1 ———= 

## 4 together, we can Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. revolving put an end to the 

## **The Revolving Doors Agency** 

## **Annual report and financial statements** 

© **For the year ending 31 March 2025** 

**Company number 2845452** 

**Charity number 1030846** 

## **Registered office and operational address:** 

South Bank Technopark 90 London Road London SE1 6LN 

## **Trustees** 

**Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:** 

K Ager (resigned 30 January 2025) C Beal Treasurer O Blake C Hedderman (resigned 30 October 2024) K Graham-Moore J Johnson (resigned 1 July 2024) S Payne CBE Chair M Rutherford (resigned 30 July 2025) P Sethi (resigned 19 February 2025) R Street E Sweet T Webb OBE (resigned 30 July 2025) K Duke (appointed 30 October 2024) 

## **Principal staff** 

**Pavan Dhaliwal Chief Executive** Katy Savage Director of Partnerships and Operations Andy Williams Director of Involvement 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

2 

## **Bankers** 

Co-operative Bank Plc. Balloon Street Kingshill Manchester M60 4EP 

CAF Bank Ltd West Malling Kent ME19 4TA 

Virgin Money 1 Jubilee House Gosforth Newcastle Upon Tyne NE3 4PL 

Triodos Bank UK Ltd Deanery Road Bristol BS1 5AS 

## **Solicitors** 

Bates Wells LLP 10 Queen Street Place London, EC4R 1BE 

Russell-Cooke LLP 8 Bedford Row London WC1R 4BX 

## **Auditor** 

Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors 110 Golden Lane London, EC1Y 0TG 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

3 

## **Message from the Chair of Trustees** 

Dear Friends and Supporters, 

This year has been one of both challenge and progress for Revolving Doors. We have continued to place the voices of people with lived experience at the centre of our work, ensuring that national and local reforms are shaped by those who know the system firsthand. 

A central milestone was the launch of **Beyond the Cycle** , our call to the new government to move away from short-term responses and towards sustainable solutions. Through 26 forums across the year, plus numerous roundtables and events, our members informed policymakers on diversion, sentencing, probation, recall and remand, and electronic monitoring. Their contributions have influenced the Sentencing Review panel, the Sentencing Council and HM Prison and Probation Service, and helped secure recognition of the harm caused by short sentences, alongside greater investment in community-based responses. 

Another milestone was the final year of our national Lived Experience Team for NHS England. For the last decade, our members have fundamentally shaped health and justice services, from successfully advocating for peer support in liaison and diversion, to ensuring that RECONNECT works with and for those prison leavers who are furthest away from health services. 

In Greater Manchester, our probation lived experience team completed an important phase of work influencing the commissioning and monitoring of the first generation of integrated resettlement services, laying the groundwork for an exciting new project to start in 2025/26 to coproduce a whole system approach to diversion for the revolving door cohort. For the staff team and our member community this is _the_ golden opportunity that we have all worked for – the first time that we get to work across the whole system to truly shift the dial for people in the revolving door. 

We’ve also produced groundbreaking research, from beginning a project with Newton and Xantura to truly get under the skin of the revolving door cohort and put robust numbers and costs to the group for the first time ever, to our new peer consultation model, coproduced with members, for the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) to connect policy makers to real-time insight from people using drugs and not accessing services. 

Alongside influencing policy and practice, we invested in the development of our members through the Revolving Doors Academy. This has created clear pathways for progression, with members moving into facilitation, training, mentoring and leadership roles. Our new fiveyear strategy, which we will launch later in 2025, has a very different look, feel and focus as a result of their close involvement at each and every stage of its development. 

Although the financial climate has continued to be demanding, income rose on 2023/24, placing us in as strong a position as possible to weather the ongoing financial storm. This is more important than ever: the knowledge that next year will be the final year of Changing 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

4 

Futures and the announcement in the Spring of the abolition of NHS England both add significantly to the funding challenge. Across multiple contracts, they have both underpinned our social enterprise and resulted in some of our most impactful work. 

Despite these pressures, Revolving Doors remains in a strong position to carry forward its mission. Our forums, research and policy work continue to show that change is possible when people with lived experience and decision-makers work together. And that opportunity for change has never been stronger. 

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our members, staff, associates, funders and partners for their commitment over the past year. Together, we have laid important foundations for the next phase of our work. 

**Sarah Payne CBE** Chair of Trustees Revolving Doors 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

5 

The trustees present their report and audited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025. 

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in Note 1 and comply with the charity’s memorandum and articles of association, the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard application in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

6 

## **Our mission, vision and values** 

Our mission is to break the cycle of crisis and crime. We achieve this through championing long-term solutions for justice reform that tackle the root causes of reoffending and support people’s journeys towards better lives. We advocate for a humane approach that responds to people’s unmet needs and works with them to reach their full potential and thrive. We advocate for a system that recognises and addresses the drivers of contact with the criminal justice system, namely trauma, poverty and discrimination. 

We focus on the ‘revolving door’ group of people, those who have repeat contact with the criminal justice system and whose behaviours are largely driven by unmet health and social needs. These include combinations of substance misuse, homelessness, mental ill-health and domestic abuse often referred to as ‘multiple disadvantage’. To fulfil our ambition, we work to drive systems change in criminal justice and related sectors. 

Our work is underpinned by the following values: 

- Empowering the voice of those with lived experience of the criminal justice system, supporting and promoting their role in driving change. 

- Acting with empathy and respect with a belief in people’s potential. 

- Valuing experience from multiple perspectives rooted in equality and diversity. 

- Being evidence-led, finding what works and what doesn’t. 

- Acting collaboratively and working closely with partners to have a bigger impact overall. 

- Organisational credibility, built on sound governance, finance and people. 

- Being brave and ambitious, challenging the current system, and offering solutions that will break the cycle of crisis and crime. 

This year we are continuing to report under our 2022-2024 strategic plan, coproduced by staff, trustees and our members, which sets out five focus areas: 

- **Diversion and prevention** : advocating for solutions that lie primarily outside the criminal justice system and that address the root causes of offending behaviours. 

- **Sentencing and probation** : promoting good practice and take up of community sentences and a more flexible and person-centred approach to reform and recovery. 

- **Resetting the system** : proposing bold policy solutions that address the significant challenges facing the criminal justice system and the people within it. This includes advocating for trauma-informed approaches and wider systems change. 

- **Procedural justice** : advocating for the fair and humane treatment of those in the revolving door, particularly minoritised communities and women, and the agencies with which they interact. 

- **Organisational resilience** : strengthening our charity in accordance with our value of being built on sound governance, finance and people. 

We have coproduced a new five-year strategic plan over the course of this year, to be launched in August 2025. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

7 

## **Key achievements** 

## **Diversion and prevention** 

## **Beyond the Cycle: influencing a new approach to the revolving door** 

Cross-cutting all our strategic priorities, in July, we launched **Beyond the Cycle** _,_ a call to the new government to move away from short-termism, from systems that manage crisis rather than preventing it, and toward sustainable solutions rooted in lived experience. The principles underpinning that call to action were developed with our members through the previous years’ thematic forums. This included a call for a national diversion strategy, with a particular focus on police-led pre-arrest diversion. This year, through 26 forum sessions, attended by national and local decision makers, we started turning those principles into tangible practice. 

Our members also shaped a range of other ongoing national and regional reforms: 

- The West Midlands forum contributed to regional policing priorities for the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner. 

- In-person session with Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel DeSouza, where our care-experienced members gave their thoughts on what systemic changes are needed in the care system and why care should be added to the list of protected characteristics. Dame DeSouza was impressed by the insights of our members. 

- Two members spoke at a drug sector and retailers’ event, which we co-chaired at the Home Office, bringing together senior officials from three government departments, the National Police Chief’s Council, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), national retailers and retail consortia, regional commissioners and drug treatment providers, in response to the rise in shoplifting. Their contribution helped build understanding of the root causes of shoplifting by the revolving door cohort and that solutions are outside of the justice system. 

- Two members presented at the Local Government Association conference about how councils can support the move from punishment to early and meaningful support. 

- Continuing our partnership with the universities of Leeds and York through the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre, three members presented on their experience of county lines and how to address exploitation in county lines at the ’ 

- Centre s annual conference. 

**“We all have previous experience of being involved in county lines and it’s important for us to show how well we’re doing with the right support. We’re only suggesting what we had and what worked for us, but there is hope for everyone. We don’t need to be the exception.”** Member reflecting on the county lines presentation 

## **Embedding the learning from New Generation Policing** 

Although our major New Generation Policing project finished the previous year, we had support from Barrow Cadbury Trust to continue to embed the **learning about what works to improve policing approaches to meet the distinct needs of young adults** . 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

8 

The insights gained from the New Generation Policing project have provided a robust foundation for advocating a distinct approach for young adults. This year our connections within the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) cohort and with the new government more widely have allowed us to cascade the learning and influence future work. In the wake of the PCC elections, we released a **guide to the revolving door for PCCs** , which highlighted young adult-specific responses. We made the most of the opportunity and our relationships to make real headway with the new government nationally, aligned with their commitment to youth diversion and prevention, and in several police force areas, notably Greater Manchester. 

