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2021-03-31-accounts

Migrant Helpline

(operating as Migrant Help) Annual Report and Financial Statements

31 March 2021

Company Limited by Guarantee Registration Number 04172880 (England and Wales)

Charity Registration Number 1088631 (England and Wales)

Charity Registration Number SC041022 (Scotland)

Contents

Reports

Reports
Reference and administrative information 1
Message from our Chair & CEO 3
Trustees’ report 5
Independent auditor’s report on the
financial statements 22
Financial statements
Group statement of
financial activities 27
Group and Charity balance sheets 28
Group and Charity statements
of cash flows 29
Principal accounting policies 30
Notes to the financial statements 34

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help)

Reference and administrative information

Trustees & Directors Lucy Bracken
David Noble
Neil Everett
Denis Philip King (resigned 10 March 2021)
Robert Phillips
Mark Leigh
John Smart
Frank Omare
Eleanor Dougoud (appointed 17 June 2020)
Amelia Knott
Ayham Alsuleman
Saima Raza (resigned 16 September 2020)
Rachael Baig (appointed 13 October 2020)
Adrian Stones (appointed 10 March 2021)
Senior Management Team
Chief Executive Officer Caroline O’Connor
Director of Asylum Services Helen Bransfield
Deputy Director of Asylum Services Juliet Halstead (appointed 1 June 2020)
Deputy Director of National Operations Rabiya Rabat
HR Director Fiona Stephens
Director of Strategy and Engagement Anna Ware
Director of Finance, Infrastructure & Melvin Witt
Quality
Chief of Staff Debbie Pemberton (appointed 22 March 2021)
Registered address Kemp House
160 City Road
London
EC1V 2NX
Company registration number 04172880
Charity registration number 1088631 (England and Wales)
SC041022 (Scotland)
Auditor Buzzacott LLP
130 Wood Street
London
EC2V 6DL

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 1

Reference and administrative information

Bankers National Westminster Bank Plc Europa House 49 Sandgate Road Folkestone Kent CT20 1RX Solicitors Browne Jacobson LLP Mowbray House Castle Meadow Road Nottingham NG2 1BJ

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 2

Message from our Chair & Chief Executive Year to 31 March 2021

Welcome message

Migrant Help has three charitable aims:

2020/21 has been a year in which the whole organisation has worked incredibly hard to do all we can to support more beneficiaries than ever before, facing such hardship and distress.

To leave behind your home, your family, your culture and language is not a decision anyone willingly takes. Fleeing from wars, traffickers, violence and oppression separates people from their vital connections in the world, causing loneliness, fear, sadness and a loss of autonomy. The lockdowns in the UK were challenging for many of us; fear of losing loved ones and not being with our families and friends provided a stark reminder of how it must feel every day, for the thousands of refugees trying to find a way to start a new life in a safe place.

The staff of Migrant Help not only stepped up to the challenge of supporting more of our beneficiaries than ever before; they also went above and beyond, so often putting aside their own worries and fears to find the energy and the kindness to listen to, and to reduce the distress of, those in the asylum and modern day slavery referral systems.

Delays and changes in both the administrative and judicial processes over the past pandemicaffected year led to even greater delays than usual for our beneficiaries in obtaining a decision that might enable them to start to progress. The loss of face-to-face support services across the country, meant our helpline services were for most, the only place to get support in their own language. Never before has our need to ‘support the relief of distress’ been more present.

These accounts show that Migrant Help is a charity that can respond, adapt and change quickly, professionally and energetically to meet the needs of its beneficiaries through even the toughest of times.

In 2019, Migrant Help set its new strategy, focusing on being resilient, courageous, and robust, in all aspects of our governance. Our overarching focus was to ensure we had a wellsupported and healthy staff team. More than 80% of our staff provide frontline support – speaking every day to some of our 60,000 clients in 129 languages.

We know that responding appropriately to the changing needs, real fears and heightened levels of distress of our beneficiaries means we need to be good at listening and respectful of their fears and hopes. It also means we need to be able to change our processes and style of delivery to be led by the experience of our beneficiaries.

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Message from our Chair & Chief Executive Year to 31 March 2021

To achieve this we have deepened and expanded our Safeguarding training so both Migrant Help and multi-agency responses are effective. We have sharpened our focus on the experience that beneficiaries have of our services and of the systems they must navigate (whether that is asylum, modern day slavery/NRM, the resettlement scheme for Syrian refugees or the settled status scheme for EU citizens). To do this we have invested in staff development, internal communications, and the creation of the Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) to give a more powerful voice to those who use our services.

Migrant Help has grown its turnover by 19% in a year and continues to be a healthy, vibrant and effective charity. This is a tribute to the team that lead the charity and their talent, tireless ability to reflect on both the good and the bad and to be transparent with the Board.

The Board and the team that have led the 137% growth of our social enterprise, Clear Voice and the expansion of employment opportunities for refugees working as interpreters, have been remarkable. Neil Everett will stand down as Chair of our trading company, having brilliantly led 7 years of fast and carefully managed growth. We are really fortunate that Mark Leigh, a long-standing trustee with a wealth of expertise will take the Chair role.

We would both like to say a very deep thank you to the staff and Trustees of Migrant Help [and Clear Voice], for finding the ways and energy to always put the needs of our beneficiaries at the forefront of our planning. We also really want to thank our partners across the sector who have worked as tirelessly as we have, to do all we can collectively to relieve the distress of those arriving in the UK in search of a safe place to live.

I am delighted to be handing over to a new Chair – Madhavi Vadara - in 2021. We have worked closely together and with the whole team to ensure that this transition is a success. Madhavi brings substantial and valuable expertise in running charities and supporting our beneficiaries, both as a frontline worker and as a Board leader. I am so fortunate that I had the chance to have this role for 5 years, I have met the most remarkable people who have taught me so much.

Caroline and I are delighted to set out here our work in 2020/21. It reflects a great many peoples’ commitment to the Charity and we believe demonstrates that the Migrant Help is a healthy UK-wide charity with its eye firmly on how best we can support refugees, asylum seekers and others affected by displacement and exploitation.

Lucy Bracken Chair of the Board of Trustees

Caroline O’Connor

Chief Executive Officer

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 4

Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Our aims

The objects for which the charity is established are:

Our purpose

Our vision is for a global society that protects vulnerable migrants, treats them with respect and enables them to reach their full potential.

We operate across the United Kingdom, providing excellent and highly valued services - supporting people seeking asylum, survivors of modern slavery, EU citizens and those settling into this country as recent refugees.

We deliver excellent value under national, regional and local government contracts. This gives us great opportunity as a charity to do more for our clients, and we are ambitious to grow our work to provide broader impact to support vulnerability and enable people to be independent and thrive in local communities.

We seek to collaborate and seek effective partnerships across the statutory, voluntary and private sectors – aiming to achieve better outcomes for our client group through working together, across disciplines and specialisms. We feel that our knowledge and expertise from a range of service areas (asylum, modern slavery, refugee support) enables us to provide a more holistic approach and support to our clients.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Our purpose (continued)

During this financial year, we have built upon the successful launch of the AIRE (Advice, Issue Reporting and Eligibility) contract for support of asylum seekers across the UK. This enhanced service includes Move On advice during the post asylum decision period, greater outreach support for the more vulnerable, as well as the ability to report issues with asylum accommodation and services via Migrant Help’s new 24/7/365 telephone helpline. We are keen to continuously build on this provision to ensure that we assist those most vulnerable who may struggle to get support elsewhere.

