Docusign Envelope ID.. F60896D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd {Limited by Guarantee) Trustees, report and consolidated financial statements Year ended 31 March 2024 Company registered number 03866683 Charity registered number 1079836 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60896D3-DA9D44F7-909E-SB138745B4A2 Contents Chair and CEO foreword................... Trustees, report................ Statement of responsibilities of the trustees of Skills for Care Ltd (a company limited by guarantee} in respect of the trustees, report and the financial statements............... Independent Auditor's report to the members of Skills for Care Ltd.. Consolidated ststement of financial activities.......................... .28 .29 .32 Consolidated group balance sheet................ Company balance sheet..................... Consolidated cash flow statement........ .33 .34 .35 Notes (forming part of the financial statements) ...................... Glossary ofterms................................ .36 .62 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B13874S84A2 Chair and CEO foreword We are pleased to present the Skills for Care annual trustees, report for 2023124. This past year has been one of both significant progress and ongoing change for Skills for Care matching the challenges and aspirations of the whole sector. The achievements included in this report and accomplished throughout the year are, I believe, testsment to the dedication and strategic vision of our entire team, from trustees to all Skills for Care employees. The publication of our annual report 'The State of the Adult Social Care Workforce in England. has been very influential in supporting policy development for the workforce. We have seen 65 % growth in the reach of the report from 3,449 in the six months after the 2022 report to 5,696 in the six months after the 2023 report, due to the hard work from teams in Skills for Care. Thank you to the 20,500 social care providers who give us their data by using the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS). The Skills for Care Board and executive team will continue to lead and guide the strategic direction of the organisation to ensure we can deliver our strategic aims in line with our organisational values and especially on behalf of the people who rely on us, from every employer and commissioner to every person who draws on support. At Skills for Care, we know that the work we do would not be possible without the support of providers, stakeholders, and organisations across the adult social care sector, including in ntral government and especially our colleagues in the Department for Health and Social Care {DHSC). l am also extremely grateful for the 1.52 million people working with diligence and compassion in the adult social care sector and providing quality care to those who need it. We continue a journey of great change and have had to sadly say goodbye to dear colleagues and friends in the year due to changes in the way Skills for Care is funded. Looking ahead we are also excited to see what opportunities the future will bring. The next year will bring a general election and we are determined, as ever. to work tirelessly with the govemment of the day, officials and politicians, to champion what we know to be one of the most important and largest sectors and workforces in the country. In October 2023, we were delighted to announce plans to develop a new workforce strategy for adult social care to be launched in July 2024. The strategy, which is being so warmly welcomed and supported across the sector, will identify the adult social care workforce needs over the next 15 years and set out a plan for ensuring the sector has enough of the right people with the right skills. We are incredibly grateful for the many individuals and organisations who have worked with us and fed into the development of the strategy, as we know it will only succeed if it is created by the many organisations and people that have a stake in the future of social care. Next year, in 2024125, we will keep working on our four strategic priorities (supporting workforce capabilities and culture and diversity, increasing workforce capacity, and improving the social care system). In March 2025 we will publish our next strategy, which will be informed by outcome of the workforce strategy. Internally, l expect ourjourney of change to continue as we respond to changes in the way we are funded and a changing social care sedor. On behalf of Skills for Care, we would like to say thank you to all providers and employees working in the sector for your hard work and commitment in supporting and providing high- quality care to those who draw on social care services. We would also like to thank all the partners we work with as so much of our work is enriched by the strong partnerships and relationships with both individuals and organisations from all Docuslgn Env&lope ID: F60B96D3-DA9D44F7_909E.5B138745B4A2 across the sector. We look forward to continuing working with you. to continue building those relationships, and achieving great things together in the future. Finally, we would like to thank all Skills for Care colleagues for their hard work and dedication in contributing to our work and achieving so much throughout the year. With their expertise and enthusiasm, we can continue to make a real difference to the social care sector. We hope you find this annual report to be a helpful summary of what we have been doing in the past year and where we see our collective future. We also hope you will share our ambitions for the future success of this sector and its workforce which are so central to the needs of so many citizens who deserve the best possible service. Slllned ty. Sb]Tred ty. eB61053EW3418... 8202AF 54D7947C... John Coughlan CBE Chalr of the Board Oonagh Smyth Chief Executlve Officer Docusign Erbvelope ID.. F60B96D3￿A9D44F7-909E-sB13a74SB4A2 Skills klr Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Trustees, report Incorporatlng the strategic report The trustees, who act as directors for the purposes of company law, are pleased to present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024. Objectives and activities Charity objects The charity's objects {"the Objects") are: To help, support and assist social care service users and to improve standards of social care for the public benefit by but not limited to: The advancement of education by the organisation, promotion or provision of training to people (employed or volunteers) engaged or to be engaged in working with social care users in the United Kingdom. To give particular attention to the workforce and skill development needs of all organisations, associations, individuals or groups of individuals working in the sector. To promote the development of employment, education and training agendas in the sector in the United Kingdom and in particular to establish and promote the use of relevant National Occupational Standards. Jointly, with some or all of central and local government, industry bodies. other sector skills councils and all relevant employers and staff groups to work on strategies and projects regarding: a. the impact of legislation and other regulation pursuant to local, national or European policies on the sector's workforce b. the opportunities for career development, leadership, recruitment and skill shortages c. the development and implementation of a workforce training strategy linked to the needs of the sector and based on an understanding of the present and future competence needs. In these objects, "social care users" are those people in need of care and support because of old age, youth, ill health, disability or financial hardship and the "sectorf means collectively people, organisations and groups working with social care users. Public benefit The truslees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning future activities and setting the grant making policy for the year. The trustees confirm that the charity has complied with Section 4(1) of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charities Commission. The Commission has endorsed Skills for Care's activities as a charity to be for the public benefit and the activities below set out the reasons why. Our vision Our vision is of a fair and just society, where people can access the advice, care and support they need to live life to the fullest. Docusign Envelope ID: F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 Ma￿h 2024 Our mission Our mission is to support and empower current and future social care leaders, employers and the wider workforce. Strateglc priorities To achieve our mission and vision we have four strategic priorities. Supporting workforce capabilities to ensure staff have the righl skills, knowledge, competencies, values and behaviours to meet current and future needs in our communities. Supporting culture and diversity to ensure the workforce is treated equally, feels included and valued, and is supported to stay well and pursue their careers in social care. Increasing workforce capacity to make sure we have the right number of people, with the right values and behaviours, working in social care now and in the future. Improving the social care system to ensure it is well-fund8d, supports people to live the lives that they choose, and attracts the right people to the workforce. Achievements and performance Capability Supporting workforce capability: why is this important? We know that when people working in care and support roles have the right skills and knowledge, they are more likely to stay in their jobs. For example, care workers who had regular training were less likely to leave their roles than those who didn't. There was a 31.60/0 turnover rate for those workers with training recorded compared to 40.60/0 for those who did not have training recorded. Care worf(ers with social care qualifications were also less likely to leave their roles (37 % turnover rate for those with no relevant qualrfication, compared to 26.5 % of those that did have a qualification). With almost 300/0 of people working in social care leaving each year, keeping people in roles is really important. We want the social care workforce to have the right skills, knowledge, competencies, and behaviours to meet the current and future needs of the population that they serve. To facilitate this, we want employers and decision-makers to see the importance of investing in leaming and development. Our role covers three key areas: Defining good standards of practice, including developing skills frameworks and qualrfication specifications. Providing workforce development solutions to address any gaps in provision of learning to support good practice. Developing the learning market by using levers to encourage delivery and take up of training. This encompasses the availability of funds to make sure that training is accessible and our quality assurance of learning providers. Our capability work in 202314 Our work continued to span all roles that make up the social care workforce. This includes regulat8d professionals such as social workers, nurses and occupational therapists. Highlights this year include our partnership with the DHSC to develop a Care Workforce Pathway and our commission from the NHS Transformation Directorate (NHS-TD) to increase the digital skills of the sector, both of which are key to achieving the outcomes in our 21-25 strategy. Docuslgn Envelope ID.. F6oB96D3-DA9￿44F7-9o9E-SBl3874584A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Defining good standards of practice: Care Workforce Pathway We have been working with the DHSC on the Care Workforce Pathway. The pathway sets out the knowledge, skills, values and behaviours that are needed to work in adult social care along with a career structure that shows people how they can develop and progress in their social care careers. It will map existing leaming and development and define how that supports entry and progression. It will set priorities for government funding so that more people access the development that they need. We will continue to work collaboratively with key partners on this important piece of work for the sector 2024125. Workforce development solutions: Commissioning offer, Digital Skills, Commissioners peer network Digital skllls In December 2021, People at the Heart of Care and the Adult Social Care Technology and Digital Skills Review were published. Skills for Care did a review of digital skills in social care with IPSOS Mori and NHSX in November 2021. We found that people thought digital technology was important in adult social care but was not being utilised. often because of a lack of confidence, skills and leadership. We developed the Digital Skills Framework {a free resource to help support the development of digital skills in adult social care) with NHS TD. This year we have focused on translating the framework into practical support for the sector and so we worked with NHS TD to develop seven bitesize modules to support the workforce. 