## _**THE NATIONAL AUTISTIC SOCIETY**_
(A company limited by guarantee and a registered charity)
_Other working names registered with the Charity Commission for England_
_& Wales_
Autism UK
Action for Autism
**Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts**
(Directors’ Report and Financial Statements)
**Year ended: 31 March 2021**
**Registered as a charity in England and Wales – CR269425**
**Registered as a charity in Scotland – SC039427**
**A company limited by guarantee, registered in England – No.1205298**
**Registered Office**
**393 City Road London EC1V 1NG**
**www.autism.org.uk**
**nas@nas.org.uk**
|**CONTENTS**|**PAGE**|
|---|---|
|**From the Chair of the Board of Trustees and the CEO**|**3**|
|**Annual review strategic report**|**5**|
|**Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities**|**42**|
|**Auditor’s report**|**44**|
|**Accounts**||
|**1. Consolidated statement of financial activities**|**50**|
|**2. Balance Sheet**|**51**|
|**3. Cash flow**|**52**|
|**4. Notes forming part of the financial statements**|**53**|
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## **Our impact**
## **Thanks to you, we transformed lives:**
- Our website provided autism advice and guidance to 4.9 million people.
- 98% of families said our adult services kept their loved ones safe in the pandemic (the other 2% felt they were neither safe nor unsafe).
- Our seven schools helped 476 pupils keep learning in lockdown. They even held virtual graduation ceremonies and sports days.
- 17,600 people were supported by their local branch in the pandemic.
- Our specialist education and transition helplines and new mental health casework service advised and empowered 4,663 families.
- 500,000 visitors to our coronavirus website hub found vital autism-specific information on lockdown rules, home schooling, vaccines and much more.
## **And we changed attitudes:**
- Our _Left stranded_ report highlighted autistic people’s experiences in the pandemic. 11,326 people signed our letter to the Chancellor, asking him to invest in support and services for autistic people.
- We persuaded UK governments to change their coronavirus guidance so autistic people could exercise outside more than once a day.
- We successfully lobbied the Government to change the definition of ‘mental disorder’ in the _Mental Health Act_ so it no longer includes autism. When implemented, we hope that fewer autistic people will be sectioned and detained in mental health hospitals.
- 25,723 professionals used our education information resources.
- Our Autism at Work Summit brought together employers including JP Morgan, SAP and Sky to talk about increasing job opportunities for autistic people.
- 1,000 people learnt about autism and mental health at our online mental health conference.
## **---**
“At a time when there has been no one to turn to for support, the National Autistic Society were there.”
“I felt completely lost, you gave me the tools and confidence to keep fighting for my little one's right to education despite her barriers.”
“You offered a lifeline to our family when it was felt we had none. You have made a difference to empower me to make the right choices for my autistic daughter.”
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## **Introduction from our Chair and Chief Executive**
This has been an extraordinary year, with coronavirus presenting a huge challenge to our charity, as it has been to many other charities, social care and education providers. It has changed our work and shaped our priorities and placed a considerable strain on resources and we cannot thank our donors, staff and volunteers enough for supporting us through this exceptionally difficult time.
From March 2020, we took immediate action to make sure the children and adults in our care were safe. We stopped running non-essential activities face to face, moving social groups and branch activities online. We provided autism-specific information about masks, home schooling, social care and many other topics on our coronavirus hub. We moved our fundraising online as far as possible and our supporters rallied to our cause amazingly – with many completing events indoors or near to home to reach their targets. Our policy work focused on new issues, such as the right of autistic people to stick to routines, including going out of the house more than once a day. You can read more about the impact of this work on autistic people and their families in our strategic report.
As an organisation, we’ve had to adapt our ways of working and this report shows how we have worked to try to replace income lost through face-to-face events with new income streams, such as online conferences. However, we have still faced a heavy financial toll due to coronavirus and have had to take some difficult decisions this year about how to spend the funding available, including reshaping and scaling back some of our work. This has affected many parts of our charity and has meant losing dedicated and talented colleagues but by far our most difficult decision has been to close our general Autism Helpline because of a lack of funding, although our five other specialist helplines which are partially or wholly funded by long-term committed funders are continuing.
Closing the Helpline is a difficult loss, but we continue to provide extensive information through our website, visited by 4.9 million people last year, and our growing network of branches that help tens of thousands of autistic children, adults and families. As you will see in this report, the work we have done in the pandemic has had a huge impact on the people we support.
When we have consulted with autistic people and their families, they have been clear that their biggest challenges are mental health, distressed behaviour, education and social care and benefits. We have focused our work and resources on these four key challenges, where we feel we can make the biggest difference to autistic people’s lives. We will continue to work to hold governments to account, push for better services and highlight injustices through our policy and campaigns work. With your help, as we approach our 60[th] anniversary, we will continue to work tirelessly to transform more lives, change attitudes and create a society that works for autistic people.
Dr Carol Homden, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Caroline Stevens, Chief Executive, National Autistic Society
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----
“It’s been an honour to be the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the past ten years, particularly as my autistic son Freddy is supported by the charity. There have of course been some significant challenges but also lots of successes too. In particular, our _Too Much Information_ campaign to improve public understanding of autism, growing our branch network and specialist casework services, opening three free schools and developing new services for young autistic adults with high support needs.
We are very pleased to introduce Stephen Ladyman as the next Chair from November 2021. Stephen first started advocating for autistic people and families in 1998 as an MP and he set up the All Party Parliamentary Group for Autism alongside our charity in 2000. He’s also been a minister and held various chair roles since, including within the NHS. We’re thrilled to appoint someone with such a wealth of experience, skills and passion for creating a society that works for autistic people.
The Chair is a vital role within every charity. Stephen has the right skills, experience and, crucially, passion to guide the National Autistic Society into the future.”
Dr Carol Homden
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## **Annual review strategic report – our vision and achievements**
## **Transforming lives**
We transform lives through our services, schools, branches and by providing practical advice to autistic people and their families.
This year, we focused on keeping our services and schools running safely in the pandemic and helping the autistic adults and children in our care through all the changes. We also took some of our branch activities online and provided the vital information that people needed through our coronavirus website hub.
## **Keeping our adult services going safely**
The past year was extremely hard for many autistic people we support, particularly adjusting to new restrictions, changes to routines and not being able to see loved ones. Our adult services teams helped people through this in a number of creative ways, including setting up replica ice-cream parlours, cinemas and pubs. Support workers at our Glamorgan House Autism Centre in Neath even made their own McDonald’s drive-thru:
“We really wanted to help keep routines and structure for the people we support. As some of their favourite places closed, we created replicas.
“We created our own drive-thru and rang around the nearby McDonald’s restaurants which were closing to request some packaging, which they gladly provided. We even created handmade uniforms. As soon as we began serving up meals there were smiling faces all around.”
Wendy Brisland, Team Leader and Abbie Williams, a Senior Support Worker at Glamorgan House
We helped families stay in touch with their loved ones, enabling them to have safe contact wherever possible.
In autumn 2020, we asked families of the people we support for their feedback - and particularly if they felt we were keeping their family member safe. Around 100 families responded and we were heartened to hear that 98% of families felt staff were keeping people safe during the pandemic (the other 2% felt they were neither safe nor unsafe).
“The response to the pandemic was swift, well thought out, firm and clearly put my son’s [needs] first. I have been totally confident that he has been safe and well. The staff have been great in thinking of activities for him.” Parent
From January 2021, we encouraged the people we support to take part in our Spring Forward Challenge: to walk as many miles as possible by the end of World Autism Awareness Week in April 2021. They walked an amazing 62 million steps, around 26,000 miles. We created the challenge in response to feedback from families who
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wanted more opportunities for their loved ones to exercise and spend time in nature – particularly during lockdown.
## **Offering on-site and home learning**
Our seven schools remained open throughout the pandemic and maintained higher rates of on-site attendance than similar provisions. Our residential settings remained operational throughout too, paying careful attention to the social care COVID-19 guidelines. We offered pupils a combination of on-site and supported home learning, working with staff, families and local authorities to deliver the best possible provision despite the challenges.
Staff developed innovative new approaches to supported home and on-site learning. For instance, at Helen Allison School, pupils were able to join classroom-based lessons from home via our online platform. Events were set up that were accessible for all at home or school, for example a virtual graduation ceremony at Sybil Elgar School. While many extra-curricular events were restricted during the year, our children’s services staff and leaders went above and beyond to manage the everchanging situation so that our autistic pupils benefited.
We are proud to say that all pupils completing an external qualification received the grade expected as a result of the adjusted arrangements for 2020.
Between January and the end of March 2021, more than 4,000 onsite lateral flow device (rapid) tests were taken by staff to control the spread of the virus and support our sites’ safe operations.
“The lessons were structured to keep the main subject intact and interesting. Lessons at home never felt like they were dragging on.” Pupil (February 2021 survey)
“They have had their needs met by the school providing a one-to-one room, and allowing a reduced timetable to help with anxiety levels.” Parent (February 2021 survey)
## **Online branch support to combat isolation**
We have 116 branches across the UK, run by our amazing volunteers. During the pandemic, our branches offered online support to 17,600 people – from remote talks, adult social online meet-ups, virtual play sessions and more.
“The Thurrock Branch has been my absolute rock. In lockdown, we had its self-care packages, Zoom call support network and the kids’ social group on Saturday mornings. It has shared important information, like our entitlement to the vaccine and rights at school.” Robyn
“The online support and information the branch has provided over the past few months has been amazing. Without them, I would never have had the crucial contact with other families and professionals that has made such a difference to me and my son, Rowan.” Nicki
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“We used to meet twice a month and since the lockdown, we started doing this online. It has been really important because it has given everyone a chance to see each other but also to see that we are not isolated and alone. It has also given us hope that we can one day meet up again because the group has been consistently there, rather than stopping and then wondering whether it will ever start again.” Sarah, who runs our social group in Enfield
Some people told us they have never managed to go to an ‘in person’ group and were really benefiting from online meet-ups:
“Being a full-time working mother, I have been trying to get to a coffee morning for years and couldn't. But to be able to join the online meeting was so great, I felt I was finally connected.” Branch member
Meanwhile, we launched our first ‘online only’ branch in Highland. The branch held their virtual launch party on 31 March 2021, attended by autistic people, parents, teachers, local politicians and health workers. They received great feedback, saying that the branch was a welcome addition to the area, and the online-only format was the right approach to reach more Highland residents.
## **Tailored information on our coronavirus hub**
Crucially, throughout the pandemic we gave autistic people and their families clear information and advice to help them navigate all the restrictions and complex changes. We started the coronavirus hub on our website as soon as the first lockdown was announced in March 2020. Containing autism-specific information on rules, exercise, masks, benefits, social care, vaccines, home working and home schooling, it was visited more than 500,000 times.
“I had to be really careful about having the news on in the house because it scared my son. I used the National Autistic Society’s website for information instead.” Robyn
When masks were introduced, we provided information on exemptions and tips from autistic people on wearing them. We also provided a free downloadable, _I am autistic card_ , which people could use if they were challenged about not wearing a mask. This was downloaded more than 10,000 times.
“My mum volunteers in a charity book shop and she asked a customer to put a mask when he came into the shop. He used the _I am autistic card_ to show her why he couldn't wear the mask. She said it was fantastic because it completely took any awkwardness out of the interaction for all involved.” Feedback on our _I am autistic card_
## **Other major achievements**
## **A new website providing more advice and guidance**
4.9 million people visited our website last year and, in a recent survey, 88% of people who had used the site told us they found it helpful.
We launched our new website in August 2020. We had to invest in a new site because the old one was built on an old content management system, which was no
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longer being supported. The new website is supported in-house, saving our charity money which we’ll be able to spend on delivering more and better information and support.
The new site design makes our information and advice about autism much easier to navigate. And we have introduced more information on topics autistic people have told us are important, such as mental health.
We commissioned Hassell Inclusion to carry out research about digital accessibility with autistic people, and implemented their recommendations on clear design. For example, we have introduced the "dimmer switch" on each page offering a "calm" design alternative, which some users prefer.
We had a good response to the new site:
“It’s always a delight to see website developers addressing the needs of their audience. Designed for autistic people, this site uses language that’s easy to understand, cutting out unnecessary jargon, and images have been chosen for their relevance rather than to pad out the pages. The layouts also seek to avoid distraction but best of all is a “calm” button, which mutes colours and makes the content easier on the eye. Of course, there’s also a ton of info and advice about autism with topics looking at bullying, mental health, behaviour and more, together with a choice of newsletters to keep you up to date.” Five stars
Our website was named Kentico’s site of the year for the NGO/associations category, recognised for its easy navigation and accessible page design.
A survey from Charity Comms also showed our new website is proving successful. Our monthly sessions and page views were the highest of the disability sector and the second highest across the entire benchmark of 67 charities.
## **A new Autism Inpatient Mental Health Casework Service**
We launched our Autism Inpatient Mental Health casework service for England in September 2020.
Our new service gives confidential advice and support to autistic people – or their families – at risk of going into or getting stuck in inpatient units. We advise on mental health rights and entitlements, to help prevent or challenge detention and secure the care and support autistic people need in their communities.
The new service has already helped 284 families.
“When my son reached a predictable and preventable crisis point, and was inappropriately admitted to inpatient mental health units, it resulted in catastrophic consequences for him and our family. I felt powerless to protect my child and didn’t know where to turn to for advice to get him the ‘right support’ in the community. I could not be more pleased the National Autistic Society has launched its muchneeded casework service. I have no doubt it will be life-changing, and help make ‘homes not hospitals’ a reality for autistic people.” Isabelle Garnett. Isabelle’s son Matthew spent 15 months under section in a secure unit and was only released after
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his family’s high-profile campaign. Isabelle played a central role in the development of our new casework service.
## **Tackling loneliness in Wales**
With support from the Welsh Government, we have begun a project to start new social groups for autistic adults across Wales. In 2020-21, we carried out a survey of autistic adults in Wales to find out about current opportunities for socialising and the potential for setting up new peer support groups. 70% of respondents said they would like to participate in a group and one in six would like to set up a group themselves. We are now working closely with autistic adults and volunteers, learning from what already works well and supporting them to develop a range of sustainable, peer-support activities that meet the needs of autistic adults in Wales.
## **Embedding the Quality of life (QoL) framework in our schools**
Last year, we introduced the Quality of life (QoL) framework in our schools.
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The framework is based on the idea that our schools should help pupils develop skills that will contribute to their quality of life – both now and in the future. Using the framework helps us develop support for our pupils that considers their health, comfort, and happiness, not just their formal education and academic achievements. And in turn, this helps us prioritise really important areas of development for our pupils such as independence, social development and emotional wellbeing. The framework also supports our pupils and their families to be fully involved in decisions about what is important to them.
## **More support for autistic pupils in mainstream schools**
Our Cullum Centres aim to help autistic students to thrive in mainstream schools by offering support from specialist staff and a calm setting to retreat to if they become overwhelmed. This year has seen the existing three Cullum Centres do an exemplary job of supporting their students and families through the pandemic.
We have also been able to make significant headway with two new Cullum Centres in Canterbury, due to open May 2021 and Brighton and Hove, due to open September 2021.
