The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 30 September 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 charity's memorandum & 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 objects are to promote and support gas safety in order to advance health and save lives by providing education in relation to gas safety and by promoting any purpose that is charitable according to the laws of England and Wales and which further gas safety as determined by the Trustees.
The Charity continued to focus on its two existing major successful grant programmes during the reporting period.
During the reporting period, the charity made the following substantial grants:
Think CO Programme
The Programme focuses on developing and promoting advisory and campaign material to prevent carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning by offering a range of accessible resources including in-person workshops, online workshops and e-learning. The target audience for the Programme is “trusted intermediaries” in the public sector, voluntary organisations and care providers. These are the people most trusted to advise service users and, as they visit people in their homes or offer advice over the phone, they can look for and ask about symptoms and danger points. The materials include advisory leaflets, factsheets, posters and training materials which were revised and updated during the year. Supported by the Gas Distribution Networks (GDNs), the Programme is developing an App to support and reinforce communication of Think CO messages to past participants and others.
Four face-to-face workshops were delivered during the period in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland. This is fewer than planned, mainly due to the challenges of settling into a partnership arrangement with the four main GDNs to deliver the workshops, plus people’s relative reluctance to attend face-to-face events post-pandemic. The preparation time with SGN mean two further face to face workshops were run in Scotland in early October 2023 plus two others in Jersey.
A total of 37 online workshops were held during the period, with 35 generic workshops and 2 to targeted organisations (ARC and Kingston Health and Social Care Professionals). 970 people attended the generic workshops and 45 attended the targeted sessions. A further 16 online workshops were held between October and December 2023.
1,034 people registered for the generic e-learning course. The course was revised and refreshed to incorporate changes to legislation. Two SCORM versions of the course were produced, one with a feedback form and Certificate and one without.
Working closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), a customised e-learning course was developed for them. This was launched in Home Safety Week 2023 and was made available to all Fire and Rescue Services in the UK.
A new suite of hard copy Think CO resource material was developed and is available at no cost via the GSC website.
A new CO awareness video in Bangla was developed in partnership with the Bangla Housing Association and was added to the GSC YouTube channel. Other videos available are in English, Hindi and BSL. A total of 5,001 people viewed the videos. The videos are based on the key safety messages delivered across the Programme.
A Think CO App is being developed, funded by the four GDNs. It is hoped that this will be available to launch in the autumn of 2024.
The grant awarded for the extension of the programme for the year was £137,640 based on 215 days, including VAT, expenses and the costs of a Virtual Assistant.
A Review Group of Trustees monitored the programme and met the delivery agency at regular intervals during the year to review progress.
The Think CO Programme produces a quarterly newsletter outlining the Programme’s work, as well as information on CO safety. Four e-Newsletters were produced and circulated during the period. The mailing list currently has over 2,500 subscribers.
Foundations Independent Living Trust (FILT)
The Charity continued to fund the successful programme in collaboration with Foundations Independent Living Trust (FILT) for a further year. The grant is spent via local Home Improvement Agencies (HIAs) on small grants to individuals and families in urgent need of a small sum of money to inspect, repair or replace gas systems and appliances. All the work undertaken relates directly to improving or maintaining gas safety, in the form of inspections, services, or repairs to pipework, fires, boilers and cookers.
The grants facilitated by the Charity also enable local HIAs to access further support. The funding leveraged in from other sources to supplement the support provided by the Charity during the period for gas safety related work was £724,783.62 which significantly increases the total value of the Charity’s contribution. It does not include other interventions that often arise from HIA visits, including welfare benefit checks and other home safety projects.
The Programme has a significant impact on the lives of vulnerable people. Everyone who has benefitted from the scheme lives in privately owned accommodation and most are over 60 with low income and/or a disability; smaller numbers of clients are under 60 with low income and/or a disability; and a small number of others are considered by the HIA to be exceptionally vulnerable.
The grant awarded for the period was £275,000 plus a Service Delivery charge of £33,757 (including VAT). The amount spent was £271,062.20 and the underspend from cases that were not completed by the year end was rolled forward into the following year of the Programme (Year 11). Nearly half of the interventions (41%) were for small amounts of between £51 and £100.
