We are pleased to share with you our high-level business plan for the period 2026 to 2028. This plan drives our activity to help us achieve our corporate strategy objectives (ILF Scotland Strategy 2025 to 2028).
Our primary objective and action over the next two years is to maximise the number of people accessing our funds and the diagrams below show where we want to be by 2028.
We hope to have gained at least 2,000 new Independent Living Fund Recipients and to help with this, we are trying out a new way of applying for ILF Scotland funding where a Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) could make applications directly to ILF Scotland on behalf of disabled people with the agreement of local authority social work departments.
We also aim to carry out an independent evaluation of our Transition Fund to show how much this funding impacts young disabled people. We will use peer research to inform our findings and a Social Return on Investment approach to assess the wider impact on health and social care expenditure in Scotland.
Our primary strategic outcome for the period 2026 to 2028 is that more people can access our funds. We operate within the budget we receive from the Scottish Government and within that we maximise and distribute these funds to as many disabled people as we can. We re-opened our main fund in 2024 and we hope that by the end of 2028 we will be successful in funding at least another 2,000 new people to this fund. The independent evaluation of our Transition Fund should help us make sure the fund remains sustainable.
We are delighted to play a role in delivering the new Coming Home project involving an additional £20 million of Scottish Government funding to bring home people with learning disabilities and complex support needs who are in hospital or inappropriate out of area placements so that they can live closer to family and friends in the community of their choice. The ILF Scotland Coming Home Fund will also help support those currently living at home where their support is at risk of breaking down to avoid unnecessary admission to hospital or other care settings.
We are in the first year of our current Strategic Plan that takes us to 2028. We co-produced the plan with disabled people, their organisations and wider professional colleagues during 2024 and 2025.
The re-opening of our Independent Living Fund, which was closed to new applicants in 2010, is significant for us and our priority is that as many new disabled people as possible can benefit from this Fund. We would like this number to be at least 2,000 by 2028 and so far, we are on track to achieve this along with the following key three strategic priorities.
Support cultural change and capability across the sector through leadership and knowledge sharing. Our key outcome is to be a major enabler of independent living across the social care landscape and to help increase the support available to disabled people, their families and their carers.
To enable this, we will aim to:
monitor the difference our funding makes to the lives of disabled people, their families, carers, and society
seek feedback from the people we support to improve our services
raise awareness of and promote independent living to key stakeholders and national groups across the sector
work with our partners in social care to ensure better outcomes for disabled people
support Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to support disabled people in local communities
explore the potential for DPOs to support applications from disabled people to the re-opened fund
Deliver a high quality, inclusive and sustainable service. We will have done this by 2028 if we are a fully sustainable and digitally enabled public service that is inclusive and accessible by all and offers a high quality of working life for all our staff.
To support this, we will:
provide a high quality working life and job satisfaction for our staff to enable them to provide the best possible services
maintain and enhance the rights of disabled people through our approach to Equality and Human Rights
ensure our sustainability through robust financial planning, audit, and adhering to the principles of Best Value
ensure our operation and our people are resilient and capable of recovery in adverse circumstances
develop a sustainable operation and support climate change reductions to achieve Net Zero by 2040 by embracing digital technologies where appropriate
Following the successful re-opening of our main fund in 2024, our funding to provide support to disabled people has increased to £75 million, of which £5 million is allocated to the Transition Fund and a further £4 million to deliver our operation, including our staffing structure, premises and digital arrangements. At April 2026, we have just over 80 staff members supporting over 4,000 disabled people in our Independent Living Fund and approximately 3,000 young people each year in our Transition Fund.
At the time of preparing this Business Plan, we are excited about the prospect of having a key role in the Scottish Government’s Coming Home project. This is designed to bring disabled people with learning disabilities back into their communities, many who have been in hospital or living in an inappropriate area away from home, sometimes for many years away from their families and friends. The project will focus on bringing home people who already have support plans developed. We will be working closely with Integrated Health and Social Care Partnerships to help settle people back into their communities with the appropriate support in place. We will also help disabled people remain in their own homes where their current support services are at risk of breaking down.
Our business model and putting disabled people at the heart of what we do, follows a simple process of Apply, Assess, Award and Review. In developing our Business Plan, we are aiming to ensure that we make each of these stages as inclusive and accessible as possible for those that use our services. The review stage happens every two years, or sooner if requested. We visit those we support, discuss any changes to their circumstances and support needs and, along with our local authority colleagues, make sure the person has a sustainable package of support in place.
As a public body, we are very mindful of efficient and effective service delivery and our business approach fully aligns to the principles of Best Value and Public Sector Reform.
Over the next two years we aim to continue to grow the number of people accessing the re-opened fund and further develop evidence to show the impact our Transition Fund is making for young people. By the end of 2028, we hope to be able to expand our role by providing additional funds to make independent living a reality for more disabled people across Scotland. We also aim to support capacity building across the social care sector through knowledge sharing and trialling new routes to apply to our funds.
2026
The activity below is in addition to our day-to-day activities of keeping the business going. It shows that 2026 looks like it is going to be a very busy year for us!
We will / aim to:
increase the numbers to the re-opened fund by 600
conduct independent research and impact evaluation of the Transition Fund
update and publish our Equalities Mainstreaming Action Plan
develop and start our new feedback strategy
move onto our new cloud-based digital service delivery platform
implement annual Scottish Living Wage and Minimum Living Wage uplifts in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively for Personal Assistants (PAs) funded through ILF Scotland
complete annual financial planning and audit cycles
recruit and fulfil our Workforce Plan to meet the growth in people needed to support the re-opened funds
build capacity and capability across the sector by trialling a DPO supported application model to the re-opened fund
target further climate change reductions and initiatives
determine the future role of ILF Scotland in the Health and Social Care Sector as a key provider of supporting independent living
once directed by Scottish Ministers, play a key role in supporting the implementation of the Coming Home Project
2027
Some of our key activities that we plan to carry out in 2027 are highlighted below. In addition, we hope to be making a strong contribution to the Coming Home project in collaboration with our local authority and NHS colleagues and other partner providers.
The planned activity that we currently know about for 2027 is:
complete staff satisfaction survey
use feedback to check policies are working well or identify where improvements are needed
move Coming Home to a fully operational model
develop and publish a data strategy and relevant data sets for knowledge sharing across the sector
implement annual PA Living Wage uplifts in Scotland and Northern Ireland
start a medium-term organisational transformation strategy
explore and develop external and public facing services
begin the next cycle of strategic planning and co-production
respond to the findings of the Transition Fund evaluation report
conduct a self-assessment against the Best Value Framework
2028
We are already making plans for what we need to do in 2028 to get ready for our next strategic plan.
While it is a long way ahead, there are some key activities that we know about and are starting to get ready for now:
develop our new strategy
use digital tools and automation to make important business processes simpler, faster and easier to use
develop a model for citizen (self) led applications to our funds
implement annual PA Living Wage uplifts in Scotland and Northern Ireland
review and develop the Workforce Plan to align with emerging technologies, funding changes and the number of people being supported by our funds
improve how we work and share information with other public organisations as part of the Public Sector Reform Strategy
review our current Net Zero position and update our plan for 2030 to 2035 to support our digital transformation programme and Workforce Plan
Our Strategic Plan and this Business Plan, helps us to plan and forecast the money we will need in the coming years to deliver our service. We review and update our 5- yearly Medium Term Financial Plan every year to make sure we have enough financial resources to deliver our strategic objectives.
We are projecting a steady and sustainable rise in our funding over the next 2 years. In addition, we may be provided with a significant portion of the Scottish Government’s £20 million budget to support the Coming Home Project. We manage finances carefully and have strong governance arrangements in place and before we commit to any future awards and projects, we assess them to make sure they are affordable and can be sustained. As well as having an award-winning financial team, we have had clean sets of Annual Reports approved by external auditors for 11 years in a row.
Our internal auditors also report that proper arrangements are in place to represent value for money in the services we deliver. We can confidently say that we are managing our funds to the best of our abilities and making sure that as much of these as possible go directly to our Recipients.
We continue to evolve our People Strategy, which sets out our approach to support and develop our employees. We recognise that projects and change programmes are valuable opportunities for our colleagues to build new skills and gain more experience. By making the most of these opportunities, we can create an even more adaptable and confident workforce that can work across different teams. This will support better collaboration and teamwork, help people learn and build a workforce ready and able for the future.
We employ around 80 members of staff who work across a broad range of working patterns. Over half of our workforce operate in frontline roles, directly supporting applicants and Recipients and with our local authority colleagues to develop sustainable support plans for our Recipients. The remainder provide essential support across Finance, People and Culture, Governance, Digital and Information Services, Policy Development and Communications.
Our workforce reflects our commitment to diversity, inclusion and representation. At the start of the 2026 to 2027 financial year, 78% of our employees were female and 22% were male. 31.5% of staff self-identified as disabled or having a long-term health condition, 3.37% are from an ethnic minority background and 1.11% are LGBT+.
While we grow and develop over the next two years, we also aim to make sure we have a stable and capable workforce who have opportunities to be involved in projects across the organisation and who can learn and develop including into future managers and leaders. We indicate below what we think our workforce numbers will look like by the end of 2026 to 2027.
Our strategy confirms that we expect applicant and Recipient numbers to grow over the next few years and there will be a small increase in staff because of this. Our staff are most definitely our greatest asset and through them we strive to deliver our services in the best possible way for those we support and to our professional colleagues.
Nothing in the world of business or public service delivery is risk free and there is always a fine balance between delivering a service and the cost of doing this.
At ILF Scotland, we operate a detailed risk management system. We make sure we understand what risks we might face and manage these appropriately. We also have strong operational resilience and business continuity plans in place. These plans make sure we can act quickly and effectively if things go wrong or there is a crisis we need to respond to.
This year, our principal risks and uncertainties were mainly in connection with:
managing the project to re-open our Independent Living Fund to new applicants
the continued growth in demand for the Transition Fund
managing our resources
managing personal and sensitive information
managing our Information Technology systems and security
dealing with the current social care crisis
wider public sector legislation and policy changes and the availability of public funding
The Scottish Government elections, the pressures on public finances and the challenges facing health and social care all featured highly on our risk management radar. As a public body, we are directed by Scottish Ministers and funded solely through Scottish Government and may not always be free to operate or deliver the range of services people tell us they want to have. Our policy framework, approved by Scottish Government, sets out who might access our funds and what items and services we can fund.
The Scottish Government has, however, demonstrated a commitment to disabled people in Scotland and confidence in ILF Scotland to deliver services efficiently and effectively, as evidenced by year-on-year increase in funds resulting in growth in the number of people who can access our funds.
During the period of this Business Plan, there will continue to be increasing pressures on health and education, a recruitment crisis in social care and advances in technology that are changing how services are delivered almost daily. However, we are in a strong financial position and we have a good reputation at the highest levels of government for our ability to confidently manager our resources. This is due in part to the now 11 years of unqualified annual accounts and highly accurate financial forecasting. We are fully able to manage effectively with the funding we are allocated on a yearly basis and the confidence in us is reflected in our year-on-year growth in funding.
The period of this Business Plan is going to be a very exciting time for ILF Scotland and for the disabled people we support and who can access our funds. We are in a time of growth with an additional 600 new Recipients to our re-opened Independent Living Fund planned for 2026, at the same time as trialling new routes to applications via our DPO supported application project. Our Transition Fund demand is growing and by undertaking an independent evaluation of it we hope to evidence the life changing difference this grant funding can make to young people and use the findings from the report to inform thinking about the future of the fund.
Internally, we are excited to bring on board new technology to assist with our case management and customer services. In future we will look at potential new routes to applications and a citizen portal so that Recipients and Award Managers might manage their own award or elements of this online if they wish to do so.
At the time of preparing this, we already deliver approximately one quarter of all Direct Payments in Scotland and this is increasing as we complete the third year of the re-opened fund applications. We have a very bright future ahead of us and our business plan for the next two years is to expand our services and support to as many new people as possible!
ILF Scotland Limited is a company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland. Company Number SC5000075. Registered Office Ground Floor, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston, EH54 6GA.
ILF Scotland is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Scottish Government. Our role is to provide a high quality service to, currently, around 7,000 disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland, supporting them to achieve positive independent living outcomes, and to have greater choice and control over their lives.
ILF Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. We work in partnership with 37 Health and Social Care Partnerships / Trusts (HSCP / Ts) across Scotland and Northern Ireland by jointly assessing and funding person centred care and support.
Operating from our central office in Livingston we employ (at 31 March 2025) 79 dedicated people including our social care professionals. Our assessors visit our recipients in their own homes every two years to identify their needs often in conjunction with Local Authority or Trust social services departments.
Office address
ILF Scotland Denholm House Almondvale Business Park Almondvale Way Livingston EH54 6GA Registered in Scotland
ILF Scotland was set up in 2015 and carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its aim is to deliver discretionary cash payments to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities. The organisation is an NDPB of Scottish Government and receives funding in the form of Grant in Aid. There is also an agreement between Scottish Government and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland (DOH) for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF recipients based in Northern Ireland.
Details of the Directors can be found here via the link below or directly on the company website: Board of Directors - ILF
Banker Royal Bank of Scotland 36 St. Andrew Square Edinburgh EH2 2AD
The Performance report contains an Overview section summarising the whole report, explaining our purpose and strategy, our business model, our activities, our operational risks and summarises our performance. It also has an Analysis section which sets out our progress against this year’s performance measures and our financial performance.
Overview
Statement from Chief Executive Officer, Peter Scott OBE
2024 to 2025 has been a very important year for ILF Scotland. Following the Scottish Government’s announcement that the Independent Living Fund was to re-open to new applicants for the first time since 2010, we worked exceptionally hard to ensure we were in a position to accept applications from April 2024. This was a remarkable achievement in a short period of time, and was successful primarily due to the dedication and professionalism of our staff and the excellent collaboration and joint working of the co-production working group established to support the development of the re-opened Fund.
The objective of re-opening the Fund was to enable more of our most disabled citizens, those who face the greatest barriers to independent living, to overcome these barriers and to lead independent lives - to be active citizens, participating in and contributing to their communities. We are therefore very pleased to have received just over 800 applications to the re-opened ILF by the end of the year, broadly in line with our objective for the first year. We expect this number to grow in the years ahead.
We are of course particularly pleased to see the impact of the Fund in the lives of our new recipients, as we hear new stories of lives being improved and transformed as a result of a relatively small investment. These stories, a few of which can be seen here, Case studies | ILF Scotland, illustrate in very human terms why the Social Return on Investment (SROI) studies on the Independent Living Fund found that for each £1 spent by ILF around £12 was generated in wider social value. It is important to note this preventative nature of our services, particularly in the context of Audit Scotland’s recent observation that “a shift towards prevention and reducing failure demand is key to delivering more sustainable public services”. 1 ILF Scotland’s work is prevention in action! Social Return on Investment (SROI) Evaluation - Scotland | ILF Scotland.
Moving on, the ILF Scotland Transition Fund, which supports young disabled people, continues to face exceptional demand. Preventative by design, and impactful by nature, the Fund is an exemplar illustration of the benefits of early intervention – to the young disabled people who have benefited from it, along with their families, communities and our wider public services.
With regard to Northern Ireland, we continue to engage with our colleagues, where we are exploring the possibility of re-opening the Fund.
Given our success with the re-opening of the Fund in Scotland, it is important that we recognise the contribution of our many partners who worked, and continue to work with us, in its design, delivery and ongoing development. Firstly, I would like to thank our Scottish Government colleagues, particularly our Sponsor Team. Their ongoing support for ILF Scotland has been key to our success as a public body. I also want to thank all members of our Co-production Working Group 2. The work of this group has been truly remarkable, and it has been a privilege to have worked alongside such diverse members who have committed significant time and expertise. In the words of Jim Elder-Woodward, Chair of our Scottish Advisory Group, “it has been an example of best practice in genuine co-production”. I also want to thank our Local Authority Social Work colleagues across the country, with whom we have held over 200 sessions throughout the year, and without whom the re-opened Fund could not have opened so quickly and so successfully.
I would also like to thank our staff and Directors. Re-opening the Fund could not have happened without our staff professionalism, selflessness, commitment to the organisation and to the right to independent living. I am also very grateful to our Board of Directors, whose support has been unwavering. We are very fortunate at ILF Scotland to have Directors with such a range of skills and experience including, critically, lived experience of being disabled, relying on social care support, and being an unpaid carer. I want to thank in particular Etienne D’Aboville who retired from the Board in February 2025 due to health reasons. Etienne, who is rooted in the independent living and disability rights world, brought a wealth of personal and professional experience to the Board and we will all miss his insightful and thoughtful contributions. I would also like to pay tribute to Liz Humphreys and Betty McAtear for their unwavering support over the years, both of whom completed their term of office during the year.
Finally, I want to recognise the immeasurable contribution of our Advisory Groups in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Chaired by Jim Elder-Woodward and David McDonald respectively, these groups ensure all of us at ILF Scotland remain focused on our mission, never losing sight of our shared vision to make independent living a reality for our disabled citizens.
2 Co-Production Working Group members: ILF Scotland Advisory Group; Inclusion Scotland; Glasgow Disability Alliance; Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living; Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living; Disability Equality Scotland; SDS Scotland; Scottish Human Rights Commission; CCPS; SCLD; Carers Scotland; PAMIS; Scottish Government; COSLA; Social Work Scotland; Glasgow City Council.
Strategic Plan
Our key outcomes from our Strategic Plan are listed below:
Strategic Outcome 1 - Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people.
Strategic Outcome 2 - Be leaders in enabling independent living.
Strategic Outcome 3 - Operate a high-quality efficient service.
This year our principal risks and uncertainties were mainly in connection with managing the project to re-open our main Fund to new applications; the continued growth in demand for the Transition Fund; the management of resources; the movement of personal and sensitive information; managing the project to replace our main client database as part of our Information Technology (IT) infrastructure; IT security; dealing with the current social care crisis and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes. We believe that we responded well to all risk areas and this is explored further in the Analysis section of this report.
The past year marks the end of the current strategic cycle and as we embark on our new one we can reflect that we successfully re-opened the Independent Living Fund to new applications after working towards this over the previous nine years and we now have had one full year of its operation. The narratives will cover what we have learned to date and suggest ideas for how we might increase the reach and impact of the Fund.
Of key importance, last year saw the introduction of the emergency spending controls by Scottish Government and we witnessed the impact across the whole organisation and how it limited some of our own development plans for ILF Scotland. As we move into the new cycle, the spending controls are still in place so we are mindful about what may or may not be possible as we embark on this new time of growth and development for the organisation.
We made strong progress against the annual business plan and final year of our current strategic plan with particular focus on the re-opening of the ILF to new applications. We have worked in conjunction with the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments, HSCP/T’s, Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs), other key stakeholders and most importantly disabled people, to support more individuals than any time in our history. This work has been carried out against a challenging landscape both organisationally and for those disabled people we work alongside.
The issues facing disabled people continue to be extremely difficult and in some cases have become even more acute with the compound impact of cost-of-living, the recruitment crisis and spiralling costs of procuring support. Indeed, we are starting to see costs exceed £30 per hour, which may be partly driven by private companies increasing market share as voluntary sector providers face unprecedented risk and challenge. This situation is predicted to only get worse and will have consequences in terms of additional investment for disabled people to maintain their levels of support unless this is somehow rectified. As ILF Scotland do not have any contractual relationships with providers, we have no control over this. In tandem with this, ILF Scotland is not immune from the wider challenges facing health and social care.
The consequence of these factors is that we have had our busiest year to date stepping even further into the vacuum left by this reduction in support across the wider health and social care environment. Every part of the organisation has been stretched very thin with staff having to deal with considerable workloads. Indeed, without the extensive support, wellbeing initiatives, constant reprioritisation of tasks and strong positive leadership, we would have seen a much greater impact on the health of colleagues.
At the beginning of the financial year we successfully re-opened the Fund to new applications for the first time since 2010. This will enable a whole new group of disabled people to experience the positive life changing impact of our funding. This could not have happened without the time, effort and commitment of the Scottish Government who have played a critical role in this by not only agreeing the finance, but also playing a central role in the design and implementation. In addition and just as critical, the Co-Production Working Group made up of representatives from Local Government, DPOs, organisations that support disabled people, care providers and disabled people have worked at pace under time pressure to work in true collaboration to achieve this historic landmark.
By the year end we had received just over 800 completed applications to the re-opened ILF, with a further 168 partially completed in the system. Though slightly below the 1,000 applications targeted, we were extremely pleased to achieve this taking into account the wider pressures on social workers who were required to support this new initiative.
In terms of the ILF Transition Fund, average grants per person remained relatively static being approximately £2,200 for the last four years demonstrating the positive impact that a relatively small amount of funding has on the life of a young disabled person. The operational environment continues to be even more difficult and mainly centres around the wider challenges to the transitional support available to young disabled people through statutory and voluntary sector providers.
During the year we published our third Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming report, our second Corporate Parenting Plan and reported progress against the previous publications including the Charter for Involvement Standards. Alongside this, we continued to meet with the Co-production Working Group established to support the reopening of the ILF to new applications, working with members and our Scottish Government colleagues to further develop the policy framework for the re-opened fund based on stakeholder feedback. We introduced a revised policy to allow greater access to the Fund for people who receive a significant amount of unpaid care from someone who resides with them and began discussions on alternative access routes to funding including direct citizen led applications as well as looking at alternatives to a fixed financial threshold sum as part of the access principles of applying for funding.
With regard to Information Technology (IT) the first phase of the replacement of our core client database was achieved and a full business case was submitted to Scottish Government to ensure a full system replacement by February 2026 and this was approved. Over the year we have onboarded a new Resilience Management Tool and the Resilience Hub has met to discuss ways of embedding resilience across the organisation. We have continued to focus considerable resource in our cyber security posture in line with a concurrent upgrade to the main applications portal. Training and awareness around cyber and data security remain high and this is reflected in the low number of data and cyber incidents we have had over the year and, in addition, we have retained our Cyber Essentials status. Finally in this section, we have established a long planned Programme Management Office (PMO). The primary function of the office will be as an enabling one to support teams to run their own projects but where required the PMO will run or co-ordinate major projects (with climate change, strategy and a new corporate reporting suite included).
In summary whilst current spending controls have heavily influenced our business activity adding further complexity to an already challenging operating environment, we have successfully delivered the final year of our current strategy and with the exception of growing Transition Fund numbers, our annual business plan as well.
Lastly in this section, we would like to pay testament to our colleagues Karen Lee Bain and Trisha Beveridge who sadly passed away this year. They exemplified the values we cherish as an organisation and their loss leaves a void in our collective lives. Their work has had a hugely positive impact on the lives of disabled people across Scotland and Northern Ireland and we are thankful for their hard work, company and friendship.
Future Plans
We will now focus on working towards implementing our new strategy, renewing our core business systems, extending the Transition Fund and ILF in Scotland to new recipients, re-opening the ILF to new applications in Northern Ireland (subject to Ministerial approval) and supporting both Scottish and Northern Ireland Governments to deliver their priorities for disabled people to live independently with choice, control and dignity.
Looking to the future and fulfilling the current strategy, the progress made on the digital transformation business case, coupled with work on organisational sustainability, are significant stepping stones. Both areas look to achieve greater efficiency through smarter use of technology, of staff, of resources and operational processes to reduce our consumption and work towards a Net Zero position by 2040.
Organisational Structure
The organisational structure is set out below and shows core roles / departments:
A hierarchical chart showing Chief Executive Officer at the top with Chief Operating Officer (COO), Director of Policy, Improvement and Engagement, and Finance Director coming off that box. The COO has Director of Independent Living and Director of Digital & Information coming from that box. Head of Buisness Services comes from Director of Digital & Information. The Finance Director oversees the Head of Finance.
Business Plan Progress
Overall, against our three Strategic Priorities and 12 Strategic Outcomes we have achieved 10 of them to a high level, the exceptions being our objective to grow the Transition Fund numbers and our workforce objectives both of which were not met due to current spending constraints. In the Transition Fund, demand continues to be excessively high, requiring careful management to ensure we maximise the impact of our limited resource. With regard to our workforce plans we had to delay certain initiatives due to the spending controls in place.
Other than as noted above, progress remains strong and on track to complete by the end of this current strategic cycle/business plan. Performance against our key strategic objectives is set out in the Analysis section which follows on page 13.
Analysis
Key Performance Indicators
Strategic Outcome 1 – Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people:
Strategic Objective – The core operation is delivered in a manner that supports people to achieve the independent living outcomes they want.
Target Outcome: ILF Scotland enables disabled people to lead their fullest lives.
Key Performance Indicators:
Return to normal operational tempo (post Covid-19).
Identify and prioritise reviews (need, urgency, waiting time).
Recharge and re-skill teams in independent living practice.
Review forms and processes for ease of use and accessibility.
Activity Update:
Though the operational tempo has improved significantly, it has not quite returned to pre-pandemic levels but has increased with additional workload.
We have reduced the time taken to complete updated awards by 30% compared to the previous year.
Overall we have completed 1,500 visits to recipients.
3,427 new funding offers have been made with 519 relating to the re-opened Fund.
There have been several team development and practice days this year focussing on maximising income, how we show flexibility within the ILF policy framework, how we promote enabling all independent living outcomes where possible.
We have reviewed all Standard Operating Procedures in the Transition Fund and the ILF Fund "Handbook of Practice" for assessors and caseworkers which has been a major piece of work completed in year.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - More people in Scotland and Northern Ireland are enabled to live independently.
Target Outcome:
The reach and impact of ILF Scotland funding is extended to enable more disabled people to live independently.
Key Performance Indicators:
Grow the Transition Fund numbers.
Undertake independent. evaluation of the Transition Fund to inform future use.
Capacity build with partner organisations.
Promote ILF and the Transition Fund across all communication channels in enabling independent living outcomes.
Activity Update:
Due to the funding limitations and in-year spending controls, we have been unable to grow the Transition Fund as planned. If more resources were available we are confident that the fund could reach up to double the numbers we are currently supporting without much further engagement. Our main concern is due to the tight control on funding, which has been made more acute with in-year spending controls, we are approaching an untenable position of unmanageable demand. We are in active discussions with our Sponsor Team to look at possible measures to manage this challenge with supporting young disabled people.
We have not been able to undertake independent evaluation due to emergency spending controls and budget pressures. This will be reviewed in the next financial year.
The only promotion of the Transition Fund that has taken place in year is events that were previously committed to and low level communications via social media.
Status: Red
Strategic Outcome 2 – Be leaders in enabling independent living:
Strategic Objective - The conditions for entry to the re-opened ILF Scotland 2015 Fund are co-produced and supported by robust public consultation.
Target Outcome:
The policy framework by which the re-opened 2015 Fund will accept new applications are determined by the process of co-production and fully tested across a wide stakeholder audience prior to being recommended to Scottish Ministers.
Key Performance Indicators:
A co-production working group is established.
A series of engagement events are held nationally.
Develop strategic approach to identifying and analysing all feedback data points (i.e. a Data Strategy).
Prepare for public consultation and co-producing for the next strategic plan.
Update Northern Ireland Social Return On Investment (SROI)and create a similar model in Scotland.
Develop our reporting model against the National Performance Framework.
Activity update:
The Fund re-opened successfully in April 2024.
The Co-production Working Group and the three sub-groups it established continued to meet and work with us and Scottish Government on multiple occasions during 2024 to 2025.
We will continue to work with the group and our stakeholders to further develop the policy framework and to achieve better independent living outcomes for our recipients.
We held four online and two in-person engagement sessions, one in Glasgow and one in Belfast, to co-produce our next strategic plan 2025 to 2028.
We completed the updated SROI model in 2024 to 2025 for Northern Ireland and completed the model for Scotland.
Preliminary work has been undertaken to establish feedback data alongside mapping this work against the National Performance Framework.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Better independent living outcomes for disabled people are achieved at local levels through partnership working and shared practices.
Target Outcome:
Capacity and capability are increased across the sector for enabling better independent living outcomes.
Key Performance Indicators:
Full review of all Covid-19 support packages and work with HSCP / Ts to focus on approaches to enabling better independent living outcomes.
Innovate and create smarter ways of working with HSCP / Ts (e.g. data sharing and automation of forms and alerts).
As a national body, ensure local delivery issues are surfaced with Local Authority leads and where appropriate sponsor teams (vis a vie re-balancing of packages).
Activity Update:
The assessment of new applications and review of existing awards this year have continued to focus on quality of support whilst reducing overall timescales. The ongoing ILF co-production process involves COSLA, Social Work Scotland and HSCP representatives. This in turn has invigorated discussion on independent living outcomes that are funded in local areas.
We have innovated by engaging continuously with statutory partners and in joint webinars with Social Work Scotland and COSLA. In partnership with SSSC we have rolled out online Open Badges which accredit workers who learn about ILF in a series of interactive modules.
ILF Leads meetings and webinars in September, November, January and March were very productive in raising key issues to our Board and Sponsor Team including the impact of HSCP / T budget pressures, staffing shortages and those areas which were able to work to maximise the ILF resource for their area and those which were not. We will target support to areas facing challenges in 2025 to 2026.
Status: Green
Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high quality efficient service:
Strategic Objective - By being a Top Employer, ILF Scotland recruits and retains a highly effective flexible and adaptable workforce.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is fully prepared and able to deliver a key role in Scotland’s Social Care System.
Key Performance Indicators:
Retain Top Employer status.
Update and implement workforce plan (to include preparations for 35 hr working week).
Ensure continued staff health and well-being in hybrid operations (connection, communications and culture).
Through working groups and staff surveys, ensure the voice of our people is heard and reflected in strategy and business planning.
Promote the Learning & Development (L&D) policy as underpinning career development, succession planning and organisational resilience.
Activity Update:
ILF Scotland was awarded Top 10 Employer status from Working Families UK during September 2024.
The 35 hour week implementation has been fully and successfully completed in year.
The workforce plan has been updated to take into account the emergency spending controls and as a consequence the implementation has been delayed by six months.
Health & Awareness sessions limited at present due to the emergency spending controls. As this work is considered essential in maintaining staffing levels and reducing staff absence, in person sessions will recommence in 2025 to 2026.
A short life working group has considered the findings for the 2024 to 2025 staff survey, with these findings being included in the new business plan.
L & D work has been greatly impacted in year due to emergency spending controls with only essential activity taking place.
Status: Amber
Strategic Objective - The integrity of the ILF Scotland operation is maintained by updating and exercising the risk and resilience programme.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is prepared for and able to respond and recover from a critical incident in a smooth and controlled manner with minimum disruption to its operation.
Key Performance Indicators:
Embed the resilience hub and move to bi-annual cycle of train, exercise and test.
Ensure and maintain the data protection posture of the organisation.
Ensure and maintain the cyber security posture of the organisation.
Introduce annual cycle of information security monitoring and audit.
Identify and deploy a risk and resilience management solution.
Activity Update:
The Resilience Hub is set up and running quarterly and leads on the exercise and test programme. The Information Governance Office is co-opted into this and helps identify issues from a data or information security perspective and uses the information gleaned from the self-assessment cycle to help inform the wider training and awareness of data security across the organisation.
Over the year we have onboarded a new risk and resilience management tool and have fully reviewed and rationalised all organisational risks prior to uploading them into the new system. The system is fully interlinked and dynamic.
We have developed the approach to an annual cycle of self-assessment, monitoring and audit using the same approach as we have with data. Overall, the resilience programme and our approach to organisational resilience is going well and maturing appropriately.
Throughout the year we have maintained a high level of vigilance against external cyber threats including essential staff training.
Status: Green
Efficiencies:
We constantly carry out improvement and efficiency work where possible and over the years this has enabled the organisation to deliver more. Over the year we have carried out improvements that have saved approximately 500 (2023-24 – 4,872) hours of staff time. This works out at less than one (2023 to 2024 - three) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) member of staff saving. This equates to an approximate overall saving of only 0.3% of our cost base (2023 to 2024 – 3%) compared to the Scottish Government target of 3%.
Our efficiencies are mainly driven by IT initiatives and this year are less than we would normally achieve due to our concentration being on re-opening our main Fund and replacing our main client database. Only small efficiency gains can be realised until our IT infrastructure has been replaced.
Self-Directed Support (SDS)
ILF Fund - This year we made major progress through all backlogs in the review cycle caused by the pandemic, getting back to the bi-annual timescales for Scotland and Northern Ireland whilst prioritising new applications.
ILF Fund (Re-opened) - In April 2024 we re-opened the Independent Living Fund to new applications for the first time since 2010. By the end of the financial year we had received 801 completed applications, 168 partially completed applications and 283 had gone into payment.
Over 200 engagement events have taken place across Scotland. In large geographical areas more than one event was required and some Local Authorities needed follow-up events.
We have now introduced an unpaid care component to the application process ensuring those disabled people with high levels of resident unpaid care are not disadvantaged. It is believed this is the first such element to any scheme implemented in Scotland making this highly innovative and unique. The aim over the coming year is to increase applications and those in payment to 1,400.
Transition Fund - Applications have decreased from 4,057 in 2023 to 2024 to 3,191 this year, a reduction of 21%. Linked to funding constraints, this is mainly as a consequence of the actions we undertook to manage demand in 2024 to 2025 by limiting disabled people to one application per person coupled with only limited engagement work. Indeed, we believe had we carried out engagement work, demand for the Fund could have actually been much greater.
Feedback continues to be enormously positive on the Transition Fund’s impact. Regular reviews of policy in 2025-26 are planned to manage demand within budget. For example, a proposal has just been drafted to bring in-house support to the most complex situations, which in turn creates efficiency savings which will mean that more grants can be paid out.
Externally, our profile has never been higher e.g. the National Self-Directed Support Standards we helped co-produce reference ILF repeatedly. This is significant: re-opening has cemented our place in the Scottish social care landscape and we are included and consulted on national policy and at national conferences. The operational environment remains both exciting due to re-opening but challenging for staff supporting recipients with reduced support due to funding pressures and pressures in Local Authority and Trust areas. Successful applications to the ILF Fund have already generated significant praise for the impact on people’s lives. Provider and Personal Assistant costs continue to increase significantly, which requires intervention by casework or assessor teams to assist with sustainability on a more frequent basis than the traditional ILF model of a bi-annual review. The extent of the ILF intervention will be reviewed next year as there are requests that ILF Scotland provides new support to Award Managers on an ongoing basis. Co-production will clarify what is required, affordable and sustainable.
Policy, Improvements and Engagement
Reporting - We published our third Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming report and highlighted progress made against our previous report along with planned actions for the coming year. In addition, we published our second Corporate Parenting Plan, reporting on progress against the previous plan and priority actions for the coming year. We also published an update on progress to date towards achieving our Charter for Involvement Standards and worked on actions prioritised by the Advisory Groups. In year, we started developing our Customer Feedback Strategy and our Customer Service Charter.
Re-Opening Co-Production Working Group - We continued to meet with the Co-Production Working Group established to support the reopening of the ILF to new applications, working with members and our Scottish Government colleagues to further develop the policy framework for the re-opened fund based on stakeholder feedback. We implemented a revised policy to allow greater access to funding from people who receive a significant amount of unpaid care from someone who resides with them. We also began discussions on alternative access routes to the Fund including direct citizen led applications as well as looking at alternatives to a fixed financial threshold sum as part of the access principles to applying for funding.
Legislative Changes - In 2024 to 2025, we undertook work to understand and prepare for the introduction of three areas of legislative and resultant policy changes in relation to the new Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme, the new UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requirements and the revised Employer National Insurance legislation, all of which came into force in April 2025. We prepared awareness with briefings and communications internally and externally.
Advisory Groups - We continued to meet regularly with the Scotland and Northern Ireland Advisory Groups. Members are consulted on and influence key policy, practice, and decisions as appropriate. The Minister of Mental Health, Social Care and Sport met with the Scotland Advisory Group to discuss a number of key policy areas including the planned abolition of available income charges in Scotland, originally planned for May 2026. The groups will continue to advocate for this charge to be eradicated as they believe strongly that it is a tax on being disabled.
Young Ambassadors - In tandem with the above, we continue to engage with our Young Ambassadors Group and are attempting to increase the number of members. The Transition Fund engagement activity resulted in staff attendance at 67 events with around 1,870 attendees. As a consequence of the exceptional level of demand, we have had no option other than cut back on our promotion engagements in order to help manage demand.
Our People
Overview - 2024 to 2025 has been the most demanding and testing period since ILF Scotland was created in 2015. Alongside our business as usual we are nearing completion of Phase 1 of the workforce implementation plan whilst adhering strictly to the Scottish Government emergency spending controls which have curtailed numerous strands of activity in year. Despite these restrictions, we have continued to introduce exciting, innovative support to our workforce, researching and introducing new measures that support staff through the year. As we move to Phase 2 of our Workforce Implementation Plan we expect to see further staff growth during 2025 to 2026.
We consider ourselves to be an open and supportive employer which is welcomed and acknowledged across our workforce. We held one full staff development day and regular online All Staff Meetings during 2024 to 2025 which help embed our culture and to re-connect with colleagues as we continue to grow. Our staff health and wellbeing programme remains front and centre of decision making and we will continue to offer a varied and changing programme including our regular ‘mental health & resilience refreshers’.
We successfully implemented our 35 hour week at the beginning of the reporting period and this has supported the overall wellbeing of colleagues in our busiest year, whilst having no detrimental impact on delivery. Hybrid principles have now been in place for three years and they continue to offer our staff choice and control with ongoing consideration to the business needs of the organisation. Lastly, we are extremely proud to have again been awarded Best Small Employer at the Best Practice Awards and a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families event in September 2024.
Organisational Demography – At the end of the year our staff employed was 79 plus 6 non-executive Directors: 80%:20% female: male, with 30.5% of staff self-identified as disabled or having underlying health conditions, 2.53% ethnic minorities and 1.26% LGBT.
Employment status – Our accessible suite of whole-life friendly policies have been key to supporting our colleagues offering vital guidance and signposting as appropriate. During 2024 to 2025 we have closely monitored feedback and listened to colleagues using our Staff Survey, TRICKLE, and meeting feedback and where appropriate offering positive change. All ILF Scotland staff have employed status (with two fixed term colleagues); both full time and part time with many different flexible working patterns to suit individual and organisational need. This model has offered stability and continuity for both the organisation and individuals during the last year as we continued to grow. During 2024 to 2025 all staff have worked flexibly, and we will continue to ensure staff can have a work/family-friendly/ life balance which suits their individual circumstances offering choice and control. We are committed to good employee relations and ILF Scotland Human Resources policies have been regularly reviewed and developed from best practice to ensure full compliance with employment and equalities legislation.
Mentoring – For the second year we committed to the ambition to ensure that every young person, regardless of background, gains access to opportunities to enable them to fulfil their potential and achieve upward mobility. We partnered with the social mobility programme Career Ready Scotland during 2024-25 to provide real-world work experience and mentoring to five young people from our local community schools. In addition to providing new networking opportunities and career advancement pathways, the internship equips the young person with essential soft skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving. Thanks goes in particular to our Finance Manager in being the driving force in this excellent initiative.
Information Governance and IT
Records Management - Overall this has been a good year and the efficiencies of using a new file plan are being seen by everyone. We have now entered into a new phase of maturity in this area with annual and regular data protection and information governance self-assessment activities being undertaken by each team via their own Information Management Support Officer and the results feed into the Information Governance Officer for review and capture for organisational learning.
Digital and System Developments - Much has been achieved in the last year under challenging circumstances and in the context of the newly re-opened Fund. The first phase of the client data base replacement was substantially completed. A full business case was submitted to Scottish Government to run two development teams during 2025 to ensure a full system replacement by February 2026 and this was approved.
Risk and Resilience - Over the year we have onboarded our new Risk and Resilience Management Tool and as we approached the year end, all current risks on the risk register had been reviewed, rationalised and uploaded into the new system ready for first use. During the year, the Resilience Hub has met to discuss ways of embedding resilience across the organisation and we are now poised to introduce resilience self-assessment tools and a competency framework for resilience. Our resilience exercise programme continues and the foundations have been laid to work up to a full scale disaster simulation early in the new financial year.
Cyber Security – The year has been busy with a concurrent upgrade to our main applications portal to meet security requirements and development of a new front end system. We have elected for a further level of security for the new technology by adopting a tool which will act as an independent security monitoring and observation centre for us in addition to the inbuilt security of our new front end system. Training and awareness around cyber and data security remain high and this is reflected in the low number of data and cyber incidents we have had over the year. Of note, we have adopted a report fast, no blame, approach to incident reporting and we believe this has paid off as culturally people feel safe to report what could potentially be a disciplinary matter. The new risk in this area comes from sophisticated and targeted attacks generated using Artificial Intelligence. We have retained our Cyber Essentials status and are audited against the National Cyber Security Centre 10 Steps model and assess our current status as robust but not complacent.
Governance and social responsibility
The company procurement policy ensures fair competition and value for money, with specific arrangements to encourage tenders from employers of disabled people in procurement exercises.
ILF Scotland is committed to prompt payment of bills for goods and services received. Payments are normally made within the period specified in the contract. Where there is no contractual or other understanding, we endeavour to pay within 10 days of the receipt of the goods or services, or the presentation of a valid invoice or similar demand, whichever is later.
In 2024 to 2025 ILF Scotland paid 95% of invoices (by volume) within 10 calendar days of receipt (2023 to 2024 99%). The number of creditor days outstanding at the end of 2024 to 2025 was 17 days (2023 to 2024 23 days).
Financial review
Our Grant in Aid funding allocation and actual expenditure is set out below:
2024 to 2025
Initial Grant in Aid Allocation
Funding not drawn down in year
Final Grant in Aid Allocation
Actual Expenditure
Net Underspend
£m
£m
£m
£m
£m
Resource Expenditure
69.5
(5.5)
64.0
61.8
2.2
Capital Expenditure
-
-
-
0.7
(0.7)
Non-cash
0.1
-
0.1
0.1
-
Total Fiscal Resource
69.6
(5.5)
64.1
62.6
1.5
Resource expenditure Initial Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 69.5 Funding not drawn down in year £m: (5.5) Final Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 64.0 Actual Expenditure £m: 61.8 Net Underspend £m: 2.2
Capital expenditure Initial Grant in Aid Allocation £m: - Funding not drawn down in year £m: - Final Grant in Aid Allocation £m: - Actual Expenditure £m: 0.7 Net Underspend £m: (0.7)
Non-cash Initial Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 0.1 Funding not drawn down in year £m: - Final Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 0.1 Actual Expenditure £m: 0.1 Net Underspend £m: -
Total Fiscal Resource Initial Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 69.6 Funding not drawn down in year £m: (5.5) Final Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 64.1 Actual Expenditure £m: 62.6 Net Underspend £m: 1.5
Grant in Aid – The amount received in the year was £62.7m (2023 to 2024 £57.5m). The difference between the £62.7m and the £64m in the above table relates to a further £1.3m of funding not drawn down and agreed after the mid-year review with Scottish Government had taken place.
Awards Paid – The payments made to recipients for the year 2024-25 were £55.8m (2023 to 2024 £52.1m), of which £4.9m (2023 to 2024 £5.3m), was for the Transition Fund.
Underspend – Whilst we report a net underspend of £1.5m at the year end above, we also drew down £5.5m less than awarded by Scottish Government resulting in a gross underspend of £7m when compared against our initial fiscal resource allocation.
Capital expenditure - No new funding was received for the capital expenditure however authorisation was received to fund via existing reserves. The movement in the year in relation to capital relates in the main to additions to assets under construction. Assets are only held for the purpose of managing the company.
Reserves – We have healthy reserves of £5.4m at 31 March 2025 (£4.5m at 31 March 2024) as shown on page 67.
Following on from discussions with our sponsor team at Scottish Government during the year, we drew down £6.8m less funding than originally allocated in order to balance our forecast funding requirements due in the main to slower than anticipated uptake of our re-opened Fund.
Procurement policies are designed to secure goods and services for immediate consumption during the year with best value for money at current cost, and without setting up complex financial instruments. Company exposure to financial instrument risk is therefore low compared with non-public sector organisations. The policies on financial instruments are provided in the Notes to the financial statements, and appropriate disclosures are included.
Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the Directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2024-25 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
There were no events after the end of the financial year that have any material effect on these Reports and Financial Statements.
Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy
Purpose
This ILF Scotland Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy outlines our commitment to tackle climate change and approach to achieving Net Zero Emissions by 2040.
Action on climate change is critical and this strategy aims to integrate the following activities in a proactive manner to achieve enduring change:
Engagement and Customer Satisfaction (focused awareness and recipient feedback)
Digital Transformation Project (working smarter)
Human Resources Workforce Plan (in conjunction with Customer Satisfaction and Digital Transformation)
Financial Disclosures and Reporting (compliance)
Data strategy
As our strategy evolves and our relationship with those who use our services develops, we will build capacity and awareness around climate action. We will act based on feedback from the people we support.
Outcomes of Stakeholder feedback will be clear and will lead to data informed business decisions and improvements. This is with the background of how Scotland as a nation addresses inequalities and digital disadvantages witnessed during the pandemic.
