## **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **Registered Charity no. 267667** **ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS Year ended 31 December 2023** **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES Year ended 31 December 2023** ## **Reference and administrative information** Registered charity no. 267667 Address Fire Station Bourges Boulevard Peterborough PE1 2AF The governing document is Rules dated 23 January 1996 Trustees A Gould Chief Officer M Addinall Second Officer (appointed xx-xx-2023) J Berrisford Treasurer J Benton Secretary T De Matteis (resigned xx-xx-2023) The trustees are elected at each Annual General Meeting Bank Barclays Bank plc 1 Church Street Peterborough PE1 1EZ Independent Examiner K M Hilliard ACA FCCA CTA Price Bailey LLP 36 Tyndall Court Commerce Road Lynchwood Peterborough PE2 6LR 1 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES Year ended 31 December 2023** The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published in October 2019. ## **Structure, governance and management** The trustees of the Brigade meet on a regular basis to fulfill their overall responsibility of directing the operational activities of the Brigade, to ensure all Health & Safety matters are complied with, that the Brigade’s property is properly maintained and to oversee its financial wellbeing. The Brigade endeavours to fulfill its obligation of 14 firefighters to assist their wholetime and retained colleagues and Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service. The Brigade currently has 9 firefighters. It is the responsibility of the First and Second Officers to manage the day-to-day operational duties of the Station. The Trustees of the Charity have given due regard and adhere to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. ## **Appointment and induction of trustees** New trustees are appointed as required and receive comprehensive induction on the activities of the charity. ## **Risk management** The Trustees have examined the major business and operational risks which the Brigade faces and confirm that a system is in place to ensure that reviews are carried out regularly and that steps are taken to minimise these risks. ## **Objectives and activities** The Brigade's objectives and activities are: - to maintain a fully operational Fire Brigade under contract to Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service; - to provide fire and rescue services in accordance with the contract with Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service; - to supplement the service provided by the wholetime and retained firefighters; - to provide the necessary training and welfare facilities for the members who carry out their duties entirely on a voluntary basis; 2 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES (Contd.) Year ended 31 December 2023** ## **Objectives and activities (contd.)** - to operate and maintain the Fire Station and premises, fire appliances and equipment to a high standard of preparedness for training and operational duties; - to provide adequate third party and personal accident insurances for the protection of the Brigade and its membership. ## **Review of activities** During the year the Brigade exceeded its obligations under the revised contract negotiated with Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service in 2011. The trustees have been active in ensuring prospective new members are given every opportunity to keep the Brigade up to full strength of 14 firefighters. ## **Financial review and reserves** The Statement of Accounts indicate a satisfactory result, with net outgoing resources for the year of £13,394. The reserves of the Brigade at 31 December 2023 were £465,575 of which £207,701 finances the fixed assets and the balance of £257,874 represents investment funds which are necessary to provide adequate reserves for the payment of future maintenance and repair costs on the Station and premises. ## **Our volunteers** The charity relies heavily on the voluntary input of our Members. We wish to thank our Members for their loyal support and service, without which the service would not be able to operate. ## **Future plans** In 2024 the Brigade plans to: - continue to fulfill its obligations under the contract and to be proactive in ensuring new members are trained and become active firefighters as soon as possible; - ensure availability is maintained in order to fulfill our duty to the citizens of Peterborough; and - to raise awareness of the existence and work of the Brigade among the citizens of Peterborough. Signed on behalf of the trustees ## **J Berrisford** Trustee Date: 3 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES Year ended 31 December 2023** |**STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES**
**Year ended 31 December 2023**|||| |---|---|---|---| |||**General**|**General**| |||**Fund**|**Fund**| |||**2023**|**2022**| ||**Notes**|**£**|**£**| |**Income and endowments**|||| |Brigade retaining fee||37,345|34,903| |Station rent||13,700|13,700| |Donations, sales of souvenirs, etc.||9,136|2,131| |Investment income|2|3,304|640| |Additional Brigade income||375|-| |||______|______| |**Total income**||**63,860**|**51,374**| |||______|______| |**Expenditure on**|||| |**_Raising funds_**|||| |Public relations, social and welfare activities||13,939|7,648| |||______|______| |||13,939|7,648| |||______|______| |**_Charitable activities_**|||| |Station expenses:|||| |Telephone||360|493| |Light and heat||6,737|6,421| |Cleaning||3,351|3,315| |Rates||3,695|3,865| |Repairs and maintenance||23,766|7,091| |Vehicle expenses||4,858|3,198| |AGM expenses||166|211| |Stationery and postage||37|21| |IT and software||430|398| |Insurances||6,947|6,007| |Uniform replacements, cleaning and altering||2,189|1,093| |Depreciation of fire station (from designated funds)||5,747|5,124| |Depreciation of minibus (from designated funds)||831|1,107| |Miscellaneous||1,474|471| |Independent examiner’s fee||1,674|2,244| |Souvenir purchases for resale||1,053|-| |||______|______| |||63,315|41,059| |||______|______| |||______|______| |**Total expenditure**||**77,254**|**48,707**| |||______|______| 4 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (continued) Year ended 31 December 2023** |**Year ended 31 December 2023**||| |---|---|---| ||**General**|**General**| ||**Fund**|**Fund**| ||**2023**|**2022**| ||**£**|**£**| |**Total incoming resources**|**63,860**|**51,374**| |**Total resources expended**|**77,254**|**48,707**| ||**______**|**______**| |**Net (outgoing)/incoming resources and**||| |**net movement in funds**|**(13,394)**|**2,667**| |Funds balance at 1 January 2023|478,969|476,302| ||_______|_______| |Funds balance at 31 December 2023|465,575|478,969| ||_______|_______| The accompanying notes form part of these accounts 5 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** |**BALANCE SHEET**|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**As at 31 December 2023**|||||| ||||**2023**||**2022**| ||**Notes**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| |**FIXED ASSETS**|3||||| |Fire Station|||205,210||187,905| |Minibus|||2,491||3,322| ||||_______||_______| ||||207,701||191,227| |**CURRENT ASSETS**|||||| |Debtors and prepayments|4|14,370||14,285|| |Inventory||1,565||-|| |Bank balances|5|243,498||274,692|| |||_______||_______|| |||259,433||288,977|| |||_______||_______|| |**CURRENT LIABILITIES**|||||| |Creditors and accruals|6|1,559||1,235|| |||______||______|| |**NET CURRENT ASSETS**|||257,874||287,742| ||||_______||_______| |**NET ASSETS**|||465,575||478,969| ||||_______||_______| |**FUNDS**|||||| |**UNRESTRICTED FUNDS**|||||| |General Purposes Fund|||257,874||287,742| |Designated Fund (Fire Station and Minibus)|||207,701||191,227| ||||_______||_______| ||||465,575||478,969| ||||_______||_______| |The financial statements were approved|by the trustees on ………………………. and signed on the||||| |behalf by:|||||| |...............................................................|A Gould||Chief Officer||| |...............................................................|J Berrisford||Treasurer||| The financial statements were approved by the trustees on ………………………. and signed on their behalf by: The accompanying notes form part of these accounts 6 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS Year ended 31 December 2023** ## 1 **Accounting Policies** ## **Basis of preparation** The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued in October 2019, the Charities Act 2011 and UK Generally Accepted Practice. The charity does not include a cash flow statement on the grounds that it is applying FRS 102 Section 1A. The financial statements have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’. This departure has involved following the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued in October 2019 rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 which has since been withdrawn. The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention. The financial statements are presented in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity. The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated. ## **Incoming resources** All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with sufficient accuracy. ## **Resources expended** Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. 7 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS Year ended 31 December 2023** ## 1 **Accounting Policies (contd.)** ## **Depreciation** Depreciation is provided on the Fire Station on a straight line basis to write off over its expected useful life of 60 years. Depreciation is provided on the Minibus at a rate of 25% on a reducing balance basis so as to write it off over its estimated useful life. ## **Funds** The designated fund represents the reserves of the Brigade invested in the premises and other fixed assets. The general purposes fund represents the balance of reserves. All funds are unrestricted. ## **Donated services and facilities** In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the general volunteer time of the Members is not recognised. 8 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (continued) Year ended 31 December 2023** |2|**Investment Income**|||| |---|---|---|---|---| ||||**2023**|**2022**| ||||**£**|**£**| ||National Savings Bank interest||2,342|558| ||Business Premium Accounts||962|82| ||||______|______| ||||3,304|640| ||||______|______| |3|**FIXED ASSETS**|||| ||**Used by the charity**|||| |||**Fire Station**|**Minibus**|**Total**| |||**£**|**£**|**£**| ||**Cost**|||| ||At 1 January 2023|289,632|14,000|303,632| ||Additions|23,052|-|23,052| ||Disposals|-|-|-| |||_______|______|_______| ||At 31 December 2023|312,684|14,000|326,684| |||_______|______|_______| ||**Depreciation**|||| ||At 1 January 2023|101,727|10,678|112,405| ||Charge for year|5,747|831|6,578| ||Disposals|-|-|-| |||______|______|______| ||At 31 December 2023|107,474|11,509|118,983| |||______|______|______| ||**Net book value**|||| ||At 31 December 2023|205,210|2,491|207,701| |||_______|______|_______| ||At 31 December 2022|187,905|3,322|191,227| |||_______|______|_______| 9 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (continued) Year ended 31 December 2023** |4|**Debtors and prepayments**|**2023**|**2022**| |---|---|---|---| |||**£**|**£**| ||Prepayments|1,405|2,134| ||Retaining fee accrued|12,965|12,151| |||______|______| |||14,370|14,285| |||______|______| |5.|**Bank Balances**|**2023**|**2022**| |||**£**|**£**| ||National Savings Bank - Income Bond|50,000|50,000| ||- Investment Account|102,227|99,886| ||Barclays Bank - Current accounts|726|9,670| ||- Business Premium accounts|90,544|115,136| |||_______|_______| |||243,497|274,692| |||_______|_______| |6|**Creditors**|**2023**|**2022**| |||**£**|**£**| ||Retaining fee received in advance|-|-| ||Other creditors and accruals|1,559|1,235| |||______|______| |||1,559|1,235| |||______|______| ## 7 **Staff costs** There were no staff costs in the year (2022: £Nil). ## 8 **Trustee Expenses and Remuneration** No expenses were paid or reimbursed to Trustees in the year (2022: £Nil). No remuneration is paid to any of the Trustees or Members of the Brigade. ## 9 **Related Party Transactions** There were no related party transactions during the year (2022: £Nil). ## 10 **Independent Examiner’s Remuneration** The independent examiner’s remuneration constituted a fee of £1,674 (2022: £2,244). 10 **PETERBOROUGH VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE** ## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade** I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Brigade for the year ended 31 December 2023, which are set out on pages 4 to 10. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. ## **Independent examiner's statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or 3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ## **K M Hilliard ACA FCCA CTA Chartered Accountant** Price Bailey LLP 36 Tyndall Court Commerce Road Lynchwood Peterborough PE2 6LR 11