## **Cutting edge research: building the case for change** 

With **support from Newton Foundation, and in partnership with Newton, a strategic consultancy and Xantura, a data and technology company** , we began a project that has long been on our wishlist – to truly get under the skin of the revolving door cohort: what their lives look like, the patterns that drive their interactions with the justice system and other services, and what enables meaningful change. We led the qualitative work, interviewing 20 of our members to map their journeys from childhood to the present day. And working with Newton and Xantura enabled us to bring cutting-edge data analytics to the project to put numbers and costs to the revolving door. For the first time **we can show the scale and impact of our revolving doors group and build a powerful case for change** . Alongside the research, we brought together a steering group with membership from across government and Greater Manchester Combined Authority. As a result, the research has had impact even before it's been published, supporting Greater Manchester to build its business case for a whole system approach to the revolving door. We will launch the report next year. 

We also delivered a project for the VISION consortium with academics from City University and the University of Central Lancashire. **VISION is a five-year £7m research programme to improve how data on violence is collected and used** , to develop solutions to reduce repeat patterns of violence and reduce the harm caused by violence. The project is using large scale police data to add to the evidence base around complex and repeat experiences of violence across a lifecourse, as both victims and offenders. This exciting work has 

**brought real world experiences into the world of quantitative academic research** – something that the academics involved have described as “groundbreaking”. We brought together a coproduction research group to work with the academics over a series of workshops to work through research ideas and questions, and check, challenge and contextualise emerging findings. The diverse group of members involved have brought both their lived experience and a real interest in research. 

## **Coproducing health and justice commissioning** 

This was the final year of **NHS England’s National Health & Justice Lived Experience Team (LET).** NHS England first commissioned a lived experience team from us to support the governance of liaison and diversion (L&D) in early 2015, so this marked a decade of the LET – a huge milestone. Since then, the LET has achieved considerable impact and expanded its remit to cover all non-custodial services and, for the last two years, the full justice pathway. We have continued our strategic focus on the three non-custodial services: L&D, Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTRs) and RECONNECT, the service to 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

9 

improve continuity of care of people leaving prison. Our partner, ABL Health, has delivered the work in custodial settings. 

Our priorities over the last year were to **influence the Mental Health Pathway Review** , **support the implementation of MHTRs** , and **complete our service monitoring work around RECONNECT** , investigating how the reality reflects the LET’s original vision for the service. 

Diversion is central to the Mental Health Pathway Review, making it a clear priority for the LET. LET members attended workshops to identify gaps in the current pathway and create the new pathway. They also created a set of principles to frame the review workshops. These principles – diversion, an emphasis on dual diagnosis, and the need for joined-up data, peer support and lived experience, and trauma-informed approaches – were included by NHS England in the introduction to the review, therefore ensuring that lived experience set the overarching framework. 

Work around the MHTR rollout included strategic engagement with policy leads to improve magistrate and probation officer awareness of MHTRs, plus targeted work in two areas to improve their engagement levels. The LET also presented at the Magistrates Association conference, emphasising the impact of MHTRs and harm of short custodial sentences. 

Early in the year we submitted our report on visits to RECONNECT services. This concluded a consistent thread of influence beginning with the LET creating their vision for the new service in 2019, visiting services to explore how this vision had been implemented and making recommendations (2022/23) and further visits to understand how these recommendations had been applied (2023/24). Through this work, the LET has uncovered some excellent practice in employing people with lived experience, albeit a degree of inconsistency across the country, as well as a number of challenges, most significantly how to set boundaries around the service in a context of inaccessible and over-subscribed social care and housing services. The LET celebrated the conclusion of this work, presenting at and co-facilitating an event to mark full national roll out of RECONNECT. 

Finally, we delivered a piece of work to help NHS England better understand, and address, why some people do not engage with the L&D service. 

We also continued to deliver work regionally for NHS England in the South East and South West. 

In the South East, our work has followed on from our previous contract, delivering lived experience input into the recommissioning of their L&D and RECONNECT services, to **deliver lived experience input into the next stage of the commissioning cycle – monitoring and assurance** . The South East LET has completed visits to all of Kent and Surrey’s non-custodial services, investigating how lived experience is integrated into service development and delivery, the services’ approach to diversity and inclusion, how well services work with the revolving door cohort, and how health and justice services connect into and work with wider community services. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

10 

In the South West, our coproduction panel was heavily involved in all aspects of **the commissioning of an integrated non-custodial service** , bringing together L&D, primary MHTRs and RECONNECT. Members co-wrote the specification and questions that related to lived experience, evaluated all the written bids and in-person presentations, and have worked with commissioners to set targets and KPIs for the new services, influencing the language and metrics, especially around individual client outcomes. In March 2025 the coproduction panel co-facilitated the new integrated non-custodial service launch event, alongside the commissioners, attended by over 120 people involved in delivery of the services across the South West. 

## **Sentencing and probation** 

## **Beyond the Cycle: influencing sentencing and probation reform** 

Through our forums and bespoke consultations this year we have begun to achieve systemic change across four key areas highlighted by our members in _Beyond the Cycle_ : 

- Sentencing reform 

- Ending short custodial sentences 

- Peer support for engagement and recovery 

- Spotlighting remand and recall. 

In _Beyond the Cycle_ , our community called for sentencing to be smarter, fairer and more trauma-informed. **Sentencing reform** is critical to addressing systemic injustice. We reported last year that our forums responded to two major Sentencing Council consultations. We have seen the impact this year. 

Through detailed member testimony: 

- We secured changes recognising that **remorse** can present differently across cultures, neurodiversities and trauma histories, ending the assumption that “emotionless” defendants are less deserving of compassion. 

- We strengthened the understanding that **deprived backgrounds** must be treated as relevant context, not ignored as "background noise". 

- We influenced the push to ensure **pre-sentence reports** are completed before sentencing for groups that have disproportionately worse outcomes, especially ethnically minoritised people, women and young adults. 

Although the final guidelines await formal enactment, the Sentencing Council explicitly credited our members’ contributions, which they heard first hand – a first for their representatives. Jessie Stanbrook, Policy Lead, described our engagement as **“setting a new standard for consultation responses.”** 

**Ending short prison sentences** , a key demand of our members since 2018, moved from political aspiration to policy planning this year. Forum members’ insights brought the human cost of short sentences into sharp focus for decision-makers: 

- Testimonies of lost homes, jobs, treatment opportunities and family ties after short sentences were central to the Sentencing Review panel’s deliberations. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

11 

- Martin Jones, Chief Inspector of Probation, praised our members’ evidence, calling it **“the most thoughtful and solution-focused engagement”** received during the review. 

- The Sentencing Review, published in May 2025, has **recommended an end to short sentences in all but exceptional cases** , **investment in community sentence treatment requirements** , and a **greater role for deferred sentences and presentence reports** – all key asks from our _Beyond the Cycle_ framework. 

> As one member said: **"A 30-day prison sentence costs you 10 years of rebuilding your life."** 

**Peer support** was a core solution proposed by our members in _Beyond the Cycle_ , recognising the unique role people with lived experience play in resettlement and rehabilitation. In July 2024, following engagement with the evidence from our forums, the Prisons and Probation Minister committed to developing a **national framework for peer support across HM Prison and Probation Service** (HMPPS). 

- Members shared models of peer mentoring that had sustained recovery and reduced reoffending. 

- Three members spoke at our peer support roundtable at the Ministry of Justice, chaired by Andy Slaughter MP and attended by MPs, probation directors and a Police and Crime Commissioner. 

- Members took part in workshops with HMPPS to codesign the new national framework. 

- Laura Emmerson, Strategic Lead at HMPPS, stated that forum insights **“shifted the entire internal narrative on the importance of lived experience leadership inside prisons.”** 

This is a major step toward a justice system built not on control, but on community and hope. 

_Beyond the Cycle_ called for a **fundamental rethink of how we use recall and remand** – the hidden engine of prison expansion. In June 2024: 

- National forums dedicated two sessions to gathering frontline evidence on the injustices of recall practices. 

- Member testimonies informed the Justice Select Committee’s developing workstreams. 

- We established a cross-sector working group with Catch 22 and Switchback, putting recall and remand onto the political agenda in a way not seen in a decade. 

> As one forum participant put it: **"Recall is like the system holding a trapdoor open under your feet."** 

Forum voices also shaped several other major national reforms: 

- We hosted a series of forums for **HMPPS on electronic monitoring** to inform their thinking and policy. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

12 

- We delivered a forum for **HM Courts and Tribunals Service** , attended by their User Inclusion Design Lead on **“special measures” in court** . 

Seven members wrote articles or blogs about their experiences. Four members were published externally, including an article on Mental Health Treatment Requirements for the Magistrates Association and a book chapter on peer support work. 

## **Coproducing commissioning for probation support services** 

Our **Greater Manchester Probation Lived Experience Team completed its support for the first phase of design, development and procurement of integrated rehabilitative services** (IRS) for probation. People with lived experience have been involved at every stage of the commissioning cycle and trained as peer researchers to monitor services. At the start of the year we delivered a session for Greater Manchester commissioners to present reports from the final two rounds of service monitoring (accommodation, and dependency and recovery services), plus cross-cutting themes from all seven commissioned services. These include the impact of too many referrals, bureaucratic barriers to good support work and subsequent engagement, the need for more peer support, support for women outside of women’s services, and the impact of the environment a service is delivered in. 

Since the project was completed, we’ve continued to engage with Greater Manchester to support them in making a business case for a “whole system” lived experience team. The team will work with them to coproduce a radical new approach to the revolving door cohort, which they have identified as a priority cohort. This will include feeding our IRS recommendations into the design of the next generation of services (now planned for 2027, so that learning from the whole system approach informs the re-design).  The team will also explore access and referrals into IRS at different points in the system (rather than just postrelease), with the idea that IRS is a key part of the diversion service offer. 

