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2021-03-31-accounts

LIBRARIES CONNECTED

(Formerly Society of Chief Librarians)

(LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements

for the year ending 31 March 2021

Company Number: 07559747 Charity Number: 1176482

LIBRARIES CONNECTED

(LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Content Pages
Reference and Administrative details 3
Report of the Board of Trustees 4-26
Independent Auditor’s Report 27-30
Statement of Financial Activities 31
Balance Sheet 32
Statement of Cash Flows 33
Notes to the Financial Statements 34-47

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The Board of Trustees Carol Stump President (Elected 4 December
2018) Trustee (appointed 30 April
2018)
(Trustees are also Company Directors) Mark Freeman Past-President and Trustee
MBE (appointed as a Trustee 30 April
2018)
Ayub Khan MBE President-Elect (Elected 2nd
December 2020) and Trustee
(appointed 30 April 2018)
Martin Burton BEM Trustee (appointed 30 April 2018)
Jane Ellison Trustee (appointed 30 April 2018)
Julie Griffiths Trustee (appointed 30 April 2018)
Ilona Kish Trustee (appointed 30 April 2018)
Neil MacInnes OBE Trustee (appointed 30 April 2018)
Vera Owen Trustee (appointed 30 April 2018)
Elizabeth White Trustee (appointed 30 April 2018)
Kathryn Harrison Trustee (appointed 6 March
2020) and Honorary Treasurer
(appointed 06 April 2021)
Anthony Hopkins Trustee (appointed 6 March
BEM 2020)
Emma Noyce Trustee (appointed 1 December
2020)
Company Secretary & Chief Executive Isobel Hunter
Registered Office Libraries Connected
3rdFloor, Islington Central Library
2 Fieldway Crescent
London N5 1PF
Auditors HW Fisher LLP
Acre House
11 - 15 William Road
London, NW1 3ER
Bankers Royal Bank of Scotland
13-15 London Road
Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1PR
Company Number 07559747
Charity Number 1176482

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Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31 March 2021

The Trustees present their annual report with audited financial statement for the year ended 31 March 2021. The comparative figures are those for the year ended 31 March 2020.

Public benefit, mission and values

Libraries Connected is the membership organisation for the public library sector in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

Libraries Connected’s vision is an inclusive, modern, sustainable and high-quality public library service at the heart of every community in the UK. We believe modern public libraries should be the cornerstone of the community and should deliver a diverse spectrum of local needs around information, learning, literacy, employment and digital skills, health, culture and leisure.

As a sector support membership organisation, our mission is to work in the sector, for the sector to:

Objectives and activities

The charity objectives are specifically restricted to the following:

  1. To encourage and promote, for educational and recreational purposes the position of Librarian and the provision and use of Libraries

  2. To advise on training and qualifications of Librarians, to establish courses and other forms of training in Librarianship and to award diplomas and other certificates of competence therein provided always that no diploma or certificate issued by the Association shall contain any statement expressing or implying that it is granted by or under the authority of the Board of Trade or any Government Department or Authority.

  3. To provide and maintain libraries for the purpose of promoting the objects of the Association.

  4. To print, publish and distribute books, magazines, periodicals and publication of all kinds with a view to promoting the objects of the Association.

  5. To purchase or by any other means acquire, hire and take option over any property whatever, and any rights of privileges of any kind over or in respect of any property.

  6. To improve, manage, construct, repair, develop, exchange, let on lease or otherwise, mortgage, charge, sell dispose of, turn to account, grant licensees, opinions, rights and privileges in respect of, or otherwise deal with all or any part of the property and rights of the Association.

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  1. To undertake and execute any trust which may lawfully be undertaken by the Association and may be conducive to its objects.

  2. To borrow or raise money for the purposes of the Association on such terms and on such security as may be though fit and take and accept any gift of money, property and other assets whether subject to any special trust or not.

  3. To invest the moneys of the Association not immediately required for its purpose or upon such investments securities or property as may be thought fit, but so that moneys subject or representing property subject to the jurisdiction of the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales shall only be invested in such securities and with such sanction (if any) as may, for the time being, be prescribed by the law.

  4. To make any donations in cash or assets or establish and support or aid in the establishment and support of any charitable association or institutions and to subscribe or guarantee money for charitable purposes in any way connected with the purposes of the Association or calculated to further its objects.

Plans and future activities

During this challenging year, Libraries Connected stepped up to make sure that libraries received the information and support they needed to deliver their services to communities, during lockdown and beyond. Our initial business plan 2018-22 set out how we intended to develop our capacity to deliver as a sector support organisation against outcomes . However, these plans were amended as we worked with libraries to get through the pandemic and our members have repeatedly told us how invaluable our support as an organisation has been.

Activities to include:

Activities to include:

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Activities to include:

Activities to include:

Activities to include:

Advocacy and services

Our members are at the heart of everything we do, and we regularly consult them about the development of our work through their presence on our Board, Advisory Committee, regional networks, Universal Library Offer networks and through various tailored consultation events and reference groups.

Libraries Connected is also committed to working in partnership with other agencies to deliver tangible benefits to library services. Libraries Connected could not have accomplished all that it has during this financial year without the efforts and expertise of our partners. We would like to thank them for all their support and look forward to our continued partnership.

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Achievement and performance

Charitable activities

This year saw Libraries Connected adapt our offer and services to support our members through the Covid pandemic. At the start of the pandemic and the first national lockdown, we refocused our work plan to ensure delivery of our funded major projects and to deliver a COVID support programme which had four strands:

  1. Guidance on COVID secure public library operations, by publishing the Library Service Recovery Toolkit, in line with government regulation and guidance

  2. Fostering peer network support to share advice and good practice

  3. Development of #LibrariesFromHome to support innovation in and marketing of library services during lockdown periods

  4. Development of evidence and advocacy materials to support library service recovery.

Our ongoing work included:

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trustees’ induction course. We developed our governance processes, with a focus on project management and financial policies.