Vision
That ILF Scotland will achieve Net Zero in relevant areas by 2040 and work in partnership with the Scottish Government on areas outwith our control. We will have an educated workforce who will make an individual commitment to reducing their carbon footprint in the workplace and aspirationally into their personal lives as well.
Mission
To take a proactive approach to reducing our carbon footprint and maintain our quality-of-service delivery. This will help us to operate more efficiently, including:
Developing and implementing an Environmental Policy into our day-to-day activities.
Identifying and assessing risks from climate change to prioritise actions that will improve our resilience to climate impacts.
Create a baseline of our greenhouse gas emissions. For those which we are in direct control of or can influence to reduce these in line with the Scottish Government target of achieving Net Zero by 2045.
Educating all employees and board members on climate change issues and the roles that they can play. Monitor, review, and report annually to the Sustainable Scotland Network. (Reporting is on a voluntary basis)
Strategic Priorities
We have four strategic priorities in line with the Sustainable Scotland Network and the Climate Change Act 2009 (The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020)):
Increase our understanding of climate change and our obligations. To identify and document our current contribution to carbon emissions.
From documenting our carbon footprint, prioritise an action plan (Phase 1: 2024 to 2026) and report on progress annually. Create an action plan which aims for a Net Zero date of 2040 (which will be done in 3 phases).
Once we increase our organisational understanding, we will engage with those who use our services (including staff), to redesign services and how we use our resources. By doing this we hope to reduce our carbon emissions through focused improvements and organisational efficiencies.
With help from the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, we will do a CO2 emissions audit. This will include purchased goods and services, capital goods (e.g. IT equipment), business travel and emissions resulting from working from home to inform our carbon reduction plan.
Boundary of carbon footprint
Establishing ILF Scotland’s baseline carbon footprint involves identifying areas where the organisation can control the reduction or prevention of carbon emissions. We do not own assets (buildings or fleet) that fall within Scope 1. Our carbon footprint does include Scope 2 (grid generated electricity) and Scope 3 (waste and business travel).
Scope of emissions
Scope 1: Includes direct CO2 emissions occurring from sources that are owned or controlled by the company, for example, emissions from combustion in owned or controlled boilers, furnaces, vehicles, etc.; emissions from chemical production in owned or controlled process equipment.
Scope 2: Includes indirect CO2 emissions produced from the generation of purchased fuel, both gas and electricity consumed by the organisation.
Scope 3: All other indirect CO2 emissions fall under Scope 3, which is an optional reporting category. Scope 3 emissions occur from sources not owned or controlled by the organisation, including all purchased goods and services. It may be possible to extend our aspirations to those that receive our funds and encourage them to adopt smarter or carbon neutral ways of achieving their outcomes via awareness raising and possible signposting to greener options (e.g. driving lessons and IT purchases).
Out of scope
There are emissions sources that are not included in the baseline carbon footprint because ILF Scotland operates from a shared office space and procures services in line with our agreement with the Scottish Government.
As we do not own buildings or vehicles, Scope 1 emissions are reported by the property landlord and do not apply to us.
Relationships and the National Performance Framework
The Paris Agreement (12/12/2015) requires that all nations undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and to adapt to its effects. As a public body, we must increase our ability to accelerate change. This will require relationship development with Scottish Government, policy leads on national targets, subject matter experts on carbon reduction and colleagues in health and social care to develop new working practices, minimising carbon emissions.
These key relationships will help ILF Scotland to increase knowledge and also to work collaboratively to improve how social care services are delivered across Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This will address some of the inequalities and disadvantages witnessed during the pandemic and will enable ILF Scotland to learn from others (including those we support) on how best to focus service delivery and meet recipient needs. We will take on our operational activities in a sustainable manner and continue to deliver high quality public services in an environmentally friendly way. Done correctly recipients will get better services, ILF Scotland will use fewer resources to deliver those services, and by 2040 Net Zero will be achieved, protecting the planet and keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees.
Summary
The climate crisis is a reality and protecting global resources and our planet is everyone’s responsibility. By understanding our impact on carbon emissions, and what services people need from us, we can see how best to deliver those services as part of a sustainable Net Zero Action Plan. As with everything ILF Scotland does, this strategy will be based around the needs of those people we support and being our best in delivering our services to them.
Effect of the UK leaving the European Union (Brexit)
ILF Scotland has been largely unaffected by Brexit. It did however affect the staffing situation for our disabled recipients. We are a Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Government funded organisation serving our recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland. We will continue to monitor any potential impact of Brexit.
Human Rights
ILF Scotland is committed to equality of opportunity and has policies and procedures in place to ensure this is achieved to the best of our ability. It also fully recognises its legal responsibilities, particularly in respect of race relations, age, sex and disability discrimination and complies with all Scottish Government policies in relation to Human Rights and Equality.
ILF Scotland is subject to the Equality Act 2010 (General Duties) (Scotland) Regulations (see link below) and must also publish statements on equal pay and information about Board members.
ILF Scotland is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity and is committed to the prevention of bribery and corruption as we recognise the importance of maintaining our reputation and the confidence of our stakeholders.
We can report that no instances of corruption or bribery were recorded in 2024 to 2025 (2023 to 2024 nil).
Summary – This has been another strong year, delivering even further progress against our strategic plan.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer.
Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board 15 September 2025
Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer 15 September 2025
Accountability Report
Consisting of: Corporate Governance Report; Remuneration and Staff Report; and Parliamentary Accountability Report
Corporate Governance Report
The Corporate Governance Report consists of three sections:
Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities;
Annual Governance Statement; and
Directors’ Report
1. Statement of Directors’ & Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities
The Directors and the Accountable Officer are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the company in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the Directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2024-25 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. Under company law Directors must not approve the financial statements until they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period. In preparing these financial statements the Directors are required to:
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis;
State whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the UK and the Accounts Direction applicable to the year issued by the Scottish Ministers; and
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the Accounts Direction applicable to the year issued by the Scottish Ministers. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the company and detect fraud and other irregularities.
The Directors have prepared a Directors’ Remuneration Report in order to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2024 to 2025 in accordance with Schedule 8 to the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 made under the Companies Act 2006, to the extent that they are relevant.
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
As Accountable Officer, as far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which ILF Scotland’s auditor is unaware. I have taken all reasonable steps to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that ILF Scotland’s auditor is aware of the information.
As set out in the "Memorandum to Accountable Officers for Other Public Bodies", the accountable officer is personally responsible for the propriety and regularity of the body’s public finances and ensuring that its resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively. This includes compliance with relevant guidance issued by Scottish Ministers, in particular the Scottish Public Finance Manual, and the Framework Document defining the key roles and responsibilities which underpin the relationship between the body and the Scottish Government.
Accountable Officer Confirmation on the Annual Report and Financial Statements
As Accountable Officer I confirm that the annual report and financial statements as a whole are fair, balanced and understandable and I take personal responsibility for the annual report and financial statements and the judgements required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board 15 September 2025
Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer 15 September 2025
2. Annual Governance Statement
Scope of responsibility
The Board of Directors have responsibility for maintaining sound corporate governance systems that support the achievement of our policies, aims and objectives and safeguard the public funds and assets for which we are personally responsible. Our responsibilities for managing public money and the duties assigned to us have been exercised with due diligence and the appropriate professional care.
The role of ILF Scotland is to deliver discretionary cash payments directly to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities.
Director Attendance
Figures in brackets show attendance for 2023 to 2024 period.
Name
Board Meetings
Audit and Risk Committee
Remuneration Committee
Anne-Marie Monaghan
4/4 (3/4)
N/A (N/A)
2/2 (1/1)
Elizabeth Humphreys
2/2 (4/4)
2/2 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth McAtear
2/2 (3/4)
N/A (N/A)
1/1 (1/1)
Mark Adderley
2/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
2/2 (1/1)
Etienne d'Aboville
3/3 (4/4)
3/3 (3/4)
N/A (N/A)
Alison Nicholson
4/4 (1/1)
4/4 (1/1)
N/A (N/A)
Stephanie Hayle
3/4 (1/1)
N/A (N/A)
N/A (N/A)
Kirsty Aird
4/4 (0/1)
3/4 (0/1)
N/A (N/A)
Marion MacDonald
1/1 (N/A)
N/A (N/A)
N/A (N/A)
Sound Corporate Governance
Our corporate governance systems continue to be drawn up from best practice recommendations and are being strengthened through internal scrutiny, legislative and process compliance and through collaborative working with both internal and external auditors and with Scottish Government.
These systems address individual and corporate accountabilities, the roles and effectiveness of our boards and our capacity to identify and effectively manage and report risk.
The company strategic aims and objectives have been developed by the Directors along with our sponsor team at Scottish Government. Our Chief Executive meets with Scottish Government officials to discuss significant business and programme risks and review ongoing progress against plan.
The programme meetings with Scottish Government officials are supported by regular operational meetings with the sponsor team, members of specialist teams and other Scottish Government colleagues to ensure clarity of purpose, sound communication and effective reporting.
As set out in the "Memorandum to Accountable Officers for Other Public Bodies", our Chief Executive as Accountable Officer is personally responsible for the propriety and regularity of the body’s public finances and ensuring that its resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively. This includes compliance with relevant guidance issued by Scottish Ministers, in particular the Scottish Public Finance Manual and the Framework Document defining the key roles and responsibilities which underpin the relationship between the body and the Scottish Government. In line with Scottish Government guidance, ILF Scotland’s Framework Document was reviewed and updated this year.
The Board met four times in formal session this period. There were also various ad hoc meetings, board development days and committee meetings. All meetings have a pre-agreed agenda, are minuted and produced clear actions and matters arising. Meetings are attended by Directors and appropriate members of the SMT.
The Directors have a responsibility for maintaining sound systems of control to address key financial and other risks, ensuring that the requirements of the ILF Scotland founding documents are met, that high standards of corporate governance are demonstrated, and for reviewing the effectiveness of the systems of internal control.
Capacity to handle risk
The Chief Executive acts as the Risk Champion for the company, whilst lead responsibility for ensuring that appropriate mechanisms are in place for identifying, monitoring and controlling risk, and advising SMT on the actions needed in order to comply with our corporate governance requirements rests with the Chief Operating Officer, who is supported by the Director of Digital and Information in the capacity of the ILF Scotland Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO).
Our systems and processes are designed to manage risk to a reasonable and appropriate level rather than to eliminate all risk; therefore, it can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.
Whilst every member of staff has a responsibility to ensure that exposure to risk is minimised, overall leadership of the risk management processes rests with members of the SMT. The SMT meets fortnightly.
Reviewing our strategic risks is a standing item at Board meetings, supported by the work of the Audit & Risk Committee, which provides a high-level resource to test the adequacy of assurance on our risk management framework and internal control environment. The Audit & Risk Committee is attended by representatives of internal audit and, when appropriate, external audit.
Managing risks
The Risk Management Framework sets out the organisation’s attitude to risk and provides a consistent basis to capture, monitor and report risks and to progress strategies to mitigate these. In assigning lead risk owners at SMT level and in the management control processes, we identify clear lines of responsibility throughout the organisation.
Our overall risk appetite is risk averse. This does not mean that we avoid opportunities to improve. However, it does mean that we are rightly cautious when challenges may hinder or put at risk our core business and service provision to our users. Our risk management processes enable us to identify operational, business and financial risks, customer focus and delivery risks as well as identifying and assessing potential reputational risks and other contingent issues.
Principal risks
All bodies subject to the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) must operate a risk management strategy in accordance with relevant guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
ILF Scotland maintains a strategic and operational risk register which records internal and external risks and identify the mitigating actions required to reduce the threat of these risks occurring and their impact. The Risk Management Strategy and Operational Risk Register are regularly updated and reviewed as a standing item by senior staff and the Audit and Risk Committee. Each individual risk is allocated an owner who ensures that mitigating action is carried out.
This year our principal risks and uncertainties were mainly in connection with managing the project to re-open our main Fund to new applications; the continued growth in demand for the Transition Fund; the management of resources; the movement of personal and sensitive information; managing the project to replace our main client database as part of our Information Technology (IT) infrastructure; IT security; dealing with the current social care crisis and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes. The risk and control processes applied within ILF Scotland accord with guidance given in the SPFM and have been in place for the year ended 31 March 2025 and up to the date of the approval of the annual report and financial statements.
A key part of our risk management process is the involvement of all staff in the discussion and identification of risks and their management. Together, we develop mitigating action, supported by management information and identify a specific manager to oversee progress.
The managers’ role is to monitor, report on and manage these issues and risks.
Information Assurance
Within our programme we have a significant challenge and risk involved in transferring sensitive user and confidential corporate data to our partners and client departments. This has required close liaison with relevant partners to ensure that we meet our legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Data and information security has been managed as a high priority item.
In terms of data and information security breaches there have been no reportable incidents.
Review of effectiveness
The Directors have responsibility for reviewing the effectiveness of the system of corporate governance, including systems of internal control which have been in place for the year under review and up to the date of approval of this Annual Report and Financial Statements. The Accountable Officer seeks written assurances from SMT in relation to their responsibilities for reviewing the effectiveness of the systems of risk management and internal control.
We also have in place independent internal auditors and they have provided their opinion that ILF Scotland has adequate and effective arrangements for risk management, control and governance. They also report that proper arrangements are in place to promote and secure Value for Money. They did not identify any downward trends in relation to risk management, control or governance however they did highlight a number of risks that are above risk tolerance levels.
Directors take assurance from these sources that effective systems of corporate governance are in place throughout the organisation. The internal control systems SMT have put in place include:
A comprehensive suite of control checks, which have been refined and adapted to meet our requirements in managing the programme (as reported to the Audit & Risk Committee);
Regular reports to SMT, Directors and Scottish Government on progress against the company targets and business aims and objectives;
A risk management strategy and risk management framework which comply with best practice;
The organisation’s Strategic Risk Register which is reviewed by Directors at least quarterly, a standing item with Audit & Risk Committee and reviewed monthly by SMT both quarterly at the risk and controls board and monthly at SMT meetings;
A project governance framework that seeks to manage the responsibilities, resources, reporting and programme milestones in order to deliver the planned outcomes on-time and to pre-agreed quality;
The adoption of formal project management arrangements based on PRINCE 2 principles for all key programme and projects, includes the development and maintenance of programme and project risk registers.
Board effectiveness and structures that support decisions
The Board has set up its governance arrangements to ensure compliance with best practice and relevant legislation.
The Board has developed terms of reference for all boards and committees, including their purpose, membership, and the election of the lead Director as well as defining the management and reporting requirements for each internal function.
Our governance processes and mechanisms to manage our boards are consistently applied to capture discussions, actions, risks and progress. These provide a basis for consistent reporting and ease of read-across to inform recommendations, actions and outcomes, our boards include the SMT, the Audit & Risk Committee and the Remuneration Committee.
The SMT meets regularly and is responsible for ensuring that corporate risks are identified as early as possible, are properly managed, that cross-functional issues are considered, and that risk management receives a high profile in planning and delivery of our plans. The SMT along with some of our senior managers meets fortnightly to ensure that all attendees understand both the priorities of the week and any emerging issues.
Senior Committees
The Audit & Risk Committee met four times during the period and is responsible for ensuring, as far as possible, that appropriate systems are in place within the company for the assessment and management of risk and advising the Board on the effectiveness of the systems of governance and control, leading to signing off the Annual Governance Statement. The Audit & Risk Committee reviews Strategic Risks as a standing item, it routinely considers the effectiveness of payment security, fraud management and recovered and unspent monies, it reviews the internal audit plans to ensure sufficient rigor and detail and undertakes to provide a questioning and challenging role to obtain assurance.
The Remuneration Committee met twice during the year. It oversees and reports to the Directors on the salaries, rewards and conditions of service in place at the company. It also makes sure that ILF Scotland conducts its employee relations fairly, efficiently and effectively.
Significant internal control issues
Internal controls and procedures are strengthened with a formal partnership with NHS Counter Fraud Services and we run a continuous improvement plan.
During the course of the year we have become aware of and have investigated twelve (2023 to 2024 eleven) instances of alleged misuse of funds in relation to Fund recipients. Total funds involved are estimated to be around £92,000 (2023 to 2024 £71,000). At 31 March 2025 seven of these cases had been closed as either no case to answer or repayment plans have been put in place. As these payments were recorded as costs when originally advanced they do not represent a further cost if deemed to be irrecoverable.
All cases have been reported to NHS Counter Fraud Services.
Over the course of the year there have been no significant control weaknesses reported, nor has any report been made externally, independently nor via the company Whistle-blower policy. This policy encourages staff to report suspected wrongdoing as soon as possible, in the knowledge that their concerns will be taken seriously and investigated as appropriate, and that their confidentiality will be respected.
Our audit and internal management reporting remains vigilant to ensure early identification of issues within normal day-to-day business and no significant issues have emerged. We have managed our risks and highlighted issues with foresight and taken decisions as required; we have forecast and reported our financial position in a timely accurate manner and maintained our budget within expected parameters.
We continue to develop and improve our internal control and governance systems and in conclusion we believe that they were fit for purpose during the reporting period.
Information and Data Security
ILF Scotland has in place a range of systems and measures which ensure that information held by the organisation, and held by third parties on behalf of the organisation, is secure. ILF Scotland monitors compliance concerning the release of data from the organisation. In addition, ILF Scotland has implemented Scottish Government guidance on data security and information risk through the creation of an information asset register, which includes assessment of risk and awareness training for staff.
During 2024 to 2025, we have been closely monitoring the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and engaged with all staff regularly. Direct GDPR training has been rolled out to all staff, this is mandatory training and an annual refresher is provided with data protection updates. Physical data security is monitored by office checks, on a quarterly basis.
ILF Scotland continues to focus upon Cyber Security and Resilience and we have Cyber Essentials PLUS accreditation.
There are no significant lapses in data security to report in 2024 to 2025 (2023 to 2024: none).
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the Directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer.
Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board 15 September 2025
Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer 15 September 2025
3. Directors’ Report
Company Number SC500075
The Directors submit their annual report for the year ended 31 March 2025.
The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the Directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2024 to 2025 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
All Directors are non-executive. For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 33 to 40. All non-executive Directors are considered to be independent.
Beneficial Interests
None of the directors had any beneficial interest in the ownership of the company throughout the period. The company is guaranteed by the Scottish Ministers.
Non-current assets
The company is now accounting for right-of-use assets in accordance with IFRS 16 and these were re-assessed during the year. The only other movement during the year was an addition to IT intangible assets in the course of construction.
Employees
It is ILF Scotland’s aim to keep employees informed about its affairs and in particular those matters that affect them directly. The company regularly issues all-staff emails and together with a monthly newsletter.
ILF Scotland is an Equal Opportunities Employer and actively encourages applications from disabled people.
Pension Scheme
Most of our staff are members of the Civil Service Pension defined benefit scheme known as alpha.
Corporate governance
The Board is charged with maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of the ILF Scotland policies, aims and objectives and regularly reviewing the effectiveness of that system. The Board is also responsible for the Annual Governance Statement.
The Board is responsible for ensuring that effective corporate governance arrangements are in place that set out how ILF Scotland is directed and controlled and how the assurance on risk management and internal control is provided.
The Board is required to demonstrate high standards of corporate governance at all times and to ensure that best practice is followed consistent with the UK Corporate Governance Code and appropriate adaptations of Corporate Governance in the Central Government Departments Code of Good Practice. The responsibilities of the Board are set out in the Governance Statement.
The non-executive directors are appointed by The Scottish Ministers for a fixed term appointment of four years which can be extended at the discretion of The Scottish Ministers.
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The Chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of Committee meetings will be provided to Directors for information. Remuneration Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive and the Chief Operating Officer.
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The Chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of committee meetings will be provided to Directors for information. Audit Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive, the Finance Director and the Chief Operating Officer.
Both external and internal audit have the right to independent access to the Chair and members of the committee.
Statement of disclosure of information to external auditor
The Directors who held office at the date of approval of the Directors’ Report confirm that, so far as they are each aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the external auditor is unaware; and each director has taken all steps that they ought to have taken as a director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the external auditor is aware of that information.
External Auditor
Details of all fees earned by the external auditor are provided in note 5 of the annual financial statements.
Under the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008, Audit Scotland was appointed as the auditor of the company by the Auditor General for Scotland for financial years 2022 to 2023 to 2026 to 2027.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed: James A Maguire Company Secretary 15 September 2025
Remuneration and Staff Report
Directors and SMT
Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers for a period of four years which can be extended to a maximum of eight years at the discretion of Scottish Ministers.
The Directors are appointed from a variety of backgrounds on the basis of relevant experience gained and skills required.
The Chief Executive together with the SMT are responsible for day-to-day operations and activities.
The Remuneration Policy
This report for the year ended 31 March 2025 deals with the remuneration of the Chief Executive, SMT and Directors of ILF Scotland.
ILF Scotland is managed by a Board of Directors appointed by Scottish Ministers. The Directors receive remuneration as post-holders and are reimbursed for incidental expenses in line with the company travel and subsistence policy. There are no unpaid persons or volunteers upon whose services the company is dependent.
The Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee is appointed by the Board of Directors and is established to independently review the salary of the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive informs the committee of any annual pay discussions to agree the salary levels for employees and SMT, in accordance with Scottish Government pay remit guidelines.
Members of the committee for the period of this report were:
Mark Adderley, (Chair)
Elizabeth McAtear, member until date of resignation as a Director on 7 August 2024.
Anne-Marie Monaghan
Marion McDonald (appointed 15 April 2024)
The terms of reference of the Remuneration Committee in relation to salary, rewards and conditions of service are:
To ensure that the SMT and staff are fairly and responsibly rewarded for their joint and individual contributions to ILF Scotland management and overall performance.
To agree the Chief Executive’s remuneration in line with Public Sector Pay Policy, in discussion with The Scottish Ministers and ensure that it is managed under the terms and conditions agreed with the company.
To review and where appropriate, approve the Chief Executive’s proposals for the remuneration of the SMT.
To review and where appropriate approve the SMT’s remuneration proposals for all staff below SMT level. This will include approval of the annual pay remit and setting pay bands where appropriate.
Remuneration (including salary) and pension entitlements
The figures below form part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Directors
For the year ended 31 March 2025 the total remuneration paid to Directors was:
2024 to 2025 in £'000
Anne-Marie Monaghan (Chair) 5-10
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair until 7 August 2024) 0-5
Elizabeth McAtear (resigned 7 August 2024) 0-5
Mark Adderley (Vice Chair from 7 August 2024) 0-5
Etienne d'Aboville (resigned 18 February 2025) 0-5
Alison Nicolson 0-5
Stephanie Hayle 0-5
Kirsty Aird 0-5
Marion MacDonald (appointed 2 December 2024) 0-5
2023 to 2024 in £'000
Anne-Marie Monaghan (Chair) 0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair until 7 August 2024) 0-5
Elizabeth McAtear (resigned 7 August 2024) 0-5
Mark Adderley (Vice Chair from 7 August 2024) 0-5
Etienne d'Aboville (resigned 18 February 2025) 0-5
Alison Nicolson 0-5
Stephanie Hayle 0-5
Kirsty Aird 0-5
Marion MacDonald (appointed 2 December 2024) N/A
Directors’ salary is non-pensionable. All FTE remuneration above sits in the same bandings noted above.
The Chief Executive and SMT
The Chief Executive and the SMT are employed on ILF Scotland terms and conditions.
The directors apply the policy regarding senior management remuneration as follows:
To create a fair and transparent pay structure offering salaries in line with the roles and demands on the personnel in those posts.
To offer competitive salaries to enable the company to attract personnel of the required calibre to fill its senior management posts.
To align decisions in accordance with the key features and parameters of the Scottish Government’s pay policy so as to:
To align reward with the business objectives to encourage high performance and improve the focus on the delivery of service;
To ensure reward arrangements are affordable; and
To create a level of salary progression which is subject to performance expectations (performance below the expectation would mean no progression and management action would be necessary for less than adequate performance).
The Chief Executive’s and SMT performance will be reviewed annually with the overall assessment informed by quarterly one-to-one meetings.
In the event of early severance, compensation would be payable in accordance with company terms and conditions.
Remuneration of Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team (ELT) – Subject to Audit
This table represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Salaries include gross salary, overtime and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on payments made within the year by ILF Scotland. There were no bonus payments or benefits in kind.
Figures for 2024 to 2025. (Figures for previous year, 2023 to 2024, in brackets).
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Salary: £95,000 to £100,000 (£80,000 to £85,000)
Pension Benefits: £38,000 (£33,000)
Total: £130,000 to £135,000 (£115,000 to £120,000)
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating Officer
Salary: £85,000 to £90,000 (£85,000 to £90,000)
Pension Benefits: £34,000 (£33,000)
Total: £120,000 to £125,000 (£115,000 to £120,000)
James Maguire, Director of Finance
Salary: £65,000 to £70,000 (£65,000 to £70,000)
Pension Benefits: £26,000 (£23,000)
Total: £95,000 to £100,000 (£90,000 to £95,000)
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Salary: £80,000 to £85,000 (£75,000 to £80,000)
Pension Benefits: £29,000 (£25,000)
Total: £110,000 to £115,000 (£100,000 to £105,000)
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Salary: £80,000 to £85,000 (£85,000 to £90,000)
Pension Benefits: £32,000 (£34,000)
Total: £110,000 to £115,000 (£120,000 to £125,000)
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Salary: £85,000 to £90,000 (£85,000 to £90,000)
Pension Benefits: £33,000 (£33,000)
Total:£120,000 to £125,000 (£115,000 to £120,000)
Pension Benefits – Subject to Audit
The company is part of the Civil Service Pension Scheme and most of our staff are members of the defined benefit offering (alpha). All of the ELT noted below are in alpha.
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2025: £10,000 to £15,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2025: £201,000
CETV at31March 2024: £153,000
Real increase in CETV: £29,000
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2025: £25,000 to £30,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2025: £412,000
CETV at31March 2024: £352,000
Real increase in CETV: £23,000
James Maguire, Finance Director
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2025: £10,000 to £15,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2025: £179,000
CETV at31March 2024: £140,000
Real increase in CETV: £22,000
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2025: £10,000 to £15,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2025: £186,000
CETV at31March 2024: £142,000
Real increase in CETV: £23,000
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2025: £10,000 to £15,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2025: £180,000
CETV at31March 2024: £139,000
Real increase in CETV: £24,000
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2025: £10,000 to £15,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: £5,000 to £10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2024: £153,000
CETV at31March 2023: £109,000
Real increase in CETV: £25,000
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: £20,000 to £25,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2024: £352,000
CETV at31March 2023: £291,000
Real increase in CETV: £22,000
James Maguire, Finance Director
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: £5,000 to £10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2024: £140,000
CETV at31March 2023: £103,000
Real increase in CETV: £20.000
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: £5,000 to £10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2024: £142,000
CETV at31March 2023: £103,000
Real increase in CETV: £19,000
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: £5,000 to £10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2024: £139,000
CETV at31March 2023: £95,000
Real increase in CETV: £26,000
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: £5,000 to £10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0 to £2,500
CETV at 31March 2024: £126,000
CETV at31March 2023: £87,000
Real increase in CETV: £23,000
Accrued pension benefits included in this table for any individual affected by the Public Service Pensions Remedy have been calculated based on their inclusion in the legacy scheme for the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, following the McCloud judgement. The Public Service Pensions Remedy applies to individuals that were members, or eligible to be members, of a public service pension scheme on 31 March 2012 and were members of a public service pension scheme between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022.
The basis for the calculation reflects the legal position that impacted members have been rolled back into the relevant legacy scheme for the remedy period and that this will apply unless the member actively exercises their entitlement on retirement to decide instead to receive benefits calculated under the terms of the alpha scheme for the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022.
Pension Schemes
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most staff members chose to join the scheme known as alpha which provides benefits on a career average basis with a normal pension age equal to the member’s State Pension Age. This statutory pension arrangement is unfunded with the cost of benefits met by monies voted by Parliament each year.
Employee contributions are salary related and range between 4.60% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. At the end of the scheme year the member’s earned pension account is credited with 2.32% of their pensionable earnings in that scheme year. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.30% of pensionable earnings.
The accrued pension quoted is the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over pension age. Pension age is the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha.
A few staff members have chosen to participate in the partnership pensions account which is a stakeholder pension arrangement. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member) into a stakeholder pension product chosen by the employee from a panel of providers. The employee does not have to contribute, but where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer basic contribution).
Employers also contribute a further 0.50% of pensionable salary in both schemes above to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).
A CETV is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent partner’s benefits payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves the scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the scheme, not just as their service in a senior capacity to which the disclosure applies.
The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the civil service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost.
CETVs are worked out in accordance with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.
Real Increase in CETV
This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.
Compensation for loss of office - Audited
There were no ILF Scotland Directors or staff that left on Voluntary Exit, Voluntary Redundancy or Compulsory Redundancy terms.
Pay multiples – Subject to Audit
Fair pay
Year 2024 to 2025
25th percentile pay ratio: 2.77
median pay ratio: 2.18
75th percentile pay ratio: 2.12
25th percentile pay: £35,203
median pay: £44,744
75th percentile pay: £45,894
Year 2023-24
25th percentile pay ratio: 2.56
median pay ratio: 2.01
75th percentile pay ratio: 1.96
25th percentile pay: £34,177
median pay: £43,513
75th percentile pay: £44,557
The banded remuneration of the highest paid employee in the company in the financial year 2024 to 2025 was £95 to £100k (2023 to 2024 £85 to £90k). The table above sets out how the various percentiles compare against the mid-point of the band of the highest paid employee. The remuneration above reflects pay and benefits other than pension benefits. We believe that the median pay ratios set out above are consistent with the pay, reward and progression policies for our employees taken as a whole. We adhere to Scottish Government pay policy.
Movement in the ratios are reflective of the consistent application of ILF pay and reward policies in year to all staff, including the remuneration of the highest paid employee.
Total remuneration includes salary only. There were no bonus payments or benefits in kind. It does not include employer pension contributions.
The table above represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
In 2024 to 2025 the Chief Executive was the highest paid member of staff. In 2023 to 2024 three employees received remuneration in excess of the Chief Executive. Remuneration in the year ranged from £28,131 to £96,110 (2023 to 2024 £26,631 to £88,251).
The increase in the banded remuneration of the highest paid employee year on year was 11.4% (2023 to 2024 0%). The increase in 2024 to 2025 reflects a full review and job evaluation exercise.
Year on year annualised average staff FTE remuneration increased by 4.18% (2023 to 2024 increase of 6.79%). This increase is in line with the overall Scottish Government pay settlement implemented during the year alongside staff pay progression.
Staff Report
Gender Analysis
The table below shows the gender analysis of ILF employees during the year.
Directors - 2024 to 2025: One Male, Five Female Directors - 2023 to 2024: Two Male, Six Female
Senior Management Team - 2024 to 2025: 6 Male, Two Female Senior Management Team - 2023 to 2024: Six Male, Two Female
Staff - 2024 to 2025: 10 Male, 68 Female Staff - 2023 to 2024: 11 Male, 61 Female
Total - 2024 to 2025: 17 Male, 68 Female Total - 2023 to 2024: 19 Male, 69 Female
Absence Analysis
The table below shows the staff absence analysis of ILF employees for the year.
Absence rate 2024 to 2025: 4.06% Absence rate 2023-24: 3.43%
Short term absences were 3.12% (2.71% in 2023-24). Long term absence was 0.94% (0.72% in 2023-24). We continue to offer mental health awareness, personal resilience and suicide prevention workshops to all staff on an annual basis with mental health first aiders being trained and now in post to support our workforce. Our whole-life friendly suite of policies also continues to support the workforce in a positive manner.
Staff Costs & Numbers – Subject to Audit
2024 to 2025
Permanently Employed Staff
Salaries £3,438,146
Social Security Costs £351,708
Other Pension Costs £951,537
Total £4,741,391
Fixed Term Contract Staff
Salaries £43,252
Social Security Costs £4,504
Other Pension Costs £12,523
Total £60,279
Board Members
Salaries £16,715
Social Security Costs £-
Other Pension Costs £-
Total £116,715
Total 2024 to 2025
Salaries £3,498,113
Social Security Costs £356,212
Other Pension Costs £964,060
Total £4,818,385
2023 to 2024
Permanently Employed Staff
Salaries £2,864,911
Social Security Costs £301,902
Other Pension Costs £759,106
Total £3,925,919
Fixed Term Contract Staff
Salaries £-
Social Security Costs £-
Other Pension Costs £-
Total £-
Board Members
Salaries £19,474
Social Security Costs £-
Other Pension Costs £-
Total £19,474
Total 2023 to 2024
Salaries £2,884,385
Social Security Costs £301,902
Other Pension Costs £759,106
Total £3,945,393
In addition to the costs noted in the table there was also £113,669 paid to agencies for temporary staff (2023 to 2024 £89,948).
2024 to 2025 Directly Employed: Permanent Contract: 82 Directly Employed: Fixed Term Contract: 2 Temporary Staff Contract: 0 Total: 84
2023 to 2024 Directly Employed: Permanent Contract: 80 Directly Employed: Fixed Term Contract: 0 Temporary Staff Contract: 3 Total: 83
Note that the numbers above exclude non-executive Directors. The numbers show staff employed during the year.
Consultancy Costs
Amounts paid in the year
2024 to 2025: £72,317 2023 to 2024: £34,143
Staff Policies
Our policy framework enables the delivery of our strategy and also supports the wishes, needs and aspirations of a modern workforce which is underpinned by a strong culture of trust, dignity and respect. This has helped ILF Scotland to be a beacon of independent living and innovative thinking for disabled people and also an award-winning employer of choice. For us there is no such thing as a normal employee and the framework had to take into account values, equality, diversity, young and more mature employees, families, caring responsibilities and make-up of modern society. By doing this, we know we attract and retain the best team possible to achieve our inclusive organisational aspirations.
To support the way we aspire to work, we have co-produced with colleagues a comprehensive approach that supports our collective health and wellbeing alongside delivering our organisational strategy. This methodology is solidly based on organisational development, tailored to support the culture of inclusiveness, diversity, outcomes focus, trust, coaching and continuous improvement.
We have put in place an award-winning suite of whole-life-friendly policies, procedures, benefits and systems that can be tailored to meet individual circumstances. This includes working flexibly, compressed hours, being sympathetic to individual / family emergencies or remote working and providing the right technology to do the job.
Staff Turnover
Staff turnover was 7.5% during the year (3.4% in 2023 to 2024).The 7.5% is made up of six employees and includes one of whom was on a fixed term contract and one retiral. It also includes two special members of staff, Karen Lee Bain and Trisha Beveridge, both of whom sadly passed away during the year.
Employee Engagement Survey
Overall, the results of the survey showed an increase in satisfaction from the previous year, with 93% sharing that they greatly valued the culture and values of the organisation and 86% highlighting they were very satisfied with life balance opportunities that working at ILF Scotland offered them. There was an increase in wellbeing initiatives being utilised with 73% of respondents sharing that these had made them feel happier, and over half making them feel physically healthier alongside 75% feeling more mentally healthier as well as a consistent number of respondents feeling more productive as well as having improved mental resilience.
We value comments calling ILF Scotland caring, professional, values based, hardworking, high achieving and an absolute pleasure to work for as well as not knowing of any other organisation that lives to its core values the way we do.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017
We, as an organisation, are happy to recognise trade unions and we make a point of engaging trade unions on important matters affecting staff. An example of this was when we changed the pension scheme offering to staff. Relevant trade unions were actively consulted and involved.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 require public sector employers to publish information relating to facility time. At year end 31 March 2025, ILF Scotland did not have any trade union facility time (2023 to 2024 nil).
Relevant union officials
What was the total number of your employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period?
Number of employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period: 0
Full-time equivalent employee number: 0
Percentage of time spent on facility time
How many of your employees who were relevant union officials employed during the relevant period spent a) 0%, b) 1%-50%, c) 51%-99% or d) 100% of their working hours on facility time?
Percentage of time / Number of Employees:
0% = 0 Employees
1-50% = 0 Employees
51-99% = 0 Employees
100% = 0 Employees
Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time
Provide the figures requested in the first column of the table below to determine the percentage of your total pay bill spent on paying employees who were relevant union officials for facility time during the relevant period.
Provide the total cost of facility time = 0
Provide the total pay bill = 0
Provide the percentage of the total pay bill spent on facility time, calculated as: (total cost of facility time ÷ total pay bill) x 100 = 0%
Paid trade union activities
As a percentage of total paid facility time hours, how many hours were spent by employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period on paid trade union activities?
Time spent on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid facility time hours calculated as: (total hours spent on paid trade union activities by relevant union officials during the relevant period ÷ total paid facility time hours) x 100 = 0
Signed: Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair, 15 September 2025
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 15 September 2025
Parliamentary Accountability Report (Subject to Audit)
Losses and special payments
In accordance with the SPFM, we are required to disclose losses and special payments above £300,000. During 2024 to 2025 there were no losses or special payments within this criteria (2023 to 2024: £nil).
Gifts and Charitable Donations
There were gifts made during the year amounting to £652 (2023 to 2024: £921). There were no charitable donations made during the year (2023 to 2024: nil).
Remote Contingent Liabilities
ILF Scotland are required to report any liabilities for which the likelihood of a transfer of economic benefit in settlement is too remote to meet the definition of contingent liability under IAS37. There are currently no remote contingent liabilities.
Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board 15 September 2025
Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer 15 September 2025
Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland, the Auditor General for Scotland and the Scottish Parliament
Reporting on the audit of the financial statements
Opinion on financial statements
I have audited the financial statements in the annual report and financial statements of Independent Living Fund Scotland for the year ended 31 March 2025 under The Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008. The financial statements comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Net Income and Expenditure, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Cash Flows, the Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity and notes to the financial statements, including material accounting policy information. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards, as interpreted and adapted by the 2024/25 Government Financial Reporting Manual (the 2024/25 FReM).
In my opinion the accompanying financial statements:
give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at 31 March 2025 and of the surplus for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting standards, as interpreted and adapted by the 2024/25 FReM; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and directions made thereunder by the Scottish Ministers, and the Companies Act 2006.
Basis for opinion
I conducted my audit in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)), as required by the Code of Audit Practice approved by the Auditor General for Scotland. My responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of my report. I was appointed by the Auditor General on 2 December 2022. My period of appointment is five years, covering 2022/23 to 2026/27.
I am independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK including the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard, and I have fulfilled my other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. Non-audit services prohibited by the Ethical Standard were not provided to the company. I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern basis of accounting
I have concluded that the use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work I have performed, I have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
These conclusions are not intended to, nor do they, provide assurance on the company’s current or future financial sustainability. However, I report on the company’s arrangements for financial sustainability in a separate Annual Audit Report available from the Audit Scotland website.
Risks of material misstatement
I report in my Annual Audit Report the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement that I identified and my judgements thereon.
Responsibilities of the Accountable Officer and directors for the financial statements
As explained more fully in the Statement of the Directors' and Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities, the Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with the financial reporting framework, and for such internal control as the Accountable Officer and directors 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 Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for assessing the company'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 there is an intention to discontinue the company’s operations.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
My 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 my 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 decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. I design procedures in line with my responsibilities outlined above to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. Procedures include:
using my understanding of the central government sector to identify that the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and directions made thereunder by the Scottish Ministers, and the Companies Act 2006 are significant in the context of the company;
inquiring of the Accountable Officer as to other laws or regulations that may be expected to have a fundamental effect on the operations of the company;
inquiring of the Accountable Officer concerning the company’s policies and procedures regarding compliance with the applicable legal and regulatory framework;
discussions among my audit team on the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur; and
considering whether the audit team collectively has the appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with laws and regulations.
The extent to which my procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is affected by the inherent difficulty in detecting irregularities, the effectiveness of the company’s controls, and the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed.
Irregularities that result from fraud are inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error as fraud may involve collusion, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. The capability of the audit to detect fraud and other irregularities depends on factors such as the skilfulness of the perpetrator, the frequency and extent of manipulation, the degree of collusion involved, the relative size of individual amounts manipulated, and the seniority of those individuals involved. A further description of the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of my auditor’s report.
Reporting on regularity of expenditure and income
Opinion on regularity
In my opinion in all material respects the expenditure and income in the financial statements were incurred or applied in accordance with any applicable enactments and guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
Responsibilities for regularity
The Accountable Officer is responsible for ensuring the regularity of expenditure and income. In addition to my responsibilities in respect of irregularities explained in the audit of the financial statements section of my report, I am responsible for expressing an opinion on the regularity of expenditure and income in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.
Reporting on other requirements
Opinion prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report
I have audited the parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report described as audited. In my opinion, the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report have been properly prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006.
Other information
The Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for the other information in the annual report and financial statements. The other information comprises the Performance Report and the Accountability Report excluding the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report.
My responsibility is to read all the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or my knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves.
If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact. I have nothing to report in this regard.
My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon except on the Performance Report and Annual Governance Statement to the extent explicitly stated in the following opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland.
Opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on Performance Report and Governance Statement
In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
the information given in the Performance Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006; and
the information given in the Annual Governance Statement for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006.
Matters on which I am required to report by exception
I am required by the Auditor General for Scotland to report to you if, in my opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements and the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
I have not received all the information and explanations I require for my audit.
I have nothing to report in respect of these matters.
Conclusions on wider scope responsibilities In addition to my responsibilities for the annual report and financial statements, my conclusions on the wider scope responsibilities specified in the Code of Audit Practice are set out in my Annual Audit Report.
Use of my report
This report is made solely to the parties to whom it is addressed in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and for no other purpose. In accordance with paragraph 108 of the Code of Audit Practice, I do not undertake to have responsibilities to members or officers, in their individual capacities, or to third parties.
Signed: Kyle McAuley CA Audit Scotland 4th Floor 8 Nelson Mandela Place Glasgow G2 1BT
15 September 2025
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Statement of Comprehensive Net Income and Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2025
Notes
2024 to 2025 (£)
(As Re-stated) 2023 to 2024 (£)
Income
Grant in aid
1
62,720,000
57,519,996
Expenditure
Grants to individuals
3
55,765,743
52,092,383
Staff costs
4
4,818,385
3,945,393
Other operating income and expenditure
5
1,149,540
1,178,641
Interest payable
2,590
5,617
Depreciation
6
63,308
75,558
Total comprehensive net expenditure for the year
57,297,592
55,757,276
Net surplus for year
920,434
222,404
See note 16 regarding re-statement of figures for 2023 to 2024.
All income and expenditure relates to continuing operations.
Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2025
Notes
31 March 2025 (£)
31 March 2024 (£)
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment - right-of-use
6
52,756
116,064
Intangible assets
7
709,268
37,260
Total non-current assets
762,024
153,324
Current assets
Trade and other receivables
9
458,820
406,663
Cash and cash equivalents
10
6,915,006
6,280,494
Total current assets
7,373,826
6,687,157
Total assets
8,135,850
6,840,481
Current liabilities
11
(2,707,423)
(2,206,273)
Total assets less current liabilities
5,428,427
4,634,208
Non-current liabilities
12
-
(126,215)
Net assets
5,428,427
4,507,993
Taxpayers’ equity
General reserve
5,428,427
4,507,993
Total taxpayers’ equity
5,428,427
4,507,993
For the year ending 31 March 2025 the company was exempt under s482 of the Companies Act 2006 (non-profit making companies subject to public sector audit) from the audit requirements of Part 16 of that Act. The company is, instead, subject to audit by an auditor chosen selected by the Auditor General for Scotland by virtue of the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2019, an order made under s483 of the Act.
The Directors authorised these financial statements for issue on 15 September 2025.
Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board 15 September 2025
Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer 15 September 2025
Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2025
General Reserve
£
Balance at 1 April 2024
4,507,993
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2024 to 2025
Net surplus for year
920,434
Balance at 31 March 2025
5,428,427
Balance at 1 April 2023 (As Re-stated)
4,285,589
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2023 to 2024
Net surplus for year
222,404
Balance at 31 March 2023
4,507,993
General reserve – relates to the ongoing operation of regular payments to individuals and the associated administration costs, financed by Grant in Aid.
See note 16 regarding re-statement of figures for 2023 to 2024.
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025
1 Grant in Aid
ILF Scotland is financed by Grant in Aid from to provide assistance with the cost of qualifying support and services to disabled applicants and to meet the operating costs of the company. The Grant in Aid amount is approved annually and confirmed in a letter of delegation.
Grant in Aid is treated in line with the requirements contained within the Companies Act 2006 and International Accounting Standards. It is transacted through the Statement of Comprehensive Net Income and Expenditure.
2 Statement of Accounting Policies
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with a direction given by the Scottish Ministers in pursuance of Section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. They also comply with the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. Scottish Government has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2025-26. The Directors are not aware of any reason why the required Grant in Aid will not be made available in subsequent years.
a) Accounting convention
These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
b) Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment consists of leased property (right-of-use assets) and IT equipment (owned assets). ILF Scotland believes that the useful economic life is a realistic reflection of the life of its assets, and the depreciated historical cost method provides a realistic reflection of the consumption of those assets. The company therefore carries assets at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment in value.
