The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2025.
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)" (effective 1 January 2019).
The charity's objects are as follows:
The relief of unemployment for the benefit of the public in such ways as maybe thought fit, including assistance to find employment.
The promotion of urban or rural regeneration in areas of social and economic deprivation, and in particular East Durham, by all or any of the following means:
The advancement of education, training or retraining, particularly among unemployed people and providing those individuals with works experience;
The creation of training and employment opportunities by the provision of workspace, buildings and/or land for use on favourable terms;
The provision of financial assistance, technical assistance, business advice or consultancy in order to provide training and employment opportunities for unemployed people in cases of financial or charitable need through help:
a) in setting up their own business
b) to existing businesses; or
c) by such other means as may from time to time be determined subject to prior written consent of 11111 the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales.
Public benefit that is provided by the charity
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
Review of charitable activities undertaken by the charity
The East Durham Employability Trust has continued with our mission to maximise the potential of individuals whilst adding value to industry by responsively developing skills and attitudes to match local industry needs. Our Destination Employment programme is thriving, offering a bespoke 12 week work experience programme for individuals who are long term unemployed. We have also offered short term work trials leading into direct paid employment. We hope to expand upon our services in the coming year, increasing work experience placements and diversifying our training potential further by attracting new customers in different sectors to provide a variety of contracts on which our candidates can be trained.
Review of financial position
The accounts are set out on pages 5 to 19.
The income for the year was £926k (2024: £738k), the net surplus for the year was £68k (2024: £78k), The funds as at 31 January 2025 are showing a deficit of £53k (2024: £121k).
Policies on reserves
It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at levels sufficient to enable the charity to continue with its core activities. equivalent to between three and six month’s expenditure. The trustees note that there is currently a deficit on unrestricted reserves and are actively seeking new sources of funding.
Risk management
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, in particular the financial and operational risks, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks. A comprehensive risk is reviewed at each Board meeting.
Plans for future periods
The board of trustees continues to look at ways in which to expand the income generating activities of the charity along with seeking funding from local businesses and government bodies. We also wish to add to our Board of Trustees to provide a more diverse and inclusive Board with a wider variety of skills and experiences. For this reason we consider the charity to be a going concern.
Nature of governing document and constitution of the charity
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and is therefore governed by a memorandum and articles of association. None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:
Recruitment and appointment of trustees
In the governing documents of the charity there is no maximum number of trustees set, but there should, at any one time, be in place a minimum of three trustees which represents the quorum. A trustee must be over 18 years of age.
Potential trustees are recruited through recommendation, referral or advertisement where a skills shortage has been identified. Potential trustees in the first instance will be met by the CEO and given an overview of the organisation. Following this they will be interviewed by two members of the board and if successful they will be invited to attend the next available board meeting.
The trustees, who are also the directors of The East Durham Employability Trust 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).
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The East Durham Employability Trust (the charity) for the year ended 31 January 2025.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 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. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000, the independent examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, 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 Companies Act 2006.
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 Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements 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 financial statements 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.
Stephen Slater FCA
Investments
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Investments
The East Durham Employability Trust is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 3 Palmer Road, South West Industrial Estate, Peterlee, SR8 2HU.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, 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 charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
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. 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.
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 or grantors 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 charity 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.
All expenditure is accounted for on an accrual basis and has been classified under the headings that aggregate all costs to that category. Charitable activity costs includes expenditure relating to the operation of the charity and includes both direct and support costs relating to those activities. Support costs include central function expenditure and are allocated on the basis of staff allocated to each activity. Governance costs include those incurred in the governance of the charity and its assets, and are primarily associated with constitutional and statutory requirements.
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).
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 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 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.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
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.
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.
In assessing whether there have been any indicators of impairment of assets, the trustees have considered both external and internal sources of information such as market conditions and experience of recoverability.
The company depreciates tangible fixed assets over their estimated useful lives. The estimation of the useful lives of assets is based on historic performance as well as expectations about future use and therefore requires estimates and assumptions to be applied by management. The actual lives of these assets can vary depending on a variety of factors, including technological innovation, product life cycles and maintenance programmes.
Judgement is applied by trustees when determining the residual values for tangible fixed assets. When determining the residual value trustees aim to assess the amount that the company would currently obtain for the disposal of the asset, if it were already of the condition expected at the end of its useful economic life. Where possible this is done with reference to external market prices.
Investments
Purchases
Carriage
Premises costs
General administration expenses
Equipment rentals and repairs
Motor expenses
Travel, subsistence and entertaining
Accountancy
Legal and professional
Subscriptions
Sundries
Independent examination
All support cost have been allocated to the only charitable activity of the charity on the basis that no fundraising or other activities have been conducted during the year.
Governance costs includes payments to the independent examiners of £1,320 (2024: £1,650) for the independent examination of the financial statements.
Interest payable
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration, expenses or benefits from the charity during the year.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity considers its key management personnel comprises of the Chief Executive Officer. The total
employment costs of the key management personnel were £67,025 (2024: £67,131).
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
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 restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The Ballinger Charitable Trust
Towards core and staffing costs.
The Northern Impact Fund
Working capital to support new contracts and for the taking on of new employees.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating lease for the charity's premises, which fall due as follows:
Actif
Meryl Levington, director and trustee, is a consultant for Actif. The balance due to Actif at the year end is £25,000 (2024: £25,000). No interest is charged is being charged on the balance.
Marley Kavelle Limited
Mr W Marley, chief executive, is a director of Marley Kavelle Ltd. Previously Marley Kavelle Ltd advanced an interest free loan to the charity and raised invoices for management fees. The balance due to Marley Kavalle Ltd at the year end is £21,692 (2024: £50,617). No interest is charged is being charged on the balance.