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2023-03-31-accounts

RICHMQND- FELLOWSHIP MAKING RECOVERY REALITY Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022-2023 RECOVERY FOCUS an expert group of charitie5 inspiring recovery together

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

CONTENTS

Page
Richmond Fellowship Group Board Members and Advisers 1
Introduction from the Chair and Group Chief Executive 2
Report of the Group Board 3-16
Statement of the Group Board on Value for Money 17-18
Statement of the Group Board on internal controls and assurance 19-21
Statement of responsibility of the Group Board 22
Independent Auditor’s Report 23-26
Statements of Comprehensive Income 27
Statements of Financial Position 28
Statements of Changes in Equity 29
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 30
Notes to the Accounts 31-54

Contents

2

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

1

RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP GROUP BOARD MEMBERS AND ADVISERS

BOARD MEMBERS
SOLICITORS
BANKERS
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR
REGISTERED OFFICE
COMPANY REGISTRATION
CHARITY NUMBER
REGISTERED PROVIDER OF
SOCIAL HOUSING
WEBSITES		 Non-Executive Directors
Helen Edwards
Chair
Ian Ayling
Kapil Bakshi
Albert Fletcher
(resigned 31 March 2023)
Maureen Hopcroft
Susan Moore
(appointed 1 April 2022)
Paul Najsarek
(appointed 1 April 2022)
Danielle Oum
(Appointed 30 May 2023)
Rachel Perkins
Alan Powell
Vice Chair_(resigned 31 March 2023)
Carolyn Reagan
(Appointed 30 May 2023)
Jonathan Royle
Executive Directors
Derek Caren
Group Chief Executive
Tracey Bell
Group Director of Performance, Quality & Innovation
(resigned 2 June 2023)_
June Riley
Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services
Robert Templeton
Executive Director, Operations, Quality and Housing
Bates Wells & Braithwaite LLP (trading as Bates Wells)
10 Queen Street Place
London EC4R 1BE
Lloyds Bank Plc
4thFloor
25 Gresham Street
London EC2V 7HN
CLA Evelyn Partners (formerly Nexia Smith and Williamson)
Statutory Auditors
Chartered Accountants
45 Gresham Street
London EC2V 7BG
80 Holloway Road
London N7 8JG
00662712
200453
H2025
www.recoveryfocus.org.uk
www.richmondfellowship.org.uk

Group Board Members and Advisers

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

2

Introduction from the Chair of Recovery Focus

Thank you for reading our Annual Report which gives an account of our work during the year 2022-2023. This has been the third and final year of our "Growing Stronger Together" strategy, aimed at meeting the needs of the people we support, our staff and local communities. We are proud of what we have achieved in delivering the strategy, keeping the people we support firmly at the heart of everything we do.

Nevertheless, navigating the prevailing economic challenges has been tough. In the face of cost of living pressures and staff turnover we have prioritised our frontline staff, recognising that we will achieve nothing without them. We implemented the national living wage early and, through achieving savings elsewhere, made a competitive pay award. We also gave all staff a non-consolidated payment to help mitigate some of the effects of the cost-of-living crisis and made changes to the roles of our frontline leaders and their reward framework, recognising the vital role they play. We have had to adapt quickly to a changing recruitment market and to make the most of our key stakeholder relationships to help us to ensure that we have continued to deliver the safe, effective and high-quality services we take pride in. On behalf of the Board I would like to pay tribute to the resilience and commitment of all our staff in the face of difficult times.

We have also tried to increase the support we give our staff, improving our learning and development offer, mobilising strong technological support and looking after our premises so that they are safe, clean and wellmaintained. Like many organisations, we are upping our game on environmental sustainability to play our part in moving towards net zero.

Co-production is key to what we do and is a distinctive element of our service offer. We have made good progress through the delivery of our Working Together Strategic Plan which brings together Board members, staff and people we support to oversee all aspects of the organisation’s work. This approach has also informed the establishment of our new Communities of Practice which will be co-chaired by a frontline member of staff and a current or recent service user. The Communities of Practice will allow us to build expertise within our different operating models and to share experience across the country leading to more consistent approaches and higher quality overall. This exciting work is a key pillar of our new 23-26 Strategy and we are committed to seeing it flourish.

During the year, we supported almost 23.000 people and satisfaction rates reached 96% (up from 89% in 2022) with 94% of people feeling supported by our staff to achieve their personal goals. We are now using multiple feedback routes to monitor delivery which in turn feed into our continuous improvement plans. Our social enterprises continue to make a positive impact and our Aquarius Evolve Café successfully provided its services at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, increasing visibility for the excellent work it does.

Despite the significant economic pressures, we ended the year in a healthy financial situation, putting us in a strong position for the future. During the year, we divested some of our older properties and re-invested the proceeds into acquiring new buildings to expand our reach and deliver services in the right kind of environment. We are well placed to realise our strategic ambition of delivering consistently high quality services and supporting more people.

At Board level, after many years of service, we said goodbye to Albert Fletcher and Alan Powell who have contributed so much. We are delighted that we have now been joined by Carolyn Regan as Recovery Focus Vice-Chair and Danielle Oum as Chair of Aquarius and Recovery Focus Board member. I look forward to working with both of them in what will be my last months with Recovery Focus. I will hand over the role of Recovery Focus Chair on 1 October 2023 to Carolyn and I know she will be an excellent successor.

By the time you read this, we will have published our new 2023-26 Strategy: "Inspiring Individual Recovery," to set new strategic priorities for the next three years, building on the achievements of the recent past. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Recovery Focus and working with all the brilliant people who contribute to its’ work. I am confident that I am leaving the Group in good hands with a great future ahead.

Helen Edwards Chair

3 August 2023

Report of the Group Board

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

3

REPORT OF THE BOARD

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Across England we supported 22,905 people. This map shows more clearly the areas in which we operate and the range of different services we provide in each area.

We provided residential services from 255 owned properties, 372 managed homes, 66 beds in registered care homes and 26 beds in short-term crisis centres.

Our turnover was £46.3m (2022: £47.6m), Group surplus £0.37m (2022: £2.3m surplus), our net assets £43.1m (2022; £42.8m), and our unrestricted reserves £34.6m (2022: £35.7m)

At 31 March 2023, we Our 2023 satisfaction were delivering 176 rating was 96% with separately commissioned the number of people contracts for 116 separate we support. commissioners (mainly NHS and local authority)

STRATEGIC REPORT

Report of the Group Board

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

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The Group Board presents its annual accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023. This report is prepared in compliance with the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006.

Our Group continues to comprise Richmond Fellowship (RF) and Aquarius Action Projects (Aquarius) (together known as, “Recovery Focus”). RF and Aquarius are both registered charities and RF is also a registered provider of social housing.

As a Group our aim is to bring together expertise in the fields of mental health, addictions and domestic abuse. People accessing our services often have complex and multiple needs. One of the key advantages of being a Group is our ability to work together to create joined up solutions for such complexities. We routinely share lessons learned to ensure that the people we support across all services can have a tailored, co-produced personal recovery plan that can address all of their needs. All of our strategic priorities focus on delivering the best possible outcomes for people we support.

Going forward, we will continue to work with (and develop new) strategic partners to combine our expertise and deliver better outcomes for the people we support and together “do better business”. We believe a collaborative approach is working increasingly effectively in the evolving care and support market where the pressures on commissioners and providers alike are inspiring everyone to respond more creatively.

2022-23 is the final year of our current three-year strategy entitled: “ Growing Stronger Together ”. In the early part of 2023-24 we will be launching our new 2023-26 Group Strategy called: “Inspiring Individual Recovery” . Further details on this is set out later in this report.

OUR ACTIVITIES AND MODELS TO SUPPORT RECOVERY

As a Group we take pride in the expertise we can offer in providing specialist support services to individuals and families living with the effects of ill mental health, drug and alcohol use, gambling, and domestic abuse. We know that one size cannot fit all, and we pride ourselves on working with the people we support to create and support the achievement of a personalised plan that works for them. Whilst each service is unique, we specialise in a range of models to support recovery which sit within an operating sector.

The principal activities of our operating sectors’ structure are as follows:

Report of the Group Board

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

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Our Group Strategy, Corporate Plan and Business Models

We have now completed the final year of our Group Strategy Growing Stronger Together which has the primary goal of Inspiring Recovery through the strengthening of the quality and range of our services. To deliver this aim we identified five key enablers which are:

Delivery of these were underpinned by Strategic Enabling Plans which aimed to deliver each of the outcomes we set ourselves to achieve under each of the five themes. Board Committees were charged with the oversight of the progress against these plans to build a stronger and more effective Group. Our key targets for delivery in the final year of the Group Strategy were drawn together in the Corporate Plan 202122.

The Covid-19 pandemic had an enormous impact on people's wellbeing, and this further challenged us to think deeply about how we could continue to help people in unprecedented times. This year the cost-ofliving issues added to existing pressures impacting on the lives of the people we support and our staff. We believe that recovery is possible for everyone, regardless of the challenges they face, and this informs everything we do. We are proud of what was achieved over the course of the strategy; our committed staff, volunteers and peers worked tirelessly over this period and throughout the pandemic to keep people safe. Some people were very strongly affected by what happened, and keeping our people safe and ensuring they feel supported has become even more of a priority.

The year was devoted to supporting our services where we could continue to learn from initiatives which had a strong impact on the well-being of the people we support and therefore could be integrated into the delivery model for that service (and potentially others). We focused on helping the people we support to find a framework for regaining their freedoms.

Risk due to staff turnover within our organisation rose significantly this year and pressures on services were closely monitored. We speak regularly with commissioners to ensure they are clearly aware of our current resourcing position and how we are managing this risk.

Besides our delivery programme for the 2020-23 Group Strategy and our ongoing continuous improvement plans, we have made several significant achievements which included:

Report of the Group Board

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

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Strategy 2023 - 2026

Our new 2023-26 Group Strategy Inspiring Recovery Together sets out our vision for providing even more effective and meaningful support designed to ensure that everyone can achieve a life they value. Although we are proud of the achievements attained over the course of the previous strategy, we are aware there is still more work to do to broaden the impact of our work in the communities where we operate. As a group of charities, we must do all we can to adapt and change, as well as continuing to innovate and drive efficiencies so that we work together with the people we support to facilitate sustainable outcomes.

We aim to enhance our services and build strong partnerships, using evidence-based practices and pioneering new approaches to recovery. We will do this in a holistic and person-centred way and continue to empower people with lived experience to play an active role in shaping our work and supporting others on their own path to recovery. Through this strategy, we will continue to focus on improving the lives of those we support, putting their needs, aspirations and hopes for the future at the centre of what we do.

Our strategicpriorities What success looks like
Quality Services:We’ll
deliver and develop quality
services everyone can be
proud of.		 •
People get the support they need when they need it.
•
People are safe.
•
People achieve their goals and move on in a planned way.
•
Everyone has a home, the opportunity to work and friends they can
rely on.
•
People get the same support worker throughout the time they are
supported, if that is what they choose.
•
Staff will be equipped with the skills, knowledge, and expertise to
deliverqualityservices.
Working Together:We’ll
put people at the heart of
everything we do.		 •
Working Together Strategic Plan, Charter Mark and Tenant’s Charter
in place to deliver key milestones.
•
Health inequalities in service delivery are addressed.
•
Communities of practice deliver measurable improvements in each
operating sector.
•
Mechanisms in place to support people with lived experience to be
recruited, retained and achieve progress.
•
Sustainedpositive feedback on the satisfaction ofpeople we support.
Reach:We’ll strengthen
our presence and
partnerships in the places
we operate.		 •
More people will be reached in the places we operate.
•
The strategic partnerships we develop will add value and be effective.
•
Our operating models will meet local needs, demonstrating best
practice.
•
Our services will be embedded within local health and social care
systems.
•
We’ll deliver long term solutions to local needs.
•
People will know who Recovery Focus is, what we do and what we
stand for.
Sustainability:We’ll ensure
the sustainability of the
Recovery Focus Group.		 •
Stabilised staffing and improved recruitment fill rates across the
organisation.
•
An established system of fair, affordable pay forming part of a strategy
to making working at RF a viable, respected, and sustainable career
choice.

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Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

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•
Refreshed management structures at affordable levels prompting a
culture of people focused cooperation around a ‘One Team Approach’.
•
Improved feedback from our Investors in People assessments.
Impact:We’ll ensure our
services provide personal
and social impact.		 •
Our data capture mechanisms will be used consistently across
services to clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of our interventions.
•
We’ll report on the impact of each of our operating sectors.
•
Consistent positive feedback from commissioner surveys
•
We’ll be demonstrably integral to provider and strategic networks.
•
We’ll be known as market leaders in our sectors.

REVIEW OF THE YEAR AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

The financial year 2022-23 presented a mixed performance for the Group. Our turnover decreased to £46.3m from £47.6m in the previous year, primarily due to reduced rental income as contracts changed. Although contract income declined by £1.2m overall, there was a notable increase in demand for community-based projects such as employment services, crisis housing, and drug and alcohol support. Our operating surplus ended the year at £0.5m compared to £1.9m the previous year, and the decline was largely attributed to external challenges such as inflationary cost increases, energy price increases and wage inflation, which face the sector.