We escalated our efforts to demonstrate the value migrants bring to our society. We believe it is important to promote the vibrancy, innovation and resolution of our clients via our external communications, social media, awareness raising sessions and other activities, such as Refugee Week.

The desire to help those who are impacted by displacement or exploitation is at the heart of everything we do. We developed the new strategy for Migrant Help for 2020 – 2023 around this core purpose and started our work to deliver it.

Strategic report of the Trustees

Our work in 2020/21

The challenges of 2020 were greater and more far reaching than we could ever have anticipated. Migrant Help had to adapt quickly, manage increased volumes, support our staff through changing times, and protect the wellbeing of our clients. As our focus shifted to maintaining operational delivery during the COVID pandemic, the strategic activities we had planned in 2020/21 became irrelevant, needed to be revised or moved forward at a slower than anticipated pace. However, it is in crisis that a strategy becomes crucial, as it sets the direction of how we respond. For us, this meant ensuring we put the client first, monitored gaps in services as a result of the pandemic, facilitated and supported staff to be able to provide the best service, raised awareness of the value of our clients when voices were against them and always challenged what we think is best practice.

The headcount in our Asylum Services Team increased by 10% to manage the growing volumes of calls. Over the year, our asylum services supported nearly 58,000 clients and we submitted over 28,385 applications for asylum support. As our clients were accommodated in hotels across the country, we worked with local partnerships to ensure our clients had access to services and in the case of the MOD sites, ensured staff were available to look after clients’ needs.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Our work in 2020/21 (continued)

In 2020, we were awarded a contract through The Salvation Army to provide regional Modern Slavery Victims Care services. The implementation and transition to the new contract was successfully completed at the beginning of January and we commenced delivery of muchneeded expanded accommodation and support services in the South East of England and East Anglia. We increased our accommodation provision in Kent and more than doubled the capacity of the outreach team to provide enhanced services to benefit our clients. We also commenced delivery of extended move on support via the new ‘Reach In’ component of the contract enabling us to assist our clients more holistically and for longer periods of time. In 2020/21 in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, we assisted 1,271 survivors of slavery, a 197% increase on the previous year.

We changed the way we were delivering our EU Settlement Scheme and the contract was extended until June 2021. As a result of the pandemic, we provided remote support in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, East and West Midlands. In 2020/21 we supported nearly 5,000 people and submitted 840 applications on behalf of our clients. The team have worked with local agencies and partners to identify and support vulnerable individuals and built strong relationships to ensure no one was falling through the gaps.

We won delivery of a 'new' Kent County Council contract in April 2020 to continue and expand our Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme support. We increased the number of families we support and doubled the staff team to provide more qualitative and intensive support to new arrivals. Services were delivered remotely during Covid but we continued to assist with face to face in urgent circumstances (medical, or supporting families that were isolating with deliveries of necessary items) whilst adhering to strict safety precautions. In total, we supported 32 families made up of 157 individuals including children during this period.

As a result of the pandemic, the needs of our clients have changed. In order to support our frontline teams and fill gaps to benefit our clients, we created a new team whose work will drive forward elements of the strategy and includes.

The Strategy and Engagement Team will work to provide new and improved support for clients and staff, and to push the strategy forward.

Staff were enabled to work from home, with a small cohort of frontline colleagues present in initial accommodation, at our accommodation sites, at the helpline and head office. Wherever possible, we supported our staff to adjust to the changes and provided guidance to managers on how to manage teams remotely. Both our frontline and support staff handled this incredibly well, and throughout the pandemic we were able to continue providing high-quality services without a drop in performance.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Our work in 2020/21 (continued)

Even though direct project work on the strategy slowed in some cases, or planned activities were not able to go ahead, we have still managed to achieve a significant amount under our key five objectives, examples of which are outlined below.

Supporting people most in need and least likely to receive support elsewhere

As our clients struggled with isolation and mental wellbeing during the pandemic, we delivered a small-scale project to clients in initial accommodation sites to provide activities during lockdown.

We received funding from Connecting Scotland to provide computer equipment to 10 families in Scotland. The laptops have been used to support school and education activities and helped the adults to stay connected during a difficult period.

Migrant Help’s Communications Team set up a portal to host Covid related resources, including links, networks, guidance and information, and kept this constantly updated throughout the pandemic.

We are a designated First Responder for modern day slavery survivors to access the National Referral Mechanism, and we continued to provide this service throughout the pandemic. In order to deliver this effectively while our services were incredibly busy, we set up a new model to process the growing number of referrals in a timely way and support these vulnerable people to access support.

When the new MOD sites for asylum seekers were commissioned, we submitted a proposal to the Home Office to ensure support could be provided, as this new accommodation was outside of the existing model of support. We jointly funded two Community Service Worker roles per site to test and evaluate how support could be provided and add value in these settings.

Working with communities to bridge gaps and co-ordinate services

Over 2020, we have been working in partnership with Refugee Council, Young Roots, MEENA, and Refugee Rights to deliver a Youth Welfare Officer project in Birmingham. This project provided support to vulnerable young men between 18-25, who are often a group with high risk of suicide and self-harm. The project has been successful in demonstrating the need and impact of having a dedicated support for this group and we are running a similar project in London over 2021/22, building on our learning from the pilot project.

During the pandemic, we were in touch with the partners that support our client groups in initial accommodation to see what challenges they were facing and if we could provide help for them to adapt their service, or to ensure their ongoing support after Covid-19. We continued to keep in touch throughout the pandemic and have been working with new and existing partners to fill any gaps.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Our work in 2020/21 (continued)

At the beginning of the pandemic, there was limited guidance in alternative languages to English. Our social enterprise trading arm, Clear Voice Interpreting Services worked with Doctors of the World to translate information in 20 languages at no cost to the charity.

When the MOD sites were established, we worked with local partners to ensure activities and support were available to clients. The volume of offers was incredible and it was great to see so much support for the asylum seekers housed there. We supported getting clothing and donations to the clients, and assisted clients in reporting any issues with the accommodation.

Identifying the need for clients to access legal aid effectively, we worked with students at the University of Birmingham to create a video on ‘how to prepare for your first legal aid appointment’. This short video in multiple languages helps our clients to get the most out of their appointment and to maximise the support they can get. It also aims to help reduce inefficiencies for the legal firms to create more capacity for clients.

Demonstrating the value that migrants bring to the UK

In 2020, we launched the ‘I Have Dreams’ platform to share the hopes and dreams of our clients, and to demonstrate to the public that an aspiration to achieve is something we all have in common, regardless of our backgrounds or life stories.

We launched the platform during a Christmas Campaign on International Migrants Day that reached more than 120 million people. The video and press release shared the experiences and dreams of five Syrian families from our Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. The content achieved 94 pieces of coverage including two broadcasts (ITV Meridian News, KMFM radio), two national newspapers and 83 regional news outlets.

