Company Number: 04978121 Charity Number: 1101575
# **Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021**
## **For**
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee not having a share capital and a registered charity)
**The British Institute of Human Rights** (A company limited by guarantee not having a share capital and a registered charity)
Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
## CONTENTS
||Page|
|---|---|
|Reference and administrative details|1|
|Trustees’ Report|2|
|Report of the Independent Examiner|31|
|Statement of Financial Activities|32|
|Balance Sheet|33|
|Notes to the Financial Statements|34|
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Reference and Administrative Details for the year ended 31 December 2021
STATUS: The British Institute of Human Rights is a company limited by guarantee without a share capital incorporated on 27 November 2003 and registered with the Charity Commission on 16 January 2004 as a charity. Its governing rules are its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1101575
REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 04978121
COUNTRY OF INCORPORATION: England and Wales
REGISTERED OFFICE: 8 Coldbath Square, London, EC1R 5HL
DIRECTORS AND TRUSTEES Sir Nicolas Bratza (Chair) Mark Hilton (Treasurer) The Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE Imran Khan QC Stephen Pittam Edith Prak Joe Powell (joined May 2021)
## KEY MANAGEMENT :
CEO (Chief Executive Officer): Sanchita Hosali Head of Policy and Programmes: Carlyn Miller
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
Francis Corbishley FCA Independent Examiner Nicholas House, River Front Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 3FG
BANKERS: CafBank Limited West Malling Kent, ME19 4TA Barclays Bank PLC PO Box 289 Leicestershire, LE87 2BB
SOLICITORS: Bates, Wells & Braithwaite 10 Queen Street Place London, EC4R 1BE
WEBSITE ADDRESS: www.bihr.org.uk
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **TRUSTEES REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2021**
The trustees are pleased to present their annual directors’ report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31 December 2021 which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act purposes. The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).
## **Covid-19 Statement**
BIHR’s Strategic Framework for 2020-2025 has served the charity well during 2021, enabling the charity to navigate the pandemic, and emerge a stronger, more sustainable organisation. As with the previous year, 2021 continued to present challenges, with huge demand for human rights support from people with care and support needs, community and advocacy groups, and public body and service staff. There are significant concerns about the discriminatory and disproportionate impact of pandemic measures, both during the emergency periods and about how to ensure recovery from this situation in a way which upholds, rather than undermines, human rights. In addition to this the policy environment for human rights has become increasing hostile, as the UK Government has brought in a number of measures (both policy and Bills in parliament), which seek to limit accountability.
Across the charity sector as a whole, there is uncertainty around funding, as arrangements begin to regularise following the emergency period. BIHR has been supported by a range of grants from Trusts and Foundations during 2021 which have provided invaluable flexibility to respond to the challenge of the pandemic. During 2021 we learnt lessons from a range of contingencies put in place during 2020 to support the charity’s resilience, at both operational and at governance levels, including:
- Moving the organisation to a remote working model, with a home set up provision, access to flexible desk space, and monthly organisational meetings.
- A complete move to digital provision as the standard operating mode, with flexibility for face-to-face support.
- A move to more programmatic support, transitioning from emergency one-off support services required during the first 12-18 months of the pandemic.
- Review and updating of policies and procedures, including health and safety, to support the move to remote working.
- All Board meetings and Finance Sub-Committee meetings online, as allowed by the charity’s Articles, with Covid-19 risk management a key entry on the risk register.
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(A company limited by guarantee)
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **1. ABOUT US**
Founded in 1970, the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) has been a pioneer in promoting and upholding human rights in the UK. Early on BIHR was a powerful voice calling for the European Convention on Human Rights to be incorporated into UK law, to provide people with the means to secure their rights here at home. Since those rights were embodied in the Human Rights Act (HRA) in 1998, BIHR has been a strong supporter of the HRA. We are focused on securing the one of the Act’s key aims: supporting a culture of respect for human rights.
We work across the UK to enable positive change through the practical use of human rights law beyond the courts. We support people with the information they need to benefit from their rights; with community groups to advocate for social justice using human rights standards; and with staff across local and national public bodies and services to support them to make rights-respecting decisions. We share this evidence of change and people's lived experiences to inform legal and policy debates. Our model of working enables us to call for the development of national law and policy which truly understands people’s experiences of their human rights.
This year we worked directly with over 3550 people and reached a further 2,400 through our direct distribution of our resources. We know many people benefit from our support indirectly. Every social worker, doctor, nurse, housing support officer, and care worker who accesses our support, works with a significant number of people. Every advocate, community support worker, and voluntary organisation staff member supports a number of people directly and/or secures changes for individuals or whole groups. The people who access our support as individuals are often active within their communities and/or nationally, to advocate for better treatment from systems, and they secure important changes for people. Many more people access our resources via third parties, as all BIHR’s materials are available for free distribution.
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(A company limited by guarantee)
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **1.1 Our Mission and Vision**
BIHR’s vision is that of a strong and just society, in which all people can live well and flourish, safe in the knowledge that their human rights are being respected, protected, and fulfilled in their local communities and at the national level.
BIHR’s mission is to support people and organisations to use human rights advocacy and approaches in their everyday life to achieve positive social change.
## **1.2 How we do this: Our Strategic Aims and Activities**
BIHR’s 2020-2025 Strategic Framework sets out our Aims, which are underpinned by our organisational expertise in supporting the development of a culture of respect for human rights across the UK. We focus on change through human rights beyond the courts. We provide the support and tools people, and organisations need to use human rights law to resolve problematic situations. This is about preventing poor public services and policy or challenging and changing decisions when things have gone wrong.
At the heart of each of our strategic aims is a commitment to bring about collaborative change using human rights advocacy and approaches to change practice and policy.
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(A company limited by guarantee)
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **2. PUBLIC BENEFIT**
BIHR’s core charitable objectives, set out in our governing documents, are to promote and advance human rights throughout the UK.
The trustees have referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit; guidance on campaigning and political activity; and the supplementary guidance on advancement of education in reviewing BIHR’s objectives and future plans.
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission in determining the activities undertaken by the charity.
## **3. BIHR’S PEOPLE**
## **Board of Trustees**
BIHR is governed by a Board of Trustees, each with a range of experience and expertise:
Sir Nicolas Bratza (Chair of the Board) is the former President of the European Court of Human Rights, where he was the Judge of the Court for over 14 years, elected in respect of the UK. Sir Nicolas’ incomparable experience and expertise is an invaluable source of advice, guidance, and inspiration for BIHR.
Mark Hilton (Treasurer) is Director of Operations at The Elders, bringing key operational, human and resource management to BIHR’s Board. He was previously with the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and prior to this Mark spent 23 years in the Royal Air Force in human resources roles.
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is a celebrated Paralympian and broadcaster and sits as a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. Her passion and experience of advocating for equality within parliament and in her wider work brings important insights to BIHR.
Imran Khan QC is the founding member of Imran Khan & Partners Solicitors. He is known for his representation of Stephen Lawrence’s family, and legal challenges which hold state officials to account for human rights abuses. He brings important legal expertise to BIHR.
Stephen Pittam is former Trust Secretary of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, a key foundation supporting human rights work in the UK. Before this he worked in local government with an emphasis on voluntary sector and community development support.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
Edith Prak is Director of Advancement at The University of Nottingham, with a background in international economics and politics, teaching, advisory roles, and fundraising. She was previously Director of Development at The Elders and The Open University.
Joe Powell is the Chief Executive of All Wales People First, with extensive personal and professional experience of defending the rights of people with learning disabilities and Autistic people. Joe joined the Trustee Board in May 2021.
