2020-12-31-accounts

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CHARITY NUMBER: 1089685 COMPANY NUMBER: 4302973

CPRE The countryside charity

(Registered as Campaign to Protect Rural England) Company Limited by Guarantee

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

31[st] December 2020

CPRE The countryside charity

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

1.	A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR ............................................................ 1
2.	TRUSTEES’ REPORT ........................................................................... 3
3.	OUR ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2020 ............................................................. 4
4.	FINANCIAL REVIEW ......................................................................... 12
5.	FUTURE PLANS ............................................................................... 15
6.	STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT .................................. 16
7.	AUDITOR ....................................................................................... 20
8.	INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT ................................................... 22
9.	STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES ............................................. 25
10.	BALANCE SHEET ............................................................................. 26
11.	STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS ........................................................... 28
12.	NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ........................................... 30
13.	PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS ............................................................... 49

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

1. A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR

In this most disruptive year, CPRE’s message of the value of countryside to our health has struck a chord. With the pandemic increasing people’s appreciation of nearby countryside, and subsequent questions about how we ‘build back better’, CPRE’s work contributes solutions for the challenges of wellbeing, biodiversity and climate.

Our awareness-raising campaign called on people to ‘join the regeneration’ of our countryside - reaching over five million potential supporters in total, with 1.6 million watching our films online. For thousands, this will be the first crucial step on the journey to making a difference for the countryside.

Meanwhile we have had a growing influence on landmark legislation, government policy and local green spaces.

A movement for change

310,000 names on our joint petition helped persuade government to abandon policies that would have increased pressure to build on greenfield sites in rural areas. We were particularly pleased to achieve a renewed commitment to urban regeneration in the Midlands and North. Our latest research showed again that such a policy would provide over a million homes close to jobs and services, as well as saving countryside.

That countryside is our greatest asset in combatting the climate emergency went mainstream in 2020, thanks to our promotion of practical, landscape-friendly solutions. Our calls for tree planting and peatland restoration were reflected in the government’s ‘10-point plan for a green industrial revolution’. As CPRE has long argued, making the countryside a central part of the UK’s climate action will not just help ensure its survival, but make it more beautiful and biodiverse and boost rural economies in the process.

The Agriculture Act marked another step towards a low carbon countryside. The legislation incorporated our model of fairer farm support to encourage greener food production and land management – as well as our promotion of the part soils can play in mitigating floods and storing carbon.

Local leadership

As ever, the passion and vigilance of our local network secured the future of green spaces like Yorkshire’s Askham Bog nature reserve – described by Sir David Attenborough as ‘a cathedral of nature conservation’. CPRE campaigners encouraged the council to approve the regeneration of a city centre site rather than building next to the reserve. This site will now provide up to 2,500 new homes (40% affordable) in a far more efficient use of land.

In Northumberland, wildlife lovers celebrated an end to plans for opencast mining next to Druridge Bay Country Park. CPRE’s public inquiry evidence had highlighted the potential impact on carbon emissions and the natural environment, helping to influence a government decision we hope will set a clear precedent.

Successful campaigns against traffic congestion in London, a motorway-grade bypass through Leicestershire and the expansion of Bristol airport complemented our national lobbying for greener travel alternatives – which helped win a government pledge for £5bn of new bus and cycle routes.

A virtuous circle

Every CPRE victory – whether shaping legislation or saving a green space – takes us closer to our vision of a beautiful and thriving countryside that enriches all our lives. Demonstrating our impact also helps us attract more volunteers and funding to strengthen our organisation across the country. So I’ve been delighted with the progress we have made during 2020 in improving support to our local groups. Substantial investment in new IT systems, training and support has significantly improved information-sharing and collaboration across CPRE - and even facilitated our online lobbying of ministers during the pandemic.

Our grassroots network is particularly important as we seek positive changes to the planning system and promote a stronger democratic voice in the enhancement and protection of local countryside. Local knowledge

CPRE The countryside charity

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

will also be invaluable in our work to overcome barriers facing disadvantaged groups struggling to gain access to the countryside and rural communities left behind by a lack of investment.

Having overcome unprecedented challenges and succeeded in increasing impact in 2020, CPRE is well placed to do the best for our countryside in the year ahead. With your support, we could achieve even more; please join us today at cpre.org.uk

Simon Murray

Chair of the Board of Trustees

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

2. TRUSTEES’ REPORT

The Trustees of CPRE present their annual report for the year ended 31 December 2020, together with the audited financial statements for that year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS102) and the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (“SORP(FRS102)”).

The continued existence and quality of so much of the English countryside is a testament to over 90 years of successful campaigning by CPRE, and a tribute to our countrywide network.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England uses the operating name: CPRE The countryside charity. The legal name remains unchanged.

a) Objects and activities

The Trustees have referred to the guidance from the Charity Commission on public benefit in producing this report, and when reviewing our aims and objectives and planning our future activities. In particular, the Trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

Our charitable objects are ‘to promote and encourage for the benefit of the nation the improvement and protection of the English countryside and its towns and villages and the better development of the rural environment’.

b) Our vision and mission

At CPRE we want to see a beautiful, thriving countryside which is valued and enjoyed by all and which is enhanced and protected for this and future generations. It is vital for our wellbeing, it is the place for nature and it is a critical part of this nation’s response to the climate emergency.

CPRE’s vision is of ‘a beautiful and thriving countryside that enriches all our lives’. Our mission to take us there is to ‘promote, enhance and protect a thriving countryside’.

c) Our Strategy 2020-26

Our mission is delivered through the strategic plan which aims to broaden our appeal, increase our impact and renew our countrywide network. Four strategic aims will take us to our centenary in 2026:

1. Connect people and countryside

We’ll promote the value and benefits of the countryside so that far more people engage with, understand and enjoy it, particularly those who have not benefited before. This will help us to create a stronger voice to enhance and protect the countryside, including locally-valued landscapes;

2. Promote rural life

With communities and partners, we’ll develop and promote a sustainable vision for living in the countryside and bring together solutions for the rural economy, housing, farming, transport and the natural environment;

3. Empower communities

We’ll empower our network to engage with communities to involve more people in improving their local environment through volunteering and local action;

4. Grow our capacity

We’ll bring together a larger and more diverse group of people who share our belief in countryside for all.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

d) Activities and services provided

Our campaigning is evidence-based and reasoned, as well as passionate. We are experts in the planning system and landscape character, locally and nationally. We have a long track record of achievement, dating back over 90 years. We are independent of any interest group and defend the countryside in the public interest.

The three principal ways in which we achieve our objectives are:

Initiating and supporting activities that directly improve the countryside and rural communities.
Influencing national policies to maximise the benefit and minimise the damage to the countryside.
Supporting and developing our network of independent local CPREs and through them influencing local plans, supporting appropriate developments and preventing developments that would unnecessarily damage the countryside.

We provide an overview of our activities through this Annual Report; CPRE’s Annual Review; Countryside Voices, our magazine for members; tailored communications for donors and high-value supporters; and regular Campaigns Update email bulletins. Our website www.cpre.org.uk and activity through all the main social media channels promotes the value of the countryside and our work to enhance and protect it, providings advice and access to comprehensive information on our aims, activities and services. Our planning support service, which is being restructured and strengthened this year, provides help to local communities wishing to support or challenge a local planning application.

The 39 independent county CPREs run campaigns and provide local information via their websites, publications and events. They have a very small staff and rely in the main on increasing numbers of volunteers to help them enhance and protect their local countryside.

The work of national CPRE is organised into four main departments, each of which comprises a number of teams:

Campaigns and Policy: Land Use and Planning, Rural Economies and Communities, External Affairs.
Engagement and Income: Individual Giving, High Value Relationships, Brand and Engagement.
Volunteering and Partnerships: Volunteering Development, Network Development.
Finance and Operational Effectiveness: Finance, HR and IT.

The departments work very closely together and much of our work is carried out jointly by cross-team groups of staff also working with volunteers from across our network. Responsibility for delivering our strategic aims brings their work together and highlights from 2020 are reported accordingly below.

3. OUR ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2020

2020 was an exceptional year in which, shortly after we began work on delivering our new strategy, the country was beset by the Coronavirus outbreak and entered a period of ‘lockdown’. That

necessitated the rapid closure of our London office and transfer of all activities to online remote working. Very recent investment in cloud-based IT made that possible and, with the commitment and hard work of our staff and volunteers, meant we were able to resume all our activities within a short period. Most of our policy and campaigning work has continued and very significant outputs delivered.

The Coronavirus pandemic led to renewed public awareness of the value of countryside and green space on which we have been quick to capitalise. Similar moves by major environmental organisations have made this an area of significant opportunity but also one where resources are constrained.