During the period, 1,666 households were helped with gas safety intervention work from the Gas Safe Charity (against a target of 1,500). A total of 3,240 different measures were undertaken to improve gas safety and the average cost per intervention was £165.07 (against a target of £183.33). The most frequently requested interventions were for boiler repair/servicing measures (2,608) or replacement measures (632).
Funds were distributed to a total of 37 HIA delivery partners across the UK, including Care & Repair organisations, housing associations and services within local authorities. It took longer than expected to recover from the disruption to services caused by Covid.
In addition, FILT manages a small national grant from the Charity of £5,000 which enables the HIAs in England and Scotland which are not amongst the selected local delivery partners to apply for and access the fund, according to clear criteria. The grant to Care & Repair Cymru covers the whole of that country.
FILT carried out an audit during the year of three agencies and provided a summary report to the Charity.
A Trustee Review Group monitored the programme and met the delivery agency on a regular basis during the year to review progress.
CASORT
The Charity is in discussions with Citizens Advice Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford Group (CASORT). The project will establish a pilot project to build a scalable model to expand awareness and resources around gas safety in the Greater Manchester area. The project will support 44,700 people with online and practical support on how to be gas safe, providing financial assistance to the most vulnerable people for servicing and repairing gas appliances with advice and information on accessing grants for replacements where appropriate. The pilot will focus on three core areas: an education campaign to raise awareness; grants to support servicing of gas appliances; and signposting and referral to existing national and local schemes.
Total income to the charitable company for the period was £520,657 (2022: £509,063). Expenditure totalled £500,481 (£465,878), with net income of £20,176 (2022: £43,185). All funds are unrestricted.
Reserve and Investment policies
The General Fund is the accumulated revenue reserve and is available to be spent at the discretion of the Trustees. The Trustees have agreed that the Charity will not build substantial reserves and will use its income to meet the needs of beneficiaries and as opportunities arise to maximise the Charity’s effectiveness in meeting its objects. As the charity has no continuing obligations to set against its income, it has no formal reserves policy. The Charity’s main income is received in the May of each calendar year and it manages its expenditure over the financial year (October – September).
The continuing objective of the charity’s investment policy is to maximise income in the medium term to spend for the benefit of the charity’s beneficiaries. It is managed on behalf of the Board by the Investment Committee which meets as required. The Investment Committee is advised as necessary on the prudent stewardship of resources and takes decisions from time to time on the management of accumulated reserves.
At 30 September 2023, total reserves were £685,098 (2022: £664,922).
Risk Management
The Trustees review the full Risk Register each year and the overall level of risk is assessed as low.
During the year, the charity reviewed its financial and banking arrangements and is satisfied that they continue to be secure.
The charity remains assured the grants have been properly spent on their designated purposes in the interests of the charity’s beneficiaries.
Public Benefit
The Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and are satisfied that the activities of the charity are wholly appropriate in that context. The Charity’s activities are for the benefit of the public, via the major grant programmes. These programmes target people who are most vulnerable and hard to reach, with tailored messages about carbon monoxide and gas safety. The Think CO programme helps to ensure that the ‘trusted intermediaries’ (people who work directly with those potentially at risk) know the symptoms and danger signals of carbon monoxide poisoning and also that they communicate those to older and disabled people, those with long term medical conditions and others who are vulnerable. The Charity works in partnership with Foundations Independent Living Trust (FILT) on its programme aimed at improving gas safety in the homes of older, disabled and vulnerable people in cases of hardship and urgency.
As part of the Concession Agreement between the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) on behalf of Government and Capita Business Services Limited to provide engineer registration services for the period 2019-2024, it was agreed that the Charity would receive £480,000 each year, paid at the end of each operating year under the Concession Agreement. The payment arising from the financial year 2022/23 was received in April 2023. In addition, HSE agreed in 2022 to pay the Charity an additional 2% from Funds for Distribution in respect of inflation for Years 2 to 5. The amount received in the financial year was £29,379.84, representing payments for Year 4 (2022-2023). The level of continuing income to the Charity is guaranteed until the end of 2024/25.
