Company number: 05815338 Charity number: 1121638 

## Just for Kids Law Limited 

Report and financial statements For the period ended 31 July 2023 




Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Contents 

For the period ended 31 July 2023 

Reference and administrative details  .............................................................................................. 1 Board of Trustees’ annual report  .................................................................................................... 3 Independent auditor’s report  ....................................................................................................... 30 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account)  ................... 34 Balance sheet  ............................................................................................................................... 35 Statement of cash flows ................................................................................................................ 36 Notes to the financial statements  ................................................................................................. 37 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Reference and administrative details 

For the period ended 31 July 2023 

Company number 05815338 Charity number 1121638 Registered office EC1 Offices and operational 338 City Road address London EC1V 2PY Country of England & Wales registration Country of United Kingdom incorporation Board of Trustees Board of Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the period and up to the date of this report were as follows: 

||Anthony David Landes|Trustee and Chair|
|---|---|---|
||Sophia Wiginton|Trustee (resigned 31 January 2023)|
||Maureen Cole Burns|Trustee and Treasurer (resigned July 2022)|
||Peter George Gibbs|Trustee|
||Amira Bhatt|Trustee (resigned 31 January 2023)|
||Sufina Ahmad|Trustee|
||Claire Hubberstey|Trustee|
||Wendy Brewer|Trustee|
||Joanne Cecil|Trustee (resigned September 2023)|
||Janet Latinwo|Trustee (appointed August 2022)|
||Rachel Rand|Trustee and Treasurer (appointed November|
|||2022)|
||Brianne Campbell|Trustee (appointed November 2022)|
|Honorary|FounderShauneen Lambe||
|Senior ManagementLouisa McGeehan||CEO (resigned February 2023)|
|Team|Aika Stephenson|Legal Director (Co-Lead from 1 August 2023)|
||Chloe Grant|Director of Programmes and Participation|
|||(resigned December 2022)|
||Julie Bentley|Director of Finance and Resources|
||Louise King|Director of Policy and Campaigns/Director of|
|||Children’s Rights Alliance for England (Co-|
|||Lead from 1 August 2023)|
||Mark Foster|Interim Director Programmes and Participation|
|||(January to July 2023)|



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Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Reference and administrative details 

For the period ended 31 July 2023 

Bankers CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Invicta House 108-114 Golden Lane LONDON EC1Y 0TL 

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Just for Kids Law Limited 

Trustees’ annual report 

For the period ended 31 July 2023 

The Board of Trustees presents their report and the audited financial statements for the period ended 31 July 2023. 

Reference and administrative information set out on pages 1-2 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102. 

## Objectives and activities 

To promote any charitable purposes for the benefit of the public, particularly children and young people in the UK and abroad, with particular regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, including by advancing the rights and needs of children through: 

- Research, education, training, awareness-raising, and increasing understanding and knowledge. 

- Monitoring, promoting and advocating for children’s human rights, including compliance at both national and international levels. 

- The provision of specialist legal advice, support and representation, including taking legal action to prevent disadvantage, discrimination or exclusion. 

- The provision of advice, support and direct advocacy to children and young people, and promoting participation. 

- All other such lawful things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of these aims. 

The Board of Trustees reviews the aims, objectives and activities of the charity each year. This report looks at what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work over the reporting period. The Board of Trustees reports the success of each key activity and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it is set up to help. The review also helps the Board of Trustees ensure that the charity's aims, objectives and activities remain focused on its stated purposes. 

The Board of Trustees has referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. In particular, the Board of Trustees has considered how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set. 

## Structure, governance and management 

The Board of Trustees has overall responsibility for ensuring that the charity meets its charitable objectives and has an appropriate system of controls, financial and otherwise. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity. The Board is chaired by Anthony Landes who was appointed in January 2022. The Board currently has 8 members. 

In February 2023 Louisa McGeehan resigned as CEO because of health issues. The Board did not recruit a new CEO but worked out a Scheme of Delegation for managing the organisation with 

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Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Trustees’ annual report 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

SMT. SMT consisted of the Director of Programmes and Participation, Legal Director, Director of Policy and Campaigns/Director of CRAE (Children’s Rights Alliance for England) and Director of Finance and Resources, who in turn managed their individual teams. 

## Organisational Re- Structure 

The year began with successful fundraising, linked in the most part to the new strategic plan. Over £2,000,000 (spread over several financial years) was raised in restricted income. However, as the year progressed it became apparent that achieving the necessary level of unrestricted funds to support the central services part of the organisation, particularly for future financial years, was going to be a challenge. 

In response, the Board began reviewing the structure of the organisation to ensure it would be fit for purpose and viable over the long-term given the current economic context and the continued and rising demand for the work. The Senior Management Team and Board took the view that taking a proactive approach to reviewing the structure was crucial since the cost-of-living challenges and demand for our work were not going to diminish in the near/medium term. 

Following the Board review and considering the financial challenges the organisation was grappling with, it was decided that it would be in the best interests of the charity – both in terms of securing our work with and for children and young people and safeguarding as many roles as possible – to pursue a merger, preferably with a larger children’s charity. Various options were explored and eventually a Business Transfer for around 65% of Just for Kids Law’s work was agreed with the children’s charity Coram. There were, unfortunately some redundancies for Just for Kids Law staff. 

Alongside the transfer of work to Coram, the Just for Kids Law Board agreed to our Youth Justice Legal Centre becoming an independent Community Interest Company.  It will continue its work sharing knowledge, convening expertise and circulating innovation to support a community of youth justice practitioners fighting for better outcomes for children and will retain close links with Just for Kids Law. 

The Business Transfers enabled Just for Kids Law to contract to a smaller organisation, with a new strategic focus, vision and leadership to take effect from 1 August 2023. 

To help facilitate the organisational re-structure expeditiously, in March 2023 the board appointed a Delegated Authority Sub-committee, Chaired by Anthony Landes. This sub-committee met either weekly or bi-weekly for the following four months and replaced the other sub-committees listed below which had been in place up to that point. 

- Finance & Risk (including Audit) 

- Fundraising 

- HR & People 

Each sub-committee was chaired by a trustee and had at least one further trustee and one senior member of staff on it. 

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Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Trustees’ annual report 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 12 May 2006 and registered as a charity on 21 November 2007. 

The company was established under a memorandum of association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed according to its articles of association. 

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 8 to the accounts. 

## Appointment of Board of Trustees 

Trustees are recruited to the Board either through a recruitment process or through networks linked to the organisation. Their appointment is agreed by the entire Board of Trustees. There is no external body that is entitled to appoint one or more of the Board of Trustees. 

## Trustee induction and training 

Before starting in their role on the Board, trustees are provided with a detailed role description, and receive a comprehensive induction which includes: 

- A full information pack containing the current governing documents; strategic and shorterterm plans; recent statutory accounts and current management accounts; recent board minutes; an organisation chart/ organogram; and general background information. 

- An opportunity to visit the charity’s offices and projects, meet other trustees and staff and attend a board meeting. 

- A clear explanation of the trustee’s expected role, responsibilities and legal obligations, input to the Board and time commitment. 

- Access to Charity Commission guidance. 

## Related parties and relationships with other organisations 

The charity has no subsidiary undertakings. However, we connect with and have relationships with organisations in a variety of ways. Through our casework we receive referrals from organisations in the voluntary and statutory sector who we will link up with as part of our direct work with young people. In the delivery of our work to achieve wider change to policy and practice we partner with many organisations to work collaboratively on our campaigning, our strategic litigation and on our work empowering young people to lead social change. We have relationships through our income generation work with funders such as trusts and foundations, with national children’s charities and other members through our hosting of CRAE, and with corporates who provide us with pro bono support. 

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Just for Kids Law Limited 

Trustees’ annual report 

For the period ended 31 July 2023 

## Achievements and performance 

## Achievements and performance 1 June 2022 – 31[st] July 2023 

“Just for Kids Law has literally changed my life. The best part? Everything was the best part. You have changed my life and made my dreams come true. The entire organisation supported me to achieve my dream and walked with me through the process and then even gave opportunities to practice and learn more. You all empowered me as a person. I’m not just a number that you just helped, I’m someone to you. It means a lot. You gave me an opportunity to give back and be recognised too” (JfKL Ambassador) 

## Introduction 

We agreed new strategic priorities that build on our strengths and expertise to increase our impact, fill gaps not filled by others, and complement the work of others through partnership working. 

Our strategic priorities were: 

1. Creating a justice system fit for children. 

2. Ensuring that children and young people experiencing criminal exploitation are recognised as victims and supported. 

3. Preventing school exclusions and its consequences. 

4. Supporting care experienced children and young people to secure their housing and care entitlements. 

5. Enabling children and young people to achieve a secure immigration status and thrive in the UK. 

6. Protecting and promoting children's rights using human rights mechanisms. 

While our legal and advocacy casework remains at the heart of our work, therefore achieving change for individual children and young people, the evidence from our case work also informs our work to achieve strategic change and the children and young people with experience of these issues are also supported to have a voice in debates and campaign for change. 

In this way, we tackle the problems that children and young people are currently experiencing, while also working in a preventative way by: 

• Working to achieve change in the policy and legislative environment through our expertise, the evidence we gather through our direct case work and the lived experience of the children and young people we work with. 

- Advising and training professionals to improve practice in youth justice for the benefit of current and future clients. 

- Modelling through advocacy to enable children and young people to discover their inherent strengths and develop self-advocacy skills for life. 

- Supporting groups of children and young people to have a greater knowledge of their rights and entitlements. 

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• Empowering children and young people to play a role in our organisation through our Ambassadors group and supporting them to make plans for education, training and employment to live the lives they choose for themselves through our youth opportunities offer. 

We know, however, particularly in these difficult economic times with rising inflation some children and young people also need immediate financial support in times of crisis. We have therefore maintained our hardship fund, so children and young people are able to access short term financial support. Usually this is in the form of help with transport costs to attend appointments with professionals or vouchers to ensure that they have food and energy while trying to resolve financial issues or problems with receiving their benefits. Occasionally we will support young people with overnight accommodation costs where this is a last resort to prevent them being at risk by having to sleep on the streets. 

The highlights of our work set out below is testament to our expert, dedicated and extremely hard-working team of colleagues.  Despite the financial challenges being faced by the organisation, alongside a difficult external environment, we were able to achieve significant positive outcomes for the individual children and young people we work with alongside strategic success. 

In the fourteen months covered  by this report we worked with 764 children and young people, mainly across London, on 922 pieces of casework providing youth advocacy, legal advice and representation and youth opportunities support. Of these cases, 455 were worked on by our legal team, 362 were worked on by our programmes and participation team and 105 cases consisted of one-off advice. 

As tackling racial discrimination and disadvantage is a strong theme in our work it is not surprising that the majority of our clients are from minoritised groups – children and young people from Black and minoritised backgrounds are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, in school exclusions and among children and young people with care experience. This has a number of roots – racism resulting in the adultification of Black children, their behaviour being viewed through an adult lens and them being seen as less innocent and worthy of protection than their white peers. Addressing the issues they face and tackling discrimination through our individual case work and work to achieve systemic change is at the heart of Just for Kids Law’s work. 

## 1. Creating a justice system fit for children 

Children in the contact with the criminal justice system are some of the most vulnerable in society, yet all too often they are not treated as such and regularly have their rights infringed. This year we continued to directly represent this group of children alongside seeking reform of the system so it better respects children’s rights. 

## • Influencing policy and practice 

We continue to make good progress on our policy and influencing work focusing on policing, children in the CJS who turn 18 before their case is completed and the need for expert legal representation of children in contact with the CJS. 

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We were particularly pleased with two successful legal challenges we took relating to College of Policing (the College) guidance. These concerned guidance on the retention of criminal records created in relation to children under 10 suspected of committing an offence, and guidance on arrests and detention of children for breaches of court bail conditions and conditions attached to court remand. Both of our cases resulted in the College needing to revise its guidance to ensure children’s rights are better respected. 

