2023-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St James New Barnet

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St James’s Church, New Barnet

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Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements

for the year ending 31[st] December 2023

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St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

Trustees Report

Objectives and Activities

In accordance with St James’s Church’s charity registration and our position as part of the Church of England, our key activities are providing regular public worship open to all and providing services to the community.

Our main goals for 2023 from our Mission Action Plan were:

To improve our welcome and help newcomers belong
To continue to be good stewards of finance and resources
To consider what it means to be church post-covid
To increase our involvement in the community and seek new mission opportunities
To invest in equipping leaders
To continue to invest in our work with children, young people, and their families
To draw more into the presence of God through all we are doing
To be a place where prayer is a priority

In each area of ministry we think about how our actions help our relationships in three directions – up (how does this help us to grow in faith); in (how do we support each other) and out (how do we reach out to the community).

We will continue to develop our relationships with other local churches, especially our sister church Holy Trinity, Lyonsdown.

Achievements and Performance

Our weekly services are Sunday morning and Wednesday morning (short midweek reflection). We also have a monthly Encounter service with informal music and prayer. We held special services at Easter and Christmas, including a baptism on Easter Sunday.

Our Curate Jenny Robinson was ordained Priest in July, and Simon Vincent was Licensed as a Reader in September. We have a Vocations Group for those who are exploring ministry.

We have employed a Family and Youth Worker since 2012. As well as Kidschurch during our Sunday morning service, we also run some weekday groups: Toddler Group, Our Place (toddler group for children with additional needs), Zone (school years 2-6) and Jim’s Youth Hub for teenagers.

We continue to be part of the Together in Barnet Night Shelter scheme, and hosted guests overnight in church once a week for two months during the winter.

Jim’s Café, our Community Advice Centre, continued to grow. It is a place where anyone is welcome, offering friendship as well as a range of advice services, including help with filling in forms. In April, Jim’s Café received a civic award for ‘Outstanding Service to the Community’. In the autumn conversation English classes began for those with English as a second language. We are part of the national warm spaces initiative. This is all free.

We have a donation point for Chipping Barnet Foodbank, and did a special collection at Harvest. In December we held our annual Toy Sunday, when people brought toys for social services to pass on to children who would not get Christmas presents.

During 2023, the vicarage garden was turned into a community garden, where a wide range of produce was grown. This was distributed to people at Jim’s Cafe and the Foodbank.

We held a free Community Fun Day in the autumn, with hundreds of people enjoying a bouncy castle, games, stalls and hot dogs.

On Remembrance Sunday we took part in the service at New Barnet War Memorial, before our own morning service which included an act of remembrance.

We continue to run our small group Bible studies (Life Groups), and these have been places to support one another, and grow as disciples.

Once a month we have a Saturday prayer meeting, and there is always prayer ministry available after services. The local ecumenical World Day of Prayer service was held at St James’s.

Social events have included lawn bowls and an open mic night, plus a variety of women’s and men’s events (including a curry night, brunch, bring and share meal and film night). We celebrated the King’s Coronation with a Royal Variety Performance and a bring and share lunch.

We have two regular craft groups – Craft & Chat and Knit & Natter. Knit & Natter’s projects have included making blankets and poppies for charity.

Having previously achieved a Bronze Eco Church Award from A Rocha UK (a Christian charity which works to equip Christians and churches to care for the environment), we have worked to improve our environmental impact and in 2023 we were upgraded to a Silver Award.

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

Financial Review

Summary

2023 was an eventful financial year for St James’s. The nursery who had been based at St James’s for several years moved on and repaid a significant amount of back rent that they owed us, although we agreed to write off the remainder of their unpaid back rent. We now have a new nursery based at St James’s called Highview. We also received several large grants and donations in 2023 which covered some of our salary costs, enabled us to do several large maintenance projects and allowed us to replace some old pieces of equipment.*

Although we had a surplus for the year of around £21,000, this was due to the back rent and some one-off grants, and our financial situation is still needing careful management due to the higher cost of living affecting all prices. We are being prudent by setting some of our reserves aside as designated funds to ensure we can cover salaries in the coming year and to help us meet expected higher maintenance costs from the upcoming Quinquennial review of the church building.

