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2023-03-31-accounts

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United Response
Annual Report and
Accounts
2022/23
Charity number: 265249
Company registration
number: 1133776
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Contents

About United Response .......................................................................................................................3 Trustee’s report .....................................................................................................................................5 Introduction by Malcolm McCaig, Chair of the Board of Trustees ........................................................5 Our year at a glance ............................................................................................................................7 What we’ve achieved ...........................................................................................................................8 Networks of support rooted in local communities .........................................................................8 Supported by the resources of a national organisation .............................................................. 11 Employee engagement .............................................................................................................. 12 Equality, diversity and inclusion ................................................................................................. 13 Fundraising activities ................................................................................................................. 14 Thank you to our supporters .............................................................................................................. 15 Plans for the future ............................................................................................................................ 17 Our environmental impact.................................................................................................................. 19 Financial review ................................................................................................................................. 21 Risk management…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24 Structure, governance and management .......................................................................................... 26 Section 172(1) statement .................................................................................................................... 29 Reference and administrative details ................................................................................................ 30 Trustees’ Responsibility Statement ................................................................................................... 31 Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of United Response ............................................... 32 Financial Statements …………………………………………………………………………………………. 36

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About United Response

United Response is a pan-disability charity. We work with communities across England and Wales to provide care, support, housing, education and employment services.

Our vision is a society where everyone has equal access to the same rights and opportunities.

Our mission is to ensure that individuals with learning disabilities, mental or physical support needs have the opportunity to live their lives to the full.

Our values guide the way we work. We are Creative, Responsive, Strong, Honest and United.

Charitable objectives

United Response was founded in 1973 with just one service. We now operate in over 420 locations across England and Wales. We were established to support people with learning disabilities or physical disabilities, autistic people, and those with mental health needs to live the life they choose in their community.

Beneficiaries

We support young people from the age of 16 and adults up to the end of their life. We work alongside the people we support and their families, carers, advocates and the communities they live in.

We have particular expertise in working with people with complex needs, including those with profound learning disabilities. Many of the people we work with have complex behaviour support needs. We support them to live fulfilled lives as part of their community using active support and positive behaviour support techniques.

Our mental health services support people with a wide range of mental health needs, including a growing number of people with learning disabilities, working in partnership with clinical partners. Our emphasis is on wellness and recovery and where possible early intervention to help prevent more severe problems from occurring.

Through our work, we support people to exercise choice and control. We work alongside them so they can achieve the outcomes they want and meaningfully contribute to their communities. We have a strong track record of supporting people to build their independence, whether young disabled people transitioning into adult services or adults moving out of hospital settings. We are person-centred in our approach, working around the routines and activities of each person so they can be active citizens.

Wider disability communities and the health and social care sector benefit from our campaigning and influencing work.

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Keeping people safe

Keeping people safe, well and protected from abuse is at the heart of what we do. To achieve this, we work with our partners, such as local safeguarding boards, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) and Ofsted. We have an established Safeguarding Forum with an independent Chair with extensive professional experience in safeguarding policy and practice.

We train and support our staff to follow our safeguarding and whistleblowing policies and procedures, implementing various control measures and processes such as risk assessment, person-centred planning and positive behaviour support planning. We also provide staff with detailed guidance on the Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty (DOLS) legislation. Staff attend regular training and receive communication updates on safeguarding practices in our internal briefings. We encourage and welcome the involvement of the families and friends of the people we support. This acts as a safeguarding measure and an essential aspect of the quality of life of the people we support.

Our plan: Shaped by People

We launched Shaped by People in 2020 with eight strategic intentions where we said that we would:

  1. Offer excellent person-centred support, enabling people we support to live as active members of their local communities

  2. Promote wellbeing at work and empower colleagues in a more participatory, less hierarchical organisation

  3. Operate in a financially sustainable manner making a virtue of our not-for-profit status

  4. Speak out with people we support and families, to ensure the voice of disabled people is heard

  5. Harness the power of digital working to deliver efficiency and more enjoyable ways of working

  6. Invest in diversification to enable people we support to achieve wider outcomes and to broaden our range of revenue sources

  7. Develop a recognised brand for our work. Proud of our achievements, confident that we learn from both our successes and our failings

  8. Collaborate with others to deliver our aims

So that we can say: We offer networks of support rooted in local communities backed up by the resources of a national organisation.

This report shows how we have worked towards achieving these aims.

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Trustee’s report

Introduction by Malcolm McCaig, Chair of the Board of Trustees

This year has been one of delivering outstanding service to enable the people we support to live their lives to the full, whilst faced with challenges beyond our expectations. The UK witnessed one of the most politically and economically turbulent years. The cost of living soared, and the Russia-Ukraine war disrupted global supply chains whilst the country still recovered from the impact of the pandemic.

The funding deficit in adult social care has placed providers under considerable strain for several years. Still, in the current economic climate, the sector is faced with maintaining financial sustainability. The Sector Pulse Check report from charity Hft and membership body Care England highlighted that 42% of providers had no option but to close parts of their organisation or hand back care contracts. We are also amid a recruitment dilemma – with Skills for Care’s annual workforce data highlighting that social care vacancies rose by 52%.

We are committed to shaping a sustainable future for United Response. But to achieve this, we have had to make some difficult decisions. Sadly, we are not alone in this situation. Many providers find that local authority rates do not meet rising inflation, soaring energy prices and the cost of paying staff a fair and decent wage. We and many others have had to draw on limited reserves to meet these costs. This can only ever be a short-term fix.

Towards the end of this financial year, we began to hand back services where local authority fees did not meet the total cost of delivering good quality care and support that we aspire to deliver. This has meant saying goodbye to people we support and colleagues, some of who we have been connected with for a very long time.

Even against this challenging backdrop, we have made significant achievements and great strides in progressing with our plan, Shaped By People. We have drawn on our charitable reserves to invest in the future. Work has started to adopt new digital methods of working.This will improve our productivity on dayto-day activities and free up our colleagues to spend more time on creativity, innovation and delivering great support.

Our dedication to maintaining the quality of our support was evidenced in our CQC ratings which saw 94.5% of our CQCregistered services rated ‘Good’. These ratings are a testament to our frontline staff’s commitment to providing safe, effective, caring and responsive support.

With some fantastic results, we have stepped up our commitment to campaign for meaningful change. We highlighted the increasing levels of disability hate crime, which had more than doubled from when we first started gathering data from police forces nationwide in 2017. We jointly produced the ‘Say No to Disability Hate Crime’ report with Leonard Cheshire Disability, calling for the national curriculum to directly address ableism, funding for Disability Liaison Police Officers and a cross-government approach to tackling disability hate crime.

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This year also saw us launch the My Vote My Voice campaign, working in partnership with Mencap, Dimensions and Ambitious About Autism, with grant funding from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. Our goal is to make voting accessible to all and to increase voter turnout amongst people with learning disability and autistic people at the next general election.

We have continued our strategic development to diversify our footprint into areas such as housing, education, skills development and employability, all connected to the people we support. As these areas develop, our resilience as a charity will increase.

After 44 years as our President, Sir Martyn Lewis stepped down, having been a strong advocate for our cause. During his tenure, Martyn has championed all aspects of our work, lending his interviewing skills at various national and local events, parliamentary receptions and Christmas carol services. He also lent his support to the launch of our flagship accessible news magazine, Easy News, and accessible campaigning work. I want to thank Martyn for his commitment to United Response formally and wish him well as he moves on to new ventures.

A number of my fellow Trustees have also moved on after several dedicated years of service. On behalf of the board, best wishes for the future to Helen England, retiring Vice-chair, and Trustees Paul Mariner and Katherine Rake.

We warmly welcome Nikki Pawsey to the Board whose fundraising expertise will support our growth ambitions in that area, Vicky Whelan, who brings experience of healthcare and business transformation, and Lisa Odendaal, who steps up from her co-opted position on the Audit and Risk Committee.

Our directors’ team has also seen some departures. Thanks to Andy Ward, Director of Finance and Joe Anichebe, Interim Director of Finance, both of whom had substantial roles in navigating the organisation through complex financial waters. Also, to Mark Ospedale, our Corporate Services Director, for his years of service. Joining the Executive leadership team are Pete Thomas as Finance Director, Jenny Tremewan as Head of Human Resources and Jack Sheppard as Head of IT. We welcome them to their new roles.

I am pleased to thank every staff member at United Response for another year of sustained hard work, creativity and dedication in what continues to be a complex social care landscape. As we enter our 50th anniversary, we will capture incredible stories of the people who make United Response what it is and highlight how much life has improved for those who draw on social care support. The following 50 years could tell a truly incredible story, as we continue to be dedicated to the people we support, our staff and our communities. Collectively, we will work to fulfil our purpose.

Malcolm McCaig Chair

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Our year at a glance

During 2022/23 we

Our regulators told us

People we support and families told us

Our reach

Our services

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What we’ve achieved

Networks of support rooted in local communities

Across England and Wales, we are rooted in local communities offering networks of support for people who have a learning disability, are autistic or have mental health conditions. We do this so they can say:

But the adult social care sector has faced unprecedented challenges over 2022 – 2023 due to strained local authority budgets post-pandemic and the ongoing workforce crisis. This has put considerable financial pressure on providers meaning we, and many others, have had to make difficult decisions to secure long-term financial stability. Despite great promises of social care reform, we have seen little evidence of this.

Responsive and dedicated support

Despite our challenges, we have shown resilience as an organisation, recovering and rebuilding after the pandemic. Our CQC ratings remain high, with 94.5% of services rated as “Good” against a sector average of 86.4%, highlighting how we continue improving the quality of support we provide. This is a testament to the creative and dedicated support of our workforce.

At the beginning of 2023, we commissioned an independent review of our response to Covid to find out what worked and what didn’t. One of the recurring themes in the study is the hard work on everyone’s part to save lives. It highlighted how we reacted quickly, always taking a person-centred approach to protecting people. The report also suggests how we could do things differently, from sharing learning to strengthening the data we record.

We will realise this through Nourish, a digital care records management system that will change how we record and work with information — ultimately ensuring that we continue to be responsive and adaptive to the needs of the people we support. This will help us achieve our strategic intention to embrace and use technology across all areas of our organisation .

Spaces for community connections

We work with communities, not just in them, because we know communities thrive when they are united. We see this play out through our green projects and community hubs, where grant funding and legacy donations have enabled us to support the wellbeing of the people who draw on our care and support as

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well as whole communities. From Blackpool to Bristol, our community allotments draw support from local businesses and individuals eager to contribute to their development and help us realise our strategic intent to deepen community connections.