“We often hear from parents who say their child falls through the gaps – they’re not eligible for a specialist school but their sensory and social difficulties mean that learning in a mainstream school is challenging. The Cullum Centres aim to fill this gap by giving students the specialist support they need to excel in lessons in mainstream school.” Caroline Stevens, Chief Executive
“Overall, I have to say I see massive and enormous improvement since my child started school and I know this is just the Cullum Centre because... there is no chance we could go to the normal mainstream school and be happy. That’s the Cullum Centre, I know that for a fact.” Parent
## **Next year, to transform more lives, we will:**
- begin a continuous improvement journey in our adult services over the next three years, working to achieve:
- a person-centred model of support, designed to help autistic people live healthy and enriching lives as they progress to new levels of independence
- attraction and retention of great staff who are vital in delivering high quality support to autistic adults
- a renewed and highly valued offer in locations and environments valued by autistic adults, their families, and local commissioners.
- open a new West London day centre and the Maghera day centre in Northern Ireland
- adopt and support the Skills for Care Working with Families framework to provide a consistent and engaging experience for family members
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- embed our Quality of Life (QoL) Framework in our schools so that the learning experiences each pupil receives are well-matched to their needs, skills and aspirations, and are delivered within safe and nurturing environments
- help pupils prepare for life after school by rolling out Radlett Lodge School’s community-based education and Robert Ogden School’s work experience programmes across all our schools
- increase the extent of digitally supported learning in our schools, to prepare children for life after school and meet demand for remote learning in the COVID-19 education environment
- continue to expand the network of local authorities we work with for additional Cullum Centres and explore how to broaden the age range that these centres support in schools.
## **Changing attitudes**
As well as providing direct services which transform lives, we campaign and work with policymakers to achieve long-term changes so that society works better for autistic people. This has the potential to transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of autistic adults and children in the UK.
This year, we fought for autistic people’s rights in the pandemic. We also achieved some major campaign wins: changes to mental health law that should mean fewer autistic people detained in inpatient hospitals and improved teacher training in Scotland.
## **Fighting for autistic people’s rights in the pandemic**
As laws and guidance changed because of the coronavirus pandemic, autistic people and their families contacted us to tell us about the impact. We used these experiences to tell Government what they needed to do to support autistic people at this time.
One of our first successes was persuading the Government to change their exercise guidance in April 2020. The rules originally said that no-one could leave their home for exercise more than once a day. We told the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) that going outside for exercise is very important to the health and wellbeing of many children and adults on the autism spectrum. They may also need to be accompanied by a carer or support worker who is not someone they live with. We were really pleased the Government listened and amended national guidance so that autistic people could get outside more than once a day.
We also urged governments across the UK to clarify that autistic people were exempt from wearing a face covering in shops, public spaces and on transport if it caused them distress. We raised awareness of these exemptions in the media, and wrote to the major supermarkets to ask them to remind their staff about the mask exemptions.
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Throughout, people told us they were worried about how the pandemic would impact the care of their autistic relatives. In England, the Government said that councils did not have to carry out their usual care duties if they were unable to do so because of the pandemic. We were very concerned by this and pushed for a number of changes to reduce the impact on autistic people and their families. We also urged the Government to publish a list of the councils who planned to ‘ease’ their care duties, which was published on the Care Quality Commission's website. We made sure that autism featured in the Government’s social care action plan, as well as a promise to train new care workers recruited to replace ill or isolating staff about autism.
In Scotland we raised directly with the Minister for Mental Health our concerns about reports of local authorities withdrawing what they deemed non-critical care packages. The Minister said that if we brought forward any cases the Scottish Government would look into them and bring them up directly with local authorities.
People told us they were worried they wouldn’t be able to accompany their autistic child to hospital. We raised these concerns with NHS England and they clarified that an autistic person was allowed to be accompanied. We also raised this with the Welsh Government and they issued new guidance so that autistic people could receive visitors in hospital during this time.
Our efforts to put autistic people’s needs on the policy agenda were recognised. In April 2020, in her daily COVID-19 briefing, Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Arlene Foster, recognised that lockdown was a particular challenge for autistic people. She acknowledged that autistic people had seen their regular routines interrupted, with schools and workplaces closing. The First Minister added that the inability to see friends and family was especially difficult, and advised people to seek support from our charity. She also commended our Northern Ireland Director, Shirelle Stewart, for bringing these issues to her attention.
## **Highlighting the impact of coronavirus**
In September 2020, we published our _Left stranded_ report which found that coronavirus and the lockdown had deepened well-established existing inequalities. We led this research as part of a project funded by the Pears Foundation, with the support of other autism charities including Ambitious about Autism, Autistica, Scottish Autism, and the Autism Alliance - a coalition of 17 autism charities.
The report was based on a survey of 4,232 autistic people and families in the UK during June and July. We found that the disruption, uncertainty and pace of change triggered huge levels of anxiety and, for some, was made worse by the withdrawal of support from social care, education and mental health services.
“I am just very isolated. The only person I see regularly is the postman.” Anonymous, autistic person in Wales
“This has had a devastating effect on my family. My husband has suffered anxiety and panic attacks due to the decline in my son’s mental health and the increase in his distress and challenging behaviour. Both myself and my husband had to take sick leave as we had all support withdrawn.” Anonymous, family member
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The _Left stranded_ report was referred to in First Ministers’ Questions in the Welsh Parliament. The First Minister acknowledged the impact that coronavirus had on autistic people and provided an update on what the Welsh Government was doing to improve the support available. This included a commitment to make a further statement on the proposed Code of Practice on the Delivery of Autism Services (see page 14), detailing plans for publication.
Following the report, 11,326 people signed our open letter calling on the Chancellor to use his Spending Review to protect autistic people and their families from future waves of coronavirus and to invest in support and services.
## **Other major achievements**
## **Changes to the** _**Mental Health Act**_
In 2019, over 217,000 campaigners signed our petition to stop autistic people being inappropriately detained in inpatient units. Currently, the law allows people to be sectioned because they’re autistic – even though autism isn’t a mental health problem. In January 2021, the Government released proposals to change _Mental Health Act_ which should result in fewer autistic people being wrongly sent to mental health hospitals. This is a big step in the right direction.
## **Improving access to mental health services**
We have started a new Mental Health project, run in partnership with Mind and funded by the Pears Foundation, looking at creating a process of seeking and gaining mental health support that works for autistic people. This year, we consulted with autistic people and their family members about what good mental health support looks like and what works for them, as well as engaging with professionals about current barriers. Combining these experiences, we want to help the NHS to understand the needs of autistic people and how to support them better by making adaptations to their services.
“Even before the pandemic too many autistic people struggled with their mental health and lacked the support they need, and things are even worse now. Our 2019 report, _Autism Act: 10 years on_ , showed 76% of autistic people have reached out for mental health support in the past five years, with only 14% believing there are enough mental health services in their area to support their needs. Services are often impossible to access and even when people are able to get support, it’s often not tailored to the individual and their autism, which only compounds the situation.” Felicity Stephenson, our charity’s mental health policy lead
We are also working with researchers at King’s College London to develop tools that better predict mental health problems and identify them much earlier for autistic people. This would improve signposting to effective care and help prevent preexisting issues in autistic children and adults from escalating into more severe mental health conditions later in life.
## **Better teacher training in autism in Scotland**
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In December 2020, the Scottish Government committed to improving autism awareness and training for teachers in schools. This was a direct result of _Not Included, Not Engaged, Not Involved_ - our campaign with Children in Scotland and Scottish Autism. This found that many autistic children were not receiving the support they need to succeed at school.
As part of plans, awareness content will be developed for Initial Teacher Education and accreditation. Reference to autism awareness will be included in the Professional Standards for Teachers, and a community of good practice will be created to share tools and resources for teachers.
“This package of changes will be life-changing for pupils and new teachers alike. It is the most comprehensive approach to ensuring high-quality autistic education for new teachers in the UK and will ensure that hundreds of autistic children will have a better school experience.” Nick Ward, Director of National Autistic Society Scotland
## **Welsh Code of Practice on the Delivery of Autism Services**
The Welsh Autism Code of Practice aims to set out what is legally required of local authorities, health boards and other public bodies that provide services to support autistic people and their families in Wales. It has the potential to strengthen the rights of autistic people, and to improve the services available to them.
Along with hundreds of autistic people, their families and professionals, in 2020 we responded to the consultation on the Code of Practice to ensure it delivers the improvements in services and support that are needed. We pushed the Welsh Government to review all the consultation feedback and publish the Code before the May 2021 elections.
## **More UK employers recognising autistic potential**
Some of the UK's leading employers came together at our inaugural Autism at Work Summit in March 2021. Household names including EY, JP Morgan, Sky and SAP sponsored the Summit, which highlighted successful employment initiatives for autistic people. We believe this is the first time an autism and employment event of this scale has happened in the UK.
The Summit’s keynote speaker was our ambassador Chris Packham and over 400 representatives from around 150 organisations attended. Employers at the summit found out about initiatives aimed at increasing autistic employment, heard directly from autistic people and shared ideas.
"I am excited to be part of the Autism at Work Summit because although I have thrived in a firm that is very autism friendly, there are so many out there who have not had the same opportunities as myself, despite having the talent and skills. To make a real difference to the autistic community we need employers of all sizes, in all different industries to join the Autism at Work movement. This is the only way to create true equality; we do not just want specialist schemes in a few select companies, we want employment choices for the autistic community to be as wide
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ranging as they are for others." Kym Francis, Associate in Operations, JP Morgan, who spoke at the summit
“I really want to show people that I and other autistic people have a lot to offer employers, and are more than capable of succeeding **.”** Jerrel Nicholas also spoke at the summit. He works as a Data Business Analyst at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and got this job via our charity’s and the Bloomfield Trust’s Autism at Work programme.
## **Next year, to change attitudes, we will:**
- help shape the autism strategy to make sure it is properly funded and autistic people are involved in developing local strategies.
- respond to the findings of the Government’s SEND review, to improve support to autistic children in schools
- continue the #OurVoiceOurRights campaign in Scotland to call for a commissioner to improve access to support and champion the human rights of autistic people and people with a learning disability
- call for the Autism Code in Wales to be properly implemented and ensure all teachers receive training about autism
- consult with autistic people and their families in Northern Ireland on the new autism strategy.
## **Developing our organisation for the future**
## **Safeguarding**
Our top priority is the safeguarding of the adults and children we support and we are committed to continually improving the safety, quality and consistency of our services and support for autistic people. During the early part of the year, the Trustees proactively commissioned a safeguarding audit as part of the continuous improvement programme in relation to safeguarding. The recommendations that come out of the audit will drive action priorities in 2021/22.
As part of the continuous improvement process, we have strengthened the Independent Safeguarding Board with additional independent members and the relationships with our other key committees and the Board of Trustees. We are also investing in additional roles in the newly established Assurance and Compliance Directorate to support the Safeguarding Lead role in providing advice, guidance and support to our services and schools.
We ensure all safeguarding alerts are reported and investigated and work closely with our statutory partners and regulators in an open and transparent way so we can continue learning and improve our practice where necessary. We have also made improvements to our whistleblowing practices to encourage anyone to come forward and speak up where they believe something isn’t right. Anyone in contact with our charity can raise a concern at any time, which could be to a member of staff, a manager or via feedback or a complaint and there are more formal anonymous routes if the individual felt they could not raise this directly. There is also a system called Safecall where staff can raise a concern anonymously if they wish to.
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We will continue to look for ways in which to improve our safeguarding governance and practice as this will always be our highest priority.
## **More digital fundraising**
Our fundraising staff worked hard to replace key events that had to be cancelled due to lockdown restrictions. The team focused on virtual fundraising, enabling our passionate supporters to take on challenges like the 7K for 700K from home, and supporting innovative approaches, such as virtual tip jars and gigs on Facebook.
We would like to thank all our brilliant fundraisers who continued to raise money for us during the pandemic. And, while they may not have been able to run the actual London Marathon, some of our supporters took part in the virtual London Marathon instead, as well as the 2.6 challenge:
“Our 2.6 challenge is to for my son, Sammy, age five, to walk 2.6 miles with his dog (and obviously his mummy and daddy).
“Sammy is autistic, amongst other diagnoses, and is a Swifty wheelchair user - this is a big challenge for him. However, having recently been managing to walk short distances and encouraged by his dog whose lead he holds, we believe he will smash it.
“We are hoping that by speaking out about this on his blog we will be able to raise some money to help support you guys as you have supported us.” Hannah Brookes
## **Adapting our conference programme**
In the pandemic, we quickly moved to offering online training and events. Our Mental health conference on 11 March 2021 was particularly successful, with more than 1,000 online delegates. Feedback was highly positive:
“Really useful to hear from experts in the field and inspiring. Really builds on my understanding of ASC and how best to support pupils at school.” Conference delegate
“An excellent online event, very knowledgeable speakers, opportunities for questions.” Conference delegate
## **Supporting our staff and volunteers in the pandemic**
As with other organisations, our priority was to keep our staff and volunteers safe in the pandemic. While our frontline staff continued to work in our services and schools, equipped with PPE, we supported our office-based staff to move to home working. To keep everyone connected, we launched our new Intranet, Lorna, named after Dr Lorna Wing, in Spring 2020.
## **Our employee of the year**
Our employee of the year was Victoria Castelli – Social Group Leader for Scotland Online Social Groups. She won the award for digitising our social groups in Scotland so isolated people stayed connected during the pandemic _**.**_
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“I am so grateful for this award. I have a wonderful team who has helped us achieve so much during this challenging time and none of it could have been possible without them.” Victoria Castelli
Next year, we will:
- develop our systems in adult services to increase our ability to deliver efficiently and effectively by providing key business intelligence to support our decision making
- focus on transforming lives and changing attitudes in four areas: mental health, distressed behaviour, education and social care/benefits
- to have the biggest impact on these key challenges facing autistic people, we will prioritise unrestricted funding (where it’s not attached to a specific project) on digital guidance for autistic people and families; our branch network and campaigning for policy change
- merge our External Affairs and Social Change and Fundraising and Commercial Development Directorates to form a new National Programmes directorate to deliver our national programmes and raise the income for those services and activities
- develop an Equality and Inclusion plan, for each part of our new strategy, so we can make sure we are doing the best we can for the Black, Asian and other ethnic minority (BAME) autistic people we support, for their families and for our BAME staff and volunteers. As part of this work, we are forming a racial equality group of staff and volunteers to contribute to our thinking in this area and make sure that our new strategies are fully inclusive.
## **A big thank you to…**
We would like to sincerely thank all those charitable trusts and foundations, companies, branches and individuals who have helped us with their commitment and generosity during the year. Without such fantastic support, we would not be able to provide crucial support, information and advice to many thousands of autistic individuals, their families and loved ones.
Abilia
Andrew Bagley
Axcis Education Recruitment
Baily Thomas Charitable Fund
The Bank Workers Charity
Barrow Cadbury Trust
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The Basil Samuel Charitable Trust Beatrice Laing Trust Bloomfield Trust Cards for Good Causes Ltd Charlotte Warner and Bruno Paulson Chris Packham Christine and Patrick McGuinness The City Bridge Trust Clifford Chance LLP Columbia Threadneedle Investments Corra Foundation - Resilience Fund Cullum Family Trust Jim Daley and Family Dr Scholl Foundation The Entertainer Exchange Chambers Foundation Scotland Geek Retreat Harper Macleod LLP Joseph Levy Foundation J.P. Morgan Chase Bank Kilburn and Strode KPMG Scotland Kusuma Trust Matt Richardson
The McClay Foundation
MPI Foundation and HB Cares
The National Autistic Society’s Circle of Friends
National Lottery Community Fund (Improving Lives)
National Lottery Community Fund (Awards for All Northern Ireland)
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National Lottery Community Fund (People and Communities)
National Lottery Community Fund England – Coronavirus Community Support Fund National Lottery Community Fund Cymru - Coronavirus Community Support Fund National Lottery Community Fund Scotland - Coronavirus Community Support Fund Newline Group (Odyssey Group Foundation)
Nicholas Quinn Solicitors
Ordinary People Interesting Lives
Pears Foundation
Pilkington Charities Fund
Prospero World
SAP UK Ltd
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Sky UK
John and Marianne Swannell
TG Stamping & Machining LTD
UK Atomic Energy Authority
The Wolfson Foundation
W & R Barnett
We would also like to thank the many organisations and individuals, including our celebrity supporters, for their generous support by way of gifts in kind or direct support to our beneficiaries. There were also a number of individual and corporate donors, who have made significant gifts towards our work but have chosen to remain anonymous. We would like to thank them for their support.
