financial statements 31 march 2014 - cse · page 6 | financial statements: year ended 31 march 2014...

Contents

2 | A year in the life of CSE

4 | Reference details

5 | Structure, governance & management

6 | Objectives and activities

7 | Achievements and performance

11 | Funders and clients

13 | Lessons learned

20 | Future strategy & Financial review

24 | Independent auditor’s report

26 | Statement of financial activities

27 | Balance sheet

28 | Notes to the financial statements

Centre for Sustainable Energy Company limited by guaranteeCompany registration 2219673Charity 298740

Bishop Fleming LLPChartered Accountants, Statutory Auditor16 Queen Square, Bristol BS1 4NT

Financial statements 31 March 2014

| Financial statements: year ended 31 March 2014

August 2013 | We launch a series ofvideo guides for communitieswishing to undertake projects onenergy efficiency and Green Deal.See them at www.bit.ly/1nwZ4lyq

September 2013 | Launch of theGreen Open Homes network. See www.greenopenhomes.netq

May 2013 | Energise, our 8-pagenewsletter, is produced twice a year.Download it from www. cse.org.uk/newsletter

q

July 2013 | We present ‘Managingand mining smart meter data at

scale’, a‘project showcase’ seminarin Westminster

t

April 2013 | We win ‘Best PrivateSector Housing Partner’ prize inMendip District Council’s BuildingExcellence Awards for 2013t

June 2013 | CSE Chief Executive callsthe Government’s new policy on on-shore wind power “half-baked” p

A year in the life of CSE

Financial statements: year ended 31 March 2014 | page 3

January 2014 | Energy advice videos: Pioneeringresources for the Somali community p

February 2014 |CSE will helpDECC see the bigpicture of energydemandt

March 2014 |Workshops for pre-payment meterusers q

November 2013 | Visitor spike;2,170 hits on our web site was thehighest ever (though we’ve had higher since) u

December 2013 | We host a fuel poverty ‘insight-sharing and networking’event, and share our four ‘Coping with Cold’ videos q

All this and more on www.cse.org.uk

October 2013 | Our ChiefExecutive Simon Roberts explainswhy he’s fed up with hearingabout the ‘energy gap’ atwww.cse.org.uk/energy-gap

“We shouldn’t be scared intoaccepting inefficient fossil-fuelledplant or high cost nuclear on thebasis of substandard thinking thatonly considers half the equation”

Centre for Sustainable Energy Company limited by guarantee

Reference and administrative details of the company, its trustees and advisersfor the year ended 31 March 2014

Trustees Peter Lipman (resigned 23 January 2014)Dr Brenda Boardman MBEPeter CapenerRobin CopelandDr Andrew GarradProf Catherine MitchellAnne ObeyColin Palmer (resigned 18 December 2013)Dr Chris VernonAriane Crampton (appointed 26 June 2014)Andrew Darnton (appointed 26 June 2014)Peter Ellis (appointed 26 June 2014)Kaye Welfare (appointed 26 June 2014)

Company registered number 2219673

Charity registered number 298740

Registered office 3 St Peter’s Court, Bedminster Parade, Bristol BS3 4AQ

Company secretary Robin Copeland

Chief executive Simon Roberts OBE

Independent auditor Bishop Fleming LLP, Chartered Accountants, Statutory Auditor, 16 Queen Square, Bristol BS1 4NT

Bankers HSBC, 62 George White Street, Cabot Circus, Bristol BS1 3BA

Solicitors TLT LLP, One Redcliff Street, Bristol BS1 6TP

page 4 | Financial statements: year ended 31 March 2014


Trustees’ report (cont) for the year ended 31 March 2014


The Trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the CompaniesAct) present their annual report together with the audited financial statements ofCentre for Sustainable Energy (the company) for the year ended 31 March 2014.

The Trustees confirm that the Annual Report and financial statements of the companycomply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the company’sgoverning document and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice(SORP) "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" issued in March 2005.

Structure, governance & management

a) Constitution

The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, having noshare capital. CSE’s Memorandum and Articles of Association are the primary governing documents of thecharity.

b) Policies and structure

The charity operates with a Board of Trustees that meets on a quarterly basis. Trustees have overallresponsibility for financial management, organisation and compliance with the purposes of the charity.However, this responsibility is devolved on a day to day basis to the Chief Executive and Senior ManagementTeam within a clearly documented framework of delegated powers. The Chief Executive reports to theTrustees at each quarterly meeting.

In February 2014 we launched an open recruitment process for new Trustees, following the retirement oftwo of our longest serving Trustees, Colin Palmer and Peter Lipman. After a selection process run by aNomination Committee of the Board, in June 2014 the Board accepted the recommendation to appoint fournew Trustees: Ariane Crampton; Andrew Darnton, Peter Ellis, and Kaye Welfare (seewww.cse.org.uk/trustees for more information). New Trustees engage with an extensive induction process tofamiliarise themselves with the charity and their responsibilities.

c) Public benefit

CSE has complied with the duty in Section 17(5) of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to publicbenefit guidance published by the Charities Commission.




Objectives & activities

CSE’s mission as an independent charity is to share our knowledge and practical experience to enable peopleto change the way they think and act about energy. Our core charitable objectives are defined in ourMemorandum and Articles of Association as:

• to promote, organise, carry out and encourage, for the benefit of the public, education, demonstrationand research into energy and resource conservation and renewable energy sources, thereby increasingpublic awareness of energy in all its aspects;

• to relieve poverty by promoting energy and resource conservation among persons who are in necessitouscircumstances including those who are elderly or whose housing conditions are unsatisfactorily.

Our vision is of a world where sustainability is second nature, carbon emissions have been cut to safe levelsand fuel poverty has been replaced by energy justice.

CSE achieves this mission by:

• developing and delivering effective services which enable individuals and organisations in our local area(West of England and Somerset) to make their energy supply and use more sustainable;

• empowering and supporting effective action by others in their organisations and communities across theUK;

• testing and nurturing new ideas to improve impact, accelerate change and/or engage new audiences inthe achievement of lower carbon emissions and an end to cold homes;

• using our experience and evidence to shape local and national policy through expert analysis andresearch and targeted activity to influence policy makers.