While in the wider charity world any fundraising which is dependent on face-to-face contact was badly hit, CPRE’s core membership and legacy income stood us in good stead to weather the immediate financial storm

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

without any delays or furloughing. However, the dramatically changed situation meant that CPRE, in line with all major charities, postponed planned investment in new member acquisition and focused efforts on existing donor stewardship. The medium to longer term economic forecast and its impact on our fundraising targets will be our main concern as we plan ahead.

Politically and in the media CPRE has had one of its most active years, with major change taking place as a result of Brexit and the new government. Most significantly, the government’s proposed deregulation of the planning system resulted in a massive mobilisation of CPRE resources in a very high-profile first stage campaign to challenge proposals on setting housing targets and the Planning White Paper. All these trends continue as we plan for 2021. In addition, we face an exciting year with many challenges and opportunities, including the UK hosting of the international COP climate emergency conference in the autumn, renewed focus on nature and green space from Natural England’s Nature Recovery Partnership and the progress of a new Environment Bill, with much of our work being done in coalition with partners. The Agriculture Bill has now passed into law and so the implementation of ‘public payments for public goods’ and the Environmental Land Management Scheme will become the crucial issue as we look at what it means in practice for landscapes, farming practices and our countryside more widely.

Events during the year have also highlighted the vital importance of our work to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in the countryside and rural context. Following our diversity audit in 2019, we agreed a leadership statement in 2020, and we will be building this into all our work and developing a dedicated programme on a ‘countryside for all’ during 2021.

a) Connect People and Countryside

In 2020 our campaigning and policy work resulted in:

influence on the government’s review of housing design following our Design Audit launch in January;
increased understanding of the need to improve rural connectivity, with the Parliamentary launch of our ‘Transport Deserts’ report in February;
new funding and measures to support building on brownfield land first;
more support for the importance of access to green space and nature for our health and wellbeing, articulated and promoted in our ‘Regeneration Manifesto’ which was launched in June;
increased government support for the role of countryside in addressing the climate emergency, such as planting more hedgerows, following our ‘Greener, Better, Faster’ Climate Emergency policy launch with senior ministerial support in July;
improved provisions on soil health and landscape quality in the Agriculture Bill, published in November; and
a change in government policy to ensure more houses are built in urban areas and on previously developed land rather than on greenfield following the major first phase of our campaign against government plans to deregulate planning.

Better Housing Design

In January we published ‘A National Housing Audit for England’ joint report with University College London (UCL), which looked at over 140 housing developments across England and found that 75% were either ‘poor’ or ‘mediocre’. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) responded to our report on the day of the launch, attended by over 250 people, following strong print and broadcast coverage. The report’s findings were subsequently heavily referenced in the government’s ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’ report, which included stronger application of design standards in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). We followed up with high level meetings with MHCLG officials to discuss our recommendations in more detail.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Building on brownfield first

Our work to promote the recycling of derelict land influenced a spring budget announcement of a £400m fund to create a national brownfield map and help councils make the most of this sustainable resource – which our research later in the year again confirmed could accommodate 1.3m homes. The budget also contained £12.2bn in funding for affordable homes following CPRE’s calls for investment as part of a coalition with Crisis and the National Housing Federation.

Regenerating our countryside

At the end of June we published our ‘Regeneration Manifesto’ outlining how important access to green space and the ability to connect with nature have been for our physical and mental wellbeing in the context of Coronavirus and the lockdowns. Following a launch event with 230 attendees including MPs, civil servants, sector stakeholders, journalists and local CPRE representatives, we wrote to relevant Secretaries of State and all key Parliamentarians and received very positive feedback on the timing and content such as this from Lord Judd - ‘... my strong support for the manifesto. It is a crucially important statement at this exacting time. All power to your elbow! ’ Lobbying at ministerial and senior civil servant level continues on the key asks.

Responding to the climate emergency

A week later saw an even larger launch event for our climate emergency action plan ‘Greener, Better, Faster’, and its 12 recommendations to help address climate breakdown won considerable support, with Caroline Lucas MP hailing it ‘a wonderful manifesto’, Dame Cheryl Gillan calling for it to be debated in the Lords, and the Environmental Audit Committee inviting us to submit it as evidence to their inquiry on greening the post-covid recovery. Our focus on natural solutions, including stronger protection and restoration of hedgerows, was picked up by many commentators, resulting in a supportive editorial in the Times and Environment Minister Rebecca Pow pledging her personal support. We also met with Secretary of State George Eustice, where we pressed our key recommendations and early concerns about the potential environmental impacts of the planning reforms.

The right development in the right place

Following massive CPRE pressure in the press and Parliament, we also welcomed a December change in the government’s plans to create housing targets using a computer algorithm – which would have significantly increased the pressure to build on greenfield sites in the south east. CPRE has received very strong support (including 310,000 names on our joint petition) for our argument that the majority of housing we need is best accommodated in existing urban areas. We were therefore relieved to hear Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick confirm the government had updated the methodology, so that it would prioritise homes ‘ on brownfield land first to protect the countryside ’ and boost investment in ‘ the cities of the Midlands and the North as part of our commitment to levelling up ’.

b) Promote Rural Life

Improving rural connectivity

February saw the launch of our report ‘Transport Deserts’, in conjunction with the Campaign for Better Transport. The report highlighted the plight of over one million people in the South West and North East alone, who live in, or are on the verge of living in, a transport desert – cut off from adequate public transport and access to vital public services. A parliamentary launch was held on 12 February, which included a response from Minister George Freeman and was attended by 12 MPs as well as other opinion formers and key stakeholders. That same week, the government announced new funding of £5bn over five years for improved bus, walking and cycling provision. We responded by highlighting the needs of rural communities and will be lobbying hard for fair share of provision in the most isolated rural areas.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Influencing the new Agriculture Act

The passing of November’s Agriculture Act marked a major shift in government policy and a battle won for CPRE. The act was based on the kind of ‘new model farming’ CPRE has championed since 2016, with our lobbying ensuring that farmers will now be more fairly supported to produce environmentally sustainable food, increase biodiversity and adapt to climate change. We were particularly delighted that the legislation adopted CPRE’s demand that farmers should be rewarded for protecting or improving the soil that is so vital for absorbing floodwater and storing carbon. The act was followed by a new sustainable farming ‘roadmap’ incorporating many of our ideas and confirming that future funding will prioritise nature restoration.

c) Empower Communities

CPRE Network support and engagement

Investment in CPREs national network and support to our volunteers has achieved tangible results this year, including:

a new volunteering management system ‘Assemble’ for all parts of CPRE to attract, recruit, train and support volunteers;
an online AGM which enabled voting members to appoint a new chair and trustee and approve the accounts;
record attendance at the annual conference online over two days, with 85% of survey respondents ranking it good or very good;
over 80 new volunteers and local staff helped with online inductions;
£150,000 national funds invested in 19 local CPREs’ innovative partnership projects since 2018, through our Strategic Collaboration Fund;
development of a new contacts management database (MS Dynamics) which will allow vastly improved management of and communication with supporters across national and local CPREs.

Network communications continued to improve with consolidation of Network News as the weekly update for the network, providing links to documents and research, invites to meetings and events and timely updates on projects and initiatives that have relevance to local CPREs. In a major step forward, recipients can now follow a link to a new Sharepoint folder (‘netpoint’) where all documents can be stored and this is the acorn from which an intranet can grow in 2021.

A group drawn from across the network continued to gather feedback on a suite of documents that will form a template partnership agreement between national CPRE and the 39 local CPREs, once completed. The group now have five chapters that have been consulted on and amended, covering first principles through to how we use the CPRE brand.

Volunteer training and development

Our growing volunteer training programme was rapidly adapted to run online. After ten months of development the new volunteering system Assemble launched with a suite of around 40 new volunteer role profiles and lists of active local volunteers on the system. Assemble allows for registered volunteers to login to a Volunteer Hub, find the details about their role (and recruitment for new volunteers) and in time it will link to online learning and the intranet. This will help volunteer coordinators maintain good, secure records about volunteers and make administration simpler and more effective. By the end of 2020 there were 18 groups making use of Assemble for recruiting volunteers and 250 accounts made in the system, we anticipate that this will soon rise to 450.

In June CPRE celebrated Volunteers’ Week for the second time. Messages and films were shared across the network and case studies brought the stories of volunteers to life. A virtual volunteer awards ceremony

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

recognised the personal contribution of volunteers from across the network, nominated by their peers. The awards were for each of CPRE’s values, strategic themes or for a special contribution and we aim to build on this in 2021.