We received a number of grants from statutory bodies including:
|**CashBack for**
**Communities £213,000**|To deliver our Moving Forward employment support
programme for young autistic people in Scotland.|
|---|---|
|**Welsh Government –**
**Sustainable Social**
**Services £43,683.06**|Funding to create more opportunities for autistic adults
in Wales to access peer support and social groups.|
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**----- Start of picture text -----**
Funding to build capacity of communities in Glasgow to
Glasgow Communities
understand and support autistic individuals through the
Fund 2020-2023
development of a volunteer-led branch and social
£25,990
group activities.
Scottish Government
Funding to support our COVID-19 response and
development of post-diagnostic groups.
£140,247.77
Funding towards the Autism Education Trust (AET).
Department for
The National Autistic Society manages the AET on
Education £600,004
behalf of a coalition of autism partners.
Department of Health
and Social Care Funding for the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance
£60,000
Department of Health
Funding for avoiding crisis animation creation.
and Social Care £6,000
Oldham Metropolitan Oldham Council on behalf of Greater Manchester
Borough Council Health and Social Care authorities for the delivery of
£98,010 the Greater Manchester Autism Consortium service.
NHS England
Funding to launch our Autism Inpatient Mental Health
Service.
£150,000
Department of Culture,
For support during the COVID-19 pandemic, including
Media and Sport
for our online support, branches and specialist
casework services.
£304,190
Violence Reduction
Unit and Greater Funding to deliver training sessions to the parents of
Manchester Combined autistic children and to professionals in Manchester
about how to support young autistic people to avoid
Authority
criminal exploitation.
£64,793
Greater Manchester
Health and Social Care To provide additional services through our Greater
Manchester Autism Consortium, including family
Partnership
support.
£200,000
**----- End of picture text -----**
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## **Part 2: Financial Review**
## **Overview**
Our in year financial performance reflects a tough year with ever increasing pressure on staff and other costs across our contracted services coupled with continuing local authority budget constraints. Following a rationalisation of financially unviable services, we disposed of the resulting surplus assets, generating one off income of £2.5m. As a result, the in year results of NAS Group show a net incoming surplus of £1.9m. In 2019/20 the NAS Group generated a surplus of £1.0m after asset sales of £0.5m. The challenge to recruit and retain sufficient and capable staff remains as does the need for local authorities to recognise the increase in our costs and renegotiate fees for these services.
Unrestricted reserves (excluding fixed assets) have increased from £8.3m to £12.3m This year. The unrestricted free reserves include long term capital financing to acquire fixed assets. Our free reserves are £8.9m. The Trustees have chosen to increase the level of funds designated in the year from £2.3m to £3.3m to support the organisation’s strategic plans to reduce central costs and improve the underlying business model.
As at the end of March it was clear that the coronavirus pandemic would have an impact on the operations of the Charity and our finances. Following a review of potential financial scenarios, the Trustees furloughed a significant number of staff, enacted redundancies and adjusted a number of key activities. This primarily resulted in a shift to home working and digital delivery of previous face to face activities such as education and training.
The Trustees are confident that, after review of our income and expenditure projections and reserves, The National Autistic Society can continue to be able to provide much needed support to our beneficiaries.
## **Financial highlights**
## **NAS Group**
Total income was £95.5m, a decrease of £8.5m from last year. Expenditure has also decreased by £9.6m to £93.5m. Overall income decreased as there was no capital funding following the completion of the construction of the site for Vanguard School in Lambeth.
- Fee income continues to be derived mainly from statutory bodies in relation to the delivery of services although this did reduce slightly in year to 81.9% (2019/20: 81.9%) of our total income. We expect fee income as a percentage of total income to increase slightly into the coming financial year despite the impact of the coronavirus with any growth focused in our newest free school, Vanguard School in Lambeth due to the reduction in voluntary income expected over during 2020/21.
- Overall, voluntary income decreased by £5.1m to £12.4m, though this is primarily accounted for by decrease in capital grants into NAS Academies
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Trust. Like for like voluntary income excluding NAS Academies Trust increased slightly to £10.6m (2019/20: £10m), includes furlough grant of £1.5m. We, like many charities, are planning for a reduction in voluntary income over the coming year due to the pandemic with action taken to reduce costs accordingly
- Expenditure on raising funds decreased by £0.4m to £1.5m (2019/20: £1.9m) and therefore the net contribution to voluntary income increased to £9.1m (2019/20 £8.1m).
- Income from donations and gifts increased by £0.3m to £7.7m (2019/20: £7.4m), whilst income from grants (excluding NAS Academies Trust) was £4.1m (2019/20: £2.2m) and legacy income decreased to £1.2m (2019/20: £1.6m).
- Unrestricted voluntary income rose by £0.3m to £7.7m (2019/20: £7.4m), and restricted income increased to £2.9m (2019/20: £2.7m).
- The year was one which, like many other charities, saw our charity’s income from Supporter Fundraising (in particular fundraising events) fall dramatically, due to the impact of the pandemic and associated restrictions. We and our partners adapted a number of those events and activities to virtual offers and were delighted by the response and uptake from our supporters, which helped to partly mitigate the fall in income.
- We were successful in securing a number of grants from funders who established grant programmes to specifically enable charities to respond to particular needs during the time of the pandemic and ensure that some of the most vulnerable in our society were not forgotten.
- We had a positive year in respect of legacy income receipts and this, together with the factors outlined above, plus strong continued demand for our training and consultancy, meant that despite an undoubted impact on our income generation, we have weathered this initial period better than we had originally anticipated and we are enormously grateful to our supporters, donors and staff for enabling us to do so.
- We continue to invest in those areas (Supporter Fundraising and Individual Giving) which deliver sustainable, unrestricted income in the future and this is reflected in the long-term trend towards unrestricted income, which increased to just over two thirds of our voluntary income last year.
- Encouragingly, we have had a successful year in securing some significant pledges of voluntary income which will be received in the coming year and beyond.
- Cash increased to £15.5m (2019/20: £12.8m) but we continue to face challenges we face with funding authorities meeting the increasing costs of delivery and the completion of a number of projects for which the Trustees designated funds particularly the digital transformation programme and the development of a new website
- Investment income was lower at £39k (2019/20: £146k) due to very low interest rates and average cash levels held throughout the year.
- Expenditure on charitable activities decreased to £93.5m (2019/20: £103.1m) following a conscious decision to reduce costs. The NAS continues to work towards paying all its employees the living wage.
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- Staff costs accounted for 72.1% of our overall costs, a slight decrease from 72.3% last year. The NAS continue to work towards a strategy of paying the living wage.
- We purchased fixed assets valued at £416k in the year.
- Designated funds are set at £3.4m (2019/20: £2.3m), which was deemed acceptable as majority of the big projects were completed in 2019/20 as planned.
- The value of our LGPS pension deficit increased in year to £19.5m from £14.5m.
A number of efficiency programmes are planned for over the next two to three years to reduce costs across a number of areas of the charity. These programmes are designed not only to address the expected impact of COVID on our voluntary and statutory income streams but also to address the costs of our overarching business model through improved efficiencies.
## **NAS Services Ltd**
NAS Services Ltd is the trading arm of The National Autistic Society through which it delivers the majority of its welfare and education services. It is funded through fee income received from providing statutory services to autistic children and adults.
- Turnover decreased to £59.6m from £63.3m mainly due to the closure of the Anderson School & negotiating fee uplifts with some providers. However, we continue to work with funding authorities for an uplift to meet the increasing costs of providing services as well as working towards paying all employees the living wage.
- £53.8m (2019/20 57.2m) was spent supporting autistic children and adults in our schools and services.
Pressure from local authorities seeking to reduce costs poses a major ongoing challenge for the company. Also due to COVID, some activities including day services were suspended. Given that we continue to operate in a period of austerity, the Directors consider the results for the year and the position at the year-end to be satisfactory and in line with their expectations.
All profits are passed to the National Autistic Society as the parent company by means of a gift aid payment. Reserves consist of the retained share capital of £2.
## **Autism UK Ltd**
Autism UK Ltd is the subsidiary through which we trade Christmas cards and sponsorship of conferences and events.
- Turnover decreased to £143k from £234k due to lower Christmas card sales and fall in sponsorship income as less events were run due to COVID.
- Costs increased slightly to £95k (2019/20 £93k) but was relatively high as a result of the increase in printing, mailing and warehousing costs primarily related to the Christmas card sales.
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All profits are passed to the National Autistic Society as the parent company by means of a gift aid payment. Reserves consist of the retained share capital of £2.
## **NAS Academies Trust**
The NAS Academies Trust operates our three existing free schools and continues to work with the Department of Education in the delivery of a third school to be based in Lambeth. The new school, Vanguard opened in January 2020.
It has two main sources of income – grants received from the Education Funding Agency and contracted fees from local authorities.
Total income for the year was £6.3m (2019/20: £11.2m), last year’s income included capital grants of £5.9.
- Grant income excluding capital received from the EFA increased slightly from £1.6m to £1.8m as all three schools continue to grow in pupil numbers.
- Likewise, contracted income increased £0.8m to £4.5m as the number of pupils grew.
Expenditure also increased from £5.5m to £6.3m in line with the growth in pupil numbers.
All income, expenditure, reserves and cash relating to NAS Academies Trust is restricted in its use to the Trust and cannot be used for any other purpose.
## **Fundraising practices**
The charity takes a diversified approach to fundraising, generating voluntary income from individual donors, fundraisers, companies, trusts and foundations and from statutory bodies. We use a number of different channels, including mail, email, telemarketing, payroll and social media.
The charity employs a number of professional fundraisers directly and also uses agencies in respect of payroll giving, telemarketing, plus online giving and sponsorship sites such as JustGiving.
The charity subscribes to the Fundraising Regulator, including Fundraising Preference Service, and we are also signed up to the Telephone Preference Service. Our lotteries and raffles are regulated by the Gambling Commission. We adhere to the Institute of Fundraising ‘treating donors fairly’ guidance and the Fundraising Regulator code of fundraising practice. All of our standard training for new starters and refresher training includes information on protecting vulnerable people.
No failures have been reported in respect to industry-recognised fundraising standards in 2020/21. Since its inception in 2017, the charity has received – and acted upon – 11 suppression requests from the Fundraising Preference Service, two of which were received in the year to 31 March 2021.
We monitor all agencies on a regular basis, including listening to a selection of telemarketing calls within a week of the campaign start date and on a monthly basis
24
for rolling campaigns. (We monitor at a rate of 5%, with a five calls per month minimum, which for some campaigns, can put us at 10%.)
During the course of the year, the charity received 52 complaints, of which four were related to fundraising practice or products. All of these complaints were fully investigated and resolved.
We adhere to the Institute of Fundraising ‘treating donors fairly’ guidance and are also active participating members of the Institute of Fundraising compliance directorate and the Fundraising Regulator code of fundraising practice. All of our standard training for new starters and for refresher training includes information on protecting vulnerable people.
## **Pay policy**
Pay is set based at the point of appointment based on a job evaluation, comparable market benchmark and the charity's financial perimeters. We are a market median payer which means when compared to similar roles in the market, we pay key management staff at the middle band level. Following on from appointments, any increase in remuneration is considered based on the following context:
- performance and contribution measured against business priorities
- contractual and statutory obligations (eg teachers’ terms/equal pay)
- comparable market benchmark
- alignment with the charity's pay mechanism and cycle
- alignment with the charity's pay priorities at the given time
- affordability within the charity’s financial perimeters.
All awards are recommended by the line manager and approved by a director. For directors, pay recommendations are made by the CEO and approved by the Chair. For the CEO, pay awards must be signed off by the Chair of Trustees and Chair of Plans and resources.
## **Principal risks and uncertainties**
The Board of Trustees fully recognises its responsibility for the management of risk. The Senior Management Team is charged with identifying, assessing and minimising the major risks (based on likelihood of occurrence and potential impact) faced by the charity and a standing board committee, the Audit and Risk Committee, examines and monitors the effectiveness of risk analysis and risk management. This committee involves Trustees, the Chief Executive and other senior managers, including the Internal Auditor Manager.
In addition, the other main committees – Plans and Resources, Services Quality and Development, Education Quality and Development and Brand and Commercial Development – are charged with monitoring and reviewing the risks associated with their areas of responsibility.
During the year the Audit and Risk Committee has continued to maintain a close overview of management’s implementation of departmental and inter-departmental
25
action plans to mitigate the risks considered to have high levels of both likelihood and impact.
The Board of Trustees as a body has undertaken an annual review of the risk register and is able to confirm that the major risks to which the charity is exposed continue to be properly identified, reviewed and evaluated, and that appropriate systems are in place and under regular review in order to manage those risks.
The Society has identified the following continuing risks:
- Financial: Pressure continues on both contracted and voluntary income streams and the Board, supported by its sub-committees, continuously monitors in year business performance and the medium and longer term financial risks and opportunities, weighing up the need to manage costs tightly within available income against ensuring appropriate investment in improving and developing our offer to beneficiaries to best meet their needs
- Operational: ensure the provision of high levels of safeguarding for the vulnerable young people and adults we work with. Our Services Quality and Development and Education Quality and Development Committees, in conjunction with the main board, will continue to review and verify safe practice.
- Operational: ensure the ability to change the way we deliver services to respond to changing need. We work closely with stakeholders including autistic people who receive our services as well as those who fund these services to ensure that our activities are structured accordingly.
The Trustees have considered whether there are any factors likely to affect the financial performance or position of the charity going forward and have identified that we, along with many other charities, must analyse the impact of the increase in the national living wage. The Trustees are working with the Executive on several work streams to identify efficiencies and growth opportunities to ensure the continued financial viability of our charity.
The Trustees continue to consider the coronavirus pandemic and the risk it brings both to our financial position and our ability to meet beneficiary need at a time when the demand for support is increasing. To mitigate this risk, we continually assess the impact COVID has on how we deliver support and our response, particularly how digital delivery can enable us to continue to support our beneficiaries throughout the pandemic.
The Society has in place a well-established system of internal controls that govern its operations. These controls have been designed to provide a reasonable assurance against risk. The internal audit function evaluates the adequacy and effectiveness of controls across our activities.
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## **Reserves policy**
Trustees review reserve levels as part of their review of the financial performance of the Society throughout the year as well as an annual review as part of the strategic planning process.
Designations of £3.3m takes into account our decision to set aside funds to enable improvements and growth within our operations and investment to improve technology to support adult services and the new hybrid working which will deliver efficiencies as it rolled out across the Charity. Note 18 to the accounts provides more details on these designations.
The general reserves figure of £8.9m is regarded as being the charity’s level of free reserves. In calculating the balance, the figure does not include any fixed assets or designated funds held. As explained further below, the balance also does not include the Charity’s LGPS pension liability as determined under FRS102 on the grounds that the liability, which is assessed annually by the actuary, is not in total immediately repayable with plans for meeting the deficit over a long period of time in place.