Our work is delivered in partnership with national and local government and associated agencies,community groups, the energy industry, business, other energy charities across the country, and the generalpublic on a range of initiatives that include:

• a free public telephone home energy advice service for householders and community groups across theWest of England and Somerset area;

• targeted outreach programmes that provide face to face advice, home visits and energy advocacyservices for fuel poor and vulnerable householders struggling to pay their fuel bills;

• a range of community based energy projects encouraging greater local awareness of, and engagementwith, the issues relating to energy including health, comfort, housing, fuel poverty, and the environment;

• the development of on line and practical resources and training courses to support and improve thesustainable energy understanding and capabilities of community groups, local authorities and others;

• pilot projects to try out new approaches and provide practical tests of policy developments; • technical consultancy services which help clients understand and implement low carbon solutions

appropriate to their circumstances;• action orientated research work that develops understanding of energy issues and fuel poverty;• data analysis and modelling to reveal the opportunities, costs, and distributional impacts of interventions

to cut carbon emissions and/or address fuel poverty;• influencing policy makers locally and nationally with the experience and results gained from our practical

work and research.




Achievements & performance

Our work in 2013-14 was driven by the priority areas for action set out in our 3 year strategy. These aredesigned to maximise the impact we can have in addressing the increasingly urgent problems of climatechange and fuel poverty.

Detailed below are some of the highlights of our work during 2013-14. For much more information aboutour work, our website at www.cse.org.uk provides details of all our projects. It also provides free access toall of our publications and resources, including our increasingly sought after energy advice leaflets. Thissharing of knowledge and practical experience is central to the organisation’s mission; doing it well enablesothers to take action more readily and thus increase our impact and accelerate change.

Priority 1: People enabled, supported, and willing to act for change

Free energy advice for our local public: Our home energy advice line celebrated its second birthday inApril 2014 having helped more than 10,000 people since it filled the gap left by the end of nationallyfunded free energy advice. The service is supported by our ‘Love your home’ energy advice website(www.cse.org.uk/loveyourhome). The service provides a comprehensive array of materials explainingdifferent energy saving measures, renewable energy technologies and more basic things like making themost of heating controls and understanding your fuel bills.

Marshalling volunteers to increase impact and extend reach: Over the last two years we have investedin our in-house capacity to recruit, train and support volunteers so that they can work alongside our energyadvice team across the full range of projects we run in the West of England and Somerset area. The team ofsome 35 regular volunteers, offering from a few hours to a few days a week, have been trained in energyadvice, many to City and Guilds standard. As a result, we have been able to do many more home visits togive energy advice face-to -face, staff stalls at more community events. Volunteers have also helped fulfilinformation enquiries, and even support the advice line during busy periods. By our calculation, thisvolunteer resource is the equivalent of nearly four extra full time staff. It also has the added impact ofdistributing expertise in sustainable energy more widely into the communities we serve.

Our third WISH: With new funding from the Big Lottery’s Reaching Communities programme and workingin partnership with a wide variety of partners from the public and voluntary sectors, our Warmer ImprovedSomerset Homes (WISH) project started its third three year programme. The initiative targets people acrossSomerset vulnerable to the health and social impacts of living in a cold home – particularly the elderly andfamilies with young children. WISH’s second phase (2010-13) helped more than 11,500 people across theCounty. We’re hoping to improve our reach with CSE staff based in Taunton and Shepton Mallet, backed upby volunteers and staff in our Bristol office and an extensive referral network of other organisations workingwith vulnerable households. (See www.cse.org.uk/news/view/1753 for more information).

At any given time, CSE may have some 60 to 70 different andseparately funded projects underway. More than 100 projects weredelivered during 2013-14.




Spreading the message by video: to capture what we’ve learned from years of working locally to tacklefuel poverty, we teamed up with Rural Media to produce 4 short films titled ‘Coping with Cold’ whichexplore different aspects of its causes and impact and how to tackle it (www.cse.org.uk/coping-with-cold).Launched at National Energy Action’s annual conference in September, these films were quickly joined onour expanding Youtube channel by two films (www.cse.org.uk/somali-energy-advice-videos) in Somalioffering simple advice to tackle key challenges faced by Bristol’s Somali community: managing heating anddamp in their homes and navigating the complexity of the UK gas and electricity markets.

Priority 2: Communities empowered to take action and shape their neighbourhoods forsustainable energy

Expanding Green Open Homes: With funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change(DECC) and working closely with open homes pioneers, Bristol Green Doors, we launched a new nationalnetwork and support programme for local groups to run ‘open doors’ events featuring local ‘low carbon’homes. In the first year of the Green Open Homes Network (www.greenopenhomes.net), more than10,000 visitors enjoyed inspiring visits to local homes to see energy efficiency improvements and renewableenergy installations in practice and hear the home owners’ stories of what they did and why. (See also‘Stories trump data’ on page 7 and www.cse.org.uk/GOH-goes-live for more information).

Helping to deliver Low Carbon Localism: With increasing emphasis in national planning policy on theimportance of neighbourhood level planning, we developed and published new resources to helpcommunities engage with these local processes. Expanding our award winning PlanLoCaL programme, ourparticular focus was to enable people to consider how their localities can best address the need to achievelow carbon goals – like energy efficient housing refurbishment and the development of renewable energyprojects. (See www.cse.org.uk/news/view/1741 for further information).

Less is More: community led electricity demand reduction: With support from electricity distributioncompany Western Power Distribution and Ofgem’s Low Carbon Network Fund, we launched an ambitiousinitiative to test out a range of techniques to encourage communities to reduce total and peak electricitydemand. Working with four other charities across 10 different neighbourhoods, we have a year to see whichlocal interventions (if any!) can have an impact on the demand monitored at the local substations andrevealed minute by minute at www.lessismore.org.uk. (See www.cse.org.uk/news/less-is-more forfurther information).

Youth Community Energy Catalysts: Towards the end of the year, we teamed up with the UK YouthClimate Coalition to launch a new peer mentoring service – Youth Community Energy Catalysts linkingenthusiastic young people with more experienced community energy activists around the country. (Seewww.cse.org.uk/news/view/1815 for further information).




Priority 3: A decent, trustworthy low carbon housing refurbishment ‘system’

Creating local opportunities with ECO: in spite of the challenges inherent in the new EnergyCompany Obligation, we felt it was important to ensure that (a) there were opportunities available for localpeople to take advantage of the grants and support and (b) we got to see ECO from the inside. So, beforethe Government destabilised such initiatives by changing policy in December 2013, we piloted theEnergy@Home starter in partnership with Bath and North East Somerset Council (seewww.cse.org.uk/news/energy-at-home and www.cse.org.uk/news/view/1829) and the Home EnergyUpgrade scheme across the rest of Avon and Somerset (see www.cse.org.uk/home-energy-upgrade).While we were able to help hundreds of local households to improve the energy performance of their homeand cut their fuel bills, the schemes exposed the complexity of ECO administrative systems and provideduseful experience to inform our evaluation of the ECO (see below).

