citizens advice Leighton-Linslade Annual Report 2023-24 Citizens Advice Leighton-Linslade (CALL)
Citizens Advice Leighton-Linslade Bossard House West Street Leighton Buzzard LU71DA Administration line: 01525 374589 Opening hours for telephone calls Mornlng Afternoon Monday 10amto 1pm 2pm to 4pm uesday 10am to 1pm 2pm to4pm Wednesday 10am to 1pm 2pm to 4pm Thursday 10am to 1pm 2pm to4pm Friday 10am to 1pm closed Telephone advice line: 01525 373878 Online advice: &[eight0[GaOrllk
Contents Our People Page 4 Chair's Report Page 6 Chief Officer's Report Page 7 Research and Campaigns Page 10 Money Advice Page 12 Training Page 14 An Adviser's View Page 15 Our Clients, Views Page 17 Thank you to our Funders Page 18 Directors Report and Financial Review Page 19 Statement of Financial Activities Page 27 Balance Sheet Page 28 Notes to the Financial Statements Page 29 Report of the Independent Examiner Page 36
Our People During the period 1" April 2023 and 3151 March 2024, we had around 37 people giving up their free time to volunteer as advisers at our Citizens Advice office and 12 people who volunteered as trustees. Our volunteers come from a range of backgrounds and communities and volunteer with us for a range of reasons, including to: make a positive impact on peoples, lives, sain new skills and knowledge and build experience for employment use and develop existing skills in varied and rewarding roles improve health, wellbeing, confidence, and self-esteem meet new people from a range of backgrounds and ages and make friends get to know the local community and give something back experience good training and support and to feel part of a team We are extremely grateful to have such a dedicated, knowledgeable, and friendly team of volunteers.
' Directors and Trustees 1 A Chair Vice Chair, Company Secretary Treasurer ap ointed 3111012023 Secretary ril 2023- 31 March 2024 Joined 1610112019 Joined 1210812020 Joined 1011112021 Joined 2411012018 Joined 1210812020 Joined 1210812020 Joined 111812021 Joined 1011112021 Joined 1011112021 Joined 1011112021 Joined 1711112022 Joined 1011112021 Resi ned 311712023 Joined 1111112020 Resi ned 311712023 nn Stuart Timothy Williams Douglas Leonard Tara Willmott Cherie Hall (nee Cunningham) Joanna Matthews Ramin Nassa our Esfahani lain Holloway-McLean Douglas Leonard Felicit Milne Karina Burrowes Olufunto Agbeniga Treasurer resigned 311712023 Gavin Finch Staff1 A rll 2023~ 31 March 2024 Chief Officer Advice Services Manager Trainin Su ervisor Mone Adviser Mone Adviser Mone Advice Administrator Administrator Kash Karimzandi Karen Banfield nn Graves Adele Thom Alka Saunders Melanie Harve Louise Downie son Inde endent Examlner D R Kerins FCCA, Ad Valorem Accountancy Services Ltd 2 Manor Farm Court Old Wolverton Road Old Wolverton Milton Keynes MK125NN Bankers CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling ME194JQ
Chair's Report Lynn Stuart This year we have been focusing on the future growth of CALL, and we were encouraged that our plans were going in the right dirertion by achieving an excellent result for our Leadership Assessment conducted by National Citizens Advice. We have replaced our Action Plan with an Operational Plan, which helps us to better monitor our progress, and updated the Strategic Business Plan to reflect this growth. The Chief Officer and trustees devised plans to refurbish the office to provide a more conducive working environment and more workstations for volunteers, This work will commence before the end of 2024. To meet future demands we decided that we need to employ two new people,. a Session Supervisor to free up the Chief Officer and Office Manageffs time, thus allowing them to manage the increasing workload and facilitate growth. Also, as money and debt are of paramount importance in the present climate, a Financial Literacy post has been created to help people via outreach work and education. Fundlng is, and will continue to be, a challenge, as more people are bidding for an ever- decreasing pot. We are extremely grateful to Leighton Buzzard Town Council and Central Bedfordshire Council for their continued funding, and our Fundraising Volunteer is doing a marvelousjob in securing and bidding for a number of grants. This money is helping our refurbishment and funding one of the new staff posts. We have increased our Social Media presence with the help of Jam on Toast,, and have plans in place to attend a number of upcoming events to raise CALL'S profile in the town, with the objective of helping people to understand that our service offers independent, confidential advice of the highest quality, covering a huge range of topics for any age group. We also want our local community to realise we are a charity and dependent upon their support. The development of CALL'S exemplary practice, which is so valuable to our community, would not be possible if not for the dedication and hard work of all the staff, volunteers, trustees and our Council Board members. I thank each and everyone for that continued, steadfast commitment to providing such a valuable asset to those in need,
Chief Officer's Report Kash Karimzandi This financial year, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, Citizens Advice Leighton Linslade has met the challenges raised in a post-Pandemic landscape with the added complexities of the Cost of Living crisis and the impact upon our local residents. Thanks to the flexibility of our volunteers and staff, we have been able to increase the number of face to face appointments to make sure that we are able to reach as many people as possible in the most suitable way for them. In the meantime, we've managed to retain our very popular telephone service whilst increasing the number of online enquiries we deal with. This has not been without its challenges given our depleted number of volunteer advisers and the constraints of our physical office space. In the financial year 2023 - 2024, we've still seen 2,571 clients between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 covering 8,024 separate issues. The number of clients is slightly higher to the number we saw in the last financial year but it is the complexity of issues and the number of repeat visits required, particularly for very vulnerable clients, which has put our