In Cwmbran South Wales, we’ve been transforming the local area and a piece of derelict land used for fly-tipping into a thriving community garden. The project aims to enable the people that draw on our support to be at the heart of the community and change the dynamics of power so they are giving consent to others. Alan Slade, local Cwmbran councillor told us:

"Helping deliver this project is a real labour of love for me. It will absolutely transform this neglected piece of land into a valuable community asset. I hope that we can rally lots of community support to develop a green space that we can all be proud of.”

In Bristol, our Potters Den allotment has also been shifting the narrative of social care. People we support who maintain the allotment have been supplying vegetable boxes to families from a local primary school living below the poverty line. A food parcel beneficiary wrote to us, saying:

“I am very grateful for the food boxes that I receive, they have been a great help for me and my children. They also help my children understand and learn what goes into their food and how to make fresh meals using the produce we get from the food boxes.”

In Teddington, we have deepened our roots in the local community, delivering wellbeing workshops open to all. Creating safe spaces for people to encourage and empower one another to share their feelings. Josh told us:

“Before I had lots of things on my mind. The workshops helped me to learn to control my thoughts and taught me to speak about them in the group instead of holding them in. I used to get very anxious but now I feel calm and confident. My confidence is higher than my anxiety. I would recommend the group to anyone who is anxious – it will help you how it helped me.”

Meanwhile, in Cheriton, our Community Network project has hosted activities and events to draw in the local community to address pressing social issues, from a series of events on Black History Month to establishing a ‘People’s Larder’ thanks to grant income, so we can reduce food waste and help people during the cost-of-living crisis. Community Network Co-ordinator Rachael said:

“It’s great that we’re being recognised for what we’ve been doing for the community during the cost-ofliving crisis. This money will help us to offer even more for people we support and local residents.”

Ways to learn and opportunities to work

Over the year, we have seen a growth in student numbers at ROC College in Devon, increasingly supporting students with social, emotional and mental health needs. And, up in York, we provide nonaccredited bespoke learning packages for post-16 learners with Education Health Care Plans, focusing on media skills training, hospitality, retail and customer service training.

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Our community-based approach to further education helps young people like Elliot prepare for adulthood and independence. In November, we opened The Cottage Café in Torquay to provide supported internship opportunities for students from ROC College. Elliot has been learning new cooking and barista skills and customer service – all of which will be essential when applying for permanent roles. Elliot told us:

“I’ve really liked my experience working here, as I’ve always wanted to work in a restaurant or café. It’s been a really good part of my time at ROC College.”

We received a grant from the Department of Work and Pensions to work in partnership with Bradford Metropolitan District Council to provide a five-step employment support programme for 100 autistic people. One of the intentions in our plan, Shaped By People, is to make meaningful work available to the people we support, and it is great to see this taking shape. The programme will help Connor as he starts his new role at Bradford Royal Infirmary. Connor said:

“I am really happy I will have the extra support when I start my job. During the interview process I was asked about my autism and how they could help support me, which was really helpful. I’m excited to start my job and I hope more autistic people will get whatever extra support they need to showcase their skills.”

Support to live in a place to call home

We all want to live in a place we call home with the people and things we love. This is at the heart of our housing strategy. To achieve this, we appointed a Director of Housing to support United Response to forge new funding partnerships and develop co-housing approaches in collaboration with local communities. As a result, we have launched a new maintenance and stock improvement plan and invested in a digital tool, Homemaster, to improve how we work as we grow our role as a supported housing landlord to secure our long-term financial sustainability as an organisation.

Time for collective action

We began to roll out our campaigning and policy strategy to support our strategic ambitions to become better known and speak out with the people we support. Building on our partnership with Leonard Cheshire Disability we highlighted the impact of disability hate crime, successfully securing 146 items of coverage for the launch of our research report, which reached 46 million readers, listeners and viewers. We had spokespeople requests for broadcast and radio coverage across Channel 4, national and regional BBC and Talk TV.

Democracy campaigning has been a longstanding cause for United Response, but this year we ramped up our activity thanks to Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust funding. We are working with Mencap, Dimensions and Ambitious About Autism to ensure that the 2 million people with learning disabilities or autism in the UK can exercise their right to vote.

We launched My Vote My Voice in parliament at a reception attended by MPs, civil servants, selfadvocates and campaigners.

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Alex, who we support, spoke at the event, telling MPs:

“Progress needs to be made to include people with disabilities so they can vote with honour, respect and dignity.”

The campaign has 14 MP champions and 50 organisations signed up to the charter. In the lead-up to the general election, the campaign will produce easy-read guides to politics and voting, run accessible political events and develop leading research into the accessibility of elections.

Supported by the resources of a national organisation

We can offer networks of support rooted in local communities because of our size and scale as a national organisation. To do this effectively, we have had to change how we work, our culture and how we support and engage with our staff.

Financial sustainability

Despite a challenging year, we have a robust financial position with healthy reserves and clear plans for a sustainable future. In line with other social care providers, 2022/23 has been heavily affected by the end of the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine War, the cost-of-living crisis and workforce pressures.

United Response has navigated each of these challenges effectively and, at the same time, maintained the quality of provision to the people we support. The underfunding of the social care sector is unlikely to go away, and we will continue lobbying to address this. Still, commissioners need to be bolder in designing and commissioning services. We need to think differently about addressing the issues we all face.

Digital transformation

We have strengthened our use of technology and taken advantage of modern digital tools to drive efficiency and grow impact across all areas of our work. During the year we planned for the delivery of new finance and HR systems, selected a digital rostering system together with a new digital care records system. Taken together, these new platforms will modernise the way we work, from frontline services to

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back-office functions, as we prepare to meet the demands of a changing sector. We have also successfully began rolling out mobiles phones for all staff and finished implementing Microsoft Teams.

Lobbying for better pay

Pay remains a central issue for our staff. Our public affairs work has prioritised lobbying the government to introduce pay parity with the NHS for the social care workforce to support our ambitions to pay our staff the Real Living Wage.

We work hard at a local level to negotiate fees that meet our strategic intent of following the Real Living Wage and improving our benefits and remuneration. Sadly, local authority fees do not always meet this ambition, so we have used reserves to fund these pay uplifts. However, this is unsustainable.

To address this, United Response is working with Certitude, Choice Support, Dimensions and MacIntyre under the name ‘More Than A Provider’ to influence the government to improve social care for the people we represent and our workforce.

Following the publication of the Next Steps to Put People at the Heart of Care, we wrote to Helen Whately, Minister of State for Social Care, to raise our concerns about the decision to halve funding for the workforce. We worked with MPs to submit parliamentary questions on the issue. Our letter received coverage in the trade press, raising the profile of our lobbying group and United Response.

Strengthening our brand

We commissioned an audit to understand how our brand is currently performing. The report confirmed that we do not yet have a brand that inspires a positive gut feeling in our key audiences, and we need to change if we’re going to realise the goals of the Long-Term Plan and thrive in a consistently challenging environment.

Employee engagement

Without our staff, we could not exist. That is why we have a strategic commitment to make sure all our colleagues feel valued and listen and work together more as an organisation . Despite the challenges we have faced as an organisation, our colleagues have continued to provide exceptional levels of care and support, and we are truly grateful for that.

Reward and recognition

We expressed gratitude and improved staff engagement through various approaches. Colleague nominations for our quarterly UR Stars awards have increased by 25%, demonstrating how engaged our people are, both in going the extra mile and in taking time to highlight the success of others.

We held awards events for our North and South divisions, recognising staff commitment to the people we support and the organisation. We honoured our graduating apprentices and awarded individuals and staff teams who have gone above and beyond in their work.

We acknowledged a team for inventing creative and engaging activities to keep people we support in Littlehampton happy and engaged through multiple lockdowns. Another received a standing ovation for reacting quickly in an emergency, protecting people we support from serious harm.

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Listening to our staff

We moved to a hybrid structure for national meetings of United Voice, our quarterly staff forum. Every colleague in the organisation can join via MS Teams or, if the session is local to them, face-to-face.

We’re working hard on improving the accessibility and utility of our HR policies, handbooks and contracts to save colleagues time and ensure consistency across the organisation.

A great place to work

Amidst a sector-wide recruitment crisis, we’re proud that our staff turnover rate is 22.7%, 6.3% below the sector average as reported in Skills for Care’s 2022, The State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England. We’ve achieved this through a range of measures such as renewing our focus on making internal promotions and increasing secondment opportunities. Our turnover rate would have been lower had we not had to say farewell to a number of long serving colleagues this year when we handed back unsustainable contracts.

We sent wellbeing gift boxes to every staff member during our annual Wellbeing Week. We asked colleagues to connect, talk, listen and inspire each other by sharing wellbeing pledges. We also recruited our first team of Wellbeing Ambassadors, who received specific mental health training and are available in multiple locations to support anyone within the organisation seeking support.

Our new Women’s and Men’s Health Working Groups are well-attended. These groups look to tackle specific health inequalities and give colleagues from across the organisation the opportunity to share their views and experiences to improve things for everyone.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace continues to be a priority for United Response. Our Diversity Forum meets quarterly to ensure that we continue to promote diversity across our organisation and that all our practices and processes are inclusive.

Last year we evaluated our workforce data and learned that 9% of our frontline workers are Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds but this group only makes up 5% of managers. In response to this disparity, we invested in development training for aspiring managers from this group. This training allowed participants to learn new skills and reflect on their professional growth.

We also delivered unconscious bias training to managers so they could recognise the importance of understanding the problem of bias in the workplace, address their own biases, and create a more inclusive workplace. This training was highly oversubscribed, demonstrating a real commitment by our colleagues to learn and improve.

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Fifty colleagues completed neurodiversity training, including our recruitment team. Attendees came away with an understanding of the positives of thinking differently and the ways to unlock the potential of neurodiversity in our workforce.

In September, we arranged our first-ever Cultural Week, encouraging people we support and staff to celebrate and learn about each other’s cultural backgrounds by sharing recipes, dance, art and sport. The Enterprise Hub in Teddington enjoyed a special visit from Brentford Club Ambassador Marcus Gayle and Ellie Crabb from the Chelsea FC Foundation. One person we support said:

“I liked Cultural Week. It made me think and remember that we are all different – from different places all over the world, and we can all be friends.”

Fundraising activities

Now generating nearly 1% of our total income, fundraised income helps us create inclusive communities where everyone recognises the value people we support bring and the difference they make. We have committed to scaling up our fundraising activity to secure our long-term financial future as part of our strategic work programme.

Our fundraising activity includes:

This year we have begun work to expand our fundraising income streams and build on existing activity. Through trusts and grants fundraising we focus on service-led projects and strategic projects that require multi-year funding. We have been developing existing relationships and creating new national corporate partnerships to facilitate brand recognition, skill sharing, employment opportunities, staff engagement and income.