All this work in evidenced under our three main areas of activity:

  1. Supporting our members through the Covid-19 pandemic and delivering a valued membership offer

  2. Delivering our business plan as a Sector Support Organisation

  3. Delivering key strategic programmes to support sector development

1 Supporting our members through the Covid-19 pandemic and delivering a valued membership offer

Personnel

This year we recruited two new staff funded by project grants. One employee earns more than £80,000 per year.

We changed the frequency of team meetings to once a week, to compensate for not being able to meet in person and are planning a team awayday in July 2021, once travel and meeting restrictions ease.

We closed the office from March to December and developed a safe working policy to allow a limited number of staff to work in the office. However, we remained a primarily home-based workforce for the whole year. In the summer we surveyed staff to review their wellbeing and to identify if we needed to offer more support.

We are grateful to our external contractors, as their support throughout the year has supported our successful operations as a dispersed organisation:

Volunteers

Libraries Connected is supported by many volunteers from across our membership. These include Trustees, members of our Advisory Board, regional chairs, Universal Library Offer leads, and steering or reference groups.

Together, they make invaluable contributions to support our governance, strategic planning, fundraising, advocacy and programme development and delivery. We are extremely grateful to them all for their enormous contribution.

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Equal opportunities

In July, in response to the murder of George Floyd and the prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement, we rewrote our Equality and Diversity Strategy and action plan. During the late summer and early autumn, we developed a series of three Black Stories Matter webinars on Promoting Diverse Content, Talking about Race and Managing Collections. The discussions in the webinars have helped identify the specific equality and diversity issues for libraries and suggested the support Libraries Connected can develop for the sector.

Learning Pool

We continue to offer our five e-learning courses via the Learning Pool platform and this year saw a surge in use when libraries were closed due to the pandemic. We also made available a course developed by Learning Pool about Coronavirus to help people stay safe and informed and launched a new course in November on Culture and Creativity in Libraries.

Our courses are available free of charge to people working in public libraries in England and this year we have widened access to include library staff in Wales and Northern Ireland. Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, 16,863 modules have been completed and the ‘Understanding your customers' needs’ module, has been the most popular with 2480 completions.

Minor updates have been made to the modules this year, but a larger review will take place in 2021. We also plan to recruit ‘course checkers’ from the Universal Library Offer groups to monitor and review the courses regularly. We are also looking at how we can improve the courses to make them more accessible to people with disabilities and impairments.

Annual seminar

The 2020 seminar was due to take place in took place in June but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans were put in place to hold the event towards the end of September but it rapidly became apparent that meeting is person was not going to be possible so the decision was taken to move the event online and it took place as a virtual event on 2 December.

The virtual seminar brought together public library leaders to hear from a range of speakers discussing how libraries can evidence and communicate their impact to secure support and funding. Speakers included:

Ten companies sponsored the event and showcased their products in a series of ‘flash films’ that were shown throughout the day and they hosted breakout sessions during the lunch break.

Approximately 369 people attended the event from 60 different library services, Arts Council England, ASCEL and DCMS. Evaluation showed that around 50% of those responding to the

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survey had not previously attended a Libraries Connected Seminar. The majority of guests were Heads of Service, but all levels of staff were represented.

Comments showed that people had enjoyed hearing from a line-up of well-informed speakers and feeling connected to colleagues. A few also commented on how much they had appreciated the opportunity to attend as normally going to a Libraries Connected Seminar would not have been an option for them.

AGM

We held our second AGM online on 15 March 2021 and 56 people attended.

At the meeting, President Carol Stump reflected on activities carried out by Libraries Connected during 2019, the annual report and accounts were adopted by the membership, auditors were appointed, and the Chief Executive Officer became the Company Secretary. A motion to hold a vote on establishing an annual increase in membership fees, in line with the retail price index was also passed.

Innovation Network

Membership of the Innovation Network on Basecamp has increased from 577 on 1 April 2020 to 887 on 31 March 2021. This year there have been 261 messages on the network’s message board which have generated a further 952 posts. The messages that generated the most interest was about digital buddies and reopening libraries. The network continues to operate mainly online as the annual gathering was cancelled due to Covid-19.

A digital bootcamp which began as a discussion thread on the network did take place in November. The afternoon was run in partnership with Marion Tessier from Kingston Libraries and delivered by library services across the country. It offered people the opportunity to learn new techniques and skills, find out how other library services have delivered online activity and take away new ideas for their own services.

Heads of Service network

The Head of Service Network has been incredibly valuable during the pandemic. In the network, Heads of Service have been able to connect and support one another through a very difficult period and use the message board to quickly share or ask for information. It has also kept us well informed about the challenges they were facing and helped us to adapt our support to meet the needs of the sector and to represent library services at a national level in discussions with DCMS and other partners.

In November, we asked members what the best thing about the network had been and some of are the things they highlighted were:

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Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 there were 386 messages posted on the network, which generated a further 4191 comments. The post that generated the most comments was about moving out of lockdown and back into the library.

Membership of the network remains restricted to Heads of Service, but after a vote, it was agreed that we could use our discretion to include additional members where the Head of Service responsibilities are split across roles, with a max of two people per library service. Out of the 176 library services in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependencies only 11 are not represented on the network.

