COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 06279466 CHARrrY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1121222 Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Financial Ststements 31 August 2021 CAS HOUSE LIMITED Chartered accountants & statutory auditor 151 Askew Road London W12 9AU Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Financial Statements Year ended 31 August 2021 Page Trustees. annual report (incorporating the directors report) Independent auditofs report to the members statement of financial activits-es (induding income and expenditure account) statement of financial position 21 25 26 Statement of cash flows 27 Notes to the financial ststements 28 Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report {Incorporatlng the Directorfs Report) Year ended 31 August 2021 Thè Iruslees. who are also the direGtors for the purposes of ¢ompany law, present thgir report and the financial statement5 of the charity for the year ended 31 August 2021. Referen¢e and admlnlstrativ• d&tails Regl$tered ¢harlty namt Debate Mate Schools Limit¢¢J Charity reglstrntion number Company regl$tration number 06279466 Princlpal office and regist•rgd 7-14 Great Dover Street offl¢9 London SE14YR 1121222 The trustses Britt Lintner (Chair) Fiona Edwards-stuart Mark Batten Sara Gealer David Haysey Debra Thompson imi Sherifal Adebayo Odusola Marcus Trotter Keanna Williams (Retired 7 October 2020) (Retired 8 July 20211 (Retired 7 OGtober 2020} {Appoinled 8 De￿mber 20201 {Appointed 8 Decemter 20201 (Appointed 8 December 2020) Compony s•cretary M M¢Cabe Auditrjr CAS House ￿Mited charte￿lj accountants 8 slatulory audilor 151 Askew Road London W12 9AU Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees, Annual Report {Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (conUnu¥d) Year ended 31 August 2021 Structure. governanc8 and management Bo•rd of Tn￿te¢S Trustees have been selected on the basis of extensive experience and knowledge of the charitsble, finance and education sectots, speualisl skills in business. law. elf(e debating and fvndraising. The Board meets quarterly, more regular contact betsveen the Chair and CEO. The CEO report$ lo the Trustees. Trustees serve tenure of thr￿ years wth the Chairfs discreb.on to extend. Trustees are not in receipt of any beneffts. Prospective Trustees are provided wth the following prK)r to potents.al appointment.. A copy ot. The Certfficale of Incorporation The Memorandum of Association The Articles of Association Change of Name Cerfficates Financial Statements for the last three year5 An induction document setknng (k)wn the Duties of Trustees of Debate Mate Schools Limited A Dedaralion confirming, inter alia. receipt and understanding of the above documents A Declaration of Eligibilty lo act as a Trustee A request for personal inlormats'on to enable the registration of a new Director al Companies House A Toolkit of Good Govemance comprising Svx Benchmat*s of Effective Governance for Charity Boards. Organisatlonal Structure and management The company is managed on a day-to-day basis by the Chief Exeeutrve Officer, Margaret Mccabe. Margaret ha5 over twenty years. experien¢e as a commerrial barrister, combined with two decades in the voluntary sector, including work wth Centrepoinl la homelessness charity for under 25sl. the NSPCC Justi￿ for Children programme, and as an advisor to Human Righls Wal¢h. Margaret is recipient of the UnLtd Award. recognising her Conlributson as a srtial entrepreneur the launch of Urbanunlld Limited (name changed lo Debate Mate Limited in July 2010, and to Debate Male Schools Limited in July 20171 and the Debate Mate programme_ Strategic and significant financial decisions are made by the Board of Truslee$ to ensure that the charity's activities are in-keeping wth its objectives. Decisions warding operations. education and programme delivery are delegated by the CEO lo the Executive Director and the Educational Development Director. The CEO is SUp￿ted by the management and Core team ot. 1 Exe¢utive Director 1 Educational Developmenl Director 1 Head of Operations and Programmes 1 Director of Partnerships. Operats"ons and Projects 3 Executive Programme Directors 4 SenK)r Programme Direclors 4 Programme Dire¢tors 1 Assistant Programme Director 1 Part-time fundraiser Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees, Annual Report (Incorporatlng the Directorfs Report) Year ended 31 August 2021 Objectives and activities Aims Our charity's purposes. as set out in the objedives contsined in the company's memorandum of assoryation, are: The promotion, for the benèfft of the public. of urban and ¢uhural regeneration in areas of s¢xial and economi¢ deprivation. The advancement of education. training or retraining. particularly