# **Directors’ and Trustees’ report and accounts** For the year ended 31 March 2021
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## **Contents**
|**Contents**||
|---|---|
|**Reference and administrative information**|**2**|
|**Introduction from the Chair**|**4**|
|**Who we are**|**5**|
|**Our services**|**8**|
|**Client problems**|**9**|
|**Income by funding source**|**10**|
|**Thanks**|**11**|
|**A focus on Pension Wise**|**12**|
|**Who our clients are**|**12**|
|**The difference we make**|**13**|
|**The wider impact of the work we do**|**13**|
|**Research and campaigns**|**14**|
|**Volunteering with us**|**15**|
|**How did we do?**|**15**|
|**Key objectives for 2021/22**|**17**|
|**Financial risk and reserves policy**|**18**|
|**Report of the auditors**|**24**|
|**Statement of financial activities**|**28**|
|**Balance sheet**|**30**|
|**Notes to the financial statements**|**31**|
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# **Reference and administrative information**
**Charity Registration Number 1085220 Company limited by guarantee** , **Registered Number 4099352 Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN 617564**
**Registered Office** : Citizens Advice Shropshire, Fletcher House, 15 College Hill, Shrewsbury, SY1 1LY. **Directors and Trustees** Chris Boote (Chair – current from 26/11/20) Paul Langton (Former Chair to 26/11/20), Claire Cartlidge, Penny Cooper, Joanne Harrison, Tony Hinkley, Andy Howitt, Bethan Cross (Co-opted 20/05/20, Elected at AGM 26/11/20) Frances Beck (Co-opted 25/03/21) Andy Brenan (Co-opted 22/07/21) Jeremy Hunt (Resigned 20/07/20) Alan Taylor (Resigned 18/12/20) **Honorary advisers** Keir Hirst (Honorary Solicitor) Steve Dargan (Honorary Adviser) **Company Secretary** Paul Langton **Chief Executive Officer (CEO)** Jackie Jeffrey **Senior Management Team** CEO, Iona Aylen, Alison Alexander, Tereza Hayek **(SMT) Finance Manager** Katharine Haines (Also part of SMT) **Registered Office** Fletcher House, 15 College Hill, Shrewsbury SY1 1LY **Bankers** National Westminster Bank Plc. Shrewsbury Mardol Head, 8 Mardol Head, Shrewsbury SY1 1HE
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**Auditors** James, Holyoak & Parker Limited 1 Knights Court, Archers Way, Battlefield Enterprise Park, Shrewsbury SY1 3GA
## **Investment Advisers**
Redmayne Bentley 4 Tettenhall Road, Wolverhampton WV1 4SA
**Deposit Providers**
Flagstone (from 08/02/21) 1[st] Floor, Clareville House, 26-27 Oxendon Street, London SW1Y 4EL
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## **Introduction from the Chair**
As we entered the start of the 2020-2021 financial year it was becoming clear that, like many other charities, Citizens Advice Shropshire would need to adapt quickly to the very different environment created by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. There was clarity from our Trustee Board and Leadership Team that it was vital to continue to support people in Shropshire even though the lock down and travel restrictions meant we could no longer see people face to face. We rapidly moved to remote working, providing advice over the telephone and over the course of the year have monitored the impact of this in terms of helping our clients and remaining accessible to everyone. It's been really pleasing to see that this new way of working, which has not been without challenges, has enabled us to help almost as many people in this year as we did in the previous year. None of this would have been possible without the resilience and adaptability of our team of people who have been creative and incredibly committed to helping our clients, and the continued support of our funders. I’d like to give a special mention to our volunteers who were not able to contribute as much as they would have liked, due to the limitations of home and remote working. We are pleased to have been able gradually to bring back some of our volunteers to support our service to clients.
As Chair I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has worked for us and worked with us to help us transition to new ways of working and to my colleagues on our Trustee Board, (all volunteers), who have been ever willing to adapt to change and share insights.
As we look forward, we know we need to build on the lessons of 2020 and strengthen and expand what we do. We anticipate many more people will need our help as the government packages of support put in place through the pandemic are phased out. We are going to remain focused on using the telephone and digital systems to help many people, but know that we also need to offer some face-to-face help when it is needed. We have plans to recruit and train more volunteers and have strengthened our staff team to support this. The future will, no doubt, continue to challenge us but I am confident our willingness to listen, learn and adapt will mean that we can continue to provide free, high quality, independent advice to those who need it and make a real difference to the lives of people and communities in Shropshire.
**Chris Boote Chair**
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## **Who we are**
Citizens Advice Shropshire (CAS) is a charity, constituted as a Company limited by guarantee and, therefore, governed by its Articles of Association. The trustees confirm they have referred to the information contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the aims and objectives of Citizens Advice, and in planning activities and setting policies and priorities for the year ahead.
The Charity's objects are to promote any charitable purpose for the public benefit by the advancement of education, the protection and preservation of health and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress in particular, but without limitation, for the benefit of the community in Shropshire and surrounding areas.
In carrying out its objects and in all aspects of its work, Citizens Advice is committed to promoting equality and diversity, preventing prejudice and discrimination, ensuring equal access and promoting good relations between all sections of the community.
The main activities undertaken to further our charitable purposes for public benefit are to provide the advice people need for the problems that they face and to improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives.
We are an organisation that is committed to its values, where the client is central to all we do and we are respectful of each other, providing a supportive and inclusive culture. We value integrity and stand up for fairness in all we do.
We cover many different subject areas including debt, welfare benefits, housing, employment, consumer, family and personal, utilities, tax, health and social care, education and legal.
The Charity is organised so that the trustees meet regularly to manage its affairs, with full board meetings held every two months. There are also two sub-committees which oversee the more detailed aspects of governance, and, in turn, report to the main board.
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|**Sub-committee**|**Responsibilities**|
|---|---|
|Finance
sub-committee|To lead, develop and oversee the organisation’s policies and
strategies in respect of financial management and planning, ensuring
effective governance.|
|Operations
sub-committee|To lead, develop and oversee the organisation’s policies and
strategies in respect of operational matters and service delivery,
ensuring effective governance.|
The sub-committees have terms of reference covering their scope and delegated powers. Their membership and terms of reference are reviewed and updated annually.