During Refugee week 2020, we launched ‘I have dreams', a project which aimed to shed light on and support the dreams of vulnerable people in the UK who had been subject to exploitation or displacement. We supplied asylum accommodation sites across the country with art supplies and our ‘My Dreams’ worksheets which clients used as a canvas for expressing their dreams. We set the same task to our supporters. Many beautiful and moving pieces were shared with us, some of which we then displayed in an online exhibition so clients and members of the public could have a sense of walking among the dreams as they experienced the art online.

Influencing positive change to policy and practice

In 2020, Migrant Help joined with 150 other organisations to voice concerns about changes to immigration rules that could see non-UK nationals deported for rough sleeping. The joint letter warned about the consequences of the new rules, and was led by Focus on Labour Exploitation, (FLEX), Doughty Street Chambers, Hope for Justice, Anti-Slavery International and The Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Our work in 2020/21 (continued)

As part of our commitment on continuous improvement, we designed and embedded quality audits in all areas of our AIRE services. This process now streamlines the way that we get valuable feedback on how services are performing, enabling us to let commissioners know what is working well. We also established the AIRE Guidance Manager role to drive consistency across services through process mapping and furthering continual improvement for our contract compliance.

As an organisation, it’s important we play integral roles in policy changes that affect our clients. We were involved in the third annual review of Scotland’s National Human Trafficking Strategy and shared our experience of how that was progressing.

Migrant Help remains committed to anti-racism and are incredibly proud to have been in the FREDIE Top 100 Most Inclusive Workplaces list for our work in 2020.

Developing our staff and volunteers to deliver the best possible outcomes for clients

The pandemic presented challenges for our staff. We all had to adjust to working from home, manage increasing pressure on our services, and learn to connect with our colleagues virtually. Regular surveys helped us to gauge how staff were feeling and make adjustments quickly to support teams that were struggling.

Our focus turned to how we equip our staff to look after themselves and each other through the pandemic and we put together a programme of engagement activities and guidance for managers to ensure staff felt valued, supported and involved.

We increased our training opportunities, focusing on mental wellbeing and vicarious trauma training for all staff. 11,620 hours of training were delivered during this period, a 99% increase on the year before.

During 2020, we developed our ‘Great Place to Work’ Strategy, linking together four areas of focus to improve employee satisfaction and engagement. They are Engaging Managers, Creating a Strategic Narrative, Employee Voice and Organisational Integrity. This defines our activities and allows us to track progress for this important piece of work.

Looking forward to 2021/22

For 2021 and beyond, Migrant Help is investing in developing a co-production approach so that clients can contribute meaningfully to the organisation’s development. Lived Experience Advisory Panels for each service will meet monthly to offer feedback, guidance and to get involved in areas of our work and service improvements.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Looking forward to 2021/22 (continued)

We will be braver and more innovative with our external communications. We will talk about the value that migrants bring to our communities, raise awareness of the challenges faced by refugees, asylum seekers and survivors of modern slavery, work with policy makers to create fair and just immigration processes and raise vital funds to provide the best possible care to our clients.

Under the new Modern Slavery contract, we intend to conduct ongoing reviews of the new delivery models under the contract to ensure we are managing capacity and case work effectively. We will be implementing a new quality management framework and look at how to adapt this to other services. We are increasing service user involvement, starting with coproducing the service outcomes with clients.

As we continue to adjust to changes following the pandemic, we are focusing on our staff in 2021. We are delivering virtual staff conferences and launching a leadership academy to develop our middle managers. We are adapting to new ways of working and what that means for services and staff. We will look at flexible working options for our staff so the benefits realised during the pandemic can continue.

Sports and physical activities will play a big part in 2021, as we work with partners to deliver cycle and football projects. We will look at achieving a national strategy and support programme that offers wider access for our clients.

As services settle and we emerge from the restrictions of the pandemic, we will continue to develop the strategy. Measuring and evaluation of our progress in delivering the strategy will be improved . The new strategy team will work with our operational services to push forward new initiatives, deepen partnerships and ensure contributions from clients.

We will continue to support the vulnerable people who need to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme for the upcoming deadline in June 2021, and beyond if required.

As we welcome families arriving in 2021 under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, we will also see our first families move on from the service after 5 years of support.

We will increase capacity and efficiencies for our AIRE services, continually improving and adapting models of delivery to meet needs and demand. We will work with our partners and continue to build relationships with the sector to improve outcomes for our clients. We will respond to changes in asylum policy with the wellbeing of our clients in the forefront of our minds.

During the year, we reported 3 matters to the Charity Commission as Serious Incidents.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Looking forward to 2021/22 (continued)

In addition, in October 2020, the Charity was contacted by the Charity Commission in relation to a direct complaint from a service user. Following an internal review of the complaint and the processes followed when the complaint had been raised through the Charity, it was found the complaint did not reach the threshold for reporting as a Serious Incident. This approach was reported to and accepted by the Charity Commission.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Risks

We have continually reviewed the principal risks to achieving our strategic plan and have focused on the key strategic risks that we have sought to mitigate during 2020/21.

Risk Commentary
1. The Charity does not react to
changes in government policy, such
as the New Plan for Immigration
(NPfI) and is not seen to engage
with the sector around these
developments.		 The Charity responded to the government
consultation and the Board are reviewing
the direction of the Charity, given the
potential impact of the new legislation. The
Charity has expanded its Communications
team and external support resulting in a
Communications
Strategy
and
greater
presence on social media. The expansion
of the Strategy team is leading to visibility
through sector meetings and partnership
working.
2. The Charity fails to meet the strict
KPIs, and performance levels set
forth in its contracts.		 Staffing levels and structures are changed
to address volume changes – both for
ongoing high service demand and for spikes
caused by external factors. KPI monitoring
continues through-out the month with
enhanced management information and
analytics.
Under-performance
and
commercial matters are highlighted and
addressed in regular meetings with the
Home Office, the Salvation Army and our
key
sub-contractors.
The
Quality
Management
function
provides
the
framework for continuous staff assessment
and regular internal audits against agreed
performance gradings and investigation of
non-conformances.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Risks (continued)

3. The Charity fails to change its
staffing and cost base to reflect the
impact
of
changes
to
border
controls and people movement.		 The
Charity
monitor
announcements
through governmental publication services
and receives daily volume related data.
There is a close working relationship with
the Home Office and other commissioners
to identify trends and their impact on
invoiceable
volumes.
Internal
cross
departmental working groups help to
forecast volume change so staffing can be
flexed accordingly. Staffing structures are
reviewed to identify the best working
processes for short- and long-term changes
in demand.
4. The Charity fails to maintain and
develop its new CRM system to
keep pace with volume changes
and the evolution of the AIRE
contracts requirements.		 The
Charity
has
weekly
operational
meetings between software providers and
technical teams to address performance
and development issues. A business
solutions process is in place to plan and
commercially scrutinise changes before
authorisation is sought from the Home
Office. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is
built into any changes before they are fully
implemented.
Key
developments,
especially the connectivity of the CRM with
the AASC providers, are overseen by an
external consultant and will positively impact
the efficiency of the process for our Service
Users and staff.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Risks (continued)

5. The Charity fails to safeguard or
maintain the integrity of its Client’s
data.		 The Charity holds the ISO27001 quality
accreditation on IT and data security and is
subject to ongoing audits from external
bodies. The Charity has data review
meetings
and
engages
with
their
commissioners’
assurance
department
where issues are raised and looks to
address
them
through
development,
training, or commercial changes. In a time
of great need for data specialists, the
Charity has redeployed staff internally as
well as using external consultants for
technical support. The Charity produce live
dashboards for external and internal users
and responds to new requests for data as
new trends are identified.
6. The Charity is perceived as not
prioritising the needs of Service
Users due to misunderstandings of
the AIRE & AASC contracts and the
responsibilities of those subject to it.		 The Charity continues to be present at
sector meetings to provide updates on its
role and the challenges it faces – especially
using its Community Liaison Co-Ordinator’s.
The Charity engages with the Home Office
where they can provide guidance or
clarification to external parties. The
expansion of the Communications team has
allowed more frequent internal notifications
to our staff about the Charity’s role and
better engagement on planning for future
industry changes.