We were challenged with high staff vacancies and had difficulty retaining staff as we found ourselves competing with businesses outside of the sector, as a result we saw our recruitment costs and agency cost increase as we aimed to retain quality services to the people we support. We became an early adopters of the National Living Wage pay and paid all our staff a one-off cost of living payment to support them as inflation and energy cost continued to increase.

We achieved a 27% reduction in voids compared to the previous year but saw referrals decreasing in certain areas. There was a significant growth in some of our community-based services like Crisis and StepDown Services providing alternative places of safety, care, and support for individuals.

We remain committed to addressing these challenges and maximizing performance in the upcoming year as new contracts currently being mobilised are fully implemented.

People we support to achieve their recovery outcomes.

In 2022-23, 22,905 people were supported in their personal recovery by our services (2021/22; 21,258), each with a personalised care plan. The full breakdown of activity within the Group over the past year is as follows:

Social housing provision:
In supported housing
In registered care homes
Non-social housing accommodation:
Care home with nursing
Crisis
Non-accommodation services:
Crisis Haven
Employment related
Floating/community
Domestic abuse
Substance use/gambling
TOTAL CLIENT ACTIVITY FOR THE YEAR		 2022/23
Number
929
141
-
1,574
2,027
2,435
5,648
1,808
8,343
22,905		 2021/22 2021/22
Number
1,018
150
-
1,543
2,201
2,440
5,479
1,163
7,264
21,258

Report of the Group Board

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

8

We monitor a range of indicators amongst which include:

We monitor a range of indicators amongst which include:
Activity indicators 2023 2022 2021
Number of CQC registered services not meeting all core
standards		 0 0 0
Referral to treatment time of >3 weeks for treatment services 1.7% 1.4% 0.7%
Satisfaction indicators
Clients surveyed who felt involved in planning their individual
support		 92% 92% 90%
% of clients with positive or stabilised scores in their recovery
journeyoutcomes		 90% 91% 92%
% of client exitsplanned – Richmond Fellowshipservices 87% 92% 90%
% of client exitsplanned – Aquarius services 68% 72% 72%
% of clients satisfied with thequalityof their service 96% 89% 90%
% of residential clients (Richmond Fellowship only) satisfied with
thequalityof their accommodation		 74% 77% 75%

These key indicators have shown remarkable consistency at a time when the environment remained uncertain. This is a tribute to our front-line staff who work so hard to support the people we support to achieve their recovery goals. Our indicators benchmark well against national metrics and our drive for continuous improvement will continue to underpin core satisfaction with our services on a more granular level to ensure we are delivering for each model of recovery.

Satisfaction

In December 2022, we conducted our Annual Satisfaction Survey with the individuals we support across our services. The response rate was reasonable (up on last year but down on target) compared to previous years but we continue to move forward at pace to conduct surveys on an ongoing basis which allows more focus on immediate feedback and actions from issues raised in a similar way to the NHS. Exit surveys are mirrored in longer-term services by pulse surveys to track satisfaction trends continuously.

Overall satisfaction score saw an increase to 96% (2022; 89%) and most respondents, 94% (2022; 92%), affirmed that the support they received had improved their lives. The number of respondents actively involved in the planning of their personal support remained at 92% (2022; 92%). Service-level scores are shared with local management, forming the basis for quality improvement plans in the upcoming year, known as Quality Self-Assessments, which build on feedback to target specific areas for local improvement.

Simultaneously, we continue to develop our dashboard framework at local level to allow Service Managers to access real-time information across all our systems within the Group, enabling us to compare and contrast results across different sectors. This analytical capability will facilitate the development of improvement plans that prioritize local operational performance and raise overall consistency and quality standards, moving away from an average-focused approach. Empowering local management through this self-service approach will drive continuous improvement from the ground up. Furthermore, it will provide the Leadership Team and the Board with detailed information to better support teams in making adjustments that benefit services, both in terms of quality and financial data.

Report of the Group Board

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

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FINANCIAL REVIEW AND FIVE-YEAR SUMMARY

Financial performance in the year

The care and support sector faced numerous challenges which significantly impacted our operations and performance throughout the financial year. Some of these challenges included inflation, increased cost of living, labour shortages, and economic turbulence. As a result, the Group reported a surplus of £0.37m for the full year, a decrease compared to £2.28m in 2022. This represents a reduced return on income of 0.8% in 2022, down from 4.8% in the previous year.

The Group turnover decreased by 2.7% to £46.29m in 2023 (2022; £47.56m). This year we strategically withdrew from a small number of contracts we felt no longer met our quality standards for service provision and how we deliver care. We are also seeing the impact of contracts we are mobilising in the current year, where we will not see the financial benefit until the following financial year.

Voids continue to be challenging, although losses were 27% lower than the previous year. Rental income from housing lettings decreased by 11% to £7.32m although this includes a provision of £0.43m made for the repayment of rent overpaid compared to the rent standard formula, in 2020/21 and 2021/22. An element of this is non-recurrent but the weekly rental charges have reduced overall. We are currently working through the refunds to each relevant Local Authority Housing Benefit team.

Our operating costs increased at a higher rate than income resulting in an operating loss of £0.14m (2022; £1.79m surplus). Wage inflation, energy price rises, buildings construction and maintenance costs and food costs in our care homes are just a few of the inflationary cost increases we have incurred. Our response to the cost-of-living crisis for our staff was to award a one-off cost of living lump-sum payment. In parallel we continue with our Transformation Plan to restructure overheads to refocus funding to the frontline and although this involves in-year investment, there will be benefits in future years. We also upgraded our information and communications technology infrastructure and security, attaining Cyber Essential Plus and successfully completed the NHS Information Toolkit. We have also continued to invest in our properties, substantially modernising them and making our homes as safe and comfortable as possible.

As part of ongoing evaluation of our property portfolio and offering, we sold three properties as they became vacant at the end of their contracts yielding a surplus on disposal of £0.68m (2022; £0.15m). We also acquired an additional two properties in year, one of which was purchased to support an initiative within the Aquarius subsidiary called, ‘Aquarius Homes’. The Aquarius properties (two in total) will be used to provide homes for young people supported by our services who need settled accommodation in the community. These acquisitions contributed towards an increased group net asset portfolio of £43.05m (2022; £42.79m).

The surplus for the year was adversely affected by the fair value movement of our investments seeing a reduction of £0.23m due to economic turbulence outside of our control. The external markets also affected the actuarial pension obligations. Richmond Fellowship is the sole employer of the 2Care Pension and Life Assurance Scheme and the net value of the pension scheme reserve decreased by £0.43m. The future liabilities of the Scheme are not reflected in these statements but the impact of inflation is also a reduction so the Scheme remains substantially strong and healthy.

Our cash balance increased from £17.17m to £19.17m, which comfortably meets our obligations and provides a strong position to support a long-term sustainable future. The Group’s reserves remain strong at £43.05m (2022; £42.79m). The table below shows key financial indicators for the past five years.

Report of the Group Board

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

10

Financial highlights in £'000 2023 2023 2022 2022 2021 2020 2019*
Statement of comprehensive income
Rental income and service charges
7,323
8,200
8,713
8,577
26,261
Non-rental income
38,973
39,361
36,849
37,685
20,386
Total revenue
46,296
47,561
45,562
46,262
46,647
Operating cost
(46,439)
(45,774)
(44,910)
(47,089)
(48,247)
Core operating surplus
(143)
1,787
652
(827)
(1,600)
Surplus on disposals
683
151
433
-
1,929
Operating surplus
540
1,938
1,085
(827)
329
Net interest & investment income/(loss)
258
352
786
(79)
282
Actuarial (Loss)/Gain on pensions obligations
(425)
(2)
109
(291)
21
Surplus for theyear
373
2,288
1,980
(1,197)
632
* 2019 rental revenues have not been restated to reflect recent re-analysis of this income source
Group Cash & Cash Equivalents 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019*
Opening Cash balance
17,167
13,946
11,184
9,316
13,198
Net Cash from operating activities
1,199
3,221
2,762
1,868
(3,882)
Closing Cash balance
19,166
17,167
13,946
11,184
9,316
Statement of Financial Position 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019*
Non-current assets
29,059
30,267
30,304
30,222
30,944
Current assets
29,284
27,759
24,330
21,214
22,363
Current liabilities
(7,457)
(7,516)
(6,283)
(4,609)
(4,704)
Long-term creditors
(7,838)
(7,712)
(7,830)
(8,286)
(8,865)
Net assets
43,048
42,798
40,521
38,541
39,738
Restricted funds
8,362
7,095
7,931
7,789
7,758
Unrestricted reserve
34,624
35,219
32,052
30,304
31,228
Pension reserve
62
484
538
448
752
Total reserves
43,048
42,798
40,521
38,541
39,738
Financial Statistics 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019*
Surplus for the year as % of turnover
0.8%
4.8%
4.3%
(2.6%)
1.4%
Operating margin
1.2%
4.1%
2.4%
(1.8%)
0.7%
Operating cost as % of revenue
100.3%
96.2%
98.6%
101.8%
103.4%
Operating surplus (before overheads)**
6,694
8,701
7,447
6,400
5,700
Contribution Margin (before overheads)
14.5%
18.3%
16.3%
13.8%
12.2%
Capital Investments
597
1,424
2,014
1,300
3,500
Capital investment (as % of opening cash balance)
3.5%
10.2%
18.0%
14.0%
26.5%
Cash & investments as % of Net Assets
53.3%
49.5%
43.8%
37.2%
32.2%

** This represents turnover less operating expenditure before overheads

PRINCIPAL BUSINESS RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The group leadership team (GLT) takes complete responsibility for the risk review process and ensures regular updates to the audit and assurance committees (AAC) of the Board on a quarterly basis, providing essential oversight.

The risk review process comprises the following key elements:

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Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

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In conducting these risk reviews, our internal auditors play a crucial role, collaborating with us to provide consistent and thorough assurance across all governance structures. Their support enhances the effectiveness and integrity of our risk management practices.

Like most in the sector our principal resource risk continues to be enduring high levels of staff turnover and its resultant impact on the continuity of service and morale. Recruitment in the sector remains tough, with a strong continued interest in working in social care, being negated by the cost-of-living pressures and therefore a desire to seek a role which is better paid. We are working with commissioners to see what can be done to ensure that the social care sector remains an attractive sector to work in but this remains challenging. The People Committee, reporting to the Group Board and the Aquarius Board maintains a close oversight of this risk.

Staff turnover and its impact on service delivery is closely monitored to ensure we deliver safe and effective services. The goodwill of our staff, drawn from helping people in acute need and furthering our charitable objectives, is to be commended. We know that recovery is linked to continuity of service and support and giving the people we support the best possible chance of recovery is our priority and so management are focussed on ensuring this is possible.

We continue to drive value for money initiatives (detailed elsewhere within this report) to ensure that as much resource as possible is channelled to providing a fair wage for our frontline staff. We invest in our properties and ICT to make sure people we support and our staff have a good environment and the right tools to receive and deliver services. This approach is feeding a 3-Year Financial Plan which underpins our medium-term to ensure we remain sustainably viable whilst improving our assets.

As the demand and service models evolve, we recognise the importance of adapting to measure our impact and provide evidence for the effectiveness of our goals in inspiring individual recovery. We are leveraging information more effectively and collaborating with external partners to validate the efficacy of our models. Embracing these changes and enabling staff to track progress effectively while capturing information meaningfully are vital components of our future strategy. These exciting developments are key to achieving our goals in the evolving landscape.

COMPLIANCE WITH OUR STATUTORY DUTIES UNDER SECTION 172 OF THE COMPANIES ACT

The Directors of Richmond Fellowship always adhere to acting in a way that they consider, in good faith, will be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of the people we support in the long term (as well as the immediate needs of our current beneficiaries). To do this we pay regard to:

(a) the likely impact and consequences of all our decisions in the immediate and long term, with social and financial returns clearly spelled out alongside the wider impact assessments.

(b) the interests of all of our stakeholders, through working closely with, and listening to, issues flagged by the people we support, our staff (including volunteers), our commissioners, regulators and all of our suppliers and customers, taking seriously all feedback we receive to help us to deliver on this commitment.

(c) clearly understanding the impact of our services and their delivery, whilst continuing to provide value for money services, on our local and wider communities and the environment generally; and,

(d) conducting our business to a high standard, which is reflected in how our staff approach their work and in our expectations of our partners and providers to ensure this ethos permeates every aspect of our delivery.

Examples of how we have conducted our operations in this way over the past year are referenced throughout this report, together with relevant targeted improvement plans.

Report of the Group Board

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

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DIRECTORS REPORT

FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT

We proactively seek to minimise our exposure to risk wherever possible. A potentially significant risk is the credit risk from bank balances. We also face market risk from listed investments and liquidity risk from our trade debtors. Trade debt remained challenging during the pandemic and remained so due to the effects of increased cost of living crisis. We have had to find new ways of working, but with close management scrutiny and clear accountability, we have managed to keep a very firm grasp on this area. Much of our trade debt by value is due from the government in one form or another, so ultimately the risk of debtors defaulting is not considered to be significant.