Service recovery

We developed a range of responses to help libraries to reopen safely. We recruited a Service Recovery Group of 10 Heads of Service as the key sounding board to inform our work in this area. Their focus initially was on preparing to reopen library doors again in June after the end of the first lockdown. The group helped identify ways to deliver library services in line with the basic controls of social distancing, mask wearing and hygiene, and considered meeting the needs of their staff, different types of library users and volunteers.

These priority areas formed the basis of our service recovery toolkit which gained status as ‘category 3’ government guidance and was published in June.

The toolkit was written and revised in liaison with the DCMS libraries team, with advice and legal review from experts at Public Health England, Health and Safety Executive, DCMS Covid Hub and their legal team. It was updated every time the government regulations changed, or when new advice and insights became available. It began as a UK wide document, but later was written in line with the regulations for England. The new working relationship with DCMS was invaluable in that it opened a new communications channel from Heads of Service into government, at a time when the situation was changing rapidly.

To support the toolkit we hosted a series of 12 webinars for library staff and partners between June and November. These covered topics such as supporting staff back into the library, hosting Covid secure events and activities and an international perspective on reopening libraries. These webinars were attended by over 2,600 library staff and partners. Highlights of this series include:

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We worked in partnership with architects IF_DO and CILIP to create a free guide on how to organise library buildings to keep staff and the public safe while still ensuring that spaces remain welcoming environments for everyone to use

Information and insight sharing have been vital to helping library services to respond to the rapidly changing environment and restrictions. We established reopening surveys at critical points to share what was being offered in different areas, and a weekly activity survey (now monthly) to share levels of access across the sector. We also issued budget surveys in September and February to understand the picture for libraries in the year ahead.

Recognising the need for additional support in recovering income and generating new funds in the future, we added new workshops to our Future Funding programme, including:

Libraries From Home

We quickly realised that libraries would have to regroup to deliver their services online and remotely during lockdown. We promoted libraries’ existing digital services and helped them to develop new ones by creating two new areas of our website:

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staff. Since publication, the Responding to Covid-19 page has had 22,543 page views and was responsible for over 5% of the total traffic to the Libraries Connected website between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.

We also hosted a digital author tour of six libraries with Lesley Pearse, author of 28 global bestsellers, in September. The tour began in Bristol, then moved on to Shropshire, West Sussex, Vale of Glamorgan and Bury before ending in Manchester Libraries.

Advocacy

In April we put in a bid to DCMS for £1,417,238 funding to increase public libraries’ supply of eBooks and eAudio during lockdown. We felt this investment would help sustain the publishing industry and support the mental health and wellbeing of millions of library members who depended on borrowing books from libraries during lockdown. While the bid was ultimately unsuccessful, preparing it created new relationships for us with the aggregators who supply ebooks to libraries and produced a wealth of data on ebook use and costs that informed our work throughout the year.

Through the Service Recovery Group, we identified five key areas where libraries can play a central role in meeting the needs of individuals and communities who may be struggling to overcome the effects of the Covid-19 crisis. These are:

These areas were outlined with statistics and case studies in our advocacy report, Libraries: An essential part of local recovery that we published in July.

In the autumn, Libraries Connected surveyed public library services to try and increase their understand of how Covid-19 had impacted on library budgets and what the consequences may be in the future. We collected this data to inform internal planning and to provide evidence to support our discussions with partners and government. Over 100 library services responded to the survey which revealed that the strain of the pandemic on local authority budgets meant the three in five library services are now expecting a reduction in their local authority funding for 2021/22.

Our research report, Libraries in lockdown, published in October, showed how libraries and their staff kept communities connected and supported the most vulnerable during lockdown. It also revealed how library staff demonstrated their skills, empathy and flexibility during the crisis to respond to the rapidly evolving situation. During lockdown libraries grew their digital offer, engaged with people at risk of isolation and went the extra mile to support the local response to the pandemic. However, our evidence also showed that the leaders who were given the freedom to shape and adapt their services were better able to respond to meet the specific needs of their communities.

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In December, we pulled the findings from this report that mainly surveyed library staff, with user evidence from Carnegie UK and other data to produce Libraries in the pandemic, a summary of evidence about all libraries had achieved during lockdown.

2 Delivering our business plan as a Sector Support Organisation

We delivered our agreed plan of work as a Sector Support Organisation, including:

Regional support model

With funding from Arts Council England and the Libraries Taskforce, we commissioned Activist Group to work with five regional networks and three library services to pilot two of the five elements outlined in the earlier business case.

Throughout the year the Activist Group worked with the regional networks to help them build their capacity, work as peer networks and to deliver strategic collaborations. At the same time, three consultants were commissioned to work with the individual library services to deliver targeted support to tackle a specific challenge and test the Expert Bank concept.

The pandemic impacted on the pilot projects and plans had to be adapted and deadlines extended, however, all the pilots have now been seen through to completion. In addition to support for those involved in the pilots directly, a range of useful templates and toolkits were created which can be used by other regional networks and library services. We also ran a series of three free webinars, attended by 250 people, which provided information about the Expert Bank projects, how the library services had worked with their consultants, and how they intend to use the plans and toolkits they have developed.

Activist Group are currently evaluating the pilots and will be producing a report which will inform how we move forward with the next phase of support.

Building and deepening our Universal Offer partnerships

In April 2020 we relaunched the Universal Offers renaming them Universal Library Offers. While there were challenges in delivering the plan, and some elements were postponed, the offers also actively responded to the challenges presented by the pandemic by moving to online delivery, building and consolidating partnerships, supporting workforce development and preparing for a post Covid world.

