Our income for this accounting period is £2.86 million, which is comprised of income from the levy of £2.36 million (around 82% of total income) and £399k from the registration of small charities and commercial organisations engaged in fundraising, along with £100k of interest from investments. This compares to a total income of £2.55 million last year.

We incurred expenses of £3.31 million (£2.48 million in 2022/23) throughout the year and operated a deficit of £363k. As a result, our reserves are £1.6 million (£1.96 million in 2022/23), which is the most recent reserve level agreed with the board.

Our planned budget for the year of £3.07 million was overspent by £243,000 (8%). This was the result of more planned project work being completed under the head of proactive regulation and projects. We also took on additional staff to deal with business pressures in a number of areas.

Our expenditure is set out in further detail in our Annual Report pdf (breakdown of regulatory activities page 80). Some expenditure requires further explanation owing to the year-on-year changes.

Note 6 of the accounts classifies operating expenditure into a number of cost headings. This year we reclassified the components of some of these groups to reflect a more accurate cost grouping. This is the reason for some of the wide variations between 2023/24 and 2022/23 expenditure. Increases in expenditure, particularly in consultants and staff costs, are due to an increase to the size of the workforce. The initiation of business systems improvement projects accounts for other variances.

We maintain a system of risk management. Significant risks are reported in a register, which is regularly monitored, and reviewed by the SMT and Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. The board also discusses the risk register at least twice a year. Emerging risks are mitigated to reduce the likelihood of the risks crystallising and their impact being realised. This year, a particular concern has been the risk posed by cyber attacks. To mitigate this risk and improve our resilience we have been audited against the Cyber Essentials Plus standard.

Our biggest long term risk remains funding. Despite an increase in the number of charities paying the levy and registering over the past four years, the voluntary nature of the levy means we cannot predict accurately how many organisations will contribute each year and the speed at which this happens. Positively, charities have so far shown their willingness to continue funding the regulator to maintain our activities and it is clear that most regard funding the regulator as an important and necessary cost of business.