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2024-03-31-accounts

Annual report and consolidated accounts

For the year ended 31 March 2024

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Contents

ontents
Contents 1
Our values 2
Trustees’ report 3
Chair’s report 3
Chief Executive’s report 5
Our objects and public benefit 8
Strategic report 9
Financial review 14
Our colleagues 23
Principal risks and uncertainties 27
Our structure, governance and management 33
Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities 40
Independent Auditor’s report to the Members of Scope 42
Group statement of financial activities 47
Group and parent charitable company balance sheets 48
Group cash flow statement 49
Notes to the financial statements 50

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Our values

Pioneering

We are ambitious and determined to drive change. We focus on how we can make the most impact. We innovate and strive for better, pushing ourselves and our boundaries.

Courageous

We are single minded in our desire to achieve equality. We are bold, challenging the status quo, ourselves, and each other. We are not afraid to fail fast and learn quickly.

Connected

We connect and collaborate internally and externally, to create a fairer society. We listen and share, tapping into the expertise of others.

Open

We are transparent about what we do and how we do things. Creating supportive, accessible environments, building trust with each other and our customers to achieve more.

Fair

We make sure everyone has a fair chance. We value and respect each other’s expertise and diversity. We take responsibility for what we do and support each other to succeed.

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Trustees’ report

The Board of Trustees present their report, the strategic report and audited financial statements. This is for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Chair’s report

Once again, as Chair of Scope, it’s time for me to remind our fellow citizens that there are 16 million disabled people across the United Kingdom (UK) who must be heard.

We are huge in number. And if you include a brother, a sister, a spouse and a parent, you soon realise that everyone in this country is connected to disability in some way. It is part of life.

We are a large, powerful movement of people and there is now an imperative to see change.

’ This year, I was proud to launch Scope s new strategy, An Equal Future. It sets out how we will make this change happen. It’s a positive vision for disability in the UK, one that offers more opportunities and intends to finally put an end to disability inequality.

This version of the future is both desirable and possible. I am motivated by the support that Scope is afforded every day by the growing number of people and organisations who believe in this and who believe in us. Last year, thousands of people have supported Scope in our mission. They have run marathons, volunteered in shops, they have signed petitions or shared their own stories. This is a movement determined to bring about change and we are a force to be reckoned with.

Scope knows firsthand what’s possible when disabled peoples’ talents and potential are recognised. Our brilliant employment services have supported thousands of disabled people to get into work or develop their skills.

There are impressive, forward-looking businesses who are already reaping the benefits of being inclusive. But there are still too many employers lagging behind and falling behind. Attitudes are often cited as the reasons behind this. In fact, I believe it's at least as much about not understanding the real benefits of inclusion to everyone. Negative attitudes definitely persist in all areas of life: on our high streets, in our schools and in our businesses and communities. Scope is at the forefront of tackling this and transforming attitudes in society will be a key bedrock to the success of our new strategy. Empowering disabled people is not just about social justice, it's about creating a more prosperous and productive nation.

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Life has continued to be challenging for disabled people this year. The heavy extra costs of disability have been exacerbated by the cost of living crisis. Scope’s latest Disability Price Tag research found that, on average, disabled households need an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households. Allowing this inequality of sustainable living to persist is quite a scandal in a wealth-creating nation in 2024. We need more action from Government and more action from business. It's by mobilising all parts of society that we will make an equal future possible.

I want to express my gratitude to those already on that journey. To my Scope colleagues and volunteers who work tirelessly towards our mission. To my fellow trustees who share their time, expertise and dedication, to help the charity go from strength to strength. And finally, to our partners and everyone who has supported Scope this year, you are what will make change possible.

Robin millar

Robin millar (Jul 24, 2024 15:20 GMT+1)

Sir Robin Millar CBE

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Chief Executive’s report

2023/24 was an important milestone in our mission to end disability inequality. We launched our ambitious new strategy, An Equal Future. It sets out how we will aim to transform society in the next decade.

I am so pleased that we developed An Equal Future directly with over 450 disabled people, colleagues and customers. We also connected with 4 million disabled people overall, giving us a very broad understanding of the things that matter to disabled people and where Scope needs to focus its efforts.

There is still a long way to go to achieve equality for the UK’s 16 million disabled people. They face challenges which are unfair and disproportionate. They also offer great opportunity which is not being recognised. This must change.

This year, the cost of living crisis continued to bring this into sharp focus. Rising energy bills are hitting disabled people and their families the hardest. There is no escape from high energy bills when you use essential medical equipment, or you live with a condition significantly affected by cold temperatures.

We’ve made sure that disabled peoples’ voices during this crisis have not gone unnoticed. We’ve brought their stories to the attention of the media and policymakers. We’ve campaigned for the introduction of discounted energy bills and will continue until this is secured.

We also partnered with broadcast network ITV on our Cost of Breathing Crisis television (TV) advert. An incredible 2 million people saw this advert. Featuring 6 disabled actors, the advert was inspired by the real stories that our helpline colleagues hear from disabled people and their families. We raised awareness of the challenges disabled people face and showed how we’re here to help.

Our helpline and specialist Disability Energy Service have been busier than ever this year. We’ve supported disabled people who have gone days without eating, cut back on prescriptions and used candles because they can’t afford to switch the lights on.

Disabled people experience inequality from a young age. Our Let’s Play Fair campaign, co-produced with parents of disabled children, highlighted the inaccessibility of our nation’s playgrounds. We launched our Play Investigation and members of the public assessed over 1,000 local playgrounds. Thanks to our campaigning, the Government committed to producing resources to support local authorities to create more accessible playgrounds.

By bringing together a movement of disabled people, allies, organisations and business, we believe we can make real change happen. We will deliver our An Equal Future strategy with disabled people and in partnership with others.

We are at the start of an exciting journey and are approaching it with renewed determination.

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We are focused on our 3 new goals:

Underpinning our new strategy is our commitment to put equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the heart of everything we do. We know we cannot achieve equality for all disabled people without including everyone. We need to do far more to include and reflect the diversity of the entire disabled community. A year into delivering our EDI plan, we have made some important progress. This includes making our recruitment process more inclusive and putting our new EDI training programme into place for all colleagues.

We are committed to co-producing our activities with disabled people. This means we’ll continue to work in partnership with them. Our community engagement projects and Youth Community Collectives (YCC) are great examples of this. Over 5,000 disabled people have taken part across the UK and worked to create change in their communities.

Over the year ahead, we will be doing even more to strengthen our focus on community. Our new Leeds hub will open, offering a dynamic centre for community connection. Here, we will campaign and try new things together to deliver change.

We are looking forward with optimism together with determination for change. We know our work would not be possible without donations and we are profoundly grateful to everyone who has supported us this year. We remain focused on diversifying our income and generating funds so that we can have the biggest reach and impact for disabled people, now and in the future.

In 2023/24, for every £1 we spent, 73% was spent on our charitable activities to help disabled people and their families (compared to 69% in 2022/23) and we’re committed to increasing this further.

Since the end of the financial year, Scope acquired PurpleSpace Limited which supports disability employee networks and resource groups to make it easier for employees to navigate the experience of ill health, disability accident or injury, at the same time as

flourishing at work. I am delighted to welcome all the PurpleSpace team and members as we look forward to working together.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who has supported us in our mission to create an equal future with disabled people. Many supporters, campaigners, fundraisers, customers and corporate partners believe in Scope and make our work possible. Your support has enabled us to meet demand this year and to continue to push for the social change that is so needed.

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Thanks must go to our colleagues, volunteers, trustees, independent committee members and ambassadors whose commitment, energy and dedication are unwavering. Creating an equal future needs all of us. Together we will be unstoppable.

Mark Hodgkinson

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Our objects and public benefit

Objects

Scope is established for the public benefit and for general charitable purposes according to the laws of England and Wales. In particular, but not exclusively, for the promotion of the equality, diversity, independence and health of disabled people, especially those with cerebral palsy.

Public benefit aims

In exercising relevant powers and duties, the Board of Trustees has considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. This report outlines how our performance during the year to 31 March 2024 has benefited the public.

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Strategic report

Our vision

We are Scope. We won’t stop until we achieve a society where all disabled people enjoy equality and fairness.

Our mission

We are determined to change the future.

Together, we are a collective movement of disabled people, campaigners, donors, volunteers, communities, and businesses. We work every day to challenge attitudes and end disability inequality.

Our impact

Last year, we helped over 4 million people through our helpline, website information and advice, and online community. We provided disabled people with some of the essential support they needed to make informed decisions, live more independent lives, and to help them cope with the ongoing cost of living crisis.

We also continued our campaigning on the disproportionate impact of the cost of living on disabled people. We now have over 70,000 people campaigning with us.

Putting disabled people at the heart of what we do

Disabled people and their families’ experiences are key to everything we do and we are committed to prioritising co-production in our work.

Our community engagement projects across the UK empower local people to take action and create change in their communities. Together, we design bespoke activities and campaigns that address local challenges. 3,159 disabled people and 191 professionals participated in 69 community engagement projects over the last year. For example, one of our projects with South Wales Police highlighted what disability hate crime is and encouraged people to report it.

Our YCC brought young people together to improve their local community for disabled people. YCC involved 2,281 disabled people and carers, 339 professionals and 125 organisations. YCC members organised activities. Their panel event in London highlighted the barriers disabled people face when travelling every day. They also organised a disability pride event in Leeds.

We continued to foster strong relationships with 140 storytellers who trusted our stories team with their lived experience. In 2023/24 50 storytellers shared their experiences across 103 projects and activities. This included 43 media moments that involved talking to journalists, appearing on TV, radio, in print and online.

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We’ve grown our research panel to include over 3,000 disabled people. The panel helps us gather insights and develop new products and services, making sure they meet disabled people’s needs.

Influencing and campaigning

This year we campaigned to:

Tackle the Disability Price Tag

We published new research about the extra costs faced by disabled households. Our updated Disability Price Tag report shows that, on average, disabled households need an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households. This figure continues to be regularly mentioned both in parliament and in the media.

Our Cost of Breathing Crisis TV advert raised awareness of the impact these extra costs have on disabled people. We wanted more disabled people to know about Scope and the support our helpline can offer. We also successfully increased public knowledge that life costs more if you’re disabled. The advert, which was made in partnership with ITV, was seen by over 2 million people.