The Trustees consider that a range of between £4.5m and £9m is a reasonable level of reserves for this and next financial year whilst it undertakes a strategic review of its operations. This will allow for investment in the cost of change resulting from the strategic review and to be sufficient to cover any short term risk of income shortfall or unplanned increase in expenditure.
The Trustees have also included within the charity’s designated reserves a local authority pension scheme reserve of £1m. Note 18 to the accounts details the amount of the fund and Note 24 provides additional information.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Reserves held @ 31 March 2021 2020 2019
(excluding pension reserves) £000 £000 £000
Free Reserves 8,921 6,018 6,629
General funds – designated 3,391 2,305 5,420
Restricted reserves 2,456 2,407 2,559
Designated funds - fixed assets 20,939 23,366 23,951
NAS Academies Trust reserves 19,748 19,632 13,688
Total Reserves excluding pension 55,455 53,727 52,247
Pension (19,350) (14,515) (17,387)
Total Reserves 36,105 39,212 34,860
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Going concern**
The Trustees consider that the current target remains appropriate and realistic and take the view that the level of risk reserve and cash held is acceptable given the current economic climate in which the charity is operating. The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that there are adequate resources to continue in operational
27
existence for the foreseeable future. As shown in our accounts, our cash position continues to demonstrate that we are able to fund our revenue expenditure including the annual pension contributions. We also hold a number of fixed assets which could be disposed of to mitigate any larger, long term risks.
The Board of Trustees has reviewed budgets and forecasts to March 2023 which consider NAS's activities, financial position and risk management polices together with likely factors affecting future development, including impact of the pandemic and environmental factors such as the increase in staffing costs and the level of inflation. Forecasts have been prepared for a range of scenarios and the Directors have considered in depth the scenario which they believe will most likely occur.
The Board has concluded that the existing level of free reserves and available cash coupled with strong cost control sufficient to ensure NAS has the resources to continue operating as a going concern. Additionally, as part of the forecasting exercise the board has identified further opportunities to realise surplus assets which will further strengthen the financial position of the charity if needed should the cost reductions not be achieved as quickly as planned or the most likely scenario does not occur. On this basis, the board have concluded that there are no material uncertainties surrounding NAS's ability to continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future and the accounts have been prepared on that basis.
## **Pensions and FRS102**
When reviewing the charity’s risks and appropriate level of reserves required, the Trustees also take into consideration the impact of its pension liability as determined under FRS102.
We include within our accounts the actuarial valuation of our three Local Government Pension Schemes. This year, our liability has increased by £4.8m to £19.5m, following a decrease of £2.9m to £14.5m in 2019/20, an increase of £1.4m to £17.4m in 2018/19 and a decrease of £0.7 in 2017/18. These movements demonstrate the volatility of this liability which is largely due to the changing conditions in the financial markets and inflation assumptions which are outside our control. Whilst there is volatility in the overall liability, NAS does have certainty over the cash flows surrounding the pension schemes and these are factored into our budgets and forecasts. We are exploring alternative arrangements and consulting staff surrounding the long-term funding of the schemes, however no decisions have been made in 2021
Note 24 to the accounts details the impact of the FRS102 pension adjustments to our charity’s financial position.
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The table below shows the impact on our reserves.
## **Summary of the effect of changes in the pension funds on reserves**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
£m £m £m £m £m
Restricted reserves excluding
2.5 2.4 2.6 2.6 4.1
NAS Academies Trust
Restricted Funds NAS
19.9 19.6 13.7 10.2 9.4
Academies Trust
Unrestricted reserves
33.3 31.7 36.0 36.6 35.5
before pension funds deficit
FRS102 opening deficit on
(14.5) (17.4) (16.0) (16.7) (14.3)
pension funds
Change in FRS102 pensions
(5.0) 2.9 (1.4) 0.7 (2.4)
deficit in year
Reported total reserves as
36.1 39.2 34.9 33.4 32.3
per Balance Sheet
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Investment policy**
## **Investment return and adequacy against policy**
In order that the Society has cash readily available to meet working capital and other needs, the Trustees continue to adopt a cautious policy to maintain diversified cash deposits rather than to invest in stocks, shares, property or any other investment product. As per the amended policy agreed in 2012/13 and regularly reviewed, the Trustees have agreed that £4m could be deposited in one year bonds, funds could also be deposited in notice accounts, short term deposit accounts or three or six month bonds with a £5m maximum investment in any one institution rated A1 or better. This policy remains in place during 2020/21.
Due to interest rates being consistently at low levels throughout the year and considering the cautious approach adopted by the Trustees, the investment return generated during the year was in line with expectations.
As at 31 March 2021 the Society had £1m invested in a fixed rate deposit, a further £13.0m in held in interest bearing current accounts.
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## **Structure, governance and management - Our constitutional structure**
## **Our constitutional structure**
The National Autistic Society (NAS), first registered as a charity in 1962, Charity No CR269425, was incorporated in 1975 as a company limited by guarantee, and registered in England and Wales, Company No 1205298. The NAS operates under our Articles of Association as adopted by the Board on 21 November 2015.
The services that we provide in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are managed from local offices that use the working names NAS Scotland, NAS Cymru and NAS Northern Ireland.
We are a membership organisation, with 20,064 voting members. Members can contribute to the work and success of our charity in many ways, by leading a local branch, by contributing their experiences through surveys and consultations, by fundraising at a local level and by spreading information about autism. Members who want to be active in their local area can join or set up a branch, operating under the name and charity number of the parent body. As at 31 March 2021 there were 117 branches across the UK.
The National Autistic Society owns a number of subsidiary companies, of which three are currently active: NAS Services Limited through which we provide child and adult services, Autism UK Limited through which we trade Christmas cards, merchandise and sponsorship of conferences and events, and NAS Academies Trust through which we provide our free schools. The latter is a majority owned subsidiary while the others are wholly owned.
A list of all subsidiary companies is shown within the notes to the accounts.
## **Charitable objects and public benefit**
Our formal objects are: “the development, delivery and promotion of the education, health, welfare, care and support of people on the autism spectrum and with related conditions (“autistic people”).”
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Section 4 (4) of the _Charities Act 2011_ by referring to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the aim and objectives of the Society and in planning its future activities.
The opportunity to benefit is not restricted by any constraint other than our capacity to provide an activity or service in a particular geographical location. It is not restricted by gender either. The education and care services we provide are outside the funding capacity of all but a very few families. Those fees are almost invariably fully paid, directly or indirectly, by the state.
Under the law of Scotland, the National Autistic Society is established for the public benefit through:
- advancement of education
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- advancement of health
- relief of those in need through age, ill health or disability.
These activities are either provided for the benefit of autistic people directly or indirectly through supporting their parents, carers or advocates.
## **Consulting with members**
The charity consults with its members on a regular basis in order to keep abreast of those issues and topics that are most important to them, prioritising its campaigns and activities accordingly.
National Autistic Society branches support individuals and families affected by autism on a daily basis and their experiences are fed back to inform the charity’s work. This helps to ensure that the organisation continues to be focused and relevant.
## **The Board of Trustees**
Our Trustees have ultimate responsibility for directing our charity, ensuring that it is solvent, well-run, and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it has been set up. The Trustees elect from their number the Chair of Trustees and, if they choose, one or more Vice Chairs.
Board vacancies are advertised with potential candidates being interviewed by a small panel of Trustees, which includes the Chair.
In addition, candidates are interviewed by a panel of autistic people who provide advice and recommendations to the Trustees’ panel. Appointments are confirmed by the full Board and are subject to retrospective ratification by the membership at the next AGM.
The Board seeks to ensure a good mix of experience and expertise, covering commercial business, local government management, secondary and further education, special needs teaching, marketing, accountancy, organisational and financial management and of course, personal and family experience of autism.
Trustees hold office for a term of four years and may stand for re-election provided they do not serve for longer than eight years in aggregate (12 years if serving as the Chair of Trustees or Chair of a Board Committee).
The Board of Trustees also appoints the Chief Executive, who is accountable to the Trustees for the day-to-day management of the charity, and for implementing strategic policy approved by the Trustees. The Chief Executive is salaried and is not a Trustee. No Trustee has any financial interest in the charity or in its subsidiary companies. No Trustee receives any remuneration for his or her services as a Trustee, but may be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses.
Trustees meet formally as a body four times a year but all Trustees are also involved in one or more standing Board committees, each of which meets several times a year. Trustees may also attend general meetings of members (all Trustees must be
31
subscribing members of the charity). All Trustees submit to an enhanced disclosure check from the Disclosure and Barring Service on being elected and this is refreshed periodically while they remain a Trustee.
## **Trustee induction and training**
All Trustees undergo an induction process, the aim of which is to give them an understanding of their role and responsibilities as Trustees. These include an understanding of the Code of Governance and Trustees’ responsibility for safeguarding and risk management. Terms of reference for the various Board committees are also supplied, together with an explanation of the structure of the NAS and the roles of senior management.
Specific induction programmes are tailored to match the experience of individual Trustees but will generally include briefing sessions with members of the Senior Management Team, visits to one or more of our schools and adult services and on occasion, external training in the roles and responsibilities of Trustees. Periodically, an audit of Trustees’ skills and experience is undertaken and this helps the Chair, in discussion with individual Trustees, to identify further training that will enhance their contribution to the charity’s governance.
## **Decision-making**
Having approved the annual budget (reflecting the strategic plan), the Board of Trustees delegates policy implementation and day-to-day management to the Chief Executive. Outcomes are monitored through a structure of committees of Trustees acting under terms of reference delegated by the main Board. The Plans and Resources committee acts on behalf of the Board to review staff pay and benefits with the committee’s recommendations being considered by the full Board. This committee also oversees the objectives, performance appraisals and succession planning of the Chief Executive and Senior Management Team.
It is the role of the individual committees to ensure that the Board of Trustees considers all constituent parts of the charity when making decisions and that funds are used to best meet the requirements of each beneficiary group.
The Board of Trustees meets at least four times a year to review finance and quality reports, discuss reports from committees and the Senior Management Group (SMG). The SMG, which comprises the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and seven directors, meets at least fortnightly, with increased frequency during the pandemic.
The directors of the charity consider that they have fulfilled their duties in accordance with section 172(1) of the _UK Companies Act 2006_ and have acted in a way which is most likely to promote the success of the Group for the benefit of its stakeholders as a whole in the following ways:
When making decisions, the Trustees and their delegated bodies review both the immediate and longer-term implications of the decision and look to balance financial and compliance considerations with the need to deliver our mission to the benefit of autistic people and families. In particular, they consider:
32
## **Impact on employees**
Our charity fulfils its objectives through the work of our employees and volunteers. Our staff and volunteers’ knowledge, skills and dedication to our mission plays a major role in our success. We take seriously our duties to keep our staff safe and care for their wellbeing. From the start of the coronavirus pandemic, we have required all staff who can work from home to do so to maintain their safety and wellbeing. For further details, see ‘engagement with employees’ below.
We regularly review the support we provide to employees and make improvements where appropriate. We have a series of local and national staff forums to allow managers to hear employees’ concerns directly, including a specific autistic colleagues forum. A member of the Board of Trustees acts as a link between the national staff forum and the Board.
We also run regular staff and volunteer surveys to make sure that Trustees are aware of staff experiences. The findings include analysis of the specific experiences of autistic staff and volunteers. We use a variety of channels to communicate with colleagues, including email, printed newsletters and yammer.
## **The people we support**
Our charity exists to benefit autistic people and families and maximising benefit is therefore our number one priority. We have different interactions with people we support across our schools, social care services, information, advice, employment and peer support services. In schools and social care services, we tailor people’s education, support and care to their individual needs. Our schools have parent and staff representatives on their Local Governing Bodies to understand students’ experiences and work together to develop our schools and are developing student councils to ensure pupils’ views are more strongly represented. Subject to Covid restrictions, trustees from our Education Quality and Development Committee regularly visit schools to meet with students and understand their experiences. In our social care services, we run Service Advisory Groups so that people’s collective experiences are understood by managers and changes can be made to benefit people using the services. While Covid has restricted service visits, in normal times trustees from our Services Quality and Development Committee regularly visit social care services to talk to people we support and take suggestions for future improvements.
We regularly consult people using our advice, information, employment and peer support services to understand their needs and challenges and allow us to improve the design of those services around what people want. Reports of people’s experiences using these services are shared with Trustees.
33
## **Our suppliers**
We recognise the crucial part our suppliers and partners play in ensuring we are able to operate, deliver our plans and meet the needs of our beneficiaries. We work closely to ensure our relationships with our key partners are managed appropriately, from planning long-term collaborations to payment terms and communication.
**Community and environment**
When planning our activities, we work closely with all key stakeholders, particularly our beneficiaries, to ensure that our work helps to make society work for autistic people. We regularly conduct the largest surveys of autistic people and families in the UK and our findings drive our programme planning, alongside input from our volunteer-run branches, members and staff.
Many of our activities, particularly our schools, adult services and branches, are an integral part of their local communities, from providing localised advice to supporting professionals locally and facilitating community events in our buildings.
34
**Streamlined energy and carbon reporting 2021**
35
Thls graph ccfflpores kwh consvmptt*n o
the two rnost recent reportlrvJ year5. The pfofl
shows tl*re Is an1rantI¥ hlgt*r demond In
2020. This is to be expected dve to feMEr alIlary
opef(rtk)ns belng open Such a5 offlces d
to the I¢Xkdn clogjres o¥er trwi.
National Autistic Society
Initlatives
TNS sectlon h[ON$ ew*rgyond COOn
Imp[rnent proiecis undertaken durlrvJ theyear
or those that are ajrrently undeay.
Annual eomparlson
10.OIXXWJ
Improving car mileage tracking system
i.ocxy
Monitorinq ml*ooe Un(Jern5 oood fleet
management and shId be morè thon a dato
cOltIon exercise. Reduckng reduces
costs ond ernbslon& a1 teChnOY solut5
will make the process e0sr and more IKcurate.
Thls wos unfortunotety (kloTh1 lost veor due
to COVIO.
0Xj
4.0xj
2020
Swltch to elertrlc fleet vehkles
2021
Ovr ch¢Jtlty Is a¥j[e of Its heavlty weluhted dwl
so intends to Implernent an electric
V) PV to ensure thaL where praaical. we
are Incorporotlno most rgY oTrJ co
efficient modes of transport into our operotlon5.
Intensity metric
An intensity rnetric gi¥es on Indicator of cortjon
performonce based on an crf)eratknnal figvre of
the number otstoff members, wrth 2,961 members
emftung on overooe 1,602 koC02elper stoff
meinber Ip5m) In 2020. In 2021 rnonaoed to
redvce th6 c¢)efoUorKJl Intensrty by 521 koC02el
psm to 1,081. Thls is laroety through
redvcèd tra consumptlon due to COVID.
also ihrough ongoing impro%Ement of ff*chanicd
and dectrkol ser¥los ocross (wr gtes.
LEO lighting
Where posslbÈ ond prociiial. we reploce
older. inefficient lightsng with LED olternallN
wIn exIst1 kjmps reach tl* end of thelr
lffe oThJ os part of the normol malntenan
refurblshment progron¥he. This is
¢)roolno InltyaU%*.
In oddltk)n to operotk)nol bffts. the electrklty
consvmed is now derNed ftom a mlx thai is
gefwaied ftom far nN)re rvI)le sources
redvcing the C02e irnport otelectrKIty.