After more than seven years and five separate legal challenges, the court finally quashed convictions of our client who was only 14 years-old when he pleaded guilty to a number of indecent images offences and who was later found by the Criminal Case Review Commission (“CCRC”) to have been a victim of child sexual exploitation at the time the alleged offences occurred. As a result of our submissions in the most recent legal challenge in the High Court, the law on appeals via the CCRC has been clarified and simplified. This will make future appeals following a guilty plea more straightforward, not just for children, but also for adults. 

Another key highlight this year was working with Janet Daby MP to set up a new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on children in police custody, which will also examine the issue of strip searching. Its year-long inquiry will culminate in a report with recommendations.  We worked with the secretariat of the group to support children and young people to give direct evidence of their experiences of being held in police detention and of being stripped searched. The Co-Head of our Youth Justice Legal Centre (YJLC) also gave evidence on the importance of expert legal advice and representation for children being held at police stations. 

We have continued to have strong engagement from key stakeholders following the launch of our briefing It’s Horrible when they keep you there at night on overnight detention of children in police custody.  This resulted in two of our recommendations being taken forward - the Home Office published national data on this issue for the first time and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) published a Learning the Lessons Magazine focussing on police custody, including case examples and learning from child detention. An article from our Director of Policy and Campaigns on the harm children are caused by holding them in police cells overnight was also included. 

As part of our continued membership of the National Stakeholder Taser Advisory Group, we successfully convinced the National Police Chief’s Council and the IOPC to carry out research examining instances of where a Taser was fired on a child. This followed the findings of a previous IOPC report and recommendations on the use of Taser, which we successfully influenced to include a number of specific recommendations on children. 

YJLC successfully developed a business plan and launched a membership and training model in September 2022. The model allows for YJLC to operate a blended grant supported and revenue model. The pilot was a success, and we outperformed our targets in terms of new members and income through training. Since the start of the new model, we have trained over 300 youth justice services and over 40 lawyers from across the country. In doing so we have helped ensure that legal professionals working with children in the CJS have improved knowledge and skills to better advice 

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and represent children and young people as well as continue to grow a community of specialist youth justice legal practitioners. 

Together with the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck, we published research on the quality of legal representation for children in the CJS. The findings cemented the urgent need for clear guidance around training for solicitors to ensure children are adequately represented. We have subsequently had meetings with the Law Society and Solicitors Regulatory Authority to discuss how we can take forward the recommendations identified by the research. Alongside this, YJLC continued its project on fighting racial injustice by equipping legal practitioners to better identify and challenging racism facing Black and other racialised children and young adults in the CJS. 

We also supported young people with experience of the CJS to facilitate training to educate junior barristers on youth justice law. They shared their lived experience, responded to questions, took part in roleplay, and gave advice on what made a good barrister. 

We started our new project on children turning 18 in the criminal justice system before their case is complete, building on our briefing and legal guide on the issue, published in 2020. We held a number of useful meetings with officials in the Ministry of Justice and other stakeholders, including the Magistrates Association, to inform our work to prioritise recommendations on this issue which would have the most impact. 

Finally, we also secured key recommendations in relation to policing and youth justice by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN Committee) in its ‘Concluding Observations on the UK’ – see below. The UN Committee concluded that addressing issues with the youth justice system, so it complies with child rights standards, must be a priority area for the UK Government to take forward. It also made specific recommendations for the first time on the need for action to end the overnight detention of children in police custody and on children in the justice system turning 18. 

- Direct legal and advocacy case work 

We have continued to directly represent children in the CJS from a one-off case representing a child at a police station to long complex cases taking several years.  Our YJLC advice line has also continued to offer advice to young people, parents and carers and youth justice professionals. 

We have seen a number of cases involving children who have turned 18 during the course of either police investigations or proceedings and concerning levels of delay in terms of the time police and prosecutors are taking to make charging decisions in cases where there is little evidential justification for it.  The YJLC legal guide on Turning 18 is proving highly useful to practitioners in these cases.  We have also been made aware of concerning gaps in knowledge within the legal profession in this area through our work on these enquiries. 

Below are some highlights of our case work in this are this year, including a case study. 

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Just for Kids Law Limited 

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- Successfully challenging the Disclosure and Barring Service decision to disclose our client’s youth caution for sexting, which would have potentially ended her successful employment as a carer. 

- Successfully arguing that the Crime Prosecution Service (CPS) should drop a case against a 17-year-old who was charged with offences relating to her being restrained in the accommodation she was placed in by social services when she was subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Order. 

- Successfully arguing that the CPS drop a case against a 22-year-old young person who was accused of possession of a knife. The case had taken nearly four years to come to trial and the matter was dropped on the day before the trial was due to start. 

- Successfully challenged the Legal Aid Agency’s refusal to grant legal aid to a vulnerable client who had issued a claim against the Metropolitan Police Service for race discrimination; the absence of legal aid would mean that the client would have had to abandon his claim. 

## Case study 

In the autumn, we were contacted by a 16-year-old through our YJLC advice line who was waiting for a charging decision in respect of a possession with intent to supply matter.  This was a first offence and the child in question was going through a very difficult period with his mental health. 

The supply in question was border-line in nature as he was supplying to the friends he tended to smoke with.  We prepared a detailed letter of representations against prosecution and also liaised with the relevant police and youth justice officers.  As a result of this intervention, this child avoided criminalisation and was given a Community Resolution. 

He feels immense relief and is making huge efforts to stop smoking and engage in positive activities.  His parents are grateful for our support and have expressed a keen desire to speak out about their experience with the criminal justice system at the pre-charge stage and publicise our service, without which they feel things could have been very different for them. 

## 2. Ensuring that children and young people experiencing criminal exploitation are recognised as victims and supported 

- Influencing policy and practice 

The focus of our policy work in this area mainly relates to school exclusions and is covered under strategic aim 3. However, due to her expertise in representing child victims of child criminal exploitation (CCE), our Legal Director joined the Contextual Safeguarding UK Advisory Panel with Professor Carlene Firmin who has established the Contextual Safeguarding hub at Durham University. The team at Durham have been developing Contextual Safeguarding as a body of work since 2013. This work has influenced changes to statutory guidance and influenced 63 local areas across the UK to adapt their safeguarding responses to include harm that occurs outside of the 

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Just for Kids Law Limited 

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family home, which ensures children being groomed and exploited are provided protection and support by social services. 

This year, we have also worked with other children’s organisations to push for a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation (CCE) in the Victims Bill and raised many issues relating to CCE in our report to the UN Committee where we secured many strong recommendations in this area (see below). 

- Direct legal and advocacy case work 

We continue to provide trauma-informed legal representation for children and young people experiencing CCE. We have seen a significant increase in the number of children and young people being referred through the National Referral Mechanism (which identifies victims of human trafficking or modern slavery). This increase is due not least to the work we have been doing to raise awareness of the prevalence of CCE and offering guidance and training to professionals through the work of YJLC. 

Unfortunately, at the same time as we are educating legal professionals in this area, the courts are severely limiting the ability to submit evidence of criminal exploitation as a defence. Our legal work representing clients and providing evidence to the Crime prosecution Service (CPS) that CCE has taken place, is therefore more important than ever – getting the CPS to discontinue the prosecution pre-trial. 

Below are just some examples of the difference we have made to the lives of criminally exploited children and a more detailed case study: 

- A 17-year-old client was found not guilty at trial of Possession with Intent to Supply Class A drugs. Our client was recruited into drug supply by older men while he was in foster care. As a result, he ran a successful defence that he had been a victim of CCE. 

- Successfully arguing that the CPS should drop the case against a 21-year-old young person who had been criminally exploited aged 17 to sell Class A drugs. 

- Representing a 16-year-old child who was charged with dangerous driving as a result of being criminally exploited. 

- Representing an 18-year-old asylum-seeking young person who was charged with driving offences as a result of being criminally exploited. This young person is Albanian and it is our view that the CPS has displayed racism in the way that they are dealing with the matter. 

- Supporting a care leaver who had just come out of prison and had no recourse to public funds due to his immigration status.  He was at threat of being exploited back into gangaffiliated crime as the Local Authority were not offering the support he was entitled to as a care leaver.  The Local Authority was held accountable for their duty of care and are now providing a weekly allowance to the young person, they are also paying for him to do a Construction Skills Certificate course to get him into work and will also cover his rent whilst his immigration status is disputed. 

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- Supporting a vulnerable 17-year-old client in securing section 20 (child in care) status with Cambridgeshire County Council Social Services. The young person was fleeing gang affiliation in London, which was having significant impact on his family including younger siblings. 

## Case study 

T is a 19-year-old young man who was charged with three counts of Being Concerned in Supply of Class A drugs, dating from when he was 16. T was aged 12 when he began to use cannabis and was initially offered free drugs by a group of older boys. The older males then used the fact that they had given him free drugs to require him to start drug running. He was placed in houses that had been ‘cuckooed’ from vulnerable drug users and were in poor condition. He was generally placed in the nearby area as his parents would notify the police if he was missing. Although he was promised financial payment he was never provided with this, though he would be given drugs in return. 

T's father had cancer and his grandfather passed away around this time, and although he felt scared he could not share his feelings. When he did share his concerns with members of staff at school this led to criminalisation and exclusion rather than support. 

When T tried to stop drug running, he was contacted by a man higher in the hierarchy and told that he could not leave and that he knew where he and his family lived. After he was first arrested, he was informed that he owed approximately £12,000 to compensate for the loss of drugs and cash. He gradually paid this, using his wages as an apprentice carer, but when he was close to having paid the debt in full he was robbed at knifepoint, during which he was stabbed in the legs. He was then told he owed an extra £2,000. On another occasion, when he tried to resist holding a large amount of money, ammonia was squeezed from a Lucozade bottle onto his face. 

T and his family also received a number of threats of violence. On his 18[th] birthday an adult male attended the family home and followed this up with threats to petrol bomb the house, in order to extort £6,000 on the pretence of a drug debt. The family have also received notes through their door demanding further payment. T’s family have reported every threat to the police but they have not been acted upon. 

After T was charged with the offences, he pleaded not guilty and his case was set down for trial. We wrote representations requesting a review of the matter, in light of the ways in which T case clearly fitted the criteria of a victim of CCE. Despite extensive chasing, no response was received from the CPS. As a result, we further wrote to the CPS, this time stating that we would undertake judicial review proceedings against them unless they discontinued his case. Finally, the CPS agreed, and T’s charges were dropped. 

## 3. Preventing school exclusions and its consequences 

During the year we have continued to represent children being unfairly excluded from school with many of these children being Black or from other racialised groups and having diagnosed or 

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Just for Kids Law Limited 

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## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

suspected Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND).  Using the evidence from our case work, we have also persisted with our campaigns for much-needed reform of school behaviour policies and the exclusions process alongside children and young people with direct experience of the system. 

## • Policy and practice influencing 

After our work last year influencing the Government’s revised statutory guidance on exclusions and behaviour, we were pleased to see a new reference to CCE in the behaviour guidance. There were also strengthened sections around pupil voice in the exclusions process after our young campaigners (see below) raised this in their submissions and in meetings with the Department for Education (DfE).   However, we were disappointed that the Government removed a key paragraph from the guidance, which set out the groups of children who are more likely to be excluded from school. We continued to raise our concerns with this change and explored the possibility of taking a legal challenge. 

We were also pleased to give evidence at a joint meeting of the APPG for Knife Crime and the APPG for Exclusions and Alternative Provision at a session focussing on the link between CCE and school exclusions. This followed our suggestion to have an evidence session specifically looking at this issue. 

## • Empowering children and young people to campaign for their rights 

We maintained our support for our school exclusions campaign supporting and empowering young people to speak up for their right to an education. There have been some fantastic achievements this year including securing a meeting with the Schools’ Minister, Nick Gibb, where they talked powerfully about their experiences of school exclusions and what needs to change in relation to supporting children in schools, responses to challenging behaviour and the exclusions process. 

The young campaigners also gave evidence to the APPG for Exclusions and Alternative Provision sharing experience and insight on the connections between school exclusion and criminal exploitation. They highlighted the need for better protection for children and young people at risk of CCE due to being excluded from school. 