50 /0 of participants in the pilots say they are more likely to considerfurther digital skills training andlor qualifications than they were before doing the modules. CQC resources The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are a driver of care quality improvement, and employers value our resources and development support to meet their inspection requirements. This year we developed and delivered a range of tools aimed at supporting managers to adopt the CQC'S new inspection framework. Our 'Good and outstanding care, {GO) section of our website, received over 100,000 webpage views. with the most used product being the GO Online.. Inspection toolkit attracting 60,000 users alone. In addition, our new Delivering outstanding care seminar was launched in January 2024, with the two open-access events delivered to over 70 frontline managers. Our Being prepared for CQC inspection and Improving your CQC rating seminars attracted over 200 bookings across the year. This high uptake was enabled by our marketing activity which saw 73 % of all new managers contacted throughout the year. We have received the following feedback from registered rnanagers about our CQC resources: .1 feel more prepared and less anxious about my next visit due to having a better understanding of the changes" and "The new assessment framework was made easy to understand.. Our Delivering outstanding care seminar similarly attracted positive feedback from frontline managers keen to achieve or retain this rating accolade: "Very interactlV8. It was well delivered, and we could contribute with ease. I took lots if examples away" "The facilitators interacted really well. They knew their stuff. It will be a massive help to our next inspection. I will use everything I gained from it." Information in Inspection report: 'All staff training was in line with the recommendations of Skills for Care, and the provider had regular contact with their local Skills for Care representative who signposted them to appropriate training." DoGuslgn Envebpe ID: F60B96D3.DA9D-44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for ca￿ Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Role specific development Skills for Care delivers workforce development for specific roles that, represent a relatively small proportion of the adult social care workforce, have potential to disproportionately affect the social care system. Commissioners are an important part of the workforce because when good services are commissioned then the lives of people drawing on social care will be improved. This is why we have supported 75 people to do our Level 5 Commissioning for Wellbeing Qualification. We have also set up a peer network for commissioners which we launched in December 2023 and by the end of March 2024 we have had 560 commissioners register. Following a commissioners, peer learning event. 880/0 of attendees rated the session as 'very' or 'extremely' useful. We gathered five case studies to understand how this learning has been embedded in practi￿. Below is some of the key learning that those completing the qualrfication have tsken from the course: "I m now looking through all the tenders to provide Gommissioning support that I'm involved in, either leading or contributing to, and looking more at shared outcomes forpeople. I'm looking at '1 statements. again, considering how we Gan incorporate them in sp8cifications and how we can monitor them." "I would strongly advocate more care provider organisations to have the opportunity of doing the commissioning qualification. It's helped me to better understand commissioning strategy, which means I can ensure that our service development plan is fit for purpose and is meeting the needs of the individuals accessing support." "It certainly has made me engage with the local authority much more proactively and positively...the commissioning qualification has specrfically helped me really engage Wlth our local authoritys focus on optimising what we are doing and delivering, and how that can increase capacity. Thats had an immediate benefit to the individuals that Im privileged to support." Developlng the learning market: Disbursement of WDF and ASYE funds Assessed and Supported Year in Employment Our Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) is a 12-month programme of support and assessment that supports newly qualified social workers in the first year of their career, helping them to stay and develop in social care. The annual evaluation of the ASYE programme continues to demonstrate positive impact for employers and Newly Qualified Social Worf(ers (NQSWS). 85 % of local authority employers agreelstrongly agree that the programme has had a positive impact on the recruitment of NQSWS. Additionally, 100 % of employers agreelstrongly agree that the programme has had a positive impact on their practice confidence. We saw an increase of registrations to both the ASYE - adults and child and families increase by around 13/0 in 202314 compared with 2022123. This indicates a rowin demand for this su ort. 'In the current climate of challenges in respect of recruitment and retention I think we underestimate the impact of the A YSE and how vital it has been on contributing to both...We have amazing social workers who wouldn Y have remained in our local authority were it not for the support they have found through the programme." (Child and Family ASYE Lead) .a big thank you to the Skills for Care ASYE team who provide support for me (and my ort staff , the Assessors and the NQSWS themselves." Adult ASYE Lead su Docuslgn Envelope ID: F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-SB138745B4A2 Skills for Care Lfd Year 8nded 31 March 2024 One of our strategic objectives is to provide access to quality learning and development, while reducing financial barriers where possible. We have continued to disburse the Workforce Development Fund (WDF) on behalf of the DHSC and the ASYE adults and child and families on behalf of the Department for Education {DfE). Through disbursing funding we facilitated: 2,036 workplaces to claim mainstream WDF which equates to over 9,500 learners to successfully complete qualifications and learning modules. 346 personal assistants and 9 individual employers to achieve over 1,000 leaming outcomes. 4,379 rapid inductions and 25,156 refresh training courses to be completed. 1,718 newly qualified social workers and 175 organisations have registered for ASYE adults funding We have received positive feedback about the availability of WDF funding: "Thank you forthe meeting yesterday on the Workforce Development Fund. Joining my cuffent organisation led me to S88k further training in adult social care, and after researching what was available, I found Skills for Car8. Through Skills for Care and discovering the ASC-WDS I was able to aGGess funding for the Level 5 Leadership and Management for Adult Social Care course. The process was seamless and after completing the course, I was successfully able to claim the money back. I found the course highly informative and enjoyable, and I would highly recommend it to other managers in the field." Quallty Assurance of learning providers Running in parallel with the range of learning and development offer, we also endorse learning providers that deliver courses and qualifications that meet our quality standard. Skills for Care's endorsement badge incentivise learning providers to improve the quality of their provision. In the past three years, we have retained 80/0 of learning providers. Going into financial year 202415, we have 178 endorsed providers on our database. This year DHSC appointed Skills for Care to develop a new endorsed provider offer as part of an ongoing programme of workforce refonns. We anticipate this new offer will be available to training providers in 2024. Digital skills Skills for Care did a review of digital skills in social care with IPSOS Mori and NHSX in November 2021. We found that people thought digital technology was important in adult social care but was not being utilised, often because of a lack of confidence, skills and leadership. We developed the Digital Skills Framework (a free resour￿ to help support the development of digital skills in adult social care) with NHS TD. This year we have focused in translating the framework into practical support for the sector and so we worked with NHS TD to develop seven bitesize modules to support the workforce. 500/0 of participants in the pilots say they are more likely to consider further digital skills training andlor qualifications than they were before doing the modules. Commissioners Commissioners are an important part of the worf(force because when good services are commissioned. the lives of people drawing on social care will be improved which is why we have supported 75 people to do our Level 5 Commissioning for Wellbeing Qualification. We have also set up a peer network for commissioners which we launched in December 2023 and by the end of March 2024 we have had 560 commissioners register. Following a commissioners, peer learning event, 88% of attende8s rated the session as 'very' or 'extremely' useful. Docusign Envekspe ID: F60B96D3_DA9D44F7_909E.5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Future areas of focus for our capability work We will continue to work with DHSC and sector partners to deliver the next phase of the workforce pathway and guide the investment of government funds so thal people are supported with training and professional development that enables progression along the pathway. Developing the learning market: CQC resources, WDF. ASYE We will continue to disburse funds for the sedor through the WDF and ASYE for newly qualified social workers and will launch our new quality assurance offer for learning providers. Workforce development solutions: Commissioning offer, Digital Skills, Commissioners peer network We will promote the uptake of the Level 5 commissioning qualification and the commissioners peer network and launch the Digital Skills bitesize modules. Capacity Increasing workforce capacity: why is it important? We want to make sure enough people are working in social care with the right values, now and in the future. We know that finding and keeping workers (recruitment and retention) are two of the most significant issues facing adult social care. While our analysis shows that the workforce grew by 1 % and vacancy rates reduced from 10.6 % to 9.9 % in 202213, there are still around 152,000 vacant posts (State of the adult social care workforce in England, 2022123) and have a turnover rate of just under 300/0. We want social care to be better understood, more valued and seen as a career of choice to attract more people into the sector. By increasing workforce capacity in adult social care, we can meet growing need, improve quality of care and improve workforce wellbeing. We aim to make a real impact on increasing capacity in the sector through: Supporting workforce planning by providing data and evidence about supply and demand and what works. Defining good practice by using data and evidence about what works in recruitment and retention. Workforce development by creating and maintsining products, resources and training that improves practice Our capacity work in 202314 We have set out on our website our policy position on workforce capacity and what we think needs to happen to make sure that we have the capacity that we need in social care. Our capacity work in 2023124 focused on supporting the recruitment of under-represented demographics from the UK. and international recruits. We wanted to learn more so that we could support employers to recruit new demographics of recruits. New Demographics into Care We know that men and young people are under-represented in adult social care. Due to perceptions of care, the workforce is made up of only 19 /0 of those identifying as men and 80/0 of those who are under 25 years old. Our New Demographics in Care project took a test-and- learn approach to help develop a recruitment pipeline for target demographics in fulure years. We worked with 5 large employers (who employ approximately 25,000 people between thern} and 24 intermediary organisations with access to our target demographics. User research with 46 men and young people fed into specific content which were tested with the target cohorts and shared back with the large employers. The findings from the user research, digital Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 recruitment and partnerships with career intermediaries fed into recommendations and prototypes for DHSC to take forwards in future years. When evaluating the usefulness of this project, all the large employers surveyed agreed that the project had potential to be sustained to recruit target demographics longer term, and that the recommendations from the user research and marketing concepts were useful. Feedback from Youth Development Lead, The Prince's Trust (a career intermediary): '[Large employer] were great at our Get Hired event. I really like their ethos and communication and they offer th8 right level of support for young people and the jobs are not domiciliary care which makes them so much more accessible. We have had five D'ob] offers and a couple of young people still to get Inte￿ieW feedback for, so a good start and I hope we can build ourpartnership with them." Large employers involved in the project have said: "It's bean good having those meetings with our peers that feel like quite open, safe forums . Let's share some best practice... We are all experiencing th8 same challenges. Ther8's been a good vibe amongst everybody. That sort of camaraderie and happy to help mentality." We plan to make changes to our recruitment practice based on what we've learned now that infonnation has come to us." "There's been a lot of insight and there s been a lot of value We havent really scratched the surface in terms of what we can do and what we will do on the back of this.. To disseminate learning from this project, we developed a guide to support employers to recruit men and young people. This was promoted through our Registered Manager newsletter. The combined open rate for the newsletter over a two-month period was 3,182. International recruitment International recruitment was a key DHSC priority in 2023124, with significant growth in the numbers of international recruits coming into the sector via the shortage occupation list. Skills for Care played a key advisory role via the DHSC National Intemational Recruitment Steering Group. Skills for Care's unique positioning and ability to bring quantitative and qualitative insights has enabled the promotion of good and ethical practice and provided a mechanism for DHSC to engage with the sector. With partners, we developed an intemational recruitment toolkit to help employers understand how to recruit and to do so ethically. This was launched in the final quarter of 2023124 following ministerial sign off. At the time of writing, the toolkit has already been accessed 1,283. We have noted that visits to the international recruitment webpages have increased by 810/0 in the past year from 10,084 in 2022123 to 18,246 in 2023124. A series of webinars for employers on best practice in intemational recruitment were attended by over 600 participants across the