Solihull Action through Advocacy
Report and Financial Statements
31 March 2021
Charity number: 1146073 Company limited by guarantee: 7945421
Solihull Action through Advocacy Report and Financial Statements Contents
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Legal and administrative information | 1 |
| Chair's statement | 2 - 3 |
| Report of the Trustees | 4 - 9 |
| Report of the Independent Examiner | 10 |
| Statement of financial activities | 11 |
| Balance sheet | 12 |
| Cashflow statement | 13 |
| Notes forming part of the financial statements | 14 - 22 |
Solihull Action through Advocacy Legal and administrative information
Trustees and Directors
Shamsher Dharsani Chair Jane Emeny Treasurer Resigned 4 September 2020 Philip Marshall Finance Committee John Roundell Finance Committee Appointed 29 January 2021 Jonathan Bright Chris Brodest Jessica James Katie Meah Catherine Nolan Appointed 29 January 2021 Jane Williams
Chief Executive Officer
James Voller
Principal Office and Registered Address
11 - 13 Land Lane Marston Green Solihull B37 7DE
Independent examiner
Dr J R Ayling BSc FCA 8 Troutbeck Avenue Leamington Spa Warwickshire CV32 6NE
Bankers
CAF Bank Ltd. 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling ME19 4JQ
1
Solihull Action through Advocacy Chair's statement for the year ended 31 March 2021
I write this statement reflecting on what has been one of the most challenging years that many of us can remember. The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant and wide-ranging impacts on the people we support, and on our team of staff and volunteers, as indeed it has had, and continues to have, for everyone. But rather than recount those challenges, with which we are all familiar, I want instead to focus on the achievements that we have made.
I can think of no better place to start than with the voices of some of the people we have worked with through the year who have shared with us, in their own words, what SAtA’s support has meant to them:
“Thanks for your support always...I couldn’t have got through some of the things I have without you.”
“You have helped me through the hardest thing to ever happen in my life, when I have many times wanted to just end it all rather than continue with the pain I felt at that time. Each time you have calmly picked me up, put me back on my feet, dusted me off and made me feel that I could get through it, one more day at a time. Every time I have woken the next day thankful that you had been there for me”
“So many times I have been frightened or upset and confused at things that have been happening and every time you have been there to help me understand it”
“If it was not for SAtA I would not be here doing the things I love doing”
This is just a small selection of the feedback that has been reported to me and my fellow Trustees but as ever I am deeply grateful to those people for taking the time to share their thoughts with us as I believe they set our activity and achievements in context and help to bring them to life.
These achievements would not have materialized without the hard work and dedication of our amazing staff and volunteers and the leadership of the Senior Management Team and I offer my sincere gratitude for their hard work and dedication to our clients.
Achievements
Pandemic response
It would be impossible to reflect on the year without saying something of the way we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our staff team had to adapt almost overnight to delivering a service that ordinarily relies almost exclusively on face-to-face contact, without being able to meet people in a great many circumstances.
We remained committed to seeing people face-to-face where necessary but we also had to make the best use of every available resource and technology to deliver the best advocacy that we could where face-toface work was not possible.
I am particularly proud of the way that our staff team acted quickly to secure funds to purchase tablets which could be provided to individuals, care homes and hospitals to support with video calls and I would also like to thank Solihull Council for their support with that endeavour.
We set up a new telephone support service for people with learning disabilities and autistic people which, although not strictly speaking “advocacy”, did help to ensure that an otherwise isolated and marginalised group of people had someone to talk to and a route to other supportive services where they were needed.
I and my fellow Trustees are extremely proud of the way that SAtA has responded to everything that the pandemic has thrown at it and the determination that our organisation has shown to ensuring that we are there for the people who need us.
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Chair's statement for the year ended 31 March 2021
Achievements (continued)
Influencing
We have made great efforts throughout the year to highlight systemic issues and challenges and to be part of helping to change them for the better. Perhaps as a result of the pandemic, this year has seen a stepchange in our engagement in this type of influencing work; engaging in issues such as inappropriate use of DNACPR orders and the introduction of Care Act Easements among others. We plan to harness this energy into the future and this forms a key theme of our new strategic plan.
In particular, we are pleased to have been asked to join the local LeDeR Governance group; working directly alongside the CCG, NHS acute and community services, local authorities and other statutory and VCS partners to seek real and lasting change to the quality of services experienced by people with learning disabilities and autistic people.