A review of our Volunteering Development work was carried out in the summer and the case was made to expand the remit of the team to support more CPREs across the network.

d) Grow our capacity

Broadening CPREs appeal and increasing the amount and diversity of our membership and income continue to be major priorities as we build on the new purpose and brand through the strategy.

Engagement and Income

Despite the pandemic, 2020 saw us successfully building on our plans towards reversing decline in relevant income streams and diversifying sources of income. We focused strongly on public awareness and raising the profile of CPRE with specific target audiences, building on the repositioning and rebranding work of the past two years and preparing the ground for new product launches and new member acquisition in the coming year.

Total voluntary income for the year was £4.3m, a 25% increase on 2019, driven predominately by legacy income. As in previous years, our three biggest sources of income were legacies, memberships and appeals.

The awareness work provides a strong foundation for further growth and for investment in membership acquisition in 2021.

Brand and Engagement

Our communications to the public, supporters and members have dramatically improved as the new brand is introduced, most significantly this year:

the full launch of our new website with integrated pages for local CPREs and a whole host of improvements for members and people seeking to find out more about our work;
the completion of the implementation of our popular new brand and strapline ‘The countryside charity’;
a refreshed Countryside Voices magazine, retaining the best of this very popular membership benefit while communicating our new values and brand in an attractive and informative way;
the countryside ‘Regeneration’ film and social media campaign, raising awareness amongst the general public of CPREs name and work and the importance of enhancing and protecting our countryside at this critical time;
a series of successful appeals on key issues all brought in income ahead of target;
a full cycle of fundraising and membership events and testing of new income-generating projects, including for example the ‘Gem and I’ starry skies children’s booklet; and
key supporter-facing campaigns and programmes to achieve engagement and income goals through our social media and digital work, most notably in the Planning White Paper campaign.

Our engagement and digital activity will be central to broadening our appeal in order to increase our reach, impact and income in 2021.

Content Development

Much focus has been on creating engaging content for our Regeneration campaign, as well as supporting our Countryside for All narrative through a series of pieces marking Black History Month for the first time.

CPRE The countryside charity

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Our ability to create on brand seasonal videos and images for the whole CPRE Network to use on web and print was restricted due to COVID restrictions. However, this will resume once restrictions have been lifted.

The new website was designed to serve both the national charity and our local network, allowing us to offer a consistent supporter experience. Despite lockdown, half of all local CPREs are already using the new website and we expect at least another 10 to join in the first half of 2021.

Income Generation

Membership fees are a stable source of funding for the organisation due to our consistently high overall member retention rate (98%). Work to further deepen and increase donor retention continued in 2020, including a stewardship magazine for active regular givers, mid-value and one-off high value donors and a new regular givers welcome pack.

We partnered with fundraising specialist agency, Blue Frog, to further develop the membership product ready for the acquisition launch in 2021. Working alongside the network we will produce new initiatives to test and launch during 2021.

Cash appeals to existing supporters continued to perform well overall, despite the uncertain external environment. These are also being supported by innovative email reminders to uplift income and a number of digital acquisition testing as well as lead conversion activity from the Regeneration campaign and the planning petition.

Finally, with ongoing COVID restrictions the community and events team have focussed on supporting the network through fundraising training and workshops.

High Value Relationships

2020 marked the commencement of our high value relationships strategy, something which has been strongly affected by the coronavirus pandemic and resulting cancellation of all planned face-to-face donor events.

The competition for project funding increased noticeably since March as demand increased and funders concentrated efforts on emergency grants. However there have been opportunities too with more funding pots emerging for the environment sector as we head towards a green recovery.

Legacies performed extremely well increasing by £1m over 2019.

Governance

As a response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Articles of CPRE were amended to allow online AGM’s and we held our first virtual AGM in June 2020.

The regular cycles of meetings continued, for the most part virtually.

Work has continued on embedding our values. The focus this year has been on the OPEN value and we have reviewed our approach to diversity and inclusion. Following an external diversity audit in 2019, a plan of action was agreed with the Trustees.

IT upgrade

With the Coronavirus pandemic and the whole organisation moving to remote working overnight, the previous investment in MS SharePoint and Teams paid off. Staff adapted to the MS Teams environment and innovated to continue to campaign and provide support to the network. Work continued with the upgrade of our Contact Relationship Management (CRM) system to MS Dynamics. This has enabled us to review our business systems and processes to provide us with more robust information to support strategic decisions in the future.

Our Staff

This has been a challenging year for our staff. They have responded well and adapted to new ways of working. Staff also responded professionally to the debate around CPRE’s statement on Black Lives Matter,

CPRE The countryside charity

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

clear throughout, that the future of the countryside is intrinsically linked to the ability of all to enjoy and care for it.

Although our annual staff conference had to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, this was replaced by a number of online learning sessions which were well received by staff. In September staff also met in small socially distanced groups to walk and enjoy the English countryside.

Surveys and meetings have been held with staff during the year to check on mental health and wellbeing. We have also been eager to capture the learnings from the remote working experience to guide our future office strategy for when our lease expires in February 2022.

e) Strategic Performance Results 2020

A new set of strategic performance measures was put in place in January 2020. These measures, summarised below, give a top-level view of progress on the most important measures of progress against the plan. They need to be taken together with the qualitative reports above to see a full picture of what’s going well and where challenges remain.

These indicators are used through the year by the Board of Trustees to keep abreast of progress and provide early warning of any areas which need attention. Results show good progress against all key areas.

KPI	Strategic	Measure	2020	2020 Result	Note
no.	aim/objective		Target
1-3	Grow our capacity	Total fundraising	£3.5m	£4.2m	Strong legacy performance and cost control Coronavirus lockdown delayed supporter/member acquisition activities
	Increase and	income all sources £
	diversify income and	Return on Fundraising	2:1	6:1
	support	Investment
		Fundraising Income	35% legacy	53% legacy

		from any stream at	65% other fundraising

		least 10% and/or no
		more of 50% of total
		Numbers and diversity	340,000 supporters of which	170,678
		of supporters all	40,000 financial	supporters 47,336 financial
		sources, of which 12%
		financial supporters
		More people recognise	27.5%	18%	Matches trend across
		CPRE and are positive			sector in the period.
		about our work
		according to YouGov
		brand tracking.
4	Connect people and	3 Policy & practice	No. locally valued landscapes &	Housing formula revised to focus on large urban centres and use of brownfield in line with our policy recommendations. Increased funding to incentivise use
	countryside	changes that improve	green spaces enhanced &
		the planning system by	protected; No. developments
		delivering more	proposed on suitable
		sustainable	brownfield sites; No. planning
		development in public	decisions taken in line with
		interest	Green Belt protection.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

				of brownfield land coming forward for development
5	Promote Rural Life	3 policy and practice	Increase in provision rural	Agriculture Bill	.
		change successes that	affordable housing;	change to land management in the public interest and policy successes on soils, farm size, diversity, landscapes and access. Government 10- point plan for green recovery signals improvement in policies on climate emergency, disappointing on nature-based solutions.
		ensure a more	No. sustainable models farming
		sustainable rural	& environmental land
		economy in which	management adopted; No.
		communities can	measures that help countryside
		thrive	mitigate & adapt to climate
			emergency

6	Empower	Number of registered	720 registered volunteers in	250 active volunteers	Early stages of implementation in many smaller _groups _
	communities	volunteers	roles in new
			Assemble database

Table 1: Progress against 2020 Strategic Performance Measures

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

4. FINANCIAL REVIEW

The financial results of the charity’s activities for the year to 31 December 2020 are set out in the Statement of Financial Activities and supporting notes.

Income and Fundraising Performance

This year total income increased compared to 2019 by £0.9m – mainly due to an increase in legacies. Legacy income of £2.3m represented 52% of total income and was higher than in 2019. Membership, (net of the local and regional share) and Committed Giving income remained steady at £1.1m and we are thankful for those loyal supporters. Funding from charitable trusts and companies was down compared with the previous year due to the impact of the pandemic.

A new fundraising strategy has been developed to create a long-term and robust approach to developing multipartner, multi-funded projects, which will significantly increase and strengthen our charitable activity. The launch of the new member acquisition project was delayed until 2021 due to the pandemic.

We would like to thank our many supporters who helped optimise the value of their donations by completing Gift Aid forms. We reclaimed £346k in Gift Aid in 2020 (2019: £346k).

Expenditure

Total expenditure in 2020 was £5.1m (2019 £5.6m) of which £4.2m was spent on charitable activities (2019: £4.4m), this included continued support to the network, investment in the Strategic Collaboration Fund to support local CPRE projects and work on developing our capacity.

