Just had another look at the BASC accounts for year ended 31/12/2018 available here:
For 2018, total income was £12,196K of which £10,165K was Member Subscriptions (an increase of £484K). Did members notice any improvement in delivery of safeguarding shooter's interest worth that extra £484K? - thought not).
Wages all in costs were £4,718K compared with £4,102K in 2017. That's an increase of £616K, so you know where more than the growth in member subs was spent. Anybody notice increased effectiveness in safeguarding shooter's interests for that extra £616K payroll cost increase? - thought not.
Wages represented 46.4% of total member subs in 2018, up from 42.7% in 2017. Anybody notice increased effectiveness in safeguarding shooter's interests for that extra % share of an increased member subs pool? - thought not.
The BASC has £10,653K cash at the bank, and £14,732K total current assets including that cash. Current liabilities are were £8,077K, so net current assets (or liquidity) was £6,655K. YES, that is a surplus of cash and quickly liquidated assets such as investments of over £6M after current liabilities are deducted.
We shall have to conclude that BASC is not a truly representative shooter's organisation, putting every penny towards safeguarding the interests of shooters. Its successes can be listed on a postage stamp, and its failures can be written on a banqueting table tablecloth. What is it then? Well with 46.4% of member subs going a wages it seems to be a benevolent fund for retired police and army officers, and a jobs for the old boys club. These are the people getting a good return on their time spent being ineffective and being at the top table. With 5 political officers adding upwards of £250K p.a. (a very conservative estimate based only on projected salaries and not benefits such as cars and expenses), the divergence between costs and effectiveness can only increase.
Would anyone argue that a £100K investment in a JR against the "no medical report/no grant-renewal" innovation is not eminently affordable?