amphibian and reptile conservation Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Annual report 2023124 Introduction a. Background to the Organisation The Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust IARCI was established as a registered charity (Charity Number 11301881 in July 2009 and as an incorporated company Icompany Number 69329721 in June 2009 in England to lake on the charitable objectives of the Herpetological Conservation Trust IHCTI. 11 was intended to complete the transfer of HCT'S assets lo ARC during the financial year 2010111. However, this was not possible, and some remain to be transferred. On 24th June 2013 ARC also became a registered charity in Scotland- Scollish Charity number SC044097. The Trust's charitable objects are.. To promote and advance (directly or indirectly) the conservation and welfare of amphibians and reptiles, Iheir habitats and the wider environment on which they depend. To establish and maintain amphibian and reptile nature reserves and to undertake habitat management, reclamation, remediation and restoration and to promote the study of and appreci81ion of sustainable practices in such nature reserves and elsewhere. To execute. promote, support and publish research relevant lo species and habitat conservation pertinent to amphibians and reptiles. To advance the education and awareness of the public in amphibian and reptile conservation and conservation of the environment. To advance the above-mentioned objects in the UK, Europe and elsewhere in the world. ARC is a UK based organisalion and the focus of our work is largely within the UK. However. our remit and our Influen￿ extend into Europe and beyond, where we work with other nature conservation organisations, government bodies and European Institutions, such as the Ctsuncil of Europe and the European Commission. This allows us lo influence conservation actions for threatened amphibians and reptiles away from the UK, Influen￿ European legislation and advice which affects the UK, and to use our Influen￿ and knowledge to guide conservation effort at home. This report covers the financial year from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The Trust's aims for 2023124 The Business Plan and five-year strategic plan were reviewed lo provide a Work Plan for 2023124. During the year 202312024 ARC will.. Own nature reserves Continue lo maintain and manage our network of nature reserves looking lo ensure effective and sustainable management. Engage with discussion on new funding mechanisms ensuring that we have a clear understanding of these schemes and that we seek funding where appropriate for our nature reserves. Develop a work planning system lo enable more efficient planning, recording and reporting on sile aclivily. Review our suite of nature reserves against our intemal strategy review. Species programmes Maintain leading role and delivery of recovery programmes lor the rare species of amphibian and reptile including the pool frog, natterjack, sand lizard and smooth snake. Explore partnership arrangements with the slalulory nature conservation agencies and where possible look for opportunities to develop funded projects with them. Further develop the species action plans and produce reintroduction and monitoring plans for the rare herpelofauna. Develop and implement monitoring and surveillance programmes and management of national recording schemes. Develop ARC'S species data management and access arrangements to ARC'S Living ARChive database, further developing and rolling out the use of ARC Survey Hub which is built on the ESRI ArcGIS Online system. Input lo policy, including Local Nature Recovery Slralegies and developing and applying the concept of Favourable Conservation Status, providing example FCS statements and taking fotvlard pilot projects lo demonslrale the application of the concept. Complete with the delivery of externally funded projects. notably Snakes in the Healher,and Pool Frog Green Recovery Challenge project. Maintain engagement on district licensing projects. Engage with and further develop the European herpetological ne￿Ork RACE and explore project funding opportunities, including for a project defining Important Herpelofauna Areas in Europe. Maintain an overview of herpelofauna conservation in the UK Overseas Territories and look for opportunities for ARC'S involvement here especially through developing collaborative partnerships with organisalions in both the UK and the Overseas Territories. Communlcatlons and outreach Understand the role of engagement in developing ARC'S business,- establish actions and policies, and create products, that encourage greater participation and reduce barriers lo inclusion. Further develop ARC'S membership scheme lo widen ARC'S reach. Increase digital conlenl with partners and projects to deliver project funding and partner requirements. Plan and deliver conferences and events as host partner. Deliver ARC'S print publications and digital resources. Further develop ARC'S enquiries service, including updating FAQ'S and the information available on the website. Further develop and implement EDI policy for the Trust in partnership with NGO partners. and notably with Rethink Nature. Develop edLJ¢ational outreach for educational institutions and young people. Governance, Administration, Finance and Organisational development Maintain our programme of Trustees Meetings and meetings ol sub-groups of Trustees, including the Finance & Operations sub-group, and ensure compliance with reporting requirements. Undertake an annual review the Trusts. policies and Risk Register Aim lo complete the transfer of assets from HCT regarding ils nature reserves, ensuring that as leases come up for renewal they are renewed in the name of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and lo work towards transferring those in the name of individual Trustees to the organisalion. Develop the organisational strategy to 2030.. initiate review of organisalional structure and prepare five-year plan for 2023124 to 2027128. Finalise and deliver the Work Plan 2023124. Continue lo lightly monitor the budget system, via the management accounts. and to review the structure lo reflect the workslream forrnal. Continue lo invest in fundraising and developing and implementing our fundraising strategy. Maintain our programme of reviewing and revising the staff handbook, and conlracts of employment lo ensure compliance with Current employment law. Develop our financial management and planning systems lo align effectively with ARC'S strategy and annual work plans. ConlinLJe lo develop slralegic relationships to support the Trust, notably wit the NGO sector, and particularly including Rethink Nature, Freshwater Habilals Trust and with local amphibians and reptile groups. Continue lo review and implement changes following the review of our IT systems lo make the organisalion more resilient for the future. Further develop our new Customer Relationship Managernent ICRMI system lo include financial aspects such as membership, merchandise sales elc. Ensure compliance with GDPR and Ihal the necessary proce55es are in place lo enable compliance. Ensure effective management of the Trust with a programme of Senior Staff Management Toam meglings. Maintain programme of health and safety management. Ensure programme of staff reporting lo Trustees and Staff appraisals. Further develop and promote the commercial consultsncy arm IARCESLI and build on the achievable income with a view lo providing financial support for tho charity. Regional programmes Define role and scope for sustsined engagement with Regions and UK Countries. Continue the South Wales 'Connecling the Dragons, project delivery phase. Implernenl the submission for the delivery phase of the 'Species on the Edge, project in Scotland. Continuo with the S¢ollish project, funded by RS MacDonald and other funders. To continue lo look lor funding opportunities lo develop the project. Initiate the 'Nalur am Byth, project in Wales. Science Take forward existing PhD projects and engage with academic inslilulions. Further develop the Trust's Science Strategy. Run the annual ARCIBHS Science Meeting in 2023. Publish ARC work in scientific journals. Trainlng Develop ARC'S training plan.. Undertake Commercial training, and in particular with Field Studies Council. Develop the volunteer training programme lo complement ARC'S initiatives on monitoring. The organlsatlon of the Trust Trustees, Officers, Staff and structure The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of no less than three and no more than twelve members and this 8oard of Trustees directs the Trust. New Trustees are selected and appointed by the existing Board of Trustees at their formal meetings. The constitution requires the retirement of one Ihird of the Trustees al each AGM (held in March Trustees, Meelingl, but these posts can be re-appointed al the meeting. The Truslees held formal business meetings three times during the financial year, on 15th July and 241h November 2023 and 16th March 2024. The Finance sub-(x)mmittee mel on 16th June and 6th October 2023 and 23rd February 2024. The usual approach used lo elect new Trustees is to identify interested individuals who are then invited lo submit a biography and lo meet with a number of Trustees OT attend a Trustees, Meeting, where a decision is made on their being invited to join the Board. New Trustees are provided with a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association and are invited to the Office lo see the operation of the Trust. However, the Board of Trustees is keen to ensure S￿￿ession and to encourage has been a younger and more diverse Board of Trustees. We encourage Trustees lo engag& with the organisalion's Work Stream Working Groups. Relevant training courses identified by Staff and Trustees are brought lo the Trustees, attention. All Trustees of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust are also Trustees of HCT. During the year we saw the retirement of a Trustee, Jan Clemons and we welcomed a new Trustee Stephanie Davies. to the Board. A Finance and Operations Committee serves an executive function and consists of Jonathan Webster, Trustee, Jeremy Bruce, Trustee (Chair of Finance & Ops Commilleel, Dr Roger Mil¢hell, Trustee, Dr Tony Gent, Chief Executive, Jim Foster. Conservation Director, and Philippa Goodwin. Administrative & Finance Manager Isecretaryl. This Committee's duties are lo report lo the Board of Trustees on all major financial matters lincluding advising on the pay and benefits for key management personnel and olhersl, on such business as is deputed lo it by Board, and on any mallers which do not fall within the province of any other Group of ARC. The Committee is also responsible for any urgent business which needs to be dealt with at short notice. Day to day running of the Trust is delegated lo the Chief Executive Officer with key decisions, such as the approval of the Strategy and Business Plan, budget and employment of senior staff, being referred lo the Board of Trustees. The Trust manages risk through the Board of Trustees and senior staff with the focus of this activity being the Trust's Finance sub-commillee. Key risks, covering all aspects of the Trust's work. are identified in a Risk Register that is reviewed annually and levels of risk and miligalion measures are considered. Throughout the year we reviewed our three main areas of risk, these being the financial management of the Trust, the health, safety and wellbeing of Twst staff and ensuring that there is appropriate insurance in place to safeguard the Trust and ils activities. To mitigate against these risks, we have set out three strategies which are detsiled in the audited financial statements. Within the Trust there is a defined structure with clear management and reporting lines. The Trust coordinates its programmes of work through a Senior Staff Management Team, consisting of Dr Tony Gent ICEOI, Jim Foster (Conservation Direclorl, Philippa GO￿wIn (Adminislralion & Finance Manager), Gary Powell (Senior Reserves Manager), Dr Karen Haysom (Species Programmes Manager), Dr John Wilkinson (Science Programmes Manager) and Anju Sarpal (Communications and Engagement Managerl- The Senior Staff Management Team mel regularly throughout the year lo oversee the work of the organisalion. During the reporting period the Trust employed 56 members of staff, on full-lime or P8rt-time contracts, although not all were employed at thè same lime. At the end of March 2024, the Trust was employing 36 full-time and 12 part-lime staff. During the year we also had contract assistance from other fieldworkers who worked closely with the staff of ARC. Throughout the year the Trust continued lo use Contractors, supervised by ARC staff, lo cary out significant work for the Trust. These contractor activities included habitat management and professional advice. We provided supervision for five PhD projects running during the year. We remain grateful for the assistance from volunteers who helped with field surveys, at events and with consetvalion management tasks. Three formal staff meetings were held, both in person and via Teams durin9 the year and in addition to this, we continued with our monthly 'calch up, Teams meetings for staff and weekly drop-in meetings via Teams. particularly lo enable oul-posted staff lo continue lo interact with others in the organisation. Meetings of the