Energy efficiency in heritage homes: We continued our ground breaking work to promote theimportance of sensitive low carbon retrofit of older homes, to ensure sympathetic choices of energy savingmaterials and techniques that work with traditional building fabrics. We approached this strategically,developing new guidance for local authority planning and conservation officers in partnership with EnglishHeritage (due to be published in late 2014). We also developed practical advice activities, including a newpartnership with the National Trust which will lead to a ‘Love your old home’ strand of our advice work forthe public (see www.cse.org.uk/love-your-old-home).

Priority 4: Better tools, evidence and policy for sustainable energy, locally and nationally

Modelling energy policy for the nation’s housing stock: After a 21 month collaboration with DECC,CSE completed the National Household Model (NHM) in February 2014. The NHM has been developed as adomestic energy policy modelling and analytical tool to cover the whole of Great Britain. It replaces lots ofseparate models that DECC was using with a single purpose-built modern software application to sit at theheart of the department’s domestic energy policy modelling in future. Designed by CSE’s team of expertprogrammers, the NHM uses innovative document management databases and has been deployed to aGovernment G-Cloud approved environment.

Using information from national housing surveys, the NHM creates a detailed representation of the physicalcharacteristics of Great Britain’s housing stock and the types of occupants who live there. As a microsimulation model, the NHM allows analysts to create policy scenarios and explore the potential impacts ondomestic energy demand over time. (See www.cse.org.uk/national-household-model for details).

Revealing the problems of the Energy Company Obligation: In 2013-14 we undertook and publishedan independent evaluation of the first year of the new obligation on energy suppliers to install energy savingmeasures. The study of the ECO combined analysis of detailed quantitative and cost data from the energysuppliers with survey and interview responses. Our report revealed significant administrative burdens,unnecessarily high costs, and a failure to achieve one of its core stated objectives: to develop the solid wallinsulation market. This poorly designed policy barely survived its first year, with the Government changingtargets in an attempt to lower the cost of ECO (which falls on consumers), though failing to address some ofits more fundamental design flaws. (See also ‘ECO and the need for good commercial insight in policymaking’ on page 8 and www.cse.org.uk/ecoevaluation).




Shaping the Community Energy Strategy: After months of development and input from a widerange of community energy organisations including CSE, the Government’s Community Energy Strategy waspublished in January. It endorsed a number of specific recommendations from CSE, including ensuring therewas funding to makes loans to community groups to help them through the risky renewable energy projectdevelopment phase. We also questioned its limited conception of community energy (seewww.cse.org.uk/news/view/1799) and highlighted the importance of tackling wider energy policies toensure they were not undermining the positive and welcome steps represented by the new CommunityEnergy Strategy (see www.cse.org.uk/sort-of).

The Hardest Hit: Building on our previous research on the distributional impacts of energy policy, ourresearch for Consumer Futures exposed that the burden of energy policy costs falls unfairly on a certaingroup of consumers. Those living in electrically heated homes (11% of households) pay a higher proportionof their bills towards the costs of the policies (19% of the total) and receive a lower proportion (just 7%) ofthe benefits such as subsidised energy saving measures or feed in tariffs for PV panels. (Seewww.cse.org.uk/hardest-hit). The findings were picked by the Government’s Fuel Poverty Advisory Groupand by the energy regulator Ofgem to inform its new vulnerable consumer strategy.

Making our point: We made a deliberate effort in 2013-14 to express our own viewpoint on key energypolicy issues more frequently. Drawing on the direct experience of practical delivery gained from our projectsand on the findings of our research, these perspectives were designed to provide easily digestible input topolicy makers and others in influence. During the year, we covered issues associated with the need formeaningful public consent in energy system planning, the failures of the Government’s fuel poverty policy,the failures of the Green Deal and ECO, the need to reframe the so called ‘energy gap’ as a demand sideopportunity, and the poor behaviour of energy companies, and the community energy strategy.

Awards for CSE in 2013-14

Following an intensive judging process in early 2014, we were thrilled to be awarded the inaugural AshdenAward for Reducing Fuel Poverty in late May. Judges were impressed by our sustained performance ontackling fuel poverty over the last decade, reaching some 80,000 households, and by our combination ofpractical initiatives helping vulnerable local people and the work we have done to influence national policy(www.cse.org.uk/ashden14).

We also won the ‘Sustainability Communicator’ prize at the prestigious 2013 ENDS Green Economy Awardsfor our PlanLoCaL resources for community groups to help them develop their own energy efficiency projectsand navigate the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation (www.cse.org.uk/planlocal-award).

More locally, Mendip District Council recognised us as their Best Private Sector Housing Partner of the Year2013 in their Building Excellence Awards, acknowledging the exceptional contribution of CSE staff to theCouncil’s goals to reduce fuel poverty, improve home energy efficiency and support community groups torealise renewable energy projects (www.cse.org.uk/building-excellence-awards).




Funders & clients

In 2013-14, CSE successfullysecured nearly £2.3 million forits activities from national andlocal government andassociated agencies, industryand charitable sources. Someactivities were grant fundedwhilst others were, in effect,paid as project or consultancyservices. In addition, somefunding came via projectpartners with whom we jointlydeveloped successful fundingproposals to a third party.