year. with a total of 670/0 of respondents stated that they were more confident about recruiting from abroad after attending the events. Recruitment and retention We have provided 13 webinars and 3 online resources to the sector during this year to engage on existing evidence-based recruitment and retention good practice. Our 'What works, offer for employers has seen us deliver workshops to cover a variety of different areas to help employers understand different approaches to recruitment and retention, including mandatory areas. This offer has included workshops on core topics employers tell us they need help with: Safe and Fair recruitment Disclosure and Barring Service {DBS) checks Disability Confident Webinar 10 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60896D3-DA9044F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Values based recruitment toolkit Flexible recruitment guide Social media recruitment Retention webinars A total of 80 % of attendees that joined the Disability Confident webinar reported feeling more confident to look at different approaches to support disabled colleagues after the event. Our values-based recruitment toolkit has re￿iVed over 73,700 impressions across various social media platforms. Over 810/0 of employers who attended our retention webinar agreed that the content would help them review practi￿. Future areas of focus for our capacity work Capacity will be a central focus in driving implernentation of the workforce strategy; working with sector partners on plans to grow and retain the workforce to meet demand modelled in our strategy. We are pleased to have laid the foundation for a sustainable recruitment pipeline for under-represented demographics in 23-24 and have plans to expand strategic engagement around recruitment and retention of new demographics, including international recruits. We will also continue to support employers to access our data and insights and adopt best practice tools and resources to reduce staff turnover and improve vacancy rates. Culture and Diverslty Supporting cutture and diversity: why is it important? We want to see a more equal. diverse and inclusive workforce that builds positiv8 workplace cultures and represents the communities that it serves. A culture of inclusion promotes employee engagement, satisfaction and retention. When this culture is present, it fosters a sense of belonging among employees. We want to see a workforce that provides opportunities for underrepresented groups to progress in their chosen careers and works to eradicate discrimination, bullying and harassment. Our analysis of the ASC-WDS dataset and insights from our 'State of the adult social care workforce, publication reveal disparities in the demographic makeup of different job functions. Notably, there is overrepresentation of males and individuals of white ethnicity in senior positions compared to frontline roles. Senior roles, such as registered managers and senior managers are occupied by around 180/0 of minority ethnic groups, when these groups represent 260/¢* of the workforce as a whole. Our culture and diversity work The Messenger Review was commissioned by the Government in October 2021 to make recommendations on improvements to how health and social care is led and managed in England. and we supported to realise the recommendations on equality, diversity inclusion and leadership. This year we significantly contributed to the sector's evidence base to support practice. We also delivered and augmented existing products to include anti-racist practice and specific advice relating to LGBTQIA+ groups and were a key partner in the Messenger Implementation group. Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standards {SC-WRES) We see a diverse workforce in social care as a source of capacity and retention for the sector and therefore central to our outcomes for the workforce. Following the ck)sure of the DHSC funded pilot, we continued working with local authorities to sustain the use of SC-WRES in the social care sector. We supported 23 local authorities to submit data against indicators that measure race equality by comparing the experiences of white staff with those from a minoritised ethnic background. Docuslgn Envelope ID: F6OB96D3-DA9D44F7-909E￿813874SB4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 We published the findings in our National SC-WRES Annual Report (2023), which showed that people from a minoritised ethnic background were disproportionately more likely to encounter bullying. harassment, formal disciplinary procedures. and fitness-to-practice processes, and less likely to move into Leadership roles. While the SC-WRES Annual Report gave a national picture of issues around race disparities, Skills for Care supported the local authorities to develop specific action plans through communty of practice sessions, resources and advice. Action plans are a vital output of the SC-WRES because they are used to drive improvements. All 23 local authorities have considered revisiting existing or developing new action plans and 22 of the 23 are planning to submit them to Skills for Care for review. A selection of feedback from participating Local Authorities: "Being part of the SC-WRES means we have the framework and support from Skills for Care to analyse our data and take meaningful actions. Which we hope will have a positive impact for our workforce and the communities we support." "Being part of the SC-WRES...has enabled us as a [Leeds] council to hold a mirror up to ourselves and deal with what we have uncovered, warts and all. It has also given a troice, to social care staff from ethnically diverse backgrounds, to share their experience of racism that they have encountered in the course of undertaking their social work role as well as the disadvantage and bias they have faced in their career progression. The biggest measure of SUCGess is going to be measured by our ethnically diverse staff reporting that their experience has improved as a resutt of the work we will be delivering through the WRES Action Plan" Leadershlp and EDI We have reviewed and updated all our leadership programmes to ensure that they incorporate principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and ran a campaign focused on workplace culture, highlighting the important role of leaders, measures to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion, and the benefits of a positive workplace culture. We had 1,884 views on the campaign landing page in June. Our blogs and articles during this campaign altracted a total of 1,535 unique page views. An example resource the campaign signposted to is our Wellbeing Resource Finder, which 80 % of respondents rated as extremely useful. Moving up We continued to provide the Moving Up programme, which supports individuals from Black and Asian minority ethnic backgrounds to develop leadership skills and confidence to access more senior roles within the social care sector. Compared to the previous year, we have expanded our reach by increasing the number of cohorts accepted from one to six. Each cohort consisted of 40 participants. Some of the feedback from programme attendees include: "The host and team are amazing. would love to have a reunion in the future. "A really good course delivered a great manner-all presenters were really good and engaging made me and th8 wider group feel comfortable with sharing our experiences. "Excellent pmgram, should continue, very much needed. would be great to connect attendees with opportunities at the end, e.g. board positions, leadership roles" Future areas of focus for our culture and diversity work It can be hard to measure culture to make the invisible, visible. That is why we applaud local authorities who participate in the SC-WRES, publish their findings publicly and collaborate on developing action plans. In 2024, we will work with more Local Authorities, establishing regional support for the quality improvement programme. 12 Docusign Envelope ID.. F6OB9603-DA9D-44F7-909E￿B13874SB4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 The coming year will see further development our Allyship Programme, Collaborative & Inclusive Leadership and innovative Registered Managers, mid-career development programme. We will also promote and deliver further Moving Up cohorts, as well as continued support for Messenger implementation. Systems Improving the social care system: why is it important? Our long-tem strategic objective is to see a social care system that is well funded and reformed so that we have the right number of people with the right skills. in the right jobs. In 2023 the DHSC published its Next steps for Putting People at the Heart of Care. This has provided us with a set of reforms that we have worked collaboratively with all our partners to take the steps to deliver improved outcomes for those who draw on care and support. Our role in the systems space is to: Workforce planning to work with systems bodies across sector boundaries to support work Develop the data and evidence to define what good practice looks like in this space by maintaining and reporting on the ASC-WDS system Develop the workforce and plugging gaps as required to achieve this We want to work with colleagues in health and other stakeholders to ensure that those involved in the integration of health and social care understand the importance of social care. People's needs are changing in our communities, and we need to make sure that they get joined up, quality heamh and social care support. Our systems work in 202314 Workforce planning: Integrated Care System (ICS) engagement, networks We want to support health and social care systems at a national and local level to use our data and insight to shape effective workforce planning and commissioning praCti￿S. This will in turn raise the standards in this area, allowing a properfy resourced workforce to meet the needs of the people they support. ICS engagement We have kept representation on 75 /0 of people boards and 65 % of advisory boards and taken every opportunity to promote social care to colleagues working in integration, meeting chief people officers and workforce transformation leads and speaking at events including at the NHS Confederation Expo. We have: Improved engagement with ASC across 8 prioritised ICSS, with quarterly reporting against internally set baselines and baseline production for all 42 ICSS. Organised two national webinarslevents showcasing emerging best practices in engaging ASC, with 80 % of attendees reporting improved understanding or insight into engaging the sector. Presented at a minimum of six national ICSISystem Integration conferenceslevents, contributing to enhanced ICS knowledge and understanding of adult social care engagement. Produced 10 additional best practice case studies, attracting 1.138 visits to the case studies page on the website. The Integration webpage saw an increase of 112 /0 compared to the previous financial year. Networks We continue to support our Registered Manager (RM), Duty Manager and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)l Nominated Individual {Nl) networf(s. Given their central role to social care, we 13 Docusign Envelope ID: F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 37 March 2024 maintain a series of channels, which allows managers and leaders to convene. Through the networks. members can benefit from: Informal peer support Share market intelligence Highlight best practice Discuss tools that develop strategy. commission and workforce planning We have facililated ICS attendance at 48 registered manager networks, increasing provider involvement in ICS activity. Efforts to engage registered managers, nominated individuals, and CEO networks have resulted in all networks having awareness of the integration agenda and being actively interested in engaging with local ICSS. Our 'Understanding integration, campaign aimed to enhan￿ understanding and engagement with ICSS among social care providers. To accompany this. we held webinars for registered managers to share practical ways to build relationships with ICSS have help build relationships across the sector. Develop data and evidence: ASC-WDS We continued to develop data and evidence that supports workforce planning and collaboration across systems, defining and promoting good practice and providing workforce development to achieve it. This work is vital to achieve workforce capacity and development aims. We have engaged with the sector using our established communication channels to promote awareness and understanding. ASC-WDS develop & malntain service dellvery Our ASC-WDS service continues to collect the raw data from which we create our insights used by decision-makers in the sector. We have achieved 53 % coverage of registered CQC providers- a 20/0 increase on the previous year despite a growlh in providers - this allows us to create analytical outputs that reflect the workforce in the regulated market at present. We have improved the service by introducing questions on international recruitment and allowing people to record digital training and digital job roles. The analysis carried out on the ASC-WDS dataset is used by Government and sector. Recent uses include the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration Inspection report on the immigration system and Social Care Minister, Helen Whately (MP) during a debate in Parliament. We published our two flagship reports for the sector again this year called 'The state of the adult social care workforce in England, and the 'The size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce in England. Downloads of these reports have grown each year of our 21-25 strategy. Following the online launch of our 'State of adult social care workforce in England, report, 940/0 of those that attended said that they were 'likely' or 'very likely, to use this data as part of their role. Many of the direct quotes that we gathered from those in attendance echo this sentiment: 'Such an important source of data that will help to continue driving the ASC sector and workforce in the right direction.. he speakers were excellent and each offered unique insights and perspectives in answering the questions after the main findings. Kings Fund and NHS perspectives also helped a great deal." "How continually important this data and a workforce strategy is to continue elevating the positive impact that social care has on people s lives and the economy. Without robust data we cannot drive fO￿ard change and sustainability." "All the info shared from within the report is relevant to my role. Really interested to hear more about the woH(force strategy." 