Income

Our income in 2023 was £231,000, an increase of £92,000 from 2022. This increase was due to the significant number of restricted grants, most of which were one-offs, and the extra back rent from the outgoing nursery. One source of grant funding may continue in 2024, but most were one-off grants.

Here is a breakdown of our 2023 income:

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Youth groups, church shop & other income,
Rental £5,688 Congregational
income & giving & sundry
room hire, donations, £85,624
£74,446
Gift day, £10,077
Income from
grants, £55,156
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Expenditure

Our expenditure in 2023 was £210,000. This was an increase of £61,000. This was largely due to purchasing several new items of equipment and undertaking various pieces of maintenance work (using restricted grants and donations) and increasing hardship fund payments from donations made to us for this purpose. We also had increased salary costs due to the Jim’s Manager being employed for the full year in 2023 (the role started part way through 2022, meaning the salary payments were less in that year) and taking on a bookkeeper for a few hours a week.

As in most years, a significant part of our expenditure was the parish share (our contribution to the Diocese of St Albans, which in turn pays Rev Canon Laura’s stipend and supports the church in many other ways). We always feel it is important to pay our parish share in full.

Cash

As always, we aim to maintain a healthy cash balance throughout the year to make sure we are able to deal with any unexpected dips in income. We were able to maintain this for 2023 and 2022.

Reserves Policy

The free reserves are the total funds available to the PCC, excluding funds tied up in our rental property in Victoria Road and funds designated to be used on specific items.

It is the PCC’s policy to:

keep three months' running costs (approximately £35,000) in free reserves to cover essential expenditure in the event of loss of income
save up funds in other designated reserves to cover unexpected fabric repairs and other large projects and to ensure salaries can be paid during a low patch

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

Our free reserves are currently at around the target of £35,000 (at 31 December 2022 they also stood at around £35,000). We have also been able to designate £20,000 to the salaries reserve, £5,435 to the charitable giving reserve, £2,000 to a music and PA reserve and £11,000 to a fabric reserve, on top of the free reserves.

Structure, Governance and Management

St James’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a corporate body established by the Church of England and operating under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure.

It is registered as a charity in England as “The parochial church council of the ecclesiastical parish of St James New Barnet”, also known as “St James PCC, New Barnet”. Its registered charity number is 1150299.

Individuals become members of the PCC (in accordance with the Church Representation Rules):

by virtue of their office within the church (vicar and churchwardens)
by membership of certain other ecclesiastical bodies (e.g. Barnet Deanery Synod)
by direct election by members of the church (those on the Church Electoral Roll)

On appointment or election to the PCC, all members automatically become trustees of the charity.

As well as constituting the charity trustees, the PCC is the overall management committee of the church. It has the following sub-committees:

Standing Committee – empowered to take urgent decisions between normal PCC meetings
Fabric Team – deals with practical matters, including maintenance of the church building and other churchowned premises
Finance Team – aims to establish and maintain best practice in all aspects of financial management

The following served as Trustees (and as members of the PCC) in the period from the start of the reporting period (1 Jan 2023) to the date of the 2024 Annual Parochial Church Meeting (19 May 2024).

Rev Canon Laura Hewitt (Vicar and Chair) Alice Femi-Pearse Rev Jenny Robinson (Curate) Bryony Johnson (from APCM 2023) Carol Connah (Churchwarden & Lay Vice Chair) Zoë Jones (Treasurer) Luke Cowles (Churchwarden) Alun Matthews Mark Chapman (Deanery Synod Rep, until 16 March 2024) Keisha Murdock (until APCM 2023) Rosemary Leaver (Deanery Synod Rep, until APCM 2023) Areghan Obawaeki (from APCM 2023) Simon Perera Paul Robinson Ros Thompson (Secretary) Simon Vincent (from 8 October 2023)

The PCC appointed Jeremy & Helen Alford as Safeguarding Officers in 2022. They are not Trustees.