service under considerable strain. Despite this, our client survey results continue to be outstanding and we also have positive responses to client feedback sought through our National membership organisation. This is due to diligence and hard work of our volunteer advisers and staff. They ensure that every client receives a high standard of advice by completing ongoing training and keeping up to date with the many changes in government regulation and practice. You can see from the illustration of our statistics below that our main areas of enqulry continue to be Benefits and Debt. Both these areas have increased both in number of clients and issues. We have also found that enquiries relating to Housing have increased exponentially. Local residents who are already struggling with the Cost of Living now face the rising costs of the Private Rented Sector and the lack of availability of Suitable housing. Unsurprisingly we continue to see a rise in the clients seeing advice on charitable support such as foodbanks and grants. This is a sad reflection of where many clients are finding it impossible to budget where their bills and food exceed their income. We hope to secure some funding to help clients with financial inclusion issues like budgeting and reducing their outgoings in the near future. In the meantime, our staff and volunteers do their very best to find solutions for clients to help them deal with these very difficult issues. In term5 of funding, we are very fortunate that both Central Bedfordshire Council and Leighton Linslade Town Council agreed to continue to provide the essential funding,
which supports our core services, and allows us to remain open every day to support our local community. We are tremendously grateful for their continued support, particularly in these difficult times. We were also fortunate enough to benefit from an extra grant from Central Bedfordshire Council alongside our sister offices in Dunstable and Mid-Bedfordshire. We are currently recruiting for another member of staff which we hope will allow us to meet the rising demand and complexity we are seeing in the problems faced by our local community. This year, we continue to receive funding from the Money Advice and Pension5 Service which allows us to offer expert debt advice to residents of Leighton Linslade and the surrounding areas. Our two part time money advisers, Adele Thomson and Alka Saunders are ably supported by Melanie Harvey. They work hard to ensure that they keep abreast of the many developments in money advice as well as working with and supporting our volunteers to ensure we help as many clients as we can. Whllst we haven't been able to hold fundraising events of our own, our fundraising volunteer, Eva Jones has worked extremely hard to find grant opportunities with great success. Tesco's Community Grant was used to purchase various items to be used for publicising CALL'S services and recruiting volunteers at events around the town. Central Bedfordshire's "Inspiring Volunteering" initiative provided us with a grant which was used for items as above as well as local advertisements for volunteers and paid for social media posts aimed at recruiting volunteers. We are also very grateful for the number of generous individual donations, both regularly and as a one-off and continue to use features like Arnazon Smile and Just Giving to boost our funds. Our volunteer Bookkeeper Yoke Ping Chin-Pike continues to help both me and our new Trustee Treasurer, Doug Leonard to actively manage our funds in a way that provides the best value for money to our funders and we're very grateful for her continuing help. We continue to work both locally and alongside national campaigns to address unfair policy and practice issues proactively under the leadership of our Research and Campaigns Lead, Karen Banfield. who is also our Advice Service5 Manager. Our social media partner, Chloe Peters at Jam on Toast continues to support us in raising awareness of our service and important issues that impact our community. We are very grateful to our partners at LB Radio, The Leighton Buzzard Observer, Bee Local and our local Councillors David Bligh, Victoria Harvey and Pat Carberry as well as our MP Andrew Selous, all of whom have worked with us on highlighting the broader issues which impact our community. We're are able to offer our clients pro-bono advice from local solicitor's firms, Duncan Lewis ITaryn Brandt) and Austin & Carnley (David Backhouse) who have continued to support our clients during lockdown by telephone and email.
Sadly, we have had to say goodbye to two of our Trustees- our former Trustee Treasurer Olufunto Agbeniga who's moving forward with her career and Gavin Finch who has moved away with his family to new pastures. Both of them have worked tremendously hard, particularly in the areas of Finance and Marketing and we are very grateful to have had the benefit of their skill and experience. We wish them both the very best for the future. Our Trustee Board is now actively recruiting new trustees to ensure that our service is able to plan strategically for the future where funding pressures and increasing regulation threatens the sustainability of small charities. During this year we had 39 volunteers and 12 trustees who, between them, gave more than 230 hours a week of their time to help CALL support our local community. This clearly illustrates the significant contribution our volunteers make, and I would like to personally thank every volunteer (including each Trustee) for their hard work and commitment to Citizens Advice Leighton Linslade. Without them, we would not be able to offer free, independent, impartial, and confidential advice to anyone who needs it, whoever they are and whatever their issue. Key Slalislics Cit17en5 Ad¥icÈ Leh1o Lin$18de ImernbeTI SuffjmJiy C43Ql IFJ li F l Lwtwmheakh 111 Try+01% (wD Eth
