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2024-03-31-accounts

Article 39

(Registered charity, number 1166092) Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

Page Contents
2 - 13 Trustees’ annual report
14 Independent examiner’s report
15 Receipts & payments account
16 Statement of assets & liabilities
17 - 18 Notes to the accounts

Article 39 Trustees’ annual report for the year ended 31 March 2024

Full name Article 39

Organisation type Charitable incorporated organisation

Registered charity number 1166092

Principal address 1 Cranmer Street, Nottingham, NG3 4GH

Trustees Susannah Walker, Chair Mike Stein Lynton Orrett Catherine Brown, until 01/03/24 Carole Littlechild, from 27/06/23 Peter Grove, until 27/02/24 Venetia Mayman, from 21/09/23 Suraya Skelland, until 23/01/24 Vivien Parker, from 21/09/23 Anna Savic, from 12/12/23, Treasurer, since 01/03/24

Independent examiner

John O’Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus, Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL

Governance and management

The charity is operated under the rules of its foundation CIO constitution adopted 15/02/16 and registered as a CIO on 16/03/16.

Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Objectives and activities

  1. The relief of need, and promotion of the protection, of children living in institutional settings in England through in particular but not exclusively:

  2. a. The provision of information to children living in institutional settings about law, policy and professional standards in respect of their care and treatment, and the ways in which they can raise concerns and challenge mistreatment;

  3. b. Undertaking and disseminating research on safeguarding and child protection matters in institutional settings;

  4. c. Monitoring child protection concerns and practices in children’s institutional settings;

  5. d. Providing technical advice to government and others on matters related to the safety and well-being of children living in institutional settings;

  6. e. Commenting on proposed legislation concerned with the needs of children living in institutional settings.

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  1. The advancement of the human rights of children living in institutional settings in England by all or any of the following means:

  2. a. Raising awareness of the means by which children may seek redress for human rights abuses;

  3. b. Monitoring human rights abuses in children’s institutional settings;

  4. c. Undertaking and disseminating research into human rights in children’s institutional settings;

  5. d. Providing technical advice to government and others on the human rights of children living in institutional settings;

  6. e. Commenting on proposed legislation concerned with the human rights of children living in institutional settings;

  7. f. Obtaining redress for the victims of human rights abuses in children’s institutional settings;

  8. g. Raising awareness of human rights issues;

  9. h. Promoting public support for human rights;

  10. i. Promoting respect for human rights among individuals and corporations.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit

This was Article 39’s eighth year of funded activity. We are very grateful to all of our funders and donors, and to the many organisations and individuals who worked with us throughout the year.

Our report concerns the period 01 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, though it includes significant developments just past this date.

Article 39’s small team had the equivalent of nearly 3.5 full-time postholders across this period. Through a partnership with Bhatt Murphy Solicitors, funded by The Legal Education Foundation, we also hosted a Justice First Fellow two days a week until December 2023.

Public benefit statement

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit'.

Summary of the main achievements during the period

We informed children of their rights

Our rights4children website provides accessible information about children’s rights on topics which children and young people have told us are important to them. The site was used almost 62,000 times in 2023/24 (up from around 57,000 last year). Our top five most widely read topics remained the same as last year, though in a slightly different order: restraint and use of force (also used most last year); leaving care (third most popular last year); pocket money (second most popular last year); feeling safe (same placing as last year); and your right to complain (same placing as last year).

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Access to the website continued to be mostly through a mobile phone.

We received 74 online feedback forms (compared to 51 last year). The majority of visitors to the site ‘really liked’ (70%) or ‘liked’ (9%) the content they accessed. Two didn’t like the content. Some children told us why they like the site – because they “like it to learn” , “can find out about restraint” and “It helps us to know about our rights” . An independent advocate working with children and young people wrote: “This is really accessible and well written for young people, as an advocate I use these materials a lot and recommend them” .

We launched our new seasonal ‘rights nights’ this year – an informal online space for children and young people to hear about their entitlements, and to share their ideas for making their rights stronger. We also continued delivering our John Kemmis children’s rights training course. Children and young people aged 7 to 20 told us:

“It is very friendly and you listen.”

“The whole thing was very inclusive and everyone was respectful and listened.”

“I liked meeting new people and learning new things about children rights.”

We continued to demand care for every child in care

The former government persisted with its dangerous restructuring of the children’s care system, whereby children in care aged 16 and 17 are given homes where they receive no day-to-day care and either live entirely alone or alongside care leavers of any age or with other adult strangers who have their own often very complex needs. Article 39 has co-ordinated a national campaign since 2020 against this highly regressive change in government policy, and we continued throughout 2023/24 to make the case for 16 and 17 year-olds in care to receive care where they live. Key activities included:

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available placement which however do not have residential staff and struggle to meet their needs and do not reduce risk taking behaviour” . Despite this, and substantial other evidence of harms suffered by teenagers in these types of settings over many years, the new secondary legislation (in force from April 2023) omits any requirement for minimum qualifications for staff and managers and prior experience of working with children is not even mandated. The Times newspaper reported our tribunal win (‘Child stabbings revealed in report that state tried to suppress’, published 23 October 2023).