The Group has a treasury policy that underpins how our liquid resources are managed. The policy includes liquidity limits, security of investments and approved counterparty ratings. It is regularly monitored by the Board and reviewed in consultation with our treasury advisers. Investments are split between the Cazenove Charity multi-asset fund and CCLA-COIF’s ethical fund (relatively low risk funds), both portfolios engaging only with opportunities which can demonstrate high ethical standards. Investment managers present regularly to our Business and Finance Committee to ensure that the evidence of these standards is robust.

We remain free of loan financing and as such, covenants, gearing and securitisation are not a risk for us.

We continue to pursue a strategic use of our reserves as rates of return for cash balances are now improving. The returns achievable under this strategy are a more beneficial use of reserves.

POST BALANCE SHEET

There are no post-balance sheet events to disclose other than two new additions to the RF Group Board: Carolyn Regan (joined 1 April 2023 as Vice Chair, Chair-Elect) and Danielle Oum (joined 30 May 2023 as RF Group Board Member and Chair of the Aquarius Board).

OUR PEOPLE

Our People Strategic Plan plays a vital role in the implementation of our Group Strategy and we have made significant progress during the year towards achieving our key objectives outlined in that plan.

Our dedicated staff members are integral to our operations and the long-term success of our organisation. We are actively working with our staff to develop a new and more equitable pay and reward system, with the overarching goal of aligning with market medians in our pay strategy.

We are committed to promoting consistency across our services, granting greater autonomy to local management, and enhancing the involvement of peer support workers and volunteers within our services. Their valuable contributions, along with our efforts to recruit individuals with lived experience, enable our staff to provide even better support to individuals on their recovery journeys. In collaboration with commissioners, we are expanding our service offerings across all our recovery models using this approach.

Richmond Fellowship has a well-established trade union recognition agreement with Unite, and a Joint Negotiation Committee (JNC) has been formally constituted to address matters related to pay, both contractual and non-contractual. Furthermore, both Richmond Fellowship and Aquarius have active Staff Councils that meet quarterly to address key issues pertaining to our operations and their impact on staff productivity. Reports from these meetings undergo review by the People Committee of the Group Board and the Aquarius Board.

Throughout the year, we have focused on specific indicators of progress. The table below provides a snapshot of the position as of 31st March for each respective year.


snapshot of the position as of 31st March for each respective year.
Activity indicators (annualised) 2023 2022 2021
% of days lost arising from sickness 3.1% 3.9% 2.4%
% of voluntary turnover in the past 12 months 34% 37% 21%
% of workforce from BAME backgrounds compared to client % +1.0% +3.3% +1.5%
Client satisfaction indicators
Client feels staff treat them with dignity and respect 95% 96% 95%
Client feels keyworker listens to client’s views and acts on them 94% 94% 94%

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Client feels supported by staff to achieve plan goals 94% 93% 93%

The following staff data were taken from surveys conducted in December 2022 and representative of the group’s workforce at 31 March 2023:

We are continuously working with our cross-functional project group to develop and review our people action plans with the aim of enhancing Equalities, Diversity, and Inclusion across the organization. Our primary objective is to ensure that our organisation is truly representative of the individuals we support and the communities in which we provide services. To achieve this, we are actively working on refining our Impact Assessment process. The goal is to ensure that individuals from all backgrounds have equal opportunities for well-being and the attainment of recovery goals, regardless of their personal characteristics.

As of March 31, 2023, our services have been supported by a dedicated group of 143 volunteers (186 in 2022) throughout the organisation. Out of these, 19 volunteers are associated with Aquarius, while Richmond Fellowship benefited from the support of 124 volunteers. Our overarching goal is to expand our volunteer network further, as they play a crucial role in assisting our staff and improving the quality of life for those we serve.

Over the past year, our volunteers have made a significant impact, contributing an average of 1,439 hours of support monthly. We are committed to recognising and leveraging the untapped potential that volunteers bring to our service delivery. By continuing to harness their skills and dedication, we can enhance our ability to make positive changes in the lives of those we support.

DIVERSITY, EQUALITIES and SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

We are committed to social inclusion, which is a vital part of our aim to reduce stigma faced by the people we support. It is important to us that our organisation reflects and celebrates the diversity of the communities we serve, and our commitment is a golden thread through our organisational culture, as well as our key strategies, policies and processes. Our workforce is a very strong reflection of the diversity of the people we support, and we measure this closely to be sure of the balance.

In the year, both Richmond Fellowship and Aquarius continued to work on the action plans arising from the Investors in People reaccreditations in 2021-22. Some of this work may need to be recalibrated in line with our new strategic priorities for 2023-26 but our people focus remains a strong commitment.

We believe that inclusion and social responsibility is a dynamic goal which requires constant monitoring, clear leadership and strong training and awareness programmes. Senior leadership have looked during the year at more closely defining our cultural identity and we are currently in the process of re-evaluating our business plans across the organisation to ensure that our values and the areas of significant cultural importance to us, are front and centre of the work every team is engaged in.

Our training programmes, which underpin our ethos, but also deliver safe and effective services on the frontline, are delivered through a variety of routes via our main Workday system, so we can track individual development and ensure our people have the skills and knowledge to deliver their roles. Our training and awareness programmes extend to board members, staff, peer support workers and volunteers, and other delivery partners without whom we cannot effectively support those people using our services.

Through social enterprise, we can directly engage with communities where our services are located, supporting the integration of those who are part of our social enterprise services into local communities. The

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social enterprises have been particularly affected by the impact of the cost of living crisis which has resulted in a slower recovery from the pandemic than expected. The social return on these services remains high and we are committed to help these services??activities? back on their way to recovery by making adjustments to ensure they retain sustainable long-term business models. Of particular note is our awardwinning Old Moat garden centre in Surrey, supporting a significant number of people, and also the Aquarius Evolve service which delivered coffee shop and conference spaces for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The physical and emotional well-being of the people we support, and our workforce, remains a firm commitment and one that has never been more needed in these harsh economic times. We are supporting the establishment of special interest groups across the workforce, covering well-being, lived experience, LGBTQ+, ethnic minorities and disability to support us in our drive to ensure we can champion recovery for all people we support, no matter what their background or personal characteristics might be.

ENVIRONMENT

We are committed to enhancing our environmental awareness and minimizing the ecological footprint of our business. We prioritise sustainable practices that will positively impact our environment, both in the present and for future generations.

Since 2012, Aquarius has proudly maintained ISO 14001 certification, demonstrating our adherence to the Environmental Management Standard. In the upcoming year, we are excited to update our Estates Plan across the Group, which will seamlessly integrate our environmental goals into our compliance and investment frameworks for renovating our premises infrastructure.

To gauge our energy consumption and identify areas for improvement, we conducted an extensive analysis of 12 months' worth of consumption data for most of our premises. This data allowed us to extrapolate consumption profiles across our entire portfolio. Based on these calculations for the financial year 2022-23, our estimated total consumption stands at 5.9 million kWh, with 4.4 million kWh attributed to fossil fuels. This translates to approximately 0.8 million kg CO2 emissions from natural gas usage and 0.3 million kg CO2 emissions from electricity usage, including transmission. These estimations were derived using the relevant kWh to CO2 conversion rates for 2023.

To actively address our energy usage and unlock potential savings, we have collaborated with expert advisors to identify sites with substantial energy consumption. Through targeted initiatives such as transitioning our lighting systems to LED and introducing automated energy efficiency features, including heating controls and boiler upgrades, we can significantly reduce our energy footprint. As part of the planned Property Plan review, we will strategically prioritise investments (where possible) to maximise our impact in this area.

To further reduce our environmental impact, we recognize the importance of monitoring water consumption and waste more consistently. Consequently, we are actively working towards implementing routine monitoring processes to align with our environmental objectives. Furthermore, we remain dedicated to sourcing sustainable products and services throughout our supply chain. In the upcoming year, we will explore additional procurement avenues to enhance our sustainability efforts.

The Ggroup is steadfast in its commitment to environmental stewardship. By continuously improving our practices and adopting environmentally friendly solutions, we strive to lead by example and make a positive difference in the world around us.

FUNDRAISING

As a Group we do not currently engage in unsolicited direct fund-raising – either to specific supporters or the general public. Occasionally, of their own volition, individuals who have been affected by services provided by the Group engage in a sponsored activity and donate their proceeds to a service or partner within the Group. When approached in advance, we support such gestures by providing charity-branded materials.

The Group does not participate in any voluntary regulation schemes for fund-raising. It does not use commercial participators or professional fundraisers, pursues no organisation-wide fund-raising programmes, has received no complaints regarding fund-raising in the year and did not actively monitor individuals who independently raised funds for the Group.

LEGAL STRUCTURE AND GOVERNANCE

The legal structure of the Group throughout the year has remained as Richmond Fellowship acting as parent of a single, wholly controlled charitable subsidiary, Aquarius Action Projects (known as Aquarius). Richmond Fellowship’s objects as they appear in the Articles are:

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For 2022-23 the Group Board has been a unitary board comprising up to five executive directors and up to ten non-executive directors. For any vote, the number of non-executives present must exceed executives. The Group Board has agreed that this will change in 2023-24 to include only the Group Chief Executive.

New Group Board directors are recruited in accordance with specific provisions in the Richmond Fellowship Articles and are taken through a tailored induction on joining. This induction process includes service visits (which non-executives do on a rolling basis). Group Board members are, on an on-going basis, provided with both general and tailored training support, identified from regular appraisal and review discussions.

The Group has standing orders and a schedule of delegations in place to underpin the Articles. A Procedure Agreement is in place between parent and subsidiary. This sets out the respective duties, delegations and responsibilities of the Group and Partner (Subsidiary) Boards in the governance of the subsidiary.

We again undertook a significant overhaul of policy, practice and learning (both internal and in the wider sector) in relation to our service delivery and duty of care obligations. This has included refreshing our approaches to safeguarding, risk, environmental responsibilities, equalities, diversity and inclusion, information governance, data security, whistleblowing and fraud, as well as updating our statement to remain ever vigilant group-wide, against Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. Our policies are mostly written for the Group with local related procedures to deliver these policies in different settings, according to the model to support recovery they are delivering.

REGULATION AND COMPLIANCE

The Group complies with the requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), the Charity Commission, Charities Acts and Companies Acts, seeking consent, filing returns and publishing accounts as required. Compliance updates go to each meeting of the Audit and Assurance Committee of the Board. A small number of our services are registered with and subject to inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

Statement on public benefit

The purpose of the Group is set out in the charitable objects above. Prospective users of services across the Group are usually referred to the provider organisation by a psychiatrist, general practitioner, or other health care professional. Day care and other non-residential services are provided free of charge at the point of delivery. Rent and any other charges for housing, residential care and nursing homes are usually covered by a range of housing and other benefits. The Group Board has given due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on providing public benefit in its decision making and considers that all Group activities provide public benefit.

Statement of accountability

The Group Board accepts the obligation to account for its actions in an open manner to people we support, our regulators, commissioners, and other stakeholders, including the wider public. The Group Board also accepts the obligation to ensure that Group companies deliver the standards of probity required by law, by their regulators and appropriate to their position in the community. The Group's objective is to attain a substantial level of corporate social responsibility aligned with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) directives and financial climate disclosure guidelines. However, this pursuit remains subject to its primary obligation of fulfilling its charitable objectives and utilizing its charitable resources for that intended purpose.

In addition to putting people we support at the centre of everything we do, the Group Board remains committed to our Recovery Focus Group identity, bringing like-minded expert partners together. We will continue to build the identity and profile of both the Group and individual partners over the coming year.

Statement of compliance with the RSH’s Governance and Viability Standard and the NHF Code of Governance

The Governance and Financial Viability Standards of the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH), effective at 31 March 2023, requires compliance with an “appropriate code of governance, giving reasons for the choice and explaining areas of non-compliance”. RF has chosen the National Housing Federation (NHF) Code of Governance. The NHF re-issued their Code in 2020 and the Group Board committed to its adoption and

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therefore this report is prepared in the context of the 2020 Code. The Code of Governance in turn requires compliance with the NHF Code of Conduct.

The Board considers the regulatory standards and matters covered by the Code through the ongoing work of the Audit and Assurance Committee. In July 2023, the Committee reviewed the Group’s compliance and concluded that this had been demonstrated, approving the following statement of compliance:

‘’Richmond Fellowship is a member of the National Housing Federation (NHF) and endorses the NHF Code. The Code is an integral part of RF’s agreement for services with its non-executive directors. RF is compliant with (or taking steps to achieve compliance) with all requirements of the Code that are relevant to it as a small, specialist registered provider of social housing and registered charity. The RF Group has rigorous governance arrangements which are audited regularly by our engaged firm of internal auditors and meets the reporting requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing and the Charity Commission.’’

This year we have self-assessed our governance against the current NHF Code. We are continually reviewing how we continue to ensure compliance with the Code to deliver better governance overall. Our Succession Strategy for Non-Executives continues to work highly effectively and we are looking to improve across all areas of the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) agenda to ensure that we are keeping pace with the expectations of our stakeholders as well as statute and regulatory guidance. We are particularly delighted that as of 1 June 2023, both RF and Aquarius Board have a majority of directors who are women. In relation to specific non-compliance with the NHF Code, Richmond Fellowship remains noncompliant with the NHF Code as follows:

Requirement Reason for non-compliance 3.3(2) The board has between 5 and 12 The Group Board currently comprises 13 members in total (with the Articles members, including any co-optees and allowing a maximum of 15), including 3 executive directors as RF has a unitary executive members. board. The Board however recently resolved to move away from having a unitary board and the necessary changes will be enacted in 2023/24.

