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2021-03-31-accounts

Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

Company Registration No. 3677186 (England and Wales) Registered Charity No. 1074071

Contents

1.
Legal and Administrative Information........................................................................................... 3
2.
Trustees’ Report............................................................................................................................. 5
Statement from the Chair of the CFOA Trustees .................................................................................. 5
Vision/mission/values ........................................................................................................................... 6
Governance and management ............................................................................................................. 8
National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) ................................................................................................... 9
3.
Strategic report..............................................................................................................................11
Statement from the NFCC Chair ...........................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Strategic focus ....................................................................................................................................12
Achievements and performance ..........................................................................................................13
CFOA Group .......................................................................................................................................18
CFOA Services Ltd (CSL) .....................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................19
1. Legal and Administrative Information Legal and Administrative Information
Directors T. Budworth
R. Thomas
W. Bowcock
M. Crennell
J. Roberts
A. Webb (Resigned 26 March 2021)
R. Haggart (Appointed 1 April 2020)
C. March (Resigned 1 February 2021)
A. Roe
Senior staff members with R. Wilsher NFCC Chair (Until 31 March 2021)
delegated authority for day
to day management of the
charity		 S. Adams Company Secretary and NFCC Chief
of Staff
M. Hardingham NFCC Chair (from 1 April 2021)
Registered Office 99 Vauxhall Road,
Birmingham
B7 4HW
Bankers HSBC Bank Plc
10 Market Street
Tamworth
Staffordshire B79 7LZ
Solicitors Veale Wasbrough
Vizards LLP
Narrow Quay House,
Narrow Quay, Bristol
BS1 4QA
Independent auditors Saffery Champness LLP
71 Queen Victoria Street
London EC4V 4BE

Company Secretary S. Adams Page 4 Chief FI￿ Offi(ts As(￿a￿on- Re[￿ FinarNial Statements Year Ènded 31 March 2021 Chiefs Flre Offi¢er$ Association I We$t Midland$ Fire Ser¥i¢e 199 Vauxhall Rtsad l Birmingham l B7 4HW I www natlonalfire¢hlefs.org.uk eFth4 No 1174D71 VATR*o&iaknThNo W195446

2. Trustees’ Report

Statement from the Chair of the CFOA Trustees

I am delighted to present this Annual Report which details the ongoing development of the charity, in particular the work delivered through our National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC). All of our work supports our charitable objects and aims which are also detailed within this report.

This year the charity has faced a number of significant challenges and changes; some planned for and some unforeseen. The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on our business as our staff, members and stakeholders had to adjust to a new virtual way of working and the UK Fire and Rescue Services stepped forward to support the nation’s fight against the pandemic. Our association worked tirelessly to support our members through this challenge and the detail of this area of our work can be found later in this report.

As the pandemic struck and the association moved seamlessly into a virtual operation, we also received new and very significant grant income in recognition of the NFCC’s unique position to deliver national improvement programmes for the sector. As an organisation we have had to scale up our operations at pace and at a time that staff were adjusting to a new virtual working environment. I believe our ability to manage such significant changes is a real demonstration in the continuing maturity of the association.

The Board of Trustees recognised that the NFCC has supported hugely significant events within the fire sector and has been operating within a very dynamic environment which has led to a complex structure for the size of the organisation. Over the last 12 months, a number of corporate reviews have been commissioned to provide an independent view of the organisation and its ability to deliver its aims and objectives. The recommendations from these reviews are being collated ready for decisions and implementation over the next financial year.

This financial year has also seen the final year of Roy Wilsher’s service. Roy has been at the forefront of our association since 2011 when he became a Trustee and then latterly as the inaugural NFCC Chair. The fire sector has benefitted enormously from his expertise, leadership and professionalism. In his four years as Chair, he has led the NFCC to a position of influence and respect that no one could have predicted at the beginning of our journey. I am confident that Mark Hardingham; our NFCC Chair from 1 April 2021, will continue delivering at pace the improvements to our sector which save lives, protect the public, and enhance our reputation as the professional voice of the United Kingdom’s Fire and Rescue Services

Teresa Budworth Chair of CFOA Trustees

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2021

Page 5

Vision/mission/values

The Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) is a registered charity and company as well as a membership association. As a charity, the Association has several objects which are detailed below.

CFOA Objects

The purpose of CFOA is to provide a platform for the NFCC to:

Our activities have continued to promote improvement within the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) for the benefit of the public and communities across the United Kingdom. The beneficiaries of our work are the UK public as they benefit from an improved FRS, capable of saving more lives and all the work we do is planned with this aim in mind.

Strategic aims

CFOA’s work, through the facilitation of the NFCC, can be categorised under our four strategic aims which continue to run through every activity undertaken.

These aims are:

Leadership: CFOA facilitates the NFCC to lead and influence the future direction of the UK FRS on professional, managerial and leadership issues which affect the fire service

Communication: CFOA effectively communicates views and priorities to firmly influence key decision makers through the provision of the NFCC

Professional Advice: CFOA facilitates the NFCC to provide professional advice that drives and contributes to policy development which impacts on the UK FRS

Development: CFOA supports its members through the NFCC to achieve individual and collective improvement

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Year ended 31 March 2021

Page 7 Chief FI￿ Offi(ts As(￿a￿on- Re[￿ FinarNial Statements Year Ènded 31 March 2021 Chiefs Flre Offi¢er$ Association I We$t Midland$ Fire Ser¥i¢e 199 Vauxhall Rtsad l Birmingham l B7 4HW I www natlonalfire¢hlefs.org.uk eFth4 No 1174D71 VATR*o&iaknThNo W195446

Governance and management

The Association is managed by the CFOA Trustees who represent the different FRS governance models: Combined Authorities, County Councils, Metropolitans, London Fire Brigade, the Scottish FRS, Northern Ireland FRS and the Welsh FRSs. There is also a Trustee representing the CFOA Individual Membership and two independent Trustees who are not from the fire sector. The Trustees are chaired by one of the independent Trustees. The Trustees oversee all financial and governance aspects of the association and meet quarterly. Governance processes are in place to ensure that the Association is managed effectively and efficiently as well as in line with charity and company law and this year we commissioned a full review of our corporate processes and policies. The initial stages of this work were concluded at the end of this year and Trustees are now moving into the implementation stage where recommended changes will be considered and actioned. This work will be aligned to the consideration of recommendations from the two independently conducted reviews on our corporate structure and the Central Programme Office function.

