Governance
Jointly funded by the Katherine Martin Charitable Trust and the RSPCA, the Animal Welfare Evidence Centre is hosted by the RSPCA and three founding partners – Compassion in World Farming, FOUR PAWS UK and Humane World for Animals UK.
To ensure independence, the Centre is governed by an independent Advisory Board. The Board’s main point of contact is the RSPCA’s Senior Responsible Officer: Thomas Schultz-Jagow, the RSPCA’s Director of Advocacy and Prevention.
Centre governance
Founding partners
The three founding partners – Compassion in World Farming, FOUR PAWS UK, and Humane World for Animals UK – were invited by the RSPCA to participate in the set-up and strategic direction of the Centre. A senior representative from each organisation serves on the Advisory Board.
Advisory Board
The independent Advisory Board has a maximum of 12 voting members, including a Chair, a representative of the Katherine Martin Charitable Trust, one from the RSPCA, and three founding partner representatives. The RSPCA nominates the Chair. The Board also invites independent members to join, who bring broad and valuable knowledge and experience.
Centre team
The Chief of Research leads a dedicated research and project team, while HR and finance support is provided by RSPCA staff.
Decision-making, transparency and accountability
The Advisory Board advises, challenges, supports and scrutinises the delivery of the Centre’s research programme, and upholds the quality of its output. This is overseen by the RSPCA through its existing governance structure.
The Centre’s team of staff produces an annual report for the RSPCA’s Board of Trustees, plus a quarterly update report for the Advisory Board to review.
The Centre’s research team shares any research outputs for publication with the Advisory Board in advance.
All research outputs will be available for public use on the Centre’s website.
The RSPCA’s own annual trustees report and accounts will outline how the Katherine Martin Charitable Trust’s donation to the Centre has been spent, and the research produced.
