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2025-03-31-accounts

Disability Rights UK (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

Company No. 7314865 Charity No. 1138585

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Contents

Reference & administrative information ......................................... 1 Trustees Annual Report ................................................................... 2 Independent auditors' report ......................................................... 34 Statement of financial activities .................................................... 39 (incorporating an income and expenditure account) Balance sheet ................................................................................. 40 Statement of cash flows ................................................................. 41 Notes to the financial statements ................................................. 42

Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Reference & administrative information

Trustees: Liz Leach Chair Dr Fiona Creaby Treasurer Mostafa Attia Clenton Farquharson MBE Celestine Fraser (appointed 01/01/2025) Nana Kabagwira (appointed 01/01/2025) Dr Naomi Lawson Jacobs Victoria Livingstone-Thompson (appointed 01/01/2025) Claire Nevin Greg Smith Shelley Simmonds Edward Walden (appointed 01/01/2025) Atif Choudhury (resigned 31/12/2024) Madeline Close (resigned 31/12/2024) Company Secretary: Nick Spencer Chief Executive: Kamran Mallick Company number: 7314865 Charity number: 1138585 Registered office: Plexal 14 East Bay Lane Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Stratford, London E20 3BS Auditors: Goldwins Limited 75 Maygrove Road West Hampstead London NW6 2EG www.goldwins.co.uk Bankers: Unity Trust Bank Four Brindley Place Birmingham B1 2JB

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Trustees Annual Report

Message from Liz Leach, Chair of Trustees

2024/25 was a year of both positive opportunities and significant challenges. The whole team at Disability Rights UK (DR UK), including volunteers and trustees, has continued to work in a focused and purposeful way to make the most of these opportunities and address the challenges.

We recognise that many of the challenges we face are not only organisational but also societal. Growing concerns remain about how Disabled people are viewed and valued, as reflected in recent policy statements and political party positions. At Disability Rights UK, it is our role to challenge this at the frontline and ensure that people and grassroots Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) are represented respectfully and accurately in policy discussions. We continue to send a strong message: Disabled people enrich society culturally, economically, and politically. Hearing our voices provides vital insights into what makes an inclusive society, one that benefits every citizen.

We remain dedicated to our vision and mission:

Vision

To create an inclusive society where Disabled people have equal power, rights, and opportunities.

Mission

To support the Disability Rights movement, campaigning for the rights and justice of all Disabled people.

We work collectively to build the capacity of Disabled People’s Organisations, including DR UK, engaging and networking to speak with a unified voice on the inequalities that affect our lives.

We bring the lived experiences of Disabled people into everything we do. We challenge policymakers, institutions, and individuals to remove the barriers that exclude us.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

To be in a strong position to deliver our vision, we focused the past year’s strategic thinking on growth and sustainability. By growth, we mean more than financial stability. Of course, we need to generate the income to meet rising costs, but we also seek growth in our ability to influence policy, expand our membership and partnerships, strengthen the DPO network, increase participation through Our Voices, build political connections, and directly support more people.

To achieve sustainability, we will continue to build positive relationships with funders and diversify our income streams.

Disability Rights UK has always ensured that Disabled people’s voices shape, lead, and guide the organisation. We remain fully committed to this, and we are embedding co-production into our work both internally and externally. To support this, we now have a dedicated team member focused on developing and facilitating our approach to co-production.

As we work toward a truly inclusive society, Disability Rights UK is also fully committed to anti-racism. We believe this is essential for genuine inclusion—to dismantle barriers, overcome misunderstanding, and achieve unity and solidarity. Our dedication to equality, equity, diversity, and intersectionality will continue to strengthen both our internal culture and the way we engage externally. Together we are better, stronger, and more resilient.

Over the coming year, we will focus on:

I would like to once again recognise the continued dedication and energy of our trustees, staff team, volunteers, ambassadors, members, and partners. Without them, we would not be in the strong position we find ourselves in today.

Thank you.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Achievements and performance

Policy

Overview

The past year has been dominated by the election of a new Labour Government, the passage of the Assisted Dying Bill, harsh reductions to social security and continuing failures in public services.

The Disabled people’s movement has come together, to propose a bold agenda for change through the Disabled People’s Manifesto, to challenge the threat to Disabled people’s lives posed by the Assisted Dying Bill and to protest against a series of cuts to social security payments.

Disability Rights UK has advocated for the rights, incomes and services of Disabled people, alongside the DPO Forum for England, DPO partners and a wide range of allies.

General Election and Disabled People’s Manifesto

As part of the DPO Forum, we used the pre-election period to promote the Disabled People’s Manifesto to prospective parliamentary candidates. We developed a Scorecard to promote the extent to which the manifestos of the main political parties met the demands within the Disabled People’s Manifesto. We supported a national Disabled people’s hustings in Manchester, where Disabled representatives from Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems and Greens spoke and were questioned by a Disabled audience. Following the election of the new UK Government we wrote to Ministers, highlighting key disability issues within their remit. We worked to ensure that an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Disability was re-established, with an inaugural meeting in May 2025.

Social Security and anti-poverty

In autumn 2024, we joined with DPOs and allies to oppose cuts to Winter Fuel Payments that would result in 1.6 million older Disabled people losing vital help with heating costs. The Government implemented the cut but has since back tracked on its decision.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

We co-led the Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG) with Inclusion London, building a strong coalition for change. We lobbied for an energy social tariff and worked with the Food Foundation on a report and photographic exhibition to highlight the impact of food poverty on Disabled people.

We joined with Big Brother Watch, Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) and National Survivor User Network (NSUN), to urge amendments to the Fraud Error and Recovery Bill, seeking to halt the mass surveillance of claimant bank accounts.

Following the launch of the welfare reform Green Paper in March 2025, we worked with others to mount a strong DPO led campaign against the appalling proposed cuts to disability benefits. This involved building support amongst MPs, organising a lobby of parliament, gaining media coverage and producing a research report on impact. This work achieved a notable success in July 2025 with the Government’s climb down on cuts to Personal Independence Payment.

Social Care

We promoted the importance of social care in advance of the General Election, and the Lib Dems and Greens included commitments to increase scope and funding in their manifestos.

In December 2024, we made two submissions to the Health and Social Care Select Committee Inquiry on Social Care, one on the urgent need for change and one on the challenges for young Disabled people.

With regard to unpaid carers, we had major involvement with BBC newsnight, including having a DR UK spokesperson on the programme. This exposed the injustice of those on Carers Allowance being chased for huge overpayments, that were due to the complexities and rigidity of the payment system. The Government asked Liz Sayce to conduct an independent review, to which we contributed. We believe our evidence will feature in her report. We asked that all over payments be written off and that Carers Allowance become a nonmeans tested benefit.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Education and Young Disabled People

We responded to Government consultations on Disabled Student’s Allowance, the teaching of Personal, Social and Health Education (PHSE) and curriculum and assessment. We made a submission on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to the Select Committee on education.

We had dialogue with DPOs that work with young Disabled people, to learn about what works and to assist Disability Rights UK to become more relevant.

