2023-03-31-accounts

FACT (Families and Carers Together) Bucks

A Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registered in England Number 1155067 Registered Office PO Box 1230, Aylesbury, HP22 9UP

TRUSTEES for the period 1[st] April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023

Ruth GOODMAN Margaret NYAMBIO Penni THORNE

Governance and Administration

FACT Bucks is the Parent Carer Forum for Buckinghamshire, as required by the Children and Families Act 2014.

The objects of the Charity are to embed a local, pan disability, parent led parent/carer forum; build parent/carer participation/co-production based on good practice; and share good practice, knowledge and expertise about parent participation to ensure that it continues to grow and strengthen.

The Charity is not able to undertake campaigns, pursue individual cases nor offer support and counselling to individual parent carers.

There are now 550 families on our contact list. Whilst membership is open and free to all those with an interest in the needs of children and young people with SEND, there remains a reluctance to commit. Nevertheless, the Charity seeks to represent all parent carers; makes all its activities open to all parent carers; and accesses the networks of support groups throughout the county to enable greater outreach and feedback.

None of the trustees have resigned their office during the period. The Charity may have up to 12 trustees elected by the AGM. Trustees must be members of the Charity.

Under the terms of the Trust, the Trustees have delegated away the day to day administration of the Charity to the Steering Group appointed by them.

The membership of the Steering Group for the period under review has been as follows:-

Andrew HOWARD (Chair) Ruth GOODMAN Beth KNIGHTON (from September 2022) Phil OGLEY Ena SMALE (Admin and Membership Officer) Penni THORNE (Finance Officer) Kristel van WAUNE (Participation Officer) (until August 2022) Claire VINCENT (Participation Officer) (from December 2022)

The Steering Group aims to meet monthly during term time to manage the Charity; to coordinate parent participation; and to plan events. It also meets twice a year with parents who represent the Charity on various bodies; with professionals to facilitate dialogue and encourage co-production; and with representatives of Buckinghamshire Council SEND & Commissioning teams, as well as Bucks SENDIAS to ensure effective co-ordination of activities.

The Steering Group maintained the charity; engaged in the region; and conducted a GDPR audit and identified changes required. We have responded to the changes in HMRC rulings on ‘employment’ which will see the introduction of new contracts and policies in 2023-24 guided by Community Impact (a support service funded by Contact on behalf of all PCFs)

The Charity is a member of the National Network of Parent Carer Forums. We attend regular meetings for our area, discussing various topics matters with other parent carer forums. We provide financial administration for the South East Region and continue to offer support to other forums.

Finance

In the year ending 31[st] March 2023, the Charity received grants from the Department of Education (through a scheme administered by Contact) and Buckinghamshire Council. Both of these grants are free from commitments to provide any specific services other than to fulfil the task of being the Parent Carer Forum for Buckinghamshire as required under the Children and Families Act. The Trustees will not allow the Charity to be influenced in the manner of its delivery of the Aims of the Charity by any third party. It also received a payment from the South East Region of Parent Carer Forums in respect of its provision of a finance function. It did not undertake any fundraising.

The total income for the period was £32,549

During the year the Charity expended £29,025

The main items of expenditure were payments to parent carers for their time and expenses in participation and/or co-production; the administration of the Charity; the update and provision of a website; training of parents to participate and the staging of certain events.

The operating surplus for the year was £3,524

The Charity remains in a positive financial position. Notable expenditure for the year included a series of webinars produced by SENDIAS; and a substantial amount of additional time spent by representatives in relation to the Written Statement of Action resulting from the OFSTED/CQC Inspection. In addition, there was increased time in relation to participation activities; attendance at in person meetings and the first national conference of Parent Carer Forums in 4 years.

The Steering Group have resolved that a balance of £8,000 being the equivalent of 4 months expenditure should be held in reserve since the payment of income grants is subject to annual application processes that delay receipt of funds. The remainder of the General Reserve is available to support the work of the Charity.

The Charity has adopted Financial Control, Safeguarding and Equality & Inclusion policies in accordance with best practice guidance from Contact and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums

Activities

In the light of the OFSTED/CQC Inspection in March 2022, we have been fully involved in the preparation of the Written Statement of Action arising from the OFSTED/CQC inspection of the Local Area in March 2022.

We funded and coproduced a series of 4 webinars – New to Send; Preparing for Adulthood; Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA); Power of Attorney & Guardianship Post 16 -

with Bucks SENDIAS which were attended by an average of 25 parents, but which have been made available as You Tube videos through websites to increase views.

We held an Annual Meeting attended by 30 parents at which we made the presentation of the Forum's work in 2021-22 available, alongside current year priorities. The same event was also a Q&A session with Director of Education and his Team.

We delivered an annual survey on SEND in liaison with Bucks SENDIAS (although no longer a direct partnership due to Council governance issues) attracting 180 responses. The report will be available for the meeting of the Integrated Services Board in June; the Children’s Services Improvement Board in July; as well as providing significant year on year improvement data in relation to the SEND strategy and the WSoA.

We hosted Parent Dialogue Group meetings each term for CAMHS; Therapies; and Neurodiversity - which each involve around 8 parents each. These in turn have led to the establishment of a Parent Support Groups liaison meeting alongside the Corporate Director for Children’s Services. Feedback has shown that participants believe they are better informed and more engaged with the development of key services and improvement works as a result. We are aware that we have work to do in reation to equality and diversity, to ensure that those whose voices are seldom heard find a voice through the Forum and this is an area prioritised by the DfE for 2023-24.