## **Staff Team**
Sanchita Hosali, Director* is an experienced human rights and equality law, policy, and practice expert, with over twenty years’ experience in the UK and internationally. She has worked in academic research, consulting roles and led policy and strategy development including at Nottingham University, SOAS and Rights of Women, and worked within the United Nations system. Sanchita holds an LLM Human Rights Law and an LLB in Law.
Carlyn Miller, Policy and Programmes Manager* : is an experienced policy and educational professional, with expertise in human rights in health and care. She previously worked with the Scottish Government and Scottish Care
Philip Moore, Operations Coordinator*: Phil is an experienced charity operations professional, joining BIHR from OCD Action. Before joining the charity sector, he worked in operations in the education and training sector and had worked as a teacher.
Katrin McEntee, Senior Human Rights Officer: (returned from maternity leave April 2021): is an experienced advocate with a background working with both older people and disabled people. She has completed studies in Dance Movement Psychotherapy and works with women survivors of domestic abuse.
Annie Smith, Human Rights Officer (from March 2021): Annie is an experienced social worker, specialising in mental capacity practice, as well as community mental health. She is a best interest assessor and has delivered a range of training in the health and care sector.
Helen Walden, Research and Communication Associate (from Dec 2021): Helen has a professional background in both communications and casework as well as an academic background in Law.
Katie Pealing, Assistant Human Rights Officer** (from December 2021): Katie has an academic background in Human Rights Law and experience within the Advice sector, empowering individuals by informing them of their rights.
Lauren Stewart, Human Rights Officer (from March 2022): Lauren has a background in advice and casework, focusing on supporting refugees and migrants, including children and families.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
Florence Powell, Human Rights Officer (from April 2022): Florence has a background in research and policy work, including human rights and public law, as well as being a qualified solicitor, and has work experience in housing advice.
Melissa Webb, Administrative Assistant (from May 2022): Melissa has a background in education, and library administration.
- Note: at the start of 2022, these role titles changed:
- Sanchita Hosali changed from Director to CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
- Carlyn Miller changed from Policy and Programmes Manager to Head of Policy and Programmes
- Phil Moore changed from Operations Coordinator to Operations Manager
- ** In addition, Katie Pealing is a Human Rights Officer from July 2022
## Former staff, working during 2021 :
Eilidh Turnbull, Human Rights Officer (until December 2021): Eilidh has a range of legal casework experiences (including in asylum support). She previously worked at the European Council on Refugees and Exiles and Council of Europe.
Josephine Whitehouse, Research & Communications Assistant (until July 2021): Jo has a range of legal research experience. She has previously worked as a Parliamentary Assistant to an MP and volunteered as a welfare rights caseworker and representative.
Natalie Grubb, Human Rights Officer (from March 2021 to June 2022): Before joining BIHR, Natalie had most recently been working in Geneva for an international human rights NGO on projects aimed at securing UN action.
## **Lived Experience Consultants**
During 2021 BIHR also hired three Lived Experience Consultants to work on our children’s inpatient mental health programme:
Charli is an autistic and neuro-divergent person who was admitted to Inpatient CAMHS (Children's Mental Health Services) when she was 15.
Hanna , in her own words: "I'm a neuroscience and psychology student from London. I've also been figure skating for some time and find this tremendously beneficial for both my physical and mental health. Over the past 6 years I've had a lot of experience with both CAMHS and adult mental health services as both an inpatient and in the community. I'm really excited to join BIHR and work on this amazing project!"
Kirsten is a single parent of an autistic son who, from the ages of 14-18, was held in mental health hospitals and subjected to restrictive practices, including mechanical restraint and long periods in seclusion. Kirsten has secured his discharge, with a bespoke package of care and he now lives happily and independently and is attending college.
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(A company limited by guarantee)
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **4. 2021: ACHIEVEMENTS & IMPACT**
Our theory of change is based on the principle that when people are supported to translate human rights law into practical tools for advocacy, reflection, and challenge, this can lead to significant positive change that addresses and prevents everyday social injustices.
Our role at BIHR is to work collaboratively to provide the tools which enable this human rights advocacy and human rights approaches.
From this work we have a unique evidence base which can not only change local power structures, but also influence the national, law, policy and guidance that sets the parameters for local systems. This, in turn, has the potential to have a positive impact on people’s lives. This evidence of the important role human right can play, without litigation, is vital to demonstrating the value our Human Rights Act plays in the UK.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **EMPOWERING PEOPLE**
Strategic Aim 1: Enabling people to access practical and relevant tools and information to use human rights to selfadvocate in their everyday interactions
Our work with individuals is focused on enabling people to increase their knowledge and confidence to advocate for their human rights with decision-makers involved in their lives. We firmly believe in self-advocacy and that knowledge is power. Covid-19 has demonstrated how important it is to empower people to know and benefit from their human rights, both in times of national crisis, and in everyday life, as we look to recover from the pandemic .
## Some highlights of our impact in 2021 include:
Making our human rights support more accessible
Covid emergency funding enabled us to provide a series of workshops to individuals and communities across the UK. In April we worked with BRIL (Bristol Reclaiming Independent Living) to develop and deliver a human rights workshop for deaf and disabled people. We produced the workshop in Easy Read and ran it with British Sign Language Interpreters and captions. We took the opportunity to record the session, which allowed us to edit it into ten short videos on the Human Rights Act, in Easy Read and subtitled. These have been viewed over 1000 times .
## Improving our general resources on the Human Rights Act
Building on 2020 learning we developed our Human Rights Act Hub. This includes:
- An Explainer on the Human Rights Act and how it works in everyday life, in both standard and Easy Read.
- A short factsheet for each of the 16 rights in the Human Rights Act, in both standard and Easy Read, explaining how the right works and including real life examples of how this right has protected people
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
Direct human rights workshops
We held workshops directly for people, to build their knowledge and confidence to understand their human rights and how they can use the Human Rights Act in self-advocacy with officials and services that make decisions affecting their lives. This included sessions on human rights for parents and carers, and those they care for, under the Human Rights Act, and using the law to challenge poor decisionmaking, policy, and practice
Expanding our Know Your Human Rights Self-Advocacy Tool: Women survivors of domestic abuse
Following development throughout 2021, we were pleased to launch a new strand to Know Your Human Rights self-advocacy website at the start of 2021. Developed with women survivors of domestic abuse, and the voluntary and community groups that support them, this new tool was funded by Comic Relief as part of the Tech vs Abuse programme. The online launch was attended by survivors, VAWG groups, lawyers, and others.
Following the launch, 100% of participants felt confident to use human rights language when talking to public services after the session (rise from 50% before launch). This led to further work with FLOWS (Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors) to skill up forum members on using the Human Rights Act in their advocacy and support
Online and Social Reach
Website: In 2021 there were 242,924 unique users of BIHR’s website www.bihr.org.uk, an increase of 101.71% from 2020, with 304,956 website sessions (up 99.06% from 2020) .We had 2,395 downloads from our website in 2021. The top 5 viewed pages in 2021 were:
1. Covid 19 Vaccine & Human Rights: A Short Guide
2. Blog: Social Justice and Human Rights
3. The Human Rights Act
4. Covid 19 Vaccine & Human Rights: Staff Guide
5. What rights do I have?
Twitter: We gained around 800 new Twitter followers, taking our audience to 20.4K, achieving a digital reach of 5,964,305 (up from 1,930,000 in 2020). Our most popular 2021 tweet was sharing our CEO’s response to the Government’s announcement of the Bill of Rights Consultation Paper which intends to “overhaul” the Human Rights Act. (14 December).
