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2022-03-31-accounts

Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East)

A company limited by guarantee

Trustees Report and Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31[st] March 2022

Company No. 05551406 Registered Charity No. 1116660

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East)

Contents of the Trustee Report and Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 March 2022

Contents: Page
Reference and Administrative Details for the Year Ended 31 March 3
2022
Chair’s Report and CEO Report 4
Report of the Trustees 5-12
Report of the independent Auditors 13-15
Statement of Financial Activities 16
Balance Sheet 17
Cash flow Statement 18
Notes to the Financial Statement 19-27

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

Reference and Administrative Details for the Year Ended 31 March 2022

The trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2022. The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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 2019).

Trustees
Irene Campbell Chair
Nick Clay Vice Chair and Treasurer
Sarah Vice Chair
Trowbridge
Cath Beckett (Resigned July 2022)
Tony Book
Andrew Brock
Mike Jones
Mike Link Past Chair
Alex Ross
Chief Executive Officer Emma Cross
Senior Statutory Auditor Darren Harding ACA FCCA DChA
Richard Place Dobson Services Limited
1-7 Station Road
Crawley
RH10 1HT
Registered Office Citizens Advice in West Sussex
Lower Tanbridge Way
Horsham
RH12 1PJ
The company also operates from offices in East Grinstead,
Haywards Heath, Crawley, Horsham, Worthing and
Shoreham-by-Sea
Bankers CAF Bank
25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill
West Malling, Kent
Registered company number 05551406
Registered charity number 1116660

3

Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2022

Chair’s report:

Covid continued to dominate our ability to work effectively during the year, both because of the impact on staff and also the limitation of face to face meetings with staff, partners and importantly, our customers. Covid was making a huge impact on the lives of the residents of West Sussex. Consequently the demand for our support, help and advice continued to be significant. Our service delivery not only continued, but we also began to rebuild so that we could help more people.

We were able to have a significant event in November 2021 at Lodge Hill, Pulborough, with an audience of staff, volunteers, and stakeholders, to celebrate the difference that our partnership working was making to the lives of our residents. We highlighted our successes, challenges and vision, our impact, as well as the range of our community engagement. We welcomed the new CEO of National Citizens Advice, Dame Claire Moriarty, who gave a keynote speech on the national perspective.

The Highlight for us, as far as spotlighting the work we do to support our residents, was the visit of the Princess Royal to our Horsham office in September. Her presence also represented a thank you to our awesome staff and volunteers, without whom we couldn’t deliver our services.

Dr. Irene Campbell, Chair

CEO Report

Despite the exceptional challenges we all faced in the last year, with the ongoing pandemic and emerging financial pressures affecting everyone, it has also been one of our most successful. We continued to keep our offices open, secured additional funding and have been rebuilding our amazing volunteer team. Over 27,000 people turning to us for help, showing the trust and relationship we have with our communities. Teams worked flexibly and connected with new groups

and partnerships, launching our first Foodbank Advisor project and expanding the Trussell Trust Foodbank helpline, ensuring we are there for the most vulnerable.

Our proactive information campaigns, from debt related suicide awareness to SEND has gained momentum with half a million people reached in just one campaign. Our community engagement activity has ensured all communities are empowered and heard with the launch of a Language Café in Burgess Hill. Strategically we have influenced partners in the NHS, Local Authorities, the Police and more and bringing the experiences of our residents to decision makers, particularly on disparities. As we focus on the post pandemic landscape, we are in a strong positon to continue on those successes so our Charity and Communities have the resilience and tools to respond and thrive. All thanks to the amazing team we have, partnerships and commitment from Funders.

Emma Cross, CEO

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

About Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, East, South)

Who are we?

We are an independent registered Charity and not for Profit Company limited by guarantee and member of the national Citizen’s Advice network.

Our Vision:

Our communities thrive and inequalities are reduced by helping people take control of their lives through accessible, responsive advice and improving our community through expert social policy.

Our Mission

We will high quality information and advice for our community by our community, so people know their rights and responsibilities, and we influence system change through sharing our insight and giving our community a voice.

What do we do?

Anyone can have a problem, and problems have the capacity to affect other aspects of people’s lives and wellbeing.

Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) (CAWS) continues to affect positively the lives of people with questions and problems they face. Supporting people to find a way forward on a range of topics from the cost of living, housing to debt, work to health, benefits and more. We use information and advice to prevent issues from spiraling, bring people back from crisis and to improve their lives.