Research and Campaigns Karen Banfield Citizens Advice offices not only provide advice to clients for the problerns they are facing, but also campaign for change. By hearing the struggles and issues that clients have to deal with, CALL can spot where there are injustices and try to do something about It. The action could be to report it to the National Citizens Advice office, via our local Evidence Forms. Those forms can then be checked and collated by our National Citizens Advice to see patterns emerging across the country. They have regular meetings with key people such as those in government departments, to share the experiences that certain policies are having on the general public. They can then lobby for improvement. We call on the help of our local MP, Andrew Selous, when the normal channels of communicating with an organisation, aren't succeeding. One case was where a disabled client was without electricity for 3 days during winter, due to a faulty meter, which the energy supplier was not hurrying to deal with. Client was unable to cook any food, heat or light her home within that time. When it got dark around 4 pm, that made for long, cold evenings by candlelight. A more recent case he assisted with, was a family who the local authority has found to have made themselves homeless, and eviction dates set to remove them from the temporary accommodation they had provlded. We wrote giving the details of what had happened to them and how their significant health problems had been a large factor and the eviction was suspended, but then restored a few weeks later. More detailed submissions were made and the eviction was again suspended. Work is ongoing with the council to show them how they do not seem to have met their Public Sector Equality Act dutyfor this vulnerable family. It isn't only national and local government that can act unfairly. A client with learning difficulties was scammed out of several thousands of pounds of his compensation money, whilst the banks made no effort to intervene. This was despite the clear pattern of payments identifying that there was a problem. We managed to get all of his money back from the banks by pointing OLSt their duties to their vulnerable customer. We challenged a debt collector who was not required to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority due to the type of debt they were collecting, as they were using oppressive business practices. This included not telling the client who they were collecting a debt for, saying they would make her bankrupt even though the debt was under the threshold to allow that, and that they would send bailiffs round, despite this not being allowed either, due to the absence of a county courtjudgment. We also reported them to Trading Standards. io
As well as helping individual clients with complex issues, we also do awareness campaigns on our website and social media. We did one on social tariffs for broadband and phone packages. We highlighted how they can be as cheap as £10 - £20 pm for those on certain benefits, but pointed out that they are not well publicised so clients need to ask their provider. We took part in national office's Consumer Awareness Campaign on what to do when things go wrong after thejanuary sales. This pointed out consumer rights for returning faulty goods, shopping safely by being aware of scams and what to do if something that's order isn't delivered. li
Money Advice Money Advice Team - Adele Thomson, Alka Saunders and Melanie Harvey The Money Advice team's role is to support the most vulnerable clients, who are unable to manage communication with creditors on their own. Often. they have additional issues such as physical and mental health problems, addictions, or bereavement and many also have complex issues relating to benefits and housing which need to be resolved before we can advise them about suitable debt solutions and help them to move forward. Our debt work is funded by the Money Advice and Pensions Service via National Citizens Advice. Both volunteers and staff working within Money Advice are held to rigorous standards of quality and performance which are ultimately determined by the Financial Conduct Authority. We have received this funding for the last five years which enables us to employ the equivalent of one full time money adviser together with admin support. The impact of the Cost of Living crisis continues to be seen as those on low incomes and benefits struggle to cover their essential expenditure, often leading them into debt. We have seen an increase in energy debL rent and Council Tax arrears as well as credit debt. Often our office advises clients to claim disability and health benefits, but the significant delays in assessing these claims along with other benefits applicatlons such as discretionary housing payments and Council Tax Support claims have an impact on how quickly a client's finances stabilise and appropriate debt solutions can be found. We continue to see an increased number of people suffering from mental health issues. Many clients with physical and mental health issues are waiting for a significant amount of time for healthcare treatment which can impact their ability to return to work. These factors all contribute to our money advice service operating at full capacity and we are grateful for the support of the volunteers which is absolutely vital in ensuring we can help clients in financial difficulty at the first point of contact. In terms of the client profile of the Money Advice team, this year we have helped people aged between 31 and 68 years, with the highest amount of debt for one individual debt in excess of £63.000, Almost all of these clients live in rented accommodation, primarily in social housing, however some are not receiving full support with housing costs because the "bedroom tax" and/or non-dependant deductions. Clients who rent privately invariably significantly pay more however the local housing allowance, which determines how much help they can receive from benefits, had not kept up with rental costs. Frequently they are unable to move due to poor credit rating or lack of funds for a deposit and rent in advance. Those clients with rent arrears find it difficult to join the social housing register which could otherwise enable them to reduce their rent costs, Two of our clients have mortgages, with one of these in arrears. 7896 of the clients we have helped have long-term health issues or disabilities. Of the remaining clients. the majority are supporting one or more family members who have significant health issues 12
