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2023-03-31-accounts

ANNUAL TRUSTEE REPORT Including Strategic Report And Financial Statements

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Company registration number: 00198131 Country of incorporation: England Charity registration number: 313000 Registered office: London Diocesan House 36 Causton Street London SW1P 4AU Secretary: Penny Roberts MBE Bankers: Barclays Bank plc Charities & Education Team Level 27 1 Churchill Place London E14 5HP Solicitors: Winckworth Sherwood LLP Minerva House 5 Montague Close London SE1 9BB Independent Auditor: Haysmacintyre LLP Statutory Auditors 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG Investment managers: CCLA Investment Management Limited (except directly held property) The CBF Church of England Funds 85 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4ET M&G Securities Limited Laurence Puntney Hill London EC4R 0HH

The CBF funds are collective investment schemes regulated by the Church Funds Investment Measure 1958, as amended by the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1995 and the Trustee Act 2000. The CBF has delegated to CCLA Investment Management Limited, which is regulated by the Financial Services Authority, the investment management, administration and registration of funds.

M&G Securities Limited is the managing agent for Charities Investment Managers Limited – both companies are regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

ANNUAL REPORT

As provided for in Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (2015), the Directors have combined their Annual Charity Report with the statutory report required for companies. The report also provides information required by the Charity Commission to be included in the annual Summary Information Return.

INDEX PAGE
Foreword 4
Trustees’ report 5
Statement of Trustee responsibilities 24
Independent auditor's report 26
Consolidated statement of financial activities 29
Consolidated balance sheet 30
Charitable company balance sheet 31
Consolidated statement of cash flows 32
Notes to the financial statements 33

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Some weeks ago, I was in a school as part of a Borough wide pilgrimage, in one of the London Boroughs. The idea was that any child could ask any question, nothing was off limits. In this forum, I responded to questions that related to the shape of the Trinity, the place of Mary and a question that asked, did David in his encounter with Goliath break one of the Ten Commandments, you shall not kill! There is nothing like being put on the spot, and it was glorious. The children’s faces eager to learn, eager to ask questions. In many ways, these children had a deep sense of curiosity, and this had been encouraged within the culture of the school community.

In a recent film produced by the Faith in the Nexus team at Christ Church Canterbury University, we are reminded that children, in developing their own vibrant spirituality, need space to ask lots of questions, as opposed to being faced with lots of full stops from adults who wish to make pronouncements about what the adults believe to be the right answer. Sadly, this research concludes that, because children do not witness adults being curious about their faith, asking lots of questions, amongst each other, this is not seen as important, and curiosity is diminished as a result.

As we serve the children of London, providing them with the best education that we can, we have thought much about the ability to ask questions and be curious. This has shaped much of our work within schools; developing vision statements, supporting when that phone call comes from OFSTED, enabling schools to tackle significant issues about falling rolls, HR concerns, or even the academisation strategy.

Our own staff team and our Trustee body have all been encouraged to be curious, living that culture that Jesus sets, who, on several occasions asks what he can do for us, whilst not sharing some doctrinal statement. A role modelling that speaks of a posture of welcome, relationship and of a desire to see the other flourish and not conform.

We have witnessed the importance of the ability ask questions in our diocesan gatherings, individual meetings and with our training sessions which have focussed primarily, this year, on good communications and on the Diocesan priority of racial justice.

And so, it is in the spirit of curiosity that we share this Annual Report with you. This is not to be placed in a computer file, never to be looked at again. Please do read this report with a spirit of curiosity. We would love you to ask questions, and so be the role models that children crave, and be the role models that will enable their relationship with Jesus Christ to flourish. As a result, I am without doubt that the Holy Spirit will lead us all into all truth, as this is what is promised.

I commend this Annual Report to you.

The Rt Revd Rob Wickham Chair of LDBS Board

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1. Introduction to LDBS and Church Schools

Our 2030 Vision is for every young Londoner to experience the love of God in Christ.

LDBS serves and support schools to be:

The charitable objectives of the London Diocesan Board for Schools (LDBS) are established in the 2021 Diocesan Boards of Education Measure:

There is detail about governance arrangements in section 4.1.

There are 156 Church schools in the Diocese of London. LDBS also serves a small number of affiliated schools: these are schools that do not have a denominational affiliation but choose to be a part of the extended Church school network.

The demographics in London have changed dramatically over the last few years. From 2010 there was a period of rapid growth in the number of children and young people, which led to Local Authorities and central government expanding schools and opening new schools in order to provide a school place for every child who needed one. Since 2017 the birth rate and net migration into London have been falling, reducing the demand for school places.

Many schools have reduced the number of pupils that they take into Reception classes and some schools have closed. Church schools are not exempt from these pressures. In October 2022 there were 1,600 fewer primary pupils attending Church schools in London than in October 2019.

Secondary numbers have continued to rise, but demographic projections indicate that they are likely to begin to experience falling pupil rolls in the next three to five years.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Church schools in the London Diocese serve 58,000 young Londoners

More than half of Church schools are inclusive: they pupils in our schools have more primary children with a have a Global Majority recognised special education need Heritage. One third and/or Education Health Care Plan have a White Heritage. (ECHP) than both the London and national averages.

Church schools serve pupils of Christian, other faith and no faith backgrounds.

Church schools serve deprived communities: there are more primary children registered for free school meals in Church schools than both the London and national averages.

Approximately 80% of Church schools are maintained (Voluntary Aided or Voluntary Controlled) and the remainder are Academies.

----- Start of picture text -----
TYPES OF CHURCH SCHOOL
Free School, 10
Sponsor-led
Academy, 5
Maintained,
Other, 34
121
Sponsored
Academy, 3
Academy
Converter, 16
----- End of picture text -----

Church schools in the London Diocese transform futures

Summer 2022 saw the return of SATs tests for Year 6 pupils at primary school, and the return of published results for Year 11 and Year 13 students at secondary school. Published results only give a snapshot of one dimension of school life. However, the diverse cohort of pupils attending Church schools in London continue to make more progress and to attain higher standards overall than both the London and national averages.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

2. LDBS priorities 2022-23

Responding to a range of strategic challenges faced by LDBS and by Church schools, LDBS has four strategic objectives for 2021-24:

In 2022-23 we have had a particular focus on ensuring that the LDBS service to schools is equitable and consistent.

The summary of activity below provides a snapshot of the support that has been provided this year through the LDBS Core Service and Grow Education Partners Ltd (Grow is the traded service of the LDBS which, by offering services to all schools, seeks to serve the common good), and it looks ahead to new initiatives for next year.

2.1. Training and support programme

2.1.1. LDBS support for strategic school leadership

All Church schools receive LDBS school improvement support for their leaders; 75% of Church primary schools purchase an additional school improvement support package from LDBS through Grow Education Partners Ltd.

We undertook an extensive series of discussions, conferences and consultations with schools and wider stakeholders, including unions, to set a school organisation strategy for the future. The strategy responds to the structural challenges faced by the sector (including the challenge of school sustainability) and the changeable political climate in which schools operate. The strategy will enable LDBS and Church schools to respond decisively to any future move by the government to a fully academised school system. It also sets out the way that LDBS will support schools to establish Partnerships and Federations where it is more appropriate for them to remain in the maintained school sector at present.

In 2023-24 we will apply our strategy to all school organisation decisions and develop further support for governors making difficult decisions about the future of their school. We will also develop our support offer to aspiring school leaders who may consider Head of School and Executive Head opportunities alongside traditional Headteacher roles.

“It’s great to have LDBS on the front foot.”

Headteacher

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

2.1.2. Diverse leadership

Racism in schools is a complex issue, but one that LDBS is determined to address. We have given significant consideration to how to deploy our influence and resources in a way that will make a sustained difference. We are focusing our efforts on supporting schools to appoint excellent, diverse leaders. There is a historic under-representation of school leaders and governors with a global majority heritage despite diverse cohorts beginning teacher training. This is to the continuing detriment of our Church schools and the students we serve. In 2022-23:

LDBS is grateful for the partnership and support of several Church school leaders with global majority heritage. We look forward to launching a new programme in 2023-24, The Platform, to support the development of the next generation of diverse school leaders and we will continue to support the national Leaders Like Us programme in which several aspiring school leaders with a global majority heritage from the diocese are already participating.

“I have enrolled on this course because I am passionate that we recruit and support greater numbers of strong leaders from all backgrounds.”

Headteacher

2.1.3. Teacher training, early career and leadership development

We are delighted that our LDBS School Centred Initial Teacher Training course (SCITT) has been reaccredited by the government and also judged by Ofsted to be Outstanding in every category.

“All trainees receive exceptional training and pastoral support.”

Ofsted March 2023

LDBS is a delivery partner for the Early Career Framework for Westminster Early Career Teachers, serving approximately 30 Early Career Teachers.

From Autumn 2023 LDBS will be a delivery partner for the National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) that are provided by the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership (CEFEL). We are planning to deliver some courses centrally at Causton St and others in local clusters around the diocese. For more than 20 years LDBS has run popular and successful leadership development courses. The government is currently providing funding to cover the cost of NPQs which makes them a more realistic option for schools, so we are working hard to dovetail this government-funded training with LDBS leadership development courses to ensure they can continue.

2.1.4. School operations development

Strong management of finances, personnel and premises is crucial for the thriving of schools. Termly HR conferences for School Business Managers continue to be well attended

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

and well received. Basic HR support is provided to Church schools through the Core service, with an additional People & Culture service on offer through Grow. In 2022-23, 86 schools purchase this additional service.

GROW also offers a Data Protection Officer (DPO) service as part of our mission to serve the common good. In 2022-23, 220 schools purchased this additional service.

The range of services on offer through GROW has increased to include financial consultancy and communications advice.

“Grow offered the best value service and instilled confidence that they would provide sound, practical advice. The DPO was a life saver… we can’t recommend it highly enough.”

Grow customer

2.1.5. Governor and trustee development

Governor training has continued on-line after attendance increased during the pandemic when courses moved from in-person to on-line. In 2022-23 LDBS offered more than 30 courses to governors on a wide range of topics from the Ofsted inspection framework to valuing all God’s children, and from safer recruitment to resolving parental complaints; with overall attendance totalling more than 500.

The LDBS clerking service closed in the Summer of 2022; support was provided to clerks to enable them to continue to serve their schools where schools wanted to continue with their Clerk.

The recruitment of Foundation governors remains a significant challenge but with a new full time Head of Governance in post from June 2023 and new measures to engage with deaneries and churches we continue to raise awareness of vacant positions. Support for governing bodies is being extended to ensure that governors grappling with sustainability and leadership challenges have the support they need to make informed decisions.

“The advice provided by our LDBS link adviser and HR adviser was insightful and allowed us to make an informed decision. They attended meetings and supported us throughout.”

Governor

2.2. Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good

Over 2022-23 LDBS has developed support for Church schools to put their character at the heart of their identify, as schools which are deeply Christian and serving the common good. Church schools receive a regular inspection of their Christian character: SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools). The SIAMS inspection framework is changing from September 2023 and significant effort has gone into equipping schools for the change. Most significantly, the whole inspection is framed around the school’s vision, which must be a theologically-rooted Christian vision.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

From September 2024 the LDBS school development service will increasingly be provided by specialists; this will include SIAMS visits. Each school will receive at least one SIAMSfocused visit each year, as well as a mid-cycle SIAMS health check.

In 2022-23 the LDBS RE adviser provided three whole-day training sessions for school RE leads as well as a video training resource. LDBS is also developing a network of schoolbased RE consultants to support the sharing of best-practice.

LDBS ran a residential Headteacher conference in 2022 on the theme of ‘remaining anchored’. Mary Hawes, then the National Church of England Children and Youth Adviser, was one of the speakers and Rt Revd Rob Wickham provided pastoral support and led evening prayer and a Eucharist service for headteachers. We are looking forward to the next residential conference in October 2023 on the theme of ‘how to run and not grow weary’, considering what it means to lead an authentic school community.

Induction arrangements for new Church school leaders have been strengthened, especially those who have not worked before in a Church school.

LDBS support for chaplaincy has continued through a network of up to 50 chaplains, including those serving in independent schools, further and technical education and community school settings.

2.3. Partnerships between churches and schools

2.3.1. Partnership initiatives

There are many examples around the diocese of inspiring and powerful ministry provided by individual churches to their local school. We have been pleased to celebrate some of these on our website and news feed.

LDBS has included clergy in all the strategic discussions we have initiated this year, recognising the importance of their contribution and of the partnership between churches and schools. We are grateful for the way that many clergy spoke into the discussions about school sustainability and the government academy programme.

Twice yearly meetings for all headteachers and linked clergy are now established in each deanery (or in wider area groups where the number of Church schools is smaller). LDBS is grateful for the support of the Bishop of London and the Bishop of Edmonton in establishing these networks. The aim of the network meetings is to enable sharing of best practice, relationship-building and resolution of local issues.

2021-22 saw a successful pilot project to provide school placements for second-year curates in one episcopal area. In 2022-23 the pilot has been extended to three episcopal areas, and we anticipate being able to provide a school placement for every second-year curate in the diocese in 2023-24.

In May 2023, LDBS hosted the second shared meeting of the Bishop’s Council and LDBS Trustees, in recognition of the importance of clergy development and school-church relationships.

The first Youth Minster to be based in a school opened in 2021. It had a difficult year and was discontinued at the end of 2022. LDBS has supported the lessons-learned process commissioned by the Diocese of London and will continue to support colleagues to develop a strategic approach to mission and discipleship among young people.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

2.3.2. Living in Love and Faith

The resolution of the General Synod in February 2023 in relation to the Living in Love and Faith process has raised a new strategic risk for LDBS and Church schools; one that we have begun to respond to and will continue to respond to through next year. Within the London Diocese there will be significant differences of opinion and approach. In some places there will be churches, headteachers, governors and parents that hold a range of very different views, all of which are recognised as legitimate and authentic expressions of the faith of the Church of England.

On this or any other contested theological issue, LDBS is not an activist or campaigning organisation. It is our role to ensure that every Church school has the opportunity to receive ministry and support from its parish and other linked churches and to ensure that each school is equipped for SIAMS inspections, which includes consideration of ‘how well school leaders work with local churches.’

LDBS has started to offer mediation support to churches and schools where relationships have broken down between clergy and schools, and there are now three trained mediators on our team. Practical pro-active help is also available for clergy, governors or headteachers who are concerned that there may be future difficulties and who wish to avoid a breakdown of relationships or a diminution of ministry.

2.4. Internal LDBS structures and processes

Since Penny Roberts took up her post as Director of Education in September 2022, the internal LDBS structures, processes and policies have begun to develop to reflect the current context in which LDBS and schools operate. The process of change will continue through 2023-24.

The new board of trustees, the first to be appointed under the 2021 Measure, has completed its first year in office. Trustees have provided faithful support, perceptive insights and challenging feedback.

Termly whole-staff training days have been introduced. Trustees have been invited to join part of these days to enable staff and trustees to begin to get to know one another.

A new senior leadership team was established in September 2022 comprising two Deputy Directors of Education (one with a focus on Christian distinctiveness and the other with a focus on school improvement), the Head of Finance and the Head of People and Culture.

The new ‘People and Culture’ team will be providing an HR service, a Recruitment and Selection service and mediation support, and internally within LDBS in relation to recruitment and organisational culture.

Line management arrangements have developed in line with the new team structure, and appraisal arrangements are becoming embedded.

In 2023-24 the LDBS structure, and individual roles and responsibilities, will continue to develop as LDBS strives to provide a consistent and equitable service to schools that matches the strategic responsibilities of the LDBS and the needs of schools and represents excellent value for money to schools.

In 2022-23 LDBS oversaw 150 school building projects with a total value of £9million. The projects ranged in value from less than £10,000 to a SALIX-funded decarbonisation project

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

with a value of £1.54million. (Salix is a non-departmental public body, owned wholly by the government). As part of the wider strategic priority to develop internal LDBS structures, processes and policies, we anticipate ongoing development of our approach to contractor management and building project management.

3. Financial Report

3.1. Overall Financial Health

The full financial results for the Board are set out in pages 29 to 32. The following tables summarise the Income and Expenditure of the Board and the Balance Sheet.

Income and Expenditure

Education Uniform
Statutory
Trust		 City &
Diocese		 City &
Diocese		 School
Building &
Maintenance		 School
Building &
Maintenance		 Others Endowment
capital		 TOTAL
2023		 TOTAL
2022
£000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s
School subs and
sales 565 - - 909 - - 1,474 604
Grow Education
sales and fees 972 - - - - - 972 513
Teaching London 932 - - - - - 932 709
Donations and
grants inc. LDF 538 - 21 - - - 559 476
Investment
income 36 1,540 - - - - 1,576 378
Reimbursement
from schools 50 - - - - - 50 -
Other Charitable
income - - - - 13,997 - 13,997 10,485
TOTAL INCOME 3,093 1,540 21 909 13,997 0 19,560 13,165
LDBS (2,179) - - - - - (2,179) (2,146)
SCITT (836) - - - - - (836) (718)
Grow Education (577) - - - - - (577) (703)
Charitable
activities - - - (1,006) (10,353) - (11,359) (9,694)
TOTAL
EXPENDITURE (3,592) 0 0 (1,006) (10,353) 0 (14,951) (13,261)
Operating
Surplus/(Deficit) (499) 1,540 21 (97) 3,644 0 4,609 (96)
Transfers and
other changes 499 120 0 0 0 (42) 577 4,524
Net movements
in funds 0 1660 21 (97) 3,644 (42) 5,186 4,428

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Opening
reserves 559 31,765 5,686 729 3,402 1,371 43,512 39,084
Closing reserves 559 33,425 5,707 632 7,046 1,329 48,698 43,512
Balance Sheet
Tangible fixed
assets 9 - - - - - 9 16
Property - 25,578 5,686 - 6,450 - 37,714 38,193
Investments 3,468 385 1,329 5,182 4,147
Total 9 29,046 5,686 - 6,835 1,329 42,905 42,356
Current assets 1,536 8,210 76 632 211 - 10,665 9,160
Liabilities (986) (3,831) (55) - - - (4,872) (8,004)
Net current
assets 559 33,425 5,707 632 7,046 1,329 48,698 43,512

There was a net inflow of funds for the year of £5.2m which increased the value of net assets of LDBS to £48.7m.

Cash balances remained stable at £8.8m of which £1.7m represents deposits received from schools in advance of expenditure for building maintenance. Cash balances also include £0.67m of School Condition Allocations and £1.2m of Devolved Capital which has not yet been committed to building projects.

Net current assets exceed long term creditors by £5.8m (2022 £1.2m).

All investment properties are now fully let including Archer Street which was let at the end of 2022. This will improve the overall income and return on the portfolio.

Trading activities achieved sales of £970k (2022: £1.1m) which provided a distribution to LDBS of £395k (2022: £410k).

3.2. Unrestricted Funds

Unrestricted funds can be used to meet all costs including central costs and costs in furtherance of the charitable objectives. Education fund, Teaching London and Grow Education Partners are the three unrestricted funds of the LDBS.

Unrestricted Income and Expenditure: LDBS & Grow Education Partners Ltd LDBS earns income from subscriptions and services provided to schools directly, through Teaching London or through its trading subsidiary, Grow Education Partners Ltd. These sources of income cover 67% (2022: 68%) of expenditure with the remainder provided by grants from the London Diocesan Fund and the Uniform Statutory Trust, for which LDBS is sole trustee.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Group unrestricted income 2023 2022
£000's £000's
LDBS School subscriptions and sales 565 605
Grow Education sales and fees 972 1,117
Teaching London 932 709
London Diocesan Fund 538 456
Interest income 36 1
Reimbursement from schools 50 220
3,093 3,108
Group unrestricted expenditure
LDBS 2179 2,161
Teaching London 836 712
Grow Education 577 703
3592 3,576
Group operating deficit (499) (468)
Grant from Uniform Statutory Trust 499 450
Transfer from SCITT restricted fund 0 14
Net movement in unrestricted funds 0 (4)

Any surplus balance from Grow Education Partners Ltd is gift aided to LDBS and this resulted in a distribution of £395k (2022: £414k).

3.3. Restricted Funds

Restricted funds are to be used for specified purposes laid down by the donor / granting body. The LDBS currently operates three restricted funds. They are:

a) Uniform Statutory Trust

The Trust was established under Section 557 of the 1996 Education Act to hold the assets of schools which had been closed. LDBS is the sole trustee and must apply capital and income towards the provision of advice, guidance and resources in connection with any matter related to the management of, or education provided at, any relevant school in the Diocese. It is also allowed to apply income to school sites and buildings.

Investment income is derived from letting former schools and other investment property to third parties. Rents increased from £640k to £930k; £200k rent of the former St Matthias Primary school in Bethnal Green has been brought in to the year. Consequently, the Uniform Statutory Trust increased its grant to the Education Fund from £450k to £600k. With an unrealised loss on pooled investment funds of £280k, this resulted in a deficit of £81k for the year. The Uniform Statutory Trust ended the year with resources of £31.7m.

b) City and Diocese of London Voluntary Schools Fund

LDBS is the sole trustee of this fund which may provide grants to schools for maintenance of school premises and to young persons under the age of 25 years who have for at least two years at any time attended a Church of England school in the Diocese of London.

The Charity is registered for VAT and holds two properties where VAT is chargeable on rents; the charity also owns some pooled investment funds.

Following a lengthy marketing period the property at Archer Street has been let for a term of three-years.

The gymnasium built adjacent to Bishop Wand School, Sunbury, is let to Spelthorne Gymnastics with the School having use of parts of the building during school hours. The

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Club has continued to pay rent and make loan repayments which allowed the Charity to pay interest on the £900k borrowed from the Uniform Statutory Trust for this facility.

The pooled investment funds held as part of the permanent endowment provide the income that funds grants for disadvantaged pupils mainly in respect of school trips. Investment income of £20k is set aside for grants. The Charity has awarded grants of £24k to compensate for some of trips cancelled by schools during 2021 and 2022 due to Covid-19.

At the end of March 2023 the valuation of Archer Street remained at £4.1m.

The net worth of the City & Diocese Fund at the end of March 2023 is £3.3m (2022: £3.3m) with the permanent endowment value remaining level at £1.2m and the accumulated surplus on unrestricted funds at £2.1m.

c) Schools’ Building Maintenance Scheme

LDBS operates a buildings maintenance scheme for the governors of Voluntary Aided schools who are required to fund 10% of repairs and improvements to their buildings. The fund receives subscriptions from schools.

scriptions from schools.
2023 2022
£000's £000's
School Balances brought forward 729 720
School subscriptions 909 925
Interest income 0 1
1,638 1,646
Expenditure (167) (151)
Contributions to building projects (839) (766)
School Balances carried forward 632 729

The balances brought forward represent school subscriptions brought forward and would be sufficient to fund the planned programme for maintaining schools irrespective of any delays in schools making their 10% contributions.

4. Looking ahead to 2023-24

4.1. Governance

All activity of the London Diocesan Board for Schools (LDBS) is governed within legal parameters. LDBS was incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee on 22 May 1924. It is a registered charity (charity number: 313000). The 2021 Diocesan Boards of Education Measure, the 2021 Diocese of London Diocesan Board of Education Scheme and the Articles and Memorandum of Association set the parameters for activity. Although LDBS is a separate charity, it is an integral part of the Diocese of London fulfilling the statutory duties placed on the Diocese in respect of children’s education.

LDBS Trustees are appointed by the Bishop of London on the recommendation of a Nominations Committee, with members drawn from the Diocesan Synod and the LDBS.

Since January 2022 the LDBS Board has comprised eleven or twelve trustees, chaired by the Bishop of Edmonton. The Board is diverse, with appointments based on skills, experience and a commitment to the vision and work of the LDBS.

The Board meets at least five times each year to set vision, strategy and budgets, to monitor risk, and to review progress.

The LDBS Board are Company Members, Directors and Trustees. Their liability is limited to £1 in the event of the winding up of the company.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Trustee Other relevant roles Term of
office end
date
Rt Revd Rob Wickham The Bishop of Edmonton
Ex Officio
Chair of the Board
Paula Aitcheson-
Walker		 Headteacher, Christ Church CofE Primary School NW1,
Camden		 31.12.25
(First term)
Chair of Governors, The Blue CofE Primary School,
Hounslow 31.12.25
Stephanie Ajayi
Diocese of London Racial Justice Priority Group (First term)
Chair of Hounslow School Appeal Panel
Catherine Allard Headteacher, John Keble CofE Primary School, Brent 31.12.25
(Second term)
Vicar, St Peter’s Church, Grange Park
Trustee, The Wren Academy Trust
Revd. Stephen 31.12.24
Governor, St Paul’s CofE Primary School, Winchmore Hill
Coleman (Second term)
Trustee, Ecclesiastical Law Society
HonoraryResearch Fellow,St Stephen’s House,Oxford
Monica Duncan Headteacher, Duke Aldridge Academy
Trustee,St Luke’s CofE PrimarySchool,Camden		 31.12.23
(First term)
Chair of Governors, St James and St John CE School,
Andrew Garwood- Westminster
Until 31.12.22
Watkins Westminster Schools Forum, Chair
Trustee,LDBS Academies Trust (from September 2022)
Simon Judge
Vice Chair of the
Board		 Trustee, Kemnal Academy Trust
Trustee, The City Literary Institute		 31.12.25
(Second term)
Chair of Governors, St Cuthbert and St Matthias CE 31.12.24
Carla Munoz Slaughter
School (First term)
Revd. Nicholas Pye Vicar, St Paul’s Church, Finchley
Governor,St Mary’s CofE PrimarySchool, Finchley		 31.12.23
(First term)
31.12.24
Revd. William Rogers Vicar, St Matthew’s Church, Fulham
(First term)
Zoe Vickerman Governor, St Mary Abbott CofE Primary School
London Diocesan Synod member		 31.12.24
(First term)

Trustees appointed in 2022 were appointed on two, three or four-year terms to ensure that term dates are staggered. In future, it is anticipated that trustees will be appointed to a four-year term and that they will step down for at least two years once they have served two terms.

We are indebted to Andrew Garwood-Watkins for supporting the transition to the new board. Andrew stood down as a trustee in December 2022. We are delighted to continue to benefit from his expertise in his new role as interim Head of Property. This is a new position, supporting the current change management priorities and a permanent Director of Operations will be appointed in due course.

Trustees have co-opted a further eleven people to committees. Five of these have been appointed since April 2022: Lyn Meadows to the Governance Committee, Rev Matthew Knox and Victor Selvaraj to the Education Committee, and Alen Ong and Michael Poulard to the Operations Committee. They have all been co-opted for a four-year term.

We are indebted to Fr Simon Clark for supporting the establishment of the Governance Committee and the transition of the Appointment Panel, and Ann George for supporting the

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

transition of the Education Committee. Both are former trustees who agreed to continue to support a committee through the transition period, and who stood down during the year.

The Rt Revd Rob Wickham left his position as Bishop of Edmonton in June 2023, and the next Bishop of Edmonton will Chair the LDBS Board as part of their role. We are grateful to the Rt Hon and Rt Revd Dame Sarah Mullally DBE for allowing Bishop Rob to remain as Chair until his successor takes up their post in early 2024.

In the Autumn 2023 the Nominations Committee will seek applicants to fill the vacant trustee position and any others that arise. The two trustees whose term ends in December 2023 are both serving their first term and will be invited to apply to serve a second term, alongside any others who may be interested to join the board.

We are always keen to hear from people who may be interested in being a trustee or serving on a committee or working group.

4.2. Members’ Interests

LDBS is a company limited by guarantee and members may derive no benefit, income or capital interest in the Board’s financial affairs other than as reimbursement of out-ofpocket expenses. Note 5(d) to the Financial Statements, on page 29, sets out the total of expenses, if any, reimbursed to members.

4.3. Training and Induction of Trustees

Trustees were appointed on the basis of skills and experience and as a group they provide a tremendous depth and breadth of knowledge relevant to the work of LDBS, confirmed by a skills audit carried out at the time of appointment. LDBS will always welcome opportunities to strengthen the board further, and the overall skills balance will be considered in making future trustee appointments and committee co-options.

During 2022-23, trustees have undertaken a range of training and development activities as a group and/ or with LDBS staff:

4.4. Volunteers

LDBS does not make direct use of volunteers in delivery of the core service.

4.5. Committee Overview

4.5.1. Education Committee

The Education Committee meets three times each year to determine and monitor educational policy, especially in relation to the religious education, collective worship and the Christian distinctiveness of Church schools.

Members: Alero Abbey (Vice Chair), Catherine Allard (Chair), Rev Matthew Knox, Rev Nicholas Pye, Victor Selvaraj, Zoe Vickerman

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

The City & Diocese Grants Fund Panel makes grants to young people under the age of 25 who have attended a Church of England School in the Diocese for at least 2 years for educational purposes. It meets three times each year and reports to the Education Committee.

Members: Catherine Allard (Chair), Rebecca Anson, Rev Matthew Knox, Rev Nicholas Pye, David Richards, Zoe Vickerman

4.5.2. Governance Committee

The Governance Committee was established in January 2022 in recognition of the significant role that LDBS plays in developing the quality of governance in Church schools. The committee meets three times each year to determine and monitor governance policy. Governance Committee members also serve on the Governor Appointment Panel. The Panel meets monthly to make LDBS appointments to governing bodies, trust boards, SACRE committees, LA scrutiny panels and other bodies to which the LDBS appoints.

Members: Paula Aitcheson-Walker (Chair), Rev Stephen Coleman (Vice Chair), Lyn Meadows, Carla Muñoz Slaughter, David Richards

4.5.3. Operations Committee

The Operations Committee was established in January 2022 and replaces the previous Finance and Executive Committee. It meets three times each year to determine policy and monitor financial, property and HR matters.

Members: Stephanie Ajayi (Chair), Richard Brown, Anthony David, Alen Ong (from May 2023) Michael Poulard (from May 2023), Rev William Rogers (Vice Chair), Rt Revd Rob Wickham

4.5.4. Audit and Risk Committee

The Audit Committee provides an independent view of the Board’s financial affairs, internal controls and risk management. It meets two or three times each year.

Members: Adrian Barrett (Vice Chair), Monica Duncan, Simon Judge (Chair), Elizabeth Marshall

4.5.5. Standing Committee

The Committee Chairs, together with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Board, form a Standing Committee. Meetings of the Committee can be called to consider matters of an urgent nature which cannot wait for consideration by the Board, to ensure that decisions can be made in a timely manner. The Standing Committee has met regularly in 2022-23 to ensure that the Board is kept appraised of changes and to ensure that internal LDBS developments can take place in a timely way. Meetings, their business and any decisions taken, are reported back to the full Board at its next meeting.

4.5.6. Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee meets between July and November of any year in which a trustee vacancy is anticipated. The committee leads the recruitment process for new trustees and makes recommendations to the Bishop of London for her appointment. The committee did not meet in 2022. It will meet in 2023.

Members: Four LDBS Trustees (usually the committee chairs) and two representatives of the Diocesan Synod (the Chairs of the Houses of Laity and Clergy or their representatives).

4.5.7. Grow Education Partners Ltd

The Grow board meets three times each year to review the activities of Grow Education Partners Ltd. Grow is a wholly-owned subsidiary of LDBS and the majority of directors are LDBS employees.

Directors: Andrew Garwood-Watkins (Chair), Adeola Oledejo, Helen Ridding, Penny Roberts (Vice Chair), Dee Thomas

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

4.5.8. Working Groups

Trustees periodically establish task-and-finish groups to enable rapid progress on specific issues, or careful monitoring of specific projects. These groups have no delegated authority to make decisions; recommendations are reported to trustees for consideration.

In 2022 trustees set up a working group to develop and advise on strategy in relation to the academisation of Church schools in the diocese. Group membership included trustees, LDBS staff and co-opted Headteachers.

5. Public benefit

LDBS trustees have considered the guidance provided by the Charity Commission and believe that the Charity provides identifiable public benefits.

The Charity’s activities are directed towards the promotion of Christian education and in particular the promotion of Church of England Schools within the Diocese of London. All these schools provide free public education and are themselves recognised charitable bodies. Some Church schools are Academies. Academies are charities in their own right and for most of these schools, the LDBS is a Member of the Academy Trust.

58,000+ children and young people are educated in these schools with pupils drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds and faiths. Church schools in London are diverse and inclusive places; for example, around 55% of pupils have a global majority backgrounds, 24% are registered as being entitled to free school meals and 2.9% have an Education Health Care Plan because of a special educational need or disability.

The account of the Board’s activities for the year shows that its resources and staffing are directed towards supporting and developing Church of England schools so that they provide a high quality of education for their pupils. Our assessment is that schools where children are making the best progress in reading are those which have increased the support they buy from GROW. Where a school encounters difficulty or is vulnerable, the LDBS is proactive in supporting that school.

6. Relationships with other bodies

6.1. Related Parties

6.1.1. Voluntary Aided and Voluntary Controlled Schools

Each voluntary aided school and voluntary controlled school has its own governing body with separate charitable status. LDBS appoints a minority of the governors to the governing body of any school and as such these schools are not related parties.

6.1.2. Academies

For any Single or Multi-Academy Trust where LDBS is a Member, the LDBS is treated by ESFA as a related party. Services that can only be delivered by the diocese are deemed as meeting the ‘at-cost’ requirement and delivered through the Core Service. Trusts should seek prior approval from ESFA when the relevant financial thresholds are reached.

In 2022-23 LDBS provided in-kind benefits to the St Mary Magdalene Academy to the value of £238k through the use by the Academy of the former Clerkenwell buildings.

6.1.3. The Diocese of London

The LDBS is an independent charity, but we share the 2030 Vision and work closely with the wider diocese.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

The London Diocesan Fund (LDF) is the body corporate for the Diocese of London and as such is a related party to the LDBS. Some LDBS Trustees are employed by LDF or serve on the Bishop’s Council, Diocesan Synod or another diocesan committee.

The LDF makes an annual grant and provides LDBS with accommodation at London Diocesan House. The provision of accommodation and other support for payroll and information technology is treated in the financial statements as a donation in kind. Total support from the Diocese amounted to £538k (2022: £456k) with a cash element of £171k (2022: £117k).

6.2. Relationships with other stakeholders

The LDBS takes seriously its responsibility to co-operate with other bodies concerned with education in the Diocese of London and beyond, including communication, dialogue and/ or partnership with:

7. Policies

In 2022-23 LDBS has refreshed its policies fully. All staff and trustees have access to the full set of policies. The focus for 2023-24 is to embed the policies into our regular practice, and to make sure that they are effective.

Trustees have agreed a review schedule for all policies to ensure that they are each reviewed on a regular basis for content, effectiveness and compliance. Review dates are brought forward if there are changes to the statutory or advisory frameworks in which LDBS operates.

7.1. HR Policies including remuneration

This suite of policies was overhauled in 2021 and updated in 2022. LDBS employs staff on terms comparable to those working in schools; in particular, the national teachers’ pay scale and the pay scales used in schools for support staff.

7.2. Safeguarding Policy

LDBS Trustees approved a new Safeguarding Policy in March 2022, having regard to the 2022 Guidance from the House of Bishop’s ‘Guidance for Diocesan Boards of Education: Identifying Safeguarding Serious Incidents and Reporting to the Charity Commission’ .

7.3. Finance Policies

7.3.1. Reserves Policy

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

A refreshed Reserves Policy was approved by trustees in March 2023. Each year under the policy a lower and upper reserves threshold is set for unrestricted LDBS monies. For 202223 the agreed thresholds were £500,000 and £700,000. On 31 March 2023 the unrestricted reserve was £559k.

7.3.2. Investment Policy

A refreshed Investment Policy was approved by trustees in March 2023. The objective is to provide a stable, long-term income stream to LDBS to enable us to provide predictable and transparent levels of support to schools.

Approximately 90% of net capital resources are held in property and 10% in cash. At 31 March 2023, all properties were let. With investment properties valued every five years, total return for each year is not calculated.

There was a loss on pooled investment funds of 2.6% with income providing 4.2% and capital depreciation of 6.8% (2022: return of 12% with income providing 4.5% and capital appreciation 8.2%.)

8. Risks and challenges

8.1. Strategic and operational risks

The LDBS risk register lists the main operational risks faced by the organisation. It is a helpful management tool and the full list is reviewed annually by the Audit and Risk Committee. This enables the Committee to be assured that significant risks are appropriately identified and managed. It also enables the committee and LDBS leadership team to identify those areas where specific scrutiny activity would be beneficial for the ongoing development of the organisation. For example, last year a more detailed review of data protection was undertaken as an outcome of this process.

LDBS trustees identified seven overarching strategic risks for 2022-23:

Each risk is allocated either to the main board or to a committee, and they are monitored termly. Understanding and managing the consequences of the Living in Love and Faith process was added as an additional strategic risk in March 2023 for regular monitoring by trustees in 2023-24.

8.2. Compliance risks

A refreshed approach to policy setting, monitoring and compliance supports the management of compliance risks. There is a new policy for making grants from the City & Diocese Grants Fund Panel to ensure that grants are fully compliant with the terms of the trust.

The Audit and Risk Committee has provided detailed scrutiny over data protection issues as LDBS developed its practices in 2022-23. The focus for the Committee in 2023-24 is the development of the practices relating to contractor and consultant management. Ongoing monitoring ensures that new actions and processes are embedded after initial changes.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

A refreshed safeguarding policy is now embedded, having been approved with due regard to the guidance of the House of Bishops.

8.3. Financial risks

8.3.1. Funding and liquidity risks

For routine maintenance projects for school buildings, the Education and Skills Funding Agency provides School Condition Allocations (SCA) grant funding quarterly and Devolved Formula Capital (DFC) annually in May. As funding is received before payments are made to contractors, there is an active management of surplus balances. LDBS maintains adequate liquidity so as to be able to pay contractors in accordance with the terms of their building contracts should grant funding be delayed for some reason.

8.3.2. Banking and Interest rate risks

LDBS invests surplus monies in short-term variable rate deposits and is thus exposed to counterparty risks; The Central Board of Finance of the Church of England which holds most of the LDBS's surplus funds adopts a conservative policy in this regard. LDBS has benefited from taking out, in March 2006, an unsecured 30-year fixed rate £3m loan at 5.46% per annum. Interest payments are covered by rental income.

8.3.3. Market price risk

The LDBS invests a portion of its long-term capital in pooled investment funds and in property investments. It is recognised that this exposes the LDBS to market price risks and investment decisions are made with a five-year time horizon such that realizations in the short term, when prices might be exceptionally low, would not need to take place.

8.4. Reputational risk

LDBS is always at risk of reputational damage because ultimately Church of England schools are responsible for their own decisions and actions. By monitoring the risks that schools face as well as the risks faced by LDBS we hope to intervene and support wherever possible to ensure that, for example, schools have good or better Ofsted and SIAMS outcomes. For 2023-24, LDBS has secured the services of communications specialists to ensure that an appropriate public response can be made if necessary.

8.5. LDBS Priorities

LDBS has an important role to play in supporting school governors and trustees to make wise decisions in relation to school organisation. Governors need to make decisions in the best interests of their individual school and its community. LDBS decisions need to be strategic and for the long-term good of the whole family of Church schools in London. It is in all of our interests to work together wherever possible to find creative ways forward in the face of the very real challenges of falling pupil rolls, school sustainability and structural reorganisation.

LDBS also has an important role to play in supporting every school and its linked parish or parishes so that authentic and distinctive ministry can flourish. Where this goes well, LDBS celebrates with schools and churches and shares best practice. Where difficulties arise, LDBS will seek to help all parties to navigate a way forward. This is especially important in the light of emerging differences arising from the Living in Love and Faith process.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Education is a sector that is politicised and reliant on regulation and policy set by government, so LDBS will always need to be alert for the ‘unknown unknowns’ that can mean that a rapid response is needed to new priorities.

LDBS has begun an important journey to revisit and overhaul systems and processes to ensure they are suitable for the challenges facing schools in 2023. This presents current risks but also opportunities and the aspiration that LDBS will be able to serve schools even more effectively in the future than in the past.

Internally, the change management process continues, and this will continue to be a priority in 2023-24. In areas where significant progress has been made, time is needed for new structures to become embedded and part of the LDBS culture; this is not taken for granted.

The need to support the whole network of schools to meet the challenges of school sustainability and covid recovery will also continue. LDBS aspires to sector leadership in supporting our large, successful family of schools to contribute to evidence-based decision making.

Further work will be required in 2023-24 to align our investment portfolio with our new investment policy, and to ensure that schools and LDBS properties are making pro-active progress towards Net Zero Carbon.

The LDBS Core Service has been reframed for 2023-24 to better reflect the strategic responsibilities held by LDBS and the unique role that LDBS plays in support of the whole network of Church schools as well as LDBS support for individual school development.

There are three strands to this approach:

LDBS represents school concerns, promotes the interests of church schools and highlights the key difference they make to the education system.

Advocacy

LDBS provides the network through which individual schools, partnerships, federations and trusts can work together to strengthen education.

Collaboration

LDBS offers bespoke support to individual School Support schools so that they can provide the best possible education for students.

In summary, LDBS recognises the risks and challenges faced by the Church schools that we serve and support. We also recognise the importance of being an outward-facing organisation and speaking into the wider context so as to advocate for and promote Church of England education in London.

9. Taxation status

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

LDBS is a registered charity and as such can take advantage of exemptions granted under The Corporation Tax Act 2010. It is not liable to corporation tax on charitable income or income from charitable activities.

10.Ultimate undertaking

The accounts accompanying this report have been prepared on the basis that the LDBS is the ultimate undertaking. However, attention is drawn to the relationship with the Diocese of London mentioned above.

11. Statement of Trustee responsibilities

LDBS Trustees are also Directors of London Diocesan Board for Schools for the purposes of company law. They are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law), including FRS102 in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

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

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees confirm that in so far as the trustees are aware:

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

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

It is the view of the trustees that the company is a going concern as the assets are available and adequate to fulfil the obligations of the charity and that the accompanying financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011, and the Charities SORP FRS (102).

12.Auditor

Hays Macintyre LLP has expressed willingness to continue in office. In accordance with Section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006 a resolution to reappoint Haysmacintyre LLP was passed at the Trustees’ meeting held on 12 July 2023.

The Trustees’ Annual Report (including the Strategic Report) was approved by the Board on 12 July 2023.

On behalf of the Board

Rt Revd Rob Wickham

Chair of LDBS Board London Diocesan Board for Schools Company number 00198131 Registered Office: 36 Causton Street, London SW1P 4AU

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Independent auditor’s report to the members of London Diocesan Board for Schools

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of London Diocesan Board for Schools for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Consolidated and Charitable Company Balance Sheets, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other information

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

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

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LDBS TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Report (which incorporates the strategic report and the directors’ report).

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

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 24, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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

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

Based on our understanding of the charitable company and the environment in which it operates, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011 and we considered the extent

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to which noncompliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered other factors such as income tax, payroll tax and sales tax.

We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls), and concluded that the risk was low. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Adam Halsey (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Haysmacintyre LLP, Statutory Auditors

10 Queen Street Place London, EC4R 1AG

Date: 27 September 2023

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LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCORPORATING A CONSOLIDATED INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Unrestricted Unrestricted **Restricted ** Endowment Total Total
Funds Funds Funds
2023 2023 2023 2023 2022
Income from: Notes £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s
Donations and grants 3a 538 21 - 559 476
Charitable activities 3b 1,547 14,906 - 16,453 10,485
Other trading activities 4 972 - - 972 1,117
Investments 3c 36 1,540 - 1,576 1,087
Other income - - - - -
Total 3,093 16,467 - 19,560 13,165
Expenditure on:
Raising funds and investment management 5a - (467) - (467) (335)
Commercial trading operations 4 (577) - - (577) (703)
Charitable activities 5b (3,012) (10,895) - (13,907) (12,223)
Total (3,589) (11,362) - (14,951) (13,261)
Net gains/(losses) on investments (3) 622 (42) 577 4,433
Net income/(expenditure) before transfers (499) 5,727 (42) 5,186 4,337
Transfers between funds 7 499 (499) - - -
Net income - 5,228 (42) 5,186 4,337
Other recognised gains
Change in fair value provision of debtors 11 - - - - 91
Net movement in funds - 5,228 (42) 5,186 4,428
Reconciliation of Funds
Fund balances at the beginning of the year 559 41,582 1,371 43,512 39,084
Net movement in funds for year - 5,228 (42) 5,186 4,428
Fund balances at the end of the year 559 46,810 1,329 48,698 43,512

All incoming resources and resources expended have been derived from continuing activities. There were no other gains and losses in the year.

The accompanying accounting policies and notes on pages 34 to 45 form an integral part of these financial statements.

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LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2023

Unrestricted Unrestricted **Restricted ** Endowment
Funds Funds Funds Group Group
2023 2023 2023 2023 2022
Notes £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets 8 9 - - 9 16
Investments 9 - 41,567 1,329 42,896 42,340
9 41,567 1,329 42,905 42,356
Current assets
Finance lease receivable after more than one year 10 - 1,228 - 1,228 1,305
Finance lease receivable within one year 10 - 77 - 77 72
Trade and other debtors 11 81 453 - 534 327
Cash at bank and in hand 1,455 7,371 - 8,826 7,456
Liabilities 1,536 9,129 - 10,665 9,160
Creditors falling due within one year 12a (986) (2,043) - (3,029) (6,037)
Net current assets 550 7,086 - 7,636 3,123
Total assets less current liabilities 559 48,653 1,329 50,541 45,479
Creditors falling due after more than one year 12b - (1,843) - (1,843) (1,967)
Total assets 559 46,810 1,329 48,698 43,512
Funds
Unrestricted 559 - - 559 559
Expendable capital 15 - 46,810 - 46,810 41,582
Permanent capital 16b - - 1,329 1,329 1,371
Total Funds 559 46,810 1,329 48,698 43,512

These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the directors on 12 July 2023

Simon Judge, Director

12 July 2023

Rt Revd Rob Wickham, Director

The accompanying accounting policies and notes on pages 34 to 45 form an integral part of these financial statements.

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LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

CHARITABLE COMPANY BALANCE SHEET AT 31 MARCH 2023

Unrestricted Unrestricted **Restricted ** Endowment Total Total
Funds Funds Funds
2023 2023 2023 2023 2022
Notes £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s
Fixed Assets
Tangible fixed assets 8 9 - - 9 16
Investments 9 - 41,567 1,329 42,896 42,340
9 41,567 1,329 42,905 42,356
Current assets
Finance lease receivable after more than one year 10 - 1,228 - 1,228 1,305
Finance lease receivable within one year 10 - 77 - 77 72
Trade and other debtors 11 42 453 - 495 294
Cash at bank and in hand 1,277 7,371 - 8,648 7,251
Liabilities 1,319 9,129 - 10,448 8,922
Creditors falling due within one year 12a (769) (2,043) - (2,812) (5,799)
Net current assets 550 7,086 - 7,636 3,123
Total assets less current liabilities 559 48,653 1,329 50,541 45,479
Creditors falling due after more than one year 12b - (1,843) - (1,843) (1,967)
Total assets 559 46,810 1,329 48,698 43,512
Funds
Reserves 559 - - 559 559
Expendable capital 15 - 46,810 - 46,810 41,582
Permanent capital 16b - - 1,329 1,329 1,371
Total Funds 559 46,810 1,329 48,698 43,512

These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the directors on 12 July 2023

Simon Judge, Director 12 July 2023

Rt Revd Rob Wickham, Director

The accompanying accounting policies and notes on pages 34 to 45 form an integral part of these financial statements.

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LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Note
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash provided by operating activities
13
Cash flows from investing activities
Dividends, interest and rents from investments
Purchase of property, plant and equipment
Proceeds from sale of investments
Net cash provided by investing activities
Cash flows from financing activities
Repayment of borrowings
Interest paid
Finance lease repayments
Net cash (used in) financing activities
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year		 2023
£000’s
(49)
1,576
(4)
-
1,572
(119)
(106)
72
(153)
1,370
7,456
8,826		 2022
£000’s
(1,010)
1,087
(6)
24
1,105
(113)
(111)
70
(154)
(59)
7,515
7,456

The accompanying accounting policies and notes on pages 34 to 45 form an integral part of these financial statements.

Page 32

LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

2 NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) FOR THE YEAR IS STATED AFTER CHARGING:

Auditor's remuneration:
- the statutory audit - LDBS
- the statutory audit - trading subsidiary
Depreciation on freehold and leasehold properties
Depreciation on fixtures, fittings and equipment
3 INCOME FROM:
(a) Donations and grants
Grant from London Diocesan Fund (see note 14)
Spelthorne Gymnastics
HMRC tax relief on gift aid donations
(b) Charitable activities
Grants and contributions receivable
from Education & Skills Funding Agency,
Local Authorities and other public bodies
Sales, fees and subscriptions
Reimbursement from schools
(c) Investments
Distributions from unlisted pooled investment funds
Rental income from investment properties
Interest on cash deposits		 2023
2022
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
31
1
32
26
1
27
4
-
4
4
-
4
-
24
24
-
24
24
8
-
8
11
-
11
Unrestricted
Restricted
2023
Unrestricted
Restricted
2022
Total
Total
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
538
-
538
456
-
456
-
19
19
-
19
19
-
1
1
-
1
1
538
21
559
456
20
476
-
10,425
10,425
-
7,903
7,903
1,497
909
2,406
1,315
925
2,240
50
2,192
2,242
220
122
342
1,547
14,906
16,453
1,535
8,950
10,485
-
208
208
-
195
195
-
1,192
1,192
-
849
849
36
140
176
-
43
43
36
1,540
1,576
-
1,087
1,087

4 NET INCOME FROM NON CHARITABLE TRADING ACTIVITIES OF SUBSIDIARIES

The Charitable Company owns the entire issued ordinary share capital of £100 of Grow Education Partners Limited, a company registered in England & Wales (Company No:2874636). The principal activity is the provision of consultancy services to schools.

Turnover
Cost of sales
Gross profit
Balance added to reserves
Net profit
Administrative expenses
Gift aid to LDBS		 2023
2022
£000's
£000's
972
1,117
(573) (699)
399
418
(4) (4)
395
414
(395) (414)
-
-

Aggregate total liabilities and aggregate total assets are both £236k (2022: £236k)

Page 33

LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

(a) Raising funds and investment management
Investment property expenses
Professional fees for investment and trust properties
Bank loan interest
(b) Charitable activities
Grants to schools
(see details in Note 5(c))
School building works and repairs
Salaries, social security and pension costs (see note 6)
PGCE SCITT course delivery costs
Depreciation -investment assets
Support costs:
Depreciation -fixed assets
Occupancy costs
Audit fees
Other costs
(c) Grants made to Schools
St Jude & St Paul's School, Mildmay Park
Holy Trinity School, Dalston
St John's School, Bethnal Green
St George the Martyr School, Holborn
5 EXPENDITURE ON:
Grants to individuals through the City & Diocese of
London Voluntary Schools Fund (see Note 16)		 2023
2022
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
£000's
-
236
236
-
153
153
-
123
123
-
71
71
-
106
106
-
111
111
-
467
467
-
335
335
-
235
235
-
211
211
-
24
24
-
30
30
-
10,404
10,404
-
8,863
8,863
2,157
159
2,316
1,984
82
2,066
480
-
480
371
-
371
-
24
24
-
24
24
8
-
8
11
-
11
300
-
300
295
-
295
35
1
36
30
1
31
32
48
80
181
140
321
3,012
10,895
13,907
2,872
9,351
12,223
-
131
131
-
96
96
-
82
82
-
77
77
-
15
15
-
31
31
-
7
7
-
7
7
-
235
235
-
211
211

(d) Trustees' expenses

Travel expenses of £14 were reimbursed to one Trustee (2022: £54).

As permitted by LDBS’s Articles and Memorandum of Association the resources expended by the charity include £36,590 (2022: £36,590) in respect of indemnity insurance for the trustees and officers.

6 STAFF COSTS 2023
£000’s		 2022
£000’s
Wages and salaries 1,707 1,797
Social security costs 211 211
Pension costs 388 389
2,306 2,397
The average number of staff employed by the company, including contracted part time staff on a full time equivalent basis was:
Statutory advice and corporate 15 16
Primary trading and non statutory support 12 15
27 31
Average number of employees 43 46
The number of employees whose gross salary for the year exceeded £60,000 are as follows:
£60,001 - £ 70,000 2 2
£70,001 - £ 80,000 3 2
£80,001 - £ 90,000 2 6
£90,001 - £100,000 3 3
£100,001 and above 1 1

Aggregate employer pension contributions for the employees above were £176,000 (2022: £192,300), payable to defined benefit schemes, Church Workers Pension Fund for four (2022: four) employees and Teachers' Pension Scheme for seven (2022: nine) employees.

£282k of staff costs allocated to trading activities (2022: £411k) and £1,986k allocated to charitable activities (2022: £1,986k).

The total amount of employee benefits, including health insurance, received by LDBS staff was £454k (2022: £365k).

Page 34

LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

7 TRANSFERS BETWEEN FUNDS

The Uniform Statutory Trust (Restricted Fund) made a grant to the Education Fund (Unrestricted) of £499k (2022:£450k).

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |8 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS| |Fixtures, Fittings & Equipment|Total|Total| |Group and Charity|1 April 2022|Additions|Disposals|31 March 2023|31March 2022| |£000s|£000s|£000s|£000s|£000s| |Cost|97|4|(6)|95|97| |Depreciation|(81)|(8)|2|(86)|(81)| |Net book value|16|(4)|(3)|9|16| |9(a) INVESTMENTS AT MARKET VALUE|2023|2022| |Restricted|Endowment|Total|Restricted|Endowment|Total| |Funds|Funds|Funds|Funds| |Unlisted|£000’s|£000’s|£000’s|£000’s|£000’s|£000’s| |Central Board of Finance of the Church of England (CBF)| |- Investment fund|1,088|587|1,675|1,128|608|1,736| |- Property fund|614|88|702|729|104|833| |- Global Equity Income fund|-|116|116|-|121|121| |M&G Charifund|2,151|-|2,151|2,291|-|2,291| |3,853|791|4,644|4,148|833|4,981| |Freehold Properties| |Moreton Street SW1|2,450|-|2,450|2,450|-|2,450| |-|-| |School House, Johns Mews WC1|2,420|2,420|2,420|2,420| |-|-| |Half Acre, Brentford TW8|1,070|1,070|1,070|1,070| |-|-| |Bishops Avenue SW6|11,600|11,600|11,600|11,600| |-|-| |Fulham High Street, SW6|3,400|3,400|3,400|3,400| |West End Lane NW3|1,754|-|1,754|2,800|-|2,800| |35 Treadgold Street, W11|436|-|436|581|-|581| |Friern Barnet Scout Hut NW11|340|-|340|340|-|340| |-|-| |St Jude's School, King Henry's Walk N1|1,500|1,500|1,500|1,500| |St Jude's Cottages, King Henry's Walk N1|926|-|926|926|-|926| |-|-| |St Matthias School, Bethnal Green (closed school)|4,024|4,024|4,024|4,024| |-|-|-|-| |Clerkenwell Parochial School, EC1|2,108|2,108| |13/14 Archer Street W1|3,562|538|4,100|3,562|538|4,100| |35,590|538|36,128|34,673|538|35,211| |Leasehold Property| |Long lease of land at Sunbury|90|-|90|90|-|90| |Gymnasium at Sunbury|2,174|-|2,174|2,174|-|2,174| |-|-| |Less depreciation|(140)|(140)|(116)|(116)| |-|-| |2,124|2,124|2,148|2,148| |Investments at Market Value|41,567|1,329|42,896|40,969|1,371|42,340|

----- End of picture text -----

Clerkenwell Parochial School was valued by Dalton Warner Davis LLP, Chartered Surveyors on 29 March 2023. The former St Matthias School, Bethnal Green was valued by Dalton Warner Davis LLP, Chartered Surveyors on 31 March 2022. The other freehold investment properties and the freehold operational property were valued on an open market basis as at 31 March 2020 by Dalton Warner Davis LLP, Chartered Surveyors. The leasehold property is stated at cost less depreciation.

The property at 13/14 Archer Street, acquired with vacant possession in June 2004, and the land and gymnasium at Sunbury are held by the City & Diocese of London Voluntary Schools Fund, which has given a mortgage to the Uniform Statutory Trust as security for inter-fund indebtedness. The amount outstanding at 31 March 2023 is £3.575m (2022: £3.575m).

Page 35

LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

2023 2022
9(b) INVESTMENTS AT COST **Restricted ** Endowment Restricted Endowment
Funds Funds Total Funds Funds Total
Unlisted £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s
Central Board of Finance of the Church of England (CBF)
- Investment fund 367 50 417 367 50 417
- Property fund 526 75 601 526 75 601
- Global Equity Income fund - 53 53 - 53 53
M&G Charifund units 2,083 - 2,083 2,083 - 2,083
Property 2,976
6,823		 178
262		 3,154
7,085		 2,976
6,823		 178
262		 3,154
7,085
All investments are held in the United Kingdom. 9,799 440 10,239 9,799 440 10,239

10 FINANCE LEASE RECEIVABLES

A finance lease was provided to Wren Academy for the construction of a sixth form centre with an anticipated redemption date of 31 October 2036. Amount drawn down £1.25m

A finance lease was provided to Spelthorne Gymnastics for the provision of mechanical and electrical works with an anticipated redemption date of 31 March 2037. Amount drawn down £200k

A second finance lease was provided to Spelthorne Gymnastics for fitting out works with an anticipated redemption date of 31 March 2038. Amount drawn down £250k.

Group and Charity
under one year
one to five years
later than five years
11 TRADE AND OTHER DEBTORS
Outstanding claims
- Department for Education & local authorities
Amounts due from schools
Trade debtors
Other debtors (comprise loans to employees)
12 CREDITORS
12(a)- Amounts falling due within one year
Trade creditors
Other creditors
Loan repayments
Accruals and deferred income		 2023
£000’s
77
321
907
1,305
Group
Charity
2023
2023
£000’s
£000’s
6
6
150
111
375
375
3
3
534
495
Group
Charity
2023
2023
£000’s
£000’s
547
526
24
24
118
118
2,340
2,144
3,029
2,812		 2022
£000’s
71
310
995
1,376
Group
Charity
2022
2022
£000’s
£000’s
6
6
144
111
173
173
4
4
327
294
Group
Charity
2022
2022
£000’s
£000’s
1,818
1,802
19
19
118
118
4,082
3,860
6,037
5,799

Accruals and deferred income include amounts of £2.3m (2022: £4.1m) in respect of grants and contributions received in advance of related expenditure being incurred. £1.9m (2022: £2.2m) of the preceding year balance was released in the current year.

Page 36

LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

12 CREDITORS continued
due within 2 to 5 years
due within 1 to 2 years
Loan repayments
due thereafter
12(b)- Amounts falling due after one year		 Group
Charity
2023
2023
£000’s
£000’s
129
129
427
427
1,287 1,287
1,843 1,843		 Group
Charity
2022
2022
£000’s
£000’s
124
124
407
407
1,436 1,436
1,967 1,967

13 NOTES TO THE CASH FLOW STATEMENT

Reconciliation of net income to net cash flow from operating cash activities
Net income for the year as per the Statement of Financial Activities
Depreciation charges
Losses/(Gains) on investments
Dividends, interest and rents from investments
Interest paid
(Increase)/ Decrease in debtors
(Decrease) in creditors
Net cash (outflow) from operating activities		 2023
2022
£000’s
£000’s
4,269
4,337
32
35
340
(4,434)
(1,576)
(1,087)
106
111
(207)
670
(3,013)
(642)
(49)
(1,010)

14 TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PARTIES

The London Diocesan Fund and the London Diocesan Board for Schools are separate charities but various diocesan bodies appoint the majority of the directors of the two companies. A number of members are directors of both charities. In addition Inigo Woolf, acting in a personal capacity, is a director of the London Diocesan Fund.

A number of directors are governors and/or employees of schools which buy services from LDBS and its subsidiary, Grow Educational Partners Ltd. There are no significant purchases or sales which require disclosure.

The London Diocesan Fund provides office, computer support and payroll facilities to the LDBS. Although no charge is made for this support, the financial statements reflect the value of the donation under the heading London Diocesan Fund grant with an equivalent cost shown under the cost of charitable activities. The amount included in the Accounts is £367,000 (2022: £339,000).

The cash grant provided by The London Diocesan Fund during the year was £171,000 (2022: £117,064). In addition the Fund reimbursed LDBS £16,524 (2022: £11,886) and recharged expenses of £1,870,679 (2022: £2,039,000). The balance owed to London Diocesan Fund at 31 March 2023 was £nil (2022: nil ) .

LDBS has taken advantage of the exemptions available under FRS 102 "Related Party Disclosures" not to disclose transactions between it and its trading subsidiary, Grow Education Partners Limited, registered address 36 Causton Street, London SW1P 4AP.

The accounts have been prepared on the basis that the LDBS is the ultimate undertaking.

LDBS received £15,139 (2022: £10,486) from LDBS Academies Trust; Nil (2022: nil) was paid to the LDBS Academies Trust. In addition LDBS Academies Trust paid £54,246 (2022: £13,677) to Grow Education Partners Limited and received nil (2022: nil). LDBS Academies Trust 2 paid nil to Grow Education Partners Limited (2022: nil). No balances were outstanding at the year end.

Christ Church School NW3 sponsors the LDBS SCITT PGCE Course and receives grants for students from the Education and Skills Funding Agency and Student Loans Company. LDBS drew down £800,000 from this Account (2022: £580,000) to cover course running costs.

Clerkenwell Pariochal School is leased to the Hive Educational Trust, of which the LDBS is a corporate member, for a peppercorn rent. No balances were outstanding at the year end.

Page 37

LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

15 RESTRICTED FUNDS Balance Incoming Resources Transfers Recognised Balance
1 April 2022 Resources Expended gains/(losses) 31 March 2023
£000's £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's
Schools Building Maintenance Fund 729 909 (167) (838) - 633
Sole Trustee Funds -see note 16(a) 40,853 15,557 (11,195) 340 (295) 45,260
41,582 16,466 (11,362) (498) (295) 45,893
Schools Building Maintenance Fund
PGCE SCITT/School Direct Course
Sole Trustee Funds (see note 16)		 Balance
1 April 2021
720
14
36,486		 1,915
-
8,141		 (151)
-
(9,535)		 (1,755)
(14)
1,306		 -
-
608
-		 Balance
31 March 2022
729
-
40,853
37,220 10,056 (9,686) (463) 608
-		 41,582
16 SOLE TRUSTEE FUNDS
16(a) Restricted Funds
Uniform Schools Trust
City & Diocese of London
Voluntary Schools Fund
David Greig Trust 1949
Uxbridge Lecturer's Fund
St John's School, Bethnal Green
St Jude & St Paul Mildmay Park
St Matthias's School Bethnal Green		 Balance
1 April 2022
£000's
31,765
2,083
-
4
400
2,591
4,010		 Incoming
Resources
£000's
15,244
126
3
-
11
114
59		 Resources
Expended
£000's
(10,928)
(115)
-
-
(14)
(136)
(2)		 Transfers
£000's
372
(29)
(3)
-
-
-
-		 Recognised
gains/(losses)
& fair value
adjustments
£000's
(281)
-
-
-
(14)
-
-		 Balance
31 March 2023
£000's
36,172
2,065
-
4
383
2,569
4,067
40,853 15,557 (11,195) 340 (295) 45,260
Uniform Schools Trust
City & Diocese of London
Voluntary Schools Fund
David Greig Trust 1949
Uxbridge Lecturer's Fund
St John's School, Bethnal Green
St Jude & St Paul Mildmay Park
St Matthias's School Bethnal Green		 Balance
1 April 2021
31,383
2,120
-
3
388
2,592
-		 7,880
112
3
1
11
110
24		 (9,233)
(121)
-
-
(31)
(111)
(39)		 1,337
(28)
(3)
-
-
-
-		 398
-
-
-
32
-
4,025		 Balance
31 March 2022
31,765
2,083
-
4
400
2,591
4,010
36,486 8,141 (9,535) 1,306 4,455 40,853
Transfers to/(from) Uniform Schools Trust comprise
Transfer of subscriptions from Schools Building Maintenance Fund
Transfer of devolved capital from Schools Building Maintenance Fund
Transfers from other sole trustee funds
Transfer from Uniform Schools Trust to unrestricted funds		 2023
839
-
32
(499)		 2022
766
989
32
(450)
372 1,337
16(b) Permanent endowment funds:
City & Diocese of London
Voluntary Schools Fund
Uxbridge Lecturer's Fund
David Greig trust 1949		 Balance
1 April 2021
£000's
1,170
20
111		 Recognised
Balance
Balance
gains/(losses)31 March 2022 1 April 2022
£000's
£000's
£000's
59
1,229
1,229
2
22
22
9
120
120		 Recognised
gains/(losses)
£000's
(37)
(1)
(4)		 Balance
31 March 2023
£000's
1,192
21
116
1,301 70 1,371 1,371 (42) 1,329

The balance on the City & Diocese of London Voluntary Schools Fund includes a 13.125% interest in the property at 13/14 Archer Street (see note 9a).

Page 38

LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

16 SOLE TRUSTEE FUNDS continued

Uniform Statutory Trust (Established 1996)

The Trust was established under Section 557 of the 1996 Education Act. The Trustee may apply capital and income in expenditure on school sites and buildings. The Trustee may also apply income in or towards the provision of advice, guidance and resources (including materials) in connection with any matter related to the management of, or education provided at, any relevant school in the Diocese.

The City & Diocese of London Voluntary Schools Fund (Established 1813)

This charity (registered no 312259) may provide grants to schools for maintenance of school premises and to young persons under the age of 25 years who have for at least two years at any time attended a Church of England Voluntary School in the Diocese of London (Accounts are available from the Registered Office).

David Greig Trust 1949

The charity benefits pupils of Greig City Academy. In 2020 the Uniform Schools Trust granted the Academy £60,000 towards the cost of a STEM centre. The David Greig Trust 1949 is reimbursing the Uniform School Trust from investment income over a period of years to 2036.

The Uxbridge Lecturer's House Fund (Established 1721)

This charity provides grants to Church of England schools in the Parish of Uxbridge.

St John's School, Bethnal Green - the Mrs May Hollings Fund incorporating the Sir Daniel Keymer Memorial Fund

LDBS became sole trustee of this fund in 2020 which provides grants to St John's School.

The St Jude's, Mildmay Park, Church of England Primary School Foundation (Established 1857)

This charity owns land and buildings which were formerly used by St Jude & St Paul Church of England School. The Foundation is for the sole benefit of this School.

Former St Matthias School, Bethnal Green closed in summer 2021

The land and buildings have been let to a provider of special needs education. The funds are held in trust until the DfE gives direction as to how the funds can be used for the benefit of other Church of England schools.

The London Diocesan Board for Schools Trust Property (Established 2008)

This charity was set up to administer and hold land to the west of Warnham Road and to the north-west, north and east of Hilton Avenue, London N12 9HB as a permanent endowment. The land is leased to the Wren Academy for 125 years from 1 September 2008. No financial transactions have taken place nor has any value been ascribed to the land.

17 TRUST FUNDS

In its capacity as trustee of a number of schools the LDBS is the owner of a number of school sites. No value is ascribed to these sites whilst they continue to operate as voluntary aided schools.

The LDBS is custodian trustee for:
Investments at Market Value
Bartlett Legacy - St Saviours School, Poplar
CBF Investment Fund
St Paul's with St Michael's School, Haggerston
CBF Deposit Fund
Latymer & All Saints School, Edmonton
CBF Investment Fund
Latymer & All Saints School, Edmonton
CBF Deposit Fund
Holy Trinity School, Tottenham - Girls Green School Fund COIF Charities Investment Fund		 2023
2022
£000’s
£000’s
3
3
2
2
21
22
1
1
58
60
85
88

18 CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

At 31 March 2023 there were no contingent liabilities

19 CAPITAL COMMITMENTS

At 31 March 2023 there were capital commitments of £nil (2022: nil).

20 PENSIONS - Defined Benefit Scheme

London Diocesan Board for Schools (LDBS) participates in the Defined Benefits Scheme section of Church Workers Pension Fund (CWPF) for lay staff. The Scheme is administered by the Church of England Pensions Board, which holds the assets of the schemes separately from those of the Employer and the other participating employers.

The Defined Benefits Scheme (“DBS”) section of the Church Workers Pension Fund provides benefits for lay staff based on final pensionable salaries.

Page 39

LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

20 PENSIONS - Defined Benefit Scheme continued

For funding purposes, the DBS is divided into sub-pools in respect of each participating employer as well as a further sub-pool, known as the Life Risk Pool. The Life Risk Pool exists to share certain risks between employers, including those relating to mortality and post-retirement investment returns.

The division of the DBS into sub-pools is notional and is for the purpose of calculating ongoing contributions. They do not alter the fact that the assets of the DBS are held as a single trust fund out of which all the benefits are to be provided. From time to time, a notional premium is transferred from employers’ sub-pools to the Life Risk Pool and all pensions and death benefits are paid from the Life Risk Pool.

The scheme is a multi-employer scheme as described in Section 28 of FRS102. It is not possible to attribute the scheme’s assets and liabilities to specific employers, since each employer, through the Life Risk Pool, is exposed to actuarial risks associated with the current and former employees of other entities participating in the DBS. This means that contributions are accounted for as if the Scheme were a defined contribution scheme. The pensions costs charged to the consolidated SOFA in the year are contributions payable towards benefits and expenses accrued in that year plus any impact of deficit contributions (see below).

If, following an actuarial valuation of the Life Risk Pool, there is a surplus or deficit in the pool and the Actuary so recommends, further transfers may be made from the Life Risk Pool to the employers’ sub-pools, or vice versa. The amounts to be transferred (and their allocation between the sub-pools) will be settled by the Church of England Pensions Board on the advice of the Actuary.

A valuation of the DBS is carried out once every three years, the most recent having been carried out as at 31 December 2019. In this valuation, the Life Risk Section was shown to be in deficit by £7.7m and £7.7m was notionally transferred from the employers’ sub-pools to the Life Risk Pool- the LDBS notional share was £172k. This increased the Employer contributions that would otherwise have been payable.

Following the valuation, the Employer has entered into an agreement with the Church Workers Pension Fund to pay a contribution rate of 35.2% of pensionable salary and expenses of £9,500 from 1 April 2022 (£9,500 from 1 April 2021). The contribution rate reduced to 30% on 1 January 2023. There are 15 active and 29 deferred members as at 31 March 2023.

The completed service section of the DBS (active and deferred members) for the LDBS sub-pool had a surplus of £483k at 31st December 2019.

10 employees (6 full time and 4 part-time) are members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme with the LDBS making a contribution of 23.68% (2022: 23.68%) of their salary.

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LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

21 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Income from:
Donations and grants
Charitable activities
Other trading activities
Investments
Other
Total
Expenditure on:
Raising funds and investment management
Commercial trading operations
Charitable activities
Total
Net gains on investments
Net income/(expenditure) before transfers
Transfers between funds
Other recognised gains
Change in fair value provision of debtors
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of Funds
Fund balances at the beginning of the year
Net movement in funds for year
Fund balances at the end of the year
Net income		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Endowment
Total
Funds
Funds
Funds
£000’s
£000’s
£000’s
£000’s
456
20
-
476
1,535
8,950
-
10,485
1,117
-
-
1,117
-
1,087
-
1,087
-
-
-
-
3,108
10,057
-
13,165
-
(335)
-
(335)
(703)
-
-
(703)
(2,872)
(9,351)
-
(12,223)
(3,575)
(9,686)
-
(13,261)
(1)
4,364
70
4,433
(468)
4,735
70
4,337
464
(464)
-
-
(4)
4,271
70
4,337
-
91
-
91
(4)
4,362
70
4,428
563
37,220
1,301
39,084
(4)
4,362
70
4,428
559
41,582
1,371
43,512

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LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

1. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Trustees' report and the accompanying financial statements of the charitable company limited by guarantee have been prepared in accordance with applicable Accounting Standards in the United Kingdom and the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (FRS 102).

The Accounts comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006. A summary of the principal accounting policies which have been applied consistently except as stated, is set out below.

1.1 Basis of Preparation

The Financial Statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as adjusted for the revaluation of investments and investment properties. The Statements are presented in Sterling (£). As discussed in the trustees' report, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual report and accounts. The LDBS meets the definition of a public benefit entity.

1.2 Significant judgements and estimates

The only material judgements or estimations applied in the preparation of the financial statements relate to the depreciation on freehold property held in tangible fixed assets (note 8),investment properties which are formally valued every five years and it has been assessed that their aggregate fair value remains materially correct (Note 9a) and to the calculation of the fair value provision in debtors (Note 11). There are no other material judgements or estimates in the preparation of these financial statements.

1.3 Basis of Consolidation

The financial statements aggregate the Statements of Financial Activities and Balance Sheets of the Funds held under the LDBS’s control namely:

Education Fund unrestricted fund
Grow Education Partners Limited wholly owned trading company
Uniform Schools Trust restricted fund
Uniform Schools Trust - Schools Building Projects restricted fund
School Centred Initial Teacher Training Course restricted fund
Schools Buildings' Maintenance Scheme restricted fund
City and Diocese of London Voluntary Schools Fund sole trustee of a permanent endowment
David Greig 1949 Trust sole trustee of a permanent endowment
Uxbridge Lecturers House Fund sole trustee of a permanent endowment
St John's CofE School , Bethnal Green - Mrs May Hollings Fund sole trustee
St Jude and St Paul Mildmay Park Trust sole trustee
St Matthias School, Bethnal Green (a closed school) sole trustee

LDBS is Trustee for a number of schools; the assets of the schools concerned are not included in the financial statements until such time as the school is closed and the site is available for sale.

1.4 The Charity and its Subsidiary Undertakings

The Group financial statements consolidate the financial statements of the Charity and its wholly owned subsidiary undertaking, Grow Education Partners Limited (Company No: 2874636) drawn up to 31 March each year.

The Charity balance sheet excludes the assets and liabilities of Grow Education Partners Ltd but does include the investment in Grow Education partners Ltd which is held at cost (£100).

1.5 Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated on a straight-line basis and aims to write down the cost of tangible fixed assets other than freehold property over their expected useful economic lives of four years. Following a re-organisation of property assets that took place on 31 March 2020, the freehold property was transferred to investment property, to better reflect its on-going useage. It had previously been held at its 2015 fair value within tangible fixed assets.

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LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

Items are capitalised at historical cost except those costing less than £250 except for the PGCE SCITT course where expenditure is written off against specific capital grants received.

1.6 Receivables due from Schools

Where schools require more than twelve months to pay off building project balances, an estimate is made of the realistic timescale for repayment; a fair value adjustment is calculated based on the present value of estimated future cash flows discounted at the gross redemption yield of a government stock with a similar repayment date.

1.7 Fixed Asset Investments

The Uniform Statutory Trust holds investment property originally vested in it in respect of schemes created under various Education Acts. Investment property held in this and in sole trustee funds is included in the financial statements at estimated open market value in accordance with FRS102. Depreciation is not provided in respect of freehold investment properties. This treatment is contrary to the Companies Act 2006, which states that fixed assets should be depreciated, but is, in the opinion of the trustees, necessary in order to give a true and fair view of the financial position of the Company and Group. All investment property is held at fair value at each balance sheet date.

Investments are included at market value and the original cost is shown in a note to the accounts. All changes in value are reported in the Statement of Financial Activities.

A lease held as an operating lease has been classified as a finance lease. Interest has been calculated and is being paid on the premise that the lease is cancelled at end of October 2036.

1.8 Finance Leases

Finance leases are leases in which substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership other than legal title, are transferred to the lessee. Assets acquired and held for use under finance leases are presented as a debtor at an amount equal to the investment in the lease. Finance income is subsequently recognized at a constant periodic rate of return on that net investment.

1.9 Financial Instruments

All financial assets and liabilities are of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments; these instruments are initially recognized at transaction and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

1.10 Incoming Resources

(a) Donations and grants

Donations, other than grants from charitable organisations, are recognised when received.

Donated services from the London Diocesan Fund are included in income at a valuation, which is an estimate of the financial cost borne by the donor, with a quantifiable and measurable value to the charity. An equivalent amount is charged as expenditure.

All the trustees of the Charity are volunteers and the value of the time they spend supporting the Charity is not measured.

(b) Charitable activities

Grants receivable from the Education and Skills Funding Agency and Local Authorities are credited to income in the year in which the related expenditure is incurred; an estimated sum is included in the financial statements for grants not agreed at the end of the financial year. Contributions due from school governors and other grants are treated in the same way.

An estimate of future income is included in the financial statements for claims not able to be made prior to the year-end, but relating to expenditure which was incurred before the year-end.

Other grants received for specific activities includes unspent capital held for voluntary aided schools devolved by the Department for Education. These grants have been pooled by schools within the Schools' Buildings Maintenance Scheme. Policy guidance issued by the Education and Skills Funding Agency indicates that the grants are repayable if not used within three years. Grants received in excess of expenditure incurred in the year are treated as deferred income. These grants are accounted for on a first in first out basis.

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LONDON DIOCESAN BOARD FOR SCHOOLS

(c) Other trading activities

Subscriptions received by Grow Education Partners Limited for the academic year beginning 1 September are recognised as income evenly over three terms.

(d) Investments

Investment income includes rental income, receivable during the year, and dividends and interest when received.

1.11 Expenditure

Resources expended, including grants, are included in the Statement of Financial Activities on an accruals basis. LDBS is not registered for VAT whereas Grow Education Partners Limited and the City & Diocese of London Voluntary Schools Fund are registered for VAT.

- Raising funds and investment management funds

The cost of generating funds includes all costs relating to the raising of funds and the management of the properties included in these financial statements and professional fees incurred as trustee of a number of schools.

- Charitable activities

Grants made to schools/individuals are recognised only when the conditions attaching to the grants have been met.

Overheads are allocated where possible to the relevant charitable funds. Where expenditure cannot be specifically allocated, costs are apportioned between funds based on estimated time spent by staff. No administrative charges are levied on the subsidiary company, Grow Education Partners Limited or on the sole trustee funds including the City & Diocese of London Voluntary Schools Fund.

Costs include those incurred by Trustees in connection with the administration of the charity including audit costs. Staff costs relating to the preparation of reports for meetings of Trustees and the statutory accounts are apportioned on a time basis.

The value of accrued holiday pay at the year end is calculated but no provision is made as the amount is immaterial.

1.12 Pensions

- Defined benefit scheme

All eligible permanent employees are given the opportunity to join the Church of England Defined Benefits Scheme, which is administered by the Church of England Pensions Board. The contribution rate paid by the LDBS in 2023 was 35.2% up to 31 December 2022 and 30% from 1 January 2023 (2022: 35.2%) of salary plus expenses of £7,125 to 31 December 2022 (2022: £9,500). The expenses are not charged from 1 January 2023.

Due to the nature of this scheme, LDBS is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. In accordance with the provisions of Section 28 of FRS 102 the scheme is treated as a defined contribution scheme. As a result the pension costs charged to the Consolidated SOFA in the year are contributions payable towards the benefits and expenses accrued in that year, plus any impact of deficit contributions. There are no deficit recovery payments which need to be recognized as a liability in the financial statements.

- Other

Some staff have reached agreement to join or remain in alternative pension schemes to which LDBS contributes.

1.13 Restricted Funds

Restricted funds are to be used for specified purposes laid down by the donor / granting body. Expenditure for those purposes is charged to the fund together with a fair allocation of overheads and support costs.

1.14 Transfers

Grants between funds for internal purposes are treated as transfers in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA). Other grants are included in charitable activities in the SOFA.

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