## **Building evidence for what works in sentencing and probation practice** 

Through our commissioned research we have continued to investigate the policy and practice issues that prevent the revolving door group from engaging with courts and probation, and to share and promote good practice. 

We continued two major research projects, both of which have picked up on the theme of engagement which came out strongly in our work with probation in Greater Manchester: for Ministry of Justice, the **process evaluation of the national Intensive Supervision Courts (ISC) pilot programme** , in partnership with CFE Research; and, for the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) in London, we completed **qualitative research to investigate engagement and disengagement of women and girls with the London women’s criminal justice pathway** . 

Intensive Supervision Courts take a problem-approach to diverting offenders with complex needs away from short custodial sentences and into community sentences that aim to address the root causes driving their offending. They are therefore potentially a significant intervention for our revolving door cohort. The Ministry of Justice published our **interim ISC evaluation report** in January 2025. The report focused on the early implementation of ISCs, highlighting early successes and lessons learn to inform ongoing delivery. The research 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

13 

team observed sentencing and hearings and spoke to 50 people across the initial three pilot sites for the interim report – judges, court staff, police and probation staff, those delivering interventions and people sentenced under the ISC. The team also largely completed fieldwork for the final waves of research across all four pilot sites, targeting over 100 staff interviews and over 60 ISC participant interviews. The final report is due to be published later in 2025. 

Finally, in March 2025 we began an **evaluation of the Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) service in Wales** for HMPPS, building on our extensive knowledge of the English MHTR roll-out. 

## **Resetting the system** 

We have continued to support and enable coproduction across all aspects of the Government’s £91.8 million Changing Futures programme for people facing multiple disadvantage in three ways: **influencing national policy makers** through the National Expert Citizens Group (NECG), **supporting the 15 local area partnership to develop their coproduction approach** to drive their systems change ambitions through the national support contract, and **ensuring that the national evaluation is coproduced by people with lived experience** . 

**The NECG: modelling coproduction at the highest levels** 

**“Government and lived experience is like chemistry – you’ve got to mix the two and you need both to get the right result.”** NECG member 

The NECG, the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) funded national lived experience group for people facing multiple disadvantage, has continued to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Changing Futures policy team to both support and challenge their planning around future approaches to multiple disadvantage post-Changing Futures. The NECG also supported MHCLG to develop and recruit for a “mutual mentoring” scheme, pairing civil servants and people with lived experience to support each other’s learning and progression. 

Through its annual cycle of meetings, the NECG has focused on uncovering and showcasing good practice for each of its four strategic priority areas across the Changing Futures areas: dual diagnosis, the justice system, housing and homelessness, and diversity and neurodiversity. 

In addition to the quarterly cycle of thematic meetings, the team has coproduced a podcast series, “Weaving the web” (released in April 2025), interviewing the people behind solutions in each of these areas, and report, **Exploring solutions to multiple disadvantage** . The report was launched at the NECG’s in-person event in March 2025, attended by over 75 people. There was a strong lived experience presence and good representation from across government, including MHCLG, HMPPS, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). 

NECG members have presented at a number of conferences and events to advocated for the NECG’s priorities, and showcase coproduction and NECG’s approach to it. This has 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

14 

included a European conference on inclusive approaches to employment support in Brussels, and an NHS Co-occurring Needs Summit, presenting the NECG’s recommendations to fix the “dual diagnosis” barrier. 

Alongside the core contract delivery related to Changing Futures, the NECG has led on several other major influencing opportunities, aligned to their strategic priorities. 

We delivered a project for the MHCLG homelessness policy team to ensure people with lived experience inform the **development of the new cross-Government homelessness strategy** (to be published later in 2025). Partnering with Groundswell and Justlife Foundation, a core group of NECG members planned and co-facilitated four forums focused on prevention, stigma and discrimination in housing, transitions, and experiences of the homelessness system and temporary accommodation. The final forum was held in person at MHCLG and attended by the Minister for Homelessness. We consulted with an incredibly diverse group of over 30 people, with strong representation from groups that tend to be under-represented in official homelessness statistics, especially women and people from racially minoritised groups. As a result of the strong female voice throughout the forums, the interplay between domestic violence and homelessness was a clear recurring theme. 

Since August 2024, the NECG has been working with the Government to provide **lived experience insight into implementation of the drug strategy** . We hit the ground running, delivering a webinar on coproduction and producing a toolkit for the Combatting Drugs Units, and delivering three workshops with young people to inform a new framework for service design, all in the first three months. But the real priority has been providing decision makers with access to the views of people that are seldom heard by services, let alone central government policy makers. 

We supported a sub-group of NECG members to coproduce and deliver a powerful new community consultation model. **The group has reached into their local communities and reported the views of over 70 people in active addiction, unable to engage with services.** They’ve reported back through a series of “50:50 sessions” with the OHID policy team. This has brought the policy makers a depth and breadth of real-time insight around themes including women’s experiences, the importance of connection in services – that relationships _are_ the intervention – and experiences of newer substitute medication for opioid use, notably Buvidal, fundamentally influencing their understanding of the reality of how services operate. 

**“It's not about reaching out, it's more about us reaching in. It's about us putting ourselves in the places where the people are.”** NECG drugs strategy group member 

Separately, we’ve delivered a complementary piece of research for the **Home Office and OHID, in partnership with Verian, to investigate engagement with drug treatment in five of the Project ADDER areas** . ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) was a whole-system response to problem drug use, testing innovative new approaches in 13 areas across England and Wales. Peer research, drawing on the wider NECG network, was critical to delivering the research in the short timeframe we were given. Thanks to the peers’ local knowledge and ability to engage people we reached our interview targets, rapidly securing over 50 interviews, most of which were co-conducted by a peer 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

15 

researcher. The Verian team and our clients at the Home Office and OHID acknowledged their invaluable contribution, insight and expertise around this client group. 

Finally, another sub-group of NECG members took part in an exploratory project with and funded by Deloitte. Across a series of six workshops, the NECG members came together with a small group of **Deloitte consultants to coproduce good practice principles for developing digital access to government services, and explore the potential and risks of AI in public services** . The final **report** showcases the power of bringing together lived and learned experience to build more inclusive and effective public services. 

**“The challenges faced by government have been around for a long time and trying to make progress is really, really tough. When you work with people with lived experience, you really cut through to the core of what matters to the people who use and rely on those services.”** Caroline Hope, Partner at Deloitte 

## **Coproduction support: building lived experience structures from the ground up** 

Through the national support contract, commissioned by the NCLF and led by the Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition, we have continued to **support the local area partnerships to build lived experience groups and networks** , and embed principles and practices to empower people with lived experience to be part of operational and strategic decision-making. 

Our focus over the last year has been on the sustainability of coproduction across the partnerships, and continuing to address the disconnect between senior programme leads on one hand and lived experience groups on the other. We’ve delivered this through targeted work with senior leads, including a series of three regional workshops coproduced with NECG facilitators on making coproduction sustainable and “fit for the future”. 

Ongoing work with lived experience leads has included 1:1 coaching and consultancy, and peer-peer learning through the Community of Practice. We have adapted our support to both meet areas where they are at in their coproduction practice and stretch their thinking. As a result, most areas now have a strong grasp of the principles of coproductionand have built robust structures for meaningfully involving people with lived experience in the design and development of services within Changing Futures. 

This focus on connecting up lived experience and senior leads has paid off. We have seen a significant culture shift across the programme – from coproduction being viewed solely as the responsibility of lived experience leads to becoming a core priority for senior leadership. This shift is clearly demonstrated in Sheffield, where governance structures have been reshaped in partnership with lived experience members through a series of collaborative workshops and 50:50 spaces. Senior leaders in Bristol have shifted their focus to partnership working to influence systems change, embedding the principles of lived experience and coproduction shared at our ‘Fit for the Future’ sessions. As Ashely Ward, Senior Strategy Manager explained, **“We’re bringing in what we’ve learned working with partners across the city and national partner Revolving Doors”** . 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

16 

## **Building the multiple disadvantage evidence base** 

We’ve also continued to **support a team of 10 peer researchers to design and deliver the different strands of the national evaluation** (part of a consortium led by CFE Research). Peer researchers have contributed to the themes explored in the research over the last year, as set out in the **third interim report** , published in October 2024, and the **fourth interim report** , published in February 2025. 

“Deep dive” qualitative research in the third interim report focused on joining up support around the participant and trauma-informed approaches, topics of particular interest to the peer research team, who contributed to the design of the research materials and reviewed the draft report. The fourth interim report focused on how the programme has supported the participant journey and included research on how the programme reaches and supports people from under-served or marginalised communities. The peers were particularly effective in recruitment and co-conducting interviews for the under-represented groups strand – they have the links into community groups and spaces used by people that may feel excluded by traditional services. 

Peer researchers have also presented findings directly to MHCLG staff and participated in evaluation workshops, to support the team identify themes and implications emerging from the discussion. 

Finally, for **Changing Futures Sussex we delivered an evaluation of the impact and benefits of peer support workers** – how their role complements other types of professional support and contributes to positive outcomes for clients and the broader programme. Our members advocate powerfully for peer support to engage and support people in the revolving doors and wider multiple disadvantage cohort. This was therefore a valuable opportunity to add to the evidence base, demonstrating how and why peer workers are so vital, and how peer support can be effectively implemented by a service or programme. 