We recruit trustees using local PR, social media, CAS website and our contacts to find people who have the skills and perspectives we need to provide good leadership and make sound decisions. Trustees are recruited against a job description and person specification which also list the behavioural competencies expected of a trustee of CAS. All new trustees are initially co-opted on to the board and are then elected to the board by the membership at the Annual General Meeting.
The induction process for trustees is shown on the next page.
Trustees shall retire from office at the third annual general meeting following the annual general meeting at which they were elected but may be re-elected.
A trustee who holds office as Chair or Vice Chair may not hold office in that capacity for more than 6 consecutive years. After the end of this period a Vice Chair may be appointed as Chair, but two further years must pass before any former Chair or Vice Chair shall be eligible for re-election to any of those offices.
CAS is one of 265 separate and independent local Citizens Advice offices that make up the Citizens Advice Service across England and Wales. This is a membership organisation and we have to comply with strict membership standards and audit requirements to retain our membership. We use our national organisation’s policies and procedures as the basis for our own. We retain an overall rating of green (excellence) as part of our Performance and Quality Standards. We also hold the AQS Quality Mark (General Help) and we are Charity Commission endorsed as an Effective Charity (Charity Commission Membership Standard).
The day to day running of the organisation is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jackie Jeffrey, who reports regularly to the board. The operations of CAS are managed through a Senior Management Team (SMT), comprising the CEO, Generalist Services Manager, Specialist Services Manager, Partnership and Development Manager, and Finance Manager.
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**----- Start of picture text -----**
TRUSTEE INDUCTION
ADMIN CHAIR TRUSTEE
T rustee appointed; m eets CEO;
Chair initiates induction process
Current docum ent list:
Explains roles as
CAS governing docum ent
Observer and Co-optee
Latest Annual Report & Accounts
Strategic Plan & Action Plan
Mission, Vision & Values statem ents
Minutes of recent meetings as appropriate
Com mittee structure & remits T rustee reads documets
Provides initial
CAS policy dealing with conflicts of interest documents & weblinks etc. and raises questions
Office M anual as needed
Com panies House info
Any other key documents as needed
Weblinks to include:
Invites to first Board Attends first Board
CitAd Guidance on T rustees
Meeting as Observer Meeting as Observer
Signs Confidentiality
Agreem ent & Declaration of
Interests form
At 2nd meeting invites
Board to approve new Co-opted to Board Queries?
T rustee as Co-optee until next AGM
until next AGM
YES
Requests m eeting with
Introduces Mentor CEO & Adm in (+ Mentor) Contacts M entor NO
to T rustee to discuss operations & in first instance
Further information e.g.: obligations
List of T rustees & responsibilities
Electronic access to CAS website
HR strategy
Key policies Further information m ade Attends 3 Finance Reads additional
Contact details of senior manager to arrange local available as needed Com mittee documentation and web
office observation visit meetings based information
Electronic links & passwords provided as needed
List of acronym s (web-based)
Requests visit to
local office
Allocated to
Discusses role as T rustee
Com mittee as
after two Board M eetings
agreed
If m utual satisfaction with
role, presents to Board for
approval as Trustee at AGM
**----- End of picture text -----**
In 2019 trustees started the process of assessing CAS job roles using an industry job evaluation scheme and are allocating roles to grades with the aim of providing a more structured, transparent and fair pay scheme. Salary grades are based on NJC scales. All CAS staff are paid in excess of the living wage.
We have a detailed three year Strategic Plan which sets out organisational priorities and objectives which the SMT use to prioritise work. Risk and operational reports, KPIs and performance are reported to the board to allow trustees to monitor risk and performance.
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## **Our services**
Our different service delivery options are supported by a number of funding sources and we would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported our service over the last year.
The **Generalist service** for adults is where clients can contact us. Previously this has included face to face provision but in 2020/2021 it has been via our telephone advice line. Details of service hours and how to contact us can be found on our website www.cabshropshire.org.uk. This service is funded by Shropshire Council, Ludlow Town Council, local Parish Councils and client donations.
**IASS service** provides Information, Advice and Support Service to children and young people aged 0 to 25 who have, or may have, special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), as well as their parents and carers. This service is funded by Shropshire Council and National Children’s Bureau.
**Specialist provision** includes specific subject areas such as debt advice (funded by the Money Advice Service), Pension Wise and Universal Credit: Help to Claim (main funder Department for Work and Pensions), welfare benefits (funded by Shropshire Council - Enable).
**Outreach services** have previously been face to face, for 2020/2021 we have had to support these clients by phone and have made special arrangement to ensure our most vulnerable clients have been helped.
From 23rd March 2020 we moved all our resources to a telephone only service delivery model. By concentrating on one channel we ensured that we could maintain a county wide response without stretching our resources too thinly.
For clients: they can access telephone Advice on **0808 278 7894** and we maintain our Single Point of Referral (SPOR) on 01743 280019 for IASS, Pension Wise, Enable and professionals / local organisations who have vulnerable clients **.**
For staff: this meant moving swiftly to home based service delivery and we would like to thank all our staff for their flexibility and support in ensuring that CAS continued to provide essential support to our clients.
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## **Client roblems p**
Despite challenges of working within a pandemic and homeworking there has only been an 11% decrease in numbers helped, down by 840 from the previous year to 6,689. Since the beginning of the pandemic we have seen a number of changes to enquiries coming to CAS reflecting the challenges being faced by our clients.
We have seen a decrease in the number of issues with which clients have been helped, down by 3,204 from the previous year to 26,494, but overall this is an increase in issues of 3% over the last 2 years.
We saw a 68% rise in employment issues, mainly relating to furlough, change of terms and conditions, pay and threat of redundancy. Also, there was a huge rise in Universal Credit enquiries at the beginning of lockdown as people needed to claim benefits due to loss of earnings but claimant numbers have steadied out in the last 12 months.