This work has culminated in a plan for embedding work with young Disabled people across DR UK.

We increased engagement with young Disabled people on Tik Tok and launched a new monthly newsletter targeted at young Disabled people, Future Ready. Our annual conference in November 2024 centred the voices of young Disabled campaigners.

Employment

As a founding member, we continue to promote the Disability Employment Charter, which now has over 250 signatures.

In December 2024, alongside Action on Disability and Inclusion London, we met with government ministers to highlight major failings in Access to Work and to ask for changes to policies and operations and an increase in funding. Problems with Access to Work have continued to increase.

We met with Sir Charlie Mayfield, to feed into the Keep Britain Working Review. It was agreed to hold a number of sessions with DPOs in spring 2025.

In March 2025, we gave evidence to the House of Lords committee on Home Working, highlighting the importance of flexibility and reasonable adjustments for Disabled employees. We were on the steering group for research on Disabled people and hybrid and remote working, which was published in summer 2025.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Soon after the launch of the Government consultation on disability and ethnicity pay gap monitoring, we organised a webinar for DPOs on the topic. We are supportive of mandatory disability workforce monitoring and responded positively to the consultation.

Housing

We made the case for amendments to the Renters Reform Bill, seeking stronger accessibility rights for private renters. Whilst our amendments weren’t accepted, the Government has come back with proposals on how to use guidance and web information, to uphold accessibility requirements.

We continued to campaign for Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) for Disabled residents unable to independently evacuate in the event of fire. In December 2024 the Government made proposals to introduce Residential PEEPs and regulations were laid in July 2025. There remain major challenges with Residential PEEPs, with only some residents being in scope and with costs of adaptations sometimes falling on the Disabled resident. On a positive note, the Government is providing funding to social housing landlords, to implement PEEPs and to meet the costs of adaptations and equipment.

We secured funding for a research project on Disabled people and temporary accommodation. We are collaborating with Toynbee Hall to undertake the research.

Transport and Street Environment

We continue to make representations regarding improving the accessibility of trains and buses. We have responded to the consultation on Great British Railways (GBR), asking that there is a statutory accessibility duty on the face of the Bill and that coproduction with Disabled people is built into every aspect and level of GBR.

We worked with a group of DPOs to shape pan-disability guidance on accessible streets but have not yet achieved sign off.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Climate Change

We lobbied for the annual international climate change conference to include disability issues on its agenda but without success. We developed excellent working relationships with Greenpeace, New Philanthropy Capital and Everyday Plastics to highlight the specific concerns of Disabled people. We have secured project funding to continue work on two key projects, Everyone’s Environment and the Big Plastics Count.

COVID Inquiry

The COVID inquiry is divided into 10 modules. Our work in 2024/25 included the following:

Module 1 - Resilience and preparedness

We were not granted core participant status in this module; however, we had a vested interest. The module was completed and the report was published. We will be discussing how best to pressure the government to follow recommendations from the report.

Module 2 - Core UK decision-making and political governance

We were granted core participant status in this module, which is now complete although at the time of writing the report has not been published. We plan to use the report to pressure the government on recommendations relevant to DPOs.

Module 3 - Impact on healthcare systems in the four nations of the UK We were not granted core participant status in this module however we had a vested interest. We wrote to the Disability Charities Consortium (DCC) to explore if we could offer input to this module as they were granted core participation. We met with them and offered suggestions based on

recommendations of DPOs. The module was completed but to date the report has not been published. We await the report to begin pressuring the government on recommendations relevant to DPOs.

Module 4 - Vaccines and Therapeutics

We were core participants in this module. Between October and December 2024, we developed our CEO Kamran Mallick’s witness statement. He delivered his statement during the hearing in January 2025. We highlighted

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

inequalities in the funding of vaccines and therapeutics, the poor prioritisation of vaccine roll-out and the inaccessibility of vaccination information and venues. Throughout the hearings, we posed questions to witnesses such as Wes Streeting and various senior civil servants at the Department of Health and Social Care in concert with our legal representative Bhatt Murphy.

We also contributed to the preparation of our opening and closing statement, given in a speech by Bhatt Murphy. Module 4 was covered in this article: - - - - - - https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/combined impact of different aspects of - - - - - - - - pandemic on disabled people felt relentless covid inquiry hears/

Our CEO was also featured in this COVID-19 Inquiry podcast = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v SiJzU8LkAtM

Module 5 – Procurement

We were not included as this module had limited relevance to DPOs.

Module 6 - Care Sector

Between October 2024 and March 2025 we prepared our CEO Kamran Mallick’s witness statement for this module with Bhatt Murphy. In January, we submitted expert reports on the care sector. In February, Bhatt Murphy delivered our opening speech in the preliminary hearing which we developed together. We made a statement to the press based upon the speech. In March, we searched for and found an additional witness with experience of receiving care at home during the pandemic as that perspective has not been well represented. DR UK’s Banane Nafeh provided a witness statement on this. This module was covered in these articles:

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Module 7 - Test, Trace and Isolate

We were not granted core participant status in this module however we have a vested interest.

Module 8 - Children and Young People

In January we began internal conversations about forming a group that could inform this module. We began outreach to potential organisations and individuals that may wish to submit evidence.

Module 9 - Economic response

Between January and March 2025 we conducted desk research to provide Bhatt Murphy with evidence and lived experiences of the economic impact of the pandemic. We submitted a request for specific topics to be addressed in module 9 based on this and Bhatt Murphy’s own research. As a result, we received a rule 9 request to provide a full witness statement for this module.

Module 10 - The impact of the pandemic

In February - March 2025, with Bhatt Murphy we drafted an opening submission in the module 10 preliminary hearing. Bhatt Murphy delivered this speech on our behalf. We applied to be part of the module 10 roundtables and to have a roundtable dedicated to disabled people’s experiences. These requests were rejected. The inquiry did not give a reason for this.

Assisted Dying

We joined with other DPOs to oppose the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. We wrote to all MPs setting out our reasons for opposition in advance of the second reading vote in November 2024. We gave evidence to the Bill Committee in January 2025. We have also provided a statement in support of a complaint to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UN CRDP) Committee, relating to the inadequate and discriminatory Bill process. We continued our active opposition to the Bill in the lead up to the third reading in April 2025 but unfortunately were unsuccessful in halting the Bill’s progress.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Information and advice

All of our advice services are accredited under the Advice Quality Standard (AQS), the quality mark for organisations providing advice to the public. Maintaining the accreditation provides external assurance to funders, partners and helpline users that DR UK delivers trusted, independent and high quality advice.

Personal Budgets Helpline

The Personal Budgets Helpline received a total of 532 queries over the year. One key issue identified was the low hourly rate for care and support. Many callers expressed concern that the hourly rates set by local authorities are too low to recruit and retain suitable personal assistants or to purchase care from agencies. In some cases, local authorities refuse to increase the rate, instead suggesting that Disabled people or their families should top up the difference if they wish to use an agency that charges more.

Another key issue was the refusal to consider full Disability Related Expenditure (DRE): A common issue raised is that local authorities are not consistently taking into account the full range of additional costs that Disabled people face when calculating care charges. This includes the cost of therapies, specialist equipment and increased fuel or travel expenses linked to attending day activities.

Feedback

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Resources

Our Personal Budgets Helpline Adviser maintains 11 social care factsheets. From April 2024 to March 2025 these factsheets received 37,289 page visits. The top 3 factsheets with page visits were: Being in Control: Getting Personal Assistants (15,372 page visits), How much do I pay for my Personal Assistant (7,431 page visits) and Personal Budgets: The right social care support (7,406 page visits).

Members Welfare Rights Helpline

Our Members Welfare Rights Helpline is a second-tier service, providing expert advice to DPOs and other organisational members. Enquiries are often very complex, and this year totalled 235. Our expertise in social security also informs DR UK’s wide policy and campaigning work on welfare reform. Key issues identified:

Personal Independence Payment (PIP): Most queries revolved around eligibility issues, assessments, changes in circumstances, hospital admissions, care homes and how to best challenge decisions.

Universal Credit (UC) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA): Enquiries regarding UC and ESA covered similar areas but also included concerns about transitioning from legacy benefits such as ESA to UC and whether claiming UC would be financially beneficial.

There were additional issues related to the award of the limited capability for work element, permitted work for ESA, and benefits such as carers allowance, state pension, statutory sick pay and child benefit.

Appeal tribunal submissions: The helpline also provided advice and support in preparing appeal tribunal submissions.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Disabled Students’ Helpline

The Disabled Students’ Helpline handled a total of 1,924 phone and email enquiries, covering a variety of learning areas which we categorise as follows:

The top five subject areas were:

Evidence from our enquiries is fed directly to the Department for Education each quarter to highlight where barriers remain and what must change to remove them, Direct contact with Disabled people also feeds into our policy work more broadly.

Key issues identified

Inaccessible complaints processes: Many universities and colleges are failing to manage disability discrimination complaints in a way that reflects an understanding of the student’s access needs. Complaint procedures are often complex, legalistic, and emotionally demanding, yet students are given little to no support in navigating them.

Education providers rarely offer reasonable adjustments to the complaints process itself, such as changes to the format (for example smaller panel, remote meetings instead of in-person), agreeing to a parent advocate or extensions to stages to allow gathering of evidence required from medical professionals, despite the Equality Act requiring this.

In some cases, raising a complaint leads to students being subjected to fitness to study investigations or accused of being “unprofessional” or “disruptive” for

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

expressing distress. Students are reporting that their complaints are dismissed, minimised, or turned against them.

Barriers to legal representation: Disabled students face barriers accessing legal representation when pursuing disability discrimination complaints. Students are reporting difficulties finding legal aid funded solicitors. Solicitors and advice services are often oversubscribed, outside geographical areas or not taking on new cases. Even where students are advised to escalate complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator as an alternative, they feel unprepared or unsupported in drafting complex submissions.

Many students are forced to rely on peer support, volunteers, or free advice lines, which are often already stretched, and do not have the capacity to offer casework or representation. As a result, students are often left without access to justice in situations where serious breaches of the Equality Act 2010 have occurred. This is contributing to widening inequality in outcomes for disabled students, especially those without strong family or financial support.

Barriers in accessing exam adjustments: Disabled students continue to experience barriers in accessing reasonable adjustments during GCSE and A level exams, leading to lower-than-expected outcomes and complicated appeals processes. We have heard about schools failing to apply for access arrangements on behalf of students from exam board or providing inadequate adjustments such as missing prompts, scribes, or smaller exam rooms.

These led to students underperforming in exams, despite their academic capabilities. For students who narrowly miss out on GCSE pass marks, these failures can significantly impact their post-16 education opportunities. Many are forced to re-sit exams, often without guarantees that the necessary adjustments will be in place for future attempts, placing them in a continuous cycle of disadvantage.

Accessible accommodation costs: A recurring issue on the helpline is around the high cost of accessible accommodation. Universities are required under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, but there is inconsistency in how universities approach accommodation costs as part of these adjustments.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Lack of communication with parents and carers after students turn 18: Strict interpretations of data protection regulations can cut young people off from vital advocacy and family support at a time when they are least able to selfadvocate.

While privacy and independence are important, this approach overlooks the reality that many Disabled students lack the skills to self-advocate effectively – this was especially in cases where students have autism or communication difficulties. Without family involvement, students struggle to navigate complex conversations and decisions, which led to missed opportunities to implement reasonable adjustments and address issues early. For some, this resulted in unrecognised struggles, unmet needs, and an inability to access appropriate support.

Exclusions from trips and placements due to risk assessments: Disabled students were excluded from trips and placements based on poorly considered risk assessments that failed to balance safety concerns with inclusion. This was due to due to perceived risks rather than actual risks. Institutions often neglect to consider reasonable adjustments or support strategies to mitigate risks, resulting in indirect discrimination and barriers to participation.

Feedback

Survey results indicated that 93% of users rated our information and advice as useful.

“I had an issue with (my university) around January where their policy for subsidy for studio rooms was very unfair, I would have been paying more than any non-disabled person I knew even with subsidy applied. Your advice helped me word my formal complaint and have the confidence that I'm right to actually make one. I’m now paying approximately £4,000 less a year than what they were asking and trying to get this to apply to every student like me here from now on. Thank you, I'm glad I can still go to university and that I don't have to worry much about money anymore.”

“Using this we were able to highlight to his university, how they had perhaps unknowingly discriminated against him because of his disability. The result was they have agreed to allow him to re-sit his Year 2. So a huge thank you.”

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

"The person that replied to me was quick and full of positive information that helped me appeal my partner’s suspension from college after an incident.”

“Without the advice, I would be £3,000 worse off.”

Resources

From April 2024 to March 2025, our education factsheets and guides received 175,058 page visits. 94% of users reported an increased awareness of their options and greater confidence in choosing their own career paths after using our factsheets and guides. We also produced three new factsheets in response to the nature of our enquiries: Careers advice and post 16 learning options, Exam Access Arrangements for GCSE’s and A levels: FAQs and Accommodation support for Disabled students.

Online information sessions

We delivered various webinars, including a workshop for 30-35 Student Union Advisers across the UK, receiving feedback that our helpline is an invaluable resource and that our session was a conference highlight. The workshop focused on:

We spoke about creating platforms for Disabled students to voice their concerns such as setting up peer support networks and forms to share experiences. We highlighted the importance of collaborating with Disabled Peoples Organisations which can provide resources, expertise and opportunities to expand their reach.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Engagement

Influencing public attitudes and behaviours – digital comms and website

Headline Statistics:

Top resource pages:

  1. WCA (226,973)

  2. New Style ESA (94,029)

  3. New style JSA (47,467)

  4. PIP (42,482)

  5. Disabled Students Allowance (37,876)

Facebook

LinkedIn

New Bluesky account, October 2024 - 5,568 followers.