Financial Reserves Policy

The Board recognises the need to keep unrestricted reserves at a level appropriate to the needs of the organisation. The Board reviewed its reserves policy in December 2020 reducing the target range in line with the policy below and to set the context for the 2021 budget. CPRE’s reserves policy is:

‘The Board adopts a risk-based approach to reserves. Its policy is to hold unrestricted free reserves, in a range of £1.7m – £3.5m. This reflects the Trustees current appraisal of working capital requirements, the risks in CPRE’s sources of income, an allowance for unplanned expenditure, and a degree of funding for key investments during the next planning cycle’.

For the purpose of its policy, CPRE has defined its reserves as its unrestricted free reserves, which constitute total reserves less restricted, and endowment reserves, fixed assets and legacy debtors. We have ignored our fixed assets, as they are illiquid. We have not included legacy debtors because they may not be received for up to two years from the date of probate.

Therefore, our policy focuses on our unrestricted free reserves. These were £3.1m at the year-end (£3.8m in 2019) and represent a strong base to help finance activities in future years, to invest in the CPRE network and achieve new strategic objectives as per the table below. A proportion of the unrestricted reserves have been specifically designated for this purpose. Further information on CPRE’s funds is contained in note 15 to the accounts.

Table: Unrestricted Free Reserves

	2020
	£’000
Total Reserves	6,039
Less: Restricted Reserves	(337)
Less: Endowments Reserves	(134)

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Less: Designated Reserves	(1,232)
Less: Legacy Debtors	(1,210)
Unrestricted Free Reserves	3,126

The year-end total of £3.1m is within our target range of £1.7m to £3.5m.

During the year the Trustees reviewed the designated reserves and agreed to allocate £1,232k for strategic purposes. Further details can be found in note 15. Information on CPRE’s future plans can be found on page 15 and these unrestricted reserves will be used to help fund these plans.

Having assessed the charity’s financial position, its plans for the foreseeable future, the risks to which it is exposed and the detailed cash projections, the Trustees are satisfied that it remains appropriate to prepare the statements on a going concern basis.

Investment Policy and Performance

During 2020 all CPRE’s investments were managed by CCLA.

For the year to 31 December 2020 the total portfolio has reduced by 40% (2019: reduced by 31%) as we withdrew £1.5m from our investments during 2020 (2019: withdrew £2.0m). Investment gains made on investment in 2020 amounted to £92k (2019: £414k).

The main fund remains with the CCLA Charity Ethical Investment Fund.

CPRE’s prime ethical consideration is to identify any obvious conflicts of interest between its objectives and the objectives/activities of any company whose shares may be acquired directly for the purpose of investment. We had no direct investment in company shares at 31 December 2020.

Fundraising Approach

CPRE undertakes fundraising activity to its supporters via direct mail, telephone and email in line with the Fundraising Code of Practice set by the Fundraising Regulator. Our fundraising promise, which is available on our website to reassure supporters of our approach, is

‘When you support us by becoming a member, campaigner or donor you can be sure of the following:

We will never sell your contact details to anyone outside of CPRE
We will only contact you if you have expressed an interest in our work
If we phone you, we will always check you are happy to take the call
If you ask us to change how we communicate with you, or stop, we will respect that
We try hard to ensure no one ever feels pressurised to support our work
We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and adhere to the Fundraising Code of Practice
All our activities are open, fair, honest and legal.’

CPRE is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and adheres to the standards of the Fundraising Code of Practice. Two complaints about fundraising activity was received by CPRE national office in 2020 and they were promptly resolved without the need for escalation to the regulator.

Risk Management

The Board recognises its responsibilities in terms of managing risk and has systems in place to ensure that the risks faced by the charity are identified, assessed, managed and monitored.

The Senior Leadership Team and all staff assess risks as part of all significant project management. The Board review current material risks at each Board meeting during the year and a thorough review of potential risks annually. This was undertaken in December 2020.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

The main categories of risk are:

Governance
Reputation
Financial
Regulatory
External

The Board considers the gross risk before taking into account internal and external controls and the residual net risk after these internal and external controls are applied. The major net risks relate to external factors beyond CPRE’s control; the most significant are considered to be:

Changes in policy and/or planning decisions leading to further degradation of the countryside
A downturn in the economy leading to a decrease in income

The most significant internal risks prior to our internal controls are considered to be:

Failure to diversify and grow income
Our initiatives fail to achieve expected outcome due to not reflecting public mood or change in government policy
IT & Data systems don’t support the new strategy
Increased risk of fraud due to economic downturn and remote working
Health of local CPRE’s and their impact on National CPRE

Our internal controls are intended to manage rather than eliminate risks and to give reasonable rather than absolute assurances.

There are only four significant residual internal net risks, all of which are assessed as acceptable:

Failure to diversify and grow income
Our initiatives fail to achieve expected outcome due to not reflecting public mood or change in government policy
IT & Data systems don’t support the new strategy
Health of local CPREs and their impact on National CPRE

The system of internal control includes:

A multi-year strategic plan
An annual operational plan and budget, with actual performance being monitored regularly
A range of policies (e.g. financial reserves policy) and procedures
A Ways of Working group developing policies for working together with CPRE regions and branches
A regular risk assessment programme
A staff structure and scheme of delegation that aids continuity of our work

The scheme of delegation sets out the delegated authority of the FAOE Committee, the Policy Committee, the Nominations Committee and the principal officers. The day-to-day management is delegated to the Chief Executive, the principal officers and other CPRE staff.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

5. FUTURE PLANS

Our strategic aims 2020-26 as set out in section 2 (c) on page 3 describe everything we are going to do at national CPRE in the next six years to move us towards our vision of a beautiful and thriving countryside that enriches all our lives. The strategic aims set our priorities and where we are going to allocate our resources during this period. All our plans and projects contribute towards the achievement of these aims.

In practice our strategy means developing new projects with partners from the CPRE network and externally, to develop, set out and promote solutions through research, policy, campaign and practical work. It means new programmes for volunteering, membership and supporter engagement and capacity-building for our network and their communities. It means presenting to the public and policymakers a vision of positive, sustainable progress for our countryside which can hold its own against the imperatives of growth.

2021 Priorities

Our operational plan for 2021 sets out how we are going to do that in the coming year. Our operational plan and budget, which sets out the details of what we’re going to do and how we will utilise our resources, have been agreed by the Board and follow three operational priorities for the year:

Stronger together : in 2021 we will continue our work to transform relationships across the CPRE Network, investing in greater support for local CPREs most in need, renewing frameworks for collaboration, good practice sharing and communication across our local, regional and national organisations and make greater strides towards speaking with one voice to the Government, the public and civil society.
Financial sustainabilit y: the financial challenge in the medium and long-term for CPRE has become even tougher with the economic impact of the Coronavirus crisis, adding renewed urgency to our aim of increasing and diversifying income across the organisation. 2021 will see the launch of a range of new and enhanced membership, supporter and fundraising initiatives bringing to life the work of recent years on our new brand, positive messaging and awareness-raising. The new initiatives will be developed and trialled in close collaboration with the CPRE network and will be designed to increase and diversify income across the organisation. We will also conduct a review of how the costs of and income from the membership scheme are shared across the CPRE Network.
Demonstrating impact : this year we’re going to focus hard on measuring and demonstrating how our work makes a difference for our supporters and the public. We will show how supporting CPRE secures a better planning system, more equality of access, enhanced and protected landscapes and rural-focused policies and investment sustaining rural communities and economies.

Progress against the operational plan will be measured by management and project teams and strategic performance measures reviewed by the Board every quarter. The budget with which we will deliver the plan has been agreed by the Board and is in line with our five-year financial strategy and reserves policy. It aims to invest reserves in order to increase and diversify support and income and to modernise and strengthen the network and keep reserves levels within the target range. Progress against the budget is monitored alongside the performance measures by the senior leadership team and the Board advised by the Finance and Operational Effectiveness sub-committee as described below.

Priorities and plans for 2022 will be set in the light of progress and according to the strategy in the autumn of 2021.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

6. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Legal and Administrative Details

The Campaign to Protect Rural England is a registered charity (number 1089685) and a company limited by guarantee (number 04302973). It was founded in 1926. It is registered in England and its registered office is 5- 11 Lavington Street, London, SE1 0NZ. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association adopted on 4 October 2001, which were most recently amended on 30 April 2020.

The members of the Trustee Board are Trustees under charity law and Directors under company law. They are also known as Board Members.

CPRE has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, CPRE Enterprises Limited (Company No 4287611) which has been dormant throughout the year.

Structure

National CPRE comprises the national office in London and eight regional groups.