New Trustees are provided with an induction to the Association and this induction process will be refreshed over the next year alongside an effective ongoing training programme for all Trustees.

The Trustees manage the risks to the Association through its risk management policy which outlines CFOA’s approach to risk management. Due to the success of the Association, in particular the securing of significant grant income this year, the charity has identified a number of new risks. Mitigating actions have been implemented or started with further mitigating actions also identified to address these risks. All major risks are detailed in the Association’s risk register which is reviewed regularly by the management team and discussed in detail at every Trustees meeting. Two of the higher-rated risks for CFOA this year has been over-reliance on key individuals which has always been a challenge for the charity due to the size of the staff team and linked to this is the risk of Trustees not receiving accurate, timely and relevant information. The expansion of the team providing direct support to the NFCC Chair and Company Secretary has started to mitigate this risk as well as ongoing discussions with the supplier of key corporate functions, however Trustees agreed that further action should be taken and this is being considered alongside the recommendations of the three reviews. Another risk that Trustees have been keen to put further mitigating actions in place for is the misunderstanding of roles and responsibilities within the charity. There has been clear feedback and evidence that the staff team and members do not fully understand the structure of the association as it has grown in size and complexity and this presents a corporate risk. Recommendations within the reviews support the need to address this risk and it will be a focus of the Trustees and leadership team in the next year.

Another impact of the success and influence of the NFCC is that the charity has had a significant reduction in its professional indemnity cover. Trustees have identified this as a risk where further mitigating actions should be explored. This began this year with the support of an independent broker with a specialism in this field of the market.

Work has been progressing over the last year to explore other income opportunities and the success of the grant bids will assist in mitigating this risk however it also presents new financial risks for the charity which are being addressed through a review and refresh of the charity’s reserves and cashflow policies. The financial regulations were reviewed and updated this year as part of the governance review. The management team is also considering the current scheme of delegation in order to ensure that it supports efficient and effective management of the charity with appropriate checks in place.

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Year ended 31 March 2021

The day-to-day management of the Association has been delegated by the Trustees to key management roles. The NFCC Chair is a paid, full-time role employed by the Association and elected by the CFOA Individual Membership. The role is held for an initial two-year term with the possibility of a further extension of up to two further years, both periods subject to satisfactory performance. The inaugural NFCC Chair was offered an extension in 2019 which completed on 31 March 2021. The NFCC Chair is appointed from serving Chief Fire Officers/Chief Executives of public UKFRS and therefore will be an Individual Member at the time of their appointment. It is important to the Association that the appointment process is transparent and communicated to the membership. In order to appoint the second NFCC Chair, the Trustees published the election framework in June 2020 and invited nominations from eligible individuals. If multiple nominations were received an election process would have been managed through an independent company however a single nomination was received, and the Trustees were pleased to appoint to the role.

The NFCC Chief of Staff (CoS) is a part-time role delivered through a secondment from a UKFRS. To ensure the charity was able to meet the agreed grant deliverables, the number of direct employees has been increased to 17.

National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC)

The NFCC is a committee of CFOA which provides all UK Fire and Rescue Services which are CFOA Professional Partners, with:

There are currently seven committees as a new committee was established in May 2020 to support the additional activities from the pandemic. All committees are chaired by CFOA Individual Members and contribute to the achievement of the NFCC work portfolio.

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Year ended 31 March 2021

The Council meets quarterly and on average 47 FRSs are represented at every meeting. The opportunity to join the meetings digitally is always available to every FRS as we are committed to ensuring that Council is a forum where every FRS has a voice as the national policy is shaped. The Council is a forum for decision making at a national level and policy will be presented to Council for collective understanding and agreement. It is expected that by the time work has reached Council, it will have already been through significant consultation to allow for a decision to be made via the committee structure. The NFCC has increased its activity levels significantly which has further pressurised Council agendas, therefore an informal element has been introduced to the meetings where attendees are invited to debate key topics for the sector in a closed environment. This ensures that all topics can be tackled, and all voices heard as well as allowing the time needed to explore significant issues.

Membership

The Association continues to offer different types of membership as detailed in our Articles of Association. Our membership gives CFOA a very strong reputational base. Membership numbers on the 31 March 2021 were:

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3. Strategic report

Statement from Mark Hardingham, NFCC Chair Elect

I have been part of the association for a number of years; however it wasn’t until I took on the role of NFCC Protection Committee Chair in 2017, and most recently began my transition from this into the role of the NFCC Chair, that I truly understood the breadth and scope of the work of the Association. As the NFCC Chair from 1 April 2021 I am look forward to building on the considerable achievements of the Association so far.

The NFCC continues to be the professional voice of the UKFRS; it represents the views of the CFOs, members and any FRS employee that is engaged with any part of the NFCC. We exist alongside other voices within the sector such as Governments, Inspectorate, Employers and Unions which are all important stakeholders for us.

The Association is here to lead, support and develop the profession across the UK and our UK-wide status remains a foundation of our organisation. Although the NFCC does get drawn into English-centric discussions with the Home Office that impact on the majority of FRS, we will continue to be mindful of where there are differences for our members within devolved administrations to ensure that we are supporting and enabling all of our members to deliver locally using NFCC products and guidance.