14 Docusign Envek)pe ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Lld Year ended 31 March 2024 We launched our marketing campaign 'Making a difference with data, to promote the launch of the two reports to the sector. This promotional activity saw the 'State of adult social care in England, report viewed 11,105 times during this period alone. We have continued to offer analytical services to organisations that seek to commission outputs from our team. We strive to provide a se￿1￿ where raw data is transformed into actionable insight. We have supplied analytical reporting for organisations such as local authorities, universities and private sector companies. Future areas of focus for our systems work We will launch the social care workforce strategy in 2024 and continue to support integrated care systerns to plan for the adult social care workforce. We will keep our high levels of engagement and networks and continue to promote our high-quality data and intelligence to shape effective, integrated workforce planning in health and social care. Related parties and strategic partnerships As part of the Skills for Care and Development Alliance, our close strategic relationship with the other six partner organisations continues to grow. This important relationship allows us to coordinate our response to issues to enable an increased impact and to support and learn from each other. We host one part-time member of staff and provide financial support and other services to Skills for Care and Development under a service level agreement. As the delivery partner for the DHSC on leadership and workforce in adult social care, we have continued to work with colleagues at DHSC to influence the development of a range of activities, particularly within the workforce reform agenda, including the Care Workforce Pathway for adult social care and the Care Certificate qualification. We also engaged with other government departments including the DfE and the Department of Work and Pensions {DWP). Through our role leading the development of a workforce strategy for adult social care we have engaged with a very wide range of individuals and organisations from across the sector including organisations representing care providers, commissioners, care workers, regulated professionals and people who draw on care and support, as well as sector bodies including the CQC. We also met with Government ministers and representatives from all political parties, to keep them up to date with the insights coming from this work. This year, we have continued to work collaboratively with key national organisations, employers of all shapes and sizes, registered managers and people who use care and support. theirfamilies and carers and the organisations that represent them. This engagement enables us to seek to ensure that policy decisions will achieve positive outcomes for all. We work closely with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) at a national and local level and the Local Government Association (LGA) to align our work across the sector. Our strategic relationship with the National Care Forum (NCF) continues with a view to furthering the good history of collaboration between our two organisations. Key activities included: convening roundtables with the leaders of large national employers focusing on the development of the workforce strategy; the delivery of The Managers Conference in partnership with NCF, which attracted over 250+ frontline managers; close partnership working with The Outstanding Society including co-producing an updated edition of the Good and Outstanding care guide ahead of changes to CQC inspection changes; working with DHSC and sector partners to Co-develop voluntary guiding principles to support person-centred, safe and effective delegation of healthcare activities to care workers, including personal assistants; delivery of engagement activity on behalf oflin partnership with, NHS-TD, to specific audiences including: ICS Chief People Officers. Registered Managers; Digilal Champions. We continue to meet regularly with NHS Employers. as well as Partners in Care & Health to discuss commonality, develop joint resources and share learning. In March 15 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B13874584A2 Skills for Care Lld Year ended 31 March 2024 we published our Culture Benchmarking Tool for ICS'S. We continue to meet WFth NHSE System Transformation (now System Architecture> Team. We continue to convene frontline care workers on a quarterly basis as part of our delivery of a Care Worker Forum (CWF) - in 2023124 this included dose work with the Care Wod(ers Charity to recruit and run sessions involving DHSC focused on the Care Workforce Pathway,. the participation of the DHSC in forums and groups convened by us including our Registered Manager Reference Group (RMRG). and delivery of our third annual national event for nominated individuals, with a focus on digital transformation and digital skills. Skills for Care's area teams continue to maintain close relationships with key stakeholders and continue to have an important role at a local level in informing, intervening and influencing on behalf of the sector. We engage with every ICS in England and are represented on or have recently been invited to join 780/0 People Boards I Workforce Steering Groups. Area teams report Skills for Care's ability to influen￿ is 'good' or that we are occasionally able to influence for 930/0 of ICS people functions. Alongside representation of strategic workforce groups, we are members of almost 150 operational workforce sub-groups across the 42 ICS'S. Area teams continue to work closely with local partners, including providers, care associations and others in the delivery of local I regional networks. Throughout 23124, Skills for Care locality teams reported extensive or moderate engagement with all 151 Local Authorities in England, ensuring we effectively deliver the Skills for Care offer and wider DHSC initiatives & priorities. This engagement activity and the achieving of DHSC work programme KPIS involves close collaborative working with Directors of Adult Social Services (DASS'S), AD'S, commissioners, procurernent and worf(force development leads across the country, supporting their strategic workforce planning, workforce shaping with the use of our ASC-WDS data and with integrated working with their ICS system. We deliver, quality assure and administer - including disbursement of resources - the ASYE for the child and family sector on behalf of the DfE. Structure, governance and management Governing document Skills for Care is a company limited by guarantee. govemed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. No trustee has any beneficial interest in the charitable company. All trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up. The number of guarantors on 31 March 2024 was 8 (2023." 10). Appointment of Trustees As set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the board appoints the Chair of the Board of Trustees. Trustees are appointed through a recruitment process and a role specification is used in the selection process. The Chair of the Board leads the recruitment process, and the Remuneration and Nominations Committee (R&N) regularly considers succession planning and the skills and knowledge of trustees to identify any gaps and feed into recruitment. Trustees can serve up to two three-year tems (with an additional term in exceptional cases agreed by the board), this includes the Chair. The membership of the board is kept under review and re-aligned as appropriate. Trustee induction and training The Chair and CEO induct new trustees. so they have a clear understanding of the work of Skills for Care and their duties as trustees. This includes their legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the committee 16 DocLsslgn Enveknpe ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E￿B138F4SB4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 and decision-making process, the DHSC work programme, business plan and recent financial perfomiance of the charity. During the induction, trustees meet other trustees and key senior staff and are provided with an induction handbook. Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate Skills for Care meetings and external meetings and events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their role. Organisational structure The Board of Trustees administer the charity and meet at least four times a year to make strategic decisions regarding the charity. There are standing committees covering Finance and People (F&P), Audit and Risk (A&R). and Remuneration and Nominations (R&N). From 1 May 2024, the board has agreed to combine the Finance & People and Audit & Risk Committees into one Finance & Audit Committee (F&q). A CEO is appointed by trustees to manage the day-to-day operations of the charity. To facilitate effective operations, the CEO has delegated authority, within terms of delegation approved by the trustees. for operational matters. The CEO is supported by the Deputy CEO and the Leadership Team (LT). Charity govemance code We have adopted the principles of the Charity Governance Code. The assessments within the three-year cycle of board evaluation are based around the principles of the Code. The trustee handbook is also based around the principles of the Code. Evaluation We have a rolling three-year evaluation cycle in place which consists of either a trustee questionnaire, a self-assessment by executive colleagues, or a full external evaluation. All three evaluations are an assessment against the Charity Governance Code principles and identify areas for improvement. In 2023124 we undert¢)ok a light touch evaluation review which consisted of the Govemance team updating the self-assessment and trustees and LT colleagues completing a survey to give their views of how our governance rates against the principles of the Charity Govemance Code and were invited to give feedback and make suggestions for continuous improvement. The findings were presented to trustees in March 2024, where a series of recommendations were agreed. The immediate actions identified are being completed over the course of the following 12 months, and some longer-term considerations will feed into the full govemance review process which is planned for later in 2024125. The board continues to regularly evaluate its ongoing performance by reviewing the effectiveness of every board and committee meeting to ensure they meet their objectives. Trustees are also encouraged to feedback on the performance of the board and to suggest any improvements through one-to-one discussions with the Chair of the Board. Section 172 (1) statement and Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting The trustees have considered the disclosure requirements of The Companies (Miscellaneous Reporting) Regulations 2018 and The Companies (Directors. Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) and Regulations 2018 and how they apply to the Skills for Care Group. While we are not mandated to make such disclosure, we believe it is best practise to report what actions we are currently taking to comply with them. Section 172(1) statement which hereby describes how the Board of Trustees have acted in regard to the matters set out in Section 172(1){a) to (f) when performing their duties under this Section. These duties have included, but are also not necessarily limited to, their responsibility to earnestly promote the success of Skills for Care Ltd and its subsidiaries, Affina Organisation 17 Docusign Envelope ID= F60B96D3-DA9044F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 37 March 2024 Development Limited and Skills for Care Solutions Limited (Collectively known as the Group), to act in the way that he or she considers to be in good faith and would be most likely to promote the success of the Group for the benefits of its stakeholders as a whole and, in doing so, have taken into consideration due regard (amongst other matters) to the factors (a) to (fj which are as follows: (a) the likely consequences of any decision in the long term, (b) the interests of the Group's employees, (c) the need to fosterthe Group's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others, (d) the impact of the Group's operations on the community and the environment. (e) the desirability of the Group to maintain a reputation for high standards of business conduct. and (f) the need to act fairly as between management members of the Group. In adhering to the above, the Board of Trustees have duly discussed and considered the following during the ordinary course of business: the issues, factors and stakeholders that the trustees consider relevant in complying with section 172 (1) (a) to (f) and how they have formed that opinion; the main methods that the Trustees have used to engage with its stakeholders in order to understand the issues to which they must have regard; and information on the effect of that regard on the Group's decisions and strategies during the financial year. The trustees have duly adjudged as to what they consider to be collectively appropriate to disclose and believe that their statements and information in the trustees. report in this respect are meaningful and informative for the Group's stakeholders. have shed light on matters that are of strategic importance to the group at the time and are consistent with the size and complexity of its current business. In our highly valued role as key delivery partnerfor DHSC on leadership and workforce in adult social care, we continue to work collaboratively with other key national organisations, employers of all sizes, registered managers and