Charity number: 1169167
(England and Wales)
Totnes and Rural Community Transport
Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements
For the year ended 30 April 2023
Totnes and Rural Community Transport Contents Page For the year ended 30 April 2023
| Report of the Trustees | 1 to 3 |
|---|---|
| Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees | 4 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 5 |
| Statement of Financial Position | 6 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 7 to 11 |
| Detailed Statement of Financial Activities | 12 |
Totnes and Rural Community Transport
Report of the Trustees
For the year ended 30 April 2023
The Trustees, who are also directors for the purposes of company law, have pleasure in presenting their report and the financial statements for the charitable company for the year ended 30 April 2023. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of 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 the Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).
Chair's report
This report covers the year from May 2022 to April 2023. It comprises the Chair's report on operations and governance and the Treasurer's audited accounts for that period. The report was presented at TARCT's AGM on 2nd October 2023.
Totnes and Rural Community Transport (operating as Bob the Bus) is a CIO seeking to provide transport facilities in the South Hams area of Devon for people who have special need of such facilities including, but not exclusively, those who are elderly, poor or disabled, people with young children, or those living in isolated areas where there are no adequate public transport facilities.
This was the first complete year to be unaffected by the COVID pandemic, as formal restrictions on public transport were not lifted until February 2022. Passenger numbers have recovered to around 84% of our best pre-pandemic year (2018), with a total over 33,000 journeys. Scheduled services were disrupted by the closure of Totnes High Street in January 2023, requiring us to re-route via St Katherine's way - this added a little to journey times, but did not affect passenger numbers. The monthly Travel Club, with over 100 members, has become re-established. Demand outstrips the availability of both vehicles and drivers, so this is an area to consider for future expansion. Private hire income has recovered to near pre-pandemic levels, despite there being only 107 contracts (compared to over 200 in 2018/19). Again, the ability to expand this activity is limited by current resources.
We continue to strengthen our relationship with the Town Council, particularly in the context of the Green Travel Forum, which facilitates dialogue on a range of local transport issues with councillors and other community groups. We ran another park and ride scheme in August 2022, in support of the Totnes Festival. This was achieved by adding a stop at KEVICC to the regular B1 and B2 services. This was much less successful than the previous year's P&R, possibly due to relatively limited signage, and a necessarily intermittent timetable.
Our fundraising efforts have not been as coordinated or energetic as in previous years, but we again gratefully acknowledge the efforts of Totnes street trader Graham Walker. We also received an extremely generous bequest of £22k from the estate of former Follaton passenger the late Lee Cooper. This is being ring-fenced as part of our 'next bus' fund. We also express our appreciation to South Hams Tyres and Harrison's garage for their continuing in-kind support.
The new Ticketer machines were fully rolled out in early 2022. Apart from occasional glitches, they are working reliably, and passengers generally appreciate the ability to pay by contactless card or phone.
A considerable effort was put in to the ever-present search for a 'hub' or operational base, which would give us some office space and centralised parking. A long email dialogue and two site visits were made in connection with the GWR-owned former Alchemy Cars site at Totnes station, and to the stalled Atmos (former Dairy Crest) site. Sadly, these proved fruitless, at least for the time being.
We face two major challenges for the future. One is the ageing fleet of buses, whose maintenance and repair costs are steadily increasing (approximately £20k in 2022/23). The frequent lack of fully operational vehicles often puts pressure on our three activities (scheduled routes, Travel Club and private hire), and our coordinator has had to work hard to maintain services. The other concerns the rate of driver retirement and the increasing difficulty of recruiting new ones. This is partly due to post-Covid changes in many people's working practices, leaving less time for voluntary activities. Also, a medical examination is required to maintain the D1 licence category at age 70, which can be a disincentive for older drivers. The automatic inclusion of category D1 ceased with licences issued after 1997, meaning that younger drivers would be required to undertake (and pay for) training to drive our vehicles - however, we understand that this restriction is currently under review by government. We will also consider changes to driver shifts (currently half days) which could make driving more attractive. On the positive side, we are looking forward to commissioning a new bus, and plan to introduce a Saturday service in summer 2023.
My thanks, as always, to around 35 volunteer drivers, and our enthusiastic trustees and committee members. As at April 2023 the committee comprised: Stephen Grove (chair); Chris Edwards (vice-chair); Graham Clayton (treasurer); Brian Neale (secretary); Ed Deacon; Richard Stout. We welcomed two new trustees: Maiken Hutchings and Laura Cameron Long - Maiken is the coordinator for the Totnes Green Travel Forum, and Laura has extensive experience in the charity sector. John Holl, Mike Craddock, Gareth Davies, Sue Speak and John Speak all resigned this year. Peter Scott is no longer on the committee but continues to advise on constitutional matters and Ticketer programming. Thanks are especially due to Sue and John Speak, who have given many years of service as trustees.
Our superhuman coordinator Lyn Price has had a particularly challenging year, and her extraordinary workload has highlighted the potential for more (non-driving) volunteer support. She continues to keep the service running with her good humour, patience and skill.
