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2022-03-31-accounts

Annual report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2022

speechandlanguage.org.uk

Speech and Language UK is the operating name of I CAN Charity, a registered charity in England and Wales (210031) and Scotland (SC039947), which is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (00099629). Registered address: 2 Angel Gate, Hall Street, London, EC1V 2PT.

Contents

Contents
Message from the Chief Executive and Chair of Trustees 3
Thank you to our supporters 4
Our objectives and activities 5
Our impact and achievements 6
Our future plans 14
Financial review 16
Our structure, governance and management 19
Statement of trustees’ responsibilities 20
Independent auditors’ report 21
Financial statements 24
Consolidated and charity balance sheets 25
Consolidated statement of cash f ow 26
Notes to the consolidated financial statements 27
Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers 42

Message from the Chief Executive and Chair of Trustees

Here at Speech and Language UK (known as I CAN in 2021/22), we are dedicated to giving children the speech and language skills they need so they aren’t left behind, waiting to be understood. While we have changed our charity’s name so that more of those children, their families, schools and nurseries can find us, we remain totally committed to our founder’s drive to stop children being left behind.

Our research published in July 2021, found that one and a half million children continue to be at risk of not being able to talk or understand words at an age-appropriate level. If these children continue to struggle, they are over four-times less likely to get good GCSEs in Maths and English and will have far worse mental health.

More than 1,000 families benefitted from our direct advice and guidance services. While there were fewer calls to our Enquiry Service than during the most intense stages of lockdown, the number of contacts was still double the activity in 2019/20.

And for children with the most complex speech and language challenges, our two specialist schools provided an holistic education to 154 children and young people. Our co-located assessment centres also completed 112 external speech and language assessments, giving families certainty about what will make a difference in their children’s futures. This was no simple task given the continued restrictions due to Covid and we are delighted that we avoided closures for so long.

We know that children who are able to talk, verbally or use alternative communication methods, are far more likely to achieve a good education, good friends and a good job. We used this research to push Government and the education system as a whole to recognise the huge impact that Covid and lockdowns have had on children’s speech and language development.

Given the increasing recognition, we have focused on getting our evidence-based tools to schools and nurseries that needed us more than ever. We are pleased to have worked with so many educators and local authorities in the course of the year, increasing sales of our well-recognised products. This allowed us to reach more than 60,000 children in the course of the year, changing their lives for the better.

We also trained 6,462 professionals who work with children including 2,322 who took part in our Early Years settings free training. With 98% of professionals saying they will change their practice as a result of our training, we can be certain this will have an impact on tens of thousands of children’s lives. We are grateful to our network of licensed tutors who allow us to get this training to teachers, early years practitioners and others across the UK.

We are looking forward to developing our organisation further so that we can impact more of the 1.7 million children who need our help, whether this is due to short-term preventable speech and language challenges or to lifelong conditions such as Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). We will do this by making the most of our expertise, digitising our activities and infrastructure, ensuring children, young people and families’ experiences are at the heart of our charity and communicating more boldly about the number of children needing support and the consequences if we don’t collectively provide it.

Jane Harris Chief Executive 22nd November 2022

Roy Blatchford CBE Chair of Trustees 22nd November 2022

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 3

Thank you to our supporters

In 2021-22, we are exceptionally grateful for all the wonderful support that was afforded to us and the children and families we serve. Thank you for making a difference!

4 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

Our objectives and activities

We are Speech and Language UK – we want every child to face the future with confidence.

For 1.7 million children in the UK, learning to talk and understand words feels like an impossible hurdle.

Without the right help, this can destroy their world. They feel disconnected from their family. Unable to make friends. Unfairly punished for not following instructions they don’t understand. What does the future hold for them?

We must reach children earlier, to make sure every child has the skills to face the future.

We design innovative tools and training for thousands of nursery assistants and teachers at the heart of the classroom.

We give families the confidence and skills to help their child.

And we put pressure on politicians to prioritise support for children.

Too many children are left waiting to be understood. Help us bring speech and language skills into the spotlight so they can all flourish.

Our vision

Every child who is facing challenges with talking and understanding words can look to the future with confidence.

Our mission

We give children and young people the skills they need so they aren’t left behind, waiting to be understood. We do this by creating tools for schools and nurseries, giving advice and guidance to families and putting pressure on politicians.

Annual report and financial statements Speech and Language UK | 5

Our impact and achievements

Key achievements for 2021-22

Our reach - Children, young people and their families

We directly supported 65,479 children, young people and their families.

We supported 1,081 787 children and Our two special parents and carers through schools supported 154 young people took our family support services children and young people part in our regional with complex speech and 930 through our projects language challenges enquiry service 116 parents attended 329 caregivers Our assessment at least one of our took part in our centres also completed TALK webinars regional projects 112 external speech and language 35 through teletherapy assessments We also reached an estimated 31,932 children and families indirectly through our online Progress Checker.

63,016 children and young people who took part in our interventions in early years settings and schools.

We also reached an estimated 10,125 families indirectly through our regional projects and interventions.

Our impact - Children, young people and their families

----- Start of picture text -----
55% 86% 76%
of children narrowed
of children caught of children's speech
the gap by 50% or
up with peers after and language therapy
more after taking part
taking part in a Talk targets at Meath were
in a Talk Boost
Boost programme. met or exceeded.
programme.
93%
56%
families said they will
of children's speech
change how they support
and language
their child’s talking and
therapy targets at
understanding skills
Dawn House were
after Speech and
met or exceeded.
Language UK
support.
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Tools for schools and nurseries

Our suite of services for schools and nurseries continues to grow, and we are pleased to be providing teachers and early years professionals with key resources to meet their Covid recovery aims. Our Talk Boost set of short interventions, which can be delivered to groups of children, continues to make a huge contribution to giving children the speech and language skills they need.

Our relationships with local authorities in Kent, Telford, and Wrekin and Shropshire have enabled them to strengthen their response to children with difficulties with talking and understanding words through Talk Boost going directly into 300 Early Years settings in Kent and Early Talk Boost, Talk Boost Key Stage 1 and 2 being delivered across all schools in Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire.

We know that not all children with speech and language challenges will be identified early and we have committed to working with children into the secondary cohort. We were delighted to secure funding to develop a full prototype of Talk Boost Year 7 this year. Talk Boost Year 7 was developed to meet the needs of young people transitioning to secondary school particularly after two years of education disruption. We are pleased to see excellent engagement from six schools throughout the Northwest and Southwest who worked with us to finalise the programme and trial it with their students. We are now poised to move to an evaluation with 160 students in the 2022-23 academic year.

Alongside our interventions, we have provided training to thousands of educators, helping them to change their everyday practice in classrooms and nurseries up and down the country.

Empowering educators

We reached over 6,462 professionals who work with children, including…

2,322 who took 1,459 144 licensed tutors part in Early Years professionals who completed settings free involved in our Speech and training. regional projects. Language UK training.

Our licensed tutors trained 2,537 professionals We also indirectly reached an estimated 16,644 who accessed our online CPD. to support children learning to talk and understand words.

98%

said they will change their practice as a result of Speech and Language UK training.

95% 85% said they know more about what parents need to do to help their children develop talking and understanding of words. of words.

said they know more about what they need to do to help children develop their talking and understanding of words.

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Advice for families

More than 1,000 families benefitted from the Speech and Language UK family support offer in 2021/22. We provided life-changing advice and support to families through our enquiry and teletherapy services. There were fewer calls to our enquiry service than during the most intense stages of lockdown, but the number of contacts was still double the activity in 2019/20. Most families contacting the service enquired about their children aged 18-30 months and were mostly concerned about their children’s talking.

Absolutely wonderful. Beyond helpful. Life changing for my son. I used all of the methods recommended and definitely notice a big difference. I felt very empowered after my conversation with [Speech and Language UK].”

Our teletherapy service continues to support young children with difficulties learning to talk and understand words. Our focus was working with individual or small parent groups to enable them to help their children. All participants reported that they felt the strategies they learnt through the therapy sessions had made a difference to their child’s talking and listening.