An exciting new project to develop a School Behaviour Policy Checklist also began with The Children’s Society. The Checklist is being developed in consultation with other groups of children who have been excluded from school, with a view to ensuring standardised positive practice in behaviour policies in schools in London with a view to reducing school exclusions. 

## • Legal and advocacy case work 

Our direct work and school exclusions hub, alongside our school exclusion legal clinic has provided much needed legal advice and representation.  We continued to receive more education referrals than we can accommodate so as well as developing referral networks, we have also 

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continued to develop our free School Exclusion Clinic alongside our School Exclusions Hub as a point of information and advice at an early stage. 

Our Clinic works with volunteer lawyers from Allen & Overy supervised by our Education Lawyer. The lawyers receive training in both school exclusions and how to holistically represent our vulnerable clients, many of whom have SEND and mental health issues.  We were also grateful to our clinic partners, Allen & Overy, for updating content in relation to recent changes to statutory guidance and planning some more user testing to enable us to make the Hub more user friendly for children and parents.  This year we also began working with a production company to produce a short film promoting the Clinic. We worked directly with young people to help create the film, including creating script, editing and acting in the film itself. 

As a result of working with our school exclusions legal team, we are also pleased that the Equality and Human Rights Commission agreed to make their race fund more accessible for Independent Review Panel hearings.  Although this will not resolve the fundamental unfairness in school exclusion and disproportionate impact on Black and Mixed-Race children, we hope more solicitors and barristers will be willing to take cases as they can now receive some payment, albeit slightly lower than legal aid rates. 

This year our advocacy team also began to focus on pre-school exclusion cases as we identified this as an area of need. We have seen an increase in requests for advocacy support in relation to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), in particular support with requesting or updating Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).  We also needed to respond to a challenge around some advocacy referrals coming from parents /carers of younger children. This created a tension, since advocacy support is client-led and therefore focuses on the advocacy goals of the child whereas parents often want to influence the advocacy support, particular for younger children with education advocacy cases. To support communications with parents/ carers, we developed a Parent/carer Agreement Form explaining how Just for Kids Law is client-instructed. 

Below are some of the highlights of our case work in this area alongside a case study: 

- Represented two sisters aged 14 and 16 who are being cared for by their grandmother as they are unable to live with their parents:  One sister had been out of school since June 2022; and the other did not have an EHCP in place despite her grandmother making an application for one in March 2022. As a result of our intervention two positive outcomes were achieved - a school place has been found for the sister out of school and the EHCP was finalised for the other sister in a timely manner. 

- Issuing a judicial review in the high court in a challenge against the Legal Aid Agency for refusing to fund a school exclusion independent review hearing through its Exceptional Case Funding.  This school exclusion case involved a child where race and SEND were at the core of the challenge to the exclusion. We were fortunate that the judicial review challenge was funded 

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by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) race fund.  We are still awaiting a permission decision. 

## Case study 

A 14-year-old girl, AM, initially approached us after she was permanently excluded. AM is a vulnerable girl, who had recently come out as lesbian and was severely struggling with her mental health. She had been experiencing issues at home and was temporarily placed under the care of the Local Authority. She was very upset by the school exclusion and was very eager to return to school. She has a particular interest in art. After a conversation and email correspondence with the school, explaining the impact that the exclusion would have on AM, the headteacher agreed to rescind the exclusion. 

## 4. Supporting care experienced children and young people to secure their housing and care entitlements. 

We continued to hold local authorities to account on their obligations to children in relation to community care and housing.   We have continued to receive referrals for care experienced young people, current ‘care leavers’, and those requesting support with retrospective s.20 cases (where they were not accommodated under the Children Act 1989 and therefore miss out on entitlements as care leavers when they turn 18) demonstrating the importance of our work. Alongside our direct work with children, we worked closely with our young campaigners to ensure that care experienced children’s housing rights are better respected and that recommendations in this area made in the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care were accepted and taken forward by the Government. 

- Policy and practice influencing 

A key highlight of the year was working closely with BBC Newsnight on a feature about homeless 16- and 17-year-olds who are denied their right to be taken into care. It included an interview with our Director of Policy and Campaigns and one of our clients. The story also ran on BBC Newsbeat featuring our Head of Policy and Public Affairs. This resulted in significant publicity for this often-underreported issue and resulted in the children’s minister confirming in Parliament that homeless 16- and 17-year-olds should be housed under children’s welfare legislation as the default (rather than homeless legislation where they receive less care and support). 

We continued to undertake significant work in relation to implementation of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care (the Care Review), following our success last year in ensuring it included recommendations concerning addressing housing and homelessness issues relating to care experienced children. This included engagement with officials in the DfE and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and resulted in the Government accepting the Review’s recommendations in this area - a key influencing success. 

We also ensured that DLUCH's new Rough Sleeping Strategy recommended that better use be made of joint housing protocols between housing and children's services - a key issue raised in 

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our 'Hitting Brick Walls' report published last year. The Strategy also supported the mission in the Care Review to “reduce homelessness among care levers before ending it entirely.”  Our evidence on care leavers was also included in the final report of the APPG for Ending Homelessness as part of their inquiry into whether the Government is on track to meet its manifesto commitment to ‘end the blight of rough sleeping’ in England. 

We also began working more actively with London Councils this year and were invited to join its Life off the Streets Youth Homelessness Workstream Sub-committee, which included representatives from the Greater London Authority, DLUHC and London authorities – a key opportunity to influence at a pan-London level. 

- Empowering children and young people to campaign for their rights 

We continued to support and empower our young campaigners for care and housing rights. This year they have continued to powerfully speak out on the housing issues facing care experienced children and the young people. 

A particular highlight was two of the housing and care campaigners attending the Inter-Ministerial Care Leaver Covenant Board, co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and representatives from 11 Government Departments. One campaigner gave testimony of her own experience of being made homeless when leaving care and the detrimental impact this had on her. She also discussed the key housing recommendations that the Government should implement to improve the outcomes for homeless care leavers. The campaigner was praised by Ministers in the room. During a debrief following the meeting, the campaigner expressed how she felt ‘heard and respected in a room full of powerful people’. 

The group also met with senior civil servants from the DfE to discuss recommendations from the Care Review focusing on those areas they felt most strongly about. Each shared their lived experience of various levels of abuse within the care system and experiences of being left homeless when they came to leave care. The campaigners demonstrated a deep level of understanding and analysis of the structural issues which caused these experiences and presented key solutions to addressing these systematic failings. The civil servants who joined were visibly moved by what they heard. 

In addition to the BBC News Night feature, the young campaigners also secured other high-profile media. This included participating in an interview for the BBC Radio 4 documentary series, File on Four, on the privatisation of children’s homes where one of the campaigners recounted her experience of abuse in these settings, and the failures of the systems to keep children and young people safe. Another campaigner spoke to The Observer newspaper about her experience of being placed out of area by social services and the impact this had on her wellbeing and safety. 

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- Direct legal and advocacy case work 

We continued to support homeless children and young people or children at risk of homelessness through providing legal advice and representation and advocacy. One of the trends we saw this year was a number of advocacy referrals that initially appeared to focus on housing issues, but further engagement between the advocate and the young person revealed their prior experience of local authority care, which impacts their housing entitlements and the support available to them. This demonstrates how important advocacy is to help them to understand their full range of entitlements. 

Some examples of our direct case work in this area include: 

- Making representations to the London Borough of Brent in relation to a care-leaver subject to domestic violence requesting they have regard to new guidance in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which aims to improve access to social housing for victims of domestic abuse. The representations were successful, the case was referred to the Exceptional Housing Panel and the client was made an offer of affordable council housing. The client was delighted, and  said this was life changing as she is now able to live safely. 

- Providing support to an 18-year-old young person who is unable to live with her parents due to difficulties in their relationship. The young person has autism and was accommodated by the local authority when she was 17-years-old, but she was not accommodated under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and as a consequence missed out on additional support she should have been entitled to. Through pre-action correspondence, the local authority agreed that the young person should have been accommodated under s20 and provided her with leaving care support. 

- Supporting a vulnerable care leaver with mental and physical health issues secure permanent housing by referring to an Occupational Therapist for an assessment. This resulted in him being given the correct banding in line with a health condition and disability, leading to a successful bid for permanent housing. 

- Advocated for a young care leaver, aged 18, who had Council Tax arrears due to the Local Authority not dealing with her exemption eligibility.  After explaining to the young person her rights and entitlements, she self-advocated to the Local Authority making them aware of their responsibilities and to the council tax providers and her arrears were cleared. 

- Successfully securing a resident support fund grant for a vulnerable care leaver: The grant application was initially refused but with our advocacy support, the young care leaver was able to file a complaint, have the grant application re-open and re-assessed, which resulted in an award of £400, which the client desperately needs. 

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5. Enabling children and young people to achieve a secure immigration status and thrive in the UK 

Children with insecure immigration status are extremely vulnerable, often struggling to navigate the immigration system and understand their rights and entitlements. The oftenhostile rhetoric towards asylum-seekers, together with a raft of punitive legislation, has made our direct work alongside our policy influencing in this area even more important than ever. • Policy and practice influencing 

Given the huge concerns with the Illegal Migration Act, which will be hugely detrimental to the rights and welfare of children, we worked in collaboration with others in the children’s sector to speak out against the Government’s proposals and supported amendments during the Act’s parliamentary passage.   We also ensured key issues relating to the infringements of the rights of children in the immigration system were clearly articulated in our report to the UN Committee – see below – and  worked closely with the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium on a briefing for the UN Committee on the then Illegal Migration Bill to ensure the Committee was up to date on the proposed legislation. This resulted in a strong recommendation from the UN Committee to repeal the Illegal Migration Act and address issues relating to the rights of children in the asylum and immigration system as a matter of priority. 

- Direct legal and advocacy case work 

Our immigration lawyer has continued to offer much needed legal advice and representation to extremely vulnerable children and young people and our advocates have also help ensure that they can also access other rights and entitlements owed to them. Below are some examples of our work in this area alongside a case study. 

- Achieving a successful outcome for a client who was granted Settlement having completed Limited Leave to Remain as a refugee for five years. This client will be eligible to apply for British citizenship after 12 months, subject to meeting the prevailing rules. He was unable to study or work because of his mental health (PTSD) and he was also supported by the youth advocacy team. 

- Assisting a very vulnerable young person with applying for Settlement having completed five years of Refugee status. He is an Afghani national who arrived in the UK in February 2016, having entered the UK clandestinely in the back of a lorry at 16 years old. He then claimed asylum, but his asylum claim was subsequently refused as the Home Office asserted that he could internally relocate in Afghanistan (to Kabul). He appealed against this decision. The Immigration Judge allowed his appeal on both Asylum and Human Rights grounds, and he was granted Refugee status in March 2017. We assisted the client with applying for Settlement and this was successfully granted in October 2022. He is now in a position of stability with regards to his immigration status (no further applications to be made), has reduced uncertainty and improved understanding of his legal rights and entitlements. 

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- Providing advocacy support to a vulnerable client (a 19-year-old care leaver from Leeds City Council fleeing violence from Leeds) who is also a refugee with no family in the UK and a single parent to a newborn daughter.  She succeeded in avoiding homelessness by being provided with a self-contained placement with keywork support in Enfield by her Leaving Care Team in Leeds. Although she is currently still receiving ongoing and intensive advocacy support to find a placement in/nearby Southwark, which is close to her support network, it is promising to note that through advocacy support and being made aware of her rights and entitlements, the client has been able to change her Personal Advisor (as the relationship had broken down) and request an up-to-date assessment of needs and a pathway plan review. 

- Assisting two 23-year-old clients with their initial asylum applications. They have both been granted Humanitarian Protection (alternative to Asylum). The grant of leave has been issued for five years following which they can make an application for Settlement in the UK. In addition, both the young people were conclusively recognised as victims of human trafficking. 

## Case study 

This case involves assisting a vulnerable young person making a fresh asylum claim based on the current situation in Afghanistan. 

