressed another way the cost of insurance as a % of our total outgoings has risen from 8% to 18% & after staff costs it is now our largest expense.

Looking ahead, next year will be the final year of our current insurance agreement & we are expecting only a nominal inflationary cost increase to be applied. However, we are already anticipating another very significant increase accompanying the 2026 renewal. This further rise is due, in part, to the unprecedented size of settlement for a successful claim made against a similar policy provided by the BMC. Regrettably, insurers now view outdoor leisure & sport in general as an increasingly risky area to provide cover for.