## **Procedural justice** 

Our procedural justice focus has provided a space for genuinely groundbreaking projects with the common aim of transforming practice and changing lives, whether it be a UK first for publicly accountable policing, an academic research project that takes coproduction to new levels, or lived experience-led training that inspires and challenges professionals on the frontline to change how they interact with people in the revolving door. All these projects aim to change how people are treated, how decisions are explained, how dignity and fairness is upheld. 

## **Building bridges to safer communities** 

In May we launched the **citizens’ panel recommendations** and **peer research report** from “Building Bridges, Safer Communities”, our project in Liverpool funded by the Open Society Foundation to get under the skin of what reconciliation could look like between the police and diverse communities. As part of this, with our partner, Shared Future CIC, we delivered the **UK’s first ever citizens’ panel on policing and community safety** . The project was designed to address the disconnect between the police and the communities they serve, including people in frequent and regular contact with the police. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

17 

At the launch event, Serena Kenndy, Chief Constable of Merseyside Police and Emily Spurrell, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside, and Jo Richmond, Director of Safe City and Communities for Liverpool City Council all publicly welcomed the recommendations, marking a shift toward community-informed approaches to public safety. 

**“Understanding the views of our diverse communities, particularly around public safety and prevention is vital to us, so we welcome the work of the Citizens’ Panel in Liverpool.”** Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, Merseyside Police 

## **Changing practice through research** 

Following a successful pilot in the family court, we moved into the main phase of “Lived Experience of the Law”, our flagship research project with the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck, University of London funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The research explores **how individuals’ lived experience of the law over their lifetimes and across the criminal and family courts shapes their understanding and engagement in court, and sense of justice** . 

The project has set new standards in terms of the level of coproduction at all stages of the academic research process. Over the last year, the team has recruited for and conducted over 100 interviews with people who have been a defendant in the criminal courts and/or party to proceedings in the family court. All interviews were co-conducted by a professional and peer researcher, where appropriate. We have recruited through organisations working with people from minoritised ethnic background, notably Maslaha and the Zahid Mubarek Trust to reach a target of 50% of participants from minoritised ethnic backgrounds and greater representation from young adults. 

**“It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience, boosting my confidence and allowing me to work alongside the university in such a meaningful way.”** Peer researcher 

Another distinctive feature of the project is that we bring together diverse stakeholders, including legal professionals, people with lived experience of the law and the charities who support them, policy professionals and government stakeholders, to discuss emerging findings and coproduce recommendations. In early 2015 we completed two policy workshops, each co-facilitated by peer researchers, on the themes of domestic abuse, women and the family courts, and experiences of legal representation. The domestic abuse policy workshop was attended by Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, while two representatives from the Ministry of Justice’s Legal Aid Strategy team attended the legal representation policy workshop. 

**“My lived experience allows me to connect with others in similar situations and understand the challenges they face, which helps shape the research in a more meaningful and empathetic way.”** Peer researcher 

Finally, the project team produced a 3-minute film, funded by the Criminal Justice Alliance in collaboration with the Media Trust about lived experience and co-production in research. 

In October we released a **report commissioned by the Youth Justice Board showcasing examples of promising community-based practice across England and Wales to address racial disparity in the youth justice system** . The report highlights good practice 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

18 

across programmes that work directly with children and their families, programmes that provide a platform for children themselves to influence change and, finally, interventions that target professionals, including police, judges and lawyers. 

Finally, towards the end of the year we began a **review for Greater Manchester Combined Authority to improve care in custody** as part of a major transformation programme. The aim is to support Greater Manchester Police to develop a more trauma-informed approach to custody, partly in response to the findings of the Baird Inquiry. We completed a rapid evidence review of good practice in custody, highlighting how trauma-informed approaches can be incorporated into routine practice in custody. We also prepared for the peer research phase, focused on experiences of Bolton custody suite. 

## **Transforming the frontline through lived experience-led training** 

We have continued to deliver our CPD (Continuing Professional Development) certified “root causes” training to frontline practitioners. The training is designed and delivered by our lived experience members with the aim of transforming frontline interactions. They do this by exploring how to develop empathy, rapport and trusting relationships, and demonstrating how unmet health and social needs can lead people into contact with the criminal justice system. 

In May 2024 we delivered a very well-received training session for Metropolitan Police Integrated Offender Management (IOM) officers. 

**“I found their experiences really hard hitting in terms of how they personally talked about issues like racism, unfairness and alienation, but then they also bought out positives and hope, so a really good blend that I think will have been particularly effective for the many IOM police in the room.”** Tom Dodsworth, MOPAC Policy and Commissioning Manager 

With support from Barrow Cadbury Trust, we developed and delivered a new 4-module course to just under **1,500 probation practitioners on effective working with young adults** . Magistrates tend to follow the advice of probation, as set out in pre-sentence reports. Probation is therefore a key target audience for improving sentencing outcomes. Each session featured one of our members and an external specialist. 

- **100% of participants agreed the course had improved their knowledge** in working with young adults 

- **96% agreed it had improved their confidence** . 

**“It was really good to have some training that was delivered outside of probation by people that are passionate about their area of expertise.”** 

**“Hearing from individuals who have a lived experience as a young adult on probation as it gives a perspective from the other side.”** Probation officer feedback 

We also deliver “information sessions” to magistrates based on the practitioner training to support them to understand root causes and the impact of community versus short-term prison sentences. We reached a further 115 magistrates this year, with the result that **members have now delivered sessions to over 300 magistrates** . 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

19 

## **Specialist forums: influencing change for distinct groups** 

We have continued to develop our “specialist” forums. These are dedicated spaces for marginalised, overlooked or over-represented groups to influence the criminal justice system to respond to their distinct experiences. 

The **women's forum** is a diverse, supportive and creative place, where women want to learn from each other. Many of the founding members are now moving into education and employment or have new babies. The women are genuinely pleased for each other. And happily, the dynamics have remained consistent with the influx of new women. The new group has gelled very quickly. 

We’ve moved to a model over the last two years where the women’s forum often looks at the same theme as the regional forums, rather than pursuing a separate agenda. Over the year we held 5 sessions focused on **residential centres** , **poverty and shoplifting** , and **electronic monitoring** , and fed into the cycle on **vetting** and the **West Midlands Police and Crime Plan consultation** . This has helpfully surfaced gender-specific insights – we often hear quite different things to the mixed forums. This was particularly evident in the electronic monitoring forum where women had very different experiences. Several women spoke about how the tag increased their vulnerability to exploitation: 

**“It highlighted that I was a vulnerable young woman who could be taken advantage of because I was clearly in trouble.”** Women’s forum member 

Lack of funding for specially commissioned sessions means that we have mostly not run the **neurodiversity forum** this year, although neurodiversity has been consistently spoken about in our other forums. We’ve continued to monitor the impact of the forum. For example, **our members influenced the creation of Neurodiversity Support Managers (NSMs)** , which as of May 2024 are **in place in all 105 public prisons in England and Wales** . In July 2024 forum members met with a nation-wide group of Neurodiversity Support Managers. 

**“I was really excited before and during the session with the NSMs. A better awareness and understanding of neurodiversity in the justice system has been a passion of mine for a number of years and to have this opportunity to speak directly to the NSMs, and so many, was something I will always be grateful for.”** Neurodiversity forum member 

We held two meetings of the **new race forum** – an introductory forum and a review of the evidence around race disproportionality. We set up the forum in response to the call from our young adult members. We are still hopeful that the National Police Chiefs’ Council will fund work with the forum around the Police Race Action Plan, following its recent relaunch. 

## **Organisational resilience** 

## **A refreshed, representative and diverse membership** 

The sustained effort we’ve put in over the last two years to regrow our referral network and refresh our membership post-Covid has paid off. **We have grown our overall active membership back to around 60 members** (from 40 two years ago). This feels like the right size of overall membership, given our capacity, and the level of support and development we 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

20 

now provide. **Members have worked with us for an average of 50 hours per person per year.[1]** 

Overall membership has stayed stable over the last year, but with a real turnover to a new cohort, powered by the Revolving Doors Academy, our new coproduced in-house member development programme rooted in recovery college principles. Twenty-nine new members joined in the last 12 months. This means that **over three-quarters of our members have joined in the last 3 years** . 

The influx of new members means that we have people at very different points in their recoveries. This has helped create a particularly insightful and open culture. Some members are still serving community sentences or are on probation, and can speak to the system as it is right now. Others are further on in their journeys and bring a more reflective perspective. Some are starting to study and now look at topics through both an academic and lived experience lens. The modelling of members at different stages is inspiring to the newer members. In the women’s forum, one of the newer members commented that she was astonished and thrilled with the diversity of the group, how welcoming it was, and how easy she found it to contribute. 

We’ve continued to support our remaining long-standing members to move on. At least four members have felt ready to apply for jobs and further education over the year. A very small number of long-term members have continued to cycle in and out of the justice system, with the result that their lived experience is still relevant. In those cases, we’ve stayed in touch and will support them to re-engage when they are ready. 

We’ve continued to recruit carefully to ensure that potential members meet our revolving door criteria of current or recent experience of repeat criminal justice contact for low-level offences driven by unmet health and social needs. We also ensure that our membership reflects the characteristics of those that are in the revolving door. As well as over representation from people facing socioeconomic disadvantage, we focus particularly on those who have a distinct experience of the justice system and/or experience worse outcomes. 