The regional groups were originally set up to influence regional plans but their role has evolved into one of engaging with sub-regional planning bodies and supporting collaboration across the network. All regional work in London is carried out by CPRE London. The regional groups’ financial results are incorporated into the main charity financial statements at the end of each year.

The CPRE network operates as a network of 42 branches which subdivide into over 100 active district groups. There are 39 separately constituted branches that operate within the wider CPRE federal structure. As legal entities in their own right, with their own boards of trustees, their results do not form part of these financial statements. Three branches, Lincolnshire, Durham and Northumberland, are part of the main charity and their finances are incorporated into the charity financial statements at the end of each year.

While 39 of the branches are separately registered charities, with their own governing documents and boards of trustees, most use the name and branding of CPRE. All deliver broadly similar objectives and receive a share of the membership subscriptions from CPRE’s members. The Chairs of our branches hold over 70% of the voting rights at our Annual General Meeting.

The Board believes that the structure of the organisation is a huge strength that gives CPRE both a national presence and a strong and effective grassroots involvement.

General Council

The General Council comprises the voting members of CPRE. The voting members comprise: one person from each branch, one from each county association, one person from each region, Board members and The President.

The Board

The Board is made up of at least three and not more than ten Trustees including the Chair, the Chair of Policy Committee and the Treasurer. It is composed of up to eight Elected Board Members (including the posts listed above) and up to two Selected Board Members. All Elected Board Members serve a three-year term of office but may be eligible for re-election for a further three-year term. All Selected Board Members hold office until the next AGM but may be eligible for co-option for a further year at the discretion of the Board, subject to a maximum term of six years. During the year two Board Members, Su Sayer and Stephen Anderson retired and were replaced by Simon Murray and James Lindsay. Simon Murray replaced Su Sayer as Chair.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Recruitment of Trustees

Trustees are recruited in accordance with our Articles of Association and the process is undertaken by the Nominations Committee who make recommendations to the Board. All Trustee roles are advertised within the CPRE Network and externally. They are advertised on the basis of seeking to fill skills gaps on the Board.

All members of the Board have role descriptions and take part in induction programmes, training and development as appropriate. The Board have undertaken a self-evaluation against the Governance Code which will determine areas for development over the coming period.

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards) and applicable law.

Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of its net incoming/outgoing resources 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 of the Charities SORP (FRS102);
make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue to operate.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the provisions of the charitable company’s constitution. 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.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. The following statements have been affirmed by each of the Trustees of the charitable company:

so far as each Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information, (that is, information needed by the company’s auditors in connection with preparing their report), of which the company’s auditors are unaware; and
each Trustee has taken all the steps that he/she ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditors are aware of that information.

Sub Committees

The Board has three sub-committees: the Policy Committee, Finance, Audit and Operational Effectiveness Committee and the Nominations Committee. The Board sets terms of reference for sub-committees, all of which report directly to the Board.

CPRE The countryside charity

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

The purpose of the Policy Committee is to provide a body of expertise to advise the Board and assist staff and Trustees of CPRE in all aspects of its external policy.

The purpose of the Nominations Committee is to select suitable candidates to be nominated for the Board. It is chaired by a member of CPRE’s General Council.

The purpose of the Finance, Audit and Operational Effectiveness Committee is to ensure CPRE has sufficient and appropriate financial and other resources available for delivery of its operational plan and budgets. It also ensures that CPRE operates within the requirements of its constitution, relevant legislation and best practice.

Reference and Administrative Details

Management

The Board delegates responsibility for the day-to-day management of CPRE to its Chief Executive. He is aided by the Senior Leadership Team and other senior colleagues.

The present office holders and any past office holders who served during the year, and to the date of signing this Report, are listed below.

Office holders

Patron

Her Majesty The Queen

President

Emma Bridgewater

Vice Presidents

Sir Andrew Motion

Christine Drury Fiona Reynolds (Appointed June 2020) Ali Miraj (Appointed June 2020)

The Board (Trustees/Directors)

Su Sayer CBE Chair (Retired June 2020) Simon Murray Chair (Appointed June 2020) Martin Tyler FCCA Treasurer Stephen Anderson General Board Member (Retired June 2020) Margaret Clark CBE Selected Board Member Robin Thompson CBE DL General Board Member (Vice Chair) Corinne Pluchino General Board Member Andy Topley Selected Board Member Dr Richard Simmons Chair of Policy Committee Will Rivers General Board Member Professor Patricia Broadfoot CBE General Board Member

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

James Lindsay

General Board Member (Appointed June 2020)

Sub-committees of the Board:

Policy Committee

Dr Richard Simmons Chair Su Sayer CBE Trustee (Retired June 2020) John Croxen (Retired June 2020) Richard Lloyd (Retired June 2020) Stan Jones (Retired June 2020) Sabine Mosner

Kaley Hart Catherine Le Grice-Mack Andy Topley Trustee (Appointed September 2020) Will Rivers Trustee (Appointed September 2020)

Finance, Audit and Operational Effectiveness Committee

Martin Tyler FCCA Chair Robin Thompson CBE Trustee Corinne Pluchino General Board Member Patrick Cooper Co-optee

Nominations Committee

Su Sayer CBE Trustee (Retired June 2020) Simon Murray Trustee (Appointed June 2020) Andy Topley Trustee Isabella Stone Chair (Retired June 2020) John Lambert Chair (Appointed June 2020) Martin Crookston Branch nominated member

Principal Officers

Crispin Truman OBE Chief Executive Tom Fyans Director of Campaigns & Policy Elvira Meucci-Lyons Director of Engagement & Income Mark Cornish FCA Director of Finance & Operational Effectiveness and Company Secretary Dr Crewenna Dymond Director for Volunteering and Partnerships

CPRE The countryside charity

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Professional Advisers:

A list of CPRE’s main professional advisers appears on page 49.

Health and Safety

The Board considers managing health and safety and wellbeing of our staff, volunteers, suppliers and visitors a key priority.

The Board is ultimately responsible for compliance with health and safety legislation. The day-to-day responsibility is delegated to the Chief Executive and Director of Finance & Operational Effectiveness, who are responsible for compliance, relevant policy development and performance. Health and Safety is a linemanagement responsibility throughout CPRE.

During the course of the year there were no significant accidents or incidents involving members of staff, volunteers, contractors or visitors to our office.

Employees and Volunteers

Our staff and volunteers continue to build CPRE’s long-established reputation for professionalism, expertise and quality. They are the reason for our many lobbying and campaigning successes.

CPRE’s volunteers are also highly valued and the Board is grateful for the huge amount of work they do. The work of volunteers in the branches and regional groups is supported by advice and other support from National Office, including inductions, training seminars and our events programme.

We support equal opportunities, and recruit and promote employees on the basis of aptitude and ability without discrimination. CPRE seeks to enable disabled employees to play a full role in the organisation.

Reward Policy

The pay of the principal officers - see page 19 - is determined by the Board of Trustees. Salaries are benchmarked with those of charities of similar size in terms of income, staff numbers and complexity. The same benefits, including pensions, and terms and conditions apply to the principal officers as all other staff.

All other staff salaries have also been benchmarked with those of charities of similar size in terms of income, staff numbers and complexity. It is expected that the majority of staff will be paid at the median for their role, however there is flexibility of +/- 15% around the median.

All staff salaries will be benchmarked again on a triennial basis. During the interim period the Board may approve an annual pay increase subject to an overall affordability criterion.

The Board includes Trustees appointed by our volunteer branch chairs and Trustees with significant pay expertise and knowledge, especially of the charity sector.

All nationally-employed staff are paid at least the London Living Wage.

7. AUDITOR

Haysmacintyre LLP were re-appointed as auditors.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP FRS102 – 2[nd] Edition, effective 1 January 2019) and in accordance with the special provisions of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

CPRE The countryside charity TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Approved by the Trustees on 25 March 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

Simon Murray Chair

Martin Tyler FCCA Treasurer

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

8. INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

to the members of Campaign to Protect Rural England

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Campaign to Protect Rural England for the year ended 31 December 2020 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement 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 December 2020 and of the charitable company’s net movement in funds, including the 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 charity 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 Trustees’ Report and the Chair’s statement. 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:

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

the information given in the Trustees’ Report (which includes the strategic report and the directors’ report prepared for the purposes of company law) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the strategic report and the directors’ report included within the Trustees’ Report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Report (which incorporates the strategic report and the directors’ report).

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept by the charitable company; or
the charitable company 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 for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 20, 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.

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:

Based on our understanding of the charitable company and the environment in which it operates, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to the use of restricted funds in accordance with trust law, compliance with fundraising regulations and compliance with employment law, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011.

