REPORT OF THE INDEPENI DENT AUDITORS TO THE TRUSTEES OF NORTHERN IRELAN'D TRADE Uh'ION EDUCATIONAL & SOCIAL CENTRE LIMITED Opinion We have audited the consolidated financial statemeiits of Northern Ireland Trade Unton Educational & Social Centre Limited (the 'parent chai'ity,) and its subsidiai.ies (the 'group') foi the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, consolidated Balaiice Sheet, company balance sheet, coiisolidated Cash Flow Stateineiit and notes to the financial statements, including a sutnmary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting fi'amework that has been applied in theii. preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reportlllg Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland, (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). In oui opinion the financial statements: give a true and fair view of the state of the group's and the parent charity's affairs as at 31 December2023 and of the group's incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for ihe year then ended. have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. and have been prepared in accordance with the requiretnents of the Companies Act 2006. Basis for opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with knternational Standards on Auditiiig (UK) (ISAS (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are Éndependent of the charitable company in accordance witli the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the fLnancial statements in the UK, including the FRC'S Ethical Standard, and tlLe provisions available for smaller entities in the circumstances set out in hTote 27 to the financial statements, 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 tiustees, use of the going concern basis of accounting Én the preparation of the financial stateinents is appropriate. Based on the work we have perfonned, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concem for a period of at least twelve months from when tlie financial statements are authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the tstee with respect to going concem are described in the relevant sections of this report. Page 7
REPORT OF THE INDEPENDEIN'T AUDrfoRS TO THE TRUSTEES OF NORTHERN IRELAND TRADE UN'ION, EDUCATIONAL & SOCIAL CENTRE LIMtTED cont'd Other information The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the inforniatioii included in the aniiual report, other than the financial statements and our Report of tlie Iiidependent Auditors thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other inforn]ation and, except to the extent othenvise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any forni of assur]ce conclusion thereoii. Til connection ivith our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other infoimation and, in doing so, consider whether the other infonnation is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or oui. 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 detemiine whether there is a material misstatement in the fmancial statemeiits or a material misstatement of the other inforn]ation. If, based on the work we have perfoiined, we conclude that tlierc is a material misstatement of this other inforn]ation, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard. Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006 In our opinion, based on the work undertaken ii) the course of the audit: tlie infonnation giveii in the Trustees, Report for the financial year for which tlie finaiicial statements are piepared is consistent with the financial statements. and the Trustees, Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements. Matters on which we are required to report by exception In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identifIed material n]isstatetnents in the Trustees, Report. We have nothing to report Én respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to repoit to you if, in our opinion- adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit liave not been received from branches not visited by us. or the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and rettims. or certain disclosures of director's remuneralion specified by law are not made. or wc have not received all the infomiation and explanations we require for our audit. Responsibilities of trustees As explained more fully in the Stateinent of Trustees Respoiisibilities set out oil Page 5, tlie trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) al'e respoiisible for the pi'eparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for sucli intelnal control as the trLiStees detennine is necessary to enabEe tlie pieparatÉon of financial statements that are free from inaterial mÉsstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Page 8
REPORT OF THE IlDEPENDEN'T AUDITORS TO THE TRUSTEES OF NORTHERN IRELAND TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL & SOCIAL CENTRE LIMITED cont'd Responsibilities of trustees (cont'd) i preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the group's and the parent charity's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, mattel's related to going concern aiid using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the group oi. the parent charity or to cease operations. or have no realistic alteniative but to do so. Auditors, 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, wliether due to fraud or eOr, and to issue a Report of the AuditOTS that kncludes 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 misstatemerAt when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually oi. in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisioiis of users takeii on the basis of these flln¢la1 statements. Because of the inherent limitatioiis 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 regulatÉon. 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 rathei. than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation. 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.. We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the Pareiit Charity & Group operates in, focusing on provisions of those laws ]d regulations that had a direct effect on material amouiits and disclosures in the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the UK Companies Act, pensions and tax legislation, charity legislation together with provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial stateinents, but Compliance with which may be fundamental to the Parent Charity & Group's ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. This included conditions of funding from various bodies. Page 9
REPORT OF THE INDEPEINDENT AUDITORS TO THE TRUSTEI ES OF NORTHERN IRELAND TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL & SOCIAL CENTRE LIMITED cont'd Auditors, responsibR]ities for the audit of the financial statements (eont'd) We tailored our response to those identified risks to include enquiring of management concerning acthaI and potential litigation and claims, perforniing anaRytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud, and reviewing correspondence witli HMRC and other regulatory bodies. In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls. we tested the appropriateness of joumal entries and other adjustments" assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias. and evaluated the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the norn]al course of business, of which there were none. In identifying and assessiiig risks of material misstateinent in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we considered the following: the nature of the industsy and sector, control environment and business perfonnance including the Parent Charity & Group's remuneration policies, and its intemal and external perfom]ance targets. results of our enquiries of management and other key persoiis about the Parent Charity & Group's own Adentification and assessment of the rksks of irregularities, including those tliat may occur either as a result of fraud or error, and matters we identified from our review of tlie Parent Charity & Group's policies, procedures and internal controls- and the matters discussed among the audit engagement team regarding potential indicators of fraud and where it might occur in the financial statements. A rther description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on tlie Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uklauditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Report of the Audltors. Use of our report This report is made solely to the charitable company's members. as a body, in accordance with Cliaptei 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and regulations made under that Act. Our audit work has beeii undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors, report and for no other pose. To the fullest extent pern]itted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other thali the parent charitable company and the charity's tLUStees as a body, for our audit work, for thxs report, or for the opinions we have fonned. Michael Barnett (Senior Statutory Auditor) McAleer Jackson Ltd Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditors Arthur House 41 Artliur Street BELFAST BTR 4GB Date,. 27 September 2024 Page 10