Reference and Administrative Details

Registered Office : St. James's Church, 71 East Barnet Road, New Barnet, EN4 8RN

Bankers : Barclays Bank PLC, 1250 High Road, Whetstone, London, N20 OPB

Independent Examiner : Mr D Watson ACIB, 24 Ventnor Drive, Totteridge, London, N20 8BP

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Rev Canon Laura Hewitt Carol Connah ( Vicar & PCC Chair) (Church Warden & PCC Vice Chair)

One large grant was pledged near the end of 2023 but the money was only received in instalments after the bills were paid. Therefore, at 31 December 2023, some of these large bills had been paid but the grant money not yet received which is why there are temporary negative restricted reserves at year end. This is just a timing difference and has been agreed with our independent examiner.

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL 2023 Restricted £ INCOME Donations and grants 69,838 Charitable Activities - Trading Activities - Other Income - Total INCOME 69,838 EXPENDITURE Charitable Giving 7,909 Service Costs 1,127 Church Ministry 5,279 Employee Costs 2 & 7 7,669 Fabric 35,240 Administration 3,380 Fundraising Costs - Total EXPENDITURE 60,604 NET RESOURCES 9,234 TRANSFERS BETWEEN FUNDS - NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 9,234 BALANCES BROUGHT FORWARD 3,354 BALANCES CARRIED FORWARD* 12,588	ACTIVITIES 2023 Unrestricted £ 81,019 4,365 74,446 1,323 161,153 1,370 5,019 76,911 41,132 22,503 4,713 (2,125) 149,523 11,630 - 11,630 222,178 233,808	2023 Total £ 150,857 4,365 74,446 1,323 230,991 9,279 6,146 82,190 48,801 57,743 8,093 (2,125) 210,127 20,864 - 20,864 225,532 246,396	2022 £ 89,975 3,889 44,661 229
			138,754
			3,377 3,724 75,741 40,201 15,585 4,747 5,439
			148,814
			(10,060) -
			(10,060) 235,592
			225,532

For more details about these items, see the section with that number in the Notes to the Accounts

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

BALANCE SHEET ASSETS 2023 £ Fixed Assets Buildings - 159 Victoria Road 3 160,000 Totals 160,000 Current Assets Cash at bank 78,187 Cash in hand 513 Stock 1,320 Debtors - trade 10,320 Debtors - other 7,759 Debtors - Gift Aid tax claim 6,000 Totals 104,099 Less Creditors Trade creditors (13,670) Other creditors (3,161) PAYE and National Insurance 128 Deferred income (1,000) Totals (17,703) NET CURRENT ASSETS 86,396 NET ASSETS 246,396 FUNDS 2023 £ Restricted Funds 4 Hardship fund 1,201 Jim’s fund 3,633 Youth work fund 19,880 Community projects fund 116 Other restricted funds (12,242) *Totals* 12,588 Designated Funds 5 Charitable giving 5,435 Music & PA reserve 2,000 Buildings reserve 160,000 Fabric reserve 11,000 Salaries reserve 20,000 Totals 198,435 Other Funds 5 Free reserves 35,373 *Totals* 35,373 FUNDS TOTALS 246,396	2022 £ 160,000
	160,000
	49,334 449 1,400 8,450 8,194 13,490
	81,317
	(201) (15,584) - -
	(15,785)
	65,532
	225,532
	2022 £ 476 882 857 - 1,139
	3,354
	4,775 2,000 160,000 - 20,000
	186,775
	35,403
	35,403
	225,532

For more details about these items, see the section with that number in the Notes to the Accounts