Improve the accessibility of playgrounds

Our Let’s Play Fair campaign continued last year. This campaign calls on local authorities to work with families to create inclusive playgrounds, so that every disabled child can play. Members of the public assessed over 1,000 local playgrounds to see how accessible and inclusive the playground was for disabled children. We used the results to create a Playground Accessibility Map, so you can find out how inclusive playgrounds are near you.

Improve workplaces for disabled people

We published research about disabled employee retention, which found that disabled people are nearly twice as likely to leave their jobs as non-disabled people. This can be due to negative attitudes and discrimination, challenges getting reasonable adjustments, inflexible working patterns, sick pay and issues with the return to work process. We’ve made important recommendations to both Government and businesses about how they can tackle this. Politicians talked about this research during a parliamentary debate. 90 employers, policymakers and Members of Parliament (MPs) also joined us at an event to discuss the findings.

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Transform attitudes

We released pioneering new research, exploring the ways media campaigns can help to reframe public attitudes about disabled people. We worked closely with Paralympics Great Britain to share our findings with disability campaigners and the creative industry.

Information and advice

Our information and advice services have been a vital source of support for disabled people and their families.

Last year, we provided over 4 million people with much of the essential support they needed to make informed decisions and meet the challenges they face. We did this through our services, online information and advice, and our online community.

The current cost of living crisis has led to disabled household energy bills increasing massively. For example, we know many disabled households use more energy because they may have to power lifesaving equipment. This year, our priority has been empowering disabled people who face rising bills to access support and receive the benefits they have a right to.

Our family services

We provide advice and support to parents and carers of disabled children, and campaigned for them too. Last year, our services helped 1,556 families.

Employment services

Scope’s employment support programmes provide voluntary, tailored advice and guidance to disabled people who want to find work or develop their skills.

We continue to deliver our services in the way that works for people accessing our support, which is both online and in-person.

Our fully digital national employment service, Support to Work, helped 703 disabled people.

Last year, we replaced our Starting Line and Kickstart services with Support to Work Extra. This new, customer-led service supported 756 disabled people, with the provision of individualised support into work, volunteering, and education.

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Cerebral palsy (CP)

We continued to provide specialist information and support for people with CP. Last year, we supported 441 individuals with specialist casework and 240 people received advice through our online community. We also continued our monthly meet-up for people with an interest in CP and our work. We also partnered with Scope membership on an event for Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month 2024.

Our lead on CP supported the University of Nottingham with their research exploring the effects of growing older with CP. And we continued to influence policymakers about specific issues related to CP. For example, we spoke at the House of Lords about the challenges facing the CP community and created the CP Manifesto in collaboration with other CP organisations.

We also started delivering training as part of our wider influencing and engagement work. Our lead is now the resident trainer for Dundee University, Anglia Ruskin University and University College London. In total, we’ve engaged 1,041 professionals.

Working in partnership

Last year, we expanded Disability Energy Support. This service provides free energy and water advice to disabled people, helping them to manage their energy and water needs. We know disabled people are being disproportionately affected by rising prices and the cost of living crisis.

We achieved this thanks to the incredible support of British Gas Energy Trust, Energy Savings Trust, Sainsbury's, The Post Office, ITV, Clear Channel, SGN, Wales and West Utilities, Cadent, Northern Gas Networks, UK Power Networks, Anglian Water, Wessex Water, Bristol Water and Outfox the Market.

Last year over 40,000 disabled people used our helplines, which is nearly 3,000 more than the year before. Our helplines also identified savings of £3.4 million for disabled people, which is £1.5 million more than during the year before.

We continue to work with utilities companies to as part of our Scope Utilities Membership (SUM). Through the SUM, we help to reduce costs and improve utility services for disabled people and tackle the everyday issues they face paying for bills.

We continued our partnership with Deloitte, helping 5 million people to get to where they want to be through access to education and employment. Deloitte’s employees provided vital support through fundraising and volunteering. This included working directly with young disabled people during their transition from education to employment.

Looking ahead

As you will have read already, we have now launched our new strategy, An Equal Future. Our 3 goals are based on things that disabled people tell us matters most to them:

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Everything we do in the coming year will help us to achieve these ambitious goals. We will continue to make sure that all our work is created with disabled people, for disabled people.

We know we can’t achieve societal change alone. We are part of a diverse movement of disabled campaigners, allies and organisations demanding change.

This year we are aiming to improve attitudes to disability in the workplace and to close the disability employment gap for good. We will be working with PurpleSpace to do this. .

This year, we have established our new Leeds Community Hub. It will bring together local disabled people and their families, community organisations and businesses. We hope the Hub will also set a benchmark for what inclusive spaces can achieve.

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Financial review

Overview

It is a very challenging environment for all charities due to the cost of living crisis, and other economic factors. At Scope, we made significant progress towards breaking even. We grew all our income streams, except for grants. However, grants included a large one-off item in 2022/23.

In 2022/23, we spent more money on running our operations than we made in revenue. This meant that we had an operating loss (before strategic investment costs, pension adjustments and investment gains and losses) of £3.4 million. Despite high inflation, we reduced this number to £0.6 million in 2023/24. This is part of our net movement in funds analysed below.

We will continue to work towards the goal of our income covering our operating costs each year. In the meantime, we are using reserves to fund the operating loss. This enables us to make this transition, without reducing our charitable activities.

2022/23 was a significant year of investment for Scope. This year, we have continued with our planned projects. These are designed to increase our impact, increase our ability to grow our income in the future and improve our efficiency.

Our largest investments included:

We have a further £0.5 million held in a designated reserve for strategic investment projects in the coming year.

Income

Over the last financial year, we raised a total of £47.2 million (£44.1 million in 2022/23). This represents a 7% increase in income.

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Total income includes:

Expenditure

During the year, we spent £17.5 million on charitable activities which support our mission. This included our helpline, online communities, employment and other programmes, research, influencing and campaigning work. In 2022/23, this figure was £19.5 million.

This represents a 7% decrease from 2022/23, excluding our strategic spend on charitable activities of £0.6 million (£1.2 million in 2022/23). Last year this included £1.5 million in community grants. Excluding these one-off grants, we’ve increased spend on charitable activities by 1%. The rest of our income goes towards running our organisation, operating our shops and generating funds.

Every pound we raise is extremely important to us. We carefully plan our use of resources to get the most impact. In 2023/24, for every £1 we spent, 73% was spent on our charitable activities to help disabled people and their families. This compares to 69% in 2022/23. This increase came from continuing to invest in our services, community projects, research, influencing and campaigning, as well as our colleagues. This percentage is likely to fluctuate over time, but we’re committed to increasing it.

Like many other similar charities, we do not include our trading activities in the calculation of the charitable spend percentage. This is because our shops operate like other retail businesses, raising net funds through selling merchandise.

We invested £6.5 million to recruit and retain donors and other supporters. This investment will generate future income and continue to fund our impact. This figure was £2.3 million less than we spent in 2022/23.

We spent £24.7 million on maintaining and operating our shops. This includes the impact of inflation on salaries and other costs and allocated support costs. In 2022/23, this figure was £23.7 million.

Our support costs, including our annual salary review, decreased by £0.2 million on the year before. This reflects a 2% decrease. We managed our costs closely, including what we have committed to spending in the future. This meant we could continue to prioritise investment in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), accessibility, reward and retention. We were also able to focus on improving our technology and the efficiency of our processes.

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Net movement in funds

Our net decrease in funds for the year was £0.3 million (decrease of £8.9 million in 2022/23). There are several reasons for this.

Fundraising and partnerships

Income

Income for our fundraising and partnerships activities comes from lots of places. These are legacies, donations from individuals, grants, fees, corporate partners and philanthropists, as well as community and events.

There was a 13% increase in total fundraising and partnerships income, compared to last year.

Individual giving remains our biggest income stream. This generated £7.4 million income this financial year, compared to £7.7 million the year before.

This figure decreased due to a review of our cash and raffle programme. We also reduced our activities which created little, or no, financial return.

We continued to work to attract new regular giving supporters, including through our lottery. However, we did this at a reduced level to the previous year which had been unusually high, so we returned to a more normal level of investment. Our income from lottery and raffles was £3.2 million both this financial year and last financial year.

This year, we saw more supporters cancelling their regular giving. This is a trend seen across the charity sector. The fundraising landscape for individual supporters continues to be competitive. The cost of living crisis has also impacted this.

Legacy income significantly increased this year. We saw this raise just under £6 million, compared to £3.7 million in the previous year.

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This year, the highlights of our corporate partnership, philanthropy and grant income include:

As always, we’re truly grateful to every single one of our supporters for their ongoing generosity. Your support enables us to work towards a society where all disabled people experience equality and fairness.

Retail

2023/24 was a challenging year for the charity retail sector. There was significant cost inflation, including a large increase in the national living wage.

We know our shops are often the first place we introduce the public to our brand. They are the face of Scope across hundreds of local communities. Our shops are vital to helping connect customers and supporters to our cause.

We continued to invest in refurbishing and opening new shops. We upgraded the Wi-Fi connection in all shops. We also closed 22 of the shops that were making us less money.

We opened 2 new, more modern format shops in Clapham and Brighton. These shops include better layouts and branding. This will help to create an accessible experience and generate more sales. It was challenging to find the right spaces, but we’re really proud of our new shops. We plan to open a total of 8 more shops. 2 have already opened in 2024/25.

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We also continued to grow our e-commerce operations in 2023/24. We focused on improving how we received, priced and promoted our stock, and where we sold it. Our sales increased by 75%. This figure is £1.2 million higher than in 2022/23. E-commerce was 12% of our retail income, compared to 7% during the previous financial year.

During the year, we continued to be supported with corporate donations from our amazing partners. This included Amazon, ASOS, Boden, Boohoo, DPD, Dune, Marks and Spencer, N Brown, Soya Concept and Transport for London.

Our core activity of selling pre-loved items also makes a huge contribution to sustainability. Last year, the public donated 1.3 million bags of goods. We also phased out the use of single use carrier bags in our shops.

We are working to make sure our shops are where communities need us most. We are also putting measures in place to ensure they contribute net income for our charity. During this period of transition, our net income before support costs has fallen but should increase in the next few years.

Reserves policy

We want to make sure we have financial stability. We take a risk-based approach to determine the appropriate minimum level of unrestricted reserves for ongoing sustainability. Scope holds 3 categories of reserves:

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with our strategy for An Equal Future. This will benefit disabled people and their families.

We review the appropriate level of our reserves annually. We adjust this for changes in investment strategy, performance and external risk factors.