Two new Group Board appointments were made in 2022/23, when welcoming Susan Moore and Paul Najsarek to the Board in April. Two further appointments were made, to replace retiring non-executives, on 1 April 2023 and 30 May 2023 and this is declared as a post balance sheet event earlier in this document. The Board has a clear approach to planning for succession and our induction of new non-executives continues to evolve to ensure new directors have the best chance possible to contribute strongly from the date of their appointment. In the year, we reviewed our position of having a remunerated Board and remain firmly of the belief that this serves Richmond Fellowship well in terms of a strong commitment to ensuring decisions are rooted in what is ultimately in the best longer-term interests of our beneficiaries.

As part of its annual self-evaluation process, the Board has concluded that the business case for payment of non-executive Group Board members remains valid and of benefit to the charity. The levels of payment in place are reviewed annually and these were last fully benchmarked in 2021/22 to ensure they remain at the right level for the responsibility and expectations we make of our non-executives. The recommendation was to leave the rates of remuneration unchanged.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION TO THE AUDITOR

The Board confirms that, in fulfilling their duties as directors, they have taken all the necessary steps in order to make themselves aware of any information relevant to the audit and to establish that the auditor is made aware of that information. So far as the directors are aware, there is no relevant audit information which has not been brought to the attention of the auditor.

Approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by

Helen Edwards

Helen Edwards (Aug 23, 2023 13:46 GMT+1)

H Edwards, Chair of the Board

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STATEMENT OF THE GROUP BOARD ON VALUE FOR MONEY (VFM)

The Value for Money (VFM) strategy is driven by the Board and ingrained into all aspects of our operations to align with the latest code of practice on value for money set by the Regulator of Social Housing. As a registered provider, we proactively publish our performance against a specific set of key indicators, as demonstrated below:


demonstrated below:
demonstrated below:
Benchmarking (based on 2022 Global Accounts)
Sector Scorecard RF RF RF A B C D E F 2022
2023 2022 2021 Ranking
> Business Health
Operating Margin (Overall) (2.5%) 3.3% 0.6% 5.2% 4.3% 2.6% 3.5% 13.4% 0.2% 5th
Operating margin (social housing lettings) 1.7% 10.8% 18.1% 10.0% 15.4% 4.2% (2.4%) 10.1% 0.1% 2nd
EBITDA MRI (as % interest) n/a n/a n/a 611.0% 1,554.0% 675.0% (339.0%) 127.0% (1,450.0%) n/a
> New Supply delivered
Social housing units - % 0
0
n/a		 1.5% 3.6% 6.0% 0.1% -
3.1%		 n/a
Non-social housing units - % n/a n/a n/a -
-
-
-
-
-
n/a
Gearing n/a n/a n/a (1.8%) 38.3% 3.7% 14.5% 9.6% (27.2%) n/a
> Effective asset mgt
Return on Capital Employed - % (0.9%) 3.8% 2.4% 3.0% 1.4% 1.6% 1.4% 2.8% 0.2% 1st
>Outcome delivered
Reinvestment 2.0% 1.5% 2.9% 5.4% 9.0% 11.8% 5.5% 3.3% 3.3% 7th
>Operating Efficiency
Headline social housingunit costs £ 10,017 £ 9,498 £ 9,295 £ 14,045 £ 11,900 £ 25,138 £ 28,605 £ 7,414 £ 22,614 2nd
Management costper unit £ 1,921 £ 1,569 £ 1,110 £ 1,887 £ 2,281 £ 5,516 £ 11,460 £ 6,447 £ 10,618 1st
Service charge cost per unit £ 3,123 £ 2,961 £ 2,278 £ 5,308 £ 2,685 £ 9,785 £ 12,282 £ 7,815 £ 13,712 2nd
Routine Maintenance costper unit £ 402 £ 275 £ 91 £ 2,861 £ 1,086 £ 4,340 £ 2,498 £ 4,388 £ 2,552 1st
Planned Maintenance costper unit £ 220 £ 71 £ 68 £ 2,920 £ 901 -
-
-
£ 349		 4th
Major repairs costper unit £ 361 £ 676 £ 724 £ 372 £ 227 -
£ 67		 £ 545 -
7th
Lease costs £ 3,079 £ 2,677 £ 2,088 £ 793 £ 933 -
-
-
£ 6,473		 6th
Capitalised major repairs expenditure forperiod £ 361 £ 676 £ 437 £ 779 £ 51 £ 266 £ 6,461 £ 4,854 £ 1,638 3rd
Other(social housingletting)costs £ 411 £ 749 £ 342 £ 2,039 £ 488 £ 1,546 -
£ 228		 £ 359 5th
Other social housingactivities: charges for support services] £ 15,466 £ 16,533 £ 16,141 £ 14,722 £ 6,997 £ 11,151 £ 38,687 £ 2,151 £ 22,327 5th
Total social housing units owned and/or managed at period end 719 770 768 2,275 1,315 1,297 2,498 3,634 2,566 7th

It is important for us to get the best value we can from our resources. To test this, we benchmark ourselves against a selected group of peer organisations to help to give us an objective perspective. We have identified six similar-sized registered providers of social housing who provide care and support services and operate in similar geographic areas to compare ourselves with. We have selected their metrics from the 2022 Global accounts of private registered providers and ranked our performance for each of the above key measures. We believe this is an effective way to get an objective point of view on our performance to help us to learn, plan, grow and take corrective action where we find this to be necessary.

Our results show that our headline social housing unit cost metric has increased from £9,498 to £10,017 per unit. This represents increases in our housing management, maintenance, and support costs within a backdrop of reduction in unit numbers 719 in 2023 (770, 2022). Cost was particularly impacted by voluntarily implementing the National Minimum Wage ahead of government guidelines, paid a one-off cost-of-living lump sum to our staff and absorbed most of the inflationary pressure in delivering our services. Whilst some of these increases were not budgeted, the management took a conscious decision to absorb these costs to keep delivering quality services to commissioners and the people we support. We will continue to monitor costs and have increased our budget to assist in the management of future price increases.

Value for money through delivery

The Group continues to promote value for money improvements through the following main channels:

In compiling the Corporate Plan, to ensure that our plan priorities take on board how these will impact and improve our regulatory indicators.

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Procurement

The Group has a procurement strategy with a focus on strengthening the Group’s approach to procurement and supporting the achievement of the approved Group Strategy. The procurement strategy aims to ensure that procurement activities are undertaken efficiently and economically and provides direction to strive for best practice in procurement while constantly improving value for money and the quality of goods and services that are procured. It outlines the role that procurement will play in the delivery of the Group’s priority objectives:

Looking ahead

As part of its three-year business planning and budgeting process, the Board has approved a comprehensive Value for Money Strategy and Savings Plan, referred to as the Transformation Plan. The plan outlines projected savings in several key areas, with a projected annual yield of over £1 million in savings. This Plan is regularly by the Business and Finance Committee of the Board to ensure risks arising from actions are well managed and mitigated and the savings delivered are in line with aspiration.

Key areas of focus to deliver increased value for money include:

This will allow more money to flow to frontline delivery and thereby enhance our financial sustainability and deliver even greater value for our organisation and those we serve.

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STATEMENT OF THE GROUP BOARD ON INTERNAL CONTROLS ASSURANCE

The Group Board is responsible for controls assurance across the whole Group and reviewing its effectiveness. The Directors recognise that such systems can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss.

Board Members and Meetings

A comprehensive list of Board Members for the year can be found on page 1. The Group Board held a total of six formal meetings during the year (2022: 6). Overall attendance, including Executive Directors, at these meetings was at an impressive 94% (2022: 96%). The meetings, which also include Board Committees, were primarily conducted via videoconference, with the exception of two annual Board away events, which were held in person. Each Board meeting is prefaced by a discussion on a wide range of topics exploring strategic and governance-related matters. These supplement the risk “deep dives” that occur on a wide range of challenging issues affecting the Group, as part of each Committee’s quarterly agenda.

Directors participate in one-to-one reviews of the Board, its committees and their own personal performance - identifying areas for action and any development needs. We use the skills review alongside the priorities in the Group Strategy to assess the strength of governance, future Board needs and the desirable values, experiences, and knowledge, in identifying new non-executives as vacancies arise.

Board Members’ remuneration, attendance and Partner Board/Committee Memberships in 2022/23 were:

Non-Executive
Remuneration
Group Board
Attendance
Partner
Board/Committee
Memberships
I Ayling
£5,500
5 / 6
AAC, BFC
K Bakshi
£6,250 *
5 / 6
QPC
H Edwards
£12,500
6 / 6
PeC
A Fletcher
£6,000
6 / 6
QPC, PeC, AAP
M Hopcroft
£5,000
6 / 6
AAC, WTC
S Moore
£5,500
6 / 6
AAC, BFC
P Najsarek
£5,000
6 / 6
BFC
R Perkins
£6,000
6 / 6
PeC, WTC
A Powell
£8,000
6 / 6
AAC, BFC
J Royle
£6,000
6 / 6
PeC, QPC		 PARTNER BOARD/
COMMITTEE KEY
AAP (Aquarius Board)
AAC (Audit & Assurance)
BFC (Business & Finance)
PeC (People)
QPC (Quality & Performance)
WTC (Working Together)

* This includes a one-off arrears adjustment of £250

The work of our Board Committees is enhanced by co-opted expert advisers who add a wider perspective and expertise to all committees (except the Remuneration Committee). We thank all of them for their dedication to the work of the Group and the sharing of their perspectives.

Matters reserved for the Group Board

The Group Board has delegated limited powers to its six committees: Audit and Assurance, Business and Finance, People, Quality and Performance, Working Together and Remuneration Committees. It reserves certain responsibilities and decisions for itself, specifically:

Terms of reference for each Board committee are reviewed annually and approved by the Board itself. Each committee (except Remuneration) aims to include an adviser with recent lived experience and has also appointed one or more independent members to bring a broader perspective to the work of each committee. Each independent member contributes significantly to the assurance framework, being experts in their field.

During the year, to support the work of both the Richmond Fellowship and Aquarius Boards, the Group has had in place three key assurance groups which meet quarterly to support the management of risk and add additional expertise and assurance in their areas of focus:

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Health and Safety Group – proactively manages health and safety risk and compliance, monitoring risks relating to clients, workforce and premises. This Group includes an external expert adviser and reports and makes recommendations via the Group Board’s Quality and Performance Committee to both Boards. Albert Fletcher attends as Board Non-Executive Health and Safety Champion.

Service Governance Group – this Group oversees the quality of service delivery across the Group, ensuring consistently high standards and assessing and managing emerging risks in service delivery. This Group also includes an external expert adviser who provides an independent assurance report after each meeting, making recommendations to the Group Board’s Quality and Performance Committee as required. (This Committee, in turn, reports to the Group Board and Aquarius Board). This Group also oversees the internal Quality Improvement Plan and client risk, including the local management of clients’ own funds, medication and wellbeing.

Information Governance Group – the primary responsibility of this Group is to ensure full compliance with the law, regulatory requirements, and the rights of individuals accessing or providing our services in all aspects of our information governance approach. Given the growing risks posed by cyber threats, coupled with the escalating significance and dependence on technology and data for the secure and efficient delivery of services, the work undertaken by this Group has become increasingly crucial to our overall governance efforts.

An effectiveness review of these groups will be undertaken in 2023-24 to check that they remain fit for purpose or whether there is a more effective way of delivering this assurance going forward.

Identification and evaluation of risks and control objectives

Board Directors, working with the Group Leadership Team (GLT - currently comprising Group Directors and the operations leads for both Richmond Fellowship and Aquarius) and the Directors of the Aquarius Board, have separately and collectively given substantial consideration to the major risks to which the Group is exposed. As part of this process, the Audit and Assurance Committee meets four times annually and gives a significant portion of its agenda to risk scrutiny and challenge. The internal and external audit teams are a convectional of assurance in fulfilling this remit.

Ownership for delivering the priorities and managing the associated risks rests with the GLT, but each Group Board Committee scrutinises a portfolio of risks, on with Non-Executives introducing additional ideas and rigorously working through the challenges for the organisation.

As a shared responsibility, parent and subsidiary Board Directors and the GLT routinely satisfy themselves that appropriate systems, plans and procedures are in place to properly manage risk and assess progress against significant milestones in delivering key priorities.

Managing the business

Performance indicators are in place to provide information that allows management to monitor the key targeted outcomes that have been agreed upon as the best metrics to assess the sound progress of our strategic priorities. These indicators satisfy management that our services are delivering for our beneficiaries and matters which require intervention can be tackled. Our key data management systems provide much of the information to do this and we continue to make good progress in our long-term goal of moving towards a digital dashboard, for more timely information that can be sense checked against other indicators to be able to inform and suggest actions to ensure that our priorities can be met.

