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2024-03-31-accounts

TRANSFORM JUSTICE

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

DIRECTORS’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

TRANSFORM JUSTICE

TRUSTEES REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The Trustees, who are also Directors of the charitable company, present their report and the financial statements for Transform Justice for the year ended 31 March 2024.

COMPANY INFORMATION

Registration Company Number: 08031781 Charity Number: 1150989

Board of Trustees The following persons have served as members of the Board during the period and up to the date of this report: Chris Stanley (resigned January 2024) Nicola Lowit Simon Wolfensohn Darryn Frost Nicola Hill (appointed September 2023) Sobanan Narenthiran (appointed February 2024) Benedict Linton (appointed February 2024) Marie Ann Sheldon Sarah Waite Elaine Pomery Registered Office 43 Lawford Road London NW5 2LG Bankers Co-operative Bank PO Box 250 Skelmersdale WN8 6WT Metro Bank One Southampton Row London WC1B 5HA Independent Examiner Anthony Epton FCA, CTA, FCIE Goldwins Limited 75 Maygrove Road, West Hampstead, London NW6 2EG

1

TRANSFORM JUSTICE

TRUSTEES REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

OBJECTIVES AND GOVERNING STATEMENTS

The charitable company was incorporated on 16 April 2012 and achieved charitable status on 27 February 2013. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association

Objects

The charitable company was set up to advance education and research into the administration of the law, advance the sound administration of the law and promote human rights. Transform Justice uses research and advocacy to achieve these ends.

Activities/public benefit

Summary

The politics of criminal justice were dominated by the looming prison capacity crisis and the continuing backlog in the courts. Ministers resorted to letting prisoners out early but found no means of resolving the courts backlog. During this “holding” period (in which an election was expected to be called at some point in 2024), the political parties vied with each other to be tough on crime, despite the prison capacity issue. We engaged with all parties including shadow ministers.

The outstanding project of the year was CourtWatch London, which involved recruiting community - volunteers to observe and write notes on magistrates’ court hearings findings we analysed throughout early 2024 and published in May. We also made steady progress advocating for diversion from prosecution, contributed to heightened awareness of the problems caused by the Single Justice Procedure, and increased membership for our FairChecks movement to reform criminal records disclosure. We continue to reach new audiences through the Transform Justice podcast and to get prominent coverage in print media.

Resolving crime without going to court

This was the fourth and final year of funding for our programme (funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation) advocating for greater diversion from prosecution. This year we continued to engage with national stakeholders including the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office and the inspectorate. We offered advice to police forces and advocated through social and mainstream media for greater consideration of out of court resolutions rather than prosecution for low level crime. We had particular success in three areas. We persuaded the retail industry not to lobby for the offence of assaulting a retail worker to have an increased maximum prison sentence. We promoted our crime resolution tracker - an - interactive online “league table” of police forces ranked by how much they diverted from courts as a key tool in incentivising forces to divert more. The NPCC changed the terminology they used from ‘out of court disposals’ to ‘out of court resolutions’ based on our messaging research. We also ran an action learning set for police officers who led the out of court resolution team for their force. Our work on promoting diversion from court has given police forces confidence to explain why diversion is an effective option.

FairChecks

The FairChecks movement (which started in 2020) has over 8000 supporters, most of whom are recruited via social media. It is a joint project with the charity Unlock. Supporters advocate for reform of criminal records disclosure - to reduce the number of old and minor offences appearing on criminal records checks and allow people to move on and fulfil their potential. The goal is legislative reform. This is ambitious but achievable given widespread parliamentary support for reform. The challenge is to convert that support to parliamentary and ministerial action. To that end our supporters engaged with their own constituency parliamentary candidates and MPs and Transform Justice engaged with civil servants and ministers. As of March 2024, supporters had contacted 85% of MPs asking for their support. MP research conducted pro

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TRANSFORM JUSTICE

TRUSTEES REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

bono by NFP on our behalf found that 21% of MPs surveyed were supportive of FairChecks. This year we increased the number of supporters and launched an ambassadors programme for supporters who were

keen to take their activism to the next level by sharing their story publicly and engagement with media and government stakeholders - we now have 9 ambassadors.

