2023-03-31-accounts

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Registered No. 1047923

ANNUAL REPORT

AND

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

2023

The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Contents

	Page
Trustees annual report for the year ended 31 March 2023	2
The Trustees’ responsibilities statement	14
Independent auditor’s report to the Trustees of Yorkshire Water Community Trust	15
Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2023	19
Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2023	20
Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2023	21
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023	22

The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

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Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Trustees annual report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Yorkshire Water Community Trust (YWCT), Freepost BD3074, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD3 7BR, is registered with the Charity Commission (No. 1047923) and constituted by Deed of Trust dated 27 June 1995 that operated for an initial period of 21 years. A new trust deed was approved and signed on 9 June 2016.

Bankers and Independent Auditor

Bank:

National Westminster Bank Plc City Office Park Row Leeds LS1 1QS

Independent auditor:

Azets Services Limited 33 Park Place Leeds LS1 2RY

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Objectives and Activities

The primary aims and legal purpose of the Trust are:

• To help those who are in conditions of need and who are unable to meet or pay for charges for the supply of water and sewerage;

• To enable applicants to break the circle of debt and to resolve their debt problems in the long term;

• To make donations to charitable or other institutions as the Trustees in their absolute discretion think fit; and

• To play a role in the establishment of Trust Funds throughout the water industry.

All these key activities are of significant public benefit.

It is important to encourage and maintain enthusiasm from all Trustees, to get their commitment to fulfil the role effectively, playing an important part in the process. It is particularly important that new Trustees participate in customer application audits, so they can get a real feel for our customers. This helps them to make decisions around the criteria, ensuring that the Trust continues to help the most in need, right across the region.

The need is recognised by Trustees and Officers to continue to raise the profile of the Trust in the right areas, and to demonstrate a strong business case to Yorkshire Water Services Limited (Yorkshire Water) for its continued evolvement.

Reference and Administrative details

The charity Trustees who served during the year and up until the date of signing the Annual Report were:

Mrs K Pinnock (Chairperson) Mr P M Leadbetter MVO Mr B Miah Mrs G P Pilling Mrs A Thewlis (appointed 1 September 2022) Mrs G Beniston (appointed 1 June 2022)

Mr A Hunt Ms S Clayton Mrs N Browne Mrs E White (resigned 16 August 2022) Mr A Rose (resigned 1 April 2022)

The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

3

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

The Trustees collectively provide the diverse mix of skills, experience and knowledge required to run the Trust effectively:

• Baroness Kathryn Pinnock (Kath) was appointed to the Board of Yorkshire Water as an independent nonexecutive director in March 2008. Kath stepped down from the Board of Yorkshire Water in August 2017. Kath has been a councillor with Kirklees Council since 1987 and has held the post of Leader of the Council from 2000 to 2006. She is a vice president of the Local Government Association and was both a board member of Yorkshire Forward from 2000 to 2012 and a member of the executive of Yorkshire and Humber Regional Assembly from 2000 to 2006. Kath was a regional peer for the Local Government Improvement and Development Agency which involved working with councils and councillors to improve the quality of local government.

Kath was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Huddersfield in 2015 for services to Local Government. She was appointed to the Governing Body of the University in 2016. In 2014 Kath was awarded a Peerage and speaks on Local Government and children’s issues in the House of Lords.

• Phil Leadbetter MVO retired in March 2004 with the rank of Wing Commander after a 37-year career in the Royal Air Force. He is a member of the Soldiers Sailors Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) - Forces Help and served as a Divisional Secretary for three years. He is also a former Chairman of the local branch of the Royal Air Force Association.

• Babul Miah is a practising solicitor and specialises in litigation disputes including civil, personal injury, employment and immigration matters. He has worked for leading Yorkshire firm Gordons LLP and was a former partner at Derbyshire firm Chapman & Chubb. He is currently working as a Consultant at Larkman Lodh Solicitors in Sheffield & Nottingham. He is also a trained mediator, dealing with probono neighbour disputes.

• Penny Pilling previously used to manage Advocacy Services in the Hambleton and Richmondshire areas of North Yorkshire until retirement. She now works part-time on the Allocation Panel for Avalon, a service for adults with learning disabilities. She is also an Independent Custody Visitor for the North Yorkshire Police Authority.