Facebook : We have gained 204 new Facebook page likes in 2021, taking our audience 3,984 likes and 4,087 followers, reaching 20,436 people during 2021.
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(A company limited by guarantee)
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES**
Strategic Aim 2: Strengthening the agency of community & voluntary groups to use human rights advocacy in their everyday actions
During 2021 we worked with over 90 community and voluntary groups reaching over 700 staff, members, and beneficiaries across the UK to support them to make best use of Human Rights Act based advocacy in their work to secure social change.
In addition to awareness raising and training, we also began to pilot a programmatic approach to supporting community and voluntary sector groups, moving from primarily one-off interventions towards a more sustainable, longer-term change model. This new model will be launching in 2022 with the support of the Baring Foundation.
During 2021 we supported:
- community and voluntary groups through one-off support, including testing our model for
- 25 free sessions through our “10 free sessions” pilot.
- groups to learn more about using the Human Rights Act for social justice, sharing their
- 60+ experiences and needs to support our new programmatic approach
- partner groups from across the UK to co-design a human rights solution to support their
- 4 use of the Human Rights Act in addressing social injustices.
This year our community and voluntary sector work has supported organisations, including:
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
Some highlights of our impact in 2021 include:
Supporting community and voluntary sector groups to start the journey of using Human Rights Act advocacy
With the final amounts of our pandemic emergency funding we invited community groups and organisations to apply for one of 10 free human rights workshop for their staff, members and/or the people they support. We had 3.5 times more applications than places from groups across the UK, supporting people in a variety of situations, from people experiencing homelessness, to carers for people living with dementia. Through an application process we selected 10 new partners:
The Alliance for Inclusive Education Bristol Somali Resource Centre Cheshire Disabled People’s Panel dates-n-mates Scotland Friends, Families and Travellers HERe NI
Northern Ireland Refugee and Asylum Seeker Women’s Association (Bomoko NI) Rock Trust Silverline Memories Welsh Refugee Council
Partnership work to mainstream human rights
We worked in partnership with the Restraint Reduction Network to create new resources aimed at helping individuals and organisations to know their rights and responsibilities around surveillance and human rights in health, social care, and educational settings. Our resources were launched at a webinar attended by over 150 frontline staff, leaders, advocates, and people effected by restraint in the health, care, and educational service they or their loved ones receive:
.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
Understanding the human rights support needs of the community and voluntary sector
We launched our piloting of a new programmatic approach to support community groups and voluntary groups to find human rights “solutions” to address the day-to-day issues where rights are risked, creating positive change within imperfect systems. We use a 4 stage process, which puts co-design with our partners, at the heart of our approach: Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver.
As part of the Discover phase, we hosted an open access research workshop with over 60 community and voluntary sector groups – from national to local - from across the UK to understand what they need to make better use of Human Rights Act advocacy . It was clear that whilst there is significant importance attached to the idea of using human rights advocacy for change, there is a serious lack of knowledge and confidence in being able to understand and use the Human Rights Act:
Piloting programmatic human rights support with four community and voluntary groups
Following on from the Discover stage we opened up applications for community groups to work with us on a 6 month pilot to develop the human rights tool that would best support them. Throughout 2021 we have worked with the following groups on some exciting new human rights supports, which will be launched in 2022 and inform the development of a new three-year programme:
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
Hopscotch is a women’s organisation in London that seeks to address racial and gender
inequality and empowers women facing this injustice and disadvantage in a culturally sensitive way. They provide a range of services for women. Together we’re developing tools to support staff and women accessing services to be more confident in using human rights.
Room to Heal an organisation that offers support and refuge to people who have had to flee persecution, torture, and indefinite detention. we’re developing accessible (English as an additional language) human rights information for staff to feel confident to use the language of human rights in their interactions with public services.
Together is the Scottish alliance for children's rights groups that improves awareness, understanding and implementation of children’s rights. Together we’re developing a tool to support member CVGs with Children's Rights Impact Assessments, linking the Human Rights Act and the UN Children’s Rights Convention (this will also be useful for public body duty-bearers).
Warrington Speak Up is a learning disability advocacy and inclusion group based in Northwest England. Together we’re developing printable Easy Read resources on the rights and duties in the Human Rights Act. As part of this we’re collaborating with Photosymbols®, the leading provider of Easy Read imagery, to produce accessible, universally-used images to support people’s understanding of human rights information, as none currently exist.
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**The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **IMPROVING SYSTEMS**
Strategic Aim 3: Increasing accountability of public bodies and services to uphold human rights across all their actions
We supported over 2,200 staff members working in 36 public bodies and services across the UK . This included NHS bodies, local authorities, national bodies, social support and care, and education providers, working in areas including:
- health and social care
- forensic mental health
- social work (adult and children)
- education, including special educational needs and disability
- housing and independent living
- commissioning of services
- community-led support
- professional bodies for public sector staff
As with our community support, our work with public bodies and service providers has transitioned from primarily one-off emergency/Covid interventions into longer term programmes focused on sustainable change. This focuses on equipping staff – from frontline to leadership – to make practical use of the Human Rights Act in everything they do across decision-making, policy and practice.
We are clear that this work is not a quality mark; nor is it a magic wand, it is one part of the solution. If we want to prevent human rights abuses, we must start from a point that people know what their human rights are, and what their human rights duties to are and what is required to uphold these rights. Systemic failings, which result in human rights abuses, must also be addressed, which is a focus of our experience led policy work. Whilst this is happening, people are still experiencing poor decision-making and support which impacts their rights, often resulting in harm. BIHR’s practice-based work with public bodies and services influences that decision-making, moving the discussions away from what is "usually done" or whether something is fair, to what are people's rights and the legal duties to meet these through our everyday actions. In this way our work is important in helping build the culture of respect for human rights, a primary aim of the Human Rights Act.
Some highlights from BIHR’s work over 2021 include:
Co-produced human rights learning and development for children’s inpatient mental health services across England
In 2021 we began a programme (running to the end of 2022), funded by NHS England, to co-develop and deliver a human rights learning programme, available to all staff working in children’s mental health inpatient services. This a large scale programme, over 1,000 staff members will have access to this programme.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
Our Lived Experience Expert Consultants, Charli, Hanna, and Kirsten, co-develop and deliver the programme with BIHR. This also includes the open access sessions for young people, parents, carers, loved ones and advocates, to provide support on how to use their human rights to advocate for themselves with services.
During 2021 the programme focused on supporting a base level of knowledge and confidence to make everyday decisions that uphold human rights, whether that means stepping back and not interfering with a child's rights or stepping in to protect rights, or potentially restricting rights but only doing so within the law. The next phases, including a Human Rights Practice Leads Programme, will begin in 2022.
We are clear that are programmes are not a quality mark, they are a support. Being rightsrespecting is about everyday actions, taking what it learnt and applying that as the standard way of working. Staff and the service must take responsibility for this and NHSE as the commissioner, and the CQC as the regulator, have vital roles in ensuring accountability.