Our community-based fundraising has focused on engaging those we support, their families and the local communities we operate in to have fun, recognising the need to expand our fundraising offer to individuals. We have opportunities for people to reflect on their Will and consider leaving us a gift. We have a small society lottery provided through One Lottery (Gatherwells). We market these opportunities gently to staff and the general public and have the necessary guidance in place.

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Ethical fundraising

We adhere to the Charity Commission guidelines and we are members of the Fundraising Regulator and Chartered Institute of Fundraising. We comply with our regulator’s guidelines and the Code of Fundraising Practice for the UK and we protect vulnerable people in line with the requirements of the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016.

There have been no complaints about fundraising activity during the year.

We are currently developing our fundraising policies in line with our strategic plans for the growth of our income streams.

We review changes in guidance and legislation related to fundraising, such as the Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising Practice and GDPR legislation, ensuring our data is efficiently and securing captured and stored.

Apart from communicating with people who have supported us in the past, we use neither direct marketing nor external third parties to raise funds. We ensure we maintain consistent communications with those fundraising for us. These numbers are low-level at the moment. In advance of this activity increasing, we are developing our donor journey pathway and communications within it, ensuring all data is recorded on Donorfy, in an accurate and timely way.

Public benefit

We have taken into account the guidance in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on Public Benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities.

Thank you to our supporters

We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our supporters, donors and partners. Your support enables us to extend our support beyond the walls of our services and into local communities.

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust generously supports the My Vote My Voice campaign. This funding has supported our public affairs and policy team to build a powerful coalition of providers, charities, MPs and self-advocates to improve access to democracy and politics.

Sparking new ideas

We have a valued 10-year relationship with the Clothworkers' Foundation, who generously donate £35,000 annually. This funding supports our Small Sparks scheme, where services and communities across United Response can submit project proposals, focusing on 'sparking' a new community initiative.

A recent project, 'Cinema Social', was devised jointly by Simon Copper, URTEC service manager, and Jamie Wilkinson, who we support

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at the service. Jamie plans to organise events around a cinema film screening, with opportunities for people to socialise over games and activities before and after. Jamie said:

" I think it's really important that people who find socialising difficult have something to go to that feels grown-up, fun and safe. I want our "Cinema Social" to be the beginning of good friendships and memorable nights out for everyone in York.

Simon added: "When speaking to lots of the people we support, they feel like they are talked down to at many learning disability events and don't have enough independence and freedom within them. As well as being brilliant in its own right, I also hope that people we support will pick up lots of transferable skills, such as planning, communication and money."

This is just one example of the thousands of projects funded over the last ten years with the Clothworkers’ generous support. Funding empowers people supported by United Response, like Jamie, to take the lead and shape the projects that provide the most benefit.

Running for miles

Kate Knight is a talented runner, former nurse and veteran United Response fundraiser. Her brother-inlaw has learning disabilities and mental health needs, giving her a personal connection to our charity. Running a marathon for charity is an experience you will never forget. Kate ran her first London Marathon for United Response in 2004, telling us:

“The elation when I got to the finish line was just absolutely amazing. I kept focused all the way through. I thought ‘I’m doing this for my brother-in-law’.”

The 2023 London Marathon marked Kate’s twentieth marathon for us, but she’s done over 100 in total despite a knee replacement in 2016. Thank you to Kate and all of our incredible 2023 marathon runners, who have raised over £30,000 for United Response.

Building green spaces

We are also incredibly grateful to Wolseley, a plumbing, heating and cooling specialist merchant, for their generous support of our Community Allotment, Potter’s Den. Their donation of 50 tonnes of hoggin selfcompacting gravel forms the surface of our site, and without it, the site would not be accessible to many of the people we support. Tracy from Wolseley said:

“We were excited to get involved with supplying the hoggin for Potter’s Den to help with the accessibility of the allotment, making the space safe and creating an area that can be enjoyed year-round. We understand the importance of boosting wellbeing at Wolseley, and we recognised Potter’s Den as offering a lifeline in our local Bristol community supporting people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health needs. We were glad we could support the incredible work to help those who need it.”

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We also sincerely thank AMS Construction for their work on the build, which they provided at a reduced rate. Toby Lyons, Lead Senior Support Worker, said:

“AMS Construction have supported us through the whole build and having their support has made such a difference to the project.”

Plans for the future

We are at an exciting moment in our history as we head into our 50th anniversary. We have successfully bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a ground-breaking oral history project that will support people with learning disabilities to engage with their history. People we support will explore the heritage of ‘disability’ and our history as an organisation.

We also mark three years into our organisational strategy. To support our plans for the future, we will relaunch that strategy as Our Big Plan: United Communities, simplifying our goals and aligning our projects and plans under seven change communities:

Supporting people well

Ongoing work to strengthen practice leadership across the organisation will further our commitment to being a learning organisation. We will see the rollout of tools, training and communities of practice to support staff to deliver excellent support. We will continue to roll out our successful health strategy and recruit Health Coaches to maintain good health and wellbeing for the people we support.

United people

We will continue to invest time in improving our employee engagement, embedding our values thoroughly in our internal communications and staff engagement. Our new recruitment website will provide a better user experience for applicants, and we will also develop a career path initiative for our colleagues to maximise ways for them to build and grow. We will invest in consultancy from external experts to support us in producing a measurable strategy to improve equity, diversity and inclusion at United Response.

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Integrated communities

Building on the learnings and successes of our community hubs, we will continue to develop networks of support in local areas. We will work with our commissioners to secure funding agreements that help our financial sustainability and work creatively with partners such as policing teams, community wardens and mental health teams to ensure people get the proper support in every aspect of their lives.

A stronger collective voice

We will develop avenues for people we support and families to have their say in the way we are run through people forums and co-production. Our campaigning work will offer opportunities for people to take action on social issues so everybody has equal access to the same rights and opportunities. We will grow our campaigning team to include paid roles for the people we support.

Growth and development

Our education, skills and employment offer will expand into new areas to increase the number of people who draw on our support, providing learning hubs nationwide. We have several exciting housing developments in the pipeline across the country, supporting our aim to broaden the sources of income we receive. We will continue to develop our brand so we are better known for what we do and increase our marketing support to our areas of growth and development.

Financial sustainability

We will secure our long-term financial future by continuing to grow our community-based approach to delivering bigger, better lives for people with disabilities. As a supported housing landlord, we will expand our role by offering good-quality, accessible accommodation. We will build further on our successful education, skills and employment programme delivery, develop our commercial offer in events, training and consultancy and scale up our fundraising.

Digital Transformation

We will continue to rollout our digital transformation and taking advantage of new technologies to maximise the impact of our work. The launch of our digital care records system, is already providing powerful benefits to the way we deliver person centred support across our services. In the coming year we will follow this with an e-rostering platform that will streamline the way we support, co-ordinate and manage staff teams across the country.

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Our environmental impact

An integral part of our plan is supporting and sustaining better outcomes for the people we support, our communities and our environment. We aim to embed responsible and sustainable business practices at the heart of everything we do through the services we deliver and our community and environmental programmes.

We take positive action to promote biodiversity on our farms and within our national community-based environmental and horticultural projects. We strive to enable the people we support to actively contribute to improving the biodiversity of their environment for the benefit of all, and optimise the learning experiences and opportunities this offers to those we support, our staff and the wider community.

Energy and carbon consumption

This is the third year of Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR). A high-level breakdown is highlighted in table below.

Gas Electricity Transport Total
kWh 2,452,866.43 1,212,080.92 276,295.70 3,941,243.05
kgCO2e 447,746.24 234,392.21 65,099.96 747,238.41
tCO2e 447.75 234.39 65.10 747.24
% of CO2 59.92% 31.37% 8.71% 100.00%

Our total CO2 emission breakdown is highlighted in Diagram 1. The primary scope 1 and 2 carbon emitters are gas and electricity consumption, needed for operational buildings and residences for supporting people with disabilities. This combined consumption equates to 91% of United Response’s total CO2 emissions, with the remaining 9% emitted via the transportation of staff members alongside those associated with supported learning and living facilities.

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Diagram 1
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Intensity metric

An intensity metric gives United Response an indicator of carbon performance based on an operational figure of staff members. This table shows 3,663 members emitting, on average, 204kg CO2/per staff member. In 2023, United Response reduced the previous year’s operational intensity by 90kg CO2e (psm).

Intensity metric 2023 2022
Number of staff 3,663 3,489
kg CO2e 747,238.4 1,009788.5
Kg CO2e PSM 204 294

United Response initiatives

We have several energy and carbon improvement projects underway. We will introduce electric and hybrid vehicles into United Response’s current fleet. The installation of Smart Meters across our premises will enable a closer look at peaks and troughs in energy usage and where we can apply energy-saving measures.

Methodology

Energy data was collected and collated by our energy brokers. Mileage and fuel consumption information is recorded and kept internally.

United Response are measuring scope 1 and 2 emissions. Our energy suppliers collated all energy data with transport data and staff numbers collated internally. Scope 1: Fleet vehicles and gas, Scope 2: Electricity supply.

Litre kWh CO2e
Gas NA 1 0.18254
Electricity NA 1 0.19338
Petrol 1 9.5 2.1
Diesel 1 10.6 2.5

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Financial review

The development and performance of the charity’s business during the financial year and future outlook

We continue to operate in an increasingly challenging environment. Economic recovery post-pandemic was weaker than expected and household incomes continued to fall. Throughout the period there was extreme economic turmoil as a result of government decisions on fiscal and monetary policy with inflation reaching record numbers impacting on almost every aspect of business and everyday life. The RussianUkraine war impacted on the UK economy with increased uncertainty impacting on growth and higher commodity prices.

Despite the turbulent economic context, the need for our services continues to grow and we have seen revenues slightly increase by £3.8m to £100.8m. Negotiated fee uplifts were the main driver for income growth, alongside rising activities in growth areas, particularly Education, Skills and Employment. We returned unsustainable contracts to local authorities as United Response responded proactively to challenging market conditions. We received £0.4m of additional Covid 19 support from local authorities as the pandemic ended. Separately, a restricted grant of £0.4m from the NHS supported the purchase of a property in Northamptonshire.

United Response will continue diversifying its funding base in line with the Long-Term Plan. Housing, Education and Fundraising all need to increase as a percentage of overall revenue. In 2022/23, income from these activities grew to 8.6% of total revenue (2021/22: 7.9%). We are pleased with the progress in diversifying our income streams towards a our long-term target of 25%. Plans for 2023/24 project further growth in these areas to over 10% of total income.

Results – business

External market conditions led to a significant operating deficit in 2022/23 as costs rose rapidly and the labour market tightened. United Response acted rapidly to protect both services and staff during the year, drawing on a strong base of reserves built up over previous years. In the context of rising inflation, an unbudgeted pay uplift was applied in October 2022 at a cost of £1.2m. Investments in growth and development were maintained, most notably the multi-year investment in digital transformation. Overall, this approach enabled the organisation to continue delivering effective and high-quality support across our services.