• Nicola Browne has worked for Yorkshire Water/Loop for the past 25 years having commenced her journey with Yorkshire Water in Sept 1995 as a Customer Service Graduate. Around 1998, she moved to Advertising and Publicity and then to Sales and Marketing. In 2000, she transferred to Loop where she undertook a variety of roles within Account Management, Marketing, Internal and External Communication and then took over the management of Loop’s Change Programme. She currently works in the wider Integration and Improvement Team as Business Change Manager and manage a team of Implementation Managers and the Loop Communication Specialist.

• Ariane Thewlis joined the Board in September 2022. She previously worked for the Direct Line Group for 16 years in various roles and was a Complaints manager when she left to join Loop. She has worked for Loop as a Collections Manager for nearly nine years looking at collection of debt and balancing customer and business needs and ensuring customers are offered the support, they need to be able to get out of debt with the focus on vulnerability. She has led the Loop Wellbeing Group for the last

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

seven years supporting colleagues and identifying and raising awareness for Mental, Physical, and financial health. As she is a Collections manager, she can provide a different perspective to some of the challenges that people are facing.

• Adrian Hunt enlisted in May 1975 to the Royal Armoured Corps Junior Leaders Regiment stationed in Bovington, Dorset. The highlight of his career was being nominated as the Queens driver for the Royal Tank Regiments Standard Parade in 1985. Adrian left the regular army in 1998 after a full career (23 years). Adrian joined the Army Reserves in 2000 and commissioned in 2005. He is currently serving with the Army Reserves in Co Durham with 102 Battalion Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers as the Battalion 2nd In Command and Operations Officer. Adrian holds the appointment of Branch Secretary for SSAFA South Yorkshire and sits on a number of Local Authority Armed Forces Community Covenant Boards as the SSAFA military representative.

• Sarah Clayton is the Head of Housing Management at Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing managing services to 23,000 council homes across Kirklees. Previous to this, she was the Head of Housing Strategy for Salford City Council for ten years which included dealing with the regeneration schemes in deprived areas to help develop new affordable homes. She has worked in the housing sector since 1986.

• Ginger Beniston is Head of Quality and Compliance for a large, established mental health charity which specialises in supporting individuals with poor mental health and problem debt. Ginger used to manage the Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space Scheme (aka, The Debt Respite Scheme) whereby individuals receiving mental health crisis treatment, could apply for legal protections against creditor action. In April 2023 Ginger was seconded to her current role in managing the FCA responsibility of the Mental Health & Money Advice Service. Ginger has worked in the charity sector since 2017 and previous to that, worked in the Banking sector since moving to the UK from Canada in 2001.

• During the year two trustees, Andrew Rose and Elaine White resigned as Trustees.

The expenses of the Trustees are covered by the Trust. The Trustees have taken into consideration the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. The trust aims to benefit the public through helping to relieve water poverty in Yorkshire when reviewing the organisation’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities.

The Trustees consider the key management personnel of the charity to be the Board of Trustees. The Trustees are in charge of directing and controlling the charity and running and operating the charity on a day to day basis. All trustees give their time freely and no trustee remuneration was paid in the year (2022: £nil) other than the reimbursement of expenses, as disclosed in note 6.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Trust Officers

The Trust has a part-time Trust Manager (Claire Gott) with two part-time Trust Officers (Justine Gardner and Zarqa Manir) and a full-time Trust Officer (Tasleem Salaq). All resources are funded by Kelda Group Limited (Kelda Group) and work within a Service Level Agreement for the Trust. The employment and associated costs of these individuals are disclosed in the Statement of Financial Activities and related notes.

A Trust Secretary (Emily Priestley) and a Treasurer (Elliott Pashley) provide their services on a voluntary basis .

