The trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the bureau's [governing document], the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019).
The charity’s objects are to promote any charitable purpose for the public benefit by the advancement of education, the protection and preservation of health and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress in particular, but without limitation, for the benefit of the community in Sunderland and surrounding areas.
All of the charity’s activities focus on advice provision and support for public benefit and the work is carried out through face-to-face consultations, telephone advice and community talks/sessions.
Through free, independent, confidential and impartial advice, we aim to provide the advice people need for the problems they face and to improve the policies that affect people’s lives. We also recognise the positive value of diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination.
Contribution of Volunteers
Although few in number at present, the organisation receives help and support in the form of voluntary assistance in administering the charity through its Trustee Board. In addition to the nine trustees, we currently benefit from having five volunteers, with others who we can call on to help with one off events such as bag packs and manning information stalls.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities undertaken during the year and are satisfied that the information provided in the report and accounts meet the public benefit reporting requirements.
Despite the uncertain and difficult financial landscape, Citizens Advice Sunderland has performed well and has helped 9,300 clients this year with over 34,000 issues. We continue to struggle to meet demand and after our Help to Claim contract ended at the end of 2022, we lost a number of key staff. We have also struggled to recruit and maintain staff for some roles within the organisation and, while that has resulted in a cost saving, it has had an impact on our ability to see more clients it has added pressure to the existing team.
We have a three year contract with Sunderland City Council to provide First Tier advice for those living in the East of Sunderland. This contract is commissioned until November 2023, and it supports our daily drop in generalist service and benefit form filling service. We offer benefit, debt, employment and housing advice under the First Tier contract predominantly face to face. However, our Adviceline telephone service also supports the contract. Our existing contract is to be extended by a further 12 months and commissioning will take place in 2024.
In addition to our First Tier contract, we offer money advice/debt support through the funding we receive from the Money and Pensions Service (MAPS) managed through the national Citizens Advice body. Sunderland is one of the most indebted regions in the country and the area suffers from high levels of deprivation and high levels of unemployment and sickness.
Our contract with the Wise Group to provide Financial Capabilities to people on the Wise Steps programme, ended this year. This programme was funded by the European Social Fund and the Big Lottery Community Fund and supported people to get back into work. It proved to be a very successful project and it helped us to build stronger relationships with our local stakeholders.
Our grant with the British Gas Energy Trust is performing very well and we have exceeded our annual target. This project allows us to offer a wrap around and holistic service to clients and we are seeing great benefits in this approach. We also received additional funding during the year to offer a mobile advice bus for eight months to support people with energy enquiries and crisis support. We were able to engage with over 750 people and while it was a huge success, it was an even bigger learning curve for us. The bus was further supported by Sunderland Council who funded a driver, insurance and fuel vouchers.
We were successful in securing Warm Homes Funding through working in partnership with Sunderland Council and Green Doctors. The aim of this project is to support people in accessing and installing air source heat pump systems and additional support in the form of energy advice and welfare benefit and debt advice.
We are also working in partnership with Stockton Citizens Advice and other local offices providing energy advice and support through home visits after Stockton led on a funding application to the Energy Redress Scheme for their Warm Up North project. Due to its success, this project was extended and will continue until August 2024.
We have had a number one off grants through Citizens Advice to support us with the impact of the Cost of Living and to support energy and carbon monoxide advice.
Through funding from Sunderland Council, we have offered outreach advice at Warm Spaces venues across Sunderland which proved very popular and led to additional sessions once the project finished. We are also working with the Council to ensure that people without heating can access emergency support and advice. We are working with Grace House in Sunderland to support their service users access outreach advice and support with form filling and general advice. So far, we have secured financial gains of over £500,000 for their service users. Following the success of the Warm Home projects, we have been working with Choices Wellbeing, a newly formed service to support parents of disabled children and that’s also proving popular. In 2024, our aim will be to undertake more outreach work, to ensure we engage with people who would not normally reach out to us.
The 12 month project for the Cumbria Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust comes to an end in December 2023 and our dedicated member of staff has been supporting people with benefit/debt support and the early intervention can have a positive effect on people and their ability to cope. This contract will test the impact of introducing our services early into the process to see if makes a difference long term.
It has been good year for securing income gains and writing off debts on behalf of clients and gains of just under £2.5 million were recorded. This is lower than what we achieved last year, however, this is mostly due to the loss of our Help to Claim contract which supported people to make a new claim for Universal Credit.
It has been a busy year for the organisation, and we are very fortunate to have an excellent and cohesive team who are all willing to go the extra mile to make a real difference to people’s lives. Our greatest difficulty this year has been in recruiting and training staff. We have had our highest turnover of staff over the last 18 months. It is a difficult sector in which to work, and the roles are demanding. The training programme is extensive, and it takes a significant time to train up and gain the knowledge needed to make an exceptional adviser. In the coming year, we will be looking at ways of making the organisation more attractive to potential employees in a particularly competitive employment market.
We are proud of our achievements, however, we have faced some difficult challenges, and it has been another extremely tough year for us and our local community. The cost of living crisis is still biting, and people are struggling to pay for basic essentials. As a community we need to work together, and our aim is to work with local stakeholders to ensure we reach as many in the community as possible.