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

INCOME 2023 £ Donations and grants General giving 56,671 Tax recovered on general giving 12,879 Gift Day income 8,561 Tax recovered on Gift Day 1,516 Grants 55,156 Other donations 12,708 Tax recovered on restricted donations 2,579 Collections for other charities 125 Church event donations 662 *Totals* 150,857 Charitable Activities Youth & children event subs 2,273 Wedding & funeral fees 154 Church shop income 627 Miscellaneous other income 1,311 *Totals* 4,365 Trading Activities Nursery rental 55,786 159 Victoria Road rent 18,000 Church room hire 660 Other sales income - *Totals* 74,446 Other Income Interest etc received 471 Compensation received - Other income 852 *Totals* 1,323 INCOME TOTALS 230,991	2022 £ 54,304 12,598 13,138 3,000 3,029 1,823 162 1,155 766
	89,975
	1,954 860 1,075 -
	3,889
	26,000 18,000 630 31
	44,661
	58 171 -
	229
	138,754

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

EXPENDITURE 2023 £ Charitable Giving Church charitable giving 1,340 Other charities collections 582 Hardship fund payments 7,357 *Totals* 9,279 Service Costs Service costs 664 Refreshments 2,339 PA & music 3,143 *Totals* 6,146 Church Ministry Parish Share 72,038 Discipleship events and groups 269 Youth groups and events 933 Community projects including Jim's 4,811 Outreach events 1,112 Hospitality 352 Vicar's expenses 401 Conferences & training 682 Publicity 51 Gifts to church members 583 Cost of shop goods 958 *Totals* 82,190 Employee Costs 2&7 Salaries 47,615 Pensions and National Insurance 1,186 Totals 48,801 Fabric Repairs & maintenance 35,664 Health & safety & security 3,564 Church cleaning 90 Church insurance 2,875 Energy and water 15,550 Totals 57,743 Administration Photocopier expenses 2,125 IT & software 793 Other office costs 3,415 Bank fees etc 459 Miscellaneous expenses 1,301 Totals 8,093 Fundraising Costs 159 Victoria Road insurance & maintenance 925 Bad debt expense (3,050) Totals (2,125) EXPENDITURE TOTALS 210,127 SURPLUS / (DEFICIT)* 20,864	2022 £ 1,975 773 629
	3,377
	1,319 1,143 1,262
	3,724
	69,766 403 987 765 682 394 635 59 90 983 977
	75,741
	39,222 979
	40,201
	665 1,230 142 2,693 10,855
	15,585
	1,806 767 1,419 465 290
	4,747
	939 4,500
	5,439
	148,814
	(10,060)

For more details about these items, see the section with that number in the Notes to the Accounts

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

Notes to the Accounts

1. Accounting Policies

a) Basis of Accounting

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014; the Financial reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS102); the Charities Act 2011; and UK Generally Accepted Practice as it applies from 1 January 2015.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS102.

b) Recognition of income

Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity becomes entitled to the resources, it is more likely than not that the charity will receive the resources and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.

c) Incoming resources

Donations and grants are included in the accounts when the general income criteria are met. When donors specify they are to be used for a future accounting period they are treated as deferred income. Contributions, fees and tax recoverable from the Inland Revenue under the Gift Aid scheme are recognised on an accruals basis when there is a valid declaration from the donor.

d) Resources Expended

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis, inclusive of VAT, which cannot be recovered.

e) Capitalisation and Depreciation

All fixed assets are initially recorded at cost.

Tangible fixed assets costing more than £1,500 are capitalised in the accounts.

Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost of an asset, less its estimated residual value, over the useful economic life of that asset as follows:

Office Equipment – computers 50% straight line, other equipment 25% straight line.

Property – the property is not depreciated as the PCC believes the current market value of the property is significantly higher than the valuation in the accounts.

f) Stocks

Stocks held for resale are measured at the lower of cost or net realisable value.

g) Pensions

St. James's PCC contributes to a defined contribution pension scheme on behalf of employees, the cost of which is disclosed in the detailed income and expenditure account.

h) Funds accounting

Funds held by the charity are:

Unrestricted general funds – these are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees.
Unrestricted designated funds – these are funds which the PCC has designated for specific purposes, as set out in note 5.
Restricted funds – these are funds which can only be used for particular purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. The nature and purpose of each fund is explained further in the notes to the accounts.