We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to the recognition of income from legacies and donations. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

Inspecting minutes of Trustees’ meetings
Inspecting correspondence with regulators and tax authorities;

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

Discussions with management including consideration of known or suspected instances of non-compliance with laws and regulation and fraud;
Evaluating management’s controls designed to prevent and detect irregularities;
Identifying and testing journals, in particular journal entries posted with unusual account combinations, postings by unusual users or with unusual descriptions; and
Challenging assumptions and judgements made by management in the measurement of revenue from legacies.

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.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Richard Weaver (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Haysmacintyre LLP, Statutory Auditors 25 March 2021

10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

9. STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(INCORPORATING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

	YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
Note Income from Donations and legacies 2 & 3 Other trading activities 4 Investments 5 Total Expenditure on Raising funds 6 Charitable activities 7 Total 7 Net gains on investments 11 Net (expenditure)/ income Reconciliation of funds: Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	Unrestricted Restricted Endowment 2020 2019 Funds Funds Fund Total Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 4,051 192 - 4,243 3,382 45 - - 45 43 60 4 - 64 103
	4,156 196 - 4,352 3,528
	923 - - 923 1,158 4,016 206 - 4,222 4,394
	4,939 206 - 5,145 5,552 84 - 8 92 414
	(699) (10) 8 (701) (1,610) 6,267 347 126 6,740 8,350
	5,568 337 134 6,039 6,740

All of the charity’s activities are continuing.

There are no gains and losses other than those shown above.

The notes on pages 30 to 48 form part of these financial statements.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

(A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE - COMPANY NO. 4302973)

10. BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2020

Notes FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets 10 Investments 11 Total fixed assets CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 13 Regional bank balances Cash at bank and in hand Total current assets Liabilities: Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 14 Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: Amounts falling due after one year 14 Total net assets The funds of the charity: Unrestricted funds 15 Restricted funds 16 Endowment fund 17 Total charity funds	2020 2019 £’000 £’000 249 317 2,082 3,490
	2,331 3,807 1,487 923 246 283 2,540 2,591
	4,273 3,797 (557) (812)
	3,716 2,985 6,047 6,792 (8) (52)
	6,039 6,740
	5,568 6,267 337 347 134 126
	6,039 6,740

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf on 25 March 2021.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

Simon Murray Martin Tyler FCCA Chair Treasurer

The notes on pages 30 to 48 form part of these financial statements.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

11. STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Cash flows from operating activities: Net cash outflow from operating activities (see Table 1) Cash flows from investing activities Dividends, interest and rents from investments Bank and other interest received Purchase of property, plant and equipment Sale of investments Net cash inflow from investing activities (Decrease)/ Increase in Cash Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January 2020 (see Table 2) Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 2020 (see Table 2) Table 1: Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities Net expenditure for the year Adjustments for: Depreciation charges Gains on investments Dividends, interest and rents from investments (Increase)/ Decrease in debtors Increase /(Decrease) in regional cash balances (Decrease)/ Increase in creditors	2020 2019 £’000 £’000 (1,580) (1,696) 52 81 12 22 (35) (127) 1,500 2,000
	1,529 1,976
	(51) 280
	(51) 280 2,591 2,311 2,540 2,591 2020 2019 £’000 £’000 (701) (1,610) 103 96 (92) (414) (64) (103) (564) 277 37 (47) (299) 105

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

Net cash provided by operating activities Table 2: Analysis of cash and cash equivalents Cash in hand Notice deposits (6 months) Total cash and cash equivalents	(1,580) (1,696)
	2020 2019 £’000 £’000 1,775 1,831 765 760
	2,540 2,591

Table 2: Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

The Charity has no debt, therefore the movements in net debt are all shown in the main cashflow statement. The notes on pages 30 to 48 form part of these financial statements.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

12. NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

1. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

a) Charity Information

The Campaign To Protect Rural England is a company limited by guarantee (No 4302973) and a registered charity (No 1089685) in England & Wales. The registered office is 5-11 Lavington Street, London, SE1 9NZ

b) Basis of Accounting and Statement of Compliance

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, with the exception of fixed asset investments, which are included at their market value at the balance sheet date. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice for Charities (SORP 2015) (Second Edition, effective 1 January 2019), the Companies Act 2006 and applicable accounting standards (FRS102).

The Trustees in developing the corporate strategy have also developed a multi-year financial model to underpin the corporate strategy. Whilst within the strategy there are risks associated with achieving the fundraising income, there are no material uncertainties related to events or conditions which would cast doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Consolidated accounts have not been prepared, as the operation of the wholly owned trading subsidiary, CPRE Enterprises Limited, was dormant in the year and the net assets were not material to CPRE in the year.

The principal accounting policies and estimation techniques are as follows:

c) Branches

CPRE branches receive a share of the membership subscription paid in respect of members assigned to them, which includes tax recovered from gift aid. The majority of the branches are autonomous separately registered charities and produce their own financial statements, which are not consolidated. However, there are three branches that are part of the National CPRE (Lincolnshire, County Durham and Northumberland). The accounts of these three branches have been included within these financial statements.

d) Regional Groups

CPRE is responsible for the activities of eight regional groups. The income and expenditure of these groups have been included within these financial statements.

e) Income

Voluntary income and membership subscriptions are recorded when received at the national office.

Legacies are recognised when the conditions of entitlement, probability and measurement are met. Each bequest is recognised once a reasonable estimate of its value can be made and providing there is no evidence of any significant contentious claims against the deceased’s estate. Where CPRE is left part of the residue of an estate, the deceased’s Will, initial statements of assets and liabilities and draft estate accounts are used to calculate the estimated value of the bequest. This estimate is only recognised as income once the executors have proved the Will (i.e. obtained probate). Probate values will normally be used to estimate value.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Grants receivable and merchandise income are accounted for on an accruals basis.

Donated services are included at the rate that would have been charged if the charity had been invoiced for them. An equivalent amount is included in expenditure.

f) Fixed Assets

Items over £1,000 are capitalised. Fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation.

Depreciation of fixed assets is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of fixed assets over their anticipated useful lives and is charged on a monthly basis from purchase. The rates used during the year were as follows:

Leasehold improvements 10% straight line Furniture and equipment 25% or 33 1/3% straight line Computer equipment 33 1/3% straight line Database 10% straight line Assets in the course of construction 0%

g) Fixed Asset Investments

Fixed asset investments are stated at market value. Investment income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities on a receivable basis. Realised and unrealised gains and losses on investment assets are shown in the Statement of Financial Activities. Realised gains are based on disposal proceeds compared with either opening market value or cost if acquired during the year.

h) Operating Leases

Operating lease rentals are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

i) Fund Accounting

Restricted funds are those the use of which is restricted by the conditions imposed by the donors.

Endowment funds are those where the income can be spent but the capital element retained. General funds are those which are available for the general advancement of CPRE’s objectives.

j) Allocation of Costs

Overheads and support costs have been allocated to the cost headings in the Statement of Financial Activities as follows:

An estimate of staff time spent on each activity during the year, together with the individual’s salary cost, has been used to calculate the actual cost of staff time spent on each activity. These staff cost figures have been used to calculate a percentage figure, which has been used to apportion the total overhead and support costs.

Support costs include the costs of Human Resources and IT, Finance and Governance. Overhead costs include rent, depreciation and office costs.

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis when a liability is incurred.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

k) Raising Funds

The cost of raising funds includes the production and postage costs of appeals and raffles, the marketing and promotional costs of all our fundraising programmes, the costs of members and supporter recruitment and the administrative cost of processing donations.

l) Charitable Activities

Charitable activity costs include all expenditure incurred in direct pursuit of CPRE’s charitable objectives.

These include all policy work, development of the branches and regional groups and the production of policy information about its work.

It also includes Membership and Supporter services including the materials, administrative and processing costs for member and supporter services.

m)Taxation

VAT

Irrecoverable VAT is included under the relevant expense headings. In 2020 this amounted to £179k (2019: £238k).