Going concern

The trustees have considered the financial position of the charity. They have looked at various factors including cash, reserves and investment values. They also looked at the impact of future trading forecasts on the activities and financial results of the charity.

After reviewing this information and considering the risks and uncertainties, they concluded the charity can meet its liabilities as they fall due, for at least 12 months from the date of this report. It remains appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.

Investment policy and performance

Over the last financial year, our investment objectives were to:

The Finance Committee is reviewing the investment policy this year. They will also carry out a review of our investment managers.

During the financial year we’ve applied an ethical approach to our investments policy:

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The performance of the investment portfolio is formally assessed against the above criteria every year by the Finance Committee. Our investments were worth £26.1 million at 31 March 2024. This figure was £30.6 million at 31 March 2023. This change represents the use of funds for operational activities and planned strategic investments net of unrealised valuation gains of £1.5 million.

The asset allocation at 31 March 2024 was 30% bonds, 39% equities and 31% cash and cash equivalents.

The portfolio includes a sub-fund created to provide security to the Scope Pension Scheme. The balance on this fund at 31 March 2024 was £6.5 million, all of which is secured for the Pension Scheme.

Pensions

We operate the following pension schemes:

The year-end valuation of the Scope Pension Scheme shows a deficit of £0.6 million, based on FRS 102 assumptions. This figure is compared to a surplus of £2.6 million in 2022/23.

The surplus was eliminated and a deficit caused by:

Partially offset by:

A pension scheme liability of £0.6 million is included in the balance sheet. You can find out more in note 28 to the financial statements. The Scope Pension Scheme is now closed to new members and to future accrual.

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Review of Scope subsidiaries

During this financial year, we had one active subsidiary:

The activities of this subsidiary, and its assets and liabilities, are included in these financial statements on a line-by-line basis. Transactions between entities such as sales from one entity to another are taken out when consolidating the group accounts. Details of all our subsidiaries, including those which no longer trade, are given in notes 8 and 15.

The company’s main activities are buying and selling general merchandise, greeting cards, clothing and giftware in our retail and online shops.

The turnover for the year was £1.4 million. This figure was £1.1 million in 2022/23. Net operating profit before the Gift Aid payment to Scope was £0.6 million. This figure was £0.5 million in 2022/23.

Since the end of the financial year we have acquired a new subsidiary, PurpleSpace Limited. PurpleSpace is the world’s only networking and professional development hub for disabled employees, networks and resource groups. It has a network of over 4,000 leaders across 56 countries.

Promoting success

The trustees, as company directors of Scope, must act in accordance with a clearly defined set of duties in section 172 of the Companies Act 2006: “the directors of a company must act in a way they consider, in good faith, would most likely promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in doing so, the directors must have regard, amongst other matters, to the:

As part of their induction, directors are briefed on these duties and they can access professional advice on these as needed, either from the company secretary or independently. Our directors fulfil their duties partly through a clearly defined governance framework, delegating day-to-day operations to the executive leadership team and

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committees of the Board in line with the terms of reference. You can read more about this in the section on our structure, governance and management.

The following sections further detail how Scope’s directors exercise their duties.

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Our colleagues

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their development, wellbeing and engagement is critical to our success. We work together in an environment that aims to support creativity, passion and growth. We have a presence throughout England and Wales, with people based around the UK. We’re a community of around 850 colleagues and 4,800 volunteers, all working together with a shared vision of equality for disabled people.

Scope continues to create more opportunities for colleagues. We want to support them to develop within their roles and prepare for the future.

We refreshed our colleague forum. This group have been key in reviewing our benefits offered and how we communicate across the charity.

We’re helping retail colleagues to help them progress from Shop Manager to Area Manager roles. We’re doing this through our 3 levels of the pioneering leadership programme. Our Scope to Lead programme is also available to our corporate colleagues.

We completed a talent audit to help our colleagues progress within the organisation. We did this to understand the skills they currently have, and the new skills they want to develop.

Our colleague development programmes and approach was recognised through the Princess Royal Training Awards (City and Guilds), and as a finalist in the HR Zone Culture Pioneer Award. Scope’s approach to leadership development is to equip our leaders at all levels to lead through culture and our values.

We have further improved our volunteer experience. For example, we improved our volunteer database and automated processes.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy

In January 2023, we launched our 3-year EDI strategy. This sets out our ambition for EDI at Scope, and our plan to achieve this so EDI is a part of everything we do. We have made significant progress since launch. But we are still at the start of building the lasting change we want to see. We know that this will take time and collaboration.

We have several key achievements over the last year.

We have improved the accessibility of all job adverts, our website and application form. We now also share interview topics with candidates before interviews.

The Board of Trustees approved an EDI statement of intent. This sets out how the Board of Trustees will demonstrate inclusive leadership, in line with the Charity Governance Code’s EDI principle.

We launched our new Adjustments and Access to Work policy.

We launched 3 new colleague networks. We now have 7 total colleague networks.

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Disability equality training is now a required part of induction training for all colleagues.

We continued our regular EDI roundtables open to all colleagues. Topics included faith inclusion, sexism in the workplace, social class and the charity sector and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

We renewed our status as a Level 3 Disability Confident employer.

We increased the diversity of our membership. 24.9% of our Scope members are Black, Asian or minority ethnic. In May 2023, 17.8% were Black, Asian or minority ethnic. This figure has increased by 7.1%.

The membership team organised several successful events, including ‘Celebrating Black History Month together’ and ‘Disability and the South Asian community’.

We published research about how the media can improve attitudes towards disabled people. We found that only 1 in 10 respondents have seen a disabled person who was Black, Asian or minority ethnic on TV in the last 12 months. As part of our new An Equal Future strategy, we are calling on the media industry to tackle the lack of diversity in television. We worked with high profile supporters Shani Dhanda and Fats Timbo to share their experiences with ITV News.

We collaborated with Black disabled people for Black History Month. They helped us to create content about intersectionality for our social media channels.

We introduced our EDI steering group. The group is made up of representatives from our colleague networks alongside external representatives. The group is set up to challenge and stretch us as we continue to deliver our EDI strategy.

Our people data

Disability

Our colleagues are a diverse group of people. At March 2024, 18.5% of our colleagues reported through our HR system that they are disabled, have a health condition or impairment.

27% of our colleagues identify as disabled, or as having a health condition or impairment (according to the results of our anonymous colleague survey, 2023). 30% of our volunteers identify as disabled, or having a health condition or impairment (volunteer survey, 2023).

Although not mandatory, we report our disability pay gap. For 2023/24 this is -3.9%, which means disabled colleagues, on average, earn more than non-disabled colleagues.

Gender

We continue to focus on reducing our gender pay gap but are committed to making further progress. Our mean pay gap reported for 2023/24 is 13.2%. This figure was 15.5% in 2022/23.

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Ethnicity

Our organisation remains predominantly white British in ethnic makeup. 81.5% of our employees are white. 14.3% of our colleagues are Black, Asian or minority ethnic. Our ethnicity pay gap is 0.04%. In our volunteer survey, 81% of respondents stated that they were white.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

In April 2024, 10.3% of colleagues shared that they are LGBQ+ on our HR system. This compares with 13% in the 2023 colleague engagement survey.

How senior pay is set

We set the pay and reward for senior colleagues by:

To make sure we’re doing everything possible to achieve our mission, there may be some flexibility on pay and reward to make sure our people have the skills we need. Our overall policy on pay and reward is agreed by the Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and People (EDIP) Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. This includes recommendations from the Chief Executive on the executive leadership team’s pay. The Committee also recommends to the Board of Trustees how much they think the Chief Executive should be paid.

In April 2023, we reviewed executive pay. We awarded pay increases in line with sector benchmarks.

These are the salaries that were paid to our executive leadership team:

Role Gross salary
for the year
ended 31
March 2024		 Employer
pension
contributions
in 2023/24
Total
financial
reward
Chief Executive £150,500 £0
£150,500
Executive Director of People £99,850 £5,991
£105,841
Executive Director of Strategy,Impact and Social Change £104,723 £6,284
£111,007
Executive Director of Retail and Communities £144,000 £0
£144,000
Chief Financial Officer £120,500 £4,820
£125,320
Executive Director of Services £110,559 £6,633
£117,192
Executive Director of Partnerships(part-year) £27,400 £526
£27,926
Executive Director of Fundraising £91,826 £1,321
£93,147
Executive Director of Digital and Marketing £103,125 £0
£103,125

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Environmental impact

We continue to consider and minimise the impact that we have on our environment. As part of this work, we’re sharing the measurements of our carbon footprint.

We consider this across 3 main areas:

In 2022/23, our total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were 957 tonnes. In 2023/24, we reduced this to 874 tonnes. This comes from:

We offset 66% (64% in 2022/23) of these emissions through a green energy contract.

In 2019/20, we set a target to reduce our emissions of CO2e by 2% for each square metre of floor area, each year. The intensity ratio of total emissions for each square metre of retail floor area for 2023/24 was 0.0340 (0.0373 in 2022/23). This is a 9% decrease compared to the previous year and a 28% decrease compared to 2019/20. The reasons for this decrease are the closure of some of our retail shops, and lower electricity use due to upgrading our lighting systems to LEDs. We have also noticed a reduction in company and private transportation use.

We want to reduce emissions by a further 2% in 2024/25.

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Principal risks and uncertainties

Overview

During the past year, we continued to use our risk management framework and statement of risk appetite. The risk management framework sets out the roles and responsibilities for risk management at Scope across all departments. It also sets out the approach to identify, manage, monitor and review risk, as well as how we communicate and learn from risk management activities.

The overall responsibility for the management and control of risk rests with the Board of Trustees. We also delegate some elements of the risk management process to our Audit and Risk Committee, executive leadership team, the leadership team and other colleagues.

The Audit and Risk Committee oversees the corporate assurance framework, the external audit and the annual programme of internal audit. The Committee takes the lead role on risk management oversight, regularly reviewing our corporate risk register and making sure the risk management framework works, as well as feeding back recommendations to the Board.

Certain external environmental factors are outside our control, for example:

The impact of these environmental factors is monitored quarterly at a minimum (and more actively, in times of significant impact). This will allow us to make a quick and agile response, mitigating impact and ensuring continuity.

We use a set of control systems within our corporate assurance framework, so everyone can feel confident we’re running our organisation and services effectively. Our internal auditors also systematically review our key activities and systems, prioritising areas of strategic risks, as well as following up on areas for improvement identified in previous years.

