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2024-07-31-accounts

Fuel Poverty Research Network

Charity No. 1185345

Company No.

Trustees' Report and Unaudited Accounts

31 July 2024

Fuel Poverty Research Network Contents

Pages
Trustees' Annual Report 2
Independent Examiner's Report 3
Statement of Financial Activities 4
Summary Income and Expenditure Account 5
Balance Sheet 6
Statement of Cash flows 7
Notes to the Accounts 8
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities 9

Page 1

Fuel Poverty Research Network Trustees Annual Report

The trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 July 2024.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Company No.

Charity No. 1185345

Registered Office

16 Thorpe Street Manchester M16 9PR

Directors and Trustees

The Directors of the charitable company are its Trustees for the purposes of charity law. The following Directors and Trustees served during the year:

A. Ambrose (Resigned 8 November 2023) W. Baker

J. Brierley D. Butler

A. Doyon

T. Moore

G. Sherriff M. Smith N. Willand

Accountants

Nabarro Poole Ltd

31 Church Road

Northenden

Manchester

M22 4NN

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The objects of the charity as set out in its governing document are: a) to prevent or relieve fuel poverty, for the public benefit, through undertaking promoting and supporting research into factors that contrinute to fuel poverty and ways to mitigate these factors, and publishing the results. b) to advance the education of the public, for the public benefit, on the subject of fuel poverty through promoting public awareness of fuel poverty and its consequences (in particular, but not exclusively, its impact on health, poverty and the environment) and encouraging dialogue between researchers, practitioners, charities or other organisations working to prevent or relieve fuel poverty anywhere in the world.

Page 2

Fuel Poverty Research Network Trustees Annual Report

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

The above report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime as set out in Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 and in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102).

Signed on behalf of the board

G. Sherriff Trustee 16 May 2025

Page 3

Fuel Poverty Research Network Independent Examiners Report

Independent Examiner's Report to the trustees of Fuel Poverty Research Network

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Fuel Poverty Research Network for the year ended 31 July 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act.

Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the Charity 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 financial statements as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I can confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

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 financial statements to be reached.

T. Lappage FCCA Nabarro Poole Ltd 31 Church Road Northenden Manchester

M22 4NN 16 May 2025

Page 4

Fuel Poverty Research Network Statement of Financial Activities

for the year ended 31 July 2024

Notes
Income and endowments
from:
Other trading activities
4
Other
5
Total
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
6
Other
8
Total
Net gains on investments
Net expenditure
Transfers between funds
Net expenditure before other
gains/(losses)
Other gains and losses
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
funds
2024
£
302
-		 Total funds
2024
£
302
-		 Total funds
2023
£
-
5,000
302
6,797
2,533		 302
6,797
2,533		 5,000
20,318
6,515
9,330
-		 9,330
-		 26,833
-
(9,028)
-		 (9,028)
-		 (21,833)
-
(9,028) (9,028) (21,833)
(9,028)
18,635		 (9,028)
18,635		 (21,833)
40,468
9,607 9,607 18,635

Page 5

Fuel Poverty Research Network Summary Income and Expenditure Account

for the year ended 31 July 2024

Income
Gross income for the year
Expenditure
Total expenditure for the year
Net expenditure before tax for the year
Net expenditure for the year		 2024
£
302
302
9,330
9,330
(9,028)
(9,028)		 2023
£
5,000
5,000
26,833
26,833
(21,833)
(21,833)

Page 6

Fuel Poverty Research Network

Balance Sheet

at 31 July 2024

Company No.
Notes
2024
£
Current assets
Cash at bank and in hand
9,607
9,607
Net current assets
9,607
Total assets less current liabilities
9,607
Net assets excluding pension asset or liability
9,607
Total net assets
9,607
The funds of the charity
Restricted funds
10
Unrestricted funds
10
General funds
9,607
9,607
Reserves
10
Total funds
9,607		 2023
£
18,635
18,635
18,635
18,635
18,635
18,635
18,635
18,635
18,635

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

For the year ended 31 July 2024 the company was entitled to exemption under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