In January we secured media coverage for a new report - “Land of the free? Comparing England & Wales criminal records with five US states” - which proved that criminal records disclosure regulations are more punitive in England and Wales than in many US states. We engaged with manifesto drafting teams from Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and the Green Party aiming for criminal record reform in general or one of our three policy asks to be included in party manifestos.

Criminal courts and sentencing

We have continued to pursue recommendations from previous Transform Justice research and to exploit opportunities to increase awareness of issues on which we have expertise. The single justice procedure is a good example. This way of prosecuting people for low level crime (like not having the right bus ticket) is little scrutinised or challenged. But Transform Justice is one of the few charities to have examined it and to express evidence-based concerns about it. In the wake of the Post Office scandal, journalists became more interested in the SJP and Transform Justice’s concerns were featured in a number of articles including the Evening Standard investigations led by Tristan Kirk.

Courtwatch London

We ran CourtWatch London - a mass court observation project where volunteer members of the public observed magistrates’ courts hearings and reported what they saw. The project aimed to open up the magistrates’ courts to observers from the local community. We recruited and trained over 150 volunteer members of the public to visit magistrates’ courts, watch hearings and send us notes of their observations. Courtwatching ran from July to December 2023, bringing 82 courtwatchers into magistrates’ courts to report on a total of 1,129 hearings. Our team analysed the data and prepared three reports to be published later in the year (May 2024). A learning guide on the courtwatching methodology will also be published in August 2024. In the meantime we fed early findings into policy making in several ways. In September 2023 we facilitated a meeting between Ministry of Justice open justice policy makers and courtwatchers to feed into the government’s open justice call for evidence. We supported the Law Society’s (ultimately successful) criminal legal aid judicial review, feeding in courtwatcher reports from hearings with unrepresented defendants. In February we fed into HMCTS’ new published guidance on attending and observing courts, drawing on experiences and reports from our courtwatchers.

The project improved our understanding of what happens in court and strengthened the case for policy and practice change in areas such as defendant participation, video links, open justice and sentencing. It also increased community ownership and interest in our magistrates’ courts, prompting seven volunteers to express an interest in applying to be magistrates themselves. Many of the courtwatchers have indicated that they would be interested in continuing to CourtWatch and we hope to build on that enthusiasm in a second phase of the project which would involve existing volunteers more closely in the project’s design.

Parliamentary engagement

We did not do full briefings for the criminal justice bills which were tabled this year. However, we did brief MPs sitting on the Bill Committee for the Criminal Justice Bill on two particular issues - police child remand and violence against retail workers. We advocated for a change in the legal criteria used by police to remand children. We would like these criteria to be more restrictive (to reduce use of detention) and persuaded Labour to table an amendment to that effect. We also provided reasoned arguments against a Labour

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TRANSFORM JUSTICE

TRUSTEES REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

amendment which aimed to introduce the offence of assault retail worker with a maximum penalty of double the current tariff for the equivalent offence. In March we coordinated an open letter to the retail industry

organisation the British Retail Consortium, signed by 12 charities, which led to the BRC rescinding their call for an increased maximum penalty. The Bill and all potential amendments fell when the Prime Minister called the general election.

Podcast

The Transform Justice podcast was launched in June 2022 and has now established itself as a regular listen for those interested in criminal justice policy and practice. In 2023/4, 13 podcasts were “published” on issues ranging from rape prosecutions to neurodivergent defendants, all featuring well-respected guests from across the criminal justice sector. By April 2024 we had 710 followers and a 5 star rating on Spotify, and 293 followers and a 4.6 star rating on Apple podcasts. The number of listens in the first 24 hours of publishing each episode continues to increase steadily. The podcast aims to raise awareness of issues and educate in an accessible way.

