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2024-07-31-accounts

Company number: 12341200 (England and Wales) Charity number: 1186780 (England and Wales) Charity number: SC049982 (Scotland)

Council of Deans of Health

Report and financial statements For the year ended 31 July 2024

Council of Deans of Health

Contents

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Reference and administrative information ........................................................................................ 1 Trustees’ annual report................................................................................................................................................ 2 Independent auditor’s report ......................................................................................................... 15 Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) ..................... 19 Balance sheet ................................................................................................................................. 20 Statement of cash flows ................................................................................................................. 21 Notes to the financial statements ................................................................................................... 22

Council of Deans of Health

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Company number 12341200 Country of incorporation United Kingdom Charity number 1186780, SC049982 Country of registration England & Wales, and Scotland

Registered office and operational address Woburn House 20 Tavistock Square London WC1H 9HD Trustees Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Professor Alison Machin, Chair (from 1 August 2023) Dr Norma Barry, Vice Chair Samuel Armstrong (from 1 August 2024) Alison Carr Professor Carol Curran Professor Marc Griffiths David Holdsworth (resigned April 2024) Professor Paula Holt MBE DL Dr Mohammed Jakhara (from 1 August 2024) Professor Andrea Nelson (resigned 31 July 2024) Satbinder Sanghera (from 1 August 2024) Angela Shimada (from 1 August 2024) Professor Debra Towse Raluca Oaten James Wakefield (resigned 31 July 2024) Robert Waterson (from 1 August 2024)

Key management Ed Hughes, Chief Executive personnel

Bankers National Westminster Bank plc 250 Bishopsgate London EC2M 4AA

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Council of Deans of Health

Reference and administrative information

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Solicitors Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP
Helix
The Spark
Draymans Way
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE4 5DE
Auditor Sayer Vincent LLP
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor
110 Golden Lane
London
EC1Y 0TG

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Introduction by the Chief Executive and Chair

This annual report covers the first full year of a new CEO and Chair at the Council of Deans of Health, with Ed Hughes taking over as CEO from 1 July 2023 and Professor Alison Machin’s term as Chair commencing on 1 August 2023. It is also a period which coincides with the launch of the Long-Term Workforce Plan for NHS England in July and ends with the election of a new administration in Westminster following the General Election in July 2024. Alongside these, we saw significant change in the political leadership across the rest of the UK as well as in the leadership of key health and education regulators. These events, and their implications for the health and education sectors, provided the key external influences on the Council’s ongoing work to support the delivery of an effectively educated and trained health workforce.

Whilst new leadership at the Council has inevitably led to some transitional work, it has also been a year in which significant progress has been made. Despite the increasingly challenging financial outlook for the higher education sector, our membership has continued to increase as both higher education and further education providers add to their portfolios of health programmes and seek the Council’s support for their work. We have progressed work on a refreshed brand and website, which will see fruition in 2025, and held a series of highly successful events both in-person and on-line to bring our members together around the important policy issues facing the health and education systems.

Along with increased membership we have reinvigorated some of the member-led groups which support the sharing of good practice and cross-sectoral networking. It is particularly pleasing to see the way in which the CoDH Northern Ireland group has developed, as well as to see how our nascent Highlands and Islands network can support our members, including Associate Members, in remote and rural areas of the UK. Our nation groups, and regional groups in England, continue to provide a forum for effective networking and interaction with relevant national government, funding and policy bodies.

Whilst much of our policy work has focussed on the challenges of recruiting and retaining students to enter the health and care workforce, particularly in light of the expectations for growth in health professional staff numbers set out in the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan, we have also enabled our members to contribute to important debates in other areas. These include: the regulation of Advanced Practitioners, where we reconvened our Advanced Practice working group to advise on NMC proposals; the development of an Educator Framework for Nurses and Midwives, where a number of CoDH representatives sat on the NHS England expert advisory group, and the establishment of a simulation reference group to enable our members to debate issues around the rapid development of simulated practice learning environments in health education programmes.

The Council’s governance has been strengthened through recruitment of several new Trustees to augment our existing Board and replace the valuable counsel and expertise of our outgoing Trustees. We have appointed an additional member to the Nominations and Remuneration Committee with specific expertise in HR and Reward, and have undertaken a review of the effectiveness of that Committee ahead of a wider governance effectiveness review scheduled in the

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

year ahead. We are grateful for the time that our Trustees give to support the Council’s work and ensure that we operate efficiently and effectively.