Approved by the board on 16 May 2025

And signed on its behalf by:

G. Sherriff

Trustee 16 May 2025

Page 7

Fuel Poverty Research Network Statement of Cash flows for the year ended 31 July 2024

Cash flows from operating activities
Net expenditure per Statement of Financial Activities
Net cash used in operating activities
Net cash from investing activities
Net cash from financing activities
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
Components of cash and cash equivalents
Cash and bank balances		 2024
£
(9,028)
(9,028)
-
-
(9,028)
18,635
9,607
9,607
9,607		 2023
£
(21,833)
(26,833)
5,000
-
(21,833)
40,468
18,635
18,635
18,635

Page 8

Fuel Poverty Research Network Notes to the Accounts

for the year ended 31 July 2024

Basis of preparation

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

Change in basis of accounting or to previous accounts

There has been no change to the accounting policies (valuation rules and method of accounting) since last year and no changes have been made to accounts for previous years.

Fund accounting

Income

Income
Recognition of Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity
income becomes entitled to, and virtually certain to receive, the income and the amount of
the income can be measured with sufficient reliability.
Income with related Where income has related expenditure the income and related expenditure is
expenditure reported gross in the SoFA.
Donations and Voluntary income received by way of grants, donations and gifts is included in the
legacies the SoFA when receivable and only when the Charity has unconditional
entitlement to the income.
Tax reclaims on Income from tax reclaims is included in the SoFA at the same time as the
donations and gifts gift/donation to which it relates.
Donated services These are only included in income (with an equivalent amount in expenditure)
and facilities where the benefit to the Charity is reasonably quantifiable, measurable and
material.
Volunteer help The value of any volunteer help received is not included in the accounts.
Investment income This is included in the accounts when receivable.
Gains/(losses) on This includes any gain or loss resulting from revaluing investments to market value
revaluation of fixed at the end of the year.
assets
Gains/(losses) on This includes any gain or loss on the sale of investments.
investment assets

Page 9

Fuel Poverty Research Network Notes to the Accounts

Expenditure

Recognition of Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis. Expenditure includes any VAT which expenditure cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates. Expenditure on These comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income, fundraising raising funds trading costs and investment management costs. Expenditure on These comprise the costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities and charitable activities services in the furtherance of its objects, including the making of grants and governance costs. Grants payable All grant expenditure is accounted for on an actual paid basis plus an accrual for grants that have been approved by the trustees at the end of the year but not yet paid. Governance costs These include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charity, including any audit/independent examination fees, costs linked to the strategic management of the Charity, together with a share of other administration costs. Other expenditure These are support costs not allocated to a particular activity.

Taxation

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

Freehold investment property

Investment properties are measured initially at cost and subsequently at fair value at each balance sheet date and are not depreciated. All gains or losses are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities as they arise.

Stocks

Stock is included at the lower of cost or net realisable value. Donated items of stock are recognised at fair value which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay for the items on the open market.

Trade and other debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank and on hand, demand deposits with banks and other short-term highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less and bank overdrafts. In the statement of financial position, bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings or current liabilities. In the Statement of Cash Flows, cash and cash equivalents are shown net of bank overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part of the company's cash management.

Trade and other creditors

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

Page 10

Fuel Poverty Research Network Notes to the Accounts

Research and development

Expenditure on research and development is written off in the year in which it is incurred.

Foreign currencies

Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of the charity are translated at the rates of exchange prevailing at the end of the reporting period. Transactions in currencies other than the functional currency of the charity are recorded at the rate of exchange on the date that the transaction occurred.

All exchange differences are are taken into account in arriving at net income/expenditure.

Leased assets

Where the charity enters into a lease which entails taking substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership of an asset, the lease is treated as a finance lease.

Leases which do not transfer substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to charity are classified as operating leases.