Our membership has become more ethnically diverse over the last few years. This year, **39% of members identify as racially minoritised** (c.f. 27% of the prison population[2] and 29% of our members last year). **Women are also over-represented at 39% of our membership** . **38% of members have a physical disability** (c.f. 36% of the prison population); **27% of members have a learning disability** , with many more reporting learning difficulties. **Ten members are part of our neurodiversity forum** , although we know that more members self-identify as neurodiverse. 

Members come from all over the country, from Bury to Bodmin, and Huddersfield to Haywards Heath. Most continue to be concentrated in London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. 

> 1 Paid activities only. Does not capture training or additional development support. 

2 All comparator statistics come from the February 2025 Bromley Briefing: https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Winter-2025-factfile.pdf 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

21 

## **The Academy: transforming our member development** 

Last year we reported that we had secured funding from PA Foundation to develop and pilot the Revolving Doors Academy, a new initiative to support individual member development and progression. **Over 12 months, 36 members took part in a range of activities and learning opportunities** to develop the skills and confidence to excel as Revolving Doors members and in their wider lives **.** The Academy is fully coproduced, with all in-house sessions either entirely designed and delivered by members who are part of the Academy facilitation team, or co-delivered with staff or guest speakers. We’ve also developed partnerships with external training and support providers to deliver key skills training. We’ve built a partnership with Happy, a training provider, to deliver IT skills-building and a train the trainer course for the facilitation team. 

From September onwards, we worked with the new 8-person facilitation team (a mix of the previous facilitation team and people from the inaugural Changemakers cohort) to fully redesign our “Changemakers” induction course. This was delivered through March and April 2025 to a new cohort of 15 Changemakers. The course included a new session on critical thinking. Many members have an understandable distrust of the system, get their news entirely from social media and are therefore vulnerable to manipulation and disinformation online. In the post-course reflection session, this was one of the most highly praised modules, with members now reporting that they think more critically about the source of news stories. 

**“I’m thriving now and it’s not something I ever saw in my future.”** 2025 Changemaker graduate 

The pilot funding ended in October 2024 although we have secured a small continuation grant from PA Foundation. Trustees have also invested reserves in a one-year fixed term full time Academy Coordinator post from January 2025. The Academy is vital for building a pipeline of new members and for developing and supporting our members. Without such support, we risk becoming part of the problem for our members, continuing to trap them in an identity that values their lived experience of the justice system over everything else that they have to offer, and holding them back from moving on with their lives. 

Everyone that has fed back has reported **positive shifts in their identities, reporting increased confidence, hope and connectedness** . Participants and facilitators alike have gained new confidence and skills. One inaugural Changemaker graduate (and member of the new facilitation team) spoke about how the Academy had supported her to come out of her shell. It’s also helped her practically to manage her day-to-day life: 

**“I've learned how to speak a lot better. I was really terrible at just saying what I wanted to say, expressing myself. But I am a lot better. My shyness is definitely gone. The Academy had a great big part in that. I'm able to write letters. Before, I was terrible at getting into debt and not handling things. And I am handling stuff quite well nowadays.”** 2014 Changemaker graduate and 2015 facilitator 

Another Changemaker graduate, who had previously been unable to participate in any inperson events due to crippling anxiety, has started to travel because of the Changemaker 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

22 

course. This demonstrates a massive shift in her confidence and independence, and what she now knows herself to be capable of. 

We’ve also seen the impact directly in our work. The newest Academy cohort has come into forums and meetings and contributed effectively and insightfully from day one. They understand our work and what they are here to do. They already have a real sense of community and of mutual support. Longer term members have also been supportive and encouraging. 

## **Building pathways for progression and leadership** 

We are a ‘member-led’ organisation. By this we mean that our members are at the core of everything we do. Members inform our governance and strategic decision-making. They coproduce our funding bids, the forums, our research and advocacy. And they lead the Academy and facilitate training for frontline criminal justice professionals. 

Over the last year, members have taken on the following progression and leadership roles: 

- Eight members were part of the **Lived Experience Advisory Panel** , our shadow board, working with Senior Leadership Team and Board to input into the cycle of Board meetings and coproducing major funding proposals. Through the Autumn and Winter they coproduced our new five-year strategy, as fully involved in the process as staff and trustees. This included participating in the full Board Away Day in November. Their close involvement means that the new strategy has a very different feel and focus to our previous strategy. We will launch it later this summer. 

- Sixteen members have worked on our **facilitation team** , co-facilitating all forum sessions and working as **peer trainers** , coproducing and delivering the Academy. 

- Three members and one former member have worked as **peer mentors** , delivering 1:1 and group sessions to support newer members to “step up” into the more intensive work delivered by our various externally commissioned lived experience teams. 

- A former member has continued to work as a **lived experience associate** . Our plan is that the Academy will provide a progression pathway for more former members to work with us in this way. 

- Another former member continues as a **trustee** . In addition to her lived experience, she brings experience of Revolving Doors as both member and staff member, and other relevant professional experience. 

## **Setting the agenda: our new 5-year strategy** 

A key achievement of this year has been the **coproduction of a new 5-year strategy** . We waited until after the general election to start the new strategy development process, but then kicked it off with an extensive consultation with key stakeholders, including funders, partners and others in the sector. But what really set the process apart was level of coproduction with our lived experience members. Our Lived Experience Advisory Panel worked with us at every stage of the process, including an away day with the Board. As a result, the strategy truly reflects their perspectives and priorities. The strategy will be launched in August 2025. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

23 

## **Outline of work for the next 12 months** 

This is a crucial year for our organisation. Prison can no longer be an option for our group. There is a proposed presumption against short sentences. The solutions will lie in the community. Diversion is now firmly on the agenda. And policy makers are looking to our organisation, our members for the solutions. We have an opportunity to truly shift the dial for people in the revolving door. 

We will be launching and delivering to our new strategy from August 2025. The systemic issues that we are tackling have not changed; nor have many of the solutions that we are proposing. Therefore, we have grouped our work for 2025/26 under the old strategy for the purposes of this report. We will report our progress next year under the new strategic priorities. 

## **Diversion and prevention** 

- Following the Sentencing Review and Sir Brian Leveson’s Courts Review, we will continue to work to influence the government and selected local authorities and police and crime commissioners to adopt a distinct approach to the revolving doors group and to young adults, with diversion away from custody at its heart. 

- We will launch our flagship research with Newton and Xantura making the case for a preventative approach to the revolving door. We will use it to drive our influencing agenda. 

- We will partner with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to coproduce their whole system approach to diversion for the revolving door cohort. 

- We will complete our research in Bolton custody suite to feed into GMCA’s custody transformation programme. 

- We will continue to support NHS commissioners in the South West and South East to coproduce their non-custodial services. 

## **Sentencing and probation** 

- We will continue to influence probation reform, the expansion of electronic monitoring, and the impact of remand and recall. 

- We will complete the process evaluation of the national Intensive Supervision Courts (ISC) pilot programme, in partnership with CFE Research, and seek to support the expansion of the ISC model. 

- We will complete the evaluation of the Welsh MHTR service for HMPPS. 

## **Resetting the system** 

- We will support the final year of delivery of the Changing Futures programme through the national evaluation and support contracts, local evaluations and with input from the NECG. Core NECG delivery will focus on developing and sharing good practice around coproduced approaches to commissioning, and supporting the development and roll-out of approaches that divert the revolving door group away from criminal justice and into support. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

24 

- We will continue to position the NECG as _the_ national lived experience group for people facing multiple disadvantage, distinct from Changing Futures, including through ongoing delivery of lived experience input into the drug strategy for OHID. 

## **Procedural justice** 

- We will continue to develop and deliver our specialist women’s, race and neurodiversity forums. 

- We will continue to expand our CPD-certified lived experience-led training offer to professionals, delivering training to more police forces and probation staff, and information sessions for magistrates. 

- We will complete our “Lived Experience of the Law” research project with Birkbeck ICPR. 

## **Organisational resilience and cross-cutting work** 

- We will expand the Revolving Doors Academy, delivering two Changemaker courses over the year, and expanding our ongoing development offer. 

- We will seek new core funding through grants and foundations, and through developing new relationships with major donors and corporate partners. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

25 

## **Structure, governance and management** 

Revolving Doors Agency is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 17 August 1993 and registered as a charity on 22 December 1993. The company was established under a memorandum of association, which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its articles of association. 

Following a rebrand at the start of the 2022/2023 financial year we removed the term ‘Agency’ from our name. All our internal and external communications now use Revolving Doors. Our registered name remains The Revolving Doors Agency. 

## **Recruitment, appointment and induction of trustees** 

The Board has the power to appoint additional trustees. Revolving Doors has developed role descriptions for chair, treasurer and standard board member roles. Recruitment may be carried out by advertising, with support from recommendations where appropriate. We endeavour, through the recruitment methods adopted, to reach groups of people who are under-represented in its employment, those who are members of the communities in which we work, and those who can bring relevant skills and experience to the work of the Board. The induction and training of trustees include the provision of up-to-date financial and other information about the charity, Charity Commission publications giving guidance on the role of trustees, a skills audit, and a meeting with the Chief Executive and Senior Leadership Team. All potential trustees meet a panel of lived experience members as part of the recruitment process. 

## **Organisational structure** 

Revolving Doors’ staff, based on headcount, averaged 13 during 2024/2025 (2023/2024: 12). Our staff are split into functional teams, involvement, and policy, research and communications, plus a central office function, reporting either directly or through line managers to the Senior Leadership Team. 