Structure, Governance and Management

Induction and Training of new Trustees

Trustees are appointed for an initial period of three years, after which they may resign or offer themselves for re-election for a further term of office. Trustees are appointed by way of general advertising via the local Citizen Advice Bureaux, Debt Agencies and Chambers of Trade. Applications are invited from anyone. The process of appointment involves a potential candidate submitting their CV to the Trust Officer which is then considered initially by the Trustees at a quarterly Trust meeting to draw up a short list. Candidates are then invited for interview by a panel comprising the Chairman of the Trust, one or two Trustees and the Trust Manager. Once interviewed, selected, and references confirmed, the panel puts forward successful candidates for appointment to the next Trust Board meeting for approval.

• There are no provisions for any other person or body to appoint one or more Trustees.

• Trustees are appointed by deed by the existing Trustees pursuant to the provisions of the Trust Deed and the Trustee Act 2000.

• There are no restrictions imposed by the governing document concerning the way in which the charity operates or any specific investment powers that this requires to be described.

• The charity does not make any investments and accordingly does not have an investment policy.

On appointment, all new Trustees are given a copy of the Trust Deed, a copy of the most recent YWCT Business Plan, a Trust Information Pack and copies of the minutes from the past year’s Trust meetings. They also receive a copy of appropriate information from the Charity Commission website – e.g. CC3(a) The Essential Trustee.

Trustee Audits are an important part of training where a Trust Officer is present. Here they have the opportunity to see actual application forms, giving them an insight into the individuals and families they have a responsibility to help.

The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

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Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

At least once each year, the Trust Manager gives a presentation at a quarterly meeting. This reminds all Trustees of the background to the Trust, etc. along with a review of the current criteria and recent activities. The Trust Officers are always available for advice and information.

Award Approval Process

All decisions regarding the payment of awards are made by the Trustees at their quarterly meetings or mid-audits. Authority to reject applications which do not meet the criteria for awards is delegated to the Trust Officer, but these are formally confirmed retrospectively by the Trustees. The Trustees also have the opportunity to review the applications for awards at mid-audits and final audits held each quarter.

Risks

The Trustees have examined the major strategic business and operational risks, which the charity faces and confirm that systems have been established to enable regular reports to be produced so that the necessary steps can be taken to lessen these risks. The major risks identified are:

• Inadequate funding; which is mitigated by timely and accurate annual budget submissions made to the Kelda Group board, as well as quarterly reporting of financial returns and operations status.

• Dependency on sole income source; which is mitigated by the Trust Chairman liaising with the Kelda Group Board and providing updates on the charity’s activities.

• Restrictions on types of awards; which is mitigated by the criteria for awards being revised to reflect restrictions and forward funding requests are made to Yorkshire Water if appropriate.

• Misuse of funds, including fraud (internal and external); which is mitigated by monitoring and auditing of applications by the Trustees and keeping an audit trail of the systems processing.

• Inadequate IT systems, which is mitigated by technical support provided by Kelda Group, regular data backups and system updates, disaster recovery procedures and security and authorisation procedures.

• Non-compliance with legislation and regulations, which is mitigated by monitoring compliance procedures and identification of issues where advice is required and access where necessary.

Achievements and Performance

• The Trust Officers have continued to maintain and create good relationships throughout the advice and support agencies in Yorkshire.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

• In accordance with criteria set by the Trustees, awards totalling £1,169,681 (2022: £893,819) were made to 2,434 (2022: 1,907) successful applicants. These were identified as being the individuals and families most in need from the 2,888 (2022: 2,275) applicants.

• Trustees and the Trust Officers have actively monitored and reviewed the criteria, in order to maximise the budget and to help them target the groups, individuals and families most in need in the community.

• During the year, every applicant who met the criteria received an award for the full amount to which they were entitled within the funding received from Kelda Group. Any additional applications entitled to awards in the year will be considered in next year’s funding. External influences were inevitably an issue, due to the high levels of utility debt throughout the region, and indeed nationwide. As expected, external issues continued to affect the Trust, but it has continued to grant awards by passing on all funds received from Kelda Group.

• Of the Trustees, Nicola Browne is also employed by the Kelda Holdings Limited group of companies.