One parent commented:

“His length of sentences has increased dramatically. His vocab has increase, his frustration levels have decreased. We have seen a very positive difference.”

games that they can play at home to support their child (74%). They wanted to receive the information – either through webpages/handouts or through bitesize videos. This has helped us to plan for the resources and infrastructure we need to provide a more interactive experience for parents who are seeking advice. We are currently seeking potential funders to help us take the next steps in delivering our improved offer.

Supporting families through our assessment service

Zak* attended an assessment at Meath, a Speech and Language UK school. Zak’s mum describes him as very energetic, very loving, and very funny. Zak’s mum shared her experience of their experience of his assessment at Meath.

“From my perspective, I appreciated how in depth and honest it was. I needed the clarity to know what my next steps were going to be. From Zak’s point of view, he had a blast of a day! It’s been great communication throughout the journey. Just letting me know what’s going to happen next without being prompted and without me having to feel like I’m chasing somebody up. That was excellent. The (assessment) report was very easy to understand and it brought a lot of clarification. And that’s one of the things I appreciate when I read the assessment centre’s report, I know that was specifically Zak. I now have a blueprint of knowing what to do for Zak, if certain things arise and things that I need to follow up at school and say 'hey, look, this is what he needs, and these are specific to him.'

Developing more digitised advice

We began scoping how we can digitise more support to reach more families with the information they need when they need it. We have carried out some research with families about how they would prefer to access information about children’s talking and understanding of words.

371 parents responded to our survey. The majority of respondents wanted to find out how they can help their child’s talking and understanding skills (81%) or

I can’t fault the team, everything from start to finish was just great. Zak really enjoyed his time there. And as a parent that makes you feel a lot calmer when they themselves enjoy their time. It was amazing.”

(*not his real name)

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Pressure on politicians

Speaking up for the Covid generation report

Our Speaking up for the Covid generation report launched on Monday 12th July 2021 and focused on three key areas:

1.[ How children’s talking and understanding words has been impacted ] by the Covid-19 pandemic.

2.[ Whether Government has adequately supported children with their ] talking and understanding words during the pandemic.

3.[ What the long-term impact will be on children if they are not able to catch up with their ] talking and understanding words.

Most teachers surveyed* said that children they teach were behind, and they were worried children won’t catch up and children moving to secondary school will struggle more with talking and understanding words than before Covid. In addition, almost two-thirds of teachers surveyed said Government isn’t providing enough support in this area and over half said they haven’t had any or not much support at all.

On the week of the report launch, all social media channels were dedicated to promoting the campaign and our Twitter account achieved 65,897 impressions, 835 engagements and 173 click-throughs. On Facebook, a BBC online article about the report was seen by 6,948 people, with 700 engagements and 50 comments.

Speaking up for the Covid generation* had a media reach of just under 7 million people. The report attracted interest from broadcast media, including ITV Regions, BBC Radio Five Live, ITV Scotland, Sky Radio News, LBC, and BBC local radio, with a reach of 3,624,167. The report also gained coverage on BBC News online and other online outlets. This combined coverage reached an audience of 3,335,792.

*Speech and Language UK commissioned polling company YouGov to survey 1,000 primary and secondary school teachers online from across the UK to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted children’s speaking and understanding.

Policy collaboration

We joined a call to Government to recognise spoken language as key to achieving the ambition of the School White Paper, which set ambitious targets for literacy and numeracy, both of which rely on good speech and language skills. Working in collaboration with Voice 21 and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), we published a joint position statement on the centrality of spoken language to developing literacy and numeracy skills.

An event was organised with the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) on Oracy and Speech and Language Difficulties, where the former Schools Minister, Robin Walker heard from Speech and Language UK on the difference that a focus on spoken language can make. After listening to Parliamentarians who are members of the APPGs as well as the three organisations, the Minister said he recognised that spoken language is fundamental to learning and to meeting targets in literacy and numeracy.

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Our two special schools

Our two schools, Meath in Surrey and Dawn House in Nottinghamshire provide education to children with the most complex speech and language challenges. This year we took on the ambitious task of embedding research practice more into our schools, alongside the day to day challenges of supporting children during Covid.

Working in conjunction with The Rayners Research Centre, we collaborated with Professor Judy Clegg and Sheffield University to build our expertise in research and evaluation across the organisation with the establishment of a virtual research centre in our schools. To do this, we:

Capital investment

An investment of over £700,000 was approved by the Board of Trustees to repair and replace the roof at Dawn House. This was a much-needed project and has ensured the school is fully watertight and future proof in the years to come. In addition, each school has produced a fully costed ten-year maintenance plan.

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Case study - Chimes

Chimes is located at Dawn House and supports pupils who have additional difficulties learning in classroom and group settings as well as having speech and language challenges. Children may have difficulties with anxiety, self-regulation and sensory processing and therefore need extra support to learn at Dawn House and benefit from the speech and language focused curriculum.

Thomas has speech and language challenges which affects his social communication, his attention and listening skills and his independence. Thomas is 16 and began a carefully planned transition into Chimes at the end of 2020 following two years out of school. Thomas is also diagnosed with ASD and ADHD with concerns regarding mood and emotional regulation, and has moderate learning difficulties. Thomas had attended a mainstream secondary school where staff and professionals had worked hard to put in every intervention possible.

Thomas received daily support from familiar staff including, teachers, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and a learning mentor and wellbeing team. Thomas gradually progressed to manage an increase in time in school and his anxieties started to reduce which allowed him to access learning activities and trust the staff to provide the support he needed.

Thomas is now in school full time and his attendance is 97%. He has several good friends and now joins lessons in the main school with a range of pupils from around the school. He now engages well with a range of preparation for adulthood courses including careers and independent living skills and can now look forward in a positive way to his next steps and future employability.

Thomas’ Mum shared her thoughts of Chimes:

“I am so very happy at how Thomas has settled at Dawn House. My child is a totally different person since starting this school. I cannot believe the change in him. Thomas’ confidence has grown so much. The difference in a year is unbelievable to how Thomas first started. He is now doing three after school clubs, this is amazing to say that Thomas didn’t leave the house for 21 months before starting. The staff team at Dawn House are a true credit to the school and I believe that this is why Thomas has flourished so much.”

Our two special schools supported 154 children and young people with complex speech and language challenges.

Our assessment centres also completed 112 external speech and language assessments .

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Fundraising and awareness

Fundraising

In response to the challenging voluntary income environment the charity appointed a Director of Fundraising tasked with reviewing the charity’s fundraising activities and developing a fundraising strategy to help ensure financial stability in the medium and long-term.

The review found that the current portfolio’s skew towards institutional funding was unlikely to generate significant growth in unrestricted income and recommended a significant investment in fundraising and engagement expenditure over the next three years with the aim of delivering an extra £1.5 million in fundraised income over the same period.

The key proposals to deliver this are:

Fundraising performance held up well across the year with particular success seen in statutory funding. Local fundraising activities continued at our schools, which helped us to fund a new trim trail and outside classroom at Dawn House and a daily mile track at Meath.

Our brand research

In 2021/22 we started the first stage of our organisational brand project which included diagnosing our current brand status and re-thinking how we explain why talking and understanding words matters for children’s futures and how our charity can help. We undertook research and analysis to seek to understand which elements of our brand (e.g., our name, visual identity, tone of voice, mission/vision) were working best/least well to help us understand what the scope of any future changes should be.

These broadly showed that “people were not proud of the I CAN brand”, “it’s felt to be holding the organisation back”. It was agreed at the August 2021 Trustee meeting, that the brand project and its redevelopment would become a strategic priority for 2021-22 and 2022-23, with the objective of developing and implementing an organisational brand that fits our future aspirations and stakeholder expectations and adds value to

our activities so that we can grow our reach and influence, generate revenue, and support more children who struggle with learning to talk and understand words.

Communication Consortium grants programme

We are in the middle of our Communication Consortium grants programme funded by the Rayners Special Educational Trust which is giving grants of between £25,000-£50,000 to organisations which are members of the Communication Consortium to undertake activities which advance the education of children and young people who have difficulties with talking and understanding words.