With regard to right-of-use assets, value is assessed as the net present value of future lease payments plus any associated dilapidations provisions. Adjustments to asset valuation will be made if there are any material variations to lease terms.
c) Depreciation
Depreciation on property, plant and equipment is charged on a straight-line basis to write off the cost less residual values over the useful life of the asset: incepting at the purchase date, or when the asset is available for use, whichever is the later. IT hardware and equipment is depreciated over a three-year life span. Right-of-use assets are depreciated over the term of the lease. No depreciation is charged on assets in the course of construction. Depreciation will commence when the asset is brought into use.
d) Intangible assets
Intangible assets consist of bespoke software developed for the company and software licences held only for the purpose of managing the company. All intangible assets are carried at historic cost less amortisation.
Bespoke software assets are capitalised in the year of implementation. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years once the asset is brought into use.
Amortisation periods and methods are reviewed annually and adjusted if appropriate.
e) Financial instruments
The company procurement policy is to enter into contracts and framework agreements for services and supplies at current agreed costs with annual price reviews, rather than create complex financial instruments.
Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the Statement of Financial Position when ILF Scotland becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are recognised at fair value (the transaction price plus any directly attributable transaction costs, assessed for recoverability where relevant). Subsequent measurement is at amortised cost, although no adjustment for the time value of money is made where the settlement period is short so there would be no significant effect.
Financial assets comprise loans and receivables, which are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market. Loans and receivables comprise cash at bank, accrued bank interest, prepayments and other receivables.
Financial liabilities comprise grant liabilities, trade payables, accruals, deferred income, leasing and provisions.
f) Reserves policy
Grant in Aid is not drawn in full in advance but requested each calendar month to meet estimated cash outflow. The company does not hold strategic reserves as it is dependent on public funding. It does however have general reserves that can be utilised as required.
g) Grant in Aid
Funding to cover grants to individuals and administrative expenditure is provided through Grant in Aid. Grant in Aid is received on the basis of the ILF Scotland estimated cash payments during the financial year. Grant in Aid received forms part of the Departmental Expenditure Limits for the respective Departments.
h) Grants to individuals
Grants to individuals are discretionary grants made within Scottish Government rules and regulations. 2015 Fund grants (including the re-opened Fund) are paid four weekly in arrears on the basis of authorised awards. Transition Fund grants are paid once applications have been approved and processed. Amounts due but unpaid at the end of the financial year are accrued.
Unused grants returned by individuals in the normal course of business are recognised on an accruals basis. An assessment is made of fair value recoverable.
i) Formal recovery of grants to individuals
Although grants to individuals are discretionary payments, formal recovery will be sought where the provision of incorrect information has led to incorrect payment or where the grants have not been used for the intended purpose. The company will seek to recover all amounts where it is cost-effective to do so unless it will cause hardship to the individual. Recovery procedures appropriate to the value and circumstances of the case will be used, in accordance with the ILF Scotland guidelines and procedures.
In accounting for recoveries we have adhered to the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting which gives guidance that an asset should not be recognised in the statement of financial position when the expenditure has been incurred for which it is considered improbable that economic benefits will flow. Therefore, a receivable is only recognised when it has been agreed with the individual and there is considered to be a definite prospect of recovery. Any grant recovery recognised will be disclosed as a reduction to expenditure in the year in which it is recognised.
Receivables will be assessed at the end of each accounting period and reduced to the estimated recoverable amount where there are circumstances that indicate full recovery is uncertain.
Amounts potentially recoverable in respect of Transition Fund grants are not treated as debt. All Transition Fund grant payments potentially remain payable until all evidence supporting the initial grant application has been received. We do not recognise any contingent assets in the financial statements.
j) Leasing
The company recognises a right-of-use asset and corresponding liability at the date at which a leased asset is made available, except for short term leases of less than 12 months and leases of low-value assets. For these leases, the company recognises the lease payments as an operating expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.
Lease liabilities are measured at the present value of the future lease payments. Subsequent to initial recognition, the lease liability is reduced for payments made and increased to reflect interest on the lease liability. The related right-of-use asset is depreciated over the term of the lease or, if shorter, the useful economic life of the leased asset. The lease term shall include the period of an extension option where it is reasonably certain that the option will be exercised.
k) Pension costs
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most staff choose to join the defined benefit offering.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme in which ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme is accounted for as a defined contribution scheme under the multi-employer exemption permitted in IAS 19 Employee Benefits. A full actuarial valuation was carried out as at 31 March 2020. Details can be found in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation (www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk)
In applying the company’s accounting policies, which are described in note 2, the Directors are required to make judgements (other than those involving estimations) that have a significant impact on the amounts recognised and to make estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts 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.
a. Significant estimates
the preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions in certain circumstances that affect reported amounts, and for this organisation such estimates are principally in assessing amounts due to recipients. There are no estimates which give rise to a significant risk of a material misstatement in the year ended 31 March 2025 (2023 to 2024 none).
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 if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.
b. Judgements
The following are the critical judgements, apart from those involving estimations (which are presented separately above), that the Directors have made in the process of applying the company’s accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in financial statements.
Recipient Accruals - we pay our 2015 Fund recipients four weeks in arrears, therefore we accrue based on the previous months payment information, this being a reliable measure. With regard to the Transition Fund we recognise a liability when applications are approved by management.
Recipient Payments Receivable – funding unused by recipients is repayable under our terms and conditions. In order to assess fair value of amounts deemed potentially receivable we use historic experience to determine recoverability. Our most recent experience tells us that once a debt is more than six months old there is little chance of recovery. We have therefore only recognised debts less than six months old to determine the fair value amounts deemed recoverable from unused funding at the year end.
Our experience also tells us that charges from care providers to our recipients can take some time to come through. We therefore factor this in when assessing the net amount recoverable from the recipient. Recoverability factors are kept under review.
In making their judgement, the Directors considered the detailed criteria for the recognition of assets and liabilities and are satisfied with the above methodology.
m) Reporting segments
In terms of IFRS 8 a segmental financial analysis is not considered necessary for the company, as no separate components are used for operating decisions made by the Senior Management Team.
n) Provisions
Provisions are recognised when there is a present obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of an event that occurred in the past and where it is probable that the settlement of that obligation will result in an outflow of resources, but the timing or amount of the settlement is uncertain. The amount recognised as a provision is the best estimate of the consideration which will be required to settle the obligation.
o) Adoption of new and revised Standards
1.Standards, amendments and interpretations effective in the current year
In the current year, ILF Scotland has applied a number of amendments to IFRS Standards and Interpretations that are effective for an annual period that begins on or after 1 January 2024. Their adoption has not had any material impact on the disclosures or on the amounts reported in these financial statements:
IFRS 16: Lease Liability in a Sale and Leaseback. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
Amendment to IAS 1, Practice Statement 2: Non-current Liabilities with Covenants. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
Amendment to IAS 1: Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
Amendments to IAS 7 & IFRS 7: Supplier Finance Arrangements. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
IFRS S1: General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
IFRS S2: Climate related Disclosures. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
2. Standards, amendments and interpretations early adopted this year
There are no new standards, amendments or interpretations adopted early this year.
3.Standards, amendments and interpretations issued but not adopted this year
At the date of authorisation of these financial statements, ILF Scotland has not applied the following new and revised IFRS Standards that have been issued but are not yet effective:
Amendment to IAS 21: Lack of Exchangeability. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025.
IFRS 17: Insurance Contracts. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 April 2025.
Amendments to IFRS 9 and IFRS 7: Amendments to the Classification and Measurement of Financial Instruments. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026.
Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards – Volume 11: Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026.
IFRS 18: Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
IFRS 19: Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
ILF Scotland does not expect that the adoption of the Standards listed above will have a material impact on the financial statements in future periods.
3 Grants to individuals
2024 to 2025
2023 to 2024
£
£
Payments made in year
60,658,742
59,540,826
Grant liabilities at start of year
(1,726,942)
(3,708,496)
Grant liabilities at end of year
2,108,640
1,726,942
Grant returns received in year
(5,289,278)
(5,607,939)
Grants receivable at start of year
304,528
445,578
Grants receivable at end of year
289,947
(304,528)
55,765,743
52,092,383
Grants to individuals are paid four-weekly in arrears. Grant liabilities consist of the accrued amounts from awards made by the end of the financial year but not fully paid up to the end of the financial year.
Returns received comprised £5,289,278 (2023-24 £5,607,939) in respect of unused funds returned by individuals. Grants receivable of £289,947 (2023-24 £304,528) consist of amounts deemed to be repayable by recipients but not received by the end of the financial year.
4 Staff costs
4a Staff numbers and related costs
2024 to 2025
2023 to 2024
£
£
Wages and salaries
3,498,113
2,884,385
Social security costs
356,212
301,902
Other pension costs (see note 4b below)
964,060
759,106
Total staff costs
4,818,385
3,945,393
Average number of persons directly employed
2024 to 2025 Number
2023 to 2024 Number
Directors (part-time non-executives)
7
8
Staff
80
73
87
81
4b Other pension costs
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most staff chose to join the defined benefit offering (alpha). Employee contributions are salary-related and range between 4.6% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 29% of pensionable earnings.
Contributions due to the current pension providers were £nil at 31 March 2025 (31 March 2024 £80,885). Contributions prepaid were nil at 31 March 2025 (31 March 2024 nil).
The Civil Service Pension Scheme known as alpha is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme. ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. You can find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office:Civil Superannuation.
For 2024 to 2025, employers’ contributions of £936,557 were paid in respect of alpha (2023 to 2024 £732,188). Expected contributions in 2025 to 2026 are approximately £1.2m.
Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £27,503 were paid in 2024 to 2025 (2023 to 2024 £26,918) to one or more of the panel of three appointed stakeholder pension providers. Employer contributions are age related and ranged between 8% to 14.75%. In addition, the employer will match any employee contribution by way of an equivalent top-up percentage up to 3% of pensionable earnings. Expected contributions in 2025 to 2026 are approximately £15,000.
5 Other operating income and expenditure
2024 to 2025
2023 to 2024
£
£
IT and information security costs
316,959
361,959
Agency costs for temporary staff
113,669
89,948
Utilities and other estate costs
32,070
33,522
Legal and professional costs
104,932
108,960
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence
346,339
323,185
Auditors remuneration (external audit)
29,336
27,990
Communication and engagement and subscriptions
184,070
205,539
Postage costs
18,869
16,384
Research costs
0
7,750
Printing and stationery costs
3,296
3,404
Total other expenditure
1,149,540
1,178,641
The expected auditors remuneration for 2024 to 2025 is £29,810. The figure shown above of £29,336 is after deducting a £474 rebate in relation to prior years.
Subscriptions costs last year were included in the category “Legal and professional costs”. They have now been re-classified in the category “Communication, engagement and subscriptions”.
6 Property, plant and equipment - right-of-use assets
Property
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025
253,231
253,231
Depreciation
At 1 April 2024
137,167
137,167
Charge for year
63,308
63,308
At 31 March 2025
200,475
200,475
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2025
52,756
52,756
At 31 March 2024
116,064
116,064
Property
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 1 April 2023
589,922
589,922
Adjustment
(336,691)
(336,691)
At 31 March 2024
253,231
253,231
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023
68,824
68,824
Adjustment
(7,215)
(7,215)
Charge for year
75,558
75,558
At 31 March 2024
137,167
137,167
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2024
116,064
116,064
At 31 March 2023
521,098
521,098
The right of use assets relate to the property occupied by ILF Scotland which under government accounting regulations have been treated in accordance with IFRS 16 with effect from 1 April 2022.
IFRS 16 Leases supersedes IAS 17 Leases and is being applied by HM Treasury in the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) from 1 April 2022. IFRS 16 introduces a single lessee accounting model that results in a more faithful representation of a lessee’s assets and liabilities, and provides enhanced disclosures to improve transparency of reporting on capital employed.
The adjustments shown in the previous year relate to a property lease in existence at 1 April 2022 and now treated in accordance with IFRS 16. It was previously envisaged that this would be a 10 year lease. It has now been established that it will in fact be a three year arrangement with terms set out within a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation (MOTO). The MOTO ends on 31 January 2026.
Asset valuations and brought forward aggregate depreciation were therefore adjusted accordingly to reflect the revision to terms.
Any lease modification adjustment was reflected within the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure.
7 Intangible assets
Information Technology
Information Technology Under construction
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 1 April 2024
281,028
37,260
318,288
Additions
-
672,008
672,008
At 31 March 2025
281,028
709,268
990,296
Amortisation
At 1 April 2024
281,028
-
281,028
Charge for year
-
-
-
At 31 March 2025
281,028
-
281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2025
-
709,268
709,268
At 31 March 2024
-
37,260
37,260
Information Technology
Information Technology Under construction
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 1 April 2023
281,028
-
281,028
Additions
-
37,260
37,260
At 31 March 2024
281,028
37,260
318,288
Amortisation
At 1 April 2023
281,028
-
281,028
Charge for year
-
-
At 31 March 2024
281,028
-
281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2024
-
37,260
37,260
At 31 March 2023
-
-
8 Financial instruments and associated risks
As all of the of the company’s cash requirements are met through Grant in Aid, financial instruments play a more limited role in creating and managing risk than would apply to a non-public sector body. The majority of financial instruments relate to contracts to purchase non-financial items in line with the company’s expected usage requirements, so the company is exposed to little credit, liquidity or market risk. The value of financial instruments are considered to be a proxy of their fair value.
Financial Assets
31 March 2025
31 March 2024
£
£
Cash and cash equivalents
6,915,006
6,280,494
Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with a UK bank held in current accounts to minimise risk.
Financial liabilities
31 March 2025
31 March 2024
£
£
Grant liabilities
2,108,640
1,726,942
Trade payables and accruals
453,410
406,666
Deferred income
19,445
19,445
Leasing
55,928
109,435
Provisions
70,000
70,000
2,707,423
2,332,488
Grant liabilities: Represents awards authorised but unpaid at the year end. Trade payables and accruals: Represents amounts payable in the short term, to be met out of cash held at the year-end. Deferred income: Represents amounts received to meet liabilities due in the next financial year. Leasing: Represents amounts payable in respect of right of use assets. Provisions: Represents amounts potentially payable in respect of property dilapidations.
9 Trade and other receivables
31 March 2025
31 March 2024
£
£
Due within one year
Trade and other receivables (see below)
314,335
330,690
Prepayments
114,485
75,973
458,820
406,663
Trade and other receivables include amounts deemed recoverable in respect of unused grant funding and grant overpayments. A gross amount potentially recoverable of £473,255 has been reduced to fair value of £289,947 (2024 - £700,198 reduced to £304,529) and is included above. The movement in the fair value provision is shown below and includes an adjustment in the previous year’s figures to show that £3,696 was irrecoverable:
Fair value provision
31 March 2025
31 March 2024
£
£
At 1 April
395,669
100,370
Provision no longer required
(186,770)
(4,775)
Recovered in year
(135,547)
(4,618)
Provided in year
156,085
308,388
At 31 March
183,308
399,365
10 Cash and cash equivalents
2024 to 2025
2023 to 2024
£
£
Balance at 1 April
6,280,494
7,770,500
Net cash (outflow)/inflow
634,512
(1,490,006)
Balance at 31 March
6,915,006
6,280,494
31 March 2025
31 March 2024
£
£
Benefit accounts
6,278,985
5,934,691
Administration account
636,021
345,803
6,915,006
6,280,494
Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.
11 Current Liabilities
31 March 2025
31 March 2024
Trade and other payables
453,410
406,666
Other liabilities - grant liabilities
2,108,640
1,726,942
Other liabilities - deferred income
19,445
19,445
Leasing
55,928
53,220
Provisions
70,000
-
2,707,423
2,206,273
12 Non-current Liabilities
31 March 2025
31 March 2024
£
£
Leasing
-
56,215
Provisions
-
70,000
-
126,215
In relation to notes 11 and 12, the leasing balance relates to the liability associated with right-of-use assets and is due in up to one year (two years in 2023 to 2024). The provisions balance relates to dilapidations associated with the lease.
13 Finance leases
There is a sub-lease for accommodation and facilities with Scottish Government.
The charges to the company are set in the head lease between Scottish Government and its accommodation supplier.
The building rental element of the lease is now reflected in right-of-use assets in accordance with IFRS 16.
Total future minimum lease payments under for services contained within finance leases for each of the following periods were:
31 March 2025
31 March 2024
Land and buildings (Denholm House)
Within one year
26,053
30,454
Within two to five years
-
23,983
Total
26,053
54,437
Lease payments charged in year
31,461
29,169
14 Directors’ remuneration, interests and indemnities
The Directors receive remuneration from the company. The total remuneration paid to the Directors was £16,715 (2023 to 2024 £19,474) for the year and further information is provided in the Remuneration Report. Directors received reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses amounting to £545 (2023 to 2024 £24) for the year. No Directors were a beneficiary of the company and received payments in accordance with the objects of ILF Scotland; a procedure is in place to manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
No other transactions were undertaken in which any Director or person connected with any Director had a material interest.
Scottish Government provides that Directors are not personally liable for any loss to ILF Scotland other than that arising from wilful and individual fraud, wrongdoing or omission on the part of a director who is found to be liable.
15 Related party transactions and controlling party
Related parties are the Directors and Scottish Government. ILF Scotland received Grant in Aid from Scottish Government of £62.7m (2023-24 £57.5m). Scottish Government makes payments to ILF Scotland on a monthly basis.
The Company’s ultimate controlling party is the Scottish Ministers.
During the year no Directors were a beneficiary of ILF Scotland and received discretionary grants in accordance with the objects of the company.
No other related parties, including the Directors and key management staff, have undertaken any transactions with the company during the period.
16 Re-statement of prior year figures
In prior years, Grant in Aid was transacted through the Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity in line with FReM requirements. It is now being transacted through the Statement of Comprehensive Net Income and Expenditure in line with Companies Act requirements and with International Accounting Standards, in particular IAS 20.
Prior year figures have been amended to reflect this change.
17 Capital commitments and contingent liabilities
There were capital commitments amounting to £434k at 31 March 2025 (£449k at 31 March 2024) in relation to IT improvements.
There were no contingent liabilities.
18 Events after the reporting period
There are no events after the reporting period which would have an effect on the Annual Report and Financial Statements or which would require disclosure.
Appendix to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025
Accounts Direction
ILF Scotland
DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS
The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
The statement of accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020, and subsequent years, shall comply with the accounting principles and disclosure requirements of the edition of the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) which is in force for the year for which the statement of accounts are prepared, and with the Companies Act 2006.
The accounts shall be prepared so as to give a true and fair view of the income and expenditure and cash flows for the financial year, and of the state of affairs as at the end of the financial year.
This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Signed by the authority of the Scottish Ministers Dated 27 May 2020
ILF Scotland Strategy - 2025 to 2028
Realising Ambition – Re-opening and Beyond
Executive Summary
ILF Scotland is a key part of Scotland’s Social Care and Support sector and plays a vital role in supporting disabled people to live independently. We work with key partners to support those facing the greatest barriers to independent living.
Our vision is that disabled people, and those with a long-term health condition, can access the assistance they need to lead an independent life and our mission is to empower and assist disabled people to lead their fullest lives.
As we launch our fourth strategy, there are challenges in public sector finances and delivery and a crisis in social care support. The disabled people we support tell us they are badly affected by, for example, difficulty recruiting Personal Assistants (PAs) and the growing pressures on unpaid carers.
ILF Scotland is a small public body but following an extraordinary 10 years of sustained performance and efficiency, we are in a period of controlled development. Against this current challenging backdrop, our strategy endeavours to cement our role as a key provider of human rights based assistance for disabled people with the aim of helping more disabled people to live independently and with dignity, choice, and control.
Deliver a high quality, inclusive and sustainable service
We intend to develop our staff, systems, and operations to become a larger and influential component of the social care system in Scotland. We aim to be in a strong position to respond to how the social care landscape might look in 2028.
Conclusion
Our core principle is that disabled people have the same rights, freedoms, and abilities to lead the fullest lives they can, free from discrimination and on an equal basis as others. As ever, disabled people are at the heart of what we do and as we take our strategy forward in Scotland and Northern Ireland, we will do so by listening to them and providing the services they tell us they need in a way that works for them.
Strategic Priorities
Over the next three years we aim to:
Enable more disabled people to access our funds to live independently
Further funding made available by Scottish Ministers enabled our main Independent Living Fund to re-open in Scotland in April 2024 to new applicants. We are keen to build on this and plan to raise awareness of ILF and the additional support it can offer to extend the reach and impact of our funds for the benefit of more disabled people, so that more people are able to achieve the independent living outcomes important to them.
Support cultural change and capability across the sector through leadership and knowledge sharing
We hope by using our funds and expertise to build capacity across the sector, we can contribute to a cultural change in awareness and support for the rights of disabled people to live independently. We want to ensure our funds make the most difference to those facing the greatest barriers to independent living and we will continue to work with our partners in local authorities and third sector organisations including Disabled People’s Organisations to identify unmet need.
Joint Statement from the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of ILF Scotland
We are delighted to be launching ILF Scotland’s fourth strategy - ‘Realising Ambition – Re-opening and Beyond.’
We are operating in an everchanging and uncertain world, and are experiencing an on-going cost of living crisis. The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, which disproportionately impacted on disabled people, is still being felt today, not least in the reduced provision of local services being experienced by many disabled people. We are in the midst of a crisis in social care support, with the sector facing many challenges, including the significant pressures on public services and the difficulty in recruiting staff. The disabled people we assist tell us how badly this affects them and their families, compounding the many other barriers they face on a daily basis.
Against this challenging backdrop, we are launching an optimistic and ambitious strategy that endeavours to cement our role as a key provider of human rights based assistance for disabled people. We truly hope that working towards achieving our strategy will help more disabled people to live independently and with dignity, choice, and control. We hope that we can make a positive contribution towards developing a more inclusive society.
Having been closed to new applicants since 2010, we are very pleased that the Scottish Government decided to implement a key recommendation of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care (the Feeley Review, 2021). We were delighted to re-open the ILF to new applicants and as a result, since April 2024, we have been able to offer support to more disabled people in Scotland and are determined to build on this significant achievement.
The Feeley Review also recommended the establishment of a National Care Service (NCS) to bring about nationwide change and improvement to the delivery of care and support. In recognition of the importance of ILF to Scotland’s care and support system, Feeley saw ILF Scotland as an integral part of this NCS. The Scottish Government originally intended to establish a National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, to help bring about the changes needed to the way care and support are delivered. There has been a revision of the planned approach and the revised legislation will now be known as the Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025. This Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 10 June 2025. Maree Todd, then Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, created an interim NCS Advisory Board to develop proposals for improvement. We are delighted to have been invited to nominate an ILF Scotland representative to this Board. I, Anne- Marie, have taken up this position and look forward to contributing to its critical work. It is our firm belief, as Feeley recognised, that ILF Scotland has much to offer in terms of best practice in social care support and working alongside disabled people.
Despite the current sectoral pressures, we will do our utmost to deliver on the aims and objectives set out in this strategy. Whilst recognising that it will never be enough, we hope that by extending the reach and impact of ILF Scotland, and by helping to build capacity across the sector, collectively with our partners we can achieve better outcomes for disabled people, their families, carers and communities in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In putting the rights of disabled people at the heart of what we do, we will aim to retain our high levels of public trust and confidence despite the challenges across the sector. We will endeavour to make our role in the development of their independent living journey as smooth and simple as possible to protect our reputation and credibility with those whom we support, and with our colleagues operating in these difficult times.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of the individuals and partner organisations who have given their time and expertise to help us develop this strategy, in particular, thanks go to our colleagues in the Scottish Government and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland and to members of the Co-production Working Group.
We would like to offer a special thanks to the ILF Scotland and Northern Ireland Advisory Groups, chaired respectively by Dr Jim Elder- Woodward OBE and David McDonald, who continue to collaborate closely with us to provide advice and wisdom based on their lived experience and the reality of life for disabled people who rely on social care support. This has been invaluable and instrumental to the success of ILF Scotland. We are very grateful to them.
Best Wishes
Anne-Marie Monaghan
Chairperson, ILF Scotland
Peter Scott OBE
Chief Executive Officer, ILF Scotland
Joint Statement from the Chairs of the Scotland and Northern Ireland Advisory Groups
The arrival of ILF Scotland on the scene in Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2015 has proven to be a continuous breath of fresh air for everyone involved: Recipients, Award Managers, the ILF Scotland Team, and both Governments.
What a difference a forward thinking, person centred, purpose-led organisation makes to those disabled people it is charged with serving!
Long may it last!
Certainly, its strategy, as described in this document, determines it will.
Consequently, as Chairpersons of its Advisory Groups, in Scotland and northern Ireland, we are heartily pleased and proud to endorse it.
The Independent Living Fund affords its severely disabled Recipients a rich sense of freedom, far beyond the continual, increasingly reductive strictures of Direct Payments and Self-Directed Support. It opens up new horizons to us, allowing us to have personal control over purposeful lives. It makes our lives worth living.
In short and to paraphrase the words of one of us ‘Direct Payments gets us up in the morning, the Independent Living Fund gives us reasons to get up.’
It must be protected and promoted by everyone involved.
Both of the two Advisory Groups comprise the experts of experts when it comes to the application and administration of the Independent Living Fund 24/7, namely its Recipients and Award Managers. The former are its most immediate beneficiaries, the latter its most intimate implementers. Our lived experiences are invaluable and unavailable anywhere but from us. Being able to share these experiences as well as our thoughts in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding with ILF Scotland and our Governments continuously shape the Fund and make it the best it can be.
We have nothing but the highest of praise for ILF Scotland's bold and brave initiative in establishing the Advisory Groups. It showed a willingness from its inception to work with those directly impacted by its policies and practices. It allows a deep dive into the depths of our experiences, to learn what is going right and what is going wrong, determining together, what might be done better and to act to make it the gold standard that increasingly it is.
Long may it continue!
We recommend you read this strategy document to discover what it means to deliver for people in a meaningful and purpose-led manner.
Introduction
Welcome to the ILF Scotland Strategic Plan for 2025 to 2028.
ILF Scotland is a key part of Scotland’s Social Care and Support landscape that enables disabled people to live independently. We work with key partners including Disabled People’s Organisations, Scottish Government, the Department of Health Northern Ireland, local authorities, financial management organisations and the third sector to identify and support those facing the greatest barriers to independent living. Where possible, we will help build capacity across the sector to achieve better outcomes. We continue to build our systems and services and train and develop our staff to deliver the best possible experience for those we support. We deliver our services around the needs of our recipients, striving to make sure they are accessible, inclusive, and sustainable.
We intend to work over the course of this plan, between 2025 and 2028, to grow and develop our systems and processes to put us in a strong position to respond to how the social care landscape might look in 2028, ensuring we are digitally enabled, agile, adaptable, and responsive to emerging provision.
The lived experience of disabled people has changed a lot since our last strategic plan and we find ourselves in uncertain times across many of our areas of support and operations. Nationally, there are significant pressures on public services combined with the economic crisis, and we can see directly the impact of this on a worsening social care crisis affecting, for example, the recruitment of Personal Assistants (PAs) and the growing pressures on unpaid carers. The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic was disproportionately felt by disabled people and is still affecting the provision of social care and support for disabled people and those with long term conditions. Young people too have been disproportionately impacted by a lack of national provision to support their transitions into adulthood and demand for our Transition Fund has never been higher.
We have stepped in to support as many young people as possible but would like to do more as resources allow. ILF Scotland plays a vital role in supporting many of our disabled citizens to live independently and we are now in a position to do more as a result of the main ILF re- opening in Scotland in April 2024 to new applicants. With eligibility from age 16, we can now give young people who meet the access principles a new opportunity to access additional funding.
It will never be enough, but this strategy, despite the current economic and social pressures, aims to be bold and achieve more. For the first time since we opened in 2015, people can apply, at present via local authority social work, to our main independent living fund. This strategy is about doing more for more people and building capacity and capability across the sector are key features of this plan.
During the period of this strategy, we plan to raise awareness of ILF and the additional social care support it can offer to disabled people. We aim to extend the reach of our funds and encourage more people to apply, making it as easy as possible for them to do so.
We aim to continuously improve and develop over the period of this strategic plan, enhancing our systems, procedures, and services in an enduring and sustainable way. As part of our development, we will ensure we focus on our governance, accountability and efficiency as a public body, making sure we are fit for the future demands that may be placed on us. Core to this will be the upskilling and development of our staff team so that collectively they have the necessary skills and tools to support our efforts to ensure that disabled people can better achieve the independent living outcomes they seek.
Developing this Strategy
In developing this strategy, with the people we support, we have kept disabled people at the heart of our organisation with their needs, rights, and aspirations at the centre of everything we do.
During this period of growth, by working with others, we can together enable more disabled people to live their life with the meaning and purpose they want it to have.
On a day-to-day basis, our independent living assessors feed back to us how people are experiencing the social care crisis on the ground and the impact this is having on their families, their carers, and their support arrangements. We also operate three advisory groups – two for the Independent Living Fund, one in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland, and our Young Ambassadors Group, which relates to the Transition Fund. Through them, we discuss the issues people raise with us and co-produce solutions including policy changes and other measures to help address these. We do not act unilaterally and everything we do is discussed first with those who may be impacted by any decision we might take.
This strategy is also an example of how we operate as it has been co- produced with our key stakeholders after extensive engagement over several months. Our objectives described below are a direct result of what people tell us they need, and our approaches are aligned with the National Performance Framework and the aspirations of the broader social care policy intent of Scottish Ministers. A separate report on the findings and outcomes from our strategy engagement events is available on our website at www.ilf.scot/strategy2025.
This demonstrates how this strategy is a direct reflection of what people have told us they need. Additionally, we facilitated further sessions with our Board, our management team and with all members of staff to involve them in co-producing the strategy.
Principles and Values
Our principles describe what we believe in, and these define how we work.
These have been present from day one, and we continue to believe in them today. We are fully aligned to Article 19 from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - “living independently and being included in the community”. We operate to the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s PANEL principles of Participation, Accountability, Non-Discrimination, Empowerment and Legality, aiming to ensure that we put people's rights at the very centre of policies and practices. In delivering our services, we aim to incorporate the principles of Co-operation, Dignity, Informed
Choice, Involvement and Participation, embedded in the Social Care (Self-Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013.
The core principle of ILF Scotland is that disabled people havethe same rights, freedoms, and abilities to lead the fullest lives they can, free from discrimination and on an equal basis as others.
When we act, we will:
Listen to disabled people and put them at the heart of our decision-making processes
Treat everyone with dignity, trust, respect, and compassion based on their individual rights and freedoms
Understand that everyone’s circumstances are unique and people will face a range of different barriers to living independently
Endeavour to learn lessons from the impact of COVID on independent living
Be open, transparent, and accountable in everything we do
Work with those with lived experiences of disability to develop our plans, policies, and services
Act ethically, with empathy towards disabled people and the people who care for and support them
Operate in a manner that is cost effective, represents value for money and provides additionality to statutory provision
Be as agile and flexible as possible in the application of our discretionary powers to enable disabled people to achieve their independent living needs
Empower all our staff team to be leaders in their own activity and provide the conditions for them to be the best they can be
Play an active role in partnership with others to re-design a social care delivery system based on human rights, the social model of disability, and independent living vity and provide the conditions for them to be the best they can be
Play an active role in partnership with others to re-design a social care delivery system based on human rights, the social model of disability, and independent living
Vision and Mission
Our vision is one for the near future, where the rights and freedoms of all disabled people to be included and participate in normal life just happens - it should not be a struggle or a fight for disabled people or those living with long term conditions or impairments to have an equal voice, choice and control over how they lead their lives.
Dignity, trust, and respect for each other as citizens in our society should be the same for everyone and the way services are delivered should be as equitable as possible to take account of individual needs. Whilst we are a small organisation with an important part to play, we cannot do it on our own. This is a matter for everyone - all public bodies, support providers, carers, governments and society at large but ILF Scotland can play a key role in helping to raise awareness. It can enable others to do more thereby helping to grow and build our collective capability and capacity to ensure full and meaningful involvement in day- to-day living for disabled people.
Our vision is that:
Disabled people, and those with a long-term health condition, can access the assistance they need to lead an independent life.
To make progress, and to make best use of our funds and maximise our impact, we will need to identify those who face the greatest barriers to independent living.
Our mission is to:
Empower and assist disabled people to lead their fullest lives
In doing this, we will work with disabled people, their organisations, families and carers to understand the barriers they face to independent living, aiming to support as many people as we can within our allocated funding.
Strategic Aspiration for 2028
As can be seen from the opening statement from our Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, we are operating in a complex landscape at a very uncertain time for the future of nationally consistent social care provision.
The sector is operating during a social care staffing and recruitment crisis, a tight economic environment, and a possible rationalisation of the public bodies landscape. In developing this strategy with disabled people, it is clear that they would like us to do a lot more and take a greater role in both direct and indirect support across the sector. We remain a small public body with limited funding resources, but we do have a significant amount of data and knowledge of what makes a difference to those we currently support. Critically, we believe that disabled people and their organisations have trust and confidence in ILF Scotland as an organisation to deliver.
Our aspiration for 2028 is to effectively grow the fund as much as we can with the current additional funding, and simultaneously to develop our staff, our systems, and our operations to become a larger and influential component of the social care system in Scotland. This will involve collecting feedback from all those who use our services on the challenges they face and, by adapting our ways of working and sharing this information with others, being agile and responsive. We are a trusted public body with discretionary powers and we will be poised to respond and develop our operations to maximise our already significant impact.
“…ILF Scotland can serve as a model delivery organisation. It has consistently shown that, even within restricted budgets, its clarity of purpose as an organisation and in its service delivery, as well as its openness and inclusivity, have made purpose-led lives among its recipients possible. ILF Scotland has also grounded this sense of purpose in the participation of the recipients of its support in the organisation’s leadership and management.” (Jim Elder-Woodward Nov 24).
From our co-production work to date we already know many of the key themes and issues disabled people are facing, and this strategy will endeavour to address as many as we are able to within our funding model and terms of reference from Scottish Ministers. Themes and issues identified by disabled people throughout our strategic engagement include:
Widening our reach and impact
Growing the fund to 2028 and beyond
More usable, inclusive, and accessible systems
Explore the potential for a new model to access ILF and develop ways of identifying those facing the greatest barriers to independent living
Adopting a rights-based approach
Making ILF award management easier
Improving communication tools and ways of keeping in contact with people
Support for applicants and advice on better applications
Flexible funding and more creative use of funds to achieve better outcomes
Keep doing more of what ILF does best – listening to people and helping to develop the best possible package of care to support genuine independent living outcomes
Humanistic not bureaucratic
Working with others to build capacity and capability across the sector
Support with employing PAs especially in rural and remote areas
Advocacy
Extending the age range and purpose of the Transition Fund for supporting transitions at key life stages
Overcoming barriers to independent living
Whilst it is not in our ability to grow the funds and widen access as these are matters for wider policy decisions, we can help drive change and do things better. Through our leadership and fundamental approach of co- production, we can work towards a wider cultural change where disabled people are at the heart of joined up services, preventative interventions, and efficient delivery of the services that support them. Through our partnership working, digitisation and automation of information sharing where appropriate, we will aim to harness the full potential of joined up services to achieve better outcomes via person centred delivery.
Priorities
We are operating in a challenging environment at a time of economic uncertainty and a social care crisis, which are placing increasing pressures on our recipients, including in the recruitment and retention of staff and the demands on family carers.
In this context it can be difficult to talk about priorities for growth, however, despite ILF Scotland being a small public body with a staff team of around 80 currently supporting in the region of 7,000 individuals per year, we firmly believe we can be part of a longer- term solution and support many more people to live independently. We can only do this through the support of Scottish Government, the Department of Health Northern Ireland, and the collaboration with the organisations and agencies that support disabled people across Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The re-opening of ILF in 2024 has enabled us to provide more disabled people with financial support for social care, in addition to the statutory support from local authorities.
“We are overjoyed at the continuing commitment to the Independent Living Fund (ILF). The ILF has always been a lifeline, enabling disabled people to live with dignity, choice, and control over their own lives. Our hope is that this lifeline continues to support independent living for disabled people.” (Inclusion Scotland Nov 24)
Our fund recipients and their families have told us about the significant difference our funding makes to their lives. It is a strategic priority to make sure our funds make the most difference to those facing the greatest barriers to independent living. We appreciate there is no single solution to this but to help achieve it, we will continue to work with our partners in local authorities and third sector organisations including Disabled People’s Organisations to identify unmet need.
This is a challenge, but we have seen from our young person’s Transition Fund that individuals know the barriers they face to living independently and what assistance they need to be active and participating in their communities, as identified by them.
We want to put the rights of disabled people squarely front and centre in this approach, and through their voice, choice, and self-identification of needs, give them the control to manage their lives as they want to.
Our strategic priorities over the next period are:
Enable more disabled peopletoaccessour funds toliveindependently
Support cultural change and capability across the sector through leadership and knowledge sharing
Deliver a high quality, inclusive and sustainable service
Both performance frameworks adopt a rights-based approach to creating a society founded on fairness, equality, and respect where all people can live free from discrimination and participate in their communities on an equal basis.
As a public body, we are also driven to provide high-quality services that represent good value for money and to be good employers for our workforce.
We believe that this strategy, and our core operation, aligns strongly with the Human Rights and Communities Outcomes under the National Performance Framework. We focus on autonomy, inclusion and dignity and ensure that those we support have voice, choice and control in how their needs are met. By listening to the needs of those we support, we better understand the outcomes they are trying to achieve and in enabling them to achieve these, we are contributing directly to the following national outcomes:
Human Rights
Communities
Economy
Education
Fair Work and Business
Health
Poverty
This strategy also aligns to the four strategic priorities of the First Minister to:
Eradicate child poverty - via the Transition Fund and the re-opened ILF
Growing the economy - evidenced in our Social Return on Investment evaluation
Tackling the climate emergency - via our climate action plan
Ensuring high quality and sustainable public services
Taken collectively, these key drivers will allow ILF Scotland to support the development of a society that is fair, inclusive, reduces inequalities, and contributes to sustainable economic growth, whilst delivering high quality value for money services.
Outcomes
We have set out below, how we will work to achieve each of our strategic priorities, identifying specific outcomes under each priority.
These outcomes are based on our co-production work, which sought ideas on what disabled people and others think we should be prioritising. We will develop a more detailed business plan to articulate the supporting activities and performance criteria to help ensure we achieve our objectives by 2028.
From what people have told us, we believe the following outcomes when taken together can help us achieve the three strategic priorities.
Strategic Priority 1 – Enable more disabled people to access our funds to live independently
We will have done this if by 2028, the number of disabled people accessing our funds grows year on year over the course of this plan.
We will aim to: • Play a key role in delivering independent living support in Scotland and Northern Ireland • Prioritise the rights of disabled people to live independently • Identify and support those in greatest need • Explore the potential for citizen led applications • Ensure our policies and funding are as flexible as possible • Maximise use of our Transition Fund
Strategic Priority 2 – Support cultural change and capability across the sector through leadership and knowledge sharing
We will have done this if by 2028 ILF Scotland has: assisted in implementing the delivery plan of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities either directly or indirectly, helped to ensure that national policy, provision and practice is informed and co- produced with disabled people and their organisations, and played an enabling role, increasing the support available to disabled people and their carers to live independently based on a robust evidence base.
We will aim to:
Monitor the difference our funding makes to the lives of disabled people, their families, carers, and society
Ask for feedback from the people we support to improve our services
Raise awareness of and promote independent living to influence national groups/policy
Work with our partners in social care to ensure better outcomes for disabled people
Support Disabled People’s Organisations to support disabled people in local communities
Explore the potential for Disabled People’s Organisations to support applications from disabled people to the re-opened fund.
Strategic Priority 3 – Deliver a high quality, inclusive and sustainable service
We will have done this if by 2028 we are a fully sustainable and digitally enabled public service that is inclusive and accessible by all and offers a high quality of working life for all our staff.
We will aim to:
Provide high quality working life and job satisfaction for our staff to enable them to provide the best possible services
Maintain and enhance the rights of disabled people through our approach to Equality and Human Rights
Ensure our sustainability through robust financial planning, audit, and adhering to the principles of Best Value
Ensure our operation and our people are resilient and capable of recovery in adverse circumstances
Develop a sustainable operation and support climate change reductions to achieve Net Zero by 2040 by embracing digital technologies where appropriate
Conclusion
We will always put disabled people at the heart of everything we do and develop the services they tell us they need. As part of developing this strategy, we engaged widely with disabled people, their supporters, our staff, and stakeholders from the third and public sectors.
We are extremely grateful for everyone’s time, wisdom, and support and for the many ideas and positive feedback that we consistently received, which we found very uplifting. Your voices and your ideas have defined our vision and our way forward together.
As we launch our fourth organisational strategy, we are working towards a future where disabled people have better quality information to make informed choices, receive services that are accessible to them in the formats they need and are able to access available assistance when they need it.
We cannot do this on our own and will be asking for help and support from others including those with lived experience. Working together, we would like to develop a model of support that is person led, co-ordinated and appropriately supported so that everyone can lead their fullest lives on an equal basis.
We aim to use this bold strategy to help make a substantial and sustainable change towards developing a more inclusive society with reduced inequalities and improved equality of opportunity. We commit to doing our best to provide better public services for disabled people and to help protect our natural environment for future generations.
Thank you to the many individuals and organisations that have worked with us since 2015 and who have contributed to the development of this strategy. A special thank you to our Northern Ireland Advisory Group, chaired by David McDonald, and our Scotland Advisory Group, chaired
by Jim Elder-Woodward. These groups have been instrumental in ILF Scotland’s success, providing us with real insight into the reality of life for disabled people and honest feedback and constructive criticism about our performance as an organisation. We are very grateful to them.
Annual Report and Accounts - Year Ended 31 March 2024
ILF Scotland Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2024 Company Number SC500075
Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to:
ILF Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston, EH54 6GA Registered in Scotland. Phone: 0300 200 2022 Email: enquiries@ilf.scot
ILF Scotland is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Scottish Government. Our role is to provide a high quality service to, currently, over 8,000 disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland, supporting them to achieve positive independent living outcomes, and to have greater choice and control over their lives.
ILF Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. We work in partnership with 37 Health and Social Care Partnerships / Trusts (HSCP / Ts) across Scotland and Northern Ireland by jointly assessing and funding person centred care and support.
Operating from our central office in Livingston we employ (at 31 March 2024) 78 dedicated people including our social care professionals. Our assessors normally visit our recipients in their own homes every two years to identify their needs often in conjunction with Local Authority (LA) or Trust social services departments. We are now returning to a more normal programme of our planned assessor visits following on from the recovery from Covid-19 and this is expanded upon later in this report.
Office address
ILF Scotland Denholm House Almondvale Business Park Almondvale Way Livingston EH54 6GA Registered in Scotland
ILF Scotland was set up in 2015 and carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its aim is to deliver discretionary cash payments to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities. The organisation is an NDPB of Scottish Government and receives funding in the form of Grant in Aid. There is also an agreement between Scottish Government and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland (DOH) for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF recipients based in Northern Ireland.
Details of the Directors can be found here via the link below or directly on the company website: Board of Directors - ILF
Banker Royal Bank of Scotland 36 St. Andrew Square Edinburgh EH2 2AD
The Performance report contains an Overview section summarising the whole report, explaining our purpose and strategy, our business model, our activities, our operational risks and summarises our performance. It also has an Analysis section which sets out our progress against this year’s performance measures and our financial performance.
Overview
Statement from Chief Executive Officer, Peter Scott OBE
This last financial year has been a very significant one for ILF Scotland. We have worked tirelessly, in collaboration with our key stakeholders, in pursuit of our goal to enable independent living for disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland. With support from our colleagues in the Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland DOH, HSCP/T’s, our Northern Ireland Stakeholder Group, Scottish Advisory Group, disabled people and their Organisations, and others, we have seen our reach grow further and we extend our sincere gratitude to these partners for their on-going support.
In our first year, 2015-16, we supported over 3,000 disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland, whereas in 2023-24 that figure had climbed to over 8,000. This growth has taken place against a challenging backdrop for those disabled people we support, including (but not limited to): a shortage of Personal Assistants and social care staff, an ongoing cost of living crisis, budget and demand pressures across the social care and support sector, and the lasting implications of the pandemic. The combination of these factors has made things exceptionally difficult for many disabled people, their families and the communities in which they live, limiting choice, control and dignity.
We were therefore delighted to hear the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government announcement in September 2023 that funding had been granted to re-open our main fund to new applications with effect from April 2024. Whilst this clearly falls into the new 2024-25 financial year, there was a huge amount of work done during the past year in preparation for this. I am extremely grateful to members of the Co-production Working Group, which convened following the re-opening announcement and which continues to meet to support the development of the re-opened fund. It has been a genuine privilege to work with so many dedicated and experienced individuals who have given freely of their time and expertise in the true spirit of co-production.