## **Issues Change**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Number of Issues 2019/20 and 2020/21
Benefits Universal Credit
Benefits & tax credits
Financial services & capability
Debt
Employment
Housing
Relationships & family
Consumer goods & services
Legal
Utilities & communication
Education
Health & community care
Discrimination & Hate & GVA
Travel & transport
Other
Tax
Immigration & asylum
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
2019/20 Issues 2020/21 Issues
**----- End of picture text -----**
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## **Income by funding source**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Income by funding source
£1,000,000
£900,000
£800,000
£700,000
£600,000
£500,000
£400,000
£300,000
£200,000
£100,000
£0
2019/20 2020/21
Local Authority funding long term Government long term National Children's Bureau Local Authority funding short term Big Lottery Bank interest & investment income Misc income Misc donations Town & Parish councils Rate relief
**----- End of picture text -----**
We are grateful to all our funders who maintained all contract and grant payments and relaxed KPIs, so we were able to continue to deliver essential services whilst adjusting to new ways of working. We received grants from Shropshire Council to pay for essential equipment and software to allow remote working, and to pay for infection control measures. We should also like to thank the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for grants received via national Citizens Advice which funded soft phones and remote working equipment.
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## **Thanks**
The CEO and Board of Trustees thank all the staff, volunteers and partners who have worked so hard this year to achieve these successes. Our people continue to be our biggest asset. More than ever people have given their best to maintain services during the pandemic and the patience of our volunteers has been appreciated whilst we have set up a framework for them to return to the service and provide essential phone advice remotely. Staff have changed roles and had to adapt to challenging circumstances whilst working remotely away from their teams. They have all been outstanding.
We would like to thank all funders who have continued to support us
- Bridgnorth Food Bank
- Citizens Advice
- Best Practice Lead and Help to Claim
- Pension Wise
- Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) debt funding
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) – Covid-19 support for softphones and remote working equipment
- Culmington Parish Council
- Enable – Better Off In Work
- Hope Bagot Parish Meeting
- Information Advice and Support Programme
- Jane Higginson Trust
- Kinnerley Parish Council
- Leominster Town Council
- Ludlow Town Council
- Ludlow Walkers Group
- Market Drayton Action for Health
- Market Drayton Town Council
- Marches Energy Agency welfare benefits checks
- My Money Matters – Oswestry Community Action
- Shropshire Council
- Advice, Advocacy and Welfare Benefits
- Information Advice and Support Service
- Covid-19 support
- Syrian families support
- Remote working equipment and infection control grant
- Stanton Lacy Parish Council
- Stockton Parish Council
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## **A focus on Pension Wise**
Citizens Advice Shropshire is one of 38 local Citizens Advice who have been delivering the government’s Pension Wise service for the last six years. Launched in April 2015, Pension Wise was a new guidance service set up to help people understand their options under the pension freedoms.
In partnership with Coventry Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Wolverhampton and Citizens Advice Worcester, Citizens Advice Shropshire delivers Pension Wise appointments to people aged 50 and over with a defined contribution pension.
## **Key statistics**
For 2020/21, Pension Wise has delivered 77,631 appointments across the service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
People visiting Pension Wise have remained highly satisfied with the guidance they are receiving, with satisfaction ratings remaining consistently high. For 2020/21, Citizens Advice achieved a satisfaction score above 95%.
## **Who our clients are**
Following a year of remote working and putting all our resources onto the phone, there has been a change in the demographics of our clients. More clients from remote rural, deprived areas in Shropshire have been able to access us. We have seen a shift towards a younger age group, increase in clients from BAME communities and we have continued to support those who are sick or have long term disabilities.
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## **The difference we make**
## **The wider im act of the work we do p**
We can put a financial value on our role in:
- keeping people in employment or helping them back to work
- preventing housing evictions and statutory homelessness
- reducing the demand for mental health and GP services
- improving client mental wellbeing and family relationships
- (Source: Modelling the value of the Citizens Advice service in 2017)
Some of the financial outcomes accrue directly to individuals – this income is likely to be spent locally, benefiting local communities.
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(Source: Financial modelling our value to society 2020/21 Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s - GMCA (formerly New Economy) cost benefit model)
## **Research and campaigns**
We use our clients’ anonymous data to campaign for positive change, speaking up about the policies and services that cause people problems. As a local Citizens Advice we can spot emerging issues early and tackle the root cause of problems.
The Board of CAS has recognised the importance of good research by investing in a research post that will enable us to enhance our understanding of who needs our help, how we can best support them and what services make the most difference to them. We will continue to fill any gaps in our evidence base and give a voice to people’s concerns.
Increasing our understanding of people’s needs means we will be well placed to act with our partners as an ‘intelligent provider’ for commissioners, not just delivering services but also well-equipped to advise on and influence the shape of provision.
During 2020/21 we continued campaigning on the changes to Council Tax Support. Additional Covid-19 support from Government has meant that many of those on low income have had their 20% reduction for 2 years and now the Council have also agreed to review the Council Tax Reduction scheme for 2022/23.
We have also campaigned on Universal Credit and the potential loss of the £20 uplift during the pandemic. We have also been working with partners including Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance, Public Health and Health Watch Shropshire on research into food insecurity in South West Shropshire. This has been an important piece of research which has led to a number of recommendations to help reduce the impact of food insecurity in Shropshire and the barriers that people face. We are currently awaiting the results of a funding bid to continue this work.
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## **Volunteerin with us g**
The contribution of our volunteers brings real added value to the organisation worth over £94,000 if we had to pay them. But volunteering benefits our volunteers – they improve their skills, resilience, health and wellbeing, while strengthening community engagement.
However, this has been a particularly difficult year for our volunteers having to remote work during the pandemic. Many of our volunteers were unable to continue with their volunteering whilst our offices have been closed and have missed the friendship and camaraderie of working together or have had life events that have meant they can no longer volunteer. We would like to take this opportunity thank these volunteers for their hard work and commitment to the service and our clients and wish them all the best for the future.
Others have really enjoyed remote working and settled into the new ways of working and we now have a core of 20 volunteers active on the rota. Developing our digital skills has meant we have been able to create a supportive and effective volunteer team who have made such a difference to clients and by putting our resources on to the free Adviceline phone number – we have improved access to advice for those in remote areas or not able to get out of the home due to the pandemic. Again, a big thank you to these volunteers for their commitment and resilience during this time.
We have been working hard during the year to put all the training on line and develop recruitment, and training for new and existing volunteers.
## **How did we do?**
We had set a number of key objectives to achieve during 2020/21.