Report of the Trustees

The trustees present their report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2024.

Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the articles of association, the requirements of a directors’ report as required under company law, and the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities: SORP applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

About the Council of Deans of Health

Purposes and aims

The Council of Deans of Health (the Council) represents the UK’s strategic academic leaders in healthcare education and research. Our membership comprises over 100 university and further education faculties across every region and nation of the United Kingdom. They are based in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, and Gibraltar. Our members deliver the overwhelming majority of British-educated nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, the future workforce of the NHS. At any one time they will be educating around 200,000 current and future health professionals and will carry out research that improves the population’s health and wellbeing.

Our members educate:

Mission

The Council, on behalf of the UK healthcare education sector, advances and promotes healthcare education and research for the public benefit, through influencing Government policy and connecting our members.

Vision

Our vision is that governments in the UK are committed to quality education and research and a sustainable healthcare academic workforce, in order to safeguard and improve the health and wellbeing of the public.

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Values

We are inclusive

We champion diversity, equity, and inclusion across our sector and to its leaders. We give voice to underrepresented individuals and communities.

We are innovative

We build meaningful networks that strive for innovation. We generate ideas based on evidence.

We are impactful

We deliver our charity objectives with commitment and accountability. We focus on impactful outcomes.

Objects

The only objects for which the Charity is established are to advance and promote education and research for the public benefit in particular by:

Beneficiaries of our services and public benefit

The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning its future activities.

All the work we support, influence and deliver as part of our charitable objects leads to better outcomes for our healthcare and healthcare research workforce. This includes healthcare students, our current and future professionals, and their employers. More widely, our work underpins the sustainability of healthcare education, and therefore healthcare itself in the United Kingdom, benefitting the NHS, patients, communities and country at large.

We engage with employers of academic staff delivering research and education for healthcare professions proactively as part of our policy work and we will commit to increase our involvement with the social care sector. We seek to engage students with policy development through participation in stakeholder meetings where possible and will work to develop further mechanisms to bring the student voice into our policy work more strongly in future. Whilst continuing the

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Student Leadership Programme we will also encourage and support our members to embrace student leadership within their faculties.

Strategy and policy priorities

The Council 2025 Strategy identifies three key aims that helps deliver progress in these policy areas:

The Council’s strategic policy areas are:

The first four of these are supported by member-led Strategic Policy Groups (SPGs) that co-create policy with Council staff and support our vision to create sustainable networks for members. Alongside the SPGs, the Council has continued to facilitate nation groups for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. The latter sitting above English regional groups that are also supported by Council staff.

Engagement with SPGs, nation groups and the wider membership, culminated in the development of key priorities which were highlighted during the 2024 General Election and continue to be relevant in our engagement with the new Westminster government and devolved administrations.

The Council has a wide body of policy work, but the key policy priorities developed for the General Election and current parliament are to:

The Council continues to advocate for:

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Achievements and performance

The Charity's activities focus on advancing and promoting education and research and are undertaken to further the Council of Deans of Health’s charitable purposes for the public benefit.

The Council advocated on behalf of our members for the importance of close collaboration across the health and education sectors, and the need for education partners to be involved at all stages in policy development relating to the future health workforce. We worked with government, education placement providers, university sector bodies, regulators and other stakeholders to provide opportunities for our members, their students and wider staff in relation to health education, research and knowledge exchange. The Council worked with our members to ensure that the nation groups and Strategic Policy Groups continued to deliver benefits both in terms of policy engagement and sharing of good practice across the sector.

Influencing policy across the UK

A General Election year presented a good opportunity to highlight member’s priorities as set out above and summarised in a widely shared manifesto document that was used to engage with all major political parties, including via party conference attendance and media coverage. This work was shared with sector partners to support their own policy development to align positions, most directly via a shared intervention in the form of an open letter to an incoming government highlighting these policy concerns.

This body of work continues to frame the Council’s engagement with the Westminster and devolved governments as well as opposition parties and new and returning MPs. Members were also supported by conference events and webinars to understand political and policy developments during the election as well as to engage with them and thereby add to the Council and member’s influence on the policy agenda.