2. Staff Costs

a) Employment costs are as specified in the detailed income and expenditure.
b) 5 people were employed by the charity during the year of which 4 were part-time and the other was full-time (in 2022 this was 5 people, of which 4 were part-time and the other was full time).
c) No employee earned more than £60,000 during the year (2022 – nil).

3. Fixed Assets

The only fixed asset is an investment property in Victoria Road. No depreciation has been applied to this property because the PCC believes the current market value of the property is significantly higher than the current valuation. This valuation was made several years ago.

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

4. Restricted Funds

Youth & Children’s work fund Special collections Jim’s café fund Hardship fund Community projects Other	1 Jan 2023 £ 857 1,062 882 476 - 77 3,354	Income £ 22,771 (375) 7,384 7,911 3,660 28,487 69,838	Expenditure £ 4,740 583 4,633 7,186 3,646 39,816 60,604	Transfers between funds £ 992 (50) - - 102 (1,044) -	31 Dec 2023 £ 19,880 54 3,633 1,201 116 (12,296)
					12,588

The youth and children’s work fund consists of grants and donations given to pay for the youth and children’s work at St James's. This fund contains some donations to be used for any costs relating to youth and children's work and some for specific elements of youth and children’s work.

The special collections fund consists of special collections the church ran for other charities or mission activities. These funds can only be spent on the purpose each collection was advertised as being for. The net income was negative in 2023 because of the write off of some old income thought to be restricted and now determined to be unrestricted.

The Jim's café fund consists of donations for the costs of the social action café run by St James's called Jim's café.

The hardship fund consists of donations to be given to members of the congregation, Jim’s clients, or others known to the church, who are in particular financial hardship or have a particular financial crisis.

The community projects fund consists of donations to community projects such as the St James’s Community Garden held at the Vicarage and Night Shelter.

The other restricted fund is for other donations given for specific reasons such as utility costs, equipment for church, etc. The year end balance is negative because one large grant was received for various different pieces of maintenance work and each part of the grant was only received after the invoice had been paid by St James’s. Therefore several large invoices were paid by St James’s late in 2023 and the grant income for them wasn’t received until 2024.

In 2023 the transfers between funds were either moving previous donations into the new community project fund or moving the balance of a residual amount of a restricted donation into a different fund at the request of the donor.

5. Unrestricted Funds

Free reserves Designated charitable fund Designated fabric fund Designated music & PA fund Designated salaries fund Designated building reserve	1 Jan 2023 £ 35,403 4,775 - 2,000 20,000 160,000 222,178	Income £ 161,153 - - - - - 161,153	Expenditure £ 148,183 1,340 - - - - 149,523	Transfers between funds £ (13,000) 2,000 11,000 - - - -	31 Dec 2023 £ 35,373 5,435 11,000 2,000 20,000 160,000
					233,808

The designated charitable fund is reserves which the PCC has decided to donate to other charities as charitable giving.

The designated fabric fund is reserves designated by the PCC to support larger maintenance projects, particularly as a result of the upcoming Quinquennial.

The designated music & PA fund is to support enhancements to the sound system, music and AV systems.

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

The designated salaries fund is to support salaries to enable key areas of mission to continue during a period of growth in Jim’s and anticipated financial hardship in the country.

The designated buildings reserve is the total of the charity’s reserves which are tied up in the church’s property in Victoria Road. Therefore, these reserves can’t be spent unless the property is sold.

6. Analysis of Net Assets (between restricted and unrestricted funds)

Restricted Unrestricted: Free reserves Designated fund – buildings reserve Designated fund – charitable giving reserve Designated fund – music & PA fund Designated fund – fabric reserve Designated fund – salaries reserve	Tangible fixed assets £ - - 160,000 - - - 160,000	Other net assets £ 12,588 35,373 - 5,435 2,000 11,000 20,000 86,396	Total £ 12,588 35,373 160,000 5,435 2,000 11,000 20,000
			246,396