The first year (2020/2021) of the Strategic Plan was rewritten and agreed by the board in response to the pandemic. Key themes were:
**1.** Looking after **the well-being of our staff and volunteers.** During the year we carried out a number of wellbeing questionnaires to ensure our staff and volunteers were coping with remote working and the fast pace of change due to the pandemic. We were overwhelmed with the responses from our staff and volunteers that reassured us that people felt supported with their wellbeing and our people management survey showed that over 90% of the workforce believe Citizens Advice Shropshire a great place to work or volunteer. We have used MS Teams to keep in touch and Zoom for staff meetings. Feedback has been that staff feel more engaged and in touch than before when we were geographically
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dispersed. But it has been a difficult year for our volunteers where we have had our volunteer resource reduced from 70 to 20.
**2. Understanding what resources and support** were required to remote work. We have spent the last year looking at the impact of remote working on service delivery, client access and satisfaction and quality of advice, and we consulted with clients, staff and funders. We have now have produced a Direction of Travel document which sets out the next 18 months’ service delivery and costed the additional resources required to meet those objectives.
**3.** Keeping all **stakeholders** updated on what is happening. All through the year we have had weekly meetings with Shropshire Council and the Commissioners of our local services and participated in national Citizens Advice consultation meetings. We have attended partnership meetings and joined the Shropshire Social Task Force where we could update all sectors on how the pandemic was impacting on our clients. We continued with our social media to keep clients up to date.
**4. Understanding the advice needs** of our clients in the current crisis. We looked at the advice trends and evidence coming from government and national Citizens Advice, undertook research work on food insecurity and debt and undertook additional training on employment issues affecting clients during the pandemic.
**5. Exploring alternative governance systems** to ensure trustees can continue to meet their roles and responsibilities. Trustees have worked hard on ensuring that they can continue to meet digitally and processes have been put in place to ensure online meetings are safe and secure.
**6. Ensuring strong financial controls** were maintained. We have introduced a number of checks and balances to ensure we maintain rigorous financial controls whilst remote working, including ensuring correct authorisation of invoices and digital signatures, and separation of payment input and authorisation roles.
**7. Business Recovery Plan.** These objectives were and continue to be underpinned by a specific Covid-19 Organisational Risk Assessment and are set out in our Direction of Travel document in the Strategic Plan.
We have achieved so much during the year but it has not been without its challenges for everyone both professionally and personally. As a Chief Officer I cannot begin to thank everyone enough for your dedication and commitment and everyone has given more than 100%. You have all been marvelous and outstanding.
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## **Ke ob ectives for 2021/22 y j**
**1.** Work Force development Plans to include:
- Looking after the **well-being** of our staff, ensuring they are safe, well and supported whilst we homework.
- Creating a plan and risk assessments for bringing staff back in to the office
- and establishing flexible working policy.
- Review the staffing structure so that staff roles are aligned to new ways of working.
- Review our volunteer ‘offer’ and **redesign volunteer roles** to best suit our future needs
**2.** Understanding what **resource and support** is needed to maintain Adviceline and Single Point Of Referral
**3.** Review **information technology and communication requirements** to enable mobile and remote flexible working and resilience and invest in solutions that will future proof the organisation.
**4.** Consider options for **business recovery** taking account of government advice.
**5.** Develop a Comms Strategy keeping all **stakeholders** updated on what is happening including staff and volunteers, funders and clients and the general public.
**6.** Understanding the **advice needs** of the clients in the current crisis including employment, housing, debt advice and welfare benefits and what tools we can develop to support self-help, and supporting advisers to know where the latest information is and what is changing.
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## **Financial review**
## **Transactions and financial position**
The Statement of Financial Activities on page 28 shows an operating surplus for the year of £30,470, with total funds of £1,036,810 at 31 March 2021. The operating surplus in 2019/20 was £28,651 and total funds were £861,776 at 31 March 2020. This significant increase in funds is due to the increase in stock market values during 2020/21, as they recovered from the sharp fall which occurred in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We continue to maintain good levels of working capital which allow us to manage short term volatility. During 2020/21, we opened a new deposit account with the Nationwide, via Flagstone Deposits, to spread counterparty risk, ensuring that our cash deposits are covered as far as possible by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Throughout 2020/21, our funders have continued with their financial support to us, and this enabled us to maintain our levels of service to clients. We have even received additional funding, from Shropshire Council and from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Much of this was spent on the equipment and infrastructure required in the shift to remote working, as well as helping to ensure our central office, which remained open throughout, is covid secure.
## **Tangible fixed assets for use by the Charity**
The details of movements in fixed assets are set out in note 10 to the accounts.
## **Reserves**
The trustees reviewed and amended the reserves policy during 2020/21, and have determined to retain 6 months of operating costs in reserves in order to meet unexpected events (such as a significant loss of funding). The rationale for retaining 6 months of operating costs is that the charity has a number of partner contracts that have a 6 month break clause. As a result retaining 6 months of operating costs ensures that the charity can undertake an orderly wind up of the partner contracts as well as allowing time to secure alternative funding.
The policy is monitored and reviewed by the trustees annually. The amount of reserves is calculated from the annual budget and amounts to £500,000. Further details are disclosed in note 15 to the accounts.
The majority of the charity’s funds are represented by investment assets. Consequently the charity’s reserves are expected to generate an investment return which is used to support the continuing activities of the charity. In addition the trustees have decided that any additional funds in excess of the reserves policy shall also be invested for the long term and used to support infrastructure and other projects that the charity identifies in its 3 year strategic plan.
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## **Investment policy and returns**
The trustees reviewed and amended the investment policy during 2020/21.
## Policy
The investment policy is dependent on the charity’s strategic plan as this outlines the plans and ambitions of the charity for the next 3 years in terms of both its operational activity and its plans for investment in projects and infrastructure investment. Consequently, the policy needs to be reviewed annually in line with both the 3 year strategic plan and the annual budget.
The general investments are managed on an advisory basis by an investment manager in such a way as to provide supplemental income for the charity and will go some way towards helping it to carry out effectively its activities in both the short term and the long term. Where possible, trustees would like the value of the assets invested to be enhanced so that as a minimum they keep pace with inflation in the long term. With regard to the investments that are being put forward by the investment manager the trustees are willing to take a long-term view with regard to the investment term, i.e. up to five years. It should, however, be noted that access to the invested funds is available at all times.
