The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024.
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 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) (as issued in October 2019)".
Charitable Purpose
The objectives of Carers Federation Limited as set out in the company’s memorandum of association are to:
Promote the benefit of persons who are acting as unpaid carers of people with physical or sensory disability, mental health difficulty, learning disability, ill health or by the ageing process, their cared for and the community, in particular to relieve the stresses experienced by such persons through the provision of support services, in order to protect health, relieve poverty, distress or sickness.
Carers Federation is an organisation dedicated and passionate about providing high quality care, support and training. We have specific expertise in supporting unpaid carers and delivering accredited Advocacy training. Our reputation for excellence stems from our commitment to innovative and flexible approach to service design and delivery and well-trained staff.
Carers Federation’s Vision, Mission and Values Statements
Our Vision:
Everyone we serve receives individually tailored care, support or training.
Our Mission:
To become a centre of excellence in provision of carers support and training.
Our Core Values:
Friendliness:
We believe in welcoming everyone with warmth and kindness. We want people to feel individually value
Fairness:
We believe in equality and strive to be respectful in everything we do. We listen to the needs of others and put them at the heart of our work.
Diversity:
Discrimination will have no place in anything we do.
Integrity:
We are accountable to people and partners we serve and will transparently share our results, stories and lessons.
Collaboration:
We actively seek collaboration and partnerships with other organisations to make our vision a reality.
Continuous Improvement:
We actively strive through innovation and hard work to be a centre of excellence.
Main Activities undertaken by Carers Federation Limited 2023-2024
Young Carer Support in the city of Nottingham
Adult Carer Support across Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire
Support for a Prisoner Social Care Advocacy scheme in HMP Whatton
Provision of Independent Complaints Advocacy (ICA) services in a number of Local Authority areas across the Northeast of England
Providing accredited Training services nationally
Delivering the Quality Standard in Carer Support (QSCS) to a number of universities schools and organisations across England and Wales
The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities.
Our main focus and achievement has been continually adapting the delivery of our services to meet the needs of our service users and satisfy the expectations of our commissioners and funders. This has resulted not only in the retention of our Prison Advocacy and ICA services that were re tendered during the year but additionally the award of two new contracts; firstly the new Carers Hub Contract to support Carers across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire and secondly the new three year contract through the Learning and Work Institute to deliver our Quality Standard in Carer Support to 30 colleges across the UK. All of the charity’s services have continued to perform well during 2023/24 not only meeting the needs of our stakeholders and receiving excellent feedback but also performing well financially against budgets.
Training
The Training Department continued to operate a flexible approach to the delivery of Advocacy courses. Providing learners with a choice of either online or face to face training. In addition a number of bespoke workshops were developed and delivered to meet the needs of our learners.
The department continues to meet all City & Guilds requirements and remains an approved centre of accreditation.
The VLE was also further developed to update and improve content and improve user experience. The development of the VLE is a continuous process. Courses available during 2023 -2024 included:
GDPR training
City and Guilds Level 2 Award in Independent Advocacy
Introduction to Mentoring
Carers Accreditation - Quality Standards in Carers Support
Adult Safeguarding Competency Training
Advocacy Level 4 training
Advocacy Level 4 Single units
Action for Young Carers
Our Action for Young Carers Service (AYC) continued to support young carers until October 2023 when the contract sadly came to an end.
Action for Young Carers service also delivered the New Works for You (NW4Y) programme. The programme provided support for Young Carers identified as Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) in overcoming barriers to moving into employment, education or training. Both these contracts ended in October 2023.
The Carers Hub
A new contract to deliver support to all up paid carers across Nottinghamshire and Nottingham City. The Hub provides a free and confidential service, providing information advice, sign posting and support to carers and provides an opportunity to meet other carers through groups helping to reduce isolation and loneliness.
Independent Complaints Advocacy
Our NHS Independent Complaints Advocacy service continues to perform very strongly across the Northeast of England. Five individual Local Authority contracts were retained for delivery throughout 2023/24. The service holds the Quality Performance Mark (QPM) in advocacy.
Quality Standard in Carer Support (QSCS)
Successful award of new funding to deliver Carers Federation QSCS to 30 colleges across the country was secured in December 2023 and delivery commenced in March 2024. The accreditation aims to improve and evidence the support carers in education can access to enable carers to continue with their studies. . In addition, the standard has been delivered to numerous other organisations throughout the whole year.