Methodology
Energy sources
Y•ar
2020
2021
Our choiity rneust*res kope l and 2 etlllSSK)f)s. All
energy daio was colkited by ouf energy 5uppl*r&
Utility Ald, with tyljrport d(Jta st(Jff rrtlS
colloted internolly. Scope l.. Fleet veN"cks and ga5
tmt on sfte, Scope 2.. EIearfcy
2861
4.741.975
1,002
IOPl824
Calculatlon5
Oporatlonal intenslty
The follo¥ng t5 were u5e¢ to corh*rt erw
to C02 figu$.
1.41X)
IW2
io
NA
0193W7
NA
OJaM4
9.1
131
10
2020
36
**Streamlined energy and carbon reporting 2020**
37
Intensity metric
An lrtenstty rnetrlc gfrs OUTchJrfty lrnjkntor
of carbon performance based on an oper¢xional
gure of the numt*r ol stofl members 1961
membefs emlttlng on a00@ 1.602 koC02è each.
Th& wlll be meosured 0nThJo1 comwred
¢JgulrLSt prouS vpor5 to show wtraress In
reducSna our carbon Inter611Y.
kgC02 per Mnber of staff
2.000
1.500
1.000
1.602
1961
500
4,741.975
1.602
20191MO
2019-2020
Natlonal Autistic Society
initiatives
Methodology
Tlib section hlgNlthts erw an¢1 cortjon
Iwo%*mènt prolerts undertoken dudng the1
Ihosèthot Ofè cutrèndy underwoy.
Our charity rne05ure5 s( l an¢J 2 emissions. Al
rgyoata wos collaied byovr ergY supplier&
Utilrty Ald, wlth tTan5POrt data and st(rff wmter5
cdlated intemahl. Scope 1.. Ileet %*Nc*& Scope
ectrKf(y ond gas supply
Monttortw rnlleoge verpIn5 gc¥yJ fleel
rnanagent ond slHMJld te more t]n a data
Col*cts. eyercbe. ReducirKJ mi* rethj
Costs ond ern15(. and technology solutjons wll
moKe Ine prrKess eaer aThJ more accvrote. Next
r. C111¥ inndS begln the process of
Iftweift1Thj o new fleet mmgemeni systern.
CaloJl(rtlons
The follov4tng lfjgures %%*re Used to cOnrt energy
to C02 flgures.
LED lighting
NA
D.IA3997
Whefe prortlcaL corrtr**Income & Endowments from**
Income from Charitable activities
Transforming Lives
Education
Social and independent living support
Other Charitable Activities
Changing Attitudes
Other Charitable Activities
Donations and legacies
3
Other trading activities
4
Investment income
Other Income
5
**Total income**
**Expenditure on**
Raising funds
Expenditure on Charitable activities
Transforming Lives
Education
Social and independent living support
Other Charitable Activities
Changing Attitudes
Other Charitable Activities
**Total expenditure**
6
**Net income / (expenditure)**
7
Transfers between funds
16-18
Actuarial (losses)/ gains on defined benefit schemes
24
**Net movement in funds**
**Reconciliation of funds**
Funds brought forward
16-18
**Fund balances carried forward**
16-18|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**NAS AT Restricted**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**Restated**
23,955
1
4,451
28,407
31,353
48,068
-
-
48,068
49,770
2,815
-
-
2,815
3,540
306
-
-
306
482
7,700
2,852
1,839
12,391
17,546
159
-
-
159
253
39
1
-
40
136
3,263
-
8
3,271
941
**86,305**
**2,854**
**6,298**
**95,457**
**104,021**
1,467
-
-
1,467
1,932
23,938
29
6,270
30,237
34,849
51,908
504
-
52,412
54,816
6,394
1,859
-
8,253
9,899
749
413
-
1,162
1,571
**84,456**
**2,805**
**6,270**
**93,531**
**103,068**
**1,849**
**49**
**28**
**1,926**
**953**
0
(0)
-
-
-
(3,878)
-
(1,156)
(5,034)
3,397
**(2,029)**
**49**
**(1,128)**
**(3,108)**
**4,350**
18,095
2,407
18,711
39,213
34,862
16,066
2,456
17,583
36,105
39,213|
|---|---|
The net income for the financial year dealt within the financial statements of the Parent Company was £1.9m (2019-20: net expenditure £4.7m)
The notes on pages 53-73 form part of these financial statements.
50
**Consolidated and Charity Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021**
## **Company Number 1205298**
|**Notes**
**Fixed assets**
Tangible assets
8
Tangible assets - NAS AT
8
**Current assets**
Stocks
Debtors
11
Cash deposits
Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and in hand - NAS AT
**Creditors: amounts falling due within**
**one year**
12
**Net current assets**
**Total assets less current liabilities**
**Creditors: amounts falling due after more**
**than one year**
14-15
**Net assets excluding pension liabilities**
**Defined benefit pension scheme liabilities - NAS**
24
**Defined benefit pension scheme liabilities - NAS AT**
24
**Net assets including pension liabilities**
**Funds**
Restricted funds
16
**NAS Academies Trust**
17
Restricted Fixed Assets Funds
Restricted Funds
Pension reserve - NAS AT
Unrestricted funds:
18
Designated funds - fixed assets
Designated funds - other
General fund
Revaluation reserve
**Unrestricted funds excluding pension liabilities**
Pension reserve
18
**Unrestricted funds including pension liabilities**
**Total funds**
19|**Charity**
**2021**
**2020**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
26,074
28,576
26,074
28,576
15,803
16,050
-
-
**41,877**
**44,626**
**26,074**
**28,576**
36
54
36
54
17,763
11,721
11,455
8,853
11,104
7,510
11,104
7,510
1,493
1,851
1,495
1,793
2,881
3,462
-
-
**33,277**
**24,599**
**24,090**
**18,211**
14,883
10,332
9,747
7,526
**18,394**
**14,267**
**14,343**
**10,685**
**60,271**
**58,893**
**40,417**
**39,261**
4,710
5,165
4,710
5,165
**55,561**
**53,728**
**35,707**
**34,096**
(17,185)
(13,594)
(17,185)
(13,594)
(2,271)
(921)
-
-
**36,105**
**39,213**
**18,522**
**20,502**
2,456
2,407
2,456
2,407
15,803
15,963
-
-
4,051
3,669
-
-
(2,271)
(921)
-
-
17,583
18,710
-
-
20,939
23,365
20,939
23,365
3,391
2,305
3,391
2,305
8,921
6,019
8,921
6,019
-
-
-
-
33,251
31,689
33,251
31,689
(17,185)
(13,594)
(17,185)
(13,594)
16,066
18,095
16,066
18,095
**36,105**
**39,213**
**18,522**
**20,502**
1
0
**Group**|
|---|---|
The notes on pages 53-73 form part of these financial statements.
Approved by the Trustees and authorised for issue on 15th November 2021 and signed on their behalf
.........................................................................
**Dr Carol Homden CBE Chair of Trustees**
51
**Consolidated cash flow statement Year ended 31 March 2021**
## **Notes**
|Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities
1
Net Cash (used in) / provided by investing activities
2
Net cash (used) in financing activities
3
**Increase/(Decrease) in cash in the year**
Net cash resources at 1 April
Net cash resources at 31 March
**Increase/(Decrease) in cash in the year**
**1. Reconciliation of net incoming resources to net**
**cash inflow from operating activities**
Net income for the reporting period
Interest from investments
Depreciation charges
Loss/(Profit) on sale of fixed assets
Decrease in stock
(Increase)/Decrease in debtors (excl interest receivable)
(Decrease)/Increase in creditors
Pension service cost / (credit)
**Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities**
**2. Cash flows from investing activities**
Opening debtor balance
Interest income on cash deposits
Closing debtor
_Net cash provided from investing activities_
Purchases of property, plant and equipment
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets
_Net cash (used in) acquiring assets_
**Net Cash used in by investing activities**
**3. Cash flows from financing activities**
New loans
Repayment of interest free loan
Repayment of NAS Enterprise Campus loan
**Net cash (used in) / provided from financing activities**
**4. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents**
Cash in hand
Notice deposit (more than 3 months)
Overdraft Facility repayable on demand)
**Total cash & cash equivalents**
**5. Analysis of changes in net debt**
**Cash**
Cash at bank and in hand
Bank and other loans|**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
(375)
3,685
3,455
(5,483)
(425)
(442)
**2,655**
**(2,240)**
12,823
15,063
15,478
12,823
**2,655**
**(2,240)**
769
0.00
(17.37)
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
1,926
953
(40)
(137)
1,817
1,626
(2,450)
(542)
18
6
(6,011)
(1,639)
4,544
3,298
(179)
119
**(375)**
**3,684**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
(60)
(23)
40
136
33
60
_13_
_173_
(416)
(6,490)
3,858
834
_3,442_
_(5,657)_
**3,455**
**(5,483)**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
-
-
-
-
(425)
(442)
**(425)**
**(442)**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
14,453
6,298
1,025
6,525
-
-
**15,478**
**12,823**
**At 1st April**
**2020**
**Cashflow**
**At 31st March**
**2021**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
12,823
2,655
15,478
(5,589)
454
(5,135)
**7,234**
**3,109**
**10,343**|
|---|---|
52
**Notes forming part of the financial statements**
## **1. Company Information**
The company is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and registered as a charity in England and Wales and Scotland. The address of the registered office is 393 City Road, London EC1V 1NG.
## **2. Accounting policies**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK FRS102 effective from 1 January 2015, the _Charities Act 2011_ , the Academies Accounts Direction issued by the EFA, the _Companies Act 2006_ and applicable accounting standards.
They have been prepared on a going concern basis as set out in the 'Reserves policy' section of the Annual Report.
The Trustees consider that the current target remains appropriate and realistic and take the view that the level of risk reserve and cash held is acceptable given the current economic climate in which the charity is operating. The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that there are adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. As shown in our accounts, our cash position continues to demonstrate that we are able to fund our revenue expenditure including the annual pension contributions.
The board of trustees have reviewed budgets and forecasts to March 2023 which consider NAS's activities, financial position and risk management polices together with likely factors affecting future development, including impact of the pandemic and other operating challenges on income, cash, reserves and service delivery. Specifically, the board has approved a transformation plan which includes measures to reduce central costs and generate efficiencies across NAS's core activities following a strategic review in the year.
Forecasts have been prepared for a range of scenarios and the Directors have considered in depth the scenario which they believe will most likely occur. The Board has concluded that the existing level of free reserves and available cash coupled with strong cost control and oversight of the transformation programme are sufficient to ensure NAS has the resources to continue operating as a going concern. Additionally, as part of the forecasting exercise the board has identified further opportunities to realise surplus assets which will further strengthen the financial position of the charity if needed should the cost reductions not be achieved as quickly as planned or the most likely scenario does not occur.
On this basis, the board have concluded that there are no material uncertainties surrounding NAS's ability to continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future and the accounts have been prepared on that basis.
NAS meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the exemptions available in FRS102 from the requirements to present a charity only cash flow statement and certain disclosures about the charity’s financial instruments.
## **Basis of consolidation**
The Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) and balance sheet consolidate the financial statements of the charity and its subsidiary undertakings. The results of the subsidiaries are consolidated on a line by line basis. See Note 9 and 10 for further details.
No separate SOFA has been presented for the charity alone as permitted by Section 408 of the _Companies Act 2006._
Material commitments of a capital nature are recognised at the end of the year in the notes to the accounts. These are major contracts entered into by the charity on which liabilities are due in future years.
The charity carries out some activities through a national network of branches. As part of the charity they use the same charity number, raise funds for both national and local activities and receive central support through advice and publicity materials. All branch transactions are accounted for gross in the accounts of the charity and all assets and liabilities, including cash retained in separate bank accounts are included in the charity's balance sheet.
## **Income**
All income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to funds, any performance conditions have been met and it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability and although comparative income presented in SoFa has been restated, there has been no overall impact on income recognised in prior year.
The following accounting policies are applied to specific income streams:
53
**Donations and legacies**
## **Voluntary contributions**
Donations and all other receipts from fundraising are reported gross and the related fundraising costs are reported in costs of generating funds.
## **Legacies**
Legacies are accounted for when entitlement is taken, which is when probate has been granted, estate finalised and a notification received by the executors that a distribution will be made or when it is received. Receipt wholly or in part is probable when amount can be measured reliably and notification has been received of intention to distribute.
## **Donated services or facilities**
These are recognised as income when the charity has control over the term or conditions have been met and the economic benefit from the use by the charity is probable and can be measured reliably. Professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the gift to the charity which is the amount that the charity would have been willing to pay obtain at equivalent economic benefit on the open market, a corresponding amount is then recognised as expenditure in the period of receipt.
## **Grants receivable**
## **Grants receivable for revenue expenditure**
Grants are recognised in the SOFA when the conditions for receipt have been met. Where a grant is performance related, i.e. linked to specific volumes of output, the grant income will be recognised to the extent that the service has been provided.
General Annual Grant is recognised in full in the year for which is receivable and any unspent amount is reflected as a balance of the NAS AT restricted fund.
Grants without preconditions are recognised immediately in the SOFA.
## **Grants receivable for capital expenditure**
Grants in respect of capital expenditure are recognised in the SOFA when receivable and not deferred. Once the capital asset is acquired, the asset is then used in line with the funder's requirements. Where the restriction remains, the asset is allocated to a restricted fund and shown as restricted capital reserves. The reserves are then reduced each year by the amount of the annual depreciation charge to the asset.
## **1. Accounting policies (continued)**
## **Contract income**
Income from the provision of services under contract is recognised in the SOFA to the extent that the services have been provided. Where such income is invoiced or received in advance it is included in creditors as fees invoiced in advance and deferred income.
## **Resources expended**
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. This includes pension contributions, depreciation and deficits on disposals, direct costs of the charitable activities together with support costs that enable these activities to be undertaken. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings, they have been allocated to activities on apportionment bases.
All resources expended are inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.
## **Costs of raising funds**
The costs of raising funds include the costs incurred by the fundraising team in raising voluntary income (donations, gifts, legacies and grants), costs incurred in connection with the purchase of Christmas cards for resale and the securing of sponsorship and investment management fees.
## **Charitable activities**
The costs of charitable activities comprise all the resources applied by the charity in undertaking its work to meet its charitable objects as set out in the Trustees' Report.
## **Grants payable**
In some limited circumstances, grant funding is provided to third parties to undertake work that contributes to the charity's objectives. In such cases, the total cost of the activity includes both costs incurred directly by the charity and funding provided to third parties through grant-making activities. Grants payable are recognised when a constructive or legal obligation arises.
54
## **Governance**
Governance costs represent expenditure incurred in compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.
## **Fund accounting**
The charity maintains various types of funds as follows:
## **Restricted funds**
These are funds which are to be used in furtherance of the objects of the charity but in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes.
## **Unrestricted funds**
These are funds which are expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the objects of the charity.
## **Designated funds**
These are unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for specific purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements along with estimated timescales as to when the funds will be spent. Where a fund is created for a capital expenditure project, transfers are made out of this fund to the fixed asset designated fund when a fixed asset is purchased.
## **Transfers between funds**
Transfers between restricted and unrestricted funds are disclosed separately on the SOFA. Transfers between general unrestricted funds and designated funds are disclosed in the notes to the accounts. Transfers arise from a number of circumstances, but most commonly:
- to transfer assets to and from the fixed asset designated fund
- to transfer assets between other designated funds and the general fund
- to transfer the value of fixed assets from restricted to unrestricted funds when the asset has been purchased from a restricted fund donation but the asset is held for a general and not a restricted purpose
- to transfer assets from unrestricted income funds to clear a deficit on a restricted fund.