Income from the investments is paid into the charity’s bank account as and when the income falls due and this is monitored by the charity.
Since the 2020/21 year end trustees have reviewed, amended and expanded the Ethical Investment statement.
## Risk appetite
An approximate balance is to be maintained between the enhancement of capital and the generation of income and the trustees are willing to take a “medium risk” approach to the management of the assets.
Investments that fall within this category will include those investments that will carry a degree of volatility and will include UK based blue chip equities and fixed interest securities. Such holdings are generally designed to be long-term investments.
## Target investment return
The charity aims to achieve the following target returns:
Investment income: The income generated from the investments contributes to the operational running costs of the charity and that continues to be an important aspect of the investment performance. Historically we have achieved a return of 4% on the investment portfolio and the aim is to continue achieving this level of return in future years. However, given the nature on investment markets we will monitor the investment income return in the range of 2% to 4%.
Capital growth: The investment funds have 2 primary purposes from a capital perspective. Firstly, the capital is there to support the charity’s reserve requirements as set out in the
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charity’s reserves policy. Secondly, any capital value above that level can be used to support the charity’s objectives in supporting its operational activities.
## Investment Parameters and Exclusions
The trustees of the charity are keen to ensure that the investment portfolio holds an appropriate level of cash to support the charity’s operational activities. This is currently based on the charity’s annual budget.
The trustees prefer that remaining investment portfolio consists of “collective” investments as opposed to individual equity or fixed interest holdings. In this way it is anticipated that the portfolio will be spread over a much wider number of holdings and therefore the overall investment risk will be spread as widely as possible. Where possible, investments should be concentrated into either equity backed funds or fixed interest backed funds with the former intended to provide scope for a growth in capital together with a modest but growing level of dividend income and the latter intended to provide more of an emphasis towards generating a higher level of investment income in the long term. The portfolio will hold no more than 25% of its assets in any one particular collective investment although may hold up to 25% of its total assets with one particular investment company. If any alteration to the above is to be made then the trustees’ permission will be required. The geographical spread of assets for both equity backed funds and the fixed interest security portfolio will have an emphasis towards UK stocks although the companies managing these portfolios will have the discretion to invest into overseas stocks should they feel it appropriate. It should also be noted that the companies with whom the investments are made may also have the discretion to invest in a variety of other investments including cash on deposit, derivatives, options, currencies, property at their discretion.
## Investment Performance
The charity will monitor the performance of the investment manager as follows.
Investment income: This measure will be based on the target investment return of 2% to 4% as outlined in section 5 above on an annual basis.
Capital growth: this will be measured annually against the performance of the ARC Balanced Index.
As at 31 March 2021 the charity had £912,795 invested in readily tradeable securities. The investments are managed by Redmayne Bentley.
## **Going concern**
The financial position and performance have been outlined in the financial review. The trustees have assessed our position and concluded that Citizens Advice Shropshire is wellplaced to meet our liabilities as they fall due and to manage the business risks we face.
This position is supported by a strong cash flow, sufficient reserves and good relationships with our funders. Our planning and reporting processes, including financial projections,
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take into consideration the current economic climate (including the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic) and its potential impact on our various sources of income and planned expenditure.
We have therefore adopted the going concern basis of preparation of these financial statements on the basis that we have concluded there is a reasonable expectation that we have sufficient resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, being at least 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements
## **Directors and trustees**
All directors of the Company are also trustees of the Charity, and there are no other trustees. The trustees are listed on page 2. The board has the power to appoint additional trustees as it considers fit within the terms of the Articles of Association.
## **Statement of internal control and risk management**
The CEO and Chair of Trustees have a joint responsibility for maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of CAS policies, aims and objectives.
This system of internal control is designed to manage risk to a reasonable level rather than to eliminate the risk of failure to achieve policies, aims and objectives: it can therefore only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness. The system of internal control is based on an ongoing process designed to identify and prioritise the risks to the achievement of CAS policies, aims and objectives, to evaluate the likelihood of those risks being realised and the impact should they be realised, and to manage them efficiently, effectively and economically. The system of internal control has been in place in CAS for the year ended 2020/21 and up to the date of approval of the annual report and accounts.
The trustee board conducted a review of the major risks to which the Charity is exposed and has also adopted a specific Covid-19 Risk Assessment for the pandemic which is kept under regular review. Where appropriate, systems or procedures have been established to mitigate the risks the Charity faces. The CEO also reports to the trustees regular updates on key risks and milestones.
Internal control risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures for authorisation of all transactions and projects. Procedures are in place to ensure compliance with health and safety of staff, volunteers, clients and visitors to the organisation. The continuing implementation of Quality Mark Standards and of the Citizens Advice Membership Scheme ensures a consistent quality of delivery for all operational aspects of the Charity. These procedures are periodically reviewed to ensure they continue to meet the needs of the Charity.
The current organisational risk analysis (which now includes assessments of major contracts held and a Covid-19 risk analysis) was updated in October 2020 and again in July 2021. This shows that of the 45 major risks identified:
17% (12%) are ‘very high’ and require active management and include continued
22
funding uncertainty, changes to Government policy and increases in client demand due to loss of other services and the long term impacts of the pandemic on funding
- 44% (56%) are ’high’ and require contingency plans
- 31% (32%) are medium risk and require good housekeeping with regular review
In our Covid-19 risk analysis 30% of ‘high risks’ identified July 2020 have been reduced to ‘medium’ and 5% reduced from ‘very high’ to ‘high’ risk because our understanding of government legislation, the availability of our stocks of PPE, testing and the vaccine have mitigated many of the risks.
Whilst public policy is an external risk to our funding there is little we can actually do to mitigate this risk other than continue to demonstrate the public and social value of a free, confidential and impartial advice service and look for other sustainable sources of funding (if there are any). We continue to work with our partners and the Shropshire Voluntary & Community Sector Assembly (VCSA) in demonstrating our impact as preventive services.
Information technology is embedded in all the work we do including BMIS, CABlink, CAS web site, Casebook and information tools so it is vital that we continually invest in our IT infrastructure and IT support. The move to home based service delivery lead to swift changes in the technology used – increasing our use of Microsoft 365 to include Teams for video meetings, change to Outlook for emails, sharing information resources and for soft phones. We have secured individual cyber insurance through our existing provider and made it mandatory for all staff, volunteers and trustees to undertake Remote Working training so they are aware of the risks. Work is now being carried out on securing a new backup system for data to protect against potential hacking.