Finally, I would like to thank our exceptional Board of Directors for their on-going support and encouragement throughout the year. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to Susan Douglas-Scott and Alan Dickson, our retiring chairs of our Board and Audit and Risk Committee, respectively. Both worked tirelessly during their eight-year terms of office; their passion and vision contributed significantly towards the development of ILF Scotland and the stronger position it is in today to improve the lives of disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Signed: Peter Scott, OBE 25 June 2024
Strategic Plan
Our key outcomes from our Strategic Plan are listed below:
Strategic Outcome 1 - Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people.
Strategic Outcome 2 - Be leaders in enabling independent living.
Strategic Outcome 3 - Operate a high-quality efficient service.
Further information on these outcomes is set out on pages 12 to 17 together with the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) against which we monitor performance.
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
This year our principal risks and uncertainties were mainly in connection with managing the project to re-open our main fund to new applications; the continued growth of the Transition Fund; the management of resources; the movement of personal and sensitive information; managing the project to replace our main client database as part of our Information Technology (IT) infrastructure; IT security; dealing with the current social care crisis and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes. We believe that we responded well to all risk areas and this is explored further in the Analysis section of this report.
Risk is further addressed in the Annual Governance Statement on pages 32 to 33.
Operational update
This year we made major progress through a large backlog in the review cycle caused by the pandemic, getting back to the bi-annual timescales whilst maintaining business as usual. At the same time the number of visits increased by 10% and the number of new offers made increased by 25%. This evidences the hard work of the Self-Directed Support (SDS) teams to achieve a return to pre-pandemic levels of support.
Reviews are still taking much longer to resolve than pre-pandemic due to the social work and wider social care staffing issues, changes in funding models, reduction in statutory support coupled with decisions taken during the pandemic, meaning awards are taking longer to finalise, although additional staffing has had a major positive impact on this.
Both applications and caseloads to the Transition Fund have increased at an unsustainable rate over the last three years in particular. We received over 4,000 grant applications by the end of the financial year however this would have been much higher had we not taken action in quarter three when we predicted a large over-subscription versus the available funding. That said, the increase in application numbers has continued albeit at a slower rate and is 26% up compared with last year. To deal with this, we expanded the specialist caseworker team with two additional workers during the year to improve processing times.
At the strategic level, we continue to engage with Governments, statutory organisations, various working groups and consultations to produce national guidance for improved SDS delivery in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Re-opening ILF has been a key element of our engagement activity since September last year with Scottish Government colleagues, Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), disabled people and other key stakeholders. We continue to engage regularly with Northern Ireland Trust and Scottish HSCP leads with increased attention on ILF as we work towards re-opening: this has the beneficial effect of assisting with arranging reviews for current recipients
This financial year we published updates on our action plans for our Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming report, our Corporate Parenting Plan and our Charter for Involvement actions. We established a co-production working group and worked with members and our Scottish Government colleagues, to develop recommendations for the Minister on the policy framework for the re-opened ILF, based on the feedback to a set of questions asked to attendees at a series of engagement events across the country. The Minister has approved the recommendations, which were endorsed by our Board, and these are now published on our website. Applications will come via Social Work in the first year but we will look at developing alternative direct access options and other service improvements during 2024-25 in consultation with the co-production group and other key stakeholders.
We continued to meet quarterly with the Scotland Advisory Group and the Northern Ireland Stakeholder Group. Both Groups came together in late March to discuss joint plans and then showcase the power of independent living in a successful event sponsored by Dame Jackie Ballie MSP in the Scottish Parliament titled ‘The Purpose of Life is a Life of Purpose’. We are grateful to Dame Jackie for her support.
The following, received by email from one of our Northern Ireland Stakeholder Group members, is typical of the feedback we have received:
“We had a wonderful time, a big thank you goes to ILF for most of that. We were looked after like royalty.”
“I did learn a lot watching the ILF staff and seeing how they all put disabled people forward to speak and act for themselves, but were always there in the background to facilitate everything we could imagine.”
“I am not sure how we can ever thank you for being such wonderful hosts, not one detail was amiss, it was more than we could have ever imagined.”
In conjunction with the rest of the organisation, 2023-24 has been the busiest year from a people and Human Resource (HR) perspective since ILF Scotland was created in 2015. With additional projects such as the re-opening project and preparing for the implementation of the 35 Hour Working Week in April 2024, we have again observed increasing year on year work pressures. To support the re-opening, we have seen our workforce grow by almost 20% as we prepare for new applications in 2024-25, with further growth likely in 2024-2027. Our comprehensive health and wellbeing programme has remained front and centre of our decision making as we made our way through the year offering several workshops including mental health and resilience “refreshers”. We are not complacent and remain vigilant that the impact of heavy workloads and change continues to challenge us all.
During the year we warmly welcomed three new Board Directors as we fondly bid farewell to our Board Chair and Audit & Risk Committee Chair after eight-year terms. We also welcomed 17 new staff members mainly to support the re-opening work. We have continued to work extremely hard to maintain our status as an employer of choice, supporting our excellent workforce through the busy operating environment. We are immensely proud to have again been recognised as a UK Top 30 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September and Best UK Small Employer in the Working Families Annual Awards 2023.
As with other parts of the organisation, the Digital Directorate has been heavily involved in every facet of the organisation. The most significant development has been the successful tendering and onboarding process, our biggest ever, of the Green Lemon Company to support us with our main client database replacement project. Concurrently we have undertaken the user research and alignment with the emerging policy suite for the fund re-opening to provide an initial digital portal for local authorities to submit applications.
Over the year ILF Scotland has pushed itself to adopt an even stronger cyber security position and has been assessed against the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) 10 Steps model and achieved a “Good” rating. A key recommendation from this was to make cyber security training and awareness mandatory for all staff and board members and this last quarter has had all staff completing training in phishing attacks and understanding ransomware attacks and how to prevent them. Finally on this point, we were delighted to be the winner of the 2023 Aligning Local Services Category CIPFA Finance Awards and finalist in the 2023 Excellence in Governance and Risk Management Category CIPFA Finance Awards.
In summary, as can be seen from the narrative set out above, it has been another exceptional year for ILF Scotland as we continue to recover from the profound impact of Covid-19 on us all alongside dealing with ever greater demand on the services we provide. We have had the busiest, yet in some ways the most rewarding reporting period by any benchmark since opening in July 2015 by achieving one of our main long-term objectives to re-open the Independent Living Fund in Scotland, which was closed in 2010 to new applications.
Future Plans
We will now focus on: growing the reach of the re-opened fund; renewing our core business systems; delivering the final year of our current strategy; working with disabled people to co-produce our new strategy; extending the Transition Fund as far as resources allow; re-opening the Independent Living Fund to new applications in Northern Ireland (subject to Ministerial approval), and; supporting both Scottish and Northern Ireland Governments to deliver their priorities for disabled people to live independently with choice, control and dignity.
Looking to the future and fulfilling the current strategy, the progress made on the digital transformation business case, coupled with work on organisational sustainability, are significant stepping stones. Both areas look to achieve greater efficiency through smarter use of technology, of staff, of resources and operational processes to reduce our consumption and work towards a Net Zero position by 2040.
Business Plan Progress
At year end, we can reflect that all strategic outcomes have made strong progress against the business plan alongside the considerable effort to deliver the re-opening project. The overall intention of this interim (extended) strategic period was to position and prepare ourselves for re-opening in 2025 so in effect we have achieved the primary objective one year ahead of the plan. Based on the feedback we receive from our colleagues in local authorities, the co-production working group, stakeholder groups our own evaluation of the first phase of re-opening, we will pull all this information together to inform what our future service delivery and application journey looks like and build our digital offering to enable this.
Progress towards all strategic objectives remains strong and on track to complete by the end of this current strategic cycle / business plan. Performance against our key strategic objectives is set out in the Analysis section which follows on page 12.
Organisational Structure
The organisational structure is set out below and shows core departments:
A hierarchical chart showing CEO at the top with COO, Director of Policy, Improvement and Engagement, and Finance Director coming off him. The COO has Director of Digital, Director of Self-Directed Support and Head of Business Services coming off him. The Director of Digital heads up the Digital and Cyber Security Team. The Director of Self-Directed Support heads up the Self-Directed Support and Operations teams. The Head of Business Services heads up the Business Services Team. The Director of Policy, Improvement and Engagement oversees the Policy and Communications Teams. The Finance Director oversees the Head of Finance who heads up the Finance Team.
Analysis
Key Performance Indicators
Strategic Outcome 1 – Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people:
Strategic Objective – The core operation is delivered in a manner that supports people to achieve the independent living outcomes they want.
Target Outcome: ILF Scotland enables disabled people to lead their fullest lives.
Key Performance Indicators:
Return to normal operational tempo (post Covid-19).
Identify and prioritise reviews (need, urgency, waiting time).
Recharge and re-skill teams in independent living practice.
Review forms and processes for ease of use and accessibility.
Activity Update:
The recruitment of additional SDS staff for re-opening has enabled us to catch up to the bi-annual review cycle in Scotland prior to re-opening by the end of the 2023-24 year.
Some key statistics; we reduced the time taken to complete updated awards by 27% compared to the previous year. At the same time the number of visits increased by 10% and the number of new offers made increased by 25%. This evidences the hard work of the SDS teams to exit the pandemic legacy of backlogs of work for all teams.
We continue to allocate review visits based on urgent need, change of circumstances and then longest waiting time.
All SDS staff have input into re-opening ongoing development and this two way process of sharing and learning will develop practice further in 2024-25.
We are progressing reviewing all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and the "Handbook of Practice" for assessors and caseworkers which is a major piece of work.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - The rights of disabled people are maintained and enhanced by the mainstreaming of our Equalities and Inclusion Action Plans.
Target Outcome:
The rights of disabled people are maintained and enhanced by the mainstreaming of our Equalities and Inclusion Action Plans.
Key Performance Indicators:
Publicly report on Equalities and Inclusion action plans.
Progress Charter for Involvement Action Plan with Advisory and Stakeholder Groups.
Publicly report and implement Corporate Parenting Action Plan.
Develop Gaelic Language Action Plan.
Activity Update:
We published our Annual Equalities Plan.
We reported on progress against our planned outcomes in our Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming report for the period 2022-23 along with our planned outcomes for 2023-24.
We continued to implement actions previously agreed by our Advisory and Stakeholder groups to achieve the Charter for Involvement Standards.
We published updates on our progress in achieving our Corporate Parenting responsibilities as they align to the young people who apply and receive Transition Funding. We have made good progress given the demands on managing the fund.
Developing the Gaelic Action Plan is a voluntary initiative and we will continue to develop this in future years.
Status: Green
Strategic Outcome 2 – Be leaders in enabling independent living:
Strategic Objective - The conditions for entry to the re-opened ILF Scotland 2015 Fund are co-produced and supported by robust public consultation.
Target Outcome:
The policy framework by which the re-opened 2015 Fund will accept new applications are determined by the process of co-production and fully tested across a wide stakeholder audience prior to being recommended to Scottish Ministers.
Key Performance Indicators:
A co-production working group is established to frame, discuss and recommend the entry conditions to a re-opened 2015 Fund.
A series of engagement events are held nationally.
Develop strategic approach to identifying and analysing all feedback data points (ie a Data Strategy).
Prepare for public consultation and co-producing for the next strategic plan.
Activity update:
Following the announcement in September 2023 to reopen ILF to new applications from April 2024, we established a co-production working group, which met on eight occasions by the end of 2023-24.
We ran a series of co-production engagement events across the country. Taking account of the feedback from these events, the group made recommendations to the Minister on the intended policy framework at the beginning of March, which the Minister approved and published a statement to that effect on 20 March 2024.
The fund will re-open with applications being made by Social Work on behalf of potential recipients and ILF Scotland will assess and determine any funding. All 2015 policies have been reviewed and all policy amendments were in place by 1 April 2024.
We will continue to work with the group and our stakeholders to further develop the fund to better achieve independent living outcomes for our recipients.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Better independent living outcomes for disabled people are achieved at local levels through partnership working and shared practices.
Target Outcome:
Capacity and capability are increased across the sector for enabling better independent living outcomes.
Key Performance Indicators:
Full review of all Covid-19 support packages and work with HSCP/Ts to focus on approaches to enabling better independent living outcomes.
Innovate and create smarter ways of working with HSCP/Ts (eg data sharing and automation of forms and alerts).
As a national body, ensure local delivery issues are surfaced with LA leads and where appropriate sponsor teams (vis a vie re-balancing of packages).
Activity Update:
ILF recipients have a large degree of protection from unilateral reductions, perhaps more so given the prospect of re-opening.
The entire re-opening of the ILF co-production process involves COSLA, Social Work Scotland and HSCP representatives. This in turn has invigorated discussion on independent living outcomes that are funded in local areas.
All 32 local areas in Scotland are reviewing the people who have unmet independent living outcomes and prioritising those people with the most significant unmet need.
Our profile has increased significantly since the re-opening announcement and we have been present at many Social Work Scotland events.
ILF Leads meetings in October, December, February and March were very productive in resolving a number of issues with the current fund and in planning for re-opening in April 2024. The updated strategic agreement with COSLA has helped ILF assert our policies in individual negotiations with good success this year.
Status: Green
Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high quality efficient service:
Strategic Objective - The integrity of the ILF Scotland operation is maintained by updating and exercising the risk and resilience programme.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is prepared for and able to respond and recover from a critical incident in a smooth and controlled manner with minimum disruption to its operation.
Key Performance Indicators:
Embed the resilience hub and move to bi-annual cycle of train, exercise and test.
Ensure and maintain the data protection posture of the organisation.
Ensure and maintain the cyber security posture of the organisation.
Introduce annual cycle of information security monitoring and audit.
Identify and deploy a risk and resilience management solution.
Activity Update:
The Resilience Hub has worked well over the reporting period, with key members of staff involved keeping focused on organisational requirements. The outcomes of the desktop exercise from earlier in the year has influenced the programme for the coming year with further desktop exercises to come which will allow teams to practice the information flows and processes again.
Data Protection training completed by staff and monthly communications are sent to all staff.
Four cyber security training sessions were completed over the year and they focused on phishing emails, ransomware, strong passwords and malware involving the majority of staff.
The records management audit cycle is complete and the results have informed the training and communications plan.
A tender has been issued for a risk and resilience software tool to assist in streamlining ILF Scotland processes for both. The aim is to have this fully operational in the next financial year.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Prepare the full business case for a fully integrated, digitised, ILF Scotland as part of the wider whole systems approach to health and social care delivery.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland becomes a digitally enabled and accessible public service
Key Performance Indicators:
Upgrade and introduce a new client database system.
Continue in-year developments and upgrade the underlying server infrastructure.
Push thinking and development of the Transition Fund and LA portal to achieve greater line of business efficiencies and data sharing
Become a digital component of the Scottish Public Sector Digital Eco-system and where possible use common shared services (including Cloud / Payments / Identity)
Activity Update:
We are progressing our project to upgrade our client database system, enhancing operational efficiency and service delivery.
In-year developments continue with our focus on the re-opening project and business as usual system changes.
The LA portal is being repurposed for the re-opening project as it already meets the assurance criteria for a safe and secure data sharing gateway to our internal systems. This approach, whilst not ideal in terms of public facing digital services, has enabled a rapid development of the technical solution to receive applications in April 2024.
Initial discussions about a formal arrangement for data sharing with Scottish Social Security Agency (SSSA) have taken place and in principle both parties are happy to proceed.
Status: Green
Efficiencies:
We constantly carry out improvement and efficiency work and this has enabled the organisation to deliver more. Over the year we have carried out improvements that have saved 4,872 (2022-23 – 3,919) hours of staff time. This works out at approximately three (2022-23 - two) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff which is around 4% (2022-23 - 3%) of our workforce. This equates to an approximate overall saving of 3% of our cost base (2022-23 – 2.5%) compared to the Scottish Government target of 3%.
Due to the extensive work done in previous years we are moving to a position where only smaller gains can be realised without substantial capital investment in our IT infrastructure.
Self-Directed Support (SDS)
2015 Fund - This year we made major progress through a large backlog in the review cycle caused by the pandemic, getting back to the bi-annual timescales for Scotland whilst maintaining business as usual and contributing significantly to the re-opening project. In addition, we were also subject to three significant internal audits relating to our core operational practice. The first was of our Protection Policies and Practice covering Adults and Children. The second audit of the 2015 Fund had a focus on assessment quality and compliance with policy in relation to payments. The third audit was of our Fraud Policy and Processes. All audits achieved satisfactory ratings.
Transition Fund - Applications to the Transition Fund have increased at an unsustainable rate over the last three years in particular. We received just over 4,000 grant applications by the end of the financial year versus around 5,000 plus we predicted that we would have received had we not taken decisive action to reduce application levels. That said, the increase in application numbers has continued albeit at a slower rate and is 26% up from last year. Regular reviews of policy in 2024-25 are planned to manage demand within the given budget.
We expanded the specialist caseworker team with two additional workers during the year to improve processing times. In addition, a clear policy decision was made to restrict applications to one successful full Transition Fund grant per applicant from 1 January 2024, to manage both demand and resource. The contraction of statutory services and the waiting times for NHS services are likely to continue to push eligible young people towards the Transition Fund as a readily accessible source of support for the foreseeable future.
Summary - The operational environment remains both exciting due to re-opening but challenging for staff supporting recipients with reduced support due to funding pressures and lack of staff in some areas. Provider and Personal Assistant (PA) costs continue to increase, which requires intervention by casework or assessor teams to assist with sustainability on a more frequent basis than the traditional ILF model of a bi-annual review. The extent of the ILF intervention will be reviewed next year as there are requests that ILF Scotland provides new support to Award Managers on an ongoing basis. Co-production will clarify what is required, affordable and sustainable.
Policy, Improvements and Engagement
We published progress on our action plans for our Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming report, our Corporate Parenting Plan and our Charter for Involvement actions and we updated our Modern Slavery Statement. We will develop the Charter for Involvement Standards actions further in the next financial year along with the development of our Customer Feedback Strategy, our Data Strategy and our Customer Service Charter. We will start considering our next strategic plan for 2025-28 during 2024-25, aligning this to the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework (NPF) Standards if possible as well as using this to take forward further policy and service developments and improvements following re-opening in April 2024.
We established a co-production working group and worked with members and our Scottish Government colleagues, to develop recommendations for the Minister on the policy framework for the re-opened ILF, based on the feedback to a set of questions asked to attendees at a series of engagement events across the country. The Minister has approved the recommendations and these are now published on our website. Applications will come via Social Work in the first year but we will look at developing direct access options and other service improvements during 2024-25 in consultation with the working group and other key stakeholders.
We continued to meet quarterly with the Scotland Advisory Group (the Chairperson of our Board attended the group's December meeting) and the Northern Ireland Stakeholder Group (who are advocating for a similar re-opening decision in Northern Ireland). Both Groups met separately in February (the Minister attended the Scotland Advisory Group meeting) and met again on 28 March 2024 immediately prior to the Parliamentary event. Besides re-opening, the groups continued to request ILF Scotland abolished the available income charge on historic awards and will look at a number of policy improvements over the coming financial year. It should be noted that Scottish Government has committed to the abolition of available income charges no later than May 2026.
We continue to engage with our Young Ambassadors Group and are attempting to increase the number of members. The Transition Fund engagement activity resulted in staff attendance at 17 events with around 750 attendees. As a consequence of demand, we have had no option other than cut back on our engagements due to the pressure on processing times and budget available.
Our People
Overview – 2023-24 has been the busiest year since ILF Scotland was created in 2015. In conjunction with additional projects such as the re-opening project and preparing for the implementation of the 35 Hour Working Week in April 2024, we have again observed increasing year on year work pressures. We continue to introduce exciting, innovative support to our workforce, researching and introducing new measures that support staff through the year. Our attrition remains extremely low with one retiree and one member of staff moving on to a promoted post. Alongside this we have also seen our workforce grow by almost 20% as we prepare for re-opening, with further growth planned in 2024-2027.
Despite increased workload, our absence rate has decreased over the year. This is in part due to the hard work we invest in constantly improving our wellbeing offer. ILF Scotland seeks to actively manage sickness absences and has return to work meetings with staff to improve support on resumption of duties and discuss absence patterns and causes. We are immensely proud to have again been awarded Best Small Employer at the Best Practice Awards and a Top 30 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September 2023.
We believe that we continue to be a positive, open and supportive employer which is welcomed across the workforce. During 2023-24 we have held several all-staff development days to ensure we embed our culture and values in our workforce as we grow. Our comprehensive health and wellbeing programme has remained front and centre of our decision making as we made our way through the year offering several workshops including ‘mental health & resilience refreshers’.
We continued the practice of monthly Teams meetings with all staff. Our hybrid principles have now been in place for two years and they are working well, offering our staff choice and control whilst always considering the business needs of the organisation.
Organisational Demography – During the year the number of staff employed was 80 plus 8 non-executive directors: 78%:22% female: male, with 20.2% of staff self-identified as disabled, 2.2% ethnic minorities and 1.1% LGBT.
Employment status – During 2023-24 we have continued to offer a supportive whole-life-friendly employee offering via a suite of accessible policies. Through our staff survey, TRICKLE pulse surveys and meeting feedback, we continue to closely monitor feedback from colleagues. All ILF Scotland staff have employed status (we also have three temporary staff to support the Re-opening Project); both full time and part time with many different flexible working patterns to suit individual and organisational need. This continues to provide stability and continuity for both the organisation and individuals during this time of continued growth. During 2023-24 all staff have worked flexibly and we will continue to ensure staff can have a work/life balance which suits their individual circumstances offering choice and control. Planning work is underway for the 2024-27 Workforce plan which will consider our staff and current and future workstreams.
We are committed to good employee relations and HR policies have been developed from best practice to ensure at least full compliance with employment and equalities legislation.
ILF Scotland seeks to actively manage sickness absences and has return to work meetings with staff to improve support on resumption of duties and discuss absence patterns and causes.
Mentoring – We are committed to ensuring that every young person, regardless of background, gains access to opportunities to enable them to fulfil their potential and achieve upward mobility. We are excited to be partnering with the social mobility programme Career Ready Scotland to provide real-world work experience and mentoring to five young people from our local community schools. In addition to providing new networking opportunities and career advancement pathways, the internship equips the young person with essential soft skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving.
Information Governance and IT
Records Management - An initial meeting was held with Scottish Social Security Agency to discuss the governance and technical requirements for ILF Scotland to share data and streamline / automate eligibility and identity verification. The meeting was hugely positive and in principle both parties are happy to progress the relationship to the advantage of our new applicants.
Digital and System Developments - The most significant development has been the successful tendering and onboarding process, our biggest ever, of the Green Lemon Company to support us with our client database replacement project. Concurrently we have undertaken the user research and alignment with the emerging policy suite for the fund re-opening to provide an initial digital portal for local authorities to submit applications. Due to the assurance processes required to launch a public facing digital service, the decision was made to open with the existing LA Portal and to receive applications from LA social work teams. The Scottish Government cloud datacentre has not become available this period and the fund re-opening will take place with the existing data centre which has had additional temporary support measures put in place to cover the first phase of re-opening. The intention is for the cloud data centre to become available later in June and the migration of the portal and existing database will move over once it has been tested. Finally on this point, we were delighted to be the winner of the 2023 Aligning Local Services Category in The Chartered Institute of Public, Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Finance Awards.
Risk and Resilience - The planning of the next two years resilience activity has been completed and will see a twin track approach of exercise and test alongside embedding risk and resilience into normal operations. Our resilience hub has undertaken a full review of all resilience plans ahead of re-opening and additionally has taken on board responsibility for organisational risk management. This period also saw the internal audit of risk management and business continuity and an overall “Good” rating has been achieved. Lastly, we were delighted to be a finalist in the 2023 Excellence in Governance and Risk Management Category CIPFA Finance Awards.
Cyber security – Over the year ILF Scotland has pushed itself to adopt an even stronger cyber security position and has been assessed against the NCSC 10 Steps model and achieved a “Good” rating. A key recommendation from this was to make cyber security training and awareness mandatory for all staff and this last quarter has had all staff completing training in phishing attacks and understanding ransomware attacks and how to prevent them. It remains a very challenging space to work in as the threat level has been very high for an extended period and we are conscious of our public profile being raised as part of our re-opening communications. We now receive daily alerts on cyber threats and are part of the SC3 network of communications and support across Scotland (Scottish Cyber Co-ordination Centre).
Governance and social responsibility
The company procurement policy ensures fair competition and value for money, with specific arrangements to encourage tenders from employers of disabled people in procurement exercises.
ILF Scotland is committed to prompt payment of bills for goods and services received. Payments are normally made within the period specified in the contract. here there is no contractual or other understanding, we endeavour to pay within 10 days of the receipt of the goods or services, or the presentation of a valid invoice or similar demand, whichever is later.
In 2023-24 ILF Scotland paid 99% of invoices (by volume) within 10 calendar days of receipt (2022-23 97%). The number of creditor days outstanding at the end of 2023- 24 was 23 days (2022-23 11 days). The number of days outstanding is higher than normal due to a number of invoices being received at the year end.
Financial review
Our Grant in Aid funding allocation and actual expenditure is set out below:
Initial Grant in Aid Allocation
Funding not drawn down in year
Final Grant in Aid Allocation
Actual Expenditure
Net Underspend
£m
£m
£m
£m
£m
Resource Expenditure
60.5
(3.0)
57.5
57.3
0.2
Capital Expenditure
-
-
-
(0.3)
0.3
Non-cash
0.1
-
0.1
0.1
-
Total Fiscal Resource
60.6
(3.0)
57.6
57.1
0.5
Resource expenditure Initial Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 60.5 Funding not drawn down in year £m: (3.0) Final Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 57.5 Actual Expenditure £m: 57.3 Net Underspend £m: 0.2
Capital expenditure Initial Grant in Aid Allocation £m: - Funding not drawn down in year £m: - Final Grant in Aid Allocation £m: - Actual Expenditure £m: (0.3) Net Underspend £m: 0.3
Non-cash Initial Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 0.1 Funding not drawn down in year £m: - Final Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 0.1 Actual Expenditure £m: 0.1 Net Underspend £m: -
Total Fiscal Resource Initial Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 60.6 Funding not drawn down in year £m: (3.0) Final Grant in Aid Allocation £m: 57.6 Actual Expenditure £m: 57.1 Net Underspend £m: 0.5
Grant in Aid – The amount received in the year was £57.5m (2022-23 £54.9m)
Awards Paid – The payments made to recipients for the year 2023-24 were £52.1m (2022-23 £51.4m), of which £5.3m (2022-23 £2.8m), was for the Transition Fund.
Underspend – Whilst we report a net underspend of £0.5m at the year end above, we also drew down £3m less than awarded by Scottish Government resulting in a gross underspend of £3.5m when compared against our initial fiscal resource allocation.
Reserves – We have healthy reserves at almost £4.5m at 31 March 2024 (£4.3m at 31 March 2023).
Following on from discussions with our sponsor team at Scottish Government in the lead up to our year end, we drew down £3m less funding than originally allocated in order to balance our forecast funding requirements due in the main to higher than expected returns of unspent monies from our recipients. Our net resource underspend has resulted in a small increase in taxpayers’ equity for the year amounting to £222k which has been transferred to general reserve as set out on page 67.
The negative movement in the year in relation to capital relates to an adjustment to a right of use asset together with a small addition to intangible assets under construction.
Assets are held only for the purpose of managing the company.
The company requests and receives Grant in Aid on a monthly basis to meet its immediate cash needs. Procurement policies are designed to secure goods and services for immediate consumption during the year with best value for money at current cost, and without setting up complex financial instruments. Company exposure to financial instrument risk is therefore low compared with non-public sector organisations. The policies on financial instruments are provided in the Notes to the financial statements, and appropriate disclosures are included.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2023-24 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. Grants to individuals are paid in arrears and the Statement of Financial Position at 31 March 2024 shows a net assets position of just over £4.5m as set out on page 64.
Scottish Government has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2024-25.
There were no events after the end of the financial year that have any material effect on these Reports and Financial Statements.
Environmental Matters and Climate Change
We believe that the next 10 years will be crucial in creating sustainable plans to reduce our resource consumption and slow global warming by becoming carbon neutral.
Covid-19, extreme weather conditions across the globe, the semi-conductor crisis and now the staffing crisis in critical frontline services have rightly focused on “right-sizing” scarce resources and setting priorities for organisations to reduce not only their current consumption, but to embed sustainable plans to de-carbonise and become Net Zero by 2040.
As an Executive Public Body ILF Scotland is committed and aligns to the general climate change duties set out under Section 44 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Although not a listed public body with the requirement to report directly against the carbon reduction targets, ILF Scotland takes environmental matters very seriously and is working towards its own Net Zero targets by 2040. ILF Scotland is now linked in to the Scottish Government Climate Change team and are gaining valuable information into responsibilities, requirements, measurement tools, reporting frameworks and bodies of expert knowledge on implementing Net Zero action plans.
Our approach is more than becoming paperless or using green energy sources – it is built into our strategy and operational practices and is an attempt at a whole organisational drive to right-size and appropriately source the resources we require to deliver our business objectives. This approach encompasses five domains and a further five operational practices.
Domains
Governance
Strategy
Risk Management
Metrics
Targets and Timescales
The five Domains provide the framework for a more sustainable and carbon neutral ILF Scotland by 2040.
To bring this together at the whole organisational level, five inter-related activities consider the environmental and carbon reduction measures required to achieve net zero.
Sustainability action plan (and working group)
Change and continuous improvement activity
Efficiency and quality management
HR and workforce planning
Digital delivery transformation plan
It should be noted that the current continuous improvement activity and efficiency management reporting have identified considerable in-year time savings for the front line operations. Once a full baseline activity of current carbon impact is made and understood, future improvements can be strategically prioritised and focused on those activities either contributing most to carbon footprint, or those processes and activities that take up the most amount of time and resources.
There is the potential for further operational and resources consumed savings by becoming more digitally enabled as an organisation, as well as the benefits this will give to our recipients by being able to self-serve at a time and manner convenient to them, without the need to send letters and forms back to us.
At a future point, the more our recipients are able to do for themselves, the fewer staff resources in comparison we would need to support them which in turn reduces the carbon footprint and resources consumed by more staff members. This illustrates our thinking and the next stage is to set realistic targets for carbon reduction, staffing numbers, fuel and buildings costs and travel and devices. We do however need to be mindful that there will always be a need to travel to visit our disabled recipients hence we need to strike a sensible balance. In terms of access to technology for our recipients we also need to be mindful that digital self-service will not always be possible. Our emerging framework will give us a basis to bring all of this together.
Effect of the UK leaving the European Union (Brexit)
ILF Scotland has been largely unaffected by Brexit. It did however affect the staffing situation for our disabled recipients. We are a Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Government funded organisation serving our recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland. We will continue to monitor any potential impact of Brexit.
Human Rights
ILF Scotland is committed to equality of opportunity and has policies and procedures in place to ensure this is achieved to the best of our ability. It also fully recognises its legal responsibilities, particularly in respect of race relations, age, sex and disability discrimination and complies with all Scottish Government policies in relation to Human Rights and Equality.
ILF Scotland is subject to the Equality Act 2010 (General Duties) (Scotland) Regulations (see link below) and must also publish statements on equal pay and information about Board members.
ILF Scotland is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity and is committed to the prevention of bribery and corruption as we recognise the importance of maintaining our reputation and the confidence of our stakeholders.
We can report that no instances of corruption or bribery were recorded in 2023-24 (2022-23 nil).
Summary – This has been another strong year, delivering even further progress against our strategic plan.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer.
Signed: Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board, 25 June 2024
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 25 June 2024
Accountability Report
Consisting of: Corporate Governance Report; Remuneration and Staff Report; and Parliamentary Accountability Report
Corporate Governance Report
The Corporate Governance Report consists of three sections:
Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities;
Annual Governance Statement; and
Directors’ Report
1. Statement of Directors’ & Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities
The directors and the Accountable Officer are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the company in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2023-24 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. Under company law directors must not approve the financial statements until they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period. In preparing these financial statements the directors are required to:
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the UK and the Accounts Direction applicable to the year issued by the Scottish Ministers; and
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the Accounts Direction applicable to the year issued by the Scottish Ministers. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the company and detect fraud and other irregularities.
The directors have prepared a Directors’ Remuneration Report in order to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2023-24 in accordance with Schedule 8 to the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 made under the Companies Act 2006, to the extent that they are relevant.
The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
As Accountable Officer, as far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which ILF Scotland’s auditor is unaware. I have taken all reasonable steps to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that ILF Scotland’s auditor is aware of the information.
As set out in the "Memorandum to Accountable Officers for Other Public Bodies", the accountable officer is personally responsible for the propriety and regularity of the body’s public finances and ensuring that its resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively. This includes compliance with relevant guidance issued by Scottish Ministers, in particular the Scottish Public Finance Manual, and the Framework Document defining the key roles and responsibilities which underpin the relationship between the body and the Scottish Government.
Accountable Officer Confirmation on the Annual Report and Financial Statements
As Accountable Officer I confirm that the annual report and financial statements as a whole are fair, balanced and understandable and I take personal responsibility for the annual report and financial statements and the judgements required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed: Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board, 25 June 2024
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 25 June 2024
2. Annual Governance Statement
Scope of responsibility
The Board of Directors have responsibility for maintaining sound corporate governance systems that support the achievement of our policies, aims and objectives and safeguard the public funds and assets for which we are personally responsible. Our responsibilities for managing public money and the duties assigned to us have been exercised with due diligence and the appropriate professional care.
The role of ILF Scotland is to deliver discretionary cash payments directly to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities.
Director Attendance
Figures in brackets show attendance for 2022 to 2023 period.
Name
Board Meetings
Audit and Risk Committee
Remuneration Committee
Susan Douglas- Scott
2/2 (4/4)
1/3* (3/4*)
1/1 (2/2)
Alan Dickson
2/2 (4/4)
3/3 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth Humphreys
4/4 (4/4)
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth McAtear
3/4 (3/4)
N/A (N/A)
1/1 (2/2)
Mark Adderley
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
1/1 (2/2)
Anne-Marie Monaghan
3/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
1/1 (2/2)
Etienne d'Aboville
4/4 (3/4)
3/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
Alison Nicholson
1/1 (N/A)
1/1 (N/A)
N/A (N/A)
Stephanie Hayle
0/1 (N/A)
N/A (N/A)
N/A (N/A)
Kirsty Aird
0/1 (N/A)
0/1 (N/A)
N/A (N/A)
* Attending as an observer.
Sound Corporate Governance
Our corporate governance systems continue to be drawn up from best practice recommendations and are being strengthened through internal scrutiny, legislative and process compliance and through collaborative working with both internal and external auditors.
These systems address individual and corporate accountabilities, the roles and effectiveness of our boards and our capacity to identify and effectively manage and report risk.
The company strategic aims and objectives have been developed by the directors along with our sponsor team at Scottish Government. Our Chief Executive attends quarterly meetings chaired by Scottish Government officials. These meetings discuss significant business and programme risks and review ongoing progress against plan.
The programme meetings chaired by Scottish Government officials are supported by regular operational meetings with the sponsor team, members of specialist teams and other Scottish Government colleagues to ensure clarity of purpose, sound communication and effective reporting.
The Board met four times in formal session this period. There were also various board development days and committee meetings. All meetings have a pre-agreed agenda, are minuted and produced clear actions and matters arising. Meetings are attended by directors and appropriate members of the SMT.
The directors have a responsibility for maintaining sound systems of control to address key financial and other risks, ensuring that the requirements of the ILF Scotland founding documents are met, that high standards of corporate governance are demonstrated, and for reviewing the effectiveness of the systems of internal control.
Capacity to handle risk
The Chief Executive acts as the Risk Champion for the company, whilst lead responsibility for ensuring that appropriate mechanisms are in place for identifying, monitoring and controlling risk, and advising SMT on the actions needed in order to comply with our corporate governance requirements rests with the Chief Operating Officer, who is supported by the Director of Digital and Information in the capacity of the ILF Scotland Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO).
Our systems and processes are designed to manage risk to a reasonable and appropriate level rather than to eliminate all risk; therefore, it can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.
Whilst every member of staff has a responsibility to ensure that exposure to risk is minimised, overall leadership of the risk management processes rests with members of the SMT. The SMT meets fortnightly.
Reviewing our strategic risks is a standing item at Board meetings, supported by the work of the Audit & Risk Committee, which provides a high-level resource to test the adequacy of assurance on our risk management framework and internal control environment. The Audit & Risk Committee is attended by representatives of internal audit and, when appropriate, external audit.
Managing risks
The Risk Management Framework sets out the organisation’s attitude to risk and provides a consistent basis to capture, monitor and report risks and to progress strategies to mitigate these. In assigning lead risk owners at SMT level and in the management control processes, we identify clear lines of responsibility throughout the organisation.
Our overall risk appetite is risk averse. This does not mean that we avoid opportunities to improve. However, it does mean that we are rightly cautious when challenges may hinder or put at risk our core business and service provision to our users. Our risk management processes enable us to identify operational, business and financial risks, customer focus and delivery risks as well as identifying and assessing potential reputational risks and other contingent issues.
Principal risks
All bodies subject to the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) must operate a risk management strategy in accordance with relevant guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
ILF Scotland maintains a strategic and operational risk register which records internal and external risks and identify the mitigating actions required to reduce the threat of these risks occurring and their impact. The Risk Management Strategy and Operational Risk Register are regularly updated and reviewed as a standing item by senior staff and the Audit and Risk Committee. Each individual risk is allocated an owner who ensures that mitigating action is carried out.
This year our principal risks and uncertainties were mainly in connection with managing the project to re-open our main fund to new applications; the continued growth of the Transition Fund; the management of resources; the movement of personal and sensitive information; managing the project to replace our main client database as part of our Information Technology (IT) infrastructure; IT security; dealing with the current social care crisis and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes. The risk and control processes applied within ILF Scotland accord with guidance given in the SPFM and have been in place for the year ended 31 March 2024 and up to the date of the approval of the annual report and financial statements.
A key part of our risk management process is the involvement of all staff in the discussion and identification of risks and their management. Together, we develop mitigating action, supported by management information and identify a specific manager to oversee progress.
The managers’ role is to monitor, report on and manage these issues and risks.
Information Assurance
Within our programme we have a significant challenge and risk involved in transferring sensitive user and confidential corporate data to our partners and client departments. This has required close liaison with relevant partners to ensure that we meet our legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Data and information security has been managed as a high priority item.
In terms of data and information security breaches there have been no reportable incidents.
Review of effectiveness
As directors, we have responsibility for reviewing the effectiveness of the system of corporate governance, including systems of internal control which have been in place for the year under review and up to the date of approval of this Annual Report and Financial Statements. The Accountable Officer seeks written assurances from SMT in relation to their responsibilities for reviewing the effectiveness of the systems of risk management and internal control.
We also have in place independent internal auditors and they have provided their opinion that ILF Scotland has adequate and effective arrangements for risk management, control and governance. The significant control issues that they reported on last year have been addressed and the required actions have been fully implemented. They also report that proper arrangements are in place to promote and secure Value for Money.
Directors take assurance from these sources that effective systems of corporate governance are in place throughout the organisation. The internal control systems SMT have put in place include:
A comprehensive suite of control checks, which have been refined and adapted to meet our requirements in managing the programme (as reported to the Audit & Risk Committee);
Regular reports to SMT, directors and Scottish Government on progress against the company targets and business aims and objectives; A risk management strategy and risk management framework which comply with best practice;
The organisation’s Strategic Risk Register which is reviewed by Directors at least quarterly, a standing item with Audit & Risk Committee and reviewed monthly by SMT both quarterly at the risk and controls board and monthly at SMT meetings;
A project governance framework that seeks to manage the responsibilities, resources, reporting and programme milestones in order to deliver the planned outcomes on-time and to pre-agreed quality;
The adoption of formal project management arrangements based on PRINCE 2 principles for all key programme and projects, includes the development and maintenance of programme and project risk registers.
Board effectiveness and structures that support decisions
The Board has set up its governance arrangements to ensure compliance with best practice and relevant legislation.
The Board has developed terms of reference for all boards and committees, including their purpose, membership, and the election of the lead Director as well as defining the management and reporting requirements for each internal function.
Our governance processes and mechanisms to manage our boards are consistently applied to capture discussions, actions, risks and progress. These provide a basis for consistent reporting and ease of read-across to inform recommendations, actions and outcomes, our boards include the SMT, the Audit & Risk Committee and the Remuneration Committee.
The SMT meets regularly and is responsible for ensuring that corporate risks are identified as early as possible, are properly managed, that cross-functional issues are considered, and that risk management receives a high profile in planning and delivery of our plans. The SMT along with some of our senior managers meets fortnightly to ensure that all attendees understand both the priorities of the week and any emerging issues.
Senior Committees
The Audit & Risk Committee met four times during the period and is responsible for ensuring, as far as possible, that appropriate systems are in place within the company for the assessment and management of risk and advising the Board on the effectiveness of the systems of governance and control, leading to signing off the Annual Governance Statement. The Audit & Risk Committee reviews Strategic Risks as a standing item, it routinely considers the effectiveness of payment security, fraud management and recovered and unspent monies, it reviews the internal audit plans to ensure sufficient rigor and detail and undertakes to provide a questioning and challenging role to obtain assurance.
The Remuneration Committee met once during the year. (Another was held early April 2024). It oversees and reports to the directors on the salaries, rewards and conditions of service in place at the company. It also makes sure that ILF Scotland conducts its employee relations fairly, efficiently and effectively.
Significant internal control issues
Internal controls and procedures have been further strengthened with a formal partnership with NHS Counter Fraud Services and the implementation of a continuous improvement plan following in depth internal review.
During the course of the year we have become aware of and have investigated eleven (2022-23 five) instances of alleged mis-use of funds in relation to fund recipients. Total funds involved are estimated to be around £71,000 (2022-23 £26,000). At 31 March 2024 eight of these cases had been closed as either no case to answer or repayment plans have been put in place. As these payments were recorded as costs when originally advanced they do not represent a further cost if deemed to be irrecoverable.
All cases have been reported to NHS Counter Fraud Services.
Over the course of the year there have been no significant control weaknesses reported, nor has any report been made externally, independently nor via the company Whistle-blower policy. This policy encourages staff to report suspected wrongdoing as soon as possible, in the knowledge that their concerns will be taken seriously and investigated as appropriate, and that their confidentiality will be respected.
Our audit and internal management reporting remains vigilant to ensure early identification of issues within normal day-to-day business and no significant issues have emerged. We have managed our risks and highlighted issues with foresight and taken decisions as required; we have forecast and reported our financial position in a timely accurate manner and maintained our budget within expected parameters.
We continue to develop and improve our internal control and governance systems and in conclusion we believe that they were fit for purpose during the reporting period.
Information and Data Security
ILF Scotland has in place a range of systems and measures which ensure that information held by the organisation, and held by third parties on behalf of the organisation, is secure. ILF Scotland monitors compliance concerning the release of data from the organisation. In addition, ILF Scotland has implemented Scottish Government guidance on data security and information risk through the creation of an information asset register, which includes assessment of risk and awareness training for staff.
During 2023-24, we have been closely monitoring the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and engaged with all staff regularly. Direct GDPR training has been rolled out to all staff, this is mandatory training and an annual refresher is provided with data protection updates. Physical data security is monitored by office checks, on a quarterly basis.
ILF Scotland continues to focus upon Cyber Security and Resilience and we have Cyber Essentials PLUS accreditation.
There are no significant lapses in data security to report in 2023-24 (2022-23: none).
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the Directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer.
Signed: Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board, 25 June 2024
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 25 June 2024
3. Directors’ Report
Company Number SC500075
The directors submit their annual report for the year ended 31 March 2024.
The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2023-24 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Principal activities
The principal activities are described on page 5. The organisation became an NDPB in June 2018, having previously been an Other Significant Public Body.
Directors
Anne-Marie Monaghan Chair of the board with effect from 11 October 2023
Susan Douglas-Scott (resigned 11 October 2023) Chair of the board until 11 October 2023
Alan Dickson (resigned 11 October 2023) Non-executive director
Mark Adderley Non-executive director
Elizabeth Humphreys Non-executive director
Elizabeth McAtear Non-executive director
Etienne d’Aboville Non-executive director
Alison Nicolson (appointed 16 October 2023) Non-executive director
Stephanie Hayle (appointed 16 October 2023) Non-executive director
Kirsty Aird (appointed 1 December 2023) Non-executive director
For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 30 to 37. All non-executive directors are considered to be independent.
Beneficial Interests
None of the directors had any beneficial interest in the ownership of the company throughout the period. The company is guaranteed by the Scottish Ministers.
Non-current assets
The company is now accounting for right-of-use assets in accordance with IFRS 16 and these were re-assessed during the year. The only other movement during the year was an addition to IT intangible assets in the course of construction.