Localising criminal justice services

In July we published a short briefing paper making the case for greater localisation of criminal justice services - including probation, victims’ services, CPS and courts. The paper revisited arguments made in previous Transform Justice research by Rob Allen, updated in light of the renewed political enthusiasm for devolution, desk research and conversations with key stakeholders. It advocated for the delegation of criminal justice budgets to police and crime commissioner level so that local politicians could decide how funds could be most effectively spent. We promoted the ideas to policy makers and politicians as a radical solution to the perverse incentives in the criminal justice system. While the ideas did not feature in party manifestos they did gain support from some quarters, particularly probation with the outgoing Chief Probation Inspector Justin Russell calling for more localism in his September 2023 farewell message.

Better Justice

We continued to engage with the Better Justice project. We are one of the key partners of this group aiming to change the political narrative on criminal justice. In January the group launched a report on the relationship between penal reform charities and politicians. This independent research suggested a mutual lack of understanding between the two sectors which this project will seek to resolve.

A note to donors, volunteers and supporters

Transform Justice is immensely grateful to receive ongoing support from many donors, volunteers and supporters who have contributed to our work. This includes lawyers Reed Smith, who offered us pro bono research, and Burges Salmon, 23es Chambers, Herbert Smith Freehills, London Metropolitan University and Mountford Chambers, all of whom allowed Transform Justice to use meeting rooms pro bono.

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TRANSFORM JUSTICE

TRUSTEES REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Financial Review

Result for the period

The Board of Trustees reports an excess of Income over expenditure £4,404, which is added to other funds and carried forward for future use.

Reserves

The accounts show total unrestricted funds carried forward of £116,341 (2023: £111,937) as shown in Note 13 to the financial pages.

Statement of Trustee responsibilities

Company law requires the Trustees (who are also the directors of Transform Justice for the purpose of company law) to prepare the financial statements for each financial period which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the surplus or deficit of the charitable company for that period.

In preparing those financial statements, the directors are required to:

The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking responsible steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

This report has been delivered in accordance with the provisions in part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

Signed: Nicola Lowit On behalf of the Board

Date: 05.11.2024


5

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Transform Justice

I report to the charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Transform Justice for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s 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 charity’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

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:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  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

  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.

Anthony Epton BA FCA CTA FCIE Goldwins Chartered accountants 75 Maygrove Road West Hampstead London NW6 2EG

13 November 2024

6

Transform Justice Statement of financial activities

(incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2024

For theyear ended 31 March 2024
Note
Income from:
Donations
3
Charitable activities
4
Total income
Expenditure on:
5
Charitable activities
Total expenditure
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
Net income / (expenditure) for the year
Unrestricted
funds
£
421
87,754
88,175
83,771
83,771
-
4,404
111,937
116,341
4,404
Restricted
funds
£
407
117,450
117,857
117,857
117,857
-
-
-
-
-
2024
Total
funds
£
828
205,204
206,032
201,628
201,628
-
4,404
111,937
116,341
4,404
2023
Total
funds
£
8,643
130,600
139,243
176,334
176,334
-
(37,091)
(37,091)
149,028
111,937

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

7

Transform Justice Balance sheet As at 31 March 2024

Transform Justice
Balance sheet
As at 31 March 2024
2024 2024 2023 2023
Note £ £ £ £
Current assets:
Debtors 10 619 -
Cash at bank and in hand 152,984 178,775
153,603 178,775
Liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 11 37,262 66,838
Net current assets 116,341 111,937
Total net assets 116,341 111,937
Funds 14
Restricted funds - -
Unrestricted funds:
General funds 116,341 111,937
Total unrestricted funds 116,341 111,937
Total funds 116,341 111,937

The Charity's financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime. The Trustees consider that the Charity is entitled to exemption from the requirement to have an audit under the provision of section 477 of the Companies Act 2006("the Act") and members have not required the Charity to obtain an audit for the year in question in accordance with section 476 of the act. The Trustee acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirement of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

Approved by the trustees on .. ~~..........0:06~~ 05.11.2024

and signed on their behalf by:

Nicola Lowit Trustee

Company registration no. 08031781

The attached notes form part of the financial statements.