or disabilities. This causes serious consequences for their budgets with many of the clients who we have helped this year having deficit budgets. making it impossible for them to meet their ongoing essential expenditure. Our priority is to ensure any emergencies have been dealt with and then to maximise clients, income by checking they are receiving the correct benefits and helping them to apply for social tariffs for essential services where applicable. We also help them with budgeting, making suggestions about where savings in expenditure might be made. Over the past year the Money Advice team has entered one client into standard breathing space, made several successful requests for discretionary write-offs of substantial debts by creditors, including write offs of Council Tax arrears. After being advised by us, five of our clients have obtained DROS and one client was made bankrupt. In addition, 48% of these clients received backdated benefits payments after we identified areas where they were not getting their full entitlement, some of which were substantial. We have helped our clients with income maximisation and budgeting, also assisted some in agreeing affordable payment plans with creditors. Furthermore, we were successful in applying on behalf of two of our clients for grants from charitable funds. Our office continues to assist Central Bedfordshire Council with the allocation of Household Support Vouchers which Staff and volunteers are able to use to help some clients meet the cost of food and other essential items. On occasion we also make applications to the Fuel Bank Foundation for clients who are experiencing fuel hardship. As clients continue to struggle to manage their financial commitments, often also dealing with complex health and home lives, we anticipate continuing to see high numbers of clients in urgent need of debt advice. The valuable support of our volunteers to the Money Advice team ensures the success of the ongoing work with vulnerable members of our local community. 13
Training Lynn Graves- Training Supervisor We have welcomed eight new volunteers this year who are now at various stages of training. Most trainees take at least a year to achieve their Certificate in Generalist Advice work having undertaken approximately 250 hours of online training. The qualification is the equivalent of an NVQ Level 3 and is highly valued by any organisation involved in advice work. In addition, all our advisers undertake further training to achieve accreditation by the Money and Pensions Service to provide Debt advice. Volunteers need a high level of commitment and self-motivaiion to achieve the award of both certificates, Alongside the e-learning, trainees will spend half a day a week shadowing trained advisers. This is an opportunity to see the theory in practice and we are very grateful to all our volunteers who are so willing to share their knowledge and skills. Ongoing training is provided for all volunteers and staff throughout the year, The following training has been undertaken this year. most of it involving a guest speaker from an outside organisation: The Equality Act 2010 (Central Beds Community Intelligence Manager} The work of Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (RCC Agent) Advising clients who are experiencing Domestic Violence (NVDI) Employment Law (Paul Archer & Co) Digltal Inclusion (Leighton Linslade 55UP) LGBTQ+ Inclusion (Inclusion Allyship) Research and Campaigns (in house) Future plans include: FLJrther training to ensure provision of high-quality debt advice Maintaining up to date knowledge of all enquiry areas Compliance with data protection requirements Migration from legacy benefits to Universal Credit 14
An Adviser's View Martin Addrison I had a very enjoyable career as a solicitor, worked hard long hours and loved the job. I took retirement at 62 and was pleased to be able to stop while I still enjoyed the job. For the first four years of retirement I was not bored at all lots of holidays (despite Covidl got a campervan and went away lots in that, and saw family and friends more than before. By 2023,1 wasn't bored, but realised that I might start to get bored, so looked around for a chance to do good locally. I've been aware of the Citizens Advice Bureau for years, and in general terms, their work. I was a client on behalf of a relative some years back. l also have a couple of friends who volunteered at CABS and chatted to them - both said I'd enjoy it, and that my skills would be valued. So, I phoned up, met Kash and Karen, who were very friendly and approachable, and that led to me filling in a 'job application" and asking people for references (not done that for a whilel) and starting the training. There's quite a lot of training to do (All e learning), but no time pressure to do it, and practical help from Lynn {Training Supervisor is her title, but she is a key part of CALL,) and the other advisers with any tricky bits. The training was interesting- parts of it I knew already, such as an introduction to Contract Law {did that 40 ish years ago). Other parts were completely new, but the training is well presented and breaks down the complex issues into logical segments which are digestible. An essential part of the training is shadowing advisors while they help clients, either face to face or on the phone. I was impressed by the calm and diligent approach of all the advisers - whilst I was thinking 'goodness knows how we'll deal with that problem., they would seek information and widen the conversation. whilst encouraging and empowering the client to understand the full scope of their problem and the solutions we can offer. Each advisor has their own Style, and when advising I think about the different advisers I've shadowed, and how theyd deal with the client I'm helping at the time. I found it exciting starting to advise clients - the first few were a bit daunting, but the other advisers were very supportive and helpful, and the clients are generally very grateful that we can offer help with a problem that may have seemed insurmountable to them. I do look forward to my sessions and enjoy the atmosphere in the office, where the advisers often have an open conversation about the issues a particular client has, which leads to an agreed answer to give to the client. When I'm riding my bike home from a session I feel that I've helped the world - though of course we're not omniscient and can't solve everyone's problems for them. And I've become a bit of a messiah for 15