All of CSE’s activities aredesigned to meet CSE’scharitable purposes,irrespective of funding sourceor contractual arrangements.The Trustees would like tothank all CSE’s major fundingpartners and clients (listedbelow) for their support forprojects undertaken during theyear:

Action RenewablesBath & North EastSomerset CouncilBig Lottery FundBristol City CouncilCabinet OfficeCitizens AdviceComic ReliefCommittee on ClimateChangeCommunity EnergyPlusCo operative GroupDepartment of Energyand Climate Change(DECC)Domestic & General InsLtdeaga Charitable Trust Energy UKEnglish Heritage Ernest Cook TrustEsmee FairbairnFoundation Greater LondonAuthorityJoseph RowntreeHousing TrustMendip District CouncilNatCen Social ResearchNationwideFoundationNorth SomersetCouncil

Ofgem Planning AdvisoryServiceScottish Power EnergyPeople TrustSedgemoor DistrictCouncilSouth GloucestershireCouncilSouth SomersetDistrict CouncilScottish & SouthernEnergy LtdTaunton DeaneBorough CouncilTechnology StrategyBoardThames Valley HousingTriodos Renewables PlcTwo Rivers Housing University of AberdeenUniversity of the Westof EnglandUniversity ofWestminsterWest Somerset DistrictCouncilWestern PowerDistribution plcWiltshire CouncilYarlington HousingGroup




Lessons learned in 2013-14

In reviewing our report in last year’saccounts, we concluded that we couldcreate more value for readers bydocumenting and sharing the mostimportant lessons we felt we had learnedthrough our work each year. A core goalof CSE is to share our experiences – bothpositive and negative – so that others canlearn from them and apply them in theirown lives and work. Here is our firstattempt to do this as a formal part of ourAnnual Accounts – and we’d welcomeyour feedback (to [email protected]).

While the influential power of a well told story is widely understood and welldocumented, the world of energy efficiency promotion (including us) seems tohave been barely touched by such insight. Instead we use cost and carbonsaving data and U values and payback periods, hoping the numbers willsomehow create the emotional resonance that years of academic study revealas a necessary part of being engaged and convinced. But the numbers can onlydo that for a small proportion of the population.

Addressing this shortcoming has been a core theme of our work establishing theGreen Open Homes Network, supporting communities around the country to puton local open homes events to showcase low carbon building and refurbishmentin local homes. With insights from our partners, the pioneering Bristol GreenDoors, we encouraged groups to put centre stage the householders’ storiesof their efforts to upgrade the energy performance of their homes: whatmotivated them, how they chose the measures and the contractors, what it cost,what they’d do differently if they knew then what they know now, and what otherplans they have for the future. Warts and all. We don’t belittle the importance ofrobust technical information, but those become props in an engaging narrativerather than the leading characters.

The visitor feedback speaks for itself, communicating the motivation people havetaken from truthful tales told from direct experience and the knowledgethey’ve gained – and retained – from a well structured story.

Lesson 1

Stories trump data







Lesson 2

Communicating by SMS works well

Through our partnership with Bristol City Council, we provide support totheir housing tenants to negotiate the complexities of the energy market andthe various grants and benefits available. The Council routinely uses mobilephone text messaging to communicate with its tenants both individuallyand across neighbourhoods. Given an opportunity to use this direct,personal, but highly cost effective communication channel, we were at firstsomewhat doubtful. We were quickly overwhelmed – literally – by its power.

The council texted their tenants in the Barton Hill area advertising aworkshop to help claim the Warm Homes Discount. So many people turnedup, that CSE’s team had to call the office for reinforcements and in a fewhours we’d helped over 100 people fill out the application on line, securingmore than £13,000 off the electricity bills of some of Bristol’s most vulnerablehouseholds.

Aside from being a stark indicator of how worried people are about the priceof energy, it revealed the spectacular power of the targeted text from atrusted source. This success has been repeated many times since, andwe’re now planning how to integrate this technique into our own directcommunication with our other energy advice clients.

1 new message received




Lesson 3

Good commercial insightleads to better policy making

As we completed our study for Energy UK of the first year of operation of the new Energy Company Obligation (ECO), it became clear that thisflawed policy had performed in practice very differently from how itsoriginators at DECC had planned and anticipated. The challenge was tounderstand why.

At the heart of our proposed explanation is a sense that the policy had beendeveloped without much time spent thinking about how the commercialbusinesses directly implicated in the policy – energy suppliers and theinsulation and heating supply chains – would respond. Or if there was muchtime spent, it wasn’t informed by a good understanding of thecommercial pressures those businesses face which drive their behaviours.

This reveals the importance of bringing true commercial understandinginto the policy making process. This isn’t to make the policy more‘commerce friendly’ or to load the policy making process with vestedinterests. It’s to source and use decent commercial understanding to testwhether a policy requiring commercial interests to act is designed andcalibrated to achieve the policy effect intended. The same can be saidfor applying high quality consumer insight to policies targeted at consumers.

We also suggest two questions are added to the policy making process:“How would a loan shark make money out of this policy as currentlyproposed?” Followed up swiftly by “And is that what we want?”




After years spent trying to engage thehealth sector in our work and persuadethem of the importance of fuel povertyas a health issue, we’ve stopped trying.Even if we’ve found one or two wilfulindividuals who are won over to our‘cause’, we’ve come to the conclusionthat fuel poverty really isn’t a priority forthe health sector and that we should stopsuggesting that it is.

Of course, we haven’t given up. It’smore that we’ve changed tack – andhope that others in the fuel povertylobby will do so too.

We undertook a detailed studyexamining the case for the NHS tofund interventions to tackle coldhomes – using the savings in costs tothe health service (e.g. reduced GPvisits and hospital admissions) whichsuch interventions would potentiallyachieve. Aside from the gaps in theevidence, this exercise revealed the lackof appreciation amongst healthprofessionals of the impact on physicaland mental wellbeing of living in a homethat is routinely cold because it is toodifficult or too expensive to keep warm.

In this setting, fuel poverty andaffordable warmth aren’t seen as healthissues and cold homes are clearly not

considered or understood as a keydeterminant of health – as acontributory and/or exacerbatingfactor for many chronic conditions.

So we need to reposition tackling coldhomes not as an end in itself (which ourcalls to the health sector to prioritiseaction on fuel poverty had suggested) butas a key preventative (and in some casespotentially curative) approach to the verydiseases and conditions such aschildhood asthma which the health sectortends, quite appropriately, to prioritise.That way, getting action taken to improvethe affordability of heating a home isn’textra health service workload; it’s better,more effective work that ultimatelyreduces demand on the service.

This repositioning has been central tothe work our Chief Executive has beendoing since October 2013 as a topicexpert for a NICE Public HealthAdvisory Committee. It’s been looking atexcess winter deaths and the healthimpacts of cold homes and drawing upNICE guidance for the health and socialcare sectors on tackling the healthimpacts of cold homes, to be publishedin March 2015.