The Council continued its close engagement with health and education partners, holding regular meetings with regulators and NHS bodies and facilitating their engagement with members.

Publications

Highlights of the Council’s publications included:

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Events and campaigns

The Council delivered an extensive programme of conferences and webinars for its members. Alongside the Autumn, Spring and Summer Conferences, the Council held its first Research and Innovation Conference in January 2023. The four conferences attracted a total of 460 delegates and over 500 attended the 16 online events. The Council’s events supported the development of networks among its members, the sharing of good practice, discussion of some of the key issues facing the sector, policy insights, and presentations from major stakeholders. The webinars provided an opportunity to focus on specific areas and attract a more diverse audience from within member organisations.

The Council’s themed campaign months included Race Equity Month, Research Month and Innovation Month. These campaigns featured social media output and engagement, podcasts, blogs and webinars and helped support the delivery of the Council’s policy work in these key areas.

Student Leadership Programme

The Council continued to advance the promotion and development of leadership skills amongst student nurses, midwives and allied health professionals by delivering a further year of its highly successful #150Leaders Student Leadership Programme to a cohort of 54 students drawn from across all four home nations, representing 36 universities and 17 professions.

Since 2017 the Council has worked with the Burdett Trust for Nursing to deliver this programme which has seen over 400 students from all four home nations of the UK participate, representing more than 15 different professions, including all four fields of nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions. The funding from the Burdett Trust for Nursing ensures that places for successful applicants are fully subsidised and there is no cost to the students to participate. NHS England offered additional places for AHP students as part of their work to promote and support AHP leadership.

The Programme has been co-designed with students to ensure it focuses on areas not covered in current pre-registration curricula. It offers events with practical exercises, groupwork and lectures, along with presentations from senior leaders within the healthcare and healthcare higher education sectors. Students also receive individual coaching scheme with access to healthcare leaders, two exclusive online events, and an online community made of discussions and workshop addressing diverse topics linked with leadership by leaders in the sector. Students were encouraged to put leadership skills in practice by undertaking a personal leadership project of their choice.

Plans for the future

The Council will continue to deliver on the aims outlined in the Council 2025 Strategy whilst developing a new strategy to take effect from August 2025. We will continue to effectively engage

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

with government and regulators across the UK and represent our members and the sector, influencing policy UK-wide for high quality education and research.

With a new Government, political engagement will form a major part of our work but alongside this it will continue to deliver on our wider policy and member services priorities.

Our policy work will focus on:

Our member engagement will include:

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Financial review

The total incoming resources of the charity were £1,235k (2023: £1,130k). Of the total income £1,205k (2023: £1,070k) was unrestricted and £30k (2023: £60k) restricted.

Unrestricted income predominantly includes income from members, in the form of subscriptions and event income. The restricted income relates to 2 projects and further details of these are provided in note 14 to the financial statements.

Total expenditure for the year was £1,083k (2023: £1,055k) of which £751k (2023: £689k) was staff costs.

The movement in funds for the year ended 31 July 2024 was £151k.

The funds at 31 July 2024 amounted to £893k (2023: £742k) of which £810k (2023: £664k) were unrestricted funds and £83k (2023: £77k) were restricted funds. All funds are held as net current assets with none tied up in fixed assets.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Board is responsible for ensuring that the Council has in place an effective and robust risk management framework to enable the organisation to manage and mitigate risks effectively.

Identified strategic risks are:

Specific activities carried out to proactively mitigate and control risks include:

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Governance

Operational effectiveness

Policy and influencing

Fraud

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Cyber security incident, 27 March 2024

The Council experienced a cyber security incident on 27 March 2024 at 12:45, when a third party logged in to a user account via a phishing attack, which resulted in a user’s email account being compromised and an intruder briefly having access to some of our systems, causing a limited breach of personal data. The breach lasted for less than four hours and resulted in a very limited loss of data. Council staff worked with our IT suppliers to take appropriate action to restore the security of our IT systems. As a data breach had taken place a report was filed with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Charity Commission in line with their guidance on reporting cyber-incidents. Both the ICO and the Charity Commission were assured that the issues were being dealt with appropriately and responsibly and that no regulatory action was needed.