• Throughout the financial year, due to a delayed effect of Covid-19 and the current cost-of-living crisis, the Trust saw an increase in applications and carried forward plus additional funding was utilised in year. It is expected that there will continue to be an effect of the cost-of-living crisis 2024.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Analysis of Applications to YWCT

• During the year ended 31 March 2023, the Trust Officers sent out 13,556 (2022: 10,216) application forms to individuals which was an increase of 33% (2022: 1% increase) on the previous year. The majority of individual requests for Application Forms originated from referrals from Yorkshire Water credit control staff, with other requests from the various advice agencies and individuals direct. Literature enclosed with Yorkshire Water bills made clear reference to the Trust.

• Awards were made according to the criteria set by Trustees and after full consideration of the applicants’ individual circumstances based on details given on their Application Form (a few of which were confirmed by letter / telephone). In order to be successful, applicants must have firstly shown that they were in a multiple priority debt situation and must not have received a previous award from the Trust within the past two years. The whole situation of the household was then considered, particularly with regard to regular income and outgoings, overall level of debt, financial dependants, long-term illness or disability, and physical, emotional or financial vulnerability.

• Whilst it is accepted that not all applicants will have been helped, from the applications received, 84% (2022: 84%) have been assisted by the Trust. The following graphs show trends for the Trust over the last four years.

----- Start of picture text -----
Number of applications received and approved at each Trust Meeting
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Applications
Approved
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Jun-19 Sep-19 Dec-19 Mar-20 Jun-20 Sep-20 Dec-20 Mar-21 Jun-21 Sep-21 Dec-21 Mar-22 Jun-22 Sep-22 Dec-22 Mar-23
£'000
----- End of picture text -----

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

The average award for the year ended 31 March 2023 was £481 (2022: £469).

Total award made at each Trust meeting

----- Start of picture text -----
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
Jun-19 Sep-19 Dec-19 Mar-20 Jun-20 Sep-20 Dec-20 Mar-21 Jun-21 Sep-21 Dec-21 Mar-22 Jun-22 Sep-22 Dec-22 Mar-23
£'000
----- End of picture text -----

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Financial Review

Policy on Reserves

• It is the policy of the Trustees to pay awards to the full level of funding and throughout the year to maintain the Reserves at a minimum level.

• The minimum level is approximately £5,000 (2022: £5,000) and is used to meet short term financing needs. This is unrestricted and available to be applied for the general purpose of the charity. Free reserves as at 31 March 2023 were £9,714 (2022: £7,246), in line with the policy.

Principal Funding Source

The principal funding source for the Trust is Kelda Group, it is the trustees’ expectations that this funding will continue for the foreseeable future.

Investments

No investments are held by the Trust.

Fundraising

The Trust receives donations from Kelda Group and does not undertake any external fundraising activities.

Review of Awards

YWCT approved awards as follows:

Date of Meeting	Amount Paid (£)	No of Awards
June 2022	224,053	477
September 2022	321,500	667
December 2022	272,430	554
March 2023	351,698	736

These awards amounted to a total of £1,169,681 (2022: £893,819).

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

The Trust Manager formally reports at least quarterly to Trustees, to show the budgetary position and other relevant information. No awards are made until formally approved by Trustees, as set out below:

• the application is checked for completeness and signature;

• decision made on basis of current criteria;

• unsuccessful and potentially successful applicants are advised in writing;

• application and decision checked by third party;

• Trustees approve awards at mid-audit or quarterly meeting; and

• awards made and successful applicants informed in writing.

Going concern

The Trustees believe that preparing the Financial Statements on the going concern basis is appropriate. YWCT has no commitments and has total discretion over grants made from available cash reserves received from Kelda Group, please see page 23 for full going concern considerations.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Plans for the future

• The Trust will continue to play a role in moving charitable organisations forward within the utility sector, particularly in the Yorkshire region.

• Trustees and Trust Officers will continue to work with advice agencies and Kelda Group colleagues in raising awareness of the Trust across the region, targeting the most appropriate groups of individuals and families.

• There will be an ongoing process of reviewing the criteria and operating procedures of the Trust, maximising the budget.

• Trustees will continue to look for evidence that they are making a difference to the lives of some of our most vulnerable individuals and families.

• The Trust will continue to make awards in line with its objectives, listed on page 3, for the foreseeable future.