Financial review

Income

During the year, our income was £22.40m (2020: £18.80m), an increase of 19% from the previous year. This increase has been down to the growth of the contract to provide advice, issue reporting & eligibility guidance to asylum seekers in the UK. This contract commenced in September 2019 at volumes vastly more than even the highest levels of Home Office estimates. Those volumes have continued to grow in the current year. The growth of this contract has also impacted directly on the turnover of our trading subsidiary, Migrant Help Trading Limited, who provide interpreting services for this contract for those service users and for external clients. We have expanded the coverage of our contract with The Salvation Army to provide support to victims of Modern-Day Slavery in the south of England.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Financial review (continued)

Expenditure

Our expenditure rose to £20.56m from £17.04m, an increase of 21%. These are costs associated with servicing the growth in our major contracts through-out the year. Due to the nature of our work, staff costs represent the major element of expense and these increased by 32% to £13.65m (2020: £10.35m). Staff costs include subcontracted operations of its First Response Centre and its Move-On service provision as part of operating the AIRE contract. Following a review of an existing provision relating to periods before 2018, £0.54m in assorted direct non-staff and support costs were written back to the Statement of Financial Activities.

Commercial trading subsidiary

Our commercial trading subsidiary, Migrant Help Trading Limited, provides interpreting and translation services. A profit of £1.23m (2020: £0.52m) was generated in the year, primarily from providing interpreting services that supported the greatly expanded AIRE contract.

It has been covenanted that Migrant Help Trading Limited will gift aid 100% of its taxable profit to the charity by 31 December of the following financial year. For 2021, this amounted to £0.75m donated in March 2021 and £0.48m donated in September 2021 (2020: £0.45m in September 2020 and £0.08m in December 2020).

Reserves policy and current status

The Trustees wish to secure the future of Migrant Help and its ability to continue its charitable activities. To achieve this, they have carried out an assessment of the risks facing the charity and the financial consequences of those risks. Consequently, they aim to retain sufficient reserves, to protect against the risk to the charity of a temporary reduction in funding or the loss of a major funder, and to provide funds for development of new services to meet the needs of migrants and asylum seekers in alignment with our strategic aims.

At the time of each quarterly forecast, risks are re-assessed, together with the adequacy of reserves, in light of any changes in costs and circumstances. If reserves fall below the target, Trustees may act to reduce future costs. Alternatively, if reserves are in excess of target, Trustees may consider opportunities for initiating new developments. The Trustees may examine the level of reserves each year when setting the following year’s budget and the reserves policy will be reviewed each year.

At 31 March 2021, the charity had total unrestricted funds of £5.74m (2020: £3.84m), an increase of £1.90m from last year. Following a period in which we consolidated the successful operations of our significant contracts and adapted to the consequences imposed by the pandemic, we ensured our reserves levels are in keeping with our turnover. The monthly income from the AIRE contract requires us to monitor our cash flow and working capital and it has meant the Charity is now at a level of reserves that is operationally appropriate. This leaves free reserves of £5.62m (2020: £3.73m); made up of £0.45m (2020: £0.51m) reserves from our trading subsidiary, Migrant Help Trading Limited and other general funds of £5.17m (2020: £3.22m).

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Strategic report of the Trustees (continued)

Financial review (continued)

The Trustees formulated and adopted a new three-year strategy in early 2020 which outlined new directions and opportunities for which to use its free reserves. While the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our AIRE operations and finances has continued to delay its roll-out, structures and processes have been set up to ensure this is returned to when appropriate.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Trustees and Executive Team have identified the major strategic and operational risks to which Migrant Help is exposed and have established controls and actions to mitigate them. Risk assessments and a risk register are in place and are subject to continual review and monitoring by the Executive Team, and quarterly review by the Trustees. The principal risks are outlined above.

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

Migrant Help has its origins in the Kent Committee for the Welfare of Migrants, which incorporated as Migrant Helpline in 2001. Today, Migrant Help is a Company Limited by Guarantee governed by its Articles of Association, last amended on 19 July 2015. It is registered as a Charity with the Charity Commission in England & Wales and with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in Scotland. The wholly-owned trading subsidiary is a Company Limited by Shares, registered at Companies House.

Appointment of Trustees

Our Articles of Association provide that Migrant Help may have up to 14 Trustees and the present members of the Board are listed in this report.

Trustees, including the Chair, are recruited by open selection and are appointed for a threeyear term, renewable for a further three years. The Trustees for the purposes of charity law and under the company’s Articles are also the members of the organisation. Since the start of the financial year, six new trustees joined and one resigned.

Trustee induction and training

New Trustees have an Induction Day and are invited to visit offices across the UK to meet staff and clients. We have a Trustee Handbook and code of conduct which is issued to Trustees. Trustees are also provided with the Charity Commission’s guide: The Essential Trustee and other relevant Charity Commission publications. There are regular governance reviews and Trustees are provided with Safeguarding training. Annual Trustee appraisals ensure that Trustees receive the information and development opportunities they need to make an effective contribution to Migrant Help’s governance.

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Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Structure, governance and management (continued)

The Migrant Help Board of Trustees

Migrant Help’s Board of Trustees is charged with ensuring a sharp focus on our mission and values. It sets the strategic direction, checks progress against strategy, ensures financial stability, and makes certain that Migrant Help is compliant with all the relevant laws and regulations. The Board has a zero-tolerance policy on fraud and corruption.

The Board delegates day-to-day decision making and operations to the Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Team. The Board meets formally at least four times a year, in addition to holding an away-day to consider Migrant Help’s strategic direction given the changing context in which we operate.

There are four standing committees that feed into the Board.

The Finance and Audit Committee (FSC) is responsible for assurance oversight of the highest standards of integrity, financial reporting and internal control. In addition to reviewing organisational performance and results against the plan, the committee also ensure that Migrant Help’s systems of financial control comply with Charity Commission guidelines and provide reasonable assurance against material misstatement or loss.

The Remuneration & HR Committee (RemCom) sets the overall salary policy for Migrant Help, having regard to our agreed Pay Policy and the external environment in relation to remuneration. It also ensure that the Corporate Management Team implements the policy. The committee also sets the remuneration of the CEO and directors.