Circles of Support
One of our main priorities in our new strategic plan is to begin delivery of a Circles of Support project and I am very pleased to say that SAtA has secured some funding from Birmingham and Solihull CCG to run an 18 month pilot project. Work has already started on that pilot at time of writing and I look forward to reporting
Thank You
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to sincerely thank our CEO, management team and all our wonderful staff and volunteers who have all handled the challenges of the last year, both personal and professional, with great stoicism, commitment and flexibility.
My thanks also to my fellow Trustees for all of their work and support for our organisation.
Finally, but by no means least, on behalf of the Board, our staff, volunteers and all of the people we support, I would like to thank all our funders and supporters, both large and small, without whom our work would not be possible.
Shamsher Dharsani, Chair of Trustees
3
Solihull Action through Advocacy Report of the Trustees and Directors for the year ended 31 March 2021
The Trustees and Directors present their report and financial statements of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2021.
The Trustees’ report and financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out on pages 14 to 16 and comply with the Charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.
Structure, Governance and Management
Solihull Action through Advocacy is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 10 February 2012 and registered as a charity on 23 February 2012 with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. The company is governed under a Memorandum and Articles of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company. In the event of the company being wound up, each member is required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10.
The Board of Trustees have the responsibility of managing the business of the charitable company and for the purposes of charity law the trustees of the charity are also directors of the company. The Trustees / Directors who have served during the year and since the year end are set out on page 1.
Under the requirements of the Memorandum and Articles of Association there must be at least 3 trustees holding office. The term of office of a Trustee continues until they retire or are removed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Articles. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in the accounts. Trustee vacancies are advertised locally and regionally. Trustees are appointed for their skills and expertise. All new trustees undergo an induction process, including spending time with staff and service users and receive a trustee pack with relevant information about the organisation.
Day to day responsibility for management of the organisation is delegated by the Trustees to the Chief Executive.
All major risks have been reviewed and systems or procedures have been established to manage those risks.
Objectives and activities
The Charity’s objects as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association are:
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l to promote social inclusion and to prevent people from becoming socially excluded;
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l to assist people to obtain full rights and privileges as citizens and integrate into society;
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l to achieve these objectives particularly, but not exclusively, through the provision of independent advocacy support.
‘Socially excluded’ means being excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of one of more of the following factors: age, disability, impairment, poor educational or skills attainment, relationship and family breakdown and asylum seekers.
Solihull Action through Advocacy achieves its objectives through the provision of free independent advocacy. Having regard to these achievements, and the public benefit that they provide, the Trustees are satisfied that the Charity has met the Charity Commission guidance on Public Benefit.
In assessing the success of the Charity in the period, the Trustees have had regard principally to the number of people to whom the Charity has provided a service and the proportion of those individuals who achieved an outcome mostly or completely in line with their wishes. In addition the Trustees hold as a key criteria the need to deliver the Charity's services within its budget and to make a contribution to its unrestricted reserves.
The Charity utilises volunteers in a variety of roles from service delivery to Governance. Across the period, 27 people have volunteered including within our Peer Visitor service, Learning Disability Council, as Citizen Advocates, members of our Advisory Committee and the Trustees themselves.
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Report of the Trustees and Directors for the year ended 31 March 2021
Achievements and performance
1. Advocacy Case Work
Our case work service has been more important than ever this year as people have been faced with a continually changing landscape of rights and restrictions both within health and social care and more broadly. Over the course of the year we have provided a one-to-one independent advocacy case work service to 680 people across 1005 cases. 265 of those people (39%) are new to SAtA. Our work has directly protected 139 people from experiencing abuse or neglect and has ensured that a specific legal right has been upheld for 247 people. Of those people who provided feedback when asked, 78% said that they were either happy or very happy with the service and 91% said that they were either likely or very likely to recommend the service to someone else.
Solihull First Advocacy - This year is the second year of delivering our new service providing all localauthority funded statutory and non-statutory advocacy in Solihull. We deliver this in partnership with Independent Advocacy. In total, the service has worked with 597 people across 905 cases. 40% of those people were new to SAtA.
Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA), Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and Relevant Person’s Representative (RPR) – We continue to provide an advocacy service to individuals who have been assessed as lacking capacity and are entitled to the support of an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate. This includes those subject to a Deprivation of Liberty and those entitled to the support of a Relevant Person’s Representative. These are entitlements that were created by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure that individuals who lack capacity in respect of certain decisions are not deprived of the ability to input into best interest decisions about their lives.
Care Act - We provide support under the Care Act 2014 to those who are going through the process of assessment, support planning or review as well as safeguarding processes. This service is provided to any person who has a substantial difficulty engaging with the process and does not have another suitable person to support them.
Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) – We provide advocacy support to individuals who have been detained under a section of the Mental Health Act 1983. The majority of those cases are supporting people who have been detained in hospital under s.2 or s.3 for assessment and treatment. IMHAs ensure that detained individuals understand what their situation is and what their rights are and help to ensure their voice is heard in care and treatment decisions.
NHS Complaints - This is also a new service area for SAtA. We now provide advocacy support to people who wish to make a complaint about treatment they have received from the NHS. This can include making complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman if required.
Non-Statutory Advocacy - We work with people whose situations do not meet criteria for any of the statutory advocacy roles above but who have important issues that they need advocacy support with. We assist people with issues such as housing, employment, healthcare, finances, social care, access to services, bullying and hate crime. Commonly, people come to us because they have no one else who they can turn to for support.
Parents Advocacy - Our service for parents with a learning disability provides advocacy support during child protection proceedings or pre-proceedings. These are cases that usually revolve around whether a parent is able to care for the child(ren) or whether the children should be cared for by a relative or someone else. In many cases this results in children being removed from the care of their parents. Support from an advocate ensures that parents are fully engaged in the decision-making process and also that all options to support parents to continue caring for their own children have been considered and explored. We have worked on 49 parents advocacy cases this year.
Young People - We have continued to provide support to young people with learning disabilities and autism, particularly those who are in transition into adulthood. Key issues within this group include education (particularly reasonable adjustments, school exclusions and Education Health and Care Plans), employment, relationships and mental health (with the latter becoming an increasing challenge among young people). This work is funded by Children in Need, Birmingham and Solihull CCG and the St James’ Place Foundation. We have worked on 41 cases in the year.
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Report of the Trustees and Directors for the year ended 31 March 2021
Achievements and performance (continued)
2. Community Advocacy
Solihull First
We have worked to produce a “What is Advocacy” training session which is intended to create community capacity for “low-level” citizen advocacy by equipping people with a basic understanding of the principles of independent advocacy that they might be able to use in their day-to-day lives with family, friends, neighbours or people that they meet in the other places (work, religious meetings, volunteering roles, peer groups etc).
The pandemic restrictions meant that we were limited to only running an initial “test” session with 6 participants but this was well-received and we feel that we have a good basis for building on through the coming year.
Also under the Solihull First umbrella, early in the year, in response to the pandemic, we decided to start a telephone befriending service for people with learning disabilities and autism partly as an isolation-reduction mechanism but also to:
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l Identify and escalate any crisis situations (eg lack of access to food or medicines).
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l Support people to keep up with the very rapidly changing rules and guidance as to what they can and cannot do.
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l Provide emotional support and reassurance to people who might understandably be feeling anxious/scared.
We provided support to 18 people who we would not otherwise have been supporting. We have remained in regular contact with them throughout the pandemic and have provided a link to other supportive services.
Peer Visitors
Our Peer Visitor service continues to support people with learning disabilities living in small group homes to talk about their experiences and to seek improvements and changes to the way they are supported to live their lives.
Our ability to conduct peer visits was very heavily impacted by the onset of COVID restrictions as face-to-face visits to the homes were not possible. However, we worked closely with the managers of the homes and with our own volunteers to replace the face-to-face visits with virtual ones.
Naturally there were some challenges with supporting the residents of the small homes and the peer volunteers to use the technology but these were overcome and we were able to provide virtual visits to all but 1 of the 9 small homes.
Whilst we would not want to replace face-to-face visits in the long-term, virtual visits have allowed us to continue to provide some external scrutiny of the care and support that people are receiving and given the people in the small homes an important social outlet during a time of extreme isolation.
3. Collective Advocacy
Solihull Learning Disability Council
The SLDC has continued to be active throughout the year with our support, albeit with a significantly different approach. There have been some notable activities and achievements this year including:
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l Creating a video campaign for priority access to COVID testing for all people with learning disabilities (https://vimeo.com/430362767).
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l Meeting with the Chair of University Hospitals Birmingham and UHB’s Lead Nurse for Vulnerabilities to talk about how the Trust can better meet the care and treatment needs of people with learning disabilities.
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l Continuing to work in partnership with other self-advocacy groups as part of the Mencap “Treat Me Well” campaign.
The members are looking forward to the resumption of face-to-face meetings next year as easing restrictions allow.
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Report of the Trustees and Directors for the year ended 31 March 2021
Achievements and performance (continued)
3. Collective Advocacy (continued)
West Midlands Regional Self-Advocacy Network
Throughout the year we have been providing support to 2 “Link Workers” as part of the West Midlands SelfAdvocacy Network, a Lottery-funded project being run by “Dudley Voices for Choice”. Despite technical challenges in adapting to virtual working, both link workers have been very engaged with the network; attending the weekly meetings and completing the development work. As we make moves back towards inperson meetings again, we hope that the coming year will see more outward-looking work.