Following the cyber security incident, we worked with our IT service providers to identify areas where our systems could be strengthened against future cyber-incidents. We continue to monitor the risks around IT and data security, seeking to further mitigate any risks with ongoing staff training.

Reserves policy and going concern

The reserves policy is reviewed annually by the trustees. Currently a target of four to six months of unrestricted expenditure is deemed appropriate to ensure sufficient funds are available to meet current commitments and allowing for uncertain income streams and/ or exceptional expenditure. The range is calculated between £353,004 and £529,506. The actual reserves at 31 July 2024 are £810,316. The excess reserves held are to allow future investment in IT, staffing developments and initiatives to support the delivery of the current and future strategy of the organisation.

The trustees have considered whether the charity has the ability to continue as a going concern. The trustees have made appropriate enquiries and consider that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, it continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

Fundraising

The Council does not engage in fundraising from individuals but derives its income from member subscriptions and events, events sponsorship, and grant funding for the delivery of specific projects.

Governance and management

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 29 November 2019 and registered as a charity on 5 December 2019 in England and Wales and on 25 February 2020 in Scotland. The company was established under articles of association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its articles of association.

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

Trustees

The Board is comprised of up to six Elected Trustees, six Appointed Trustees and a Chair and normally meets four times per year. Trustees are appointed for a three-year term. At the end of each term a Trustee who remains able and willing to do so and whose reappointment is supported by the Nominations and Remuneration Committee, may be reappointed. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 8 to the accounts.

Trustee induction and training

New Trustees received information supporting their induction, which includes relevant Charity Commission documents on the role of a trustee, trustee role description, a copy of the Articles of Association, scheme of delegation, Nominations and Remuneration Committee terms of reference, conflict of interest policy, nation group terms of reference, and the Strategic Plan. This was supported by an in-person induction with members of the senior leadership team and one-to-one meetings with the CEO and Chair. It is the aim of the organisation to update Trustees and members on any new legislation that may affect the governance of the charity and to offer ongoing support through additional training when required.

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

The Chief Executive leads a Senior Leadership Team comprising the Head of Membership and Operations and the Head of Policy and External Affairs. Senior Leadership Team pay is determined at the discretion of the Nominations and Remuneration Committee, supported by external reward remuneration advice and benchmarking, and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

The Trustees (who are also directors of the Council of Deans of Health for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ annual report and the financial statements 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 charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

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Council of Deans of Health

Trustees’ annual report

For the year ended 31 July 2024

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

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 July 2024 was 110. The Trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The Trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditor

Sayer Vincent LLP was re-appointed as the charitable company's auditor during the year and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The directors’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies' regime.

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the Trustees on 5 March 2025 and signed on their behalf by

Professor Alison Machin

Chair, Council of Deans of Health

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Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Council of Deans of Health

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Council of Deans of Health (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 July 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 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 International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company 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 Council of Deans of Health'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.

15

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Council of Deans of Health

Other Information

The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ 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. 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 course of 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 the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of

16

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Council of Deans of Health

company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and 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 charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.

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.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

17

Independent auditor’s report

To the members of

Council of Deans of Health

that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: 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 and section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. 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 the 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.

Judith Miller (Senior statutory auditor) 7 April 2025

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor 110 Golden Lane, LONDON, EC1Y 0TG

Sayer Vincent LLP is eligible to act as auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

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COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

Income:
Notes
Unrestricted
funds
£
Restricted
funds
£
Charitable activities
2
1,203,622
30,000
Investments
3
1,470
-
Total income
1,205,092
30,000
Expenditure:
Charitable activities
4
1,059,011
24,794
Net income for the year/
Net movement in funds
146,081
5,206
Total funds brought forward
664,235
77,355
Total funds carried forward
810,316
82,561		 Total
2024
£
Total
2023
£
1,233,622
1,129,565
1,470
792
1,235,092
1,130,357
1,083,805
1,054,647
151,287
75,710
741,590
665,880
892,877
741,590

The notes on pages 22 to 30 form part of these financial statements.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

Company Registration No. 12341200

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 JULY 2024

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
Income funds
Restricted funds
14
Unrestricted funds		 2024
£
64,550
908,086
972,636
(79,759)		 £
2023
£
-
-
43,396
807,888
851,284
(109,694)
892,877
82,561
810,316
892,877		 £
-
-
741,590
77,355
664,235
741,590

The notes on pages 22 to 30 form part of these financial statements.