We make sure that help is always available in times of need through our team of 74 paid staff and 150

volunteers. Out telephone and Web based Advice services can be accessed by West Sussex residents from anywhere and our face-to-face services across the county including Crawley, Horsham, Haywards Heath, East Grinstead, Burgess Hill, Worthing and Shoreham-by-Sea.

We also provide part time outreach services at other locations so our face to face services remain accessible to those who often face barriers to telephone and digital based channels. We work in partnership with Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice so West Sussex residents receive a countywide service with their Centre’s at Bognor Regis and Chichester providing services to residents in the West.

In addition to our Community Advice Service, we deliver a number of significant services and projects funded by partners, including Macmillan Cancer Support, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the National Lottery. These provide specialist advice and support such as debt, support with cost of living and rising energy prices, homelessness, immigration, employment and welfare benefits. We also work with National Citizens Advice and undertake research projects to influence change in social policy, which will benefit people’s lives.

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

We are needed as a charity now more than ever. There is a real and ongoing need for our services to support the residents of West Sussex. We hope that as you read this report you will get a sense of the valuable services we have provided over the year to March 2022.

What have we achieved during the last year?

27,320 people came to us for help with 92,626 problems. A 6% increase compared with the previous year.

However, our headlines statistics for 2021/22 only demonstrate part of the story of our reach and impact

Aimee’s* story

*Not real name

Aimee lives with her partner, they are expecting a baby soon. Aimee was furloughed over lockdown, but lost her job and is currently going through an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal. Relying on just one income Aimee and her partner are being increasingly concerned about how they will cope financially on such a low income especially with a baby on the way.

Aimee told us that her partner’s wages are not enough to live of comfortably and are facing rising debts. They reached out to Citizens Advice as they did not know what to do or where to turn with rising household costs, debt and arrears. The financial stress was beginning to take its toll on Aimee and her partner’s physical and mental wellbeing.

We supported Aimee with a Universal Credit application and discussed the ways in which the household could maximise their income and get emergency help with heating and living costs, whilst she waited for the first Universal Credit payment. We then helped her apply for grants and get essential items for their baby from a local partner. Aimee and her partner feel less stressed and worried, knowing they had somewhere to turn to, are on top of their bills and preparing for the arrival of their baby.

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

Layla*

*not real name

Layla was struggling to heat her family home and was facing spiralling energy costs, she was unable to afford essential living costs. Due to Layla’s long-term health condition she is unable to work and her husband was her main carer with their 3 children. Their house is poorly insulated with no mains as supplying their property, so the heating system runs on electricity and air source heat pump. Layla’s family is cold all the time. Despite this, their winter fuel bills are around £330 per month, running on a pre-payment metre.

Layla told us that “every available penny ” was being spent on energy costs

Layla reached out because she could see no way of improving her situation. She repeatedly requested help to increase the energy efficiency of her home from her Housing Association, but without success.

Layla was aware that there were cheaper heating options available, but these were not affordable for her and she was unable to buy them. With high energy bills, the family were struggling to buy food and clothing.

The stress on the family was growing, as they had experienced significant fuel debt in the past and did not want to get back into the same situation. Now struggling to manage repayments on debts of £5000. Layla’s energy supplier went out of business and she was distressed.

We helped Layla access the Household Support Fund so she would get emergency help and reduce her debts. As well as warm clothing. We then helped her gain a warm homes discount, completed a benefit check and create a debt plan. She received help immediately and has support for the future.

.

With the increasing cost of living pressures and post-covid-19 impact on West Sussex residents, many people are seeking advice and support for more complex problems and will need support for multiple issues and more than once over 12 months.

Our work also has wider public benefit, preventing problems from escalating and causing long term impact such as homelessness, or unmanaged debt. Our interventions deliver value by reducing expensive crisis support and empowering people to take control of their lives. Much of our work tackles the social determinants of health and which reduces health as well as socio-economic inequalities. For example, welfare benefits remains the largest proportion of work, representing 34% of enquiries. 43% of benefit queries are about personal independence payments (PIP), so people can afford the extra costs related to their heath condition such as transport and access to carers. This is just one example of how we help improve people’s quality of life, independence, health and financial wellbeing.

A conservative estimate of the financial benefits our advice provided during 2021/22 using an HM Treasury approved model shows:

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

We couldn’t do this without the help of 2 very important groups of supporters – our volunteers and our funders .