Assets held under finance leases are initially recognised as assets of the charity at their fair value at the inception of the lease or, if lower, at the present value of the minimum lease payments. The corresponding liability to the lessor is included in the balance sheet date as a finance lease obligation. Lease payments are apportioned between finance expenses and reduction of the lease obligation so as to achieve a constant rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability. Finance expenses are recognised immediately, unless they are directly attributable to qualifying assets, in which case they are capitalised in accordance with the charity's policy on borrowing costs. Assets held under finance leases are depreciated in the same way as owned assets.

Operating lease payments are recognised as an expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. In the event that lease incentives are received to enter into operating leases, such incentives are recognised as a liability. The aggregate benefit of incentives is recognised as a reduction of rental expense on a straight-line basis.

Pension costs

The charity operates a defined contribution plan for its employees. A defined contribution plan is a pension plan under which the company pays fixed contributions into a separate entity. Once the contributions have been paid the company has no further payments obligations. The contributions are recognised as expenses when they fall due. Amounts not paid are shown in accruals in the balance sheet. The assets of the plan are held separately from the company in independently administered funds.

Receipt of donated goods, facilities and services

All donated goods, facilities and services received are recognised within incoming resources and expenditure at an estimate of the value to the charity.

2 Company status

The company is a private company limited by guarantee and consequently does not have share capital.

Page 11

Fuel Poverty Research Network

Notes to the Accounts

3 Statement of Financial Activities - prior year

Unrestricted

3
Statement of Financial Activities - prior year		 Unrestricted
Income and endowments from:
Other
Total
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Other
Total
Net income
Net income before other
gains/(losses)
Other gains and losses:
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
4
Income from other trading activities
5
Other income
Grants Received		 Unrestricted
£
302
302		 funds
2023
£
5,000
5,000
20,318
6,515
26,833
(21,833)
(21,833)
(21,833)
40,468
18,635
Total
2024
£
302
302
Total
2024
£
-
-		 Total funds
2023
£
5,000
5,000
20,318
6,515
26,833
(21,833)
(21,833)
(21,833)
40,468
18,635
Total
2023
£
-
-
Total
2023
£
5,000
5,000

Page 12

Fuel Poverty Research Network Notes to the Accounts

6 Expenditure on charitable activities

Expenditure on charitable
activities
Grants made
Governance costs
7
Analysis of grants
Activity or programme
Main Charitable Activity
Activity or programme
Main Charitable Activity
8
Other expenditure
General administrative costs
Legal and professional costs		 Unrestricted
£
6,797
6,797
Grants to
Individuals
£
6,797
6,797
Grant
funding of
activities
£
6,797
6,797
Unrestricted
£
182
2,351
2,533		 Total
2024
£
6,797
6,797
Total
2024
£
6,797
6,797
Total
2024
£
6,797
6,797
Total
2024
£
182
2,351
2,533		 Total
2023
£
20,318
20,318
Total
2023
£
20,318
20,318
Total
2023
£
20,318
20,318
Total
2023
£
176
6,339
6,515

9 Staff costs No employee received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

Page 13

Fuel Poverty Research Network Notes to the Accounts

10 Movement in funds

10 Movement in funds
Restricted funds:
Unrestricted funds:
General funds
Total funds
11 Analysis of net assets between funds
Net current assets
12 Reconciliation of net debt
Cash and cash equivalents
Net debt		 At 1 August
2023
18,635
18,635		 Incoming
resources
(including
other
gains/losses
)
£
302
302
At 1 August
2023
£		 Resources
expended
£
(9,330)
(9,330)
Restricted
funds
£
9,607
9,607
Cash flows
£		 At 31 July
2024
£
9,607
9,607
Total
£
9,607
9,607
At 31 July
2024
£
18,635 (9,028) 9,607
18,635
18,635		 (9,028)
(9,028)		 9,607
9,607
13 Related party disclosures
Controlling party

The company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital; thus no single party controls the company.