CALL, guiding friends to us or their local CAB as appropriate, for any issues. I wish I could tell everyone about the clients, but of course it is all confidential so we can't do that. I still find I'm shocked about the level of problems some people have - I've had an easy life and not sure how I'd cope with some of them. One important thing for me is there's no pressure from CALL - each person does the sessions they ch005e - we're sometime asked to change to another date to get the right number of advisers for each session, and thays always workable. The norm is two or more sessions a week but there's no pressure to do more, and holidays are allowed, as much as you like of course. VOLUNTEER 16
Our Clients, Views National Citizens Advice undertook a client suniey regarding Citizens Advice Leighton-Linslade and here are some of the comments we received. 'm grateful for all the help I received from Citizens Advice. I would have never been able to do it by myself. I can never thank them enough I got help filling in a complicated form. Citizens Advice - always such a positive service. Thank you, thank you, thank you so, so much, I'm over the moon, big weight lifted off my shoulders, so thank you for helping me. The best organisation helping people - are always ready to help!1 I have used them before with success. 17
A huge thank you to our funders, who have helped us to provide the quality of service our clients expect and deserve. We are extremely grateful. TESCO Community Grants Thewixamtree Trust. citizens advice tal shl LEIGHTON- LINSLADE TOWN COUNCIL Money & Pensions Service 18
Co Reg No: 05957866 citizens advice Leighton-Linslade and District Citizens Advice Bureau Directors Report and Financial Statements for the Year ended 31st March 2024 19
Leighton-Linslade and District Citizens Advice Bureau General Information for the Year ended 31 St March 2024 Directors and Trustees Lynn Stuart Timothy Williams Douglas Leonard Tara Willmott Joined 16101/2019 1210812020 1011112021 Resigned Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Trustee 24110/2018 Trustee Cherie Hall (nee Cunningham) Joanna Matthews Ramin Nassajpour Esfahani lain Holloway-McLean Felicity Milne Karina Burrowes Olufunto Agbeniga Gavin Finch 1210812020 Trustee 1210812020 Trustee 1110812021 Trustee 1011112021 Trustee 1011112021 Trustee 1711112022 Treasurer 1011112021 311712023 Trustee 1111112020 311712023 Company Secretary Timothy Williams Registered Office Bossard House West Street Leighton Buzzard Bedfordshire LU71DA Company Reg. Number Charity Number 05957866 (England and Wales) 1117337 20
Independent Examiner D R Kerins FCCA Ad Valorem Accountancy Seniices Ltd 2 Manor Farm Court Old Wolverton Road Old Wolverton Milton Keynes MK12 5NN Bank CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ Company Status Leighton-Linslade and District Citizens Advice Bureau (GILL) was incorporated on 5 October 2006 as a private company, limited by guarantee, and commenced operations on 15¢ April 2007, when it took over the operations of the previous unincorporated charity of the sarne name. Its company number is 5957866, and its registered charity number is 1117337. th The charitable company was established under a Memorandurn of Association, which established the objects and powers, and is governed under its Articles of Association, It is a member of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and is subject to regular quality audits as part of its membership requirements. The registered company address is Bossard House, West Street. Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, LU7 1 DA, which is also the principal place of business. 21
Principal Activity and Public Benefit The principal actlvlty of the company in the period under review was the operation of a Citizens Advice in West Street, Leighton Buzzard. Citizens Advice give free, independent and confidential advice to members of the public and are in a unique position to be able to campaign for change when social injustices arise. Any person, regardless of age, gender, racial or social origin, sexuality, religious belief or any other discriminatory factor can contact the company by phone, e-mail or personal vlsit and receive free, independent and confidential advice as to their rights on a huge range of relevant topics such as housing, benefits and money advice. Many people from Leighton Buzzard, Linslade and the surrounding villages received such advice during the year and the company's activities are clearly to the public benefit. The Trustees have had regard to the guidance published by the Charities Commission on public benefit. More details of our actlvities and how they benefit the public are set out in other reports within this document. Directors and Trustees The following served as directors and trustees of the company during the period covered by this report and up to the date of signature: Ms L Stuart MrT Williams Ms T Wilmott Ms C Hall (nee Cunningham) Ms J Matthews Mr R Nassajpour Esfahani Mr lain Holloway-McLean Mr D Leonard Ms F Milne Ms K Burrowes Ms O Agbeniga - resigned 311712023 Mr G Finch - resigned 31 [712023 22
Management of the Company The Board of Directors meets five times per year, and the meetings are also attended by the Chief Officer, representatives of local Councils and 3 representative of the volunteer work force. Management of day-to-day operations is vested in the Chief Officer, who is assisted by a number of paid staff and volunteers. Members of the charitable company guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charitable company in the event of a winding up, The total number of such guarantees at 3151 March 2024 was 18. New trustees wishing to join the board of the company are interviewed by the personnel committee of the board to determine their suitability and the skills that they might bring to the board. If accepted, their appointment is proposed and voted on at the next Trustee Board meeting. Training and familiarisation with the worklngs of the office for new trustees is provided by a combination of meetings with the Chief Officer and her staff and with other members of the Trustee Board, and by attendance at training courses for new trustees run by the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux. Independent Examiner: D R Kerins FCCA of Ad Valorem Accountancy Services Limited, 2 Manor Farm Court, Old Wolverton Road, Old Wolverton, Milton Keynes MK12 5NN. Bankers: CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ. 23