8

Transform Justice

Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2024

1 Accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102 - effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

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

b) Going concern

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

c) Income

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

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

d) Interest receivable

e) Fund accounting

f) Expenditure

g) Allocation of support costs

h) Tangible fixed assets

Expenditure on assets costing less than £1,000 is expensed.

i) 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.

j) Cash at bank and in hand

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

k) Creditors and provisions

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

9

Transform Justice

Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2024

2 Detailed comparatives for the statement of financial activities

Income from:
Donations
Charitable activities
Total income
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Total expenditure
Transfers between funds
Net income / (expenditure)
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
3
Income from donations and legacies
Donations
4
Income from charitable activities
Grants receivable
The Hadley Trust
ABRDN Financial Fairness Trust
Network for Social Change - Courtwatch
Article for Times (Fairchecks)
Podcast for Howard League
Barrow Cadbury Trust
Lloyds Bank Foundation
Lady Edwina Grosvenor
AB Charitable Trust - General Fund
Total income from charitable activities
Net income / expenditure before gains /
(losses) on investments
Unrestricted
funds
£
421
421
Unrestricted
funds
£
70,000
-
-
-
1,254
-
-
-
16,500
87,754
2023
Unrestricted
funds
£
8,260
85,000
93,260
84,102
84,102
9,158
-
9,158
102,779
111,937
Restricted
funds
£
407
407
Restricted
funds
£
-
35,000
15,000
200
-
35,000
32,250
-
-
117,450
2023
Restricted
funds
£
383
45,600
45,983
92,232
92,232
(46,249)
-
(46,249)
46,249
-
2024
Total
funds
£
828
828
2024
Total
funds
£
70,000
35,000
15,000
200
1,254
35,000
32,250
-
16,500
205,204
2023
Total
funds
£
8,643
130,600
139,243
176,334
176,334
(37,091)
-
(37,091)
149,028
111,937
2023
Total
funds
£
8,643
8,643
2023
Total
funds
£
70,000
-
-
-
-
2,600
13,000
30,000
15,000
130,600

10

Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2024

Transform Justice

5 Analysis of expenditure

Staff costs
Scoping, research and dissemination activities
Podcast project
Criminal Records (Fairchecks)
Courtwatch
Alternatives to Prosecution
Magistrates Survey
Grants to organisations
Fairchecks project
Other organisations
Support costs
Administrative and research support
Office and general expenses
Website update
Independent examination
Governance costs
Trustee expenses
Support costs
Total expenditure 2024
Total expenditure 2023
Charitable Charitable Support
costs
£
2024
Total
£
2023
activities
£
Total
£
-
1,308
10,447
9,444
3,032
6,500
-
-
-
-
-
-
30,731
170,897
201,628
176,334
153,848
-
1,308
10,447
9,444
3,032
-
-
6,500
-
4,978
8,147
1,860
1,863
201
201,628
-
201,628
176,334
123,003
-
2,973
7,181
-
1,492
320
5,750
-
21,215
4,539
7,462
1,680
559
160
176,334

Of the total expenditure, £83,771 was unrestricted (2023: £84,102) and £117,857 was restricted (2023: £92,232).

11

Transform Justice Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2024

This is stated after charging / (crediting):
Independent examiner's fees net of VAT
2024
£
1,550
2023
£
1,400

7 Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

Staff costs were as follows:
Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Other staff costs
Pension contribution (salary sacrifice)
2024
£
106,443
4,942
2,186
277
40,000
2023
£
78,060
2,071
1,482
1,390
40,000
153,848 123,003

No employees earned over £60,000 in the year.

The total employee benefits including Employer's NIC and pension contributions of the key management personnel were £56,925 (2023: £56,011).

No charity trustees were paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2023: £nil). Trustees' expenses represents the payment of reimbursement of travel costs totalling £201 (2023: £160).

Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:

Charitable activities 2024
No.
4
2023
No.
3
4 3

8 Taxation

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

9 Pension

Employees of the charity are entitled to join a defined contribution scheme. The charity contribution is restricted to the contributions disclosed in note 7. The costs of the defined contribution scheme are included within support costs. Contributions for March 2024 were outstanding at the year end.