## Working with Adult Social Care teams in Local Authorities
In addition to a range of smaller training programmes, we have also launched annual programmes with Local Authorities. The support a range of staff to learn and develop knowledge and skills on human rights practice, including social workers and student social workers, team managers, support workers, care co-ordinators, occupational therapists, and care workers and reablement assistants. Evaluation shows significant improvements in knowledge and confidence to use human rights in everyday decision making. For example, in one programme, impact evidence shows: In this programme, 56% of respondents had
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
used human rights following the programme, and many provided examples of how they had done this in practice, including:
- Advocating for a person in hospital to receive care and support which would support their rights, despite them not having right to remain settled status
- Challenging inappropriate Do No Attempt Resuscitation orders for people with learning disabilities
- Involving adults with memory issues in decisions about their care and treatment
- In Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) assessments
- In Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) work
- In safeguarding adults at risk of abuse and neglect
## Working with local Commissioners of health and care
In 2021 BIHR continued to develop work with commissioning bodies, who can play a key role in ensuring accountability for upholding human rights through the process of commissioning services.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **EXPERIENCE-LED POLICY CHANGE**
Strategic Aim 4: Amplifying the voices of the people we support to positively influence policy impacting their rights
BIHR has continued to increase our policy reach and develop our experience-led research to inform our analysis and recommendations on human rights protections across the UK. During 2021 our experience-led policy reach engaged over 650 people directly.
Where possible we use a give/get online research workshop model in which we provide participants with human rights knowledge-building and ask data gathering questions throughout. This is often supported by additional tools such as survey’s, which we try to make Easy Read, whenever possible. Our approach enables us to gather experiences and show how these relate to whether people’s human rights are being upheld or not, and to evidence to importance of the Human Rights Act for us all.
We continued to develop our policy work across two strategic strands:
1. Mainstreaming human rights across a range of areas, amplifying the voices of those we support to secure better rights-respecting law and policy in areas that affect their life or work, such as care and support.
2. Bringing the voices of the people we support into debates about why the Human Rights Act matters for us all, and thereby secure our protections and increase their use.
## **1. Mainstreaming human rights**
This year we focused on three key areas:
- Discriminatory and disproportionate use of Do Not Resuscitate Decisions
- Responding to the consultation to change the Mental Health Act
- Developing a human rights tool to assess Government consultation processes
- • Human rights based analysis of social care in England, Scotland, and Wales.
## Do Not Resuscitate Decisions
2021 saw the continuation of our work on discriminatory and disproportionate use of DNRs. We completed our experience-led research with Learning Disability England and Turning Point UK. Our research with staff took place in January 2021 (leading to “Frustrated, Angry and Unfair: Staff Experiences of DNAR Decision-making in 2020”). Our findings were shared with the CQC, and we know from our discussions that it was influential in their report, with references to our research in both the CQC’s Interim Report and final Rapid Review Report (2021). Our reports generated media coverage including pieces in the Financial Times (and The Times), and a BBC News feature in early 2021.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## Mental Health Act reform
In January 2021, the UK Government published a White Paper proposing reforms to the Mental Health Act reform. Partnering with NSUN (the National Survivor User Network) we focused on experience-led research to inform our response, working with both people accessing (or trying to access) mental health services, advocates, and staff. We ran interactive evidence gathering sessions and an online (Easy Read) survey, developing a submission which amplifies their voices. Our submission was clear: to have real impact on the rights of those accessing/trying to access mental health services, the proposals must be properly implemented, staff fully supported and adequate funding provided. Additionally, the pre-existing human rights legal duties in the HRA must be properly imbedded into the planned reform of the Mental Health Act, on paper and in practice. Our submission sets out recommendations to make this happen.
## Government consultations assessment tool
The legal duties in the Human Rights Act mean all governmental policy should be compatible with human rights, both in content and process. However, our own experience and that of our stakeholders is that government consultations frequently fail to consider human rights both in proposals and the engagement process. We therefore launched a new project to develop a new tool for the voluntary sector to use to assess the extent to which government consultations are compatible with human rights, using the PANEL approach. During the research and development phase we spoke to over 80 people across 4 workshops, and 112 surveys were completed:
This work has progressed throughout 2021, documenting significant failings in the way consultations are currently run. Following testing a draft version of the tool has been developed, and we know it is much needed. However, sadly, this project has been stalled due to the UK Government’s announcement that it plans to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a new “bill of rights”, set to limit the scope of current protections.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **2. Speaking up for our Human Rights Act**
## Why Our Human Rights Act Matters Campaign
We launched a new campaign giving a platform to a range of voices on why our Human Rights Act matters for people across the UK, in different walks of life. In addition to a social media campaign where people shared their view, we have developed a new blog series. In 2021 we published 20 blogs from a range of guests.
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•|Why the Human Rights Act Matters... to the Rule of Law (The Public Law Project)
Why the Human Rights Act Matters… for ending violence against women and girls(EVAW)
Why the Human Rights Act Matters... to a mental health nurse (Paul, an NSH worker)
Why the Human Rights Act Matters... for LGBTQ+ people in Northern Ireland (HERE NI)
Why the Human Rights Act Matters... to members of the armed forces and their loved ones
(The Centre for Military Justice)
Why Our Human Rights Act Matters... to dates-n-mates members (Learning disability group)
Why our Human Rights Act matters... in social work (Two social workers)
Why our Human Rights Act matters… for children (Article 39)
Why the Human Rights Act Matters... to me (Kirsten, parent carer)
Why Our Human Rights Act matters: a Christian view (Tim, activist, and author)
Why our Human Rights Act Matters ... to people living with dementia (Silverline Memories)
Why the Human Rights Act Matters... to me (CEO of Scottish Care)
Why our Human Rights Act Matters...to Advocacy–walking hand in hand (POhWER)
Why the Human Rights Act Matters... to me (Ian, parent carer)
What does our Human Rights Act mean to the Jewish community?(Rene Cassin)
Why our Human Rights Act Matters… to people in Scotland (Human Rights Consortium Scotland)
Why our Human Rights Act Matters to Me as an ex-inpatient on a CAMHS ward (Charli)||
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## The Government’s Independent Review of the Human Rights Act
As noted in our last report, in December 2020, the UK Government announced an Independent Review of the Human Rights Act. The Government noted that as the HRA “has been in force for 20 years, it is timely to undertake a review into its operation.” However, this purported intention for the Review did not match with it’s Terms of Reference, which focused on highly technical questions for consultation. They certainly did not encompass a full review of the HRA, for example, looking at it’s practical impact beyond the courts, and how it operates within everyday public bodies, and simply just at the national level. There was a significant risk that this consultation would exclude the voices of many people, community and voluntary sector groups, and public body staff, who have important evidence on how the HRA has been operating in their everyday lives and work. We set about a comprehensive plan of action. Our aim was to engage with the Review to provide important insights into the HRA’s operation beyond the courtrooms and technical legal detail, to show the importance of the law for people in their everyday lives:
- We hosted sessions with a range of partners in across the 4 nations, we held 5 research and upskilling workshops, alongside an easy read survey, reaching over 400 people.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
- This was alongside a range of supports for people to engage with the consultation process directly.
- Through direct research with over 400 people across the UK we developed a comprehensive response.. The evidence we gathered was clear: making human rights real for everyone does not need more legislative reviews of our Human Rights Act. What is needed is leadership, at all levels, ensuring that the Human Rights Act is understood and implemented every day , in every interaction a person has with public services.
- Working with the Review Panel to host a Lived Experience Roundtable, with colleagues at Liberty. This roundtable gave the Panel an opportunity to hear the stories of ten people who have used the Human Rights Act, to create change in their lives . Importantly, this included people who have had to use the HRA to stop arbitrary decisions or practices of polices being applied to them in such a way that it breached their rights and the staff who work in public services who have legal duties to uphold rights under the Act. Our impact reporting is available here.