AdvoActs
Our drama group continues to run and we secured some funding from the Lottery Awards for All programme which allowed us to recruit a new part-time facilitator in October. The group decided to make a video about the lives they like to live, disability or no disability. Inevitably the video has also ended up touching on the impacts of COVID.
Influencing Work
Over the course of a rapidly changing year, we engaged in a number of important influencing activities as local statutory authorities tried to respond to changes in law, regulation, guidance and needs. In particular we:
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l Established a weekly conference call with both the Assistant Director and Head of Service for SMBC Adult Social Care. This meeting also included managers from individual social work teams (safeguarding, DoLS, All-Age Disability).
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l Wrote to the Director of Adult Social Care at SMBC in respect of the Council decision to operate under the “Care Act Easements” in the early stages of the pandemic. We had a meeting with the DAS which reassured us that the Easements were being used appropriately and proportionately and we were kept informed directly of any changes from that point.
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l Took a number of actions in response to reported inappropriate use of Do Not Attempt CardioPulmonary Resuscitation orders:
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l Wrote to the CEO and Clinical Chair of Birmingham and Solihull CCG to draw their attention to concerns raised in other localities (and to the joint statement published by CQC, BMA, RCGP and CPA) and to request their support in ensuring that GPs across Solihull were approaching end-of-life planning processes properly.
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l Drafted an information document for care providers and another for people and/or their relatives, to explain the proper process for DNACPR decisions, the importance of individualised decision-making and the involvement of the person, and to offer our support. We worked with SMBC to ensure this information was distributed to all Care Providers in Solihull.
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l Participated in a CQC thematic review of the use of DNACPR during the pandemic.
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l Drafted a local response to a PHE report in November 2020 which had highlighted the disproportionate impact of COVID on people with learning disabilities. As a direct consequence we have subsequently met with senior officers within the Council and the CCG as well as Saqib Bhatti (MP for Meriden). Some of the results/work from those meetings includes:
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l SAtA being invited to sit on the local LeDeR Steering Group and also to be involved in a sub group which will focus on ensuring that new strategic priorities actually manifest into real improvements and how this can be measured.
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l Re-connections with the Health Facilitation team, and potential joint working with SAtA and the Learning Disability Council.
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l A commitment from Saqib Bhatti MP to support us in raising awareness on key issues, especially using his influence on social media.
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l Some useful initial conversations with the CCG regarding improvements on Annual Health Checks the learning disability register-both of these being important throughout the pandemic period and beyond.
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l Agreement for social workers to be asked/ reminded to ask their clients whether they have been for an annual health check/ are on register/ have a hospital passport at their assessment or reviews- as standard.
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l Worked with the health facilitation team to ensure that people with learning disabilities going into hospital had up-to-date hospital passports.
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Report of the Trustees and Directors for the year ended 31 March 2021
Plans for future periods
In consultation with our staff and the people who use our support, we agreed a new strategic plan for 2021-24 in November 2020. That plan has 7 main priorities which are:
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Continue to deliver a high-quality, 1-2-1 case work advocacy service to protect people’s rights and ensure their views, wishes and feelings are heard
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Develop new “community advocacy” projects to promote and support inclusion for people with LD / Autism
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Develop and grow “collective advocacy” work to influence positive change
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Improve impact measurement methodologies and reporting
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Strengthen the ownership and control of the people who use our services
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Review and refresh our governance arrangements and processes 7. Improve marketing and raise profile
The CEO has developed a detailed action plan for the delivery of this new strategy and the Trustees are closely monitoring its progress. We are pleased to say that significant progress is already being made against some priorities and in particular:
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l We have worked closely with Birmingham and Solihull CCG to secure funding to deliver a pilot “Circles of Support” project over 18 months. This project will help us to reclaim some of our ‘community advocacy’ roots and, we hope, to help people to achieve significant and lasting change. Work has already begun on this project and we look forward to reporting on its successes in future reports. We are grateful to the CCG for their support.
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l Partly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have worked hard to foster productive influencing relationships, in particular with the Local Authority in Solihull as well as with the local CCG.
In the case of the former, those relationships were already there but our experience of the pandemic, has assisted in developing them. In particular we have needed to act as a “critical friend” on a number of issues and to constructively challenge actions and decisions that impacted on our clients and the wider population of Solihull. That role appears to have been well-received by the LA and as a result we are now better able to raise systemic issues and be part of finding solutions to them.