S is a single, 23-year-old man from northern Afghanistan. His parents are both deceased. His father, a farmer, was murdered in Afghanistan and his mother, a housewife, died following his departure from the country. 

When he was still a child, S’s mother arranged for him to flee Afghanistan after the death of his father. He embarked on a perilous journey to the UK travelling via Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy and several other countries until he arrived in France. He then travelled from there to the UK. There were several occasions during the journey that food supplies were scarce and getting adequate sleep was a challenge. The people traffickers attacked Mr S at times, and they threatened to kill him when he asked for food or water leaving him scared and traumatised. 

S arrived in the UK in 2015 and on arrival claimed asylum but it was refused as were subsequent appeals. He became Appeals Right Exhausted in 2019 and in 2020 he approached us for legal representation in respect of his asylum matter. 

For much of his time in the UK, S has been unable to concentrate, and his sleep has been 

disrupted. He had nightmares of being chased and there were several instances of attempted selfharm. In addition he was unable to enjoy hobbies or activities and his appetite and energy levels were all subjectively impaired. 

In 2016, S was assessed by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services where he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and subsequently referred to Adult Mental Health services in 2017 where he was assessed as having a Major Depressive Disorder on account of his low moods, impaired concentration, sleep disturbance and variable appetite. 

On the facts of the case, it was evident that the client was likely to struggle to establish a new life for himself in Afghanistan, and any threat of forced return may significantly worsen his mental state. Further, without adequate personal and professional support it would be very difficult for 

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him to engage in tasks needed to establish a new life for himself, such as securing employment and accommodation. 

S also feared that in the event of being returned to Afghanistan, his life would be in danger because the Taliban would persuade him to work with them and would inevitably try to kill him if he failed to do so.  We therefore assisted the client with submitting a new asylum application. In order to meet the high threshold in submitting an application under the Immigration Rules the client would need to fulfil the requirements as outlined below: 

Overall, for a reasonable prospect of success, the application will likely need to argue and find support for the following grounds: (i) that Mr S does in fact have certain mental health conditions, which create difficulties for the recollection of memory and justify the discrepancies that the Firsttier Tribunal noted in his initial testimony; (ii) that there is inadequate mental health infrastructure and support for his conditions in Afghanistan and this, among other factors, creates significant barriers for his reintegration in Afghanistan; and (iii) that he is of interest to the Taliban. Thanks to our legal representation, S was successful in securing Refugee status which has been granted for 5 years. He is now in a position of stability with regards to his immigration status, has reduced uncertainty and improved understanding of his legal rights and entitlements. 

## 6. Protecting and promoting children's rights using human rights mechanisms 

- Policy and practice influencing 

This year was a particularly critical one for our children’s rights monitoring and advocacy work given that the UK was examined on its child rights obligations by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN Committee) in May 2023. In addition to this examination, the UK was also examined under Universal Periodic Review, which is UN Human Rights Council peer review process, and examines how well a State is meeting its obligations across all human rights treaties it has ratified. We also had to persist with our work in safeguarding the Human Rights Act. We were delighted to secure Core Participant Status in Module 2 of the Covid 10 Public Inquiry giving us a unique opportunity to ensure the Inquiry examines how well the UK Government took children’s rights into account as part of its decision-making processes during the pandemic. 

## • UNCRC reporting process 

We co-ordinated and drafted the civil society alternative report for England as part of the UN Committee’s examination of the UK. It was informed by 50 experts giving oral evidence and 47 organisational written submissions from NSPCC, NCB, Save the Children, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, the Alliance for Youth Justice and many others. 

CRAE also represented civil society at the pre-sessional working group in February 2023 to give oral evidence to the UN Committee on key child rights issues in England, alongside our sister organisations from other parts of the UK, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, UNICEF UK and the four Children’s Commissioners in the UK. 

As well as working closely with civil society to submit evidence to the UN Committee, we also supported children to engage with the UK examination. We held four workshops with children and 

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young people in partnership with The Children’s Society, Friend’s Families and Travellers, Leaders Unlocked, Alliance for Youth Justice and the Kids Network where children learnt more about the UNCRC and share views on how well they thought their rights were being respected. Their views fed directly into our civil society report. We also supported children to directly meet with UN Committee members alongside other children from across the UK. 

Ahead of the constructive dialogue session between the UN Committee and the UK delegation, we met with the head of the UK delegation – a senior civil servant in the DfE - and co-ordinated a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a child rights strategy and action plan to be developed in response to the UN Committee’s recommendations alongside a cabinet minister for children. The letter was signed by 50 organisations including NSPCC, Barnardo’s, Save the Children and UNICEF UK. 

We were delighted that 93% of the recommendations we suggested to the UN Committee were either fully or partially included in its ‘Concluding Observations on the UK’ published in June 2023. Recommendations covered many areas impacting on children’s lives including mental health, the asylum and immigration system, issues related to care experienced children and children in contact with the criminal justice system. These will be a useful policy tool for pushing for a children’s rights strategy as well as for a wide range of organisations working on issues affecting children.   We were also delighted to secure an in-depth piece in The Mirror on the UN’s verdict on the UK’s child rights record. 

## • Defending the Human Rights Act 

We continued our work on defending the Human Rights Act and ensuring that its role in safeguarding the rights of children was widely known. This included submitting detailed evidence to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, following its call for evidence on legislative scrutiny of the Bill of Rights Bill, and drafting a briefing for the Bill’s second reading in the House of Commons - supported by 50 organisations. Following concerted effort from ourselves and many other organisations the Government announced it would be dropping these proposals. This is a considerable success, although we are alert to the fact that several pieces of recent legislation, including the Illegal Migration Act, dilute the Human Rights Act for particular groups. There are also serious concerns around calls for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. 

## • Universal Periodic Review 

This year we also continued our work to influence the UK examination under Universal Period Review (UPR) – a Human Rights Council process where States review each other’s human rights records and obligations across all the UN human rights treaties.  We worked with our children’s rights partners across the UK (Together, the Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group and the Children's Law Centre) to produce a series of eight thematic briefings on our top priorities. We were pleased to see that due to this work, 59 out of 302 recommendations specifically mentioned children’s rights issues (19.5%).  This is a significant achievement given that UPR examines implementation of all of the human rights treaties and covers many different issues. We also worked with Just Fair 

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and others to issue a joint statement highlighting key human rights concerns raised at the examination. 

- Influencing the Covid 19 Inquiry 

We were extremely pleased that Just for Kids Law and CRAE were accepted to be core participants for module 2 of the UK Covid 19 Inquiry alongside Save the Children UK. Module 2 is focussing on the core political and administrative governance and decision-making in the pandemic.  Having this  status means we are able to actively participate in the Inquiry, for example, we have made opening and closing statements at the pre-liminary hearings and inputted in relation to the experts the Inquiry is engaging to support its work.  We will also be submitting a witness statement and making opening and closing written and oral submissions and suggesting lines of questioning to be pursued by Counsel to the Inquiry during the module 2 hearings starting in early October 2023. 

We have also been undertaking a significant amount of work to ensure that the Inquiry hears directly from children with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and living in different settings. This included co-ordinating a joint open letter to the Chair of the Inquiry with Save the Children UK, which was supported by 43 organisations, including the NSPCC and NCB. The letter was picked up by the Daily Telegraph, which ran it as its front-page lead story. 

## Youth opportunities 

Alongside directly supporting children and young people through our advocacy and legal work and empowering them to campaign, as part of our holistic offer we also provide a youth opportunities offer, which provides a variety of support to our clients ranging from bitesize support, for example, support with developing a CV, to work experience, the opportunity to participate on interview panels and interview skills workshops.  Some highlights of this work include: 

- Supporting a young person receiving legal and advocacy support from us with resolving his immigration status. The young person was not attending school due to moving to the country and a different school system. After they attended the Excel London Careers Fair with our youth opportunities support worker they chose to enrol in school with a view to continue to college to study sport. 

- Holistically supporting a young person who was receiving advocacy support after a school exclusion, to create a personal statement for their university application to study law. After advocacy support the young person is now back in school and working towards their goal. 

- Supporting young people to take part in a week-long Youth Opportunities work experience programme. All who took part worked alongside all teams, developing understanding of our work and developing knowledge and skills linked to their goals. 

- Holistically supporting a young person in care to start paying rent at their accommodation due to turning 18. We supported them with applications and interviews to secure part-time employment to pay their rent, which enables them to still be able to continue their studies in 

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Illustration at University. As part of this work, we supported them to attend the London Excel Careers fair to meet employers and find part-time roles. 

## Ambassadors 

Youth participation is central to all we do at Just for Kids Law and our Ambassadors Group continued to influence all aspects of our organisation.   We were particularly pleased that following a recruitment process co-led by one of our existing young trustees, one of our Ambassadors, an ex-client, became a trustee. It has been a long-standing ambition to ensure we have our clients represented at the highest levels of our governance, so we are particularly delighted that we have been able to put in place the right support required to ensure that our ambition was able to come to fruition. 

Other highlights of the Ambassadors Group include: 

- Helping to plan and take part in our fundraising event which we held with the support of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The group generated ideas including helping to plan the format of the event, speeches and even designing a tote bag for attendees to take away with them. 

- Working with our Communications Officer to select a creative agency to create a short film to promote our holistic casework offer externally, including to new clients. The young people also fed back on the brief by sharing reflections on their experience of our services and support for inclusion in the film as well as taking part in the film itself. 

## A New Strategy, Vision and Leadership from 1 August 2023 onwards: 

Children and young people in contact with the criminal justice system are some of the most vulnerable in society, yet the police and youth justice system fail to respect their rights and cause trauma and harm. Black and other racialised groups are disproportionately represented at all stages of the criminal justice system. Victims of child criminal exploitation are too often treated as perpetrators instead of getting the help they desperately need. 

Just for Kids Law challenges this injustice by providing trauma informed, anti-racist, innovative legal representation to children and young people in contact with the criminal justice system and using evidence from this case work to fight for systematic change, including tackling racial disproportionality. The work of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) holds the Government to account on its child rights obligations and pushes for change so that government decision-making respects the rights of all children. 

The subsequent areas of work will support the delivery of this new focus: 

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## Representing children in the criminal justice system 

Our expert criminal defence lawyers provide trauma informed and innovative legal representation for children in contact with the youth justice system.  Our Legal Director was one of the first lawyers to trailblaze the use of the section 45 defence in the Modern Slavery Act for victims of child criminal exploitation. On average we represent children in 220 cases annually from one off representation of a child at a police station who secures an out of court disposal, to complex cases which may last several years.  The majority of the children we represent are Black or from other racialised groups and have experienced multiple adverse childhood experiences. 

## Achieving strategic change 

As well as working with individual children and young people to secure their rights in the criminal justice system we will use the evidence from our case work to achieve strategic change in law, policy and practice through policy and public affairs work and strategic litigation focusing on policing and youth justice. Recent key strategic change achievements include: 

- Removing children from the Covid-19 Regulations concerning custody time limits. Without our intervention, children could have spent an extra two months on remand because of delays in the courts. 

- Changing the law so that 16 and 17-year-olds are treated as children in police stations and therefore entitled to additional protections such as an appropriate adult. 

We also punch above our weight in securing high profile media coverage to shine a light on issues and challenges that children face, that often get little attention as highlighted in our annual report above. 

## Promoting and protecting children’s rights 

Through our hosting of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) we lead work on monitoring the implementation of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This gives us a wide range of partnerships, contacts, and policy levers as well as expertise in using human rights mechanisms as a tool for change.   CRAE has developed a reputation for speaking out on children’s rights in a way that has cut through and gains traction with decision-makers and CRAE’s Director CoChairs the UNCRC Action Group with a Department for Education (DfE) senior civil servant. The group brings together civil society organisations and civil servants from across Whitehall and devolved Government to work in partnership to take forward UNCRC implementation. 

## Influencing the UK Covid 19 Inquiry 

As noted above, Just for Kids Law and CRAE are core participants for module 2 of the UK Covid 19 Inquiry and we will  be ensuring that the impact on children of decisions made by the Government during the pandemic are fully scrutinised. 