Page 14

Fuel Poverty Research Network Detailed Statement of Financial Activities

for the year ended 31 July 2024

Income and endowments from:
Other trading activities
Other
Grants Received
Total income and endowments
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Grants made
Total of expenditure on charitable
activities
General administrative costs,
including depreciation and
amortisation
Sundry expenses
Legal and professional costs
Consultancy fees
Total of expenditure of other costs
Total expenditure
Net gains on investments
Net expenditure
Net expenditure before other
gains/(losses)
Other Gains
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
funds
2024
£
302
302
-
-
302
6,797
6,797
6,797
182
182
2,351
2,351
2,533
9,330
-
(9,028)
(9,028)
-
(9,028)
18,635
9,607		 Total funds
2024
£
302
302
-
-
302
6,797
6,797
6,797
182
182
2,351
2,351
2,533
9,330
-
(9,028)
(9,028)
-
(9,028)
18,635
9,607		 Total funds
2023
£
-
-
5,000
5,000
5,000
20,318
20,318
20,318
176
176
6,339
6,339
6,515
26,833
-
(21,833)
(21,833)
-
(21,833)
40,468
18,635

Page 15

Trustees’ annual report for the period 1st August 2023 to 31st July 2024

The trustees, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the period ended 31 July 2024.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Charity no. 1185345 Registered Office

16 Thorpe Street Manchester

M16 9PR

FPRN was constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in September 2019 with six inaugural trustees. Further trustees are appointed from time to time to strengthen the committee and reflect the international scope of the charity’s activities. Trustees are elected for three-year terms and are eligible for reelection.

Trustees at 31 July 2024 were as follows:

Graeme Sherriff (Chair)

Trivess Moore (Co-Chair)

Jenny Brierley (Secretary)

William Baker

Danielle Butler

Andréanne Doyon

Marilyn Smith

Nicola Willand (appointed October 2023)

Trustees met monthly during the period of this report, either in person or online, as allowed in the constitution.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The objectives of FPRN, as set out in its constitution dated 17 September 2019, are as follows:

  1. (a) To prevent or relieve fuel poverty, for the public benefit, through undertaking, promoting and supporting research into factors that contribute to fuel poverty and ways to mitigate these factors, and publishing the results.

  2. (b) To advance the education of the public, for the public benefit, on the subject of fuel poverty through promoting public awareness of fuel poverty and its consequences (in particular, but not exclusively, its impact on health, poverty and the environment) and encouraging dialogue between researchers, practitioners, charities or other organisations working to prevent or relieve fuel poverty anywhere in the world.

In this constitution ‘fuel poverty’ means the inability to afford or access adequate energy services.

The main activities of the charity, having regard to Charity Commission guidance on public benefit, are as follows:

  1. Organising and delivering events to increase understanding and awareness of fuel poverty, focusing on research and practice in this field.

  2. Supporting an online network of researchers, practitioners and policymakers, in order to strengthen links between research, practice and policy in respect of fuel poverty.

  3. Supporting and promoting research activity related to fuel poverty, through making grants to support relevant research.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

2024 has been another busy year for the FPRN network. We have influenced policy, shaped debates, brought people together at formal and informal events, and funded original and innovative research. In this report we reflect on some activities conducted under the FPRN banner, but we know that this hardly scratches the surface of what is happening across the network as a whole.

This year sees a major milestone for FPRN. The first two stages of our grants programme, Energy Poverty in Early Career (EPEC) have come to an end, with all

projects completed and summary reports of each piece of research available as an EPEC archive on our website. We provided grants of approximately £2500 to 19 researchers working in 10 countries and doing research on 12 national contexts encompassing Europe, Australia and South America. These early career researchers used the money to enable them to fund all sorts of research activities including policy transfer and dissemination activities, the preparation of academic outputs including a book, funding their time and that of research assistants, paying for fieldwork trips, transcribing interviews and offering participants incentives. We are proud the programme enabled them to do additional research, analysis and dissemination, helping them to develop as researchers and develop their international profiles. In addition to the grants, we supported them with guidance and opportunities to communicate and discuss their research.

Our first network event was on the intersection of fuel poverty research and racial justice. Our Energising Equity webinar on 25[th] March was organised with Oxford Community Action, REPAIR and PRIME. Elizabeth Blakelock and Uttara Narayan wrote a brilliant overview of this issue in a comment piece for the FPRN website, talking through how the racial justice continuum can provide a guiding framework to assist energy researchers and practitioners to proactively consider the racial justice agenda in their work. You can watch the presentations on YouTube.