The standard has a broad criteria covering areas such as having a Carers Lead, staff training, providing information and signposting, offering flexible working or making reasonable adjustments for carers and ensuring the organisation has established and consistent policies and processes to support carers, employees or learners. Further development of the standard is an ongoing process to ensure new legislation is included and fully up to date.
2023 – 2024 was another challenging but positive year for Carers Federation Limited where reducing the operating deficit was a key priority.
Opportunities to generate new income streams in line with the organisations Income Generation strategy have remained limited due to funding bodies changing the parameters of service delivery, reducing contract values and delays in releasing larger scale contracts. The main financial aim of the organisation has continued to be addressing and reducing the operating deficit.
The Carers Federation Limited reported an operating loss for the year ended 31st March 2024 of £100,453 (2023: £515,891)
Also recognised during the period were actuarial gains on the Nottinghamshire County Council defined benefit pension scheme of £766,000 (2023: £6,229,000)
Net assets of Carers Federation Limited at the 31st March 2024 were £1,811,188 (2023: Net assets of £1,145,640)
Principal funding sources and how these resources support the key objectives
The principal funding sources for Carers Federation Ltd are currently by way of grant and contract income from multiple local authorities, Lottery and local academies. The contractual income and grant funding received from these sources is used by Carers Federation Limited to provide Carers support, Advocacy and Training services that match the objectives of Carers Federation Limited.
Funding sources secured during the year
During the period ended 31st March 2024 Carers Federation Limited was able to negotiate contract funding as follows:
Contractual arrangements were extended for a further period with North East Local Authorities to continue the delivery of the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service for between 12 months and up to 3 years (dependent on individual contract).
Contractual arrangements were extended with HMP Whatton, to continue the delivery of the Social Care Advocacy Scheme for a further 12 months.
Contractual arrangements were agreed with Nottinghamshire County Council to deliver the new Carers Hub service for Nottinghamshire and Nottingham City carers for the next 4 years.
Contractual arrangements were agreed with the Learning & Work Institute and National Lottery to deliver the Quality Standard In Carer Support to 30 colleges nationally over the next 3 years
Small amounts of new restricted funding were secured from various sources to support the delivery of the services to Carers, these included, The National Grid, Nottinghamshire Digital Fund, The National Lottery and freemasons to name just a few.
Reserves
At 31st March 2024 Carers Federation Limited held restricted funds totaling £9,771 (2023: £6,025). This amount is made up of funds provided to Carers Federation Limited for use by specific services to deliver specific time-bound outcomes. These funds are not available to the Board of Trustees for fulfilment of general charitable objectives.
The level of unrestricted reserves held by Carers Federation Limited at the 31st March 2024 was £1,801,417 (2023: £1,139,616). Unrestricted funds not invested in tangible fixed assets were £1,237,662 (2023: £575,361).
Unrestricted reserves are held by Carers Federation Limited in order to mitigate against future expected reductions in contract/grant income and to provide continuity in the central business functions of the organisation.The charity’s Reserves Policy is to hold at least six months’ expenditure within the balance of Net Current Assets attributable to Unrestricted Funds, which amounts to £684,662 in 2023/24 (ref. Note 18 on p.23). Total (12 months) unrestricted expenditure in 2023/24 amounted to £865,673. Therefore, the Trustees consider that they have fulfilled the charity’s Reserves Policy requirements at the current time, and have sufficient reserves to cover expected increases in expenditure over the next few years.
Currently, general reserves are impacted by the NCC pension liability; however to a far lesser degree than they have been in recent years. The priority is to further reduce and eliminate the ongoing operating deficit and start generating surpluses and restoring the charity’s unrestricted reserves to appropriate levels.
Financial effect of significant events
There have been no significant financial events that have negatively impacted the organisations’ reserves.
Winning the Nottinghamshire County and Nottingham City Carers Hub Contract has positively impacted the future sustainability of the organization.
Impact of a pension liability arising from the defined benefit pension scheme
The surplus presented as at 31 March 2024 of £553,000 (2023: deficit £204,000) has been calculated to meet the requirements of FRS102. FRS102 requires the use of a prescribed discount rate based on corporate bond yields, which can be very volatile.
Contributions to the Nottinghamshire County Council LGPS Fund are set at each triennial valuation of the Fund, based on a discount rate derived from assumptions about future returns from the Fund’s investment strategy, which results in a much lower valuation of liabilities than a discount rate based on corporate bond yields and consequently a smaller deficit. Therefore, the FRS102 deficit has no direct bearing on the contributions paid to the Nottinghamshire Local Government Pension Scheme.