Financial Review Central Bedfordshire Council Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC) continues to be the principal source of funding for the three Local Citizens Advice (LCAS) which cover the area: Dunstable, Leighton Linslade and Mid Beds (based in Ampthill and Biggleswade). Representatives of the three LCAS are working together to ensure that our services and our funding needs are well recognised by CBC. This funding amounted to £112,812 in 2023124. Sharing expertise with the other LCAS covered by Central Bedfordshire remains a key part of our strategy and we will partner with the other LCAS on joint projects and initiatives as appropriate. Funding from CBC is unrestricted. In 2022 - 2023, Central Bedfordshire Council initially proposed an Increasing Capacity grant and paid an initial grant of £33,000 towards setting up costs. Unfortunately, the project then stalled which meant we could not spend the funds on planned recruitment as we did know whether we would receive further funding. In January 2024, they agreed that they would pay two further instalments in the same amount over the next two flnancial years. Later that quarter, we received £33,333 and are now actively recruiting for an additional member of staff. We were also fortunate to apply for and receive two specific grants of £500 each under the "Inspirlng Volunteering, Scheme for which we are very grateful. Leighton-Linslade Town Council The Town Council has also again been very generous in their support to CALL and provided a grant which increases annually to reflect inflation. The amount received in the financial year 2023124 was £26,226. These funds are unrestricted. Money Advice and Pensions Service In October 2018, we were awarded funding from the Money Advice and Pensions Service to deliver debt advice. We received the sum of £51,230 in total during the financial year 2023124 most of which was spent on salaries (including dedicated members of staff to 24
deliver specialist debt advice) and training. These funds are restricted, We continue to provide the service in 202412025 and await confirmation of funding for the year 202512026. The Wixamtree Trust The Wixamtree Trust trustees have approved a grant of £10,000 for a "Financial Literacy Advisor" to focus on early intervention for clients with problems budgeting or to help with income maximisation. The grant was received on 3 April 2024 and we hope to Start recruiting soon. We are immensely grateful to the Wixamtree Trustees for their generoslty and flexibility in continuing to support our work with the local community. FundraisinglDonations During 2022 - 2023, we were fortunate to be one of the chosen charities of the then Leighton-Linslade Mayor, Farzana Kharawala. We received our share of those fundraising efforts in 2023 - 2024 and are very grateful to the previous Mayor for all her hard work to raise funds on our behalf. The Leighton-Linslade Rotary Club kindly donated £1,000 on 7 February 2024 after Inviting CALL to speak at one of their meetings about our work. We have received a further donation from them in 2023 - 2024 after participating in their hugely successful May Day Fayre held 6 May 2024. We are indebted to them for both their significant contribution to our fundraising as well as their work to raise awareness of our service. We also applied for and received a Community Grant from Te5co in the sum of £500 towards specific costs, for which we are very grateful. We continue to receive generous donations from various local organisations and individuals: a total of £9,098 in this financial year, which includes regular donations from individuals, Expenditure Expenditure at CALL amounted to £182.543 (2023 - £171,779) which is a 6,26g6 increase from last year. as we begin to return to our normal operational activities. Income at 25
CALL rose to £227,455 (2023 - £202,519) which is a 12.3% increase from last year. The nature of restricted funding has required related expenditure according to the mandates of each project. This means that we ended the year with a surplus of £44,912 this year compared to a surplus of £30,740 the previous year. The policy on reserves is to aim to maintain sufficient cash reserves to cover six months of normal expenditure, with a minimum of three months. At the end of March 2024 our total reserves of £213,992 representing close to 11 months of planned expenditure. We are yet to receive confirmation of two major funds, being MaPs and the increasing capacity funding from Central Bedfordshire Council for the year 2025 - 2026. We continue to work with our partners to ensure that our commitments to our clients remains unchanged despite this uncertainty. We also have a very active fundraising team including a Trustee and a dedicated volunteer who work very hard identifying additional sources of income and revenue generating activities. The fundraising volunteer has ralsed significant amounts of ad hoc funds and we are immensely grateful to her for her efforts. Independent Examiner Ad Valorem Accountancy Services Llmlted has kindly agreed to continue as our Independent Examiner. We are indebted to them once again for their services which they have provided at a fee of £720 including VAT. This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. Lynn Stuart Chair Douglas Leonard Treasurer 26
LEIGHTON-LINSLADE AND DISTIUCT CITIZENS IiDVICE BUREAU Coiiipany Registered Nu]nber 05957866 STATEMENI. OF fiNANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING IISCOME AND LXPEf*DITURE ACCOUNT) For the year ended 31 Marcli 2024 31.03.24 31.03.24 Uiiresli"icted Restricted Funds Funds 31.03.24 31.03.23 Total Total Funds Fuiids Notes INCOME AND EXPENDITURE Incoine ajid endowments frojn: GTants Donations and Icgacies Volunlaiy iiicome total Charitable activities Inv¢8tinents Othei" Income 159,036 52,730 211,766 198,117 2,347 220,865 200,464 168,135 52,730 5,590 5,590 2,055 Total Incoiiiillg Resoui'ces 174 725 52730 227455 202519 I xpenditure on: Chai'ilable activities Oth¢i' costs Total Expenditure 128,386 52,730 181 116 170,876 90 129 813 182 543 171779 Net Ineomel(Expendlture) 44,912 44,912 30,740 I'rftnsfer betweeAi funds Net movemeiit of ndS 44,912 44,912 30,740 Reeonciliation of funds: Total funds brought forivard Totxl funds tarried foiyard 168 580 500 169 080 138 340 213 27