We attended strategic governance meetings including the Children's Services Improvement Board; Written Statement of Action Group & Children’s Partnership Board; and co-chaired the Integrated Services for SEND Board; SEND Improvement Group and the SENDIAS Steering Group. We had parent representatives engaged in all impact groups under the SEND Improvement Plan – PfA; Early Identification & Intervention; Annual Reviews; Vulnerable Groups & Measuring Impact – as well as the BAU groups including Statutory Performance; Local Offer; Sufficiency; & Quality alongside numerous project groups and those for the recommissioning of CAMHS and Therapies. In total we participated in more than 250 meetings (which excluding school holidays equates to 30 a month).

We maintained a website of relevant information and a closed Facebook group, as well as continuing to email regular newsletters and updates to our contact lists. We recruited a Participation Lead in the Spring of 2022 who reviewed our communication and interaction profile preparing a 9 point plan. Unfortunately, due to family pressures the parent had to stop in September, but we recruited a replacement in December 2022 who has developed the plan; opened a FaceBook Page and Twitter account; extended our input into the social media feeds of other support groups and focussed attention on brand and web engagement. An example of the changed impact that this role has had is seen in the fact that feedback opened 4 new lines of enquiry in the March and enabled us to elicit direct feedback on 4 themes being discussed in the groups noted above.

Despite the continued reluctance of parents to assemble, we continued to feed into and receive feedback from numerous condition specific parent groups. We were active participants in the Access All Areas events, as well as the CAMHS Stakeholder event.

We have met all requests for participation in Local Area conversations relating to SEND and the related Boards etc. as noted above. Our strength of relationships in strategic areas remains a highlight of the quarterly reports to the DfE by the Local Area. On an operational level we have extended our engagement to include Community Paediatrics; Client Transport; and Adult Social Care.

We were active in the development and launch of the Local Area Coproduction Strategy; we have supported the consultations on the Therapies and Autism Strategies; and we have offered input into a significant range of other working papers.

Public Benefit

We declare that we have had due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in exercising our power and duties.

Approved by the Trustees

12[th] October 2023

Andrew Howard Secretary

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

At the request of the Trustees, I have examined the receipts and payments account for the year ending 31[st] March 2023, along with the related paperwork.

In my opinion, the financial statement that follows gives a fair view of the financial activity of the Charity in the year ending 31[st] March 2023.

Joanne Potts

12[th] October 2023

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Income and Expenditure 1[st] April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023 – General Fund

Receipts Grants – BCC Grants – DFE Regional Admin Donations Payments Promotion Costs Special Events incl AGM Attendance Fees Travel Costs Room Hire Refreshments Regional Participation Childcare General Admin Finance Admin Audit and Accountancy Fees Printing Postage and Carriage Telephone Stationery Website Costs IT Costs Training Costs Insurance Miscellaneous Surplus receipts over payments Reserves brought forward Reserves carried forward	2023 Note £ 14,249 1 17,500 400 400 (672) 2 0 (10,099) (741) (524) (685) (827) 0 (8,725) (1,405) (100) (495) 0 (5) 0 (625) (670) (2,800) (146) (507) 2	2023 £ 32,549 (29,025) 3,524 14,763 18,287	2022 £ 5,000 17,495 400 0 (569) 0 (7,827) (389) 0 (716) (340) 0 (7,920) (1,380) (100) (79) 0 (132) 0 (344) (1,793) (1,200) (146) (20)	2022 £ 22,895 (22,955)
				(60) 14,833
				14,763

Notes

1. The grant from BC increased in April to allow the appointment of a Participation Lead alongside an one-off additional payment for the time of a Lead Rep working on the JSNA

1. The appointment of a Participation Lead was not made substantial until December as the first appointee had to leave for family reasons providing the underspend and surplus.

Income and Expenditure 1[st] April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023 – Regional Cluster

Receipts From Cluster Grants Payments Meetings Administration Representative Engagement SE19 work Training Other Activities Finance Services Audit Surplus receipts over payments Reserves brought forward Reserves carried forward	2023 Not e £ 4,800 11,000 1 0 (4,033) 2 0 (788) (3,750) (1,327) (400) (50) 3	2023 £ 15,800 (10,348) 5,452 13,827 19,279	2022 £ 3,800 4,900 0 (2,361) (500) 0 0 (4,092) (400) (50)	2022 £ 8,700 (6,903)
				1,797 12,031
				13,827

Notes

1. A grant was received from NHSE for the development of materials to support closer working between NHS and PCFs

2. An appointment has been sustained for the majority of the year.

3. The work funded by NHSE will be completed in the next financial year

Balance of Funds 31[st] March 2023

Current Assets Cash at bank and in hand Net Assets Current Liabilities Monies owed to the Cluster Reserves General reserves Net Liabilities	2023 37,567 37,567 19,279 18,287 37,567	2022 £ 28,590
		28,590
		13,827 14,763
		28,590

Balance of Funds (Regional) 31[st] March 2023

Current Assets Cash at bank and in hand Net Assets Reserves General reserves Net Liabilities	2023 £ 19,279 19,279 19,279 19,279	2022 £ 13,827
		13,827
		13,827
		13,827

Approved by the Trustees

12[th] October 2022

Andrew Howard Secretary