The Quality of Service Committee upholds the aims and objectives of the Charity considering all service delivery matters to ensure the Charity’s services are run on a sound and businesslike basis, in line with our charitable aims. It advises on all matters in relation to the quality of Migrant Help’s services ensuring that contractual, statutory, and other quality standards are understood and monitored.

The Strategy and Communications Committee upholds the aims and objectives of the Charity when considering strategy matters to ensure the Charity’s execution of the strategy is in line with our charitable aims. It advises on all matters in relation to the quality of Migrant Help’s communications ensuring the branding, messaging and images are understood.

The Trustees will form other sub-groups to manage particular projects. During the year, Trustees formed a group to provide oversight in the development of our Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) subcontract proposal.

Key management personnel remuneration

The Trustees consider that they, and the Executive Team comprise the key management personnel of the Charity, in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the Charity on a day to day basis. All Trustees give their time freely and no Trustee received remuneration in the year. The pay of the senior staff is reviewed annually and normally increased in accordance with average earnings.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 18

Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Structure, governance and management (continued)

Key management personnel remuneration (continued)

In view of the nature of the Charity, the Trustees benchmark against pay levels in other charities of similar size and activity to ensure that the remuneration set is fair and not out of line with that generally paid for similar roles. Further details of remuneration can be found at note 9 to the financial statements.

Related parties and co-operation with other organisations

Any interest between a Trustee or senior manager of the Charity and the Charity must be disclosed to the full board of Trustees in the same way as any other contractual relationship with a related party. In the current year no such related party transactions were reported.

Trustee responsibilities for reporting and financial statements

The Trustees (who are also directors of Migrant Help for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the report of the Trustees including the strategic 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 income and expenditure of the charitable company for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper and 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 Companies Act 2001, the Charities and Trustee Investments (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). 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.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 19

Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Structure, governance and management (continued)

Going concern

After making appropriate enquiries, the Board of Trustees has a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, it continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. Further details regarding the adoption of the going concern basis can be found in the accounting policies.

Public Benefit statement

The Charities Act 2011 requires all charities to have a purpose that is for the public benefit. The public benefit requirement has two aspects: the “benefit” aspect and the “public” aspect. All our services provide an identifiable benefit that is capable of being proved by evidence and are made available to the public or sufficient sections of the public. This is entirely in accordance with the two aspects of the public benefit requirement. The Trustees can confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit, “Charities and Public Benefit”. Our charitable purpose is enshrined in our vision and mission statements and the Trustees ensure that this purpose is carried out for the public benefit by delivering services in accordance with our strategic aims.

Disclosure of information to the auditor

In so far as the Trustees are aware there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditors are unaware; and the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought reasonably to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information. The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website.

Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Internal control

The Trustees have overall responsibility for Migrant Help’s systems of internal control. Trustees recognise that systems of control can only provide a reasonable and not complete assurance against inappropriate or ineffective use of resources, or against the risk of errors or fraud. Trustees remain satisfied that Migrant Help’s systems provide reasonable assurance that the charity operates efficiently and effectively, safeguards its assets, maintains proper records and complies with relevant laws and regulations.

Migrant Help operates a comprehensive accountability system. This includes annual planning, with plans approved by Trustees, and annual budgets. Trustees consider actual results compared with plans and forecasts, and non-financial performance data. Other controls include delegation of authority, segregation of duties and the completion of an internal control self-assessment checklist as advised by the Charity Commission.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 20

Trustees’ report Year to 31 March 2021

Structure, governance and management (continued)

Members’ Guarantee

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 each to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2021 was 12 (2020: 11).

Trustees indemnities

Trustees benefit from indemnity insurance to cover the liability of the Trustees which by virtue of any rule of law would otherwise attach to them in respect of any negligence, default or breach of trust or breach of duty of which they may be guilty in relation to the charity. The aggregated cost of this and management liability insurance was £5,917 (2020: £5,917). This provides cover up to £5,000,000 (2020: £5,000,000).

Fundraising

While the Charity secures the clear majority of its funding through grants and contracts, it welcomes donations through its website. Such donations are collected in Migrant Help’s welfare fund and the Neil Wildman Children’s Fund and used to fund essential items for some of our most vulnerable clients. Through the development of our website, social media and other fundraising activities, we aim to grow the opportunities and funding from alternative sources in the future.

Auditor

In so far as the trustees are aware:

Buzzacott LLP were appointed as our auditor during the year and they have indicated their willingness to continue in that capacity.

The Trustees’ report, incorporating a strategic report, approved by order of the members of the Board of Trustees on 29 September 2021 and signed on its behalf by:

Lucy Bracken Chair of Board of Trustees

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 21

Independent auditor’s report on the financial statements 31 March 2021

Independent auditor’s report to the Members and Trustees of Migrant Helpline

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Migrant Helpline (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiary for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the group statement of financial activities, group and charity balance sheets, group and charity statements of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group 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 group and 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.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 22

Independent auditor’s report on the financial statements 31 March 2021

Other information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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:

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 including the strategic report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulation 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 23

Independent auditor’s report on the financial statements 31 March 2021

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement, the Trustees (who are also the directors 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.

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.

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 extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 24

Independent auditor’s report on the financial statements 31 March 2021

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements (continued) We assessed the susceptibility of the charity’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

As a result of our procedures, we did not identify any key audit matters relating to irregularities.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustees and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 25

Independent auditor’s report on the financial statements 31 March 2021

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 and to the charity’s Trustees as a body, in accordance with Section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Edward Finch For and on behalf of Buzzacott LLP, Statutory Auditor 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

Date: 29 October 2021

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

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 26

Statement of financial activities Year to 31 March 2021

Notes
Unrestricted
general
fund
£’000		 Restricted
funds
£’000		 2021
Total
funds
£’000		 Unrestricted
general
fund
£’000		 Restricted
funds
£’000


2020
Total
funds
£’000
Income from:
. Donations
2
. Investment income
3
Income from charitable
activities
4
Income from trading activities
. Commercial trading
operations
5
Total
Expenditure on:
Costs of raising funds
. Commercial trading
operations
5
Expenditure on charitable
activities
6
Total
Net income (expenditure)
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total fund balances brought
forward
Total fund balances carried
forward
35

3

20,062

930		 —
—
1,365
—		 35
3
21,427
930		 8
6
13,937
635		 —
—
4,218
—
8

6

18,155

635
21,030 1,365 22,395 14,586 4,218
18,804

655

18,418		 —
1,488		 655
19,906		 506
12,433		 —
4,096
506

16,529
19,073 1,488 20,561 12,939 4,096
17,035
1,957
(57)		 (123)
57		 1,834
—		 1,647
(116)		 122
116
1,769

—
1,900
3,838		 (66)
239		 1,834
4,077		 1,531
2,307		 238
1
1,769

2,308
5,738 173 5,911 3,838 239
4,077

There are no recognised gains or losses other than those shown above. All of the above results derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 34 to 44 form part of these financial statements.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 27