Independent auditor

Azets Audit Services Limited were appointed auditor to the Trust during the year. Azets Audit Services Limited have indicted their willingness to stand for reappointment at the Annual General Meeting.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

The Trustees’ responsibilities statement

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland".

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales 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 charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity 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;

• make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed; and

• prepare the Financial Statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The Trustees 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.

The Trustees are responsible for the 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.

Under the Charities Act 2011, the Trustees must not approve the Financial Statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for that period.

Kath Pinnock on behalf of the Trustees Trustee Date: 25 September 2023

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Independent auditor’s report to the trustees of Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Report on the audit of the Financial Statements

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Yorkshire Water Community Trust for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the 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 Financial Reporting Standard 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 trust’s affairs as at 31 March 2023 and of its surplus for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

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 trust 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 trust'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.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Independent auditor’s report to the trustees of Yorkshire Water Community Trust (continued)

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the 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

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

• the information given in the trustees report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the trustees 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 trust and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities Act 2011 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

· certain disclosures of trustees specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Independent auditor’s report to the trustees of Yorkshire Water Community Trust (continued) Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees responsibilities statement, the trustees 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 trust'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 trust 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.

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

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above and on the Financial Reporting Council’s website, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.

We obtain and update our understanding of the entity, its activities, its control environment, and likely future developments, including in relation to the legal and regulatory framework applicable and how the entity is complying with that framework. Based on this understanding, we identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. This includes consideration of the risk of acts by the entity that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Independent auditor’s report to the trustees of Yorkshire Water Community Trust (continued)

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, we designed procedures which included:

• Enquiry of management and those charged with governance around actual and potential litigation and claims as well as actual, suspected and alleged fraud;

• Reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;

• Assessing the extent of compliance with the laws and regulations considered to have a direct material effect on the financial statements or the operations of the company through enquiry and inspection;

• Reviewing financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

• Performing audit work over the risk of management bias and override of controls, including testing of journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business and reviewing accounting estimates for indicators of potential bias.

• ·Performing audit work over the timing and recognition of income and in particular whether it has been recorded in the correct accounting period.

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 of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the Charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charity’s trustees those matters we are required 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 Charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Jessica Lawrence

Senior Stauatory Auditor Date: …………………

For and on behalf of Azets Audit Services Limited Statutory Auditor

33 Park Place, Leeds, LS1 2RY

The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

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Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2023

Notes Income Donations and Legacies Donations 3 Total Income Expenditure Charitable Activities Charitable activities in the year 7 Total Expenditure Net movement in funds Fund balances brought forward at 1 April Fund balances carried forward at 31 March All amounts related to continuing operations.	Total unrestricted funds for the year ended 31 March 2023 £ 1,230,897 1,230,897 (1,228,429) (1,228,429) 2,468 7,246 9,714	Total unrestricted funds for the year ended 31 March 2022 £ 950,398
		950,398 (950,509)
		(950,509) (111) 7,537
		7,246

The charity has no gains and losses other than those included in the results above in the current and prior year. All funds are unrestricted.

The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

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Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2023	Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2023
		31 March			31 March
		2023			2022
Notes		£			£
Current Assets
Cash at bank and in hand		309,714			7,246
Liabilities due < 1 year
Deferred Income 8		(300,000)			-
Net Assets		9,714			7,246
The Funds of the Charity
Unrestricted funds		9,714			7,246
Total Charity Funds		9,714			7,246

These Financial Statements on pages 19 to 26 of YWCT, registered number 1047923, were approved by the Trustees and authorised for issue on 25 September 2023. They were signed on its behalf by:

......................................

Kath Pinnock Trustee

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2023

	Year ended 31 March	Year ended 31 March
	2023
	£
Donations from Kelda Group 3	1,472,149
Charitable grants payable 7	(1,169,681)
Net movements in funds for theyear	302,468
Net cash flows from trust activities	302,468
Cash at bank and in hand at the start of theyear	7,246
Cash at bank and in hand at the end of theyear	309,714

Material Non-Cash Transactions

During the period ended 31 March 2023 £58,748 (2022: £56,690) of costs were incurred in relation to support and other costs (note 4). However the costs of these services were donated in full by Kelda Group. There were no cash equivalents at 31 Mar 2023 (31 March 2022: none).