Our corporate risks

Our principal corporate risks are outlined below, with management actions to mitigate either the likelihood of the risk occurring or its possible impact.

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Strategic and environmental risks

  1. Failure to successfully transition to delivering our new strategy An Equal Future, under a new operating model, while continuing to effectively deliver business as usual.

  2. Failure to stay relevant to disabled people and supporters needs and be at the forefront of societal change.

Mitigation for risk 1 and 2:

Mitigation

28

Mitigation

Operational risks

  1. Safeguarding arrangements fail to promote well-being, protect staff, volunteers or beneficiaries from adverse incidents and enable effective handling and responses to allegations, resulting in reputational damage.

Mitigation

Mitigation

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diversity.

Mitigation

Mitigation

30

Legal and regulatory risks

  1. Non-compliance with disability legislation or other regulations (Charity Commission, fundraising and gambling regulations, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), employment law, health and safety, GDPR).

Mitigation

Financial risk management

During our day-to-day operations, we need to manage a variety of financial factors, such as credit and liquidity risks. We also need to manage the risk of the financial impact of any shortfall in net income compared to budget (see strategic risk 4). We use different control mechanisms to manage these.

Safeguarding of assets

Credit risk relates to the risk that another party fails to honour its financial obligations to us and, consequently, we suffer a monetary loss.

The value of our investment assets is exposed to the risk from volatility in global markets. Our investments of £26.1 million are managed by RLAM, an A-credit-rated organisation. RLAM’s investment performance and credit rating are overseen by our Finance Committee. Our main cash balances of £1 million are held in accounts managed by the NatWest Group. The credit rating of any bank is considered when reviewing credit risk. We do not engage in any transactions involving derivatives or working capital.

Liquidity risk is the risk of being unable to raise enough cash to meet our obligations when they fall due. We manage our liquidity risk by making sure we manage our cash flow effectively, tracking working capital and net current assets.

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Fraud is an inherent risk to all organisations and the risk of cyber fraud in the environment is increasing. We have controls in place to prevent and detect internal and external fraud as far as possible.

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Our structure, governance and management How Scope is constituted

We are led by our Board of Trustees, who serve as Directors under company law.

The Standing Orders of the Board of Scope set out the regulations for the conduct of the Board of Trustees and its Committees. The Memorandum and Articles of Association is the governing and prevailing document of the charity. In the case of any conflict between the provisions of the Standing Orders and the Articles of Association, the latter will prevail.

Scope is a registered charity (Charity Commission number 208231) and a private company limited by guarantee without share capital (Companies House number 520866). It operates throughout England and Wales and it was incorporated on 20 June 1953.

Scope and all its subsidiaries are registered at Scope, 2nd Floor, Here East Press Centre, 14 East Bay Lane, London, England, E15 2GW.

Methods used to recruit and appoint new charity trustees

The key constitutional provisions for the appointment of trustees are Articles 32 to 36.

These are:

  1. The number of trustees shall not be less than 9 nor more than 14 (which shall include the Chair).

  2. Apart from the Chair of the Board, who shall be appointed in accordance with Article 34, trustees shall be elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting, from people nominated for election by a committee. That committee is established by the Board, with delegated authority to make such nominations.

  3. The Chair of the Board shall be appointed by the Board at its first meeting following the Annual General Meeting in each year, after being nominated by a committee. That committee is established by the Board, with delegated authority to make such nominations. The Board may refuse any person so nominated, in which case that committee shall nominate another individual to act as chair. When they’re appointed, the chair shall (if they are not already a trustee) automatically become a trustee.

  4. The Board shall have power to co-opt any person to be a trustee, but the total number of trustees shall not exceed the number determined under Article 32. Any person so coopted shall only serve in office until the next Annual General Meeting. Then they may be reappointed by the members, if they’ve been nominated for election in accordance with Article 33.

  5. When they’re appointed as a trustee, a person shall automatically become a member and they shall sign the register accordingly.

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The Nominations and Governance Committee makes sure people who join the Board and its committees have the right skills, experience, values, and expertise. This is so they can govern to the high standards demanded by our beneficiaries, customers, partners and supporters. The Committee oversees the search for, and recruitment of, trustees and independent committee members. The Committee is a standing committee and reports to the Board.

The Committee has delegated authority to make nominations for the election of the chair, trustees and independent committee members.

Once a trustee is elected by the members, they can serve a three-year term. They can then serve a maximum of a further three years if they and the members agree.

Our trustees volunteer their time and do not receive any rewards or benefits. Any expenses reclaimed by trustees are disclosed in our financial statements.

Recruitment of trustees and independent committee members

We recognise the value of a diverse Board and committees, with a relevant blend of skills, experience and characteristics. To achieve this, we engage the services of recruitment consultants specialising in diverse boards. We also use specialist advertising platforms and harness the power of our networks.

By using wider and more inclusive methods of searching for new trustees and independent committee members, we can access a wider pool of applicants from a broad range of different social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. This leads to a greater diversity of perspectives.

Recruitment proposals consider the skills of the trustees and independent committee members, while seeking to address any gaps in existing skills, experience and diversity. Appointments are made subject to receipt of satisfactory references. Trustees are asked to sign an automatic disqualification declaration. Both trustees and independent committee members must also complete the declarations of interest forms each year and undergo enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

How we make decisions

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association says the Board “may make rules with respect to the carrying into effect of all or any of the purposes of the Company or all or any of the provisions of these Articles”.

The Board uses different governing documents to help it make the rules, including:

34

The chief executive is responsible for the operational management of Scope. They regularly report important matters and updates to the Board of Trustees.

Induction and support of trustees

The Standing Orders set out the policy about how to train and support trustees, analyse their skills and evaluate the Board. This includes conducting appraisals and induction training, as well as identifying their ongoing development and support needs.

We provide all trustees with a full induction once they start. The induction includes a detailed briefing on the legal roles of trustees and directors, our history, structure, mission and purpose. We support our trustees to make them feel welcome and help them to fulfil their roles and deliver impact.

As part of the role, trustees have the opportunity to visit our shops and services. They get time to meet colleagues and volunteers, gaining first-hand experience of what we do and how we do it.

6 months after they have been appointed, new trustees have an informal one-to-one meeting with the chair or deputy chair of the Board. This is an opportunity to identify any additional support they might need to fulfil their roles.

The Board of Trustees and its committees

Charities exist to fulfil their charitable purposes. Scope is governed by our Board of Trustees, who have a responsibility to understand the environment in which Scope operates. They help us to fulfil our purposes as effectively as possible with our available resources. The Board’s core role is to focus on strategy, performance and assurance.

The Board has established 5 standing committees to report on:

Each committee has approved terms of reference. Membership of all committees includes both members of the Board of Trustees and independent committee members. Independent committee members play an important governance role. Their contribution helps make sure advice and assurance through the committee structure is informed by the relevant expertise

35

and experience. The role is also designed to provide independent committee members with the opportunity to develop leadership skills, so they can be considered for a trustee role in the future, dependent on skills required by the Board to deliver our strategy.

Our independent committee members take part in the same comprehensive induction as our Trustees. They’re given the same level of support to help them fulfil their role and feel welcomed.

The Chair of each committee reports to the Board of Trustees at every board meeting. They share the most important activities their committee has taken and decisions they’ve made. The committees also give the Board their support and advice in their specific areas of expertise. They make sure the Board is fully equipped with knowledge, expertise and experience.

We have 5 Committees.

The Audit and Risk Committee, who oversee the corporate assurance framework, internal and external auditing and risk management.

The Finance Committee, who make sure we use our financial resources and assets appropriately, and review our financial position.

The EDIP Committee oversee, review and connect all policy and strategic matters about EDIP matters across the organisation. They do this so we can be the best example of social change.

The External Audiences Committee oversee how well we are engaging with and meeting the needs of our external audiences through our services, fundraising, campaigning, influencing, retail, community activities, and partnerships.

The Nominations and Governance Committee make sure the Board and Committees have the right skills to govern Scope and are responsible for the diversity of our Board. This committee assists the Board in overseeing the quality of our governance. They also support the Board with their legal and regulatory requirements. This includes charity law and guidance from the Charity Commission.

Scope Assemblies

Scope has 2 Assemblies:

The Assemblies give members the opportunity to hear news and updates, and give feedback on decisions and initiatives. These assemblies are elected by the membership to take members’ views to trustees and the executive leadership team.

As of 31 March 2024, there are 22 elected assembly representatives. 14 of these are in the Scope Assembly and 8 in the Young Members Assembly.

36

In 2022, the Board set out plans to relaunch and grow our membership to better engage members and attract more young members too. On 1 April 2023, we had 1,040 members. On 31 March, we increased this to 2,240 members. 175 of these members are aged 18 to 25 years old, which now represents 14% of our membership. This figure was 3% previously.

Our governance

We understand the importance of being accountable and transparent about our internal approach and governance processes. We’re committed to establishing and embedding best practice governance throughout Scope.

The Nominations and Governance Committee monitors delivery against the governance workplan and has overseen a skills and diversity audit. They also oversaw a full Board performance review, which they sourced an external consultant to do.

There are clear processes in place for annual and long term planning. This is supported by the Finance Committee, the investment review panel held by the executive leadership team and the scheme of delegated authority.

The executive leadership team monitors key supplier and contractual relationships to help ensure value for money and the effective management of risks. Our key supplier relationships are with our fundraising partners, technology service providers, property landlords, utility providers and waste collectors.

Fundraising governance

We fundraise to create an equal future with disabled people.

Our supporters help us in many ways. They volunteer, donate, fundraise, take part in our events, campaign, raise awareness and offer their expertise and skills.

Support from corporate partnerships, charitable trusts and high net worth individuals funds our innovative and evidence-based services. Financial investment and pro-bono support mean that we can increase our reach, amplify our voice and make even more of an impact on the lives of disabled people.

We have the highest standards of professional fundraising. We encourage our colleagues to join the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s training courses and special interest groups. We are registered with the Fundraising Regulator to make sure we’re respectful, open, honest and accountable in line with our organisational values. We’re open about how we raise and use public donations, and we’re transparent about the impact of these donations on the lives of disabled people and their families.

We take great care in choosing third party suppliers. We make sure our contracts specify they follow fundraising best practice and closely monitoring how they fundraise on our behalf. We mystery shop and shadow our agencies very regularly, so we’re confident they’re displaying the standards we expect of them.