London Bubble Theatre was awarded £35,000 for its Speech Bubbles programme and this was one of the funded projects which was completed in 2021/22. The funding supported the delivery of Speech Bubbles drama for communication sessions in South London schools including the training of five new drama practitioners who all completed Speech and Language UK’s online short course.

The programme ran in ten schools and reached 200 children and online training was provided for 84 teachers. The children who took part were between 5-7 years of age and the sessions were aimed at helping them with communication, confidence and wellbeing.

The participating schools found that the staff who supported the programme were able to transfer newly learned techniques for supporting communication back into the classroom and the relationships between staff and children improved giving the children greater confidence to talk about their feelings outside the Speech Bubbles groups.

Eight organisations have received funding in 202122; three will be undertaking two-year programmes and five have single year projects. The projects include an evaluation of a language intervention by Elklan; a project to provide free training workshops in achieving improved outcomes for deaf children and provide direct support for several profoundly deaf children with complex needs run by Auditory Verbal UK and a project to provide remote support for parents and carers of children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) to enable them to better understand the condition run by AFASIC.

Total grant funding of £308k was allocated across the eight projects.

302,025 children took part in our No Pens Day Wednesday event.

We reached…

581,298 people on Facebook 16,237 people on Instagram 36,786 people on LinkedIn*

And our tweets were seen around 830,400 times**

Culture and infrastructure

Staff wellbeing

We developed plans on staff wellbeing and engagement and diversity and anti-racism to ensure we have an engaged, aligned, healthy and diverse workforce. Having surveyed our workforce in 202122 on a range of diversity issues, we are aware that, whilst most of the responses were benchmarked at the median or above, we were perceived to be a largely white and female organisation with a diversity learning proposition that could be much improved.

Develop our long-term technology strategy

With thanks to funding from a combination of two organisations, we appointed an IT Consultant, working three days a week, for seven months to assess ‘as is’ and develop, with input from staff ‘to be’. This culminated in the development of an agreed data, digital and technology strategy in March 2022. As a result, a team of two have been recruited to implement the strategy over the next three years.

We now have a clear, costed plan embedded in our new strategic themes and we have recruited a Head of IT and are recruiting a Data Manager, with a likely start date in September 2022. These roles will strengthen the organisation through having skilled resources who are able to support the delivery of our strategic priorities to refresh our brand, deliver more voluntary and sales income and help to future-proof our technology infrastructure for the future.

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Our future plans

The Covid-19 pandemic has impelled us, like all other charities and businesses, to think again about how we can best get children and young people the help they need learning to talk and understand words. The new context means we face both new opportunities and risks, and we want to make sure we maximise our reach and impact within this new climate.

Over the next 12 months, we will:

Our organisation

Tools for schools and nurseries

  1. Launch the first phase of a new digital platform that is easier for schools and nurseries to engage with on an ongoing basis, with resources for schools, multi-academy trusts and local authorities to identify children who need help with their talking and understanding of words, track their progress of their children, train their staff and evaluate their provision.

in partnership with families and young people, RCSLT, NAPLIC and Afasic on a shared vision for the future for people with DLD.

Pressure on politicians

  1. Undertake research with families and educators to see how experiences have changed postpandemic and seek widespread coverage of it. We will repeat our survey of teachers across the UK to find out how many are concerned about their children’s talking and understanding of words and will use their feedback to support our work to raise awareness and understanding of the issue and how to tackle it.

  2. Seek to influence the Schools White Paper and Schools Bill and SEND Green Paper. We will respond to the Schools Bill and SEND and Alternative Provision Review and continue to work in partnership with other organisations to influence Government to support children and young people who struggle with learning to talk and understand words.

Our two special schools

  1. Develop at least one partnership with a teacher training hub so we can reach the next generation of the school workforce.

  2. Build on the success of last year by continuing with research projects in both schools.

  3. Work with nine local authorities and their strategic partners to support them to develop effective speech and language pathways for children in the early years and training for practitioners.

  4. Develop a shared language and understanding of high-quality teaching and learning across both schools, through Speech and Language UK’s principles of teaching.

  5. Continue investing in the learning environment to ensure that the schools are able to provide first class facilities.

Advice for families

  1. Begin redeveloping our website so that families and young people can find the advice they need when they need it. We will base this work on what information families and young people say they want from us and the formats they want.

  2. Seek funding to continue our work to support children and young people with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and their families. This will include co-production work to produce tools for schools and parents to identify and support children with DLD. We are also working

Fundraising and awareness

  1. Launch a new brand so it’s clear who we are and what we do.

  2. Use digital channels to raise awareness of the prevalence and impact of children who have challenges in talking and understanding words with core audiences including families and educators.

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  1. Test new approaches to donor engagement and recruitment to diversify our income. Stream and grow the proportion of our voluntary income that is unrestricted.

  2. Seek institutional funding to expand our digital support for families and young people. Developing bids that will help us to create a family support offering for each element of our progress tracker over the next three years.

Culture and infrastructure

  1. Continue to invest in the health and wellbeing of all our staff by:

  2. Delivering and improving our employee wellbeing hub with over 200 resources.

  3. Fully implementing our mental health first aid programme following school pilots and develop and roll-out mental health.

  4. Delivering a Mindful March programme, based on an earlier pilot.

  5. Embedding hybrid working approaches in our London office.

  6. Continue to monitor and report on workforce diversity and fully implement our inclusive recruitment strategy, to ensure we reach more diverse audiences to offer a great candidate experience. Our new diversity training modules on our new learning management system will be offered to Speech and Language UK staff and volunteers. We will continue to learn from other organisations through the Charity HR Network’s diversity and inclusion special interest group.

  7. Improve the quality and value for money of our outsourced IT services and the effectiveness of our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to support increased income and excellent supporter management. We will replace the payment gateway for voluntary fundraising to improve ease of use from donors and review the legacy accounting system. We will review the need for an e-commerce platform as a content repository for speech and language assets and act as a platform for our online shop, supported by a product development strategy.

  8. Restructure our Senior Management Team to fit with our future priorities.

Annual report and fnancial statements | Speech and Language UK | 15

Financial review

Overview

In the year 2021-22, we are pleased to report that we achieved a surplus of £116k before unrealised investment gains (2021: surplus £156k).

Despite the challenges presented by the ongoing impact of Covid, we have seen income rise by 12% to £9,702k (2021: £8,680k); whilst expenditure increases were held to 12% at £9,587 (2021: £8,524k). Schools’ income increased by £605k. Fundraising income decreased by £72k. This is due to the net effect of an increase in restricted income by £167k and a reduction in unrestricted income by £239k. Social Enterprise activity was positively impacted by an increase in orders from local authorities in the last quarter which resulted in an increase in income of £493k. Overall, total income increased by £1,022k.

Expenditure in schools increased by £920k. Fundraising costs fell significantly (by £89k to £350k), reflecting the continued restructuring of this activity, including reduced staffing levels which were implemented in the face of the pandemic. Steps are now being taken to increase our fundraising capacity, as we emerge from lockdown and fundraising activity can be resumed.

The net income of £116k for the year was boosted by gains in investment values of £476k (2021: net increase in investments of £609k). These increases have resulted in total funds of £8,060k (2021: £7,468k); £4,135k of which is unrestricted, with £1,292k of this balance designated primarily to fund assets.

Fundraising

Disclosure under The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016

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funds, remain positive.

on any person to give money or property.

Volunteers

Speech and Language UK could not achieve its mission without the help of our team of volunteers. People give up their time to help us raise money and support our fundraising efforts, as well as helping in our schools to ensure that children who have difficulty in talking and understanding words get the help that they require. We are indebted to the volunteers who make a real impact in helping us to achieve a world where all children have the skills, they need to reach their full potential.