amongst young people. and providing people with work experience,. in particular by exploiting the opportunities provided by the intemel in providing ski115 and training, and with particular emphasis on confillence building by focusing on communication and interpersonal skills, providing networking opportunities for the dissemination of ed￿￿tIonal and training prograwnmes and developing areas for growth and employment. Our aims fijlty rellect the PUTposes fr)r the charity was set up: To improve the soual mobility of disthantaged youThJ people in the UK To equip young people with key 21 st Century skills, regardless of their background. To raise the aspirations of Debate Mate students through our peer mentoring model to inspire them lo putsue tertiary education and meaningful employment. To provide valuable opportunrties for Debate Mate students to engage with businesses from 8 range of key industries. To enable teachers to transfomi their leaching practice through our CPD courses, run through our Education UK programme. allowng them to use our methodology in their classrooms and lo set up debating clubs in their schools. To work tobyards building a setl-5UStaining model by developing a robust fvnding methodology. Ensuring our Work Dalivers our Aims Every year we review our programme of aCtiV￿eS undertaken in the previous financ¢al accounting period and assess what we achieved in temis of deliverables and their outcomes in relation to our aims and objectives. This review ensures that we are delivering the intended benefits lo the disadvantaged young people we Set out lo help. and that we remain focused on our purposes. We also review our aims and objectives and the direction that these provide in defining future activty. The Trustees continue to refer lo the Charity Commission'y guidance to ensure Debate Male's aims, objectives and ftjlure activities meet the public benefft requirement. How our Activltles are for the Public 8enefft Debate M*e's programme of activity iesKK)nds to a dear sel of needs: Social mobilty in the UK is very low and there 15 a signfficant attainment gap befvleen pupils eligible for Free School Meals IFSMI and their wealthier peers. Far too many British schoolchildren lack key skills. whith can ￿$trICt opporbjnty and contribute to unemployment. There is a gap in provision of key skills leaching for pupils in disadvantaged areas. for example. through innovative debabng programmes. Debate Male's charitable activrties focus on delivering training lo young people from areas of high child poverty for the public benefit. The charty's afteT-schoDI debate club programme has been shown to improve Speaknng and Listening attainment. develop key skills an¢J raise aspirations. However, the benefit is much wider. We are working towards ensuring that each club is sustainable wthin each school and that the skills imparted to pupils we have worked wrth are able to be pa55ed on lo other students in their school. This in tum develops a Culture of debating, and a growing pride in each school we work with - beneffts which have had a positive Impa￿ on local communities. In our view. no detriment or harm arises from our ￿rk. Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limitsd by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Dlrectorfs Report) (conunu Year ended 31 August 2021 Dèbats Mate's Beneficiarles Debate Mate's charitable programmes are delivered ex¢lusively in $Ch(￿lS wth a free school meals for the last 6 years {FSM-61 profile of primary >23% and secondary >28%. Teachers are instructed to ensure their ¢lub is ¢omposed of Students of all abilities and have at least a third of students who are in receipt of FSM-6 or Pupil Premium. In a sample taken in December 2018. the Debate Mate after-school clubs had an average FSM* figure of 41%. True lo our value of inclusivty. 13% of students in the sample were reported to have Special Educational Needs ISENI and 43% spoke English as an Additional Language IEALI. National average5 for these categories are SEN". 13% primary and 11% secondary. and EAL.. 21% primary ar￿ 17% secondary. Issues to bg Tackled (Need for Key Skills In the UK) The Social Context The UK has the lowest rate of social mobilty amongst OECD countries IOECD. 