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South Staffordshire Water
Charitable Trust
2023/24 Annual Report

South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust
Annual Report 2023/24
Reference and Administrative Details
Title
The South Staffordshire Water
Charitable Trust
Trustees
Mr John Thompson IChairmanl.....................................................................Citizens Advice South East Staffordshire
and formerly Lichfield District Council
Mr Bernard Cysewski {Vice Chairman).......................................................Hou5ing and Welfare. Wa15all Council
Mr Richard Curtis....................................................................................................Cambridge and District Citizens Advice
Adrian Eggington...................................................................................................Black Country Housing Group
Gary Hyde..................................................................-.................................................Exeter Friendly Soclety Ltd
lan Jones
CllrTom Marshall.....................................................................................................Lichfield District Council
Simon Brown (Appointed 21 st August 20231...................................._Met Office
CharitableTrust Secretary
Rebecca Smith (Resigned 3rd May 20231..............................................._South Staffordshire Water PLC
Heidi Rowley Inée Knaptonl (Appointed 22nd May 20231
..South Staffordshire Water PLC
Gary Kinsella (Appointed 5th September 20241.
..South Stafford5hire Water PLC
Registered Address
South Staffordshire Water PLC
Green Lane
Walsall
West Midlands
WS2 7PD
Tel: 01922 638282
Independent Examiner
Dains Audit Limited
2 Chamberlain Square
Paradise
Birmingham
B3 3AX
Bankers
HSBC UK Bank plc
130 New Street
PO BOX 68
Bimiingham
B2 4JU
Registered Charlty Number
1043177
Website
www.sswct.org

South Staffordshire Water Charitable Trust
Annual Report 2023124
Trustees, Report
Structure. Governance and Management
Trustee5
TheTrustees have entered into a Charitable Trust Deed to enable them to operate independently
from South Staffordshire Water PLC. It has been entered in the Central Register of Charities by
the Charity Commissioners. The Registered Charity Number is 1043177. Established in 1993
under a Trust Deed dated 15th October 1993 and amended on 17th January 2000, the Trust was
the first to be created for the purpose of financially helping customers experiencing difficulty in
paying their water bills due to poverty, hardship or other problems.
TheTrustees who held office during the year and Since the year end are listed on page 2.
The support to the Trust from South Staffordshire Water PLC {"South Staffs" or.the Company"),
and the personal involvement of their Interim Customer Delivery Director, Gary Kinsella, who
acts as theTrust's Secretary, is much appreciated. Similarly, the input of Lorraine Griffin and Nina
Mason of Echo Managed Services Limited {"Echo"} greatly assists our business.
The Chairman is appointed by theTrustees and holds office for such period as they shall decide.
The power of appointing Trustees is vested in the Trustee5. A new Trustee may be appointed by
a resolution of a meeting of theTru5tees provided that a memorandum of such an appointment
is signed as a deed by the person presiding at the meeting and attested by two other persons at
the meeting. New trustees receive any necessary training and support.
The CharitableTrust Secretary for the reporting period was Heidi Rowley (Resigned due to
maternity leave on 7th March 2024} and handed over to Gary Kinsella from 1 st July 2024.
TheTrust Secretary may be contacted at:
South Staffordshire Water Charitable Trust
Green Lane
Walsall
West Midlands
WS2 7PD
Telephone: 01922 638282
TheTru5tees meet formally four times a year or when considered appropriate to review Trust
policies, their implementation and examine genuine requests forfinancial help.The venue for
the face to face and video conference meetings is normally at the Company's office5 in Green
Lane, Walsall and Cambridge Water office5 in Fulbourn Road, Cambridge.

South Staffordshire Water Charitable Trust
Annual Report 2023/24
Statement of Trustees, responsibilities
TheTrustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees, Annual Report and the financial
statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards
Iunited Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires theTrustees to prepare financial
statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the State of affairs of the
charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to..
Select 5Ultable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed; and
Prepare the financial statement5 on the going concern basi5 unless it is inappropriate to
presume that the charity will continue in business.
TheTrustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with
reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure
that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity {Accounts and
Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for
safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention
and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
TheTrustees are responsible forthe maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial
information included on the charity's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the
preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in
other jurisdictions.
Objectives and Activities
The objective of the Trust is to apply its income towards relieving those customers who are in
conditions of need, poverty, hardship or other distress and are having difficulty making payment
for the supply of water to their home. Preference is given to those customers who make regular
payment of an amount they can afford.