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## Trustees’ annual report 

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## Leadership 

The smaller Just for Kids Law will be Co-Led by our Co-Founder and Legal Director, Aika Stephenson and our Director of Policy and Campaigns and Director of CRAE, Louise King. Aika Co-Founded the Charity in 2006 and Louise joined Just for Kids Law in 2015.  Between them they have a wealth of expertise in a broad range of areas including children’s rights, trauma informed legal advice and representation, policy and public affairs as well as senior charity leadership, governance and fundraising. 

## Financial review 

Because of the exceptional circumstances Just for Kids law found itself in during the 2022/23, the Board made the decision to extend the financial year from an end date of the 31[st] May 2023 to an end date of the 31[st] July 2023. This allowed for the transactions related to the Coram and YJLC business transfers as well as the office move to all be accounted for in the one financial year. 

The income for the fourteen month period was £2,663,015, calculated as an average for the standard twelve months the income would have been £2,282,584 a 18% increase on the previous year. Expenditure for the 14 months was £3,125,615, calculated as an average for the 12 months it would be £2,679,099 a 23% increase on the previous year. 

At the end of the extended accounting period the charity holds £556,426 total funds of which £88,818 are restricted and not for general purpose. These restricted funds are committed for project expenditure in the next financial year. After making allowance for the restricted funds overall there was a net decrease in funds of £462,600, resulting in an unrestricted reserves balance of £ 467,608. 

The principal funding sources of the charity during the reporting period are trusts and foundations, with this source making up 77% of the total income. Just for Kids Law receives funding from a wide variety of trusts and foundations and would like to thank them for their support. A full list of funders can be found at the end of the financial statements. During the year the legal aid contract contributed £304,330 of the total income. 

Following the two business transfers of work the smaller Just for Kids set a budget anticipating a turnover in the region of £700,000. The income from the Covid-19 Inquiry work has helped the organisation through the transition period and there has been support from Trusts and Foundations who have agreed to continue funding the new organisation. The focus is now to develop a new strategic plan alongside a fundraising strategy and pipeline linked to the organisation’s priorities to move forward into 24/25. 

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## Reserves policy and going concern 

Just for Kids Law needs reserves to: 

- Meet contractual liabilities should the organisation have to close. This includes any contractual pay owed to staff paid from unrestricted funds, redundancy pay for all staff, amounts due to creditors and commitments under any leases. 

- Meet unexpected costs such as the unexpected need to move and essential staff-cover in the case of illness. 

- Provide working capital when funding is paid in arrears, to help manage any cashflow issues. 

- From time to time, funding has certain restrictions which mean that by law it must be held in a restricted reserve until it is spent in line with the funding agreement. 

The Board considers that overall, it would be prudent to set aside a minimum amount of £285,000 that is made up of the following items: 

- Four and a half month’s salary costs of any staff whose salary is not paid for from restricted funding: £128,000. 

- Redundancy costs for all staff: £24,000. 

- Three months of rent £15,000. 

- An allowance of £93,000 to cover contractual obligations . 

- An allowance of £25,000 to cover liabilities arising from our legal aid contracts. 

The Board of Trustees will consider current costs of closure and examine the level of reserves each year when setting the following years’ budget. 

At the end of 22/23 the unrestricted reserves are £467,608. 

## Principle risks and uncertainties 

The Board has undertaken its own review of the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and systems have been established to mitigate those risks. 

The Board has produced a Risk Register which is regularly reviewed by the Finance & Risk SubCommittee and discussed at the Board Meeting every six months. The Risk Register identifies a number of key risks and mitigating actions including: 

- Financial risk (difficulty to cover central organisational costs; lack of capacity to raise funds; loss of relationships with key donors; cash flow issues). Mitigations: Regular fundraising meetings reviewing the pipeline. Development of new fundraising strategy and detailed pipeline . 

   - Additional support to the legal team to ensure legal income continues at expected level 

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- HR risks (staff burnout; non-compliance with HR and other employment legislation; loss of key staff). 

   - Mitigations: Line managers monitor staff hours worked and outputs of work, TOIL policy introduced and to be kept under review, SMART Clinic Confidential employee support line in place for all staff including counselling, physio etc, Clinical supervision/reflective practice offered to frontline staff 

- Safeguarding risks (failure to adequately safeguard vulnerable children and young people the organisation works with and manage incidents/allegations). Mitigations: Annual safeguarding training being delivered by independent provider for all Staff. 

   - Reduced risk following transfer of advocacy and youth projects work. Additional related training being delivered to client facing staff, Updated safeguarding policy and process in place, 

- Reputational risks (under-delivery of funded work compared to donor expectations of time required; inadequate and/or inappropriate response to negative media coverage). Mitigations: JFKL has strong internal expertise in Communications, Director of Campaigns and Policy having clear oversight and accountability for all campaigning work 

## Plans for the Future 

Just for Kids will consolidate during this transitional financial year, ensuring it delivers under its current funding commitments and continues to support children and young people in the criminal justice system under the legal aid contracts. The organisation has a reasonable level of reserves to take into future financial years while it develops new income strategies. 

## Fundraising Disclosures 

Just for Kids Law’s funding is from four primary sources: grants from trusts and foundations, legal aid contracts, high net worth donations and support from corporates. We do not employ any professional fundraisers or commercial participators to carry out fundraising activities directly with the public. We also do not have any fundraising carried out by third parties. We therefore do not subscribe to any fundraising schemes or codes.  We also do not directly involve vulnerable people in our fundraising activities. We have not received any complaints about our fundraising activity. 

## Remuneration policy for key management personnel 

Just for Kids Law reviewed and revised its remuneration policy for all staff in 2019/2020. The policy includes the following key elements: 

- Salary ranges are completely transparent. 

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- The policy applies equally to fixed term and permanent staff. 

- Salary increments are awarded through either annual inflationary cost of living increases subject to affordability, a discretionary organisational bonus scheme subject to affordability, progression within a salary range based on length in post, taking on additional responsibilities or acting up into a role. 

## Funds held as custodian trustee 

No funds are being held on behalf of others. 

## Statement of responsibilities of the Board of Trustees 

The Board of Trustees (who are also directors of Just for Kids Law for the purposes of company law) is responsible for preparing the Board of Trustees’ annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

Company law requires the Board of 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 these financial statements, the Board of Trustees is required to: 

- Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently. 

- Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP. 

- Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. 

- State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. 

- Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. 

The Board of Trustees is responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. 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 Board of Trustees is aware: 

- There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware. 

- The Board of Trustees has taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make itself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information. 

28 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Trustees’ annual report 

For the period ended 31 July 2023 

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. 

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £10 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 July 2023 was 12 (2022 - 9). Trustees are members of the charity, but this entitles them only to voting rights. The Board of Trustees has no beneficial interest in the charity. 

## Auditor 

Sayer Vincent LLP was re-appointed as the charitable company's auditor during the period and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity. 

The annual report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies’ subject to the small companies’ regime. 

The Board of Trustees’ annual report has been approved by the Board of Trustees on 21 November 2023 and signed on their behalf by 

Anthony Landes 

Chair of the Board of Trustees 

29 



Independent auditor’s report 

To the members of 

## Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Opinion 

We have audited the financial statements of Just for Kids Law (the ‘charitable company’) for the period ended 31 July 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, 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 FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). 

- In our opinion, the financial statements: 

- Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 July 2023 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the period then ended 

- Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice 

- Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 

## Basis for opinion 

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the 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 Just for Kids Law'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. 

30 



Independent auditor’s report 

To the members of 

Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Other Information 

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ 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, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, 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. 

## Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit: 

- The information given in the trustees’ annual report, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and 

- The trustees’ annual report, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. 

## Matters on which we are required to report by exception 

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: 

- Adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or 

- The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or 

- Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or 

- We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or 

- ● The directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ annual report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report. 

## Responsibilities of trustees 

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of 

31 



Independent auditor’s report 

## To the members of 

## Just for Kids Law Limited 

company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. 

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 

## Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements 

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

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below. 

## Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities 

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following: 

- We enquired of management and the finance and risk committee, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to: 

   - Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance; 

   - Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud; 

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

- We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance. 

- We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the 

32 



Independent auditor’s report 

## To the members of 

## Just for Kids Law Limited 

financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience. 

- We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit. 

- We reviewed any reports made to regulators. 

- We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations. 

- We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud. 

- In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business. 

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation.  This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation. 

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

## Use of our report 

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

Noelia Serrano (Senior statutory auditor) 29 November 2023 

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 108-114 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TL 

33 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) 

For the period ended 31 July 2023 

|For theperiod ended 31July2023|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Note<br>Income from:<br>2<br>3<br>3<br>3<br>4<br>5<br>6<br>6<br>6<br>6<br>6<br>7<br>Reconciliation of funds:<br>Transfer of assets<br>Donations and legacies<br>Charitable activities<br>Legal<br>Programmes<br>Programmes<br>Raising funds<br>Net income/ (expenditure) for the year<br>Investments<br>Policy<br>Total income<br>Expenditure on:<br>Total expenditure<br>Charitable activities<br>Policy<br>Legal<br>Other<br>Net movement in funds<br>Total funds brought forward<br>Total funds carried forward|Continuing<br>Unrestricted<br><br>£<br>558,090<br>490,197<br>-<br>35,314<br>4,146<br>1,652|Discontinued<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>57,563<br>-<br>-|Continuing<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>265,679<br>-<br>113,026<br>-<br>-|Discontinued<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>293,977<br>636,313<br>207,058<br>-<br>-|14 months to<br>31 July 2023<br>Total<br>£<br>558,090<br>1,049,853<br>636,313<br>412,961<br>4,146<br>1,652|Unrestricted<br>£<br>715,181<br>177,820<br>-<br>-<br>39,745<br>37|Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>310,364<br>468,848<br>223,356<br>-<br>-|12 months to<br>31 May 2022<br>Total<br>£<br>715,181<br>488,184<br>468,848<br>223,356<br>39,745<br>37|
||1,089,399|57,563|378,705|1,137,348|2,663,015|932,783|1,002,568|1,935,351|
||101,772<br>696,648<br>-<br>272,347<br>-|-<br>-<br>338,839<br>-|-<br>259,195<br>-<br>82,283<br>-|-<br>263,236<br>589,945<br>255,209<br>266,141|101,772<br>1,219,078<br>928,784<br>609,840<br>266,141|59,313<br>601,822<br>237,217<br>157,459<br>-|-<br>325,140<br>578,500<br>222,868<br>-|59,313<br>926,962<br>815,717<br>380,327<br>-|
||1,070,767|338,839|341,478|1,374,531|3,125,615|1,055,811|1,126,508|2,182,319|
||18,632|(281,276)|37,227|(237,183)|(462,600)|(123,028)|(123,940)|(246,968)|
||18,632|(281,276)|37,227|(237,183)|(462,600)|(123,028)|(123,940)|(246,968)|
||448,976|281,276|51,591|237,183|1,019,026|853,280|412,714|1,265,994|
||467,608|-|88,818|-|556,426|730,252|288,774|1,019,026|



Discontinued activities relate to business transfers of certain areas of work for further information please see the Trustees' report. All other activities are continuing. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 17a. 

