Company registration number 11360947 (England and Wales)
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
CONTENTS
Page
Directors' report
1
Directors' responsibilities statement
2
Independent auditor's report
3 - 5
Profit and loss account
6
Balance sheet
7
Notes to the financial statements
8 - 11
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
DIRECTORS' REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
- 1 -
The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024.
Principal activities
The principal activity of the company during the year continued to be that of the provision of social and personal care services, including support at home.
Directors
The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:
S J Lee-Foster
B A Flowers
S E Pilsworth
(Resigned 26 January 2024)
S Y Dhalla
S J Charteris
Qualifying third party indemnity provisions
The company has made qualifying third party indemnity provisions for the benefit of its directors during the year. These provisions remain in force at the reporting date.
Disabled persons
Applications for employment by disabled persons are always fully considered, bearing in mind the aptitudes of the applicant concerned. In the event of members of staff becoming disabled, every effort is made to ensure that their employment within the company continues and that the appropriate training is arranged. It is the policy of the company that the training, career development and promotion of disabled persons should, as far as possible, be identical to that of other employees.
Auditor
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Mercer & Hole LLP be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
Statement of disclosure to auditor
So far as each person who was a director at the date of approving this report is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditor is unaware. Additionally, the directors individually have taken all the necessary steps that they ought to have taken as directors in order to make themselves aware of all relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditor is aware of that information.
Small companies exemption
This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption.
On behalf of the board
S J Lee-Foster
Director
10 September 2024
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
DIRECTORS' RESPONSIBILITIES STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
- 2 -
The directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the directors 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 company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the 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 company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT
TO THE MEMBERS OF HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
- 3 -
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Herts at Home Limited (the 'company') for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the profit and loss account, the balance sheet and notes to the financial statements, including 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:
give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of its profit for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
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 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 directors' 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 company'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 directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual 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. 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 course of 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 this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. 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.
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT
TO THE MEMBERS OF HERTS AT HOME LIMITED (CONTINUED)
- 4 -
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 misstatements in 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:
adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemption in preparing the directors' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
Responsibilities of directors
As explained more fully in the directors' responsibilities statement, the directors 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 directors 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 directors are responsible for assessing the 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 directors either intend to liquidate the 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.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
We gained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the company and the industry in which it operates and considered the risk of acts by the company that were contrary to applicable laws and regulations, including fraud. These included, but were not limited to, the Health & Social Care Act 2008, the Companies Act 2006 and tax legislation.
We evaluated management's incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements and the financial report (including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to posting inappropriate entries including journals to overstate revenue or understate expenditure, and management bias in accounting estimates.
Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:
discussions with management, including considerations of known or suspected instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud;
evaluation of the operating effectiveness of management's controls designed to prevent and detect irregularities;
challenging assumptions and judgements made by management in its significant accounting estimates;
identifying and testing journal entries.
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT
TO THE MEMBERS OF HERTS AT HOME LIMITED (CONTINUED)
- 5 -
Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council's website at : https://www.frc.org.uk/auditors responsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
This report is made solely to the 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 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 company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Andrew Lawes MA MSc FCA
Senior Statutory Auditor
For and on behalf of Mercer & Hole LLP
10 September 2024
Chartered Accountants
Statutory Auditor
72 London Road
St Albans
Hertfordshire
AL1 1NS
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
- 6 -
2024
2023
£
£
Turnover
8,182,808
7,693,137
Administrative expenses
(8,126,554)
(7,343,189)
Other operating income
11,901
Operating profit
56,254
361,849
Interest receivable and similar income
956
Profit before taxation
57,210
361,849
Tax on profit
(14,182)
(68,606)
Profit for the financial year
43,028
293,243
The profit and loss account has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing operations.
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
BALANCE SHEET
AS AT
31 MARCH 2024
31 March 2024
- 7 -
2024
2023
Notes
£
£
£
£
Current assets
Debtors
3
625,485
178,895
Cash at bank and in hand
797,097
1,307,724
1,422,582
1,486,619
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
4
(451,683)
(558,748)
Net current assets
970,899
927,871
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital
6
140,000
140,000
Profit and loss reserves
830,899
787,871
Total equity
970,899
927,871
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.
The financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 10 September 2024 and are signed on its behalf by:
S J Lee-Foster
Director
Company registration number 11360947 (England and Wales)
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
- 8 -
1
Accounting policies
Company information
Herts at Home Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, Hertfordshire, SG13 8DE.
1.1
Accounting convention
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 as applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime. The disclosure requirements of section 1A of FRS 102 have been applied other than where additional disclosure is required to show a true and fair view.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. 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.
1.2
Going concern
Atruet the time of approving the financial statements, the directors have a reasonable expectation that, together with the ongoing support of Hertfordshire County Council, the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the directors continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
1.3
Turnover
Turnover is recognised at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable for goods and services provided in the normal course of business, and is shown net of VAT and other sales related taxes. The fair value of consideration takes into account trade discounts, settlement discounts and volume rebates.
Revenue from the provision of nursing care services and support at home is recognised as those services are provided.
1.4
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and 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.
1.5
Financial instruments
The company 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 company's balance sheet when the company 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
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.
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1
Accounting policies
(Continued)
- 9 -
Classification of financial liabilities
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, 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 business 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.
1.6
Equity instruments
Equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received, net of transaction costs. Dividends payable on equity instruments are recognised as liabilities once they are no longer at the discretion of the company.
1.7
Taxation
The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax.
Current tax
The tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in the profit and loss account because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are never taxable or deductible. The company’s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting end date.
Deferred tax
Deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all timing differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities or other future taxable profits. Such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the timing difference arises from goodwill or from the initial recognition of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the tax profit nor the accounting profit.
The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting end date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered. Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is realised. Deferred tax is charged or credited in the profit and loss account, except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity, in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the company has a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities and the deferred tax assets and liabilities relate to taxes levied by the same tax authority.
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
1
Accounting policies
(Continued)
- 10 -
1.8
Employee benefits
The costs of short-term employee benefits are recognised as a liability and an expense.
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 company is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
1.9
Retirement benefits
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
The company also participates in a multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme, the Local Government Pension scheme. The terms of the Admission Agreement state that the responsibility for unfunded pension and benefit liabilities rest with Hertfordshire County Council. As such, the scheme has been accounted for as a defined contribution pension scheme.
2
Employees
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:
2024
2023
Number
Number
Total
251
246
3
Debtors
2024
2023
Amounts falling due within one year:
£
£
Trade debtors
71,802
15,961
Amounts owed by group undertakings
460,072
127,827
Other debtors
91,105
31,911
622,979
175,699
Deferred tax asset
2,506
3,196
625,485
178,895
HERTS AT HOME LIMITED
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
- 11 -
4
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
2024
2023
£
£
Trade creditors
8,596
11,157
Corporation tax
13,492
68,853
Other taxation and social security
126,362
176,143
Other creditors
303,233
302,595
451,683
558,748
5
Retirement benefit schemes
The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company in an independently administered fund.
The company also participates in a multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme, the Local Government Pension scheme. The terms of the Admission Agreement state that the responsibility for unfunded pension and benefit liabilities rest with Hertfordshire County Council. As such, the scheme has been accounted for as a defined contribution pension scheme.
6
Called up share capital
2024
2023
2024
2023
Ordinary share capital
Number
Number
£
£
Issued and fully paid
Ordinary shares of £1 each
140,000
140,000
140,000
140,000
7
Operating lease commitments
Lessee
At the reporting end date the company had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, as follows:
2024
2023
£
£
18,484
12,724
8
Controlling party
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hertfordshire County Council.