## **Tangible fixed assets**
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation to date, which is provided in equal instalments over the estimated useful lives of the assets.
The financial threshold for capitalising an asset is £5,000.
No depreciation is charged on freehold land. The rates of depreciation applied to other assets are:
|freehold properties|- 2%|
|---|---|
|leasehold properties|- over the term of the lease|
|major refurbishment|- 20%|
|motor vehicles|- 25%|
|fixtures and office equipment|- 33%|
Assets in the course of construction are included at cost. Depreciation on these assets is not charged until they are brought into use.
The condition and carrying value and, where appropriate, service potential, of the freehold and short term leasehold properties are evaluated for impairment on a regular basis. Where the carrying value of an asset is considered to be impaired, the difference between the existing carrying value and the written down value is taken to reserves.
## **Irrecoverable VAT**
A significant amount of VAT is irrecoverable because the group has a mixture of activities which are zero and standard rated, exempt and outside the scope of VAT. The irrecoverable VAT is either allocated or apportioned to the relevant costs in the SOFA or included in fixed assets on the balance sheet.
## **Financial instruments**
NAS 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 and bank and in hand, together with trade and other debtors and accrued income. Financial liabilities held at amortised cost comprise bank loans and overdrafts, trade and other creditors and accrual.
55
## **Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty**
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates, assumptions about the carrying values 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 that are 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 key sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are described in the accounting policies and are summarised below:
Residuary legacies – The charity recognises residuary legacies once probate has been granted which therefore requires an estimation of the amount receivable.
Pension liabilities – The charity recognises its liability to its defined benefit pension scheme which involves a number of estimations as disclosed in the notes to the accounts.
Dilapidations provision – The charity has provided for its possible liability in relation to its leasheold properties totalling £300k.
## **Pension contributions**
The charity operates both defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes.
## **Defined contribution pension scheme**
The charge to the SOFA is the contribution payable to the pension scheme in the relevant accounting period.
## **Defined benefit pension schemes**
The costs of providing these benefits are assessed by a qualified actuary on a periodic basis and charged over the expected remaining service life of the current employees with the charity. Within the SOFA, the current and past service costs are recognised as part of the operational costs, interest costs and expected returns on assets are shown as part of finance income, and actuarial gains and losses are disclosed on the face of the SOFA.
## **Teachers pension scheme**
The National Autistic Society contributes to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (the TPS) at rates set by the TPS actuary and advised to Council by the TPS administrator. It is a multi-employer pension scheme and it is not possible to identify the assets and liabilities of the TPS which are attributable to the Charity. In accordance with FRS102 the TPS is therefore accounted for as a defined contribution scheme.
## **Related parties**
In accordance with the provisions of FRS102, the charity discloses in the notes to the accounts material transactions with related parties. See Notes 10 & 23 for further details.
## **Operating leases**
Rentals under operating leases are charged on a straight-line basis to the SoFA over the lease term, even where payments are not made on such a basis. Where incentives to sign an operating lease exist, these are spread on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
56
## **3. Donations and legacies**
|Donations and gifts
Legacies
Grants - Revenue
Grants - Capital
**Total**|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**NAS AT Restricted**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
3,811
1,467
3
5,281
6,274
1,162
2
-
1,164
1,569
2,727
1,382
1,773
5,882
3,843
-
-
63
63
5,858
**7,700**
**2,851**
**1,839**
**12,390**
**17,545**|
|---|---|
During the 2020-21, funds received from the EFA including capital was £62.6k (2019-20: £7,492m). No other form of assistance was received from them.
During the 2020-21, the NAS received from HMRC furlough income of £1,473m.
As per our policy, all notified legacies were considered in respect of whether they should be accrued in the current year end. We reviewed our legacy pipeline and considered the accuracy of predicting the amount and timing of receipt and as such none were brought into income.
The Society benefits greatly from the involvement and support of its many volunteers who help with our campaigning, befriending, helpline, run our local branches and direct support programmes as well as our advisors, trustees and councillors. In accordance with FRS102 and the Charities SORP (FRS102), the economic contribution is not recognised in the accounts.
During the 2020-21, the NAS also received other grants from other government departments. This is listed in the 'Thank You' section of the annual report.
## **4. Other trading activities**
|**Incoming resources**
Sponsorships
Christmas cards
Other
**Total**
**Resources expended**
Christmas cards
**Total**|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**NAS AT Restricted**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
55
-
-
55
93
88
-
-
88
141
16
-
-
16
19
**159**
**-**
**-**
**159**
**253**
85
-
-
85
80
**85**
**-**
**-**
**85**
**80**|
|---|---|
## **5. Other income**
|**Incoming resources**
Surplus on sale of assets
Other
**Total**|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**NAS AT Restricted**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
2,456
-
0
2,456
542
807
-
8
816
399
**3,263**
**-**
**8**
**3,272**
**941**|
|---|---|
57
**6. Analysis of expenditure**
|Cost of raising funds
**Charitable expenditure**
Transforming Lives
Education
Social and independent living support
Other Charitable Activities
Changing Attitudes
Other Charitable Activities
**Total expenditure**|**Direct**
**Support**
**Total**
**Total**
**Costs**
**Costs**
**Costs**
**Costs**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
1,239
228
1,467
1,932
27,362
2,875
30,238
34,849
45,493
6,918
52,411
54,816
7,455
797
8,252
9,899
1,071
91
1,162
1,571
**82,620**
**10,910**
**93,530**
**103,068**|
|---|---|
## **Support costs are made up of:**
|Human resources
Information technology
Finance & business services
Chief executive, governance & quality assurance
Marketing & customer relations management
**Total**|**Cost**
**of**
**raising**
**funds**
**Education**
**Social**
**&**
**Independent**
**Living**
**Support**
**Transforning**
**Lives**
**Other**
**Charitable**
**Activities**
**Changing**
**Atitudes-**
**Other**
**Charitable**
**Activities**
**Total**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
9
209
562
67
5
**853**
49
1,106
2,912
342
27
**4,435**
125
790
1,825
171
26
**2,938**
15
313
790
95
8
**1,222**
30
457
829
121
25
**1,462**
**228**
**2,875**
**6,918**
**797**
**91**
**10,910**|
|---|---|
Governance cost included in support costs was £305k (2019/20: £294k)
## **Basis of allocation**
Support costs are allocated as follows: Human resources and payroll is allocated on head count Offices services is allocated on head count Information technology is partly allocated on head count All other support costs are allocated as a percentage of expenditure
## **Governance cost analysis**
|**U**
Company secretary
Internal audit
Meeting expenses
External audit
Other Expenses
Trustees expenses
Total|**nrestricted**
**Restricted**
**NASAT**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
87
-
-
87
109
78
-
-
78
128
12
-
-
12
1
81
-
21
102
74
-
-
14
14
15
-
-
1
1
15
**258**
**-**
**36**
**294**
**341**|
|---|---|
58
## **7. Net incoming / (outgoing) resources**
|||**Group**||**Charity**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**2021**||**2020**|**2021**|**2020**|
||**£'000**||**£'000**|**£'000**|**£'000**|
|**Net incoming / (outgoing) resources for the year are**||||||
|**stated after charging:**||||||
|**Auditor's remuneration:**||||||
|Statutory audits|96||63|75|42|
|- current year|76||60|50|45|
|- prior year|20||8|25|6|
|Other services:||||||
|Taxation, Advisory & Pension Audit|14||14|11|11|
|**Depreciation:**||||||
|Tangible fixed assets|1,810||1,626|1,250|1,358|
|**Profit/loss on disposal of fixed assets**||||||
|Profit/(Loss on disposal)|2,450||542|2,450|542|
|**Operating lease rentals:**||||||
|Rent payable on properties|2,601||2,665|2,601|2,665|
|Hire of equipment|89||163|89|163|
|Hire of vehicles|704||661|692|642|
## **8. Tangible fixed assets applied for charity use - Group & Entity**
|**Cost**
**As at 1 April 2020**
Additions
Disposals
Transfers for year
Revaluation
**As at 31 March 2021**
**Accumulated depreciation**
**As at 1 April 2020**
Charge for year
Released on disposals
Transfers for year
Revaluation
**As at 31 March 2021**
**Net book value**
**As at 1 April 2020**
**As at 31 March 2021**
Included in above
**NBV of NAS AT assets**
**As at 1 April 2020**
Additions in the year
Transfers for year
Depreciation charged in the year
Disposals
**As at 31 March 2021**|**Freehold**
**Short**
**Major**
**Motor**
**Fixtures**
**Assets**
**properties**
**leasehold refurbishment**
**vehicles**
**and office**
**under**
**Total**
**properties**
**equipment**
**construction**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
36,734
18,587
3,230
171
4,000
247
62,968
-
-
347
-
60
9
416
(2,054)
-
(192)
-
(50)
-
(2,296)
-
-
15
-
232
(247)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**34,680**
**18,587**
**3,400**
**171**
**4,242**
**9**
**61,089**
8,252
4,222
2,376
114
3,378
-
18,341
574
475
320
16
424
-
1,810
(713)
-
(177)
-
(50)
-
(940)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**8,112**
**4,697**
**2,520**
**130**
**3,753**
**-**
**19,211**
**28,483**
**14,365**
**854**
**57**
**622**
**247**
**44,626**
**26,568**
**13,890**
**881**
**40**
**490**
**9**
**41,876**
**3,537**
**11,869**
**325**
**12**
**290**
**18**
**16,050**
-
-
243
-
60
9
**312**
-
-
15
-
3
(18)
**0**
(67)
(245)
(114)
(3)
(130)
-
**(560)**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**3,469**
**11,624**
**469**
**9**
**224**
**9**
**15,803**|
|---|---|
Freehold properties include land at cost of £6,069,426 (2020: £6,069,426).
The Trustees have considered the condition and value of the remaining freehold and short leasehold properties occupied by the charity and, in their opinion, the service potential remains unchanged and not impaired. In addition, there are no legal, maintenance or other restrictions which would prevent the charity using the properties for their current purposes or for the charity's purposes.
59
|**9. Investments in subsidiaries**
**NAS Services Ltd.**
2 Ordinary £1 Shares
**Autism UK Ltd.**
2 Ordinary £1 Shares
**Other subsidiaries**
Autistic Cards Ltd.
Autism North West Ltd.
Ideas on Autism Ltd.
NAS Network Ltd.
Autism Scotland Ltd.
Autism Wales Ltd.
Action for Autism Ltd.
The Society has the following dormant subsidiaries all registered in England.
The Society owns all of the share capital of NAS Services Ltd., a company
registered in England and Wales No 2757062), engaged in the provision of
services.
The Society owns all of the share capital of Autism UK Ltd., a company
registered in England and Wales (No 3133559), engaged in fundraising
including Christmas card sales and promotional work.|**2021**
**2020**
**£**
**£**
2
2
2
2
100
100
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
**113**
**113**|
|---|---|
All the above listed subsidiary companies were dormant throughout this period and have the same registered office as the parent as shown in Note 1.
60
## **10. Results of trading companies and parent charity**
|Turnover
Gift aid income from subsidiaries
Operating charges
**(Loss)/Surplus**
Administration and other costs
**Surplus/(Deficit) before actuarial**
**(Losses)/Gains**
(
)
Actuarial (losses) on defined benefit
pension schemes
Amount covenanted to the charity
**Retained (deficit) / surplus for the**
**year**|**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
29,439
29,268
5,864
6,246
(33,410)
(40,234)
**1,894**
**(4,720)**
-
-
**1,894**
**(4,720)**
(3,878)
3,506
-
-
**(1,985)**
**(1,214)**
**The**
**National**
**Autistic**
**Society**
**The**
**National**
**Autistic**
**Society**|**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
6,298
11,212
-
-
(6,270)
(5,537)
**28**
**5,675**
-
-
**28**
**5,675**
(1,156)
(109)
-
-
**(1,128)**
**5,566**
**NAS**
**Academies**
**Trust**
**NAS**
**Academies**
**Trust**|**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
59,577
63,309
-
-
(53,756)
(57,203)
**5,821**
**6,106**
-
-
**5,821**
**6,106**
-
-
(5,821)
(6,106)
**-**
**-**
**NAS**
**Services**
**Ltd**
**NAS**
**Services**
**Ltd**|**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
143
234
-
-
(95)
(85)
**48**
**149**
(5)
(8)
**43**
**141**
-
-
(43)
(141)
**0**
**(0)**
**Autism UK**
**Ltd**
**Autism UK**
**Ltd**
**Restated**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
The net current assets and share capital and reserves for both NAS Services Limited company registered in England and Wales (No 2757062) and Autism UK Limited company registered in England and Wales (No 3133559) as 31 March 2021 was £2, representing the share capital in each company (2020: £2 for NAS Services Limited and £2k for Autism UK Limited). Both companies have the same registered office as the parent as shown in Note 1.
The net assets for the NAS Academies Trust as at 31 March 2021 were £17,583K (2020: £18,711K).
The NAS Academies Trust is an exempt charity regulated by the Secretary of State for Education through the Education Funding Agency, and a company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England and Wales (No.07954396) on 17 February 2012. Its charitable purpose relates to the advancement of education for the public benefit; it is not autism exclusive. Whilst its assets are not wholly owned by the NAS, the charity does exercise control over its affairs and its accounts are therefore consolidated with those of the charity. The intention is that the Trust will operate a range of Free Schools that are autism specific. The first such school, the Thames Valley School, opened in September 2013. The second school, the Church Lawton School opened January 2015 and the third, The Vanguard School will open in January 2020. The Academies Trust has an accounting reporting date of 31st August.
All companies have an accounting year end of 31 March with the exception of the NAS Academies Trust which has a year end of 31 August as directed by the Education Funding Agency. The trustees consider this to be appropriate.
## **Transaction with subsidiaries**
The transfer under gift aid of trading profits to the charity from it wholly owned subsidiaries NAS Services Ltd and Autism UK Ltd took place during the year.
||**2021**|**2020**|
|---|---|---|
|NAS Services Ltd|5,821|6,106|
|Autism UK Ltd|43|141|
The charity exercises control over the assets of the NAS Academies Trust and provides support through services to enable the Trust to carry out its charitable purpose. During the year the Trust purchased £293K (2020: £286K) in finance, payroll & HR support, IT Support, project management and marketing services from the charity.
Amounts charged from NAS to NAS Services during the year were £53.8m (2020: £57.2m)
Amounts charged from NAS to Autism UK during the year were £5k (2020: £8k)
Amounts due to subsidiary undertakings at year end were as follows:
**----- Start of picture text -----**
£'000
NAS Services Ltd 5,584
Autism UK Ltd 40
NAS Academies Trust 173
5,797
**----- End of picture text -----**
There were no other related party transactions.