Key activities from the Universal Library Offers

Reading

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Health and Wellbeing

Culture and Creativity

Information and Digital

Children’s Promise

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The Funding model for the conference proved popular enabling more library staff to experience elements of the conference.

Visual and Print Impaired Peoples’ Promise

Regional and national networks

These member networks are at the heart of the work of Libraries Connected. They provide peer support, exchange of good practice and innovation as well as platforms for large scale strategic initiatives. Each network is different, as its work responds to local opportunities and challenges. Highlights this year include:

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across the region, individually and collectively. There have been a number of changes to Heads of Services during the year, some of whom have retired after long periods of service. The region has been adapting to this loss of collective experience while welcoming and supporting new leaders in the group. We are taking this opportunity to review the annual plan to ensure that it aligns with the regional priorities as service recovery progresses.

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public libraries have worked more closely than ever during the pandemic with library leads meeting together and with Welsh Government officials every fortnight to collaborate on challenges but also with an aim of capitalising on opportunities. This has been key in implementation of new services such as Click and Collect and a digital Summer Reading Challenge platform. The sector has been supported by Cultural Recovery funding which has been used locally but also for the collaborative Estyn Allan Project which has developed the skills and confidence of library staff in creating digital library activities and provided equipment to enhance digital events programming.

A review of the Welsh Public Library Standards will begin shortly with an aim of implementing a transformative Seventh Performance Framework. SCL Cymru have identified key priorities for public library services in Wales: The economy; Health and wellbeing; Information and digital; Reading and literacy; and Welsh language and culture. Current challenges include the evident need for UK-wide partners to ensure that the Welsh governance, strategic context and cultural dimension, are considered from the outset and that the English language is not treated preferentially to Welsh. Continued and active consideration of this will be essential to ensure that Welsh public libraries are able to fully capitalise on all opportunities to develop and promote services moving forward.

Highlights of the year included the fifth annual Libraries NI and BBC BookWeek NI week which celebrated stories and storytelling with a specially commissioned TV programme ‘Read all About It’ and online activities including a virtual conversation with renowned crime writer Ann Cleeves. Good Relations Week 2020 celebrated people and communities tackling racism and promoting cultural diversity with the theme ‘Celebrating Our Journey, Embracing Our Future’ and online activities in libraries included craft videos, Makaton rhymes, creative writing and book recommendations around the theme for the week with activities hosted on library Facebook pages. The Armstrong Storytelling Trust, which funds our storytelling residency, recorded stories to celebrate diversity and these were broadcast via social media. Libraries NI Storyteller in Residence with new and emerging storytellers delivered 270 storytelling events with over 6500 participants.

Other trading activities

Libraries Connected continued to lead a national network of library services in the delivery of contracts, delivering assisted digital support for central government services. Our aims are to position libraries to deliver valued support for local residents, and to generate additional income.

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Front End Services for visa applicants

Libraries Connected continued to work with Sopra Steria, a Home Office contractor, to enable them to offer these services through the library network. The services include the capturing of biometrics and scanning of documents to support UK Visa applications. The challenges this year have been managing the closing and opening of these services as restrictions changed, including working with DCMS and library services to keep the service open during later periods of restriction, and meeting the backlog of cases that had arisen.

This has been a difficult year to balance the realities of delivering in a library setting with the needs of the Home Office and the contractor to increase capacity to meet the backlog of demand and it has meant that some library services are no longer delivering the service. For the libraries that do continue, feedback is still that it meets the needs of communities and brings new people into the library, along with much needed income to support the core library service. Despite the gaps in service through lockdowns and closures, the service brought £770,000 into the library sector and served 45,000 people this year.

3 Delivering key strategic programmes to support sector development

As part of our ambition to help shape the environment in which libraries operate, we continued to deliver our four major development projects:

• Leading Libraries

The Transforming Leadership: Leading Libraries Programme funded by Arts Council England was due to launch with 60 participants in May via a series of taught physical sessions. However working with our content deliverers, the Leadership Institute at The University of Birmingham, we were able to redesign the programme to be a fully online experience. While this has limited the group’s ability to network, they have adapted well to the online environment. As well as online taught sessions, they have been working in localised pods to share coaching sessions and in ‘quads’ to develop strategic challenges in local library services. We also recruited an external evaluator from Birmingham City University for the project. The taught element of the project will come to an end in July 2021 and the project will conclude with a conference in March 2022.

• BBC Novels that Shaped our World

In January, with another lockdown announced, we extended the project from June 2021 to September 2021 to give the libraries with physical events more time to stage them. Twentythree libraries have completed their events, 12 are in progress and we have 19 more who will hold their events before the end of summer. Only one library has left the project.

Events have included:

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By the end of the project, 54 library services will have taken part with over 200 events. Ten extra libraries were also awarded £1,000 funding to put on an event between January and March 2021 responding to one of the novels on the list, or one of its themes. We also hosted a digital author tour of Trafford, Bristol, Northumberland and Leeds library services with Natalie Haynes in November.

• Accreditation for libraries

Our accreditation project, funded by Arts Council England, aims to clearly define what a highquality library service looks like. The work to develop and deliver an authoritative, sector-led scheme to help libraries in England to meet the needs of their local communities an accreditation scheme, has now completed its consultation phase.

The project is overseen by a project board that includes partners from CILIP, Arts Council England, National Archives and The British Library. It is also informed by a Reference Group of heads of service to bring practical experience of service delivery and data collection.

Early in the project, we hosted a public webinar which explored the question ’What does quality mean for a modern library service?’ and had over 100 attendees. Conversations have also been held with key stakeholders and an online survey of library staff carried out to help to refine the approach.