Reserves policy

Speech and Language UK maintain reserves to allow the Charity to continue to fulfil its objectives and withstand any period of financial uncertainty. To achieve this, the Trustees seek to ensure that unrestricted general funds are in excess of a selfdetermined long-term target. These funds provide a measure of financial stability to the Charity and thereby reinforce the reputation and ability of the Charity to deliver on promises.

Each year the minimum level of unrestricted General Funds is reviewed by the Trustees and consideration is given to the following when deciding the level of funds required:

Performance

Despite our operations being materially affected by the Covid pandemic, most of our income streams have performed well. With income of £6.4 million, our two schools form the backbone of the Charity. The majority of pupils in non-maintained special schools, such as ours, have been placed there by local authorities under an Education, Health and Care Plan, funded in part from the high needs block of the Dedicated School Grants and in part from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Local authorities will continue to receive their high needs budgets and should continue to pay top-up and other high needs funding to non-maintained special schools, so that the employment and payment of staff supporting children and young people with SEND can continue.

We continue to develop a strategy building longterm relationships with donors and following the Covid pandemic we have seen some of this support increase. It is important that we continue to grow and support these relationships, now more so than ever, and it is part of our strategic objectives to do so.

Our budget for 2022-23 builds on the £116k surplus achieved in 2021-22. We continue to benefit from £2m funding received upfront from The Rayners Special Educational Trust whilst investing in our programme activities. Our unrestricted trading income was £981k an increase of £493k from 2020-21 reflecting increased demand from local authorities for our products as strategic leaders have sought solutions to meet the speech and language needs of children living areas of disadvantage who were particularly affected by the educational disruption of the pandemic. Our reserves, including our general

After careful assessment of the above, and in line with good governance practice, the Trustees have reviewed all identified risks and have concluded that the target level of General Funds should be £1.75m and that the current level of the General Funds at 31 March 2022 of £2,843 (2021: £2.3m) is appropriate given the future plans and objectives of the Charity. This is particularly the case, given the high level of investment in school infrastructure and property expansion currently being considered, and investments in key strategic goals such as implementing our long-term Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) strategy and developing our brand.

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Investments policy and performance

The primary objective of Speech and Language UK’s investment policy is to maintain and enhance the value of funds to meet the Charity’s short and longterm requirements.

There was no realised gain or loss during the year (2021: nil) as no investments were purchased or sold. An unrealised investment gain of £476k (2021: £609k gain) was recorded during the year.

Ongoing health and safety action plans and audits are in place to ensure ongoing management of these issues. This year we had to pay particular attention to the ongoing developments with Covid and the potential impact on our people. We continue to monitor government guidance, conduct risk assessments and take steps to minimise the impact on our staff and service users.

The following statements summarise the Charity’s policy in managing identified forms of financial risk:

Risk management

The major risks to which the Charity is exposed have been identified and reviewed by the Trustees, and systems or procedures have been established to manage the risks.

A key risk evaluated by the Trustees concerns the financial stability of the Charity, reporting and forecasting. In order to make continued improvements we have increased the capacity of the finance team and in 2022-23 will be recruiting a permanent Director of Finance and IT to lead on the development of our financial management systems and have oversight of our Digital, Data and Technology strategy.

Safeguarding, child protection and future Ofsted ratings will remain as key risks for Speech and Language UK for as long as it manages special schools. Ad-hoc inspections by independent consultants will continue to take place at both schools during 2022-23 to mitigate this risk. Our ageing estate in our schools, presents various maintenance and reparation needs.

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Our structure, governance and management

The Charity is a company limited by guarantee and is governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association which were last amended on 27 September 2017. Speech and Language UK operates in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In 2022-23 as the result of a significant brand review the Charity will start to trade as Speech and Language UK but at this time continues with the same group name and structure.

Under company law the Trustees of the Charity are the Directors of the charitable company and together form the Council. Trustees are recruited by an open process and are nominated for election to the Board of trustees by the Chair. Trustees may serve up to three consecutive terms of three years. They may only serve a further term in exceptional circumstances.

New Trustees are inducted into the Charity through a series of meetings with Speech and Language UK’s Senior Management Team and, during the year, new and existing Trustees meet to review the Charity’s operations and plans.

To enable the Council to carry out its responsibilities in the most effective way it has established a number of sub-committees to focus on certain key areas as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
Number of meetings held
during year
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Operational decisions are made by the Chief Executive and the Senior Management Team of the Charity. The progress of the Charity against the strategic plan is monitored regularly by the Trustees.

Where the Charity charges for its services, the price is agreed with each purchasing authority and the prices charged are based on the principles of full cost recovery. The agreed or anticipated prices are factored into business plans and income forecasts. Salary levels are set by reference to a pay benchmarking scheme that considers prevailing market rates. Salary changes are communicated to staff each year during the annual salary review process. Other costs are controlled by contract negotiations and competitive tendering with suppliers for major items of expenditure.

The credit risk on amounts owed to the Charity by its customers is low, as the majority of debtors are local authorities. The Charity has no longterm borrowings and, if necessary, the investment portfolio could be realised at short notice.

I CAN's trading subsidiary, I CAN Services Limited, which provides educational services to children with severe speech and language needs, has been consolidated into I CAN's financial statements. The I CAN Consolidated Fund, the Countess of Meath Fund and the Ministering Children's League Fund are linked charities of I CAN Charity and have been amalgamated into I CAN's financial statements.

Finance and Audit 5
Social Enterprise 4
Programme Development 4
Remuneration 2
Education 3

The Trustees of the Charity meet at least three times a year and are responsible for making the major decisions relating to the running of the Charity. These decisions include approval of the strategy, of the annual budget and the approval of agreements material to the financial position of the Charity.

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 19

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also directors of I CAN Charity for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Trustees have 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 of 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 Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and the group and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).

They are 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.

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

In the case of each Trustee in office at the date the Trustees’ Report is approved:

Public benefit

The Trustees confirm that they have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in reporting on the Charity’s achievements, performance and future plans on pages 6 to 15.

The Council of Trustees’ Report (including the Strategic Report) was approved by the Council on 22nd November 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Roy Blatchford CBE Chair of Trustees

Stuart Shepley Treasurer

20 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

Independent auditors' report

Independent auditors’ report to the members and trustees of I CAN Charity

Report on the audit of the financial statements

Opinion

In our opinion I CAN Charity’s group financial statements and parent charitable company financial statements (the financial statements”):

We have audited the financial statements, included within the Annual Report and Financial Statements (the “Annual Report”), which comprise: the Consolidated and Charity Balance Sheets as at 31 March 2022; Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow for the year then ended; and the notes to the financial statements, which include a description of the significant accounting policies.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under ISAs (UK) are further described in the Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial

statements section of our report. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Independence

We remained independent of the group and parent charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, which includes the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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.

However, because not all future events or conditions can be predicted, this conclusion is not a guarantee as to the group’s and parent charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

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

Reporting on other information

The other information comprises all of the information in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our auditors’ report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in this report, any form of assurance thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 21

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 an apparent material inconsistency or material misstatement, we are required to perform procedures to conclude whether there is a material misstatement of the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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 based on these responsibilities.

With respect to the Council of Trustees' Report (including the Strategic Report), we also considered whether the disclosures required by the UK Companies Act 2006 have been included. Based on our work undertaken in the course of the audit, the Companies Act 2006 and The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us also to report certain opinions and matters as described below.

Council of Trustees' Report (including the Strategic Report)

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit the information given in the Council of Trustees' Report (including the Strategic Report) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and the Council of Trustees' Report (including the Strategic Report) have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In addition, in light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we are required to report if we have identified any material misstatements in Council of Trustees' Report (including the Strategic Report). We have nothing to report in this respect.

Responsibilities for the financial statements and the audit Responsibilities of the trustees for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities, the trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the applicable framework and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. The trustees are also responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable

the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group’s and 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 and parent or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditors’ responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditors under section 44(1) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with the Acts and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

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

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

Based on our understanding of the group and parent charitable company/industry, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to employer related legislation, health and safety law and standards imposed on the group by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements such as the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee

22 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and regulations 6 and 8 of The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to fraudulent transactions designed to overstate the financial performance and position of the group. Audit procedures performed included:

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.