Our relationships within the CCG at a strategic level were largely non-existent but we now have direct and regular dialogue and have also been asked to sit as part of the local “LeDeR” Steering Group. We hope to be able to report on more achievements in this regard in future.
- l We have undertaken a review of our governance arrangements and this has resulted in the introduction of a new committee structure and the development of a formal scheme of delegation. Importantly, within this new structure, our previous “Service User Advisory Board” has been replaced with an “Advisory Committee” at which people who use our services will sit alongside Trustees to scrutinise and shape the performance and future plans of the Charity. That change is very new but our aim is that over the next year (and beyond) is that the Committee will become a powerful tool for ensuring that ownership of the organisation sits where it should; with the people it exists to support.
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Report of the Trustees and Directors for the year ended 31 March 2021
Financial review
The Statement of Financial Activities shows an income of £550,031 (2020: £563,059) and expenditure of £533,249 (2020: £561,313) resulting in net income for the year of £16,782 (2020: £1,746). The fund balance at 31 March 2021 is £63,953 (2020: £47,171), all of which is unrestricted.
Given the unexpected and very significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the uncertainties that it created, and the additional strain on the Charity’s management team, the Trustees are very pleased to have achieved a modest surplus in the year. This has been achieved by a combination of reduced costs in some cases (such as travel and some office costs) but mostly through the availability of grant funding that might otherwise not have been available. That surplus has been retained as unrestricted reserve because the Trustees expect a more challenging fundraising environment in the coming years as competition for charitable funds intensifies to cope with the likely increase in need post-pandemic.
The principal financial risks faced by the Charity are regularly monitored by the Board of Trustees and by its Finance Committee as well as on a continual basis by the CEO and Management Team. The main risks to which the Trustees feel attention should be drawn are:
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l Dependency on a small number of large funding streams: Approximately 80% of income for 2020-21 was derived from contracts with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (although this is split across multiple contracts) and this presents some risks in terms of sustainability if those contracts were to be lost. Our main contract (Solihull First Advocacy) runs until March 2022 and is highly likely to be extended to at least March 2024. We have developed a strong and open relationship with commissioners and have consistently delivered a high-quality service and as such the Trustees consider the risk of losing that contract to be low. Notwithstanding, the Trustees have set income generation targets and fundraising plans to encourage diversification of income streams to mitigate against dependencies.
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l Failure to achieve income generation targets: As with most similar charities, there is a recurrent risk that the charity will fail to meet its fundraising / income generation targets. The Trustees have set challenging but achievable targets and progress towards them is monitored regularly by the Finance Committee.
The Trustees aim to maintain reserves of £50,000 which it considers sufficient to cover potential short-term challenges in funding strategies and winding up costs if necessary. Total free reserves at 31 March 2021 were £57,140 which is in excess of this target.
This report has been prepared having taken advantage of the small companies exemption in the Companies Act 2006. This report was approved by the Trustees / Directors and signed on their behalf by:
5th October 2021
Shamsher Dharsani Chair of Trustees
Philip Marshall Finance Committee
Date
9
Independent examiner's report To the Trustees of Solihull Action through Advocacy
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2021 which are set out on pages 11 to 22.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your company’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner's statement
Since the company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
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2 the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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3 the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
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4 the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
6 October 2021
Dr J R Ayling BSc FCA (Fellow of the ICAEW)
Date
8 Troutbeck Avenue Leamington Spa CV32 6NE
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Statement of Financial Activities (including income and expenditure account) For the year ended 31 March 2021
| Unrestricted Funds Notes £ Income and endowments from: Donations and legacies 3 3,329 Charitable activities 4 463,368 Investments 25 466,722 Expenditure on: Charitable activities 5 438,815 Other 128 438,943 Net income / (expenditure) 27,779 Transfers between funds 15 (10,997) 16,782 Balance at start of year 15 47,171 Balance at end of year 15 63,953 Net movement in funds |
Restricted Funds £ 135 83,174 - 83,309 94,268 38 94,306 (10,997) 10,997 - - - |
Total Total 2020 £ £ 3,464 5,043 546,542 557,921 25 95 550,031 563,059 533,083 560,940 166 373 533,249 561,313 16,782 1,746 - - 16,782 1,746 47,171 45,425 63,953 47,171 2021 |
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There were no recognised gains and losses for the charitable company for the current or prior years other than those included in the statement of Financial Activities. All income and expenditure arises from continuing activities.
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Company limited by guarantee: 7945421 Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021
| Notes Fixed assets Tangible assets 10 Current assets Debtors 11 Cash at bank and in hand 12 Net current assets 13 Funds Restricted 15 Unrestricted 15 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year Total net assets |
31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 6,813 10,219 525,569 958,713 73,903 41,076 599,472 999,789 (506,415) (590,693) 93,057 409,096 99,870 419,315 (35,917) (372,144) 63,953 47,171 - - 63,953 47,171 63,953 47,171 |
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For the year ending 31 March 2021 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and for the preparation of financial statements.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476.
