NORTHERN_IRELAND_COUNCIL_ - Accounts

Chair's statement

The chair presents her statement for the year ended 31 March 2021.

The period covered by this report has been an extraordinary one. It will be marked in history in a way that most other years never will. The reporting year started in April just days after the Government declared the first lockdown and the COVID-19 crisis unfolded before us and has gone on longer and has had deeper affect than many of us thought or hoped for.

Responding to the crisis was the new priority for NICVA and many community and voluntary groups in Northern Ireland and people really rose in the face of that adversity. I commend and I am truly proud of the work of staff and volunteers across Northern Ireland who did so much to help their communities and those in need particularly those identified as most vulnerable, shielding in their homes.

The pages of this report cover some of that. Our work online has helped with 3,000 more people attending NICVA events this year than the previous year totalling more than 7,500. Support cases for member organisations doubled as well.

NICVA like other organisations pivoted and used its resources to ensure good communications with the sector and good coordination of effort with government and in particular the Department for Communities. Partnership working with government improved enormously. Collaboration, trust, and agility was the order of the day. That spirit meant that we got the best out of people in voluntary and community groups and government alike.

As the year progressed both DfC and NICVA were alert to the obvious learning available to us and both wanted to see that captured and used to improve our relationship and work beyond the crisis. We agree that the future can be better.

With this in mind the then DfC Minister Carál Ní Chuilín invited NICVA to bring forward a Manifesto for Change that the voluntary and community sector could work with Government to unlock the full potential that exists in organisations across Northern Ireland. It will be the focus for period after the pandemic.

Also, with this report we come to the end of our five-year strategic plan. The NICVA Executive Committee have worked on a new plan, and I look forward to the years ahead as an opportunity to make significant progress.

Our sector has a huge role to play in helping the Northern Ireland Executive achieve key aspects of its Programme for Government (PfG). Many of the targets and objectives in the PfG will be ours too.

Finally, can I say thank you to the staff and my Executive Committee Colleagues who at times met weekly rather than our more normal six weekly interval. Everyone’s workload increased but they accepted the challenge and did all they could to make a difference.

I look forward to a better future in every way. The health and wellbeing of our society is the corner stone of our sector.

Olwen Lyner

Chair

The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2021.

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 and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)".

The Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland with a membership of 1,100 members. The Charity supports, represents, and promotes its membership and the voluntary and community sector and is committed to equality, social justice, embracing diversity and opposing discrimination.

NICVA provides support through information, training and advice including governance, charity law reform, fundraising, finance, human resources, advocacy, and management development. NICVA represents the interests of the sector across all government departments and with all stakeholders making sure the health and well-being of the sector are looked after. In addition, NICVA runs a conference facility for the use of voluntary and community organisations.

NICVA has a trading subsidiary providing some back office services to enable voluntary and community organisations and small and medium enterprises to operate effectively. The profits are gift aided to NICVA to continue its charitable work.

The trustees have paid due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. The trustees are confident that NICVA's aims, and objectives are in accordance with the regulations on public benefit.

The objects for which the charity is established are to promote, develop and support the voluntary and community sector and any purpose for the benefit of the community in Northern Ireland and in any other part of the world which are, or hereafter may be deemed by law, to be charitable and in particular:

• to act as a representative of the voluntary and community sector in relation to government policies and legislation and in so doing promote and organise co-operation in the advancement of the above purposes and to that end bring together, in Council or conference, representatives of voluntary agencies and statutory authorities engaged in the furtherance of any of the above purposes;

• to promote and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of charities, voluntary and community groups by the provision and management for such organisations of office accommodation, conference, training, information, advice and other facilities, services, or support.

This year marked the final year of NICVA’s five-year strategic plan and an unprecedented year of home working due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. NICVA responded quickly enabling all staff to work effectively at home while continuing to support the sector through online meetings/sessions and digital connectivity. Demand for NICVA support was exceptional resulting in many areas of work exceeding all targets set.

Initially a hub was established on the NICVA website to keep the sector informed throughout the COVID-19 crisis and to support, advise and guide the sector as the crisis took hold. This covered specific advice on Governance, HR, Fundraising and Finance.

NICVA completed a sector wide survey to over 4,000 organisations to understand the impacts of COVID-19 and to inform the sector support needs. Most of our work during the year focussed on responding to the crisis. A summary of activity is noted below and further detail is outlined under the specific strategic goals.

NICVA support cases were almost double on the previous year with participants numbers increasing by over 3,000 from 2019-2020.

Measuring Impact

NICVA is committed to making a difference through its work. As part of its strategic planning process the Charity has considered what impact it wants to have and how best to achieve it. Impact is embedded in the culture of NICVA, and staff are encouraged to play their part in showing how their work makes a difference and sharing what they learn from it with others.

NICVA monitors the effectiveness of its services by gathering daily feedback from participants attending events. The longer-term impact of the Charity’s support is more valuable in understanding how it can continue to support the voluntary and community sector in NI in an effective way to ultimately achieve NICVA’s Vision and Mission. To do this NICVA undertakes surveys, develops case studies, and tracks influence in policy developments.

Summary Table of Outputs

Goal 1: NICVA will support the VCSE to be resilient and robust to respond to the challenge of change.

In supporting this goal, NICVA held 1,169 events: conferences, seminars, training sessions and formal meetings with 7,022 participants. NICVA supported the sector with 1,986 support cases. Key highlights include:

• Due to COVID-19, all training and development activities moved online with a huge amount of work to convert NICVA training programmes for online delivery. NICVA has moved from the top ten to the top five largest Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) accredited centres in NI, with 18 ILM or Training Qualifications UK (TQUK) accredited programmes. In addition, 76 training courses to 649 participants were delivered.

• NICVA provided governance support via 406 in-depth queries, helped 16 organisations through charity registration, reviewed 47 governing documents and delivered 20 webinars with 281 participants. NICVA delivered the “Charities in Default” project to assist groups meet their annual Charity Commission reporting requirements working closely with 150 organisations.

• NICVA supported Faith Leaders to engage extensively with the Executive Office (including FM and DfM and Junior Ministers) on the impact of COVID-19 including closure to places of worship. 10 meetings were held with 30 organisations. Over 80 meetings held with faith-based groups throughout the year and five training sessions/workshops.

• NICVA, in partnership with EBCDA, delivered the East Belfast Communities in Transition programme supporting 28 groups (exceeding the original target of 15) through a range of accredited and non-accredited training programmes to support their development.

• The Transformative Leadership Programme funded by Belfast City Council was converted to an online programme and 11 accredited courses completed during the year. An extension to this programme has been confirmed until June 2022.

• With the COVID-19 crisis impacting fundraising and income generation NICVA posted over 60 funding articles to support groups as well as providing over 50 fundraising clinics and 300 support cases. www.granttracker.org had over 21,000 visits, an increase of 4,000 on the previous year.

• Over 30 articles were posted on the COVID-19 hub to advise organisations on furlough, home working, supporting mental health in the workplace as well as 8 seminars to 467 participants for practical considerations for returning to premises.

• NICVA secured funding to deliver CFNI Philanthropy Capacity Building Programme which moved to an online offering of 14 webinars and 3 fundraising clinics with over 400 participants.

• Supported by DfC NICVA ran a community wellbeing and resilience programme in partnership with Inspire to provide support to the sector during the crisis. Over 300 people from 180 organisations took part.

Goal 2: NICVA will support the VCSE in harnessing digital technologies for public good.

In supporting this goal, NICVA transformed how it supported and communicated with the sector as a result of COVID-19 with home working an essential requirement. Key highlights include:

• NICVA began issuing COVID-19 updates at the end of March 2020 to inform voluntary and community organisations on major issues as they emerged with the monthly member bulleting being replaced with a weekly COVID-19 update for a six month period when lockdown was at a critical stage. Subscription rates increase by 100%.

• NICVA COVID updates were sent to 6,000 organisations as well as additional email updates to the Heads of NICVA’s 1,100 member organisations on a regular basis to ensure the sector was informed at all levels.

• DfC funding was extended at the start of the COVID-19 to develop a COVID-19 Help API on www.communityni.org. This enabled groups providing support during COVID-19 to promote their services within each of the council areas. There were over 500 support services added. The API was also further developed to enable groups to add information and to promote their community venues.

• www.nicva.org restructured to support the NICVA response during the COVID-19 crisis. Content themes included: Advocacy & Government Engagement, Employment / HR, Funding & Fundraising, Running your Organisation, Governance. Updates from Emergency Leadership Group and other key stakeholders were featured throughout.

Goal 3: NICVA will act as the influential leader on behalf of the VCSE in NI.

In supporting this goal, NICVA held 740 events including conferences, seminars, training sessions and formal meetings with 553 participants. Key highlights include:

• NICVA met with the DfC Minister Deirdre Hargey and began to explore a voluntary and community sector response to the situation. The Minister created an Emergency Leadership Group (ELG) involving the DfC and representatives from across a range of groups. The ELG quickly established several priority work areas. NICVA took the lead on Communication & Engagement.

• At the invitation of the NI Assembly Economy Committee NICVA gave evidence to the committee on the impact on the sector of the loss of EU funding post-Brexit and the sector’s concerns about the lack of clarity.