The Charity continues to focus on its successful and proven core programmes, developing and expanding these where possible into new and related areas. The Think CO e-learning module provides an opportunity to provide a large number of people with CO safety messages and the Think CO App should be launched in the autumn of 2024. As above, the Charity is in discussion with CASORT about setting up a pilot project in the Greater Manchester area to expand awareness and resources around gas safety in the Greater Manchester area.
Decisions on whether to continue to fund individual projects are based on outcomes presented to the Board in regular reports during the project. Each year, the grant recipients submit a proposal and the Board decides on the basis of the application and the success of the Programme during the year whether to continue or amend the grant.
Gas Safe Charity is a company limited by guarantee without share capital governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, incorporated in England and Wales on 8 September 2009 (company registration number 7012694) and registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 5 October 2009 (charity registration number 1131987). The period of account covered by this Report is from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023.
The members of the Board of Trustees are also Directors. Casual vacancies are filled as required by the Board of Trustees, in accordance with the Charity’s Articles of Association. Members of the Board of Trustees who served during the period and up to the date of signature are listed below:
The Board met on seven occasions during the year to transact the business of the charity, including an awayday session.
There were two changes to the Trustee positions during the year: the Trustee nominated by HSE resigned on 21 November 2023 and a new Trustee nominated by HSE was appointed on 21 May 2024.
Each of the Charity’s major projects is overseen by a small Review Group of Trustees who meet regularly with project managers and provide scrutiny and feedback to Board meetings.
New Trustees are asked to sign a declaration of willingness to serve and participate in an induction session shortly after appointment. A pack of background reading and reference material is provided to new Trustees and important documents are stored centrally on SharePoint and are available to all Trustees. Trustees are asked periodically to identify any individual or group training needs, which are addressed at an Awayday session or as appropriate.
The trustees, who are also the directors of Gas Safe Charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity 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 charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Small company provisions
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Gas Safe Charity (the charity) for the year ended 30 September 2023.
This report is made solely to the charity's trustees, as a body, in accordance with Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. My examination has been undertaken so that I might state to the charity's trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an Independent Examiner's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity's trustees as a body, for my examination, for this report, or for the opinions I have formed.
As the trustees of the charity (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 charity 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 charity’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 charity’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 ACA, 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 charity 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 financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Gas Safe Charity is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 65 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NQ.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's memorandum & articles of association, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "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 is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements 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 charity 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.
All of the funds of the charity are unrestricted and available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Voluntary income are donations and sundry grants are recognised on an accruals basis. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. .
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 grants payable are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities when they have been approved by the Board of Trustees. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates.
Governance Costs relate solely to the general running of the charity as opposed to management of charitable activity. They comprise independent examination costs, company secretarial costs and expenses incurred in relation to Trustee meetings and activities of a governance nature.
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 charity 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 charity's balance sheet when the charity 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 charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The charity benefits from various exemptions from taxation afforded by tax legislation and is not liable to corporation tax on income or gains falling within those exemptions. The charity is not able to recover Value Added Tax. Expenditure is recorded in the accounts inclusive of VAT.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
No significant accounting estimates or judgements were applied in the preparation of these financial statements.
Grant making
Grant making
Foundations Independent Living Trust grants
FILT Service fees
Think CO Grants
Chairman and Trustees expenses
Insurance
Website costs
Other
Governance costs includes payments to the independent examiners of £3,700 (2022- £3,500) for independent examiners fees and £2,100 (2022-£nil) in relation to accounts preparation.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year. (2022: none). 3 Trustees have claimed a total of expenses to reimburse travel, accommodation and subsistence costs £634 (2022: £1,272 paid to 5 trustees).
The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxationof Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.
The remuneration relates to a consultant that performs a key management role.
Other related party
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Provider under the Gas Safe Register contract – Capita Gas Registration & Ancillary Services Ltd (CGRAS) are each entitled to be a member of Gas Safe Charity but have not taken up their membership. In accordance with the Articles of Association, as far as practicable, each of HSE and CGRAS appoint at least one Trustee. The Trustee for CGRAS is Jonathan Samuel. The HSE Trustee is Mark Dawson (appointed 21 May 2024, formerly John Rowe who resigned 21 November 2023). Arising from the Concession Agreement between the HSE and CGRAS, £509,380 (2022:£508,962) was received from CGRAS during this year.
The charity had no debt during the year.