34 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Company no. 5815338 

## Balance sheet 

## As at 31 July 2023 

|As at 31 July 2023|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Note<br>Fixed assets:<br>12<br>Current assets:<br>13<br>Liabilities:<br>14<br>17<br>Total unrestricted funds<br>General funds<br>Total charity funds<br>Unrestricted income funds:<br>Work in progress<br>Cash at bank and in hand<br>Debtors<br>Tangible assets<br>Restricted income funds<br>The funds of the charity:<br>Creditors: amounts falling due within one year<br>Net current assets<br>Total net assets|£<br>154,398<br>185,386<br>674,512|£<br>-<br>As at 31 July<br>2023|£<br>178,966<br>84,246<br>860,351<br>|£<br>97,125<br>As at 31 May<br>2022|
|||-<br>556,426||97,125<br>921,901|
||1,014,296<br>457,870||1,123,563<br>201,662||
||467,608||730,252||
|||556,426||1,019,026|
|||88,818<br>467,608||288,774<br>730,252|
||||||
|||556,426||1,019,026|



Approved by the trustees on 21 November 2023 and signed on their behalf by 

Anthony Landes Chair of Board of Trustees 

35 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Statement of cash flows 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating activities 

|Increase/(Decrease) in creditors<br>Decrease/ (Increase) in work in progress<br>Purchase of fixed assets<br>Cash flows from operating activities<br>Net cash provided by investing activities<br>Net cash (used in) operating activities<br>Cash flows from investing activities:<br>Dividends and interest<br>Net (expenditure) for the reporting period<br>(as per the statement of financial activities)<br>Depreciation charges<br>Dividends and interest<br>(Increase)/Decrease in debtors<br>(Profit)/loss on disposal of fixed assets<br>Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the<br>year<br>Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year<br>Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year|£<br>£<br>(462,600)<br>16,754<br>(1,652)<br>80,371<br>(101,140)<br>256,208<br>24,568<br>(187,491)<br>1,652<br>-<br>1,652<br>(185,839)<br>860,351<br>674,512<br>31 July 2023<br>14 months to|£<br>£<br>(462,600)<br>16,754<br>(1,652)<br>80,371<br>(101,140)<br>256,208<br>24,568<br>(187,491)<br>1,652<br>-<br>1,652<br>(185,839)<br>860,351<br>674,512<br>31 July 2023<br>14 months to|£<br>£<br>(246,968)<br>16,755<br>(37)<br>-<br>53,612<br>(154,874)<br>(35,153)<br>(366,665)<br>37<br>-<br>37<br>(366,628)<br>1,226,979<br>860,351<br>31 May 2022<br>12 months to|£<br>£<br>(246,968)<br>16,755<br>(37)<br>-<br>53,612<br>(154,874)<br>(35,153)<br>(366,665)<br>37<br>-<br>37<br>(366,628)<br>1,226,979<br>860,351<br>31 May 2022<br>12 months to|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||1,652<br>-||37<br>-||
||||||
|||674,512||860,351|



36 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 July 2023 

- 1 Accounting policies 

- a) Statutory information 

   - Just for Kids Law is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in the United Kingdom. The registered office address and principal place of business is Ec1 Offices 338 City Road London EC1V 2PY . 

- b) Basis of preparation 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. 

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note. 

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period. 

- c) Public benefit entity 

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. 

- d) Going concern 

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern. 

- e) Income Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably. 

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred. 

Income is recognised on casework earned and due ("work in progress" or "WIP") according to the time booked on the matter multiplied by the relevant legal aid or interpartes rate. Appropriate provision is made for irrecoverable WIP. 

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met. 

- f) Donations of gifts, services and facilities Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), volunteer time is not recognised so refer to the trustees’ annual report for more information about their contribution. 

On receipt, donated gifts, professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt. 

- g) Interest receivable Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank. 

- h) Fund accounting 

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund. 

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes. 

- i) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings: 

   - Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charitable company in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose. 

   - Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering services undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs. 

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred. 

37 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the year ended 31 July 2023 

- 1 Accounting policies (continued) 

- j) Allocation of support costs 

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned on the following basis which are an estimate, based on staff time, of the amount attributable to each activity. 

Where information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is provided to potential beneficiaries, the costs associated with this publicity are allocated to charitable expenditure. 

Where such information about the aims, objectives and projects of the charity is also provided to potential donors, activity costs are apportioned between fundraising and charitable activities on the basis of area of literature occupied by each activity. 

||Raising Funds|2%|
|---|---|---|
||Legal|41%|
||Programmes|42%|
||Policy|15%|
|Governance costs are re-allocated to each of the activities on the following basis which is an estimate, based percentage of expenditure, of the amount attributable|||
|to|each activity.||
||Raising funds|3%|
||Legal|41%|
||Programmes|41%|
||Policy|15%|



Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. 

- k) Operating leases 

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease. 

- l) Tangible fixed assets 

Items of equipment are capitalised where purchase prices exceeds £1000. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying valumay exceed their net realisable value and value in use. 

Where fixed assests have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows: 

||Computer equipment|3 years|
|---|---|---|
||Leasehold Improvements|3 years|
||Fixtures and fittings|5 years|



During the course of the financial year the break-clause in the office lease was invoked and as all assets were related to the office they were disposed of fully. 

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

- n) 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. 

- o) Creditors and provisions 

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due. 

- p) 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. 

## q) Pensions 

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charitable company in an independently administered fund. The charitable company has no liability under the scheme other than for the payment of those contributions. 

- r) Work in progress 

Legal work in progress is valued at the net realisable value. Provision is made when necessary for irrecoverable amounts of work in progress. 

38 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Notes to the financial statements 

For the year ended 31 July 2023 

|Continuing<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>29,065<br>50,000<br>-<br>25,000<br>50,000<br>-<br>-<br>168,000<br>62,500<br>-<br>10,000<br>50,000<br>-<br>-<br>26,525<br>40,000<br>27,000<br>20,000|Discontinued<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Continuing<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Discontinued<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|14 months to<br>31 July 2023<br>Total <br>£<br>29,065<br>50,000<br>-<br>25,000<br>50,000<br>-<br>-<br>168,000<br>62,500<br>-<br>10,000<br>50,000<br>-<br>-<br>26,525<br>40,000<br>27,000<br>20,000|Unrestricted<br>£<br>87,588<br>-<br>20,000<br>-<br>50,000<br>5,000<br>5,193<br>120,000<br>30,000<br>75,000<br>10,000<br>50,000<br>50,000<br>130,000<br>12,400<br>45,000<br>25,000<br>-|Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|12 months to<br>31 May 2022<br>Total<br>£<br>87,588<br>-<br>20,000<br>-<br>50,000<br>5,000<br>5,193<br>120,000<br>30,000<br>75,000<br>10,000<br>50,000<br>50,000<br>130,000<br>12,400<br>45,000<br>25,000<br>-|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|



39 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

For the year ended 31 July 2023 

|Notes to the financial statements<br>For the year ended 31 July 2023|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|3<br>Donations<br>Access to Justice<br>Allen & Overy Foundation<br>Goldsmiths<br>Mission 44<br>Trust for London<br>Development (Other)<br>BBC Children in Need<br>Garden Court Chambers<br>John Lyons<br>KPMG Foundation<br>Oak Foundation<br>The Pilgrim Trust<br>Development (Other)<br>Mission 44<br>National Lottery<br>Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity<br>Permira Equinox (TCS)<br>Sub-total for Programmes<br>Trust For London (Good Homes)<br>Hardship fund<br>National Lottery Strive to Thrive<br>Legal Education Foundation (including<br>Justice First)<br>Case work and LAA<br>Sub-total for Legal<br>Esmée Fairbairn Foundation<br>Income from charitable activities<br>City Bridge Trust (casework)<br>Oak Foundation<br>Cabinet Office (C19 inquiry)<br>Comic Relief (Safer Places)<br>BBC Children in Need (Small grants)<br>CMS Social Impact|Continuing<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>10,000<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>304,330<br>175,867|Discontinued<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Continuing<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>162,196<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>5,000<br>-<br>56,489<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>41,994<br>-<br>-|Discontinued<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>10,000<br>22,000<br>37,939<br>-<br>18,700<br>-<br>45,415<br>62,173<br>97,750<br>-<br>-<br>-|14 months to<br>31 July 2023<br>Total <br>£<br>10,000<br>162,196<br>10,000<br>22,000<br>37,939<br>5,000<br>18,700<br>56,489<br>45,415<br>62,173<br>97,750<br>41,994<br>304,330<br>175,867|Unrestricted<br>£<br>10,000<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>167,820<br>-|Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>15,000<br>35,000<br>44,553<br>-<br>17,000<br>81,105<br>-<br>20,923<br>50,000<br>46,783<br>-<br>-|12 months to<br>31 May 2022<br>Total<br>£<br>10,000<br>-<br>15,000<br>35,000<br>44,553<br>-<br>17,000<br>81,105<br>-<br>20,923<br>50,000<br>46,783<br>167,820<br>-|
||490,197<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|265,679<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|293,977<br>44,125<br>10,000<br>-<br>-<br>26,935<br>-<br>25,003<br>83,751<br>52,343<br>262,750<br>-<br>10,000<br>20,000<br>37,580<br>200<br>63,627|1,049,853<br>44,125<br>10,000<br>-<br>-<br>26,935<br>-<br>25,003<br>83,751<br>52,343<br>262,750<br>-<br>10,000<br>20,000<br>37,580<br>200<br>63,627|177,820<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|310,364<br>43,625<br>-<br>375<br>4,000<br>6,065<br>-<br>-<br>165,794<br>-<br>67,263<br>75,000<br>-<br>10,000<br>25,842<br>-<br>70,884|488,184<br>43,625<br>-<br>375<br>4,000<br>6,065<br>-<br>-<br>165,794<br>-<br>67,263<br>75,000<br>-<br>10,000<br>25,842<br>-<br>70,884|
||-|-|-|636,313|636,313|-|468,848|468,848|



40 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

For the year ended 31 July 2023 

||Discontinued<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>57,563<br>-|Continuing<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>30,000<br>-<br>32,000<br>1,500<br>-<br>-<br>3,000<br>350<br>-<br>9,542<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>15,000<br>-<br>-<br>21,634|Discontinued<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>30,000<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>30,021<br>-<br>-<br>500<br>-<br>44,142<br>16,224<br>20,000<br>45,000<br>-<br>-<br>21,170<br>-<br>-|14 months to<br>31 July 2023<br>Total <br>£<br>-<br>30,000<br>30,000<br>32,000<br>1,500<br>-<br>30,021<br>3,000<br>350<br>500<br>9,542<br>44,142<br>16,224<br>20,000<br>45,000<br>-<br>15,000<br>21,170<br>92,878<br>21,634|Unrestricted<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Restricted<br>£<br>5,703<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>29,250<br>59,000<br>-<br>-<br>375<br>-<br>29,344<br>-<br>31,425<br>-<br>-<br>20,000<br>15,000<br>9,158<br>-<br>24,101|12 months to<br>31 May 2022<br>Total<br>£<br>5,703<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>29,250<br>59,000<br>-<br>-<br>375<br>-<br>29,344<br>-<br>31,425<br>-<br>-<br>20,000<br>15,000<br>9,158<br>-<br>24,101|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|35,314|57,563|113,026|207,058|412,961|-|223,356|223,356|



|Continuing<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>4,146|Discontinued<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>-|Continuing<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-|Discontinued<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-|14 months to<br>31 July 2023<br>Total <br>£<br>4,146|Unrestricted<br>£<br>39,745|Restricted<br>£<br>-|12 months to<br>31 May 2022<br>Total<br>£<br>39,745|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|4,146|-|-|-|4,146|39,745|-|39,745|
|Continuing<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>1,652|Discontinued<br>Unrestricted<br>£<br>-|Continuing<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-|Discontinued<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-|14 months to<br>31 July 2023<br>Total <br>£<br>1,652|Unrestricted<br>£<br>37|Restricted<br>£<br>-|12 months to<br>31 May 2022<br>Total<br>£<br>37|