20181. This manifeslg early, with the 50¢io-oconomic backgrounds of children influencing their ability to t1evelop and leam al school., a ¢hild growing up in poverty in the UK is more likely to achieve lower academic qualifi¢ations. have lower aspirab"ons, and have a lower skill set than their better-off peers. This ineqyality ha5 been further exacert)ated by the COVD-19 pandemic. Disadvantage significanuy impedes attainment and the academic. professional. and socioeconomic prospects of young people. According to the Department for Education. only 25.8% of 15-year-olds receiving free school meals entered h￿her education by age 19. compared to 43.3% nol receiving free schtsol meals (DIE 20181. The Education Policy Institute, in rts 2019 Annual Report, slated that'By the me they leave secondary schLW)l. disadvantaged pupils are now over 18.1 months behind non-disadvantaged pupils.. It is widety a¢kno￿edged that this gap will only wden further due to the COVID-19 pandemic. which wll disproporbonalely affect disadvantaged students and poorer households. The Educabon Endowment Foundation {EEFI and Sutton Trust have reported on the impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged Students. In their report, 'Impact of School CIoSLire. 2020, the EEF stated The attainment gap bets+￿en disadvantaged pupils and their peers is estimated to fvrther widen by 36% due to the pandemic,. These disparities wll be fell for many generations to come. In The Sutton Trust's 2019 Mobility Manifesto, Sir Peter Lampl writes that'social mobility. the potential for those to achieve SU￿esS regardless of their background. remains worryingty low across Britain. .Our next govemment Should put social mobilTty al the heart of their agenda., thus highlighting the importance of this issue for society a$ a whole. The Mobilrty Manifesto emphasise5 the need of programmes to develop key skills. Essential lrfe skills l$uch as motivation. confidence, communication, self-control and coping with stress) a￿ cru¢io1 to the lrfe chances of young people.. The Skills Gap The lack of so¢ial mobilty in the UK keeps many families out of long-tefm employment. and disadvantaged young people lack the opportunities to develop key skills which are crucial lo advancement in tertiary education and their careers. The OECD report5.- '¢hildren from low-income families not only spend less time in education in countries where income inequalities are high. they also have lower skills for any given level of education. The qualty gap in education is hence even larger than the income gap, (2018). The Sutton Trust emphasises the importance of the key 5ki115 Debate Mate develops. adult lrfe requires a range of skills in order for people lo flourish. both in the workplace and in theii daily lives, Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees, Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (conlinu•d) Year ended 31 August 2021 from the confidence and motivation to seek challenges and complete tasks, to the interpersonal skill$ that aid teamwork and other social intefaction$... however. more needs lo be done to give 811 young people a chance in a job5 mar*et where such skills are as important #s qUaIrf￿atIonS.I2ol9l. It is apparent thal in the UK the Gircumstances of birth have a huge influence on a young person's thances of success, syith students in the UK bom into poorer background$ leaving schijol Trmth lower qualifications, aspirations and skill sets. Our Solution Under Its founder and present CEO. Margaret Mccabe, Debate Mate identified areas of high child povety in London and the key resources and support needed to improve social mobility amongst young people. A cost*ffective. efficient and fun way of delivering these skills lo disadvantaged young people was developed, which would help overcome the barriers lo ieaming so frequenuy experienced amongst this demographic. The OECD highlights the fomiative role of extracurricular programmes in improving student behaviour. academic attainment and long-term progression.. 'so¢ial and emotional leaming school-based programmes have a150 been shown lo improve both behavioural and academic outcomes, 120181. They also note that there is 'empirical evidence thal confirms the po$￿Ve effects of participating in extracurricular activities on schooling outcomes and careers prospects. especially for youth from di3advanta9ed back9round$ (Heckman, 2008),. The Sutton Trust emphasises the need of programmes like Debate Male lo develop key skills.. 'essenlial life sknlls IsuGh as motivalion. ￿nfidenCe. communication, self-wntrol and coping with slressl a￿ crucial to the lrfe chances of young people'120191. Students tsking part ir5 the Debate Mate programme develop key 21st Century skills, which are fundamentsl to success in academic and professional environments. These include cnts.cal and creative thinking. wmmLtnicalion (speaking and listening) skills and teamwork, a5 well a$ bLtilding confidence and self-esteem. resilience, leadership and self-managemenl. These are skills that teachers acknowledge as being central to 5tudenls' attsinment and progression but a￿ often challenging to teach in a classroom environment. Importantty. the Debate Male programme provides disadvantaged young people wlh the guidance and 5UPPtsrt of the best and