61
## **11. Debtors**
|Trade debtors
Other debtors
Amounts due from group undertakings
Prepayments and accrued income
**Total**|**2021**
**2020**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
15,745
8,870
3,718
2,825
376
763
376
763
-
-
5,796
3,483
1,642
2,092
1,565
1,783
**17,763**
**11,725**
**11,455**
**8,854**
**Group**
**Charity**|
|---|---|
## **12. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
|Loans repayable
Trade creditors
Amounts due to group undertakings
Taxation and social security
Accruals & Provisions
Fees invoiced in advance and deferred income
**Total**|**2021**
**2020**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
425
425
425
425
6,133
4,240
2,968
1,894
-
-
-
-
1,594
523
2,045
734
2,945
4,329
2,667
4,030
3,786
815
1,641
442
**14,883**
**10,332**
**9,745**
**7,524**
**Group**
**Charity**|
|---|---|
## **13. Deferred Income**
Deferred income relates to advance booking on conferences, employment, diagnostic and early bird training and income received in advance for a deferred project.
|Balance as at 1 April 2020
Amounts released in year
Amounts deferred in year
Balance as at 31 March 2021|**Group**
**2021**
**£'000**
274
591
24
**889**|**Charity**
**2021**
**£'000**
262
576
24
**862**|
|---|---|---|
62
## **14. Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year**
|Interest free mortgage (Note a)
NAS Enterprise Campus loan (Note b)
**Total**|**Group**
**2021**
**2020**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
-
200
-
200
4,710
4,965
4,710
4,965
**4,710**
**5,165**
**4,710**
**5,165**
**Charity**|
|---|---|
## **Note a**
Property in Carpenter's Close was mortgaged to East Anglian Autistic Support Trust (EAAST). The loan of £200,000 was not required to be repaid provided the property was used for the benefit of adults with autism. The charge was due to be released in 2036, however following negotiations, the charge was released in May 2020 and the loan is no longer repayable.
## **Note b**
In July 2017 the charity purchased the NAS Enterprise Campus at Luxborough Lane, Chigwell for £6M plus £0.12M irrecoverable VAT, the purchase being funded by a loan from the National Westminster Bank (acting through its agent the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc) of £6M repayable over 10 years at a fixed rate of 3.26%, capital repayment holiday for the first year. The loan is secured on the purchased property, City Road Offices. Guarantees in respect of all amounts owed by the charity to the lender were provided by the charity's active trading companies, NAS Services Limited and Autism UK Limited, their exposure being joint and several.
## **15. Loans**
The loans shown in Note 12 and 14 are repayable as follows:
|NAS Enterprise Campus loan
Instalments falling due in less than one year
Instalments falling due between two and five years
Instalments falling due after five years
**Total**
**Loans due after five years and not**
**repayable by instalment:**
Interest free mortgages|**2021**
**2020**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
425
425
425
425
1,274
1,274
1,274
1,274
3,436
3,691
3,436
3,691
**5,135**
**5,390**
**5,135**
**5,390**
-
200
-
200
**5,135**
**5,590**
**5,135**
**5,590**
**Group**
**Charity**|
|---|---|
63
## **16. Movement on restricted funds**
||**Balance**|**Income**|**Expenditure**|**Transfers**|**Balance**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**1 April**||||**31 March**|
||**2020**||||**2021**|
||**£'000**|**£'000**|**£'000**|**£'000**|**£'000**|
|Transforming Lives||||||
|Education|479|36|(29)|-|486|
|Social and independent living support|253|324|(504)|-|73|
|Other Charitable Activities|1,587|2,081|(1,859)|-|1,809|
|Changing Attitudes||||||
|Other Charitable Activities|88|413|(413)|-|88|
|**Total**|**2,407**|**2,854**|**(2,805)**|**-**|**2,456**|
|There are no significant individual restricted funds with balances of over||£200,000 as at 31 March 2021.||||
|**2019-20 Comparatives**|**Balance**|**Income**|**Expenditure**|**Transfers**|**Balance**|
|Transforming Lives|**1 April**
**2019**
**£'000**|**£'000**|**£'000**|
**£'000**|**31 March**
**2020**
**£'000**|
|Education|622|79|(221)|-|480|
|Social and independent living support|303|305|(177)|(179)|252|
|Other Charitable Activities|1,578|2,191|(2,182)|-|1,587|
|Changing Attitudes||||||
|Other Charitable Activities|55|99|(67)|-|88|
|**Total**|**2,558**|**2,674**|**(2,647)**|**(179)**|**2,407**|
## **17. NAS Academies Trust**
|Restricted Fixed Assets Funds
Restricted Revenue Grants
Pension Reserve
**Total**
**2019-20 Comparatives**
Restricted Fixed Assets Funds
Restricted Revenue Grants
Pension Reserve
**Total**|**Balance**
**Income**
**Expenditure**
**Transfers**
**Actuarial**
**Balance**
**1 April**
**Losses**
**31 March**
**2020**
**2021**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
16,050
63
560
250
-
15,803
3,581
6,234
5,516
(250)
-
4,049
(921)
-
194
-
(1,156)
(2,271)
**18,710**
**6,298**
**6,270**
**-**
**(1,156)**
**17,583**
**Balance**
**Income**
**Expenditure**
**Transfers**
**Actuarial**
**Balance**
**1 April**
**Losses**
**31 March**
**2019**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
10,348
5,847
(268)
124
-
16,050
3,341
5,365
(5,001)
(124)
-
3,581
(544)
-
(268)
-
(109)
(921)
**13,144**
**11,212**
**(5,537)**
**-**
**(109)**
**18,710**|
|---|---|
64
## **18. Movement on unrestricted funds**
|General fund
Designated funds:
Fixed assets
Property related growth and developments in Schools and Adult
Services
Autism Education Trust
Technology
IT and Digital Strategy
Supporting Beneficiaries
Local Authority Pension Scheme Reserve
**Total Designated Funds exc Fixed Assets**
Capital Purchase reserve
**Total unrestricted funds excluding pension reserve**
Pension reserve
**Total unrestricted funds**
Capital transfers
Other transfers
**Purpose of designated funds:**
Fixed Assets|**Balance**
**Income Expenditure**
**Capital**
**Loan**
**Actuarial**
**Other**
**Balance**
**1 April**
**transfers**
**losses**
**transfers**
**31 March**
**2020**
**2021**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
6,019
86,305
(81,513)
(104)
(255)
-
(1,531)
8,921
23,365
-
(2,785)
104
255
-
-
20,939
100
-
(100)
-
-
1,099
1,099
845
-
-
-
-
148
993
-
-
-
-
-
284
284
133
-
(133)
-
-
-
-
227
-
(212)
-
-
-
15
1,000
-
-
-
-
-
1,000
**2,305**
**-**
**(445)**
**-**
**-**
**1,531**
**3,391**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(0)
**31,690**
**86,305**
**(84,743)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**1,531**
**33,251**
(13,594)
-
287
-
(3,878)
-
**(17,185)**
**18,096**
**86,305**
**(84,456)**
**-**
**-**
**(3,878)**
**0**
**16,066**
**0**
These are amounts transferred to the fixed asset designated fund from general reserves to match expenditure on new fixed
assets.
These are amounts transferred from general reserves or other designated funds to match expenditure on projects as definied
by the board and senior management team.
To identify net funds held as fixed assets (net of long-term loans used to finance fixed assets) used in the charity's operations
|
|---|---|
To identify net funds held as fixed assets (net of long-term loans used to finance fixed assets) used in the charity's operations which are not therefore available to fund short-term expenditure.
To fund plans for refurbishments to existing facilities in the next 12-18 months and underwrite the initial costs of small property based growth and development projects.
Property related growth and developments in Schools and Adult Services Technology investment
Invest in smart technology to improve quality of life in adult social care & capital replacement programme to support the move to more hybrid working.
To fund the ongoing development of the work of the Autism Education Trust in addition to that funded by the DfE.
Autism Education Trust IT and digital strategy Supporting Beneficiaries LGPS reserve Pension Reserve _**Designated funds no longer required**_
To support the development and roll out of the IT and digital aspects of the digital transformation programme.
To fund the development of new products to support our broader beneficiary group including the development of a new website over the next financial year.
To underwrite the contingent liability relating to a Section 75 debt in the Somerset LGPS
Represents the theoretical deficit on the defined benefit pension schemes as calculated using FRS102 methodology. See Note 24 for further details.
To fund the design and implementation of a new digital care management system, back office systems and invest in our digital services.
Digital Transfornation Programme
To fund further investment in the donor acquisition programme to generate future additional unrestricted income .
Donor Acquisition
**2019-20 Comparatives**
|General fund
Designated funds:
Fixed assets
Property related growth and developments in Schools and Adult
Services
Digital Transformation Programme
Autism Education Trust
Donor Acquisition
IT and Digital Strategy
Supporting Beneficiaries
Local Authority Pension Scheme Reserve
**Total Designated Funds exc Fixed Assets**
Capital Purchase reserve
**Total unrestricted funds excluding pension reserve**
Pension reserve
**Total unrestricted funds**|**Balance**
**Income Expenditure**
**Capital**
**Loan**
**Actuarial**
**Other**
**Balance**
**1 April**
**transfers**
**losses**
**transfers**
**31 March**
**2019**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
6,629
90,136
(90,924)
(460)
(398)
-
1,035
6,018
23,952
-
(1,623)
460
398
-
179
23,366
695
-
(232)
-
-
(363)
100
1,350
-
(1,241)
-
-
(109)
-
762
-
-
-
-
83
845
138
-
-
-
-
(138)
-
740
-
(607)
-
-
-
133
735
-
-
-
-
(508)
227
1,000
-
-
-
-
-
1,000
**5,420**
**-**
**(2,080)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**(1,035)**
**2,305**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(0)
**36,001**
**90,136**
**(94,627)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**31,689**
(16,843)
-
(257)
-
3,506
-
**(13,594)**
**19,158**
**90,136**
**(94,884)**
**-**
**-**
**3,506**
**-**
**18,095**|
|---|---|
65
## **19. Analysis of assets and liabilities between funds**
|Fixed assets
Net current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
Defined benefit pension scheme liabilities
Net assets including pension liabilities
**2019-20 Comparatives**
Fixed assets
Net current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
Defined benefit pension scheme liabilities
Net assets including pension liabilities|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted NAS AT Restricted**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**2021**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
26,074
(0)
15,803
41,878
11,887
2,457
4,051
18,394
(4,710)
-
-
(4,710)
(17,185)
-
(2,271)
(19,456)
**16,066**
**2,457**
**17,583**
**36,106**
**Unrestricted**
**Restricted NAS AT Restricted**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**2020**
**2020**
**2020**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
28,576
-
16,050
44,626
8,278
2,407
3,581
14,267
(5,165)
-
-
(5,165)
(13,594)
-
(921)
(14,515)
**18,095**
**2,407**
**18,710**
**39,214**|
|---|---|
## **20. Operating lease commitments**
Lease Note
Minimum lease payments in respect of operating leases were:
|Operating leases which expire:
Not later than one year
Later than one year and not later than five years
Later than five years|**2021**
**2020**
**2021**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
2,528
2,553
770
790
7,841
7,812
729
1,066
5,362
6,102
-
-
**15,731**
**16,467**
**1,499**
**1,857**
**Property**
**Other Leases**|
|---|---|
Under the Academies Trust we have a 125-year lease with Cheshire East Borough Council for Church Lawton School with an annual lease cost of one peppercorn if demanded.
In 2020-21 payments on operating leases was £3,395K (2020: £3,440K)
## **21. Capital commitments**
There are no capital commiments as at end 2020-21 (2019-20: £122k)
## **22. Taxation**
The charity's activities are exempt from taxation under the Corporation Tax Act 2010.
66
## **23. Information regarding employees and Trustees**
## **Average number of employed, bank and agency staff calculated on a full time equivalents (FTE) during the year:**
|**,**
**equivalents (FTE) during the year:**
Footing the Bill
Transforming Lives
Education
Social and independent living support
Other Charitable Activities
Changing Attitudes
Other Charitable Activities
Behind the scenes
**Total**
The average number of employed staff in the year was 2,706 (2020: 2,910).
**Staff costs comprise:**
Gross Wages & Salaries
Agency Staff
Social Security Costs
Pension Costs
**Total**|**2021**
**FTE**
21
733
2,430
162
13
126
**3,486**
**2021**
**£'000**
55,482
5,370
4,505
3,856
**69,213**|**2020**
**FTE**
26
850
2,370
152
40
143
**3,581**
**2020**
**£'000**
57,750
8,452
4,392
3,619
**74,212**|
|---|---|---|
During the year, £267k was paid out in redundancy and £241k in ex-gratia agreements to staff. All obligations were identified and met during the financial year. There were no payments outstanding or accrued at the balance sheet date.
## **The number of senior staff paid over £60,000 during the year (salary and taxable benefits excluding pension contributions) was as follows:**
|**Salary range**
£60,001 - £70,000
£70,001 - £80,000
£80,001 - £90,000
£90,001 - £100,000
£100,001 - £110,000
£110,001 - £120,000
£130,001 - £140,000
£150,001 - £160,000
**Total**
The number of senior staff to whom retirement benefits are accruing are as follows:
**Defined contribution schemes:**
- NAS Stakeholder Scheme
- Third Party Scheme (Private)
**Defined benefit schemes:**
- Brent Pension Scheme
- Berkshire Pension Scheme
- Teachers Pension Scheme
- Scottish Teachers Pension Scheme
**Total**
**NAS contribution was:**
Defined contribution schemes
Defined benefit schemes
**Total**|**2021**
**Number**
6
8
3
7
3
1
1
-
**29**
**2021**
**Number**
16
-
1
1
11
-
**29**
**£'000**
82
263
**345**|**2020**
**Number**
9
6
4
3
6
-
-
1
**29**
**2020**
**Number**
13
1
1
11
3
**29**
**£'000**
69
169
**238**|
|---|---|---|
Further details of all NAS pension schemes are shown in Note 24.
The senior management team is made up of 10 directors led by the Chief Executive Officer. The employment benefit of the team was £1,078K (2020: £1002K).
No Trustee or person related or connected by business to them, has received any remuneration from the charity during the year (2020: none).
3 trustees and national forum members were reimbursed expenses during the year totalling £611. This principally represents reimbursed travel and subsistence expenses incurred in attending Trustees' and national forum meetings.
The charity purchased insurance costing £30K (2020: £30K) to protect the Trustees and Directors from loss arising from liability for negligence, default or breach of trust or duty, other than a breach committed in reckless disregard of whether or not the act or omission was such a breach.
There were no related party transactions in the year other than the inter-company transaction disclosed in Note 10.Page 67
## **24. Pension commitments**
The NAS operates both defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes for the benefit of its employees.
## **Defined benefit schemes**
The disclosures below relate to the funded liabilities within the London Borough of Brent Pension Fund (Brent Scheme), Somerset County Council Pension (Somerset Scheme) and Royal County of Berkshire Pension (Berkshire Scheme), which are part of the Local Government Pension Schemes. The NAS participates in the schemes which provide defined benefits, based on members' final pensionable salary.
Alongside the above pension schemes, the NAS also contributes to the national, statutory teachers pension funds on behalf of its teaching staff. See details below.
**Teachers Pension Scheme** . Teaching staff employed by the NAS are eligible for membership of the Teachers Pension Scheme, which is a national, statutory contributory, unfunded defined benefit scheme administered by the Teachers Pension Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Education and Skills. Pension costs are assessed in accordance with the advice of the Government actuary. The NAS has 62 active members (2019-20: 64 active members). NASAT has 33 active members (2019-20: 27 active members).
Every five years the Government Actuary conducts an actuarial review of the scheme, using normal actuarial principles. The cost of pension increases is excluded from the valuation and consequently neither teachers nor employers contribute to this added value, which is met directly by the Exchequer. NAS Employer’s contributions in the year totalled £700,379 (2019-20: £632,638). NASAT employer contribution totalled £315,054 (2019-20: £229,196)
**Scottish Teachers Superannuation Scheme.** Teahing staff employed by the NAS in Scotland are eligible for membership of the Scheme, which is a national, statutory contributory, unfunded defined benefit scheme administered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency. Pension costs are assessed in accordance with the advice of the Government Actuary. The NAS had 4 active members (2019-20: 7 active members) till August 2020, when the school in Scotland closed. Employer’s contributions in the year totalled £29,511 (2019-20: £69,031).