Employees
It is ILF Scotland’s aim to keep employees informed about its affairs and in particular those matters that affect them directly. The company regularly issues all-staff emails and is in the process of developing a staff Intranet site.
ILF Scotland is an Equal Opportunities Employer and actively encourages applications from disabled people.
Pension Scheme
Most of our staff are members of the Civil Service Pension defined benefit scheme known as alpha.
Corporate governance
The Board is charged with maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of the ILF Scotland policies, aims and objectives and regularly reviewing the effectiveness of that system. The Board is also responsible for the Annual Governance Statement.
The Board’s Annual Governance Statement is provided on pages 30 to 37.
The Board & Senior Management Team
The Board is responsible for ensuring that effective corporate governance arrangements are in place that set out how ILF Scotland is directed and controlled and how the assurance on risk management and internal control is provided.
The Board is required to demonstrate high standards of corporate governance at all times and to ensure that best practice is followed consistent with the UK Corporate Governance Code and appropriate adaptations of Corporate Governance in the Central Government Departments Code of Good Practice. The responsibilities of the Board are set out in the Governance Statement.
A link to the company website giving more details about the Board of Directors and the SMT can be found on page 5. The Board of Directors is also listed on page 38.
Non-Executive Directors
The non-executive directors are appointed by The Scottish Ministers for a fixed term appointment of four years which can be extended at the discretion of The Scottish Ministers.
Register Of Interests
Full details of ILF Scotland’s Register of Interests can be found on our website.
Remuneration Committee
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of Committee meetings will be provided to directors for information. Remuneration Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive and the Chief Operating Officer.
For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 30 to 37 and the Remuneration and Staff Report on pages 42 to 54.
Audit & Risk Committee
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of committee meetings will be provided to directors for information. Audit Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive, the Finance Director and the Chief Operating Officer.
Both external and internal audit have the right to independent access to the chair and members of the committee.
Further details regarding the Audit & Risk Committee can be found in the Annual Governance Statement on pages 30 to 37.
Statement of disclosure of information to external auditor
The directors who held office at the date of approval of the Directors’ Report confirm that, so far as they are each aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the external auditor is unaware; and each director has taken all steps that they ought to have taken as a director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the external auditor is aware of that information.
External Auditor
Details of all fees earned by the external auditor are provided in note 5 of the annual financial statements.
Under the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008, a new auditor of the company was appointed last year (Audit Scotland) by the Auditor General for Scotland for financial years 2022-23 to 2026-27.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed: James A Maguire Company Secretary 25 June 2024
Remuneration and Staff Report
Directors and SMT
Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers for a period of four years which can be extended to a maximum of eight years at the discretion of Scottish Ministers.
The directors are appointed from a variety of backgrounds on the basis of relevant experience gained and skills required.
The Chief Executive together with the SMT are responsible for day-to-day operations and activities.
The Remuneration Policy
This report for the year ended 31 March 2024 deals with the remuneration of the Chief Executive, SMT and directors of ILF Scotland.
ILF Scotland is managed by a Board of Directors appointed by Scottish Ministers. The directors receive remuneration as post-holders and are reimbursed for incidental expenses in line with the company travel and subsistence policy. There are no unpaid persons or volunteers upon whose services the company is dependent.
The Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee is appointed by the Board of Directors and is established to independently review the salary of the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive informs the committee of any annual pay discussions to agree the salary levels for employees and SMT, in accordance with Scottish Government pay remit guidelines.
Members of the committee for the period of this report were:
Mark Adderley, chair of the Remuneration Committee
Susan Douglas-Scott, member of the Remuneration Committee until date of resignation as a director on 11 October 2023
Elizabeth McAtear, member of the Remuneration Committee
Anne-Marie Monaghan, member of the Remuneration Committee
The terms of reference of the Remuneration Committee in relation to salary, rewards and conditions of service are:
To ensure that the SMT and staff are fairly and responsibly rewarded for their joint and individual contributions to ILF Scotland management and overall performance.
To agree the Chief Executive’s remuneration in line with Public Sector Pay Policy, in discussion with The Scottish Ministers and ensure that it is managed under the terms and conditions agreed with the company.
To review and where appropriate, approve the Chief Executive’s proposals for the remuneration of the SMT.
To review and where appropriate approve the SMT’s remuneration proposals for all staff below SMT level. This will include approval of the annual pay remit and setting pay bands where appropriate.
Remuneration (including salary) and pension entitlements
The following sections provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of the directors and the most senior company management. The figures below form part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Directors
For the year ended 31 March 2024 the total remuneration paid to directors was:
2023-24 in £'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair until 11 October 2023) 0-5
Anne-Marie Monaghan (Chair from 11 October 2023) 0-5
Alan Dickson (resigned 11 October 2023) 0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair) 0-5
Elizabeth McAtear 0-5
Mark Adderley 0-5
Etienne d'Aboville 0-5
Alison Nicolson (appointed 16 October 2023) 0-5
Stephanie Hayle (appointed 16 October 2023) 0-5
Kirsty Aird (appointed 1 December 2023) 0-5
2022-23 in £'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair until 11 October 2023) 5-10
Anne-Marie Monaghan (Chair from 11 October 2023) 0-5
Alan Dickson (resigned 11 October 2023) 0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair) 0-5
Elizabeth McAtear 0-5
Mark Adderley 0-5
Etienne d'Aboville 0-5
Alison Nicolson (appointed 16 October 2023) N/A
Stephanie Hayle (appointed 16 October 2023) N/A
Kirsty Aird (appointed 1 December 2023) N/A
Directors’ salary is non-pensionable. All FTE remuneration above sits in the same banding other than the Chair role which sits in the banding £5,001-£10,000.
The Chief Executive and SMT
The Chief Executive and the SMT are employed on ILF Scotland terms and conditions.
The directors apply the policy regarding senior management remuneration as follows:
To create a fair and transparent pay structure offering salaries in line with the roles and demands on the personnel in those posts.
To offer competitive salaries to enable the company to attract personnel of the required calibre to fill its senior management posts.
To align decisions in accordance with the key features and parameters of the Scottish Government’s pay policy so as to:
To align reward with the business objectives to encourage high performance and improve the focus on the delivery of service;
To ensure reward arrangements are affordable; and
To create a level of salary progression which is subject to performance expectations (performance below the expectation would mean no progression and management action would be necessary for less than adequate performance).
The Chief Executive’s and SMT performance will be reviewed annually with the overall assessment informed by quarterly one-to-one meetings.
In the event of early severance, compensation would be payable in accordance with company terms and conditions.
Remuneration of Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team (ELT) – Subject to Audit
This table represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Salaries include gross salary, overtime and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on payments made within the year by ILF Scotland. There were no bonus payments or benefits in kind.
Figures for 2023-24. (Figures for previous year, 2022-23, in brackets).
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Salary: £80,000 to £85,000 (£85,000 to £90,000)
Pension Benefits: See below (£33,000)
Total: N/A (£115,000 to £120,000)
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating Officer
Salary: £85,000 to £90,000 (£80,000 to £85,000)
Pension Benefits: See below (£31,000)
Total: N/A (£110,000 to £115,000)
James Maguire, Director of Finance
Salary: £65,000 to £70,000 (£55,000 to £60,000)
Pension Benefits: See below (£22,000)
Total: N/A (£80,000 to £85,000)
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Salary: £75,000 to £80,000 (£75,000 to £80,000)
Pension Benefits: See below (£27,000)
Total: N/A (£100,000 to £105,000)
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Salary: £85,000 to £90,000 (£75,000 to £80,000)
Pension Benefits: See below (£31,000)
Total: N/A (£105,000 to £110,000)
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Salary: £85,000 to £90,000 (£75,000 to £80,000)
Pension Benefits: See below (£29,000)
Total: N/A (£105,000 to £110,000)
Accrued pension benefits are not included in this table for 2023/24 due an exceptional delay in the calculation of these figures following the application of the public service pension remedy.
Pension Benefits – Subject to Audit
The company is part of the Civil Service Pension Scheme and most of our staff are members of the defined benefit offering (alpha). All of the ELT noted below are in alpha.
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: N/A
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: N/A
CETV at 31March 2024: N/A
CETV at31March 2023: £97,000
Real increase in CETV: N/A
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: N/A
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: N/A
CETV at 31March 2024: N/A
CETV at31March 2023: £248,000
Real increase in CETV: N/A
James Maguire, Finance Director
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: N/A
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: N/A
CETV at 31March 2024: N/A
CETV at31March 2023: £95,000
Real increase in CETV: N/A
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: N/A
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: N/A
CETV at 31March 2024: N/A
CETV at31March 2023: £91,000
Real increase in CETV: N/A
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: N/A
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: N/A
CETV at 31March 2024: N/A
CETV at31March 2023: £85,000
Real increase in CETV: N/A
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2024: N/A
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: N/A
CETV at 31March 2024: N/A
CETV at31March 2023: £77,000
Real increase in CETV: N/A
Accrued pension benefits are not included in this table for 2023/24 due an exceptional delay in the calculation of these figures following the application of the public service pension remedy.
Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is fully explained on page 49.
Prior year figures for the ELT were as follows:
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-£10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £97,000
CETV at31March 2022: £66,000
Real increase in CETV: £21,000
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £20,000-£25,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £248,000
CETV at31March 2022: £214,000
Real increase in CETV: £16,000
James Maguire, Finance Director
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-£10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £95,000
CETV at31March 2022: £71,000
Real increase in CETV: £17,000
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-£10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £91,000
CETV at31March 2022: £65,000
Real increase in CETV: £18,000
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-£10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £85,000
CETV at31March 2022: £56,000
Real increase in CETV: £20,000
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-£10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £77,000
CETV at31March 2022: £51,000
Real increase in CETV: £18,000
The Civil Service Pension Scheme are still assessing the impact of the McCloud judgement in relation to changes to benefits in 2015. The benefits and related CETVs disclosed do not allow for any potential future adjustments that may arise from this judgement.
Pension Schemes
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most staff members chose to join the scheme known as alpha which provides benefits on a career average basis with a normal pension age equal to the member’s State Pension Age. This statutory pension arrangement is unfunded with the cost of benefits met by monies voted by Parliament each year.
Employee contributions are salary related and range between 4.60% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. At the end of the scheme year the member’s earned pension account is credited with 2.32% of their pensionable earnings in that scheme year. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.30% of pensionable earnings.
The accrued pension quoted is the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over pension age. Pension age is the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha.
A few staff members have chosen to participate in the partnership pensions account which is a stakeholder pension arrangement. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member) into a stakeholder pension product chosen by the employee from a panel of providers. The employee does not have to contribute, but where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer basic contribution).
Employers also contribute a further 0.50% of pensionable salary in both schemes above to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).
A CETV is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent partner’s benefits payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves the scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the scheme, not just as their service in a senior capacity to which the disclosure applies.
The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the civil service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost.
CETVs are worked out in accordance with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.
Real Increase in CETV
This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.
Compensation for loss of office - Audited
There were no ILF Scotland directors or staff that left on Voluntary Exit, Voluntary Redundancy or Compulsory Redundancy terms.
Pay multiples – Subject to Audit
Fair pay
Year 2023-24
25th percentile pay ratio: 2.56
median pay ratio: 2.01
75th percentile pay ratio: 1.96
25th percentile pay: £34,177
median pay: £43,513
75th percentile pay: £44,557
Year 2022-23
25th percentile pay ratio: 2.77
median pay ratio: 2.16
75th percentile pay ratio: 2.04
25th percentile pay: £31,541
median pay: £40,436
75th percentile pay: £42,855
The banded remuneration of the highest paid employee in the company in the financial period 2023-24 was £85-90k (2022-23 £85-90k). The table above sets out how the various percentiles compare against the mid-point of the band of the highest paid employee. The remuneration above reflects pay and benefits other than pension benefits. We believe that the median pay ratios set out above are consistent with the pay, reward and progression policies for our employees taken as a whole. We adhere to Scottish Government pay policy.
Movement in the ratios are reflective of the consistent application of ILFS pay and reward policies in year to all staff, including the remuneration of the highest paid employee.
Total remuneration includes salary only. There were no bonus payments or benefits in kind. It does not include employer pension contributions.
The table above represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
In 2023-24 three (2022-23 nil) employees received remuneration in excess of the Chief Executive. Remuneration ranged from £26,631 to £88,251 (2022-23 £23,335 to £85,090).
The increase in the banded remuneration of the highest paid employee year on year was 0% (2022-23 6%).
Year on year annualised average staff FTE remuneration increased by 6.79% (2022-23 increase of 6.25%). This increase is in line with the overall Scottish Government pay settlement implemented during the year alongside staff pay progression. There were also a number of new staff members in the year at salary levels close to median pay which pushed up the average level of remuneration.
Staff Report
Gender Analysis
The table below shows the gender analysis of ILFS employees during the year.
Directors - 2023-24: Two Male, Six Female Directors - 2022-23: Three Male, Four Female
Senior Management Team - 2023-24: Six Male, Two Female Senior Management Team - 2022-23: Six Male, Two Female
Short term absences were 2.71% (2.40% in 2022-23). Long term absence has reduced significantly to 0.72% (2.32% in 2022-23). We continue to offer mental health awareness, personal resilience and suicide prevention workshops to all staff on an annual basis with mental health first aiders being trained and now in post to support our workforce. Our whole-life friendly suite of policies also continues to support the workforce in a positive manner.
Staff Costs & Numbers – Subject to Audit
2023-24
Permanently Employed Staff
Salaries £2,864,911
Social Security Costs £301,902
Other Pension Costs £759,106
Total £3,925,919
Fixed Term Contract Staff
Salaries £-
Social Security Costs £-
Other Pension Costs £-
Total £-
Board Members
Salaries £19,474
Social Security Costs £-
Other Pension Costs £-
Total £19,474
Total 2023-24
Salaries £2,884,385
Social Security Costs £301,902
Other Pension Costs £759,106
Total £3,945,393
2022-23
Permanently Employed Staff
Salaries £2,388,183
Social Security Costs £262,511
Other Pension Costs £647,502
Total £3,298,196
Fixed Term Contract Staff
Salaries £76,246
Social Security Costs £7,873
Other Pension Costs £15,248
Total £99,367
Board Members
Salaries £15,840
Social Security Costs £-
Other Pension Costs £-
Total £15,840
Total 2022-21
Salaries £2,480,269
Social Security Costs £270,384
Other Pension Costs £662,750
Total £3,413,403
In addition to the costs noted in the table there was also £89,948 paid to agencies for temporary staff (2022-23 £839).
Note that the numbers above exclude non-executive directors. The numbers show staff employed during the year.
Consultancy Costs
Amounts paid in the year
2023-24: £34,143 2022-23: £19,682
Staff Policies
Our policy framework enables the delivery of our strategy and also supports the wishes, needs and aspirations of a modern workforce which is underpinned by a strong culture of trust, dignity and respect. This has helped ILF Scotland to be a beacon of independent living and innovative thinking for disabled people and also an award-winning employer of choice. For us there is no such thing as a normal employee and the framework had to take into account values, equality, diversity, young and more mature employees, families, caring responsibilities and make-up of modern society. By doing this, we know we attract and retain the best team possible to achieve our inclusive organisational aspirations.
To support the way we aspire to work, we have co-produced with colleagues a comprehensive approach that supports our collective health and wellbeing alongside delivering our organisational strategy. This methodology is solidly based on organisational development, tailored to support the culture of inclusiveness, diversity, outcomes focus, trust, coaching and continuous improvement.
We have put in place an award-winning suite of whole-life-friendly policies, procedures, benefits and systems that can be tailored to meet individual circumstances. This includes working flexibly, compressed hours, being sympathetic to individual/family emergencies or remote working and providing the right technology to do the job.
Our above established policies proved to be invaluable when we, along with everyone in the country and indeed the world, were affected by the pandemic referred to as Covid-19. We quickly extended our remote working practices for all members of staff to keep both them and our recipients safe.
Staff Turnover
Staff turnover was 3% during the year (9% in 2022-23) and is considered very satisfactory. The 3% is made up of two employees, one of whom retired during the year.
Staff Survey
The ILF Scotland Employee Engagement Survey 2023 obtained an 88% response rate and of those responding, 93% feel valued by their colleagues, managers and senior managers with nearly all sharing that as a consequence of our approach at ILF Scotland they felt happier and that it had a positive impact on both their physical and mental health. Over three quarters reported overall satisfaction with their work life opportunities and 95% of overall respondents valuing the opportunities to work from home and flexibility of when they work. Consistently 95% continued to share that working for a values-driven organisation which respects their needs and those of the people for whom they provide a service is the main reason why they enjoy working for ILF Scotland.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017
We, as an organisation, are happy to recognise trade unions and we make a point of engaging trade unions on important matters affecting staff. An example of this was when we changed the pension scheme offering to staff. Relevant trade unions were actively consulted and involved.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 require public sector employers to publish information relating to facility time. At year end 31 March 2024, ILF Scotland did not have any trade union facility time (2022-23 nil).
Relevant union officials
What was the total number of your employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period?
Number of employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period: 0
Full-time equivalent employee number: 0
Percentage of time spent on facility time
How many of your employees who were relevant union officials employed during the relevant period spent a) 0%, b) 1%-50%, c) 51%-99% or d) 100% of their working hours on facility time?
Percentage of time / Number of Employees:
0% = 0 Employees
1-50% = 0 Employees
51-99% = 0 Employees
100% = 0 Employees
Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time
Provide the figures requested in the first column of the table below to determine the percentage of your total pay bill spent on paying employees who were relevant union officials for facility time during the relevant period.
Provide the total cost of facility time = 0
Provide the total pay bill = 0
Provide the percentage of the total pay bill spent on facility time, calculated as: (total cost of facility time ÷ total pay bill) x 100 = 0%
Paid trade union activities
As a percentage of total paid facility time hours, how many hours were spent by employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period on paid trade union activities?
Time spent on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid facility time hours calculated as: (total hours spent on paid trade union activities by relevant union officials during the relevant period ÷ total paid facility time hours) x 100 = 0
Signed: Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair, 25 June 2024
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 25 June 2024
Parliamentary Accountability Report (Subject to Audit)
Losses and special payments
In accordance with the SPFM, we are required to disclose losses and special payments above £300,000. During 2023-24 there were no losses or special payments within this criteria (2022-23: £nil).
Gifts and Charitable Donations
There were gifts made during the year amounting to £921 (2022-23: £695). There were no charitable donations made during the year (2022-23: nil).
Remote Contingent Liabilities
ILF Scotland are required to report any liabilities for which the likelihood of a transfer of economic benefit in settlement is too remote to meet the definition of contingent liability under IAS37. There are currently no remote contingent liabilities.
Signed: Anne-Marie Monaghan, Chair of the Board, 25 June 2024
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 25 June 2024
Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland, the Auditor General for Scotland and the Scottish Parliament
Report on the audit of the financial statements
Opinion on financial statements
I have audited the financial statements in the annual report and accounts of Independent Living Fund Scotland for the year ended 31 March 2024 under The Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008. The financial statements comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Cash Flows, the Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity and notes to the financial statements, including material accounting policy information. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards, as interpreted and adapted by the 2023/24 Government Financial Reporting Manual (the 2023/24 FReM).
In my opinion the accompanying financial statements:
give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at 31 March 2024 and of its net expenditure for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting standards, as interpreted and adapted by the 2023/24 FReM; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and directions made thereunder by the Scottish Ministers, and the Companies Act 2006.
Basis for opinion
I conducted my audit in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)), as required by the Code of Audit Practice approved by the Auditor General for Scotland. My responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of my report. I was appointed by the Auditor General on 2 December 2022. My period of appointment is five years, covering 2022/23 to 2026/27.
I am independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK including the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard, and I have fulfilled my other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. Non-audit services prohibited by the Ethical Standard were not provided to the company. I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern basis of accounting
I have concluded that the use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work I have performed, I have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
These conclusions are not intended to, nor do they, provide assurance on the company’s current or future financial sustainability. However, I report on the company’s arrangements for financial sustainability in a separate Annual Audit Report available from the Audit Scotland website.
Risks of material misstatement
I report in my Annual Audit Report the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement that I identified and my judgements thereon.
Responsibilities of the Accountable Officer and directors for the financial statements
As explained more fully in the Statement of the Directors' and Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities, the Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with the financial reporting framework, and for such internal control as the Accountable Officer and directors 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 Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for assessing the company'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 there is an intention to discontinue the company’s operations.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
My 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 my 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 decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. I design procedures in line with my responsibilities outlined above to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. Procedures include:
using my understanding of the central government sector to identify that the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and directions made thereunder by the Scottish Ministers, and the Companies Act 2006 are significant in the context of the company;
inquiring of the Accountable Officer as to other laws or regulations that may be expected to have a fundamental effect on the operations of the company;
inquiring of the Accountable Officer concerning the company’s policies and procedures regarding compliance with the applicable legal and regulatory framework;
discussions among my audit team on the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur; and
considering whether the audit team collectively has the appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with laws and regulations.
The extent to which my procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is affected by the inherent difficulty in detecting irregularities, the effectiveness of the company’s controls, and the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed.
Irregularities that result from fraud are inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error as fraud may involve collusion, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. The capability of the audit to detect fraud and other irregularities depends on factors such as the skilfulness of the perpetrator, the frequency and extent of manipulation, the degree of collusion involved, the relative size of individual amounts manipulated, and the seniority of those individuals involved. A further description of the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of my auditor’s report.
Reporting on regularity of expenditure and income
Opinion on regularity
In my opinion in all material respects the expenditure and income in the financial statements were incurred or applied in accordance with any applicable enactments and guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
Responsibilities for regularity
The Accountable Officer is responsible for ensuring the regularity of expenditure and income. In addition to my responsibilities in respect of irregularities explained in the audit of the financial statements section of my report, I am responsible for expressing an opinion on the regularity of expenditure and income in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.
Reporting on other requirements
Opinion prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report
I have audited the parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report described as audited. In my opinion, the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report have been properly prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006.
Other information
The Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for the other information in the annual report and accounts. The other information comprises the Performance Report and the Accountability Report excluding the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report.
My responsibility is to read all the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or my knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves.
If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact. I have nothing to report in this regard.
My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon except on the Performance Report and Governance Statement to the extent explicitly stated in the following opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland.
Opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on Performance Report and Governance Statement
In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
the information given in the Performance Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006; and
the information given in the Governance Statement for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006.
Matters on which I am required to report by exception
I am required by the Auditor General for Scotland to report to you if, in my opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements and the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
I have not received all the information and explanations I require for my audit.
I have nothing to report in respect of these matters.
Conclusions on wider scope responsibilities In addition to my responsibilities for the annual report and accounts, my conclusions on the wider scope responsibilities specified in the Code of Audit Practice are set out in my Annual Audit Report.
Use of my report
This report is made solely to the parties to whom it is addressed in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and for no other purpose. In accordance with paragraph 108 of the Code of Audit Practice, I do not undertake to have responsibilities to members or officers, in their individual capacities, or to third parties.
Kyle McAuley CA Audit Scotland 4th Floor 8 Nelson Mandela Place Glasgow G2 1BT
25 June 2024
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2024
Expenditure
Notes
2023-24 (£)
2022-23 (£)
Grants to individuals
3
52,092,383
51,413,839
Staff costs
4
3,945,393
3,413,403
Other operating income and expenditure
5
1,178,641
871,042
Interest payable
5,617
4,731
Depreciation
6/7
75,558
58,992
Total comprehensive net expenditure for the year
57,297,592
55,757,276
All expenditure relates to continuing operations. The notes on pages 68 to 88 form part of these financial statements.
Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2024
Notes
31 March 2023 (£)
31 March 2022 (£)
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment - right-of-use
6
116,064
521,098
Intangible assets
7
37,260
-
Total non-current assets
153,324
521,098
Current assets
Trade and other receivables
9
406,663
538,319
Cash and cash equivalents
10
6,280,494
7,770,500
Total current assets
6,687,157
8,308,819
Total assets
6,840,481
8,829,917
Current liabilities
11
(2,206,273)
(4,038,050)
Total assets less current liabilities
4,634,208
4,791,867
Non-current liabilities
12
(126,215)
(506,278)
Net assets
4,507,993
4,285,589
Taxpayers’ equity
General reserve
4,507,993
4,285,589
Total taxpayers’ equity
4,507,993
4,285,589
For the year ending 31 March 2024 the company was exempt under s482 of the Companies Act 2006 (non-profit making companies subject to public sector audit) from the audit requirements of Part 16 of that Act. The company is, instead, subject to audit by an auditor chosen selected by the Auditor General for Scotland by virtue of the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2019, an order made under s483 of the Act.
The Directors authorised these financial statements for issue on 25 June 2024.
Signed: Anne-Marie Monghan, Chair of the Board, 25 June 2024
Signed Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 25 June 2024
The notes on pages 68 to 88 form part of these financial statements.
Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2024
Notes
2023-24 (£)
2022-23 (£)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net expenditure
(57,297,592)
(55,757,276)
Depreciation
5
75,558
58,992
Interest Payable
5,617
4,731
Adjustment for initial adoption of IFRS16
-
38,832
Decrease/(Increase) in trade and other receivables
9
131,656
(473,390)
(Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables and other liabilities
11
(1,847,360)
828,141
Net cash outflow from operating activities
(58,932,121)
(55,299,970)
Acquisition of assets
6/7
(37,260)
(580,090)
Re-assessment of right of use asset
329,476
-
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities
292,216
(580,090)
Cash outflows from financing activities
Grant Funding
57,519,996
54,920,000
Leasing finance (re-assessed)/received
(326,434)
511,257
Net cash flows from financing activities
57,193,562
55,431,257
Cash outflows from financing activities
Finance lease payments
(38,046)
(37,342)
Interest payable
(5,617)
(4,731)
Net cash flows from financing activities
57,149,899
55,389,184
Net (Decrease)/Increase in cash and cash equivalents in the period
(1,490,006)
(490,876)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period
7,770,500
8,261,376
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period
10
6,280,494
7,770,500
The notes on pages 68 to 88 form part of these financial statements.
Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2024
General Reserve
£
£
Balance at 1 April 2023
4,285,589
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2023-2024
Grant in aid from departments
57,519,000
Net expenditure
(57,297,592)
222,404
Balance at 31 March 2024
4,507,993
Balance at 1 April 2022
5,122,865
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2022-2023
Grant in aid from departments
54,920,000
Net expenditure
(55,757,276)
(837,276)
Balance at 31 March 2023
4,285,589
General reserve – relates to the ongoing operation of regular payments to individuals and the associated administration costs, financed by Grant in Aid.
The IFRS16 adjustment relates to the reversal of a dilapidations provision in existence at 31 March 2022 prior to the implementation of IFRS16. Such provisions are now capitalised onto the right of use asset. The adjustment also reflects opening depreciation on dilapidations at 1 April 2022.
The notes on pages 68 to 88 form part of these financial statements.
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
1 Nature and purpose of ILF Scotland
ILF Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. The company is limited by guarantee (company number SC500075). The guarantor is The Scottish Ministers. The company is an NDPB of Scottish Government.
ILF Scotland carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is also an agreement between Scottish Government and Northern Ireland DOH for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF users based in Northern Ireland.
It is financed by Grant in Aid from to provide assistance with the cost of qualifying support and services to disabled applicants and to meet the operating costs of the company. The Grant in Aid amount is approved annually and confirmed in a letter of delegation.
2 Statement of Accounting Policies
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with a direction given by the Scottish Ministers in pursuance of Section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. They also comply with the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. Scottish Government has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2024-25. The directors are not aware of any reason why the required Grant in Aid will not be made available in subsequent years.
a) Accounting convention
These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
b) Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment consists of leased property (right-of-use assets) and IT equipment (owned assets). ILF Scotland believes that the useful economic life is a realistic reflection of the life of its assets, and the depreciated historical cost method provides a realistic reflection of the consumption of those assets. The company therefore carries assets at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment in value.
With regard to right-of-use assets, value is assessed as the net present value of future lease payments plus any associated dilapidations provisions. Adjustments to asset valuation will be made if there are any material variations to lease terms.
c) Depreciation
Depreciation on property, plant and equipment is charged on a straight-line basis to write off the cost less residual values over the useful life of the asset: incepting at the purchase date, or when the asset is available for use, whichever is the later. IT hardware and equipment is depreciated over a three-year life span. Right-of-use assets are depreciated over the term of the lease. No depreciation is charged on assets in the course of construction. Depreciation will commence when the asset is brought into use.
d) Intangible assets
Intangible assets consist of bespoke software developed for the company and software licences held only for the purpose of managing the company. All intangible assets are carried at historic cost less amortisation.
Bespoke software assets are capitalised in the year of implementation. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years once the asset is brought into use.
Software licences are capitalised in the year of acquisition. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years.
Amortisation periods and methods are reviewed annually and adjusted if appropriate.
e) Financial instruments
The company procurement policy is to enter into contracts and framework agreements for services and supplies at current agreed costs with annual price reviews, rather than create complex financial instruments.
Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the Statement of Financial Position when ILF Scotland becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are recognised at fair value (the transaction price plus any directly attributable transaction costs, assessed for recoverability where relevant). Subsequent measurement is at amortised cost, although no adjustment for the time value of money is made where the settlement period is short so there would be no significant effect.
Financial assets comprise loans and receivables, which are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market. Loans and receivables comprise cash at bank, accrued bank interest, prepayments and other receivables.
Financial liabilities comprise grant liabilities, trade payables, accruals, deferred income, leasing and provisions.
f) Reserves policy
Grant in Aid is not drawn in full in advance but requested each calendar month to meet estimated cash outflow. The company does not hold strategic reserves as it is dependent on public funding. It does however have general reserves that can be utilised as required.
g) Grant in Aid
Funding to cover grants to individuals and administrative expenditure is provided through Grant in Aid. Grant in Aid is received on the basis of the ILF Scotland estimated cash payments during the financial year. Grant in Aid received forms part of the Departmental Expenditure Limits for the respective Departments. Grant in Aid is treated as financing rather than income and is directly credited to reserves.
h) Grants to individuals
Grants to individuals are discretionary grants made within Scottish Government rules and regulations. 2015 Fund grants are paid four weekly in arrears on the basis of authorised awards. Transition Fund grants are paid once applications have been approved and processed. Amounts due but unpaid at the end of the financial year are accrued.
Unused grants returned by individuals in the normal course of business are recognised on an accruals basis. An assessment is made of fair value recoverable.
i) Formal recovery of grants to individuals
Although grants to individuals are discretionary payments, formal recovery will be sought where the provision of incorrect information has led to incorrect payment or where the grants have not been used for the intended purpose. The company will seek to recover all amounts where it is cost-effective to do so unless it will cause hardship to the individual. Recovery procedures appropriate to the value and circumstances of the case will be used, in accordance with the ILF Scotland guidelines and procedures.
In accounting for recoveries we have adhered to the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting which gives guidance that an asset should not be recognised in the statement of financial position when the expenditure has been incurred for which it is considered improbable that economic benefits will flow. Therefore, a receivable is only recognised when it has been agreed with the individual and there is considered to be a definite prospect of recovery. Any grant recovery recognised will be disclosed as a reduction to expenditure in the year in which it is recognised.
Receivables will be assessed at the end of each accounting period and reduced to the estimated recoverable amount where there are circumstances that indicate full recovery is uncertain.
Amounts potentially recoverable in respect of Transition Fund grants are not treated as debt. All Transition Fund grant payments potentially remain payable until all evidence supporting the initial grant application has been received. We do not recognise any contingent assets in the financial statements.
j) Leasing
The company recognises a right-of-use asset and corresponding liability at the date at which a leased asset is made available, except for short term leases of less than 12 months and leases of low-value assets. For these leases, the company recognises the lease payments as an operating expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.
Lease liabilities are measured at the present value of the future lease payments. Subsequent to initial recognition, the lease liability is reduced for payments made and increased to reflect interest on the lease liability. The related right-of-use asset is depreciated over the term of the lease or, if shorter, the useful economic life of the leased asset. The lease term shall include the period of an extension option where it is reasonably certain that the option will be exercised.
k) Pension costs
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most staff choose to join the defined benefit offering.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme in which ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme is accounted for as a defined contribution scheme under the multi-employer exemption permitted in IAS 19 Employee Benefits. A full actuarial valuation was carried out as at 31 March 2020. Details can be found in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation (www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk)
Further pension details can be found in the remuneration and staff report on pages 42 to 54.
l) Significant estimates and judgements
In applying the company’s accounting policies, which are described in note 2, the directors are required to make judgements (other than those involving estimations) that have a significant impact on the amounts recognised and to make estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts 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.
a. Significant estimates
The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions in certain circumstances that affect reported amounts, and for this organisation such estimates are principally in assessing amounts due to recipients. There are no estimates which give rise to a significant risk of a material misstatement in the year ended 31 March 2024 (2022-23 none).
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 if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.
b. Judgements
The following are the critical judgements, apart from those involving estimations (which are presented separately above), that the directors have made in the process of applying the company’s accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in financial statements.
Recipient Accruals - we pay our 2015 Fund recipients four weeks in arrears, therefore we accrue based on the previous months payment information, this being a reliable measure. With regard to the Transition Fund we recognise a liability when applications are approved by management.
Recipient Payments Receivable – funding unused by recipients is repayable under our terms and conditions. In order to assess fair value of amounts deemed potentially receivable we use historic experience to determine recoverability. Our most recent experience tells us that once a debt is more than six months old there is little chance of recovery. We have therefore only recognised debts less than six months old to determine the fair value amounts deemed recoverable from unused funding at the year end. Recoverability factors are kept under review.
In making their judgement, the directors considered the detailed criteria for the recognition of assets and liabilities and are satisfied with the above methodology.
m) Reporting segments
IFRS 8 requires entities to provide information relating to the components of the entity that management uses to make decisions about operating matters. A segmental financial analysis is not considered necessary for the company, as no separate components are used for operating decisions made by the Senior Management Team.
n) Provisions
Provisions are recognised when there is a present obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of an event that occurred in the past and where it is probable that the settlement of that obligation will result in an outflow of resources, but the timing or amount of the settlement is uncertain. The amount recognised as a provision is the best estimate of the consideration which will be required to settle the obligation.
o) Adoption of new and revised Standards
1.Standards, amendments and interpretations effective in the current year
In the current year, ILF Scotland has applied a number of amendments to IFRS Standards and Interpretations that are effective for an annual period that begins on or after 1 January 2023. Their adoption has not had any material impact on the disclosures or on the amounts reported in these financial statements:
IFRS 17: Insurance Contracts. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 1: Disclosure of Accounting Policies. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 8: Definition of Accounting Estimates. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
2. Standards, amendments and interpretations early adopted this year
There are no new standards, amendments or interpretations early adopted this year.
3.Standards, amendments and interpretations issued but not adopted this year
At the date of authorisation of these financial statements, ILF Scotland has not applied the following new and revised IFRS Standards that have been issued but are not yet effective:
Amendment to IFRS 16: Lease Liability in a Sale and Leaseback. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
Amendment to IAS 1, Practice Statement 2: Non-current Liabilities with Covenants. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
Amendment to IAS 1: Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
Amendments to IAS 7 & IFRS 7: Supplier Finance Arrangements. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
Amendment to IAS 21: Lack of Exchangeability. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025.
IFRS S1 - General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
IFRS S2 - Climate-related Disclosures. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
ILF Scotland does not expect that the adoption of the Standards listed above will have a material impact on the financial statements in future periods.
3 Grants to individuals
2023-2024
2022-23
£
£
Payments made in year
59,540,826
55,531,220
Grant liabilities at start of year
(3,708,496)
(2,900,459)
Grant liabilities at end of year
1,726,942
3,708,496
Grant returns received in year
(5,607,939)
(4,479,840)
Grants receivable at start of year
445,578
-
Grants receivable at end of year
(304,528)
(445,578)
52,092,383
51,413,839
Grants to individuals are paid four-weekly in arrears. Grant liabilities consist of the accrued amounts from awards made by the end of the financial year but not fully paid up to the end of the financial year.
Returns received comprised £5,607,939 (2022-23 £4,479,840) in respect of unused funds returned by individuals. Grants receivable of £304,528 (2022-23 £445,578) consist of amounts deemed to be repayable by recipients but not received by the end of the financial year.
4 Staff costs
4a Staff numbers and related costs
2023-24
2022-23
£
£
Wages and salaries
2,884,385
2,480,269
Social security costs
301,902
270,384
Other pension costs (see note 4b below)
759,106
662,750
Total staff costs
3,945,393
3,413,403
Average number of persons directly employed
2022-23 Number
2022-23 Number
Directors (part-time non-executives)
8
7
Staff
73
67
81
74
4b Other pension costs
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most staff chose to join the defined benefit offering (alpha). Employee contributions are salary-related and range between 4.6% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.3% of pensionable earnings.
Contributions due to the current pension providers were £80,885 at 31 March 2024 (31 March 2023 £3,800). Contributions prepaid were nil at 31 March 2024 (31 March 2023 nil).
The Civil Service Pension Scheme known as alpha is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme. ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. You can find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation.
For 2023-24, employers’ contributions of £732,188 were paid in respect of alpha (2022-23 £646,010). Expected contributions in 2024-25 are approximately £765,000.
Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £26,918 were paid in 2023-24 (2022-23 £16,740) to one or more of the panel of three appointed stakeholder pension providers. Employer contributions are age related and ranged between 8% to 14.75%. In addition, the employer will match any employee contribution by way of an equivalent top-up percentage up to 3% of pensionable earnings. Expected contributions in 2024-25 are approximately £28,000.
5 Other operating income and expenditure
2023-24
2022-23
£
£
IT and information security costs
361,959
308,237
Agency costs for temporary staff
89,948
-
Utilities and other estate costs
33,522
30,496
Legal and professional costs
108,960
74,455
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence
323,185
286,843
Auditors remuneration (see below)
27,990
27,580
Communication and engagement
205,539
121,600
Postage costs
16,384
14,654
Research costs
7,750
-
Printing and stationery costs
3,404
2,446
Total other expenditure
1,178,641
866,311
The expected auditors remuneration for 2023-24 is £29,240. The figure shown above of £27,990 is after deducting a £1,250 rebate in relation to prior years
6 Property, plant and equipment - right-of-use assets
Property
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 1 April 2023
589,922
589,922
Adjustment
(336,691)
(336,691)
At 31 March 2024 as adjusted
253,231
253,231
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023
68,824
68,824
Adjustment
(7,215)
(7,215)
Charge for year
75,558
75,558
At 31 March 2024 as adjusted
137,167
137,167
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2024
116,064
116,064
At 31 March 2023
521,098
521,098
Property
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Adjustment
589,922
589,922
At 1 April 2022 as adjusted and at 31 March 2023
589,922
589,922
Depreciation
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Adjustment
9,832
9,832
At 1 April 2022 as adjusted
9,832
9,832
Charge for year
589,922
589,922
At 31 March 2023
68,824
68,824
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023
521,098
521,098
At 31 March 2022
-
-
The right of use assets relate to the property occupied by ILF Scotland which under government accounting regulations have been treated in accordance with IFRS 16 with effect from 1 April 2022. IFRS 16 Leases supersedes IAS 17 Leases and is being applied by HM Treasury in the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) from 1 April 2022.
IFRS 16 introduces a single lessee accounting model that results in a more faithful representation of a lessee’s assets and liabilities, and provides enhanced disclosures to improve transparency of reporting on capital employed.
The adjustments shown above relate to a property lease in existence at 1 April 2022 and now treated in accordance with IFRS 16. It was previously envisaged that this would be a 10 year lease. It has now been established that it will in fact be a three year arrangement with terms set out within a Memorandum of Terms of Occupation (MOTO). The MOTO ends on 31 January 2026.
Asset valuations and brought forward aggregate depreciation have therefore been adjusted accordingly to reflect the revision to terms.
Any lease modification adjustment is reflected within the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure.
7 Intangible assets
Information Technology
Information Technology Under construction
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 1 April 2023
281,028
-
281,028
Additions
-
37,260
37,260
At 31 March 2024
281,028
37,260
318,288
Amortisation
At 1 April 2023
281,028
-
281,028
Charge for year
-
-
At 31 March 2024
281,028
-
281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2024
-
37,260
37,260
At 31 March 2023
-
-
Information Technology
Information Technology Under construction
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023
281,028
-
281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2022 and at 31 March 2023
281,028
-
281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023
-
-
-
At 31 March 2022
-
-
-
8 Financial instruments and associated risks
As all of the of the company’s cash requirements are met through Grant in Aid, financial instruments play a more limited role in creating and managing risk than would apply to a non-public sector body. The majority of financial instruments relate to contracts to purchase non-financial items in line with the company’s expected usage requirements, so the company is exposed to little credit, liquidity or market risk. The value of financial instruments are considered to be a proxy of their fair value.
Financial Assets
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
£
£
Cash and cash equivalents
6,280,494
7,770,500
Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with a UK bank held in current accounts to minimise risk.
Financial liabilities
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
£
£
Grant liabilities
1,726,942
3,708,496
Trade payables and accruals
406,666
276,460
Deferred income
19,445
15,457
Leasing
109,435
473,915
Provisions
70,000
70,000
2,332,488
3,242,272
Grant liabilities: Represents awards authorised but unpaid at the year end. Trade payables and accruals: Represents amounts payable in the short term, to be met out of cash held at the year-end. Deferred income: Represents amounts received to meet liabilities due in the next financial year. Leasing: Represents amounts payable in respect of right of use assets. Provisions: Represents amounts potentially payable in respect of property dilapidations.
9 Trade and other receivables
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
£
£
Due within one year
Trade and other receivables (see below)
330,690
476,128
Prepayments
75,973
62,191
406,663
583,319
Trade and other receivables include amounts deemed recoverable in respect of unused grant funding and grant overpayments. A gross amount potentially recoverable of £703,894 has been reduced to fair value of £304,529 (2023 - £545,948 reduced to £445,578) and is included above. The movement in the fair value provision is shown below:
Fair value provision
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
£
£
At 1 April
100,370
-
Provision no longer required
(4,775)
-
Recovered in year
(4,618)
-
Provided in year
308,388
100,370
At 31 March
399,365
100,370
10 Cash and cash equivalents
2023-24
2022-23
£
£
Balance at 1 April
7,770,500
8,261,376
Net cash (outflow)/inflow
(1,490,006)
(490,876)
Balance at 31 March
6,280,494
7,770,500
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
£
£
Benefit accounts
5,934,691
7,532,097
Administration account
345,803
238,403
6,280,494
7,770,500
Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.
11 Current Liabilities
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
Trade and other payables
406,666
276,460
Other liabilities - grant liabilities
1,726,942
3,708,496
Other liabilities - deferred income
19,445
15,457
Leasing
53,220
37,637
2,206,273
4,038,050
12 Non-Current Liabilities
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
£
£
Leasing
56,215
436,278
Provisions
70,000
70,000
126,215
506,278
The leasing balance relates to the liability associated with right-of-use assets and is due in up to two years (10 years). The provisions balance relates to dilapidations associated with the lease.
13 Finance leases
There is a sub-lease for accommodation and facilities with SG.
The charges to the company are set in the head lease between SG and its accommodation supplier.
The building rental element of the lease is now reflected in right-of-use assets in accordance with IFRS 16.
Total future minimum lease payments under for services contained within finance leases for each of the following periods were:
31 March 2024
31 March 2023
Land and buildings (Denholm House)
Within one year
30,454
31,046
Within two to five years
23,983
136,604
Over 5 years
-
150,265
Total
54,437
317,915
Lease payments charged in year
29,169
29,568
14 Directors’ remuneration, interests and indemnities
The directors receive remuneration from the company. The total remuneration paid to the directors was £19,474 (2022-23 £15,840) for the year and further information is provided in the Remuneration Report. Directors received reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses amounting to £24 (2022-23 £105) for the year. No directors were a beneficiary of the company and received payments in accordance with the objects of ILF Scotland; a procedure is in place to manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
No other transactions were undertaken in which any director or person connected with any director had a material interest.
Scottish Government provides that directors are not personally liable for any loss to ILF Scotland other than that arising from wilful and individual fraud, wrongdoing or omission on the part of a director who is found to be liable.
15 Related party transactions and controlling party
Related parties are the directors and Scottish Government. ILF Scotland received Grant in Aid from Scottish Government of £57.5m (2022-23 £54.9m). Scottish Government makes payments to ILF Scotland on a monthly basis.
The Company’s ultimate controlling party is the Scottish Ministers.
During the year no directors were a beneficiary of ILF Scotland and received discretionary grants in accordance with the objects of the company.
No other related parties, including the directors and key management staff, have undertaken any transactions with the company during the period.
16 Agency Agreement
During previous years the company acted as agent for Scottish Government (the ultimate owner of the company) and also for DOH to pay a £500 care grant to eligible workers in the care sector in recognition of their contribution at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This arrangements were considered to be Agency Agreements since the company had no input to the decisions regarding who should be paid the award. The company was advised on who the recipients would be and the company had no discretion over the amount of award.