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.
The directors acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and for the preparation of accounts.
The financial statements were approved by the board of Trustees / Directors and signed on their behalf by:
5th October 2021
Shamsher Dharsani Chair of Trustees
Philip Marshall Finance Committee
Date
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Cash flow statement for the year ended 31 March 2021
| Net cash used in operating activities Net income Adjustments for: Depreciation charges Interest income shown in investing activities Decrease in debtors Decrease in creditors Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities Cash flows from investing activities Interest and dividends Purchase of fixed assets Net cash provided by / (used in) investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents brought forward Cash and cash equivalents carried forward Analysis of cash and cash equivalents Cash at bank and in hand Analysis of changes in net debt At start of year £ Cash 41,076 |
Year ended Year ended 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 16,782 1,746 3,406 4,088 (25) (95) 433,144 304,356 (420,505) (319,123) 32,802 (9,028) 25 95 - (12,240) 25 (12,145) 32,827 (21,173) 41,076 62,249 73,903 41,076 73,903 41,076 Cash flows At end of year £ £ 32,827 73,903 |
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
1 Accounting policies
{a} General information and basis of preparation
Solihull Action through Advocacy is a private charitable company incorporated in England and Wales. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee, is limited to £10 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 1 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are: to promote social inclusion and to prevent people from becoming socially excluded; to assist people to obtain full rights and privileges as citizens and integrate into society; to achieve these objectives particularly, but not exclusively, through the provision of independent advocacy support.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 20016 and UK Generally Accepted Practice.
The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention and are presented in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity, rounded to the nearest £. The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.
{b} Funds
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.
Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.
{c} Income recognition
All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.
For donations to be recognised the charity will have been notified of the amounts and the settlement date in writing. If there are conditions attached to the donation and this requires a level of performance before entitlement can be obtained then income is deferred until those conditions are fully met or the fulfilment of those conditions is within the control of the charity and it is probable that they will be
The charity receives government grants in respect of its advocacy projects. Income from government and other grants are recognised at fair value when the charity has entitlement after any performance conditions have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. If entitlement is not met then these amounts are deferred.
Income from trading activities includes income earned from fundraising events and trading activities to raise funds for the charity. Income is received in exchange for supplying goods and services in order to raise funds and is recognised when entitlement has occurred.
All income arises in the United Kingdom.
14
Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
1 Accounting policies (continued)
{d} Expenditure recognition
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. It is categorised under the following headings:
-
Costs of raising funds includes the costs of fundraising and trading activities
-
Expenditure on charitable activities comprises the direct costs of the provision of advocacy services and associated overhead expenses
Irrecoverable VAT is charged as an expense against the activity for which expenditure arose.
{e} Support costs allocation
Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity, but do not directly represent charitable activities and include administrative payroll costs, premises costs, office costs and governance costs. All support costs have been allocated to expenditure on charitable activities as raising funds is undertaken on a wholly voluntary basis. Any support costs which cannot be directly attributed to individual funds are apportioned according to the gross payroll cost incurred by each fund. The analysis of these costs is included in note 6.
{f} Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost (or deemed cost) or valuation less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses. Cost includes costs directly attributable to making the asset capable of operating as intended.
Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets, at rates calculated to write off the cost, less estimated residual value, of each asset on a systematic basis over its expected useful life as follows:
Computers and office equipment 33.3% reducing balance
Assets costing less than £1,000 are written off to the SoFA in the year of purchase.
{g} 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.
{h} Impairment
Assets not measured at fair value are reviewed for any indication that the asset may be impaired at each balance sheet date. If such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset, or the asset’s cash generating unit, is estimated and compared to the carrying amount. Where the carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount, an impairment loss is recognised in profit or loss unless the asset is carried at a revalued amount where the impairment loss is a revaluation decrease.
{i} Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised when the charity has an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount can be reliably estimated.
15
Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
1 Accounting policies (continued)
{j} Leases
Rentals payable and receivable under operating leases are charged to the SoFA on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.
{k} Tax
The charity is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011 and is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charity for UK corporation tax purposes.
{l} Going concern
The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis as the Trustees believe that no material uncertainties exist. The Trustees have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure is sufficient with the level of reserves for the charity, to be able to continue as a going concern.