The financial statements were authorised and approved by the Trustees on 5 March 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

..............................

Name: Professor Alison Machin Trustee

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

Notes
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash provided by operations
16
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest received
Net cash provided by investing activities
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year		 £
2024
1,470		 £
98,728
1,470
100,198
807,888
908,086		 £
2023
792		 £
146,572
792
147,364
660,524
807,888

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

1 Accounting policies

Charity information

Council of Deans of Health is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Woburn House, 20 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HD, United Kingdom.

Accounting convention

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Trust's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102)).

Council of Deans of Health meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the Trust. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

Going concern

At the time of approving the financial statements, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Trust has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements. The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

Charitable funds

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives unless the funds have been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Incoming resources

Income is recognised when the Trust is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the Trust has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

Subscriptions are recognised over the period to which they relate.

Conference fees and other income are recognised on an accruals basis.

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

1 Accounting policies (Continued)

Resources expended

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs relating to that category. Where costs cannot be directly attributable to a particular heading, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of the resource.

Direct costs, including directly attributable salaries, are allocated on the basis of time to the key strategic areas of activity.

Overheads and other salaries are allocated between activities on the bases of usage, ie the same basis as expenditure incurred directly in undertaking the activity.

Governance costs are those incurred in connection with the management of the Trusts’ assets, the trusts’ administration and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs are allocated on an appropriate basis as set out in note 5.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses. Capital expenditure below £5,000 is not capitalised.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Fixtures and fittings

Over 4 years

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand and deposits held at call with banks.

Financial instruments

The Trust only has financial assets and liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value. Liabilities are recognised on an accruals basis.

Basic financial assets

Short term debtors are measured at transaction price, less any impairment.

Basic financial liabilities

Creditors 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 are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

Derecognition of financial liabilities

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the Trust’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

Retirement benefits

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

1 Accounting policies (Continued)

Leases

Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged to income on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease.

Company limited by guarantee

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

2 Charitable activities

Subscriptions from membership
Fundraising income
Grant and contract income
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds		 2024
£
1,190,072
2,850
40,700
1,233,622
1,203,622
30,000
1,233,622		 2023
£
1,066,565
3,000
60,000
1,129,565
1,069,565
60,000
1,129,565

3 Investments

Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
funds funds 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
Interest receivable 1,470 - 1,470 792

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

4 Charitable activities

Staff costs
Conference costs
Office rent
Rates
Travel and accommodation
Printing, postage and stationery
Telecommunications
Information technology
Cleaning
Repairs and maintenance
Meeting expenditure
Insurance
Bank charges
Recruitment and staff training costs
Sundry costs
Governance costs (see note 5)
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds		 2024
£
751,584
146,116
52,581
1,710
9,400
676
2,605
36,927
903
2,764
2,417
4,554
845
18,259
4,854
47,610
1,083,805
1,059,011
24,794
1,083,805		 2023
£
688,973
124,936
46,029
1,404
13,954
4,435
3,744
31,317
1,528
2,634
8,513
3,934
1,357
51,307
3,740
66,842
1,054,647
919,605
135,042
1,054,647

5 Support costs

The charity only has one activity and as such there is no apportionment of support costs required. The charity recognises the following costs as governance costs, all of which are presented net of VAT:

Audit fees
Accountancy
Legal and professional
Analysed between
Charitable activities		 Support
costs
£
Governance
costs
£
-
9,480
-
23,334
-
14,796
-
47,610
-
47,610		 2024
£
2023
£
Basis of allocation
9,480
9,020 Governance
23,334
22,114 Governance
14,796
35,708 Governance
47,610
66,842
47,610
66,842

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

6 Net movement in funds 2024 2023
£ £
Net movement in funds is stated after charging
Fees payable to the company's auditor for the audit of the company's financial
statements net of VAT 9,480 9,020
Operating lease charges 52,581 46,029

7 Trustees

The total expenses paid to or on behalf of the trustees during the year was £1,361 (2023: £3,010) to four trustees (2023: three trustees). This represented travel and subsistence expenses incurred in attending trustee meetings.