An interim report outlining the key findings from the consultation was published in November. The project has now moved into the design phase and we have a draft model for the accreditation scheme that we will refine and test over the summer. Our contractor for this work, Shared Intelligence, are liaising closely with Arts Council England to draw on their knowledge and experience of the museum accreditation process.

• Future Funding

We are delivering a four-strand programme to support the development of income generation skills across the library sector. While this is funded by Arts Council England, we are making activities available across our membership, where possible.

The first strand is to develop and deliver a core commercial skills programme for those with budget responsibility within the library sector. This is being developed with a pathfinder group from a range of library services across England. Once they have finished their programme, it will be offered to the wider sector in September 2021.

The second is to develop networks and opportunities for sharing learning. The Income Generation Network launched in November which enables the sharing of practice and tools, as well as being a vetted network to share commercially sensitive information for new opportunities. The network has 120 budget holders and library service leaders. We also developed a webinar series covering the topics that most frequently arose which began in January.

The third is to share learning from regional and national projects and we have examples of regional collaborations and taking projects to national scale that we will be progressing in the next financial year.

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Fourth is the delivery and securing of national services. We have continued and learned from the delivery of the UKVI service in libraries. We have explored a number of options for further services and will continue to do so.

Reserve policy

Libraries Connected has established a reserve policy which appropriately reflects the risks to which the charity is exposed. In compliance with such policy, it will review both the sum it wishes to hold in reserves in the unrestricted budget and the basis for that figure. The reserve does not consider expenditure which is linked to restricted earnings which are covered by restricted funds.

The purpose of the unrestricted funds is to support all day to day activities necessary at Libraries Connected programmes, and development of prospects; due consideration has been given to these activities in the annual review of reserve policy.

In reviewing the potential costs that arise should a significant reduction in income be incurred, the Trustees have determined that unrestricted reserves should be maintained at approximately three months running costs. The Trustees manage Libraries connected finances so that an adequate level of reserves can be maintained in compliance with the reserve policy. Following a concerted effort to build up reserve funds, at 31 March 2021 this was £290,420. This amounts up to just over three months cover.

Principal funding sources

Libraries Connected Trustees/directors record their thanks to all those individuals and organisations who have funded our work. Arts Council England which has provided £1,393,952 for project funding in 2020-21 and will provide £509,200 next year to fund our work as a Sector Support Organisation.

Our membership subscriptions continue to make an important contribution to our work nationally and regionally.

Investment activities

Under the memorandum and articles of association, the charitable company has the power to make investment which the trustees see fit. Investments are made where required to further the aims and objectives and objects of the charity. The charity does not currently hold any investments other than cash on deposit with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Financial review

The organisation is substantially supported by Arts Council England.

In the reporting period £1,223,712 (2020: £841,052) was spent on charitable activities, while £1,152 (2020: £59,492) was spent on income generation resulting in £422,016 surplus (2020: £388,483). There was a surplus on regional funds of £108,619 (2020: £5,417 deficit).

At the end of 2020/21, the charity total reserves now stand at £1,267,029 of which £374,461 is for regional funds.

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Related parties

A register of interests has been established for Trustees and management staff to declare any interests including directorships/trusteeships of other organisations.

We work in partnership with a range of organisations, and our relationships are documented, as appropriate, by partnership agreements and Memoranda of Understanding.

Risk management

The Board maintains a corporate risk register which is reviewed at every Board meeting. Projects have their own more detailed risk registers, which feed into the corporate risk register.

The risk register sets out the risks, their likelihood and impact and the mitigation measures. The risks relate to delivery of our business plan and major funded projects, as well as to our reputation, corporate partnerships and standing with our members.

The Board's Finance and Remuneration Sub-Committee has a role to review our financial risks in more detail, and the Board also established a commercial projects sub-committee to manage the risks associated with our commercial projects.

The major overwhelming risk this year was the impact of the global pandemic. We moved quickly to put risk management plans in place including:

We also addressed our own internal risks by developing and formalising our project management and project governance processes, and reviewing our financial and procurement policies.

Going concern

The trustees have considered going concern and have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Whilst the Covid-19 outbreak has caused some disruption to the operations of the charity, the charity has continued to generate a healthy level of income and overall net surplus during the year and to present date. The trustees are confident that they have sufficient reserves for the charity to continue if there was a prolonged downturn in activities and have continued support from the largest funder.

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Fundraising activities

This year, we secured £25,000 from Arts Council England for pilot project on targeted library marketing. This was match funded with an additional £10,000 from the participating library services.

We also received £301,000 from Arts Council England to provide grants totalling £2000 to each library service in England. The grant included £2,000 to cover the additional staff costs incurred in distributing the grants.

During the year, the Charity did not engage any professional fundraiser or commercial participator to carry out any fundraising activities; any such activity was performed internally by the charity’s own staff in the course of their duties.

During the year, no complaints about fundraising activity were received by the charity, or by a person acting on its behalf for the purposes of fundraising.

We do not raise funding directly from the public, so do not make any contact with the public or vulnerable people in relation to funding or supporting our work.

Structure, governance and management

Constitution

Libraries Connected is a registered charity (Charity number 1176482; Company number: 07559747) limited by guarantee in England and Wales. The Company was registered on 10 March 2011 and as a charity on 02 January 2018 and therefore is governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association.

Management of the company is vested in the trustees who are also directors of the company. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 3 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are to provide core services of information advice and support to all members in England and Wales.