brightesl mentors from univer5rties across the UK. Mentor5 provide an insight into higher education, fvrther training and career paths, and act as inspirational and relatable role models for the students we work with. The mentors inspire their students lo raise their aspirations and fulfil their potential. The OECD highlights the potents.al of mentoring schemes a5 part of of extracurricular activities, arguing that they can help disadvantaged young people engage academically and develop skills that 'are not acquired at home, {20181. Debate Mate's unique model is highly effective for raising aspirations and developing these key sknlls, thereby improving social mobilty. In June 2019. the CBI published a People and Skills report entrtled.. Getting young people knrk ready, our vision lor how education should prepa￿ young people for the rnodem worfd. The report references the work of Debate Male Schools on pages 2￿21. It 15 notsble that Debate Mate delivers precisely what employers are seeking in tenns of their identified three pillars for work readiness.. character, ￿n0￿edge and skills. The schools tt)al are Wor￿Trg with Debate Male are alieady on a path lo implement recommendations ofthis report. Furthemore, debating is a key sknll listed in the new English N*ional Curriculum at Key Stsge 3 and teaching these ski113 15 vitsl lo helping Students develop their speaking and listening earfy on and lo aid them in their GCSE Spoken Languagè accredrtation. Debating is a way to Stretch the most able students, while providing OppOrtun￿e$ to succeed for students who need more 5UPPOrt, especially those who find WTitten work more challenging. Debab"ng allows students to articulate ideas first. thus improving the quality of their written outcomes. enabling students of all abilities to achieve rapid progress. 11 encourages students to gener8te new ideas. problem-solve. think quickty under pressure and respond lo challenges. Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (continu•dJ Year ended 31 August 2021 Ovor41ew of Debate Mate's Activitl Debate Mate's 2020-21 charitable objectives are provided below. These are achieved through the lulfilment of our programme delivery tsrgets and meeting our impact measurem¢nt goals= Through the delivery of our programmes. develop our pathipants. key 21st Century skills, vthich include critical and creab've thinking, communication (speaking and listening skills}. and teamwork, as well as leadership, seK-management, confidence and $elf-esteem. 8rwJ resilience. Thi$ is demonstrated in our soft and hard skills evaluations.. To achieve a minimum average of 80% in Ouf soft skills evaluaiion al the end of each programme year and maintain a skill level increase of 1.4 in our Speaking and Listening Evaluation. To deliver Debate Male's mentor-led after-school dub$ to a minimum of 130 schools in arèas of high child poverty in 202￿21. and in 8ddition'. • To increase the delrvery of our online programme wthi¢h invofves our mentors teaching the after-school sessions online To recruit and train at least 250 inspirab.onal mentors per year to deliver after-schwl clubs and maintain an average of at least 15 students per club per week. 8y employing our peer-mentoring model, raise the aspirations of the young people we work with and empower trem to pursue higher education or further training and make a su¢cessfvl transition lo the modern workFor¢e. The surxess of this is measured in our soft skills evaluation and our qualitative impa¢t measurement, such as our case studie5 To build ￿latIOnShipS with corporate supportefs through pathefships. volunteering $chemes and sponsorship. to expose students to inspiring careers and a dNerse range of professionals. and lo provide opportuntiies for meaninglul interactions To continue to expand bespoke new inrtialives to target speufic demographics and lo meet identified needs, sueh as Debate Mate's DebaleBox and Accelerate programmes for those students most at llsk, and the Debate Male Plus and the Graduate School lo support older students through their pro9￿$S1On lo further edu¢ab"on. apprenticeships or universty Continue to generate income through our Education UK programmes and partherships. with a view lo raise a third of our income this way To continue to run our intemab.onal summer piogrammes in Rwanda and Nepal, delivered by our most experienced mentors from the UK, through adapting our in-person offering to an online programme in light of the changing orcumstances due lo Covid-19 To ensure the Core Programme can be effectivety delivered virtually, vthen required. due to the impact of school closures and lockdowns as a resuK of Covid-19. In 2019120, we worked in 243 primarylsecondary schools - teaching. on average. more than 5.000 students every week. We Considered