To complement the existing control mechanisms, the provision of effective training and awareness information is vital to ensure the safe and consistent application of processes. As part of our extensive training and development program, several modules are mandatory for all staff and are regularly updated to keep the Group's workforce well-informed, prepared, and capable of delivering quality services.

In 2023, we undertook a thorough examination of rental charges and their alignment with the rent standard. During this process, it came to light that a small number of properties had been overcharged by a total amount of £427k. The impact of this adjustment is a combination of non-recurrent (refunds for over-charging in prior years) and recurrent (lower on-going rental charges). Two properties recorded rents below the rent standard but these will only be adjusted on re-let. We have accounted for this overcharge in the 2022/23 result and made provisions for issuing refunds. Rent notices issued for increases at the beginning of April 2023 were fully adjusted and explained to our residents. We are currently engaged in discussions with the Regulator of Social Housing to formally register the breach, how it occurred, what its impact was and how the position has been rectified. This has all been reported to the Board, who have charged the Audit and Assurance Committee with on-going oversight to ensure the breach is fully disclosed and the rectifications managed. We will change the process by which annual rent reviews take place, learning from the past to

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minimise the opportunity of re-occurrence and this process will include expert external adviser sampling to ensure we remain fully compliant with the latest guidelines, moving forward.

As another line of assurance, our Internal Audit Team deliver a comprehensive annual programme highlighting a range of actions that management are pursuing.

Internally we continued to publicise our Feedback Policy and raise awareness around the key policies that assist with controls assurance, such as Whistleblowing, Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Fraud, Gifts/Hospitality and Conflicts of Interest. Our Quality Self-Assessment regime is in place across the whole Group and is operating at local, area and partner-wide level.

Our Non-Executive Board Members undertake service visits as part of their wider responsibility (and development) to better understand the services we are delivering, the challenges faced in delivering them; it is also an opportunity for them to speak to people we support directly. There are popular with people we support, staff and Board Members alike.

At the end of the year, the Group Board has reviewed the controls and assurances in place across the Group and is satisfied that the Group is both compliant with legal and regulatory requirements and improving. This includes all the areas of work for which the Aquarius Board is ultimately responsible for delivery and oversight.

We maintain close collaboration with external partners and stakeholders to gain insights into their perspectives on our strategic direction and ongoing performance. This includes engaging with commissioners to ensure their satisfaction with our services and exploring ways to enhance their effectiveness. Additionally, we collaborate with local safeguarding teams, fire safety authorities, the Care Quality Commission, and other independent expert advisers, valuing their objective viewpoints as a valuable means of driving our continuous improvement agenda. By actively seeking input from these external sources, we strive to foster a transparent and inclusive approach to our operations and service delivery.

Group Board Statement of Responsibilities

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

22

STATEMENT OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE GROUP BOARD IN RESPECT OF THE ACCOUNTS

The Group Board Directors are responsible for preparing the report of the Group Board, incorporating the strategic report and the accounts in accordance with applicable law, regulations and associated guidance and good practice.

Company and housing law requires the Group Board to prepare consolidated accounts for each financial year in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK Accounting Standards and applicable law) including FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland“. Under company and housing law, the Group Board members must not approve the accounts unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and Company and of the surplus or deficit of the Group for that period.

In preparing these accounts, the Group Board directors are required to:

The Board directors are also responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain all transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Group and that ensure the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 and have due regard to Charity Commission guidance. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Group and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Group Board Statement of Responsibilities

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

23

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF RICHMOND FELLOWSHIP

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Richmond Fellowship (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Group and Company Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Group and Company Statement of Financial Position, the Consolidated and Company Statement of Changes in Equity, the Consolidated Cash Flow Statement and the 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 group and parent 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 Board of Directors’ 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 group and parent charitable company’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 directors 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 and Financial Statements, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The Board of Directors are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report and Financial Statements. 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

Independent auditor’s report

23

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

24

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 group and the parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Strategic Report or the Directors’ Report included within the Report of the Group Board.

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 Statement of the Responsibilities of the Group Board set out on page 21, the members of the Board (who are directors of the parent charitable company for the purposes of company law and the trustees for the purposes of charitable 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 group’s and the parent 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 group or the parent 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 the Companies Act 2006 and under section 151 of the Charities Act 2011, and report in accordance with those Acts and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

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.

Independent auditor’s report

24

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

25

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, is detailed below:

We obtained a general understanding of the group and the parent charitable company’s legal and regulatory framework through enquiry of management in respect of their understanding of the relevant laws and regulations. We obtained an understanding of the entity’s policies and procedures in relation to compliance with relevant laws and regulations. We also drew on our existing understanding of the group and the parent charitable company’s industry and regulation.

We understand that the group and the parent charitable company complies with the framework through:

In the context of the audit, we considered those laws and regulations which determine the form and content of the financial statements, which are central to the group and the parent charitable company’s ability to conduct operations and where failure to comply could result in material penalties. We have identified the following laws and regulations as being of significance in the context of the group and the parent charitable company:

We performed the following specific procedures to gain evidence about compliance with the significant laws and regulations above:

The senior statutory auditor led a discussion with senior members of the engagement team regarding the susceptibility of the group and the parent charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur. The key areas identified as part of the discussion were with regard to the manipulation of the financial statements through manual journal entries and incorrect recognition of revenue.

These areas were communicated to the other members of the engagement team not present at the discussion.

The procedures carried out to gain evidence in the above areas included:

Independent auditor’s report

25

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

26

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 parent 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 parent 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 parent charitable company, and the parent charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Andrew Bond

Andrew Bond (Aug 24, 2023 21:14 GMT+1)

Andrew Bond Senior Statutory Auditor, for and on behalf of

CLA Evelyn Partners Limited

Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants

24/08/2023

45 Gresham Street London EC2V 7BG

Independent auditor’s report

26

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

27

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME for the year ended 31 March 2023

Notes
3
3
9
10
11
12
8		 2023
Group
£000
46,296
(46,174)
(265)
(46,439)
683
-
540
498
(10)
(230)
798
-
(425)
373		 2023
Company
£000
40,098
(40,838)
(265)
(41,103)
683
-
(322)
412
(10)
(230)
(150)
-
(425)
(575)		 2022
Group
£000
47,557
(45,774)
-
(45,774)
151
4		 2022
Company
£000
41,855
(40,645)
-
(40,645)
151
3
1,938
148
-
204
2,290
-
(2)
2,288		 1,364
145
-
204
1,713
-
(2)
1,711

The Statement of Comprehensive Income was approved and authorised for issue by the Group Board on 3 August 2023.

Helen Edwards

Helen Edwards Susan Moore Director Director

Statement of Comprehensive Income

27

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

28

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION as at 31 March 2023 COMPANY NUMBER 662712

OMPANY NUMBER 662712
Note
Fixed Assets
Property, plant & equipment
- Housing & other properties used
for social provision
13
- Other property, plant and
equipment
14
Post-employment benefits
8
Current assets
Inventories
15
Debtors due within one Year
16
Investments
17
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due in
one year
18
Net current assets
Total assets less current
liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due
over one year
19
Total assets less liabilities
Funds
Restricted funds
23
Unrestricted funds
- Unrestricted general funds
25
- Designated funds
24
- Revaluation reserve
25
- Pension reserve
25		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
23,956
21,670
5,041
4,369
62
62
29,059
26,101
173
171
6,173
5,346
3,772
3,772
19,166
14,306
29,284
23,595
(7,457)
(6,224)
21,827
17,371
50,886
43,472
(7,838)
(7,838)
43,048
35,634
8,362
2,712
33,685
32,103
184
-
755
757
62
62
43,048
35,634		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
24,137
22,157
5,646
4,820
484
484
30,267
27,461
169
167
6,421
5,882
4,002
4,002
17,167
13,039
27,759
23,090
(7,516)
(6,630)
20,243
16,460
50,510
43,921
(7,712)
(7,712)
42,798
36,209
7,095
2,392
34,050
32,346
184
-
985
987
484
484
42,798
36,209

The accounts were approved and authorised for issue by the Group Board on 3 August 2023.

Helen Edwards

Helen Edwards Director

Susan Moore Director

Statement of Financial Position

28

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

29

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY for the year ended 31 March 2023

Balance at 1 April 2022
Surplus for the year
Released on Disposal
Other comprehensive income
Total comprehensive income
Transfers (note 22)
Balance at 31 March 2023
Surplus for the year
Released on Disposal
Other comprehensive charge
Total comprehensive income
Transfers (note 22)
Balance at 31 March 2023		 Restricted
Funds
£000		 Unrestricted
General
Funds
Designated
Funds
Revaluation
Reserve
Pension
Reserve
Total
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
7,931
-
-
-		 31,087
184
781
538
40,521
2,290
-
-
-
2,290
(11)
-
-
-
(11)
-
-
-
(2)
(2)
-
(836)		 2,279
-
-
(2)
2,277
684
-
204
(52)
-
7,095 34,050
184
985
484
42,798
798
798
(123)
(123)
(425)
(425)
-
1,267		 675
-
-
(425)
250
(1,040)
-
(230)
3
-
8,362 33,685
184
755
62
43,048

COMPANY STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY for the year ended 31 March 2023

Balance at 1 April 2022
Surplus for the year
Other comprehensive income
Total comprehensive income
Transfers (note 22)
Balance at 31 March 2022
Deficit for the year
Other comprehensive charge
Total comprehensive income
Transfers (note 22)
Balance at 31 March 2023		 Restricted
Funds
£000		 Unrestricted
General
Funds
Designated
Funds
Revaluation
Reserve
Pension
Reserve
Total
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
3,806
-		 29,371
-
783
538
34,498
1,713
-
-
-
1,713
(2)
(2)
-
(1,414)		 1,713
-
-
(2)
1,711
1,262
-
204
(52)
-
2,392 32,346
-
987
484
36,209
(150)
(150)
(425)
(425)
-
320		 (150)
-
-
(425)
(575)
(93)
-
(230)
3
-
2,712 32,103
-
757
62
35,634

Consolidated cash flow statement

29

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

30

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT for the year ended 31 March 2023

Net cash Inflow from operating activities
Cashflow from investing activities
Acquisition & development of properties used for
service provision
Sale of housing properties
Purchase of other property, plant & equipment
Investment income received
Interest received
Net cash inflow/(used in) investing activities
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash & cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash & cash equivalents at the end of the year
Cash & cash equivalents at the end of the year
comprise:
Cash at bank & in hand		 Note 2023
£000		 2022
£000
31 1,066
(486)
1,175
(239)
156
327
4,106
(365)
407
(1,064)
125
12
933 (885)
1,999
17,167		 3,221
13,946
19,166 17,167
19,166
19,166		 17,167
17,167

Consolidated cash flow statement

30

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

31

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS for the year ended 31 March 2023

1. Legal status

Richmond Fellowship (“the company”) is a private company limited by guarantee (number 662712) and is incorporated in England; the registered office address is 80 Holloway Road, London, N7 8JG. The company is a registered charity (number 200453) and is also registered as a private provider of social housing with the Regulator of Social Housing (number H2025).

Aquarius Action Projects (“Aquarius”), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Richmond Fellowship. It is incorporated as a private company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act 2006 in England, number 2427100. It is also a registered charity, number 1014305. Its registered office is 236 Bristol Road, Birmingham, B5 7SL.

The group of companies is collectively known as Recovery Focus as referred to as the “Group"

Details of the principal activities of the Group are given in the accompanying narrative reporting.

2. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements are prepared in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK GAAP) including FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Housing SORP 2018 “Statement of Recommended Practice for Registered Social Housing Providers” and comply with The Accounting Direction for Private Registered Providers of Social Housing 2022.

The financial statements are also prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. The consolidated financial statements are additionally prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.

The Company is a public benefit entity and the Group is a public benefit group, as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modified by the revaluation of certain assets in accordance with the Group’s accounting policies.

Disclosure exemptions

The Company is a qualifying entity as defined by FRS 102 and, as such, has taken advantage of the exemption from presenting a statement of company cash flows on the grounds that the relevant information is included within the consolidated information presented within these financial statements.

Basis of consolidation

The Group consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of the Company and its subsidiary undertaking.

A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the Group. Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities. In the case of subsidiaries which are charitable companies limited by guarantee, that control exists by virtue of the company being the sole member of each of the subsidiaries thereby being able to appoint the trustees of those entities.

Where a subsidiary has different accounting policies to the Group, adjustments are made to that subsidiary’s financial statements to apply the Group’s accounting policies when preparing the consolidated financial statements.

All intra-Group transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation.

Business combinations

The acquisition method, as applied to public benefit groups, is used to account for a combination with a new charitable subsidiary.

The acquisition method requires that the new subsidiary’s assets and liabilities be initially recognised at their fair value. Where the nature of the combination is in substance a gift, the fair value of the gifted assets and liabilities is recognised as a gain or loss in the statement of comprehensive income in the year of the transaction, with all costs directly relating to the combination being expensed. For combinations which are in the nature of acquisitions, the excess of the fair value and directly attributable costs of the purchase consideration over the fair values of net assets and liabilities acquired is recognised as goodwill.

On transition to FRS 102 the Group and Company took the exemption available to not restate acquisitions affected before the transition date of 1 April 2014.

Notes to the accounts (continued)

31

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

32

Going concern

The financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis which the directors consider to be appropriate for the following reasons.