The local Citizens Advice trustee board oversee the information security of all personal information of our clients, staff, funders and strategic partners that is processed. CAS holds joint responsibility for client data that is held in our case management system, with the national Citizens Advice service. An information assurance management team exists to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all personal and sensitive data is maintained to a level which is compliant with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018.
The organisation has a written business continuity plan which is reviewed regularly and updated in response to Covid-19.
## **Statement of trustees' responsibilities**
The trustees (who are also directors of Citizens Advice Shropshire for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of
23
the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the
trustees are required to.,
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently,,
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2015 (FRS 102);
makejudgements and estimates that are reasonable and pruden¢
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any
material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements,,
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate
to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with
reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and
enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.
They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence
for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other
irregularities.
In so far as the trustees are aware:
there is no relevant accounting information of which the charitable companys
auditor is unaware,. and
the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves
aware of any relevant accounting information and to establish that the auditor is
aware of that information.
Auditors
A resolution proposing the board re-appointjames, Holyoak & Parker Limited UHP), as
current Auditors for the Charity, will be put to the Annual General Meeting.
This report was approved by the board of directors and trustees on 23 September 2021
and signed on their behalf.
Paul Langton
Company Secretary
24
**CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS/TRUSTEES OF CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **Opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of Citizens Advice Shropshire (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Statement of Cash Flows, the Balance Sheet and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of 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 charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2021, and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
## **Basis for opinion**
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
## **Conclusions relating to going concern**
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## **Other information**
The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Directors’ and Trustees’ report and accounts, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
25
**CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS/TRUSTEES OF CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE (Continued)**
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
## **Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006**
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
- the information given in the trustees’ report (incorporating the directors’ report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
- the directors’ report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of our 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 directors’ report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
## **Responsibilities of trustees**
As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 22, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
26
**CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS/TRUSTEES OF CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE (Continued)**
## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements**
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK), we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:
- Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
- Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the charitable company’s internal control.
- Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the trustees.
- Conclude on the appropriateness of the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the charitable company to cease to continue as a going concern.
- Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable
27
CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERSITRUSTEES OF
CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE (Continued)
companls members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have
formed.
Robert Humphreys BEng FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)
for and on behalf of Jame5. Holyoak & Parker Limited
Date.. It Loi
1 Knights Court
Archers Way
Battlefield Enterprise Park
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY1 3GA
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors
28
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
|**Summary Income and Expenditure Account**
**Notes**
**Restricted**
**Income from:**
**£**
Donations & legacies
2
-
Income from charitable activities
3
881,198
Investment income
4
-
**Total incoming resources**
881,198
**Expenditure on:**
Charitable activities
5
831,610
Raising funds
-
Transfers between funds
6
(43,273)
**Net income/(expenditure)**
**6,315**
**Other recognised**
**gains/(losses):**
Unrealised gain/(loss) on fixed
asset investments
11
-
**Net movement in funds**
15
6,315
**Reconciliation of funds:**
Total funds brought forward
15
2,877
Total funds carried forward
15
9,192|**Summary Income and Expenditure Account**
**Notes**
**Restricted**
**Income from:**
**£**
Donations & legacies
2
-
Income from charitable activities
3
881,198
Investment income
4
-
**Total incoming resources**
881,198
**Expenditure on:**
Charitable activities
5
831,610
Raising funds
-
Transfers between funds
6
(43,273)
**Net income/(expenditure)**
**6,315**
**Other recognised**
**gains/(losses):**
Unrealised gain/(loss) on fixed
asset investments
11
-
**Net movement in funds**
15
6,315
**Reconciliation of funds:**
Total funds brought forward
15
2,877
Total funds carried forward
15
9,192|**Unrestricted**
**£**
24,729
788,729
31,428|**Total**
**2021**
**£**
24,729
1,669,927
31,428|**Total**
**2020**
**£**
68,003
1,711,839
37,349|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||881,198
831,610
-
(43,273)|
844,886
858,878
5,126
43,273|
1,726,084
1,690,488
5,126
-|
1,817,191
1,786,140
2,400
-|
||**6,315**
-|
**24,155**
144,564|
**30,470**
144,564|
**28,651**
(115,532)|
||6,315
2,877|
168,719
858,899|
175,034
861,776|
(86,881)
948,657|
||9,192|
1,027,618|
1,036,810|
861,776|
29
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS AS AT 31 MARCH 2021**
|**Notes**
**Cash flows from operating activities**
Net cash (used in) operating activities
17
**Investing activities**
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Income from UK listed fixed asset
investments
Interest received
Disposal of fixed asset investments
**Net cash used in investing activities**
**Net (decrease) in cash and cash**
**equivalents**
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of
year
**Cash and cash equivalents at end of year**|(458)
31,355
73
40,183|**2021**
**£**
(23,370)
71,153|(17,972)
37,083
266
-|**2020**
**£**
(27,083)
19,377
(7,706)
133,322
125,616|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||
|||47,783
125,616|||
|||173,399|||
30
CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE
BALANCE SHEET
AS AT 31 MARCH 2021
2021
2020
Notes
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
Investments
15,104
912,795
26,244
800,542
927,899
826,786
Current assets
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand
12
378,460
173,399
388,898
125,616
551,859
514,514
Creditors: amounts falling due
within one year
1442,9481
1479,5241
Net current assets
108,911
34,990
Net assets
1,036,810
861,776
Charity funds
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Revaluation surplus
770,031
9,192
257,587
745,876
2,877
113,023
1,036,810
861,776
These accounts are prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to
the small companies, regime, in accordance with Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on
23 September 202 and signed on lis behalf by:
Chris Boote
Director and Trustee
Paul Langton
Director and Trustee
The notes on pages 31 to 40 form part of these financial statements.
Company Registration Number: 04099352 {England & Wales)
31
**CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
## **1. Summary of significant accounting policies**
## **1.1. General information and basis of preparation**
Citizens Advice Shropshire is a private company limited by guarantee, and a registered charity in England / Wales . The company number is 04099352 (England & Wales), and the registered charity number is 1085220. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is Fletcher House, 15 College Hill, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY1 1LY. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are that of support and advisory services for the benefit of the general public.