Group and Charity balance sheets 31 March 2021

Notes Group Group Charity Charity
2021
£’000		 2020
£’000		 2021
£’000		 2020
£’000
Fixed assets
Intangible fixed assets
11
Tangible fixed assets
12
Investments
13
Current assets
Debtors
14
Cash at bank and in hand
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due
within one year
15
Provision
17
Net current assets
Total net assets
Funds
Restricted funds
18
Unrestricted funds
19
Total funds		 165
132
—		 233
85
—		 165
130
100		 233
82
100
297 318 395 415
5,519
2,752		 3,530
3,975		 5,444
2,300		 3,412
3,561
8,271
(2,367)
(290)		 7,505
(2,919)
(827)		 7,744
(2,391)
(290)		 6,973
(2,989)
(827)
(2,657) (3,746) (2,681) (3,816)
5,614 3,759 5,063 3,157
5,911 4,077 5,458 3,572
173
5,738		 239
3,838		 173
5,285		 239
3,333
5,911 4,077 5,458 3,572

The financial statements on pages 34 to 44 were approved by the Trustees, and authorised for issue on 29 September 2021 and are signed on their behalf by:

Lucy Bracken Chair of Board of Trustees

Company Limited by Guarantee Registration Number: 04172880 (England and Wales)

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 28

Group and charity statements of cash flows Year to 31 March 2021

Group Group Charity Charity
2021
£’000		 2020
£’000		 2021
£’000		 2020
£’000
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income for the year
Adjustments for:
Depreciation
Amortisation
Investment income
Increase in debtors
(Decrease) increase in creditors
Increase in deferred income
Decrease in provisions
Net cash (used in) generated from operating
activities
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest income
Purchase of intangible fixed assets
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Net cash used in investment activities
(Decrease) increase in cash in the year
Cash at the beginning of the year
Total cash at the end of theyear		 1,834
45
68
(3)
(1,989)
(572)
20
(537)		 1,769
13
99
(6)
(1,964)
1,370
6
—		 1,886
44
68
(3)
(2,032)
(618)
20
(537)		 1,741
12
99
(6)
(1,921)
1,450
6
—
(1,134) 1,287 (1,172) 1,381
3
—
(92)		 6
(193)
(93)		 3
—
(92)		 6
(193)
(93)
(89) (280) (89) (280)
(1,223)
3,975		 1,007
2,968		 (1,261)
3,561		 1,101
2,460
2,752 3,975 2,300 3,561
A Analysis of changes in net debt
At 1 April
2020
£’000
Cash
3,975		 Analysis of changes in net debt
At 1 April
2020
£’000
Cash
3,975		 Cash
flows
£’000		 New
loans
£’000		 Other
non-cash
changes
£’000		 At 31
March
2021
£’000
Cash 3,975 (1,223) — — 2,752

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 29

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2021

Basis of preparation

These financial statements are 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) (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note. The financial statements are prepared in sterling and rounded to the nearest £’000s.

Group financial statements

These financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its wholly owned subsidiary Migrant Help Trading Limited on a line by line basis. A separate statement of financial activities has not been presented because the charitable company has taken advantage of the exemption afforded by Section 308 of the Companies Act 2006.

Public Benefit Entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

Going concern

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The Trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

Fund accounting

All funds raised by the charity are used in the furtherance of its charitable objects. The three types of funds are as follows:

Unrestricted funds

General unrestricted funds represent funds which are expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in the furtherance of the objects of the Charity.

Designated funds

Designated funds are funds set aside by the Trustees for a specific purpose.

Restricted funds

Restricted funds represent grants received which are allocated by the donor for a specific purpose.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 30

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2021

Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income from government and other grants and contracts, whether “capital” grants or “revenue” grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants or contracts have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred and included in creditors until the criteria for income recognition are met and where entitlement arises before income is received the income is accrued.

Interest from funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Income from commercial trading operations comprises of the invoiced value of goods and services supplied by the subsidiary, Migrant Help Trading Limited, exclusive of Value Added Tax and trade discounts.

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit is probable and the economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the value of general volunteer time is not recognised.

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probably that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Support costs include expenditure on general management, human resources, finance, communications and general support staff. Costs are allocated across the charitable expenditure on the basis of an estimate of the proportion of time spent by staff on those activities. No support costs were considered to be attributable to costs of raising funds which are incurred by the Charity’s trading subsidiary.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 31

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2021

Operating leases

Rentals applicable to operating lease contracts, where substantially all the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the statement of financial activities on a straight line basis over the lease term.

Intangible fixed assets

The charity invested heavily in the development of a Customer Relationship Management Database (CRM) capable of linking directly with Home Office systems. This cost was capitalised and the system was operational in March 2018. The cost was amortised over an 18 month period to the end of the previous Home Office contract. Ongoing maintenance of the CRM is written off in the year of expenditure. For the new AIRE contract development costs for the new CRM have been capitalised. These costs will be amortised between the start of the new AIRE contract (1 September 2019) and the first available break clause (31 August 2023), a period of 4 years.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets costing more than £1,000 are capitalised and included at cost, including any incidental expenses of acquisition and are depreciated over their useful economic lives as follows:

Office equipment 33% on cost Motor vehicles 25% reducing balance

Investment in subsidiaries

Investments in subsidiaries are at cost.

Pensions

The Charity participates in a group pension scheme. This is a defined contribution pension scheme for all members of staff. The assets of this scheme are held separately from those of the Charity, being invested with an insurance company. Pension costs charged in the statement of financial activities represent the contributions payable by the Charity in the year. Pension costs are based upon 8% of gross salary.

Debtors

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

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition of the deposit or similar account.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 32

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2021

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

Foreign currencies

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded using the rate of exchange ruling at the date of transaction. Any foreign currency balances are translated at the exchange rate prevailing at the balance sheet date. Gains and losses on translation are included in the statement of financial activities.

Taxation

As a registered charity, Migrant Helpline is potentially exempt from tax on income and gains falling within Sections 466 to 489 of the Corporation Taxes Act 2010 as all its income is charitable and applied towards charitable purposes.

No tax is payable in the trading subsidiary due to the profit being donated to the charity under Gift Aid. No provision is made for current or deferred tax.

Related party disclosures

The charity has taken advantage of the exemption that is conferred by FRS 102, which allows it not to disclose transactions with group undertakings that are eliminated on consolidation.

Critical accounts estimates and assumptions

The charity makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates and assumptions will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. The only material estimate at the year end in relation to a provision for a potential liability arising out of a compliance review and income recognition based on on-going performance.

Legal status of the Charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. 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.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 33

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

1 Financial performance of the Charity

The consolidated statement of financial activities includes the results of the charity’s wholly owned subsidiary which provides interpreting and translation services.