In accordance with FRS102 disclosure of certain information concerning assets, liabilities, income and expenditure relating to pension schemes is required. This information is set out below.
## **Brent Scheme**
## **Contributions**
The employer's regular contributions to the Brent Scheme for the accounting period to 31 March 2021 were estimated to be £985,000. Estimated contributions for 31 March 2022 are £3,100,000
## **Assumptions**
Brent Scheme. The latest actuarial valuation of the NAS's liabilities took place as at 31 March 2020. The principal assumptions used by the independent qualified actuaries in updating the latest valuation of the scheme:
|Rate of general increase in salaries
Rate of increase to pensions in payment (CPI)
Discount rate
**Principal demographic assumptions:**
Future lifetime from age 65 (currently aged 65)
Future lifetime from age 65 (currently aged 45)
**Reconciliation funded status to balance sheet**
**Value as at:**
Notional value of assets
Present value of liabilities
**Net pension (liabilities)**
**Principal financial assumptions**|**2021**
**2020**
**%p.a**
**%p.a**
3.15
2.2
2.85
1.9
2
2.3
**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
**Males**
**Males**
**Females**
**Females**
22.3
22.1
24.7
24.3
23.5
23
26.2
25.5
**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
£'000
£'000
19,637
15,806
35,143
27,897
**(15,506)**
**(12,091)**
**Brent Scheme**
**Brent Scheme**|
|---|---|
68
|**Analysis of income and expenditure**
**Period ending**
Current service cost
Past service cost
Interest cost
Expected return on assets
Losses on curtailments and settlements
Settlement cost
**Expense recognised on SOFA**|**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
£'000
£'000
357
436
22
15
638
744
(367)
(384)
-
-
-
-
**650**
**811**|
|---|---|
## **Changes to the present value of liabilities during the accounting period**
|**Opening present value of liabilities**
Current service cost
Interest cost
Contribution by participants
Actuarial losses/(gains) on liabilities
Losses on curtailments
Estimated benefits paid out
Past service cost
Net increase in liabilities from disposals and acquisitions
Curtailments
Settlements|**27,897**
**31,234**
357
436
638
744
63
71
6,884
(3,523)
-
-
(718)
(1,080)
22
15|
|---|---|
|**Closing present value of liabilities**|**35,143**
**27,897**|
|**Changes to the fair value of assets during the accounting**
**Opening fair value of assets**
Expected return on assets
Actuarial (losses)/gains on assets
Contribution by employers
Contribution by participants
Net benefits paid out|**period**
**15,806**
**15,977**
367
384
3,134
(496)
985
950
63
71
(718)
(1,080)|
|**Closing fair value of assets**|**19,637**
**15,806**|
|**Actual return on assets**
Expected return on assets
Actuarial (losses)/gains on assets|367
384
3,134
(496)|
|**Actual return on assets**|**3,501**
**(112)**|
|**Analysis of amounts recognised in STRGL***
Total actuarial (losses)
Total losses in STRGL
* STRGL (statement of total recognised gains and losses)|(3,750)
3,027
(3,750)
3,027|
## **History of asset values, present value of liabilities and deficit**
|**Brent Scheme:**
Fair value of assets
Present value of liabilities
**Deficit**
**History of experience gains and losses**
Experience gains/(losses) on assets
Experience gains/(losses) on liabilities|**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
**31 March**
**2019**
**31 March**
**2018**
**31 March**
**2017**
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
15,806
15,806
15,977
14,767
14,140
27,897
27,897
31,234
28,665
28,664
**(12,091)**
**(12,091)**
**(15,257)**
**(13,898)**
**(14,524)**
**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
**31 March**
**2019**
**31 March**
**2018**
**31 March**
**2017**
3,134
(496)
663
(118)
1,131
6,884
(3,523)
2,140
(508)
960|
|---|---|
69
## **Berkshire Scheme**
The LGPS is a funded defined-benefit scheme, with the assets held in separate trustee-administered funds. The pension charge for the year for the LGPS was £241,378 (2019-20: £209,454). The agreed contribution rates for future years are 19.6% for employers and a range of 5.5% to12.5% for employees depending on salary.
Parliament has agreed, at the request of the Secretary of State for Education, to a guarantee that, in the event of academy closure, outstanding Local Government Pension Scheme liabilities would be met by the Department for Education. The guarantee came into force on 18 July 2013.
## **Contributions**
The employer's regular contributions to the Berkshire Scheme for the accounting period to 31 March 2021 were estimated to be £248,000. Estimated contributions for 31 March 2022 are £264,0000
|**Principal financial assumptions**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**31/03/2021**|**31/03/2020**|||
||**%p.a**|**%p.a**|||
|Rate of general increase in salaries|3.80|2.75|||
|Rate of increase to pensions in payment (CPI)|2.80|1.75|||
|Discount rate|2.05|2.35|||
|**Principal demographic assumptions:**|||||
|Future lifetime from age 65 (currently aged 65)|||||
||**31-Mar-21**|**31-Mar-21**|**31-Mar-20**|**31-Mar-20**|
||**Males**|**Females**|**Males**|**Females**|
|Retiring today|21.2|23.9|21.5|24.1|
|Retiring in 20 Years|22.5|25.4|22.9|25.5|
|**Expected return on assets**|||||
|**Reconciliation funded status to balance sheet**|||||
|**Value as at:**|**31-Mar-21**|**31-Mar-20**|**31-Mar-19**|**31-Mar-18**|
||£'000|£'000|£'000|£'000|
|Notional value of assets|1310|864|743|475|
|Present value of liabilities|3581|1785|1287|861|
|**Net pension (liabilities)**|**(2,271)**|**(921)**|**(544)**|**(386)**|
|**Analysis of income and expenditure**|||||
|**Period ending**|**31-Mar-21**|**31-Mar-20**|**31-Mar-19**|**31-Mar-18**|
|Service cost|£'000
422|£'000
427|£'000
329|£'000
330|
|Net interest on the defined liability (asset)|19|11|8|5|
|Administration expenses|1|-|-|-|
|**Expense recognised on SOFA**|**442**|**438**|**337**|**335**|
|**Changes to the present value of liabilities during the accounting period**|||||
|**Opening present value of liabilities**|**1785**|**1287**|||
|Current service cost|422|398|||
|Interest cost|43|34|||
|Change in financial assumptions|1,312|(345)|||
|Change in demographic assumptions|(22)|(64)|||
|Estimated benefits paid net of transfers in|(7)|153|||
|Experience loss/(gain) on defined benefit obligation|(28)|230|||
|Past service costs, including curtailments|-|29|||
|Contributions by scheme payments|76|63|||
|**Closing present value of liabilities**|**3581**|**1785**|||
|**Changes to the fair value of assets during the accounting period**|||||
|**Opening fair value of assets**|**864**|**743**|||
|Interest on assets|24|23|||
|Return on assets less interest|106|(38)|||
|Other actuarial gains/(losses)|-|(288)|||
|Administration expenses|(1)|-|||
|Contribution by employers|248|208|||
|Contribution by participants|76|63|||
|Estimated benefits paid plus unfunded net of transfers|(7)|153|||
|**Closing fair value of assets**|**1310**|**864**|||
70
|**Actual return on assets**
Interest on assets
Return on assets less interest
**Actual return on assets**
**Analysis of amounts recognised in STRGL***
Total actuarial gains / (losses)
Total losses in STRGL|24
15
106
36
**130**
**51**
(1,156)
(147)
(1,156)
(147)|
|---|---|
* STRGL (statement of total recognised gains and losses)
## **History of asset values, present value of liabilities and deficit**
|Fair value of assets
Present value of liabilities
**Deficit**|**31-Mar-21**
**31-Mar-20**
**31-Mar-19**
**31-Mar-18**
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
1,310
864
743
475
3,581
1,785
1,287
861
**(2,271)**
**(921)**
**(544)**
**(386)**|
|---|---|
## **Somerset Scheme**
## **Contributions**
The employer's regular contributions to the Somerset Scheme for the accounting period to 31 March 2021 are estimated to be £48,000.
## **Principal financial assumptions**
|**Principal financial assumptions**||
|---|---|
|Rate of general increase in salaries|**2021**
**2020**
**%p.a**
**%p.a**
3.90
2.95|
|Rate of increase to pensions in payment (CPI)|2.90
1.95|
|Discount rate|1.95
2.35|
Our estimate of the duration of the employer's liabilities is 16 years.
## **Principal demographic assumptions:**
|Retiring today
Retiring in 20 Years
**Reconciliation funded status to balance sheet**
**Value as at:**
Notional value of assets
Present value of liabilities
**Net pension (liabilities)**
**Analysis of income and expenditure**
**Period ending**
Service cost
Net Interest on the defined liability (asset/)
Administration expenses
**Expense recognised on SOFA**|**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
**31 March**
**2020**
**Males**
**Females**
**Males**
**Females**
23.1
24.6
23.3
24.7
24.4
26.0
24.7
26.2
**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
4,007
3,194
5,686
4,697
**(1,679)**
**(1,503)**
**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
59
93
35
36
2
2
**96**
**131**|
|---|---|
71
## **Changes to the present value of liabilities during the accounting period**
|**Opening present value of liabilities**|**4,697**|**5,141**|
|---|---|---|
|Current service cost|59|64|
|Interest cost|109|119|
|Contribution by participants|9|9|
|Change in financial assumptions|1,046|(426)|
|Change in demographic assumptions|(46)|44|
|Experience loss/(gain) on defined benefit obligation|(56)|(139)|
|Net benefits paid out|(132)|(144)|
|Past service cost|-|29|
|Net increase in liabilities from disposals and acquisitions|-|-|
|Curtailments|-|-|
|Settlements|-|-|
|**Closing present value of liabilities**|**5,686**|**4,697**|
|**Changes to the fair value of assets during the accounting**
**Opening fair value of assets**
Expected return on assets
Actuarial (losses)/gains on assets
Administration expenses
Contribution by employers
Contribution by participants
Net benefits paid out|**period**
**3,194**
890
-
(2)
48
9
(132)|**3,553**
(245)
(42)
(2)
65
9
(144)|
|**Closing fair value of assets**|**4,007**|**3,194**|
|**Actual return on assets**
Expected return on assets
Actuarial (losses)/gains on assets|890
-|(245)
(42)|
|**Actual return on assets**|**890**|**(287)**|
|**Analysis of amounts recognised in STRGL***
Net assets (defined liability)
Total losses in STRGL
* STRGL (statement of total recognised gains and losses)|(128)
(128)|151
151|
## **History of asset values, present value of liabilities and deficit**
|Fair value of assets
Present value of liabilities
**Deficit**|**31 March**
**2021**
**31 March**
**2020**
**31 March**
**2019**
**31 March**
**2018**
**31 March**
**2017**
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
4,007
3,194
3,553
3,433
3,337
5,686
4,697
5,141
5,106
5,197
**(1,679)**
**(1,503)**
**(1,588)**
**(1,673)**
**(1,860)**|
|---|---|
## **Defined contribution scheme**
Scottish Widows Group Personal Pension Scheme. This group personal pension scheme is the NAS's main scheme, comprising autoenrolment and enhanced schemes. The scheme is administered by Scottish Widows. There are currently 1,293 active members in autoenrolment and 525 active members in our enhanced scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the NAS. Pension costs charged in the SOFA represent the contributions payable by the NAS in the year. Employer’s contribution for the year totalled £1,508k.
## **Contingent liabilities**
## **LGPS Pension**
The Trustees have considered the current net pension liability in both the Somerset and Brent pension schemes. There is only a small active membership in the Somerset LGPS and, given the recent performance of the scheme, they have decided to set aside funds in recognition of the Section 75 debt should the NAS cease to be an active member of the scheme due to the retirement or departure of its remaining active members. In the 2011/12 accounts sum of £1.0m was set aside. Note 15 refers.
72
## **Consolidated statement of financial activities**
## **(incorporating income and expenditure account)**
## **Year ended 31 March 2020**
|**Notes**
**Income & Endowments from**
Income from Charitable activities
Transforming Lives
Education
Social and independent living support
Other Charitable Activities
Changing Attitudes
Other Charitable Activities
Donations and legacies
3
Other trading activities
4
Investment income
Other Income
5
**Total income**
**Expenditure on**
Raising funds
Expenditure on Charitable activities
Transforming Lives
Education
Social and independent living support
Other Charitable Activities
Changing Attitudes
Other Charitable Activities
**Total expenditure**
6
**Net income / (expenditure)**
7
Transfers between funds
16-18
Actuarial (losses)/ gains on defined benefit schemes
24
**Net movement in funds**
**Reconciliation of funds**
Funds brought forward
16-18
**Fund balances carried forward**
16-18|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**NAS AT Restricted**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Restated**
**2020**
**2020**
**2020**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
27,678
4
3,672
31,354
49,770
-
-
49,770
3,540
-
-
3,540
482
-
-
482
7,383
2,665
7,497
17,545
253
-
-
253
119
4
13
136
911
-
30
941
**90,136**
**2,673**
**11,212**
**104,021**
1,932
-
-
1,932
29,091
221
5,537
34,849
54,640
177
-
54,817
7,717
2,182
-
9,899
1,504
67
-
1,571
**94,884**
**2,647**
**5,537**
**103,068**
**(4,748)**
**26**
**5,675**
**953**
179
(179)
-
-
3,506
-
(109)
3,397
**(1,063)**
**(153)**
**5,566**
**4,350**
19,158
2,559
13,145
34,862
18,095
2,407
18,711
39,212|
|---|---|
73
## **Consolidated statement of financial activities**
## **(incorporating income and expenditure account)**
## **Year ended 31 March 2020**
|**Notes**
**Income & Endowments from**
Income from Charitable activities
Transforming Lives
Education
Social and independent living support
Other Charitable Activities
Changing Attitudes
Other Charitable Activities
Donations and legacies
3
Other trading activities
4
Investment income
Other Income
5
**Total income**
**Expenditure on**
Raising funds
Expenditure on Charitable activities
Transforming Lives
Education
Social and independent living support
Other Charitable Activities
Changing Attitudes
Other Charitable Activities
**Total expenditure**
6
**Net income / (expenditure)**
7
Transfers between funds
16-18
Actuarial (losses)/ gains on defined benefit schemes
24
**Net movement in funds**
**Reconciliation of funds**
Funds brought forward
16-18
**Fund balances carried forward**
16-18|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**NAS AT Restricted**
**Total**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Funds**
**Restated**
**2020**
**2020**
**2020**
**2020**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
**£'000**
27,678
4
3,672
31,354
49,770
-
-
49,770
3,540
-
-
3,540
482
-
-
482
7,383
2,665
7,497
17,545
253
-
-
253
119
4
13
136
911
-
30
941
**90,136**
**2,673**
**11,212**
**104,021**
1,932
-
-
1,932
29,091
221
5,537
34,849
54,640
177
-
54,817
7,717
2,182
-
9,899
1,504
67
-
1,571
**94,884**
**2,647**
**5,537**
**103,068**
**(4,748)**
**26**
**5,675**
**953**
179
(179)
-
-
3,506
-
(109)
3,397
**(1,063)**
**(153)**
**5,566**
**4,350**
19,158
2,559
13,145
34,862
18,095
2,407
18,711
39,212|
|---|---|
Page 74