Disability Rights UK’s E-news saw a small increase in recipients, from 15,353 to 16,219. However, unique opens saw a considerable increase in engagement, from 23.19% to 39.11%.

TikTok

Our TikTok presence has grown significantly. Our followers have increased from 1,307 to 5,755. We have had a total of 40,700 likes across our Tik Tok channel. Our TikTok videos reached over 408,000 views over the past year and

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

achieved strong engagement through the use of trending sounds and relatable content. We have used TikTok to deliver advice and information to Disabled people. For example we created a video using the “and then I go and spoil it all…” trend to challenge misconceptions about needing adjustments. This gained 15,900 views, 1,675 likes, and 75 saves. The video promoted our “Adjustments for disabled students and apprentices” factsheet.

Future Ready

We launched Future Ready, a new platform and newsletter to engage Disabled young people more directly. The platform bridges the gap between online engagement and in-person relationship building. It allows us to connect with a broader audience, encompassing all Disabled people seeking support within education and employment.

The Future Ready e-newsletter serves as a key tool for strengthening this connection. It includes personal stories, a Q&A section, policy updates and signposting to useful resources. The newsletter helps our network feel connected, supported, and empowered to engage with and contribute to the wider disability movement. We have also launched a dedicated hub for all Future Ready content.

DPO engagement

2024/25 was a pivotal year for the DPO Development and Disability Justice project, marked by the announcement that our funding from the Legal Education Foundation would be successful renewed from April 2025.

The year was characterised by a dual strategy: providing critical crisis support to the DPO sector in response to external threats, such as welfare reforms, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for long-term, systemic change.

The key strategic achievements were:

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Priorities for 2025-2026 include:

  1. Establishing the Intersectional DPO Forum with the DPO Forum England.

  2. Hosting the Funding Justice Funder Roundtable and campaign launch.

  3. Publicly launching the DPO Directory.

  4. Delivering Disability Justice training to the sector and wider partners, leveraging our new trainer status.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Partnerships

Get Yourself Active (GYA), Sport England system partner

Over the past year, Disability Rights UK has strengthened its role as a system partner of Sport England by embedding lived experience at the heart of its work, fostering a learning culture, and building the capacity of both staff and external partners. Practical steps have included co-designed workforce training, the establishment of steering and co-production groups with Disabled people’s representation, and more regular reflective learning across teams.

These changes have ensured that our programmes are shaped with, not just for, Disabled people, and that our organisational strategies are aligned with the principles of Uniting the Movement. We have also developed new resources and support offers for grassroots Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), while deepening our own equity and inclusion commitments through our policies and working culture.

At the same time, we have made progress in collaborative working, community engagement, and influencing wider systems to remove barriers to physical activity. Highlights include the Activity Trap research, which has shaped national policy debates and raised awareness of systemic disincentives to being active; the expansion of our Moving Social Work training into universities, embedding activity into professional practice; and co-producing a shared narrative.

Through GYA Local, we have strengthened the role of lived experience in decision making by integrating Disabled people directly into our steering groups, alongside local authority, health, physical activity and voluntary sector, ensuring their voices remain central even where local Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) are less active.

We have also co designed and delivered local workforce training, and co production training led by people with lived experience, embedding inclusive practices and building capability within communities. Feedback has highlighted the authenticity and practical value of this approach, demonstrating how GYA Local is helping to drive meaningful and sustainable change.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Through these initiatives, we are contributing to long-term cultural and systemic change, shifting power to communities, supporting DPOs as local change agents, and positioning physical activity as a rights and social justice issue. Looking forward, our priority is to build sustainable models of co-production, deepen grassroots leadership, and ensure that inclusion is embedded as a core design principle across all systems we engage with.

Moving Social Work

Moving Social Work is an evidence-based and co-produced education programme designed to encourage social workers to speak about physical activity with Disabled people within care planning and assessments.

Disability Rights UK and Durham University have further extended their partnership with Sport England who have provided a further £1 million investment to develop and implement Phase 2 of the programme. This phase is now underway with over 2,500 practicing and student social workers having accessed the co-produced training resources since January 2024 with more training sessions planned in both Local Authority and academic settings.

The programme is also currently undertaking test and learn work at dedicated sites with an external evaluator supporting and gaining insights which will support the on-going research findings being collated by Durham University. This work includes a focus on providing a more place-based work enabling and supporting social workers to better support Disabled people to get active with an additional piece of work being undertaken with Active Partnerships to establish how these connections within localities could support social work practice in engaging more confidently with accessing physical activity for Disabled people.

This is all in continuation of the work undertaken in Phase 1 by the Get Yourself Active team and Durham University.

Research and evaluation will be on-going throughout the programme to ensure that the training programme being developed is continually considering the needs and benefits for Disabled people. Within this, Durham University are undertaking focused research around four areas; Intersectionality, Interprofessional working, Conversational Analysis and Champions work. This

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will provide deeper insights into practice knowledge and how the wider programme could be further enhanced through the addition of these.

We hosted a national event in September 2024 during which we bought together stakeholders (including people with lived experience) to provide a blueprint for working together as the project matures and develops. We have re-established our relationships with external key partners and have set up an Advisory board to support the strategic development of the programme.

Co-Production

Over the past year, we have continued to build momentum around embedding co-production within Disability Rights UK. A key development has been the initiation of a partnership with the Co-production Collective, an organisation with extensive experience in supporting organisations to embed co-production.

As part of this work, we have established a co-production group to help guide and shape our approach. This group brings together people with lived experience, representatives from Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), and current DR UK staff. Their involvement will be central to the development of our five-year co-production strategy and to ensuring we remain aligned with coproduction principles throughout the organisation. We will also be looking at the structures and processes we have in place throughout the organisation and how we can ensure that these are set up in a way that allows co-production to take place.

We are currently co-designing our first internal training session with staff, aimed at deepening understanding of co-production and exploring practical ways to implement it. In addition, we will be hosting public sessions to broaden engagement and share learning with the wider community.

Another milestone has been the launch of our new resource, the Co-production Narrative - a high-quality, co-produced guide designed to support organisations in embedding co-production within their work. Looking ahead, we plan to build on this by developing further resources and delivering a series of webinars to maintain engagement and momentum following the launch.

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We will continue to build on and embed co-production as our methodology across DR UK and share our learning across DPOs and the wider voluntary sector.

Career opportunities – Leadership Programmes

This year has seen our Leadership Academy Programme (LAP) strengthen and expand its partnerships. We are proud to have delivered repeat cohorts with the Local Government Association (LGA) and Moorfields NHS Trust, reflecting the trust placed in our programme and the tangible outcomes it delivers.

We also established new collaborations with NHS Shrewsbury and Amey, marking important milestones in our growth. Discussions with Croydon Council are also progressing positively. If secured, this partnership will provide leverage to approach other local authorities. Similarly, the Amey partnership, as our first in the construction sector, opens the door to engaging with similar organisations in new industries.

Our bespoke programme model remains central to LAP’s success, ensuring content is co-designed and aligned with the strategic objectives of each partner organisation. This tailored approach provides measurable impact, supporting both organisational culture and individual growth.

The facilitation pool has grown significantly, with new trainers bringing fresh expertise and perspectives. This expansion has enriched content delivery, widened our reach, and enhanced the overall learning experience for delegates.

Each year, LAP equips Disabled professionals with the tools, confidence, and support to step into more senior roles, take on new responsibilities, and embrace authentic leadership. Delegates consistently report that LAP provides a rare safe space to share lived experiences, strengthen leadership skills, and build a lasting peer network.

An excerpt from the kind words shared following our recent Moorfields Graduation.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

“Dear Katrina. Thank you very much for the kind words of appreciation. Truly, it’s been an amazing graduation ceremony- the participants and their mentors were simply fascinating, and I am really proud of them. The CEO, the directors and members of the SLT were all visibly impressed. Our special and collective thanks is reserved for you and Graham for the fantastic support and guidance you both afforded the EDI team throughout the programme, and for crowning it with the Brillant speeches delivered at today’s graduation. The 2nd cohort is now closed, so the focus now is on the 3rd cohort”.

The year ahead will focus on broadening our partnerships, deepening our impact, and securing new pathways for Disabled leaders across sectors. By continuing to grow our pool of facilitators and Mentors, invest in innovative programme design, and extend our reach into new industries, LAP is positioned to build on its strong foundation.

We plan to continue to invest in the future through the co-creation of a young people’s leadership programme. This initiative will extend LAP’s impact to emerging leaders at the earliest stages of their journey.

Our long-term vision remains clear: to ensure that Disabled people are at the heart of shaping inclusive workplaces and to establish LAP as the leading provider of leadership development for Disabled professionals.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Commercial

We sold a record 43,000 Radar keys last year. The keys provide independent access to over 9,000 accessible public toilets around the UK. We still work in partnership with Nicholls & Clarke, who invented the Radar locks that are still fitted and used today. Monthly highs are a continuing trend. A customer survey at the beginning of the financial year led us to think that support for the National Key Scheme and brand recognition are strong motivations to buy from DR UK. We therefore decided to increase the price, which we had not done for over five years, with no negative effect on sales volume.

Combined income from the Disability Rights Handbook and other publications was £275k, which was up on budget. The digital version of the Handbook, which sits on the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) Welfare Rights platform, attracted over 800 subscribers and income exceeded £20k for the first time.

Online training continued to grow. DR UK worked with over 60 private and public sector organisations to promote and create inclusive environments, products and services. Disability Confidence training remained our primary product, mainly training managers and HR teams. In 2024/25 these organisations included:

We also continued to expand the other ways we work with businesses, such as access audits and Disability Confident Level 3 Leader validation. We continued to deliver ad hoc consultancy to Business Disability Forum, Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, Motability, Plexal and South

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Western Railways. We utilised our in-house expertise for external speaking opportunities.

In total our training and consultancy services delivered an operational surplus of £57k in 2024/25, continuing the growth pattern since we started offering online training during the pandemic.

Fundraising

We were delighted with the following major fundraising successes in 2024/25:

With thanks to our funders

We would like to thank all our funders and supporters for their support throughout the year:

Legal Education Foundation City Bridge Trust Department for Education Disrupt Foundation Edinburgh Trust Access to Justice Fund GD Herbert Charitable Trust Snowdon Trust Social Enterprise Support Fund Sport England Three Guineas Trust Trust for London New Philanthropy Capital Arts Council

Some special thanks to those individuals and organisations who took the time to fundraise for us during the year, including but not limited to our Marathon runners.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

And finally, thank you to our members.

Our funders, supporters and members enable us to deliver our priorities and strengthen our voice.

Financial review

The year to 31 March produced a positive movement in funds of £225,549. This is a large movement and compares with the almost break-even position of £636 for 2024.

The figure included £160,000 which is an interim distribution from a legacy. The funds were received in August 2025 and are included in the year-end figures as probate was obtained in January 2025.

With this unexpected legacy, Unrestricted reserves have increased to £553,885, a level that the charity has never experienced in its merged history.

Aside from the legacy the main reason for the overall surplus was strong Radar Key sales and savings on overhead salaries. Otherwise the charity continued to operate within a tight budget set at the start of the year. The management accounts are reviewed monthly by the Leadership Team and quarterly by the Finance Committee, variances are reviewed and acted upon.

The charity continued to work with its long term partners who are listed below.

The charity earned £29,614 bank interest in the year due to savings with the Charity Aid Foundation Flagstone platform. This enabled access to multiple savings accounts within the one platform and ensured cash at hand was put to good use throughout the year. Although rates have eased slightly the charity expects to earn almost a similar amount of interest in 2025-26.

The active pension arrangements for staff are all now defined contribution, and the charity has complied with its obligations under auto enrolment. The third three-year anniversary of re-enrolment was completed in July 2025. On 1 April 2025 the rate for Employer’s pension contributions was increased to 5%.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

The Finance team supports the charity’s activities by providing financial analysis, reporting to funders and giving administration support. The charity does not hold material financial investments.

We were notified of the legacy mentioned above in August 2024. The sole beneficiaries are three charities of whom Disability Rights UK is one. The interim distribution was made in August 2025 out of cash balances and there is still a property which is being marketed. The most likely sale is to a developer and it is still in progress. Any sale will be subject to planning permission so any proceeds may not be received for over a year.

Reserves policy

Disability Rights UK reserves policy was reviewed and updated during March 2025.

The trustees have set a level equivalent to three months of operating costs for the organisation as a desired level of reserve. This fund is a contingency in the event of a sudden reduction in income, in order to safeguard the future operation of the organisation from the effects of any unforeseen variations in its income and expenditure. It also provides a cash flow for grants and contracts that are paid in arrears.

The trustees have designated reserves where there are planned commitments that cannot be met by anticipated future income alone. These reserves are broken down into a number of funds that relate to:

The Board recognise the need for innovation in order to grow the charity and should the need arise, spending from the reserve will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

The reserves policy and the levels of reserves required are reviewed yearly as part of the annual budgetary process.

Within the accounts, the amounts of reserves are specified in a table as follows:

Unrestricted
Funds
represented
by:
Desired
Reserves
Balance as
at 31st
March
2025
Description of Funds
General
Purpose
£27,500 £210,000 Funds to meet running costs,
based on three months
overhead expenditure.
Salaries
Reserve
£316,000 £330,185 Three months salaries and
employers’ NI contributions.
Premises
Reserve –
general
£13,700 £13,700 Three months’ rent at current
rate.
Contract renewed until
31/07/2026.
Total £357,200 £553,885

Going concern

The charity manages its cash position very carefully. The annual budget is set and approved by the Board prior to the start of the year on 1 April. The aim is to produce a prudent and balanced budget at operational level. The budget, cash flow and financial performance are closely monitored with any negative variances being quickly addressed to ensure the financial viability of the organisation over the longer-term.

The trustees have considered the going concern issue and are confident that there are sufficient resources and plans in place to ensure the charity is a going-concern for the twelve months following the signing of these accounts.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Principal risks and uncertainties

The principal risks faced by the charity are the failure to secure new grant and trust funding and a reduction in unrestricted income through sales, donations or training and consultancy. The trustees are fully aware of this and there is a constant drive to find new sources of income. At the same time costs are monitored as closely as possible. The Leadership Team review the top risks regularly, and these are presented to every Board of Trustees meeting. In addition, the Risk Register itself has been reviewed and improvements made around actions and controls.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Structure, governance and management

The charitable company was established under a memorandum of association and is governed under its articles of association which are available on the website.

As per the Articles of Association, the Board must consist of a minimum of six trustees and a maximum of 16 of whom 75% must be Disabled people. No fewer than three quarters of the Board shall be elected by the membership and no more than one quarter appointed by the board. Currently the Board comprises 12 Trustees of whom 11 are elected and one co-opted by the Board. The Board manages the business of the charity and exercises all the powers of Disability Rights UK. It seeks to ensure the charity is compliant with charity and company law and works with its charitable objectives.

We have two sub committees accountable to the main Board, each with agreed terms of reference and delegated authority from the Board. They are the Finance Committee and the People, Equality and Governance Committee. A member of the Leadership Team is responsible for each committee. These committees can have co-opted members who are not trustees, at the discretion of the Board. These individuals are subject to the same declaration of interest policy as trustees.

The trustees delegate the day-to-day running of the organisation to the Chief Executive, supported by the Leadership Team, who are the Head of Policy, Advice and Information, Head of Partnerships, Head of Engagement and Head of Business Development.

The organisation is a private company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 14 July 2010 and registered as a charity on 26 October 2010. Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up.

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 7 to the accounts.

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Appointment of trustees

New trustees are appointed through a fair and open process ensuring, as far as possible, diverse representation from a cross section of society, including different experiences of disability and skills. Trustees are elected on a threeyear cycle.

Trustee induction and training

New trustees spend a day meeting key management personnel and other members of staff to learn about the projects and programmes delivered by the charity. Incoming trustees are buddied with an existing member of the Board.

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

Remuneration for all staff, including key management personnel, is considered in the December/January period before year-end when the budget for the next year is set. There is union consultation via a member of staff under a voluntary trade union agreement between the charity and the union.

Final decisions on remuneration are made by the People, Equality and Governance Committee and Finance Committee and then ratified by the Board. This policy applies to all staff, including key management personnel.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The trustees (who are also directors of Disability Rights UK for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report including the strategic report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

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

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Disability Rights UK Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper 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.

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

Statement as to disclosure to our auditors

In so far as the trustees are aware:

Auditors

Goldwins were re-appointed as the charitable company’s auditors during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 9[th] October 2025 and signed on their behalf by;

…………………………………….

Fiona Creaby Treasurer

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Independent auditors’ report To the members of Disability Rights UK For the year ended 31 March 2025

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Disability Rights UK (the ‘Charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditorʼs 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 FRCʼs 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 financial statements are authorised for issue.

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Independent auditors’ report To the members of Disability Rights UK For the year ended 31 March 2025

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

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditorʼs 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.

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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Annual Report.

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Independent auditors’ report To the members of Disability Rights UK For the year ended 31 March 2025

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of the trustees

As explained more fully in the trusteesʼ responsibilities statement, the 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 they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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

Our 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 auditorʼs 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.

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Independent auditors’ report To the members of Disability Rights UK For the year ended 31 March 2025

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

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

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Councilʼs website at: [www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities]. This description forms part of our auditorʼs report.

This report is made solely to the Charityʼs members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charityʼs members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditorʼs

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Independent auditors’ report To the members of Disability Rights UK For the year ended 31 March 2025

report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charity and the Charityʼs members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Anthony Epton (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Goldwins Limited Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants 75 Maygrove Road West Hampstead London NW6 2EG

28 October 2025

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Disability Rights UK Statement of financial activities

(incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2025

Note
Income from:
Donations and legacies
3
Charitable activities:
4
Member Services
Promoting social inclusion
Advice and publications
Training and sponsorship
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities:
Member Services
Promoting social inclusion
Advice and publications
Training and sponsorship
Total expenditure
5
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
Unrestricted
funds
£
252,520
13,788
362,906
310,621
138,615
1,078,450
49,139
84,241
245,601
303,411
149,107
831,499
246,951
306,934
553,885
Restricted
funds
£
-
-
1,143,707
-
-
1,143,707
-
-
1,165,109
-
-
1,165,109
(21,402)
26,860
5,458
2025
Total
funds
£
252,520
13,788
1,506,613
310,621
138,615
2,222,157
49,139
84,241
1,410,710
303,411
149,107
1,996,608
225,549
333,794
559,343
2024
Total
funds
£
101,349
11,644
1,169,399
285,416
157,533
1,725,341
54,619
77,867
1,160,781
286,728
144,710
1,724,705
636
333,158
333,794

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. The attached notes form part of these financial statements.

Page | 39

Disability Rights UK Balance sheet As at 31 March 2025

Note
Fixed assets:
9
10
Current assets:
11
Liabilities:
12
15
Funds
General funds
Total charity funds
Unrestricted funds:
Creditors: amounts falling due after one year
Restricted funds
Tangible and intangible assets
Investments
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total net assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Debtors
£
290,482
834,475
2025
£
13,335
6,057
£
203,441
561,225
2024
£
22,244
6,057
19,392
539,951
28,301
305,493
1,124,957
(585,006)
764,666
(459,173)
559,343
-
333,794
-
559,343 333,794
5,458
553,885
26,860
306,934
559,343 333,794

Approved by the trustees on 9th October 2025

and signed on their behalf by:

Fiona Creaby Treasurer

Liz Leach Chair of Trustees

Company registration no. 7314865

The attached notes form part of the financial statements.

Page | 40

Disability Rights UK Statement of cash flows For the year ended 31 March 2025

2025 2024
£ £
Net income for the reporting period 225,549 636
(as per the statement of financial activities)
Depreciation 17,780 15,446
Disposal of fixed assets - -
(Increase) / decrease in debtors (87,041) (48,255)
Increase / (decrease) in creditors 125,833 (53,189)
Net cash provided by operating activities 282,121 (85,362)
2025 2024
£ £
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year 282,121 (85,362)
Purchase of fixed assets (8,871) (6,319)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 561,225 652,906
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 834,475 561,225

Page | 41

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

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 - effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

b) Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern. The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

c) Income

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

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred. Income received in advance for the provision of specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executor(s) to the charity that a distribution will be made, or when a distribution is received from the estate. Receipt of a legacy, in whole or in part, is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor’s intention to make a distribution. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is aware of the granting of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is a treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material.

d) Donations of gifts, services and facilities

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

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

e) Interest receivable

f) Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity’s work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

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Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

1 Accounting policies (continued)

g) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

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

Wholly irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred. Partially irrecoverable VAT is charged in one figure to overheads.

h) Allocation of support costs

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include administration, IT, finance, HR, payroll and governance costs which support the charity and its and activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities. The bases on which support costs have been allocated are set out in note 5.

i) Operating leases

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

j) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £500. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Computer equipment 33% Fixtures and fittings 33%

k) Investments in subsidiaries

Investments in subsidiaries and other unlisted investments are stated at fair value.

l) Debtors

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

m) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

n) Creditors and provisions

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

o) Pensions

The charity operates a defined contribution scheme to satisfy stakeholder pension requirements. The employer's contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities as incurred.

p) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Page | 43

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

2
Detailed comparatives for the statement of financial activities
Income from:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities:
Member Services
Promoting social inclusion
Advice and publications
Other trading activities
Total income
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities:
Member Services
Promoting social inclusion
Advice and publications
Other
Total expenditure
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
3
Income from donations and legacies
£
Donations
62,906
Legacies
160,000
Bank interest
29,614
252,520
Unrestricted

2024
£
101,349
11,644
243,160
285,416
157,533
799,102
39,667
77,867
218,659
286,728
144,710
767,631
31,471
275,463
306,934
£
-
-
-
-
Unrestricted
Restricted
2024
£
-
-
926,239
-
-
926,239
14,952
-
942,122
-
-
957,074
(30,835)
57,695
26,860
2025
Total
£
62,906
160,000
29,614
252,520
Restricted
2024
Total
£
101,349
11,644
1,169,399
285,416
157,533
1,725,341
54,619
77,867
1,160,781
286,728
144,710
1,724,705
636
333,158
333,794
2024
Total
£
68,034
11,000
22,315
101,349

Page | 44

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

4 Income from charitable activities

Organisational members
Individual members
Total for member services
Government grants
Trust and foundation grants
Contracts
Key sales
Total for promoting social inclusion
Publications
Advice services
Contracts
Total for advice and publications
Training & consultancy and courses
Partnerships and projects
Total for training and consultancy
Total income from charitable activities
Unrestricted
£
12,025
1,763
13,788
17,455
-
97,989
247,462
362,906
300,621
10,000
-
310,621
99,354
39,261
138,615
825,930
£
-
-
-
135,000
1,008,707
-
-
1,143,707
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,143,707
Restricted
2025
Total
£
12,025
1,763
13,788
152,455
1,008,707
97,989
247,462
1,506,613
300,621
10,000
-
310,621
99,354
39,261
138,615
1,969,637
2024
Total
£
10,125
1,519
11,644
143,175
801,239
74,977
150,008
1,169,399
276,000
9,416
-
285,416
144,933
12,600
157,533
1,623,992

Page | 45

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

5 Analysis of expenditure

Charitable activities
Cost of Promoting
Basis of raising Member social Advice and Training & Support
allocation funds services inclusion publications consultancy costs 2025 Total 2024 Total
£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
Staff costs Direct 9,345 41,101 605,959 123,308 - 373,897 1,153,610 987,151
Direct project costs Direct 17,626 4,444 490,240 107,868 41,514 - 661,692 579,070
Office running costs Direct - - - - - 135,562 135,562 112,740
Premises costs Direct - - - - - 45,744 45,744 45,744
26,971 45,545 1,096,199 231,176 41,514 555,203 1,996,608 1,724,705
Overhead salaries 15,268 27,075 195,769 40,902 94,883 (373,897) - -
Office running costs 5,159 8,689 88,783 23,428 9,503 (135,562) - -
Rent & rates 1,741 2,932 29,959 7,905 3,207 (45,744) - -
Total expenditure 2025 49,139 84,241 1,410,710 303,411 149,107 - 1,996,608 1,724,705
Total expenditure 2024 54,619 77,867 1,160,781 286,728 144,710 - 1,724,705

Of the total expenditure, £831,499 was unrestricted (2024: £767,631) and £1,165,109 was restricted (2024: £957,074).

Page | 46

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

6 Net income / (expenditure) for the year

This is stated after charging: 2025 2024
£ £
Operating lease rentals:
Property - rent 45,744 45,744
Depreciation 17,780 15,446
Auditor's remuneration - audit fees 7,000 7,000
Staff costs were as follows:
Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Employer’s contribution to defined contribution pension schemes
2025
£
1,021,291
105,986
26,333
2024
£
875,093
89,823
22,235
1,153,610 987,151

There were no other employee benefits other than those listed above.

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding both employer's NIC and pension contributions) during the year between:

2025 2024
Number Number
£70,000 - £79,999 1 1

The total employee benefits including Employer's NIC and pension contributions of the key management personnel were £311,173 (2024 £294,719).

The charity trustees were not paid or did not receive any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2024: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2024: £nil).

Trustees' travel travel, subsistence and hotel expenses totalled £3,721 (2024: £4,263). Some trustees do not claim any expenses for travel and subsistence.

Staff numbers
Raising funds
Member Services
Promoting Social Inclusion
Advice and publications
Training and consultancy
2025
2024
Number
Number
1.1
0.8
1.8
1.7
18.8
17.4
5.0
4.4
2.0
1.3
28.7
25.6
Average number of staff
employed during the year
2025
2024
Number
Number
1.1
0.8
1.8
1.7
18.8
17.4
5.0
4.4
2.0
1.3
28.7
25.6
Average number of staff
employed during the year
2025
2024
Number
Number
1.0
0.7
1.6
1.5
16.4
15.1
4.3
3.9
1.8
1.1
25.1
22.3
employed during the year
Average number of FTE staff
2025
2024
Number
Number
1.0
0.7
1.6
1.5
16.4
15.1
4.3
3.9
1.8
1.1
25.1
22.3
employed during the year
Average number of FTE staff
28.7 25.6 25.1 22.3

Average number of staff is based on head count and FTE is based on hours worked compared with full time.

Page | 47

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

8 Taxation

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

9
Tangible & intangible fixed assets
Cost
At the start of the year
Additions in year
Disposals in year
At the end of the year
Depreciation
At the start of the year
Charge for the year
At the end of the year
Net book value
At the end of the year
At the start of the year
All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.
£
36,170
-
-
New website
(intangible)
£
38,294
8,871
-
Computer
equipment
£
4,165
-
-
Fixtures and
fittings
Total
£
78,629
8,871
-
36,170 47,165 4,165 87,500
20,929
12,058
32,954
5,057
2,502
665
56,385
17,780
32,987 38,011 3,167 74,165
3,183 9,154 998 13,335
15,241 5,340 1,663 22,244
10
Investments
Investments at fair value:
Preference shares in Santander UK plc
Investment in Helpcard Holdings Ltd
Investment in subsidiary undertakings incorporated in the UK
2025
£
913
5,142
2
2024
£
913
5,142
2
6,057 6,057

Page | 48

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

11 Debtors

Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments
Accrued income
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Trade creditors
Taxation and social security
Other creditors
Accruals
Deferred income
Deferred income
Balance at the beginning of the year
Amount released to income in the year
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at the end of the year
50th Handbook pre-orders, invoices raised and online payments received
Handbook published end of April 2025
Grants subject to performance-related conditions (shown as deferred in restricted note)
Training and consulting projects
2025
£
96,124
167,202
14,768
12,388
2024
£
175,205
6,086
12,151
9,999
290,482 203,441
2025
£
123,384
31,632
12,899
33,985
383,106
2024
£
37,447
43,314
23,672
80,254
274,486
585,006 459,173
2025
£
369,967
(369,967)
383,106
2024
£
369,967
(369,967)
274,486
383,106 274,486
2025
£
71,883
273,742
37,481
2024
£
67,643
140,852
65,991
383,106 274,486

12 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

The grants above are "grants subject to performance-related conditions received in advance of delivering the services required by that condition". These are "accounted for as a liability and shown on the balance sheet as deferred income" in accordance with the Charities SORP para 5.24. The income, when released, flows through the restricted funds part of the SOFA and the grants are referred to as "deferred" in the restricted funds note.

13 Pension scheme

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme with Friends Life which is a qualifying scheme for auto-enrolment.

Page | 49

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

14
Analysis of net assets between funds
Year ended 31 March 2025
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Net current assets
Long term liabilities
Net assets at the end of the year
Year ended 31 March 2024
Tangible fixed assets
Investments
Net current assets
Long term liabilities
Net assets at the end of the year
General
unrestricted
£
13,335
6,057
534,493
-
Restricted
£
-
-
5,458
-
Total
funds
£
13,335
6,057
539,951
-
553,885 5,458 559,343
General
unrestricted
£
22,244
6,057
278,633
-
Restricted
£
-
-
26,860
-
Total
funds
£
22,244
6,057
305,493
-
306,934 26,860 333,794

Page | 50

Disability Rights UK

Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

15 Movements in funds Incoming Outgoing
At the start of resources & resources & At the end of
the year gains losses the year
Year ended 31 March 2025 £ £ £ £
Restricted funds:
Department for Education Apr - Mar - 135,000 (135,000) -
Sport England - System Partner To 31 March - 364,032 (364,032) -
Sport England - Moving Social Work 2 Deferred - 303,233 (303,233) -
City Bridge Trust - advice work in London Finished - 26,250 (26,250) -
DSA QAG Ongoing 26,860 - (21,402) 5,458
The Three Guineas Trust To 31 March - 130,000 (130,000) -
The Three Guineas Trust - diversity To 31 March - 5,000 (5,000) -
The Legal Education Foundation Deferred - 117,483 (117,483) -
Disrupt Foundation - see below Deferred - 38,500 (38,500) -
Trust for London - housing Deferred - 14,709 (14,709) -
Access to Justice Deferred - 9,500 (9,500) -
Total restricted funds 26,860 1,143,707 (1,165,109) 5,458
General funds - unrestricted 306,934 1,078,450 (831,499) 553,885
Total charity funds 333,794 2,222,157 (1,996,608) 559,343
Incoming Outgoing
At the start of resources & resources & At the end of
the year gains losses the year
Year ended 31 March 2024 £ £ £ £
Restricted funds:
Department for Education Apr - Mar - 125,000 (125,000) -
Sport England - System Partner To 31 March - 328,973 (328,973) -
Sport England - Moving Social Work 1 Finished - 11,701 (11,701) -
Sport England - Moving Social Work 2 Deferred - 130,158 (130,158) -
Sport England - Together Fund Finished - 51,428 (51,428) -
City Bridge Trust - Bridge to Work Finished - 6,000 (6,000) -
City Bridge Trust - advice work in London Quarterly - 35,000 (35,000) -
DSA QAG Ongoing 57,695 - (30,835) 26,860
The Three Guineas Trust To 31 March - 100,000 (100,000) -
The Three Guineas Trust - diversity To 31 March - 5,000 (5,000) -
The Three Guineas Trust - UNCRPD Finished - 35,000 (35,000) -
The Legal Education Foundation Deferred - 83,052 (83,052) -
Disrupt Foundation Deferred - 250 (250) -
Social Enterprise Fund Deferred - 14,677 (14,677) -
Total restricted funds 57,695 926,239 (957,074) 26,860
General funds - unrestricted 275,463 799,102 (767,631) 306,934
Total charity funds 333,158 1,725,341 (1,724,705) 333,794

Page | 51

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

Purposes of restricted funds

The Department for Education. To reach, inform and advise young disabled people on their post 16 options and to ensure their voices influence DfE policies.

Sport England - Get Yourself Active System Partner, a continuation of Get Yourself Active. The programme is to create opportunities for Disabled people with Long-Term Health Conditions to be physically active in a way that is right for them, by working with local and national partners. Disability Rights UK became a System Partner of Sport England on 1 July 2022 and the project runs to 31 March 2027. Get Yourself Active started in February 2015.

Sport England - Moving Social Work Part 2. A Sport England project, in partnership with Durham University that aims to develop research led teaching and community-based training materials and resources on physical activity to influence social work practice of today and tomorrow and improve disabled people’s health. Part 2 started 1 January 2024 and runs for 4 years.

City Bridge Trust - advice work in London. The grant is from City Bridge Trust, the funding arm of The City of London Corporation’s charity, Bridge House Estates (1035628). The grant is towards the salaries, operating and management costs of the London element of our Independent Living Helpline and Members’ Advice Line. The grant finished in December 2024.

The Disabled Students' Allowance Quality Assurance Group (DSA-QAG). In March 2020, we received a restricted donation of £80,000 from DSA-QAG, following the closure of that organisation. The donation is restricted to work associated with assisting disabled students to enter and succeed in higher education and will finish 25/26.

The Three Guineas Trust is one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts. The funding is to increase our capacity to influence policy change across areas such as the welfare benefits system, education, employment and social care.

The Three Guineas Trust - diversity project. This funds our anti-racist work and informing on future strategy

The Legal Education Foundation (LEF) have funded our work to build capacity within Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) over a three year period. The aim of the work is to make DPOs, and the sector, more sustainable and more able to apply for and obtain funding. The funding was renewed on 1 April for a further 3 years.

Disrupt Foundation. This funding enabled us to work in partnership with People’s Voice Media to gather stories from disabled people about their experiences during the Covid pandemic. Further funding was received in January for the period January to December 2025.

Trust for London - housing. The funding is for work with Disabled people and people with long term health conditions who are impacted by the condition of their temporary accommodation.

Access to Justice Fund - this fund, working with Inspire Legal, is to increase the knowledge and ability of disabled people's organisations (DPOs) to understand and use the Equality Act to support disabled people.

Page | 52

Disability Rights UK Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2025

16 Operating lease commitments

There are no future lease payments under operating leases.

The only operating lease was on the photocopier which ran for 5 years and finished in January 2022. We are currently just paying for the paper and printer ink costs.

The contract for the office in Plexal was renewed on 1 July 2025. It is for one year at the rate per month of £3,812 plus Vat

17 Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. Each member is liable to contribute a sum not exceeding £1 in the event of the charity being wound up.

18 Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2025 (2024: none).

Page | 53