The organisation is primarily funded by grants from the Money Advice and Pensions Service to provide advice on debt and financial issues and the British Gas Energy Trust to provide advice on energy and debt issues and income maximisation. We have two other major contracts with Sunderland Council, the First Tier Service and the Warm Homes Fund funded through Affordable Warmth Solutions. We have a number of smaller grants including funding from the Energy Redress Scheme and the CNTW Trust. All of our contracts ensure we are helping clients holistically, seeking to maximise income through energy savings measures, budgeting, dealing with debts and financial resilience and capabilities. All other income comes from one-off projects, donations and bank interest.
The organisation ends the year with a small deficit which is significantly better than the budget forecast at the beginning of the year. Most of the clawback comes from staff vacancies and salary savings plus new and unanticipated grant awards. Office costs were higher than anticipated due to a delay in renegotiating our new tenancy agreement with our landlords. Having lost some staff that have not been replaced, we need to rebuild our numbers and focus our attention on regrowth. We have little capacity to cover us for sickness or holidays and this is something we need to address if we are to achieve our goal of growth and meeting client demand.
Nevertheless, having reviewed the organisation’s current financial position, the Trustee Board is assured that the charity has adequate financial resources and is able to manage all known business risks going forward. The Management Committee has a reasonable expectation that it has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future and believe that there are no material uncertainties that call into doubt its ability to continue as a going concern.
Investment Policy
The Management Committee regularly reviews available investment products and seeks to invest reserve funds in low risk, short term investment products which provide the best interest rates attainable. To mitigate investment risk, diversification is limited to those institutions with a solid reputation and a strong credit rating.
Reserves Policy
The Trustee Board has a policy for holding unrestricted reserves to protect the organisation from the impact of shortfalls in forecast income, unforeseen expenditure or planned expenditure that will support the delivery of its charitable objectives.
Reserves carried forward as at 31 March 2023 are £631,110 Unrestricted (2022: £595,145) and £331,548 Restricted (2022: £380,018), totalling £962,658 (2022: £975,163).
In light of the current climate and an uncertain future, the Trustee Board seeks to maintain a minimum of nine months’ of £37,821 (2022: £69,392) running costs in reserve. The unrestricted reserves position as at the 31 March 2023 is more than sufficient, but given the uncertainty of the funding landscape and the economic climate, it is important to remain prudent, agile and flexible.
Any restricted balances held for the purpose of specific projects at year end do not form part of the reserves policy other than to spend the money in accordance with funders’ restrictions.
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the bureau is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
Plans for 2023-24
We expect that 2023 will be another busy year due to the cost of living crisis and high energy prices. In the coming year, our aim is to get out and about more within the community to raise awareness of our services and engage with hard to reach groups. Energy is a concern for everyone, and we have a high level of households currently living in energy poverty. With the experience we now have of energy advice and support we want to build on our energy offer to help people make energy efficiencies that will support their sustainability going forward.
We are very keen to increase our outreach advice programme and work with our stakeholders to ensure everyone understands what support is available to them. Demand for our services is already high and our drop in services are always busy, but we know that a lot of people aren’t aware of our services and how we can help them, so we need to invest in raising our profile and be in locations where people visit on a regular basis. This is undoubtedly resource heavy, but we feel it is a worthwhile investment to we reach people.
The trustee board have refreshed our strategy, and the focus is on securing more funding to allow us to reach more people and make a significant difference to people’s lives. The first step will be to ensure the team’s wellbeing and to grow our numbers. We started the year with just 22 staff, and we end it with 21. In order to meet existing demand, further investment is needed in additional resource and that will be predominantly in staffing. Despite our best efforts in updating our recruitment and training, we have not been able to increase our numbers over the year.
In addition to the investment in the workforce, we are also looking to increase our numbers on the trustee board with a focus on diversity and those who have backgrounds in finance and PR/marketing.
We find ourselves in a cost of living crisis and we need to be able to deal with high levels of demand, complex enquiries and meet our funders’ requirements through KPIs and positive outcomes. We are in a fortunate position of having a solid financial base and a dedicated and hardworking workforce. Whatever the future holds, we will ensure that we will continue to provide an excellent and efficient service to those in our community, but we need to protect our assets, starting with the team.
Citizens Advice Sunderland is a member of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB) which provides support and a framework of agreed membership standards of advice and casework management. However, the organisation maintains its independence and all policy decisions are taken by the Trustee Board in meeting its charitable objects.
The charity was incorporated on the 20 August 2007 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association which have been updated and amended in 2023. Overall responsibility for governance rests with the Trustee Board.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:
The trustees are also directors of Citizens Advice Sunderland for the purposes of Company Law. Starting the year with nine trustees, the newly recruited Board members have been getting to grips with learning about the organisation and looking to the future. We now have a cohesive and ambitious Board of Directors who are keen to make a difference in our local community and the trustees are working hard on drawing up an achievable but ambitious strategic action plan.