South Staffordshire Water Charitable Trust
Annual Report 2023/24
Achievements and Performance
The Trust
The South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust provides financial help to those customers who
are unable to payfor the supply of water to their home, such as the elderly, sick or some families
claiming State Benefits or on very low incomes or experiencing transitional difficulties for
household customers supplied by South Staffordshire Water PLC in both the South Staffordshire
and Cambridge regions.
Nominations for potential beneficiaries are received from a broad range of sources.This includes
direct applications from customer5, but also from representatives of the Company's billing and
collection team, local councils (social services, housing benefit etc.), the Citizen's Advice Bureau
{"CAB"l and other registered help agencies. The Trust Secretary acts as the channel for receiving
requests for potential beneficiaries. Nominations are dealt with in complete confidence.
Each application is examined by a senior manager of the Company's customer contact, billing
and collection contractor, Echo, against the Trustees, predetermined set of criteria. Applications
falling into these criteria are approved by Echo without further delay. A summary report is made
available at each meeting of theTrustees on the action taken by Echo allowing the Trustees the
opportunity to review any case at random to ensure the agreed criteria are being followed. Cases
that are outside the guidelines are reviewed by the Trustees. TheTrustees also review appeals
from customers.
When an application is received from a potential beneficiary, further enforcement action by the
company in respect of the unpaid charges is suspended forthe time being.
Facts and individual financial circumstances of each applicant are reviewed in an impartial and
confidential manner, An assessment is made without bias as to whether the case is one of true
hardship or simply default before a decision is taken whether to make a part or full payment of
the customer's unpaid water bill.
The payment given is in the form of a credit on the customer's water bill for both the South
Staffordshire Water and Severn Trent Water charges. A cheque is not sent to the customer, but
it is sent to the Company on the customer's behalf. All payments made in the year have been in
respect of individual household customers.
TheTrust is funded by South Staffordshire Water PLC through cash donations to match charitable
expenditure and gifts in kind to meet costs of grant making and governance. South Staffordshire
Water PLC approve the cash is available to make the payments.

South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust
Annual Report 2023/24
The key risk to the Trust is the withdrawal of this support,. the Trust does not commit to any
expenditure until the support is assured.
TheTrustees have had regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit.
Targeting Assistance
TheTrust operates in a manner that avoids simple hand out-outs to those who request assistance.
Instead, the focus is on issuing grants to those that need temporary help. Grants are only paid out
to Customers that demonstrate a commitment to pay at least some of their charges, where the
customer is clearly experiencing financial hardship. If a customer is in transitional hardship, perhaps
through personal circumstances or a recent redundancy, then the grants are a means of helping them
overcome this period of difficulty.
Grant support works was updated following the cost-of-living situation that many households find
themselves in. In collaboration with some of the advice agencies we work with, the policy was
changed to reflect the current financial climate. From September 2022, a l 00 % grant will be paid if the
grant applicant has made at least £1 O towards their payments in the 3 months prior to their application
to theTrust.Those that have not been making regular payments will be required to pay £1 per week for
a period of l O weeks, upon successful completion of this plan, a 1 OOOh grant will be made.
Prior to this date the grant payment was made in the following way.. 50% of the grant paid after
26 weeks of regular payments and the remaining 50 % of the grant paid after 52 weeks of regular
payments. Prior to 2021, the eligibility criteria was that l 00% of the grant would be paid upon 52
weeks of regular payments. Revisions to eligibility criteria will be reviewed regularly to ensure the
potential for theTrust to assist as many customers as possible.
With this approach we target assistance to encourage customers to pay their charges, by supporting
them for a period when they most need help to get back on track. This way the assistance goes
to those who want to return to paying their charges, rather than those wishing to use theTrust as
a permanent substitute to paying. Customers who make a Trust application that are eligible for a
Trust application that are eligible for aTrust grant who are not already receiving Assure (social tariff )
support are given that as515tance thereby reducing their current bill.
TheTrust does in cases of exceptional need, hardship or financial problems make grants without the
normal requirements of establishing a regular payment.