Looking ahead, the use of reserves to maintain activities is only ever possible in the short-term. Mindful of this but also of the continuing external challenges, Trustees have agreed future financial plans predicated on a return to break even operations by the end of 2024-25.

The financial position of the company at the end of the year

The charity recorded a decrease in reserves of £8.3m (2021/22 – an increase of £0.3m). This net deficit results from £3.5m of planned investment in new digital platforms, an in-year decision to invest £1.2m from reserves for an additional pay uplift for staff and a £4.2m operating deficit together with a £0.6m increase in restricted funds. The operating deficit was driven by a combination of growing inflationary pressures, a tight recruitment market leading to rising agency staff costs and failure of statutory funders to recognize these costs in the level of fee uplifts.

Whilst this represents a significant decrease in reserves in the year, it reflects an active decision to utilise reserves to maintain operations while continuing to invest in development and growth.

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The total unrestricted operations, through both general and designated funds, but before the effect of gains on investments and sales of fixed assets, recorded a deficit of £9.1m (2021/22 – a surplus of £0.5m).

Overall income increased by £3.8m to £100.8m in 2022/23 (2021/22 - £97.0m). The principal sources of funding continue to be through contracting with local authorities in England and Wales for the provision of statutory services for clients with learning disabilities in a supported living or residential care environment. In 2022/23 contractual income of £98.8m contributed 98.0%, marginally up year-on-year by £4m (2021/22 - £94.8m / 97.7%). This rises to 98.5% if the Covid-19 grant support of £0.5m (2021/22 - £1.6m / 99.4%) is taken into account.

Total expenditure increased by £12.3m to £109.0m (2021/22 - £96.7m) over the same period primarily due to the increase in the national living wage to £10.42 (£9.50) plus an in-year pay rise given to all staff of £1.8m. The costs of direct charitable expenditure increased by £7.1m to £91.0m (2021/22 - £83.9m).

Unrestricted freehold property has a net book value of £4.6m within designated reserves. It is anticipated that in the current market a sale of our freehold properties would realise significant premiums over the net book value.

Overall support costs spent on charitable activities increased by £1.7m to £14.3m (2021/22 - £12.6m). As lockdowns lifted, we experienced increases in travel, training and recruitment costs when compared to the previous financial year. In addition, the commencement of projects previously delayed by the pandemic also resulted in increased spending.

Total net assets decreased by £8.3m to £20.7m (2021/22 - £29.0m). The net movement in working capital saw a reduction in Creditors <1 Year of £0.3m, increase in Debtors of £1.9m, decreases in Cash at bank of £0.7m and Investments decreasing by £9.8m.

United Response Services Limited (URS) had gross income of £53.7m (2021/22 - £52.4m) and recorded a trading surplus of £1.1m (2021/22 - £1.0m) which has been gift aided to United Response Limited. URS holds contracts with local authorities for welfare services which are sub-contracted to United Response which ensures that the taxation position of the group is effectively managed.

United Response in Business Limited’s objective was to provide employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities or mental health needs by running social enterprises. These activities, where still carried on, are part of United Response’s activities. This entity is dormant and was liquidated on 19 July 2022.

Investment Policy and Performance

The Trustees have broad investment powers, set out in the Memorandum and Articles. The Board establishes the charity’s investment policy and reviews the target return annually. During the year Trustees determined that a proportion of long-term reserves, initially £2.0m, should be invested with a reputable fund manager. After a competitive tender process, Brewin Dolphin were selected and funds were transferred in November 2022. Oversight of these long-term investments will continue to be provided by the Finance & Resources Committee.

Changes in Fixed Assets

Changes in the charity’s fixed assets are shown in notes 10 and 11 to the accounts.

Reserves

The total funds held by United response at 31 March 2023 was £20.7m (2021/22 - £29.0m) of which £2.0m was held in restricted funds (2021/22 - £1.4m), please refer to the details of restricted funds included in note 17 to the accounts.

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The Trustees have designated some reserves for specific purposes, at 31 March 2023 the total designated reserves were £6.0m (2021/22 - £6.5m). Due to the nature of the funds, the total of these has not changed significantly over the last two years, see details in note 19 to the accounts.

United Response’s free reserves represent unrestricted general funds which have not been designated for a specific purpose and are therefore available for use within the charity’s objects. United Response needs reserves to protect it against risks and to ensure financial sustainability, including an adequate level of working capital to provide a financial buffer, particularly in such times of uncertainty. Reserves also enable us to take advantage of opportunities to develop our activities, and to enhance support to people, over and above that which we can provide from income received under contract.

At 31 March 2023, the balance of free reserves of £12.7m (2021/22 - £21.0m) and cash holdings of £15.3m (2021/22 - £25.8m) exceeded the minimum reserves target of £7.0m set by the Finance and Resources Committee in June 2022. This calculation of free reserves also excludes freehold property that had a net book value in March 2023 of £4.8m.

The cost of winding up the organisation in an orderly fashion is estimated at £6.5m. The Trustees consider such an event a remote possibility as the majority of services supplied are of a statutory nature and staff would be transferred under TUPE regulations to an alternative provider, thus significantly reducing the exposure.

Going concern

United Response considers its position to remain strong to continue its focus on the services it provides. Our good relationships with key funders, a proven ability to retain and secure new services, combined with strong liquidity and sufficient reserves underline this. United Response's liquidity is evident with unrestricted reserves which stand at £18.7m (2021/22: £27.5m), of which 82% (2021/22: 94%) are held as cash and investments. United Response’s free reserves continue to be considered sufficient to provide cover for any short unexpected changes in income and expenditure.

In the face of challenging market conditions, proactive action has been and continues to be taken. Performance to date has been robust in terms of maintaining income generation and also cost control. Contingency measures, detailed monitoring and robust risk management are in place and overseen regularly by the Board. Alongside an organisation wide focus on financial improvement, our financial plans are actively structured to deliver a return to break even. We are able to do this because of the strength and scale of our reserves and cash balances held after many years of growth and solid financial performance.

The financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis because there is a reasonable expectation that United Response has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and the Trustees believe that there are no material uncertainties that call into doubt the charity's ability to continue.

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Risk management

United Response continues to make positive strides to improve the way that we identify and manage risks to the organisation, the people we support, and our colleagues. Dependent on their severity or magnitude, we document our risks within our suite of risk registers, ranging from our project & functional risk registers, right up to our corporate risk register. The corporate risk register is produced and managed by the directors’ team with support from the Head of Risk and Internal Audit. The Audit and Risk Committee and Board of Trustees also regularly review the document. As part of a well-embedded, cyclical process, the directors’ team is responsible for assessing the probability and impact of our key (corporate) risks, ensuring that appropriate mitigations are in place, and reporting on this to Audit & Risk Committee & the Board.

Ongoing initiatives and process improvements

We have developed a risk assurance framework to ensure that we monitor the wide range of risks we are subject to and that sufficiently robust mitigation is agreed and implemented. Throughout 2022 and 2023, we enhanced our focus on risk management and internal assurance in several ways, including by appointing a Head of Risk and Internal Audit, who has been leading numerous initiatives to improve the approach to risk management across the organisation. These initiatives include:

Next year we aim to continue to improve our risk management approach and deliver several initiatives to ensure that our practice remains suitable, adaptive and robust. These include:

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Key risks and how we manage them: Corporate Risk Register Top 5

Risk Description of risk Annual How we mitigate the risk
Trend
Financial
Sustainability		 The charity faces challenges
around financial sustainability as a
result of increased costs not being
matched by increased income.
There is a risk that we are unable to
overcome these challenges.		 •
In year, a heavy focus on financial performances at service level
was undertaken, with underperforming services handed back to
local authorities.
•
A financial adversity recovery plan has been developed and
implemented
•
Negotiations with local authorities for new end renewed contracts.
Viability of contracts under constant review
•
Proactive monitoring of financial performance
•
Financial training for colleagues is now being rolled out to reduce
service level discrepancies and errors
External
Environment		 The environment within which
United Response operates is
challenging. The nature of current
funding streams continues to
present volatility given the squeeze
on local authority funding and
neglect of social care. There is
further risk that our environmental
conditions continue to decline.		 ➔ •
Ongoing development of strategic initiatives with enhanced
focus on income stream diversification
•
Ongoing lobbying and work with other organisations to
influence the external environment in relation to social care
•
Technological advances through development of systems such
as Oracle & Nourish
Staff
Retention &
Recruitment		 That the business is unable to
recruit and retain effective staff of
the right calibre throughout the
organisation in order that it can
operate effectively to the level
desired and to meet its contractual
and regulatory requirements		 •
Staff rewards (financial & non-financial reviewed within year. Pay
uplifts awarded and effected in 2022 & 2023
•
Internal audits of recruitment, learning & development and exit
process conducted in 22/23 with recommendations in delivery.
•
Employee handbook development underway to streamline HR
systems & processes
•
Improved succession planning
•
Exploring numerous initiatives to address ongoing crisis
Change
Management		 That United Response is unable to
successfully implement and deliver
change programmes and initiatives
in a manner that prioritizes those
that will drive and deliver most
benefit in terms of operational
efficiency and enabling strategic
objectives to be met.		 •
Dedicated governance structure and personnel utilised across
change workstreams
•
Organisational change lead onboarded May 2023
•
Regular programme prioritisation reviews undertaken with
resequencing implemented at appropriate time
•
Significant focus on internal communications and training to
facilitate change
•
Internal auditing of key change projects, as well as change
management delivered / planned for 23/24
•
Appointment of Head of Change – to commence role in Autumn
2023
Fraud That fraud is not identified in a
timely manner or is committed and
not identified. Cases of fraud are
not reported appropriately, and the
organisation fails to learn from the
cases that take place. In this
instance, “fraud” refers to both fraud
committed against UR either
internally or by a third party. Fraud
that affects the people we support is
detailed as a separate risk within
our corporate risk register		 •
Robust control processes and ongoing system of review of their
suitability and implementation.
•
Regular checks and reporting on key processes and areas of
operation to identify potentially fraudulent activity;
•
Annual schedule of internal audit activity
•
Staff training to raise awareness of how fraud can be committed
in all areas of business processes and operations.
•
Intentional shaping of financial controls to include a balance of
system, process and people controls.
•
Rolling programme of review and improvements to financial
controls targeted on areas of highest risk
•
Improved delegations of authority

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Key risks and how we manage them: Other key risks and emerging risks

Senior management continuously consider and evaluate the risks that United Response is exposed to. Numerous additional risks are captured in our corporate risk register, as well as other risk registers managed across the business. A number of our core risks and emerging risks are briefly highlighted in the table below:

P
Political		 E
Economic		 S
Social		 T
Tech		 L
Legal		 E
Enviro		 M
Misc.
> Ongoing
financial
pressures placed
upon local
authorities /
commissioners		 > Failure to provide
appropriate controls
& support around
PWS money
> Fraud impacting the
people we support		 > Safeguarding
(Operational &
Reputational)
> Health & Safety:
Property compliance
> Reputational risk		 > Cyber-security &
data compromise		 > Legal or
regulatory breach
Other
Corporate
Risks		 > Governance &
Behaviours
> Strategic priorities &
implementation
capabilities
> Pandemic
> Further
unanticipated
outcomes of
Ukraine conflict
> Essential social
care reform may
become a lower
priority for
government		 > Hyper-inflationary
impact on funding
> Impact of significant
market volatility on
investments and
pensions		 > Eroding social
cohesion
> Traditional vs hybrid
work patterns that
have emerged post-
pandemic may create
challenging conditions		 > Technological
threats will
continue to evolve
at a rapid pace.
> Failure to keep
up with innovation
such as: Artificial
intelligence/automa
tion/robotics
> Challenges
ensuring that our
services &
properties have
adequate network
connectivity
impacting launch of
digital projects		 > Potential
changes in
government
accountability
resulting from
legislation currently
under review
> Lack of
responsiveness /
adaptation to CQC
> Reduced
engagement from
Local Authorities		 > Climate change
and sustainability
> Challenges
evidencing
progress, or
meeting demands,
relating to
increased focus on
social value and
environmental
initiatives
> Env. issues
affecting services,
staff and planned
diversification
Emerging risks

Structure, governance and management

The charity is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. United Response Services Limited is a company limited by shares, with United Response being the only shareholder. The directors of this subsidiary are the Chief Executive, the Director of Finance and two Trustees of United Response. United Response in Business Limited was a wholly owned subsidiary of United Response and ceased trading and struck off Companies House on 19 July 2022.

Board of Trustees

United Response is governed by a Board of Trustees led by the Chair. The Trustees, who have the powers and obligations of directors under the Companies Acts 2006, are responsible for United Response’s leadership and strategic direction, stewardship, overall financial and organisational control, monitoring progress and ensuring compliance. The board is also responsible for protecting the organisation’s reputation and values, setting the long-term vision, and holding the Chief Executive and directors’ team to account whilst maximising their performance for delivering United Response’s policies, strategies and objectives.

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During this year the trustees were:

Chair – Malcolm McCaig Vice-Chair – David Willis (Chair of Finance and Resources Committee) Vice-Chair – Helen England (Chair of Operations Committee) – resigned March 2023 Honorary Treasurer - Charles Garthwaite Mark McLaughlin (Chair of Audit & Risk Committee) Alastair Ballantyne Bill Hodson Paul Marriner – resigned September 2022 Katherine Rake – resigned July 2022 Satya Samal Bronagh Scott Alison Stanley Deborah Tavana Guy Van Dichele Lisa Odendaal – appointed July 2022 Nicola Pawsey – appointed July 2023 Vicky Whelan – appointed July 2023

The Board of Trustees meet at least four times per year. Four committees feed into the work of the board:

The Finance and Resources Committee oversees our work’s critical financial aspects, which stem from finance, HR, investment and other resource-related strategies.

The Operations Committee focuses on the quality and safety of services to the people we support, using and interrogating various data sources to triangulate and provide assurance.

The Education and Skills Scrutiny Group reports through the Operations Committee. It has responsibility for oversight and scrutiny of our education, skills and employability provision.

The Audit and Risk Committee oversees external audits and internal controls across United Response, including quality assurance systems and health and safety arrangements.

The Nominations Committee acts on behalf of the board to ensure that appropriate governance arrangements are in place, including the recruitment of new Trustees.

Each committee or sub-committee can appoint up to two co-optees to enhance their work should the Nominations Committee chair and members feel this would add value to the committee's work. This also provides us with greater flexibility enabling us to draw on a broader range of skills and involve advisors without them having to assume broader governance responsibilities. During this year the co-optees were:

Jon Barton – Audit and Risk Committee Co-optee Julie Beadle Brown –Operations Committee Co-optee Patricia Dennison - Chair of Safeguarding Forum Linda Owen - Education Standards Advisor Co-optee Stephen Maltby - Education Standards Advisor -Co-optee Lisa Odendaal –Audit and Risk Committee Co-optee until July 2022

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Directors’ team

The directors’ team consists of the senior paid employees of the organisation; they are responsible for managing the organisation. The Chief Executive leads the director's team, reporting to the Chair of the Trustees. Through the Chief Executive, the directors' team is responsible for the day-to-day management and implementation of the strategy approved by the board and leadership of the organisation, for drawing up and implementing the corporate plan and budget and for proposing any strategic changes not encompassed within the corporate strategy. Members of the director’s team attend board and subcommittee meetings to brief the Trustees on organisational matters.

The directors’ team of United Response

Chief Executive – Tim Cooper Director of Quality and Practice Development – Sarah Battershall Director of Operations North – Julia Casserly Director of Operations South – Mike Crowhurst Director of Housing and Development – Be McCarroll Director of Finance and Company Secretary – Pete Thomas – appointed October 2022 Head of IT - Jack Sheppard – appointed July 2023 Head of Human Resources – Jennifer Tremewan – appointed July 2023 Director of Corporate Services – Mark Ospedale – resigned June 2023 Director of Finance – Joe Anichebe – resigned December 2022

Remuneration of the directors’ team

The Finance and Resources Committee has responsibility for overseeing the pay and reward of the Chief Executive and executive directors. The committee undertakes benchmarking with multiple sources, using external advice, to ensure that the pay and reward of senior staff are appropriately reviewed against comparable organisations in the charitable sector and are proportionate to the pay and reward of staff overall in the charity. The committee reports its findings to the Board of Trustees.

Stakeholders and relationships

The relationships forged and held by United Response are the backbone of the organisation’s history and future, and are deep-rooted in all of our work on both a regional and national level. Among these are business relationships with local authorities, commissioners, funders and partnering health organisations. No less significant are the ties held with the charity’s core stakeholders – the people we support, their families and the wider community.

Maintaining and fostering each of these relationships is a key priority for the charity, its Directors’ Team and board. Principal decisions taken by the company during the financial year carefully take into account the importance of these relationships.

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Section 172(1) statement

The Trustees confirm that in accordance with Section 172 (1) of the Companies Act, they act in a way they consider would most likely achieve the organisation’s purposes. In making this assessment, the Trustees have considered the following:

The likely consequences of any decision in the long term

The long-term sustainability of the operating model is considered by the directors as set out in the going concern section of the directors’ report. Specifically, the directors consider both short- and longer-term financial projections and the key risks that could negatively impact the sustainability of United Response. The directors regularly review management information, budgets, forecasts, cash flow projections, and progress against the financial recovery plan. We embed risk management at all levels across the organisation. We discuss the most significant risks at each board meeting.

The interests of the company’s employees Without our staff, we could not exist. As such we maintain effective employee engagement as outlined on page 13 to 14. The company has complied with the UK’s Equality Act 2010 Regulations 2017, which require the publication of information on the gender pay gap for UK employees annually. The 2022/23 report is available on the United Response website.

The need to foster the company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others The relationships forged and held by United Response are the backbone of the organisation’s history and future. They are deep-rooted in all of our work on both a regional and national level. Among these are business relationships with local authorities, commissioners, funders and partnering health organisations. The ties held with the charity’s core stakeholders are no less significant – the people we support, their families and the wider community. Maintaining and fostering these relationships is a crucial priority for the charity, the directors’ team and the board. Principal decisions taken by the company during the financial year carefully consider the importance of these relationships.

The impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment The Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting report details our environmental impact on pages 19 to 20.

The desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct Our procurement strategy supports employees to undertake processes that demonstrate fairness and integrity, comply with relevant laws and regulations, keep the information confidential and secure, and ensure we follow procurement best practices. United Response intends to fully comply with the obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Our annual transparency statement for the year ended 31 March 2023 is on our website. United Response takes a zero-tolerance approach towards fraud, bribery and corruption. It is committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations relating to fraud, bribery and corruption wherever it operates. The company has vetting processes that set requirements for performing an appropriate level of due diligence on organisations and individuals to which it provides funds or support, elated decision-making procedures, procedures for reporting and disclosure of specific situations of concern by staff.

The need to act fairly as between members of the company. The Trustees have a conflict-of-interest policy contained in their working rules.

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Reference and administrative details

United Response is a Charity registered with the Charity Commission and a company limited by guarantee.

Registered Address and Principal Office 7th Floor, Knollys House
17 Addiscombe Road
Croydon
London
CR0 6SR
Telephone 020 8016 5678
Website www.unitedresponse.org.uk
Email info@unitedresponse.org.uk
Twitter @unitedresponse
Facebook facebook.com/UnitedResponse
Instagram @unitedresponse
Charity Registration Number 265249
Company and VAT Number 01133776 / GB317764974
Bankers Lloyds Bank
3rd Floor
25 Gresham Street London
EC2V 7HN
Auditors Crowe U.K. LLP
55 Ludgate Hill
London
EC4M 7JW
Solicitors Capsticks Trowers and Hamlins
1 St George’s Road
LLP
London 3 Bunhill Row
SW19 4DR London
EC1Y 8YZ
Bates Wells Brabners LLP
10 Queen Street Place Horton House
London Exchange Flags
EC4R 1BE Liverpool
L2 3YL
Insurance Brokers Marsh UK Ltd
39 Kings Hill Avenue
West Malling,
ME19 4ER

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Trustees’ Responsibility Statement

The Trustees (who are also directors of United Response for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report, the Strategic Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which 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, disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the provisions of the charity’s constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as each of the Trustees of the charity at the date of approval of this report is aware there is no relevant audit information (information needed by the charity’s auditor in connection with preparing the audit report) of which the charity’s auditor is unaware. Each trustee has taken all of the steps that he/she should have taken as a trustee in order to make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditor is aware of that information.

Auditors

A resolution to re-appoint Crowe U.K. LLP as auditors will be proposed at the annual general meeting.

Approved by the Board of Trustees of United Response on 18 October 2023 including, in their capacity as company directors, the strategic report contained therein, and signed on its behalf by:

Malcolm McCaig Chair

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Independent Auditor’s Report to the Members of United Response

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of United Response (the “charitable company”) and its subsidiaries (the “group”) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Group Statement of Financial Activities, the Group and Company Balance Sheets, the Group Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including 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 group 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 trustee's 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.

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 Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. 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.

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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 this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors’ report included within the Trustees’ report.

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

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 34, 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 charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

33

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.

Details of the extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations are set out below.