37

We work hard to give our supporters the best possible experience of Scope. But we understand things can go wrong and we take all concerns and complaints seriously. We provide a complaints procedure through our website.

The number of complaints received about fundraising activities in 2023/24 was 195 (691 in 2022/23). Complaints were resolved satisfactorily through our internal processes. One complaint was escalated to the Fundraising Regulator, which was satisfied with how Scope handled the complaint and the issue was resolved. We saw a decrease in complaints this year, compared to last year, which we believe is the result of terminating arrangements with two fundraising agencies for whom we received the most complaints in 2022/23.

Our fundraising compliance and procedures are a priority. We’re reviewing and updating fundraising procedures in line with the Code of Practice and the requirements of Scope’s Gambling Commission license. This year, we will review our fundraising procedures using the guidance from the Charity Commission which is called CC20.

Directors’ and trustees’ indemnity

During the year, we had an indemnity insurance policy in place. This is in favour of our directors and trustees against liability in respect of proceedings brought by third parties, subject to the conditions set out in section 234 of the Companies Act 2006. This indemnity insurance policy is still in place, as of the date of approving the trustees’ report.

Our directors and trustees

During the year, unless noted otherwise, and at the time of signing the financial statements, the trustees in office are:

Chief Executive

Mark Hodgkinson

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Legal and administrative details

Independent auditors

Moore Kingston Smith LLP, 9 Appold Street, London, EC2A 2AP

Solicitors

Anthony Collins Solicitors, 76 King Street, Manchester, M2 4NH

Bankers

National Westminster Bank plc, City of London Office, Corporate Business Centre, PO Box 12263, 1 Princes Street, London, EC2R 8PH

Company secretary

Angela Archbold

Registered office

Scope and all subsidiaries are registered at Here East Press Centre, 14 East Bay Lane, London, E15 2GW

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Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also Directors of Scope for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report (including the Strategic report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Board of Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that same Law, the Board of Trustees has prepared the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards, comprising FRS 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’, and applicable Law (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charitable company and the group, and the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Board of Trustees is responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions, disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and the group, and enable them to make sure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.

They’re also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In so far as the Board of Trustees is aware:

40

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may be different from legislation in other jurisdictions.

The Trustees’ report and Strategic report were signed on behalf of the Trustees by:

Robin millar

Robin millar (Jul 24, 2024 15:20 GMT+1)

Sir Robin Millar CBE

Trustee Date: 24 July 2024

Mark Johnstone (Jul 24, 2024 15:11 GMT+1)

Mark Johnstone Trustee

41

Independent Auditor’s report to the Members of Scope

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Scope (‘the parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the ‘group’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the Group Statement of Financial Activities, the Group Summary Income and Expenditure Account, the Group and Parent Charitable Company Balance Sheets, the Group Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the 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.

42

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

Other information

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

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is 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 parent charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ annual report.

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

43

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on pages 40-41, the Trustees (who are also the Directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the group and 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 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

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 aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs (UK) we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also:

44

We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

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.

The objectives of our audit in respect of fraud, are; to identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud; to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud, through designing and implementing appropriate responses to those assessed risks; and to respond appropriately to instances of fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both management and those charged with governance of the charitable company.

Our approach was as follows:

45

2006, the Charities Act 2011, the Charity SORP, and UK financial reporting standards as issued by the Financial Reporting Council.

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above. We are less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations that are not closely related to events and transactions reflected in the financial statements. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters which 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 any party other than the charitable company and charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Moore Kingston Smith LLP

Moore Kingston Smith LLP (Jul 31, 2024 14:54 GMT+1)

Andrew Stickland (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Statutory Auditor

9 Appold Street

London, EC2A 2AP

Date: Jul 31, 2024

46

Group statement of financial activities

(Incorporating an income and expenditure account)

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Unrestricted Restricted
Total funds		 Unrestricted
Restricted		 Total funds
funds 2024 funds 2024
2024		 funds 2023
funds 2023		 2023
Note £000 £000
£000		 £000
£000		 £000
Income and endowments
from:
Donations and legacies 3 15,157 216
15,373		 11,743
833		 12,576
Other trading activities 4 24,024 –
24,024		 23,564
–		 23,564
Investments 5 995 –
995		 825
–		 825
Charitable activities:
Fees 928 393
1,321		 760
300		 1,060
Grants 6 308 1,380
1,688		 14
2,472		 2,486
Other income 7 3,770 –
3,770		 3,546
–		 3,546
Total income and
endowments 45,182 1,989
47,171		 40,452
3,605		 44,057
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 9 31,217 –
31,217		 32,527
–		 32,527
Charitable activities:
Community engagement 9 1,429 –
1,429		 1,531
2,103		 3,634
Employment services 9 1,674 840
2,514		 1,549
1,305		 2,854
Family services 9 1,622 237
1,859		 2,127
218		 2,345
Information and advice 9 4,157 1,078
5,235		 2,749
–		 2,749
Influencing and
campaigning 9 5,774 –
5,774		 6,563
–		 6,563
Strategic spend 9 565 –
565		 1,174
–		 1,174
Governance 9 145 –
145		 139
–		 139
Total expenditure 9 **46,584 ** 2,155 48,739 48,359 3,626 51,985
Net gains/(losses) on
investments 14 1,483 –
1,483		 (1,558) – (1,558)
Net income/(expenditure) **81 ** (166) (85) (9,465) (21) (9,486)
Transfers between funds 20 297 (297)
–		 86
(86)		 –
Actuarial (loss)/gain on
defined benefit pension
schemes 28 (172) –
(172)		 582
–		 582
Net movement in funds 206 (463)
(257)		 (8,797)
(107)		 (8,904)
Fund balances brought
forward at 1 April 33,302 1,405
34,707		 42,099
1,512		 43,611
Fund balances carried
forward at 31 March 33,508 942
34,450		 33,302
1,405		 34,707

There were no gains or losses during the year, except those included above as part of the statement of financial activities.

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Group and parent charitable company balance sheets

As at 31 March 2024

Group Group Charity Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
Note £000 £000 £000 £000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 12 562 857 562 857
Tangible assets 13 3,783 2,289 3,783 2,289
Investments 14 26,136 30,570 26,136 30,570
Total fixed assets **30,481 ** 33,716 **30,481 ** 33,716
Current assets
Stocks 453 381 – –
Debtors 16 9,294 6,814 9,273 6,800
Cash at bank and in hand 1,026 290 1,026 176
Total current assets 10,773 7,485 10,299 6,976
Creditors:amountsfalling duewithinone year 17 (3,439) (3,588) (3,599) (3,577)
Net current assets 7,334 3,897 6,700 3,399
Total assets less current liabilities 37,815 37,613 37,181 37,115
Provision for liabilities and charges 19 (2,789) (2,906) (2,789) (2,906)
FRS102 Pension liability 28 (576) – (576) –
Net assets 34,450 **34,707 ** 33,816 34,209
Funds
Restricted funds 20 942 1,405 942 1,405
Unrestricted funds 20 24,508 26,102 23,874 25,604
Designated funds, strategic investment 20 2,500 700 2,500 700
Designatedfunds, pension 20 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500
Total funds 34,450 34,707 33,816 34,209

As permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, and FRS 102, no separate

statement of financial activities is presented for the parent charity.

The notes on pages 50 to 73 form part of these financial statements.

The financial statements on pages 47 to 73 were approved by the Board of Trustees on 24 July 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Robin millar

Robin millar (Jul 24, 2024 15:20 GMT+1)

Mark Johnstone (Jul 24, 2024 15:11 GMT+1)

Sir Robin Millar CBE Trustee

Mark Johnstone Trustee

Company number: 520866

48

Group cash flow statement

For the year ended 31 March 2024

Group Group
2024 2023
£000 £000
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash used in operating activities (4,089) (8,487)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Investment income received 995 825
Purchase of tangible and intangible fixed assets (2,087) (1,658)
Sale of tangible and intangible fixed – –
Purchase of fixed asset investments (183) –
Sale of fixed assetinvestments 6,100 8,057
Net cash from investing activities 4,825 7,224
Change in cash and cash equivalents 736 (1,263)
Cash brought forward at 1 April 290 1,553
Cash carried forward at 31 March 1,026 290

Note to group cash flow statement

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

Group Group
2024
2023
£000 £000
Net movement in funds for the reporting period (257)
(8,904)
Adjustments for:
Net (gains) or losses on investments (1,483)
1,558
Investment income received (995)
(825)
Depreciation and amortisation charges 879
638
Loss on sale of tangible fixed assets 9
34
Increase in stock (72)
(204)
Increase in debtors (2,480)
(487)
Decrease in creditors (149)
(42)
Increase/(decrease) in provisions for liabilities and charges (117)
(255)
Increase in FRS 102 pension liability 576
–
Net cash used inoperating activities (4,089) (8,487)

49

Notes to the financial statements

1. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements are prepared in line with:

The group accounting policies adopted by the Board of Trustees are applied consistently year on year. They are described below.

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis. The historical cost convention is used, except for the revaluation of investments.

The charity has applied the exemption from preparing a cash flow statement under FRS 102. The charity cash flows are consolidated in the group financial statements. The charity is a public benefit entity.

Going concern

The Trustees have considered the financial position of the charity. This includes cash, reserves, investment levels, future trading forecasts and, in particular, the ongoing impact of cost inflation on the activities and financial results of the charity. Having considered the risks and uncertainties, they have concluded the charity is able to meet its liabilities as they fall due. And for at least 12 months from the date of this report. It remains appropriate to prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis.

Basis of consolidation

The consolidated group financial statements include the financial statements of Scope and its subsidiary undertakings on a line-by-line basis. The charity’s total incoming resources were £45.8 million (£43 million in 2022/23). The charity’s total expenditure was £47 million (compared to £50.8 million in 2022/23).

The charity’s net movement in funds also include:

50

There were no other recognised gains or losses attributable to the charity.

As allowed by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and FRS 102, no statement of financial activities is presented for the parent charity.

Incoming resources

We recognise all income in the statement of financial activities when:

The following accounting policies are applied to income:

Donations including events and individual giving

As a public benefit entity, we receive various donations as non-exchange transactions.

We include general donations and donations from fundraising events in income on receipt. The Gift Aid we’re entitled to but had not received at the end of the financial year is included in incoming resources, and shown as a debtor in the balance sheet.

We recognise income from fundraising events on delivery of the event.

Individual giving, face to face fundraising

We recognise regular donations from individuals on receipt. Income is recognised gross. We record any fees charged for fundraising, including by a third party, as a fundraising expense.