The Trustee Board:
sets the policy of the charity
determines corporate strategy including setting key strategic objectives
makes major decisions about the use of finances
All newly appointed trustees receive a Welcome Pack and a full induction using training and resources provided through the Citizens Advice intranet site and training site, Skillbook. All trustees are encouraged to take up further training opportunities as appropriate and engagement with the wider service is undertaken throughout the year in participating in forums, conferences and consultations wherever possible.
The local Citizens Advice trustee board oversee the information security of all personal information of our clients, staff, funders and strategic partners that is processed. The local Citizens Advice hold joint responsibility for client data that is held in our case management system, with the national Citizens Advice Service. An information assurance management team exists to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all personal and sensitive data is maintained to a level which is compliant with the requirements the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018.
We plan to carry out another trustee recruitment drive in the coming year to ensure that the work we have to do can be shared evenly amongst the board and that all meetings are quorate, particularly as many of our trustees have careers outside of the organisation. The Board have ambitious plans for the coming year and the trustees are keen to ensure the infrastructure and our strategy are fit for purpose and will ensure our ongoing ability to meet demand, survive a possible recession and ensure a quality and efficient service for our service users.
Management Team
Denise Irving is the Chief Officer and is supported by a small management team of Susan White and Louise Young, and Peter Wilson, the Finance Officer, who help manage the day to day operations of the organisation.
Administrative details
Company Number: 6347304
Registered Charity Number: 1121988
Company Secretary: Denise Irving
Registered Office: 5a Waterloo Place, Sunderland, SR1 3HT
Independent Examiner: Kathryn Morris FCCA (Bede House, 3 Belmont Business Park, Durham, DH1 1TW)
Bankers: HSBC (101 Front Street, Chester le Street, Co Durham, DH3 3BL)
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Citizens Advice Sunderland (the bureau) for the year ended 31 March 2023.
As the trustees of the bureau (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the 2006 Act).
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the bureau are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the bureau’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Since the bureau’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of ACCA, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the bureau as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Kathryn Morris FCCA
Other finance costs
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Citizens Advice Sunderland is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 5a Waterloo Place, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR1 3HT, United Kingdom.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the bureau's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)". The bureau is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the bureau. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the bureau has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the bureau has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that the settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as an expenses against the activity for which expenditure arose.
Direct charitable expenditure includes the direct costs of the activities and depreciation on related assets. Where such costs relate to more than one functional cost category, they have been split on an appropriate basis.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the bureau reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The bureau has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the bureau's balance sheet when the bureau becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the bureau’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the bureau is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
Provision of advice
Provision of advice
Provision of advice
Provision of advice
Vehicle hire
Staff and volunteer expenses
Repairs and renewals
Insurance
Postage, printing and stationery
Materials, subscriptions and licences
Telephone
Rent
Rates
Light and heat
Cleaning
Sundry expenses
Independent examiners fee
Legal and professional
Staff and volunteer expenses
Repairs and renewals
Insurance
Printing, stationery and postage
Materials, subscriptions and licences
Telephone
Rent
Other support costs
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year, and none of them were reimbursed travelling expenses (2022- none were reimbursed travelling expenses).
The average monthly number employees during the year was 24 :
In addition a great amount of time, the value of which is impossible to reflect in these financial statements, is donated by volunteers.
Other finance costs
Citizens Advice Sunderland, as a registered charity, is potentially exempt from taxation of income and gains falling within S505 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 and S256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992. No tax charge has arisen in the year.
Unrestricted Funds
The Trustees seek to maintain minimum Reserves levels equivalent to nine months running costs of the Bureau. The Reserves Policy is outlined in the Trustees' Report on page 1 to 7.
Restricted Funds
Money Advice Service Debt Advice Project (MASDAP)
This is an integrated debt advice service which is funded by the Money Advice Service and has funding until December 2023.
Sunderland City Council (First Tier Welfare Rights Contract)
This is a welfare benefits and debt advice service funded by Sunderland City Council. The project has funding until November 2023.
Energy Redress Scheme
This a project to provide energy advice to vulnerable people to meet the objectives of the Energy Redress Scheme (ERS). Funding is from Stockton & District Advice & Information Service (SDAIS). The project has funding until August 2024.
British Gas Energy Trust (BGET)
This a project to provide energy advice and assistance to the public aimed at reducing and managing debt, maximising income, reducing fuel poverty, and improving energy efficiency. The project has funding until March 2024.
CNTW NHS
Working alongside the three Sunderland NHS Foundation Trusts, the project provides dedicate advice and support to their patients particularly around welfare benefit support. The project has funding until December 2023.
Wise Steps
This project provides one-to-one tailored support to help people take positive steps towards work with funding from the Big Lottery and the European Social Fund. The project has funding that ended in December 2022.
Warm Homes Fund
This project provides 135 first time central heating systems and associated energy efficiency measures to eligible households affected by fuel poverty. The project has funding until March 2024.
Carbon Monoxide Advisory Project
This project involves the delivery of one to one carbon monoxide awareness and energy advice. The project has funding until March 2023.
Unrestricted
Restricted
Unrestricted
Restricted
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2022 - none).
Citizens Advice Sunderland is a Registered Charity (Number 1121988). The Charity is a Company Limited by Guarantee, having no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is £1.