• NICVA engaged directly with the new DfC Minister to develop a sector ‘manifesto’ highlighting key areas and ways in which the sector’s role can best be supported in future. NICVA presented a ‘Manifesto for Change’ to the DfC Minister which was positively received and will now form the basis for Government engagement with the sector on developing a range of policies, initiatives, and measures to support the sector’s role in delivering positive outcomes for NI society.

• Continued support of a range of committees including intensive secretariat support to the Joint Forum where the selection process was completed to appoint 15 new VC representatives onto the Joint Forum.

• Seven voluntary and community sector surveys undertaken on the impacts of COVID-19 and sector support needs. Survey results published through multiple articles and through various NICVA channels to inform understanding of sector concerns and to inform NICVA external representation of issues to government and others.

• The Public Benefit Survey 2021 and Individual Giving 2021 survey were completed, and all results disseminated via NICVA communication channels.

• Meeting held between Finance Minister Conor Murphy, NICVA and other VCS representatives on the future PEACE Plus EU funding Programme.

• Meetings/roundtables throughout the year held with Finance Minister and Communities Minister. Extensive communication with Ministers across Government including meeting the Junior Ministers in relation to the Bill of Rights.

Goal 4: NICVA will be a resilient and robust organisation equipped to respond to the challenge of change.

This goal covers the internal systems which support the delivery of the plan. Key highlights include:

• NICVA successfully supported staff to work from home as directed by government and continued to do so throughout the year. Microsoft Teams provided all staff with the opportunity and expertise of using online platforms.

• NICVA secured funding for new programmes of work from a range of funders including Halifax Foundation, Department for Communities and Community Foundation for NI. In addition, NICVA secured two further emergency COVID funds and availed of support under the government furlough scheme.

• NICVA managed the delivery of seven programmes funded through multiple contracts and grants.

• NICVA continued to develop the membership offering with over 60 new members joining.

• Extensive work was carried out during lockdown to ensure the NICVA building is COVID safe for staff, tenants, and conference users.

• The NICVA Executive committee concluded a governance review. Amendments were made to the Articles of Association to reflect the changes, and these were issued to the members and ratified at the AGM in December.

• Ongoing development and support of NICVA’s systems and websites including the procurement of an external ICT managed service provider.

The results are set out in detail on pages 20 to 47. The group returned a net increase in funds for the year of £386,343 (2020 - net decrease of £68,421), of which £494,174 related to a net increase in unrestricted funds and £107,831 related to a net decrease in restricted funds.

The net increase in unrestricted funds includes pension provision income of £298,954 (2020 - £8,226).

At 31 March 2021, the total funds of the group amounted to £2,078,739 (2020 - £1,692,396) comprising restricted funds of £969,688 (2020 - £1,077,519) and unrestricted funds of £1,109,051 (2020 - £614,877). The unrestricted funds at the year end are after accounting for a pension provision of £122,091 (2020 - £446,453). Further details of pension provisions are provided in note 18.

NICVA receives a core grant from the Department for Communities which contributes to the delivery of its core work as described in the strategic plan. Furthermore, NICVA delivers contracts on behalf of other funders such as Belfast City Council and The Executive Office which also support the delivery of NICVA’s Mission, Vision and Values. NICVA generates earned income from a range of sources including conference facilities and training courses which also contribute to the delivery of the core business.

Reserves Policy

Unrestricted funds are considered to be essential to provide sufficient funds to cover any unforeseen costs which may arise and fulfil the legal obligations of the Charity in the event that current levels of income are not maintained.

The reserves policy has been designed in order to recognise NICVA’s requirements for reserves in light of the main risks to the organisation. It has established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds not committed should equate to 12 months’ total resources expended. The aim is to provide sufficient funds to cover any unforeseen costs which may arise, recognise the volatile grant environment as well as allowing for the payment of any liabilities which would arise should the company cease to operate. Any call upon the use of reserves will be at the approval of the Executive Committee which will examine the rationale for doing so and agree an amount where appropriate.

At 31 March 2021, the level of “free reserves”, excluding fixed assets and designated funds was £740,504 (2020 - £588,373) which equates to over 5 months' expenditure.

The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.

Plans for Future Periods

In 2019 NICVA’s Executive Committee began the process of devising its new strategic direction alongside reviewing its governance arrangements. This included an external examination of the charity’s existing strategic goals and their impact, a survey to its members and other key stakeholders and an analysis of the external Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legislative and Environmental (PESTLE) context. In NICVA’s PESTLE analysis the horizon was scanned for wider issues and trends in the global, national, and local environment and their potential implications were considered, firstly for the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland, and then for NICVA as an organisation. By January 2020, much work had been concluded on the development of the new plan and the review of the charity’s governance arrangements.