Other required reporting

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Under the Companies Act 2006 and The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:

Jonathan Bound (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors Cardiff

13 December 2022

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the FRC’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/ auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditors’ report.

Use of this report

This report, including the opinions, has been prepared for and only for the charitable company’s members and trustees as a body in accordance with section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Companies Act 2006 and regulations made under those Acts (regulation 10 of The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006) and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving these opinions, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 23

Financial statements

Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities

for the year ended 31 March 2022

Restricted Restricted Unrestricted Unrestricted Total Total
General Endowment Designated General 2022 2021
Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income
Donations & Legacies 2,3 1,737 - - 473 2,210 2,282
Schools Activities 3 380 - - 6,051 6,431 5,826
Programme Delivery - - - 981 981 488
Activities
Investments
Total Income
Expenditure		 10 -
2,117		 -
-		 -
-		 80
7,585		 80
9,702		 84
8,680
Costs of RaisingFunds 4 - - - 350 350 439
Schools Activities 4 387 10 60 6,069 6,526 5,606
Programme Delivery
Activities		 4 1,835 - - 540 2,375 2,238
Awareness Raising &
Information
Total Expenditure		 4
4		 -
2,222		 -
10		 -
60		 335
7,294		 335
9,586		 241
8,524
Net Income/
(Expenditure) for
theyear		 (105) (10) (60) 291 116 156
Other Recognised Gains
Investments
Unrealised Gains 10 - 219 - 257 476 609
Net Movement on Funds (105) 209 (60) 548 592 765
Funds at 1 April 2021 666 3,155 1,352 2,295 7,468 6,703
Funds at 31 March 2022 17 561 3,364 1,292 2,843 8,060 7,468

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses in the year and therefore a separate statement of total recognised gains and losses was not prepared. All of the above amounts relate to continuing activities.

Notes to the consolidated financial statements are shown on pages 27-41.

24 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

Consolidated and Charity balance sheets

as at 31 March 2022

Group Group Charity Charity
2022 2021 2022 2021
Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible Assets 9a 2,733 2,035 2,733 2,035
Intangible Assets 9b 27 81 27 81
Investments 10 5,032 4,555 5,032 4,555
CURRENT ASSETS 7,792 6.671 7,792 6,671
Debtors 11 2,037 1,629 1,145 781
Stock 12 203 349 203 349
Cash at Bank and in Hand
CURRENT LIABILITIES		 1,158
3,398		 1,960
3,938		 1,008
2,356		 1,959
3,089
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
NET CURRENT ASSETS		 13 (3,130)
268		 (3,141)
797		 (2,088)
268		 (2,285)
804
NET ASSETS
ENDOWMENT FUNDS
Endowment Funds
RESTRICTED FUNDS		 14 8,060
3,364		 7,468
3,155		 8,060
3,364		 7,475
3,155
Fixed Asset Funds 15 125 168 125 168
Other Funds
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS		 15 436
561		 498
666		 436
561		 498
66
Designated Funds 16 1,292 1,352 1,292 1,352
General Funds 16 2,843
4,135		 2,295
3,647		 2,843
4,135		 2,302
3,654
TOTAL FUNDS 17 8,060 7,468 8,060 7,475

The surplus for the year within the Charity only financial statements is £592k (2021: £772k surplus).

The financial statements on pages 24-41 were approved by the Council on 22nd November 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

Roy Blatchford CBE Chair of Trustees

Stuart Shepley Treasurer

England and Wales Charity Registration Number: 210031 Scottish Charity Registration Number: SC039947 Company Registration Number: 00099629

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 25

Consolidated statement of cash flow

for the year ended 31 March 2022

----- Start of picture text -----
2022 2021
Notes £'000 £'000
Cash flow (used)/from operating activities
Net cash generated from operating activities A 102 (499)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends and interest from investments 80 84
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (984) (563)
Net cash (used by) investing activities (904) (479)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting year (802) (978)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting year 1,960 2,938
at 1 April
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting year at B 1,158 1,960
31 March
2022 2021
Notes £'000 £'000
A Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting year 592 765
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges 286 201
Amortisation charges 54 58
Decrease in stock 146 (166)
(Increase) in debtors (408) (335)
(Decrease) in creditors (11) (328)
Dividends and interest from investments (80) (84)
(Gains) on investments (477) (609)
Net cash generated from/(used by) operating activities 102 (499)
2022 2021
Notes £'000 £'000
B Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand 1,158 1,960
Total cash and cash equivalents 1,158 1,960
----- End of picture text -----

26 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

1. Accounting policies

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards in the United Kingdom, under the historical cost convention (as modified by the revaluation of certain fixed assets) on a going concern basis and in accordance with applicable United Kingdom Accounting Standards. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" published (revised 2019), the FRS 102, in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis and the accounting policies have been applied consistently.

(i) The Charity is a public benefit entity.

(ii) Income

Income is shown gross with the exception of funds raised by local fundraising groups, which is stated after deduction of direct expenses such as hire of premises and ticket printing costs.

Income is analysed by source and by those constraints placed on it as follows: -

----- Start of picture text -----
Endowment income Income which increases the capital value of the
endowment funds.
Restricted income Income, the expenditure of which is subject to specific
conditions placed on its use by the donor.
Unrestricted income Income which has no constraints placed on its use and
may be expended on any of the Charity's charitable
objectives.
----- End of picture text -----

Investment income from endowment funds is accounted for as unrestricted, restricted or endowment income as defined by the terms of the endowment.

Income is accrued and included in the SOFA when the Group is entitled to the income, receipt can be measured and is probable.

Income from the sale of goods and services is recognised to the extent that the goods and services have been provided. If a grant contract contains the right to receive periodic payments, these receipts are recognised when they fall due and on completion of I CAN’s contractual obligations for the period.

Donations are recognised when received. Donations in kind are recognised at their value to the Group when received and an equivalent amount is included in the appropriate cost line in the SOFA. Legacies are recognised when probate has been granted and the income can be valued with reasonable certainty. Legacies received in the form of property or investments are valued at their fair value.

Where incoming resources are received before goods and services have been provided, these are recorded as deferred income within creditors. Deferred income is released to incoming resources at the point of delivery of the goods and services.

(iii) Funds

Funds are held in reserves having due regard to the requirements of the donor and the needs of the organisation.

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 27

Endowment Funds represent funds, the capital of which is not freely available to I CAN and must be held in perpetuity unless otherwise authorised by the Charity Commission, or so permitted by the trust under which the fund was set up. These funds cannot normally be used to directly support general running costs. Please see (ix) below for further detail on capital funds.

Restricted Funds represent the balances of donations and legacies held in trust and which can only be expended in accordance with the specific terms laid down by the donors.

Fixed Asset Funds represent amounts already expended on fixed assets all of which are used to support the work of the Charity. These assets include freehold and leasehold properties as well as equipment and motor vehicles.

Designated Funds are identified by the Trustees for approved expenditure for schools’ development and specific projects critical to the operation and development of the Charity.

General Funds are the only funds the Charity has to use freely for the day-to-day needs of the Charity and to provide protection against future risks, including reductions in voluntary income, investment income fluctuations and variations in other revenue streams. The Trustees have set a target level of unrestricted general funds at £1.75m based on their evaluation of I CAN’s requirements.

Where required, transfers are made between funds as set out in Notes 14 to 15.

(iv) Expenditure

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. Expenditure includes attributable VAT which cannot be recovered. Provisions are established when the Charity is subject to legal or constructive obligations and will incur costs in the fulfilment of these obligations.

Fundraising costs are those costs which are directly incurred by the Charity in performing fundraising activities. They also include an equitable share of support costs and general overheads.

Costs incurred in support of the services provided by the Charity have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Governance costs comprise those incurred in the governance of the Charity and are primarily associated with strategic planning, constitutional and statutory requirements.

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.

