HomePublicationsAnnual reportsCitizens Advice annual report 2005/2006Structure, governance and management

The Trustee Board

Citizens Advice is governed by a Trustee Board which:

• sets the policy of the charity
• is involved in determining corporate strategy, including setting key strategic objectives
• makes major decisions about the use of finances
• sets a framework for human resources policy.

The membership of the Trustee Board as at year end 31 March 2006 is set out below. The trustees are also known as directors of Citizens Advice for the purposes of Company Law.

* Member of the Performance Review and Audit Committee

^ Paid bureaux staff

A register of interests is maintained detailing any significant interests of trustees. This is open to the public and is held at the registered office. A copy is available by writing to the Company Secretary at the registered office address shown in the administrative details of this report. No trustee received any remuneration for his or her services as trustee during the year.

Recruiting and training trustees

Trustees are recruited in line with the terms laid out in the Articles of Association and the agreed election rules. A term of office is three years and trustees may stand for two terms.

Four trustees are elected by member bureaux at the Annual General Meeting, these are: the Chair, Treasurer and two trustees who receive payment for their work in a Citizens Advice Bureau. Member bureaux elect one trustee from each of the seven regions and Wales. The Board of the Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NIACAB) appoints one trustee, and the Citizens Advice Equal Opportunities Committee appoints two trustees. In addition, two further trustees can be co-opted by the Trustee Board. All trustees are independent from management.

All trustees receive a trustee handbook. The handbook contains information about the roles and responsibilities of trustees, including the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Standing Orders and a Code of Practice for board members.

Citizens Advice runs an induction day for all new trustees so they can learn about their responsibilities and the strategic issues affecting the charity and holds development residential meetings annually.

Our intranet site, CABlink, contains designated pages with information to support trustees in their roles.

Responsibilities of trustees and the Chief Executive Officer

The trustees and Chief Executive (as Chief Accounting Officer) are required by law to prepare annual financial statements that give a true and fair view of Citizens Advice and of the surplus or deficit of funds for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees and Chief Executive are required to:

• select appropriate accounting policies and apply them consistently
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, and explain where they haven’t been followed
• use a going concern basis to reporting unless it is inappropriate to presume the charitable company will continue.
• The trustees and Chief Executive are also responsible for:
• keeping proper accounting records which disclose the financial position of Citizens Advice and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985
• taking such steps to safeguard the assets of the charitable company and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities
• ensuring the regularity and propriety of the public finances, as set out in the Financial Memorandum
• the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included in the companies website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Organisational structure and decision-making

Responsibility for day-to-day management matters and the implementation of policy is delegated to the Chief Executive, within a clearly understood framework of strategic control. The Chief Executive is supported by the Executive Board, which consists of Citizens Advice executive directors as set out below.

Member bureaux also take part in the policy-making activity of the charity by passing resolutions at the Annual General Meeting. However, these resolutions need ratifying by the Trustee Board before implementation. The Trustee Board meets at least six times a year.

The Trustee Board can delegate responsibility for specified matters to the following committees: Membership and Standards Committee, the Equal Opportunities Committee and the Performance Review and Audit Committee. Decisions taken by individual members or committees of the Trustee Board under delegated powers are recorded in written minutes available to the Trustee Board as a whole.

Employee involvement

Trustee Board papers, including agendas and minutes are available to all employees. Regular meetings are held between management and the union, and the union and its members to discuss Citizens Advice activities. Citizens Advice pays the costs of staff travelling to union meetings. An employee satisfaction survey is conducted annually and the results are used to influence management decisions in the future.

Equal opportunities

Citizens Advice recognises the positive value of diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination. The service-wide Fair Accessible Inclusive Relevant (FAIR) strategy 2004-2008 sets out how we intend to become a first point of contact for discrimination. As such, Citizens Advice meets all of its legal responsibilities and welcomes employees from all parts of the community, particularly under-represented groups.

Internal controls and risk management

Systems and procedures have been established to identify, monitor and manage the risks that Citizens Advice faces. Trustees and executive directors periodically review and update risks and mitigating actions.

The most significant risks for Citizens Advice relate to the planned reduced level of DTI grant in aid and the ability of Citizens Advice to realign its services, reduce expenditure and raise alternative revenues in order to meet the reduced grant level by March 2008; and manage the impact this has on delivering key strategic objectives and bureaux.

There is a risk that our savings programme is unable to deliver the savings required by March 2008. In addition, any changes we do make under the savings programme may result in a deterioration of the relationship between Citizens Advice and bureaux and a loss of key staff from the organisation.