South Staffordshire Water Charitable Trust
Annual Report 2023/24
Achievements
TheTrust has been able to assist a significant number of customers of South Staffs Water who had
difficulty in paying their water bills because of financial hardship or distress.TheTrustees have met
on three occasions during the year.TheTrust has made grants totaling £211,700 in respect of 480
customers.
TheTrust had a total of £242,010 available funds to be utilised towards grants payments Within the year,
consisting of £98,768 available funds from previous financial years being carried forward, and
£124,356 being made availablewithin thefinancial year. £18,886 was donated by South Staffordshire
Water PLC Customer Forum afterthe end of the financial year of this report.The availablefunds are made
bysouth Staffordshirewater PLC to the charity which 15 held in South Staffordshirewater PLC accounts
a5 a ringfenced fund until required.The closing balance as of 31 st March 2024forthe available funds
accessible tothe charity is £30,309.
TheTrustees have seen no appeals referred to theTrust in the year 202312024.
TheTrust has received 65 1 of applications from customers directly, O % of applications via the
Assure tariff, 2 % of applications from CAB, l% of applications from Watersure and 32% of all other
applications from elsewhere,
The Company also have a social tariff Assure, which can help customers on a low income or who are
Struggling to pay their water charges,. It aims to reduce water poverty and make bills more affordable.
Customers With a household income of less than £19,050, (excluding income from Disability Living
Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Allowance), may qualify for a discount
of up to 6096 for one year and in the second year by 40 % on their water charge. In addition, the
Company have focused on providing an inclusive service which involves direct referrals to the
CharitableTrust following the completion of an Assure application.
Since the creation of theTrust, over 14,709 grants have been made. Whilst the Company's water
charges remain amongst the lowest in the industry, we believe that there are a significant number
of customers who still face genuine difficulty paying their water bills. In January 2017 the Company
began building a Community EngagementTeam which focuses on developing relationshipswith 3rd
party organisations such as Local Authorities and Charities, the key focus being on those customers
who are considered'hard to reach: Work has continued to increase the awareness of theTrust and this
will continue into 202312024. Since the introduction of the company's Social Tariff known as Assure
customers who meet the eligibility criteria receive a reduction on their bill which assists those on low
incomes. This will potentially result in a reduction in a reduced level of customer debt. If it appears
from an Assure application that a customer may be eligible for assistance with their water debt they
are advised to consider making an application to theTrust.
The £19,050 was increased to £20,050 on I st April 2024.

South Stafford5hire Water Charitable Trust
Annual Report 2023124
Fig l. Charifable Trust Grant5
819 2. Value ofgrant aid made
Il. I
1,133.
27.
37
749
64*10
2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
Fig 3. Comparison of application sources
97% 89.7%
5.7%
65%
0.3%
',ll2
22/23
23124
23/24
Assure
Warer5tsre
32%
0.7%
3.5%
21/2
22/23
23/24
21,'?2
22/23
23/24
22/23
23124
Cusromer
CAB
Other
The total number of application forms issued during 2023/2024 was 646, with 419 replies
received from customers directly.

South Staffordshire Water Charitable Trust
Annual Report 2023124
Plans for future periods
TheTrustees are pleased that South Staffordshirewater PLC acknowledges the ongoing problems
associated with unpaid water bills and that it sees it as a continuing concern and acknowledges the
Company will extend the help it provides during 2024125 through their continued use of the Social
Tariff and implementation of its affordability strategy.
TheTrust needs to ensure South Staffordshire Water PLC customers are aware of the help the
Company can directly provide and the assistance theTrust can provide.This continues to be an
important factor for 2024125.
In reviewing its strategy on debt recovery, the Company continues to promote a socially responsible
approach to those customers who have a real problem in paying due to hardship.The Charitable
Trust will continue to be supported.
TheTrustees continue to believethat theTrust provides real assistance and reassurance to customers
in genuine need where applicable, for those who are prepared to try to maintain payments, Where
possible, at an affordable amount, theTrust will consider assisting in respect of past water debt.
Financial Review
While aiming to use its available resources to apply its income towards relieving those customers
who are in condition5 of need, poverty. hardship or other distress, the charity ensures that positive
net assets and cash balances are maintained at any point in time.
TheTrustees do not consider it necessary to retain reserves as all grants are funded before being
committed to. After making enquiries, theTrustees have a reasonable expectation that the Trust
has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly,
they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual report and accounts.
Trustee Certificate
29 J3nuary 2025
Approved by the Trustees on ............
. and signed on their behalf by..
John Thompson
Chairman