Our Funders

We are grateful to our project and programme funders, whose contributions allow us to achieve more than would be possible with our core funding alone.

During 2021/22 our specialist projects included:

Our Volunteers

We rely on our team of over 150 volunteers who support our 74 employed staff.

Our volunteers find it rewarding to be involved in our work, not least from seeing the impact they have on the lives of our clients.

In 2021/22

On average, our volunteers give 8 hours per week to supporting their community– that is 1,480 hours per week.

All volunteers take part in extensive initial and ongoing training to acquire the additional skills and knowledge in order to provide advice to our clients.

If you are interested in finding out more about volunteering for us, or if you are a funder who would like to explore funding a number of exciting projects that we want to launch, please contact communications@westsussexcab.org.uk

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

Our financial position during 2021/22

Income £ 2,163,411 (£1,830,908 prior year)

Expenses £ 1,945,017 (£1,614,369 prior year)

Total Funds £1,114,367 (£895,973 prior year)

2021/2022 was a successful year with a surplus of £218,394 generated due to exceeding fundraising targets and reduced spend in key areas due to the pandemic delaying redesign. Importantly, it included a legacy of £123,991 for which expenditure will be incurred in future years.

We received additional funding, which reduced the share of our infrastructure costs whilst increasing capacity in service delivery, particularly for crisis support through the Trussell Trust Help Through Hardship Foodbank project. We increased activity in our community engagement work, connecting us with our communities during the pandemic and ensuring people facing the greatest inequalities received high quality information and voice was heard to improve the system. This, alongside reduced costs and a pause on some infrastructure projects due to pandemic measures resulted in a financial surplus. We will continue to build for new and increased demand in the post pandemic cost of living environment. We continue to focus on our strategic goal of growing and diversifying our funding sources to support those who those who need our help.

We are extremely grateful to our staff who went above and beyond to make sure we continued offering the same high standard of advice throughout challenging circumstances as a result of the pandemic. Despite this we continued to deliver across multiple sites, fundraise and increase our advice team.

Financial position at the end of the year

Our reserves, defined as general funds less the net book value of fixed assets and designated reserves, at the end of the year were £722,367 (in March 2021).

Designated funds have been set aside to cover the costs related to service redesign and responding to the post-pandemic and cost of living pressures.

Our largest financial risk is significant reduction in contract funding and the impact of cost of living pressures on our costs and agility to meet contracts.

Structure, Governance and Management

The Charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

It is governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 13 September 2018. It succeeds an unincorporated charity with similar objects and assets set up by a Trust Deed in 1966.

In the event of the Charity being wound up, the liability of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the company.

The trustees that served during the year are identified on page 3.

Appointment of Trustees is governed by the Articles of Association. The Board of Trustees is authorised to appoint new Trustees to fill vacancies arising through the resignation or death of an existing Trustee.

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

Trustee induction and training is provided through our HR support and training team delivered by Citizens Advice in West Sussex regionally and Citizens Advice nationally.

The Trustees confirm they have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

Organisational structure

Day to day decision making is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer and the Senior Management Team with the Board of Trustees meeting at least four times per year to provide oversight.

Board sub-committees meet to deal with specialist areas such as Governance, Finance and Facilities and People with each sub-committee including the Chief Executive, one or more members of the Board and one or more members of the Senior Management Team as appropriate.

The Trustee Board regularly reviews the risk register. Risks are identified and evaluated in the following ways:

The major risks have been reviewed and systems and/or procedures have been develop to manage those risks.

The key risk is the funding environment and the potential impact of reductions on the level and quality of the service we deliver to our clients.

Reserves policy

So that the Charity is effective, the Charity needs adequate reserves to address:

Further to these, restricted funds may also be held. The current restricted funds are detailed in note 13 of the accounts.

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

The key financial risk for the Charity is loss of or reduction in contracts with the Local Authorities and National Citizens Advice commissioned contracts. The Trustees review the reserve policy at least annually and during the year it was agreed that the Charity will normally maintain reserves of between three- and six-months’ worth of annual expenditure to cover this and other financial risks faced by the Charity.

The general reserve of £722,367 represents 3.8 months of budgeted expenditure for 2022/23, which is within the range set by the Trustees. The general reserves are invested prudently in a diversified portfolio of cash deposits and fixed term bonds of up to 1 year, with the precise maturity profile being informed by the quantitative assessment of the impact of financial risks materialising.