The summary financial performance of the charity alone is

2021
Total
funds
£’000		 2020
Total
funds
£’000
Income
Gift aid from subsidiary company
Expenditure on charitable activities
Net income
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
Represented by:
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted income funds		 21,525
1,277		 18,169
489
22,802
**(20,916) **		 18,658
(16,917)
1,886
3,572		 1,741
1,831
5,458 3,572
173
5,285		 239
3,333
5,458 3,572
2
3		 Donations Unrestricted
funds
£’000		 Restricted
funds
£’000		 2021
Total
funds
£’000		 Unrestricted
funds
£’000		 Restricted
funds
£’000		 2020
Total
funds
£’000
Donations receivable 35 — 35 8 — 8
Investment income
Unrestricted
funds
£’000		 Restricted
funds
£’000		 2021
Total
funds
£’000		 Unrestricted
funds
£’000		 Restricted
funds
£’000		 2020
Total
funds
£’000
Bank interest 3 — 3 6 — 6
2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds funds funds funds funds
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Bank interest 3 — 3 6 — 6

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 34

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

4 Income from charitable activities

Unrestricted
funds
£’000


Restricted
funds
£’000		 2021
Total
funds
£’000		 Unrestricted
funds
£’000		 Restricted
funds
£’000		 2020
Total
funds
£’000
Asylum Help
AIRE Mobilisation
AIRE Transition
AIRE
Trafficking
European Settlement
Scheme
Community Engagement
Other services		 11
—
—
17,048
2,983
—

—
20		 —

—

—
—
703

229

433
—		 11
—
—
17,048
3,686
229
433
20		 1,913
—
752
9,302
1,964
—
—
6		 1,750
1,190
—
—
608
385
278
7		 3,663
1,190
752
9,302
2,572
385
278
13
20,062 1,365 21,427 13,937 4,218 18,155

The Charity’s main source of income from charitable activities is government grants and contracts. The total income from the Home Office was £17,060,528 (2020: £15,291,918).

5 Commercial trading operations

The wholly owned trading subsidiary, Migrant Help Trading Limited, is incorporated in England and Wales (company number 05684239) and pays all its profits to the charity under the gift aid scheme. Migrant Help Trading Limited operates as an interpreting and translation service provider. The summary financial performance of the subsidiary alone is:

2021
Total
funds
£’000		 2020
Total
funds
£’000
Turnover
Cost of sales and administration costs
Net profit
Amount gifted to the charity
Available for distribution
The assets and liabilities of the subsidiary were:
Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Total net assets
Aggregate of share capital and reserves		 4,482
**(3,257) **		 2,555
(2,038)
1,225
**(1,277) **		 517
(489)
**(52) ** 28
2
1,035
**(484) **		 3
906
(304)
553 605
553 605

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 35

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

6 Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

Staff
costs
£’000
Direct
costs
£’000
Support
cost
allocation
£’000
Governance
cost
allocation
£’000
2021
Total
£’000
Charitable activities
Support costs		 11,804
**1,451 **
5,259

**1,392 **
2,590

**(2,590) **
253

**(253) **
19,906

—
**13,255 **
**6,651 **
—
—
19,906
Staff
costs
£’000
Direct
costs
£’000
Support
cost
allocation
£’000
Governance
cost
allocation
£’000
2020
Total
£’000
Charitable activities
Support costs		 8,778
1,288
5,365

1,098
2,088

(2,088)
298
(298)
16,529
—
10,066
6,463
—
—
16,529

Of the charitable activities set out above, £1,488,000 (2020: £4,096,000) was funded from restricted funds and £18,955,000 (2020: £12,433,000) from unrestricted funds.

7 Support costs

Support costs comprise the following items:

General
support
£’000		 Governance
function
£’000
2021
Total
£’000		 General
support
£’000		 Governance
function
£’000		 2020
Total
£’000
Communications
Finance
General management
Human resources
Support services		 201
303
47
434
1,605		 6
33
203
11
—
207

336

250

445
1,605		 148
525
484
360
571
9

35

254

—

—		 157
560
738
360
571
2,590 253
2,843		 2,088
298		 2,386

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 36

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

8 Net income (expenditure) for the year

This is stated after charging:

2021
£’000		 2020
£’000
Auditor’s remuneration:
. statutory audit current year
. accounting and tax services
Depreciation
Amortisation
Operating leases:
. property
. equipment		 26
6
45
68
258
9		 25
6
13
99
200
9

9 Staff costs

The total remuneration of employees (full-time and part-time) was:

2021
£’000		 2020
£’000
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension contributions
Settlements and redundancy
Sub-contract labour
Other related staff costs including staff benefits		 7,726
638
610
62
4,592
22		 6,319
550
527
75
2,853
25
13,650 10,349

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was:

2021
Number		 2020
Number
Charitable activities
Support staff		 238
28		 199
24
266 223

The average number of full time equivalent staff in the year was 248 (2020: 206).

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 37

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

9 Staff costs (continued)

The number of staff whose emoluments are great than £60,000 are:

2021
Number		 2020
Number
£60,001 - £70,000
£70,001 - £80,000
£80,001 - £90,000
£100,001 - £110,000
£110,001 - £120,000		 2
2
—
—
1		 2
1
1
1
—
5 5

Of the employees who earned £60,000 or more during the year, employee contributions were made to defined contribution pension schemes in respect of 5 (2020: 5) employees. During the year this amounted to £32,955 (2020: £46,508).

The key management personnel of the group and parent charity comprise the Trustees and the Senior Management Team, comprising of 7 staff (2020: 8). The total employee benefits of the key management personnel were £613,517 (2020: £752,046).

10 Trustees’ remuneration

No remuneration or other payments have been made to the Trustees for their services as board members in the year (2020: £Nil).

The most significant element of Trustees’ expenses is the cost of travel and subsistence. In the year 3 Trustees incurred a total of £1,608 (2020: £2,174 was paid to 5 Trustees) through expenses reimbursed and costs incurred by the charity on their behalf.

11 Intangible fixed assets

Intangible fixed assets
Computer
software		 Total
£’000
Group and charity £’000
Cost
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021
Amortisation
At 1 April 2020
Charge in year
At 31 March 2021
Net book value
At 31 March 2021
At 1 April 2020		 486
486
253
68
253

68
321
321
165
165
233
233

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 38

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

12 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets
Group Office
equipment
£’000		 Motor
vehicles
£’000		 Total
£’000
Cost
At 1 April 2020
Additions
At 31 March 2021
Depreciation
At 1 April 2020
Charge in year
At 31 March 2021
Net book value
At 31 March 2021
At 1 April 2020		 129
92
20

—
149

92
221
20
241
47
44
17

1
64

45
91
18
109
130
2
132
82
3
85
Charity Office
equipment
£’000		 Motor
vehicles
£’000		 Total
£’000
Cost
At 1 April 2020
Additions
At 31 March 2021
Depreciation
At 1 April 2020
Charge in year
At 31 March 2021
Net book value
At 31 March 2021
At 1 April 2020		 115
92
7

—
122

92
207
7
214
33
44
7

—
40

44
77
7
84
130
—
130
82
—
82

13 Fixed asset investments – charity

Shares in group undertakings:

2020
£’000
Cost at 1 April 2020
Additions
Cost at 31 March 2021		 100
—
100

The charity holds 100,000 (2020: 100,000) shares of £1 each in its wholly owned subsidiary company, Migrant Help Trading Limited, which is incorporated in England and Wales. These are the only shares allotted, called up and fully paid. The activities and results of this company are summarised in note 5.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 39

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

14 Debtors

Debtors
Group Charity
2021
£’000		 2020
£’000		 2021
£’000		 2020
£’000
Trade debtors
Other debtors
Amounts due from subsidiary undertaking
Prepayments
Accrued income		 4,615
5
—
636
263
2,629

20

—

478

403
4,421

5

135

627

256
2,463

5

75

474

395
5,519 3,530
5,444		 3,412

15 Creditors

Creditors
Group Charity
2021 2020
£’000		 2021
£’000		 2020
£’000
£’000
Trade creditors
Taxation and social security
Other creditors
Amounts due to subsidiary undertaking
Deferred income
Accruals		 1,003
725
30
—
118
491		 1,446
757
27
—
98
591
687

711

11

373

118

491		 1,283
749
27
299
98
533
2,367 2,919
2,391		 2,989

16 Deferred income

Deferred income
Group Charity
2021 2020
£’000		 2021
£’000		 2020
£’000
£’000
Balance at 1 April 2020
Amount released to income
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at 31 March 2021		 98
(79)
99
92
(79)

85
98

(79)

99
92
(79)

85
118 98
118		 98

Deferred income relates to grant income received and interpreter services invoiced in respect of future accounting periods.