The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain items at fair value. The financial statements are presented in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity.
The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.
## **1.2. Funds**
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes. Unrestricted funds include a revaluation reserve representing the restatement of listed UK investments at market value.
Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes.
Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund.
## **1.3. Income recognition**
All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.
Voluntary income is received by way of grants, donations and gifts, and is included in full in the Statement of Financial Affairs when receivable. Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant.
Where entitlement is dependant on the fulfilment of one or more specified conditions, grants received by the charity are recognised and taken into revenue unless the conditions are within the charity's control and uncertainty exists as to whether the conditions will be fulfilled.
32
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
Donated services and facilities are included at the value to the charity where this can be quantified. The value of services provided by volunteers is not included in the financial statements.
Investment income is included as it becomes receivable.
## **1.4. Expenditure recognition**
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It is categorised under the following headings:
- Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.
- All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the Statement of Financial Activities on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on an appropriate basis.
Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs, governance costs, administrative payroll costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include project management carried out at Headquarters. Where support costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources.
## **1.5. Tangible fixed assets**
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost (or deemed cost) or valuation less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. Cost includes costs directly attributable to making the asset capable of operating as intended.
Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets, at rates calculated to write off the cost, less estimated residual value, of each asset on a systematic basis over its expected useful life as follows:
Computer equipment Over 3 years on a straight line basis Office equipment Over 10 years on a straight line basis Furniture Over 10 years on a straight line basis
## **1.6. Fixed asset investments**
Investments are recognised initially at fair value which is normally the transaction price excluding transaction costs. Subsequently, they are measured at fair value with changes recognised in ‘net gains / (losses) on investments’ in the SoFA if the shares are publicly traded
33
**CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
or their fair value can otherwise be measured reliably.
## **1.7. Financial instruments**
The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at the present value of future cash flows (amortised cost). Financial assets held at amortised cost comprise cash at bank and in hand and debtors excluding prepayments.
Financial liabilities held at amortised cost comprise creditors excluding deferred income and taxation payable. Financial liabilities that are provisions are held at fair value. No discounting has been applied on the basis that the periods over which amounts will be settled are such that any discounting would be immaterial.
## **1.8. Leases**
Rentals payable and receivable under operating leases are charged to the SoFA on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.
## **1.9. Pensions**
The charity operates a defined contribution plan for the benefit of its employees. Contributions are expensed as they become payable.
## **1.10. Tax**
The charity is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011 and 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.
## **1.11. Going Concern**
The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis as the trustees believe that no material uncertainties exist. The trustees have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure is sufficient with the level of reserves for the charity to be able to continue as a going concern.
## **1.12. Comparative Figures**
The Charities SORP states that financial statements must include comparatives for all amounts presented in the accounts and notes. However comparative figures included in these financial statements have been presented as total funds and have not been split into separate funds. The trustees consider that to do so would make the financial statements potentially confusing. If required, a full breakdown of comparative figures can be found on the register at Companies House **.**
34
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
## **2. Income from donations and legacies**
|**Restricted**
**£**
Town Council grants
-
Parish Council grants
-
Donations
-
-
**3. Income from charitable activities**
**Restricted**
**£**
Government and local authority
funding
847,629
Big Lottery
33,352
Grants for services and project
income
-
Other income related to projects
217
881,198
**4. Income from investments**
**Restricted**
**£**
Income from UK listed fixed asset
investments
-
Interest received on bank deposits
-
-|**Restricted**
**£**
-
-
-|**Unrestricted**
**£**
5,800
230
18,699|**Total**
**2021**
**£**
5,800
230
18,699
24,729|**Total**
**2020**
**£**
23,074
220
44,709
68,003
**Total**
**2020**
**£**
1,660,321
32,884
6,212
12,422
1,711,839
**Total**
**2020**
**£**
37,083
266
37,349|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||-|
24,729|||
|||**Unrestricted**
**£**
772,616
-
5,200
10,913|**Total**
**2021**
**£**
1,620,245
33,352
5,200
11,130||
||881,198|
788,729|
1,669,927||
||**Restricted**
**£**
-
-|**Unrestricted**
**£**
31,355
73
31,428|**Total**
**2021**
**£**
31,355
73
31,428||
||-||||
35
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
## **5. Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities**
|**Costs directly allocated to**
**activities**
Salaries & wages (note 9)
Travel & training
Reference books & software
Publicity
Telephone
Printing, postage & stationery
Recruitment
Room Hire
Meeting expenses
Project partner payments
**Support costs**
Repairs & renewals
Cleaning
Audit
Legal & professional fees
Insurance
Depreciation and loss on disposals
Loss on disposals of investments
Rent, rates, service charges &
utilities
IT support
Sundries|**Restricted**
**£**
334,669
520
364
467
2,942
2,525
363
-
-
462,417
357
952
-
137
-
-
-
14,215
1,115
10,567|**Unrestricted**
**£**
466,392
847
1,985
339
5,406
10,542
335
-
-
273,656
659
1,473
2,556
2,893
4,736
11,599
(7,872)
29,408
18,508
35,416|**Total**
**2021**
**£**
801,061
1,367
2,349
806
8,348
13,067
698
-
-
736,073
1,016
2,425
2,556
3,030
4,736
11,599
(7,872)
43,623
19,623
45,983
1,690,488|**Total**
**2020**
**£**
739,733
43,563
2,471
1,486
10,474
16,862
1,733
9,300
3,571
822,124
1,173
3,234
2,556
3,118
4,658
9,759
-
46,527
49,988
13,810
1,786,140|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||831,610|
858,878|||
## **6. Contributions to general overheads**
|Overhead costs apportioned to restricted funds from general
funds
Adjustments on restricted project fund balances|**Total**
**2021**
**£**
45,195
(1,922)
43,273|**Total**
**2020**
**£**
49,245
(3,105)
46,140|
|---|---|---|
36
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
## **7. Net income for the year**
|Net income is stated after charging:
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets owned by the charity
Loss on disposal of fixed asset investments
Fees payable to the charity’s auditor for the audit of the charity’s
annual accounts
Fees payable to the charity’s auditor for other services|**2021**
**£**
11,599
(7,872)
2,556
1,050|**2020**
**£**
9,759
-
2,556
1,050|
|---|---|---|
## **8. Trustees' and key management personnel remuneration and expenses**
No remuneration was paid to trustees during the year **.**
Remuneration paid to key management personnel was as follows:
|**2021**
**2020**
**Number**
**Number**
5
5
The reimbursement of trustees’ expenses was as follows:
**2021**
**2020**
**Number**
**Number**
Travel and subsistence
-
4|**2021**
**Number**
5|**2020**
**Number**
5|**2021**
**£**
164,600|**2020**
**£**
156,036|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**2021**
**£**
-|**2020**
**£**
1,648|
## **9. Staff costs and employee benefits**
The average monthly number of employees and full time equivalent (FTE) during the year was as follows:
|Charitable activities
Governance|**2021**
**Number**
35
2|**2021**
**FTE**
25
2|**2020**
**Number**
35
2|**2020**
**FTE**
24
2
26|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||37|
27|
37||
37
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
The total staff costs and employees benefits were as follows:
|The total staff costs and employees benefits were as follows:|||
|---|---|---|
|Wages and salaries
Redundancy costs
Social security costs
Defined contribution pension costs|**2021**
**£**
707,969
-
54,109
38,983|**2020**
**£**
651,599
492
49,385
38,257|
||801,061|
739,733|
No employee received total employee benefits of more than £60,000.