The Review Panel were transparent in publishing notes of all their meetings, but their final report was submitted to the UK Ministry of Justice for publication. Unfortunately, the Government did not publish this until December 2021, after they had already decided to run a second consultation to repeal the HRA, despite the Independent Review concluding this was not necessary (noted below).
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## Parallel Inquiry by Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights
In response to the Independent HRA Review, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) ran a parallel inquiry, which took a much wider approach to reviewing the HRA, including its use in practice, beyond the courtrooms and parliamentary. Our actions to support individuals, groups, and public body staff to engage with the IHRAR also focused on supporting them to submit evidence to the JCHR. BIHR submitted a short response to the JCHR, and followed this up with a full and comprehensive response drawing on the experience-led research prepared for the IHRAR and tailored for the JCHR Inquiry. BIHR's CEO was invited to give evidence at the JCHR when it considered testimony from a range of organisations on the practical impact of the HRA. The JCHR published its report in summer 2021 and concluded "The evidence we heard has led us to conclude that there is no case for changing the Human Rights Act."
## Human Rights Day 2021
Global Human Rights Day, 10 December, is an important point in BIHR’s calendar each year, providing a positive and proactive point to bring together civil society to speak up for the Human Rights Act in the UK. We continued our important role of coordinating over 150 organisations in publishing an open letter to the Prime Minister urging him to secure our Human Rights Act.
This year we also produced an Easy Read version of the letter, and an Easy Read video, with the support of learning disability self-advocates from All Wales People First, Inclusion North , Learning Disability England and Warrington Speak Up .
To celebrate Human Rights Day, we organised a virtual event with talks from our inspiring partners at Warrington Speak Up, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) and Wakefield Council Social Services as well as Charli, one of our BIHR Lived Experience Expert Consultants. You can watch clips from the event here.
## The Week of Action for Human Rights
From 10-17 October 2021, BIHR, Amnesty UK, Liberty, Stonewall, Freedom from Torture, Equally Ours, The End Violence Against Women Coalition, the Quakers and The Humanists held a Week of Action for Human Rights in the UK. A key action was to support people to meet with their MPs in their local constituencies to
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
speak up for human rights protections in the UK, and ask our MPs, the elected politicians who represent us, to protect our rights.
The Week of Action took place against a backdrop of a number of Government Bills to which would undermine our human rights in the UK, including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the Nationality and Borders Bill (also known as the “Anti-Refugee Bill”), and the Judicial Review and Courts Bill. In addition to these proposed new laws, the Human Rights Act itself was being reviewed.
BIHR and partners provided a range of tools to help people prepare for the Week of Action, including webinars and ask the expert sessions. Additionally, two of our Human Rights Officers also directly took part in the action, meeting with their MPs, blogging to share progress and tips. The Action was successful in reaching 150 MPs, supporting the public to speak up and raise human rights concerns with their MPs, and resulted in parliamentary questions and political commitments to engage positively to support the HRA.
The Government’s plan to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a new “bill of rights”
On 14 December 2021, at the end of the reporting year, the UK Government announced plans to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a new law they are calling a “bill of rights”. This was despite the Independent Review reporting back that there was no case for repeal and replacement:
BIHR published our plan of action within days, which is focused on amplifying the voices of those who will be excluded by the highly technical, complex, and often contradictory points in the consultation. All proposals outlined in the Government’s consultation paper are set out in terms of limiting or reducing current protection levels. A reduction in human rights protections would have an adverse effect on BIHR’s ability to deliver on our charitable objectives to promote and advance human rights in the UK. Securing the legal protection of human rights will there be a primary goal for BIHR during 2022; with Trustees authorising the use of campaigning as a key tool across the year.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **A VIBRANT BIHR**
Strategic Aim 5: Sustaining and developing BIHR as an ambitious and healthy charity, enabling us to best support change through human rights
One of our greatest strengths is our ability to deliver work that draws on the talents of our staff team, working collaboratively with a range of people with different roles in securing human rights across the UK.
BIHR’s dedicated and highly skilled expert team are greatly valued. Their commitment and determination have enabled the organisation not merely to survive the pandemic, but to emerge having achieved major successes in the most difficult of circumstances. In this, the team have been supported by a fully engaged and responsive Board of Trustees. The commitment, flexibility and backing of both established and new funders in 2021 has made our work possible at a time when it was not only most needed but risked being overlooked.
## **Our staff team**
BIHR has a multidisciplinary team combining decades of experience of working on human rights and social change nationally and internationally. A full list of the staff team during 2020 is available on page six. The staff bring a variety of experience and expertise including project and operational management; teaching and training; research, policy, and legal practice and advice and casework, and advocacy; health and care expertise, housing, refugee, and immigration law, addressing violence against women, and voluntary sector support. Our staff team is led by the CEO, together with the Head of Policy and Programmes and Operations Manager, who form the Senior Management Team.
We recognise the toll the pandemic has taken on our team in many ways, from witnessing the trauma of those we support, as well as their own well-being. We have prioritised wellbeing in our management during the emergency and our recovery from the pandemic. We have continued to implement a range of wellbeing measures, including support on secondary trauma, decompression and protected time, and new work scheduling systems. This has been important with the charity’s move to operating remotely (see below).
We have invested in growing our staff team during 2021 (and in 2022), to help us meet the demand for BIHR’s human rights change support. We appointed a new Research and Communications Associate and an Assistant Human Rights Officer. We also advertised for additional Human Rights Officer roles, and an Administration Assistant, appointed in 2022.
2021 also saw the development of our Lived Experience Expert consultants; these are paid roles that support the co-production of BIHR’s human rights support. We appointed three consultants through an accessible process, with Easy Read and video applications. Our three consultants all have lived experience of inpatient mental health services either as children or young people or the parent of a child receiving services.
Volunteers: We did not engage office volunteers during the year under review.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **Our Board of Trustees**
Our Board brings a range of expertise to BIHR, including operations, finance, human resources, human rights and legal knowledge, social change, and fundraising expertise. In 2021 Trustees identified lived experience as key gap, and appointed Joe Powell, the CEO of All Wales People First to the Board. Joe brings extensive personal and professional experience around learning disabilities, as well as expertise on Welsh devolution. A full list of the trustee team during 2021 is available on page five. Building on 2021, the Board also continued to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on the charity. This has included a regular liaison between the Treasurer and the Director as a risk management measure, in addition to quarterly sub-Committee and full Board meetings. There were no interruptions to the Board meetings and business, as our Articles permit online meetings and decision-making.
## **Our funding**
BIHR receives several grants from a range of Trusts and philanthropic Foundations, as well as grants from the public sector. We are exceptionally grateful for the foresight and flexibility shown by our funders in 2021 to enable us to repurpose, prioritise and reduce expected activities, as well as for their additional support, which has allowed us to respond to the needs arising from the pandemic. As we recover from the pandemic, this has also enabled BIHR to respond quickly and effectively to the Independent Review of the Human Rights Act, and to begin piloting new approaches to programmatic human rights support with communities and public bodies, as envisioned in our Strategic Framework. In 2021 our funders included:
- AB Charitable Trust • The Bromley Trust • The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation
- • Comic Relief • The Baring Foundation • The Tudor Trust
## **A primarily remote operational model**
At the start of March 2020 BIHR moved to remote operations to protect our staff during the pandemic. Doing so meant we shifted our primary means of providing direct human rights support to online delivery, making use of video conferencing, and developing innovative new ways to support interactive learning. This proved highly effective, and whilst face to face support has resumed, our partners and clients overwhelmingly prefer online delivery. This enables us to work across the UK far more efficiently, to offer greater flexibility and changes, and to be responsive to the needs of those we support. Additionally, operating remotely, rather than from a central (London) office, enables BIHR to recruit and retain staff from across the UK.
In 2021, following a review of our remote working and engaging with the staff team, the Board decided to retain BIHR’s primarily remote working model, with regular whole team contact, monthly, and the use of flexible desk space. This meant ending BIHR’s relationship with QMUL Law School, which had previously provided the charity’s offices in exchange for BIHR’s delivery of a clinical law module in human rights practice, convened by the CEO. We have invested in our Operations Team to support this model, promoting the coordinator to a manager, and appointing an administration assistant, together with IT support.
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**The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **5. FINANCIAL REVIEW**
The Statement of Financial activities shows total net outgoing resources in the year of £29,651 (2020: incoming resources of £76,148) and total funds being carried forward at year-end of £128,927 (2020: £158,578). The balance in the unrestricted funds decreased by £19,626 (2021: increased by £89,925) from £143,487 at 1 January 2021 to £123,861 at 31 December 2021. The balance in the restricted funds decreased by £10,025 (2021: decreased by £13,777) from £15,091 at 1 January 2021 to £5,066 at 31 December 2021. The cash assets at year-end of £214,931 included £100,250 in deferred income.
## **Risk**
The risk register is maintained by the CEO and reviewed by Trustees regularly at formal quarterly meetings. Throughout 2021, Covid-19 remained a key risk, and the need for the charity to respond and recover in a financially viable manner, which keeps the organisation and staff safe. However, an additional, key significant risk to the charity emerged in 2021, related to government policy on the Human Rights Act, which risks current legal protections. This began with the announcement of the Independent Review of the Human Rights Act at the end of 2020. It culminated in the December, days before parliament closed, with the UK Government announcing plans to replace the Human Rights Act with its own bill of rights. This is despite the Independent Review concluding repeal was not evidenced, and the Scottish and Welsh governments issuing statements against such action. The Board held an emergency meeting in January 2022 on this issue. It decided the Government’s plans represent a significant risk to BIHR’s ability to deliver our chartable objectives to promote and advance human rights. The Board authorised the use of campaigning as a primary tool during 2022 to secure the legal protection of human rights.
## **Reserves**
BIHR’s reserves policy aims to hold the equivalent of a minimum of three months spend in reserves, with the aim of holding up to six months. This amounts to a range of £105,000 - £210,000. The year under review saw a decrease in our overall reserves, with the year-end figure being £123,861 (noting additional deferred income of £100,250). Given the uncertainty around both funding within the charity sector following Covid-19 emergency provision, and around human rights law in the UK, the Trustees have decided that it is vital BIHR works towards securing up to six months reserves to help navigate this uncertainty. We continue to budget cautiously and to ring-fence a substantial proportion of BIHR’s training and consultancy income as a contribution to reserves, aiming to build our unrestricted reserves up to a maximum of six months.
## **Deferred income**
In 2021, we received some payments from clients (in our work with public bodies) in advance for consultancy and training work that is to be delivered in 2022. Such receipts amounted to £100,250. As the work to which these receipts relate is to be delivered in 2022, they have not been recognised as income in these, our 2021, accounts. Instead, this
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
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Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
has been treated as deferred income for 2022. The receipts of £100,250 are of course reflected in our balance sheet, however, as cash asset and creditor liability.
## **6. PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS**
This Annual Report focuses on our activities in 2021, the first year of our new five-year strategy, focusing on BIHR’s unique role in enabling people and organisations to make positive social change through human rights. Thus far the Strategic Framework has stood the test of working in an emergency such as the pandemic, and also enabled us to respond effectively, focused on our mission. We have adapted to entirely new ways of online delivery and working as a remote organisation without a fixed office. Despite the challenging times, there have been significant opportunities and growth for the charity, building on lessons learnt. In 2022 key actions will include:
- ✓ Focused campaigning to secure the legal protection of human rights in the UK: The Government’s plans to repeal the Human Rights Act and bring in a “bill of rights” which is aimed at limiting protections represents a key risk to BIHR’s ability to deliver on our charitable objectives to promote and advance human rights. 2022 will focus on campaigning to keep our HRA. This will be based on our unique expertise and evidence of the vital impact of the Act to support individuals, community groups, and public bodies to secure positive social change through the use of human rights. 2022 will therefore see an increase in policy work, with a focus on parliamentary and public affairs. Appointments to the staff team through the Human Rights Officer recruitment, will reflect the needs of 2022.
- ✓ Continued development of resources to respond to the significant need for basic human rights knowledge support : This work can often be difficult to fund, with the focus on "bigger impact" projects; however, it is clear that the foundations must continue to be laid.
- ✓ Securing our human rights change programmes with public bodies and services: Ove the last year we have successfully moved into a more programmatic approach to human rights learning and development, which is better for securing longer-term, sustainable changes. We will continue to develop and grow this model, bearing in mind adaptions that may be needed if the law changes.
- ✓ Developing our programmatic approach to supporting community and voluntary groups: Having secured funding at the end of 2021 from Baring Foundation and from the John Ellerman Foundation at the start of 2022, we are now in a position to develop this support as a free to access programme. We will continue to develop this model, bearing in mind adaptions that may be needed if the law changes.
- ✓ Prioritising our digital development: Through developing the domestic abuse survivor pathway for Know Your Human Rights, we have learned much about digital confidence and delivery. Our websites - both the KYHR self-advocacy sites and BIHR's main site - must be fit for purpose as we prioritise our digital delivery model. During 2022 we will be building a new digital platform.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
- ✓ Continue to develop our Easy Read and accessible materials: This has been a critical development during 2021, which we will continue and embed throughout 2022, ensuring our support and information are as accessible as we can make them.
## **7. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
The British Institute of Human Rights is a company limited by guarantee without a share capital incorporated on 27 November 2003 and registered with the Charity Commission on 16 January 2004 as a charity. Its governing rules are its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
## **Trustee selection methods**
New trustees are appointed by existing trustees, who use a variety of methods, including open advertising and search and selection, depending on the needs of the organisation. Trustees serve for a term of three years and are eligible for re-appointment. During 2021 Joe Powell was appointed to the Trustee Board. The full list of Trustees and Staff at BIHR during 2020 is available on pages five and six.
## **Trustee responsibilities**
The trustees meet quarterly, with additional meetings as required. Trustees determine pay and remuneration for key management personnel on the advice of the Chair and Honorary Treasurer, who act as the remuneration sub-committee of the Trustee Board. In doing so, Trustees have regard to both performance and the pay scales established by the charity, which seek to be consistent with remuneration levels in organisations of comparable size, reach and status.
The ongoing management of the charity is delegated to the CEO. In 2021 activities were delivered mainly through the work of on average seven staff members, supported by trustees.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **8. TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
The charity trustees (who are also the directors of the charity or the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing a trustees’ annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence 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.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2021
## **Statement as to disclosure to our Independent Examiner**
In so far as the trustees are aware at the time of approving our trustees’ annual report:
- there is no relevant information, being information needed by the Independent Examiner in connection with preparing their report, of which the Independent Examiner is unaware, and
- the trustees, having made enquiries of fellow directors and the Independent Examiner that they ought to have individually taken, have each taken all steps that they are obliged to take as directors in order to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the Independent Examiner is aware of that information.
## **Approval**
This report was approved by the Trustees on 27 July 2022 and signed on their behalf.