The relevant figures relating to SG are set out as follows:
2023-24
2022-23
Care grant funding
£
£
Received from SG in year
-
-
Received from SG in prior years
-
500
Income receivable in year
-
500
Payments made in year
-
500
Administration funding
Received from SG in year
-
-
Received from SG in prior year
-
-
Total receivable in year
-
-
Administration costs paid in year
-
Total funding
Received from SG in year
-
-
Received from SG in prior years
-
500
Total receivable in year
-
500
Total payments
Cost of care grants
-
500
Administration costs
-
-
Grand total payments in year
-
500
The relevant figures relating to DOH are set out as follows:
2023-24
2022-23
Care grant funding
£
£
Received from DOH in year
-
835,039
Payments made in year
-
835,039
Administration funding
Received from DOH in year
-
96,280
Administration costs paid in year
-
96,280
Total funding
Received from DOH in year
-
931,319
Total payments
Cost of care grants
-
835,039
Administration costs
-
96,280
Grand total payments in year
-
931,319
17 Capital commitments and contingent liabilities
There were no capital commitments or contingent liabilities at 31 March 2024.
18 Events after the reporting period
There are no events after the reporting period which would have an effect on the Annual Report and Financial Statements or which would require disclosure.
Appendix to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
Accounts Direction
ILF Scotland
DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS
The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
The statement of accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020, and subsequent years, shall comply with the accounting principles and disclosure requirements of the edition of the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) which is in force for the year for which the statement of accounts are prepared, and with the Companies Act 2006.
The accounts shall be prepared so as to give a true and fair view of the income and expenditure and cash flows for the financial year, and of the state of affairs as at the end of the financial year.
This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Signed by the authority of the Scottish Ministers Dated 27 May 2020
Annual Report and Accounts - Year Ended 31 March 2023
ILF Scotland Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2023 Company Number SC500075
Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to:
ILF Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston, EH54 6GA Registered in Scotland. Phone: 0300 200 2022. Email: enquiries@ilf.scot
ILF Scotland is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Scottish Government (SG). Our role is to provide a high quality service to, currently, over 4,500 disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland (NI), supporting them to achieve positive independent living outcomes, and to have greater choice and control over their lives.
ILF Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. We work in partnership with 37 Health and Social Care Partnerships/Trusts (HSCP/Ts) across Scotland and NI by jointly assessing and funding person centred care and support.
Operating from our central office in Livingston we employ (at 31 March 2023) 67 dedicated people including our social care professionals. Our assessors normally visit our recipients in their own homes every two years to identify their needs often in conjunction with Local Authority (LA) or trust social services departments. Our planned assessor visits were of course affected by Covid-19 and this is expanded upon later in this report.
Office address
ILF Scotland Denholm House Almondvale Business Park Almondvale Way Livingston EH54 6GA Registered in Scotland
ILF Scotland was set up in 2015 and carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and NI. Its aim is to deliver discretionary cash payments to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities. The organisation is an NDPB of SG and receives funding in the form of Grant in Aid from SG. There is also an agreement between the SG and the Department of Health in NI (DOH) for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF recipients based in NI.
Details of the Directors can be found here via the link below or directly on the company website: Board of Directors - ILF
Banker Royal Bank of Scotland 36 St. Andrew Square Edinburgh EH2 2AD
Performance Report
Overview
Statement from Chief Executive Officer, Peter Scott OBE
ILF Scotland has had its busiest and most successful period since being established in 2015 in terms of the number of disabled people supported, with payments made to over 4,500 individuals in the year. In partnership with Self-Directed Support Scotland and Scotland Excel we also concluded the highly complex “Thank You” payment schemes for the Scottish and NI Governments during the period, with over 7,000 Personal Assistants (PAs) receiving payment by the conclusion of these initiatives.
However, the last 12 months have without a doubt been one of the most challenging environments for disabled people in recent years. The chronic shortage of social care staff and the disproportionate impact of the cost of living crisis have compounded problems associated with delays in re-stablishing service provision to pre-pandemic levels, all adding to an already challenging situation.
As will be expanded on further on in this report, it is very clear that the challenges faced by disabled people with the reductions in support and provision from statutory organisations through Covid-19, have been further eroded as they re-establish to what is the new “normal” post-pandemic. A clear example of this is the record demand being driven through the Transition Fund, with growth of over 40% year on year. This demand has been exacerbated by additional demands for ILF Scotland’s expertise and the extremely tight fiscal landscape.
For all this, it should be noted that ILF Scotland has not only had its busiest year ever, but the most successful one in terms of the number of disabled people supported financially. In addition to this, many have also been supported with advice, guidance and assistance to the high levels of quality and customer service ILF Scotland has become known for. This is also evidenced by the progress against our strategy and business plan across many facets of the organisation. Staff have worked hard and have performed exceptionally well against a very difficult professional and personal backdrop and for this they should be commended.
Signed: Peter Scott, OBE 28 June 2023
Strategic Plan
Our key outcomes from our Strategic Plan are listed below:
Strategic Outcome 1 - Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people.
Strategic Outcome 2 - Be leaders in enabling independent living.
Strategic Outcome 3 - Operate a high-quality efficient service.
Further information on these outcomes are set out in pages 10 to 15 together with the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) against which we monitor performance.
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
This year our principal risks and uncertainties were mainly in connection with recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, managing the continued growth of the Transition Fund, the management of resources, managing the movement of personal and sensitive information, managing an ageing Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, managing IT security and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes. We believe that we responded very well to all risk areas and this is explored further in the Analysis section of this report.
Risk is further addressed in the Annual Governance Statement on pages 31 to 32.
Operational update
Over the reporting period we have continued to expand the number of physical reviews to catch up with a two year pandemic related backlog. Due to the challenges already alluded to, this is proving to be very difficult and despite best efforts we have only been able to get back to about 65% of the pre-pandemic run rate. Reviews are increasingly complex and are taking much longer to resolve due to the aforementioned issues, meaning awards are taking longer to finalise with workloads and caseloads increasing in line with this.
During the past year we had approximately 17,700 calls to operations teams, almost identical to the previous year. Throughout the pandemic, assessors provided regular contact with recipients rather than a one-off set of contacts typical of a review every two years. The ongoing support for many recipients has continued to date as a necessity and as a result, the fixed two year review visit timetable may need to be revised to ensure we target our inputs where it is needed the most.
By the end the year we had received 3,205 Transition Fund applications, an increase of 41% on last year. Challenges around processing applications remain significant due to the variable quality of submissions and the lack of necessary supporting documentation. We do however have to bear in mind that we are dealing with young, sometimes vulnerable, disabled adults. Various efficiencies, innovations and process improvements have somewhat mitigated this, with the existing staff team continuing to make every effort to progress applications timeously. However, the sheer volume of applications we are receiving is challenging the current staffing complement and operating model. This is why we have been working to carry out an in-depth review of the Fund in an effort to find further efficiencies, consider whether additional resource is required and revising the processing model as appropriate. At the strategic level, we continue to engage with Governments, statutory organisations, various working groups and consultations to produce national guidance alongside inputting into the set-up of the National Care Service (NCS). We also carried out comprehensive reviews during 2022-23 on several policies to take account of legislative/operational environmental changes. We retained several elements of Covid-19 policy flexibility throughout the year with both the Scottish and NI Governments extending this to the end of March 2023.
In terms of IT infrastructure, a full business case for capital investment for delivery transformation has been produced after extensive work, but unfortunately full funding was not granted at this stage. Instead we have been given permission to spend some of our reserves on a cloud based replacement for our ageing core casework database. This will make a big difference and will facilitate a part-digital transformation for ILF Scotland. This project has moved from Discovery to Proof of Concept stage, working with third party suppliers on potential software solutions.
In summary, as can been seen from the brief narrative set out above, it has been another exceptional year for ILF Scotland dealing with the profound impact of Covid-19 on us all alongside the ever more acute cost of living. We have had the busiest yet in some ways the most rewarding reporting period by any benchmark since opening in July 2015.
Future Plans
We continue to work towards re-establishing a new baseline for our operations, implementing our strategy, extending the Transition Fund, re-opening the 2015 Fund to new applications in Scotland and NI (subject to Ministerial approval) and supporting both Scottish and NI Governments to deliver their priorities for disabled people to live independently with choice, control and dignity.
Looking to the future and fulfilling the current strategy, the progress made on the digital transformation business case coupled with work on organisational sustainability are significant stepping stones. Both areas look to achieve greater efficiency through smarter use of technology, of staff, of resources and operational processes to reduce our consumption and work towards a Net Zero position by 2040.
Business Plan Progress
Progress towards all strategic objectives remains strong and on track to complete by the end of this current strategic cycle/business plan, which has been extended and enhanced after discussion with the SG Sponsor Team. Performance against our key strategic objectives is set out in the Analysis section which follows on page 10.
Organisational Structure
The organisational structure is set out below and shows core departments:
Analysis
Key Performance Indicators
Strategic Outcome 1 – Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people:
Strategic Objective – Development of the evidence base and proposals to re-open the 2015 Fund.
Target Outcome: The evidence base is further developed to support the reopening of the 2015 Fund.
Key Performance Indicators:
Further research and evidence from the development work in NI by end March 2021 establishes the strategic and business rationale for reopening in NI and informs baseline preparations for Scotland.
Full analysis of welfare check calls and new recovery calls provide sponsor team with up to date impact assessment of current support arrangements on the ground for disabled people.
Use feedback from disabled people on the impact of Covid-19 on them is used to help shape business plan for 2021-23.
Activity Update:
The Ministerial submission for the reopening in NI was completed and submitted to the previous Minister for Health for a decision on next steps. The political situation in NI and the absence of an Executive has meant that no progress can be made. We are in regular contact with the Sponsor Team and an update on the situation is provided at each meeting of the NI Stakeholder Group.
In Scotland, the previous Minister confirmed support for the re-opening of the Fund but was unable to provide a timescale for this due to financial pressures and the need to ensure the ongoing affordability and long term sustainability of any re-opening. We plan to discuss inviting the new Minister to a meeting of the Scotland Advisory Group with our SG Sponsor and Advisory Group members.
We fully took onboard feedback from our recipients on the impact of Covid-19 and incorporated this where required in working practice, policy and strategy.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Develop the Transition Fund
Target Outcome:
Sponsor team fully briefed on demand and financial pressures on the fund.
Staffing levels to support continued levels of demand understood and provisioned.
Based on demand and feedback, develop proposals for a broader based fund for multiple users and uses.
Key Performance Indicators:
Revise maximum award cap at a level that matches demand and is financially sustainable.
One extra staff member recruited to support the fund.
Quarterly demand and usage report and feedback from ambassador group provides evidence base for developments.
Activity Update:
The Transition Fund performance is monitored, reported on and discussed on a regular basis with the Sponsor Team, who understand and appreciate the capacity pressures as a result of the ever increasing volume of applications and the continuing lack of quality of these applications resulting in the need for multiple interventions by staff, which impacts on the processing target timescales.
We are completing a comprehensive review of the Transition Fund, which will include a number of additional efficiency measures and options regarding the model we use. We plan to develop proposals to deliver a form of funding to a broader base of user experiencing transitions at different life stages. We also revised the award cap as appropriate.
We sought feedback directly from current fund recipients, and we engage regularly with the Young Ambassadors Group, Fund recipients and their representatives and wider education, health and social care representatives through our ongoing engagement and used this feedback to make adjustments to operating procedures and practice.
Status: Green
Strategic Outcome 2 – Be leaders in enabling independent living:
Strategic Objective - Be leaders and champions in sharing our knowledge of enabling independent living with others.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is recognised as the lead public body for enabling independent living.
Key Performance Indicators:
Membership of national boards and committees.
Membership of integration working groups.
Participation in national social work practice events.
Inclusion in reviews of Self-Directed Support (SDS).
Activity update:
CEO continues with the Scottish Government PA Programme Board exploring implications of the Feeley review for this critical group of the social care and support workforce.
CEO anticipating invitation to join SG working group on Human Rights and Independent Living.
Director of SDS now part of SG working group looking at the current and future social care and support operating models as part of the development work for a National Care Service (NCS).
PA thank you/special recognition payments under contract to Governments in both Scotland and Ni is now complete and was very successful.
Director of SDS has been part of the Social Work Scotland led review of SDS guidance.
ILF Scotland being considered as delivery organisation for Care Experienced Grant currently under development and included in the Scottish Programme for Government 2023-24.
We are currently exploring ILF Scotland representation in the NCS co-design work and are discussing with our Advisory Group.
CEO continues to be involved in the NCS Key Stakeholder Reference Group.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Develop a shared understanding and best practice model of enabling sustainable independent living outcomes.
Target Outcome:
An agreed and integrated approach from health and social care providers in enabling best practice independent living with a clear role for ILF Scotland.
Key Performance Indicators:
ILF Scotland is seen as an exemplar body in enabling independent living.
ILF Scotland has a clearly defined role and remit in the delivery of an integrated social care model.
ILF Scotland becomes part of the governance or operations board of a new NCS.
Activity Update:
Social work Scotland (SWS): Adult Social Care Committee quarterly meeting, we input to general policy and practice across Scotland. New National SDS Guidance for Scotland is now publicised with ILF contributions in many parts of the new draft promoting the choice and control of users and adoption of the SDS standards.
Scottish Government: The National SDS Collaboration group has met quarterly and has a wide membership with the voice of lived experience fairly represented.
We meet with SDS leads in NI Trusts and bi-monthly with the SDS leads in Scotland via Social Work Scotland dedicated meetings and hosted projects delivering new SDS standards in Scotland.
We have individual team meetings and whole SDS service meetings which enable staff contributions and the implementation of the Charter for Involvement, a process of continuous learning and improvement.
We have contributed to the ongoing implementation of the Principles of Transition in Scotland and implemented a new Technology Grant.
Status: Green
Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high quality efficient service:
Strategic Objective - Re-establish recipient reviews as soon as possible.
Target Outcome:
Safe review visit model developed.
Recipients trained and supported to participate fully in review visits.
ILF Scotland seen as leading good practice.
Key Performance Indicators:
ILF Scotland to develop a viable and safe method by which exceptional (emergency) review visits can take place.
Work in partnership with SWS and HSCP and HSCT colleagues to develop a sector agreed approach to social care review visits.
Activity Update:
This year has seen us continue physical visits in full with recipients and social work representatives still utilising our continuing protocols for safe visits.
Progress has been made in agreeing our policy, practice and processes going forward for the 2015 fund and the Transition Funds incorporating learning from the pandemic. The Transition Fund has received a record number of applications this year, many complex, prompting a review of all operations.
ILF Scotland will allow a Local Authority to transfer responsibility for managing an ILF Award from the Local Authority to an agreed 3rd party agency. This will not be agreed as a mass transfer of a group but can be agreed on an individual basis if the recipients health, safety and welfare are still protected.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Prepare the full business case for a fully integrated, digitised, ILF Scotland as part of the wider whole systems approach to health and social care delivery.
Target Outcome:
Preliminary discovery of Use Cases to inform tender documentation.
Successful tender and development of target operating model and costings.
Business Case submitted to sponsor team for capital infrastructure investment.
Key Performance Indicators:
Business Case for capital investment to support service delivery transformation submitted to sponsor team and health finance.
Activity Update:
The business case for capital investment for delivery transformation has been produced but full funding was not granted. Instead we have been given permission to spend some reserves on a cloud based replacement for our ageing core casework database. This will make a big difference and will facilitate a part-digital transformation for ILF Scotland.
We have appointed a Transformation lead who commenced in quarter 4.
Work continues on in-year developments with the launch of the Technology grant, Local Authority portal and ICI development.
Status: Green
Efficiencies:
We constantly carry out improvement and efficiency work and this has enabled the organisation to deliver more. Over the year we have carried out improvements that have saved 3,919 (2021-22 - 1,548) hours of staff time. This works out at approximately two (2021-22 - one) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff which is around 3% (2021-22 - 1.5%) of our workforce. This equates to an approximate overall saving of 2.5% of our cost base (2021-22 - 1.2%) compared to the SG target of 3%.
Due to the extensive work done in previous years we are moving to a position where only smaller gains can be realised without the full capital investment referred to above.
Self-Directed Support
Social Work Update - Over the reporting period we have continued physical reviews whilst following best practice in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and protection of recipients and staff. To enable the completion of reviews, we temporarily waived a number of key policies and procedures - around LA engagement and reduced service input - because LAs advised they were still routinely dealing primarily with emergency assessments. We have therefore kept our Covid-19 Policy flexibilities under constant review, and we have worked with LA/Trust partners with a view to shifting back to pre-pandemic policy positions. It is hoped that the anticipated widespread re-opening of services materialises in the next financial year, and this in turn will allow ILF Scotland recipients to support to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Our two year review cycle is currently under pressure due to the increased support our recipients clearly require, and we are having discussions around how to maximise the positive impact of a review visit with potentially more flexible timescales. In 2019-20 we completed 1,900 review visits, a typical year. In 2020-21 during the height of the pandemic, we completed 172 in-person visits. In 2021-22, when pandemic restrictions were largely in place we completed 400 review visits. This year we have completed 1,050 2015 Fund visits and 35 visits for the Transition Fund. However we made over 2,700 new award offers indicating substantial numbers of changes of circumstances and our responsiveness to recipients current needs: the impact on operational staff is increased workloads across the service.
Summary - The operating environment remains challenging for our staff who are regularly supporting isolated recipients, stretched and stressed carers, and anxious young people applying to the Transition Fund. Many standard operating policies and procedures were suspended or amended, and we are now taking a more flexible policy approach in the interests of our recipients. This has the impact of adding layers of complexity to decision making, and results in delays with processing reviews. We hope to re-assert our core policies and ILF Scotland’s role in the next financial year, bringing improved partnership working with HSCP/T. We will also review our recipient visit cycle with a view to maximising our independent living impact.
Policy, Improvements and Engagement
Policy and Improvement – We carried out comprehensive reviews during 2022-23 on several policies to take account of legislative/operational environmental changes. This was further to our full review of all of our policies in 2021-22.
Covid-19 Flexibility – We retained several elements of Covid-19 policy flexibility throughout the year with both the Scottish and NI Governments extending this to the end of March 2023. We used this flexibility sparingly but successfully for a small number of recipients. For example, we were able to award some emergency respite to avoid recipient admission to care homes and were able to extend the payment of award while some recipients were in hospital or care homes beyond the standard 28 days rather than suspending the awards.
Reporting - We made good progress in implementing improvement initiatives in our published Equalities Mainstreaming and Outcomes and Corporate Parenting reports. We will establish working groups from the Stakeholder and Advisory group.
Transition Fund - We received 3,205 applications, an increase of 41% on last year. Application numbers have grown strongly throughout the year. The launch of the Technology Grant caused a significant increase in applications from December 2022 to March 2023, with 381 submitted and processed in that short period. The underlying trend in full Transition Fund applications shows strong growth.
Communications and Engagement - The Communications team delivered external communication (direct and digital) to all our stakeholders on:
Scottish Social Care Wage increase for PAs.
Northern Ireland award increase for PAS.
Bi-annual newsletters.
Digital communications - Our new website was launched in the summer of 2022. We have received very positive feedback from our stakeholders, particularly around the accessibility of the new website. This is evident in the engagement statistics which show a 143.5% increase in page views and a 702.8% increase in new users in 2022-23. We are now in a phase of continual improvement and are looking at what further upgrades and technical efficiencies can be made to our website in 2023-24 to help advance our stakeholder communication and engagement.
Marketing and accessibility - This year the team launched a re-brand and accessibility project on all organisational marketing documents and publications in order to meet some of the aims and commitments set out in the Charter for Involvement Action Plan. This work will continue into 2023-24 and is a key objective within the organisational communications strategy for next year.
Public relations and events - At the end of November 2022 and in the run up to the UN’s International Day of People with Disabilities we held a very successful five year celebration event for Transition Fund recipients. Nearly 200 young people, their parents, carers, families and external partners attended. The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport also launched the Technology Grant providing an IT solution to enable young disabled people to be digitally connected. Following the event and subsequent PR about the grant, we reached over 25,000 people. This led to over 200 Technology Grant applications being received in the first month following the launch.
Engagement - We completed an extensive programme of external engagement throughout the year with a number of partners and stakeholders with a 15% increase in engagement activity compared with the previous year. We continued to focus on attracting Transition Fund applications from geographical areas where applications are low and also focused on increasing applications from those who are care experienced and the deaf community. In 2023-24 we will focus on engagement activity that meets and is in line with the aims of our Corporate Parenting Plan and Equalities Mainstreaming Action Plan. This will involve further work on increasing applications from those who are care experienced and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
Complaints - For the full 2022-23 year we received 25 complaints compared to 34 in 2021-22. The majority of these complaints related to the Transition Fund - 23, compared to two for the 2015 Fund. The complaints concerning the Transition Fund relate mainly to applicants deemed to be ineligible for a grant payment. We capture each learning point from this valuable feedback about our service and act to address any issues raised through revised procedures, staff training, etc. in the spirit of continuous organisational improvement.
Our People
2022-23 has been another extremely busy year. In conjunction with additional projects such as 35 Hour Working Week consultation, Employee Passport launch and records management migration we have again observed increasing year on year work pressures. Our continuing innovative support to our workforce, along with the introduction of new measures, has supported staff throughout the year. Our attrition remains low; however, we have seen several staff members retire and others leaving to promoted posts and other opportunities. Further details are contained on page 52.
Our absence rate has remained static as we worked our way through the pandemic with several long-term absences. Further details can be seen on page 50.
We are immensely proud to have again been awarded a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September 2022.
We are a positive, open and supportive employer which is welcomed across the workforce. The Health and Wellbeing programme has remained front and centre of our decision making as we made our way through the year, offering several workshops including ‘Mental Health & Resilience’ refreshers and ‘Returning to the Workplace’. We have continued to meet all staff monthly through ZOOM and this will continue into 2023-24. As we work with new and improved flexible/hybrid principles we continue to ‘Keep in Touch’ with smaller staff groups as it remains important to reconnect. Our Trickle App has been successful allowing us to react swiftly to staff mood senses and pulse surveys making positive change as required. The Trickle App is now embedded as a great tool to connect with staff who are enabled to openly discuss issues whether anonymously or recognised.
The year ensued with continuing pressures on staff as a result of new projects and heavy workloads. We remain vigilant about the potential impact of heavy workloads particularly in the context of the unintended consequences of Covid-19 continuing to challenge us all. Planning is underway to continue further Mental Health & Resilience workshops from the Strong Minded Resilience Team and promote our own Mental Health First Aiders to all staff.
Organisational Demography – By the end of the year 2022-23 the organisational make-up is 74: staff (67) and Directors (7): 73%:27% female: male, with 21.62% of staff self-identified as disabled, 2.70% BME and 2.70% LGBT.
Employment status – During 2022-23 we have continued our commitment as a supportive life friendly employer offering a suite of life friendly policies. We have listened and reacted to feedback from colleagues through our Staff Survey and TRICKLE mood senses/pulse surveys which has informed positive change. All ILF Scotland staff have employed status; full time/part time with many different flexible working patterns to suit individual and organisational need. This continues to provide stability and continuity for both the organisation and individuals during this time of continued uncertainty.
During 2022-23 all staff have worked 100% flexibly and we will continue to ensure staff can have a work/life harmony which suits their individual circumstances. Planning work has started for the 2023-26 Workforce plan which will consider our current staff and current and future workstreams, including new duties we may be formally requested to discharge in due course.
Recruitment - Due to heavy workloads across the organisation and in part due to post Covid-19 unintended consequences of changing policies and staff leaving, we have continued to build and strengthen our workforce.
Information Governance and IT
Records Management - Our new file plan is now in place and staff are working well within the new structure. The team have submitted a full Progress Update Review to the National Records of Scotland which offers an update of our Records Management Plan. A group has been set up internally to manage Information Governance. This has representation from across the organisation with Information Management Support Officers working in each functional area, managing and feeding back on their own area of the file plan. The internal audit process for the management of organisational records has been created and is currently being trialled by all teams. The trial period is due to be complete by July 2023 with staff feeding back on the process over the summer. The first full scale audit of organisational health in this area will take place in October 2023, in line with our reporting cycle for the National Records of Scotland Progress Update Review.
Digital and System Developments - Four new LA areas have been added to the LA portal: West Lothian, East Ayrshire, Fife and Perth & Kinross. Additional areas will be added in quarter 1 of the new financial year. The Scottish Living Wage uplift was processed automatically increasing PA hourly rates to the new SG published rate. We have made significant developments moving away from paper printouts with the use of notifications and emails for our Caseworkers.
In terms of Systems Developments our digital transformation project has moved from Discovery to Proof of Concept stage, working with third party suppliers on potential software solutions. This work commenced in the final quarter of the year. Funding has been secured and the project may take up to two years to complete.
Risk and Resilience - We tested our processes during the year and further scenario planning is complete and our teams are ready to again practice our resilience processes and build on lessons learned from the last exercise. The year has seen the resilience programme embed further into the organisation and we aim to build on this in 2023-24 with more coaching and training.
Cyber security – We have completed our re-accreditation of Cyber Essentials Plus. We took part in a month long simulated phishing campaign and staff reporting has been very good during the period. Throughout the year we have remained vigilant and pro-active with infrastructure security and have kept staff up to date with the latest threats, all of which contribute to our stable security posture.
Governance and social responsibility
The company is committed to good employee relations and HR policies have been developed from best practice to ensure full compliance with employment and equalities legislation.
ILF Scotland seeks to actively manage sickness absences and has return to work meetings with staff to improve support on resumption of duties and discuss absence patterns and causes.
The company procurement policy ensures fair competition and value for money, with specific arrangements to encourage tenders from employers of disabled people in procurement exercises. ILF Scotland is committed to prompt payment of bills for goods and services received. Payments are normally made within the period specified in the contract. Where there is no contractual or other understanding, we endeavour to pay within 10 days of the receipt of the goods or services, or the presentation of a valid invoice or similar demand, whichever is later.
In 2022-23 ILF Scotland paid 97% of invoices within 10 days (2021-22 99%) of receipt. The number of creditor days outstanding at the end of 2022-23 was 11 days (2021-22 25 days).
Financial review
Our Grant in Aid funding allocation and actual expenditure is set out below:
Grant in Aid
Resource expenditure Allocation £m: 60.5 Actual £m: 55.8
Capital expenditure Allocation £m: 0.5 Actual £m: 0.6
Non-cash Allocation £m: 0.1 Actual £m: 0.1
Total Fiscal Resource Allocation £m: 61.1 Actual £m: 56.6
Awards Paid – The payments made to recipients for the year 2022-23 were £51.4m (2021-22 £49.2m), of which £2.8m (2021-22 £1.4m), was for the Transition Fund.
Reserves – We have healthy reserves at almost £4.3m at 31 March 2023 (£5.1m at 31 March 2022).
External Audit – Audit Scotland have been appointed for the financial years 2022/23 to 2026/27.
Whilst we report an underspend of £4.6m against originally granted funding for the year, we are actually reporting a decrease in taxpayers’ equity for the year amounting to £837k which has been transferred from general reserve as set out on page 66. We drew down significantly less funding than originally allocated in order to balance out our forecast funding requirements and our general reserve was intentionally managed down during the year in view of our surplus opening reserves position.
ILF Scotland is financed out of Grant in Aid from SG for the purpose of making regular grants to individuals. Grant in Aid of £54.9 million (2021-22 £55.4 million) was utilised in Scotland and NI to meet the needs of users and related administration costs.
Assets are held only for the purpose of managing the company.
The company requests and receives Grant in Aid on a monthly basis to meet its immediate cash needs. Procurement policies are designed to secure goods and services for immediate consumption during the year with best value for money at current cost, and without setting up complex financial instruments. Company exposure to financial instrument risk is therefore low compared with non-public sector organisations. The policies on financial instruments are provided in the Notes to the financial statements, and appropriate disclosures are included.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2022-23 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. Grants to individuals are paid in arrears and the Statement of Financial Position at 31 March 2023 shows a net assets position of just under £4.3m as set out on page 63.
SG has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2023-24.
There were no events after the end of the financial year that have any material effect on these Reports and Financial Statements.
Environmental Matters and Climate Change
We believe that the next 10 years will be crucial in creating sustainable plans to reduce our resource consumption and slow global warming by becoming carbon neutral.
Covid-19, extreme weather conditions across the globe, the semi-conductor crisis and now the staffing crisis in critical front line services have rightly focused on “right-sizing” scarce resources and setting priorities for organisations to reduce not only their current consumption, but to embed sustainable plans to de-carbonise and become Net Zero by 2040.
As an Executive Public Body ILF Scotland is committed and aligns to the general climate change duties set out under Section 44 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Although not a listed public body with the requirement to report directly against the carbon reduction targets, ILF Scotland takes environmental matters very seriously and is working towards its own Net Zero targets by 2040. ILF Scotland is now linked in to the Scottish Government Climate Change team and are gaining valuable information into responsibilities, requirements, measurement tools, reporting frameworks and bodies of expert knowledge on implementing Net Zero action plans.
Our approach is more than becoming paperless or using green energy sources – it is built into our strategy and operational practices and is an attempt at a whole organisational drive to right-size and appropriately source the resources we require to deliver our business objectives. This approach encompasses five domains and a further five operational practices.
Domains
Governance
Strategy
Risk Management
Metrics
Targets and Timescales
The five Domains provide the framework for a more sustainable and carbon neutral ILF Scotland by 2040.
To bring this together at the whole organisational level, five inter-related activities consider the environmental and carbon reduction measures required to achieve net zero.
Sustainability action plan (and working group)
Change and continuous improvement activity
Efficiency and quality management
HR and workforce planning
Digital delivery transformation plan
It should be noted that the current continuous improvement activity and efficiency management reporting have identified considerable in-year time savings for the front line operations. Once a full baseline activity of current carbon impact is made and understood, future improvements can be strategically prioritised and focused on those activities either contributing most to carbon footprint, or those processes and activities that take up the most amount of time and resources.
There is the potential for further operational and resources consumed savings by becoming more digitally enabled as an organisation, as well as the benefits this will give to our recipients by being able to self-serve at a time and manner convenient to them, without the need to send letters and forms back to us.
At a future point, the more our recipients are able to do for themselves, the fewer staff resources in comparison we would need to support them which in turn reduces the carbon footprint and resources consumed by more staff members. This illustrates our thinking and the next stage is to set realistic targets for carbon reduction, staffing numbers, fuel and buildings costs and travel and devices. This emerging framework will give us a basis to bring all of this together during this last year of our current strategy.
Effect of the UK leaving the European Union (Brexit)
ILF Scotland has been largely unaffected by Brexit. We are a SG and NI Government funded organisation serving our recipients in Scotland and NI. We will continue to monitor any possible impact.
Human Rights
ILF Scotland is committed to equality of opportunity and has policies and procedures in place to ensure this is achieved. It also fully recognises its legal responsibilities, particularly in respect of race relations, age, sex and disability discrimination and complies with all Scottish Government policies in relation to Human Rights and Equality.
ILF Scotland is subject to the Equality Act 2010 (General Duties) (Scotland) Regulations (see link below) and must also publish statements on equal pay and information about Board members.
ILF Scotland is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity and is committed to the prevention of bribery and corruption as we recognise the importance of maintaining our reputation and the confidence of our stakeholders.
We can report that no instances of corruption or bribery were recorded in 2022-23 (2021-22 nil).
Summary – This has been another strong year, delivering even further progress against our strategic plan.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer.
Signed: Susan Douglas-Scott CBE, Chair of the Board, 28 June 2023
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 28 June 2023
Accountability Report
Consisting of: Corporate Governance Report; Remuneration and Staff Report; and Parliamentary Accountability Report
Corporate Governance Report
The Corporate Governance Report consists of three sections:
Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities;
Annual Governance Statement; and
Directors’ Report
1. Statement of Directors’ & Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities
The directors and the Accountable Officer are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the company in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2022-23 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. Under company law directors must not approve the financial statements until they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period. In preparing these financial statements the directors are required to:
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the UK and the Accounts Direction applicable to the year issued by the Scottish Ministers; and
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the Accounts Direction applicable to the year issued by the Scottish Ministers. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the company and detect fraud and other irregularities.
The directors have prepared a Directors’ Remuneration Report in order to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2022-23 in accordance with Schedule 8 to the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 made under the Companies Act 2006, to the extent that they are relevant.
The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
As Accountable Officer, as far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which ILF Scotland’s auditor is unaware. I have taken all reasonable steps to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that ILF Scotland’s auditor is aware of the information.
As set out in the "Memorandum to Accountable Officers for Other Public Bodies", the accountable officer is personally responsible for the propriety and regularity of the body’s public finances and ensuring that its resources are used economically, efficiently and effectively. This includes compliance with relevant guidance issued by Scottish Ministers, in particular the Scottish Public Finance Manual, and the Framework Document defining the key roles and responsibilities which underpin the relationship between the body and the Scottish Government.
Accountable Officer Confirmation on the Annual Report and Financial Statements
As Accountable Officer I confirm that the annual report and financial statements as a whole are fair, balanced and understandable and I take personal responsibility for the annual report and financial statements and the judgements required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed: Susan Douglas-Scott CBE, Chair of the Board, 28 June 2023
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 28 June 2023
2. Annual Governance Statement
Scope of responsibility
The Board of Directors have responsibility for maintaining sound corporate governance systems that support the achievement of our policies, aims and objectives and safeguard the public funds and assets for which we are personally responsible. Our responsibilities for managing public money and the duties assigned to us have been exercised with due diligence and the appropriate professional care.
The role of ILF Scotland is to deliver discretionary cash payments directly to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities.
Director Attendance
Figures for previous year, 2021-22, in brackets.
Name
Board Meetings
Audit and Risk Committee
Remuneration Committee
Susan Douglas- Scott
4/4 (4/4)
3/4* (2/4*)
2/2 (2/2)
Alan Dickson
4/4 (4/4)
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth Humphreys
4/4 (4/4)
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth McAtear
3/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
2/2 (2/2)
Mark Adderley
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
2/2 (2/2)
Anne-Marie Monaghan
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
2/2 (2/2)
Etienne d'Aboville
3/4 (4/4)
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
* Attending as an observer.
Sound Corporate Governance
Our corporate governance systems continue to be drawn up from best practice recommendations and are being strengthened through internal scrutiny, legislative and process compliance and through collaborative working with both internal and external auditors.
These systems address individual and corporate accountabilities, the roles and effectiveness of our boards and our capacity to identify and effectively manage and report risk.
The company strategic aims and objectives have been developed by the directors along with our sponsor team at SG. Our Chief Executive attends quarterly meetings chaired by SG officials. These meetings discuss significant business and programme risks and review ongoing progress against plan.
The programme meetings chaired by SG officials are supported by regular operational meetings with the sponsor team, members of specialist teams and other SG colleagues to ensure clarity of purpose, sound communication and effective reporting.
The Board met four times in formal session this period. There were also various board development days and committee meetings. All meetings have a pre-agreed agenda, are minuted and produced clear actions and matters arising. Meetings are attended by directors and appropriate members of the SMT.
The directors have a responsibility for maintaining sound systems of control to address key financial and other risks, ensuring that the requirements of the ILF Scotland founding documents are met, that high standards of corporate governance are demonstrated, and for reviewing the effectiveness of the systems of internal control.
Capacity to handle risk
The Chief Executive acts as the Risk Champion for the company, whilst lead responsibility for ensuring that appropriate mechanisms are in place for identifying, monitoring and controlling risk, and advising SMT on the actions needed in order to comply with our corporate governance requirements rests with the Chief Operating Officer, who is supported by the Director of Digital and Information in the capacity of the ILF Scotland Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO).
Our systems and processes are designed to manage risk to a reasonable and appropriate level rather than to eliminate all risk; therefore it can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.
Whilst every member of staff has a responsibility to ensure that exposure to risk is minimised, overall leadership of the risk management processes rests with members of the SMT. The SMT meets fortnightly.
Reviewing our strategic risks is a standing item at Board meetings, supported by the work of the Audit & Risk Committee, which provides a high-level resource to test the adequacy of assurance on our risk management framework and internal control environment. The Audit & Risk Committee is attended by representatives of internal audit and, when appropriate, external audit.
Managing risks
The Risk Management Framework sets out the organisation’s attitude to risk and provides a consistent basis to capture, monitor and report risks and to progress strategies to mitigate these. In assigning lead risk owners at SMT level and in the management control processes, we identify clear lines of responsibility throughout the organisation.
Our overall risk appetite is risk averse. This does not mean that we avoid opportunities to improve. However, it does mean that we are rightly cautious when challenges may hinder or put at risk our core business and service provision to our users. Our risk management processes enable us to identify operational, business and financial risks, customer focus and delivery risks as well as identifying and assessing potential reputational risks and other contingent issues.
Principal risks
All bodies subject to the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) must operate a risk management strategy in accordance with relevant guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
ILF Scotland maintains a strategic and operational risk register which records internal and external risks and identify the mitigating actions required to reduce the threat of these risks occurring and their impact. The Risk Management Strategy and Operational Risk Register are regularly updated and reviewed as a standing item by senior staff and the Audit and Risk Committee. Each individual risk is allocated an owner who ensures that mitigating action is carried out.
This year our principal risks were mainly in connection with the risks associated with managing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, managing the continued growth of the Transition Fund, the management of resources, managing the movement of personal and sensitive information, managing an ageing IT infrastructure, managing IT security and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes.
The risk and control processes applied within ILF Scotland accord with guidance given in the SPFM and have been in place for the year ended 31 March 2023 and up to the date of the approval of the annual report and financial statements.
A key part of our risk management process is the involvement of all staff in the discussion and identification of risks and their management. Together, we develop mitigating action, supported by management information and identify a specific manager to oversee progress.
The managers’ role is to monitor, report on and manage these issues and risks.
Information Assurance
Within our programme we have a significant challenge and risk involved in transferring sensitive user and confidential corporate data to our partners and client departments. This has required close liaison with relevant partners to ensure that we meet our legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Data and information security has been managed as a high priority item.
In terms of data and information security breaches there have been no reportable incidents.
Review of effectiveness
As directors, we have responsibility for reviewing the effectiveness of the system of corporate governance, including systems of internal control which have been in place for the year under review and up to the date of approval of this Annual Report and Financial Statements. The Accountable Officer seeks written assurances from SMT in relation to their responsibilities for reviewing the effectiveness of the systems of risk management and internal control.
We also have in place independent internal auditors and they have provided their opinion that, with the exception of some control issues around Procurement and Creditors/Purchasing, ILF Scotland has adequate and effective arrangements for risk management, control and governance. They also report that proper arrangements are in place to promote and secure Value for Money. The issues noted above are being addressed by management.
Directors take assurance from these sources that effective systems of corporate governance are in place throughout the organisation. The internal control systems SMT have put in place include:
A comprehensive suite of control checks, which have been refined and adapted to meet our requirements in managing the programme (as reported to the Audit & Risk Committee);
Regular reports to SMT, directors and SG on progress against the company targets and business aims and objectives;
A risk management strategy and risk management framework which comply with best practice;
The organisation’s Strategic Risk Register which is reviewed by Directors at least quarterly, a standing item with Audit & Risk Committee and reviewed monthly by SMT both quarterly at the risk and controls board and monthly at SMT meetings;
A project governance framework that seeks to manage the responsibilities, resources, reporting and programme milestones in order to deliver the planned outcomes on-time and to pre-agreed quality;
The adoption of formal project management arrangements based on PRINCE 2 principles for all key programme and projects, includes the development and maintenance of programme and project risk registers.
Board effectiveness and structures that support decisions
The Board has set up its governance arrangements to ensure compliance with best practice and relevant legislation.
The Board has developed terms of reference for all boards and committees, including their purpose, membership, and the election of the lead Director as well as defining the management and reporting requirements for each internal function.
Our governance processes and mechanisms to manage our boards are consistently applied to capture discussions, actions, risks and progress. These provide a basis for consistent reporting and ease of read-across to inform recommendations, actions and outcomes, our boards include the SMT, the Audit & Risk Committee and the Remuneration Committee.
The SMT meets regularly and is responsible for ensuring that corporate risks are identified as early as possible, are properly managed, that cross-functional issues are considered, and that risk management receives a high profile in planning and delivery of our plans. The SMT along with some of our senior managers meets fortnightly to ensure that all attendees understand both the priorities of the week and any emerging issues.
Senior Committees
The Audit & Risk Committee met four times during the period and is responsible for ensuring, as far as possible, that appropriate systems are in place within the company for the assessment and management of risk and advising the Board on the effectiveness of the systems of governance and control, leading to signing off the Annual Governance Statement. The Audit & Risk Committee reviews Strategic Risks as a standing item, it routinely considers the effectiveness of payment security, fraud management and recovered and unspent monies, it reviews the internal audit plans to ensure sufficient rigor and detail and undertakes to provide a questioning and challenging role to obtain assurance.
The Remuneration Committee met twice during the year. It oversees and reports to the directors on the salaries, rewards and conditions of service in place at the company. It also makes sure that ILF Scotland conducts its employee relations fairly, efficiently and effectively.
Significant internal control issues
Internal controls and procedures have been further strengthened with a formal partnership with NHS Counter Fraud Services and the implementation of a continuous improvement plan following in depth internal review.
During the course of the year we have become aware of and have investigated five (2021-22 two) instances of alleged mis-use of funds in relation to fund recipients. Total funds involved are estimated to be around £26,000 (2021-22 £8,000). At 31 March 2023 four of these cases had been closed as either no case to answer or repayment plans have been put in place. It is also looking likely that the fifth allegation will have no case to answer. As these payments were recorded as costs when originally advanced they do not represent a further cost if deemed to be irrecoverable.
All cases have been reported to NHS Counter Fraud Services.
Whilst there were some issues noted as requiring improvement by our internal auditors, over the course of the year there have been no significant control weaknesses reported, nor has any report been made externally, independently nor via the company Whistle-blower policy. This policy encourages staff to report suspected wrongdoing as soon as possible, in the knowledge that their concerns will be taken seriously and investigated as appropriate, and that their confidentiality will be respected.
Our audit and internal management reporting remains vigilant to ensure early identification of issues within normal day-to-day business and no significant issues have emerged. We have managed our risks and highlighted issues with foresight and taken decisions as required; we have forecast and reported our financial position in a timely accurate manner and maintained our budget within expected parameters.
We continue to develop and improve our internal control and governance systems and in conclusion we believe that they were fit for purpose during the reporting period.
Information and Data Security
ILF Scotland has in place a range of systems and measures which ensure that information held by the organisation, and held by third parties on behalf of the organisation, is secure. ILF Scotland monitors compliance concerning the release of data from the organisation. In addition, ILF Scotland has implemented SG guidance on data security and information risk through the creation of an information asset register, which includes assessment of risk and awareness training for staff.
During 2022-23, we have been closely monitoring the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and engaged with all staff regularly. Direct GDPR training has been rolled out to all staff, this is mandatory training and an annual refresher is provided with data protection updates. Physical data security is monitored by office checks, on a quarterly basis.
ILF Scotland continues to focus upon Cyber Security and Resilience and we have Cyber Essentials PLUS accreditation.
There are no significant lapses in data security to report in 2022-23 (2021-22: none).
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the Directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer.
Signed: Susan Douglas-Scott CBE, Chair of the Board, 28 June 2023
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 28 June 2023
3. Directors’ Report
Company Number SC500075
The directors submit their annual report for the year ended 31 March 2023.
The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2022-23 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Principal activities
The principal activities are described on page 5. The organisation became an NDPB in June 2018, having previously been an Other Significant Public Body.
Directors
Susan Douglas-Scott Chair of the board
Alan Dickson Non-executive director
Mark Adderley Non-executive director
Elizabeth Humphreys Non-executive director
Elizabeth McAtear Non-executive director
Anne-Marie Monaghan Non-executive director
Etienne d’Aboville Non-executive director
For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 29 to 36.
All non-executive directors are considered to be independent.
Beneficial Interests
None of the directors had any beneficial interest in the ownership of the company throughout the period. The company is guaranteed by the Scottish Ministers.
Non-current assets
The company is now accounting for right-of-use assets in accordance with IFRS 16. The only other movement during the year was depreciation/amortisation of existing assets held at the beginning of the year and the disposal of fully depreciated assets.
Employees
It is ILF Scotland’s aim to keep employees informed about its affairs and in particular those matters that affect them directly. The company regularly issues all-staff emails and is in the process of developing a staff Intranet site.
ILF Scotland is an Equal Opportunities Employer and actively encourages applications from disabled people.
Pension Scheme
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most members of staff chose to join the defined benefit offering known as alpha.
Corporate governance
The Board is charged with maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of the ILF Scotland policies, aims and objectives and regularly reviewing the effectiveness of that system. The Board is also responsible for the Annual Governance Statement.
The Board’s Annual Governance Statement is provided on pages 29 to 36.
The Board & Senior Management Team
The Board is responsible for ensuring that effective corporate governance arrangements are in place that set out how ILF Scotland is directed and controlled and how the assurance on risk management and internal control is provided.