LEIGHTON-LINSLADE AND DISTRIC.T CITIZINS ADVICE BUREAU Conipany Registered INuinber 05957866 BALANCE SHEET A5 at 31 Mareli 2024 Notes 31.3.2024 31.3.2023 FIXLD ASSETS Tallgible assets CURRENT ASSETS Debtors Cash at bank and in hand 10 2,929 219013 221,942 2,286 188 024 190,310 CREDITORS Amoiints falling due within onc year NET CURRENT ASSETS TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 213 992 l69 080 FUNDS OF 'J'HEI CFIARITY Uniestricted fui)ds: Genei?I reserve Restt'icted funds 13 13 213,492 500 168,580 500 The cotnpany is entitled to ex¢mption from audit under Section 477 of tlie Companies Act 2006 foi. the y¢ai' ended 31 Mairh 2024. Tlie iiiembers have ftot i'equii'¢d tlie conipany to obtain an audit of ils financial statements foi. the yeai. ended 31 Mai'ch 2024 in accordance witli .%ection 476 of the Companies Act 2006. Tlie dii'ectors acknowledg¢ theii. i'esponsibilities for., (a) ensiii'ing that the compaiiy keeps accounting records which comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and (b) prepariiig financial statements which give a tru¢ and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end ofeach financial yeai. and of its sui-plus oi. deficit for eacli financial yeai. in accordance with tlie t-equii'cnients of SectioIis 394 and 395 alld wliich otlierwise comply widi the i'equii'emcnts of th¢ Coinpanies Act 2006 relating to fiiiancial stat¢ments, so far as applicable to the company. These financial statements have been prepar in accordance with tlie special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. The financial stateinents were approv¢d by the Board of Directors on l O July 2024 aiid wa'e signed on its behalf by.. L Stuai't D Leonard 28
LEIGHTON-LINSLADE AND DISTRICT CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2024 I. COMPANY INFORMATJON Leighton-Linslad¢ and District Citizcns Advice Bui'eau is a private company, limited by guai'antee, registel'ed in England and Wales. The company's registercd nuniber and i'egistered office can be found on tlie Company illfoiinatioll page. 2. STATEMENT or COMPLIANCE The charity constitiites a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepai'ed in accoi"dance with Accounting and Reporting by Chaiities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicabl¢ to charilies preparing ihexr accounts in accoi'dance witli the Financial i'epoi'ting Standard applicable in the UK alld Republic of h'eland (FRS 102) issued in Octobei. 2019 - (Chai'ities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standai-d dpplicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. The ¢haLlty has applied Update Bulletin l as published on 2 Febiuary 2016 and does not include a cash flow Statement on the grounds that it is applying FRS 102 Sectioii l A. 3. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES (i) Basis ofpreparing the financial statcments The financial stdt¥mcIits have bccn piEpaied on the going conccrn basis under the histoi-ical cost convention. (li) Going concern Witli tlie level of reservcs held at 31 March 2024 and funding seciired for Leigl)con Linslade and Dists-ict Citizcns Advice Bureau for 2024125 it is appropriate to prepai'e the accounts oil a going concem basis. (iii) liicomEng resoui'ces Where amoiints are received for a particular period, the income is spread over thai pei'iod. Apart fi'om this, all othei. income is accounted for on a i'eceivable basis. (iv) Resources expended ExpenditUl-¢ LS i-ecognised when the liability falls due. Expenditui'e on conti'acted pi-ojecls is included in charitable expenditure, as the work being carried oui forrrLS part of the charitable aiins. {v) Pension contrlbutions The chai-ity opei'ates a defined contribution pension scheme. Conts'ibutions payable to the scheme al'e charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the pei'iod to which they relate. 29
LEIGHTON-LINSLADE AND DISTRICT CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU NOTES I'O THE fiNANCIAL STA"fEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2024 (continued) 3. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES conlinued (vi) Tangible fixed assets Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates irt order to write off each asset over ILS estimated useful life.. Office fui'lliture and equipment - 200/0 on cost (vii) Debtoi's Debtoi8 and prepaytnents are recognised at the settlement amount due oi" paid. (viii) Creditors Creditoi's and provisions are i'ecognised where tlie cliai'ity has an obligation which will i'esult iii thc transfer of funds to a thii'd party and the aniount can be ineasured or eslimated witli reasoii8ble accuixcy, Defeti'ed income is income i"eceived in advance of the associated work being pei'form¢d. {Ix) Funds Uniesiricted donated assets are included in a designated unrestricted nd, which is written down ovei. the life of the asset to represent the depreciation charged on that a&sel. Resti'ictcd funds are funds received for a particular project and al'e spent on salaries and associated costs JElating to that project. (x) Volunteers? Time No income is recognised An respect to voluntecrs. time. During the year the Citizens Advice Bureau used 39 volunteers, none of whoin ieceived any remunej'alion 01- reiinbursed expens¢s othei. tjian those incurred in the course of traiiiing and where claimed, for travelling cosls. 4. OPERATING SURPLUSI(DEFICIT) The operating suryliisl(deficit) is stated after charging: 31.3.2024 31.3.2023 Depi'eciation - owned assets Dii'ectors'ltiiistees, emoliiments and other benefits No t18tee i'eceived any cmoluments or beiiefits during the year (2023: iione). No (Ste¢S wcj'e paid travelling expenses (2023: noiie)- 5. TAXATION The company is a registei.ed chai'ity and is exempt from corporation lax. 30