Legacies

We recognise legacy income when we can reliably measure the amount receivable and when it’s probable we’ll receive it.

Receipt is typically probable when:

When the legacy amount due to Scope is uncertain, we disclose the legacy as a contingent asset. For example, if the interest of the charity in a pecuniary or residuary legacy cannot be measured reliably.

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Restricted donations including corporate donations

Donations are restricted when donors apply specific conditions on how we can use the funds. We recognise restricted donations when the conditions for entitlement are within our control or have been met.

Donations in kind

Donations in kind (including work undertaken without charge) are recognised at their value to Scope when received. We include an equal amount in the appropriate category of expenditure.

The financial statements do not include volunteer time as this cannot be reliably estimated.

Retail income

We recognise retail income, including sales of donated goods in our shops, when the sale takes place. We accrue estimated associated Gift Aid at the point of sale. Once we have consent, we recognise the income claimed from HMRC and reverse the accrual.

Bought-in goods income

We recognise bought-in goods income at the point of sale.

Investment income

We recognise investment income when receivable.

Fees for services

We recognise fees once we’ve provided the services. We defer income received in advance until we provide the service.

Grants receivable including Government grants

We recognise grants when the conditions for entitlement are met. Evidence of entitlement typically exists when we receive the formal offer of funding. Where terms or conditions must be met before we have entitlement to the resources, the income is deferred. It is also included in creditors until any terms and conditions, outside of our control, have been met.

Grant funding agreements may contain performance conditions. For example, payments are linked to the achievement of a particular level of service or the units of output delivered. In these circumstances, we recognise income when the performance related conditions have been met.

Conditions may specify the period over which the expenditure of resources can take place. This may limit our ability to spend the grant until we perform the activity related to the specified period. In these circumstances, we recognise income over the period specified.

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Other income from other charitable activities

Other income includes income for rent receivable, sponsorship and other incoming resources from charitable activities. We recognise income when the related activity happens. We recognise rent receivable over the rental period.

Profit and loss on sale of asset

The net book value of the asset being disposed is allocated to the associated receipt. If the receipt is more than the net book value, we recognise the profit as income. If the net book value is more than the receipt, we recognise the loss as reduced income.

Resources expended

All resources expended have been accounted for on an accruals basis. Irrecoverable Value Added Tax (VAT) is included with the expense item to which it relates.

Charitable expenditure

This includes all expenditure directly related to the delivery of our mission.

Support costs

Our support costs include the costs of colleagues, rent and other operational costs. All costs are allocated between the costs of raising income, activities in furtherance of the charity’s objects and other costs. Most costs we incur are directly attributable to individual activities. Where costs are not directly attributable to activities, they are apportioned on an appropriate basis (see note 9).

Grants payable

Grants payable are recognised in the statement of financial activities when the conditions within Scope’s control for disbursement have been met. Grants paid before the conditions have been met are deferred and included in debtors at the end of the financial year.

Intangible fixed assets

Intangible assets are stated in the balance sheet at cost less accumulated amortisation. Amortisation is charged evenly over the estimated useful lives of the assets at the following rates:

Tangible fixed assets

Freehold properties and other tangible assets are stated in the balance sheet at cost, or the fair value at the date of receipt (if donated) less accumulated depreciation.

Depreciation is charged evenly over the estimated useful lives of the assets at the following rates:

53

Gains or losses from the disposal of tangible fixed assets are recognised in other income.

Asset impairment

At each reporting date, fixed assets are reviewed to assess whether they have suffered impairment. The recoverable amount of any affected asset is estimated and compared with its net book value.

If the estimated recoverable amount is lower, the net book value is reduced to its estimated recoverable amount and an impairment loss is recognised immediately in the statement of financial activities.

Funds

Restricted funds

Restricted funds are the unspent balances on grants, donations and legacies received from donors who stated that they must be used for specific purposes.

Unrestricted funds

Funds that can be spent at the discretion of the Board of Trustees to help fulfil our objectives. These funds may be held to finance working capital and strategic investment.

Designated funds

Funds that have been set aside at the discretion of the Board of Trustees for specific purposes. They would otherwise form part of the general unrestricted funds.

Financial assets and liabilities

Investments are stated at fair value. Net gains and losses that have resulted from both changes in holdings and in their fair value are shown in the appropriate section of the statement of financial activities.

54

Debtors and creditors treated as financial assets and liabilities (notes 16 to 19) are measured at transaction price, less any impairment. Cash balances are stated at present value.

Leases

Operating lease costs are charged directly in the period to which they relate.

Stocks

Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. They are valued using the weighted average method. Stock is reviewed regularly throughout the year with a provision made for stock that is unlikely to be sold. Stocks of unsold donated goods are not valued for balance sheet purposes because their cost is nil, and their value is uncertain until sold.

Pension costs

The statement of financial activities includes:

We participate in a defined contribution scheme. Contributions to the scheme are recognised in the period they become payable.

Pension costs, other than finance charges and actuarial gains or losses (note 28), are allocated to expenditure by charitable activity in line with other salary costs.

Irrecoverable VAT

Any irrecoverable VAT is charged to the statement of financial activities or capitalised as part of the cost of the related asset, where appropriate.

55

2. Critical accounting judgements and estimation

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated. They are based on historical experience and other factors, including reasonable expectations of future events.

Provision is made for retirement obligations, stock obsolescence and dilapidations on leased properties. These provisions need management’s best estimate of the costs that will be incurred, based on legislative and contractual requirements.

Management considers whether fixed assets are impaired. Where an indication of impairment is identified, the recoverable value of those assets requires the estimation of the future cash contribution that can be realised from those assets.

Contingent assets

Legacy income, where confirmation of the amount has not been received at the balance sheet date, has not been included in incoming resources. The value of these legacies is estimated as £1,480,000. This figure was £1,061,000 in 2022/23.

3. Donations and legacies

Group Group
2024
2023
£000 £000
Individual giving 7,397
7,657
Events fundraising 387
420
Philanthropy and corporate partnerships 349
547
Trusts 94
162
Donations in kind* 1,175
129
Donations and gifts excluding legacies 9,402
8,915
Legacies 5,971
3,661
Total donations and gifts 15,373 12,576

*Donations in kind refers to professional services and media assets received by Scope, supporting charitable and strategic activities.

4. Other trading activities

Group Group
2024 2023
£000 £000
Gift Aid 1,253 1,267
Sale of donated and bought-in goods 22,326 21,813
Donations in shops 293 278
Raffles in shops 110 145
Other income 42 61
Total other trading activities 24,024 **23,564 **

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5. Income from investments

Group Group
2024 2023
£000 £000
Income from listed investments 995 825

6. Grants receivable

Unrestricted Restricted
2024		 2023
funds funds
total		 total
£000 £000
£000		 £000
Working on Wellbeing – 706
706		 662
Total Government grants – 706 706 **662 **
Charities Aid Foundation – –
–		 1,500
Energy Saving Trust – 267
267		 117
British Gas Energy Trust – 149
149		 38
People’s Postcode Lottery 300 –
300		 –
National Lottery – Cost of Living Crisis – 75
75		 –
Othergrants<£50,000 8 183 191 169
Total other grants 308 674
982		 1,824
Total grants receivable 308 1,380 1,688 2,486

At the balance sheet date, there were no unfulfilled conditions for any of the Government grants above.

7. Other income

Group Group
2024 2023
£000 £000
Lottery and raffles 3,215 3,241
Other income 564 339
Loss on sale of tangible fixed assets (9) (34)
Total other income 3,770 3,546

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8. Subsidiaries’ income and costs

The income and costs of Scope Central Trading Limited:

2024 2023
total total
£000 £000
Turnover 1,399 1,061
Cost of sales (764) (563)
Gross profit 635 498
Administration and other costs – –
Other operating income – –
Operating profit/(loss) 635 498
Taxation – –
Net income 635 498

Income and expenditure reported by the subsidiaries has been included in the appropriate sections in the statement of financial activities, under the relevant department.

At 31 March 2024, Scope Central Trading Limited had £634,406 net assets. In 2022/23, this figure was £497,591. This year’s figures includes assets of £648,970 (compared to £532,541 in 2022/23) and liabilities of £14,564 (compared to £34,950 in 2022/23).

Scope holds 100% of the share capital of Scope Central Trading Limited. You can read more about this in note 15.

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9. Analysis of total expenditure and support costs

Activities
undertaken Support
2024		 2023
directly costs
total		 total
The Group £000 £000
£000		 £000
Cost of raising funds:
Cost of raising donations and legacies 4,784 1,692
6,476		 8,822
Cost of trading activities 21,162 3,579
24,741		 23,705
Total cost of raising funds 25,946 5,271
31,217		 32,527
Charitable activities
Community engagement 1,228 201
1,429		 3,634
Employment services 1,995 519
2,514		 2,854
Family services 1,187 672
1,859		 2,345
Information and advice 4,694 541
5,235		 2,749
Influencing and campaigning 5,092 683
5,775		 6,563
Strategic spend 532 33
565		 1,174
Governance 145 – 145 139
Total cost of charitable activities 14,873 2,649
17,522		 19,458
Total expenditure 40,819 7,920
48,739		 51,985
Total expenditure excluding cost of trading activities **19,654 ** 4,174
23,828		 28,280
Management,
HR and

Finance
and

Technology		 Property
and		 2024 2023 2023
communications
purchasing
services		 facilities total total
Support costs £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Cost of raising funds
Cost of raising donations and legacies 509 392
456		 335 1,692 1,934
Cost oftrading activities 1,077 828
965		 709 3,579 3,480
1,586 1,220
1,421		 1,044 5,271 5,414
Charitable activities
Community engagement 61 46
54		 40 201 292
Employment services 156 120
140		 103 519 555
Family services 202 156
181		 133 672 671
Information and advice 163 125
146		 107 541 483
Influencing and campaigning 206 158
184		 135 683 593
Strategic spend 9 8
9		 7 33 97
Total support costs, charitable
activities 797 613 714 525 2,649 **2,691 **
Total support costs for 2024 2,383 1,833
2,135		 1,569 7,920 8,105
Total support costs for 2023 2,745 2,047
1,574		 1,739

Every year, we review the basis of support cost allocation to make sure it’s reasonable and fairly reflects the nature of the costs as well as how they’re incurred. The allocation basis is:

59

10. Net income/expenditure

Net income/expenditure for the year is stated after charging:

Group Group
2024 2023
£000 £000
Auditors’ remuneration:
Audit of these financial statements 58 56
Audit of the charity’s subsidiaries 5 5
Non-audit fees* 3 3
Loss on sale of tangible assets:
Loss on the sale of fixed assets 9 34
Depreciation of intangible and tangible fixed assets:
Owned assets 879 638
Net pension finance cost (172) 582
Operating lease rentals:
Equipment 194 201
Property 4,233 4,561
Motor vehicles 277 204

*Non-audit fees refers to tax advice.