7. Transactions with Trustees and Related parties

Trustees’ Remuneration & Benefits: None of the trustees have been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from being employed as a trustee with the charity or a related entity. Two trustees, Paul Robinson and Zoe Jones, received a salary from St James’s for their jobs as Family & Youth Worker for St James’s and Bookkeeper respectively. For Paul Robinson in 2023 this salary was £23,663 with employer pension contributions of £871 (2022: salary of £22,458 with employer pension contributions of £803). For Zoe Jones in 2023 this salary was £2,351 with employer pension contributions of £nil (2022: salary of £nil with employer pension contributions of £nil). Paul Robinson and Zoe Jones received no remuneration for being a trustee. Paul Robinson and Zoe Jones also excuse themselves from any discussions or votes relating to salaries or employment policies at PCC meetings. Zoe Jones’s employment with St James’s ended in October 2023.

Trustees’ Expenses: The Rev Canon Laura Hewitt was paid expenses of £401 (2022 - £635) for training (£100; 2022: £309) and travel and accommodation (£301; 2022: £326). Trustee and employee Paul Robinson was paid expenses of £263 (2022 - £10) for training. These expenses were all wholly related to their duties as Vicar and Family & Youth Worker of St James’s Church.

The Rev Canon Laura Hewitt was paid an interest free loan of £2,995 for a car to allow her to perform her duties as Vicar at St James’s Church. However, she repaid this loan in full within 3 months so the benefit of interest saved would have been trivial.

Transactions with Related Parties: St James’s shares the Vicar, Rev Canon Laura Hewitt, and the Curate, Rev Jenny Robinson, with the Church of Holy Trinity, Lyonsdown. Therefore, some costs were incurred by St James’s for Holy Trinity and vice versa. Any costs incurred by one church for the other church are reimbursed in a lump sum once a year. At 31 December 2023 the total owed to St James’s by Holy Trinity was £4,238 (2022: £4,540). The £4,540 owed to St James’s at 31 December 2022 was paid in full by Holy Trinity during 2023.

We received 3 grants from New Barnet Parochial Schools Trust (NBPST) totalling £24,300. Rev Canon Laura Hewitt is a trustee of St James’s and of NBPST. However, she is not on the delegated committee who reviews applications for grants to the NBPST and she does not vote on any grant application made by St James’s.

The PCC is not aware of any other related party transactions in 2023 or 2022.

8. Income and expenditure

Repairs and maintenance

The 2023 repairs and maintenance total included £25,190 of costs to refurbish the downstairs rooms which are used during the week by a nursery, most of which was covered by restricted grant funding. In addition it included £9,543 of maintenance work and new equipment funded by restricted grants and other donations.

Grants received

Grant funders included City Church Fund, Hadley Trust, New Barnet Parochial Schools Trust and The Benefact Trust. We are very grateful to these and all other grant funders.

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

Below is a summary of the grants received.

is a summary of the grants received.
Grant restriction Restricted fund Community Garden Community projects Jim's Manager's Jim's Jim's Cafe – other Jim's Family and Youth worker Youth work Youth-related events and groups Youth work Redecoration of downstairs rooms Other Upgrade of church lights Other Upgrade of church alarm Other Kitchen equipment Other Utility costs Other	2023 Total £ 3,660 5,043 2,300 22,000 250 9,050 8,420 2,333 2,100 - 55,156	2022 Total £ - - 900 - 600 - - - - 1,529
		3,029

Other donations

Other donations in 2023 contained £12,479 of restricted donations including £6,354 for the hardship fund and £6,084 for various pieces of church equipment such as a new dishwasher.

9. Fees for Examination of the Accounts

The fee for the Independent Examiner has not yet been finalised for the examination of the 2023 accounts but an accrual of £250 has been set up for this fee (2022 – £250).

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Rev Canon Laura Hewitt Carol Connah Zoë Jones Vicar & PCC Chair Church Warden & PCC Vice Chair Treasurer

St James's Church, New Barnet

Financial Report for 2023

Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St James New Barnet. Charity Number 1150299

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the PCC”) for the year ended 31 December 2023, set out on pages 5 to 12.

Responsibilities and Basis of Report

As the charity's trustees, you, are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the PCC’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

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:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 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.

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