(v) Tangible assets

Tangible assets costing more than £1,000 are capitalised and held on the balance sheet at purchase cost. Depreciation is provided on tangible assets to write them off over their estimated useful lives as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
Freehold Property 50 years
Leasehold Property Life of lease
Buildings Renovations 10 years
Equipment & Motor Vehicles 4 years
IT equipment 3 years
----- End of picture text -----

(vi) Intangible assets

Intangible assets comprise website and management system costs. Intangible assets are held on the balance sheet at cost less accumulated amortisation and impairment losses. Intangible

28 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

assets are amortised on a straight-line basis over the expected useful life of three years. Impairment reviews are conducted when events and changes in circumstances indicate that an impairment may have occurred. If any asset is found to have a carrying value materially higher than its recoverable amount, it is written down accordingly.

(vii) Investments

Investments are stated at market value. Unrealised gains or losses are derived from the movement in market value during the year.

(viii) Stock

Stock is valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value, and is used on a first in, first out basis.

(ix) Capital funds

Included with Endowment Funds are Capital Funds which are assets held on behalf of three trusts which are constituted as linked charities of I CAN, as per a direction made under Section 12 of the Charities Act 2011. The results of two permanent endowment funds, I CAN Consolidated Fund and Ministering Children’s League, and the expendable endowment fund, the Countess of Meath Fund, have been amalgamated into the Charity’s financial statements. Their Trustee is I CAN and their purposes are consistent with the objectives of I CAN (see Notes 10 and 14 for detail of these linked charities).

(x) Pensions

Pension contributions are made under defined contribution schemes, the assets of which are held in separately administered funds. Pension contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities when payable.

Pension fund contributions for teaching staff are also made to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme which is treated as if it were a defined contribution scheme under exemptions contained in FRS102 as described further in Note 22 below. These contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the accounting period in which they fall due.

2. Donations and Legacies

2.
Donations and Legacies
2022 2021
£'000 £'000
Statutory Grants 374 764
Grant MakingTrusts 1,158 845
Major Gifts 169 184
Corporate Donations and Sponsorship 89 158
Legacies 167 151
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme 1 55
Other Donations and Events 252 125
2,210 2,282

There were no donations from Trustees and key management personnel (2021: nil).

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 29

3. Statutory grants

3.
Statutory grants
2022 2021
£'000 £'000
Department for Education (DfE)
School Grants (Education Funding Agency) 1,479 1,286
Other Grants (Delivery of HLE and SEND projects by I CAN and TCT) 341 685
These grants have been analysed in the SOFA as follows: 1,820
2022		 1,971
2021
£'000 £'000
Schools Activities 1,479 1,285
Gifts, Donations and Legacies 341
1,820		 685
1,971
4.
Analysis of expenditure
Staf Costs Other Depreciation 2022 Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Direct charitable expenditure
Schools 4,735 243
1,548		 6,526
Programme Delivery Activities 1,633 75
667		 2,375
Awareness Raising & Information 179 21
135		 335
6,547 339
2,350		 9,236
Costs of Generating funds
Fundraising		 216
6,763		 1
340		 133
2,483		 350
9,586
2021 Analysis of expenditure
Staf Costs Other Depreciation 2021 Total
Direct charitable expenditure
Schools 4,185 1,237
182		 5,606
Programme Delivery Activities (including 1,418 766
54		 2,238
TCT)
Awareness Raising & Information 90 130
21		 241
Costs of Generating funds
Fundraising		 5,693
221
5,916		 2,133
217
2,350
257
1
258		 8,085
439
8,524
2022 2021
£'000 £'000
Staf costs:
Wages and Salaries 5,046 4,627
Social Securitycosts 450 407
Otherpension and beneft costs 604 437
Agencystaf and consultants 498 374
Other staf costs 165 71
6,763 5,916

30 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

There were no redundancy payments in 2022 (2021: 0).

The average number of employees during the year was 205 (2021: 187). Their full-time equivalents would be 172 (2021: 164) which can be apportioned by categories as follows: educational services 140 (2021: 134), fundraising and awareness raising 10 (2021: 9) and administration 7(2021: 6).

Number in 2022 Number in 2021
Emoluments of higher paid employees:
£60,000 to £70,000 1 2
£70,001 to £80,000 3 2
£80,001 to £90,000 2 1
£91,001 to £100,000 0 0

In 2022, there were no payments made in connection with redundancy in the emoluments of higher paid employees (2021: 0).

There were contributions of £34,924 made to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme for 2 higher paid employees (2021: £17,122: 1). Contributions of £33,626 (2021: £39,609) were paid to a defined pension contribution scheme for 4 (2021: 4) higher paid employees.

Key management personnel

Key management personnel of the Charity are the Senior Management Team as listed on page 41. The total amount of employee benefits for these 7 (2021: 7) positions was £550,931(2021: £540,321).

5. Allocation of support costs

Occupancy Human Finance and Governance 2022
Resources Information (note 6) Total
Technology
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Fundraising Activity 54 4 38 77 173
Schools - 116 320 96 532
Programme DeliveryActivities 74 11 17 12 114
Awareness Raising & Information 50 1 4 12 67
178 132 379 197 886

Support costs have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Occupancy costs have been allocated on a per capita basis, staff costs by an assessment of time spent and other costs by their usage.

Analysis of support costs

Staf Costs Other Depreciation 2022
Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Governance (note 6) 44 153 - 197
Occupancy 36 139 3 178
Human Resources 78 54 - 132
Finance and Information Technology 176 162 41 379
334 508 44 886

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 31

The prior year comparatives are as follows:

Occupancy Human Finance and Governance 2021
Resources Information (note 6) Total
Technology
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Fundraising Activity 106 4 32 61 203
Schools - 113 267 78 458
Programme DeliveryActivities 144 11 14 9 178
Awareness Raising & Information 99 1 3 9 112
349 129 316 157 951

Analysis of support costs

Analysis of support costs
Staf Costs Other Depreciation 2021 Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Governance (note 6) 83 75 - 157
Occupancy 34 313 1 349
Human Resources 59 70 - 129
Finance and Information Technology 88 222 6 316
264 680 7 951

6. Governance costs

6.
Governance costs
2022 2021
£'000 £'000
Strategic planning and management 162 128
Auditors’ remuneration – other services 4 2
Auditors’ remuneration – audit services 30 27
196 157

7. Consolidated financial statements

The Charity has taken advantage of the exemption provided by 408 of the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities SORP (FRS 102) not to publish its own Income and Expenditure account. The net movement of funds for the year within the Charity financial statements is positive £592,328 (2021: £772,000).

8. Trustees’ remuneration

In accordance with the Charity’s Memorandum of Association, no Trustee holds a salaried office with the Charity. In 2022, no Trustees received payment for work performed (2021: nil). In 2022, no Trustee claimed travel and subsistence expenses for attendance at meetings (2021: nil claimed).

32 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

9. Fixed assets – Group and Charity

9a. Tangible assets

Buildings Freehold Leasehold Equipment & Total
Renovations Property Property Motor
Vehicles
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Cost
At 1 April 2021 1,916 3,208 196 1,104 6,424
Additions 871 - - 114 985
Disposals - - - (1) (1)
At 31 March 2022 2,787 3,208 196 1,217 7,408
Accumulated Depreciation
At 1 April 2021 (1,247) (2,146) (196) (800) (4,389)
Charge for theyear (108) (63) - (115) (286)
At 31 March 2022 (1,355) (2,209) (196) (915) (4,675)
Net book value at
31 March 2022		 1,432 999 - 302 2,733
Net book value at
31 March 2021		 669 1,062 - 304 2,035

Of the Freehold Property, £341k (2021: £351k) of the net book value relates to the Ministering Children’s League fund, which is a permanent endowment.

9b. Intangible assets

2021
£'000
Cost
At April 2021 173
At March 2022 173
Accumulated Amortisation
At April 2021 (92)
Charge for the year
At March 2022		 (54)
(146)
Net Book Value at 2022 27
Net Book Value at March 2021 81

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 33

10. Investments – Group and Charity

2022 2021
£'000 £'000
At 1 April 4,556 3,946
Unrealised increase/(decrease) in unrealisedgains 476 609
At 31 March 5,032 4,555
Historical cost of investments 2,666 2,666

Included within the balance are investments with a value of £2,764k (2021: £2,544k) which relate to the group’s endowment funds as set out in note 14.