Plans for future periods
In response to the complex financial landscape the Board of Trustees developed a robust 5 year strategy in 2021, which has been reviewed annually to reflect the market position and funding landscape. The 2023 review enabled a revised Income Generation strategy to be developed taking into account the successes within the year and a continued proactive approach to take the organisation forward into a strong financial position over the next 3 years.
The strategy has been developed to stabilise and stop the current annual operating loss. It also identifies key priority areas of intended service delivery and provides a clear direction for new initiatives within Carers Federation Limited.
In addition the strategy has (and will continue) to:
Identify opportunities to make best use of existing assets
Reviewed Senior Management structure and made necessary changes
Maximised cash investment potential
Developed a range of partnership opportunities with commercial and voluntary and community sector
Invested resources in the areas that can make profit and contribute to the company’s financial viability (Training)
Examined more closely the options for community funding of projects (Big Lottery etc) and options for research funding
The company is built on a solid foundation of significant cash and property assets and is continuing to develop sustainable commercial income streams. This combined with an ongoing process of efficiency measures should ensure that the organisation and its services will flourish, evolve and grow.
Structure, Governance and Management
Governing Document
The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is governed by a memorandum and articles of association. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.
Appointment of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is appointed by the charity members with trustees serving for no set period and retiring in rotation. The Articles provide for a maximum of sixteen members, including Honorary Members. At the end of each Annual General Meeting all the members of the Board of Trustees whose period of service is due to end during the calendar year in which that annual general meeting is to be held, shall retire from office but they may be re-elected or re-appointed.
The chair of the Board is elected by the trustee membership.
The Board of Trustees may delegate any of its powers or the implementation of its resolutions to committees to facilitate effective operations.
Trustee Induction and Training
New members of the Board of Trustees undergo an induction to brief them on their legal responsibilities under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the committee and decision making processes, and recent financial performance of the charity. During the induction they meet key employees and other members of the Board of Trustees. Members are encouraged to attend appropriate training events where these will assist them in discharging their duties as trustees.
Organisation
The Board of Trustees holds monthly meetings and at least two ordinary meetings each year at which its members agree strategy and areas of activity for the charity including consideration of service delivery, investment, reserves and risk management policies.
The charity trustees work in partnership with and oversee the Chief Executive who is responsible for successful implementation of strategies set by the board and for ensuring that the charity and trading operations perform as directed by the Board of Trustees.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Carers Federation Ltd (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2024.
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 The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, 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.
Material other expenditure
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Carers Federation Ltd is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Christopher Cargill House, 21-23 Pelham Road, Nottingham, NG5 1AP.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity'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 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 have been prepared under the historical cost convention modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
The trustees assess whether the use of going concern is appropriate, i.e. whether there are any material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the charitable company to continue as a going concern. The trustees make this assessment in respect of a period of at least one year from the date of authorisation for issue of the accounts and have concluded that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. Thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the accounts.
The actuarial valuation of the defined benefit scheme at 31 March 2024 indicates a surplus of £553,000. This has a significant impact on unrestricted funds, however we draw your attention to the cash reserves held by the charity of £733,066.
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.
Grants for immediate expenditure are accounted for when they become receivable.
Grants received for specific purposes are treated as restricted funds.
Grants restricted to future accounting periods are deferred and recognised in those periods.
Donations and voluntary income are credited to the income and expenditure account when they are received.
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 charity 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).
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 charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
The cost of providing benefits under defined benefit plans is determined separately for each plan using the projected unit credit method, and is based on actuarial advice.
The change in the net defined benefit liability arising from employee service during the year is recognised as an employee cost. The cost of plan introductions, benefit changes, settlements and curtailments are recognised as incurred.
The net interest element is determined by multiplying the net defined benefit liability by the discount rate, taking into account any changes in the net defined benefit liability during the period as a result of contribution and benefit payments. The net interest is recognised in income/(expenditure) for the year.
Remeasurement changes comprise actuarial gains and losses, the effect of the asset ceiling and the return on the net defined benefit liability excluding amounts included in net interest. These are recognised immediately in other recognised gains and losses in the period in which they occur and are not reclassified to income/(expenditure) in subsequent periods.
The net defined benefit pension asset or liability in the balance sheet comprises the total for each plan of the present value of the defined benefit obligation (using a discount rate based on high quality corporate bonds), less the fair value of plan assets out of which the obligations are to be settled directly. Fair value is based on market price information, and in the case of quoted securities is the published bid price. The value of a net pension benefit asset is limited to the amount that may be recovered either through reduced contributions or agreed refunds from the scheme.
Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged as an expense on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease.
Pensions
The company participates in a multi employer defined benefit scheme administered by Nottinghamshire County Council (Nottinghamshire Admission Agreement ETC Pension Fund). The amounts charged to operating profit are the current service costs and gains and losses on settlements and curtailments. They are included as part of staff costs. The interest cost on the expected return on assets are shown as a net amount in other finance costs or credits adjacent to interest. Actuarial gains and losses are recognised immediately in the statement of total recognised gains and losses.
The defined benefit scheme is funded, with the assets of the scheme held separately from those of the company. Pension scheme assets are measured at fair value and liability are measured on an actuarial basis using the projected unit method. Full actuarial valuations are obtained periodically and are updated at each balance sheet date. The most recent full actuarial valuation is dated 31 March 2024. This valuation has been rolled forward using financial assumptions that comply with FRS 102. The resulting defined benefit asset or liability is presented separately after other net assets on the face of the balance sheet.
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. Payments to the scheme are charged as an expense as they fall due.
Government grants
Government grants are recognised at the fair value of the asset received or receivable when there is reasonable assurance that the grant conditions will be met and the grants will be received.
A grant that specifies performance conditions is recognised in income when the performance conditions are met. Where a grant does not specify performance conditions it is recognised in income when the proceeds are received or receivable. A grant received before the recognition criteria are satisfied is recognised as a liability.
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.
Contract income - local authority
Contract income - Other
Training income
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
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 members of the Board of Trustees received £nil remuneration during the year (2023: £nil).
During the year, expenses in relation to communications, subscriptions, subsistence and travel were reimbursed to 5 trustees (2023: 5 trustees) or paid directly to third parties totalling £360 (2023: £722)
On 5 June 2018, the freehold property at Christopher Cargill House, 21-23 Pelham Road, Nottingham, NG5 1AP was valued at £525,000. The valuation was on an open market basis and was made by Steve Holland MRICS of Innes England.
The trustees are of the opinion that the net book value of freehold property as stated in the accounts is an accurate valuation as at 31 March 2024.
Deferred income is in relation to training courses paid for in advance.
The Carers' Hub Service Donations was established to provide enhanced support to young carers over and above what is possible under the contract with Nottingham City Council. The fund balance consists of restricted donations provided for this purpose.
Awards For All is working in partnership with three primary schools in deprived areas of Nottingham City to identify and support hidden young carers (5-11 years). The project’s aims to reduce, or improve, the caring role of the young carer, lessen isolation, and increase possibilities to link with other young carers. Outcomes include improved school attendance, educational attainment, and support with key life transitions.
Masonics aims to deliver online cookery courses during lockdown for the Young Carers.
Carers Hub is an opportunity for carers and various organisations to apply for funding toward setting up Carers Groups in and around Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
Western Power was established to support families that are experiencing Fuel Poverty by buying them essentials to keep warm, such as quilts , hot water bottles etc and to purchase light bulbs.
Young Carers employment Support was established to give Young Carers access to Laptop use in the training room whilst looking for employment / apprenticeships etc.
Cost of living fund - to work with YC’s in Nottinghamshire to facilitate and provide Nutrition and cookery workshops both face to face and online.
New restricted funding were secured from F&CL Fund and other sources (that wanted to stay anonymous) to support the delivery of the services to Young Carers.
Digital Notts - to support carers who are digitally excluded to become trained by digital champions around being able to access Health APPS and the NHS APP to improve their own wellbeing, alongside upskilling around job searches applications etc.
Gedling Community Group - To support the Gedling group of Carers in having a break from their caring role by organising various trips out and access to health and wellbeing activities.
Carers' Hub National Grid Fund - was awarded to reduce fuel poverty and provide warm packs (which include energy bulbs, draft insulations, radiator keys, warm blanket, hand warmer and radiator reflector foil) to carers in preparation for cold weather (winter months) alongside providing professional advice and information sessions for carers on how to reduce energy costs and changing energy providers (much the same as Western power).
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.
The charge to the statement of financial activities in respect of defined contribution schemes was £14,730 (2023: £15,552).
The company operates a defined benefit statutory scheme. The most recent comprehensive rolled on actuarial valuation report was carried out on 31 March 2024 by Barnett Waddingham.
At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2023 - none).