The notes overleaf form part of these Financial Statements.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023

The charity is a public benefit charity and is an unincorporated charitable trust.

1. Accounting Policies

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 and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102)).

The Financial Statements have been prepared on the historic cost basis and accounting policies have been consistently applied.

The functional currency of the Trust is pounds sterling, and the Financial Statements are presented in pounds sterling rounded to the nearest £1. Cash at bank and in hand comprise cash balances.

Income

Recognised when the Trust has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably.

Donated support and other services are recognised on of the value of the gift to the charity, which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

Expenditure

Charitable expenditure is recognised in the Financial Statements once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel and governance costs which support the charity’s activities.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

Taxation

Yorkshire Water Community Trust is a registered charity and as such is a charity within the meaning of schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010. Accordingly, it is potentially entitled to tax exemption under part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 in respect of income and gains arising .

Going concern

The Trustees believe that preparing the Financial Statements on the going concern basis is appropriate. YWCT is a trust which provides support to those who are in conditions of need and who are unable to meet or pay for charges for the supply of water and sewerage. The nature of the trust is inherently linked with the operations of Yorkshire Water and Yorkshire Water’s parent company Kelda Group. The Yorkshire Water and Kelda Group accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis following a thorough review of Yorkshire Waters key risks and uncertainties, further information is provided in the Yorkshire Water’s Annual Report and Financial Statements. YWCT has no commitments and has total discretion over grants made from available cash reserves; the trust is funded by donations from Kelda Group and the level of support YWCT is able to offer its beneficiaries is determined by the level of funding received. The trustees anticipate receiving similar levels of funding in future periods. YWCT is able to ensure that all financing obligations are met. The Trustees therefore believe that the trust has sufficient resources to continue in operational existence for at least one year after the Financial Statements are authorised for issue.

Financial instruments

The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

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 held for working capital.

Liabilities

Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the Charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide.

Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

2. Accounting estimates and judgements

The preparation of Financial Statements in accordance with FRS 102 requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates. It also requires Trustees to exercise their judgement in the process of applying the Trust’s accounting policies.

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised, if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

After review, the Trustees consider that there are no critical estimates and assumptions which have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities within the financial statements.

3. Funds

The income funds of the charity are all unrestricted.

All funding is received by way of donations from Kelda Group being £1,172,149 (2022:£893,708) and support costs £58,748 (2022:£56,690). Donations include payments in advance disclosed as deferred income. (see note 8)

The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

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Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

4. Support and Other Costs

The following support and expense costs were incurred by the charity during the year.

Kelda Group Support costs Other costs including audit fees Trustees Trustee expenses paid to nine Trustees (2022: nine) Total	2023 2022 £ £ 50,963 50,963 7,650 5,600 135 127
	58,748 56,690

Support costs included the following full time and part-time staff resources and associated costs who are employed within the Kelda Group: full time: one (2022: one), part-time: three (2022: three). The Trust has no directly employed staff.

Support costs included governance costs of £7,650 (2022: £5,600).

The Trustees receive no remuneration for their services other than reimbursed expenses as disclosed above .

5. Auditor’s Remuneration

	2023	2022
	£	£
Audit of these Financial Statements	7,650	5,600

Audit fees are paid by Kelda Group.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST

Yorkshire Water Community Trust

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 (continued)

6. Related-party transactions

There are no related party transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure (2022: none) other than reimbursed Trustee expenses as disclosed in note 4.

7. Grant-making activities 2023

	Grants to Individuals	Support Costs (note 4) Total £ £ 58,748 1,228,429
	£
Charitable grants payable for the benefit of individuals in financial need	1,169,681
2022	Grants to Individuals	Support Costs Total
	£	£ £
Charitable grants payable for the benefit of individuals in financial need	893,819	56,690 950,509

8. Liabilities due < 1 year

Deferred income £300,000 (2022: nil)

9. Ultimate Controlling Party

The charity’s ultimate controlling party is the Board of Trustees.

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The Yorkshire Water COMMUNITY TRUST