Lesson 4

Fuel poverty isn’t a priority




Lesson 5

‘Community energy’ needsbroad definitionWe’re proud and delighted to havewitnessed the amazing growth ofcommunity energy activity around theUK over the last few years. We hopewe’ve contributed to that growththrough the support, guidance andresources we’ve provided freely tocommunity groups of all kindsthroughout the UK over the last 10-15years. It has tremendous potential totransform our relationships with ourenergy use, with local energyproduction and with the ownership andgovernance of our energy system as awhole.

But we see risks in the rather narrowconception of community energy whichhas come to dominate the relevantpolitical discourse in the last year ortwo. The predominant model ofcommunity energy activity has becomea social enterprise developingrenewable energy projects raisingmoney from (mainly) local investors.This is a welcome and valid modelalready in the early stages of realisingits great promise. While most know it’sonly part of the story, itspredominance may limit much neededpolicy attention on other types ofcommunity energy activity and other

types of community group andinstitution. That, in turn, may come tolimit what people – particularlypoliticians – expect of communityenergy and therefore what they do tosupport its future growth.

We need to add in to the discourseexisting and new models of communityenergy activity which focus on energysaving, low carbon housing, demandreduction and behaviour change,tackling cold homes, supporting peoplevulnerable to high energy costs,engaging with smart meters and smartenergy data.

We also need to add in models ofcommunity organisation which includegroups which are less driven by energyconcerns, and/or which are founded involuntary service and don’t expect tobe developing ‘revenue streams’,and/or which have other forms of localaccountability and ownership. Forexample, in Germany, which is oftencited as an example for ‘communityenergy’, that term also includes energyinitiatives owned by local authoritiesand other public interest organisations.




Future strategy

The Trustees adopted a new 3 year business strategy (2014-2016) in March 2014. The key priorities this setfor the organisation build naturally on our previous work and have given it sharper focus and clearerdirection for new initiatives and development. Detailed plans to progress these priorities were developedacross the staff team in late 2013 and drive our project development priorities.

This new strategy was the result of more than a year of discussions and planning involving Trustees and staff.The final strategy reflected our analysis of the growing need for our work, the major policy developmentstaking place and anticipated over the next 3 years, and the continuing shifts in the landscape of fundingopportunities. It also identified weaknesses we need to address as an organisation to improve our impactand, particularly, to enhance our influence on relevant national policy.

For the first time, our new strategy identifies a range of specific political and societal failings whichundermine the achievement of sustainable energy goals at the heart of our mission as a charity. One of thechallenges which the strategy sets out for the organisation is to highlight and address these failings,requiring us to develop a new dimension in our policy influencing work.

In terms of future funding, our strategy anticipates challenges emerging from reductions in funding andcapacity in local authorities (in response to government funding cuts) and in the margins available fromenergy supplier supported insulation schemes. It also identifies a number of opportunities to develop newfunding and delivery relationships and to promote our work, including the forthcoming celebration forBristol as the European Green Capital in 2015.

Financial review

These accounts cover the 12 month period from April 2013 to March 2014. In the period, the organisationmade a deficit of £86,652 on its income of £2.28 million (surplus of £211,264 on income of £2.69 million in2012-13). This deficit is after taking account of the planned investment of £285,868 in the year from ourdesignated Strategic Investment Reserve into selected projects (see Reserves Policy below).

The apparent 15% decrease in headline income year on year, partly masks the significant and deliberateincrease in activities funded from our reserves, in part to re invest some of the significant surplus of 2012-13.Taking this investment (and also the smaller reserve investment in 2012-13) into account, the reduction intotal funded activity year on year was a more modest 7.8%. This reduction was mainly addressed throughcareful management of staff resources throughout the year. It also reflects a less intense workload in the finalquarter of the year which had been a regular, though not altogether welcome, feature of previous years.

The financial performance over the year is healthy; in spite of the investment of more than £285K of ourreserves in specific projects, our total funds were only reduced by £86,652 in the year. This suggests afinancially efficient organisation with an underlying cost structure which delivers surpluses on its activities.

Levels of creditors and debtors have returned to more typical levels after a peak at the end of 2012-13. Wecontinue to enjoy excellent debt recovery levels, with no provisions for bad debts in the year. Our creditors aredominated by deferred income which includes payments in advance of contracted work being undertaken.




Our Strategic Investment Reserve projects, funded from our own reserves, provided practical experience andnew relationships which have underpinned a number of successful funding bids. While the ‘return’ soughton these strategic investments was always principally about the impact and organisational learning achieved,this funding return adds further justification for this approach to the use of our reserves.

At the end of the year, our reserves stood just above £1 million (31 March 2013: £1,095,508) and Trusteesagreed to replenish the Strategic Investment Reserve to £350,000 to enable further self funded projectinvestment in 2014 15 and beyond (see note 13).

During the year, we agreed with partners to dissolve Energy Advice South West Ltd (EASW), the joint venturewe had set up, originally with three other charities, to deliver a contract to provide energy advice servicesacross the South West of England (see note 10). That contract had ended in March 2012 and the directorsof EASW (of which CSE was one) decided that there were no strategic reasons to maintain the company intothe future. The Company was formally dissolved on 27 May 2014.

Our current reserves policy,established in 2008, takesaccount of: (a) the liabilitieswhich would be faced by thecharity if it were to ceaseoperating; (b) the financial‘cushion’ it would need to havetime to respond to a serious butpossible funding crisis withoutimmediately losing valuable staffcapacity; and (c) any longer termobjectives which might requiresignificant investment. Followingdetailed assessment of each ofthese factors, a target for ourreserves of £500,000 wasconsidered adequate.

The policy and target is regularlyreviewed by Trustees, includingin June 2013. This takes accountof the development and growthof the organisation and a reviewof the changing risks it faces,particularly with respect tosecuring funding. The Trusteesconcluded that the target for£500,000 remained adequate. Atthe end of March 2014, ourreserves were in excess of this

figure, standing at £1,008,856.These reserves are principallycurrent assets (with only £32,979in fixed assets).

In the light of the overallreserves position, the Trusteesdecided in March 2010 to realisea long standing ambition tocreate a Strategic InvestmentReserve. Subject to carefulscrutiny and controls, thisprovided a designated fund,initially set at £200,000 and thenincreased to £350,000 in March2013, for investment in a selectnumber of new initiatives by thecharity. These initiatives areshaped by the priorities set outin the business strategy and aredesigned to help us increase ourimpact, explore new approaches,build our capacity and that otherothers, and make the case forfunding to external funders andclients.