NICVA’s new strategy is now also in response to the impact of COVID-19 and the changing needs of its members. Throughout 2020 NICVA surveyed the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) to determine the impact of COVID. The VCS has played a pivotal role in the immediate response to COVID-19, and they will continue to play a vital role in the coming months and years. The sector will need to adapt their medium and long term strategies, to aid the recovery and build resilience in the sector, long past the crisis.

Furthermore, the Manifesto for Change document, prepared by NICVA at the request of the Minister for Communities was to serve as an initial discussion document identifying some of the key strategic issues facing the sector and its future development. The issues raised within the Manifesto document reflect key issues voluntary and community organisations have raised with NICVA over several years and which NICVA has continued to advocate to government on, alongside and on behalf of the sector.  All this information has helped steer the work of NICVA’s staff and its Executive Committee to produce this master plan for the charity’s future. NICVA’s strategy describes the role it will play in leading and supporting the sector to respond to all these challenges.

Governing Document

NICVA is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, dated 1 August 1944 and amended as at 5 September 2001, 20 November 2009, 19 November 2010, 10 December 2015 and 11 December 2020. The amendment to the Memorandum and Articles of Association was a result of the Governance review which commenced in 2019 which included changes to the governing document, a review of the Governance Manual and the completion of the new Strategic Plan for 2021-2026.

Appointment of Executive Committee

NICVA is governed by an Executive Committee elected by its member organisations on an annual basis through a postal ballot using the single transferable vote system. All NICVA members are invited to nominate to the committee which consists of 12 people elected for a three year period. Elected members, on completion of their three year term, may stand for re-election if they so wish. One third (or the number nearest one third) of the committee so elected must retire at each annual general meeting, those longest in office retiring first. For this financial year, there were three places for Executive Committee members. There were seven nominees for election and on completion of the postal vote, three members were duly elected.

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

Committee Induction and Training

New Executive Committee members undergo induction training to brief them on roles and responsibilities and their legal obligations under charity and company law, the committee and the decision-making processes, the strategic and operational planning processes, the organisational structure and key organisational activities. Executive Committee members are provided with copies of the NICVA Governance Manual which includes the following:

• NICVA Memorandum and Articles of Association

• NICVA Vision Mission & Values

• Role Description for Executive Committee members

• Role Description for Chair of Executive Committee

• Role Description for Vice Chair of Executive Committee

• Role of the Resources Committee

• Role Description of Company Secretary

• Chief Executive Job description

• NICVA Conflicts of Interest Policy

• NICVA organisational chart

• NICVA Finance Procedures

• NICVA’s Equal Opportunities Policy

• NICVA Complaints Procedure    

• NICVA Strategy 2021-2026

• NICVA Risk Register.

Organisational Structure

The Executive Committee ensures the good governance of the organisation by setting its strategic objectives and policy direction through NICVA’s five year strategic plan, and monitoring progress on this through the annual operational planning process. The Committee meets every six weeks and the Resources Sub-Committee which deals with the human and financial resources of the organisation meets on a quarterly basis. The Chief Executive, appointed by the Committee, manages the day to day operations of the organisation. To facilitate effective operations, the Chief Executive has delegated authority for operational matters including the application and monitoring of strategic and operational objectives.

Related Parties

NICVA is an independent organisation and all operations are carried out in accordance with this. By the nature of the objects of the charity, NICVA works closely with its members, representing their interests to government bodies and funders as appropriate. NICVA continues to support its social economy business, Sector Matters Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of NICVA, which was established in November 2009.

Risk Management

Financial risks are assessed by the organisation through the Resources Committee on a quarterly and annual basis. Core funding is provided by the Department for Communities (DfC) which periodically conducts a Risk Assessment on all funded organisations. NICVA has retained its low risk status demonstrating that robust financial systems and controls are in place. As part of the governance review process, the NICVA Risk Register was reviewed and updated during the year. NICVA continues to monitor all procedures associated with risk management.

Pay Policy for Senior Staff

The Trustees (Executive Committee) all give of their time freely and no Trustee received remuneration in the year.

The organisation has adapted the National Joint Council (NJC) pay scales for its use for many years following an independent job evaluation. The result of the job evaluation was a recommendation of pay points for each grade within the organisation including the Senior Management Team. These pay scales were set based on an external benchmarking exercise against roles with similar job roles and levels of responsibility.

NICVA administers the Cheques for Charity scheme whereby they receive, claim gift aid and hold monies on behalf of donors and disburse according to their instructions. Details of these restricted funds are included within notes 22 and 31 to the accounts.

Conduit funding

NICVA is responsible for receiving and distributing funds on behalf of the Department for Communities. £191,742 (2020 - £187,806) was received and distributed during the year and no balance was held in relation to these monies at 31 March 2021.