In the event of charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per trustee of the charity.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees

The Trustees were appointed through a process of open recruitment run by the Libraries Connected executive. We have 13 trustees – seven are Libraries Connected members and four are nonmembers but bring additional strategic expertise to the Board. The chair of the Trustees is the President, and this role is elected by the membership.

Pay and remuneration of the Senior Management Team is decided using the industry norm as a guide.

Trustees’ Induction and training

All new Trustees are provided with a comprehensive induction to Libraries Connected, which include the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the current strategic plan, staffing structure, annual budget and a copy of the latest audited financial statements. The trustee/directors received details

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Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31 March 2021

of their obligations under both the charity and company law. Following their appointment, the three new trustees attended a trustees’ induction course run by NCVO.

We also joined the Association of Chairs as a source of advice and development for our President.

We were not able to hold a Board awayday this year due to the pandemic but are planning one for summer 2021 when we hope travel and meeting restrictions will be eased.

The trustees, who are also directors of Libraries Connected for company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual report and the financial statement in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of Libraries Connected and enable them to ensure that the financial statement comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of Libraries Connected and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

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Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31 March 2021

Auditors

HW Fisher were appointed as auditor to Libraries Connected during 2018 and were re-elected at the AGM.

Statement of disclosure to the auditors

In so far as the trustees are aware: at the time of approving our trustees’ annual report:

The report was approved by the Board of Trustees

C. Stump

Trustee and President

Date

25 Apr 2022

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the members

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Libraries Connected for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash flows and related notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities or the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the members

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Directors’ Report included within the Trustees’ Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ Responsibilities section of the Trustees’ Report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purpose of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and a fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the members

the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to cease operations or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

As part of our planning process:

The key procedures we undertook to detect irregularities including fraud during the course of the audit included:

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements even though we have properly

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the members

planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. The primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of irregularities and fraud rests with the trustees of the charity.

A further description of our responsibilities is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: http//www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than he charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Sailesh Mehta (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of HW Fisher LLP

Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor

Acre House 11-15 William Road London NW1 3ER United Kingdom

25 April 2022

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Statement of Financial Activities

As 31 March 2021

Notes
Income from:
Charitable Activities
2
Other Trading Activities
3
Total Income
Expenditure
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Services to improve the
public library sector
4
Total Expenditure
Net Income
Total funds brought
forward
Total funds carried
forward		 Unrestricted
2021
£
1,270,832
252,928
1,523,760
1,152
1,106,312
1,107,464
416,296
745,386
1,161,682		 Restricted
2021
£
123,120
-
123,120
-
117,400
117,400
5,720
99,627
105,347		 Total
Funds
2021
£
1,393,952
252,928
1,646,880
1,152
1,223,712
1,224,864
422,016
845,013
1,267,029		 Total
Funds
2020
£
1,058,688
230,339
1,289,027
59,492
841,052
900,544
388,483
456,530
845,013

All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 34 to 47 form part of these financial statements.

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Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021

Notes
Fixed Assets
Tangible Assets
10
Current Assets
Debtors
11
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within
one year
12
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Funds of the charity
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds
General funds
Regional funds		 2021
£
£
7,671
904,086
885,451
1,789,537
(530,179)
1,259,358
1,267,029
105,347
787,221
374,461
1,267,029		 2021
£
£
7,671
904,086
885,451
1,789,537
(530,179)
1,259,358
1,267,029
105,347
787,221
374,461
1,267,029		 2020
£
£
9,271
593,401
817,340
1,410,741
(574,999)
835,742
845,013
99,627
479,545
265,841
845,013		 2020
£
£
9,271
593,401
817,340
1,410,741
(574,999)
835,742
845,013
99,627
479,545
265,841
845,013
1,789,537
(530,179)		 1,410,741
(574,999)
1,267,029 845,013
105,347
787,221
374,461		 99,627
479,545
265,841
1,267,029 845,013

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Trustees on 25 April 2022

Singed on behalf of the Board of Trustees

C. Stump

Trustee and President

Company registration number 07559747 and Charity registration number 1176482.

The notes on pages 34 to 47 form part of these financial statements.

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Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2021

Notes
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by operating
activities
17
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Net cash (used in) investing activities
Cash flows from financing activities:
Interest received
Interest paid
Net cash provided (used in) financing
activities
Change in cash and cash equivalents in
the reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the
beginning of the reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of
the reporting period		 Total
Funds
2021
£

70,478
(2,227)
(2,227)
334
(474)
(140)
68,111
817,340
885,451		 Total
Funds
2020
£
257,021
(4,467)
(4,467)
1,122
(630)
492
253,046
564,294
817,340

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies

(a) General information and basis of preparation

Libraries Connected is a registered charity (Charity number 1176482) and a company (Company number: 07559747) limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales. In the event of the company being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member. The address of the registered office is 3rd Floor, Islington Central Library, 2 Fieldway Crescent, London N5 1PF. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are to provide core services of information advice and support to all members in England and Wales.

The charity is a public benefit entity as defined by FRS102. 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 from 1 January 2019, the Companies Act 2006 and the Company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association.

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention. The financial statements are presented in sterling which is the function currency of the charity and rounded to the nearest pound.

The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

Going Concern

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Whilst the Covid-19 outbreak has caused some disruption to the operations of the charity, the charity has continued to generate a healthy level of income and overall net surplus during the year and to present date. The trustees are confident that they have sufficient reserves for the charity to continue if there was a prolonged downturn in activities. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

(b) Fund accounting

The charity maintains various types of funds as follows.

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

Unrestricted funds

Unrestricted funds represent income which is expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in the furtherance of the objects of the charity.

Regional funds:

Regional funds represent those funds held on behalf of regions.