Sir Nicolas Bratza Chair and Trustee
Mark Hilton Honorary Treasurer and Trustee
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Independent Examiner's Report
To the Trustees of The British Institute of Human Rights
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The British Institute of Human Rights (the charity) for the year ended 31 December 2021.
## Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the 2006 Act).
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
## Independent examiner's statement
Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000, your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
- 1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
- 2 the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
- 3 the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an
- 4 the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
Francis Corbishley FCA Independent Examiner Moore Northern Home Counties Nicholas House River Front Enfield Middlesex EN1 3FG Dated: 03/08/2022
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Statement of Financial Activities (including income and expenditure account) 31 December 2021
|||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|Total|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||Fund|Fund|Funds|Funds|
||Notes|2021|2021|2021|2020|
|||£|£|£|£|
|INCOME:||||||
|Donations|3|108,603|-|108,603|188,185|
|Charitable activities
|4|170,332|4,760|
175,092|123,451|
|Investment income||3||
3|-|
||||-|||
|TOTAL INCOME||278,938|4,760|283,698|311,636|
|EXPENDITURE:||||
||
|Raising funds||8||8|55|
|Charitable activities||300,153|13,188|
313,341
|235,433|
|TOTAL EXPENDITURE|5|300,161|13,188|313,349
|235,488|
|NET INCOME/(DEFICIT)||(21,223)
|(8,428)|(29,651)
|76,148|
|Transfer between funds||1,597|(1,597)|-|
-|
|RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS||143,487|15,091|158,578|82,430|
|Funds bought forward at 1 January 2021||||||
|Total funds balance carried forward at||123,861|5,066|128,927|158,578|
|31 December 2021||||||
There were no recognised gains or losses for 2021 or 2020 other than those included in the Statement of Financial Activities. All income and expenditure is derived from continuing activities.
The notes on pages 34 to 45 form part of these financial statements
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Company number:04978121 Balance Sheet 31 December 2021
|Notes
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets
10
CURRENT ASSETS:
Debtors
11
Cash at bank
12
CURRENT LIABILITIES:
Creditors:
Amounts falling due within one year 13
NET CURRENT ASSETS:
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES:
FUNDS:
Unrestricted income fund 14
Restricted income funds 15|2021
£
£
£
-
29,769
214,931
244,700
115,773
128,927
128,927
123,861
5,066
128,927|2020
£
-
12,828
163,096
175,924
17,346
158,578
158,578
143,487
15,091
158,578|
|---|---|---|
||||
For the year ending 31 December 2021, the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476.
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to small companies subject to the small companies regime and in accordance with FRS 102 SORP
Approved by the Trustees on 27 July 2022 and signed on their behalf by
Sir Nicolas Bratza Mark Hilton Chair and Trustee Honorary Treasurer and Trustee
The notes on pages 34 to 45 form part of these financial statements
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(A company limited by guarantee)
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
## 1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The British Institute of Human Rights is a charitable company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 1 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are given on page 3.
The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:
## a) Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
The British Institute of Human Rights meets the definition of a public interest entity under FRS102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity.
Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).
The presentation currency is £ sterling. Amounts are rounded to the nearest £.
## b) Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis
The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic initially had an impact on the charity’s fundraising income through training & consultancy. However, this was largely offset by developing new digital delivery solutions, by responding to new training & consultancy needs that emerged during the pandemic, by established grant funders providing additional emergency support, and by securing new grant funding from established and new funders. In 2021, the charity continued to develop its digital delivery solutions, secure new training & consultancy work, and secure new grant funding. There are no material uncertainties affecting the current year’s accounts, and the charity is confident that it will be possible to maintain fundraising performance in future years. That said, there is still some continued uncertainty around grant funding, with funders having now moved away from pandemic response and recovery to normalisation. In addition, another key risk for the charity is a current political climate that is hostile to human rights, which can create uncertainty in some minds about the value and sustainability of the charity’s work. BIHR's fundraising approach is accounting for this, however, continuing to focus on growing income from a diverse range of sources, while working hard to ensure that the charity’s work is not undermined by the current hostile political climate.
## c) Income
Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably.
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## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
## Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.
For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the Trust that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably, and the charity has been notified of the executor’s intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is a treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.
Income received in advance is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.
## d) Donated services and facilities
Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably.
On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.
## e) Interest receivable
Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the Bank.
## f) Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are grants and donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity’s work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.
## g) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:
- Costs of raising funds comprise the time proportion of staff salary costs and costs directly related to fund raising.
Page 35
**The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
- Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of activities undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs.
- Other expenditure represents those items not falling into any other heading.
Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.
## h) Allocation of support costs
Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel, payroll and governance costs which support the charity’s activities.
These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities.
## i) Operating leases
The charity had no operating leases in the year.
Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.
## j) Tangible fixed assets
Individual fixed assets costing more than £500 are capitalised at cost and are depreciated over their estimated useful economic lives on a straight line basis as follows:
Asset Category
Office equipment – straight line over 4 years Office furniture – straight line over 5 years
## k) Debtors
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
## l) Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
## m) Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
Page 36
(A company limited by guarantee)
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
## n) Financial instruments
The trust only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
## o) Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
Accounting estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.
The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have been made in the process of applying the above accounting policies that have had the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements:
## Useful economic lives of tangible assets
The annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are reassessed annually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on technological advancement, future investments, economic utilisation and the physical condition of the assets. See note 10 for the carrying amount of the plant and equipment, and note 1.J for the useful economic lives for each class of assets.
## Contributions in kind
The value of the contributions in kind are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market.
There are no key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.
## p) Employee benefits
- Short term benefits
Short term benefits including holiday pay are recognised as an expense in the period in which the service is received.
- Employee termination benefits
Termination benefits are accounted for on an accrual basis and in line with FRS 102.
- Pension scheme
The charity does not operate its own pension fund but did contribute to the personal pension plans of eligible employees. The pensions costs charged in the financial statements represent the contributions payable during the year.
Page 37
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
## 2 LEGAL STATUS OF THE TRUST
The Trust is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital.
## 3 INCOME FROM DONATIONS
|Donations
AB Charitable Trust
Bromley Trust
Comic Relief Recovering Funding
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
The Fore
Three Guineas Trust
Tudor Trust
Other|2021
£
General
Fund
15,000
10,000
-
45,000
-
-
34,000
4,603
108,603|2021
£
Restricted
Fund
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|2021
£
Total
15,000
10,000
-
45,000
-
-
34,000
4,603
108,603|2020
£
Total
-
10,000
26,025
70,236
4,667
38,300
34,000
4,957
188,185|
|---|---|---|---|---|
In 2020 £26,025 of the income from charitable activities was attributable to the restricted fund and the remaining £162,160 was attributable to the general fund.