£285,868 of this StrategicInvestment Reserve was investedin 2013-14 (£90,917 in 2012-13)

in five initiatives: continuing oursupport programme forcommunity energy initiatives;development of our energyadvice service; exploring optionsto develop ECO fundedinsulation schemes; and our ‘lowcarbon localism’ project tosupport neighbourhoods tointegrate low carbon ambitionswithin local and neighbourhoodplanning activities.

By the end of March 2014, thedesignated Strategic InvestmentReserve stood at £64,132. Giventhe continuing value in thisapproach to use of our reserves,the Trustees chose to replenishthe Strategic Investment Reserveto £350,000 to support a newprogramme of investment inprojects for 2014 15 and beyond(see note 13 to the financialstatements).

All cash reserves are held in aninterest bearing deposit accountto minimise risk.

Reserves policy




Risk management

The Board of Trustees have assessed the major risks to which CSE is exposed, in particular those related tothe operations and finances of CSE, and are satisfied that systems and procedures are in place to mitigateexposure to the major risks.

Related parties

As detailed in note 17 to the accounts, Trustee Peter Capener has acted as a paid consultant to theCommunity Energy Practitioners’ Forum (CEPF), an alliance of sustainable energy charities of which CSE is amember and for which CSE acts as the accountable body for any funds CEPF holds. The decision to hirePeter, his rate of pay and his work priorities are set by the CEPF membership as a whole. Peter was paid£17,040 (incl VAT) for these services in 2013-14.

Trustees’ responsibilities statement

The Trustees (who are also directors of Centre for Sustainable Energy for the purposes of company law) areresponsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable lawand United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under companylaw the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true andfair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application ofresources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparingthese 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 judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the

charitable company will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explainthe charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financialposition of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with theCompanies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company andhence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.




Disclosure of information to auditor

Each of the persons who are Trustees at the time when this Trustees’ Report is approved has confirmed that:• so far as that Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s

auditor is unaware, and• that Trustee has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a Trustee in order to be aware of

any relevant audit information and to establish that the charitable company’s auditor is aware of thatinformation.

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

This report was approved by the Trustees on 2 October 2014 and signed on their behalf by:

Robin Copeland Trustee



Independent auditor’s report to the members of Centre for Sustainable Energy

We have audited the financial statements of Centre for Sustainable Energy for the year ended 31 March2014 set out on pages 15 to 26. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in theirpreparation is applicable law and the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008)(United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice applicable to Smaller Entities).

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 ofPart 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to thecharitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an Auditor’s Report and forno other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility toanyone other than the charitable company and its members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, orfor the opinion we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and auditor

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement, the Trustees (who are also the directors ofthe charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financialstatements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view.

Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance withapplicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us tocomply with the Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the financial statements

An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements sufficientto give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whethercaused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are appropriate tothe company’s circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; thereasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the Trustees; and the overall presentation of thefinancial statements. In addition, we read all the financial and non financial information in the Trustees’Report to identify material inconsistencies with the audited financial statements and to identify anyinformation that is apparently materially incorrect based on, or materially inconsistent with, the knowledgeacquired by us in the course of performing the audit. If we become aware of any apparent materialmisstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.



Independent auditor’s report to the members of Centre for Sustainable Energy

Opinion on financial statements

In our opinion the financial statements:• give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2014 and of its

incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year thenended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted AccountingPractice applicable to Smaller Entities; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Opinion on other matter prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion the information given in the Trustees’ Report, for the financial year for which the financialstatements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us toreport 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• certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; 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 to take advantage of the small companies’ exemption in preparing the Trustees’ Report.

David Butler FCA DChA (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf ofBishop Fleming LLP, Chartered Accountants, Statutory Auditor16 Queen Square, Bristol BS1 4NT10 October 2014

Unrestricted Restricted Total funds Total fundsfunds 2014 (£) funds 2014 (£) 2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Incoming resourcesIncoming resources from generated funds:

Voluntary income (note 2) 66 – 66 357Investment income 1,417 – 1,417 1,203

Incoming resources from charitable activities (note 3) 1,782,205 493,547 2,275,752 2,693,359

Total incoming resources 1,783,688 493,547 2,277,235 2,694,919

Resources expendedCharitable activities (note 5) 1,895,373 462,359 2,357,732 2,474,831Governance costs (note 6) 6,155 - 6,155 8,824

Total resources expended 1,901,528 462,359 2,363,887 2,483,655

Movement in total funds for the year- net income/(expenditure) for the year (117,840) 31,188 (86,652) 211,264

Total funds at 1 April 2013 1,095,508 - 1,095,508 884,244

Total funds at 31 March 2014 977,668 31,188 1,008,856 1,095,508



Statement of financial activities (incorporating income and expenditureaccount) for the year ended 31 March 2014

2014 2013£ £ £ £

32,973 63,1276 256

32,979 63,383

648,733 1,183,4081,064,578 982,543

1,713,311 2,165,951

(737,434) (1,133,826)

975,877 1,032,125

1,008,856 1,095,508

31,188 -977,668 1,095,508

1,008,856 1,095,508



Balance sheet at 31 March 2014

Fixed assetsTangible assets (note 9)

Investments (note 10)

Current assetsDebtors (note 11)

Cash at bank and in hand

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (note 12)

Net current assets

Net assets

Charity fundsRestricted funds (note 13)

Unrestricted funds (note 13)

Total funds

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for small companies under Part15 of the Companies Act 2006 and with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective April 2008).

These financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 2 October 2014 and are signed on their behalf by:

Anne ObeyTrustee

The notes on pages 28 to 34 form part of these financial statements.



Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2014

1.1 | Basis of preparation of financial statements

The financial statements have been prepared under thehistorical cost convention, with the exception of investmentswhich are included at market value, and in accordance withthe Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effectiveApril 2008). The financial statements have been prepared inaccordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice(SORP), ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ published inMarch 2005, applicable accounting standards and theCompanies Act 2006.

1.2 | Company status

The company is a company limited by guarantee. Themembers of the company are the Trustees named on page 1.In the event of the company being wound up, the liability inrespect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of thecompany.

1.3 | Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available foruse at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of thegeneral objectives of the company and which have not beendesignated for other purposes.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have beenset aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. The aim anduse of each designated fund is set out in the notes to thefinancial statements.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordancewith specific restrictions imposed by donors or which havebeen raised by the company for particular purposes. The costsof raising and administering such funds are charged againstthe specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund isset out in the notes to the financial statements.