individuals who provide care within their own family. Our strategy sets out our longer term aims and how decisions may affect the longer term. The achievements and performance section of the trustees, report details how we have engaged and fostered our relationship with DHSC. suppliers, customers and others during the year. We remain flexible in our approach to delivery and engaged with all concerned especially our own employees to ensure we could continue our delivery, albeit in a different form. Engagement with our employees is always important and regular updates are provided. We embrace using Teams and Zoom for our meetings with our colleagues which ensure we are engaging not only with our own team but also the wider community. We are an organisation who always strives to maintain a reputation for high standards and business conduct. We have engaged independent internal auditors to regularly review our operations and procedures so we can continually improve as detailed in the section above for the internal control environment. The findings from the review undertaken by the independent firm are appropriately addressed by the business and such implementation is overseen by the A&R committee, now to be Finance and Audit Committee. and the board. Our subsidiaries are an integral part of the group and the board at each meeting consider how relationships between the individual organisations can be enhanced for the benefit of the group overall. Risks in the subsidiaries are considered by the individual subsidiary boards and 18 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B9603-OA9D44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Ye8r ended 31 March 2024 by the A&R committee (now to be the Finance and Audit committee) to ensure all objectives are aligned and risks mitigated for each individual organisation within the group. As our main funders move to a competitive tender model we need to comply with Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06121 which requires suppliers bidding for major govemment contracts to commit to achieving Net Zero by 2050. We have calculated our carbon footprint across scope 1, 2 and partial 2 carbon emissions and have achieved public procurement PPN 06121 compliance using the Government approved Green House Gases (GHG) Protocol and have been able to pinpoint the carbon hotspots within our organisation to develop a PPN 06121 compliant carbon reduction plan which is available on our website for external stakeholders. Internally we have developed an implementation plan with steps to reduce our emissions year on year, overseen by our Enabling Team taking forward the actions and championing our approach. Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting The company consumes less than 40,000 kwh of energy each year, therefore energy efficiency disclosures under the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations are not disclosed. On a consolidated basis, there is no additional disclosure on the basis that all subsidiary companies are not required to report under the SECR in their own right due to either being non-large companies or consuming less than 40,000 kwh of energy annually. We continue to review ways in which we can reduce our carbon footprint and the business miles we incur. We have continued working from home for the majority of staff, we have maintained our smaller Leeds office of 24 desks and one meeting room reducing the number of colleagues working in an office environment. We continue to review the way we work and engage with the sector to reduce our emissions. We are looking at our third-party suppliers to ensure that we engage with suppliers who are committed to reducing their carbon emissions. Risk management Skills for Care has a defined risk management framework to assess, review, control, mitigate and report the risks faced by the organisation. This includes a defined risk management process for identifying risks ranging from individual project level to strategic level with associated escalation processes. Throughout the year LT reviewed the significant risks and uncertainties facing the organisation through the corporate and directorate risk registers. Regular in-depth reviews were undertaken by LT for known key risks and emerging risks, looking at cause and effect and looking at key mitigations. LT reviews key risks monthly as a minimum and more frequently should key risks change significantly or as emerging risks are identified either from projects, the sector or wider funding landscape. Risks are reported to and reviewed quarterly by the A&R Committee. their remit is to seek assurance that risks are being well managed and ensure that any major risks requiring further consideration or further actions are reported to the board. A&R members are also responsible for identifying, with LT, a number of activities for internal audit each year as part of the risk assurance framework. some activities are audited more f￿qUentlY where the risk is deemed to be of greater significance, for example financial management, whilst others are reviewed as part of a long-term cyclical schedule of audit. Risks are reported by exception to both A&R and the board, any risks that exceed the risk appetite of the organisation are reported along with new and emerging risks. The risk appetite for the organisation has been set and agreed jointly by the board and the leadership team. At each A&R meeting. members review the corporate risks, appraising key risks facing the organisation together with any emerging risks, for example project risks escalated by LT. Each quarter A&R members review an area of key risk in more depth undertaking a "deep dive" to gain greater insight and assuran￿ of the risks facing the organisation. 19 Docusign Envelope ID: F60896D3-DA9D-44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 At each board meeting, trustees receive the corporate risk register along with an update of our risk management activity. Any risks, that trustees need to be aware of. are reported as part of the CEO report. Both trading subsidiary companies have risk registers which are reviewed by each individual company board and routinely reviewed by the F&P Committee. The risk registers for both subsidiaries follow the risk management framework but have different risk appetites appropriate to the differing objectives of the subsidiaries. During the year, the major risks reported to the board arose from uncertainty around future funding from our main funder, most notably WDF. The majority of work historically funded by grant funding will now be tendered therefore our funding risk has remained high throughout the year and the true impact of this may not be clear until 2024125 is in progress. There has been a transitional agreement for some areas of work for 2024125. The impact of the uncertainty increases the risk to our reserves whilst Skills for Care bids for tenders and we balance the need to retain skills to deliver any potential contracts. Skills for Care is undertaking further strategic review to ensure we retain the right skills and capacity to deliver our strategic objectives. Reference and administrative information On 31 March 2024, there were 8 board members. Trustees John Coughlan (Chair) Suzie Bailey Louise Bladen James Bullion Peter Chambers Gillian Day Penelope Fell William Mumford Amanda Thom Naser Turabi Mark Ward Date of appointment or resignation Retired 19 July 2023 Appointed 1 April 2024 Retired 27 March 2024 Chief Executlve Officer (CEO) Oonagh Smyth Deputy CEO Tristram Gardner Audit & Rlsk Committee Louise Bladen (Chair) (until 19 July 2023) Suzie Bailey (Chair) (from 19 July 2023) Penelope Fell (until 19 July 2023) William Mumford Peter Chambers (from 1 April 2024) The Audit & Risk Committee reviews the annual trustees. report and financial statements. ensures there is an effective system of internal control and risk management. ensures compliance policies and procedures are followed and relevant legislation and statutory requirements are adhered to. Finance & People Committee Gillian Day (Chair) James Bullion Amanda Thorn (until 27 March 2024) 20 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Naser Turabi Mark Ward The Finance & People Committee oversees the group's finances to ensure short and long- term sustainability in line with the organisational strategy. It monitors the quarterly management accounts and charitable reserves and liabilities and escalates issues to the board. It makes recommendations to the board for agreement on the annual budget including principles and assumptions, and the year-end financials included in the draft trustees, report and financial statements and accounting policies. It maintains an overview of investments and treasury management. The Committee also oversees people and culture activity associated wilh the strategy including workforce planning and key organisational developments, talent management, performance management, employee engagemenl, leaming, development and growth and alignment of these activities to our values. It reviews the financials associated with people activity including headcount, reward and benefits and makes recommendations to the board. On 27 March 2024, the board agreed to establish a new Finance & Audit Committee in the place of the Finance & People and Audit & Risk Committees, from 1 May 2024. The purpose of the Committee is to review, scrutinise and monitor all issues relating to the financial position of the organisation, and to ensure the board meets their responsibilities in gaining the assurance needed on compliance, risk management, intemal controls, and on the integrity of the annual report and accounts, and through the supervision of the quality, independence and effectiveness of both the internal and external auditors. The membership of the committee will be: Flnance & Audit Commlttee (from 1 May 2024) Gillian Day (Chair) Suzie Bailey Peter Chambers Naser Turabi Mark Ward The terms of reference will be agreed at the first meeting of the committee in July 2024. Remuneration & Nominations Commlttee John Coughlan (Chair) Suzie Bailey James Bullion The Remuneration & Nominations Committee makes recommendations to the board on matters relating to the remuneration package of the Chair and CEO and on any changes to the Leadership Team structure and remuneration based on proposals from the CEO. It leads the trustee recruitment process, including the Chair's recruitment process, involving other trustees to ensure there is the right expertise and knowledge on the panel, and makes recommendations to the board on appointments. It considers sUc￿Ssion planning and the composition of the board to ensure it has the skills and knowledge to continue to operate effectively. Company references Skills for Care Ltd,. Company number 03866683, Charity number 1079836 Skills for Care Solutions Limited. Company number 07938138 Affina Organisation Development Limited. Company number 04644495 The National Skills Academy for Social Care Limited. Company number 09698766 (Dom7ant) Skills for Care Services Ltd. Company number 13778192 (Don77ant) All accounts are drawn up to 31 March. 21 Docusign Envelope ID: F60896D3_DA9D44F7_909E_5813874584A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year anded 31 M8rGh 2024 Principal and registered office Westgate 6 Grace Street Leeds LS12RP Advisors External auditor Brown Butler Leigh House 28-32 St Paul's Street Leeds LS12JT Internal auditor RSM Central Square 29 Wellington Street Leeds LS14DL Solicitors Clarion Elizabeth House 13-19 Queen Street Leeds LS12TW Bankers The Royal Bank of Scotland South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire Commercial Support Team PO Box 4862 5 Church Street Sheffield S2 9EQ Investment manager CCLA Investment Management Ltd Senator House 85 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4ET Auditors The trustees appointed auditors for the group for a period of five years to act for the audit of the financial years up to and including the audits for the year ending as follows: Brown Butler as external auditors 31 March 2024. RSM as internal auditors 31 March 2025. As the end of the appointed terms are coming to an end, new tenders are being planned to take place during 2024125. Financial review Skills for Care's strategic priorities and annual deliverables set out in detail within the Trustees, report strategic review section above are underpinned by our strategic enabling priorities. Risk management, financlal Internal control envlronment and assurance The Skills for Care board operate within a defined risk management and governance framework and internal control environment and seek appropriate assurance on our management of strategic and enabling operational risks. To manage Sfc financial risks. the board approve the budget and standing financial instructions (SFIS) each year which set out the context of our internal control environment from scheme of delegation through to signatories on bank transactions. To enable colleagues to comply with these instructions we have several policies, processes and standing operating 22 Docusign Envelope ID: F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 procedures in place underpinned by guidance including roles and responsibilities provided to our budget holders and budget keepers. The Skills for Care board seek assurance on the management of risks including financial from a combination of first- and second-line internal assurance, including review of financials and treasury management by the F&P Committee. Where first and second line is insufficient, we seek third line independent assurance from relevant specialist consultants, including legal advi￿ from lawyers, treasury management from CCLA our investment manager and our intemal auditor and external auditor appointments. Independent assurance was sought last year on GDPR and Data protection risks by commissioning Evalian to support the development of a remediation plan to implement the recommendations. which was completed this year. Internal audit assurance." Skills for Care reappointed RSM as intemal auditors to provide independent assurance and advice on the operation of the intemal control