In addition to the general reserves, the Trustees have also designated £237,293 for specific projects to re-engineer our services and to increase capacity in our generalist services.

The amount held in reserves is monitored during the course of the year as part of our financial control procedures.

Arrangements for setting pay and remuneration of the key management personnel

The pay of key management personnel is reviewed annually. The process is overseen and approved by the People Sub-Committee and ratified by the Trustee Board. The review takes into account inflation and salaries are benchmarked against other charities of similar size and complexity.

Investment policy and performance

Under powers granted in our Articles of Association, the Trustees are allowed to invest monies not immediately required for its purposes, in or upon such investments, securities or property as may be thought fit. In exercising this duty, the Trustees ensure that:

Fundraising

The majority of our funding is from grants for our community advice service and to deliver specific projects within local communities. Staff and supporters undertake various small fundraising activities such as the Legal Walk. We did not employ anyone whose primary role was to raise funds during the year to March 2022 nor did we engage any external agents to raise funds.

Staff pension funds

For staff within the organisation we offer standardised pension funding arrangements into a defined contribution scheme with a 3% employer contribution in line with Government requirements.

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

Responsibility towards the environment

The Charitable Company aims to minimise its impact on the environment. It encourages electronic communication where possible and strives to promote a more sustainable working environment.

Statement of Trustee Responsibilities

The Trustees, (who are also the directors of Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) for the purposes of company law), are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland".

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the charitable company 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 charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

Report approved by order of the board of trustees on 25[th] October 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Dr Irene Campbell (Chair)

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2022 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of Trustees' responsibilities, the Trustees, who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. The objectives of our audit are to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding compliance with laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, to perform audit procedures to help identify instances of non-compliance with other laws and regulations that may have a material effect on the financial statements, and to respond appropriately to identified or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations identified during the audit.

In relation to fraud, the objectives of our audit are to identify and assess the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud, to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatements due to fraud through designing and implementing appropriate responses and to respond appropriately to fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit.

However it is the primary responsibility of management, with the oversight of those charged with governance, to ensure that the entity’s operations are conducted in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations and for the prevention and detection of fraud.

In identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud, the audit

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Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) Report for year ended 31 March 22

engagement team made enquiries of management, and those charged with governance, regarding the procedures relating to identifying, evaluating and complying with;

  1. laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

  2. detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud;

  3. the internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations;

As a result of these procedures we consider the most significant laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements are FRS 102, General Data Protection Regulations, Companies Act, Charities Act 2011, Charities Statement of Recommended Practice and employment law and regulations. We performed audit procedures to detect non-compliance, which may have a material impact on the financial statements. These included reviewing financial statement disclosures and evaluating advice received from external advisors. There were no significant laws and regulations we deemed as having an indirect impact on the financial statements.

The audit engagement team identified the risk of management override of controls as the area where the financial statements were most susceptible to material misstatement due to fraud. Audit procedures performed included but were not limited to testing manual journal entries and other adjustments and evaluating the rationale in relation to any significant, unusual transactions and transactions entered into outside of the normal course of business.

As a large portion of income is received through grants and relates to future years, the audit engagement team have highlighted completeness of income as an area of significant risk. Audit procedures performed included but were not limited to, proof in total testing of income recorded in the accounts compared to the grant awarded per the grant contract

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https:// www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

24th November 2022 .........................

Ground Floor 1 - 7 Station Road Crawley West Sussex RH10 1HT

Richard Place Dobson Services Limited

Chartered Accountants

Statutory Auditor

Richard Place Dobson Services Limited is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charitable company by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

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CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Statement of Financial Activities

(Incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account) For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

Note
Income:
Donations and
legacies
2
Income from
charitable activities:
Advisory Services
4
Investment income
3
Other income
Total Income
Expenditure:
Costs of raising
funds:
Professional Support
Costs
Expenditure on
charitable activities:
Advisory Services
5
Total Expenditure
Movement in funds
for the year
Transfers between
funds
Net movement in
funds for the year
Reconciliation of
funds
Total Funds brought
forward
Total Funds carried
forward		 Unrestricted
Funds General
£
Unrestricted
Funds Designated
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total 2022
£
Total 2021
£
4,942
-
129,795
134,737
6,437
1,139,302
-
882,634
2,021,936
1,812,534
4,687
-
-
4,687
5,192
2,050
-
-
2,050
6,745
1,150,981
-
1,012,429
2,163,411
1,830,908
-
-
-
-
-
1,062,901
-
882,116
1,945,017
1,614,369
1,062,901
-
882,116
1,945,017
1,614,369
88,080
-
130,313
218,394
216,539
(21,363)
21,363
-
-
-
66,717
21,363
130,313
218,394
216,539
655,650
215,930
24,393
895,973
679,434
722,367
237,293
154,706
1,114,367
895,973

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year All income and expenditure has arisen from continuing activities.