The Board has considered the potential impacts from different adverse conditions such as increased cost of living and fluctuations in revenue as well as options for mitigating them as part of the annual budgeting cycle. To ensure the business can continue operating in the immediate term, we carried out scenario testing on these conditions looking at income reduction from our Social Enterprises, changes in grant conditions, potential movement in operating costs affecting staff and other operating expenditures. Other scenario testing included subjective judgments of the impact of increased rent arrears, delayed rent collection and increased voids. In making these assessments, we also considered the mitigations available to manage the potential impact on cashflow affecting the financial viability of the business. Financial forecasts were regularly presented to the Board which included these scenarios and mitigations. The assessment demonstrated the financial impact could be managed within the approved budget and gave assurance we had sufficient liquidity to manage the financial risks. In addition, the Board is regularly updated with our performance against expectations by;

The Group has no loan commitments nor restrictive financial covenants,

The Group’s business activities, its current financial position and factors likely to affect its future development are set out within the Strategic Report.

On this basis, the Board has reasonable expectations that the Group and Company have adequate resources to continue the operational existence for the foreseeable future, being a period of at least twelve months after the date on which the report and financial statements are signed. For this reason, it continues to adopt the going concern basis in the financial statements.

Key sources of estimation uncertainty and judgements

The preparation of financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as well as the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the statement of financial position date and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. However, the nature of estimation means that actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. The following judgements, estimates and assumptions have had the most significant effect in amounts recognised in the financial statements:

(a) Critical judgements

In preparing the financial statements, the following judgements which have, or could have, a material impact on the financial statements were made:

Identification of housing property components

Housing property depreciation is calculated on a component-by-component basis. The identification of such components is a matter of judgement and may have a material impact on the depreciation charge. The components selected are those which reflect how the major repairs to the property are managed.

Housing property impairments

An impairment review of the Group’s properties is undertaken when an impairment indicator is believed to have been triggered. The 2022/23 review did not result in the requirement for any impairments.

Properties let to other service providers

Properties let to other service providers are classed as property, plant and equipment rather than as investment properties, as the properties are retained primarily to ensure the continued provision of services to beneficiaries, rather than for capital gain or income generation.

Cap on net pension scheme asset

The net defined pension scheme asset is recognised only to the extent of the net present value of the estimated future Group contributions to the scheme, as it is deemed to be unlikely that the scheme trustees would make refunds to the Group.

Notes to the accounts (continued)

32

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

33

(b) Key accounting estimates and assumptions

Estimation of revenue

Income from the provision of services is recognised as the services are provided. In most cases, the services are provided in accordance with the funding agreement, but in a minority of cases, the funder may contend that the services haven’t been fully provided and retrospectively demand that a proportion of the invoiced income be refunded. Estimates are therefore necessary as to the extent to which invoiced income may be repayable.

Defined benefit pension scheme

The cost of defined benefit pension scheme plans are determined using actuarial valuations. The actuarial valuation involves making assumptions about discount valuation rates, future salary increases, mortality rates and future pension increases. Due to the complexity of the valuation, the underlying assumptions and long-term nature of these plans, such estimates are subject to considerable uncertainty and the Group relies on the expert input of actuaries. Further details of the assumptions made are provided in Note 8.

Useful lives

Depreciation of assets is calculated based on the cost and the estimated useful lives of the assets. The expected useful lives for housing property components is estimated based on the expected replacement frequency used for asset management purposes.

Impairments of housing and other properties held social purposes

The cost of purchasing an equivalent property on the open market is estimated based on the sales prices for similar properties in or near the same location.

The rebuilding cost of structures and components is based on the current build costs obtained from market data (being primarily construction indices) applied to the relevant building size and type.

Rent arrears and other debtors

Provision is made for rent arrears where there is objective evidence concerning recoverability. This is an estimate based on past experience, the current level and age profile of the arrears / debtors, and the specific circumstances relating to a particular rent arrear or debt.

Carrying values

The carrying amount of the assets and liabilities affected by the above estimates are set out in the notes below.

Revenue recognition

Revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents rental income receivable; fees from local authorities and other funders for the provision of services; grant income from the Government and other bodies; income from fundraising activities and amounts receivable for goods sold. All such amounts are stated excluding VAT where this has been applied.

Income is recognised as follows:

Donated assets and services which would otherwise have been purchased are included at the estimated expenditure purpose, the donations may become repayable in which case the liability is recognised when the related asset is disposed of or when it ceases to be used for the approved purpose.

Arrears

Debtors include the total rent and service charge arrears which is comprised of both current and former tenant arrears. Former tenant arrears are fully provided for in the financial statements at the point the tenant leaves the property. Current tenant arrears are provided for at specific rates according to the age of the debt.

Employee benefits

Notes to the accounts (continued)

33

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

34

The Group provides a range of benefits to employees, including paid holiday arrangements and defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans.

Short term benefits

Short term benefits, including holiday pay and other similar non-monetary benefits, are recognised as an expense in the period in which the service is received.

Defined contribution pension plan

The Group operates a defined contribution plan, whereby the Group pays fixed contributions into a separate entity. Once the contributions have been paid the Group has no further payment obligations. The contributions are recognised as an expense in the period to which they relate. Amounts not paid are shown in accruals in the statement of financial position.

The assets of the plan are held separately from the Group in independently administered funds.

State plan

The Group is an admitted body to the NHS Pension Scheme, a multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme. The Group has no on-going liability to this scheme other than to pay contributions as they fall due and this plan is accounted for as a defined contribution plan.

Defined benefit pension plan

The Group operates a defined benefit plan for certain employees. A defined benefit plan defines the pension benefit that the employee will receive on retirement, usually dependent upon several factors including age, length of service and remuneration.

The asset recognised in the statement of financial position in respect of the defined benefit plan is the lower of the fair value of the plan assets at the reporting date less the present value of the defined benefit obligation at the reporting date and the net present value of the estimated future Group contributions to the scheme.

The defined benefit obligation is calculated using the projected unit credit method. Annually the Group engages independent actuaries to calculate the obligation. The present value is determined by discounting the estimated future payments using market yields on high quality corporate bonds that are denominated in sterling and that have terms approximating the estimated period of the future payments (‘discount rate’).

The fair value of plan assets is measured in accordance with the FRS 102 fair value hierarchy and in accordance with the Group’s policy for similarly held assets. This includes the use of appropriate valuation techniques.

Actuarial gains and losses arising from experience adjustments and changes in actuarial assumptions are charged or credited to other comprehensive income. These amounts together with the return on plan assets, less amounts included in net interest, are disclosed as ‘Re-measurement of net defined benefit liability’.

The cost of the defined benefit plan, recognised in operating expenditure in the statement of comprehensive income as employee costs comprises the increase in pension benefit liability arising from employee service during the period and the cost of plan introductions, benefit changes, curtailments, and settlements.

The net interest cost is calculated by applying the discount rate to the net balance of the defined benefit obligation and the fair value of plan assets. This cost is recognised in the statement of comprehensive income as ‘Finance expense’.

Holiday pay accrual

A liability is recognised to the extent of any unused holiday pay entitlement which has accrued at the statement of financial position date and carried forward to future periods. This is measured at the undiscounted salary cost of the future holiday entitlement so accrued at the statement of financial position date.

Financial instruments

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the statement of financial position when the Group becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. The Group has chosen to adopt Sections 11 and 12 of FRS 102 in respect of financial instruments.

Trade and other debtors and creditors, including rent arrears and rent paid in advance, are classified as basic financial instruments and measured at initial recognition at transaction price. Such debtors and creditors are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest rate method, save that amounts expected to be settled within 12 months are not discounted. An impairment provision is established when there is objective evidence that the Group will not be able to collect all amounts due.

Notes to the accounts (continued)

34

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

35

Cash and cash equivalents and long-term bank deposits are classified as basic financial instruments and are initially recognised at their transaction price and subsequently at fair value.

Interest bearing bank and other loans which meet the criteria to be classified as basic financial instruments are initially recorded at the present value of cash payable to the counterparty, which is ordinarily equal to the proceeds received net of direct issue costs. These liabilities are subsequently measured at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Financial assets are derecognised when either the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset are settled or expire, or when substantially all the risks and rewards of the ownership of the asset are transferred to another party.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the liability is extinguished, that is when contractual obligation is discharged, cancelled or expires.

Managed properties

Income and expenditure relating to housing properties managed by the Group are recognised in the statement of comprehensive income where the Group is exposed to a significant proportion of the risks and rewards associated with the properties.

Housing and other properties used for social purposes

Housing and other properties used for social purposes are properties which are held to provide residential accommodation, nursing homes or day care centres. These properties are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment loss. The cost of the properties is the purchase price together with those costs that are directly attributable to acquisition and construction up to the date of completion.

Properties in the course of construction are not depreciated.

Depreciation is charged on major components so as to write down the cost of the components to their estimated residual value on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives as follows:

Freehold Land indefinite Structure 100 years
Pitched Roof 60 years Flat Roof 20 years
Windows 40 years Boilers 15 years
Bathrooms 20 years Kitchens 15 years
Wiring 30 years Fire Systems 10 years

Subsequent expenditure which relates to either the replacement of previously capitalised components or the enhancement of such components which results in incremental future benefits is capitalised and the carrying amount of any replaced component or part component is derecognised. Any other expenditure incurred in respect of repairs is charged to operating expenses in the statement of comprehensive income.

Other tangible fixed assets

Other fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is charged on a straight-line basis over the expected economic lives of the assets at the following annual rates:

Office premises 1%
Motor vehicles 25%
Plant & machinery 25%
Furniture 25%
Computer, IT & other office equipment 20%
Computer software 10%

Inventories

Inventories are stated at cost less provision for impairment losses.

Impairment of non-financial assets

At each reporting date non-financial assets not carried at fair value are assessed to determine whether there is an indicator that the asset (or asset’s cash generating unit) may be impaired. If there is such an indicator the recoverable amount of the asset (or asset’s cash generating unit; CGU) is compared to the carrying amount of the asset (or asset’s cash generating unit).

Assets not used for social purposes

The recoverable amount of the asset (or asset’s cash generating unit) is the higher of the fair value less costs to sell and value in use. Value in use (VIU) is defined as the present value of the future cash flows before

Notes to the accounts (continued)

35

Richmond Fellowship 36 Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

interest and tax obtainable as a result of the asset’s (or asset’s cash generating unit) continued use. These cash flows are discounted using a pre-tax discount rate that represents the current market risk-free rate and the risks inherent in the asset.

If the recoverable amount of the asset (or asset’s cash generating unit) is estimated to be lower than the carrying amount, the carrying amount is reduced to its recoverable amount. An impairment loss is recognised in the operating expenses unless the asset has been revalued when the amount is recognised in other comprehensive income to the extent of any previously recognised revaluation. Thereafter any excess is recognised in profit or loss.

If an impairment loss is subsequently reversed, the carrying amount of the asset (or asset’s cash generating unit) is increased to the revised estimate of its recoverable amount, but only to the extent that the revised carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined (net of depreciation or amortisation) had no impairment loss been recognised in prior periods. A reversal of an impairment loss is recognised in the profit and loss account.

Assets used for social purposes, including housing and other properties

For the purposes of impairment assessments, housing and other properties used for social purposes are assessed on a property by property basis.

At each statement of financial position date, the properties are assessed to determine if there are indicators that the property may be impaired in value; if there are such indicators of impairment, then a comparison of the property’s carrying value to its recoverable amount is undertaken. Any excess over the recoverable amount is recognised as an impairment loss and charged as operating expenses in the statement of comprehensive income; the carrying value is reduced appropriately. The recoverable amount of a property is the higher of its fair value less costs to sell and its value in use. Value in use for properties which are able to be used in their current condition and which are fulfilling the social purpose for which they were acquired is based on the depreciated replacement cost of the asset. For other schemes, value in use is defined as the net present value of the future cash flows before interest generated from the scheme.

When an impairment loss is subsequently reversed, the carrying amount of the property is increased to the revised estimate of its recoverable amount, but only to the extent that the revised carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined (net of depreciation) had no impairment loss been recognised in prior periods. A reversal of an impairment loss is recognised in operating expenses in the statement of comprehensive income.

Government grants (social housing grants - SHG)

Government grants are recognised when there is reasonable assurance that the Group will receive the grant and be able to comply with the terms of the grant. Grants are classified as either relating to assets or as relating to revenue.

Grants relating to assets are accounted for using the accrual model and are recognised as revenue in the statement of comprehensive income over the period of the estimated life of the relevant asset to which it relates as follows:

Grants relating to assets are derecognised when the asset to which they relate is derecognised.

Grants which relate to revenue are accounted for using the performance model and are recognised in the statement of comprehensive income as the associated costs to which the grant relates are recognised.

Any grants which are received but are not recognised are disclosed as liabilities.

Grant relating to a property which is sold is derecognised and disclosed as a liability where repayment or recycling is required. Where SHG is recycled, it is credited to a fund which appears as a creditor until used to fund the acquisition of new properties. Where recycled grant is known to be repayable it is shown as a creditor within one year

Current asset investments

Investments are stated at fair value and any changes in the fair value are recognised in the statement of comprehensive income.