The Board is required to demonstrate high standards of corporate governance at all times and to ensure that best practice is followed consistent with the UK Corporate Governance Code and appropriate adaptations of Corporate Governance in the Central Government Departments Code of Good Practice. The responsibilities of the Board are set out in the Governance Statement.
A link to the company website giving more details about the Board of Directors and the SMT can be found on page 5. The Board of Directors is also listed on page 37.
Non-Executive Directors
The non-executive directors are appointed by The Scottish Ministers for a fixed term appointment of four years which can be extended at the discretion of The Scottish Ministers.
Register Of Interests
Full details of ILF Scotland’s Register of Interests can be found on our website.
Remuneration Committee
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of Committee meetings will be provided to directors for information. Remuneration Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive and the Chief Operating Officer.
For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 29 to 36 and the Remuneration and Staff Report on pages 41 to 53.
Audit & Risk Committee
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of committee meetings will be provided to directors for information. Audit Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive, the Finance Director and the Chief Operating Officer.
Both external and internal audit have the right to independent access to the chair and members of the committee.
Further details regarding the Audit & Risk Committee can be found in the Annual Governance Statement on pages 29 to 36.
Statement of disclosure of information to external auditor
The directors who held office at the date of approval of the Directors’ Report confirm that, so far as they are each aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the external auditor is unaware; and each director has taken all steps that they ought to have taken as a director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the external auditor is aware of that information.
External Auditor
Details of all fees earned by the external auditor are provided in note 5 of the annual financial statements.
Under the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008, a new auditor of the company was appointed by the Auditor General for Scotland for 2022-23. The new auditor for the company with effect from 2022-23 is Audit Scotland.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed: James A Maguire Company Secretary 28 June 2023
Remuneration and Staff Report
Directors and SMT
Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers for a period of four years which can be extended to a maximum of eight years at the discretion of Scottish Ministers.
The directors are appointed from a variety of backgrounds on the basis of relevant experience gained and skills required.
The Chief Executive together with the SMT are responsible for day-to-day operations and activities.
The Remuneration Policy
This report for the year ended 31 March 2023 deals with the remuneration of the Chief Executive, SMT and directors of ILF Scotland.
ILF Scotland is managed by a Board of Directors appointed by Scottish Ministers. The directors receive remuneration as post-holders and are reimbursed for incidental expenses in line with the company travel and subsistence policy. There are no unpaid persons or volunteers upon whose services the company is dependent.
The Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee is appointed by the Board of Directors and is established to independently review the salary of the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive informs the committee of any annual pay discussions to agree the salary levels for employees and SMT, in accordance with with Scottish Government pay remit guidelines.
Members of the committee for the period of this report were:
Mark Adderley, chair of the Remuneration Committee
Susan Douglas-Scott, member of the Remuneration Committee
Elizabeth McAtear, member of the Remuneration Committee
Anne-Marie Monaghan, member of the Remuneration Committee
The terms of reference of the Remuneration Committee in relation to salary, rewards and conditions of service are:
To ensure that the SMT and staff are fairly and responsibly rewarded for their joint and individual contributions to ILF Scotland management and overall performance.
To agree the Chief Executive’s remuneration in line with Public Sector Pay Policy, in discussion with The Scottish Ministers and ensure that it is managed under the terms and conditions agreed with the company.
To review and where appropriate, approve the Chief Executive’s proposals for the remuneration of the SMT.
To review and where appropriate approve the SMT’s remuneration proposals for all staff below SMT level. This will include approval of the annual pay remit and setting pay bands where appropriate.
Remuneration (including salary) and pension entitlements
The following sections provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of the directors and the most senior company management. The figures below form part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Directors
For the year ended 31 March 2023 the total remuneration paid to directors was:
2022-23 in £'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair) 5-10
Alan Dickson 0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair) 0-5
Elizabeth McAtear 0-5
Mark Adderley 0-5
Anne-Marie Monaghan 0-5
Etienne d'Aboville 0-5
2021-22 in £'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair) 5-10
Alan Dickson 0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair) 5-10
Elizabeth McAtear 0-5
Mark Adderley 0-5
Anne-Marie Monaghan 0-5
Etienne d'Aboville 0-5
Directors’ salary is non-pensionable.
The Chief Executive and SMT
The Chief Executive and the SMT are employed on ILF Scotland terms and conditions.
The directors apply the policy regarding senior management remuneration as follows:
To create a fair and transparent pay structure offering salaries in line with the roles and demands on the personnel in those posts.
To offer competitive salaries to enable the company to attract personnel of the required calibre to fill its senior management posts.
To align decisions in accordance with the key features and parameters of the Scottish Government’s pay policy so as to:
To align reward with the business objectives to encourage high performance and improve the focus on the delivery of service;
To ensure reward arrangements are affordable; and
To create a level of salary progression which is subject to performance expectations (performance below the expectation would mean no progression and management action would be necessary for less than adequate performance).
The Chief Executive’s and SMT performance will be reviewed annually with the overall assessment informed by quarterly one-to-one meetings.
In the event of early severance, compensation would be payable in accordance with company terms and conditions.
Remuneration of Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team (ELT) – Subject to Audit
This table represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Salaries include gross salary, overtime and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on payments made within the year by ILF Scotland. There were no bonus payments or benefits in kind.
Figures for 2022-23. (Figures for previous year, 2021-22, in brackets).
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Salary: £85,000 to £90,000 (£80,000 to £85,000)
Pension Benefits: £33,000 (£32,000)
Total: £115,000 to £120,000 (£115,000 to £120,000)
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating Officer
Salary: £80,000 to £85,000 (£80,000 to £85,000)
Pension Benefits: £31,000 (£30,000)
Total: £110,000 to £115,000 (£110,000 to £115,000)
James Maguire, Director of Finance
Salary: £55,000 to £60,000 (£55,000 to £60,000)
Pension Benefits: £22,000 (£22,000)
Total: £80,000 to £85,000 (£80,000 to £85,000)
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Salary: £75,000 to £80,000 (£65,000 to £70,000)
Pension Benefits: £27,000 (£26,000)
Total: £100,000 to £105,000 (£95,000 to £100,000)
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Salary: £75,000 to £80,000 (£70,000 to £75,000)
Pension Benefits: £31,000 (£28,000)
Total: £100,000 to £105,000 (£95,000 to £100,000)
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Salary: £75,000 to £80,000 (£65,000 to £70,000)
Pension Benefits: £29,000 (£26,000)
Total: £105,000 to £110,000 (£90,000 to £95,000)
Pension Benefits – Subject to Audit
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most members of staff chose to join the defined benefit offering (alpha).
All of the ELT noted below joined alpha.
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £97,000
CETV at31March 2022: £66,000
Real increase in CETV: £21,000
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £20,000-£25,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £248,000
CETV at31March 2022: £214,000
Real increase in CETV: £16,000
James Maguire, Finance Director
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £95,000
CETV at31March 2022: £71,000
Real increase in CETV: £17,000
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £91,000
CETV at31March 2022: £65,000
Real increase in CETV: £18,000
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £85,000
CETV at31March 2022: £56,000
Real increase in CETV: £20,000
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2023: £5,000-10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2023: £77,000
CETV at31March 2022: £51,000
Real increase in CETV: £18,000
Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is fully explained on page 48.
Prior year figures for the ELT were as follows:
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £66,000
CETV at31March 2021: £39,000
Real increase in CETV: £20,000
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £15,000-£20,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £214,000
CETV at31March 2021: £189,000
Real increase in CETV: £15,000
James Maguire, Finance Director
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £71,000
CETV at31March 2021: £49,000
Real increase in CETV: £17,000
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £65,000
CETV at31March 2021: £41,000
Real increase in CETV: £18,000
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £56,000
CETV at31March 2021: £33,000
Real increase in CETV: £17,000
Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £51,000
CETV at31March 2021: £30,000
Real increase in CETV: £15,000
The Civil Service Pension Scheme are still assessing the impact of the McCloud judgement in relation to changes to benefits in 2015. The benefits and related CETVs disclosed do not allow for any potential future adjustments that may arise from this judgement.
Pension Schemes
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most staff members chose to join the scheme known as alpha which provides benefits on a career average basis with a normal pension age equal to the member’s State Pension Age. This statutory pension arrangement is unfunded with the cost of benefits met by monies voted by Parliament each year.
Employee contributions are salary related and range between 4.60% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. At the end of the scheme year the member’s earned pension account is credited with 2.32% of their pensionable earnings in that scheme year. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.30% of pensionable earnings.
The accrued pension quoted is the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over pension age. Pension age is the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha.
A few staff members have chosen to participate in the partnership pensions account which is a stakeholder pension arrangement. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member) into a stakeholder pension product chosen by the employee from a panel of providers. The employee does not have to contribute, but where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer basic contribution).
Employers also contribute a further 0.50% of pensionable salary in both schemes above to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).
A CETV is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent partner’s benefits payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves the scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the scheme, not just as their service in a senior capacity to which the disclosure applies.
The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the civil service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost.
CETVs are worked out in accordance with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.
Real Increase in CETV
This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.
Compensation for loss of office - Audited
There were no ILF Scotland directors or staff that left on Voluntary Exit, Voluntary Redundancy or Compulsory Redundancy terms.
Pay multiples – Subject to Audit
Fair pay
Year 2022-23
25th percentile pay ratio: 2.77
median pay ratio: 2.16
75th percentile pay ratio: 2.04
Year 2021-22
25th percentile pay ratio: 2.75
median pay ratio: 2.14
75th percentile pay ratio: 2.02
The banded remuneration of the highest paid employee in the company in the financial period 2022-23 was £85-90k (2021-22 £80-85k). The table above sets out how the various percentiles compare against the mid-point of the band of the highest paid employee.
We believe that the median pay ratios set out above are consistent with the pay, reward and progression policies for our employees taken as a whole. We adhere to SG pay policy.
Movement in the ratios are reflective of the consistent application of ILFS pay and reward policies in year to all staff, including the remuneration of the highest paid employee.
Total remuneration includes salary only. There were no bonus payments or benefits in kind. It does not include employer pension contributions.
The table above represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
In 2022-23 nil (2021-22 one) employees received remuneration in excess of the Chief Executive. Remuneration ranged from £23,335 to £85,090 (2021-22 £21,045 to £83,890).
The increase in the banded remuneration of the highest paid employee year on year was 6%.
Year on year annualised average staff FTE remuneration increased by 6.25% (2021/22 decrease of 0.27%). This increase is in line with the overall SG pay settlement implemented during the year alongside staff pay progression.
Staff Report
Gender Analysis
The table below shows the gender analysis of ILFS employees at 31 March.
Directors 2022-23: Three Male, Four Female Directors 2021-22: Three Male, Four Female
Senior Management Team - 2022-23 - Six Male, Two Female Senior Management Team - 2021-22 - Six Male, Two Female
Short term absences remain at a low level at 2.40% (2.28% in 2021-22). However we had several longer term absences at 2.32% in line with last year (2.74% in 2021-22). We continue to offer mental health awareness, personal resilience and suicide prevention workshops to all staff on an annual basis with mental health first aiders being trained and now in post to support our workforce. Our whole-life friendly suite of policies also continues to support the workforce in a positive manner.
Note that the numbers above exclude non-executive directors. The numbers show staff employed during the year.
Consultancy Costs
Amounts paid in the year
2022-23: £19,682 2021-22: £56,019
Staff Policies
Our policy framework enables the delivery of our strategy and also supports the wishes, needs and aspirations of a modern workforce which is underpinned by a strong culture of trust, dignity and respect. This has helped ILF Scotland to be a beacon of independent living and innovative thinking for disabled people and also an award-winning employer of choice. For us there is no such thing as a normal employee and the framework had to take into account values, equality, diversity, young and more mature employees, families, caring responsibilities and make-up of modern society. By doing this, we know we attract and retain the best team possible to achieve our inclusive organisational aspirations.
To support the way we aspire to work, we have co-produced with colleagues a comprehensive approach that supports our collective health and wellbeing alongside delivering our organisational strategy. This methodology is solidly based on organisational development, tailored to support the culture of inclusiveness, diversity, outcomes focus, trust, coaching and continuous improvement.
We have put in place an award winning suite of whole-life-friendly policies, procedures, benefits and systems that can be tailored to meet individual circumstances. This includes working flexibly, compressed hours, being sympathetic to individual/family emergencies or remote working and providing the right technology to do the job.
Our above established policies proved to be invaluable when we, along with everyone in the country and indeed the world, were affected by the pandemic referred to as Covid-19. We quickly extended our remote working practices for all members of staff to keep both them and our recipients safe.
Staff Turnover
Staff turnover was 9% during the year (5% in 2021-22) and is considered satisfactory in view of the higher than normal number of retirements. The 9% is made up of six employees, four of whom retired during the year.
Staff Survey
The ILF Scotland 2022 staff survey had an 87% response rate and, from that, over 95% of survey respondents feel valued by their colleagues and managers and over 97% reported satisfaction with work life balance opportunities. 100% of respondents said flexible working makes a beneficial difference to them, enhancing their life. Respondents put an average value of £4,380 above their remuneration package as a result of being able to work flexibly. The ‘organisations purpose’ was shown to be one of the main reasons why staff enjoy working for ILF Scotland as well as being aligned to the organisations vision and values.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017
We, as an organisation, are happy to recognise trade unions and we make a point of engaging trade unions on important matters affecting staff. An example of this was when we changed the pension scheme offering to staff. Relevant trade unions were actively consulted and involved.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 require public sector employers to publish information relating to facility time. At year end 31 March 2023, ILF Scotland did not have any trade union facility time (2021-22 Nil).
Relevant union officials
What was the total number of your employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period?
Number of employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period: 0
Full-time equivalent employee number: 0
Percentage of time spent on facility time
How many of your employees who were relevant union officials employed during the relevant period spent a) 0%, b) 1%-50%, c) 51%-99% or d) 100% of their working hours on facility time?
Percentage of time / Number of Employees:
0% = 0 Employees
1-50% = 0 Employees
51-99% = 0 Employees
100% = 0 Employees
Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time
Provide the figures requested in the first column of the table below to determine the percentage of your total pay bill spent on paying employees who were relevant union officials for facility time during the relevant period.
Provide the total cost of facility time = 0
Provide the total pay bill = 0
Provide the percentage of the total pay bill spent on facility time, calculated as: (total cost of facility time ÷ total pay bill) x 100 = 0%
Paid trade union activities
As a percentage of total paid facility time hours, how many hours were spent by employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period on paid trade union activities?
Time spent on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid facility time hours calculated as: (total hours spent on paid trade union activities by relevant union officials during the relevant period ÷ total paid facility time hours) x 100 = 0
Signed: Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair, 28 June 2023
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 28 June 2023
Parliamentary Accountability Report (Subject to Audit)
Losses and special payments
In accordance with the SPFM, we are required to disclose losses and special payments above £300,000. During 2022-23 there were no losses or special payments within this criteria (2021-22: £nil).
Gifts and Charitable Donations
There were gifts made during the year amounting to £695 (2021-22: nil). There were no charitable donations made during the year (2021-22: nil).
Remote Contingent Liabilities
ILF Scotland are required to report any liabilities for which the likelihood of a transfer of economic benefit in settlement is too remote to meet the definition of contingent liability under IAS37. There are currently no remote contingent liabilities.
Signed: Susan Douglas-Scott CBE, Chair of the Board, 28 June 2023
Signed: Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 28 June 2023
Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland, the Auditor General for Scotland and the Scottish Parliament
Report on the audit of the financial statements
Opinion on financial statements
I have audited the financial statements in the annual report and accounts of Independent Living Fund Scotland for the year ended 31 March 2023 under The Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008. The financial statements comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Cash Flows, the Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards, as interpreted and adapted by the 2022/23 Government Financial Reporting Manual (the 2022/23 FReM).
In our opinion the accompanying financial statements:
give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at 31 March 2023 and of the deficit for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting standards, as interpreted and adapted by the 2022/23 FReM; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and directions made thereunder by the Scottish Ministers, and the Companies Act 2006.
Basis for opinion
I conducted my audit in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)), as required by the Code of Audit Practice approved by the Auditor General for Scotland. My responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of my report. I was appointed by the Auditor General on 2 December 2022. My period of appointment is five years, covering 2022/23 to 2026/27.
I am independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK including the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard, and I have fulfilled my other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. Non-audit services prohibited by the Ethical Standard were not provided to the company. I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern basis of accounting
I have concluded that the use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work I have performed, I have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
These conclusions are not intended to, nor do they, provide assurance on the company’s current or future financial sustainability. However, I report on the company’s arrangements for financial sustainability in a separate Annual Audit Report available from the Audit Scotland website.
Risks of material misstatement
I report in my Annual Audit Report the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement that I identified and my judgements thereon.
Responsibilities of the Accountable Officer and directors for the financial statements
As explained more fully in the Statement of the Directors' and Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities, the Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with the financial reporting framework, and for such internal control as the Accountable Officer and directors 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 Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for assessing the company'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 there is an intention to discontinue the company’s operations.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
My 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 my 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 decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. I design procedures in line with my responsibilities outlined above to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. Procedures include:
using my understanding of the central government sector to identify that the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and directions made thereunder by the Scottish Ministers, and the Companies Act 2006 are significant in the context of the company;
inquiring of the Accountable Officer as to other laws or regulations that may be expected to have a fundamental effect on the operations of the company;
inquiring of the Accountable Officer concerning the company’s policies and procedures regarding compliance with the applicable legal and regulatory framework;
discussions among my audit team on the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur; and
considering whether the audit team collectively has the appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with laws and regulations.
The extent to which my procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is affected by the inherent difficulty in detecting irregularities, the effectiveness of the company’s controls, and the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed.
Irregularities that result from fraud are inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error as fraud may involve collusion, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. The capability of the audit to detect fraud and other irregularities depends on factors such as the skilfulness of the perpetrator, the frequency and extent of manipulation, the degree of collusion involved, the relative size of individual amounts manipulated, and the seniority of those individuals involved. A further description of the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of my auditor’s report.
Reporting on regularity of expenditure and income
Opinion on regularity
In my opinion in all material respects the expenditure and income in the financial statements were incurred or applied in accordance with any applicable enactments and guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
Responsibilities for regularity
The Accountable Officer is responsible for ensuring the regularity of expenditure and income. In addition to my responsibilities in respect of irregularities explained in the audit of the financial statements section of my report, I am responsible for expressing an opinion on the regularity of expenditure and income in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.
Reporting on other requirements
Opinion prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report
I have audited the parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report described as audited. In my opinion, the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report have been properly prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006.
Other information
The Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for the other information in the annual report and accounts. The other information comprises the Performance Report and the Accountability Report excluding the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report.
My responsibility is to read all the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or my knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves.
If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact. I have nothing to report in this regard.
My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon except on the Performance Report and Governance Statement to the extent explicitly stated in the following opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland.
Opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on Performance Report and Governance Statement
In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
the information given in the Performance Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006; and
the information given in the Governance Statement for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006.
Matters on which I am required to report by exception
I am required by the Auditor General for Scotland to report to you if, in my opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements and the audited parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
I have not received all the information and explanations I require for my audit.
I have nothing to report in respect of these matters.
Conclusions on wider scope responsibilities In addition to my responsibilities for the annual report and accounts, my conclusions on the wider scope responsibilities specified in the Code of Audit Practice are set out in my Annual Audit Report.
Use of my report
This report is made solely to the parties to whom it is addressed in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and for no other purpose. In accordance with paragraph 108 of the Code of Audit Practice, I do not undertake to have responsibilities to members or officers, in their individual capacities, or to third parties.
Kyle McAuley CA Audit Scotland 4th Floor 8 Nelson Mandela Place Glasgow G2 1BT
28 June 2023
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2023
Expenditure
Notes
2022-23 (£)
2021-22 (£)
Grants to individuals
3
51,413,839
49,155,898
Staff costs
4
3,413,403
2,976,953
Other operating income and expenditure
5
871,042
832,025
Depreciation and amortisation
5
58,992
5,690
Total comprehensive net expenditure for the year
55,757,276
52,970,566
All expenditure relates to continuing operations. The notes on pages 67 to 87 form part of these financial statements.
Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2023
Notes
31 March 2023 (£)
31 March 2022 (£)
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment - owned
6a
-
-
Property, plant and equipment - right-of-use
6b
521,098
-
Total non-current assets
521,098
-
Current assets
Trade and other receivables
9
538,319
64,929
Cash and cash equivalents
10
7,770,500
8,261,376
Total current assets
8,308,819
8,326,305
Total assets
8,829,917
8,326,305
Current liabilities
11
(4,038,050)
(3,242,272)
Total assets less current liabilities
4,791,867
5,084,033
Non-current liabilities
12
(506,278)
-
Net assets
4,285,589
5,084,033
Taxpayers’ equity
General reserve
4,285,589
5,084,033
Total taxpayers’ equity
4,285,589
5,084,033
For the year ending 31 March 2023 the company was exempt under s482 of the Companies Act 2006 (non-profit making companies subject to public sector audit) from the audit requirements of Part 16 of that Act. The company is, instead, subject to audit by an auditor chosen selected by the Auditor General for Scotland by virtue of the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2019, an order made under s483 of the Act.
These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Directors.
Signed: Susan Douglas-Scott CBE, Chair of the Board, 28 June 2023
Signed Peter Scott OBE, Accountable Officer, 28 June 2023
The notes on pages 67 to 87 form part of these financial statements.
Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2023
Notes
2022-23 (£)
2021-22 (£)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net expenditure
(55,757,276)
(52,970,566)
Depreciation and amortisation
5
58,992
6,561
Adjustment for initial adoption of IFRS16
38,832
-
Amortisation of capital grant
11
-
(871)
(Increase) in trade and other receivables
9
(473,390)
(6,427)
Increase/(Decrease) in trade and other payables and other liabilities
11
1,302,056
(1,334,918)
Net cash outflow from operating activities
(54,830,786)
(54,306,221)
Acquisition of right of use asset
6b
(580,090)
-
Net cash outflow from investing activities
(580,090)
-
Cash outflows from financing activities
Grant Funding
54,920,000
55,427,581
Net cash flows from financing activities
54,920,000
55,427,581
Net (Decrease)/Increase in cash and cash equivalents in the period
(490,876)
1,121,360
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period
8,261,376
7,140,016
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period
10
7,770,500
8,261,376
The notes on pages 67 to 87 form part of these financial statements.
Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2023
General Reserve
£
£
Balance at 1 April 2022
5,122,865
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2022-2023
Grant in aid from departments
54,920,000
Net expenditure
(55,757,276)
(837,276)
Balance at 31 March 2023
4,285,589
Balance at 1 April 2021
1,632,040
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2021-2022
Grant in aid from departments
55,427,581
Net expenditure
(52,970,566)
2,457,015
Balance at 31 March 2022
5,084,033
Initial adoption of IFRS16 on I April 2022 (see below)
38,832
Balance at 1 April 2022
5,122,865
General reserve – relates to the ongoing operation of regular payments to individuals and the associated administration costs, financed by Grant in Aid.
The IFRS16 adjustment relates to the reversal of a dilapidations provision in existence at 31 March 2022 prior to the implementation of IFRS16. Such provisions are now capitalised onto the right of use asset. The adjustment also reflects opening depreciation on dilapidations at 1 April 2022.
The notes on pages 67 to 87 form part of these financial statements.
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023
1 Nature and purpose of ILF Scotland
ILF Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. The company is limited by guarantee (company number SC500075). The guarantor is The Scottish Ministers. The company is an NDPB of SG.
ILF Scotland carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and NI. There is also an agreement between SG and the DOH for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF users based in NI.
It is financed by Grant in Aid from SG to provide assistance with the cost of qualifying support and services to disabled applicants and to meet the operating costs of the company. The Grant in Aid amount is approved annually and confirmed in a letter of delegation.
2 Statement of Accounting Policies
The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2022-23 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. SG has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2023-24. The directors are not aware of any reason why the required Grant in Aid will not be made available in subsequent years.
a) Accounting convention
These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
b) Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment consists of leased property (right-of-use assets) and IT equipment (owned assets). ILF Scotland believes that the useful economic life is a realistic reflection of the life of its assets, and the depreciated historical cost method provides a realistic reflection of the consumption of those assets. The company therefore carries assets at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment in value.
With regard to right-of-use assets, value is assessed as the net present value of future lease payments plus any associated dilapidations provisions.
c) Depreciation
Depreciation on property, plant and equipment is charged on a straight-line basis to write off the cost less residual values over the useful life of the asset: incepting at the purchase date, or when the asset is available for use, whichever is the later. IT hardware and equipment is depreciated over a three-year life span. Right-of-use assets are depreciated over the term of the lease.
Residual values, remaining useful lives and depreciation methods are reviewed annually and adjusted if appropriate.
d) Intangible assets
Intangible assets consist of bespoke software developed for the company and software licences held only for the purpose of managing the company. All intangible assets are carried at historic cost less amortisation.
Bespoke software assets are capitalised in the year of implementation. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years.
Software licences are capitalised in the year of acquisition. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years.
Amortisation periods and methods are reviewed annually and adjusted if appropriate.
e) Financial instruments
The company procurement policy is to enter into contracts and framework agreements for services and supplies at current agreed costs with annual price reviews, rather than create complex financial instruments.
Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the Statement of Financial Position when ILF Scotland becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are recognised at fair value (the transaction price plus any directly attributable transaction costs, assessed for recoverability where relevant). Subsequent measurement is at amortised cost, although no adjustment for the time value of money is made where the settlement period is short so there would be no significant effect.
Financial assets comprise loans and receivables, which are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market. Loans and receivables comprise cash at bank, accrued bank interest, prepayments and other receivables.
Financial liabilities comprise grant liabilities, trade payables, accruals, deferred income, leasing and provisions.
f) Reserves policy
Grant in Aid is not drawn in full in advance but requested each calendar month to meet estimated cash outflow. The company does not hold strategic reserves as it is dependent on public funding. It does however have general reserves that can be utilised as required.
g) Grant in Aid
Funding to cover grants to individuals and administrative expenditure is provided through Grant in Aid from SG. Grant in Aid is received on the basis of the ILF Scotland estimated cash payments during the financial year. Grant in Aid received forms part of the Departmental Expenditure Limits for the respective Departments. Grant in Aid is treated as financing rather than income and is directly credited to reserves.
h) Grants to individuals
Grants to individuals are discretionary grants made within SG rules and regulations. 2015 Fund grants are paid four weekly in arrears on the basis of authorised awards. Transition Fund grants are paid once applications have been approved and processed. Amounts due but unpaid at the end of the financial year are accrued.
Unused grants returned by individuals in the normal course of business are recognised on an accruals basis. An assessment is made of fair value recoverable.
i) Formal recovery of grants to individuals
Although grants to individuals are discretionary payments, formal recovery will be sought where the provision of incorrect information has led to incorrect payment or where the grants have not been used for the intended purpose. The company will seek to recover all amounts where it is cost-effective to do so unless it will cause hardship to the individual. Recovery procedures appropriate to the value and circumstances of the case will be used, in accordance with the ILF Scotland guidelines and procedures.
In accounting for recoveries we have adhered to the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting which gives guidance that an asset should not be recognised in the statement of financial position when the expenditure has been incurred for which it is considered improbable that economic benefits will flow. Therefore, a receivable is only recognised when it has been agreed with the individual and there is considered to be a definite prospect of recovery. Any grant recovery recognised will be disclosed as a reduction to expenditure in the year in which it is recognised.
Receivables will be assessed at the end of each accounting period and reduced to the estimated recoverable amount where there are circumstances that indicate full recovery is uncertain. Amounts potentially recoverable in respect of Transition Fund grants are not treated as debt. All Transition Fund grant payments potentially remain payable until all evidence supporting the initial grant application has been received. We do not recognise any contingent assets in the financial statements.
j) Leasing
The company recognises a right-of-use asset and corresponding liability at the date at which a leased asset is made available, except for short term leases of less than 12 months and leases of low-value assets. For these leases, the company recognises the lease payments as an operating expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease.
Lease liabilities are measured at the present value of the future lease payments. Subsequent to initial recognition, the lease liability is reduced for payments made and increased to reflect interest on the lease liability. The related right-of-use asset is depreciated over the term of the lease or, if shorter, the useful economic life of the leased asset. The lease term shall include the period of an extension option where it is reasonably certain that the option will be exercised.
k) Pension costs
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most staff chose to join the defined benefit offering.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme in which ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme is accounted for as a defined contribution scheme under the multi-employer exemption permitted in IAS 19 Employee Benefits. A full actuarial valuation was carried as at 31 March 2016. Details can be found in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation (https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk)
Further pension details can be found in the remuneration and staff report on pages 41 to 52.
l) Significant estimates and judgements
In applying the company’s accounting policies, which are described in note 2, the directors are required to make judgements (other than those involving estimations) that have a significant impact on the amounts recognised and to make estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts 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.
a. Significant estimates
The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions in certain circumstances that affect reported amounts, and for this organisation such estimates are principally in assessing amounts due to recipients. There are no estimates which give rise to a significant risk of a material misstatement in the year ended 31 March 2023 (2021-22 none). 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 if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.
b. Judgements
The following are the critical judgements, apart from those involving estimations (which are presented separately above), that the directors have made in the process of applying the company’s accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in financial statements.
Recipient Accruals - we pay our 2015 Fund recipients four weeks in arrears, therefore we accrue based on the previous months payment information, this being a reliable measure. With regard to the Transition Fund we recognise a liability when applications are approved by management.
Recipient Payments Receivable – funding unused by recipients is repayable under our terms and conditions. In order to assess fair value of amounts deemed potentially receivable we use historic experience to determine recoverability. Our most recent experience tells us that 84% of amounts deemed potentially repayable have in fact been received. We have therefore used a factor of 84% recoverability to determine the fair value amounts deemed recoverable from unused funding at the year end. Recoverability factors are kept under review.
In making their judgement, the directors considered the detailed criteria for the recognition of assets and liabilities and are satisfied with the above methodology.
m) Reporting segments
IFRS 8 requires entities to provide information relating to the components of the entity that management uses to make decisions about operating matters. A segmental financial analysis is not considered necessary for the company, as no separate components are used for operating decisions made by the Senior Management Team.
n) Provisions
Provisions are recognised when there is a present obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of an event that occurred in the past and where it is probable that the settlement of that obligation will result in an outflow of resources, but the timing or amount of the settlement is uncertain. The amount recognised as a provision is the best estimate of the consideration which will be required to settle the obligation.
o) Adoption of new and revised Standards
1.Standards, amendments and interpretations effective in the current year
In the current year, ILF Scotland has applied a number of amendments to IFRS Standards and Interpretations that are effective for an annual period that begins on or after 1 January 2022. Their adoption has not had any material impact on the disclosures or on the amounts reported in these financial statements:
Amendments to IAS 16: Property, Plant and Equipment proceeds before intended use. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
Amendments to IAS 37: Onerous Contracts, cost of fulfilling a contract. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
Annual Improvements to IFRS Standards 2018-2020 Cycle. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
2. Standards, amendments and interpretations early adopted this year
There are no new standards, amendments or interpretations early adopted this year.
3.Standards, amendments and interpretations issued but not adopted this year
At the date of authorisation of these financial statements, ILF Scotland has not applied the following new and revised IFRS Standards that have been issued but are not yet effective:
IFRS 17: Insurance Contracts. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 1: Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-Current. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 1: Disclosure of Accounting Policies. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 8: Definition of Accounting Estimates. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
ILF Scotland does not expect that the adoption of the Standards listed above will have a material impact on the financial statements in future periods.
3 Grants to individuals
2022-23
2021-22
£
£
Payments made in year
55,531,220
53,779,043
Grant liabilities at start of year
(2,900,459)
(4,202,435)
Grant liabilities at end of year
3,708,496
2,900,459
Grant returns received in year
(4,479,840)
(3,321,168)
Grants receivable at end of year
(445,578)
-
51,413,839
49,155,899
Grants to individuals are paid four-weekly in arrears. Grant liabilities consist of the accrued amounts from awards made by the end of the financial year but not fully paid up to the end of the financial year.
Returns received comprised £4,479,840 (2021-22 £3,321,168) in respect of unused funds returned by individuals. Grants receivable of £445,578 (2021-22 nil) consist of amounts deemed to be repayable by recipients but not received by the end of the financial year. This is the first year that grants receivable have been recognised after a change in accounting policy.
4 Staff costs
4a Staff numbers and related costs
2022-23
2021-22
£
£
Wages and salaries
2,480,269
2,169,521
Social security costs
270,384
225,107
Other pension costs (see note 4b below)
662,750
582,325
Total staff costs
3,413,403
2,976,953
Average number of persons directly employed
2022-23 Number
2021-22 Number
Directors (part-time non-executives)
7
7
Staff
67
60
74
67
4b Other pension costs
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most staff chose to join the defined benefit offering (alpha). Employee contributions are salary-related and range between 4.6% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.3% of pensionable earnings. Contributions due to the current pension providers were £3,800 at 31 March 2023 (31 March 2022 £65,845). Contributions prepaid were nil at 31 March 2023 (31 March 2022 nil). The Civil Service Pension Scheme known as alpha is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme. ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. You can find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation.
For 2022-23, employers’ contributions of £646,010 were paid in respect of alpha (2021-22 £573,950). Expected contributions in 2023-24 are approximately £685,000. Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £16,740 were paid in 2022-23 (2021-22 £8,375) to one or more of the panel of three appointed stakeholder pension providers. Employer contributions are age related and ranged between 8% to 14.75%. Expected contributions in 2023-24 are approximately £18,000.
5 Other operating income and expenditure
2022-2023
2021-22
£
£
IT and information security costs
308,237
258,020
Utilities and other estate costs
35,227
113,079
Legal and professional costs
74,455
142,495
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence
286,843
196,754
Auditors remuneration (external audit)
27,580
21,120
Communication and engagement
121,600
87,267
Postage costs
14,654
9,059
Printing and stationery costs
2,446
4,231
Total other expenditure
871,042
832,025
Depreciation and amortisation
£
£
Depreciation
58,992
-
Amortisation
-
6,561
Amortisation of capital grant
-
(871)
Net depreciation and amortisation
58,992
5,690
6a Property, plant and equipment - owned
Information Technology
Total
Cost
£
£
At 1 April 2022 and at 31 March 2023
-
-
Depreciation
At 1 April 2022 and at 31 March 2023
-
-
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023
-
-
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Information Technology
Total
Cost
£
£
At 1 April 2021
37,583
37,583
Disposals
(37,583)
(37,583)
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Depreciation
At 1 April 2021
37,583
37,583
Disposals
(37,583)
(37,583)
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022
-
-
At 31 March 2021
-
-
6b Property, plant and equipment - right-of-use assets
Property
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Adjustment
589,922
589,922
At 1 April 2022 as adjusted and at 31 March 2023
589,922
589,922
Depreciation
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Adjustment
9,832
9,832
At 1 April 2022 as adjusted
9,832
9,832
Charge for year
58,992
58,992
At 31 March 2023
68,824
68,824
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023
521,098
521,098
At 31 March 2022
-
-
The right of use assets relate to the property occupied by ILF Scotland which under government accounting regulations have been treated in accordance with IFRS 16 with effect from 1 April 2022. There are no comparative figures for the previous year since the company was party to a lease that had less than 12 months to run.
The adjustments shown above relate to a property lease in existence at 1 April 2022 and now treated in accordance with IFRS 16. The net addition to right of use assets set out above is £580,090.
IFRS 16 Leases supersedes IAS 17 Leases and is being applied by HM Treasury in the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) from 1 April 2022. IFRS 16 introduces a single lessee accounting model that results in a more faithful representation of a lessee’s assets and liabilities, and provides enhanced disclosures to improve transparency of reporting on capital employed.
7 Intangible assets
Information Technology
Total
Cost or valuation
£
£
At 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023
281,028
281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2021 and at 31 March 2023
281,028
281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022
-
-
At 31 March 2021
-
-
Cost or valuation
Information Technology
Total
£
£
At 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022
281,028
281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2021
274,467
274,467
Charge for year
6,561
6,561
At 31 March 2022
281,028
281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022
-
-
At 31 March 2021
6,561
6,561
8 Financial instruments and associated risks
As all of the of the company’s cash requirements are met through Grant in Aid, financial instruments play a more limited role in creating and managing risk than would apply to a non-public sector body. The majority of financial instruments relate to contracts to purchase non-financial items in line with the company’s expected usage requirements, so the company is exposed to little credit, liquidity or market risk. The value of financial instruments are considered to be a proxy of their fair value.
Financial Assets
31 March 2023
31 March 2022
£
£
Cash and cash equivalents
7,770,500
8,261,376
Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with a UK bank held in current accounts to minimise risk.
Financial liabilities
31 March 2023
31 March 2022
£
£
Grant liabilities
3,708,496
2,860,459
Trade payables and accruals
276,460
341,813
Deferred income
15,457
-
Leasing
436,278
-
Provisions
70,000
40,000
3,242,272
4,578,061
Grant liabilities: Represents awards authorised but unpaid at the year end. Trade payables and accruals: Represents amounts payable in the short term, to be met out of cash held at the year-end. Deferred income: Represents amounts received to meet liabilities due in the next financial year. Leasing: Represents amounts payable in respect of right of use assets. Provisions: Represents amounts potentially payable in respect of property dilapidations.
9 Trade and other receivables
31 March 2023
31 March 2022
£
£
Due within one year
Trade and other receivables (see below)
476,128
14,633
Prepayments
62,191
50,296
583,319
64,929
Trade and other receivables includes amounts deemed recoverable in respect of unused grant funding and grant overpayments. A gross amount potentially recoverable of £545,948 has been reduced to fair value of £445,578 (2022 - nil) and is included above.
There is no comparative figure due to a change in accounting policy this year with regard to the treatment of such monies.
10 Cash and cash equivalents
2022-23
2021-22
£
£
Balance at 1 April
8,261,376
7,140,016
Net cash (outflow)/inflow
(490,876)
1,121,360
Balance at 31 March
7,770,500
8,261,376
31 March 2023
31 March 2022
£
£
Benefit accounts
7,532,097
8,172,515
Administration account
238,403
88,861
7,770,500
8,261,376
Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.
11 Current Liabilities
31 March 2023
31 March 2022
Trade and other payables
276,460
301,813
Other liabilities - grant liabilities
3,708,496
2,900,459
Other liabilities - deferred income
15,457
-
Other liabilities - deferred income capital grants
-
-
Leasing
37,637
-
Provisions
-
40,000
3,242,272
4,578,061
Deferred Income - Capital Grants
At 1 April 2022
-
871
Less amortised in year
-
(871)
Balance at 31 March 2023
-
-
12 Non-Current Liabilities
31 March 2023
31 March 2022
£
£
Leasing
436,278
-
Provisions
70,000
-
Balance at 31 March 2022
506,278
-
The leasing balance relates to the liability associated with right-of-use assets and is due in up to 10 years. The provisions balance relates to dilapidations associated with the lease.
13 Finance leases
There is a sub-lease for accommodation and facilities with SG.
The charges to the company are set in the head lease between SG and its accommodation supplier.
The building rental element of the lease is now reflected in right-of-use assets in accordance with IFRS 16.
Total future minimum lease payments under for services contained within finance leases for each of the following periods were:
31 March 2023
31 March 2022
Land and buildings (Denholm House)
Within one year
31,046
62,500
Within two to five years
136,604
-
Over 5 years
150,265
-
Total
317,915
62,500
Lease payments charged in year
29,568
75,040
14 Directors’ remuneration, interests and indemnities
The directors receive remuneration from the company. The total remuneration paid to the directors was £15,840 (2021-22 £16,150) for the year and further information is provided in the Remuneration Report. Directors received reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses amounting to £105 (2021-22 £86) for the year. No directors were a beneficiary of the company and received payments in accordance with the objects of ILF Scotland; a procedure is in place to manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
No other transactions were undertaken in which any director or person connected with any director had a material interest.
SG provides that directors are not personally liable for any loss to ILF Scotland other than that arising from wilful and individual fraud, wrongdoing or omission on the part of a director who is found to be liable.
15 Related party transactions and controlling party
Related parties are the directors and SG. ILF Scotland received Grant in Aid from SG of £54.9m (2021-22 £55.4m). SG makes payments to ILF Scotland on a monthly basis.
The Company’s ultimate controlling party is the Scottish Ministers.
During the year no directors were a beneficiary of ILF Scotland and received discretionary grants in accordance with the objects of the company.
No other related parties, including the directors and key management staff, have undertaken any transactions with the company during the period.
16 Agency Agreement
During the year the company acted as agent for SG (the ultimate owner of the company) and also for DOH to pay a £500 care grant to eligible workers in the care sector in recognition of their contribution at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This arrangements were considered to be Agency Agreements since the company had no input to the decisions regarding who should be paid the award. The company was advised on who the recipients would be and the company had no discretion over the amount of award.
The relevant figures relating to SG are set out as follows:
2022-23
2021-22
Care grant funding
£
£
Received from SG in year
-
1,281,230
Received from SG in prior years
500
442,334
Income receivable in year
500
1,723,564
Payments made in year
500
1,723,564
Administration funding
Received from SG in year
-
42,000
Received from SG in prior year
-
5,568
Total receivable in year
-
47,568
Administration costs paid in year
-
47,568
Total funding
Received from SG in year
-
1,323,230
Received from SG in prior years
500
447,902
Total receivable in year
500
1,771,132
Total payments
Cost of care grants
500
1,723,564
Administration costs
-
47,568
Grand total payments in year
500
1,771,132
The relevant figures relating to DOH are set out as follows:
2022-23
2021-22
Care grant funding
£
£
Received from DOH in year
835,039
-
Payments made in year
835,039
-
Administration funding
Received from DOH in year
96,280
-
Administration costs paid in year
96,280
-
Total funding
Received from DOH in year
931,319
-
Total payments
Cost of care grants
835,039
-
Administration costs
96,280
-
Grand total payments in year
931,319
-
17 Capital commitments and contingent liabilities
There were no capital commitments or contingent liabilities at 31 March 2023.
18 Events after the reporting period
There are no events after the reporting period which would have an effect on the Annual Report and Financial Statements or which would require disclosure.
19 Date of Authorisation
IAS 10 requires the company to disclose the date on which the financial statements are authorised for issue.
The authorised date for issue is 28 June 2023.
Appendix to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023
Accounts Direction
ILF Scotland
DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS
The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
The statement of accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020, and subsequent years, shall comply with the accounting principles and disclosure requirements of the edition of the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) which is in force for the year for which the statement of accounts are prepared, and with the Companies Act 2006.
The accounts shall be prepared so as to give a true and fair view of the income and expenditure and cash flows for the financial year, and of the state of affairs as at the end of the financial year.
This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Signed by the authority of the Scottish Ministers Dated 27 May 2020
Annual Operational Report: 2022 to 2023
Contents
Introduction
Progress Update
Self-Directed Support Summary
Policy, Improvements and Engagement Summary
People Summary
Information Governance and IT Summary
Finance Summary
1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of achievements and activities against the business plan during 2022-2023.
2. Progress Update
a) Executive Summary
The last 12 months have without a doubt been one of the most challenging environments for disabled people in the last 30 years. The chronic shortage of social care staff coupled with cost-of-living crisis, packages of support getting squeezed by statutory organisations due to budget pressures in conjunction with provision for disabled people not being re-stablished after the pandemic, paints a very grim picture for independent living, limiting choice, control and dignity significantly. Alongside this we have seen a further degradation of what was already poor transition support for young disabled people taking their next steps in life. The outcome of this is ILF Scotland has had its busiest year to date stepping even further into this vacuum left by this reduction in support during Covid-19. Every part of the organisation has been stretched very thin with staff having to deal with considerable workloads. Indeed, without the extensive support, wellbeing initiatives, constant reprioritisation of tasks and strong positive leadership, we would have seen a much greater impact on the health of colleagues.
As will be expanded on below and further on in this report, it is very clear that the challenges faced by disabled people with the reductions in support and provision from statutory organisations through Covid-19, have been further eroded as they re-establish to what is the new normal post pandemic. A clear example of this is the record demand being driven through the Transition Fund (TF), with growth of over 40% year on year with very little additional capacity. This demand has been exacerbated by additional demands for ILF Scotland’s expertise, an ageing IT infrastructure and the extremely tight fiscal landscape.
For all this, it should be noted that ILF Scotland has not only had its busiest year ever, but most successful one in terms of the number of disabled people supported with £55.6 million paid out to nearly 4,500 individuals not including nearly £3 million to over 7,000 PAs via the highly successful Thank You Payment Schemes on behalf of both the Scottish and Northern Ireland Governments which concluded this year. In addition to this, many thousands more have been supported with advice, guidance and assistance to the high levels of quality and customer service ILF Scotland has become known for. This is also evidenced by the progress against its strategy and business plan across many facets of the business. Staff have worked hard and have performed exceptionally against a very difficult professional and personal backdrop, for this they should be commended.