Corporation Tax

CPRE is a registered charity and can claim exemption from Corporation Tax on income and gains, which are applied for charitable purposes under the Corporation Taxes Act 2010.

n) Pension Schemes

CPRE operates defined contribution pension schemes for all qualifying employees. The assets of the schemes are held in separate funds administered by independent providers.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

2. INCOME FROM DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Unrestricted Funds Membership subscriptions Less:Branch share of subscriptions (note 1b) Legacies Appeals Charitable Trusts and Companies (note 3) Committed giving Major personal donations Raffles General donations Give as You Earn donations Branch Income Regional Income Total Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Charitable Trusts and Companies (note 3) Legacies Branch Income Major personal donations Total Restricted Funds Total income from Donations & Legacies	Total Total 2020 2019 £’000 £’000 1,394 1,438 (581) (585)
	813 853 2,301 1,325 416 356 125 214 218 229 79 57 42 64 39 55 5 5 11 - 2 1
	4,051 3,159 171 149 1 - - 54 20 20
	192 223
	4,243 3,382

At 31 December 2020, our estimate of the value of legacies that had been bequeathed to CPRE, but which had not been included in the financial statements, was £19k (2019: £7k). None of these bequests has a remaining life interest.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

3. GENERAL, CORPORATE AND TRUST DONATIONS

G Cadbury Constance Travis Trust Joseph Rowntree MCS Charitable Trust Foundation for Integrated Transport The Underwood Trust Anonymous donations The Tolkien Trust Donations less than £10,000 Comparative 2019 Esme Fairbairn Foundation Constance Travis Trust K S Richer Will Trust Ernest Cook Trust Charities Aid Foundation The Underwood Trust Anonymous donations June Stevens Foundation Essex Trust Donations less than £10,000	Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total 2020 £’000 £’000 £’000 12 - 12 50 - 50 - 40 40 - 23 23 - 15 15 - 20 20 - 47 47 - 20 20 63 6 69
	125 171 296
	Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total 2019 £’000 £’000 £’000 - 105 105 50 - 50 12 - 12 - 10 10 10 - 10 - 20 20 25 - 25 17 - 17 - 10 10 100 4 104
	214 149 363

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

4. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES
Rental income CPRE publications INVESTMENTS UK listed securities Bank interest	2020 2019 £’000 £’000 41 41 4 2
	45 43
	2020 2019 £’000 £’000 52 81 12 22
	64 103

5. INVESTMENTS

6. RAISING FUNDS

Fundraising costs: Direct costs Employment costs Support costs Total	2020 Total Funds 2019 Total Funds £’000 £’000 232 523 468 425 223 210
	923 1,158

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED )

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

7. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE

NALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE
Charitable activities Campaigns and policy to enhance and protect the countryside Support to branches and volunteers Develop our capability Information Provision to members Total Charitable activities Raising funds	Direct Employment Costs Grant Funding Activities Support Costs Direct Costs 2020 Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 633 - 277 143 1,053 426 82 192 338 1,038 628 - 252 671 1,551 272 - 105 203 580
	1,959 82 826 1,355 4,222 468 - 223 232 923
	2,427 82 1,049 1,587 5,145

The Strategic Collaboration Fund (SCF) continues to make national CPRE funds available through the network for specific, strategic projects designed to increase support and capacity within the CPRE network

ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT COSTS BY CHARITABLE ACTIVITY

Campaigns and policy to enhance and protect the countryside Support to branches and volunteers Develop our capability Supporter services 2020 Total charitable support costs	Overheads IT & HR Finance Governance Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 180 40 36 21 277 125 28 25 14 192 164 36 33 19 252 68 15 14 8 105
	537 119 108 62 826

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Comparative 2019 Charitable activities Campaigns and policy to enhance and protect the countryside Support to branches and volunteers Develop our capability Supporter services Total Charitable activities Raising funds Analysis of support costs by charitable activity Campaigns and policy to enhance and protect the countryside Support to branches and volunteers Develop our capability Supporter services 2020 Total charitable support costs	Direct Employment Costs Grant Funding Activities Support Costs Direct Costs 2019 Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 642 - 286 242 1,170 491 103 279 340 1,213 428 - 192 811 1,431 268 - 160 152 580
	1,829 103 917 1,545 4,394 425 - 210 523 1,158
	2,254 103 1,127 2,068 5,552
	Overheads IT & HR Finance Governance Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 180 50 41 15 286 175 49 40 15 279 121 34 27 10 192 101 28 23 8 160 577 161 131 48 917

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

8. EMPLOYEE INFORMATION

The average monthly headcount was 58 (2019: 53). The average number of employees, on a full-time equivalent basis was as follows:

Full time Part time (FTE) Employee costs were as follows: Salaries Redundancy/ Termination costs National Insurance Pension contributions	2020 2019 No No 51 46 4 4
	55 50
	£’000 £’000 2,294 2,163 - 75 234 215 149 153
	2,677 2,606

CPRE operates a Group Personal Pension Plan that all members of staff are eligible to join after the completion of their probationary service period. CPRE contributes 7% of eligible employees’ salaries to their pension plans. 50 members of staff (2019: 50) were members of the Group Personal Pension Plan at the end of the year. All of the higher paid employees were members of the Group Personal Pension Plan. Contributions into the Plan for these employees were £28k (2019: £31). The total value of employee benefits received by key management personnel, (our principal officers (see page 19) was £410k (2019: £405k).

Employees paid £60,000 or more:

Employees paid £60,000 or more:
	2020	2019
£90,000 - £99,999	1	1
£80,000 - £89,999	-	-
£70,000 - £79,999	3	3
£60,000 - £69,999	1	1

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

9. TRUSTEES’ REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES

None of the Trustees received any remuneration during the year (2019: none). Travelling expenses reimbursed to 7 (2019:11) Trustees during the year amounted to £969 (2019: £4,214).

AUDITOR’S REMUNERATION

The amounts payable to hay Macintyre were:

Audit costs: Statutory audit Total	2020 2019 £’000 £’000 15 15
	15 15

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

10. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Cost At 1 January 2020 Additions At 31 December 2020 Depreciation At 1 January 2020 Charge for the year At 31 December 2020 Net book value At 31 December 2020 At 31 December 2019	Furniture Leasehold Computer Assets in the course and Improvements Equipment of construction Equipment Total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 570 314 99 10 993 - 9 26 - 35
	570 323 125 10 1,028 417 256 - 3 676 68 32 - 3 103
	485 288 - 6 779
	85 35 125 4 249
	153 58 99 7 317

11. INVESTMENTS

Value at 1 January 2020 (Disposals) Investment gains Value at 31 December 2020	Listed Total Investments £’000 £’000 3,490 3,490 (1,500) (1,500) 92 92
	2,082 2,082

The Charity’s listed investments represent its only financial assets measured at fair value.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

12. TRADING SUBSIDIARY

CPRE Enterprises Limited

The organisation has a wholly owned subsidiary registered in England, CPRE Enterprises Limited. CPRE Enterprises Limited has been dormant throughout 2020 and 2019.

13.

Summarised Balance Sheet of CPRE Enterprises Limited Cash at bank Called up share capital DEBTORS Accrued legacy income Accrued Income Prepayments Other debtors	2020 2019 £ £ 2 2 2 2 2020 2019 £’000 £’000 1,210 627 48 17 158 184 71 95
	1,487 923

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

14. CREDITORS:amounts falling due within one year Share of subscriptions owed to branches and regional groups Accruals and deferred income Grant Commitment Trade creditors Taxation and social security Pension schemes Accrued rent CREDITORS:amounts falling due after more than one year Accrued rent	2020 2019 £’000 £’000 143 143 157 118 5 57 122 359 65 66 19 23 46 46
	557 812
	2020 2019 £’000 £’000 8 52

15. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

General Funds Designated Funds Total Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Endowment Fund At 31 December 2020	Tangible Net Total Fixed Other Net Assets Investments Assets Assets £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 249 1,948 2,139 4,336 - - 1,232 1,232
	249 1,948 3,371 5,568 - - 337 337 - 134 - 134
	249 2,082 3,708 6,039

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Comparative 2019 General Funds Designated Funds Total Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Endowment Fund At 31 December 2019 Movement in Designated funds: Strategic Collaboration Fund Legacy fund for work in North Yorkshire Funds held by regions Strategic Investment Fund Office Move Total Designated Funds	Tangible Net Total Fixed Current Net Assets Investments Assets Assets £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 317 3,364 731 4,412 - - 1,855 1,855
	317 3,364 2,586 6,267 - - 347 347 - 126 - 126
	317 3,490 2,933 6,740
	1 Jan 2020 Expenditure Transfer from General Funds 31 Dec 2020 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 74 (82) 100 92 82 (82) - - 229 - 17 246 770 (276) - 494 700 - (300) 400
	1,855 (440) (183) 1,232

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

16. RESTRICTED FUNDS

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation CPRE Mark Small grants each under £5,000 Garfield Weston Foundation KMF Maxwell-Stuart’s Charitable Trust Andrew Mason legacy Anonymous donors 2 A Team Foundation Anglo American Charitable Foundation CHK Charities Ltd The Underwood Trust 2 Ernest Cook Trust Hastoe Housing Association Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation Foundation for Integrated Transport MCS Charitable Foundation The Tolkien Trust CPRE Lincolnshire Total restricted funds	Incoming Resources Balance at 1 January Resources Expended 31 December 2020 2020 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 146 - (82) 64 29 4 - 33 4 7 (7) 4 11 - (11) - 2 - (2) - 42 - (24) 18 3 20 (15) 8 - 47 (20) 27 19 - (19) - 5 - (5) - 20 20 (20) 20 10 - - 10 1 - (1) - - 40 - 40 - 15 - 15 - 23 - 23 - 20 - 20 55 - - 55
	347 196 (206) 337