The notes at pages 19 to 27 form part of these accounts.

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CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST) Balance Sheet

At 31 March 2022

At 31 March 2022
Note
Fixed Assets
Tangible assets
9
Current assets
Investments
Debtors
10
Cash at bank and in
hand
Total Current assets
Current liabilities
Creditors falling due
within one year
11
Net current assets
Total assets less
current liabilities
NET ASSETS
The funds of the
charity:
13
General funds
Designated funds
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
TOTAL CHARITY
FUNDS		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted Funds
£
Total 2022
£
Total 2021
£
6,027
-
6,027
13,534
418,050
-
418,050
416,705
273,901
-
273,901
183,680
603,089
154,707
757,796
637,368
1,295,039
154,707
1,449,746
1,237,753
(341,406)
-
(341,406)
(355,314)
953,633
154,707
1,108,340
882,439
959,660
154,707
1,114,367
895,973
959,660
154,707
1,114,367
895,973
722,367
-
722,367
655,650
237,293
-
237,293
215,930
959,660
-
959,660
871,580
-
154,707
154,707
24,393
959,660
154,707
1,114,367
895,973

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to charitable companies for the year ended 31 March 2022. The members have not deposited notice, pursuant to Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006 requiring an audit of these financial statements.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for

(a) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

(b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

These financial statements have been audited under the requirements of Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 and prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime. The notes at pages 19-27 form part of these accounts.

The Accounts are approved by order of the board of trustees on 25[th] October 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

DR IRENE CAMPBELL, Chair of Trustees on behalf of the trustees

The notes at pages 19 to 27 form part of these accounts.

17

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST) Cash Flow Statement

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022 For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022 arch 2022
2022
£
2021
£
Cash flows from operating activities
117,086
315,468
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest Income
4,687
5,192
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
-
-
Purchase of current asset investments
(1,345)
(254,795)
Cash provided by/(used in) investing activities
3,342
(249,603)
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash
equivalents in the year
120,428
65,865
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the
year
637,368
571,503
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the
year
757,796
637,368
Notes to the Cash Flow Statement
Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flows from operating activities
2022
£
2021
£
Net movement in funds
218,394
216,539
Add back depreciation charge
7,507
13,871
Deduct interest income shown in investing
activities
(4,687)
(5,192)
(Increase) / decrease in debtors
(90,220)
6,362
(Decrease)/ increase in creditors
(13,908)
83,888
Net cash flows from operating activities
117,086
315,468
Net Debt:
At 1 April
2021 £
Cashflow
£
At 31 March
2022 £
Cash at bank and in hand
637,368
120,428
757,796		 2022
£
2021
£
117,086
315,468
4,687
5,192
-
-
(1,345)
(254,795)
3,342
(249,603)
120,428
65,865
637,368
571,503
757,796
637,368
117,086
315,468
Cashflow
£
At 31 March
2022 £
637,368 120,428
757,796

The notes at pages 19 to 27 form part of these accounts.

18

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Notes to the Financial Statements

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Registered Office

The address of the registered office is Lower Tanbridge Way, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1PJ.

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102 and is a limited by guarantee company incorporated in England, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) '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 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland', the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and are prepared in sterling and rounded to the nearest £.

Going Concern Basis

The Directors have assessed whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The Directors have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. In particular the Directors have considered the charity's forecasts and projections and the possible implications should projected income and/or expenditure vary unexpectedly. The Directors have concluded there is a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue to operate for the foreseeable future. The charity therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in the preparation of its financial statements.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Investment income is also treated on a receivable basis.

Legacy income is accounted for on a receivable basis to the extent that the trustees are entitled to the income, it is probable the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Incoming resources from charitable activities, which mainly consists of grants, if related to performance and specific deliverable, are accounted for in line with the progression of the gaining the right to consideration. Donations are recognised when they are received.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Facility and support costs are allocated to the various charitable activities in proportion to the hours worked by staff that directly undertake the charitable activities. This includes the hours of paid and volunteer staff. Facility costs include the costs of providing office space for the staff, including rent, utilities, technology and other equipment. Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. These include finance, personnel, payroll and governance.