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Our campaigning led to the publication of draft revised national advocacy standards

Independent advocates work in a variety of health, social care and custodial settings to ensure children are listened to and receive information and support to protect their rights. Current standards for advocacy services were published in 2022. Having submitted a draft revised set of standards to the Department for Education in 2020, after working with an expert group of advocates, we facilitated dialogue between young people and government across the next three years on the changes they want to see in their advocacy services.

Very positively, in September 2023, the Department for Education launched a public consultation on draft revised standards which largely replicated the proposals we had made – incorporating young people’s priorities and dealing with the common challenges they face in obtaining help from an advocate. We quickly published an accessible version of the government consultation document so that young people could contribute their views, and held a briefing session for young people and

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advocates. In November 2023, Article 39’s Director was invited to join the Department for Education’s Advocacy Expert Group. We then submitted a comprehensive response to the government consultation in December 2023.

In May 2024, as part of our first ‘Change through advocacy’ week, we published a guide for directors of children’s services which sets out local authority legal duties to make provision for advocacy and communicates the importance of advocates through young people’s own words. We are thrilled to hear that many local authorities are using this guide to reflect on current capacity and the degree to which they meet statutory requirements, as a basis for making changes locally.

Young people’s views and experiences of mental health detention to influence law reform

In June 2023, after a competitive tender, Article 39 was commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care to consult children and young people on the Draft Mental Health Bill. We were delighted that 13 young people (aged 17 to 25) joined our Young People’s Advisory Team, all of whom were detained as children under the Mental Health Act 1983. We held three focus groups on different aspects of the Draft Mental Health Bill, and then worked with young people to agree the final ‘In what world is this hospital care?’ report which was published in December 2023. This is the foundation for all of our future work on mental health law reform, driven by our Blooming Change young people’s group.

We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the Young People’s Advisory Team about their experiences of working on this project, for example:

“I felt like we all had a voice and all bounced off of each other. It felt like what I had to say was important and taken seriously and I've never felt like that before.”

“I love how friendly everyone was and how everyone listened to each other’s experiences without judgement. It was lovely being able to talk about difficult things in a safe space. Being able to use the painful past experiences to make change is an amazing achievement for everyone involved.”

“I always felt listened to and I felt like [Article 39 staff] took me seriously and validated everything, they never tried to say "you're overreacting" or "but they were only trying to help" or anything along those lines which you sometimes get when talking about stuff like this. I felt listened to and respected.”

“I loved the in-depth conversations and fluidity of the discussions; all of our rights and preferences were respected and it felt very safe.”

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Other highlights across the year for Blooming Change were three members presenting at a national mental health charity in Manchester (April 2023) and the launch of a powerful animation depicting how it feels to be a child subject to mental health detention. This was produced by Digital Finch in collaboration with young people, and aims to encourage young people to join Blooming Change to help bring about change. Having piloted their unique ‘Do you get me?’ training course at the end of 2022, Blooming Change went on to deliver the course to independent mental health advocates in May 2023.

Nearly all who provided feedback said this was an excellent course, and they would definitely make changes to their work as a result of the course. Comments included:

“I would like to say a big thank you for this course and a massive thank you for sharing your experiences so I can provide [independent mental health advocates] with insight into what young people have to go through.”

“Amazing work from start to finish, thank you!”

“The training was invaluable and will definitely help me to advocate more thoroughly.”

This major policy change was reported by the Guardian newspaper (‘Pain-inducing restraint to be banned in England and Wales children’s prisons’, 22 August 2023) and several other media outlets and was the culmination of sustained work by Article 39, including a judicial review application in 2018 which led to government establishing an independent review that reported in 2020. We are now monitoring the implementation of this new policy and awaiting the outcome of a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office following the Ministry of Justice’s refusal (in May 2024) to provide a brief description of the techniques which sit outside the main restraint holds but nevertheless involve the infliction of severe pain. Government has, however, disclosed other material in response to FOI requests from Article 39 – including data showing the disproportionate (past) use of pain-inducing techniques on disabled children in prison.