## 4. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
|Notes
Grants for the provision of goods
& services
4a
Training, consultancy & contracts
4b
Other
4c|2021
£
General
Fund
-
168,952
1,380
170,332|2021
£
Restricted
Fund
4,760
-
-
4,760|2021
£
Total
4,760
168,952
1,380
175,092|2020
£
Total
19,036
100,847
3,568|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||123,451|
Page 38
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
|4a
Grants for the provision of goods & services
Comic Relief Tech vs Abuse
4b
Training, consultancy & contracts
NHS England & Improvement
School of Law, Queen Mary University of
London
Tees, Esk & Wear Valley NHS Foundation
Trust
Wakefield Council
Open training courses
Public sector training and
consultancy
Voluntary sector training and
consultancy
Reimbursed expenses
4c
Other
Royalties, publishing & speaking fees
Sale of resources|2021
£
General
Fund
-
-
86,975
20,100
21,411
11,075
-
23,960
5,300
131
168,952
1,325
55
1,380|2021
£
Restricted
Fund
4,760
4,760
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|2021
£
Total
4,760|2020
£
Total
19,036
19,036
-
30,000
11,057
-
3,154
44,787
10,704
1,145
100,847
3,085
483
3,568|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||||4,760||
||||
86,975
20,100
21,411
11,075
-
23,960
5,300
131||
||||168,952||
||||
1,325
55||
||||1,380||
In 2020 £19,036 of the income from charitable activities was attributable to the restricted fund and the remaining £104,415 was attributable to the general fund.
Page 39
(A company limited by guarantee)
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
## 5. ANALYSIS OF TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED
Resources expended were as follows:
|Staff costs
Programme Costs
Office expenses
Direct fundraising costs
Premises costs
Support costs
Direct governance costs|Cost of
fund
raising
Expenditure
on charities
activities
£
£
-
236,330
-
11,670
-
33,400
8
-
-
21,974
-
5,484
-
4,483
8
313,341|2021
Total
£
236,330
11,670
33,400
8
21,974
5,484
4,483
313,349|2020
Total
£
157,804
15,690
19,777
55
30,000
7,860
4,302
235,488|
|---|---|---|---|
## 6. ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT AND GOVERNANCE COSTS
|Independent Examination
Payroll and accounting services
Other|Support
Costs
Governance
costs
£
£
-
2,297
5,484
2,160
-
26
5,484
4,483|2021
Total
£
2,297
7,644
26
9,967|2020
Total
£
2,142
10,020
-
12,162|
|---|---|---|---|
7. ANALYSIS OF STAFF COSTS, TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES, AND THE COST OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
Staff costs included the following:
|Gross salary
Employer’s national insurance
Employer’s pension contributions|2021
£
214,277
16,564
5,489
236,330|2020
£
145,404
10,263
2,137
157,804|
|---|---|---|
Page 40
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
The average number of employees during the year was seven (2020: six)
There were no employees with emoluments above £60,000.
The charity does not operate its own pension fund but did contribute to the personal pension plans of eight (2020: six) employees.
The key management personnel comprise the trustees and the senior management team (being the CEO and Head of Policy and Programmes) (2020: Trustees and the CEO). The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £100,514 (2020: £56,010).
The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2020: £nil). No expenses were paid to the trustee in the year (2020: £nil).
## 8. GOVERNMENT GRANTS
Income from government grants comprises income to further the charities objectives. See note 4 for further details of these grants.
## 9. CORPORATION TAXATION
The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.
## 10. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Fixtures & Fittings and Computer Equipment
|tures & Fittings and Computer Equipment||
|---|---|
|
COST:
At 1 January 2021
Additions in the year
At 31 December 2021
DEPRECIATION:
At 1 January 2021
Charge for the period
At 31 December 2021
NET BOOK VALUE:
At 31 December 2021
At 31 December 2020|£
30,734
-|
||30,734|
||30,734
-|
||30,734|
||-|
||-|
Page 41
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
|11.
DEBTORS
Debtors
Other debtors & prepayments
12.
CASH AT BANK
CAF account
Barclays bank
13.
CREDITORS
Trade creditors
Deferred income
Accruals
Social security
Other creditors
14. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
2021
Fixed
Assets
£
Unrestricted Funds
-
Restricted Funds
-
Net assets
-|2021
£
2020
£
28,110
10,411
1,659
2,417
29,769
12,828
2021
£
2020
£
213,101
161,616
1,830
1,480
214,931
163,096
3,133
1,370
100,250
-
5,470
11,327
6,073
3,842
847
807
115,773
17,346
Net
Current
Assets
2021
Total
2020
Total
£
£
£
123,861
123,861
143,487
5,066
5,066
15,091
128,927
128,927
158,578
2021
£
2020
£|
|---|---|
Page 42
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
|2020
Unrestricted Funds
Restricted Funds
Net assets|Fixed
Assets
£
-
-
-|Net
Current
Assets
£
143,487
15,091
158,578|2020
Total
£
143,487
15,091
158,578|2019
Total
£
53,562
28,868|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||82,430|
## 15. FUNDS
The funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust to be applied to specific purposes. Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of charity.
|2021
Balance at
1 Jan 2021
£
Restricted Funds
Comic Relief Tech vs Abuse
8,284
Co-op Local Community Fund
4,703
The Law Society Charity
363
Legal Education Foundation
1,741
Total Restricted Funds
15,091
Unrestricted Funds
143,487
Total Funds
158,578|Income
2021
Expenditure
2021
Transfer
Balance
at
31 Dec
2021
£
£
£
4,760
(13,044)
-
-
-
-
-
4,703
-
-
-
363
-
(144)
(1,597)
-
4,760
(13,188)
(1,597)
5,066
278,938
(300,161)
1,597 123,861
283,698
(313,349)
-
128,927|
|---|---|
Page 43
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
|2020
Balance at
1 Jan 2020
£
Restricted Funds
Comic Relief Recovering Funding
-
Comic Relief Tech vs Abuse
19,828
Co-op Local Community Fund
4,702
The Law Society Charity
363
Legal Education Foundation
1,975
London Catalyst
2,000
Total Restricted Funds
28,868
Unrestricted Funds
53,562
Total Funds
82,430|Income
2020
Expenditure
2020
£
£
26,025
(26,025)
19,036
(30,579)
-
-
-
-
-
(234)
-
(2,000)
45,061
(58,838)
266,575
(176,650)
311,636
(235,488)|Balance at
31 Dec
2020
£
-
8,285
4,702
363
1,741
-|
|---|---|---|
|||15,091
143,487|
|||158,578|
Name of restricted fund Comic Relief Recovering Funding
Description, nature and purposes of the fund
Provided flexible funding to support us to adapt and respond to the challenges Covid-19 between July and December 2020
Comic Relief: Tech vs Abuse
The Comic Relief (with Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Clothworkers Foundation) Tech vs Abuse funding enabled BIHR to work with domestic abuse groups and survivors to develop our Know Your Human Rights digital tool with a pathway to assist women to rebuild their lives by advocating for their human rights in their interactions with public services.
Co-op Local Community Fund
This funding supported BIHR to hold free learning events on mental health and human rights in Tower Hamlets, ensuring the local people's human rights are respected and protected when they need mental health support.
The Law Society Charity
Law Society Charity: This charitable fund, set up by the Law Society (but independent of it) makes
Page 44
## **The British Institute of Human Rights**
(A company limited by guarantee)
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021
grants to a range of organisations to further law and justice. This grant supported BIHR to reprint and distribute several of our practical resources on human rights law for self-advocacy and everyday decision-making in health and social care services. It also enabled us to hold a number of sessions in communities in England to enable local community groups to increase their knowledge and understanding of the law and how to use this to secure justice in everyday discussions with public services.
Legal Education Foundation
This charity is dedicated to the advancement and support of legal education in the UK, and provides a range of grants. The grant to BIHR focused on developing a new online human rights tool which will support advocacy with and for people with mental health and/or capacity issues to use human rights legal language to secure dignified and fair care and treatment.
London Catalyst
This funding contributed to BIHR’s activities to support Londoners with lived experience of learning disabilities, Autism and/or mental health to benefit from their human rights.
## 16. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 December 2021 or the year ended 31 December 2020.
Page 45