The trustees, who are also the directors of Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the group 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 group and parent charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the group 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;

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; 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 group and charitable 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 charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In preparing this report, the directors have taken advantage of the small companies exemptions provided by section 415A of the Companies Act 2006.

Each of the trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (the ‘parent charity’) and its subsidiaries (the 'group') for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the consolidated balance sheet, the charity balance sheet, the consolidated statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of 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 group's and parent charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2021 and of the group's incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

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 group and parent charitable 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.

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees' 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 charity’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 trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees 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.

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

the information given in the trustees' report, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

the directors' report included within the trustees' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report included within the trustees' 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

we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the trustees' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, 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 trustees 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 trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’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 trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

We identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and then design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, including obtaining audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

In identifying and assessing potential risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliances with laws and regulations, we considered the following:

• The nature of the industry and sector, control environment and business performance, including the company’s remuneration policies for directors, bonus levels and performance targets, if any;

• Results of our enquiries of management about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities;

• Any matters we identified having obtained and reviewed the company’s documentation of their policies and procedures relating to:

  • Identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instance of non-compliance;

  • Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; and

  • The internal controls established to mitigate risks of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations;

• The matters discussed among the audit engagement team regarding how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and potential indicators of fraud.

As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the company for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in revenue recognition. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.

We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the company operates in, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the Companies Act 2006, and local tax legislation.

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the company’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty.

Our procedures to respond to the risks identified included the following:

• Reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements;

• Enquiring of management concerning actual and potential litigation and claims;

• Performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud;

• Reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and reviewing correspondence with tax authorities; and

• In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

We also communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential fraud risks to all engagement team members and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

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. In addition, as with any audit, there remains a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as they 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/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable 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 charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' 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 charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Movement in pension provision

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Northern Ireland. The registered office is 61 Duncairn Gardens, Belfast, BT15 2GB.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

The financial statements consolidate the accounts of Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action and all of its subsidiary undertakings ('subsidiaries').

The charity has taken advantage of the exemption contained within section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 not to present its own Income and Expenditure Account.

The income and expenditure account for the year dealt with in the accounts of the charity was net income of £380,692 (2020 - net expenditure of £66,772).

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.

Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the trustees for specific purposes. The purposes and uses of the designated funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

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.

Investment income, gains and losses are allocated to the appropriate fund.

Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is

recognised at the time of the donation.

Income tax recoverable in relation to investment income is recognised at the time the investment

income is receivable.

Where funding is received and subsequently distributed to other organisations in accordance with the donor’s instructions it is treated as conduit funding and, therefore, is not recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.

Other income is recognised in the period in which it is receivable and to the extent the goods have been provided or on completion of the service.

Trading income represents net sales to customers and excludes Value Added Tax. Trading income is recognised upon provision of the service to the customer.

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Costs of generating funds are costs incurred in attracting voluntary income, and those incurred in trading activities that raise funds.

Charitable activities and Governance costs are costs incurred on the charity's operations, including support costs and costs relating to the governance of the charity apportioned to charitable activities.

All expenditure is inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

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:

Land is not depreciated.

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 net income/(expenditure) for the year.

Fixed asset investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs, and are subsequently measured at fair value at each reporting date. Changes in fair value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.

A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the charity. Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of the entity so as to obtain benefits from its 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 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 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.

In prior years the charity contributed to a multi-employer defined benefit pension scheme, NICPS, and to The Growth Plan, and the charity is committed to making payments of £1,725 per month to make good prior year deficits. The Schemes closed on 31 March 2009.

A provision is recognised for the contributions payable that arose from the agreements with NICPS and The Growth Plan to fund the prior year deficits.

NICVA operates a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme provided by Legal And General. Staff are auto enrolled to the scheme at the statutory minimum contribution rates. The NICVA executive have offered an opportunity for employees to increase their contributions to a higher tier whereby if an employee contributes 5% the employer will also contribute 5%. Contributions to this Scheme by the charity have therefore been accounted for by charging costs as payments accrue.

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.

The annual depreciation charge on fixed assets depends primarily on the estimated lives of each type of asset and estimates of residual values. The directors regularly review these asset lives and change them as necessary to reflect current thinking on remaining lives in light of prospective economic utilisation and physical condition of the assets concerned. Changes in asset lives can have a significant impact on depreciation and amortisation charges for the period. Detail of the useful lives is included in the accounting policies.

Short term debtors are measured at transaction price, less any impairment. Impairment of such debtors involves some estimation uncertainty.

The pension scheme liability is in relation to the contributions payable that have arisen from an agreement with a multi-employer plan to fund a deficit and is based on certain assumptions as detailed in note 18.

Judgements are made in relation to allocation of income and expenditure to restricted and unrestricted funds. The directors consider it appropriate to allocate these funds based on interpretation of donations received.

Department for Communities - Core Activities

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Charities Aid Foundation (via NCVO)

Earned income

Cheques for Charity

Services provided under contract includes EBCDA contract £nil (2020 - £60,029), The Executive Office CIT £88,065 (2020 - £55,695) and Belfast City Council £150,166 (2020 - £196,233).

The Board considers the Charity to have one main charitable activity, being the alleviation of disadvantage amongst communities, families and individuals through the provision of information, advice, training and development services to community and voluntary groups in Northern Ireland.

Trading activity income

Movement in pension provision

Unwinding of the discount factor (interest expense)

Remeasurements - impact of any change in assumptions

Remeasurements - amendments to the contribution schedule

Further information in relation to the pension provision is provided in note 18.

Recruitment

Travel and subsistence

Affiliation fees, reference books and publications

Research costs

Consultancy

Training course expenses

Seminars and conferences

Printing and stationery

Telephone and postage

Cheques for charity

Third party grant expenditure

Pension scheme management costs

Printing and stationery

Telephone and postage

Rent, insurance and service charges

Cleaning, heat and light

Repairs and maintenance

Equipment rental

General expenses

Bank charges and hire purchase interest

Loss on disposal

Bad debts provision

Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £5,880 (2020- £5,880) for audit fees.

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year, and none of them were reimbursed for travelling expenses (2020 - four were reimbursed £697).

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

Included in land and buildings is land at a cost of £67,051 (2020 - £67,051) which is not depreciated.

All fixed asset investments are held in the UK.

The deferred income arises in respect of income being received in the year which relates to a future accounting period and in respect of income received in the year where conditions for recognition have not been satisfied. The income will be released to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which it relates.

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 profit or loss in respect of defined contribution schemes was £40,892 (2020 - £41,560).

In prior years the Charity contributed to the Northern Ireland Charities Pension Scheme (‘the Scheme’), which is a funded multi-employer defined benefit scheme. The Scheme is not contracted-out of the State scheme.

The Northern Ireland Charities Pension Scheme closed to future accrual on 31 March 2009. There is currently no intention to wind-up the Scheme and it continues in paid-up form.

The Pension Trust commissions an actuarial valuation of the Scheme every three years. The main purpose of the valuation is to determine the financial position of the Scheme in order to determine the level of future contributions required so that the Scheme can meet its pension obligations as they fall due.

The actuarial valuation assesses whether the Scheme’s assets at the valuation date are likely to be sufficient to pay the pension benefits accrued by members as at the valuation date. Asset values are calculated by reference to market levels. Accrued pension benefits are valued by discounting expected future benefit payments using a discount rate calculated by reference to the expected future investment returns.

During the year NICVA paid contributions of £31,300 to cover the deficit payments and Scheme management costs.

It is not possible in the normal course of events to identify the share of underlying assets and liabilities belonging to individual participating employers. This is because the Scheme is a multi-employer scheme, where the assets are co-mingled for investment purposes, and benefits are paid out of total Scheme assets.

The last formal completed valuation of the Scheme was performed as at 30 September 2019 by a professionally qualified actuary using the ‘projected unit credit’ method. The market value of the Scheme’s assets at the valuation date was £35.4 million. The valuation revealed a shortfall of assets compared to liabilities of £2.4 million.

The results of the 2019 valuation means a new deficit recovery plan is required to fund the deficit of £2.4 million. This commenced on 1 August 2020 and will run until 29 February 2028.

The Scheme Actuary has prepared an Actuarial Report that provides an approximate update on the funding position of the Scheme as at 30 September 2020. Such a report is required by legislation for years in which a full actuarial valuation is not carried out. The funding update revealed an increase in the assets of the Scheme to £36.0 million (from £35.4 million at 30 September 2019) and indicated no changes to the shortfall of assets compared to liabilities of approximately £2.4 million (£2.4 million at 30 September 2019), equivalent to a past service funding level of 94% (94% at 30 September 2019).

Following a change in legislation in September 2005 there is a potential debt on the employer that could be levied by the Trustee of the Scheme. The debt is due in the event of the employer ceasing to participate in the Scheme or the Scheme winding up.

The debt for the Scheme as a whole is calculated by comparing the liabilities for the Scheme (calculated on a buy-out basis i.e. the cost of securing benefits by purchasing annuity policies from an insurer, plus an allowance for expenses) with the assets of the Scheme. If the liabilities exceed assets there is a buy-out debt.