## **10. Tangible fixed assets**
## **Computer**
|**Cost or valuation:**
At 1 April 2020
Additions
Disposals
At 31 March 2021
**Depreciation:**
At 1 April 2020
Charge for year
Eliminated on disposal
At 31 March 2021
**Net book value:**
At 1 April 2020
At 31 March 2021|**&**
**office eq't**
**£**
40,686
458
-
41,144
19,116
10,105
-
29,221
21,570
11,923|**Furniture**
**£**
84,963
-
-|**Total**
**£**
125,649
458
-|
|---|---|---|---|
|||84,963|
126,107|
|||80,289
1,493
-|
99,405
11,598
-|
|||81,782|
111,003|
|||4,674|
26,244|
|||3,181|
15,104|
38
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
|**11. Fixed asset investments**
**UK listed investments**
Market value at 1 April 2020
Disposals
Changes in market value
Market value at 31 March 2021
**12. Debtors**
Other debtors
Prepayments
**13. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
Social security and other taxes
Accruals and other creditors
Deferred income|**2021**
**£**
800,542
(32,311)
144,564|**2020**
**£**
916,074
-
(115,532)
800,542
**2020**
**£**
314,286
74,612
388,898
**2020**
**£**
13,440
105,329
360,755
479,524|
|---|---|---|
||912,795||
||**2021**
**£**
326,147
52,313||
||378,460||
||**2021**
**£**
14,423
98,275
330,250||
||442,948||
Deferred income relates to amounts receivable in respect of charitable income at the balance sheet date, that relates to charitable activities undertaken after the balance sheet date.
## **14. Analysis of net assets between the funds**
|Fixed assets
Net current assets|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
170,312
99,719|**Designated**
**funds**
**£**
500,000
-|**Revaluation**
**fund**
**£**
257,587
-|**Restricted**
**funds**
**£**
-
9,192|**Total**
**£**
927,899
108,911|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||270,031|500,000|
257,587|
9,192|
1,036,810|
39
**CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
## **15. Fund reconciliation**
|**Unrestricted:**
General reserve
**Designated funds:**
Business continuity
reserve
Contractual & wind up
costs reserve
Premises & development
reserve
IT replacement &
development
Total unrestricted funds
**Revaluation funds:**
In respect of fixed asset
investments
**Restricted funds:**
Pension Wise
Money Advice Service -
Debt Advice
MAS - Debt Advice Inc
Capacity
Best Practice Lead
Help to Claim UC Support
My Money Matters
SCC Covid Support Grant
SCC Covid Infection
Control Grant
BEIS Remote Working Eqt
Grant
BEIS Softphones Grant
Total restricted funds
**Total funds**|**As at**
**1 April**
**2020**
**£**
120,876
494,000
131,000
-
-|**Income**
**£**
844,886
-
-
-
-|**Expenditure**
**&**
**gains/(losses)**
**£**
(864,004)
-
-
-
-|**Transfers**
**£**
168,273
6,000
(131,000)
-
-|**As at**
**31 March**
**2021**
**£**
270,031
500,000
-
-
-|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||745,876|844,886|
(864,004)|43,273|
770,031|
||113,023|-|
144,564|
-|
257,587|
||3,013
35
-
(52)
(2,392)
2,273
-
-
-
-|573,581
125,730
15,317
35,887
66,002
33,352
15,337
4,273
8,460
3,259|
(528,571)
(143,193)
(15,317)
(31,267)
(58,499)
(23,434)
(15,337)
(4,273)
(8,460)
(3,259)|(46,311)
17,428
-
(4,354)
(4,527)
(5,509)
-
-
-
-|1,712
-
-
214
584
6,682
-
-
-
-|
||2,877|881,198|
(831,610)|(43,273)|9,192|
||**861,776**|**1,726,084**|
**(1,551,050)**|**-**|
**1,036,810**|
40
## **CITIZENS ADVICE SHROPSHIRE**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021**
## **16. Operating lease commitments**
Total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases are as follows:
|Not later than one year
**17. Cash generated from operations**
Net income/(expenditure) for the year (as per SoFA)
**Adjustments for:**
Depreciation
Loss on disposal of tangible fixed assets
Loss on disposal of UK listed fixed asset investments
Income from UK listed fixed asset investments
Interest receivable
**Movement in working capital:**
(Increase)/Decrease in debtors
Increase/(Decrease) in creditors
**Net cash (used in) operating activities**|**2021**
**£**
20,640|**2020**
**£**
21,516
**2020**
**£**
28,651
9,759
-
-
(37,083)
(266)
(365,929)
337,785
(27,083)|
|---|---|---|
||**2021**
**£**
30,470
11,598
-
(7,872)
(31,355)
(73)
10,438
(36,576)||
||(23,370)||
## **18. Related party transactions**
No material transactions with related parties occurred during the year.
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Published September 2021
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