LEIGHTON-LINSLADE AND DISTRICT CKTIZENS ADVICE BUREAU NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2024 (continued) 6. INCOMING RESOURC£IS 31.3.2024 31,3.2024 31.3.2024 31.3.2023 Uni"estrieted Restiicted Total Total Grants Central Bedfoi'dshire Council - annual grant Centi'al Bedfoi-dshire Council - inspiring volunteers 'allt Leighton Linsl¢ide Town Council Citizens Advice - Money Advice and Pension Service 'allt Citizens Advicc - Household Support Administration 'allt Citizens Advice - Cost of Living grant wixamth.ee Tesco - Tnspiring Volunteers 112,812 112,812 112,813 1,000 J,000 26,226 26,226 23,327 51,230 51,230 50,645 4,998 15,000 4,998 15,000 3.332 8,000 500 500 Don#tlons aiid Legacles Charitable Actlvities Thei'e wer¢ no chai-itable activities for generating funds in th¢ year. Other Other incoin¢ includcs participatioii in training prograiillnes. 31
LEIGHTON-LINSLADE AND DI.STRicf CITX7ENS ADVICE BUREI AU NOTES TO THE FI,NCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 Mgrcl) 2024 (continued) 7. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES 31.3.2024 31.3.2024 31.3.2024 31.3.2023 Unresti'ieted Reslrltted Total Total Staff costs: Salai-i¢s Social secui'ity ¢OSts Pension costs 100,992 4,227 41,962 1,757 761 44,480 142,954 5,984 122,748 4,592 107,051 151,531 129,670 Support costs: Rent Ti'avel, tt?ining and volunteer expenses IT and office eqiiipment Insui-ance, slationeiy, telephone and other office expenses Othei. overlieads 5,686 996 1,182 1,814 318 500 7,500 1,314 1,682 7,500 1,765 10,541 13.471 5,618 19.089 21,328 72 Tlie avei'age monthly numbci. of employees during the period was 7 (2023.6), No employee eal'ned iii excess of £60,000 in the year (2023." noi)e). Twstees and key management personnel receivcd total remuneration and benefits of £79,023 dui'tng the yeai. (2023., £71,483). 8. OTHER COSTS Othet. costs mainly comprise governance costs su¢li as AGM costs, Truste¢ Indemnity Insurance, Accountant's Independcnt Examination fee and Coinpanies House filing fee. The Accountant's Independent Examination fec foi. 2024 was £720 (2023.. £480). 32
LEI IGHTON-LINSLADE AND DISTRICT CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2024 (continued) 9. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Office fui'iiiture & equlpment Total Cost At l April 2023 At 31 March 2024 Depreciatlon At l Apt'il 2023 Charge foi- the year 16,165 16,165 At 31 Mai'cli 2024 Nct Book Value At 31 Mai'¢h 2024 At 31 Mai'¢h 2023 10. DEBTORS 31.3.2024 31.3.2023 Trade debtors Prepayments and acci'ued iiicoine 11. CREDITORS: AMOUINTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 31.3.2024 31.3.2023 Ci"¢ditors and accrued chaiEes Taxatioii and social secuiity Othei. cieditors 4,903 3,047 2,895 2,835 33
LEIGHTON-LINSLADE AND DISTRICT CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU OTES TO THE FIINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 Mai'ch 2023 (coiitinued) 12. OPERATING LEASE COMMITME1s Tlic following operating leas¢ commitments are committed to be paid..- 31.3.2024 31.3.2023 PtY)pei'ly Lease Pliotocopier .875 1,875 13. MOVEMEI NT IN fiUNDS Balance brought forward liieome Expendklure B2lAllce carried fniivai'd Resti'lcted Funds Aviva Community Fund Central Bedfoi'dshire Council - insplring volunleei-s gi'ant Citizens Advice - Money Advice and Pension Service gi'ant Tesco - Inspiring Volunteei's 500 500 1,000 1,000 51,230 500 51,230 500 500 500 UnYesti'i¢ted Funds Gelieial Re8erve 168 580 174725 129 813 213 492 54 14. ANALYSIS OFFUNDS Net debtoi'sl creditors Bank Totals R&sti'icted Funds UnLEStricted Funds At 31 Maich 2024 500 500 218 5E3 213 492 (5 021) At 31 Mai'ch 2023 44 IS. PENSION COSTS TJ)e cliarity opei-ates a defined contributioIi pension plaii for ils employees. The amount i-ecognised as an expense in the pei'iod was £2,593 {2023- £2.330). Their was a liability at 31 March 2024 of £607 (2023.. £569) in i'elation to this pension plan. 34
LEIGHTON-LINSLADE AND DISTIUCT CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 Marcli 2024 (continued) 16, RII LATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS Tliere were no related p'ty transactions during the period (2023- £Nil) whicl) Irquire disclosure. 17. OTHER COMMITMENTS Leighton-Linslade and District Citizens Advice Buirau (CALL) has an obligation under Pai'agraph 3(3) of the lease dated I l October 1996 to "keep in good and substaiitial repair and conditioii the intei'ior of the pi'einises" CALL has obtained quotes for tlie refiu'bishment works needed to coinply with th¢ tei-ms of the lease and are actively seeking funding foi. the i-efurbishmcnt woi-ks, 35
Report of the Independent examiner to the Trustees of Leighton-Linslade and District Citizens Advice Bureau I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2024 which are set out on pages 19- 35. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company13wI you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wlth the requirements of the Companle5 Act 20061'the 2006 Act,). Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audlted under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your CoMpanS accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 {'the 2011 Act), In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the 2011 Act. Independent examiner's statement 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 materlal respect.. accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by sectlon 386 of the 2006 Act; or the accounts do not accord wlth those records.. or the accounts 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 independent examinatlon,. or the accounts 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 Republic of Ireland (FRS 1021. I have no concerns and have come across no oiher matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. RINS FCCA For and on behalfof.. Ad Valorem Accountancy SeNices Limited 2 Manor Farm Court Old Wolverton Road Old Wolverton Milton Keynes MK12 5NN Dated....... 36
citizens advice Leighton-Linslade Free, confidential advice. Whoever you are. We help people overcome their problems and campaign on big issues when their voices need to be heard. We value diversity, champion equality, and challenge discrimination and harassment. We're here for everyone. Leighton-Linslade and District Citizens Advice Company number: 5957866 Registered charity number: 1117337 www.leightonlinsladecab.org.uk 37