41 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

- 6a Analysis of expenditure (current period) 

|period)|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Raising<br>funds<br>£<br>40,464<br>-<br>-<br>42,750<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|||Charitable activities||||Governance<br>costs<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>8,995<br>2,747<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>50,000|Support costs<br>£<br>364,920<br>74,343<br>51<br>24,343<br>6,462<br>5,409<br>125<br>-<br>-<br>119,801<br>114,552<br>78,475<br>4,478<br>-<br>33,932<br>22,493<br>-<br>16,754<br>-|14 months to<br>31 July 2023<br>Total<br>£<br>1,706,232<br>88,043<br>3,946<br>129,729<br>6,462<br>5,409<br>125<br>8,995<br>2,747<br>119,801<br>149,448<br>157,306<br>5,643<br>230,394<br>40,988<br>137,452<br>266,141<br>16,754<br>50,000|12 months to<br>31 May 2022<br>Total<br>£<br>1,455,101<br>104,569<br>5,598<br>71,038<br>7,864<br>6,372<br>125<br>12,250<br>1,764<br>111,053<br>105,836<br>31,839<br>6,297<br>95,126<br>49,640<br>101,092<br>-<br>16,755<br>-|
||Legal<br>£<br>278,598<br>8,401<br>1,267<br>25,100<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>27,307<br>3,006<br>1,090<br>230,394<br>250<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Programmes<br>Discontinued<br>activities<br>£<br>463,066<br>1,588<br>2,628<br>7,383<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>2,136<br>215<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>62,057<br>-<br>-<br>-|Policy<br>£<br>127,755<br>49<br>-<br>1,025<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>28<br>30,940<br>-<br>-<br>2,949<br>52,703<br>-<br>-<br>-|Legal<br>Discontinued<br>activities<br>£<br>261,221<br>2,015<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|Policy<br>Discontinued<br>activities<br>£<br>170,208<br>1,646<br>-<br>29,128<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>5,425<br>44,670<br>75<br>-<br>3,857<br>200<br>-<br>-<br>-|Asset<br>transfers<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>266,141<br>-<br>-|||||
|83,214<br>17,323<br>1,235|575,412<br>355,117<br>25,314|539,074<br>363,778<br>25,932|215,449<br>129,921<br>9,261|263,236<br>-<br>-|255,209<br>-<br>-|266,141<br>-<br>-|61,742<br>-<br>(61,742)|866,139<br>(866,139)<br>-|3,125,615<br>-<br>-|2,182,319<br>-<br>-|
|101,772|955,843|928,784|354,631|263,236|255,209|266,141|-|-|3,125,615||
|59,313|||380,327|-|-|-|-||||



- Other expenditure refers to the transfer of assets of our discontinued activities.  Please refer to Trustees' report for more information. 

42 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

## 6b Analysis of expenditure (prior year) 

## Charitable activities 

|Staff costs (Note 8)<br>Other staff costs<br>Client support<br>Consultancy<br>Insurance<br>Promotion<br>Legal fees<br>Audit and accountancy<br>Governance<br>Premises costs<br>Office costs<br>Other costs<br>Subscriptions<br>LAA Costs<br>VAT<br>Project Costs<br>Depreciation<br>Support costs<br>Governance costs<br>Total expenditure 2022|Raising<br>funds<br>£<br>43,936<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>43,936<br>15,097<br>280<br>59,313|Legal<br>£<br>462,460<br>3,569<br>1,384<br>21,810<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>18,274<br>8,105<br>1,004<br>95,126<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>611,732<br>309,484<br>5,746<br>926,962|Programmes<br>£<br>414,595<br>303<br>3,406<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>2,227<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>72,268<br>-<br>492,799<br>317,032<br>5,886<br>815,717|Policy<br>£<br>216,491<br>-<br>375<br>12,754<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>80<br>16,480<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>18,819<br>-<br>264,999<br>113,226<br>2,102<br>380,327|Governance<br>costs<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>12,250<br>1,764<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>14,014<br>-<br>(14,014)<br>-|Support<br>costs<br>£<br>317,619<br>100,697<br>433<br>36,474<br>7,864<br>6,372<br>125<br>-<br>-<br>111,053<br>85,255<br>7,254<br>5,293<br>-<br>49,640<br>10,005<br>16,755<br>754,839<br>(754,839)<br>-<br>-|2022<br>Total<br>£<br>1,455,101<br>104,569<br>5,598<br>71,038<br>7,864<br>6,372<br>125<br>12,250<br>1,764<br>111,053<br>105,836<br>31,839<br>6,297<br>95,126<br>49,640<br>101,092<br>16,755|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||2,182,319<br>-<br>-|
||||||||2,182,319|



43 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

- 7 Net expenditure for the year 

This is stated after charging / (crediting): 

|e period ended 31 July 2023<br>to the financial statements<br>Net expenditure for the year<br>This is stated after charging / (crediting):|||
|---|---|---|
||14 months to|12 months to|
||31 July 2023|31 May 2022|
||£|£|
|Depreciation|16,754|16,755|
|Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):|||
|Audit|11,500|9,800|
|Other services|-|-|



- 8 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel 

Staff costs were as follows: 

|Staff costs were as follows:|||
|---|---|---|
|Salaries and wages<br>Social security costs<br>Redundancy and termination costs<br>Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes|14 months to<br>31 July 2023<br>£<br>1,468,596<br>24,739<br>154,895<br>58,000|12 months to<br>31 May 2022<br>£<br>1,270,123<br>3,400<br>131,467<br>50,111|
||1,706,231|1,455,101|



The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer's national insurance) during the year between: 

|||2023|2022|
|---|---|---|---|
|||No.|No.|
|£60,000|- £69,999|3|1|



The total employee benefits (including pension contributions and employer's national insurance) of the key management personnel were £367,731 (2022: £321,083). 

The charity trustees were neither paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2022: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2022: £nil). 

During the year, no travel expenses were reimbursed as trustee expenses (2022: £nil). 

## 9 Staff numbers 

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was 39 (2022: 40). 

Staff are split across the activities of the charitable company as follows (average head count): 

|Legal<br>Policy<br>Raising funds<br>Programmes<br>Support|2023<br>No.<br>1.0<br>12.0<br>12.0<br>7.0<br>7.0|2022<br>No.<br>1.0<br>12.0<br>12.0<br>7.0<br>8.0|
|---|---|---|
||39.0|40.0|



44 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

## 10 Related party transactions 

Trustee Maureen Cole-Burns' husband is a trustee of Trust for London, which gave grants to Just for Kids Law totalling £156,500 (2022: £85,000). These were restricted and can be seen in notes 2 and 3 of the financial statements. Maureen Cole-Burns resigned as a trustee in July 2022. 

Trustee Sufina Ahmad is the Director of the John Ellerman Foundation which gave  Just for Kids Law a grant of £50,000. 

Honorary Founder Shauneed Lambe is a Trustee of the Baring Foundation, which gave a grant to Just for Kids Law of £30,000 (2022: £0). This was restricted and can be seen in notes 2 and 3 of the financial statements. 

During the year, trustees in aggregate donated unrestricted funds of £590 (2022: £357). 

## 11 Taxation 

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes. 

## 12 Tangible fixed assets 

|Tangible fixed assets||||
|---|---|---|---|
|At the end of the period<br>Eliminated on disposal<br>At the end of the period<br>Net book value<br>Depreciation<br>Charge for the period<br>At the start of the period<br>Cost<br>Disposals in the period<br>Additions in the period<br>At the start of the period<br>At the end of the period|Leasehold<br>Improvements<br>£<br>82,008<br>-<br>(46,863)|<br>Fixtures and<br>fittings<br>£<br>15,117<br>-<br>(930)|<br>Total<br>£<br>97,125<br>-<br>(47,793)|
||35,145|14,187|49,332|
||23,430<br>11,715<br>(35,145)|9,148<br>5,039<br>(14,187)|32,578<br>16,754<br>(49,332)|
||-|-|-|
||-|-|-|



All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes. 

## 13 Debtors 

|All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.<br>Debtors|||
|---|---|---|
|Trade debtors<br>Other debtors<br>Accrued income|£<br>176,334<br>9,052<br>-<br>At 31 July 2023|£<br>39,922<br>35,565<br>8,759<br>At 31 May<br>2022|
||185,386|84,246|



All of the charity’s financial instruments, both assets and liabilities, are measured at amortised cost. The carrying values of these are shown above and also in note 14 below. 

45 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

14 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 

|e period ended 31 July 2023<br>to the financial statements<br>Creditors: amounts falling due within one year|||
|---|---|---|
|Taxation and social security<br>Transfers<br>Deferred income<br>Other creditors<br>Trade creditors|£<br>68,081<br>36,895<br>83,803<br>266,141<br>2,950<br>At 31 July 2023|£<br>58,443<br>42,444<br>84,204<br>-<br>16,571<br>At 31 May<br>2022|
||457,870|201,662|



## 15 Deferred income 

Deferred income comprises the deferment of grant income received in the year which must be recognised in following years as per the terms of the specific grants. 

|<br>years as per the terms of the specific grants.|||
|---|---|---|
|Balance  at the beginning of the year<br>Amount released to income in the year<br>Amount deferred in the year<br>Balance at the end of the year|£<br>16,571<br>(16,571)<br>2,950<br>At 31 July 2023|£<br>137,071<br>(137,071)<br>16,571<br>At 31 May<br>2022|
||2,950|16,571|



## 16a Analysis of net assets between funds (current period) 

|Analysis of net assets between funds (current period)||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Net assets at 31 May 2022<br>Net assets at 31 July 2023<br>Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)<br>Tangible fixed assets<br>Net current assets<br>Tangible fixed assets<br>Net current assets|General<br>unrestricted<br>£<br>-<br>467,608|<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>88,818|Total funds<br>£<br>-<br>556,426|
||467,608|88,818|556,426|
||General<br>unrestricted<br>£<br>97,125<br>633,127|<br>Restricted<br>£<br>-<br>288,774|Total funds<br>£<br>97,125<br>921,901|
||730,252|288,774|1,019,026|



16b Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year) 

46 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

## 17a Movements in funds (current period) 

|For the period ended 31 July 2023<br>Notes to the financial statements<br>17a<br>Movements in funds (current period)||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Legal<br>CMS Social Impact<br>Development (other)<br>Programmes<br>Mission 44<br>Development (other)<br>Access to Justice<br>Permira Equniox (TCS)<br>Trust For London (Good Homes)<br>Legal Education Foundation (including<br>Justice First)<br>City Bridge Trust (casework)<br>Goldsmiths Company Charity<br>Restricted funds:<br>Baring Foundation (Custody Time Limits)<br>Comic Relief (Safe Place to Be)<br>Allen & Overy Foundation<br>BBC Children in Need (Small Grant)<br>John Lyon's Charity<br>National Lottery Strive to Thrive<br>Oak Foundation<br>Education funds and one-off grants<br>Hardship fund<br>Mission 44<br>The Pilgrim Trust<br>Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity<br>Garden Court Chambers<br>Oak Foundation<br>Act for Change Fund<br>BBC Children in Need (Main Grant)<br>National Lottery Community Fund<br>Trust for London|At 1 June<br>2022<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>1,253<br>-<br>5,164<br>-<br>-<br>5,532<br>-<br>-<br>2,259<br>4,619|<br>Income &<br>gains<br>£<br>162,196<br>10,000<br>-<br>22,000<br>37,939<br>5,000<br>18,700<br>56,489<br>45,415<br>62,173<br>97,750<br>41,994|<br>Expenditure &<br>losses<br>£<br>(162,196)<br>(10,000)<br>(1,253)<br>(22,000)<br>(43,103)<br>(5,000)<br>(18,700)<br>(50,407)<br>(45,415)<br>(62,173)<br>(100,009)<br>(35,084)|<br>Transfers<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|At 31 July<br>2023<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>11,614<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>11,529|
||18,827<br>6,500<br>2,684<br>-<br>6,646<br>-<br>-<br>70,435<br>-<br>16,803<br>43,378<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>912<br>9,843<br>7,000|559,656<br>-<br>44,125<br>10,000<br>-<br>26,935<br>25,003<br>83,751<br>52,343<br>262,750<br>-<br>10,000<br>20,000<br>37,580<br>-<br>200<br>63,627|(555,340)<br>(6,500)<br>(46,809)<br>(10,000)<br>(6,646)<br>(26,935)<br>(25,003)<br>(154,186)<br>(52,343)<br>(279,553)<br>(43,378)<br>(10,000)<br>(20,000)<br>(37,580)<br>-<br>(1,583)<br>(53,158)|-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|23,143<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>912<br>8,460<br>17,469|
||164,201|636,314|(773,674)|-|26,841|