17 Provision

Provision
Group Charity
2021 2020
£’000		 2021
£’000		 2020
£’000
£’000
Balance at 31 March 2021 290 827
290		 827

A provision is in place for a potential liability arising from the outcome of a compliance review.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 40

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

18 Analysis of movements in restricted funds

Balance at
1 April 2020
£’000

Income
£’000
Expenditure
£’000
Transfers
£’000
Balance at
31 March
2021
£’000
Trafficking – Scotland
Syrian Resettlement Kent
AIRE Mobilisation
EU Settlement Scheme		 20
—
219
—
703

433

—

229
(701)

(475)

(68)

(244)
—

42

—
15
22

—

151

—
239
1,365
(1,488)		 57
173
Balance at
1 April 2019
£’000

Income
£’000
Expenditure
£’000
Transfers
£’000
Balance at
31 March
2020
£’000
Trafficking – Scotland
Asylum Advice UK
Syrian Resettlement Kent
EU Settlement Scheme
AIRE Mobilisation
The Brook Trust Fund
Sports England Derby		 —
—
—
—
—
1
—
608

1,750

278

385

1,190

3

4
(588)

(1,767)

(306)

(432)

(994)

(5)

(4)
—

17

28

47

23

1
—
20

—

—

—

219

—

—
1
4,218
(4,096)		 116
239

Transfers are made from the unrestricted general fund to cover the fair allocation of support costs to the above restricted fund projects and where additional spend is seen as appropriate in achieving success for those activities.

The nature and purpose of each restricted fund is as follows:

Trafficking – Scotland

Migrant Help have provided accommodation and support services to victims of human trafficking. The level of support is dependent upon individual needs and eligibility to access services.

Syrian Resettlement Kent

This project is directly aimed at providing support services to Syrian refugees.

AIRE Mobilisation

All costs have been incurred following the end of the AIRE mobilisation period but the Charity continues to amortise capital costs funded by AIRE Mobilisation over their useful economic life.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 41

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

18 Analysis of movements in restricted funds (continued)

EU Settlement Scheme

This grant is aimed at providing support to EU citizens, advising them on the requirements for them to remain in the UK after the UK has left the European Union.

Asylum Advice UK

This grant is to provide advice to Asylum seekers in Initial Accommodation and on outreach. The service operates throughout the United Kingdom and forms part of Asylum Help.

The Brook Trust Fund

This grant is provided to fund a music therapy project for victims of trafficking and modern day slavery.

Sports England Derby

This grant is provided to fund sport activities for Asylum clients and the local community in Derby.

19 Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds

Balance at
1 April 2020
£’000

Income
£’000
Expenditure
£’000
Transfers
£’000
Balance at
31 March
2021
£’000
Designated funds
Migrant Support Fund
Neil Wildman Children’s
Fund
Total designated funds
General funds
Trading Subsidiary		 110
—
—
—
—
—
—
10
110
10
110
—
—
10
120
3,223
20,100
(18,418)		 260
5,165
3,333
20,100
(18,418)		 270
5,285
505
930
(655)
(327)
453
3,838
21,030
(19,073)		 (57) 5,738

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 42

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

19 Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds (continued)

Balance at
1 April 2019
£’000

Income
£’000
Expenditure
£’000
Transfers
£’000
Balance at
31 March
2020
£’000
Designated funds
Migrant Support Fund
Total designated funds
General funds
Trading Subsidiary		 169
—
(59)		 —
110
169
—
(59)		 —
110
1,661
13,951
(12,374)		 (15) 3,223
1,830
13,951
(12,433)		 (15) 3,333
477
635
(506)
(101)
505
2,307
14,586
(12,939)		 (116) 3,838

The nature and purpose of each designated fund is as follows:

Migrant Support Fund

The fund has been set up to provide additional support to migrants and asylum seekers outside of the current grants and contracts, including the development of customer relationship management systems to provide a better service to our service users.

Neil Wildman Children’s Fund

The fund has been set up to provide additional support to families who use our services and are in need of children’s clothes and equipment.

General Funds

This unrestricted fund includes the surpluses made on the key contracts with the Home Office and The Salvation Army. It is supported by the transfer of unrestricted funds from the Charity’s trading subsidiary. Transfers are made from the general fund to cover the fair allocation of support costs to certain restricted fund projects and where additional spend is seen as appropriate in achieving success for those activities.

Trading Subsidiary

The fund encompasses the financial results of the Charity’s trading subsidiary and the distributable reserves remaining in the company at the year end. Taxable profits are transferred into the general fund under Gift Aid arrangements.

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 43

Notes to the Financial Statements Year to 31 March 2021

20 Analysis of Group net assets between funds

Restricted
£’000
Designated
£’000
General
£’000
Subsidiary
£’000
2021
Total
£’000
Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Provision		 165
207
(199)
—
—

120

—
—		 130

7,009
(1,684)
(290)
2

935

(484)
—
297

8,271

(2,367)
(290)
173
120
5,165
453
5,911
Restricted
£’000
Designated
£’000
General
£’000
Subsidiary
£’000
2020
Total
£’000
Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Provision		 224
390
(375)
—
—

110

—

—
91

6,199

(2,240)

(827)
3

806

(304)
—
318

7,505

(2,919)

(827)
239
110
3,223
505
4,077

21 Pension commitments

All staff under 70 are eligible to participate in a defined contribution pension scheme managed by Aviva or the Pension Trust. The assets of the scheme are held separately from the Charity. The Charity contributes 8% of pensionable salary.

The pension cost for the year represents contributions payable to the scheme and amounted to £609,696 (2020: £526,084). At the Balance Sheet date the charity owed contributions of £58,512 (2020: £41,026) to the schemes.

22 Operating lease commitments

At 31 March 2021, the charity had the following future minimum commitments under noncancellable leases:

Group and Charity Land and
buildings
£’000		 Equipment
£’000		 2021
£’000		 Land and
buildings
£’000		 Equipment
£’000		 2020
£’000
Amounts payable:
Within 1 year
Between 2 and 5 years
Total		 334
356		 9
—		 343
356		 105
312		 2
—		 107
312
690 9 699 417 2 419

23 Related party transactions

During the year ended 31 March 2021 the charity did not enter into any related party transactions (2020: None)

Migrant Helpline (operating as Migrant Help) 44