Operating leases

Notes to the accounts (continued)

36

Richmond Fellowship 37 Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

Rentals payable under operating leases, where substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to operating expenses in the statement of comprehensive income on a straightline basis over the life of the lease.

Incentives received to enter into an operating lease are credited to operating expenses, to reduce the lease expense, on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash in hand and bank deposits and other highly liquid investments which have a maturity of three months or less.

In certain cases, the Group and its employees assist individuals to manage their money in their bank accounts. These bank accounts do not relate to the Group and are therefore not dealt with in these financial statements.

Provisions

A provision is recognised in the statement of financial position when the Group has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, that can be reliably measured and it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation. Provisions are recognised at the best estimate of the amount required to settle the obligation at the reporting date.

Value Added Tax

The Group is registered for VAT and the balances shown in these accounts exclude VAT where applicable. Irrecoverable input VAT is expensed as incurred and is analysed in line with the underlying expense to which it relates.

Taxation

All entities within the Group are registered charities and are able to obtain relief from corporation tax, provided that they operate within certain charitable exemptions, including applying all income to charitable purposes. Since these conditions have been fulfilled, these entities do not recognise provisions for taxation.

Provision is made for direct and deferred tax in respect of non-charitable subsidiaries; currently, the activities of non-charitable subsidiaries are immaterial to the Group.

Notes to the accounts (continued)

37

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

38

3. Particulars of turnover, operating expenditure and operating surplus / (deficit)

Group
Social housing activities
Social housing lettings_(note 4)
Other social housing activities
Supporting people contract
income
Activities other than social
housing activities
Registered nursing home lettings
Crisis Houses
Community based projects
Leased to third party providers
Other
Non-recurring expenditure (_note
9)
TOTAL
Surplus on disposals of fixed
assets
COVID-19 Job Retention
Scheme Income
Operating surplus		 2023 Operating
Surplus
(Deficit)
£000
121
(1,164)
(1,043)
19
(115)
781
120
360
(265)
900
(143)
683
-
540		 2022
Turnover
Operating
expenditure		 Turnover
Operating
expenditure		 Operating
Surplus
(Deficit)
£000
£000
7,323
7,202
14,302
15,466		 £000
£000
8,200
7,314
15,599
16,533		 £000
886
(934)
21,625
22,668		 23,799
23,847		 (48)
528
509
3,794
3,909
19,583
18,802
181
61
585
225
-
265		 513
512
2,691
2,720
20,049
18,039
143
24
362
632		 1
(29)
2010
119
(270)
24,671
23,771		 23,758
21,927		 1,831
46,296
46,439		 47,557
45,774		 1,783
151
4
1,938

Notes to the accounts (continued)

38

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

39

3. Particulars of turnover, operating expenditure and operating surplus / (deficit) (continued)

Company
Social housing activities
Social housing lettings_(note 4)_
Other social housing activities
Supporting people contract
income
Activities other than social
housing activities
Registered nursing home lettings
Crisis Houses
Community based projects
Leased to third party providers
Other
Non recurring expenditure (note
9)
TOTAL
Surplus on disposals of fixed
assets
COVID-19 Job Retention
Scheme Income
Operating surplus		 2023 Operating
Surplus
(Deficit)
£000
121
(1,164)
(1,043)
19
(115)
(216)
120
495
(265)
38
(1,005)
683
-
(322)		 2022
Turnover
Operating
expenditure		 Turnover
Operating
expenditure		 Operating
Surplus
(Deficit)
£000
£000
7,323
7,202
14,302
15,466		 £000
£000
8,200
7,314
15,599
16,533		 £000
886
(934)
21,625
22,668		 23,799
23,847		 (48)
528
509
3,794
3,909
13,384
13,600
181
61
586
91
-
265		 513
512
2,691
2,720
14,347
12,916
143
24
362
626		 1
(29)
1,431
119
(264)
18,473
18,435		 18,056
16,798		 1,258
40,098
41,103		 41,855
40,645		 1,210
151
3
1,364

Notes to the accounts (continued)

39

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

40

4. Particulars of income and expenditure from social housing lettings

GROUP AND COMPANY

Supported housing
Rent receivable net of service charges
Rent refund provision
Service charge income
Net rental income
Government grants taken to income
Amortised government grants*
Turnover from social housing lettings
Operating expenditure
Housing management
Service charge cost
Routine maintenance
Planned maintenance
Major repairs expenditure
Bad debts
Property lease charges
Depreciation of housing properties and associated
fixtures, fittings and equipment
Operating expenditure on social housing
lettings
Surplus on social housing lettings
(as per note 3)
Void losses (deducted from rent above)**		 2023
Total
£000
3,902
(427)
3,851
7,326
(3)
7,323
1,381
2,246
289
158
260
296
2,213
359
7,202
121
808		 2022
Total
£000
3,977
-
4,125
8,102
98
8,200
1,209
2,280
212
54
520
576
2,062
401
7,314
886
1,101

Throughout the year we operated a few residential crisis services which are not considered to be social housing (and the premises were not provided with the support of social housing grant) and as such are excluded from all of the data contained within this note.

Income and expenditure reflect all social housing provided by Richmond Fellowship, irrespective of the intensity of support given as part of the service provision.

*Amortised government grant includes a £94k write-back relating to a property reclassified as market rent.

** The total rent charged for the year includes a provision of £427k designated for refunding rental overcharges to our customers.

Notes to the accounts (continued)

40

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

41

5. Leases

The Group lets certain of their housing properties to social housing tenants and to other social landlords.

Social housing tenancies

The social housing tenancy agreements are governed by housing law and rents levels are governed by the Government through powers derived from the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. Housing law sets out various safeguards for tenants, the effect of which is to make gaining possession of the properties in the event of a default by tenant an onerous process requiring Court action by the Group. In addition, where a tenant is in default through the failure to pay rent due, the Court, rather than terminating the tenancy, will usually order that the tenant clears the arrears over a number of years by making small weekly payments.

The tenants have no statutory rights or rights under the tenancy agreements to purchase the properties.

Properties let to other social housing landlords

Richmond Fellowship has a number of properties which are let under non-cancellable operating leases to other social landlords for the provision of social housing and will receive the following future rents from such properties:

Rents due within one year
Rents due between one and five years
Rents due after five years
Total		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
82
82
83
83
-
-
165
165		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
127
127
46
46
-
-
173
173

6. Key management emoluments

The emoluments of the directors / key management were as follows:

The emoluments of the directors / key
management were as follows:
Emoluments (including pension contributions and
benefits in kind)
Executive staff
Non-executive directors
Employers’ national insurance
Emoluments paid to the highest paid Director
(Excluding pension contribution, including benefits in
kind)
Pension contributions for the highest paid director		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
589
530
66
66
655
596
72
66
727
661
127
127
8
8		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
624
565
64
64
688
629
83
76
771
705
125
125
8
8

The Group Chief Executive is an ordinary member of the Group’s defined contribution pension scheme. No special terms apply.

2023 2023 2022 2022
Group Company Group Company
£000 £000 £000 £000
Directors’ emoluments, as defined by the
Companies Act 2006		 594 594 691 691

Four executive directors were members of the defined contribution pension scheme.

Notes to the accounts (continued)

41

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

42

7. Employee information

Average number of employees employed during the year:

Full time equivalents
Office Staff
Service Staff
Total staff		 2023
2023
Group
Company
No.
No.
115
102
975
834
1,090
936		 2022
2022
Group
Company
No.
No.
120
108
1,007
861
1,127
969

The full-time equivalent number of staff has been derived by reference to estimated hours worked.

Actual employees
Office staff
Service staff
Total staff
Wages and salaries
Redundancy costs
Social security costs
Other pension costs
Total		 2023
2023
Group
Company
No.
No.
111
99
928
800
1,039
899
2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
26,903
23,303
192
192
2,438
2,118
1,140
938
30,673
26,551		 2022
2022
Group
Company
No.
No.
124
113
1,051
917
1,175
1,030
2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
26,767
23,229
101
101
2,231
1,945
1,204
1,000
30,303
26,275

During the year 13 people (2022 - 21) were made redundant. Wages and salaries include £34k ex-gratia payments to 3 employees (2022 - £Nil). Non-contractual payments are made on an exceptional basis only and are individually approved by the Group Leadership Team.

Senior Pay Banding

In the year, the following number of staff within the business, expressed in full-time equivalents, were paid remuneration (including pensions) of over £60,000:

Staff remuneration bandings
£130,001 to £140,000
£110,001 to £120,000
£100,001 to £110,000
£90,001 to £100,000
£80,001 to £90,000
£70,001 to £80,000
£60,001 to £70,000
Total staff		 2023
2023
Group
Company
No.
No.
1
1
-
-
-
-
1
1
2
2
-
-
4
4
8
8		 2022
2022
Group
Company
No.
No.
1
1
-
-
-
-
1
1
2
2
2
2
1
1
7
7

Notes to the accounts (continued)

42

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

43

Pension costs are analysed as follows:

Defined contribution schemes, including
contributions to state schemes accounted for as
defined contribution pension schemes
Defined benefit schemes – current service costs		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
1,115
913
25
25
1,140
938

8. Post-employment benefits

NHS Pension Scheme

The Group is an admitted body to the NHS Pension Scheme. The Group’s contribution in 2023 was £22k (2022: £27k) and the total number of employees participating in the scheme at the end of the year was 7 (2022: 10). The Group has no on-going employer’s liability in respect of this scheme other than to fulfil annual contribution obligations for members whilst they are employed by the Group. This scheme is accounted for as a defined contribution scheme as the scheme actuary is unable to provide any details of the notional assets and liabilities attributable to the Group. More details regarding the scheme are available from the NHS Pensions website.

2Care Pension & Life Assurance Scheme

RF operates a defined benefit scheme, the 2Care Pension & Life Assurance Scheme. The assets of the fund are held in a separate trustee administered fund. Contributions to the scheme are assessed with the advice of a qualified actuary based on valuations using the projected unit method. Future employer contributions to the scheme have been agreed as being 26.95% (2022 – 26.95%) of pensionable salaries plus life assurance costs. Future employee contributions have been agreed as 8.45% (2022 – 8.45%) of pensionable salaries. The fund is now closed to new entrants and as a closed scheme it is likely that the future contribution rates will increase.

A comprehensive actuarial valuation of the fund was carried out as at 31 March 2023 by the Scheme’s appointed actuary. Adjustments to the valuation at that date have been made based on the following assumptions:


ssumptions:
2023 2022
% per annum % per annum
Inflation 3.20 3.60
Salary increases 3.20 3.60
Rate of discount 4.80 2.80
Pension in payment increases - pre 97 accrual 3.60 3.60
Pension in payment increases - post 97 accrual 3.00 3.60
Revaluation rate for deferred pensioners – RPI 3.20 3.60
Revaluation rate for deferred pensioners – CPI 2.70 3.10
Expected return on assets 4.80 2.80
Mortality assumptions: Years Years
Longevity at age 65 for current pensioners
Men 22.2 22.2
Women 23.9 23.9
Longevity at age 65 for future pensioners
Men 23.5 23.5
Women 25.4 25.4

Notes to the accounts (continued)

43

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

44

Reconciliation of scheme assets and liabilities:

econciliation of scheme assets and liabilities:
At April 2021
Benefits paid
Employer contributions
Employees’ contributions
Current service cost
Interest income / (expense)
Actuarial losses:
Return on plan assets excluding interest income
Actuarial gains / (losses)
At 31 March 2022
Benefits paid
Employer contributions
Employees Contributions
Current service cost
Interest income / (expense)
Actuarial losses:
Return on plan assets excluding interest income
Actuarial gains / (losses)
At 31 March 2023
Unrecognised deficit
Net assets at 31 March 2023		 Assets
Liabilities
£000
£000
10,049
(8,842)
(82)
82
25
-
8
(8)
-
(88)
-
(195)
-
-
221
-
313
304		 Total
£000
1,207
-
25
-
(88)
(195)
-
221
617
10,534
(8,747)
(67)
67
14
4
(4)
-
(25)
-
(244)
-
-
294
-
(4,277)
3,578		 1,787
14
(25)
(244)
294
(699)
6,502
(5,375)		 1,127
(1,065)
62

The unrecognised deficit as at 31 March 2023 was £1,065k (2022: £1,303k).