Workstream Working Groups that oversee the delivery of the work plan and feed into the Business Plan and Strategy were also held during the year. We continued lo develop and review our policies and procedures during the year, and to update the ARC Staff Handbook and contracts of employment to comply with the lalesl employment legislation. b. Health & Safety Health & Safety is discussed formally by staff al all staff meetings and remains a high priority for the Trust. The Chief Executive Officer ensured that the Trustees were both kept informed of and given the opportunity to discuss health and safely issues at all Trustees, Meetings. The Trust's Health & Safety Group consists of Rich8rd Sharp {Heallh & Safely Officer), Tony Gent, Helen Vvraighl and Yvette Martin. The group mel on three occasions during the year and prior to the dates of our Trustee Meetings lo ensure that any issues could be included for the Trustee's Meeting Agenda and discussed by the Board of Trustees. Al the regular meetings the Health & Safety Group discuss the development and updating of policies and procedu￿$. The group continued to revise our generic risk assessments and continued work on our lone working procedures. Our Health & Safely Offi￿r undertook the annual revision of our Health and Safely policy and produced an annual report on Health & Safety within the Trust. The EAP (Employee Assistance Programmel has continued lo be useful for staff and ARC has retained this facility for employees. Home working had an impact on both stsff and the organisation, in a variety of ways, some useful and some not so useful, and the Trust has continued lo encourage staff lo relum lo the offi'ce where possible. Our Health & Safely Officer continued lo represent the Trust al NGO Conservation Safely Group meetings throughout the year. These meetings allow for an exchange of Health & Safety information and practices and specific issues can be raised al this forLJm. Funding and support The Trust continued lo develop ils new membership scheme during 2023-24, looking at different tiers of membership. The Trust continued lo use the services of a Fundraiser on a conlraclual basis lo help develop our fundraising slralegy and lo assist with project funding and core funding bids, to maximise income lo the Trust. The Trust remains a signed-up Charity with the Fundraising Regulator. We would like to thank the following organisations for their financial support during the year.. Anglian Water Animal Friends Banister Charitsble Trust Beveridge Charitable Trust British Herpelological Society Chapman Charitable Trust Flinlshire County Council Garfield Weston Helvellyn Herpelological Consetvalion Trust Hugh Fraser Foundation John Swire Trust Marjorie Coote Foundation Ministy of Defence National Lollery Heritage Fund Natural England Nalurespace Nature Network Fund Natural Resour￿8 Wales R.S. MacDonald Rural Payments Agency Scottish Natural Heritage Shropshire Wildlife Trust Siemens South Downs National Park Turcan Connell Welsh Govemmenl William Dean Charitsble Trust The Trust remains grateful for the donations it receives from individuals throughout the year. which, where possible, are maximised through Gift Aid. The Trust successfully tendered for several small projects throughout the year, and these added lo the Trust's income. The Trust is grateful lo the many volunteers and supporters who continue lo assist us in our work during the year. including help with field conservation management work. survey and monitoring and supporting us at shows and events and with fundraising effort. The Trust remains an active member of Wildlife & Countryside Link (W&CL}- a network of over 70 environmental bodies representing a joint membership of over 8 million people- that promotes the development of strong environmental policy and legislation in England and al the Westminster Parfiament. ARC is also a member of Wales Environment Link and Scottish Environment Link, the equivalent'sisler bodies, lo W&CL for Wales and Scotland ￿SpectIve1y. ARC remains dedicated lo working in p8rtnership,' in particular, we maintained our involvement with the Rethink Nalure partnership of seven species NGOS, comprising the Bal Conservation Trust, RSPB, Planllife, Butteffjy Conservation, Buglife. Bumble Bee Conservation and ARC, including exploring ftjrther landscape scale collaborative projects. We maintained an active involvement with the network of Amphibian & Reptile Groups and other specialist NGOS, and notably Freshwater Habitsts Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust. We have become increasingly active with UK Terrestrial Evidence Partnership of Partnerships {TePOPI, a ne￿Ork of monitoring organis8tions coordinated by JNCC. We maintsined our relationship with European NGO'S, continuing lo work both through the Reptile and Amphibian Conservation ELJrope IRACEI coalition, and through our continued involvement with the Societas Europaea Herpelologica ISEHI. RACE continued lo represent ARC'S interests on the European Habilals Forum. d. Statement of compliance The Trust has complied wlh all laws and regulations applicable lo the Charitsble Company. 4. Summary of financial position for 2023124 ARC had totsl incoming resources for the year of £,2,182,1171£2,148,920 in 20221231 and lolal expenditure of £2,259,5481£2,068,968 for 20221231 Isee Figs 1 & 21. The HCT donation of £389,3321£378.595 in 2022123} is made up of investment income from two endowment funds. Total Income £2,182.117 (ARC ONLY) Project funding, £265,385.00, 12 HCT donation. £389,332.00, 18% Other donations, £40.777.00, Lottery lundinEI Fundraising/ Misc income, £187.486.00. 9% £260,245.00, 12% ARC InvÈsrm E246,123.00, 11% Contract5. St3tuto Agencies/ RPA, £747,018.00, 34 £45,751.00, 2% Total Expenditure £2,259,548 (ARC ONLY) Communication & Outreach, £170,436.00, 8% Management & Administration, £337,998.00, Is% Own Site5, £662,385.00, 29% Science & TiaininE, E343,022.00, 15% Species Conservation, £745,707.00, 33% Figure 2 Proportion of Expgnditure by worfr area The Trustees maintsin a financial reserve for discretionary use and as a cushion in the event of financial shortfall on a year-lo-year basis as outlined in the Trust's 'Reserves Policy,. The lotsl group funds held is £7,021,4241£7,037,359 in 20221231 of which £5,061,3791£5,566,800 in 20221231 relates to reslricled funds. Of our total funds £1,362,305 is held as Fixed Assets and £3.927,364 is held as Investrnenls. After making allowances for these figures our'free" reserve lolals £1.653,439 (£1,090,579 in 20221231. Full details of our financial posilion are given in our audited accounts for the period. We continued our relationship with PKF Francis Clark as our appointed accountants. and through the year held numerous liaison meetings to ensure effective financial management. We continued lo track income and expenditure across the year. We have retained the bookkeeping in-house and moved across lo a new accounting package IXero} which is supported by our accountants, PKF, who assist with any queries. We continued lo implement the decision that was made previously lo move lo a 'higher return. policy for our investments. As a result of this, our investment yield has been good, and it was agreed to retain this policy for the next year Of so and review again at a later stage. 5. Achievements and performance for 202312024 Own Sites The management of sites under our control remains a key element of our conservation strategy. Our siles are split between the Weald, Dorset, Hampshire, Norfolk, Cumbria and Wales. The nature of our control varies between siles. We own 24 nature reseNes, which are mostly heathland siles in Dorsel, Surrey and Hampshire, covering 346 ha. The schedule of siles are in DoTsel, Ham Fuel Depot14.311,' Corfe Hills 14.71., Dunyeals139.451', Parley Common195.24); Lions Hill141.61,' Noon Hill14.631'. Malchams {0.371', Corfe 8luff17.0l', East Worgrel15.281', Great Ovens148.01.' Gree Pool14.51', Norden121.81,' Trigon14.081,' Canford Cliffs10.281-, Purbeck Close10.041', Uplon Esso10.361', in Hampshire, Blackmoor131.041', in Surrey, Gong Hill11.491', Hankley Gomez {3.01,' Willey1251', Lightwaler- Ralhbone10.081', in Cumbria, Hyion Marsh12.851', and in Wales. While Lion10.91', Fields Farm10.41. Other sites are covered by a variety of different leases, agreements and licences. Our programme of sile management IS fun by our Senior Reserves Manager Gary Powell and overseen in Dorsel by Senior Field Officer Chris Dresh and in Surrey and Hampshire by our Weald Reserves Manager Rob Free. Some issues with the funding from RPA remain bul we have made significant progress and built up a beller dialogue with the Rural Payments Agency that is enabling us lo resolve these issues more effectively. We have continLJed with our extensive management programme which includes scrub and tree removal, provision of bare sand and brad(8n management as well as wardening. This work involved the Trust's field team, professional contractors and volunleers and continued lo be recorded on the Countryside Management System sofvare ICMSil. Further work has continued developing the planning and reporting elements of CMSI as well as assessing other similar systems. This will allow us lo have a central system for planning, recording and reporting all habitat management work against an agreed 5-year plan. We are developing and improving our overall longer term management planning. The management for most of our reserves is funded via the Countryside Stewardship ICS) scheme. Nine of our sites in the PurfDeck area are entered in the development phase of the Wareham ARC Landscape Recovery Project, which should result in elevated levels of site funding for a peri(xJ of at least 20 years. A few of our siles remain in the older HLS scheme bul these will transfer to CS over the next few years. The Trust remains an active partner in the Dorset Urban Heath partnership which involves directing resources achieved through planning conditions on development lo offsetting the impacts of additional housing on heathlands. Our regular volunteer tasks have taken place in both the Dorsel and Weald areas during the winter and summer seasons. assisting with our nature reserves management programme. These have proved very popular and remain valuable i helping the Trust achieve ils programme of management work throughout the year and in promoting the Trust locally. We maintained support for local liaison groups associated with our siles to gain support and input lo the mana9ement work on our siles. b. Conservation Projects We conliriue lo work to improve the conservation slalus of amphibians and reptiles across the countries of the UK, working with both govemmenlal and non%ovemmenlal bodies, private organisalions and volunteers. We have maintained engagement with statutory biodiversity strategies, seeking to influence their development and promoting herpetofauna conservation through them. The Trust continued the delivery phases of both of the National Lollery Heritage Fund INLHFI funded projects 'Connecting the Dragons, lin Wales) and 'Snakes in the Heather. lin south of England) during 2023124. Both projects received four years funding from the NLHF and will deliver a wide range of benefits to herpetofauna. the countryside and the public during this lime. We continu8 to manage nature reserves in North Wales. ARC has worf(ed in partnership with Flintshire County Council on a range of amphibian and reptile projects across the region. ARC'S North Wales Officer continued lo be successful in securing additional funding from small projeclslgrants throughout the year lo help with ARC'S work in North Wales, notably, a large amount of Capital work was undertaken on a small number of North Wales sites as a result of the successfLJI application lo the Lottery forlhe Nature Ne￿Ork Fund. Key achigvements through working on spe¢i9s ¢0nseNatlon plans and programmes We continued our prI￿raMme of species Working Group meetings with external partners for the rare reptiles, natterjack load, pool frog, great crested newl and adder. The Trust remained actively involved with biodiversity policy work directly and through Wild5if8 & Countryside Link, Wales Environment Link and Scottish Environment Link. Specifically, we engaged with GB non-native species secretarial to address concerns around invasive species and the risks that they pose, led on the Natural Englandl Zoological Society of London's Disease Risk & Health Surveillance project with Natural England in connection with Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Species Conservation Strategies. We have developed approaches lo setting goals for area- based conservation with several projects looking al Favourable Conservation Status. Rare reptiles We continued our species recovery work for rare reptiles, including planning for rare reptile translocations. We continued to engage with landowners over managerllenl of rare reptile habitat and maintained our programme of 'Rapid Sile Assessments. to evaluate the condition of rare reptile habitats for both sand lizard and smooth snake. Rare amphibians ARC maintained the programme of regional recorders meetings that are essential for achieving effective national monitoring of natterjack loads. We continued lo make improvements lo the online recording system used for monitoring and improved the underfying maps. We continued lo provide sile management advice directly lo landowners, visiting