Restricted funds

Restricted income represent income that can be spent wholly and exclusively on the project in line with the funding contract.

(c) Incoming resources from other trading activities

Incoming resources from other trading activities relates to membership subscriptions for services provided by the organisation. They are included in the year in which they are receivable, which is when the charity becomes entitled to the resource and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. These are valued at the estimated value to the charity of the services received.

(d) Incoming resources from charitable activities

Incoming resources from charitable activities relates to performance related grants, mostly received from Arts Council England. Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, as it is probable that income will be received.

Deferred income represents amounts received for future periods and is released to incoming resources in the period in which it is earned. Investment income is included in the SOFA in the year in which it is receivable.

(e) Resources expended and basis of allocation of costs

Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred, inclusive of VAT which cannot be recovered. Grants payable are charged in the year they become payable. Grants are available to qualifying persons upon submission of a relevant and reasonable application. Consideration of such application is made on an individual basis at meetings of management who decide upon the most deserving recipients.

Other resources expended are allocated directly to the activity where the cost relates to the activity.

Support costs have been allocated between charitable activities, generating voluntary funds and governance costs. Costs that are not wholly attributable to an expenditure category have been apportioned to each activity on an estimate of staff time.

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

(f) Costs of raising funds

Costs of raising funds comprise costs incurred in the pursuit of the charitable objects of the charity. Those costs, where not wholly attributable, are apportioned between the categories of charitable expenditure in addition to the direct costs.

(g) Costs of generating voluntary funds

Costs of charitable activities comprise costs incurred in the pursuit of the charitable objects of the charity. Those costs, where not wholly attributable, are apportioned between the categories of charitable expenditure in addition to the direct costs.

(h) Charitable activities

Costs of charitable activities comprise costs incurred in the pursuit of the charitable objects of the charity. Those costs, where not wholly attributable, are apportioned between the categories of charitable expenditure in addition to the direct costs.

(i) Governance costs

Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity such as cost of board meetings, statutory compliance and costs linked to strategic management of the charity.

(j) Cash and Cash equivalent

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank and in hand and deposits held by the banks.

(k) Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses.

Fixed assets costing more than £150 are capitalised and included on the balance sheet at cost.

Fixed assets are depreciated on a straight line basis so as to write off the cost, less anticipated residual value, over their anticipated useful lives, subject to annual review, as follows:

Fixtures & Fittings 33.3% Computer equipment 33.3%

(l) Financial instruments

The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and, cash and bank balances are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

Basic financial liabilities, which include creditors are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes financing transactions. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

1. Accounting policies (continued)

(m) Debtors and creditors receivable / payable within one year

Debtors and creditors with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in expenditure.

(n) Pension cost

The charity contributes to a stakeholder pension scheme by employees or contributes towards employee’s personal pension schemes. The cost of the contributions is charged to the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the cost is incurred.

(o) Gifts in kind

Items gifted to the charity are included as incoming resources and as expenditure in the statement of financial activities or as an asset in the balance sheet. The fair value of such items is estimated by the Trustees based on market value.

(p) Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

In the view of the Trustees, applying the accounting policies, no judgements were required that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statement, or assumptions made carry a significant risk of material adjustment in the next financial year.

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

2 Incoming Resources
from
Charitable Activities
Unrestricted Restricted Regional Total Total
Funds Funds designated
2021		 2020
Funds
For the year ended 31 £ £ £ £ £
March 2021
Arts Council Grants 1,270,832 123,120 - 1,393,952 986,188
Grants - - - - 72,500
1,270,832 123,120 - 1,393,952 1,058,688
For the year ended 31
March 2020
Arts Council Grants 863,068 123,120 - 986,188
Grants 72,500 - - 72,500
935,568 123,120 - 1,058,688

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

3 Other Trading Activities
Unrestricted Restricted Regional Total
Total
Funds
Funds		 designated 2021
2020
Funds
For the year ended 31 £
£		 £ £
£
March 2021
Seminar 17,015
-		 - 17,015
72,545
Investment Income 335
-		 - 335
1,122
Regional network -
-		 148,306 148,306
61,990
Subscription 72,716
-		 - 72,716
76,640
Innovation network -
-		 - -
400
UK visa and immigration 14,556 - - 14,556 17,642
104,622 - 148,306 252,928 230,339
For the year ended 31



March 2020
Seminar
72,545
-
-
72,545
Investment income 1,122 - - 1,122
Regional network - - 61,990 61,990
Subscription 76,640 - - 76,640
Innovation network 400 - - 400
UK visa and immigration 17,642 - - 17,642

168,349
-
61,990
230,339

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

4 Resources expended on
charitable activities
For the year ended 31
March 2021
Cost of charitable activities
Direct staff costs
Core objectives
Member services
Overheads
Support and governance
costs(Note 6)
Regional network
programme
Depreciation
For the year ended 31
March 2020
Cost of charitable activities
Direct staff costs
Core objectives
Member services
Overheads
Support and governance
costs(Note 6)
Regional network
programme
Depreciation		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
472,556
394,778
118,184
64,482
12,795
-
3,828

1,066,623
352,928
83,364
142,202
108,165
58,858
-
4,635

750,152		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
117,400
-
-
-
-
-


117,400
-
23,493
-
-
-
-
-


23,493		 Regional
designated
Funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
39,689
-


39,689
-
-
-
-
-
67,407
-


67,407		 Total
2021
£
472,556
512,178
118,184
64,482
12,795
39,689
3,828


1,223,712
352,928
106,857
142,202
108,165
58,858
67,407
4,635

841,052		 Total
2020
£
352,928
106,857
142,202
108,165
58,858
67,407
4,635
841,052