environment. An annual audit programme taken from our rolling five-year plan, overseen by the A&R Committee, was agreed for 23124 to include five compliance audits: disbursements, creditors & procurement, treasury, debtors & cash management, compliance and digital cyber security controls. There was also one advisory review of implementation of our performance reporting framework developed this year and a follow up on 16 recommendations from prior audits. Five of these recommendations related to cyber security which were included in this year's audit and the remainder were satisfactorily implemented. External audit assurance.. Skills for Care reappointed Brown Butler as external auditors and while they perform the ststutory audit as part of this, they highlight areas for improvement in our internal financial controls on which they report to the board, and we address each year. Their report following last yearfs audit states that they have not identified any significant deficiencies in internal controls during their audit work and believe that the controls evidenced during their work are adequate for the group and that the group appears to be working proactively, with the use of external advice to seek continuous improvement. On the introduction of the new combined Finan￿ and Audit Committee and new board membership from April 2024, we are now reassessing the 24125 annual risk and assurance plan, including the existing five-year rolling assurance plan. This plan will include financial controls and high-risk areas where we may require further third line assurance. Extemal audit assurance is also required by our funding contracts and grant agreements. In particular, Brovm Butler perform a separate external audit assurance ￿rtificate for the DfE ASYE disbursement funding contract. Skills for Care does not carry out any significant fundraising activities to raise funds from the public. Note 4 and 14 of the financial statements is detailed so it includes sufficient detail of DHSC grant and contract funding in line with the DHSC funding agreements. Group financials We continued to plan for potential future financial funding scenarios for 24125. Future scenario and financial planning will continue with management and the board in line with our strategy. For 23124, we planned and agreed an annual budget for the group to manage its charitable resources within indicative funding available and the Board agreed to fund up to £5.4m from charitable reserves to resource 23124 strategic priorities in line with our agreed strategy. Actual group financial perfonnance for 23124 compared to budget is an improved position as set out on the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) on page 32, resulting in £0.4m reserves utilised, which is below budget. Incoming resources 23 Do¢usign Envelope ID.. F60896D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Before FRS 102 pension interest, the Skills for Care Group achieved a 16.6/0 increase in income and 21.2 % increase in use of resources compared to last year. There was a £5.6m {17.9/ts) increase in restricted income and £0.06m (2.7%) reduction in trading income, although this exceeded the budget. The detail of income is set out in note 4. Within restricted activities, DHSC income increased by 210/0 largely due to £5m additional Workforce Development funding we received and disbursed out to the sector. Net incoming resources after FRS102 pension interest income and before 'other comprehensive income, is a net £0.45m loss on unrestricted funded activities and £0.04m surplus on restricted funded activities resulting in an overall £0.41m loss (2023.. £0.03m surplus}. Other comprehenslve incomelspend was £nil (2023.. gain £0.5m - pension actuarial gain explained in note 14 and 17) There was an unrealised investment gain of £3.3m (2023.. Ioss £1.5m) as set out in note 9 and 14. Both are outside the trustees, control. The overall group financial result is a £2.9m surplus (2023.. deficit £0.9m) net movement in funds. Incoming resources We invested resources into our commercial function as our financial operating model is changing from largely a DHSC grant funded model to bidding to secure commercial tender income. Of our commercial budgeted income of £11 m we achieved £9.3m including £6.9m in non DHSC restricted income and £2.2m trading subsidiary income. See note 4 for details. Charitable actlvltles DHSC funded actlvities: Our main client. continued lo provide restricted grants and some commercial funding for the delivery of our extensive annual work programme aligned to their priorities. Total funds for the year were £27.9m (2023." £22.4m), a 240/¢* increase on last year. This is due to an additional grant of £5m to uplift the funding available for WDF. The total cost of the DHSC work programme was funded by DHSC and by Skills for Care securing some sector co-funding as set out in note 14. £2.2m ASC-WDS activity is funded by a DHSC commercial contract. Other charitable actlvities: We were successful in securing £6.9m charitable restricted funding (2023.. £6.5m} an increase of 6 % (2023.. 140/0 decrease). This includes £6.1m (2023.. £5.9m) DfE contract to disburse the Child and Family ASYE. Skills for Care and Development (SfCD) UK activity generated £0.09m (2023.. £0.09m) from its UK partners where Skills for Care is the host and England partner. In addition. charitable funding from other funders of £0.05m (2023.. £0.6m) was deferred in creditors as activity relates to next year, as set out in note 12. Tradlng activities Trading activity accounted for in the subsidiaries is set out in notes 3, 10 and 14. We generated £2.3m (Budget £1.9m) (2023.. £2.3m) a nilO/o decrease (2023.. 30%) on prior year. In addition, £0.6m (2023.. £1.2m) income was secured relating to 2024125 delivery, so deferred in group creditors as detailed in note 12. Our activity within Affina Organisation Development Ltd (AOD) reduced as 2023 was an exceptional year when we exceeded £1 m income barrier for the first time since inception. Penslon £2.2m (2023 £1.3m) FRS102 pension interest and the Trustees considerations for the treatment of the pension asset is set out in note 17, the detailed figures disclosed being provided by the Actuary. Resources expended 24 Do¢usign Envelope ID.. F60896D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 The charitable group expended £42.4m resources on its strategic priorities, compared to £35.3m last year. The main increase was because we were successful in securing £5m additional WDF DHSC funding, which we then disbursed to the sector. In line with our strategy, we make sure that we assess and plan financial resources. People, third party and corporate costs were managed within our standing financial instructions, budget holder and budget keeper responsibilities and within our procurement and competitive tendering guidelines, as appropriate. We allocate our resources where appropriate to ensure we delivered priorities within budget, provide value for money and ensure spend is eligible, within funderfs tems. Extemal professionals supported internal capacity and capabilities such as investment manager. external and internal auditors, pension actuaries and lawyers. Throughout the year, we maintained a continuous effort to manage our third-party costs, our people, digital and other essential corporate enabling resources, by seeking competitive tenders, delivering in-house or changing the scope to achieve value for money. We ceased some activity and paused some to defer to next year such as Digital investments and the Pension exit, which means that actual 23124 reserves spend was less than the agreed budget. Our disbursement funding to the sector continued to be carefully managed, in line with grant arrangements and tenders. Our key resource asset base, excluding disbursements, is largely people. Whilst some people savings were made in the last quarter of the year. due to a recruitment freeze, People spend this year was significantly more than last year, as set out in note 7. Our People Directorate continued to oversee our People strategy and all people related activity. Priorities continue to support delivery of our strategy by attracting and retaining highly talented, engaged and committed people. We continued to focus on personal development and growth specifically with our Senior Management Team. We have completed a consuftation process to exit our existing defined benefit local government pension scheme and it has been agreed that we will transition affected colleagues onto an alternative defined contribution scheme (Note 17). Our Belonging strategy which is our internal equality. diversity and inclusion activity has focused on Allyship and Neurodiversity. Following the investment in our internal operational infrastructure including transitioning to a new HR system we hav8 been cleansing our data and implementing the functionality of the system to support internal operations. This has complemented the introduction of our revised performance management process IMPACT to encourage greater support, development and performance management of our People. Continual growth and positioning Skills for Care well for the future in a changing extemal context to achieve greater focus on impact, increasing our commercial offer and transforming our digital ambition, the leadership team embarked on an organisational change programme which has included responding with changes to roles and responsibilities and structures to support a new way of working. We have invested in new digital roles, centralised our commercial delivery team and expanded our strategic operations and project management teams to support a programme of intemal improvements. Total funds carried forward All funds received during the year and expenditure incurred are shown in the Statement of Financial Activities. The detailed movements in specific restricted and unrestricted funds are shown in note 14. Reserves pollcy 25 Docusign Envelope ID: F60B96D3-QA9D-44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 The charity has a charitable reserves policy of maintaining unrestricted charitable reserves. The Finance and People Committee (Finance & Audit Committee from 1 May 2024) monitor the charitable resenies policy and underlying assumptions. They make recommendations of designations of those charitable reserves to the board, at least on an annual basis. Charitable reserves Unrestricted Charitable reserves of £43.Om (2023." £40.2m) are accumulated to fund the cost of minimum potential liabilities and not to ex￿ed the estimated maximum costs including statutory redundancy, early retirement costs, six month's operational staff and third-party costs, where applicable, including a period of consultation for all staff, lease and pension liabilities and to cover necessary costs and commitments during an unforeseen period of financial drfficulty. There are sufficient charitable resenies to fund the actual and potential liabilities as set out in note 14 and estimated pension liability in note 15b now a decision has been taken to exit the pension fund in June 2024. Both our subsidiaries carry out non-charitable adivity with an aim to generate trading surplus for reinvestment into our strategic priorities for the benefit of the sector. The Skills for Care Solutions (SfCSL) Board, AOD Board, F&P Committee and Skills for Care Board have oversight and review what may be required to fund future requirements. Unrestricted charitable reserves are designated by the Trustees for specific purposes as described in note 14. The company has restricted reserves of £0.32m (2023 £0.20m) funding carried forward to support DHSC activities planned for the following year. Investment powers and policy The charitys governing document gives the trustees the power to engage an investment manager. This authority has been delegated to the F&P Committee. The appointed manager throughout the year was CCLA Investment Management Limited, who manage the portfolio on a discretionary basis within agreed risk and return objectives. The portfolio is invested in a blend of CCLA 's specialist COIF charity funds. The Funds held during the year were the Ethical Investment Fund (annual management charge (AMC) 0.60 % rebated to 0.50 / for balances over £1 Om); the Fixed Interest Fund (AMC 0.22 /0) and the Charities Property Fund (AMC 0.650/0). We have an unrealised gain of £3.3m as shown in note 9. The totsl return on our investments during the year was 9.5 %. The investment objective is to achieve long term growth to maintain the real spending power of our reserves; the rate of return in any one year will depend substantially on market conditions in the underlying asset classes. At approximately 46 % of our total portfolio the asset class most heavily represented by value is equities. which make up the majority of our largest COIF fund holding, the multi-asset Ethical Fund. The portfolio return therefore substantially reflects the strong retums from equity markets over a period in which inflation and interest rates were moderating and company earnings held up well on average. Otherasset classes significantly represented in the portfolio, through the multi-asset Ethical Fund and the two single-asset funds, are infrastructure, contractual income, UK commercial property and sterling-denominated bonds from both government and non-government issuers. These other asset classes had some weakness during the period due to interest rates and inflation remaining higherfor longer than anticipated by markets. The F&P Committee regularly monitors the return of the funds invested by the investment manager and compares the returns against relevant market indices; the committee also receives regular briefings from the investment manager. We receive regular valuation updates 26 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60896D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 from CCLA and if funds decrease by £0.1 m between valuations, the Chair of F&P Committee is provided with an explanation. The Company has a policy of placing funds which are not invested with the investment manager, or not immediately required for cash flow purposes, in deposit accounts with its bankers as its need for access to funds outweighs any ability to generate higher levels of return. We achieved rates of return between 3.95 % 5.15 % {2023.' 0.050/0 balances. The trustees who held office at the date of approval of this trustees. report confirm that so far as they are each aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company's auditor is unaware, and each trustee has taken all the steps that he or she ought to have taken as a trustee to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company's auditor is aware of that information. Approval The trustee's report, which incorporates the Strategic report, is approved by the Board of Trustees on 21 August 2024 and is signed on its behalf. By order of the board 688lD53￿jA341a... John Coughlan CBE Chalr of the Board West Gate 6 Grace Street Leeds LS12RP 27 Docusign Envelope ID: F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year end￿ 31 March 2024 Statement of responsibilities of the trustees of Skills for Care Ltd (a company limited by guarantee) in respect of the trustees, report and the financial statements The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees, report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the group and parent company financial statements in accordance with UK accounting standards and applicable law (UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Under company law 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 group and charitable company and of the group's excess of income over expenditure for that period. In preparing each of the group and charitsble company financial statements, the trustees are required to: select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently. make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; assess the groups and the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing. as applicable, matters related to going COn￿rn. and use the going concern basis of accounting unless they either intend to liquidate the group or the charitable company or to cease operations or have no realistic altemative but to do so. The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities. 28 Dwusign Envelope ID: F60896D3DA9D44F7-9o9E￿813874SB4A2 Independent Auditor's report to the members of Skills for Care Ltd Opinion We have audited the financial statements of Skills for Care Ltd (the "charitable parent company") and its subsidiaries {the 'group') for the year ended 31 March 2024, which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Consolidated and Cornpany Balance Sheets, the Consolidated 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: give a true and fair view of the state of the group's and charitable parent companls affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of the group's incoming resources and application of resources. including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended. have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice" and have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011. Basis of 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 group and charitable parent 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 Stsndard, 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 signrficant doubt on the group's or charitable parent 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 other information comprises the information included in the trustees, annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If. based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard. 29 Docusbgn Envelope ID= F60896D3-DA9D44F7-909E-5B13874584A2 Independent Auditor's report to the members of Skills for Care Ltd (Gontinu8d) Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: the information given in the Trustees, Report (incorporating the Strategic 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 charitable company 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 Companies Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: adequate accounting records have not been kept by the charitable parent company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or the charitable parent company s financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or certain disclosures of trustees, remuneration specified by law are not made; or we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. Responslblllties of trustees As explained more fully in the Statement of responsibilities of the trustees set out on page 28, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purpose 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 detemiine 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 group's and charitable parent 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 cease operations. or have no realistic alternative but to do so. Auditorfs responsibllities 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 for the audit of the financial statements is available on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uklauditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report. 30 Docuslgn Envelope ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D-44F7-909E-5B138745B4A2 Independent Auditor's report to the members of Skills for Care Ltd (continued) Capability of the audit in 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, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The key laws and regulations we have considered in this context included the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011, pension and tax legislation. In addition, we have considered provisions of other lav￿ and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the group's and charitable parent company's ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty including the 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 the Republic of Ireland (second addition October 2019). The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below: Using our general commercial and sector experience and through discussions with the trustees and other management, we identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements as well as those arising from management's own assessment of the risks that irregularities may occur either as a result of fraud or error. We examined the group's and charitable parent companls regulatory and legal correspondence and discussed with the trustees and other management any known or suspected instances of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations. We communicated identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement team members and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit. In addressing the risk of management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of joumal entries. We also challenged assumptions and judgements made by management in their significant accounting estimates and judgements. We also discussed related party relationships and transactions involving them. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance 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 from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentstion, or through collusion. 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 companvs 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. Linda Cooper (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Brown Butler, Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Leigh House 28-32 St Paul's Street Leeds LS12JT Date:.... 31 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 37 March 2024 Consolidated statement of financial activities (incorporating income and expenditure account and other comprehensive income) 2024 Note Unrestrictod 2024 Restricted 2024 Total 2023 Total Income Charitable activities Trading activities Investments P8nsion 294,787 2.247,217 43,691 2.224,000 37.130,672 37,425,459 2,247,217 43,691 2,224,000 31,733,997 2,308,461 15,939 1,257,000 4.17 Total income 4.14 4,809,695 37.130.672 41,940,367 35,315,397 Raising funds Investments Charitable activities Pension 1,307,700 4,101 4,220,378 2,011,000 1,307,700 4,101 39,029.380 2,011,000 1,141,019 3,906 32.179,982 1,956,000 34,809,002 5,17 Total resources expended 7,543.179 34,809,002 42,352,181 35.280,907 Net (outgoing) l incomlng resources before transfers Transfers and designations (2,733.484) 2,284,692 2,321,670 (2,284,692) {411,814) 34,490 14e Net incoming resources other comprehensive income Aduarial gain l {loss) on 14, pension scheme 17 Net unrealised investment gain 9, 74 l{loss) {448,792) 36,978 {411,814) 34,490 487,000 3,282,932 3,282,932 (1.457,204) Net movement In funds 2,834.140 36,978 2,871.118 {935,714) Total funds brought forward 14 40.160,046 282,724 40,442.770 41,378,484 Total funds carrled fO￿ard 14 42.994,186 319,702 43,313,888 40,442,770 The notes on pages 36 to 61 form part of the financial statements. 32 Docusign Envelop8 ID: F60B96D3i1A9D44F7.909E_5B138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Consolidated group balance sheet At 31 March 2024 Note 2024 2024 2023 2023 Fixod assets Intangible assets Tangible assets Investments 4.191,003 173,199 36,814,557 4,374,238 192,463 33,531,625 41,178,759 38,098,326 Current assets Stock Debtors due within one year Cash at bank in hand 7.945 1,799,524 13,954,662 7,304 5.544,712 9.058,353 11 15,762,131 14.610.369 Creditors= amounts falling due within one year 12 (13.527,002) (12,026.580) Net current assets 2,235,129 2,583,789 Total assets less current 43,413,888 40,682,115 Provision for liabilities and charges 13 {100,000) (239,345} 43,313.888 40,442,770 Pension liabillty 15b,17b,c Nèt assets after pension 43,313.888 40,442.770 Funds Unrestricted (before pension) Pension liability 14 14 42.994.186 40,160,046 Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 14 14 42,994,186 319,702 40,160.046 282,724 Total group funds 43,313,888 40.442,770 The notes on pages 36 to 61 form part of the financial statements These financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 21 August 2024 and were signed on its behalf by: S*ned by: 6BS1D53E33A3418... John Coughlan CBE Trustee and Chair of the Board Company registered number: 03866683 33 Docusign Envelope ID= F60896D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Company balance sheet At 31 March 2024 Note 2024 2024 2023 2023 Fixed assets Intangible assets Tangible assets Investments Investment in subsidiaries 4,183,100 173.199 36,814,557 20.000 4,374,238 192,463 33,531,625 20,000 10 41.190,856 38,118.326 Current assets Debtors due within one yesr Cash at bank and in hand 3,371,331 12,492.594 5,193,524 7,642,962 15,863.925 12,836,486 Credltors: amounts falling due within one year 12 {13,647,294) (10.272,697) Net current assets 2,216,631 2,563,789 Total assets less current liabilities Provisions for liabilities and charges 43,407,487 (100,000) 40,682,115 (239,345) 13 Net assets before pension Pension liability 43,307,487 40.442,770 15b, 17 Net assets after penslon Ilablllty 43,307,487 40.442,770 Funds Unrestricted (before pension) Pension liability 74 14 42,987,785 40.160,046 Unrestricted funds Restricted funds 14 14 42,987,785 319,702 40,160,046 282,724 Total charitable company funds 43,307,487 40,442,770 The notes on pages 36 to 61 form part of the financial statements These financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 21 August 2024 and were signed on its behalf by: s￿￿•d by.. 686lD53E33A3418... John Coughlan CBE Trustee and Chair of the Board Company registered number: 03866683 34 Docusign Envebpe ID: Fso896D3￿A9D44F7_909E_SBl3874sB4￿2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Consolidated cash flow statement Reconciliation of changes in resources to net cash inflow l (outflow) from operating activities Note 2024 2023 Net incoming resources (411.814) 34,490 Adjustment for." Depreciation and amortisation Impairment of investment Interest income Net pension movement 5,6.8 2,557,562 2.488.552 136,581 (15,939) (43,691) 2,102,057 3.745,188 (641) 2.643,684 {159,377) 4.917 Decreasel{Increase) in debtors (Increase)IDecrease in stock 11 Increase l (decrease) in creditors (Decrease) in dilapidats'ons provision 12 13 1,500,422 (139.345) (2.085,031) Net cash from operating activities 7.207,681 404,193 Cash flows from investing activitios Interest received Acquisition of intsngible fixed assets Acquisition of tsngible fixed assets 43,691 (2.324,581) (30.482) 15.939 (2.393,612) (144,801) Net cash (oufflow) from investing activities {2,311,372) (2,522,474) Net increasel(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April 4.896,309 9.058.353 {2,118,281) 11.176,634 Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 13.954,662 9,058,353 Analysis of changes in net debt 1 April 2023 Cash flow Othar non- cash change 31 March 2024 Cash and cash equivalents 9.058,353 4,896,309 13,954,662 35 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Sknlls for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Notes (fomiing part of the financial statements) Accounting policies The company is limited by guarantee and registered as a charity under the Charities Act 2011 (registered charity number 1079836) and incorporated in England and Wales. The presentational currency is £ sterfing and except for note 17, all figures are stated to the nearest pound sterling (£). The accounting policies have been consistently applied in dealing with items which are considered material in relation to the financial statements. Judgements and uncertainties The following are the significant management judgements made in applying the accounting policies of Skills for Care that have the most significant effect on the financial statements. (i) Pension liability As a result of changes to the actuarial assumptions and favourable market conditions, Skills for Care board agreed that it would be prudent to consider withdrawal from the scheme and undertook a consultation of all the remaining scheme members who subsequently agreed to accept becoming deferred members of the scheme and have been offered a 15% increased contribution to the stakeholder pension. The potential deficit valuation is provided by AON who are independent actuaries. The FRS102 liability as at 31 March 2024 accrued as a liability is £nil {2023.' £nil). The orphan exit deficit valuation as at 31 March 2024 is £0.2m is disclosed in note 15b. The Trustees designated reseNes towards funding the pension exit valuation as detailed in note 14. {ii) Income recognition Where income received in the year is related to activity yet to take place, unspent income is deferred to the following year to fund delivery of the activity. Total income deferred is £0.8m {2023.' £1. 