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Membership subscription increase

06/08/2010

At the Board of Trustees meeting on 26 June 2010, it was agreed that the annual membership fee would be raised slightly.

For 2011 the subscription will now be £20.25 with a 50p reduction to £19.75 for early payment.

Why the need for an increase?

The rise has been kept as low as possible and reflects the UK’s rise in inflation, as well as a means to invest more in the development of Scouting.

In the last three years this has included improved training and training materials, effective campaigning to prevent rises in water bills for local Scout Groups, continued delivery of Scouting magazine and all six section supplements, and providing more focused support for local Groups, Districts and Counties to grow Scouting.

This increase will ensure The Scout Association continues to provide the current level of member services and benefits.

What does that mean for local Scouting?

This subscription fee is the amount that local Scouting pays nationally for every member. Locally, Groups, Districts and Counties set their own subscription fee for their members to reflect their needs and facilities to help with the day-to-day running of Scouting. 

Even with the slight increase, Scouting remains one of the most affordable extra curricular activities for young people today and we will ensure that it continues to be so in the future.

 

 

Comments

By Allan (06/08/2010 17:59) Interesting You can put the fee up in line with inflation but the rebate for paying early has remained the same for years and NOT followed inflation. Somehow this seems a little one sided

By David Cooper (06/08/2010 19:14) I think that the Scout Assocation has to look again at the way funds are raised. it seems that very little thought has been given to the groups that are struggling to raise numbers and are in buildings that require a lot of refurbishment. We can only raise so much and this increase yet again makes our task more difficult

By Mike Barker (07/08/2010 10:10) It would be nice to have been told what percentage, or absolute, rise this increase represents!

By Steve Butterworth (09/08/2010 08:32) Can someone define "early payment". Without knowing this it is difficult to take advantage of the 50p reduction.

By m germain (09/08/2010 10:35) Why is it your figure for inflation is 6% and the Governments rate of inflation was a lot less when they worked out my pension increase?

By Garybaldi (09/08/2010 10:51) Seems to me that the membership fee is remarkable value for money these days. I know Groups, Districts and Counties/Areas/Regions all add their bit on but if compared to other organisations Scouting is not expensive. In my experience if sections plan to pay the membership fees and follow all the advice in the factsheets etc there are no problems with getting the cash in time to pay by St Georges Day and gain the 50p rebate.

By Barry (09/08/2010 15:16) I agree with David Cooper, The Scout Associateion has to take its own advice on fund raising and do some work here not just look on membership as a Cash Cow! We now have to find money to cover removed Rate relief £200 this year will be £400 next. DYB DYB DYB we certainly DOB DOB DOB.

By Richard Hyland (09/08/2010 16:52) Where else can you be a member of any organisation for such a small amount? What other organisation include insurance, a free magazine and the support that the association provides? I think it is great value for money even without the rebate. For struggling groups or sections why not spread the cost out over the year as part of your weekly subscriptions, that way it is not such a burden when it needs to be paid. Put this aside in a separate savings account and make a little bonus to help out as well.

By Janet Dodd (09/08/2010 17:10) David Cooper - I'm with you 100%. We are in one of the 5 designated Wards of our Borough Council that is the most deprived. We are in a high ethnic minority area - our parents/guardians are low income/benefit families. We own our own building. We find it difficult to raise numbers due to our catchment area and we are not connected to any Church or School. But we battle on as only us axes can!

By Paul Lethbridge (09/08/2010 17:15) A 25% cut in Government spending, rising unemployment, increasing costs of Scout training to be born by the districts and Gilwell has assets of over £30m. Explain to me again why you want to take more money out of local Scouting?

By Tony Bullen (10/08/2010 08:54) The increase after the rebate is almost 4%. As a district treasurer how do I explain it to groups? Household bugets are under severe pressure so I believe the increase to be unacceptable.

By John Baxter (10/08/2010 11:37) I would agree that Scouting remains affordable however why are we only aiming to continue the service at the same level why is it not being improved? When will projects be finished the new forms for e-registering have been issued but the system has yet to be fully tested, the MyBackpack database is yet to perform correctly so should we not be looking for an increase in performance to go with the increase in subs?

By sculling (10/08/2010 16:50) Scouting generally is not affordable. There is way more to it than the HQ fee. As David said, some groups are struggling to raise numbers and are in building which require a lot of maintenance. The cost of uniform is not cheap, plus the cost of camps and other activities - Scouting does exclude those from poorer backgrounds.

By Lance (11/08/2010 07:03) Could anyone please advise when rebates are due back from HQ, we pay our fees in February and then wait an eternity before we see any sort of refund.

By Gary Davis, Director of Finance TSA (12/08/2010 16:43) I hope the following will serve to answer some of the questions raised by members in their comments: 1. TSA continues to seek to reduce its income reliance on the membership subs via growing income from trading subsidiaries (Scout Shops and Unity), fundraising and commercial activities. 2. Early payment is defined as membership subs received by HQ from the County prior to the due date - St George's Day. 3. Rebates are usually paid by HQ to Counties shortly after the due date. 4. The increase is from £19.50 to £20.25 (both before rebate) or 3.8% in percentage terms. The 75p increase is approximately 6p per month. 5. The membership subscription has increased from £18.60 in 2006 to £20.25 in 2011. That is £1.65 over 5 years or less than 2% per annum. UK inflation has averaged approximately 2.75% over the same 5 years.

By Rob Vaines (16/08/2010 13:11) Ita 75PENCE per year for goodness sake, thats 23p per term, is that little bit of extra on YPs subs really going to make a difference. After all TSA is the best equiped, managed and supported youth organisation in the UK.