Council Treasurer Portfolio
Council Treasurer - PDG Lion David McKirdy
I would like to open my report to Convention by formally thanking PCC Philip Goodier for his 17 years' service as Council Treasurer and the way he has steered our Multiple District through several financial challenges posed by circumstances beyond his control.
I would like to thank the Council of Governors for giving me the opportunity to serve the Multiple District.
This Report does not deal with any charity monies, which are covered within the relevant charity reports.
1. Current Situation
2. Liquidity
The MD is a cash-rich organisation well capable of meeting all day-to-day obligations from cash flow: as at the 26 April 2026 the Association has the following liquid funds:
GBP Bank Accounts, details of the account holding institutions are:
CAF Bank Ltd, RBS Farnborough, Lloyds Leeds - total instant access funds £173,283
Financial movements are managed to minimize the risk of balances with any one institution exceeding £120,000, the maximum covered under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. In addition, investments with a market value of £197,537 are held: these are instant access, not term investments.
This gives total liquidity of £370,820.
3. General Account
The budget for 2025-26 was based on a membership of 9,200 members, at no time during this year has our membership reached that figure. Our actual dues receipts were based on 8,945 in July and 8,812 in January which resulted in a deficit of £13,503 to the budget this is equivalent to approximately £1.50 per member. There was also £11k transfer from Reserves factored in, this means in total there was a deficit to the budget of £24,5K, nearly £3 per member.
4. MD Convention
As reported in the 2025 Finance Report the MD Convention Officer increasingly looks to large hotels as venues. Many venues suffered significant losses during the covid period and are now seeking to recover those losses and this trend continues. The last report also stated that we have reached the position were holding a MD Convention in or to the south of Birmingham is becoming prohibitively expensive for us to consider. This trend will be changed for Convention 2027 where Southampton is the chosen venue.
It is anticipated that attendance at the 2027 Convention will be higher than in previous years which resulted in us seeking a larger hotel to accommodate delegates. This has resulted in an upward pressure on costs, and our Council have suggested measures to mitigate this increase.
5. MD Finance Committee
The Finance Committee met in January 2026 to review the financial position of the Multiple District, to discuss the Budget submissions and to make recommendations to Council for the 2026-2027 financial year on a range of issues. It should be noted that some expenditure has the weight of either the Constitution or Convention Resolution behind it and is mandatory, not discretionary.
The Finance Committee noted, with concern, that membership levels across the Multiple District continue to fall despite the hard work by our Districts to reverse the trend, there are promising signs that membership since January is moving upwards but at the time of writing has not reached the level as at 1 July 2025.
Inflationary pressures are evident and the Committee met prior to the current crisis in the Middle East. It is not clear what effect this will have on our 2026/27 finances at this stage but we can expect much of the HQ operation to become more expensive, particularly utilities where we do not enjoy the protection of the Energy Price Cap.
I would like to thank all members of the Committee and the MD Specialist Officers for their invaluable contribution, as and when requested, and especially, their attendance and guidance in the very complex budgeting process.
6. Budget 2026-27
PCC Philip on a number of occasions warned Convention that should membership fall below 9,000 that Council will have to take some serious decisions. Unfortunately, this is the position that the Multiple District now finds itself in and our Governors with robust debate agreed upon the measures outlined below.
As Council Treasurer, I am fully aware that there is a demand from members that Council drive down costs and much work has been sanctioned by previous Councils, however, inflationary pressures remain and will probably become worse in the coming months. The budget, as presented and agreed by the February Council of Governors meeting, occurred prior to the Middle East crisis.
The latest inflation figure was 3.9%, much higher than the Bank of England target with the forecast for it to increase further. Many HQ associated costs were higher than the inflation rate, these include Business Rates, Utility charges and Staff Costs.
A quarterly financial forecast is prepared for Council at each meeting; Council is therefore aware of expenditure levels as they change during the year and are informed as to the financial impact their decisions have.
Our Headquarters staff remain very active in seeking competitive quotes for a wide range of products and services; I commend the work put in by Brigitte Green and her Team who have been proactive in seeking to reduce expenditure across the board.
The Birmingham City Business rates for 26/27 is £13,600,
The Finance Committee discussed the overall budget proposals and made recommendations to Council; the outcomes are incorporated in the "Cost Analysis For Dues Resolution" that accompanies the Resolutions. The Council aimed to present a cost neutral budget with no subsidy from Reserves.
a. Reduce physical Council meetings from the current 3 to 2, this is the minimum allowable under the International Constitution Council will also reduce the the number of nights in hotel down from 2 to 1 night. This generates a saving of £2,971.
b. Restrict DGE Partner travel to International Convention to $500, this is subject to a separate Resolution. Potential saving of £4,978.
c. It was originally planned to have a physical GAT meeting at a cost of £15,000, this proposal has been shelved.
d. Replace the Symposium with an ELLI. This measure will result in the GLT delivering ELLI and RLLI in alternate years. The benefit of this measure is that both courses enjoy a subsidy from LCI whereas the Symposium did not. The ELLI will be adjusted to accommodate some elements of the Symposium. Potential savings of £4,967.
e. Restrict attendance at Europa Forum to Council Chair, Council Secretary and the Youth Exchange Officer. Potential saving of £4,322.
f. Council have challenged the MD Convention Officer to find £2,000 savings.
g. Headquarters salaries are in line with market rates for the Birmingham area.
h. The Budget is based on a projected membership of 8,500 as there continues to be pressure on membership. Council recognised that in previous years the membership projection was overstated thus causing the new financial year to start with a deficit. This time the projection is set with realism in mind and may result in the finances showing a surplus at the start of the year. This surplus could now be overtaken by external events outside our control
i. The full schedule of budgets is set out in the attachment to the Dues Resolution.
j. I would point out that, for every 250 extra members that we get, we collect £11,500.00 more, however, the general trend is a falling membership. If we can reverse the trend and increase our membership, then the cost burden on each member will be reduced.
7. CIO
I am advised by Lion Paula Mellows, CIO Lead, that, as at 27 April 2026, 424 Clubs are now registered as a CIO; there are approximately 533 Clubs in the MD.
And Finally
This is my first report to Convention as Council Treasurer; and it has been an interesting experience breaking new ground in my Lionistic career.
Questions
if anyone has any query or seeks any clarification of anything contained within this report, please do not hesitate to contact me, before the MD Convention, so that a detailed and complete response can be given.
PDG Lion David McKirdy ACMA
Council Treasurer