If we fail to review, assess and respond to changes in the external environment or to maximise service development opportunities for bureaux and partnerships, there is a potential negative impact.

Citizens Advice operations expose it to a variety of financial risks, however as it is a debt free organisation with a strong positive cash-flow, the impact of interest rate changes, debt market prices and liquidity are extremely low.

Citizens Advice has no exposure to equity securities price risk as it holds no listed or other equity investments. Other price risks are not considered to be significant to Citizens Advice due to the nature of its activities.

The majority of our customers are member bureaux and as a consequence payment defaults are uncommon. Citizens Advice considers that the benefits of doing credit checks on other potential customers are out-weighed by the cost of the checks. Customers are granted thirty days credit, and subscriptions are cancelled on non-payment and a solicitor is contacted to recover any debt owed.

Citizens Advice receives the majority of funds in advance, and therefore debts can be met as they fall due. The surplus cash is invested for set periods of time to ensure certainty of future interest cash flows.

The trustees have delegated the responsibility of monitoring financial risk management to the Performance Review and Audit Committee (PRAC). Citizens Advice executive directors are responsible for implementing financial risk management strategy as stated in our treasury management policy.

The statement on the system of internal control included within this document sets out the risk and control framework.

Responsibility towards the environment

Citizens Advice aims to minimise its impact on the environment.The development of our paperless business solutions has reduced waste and the use of consumables. The use of electronic information dispersal is encouraged at all levels of the service. Further work is being undertaken to refine our environmental policies.

Our legal status

Citizens Advice is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. All member bureaux are members of Citizens Advice, and there are no other members. The maximum liability of each member is limited to £1. Citizens Advice is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association as amended in October 2000.

The registered name of the charity is The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, and from 6 January 2003 the charity has used the operating name of Citizens Advice (previously it was referred to as NACAB). Citizens Advice was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on 13 July 1979. Citizens Advice commenced operations on 1 October 1979 at which date the assets and liabilities of the unincorporated National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux were acquired as represented by the CAB General Fund (see note 17).

On 1 April 1991, the undertaking of the Greater London Citizens Advice Bureau Service (“GLCABS”), together with its assets and liabilities, was transferred to Citizens Advice and is represented in the London Region Reserves (see note 17).

The charity has a trading subsidiary, Citizens Advice Limited (formerly Advice Services Information Limited). Consolidated accounts have not been prepared as the balances of the company are not material to Citizens Advice.

Our administrative details

Company Number
1436945

Registered Charity Number
279057

Company Secretary
Stephen Williams

Registered Office
115-123 Pentonville Road, London N1 9LZ

Auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Southwark Towers, 32 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9SY

Bankers
Barclays Bank PLC, 99-100 Hatton Gardens, London EC1N 8NX

Singer and Friedlander, 21 New Street, London EC2M 4HR

Solicitors
Bates, Wells and Braithwaite, 2-6 Cannon Street, London EC4M 6YH

Vizards Tweedie, 42 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4JL

Davies Arnold Cooper, 6-8 Bouverie Street, London EC4Y 8DD

Dickinson Dees, 112 Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE991SB

Pension Scheme Actuary
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Benefit Solutions, 251 High Street, Orpington, Kent BR6 0NT

Connected charities and other parties

The following charities and other entities are connected to Citizens Advice by way of common objectives and unity of administration:

• The Citizens Advice Bureaux Trust has the same charity registration, trustees and registered office as Citizens Advice. It has been absorbed into Citizens Advice accounts.
• The Adviser is a separate registered charity with two directors in common and the same registered address as Citizens Advice. The Adviser is dormant and not consolidated in Citizens Advice accounts on the grounds that it is not material.
• The Friends of Citizens Advice Bureaux Trust (Friends of CABx) is a separate registered charity at the same registered office as Citizens Advice. With effect from 5 July 2005 the operations of the trust ceased. The Friends of Citizens Advice Bureaux Trust is dormant and not consolidated in the Citizens Advice accounts on the grounds that it is not material.
• Citizens Advice International is a company registered in Belgium. It was formed in March 2004, and from this time has operated from the registered office of Citizens Advice. Citizens Advice International provides support to all Citizens Advice organisations worldwide. The registered office is 57 Rue de la Concorde, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. Citizens Advice International is not consolidated in the financial statements, as Citizens Advice does not have any significant control over the company.
• Citizens Advice Limited is a trading company that administers sponsorship arrangements on behalf of Citizens Advice.

All material transactions between Citizens Advice, its connected charities and other related parties are detailed in Note 23 of the accounts.

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