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

5 Charitable activities Direct Other Support & Total
staff direct Governance 2021
For the year ended 31 March costs Costs Costs
2021 £
£ £ £
Cost of charitable activities 472,556 694,844 12,795 1,180,195
For the year ended 31 March Direct Other Support & Total
2020 staff direct Governance 2020
costs costs Costs
£ £ £ £
Cost of charitable activities 352,928 357,224 58,858 769,010

6 Support and governance costs

For the year ended 31 March 2021





General costs
Accountancy
Financial reporting (payroll)
Audit fees
Meeting cost
 Support
costs
£
3,540
835
345
-
-
4,720		 Governance
costs
£
-
-
-
8,000
75
8,075		 Total
2021
£
3,540
835
345
8,000
75
12,795

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

For the year ended 31 March 2020

General costs
Accountancy
Financial reporting (payroll)
Audit fees
Meeting cost		 Support
costs
£
6,740
(1,039)
2,485
-
-
8,186		 Governance
costs
£
-
-
-
13,195
37,477
50,672		 Total
2020
£
6,740
(1,039)
2,485
13,195
37,477
58,858

Support costs are allocated to activities based on an assessment of the time spent by staff on each activity.

7 Net incoming resources

Net incoming resources
This is stated after charging
Auditor’s remuneration
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets		 2021
£
8,000
3,828
11,828		 2020
£
13,195
4,635
17,830

8 Staff Information

a) Trustees

No trustees received remuneration during the year 2021. Travel and meeting expenses were reimbursed in respect of 5 trustees totalling £1,586 (2020 in respect of 13 trustees: £22,998).

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

b) Staff Costs and numbers

2021 2020
£ £
Salaries and wages 409,283 307,231
Social Security costs 42,891 29,608
Pension costs 20,382 16,089
472,556 352,928

The number of staff whose emoluments on a per annum fell within each of the following bands was:

2021 2020
Number Number
£80,000 to £89,999 1 1

The total remuneration paid to the senior management team was £81,491 (2020: £82,265)

The average number of employees, analysed by function, was:

Chief Executive
Communications Manager
Membership Manager
Finance Manager
Programme Director
Commercial Director
Project Manager
Administrative		 2021
2020
Number
Number
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
3
3
13
10

9 Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

10
Tangible fixed assets
Cost
At 1st April 2020
Additions
At 31st March 2021
Depreciation
At 1st April 2020
Depreciation
At 31st March 2021
Carrying amount
At 31st March 2021
At 31st March 2020		 Computer
Equipment
£
15,021
2,228
17,249
7,352
3,295
10,647
6,602
7,669		 Fixtures &
fittings
£
3,604
-
3,604
2,002
533
2,535
1,069
1,602		 Total
£
18,625
2,228
20,853
9,354
3,828
13,182
7,671
9,271

11 Debtors

Trade debtors
Other debtors		 2021
£
465,544
438,542
904,086		 2020
£
249,844
343,557
593,401

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

12 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Trade creditors
Accruals
Deferred income
Other creditors		 2021
£
51,173
24,935
-
454,071
530,179		 2020
£
42,658
26,495
54,234
451,612
574,999

Deferred income in the prior year was for invoices issued in financial year 2019-20 for a conference and seminar which was planned to take place in June 2020 (financial year 2020-21) and was cancelled due to coronavirus.

13 Commitments under operating leases

There were no commitments under operating leases as at 31 March 2021 or 2020.

14 Analysis of net assets between funds

Unrestricted funds
Tangible fixed assets
Current assets
Creditors; amount falling within one year
Restricted funds
Creditors; amount falling within one year
Net assets as at 31st March 2021		 2021
£
7,671
1,789,537
(530,179)
1,267,029
1,267,029		 2020
£
9,271
1,410,741
(563,726)
856,286
(11,273)
845,013

15 Related parties

There were no related party transactions during the year (2020: none)

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

16
Movement in funds
Current year
Unrestricted funds
Regional funds
General funds
Total Unrestricted
funds
Restricted funds
Transforming
leadership
Total Restricted
funds
Total funds		 Brought
Forward
£
265,842
479,544
745,386
99,627
99627
845,013		 Incoming
Resources
£
148,306
1,375,454
1,523,760
123,120
123,120
1,646,880		 Outgoing
resources
£
39,687
1,067,777
1,107,464
117,400
117,400
1,224,864		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
 Total
2021
£
374,461
787,221
1,161,682
105,347
105,347
1,267,029		 Total
2020
£
265,842
479,544
745,386
99,627
99,627
845,013

46

LIBRARIES CONNECTED

(LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

For the year ended 31[st] March 2020

Brought Incoming Outgoing Transfers Total
Forward Resources resources 2020
£ £ £ £ £
Unrestricted funds
Regional funds 271,259 61,990 67,407 - 265,842
General funds 185,271 1,103,917 809,644 - 479,544
Total Unrestricted
funds 456,530 1,165,907 877,051 - 745,386
Restricted funds
Transforming
leadership - 123,120 23,493 - 99,627
Total Restricted
funds - 123,120 23,493 - 99,627
Total funds 456,530 1,289,027 900,544 - 845,013

17 Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flow from operating activities

Net movement in funds
Add back depreciation charge
Deduct interest income shown in investing activities
Add interest paid shown in investing activities
Decrease (increase) in debtors
(Decrease) increase in creditors
Net cash used in operating activities		 2021
£
422.016
3,828
(335)
474
(310,685)
(44,820)
70,478		 2020
£
388,483
4,635
(1,122)
630
(388,786)
253,181
257,021

47