19

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life. Assets below £2,500 are not capitalised unless the purchases are part of a programme that exceeds £2,500 in aggregate. The trustees review the assets of the charity each year for impairment and any write downs are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities. Depreciation on other assets is made at 20% straight line over 5 years, although a few assets are depreciated at 33% as they were purchased before the depreciation policy was updated in 2017/18.

Taxation

As a charitable company providing free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities, Citizens Advice in West Sussex (N,S,E) is not subject to corporation tax on the surpluses it makes. It is also partially exempt from charging VAT and all income and expenditure is recorded in the SOFA net of VAT with irrecoverable VAT being shown in the SOFA within other costs as a separate line item.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. The trustees have chosen to designate part of the unrestricted funds to be used for specific future projects.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of restricted and designated funds are described note 13 to the financial statements.

Pensions

The charity operates an auto-enrolment pension scheme provided by Evolve Pensions. All eligible employees are automatically enrolled into the company pension scheme after their first 3 months employment. Employees retain the right to opt-out of the scheme following the initial enrolment. In 2021/22 employee contributions were 5% of qualifying earnings and employer contributions were 3%.

Employee benefits

The costs of short term employee benefits are recognised as a liability and an expense. The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee's services are received. Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the company is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

Volunteers

The service provided by the charity is dependent upon the ability and commitment of unpaid volunteers. It has not been possible to place an accurate monetary value for accounting purposes.

Leasing commitments

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the statement of financial activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

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.

Current asset investments

Current asset investments are liquid investments with a maturity of more than three months from the balance sheet date.

Debtors

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

20

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised when 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.

Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value. Financial liabilities and assets are measured at fair value through profit or loss

Key Judgements and Accounting Estimates

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported for assets and liabilities as at the balance sheet date and the amounts reported for revenues and expenses during the year. However, the nature of estimation means that actual outcomes could differ from those estimates.

The main judgement and accounting estimates included in the accounts are:

· Deferral of grant income – Income is recognised when Citizens Advice in West Sussex (N,S,E) is entitled to the income and this will be based on the work being completed and there is no requirement to repay the grant.

· Provisions – Management has made estimates and established provisions in respect of potential liabilities as at the balance sheet date. The key area where provisions have been created is property dilapidation costs.

2
DONATIONS AND
LEGACIES
Restricted donation
Individual donations <£1,000		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total 2022
£
Total 2021
£
-
123,991
123,991
-
4,942
5,804
10,746
6,437
4,942
129,795
134,737
6,437

Restricted donations for 2022 reflect a legacy of £123,991. For 2021, £6,437 of donations under £1,000 were unrestricted

3 INVESTMENT INCOME

3
INVESTMENT INCOME
Unrestricted Restricted Total 2022 Total 2021
Funds Funds £ £
£ £
Interest from bank and savings accounts 4,687 - 4,687 5,192

For 2021, £5,192 of interest from bank and savings accounts was unrestricted.

21

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

4 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES - ADVISORY SERVICES

SERVICES
Unrestricted Restricted Total 2022 Total 2021
Funds Funds
£ £ £ £
Alliance for Better Care 2,500 - 2,500 -
Capacity Funding 10,000 - 10,000 36,000
Clarion Housing Group 20,000 - 20,000 20,000
Client Trust accounts - - 0 3,000
-
Covid 19 funding 8,333 - 8,333 29,497
Crawley Homelessness
Prevention		 - 6,348 6,348 25,392
General Advisory Services 800,652 - 800,652 772,260
Horsham DC Befriending 11,111 - 11,111 -
Horsham Homelessness
Prevention		 30,209 - 30,209 29,175
Horsham Matters Money Advice 10,057 - 10,057 -
Kick Start. 36,888 - 36,888 -
Macmillan - 141,013 141,013 147,251
Mid Sussex EU settlement - - 0 33,937
Mid Sussex Homelessness
Prevention		 21,000 - 21,000 42,000
Money Advice Debt Advice
Program		 - 223,283 223,283 169,849
MSDC-Community Engagement 29,948 - 29,948 -
National Lottery Community
Fund		 - 98,241 98,241 96,927
NHS E Sussex CCG 37,000 - 37,000 -
Other Clinical Commissioning
Group funding		 54,517 - 54,517 38,913
Other energy advice projects -1,560 - -1,560 6,000
Other funders 4,041 - 4,041 5,745
Sussex Community Foundation 1,650 - 1,650 7,500
Sussex University 9,000 -
 9,000 3,000
Trussell Trust - 214,795 214,795 62,525
Universal Credit - Help to Claim - 158,974 158,974 168,915
Universal Credit Best Practice
Lead		 - 39,980 39,980 39,648
Worthing Homelessness
Prevention		 30,000 - 30,000 30,000
Worthing-Community
Engagement		 23,956 - 23,956 -
WSCC Crawley Money Advice 0 45,000
1,139,302 882,634 1,812,534 2,021,936
2021 Comparative 1,003,209 809,505 1,812,534

22

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES - ADVISORY 5 SERVICES

5

SERVICES		 -
Staff Payroll
Staff and Volunteer Other
Premises
Office
Services
Supplies
Other
Support and Governance
2021 comparative		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total 2022
£
Total 2021
£
722,873
709,706
1,432,579
1,120,190
37,266
13,445
50,711
38,258
39,967
18,312
58,279
61,602
89,370
45,405
134,775
120,891
12,729
4,746
17,475
17,961
3,531
1,545
5,076
4,225
34,055
58,584
92,639
88,427
123,110
30,373
153,483
162,815
1,062,901
882,116
1,945,017
1,614,369
819,528
794,841
1,614,369

Analysis of Support and Governance

Analysis of Support and Governance
Staff Payroll
Other
Governance
2021 comparative		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total 2022
£
Total 2021
£
117,550
28,436
145,986
136,575
19,225
5,560
1,937
7,497
7,015
123,110
30,373
153,483
162,815
116,054
46,761
162,815

The support and governance category includes costs of administering the charitable organisation including the costs of fundraising, accounting, governance and HR.

Expenditure on charitable activities includes Depreciation and Auditor Remuneration

Total 2022 Total
£ 2021
£
Depreciation (within Office) 7,507 13,871
Auditor Remuneration 6,094 6,006
Operating lease payments 3,097 16,168

23

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST) Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For the Year Ended – 31 March 2022

6 ANALYSIS OF STAFF PAYROLL COSTS, TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES AND THE COSTS OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL

Salaries and wages
Social Security costs
Pension costs
Total Staff Payroll Costs		 Total 2022
£
Total
2021
£
1,432,504
1,144,694
117,509
91,061
26,389
21,014
1,576,402
1,256,769

No employees had employee benefits in excess of £60,000 (2021/22: none).

The key management personnel of the charity now comprise the trustees, the Chief Executive Officer, the Head of Finance, the Head of Business Support and the Head of Client Services with interim Head of Delivery. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £156,778 (2021: 145,986).

No charity trustees were paid and no trustee received any other benefits from employment in the year (2021: nil). No charity trustee received payments for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2021: nil).

A number of trustees were reimbursed for expenses during the year.

Irene Campbell
Catherine Beckett
Andrew Brock
Total Trustee Expenses		 Total 2022
£
Total
2021
£
183
218
30
0
161
227
374
445

7 STAFF NUMBERS

The average monthly paid employee numbers during the year were as follows

Total 2022 Total 2021
£ £
Employee numbers - on payroll 74 52

8 RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2022.

24

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

9 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Cost at 1 April 2021
Additions
Disposals
Cost at 31 March 2022
Depreciation at 1 April 2021
Additions
Disposals
Depreciation at 31 March 2022
Net book value 1 April 2021
Net book value 31 March 2022
10
DEBTORS
Trade Debtors
Prepayments
Accrued Income
11
CREDITORS
Trade Creditors
Deferred Income
Taxes and social security
Provisions
Accruals		 Computer
Equipment
£
81,612
-
-		 Fixtures and
Fittings
£
Total
£
54,622
136,234
-
-
-
-
81,612 54,622
136,234
68,078
7,507		 54,622
122,700
-
7,507
-
75,585 54,622
130,207
13,534 0
13,534
6,027 0
6,027
Total 2022
£
Total 2021
£
136,805
110,259
50,118
38,969
86,978
34,452
273,901
183,680
Total 2022
£
Total 2021
£
97,201
61,582
74,501
61,874
30,458
29,723
80,000
80,000
59,246
122,135
341,406
355,314

Deferred income represents grants received in advance.