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Report of the Trustees Continued
For the year ended 30 April 2023
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
Objectives and aims
The trustees have considered the Charity Commision's guidance on public benefit, including the guidance 'public benefit: running a charity (PB2)'.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Reserves
A reserves policy is not included in the TARCT constitution, but the principles are laid out in the Policies document. The charity does not hold formal accounting reserves to cover operational expenses or future capital funding requirements. We do however recognise that we need to keep sufficient funds available for both these purposes. To cover the risk of operational disruption we need sufficient cash to run the services if revenues were to fall and expenses to rise at the same time for a sustained period. We believe a suitable risk management scenario is revenues falling by 50% and costs rising by 50% for a 1 year period. To survive this scenario, we need a reserve of £60,000 available. In the event of dissolution of the charity, we assume that legal and other expenses would be covered by the residual market value of the fleet.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Recruitment and appointment of trustees
Membership of the CIO is open to anyone who is interested in furthering its purposes, and who, by applying for membership, has indicated his, her or its agreement to become a member and acceptance of the duty of members set out in the constitution. A member may be an individual, a corporate body, or an individual or corporate body representing an organisation which is not incorporated.
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Name of Charity Totnes and Rural Community Transport Charity registration number 1169167 Principal address Brookside, Woodcourt Road Harbertonford Totnes TQ9 7TY Trustees The trustees and officers serving during the year and since the year end were as follows: G Clayton S Grove L Cameron-Long B Neale C Edwards E Deacon R Stout M Hutchings Secretary B Neale Independent examiners MAP Accountants & Business Advisors 2 Bridge Farm Offices Harberton Totnes Devon TQ9 7PP
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Report of the Trustees Continued For the year ended 30 April 2023
Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by
02 October 2023
............................................................................. S Grove
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Independent Examiners Report to the Trustees
For the year ended 30 April 2023
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charitable company for the year ended 30 April 2023.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity Trustees, who are also directors for the purposes of company law, 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 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 examiners 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:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not comply with the 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
- 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.
MAP Accountants & Business Advisors
2 Bridge Farm Offices Harberton Totnes Devon TQ9 7PP
02 October 2023
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport
Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) For the year ended 30 April 2023
| Notes Income and endowments from: Donations and legacies 2 Other trading activites 3 Total Expenditure on: Charitable activities 4/5 Total Net income Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward |
Unrestricted funds £ 45,455 49,327 94,782 (84,972) (84,972) 9,810 67,682 77,492 |
2022 £ 33,826 34,249 |
|---|---|---|
| 68,075 | ||
| (64,735) | ||
| (64,735) | ||
| 3,340 64,341 |
||
| 67,681 |
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Statement of Financial Position
As at 30 April 2023
| Notes Fixed assets Tangible assets 10 Current assets 11 Debtors Cash at bank and in hand Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 12 Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 13 Net assets The funds of the charity Unrestricted income funds 14 Revaluation reserve Total funds |
£ 2023 31,730 31,730 644 139,478 140,122 502 140,624 172,354 (74,865) 97,489 77,492 20,000 97,492 |
£ 2022 38,275 |
|---|---|---|
| 38,275 | ||
| 2,478 128,007 |
||
| 130,485 | ||
| (118) 130,367 |
||
| 168,642 | ||
| (80,960) | ||
| 87,682 | ||
| 67,681 20,000 |
||
| 87,681 |
For the year ended 30 April 2023 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
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The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476,
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The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records
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and the preparation of accounts. These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board and signed on its behalf by:
G Clayton Trustee
02 October 2023
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Notes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 30 April 2023
1. Accounting Policies
Basis of accounting
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, except for investments which are included at market value and the revaluation of certain fixed assets and in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) ‘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 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), and the Companies Act 2006.
Totnes and Rural Community Transport 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 note(s).
Funds
All of the Charity's funds received in the year were unrestricted funds.
Incoming resources
All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the Charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:
1. Grants for New Buses - this income has been treated as pre-paid income and entered on the balance sheet. The grant is
transferred to the statement of financial activities annually in equal amounts to the depreciation provided on the new vehicles.
Resources expended
Liabilities are recognised as resources expended when there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the Charity to the expenditure:
Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets, other than freehold land, are stated at cost or valuation less depreciation and any provision for impairment.
Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost or valuation of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following basis:
Plant and machinery
15% Reducing balance
2. Income from donations and legacies
| Unrestricted funds Donations received Grants received |
2022 2023 £ £ 11,508 29,067 22,318 16,388 33,826 45,455 |
|---|---|
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Notes to the Financial Statements Continued
For the year ended 30 April 2023
| 3. Income earned from other activities Unrestricted funds Community Bus Service 4. Costs of charitable activities by fund type Unrestricted funds Community Bus Service Support costs 5. Costs of charitable activities by activity type Support costs Activities undertaken directly £ £ Support costs Community Bus Service 2,734 82,238 6. Analysis of support costs Community Bus Service Management Governance costs |
2023 £ 49,327 49,327 2023 £ 82,238 2,734 84,972 2023 £ 84,972 2023 £ 2,154 580 2,734 |
2022 £ 34,249 |
|---|---|---|
| 34,249 | ||
| 2022 £ 62,417 2,318 |
||
| 64,735 | ||
| 2022 £ 64,735 2022 £ 1,668 650 |
||
| 2,318 |
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Notes to the Financial Statements Continued
For the year ended 30 April 2023
| 7. Net income/(expenditure) for the year This is stated after charging/(crediting): Depreciation of owned fixed assets Accountancy fees 8. Particulars of employees Management & Admin 9. Comparative for the Statement of Financial Activities |
2023 £ 6,545 580 2023 1 1 |
2022 £ 6,750 650 |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 1 |
||
| 1 | ||
The comparative year values on the Statement of Financial Activites are for unrestricted funds.
| 10. Tangible fixed assets Cost or valuation At 01 May 2022 At 30 April 2023 Depreciation At 01 May 2022 Charge for year At 30 April 2023 Net book values At 30 April 2023 At 30 April 2022 |
Plant and machinery £ 172,000 |
|---|---|
| 172,000 | |
| 133,725 6,545 |
|
| 140,270 | |
| 31,730 | |
| 38,275 |
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Notes to the Financial Statements Continued
For the year ended 30 April 2023
| 11. Debtors Amounts due within one year: Trade debtors 12. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Other creditors PAYE & social security VAT Other creditors Accruals and deferred income 13. Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year Accruals and deferred income 14. Movement in funds Unrestricted Funds General Community Bus Services |
Balance at 01/05/2022 £ 67,682 67,682 |
Incoming resources £ 94,782 94,782 |
2023 £ 644 644 2023 £ 493 (1,840) - 845 (502) 2023 £ 74,865 74,865 Outgoing resources £ (84,972) (84,972) |
2022 £ 2,478 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,478 | ||||
| 2022 £ 362 (3,767) 2,700 823 |
||||
| 118 | ||||
| 2022 £ 80,960 |
||||
| 80,960 | ||||
| Balance at 30/04/2023 £ 77,492 |
||||
| 77,492 |
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport
Notes to the Financial Statements Continued
For the year ended 30 April 2023
| Unrestricted Funds - Previous year General Community Bus Services Purpose of unrestricted Funds Community Bus Services To provide a community bus service. 15. Analysis of net assets between funds Unrestricted funds General Community Bus Services Previous year Unrestricted funds General Community Bus Services |
Balance at 01/05/2021 Incoming resources Outgoing resources Balance at 30/04/2022 £ £ £ £ 64,341 68,075 (64,735) 67,681 64,341 68,075 (64,735) 67,681 Tangible fixed assets Net current assets / (liabilities) Creditors > one year Net Assets £ £ £ £ 31,730 140,624 (74,865) 97,489 31,730 140,624 (74,865) 97,489 Tangible fixed assets Net current assets / (liabilities) Creditors > one year Net Assets £ £ £ £ 38,275 130,367 (80,960) 87,682 38,275 130,367 (80,960) 87,682 |
Balance at 01/05/2021 Incoming resources Outgoing resources Balance at 30/04/2022 £ £ £ £ 64,341 68,075 (64,735) 67,681 64,341 68,075 (64,735) 67,681 Tangible fixed assets Net current assets / (liabilities) Creditors > one year Net Assets £ £ £ £ 31,730 140,624 (74,865) 97,489 31,730 140,624 (74,865) 97,489 Tangible fixed assets Net current assets / (liabilities) Creditors > one year Net Assets £ £ £ £ 38,275 130,367 (80,960) 87,682 38,275 130,367 (80,960) 87,682 |
Balance at 30/04/2022 £ 67,681 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67,681 | |||
| 31,730 140,624 (74,865) 97,489 |
|||
| Tangible fixed assets Net current assets / (liabilities) Creditors > one year Net Assets £ £ £ £ 38,275 130,367 (80,960) 87,682 |
|||
| 38,275 130,367 (80,960) 87,682 |
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Totnes and Rural Community Transport Detailed Statement of Financial Activities
For the year ended 30 April 2023
| INCOME AND ENDOWMENT Donations and legacies Donations Grants receivable Other trading activities Community Bus Service Total incoming resources EXPENDITURE Charitable activities Cost of direct charitable activity SUPPORT COSTS Management Management Governance costs Governance costs Total resources expended Net Income |
£ 2023 29,067 16,388 45,455 49,327 49,327 94,782 (82,238) (82,238) (2,154) (2,154) (580) (580) (84,972) 9,810 |
£ 2022 11,508 22,318 |
|---|---|---|
| 33,826 34,249 |
||
| 34,249 | ||
| 68,075 (62,417) |
||
| (62,417) (1,668) |
||
| (1,668) (650) |
||
| (650) | ||
| (64,735) | ||
| 3,340 |
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This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements