Company r•glstratlon number SC176817 IS¢otlandl Charlty reglstrauon number SCO19785 (Sco￿and) SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU CONTEKrs Page Trustees. report Statement of tnJsta&s' ￿sponSibl111183 Independ8nt auditorfs report 9-12 Statement of financial 13 Balaw* sheet 14 statetnent of cash flows 15 Notes to the financial statements 16-27 SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU LEGALAND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION TrLFstses S Beer (Chairl D Bell (Vice thairl K Gedde5 R Lewi5 ITreasurerl D Marsh M G Smith W Fraser R Simpson Secretary D Armstrong Charlty number Iscotlandl SC019785 Comparty number SC176817 Re9lster8d office Market House 14 Market Street Lerwick Shetland ZE1 OJP Auditor J.B. Scholes Ltd St Olafs Hall Church Road Lerwicjt Shetland Isles ZE1 OFD Banker8 8ank of Scotland 117 Commercial Street Larwick Shetland ZE1 OOL SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU TRUSTEES. REPORT {INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 The trustees present thair annual report and finanual Stat￿entS forthe yèar ended 31 Ma￿h 2026. The awounts have been prepared in sccordance with the accounting policies sel out in note 1 to tke arLounls and cornply with the charity's Mernorandum and Articles of A580ciats"on, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotlandl Act 2005. th8 Charitses Accounts Iscotlandl Regulations 2006 las amended) and Accounting 8ThJ Reporting by Charities.. Statgrnant of Recommended Practice applicable to char￿tieS preparing their accounts in a￿ordanCe with the Financial R8POrting Standard applicab18 in the UK and Republic of Iraland IFRS 1021. la amènded for accountiTrJ periods cornmenryng from 1 January 20191. Oble¢tlvgty and aetlvltles The purpo8e8 of th• charlty The Charty Is 8 voluntary organis8b.on established for thé purKY)se ol benefiting tha Shèuand comrnunity by.. 111 ensuring that indivkduals do not suffer through ignorance of their rights and re3ponsibilitiès ol the Servi￿ availabb or through an inability to expr8ss their needs effectiVg1y', 121 by 8xercising a respon¥ibl8 Influen￿ on the developrn8nt of social policies and 58twces both localty and nationally. The a¢tivltie$ olthe charity The piincipal activity of thè charity is to prgvida fre&. confidential. imparb.al and independent information and advic8 to all. This in¢lud8s information and advir£ on benefits, consumer issues, debt, ernploymenl, housing, lationship, tax, uts"lities, immigration other MIS￿lIan￿ou8 15sues. Advi￿ is provided by phone, email and latter, through the charity's website, and f&￿-to-f9ee in the bureau offi¢8 or through home visits. The core adwce Servi￿ provid8d by the bureau is funded by Shetland Charitablè Trust ISCTI. In addition to funding core bur8au costs and prO￿dIng support lor volunteers to provide generalist adviTr, SCT also provide some funding for Specialist advi• in benefits, debt and energy, and support the bureau to make advice aC¢8S5ible. Five years of SCT funding has b8en 58curEd to 31 March 2030. Tts meet demand, additional specialist advi￿ and support on soci81 security benefit8. debt and mO￿Y management, and @nergy Issues has been funded Sin￿ 2016 through funding from Shetland Islands Council (SIC) The current sic fundirYJ tem ended on 31 March 2026 and the continu8titsn ol seNices We￿ secured through a new 4 year contract with the SIC to end 31 March 2030. The local authority has provided athitional fvnding to the cha￿ty to help meet the Significant growth in demand for advi￿ as a result of continuing rises in the cost of living and energy promsion. From January 2023, SIC have provided 2.5 years, fvnding to support generalist advi￿ and income m8ximi5ation adwce. This funding ended on 30 June 2025. The SIC also awarded the bureau 3 years, funding trom April 2023 to sustain and adapt 38rvice5 to meet the ongoing dernand for advi in the a￿a$ ol client triage, energy and bgnaflt advice, and lo buikl r85111èn￿ in the organi3alion. This funding ended on 31 March 2026. Utilising its designated match funding roserve established in 2022. the charity was ab18 to Secu￿ 3 years, funding through Coastal Communities lo retain the Energy Adviser who had been funded by Energy SavitKJS Trust From January 2023, Coastal Communiti85 funding has been used for the delivery ol comrnunity-based energy and benefits advi￿. Coastal Communitie5 provided 71% funding with the bu￿aU required to prrNid8 match ftjnding for the ￿maInIng 29%. This funding ended on 31 Dètsmber 2025. The charity also provides a number of servirA5 through national Contracts sècured by Citizens Advic8 Scouand. In 2025126, these were th8 Patient Advice and Support servi￿ IPASSI which offers independ8nt advic8 and support to patients wishing to rnakè a complaint or rai58 eoneèms about NHS services." the Money Talk Plus project which has b88n used to part-fvnd triage so that ¢I￿nt enquiries can be dealt with more effectively and 81s0 lo provide support with disability benefit applications.. and th8 Pension Wise service which is 8 free and impartial service that helps people understand their pension options. Fund1ng for the Pension Wise 5èNea ended on 31 March 2026. Foundation Scotland also awarded th8 bu￿aU 2 years unrestricted funding from April 2025 to maximise. sustain and adapt cruaal servic85 to meet ongoing dernand. SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUEDI{INCLUDING DIRECTORS, REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 Contrlbution of Volunteers Volunteers play an important rolè in the bureau and m8ke a real difference to People's lives. Hall of the paople involved with tha bureau are volunt88rs. Volunteers are involved in a number of different rol&s. Within the bureau's core servi￿. volunteer adws8rs InteNiew clients and give them Info￿atIOn and adv￿ on a wide range of issues wth the support ol session supervisors and other specialist staff as required. Aft8r Completing a structured tiaining programrne, advisers are nomially expected to Work approximately six-eighl hour5 ￿rWeek, usually on regulardays, plus attendanc8 St meetings and trainiThJ 88ssions. The bureau's Iru5t8ès ar6 also volunteers who give their time not only at bimonthly board me8ling5 but also on rang8 of sub committees. The comrnitrn8nt and support of the volunteers is the lifeblood of thè bureau and always will i￿eSpective ol th8 number of paid staff that 15 employed. We are extremely gratefvl to a11 our volunteers for their flaxibility and commitfflent which have been crucial in enabSing us to sustain our delivery through the conth"nuing rises in the cost of living 8nd an*rgy provision wh￿h have pla￿d such high dernand on the seNice Achiev•m•nts and performanc• During 2025126. t￿ bureau delivered an 8ffectwe. high-quality advi¢9 servica to meet bcal ne9ds. 1,577 individuals were supported by the bureau In 2025126. Clients aCC8888d help 7,834 times. SO% of contacts were by ernail. 29% by phone, 6DA by18tt8r, and 15°h face to face Cl￿ntS were advised on 6,823 issues relating to benefits, debt, tax and finanaa1 is5U85, Utilitlès and communication. lega1 PrO￿edIng$, 8mployment, ￿latIonships, housing, consumer issues. health and community care, immigration, travel and transport, NHS concems or wmplain15, discrimination and education. 56% 01 advice was on Benefits and the financial gain through successfvl benefit application8. appeals and back payments was £1,435,845. e°/0 of advi￿ was on Deb( Tax and Financial i88u88. 31 people were assisted wth debts totaliro £343,590, giving 8n average debt Par clEnt of £11,084 per d￿llt. Debt written off for S cli8nts totaled £13,707. 16Yo of Advi￿ was on Energy issues and 487 p80plè were helped lo keep thèir households warrn by resolving billing problems, helping them to ac￿$ fy'nancial support, providing energy effiC￿neY advice and tsd(ling fuel debt The total financial gain achieved for clients supported by CAB was £1.525,772. Volunt88r5 etsntribuled more than 5,400 hours to the work of Bureau. At National Living Wage rate, this is equivalent to a contribution ofjust under £66,000. 96% of Clients w8ie satisfied that th8 advi￿ provided helped them sort out the problern they hsd contacted the semce about. 98% were happy with the accessibility of the Servi￿ and 99% were satisfied with the service they rèc•ived. 100% would ust tha Servi￿ again and r8commend it to som&one 8158. SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUEDI{INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 Flnanclal revlew Total income has increa58d in the year from £600,935 in 2025 10 £698,717 in 2026. Oelails of piincipal fundin9 sour￿3 are given below. Total expenditure has decreased from £617,009 in 2025 to £594,548 giving a net inC￿aSe in funds for the year of £104,169. Agairhst the bad(drop of limited resou￿$ and uncertainty over ftjturg funding, It is difficult to plan and develop Sèrvi￿$. Nevertheless, through sound financial Management, the charity has broadly maintained its bv8101 8rvice provision during a period ol sustained high demand. A g8nerous donation of £100.000 in unrestricted nding from Foundation Scouand has provided tha BU￿aU with greater finan￿￿1 stability, enablirvJ it to plan with increased confiden￿, maintain 8858nt.al services, and continue responding to the needs of the k)cal nmunities il $8rv8s. Prlnclpal funding sources Sh8tlarKI Charitable Trust ISCT) has been the charity's core lundgr since 1992 and was the charity's only funder to 2(M)0101 A strategic decision was taken in 2000101 tts diversify funding sources to redu￿ financial 115k5. Following a long period of standstill funding. the charity was able to apply for increased core funding from the Charitable Trust to ¢ov8r the full costs ol the core servi￿. The charity has successfully applied for continued Core funding from SCT lor a further fiv8 years. This puts the charity in a morg secur8 Posltion. However, SCT did not fully fund the Charity's application so it is anticipated that Ihg ch8rty will need to draw on r8serves to meet its cor8 costs in the next 4 yeats. In the year to 31 March 2026, approximately 74% of fiJndirvJ was obtained from Sheuand Charitable Trust 8nd Shetland Islands Counal, with the remaining 26% being sourced from extemal funders including Citizens Advico Scotland and Foundation Scotland. In 2025126. CAB leVe￿d in over £208,399 01 extemal funding. SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU TRUSTEES, REPORT {CONTINUEDI(INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 Reserves poliey The Board of Di￿¢tOrS has examined the Charity's requirements for reserves in the light of the main risks to the organisation and has established s8v8n reseNes funds. Unrestricted Gen8ral Reserves lo cover unforesegn èmergency costs based on 3 month5 operat'ng Costs exduding COSt5 covered in 2 above. Designat8d Redundancy Costs Reserve to enab￿ the bureau to meet its legal cornmthent to pay staff redundancy cost5 should the nead for ￿dUndanCIe5 arise. Designated Conting8ncy Reserve to COV8r the costs of 3 months of actual core expenditure,. long term senior staff absence wver", project funding at risk ol not bging re￿IVed,. and funding to cover bid writing. Designated IT Rep1a￿rnent R85erve for additional computer equipment and other for staff and volunteers to enab￿ them to effectively deliver the servi(￿. Designated Match Funding Reserve to piovide a source of tn8tch funding for external funding bids. In 2025126 £5.984 of Match Funding has been used to match th8 Costs ol the Coastal Communiti88 projeet. Financ8 and Governance funds part ol the new Finance and Rèsour￿ Manager post, which provide5 8 dedicated resour￿ for financial and HR and operaiional administration assistanc6, as well 8S assisting the manager wth organisatitsnal governance. Designated Local Cor8 Funding Defiryt to cover the budge18d shortfall for local eore funding to 2030 excluding costs covered in 2 al￿Ve. Th6 value olthese reserde5 ha5 been calculated as follows.. Unrestricted General Res8tves £151,391 Designated Redundancy Costs Reserve £66,756 Oesignated Conting8ncy Reserve £74,185 Designat8d IT Repla￿rn9nt Reserve £5,000 Designatsd matd)ing lund £73,708 D8SKJnated Financ8 and Governance fund £Nil Designated Local Cor8 Funding Deficit £103,329 The remainder ol unrastricted reserves is suffiaent to mèat 3 months oparating costs not wvered by the Designated Conts"ngency R8serve as recomm8nded by the Officg ofthe Scottish Challty Regulator IOSCRI. Totsl fiJThJs at the yaar-end were £567,375 ol which £93,006 were restricted aThJ £474.369 Waf& Un￿strIcted. Designated funds of £322,978 were held al the year-end for the purposes stated abovè. Plans for futurg pèrfods The charity plans to continue the core advice activities outlined above in th8 forthcoming years ￿bject to sats"sfactory funding arrangement5. Funding for th8 ytrar to 31 March 2027 is in place which will enable the charity to wntinue to provide servi￿$ at a similar level to 2025126. Shetland Charrtable Trust ISCTI has approvod funding to 31 March 2030 for the corè sèTrice. The bureau has secured a fvrther 4 years contract with Shetland Island5 Coun￿1 ISICI to 31 March 2030 for th8 ongoing provision of a Financial Health seNi￿ and an En8rgyAdvice Service. Foundation Scotland has awarded 2 years unr￿tricted funding to M8reh 2027 to support the work ol the buTeau and io help maximise the cruaal seN1￿$ provthd in Shetland based on its exp8rti58 and knowledge. Thi5 funding has allowed the charity lo retain the Community Based Energy and Benefits Advisèr who had been funded by Coastal Cornrnunities. conts.nued funding has been sècured through Citizens Advice Scoland ICASI lor the PASS service to 31 May 2027 and the mOr￿Y T81k Tearn proiact to 31 March 2028. During 2026127, the ch8rity will work to 89cure further extemal tunding in line ￿th its Business Plan. SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUED)IINCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 Risk management A review of the major risks tts which the charity is exp058d has been conducted. Systems of procedures havè established to mitigate th8 risks the charty fa￿$. To cope with extsrna1 risks to funding we have established a reserves policy and a plan that allows for the diversification ol fvnding and activitEs. Procedu￿$ are in pla￿ to ensure compliance with health and safèty ol staff, volunteers, client5 afid visitors to the organisation Citizens Advi￿ Scotland ICASI cary out quart8ily quality of advi￿ audits, and three-yearfy knll organisational audits to ensure a con51Stent qU81ity of setwce delivery for all operational 8spects ol the charity. In August 2023, the charity achieved lull Complian￿ in th8 three-yearty audit. These procedures are periodic8lEy remewed to en¥uTtr that they conknnue to me8t the needs ol tha charity. SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUED)(INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 Structu￿. gov8rnane• and management Governing document Th8 organisation is a Charitable cyjmpany limited by guarantea, incorporated on 30 June 1997. and registsred as charity on 17 January 1992. The cornpany was established under a Memorandum ol Association, which established the 0￿.ect$ and powers olthe tharitable company and is governed undèr ￿tsA￿cleS olAssocialion. Organi8ational structure The Scottish Citizans Advi￿ Bureau service consists of Crtizens Athl￿ Scotland and 58 Citizens Advice Bureaux throughout Scotland. each of which is an independent and autonomous charity responsible for its own managern8nl, development and funding but affiliated to Crtizen5 Adw¢8 Scotland. CitlZ8ns Advi￿ Scotland is a national membership body that provides essents'al servi￿$ lo Citizen5 Advi Bureaux, including supporting bureau management, training. expert help for bu￿auX advisers and mem￿r$hIp standards. The CAS Neiwork Servi￿$ team work with bu￿aU managers and boards of fflan8gement to providg guidanc8 and good practi￿ models to make sure that the busin85s ol giving advi￿ runs smoothly. This Includes help in the critical areas ol volunteer re¢ruitrnant and fundraising. Th8 eh8rity has a Board of Oireetors of up to 12 members who meet ￿0-MonthlY and are r85ponsible for the strategi¢ direction and policy of the charity. Directors are appoint8d to hold offi￿$ ol chairperson, chairperson and fin8no directorltreasurer until the conclusion ol the annual general meeting whi(* r￿xt follows appointsnent. The Board of D1￿CtOrS oversee the financial planning, b￿￿geting and spending of the bureau. including fundraising work, arvj ensure that the bureau maintains the membership conditions that allows the bureau to be part of the Scottish Assoryab'on of Citizens Advi￿ Bur8aux. In 2023, the bu￿aU was audit8d against the Membership Standards ol the Scottish Assorith"on ol Citizens Advic8 Bureaux and achieved lull compliance. A scheme of d818gation is in pla￿ and day-to-day ￿SponsIbl11ty for th8 provision of the SeN1￿ rests with the manager. The Bureau Manager is responsible for th8 delivery, management, and mon((oring ol all funding awarded tts the charity and line man8ges all staff and project5 of the charity. In June 2025. a n8W tull-time Finan￿ and Resou￿ Manager was recruited to bring the entire finance function in-house and to assist ￿th robust management of the organisalion, ensuring the responsible administration of income and expenditure, payroll. HR and operats'ons. Thg chairparson and vice chair￿rSOn ala responsible for urgenl matters between board meetings. Th8 trustees. who are alw the directors for the purpose of wmpany law, and who seNed during the y88r and Sin￿ the year end were.. S B8ei (Chairl D Bell (WI￿ chairl C Cossor K Gedd85 R Lewis {TreasU￿rI D Marsh M G Smith W Fraser R Simpson (Resigned 20 August 20251 (Appointed 20August 20251 IAppoinled 17 September 20251 SHETLAND ISLANDS CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU TRUSTEES. REPORT {CONTINUED}{INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 R•crultment and appolntment of dlre¢tors The directors of the company ar8 81s0 charity trustees for the purposes of charity law aThJ under the company's Arts"cles are known as members of the Board of Direetors. The maximurn number of Directors is twelve., these consist of a ma￿muM of nine elected Directors from rn•mbership, and a rnaxirnum of three Co-optèd Directors. At eac* general meeting both classes of dirèctor reti￿ from office but are eligible for r&election. Staff lincjuding management) and voluntsets ol the Bureau are not eligible to be appointed as Directors Staff and volunteers (including the Manager. Assistant Managers, Staff Adviser and Volunteer Adviser) are permitted lo attend Board meetings in an advisory role. Dlr8Ctors inductlon and tralnlng New directors are issued witt) an induction pack containing the aims and principles of tre charity, the Articles and Mernorandum ol Association, and primary policies and proc8dur88. Dir8Ctors also have the opportunity 10 8ttend periodic training sessions to familiarise themselves with the charty, th8 contaxt wthin which it operates, and responsibilits'e5 of th8 Board ol Directors. The charity has taken out indernnity Insuran￿ in favour ol the dir8ctor¥. This report has been pr8pared in accordan￿ with th8 Statement of Recommended Pradi¢g'. Accounting and Rgporting by Charities IFRS 1021 and in accordance with the small companies regime. Audltor In accordants with the company'¥ artic18s. a ￿$olution proposing IhalA.J.B. Scholes Ltd be reappointed as auditor of the cornpany will tre put at a Ggneral M88ting. Di8¢108ure of Information to auditor Each of the trus18e5 ha5 confimed that there is no infomation ol which they are aware which 18 rèlèvant to the audit. but of which the auditor is unawa￿. They have further confirrn8d that they have taken appropriate 8t8P5 tr1 identify such rd&vant information and to 8St8blish that the auditor is aware of such inforrn8titsn. The trustees, report was approved by the Board of Trustees. S Beer Ichair Trustee Dated". R Lewi8 ITreasur•rl Trustea Dated.. i