2 COVID-19
The trustees do not consider that the COVID-19 pandemic will have any significant adverse financial effect on the charity, but an accurate estimate of the impact cannot be made.
| 3 Other donations and gift aid 4 Income from charitable activities Contracts with Solihull MBC Grants Other charitable income Donations and legacies |
Year ended Year ended 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 3,464 5,043 Year ended Year ended 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 427,542 427,596 91,160 105,613 27,840 24,712 546,542 557,921 |
|---|---|
£81,674 (2020: £70,181) of grant income is restricted. Other charitable income includes £1,500 (2020: £15,000) which is also restricted.
16
Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
5 Expenditure on charitable activities
| Direct staff costs Direct premises costs Direct office costs Direct professional fees Other direct costs Total direct costs Support costs (note 6) |
Unrestricted Funds £ 223,363 12,173 1,154 - 139,452 376,142 62,673 438,815 |
Restricted Funds £ 72,946 - 2,860 - 127 75,933 18,335 94,268 |
Year ended Year ended 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 Total Total £ £ 296,309 275,727 12,173 12,144 4,014 8,407 - 2,000 139,579 148,561 452,075 446,839 81,008 114,101 533,083 560,940 |
|---|---|---|---|
6 Allocation of support costs
All support costs are allocated to expenditure on charitable activities and then apportioned between individual funds on the basis of the direct payroll cost incurred by each fund. Total support costs comprise the following:
| Staff costs Premises costs Office costs Depreciation Governance Other costs |
Year ended 31 March 2021 £ 31,044 24,995 19,598 3,406 1,279 686 |
|---|---|
| 81,008 |
7 Net movement in funds for the year
The net movement in funds for the year is stated after charging:
| Depreciation of tangible fixed assets Fees payable to the independent examiner: |
Year ended Year ended 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 3,406 4,088 1,275 1,250 |
|---|---|
No other fees were paid to the independent examiner (2020: £nil).
17
Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
| 8 Staff costs The staff costs were: Wages and salaries Social security costs Pension contributions Other staff costs |
Year ended Year ended 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 288,019 294,899 17,047 18,288 14,378 14,701 319,444 327,888 7,909 14,227 327,353 342,115 |
|---|---|
The other staff costs comprise mainly travel, recruitment and training costs. No employee received annual emoluments in excess of £40,000 (2020: none). The average weekly number of staff employed during the year was:
| Charitable Activities Other |
Year ended Year ended 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 No. No. 17 17 3 3 20 20 |
|---|---|
9 Trustees’ expenses and remuneration
The Trustees all give freely their time and expertise without any form of remuneration or other benefit in cash or kind (2020: £nil). Expenses paid to the Trustees in the year totalled £nil (2020: £nil) and there were no donations made by Trustees (2020: £nil). There were no other related party transactions (2020: none).
| 10 Tangible fixed assets At 31 March 2020 and 31 March 2021 Depreciation At 1 April 2020 Charge for year At 31 March 2021 Net book value At 31 March 2021 At 31 March 2020 Cost |
Computers and office equipment £ 15,728 |
|---|---|
| 5,509 3,406 |
|
| 8,915 | |
| 6,813 | |
| 10,219 |
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
| 11 Debtors Trade debtors Other debtors Prepayments and accrued income |
31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 33,949 2,662 5,255 6,095 486,365 949,956 525,569 958,713 |
|---|---|
Prepayments and accrued income include £485,332 (2020: £804,890) in respect of long-term contracts. These amounts are recognised as due to the charity under the terms of the contracts but the associated income is deferred to the relevant future periods, see notes 12 and 13. Included within prepayments and accrued income is £35,917 (2020: £372,144) due after more than one year.
| 12 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Trade creditors Accruals and deferred income Taxation and social security |
31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 2,563 149,462 499,373 436,171 4,479 5,060 506,415 590,693 |
|---|---|
Accruals and deferred income falling due within one year includes £494,644 (2020: £432,746) in respect of long-term contracts. These amounts will be recognised as income in the year ending 31 March 2022 (2020: recognised in the year ended 31 March 2021).
| 13 | Creditors: amounts falling due | 31 March 2021 | 31 March 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| after more than one year | £ | £ | |
| Accruals and deferred income | 35,917 | 372,144 |
Accruals and deferred income falling due after more than one year are in respect of long-term contracts. These amounts will be recognised as income in the years ending 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2024 (2020: recognised in the year ending 31 March 2022). All accruals and deferred income are due within five years. No interest is chargeable.
| 14 Deferred income At 1 April 2020 Additions during the year Amounts released to income At 31 March 2021 |
£ 804,890 158,417 (432,746) |
|---|---|
| 530,561 |
Deferred income comprises amounts, received or receivable, which are in respect of work to be undertaken in future periods, see notes 12 and 13.