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

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We identified and assessed the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements from irregularities, whether due to fraud or error, and discussed these between our audit team members. We then designed and performed audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks within which the charitable company and group operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The laws and regulations we considered in this context were the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011 together with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). We assessed the required compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items.

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be fundamental to the charitable company’s and the group’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. We also considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the charitable company and the group for fraud. The laws and regulations we considered in this context for the UK operations were General Data Protection Regulation, Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulations, employment legislation, taxation legislation and health and safety legislation.

Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustees and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be within the timing of recognition of contract income, recording the impact of CQC regulatory reviews and the override of controls by management. Our audit procedures to respond to these risks included enquiries of management, internal audit and the Audit & Risk Committee about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, sample testing on the posting of journals, reviewing accounting estimates for biases, reviewing regulatory correspondence with the Charity Commission and reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

34

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed noncompliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect noncompliance with all laws and regulations.

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 we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Tim Redwood

Senior Statutory Auditor

For and on behalf of

Crowe U.K. LLP

Statutory Auditor

London

23 November 2023

35

United Response Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31 March 2023

(incorporating a consolidated income and expenditure account)

Unrestricted Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds Funds Funds
2023 2023 2023 2022
Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 306 199 505 358
Charitable activities 4 99,428 421 99,849 96,599
Investments 3 207 - 207 13
Other activities 3 235 - 235 -
Total income 100,176 620 100,796 96,970
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 5 233 - 233 246
Charitable activities 5 105,264 34 105,298 96,376
Other activities 5 3,515 - 3,515 66
Total expenditure 109,012 34 109,046 96,688
Net deficit on operations (8,836) 586 (8,250) 282
Net gain/(loss) on investments (6) - (6) -
Net (expenditure)/income before transfers between funds (8,842) 586 (8,256) 282
Transfers between funds 19 - - - -
Net movement in funds (8,842) 586 (8,256) 282
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds at 1 April 2022 27,528 1,442 28,970 28,688
Total funds at 31 March 2023 16 18,686 2,028 20,714 28,970

The notes on pages 39 to 57 form part of these accounts.

All the above results are derived from continuing activities. All gains and losses recognised in the year are included above. If income and expenditure from Other Activities are ignored, the net deficit would be - £4,970,000 (2021/22 surplus of £348,000).

36

United Response

Consolidated and Charity Balance Sheets As at 31 March 2023

As at 31 March 2023
Group Charity
2023 2022 2023 2022
Notes £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Fixed Assets
Intangible assets 10 4 8 4 8
Tangible assets 11 5,557 5,449 5,557 5,449
Investments 12 8,989 18,779 8,989 18,779
Total fixed assets 14,550 24,236 14,550 24,236
Current Assets
Stocks 40 40 40 40
Debtors 13 11,302 9,434 7,733 6,025
Cash at bank and in hand 6,293 7,041 6,288 7,036
Total current assets 17,635 16,515 14,061 13,101
Creditors - amounts falling due
within one year		 14 (11,058) (11,368) (7,486) (7,956)
Net current assets 6,577 5,147 6,575 5,145
Total assets less current liabilities 21,127 29,383 21,125 29,381
Provisions for liabilities 15 (413) (413) (413) (413)
TOTAL NET ASSETS 16 20,714 28,970 20,712 28,968
FUNDS OF THE GROUP:
Restricted Funds
Restricted funds 17 1,423 1,254 1,423 1,254
Restricted property fund 18 605 188 605 188
Total restricted funds 2,028 1,442 2,028 1,442
Unrestricted Funds
General Funds 19 12,664 21,000 12,662 20,998
Designated funds 19 6,022 6,528 6,022 6,528
Total unrestricted funds 19 18,686 27,528 18,684 27,526
TOTAL GROUP FUNDS 16 20,714 28,970 20,712 28,968

The notes on pages 39 to 57 form part of these accounts.

The deficit for the financial year, dealt within the financial statements of the parent charity, with company number 1133776, was - £8,256,000 (2021/22 surplus of £282,000) after gift aid from subsidiaries.

These financial statements were approved by the Board and authorised for issue on 18 October 2023.

Malcolm McCaig - Chair

Charles Garthwaite - Treasurer

37

United Response Consolidated Statement of Cashflows For the year ended 31 March 2023

2023 2022
Notes £'000 £'000
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash generated / (used) in operating activities A (10,515) (158)
Cash flows from investing activities
Dividends and interest from investments 207 13
Purchase of Investment Portfolio (2,000) -
(Decrease) / increase in cash held for reinvestment 11,784 (512)
(Decrease) / increase in property, plant and equipment (598) (211)
Proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment 374 -
Net cash generated / (used) in investing activities 9,767 (710)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period (748) (868)
Cash & cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period 7,041 7,909
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period B 6,293 7,041
A. Reconciliation of net income to net cash flows from operating activities
Net income for the reporting period (8,256) 282
(as per the Statement of Financial Activities)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation and amortisation charges 355 359
Returns on investments 6 -
Dividends and interest from investments (207) (13)
(Gain) / loss on sale of fixed assets (235) 18
Decrease / (increase) in stocks - 12
Decrease / (increase) in debtors (1,868) 680
Increase / (decrease) in creditors (310) (1,496)
Net cash provided by operating activities (10,515) (158)
B. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand 149 85
Cash at bank 6,144 6,956
Total cash and cash equivalents 6,293 7,041

The notes on pages 39 to 57 form part of these accounts.

38

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

Charity Information

United Response is a public benefit entity registered as charity in England and Wales and a company limited by guarantee.

It was incorporated on 11 September 1973 (company number: 1133776) and registered as a charity on 2 October 1973 (charity number: 265249).

The address of the registered office is 7th Floor - Knollys House, 17 Addiscombe Road, Croydon, London, England, CR0 6SR.

1. Accounting Policies

a) Basis of preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the second edition of the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and Companies Act 2006.

The charity has taken advantage of the exemptions in FRS 102 from the requirements to present a charity only Cash Flow Statement and certain disclosures about the charity's financial The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

b) Group financial statements

These financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its wholly owned subsidiaries: United Response Services Limited, United Response in Business Limited and Robert Owen Communities (dormant) and are referred to as "the Group".

A separate statement of financial activities and income and expenditure account are not presented for the charity itself following the exemptions afforded by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.

c) Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

We have set out in this report a review of United Response's financial performance, the reserves position and principal risks and uncertainties.

Based on the assessment of these, United Response considers its position to be strong to continue its focus on the services it provides. Our good relationships with key funders, a proven ability to retain and secure new services, combined with strong liquidity and sufficient unrestricted reserves underline this.

United Response's liquidity is evident in review of the consolidated reserves which stand at £18.7m (2021/22 - £27.5m) and £12.7m as free reserves (2021/22 - £14.8m), of which almost all is held as cash and short-term fixed deposits.

The current economic climate has been challenging due to a soar in the cost of living, the disruption of global supply chains and a recruitment crisis. We have maintained some remedial actions, using reserves and proceeds of sold properties from services we handed back where local authority fees did not meet the total cost of delivering good quality care and support. United Response's free reserves continue to be considered sufficient to provide cover for any short term unexpected changes in income and expenditure.

39

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

1. Accounting Policies (continued)

c) Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis (continued)

The trustees therefore have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future being at least twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements and are not aware of any other material uncertainties which may adversely affect the organisation. Accordingly, the financial statements continue to be prepared on the going concern basis.

d) Critical accounting judgements and key sources of uncertainty

In the application of the charity's accounting policies, trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an on-going basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects the current and future periods.

The following matters contain assumptions concerning the future, or estimation affecting assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date, that may result in a material adjustment to their carrying amounts in the next financial year:

Note 13 Debtors - Accrued income and Doubtful Debt provision

In the view of the trustees, other than those matters disclosed above, there are no assumptions concerning the future or estimation uncertainty affecting assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date likely to result in a material adjustment to their carrying amounts in the next financial year.

e) Income

Any funds received are accounted for as income when United Response can meet the following recognition criteria: it has entitlement, there is probability (more likely than not) that it will be received, and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.

Sources of funds include Charitable contractual income, Grants, Legacies, Gifts in kind/Donation and investment income. Any funds received in advance are deferred until the contracted service has been provided at which point United Response is entitled to record it.

Where there are terms or conditions attached to incoming funds, particularly grants, then these terms or conditions must be met before the income is recognised. Where terms or conditions have not been met or uncertainty exists as to whether they can be met then the relevant income is not recognised in the year but deferred and shown on the balance sheet as deferred income. Grants are recognised on the performance model, when the charity has complied with any conditions attaching to the grant and the grant will be received. See Note 4 for revenues recorded related to additional Government grants and funding for the pandemic.

40

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

1. Accounting Policies (continued)

f) Expenditure

Costs of raising funds are those costs incurred in attracting voluntary income. Charitable activities include expenditure associated with the provision of support to people with learning disabilities or mental health needs and include both the direct and support costs relating to these activities. Governance costs are primarily associated with constitutional and statutory requirements. Where support costs cannot be directly attributed to one of the charity's activities they have been allocated on the basis of estimated time spent.

g) Operating leases

Rental costs under operating leases are charged to the statement of financial activities on a straight line basis over the period.

h) Pension schemes

United Response operates a non-contributory stakeholder pension scheme for eligible staff members. Current employer's contributions amount to 3% of pensionable earnings. The charity also contributes to the NHS pension scheme, the West Yorkshire Pension Fund and the Nottinghamshire County Council Pension Fund in respect of staff members who have transferred from other employers. These are defined benefit schemes which we account for as defined contribution schemes as it is difficult to identify the charity's share of the underlying assets and liabilities; we hold £100,000 in reserve relating to these schemes should we be required to supplement our contributions.

i) Intangible fixed assets

Computer software costs have been capitalised within intangible assets as they can be identified with a specific project anticipated to produce future benefits. Once brought into use, they are amortised on the straight line basis over four years.

j) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Tangible fixed assets costing more than £2,000 are capitalised and shown at cost. Depreciation has been charged to write off all fixed assets, except for freehold land, over their estimated useful lives, at the following rates:-

Freehold buildings and improvements 2% to 25% on cost Leasehold buildings over period of lease Furniture and equipment 25% on cost Motor vehicles 25% on cost

k) Financial instruments

United Response has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method. Financial assets held at amortised cost comprise cash at bank and in hand, together with trade and other debtors. Financial liabilities held at amortised cost comprise overdrafts and trade and other creditors.

Investments, including bonds held as part of an investment portfolio, are held at fair value at the balance sheet date, with gains and losses being recognised within income and expenditure. These are detailed in note 12 to these accounts. Investments in subsidiary undertakings are held at cost less impairment.