Investments in both years were held in managed UK investments funds. In 2022, £2,268k (2021: £2,010k) were held in Open Ended Investment Companies (OEICs) with the balance being held in Common Investment Funds. Investments also include an investment in the trading subsidiary company at a cost of £4. I CAN Charity owns 100% of the share capital of its trading subsidiary, I CAN Services Limited (ICSL). ICSL is incorporated in the UK and the address of the registered office is the same as that for I CAN Charity as shown on page 42.

Investment Income

Investment Income
2022 2021
£'000 £'000
Dividends and interest on Listed Investments
80		 84
80 84

11. Debtors

Group Group Charity Charity
2022 2021 2022 2021
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Debtors for school fees 892 848 - -
Other Trade Debtors 561 163 561 163
Other Debtors 12 16 12 16
Prepayments and accrued income 572 602 572 602
2,037 1,629 1,145 781

12. Stock

12.
Stock
Group Charity
2022 2021 2022 2021
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Goods for resale 203 349 203 349
203 349 203 349

Stock is stated after a provision for impairment of £50k (2021 £95k).

34 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

13. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Group Group Charity Charity
2022 2021 2022 2021
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Creditors (450) (120) (450) (120)
Other creditors including tax and Social (329) (353) (329) (353)
Security
Accruals (255) (198) (255) (198)
Amounts due to subsidiary - - 354 242
Deferred Income (2,096) (2,470) (1,408) (1,856)
(3,130) (3,141) (2,088) (2,285)

14. Endowment funds – Group and Charity

As at 1 April Income (Expense) Transfer to Investment As at
2021 other funds Gains 31 March
2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Expendable
Endowment
Countess of 45 - - - - 45
Meath
Permanent
Endowment
Princess Alice 411 - - - 36 447
Fund
I CAN 767 - - - 48 815
Consolidated
Fund
Ministering 1,932 - (10) - 135 2,057
Children’s
League Fund
Total 3,155 - (10) - 219 3,364

Countess of Meath

Income is to be applied for the benefit of the schools.

Princess Alice Fund

The income may be used for the general charitable purposes of I CAN Charity.

The I CAN Consolidated Fund, Ministering Children’s League Fund and the Countess of Meath Fund are linked charities of I CAN Charity and have been included within the Charity funds above. Income may be used for any general charitable purpose of I CAN Charity.

With the exception of the Countess of Meath endowment, only income from the endowment funds may be expended by the Charity. The capital itself must be held in perpetuity unless otherwise authorised by the Charity Commission or so permitted under the trust under which the fund was set up.

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 35

15. Restricted funds – Group and Charity

Balance Restricted Restricted Balance
1 April Income Expenditure 31 March
2021 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Fixed Asset Funds
Dawn House 12 - 12
Dawn House Chimes 67 - (6) 61
Meath School Minibus 3 - (0) 3
Meath School Fencing 4 - 0 4
Meath School Woodlands 9 - (5) 4
CRM project
Total Fixed Asset Funds		 73
168		 -
-		 (31)
(42)		 42
126
Other Funds
Dawn House General		 60 18 (4) 74
Dawn House Motor Vehicles 14 - (5) 9
Dawn House Food Tech Room 40 - (2) 38
Dawn House Sports Hall 11 1 - 12
Dawn House Capex 44 94 (95) 43
Dawn House Laptops – Permira
Meath General		 15
184
104		 -
113
57		 (7)
(113)
(24)		 8
184
137
Meath Capital 47 52 (55) 44
Meath FamilySupport Project 20 - (14) 6
Meath Playground 46 - (1) 45
Meath Residential - 159 (159) -
Meath HolidayProject 14 - (6) 8
Meath SupportingFamilyFund 3 - - 3
Meath Laptops - Permira 9
243		 -
268		 (4)
(263)		 5
248

36 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

Balance Restricted Restricted Balance
1 April 2021 Income Expenditure 31 March
2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £000
Programme Funding
Tots TalkingLondon 11 16 (27)
Enquiryservice - 49 (49) -
Knowsleyand West Somerset Place 3 - (3)
West Somerset EarlyTalkers - 58 (58) -
Cumbria Communication Project - 12 (12) -
NurseryInclusion Project Wandsworth 1 50 (51)
I CAN Catch up Project - 11 (11)
TalkingAbout Talk Secondarywith SEND 17 (17)
Changingthe Conversation about Language - 222 (222) -
EarlyYears SEND Project - 119 (119) -
Talk Boost Year 7 Pilot 10 (10) -
Let's Get Oldham Talking 10 - (10)
Bath and North East Somerset Tots Talking 2 27 (29)
HinkleyPoint C - Empowerment Project 6 29 (35) -
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Blackburn 19 (19) -
English Hubs TrainingCentres 13 33 (46)
Hiscox Foundation - 25 (25) -
Let’s Get KnowsleyTalking - 22 (22) -
EarlyYears PathwayProject - 13 (13) -
What Works Database 10 (10)
Sound Communities 2 (2) -
COLTALE 1 19 (20)
Teletherapy(non RT) - 4 (4) -
Refnitiv - 42 (42) -
SBT Talk Boost Online - 5 (5) -
Mercers - 83 (83) -
Tiered Ofer Development - 12 (12) -
Westminster Talk Boost 8 (3) 5
Permira Talk Boost - 24 (24) -
Constable Education Trust 80 (80)
Rayners Teletherapy - 49 (49) -
Rayners DLD Pilot - 68 (68) -
Rayners Digitisation - 20 (20)
Rayners On-Line Tracker - 87 (87) -
Rayners TCT Grants - 328 (328) -
Rayners Policy& Public - 64 (64) -
Rayners General - 38 (38) -
Rayners Research Centre - 46 (46)
Rayners Meath Assessment - 41 (41) -
72 1,737 (1,804) 5
Total Other Funds 498 2,117 (2,180) 435
Total Restricted Funds 666 2,117 (2,222) 561

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 37

Our utmost thanks go to all our invaluable funders.

Fixed Asset funds

Dawn House – Funds raised for Dawn House buildings and equipment. Meath – Funds raised for Meath buildings and equipment. Meath minibus – Funds raised for a minibus for Meath. Meath Woodlands – Funds raised for a woodlands project at Meath.

CRM Project – CRM project funded by a funder who wishes to remain anonymous.

Funds have been raised directly to support children in both our schools, Dawn House and Meath.

General funds are raised to achieve the objectives of the Charity and two schools and further funds are raised for specific purposes for the school's benefits as noted above.

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington (for which the Mercers’ Company is Corporate Trustee)

The second instalment of a three-year commitment was received to support the development, testing and evaluation of Early Talk Boost intervention specifically for children with English as an Additional Language (EAL).

Department for Education

Department for Education (Home Learning Environment) - Led by Speech and Language UK, the Talk & Play project aimed to engage key stakeholders in Wandsworth and Essex to improve the early language development of children aged 0-4. Working with 50 early years settings across the two sites and the parent/carers of the children accessing these services, we delivered a concerted series of staff training as well as parental support and advice through the EasyPeasy app.

Department for Education (EY SEND) - Led by National Children’s Bureau and delivered in partnership with Council for Disabled Children, nasen, Speech and Language UK, Dingley’s Promise and Contact, this project aims to improve the quality of provision for children with SEND in the Early Years through a focus on professional development.

16. Unrestricted funds – Group and Charity

Balance Change in Balance
1 April 2021 Year 31 March
2022
£'000 £'000 £'000
Designated Funds:
Fixed Asset Funds
Schools 1,293 (61) 1,233
Other Funds
Premises Repair/Dilapidation 59 - 59
Total Designated Funds 1,352 (61) 1,292
General Funds 2,295 549 2,843
Total Unrestricted Funds 3,647 488 4,135

38 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

Designated Fixed Asset Funds

Net book value of the fixed assets used for the delivery of the Charity’s direct charitable activities (not otherwise funded by Capital or Restricted Funds).