many siles across the species, range, supported partners with conseryation Iranslocalions and offered training courses lo volunteers regarding moniloring for natterjack loads. ARC undertook further translocations of nalterjack loads lo our Blackmoor sile during the year. We received funding for Pool Frogs during the year from Beveridge Herpetological Trust, William Dean Trust and Douglas and Joanne Chapman Animal Trust lo help fund this work. ARC continued surveys and monitorin9 Of the species and checking population across the sites. Great Crested Newt ARC continued lo organise the half-yeady Great Crested Newl Working Gloup meetings. Vve remain part of the Natural England's Great Crested Newt Expert Licensing Panel. ARC continued lo engage with the Nalurespacel Newt Conservation Partnership District Licensing work- providing advi￿ and looking lo ensure this retains high stsndards and ambitions for the conservation of the species. Scottish Projects ARC continued with ils Saving Scotland's Amphibians and Reptiles project, continuing with Champhibians school pond adoption scheme and signing up MSPS lo be Nature Champions. The project continued to engage wlh Scollish Environment Link throughout the year. We received a grant from the Swire Trust to support our activities into 2024125. We held community and school-based events throughout the year and we have now established a close working group of volunteers who are sharing projects and suNeying siles. Through this project. we promoted adder conservation and care in the Highlands. involving both land managers and crofters. We continued lo hold a good number of walks and talks, and worked with youth groups and developed education materials for schools. Following Ihe success of online Iraining courses lasl year, these were run again during 2023124 and volunteer numbers have now increased to 221. ARC is part of a four-year National Lollery Heritage Fund mulli-partner project. involving Rethink Nature partners, Naturescot and others called Species on the Edge, launched in 2022123. ARC continued its engagement in 2023124 with our focus being through our Project Officer taking forward conservation work fr>r natlerjack loads and other species on the north Solway Coast. Welsh Projects Following ARC'S contribution via partnership between Rethink Nature, other NGO partners and Natural Resources Wales, lo the successful submission of the Natur am Byth Projeel bid lo NHLF, ARC appointed a new stsff member working on adders (Wales widel and dune species in Swansea Bay, including sand lizards. An extension lo the Connecting the Dragons project was granted and this project ran until November 2023. The pond Creation and restoration programme continued successfully through the season. A number of public engagement events look place, including awareness raising, PR and educational activib.es along with volunteer workshops and the creation of several grass snake egg-laying siles. We trained and mentored a number of volunteers on GCN survey, species identification and monitoring. Channel Islands and Overseas ARC remains a member oflhe UK Overseas Territories Forum. through which we promote the consetvalion of amphibians and reptiles in the UK'S Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. We are also partners in Jersey Pond Watch and Jersey Reptile Watch. aiming to promote species, monitoring in recovery in Jersey. c. Awareness and Education ARC has actively developed 8 prograrnme to encourage wider indusion. We have worked across the organisalion and engaged with a range of partners to evaluate our current position and lo develop our policies, training and approaches. We continue lo support our biodiversity nelwork through the annual Herpelofauna Workers Meeting which we jointly organise and run with ARG UK. The 2024 event was held in February in Fareham, Hants and the Science Meeting in partnership with BNSS. Our supporter base has increased lo 850 members and 1,000 volunteers nationally. Between April 2023 and March 2024, the ARC members scheme brought in over £27.7K lup £5K from last yearl. New members continue lo register at a steady pace via the website. Most new members are choosing to sel up regular payments, with several donating more than the minimum £3 per month. We have also gained one new life member1£600+givenl bringing the total lo 23. ARC tjndertook both face-to-face training programme and continued with online delivery throughout the year for both volunteers and professionals. We Continued lo develop and deliver our partnership Iraining programme with Field Studies Council and provided training lo support our volunteer engagement and for the Melropolilan Police. In addition, we provided opportunities for work experien￿ lor students. The Trust continued with a programme of walks and talks around our reserves in Dorsel, Surrey, Hampshire and Cumbria and we continued to allend sev&ral events both locally and nationally. ARC continued lo receive over 1,000 enquiries from the public, predominantly signposted by the RSPCA.. We continued to develop the FAQ section of our website with the aim of updating the advice currently available to the public and rnaking il more infomalive. ARC remained busy with ils media coverage throughout the year and our following continues lo grow. We increased the amount of news and information going out on social m￿la and this saw an uptake in followers. with 18.000 followers on Facebook and YouTube1775 plus subscribers and over 214K views) and over 17,900 followers on Twiller. We continued lo grow our followers on Inslagram15K plus followersl 3nd Linked In lover 19,600 followers). The addition of a TikTok account has engaged a younger audience with over 500 followers. Data taken from Google analylics shows belween April 2023 and March 2024 was visited by 187K users and received over 313K page views with the most popular being the species information pages and FAQ pages. Over £19K has been taken via the website in one off payments through 445+ transactions Idonalions, shop purchases and event regislralionsl and we have continued development and promotion of various fundraising aclivilies. We have also introduced ARC'S Teemill clothing store as an addition lo ARC'S shop. Two issues of our membership magazine Arc Eye were PTodu¢ed and sent to members, New ARC Membership schemes were launched - Junior," Students and Inlernalional, creating new resources and a new online section on the ARC Members Area on the website. Visitors lo the website continue to sign up lo receive ARC bi-monthly e-newsletter., the readership is now over 3,600. We continue lo support the joint social media Communications being undertaken by partners such as Natural England, Rethink Nature and Wildlife & Countryside Link. We carried out social media campaigns for World Frog Dsy, Arnphibian Awareness Week, Heath Week, Reptiles Awareness Day, World Lizard Day and Wodd Snake Day, amongst others. Broadcast and print media enquiries and coverage has been increased by the use of a new media library, enabling us lo archive images. audio and video, in a more topic lagged format and wider partner cornmunicab'ons and synopsis lo journalists in advance. d. Research and Monitoring We made significant progress in our monitoring and surveillance programme on several different fronts. We undertook further preparatory work lo launch the National Amphibian Reptile Surveys, including increasing the involvement of ARC staff, providing training, managing volunteer data and promoting survey protocols, and engaged with partner organisalions. We increased the use of the ARC survey hub, further developing ils content and making data more accessible. We further prornoled the Concept of important Herpetofauna areas through the Reptile & Amphibian Conservation Europe neiwork, through a workshop al the European Herp&lological Congress in Wolverhampton and via the Bern Convention's Expert Group on Amphibians and Reptiles. We produced a working version of an IHA map for Great Britain. We are currently supporting 5 PhD sludentships, including lil investigating UK toad declines in partnership with the Universits'es of Wolverhampton and Salford., lill studying impacts of invasive alpine newts with the University of Plymouth and ZSL and liiil analyses of monitoring data and its application lo describing status with the University of Kent and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. We both led on and contributed lo several papers published in peer reviewed Joumals and professional magazines. The annual ARC and British Herpetological Society Scientific Meeting was held in Bournemouth in November 2023. The event was well attended and provided a good variety of talks. e. Policy and Legislation A considerable amount of advocacy was generated around proposed policy and legislative changes and notsbly in England. Key areas of work revolved around the Land Use Planning systems. agriculture, water and biodiversity policy- the latter notably through changes introduced by the Environment Act 2021, Nature Recovery Networks, Local Nature Recovery Strategies ILNRSI and tree planting plans related to climate change miligalion. With other NGO partners we engaged with Govemmenl and ils agencies over the proposals lo meet the UK'S commitment lo achieving '30 x 30, li.e. to have protected and have in good management 30 /0 of the country by 20301. ARC remained actively involved in the development of new legislation and policy across the UK, through engagement wlh the 'Link' partnerships in England, Scotland and Wales, through working directly with Government and the nature conservation agencies and through working on practical implementation projects, such as our continuing active involvement with the implemenlalion of 'District Level Licensing, for Great Crested Newts including ￿preSentatIOn on Natural England's Great Crested Newt Licensing Expert Panel. Both in our Capacity as ARC and through our engagement with Reptile & Amphibian Conservation Europe IRACEI, we attended the Bem Convention's Expert Group on Amphibians & Reptiles Meeting in September. ARC co-wrote the UK'S report with the UK lead agency, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee IJNCCI. f. Developing ARC We continue lo invest in ARC'S IT infraslruclure. We undertook an options assessment related to the further development of our CRM system, which found that the costs of implementation could not justify the potential benefits to ARC at Ihis lime. This further development was deferred, and we began looking at other options available lo us. We created an IT Incident Management, Business Conlinuily plan and Disaster Recovery plan during the year and carried out a National Cyber Security Cenlre-supported virtual 'informalion security incident response, exercise which then infomed the above plans. ARC continues lo grow. and we will continue lo monitor and improve our infrastructure lo ensure that the systems in place are adequate lo cope with future requirements. ARC has continued to ensure compliance with GDPR, through our IT Manager. We have developed and produced the ARC Strategy to 2030. This document outlines who we are and what our future plans are. Governance of the Trust is undertaken by the Board of Trustees, who mel remotely three times during the year 81 formal Trustees Meetings and via a separate sub-group lo oversee financial adminislralion of the Trust. The Staff Handbook was updated to ensure compliance with current employment regulations and Contracts of Employment were reviewed over the year and amended lo reflect Changes in employment legislation. We also began a job description review for all roles within the Trust to better reflect current roles and responsibilities within the organisalion. We retained the serVi￿S of a contract fijndraiser working part lime for ARC during the year. This post continues to enable us to submit funding bids lo continue our existing work and look al new projects, increasing our capacity lo do so. We benefited from further legacy income during the year. ARC Ecological servI￿s Limited, our consultancy arrn, continued lo run a small number of contracts over the year. The consultancy continues lo offer one of the best options for bringing unrestricted funds into ARC. The Board of Directors of ARC ESL continue lo provide feedback to ARC Trustees al the ARC Trustee Meetings. g. Effective working The Trust continued its programme of Senior Staff Management Team Meetings, Health & Safely Meetings, Trustees, Meetings, Staff Meetings and budgetary meetings. Regular financial updates were given al the Finance and Ops sub-committee meetings and the subsequent Trustees. meetings throughout the year. The system of staff appraisals was maintained, and individual training needs identified and addressed. We continue lo outsource the TrLJSt's payroll but have ￿ntInued with our in-house bookkeeping, which is Cost and lime effective. This year we implemented a change of bookkeeping sofvare IXEROI to enable us to report better to Trustees and Worf(stream Managers on budget position. We continued lo use external Human Resource advice and expertise regarding staffing, policy and procedural issues. Outsourcing these areas of work continues lo offer the most efficient and cosl-effective way of dealing with these issues. We continue working with our pension providers and payroll department lo ensure that auto-enrolmenl is up lo date and that we are compliant in all aspects. 6. Future priorities and development of the Trust The ARC Business Plan and Work Plan for 2024125 were updated lo start planning ARC'S future priorities. During the year 202412025 ARC will- Own nature reserves Continue lo maintain and manage our network of nature reserves looking lo ensure effective and sustainable management and reduce environmental impact. Secure funding for site management, notably exploring options under new funding schemes Further develop and review our work planning system lo enable more efficient planning, recording and reporting on site activity. Implement a monitoring plan for ARC'5 nature reserves including developing impacu conservation target measures and produce initial baseline assessment. Species programmes Publish and promote Species Action Plans. Complete concise FCS slalements for all UK native amphibian and roplile species Advocate for local lo national integration for status and action planning e.g. Purbecks and Surrey. Direct conservation delivery lincluding captive breeding or rearing), in delivering actions plans for key species. Produce inlemal and external communications lo explain ARC'S National Amphibian and Reptile Monitoring Programme, ProdLJce an initial assessment of Important Herpelofauna Areas for the United Kingdom, Influence policy and legislation so that they appropriately consider herpelofauna. Further develop the European herpelological network RACE and explore project funding opportunities. including for a project defining Important Herpelofauna Areas in Europe. Maintain an overview of herpetofauna conservation In the UK Overseas Territories and look for opportunities for ARC'S involvement here especially through developing collaborative partnerships with organisalions in both the UK and the Overseas Territories. Communications and outreach Continue lo support a core sustainable education programme for ARC in England through science, education and engagement. Widen the Trust's reach as a forward-thinking and inclusive leader. Widen engagement through Media and members channels. Deliver a series of events and conferences, notably the Herpetofauna Workers Meeting in 2025 and provide a members. day and regional events. Produce EDI Policy and strategic plan and develop EDI assets. To develop and manage the involvement of high-profile individuals in order lo increase potential for SUPFX)rting fundraising and advocating ARC'S activities. Govemance. Administration, finance and organlsational development. Produce Annual Work Plan 2024125 Develop and communicate ARC'S slr31egyl five-year plan, with a view to reviewing the effectiveness of ARC'S organisational slruclure. Ensure compliance with completion of slalutory Charity and Company reporting, and through holding three Trustees. Meetings and an AGM during the year. Ensure continuity of Finance & Administration Managerfs role with a segregation of duties for Finance and Admin and HR functions. Establish and implement a programme of IT updates and renewals., ensure that cybersecurity is high on ARC'S agenda and implement recommendations from IT SLJb-group lo ensure secure and effective. Undertake an annual review the Trusts, policies and Risk Register Aim lo complete the transfer of assets from HCT regarding ils nature reseryes, ensuring that as leases come up for renewal they a￿ renewed in the name of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and to work towards transferring those in the name of individual Trustees lo the organisation. Ensure cost effectiveness throughout the Trust. Regional Programmes Develop options for a Sustainably funded programme in South Wales- and look lo develop this as model for wider application across the UK. Continue lo develop ARC in Scotland. through education, training and monitoring. Implement the delivery phase of the 'Species on the Edge, project in Scotland. Continue with the Scottish project, funded by RS MacDonald and other funders, which began in September 2021, having secured funding until 2026. Continuing with Nalur am 8yth project in Wales. Development of project work in Jersey. Sclence Ensure current PhD students are supported and complete and publish work. Training Assess training delivery in ARC, and in particular look lo the roles that should be being played by different people across the organisalion and the resotjrces that they need lo support them. Develop online training for sutveys, field taster sessions, monitoring and mentoring. 7. Patrons, Trustees and Senior Staff Patrons The Earl of Malmesbury Chris Packham lolo Williams Lucy Cooke Trustees (Directors} Mr Jonathan Webster (Chairman) Mr Howard Inns IVice- Chairman) Dr Roger Mitchell BSC, MSC, PhD. CBiol, FRSB (Treasurerl Mrs Jan Clemons BSC, MRSB- Retired April 2023 Professor Richard Griffiths BSC, PhD, FRSB Mr Jeremy Bruce MSC, BA Dr Robert Jehle Bsc, Pho Mr David Elliott, Bsc. MBA Miss Rebecca Turner, BSC, Msc Mrs Stephanie Davies The Trustees are appointed by approval of the full Board of Trustees. Senior Staff Members Dr Tony Gent PhD, CBiol, MRSB Mr Jim Foster BSC, MSC. MCIEEM Mr Gary Powell Mrs Philippa Goodwin Ms Anju Sarpal BA., MICPR Chart. Dr John Wilkinson BSC. PhD Chief Executive Officer Conservation Director Senior Reserves Manager Adminislralion and Finance Manager Communications and Engagement Manager Science ProgrammeslRegional Projeclslmanager Signed.. Dr Tony Gent Chief Executive Officer **Company No. 06932972 (England and Wales)** **Charity No. 1130188 (England and Wales), SCO44097 (Scotland)** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** **REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** **ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** |**INDEX**|| |---|---| ||**Page**| |**Trustees (Directors)**|**1**| |**Legal and Administrative Information**|**2**| |**Trustees’ (Directors’) Report**|**3 - 4**| |**Independent Auditors’ Report**|**5 - 8**| |**Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities**|**9 - 10**| |**Consolidated Balance Sheet**|**11**| |**Balance Sheet**|**12**| |**Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows**|**13**| |**Notes to the Financial Statements**|**14 - 29**| |**Schedules for Management Purposes**|| |**Detailed Income and Expenditure Account**|**30 - 32**| **1** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **LIST OF TRUSTEES (DIRECTORS)** ## **31 MARCH 2024** ## **Trustees (Directors)** Mr Jeremy Bruce MSc, BA Mrs Stephanie Davies (appointed 24 November 2023) Mr David Elliott BSc, MBA Professor Richard Griffiths BSc, PhD, FRSB Mr Howard Inns (Vice-Chairman) Dr Robert Jehle BSc, PhD Dr Roger Mitchell BSc, MSc, PhD, CBiol, FRSB (Treasurer) Ms Rebecca Turner BSc MSc Mr Jonathan Webster (Chairman) ## **Company Secretary** Dr Antony Hugh Gent BSc, PhD, CBiol, MRSB ## **Key Staff** Dr Antony Hugh Gent PhD, CBiol, MRSB (CEO) Philippa Goodwin (Administration and Finance Manager) Jim Foster, BSc, MSc, MCIEEM (Conservation Director) **2** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** |**Charity Registration Number:**|1130188 (England and Wales),| |---|---| ||SCO44097 (Scotland)| |**Company Registration Number:**|06932972 (England and Wales)| |**Registered Address:**|744-748 Christchurch Road| ||Bournemouth| ||Dorset| ||BH7 6BZ| |**Bank:**|Lloyds Bank Plc| ||582-584 Christchurch Road| ||Bournemouth| ||Dorset| ||BH1 4BH| |**Investment Managers:**|Investec| ||2 Gresham Street| ||London| ||EC2V 7QP| ||Schroder & Co Ltd| ||31 Gresham Street| ||London| ||EC2V 7QA| |**Auditors:**|PKF Francis Clark| ||Statutory Auditors| ||Towngate House| ||2-8 Parkstone Road| ||Poole| ||BH15 2PW| **3** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES (DIRECTORS)** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** The Trustees present their Report and the audited Consolidated Financial Statements, for the year ended 31 March 2024. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity and of the group. ## **Review of Activities** The Trustees have produced a separate Annual Report for 2023/24 reviewing the Trust Activities for the Herpetological Conservation Trust and the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust which incorporates the necessary narrative information required by the Statement of Recommended Practice. On 1 April 2011 a transfer agreement between the Herpetological Conservation Trust and Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust became effective. This is intended to rationalise the way in which the two charities work by transferring all the assets and liabilities relating to the operational work of the Herpetological Conservation Trust to Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. The agreement states that all assets and liabilities excluding the Permanent Endowment Fund be transferred from Herpetological Conservation Trust to Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. ## **Trustees** The full list of Trustees is shown on page 1. ## **Public Benefit** The Trustees have given due regard to public benefit when planning the charity’s activities, in accordance with the Charity Commission’s guidance on Public Benefit. The annual report sets out our activities, achievements and performance during the year, which are directly related to the objects and purposes for which the charity exists. The charity achieves its principal objects and purposes through the conservation elements of biodiversity for people now and in the future, offering general and specialist advice free to members of the public, landowners and land managers and managing a suite of nature reserves. These benefits are directly related to the aims of the charity and are fully compliant with the Charity Commission guidance on Public Benefit. ## **Reserves Policy** The Trustees aim to maintain a ‘reserve’ fund as an element of the unrestricted funds for discretionary use and as a cushion in the event of financial short-fall on a year to year basis. While accepting that this may not be possible in some years, the Trustees aim to see this amount grow year by year. At the year-end unrestricted group reserves were £1,497,540 (2023 £1,470,559). ## **Risk Management** - 1 The Trust undertakes Risk Assessments of the following areas: - Financial management - Financial liability - Health & safety - Nature reserves, other land and buildings - 2 The Trust ensures adequate insurance at all times to guard against reasonably expected risks. - 3 The Trust identifies the appropriate levels for its financial reserves via a separate policy. - 4 The Trust maintains an up to date Health & Safety policy addressing the health, safety and welfare of our staff and people affected by its activities. **4** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES (DIRECTORS)** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities** The trustees (who are also directors of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland". Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they 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 its income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards comprising FRS 102 have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation. The trustees are 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. ## **Disclosure of information to the auditors** We, the directors of the company who held office at the date of approval of these Financial Statements as set out above each confirm, so far as we are aware: - there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and - • we have taken all steps that we ought to have taken to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditor is aware of that information. ## **Auditors** A resolution to re-appoint PKF Francis Clark for the ensuing year will be proposed at the Annual General Meeting in accordance with Section 485 of the Companies Act 2006. ## **Small Company Provisions** The report of the trustees has been prepared taking advantage of the small companies exemption of section 415A of the Companies Act 2006. This Report was approved by the Trustees on 23 November 2024 and signed on their behalf by Jonathan Webster (Chairman) Director **5** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **Opinion** We have audited the financial statements of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Consolidated and Company Balance Sheet, Consolidated Cash Flow Statement and the related notes. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) including FRS 102 ‘‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland and the Charities SORP (FRS 102)’’. ## In our opinion the financial statements: - give a true and fair view of the state of the group's affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of its results for the year then ended; - have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and - have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). ## **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 charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. ## **Conclusions relating to going concern** In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the original financial statements were authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. ## **Other information** The charitable company trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report of the trustees (directors), other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. 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. **6** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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. ## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception** In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the financial statements. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) 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. ## **Responsibilities of trustees** As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities set out on page 4, the charitable company trustees 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 charitable company 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 charitable company 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 charitable company 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 is detailed below: **7** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** As part of our audit planning we obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that is applicable to the Charity. We gained an understanding of the Charity and the sector in which the Charity operates as part of this assessment to identify the key laws and regulations affecting the Charity. As part of this, we reviewed the Charity’s website for an indication of any regulations in place and discussed these with the relevant individuals responsible for compliance. The key regulations we identified were Charity legislation, health and safety regulations and employment law. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the Charities Act 2011 and Charities SORP - FRS 102. We discussed with management and trustees how the compliance with these laws and regulations is monitored and discussed policies and procedures in place. We also identified the individuals who have responsibility for ensuring that the Charity complies with laws and regulations and deals with reporting any issues if they arise. As part of our planning procedures, we assessed the risk of any non-compliance with laws and regulations on the Charity’s ability to continue trading and the risk of material misstatement to the accounts. Based on this understanding we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance with such laws and regulations. Our procedures involved the following: - Enquiries of management and trustees regarding their knowledge of any non-compliance with laws and regulations that could affect the financial statements. As part of these enquiries we also discussed with management whether there have been any known instances, allegations or suspicions of fraud. - Reviewed filings with the Charity Commission and whether there were any serious incident reports made during the year. - Discussed with management whether any reportable health and safety incidents occurred under the requirements of RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) during the year. - Reviewed legal and professional costs to identify any possible non-compliance or legal costs in respect of non-compliance. - Reviewed Board minutes. We assessed the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement via three significant risks. The first was management override or fraud and obtained an understanding of the controls in place to mitigate the risk of fraud. Secondly, we evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. Finally, we assessed the risk of the unrestricted and restricted funds being materially misstated, as the charity has a number of restricted income streams which have costs attributed to them, some of which are estimated. Based upon our understanding we designed and conducted audit procedures including: - Auditing the risk of management override of controls, including through testing journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, and evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business. - Reviewing estimates and judgements made in the accounts for any indication of bias. - Agreeing contract and grant income contracts to amounts posted to the income nominals. - Agreeing accrued income to amounts received post year end in the bank account. **8** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** - Reviewing grant and income contracts for restrictions to ensure that the restricted income and expenditure is accurately represented in the financial statements. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located 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 trustees, as a body, in accordance with chapter 3 of part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and in accordance with Section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' 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 its trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. _Adrian Way FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of PKF Francis Clark, Statutory Auditor, Towngate House 2 – 8 Parkstone Road, Poole, BH15 2PW_ _Date: 4 December 2024_ **9** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIED (INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** |**Note**
**Income and endowments**
**from:**
Donations and legacies
2
Other trading activities
3
Investments
4
Charitable activities
5
Other
6
**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
7
Charitable activities
8
Total expenditure
**Net gains/losses on**
**investments**
Realised
Unrealised
**Net income/expenditure**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**Total**
**2024**
**Total**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**443,218**
**-**
**443,218**
476,010
**4,059**
**-**
**4,059**
1,812
**19,846**
**232,794**
**252,640**
245,086
**83,528**
**1,384,704**
**1,468,232**
1,331,572
**37,123**
**-**
**37,123**
102,894
**587,774**
**1,617,498**
**2,205,272**
2,157,374
**-**
**24,998**
**24,998**
26,256
**277,144**
**1,976,029**
**2,253,173**
2,050,876
**277,144**
**2,001,027**
**2,278,171**
2,077,132
**-**
**(726)**
**(726)**
(9,657)
**-**
**57,691**
**57,691**
(405,201)
**310,629**
**(326,564)**
**(15,935)**
(334,616)| |---|---| ||| **10** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIED (INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** |**Note**
**Net incoming resources**
**before transfers (from**
**page 9)**
Gross transfers between
funds
**Net movement in funds**
**Reconciliation of funds**
Funds brought forward
**Funds carried forward**
22|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**Total**
**2024**
**Total**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**310,629**
**(326,564)**
**(15,935)**
(334,616)
**178,857**
**(178,857)**
**-**
-
**489,486**
**(505,421)**
**(15,935)**
(334,616)
**1,470,559**
**5,566,800**
**7,037,359**
7,371,975
**1,960,045**
**5,061,379**
**7,021,424**
7,037,359| |---|---| All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities. The notes on pages 14 to 29 form part of these financial statements. **11** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET** ## **AS AT 31 MARCH 2024** |**Note**
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible Fixed Assets
16
Investments
17
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Debtors
18
Cash at bank and in hand
**LIABILITIES FALLING DUE WITHIN**
**ONE YEAR**
Creditors
19
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
**NET ASSETS**
**FUNDS**
Unrestricted
22
Restricted|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**1,362,305**
1,368,947
**3,927,364**
3,890,615
**5,289,669**
5,259,562
**854,942**
856,450
**1,093,114**
1,177,422
**1,948,056**
2,033,872
**216,301**
256,075
**1,731,755**
1,777,797
**7,021,424**
7,037,359
**1,960,045**
1,470,559
**5,061,379**
5,566,800
**7,021,424**
7,037,359|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**1,362,305**
1,368,947
**3,927,364**
3,890,615
**5,289,669**
5,259,562
**854,942**
856,450
**1,093,114**
1,177,422
**1,948,056**
2,033,872
**216,301**
256,075
**1,731,755**
1,777,797
**7,021,424**
7,037,359
**1,960,045**
1,470,559
**5,061,379**
5,566,800
**7,021,424**
7,037,359| |---|---|---| |||5,259,562
1,777,797| |||7,037,359| |||7,037,359| These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the smaller companies’ regime. Approved by the Board of Trustees on 23 November 2024 and signed on its behalf by Jonathan Webster (Chairman) Director The notes on pages 14 to 29 form part of these financial statements. **12** **Company Number: 06932972 (England and Wales)** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024** |**Note**
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible Fixed Assets
16
Investments
17
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Debtors
18
Cash at bank and in hand
**LIABILITIES FALLING DUE WITHIN**
**ONE YEAR**
Creditors
19
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
**NET ASSETS**
**FUNDS**
Unrestricted
22
Restricted|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**1,362,305**
1,368,947
**3,927,464**
3,890,715
**5,289,769**
5,259,662
**875,263**
876,832
**1,063,730**
1,152,456
**1,938,993**
2,029,288
**210,939**
250,660
**1,728,054**
1,778,628
**7,017,823**
7,038,290
**1,956,444**
1,471,490
**5,061,379**
5,566,800
**7,017,823**
7,038,290|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**1,362,305**
1,368,947
**3,927,464**
3,890,715
**5,289,769**
5,259,662
**875,263**
876,832
**1,063,730**
1,152,456
**1,938,993**
2,029,288
**210,939**
250,660
**1,728,054**
1,778,628
**7,017,823**
7,038,290
**1,956,444**
1,471,490
**5,061,379**
5,566,800
**7,017,823**
7,038,290| |---|---|---| |||5,259,662
1,778,628| |||7,038,290| |||7,038,290| These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the smaller companies’ regime. Approved by the Board of Trustees on 23 November 2024 and signed on its behalf by Jonathan Webster (Chairman) Director The notes on pages 14 to 29 form part of these financial statements. **13** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** |**Note**
**Cash flow from operating activities**
Net income/(expense)
Depreciation
16
Investment Income
4
(Gains)/Losses on investments
11
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
(Decrease)/increase in creditors
**Cash flow from operating activities**
**Cash flow from investing activities**
Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets
16
Payments to acquire investments
17
Receipts from sales of investments
Investment income
4
**Net cash flow from investing activities**
**Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents**
**Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April 2023**
**Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2024**
**Cash and cash equivalents consist of:**
Cash at bank and in hand
Cash held by investment managers
**Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2024**|**2024**
**£**
**(15,935)**
**19,812**
**(252,640)**
**(57,691)**
**1,508**
**(39,774)**
**(344,720)**
**(13,170)**
**(309,215)**
**293,618**
**252,640**
**223,872**
**(120,848)**
**1,343,454**
**1,222,606**
**1,093,114**
**129,492**
**1,222,606**|**2023**
**£**
(334,616)
26,560
(245,086)
414,858
(20,000)
(6,803)
(165,087)
-
(222,043)
307,084
245,086
330,127
165,040
1,178,414
1,343,454
1,177,422
166,032
1,343,454| |---|---|---| **14** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **1. Summary of significant accounting policies** ## **a.** ## **General information and basis of preparation** Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust is a charitable company registered in the United Kingdom. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 2 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are as detailed on page 3 and 4. The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. 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) issued on 16 July 2014, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Practice as it applies from 1 January 2015. The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain items at fair value. The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity. The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated. ## **b. Basis of consolidation** The consolidated financial statements consolidate the financial statements of the charity and its subsidiary undertakings drawn up to 31 March 2024. No statement of financial activities is presented for the charity as permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006. The charity made a surplus/ (deficit) for the financial year of (£20,467) (2023: (£323,844)). A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the charity. Control is achieved where the charity has the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities. Inter-company transactions, balances and unrealised gains on transactions between the charity and its subsidiaries, which are related parties, are eliminated in full. Intra-group losses are also eliminated but may indicate an impairment that requires recognition in the consolidated financial statements. ## **c.** ## **Funds** General unrestricted funds comprise the accumulated surplus or deficit on income and expenditure account. They are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the Charitable company and which have not been designated for other purposes. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside at the discretion of the Trustees for specific purposes. The purpose and use of the designated unrestricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements. Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements. **15** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **d. Income recognition** All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received. Donations and legacy income represent amounts receivable during the period and are recognised where entitlement has been established, there is certainty of receipt and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability. Gift-Aid income is included gross of attributable tax recoverable. Legacy gifts are recognised on a case by case basis following the grant of probate when the administrator/executor for the estate has communicated in writing both the amount and settlement date. In the event that the gift is in the form of an asset other than cash or a financial asset traded on a recognised stock exchange, recognition is subject to the value of the gift being reliably measurable with a degree of reasonable accuracy and the title to the asset having been transferred to the charity. Grants represent voluntary amounts attributable to the period covered by the Accounts and are recognised on an accruals basis. Grants received in respect of future periods are carried forward as deferred income in creditors. Government grants receivable as compensation for expenses already incurred will be recognised in the income and expenditure in the same period in which the related expenditure is incurred.) Income from trading activities includes income earned from fundraising events and trading activities to raise funds for the charity. Income is received in exchange for supplying goods and services in order to raise funds and is recognised when entitlement has occurred. Investment income is earned through holding assets for investment purposes such as share. It includes dividends and interest. Income is recognised in the period in which it is earned and is included gross of attributable tax recoverable. Other than significant donated income-in kind, no account is taken of the substantial contributions made by the many volunteers and volunteer organisations who provide various services and supplies free of charge. ## **e.** ## **Expenditure recognition** All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs relating to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It is categorised under the following headings: - Costs of raising funds - Expenditure on charitable activities; and - Other expenditure represents those items not falling into the categories above. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as an expense against the activity for which expenditure arose. Grants payable to third parties are within the charitable objectives. **16** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **f.** ## **Support costs allocation** Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs, governance costs and administrative payroll costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include project management carried out at head office. The analysis of these costs is included in note 9. ## **g.** ## **Tangible fixed assets** Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost (or deemed cost) less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. Cost includes costs directly attributable to making the asset capable of operating as intended. Expenditure on land acquired for management, including costs of acquisition, is capitalised and is not depreciated. Donated land and buildings are included at their current value at the date of the gift. Land and buildings are not revalued. Depreciation is provided on other fixed assets, at rates calculated to write off the costs, less estimated residual value, of each asset on a systematic basis over its expected useful life as follows: |Leasehold property|- 50 years straight line| |---|---| |Leasehold improvements|- 25 years straight line| |Motor vehicles|- 4 years straight line| |Tools and equipment|- 4 years straight line| |Computer and office equipment|- 4 years straight line| ## **h. Investments** Investments held as fixed assets, are held under a discretionary management agreement, on behalf of the Fund’s Trustees, and are recognised initially at fair value which is normally the transaction price excluding transaction costs. Subsequently, they are measured at fair value with changes recognised in ‘net gains/ (losses) on investments’ in the SOFA. Fair value is determined on the basis of the market value of the investments and uninvested cash comprising the portfolio (excluding accrued interest) at the accounting date. Market value for equities and fixed-interest securities is the last traded price or the closing midmarket quoted price. For unit trusts, the mid-market price prevailing on the balance sheet date is used. Accrued interest is excluded from the valuation of fixed interest stocks but is included in debtors as accrued income. Investments in subsidiaries are measured at cost less impairment. ## **i.** ## **Debtors and creditors receivable/payable within one year** Debtors and creditors with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in expenditure. ## **j.** ## **Cash and cash equivalents** Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. **17** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **k. Operating leases** Rentals payable under operating leases where substantially all the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor are charged to the SOFA on a straight line basis over the term of the lease. ## **l. Pensions** The charity contributes to an auto-enrolment Legal & General scheme for all employees. Contributions payable to these plans are charged against income in the period in which they fall due ## **m.** ## **Tax** The charitable company is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011 and is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. ## **n.** ## **Going concern** The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. In the opinion of the board, the charity has sufficient working capital to continue to meet its financial obligations and pay its liabilities as they fall due for the foreseeable future. The board have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure is sufficient with the level of reserves held for the charity to be able to continue as a going concern. ## **o.** ## **Public Benefit Entity Concessionary Loans** Concessionary loans to/from other public benefit entities are initially recognised at the amount paid or received. Loans are subsequently adjusted to take account of interest payable or receivable, and any indicators of impairment losses. ## **2. Income from donations and legacies** |**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
Donations
**26,162**
Donations from HCT
**389,332**
Friends income
**27,724**
**443,218**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
Donations
**26,162**
Donations from HCT
**389,332**
Friends income
**27,724**
**443,218**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**-**
**26,162**
74,655
**-**
**389,332**
378,595
**-**
**27,724**
22,760
**-**
**443,218**
476,010| |---|---|---| ||**443,218**|| All income in the prior year was attributable to unrestricted funds. **18** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **3. Income from other trading activities** |**Income from other trading activities**|**Income from other trading activities**|| |---|---|---| |**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
Merchandising sales
**4,059**
**4,059**||**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**-**
**4,059**
1,812
**-**
**4,059**
1,812| ||**4,059**|| All income in the prior year was attributable to unrestricted funds. ## **4. Income from investments** |**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
Bank interest
**19,846**
Investment income
**-**
ARC ES Loan interest
**-**
**19,846**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
Bank interest
**19,846**
Investment income
**-**
ARC ES Loan interest
**-**
**19,846**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**-**
**19,846**
2,762
**232,794**
**232,794**
242,324
**-**
**-**
-
**232,794**
**252,640**
245,086| |---|---|---| ||**19,846**|| £242,324 of income in the prior year was attributable to restricted funds and £2,762 was attributable to unrestricted funds. ## **5. Income from charitable activities** |**Income from charitable activities**||| |---|---|---| |Workstream 1 - Nature reserves
Workstream 2 - Conservation and
species programmes
Workstream 3 - Communication and
outreach
Workstream 4 - Administration and
finance
Workstream 5 - Regional training and
science programmes
ARC Ecological Services|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
-
-
-
58,157
**-**
25,371|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
734,154
734,154
683,056
552,492
552,492
613,012
-
-
-
**-**
58,157
-
98,058
98,058
27,050
-
25,371
8,454
**1,384,704**
**1,468,232**
**1,331,572**| ||**83,528**|| £1,331,572 of income in the prior year was attributable to restricted funds and £Nil was attributable to unrestricted funds. **19** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **6. Other income** |**Other income**|**Other income**|| |---|---|---| |**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
Miscellaneous income
**104**
Miscellaneous Contracts
**37,019**
Profit on disposal of asset
**-**
**37,123**||**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**-**
**104**
291
**-**
**37,019**
26,237
**-**
**-**
76,366
**-**
**37,123**
102,894| ||**37,123**|| All income in the prior year was attributable to unrestricted funds. ## **7. Investment management costs** ||**2024**|**2023**| |---|---|---| ||**£**|**£**| |Investment manager fees|**24,998**|26,256| All of the above costs were attributable to restricted funds. **20** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **8. Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities** |**Costs of activities in furtherance of the Charity’s objects**
Expenditure by area
WS1 - Nature reserves
WS2 - Conservation and species programmes
WS3 - Communication and outreach
WS4 - Administration and finance
WS5 - Regional training and science programmes
ARC Ecological Services|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
662,385
693,997
745,707
718,312
170,436
188,979
313,000
397,510
343,022
43,914
18,623
8,164
**2,253,173**
**2,050,876**| |---|---| The analysis of expenditure for 2024 is as follows: |**u**
**Activities**
**ndertaken**
**directly**
**Support co ts**
**£**
**£**
WS1 - Nature reserves
218,529
443,856
WS2 - Conservation and species programmes
94,889
650,818
WS3 - Communication and outreach
7,886
162,550
WS4 - Administration and finance
25,989
287,011
WS5 - Regional training and science programmes
92,454
250,568
ARC Ecological Services
18,623
-
**458,370**
**1,794,803**|**Total**
**£**
662,385
745,707
170,436
313,000
343,022
18,623
**2,253,173**| |---|---| £1,278,472 of expenditure in the prior year was attributable to restricted funds and £772,404 was attributable to unrestricted funds. **21** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **9. Allocation of support costs** |WS1 - Nature reserves
WS2 - Conservation and species programmes
WS3 - Communication and outreach
WS4 - Administration and finance
WS5 - Regional training and science programmes
**Total**|**Salaries**
**and related**
**costs**
**Office**
**overheads**
**Vehicle**
**costs**
**£**
**£**
**£**
365,798
65,504
6,178
536,365
96,046
9,059
133,964
23,989
2,263
189,481
33,930
3,200
206,503
36,978
3,488
**1,432,111**
**256,447**
**24,188**|**Insurances**
**Governance**
**costs**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
6,375
-
**443,855**
9,348
-
**650,818**
2,335
-
**162,551**
3,302
57,098
**287,011**
3,599
-
**250,568**
**24,959**
**57,098**
**1,794,803**| |---|---|---| **22** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **10. Governance costs** |Committee and meeting expenses
Auditors’ remuneration
Auditors’ remuneration – non audit work
Legal and professional fees|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**3,399**
9,235
**17,000**
16,620
**15,785**
17,925
**20,914**
28,800
**57,098**
72,580| |---|---| ## **11. Net income for the year** |**Net income for the year**||| |---|---|---| ||**2024**|**2023**| ||**£**|**£**| |Net income is stated after charging:-||| |Staff costs (Note 14)|**1,432,111**|1,259,796| |Auditors’ remuneration - audit|**17,000**|16,620| |- other|**15,785**|17,925| |Depreciation|**19,812**|26,560| |Operating lease rentals|**6,264**|5,916| |(Profit)/loss on fair value movement of investments|**(57,691)**|414,858| ## **12. Auditor’s remuneration** The auditor’s remuneration amounts to an audit fee of £17,000 (2023: £16,620) and other services of £15,785 (2023: £17,925). ## **13. Trustees’ and key management personnel remuneration and expenses** The trustees neither received nor waived any remuneration during the year (2023: £Nil). The total amount of employee remuneration received by key management personnel is £155,408 (2023: £146,875). The trust considers its key management personnel comprise Philippa Goodwin, Dr Antony Gent and James Foster. Trustees’ expenses reimbursed for travelling and meeting costs during the year amounted to £685 (2023: £441). Three (2023: One) Trustees were in receipt of reimbursed expenses. ## **14. Staff costs and employee benefits** |Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Other pension costs|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**1,227,087**
1,076,440
**110,416**
101,893
**94,608**
81,463| |---|---| ||**1,432,111**
1,259,796| The average number of employees (excluding contract labour) during the year was 47 (2023: 41). No employee is paid over £60,000. **23** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **15. Pension Scheme** ## **Defined contribution pension scheme** The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The pension cost for the year amounted to £94,608 (2023: £81,463). At the year-end £9,625 was due in respect of pension contributions (2023: £12,647). ## **16. Tangible fixed assets** |**Group and charity**
**Land and**
**Buildings**
**Computer &**
**Office**
**Equipment**
**Motor**
**Vehicles**
**Tools &**
**equipment**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**Cost**
At 1 April 2023
**1,430,893**
**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**1,584,987**
Additions
**-**
**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**13,170**
Disposals
**-**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**
At 31 March 2024
**1,430,893**
**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**1,444,063**
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2023
**61,946**
**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**216,040**
Charge for year
**16,519**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**19,812**
Disposals
**-**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**
At 31 March 2024
**78,465**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**81,758**
31 March 2024
**1,352,428**
**3,772**
**-**
**6,105**
**1,362,305**
31 March 2023
1,368,947
-
-
-
1,368,947|**Group and charity**
**Land and**
**Buildings**
**Computer &**
**Office**
**Equipment**
**Motor**
**Vehicles**
**Tools &**
**equipment**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**Cost**
At 1 April 2023
**1,430,893**
**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**1,584,987**
Additions
**-**
**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**13,170**
Disposals
**-**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**
At 31 March 2024
**1,430,893**
**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**1,444,063**
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2023
**61,946**
**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**216,040**
Charge for year
**16,519**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**19,812**
Disposals
**-**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**
At 31 March 2024
**78,465**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**81,758**
31 March 2024
**1,352,428**
**3,772**
**-**
**6,105**
**1,362,305**
31 March 2023
1,368,947
-
-
-
1,368,947|**Group and charity**
**Land and**
**Buildings**
**Computer &**
**Office**
**Equipment**
**Motor**
**Vehicles**
**Tools &**
**equipment**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**Cost**
At 1 April 2023
**1,430,893**
**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**1,584,987**
Additions
**-**
**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**13,170**
Disposals
**-**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**
At 31 March 2024
**1,430,893**
**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**1,444,063**
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2023
**61,946**
**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**216,040**
Charge for year
**16,519**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**19,812**
Disposals
**-**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**
At 31 March 2024
**78,465**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**81,758**
31 March 2024
**1,352,428**
**3,772**
**-**
**6,105**
**1,362,305**
31 March 2023
1,368,947
-
-
-
1,368,947|**Group and charity**
**Land and**
**Buildings**
**Computer &**
**Office**
**Equipment**
**Motor**
**Vehicles**
**Tools &**
**equipment**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**Cost**
At 1 April 2023
**1,430,893**
**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**1,584,987**
Additions
**-**
**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**13,170**
Disposals
**-**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**
At 31 March 2024
**1,430,893**
**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**1,444,063**
**Depreciation**
At 1 April 2023
**61,946**
**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**216,040**
Charge for year
**16,519**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**19,812**
Disposals
**-**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**
At 31 March 2024
**78,465**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**81,758**
31 March 2024
**1,352,428**
**3,772**
**-**
**6,105**
**1,362,305**
31 March 2023
1,368,947
-
-
-
1,368,947| |---|---|---|---| ||**1,430,893**||**5,028**
**-**
**8,142**
**1,444,063**| ||**61,946**
**16,519**
**-**||**78,188**
**75,906**
**-**
**216,040**
**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**19,812**
**(78,188)**
**(75,906)**
**-**
**(154,094)**| ||**78,465**||**1,256**
**-**
**2,037**
**81,758**| ||||| ||**1,352,428**||**3,772**
**-**
**6,105**
**1,362,305**| ||1,368,947||-
-
-
1,368,947| Note: Included in land and Buildings is Land and Property at Noon Hill, Verwood which was left to The HCT in a will during 1998. The value placed at the time of the gift was set by the Trustees at £150,000. The freehold Property was sold during 2013/2014 for £290,000, and the SSSI land has been retained with a value of £Nil. Included in land and buildings is a leasehold property which was purchased in 2018/2019 and refurbished in 2019/2020. The lease term is 999 years and runs until 7 March 3018. **24** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **17. Fixed asset investments** ## **Group** |**Group**||| |---|---|---| |UK Quoted Securities:
Fixed interest
Equities
Overseas fixed interest
Overseas equities
Other investments
Market value of investments at 31 March 2024
Cash held by Investment Managers
**Cost/valuation**
At 1 April 2023
Additions
Disposals
Revaluation
At 31 March 2024
**Impairment**
At 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024
**Carrying amount**
31 March 2024
31 March 2023|**Listed**
**investments**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**3,890,615**
**3,890,615**
**309,215**
**309,215**
**(330,157)**
**(330,157)**
**57,691**
**57,691**|| |||**3,927,364**
**3,927,364**| |||**-**
**-**| |||**3,927,364**
**3,927,364**| |||3,890,615
3,890,615| |||**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**569,833**
372,997
**1,071,140**
1,068,706
**1,366,170**
1,265,337
**790,730**
1,017,543
**3,797,873**
3,724,583
**129,491**
166,032
**3,927,364**
3,890,615| The fair value of listed investments is determined by reference to the quoted price for identical assets in an active market at the balance sheet date. **25** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **17. Fixed asset investments (cont)** |**Charity**
UK Quoted Securities:
Fixed interest
Equities
Overseas fixed interest
Overseas equities
Other investments
Market value of investments at 31 March 2021
Cash held by Investment Managers
Investment in subsidiary company
**Cost/valuation**
At 1 April 2023
Additions
Disposals
Revaluation
At 31 March 2024
**Impairment**
At 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024
**Carrying amount**
31 March 2024
31 March 2023|**Listed**
**investments**
**£**
**3,890,615**
**309,215**
**(293,617)**
**21,151**
**3,927,364**
**-**
**3,927,364**|**Listed**
**investments**
**£**
**3,890,615**
**309,215**
**(293,617)**
**21,151**
**3,927,364**
**-**
**3,927,364**|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**569,833**
372,997
**1,071,140**
1,068,706
**1,366,170**
1,265,337
**790,730**
1,017,543
**3,797,873**
3,724,583
**129,491**
166,032
**100**
100
**3,927,464**
3,890,715
**Other**
**investments**
**Total**
**£**
**£**
**100**
**3,890,715**
**-**
**309,215**
**-**
**(293,617)**
**-**
**21,151**
**100**
**3,927,464**
**-**
**-**
**100**
**3,927,464**
100
3,890,715| |---|---|---|---| ||||| ||||| ||||| |||3,890,615|| The fair value of listed investments is determined by reference to the quoted price for identical assets in an active market at the balance sheet date. Included with other investments is a 100% holding in the ordinary share capital of ARC Ecological Services Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales on 20 October 2011. At the year end, the aggregate capital and reserves of the company amounted to £1,344 and its surplus for the year amounted to £2,175. **26** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **18. Debtors** |Trade debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
Other debtors
Amount payable to HCT
Loan to ARC Ecological Services Ltd
(Concessionary)|**Group**
**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**192,022**
155,192
**660,870**
699,011
**2,050**
2,247
**-**
-
**-**
-
**854,942**
856,450|**Charity**
**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**192,022**
150,392
**660,870**
698,765
**1,950**
2,147
**-**
-
**20,421**
25,528
**875,263**
876,832| |---|---|---| The loan to ARC Ecological Services of £20,421 is repayable in instalments, £15,315 is due in more than one year. The loan agreement was revised on 21 November 2020, interest at 4% above base rate per annum is due annually on 31 December and £nil interest payable at the year-end has been accrued. Capital repayments are due to be made in equal instalments on 31 December from 2021 to 2027. All other debtors are due within one year. ## **19. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year** |||**Group**||**Charity**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**2024**||**2023**|**2024**|**2023**| ||**£**||**£**|**£**|**£**| |Trade creditors|**64,760**||82,022|**63,593**|82,022| |Accruals and deferred income|**82,591**||95,861|**82,591**|95,861| |Other creditors|**15,907**||21,325|**13,925**|16,180| |Social security and other taxes|**28,730**||24,992|**26,517**|24,722| |Amount owed to HCT|**24,313**||31,875|**24,313**|31,875| ||**216,301**||256,075|**210,939**|250,660| |**Control**|||||| |The charity is controlled by the trustees who are also||the directors of the charitable company.|||| |**Operating lease commitments**|||||| |As at 31 March 2024 the charity had total future||minimum lease payments under no|||n-cancellab| |operating leases as follows:|||||| |||||**2024**|**2023**| |||||**£**|**£**| |Operating leases which expire:|||||| |Land and buildings – within 2-5 years||||**8,325**|15,075| |Land and buildings – within 1 years||||**6,750**|6,750| ## **20. Control** ## **21. Operating lease commitments** As at 31 March 2024 the charity had total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows: **27** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **22. Fund reconciliation** ## **Group** |**Restricted**
Species
Rare Amphibians
Funds received and used for fixed
assets
Investment portfolio
Legacy Income (for sites)
**Unrestricted**
**Total**|**Brought**
**forward**
**1.4.2023**
**Net Incoming/**
**(Outgoing)**
**Resources**
**Transfers**
**between**
**Funds**
**Carried**
**forward**
**31.3.2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
198,403
(120,087)
-
**78,316**
28,668
(28,668)
-
**-**
988,966
66,733
-
**1,055,699**
3,890,615
(244,542)
281,291
**3,927,364**
460,148
-
(460,148)
**-**| |---|---| ||5,566,800
(326,564)
(178,857)
**5,061,379**| ||| ||1,470,559
310,629
178,857
**1,960,045**| ||| ||7,037,359
(15,935)
-
**7,021,424**| ## **Analysis of net assets between funds** ||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total Funds**|**Total Funds**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||**Funds**|**Funds**|**2024**|**2023**| ||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| |Tangible Fixed Assets|**306,606**|**1,055,699**|**1,362,305**|1,368,947| |Investments|**-**|**3,927,364**|**3,927,364**|3,890,615| |Current assets|**1,869,740**|**78,316**|**1,948,056**|2,033,872| |Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year|
**(216,301)**|**-**|**(216,301)**|(256,075)| |Net assets|**1,960,045**|**5,061,379**|**7,021,424**|7,037,359| **28** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **22. Fund reconciliation (cont)** ## **Charity** |**Restricted**
Species
Rare Amphibians
Funds received and used for fixed
assets
Investment portfolio
Legacy income for sites
**Unrestricted**
**Total**|**Brought**
**forward**
**1.4.2023**
**Net Incoming/**
**(Outgoing)**
**Resources**
**Transfers**
**between**
**Funds**
**Carried**
**forward**
**31.3.2024**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
198,403
(120,087)
-
**78,316**
28,668
(28,668)
-
**-**
988,966
66,733
-
**1,055,699**
3,890,615
(244,542)
281,291
**3,927,364**
460,148
-
(460,148)
**-**| |---|---| ||5,566,800
(326,564)
(178,857)
**5,061,379**| ||| ||1,471,490
306,097
178,857
**1,956,444**| ||| ||7,038,290
(20,467)
-
**7,017,823**| ## **Analysis of net assets between funds** ||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total Funds**|**Total Funds**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||**Funds**|**Funds**|**2024**|**2023**| ||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| |Tangible Fixed Assets|**306,606**|**1,055,699**|**1,362,305**|1,368,947| |Investments|**100**|**3,927,364**|**3,927,464**|3,890,715| |Current assets|**1,860,677**|**78,316**|**1,938,993**|2,029,288| |Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year|
**(210,939)**|**-**|**(210,939)**|(250,660)| |Net assets|**1,956,444**|**5,061,379**|**7,017,823**|7,038,290| ## **23. Contingent Liabilities** - a) There are three grants received that will be required to be repaid if certain conditions are not met. The EU grant, received via the RSPB, of £42,500 in 1996 is repayable if the land at Great Ovens is subsequently sold and the Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £62,516 is repayable if the land ceases to be used for approved purposes. The EU grant of £19,646 received for Worgret Heath is repayable if the land is subsequently sold. Also, the Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £103,125 received in 2001 for Lions Hill is repayable if that land ceases to be used for approved purposes or is sold. - b) The SSSI land at Noon Hill is subject to a restriction, if it is subsequently sold. Any sale proceeds are to be donated to the RNLI and not retained by The HCT. - c) Should the land at Norden and Corfe Bluff be sold, the use of the proceeds would be subject to restriction. **29** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **24. Donated assets** - a) A piece of land which consists of a near-vertical cliff face was donated to the Trust in 2000. No value has been attributed to this donation due to the nature of the land. - b) A further piece of land was acquired under Section 106 requirements. The HCT have received funds to manage the land, but there was no consideration paid for the land itself. No value has been attributed due to the restrictions placed on the land and the resultant deemed negligible value. ## **25. Related party transactions** See note 13 for details of trustee expenses and remuneration. During the year Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust had the following transactions with The Herpetological Conservation Trust, a charity with which ARC has a transfer agreement. **2024 2023 £ £** Donation received from HCT **389,639** 378,595 At the year-end £24,313 was due to HCT to ARC (2023: £31,875) which is included in debtors/creditors (see note 18/19). During the year Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust had the following transactions with its trading subsidiary ARC Ecological Services Limited (see note 17). ARC Ecological Services Limited paid loan interest of £2,216 (2023 £1,435) to Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. At the year end, £20,421 (2023: £25,528) was due from ARC Ecological Services Limited which is included in debtors (see note 18). **30** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **DETAILED INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT (CHARITY ONLY) YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** |**INCOME**
**By organisation**
Natural Resources Wales
Welsh Sites
Welsh Government Mechanisms
Scottish Natural Heritage
RPA - Single Payment Scheme
Natural England – HLS Maintenance
Natural England - HLS Capital
Natural England – Memorandum of Agreements
HWM
Anglian Water
Heritage Lottery Fund
Naturescape
Training income
RS MacDonald Grant
**VOLUNTARY INCOME**
Donations
Donation from HCT
Friends income
Grant income
ARC ESL gift aid
**OTHER INCOME**
Bank interest
ARC ES Loan interest
Investment income
Miscellaneous contracts
Training income
Sponsorship/fundraising
Miscellaneous income
Merchandising sales
Scientific Meeting Fund
Asset sale
Under accrued income in prior year
Gift aid
**TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES**|**2024**
**£**
**400**
**63,190**
**-**
**6,270**
**45,459**
**544,945**
**-**
**150,344**
**29,324**
**5,000**
**260,245**
**154,363**
**160**
**13,108**
**1,272,808**
**11,989**
**389,332**
**27,724**
**-**
**-**
**429,045**
**19,846**
**2,216**
**232,794**
**45,751**
**9,340**
**172,036**
**104**
**4,059**
**1,787**
**-**
**(8,733)**
**1,064**
**480,264**
**2,182,117**|**2023**
**£**
2,711
21,762
3,843
15,679
57,149
507,031
14,286
112,977
19,890
5,000
254,929
89,085
-
12,857| |---|---|---| |||1,117,199| |||11,803
378,595
22,760
50,000
11,325| |||474,483| |||2,753
1,338
242,331
26,237
3,006
213,831
288
1,812
1,939
76,366
-
-| |||569,901| |||2,161,583| **31** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **DETAILED INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT (CHARITY ONLY) YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** |**EXPENDITURE**
Chemicals
Tools, equipment and servicing
Volunteer management expenses
Travel and subsistence
Labour costs
Site purchase
Contract management
Printing/publications
Captive breeding
Volunteer monitoring costs
ARC membership costs
Contract survey
Video production
Branded clothing (staff)
Consultancy fees
Meeting expenses
Promotional material
Rent and service charges
Rates
Water rates
Electricity
Photocopier lease
Photocopying
PR Event
Reserve leases
Postage and stationery
Computer costs
Office maintenance
Telephone
Mobile phones
Sundries
Bank and card charges
Vehicle maintenance
Vehicle insurance
RAC membership
Road fund licensing
Fuel
General insurance
Life Insurance
Squatters insurance
Membership subscriptions
Trustees’ expenses
Carried forward|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**6,180**
7,629
**20,200**
33,986
**(4,570)**
(3,772)
**40,667**
31,753
**450**
295
**1,001**
1,464
**90,414**
77,455
**11,362**
12,204
**1,363**
1,320
**10,500**
1,080
**6,588**
**4,170**
3,630
**130**
**1,901**
**113,253**
83,918
**2,714**
7,167
**2,790**
1,550
**20,362**
22,443
**2,810**
(1,674)
**780**
92
**5,719**
5,132
**6,264**
5,916
**1,562**
1,329
**2,842**
-
**9,255**
7,968
**3,334**
4,014
**17,607**
19,931
**5,969**
8,518
**6,609**
5,862
**9,898**
8,163
**773**
1,704
**71**
(147)
**10,523**
12,292
**4,428**
7,446
**783**
716
**1,765**
1,605
**6,689**
8,802
**13,215**
13,459
**10,990**
6,260
**755**
827
**5,458**
4,961
**685**
441| |---|---| ||**458,259**
405,739| **32** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **DETAILED INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT (CHARITY ONLY) YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** |Brought forward
Conference fees
Statutory redundancy payments
Discretionary payments
Wages and salaries
Employer’s National Insurance
Pension contributions
Miscellaneous Contract Costs
Training
Accountancy and book-keeping
Business Planning advice
HR Consultancy
Legal and professional
Contributions to Re-Think
Pension Management Costs
Website design and maintenance
Fencing, gates and signs
Occupational health screening
Recruitment
CRB Checks
Volunteer training
HLS restoration
HLS capital works
Office overheads
Homeworking
Genetic assessment
Depreciation
Investment Management Fees
**TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED**|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**458,259**
405,739
**29,057**
32,360
**8,925**
**3,724**
2,465
**1,214,437**
1,076,440
**110,416**
101,893
**94,608**
81,463
**14,999**
22,212
**14,664**
7,299
**32,785**
34,545
**-**
-
**4,530**
358
**20,914**
28,800
**10,713**
**3,224**
4,561
**4,480**
9,317
**2,199**
3,071
**3,754**
3,589
**2,338**
2,124
**243**
398
**1,145**
1,853
**167,370**
178,497
**-**
11,144
**10,686**
5,751
**1,269**
994
**-**
2,880
**19,812**
26,560
**24,998**
26,256| |---|---| ||**2,259,549**
2,070,569| **5** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **Opinion** We have audited the financial statements of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Consolidated and Company Balance Sheet, Consolidated Cash Flow Statement and the related notes. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland and the Charities SORP (FRS In our opinion the financial statements: - give a true and fair view of the state of the group's affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of its results for the year then ended; - have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and - have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Regulation 8 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). ## **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 responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the 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** 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 a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the original financial statements were authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report. ## **Other information** The charitable company trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report of the trustees (directors), other than the financial statements and our report thereon. 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. **6** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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. ## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception** In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the financial statements. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) 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 remuneration specified by law are not made; or we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit. ## **Responsibilities of trustees** company trustees 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 charitable company 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 charitable company trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable 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 charitable company trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. ## **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 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 is detailed below: **7** ## **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** As part of our audit planning we obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that is applicable to the Charity. We gained an understanding of the Charity and the sector in which the Charity operates as part of this assessment to identify the key laws and regulations affecting the Charity. As part of this, we reviewed the for an indication of any regulations in place and discussed these with the relevant individuals responsible for compliance. The key regulations we identified were Charity legislation, health and safety regulations and employment law. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the Charities Act 2011 and Charities SORP - FRS 102. We discussed with management and trustees how the compliance with these laws and regulations is monitored and discussed policies and procedures in place. We also identified the individuals who have responsibility for ensuring that the Charity complies with laws and regulations and deals with reporting any issues if they arise. As part of our planning procedures, we assessed the risk of any non-compliance with ment to the accounts. Based on this understanding we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance with such laws and regulations. Our procedures involved the following: - Enquiries of management and trustees regarding their knowledge of any non-compliance with laws and regulations that could affect the financial statements. As part of these enquiries we also discussed with management whether there have been any known instances, allegations or suspicions of fraud. - Reviewed filings with the Charity Commission and whether there were any serious incident reports made during the year. - Discussed with management whether any reportable health and safety incidents occurred under the requirements of RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) during the year. - Reviewed legal and professional costs to identify any possible non-compliance or legal costs in respect of non-compliance. - Reviewed Board minutes. We assessed the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement via three significant risks. The first was management override or fraud and obtained an understanding of the controls in place to manipulation of the financial statements. Finally, we assessed the risk of the unrestricted and restricted funds being materially misstated, as the charity has a number of restricted income streams which have costs attributed to them, some of which are estimated. Based upon our understanding we designed and conducted audit procedures including: - Auditing the risk of management override of controls, including through testing journal entries and other adjustments for appropriateness, and evaluating the business rationale of significant transactions outside the normal course of business. - Reviewing estimates and judgements made in the accounts for any indication of bias. - Agreeing contract and grant income contracts to amounts posted to the income nominals. - Agreeing accrued income to amounts received post year end in the bank account. **8** **AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE CONSERVATION TRUST** ## **INDEPENDENT AUDITORS REPORT** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** - Reviewing grant and income contracts for restrictions to ensure that the restricted income and expenditure is accurately represented in the financial statements. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located 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 trustees, as a body, in accordance with chapter 3 of part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and in accordance with Section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' 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 its trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed. _Adrian Way FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of PKF Francis Clark, Statutory Auditor, Towngate House 2 8 Parkstone Road, Poole, BH15 2PW_ _Date: 4 December 2024_