41

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

1. Accounting Policies (continued)

l) Investments

All investments held are included in the balance sheet at market value.

m) Stock

All stock is held at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

Since 2016, stock holdings included farm stock from the Robert Own Communities (ROC) acquisition and small supplies for the Café.

As a result of the pandemic, stock now includes holdings of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in a privately managed distribution warehouse. Once PPE is distributed to the services, it is recorded as an expense.

n) Provisions

United Response has commitments to make good dilapidations and carry out repairs under various property leases. A provision is made for all leased properties that may be subject to a potential dilapidation charge and is based on the experience of recent actual costs incurred when vacating premises.

o) Funds

Income received subject to specific conditions imposed by the donor is included in restricted funds. Revenue expenditure is allocated against these funds as incurred. Restricted funds which have financed fixed assets are reduced by amounts equivalent to any depreciation charge over the expected useful lives of the assets concerned. The analysis of restricted funds is shown in note 17 to the accounts.

p) Cash at bank and in hand

Liquid resources are defined as cash at bank and in hand immediately available to meet working capital needs. Other cash not required for working capital requirements are classified as investments.

42

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

2. Analysis of Donations and Legacies Total Total
2023 2022
£'000 £'000
Donations from trusts
National Lottery 50 -
Wolfson Foundation 43 -
Clothworkers' Foundation 35 35
Waterloo Foundation 15 -
Joseph Rowntree Foundation 15 -
Active Londoners - 19
Arts Council - 13
Good Things Foundation - 13
Other 28 39
Total donations from trusts 186 119
Legacies
- Mrs J Moore 41 -
- Mrs J Wilson - 15
- Shield house - 116
- Other 1 4
Total donations from legacies 42 135
Total other voluntary income 277 104
Total donations and legacies 505 358
3. Analysis of Income from Investments and Other Activities
Investment income is made up as follows: 2023 2022
£'000 £'000
Bank interest 207 13
Total investment income 207 13
Other income is made up as follows: 2023 2022
£'000 £'000
Gain on sales of fixed assets 235 -
Other income 235 -

43

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

4. Analysis of Income from Charitable Activities

Contractual Contractual Trading Total Total
Income Grants Income 2023 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Learning disability residential services 12,471 - - 12,471 12,142
Learning disability supported living
services		 76,719 - - 76,719 70,911
Other learning disability services 6,080 - - 6,080 7,545
Mental health services 1,425 - - 1,425 2,337
Employment Opportunities -
People We Support		 2,076 - 160 2,236 2,027
Government funding - Covid 19 & WRRF - 497 - 497 1,637
Capital Grants - 421 - 421 -
Total income from charitable
activities		 98,771 918 160 99,849 96,599
Contractual income is made up as follows: 2023 2022
£'000 £'000
Income from statutory authorities 93,851 89,285
Income from people we support and other sources 4,920 5,561
Total contractual income 98,771 94,846
Grant income is made up as follows: 2023 2022
£'000 £'000
Government funding - Covid 19 & WRRF 497 1,629
NHS England property grants 421 -
Skills for care - 14
Government funding - Furlough - 8
Grants to support employment (various) - 8
Total grant income 918 1,659

NHS England granted restricted capital funding to United Response in order to acquire a property in Aylesbury. The clients using the facilities are mainly people who have either been originally discharged from long stay NHS institutions or who would have been admitted to such institutions if the community care facilities were not available.

44

United Response

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

5. Analysis of Total Expenditure Direct Support Total Total
Costs Costs 2023 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Raising funds 222 12 233 246
Charitable activities
Learning disability residential services 11,750 1,300 13,050 12,299
Learning disability supported living services 71,376 11,801 83,177 73,239
Other learning disability services 4,639 688 5,327 6,300
Mental health services 1,025 265 1,290 2,546
Employment Opportunities - People We Support 1,765 264 2,029 1,571
Governance costs 425 - 425 421
90,980 14,318 105,298 96,376
Other - 3,515 3,515 66
Total expenditure 91,202 17,845 109,046 96,688

Other costs of £3,515,000 (2021/22 - £66,000) relates to the implementation of the new Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning system.

6. Analysis of Support Costs 2023 2022
£'000 £'000
Regional support and training 5,807 5,311
Service development and quality 1,114 1,093
Communication and policy 512 400
Financial, HR and legal 3,817 3,711
Information Technology 1,882 1,518
General management 1,186 553
Total support costs 14,318 12,586

Support costs have been allocated to activities on the basis of estimated time spent.

7. Net Surplus on Operations for the Year
2023 2022
This is stated after charging: £'000 £'000
Depreciation and amortisation 355 359
Auditors' remuneration including VAT 50 60
Other fees paid to Auditors including VAT 13 3
Amounts paid under operating leases
- Land and buildings 1,053 1,640
- Motor vehicles 256 289

45

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

8. Trustee benefits and expenses

A total of £1,969 was paid to 5 trustees during the year (2021/22 - £0). The expenses reimbursed to trustees cover travel and subsistence costs only.

Indemnity insurance is provided for the trustees as part of the overall management liability policy, the total premium paid during the year amounted to £18,956 (2021/22 - £18,956).

9. Staff Costs

Staff Costs
2023 2022
Total staff costs for the year were as follows: £'000 £'000
Wages and salaries 71,952 67,406
Social security costs 6,365 5,697
Pension contribution costs 1,631 1,597
Total 79,948 74,700
Wages and salaries include £331,000 (2021/22 - £157,000) of redundancy and termination
payments which were paid out in accordance with our redundancy policy and legal requirements.
Average number of staff employed 2023 2022
Number Number
Direct charitable activities 3,134 3,228
Support and governance 309 261
Generating voluntary income - -
Total 3,443 3,489
Number of employees whose remuneration (including 2023 2022
taxable benefits) exceeded £60,000 during the year Number Number
£60,000 - £70,000 11 13
£70,001 - £80,000 8 5
£90,001 - £100,000 1 -
£100,001 - £110,000 4 4
£110,001 - £120,000 - 1
£140,000 - £150,000 1 1
£150,000 - £160,000 1 -
Total 26 24

Total pension contributions outstanding at the year end were £266,000 (2021/22 - £364,000). The Executive Team consists of the Chief Executive, Director of Finance, Director of Operations North, Director of Operations South, Director of Quality and Practice Development, Director of Housing and the Director of Corporate Services. During the year an interim Finance Director was employed which resulted in a period of double running costs.

Executive Team Remuneration 2023 2022
£'000 £'000
Total pay and benefits of the Senior Executive Team 1,005 768

46

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

10. Intangible Fixed Assets

ited Response
tes to the Accounts for the year ended 31		 March 2023
Intangible Fixed Assets Total
£'000
Cost
1 April 2022 419
Additions -
Disposals -
31 March 2023 419
Amortisation
1 April 2022 411
Charge for the year 4
Disposals -
31 March 2023 415
Net Book Values (Group & Charity)
31 March 2023 4
31 March 2022 8

Intangible assets relate to capitalisation of computer software costs.

**11. ** Tangible Fixed Assets **Freehold ** **Leasehold ** Furniture & Motor
property property equipment vehicles Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Cost
1 April 2022 6,133 1,294 2,116 52 9,595
Additions 380 84 126 8 598
Disposals (207) (6) - - (213)
31 March 2023 6,306 1,372 2,242 60 9,980
Depreciation
1 April 2022 1,443 938 1,718 47 4,146
Charge for the year 125 102 119 5 351
Disposals (70) (4) - - (74)
31 March 2023 1,498 1,036 1,837 52 4,423
Net Book Value (Group)
2023 4,808 336 405 8 5,557
2022 4,690 356 398 5 5,449
Net Book Value (Charity)
2023 4,808 336 405 8 5,557
2022 4,690 356 398 5 5,449

Freehold property includes two properties with a net book value of £605,000 (2021/22 - £188,000) which are subject to the restrictions set out in note 18.

47

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

12. Fixed Asset Investments

Fixed Asset Investments
2023 2022
£'000 £'000
Market value at beginning of year 18,779 18,267
Purchases at cost 2,000 -
Disposals at book value - -
(Decrease) / increase in market value (6) -
Increase / (decrease) in cash held for reinvestment (11,784) 512
Market value at end of year 8,989 18,779

The value of the investment was made up as follows:-

Historical Cost Historical Cost Market Value
2023 2022 2023 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
UK Fixed Deposits 6,995 18,779 6,995 18,779
UK Bonds 111 - 111 -
Overseas Bonds 159 - 159 -
UK Equities 386 - 382 -
Overseas Equities 872 - 858 -
Global Investments Funds 129 - 133 -
Absolute Return Funds 70 - 71 -
Cash 78 - 78 -
Property 59 - 58 -
Other 150 - 144 -
Total investments 9,009 18,779 8,989 18,779
**13. ** Debtors Group Charity
2023 2022 2023 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Trade debtors 8,063 5,875 2,903 2,271
Amounts owed by group & associated undertaking - - 2,070 1,419
Prepayments 670 930 670 930
Accrued income 2,016 2,195 1,537 971
Other debtors 553 434 553 434
Total 11,302 9,434 7,733 6,025

Trade debtors are stated net of a general doubtful debt provision based on the age of debts of £417,000 (2021/22 - £826,000).

Accrued income is an estimate of income earned but not yet invoiced.

48

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

14. Creditors - Amounts Falling Due Within One Ye

Group Charity
2023 2022 2023 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Trade creditors 1,488 1,166 1,488 1,166
Accruals 3,063 3,168 3,041 3,153
Deferred income 1,133 1,278 694 740
Taxation and social security 3,351 3,158 460 550
Other creditors 2,023 2,598 1,803 2,347
Total 11,058 11,368 7,486 7,956
**15. ** Provision for Liabilities and Charges Provision for Total Total
Dilapidations Provision Provision
2023 2023 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000
Opening balance 413 413 413
Utilised in year - - -
Released unused during the year - - -
Additional amount provided - - -
Closing balance 413 413 413

The provision for dilapidations provides for the cost of repairs arising as a result of obligations under property leases.