The leaving employer’s share of the buy-out debt is the proportion of the Scheme’s liability attributable to employment with the leaving employer compared to the total amount of the Scheme’s liabilities (relating to employment with all the currently participating employers). The leaving employer’s debt therefore includes a share of any ‘orphan’ liabilities in respect of previously participating employers. The amount of the debt therefore depends on many factors including total Scheme liabilities, Scheme investment performance, the liabilities in respect of current and former employees of the employer, financial conditions at the time of the cessation event and the insurance buy-out market. The amounts of debt can therefore be volatile over time.

Under FRS 102, where an entity participates in a multi-employer plan, and the entity had entered into an agreement with the multi-employer plan that determines how the entity will fund a deficit, the entity shall recognise a liability for the contributions payable that arise from the agreement and the resulting expense in the Statement of Financial Activities.

The liabilities for the Northern Ireland Charities Pension Scheme as noted above, and The Growth Plan, which is also a funded multi-employer defined benefit scheme which the Charity contributed to in prior years, are shown in the tables below.

Movements in the present value of defined benefit obligations:

The total provision is £122,091 (2020 - £446,453).

The above provisions have assumed a discount rate of 1.01% per annum (2020 - 2.49% per annum) for the Northern Ireland Charities Pension Scheme, and 0.66% per annum (2020 - 2.53% per annum) for The Growth Plan, and are the equivalent single discount rates which, when used to discount the future recovery plan contributions due, would give the same results as using a full AA corporate bond yield curve to discount the same recovery plan contributions.

NICVA believes that as a responsible employer it should provide the opportunity of a pension scheme for all staff. NICVA operates a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme provided by Legal And General. Staff are auto enrolled to the scheme at the statutory minimum contribution rates. The NICVA executive have offered an opportunity for employees to increase their contributions to a higher tier whereby if an employee contributes 5% the employer will also contribute 5%.

Unrestricted funds

Restricted funds

Unrestricted funds

Restricted funds

Unrestricted funds

Designated Premises Reserve

This is a designated fund NICVA established to facilitate the construction and maintenance of their premises at Duncairn Gardens, Belfast.

The purpose of the fund is to ensure resources are retained for the upkeep of the conference facilities and offices to include general repair work, building maintenance and decorating, as and when required.

General Unrestricted Fund

This fund is the result of NICVA's strategic objective to establish reserves which would allow NICVA to operate for 12 months without other sources of income.

Pension reserve

The pension reserve represents contributions payable under an agreement with NICPS to fund prior year deficits. The transfer from unrestricted funds into the pension reserve relates to deficit contributions paid in the year.

Restricted funds

Atlantic Philanthropies (Property)

A restricted donation to assist with the cost of building NICVA’s regional community resource centre at Duncairn Gardens, Belfast.

Belfast Regeneration Office (Property)

A restricted grant to assist with the cost of building NICVA’s regional community resource centre at Duncairn Gardens, Belfast.

Big Lottery (Property)

A restricted grant to assist with the cost of building NICVA’s regional community resource centre at Duncairn Gardens, Belfast.

DSD – Capital Grants

A fund from year end additional grants from Department for Social Development for specific projects.

Cheques For Charity (CFC) Client Funds

A fund to receive, claim gift aid and hold monies on behalf of donors. NICVA disburses the monies according to the donors instructions.

Peace III - Vital Links

The Vital Links project is part-financed by the European Union's European Regional Development Fund through the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (PEACE III) managed by the Special EU Programmes Body. Funded for three years, the aim of the Vital Links project is to increase the interaction and understanding of the key institutions, the voluntary and community sector and foster and promote positive engagement. Vital Links delivers a programme of free training, seminars, conferences and publications.

Centre for Economic Empowerment

NICVA received a grant under the Northern Ireland Development Fund to establish the Centre for Economic Empowerment. The Development Fund is managed by The Henry Smith Charity and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

The Centre for Economic Empowerment is a think tank, observatory and skills development project. It aims to influence resource allocation and the formation of budgets at government level, to monitor trends in economic development/policy and assess their impacts on poverty, deprivation, equality and creating a shared future and to increase the skills and knowledge of economic policy and budgeting in the community/voluntary sector.

Regional infrastructure Support Programme (RISP) – Faith Strand

The Department for Communities, through the Regional Infrastructure Support Programme (RISP), provides support, training, advice, advocacy, information and resource services to those Faith Based Organisations interested in or engaged in community work as an expression of the church's mission.

The Department’s aim is to promote the role of faith based organisations in serving the needs of disadvantaged communities across Northern Ireland. In 2016, the Department funded NICVA and RCN to deliver this support pending the outcome of the review of RISP.