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Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
15 Summary of fund movements
| Unrestricted funds General fund Designated funds Solihull First Parents Advocacy WM Self-Advocacy Network Peer Visitors B'ham & Solihull CCG (Transition) Total unrestricted funds Restricted funds Children in Need (Transition) St James's Place Advoacts Tesco Covid Learning Disability Council SMBC Tablets National Lottery Fund Baron Davenport Lloyds Bank Eveson Trust CAF Bank Total funds |
Fund balance b/f 47,171 |
Income £ 14,440 |
Expend- iture £ (6,939) |
Fund transfers Fund balance c/f £ £ 9,281 63,953 (21,691) - (269) - 1,975 - (310) - 17 - (20,278) - (10,997) 63,953 2,520 - 635 - 1,155 - - - 5,657 - - - 171 - 127 - 195 - 202 - 335 - 10,997 - - 63,953 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - - - - - |
382,144 35,398 9,486 10,000 15,254 |
(360,453) (35,129) (11,461) (9,690) (15,271) |
||
| - | 452,282 | (432,004) | ||
| 47,171 | 466,722 | (438,943) | ||
| - - - - - - - - - - - |
15,611 2,500 9,983 500 135 1,500 16,080 500 27,500 5,000 4,000 |
(18,131) (3,135) (11,138) (500) (5,792) (1,500) (16,251) (627) (27,695) (5,202) (4,335) |
||
| - | 83,309 | (94,306) | ||
| 47,171 | 550,031 | (533,249) |
All transfers between the general fund and designated funds are to bring the year end fund balances to £nil. Transfers have been made from the general fund to the restricted funds to ensure they are not in deficit at the year end.
20
Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
15 Summary of fund movements (continued)
Designated funds are held for the following purposes:
Solihull First Provision of statutory and non-statutory advocacy for adults residing and/or receiving services in Solihull. This includes advocacy provided under the Care Act, Mental Capacity Act, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and Mental Health Act as well as NHS Complaints. It also includes issuebased, non-statutory advocacy for adults living in Solihull.
Parents Advocacy One to one support for parents with a learning disability who are going through child protection proceedings.
WM Self-Advocacy Provision and support of link workers acting as learning disability Network champions within a wider West Midlands network. Peer Visitors Peer-led quality monitoring visits to Local Authority residential care homes. B'ham & Solihull CCG Advocacy support for young people with learning disabilities transitioning (Transition) from children's to adults’ services.
Restricted funds are held for the following purposes:
Children in Need Advocacy support for young people with learning disabilities transitioning (Transition) from children's to adults’ services. St James' Place Advocacy support for young people with learning disabilities transitioning from children’s to adult services. AdvoActs Drama group for people with a learning disability. Tesco COVID Advocacy support for young people with learning disabilities transitioning from children’s to adult services.
Learning Disability Representative group of people with learning disabilities working together Council to raise awareness and seek changes to policy and practice.
SMBC Tablets Tablet computers to support virtual contact during period of restrictions as a result of COVID-19. National Lottery Fund To support specific running costs of the organisations including specific staff costs to support a telephone isolation-reduction project and rent. Baron Davenport Advocacy support for young people with learning disabilities transitioning from children’s to adult services. Lloyds Bank To support the running costs of the organisation. Eveson Trust To support the running costs of the organisation.
CAF Bank Support for telephone isolation-reduction project and collective advocacy work.
21
Solihull Action through Advocacy Notes forming part of the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021
| 16 Analysis of net assets by fund Fixed assets Debtors Cash Current liabilities Long term liabilities |
Unrestricted Funds £ 6,813 524,419 65,403 (496,765) (35,917) 63,953 |
Restricted Funds Total £ £ - 6,813 1,150 525,569 8,500 73,903 (9,650) (506,415) - (35,917) - 63,953 |
|---|---|---|
17 Operating lease commitments
At the reporting end date the charitable company had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non cancellable operating leases as follows:
| Not later than one year Later than one year and not later than five years Later than five years Not later than one year Later than one year and not later than five years |
Premises |
|---|---|
| 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 21,394 30,644 48,576 57,826 - 12,144 69,970 100,614 Office equipment |
|
| 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 £ £ 2,136 2,136 2,670 4,806 4,806 6,942 |
Lease payments recognised as an expense in the year were £30,644 (2020: £30,644) for premises and £2,136 (2020: £2,136) for office equipment.
18 Controlling party and ultimate controlling party
The controlling party and ultimate controlling party of the charitable company is the Board of Trustees / Directors of Solihull Action through Advocacy.
22