47 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

## 17a Movements in funds (current period) (continued) 

|Policy<br>Dulverton Trust<br>Impact Social Fund<br>Development (other)<br>Total restricted funds<br>General funds<br>Trust for London (Good Homes)<br>Comic Relief (Change It!)<br>Barrow Cadbury Trust (BAME)<br>EHRC<br>Esmee Fairbairn Foundation<br>Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust<br>Porticus<br>Mission 44<br>Paul Hastings (Corp Social Resp Fund)<br>Paul Hastings (Equitable Ed Fund)<br>KPMG Foundation<br>The Bromley Trust<br>Oak Foundation<br>Dawes Trust<br>Baring Foundation<br>Total funds<br>AB Charitable Trust<br>Barrow Cadbury Trust (T18)<br>Paul Hastings<br>Unrestricted funds:<br>Donations|At 1 June<br>2022<br>£<br>10,103<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>5,218<br>3,284<br>60,078<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>76<br>-<br>13,897<br>7,631<br>-<br>-<br>1,565<br>-<br>1,514<br>2,380|<br>Income &<br>gains<br>£<br>-<br>30,000<br>30,000<br>32,000<br>1,500<br>-<br>-<br>30,021<br>3,000<br>350<br>500<br>9,542<br>-<br>44,142<br>16,224<br>-<br>20,000<br>45,000<br>-<br>15,000<br>21,170<br>21,634|<br>Expenditure &<br>losses<br>£<br>(10,103)<br>(7,375)<br>(30,000)<br>(27,575)<br>(6,718)<br>-<br>(60,078)<br>(30,021)<br>(3,000)<br>(350)<br>(500)<br>(6,982)<br>(76)<br>(44,142)<br>(30,121)<br>(7,631)<br>(20,000)<br>(45,000)<br>(1,565)<br>(15,000)<br>(22,684)<br>(18,074)|<br>Transfers<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|At 31 July<br>2023<br>£<br>-<br>22,625<br>-<br>4,425<br>-<br>3,284<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>2,560<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>5,940|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||105,746|320,083|(386,995)|-|38,834|
||288,774|1,516,053|(1,716,009)|-|88,818|
||At 1 June<br>2022<br>£<br>730,252|<br>Income &<br>gains<br>£<br>1,146,962|<br>Expenditure &<br>losses<br>£<br>(1,409,606)|<br>Transfers<br>£<br>-|At 31 July<br>2023<br>£<br>467,608|
||1,019,026|2,663,015|(3,125,615)|-|556,426|



The narrative to explain the purpose of each fund is given at the foot of the following note. 

48 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

17b Movements in funds (prior year) 

|For the period ended 31 July 2023<br>Notes to the financial statements<br>17b<br>Movements in funds (prior year)||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Legal<br>Development (other)<br>Programmes<br>Development (other)<br>Legal Education Foundation (including<br>Justice First)<br>Mercers' Company<br>Comic Relief (Safe Place to Be)<br>Goldsmiths Company Charity<br>Trust For London (Good Homes)<br>Hardship fund<br>John Lyon's Charity<br>Oak Foundation<br>Permira Foundation<br>The Pilgrim Trust<br>Permira Equniox (TCS)<br>National Lottery Community Fund<br>Education funds and one-off grants<br>Garden Court Chambers<br>Act for Change Fund<br>Restricted funds:<br>Allen & Overy Foundation<br>Trust for London<br>City Bridge Trust (casework)<br>Baring Foundation (Custody Time Limits)<br>BBC Children in Need (Small Grant)<br>Oak Foundation<br>KPMG Foundation<br>BBC Children in Need (Main Grant)<br>Esmée Fairbairn Foundation|At 1 June<br>2021<br>£<br>-<br>5,003<br>-<br>5,705<br>-<br>9,718<br>5,000<br>3,107<br>2,634<br>2,436<br>33,603<br>37,568<br>6,510<br>5,888<br>26,010<br>5,286<br>29,482<br>25,000<br>59,109<br>34,884<br>-<br>28,099<br>-<br>-<br>912<br>11,414<br>3,691|<br>Income &<br>gains<br>£<br>15,000<br>-<br>35,000<br>44,553<br>17,000<br>81,105<br>-<br>20,923<br>50,000<br>46,783<br>310,364<br>-<br>43,625<br>-<br>375<br>4,000<br>6,065<br>-<br>165,794<br>67,263<br>75,000<br>-<br>10,000<br>25,842<br>-<br>-<br>70,884|<br>Expenditure &<br>losses<br>£<br>(15,000)<br>(3,750)<br>(35,000)<br>(45,094)<br>(17,000)<br>(85,291)<br>(5,000)<br>(24,030)<br>(50,375)<br>(44,600)<br>(325,140)<br>(31,068)<br>(47,451)<br>(5,888)<br>(26,385)<br>(2,640)<br>(35,547)<br>(25,000)<br>(154,468)<br>(85,344)<br>(31,622)<br>(28,099)<br>(10,000)<br>(25,842)<br>-<br>(1,571)<br>(67,575)|<br>Transfers<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|At 31 May<br>2022<br>£<br>-<br>1,253<br>-<br>5,164<br>-<br>5,532<br>-<br>-<br>2,259<br>4,619<br>18,827<br>6,500<br>2,684<br>-<br>-<br>6,646<br>-<br>-<br>70,435<br>16,803<br>43,378<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>912<br>9,843<br>7,000|
||273,853|468,848|(578,500)|-|164,201|



49 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

17b Movements in funds (prior year) (continued) 

|Policy<br>Development (other)<br>Total restricted funds<br>General funds<br>Donations<br>Barrow Cadbury Trust (BAME)<br>Esmee Fairbairn Foundation<br>Total funds<br>The Bromley Trust<br>Trust for London (Good Homes)<br>Act for Change<br>Barrow Cadbury Trust<br>Comic Relief (Change It!)<br>Dawes Trust<br>Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust<br>Paul Hastings<br>KPMG Foundation<br>Oak Foundation<br>Porticus<br>Unrestricted funds:|At 1 June<br>2021<br>4,400<br>6,512<br>840<br>8,640<br>3,284<br>46,966<br>896<br>2,141<br>6,143<br>7,255<br>16,927<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>1,255<br>(1)|<br>Income &<br>gains<br>5,703<br>-<br>-<br>29,250<br>-<br>59,000<br>375<br>29,344<br>-<br>31,425<br>-<br>20,000<br>15,000<br>9,158<br>24,101|<br>Expenditure &<br>losses<br>-<br>(6,512)<br>(840)<br>(32,672)<br>-<br>(45,888)<br>(1,271)<br>(31,485)<br>(6,067)<br>(24,782)<br>(9,296)<br>(18,435)<br>(15,000)<br>(7,644)<br>(22,976)|<br>Transfers<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|At 31 May<br>2022<br>10,103<br>-<br>-<br>5,218<br>3,284<br>60,078<br>-<br>-<br>76<br>13,897<br>7,631<br>1,565<br>-<br>1,514<br>2,380|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||105,258|223,356|(222,868)|-|105,746|
||412,714|1,002,568|(1,126,508)|-|288,774|
||At 1 June<br>2021<br>£<br>853,280|<br>Income &<br>gains<br>£<br>932,783|<br>Expenditure &<br>losses<br>£<br>(1,055,811)|<br>Transfers<br>£<br>-|At 31 May<br>2022<br>£<br>730,252|
||1,265,994|1,935,351|(2,182,319)|-|1,019,026|



50 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

Purposes of restricted funds 

## Legal 

Access to Justice  - Funding to help access to legal support. Allen & Overy  - Funding to support our school exclusions work. 

Baring Foundation  - Funding to support our youth justice work. 

City Bridge Trust  - Funding to support our casework. 

Comic Relief (Safe Place to Be) - Funding for a housing solicitor. 

CMS Social Impact Fund - Funding to support our casework 

Goldsmiths Company Charity - Funding to support our casework. 

Legal Education Foundation (including Justice First) -  Funding to support the Justice First Fellowship trainee solicitor. Mission 44 - Funding to support our School Exclusions work. 

Oak Foundation - Funding for reforming housing and support for children and young people through participation. 

Trust For London - Funding for our immigration work. 

## Programmes 

Act for Change Fund - Funding towards our work on school exclusion. 

BBC Children in Need (Main Grants) - Funding for youth advocacy, for clients who are under 18. 

BBC Children in Need (small grant) - Funding towards our Young Ambassadors 

John Lyon's Charity - Funding towards the youth advocacy project. 

Mission 44 - Funding to support our School Exclusions work. 

National Lottery Community Fund - Funding for our youth advocacy including our trainee programme. 

Oak Foundation - Funding for reforming housing and support for children and young people through participation. 

Permira Equinox (TCS)- Funding for a pilot  in-house therapy service for JfKl clients whose mental health needs were not met through statutory servicesfor children and young people. Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity - Funding towards our Young Parents Advocate 

The Pilgrim Trust - Funding for our young parents advocate. 

Trust for London Funding to support our campaigning work on housing. 

Hardship Funds - are given as small one-off grants where there is an immediate need. 

51 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

## Purposes of restricted funds (continued) 

Policy 

Donations - Funds contributing to our central costs. 

AB Charitable Trust - Funding towards tackiling racial sipproportionality and infringement of rights in police treatment of children. Baring Foundation - funding for our Youth Justice Legal Centre to design, market and deliver specialist training on racial injustice to criminal defence lawyers 

Barrow Cadbury Trust - Funding to develop reform proposals to assist children turning 18 in the criminal justice system. 

Barrow Cadbury Trust (BAME) - Funding to improve legal representation for BAME young people. 

Comic Relief (Change It!) - Funding towards Just For Kids Law child-led campaign Change It!, and towards advocacy and education community care, focused on West London. 

Dawes Trust - Funding to improve legal representation for children and young people. 

Dulverton Trust - Funding towards our Youth Justice Advice Line 

EHRC - Support towards the costs for children to participate in a working group in Geneva with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 

Esmee Fairbairn - Funding towards participation in the Leaving Care Learning Programme. 

Oak Foundation - Funding for reforming housing and support for children and young people through participation. 

Paul Hastings - Funding to create new and updating practitioner guides. 

Paul Hastings (CSRF) - Funding towards staff costs to support the Youth Justice Legal Centre. 

Paul Hastings (EEF) - Funding towards consultancy costs to support the Youth Justice Legal Centre. 

Porticus - Funding for our policy and legal work on school exclusion. 

The Bromley Trust - Funding towards child rights policy, and public affairs work. 

Trust for London- Funding to to support care experienced children with experience of homelessness to campaign for change. 

## Development (other) 

Access to work - Funding to support a memember of staff. 

CAF Keystone - A grant towards core development 

Drapers Charitable Fund - A grant towards core costs supporting casework. 

Legal Education Foundation - A grant to support stregthening sector capacity 

Paul Hamlyn - Funding towards core operational costs 

London Legal Support Trust - Funding towards the salary of a Billing Co-ordinator role. 

52 



Just for Kids Law Limited 

## Notes to the financial statements 

## For the period ended 31 July 2023 

The breakdown of development funds for 2022/23 was as follows: 

|CAF Keystone<br>Paul Hamlyn<br>London Legal Support Trust<br>Drapers Charitable Trust<br>Access to Work<br>Legal Education Foundation<br>Philip King<br>Mark Leonard Trust|At 1 June<br>2022<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>28<br>(7)<br>3,780<br>8,222<br>1,977|<br>Income &<br>gains<br>£<br>5,144<br>34,938<br>20,000<br>50,000<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>17,172|<br>Expenditure &<br>losses<br>£<br>(5,144)<br>-<br>(20,000)<br>(50,028)<br>7<br>(3,780)<br>(8,222)<br>(19,149)|<br>Transfers<br>£<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|At 31 July<br>2023<br>£<br>-<br>34,938<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>-|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||14,000|127,254|(106,316)|-|34,938|



## 18 Operating lease commitments 

The charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is as follows for each of the following periods 

|<br>the following periods|||
|---|---|---|
|One to five years<br>Less than one year<br>|2023<br>£<br>10,824<br>43,296|2022<br>£<br>84,204<br>78,000|
||54,120|162,204|



19 Legal status of the charity 

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £10. 

53