11. Information regarding employees and trustees

Group Group
2024 2023
£000 £000
Wages and salaries 22,470 21,607
Social security costs 1,930 1,911
Otherpensioncosts 564 510
Payroll and staff related costs excluding third parties 24,964 24,028
Payments made to independent third parties for the provision of staff 339 405
Total payroll and staff related costs 25,303 24,433

The table above does not include redundancy payments of £23,636 (compared to £50,864 in 2022/23) and ex-gratia (goodwill) payments of £43,037 (compared to £49,042 in 2022/23). Ex-gratia payments were made as part of settlement agreements with former employees at the time of leaving and were fully paid in the year. These payments are managed through our people team in line with approved policy and procedure. They are authorised in accordance with the Scheme of Delegated Authority based on the size of payment.

Payments made to independent third parties for the provision of staff includes costs to cover vacancies which are pending recruitment, cover for short term sickness and certain projects.

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2024
2023
Raising donations and legacies 37
40
Trading activities 505
486
Community engagement 15
14
Employment services 45
47
Family services 81
79
Information and advice 34
39
Influencing and campaigning 58
50
Strategic spend 1
5
Support costs 63
69
Governance 3 3
Average number of employees during theyear 842
832

The average full-time equivalent headcount was 713 (compared to 710 in 2022/23). This excludes hourly paid casual workers, as the hours they work can vary.

The number of senior colleagues whose salary exceeded £60,000 is below. This salary includes taxable benefits in kind and redundancy payments, but not employer pension costs.

2024 2023
Number **Number **
£60,000 – £70,000 17 11
£70,001 – £80,000 8 6
£80,001 – £90,000 1 1
£90,001 – £100,000 2 3
£100,001 – £110,000 2 2
£110,001 – £120,000 1 1
£120,001 – £130,000 1 –
£130,001 – £140,000 – –
£140,001 – £150,000 1 2
£150,001–£160,000 1 –
Total colleagues earning over £60,000 34 26

We operate an auto enrolment defined contribution scheme as our main pension plan.

29 senior colleagues are accruing retirement benefits from the defined contribution scheme. This figure was 23 in 2022/23.

Contributions paid for the year, including salary sacrifice amounts, in respect of senior colleagues included in the table above for all schemes amounted to £218,552 (compared to £151,578 in 2022/23).

The executive leadership team who have authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the group are considered to be key management personnel.

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In 2023/24, their total remuneration was £1,094,846. This includes £952,483 for salaries, £116,788 for employer national insurance contributions and £25,575 for employer pension contributions.

In 2022/23, their total remuneration was £991,555. This includes £863,536 for salaries, £111,548 for employer national insurance contributions and £16,471 for employer pension contributions.

In 2023/24, we have not given any trustees or person closely related or connected to them any remuneration or other benefits. Other than as a beneficiary on non-preferential terms (same as 2022/23). During the year, we reimbursed £670 for travel, subsistence and accommodation expenses to 4 Trustees. This was £852 to 4 Trustees in 2022/23.

12. Intangible fixed assets for use by the group and charity

Software development Total
Group and charity £000 £000
Cost
At 1 April 2023 986 986
Additions 16 16
Cost adjustment (75) (75)
Disposals – –
At 31 March 2024 927 927
Accumulated amortisation
At 1 April 2023 129 129
Charge for the year 236 236
Disposals – –
At 31 March 2024 365 365
Net book value
At 1 April 2023 857 857
At 31 March 2024 562 **562 **

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13. Tangible fixed assets for use by the group and charity

Freehold and Fixtures,
leasehold equipment and
property computers
Total
Group and charity £000 £000
£000
Cost
At 1 April 2023 5,451 8,859
14,310
Additions 1,370 776
2,146
Disposals (977) (770)
(1,747)
At 31 March 2024 5,844 8,865
14,709
Accumulated depreciation
At 1 April 2023 4,822 7,199
12,021
Charge for the year 198 445
643
Disposals (973) (765)
(1,738)
At 31 March 2024 4,047 6,879 10,926
Net book value
At 1 April 2023 629 1,660
2,289
At 31 March 2024 1,797 1,986
3,783

We have not adopted a policy of revaluing our properties. The carrying amount of our tangible fixed assets is held at the depreciated cost.

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14. Investments

Group Group Charity Charity
2024
2023
2024		 2023
£000
£000
£000		 £000
Financial investments 26,136
30,570
26,136		 30,570
Total investments 26,136
30,570
26,136		 30,570
Group and Group and
charity charity
2024 2023
£000 £000
Total financial investments:
Market value at 1 April 30,570 40,185
Additions at cost 183 –
Sale of fixed asset investments (6,100) (8,057)
Net investment unrealised gains/(losses) 1,483 (1,558)
**Market value at 31 March ** 26,136 30,570
Investments comprise the following:
Investments listed on a UK stock exchange
Fixed interest 7,950 7,648
Equities 10,066 9,625
Other UK investments
Cash deposits held as part of investment portfolio 7,937 13,297
Growth InvestmentFund 183 –
**Market value at 31 March ** 26,136 30,570

Financial investments are measured at fair value through income and expenditure.

The equity holdings are held as a proportion of a fund rather than direct share holdings. No single equity investment exceeds 5%. The trustees consider the value of the investments to be supported by their underlying assets.

There is no difference between fair value and market value as the investments are either fixed interest, equities or cash deposits. Market valuation shows the fair value for these assets.

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15. Subsidiaries

Results for the subsidiaries listed below are included in the group balances of these accounts.

Country of Authorised and
registration issued share
Subsidiary undertaking and/or operation Principal activities capital
Scope Central Trading Limited England and Wales Purchase of general £100
100% direct holding merchandise, the distribution and
(Company no. 1108300) sale of clothing and gifts and
sales ofgreetingcards
Scope Pension Scheme Trustee Limited* England and Wales Dormant £100. £2 issued and
100% direct holding fully paid
(Company no. 01814430)
Scope (IP) Limited England and Wales Dormant £1
(Companyno. 11774613)

*Entitled to audit exemption by virtue of section 480 of the Companies Act 2006, as dormant companies.

16. Debtors

Group Group Charity Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£000 £000 £000 £000
Trade debtors* 152 172 149 172
Gift Aid recoverable* 600 637 600 637
Staff loans* 6 1 6 1
Other debtors* 1,139 1,325 1,121 1,311
Accrued income 5,835 2,978 5,835 2,978
Prepayments 1,562 1,701 1,562 1,701
9,294 6,814 9,273 6,800

*Financial assets measured at amortised cost.

Trade debtors are shown net of a £nil provision. This is the same as 2022/23.

Staff loans of £5,562 are to be repaid on leaving Scope or when the individual’s employment changes. In 2022/23, this figure was £1,100.

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17. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Group Group Charity Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£000 £000 £000 £000
Trade creditors* 675 824 673 817
Taxation and social security* 444 460 444 460
Amounts owed to group undertakings* – – 166 7
Other creditors* 181 161 181 161
Accruals 2,139 2,072 2,135 2,061
Deferred income (note 18) – 71 – 71
3,439 3,588 3,599 3,577

*Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost.

Amounts owing in respect of pension schemes at 31 March 2024 included above are £114,331. In 2022/23, this figure was £110,419.

18. Deferred income

Balance 31 Balance 31
March Release to
Deferred in		 March
2023 income
current year		 2024
£000 £000
£000		 £000
Group and charity:
Income in advance of service delivery 71 (71)
–		 –
71 (71)
–		 –

19. Provisions for liabilities and charges

Balance 31 Charged to Balance 31
March income and March
2023 expenditure
Utilised		 2024
£000 £000
£000		 £000
Group and charity:
Provisions for dilapidations 1,929 91
(111)		 1,909
Provision for rent freeperiods 977 95 (192) 880
2,906 186 (303) 2,789

We are obliged to return buildings to their original condition, removing any alterations, on certain leased properties. This includes repairing wear and tear. The cost is charged to the statement of financial activities as they arise. The provision is expected to be used as the leases terminate.

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20. Funds

Balance 31 Expenditure, Balance 31
March
Incoming
gains and		 March
2023
resources
losses		 Transfers 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Group
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted funds, general 26,102
45,182
(44,708)		 (2,068) 24,508
Designated funds, strategic investment** 700
–
(565)		 2,365 2,500
Designated funds, pension 6,500
–
–		 – 6,500
Restricted funds
Restricted funds 1,395
1,989
(2,155)		 (297) 932
Permanent endowment 10 –
–		 – 10
Total funds 34,707
47,171
(47,428)		 – 34,450
Balance 31 Expenditure, Balance 31
March
Incoming
gains and		 March
2023
resources
losses
Transfers		 2024
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Charity
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted funds, general 25,604
43,783
(43,445)
(2,068)		 23,874
Designated funds, strategic investment** 700
–
(565)
2,365		 2,500
Designated funds, pension 6,500
–
–
–		 6,500
Restricted funds
Restricted funds* 1,395
1,989
(2,155)
(297)		 932
Permanent endowment 10
–		 – – 10
Total funds 34,209 45,772
(46,165)		 – 33,816

*Transfer reflects corrections for restricted costs not previously allocated to the fund.

**Designated funds for strategic investment are planned to be spent in the next year.

Restricted funds are mostly restricted grants (see note 6) and restricted donations (see note 3). These are all accounted for in line with the limitations placed on each fund.

A designated fund of £6.5 million (£6.5 million in 2022/23) is in place as security for the Scope Pension Scheme.

A designated fund of £2.5 million (£0.7 million in 2022/23) is held for planned strategic investment in the next year. We’ll designate further funds as we develop and authorise detailed investment business cases to deliver our new 10-year strategy.