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
CPRE Mark
Small grants each under £5,000
Garfield Weston Foundation
KMF Maxwell-Stuart’s Charitable Trust
Andrew Mason legacy
Anonymous donors 2
A Team Foundation
Anglo American Charitable Foundation
CHK Charities Ltd
The Underwood Trust 2
Ernest Cook Trust
Hastoe Housing Association
Joseph Rowntree Charitable
Foundation
Foundation for Integrated Transport
MCS Charitable Foundation
The Tolkien Trust
CPRE Lincolnshire
Total restricted funds

Incoming
Resources
Balance at
1 January Resources
Expended
31 December
2020
2020
£’000
£’000
£’000
£’000
146
-
(82)
64
29
4
-
33
4
7
(7)
4
11
-
(11)
-
2
-
(2)
-
42
-
(24)
18
3
20
(15)
8
-
47
(20)
27
19
-
(19)
-
5
-
(5)
-
20
20
(20)
20
10
-
-
10
1
-
(1)
-
-
40
-
40
-
15
-
15
-
23
-
23
-
20
-
20
55
-
-
55

347
196
(206)
337

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Comparative 2019 Esmée Fairbairn Foundation CPRE Mark JTI Balances b/fwd.: each under £5,000 Garfield Weston Foundation KMF Maxwell-Stuart’s Charitable Trust Andrew Mason legacy Sanglier Ltd - Underwood Trust Anonymous donors 1 Anonymous donors 2 Anglo American Charitable Foundation Tolkien Trust 1 CHK Charities Ltd The Underwood Trust 2 The Essex Trust Ernest Cook Trust Schlaikjer-McIntyre Family Fund Hastoe Housing Association CPRE Lincolnshire The Earl Fitzwilliam Charitable Trust Total restricted funds	Balance at Incoming Resources Balance at 1 January Resources Expended 31 December 2019 2019 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 87 105 46 146 25 4 - 29 1 - 1 - 4 - - 4 55 - 44 11 17 - 15 2 72 - 30 42 33 - 33 - 25 - 25 - 1 1 - - 20 17 3 19 - - 19 14 - 14 - 5 - - 5 - 20 - 20 - 10 10 - - 10 - 10 - 2 2 - 1 - 1 1 54 - 55 - 1 1 -
	359 227 239 347

Comparative 2019
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
CPRE Mark
JTI
Balances b/fwd.: each under £5,000
Garfield Weston Foundation
KMF Maxwell-Stuart’s Charitable Trust
Andrew Mason legacy
Sanglier Ltd
-
Underwood Trust
Anonymous donors 1
Anonymous donors 2
Anglo American Charitable Foundation
Tolkien Trust 1
CHK Charities Ltd
The Underwood Trust 2
The Essex Trust
Ernest Cook Trust
Schlaikjer-McIntyre Family Fund
Hastoe Housing Association
CPRE Lincolnshire
The Earl Fitzwilliam Charitable Trust
Total restricted funds

Balance at
Incoming
Resources
Balance at
1 January
Resources
Expended
31 December
2019
2019
£’000
£’000
£’000
£’000
87
105
46
146
25
4
-
29
1
-
1
-
4
-
-
4
55
-
44
11
17
-
15
2
72
-
30
42
33
-
33
-
25
-
25
-
1
1
-
-
20
17
3
19
-
-
19
14
-
14
-
5
-
-
5
-
20
-
20
-
10
10
-
-
10
-
10
-
2
2
-
1
-
1
1
54
-
55
-
1
1
-

359
227
239
347

The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation grant is towards a project addressing litter at a strategic level in Essex.
Mark fund is used for the branch award scheme as noted in note 17.
The Garfield Weston Foundation grant was contributing to the Litter Campaign by paying for the Campaign Officer post.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

KMF Maxwell-Stuart’s Charitable Trust grant helped to investigate issues and trends in landscapes that are causing their decline.
The bequest from Mr Andrew Mason is for projects in Devon.
The anonymous donation 2 is funding a Campaigns Officer post.
The A Team Foundation is funding our County Farms project.
Anglo-American Charitable Foundation funded our Landscape enhancement project.
CHK Charities Ltd funded our Housing Design project.
The Underwood Trust 2 is funding our Brownfield project.
The donation from the Ernest Cook Trust is supporting our apprenticeship scheme.
Hastoe Housing Association funded the launch of our Housing Design project.
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and Foundation for Integrated Transport is funding our Transport Deserts project.
MCS Charitable Foundation is funding our Renewables Done Well project.
The donation from the Tolkien Trust is supporting our apprenticeship scheme.
CPRE Lincolnshire relates to the cash balances of the local CPRE.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

17. ENDOWMENT FUND

	Balance at		Investment	Balance at
			Gains/
	1 January	Transfers	(losses)	31 December
	2020			2020
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Endowment Fund (Colonel Hill)	126	-	8	134
Comparative 2019	Balance at		Investment	Balance at
			Gains/
	1 January	Transfers	(losses)	31 December
	2018			2018
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Endowment Fund (Colonel Hill)	107	-	19	126

The Endowment Fund was established by a donation in 1997. The income from the Fund is used to fund the CPRE Mark, which signifies approval for constructive developments and schemes, which leave the environment protected or enhanced.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

18. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS

At 31 December 2020, CPRE was committed to making the following payments in respect of noncancellable operating leases:

	2020	2019
	£’000	£’000
Land and Buildings
Payments due within 1 year	429	428
Payments due within 2-5 years (*)	50	479
Other
Payments due within 1 year	1	1
Payments due within 2 to 5 years	-	1

(*) The property lease for 5 – 11 Lavington Street expires in February 2022.

19. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Patrick Cooper, a co-opted member of the Finance Audit & Operational Effectiveness Committee, is the husband of Caroline Mason CBE who is CEO of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation from whom CPRE have received grant funding in 2019. The details of the grants received can be found note 16. These grants were awarded on an “arm’s length” basis and Patrick is not involved in any decision-making regarding applications to trusts and foundations.

All Trustees are members of CPRE and pay the standard membership subscription.

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

13. PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS

Honorary Standing Counsel Paul Brown QC

Legal Panel Paul Brown QC John Hobson QC Heather Sargent Stephen Whale

Solicitors Russell Cooke LLP 2 Putney Hill Putney London SW15 6AB

Freeths LLP 1 Vine Street London W1J 0AH

Auditor Haysmacintryre LLP 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

Bankers NatWest 2a Charing Cross Road London WC2H ONN

Investment Managers

CPRE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND

CCLA

Senator House

85 Queen Victoria Street

London EC4V 4ET

CPRE The countryside charity

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Contents

1. A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR

A movement for change

Local leadership

A virtuous circle

Simon Murray

2. TRUSTEES’ REPORT

a) Objects and activities

b) Our vision and mission

c) Our Strategy 2020-26

1. Connect people and countryside

2. Promote rural life

3. Empower communities

4. Grow our capacity

d) Activities and services provided

3. OUR ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2020

a) Connect People and Countryside

Better Housing Design

Building on brownfield first

Regenerating our countryside

Responding to the climate emergency

The right development in the right place

b) Promote Rural Life

Improving rural connectivity

Influencing the new Agriculture Act

c) Empower Communities

CPRE Network support and engagement

Volunteer training and development

d) Grow our capacity

Engagement and Income

Brand and Engagement

Content Development

Income Generation

High Value Relationships

Governance

IT upgrade

Our Staff

e) Strategic Performance Results 2020

4. FINANCIAL REVIEW

Income and Fundraising Performance

Expenditure

Financial Reserves Policy

Table: Unrestricted Free Reserves

Investment Policy and Performance

Fundraising Approach

Risk Management

5. FUTURE PLANS

2021 Priorities

6. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Legal and Administrative Details

Structure

General Council

The Board

Recruitment of Trustees

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

Sub Committees

Reference and Administrative Details

Management

Office holders

Patron

Vice Presidents

James Lindsay

Sub-committees of the Board:

Policy Committee

Finance, Audit and Operational Effectiveness Committee

Nominations Committee

Principal Officers

Professional Advisers:

Health and Safety

Employees and Volunteers

Reward Policy

7. AUDITOR

8. INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

to the members of Campaign to Protect Rural England

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern