(HARITY (OMMISSION Tiustees, Annual Report foi the period lo lend dole) Section A Refeienie at)d administfation details Charily namÈ LowJ+hef PciML2< Olher naffle5 the £haiily is known by LoKK> the< PT A Regi51eied (h41ity n¥mbei lil any} Charity's piincipal address S+illinJ.£lcet _ £c•aC¥. Poslcode Names of the chaflty IIu5tees vlho mènage Ihe charity Dotes an3 PitLL+i leg Ifusl. a550cialion, tompanyl Tru51ee seletlion methods leg èppoinied by, elected by) You may choose 10 include additional inloimation. where relevant. obout.. policies and proceduFes adoptÈd loi the wklei nelwoik wilh which the Ihafily works,. tru51ee5' coTrsiderèlion ol fnajor risks ènd Ihe system ènd pioteduies lo manage them. TAR Mar(h 2012 Section C Objectives and a£tivitie5 out ID ils governing document Sumrnaiy ol the tnain a(livilies hèd iegaFd 10 IhÈ guidance 155ued by Ihe You may choose lo includÈ lurlhei staiÈmen15. wheie rÈlÈvant, about-. policy on giaThimaking,' policy Pfogramme related investment,. conlribulion made by volunlèer5. section D Achievefflenls and peiformance SuFntnaiy ol the main achievomÈn15 01 the charity duiing Ihe year TAR Mawch 2012 Se|as of 1/9/2019| |Bank Statement balance|||£|28,662.82
|as of 31/8/2020| |**Income**|2019 / 20||||| |Food Fair|£|602.88
|||| |BBQ|£|2,027.67
|||| |Bingo|£|1,757.04
|||| |Christmas fair|£|6,620.10
|||| |Quiz Night|£|1,353.65
|||| |World Book Day|£|1,344.29
|||| |Tea Towels|£|1,213.31
|||| |BCA Donation|£|500.00
|||| |Donations|£|5,553.75
|||| |Carter Jonas Sponsorship|£|2,700.00
|||| |Easyfundraising|£|102.50
|||| |Donations for Hoodies|£|635.55
|||| |Donations for Relay|£|8,834.62
|||| |Virgin Money Giving Donations - received|£|4,867.84
|||| |Cake sales|£|1,498.67
|||| |Uniform Sales|£|217.63
|||| |Greeting Cards|£|254.17
|||| |Christmas cards|£|321.00
|||| |**Total Income**|**£**|**40,404.67**
|||| |**Expenditure**|||||| |Food Fair|£|156.28
|||| |BBQ|£|1,352.75
|||| |Bingo|£|666.37
|||| |Xmas fair||2,021.84|||| |Quiz Night|£|527.25
|||| |World Book Day|£|1,431.68
|||| |Tea Towels|£|655.68
|||| |School Purchases|£|24,061.73
|||| |PTA Costs|£|826.24
|||| |Allotment fund|£|710.00
|||| |Virgin Money Giving Donations - paid to school|£|5,302.54
|||| |expenses from 2018/19 now cashed|£|3.79
|||| |Donations for Relay - banked 2020/21|£|453.00
|||| |Christmas Cards - banked 2020/21|£|321.00
|||| |**Toatal Expenditure**|**£**|**38,490.15**
|||| |Profit for 2019-20|£|1,914.52
|||only within England| ## **Independent examination of the accounts of Lowther Primary School Parent Teacher** **Association 2019-20 -** report undertaken by Dugald Sandeman at the request of the PTA. ## **Reason for report** 1. The purpose of this report is to offer an independent examination of the PTA’s accounts for 2019-20 academic year. The PTA formally asked me to undertake this report in an email from the Chair, Kia Morice, dated 21 June 2021. As the Association had an annual gross income of more than £25,000 in 2019-20, it is required by the Charity Commission to commission an independent examination. The Association’s gross income is well below £250,000 and the examiner does not therefore need to be professionally qualified. 2. I have considerable experience of school funding and finance as a former employee of the Department for Education and a school governor dealing in finance. I am a School Resource Management Adviser certified by the Institute of School Business Leadership. I believe I can make a reasonable analysis of these accounts and the records supporting them. Disclosure: I am the father of Mrs Anna Fleming who is an ordinary member of the PTA. I have no other connection with the events, transactions or business of the Association. ## **Requirements of the Charity Commission** 3. The Commission requires the examiner to look at three aspects of the accounts: the accounting records kept; whether the accounts agree with these records; and whether the format of the accounts is correct. The Association prepares its accounts on a receipts and payments basis and this report assesses them accordingly. ## **Records kept** 4. The Association’s business has a number of strands: - The receipt of charitable giving from parents and others with an interest in the school; - The organisation of fundraising events to support the school and its pupils; - The disbursement of its funds to support the school and its pupils, mainly through the purchase of goods and services for the benefit of the pupils and in agreement with the management of the school; and - The organisation of specific activities for pupils, principally the running of an allotment and the provision of music tuition. 5. The records of the Association give a good picture of all these strands. The charitable giving is mainly through the vehicle of Virgin Money Giving which is a convenient way for parents to support the school. A smaller amount is raised through Easyfundraising Ltd. The Association is also supported through commercial sponsorship by Carter Jonas who advertise school events under their signage. The receipts from these sources are clearly identified. 6. The Association holds a number of fundraising events. In 2019-20 they included a Christmas Fair, a Food Fair, the commissioning and sale of Christmas cards, a Quiz Night and a BBQ. Each of these events is recorded in a discrete account showing income, costs, profit and amounts paid and credited. The overall profit feeds into the Profit and Loss Account. Examination of each of these gives a good account of the transactions of the event. The accounts give an accurate, well recorded and clear description of transactions. 1 7. Other fundraising of a more continuous nature also takes place: the sale of second hand uniforms and periodic cake sales are the main examples and their income is clearly recorded. 8. Disbursements to the school are transacted through an agreed invoice being presented to the Association. The allotment expenses are run out of the general account, but within the framework of a notional account. 9. Records of expenditure are clearly supported by invoices. Where expenditure is undertaken by members of the Association or members of the school staff, a “Request for out of pocket expenses” form is needed supported by receipts and this discipline is properly observed. 10. The general quality of records kept is good and it is clear that everyone involved understands the need for proper and accurate records. ## **Reconciliation of the accounts and records** 11. The way in which the event accounts feed into the Profit and Loss Account is clear and the totals reconcile. In order to check the accuracy of the event accounts and their read across to the bank statements and the Profit and Loss Account I have checked a significant number of individual transactions. This has helped me to reassure myself about the accuracy of the transactions and accounts. ## **Format of the accounts** **12.** As the accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis, there is no specified format for the accounts, except that they must be fit for purpose. I judge the format used by the Association to be satisfactory for this size of organisation. ## **Other issues** 13. In my report on the 2018-19 accounts I recommended that, for the sake of clarity and the avoidance of embarrassment, it would be prudent for the Association to develop a policy on gifts. Work on this policy has started but has not been completed. 14. **I recommend that the Association should complete and implement a policy on gifts to members and school staff.** 15. During the year the Association carried a significant balance in its bank account. The lowest balance in the account was £14,629.30. The Association may want to review whether it needs to maintain this level of balance. The Association’s purpose is to support the school and a high balance earning no interest does not serve that purpose. It is not easy to forecast the cashflow of the organisation so any amendment to the Association’s approach to its balances would need to be made cautiously. **16. I recommend that the Association should review its policy on balances to ensure the twin aims of financial stability and the best possible use of funds in support of the school.** **17.** The purpose of an independent reviewer is to look critically at the accounts of the organisation. There is a danger that increasing familiarity with the affairs of the Association will blunt the analysis of the reviewer over time. As this is the third year in 2 which I have undertaken the review, I think **it would be timely for the Association to seek a new reviewer for the accounts of the current academic year 2020-21 when a review falls due in 2022.** ## **Summary** 18. I think the accounts kept reflect well on the discipline of the PTA, and that the quality of its record keeping remains high. Dugald Sandeman 23 June 2021 3