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We secured government assurances that child prisoners can access independent legal advice

In March 2024, the prisons inspectorate reported that prison officers had used force to strip-search 12 children in Wetherby young offender institution (YOI) in the previous year. In two incidents, male officers forcibly removed all of a girl’s clothes – treatment inspectors said was “simply not acceptable” . Officers had deliberately inflicted pain on children as a form of restraint on nine occasions (all declared “inappropriate” by the national panel established to review the use of pain-inducing techniques after our legal action). Seven hours a day was the most any child spent out of their cell; some were locked in their cells for 23.5 hours a day. Article 39 wrote to ministers (copying in several child protection bodies) seeking assurances that children who may have been subject to unlawful treatment had been given access to independent legal advice. After writing a second time, we were informed in April 2024: “Each child’s legal representative will be added to their personal PIN so they are able to make contact with them via their phone in their room and also via the legal visit process” .

We sought child protection data from Leeds City Council. This revealed that in the two years to 31 March 2024, the local authority was notified of 148 allegations against people who work with children held in Wetherby YOI. Four of these allegations concerned child sexual abuse, and 108 related to physical abuse. Leeds City Council had undertaken 12 formal child protection investigations (other local authorities may have conducted investigations in respect of children from their areas) and found that children had suffered significant harm in 11 cases (92% of the time). We liaised with the solicitor representing one of the girls who had had her clothes cut off during a strip search, and we continue to consider possible litigation to protect the rights of children detained in this and other prisons.

Strengthening advocacy practice

We launched our ON YOUR SIDE children’s rights advice service in October 2022, building on an earlier email service for members of our Children and Young People’s Advocates Network. Across the year, we received 155 requests from 47 advocacy services for legal information which could help advocates defend the rights of individual children and young people.

We maintain an ever-growing repository of the positive changes we have helped bring about through advising advocates of the legal rights of children and young people in a given situation. Some examples of what we are very proud to have helped bring about in 2023/24:

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We gave extensive advice on children and young people using the Children Act 1989 complaints procedure, including a vital provision in the statutory guidance which presumes that a decision (including a decision to move a child to different accommodation) will be ‘frozen’ pending the investigation of a complaint. We also regularly alerted advocates to the need for urgent, independent legal advice and representation for children and young people.

We delivered five separate specialist training courses for advocates across the year, with almost 250 participants in total. This includes a course focused on lessons learned from public inquiries and other independent investigations into institutional child abuse which shines a spotlight on G4S-run Medway secure training centre (opened in 1998, forced to close in 2020 following a BBC Panorama undercover investigation). We held two advocacy clinics for advocates (95 participants across both events), focused on the statutory duties and powers of independent reviewing officers for looked after children, and the education rights of looked after children. We were very grateful to have an excellent line-up of expert guest speakers: Lorraine Cavanagh KC, barrister at St John’s Buildings; Angela Jackman KC (Hon), solicitor at Irwin Mitchell; and Ollie Persey, barrister at Garden Court Chambers.

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Our Children and Young People’s Advocates Network draws members from a wide range of national and local children’s rights and advocacy services in England. By the end of March 2024, we had more than 500 members – a fantastic base from which to raise awareness of children and young people’s legal rights, share best practice and techniques for bringing about change, and to stay connected to the concerns and challenges which children and young people face every day. Members are consistently extremely positive about the services we provide for them:

“Incredible, empowering and informative. Article 39 blow my mind, I always use your resources, work would be so much harder if you were not around.”

“Thank you for such a helpful and informative course. Your work at Article 39 is amazing and as an advocate my first point of reference.”

“I wanted to say thank you for all your support. The role of an advocate can be quite isolated at times and having your support and resources to back me up has made a big difference.”

“Extremely useful precise learning and resources provided. Generous approach to answering questions, and absolutely essential knowledge gained for advocacy work.”

“As always, Article 39 is exceptional and full of knowledge – you take complex matters and break them down so they can be understood.”

We published 12 children’s rights legal digests across the year. Disseminated to all Network members, the digest was used 220 times each month on average. Our most commonly used digest (accessed 435 times) related to a High Court judgment concerning a young adult whose local authority had unlawfully failed to look after him as a child (as it was required to do under section 20 Children Act 1989). We published three new law maps, addressing areas of law regularly raised by advocates during training and other events, and through our advice service: independent reviewing officers; personal advisers; and deprivation of liberty. Throughout the year, our web page containing eight law maps (including these three new ones) was accessed more than 1,600 times.

We gave expert advice on a number of other children’s rights matters In addition to the policy work outlined above, we gave written evidence to the following organisations and bodies across the year:

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We continued to attend the government’s UNCRC (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) Action Group and Ofsted’s National Consultative Forum, and remained members of important coalitions, including the Alliance for Children in Care and Care Leavers, the Alliance for Youth Justice, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, the Participation Forum and the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium (RMCC).

We were pleased to be commissioned by the London Borough of Camden this year, to design and deliver a bespoke children’s rights course for its Early Intervention and Family Support Service. We received feedback from 20 of 39 participants, with 95% stating they expected learning from this course to help them in their work with children and their families. Feedback included:

“Trainers were brilliant, insightful and gave lots of chance for discussion.”