8m) (Note 72). {iii) Amortisatlon of intangibles and useful Ilfe of depreciable assets Management regularly reviews the development of its major depreciable asset, ASC-WDS to estimate its useful life and the amortisation of the asset is calculated as costs are incurred. Total amortisation of the ASC-WDS and other capitsl assets for the year is £2.5m (2023." £2.3m). 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 2022) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. Skills for Care meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless othenmise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s). Going concern The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. Whilst our DHSC sponsor has agreed a much lower funding level of £13.5m for 2024125, approval of the third year of the ASC-WDS contract for £2.2m has been received and the contract is due to be signed. We have also maintained the Department for Education (DfE) contract for £6m (2024.. £6m) The charity also has unrestricted charitable reserves as at 31 March 2024 which the trustees believe, together with the above, are sufficient to allow the charity to continue as a going concern for a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing these accounts. As a result, the 36 Docusign Envelope ID: F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Ski118 for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Trustees believe it is appropriate to prepare the accounts on a going con￿rn basis, supported by the budgets for the 24125 period. Basis of consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of the company and its wholly owned subsidiary undertakings, Skills for Care Solutions Limited {SfCSL) and Affina Organisation Development Ltd (AOD) which are made up to 31 March. Subsidiary results are set out in note 10. The consolidated statement of fi'nancial activities consolidates the results of the charitable activities of the group on a line-by-line basis. In accordance with FRS102, no separate Statement of Financial Activities has been presented for the company alone. The net movement in funds for the company only for the year is a loss of £2.71 m (2023.. Ioss £0.93m) The group owns a minority interest in the ordinary share capital of Care Friends Limited and due to the size of the shareholding this is not accounted for as a subsidiary or associate (see note 10}. Income Grants and other income are recognised in the year in which entitlement exists and the amount can be measured with reasonable certainty and measurability. Income is deferred only when the company has to fulfil conditions before becoming entitled to it or where it relates to the following accounting period. Restrided income received which has not been physically spent, accrued or deferred in creditors at the year-end is carried forward in restricted reserves. The trustees consider this to be an appropriate accounting policy as they believe that the grant makers, or other funders who imposed the restrictions, will not ultimately request the company to make refunds to them. All funds receivable from the DHSC are treated as restricted in accordance with grant letters. Resources expended Resources are allocated at a strategic level based on the costed Work Programme IWP) with the DHSC, other funding agreements and the business plan as agreed by the board. Budget holders are allocated specific resources in order to deliver the required outcomes. Activities requiring commissioned work with outstanding milestones as at 31 March 2024 or relating to the outcomes of the 23124 work programme are accounted for on an accruals basis and the costs relating to these milestones are included in the accounts. Commitments to meet future outcomes are not included in the financial statements and are shown in note 14 (f). Governance costs are those incurred in connection with the strategic management of Skills for Care resources. compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements, including legal and audit costs. These have been accounted for within the appropriate cost activity as required by FRS102. Fixed assets: tangible Individual fixed assets costing £5,000 or more are capitalised at cost. Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost of fixed assets by equal annual instalments over their estimated useful lives as follows.. Office fumiture and equipment and IT hardware - 3 years 37 Docusign Envelope ID.. F6oB96D3-DA9D44F7-9O9E￿Bl3874584A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 MarGh 2024 Leases and hire purchase agreements Rentals arising under operating leases are charged to the statement of financial activities over the temis of the agreements. A three-year lease exists for Offi￿ space in Leeds which was signed in March 2022. Penslons The company made contributions to the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF), a multi-employer defined benefit scheme. The company s share of the underlying assets and liabilities of this defined benefits scheme is accounted for in accordance with FRS102 'Retirements Benefits.. The service cost of pension provision relating to the year, together with the cost of any benefits relating to the past service, rf the benefits have vested, is charged to the SOFA. A charge equal to the increase in the present value of the scheme liabilities (because the benefits are closer to settlement) and a credit equivalent to the charity's long term expected return on assets (based on the market value of the scheme assets at the start ofthe year), are also included in the Statement of Financial Activities. The difference between the market value of the assets of the scheme and the present value of the accrued pension liabilities is shown as an asset or liability on the balance sheet. Any differences between the actual and expected return on assets during the year are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities along with differences arising from experience or assumption changes. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by the company to the fund in respect of the year for current and former employees. The company also has a stakeholder scheme with Stsndard Lrfe. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company in an independently administered fund. The amount charged to the profit and loss account represents the contributions payable to the scheme in respect of the accounting period. Investments All listed investments are revalued at bid value at the end of the year as shown in note 9. Changes made to the balance sheet values are reflected in the statement of financial activities. No sales of the investments were made during the year so there is no realised loss or gain to report. The investment manager costs are deducted from any investment gains. In the company's financial statements, investments in subsidiary and other undertakings are stated at Cost less provision for permanent diminution in value as set out in note 9. 1.10 Restricted, unrestricted and designated funds The various funds of the charity are accounted for as foll0v￿. Restricted funds are funds subject to specific instructions or restrictions. which have been imposed by the funders, but still within the objects of the charity. The purpose and use of the restricted funds are set out in note 14 to the financial statements. Unrestricted funds are expendable at the discretion of the trustees in furtheran￿ of the objects of the charity. Funds earmarked for particular purposes by the trustees are designated as separate funds. The designation has an administrative purpose only and does not legally restrict the trustees, discretion to apply the fund. These funds are used to fund potential commitments and projects as agreed by the Board and for the purpose of funding transitional changes, strategy developments, pension liabilities, potential closure costs and periods of financial uncertainty, in accordance with the charitable reserves policy. At 31 March 2024. the unrestricted funds are sufficient to fund the estimated potential closure liabilities as detailed in note 14. 38 Docusign Envek>pe ID: F60B96D3-DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 1.11 VAT A significant proportion of input Value Added Tax (VAT) is not recoverable by the charity as this is classified as non-VAT business, and as such is included in the relevant gross costs in the Statement of Financial Activities. Activities which are classified as vat business fully recover input vat where relevant. 1.12 Taxation Skills for Care is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly. the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received with categories covered by Chapter 3 Part I I Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes. The charge for taxation for the trading subsidiaries are based on the profit for the period and takes into account tsxation deferred because of timing dIfferen￿S between the treatment of certain items for taxation and accounting purposes. 1.13 Business combinations Business combinations are accounted for using the purchase method as at the acquisition date, which is the date on which control is transferred to the entity. At the acquisition date, the group recognises the goodwill at the acquisition date as: the fair value of the consideration {excluding contingent consideration) transferred. plus estimated amount of the contingent consideration (see below). plus the fair value of the equity instruments issued; plus directly attributable transaction costs: less the net recognised amount (generally fair value) of the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities and contingent liabilities assumed. 1.14 Intanglble assets, goodwill and negative goodwlll 1. 14. 1 Goodwill Goodwill is stated at cost less any accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. Goodwill is allocated to cash-generating units or group of cash-generating units that are expected to benefit from the synergies of the business combination from which it arose. 1. 14.2 Other intangible assets Expenditure on internally generated goodwill and brands is recognised in the profit and loss account as an expense as incurred. The cost of intsngible assets acquired in a business are capitalised separately from goodwill if the fair value can be measured reliably at the acquisition date. Other intangible assets including software and ASC-WDS that are acquired by the Company are stated at cost less accumulated amortisation and less accumulated impairment losses. 1. 14.3 Amortisation Amortisation is charged to the profit or loss on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of intangible assets. Intangible assets are amortised from the date they are availab18 for use. The estimated useful life of all intangible assets including ASC-WDS is three years. Goodwill is amortised on a straight-line basis over its useful lrfe. Goodwill has no residual value. The finite useful life of goodwill is estimated to be 5 years Goodwill and other intangible assets are tested for impairment in accordance with Section 27 Impairment of assets when there is an indication that goodwill or an intangible asset maybe impaired. 39 Docusign Envekjpe ID: F6OB96D3￿AgD44F7-909E-sBl3874SB4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 1.15 Stock Stock relates to the estimate of the cost and quantity of publications and other marketing materials held for resale at the year-end. 2. Goodwill on acquisition The estirnated useful life of the goodwill arising from the acquisition is five years. 3. Subsidiary undertakings The company has two trading subsidiaries. Skills for Care Solutions Limited and Affina Organisation Development Limited. The aim of trading is to generate surplus funds which would be paid to the charitable company under gift aid, for strategic investment into the sector and to pursue future charitable activities. The group trading income and expenditure is shown in note 10 and as unrestricted in note 14. 40 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B96D3_DA9D44F7_909E_58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Income Group 2024 Group 2023 Restricted DHSC Other funders 30,239.228 6,891,444 24,981.940 6,507.135 Total restricted income 37.130,672 31.489.075 Unrestricted Trading income (less trading bank interest included below) Bank interest Charitable income FRS 102 pension income (note 17) 2,247.217 43,691 294.787 2.224.000 2,308.461 15,939 244.922 1.257.000 Total unrestricted income 4.809,695 3.826.322 Total income 41,940,367 35.315,397 Workforce revenu8 grant (inc NHST-D) Workforce capital grant ASC-WDS contract ASC Workforce redesign contract Neurodiversity, Disability and Learning Disability Office of the Chief Social Worker grant Office of the Chief Social Worker - WRES contract Liberty Protection Safeguard repayment 27,269.645 591,639 2,163,560 214,384 21,956,341 447,467 2,293,356 180,000 110,000 70,000 (75,224) Total DHSC restrlcted income 30.239.228 24,981,940 Dept for Education NHS England Health Education England National Care Association Secondment fees Registered Nursing Home Association Capita Business Services Local Authorities Others 6,052,272 255,614 196,265 166,497 142,088 5,924.724 107.936 292.801 77.236 28,064 17,444 33,200 60,000 44,438 Total othar restrlcted income 6,891,444 6.507,135 Total restricted Income 37,130.672 31,489,075 Total unrestrided and restrlcted income 41,940,367 35,315,397 41 Docusign Envelope ID.. F60B96D3DA9D44F7-909E-58138745B4A2 Skills for Care Ltd Year ended 31 March 2024 Total resources expended Staff costs Other costs Group Total 2024 Staff costs Other costs Group Total 2023 5{a) 5(N¢ a) No Lna)o ¢£1 t Inr a) io o) ¢0 Lllv ¢1> o >£LUUU Z ¢u a5fnkir)5z r£oc£o (n o O)Uo >0)< > 3 a)LL U CLQWQIT) q) c x o (f (V ¢V ¢uuus JJiiC)u)>