One of things we wanted to do this year was bring our FPRN funded research to an international academic audience. We did this with our own session at the Royal Geographical Society annual international conference in September ‘ ’ called Mapping Fuel Poverty around the World .

The conference attracted a wide audience of 48 people online and at the venue, this year in London. We brought together two in-person ‘hubs’, one in London (chaired by Graeme Sherriff) and one in Melbourne (chaired by Nicola Willand). Recipients of EPEC funding presented their research on the food and fuel nexus (Bhavna Middha), summer energy poverty amongst older adults (Daniel Torrego), energy culture in Chile (Alejandra Cortes), the role of nature in housing retrofit (Sarah Robertson), children’s experiences of energy poverty (Irene González Pijuan), cooling poverty in Rio de Janeiro (Antonella Mazzone), and lived experiences of

energy poverty in Georgia (Nino Antadze). We also launched a Padlet to map energy injustice around the world, you can view the Padlet and add your own . experiences

At the end of September we held our first in-person FPRN event since the COVID19 lockdowns, also our eighth event in the UK . Our ‘Putting Energy Poverty into Practice’ international conference took place at the University of Salford over two days and brought together over 60 people from a wide range of sectors to share and discuss the latest developments in energy poverty research. Whilst participation was international, both online and in Salford, we were keen to make connections with the local context and kicked the event off with a session in which campaigners, advocates and policymakers in Greater Manchester shared their experiences.

We continued with sessions focused on different spatial scales: the northwest of England, the UK, and international. We also featured a session with some of the recipients of our EPEC funding: on indigenous social resistance movements in Mexico (Umberto Cao), and linguistic representations of fuel poverty in the UK before and after Covid (Leigh Harrington) as well as Bhanva and Irene, who also took part in the RGS session described above. We also enjoyed visits to Energy House 2.0, a leading retrofit and new build research facility at University of Salford. The programme (pdf) featured our established ‘lightning talks’ in which people from around the network give short presentations. Although we had to limit it to 12 lightning talks, we were overwhelmed with people’s interest in participating and sharing their work.

Alongside our events, we look for ways to engage with and influence policy. Early this year we had an opportunity to engage with UK policy on fuel poverty and energy . Following a discussion with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), we took the opportunity to inform their review of the Fuel Strategy for England. We ran a survey of our network to gather stakeholder views, evidence and insights from those involved in research in all its forms. We heard from 20 people, from universities, local authorities and NGOs and presented our findings in a . detailed report on our survey

The headline messages from the survey are that energy efficiency and heating interventions continue to be cost effective when accounting for wider health and social benefits. The fuel poverty community were keen to see more investment in tackling these issues, with ECO (the Energy Company Obligation) funding better targeted at areas in need and those on low incomes given more assistance with paying their bills. A measure of fuel poverty that replaced or complemented the current LILEE (Low Income Low Energy Efficiency) could help with this. Looking at the broader picture, there was concern that policies emphasise a fair transition to net zero as new, potentially more expensive, technologies come into place. We met with Amanda Solloway MP, the then Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability in March to share these findings and discuss ways forward. Later in the year the UK had a general election and a new government was elected so we wait to see what this will mean for energy and fuel poverty strategy.

Alongside these specific events and activities, we continue to run our email discussion group to facilitate discussions across the network. This year we’ve produced 12 editions of our research bulletin, which features open access research from around the network.

Responding to encouraging feedback from the wider network, we are planning further online events in 2025. We will also seek funding to support further inspirational research on energy poverty, informing and informed by practice and policy around the world. We look forward to engaging with everyone in 2025 as we continue to support research and engagement to deliver better outcomes for households experiencing fuel and energy poverty.

Signed on behalf of FPRN trustees Signed on behalf of FPRN trustees
Signature
Name Dr Graeme Sherriff
Position Chair
Date