1.4 | Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the Statement ofFinancial Activities when the company has entitlement to thefunds, certainty of receipt and the amount can be measuredwith sufficient reliability.

In accordance with accounting standard UITF40 (contracts forservices), uninvoiced costs on contracts at the balance sheetdate that are capable of being invoiced are included asincome at full value and included in debtors.

1.5 | Resources expended

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and hasbeen included under expense categories that aggregate allcosts for allocation to activities. Where costs cannot bedirectly attributed to particular activities they have beenallocated on a basis consistent with the use of the resources.

Overheads have been allocated on the basis of unrestrictedincome.

Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support ofexpenditure on the objects of the company and includeproject management carried out at Headquarters.Governance costs are those incurred in connection withadministration of the company and compliance withconstitutional and statutory requirements.

All resources expended are inclusive of irrecoverable VAT.

1.6 | Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

All assets costing more than £500 are capitalised.

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation.Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off thecost of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, overtheir expected useful lives on the following bases: Leaseholdimprovements, over the life of the lease; fixtures and fittings,over 4-5 years; office equipment, over 2-4 years; and projectassets, over the life of the project.

1.7 | Investments

Investments are stated at market value at the balance sheetdate. The Statement of Financial Activities includes the netgains and losses arising on revaluations and disposalsthroughout the year.

1.8 | Operating leases

Rentals under operating leases are charged to the Statementof Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the leaseterm.

1.9 | Pensions

The company operates a defined contribution pensionscheme and the pension charge represents the amountspayable by the company to the fund in respect of the year.

Note 2 | Voluntary income


Donations 66 - 66 357

Note 1 | Accounting policies



Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2014

Note 3 | Incoming resources from activities for generating funds (For details of restricted fund income and deferment see note 18)


Research and analysis – technical 54,058 - 54,058 50,844Research and analysis 735,909 94,198 830,107 800,115Household energy services – advice 212,023 264,730 476,753 749,899Household energy services – schemes 273,872 9,904 283,776 567,372Local and community empowerment 506,343 124,715 631,058 525,129

1,782,205 493,547 2,275,752 2,693,359

Note 4 | Expenditure by charitable activity Summary by fund type


Research and analysis – technical 54,278 - 54,278 55,574Research and analysis 636,170 72,255 708,425 714,882Household energy services – advice 229,789 255,485 485,274 683,554Household energy services – schemes 324,302 9,904 334,206 450,404Local and community empowerment 650,834 124,715 775,549 570,417

1,895,373 462,359 2,357,732 2,474,831

Summary by Expenditure type

Staff costs Depreciation Other costs Total Total 2014 (£) 2014 (£) 2014 (£) 2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Research and analysis – technical 44,434 1,519 8,325 54,278 55,574Research and analysis 519,428 18,708 170,289 708,425 714,882Household energy services – advice 371,845 4,085 109,344 485,274 683,554Household energy services – schemes 161,240 5,124 167,842 334,206 450,404Local and community empowerment 334,386 9,473 431,690 775,549 570,417

1,431,333 38,909 887,490 2,357,732 2,474,831

Note 5 | Analysis of resources expended by activities

Activities undertaken Support Total funds Total fundsdirectly 2014 (£) costs 2014 (£) 2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Research and analysis – technical 46,637 7,641 54,278 55,574Research and analysis 604,397 104,028 708,425 714,882Household energy services – advice 455,302 29,972 485,274 683,554Household energy services – schemes 295,490 38,716 334,206 450,404Local and community empowerment 703,971 71,578 775,549 570,417

2,105,797 251,935 2,357,732 2,474,831




Note 6 | Governance costs

Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds Total funds2014 (£) 2014 (£) 2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Auditor’s remuneration 4,600 - 4,600 4,912Costs of Trustees’ meetings 238 - 238 1,986Professional fees 1,207 - 1,207 1,909Trustees expenses 110 - 110 17

6,155 - 6,155 8,824

Note 7 | Net incoming resources / (resources expended)

2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Depreciation of tangible fixed assets: owned by the charity 38,909 54,080Auditor’s remuneration 4,600 4,912Pension costs 53,806 60,252

During the year, no Trustees received any remuneration (2013: £NIL).During the year, no Trustees received any benefits in kind (2013: £NIL).One Trustee received reimbursement of expenses amounting to £110 in the current year (2013: One Trustee £17).

Note 8 | Staff costsStaff costs were as follows

2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Wages and salaries 1,257,331 1,319,563Social security costs 120,196 125,681Other pension costs 53,806 60,252

1,431,333 1,505,496

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

2014 (No.) 2013 (No.)

Project staff including freelance 43 44Management and admin staff 4 4

47 48

The number of higher paid employees was:

2014 (No.) 2013 (No.)

In the band £60,001-£70,000 1 1

Total employer contributions for the provision of defined contribution pension schemes in respect of employees earning morethan £60,000 were £5,232 (2013: £5,232). The number of full time equivalent employees was 43.




Note 9 | Tangible fixed assets

Leasehold Fixtures & Office Project Total (£)improvements (£) fittings (£) equipment (£) assets (£)

CostAt 1 April 2013 47,105 39,693 339,988 44,140 470,926Additions - - 7,503 1,879 9,382Disposals - - (3,622) - (3,622)

At 31 March 2014 47,105 39,693 343,869 46,019 476,686

DepreciationAt 1 April 2013 41,806 35,488 293,849 36,656 407,799Charge for the year 5,299 1,487 27,063 5,060 38,909On disposals - - (2,995) - (2,995)

At 31 March 2014 47,105 36,975 317,917 41,716 443,713

Net book valueAt 31 March 2014 - 2,718 25,952 4,303 32,973

At 31 March 2013 5,299 4,205 46,139 7,484 63,127

Note 10 | Fixed asset investments

Other investments (£)

Market value

At 1 April 2013 256Disposals (250)

At 31 March 201 6

Participating interestsThe charity had a 33% holding in Energy Advice South West Limited. During the year an application was made to dissolve thiscompany and therefore the investment held by the Centre for Sustainable Energy was written off. On 27 May 2014 EnergyAdvice South West Limited was dissolved.

Other investmentsThe charity holds 600 ordinary 1p shares in BioRegional MiniMills (UK) Limited. These shares were previously donated to thecharity. At 31 March 2014, the Trustees consider that these are fairly stated at nominal cost. The company is currently dormant.

Note 11 | Debtors

2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Trade debtors 349,789 924,286Prepayments and accrued income 298,944 259,122

648,733 1,183,408




Note 12 | CreditorsAmounts falling due within one year

2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Trade creditors 51,756 92,607Other taxation and social security 133,590 215,278Other creditors 14,805 14,021Accruals and deferred income 537,283 811,920

737,434 1,133,826Deferred income

Deferred income at 1 April 2013 732,910Resources deferred during the year 514,872Amounts released from previous years (732,910)

Deferred income at 31 March 2014 514,872

Note 13 | Statement of funds

Brought Incoming Resources Transfers CarriedForward (£) resources (£) Expended (£) in/out (£) Forward (£)

Designated funds

Strategic Investment Reserve 350,000 - (285,868) 285,868 350,000

Research and Development Investment Fund 64,961 - - (64,961) -

414,961 - (285,868) 220,907 350,000

General funds

General Funds 680,547 1,783,688 (1,615,660) (220,907) 627,668

Total Unrestricted funds 1,095,508 1,783,688 (1,901,528) - 977,668




Note 13 | Statement of funds (continued)

Restricted funds


Open Data Collaboration Initiative - 44,483 (22,540) - 21,943STEEP - 29,844 (29,844) - -JRF Evidence Review of Climate Change - 5,137 (5,137) - -Rokwood - 14,734 (14,734) - -Keep Warm in Bristol 2012-2013 - 22,991 (22,991) - -Coping with Cold: Fuel Poverty Films - 17,093 (16,069) - 1,024Warming Bristol Communities - 12,511 (12,511) - -Wish 2 - 1,640 (1,640) - -Wish 3 (Big Lottery Fund Grant) - 35,908 (27,687) - 8,221UWE Volunteers - 788 (788) - -Wessex Water Money Matters - 6,786 (6,786) - -Warm Homes In Winter - 24,455 (24,455) - -Older Person’s Energy (Big Lottery Fund Grant) - 120,382 (120,382) - -Low Energy Retrofit for Multi occupancy Urban House - 7,587 (7,587) - -Green Deal Local Incubator Roll-out - 2,317 (2,317) - -Plan Local for Community Green Deal - 32,159 (32,159) - -Plan Local Resources for Young People - 5,722 (5,722) - -Sustainable Use of Energy in Traditional Dwellings - 49,842 (49,842) - -Plan LoCal Toolkit Support - 33,440 (33,440) - -PlanLoCal DECC extension - 2,385 (2,385) - -Youth Community Energy Catalysts - 1,167 (1,167) - -SAVE - 9,740 (9,740) - -Big Energy Saving Network Champions - 7,399 (7,399) - -Warming Bristol Communities (Big Lottery Fund Grant) - 5,037 (5,037) - -

- 493,547 (462,359) - 31,188

Total of funds 1,095,508 2,277,235 (2,363,887) - 1,008,856

Designated funds

The Research and Development Investment Fund was designated by the Trustees for the future investment in research anddevelopment activities in the organisation. As this no longer requires to be designated it has been transferred back into generalfunds. The Strategic Investment Reserve has been set up by the trustees in order to support agreed projects that wouldotherwise not receive funding but the Trustees consider will enhance the organisation’s impact and future prospects.

Summary of funds


Designated funds 414,961 - (285,868) 220,907 350,000General funds 680,547 1,783,688 (1,615,660) (220,907) 627,668

1,095,508 1,783,688 (1,901,528) - 977,668

Restricted funds - 493,547 (462,359) - 31,188

1,095,508 2,277,235 (2,363,887) - 1,008,856




Note 14 | Analysis of net assets between funds


Tangible fixed assets 32,973 - 32,973 63,127Fixed asset investments 6 - 6 256Current assets 1,682,123 31,188 1,713,311 2,165,951Creditors due within one year (737,434) - (737,434) (1,133,826)

977,668 31,188 1,008,856 1,095,508

Note 15 | Pension commitments

The company operates a defined contributions pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those ofthe company in an independently administered fund. The pension cost charge represents contributions payable by thecompany to the fund and amounted to £53,806 (2013: £60,252). Contributions totalling £6,965 (2013: £10,295) werepayable to the fund at the balance sheet date and are included in creditors.

Note 16 | Operating lease commitments

At 31 March 2014 the company had annual commitments under non cancellable operating leases as follows:

Land & buildings Other

2014 (£) 2013 (£) 2014 (£) 2013 (£)

Expiry dates:

Within 1 year 20,700 - 600 -

Between 2 and 5 years 69,748 90,048 1,407 -

Note 17 | Related party transactions

Mr P Capener, a Trustee of the charity, is a consultant associate with the Community Energy Practitioners Forum (CEPF). CEPF isan unconstituted alliance of 8 charities from across the UK with similar activities to CSE. To enable CEPF to secure funds andundertake projects, the members have designated CSE as the accountable body to hold funds and oversee contracts andpayments to contractors and consultants working on CEPF projects. During the year the charity paid £17,040 (2013: £7,920)including VAT from these funds to Mr P Capener for services in relation to representing CEPF to government and othercommunity energy networks, according to priorities established by the alliance’s members. At the year end £9,120 (2013: £nil)was owing to Mr P Capener.

Simon Roberts, the Chief Executive of the charity, is also a non executive director of Triodos Renewables plc. During the yearTriodos Renewables plc have paid the charity £12,000 (2013: £12,066) for Simon Roberts’ services. At the year end £3,600(2013: £nil) was owing to the charity.

Note 18 | Assets held on behalf of third parties

The charity acts as an agent in administering and distributing funds provided to it for which the charity has no responsibility fortheir ultimate application and act on the direct instructions of the funds donors. As at 31 March 2014 the charity held funds of£125,491 (2013: £321,289) which are not included in these financial statements but are held in separate bank accounts forthe original donor and are returnable on demand.



3 St Peter’s Court Bedminster Parade, Bristol BS3 4AQ

0117 934 1400

[email protected]

www.cse.org.uk

www.facebook.com/EnergySavingAdvice

www.twitter.com/@cse_bristol

www.youtube/user/csebristol

Charity 298740 | Company 2219673

Founded 1979

We are an independentnational charity that sharesour knowledge andexperience to help peoplechange the way they thinkand act on energy

financial statements 31 march 2014 - cse · page 6 | financial statements: year ended 31 march 2014...

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