Amounts recognised in income and expenditure are as follows:

mounts recognised in income and expenditure are as follows:
2023 2022
£000 £000
Current service costs 25 88
Financial income (14) (11)
Total 11 77
mounts recognised in other comprehensive income are as follows:
2023 2022
£000 £000
Return on plan assets excluding interest (4,277) 313
Experience gains and losses arising on plan liabilities (184) (72)
Effects of changes in assumptions affecting plan liabilities 3,762 376
Effects of changes in the amounts of the surplus that is not
recoverable		 274 (619)
Total 425 (2)

Amounts recognised in other comprehensive income are as follows:

Notes to the accounts (continued)

44

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

45

Plan assets are invested as follows:

Equities
Diversified Growth Funds
Liability Driven Investment
Cash
Total
9. Non- Recurring items
2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
Organisational Restructure
266
266
Total
266
266
10. Interest receivable and financial income
2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
Interest receivable on deposits
327
241
Listed investment income
157
157
Net return on post-employment benefits
14
14
Total
498
412
11. Interest and financing costs
2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
Recycled capital grant fund interest
10
10		 2023
2022
£000
£000
516
546
4,327
4,669
1,557
5,318
102
1
6,502
10,534
2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
-
-
-
-
2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
12
9
125
125
11
11
148
145
2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
-
-

Notes to the accounts (continued)

45

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

46

12. Surplus for the year

2. Surplus for the year
Depreciation and impairment of tangible
owned fixed assets
Auditor’s remuneration: (Excluding VAT)
Audit of Group Annual Accounts
Audit of Group Subsidiary Accounts
Operating Leases
Receivables from non-cancellable operating
leases
Payments under non-cancellable operating
leases
Rents payable under property licenses
Surplus / (deficit) on disposal of fixed assets
Net proceeds from the sale of fixed assets
Less: net book value of assets sold
Less: capital grant recycled
Total surplus on disposal		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
886
845
76
76
18
-
82
82
347
347
2,231
2,158
1,175
1,175
(370)
(370)
(122)
(122)
683
683		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
1,147
1,084
62
62
15
-
127
127
415
415
2,101
1,996
407
407
(256)
(256)
-
-
151
151

Notes to the accounts (continued)

46

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

47

13. Housing and other properties used for social purposes

Social
Housing
Properties
Nursing
Homes
Crisis
Houses
GROUP
£000
£000
£000
Cost:
At 1 April 2022
23,986
1,160
2,793
Additions: existing properties
478
-
-
Disposals: components
(429)
-
-
At 31 March 2023
24,035
1,160
2,793
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2022
4,325
238
139
Charge for the year
309
11
36
Disposals: components
(136)
-
-
At 31 March 2023
4,498
249
175
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023
19,537
911
2,618
At 31 March 2022
19,661
922
2,654
Social
Housing
Properties
Nursing
Homes
Crisis
Houses
COMPANY
£000
£000
£000
Cost:
At 1 April 2022
21,624
1,160
2,793
Additions: existing properties
163
-
8
Disposals During the year
(429)
-
-
At 31 March 2023
21,358
1,160
2,801
Depreciation:
At 1 April 2022
3,943
238
139
Charge for the year
309
11
35
Disposals During the year
(136)
-
-
At 31 March 2022
4,116
249
174
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023
17,242
911
2,627
At 31 March 2022
17,681
922
2,654
Housing and other properties used for
social purposes at cost comprise:
2023
2023
Group
Company
Net book value
£000
£000
Freehold
18,873
16,577
Long Leasehold
664
664
19,537
17,241		 Social
Housing
Properties
Nursing
Homes
Crisis
Houses
£000
£000
£000
23,986
1,160
2,793
478
-
-
(429)
-
-		 Social
Housing
Properties
Nursing
Homes
Crisis
Houses
£000
£000
£000
23,986
1,160
2,793
478
-
-
(429)
-
-		 Day /
Garden
Centres
£000
951
-
-
951
51
10
-
61		 Total
£000
28,890
478
(429)
24,035
1,160
2,793		 28,939
4,325
238
139
309
11
36
(136)
-
-		 4,753
366
(136)
4,498
249
175		 4,983
19,537
911
2,618		 890 23,956
19,661
922
2,654		 900 24,137
Day /
Garden
Centres
£000
951
-
-		 Total
£000
26,528
171
(429)
21,358
1,160
2,801		 951 26,270
3,943
238
139
309
11
35
(136)
-
-		 51
10
-		 4,371
365
(136)
4,116
249
174		 61 4,600
17,242
911
2,627		 890 21,670
17,681
922
2,654		 900 22,157
2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
18,873
16,577
664
664
19,537
17,241		 2022
Group
£000
18,976
685		 2022
Company
£000
16,996
685
19,661 17,681

Notes to the accounts (continued)

47

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

48

14. Other tangible fixed assets

4. Other tangible fixed assets
GROUP
Cost
At 1 April 2022
Additions in year
Disposals during the year
At 31 March 2023
Depreciation
At 1 April 2022
Charge for the Year
Disposals during the year
At 31 March 2023
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023
At 31 March 2022
COMPANY
Cost
At 1 April 2022
Additions in year
Disposals during the year
At 31 March 2023
Depreciation
At 1 April 2022
Charge for the year
Disposals
At 31 March 2023
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023
At 31 March 2022		 Freehold
Office
Premises
Leasehold
Office
Premises
Motor
Vehicles
Information
Systems
Fixtures,
Fittings &
Equipment
Total
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
2,809
985
72
5,096
1,030
9,992
-
-
-
72
47
119
(231)
-
(57)
(32)
(4)
(324)
2,578
985
15
5,136
1,073
9,787
513
374
64
2,406
989
4,346
20
8
3
409
55
495
(31)
-
(57)
(5)
(2)
(95)
502
382
10
2,810
1,042
4,746
2,076
603
5
2,326
31
5,041
2,296
611
8
2,690
41
5,646
Freehold
Office
Premises
Leasehold
Office
Premises
Motor
Vehicles
Information
Systems
Fixtures,
Fittings &
Equipment
Total
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
£000
2,219
492
66
4,657
928
8,362
-
-
-
66
46
112
(108)
-
(50)
(32)
(4)
(194)
2,111
492
16
4,691
970
8,280
389
66
58
2,203
826
3,542
17
5
3
383
50
458
(31)
-
(50)
(5)
(3)
(89)
375
71
11
2,581
873
3,911
1,736
421
5
2,110
97
4,369
1,830
426
8
2,454
102
4,820

Notes to the accounts (continued)

48

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

49

15. Inventories

15. Inventories
Consumables
16. Trade and other receivables
Trade debtors
Less: Provision for bad debts
Prepayments & accrued income
Amounts due from subsidiary undertaking
Other Debtors
17. Current asset investments
Investments listed on recognised stock
exchange		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
173
171
2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
5,185
4,436
(1,005)
(1,003)
4,180
3,433
1,974
1,890
-
7
19
16
6,173
5,346
2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
3,772
3,772		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
169
167
2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
4,685
4,191
(1,247)
(1,212)
3,438
2,979
2,971
2,891
-
1
12
11
6,421
5,882
2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
4,002
4,002

Investments listed on a recognised stock exchange comprise Schroders’ Charity Multi-asset fund and CCLACOIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund (Income).

18. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Trade creditors
Other creditors
Accruals & deferred income
PAYE, taxes & social security costs
Social housing grants (Note 20)
Other government grants (Note 20)
Recycled Capital Grants Fund (RCGF) (Note 19)		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
1,789
1,697
344
255
4,156
3,192
591
503
86
86
14
14
477
477
7,457
6,224		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
1,761
1,719
177
150
3,958
3,221
691
611
97
97
18
18
814
814
7,516
6,630

Notes to the accounts (continued)

49

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

50

19. Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year

Recycled Capital Grants Fund (Note 20)
Social housing grants (Note 20)
Other government grants (Note 20)
Total		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
1,115
1,115
5,873
5,873
850
850
7,838
7,838		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
-
-
6,851
6,851
861
861
7,712
7,712

20. Recycled capital grant fund – Group and Company

Balance at 1 April 2022
Recycled on property disposal
Repayments
Interest
Balance at 31 March 2023
Amounts repayable within one year
Amounts due over 1 year
Total		 2023
2022
RSH
RSH
£000
£000
470
470
395
-
-
-
7
-
872
470
477
470
395
-
872
470		 2023
2022
GLA
GLA
£000
£000
344
344
720
-
(347)
-
3
-
720
344
-
344
720
-
720
344		 2023
2022
Total
Total
£000
£000
814
814
1.115
-
(347)
-
10
-
1,592
814
477
814
1,115
-
1,592
814

21. Government grants

The government grants received to enable the Group to acquire properties for social purposes. Should the properties to which the grants relate cease to be used for social purposes the grants may be repayable in full. The total grants received by the Group in respect of owned property are as follows:

Grants credited to Income & Expenditure
Deferred grants (Notes 18 & 19) – Social Housing
Grants
Deferred grants (Notes 18 & 19) – Other
Government Grants
Total		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
3,137
3,137
5,959
5,959
864
864
9,960
9,960		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
3,249
3,249
6,948
6,948
879
879
11,076
11,076

Notes to the accounts (continued)

50

51

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

22. Transfers between reserves

2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
Movement in restricted funds
Net income /(expenditure of restricted funds for
the year)
1,360
413
Restricted reserves formerly held by CAN and
Croftlands Trust
(93)
(93)
Movement in restricted funds
1,267
320
Movement in revaluation reserve
Net revaluation (loss) / gain
(230)
(230)
Movement in pension scheme reserve
Net movement in recognised pension scheme
asset
3
3
Total transfer from / (to) general fund
1,040
93
CAN is the County of Northampton Council on Addiction
23. Restricted reserves
2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
Mental illness services to be provided in Cumbria
(formerly held by Croftlands Trust)
1,707
1,707
Alcohol, drugs and gambling Services
- Held by Aquarius Action Projects
5,650
-
- Other (Formally Known as CAN)
547
547
Legacies & Donations
413
413
Sundry
16
16
BIG Lottery
29
29
8,362
2,712		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
(649)
(1,227)
(187)
(187)
(836)
(1,414)
204
204
(52)
(52)
(684)
(1,262)
2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
1,736
1,736
4,703
-
611
611
16
16
29
29
7,095
2,392

During the year, we reclassified Employment services and Other small items as unrestricted reserves after a review of some the contracts. The review led us to conclude, the contractual conditions indicated they were inappropriately classified as restricted reserves in prior years.

Notes to the accounts (continued)

51

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

52

24. Designated reserves

4. Designated reserves
2023 2023 2022 2022
Group Company Group Company
£000 £000 £000 £000
Maintenance 184 - 184 -

25. Other reserves

The general unrestricted fund represents the accumulated surpluses generated by the Group / Company since inception, to the extent that they are not represented by other reserves.

The revaluation reserve represents unrealised gains arising on revaluations of investments.

The pension reserve represents the recognised surplus on the assets of the Group’s defined benefit pension scheme.

26. Other commitments

The Group holds housing accommodation, office premises and equipment on non-cancellable operating leases. The Group is expected to make the following future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases:

Within one year
Two to five years
More than five years		 2023
2023
Group
Company
£000
£000
299
255
109
109
465
465
873
829		 2022
2022
Group
Company
£000
£000
476
426
255
254
466
466
1,197
1,146

In addition to the above commitments, the group also occupies various properties under licence. Although the licences can be cancelled with minimal notice by either party, it is expected that the majority of licences will continue. The expected payments under such licences for both the Group and the Company is estimated as being £2.2 million (2022; £2.1 million).

27. Accommodation in management

The number of the different types of accommodation managed by the Group at the end of the year was as follows:

Social Housing
Supported Housing
Residential Care Homes
Total Units in Management		 2023
Owned
Managed
No.
No.
255
372
66
26
321
398		 2022
Owned
Managed
No.
No.
275
402
67
26
342
428

Notes to the accounts (continued)

52

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

53

28. Financial instruments

As at the year end, the Group's financial instruments were as follows :

As at the year end, the Group's financial instruments we re as follow s:
2023 2023 2022 2022
Group Company Group Company
£000 £000 £000 £000
Financial assets held at fair value 3,772 3,772 4,002 4,002
Included in the Statement of Income and Expenditure are the following amounts:
2023 2023 2022 2022
Group Company Group Company
£000 £000 £000 £000
Interest income on financial assets held at
amortised cost		 327 241 12 9
Interest expense on financial liabilities held at
cost (10) (10) - -
Income from assets held at fair value through
profit and loss		 156 156 145 145
Change in value of assets held at fair value
through income and expenditure		 (230) (230) 204 204

29. Subsidiary undertaking

Richmond Fellowship has one subsidiary undertaking, Aquarius Action Projects (“Aquarius”), which is a registered charity (number 1014305) and a registered company (number 02427100) having its registered office at 236 Bristol Road, Birmingham, B5 7SL. Aquarius works with individuals, families, carers and professionals around issues of alcohol misuse, drug misuse, gambling and other behavioural problems.

30. Related party transactions

During the year the following transactions took place between Richmond Fellowship and its subsidiary companies:

Overhead recharges from the charity to:
To Aquarius Action Projects
From Aquarius Action Projects
Total		 2023
2022
£000
£000
297
297
(34)
(34)
263
263

All transactions are charged at cost. Such costs are either direct or are apportioned based on estimated staff time. The total overheads subject to apportionment were £6,154k (2022: £5,913k).

Notes to the accounts (continued)

53

Richmond Fellowship Report & accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

54

31. Reconciliation of surplus for the year to net cash generated from operating activities

Surplus for the year
Movement on fair value of investments
(Surplus) on disposal of fixed assets
Net Interest (received)
Depreciation and impairment charges
Pension net service cost
Movement in debtors
Movement in creditors
Movement in inventories
Net cash inflow from operating activities		 2023
£000
798
230
(683)
(488)
886
11
248
68
(4)
1,066		 2022
£000
2,290
(204)
(151)
(148)
1,147
63
36
1,114
(41)
4,106

Notes to the accounts (continued)

54