The Chief Executive Officer, who leads the Senior Leadership Team, is accountable to the Board of Trustees. We also engage trusted associates who work with staff to deliver specific projects. 

## **Our remuneration policy** 

The Board aims to ensure that staff receive appropriate incentives to encourage strong performance and are, in a fair and responsible manner, rewarded for their individual contributions to the success of the charity. The appropriateness and relevance of the remuneration policy is reviewed annually, including with reference to sector averages and comparisons with similarly sized charities, to ensure that Revolving Doors remains a competitive employer. 

We recruit subject to experience at a market competitive point, which provides scope for increases to be awarded for excellence. We do not employ interns without pay and we are committed to paying the London Living Wage for all our staff. Delivery of Revolving Doors’ 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

26 

charitable vision and purpose is primarily dependent on our staff, which is the largest single element of charitable expenditure. 

## **Risk management** 

The Board is responsible for the effective management and oversight of risk. The full risk register is brought back to Board annually for review. It identifies major inward- and outwardfacing strategic risks across four categories: financial sustainability, organisational impact, reputation and compliance. The Board manages these risks actively through the quarterly Board cycle through recurring and special focus items on the Board agenda. 

At the full annual review in October 2024, trustees agreed to close the remaining post-Covid risks as they were either managed through standard processes or outside our control and with limited risk to Revolving Doors. They added a new category of operational risks to capture serious operational risks with high financial/reputational impact. 

## **Financial sustainability** 

**Financial sustainability** has remained a major focus on the Board over this last year. Although fundraising has been strong this year and with a strong pipeline for next year, the closure of NHS England, the ending of Changing Futures and ongoing high demand on funders makes this a growing risk from 2026/27 onwards. We are continuing to deliver our fundraising plan, targeting new funders, developing corporate partnerships and scoping major donors. At the end of the year, Board approved the creation of a new Director of Communications role, with a focus on corporate and major donor giving. 

## **Organisational impact** 

Strong engagement across national and regional government have mitigated the risk of **lack of national policy impact due to the political climate over the last year** . However, there is still a risk – largely outside our control – that this engagement won’t lead to change due to a lack of political will to invest in the community solutions needed for our cohort. 

## **Reputation** 

In view of our fundraising plan, which is taking us beyond well-known funders into the realm of family funders and corporate partnerships, Board added a new risk this year around **loss of influence, legitimacy and funding due to reputational damage from accepting funding from a partner that is ethically contentious or misaligned with our values** . This is being managed through a new ethical partnerships policy and process, which Board approved in October 2024. 

Board also added a new risk around Revolving Doors being **compromised by association with high profile government programmes that have not been truly coproduced.** This has always been a limited risk, but has become more likely due to involvement in high profile programmes and closer working relationships nationally and in Greater Manchester. We are continuing to assess carefully the risk versus potential impact of all local and national government work. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

27 

## **Compliance** 

Compliance risks relate to **failure to identify misconduct, mismanagement or breaches** and **non-compliance with key legislation.** Board has oversight of policies and there is a regular policy review cycle. A full process refresh was undertaken in 2022/23. We introduced a more robust and structured induction process for new staff in 2023/24. All staff receive safeguarding and data protection induction and annual refresher training. We have commissioned external data protection training and a review for 2024/25. Gaps in in-house expertise are filled through associates and trustees. 

## **Financial review** 

Total income increased by 40% to £1,129,125 (2024: £801,397) driven by an increase in contract income to deliver charitable activity. Expenditure increased by 12% to £1,120,942 (2024: £1,002,229). As a result of this, the charity made a small surplus for the year of £8,183 (2024: deficit £200,832). The deficit on restricted reserves was £43,974 (2024: £218,620) leaving an unrestricted surplus of £52,157 (2024: £17,788). 

The Board continued to support mission critical policy and influencing work not covered by grant funding, utilising a designated fund from 2024 of £89,000. This enabled us to continue to deliver our core policy work centred on Beyond the Cycle, including building relationships with key decision makers nationally and in the combined authorities. 

## **Business ethics** 

Our social enterprise activity enhances and does not detract from our overall mission and aims. All potential commercial projects are evaluated against the following criteria. We consider whether the project: 

- helps achieve our mission and strategic goals. 

- promotes our values. 

- increases our knowledge. 

- enhances our reputation and brand. 

- allows for the genuine involvement of people with lived experience. 

- • will have a positive impact on people’s lives. 

## We also consider: 

- the impact on our independence or the perception of this independence. 

- the potential risks, notably the risk to our reputation. 

- whether we can withdraw from contracts if these risks change. 

- the reputation and status of the customer or any partners. 

- how to evaluate the project including its impact. 

- Capacity of staff to deliver a high quality project. 

- the potential surplus and the opportunity costs involved. 

## **Fundraising** 

We rely on the commitment of the grantmakers that share our vision and have continued to back our work over the years. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

28 

Our fundraising strategy continues to balance grant and social enterprise income, to ensure that we are not over-reliant on a single income stream. We aim to grow our income sources to decrease the risks associated with over-reliance on a small number of funders. We also target relationships with funders that unlock multi-year, long-term support to protect staff capacity and reduce income generation costs. Last year we commissioned and implemented a fundraising review and plan, which we have continued to deliver against this year. This has included building relationships with new funders, including building further corporate relationships. 

Our grant income has increased to £325,564 this year from £265,323 in 2023/24. 

We are grateful for the support from the trustees and staff at the following organisations and institutions, who funded work carried out in 2024/25: 

- The AB Charitable Trust 

- Barrow Cadbury Trust 

- Birkbeck, University of London 

- City Bridge Foundation 

- Greater Manchester Combined Authority 

- Hadley Trust 

- John Ellerman Foundation 

- National Lottery Community Foundation 

- Newton Foundation 

- Open Society Foundation 

- PA Foundation 

We do not fundraise directly from the public and do not use any professional fundraisers or commercial participators. As a result, we are not registered with the Fundraising Regulator. 

## **Reserves** 

In 2024/25 the trustees undertook a full review of the charity’s approach to reserves. The previous policy had been to target sufficient reserves to cover six months’ running costs. The revised approach considers a broader range of factors, in line with Charity Commission guidelines. A reserves sub-committee reviewed: 

- The nature and level of charitable funds held 

- The financial impact of major strategic and operational risks. This included an assessment of the cost of a wind-down scenario and its likelihood 

- The stability and diversity of the charity’s income and income sources, over the last 10 years, including an analysis of secured income at the point of annual budget setting 

- Working capital requirements, based on the payment profile for the majority of the charity’s contracts 

- Approach to strategy and innovation. Although the charity does not have sufficient funds to establish an innovation fund, trustees reaffirmed their clear and explicit commitment to using excess reserves to support critical strategic work and pursue innovation opportunities. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

29 

Trustees also benchmarked our position against similar sized charities in the sector. 

The revised policy takes a more dynamic approach to reserves year on year, which allows the charity to better respond to the turbulent financial and funding climate of the last few years. It also explicitly links the process of setting the reserves position to the annual risk review and the annual budget setting and review process. It is therefore better integrated into other strategic planning, budgeting and risk management processes in line with Charity Commission guidance. 

The revised annual reserves position is built up from the following elements: 

- Analysis of the financial impact of major strategic risks 

- Working capital requirements, set for 2025/26 as 25% of forecast social enterprise income 

- Income security, set as 20% of unsecured forecast income, to be included only in years where unsecured income exceeds 40% at budget setting. 

The dynamic nature of the policy will mean that the reserves target may move substantially between years. In years where income security is high there will be more reserves available for innovation. 

The unrestricted reserves, based on the above policy, required at 31st March 2025 were £505,872 compared to actual reserves of £506,484. 

The Board also approved the designation of £104,000 at 31[st] March 2025 to support two new mission critical positions: a Director of Communications and Campaigns, with a focus on corporate and major donor fundraising, and a fixed term Academy Coordinator. 

## **Public benefit** 

The trustees are aware of the need to ensure that the objects, aims and activities of Revolving Doors comply with the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and have taken due account of this guidance. 

In terms of public benefit, our activities, described in detail above, are targeted at a particularly disadvantaged group in society – people who have repeat contact with the criminal justice system, generally for low-level and non-violent offences, whose offending behaviour is driven by unmet health and social needs, including mental ill-health, problematic substance use, and homelessness. It is a group that has, from childhood, disproportionately experienced trauma and abuse, neglect, poverty, community violence, racism and other forms of discrimination. We advocate for a system that recognises and addresses these root causes of contact with the criminal justice system. 

Our work aims to change the lives of people in or at risk of entering this revolving door cycle of crisis and crime. In the longer term, we are seeking fundamental reform of policy and practice that will deliver long-lasting, systemic, large-scale change across England and Wales. To this end, our strategy focuses on building understanding and commitment among political leaders and policymakers at a national level and among a wide range of local leaders who have the power to change services in their area. We also have a more direct impact on 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

30 

the local areas in which we work. Through our policy and lived experience consultancy, service evaluations and user research, we bring about changes in services that have an immediate impact on the individuals using them. 

Our involvement of people with direct experience of the issues we are tackling has a dual impact. Through their participation, lived experience members improve their skills, confidence and social networks, all of which support their recovery and reintegration into communities. At the same time, they bring insight and a powerful voice to our work to influence decision-makers, giving politicians and officials the opportunity to explore directly what is and isn't working and how things can be made better. 

## **Statement of responsibilities of the trustees** 

The trustees (who are also directors of Revolving Doors for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the report of the trustees’ and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: 

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently. 

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP (FRS 102). 

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. 

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and 

- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. 

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. 



Together, we can put an end to the Revolving Door. 

31 

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees on 31 March 2025 was 10 (2024: 13). The trustees are members of the charity, but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity. 

The trustees’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime 

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 29 October 2025 and signed on their behalf by 

Sarah Payne CBE – Chair 



Independent auditor’s report to the members of the Revolving Doors Agency 

## Opinion 

We have audited the financial statements of the Revolving Doors Agency (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

In our opinion, the financial statements: 

- Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended 

- Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice 

- Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 

## Basis for opinion 

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. 

## Conclusions relating to going concern 

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. 

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Revolving Doors Agency’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. 

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. 

32 



Independent auditor’s report to the members of the Revolving Doors Agency 

## Other matters 

The financial statements of the Revolving Doors Agency for the year ended 31 March 2024 were unaudited. An independent examination was performed which expressed an unmodified opinion on those statements. 

## Other Information 

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. 

We have nothing to report in this regard. 

## Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: 

- The information given in the trustees’ annual report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and 

- The trustees’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. 

## Matters on which we are required to report by exception 

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: 

- Adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or 

- The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or 

33 



Independent auditor’s report to the members of the Revolving Doors Agency 

- Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or 

- We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or 

- ● The directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ annual report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report. 

## Responsibilities of trustees 

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. 

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 

## Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements 

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. 

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below. 

## Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities 

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following: 

34 



Independent auditor’s report to the members of the Revolving Doors Agency 

- We enquired of management, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to: 

   - Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance; 

   - Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud; 

   - The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or noncompliance with laws and regulations. 

- We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance. 

- We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience. 

- We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit. 

- ● We reviewed any reports made to regulators. 

- We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 

- We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud. 

- In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business. 

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation.  This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation. 

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report. 

## Use of our report 

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required 

35 



Independent auditor’s report to the members of the Revolving Doors Agency 

to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. 

Farrah Kitabi (Senior statutory auditor) 

11 December 2025 

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor 110 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TG 

36 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

|Unrestricted<br>£<br>921,911<br>8,650|Restricted<br>£<br>200,564<br>-|2025<br>Total<br>£<br>1,122,475<br>8,650|Unrestricted<br>£<br>549,908<br>11,166|Restricted<br>£<br>240,323<br>-|2024<br>Total<br>£<br>790,231<br>11,166|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|930,561|200,564|1,131,125|561,074|240,323|801,397|
|110,409<br>128,347<br>488,223<br>149,425|-<br>41,672<br>148,176<br>54,690|110,409<br>170,019<br>636,399<br>204,115|86,007<br>77,308<br>275,954<br>104,017|-<br>212,231<br>178,408<br>68,304|86,007<br>289,539<br>454,362<br>172,321|
|876,404|244,538|1,120,942|543,286|458,943|1,002,229|
|54,157<br>558,327|(43,974)<br>110,698|10,183<br>669,025|17,788<br>540,539|(218,620)<br>329,318|0.118448977<br>(200,832)<br>869,857|



All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 12a to the financial statements. 

37 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

Company no. 2845452 

## Balance sheet 

## As at 31 March 2025 

|As at 31 March 2025|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Note<br>Current assets:<br>8<br>9<br>12a<br>Restricted funds<br>Debtors<br>Cash at bank and in hand<br>Creditors: amounts falling due within one year<br>Net current assets<br>Net assets<br>The funds of the charity:<br>Unrestricted income funds:<br>Designated funds<br>General funds<br>Total funds|£<br>202,864<br>585,993|2025<br>£<br>679,208|£<br>139,444<br>621,063|2024<br>£<br>669,025|
||788,857<br>109,649||760,507<br>91,482||
||104,000<br>508,484||89,000<br>469,327||
|||679,208||669,025|
|||612,484<br>66,724||558,327<br>110,698|
||||||
|||679,208||669,025|



Approved by the trustees on 29th October 2025 and signed on their behalf by 

Sarah Payne CBE Chair 

38 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

## Statement of cash flows 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

|For the year ended 31 March 2025|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Cash at bank and in hand<br>(a)<br>Cash flows from operating activities<br>Net cash (used in) operating activities<br>Cash flows from investing activities:<br>Investment income received<br>Net cash provided by investing activities<br>Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year<br>Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year<br>(Increase)/Decrease in debtors<br>Increase/(Decrease) in creditors<br>Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year<br>Analysis of cash and cash equivalents<br>Cash flow used in operating activities:<br>Net movement in funds<br>Interest received|£<br>£<br>(43,720)<br>8,650<br>8,650<br>(35,070)<br>621,063<br>585,993<br>585,993<br>585,993<br>10,183<br>(8,650)<br>(63,420)<br>18,167<br>(43,720)<br>2025||£<br>£<br>(247,818)<br>11,166<br>11,166<br>(236,652)<br>857,715<br>621,063<br>621,063<br>621,063<br>(200,832)<br>(11,166)<br>(68,088)<br>32,268<br>(247,818)<br>2024||
||||||
|||585,993||621,063|
|||585,993||621,063|
|||585,993||621,063|
|||10,183<br>(8,650)<br>(63,420)<br>18,167||(200,832)<br>(11,166)<br>(68,088)<br>32,268|
|||(43,720)||(247,818)|



39 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

## 1 Accounting policies 

## a) Statutory information 

The Revolving Doors Agency is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in the United Kingdom. The registered office address is South Bank Technopark, 90 London Road, London, SE1 6LN. 

## b) Basis of preparation 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. 

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern. 

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note. 

- c) Public benefit entity 

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. 

## d) Income and expenditure recognition 

- i) Voluntary income is received by way of donations and gifts and is included in full in the statement of financial activities 

- ii) Revenue grants are credited to the statement of financial activities when received or receivable, whichever is earlier. 

Where unconditional entitlement to grants receivable is dependent upon fulfilment of conditions within the charity’s control, the incoming resources are recognised when there is sufficient evidence that conditions will be met. Where there is uncertainty as to whether the charity can meet such conditions the incoming resource is deferred. 

- iii) Contractual income is recognised as incoming resources in the Statement of Financial Activities to the extent that the charity has provided the goods or service. Incoming resources received in advance are deferred until the charity becomes entitled to the resources. 

- iv) Expenditure is recognised in the period in which it is incurred and includes attributable VAT which cannot be recovered. 

- v) Costs of generating funds relate to the costs incurred by the charity in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose. 

Where information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is provided to potential beneficiaries, the costs associated with this publicity are allocated to charitable expenditure. 

- e) Fund accounting 

   - Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor.  Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund. 

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes. 

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes. 

- f) Allocation of costs 

Costs are directly attributed to activities wherever possible. Support costs are allocated to activities on the basis of management estimate of time incurred by staff on activities. 

## g) Operating leases 

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease. 

## h) Debtors 

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due. 

40 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

- 1 Accounting policies (continued) 

- i) Cash at bank and in hand 

   - Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. 

- j) Creditors and provisions 

   - Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due. 

## k) Pensions 

The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable under the scheme by the charity to the fund. The Charity has no liability under the scheme other than for payment of these contributions. 

## l) Financial instruments 

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value. 

## 2 Income from charitable activities 

|Income from charitable activities|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|National Lottery Community Fund<br>The Barrow Cadbury Trust<br>AB Charitable Foundation<br>University of Greenwich<br>Newton Foundation<br>Hadley Trust<br>Total<br>Birkbeck, University of London<br>Other income<br>Greater Manchester Combined<br>Authority<br>John Ellerman Foundation<br>University of Lincoln<br>PA Foundation<br>City Bridge Foundation<br>Contract Income<br>Income from investments<br>Bank interest|Unrestricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>25,000<br>40,000<br>-<br>60,000<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>781,328<br>15,583|£<br>52,583<br>26,750<br>19,217<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>21,880<br>-<br>-<br>15,825<br>64,309<br>-<br>-<br>Restricted|2025<br>Total <br>£<br>52,583<br>26,750<br>19,217<br>25,000<br>40,000<br>-<br>60,000<br>21,880<br>-<br>-<br>15,825<br>64,309<br>781,328<br>15,583|Unrestricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>25,000<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>524,216<br>692|£<br>60,925<br>16,500<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>3,747<br>30,000<br>23,755<br>4,320<br>20,000<br>25,770<br>55,306<br>-<br>-<br>Restricted|2024<br>Total<br>£<br>60,925<br>16,500<br>-<br>25,000<br>-<br>3,747<br>30,000<br>23,755<br>4,320<br>20,000<br>25,770<br>55,306<br>524,216<br>692|
||921,911|200,564|1,122,475|549,908|240,323|790,231|
||Unrestricted<br>£<br>8,650|£<br>-<br>Restricted|2025<br>Total <br>£<br>8,650|Unrestricted<br>£<br>11,166|£<br>-<br>Restricted|2024<br>Total<br>£<br>11,166|
||8,650|-|8,650|11,166|-|11,166|



- 3 Income from investments 

41 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

- 4a Analysis of expenditure (Current year) 

|Fundraising<br>£<br>73,832<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Charitable activities|Charitable activities|Charitable activities|Governance<br>costs<br>£<br>24,935<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>12,000|<br>Support costs<br>£<br>63,024<br>18,537<br>-<br>43,834<br>26,705<br>21,805<br>7,442<br>11,706<br>26,100<br>9,575|2025 Total<br>£<br>624,205<br>18,537<br>319,033<br>43,834<br>26,705<br>21,805<br>7,442<br>11,706<br>26,100<br>21,575|2024<br>Total<br>£<br>639,647<br>7,430<br>231,123<br>47,044<br>6,950<br>10,398<br>7,270<br>9,074<br>28,600<br>14,693|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Policy<br>£<br>102,814<br>-<br>16,269<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Lived<br>Experience<br>£<br>267,594<br>-<br>236,236<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|<br>Research<br>£<br>92,006<br>-<br>66,528<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|||||
|73,832<br>31,492<br>5,085|119,083<br>43,854<br>7,082|503,830<br>114,138<br>18,431|158,534<br>39,244<br>6,337|36,935<br>-<br>(36,935)|228,728<br>(228,728)<br>-|1,120,942<br>-<br>-|1,002,229<br>-<br>-|
|110,409|170,019|636,399|204,115|-|-|1,120,942||



Expenditure on charitable activities was £1,120,942 (2024: £916,222) of which £876,405 (2024: £457,279) was unrestricted and £244,537 (2024: £458,943) was restricted. 