49

United Response

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

16.
**17. **		 Analysis of Net Assets between Funds
Total
2023
General Designated Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Funds
Funds
Funds
Funds
Funds
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
Intangible fixed assets
-
4
4
-
4
Tangible fixed assets
-
4,611
4,611
946
5,557
Investments
8,989
-
8,989
-
8,989
Current assets
15,146
1,407
16,553
1,082
17,635
Current liabilities
(11,058)
-
(11,058)
-
(11,058)
Provisions for liabilities & charges
(413)
-
(413)
-
(413)
Total net assets 31 March 2023
12,664
6,022
18,686
2,028
20,714
2022 Comparative Disclosures
Total
2022
General Designated Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Funds
Funds
Funds
Funds
Funds
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
Intangible fixed assets
-
8
8
-
8
Tangible fixed assets
-
5,109
5,109
340
5,449
Investments
18,779
-
18,779
-
18,779
Current assets
14,002
1,411
15,413
1,102
16,515
Current liabilities
(11,368)
-
(11,368)
-
(11,368)
Provisions for liabilities & charges
(413)
-
(413)
-
(413)
Total net assets 31 March 2022
21,000
6,528
27,528
1,442
28,970
Restricted Funds
Balance
Transfers
Generated
Utilised
Balance
31 March during the
during the
during the
31 March
2022
year
year
year
2023
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
Time For You
15
-
-
-
15
Accessible Voting
6
-
15
-
21
North Division
124
158
25
(9)
298
South Division
241
84
106
(11)
420
South West Division
42
(42)
-
-
-
North West Division
134
(134)
-
-
-
Devon ESE (formerly ROC)
228
7
51
(10)
276
Other restricted funds
123
(73)
2
-
52
Subtotal
913
-
199
(30)
1,082
Represented by tangible fixed assets:
North Division
2
8
-
-
10
South Division
142
5
-
-
147
South West Division
1
(1)
-
-
-
North West Division
8
(8)
-
-
-
Devon ESE (formerly ROC)
188
(4)
-
-
184
Other restricted funds
-
-
-
-
-
Total excluding restricted property
fund
1,254
-
199
(30)
1,423
Restricted property fund (see note 18)
188
-
421
(4)
605
Total
1,442
-
620
(34)
2,028

50

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

17. Restricted Funds (continued)

The purposes of the principal funds shown above are as follows:

Time for You - this is a grant from Ipswich Borough Council in relation to the Suffolk Short Break Demonstrator Project, involving the provision of respite to family carers of people with learning disabilities. The grant was originally awarded to Ipswich Council for Voluntary Service, but was transferred to United Response during 2012.

Accessible Voting - this is a grant from the UK Democracy Fund a Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust initiative. This is a grant to develop a campaign to get people with a learning disability and autistic people registered to vote and casting their vote in the next general election.

North Division - the largest element of the income and expenditure relates to York training and Community Services. The offering consists of a Café, Health & Wellbeing Outreach, The Base for independent living workshops, the Autism Hub, supported employment coaching and the media centre. Grants have also been provided by Trafford MBC, Knowsley MBC and Wigan MBC to enable us to develop employment and social opportunities for people with autism. As well as Liverpool to tackle bullying.

South Division - the largest element of the income and expenditure relates to the Donation Station, our charity shop, which raises money for The Community Network, and teaches employment skills to the people we support.

Devon ESE - in 2016 United Response merged with Robert Owen Communities and this fund represent the balance of restricted funds acquired at that time and the net movement in restricted revenue funds since. ROC College is a specialist college that provides education for young people between the ages of 16 and 25 within Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. We also offer other supported employment opportunities and services such as Boscawen Farm where People we Support and Students can learn transferable skills.

Funds represented by tangible fixed assets - these funds relate mainly to improvements to properties, including houses owned by United Response in West Sussex and Devon and leased in Suffolk, Essex and Kent.

51

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

17. Restricted Funds (continued)

2022 Comparative Disclosures

Balance Transfers Generated Utilised Balance
**31 March ** during the during the during the 31 March
2021 year year year 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Time For You 15 - - - 15
Cornwall Supported Employment 3 - 1 - 4
Carers' Project 98 (98) - - -
North East Division 114 - 19 (9) 124
South West Division 34 - 8 - 42
South East Division 195 - 82 (36) 241
North West Division 133 - 4 (3) 134
COVID-19 Funding 271 - 1,358 (1,629) -
Devon 200 - 39 (11) 228
Other restricted funds 125 - - - 125
Subtotal 1,188 (98) 1,511 (1,688) 913
Represented by tangible fixed assets:
North East Division 2 - - - 2
South West Division 140 - 2 - 142
South East Division 1 - - - 1
North West Division 8 - - - 8
Devon (formerly ROC) 188 - - - 188
Total excluding restricted property
fund		 1,527 (98) 1,513 (1,688) 1,254
Restricted property fund (see note 18) 192 - - (4) 188
Total 1,719 (98) 1,513 (1,692) 1,442

18. Restricted Property Fund

The original restricted property fund of £184,000 (2021/22 - £188,000) represents the value of a freehold property provided by the South East Kent District Health Authority to house a service in Folkestone. The property, which was acquired at no cost to United Response, is registered in the name of the charity and has been included in fixed assets at the cost of acquisition and refurbishment borne by the Health Authority, less depreciation. In the event of the service terminating, United Response has undertaken to transfer the property back to the Health Authority for £nil consideration.

During the year £421,000 of restricted property funding was received from NHS England for the purchase of a property in Aylesbury. The property, which was acquired at no cost to United Response, is registered in the name of the charity and has been included in fixed assets at the cost of acquisition and refurbishment borne by NHS England, less depreciation. In the event of the service terminating, United Response has undertaken to repay a 100% portion of the market value of the property back to NHS England less disposal costs.

52

United Response

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

**19. ** Unrestricted Funds Balance Transfers Generated Utilised Balance
**31 March ** during the during the during the 31 March
2022 year year year 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Property fund 1,061 - - - 1,061
Pension fund 100 - - - 100
Maintenance fund 250 - - - 250
Intangible Fixed Assets 8 (8) - - -
Tangible fixed assets 5,109 (498) - - 4,611
Total designated funds 6,528 (506) - - 6,022
Unrestricted general funds 21,000 506 - (8,842) 12,664
Total unrestricted funds 27,528 - - (8,842) 18,686

Funds have been designated for the following purposes:-

Property fund - to help fund the purchase of properties to support the development of the charity's activities. These funds are likely to be utilised over the next five years.

Pension fund - to cover the potential liability associated with membership of one multi-employer defined benefit local government pension schemes. It cannot be estimated when this will be utilised.

Maintenance fund - to provide funding for major repairs of properties which the charity has responsibility for. These funds are used, reviewed and maintained ongoing.

Intangible fixed assets - relates to the portion of reserves invested in intangible fixed assets to be used by United Response in its operations.

Tangible fixed assets - relates to the portion of reserves invested in unrestricted tangible fixed assets to be used by United Response in its operations. This decreased during the year by £497,000 due to a transfer from unrestricted general funds.

2022 Comparative Disclosures Balance Transfers Generated Utilised Balance
**31 March ** during the during the during the 31 March
2021 year year year 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Property fund 1,061 - - - 1,061
Pension fund 100 - - - 100
Maintenance fund 250 - - - 250
Intangible Fixed Assets - 8 - - 8
Tangible fixed assets 5,284 (175) - - 5,109
Total designated funds 6,695 (167) - - 6,528
Unrestricted general funds 20,275 265 460 - 21,000
Total unrestricted funds 26,970 98 460 - 27,528

53

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

20. Capital commitments

There were no capital commitments in either 2022 or 2023.

21. Operating Lease commitments
within one year
within two to five years
after five years
Total
payments under non cancellable
operating leases:		 2023
2022
2023
2022
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
653
951
125
188
452
808
153
35
118
24
-
-
Vehicles
Land and buildings
1,223
1,783
278
223

22. Subsidiary Undertakings

All subsidiaries have their registered address as the same as United Response: 7th Floor Knolly's House, 17 Addiscombe Rd, Croydon, CR0 6SR.

In January 2019, United Response Services Limited (URS) was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of United Response. URS is registered as company number 11788717 and £100 share capital was invested by United Response. On 1st April 2019, the entity commenced trading. United Response Services Limited carries out trading activities with local authorities on behalf of United Response Limited.

United Response has a wholly owned trading subsidiary, United Response in Business Limited, company number 3787676. It was incorporated in Great Britain to carry on trading activities in accordance within the objects of the charity. Operations ceased as at 31st March 2021 and net asset balances were transferred to the parent on 21st December 2021.

In 2016 the charity acquired Robert Owen Communities (ROC), a UK charitable company with registered charity number 517845 and company number 02038915. ROC has been dormant since 2019.

The tables overleaf show the impact of the subsidiaries on the results of the Group.

54

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

22. Subsidiary Undertakings (continued)

Financial activities of Subsidiaries in 2023 2023
URS
£'000
Sales revenue 53,560
Other income 172
Total turnover 53,732
Salaries and wages -
Other costs 52,665
Total operating costs 52,665
Trading profit 1,067
Gift aid due to parent (1,067)
Retained profit -
Retained loss brought forward -
Retained profit carried forward -
Gross Assets 5,554
Gross Liabilities (5,554)
Total Net Assets -
2022 Comparative Disclosures 2022
URS
Financial activities of subsidiaries in 2022 £'000
Sales revenue 52,386
Other income -
Total turnover 52,386
Salaries and wages -
Other costs 51,346
Total operating costs 51,346
Trading profit 1,040
Gift aid due to parent (1,040)
Retained profit -
Retained loss brought forward -
Retained profit carried forward -
Gross Assets 4,833
Gross Liabilities (4,833)
Total Net Assets 0

55

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

23. People We Support bank accounts

The charity administers holding bank accounts on behalf of residents for the receipt and payment of the residents' personal allowances. These bank accounts have not been reflected on these financial statements as an asset or liability. The value held at 31 March 2023 was £557,000 (2021/22 - £551,000). The bank accounts are held separately from those of the charity.

24. Transactions with Related Parties

There have been no related party transactions in the year to 31 March 2023 that require disclosure other than transactions with the subsidiary companies, URS and UR's trustees. Transactions with URS are set out below and those with the trustees are disclosed under note 8

In 2022/23, the charity charged URS £52,658,000 (2021/22 - £51,339,000) in respect of the delivery of operational services.

In 2022/23, URS paid the charity £52,153,000 (2021/22 - £58,313,000) of monies collected on invoices settled.

In 2022/23, under a deed of covenant, URS will make a gift aid payment to the charity of £1,067,000 (2021/22 - £1,040,000). Payment will be made to the parent charity during the 9 months following the relevant reporting date.

As at 31/03/2023, URS owed the charity £2,072,000 (2021/22 - £1,421,000).

56

United Response Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

25. Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2022

(incorporating a consolidated income and expenditure account)

**Unrestricted ** Restricted Total
Funds Funds Funds
2022 2022 2022
£'000 £'000 £'000
Income from:
Donations and legacies 202 156 358
Charitable activities 95,241 1,358 96,599
Investments 13 - 13
Other - - -
Total income 95,456 1,514 96,970
Expenditure on:
Raising funds 246 - 246
Charitable activities 94,750 1,692 96,442
Total expenditure 94,996 1,692 96,688
Net surplus on operations 460 (178) 282
Transfers between funds 98 (98) -
Net movement in funds 558 (276) 282
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds at 1 April 2021 26,970 1,718 28,688
Total funds at 31 March 2022 27,528 1,442 28,970

57