South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust
Annual Report 2023124
Independent Examiner's Report
to theTrustees of South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust
I report to the Trustees on the accounts of theTrust for the year ended 31 st March 2024
comprising the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet and the related notes I to 6.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the
Charities Act 2011. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under
section 144(1) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 201 l Act) and that an independent examination
is needed.The charity is preparing accrued accounts and l am qualified to undertake the
examination by being a qualified member of Institute of Chartered Accountants in England &
Wales.
It is my responsibility to
examine the accounts under section 145 of the 207 1 Act;
follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145151{b) of the 2011 Act; and
state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
io

South Staffordshire Water Charitable Trust
Annual Report 2023/24
Independent examiner's statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
l. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the
applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the
Charities {Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that
the accounts give a'true and fair'view which is not a matter considered as part of an
independent examination
have not been met; or
2, to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in orderto enable a proper understanding
of the accounts to be reached.
This report is made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of
the Charitie5 {Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. My work has been undertaken so
that I might state to the charity's trustees those matters l am required to state to them in an
independent examiner's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by
law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's
trustees as a body, for my work, for this report, or for the opinions I have formed.
Andrew Morris FCA
for and on behalf of Dains Audit Limited
Birmingham

South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust
Annual Report 2023124
Statement of Financial Activities
Incorporating the Income and Expenditure Account
2024
2024
2023
2023
Incoming resources
Donation5
Gift in kind
211,700
28,122
272,437
25,594
239,822
298,031
Resources expended
Charitable activities
Support cost5
{211,7001
128.1221
(272,4371
{25,5941
1239,8221
1298,0311
Net resources
12

South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust
Annual Report 2023124
Balance sheet as at 31st March 2024
2024
2024
2023
2023
Current assets
Cash at bank
70
70
Net asset5
70
70
Represented by:
Unrestricted funds as at I st April
70
70
Profit for the year
Unrestricted funds as at 31 st March
70
70
Trustee Certificate
29 january 2025 and signed on their behalf by:
The accounts were approved by the Trustees on ...................
John Thompson
Chairman
13

South Staffordshire Water Charitable Trust
Annual Report 2023124
Notes to the Accounts
l. Accounting Policies
The principal accounting policies are summarised below and have been applied consistently
throughout the year and the preceding year.
Accounting Convention
The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance
with the best practice as laid down in the Statement of Recommended Practice"Accounting
and Reporting by Charities" ISORP FR5102 effective 1 January 2019) and the Financial Reporting
Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 102), and the Charities Act 2011.
The financial statements have been prepared to give a'true and fair'view and have departed
from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to
provide a'true and fair view,. This departure has involved following Accounting and Reporting
by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard
applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 102) effective l January 2019 ratherthan the
Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from I
April 2005 which ha5 since been withdrawn.
South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust meets the definition of a public benefit entity
under FRSI02.
As explained on page 9, the financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis.
Income and Expenditure
Income is accounted for in the period in which the charity becomes entitled to it, it is
probable that the income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be
measured reliably. Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation
to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits
will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Grants payable are accounted for when the Trust is committed to the expenditure.
Donated Services
Where South Staffordshire Water PLC, or one of its subsidiary undertakings, provides the
services of employees and other services to the Trust, the cost of providing such services is
treated as a donation receivable by theTrust and a cost of grant making or governance of the
Trust. This gift 15 valued based on the payroll costs of individual employees and the amount of
time allocated to The Trust's activities.
14

South Staffordshire Water CharitableTrust
Annual Report 2023124
Cash at Bank
Cash at bank represents deposit5 With financial institutions repayable without penalty on
notice of not more than 24 hours.
Fund Accounting
Unrestricted funds are accumulated funds available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in
furtherance of the general objectives of the Trust.
2. Trustees, Remuneration
No Trustees are paid a fee for providing their services and no expenses have been reimbursed.
3. Examiners, Remuneration
The remuneration of the examiners is £1,650 {2023: £1,500) which has been borne by South
Staffordshire Water PLC.
4. Resources Expended
2024
2023
Grants to individuals
Claims administration
Secretary expense
Treasury services
Administration services
Insurance
Governance
Financial reporting services
Banking charges
Total
211,700
23,718
222
272,437
21,110
255
443
1,881
1,615
243
509
1,848
1.540
272
60
239,822
298,031
5. Statement of Funds
Brought
forward
Incoming
resources
Resources
expended
Transfers
in Ilout)
Carried
forward
Unrestricted funds
70
239,822
{239,8221
70
6. Related PartyTransactions
There are no related party transactions during the year (2023 - £nil}.
15