it expedient. due to Covid-19, to reduce the size of the programrne for 2020r21 to ensure we had sufficient fijnding for the year. A5 a resutt. in our programme year ftom September 2020 to June 2021 we worked with 134 schools in Bristol. Liverpool, London, Greater Manchester, the West MidlaniJ5 and our blended programme ran Nottingham. Leeds and the West Midlands. We su¢cessfvlly developed and introduced a virtual programme lo take the place of our face-to-face clubs. We delivered Ouf programmes to just over 2000 students per le8ching week. with an average of 15 students taking part Fer club per week. For our 2021122 programme we plan lo work wlh 200 schools. Core Programmo The Core Programme. Debate M81e's main initiative. is delivered lo disadvantaged young people aged B-18 attending slate primary and Se￿ndary schools in the UK. typically located in inner city areas at hools wlh an above average percenlage of Children eligible for Free School Meals. The programme begins wth regional launch events in November. Follrring these. participating students take part in one-hour. mentor-led teaching 5ession$ for 14 weeks. as well as three week5 of national ¢ompetf(ion8. Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guardntee Trustees, Annual Report (Incorporatlng the Dlrectorfs Report) (eontlnu Year ended 31 August 2021 TaLJghl in small gTOUPS by trained universrty student mentors. they folbw a curriculum- honed over the past 12 years- designed to develop key 21st Century skills.. a) DeveSoping confidence and style through bc*Jy language, voice aThJ spoken language. b) Understanding how to research and anatyse a subjed from drfferent viewpoints to empalhise and wnsider context. Gl Formulating arguments ¢oherentty and logically from different standpoints. and to weigh up arguments and pnorrtise. d) Listening lo others and responding respectfully in a b.mely and appropriale way. addlng weight to their own case. Students taking part in the programme pa￿￿pate in Debate Male's Urt)8n Debate League IUDLI.. a nationwdè debating league. Students prepare for thè rounds in their regular after-school clubs and then attend competitions at host schools in their local area. The top scoring schools nalionalty are invf£ed to a final competition. which tskes place in prestigious venues such as the House of Lords and the offices of our corporate sUp￿rters. The Core Programme concludes with the Deb*e Mate Cup- a nalional compebtson in which all schools compete. 11 consists of fvll-day regional rounijs hekl al Ioc81 universities in March and April. The regional winners then tske part in a Grand Final. held in June al inspiring venues Such as the Houses of Parliament and the UniversTty of Oxford. Additional Programme Debate Mate offers a range of additional programmes that njn alongside the Core Programme in schools in the UK. Advanced Programm• The Graduate School is a progiamme deliVe￿d to students aged 15-18 who have su¢¢essfvlly completefl the Core Programme, providing them Yrith further debate training to Compete in national schools, competitions and to develop into social leadeTS and future professionals. Delivered over 15 weeks, participants attend weekly Ihree-hour se5sion$ - online. due to the pandemic - which included debating workshops wrth world champion universty debaters, and skills sèssions with professionals from various sectors. This programme empowers slLEdents to rai$e their aspirations in terms of their debating potential. higher education and ¢areer goals. and to reach out to their local communities I share their skilL8. In our 2020-21 programme year. 68 students from 31 Debate Mate Schools attended the Graduate School. This is an increase of 10% compared lo 2019120 and 36% higher than the minimum target of 50 student5. A considerable number of these students came from schools that We￿ on Debate Mate's Core Programme of after-school debab.ng last year but did not re-enrol on the 2020121 programme because of restrictions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. This allowed student5 to engage with Debate Mate when even extra-curricular activities were cancelled at this school. Vve worked with an average of 19.7 student5 per week in the Graduate School. The Graduate School's Saturday sessions were extended by 10 weeks this year due lo student demand. which was made possible by the UK government's decision lo scrap exams in favour of school-administered assessments and by the reduced costs of running a virtual Graduate School programme. The Debate Mate Plus IDM+l Programme bridges the gap behveen the Core Programme and post-18 study or wod(. ensuring that Debate Male students continuously benefit from our support during their s￿ondary education. Delivered over 16 weeks lo students in years 11-13. the sessions are designed lo offer students - wlh any level of Debate M*e experience debate training. UCAS guidance and employability skills development. Importantly, we partner wth organisations that support us wth facilitating meaningful interactions vAth professionals, such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 11 schools across London took part in the Debate Male Plus Programme in 202(h21. Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees, Annual Report (Incorporating the Directo￿$ Report) (conthuedj Year ended 31 August 2021 Interventlon Programme Oebale Mate's Accelerate Programme targets students have more serbous academic and behavioural challenges. Schools invofved are asked to select groups of students who are at risk of exdusion or are generally disengaged with education. The programme aims to motNate students to embrace learning, develop students. engagement in the classroom. improve behaviour. equip participants with key skills and raise aspirations. In our 2020-21 programme year, 10 secondary schools took part in our Accelerate Programme. working wth over 100 stu¢Jents. As a result of the pandemic. these numbers a￿ down from our usual numbers of 35+ schoots and 31]0+ students. The DebaleBox Programme. an addttional behavioural intervention stheme, focuses on the Shared skills needed to excel in both boxing and debatsng-. strategy, discipline. and competrtive and ￿mbatiVe thinking. Sessions include one hour of debating followed by one hour of boxing. OebateBox was delivered to 4 schools in our 202tk21 programme year. Intornational Programmo Debate Male's charitsble activities a150 orerate intemationaljy, th annual summer progr8mmes in Nepal and Rwanda. Due to the impact of COVID-19, we invited stLTrdents lo tske part in Debate Mate Online clubs free of charge. as we were unable to deliver our summer programmes in-person. Nepal Working in pattrership ￿ the Samats Shiksha Niketsn Bamboo Sthools in Nepal. a team of Debate Mate stsff and mentors deliver our programme every summer. In the 202￿21 programme year. a group of sttjdents from the Nepal programme participated in Debate Mate Online clubs free of charge, as we were unable to deliver our Ltsual three-week summer programme in Nepal. Students attended 1-hour se5sion$ fr)r the entire 12-week tem and took part in ompelilions at the end of the week. The students who had taken part in the Nepal programme previousty went straight up to Level 2 of the programme, Developing Debating Skills, whilst new students started on Level 1, Introdudion to Debating. They were dispersed across 4 groups alongside our regular DMO students. In total, there were 10 students took part. Rwanda Debate Mate has been working in Rwanda every summer since 2012. In Summer 2019. we w0￿els make a financial contributKJn towards the running cost$ of the programme, omprising 26% of our income, and Debate Mate fvndraises the remaining amount. Schools tend to use Pupil Premium funding to make this donation. FurtheMio￿, we deliver student and teacher training in schools outside of our Core Programme. which has provided a significant amount of reliable Income for the organisation, W 12% of our total income ￿MIng from this source. Grants and Donations Debate Mate is extremely giateful to all the organisations and people who provided fin8n¢ial support for our programme in 2020-21, induding the following1£10.000 and overl- - Adoreum- Bank of America BBC CIN Comic Relief - Christ Church College, Oxford Deloitte - Departsnent lor Education Garfield Weston Foundation - Grocers Hall - Janus Henderson John Lyons Charity National Lottery Community Fund - Neuberger Bemian - Newby Trust Now Pensions Simmons & Simmons - St. Jan7es'3 Place Wealth Management - Swire Charrtable Tw8t The Big Give Transform Education - Wellinglon Management UK FourKlation 16- Debate Mate Schools Limited Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating tho Dlrectorfs Report) {GonlthuodJ Year ended 31 August 2021 RoserY•8 Poli¢y The ¢h¥rity Carries out diverse range of activities. The trustees have examined the requirement for general reseNes and consider that. govern the nature of the charty'$ wort. ￿serveS should be maintained at not less than three months operating costs. The trustees are of the opinion that this provides sufficient flexibility to cover temporary shorttall$ in income Ilow and to provide adequate working capital to cover ¢osts. Risk Managemont The Trustee5 have assessed the major risks to the chanty is exposed, in particular those relating to the speeifie operational areas of the charity and its finances. The Trustees believ¢ that by monitoring reserve levels. ensuring controls exist over key ffinancial system$, and by examining the operational and bu$iness risks face