As a membership association, the members are at the heart of our organisation. We will continue to be their professional voice with a renewed focus on membership engagement so that every member feels that they belong with the NFCC. We have seen an increase in our individual membership numbers this year and every UK public Fire and Rescue Service continues to be a Professional Partner member. The NFCC has some excellent examples of how engaging, consulting and advising the membership has delivered some extremely beneficial products produced at a national level for local delivery and which are detailed in the achievements section of this report. This approach brings together the diversity of experience, expertise and thought across the whole organisation for the benefit of all.

From my personal experience as an Individual Member, I am keen to ensure that we communicate the benefits of engaging with our work, not just for the more immediate development of our profession through our products but the longer-term benefits of supporting the development of our future leaders. Already during the short life of the NFCC we have seen a high turnover of Chief Fire Officers and senior leaders, and therefore our regular Council attendees. Supporting the development of all of the members and leaders of the future supports our strategic objects and the sustainability of the association.

Mark Hardingham NFCC Chair Elect

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Year ended 31 March 2021

3.1 Strategic focus

CFOA facilitates the work of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC). As the professional voice of the UK fire and rescue service (FRS), NFCC champions the major contribution that FRSs make to building safe and resilient communities and protecting people and places from harm. Fire and rescue services also play a key role in the country’s shared prosperity and creating conditions for economic growth.

The FRS has an unrivalled standing, with high levels of public trust, satisfaction and confidence. This allows the service unique access to vulnerable people and have the ability to provide targeted advice and further support to help keep people safe. Employees are multi-disciplinary with a wide range of skills and expertise which communities can rely on. Fire and rescue services across the UK take on wide roles and are uniquely placed to actively contribute to tackling some of society’s most difficult issues, particularly around health and wellbeing.

We are proud of the track record of fire and rescue services throughout the UK. Nonetheless, we know there is more that can – and should – be done to make even more of a difference; therefore, through the NFCC, CFOA is committed to continue to help fire and rescue services to do this.

Through the NFCC, CFOA works with governments to help shape and deliver transformational change across the public sector and support our members throughout the challenges, demands and changes faced by the sector. This has included funding challenges, the impacts of national incidents, an inspectorate and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our ability to successfully lead a portfolio of work that delivers products that enables individual FRS requires trust and confidence from members and stakeholder in NFCC’s ability to deliver. This year, that trust and confidence secured the charity a substantial new income stream with the grant funding from the Home Office. Although this has presented the organisation with a number of challenges in terms of the speed of scaling up of resource required for delivery, we are proud of our success.

There are areas such as FRS reform, the inspection regime and wider Government policy that are not within our ability to deliver yet will be impacting on our members and the Association and therefore will be ones that we will continue to seek to influence.

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3.2 Achievements and performance

This section of the report summarises the key achievements of the Association over the last financial year, all of which support our strategic aims.

Grenfell Tower

The NFCC has continued to work closely with the Home Office in response to the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase One report. We have:

Protection

The NFCC provides a strategic leadership centre for protection, including establishing the provision of interactive learning materials for all FRS’s protection officers, and a location to record continued professional development activity. Through our Protection Policy and Reform Unit we have advised and supported FRSs and Government on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations and the Building Risk Review.

Key achievements have been:

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COVID-19

During the pandemic, the NFCC coordinated national activity to support FRSs in their local delivery which included:

Safety campaigns

NFCC works with partners and FRSs to support or manage national safety campaigns. Areas of work and specific campaign weeks in 2020/21 included:

2 Improvement

Our Strategic Improvement Model (SIM) model allows us to collate external feedback about fire and rescue service performance and identify the biggest areas for improvement. This evidence-based

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Year ended 31 March 2021

approach has helped the NFCC to align and prioritise our work accordingly. Key achievements to date include:

3 Content Maintenance

With a growing body of national guidance to maintain, the NFCC retains focus on ensuring the quality products produced centrally remain current and fit for use by services, keeping firefighters and our communities safe. This year achievements in this area have included:

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Apprenticeships

The People Programme is aiming to establish a nationally recognised suite of fire specific apprenticeships which are managed and maintained to help improve competence in a more consistent way across the fire and rescue profession.

Building on the fire specific apprenticeship standards already in place (including Business safety advisor, Community safety advisor, Emergency call handler, Operational firefighter), key achievements to date include:

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Another important area of focus for the programme, work in this area aims to support services as they work to build inclusive and positive working cultures and diverse workforces.

Workforce and Competence

Supporting FRSs in the development and maintenance of a competent workforce, including the health and wellbeing of their employees:

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Year ended 31 March 2021

Leadership

Supporting FRSs as they improve leadership and line management to drive organisational change leading to improved community outcomes

4 Community Risk

This programme is aiming to establish a standardised approach to community risk management planning across the UK FRS. Key achievements to date include:

5 Digital and Data

6 Prevention

A new programme was established during 2020 to focus on Prevention. Whilst primarily in scoping phase during 2020, work completed under this programme has included:

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7 Procurement

Focused on delivering professionalism in procurement as well as driving savings and efficiency for the services, we have:

8 Fire Standards

The NFCC provides support to the independently chaired Fire Standards Board who are responsible for the development and maintenance of a suite of professional Fire Standards for services in England.

This year has seen the first phase of development progress resulting in:

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Year ended 31 March 2021

CFOA Group

The CFOA Group consists of the CFOA charity and one wholly-owned subsidiary company: CFOA Services Ltd (CSL), which generates income through trading activities and protects the charity from associated risks. At the meeting of the CFOA Trustees on 20 March 2020 the Trustees took the decision that a trading company was no longer required and therefore CSL has ceased trading and the application to strike off the company was submitted in February 2021.

Acknowledgements

The Trustees acknowledge that without the support of the UK FRS senior managers and the expertise of individuals within the UK FRS who are part of the working groups within the committees, the strategic aims and objectives of CFOA and NFCC would not be achieved.