42 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

## 4b Analysis of expenditure (Prior year) 

## Charitable activities 

|Staff costs (note 6)<br>HR services<br>Direct costs<br>Rent, rates and utilities<br>Consultant costs<br>IT support<br>Office equipment, stationery and services<br>Travel<br>Miscellaneous<br>Legal and professional fees<br>Support costs<br>Governance costs<br>Total expenditure 2024<br>Total expenditure 2023|Fundraising<br>£<br>61,466<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>61,466<br>21,568<br>2,973<br>86,007<br>62,046|Policy<br>£<br>146,998<br>-<br>83,850<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Lived<br>Experience<br>£<br>237,765<br>-<br>121,665<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|<br>Research<br>£<br>104,850<br>-<br>25,608<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Governance<br>costs<br>£<br>26,653<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|<br>Support<br>costs<br>£<br>61,915<br>7,430<br>-<br>47,044<br>6,950<br>10,398<br>7,270<br>9,074<br>28,600<br>14,693|<br>2024 Total<br>£<br>639,647<br>7,430<br>231,123<br>47,044<br>6,950<br>10,398<br>7,270<br>9,074<br>28,600<br>14,693|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||230,848<br>51,582<br>7,109|359,430<br>83,432<br>11,500|130,458<br>36,792<br>5,071|26,653<br>-<br>(26,653)|193,374<br>(193,374)<br>-|1,002,229<br>-<br>-|
|||289,539|454,362|172,321|-|-|1,002,229|
|||244,925|481,363|190,667|-|-||



43 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

|For the year ended 31 March 2025|||
|---|---|---|
|5<br>6<br>Net expenditure for the year<br>Staff and Trustees<br>Staff costs were as follows:<br>Salaries and wages<br>Social security costs<br>Pension costs<br>This is stated after charging / (crediting):<br>Independent Examination  Fees<br>Audit Fees|2025<br>£<br>10,000<br>-|2024<br>£<br>-<br>4,250|
||2025<br>£<br>534,553<br>53,424<br>36,228|2024<br>£<br>549,799<br>54,949<br>34,899|
||624,205|639,647|



1 member of  staff was in receipt of total employee benefits (excluding pension contributions and employers’ NI contributions) between £90,000-£100,000 in the year (2024: 1 between £90,000-£100,000). 

No Trustee received remuneration for services. Trustees' expenses represent the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs totalling £143 (2024: £Nil) incurred by no (2024: 0) trustees relating to attendance at meetings of the trustees. 

No Trustee had any beneficial interest in any contract with Revolving Doors. 

The key management personnel of the Charity comprise the Trustees, Chief Executive and the Heads of departments. The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employers’ NI contributions) of the key management personnel were £243,810 (2024: £289,548). 

The average staff headcount during the year was as follows: 

|The average staff headcount during the year was as follows:|||
|---|---|---|
|The split across activities during the year was as follows:<br>Policy<br>Lived Experience<br>Research<br>Support staff (including governance)<br>Fundraising|2025<br>No.<br>12.0|2024<br>No.<br>12.5|
||2025<br>No.<br>2.0<br>5.5<br>2.0<br>1.0<br>1.5|2024<br>No.<br>3.0<br>5.0<br>2.0<br>1.0<br>1.5|
||12.0|12.5|



There were no related party transactions in 2025 or in 2024. 

7 Related party transactions 

44 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

## 8 Debtors 

|Debtors|||
|---|---|---|
|Trade debtors<br>Prepayments and accrued income<br>Creditors: amounts due within one year<br>Trade creditors<br>Taxation and social security<br>Accruals<br>Pension creditor<br>VAT<br>Deferred income|2025<br>£<br>101,277<br>101,587|2024<br>£<br>117,769<br>21,675|
||202,864|139,444|
||2025<br>£<br>29,985<br>18,634<br>25,078<br>5,650<br>3,811<br>26,491|2024<br>£<br>5,595<br>15,543<br>24,435<br>-<br>3,426<br>42,483|
||109,649|91,482|



## 9 Creditors: amounts due within one year 

## 10 Deferred income 

Deferred income comprises of contract income for services which will be performed in the next financial year. 

|Balance at the end of the year<br>Released in the year<br>Balance at the beginning of the year<br>Amount deferred in the year|2025<br>£<br>-<br>5,650<br>-|2024<br>£<br>5,062<br>-<br>(5,062)|
|---|---|---|
||5,650|-|



## 11a Analysis of net assets between funds (current year) 

|Net assets at 31 March 2025<br>Net current assets|Unrestricted<br>£<br>508,484<br>508,484|Designated<br>£<br>104,000|Restricted<br>£<br>66,724|Total funds<br>£<br>679,208|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||104,000|66,724|679,208|



## 11b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year) 

|Net current assets<br>Net assets at 31 March 2024|Unrestricted<br>£<br>469,327<br>469,327|Designated<br>£<br>89,000|Restricted<br>£<br>110,698|Total funds<br>£<br>669,025|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||89,000|110,698|669,025|



45 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

## 12a Movements in funds (current year) 

|Total restricted funds<br>Total general funds<br>Restricted funds:<br>Policy<br>Lived experience<br>Research<br>Unrestricted funds:<br>General<br>Designated funds<br>Total funds|At 1 April<br>2024<br>£<br>41,672<br>67,722<br>1,304<br>110,698<br>469,327<br>89,000<br>558,327<br>669,025|Income &<br>gains<br>£<br>-<br>117,038<br>83,526<br>200,564<br>930,561<br>-<br>930,561<br>1,131,125|Expenditure<br>& losses<br>£<br>(41,672)<br>(148,176)<br>(54,690)|<br>Reserves<br>transfer<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-|<br>At 31 March<br>2025<br>£<br>-<br>36,584<br>30,140|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||(244,538)|-|66,724|
||||(787,404)<br>(89,000)|(104,000)<br>104,000|508,484<br>104,000|
||||(876,404)|-|612,484|
||||(1,120,942)|-|679,208|



The narrative to explain the purpose of each fund is given at the foot of the note below. 

12b Movements in funds (prior year) 

|Movements in funds (prior year)||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Total restricted funds<br>Total general funds<br>Designated funds<br>Restricted funds:<br>Policy<br>Total funds<br>Lived experience<br>Research<br>Unrestricted funds:<br>General|At 1 April<br>2023<br>£<br>253,903<br>69,180<br>6,235<br>329,318<br>520,539<br>20,000<br>540,539<br>869,857|Income &<br>gains<br>£<br>-<br>176,950<br>63,373<br>240,323<br>561,074<br>-<br>561,074<br>801,397|Expenditure<br>& losses<br>£<br>(212,231)<br>(178,408)<br>(68,304)|<br>Reserves<br>transfer<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-|<br>At 31 March<br>2024<br>£<br>41,672<br>67,722<br>1,304|
||||(458,943)|-|110,698|
||||(537,782)<br>(5,504)<br>(543,286)|(74,504)<br>74,504<br>-|469,327<br>89,000<br>558,327|
||||(1,002,229)|-|669,025|



Restricted reserves comprise those funds used for specified purposes as laid down by the donor and which were unspent at the end of the year: 

Policy - policy activity involves both the delivery of funded projects primarily focused at local and regional level decision makers and stakeholders, alongside national policy work aimed at engaging with and influencing policy decisions and directions at the highest level. 

Lived experience - we use our service user involvement forums as means of supporting direct dialogue and engagement between political and policy stakeholders, ensuring that the voices and experiences of traditionally marginalised groups are fed in to discussions and debate at the highest levels. 

46 



The Revolving Doors Agency 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 March 2025 

## 12 Movements in funds (continued) 

Research - research has two primary components: service evaluations, as part of RDA’s social enterprise, and research as part of or in support of funded projects, such as literature and evidence reviews. Service user involvement underpins both our policy and research activities, both of which are intended to reflect and respect the view of experts by experience. 

The designated fund in March 2024 was to support the work undertaken by the policy team which is harder to cover from grant income.  This fund was fully utilised and a new fund was approved in March 2025 to support  work undertaken by the policy and comms teams. 

## 13 Operating lease commitments 

The charity's total future minimum lease payments less than 1 year under operating leases is £3961 (2024: £3961). 

47