Peace IV - The Next Chapter

NICVA launched a two-year, cross-border partnership project ‘The Next Chapter’. The project is funded under the PEACE IV programme and the lead partner is Politics Plus. The project aims to encourage and support greater participation by women in politics and public life by establishing 10 local networks or ‘Chapters’ involving 300 women from across Northern Ireland and the Border Counties and providing networking, development, and training opportunities and supporting the development of local chapter projects.

The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation

The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation awarded NICVA a grant of £5,000 in recognition of NICVA’s work with their Older People’s grant programme and to go towards developing the fundraising skills/capacity of the NI VCSE.

Pivotal: Public Policy Forum NI

NICVA have been funded by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to help set up the Public Policy Forum with the purpose to launch a new public policy think tank for Northern Ireland. With the aim to help Northern Ireland prosper by encouraging better public policy and involving a wider range of people in policy debate.

Building Change Trust - Knowledge Programme

Developing a roadmap for improving information security and cyber resilience in the VCSE sectors

The voluntary sector plays a key role in delivering public services in Northern Ireland, with over 75% of funding and almost £500 million of service contracts coming directly from the public sector. By the nature of the work they do, voluntary sector organisations often deal with highly sensitive personal data. Evidence suggested that there was a need to build the capacity and cyber resilience of voluntary sector organisations to operate safely and securely in a digital world.

Through this programme, NICVA brought together subject matter experts from statutory bodies, regulatory authorities, the security industry and academia to give insight on the growing threats to information security for organisations and the options for risk management controls. Through a knowledge exchange process, which included expert engagement, surveys, awareness raising seminars and Design Thinking sessions facilitated by Work West, the participants identified ways to improve information security and cyber resilience in the VCSE sector.

Building Change Trust - Social Innovation Programme

In 2018, three NICVA staff members participated in the Workwest Design Thinking workshops funded by Building Change Trust Social Innovation Programme. A solution-based approach to problem solving. The task was to consider the impact the introduction of GDPR would have on the sector. The solution reached was to interpret the legislation into animated “bite size” chunks of information. With funding, from the Building Change Trust, 5 animations, presented by the GDPR Fairy were designed and produced, the animations were launched in January 2019.

DfC projects

Project Title: Support to Women’s Aid to scale the Family First Project

The purpose of this project was to Support Women’s Aid Antrim, Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Larne Newtownabbey (ABCLN) to develop a prototype model of the Family First project. The project provided support to Women’s Aid ABCLN in gauging the level of interest and potential for scaling of the model in other Trust areas.

Project Title: Charity Trustee Capacity Building Pilot

The purpose of the project was to provide direct support to Charities in default of from submitting their annual return to the Charity Commission NI to enable them to complete their annual monitoring returns.

Project Title: Cross Sector Collaboration

The purpose of the project is to support the development of a Cross Sector Innovation Forum which will include Public, Private and Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations which will support the supply of new innovations and collaborations from both within the private and voluntary and community sectors.

Project Title: Community Application Programming Interface (Community API)

This project involved the development of a pilot project “CommunityAPI” running on the CommunityNI platform.  The pilot provides a directory of health & wellbeing services provided by Charities, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations in North Belfast.    

Project Title: Skills Match

This project led by Business in the Community and in partnership with NICVA is an online platform that links up skilled and knowledgeable business volunteers with community, voluntary, social enterprise and public sector organisations that have made a request for professional support across a wide range of skill sets.

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:

The remuneration of key management personnel is as follows.

The trustees have taken adantage of the exemption from disclosing related party transactions with other wholly owned group companies, in accordance with FRS 102.

There were no other transactions with related parties requiring disclosure.

Details of the charity's subsidiaries at 31 March 2021 are as follows:

The charity had no debt during the year.

NICVA administers the Cheques for Charity scheme, whereby they receive, claim gift aid and hold monies on behalf of donors and disburse according to their instructions. During the year NICVA received £93,109 (2020 - £123,458) of Cheques for Charity donations, with £96,085 (2020 - £116,611) being dispersed to charitable organisations as instructed by the donors.

NICVA is responsible for receiving and distributing funds on behalf of the Department for Communities. During the year £191,742 (2020 - £187,806) was received and distributed and no balance was held in relation to these monies at 31 March 2021.

(i) A portion of grants received may become repayable if the Charity fails to comply with the terms of the letter of offer.

(ii) After the year end the charity received correspondence from The Pensions Trust in relation to a review the Trustee has undertaken regarding the application of changes to Northern Ireland Charities Pension Scheme benefits. The outcome of the review could give rise to an additional liability of approximately £137k. The Pensions Trust have, however, indicated that this would be an unlikely outcome and no further provision has therefore been made in the financial statements.