“[As a result of this course I will] use the rights of children, and legislation in this, to support ‘battles’ that I can have – with advocating for children, young people and families. Whether that is with education, police, health and so on. I feel empowered!”

We promoted human rights in the media and elsewhere

Article 39 staff were interviewed and quoted in the media on a wide range of children’s rights matters and spoke at a number of national events, including those organised by the British Association of Social Workers, Doughty Street Chambers and Garden Court Chambers. Our main website was used 68,000 times in 2023/24.

Last year we reported that we were honoured to be chosen by Rebekah Pierre, alongside the Together Trust, to receive proceeds from the ‘Free Loaves on Friday’ anthology of writings from care experienced children and adults which she edited. This was published in April 2024 with a fantastic launch event at the Foundling Museum in London hosted by author and broadcaster Lemn Sissay. Article 39’s Director spoke at the event with Together Trust’s director of policy and campaigns.

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The charity’s policy on reserves

Article 39's target level of reserves is 3 months of running costs.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signed ______ Date _ Susannah Walker, Trustee

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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Article 39 for the year ended 31 March 2024

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Article 39 (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the charity 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 charity’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:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

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.

Signed ____ Date _______ John O’Brien MSc, FCCA, FCIE Employee of Community Accounting Plus

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Article 39 Receipts & payments account for the year ended 31 March 2024

2023
Total
Unrestricted
Funds
Funds
£
Note
£
Receipts
215830
Grants & donations
2
70267
3823
Gift aid
-
630
Sales & fees
4165
220283
Total receipts
74432
Payments
-
Admin support
6225
15000
Associates fees
-
2265
Children's engagement
1142
7
Hospitality & publicity
-
492
Independent examination
492
569
Insurance
621
4879
IT & online surveys
5047
1859
Payroll service & BACS fees
1785
927
Printing & stationery
1026
458
Professional fees
-
-
Recruitment
-
159881
Salaries, NI & pensions
74728
404
Staff travel inc. associates
691
25000
Strategic litigation
-
845
Telephone & postage
926
85
Training & subscriptions
504
-
Trustees expenses
311
-
Sundry payments
260
-
Overheads recharged
(1274)
212671
Total payments
92484
7612
Net receipts/(payments)
(18052)
144307
Cash funds at start of this period
133323
151919
Cash funds at end of this period
115271		 Restricted
Funds
£
154561
-
9180
163741
-
42917
5680
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3696
64906
-
-
-
-
-
-
1274
118473
45268
18596
63864		 2024
Total
Funds
£
224828
-
13345
238173
6225
42917
6822
-
492
621
5047
1785
1026
-
3696
139634
691
-
926
504
311
260
-
210957
27216
151919
179135

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Article 39 Statement of assets and liabilities at 31 March 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
2023 2024
£ Cash assets Note £
151919 Bank accounts 179135
151919 179135
Other monetary assets
614 Prepayments 4 657
614 657
Liabilities
(2053) Creditors 5 (3726)
(2053) (3726)
----- End of picture text -----

These financial statements are accepted on behalf of the charity by:

Signed _____ Dated _____ Anna Savic, Trustee

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Article 39 Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024

1. Receipts & payments accounts

Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand.

2. Grants & donations

Unrestricted
£
Anonymous donors
-
The Bromley Trust
10000
Esmee Fairburn Foundation
40000
The Hadley Trust
-
The Legal Education Foundation
-
The Legal Education Foundation (JFF)
11107
National Lottery Community Fund
-
Sundry donations
9160
70267
Funds analysis
Opening
balance
£
Restricted funds
Children's advocacy project
749
Children & young people's advocacy community
-
Double punishment child imprisonment
5000
Ending child imprisonment
201
Legal education (advocates)
1511
Lititgation fund (children in custody)
7198
Mental health research & advocacy
3937
18596		 Restricted
£
20875
-
-
25000
51168
-
57518
-
154561
Receipts
£
25000
57518
-
-
66168
-
15055
163741		 Total
£
20875
10000
40000
25000
51168
11107
57518
9160
224828
(Payments)
£
(25305)
(7553)
-
-
(67109)
-
(18506)
(118473)		 Closing
balance
£
444
49965
5000
201
570
7198
486
63864

3. Funds analysis

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4. Prepayments

£ Insurance 555 IT & online surveys 102 657

5. Creditors

£ Independent examination 540 Salaries, NI & pensions 3186 3726

6. Trustees’ remuneration

During this period, a total of £311 was reimbursed to three trustee for expenses incurred.

7. Related party transactions

8. Glossary of terms

Prepayments: These are services that the charity has paid for in advance, but not used during the accounting period.

Restricted funds: These are funds given to the charity, subject to specific restrictions set by the donor, but still within the general objects of the charity.

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