Provisions at 31 March 2022 consist principally of estimated costs of specific liabilities relating to leases on premises.

12 PENSION COMMITMENTS

An Auto Enrolment Workplace Pension with Evolve was introduced in July 2014. In addition we still have one employee on a different defined contribution scheme as a result of protected benefits in respect of a TUPE transfer. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charitable Company in independently administered funds. The fund administrators are Evolve (BlueSky) and Aviva. The pension cost shown in note 6 to the accounts for the period represents contributions payable by the Company and amounted to £26,389 (2021: £21,014). At 31 March 2022 there was £nil (2021: £nil) pension contributions included within other creditors that was due to the pension company.

25

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

13 SUMMARY OF FUNDS

Unrestricted funds:
General Fund
Designated funds:
Specific initiatives fund
Restricted funds:
Macmillan
Universal Credit Best
Practice Lead
Universal Credit - Help
to Claim
National Lottery
Community Fund
WSCC Crawley Money
Advice
Trussell Trust
Money Advice Debt
Advice Program
Client Trust accounts		 Brought
Carried
Forward
Incoming
Resources
Forward
1 April 2021
Resources
Expended
Transfers
31 March
2022
£
£
£
£
£
655,650
1,150,981
(1,062,901)
(21,363)
722,367
215,930
-
-
21,363
237,293
871,580
1,150,981
(1,062,901)
-
959,660
-
141,013
(141,013)
-
-
-
39,980
(39,980)
-
-
-
158,974
(158,974)
-
-
13,939
98,241
(89,077)
-
23,103
1,535
6,348
(6,348)
-
1,535
-
214,795
(214,795)
-
-
5,919
223,283
(226,679)
-
2,523
3,000
129,795
(5,250)
-
127,545
24,393
1,012,429
(882,116)
-
154,707
895,973
2,163,410
(1,945,017)
-
1,114,367

The purposes of the designated fund is

• Specific initiatives fund - amounts included in operational budgets to complete a service re-design and to increase capacity in our Generalist service in a sustainable way.

The purposes of the Restricted funds are as follows;

26

CITIZENS ADVICE IN WEST SUSSEX (NORTH, SOUTH, EAST)

Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For the Year Ended - 31 March 2022

Note 13 continued

Comparatives for 2020/21

Unrestricted funds:
General Fund
Designated funds:
Specific initiatives fund
Covid 19 costs fund
IT replacement reserve
Restricted funds:
Macmillan
Universal Credit Best
Practice Lead
Universal Credit - Help
to Claim
Sussex Community
Foundation
National Lottery
Community Fund
Covid 19 funding
Capacity Funding
WSCC Crawley Money
Advice
Trussell Trust
Money Advice Debt
Advice Program
Other funders
Client Trust accounts		 Brought
Carried
Forward
Incoming
Resources
Forward
1 April 2020
resources
Expended
Transfers
31 March
2021
£
£
£
£
£
406,893
1,021,403
(819,528)
46,882
655,650
-
80,000
-
-
135,930
215,930
50,000
-
-
(50,000)
-
140,000
-
-
(140,000)
-
676,893
1,021,403
(819,528)
(7,188)
871,580
-
147,251
(150,169)
2,918
-
-
39,648
(42,622)
2,974
-
-
168,915
(168,914)
(1)
-
-
7,500
(8,838)
1,338
-
2,503
96,927
(85,491)
-
13,939
-
29,497
(29,496)
(1)
-
-
36,000
(35,999)
(1)
-
-
45,000
(43,465)
-
1,535
-
62,525
(62,523)
(2)
-
-
169,849
(163,930)
-
5,919
3,393
(3,394)
1
-
38
3,000
-
(38)
3,000
2,541
809,505
(794,841)
7,188
24,393
679,434
1,830,908
(1,614,369)
-
895,973

14 COMMITMENT UNDER OPERATING LEASES

Less than 1 year
2 to 5 years		 Total 2022
£
Total 2021
£
2,465
11,238
632
-
3,097
11,238

15

POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS

In March 2020 the UK Government announced a pandemic, the Charity continued to deliver face to face services where safeguards could be made and secured additional funding to cover costs and adapt delivery. Whilst the impact of Covid-19 is expected to continue post these accounts, the business continuity plan is in place to respond to any events that may occur after these accounts were prepared.

27