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9 Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees (who are also directors of the Chief Fire Officers’ Association for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report 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 the group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper 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 the group; 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 reparation and dissemination of the financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Public benefit statement

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit, ‘Charities and Public Benefit’.

The Association’s public benefit is enshrined in its charitable objects as outlined on page 2.

Statement as to disclosure of information to auditors

So far as each of the directors is aware, there is no relevant information that has not been disclosed to the company’s auditors and each of the directors believes that all steps have been taken that ought to have been taken to make them aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditors have been made aware of that information.

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10 Financial review

The net surplus for the year is £608,642 (2020: surplus £384,622). This increases the Association's net assets to £3,956,922 (2020: £3,357,361) of which £403,766 (2020: £714,594) is designated funds for specified projects and investments considered to be long term. £355,759 (2020: £355,434) is restricted funds as explained in note 17 and £nil (2020: £9,081) represents the net assets of the subsidiary company. General reserves have increased to £3,601,163 (2020: £2,278,252)

The Association currently forecasts that the unrestricted reserves will increase in 2021/22 due to the continuing improvements in the sustainability of the Association.

11 Reserves policy

The trustees consider the risks facing the charity at each board meeting and will ensure that systems and procedures are established and maintained to mitigate any risks identified.

To ensure the charity can meet its commitments, the trustees have considered the level of free reserves necessary to meet any changes in income and maintain the level of activity and fund a transition period.

It is the policy of the trustees:

To hold a risk reserve to enable the charity to continue to operate during a transition phase in the event of a reduction in or loss of a material income stream. The trustees have concluded that this is to be a minimum of £500,000.

To hold a general operating reserve equivalent to 26 weeks of CFOA’s general revenue expenditure reported in the audited accounts (2020/21: expenditure: £2,246,432), and;

To hold a strategic reserve to fund projects that will further the charitable objects over a 3-year planning cycle.

At the balance sheet date 31 March 2020, CFOA held ‘free’ reserves, defined as unrestricted funds less restricted reserves, designated reserves, and other reserves not freely available for spending, of £3,197,395.

Total consolidated reserves
Less: restricted reserves
Balance of general reserves
Less: investments
Less: designated for specific purpose
Balance of free reserves		 £
3,956,922
(355,759)
3,601,163
(2)
(403,766)
3,197,395

The trustees have allocated the reserves as follows:

£
1. Risk reserve 500,000
2. General operating reserve 1,123,216
3. Strategic project reserve 1,574,179

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3,197,395

Total reserves

The trustees are satisfied that sufficient reserves are currently being held. The trustees intend to sustain the risk reserve at a minimum of £500,000 and the general operating reserve at 26 weeks of revenue expenditure.

The strategic project reserve will be monitored through the year in line with strategic project planning.

Designated funds represent amounts that have been put aside out of unrestricted funds at the discretion of the trustees for projects. The designation is for administrative purposes only and does not legally restrict the trustees’ discretion to apply the funds. The purposes of the charity’s funds are detailed below.

The trustees have allocated the designated reserves as follows:

allocated the designated reserves as follows:
Investment in subsidiary
Designated support for CYP
Designated reserves		 £
2
403,766
403,768

Fundraising

The trustees take their responsibility under the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 seriously and have considered the implications on their activities. The charity does not raise funds directly from the general public and does not actively solicit donations. The charity only works with commercial sponsors where seeking support for NFCC events. Where commercial sponsorship is arranged for an event, such as the Autumn Conference, a clear contract is in place between the charity and the commercial sponsor. The trustees are not aware of any complaints made in respect of fundraising during the period.

Remuneration policy – key management personnel (KMP)

For the purposes of this policy, KMP are the senior staff members to which the trustees have delegated authority for day to day management of the charity.

The remuneration and the other terms of employment should be sufficient to attract, retain and motivate KMP, take account of the responsibilities and expectations of each role and pay due regard to CFOA as a charity exclusively supporting public sector organisations.

In most cases the Association employs a third-party professional for role evaluation and remuneration benchmarking linked to the external market. For some roles, for example secondments or appointments related to established national terms and conditions, the remuneration and terms and conditions will be determined by reference to national agreements.

Appointments at KMP level, including recruiting to vacancies as well as new posts, will be agreed by the trustees.

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For the year ending 31 March 2021, the NFCC Chair was directly employed by CFOA and the Chief of Staff seconded by arrangement from their host fire and rescue service. Remuneration paid by the host services was recharged to CFOA at cost.

Information on the total remuneration of the KMP for the year ended 31 March 2021 is included in note 7.

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12 Directors

The directors during the year were:

T. Budworth

R.Thomas

W. Bowcock

M. Crennell

J. Roberts

A. Webb

The Trustees’ Annual Report has been prepared by incorporating the Report of the Directors for the purpose of company law.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

…………………………………………….

Steven Adams

Company Secretary

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13 Independent Auditors’ Report to the members and trustees

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Chief Fire Officer Association for the year 31 March 2021 ended which comprise Statement of financial Activity, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement 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:

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 charitable company'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.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. 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.

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Independent Auditors’ Report to the members and trustees

Continuation

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:

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 where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement set out on page 18, the trustees (who are also 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 to do so.

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Independent Auditors’ Report to the members and trustees

Continuation

Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditors under the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with regulations made under that Act.

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 specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are detailed below.

Identifying and assessing risks related to irregularities:

We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with the trustees, discussions within our audit team planning meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the charitable company by discussions with trustees and updating our understanding of the sector in which the charitable company operates.

Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the charitable company include The Companies Act 2006, and guidance issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales .

Audit response to risks identified:

We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the charitable company’s records of breaches of laws and regulations, minutes of meetings and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the charitable company’s policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance.