17. Analysis of net assets – Group

General Designated Restricted Endowment Balance 31
Funds Funds Funds Funds March 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Tangible Assets 1,075 1,233 84 341 2,733
Intangible Assets (14) - 41 - 27
Investments 2,268 - - 2,764 5,032
Net Current Assets (486) 59 436 259 268
Total Net Assets 2,843 1,292 561 3,364 8,060
General Designated Restricted Endowment Balance 31
Funds Fixed Asset Funds Funds March 2021
Funds
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Tangible Assets 795 793 95 352 2,035
Intangible Assets 9 - 72 - 81
Investments 2,011 - - 2,544 4,555
Net Current Assets (520) 559 499 259 797
Total Net Assets 2,295 1,352 666 3,155 7,468

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 39

18. Prior year comparator for SOFA

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment 2021
Funds Funds Funds Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
INCOME FROM:
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Schools Activities 5,433 393 - 5,826
Programme related activities 488 - - 488
(includingTCT)
GENERATED FUNDS
Donations and Legacies 712 1,570 - 2,282
Investments 84 - - 84
TOTAL INCOME 6,717 1,963 - 8,680
EXPENDITURE ON:
RAISING FUNDS
Fundraising Costs
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES		 439
439		 -
-		 -
-		 439
439
Schools Activities 5,366 230 10 5,606
Programme Related Activities 538 1,700 - 2,238
Awareness Raising & Information 241
6,145		 -
1,930		 -
10		 241
8,085
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 6,584 1,930 10 8,524
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)
BEFORE OTHER RECOGNISED GAINS		 133 33 (10) 156
Transfers between Funds (7) (7) - -
Gains/(Losses) on investment assets 168 - 441 609
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 294 40 431 765
Fund balances brought 3,353 626 2,724 6,703
forward at 1 April 2020
Fund balances carried forward 3,647 666 3,155 7,468
at 31 March 2021

19. Commitments under operating leases and capital commitments

On 13 April 2021 a new 5 year lease was signed between I CAN Charity and its landlord with annual rental of £96,064. This included a 3-month rent free period from March 2021 with our first payment due in July 2021. The lease includes break clause after the first 3 years. The rent for this financial year is £74,260 (2021: £128,000).

2022 2021
£'000 £'000
Payment not later than one year 72 84
Payment later than oneyear and not later than fveyears 192 192
Total commitments under operating lease 264 276

40 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and financial statements

20. Capital

The Company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of the 15 members under the guarantee is limited to £1 each.

21. Related party transactions

I CAN Charity has one wholly owned subsidiary: I CAN Services Limited. The amounts outstanding to I CAN Services Limited is disclosed in note 11.

Key management personnel and Trustee remuneration disclosures are given in note 4 and 8 respectively.

22. Pension obligations

The Group participates in two pension schemes:

The total pension cost for the group was £586,287 (2021: £420,020).

Teachers’ Pensions Scheme

The TPS is an unfunded defined benefit scheme. Contributions on a ‘pay as you go’ basis are credited to the Exchequer under arrangements governed by the Superannuation Act 1972.

The latest actuarial review of the TPS for which information is available was carried out as at 31 March 2016 and in accordance with The Public Service Pensions (Valuations and Employer Cost Cap) (Amendment) Directions 2018. The valuation report was published by the DfE on 5 March 2019. The key results of the valuation are:

As noted above, from 1 April 2015 employer contributions were 16.4%, increasing to 23.6% from 1 September 2019. Employee contributions in 2021 and 2020 were based on tiered contribution rates as follows:

Contribution rate 2021-22 2020-21
Lower salary Higher Salary Lower salary Higher Salary
7.40% £0 £28,310 0 28,169
8.60% £28,310 £38,109 28,169 37,919
9.60% £38,109 £45,186 37,919 44,961
10.20% £45,186 £59,886 44,961 59,588
11.30% £59,886 £81,662 59,588 81,255
11.70% £81,662 > 81,255 >

Under the definitions set out in FRS 102 section 28, the TPS is a multi-employer pension scheme. The Government Actuary is unable to identify the Charity's share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme. Accordingly, the Charity has accounted for its contributions as if it were a defined contribution scheme.

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 41

Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisers

Principal office and registered office

I CAN Charity (operating as Speech and Language UK) 2 Angel Gate London EC1V 2PT

Registered in England Company Registered Number 00099629 England and Wales Charity Registered Number 210031 Scottish Charity Registered Number SC039947

T: 020 7843 2510 | E: info@speechandlangauge.org.uk | Web: speechandlanguage.org.uk

Vice Presidents

The Most Rev and Right Hon The Lord Archbishop of York The Right Rev and Right Hon The Lord Bishop of London Mrs. Susan Blackwood

Sir John Craven Ms. Frances Jacob Mrs. Lesley James CBE Mr. Oliver Thompson

----- Start of picture text -----
The council Date Elected Position Sub-Committees
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Mr. Roy Blatchford CBE 29.07.2020 Chair Finance & Audit, Programme Development, Social
Enterprise, Remuneration
Mr. Stuart Shepley Co-opted from Treasurer Finance & Audit; Remuneration
21.09.2016
Elected 27.09.2017
Dr. Judy Clegg BSc, 21.09.2016 Programme Development
PhD, MRCSLT
Ms. Susan Gregory 25.09.2014 Education from November 2021, Programme
Development, Social Enterprise until October 2021
Ms. Jean Gross CBE 20.09.2012-02.11.2021 Programme Development
Mr. Riccardo Basile 27.09.2017 Social Enterprise
Ms. Juliet Agnew 30.10.2019-14.10.2021 Finance and Audit
Ms. Ann Gross (Brown) 30.10.2019 Programme Development
Mr. John Willis 30.10.2019 Finance and Audit
Ms. Yvonne Wren 30.10.2019-16.11.2021 Programme Development
Mr. Simon Wright 30.10.2019 Social Enterprise
Mr. Luke Manning 28.10.2020 Social Enterprise
Mr. James Willan QC 02.11.2021 Remuneration, Finance and Audit
Ms. Julie Dockrell 24.02.2022 Programme Development, Remuneration
Mr. Narayan Deb 24.02.2022 Social Enterprise, Education from November 2021

42 | Speech and Language UK | Annual report and fnancial statements

Senior Management Team

Chief Executive Ms. Jane Harris from April 2021 (maternity leave from September 2021) Acting Chief Executive Mrs. Carol Payne from September 2021 Director of Operations Mrs. Carol Payne Director of Corporate Services Mr. Steve Williams Director of Education Mr. Tom Pegler Interim Director of Fundraising Mr. Samir Afhim (from September 2021) Interim Director of External Aff airs Ms. Sarah Lambert (from September 2021) Principal of Dawn House School Ms. Jenny McConnell Principal of Meath School Ms. Kim Bent

Solicitors

Bates Wells 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1BE

Bankers

The Co-operative Bank 1 Islington High Street London N1 9TR

Independent Auditors

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP One Kingsway Cardiff CF10 3PN

Linked charities

Andrew Duncan Charity Brentwood Fund Childrens Home Exmouth Fund Claude Lewis Bounty (The Part Applicable to the Body incorporate) Earl of Suff olk’s Invalid Children’s Aid Fund Edith Edwards Fund Grassendale Charity

ICAN Consolidated Fund Roehampton Children’s Rest Fund St. Mary’s Home Haslemere Fund Sunshine Guild Fund The Charity of Mary Countess of Meath 1887 The Mary Countess of Meath Trust Fund The Ministering Children’s League

Annual report and financial statements | Speech and Language UK | 43

speechandlanguage.org.uk Follow us at @SpeechAndLangUK

Speech and Language UK is the operating name of I CAN Charity, a registered charity in England and Wales (210031) and Scotland (SC039947), which is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (00099629). Registered address: 2 Angel Gate, Hall Street, London, EC1V 2PT.