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21. Analysis of assets and liabilities between funds

Restricted
Designated		 Designated Unrestricted
funds
strategic		 pension funds Total 2024
£000
£000		 £000 £000 £000
Group
Fixed assets – 2,500 6,500 21,481 30,481
Current assets 942
–		 – 9,831 10,773
Current liabilities – – – (3,439) (3,439)
Net current assets 942
–		 – 6,392 7,334
Provisions for liabilities and charges –
–		 – (2,789) (2,789)
FRS 102 pension liability – – – (576) (576)
Net assets 942
2,500		 6,500 24,508 34,450
Restricted
Designated		 Designated Unrestricted
funds
strategic		 pension funds Total 2024
£000
£000		 £000 £000 £000
Charity
Fixed assets –
2,500		 6,500 21,481 **30,481 **
Current assets 942
–		 – 9,357 10,299
Current liabilities – – – (3,599) (3,599)
Net current assets 942
–		 – 5,758 6,700
Provisions for liabilities and charges – – – (2,789) (2,789)
FRS 102 pension liability – – – (576) (576)
Net assets 942
2,500		 6,500 23,874 33,816

22. Free reserves

Group Group
2024 2023
£000 £000
Net assets 34,450 34,707
Less
Restricted funds (942) (1,405)
Designated funds (2,500) (700)
Investments held for defined benefit pension (6,500) (6,500)
Amount represented bytangible and intangible fixed assets (4,345) (3,146)
Free reserves of group 20,163 22,956
Freereserves ofcharity 19,529 22,458

Free reserves include minimum retained free reserves of £18 million (£18 million in 2023) and available free reserves of £2.2 million (£5 million in 2023). In line with our reserves policy (pages 18 to 19).

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23. Operating lease commitments

Vehicles Vehicles
Land and Land and and and
buildings buildings equipment equipment
2024 2023 2024 2023
Group £000 £000 £000 £000
Leases which expire:
Within one year 3,333 3,138 1,054 328
Within two to five years 8,860 7,122 2,596 –
After five years 4,520 3,340 – –
16,713 13,600 3,650 328

24. Taxation

As a registered charity, Scope is exempt from taxation under Part 11, Chapter 3 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010. Any taxation liabilities of the group are managed through the policy of the trading subsidiary company to gift all taxable profits to Scope. During the year ended 31 March 2024 no charge to tax has been incurred.

25. Members

The charity is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee having no share capital. In accordance with the Memorandum of Association, each one of the 2,240 Members, (compared to 1,040 in 2022/23), is liable to contribute £5 if the company is wound up.

26. Related party disclosures

During the year ended 31 March 2024, the group had the following related party transactions.

Scope has been a Charity Partner of Deloitte since 2019/20. Zeinab Chaudhury, Scope Trustee, is a consultant at Deloitte. The relationship is managed by a different Deloitte partner and Zeinab is not part of the team working with Scope. In 2023/24 we received donations of £62,000 and £154,000 as donations in kind through consultancy services and laptops from Deloitte (note 3).

We’re contracted with BT plc as a strategic technology partner to provide Internet connectivity, telephony, and Wi-Fi access. Simon Godfrey, Scope trustee, is a Board member. During the year we completed most of the migration from our previous supplier. We recognised assets of £723,000 and costs of £131,000 for implementation and services received.

We bought £725 of goods to sell in our shops from Camphill Village Trust. Katie Stevens, trustee, is a trustee at this Trust.

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During the year ended 31 March 2024, the following transactions occurred between the companies within the group:

27. Ultimate parent undertaking and controlling party

There is no immediate or ultimate parent undertaking or controlling party .

Scope is the parent undertaking of the smallest and largest group of undertakings to consolidate these financial statements. The consolidated financial statements of Scope are available from Here East Press Centre, 14 East Bay Lane, London, E15 2GW.

28. Pension scheme

Scope operates the following pension schemes.

Additional details are provided for the primary schemes as follows:

A. Scope pension scheme

We operate a defined benefit pension scheme, the Scope pension scheme. The scheme funds are administered by trustees and are independent of Scope’s finances.

Contributions are paid to the scheme in line with the schedule of contributions agreed between the trustees and Scope.

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The results of the actuarial valuation at 31 December 2023 were updated to the scheme’s accounting date by an independent qualified actuary. The value of the defined benefit liabilities has been measured using the projected unit method.

Under FRS 102, any pension asset that can be recognised on the balance sheet is limited to nil as Scope does not have an unconditional right to a refund as per the Trust Deed and consultation with our actuaries. The impact of this limit on the balance sheet for the year ended 31 March 2023is shown in the figures below. Also shown below are the actuarial gains and losses.

31 March
31 March		 31 March
31 March		 31 March
Assumptions 2024
2023		 2022
2021		 2020
RPI inflation (per annum) 3.3%
3.5%		 3.9%
3.4%		 2.7%
CPI inflation (per annum) 2.4%
2.5%		 2.9%
2.4%		 1.9%
Discount rate (per annum) 4.8%
4.8%		 2.8%
2.0%		 2.5%
Pension increases (RPI 3% per annum minimum,
5%per annum maximum) 3.7%
3.8%		 3.9%
3.7%		 3.5%

Based on the assumptions used for life expectancy, a male pensioner currently aged 65 would be expected to live for a further 21.3 years (22 years 2022/23). A female pensioner aged 65 would be expected to live a further 23.9 years (24 years 2022/23). An allowance is made for future improvements in life expectancy.

Asset distribution and expected return:

31 March 31 March 31 March 31 March
2024 2024 2023 2023
Current Fair value
Current		 Fair value
allocation £000
allocation		 £000
Liability driven investments 24% 16,443
28%		 21,367
Diversified growth funds 13% 8,788
11%		 8,075
Corporate bonds 18% 12,701
18%		 13,191
Multi-asset credit 4% 3,029
7%		 5,083
Cash 5% 3,622
1%		 832
Insured pensions 36% 25,240 35% 26,002
Total 100% 69,823 100% 74,550
31 March 31 March
2024 2023
Balance sheet £000 £000
Present value of Scheme liabilities 70,399 71,914
Total fair value of Scheme assets (69,823) (74,550)
Loss/(surplus) 576 (2,636)
Adjustment to reflect asset limit – 2,636
Pension liability 576 –

Under FRS 102, the scheme is represented on the balance sheet at 31 March 2024 as a £576,000 liability. In 2022/23 this was a £nil asset as the pension scheme was in surplus and Scope does not have an unconditional right to a refund as per the Trust Deed and consultation with our actuaries.

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The following amounts have been included as resources expended under FRS 102.

31 March 31 March
2024 2023
£000 £000
Running costs 404 582
Past service cost – –
Net return to charge to finance income 404 582

The following amounts have been recorded under the ‘actuarial gains and losses on pension scheme assets and liabilities’ heading within the statement of financial activities.

At 31 March At 31 March
2024 2023
£000 £000
Remeasurements 2,935 8,504
Change in asset limit other than interest (2,763) (9,086)
Actuarial losses/(gains) recognised 172 (582)
Changes in the present value of the scheme liabilities:
31 March 31 March
2024 2023
£000 £000
Opening present value of scheme liabilities 71,914 95,928
Interest on scheme liabilities 3,357 2,631
Past service cost – –
Actuarial (gain)/loss (854) (22,663)
Benefits paid (4,018) (3,982)
Closing present value of scheme liabilities 70,399 71,914
Changes in the fair value of the scheme assets:
At 31 March At 31 March
2024 2023
£000 £000
Opening fair value of the scheme assets 74,550 107,331
Interest on scheme assets 3,483 2,950
Actual return on scheme assets less interest on scheme assets (3,783) (31,167)
Contributions by the employer – –
Running costs (404) (582)
Benefits paid (4,018) (3,982)
Closing fair value of the scheme assets 69,823 74,550

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Changes in the net balance sheet position:

31 March 31 March
2024 2023
£000 £000
Opening net asset – –
Return to charge to finance income 404 582
Actuarial losses/(gains) recognised 172 (582)
Employercontributions – –
Closing net liability 576 –

Changes in the impact of the asset ceiling:

31 March 31 March
2024 2023
£000 £000
Effect of asset ceiling at the start of the year 2,636 11,403
Interest on asset limit 127 319
Change in asset limit other than interest (2,763) (9,086)
Pension asset – 2,636

B. Group personal pension plan

Members may contribute as much as they want to the group personal pension plan, subject to HMRC rules.

We provide employers’ contributions to the group personal pension plan, in line with legislation and based on contributions matched by the employee. The following table illustrates the contribution rates payable. Employees can also receive enhanced contributions based on their length of service.

Membership eligibility Scope contribution %
Employee contribution %
Basic 3% of qualifying earnings
5% of qualifying earnings
Upgrade after 2 years’ service 4% of total earnings
Employee must match the
employer % contribution
Upgrade after 4 years’ service 6% of total earnings
Employee must match the
employer % contribution

We deduct employee contributions on a salary exchange basis approved by HMRC. Details of the pension plan are provided to employees under the rules of auto-enrolment, or on request.

Scope made payments to the group personal pension plan including salary sacrifice which amounted to £1,424,656. In 2022/23, this figure was £1,301,296.

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2024-07-31

ARA YE 31.03.24 - FINAL

Final Audit Report

Created: 2024-07-24 By: Kate Harrison (kate.harrison@scope.org.uk) Status: Signed Transaction ID: CBJCHBCAABAApCI6MSmSEEjFDwhgZdHQTnGxW8bIACjI

"ARA YE 31.03.24 - FINAL" History

Document created by Kate Harrison (kate.harrison@scope.org.uk) 2024-07-24 - 2:06:22 PM GMT

Document emailed to mark.johnstone@scope.org.uk for signature

2024-07-24 - 2:09:42 PM GMT

Email viewed by mark.johnstone@scope.org.uk

2024-07-24 - 2:09:51 PM GMT

Signer mark.johnstone@scope.org.uk entered name at signing as Mark Johnstone 2024-07-24 - 2:11:21 PM GMT

Document e-signed by Mark Johnstone (mark.johnstone@scope.org.uk) Signature Date: 2024-07-24 - 2:11:23 PM GMT - Time Source: server

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2024-07-24 - 2:20:45 PM GMT

Document e-signed by Robin millar (r-millar@zen.co.uk) Signature Date: 2024-07-24 - 2:20:47 PM GMT - Time Source: server

2024-07-24 - 2:20:49 PM GMT

2024-07-25 - 8:23:23 AM GMT

Signer Andrew Stickland (astickland@mks.co.uk) entered name at signing as Moore Kingston Smith LLP 2024-07-31 - 1:54:30 PM GMT

Agreement completed.

2024-07-31 - 1:54:32 PM GMT