During the planning meeting with the audit team, the engagement partner drew attention to the key areas which might involve non-compliance with laws and regulations or fraud. We enquired of management whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud. We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and identifying any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business. We assessed whether judgements made in making accounting estimates gave rise to a possible indication of management bias. At the completion stage of the audit, the engagement partner’s review included ensuring that the team had approached their work with appropriate professional scepticism and thus the capacity to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud.

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 27

Year ended 31 March 2021

Independent Auditors’ Report to the members and trustees

Continuation

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed noncompliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.

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 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.

Karen Bartlett (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Saffery Champness LLP

Saffery Champness LLP

Chartered Accountants

St John’s Court Easton Street High Wycombe HP11 1JX

Statutory Auditors

Date:

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 28

Year ended 31 March 2021

Saffery Champness LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 29

Year ended 31 March 2021

14 Statement of Financial Activities (including income and expenditure account)

Notes
Income from:
Charitable activities
4
Other trading activities
4
Fixed Asset Disposal – Gains
Investments
5
Total
Expenditure on:
Trading activities
6
Charitable activities
6
Total
Net incoming resources
- net income (expenditure) for the year
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Charity
Restricted
funds
Year ended
31 March
2021
£
5,198,767
-
-
-
5,198,767
-
5,198,442
5,198,442
325		 Charity
Unrestricted
funds
Year ended
31 March
2021
£
2,610,260
232,525
-
11,964
2,854,749
150,245
2,096,187
2,246,432
608,317		 Charity
Total funds
Year ended
31 March
2021
£
7,809,027
232,525
-
11,964
8,053,516
150,245
7,294,629
7,444,874
608,642		 Group
Restricted
funds
Year ended
31 March
2020
£
11,697
-
-
-
11,697
-
574,162
574,162
(562,465)		 Group
Unrestricted
funds
Year ended
31 March
2020
£
2,692,099
728,368
230,379
26,963
3,677,809
743,101
1,987,621
2,730,722
947,087		 Group Total
funds
Year ended
31 March
2020
£
2,703,796
728,368
230,379
26,963
3,689,506
743,101
2,561,783
3,304,884
384,622
325
355,434
355,759		 608,317
2,992,846
3,601,163		 608,642
3,348,280
3,956,922		 (562,465)
917,899
355,434		 947,087
2,054,840
3,001,927		 384,622
2,972,739
3,357,361

Page 30 Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2021

All activities are derived from continuing operations. The notes on pages 26 to 49 form part of these financial statements. There have been no recognised gains and losses for the current and preceding year other than as stated above.

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 31

Year ended 31 March 2021

15 Charity statement of financial position

As at 31 March 2021

Notes
Fixed Assets
Investments
10
Current Assets
Debtors
11
Cash at bank and in hand
12
Creditors: Amounts falling due
within one year
13
Net Current Assets
Total net assets
Reserves
Restricted funds
18
Unrestricted funds
- General funds
18
- Designated funds
18
Reserves retained in subsidiary
companies
18
Total Reserves		 Charity
31 March
2021
£
2
2
4,427,710
3,492,981
7,920,691
(3,963,771)
3,956,920
3,956,922
355,759
3,197,395
403,768
-
3,956,922		 Charity
31 March
2020
£
2
2
239,207
4,686,555
4,925,762
(1,577,484)
3,348,278
3,348,280
355,434
2,278,252
714,594
-
3,348,280		 Group
31 March
2020
£
-
-
100,121
4,992,869
5,092,990
(1,735,629)
3,357,361
3,357,361
355,434
2,278,252
714,594
9,081
3,357,361

The 2020 comparatives, as permitted by s408 Companies Act 2006, the charity did not present its own Income and Expenditure Account and related notes. The charity’s net income for 2020 was £395,801.

The notes on pages 35 to 49 form part of these financial statements.

These financial statements were approved by the trustees on 2021

Signed on behalf of the trustees

…………………………………………

T Budworth, Chair of the trustees

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 32

Year ended 31 March 2021

(Company number: 3677186 (England and Wales))

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 33

Year ended 31 March 2021

16 Statement of cash flows

For year ended 31 March 2021

Notes
Cash flows from operating activities:
Operating profit for the financial year
Adjustments for:
Profit on disposal of property
Decrease/(Increase) in trade and other receivables
Increase in trade payables
Cash from operating activities
Income taxes paid
9
Net cash from operating activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Proceeds from disposal of property
Interest received
5
Net cash from investing activities
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
15
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April 2020
Charity
CSL – Trading Subsisidary
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2021
12		 2021
£
596,677
-
(4,188,504)
2,386,289
(1,205,538)
-
(1,205,538)
-
11,964
11,964
(1,193,574)
4,686,555
3,492,981
-
3,492,981		 2020- Group
£
357,659
(230,379)
(10,768)
431,571
548,083
-
548,083
450,000
26,963
476,963
1,025,046
3,967,823
4,686,555
303,314
4,992,869

The notes on pages 35 to 49 form part of these financial statements.

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 34

Year ended 31 March 2021

17 Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 March 2021

18 Company information

The Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) is incorporated in England and Wales as a registered charity, number 1074071 and a limited company, number 03677186. The registered office is West Midlands Fire Services, 99 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham, B7 4HW.

Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable United Kingdom accounting standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 – ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland’ (FRS102).

The charity is a public benefit entity for the purposes of FRS 102. The charity has therefore also prepared these financial statements in accordance with ‘The Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with FRS 102’ (Charities SORP (FRS 102)).

The particular accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

Accounting convention

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical basis except for the modification to a fair value basis for certain financial instruments as specified in the accounting policies below.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

Basis of consolidation

The financial statements for the year end 31 March 2021 show the single entity, Charity financials only. The prior year comparatives consolidate the financial statements of the Chief Fire Officers Association and its wholly owned subsidiary undertaking (CFOA Services Ltd).