The designated money purchase plan is managed by NEST. The plan invests the contributions made by the employee and employer in an investment fund to build up over the term of the plan. The pension fund is then converted into a pension upon the normal retirement age which is defined as when they are eligible for a state pension. The total expense ratio of the NEST plan is 0.8 % and this is deducted from the investment fund annually. Employees can also, on their request, opt for the charity pension contribution to be made to their personal pension scheme rather than the provided NEST scheme. One employee opted for this in 2024 (2023:one). The charity has no liability beyond making its contributions and paying across the deductions for

£40,000 of one salary was paid to the employee's pension scheme, under a salary sacrifice arrangement, as agreed in a variation of contract (2023 £40,000).

12

Transform Justice

Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2024

10 Debtors

10
Debtors
Other debtors
11
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Trade creditors
Taxation and social security
Pension
Accruals
Deferred income
Deferred income
Balance at the beginning of the year
Amount released to income in the year
Amount deferred in the year
Balance at the end of the year
2024
£
619
2023
£
-
619 -
2024
£
142
-
260
1,860
35,000
2023
£
135
199
574
1,680
64,250
37,262 66,838
2024
£
64,250
(64,250)
35,000
2023
£
-
-
64,250
35,000 64,250

Deferred income represents grants received for the purpose of expenditure in a future period. Deferred income comprises of grants from: ABRDN Financial Fairness Trust £35,000.

12 Analysis of net assets between funds

Analysis of net assets between funds
Net current assets
Net assets at the end of the year
Analysis of net assets between funds-prior year
Net current assets
Net assets at the end of the year
Unrestricted
funds
£
116,341
Restricted
funds
£
-
Total
funds
£
116,341
116,341 - 116,341
Unrestricted
funds
£
111,937
Restricted
funds
£
-
Total
funds
£
111,937
111,937 - 111,937

13

Transform Justice

Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2024

13 Movements in funds
Restricted funds:
ABRDN Financial Fairness Trust
Network for Social Change - Courtwatch
Article for Times (Fairchecks)
Barrow Cadbury Trust
Lloyds Bank Foundation
CAF Donation - Fairchecks
Total restricted funds
Unrestricted funds:
General funds
Total unrestricted funds
Total funds
Movements in funds-prior year
Restricted funds:
Lady Edwina Grosvenor/donation - Fairchecks
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Alternatives to Prosecution
Barrow Cadbury Trust - Mental Health Crisis
Barrow Cadbury Trust - Courtwatch
CAF Donation - Fairchecks
Total restricted funds
Unrestricted funds:
General funds
Total unrestricted funds
Total funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
At the start of
the year
£
35,000
15,000
200
35,000
32,250
407
Incoming
resources &
gains
£
35,000
15,000
200
35,000
32,250
407
Outgoing
resources &
losses
Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
At the end
of the year
- 117,857 117,857 - -
111,937 88,175 83,771 - 116,341
111,937 88,175 83,771 - 116,341
111,937 206,032 201,628 - 116,341
£
-
44,549
1,700
-
-
At the start of
the year
£
30,000
13,000
600
2,000
383
Incoming
resources &
gains
£
(30,000)
(57,549)
(2,300)
(2,000)
(383)
Outgoing
resources &
losses
Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
£
-
-
-
-
At the end
of the year
44,549 45,600 (91,849) - -
102,779 93,260 (84,102) - 111,937
102,779 93,260 (84,102) - 111,937
147,328 138,860 (175,951) - 111,937

Purpose of restricted funds

Funding from The Barrow Cadbury Trust and Network for Social change were used for the Courtwatch project whereby Volunteers observe the daily hearings and report on what they see with the aim to increase community ownership and oversight of what our courts are doing to and for people. This project ran throughout 23/24, with three reports published during 24/25.

Funding from ABRDN Financial Fairness Trust were received for FairChecks - a campaign aiming to empower people with lived experience to advocate for reform to the criminal records disclosure system so that old and minor cautions and convictions are not revealed in checks.

Funding from Lloyds Bank foundation was received to extend the Alternatives to Prosecution Project by a further year, advocating for increased use of ways to resolve crime (including out of court disposals, diversion and restorative justice) without going to court.

Further funds for Fairchecks were received from individual donations via CAF and also payment for an article written for the Times about Fairchecks.

14 Legal status of the charity

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

15 Related party transactions

There were no related party transaction during the year (2023- none).

14