No trustee received remuneration in the year (2023: £nil) for their role as a trustee.

8 Employees

Number of employees

The average monthly number employees during the year was:

Charitable activities
Employment costs
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Other pension costs		 2024
Number
13
2024
£
622,898
64,862
63,824
751,584		 2023
Number
12
2023
£
578,149
56,796
54,028
688,973
The number of employees whose remuneration for the period was £60,000 or more were:
2024 2023
Number Number
£60,000 - £69,999 2 3
£120,000 - £129,999 1 -

The key management personnel of the charity comprises the Trustees and the Chief Executive Officer. Total employee benefits for the key management personnel were £147,305 (2023: £90,925).

9 Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

10 Tangible fixed assets

Cost
At 1 August 2023
Additions
At 31 July 2024
Depreciation and impairment
At 1 August 2023
At 31 July 2024
Carrying amount
At 31 July 2024
At 31 July 2023
11
Debtors
Trade debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
12
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Notes
Trade creditors
Other taxation and social security
Deferred income
13
Other creditors
Accruals		 Fixtures and fittings
£
23,130
-
23,130
23,130
23,130
-
-
2024
2023
£
£
15,214
556
49,336
42,840
64,550
43,396
2024
2023
£
£
20,124
9,136
17,860
20,924
15,205
42,405
5,495
5,658
21,075
31,571
79,759
109,694

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

13 Deferred income

2024 2023
£ £
Subscriptions and events 15,205 42,405

Income received in advance is deferred until the relevant period or the event takes place. Deferred income at the end of the year is all recognised in the following year.

14 Restricted funds

The income funds of the charity include restricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust for specific purposes:

Movement in funds
Balance at 1 Incoming Resources Balance at 31
August 2023 resources expended July 2024
£ £ £ £
Burdett Trust for Nursing 77,355 30,000 (24,794)
82,561
77,355 30,000 (24,794) 82,561
Balance at 1 Incoming Resources Balance at 31
August 2022 resources expended July 2023
Burdett Trust for Nursing 99,277 30,000 (51,922) 77,355
Health Education England 53,120 30,000 (83,120) -
152,397 60,000 (135,042) 77,355

Unrestricted funds

Unrestricted funds represents resources available for general purposes that fall within the charitable objectives of the charity.

Restricted funds

Burdett Trust for Nursing

The Burdett Trust for Nursing funds the Council to run the Student Leadership Programme which promotes and develops leadership skills among the future healthcare workforce through a year long programme full of events, coaching and exclusive opportunities.

Health Education England (HEE)

HEE funded the Council to run projects that supported its AHP Workforce Reform work. Specifically, projects relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, advancing practice, simulation, and supporting the AHP educator workforce. Additionally, funding supported ongoing Council work on the Student Leadership Programme and the Fellowship Scheme targeted at academies from under-represented groups.

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

15 Analysis of net assets between funds
Unrestricted Restricted Total
funds funds funds
£ £ £
Fund balances at 31 July 2024 are represented by:
Debtors 55,927 8,623 64,550
Cash at bank and in hand 834,148 73,938 908,086
Current liabilities (79,759) - (79,759)
810,316 82,561 892,877
Fund balances at 31 July 2023 are represented by:
Debtors 27,137 16,259 43,396
Cash at bank and in hand 735,240 72,648 807,888
Current liabilities (98,142) (11,552) (109,694)
664,235 77,355 741,590
16 Cash generated from operations 2024 2023
£ £
Net movement in funds for the year 151,287 75,710
Adjustments for:
Investment income recognised in statement of financial activities (1,470) (792)
Movements in working capital:
(Increase)/decrease in debtors (21,154) 19,983
(Decrease)/increase in creditors (2,735) 9,266
(Decrease)/increase in deferred income (27,200) 42,405
Cash generated from operations 98,728 146,572

17 Operating lease commitments

At the reporting end date the Trust had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

Within one year
Between one and five years		 2024
£
44,864
46,733
91,597		 2023
£
44,864
-
44,864

COUNCIL OF DEANS OF HEALTH

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024

18 Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for the current or previous financial year.

Remuneration of key management personnel is disclosed in note 8 of the financial statements.