Due to changes in the structure and funding, CSL ceased to trade at 31 March 2020. The trading subsidiary activities were transferred to the Parent Charity and the remaining assets transferred to the Parent Charity after settlement of all outstanding liabilities.

The trading subsidiary applied for voluntary strike off action on 24 February 2021 therefore in principle did not represent a Parent and subsidiary relationship at the yearend. CSL was formally liquidated on 18 May 2021.

CSL had no transactions in the year to 31 March 2021 and no balances held at the yearend date.

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 35

Year ended 31 March 2021

Going concern

Considering the change programme that is ongoing, the Trustees have considered the operating position of the group and remain of the opinion that there are no material uncertainties regarding the Association’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 36

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

19 Principal accounting policies

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses.

Depreciation is calculated to write down the cost less estimated residual value of all tangible assets, other than freehold land, over their expected useful lives using the straight-line method. The rates applicable are:

Improvement to premises 10 years
Freehold premises 40 years

Assets are capitalised when they cost more than £2,000 and are expected to have a useful life of 3 years or more. All other costs are written off as expenditure as incurred.

Impairment of assets

The fixed assets are periodically reviewed to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If there is an indication of possible impairment, the recoverable amount of any affected asset is estimated and compared with its carrying amount. If estimated recoverable amount is lower, the carrying amount is reduced to its estimated recoverable amount, and an impairment loss is recognised immediately in profit or loss.

If an impairment loss subsequently reverses, the carry amount of the asset is increased to the revised estimate of its recoverable amount, but not in excess of the amount that would have been determined had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset in prior years. A reversal of an impairment loss is recognised immediately in profit or loss.

Financial instruments

The Association 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 with except for bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

19.3.1 Debtors

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

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 37

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

19.3.2 Creditors and provisions for liabilities

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in a 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.

The group recognises a provision for annual leave accrued by employees because of services rendered in the current period and which employees are entitled to carry forward and use within the next 12 months. The provision is measured at the salary cost payable for the period of absence.

19.3.3 Investments

Investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date. The Association does not acquire options, derivatives or other complex financial instruments.

Incoming resources

Income from investments and gift aid is included gross and is accounted for when it is receivable or the Association’s right to it becomes legally enforceable.

19.4.1 Grants receivable

Grants receivable are accounted for when there is sufficient information to enable the claim to be made or the claim has been made and there is clear indication to suggest the claim will be met.

19.4.2 Membership income, fees and other income

All such income is accounted for on a receivable basis.

Deferred income

Subscriptions are paid by members on an annual basis and fees are paid for seminars held and publications produced by the charity. The amounts received are treated as deferred income until the period to which the subscriptions and seminars relate to commences.

Resources expended

19.6.1 Allocation of costs

The charity’s operating costs include staff costs, overheads and other related costs. Such costs are allocated between costs of charitable activities and cost of generating funds. Staff, premises and general running costs are apportioned on the basis of percentage of direct charitable cost each cost category.

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 38

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

19.6.2 Governance costs

Governance costs represent the costs of running the charity as a legal entity and include the costs of audit, costs of trustees’ meetings and costs of complying with statutory requirements.

19.6.3 Employee benefits

Short-term employee benefits and contributions to defined contribution plans are recognised as an expense in the period in they are incurred.

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for the benefit of its employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from the Association in independently administered funds.

19.6.4 Irrecoverable VAT

The Association is unable to recover 100% of input VAT incurred. Irrecoverable VAT is allocated to the appropriate cost categories.

19.6.5 Leases

Rentals payable under operating lease, are charged to income on a straight-line basis over the term of the relevant lease.

Fund accounting

The Association maintains various types of funds as follows:

19.7.1 Restricted funds

Which represent funds which are allocated by the donor for specific purposes.

19.7.2 Unrestricted funds:

Designated funds represent amounts which have been put aside out of unrestricted funds at the discretion of the trustees for fixed assets, specified projects and investments considered to be long term. The designation is for administrative purposes only and does not legally restrict the trustees’ discretion to apply the funds.

General unrestricted funds represent amounts which are expendable at the discretion of the trustees in the furtherance of the objects of the charity.

20 Related parties

The Association had the power to appoint all the directors to CFOA Services Ltd (‘CSL’), its wholly owned subsidiary. Any profits are paid by Gift Aid to the Association 2021: nil (2020: nil).

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 39

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

21 Analysis of the components of charitable activity income

Income from:
Grants
Corporate subscription income
Other income
22
Income from:
Grants
Corporate subscription income
Other income

23 Investment income
Bank interest		 Restricted
funds
Year ended
31 March 2021
£
5,198,767
-
-		 Unrestricted
funds

Year ended
31 March 2021
£
-
2,598,240
12,020
2,610,260
Unrestricted funds

Year ended
31 March 2020
£

-

2,633,000

59,099

2,692,099
2021
£
11,964
11,964		 Unrestricted
funds

Year ended
31 March 2021
£
-
2,598,240
12,020
2,610,260
Unrestricted funds

Year ended
31 March 2020
£

-

2,633,000

59,099

2,692,099
2021
£
11,964
11,964


Total funds
Year ended
31 March 2021
£
5,198,767
2,598,240
12,020
5,198,767 7,809,027
Restricted funds
Year ended
31 March 2020
£
11,697
-
-
11,697		 Total funds
Year ended
31 March 2020
£
11,697
2,633,000
59,099
2,703,796
2020
£
26,963
26,963
11,964

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 40

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

24 Resources Expended

Cost of generating funds
Trading expenses
Charitable activities
1. Leadership
2. Professional Advice
3. Communications
4. Member Development
Governance		 Total
Restricted
Funds
costs
(note 6a)
Staff Costs
Other Direct
Costs
Support Costs
Year ended
31 March
2021
£
£
£
£
£
150,245
150,245
1,671,409
42,206
84,797
379,408
2,177,820
1,789,976
42,206
94,537
401,183
2,327,902
1,727,656
42,206
84,538
401,183
2,255,583
-
42,206
85,538
379,408
507,152
9,401
-
-
16,771
26,172
5,198,442
168,824
499,655
1,577,953
7,444,874

25 6a Analysis of restricted expenditure

Total
Staff Costs Other Direct Support Costs Year ended
Costs 31 March
2021
Charitable activities £ £ £ £
1. Leadership 66,321 79,009 1,526,079 1,671,409
2. Professional Advice 66,321 57,524 1,666,131 1,789,976
3. Communications 66,321 57,524 1,603,811 1,727,656
4. Member Development - - - -
Governance - - 9,401 9,401
198,963 194,057 4,805,422 5,198,442
Total
Restricted Funds Staff Costs Other Direct
Support Costs		 Year ended
costs Costs 31 March
2020
Cost of generating funds £ £ £ £ £
Trading expenses - - 600,748 142,353 743,101
Charitable activities
1. Leadership 273,421 25,440 679,978 152,843 1,131,682
2. Professional Advice 273,421 25,441 682,001 153,158 1,134,021
3. Communications 27,320 25,440 117,772 26,628 197160
4. Member Development
 - 25,440 27,027 8,193 60,660

Page 41

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

Continuation
Governance

-
-
33,997
4,263
38,260
574,162
101,761
2,141,523
487,438
3,304,884

26 Staff costs and trustees’ remuneration

26 Staff costs and trustees’ remuneration
Directors’ remuneration
Average number of full-time equivalent employees during the
year were:
Administrative staff
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs		 2021
£
-
7
324,784
37,927
5,076
367,787		 2020
£
-
1
89,599
12,162
-
101,761

No Trustees or person related or connected by business to them, has received any remuneration from the charity during the year.

During the year, the total expenses reimbursed Trustees amounted to £nil (2020: £725 for four Trustees) in respect of travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses incurred in fulfilling their duties.

During the year £253,305 (2020: £148,323) was paid for the key management personnel of the Association. £88,441 (2020: £43,343) was reimbursed to host fire services in return for the secondment of staff. This was invoiced by London Fire Brigade (£41,441) and Suffolk County Council (£47,000) and £164,864 (2020: £104,980) represents the total amount of direct employee benefit.

Details of employees paid more than £60,000 in the year ended 31 March 2021 are given below:

Between £80,000 and £89,999
Between £160,000-£170,000
27 Movement in total funds for the year
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation – owned assets		 2021
2020
-
1
1
-
2021
2020
-
-

Page 42

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

Notes to the accounts
year ended 31 March 2021
ation
Auditors’ remuneration
For the audit of the charity 8,950 6,650
For the audit of other group undertakings - 2,900
For other services 1,500 800

28 Taxation

The Association has charitable status and is thus exempt from taxation of its income and gains falling within Section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that they are applied to its charitable objectives. As detailed in note 20, no tax charges have arisen in its subsidiaries (2020: nil) and no provision is required for deferred taxation.

29 Investments

Charity
At 1 April 2020
Share redemption
At 31 March 2021		 Shares in
Subsidiary
Company
£
2
-
2		 Total
£
2
-
2

Total investment relates to 100% ownership of £2 share capital in CSL. On 1 April 2020, all of the trading activities were transferred to CFOA and since the year end, CSL has been voluntarily dissolved.

30 Debtors

Trade debtors
Prepayments & accrued income
Other debtors
Amounts owed by subsidiary
31 Cash & cash equivalents		 Charity
2021
£
284,494
4,031,609
111,607
-
4,427,710
Charity
2021
£		 Charity
2020
£
18,232
20,299
20,413
180,263
239,207
Charity
2020
£		 Group
2020
£
57,143
20,299
22,679
-
100,121
Group
2020
£

Page 43

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

Cash at bank and in hand
Fixed term - (due within 12 months)		 2,992,648
500,333
3,492,981		 4,186,433
500,122
4,686,555		 4,492,747
500,122
4,992,869

32 Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Trade creditors
Accruals
Deferred income
Other creditors		 Charity
2021
£
3,306,754
591,134
16,820
49,063
3,963,771		 Charity
2020
£
1,329,237
77,527
162,000
8,720
1,577,484		 Group
2020
£
1,465,273
81,227
162,000
27,129
1,735,629

The charity has deferred income in respect of the Executive Leadership Programme. This activity has been transferred from CFOA Services Ltd into the charity from 1 April 2020. The income has been deferred as it relates to the 4 modules remaining for 2021.

33 Basic financial instruments

34 Financial assets/(liabilities) measured at amortised cost

Charity Charity Group

Page 44

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

Notes to the accounts
year ended 31 March 2021
ation
Cash in bank and in hand
Debtors
Creditors
35 Analysis of changes in net debt
At 1 April
2020
£
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash
4,686,555
4,686,555		 2021
£
3,492,981
4,427,710
(3,963,771)
Cash
Flows
£
(1,193,574)
(1,193,574)		 2020
£
4,686,555
239,207
(1,577,484)
Non- cash
changes
£
-
-		 2020
£
4,992,869
100,121
(1,735,629)
At 31 March
2021
£
3,492,981
3,492,981

36 Operating lease commitments

At the reporting end date, the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, as follows:

Less than 1 year
Greater than 1 year, less than 5 years		 2021
£
-
-
-		 2020
£
2,951
-
2,951

37 Financial commitments

Contractual financial commitments Charity
2021
£
776,222

Financial commitments relate to a number of call-off contacts for the provision of advice, support and integration of digital data platform transformation and related risks management.

The costs are in line with the expected grant funding from the Home Office therefore any withdrawal such funding will mean the committed costs are also withdrawn. Contractual terms permit this also.

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Year ended 31 March 2021

Page 45

1 Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

38 Restricted and Unrestricted Funds

Unrestricted funds
General funds – charity
Subsidiary’s retained
reserves
Designated funds
Investment in subsidiaries
NFCC Chair
Designated support
Total unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Youth United funding
Research and Development
funding
Children and Young People
Home Office
CSR
Total restricted funds
Total funds		 Balance
at 1 April
2020
£
2,278,252
9,081
2
127,592
587,000
714,594
3,001,927
10,000
180,272
165,162
-
-
355,434
3,357,361		 Income
£
2,854,749
-
-
-
-
-
2,854,749
-
-
-
4,979,267
219,500
5,198,767
8,053,516		 Expenditure
£
(2,142,117)
-
-
(104,315)
-
(104,315)
(2,246,432)
-
(9,800)
(155,465)
(4,979,267)
(53,910)
(5,198,442)
(7,444,874)		 Transfers
£
206,511
(9,081)
-
(23,277)
(183,23
4)
(206,51
1)
(9,081)
-
-
-
-
-
-
(9,081)		 At 31
March
2021
£
3,197,395
-
2
-
403,766
403,768
3,601,163
10,000
170,472
9,697
-
165,590
355,759
3,956,922

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 46

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

Year ended 31 March 2020 - Consolidated

Balance
at 1 April 2019
£

1,414,957
Income

£



2,945,887



731,922





-

-

-

-

-



3,677,809





-

2,000

9,697

11,697



3,689,506		 Expenditure

£


(1,910,063)



(743,101)





-

-

-

(77,558)

(77,558)


(2,730,722)





(72,866)

(136,599)

(364,697)

(574,162)


(3,304,884)		 Transfers

£


(172,529)



-





-
(219,621)

127,592

264,558

172,529



-





-

-

-

-



-		 At 31
March
2020

£


2,278,252
Unrestricted funds
General funds – charity

Subsidiary’s retained
reserves

Designated funds
Investment in subsidiaries
Fixed asset reserve
NFCC Chair
Designated support


Total unrestricted funds

Restricted funds
Youth United funding
Research and Development
funding
Children and Young People
Total restricted funds

Total funds

20,260


9,081


2
219,621
-
400,000




2

-

127,592

587,000
619,623
714,594

2,054,840 3,001,927


82,866
314,871
520,162




10,000

180,272

165,162
917,899
355,434

2,972,739

3,357,361

Year ended 31 March 2021

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 47

1 Notes to the accounts

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

Designated funds

38.2.1 The Trustees have designated funds that represent those assets of the charity that are not readily realisable or for a specific purpose. It is the general policy of the charity to return unexpended designated reserves to general reserves at the end of each financial year. 38.2.2

38.2.3 The funds represent:

The commitment that has been made by the trustees to develop the NFCC with a strong leadership and build on the resilience and business continuity for the leadership of the Association and its NFCC.

The support that the Charity have committed to specific project and research carried out furtherance of the Charity’s objects .

The restricted funds balance represents:

The balance of the grant received from Youth United for the sole purpose of funding the Fire Cadets and Supporting Young Persons Programmes. Any surplus of funding remaining after the final disbursements will be returned to the funder.

Income received from UK FRSs for the sole purpose of research and development for the benefit of all UK FRS.

Income received from UK FRSs for the sole purpose of a comprehensive spending review for the benefit of all UK FRS.

Income received from the Home Office in furtherance of continual development of all UK FRS within the defined framework of deliverables.

39 Analysis of group net assets between funds

Fixed assets:
Tangible assets
Investment
Current assets
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand
Current liabilities		 General
Fund
£
-
2
407,054
2,980,892
(501,380)
2,886,568		 Restricted
Funds
Designated
Funds
Subsidiaries
– Retained
Reserves
£
£
£
4,020,656
-
-
(202,506)
714,595
-
(3,462,391)
-
-
355,759
714,595
-		 Total
£
-
2
4,427,710
3,492,981
(3,963,771
)
3,956,922

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 48

Year ended 31 March 2021

1 Notes to the accounts For the year ended 31 March 2021

Continuation

Year ended 31 March 2020 – Consolidated

Fixed assets:
Tangible assets
Investment
Current assets
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand
Current liabilities

General
Fund
£

-
2
58,944
3,572,079
(1,352,773)
2,278,252		 Restricted
Funds
Designated
Funds
Subsidiaries
- Retained
Reserves

£
£
£




-
-
-
-
-
(2)
-
-
41,177
399,882
714,594
306,314
(44,448)
-
(338,408)
355,434
714,594
9,081
Total

£


-
-
100,121
4,992,869
(1,735,629)
3,357,361

40 Results of the trading subsidiary – CFOA Services Ltd (CSL)

CFOA Services Ltd (company number 2293020 (England and Wales) was the wholly owned subsidiary of the charity. The company owned two ordinary shares of £1 each, being the entire share capital of CSL, which are held in the name of the Chief Fire Officers’ Association.

Following the impact of COVID 19, changes to funding and to the structure of the CFOA group, CSL ceased trading on 31 March 2020. Its activities were transferred to the parent company, the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA from 1 April 2020.

During the year after settlement of CSL’s outstanding liabilities, the remaining assets were transferred to CFOA. Application to strike off the company initiated on 24 February 2021 and then was formally struck off on 18 May 2021. No trade took place in the year to 31 March 2021.

41 Members’ liability

The Association is limited by guarantee and does not have a share capital divided into shares. In the event of a Winding Up Order, each member of the Association guarantees to pay during their membership and for one year after membership ceases, a sum not exceeding £10 to the Association. Any surplus on Winding Up is to go to a charity having objects of a similar nature.

Chief Fire Officers Association - Report and Financial Statements

Page 49

Year ended 31 March 2021