Over the year 2015 Fund recipient numbers have dropped to 2,325 (Scotland 1,970 & NI 355) from 2,435 (Scotland 2,056 & NI 379). This represents a slight decrease in the overall decline trend from around 5.4% (4.8% Scotland & 8% NI) in 2021-22 to 4.5% (4.2% Scotland & 7.3% NI) in 2022-23.
During the reporting period we have continued to expand the number physical reviews to catch up with a 2-year backlog. Due to the challenges already alluded to, this is proving very difficult and despite best efforts we have only been able to get back to about 65% of the pre-pandemic run rate. Reviews are taking much longer to resolve due to the aforementioned issues, meaning awards are taking longer to finalise with workloads and caseloads increasing in tune with this. During the past year we had approx. 17,700 calls to operations teams, almost identical to the previous year, despite the previous year including telephone reviews. However, an ongoing part care management type role whilst vital to recipients during the pandemic, means that a 2-year review cycle may be unsustainable, with discussions required to consider redefining how we ensure the positive impact of a review visit is maintained. To highlight this point, prior to the pandemic we completed 1,900 review visits and this this year we have completed 1,085.
By the end the year we received 3,205 TF applications, an increase of 40.8% on last year. Correspondingly the total number of individuals who received a TF grant (this is different from applications received and in payment) has increased by 43.9% from 1,442 to 2,076 by the year end. Application numbers have grown strongly throughout the year, with Q4 recording just under 1,000 applications alone. Challenges around processing applications remain significant due to the poor quality of submissions and the lack of necessary supporting documentation. Various efficiencies, innovations and process improvements have somewhat mitigated this, with the existing staff team continuing to make every effort including significant overtime to progress applications, but it is clear with the sheer volume of applications that we are receiving is simply overwhelming the current staffing complement and operating model. This is why we have been working to carry out an in depth review of the TF in an effort to find further efficiencies, consider whether additional resource is required, and revising the processing model as appropriate. We expect to report in Q1 of the next financial year and then agree next steps with the Board and Sponsor Team.
At the strategic level, we continue to engage with Governments, statutory organisations, various working groups and consultations to produce national guidance alongside inputting into the set-up of the National Care Service (NCS). We also carried out comprehensive reviews during 2022-23 on several policies to take account of legislative / operational environmental changes. This was further to our full review of all of our 2015 and TF policies in 21-22. We retained several elements of Covid-19 policy flexibility continued throughout the year with both the Scottish and Northern Ireland Government's extending this to the end of March 2023. We made good progress in implementing improvement initiatives in our published Equalities Mainstreaming and Outcomes and Corporate Parenting progress reports to the Board in April 2023 and will expand this work in 2023-24.
The financial year 2022-23 has been very busy for Finance team. Not only have we been dealing with the staple of the 2015 Fund and Transition Funds, we have as previously mentioned been instrumental in facilitating the payment to PA's (£500) to both Scotland and Northern Ireland. We received excellent feedback on our work in both countries. As part of our legislative requirements we completed the 2021-02 annual accounts and external audit, receiving a clean audit with no qualifications for the 6th year in a row.
From a communications and engagement perspective a new website was launched in the summer of 2022. We have received really positive feedback from our stakeholders, particularly around the accessibility of the new website. This is evident in the engagement statistics for the website, which show a 143.5% increase in page views and a 702.8% increase in new users in 2022-23. We have produced multiple publications including the highly regarded newsletters to over 3,000 recipients and key stakeholders. At the end of November 2022 and in the run up to the UN’s International Day of People with Disabilities, we held a very successful 5 Year celebration event for Transition Fund recipients. Nearly 200 young people, their parents, carers, families and external partners attended. The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport also launched the Technology Grant providing an IT solution to enable young disabled people to be digitally connected. Following the event and subsequent PR about the grant, we reached over 25,000 people.
As articulated above, we have worked extremely hard to maintain our status as an employer of choice and support our excellent workforce through the busy operating environment. In conjunction with additional projects such as 35 Hour Working Week consultation and Employee Passport launch, we have focused our efforts at wellbeing and resilience of colleagues. To that end our staff turnover remains low, however we have seen several staff members retire and others leaving to promoted posts and other opportunities. Our absence rate has remained static as we worked our way through the pandemic exit with several long-term absences. We are immensely proud to have again been awarded a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September.
In the IT and Information Governance space, the new file plan is now in place on the G:Drive and staff are working well within the new structure. The team have submitted a full Progress Update Review to the National Records of Scotland which offers an update of our Records Management Plan. This year four new LA areas have been added to the LA portal: West Lothian, East Ayrshire, Fife and Perth & Kinross. Additional areas will be added in Q1 of the new financial year. The Scottish Living Wage uplift was processed automatically increasing PA hourly rates by 3.8%. We have made significant developments moving away from paper printouts with the use of notifications and emails for Caseworkers. The technology grant launched in November 2022 has shown to reduce the time processing applications by 90%, or at least 9 hours for each submission when compared with the full application process. This not only saves a huge amount of time for staff but also those applying for the TF.
In conjunction with this work a full business case for capital investment for delivery transformation has been produced after extensive work, but disappointingly funding has not been granted. Instead we have been given permission to spend some reserves on a cloud based replacement for our ageing core casework database called ICI. This will make a big difference but will only facilitate a part digital transformation for ILF Scotland. This project for the ICI replacement has moved from Discovery to Alpha phase, working with third party suppliers on potential software solutions.
The planned business resilience desktop exercise for Q4 had to be postponed until April 2023. Scenario planning is complete and teams are ready to practice our resilience processes and build on lessons learned from the last exercise in early 2022. Also in Q4, we completed our reaccreditation of Cyber Essentials Plus and took part in a month long simulated phishing campaign and staff reporting has been very good during the period.
In summary, as can been seen from the brief narrative set out above, it has been another exceptional year for ILF Scotland dealing with the profound impact of Covid-19 on us all alongside the ever more acute cost of living. We have had the busiest, yet in some ways the most rewarding reporting period by any benchmark since opening in July 2015. We continue to work towards re-establishing a new baseline for our operations, implementing our strategy, extending the Transition Fund, re-opening the 2015 Fund to new applications in Scotland and Northern Ireland (subject to Ministerial approval) and supporting both Scottish and Northern Ireland Governments to deliver their priorities for disabled people to live independently with choice, control and dignity.
b) Business Plan Progress
Progress towards all strategic objectives remains strong and on track to complete by the end of this current strategic cycle / business plan, which has been extended and enhanced after discussion with the Scottish Government Sponsor Team. The digital transformation project which has now become a focused replacement of the ageing ICI system has now started in Q4 with the appointment of Transformation Lead Alex Bunch.
Strategic Outcome 1: Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people.
Strategic Objective 1: Development of the evidence base and proposals to re-open the 2015 Fund.
Target Outcome:
The evidence base is further developed to support the re-opening of the 2015 Fund.
Key Performance Indicators:
Further research and evidence from the development work in Northern Ireland by end Mar 21 establishes the strategic and business rationale for re-opening in NI and informs baseline preparations for Scotland.
Full analysis of welfare check calls and new recovery calls provide sponsor team with up-to-date impact assessment of current support arrangements on the ground for disabled people.
By March 2021, feedback from disabled people on the impact of COVID on them is used to help shape business plan for 2021-23.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
The Ministerial submission for the reopening in Northern Ireland was completed and submitted to the previous Minister for Health for a decision on next steps. The political situation in Northern Ireland and the absence of an Executive has meant that no progress can be made. We are in regular contact with the Sponsor Team and an update on the situation is provided at each meeting of the NI Stakeholder Group.
In Scotland, the previous Minister confirmed support for the reopening of the Fund but was unable to provide a timescale for this due to financial pressures and the need to ensure the ongoing affordability and long-term sustainability of any reopening. We plan to discuss inviting the new Minister to a meeting of the Scotland Advisory Group with our SG Sponsor and Advisory Group members.
We took onboard fully feedback from our recipients on the impact of Covid and incorporated this where required in working practice, policy and strategy.
Strategic Objective 2: Developing the relationships and protocols to be part of an integrated national model of Health and Social Care delivery.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is an integral part of a National Care Service (NCS) as proposed in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, making a significant contributor to the emerging "whole systems" approach to health and social care delivery. Note this outcome is subject to the implementation of the Feeley recommendation to create a National Care Service.
Key Performance Indicators:
Further research and evidence from the development work in Northern Ireland by end Mar 21 establishes the strategic and business rationale for re-opening in NI and informs baseline preparations for Scotland.
Full analysis of welfare check calls and new recovery calls provide sponsor team with up-to-date impact assessment of current support arrangements on the ground for disabled people.
By March 2021, feedback from disabled people on the impact of COVID on them is used to help shape business plan for 2021-23.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
Please note overlap with Strategic Objective 6.
Full analysis of welfare checks, feedback from disabled people on the impact of COVID coupled with extensive business rationale for reopening produced, resulting in the recommendation reference the Feeley Review.
The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill has been published and is currently at Stage 1 of the Bill process. Perhaps unsurprisingly there are already growing calls from e.g. COSLA/Social Work Scotland for the Bill to be paused, an indeed SG have now announced a delay in the Stage 1 debate until after summer 2023 to allow for further engagement and co-design.
As expected, there is no reference to ILF Scotland in the Bill. Although the Bill lacks detail, there is no reference in the Bill to any structure / national body sitting between the Care Boards and the Scottish Ministers, where we would have expected to see ILF Scotland sit in line with the Feeley recommendations. Our recent Bill consultation submission raised this issue, and we will discuss with Sponsor Team. We will continue to monitor Bill scrutiny and contribute to co-design work for further developments in this area, and SDS Director will continue to raise at Target Operating Model Working Group.
Strategic Objective 3: Develop the Transition Fund
Target Outcome:
Sponsor team fully briefed on demand and financial pressures on TF.
Staffing levels to support continued levels of demand of TF understood and provisioned.
Based on demand and feedback, develop proposals for the TF to a broader based fund for multiple users and uses.
Key Performance Indicators:
Revised maximum award cap implemented from 1 April 2021 at a level that matches demand and is financially sustainable.
One extra staff member recruited to support the TF.
Quarterly demand and usage report and feedback from ambassador group provides evidence base for developments.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
The Transition Fund performance is monitored, reported on and discussed on a regular basis with the Sponsor Team, who understand and appreciate the capacity pressures as a result of the ever-increasing volume of applications and the continuing lack of quality of these applications resulting in the need for multiple interventions by staff, which impacts on the processing target timescales.
We are completing a comprehensive review of the Transition Fund, which we will present to the Sponsor team in Q1 of 2023-24 following further consultation with a variety of stakeholder on our findings and recommendations, which will include a number of additional efficiency measures and options regarding the model we use with the implications of this developing proposals to deliver a form of funding to a broader base of user experiencing transitions at different life stages. Staff have been fully involved in the review and we will share the report with the Board and Sponsor Team.
We sought feedback directly from current fund recipients, and we engaged regularly with the Young Ambassadors Group, Fund recipients and their representatives and wider education, health and social care representatives through our ongoing engagement and used feedback to make adjustments to operating procedures and practice.
Strategic Objective 4: increased awareness levels of our Funds and the numbers of people it can support.
Target Outcome:
Greater levels of public awareness and applications to the funds.
Key Performance Indicators:
Delivery of a national communications strategy to increase awareness levels.
Application to the 2015 Fund start in NI and Scotland and grow steadily.
10% increase in application to the TF
Status: Green
Activity Update:
Strategy for 2023-24 is currently in draft and to be signed off by SMT and the Board.
NA
Applications to the Transition Fund have grown this year by nearly 40%. The website has had an increase in page views on the last quarter of 22% and an increase of 19.6% in new users in the same time period. In comparison to the previous financial year there has been a 143.5% increase in page views and a 702.8% increase in new users in 2022-23. 9 more events and engagement workshops were completed this quarter in comparison to the previous quarter with more than double the attendees. In 2022-23 there has been a 15.5% increase on the previous year in the number of events and engagement workshops being undertaken to increase awareness of the Transition Fund, which along with the activity happening on ILF Scotland's digital channels has contributed to an increase in applications to the Transition Fund this year.
Strategic Objective 5: Review and update our policies and practices to reflect current and emerging national HSC delivery plans.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland has the policy suite and embedded practices which transparently demonstrate its commitment to enabling independent living for all those that may use it.
Key Performance Indicators:
Published policy suites.
As above.
Availability of new policies as required to support a re-opened 2015 Fund.
Over two full years, implement and measure effectiveness against the Charter for Involvement Action Plan.
A published and operable Customer Charter.
A published Corporate Parenting Report, based on an implemented Action Plan.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
All policies are regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain fit for purpose, embrace and articulate our commitment to enabling Independent Living, take account of emerging changes to our legislative and operating environment, are improved for accessibility in line with good practice, and can be easily adapted for any reopening of the 2015 Fund. Draft policy consultation takes place as a matter of course with key stakeholders including our Scotland Advisory Group, NI Stakeholder Group and Young Ambassadors Group, our staff and our Sponsor Team. Equality Impact Assessments are conducted for all policy changes and the plans published on our website.
We continue to make sound progress in implementing actions in the Charter for Involvement Plan. A separate update report will be prepared for the Board meeting in April 23 and for the Stakeholder and Advisory Group meetings in and May and June 23. We are establishing separate small working groups in Scotland and Northern Ireland to agree priorities for action during 2023-24. Appropriate staff e.g. Assessors, are fully involved in improvement actions and we discuss this as a standard agenda item at Group meetings.
We had intended to develop a Customer Charter in 2022-23 but we have intentionally rescheduled this to the next financial year, primarily to allow us the opportunity to take full account of our customer feedback strategy and plans, which we are currently comprehensively reviewing to implement an improved mechanism and practice outcomes. We are co-producing the revised plans with our Stakeholder, Advisory and Ambassador Groups.
Strategic Outcome 2: Be leaders in enabling independent living.
Strategic Objective 6: Be leaders and champions in sharing our knowledge of enabling independent living with others.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is recognised as the lead public body for enabling independent living.
Key Performance Indicators:
Membership of national boards and committees.
Membership of integration working groups.
Participation in national social work practice events.
Inclusion in reviews of SDS.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
CEO continues with the Scottish Government PA Programme Board exploring implications of the Feeley review for this critical group of the social care and support workforce. CEO also continues to be involved with the Training Sub-group chaired by Anne-Marie Monaghan (ILF Scotland and Glasgow IJB Director). CEO also recently asked to engage with SG / SWS in relation to potential joint work on PA well-being (following on from the Independent Review of Adult Social Care) with University of Birmingham with a view to becoming part of a Demonstrator Site for the national IMPACT programme (Improving Adult Care Together).
CEO anticipating invitation to join SG working group on Human Rights and Independent Living.
CEO was invited to be part of short-life Scottish Government Working Group looking at Fair Work in social care including PAs, However this work seems to have come to an end. Director of SDS participating in production of a 12th SDS service standard with Social Work Scotland.
Director of SDS, Robert White, now part of SG working group looking at the current and future social care and support operating models as part of the development work for a National Care Service.
PA thank you / special recognition payments under contract to Governments in both Scotland and Northern Ireland is now complete and was very successful.
Director of SDS, Robert White, has been part of the Social Work Scotland led review of SDS guidance.
ILF Scotland being considered as delivery organisation for Care Experienced Grant currently under development and included in the Scottish Programme for Government 2023-24. There have been considerable delays in the decision-making progress within SG, however we expect to hear in Q1 of 2023-24.
We are currently exploring ILF Scotland representation in the NCS co-design work and are discussing with our Advisory Group.
CEO continues to be involved in the NCS Key Stakeholder Reference Group.
Strategic Objective 7: Develop and shared understanding and best practice model of enabling sustainable independent living outcomes.
Target Outcome:
An agreed and integrated approach from health and social care providers in enabling best practice independent living with a clear role for ILF Scotland.
Key Performance Indicators:
ILF Scotland is seen as an exemplar body in enabling independent living.
ILF Scotland has a clearly defined role and remit in the delivery of an integrated social care model.
ILF Scotland becomes part of the governance or operations board of a new National Care service.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
See also Strategic Objective 6.
Social work Scotland: Adult Social Care Committee Quarterly meeting, input to general policy and practice across Scotland, this quarter focussing on participation in the NCS developments, new Data Standards and the Safe Staffing Act being implemented in 2024. New National SDS Guidance for Scotland is now publicised with ILF contributions in many parts of the new draft promoting the choice and control of users and adoption of the SDS standards.
Scottish Government: The National SDS Collaboration group has met quarterly and has a wide membership with the voice of lived experience fairly represented.
We meet twice yearly with SDS Leads in N Ireland Trusts and bi-monthly with the SDS leads in Scotland via Social Work Scotland dedicated meetings and hosted projects delivering new SDS standards in Scotland. This included supplying information and advice on ILF’s model of Assessment to help influence the development of new National statutory guidance for SDS practitioners.
Internally, we have individual team meetings and whole SDS service meetings which enable staff contributions and the implementation of the Charter for Involvement (54 Actions requested by recipients), a process of continuous learning and improvement.
This year we have contributed to the ongoing implementation of the Principles of Transition in Scotland and implemented a new Technology Grant evidencing that ILF is seen as the body of choice to enable independent living outcomes for young people in transition.
Strategic Objective 8: Linking our data and reporting to the National Performance Framework
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is able to evidence its contribution against the National Performance Indicators.
Key Performance Indicators:
We have identified where ILF Scotland aligns to the NPF and to have developed draft metrics on how its contribution to them can be measured.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
Work is ongoing in the area of linking data to the National Performance Framework and the organisation using information directly from recipients to evidence the impact that ILF Scotland makes. The first survey cycle is due to start in Q1 of 2023-24.
Strategic Objective 9: Share our knowledge and work with people with lived experience of disability to help improve the delivery of social care and support services.
Target Outcome:
A fully aligned and integrated cohesive social care delivery service for Scotland with the role and remit of ILF Scotland clearly defined and embedded.
Key Performance Indicators:
ILF Scotland has a clearly defined role and remit in the emerging National Care Service,
Status: Amber
Activity Update:
Please note overlap with Strategic Objective 9.
In relation to the impact of COVID, we continue to talk to the Advisory Group in Scotland and the Stakeholder Group in Northern Ireland. Both groups report continued pandemic related challenges, particularly in relation to non-return to pre-pandemic statutory service levels. This is now being compounded by the cost-of-living crisis and impact of Brexit. These concerns are strongly echoed through welfare calls and Assessor visits. We successfully agreed a reduction in the Available Income cap in NI from £103 to £43 per week, which was very well received. We sought via a policy review submission, at the Stakeholder Group's request, to agree a temporary reduction or waiver of AI contributions in Scotland, however this was declined by the Minister.
The National Care Service (Scotland) Bill has been published and is currently at Stage 1 of the Bill process. Perhaps unsurprisingly there are already growing calls from e.g. COSLA / Social Work Scotland for the Bill to be paused, an indeed SG have now announced a delay in the Stage 1 debate until after summer 2023 to allow for further engagement and co-design.
As expected, there is no reference to ILF Scotland in the Bill. Although the Bill lacks detail, there is no reference in the Bill to the any structure / national body sitting between the Care Boards and the Scottish Ministers, where we would have expected to see ILF Scotland sit in line with the Feeley recommendations. Our recent Bill consultation submission raised this issue, and we have discussed with Sponsor Team who raised a query on our behalf. No decision on structure has yet been taken. We will continue to monitor Bill scrutiny for further developments in this area, and SDS Director will also raise at Target Operating Model Working Group.
Strategic Objective 10: Design new services with disabled people at the heart of them
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland delivers innovative new services which disabled people want, in the manner in which they want to use them.
Key Performance Indicators:
Working with the new satisfaction survey and stakeholder groups, identify opportunities and areas for new services or developments.
Data metrics identify and prioritise new developments based on greatest need and greatest impact.
Feedback is captured from stakeholder groups of new services and reported to the service improvements manager.
Where a new service requires a change in design or new functionality (as opposed to fixing a link or practice which is not working well), a co-production group should be created with their thoughts and ideas formally captured and fed into the service design model.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
We have made significant progress over the year in further developing our aspirations to deliver innovative services which disabled people want.
Our Local Authority Portal has received excellent feedback from ILF assessors / caseworkers and the LA areas trialling this. Feedback sessions in Q4 have highlighted this.
A ‘My Account’ function for applicants is on the agenda for the next stakeholder meeting to discuss development ideas.
The ICI replacement project will be the main focus for 2023-2024 with user experience at the forefront.
Strategic Outcome 3: Operate a high-quality efficient service.
Strategic Objective 11: Re-establish recipient reviews as soon as possible.
Target Outcome:
Safe review visit model developed.
Recipients trained and supported to participate fully in review visits.
ILF Scotland seen as leading good practice.
Key Performance Indicators:
By Dec 2020, ILF Scotland has developed a viable and safe method by which exceptional (emergency) review visits can take place.
By end June 2021, ILF Scotland has worked in partnership with SWS and HSCP and HSCT colleagues to develop a sector agreed approach to social care review visits.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
This year has seen us continue physical visits in full with recipients and social work representatives still utilising our continuing protocols for safe visits. Although PPE is now not mandatory for social care staff, we have continued to advise staff that the wishes of our recipients are paramount, and that staff can themselves access and use PPE if they wish.
Progress has been made in agreeing our policy, practice and processes going forward for the 2015 fund and the Transition Funds incorporating learning from the pandemic. The Transition Fund has received a record number of applications this year, many complex, prompting a review of all operations which will report next quarter. The 2015 Fund review cycle is now running at approximately three fifths of pre-pandemic pace; complex issues, carer support, LA non engagement, pandemic recovery slowed in building based services; all these factors are contributing to longer reviews with longer response times from other parties.
There is a significantly heightened risk of non-engagement by LAs centred around two main areas. The Minimum Threshold Sum required to be provided by LAs and LA support as Award Managers being withdrawn (This has now happened in 5 HSCP/Ts). The action plan to address these issues was agreed this year. The threshold sum must be in place, it is the basis of all joint awards.
ILF Scotland will accept, case by case, that an individual can transfer from LA award managership to a 3rd party if it is safe and appropriate to do so.
Strategic Objective 12: Prepare the full business case for a fully integrated, digitised, ILF Scotland as part of the wider whole systems approach to health and social care delivery.
Target Outcome:
Preliminary discovery of Use Cases to inform tender documentation.
Successful tender and development of target operating model and costings.
Business Case submitted to sponsor team for capital infrastructure investment during 2021.
Key Performance Indicators:
Business Case for capital investment to support service delivery transformation submitted to sponsor team and health finance by May 21
Status: Green
Activity Update:
The business case for capital investment for delivery transformation has been produced but funding has not been granted. Instead we have been given permission to spend some reserves on a cloud based replacement for our ageing core casework database called ICI. This will make a big difference but will only facilitate a part digital transformation for ILF Scotland.
Alex Bunch re-joined ILF Scotland in January from Scottish Government as lead for the digital transformation project. Alex helped launch ILF Scotland in 2015 so understands the ICI database and knows the ILF Scotland digital team and external developer Andy Giddins very well. Alex has already made significant progress on user research and working alongside third party vendors on the proof of concept.
Work continues on in year developments with the launch of the Technology grant, Local Authority portal and ICI development.
Strategic Objective 13: Develop and implement the workforce operational model to support a re-opened ILF Scotland
Target Outcome:
A new service model to support the effective delivery of re-opened 2015 Fund and an increase in TF applications.
Key Performance Indicators:
A newly designed service delivery model.
A fully resourced workforce plan to support the delivery model.
The technology and supporting infrastructure to enable 30% digital delivery by end 2023.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
See Strategic Objective 12
Considerable workforce planning has been continuing slowly in the background as we move through the year. However we still await notification of re-opening for Scotland and Northern Ireland before finalising directorate plans and workforce requirement.
The new service delivery model was completed during 2021 and assumed the development of a new cloud-based customer relationship management system offering self-service capability and full administration workflow and automation. The model remains valid but obtaining the capital funding to support the development as proved difficult. There are in year efficiency actions based around the current operating and staffing model but much remains based on our legacy system and processes.
Progress is marked in Green, as we have completed as much work as possible without a decision on the scale and scope of re-opening work. Once this is gained, we have a good foundation to proceed at pace.
Strategic Objective 14: Progress organisational risk and resilience programme
Target Outcome:
An operationalised Resilience Hub.
Through test and exercise, a more robust and resilient ILF Scotland.
Revised and improved approach to risk governance.
Key Performance Indicators:
Operationalised Resilience Hub and associated business impact assessments and resilience plans.
A test and exercise plan.
Test and exercises confirm appropriateness of resilience plans.
Quarterly resilience reports to SMT.
Introduction of risk management, governance and compliance software to improve management of risk.
Review and implement A&R recommendations for improvements to risk management structure (as required and based on outcomes from Resilience Hub operations).
Status: Green
Activity Update:
During this year we have been working on reviewing our resilience plans and updating these where required. We had to delay the desktop exercise that we had planned to run in Q4 by about 6 weeks, it has been rescheduled for April 2023. Scenario planning for the exercise has been completed.
All in all this year has been positive for risk and resilience and the teams that we have setup, Crisis Management Team (CMT) and Crisis Support Team (CST), have had an opportunity to practice working together during an incident. The information flows and processes are being embedded within the organisation and all teams have a good understanding of what needs done and when. Moving forward training and practice will be a key focus to get staff comfortable with resilience processes.
Strategic Objective 15: Be a Top Employer for our staff.
Target Outcome:
Achieve Top Employer status during 2021-22
Key Performance Indicators:
Working Families Benchmarking undertaken.
Staff working group set up to action survey feedback.
Trickle feedback used to identify real time satisfaction and engagement levels using themed “Mood Sense” over the year.
New well-being initiatives introduced keeping ILF Scotland at the leading edge of support to staff post-COVID
Status: Green
Activity Update:
ILF Scotland achieved UK Top 10 award and only Scottish organisation in UK Working Families Benchmarking Top 10. Work is well underway for the 2022-23 submission.
Staff Working Group has been created towards the end of Q2 to consider 2021-22 Staff Survey feedback. Our COO is the SMT Sponsor. Staff Survey 2021-22 was completed on 31 May 2022. The Staff Survey Report was presented to the Remuneration Committee during September 2022 meeting. A Working Group update was presented to the Remuneration Committee outlining the actions taken in response to the 2021-22 Staff Survey.
Twice monthly TRICKLE 'mood senses' are circulated with approximately one third of staff responding. TRICKLE Champions work continues to increase TRICKLE traffic and engagement.
New Well-being resources continue to be sourced and shared. Health Awareness Sessions have been introduced every 2 months:
1st Session - Menopause, Endometriosis and Mental Health
2nd Session - Financial Wellbeing in order to offer support to colleagues during the cost-of-living crisis
3rd Session - Carers and Caring theme
4th Session (November) - Men's Health with speaker from Andy’s Mans Club. This session was very powerfully received.
All awareness sessions, to date, are supported by guest speakers with experience of the focussed theme.
Employee Passports launched during July 2022 to all staff and heavily promoted through communications channels. This scheme is individually led by staff and is voluntary, aligning with the Scottish Government Employee Passport which was rolled out in January 2022. All new staff, during induction, are offered the opportunity to use the Employee Passport. The Employee Passport is regularly promoted in our monthly newsletter and All Staff Meetings.
An integrated and proactive sustainability model linking continuous improvement activity to organisational efficiency and reduced environmental impact.
Organisational approach to quality links improvement actions to carbon, resource, energy reductions.
Key Performance Indicators:
An efficiency and sustainability model linked to quality and continuous improvement is developed by March 22.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
The report into the Transition Fund is currently under review by the internal working group. This review will inform the creation of the 2015 Fund survey with a view to further informing the Net Zero action plan and the sustainability model for the organisation. The initial work in framing our improvement strategy around the National Performance Framework has already taken place and the working group will use the Framework to structure the new suite of surveys.
The organisation as a whole continues to work towards better understanding the wider responsibilities around sustainability and improvements. In May 2023 our Privacy and Improvement Manager will be applying for the newly created Leading for Improvement Programme offered by the Scottish Government in order to guide staff through self-assessment and Scottish Government endorsed improvement frameworks.
Strategic Objective 17: Develop and enhance communication channels with recipients to reduce reliance on paper-based channels.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is digitally enabled, where possible, to communicate rapidly and sustainably with the majority of its recipients.
Key Performance Indicators:
Welfare checks, reviews and recovery calls attempt to obtain current email addresses for all award managers.
ICT team investigate pricing and security options for a 3rd party text messaging service (this is not available via SCOTS).
ICT Team investigate a VOIP replacement for the 0300 office number, recommending and implementing a solution.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
This objective in its current format is complete.
ITECS trailed Teams and the move to office 365 on mobile for a handful of staff in Q4. This has been successful, and all staff will be migrated in Q1 of 2023-24. ITECS are also removing desk phones and introducing a Teams softphone for internal and external calls. This will make working from anywhere easier for staff.
Strategic Objective 18: Audit and compliance reporting cycle to continue.
Target Outcome:
Audit and compliance cycle confirms quality and control of the operational management of the organisation and supports the continuous improvement of it.
Key Performance Indicators:
No red findings or gaps identified.
Corporate reporting tool simplifies reporting process and saves significant amount of senior management time to the equivalent of 100 hours per annum.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
The external audit was completed in Q1 and was another clean audit with no qualifications for the 6th year in a row.
The audit cycle has continued (virtually) and overall has found ILF Scotland to be at a Good level of assurance with no red gaps or findings identified. Additionally, Internal Audits reported completed have all been rated good, which is excellent and backs up the fact that ILF Scotland has excellent internal controls and checks in place to ensure operational efficiency and excellence.
In this reporting period we have had three audits delayed due to a lack of resource with illness and end of year commitments. These were:
Procurement Audit - This has begun and will be finished by the 14 April.
Communications & Engagement Audit - This has been delayed into Q1 of the new financial year.
Digital Strategy - This has been delayed into Q1 of the new financial year.
We have had 3 very successful audits this in 22-23, with all receiving a Good rating, these were:
Health & Safety
Transition Fund
Payroll
Strategic Objective 19: Develop and implement a new reporting model to evidence satisfaction with the delivery of our service.
Target Outcome:
A new satisfaction survey with clear links to the NPF enables ILF Scotland to identify areas of success and areas to improve policy and service delivery.
Key Performance Indicators:
Development of the new survey.
Creation of the communications and survey delivery plan.
Creation of the reporting model.
Links from the reporting model to the organisational improvements and change activity (including policy where relevant).
Development of the approach and mechanism to inform recipients on how we are acting on their feedback.
Status: Amber
Activity Update:
The short life working group set up to implement the Transition Fund review survey is now the internal working group who are tasked with further developing the method for translating this work into the longitudinal customer satisfaction survey for the 2015 fund.
The working group will be tasked with co-producing the bi-annual 2015 Fund survey to go out in Q3 of 2023-24, aligning the question set to the National Performance Framework.
Strategic Objective 20: Improve the efficiency and ease of financial reporting for the organisation.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland adopts a new financial accounting system.
Key Performance Indicators:
Business case and proposed solution approved and authorised through appropriate governance channels.
Tender and procurement action.
Deployment and integration with existing services and the new SG Payments Platform.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
After a brief review, it has been agreed that on present work volumes / complexity our current accounting system is adequate, so no further work has been carried out.
However, if the 2015 fund across both NI and Scotland are re-opened, then we will look into if a new accounting system is required as one of the workstreams. As we will if we take on other funds like we did for the £500 PA payment across NI and Scotland.
We were not in a position to purchase a risk management solution, namely down to budgetary constraints. However, we have budget for this in 2023-24 and we will look to go out to tender with a view to acquiring a risk management solution.
Again for similar reasons, we were not able to purchase a digital expenses solution, however we will look to acquire a solution for this new financial year.
This objective has been marked as Green, because as much progress as possible has been achieved.
Strategic Objective 21: Ensure the financial viability of ILF Scotland
Target Outcome:
Funding at the required levels to sustain current and provisional future activities.
Key Performance Indicators:
Financial reports clearly state spend to date and future direction of travel.
Funding secured from Scottish Government to deliver current and future operations.
Regular meetings with sponsor teams and health finance to review and confirm required levels of funding.
Medium Term Financial Plans approved via Board and submitted to Sponsor Team.
Evidence base from: stakeholder groups; compliance requirements; infrastructure development plans; and satisfaction surveys are used to inform policy and practice changes and, where necessary, the financial implications of these are modelled and presented to Board and Sponsor Team for approval.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
Significantly increased levels of Unspent Monies have contributed to lessen the impact of a deficit across both funds. It is worth noting we do have other pressures as well, for example Scottish Living Wage and AI. AI reductions have been put on hold after discussions with Scottish Government Sponsor Team, we hope to pick these up in 2023-24.
Management Accounts clearly state where we are in terms of spend on both the Programme and Administration side of things. This financial year has seen our tightest year in terms of admin spend, compared to budget. We are showing a small deficit of £609k across both funds on the Awards side. A factor in this is that we received £2m less for the 2015 Fund for Scotland. This deficit would have been much larger if it wasn't for the significant levels of Unspent Monies received, we received almost £4m in 22-23, the most we have received to date.
We continue to meet regularly with the Sponsor Team and keep them abreast of the financial position at ILF Scotland. We also send the Medium-Term Financial Plans (MTFP) to the Sponsor Team, once these are approved by the board. We factor in liabilities such as AI reduction, SLW etc.
Also our new External Auditors have scrutinised the MTFP and have commended ILF Scotland on it. The previous External Auditors have stated though, that ILF continuing to rely on its reserves is not financially sustainable in the long term.
Strategic Objective 22: Complete and implement the Equalities Duty Action Plan and Gaelic Language Act responsibilities.
Target Outcome:
Fully compliant with all aspects of the Equalities Duty (as relevant to a small public body).
Fully compliant with all aspects of the Gaelic Language Act (as relevant to a small public body).
Key Performance Indicators:
The creation and sign off of an Equalities Duty Action Plan.
Implementation of the Action Plan.
Development and measurement of the metrics to confirm the successful implementation of the Action Plan.
Successful audit in 2022-23. 5. As 1-4 for the Gaelic Language Act Action Plan.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
Equality Duty Action Plan 2021-22 has been reviewed and published in May 2022.
The Equalities Mainstreaming Outcome Report 2022-24 has been published following approval from the Board in April 2022.
We continue to work on a voluntary basis on the development of the Gaelic Language Action Plan following the Gaelic Language Awareness Session at the beginning of 2022.
The Equality Committee meets quarterly and is chaired by our CEO and attended by our Remuneration Committee Chair Mark Adderley. All staff have been invited to attend with a regular cohort from each Directorate joining and inputting. Our next meeting is planned for week commencing 17 April 2023.
Strategic Objective 23: Complete and implement Equalities Mainstreaming Action Plan
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland has embedded equality in all of its policies and practices and by its actions, reduces inequalities and promotes fairness, equality and inclusion at every opportunity and is seen as a leader in this area for the public sector.
Key Performance Indicators:
Awareness of EQ Mainstreaming is raised across the organisation and is evidenced by the set up and workings of a standing Equality and Diversity Committee.
An action plan is created to address initial baseline assessment improvement issues and implemented during Q2-Q4.
Recipient, applicants and staffing diversity profiles are baselined so as to identify positive targeted action for under-represented groups as part of a strategic communications campaign. ILF Scotland engages with and becomes active members of groups and bodies across the public and third sector to learn from, inform and develop best shared practices for mainstreaming equality as evidenced by membership and contribution at events, meetings and conferences.
Status: Green
Activity Update:
We are making good progress in actively implementing our duties as a public body under Equality legislation. We reviewed and published our Equality Duty Action Plan in 2022-23. Work to mainstream equalities across the organisation will be ongoing throughout 2023-24 including further benchmarking with various organisations. We began making contact with other NDPBs in this financial year and will work to strengthen this in 2023-24.
We will continue our progress in targeting our services and improvement actions towards specific groups of people with protected characteristics. We are keen to make progress this year with those recipients and potential TF applicants affected by poverty. Our draft Communications Strategy, which we hope to have signed off by the end of Q1 in the new financial year, references our engagement plans with all groups.
During 2023-23, we provided additional awareness sessions for all Managers. This activity will be ongoing during 2023-24 to continue to drive up the use of EQIAs across all major decision making, corporately and operationally.
The established Equality and Diversity Committee continued to meet throughout 2022-23 and discussed a wide variety of equality issues and initiatives with lots of input from staff members and welcome support from our Remuneration Committee Chair, Mark Adderley.
We will report our progress on our Action Plan, published as part of our Equalities Mainstreaming and Outcomes Report, to the Board in April 2023.
Voluntary progress on our Gaelic Language Plan was put on hold part way through this financial year because of capacity issues and the need to focus on our legislative and service priorities. We intend to pick this up again in the course of the new financial year.
3. Self-Directed Support Summary
a) Social Work Update (2015 Fund)
Over the reporting period we have continued physical reviews whilst following best practice in PPE and protection of recipients and staff. To enable the completion of reviews, we temporarily waived a number of key policies and procedures around Local Authority engagement and reduced service input because Local Authorities advised they are still routinely dealing with emergency assessments. To support this, we allowed the continuation of our Covid-19 Policy flexibilities until 30 June 2022, after which we worked with Local Authority partners to shift back to pre-pandemic policy positions. We are keeping this flexibility under review in certain cases as intelligence from contact with Health and Social Care Partnerships and Trusts, shows that the lifting of restrictions has coincided with increased staff absence. It is hoped when this peak is passed, a widespread re-opening of services is anticipated in the next financial year and this in turn will facilitate ILF Scotland recipients to get all the support previously agreed via their SDS packages of support.
During the past year we had approx. 17,700 calls to operations teams a decrease of 1% from the previous year which is not representative of the reality of an increased contact role because 2021-22 included telephone reviews. Our role during the pandemic deepened and widened to provide a range of supports and this continued during 2022-23.
However, an ongoing part care management type role whilst vital to recipients during the pandemic means that a 2-year review cycle is unsustainable and discussions are required around how to maximise the positive impact of a review visit with more flexible review timescales. In 2019-20 we completed 1,900 review visits, a typical year. In 2020-21 during the height of the pandemic, we completed 172 visits. 2021-22 when pandemic restrictions were largely in place we completed 400 review visits. This year we have completed 1,050 2015 fund visits and 35 visits for the Transition Fund. However we made over 2,700 new award offers indicating substantial numbers of changes of circumstances and our responsiveness to recipients current needs: the impact on operational staff is increased workloads across the service. Analysis of the reviews illustrates some key issues from previous review cycles:
This year we continued to engage with N Ireland Trust Leads and Scottish HSCP Leads. In Scotland this has also meant working closely with Social Work Scotland on various SDS projects, new National SDS guidance and the new SDS National Collaboration and the cross-party group on Social Work hosted by the Scottish Government.
b) Summary
The operational environment remains challenging for staff supporting isolated recipients, and still stretched and stressed carers and anxious and isolated young people to apply to the Transition Fund. Many ordinary policies and procedures were suspended and are now more flexible for good reason, yet it adds layers of complexity to decision making and delays in processing reviews. We intent to assert our role and policies in the next financial year to bring better inputs from HSCP/Ts and revise our review cycle to maximise our impact.
4. Policy, Improvements and Engagement Summary
a) Policy and Improvement
We carried out comprehensive reviews during 2022-23 on several policies to take account of legislative / operational environmental changes. This was further to our full review of all of our 2015 and TF policies in 21-22.
b) Covid-19 Flexibility
We retained several elements of Covid-19 policy flexibility continued throughout the year with both the Scottish and Northern Ireland Government's extending this to the end of March 2023. We used this flexibility sparingly but successfully for a small number of recipients. For example, we were able to award some emergency respite to avoid recipient admission to care homes and were able to extend the payment of award while some recipients were in hospital beyond the standard 28 days rather than suspend the award.
c) Reporting
We made good progress in implementing improvement initiatives in our published Equalities Mainstreaming and Outcomes and Corporate Parenting progress reports to the Board in April 2023 and will establish working groups from the Stakeholder and Advisory group members in Q1 of 2023-24 to progress priority actions for that financial year.
d) Transition Fund (TF)
By the end of Q4 we received 3,205 TF applications, an increase of 40.8% on last year. Application numbers have grown strongly throughout the year. While the launch of the Technology Grant caused a significant increase in applications from December to March, with 381 submitted and processed in period. The underlying trend in full Transition Fund applications shows strong growth also of just under 25%, which is line with the previous year.
The Q4 figures are complicated somewhat by the Technology Grant taking some applications which would have been originally full grant applications, so it is difficult to get a clear picture of the underlying trends. We have seen a significant upturn over the year in general in application numbers. All quarters in the year have out-performed previous years with Q4 in particular setting a new record of 997 applications in a quarter, our highest level of applications ever since the inception of the fund.
Challenges around processing applications remain significant due to the poor quality of submissions and the lack of necessary supporting documentation. Changes made to the application screening process have assisted, but a general lack of support for young people in the community to submit good enough quality applications to allow them to be processed first time with no intervention appears to be more sparce than ever. The existing staff team continue to make every effort to progress applications, however it appears that the sheer volume of applications that we are receiving has overwhelmed the current staffing complement.
The current review of the Transition Fund is looking at all aspects of the fund in an effort to find further efficiencies, consider whether additional resource is required, and revising the processing model as appropriate. We would like to continue to be inclusive of all eligible young people, but this involves filling the space left by the lack of transition planning by statutory agencies and moving further towards a de facto Scotland wide transition planning service. An alternative is to becomes more resolute in applying policy and rejecting inadequate applications but the difficulty in doing that is that it is often those young people most in need who have the least support to submit an application. Our published service standard of 12 weeks to process submitted full applications to the fund has been under significant pressure for the majority of the year and this pressure has built significantly over Q3 and Q4.
e) Communications and Engagement
The Communications team delivered external communication (direct and digital) to all our stakeholders on:
Scottish Social Care Wage increase for Personal Assistants
Northern Ireland award increase for Personal Assistants
and bi-annual newsletters.
Digital communications - The new website was launched in the summer of 2022. We have received really positive feedback from our stakeholders, particularly around the accessibility of the new website. This is evident in the engagement statistics for the website, which show a 143.5% increase in page views and a 702.8% increase in new users in 2022-23. We are now in a phase of continual improvement and are looking at what further upgrades and technical efficiencies can be made to our website in 2023-24 to help advance our stakeholder communication and engagement.
Marketing and accessibility - This year the team launched a re-brand and accessibility project on all organisational marketing documents and publications in order to meet some of the aims and commitments set out in the Charter for Involvement Action Plan. This work will continue into 2023-24 and is a key objective within the organisational communications strategy for 2023-24.
Public relations and events - At the end of November 2022 and in the run up to the UN’s International Day of People with Disabilities, we held a very successful 5 Year celebration event for Transition Fund recipients. Nearly 200 young people, their parents, carers, families and external partners attended. The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport also launched the Technology Grant providing an IT solution to enable young disabled people to be digitally connected. Following the event and subsequent PR about the grant, we reached over 25,000 people. This led to over 200 Technology Grant applications being received in the first month following the launch and another 181 by the end of the financial year totalling 381.
Engagement - we completed an extensive programme of external engagement throughout the year with a number of partners and stakeholders with a 15.5% increase in engagement activity on the previous year. We continued to focus on attracting applications from geographical areas where applications were low and also focused on increasing applications from those who are care experienced and the deaf community. In 2023-24 we will focus on engagement activity that meets and is in line with the aims of our Corporate Parenting Plan and Equalities Mainstreaming Action Plan. This will involve further work on increasing applications from those who are care experienced and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
f) Complaints
For the full 22-23 year we received 25 complaints compared to 34 in 21-22. The majority of these complaints related to the Transition Fund - 23, compared to two for the 2015 Fund. We capture each learning point from this valuable feedback about our service and act to address any issues raised through revised procedures, staff training, etc. in the spirit of continuous organisational improvement.
5. People Summary
a) Overview
2022-23 has been another extremely busy year since ILF Scotland was created in 2015. In conjunction with additional projects such as 35 Hour Working Week consultation; Employee Passport launch; records management migration; and volume of work we have again observed increasing year on year work pressures. Our continuing exciting innovative support to our workforce, introducing new measures has supported staff through the year. Our attrition remains low; however, we have seen several staff members retire and others leaving to promoted posts and other opportunities. Our absence rate has remained static as we worked our way through the pandemic exit with several long-term absences. We are immensely proud to have again been awarded a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September.
We are a positive, open and supportive employer which is welcomed across the workforce. The Health and Wellbeing programme has remained front and centre of our decision making as we made our way through the year offering several workshops including ‘Mental Health & Resilience refreshers and ‘Returning to the Workplace’. We continued through the year to meet all staff monthly through ZOOM and this will continue into 2023-24. As we work with new and improved flexible / hybrid principles we continue to ‘Keep in Touch’ with smaller staff groups as it remains important to reconnect. Our Trickle App has been successful allowing us to react swiftly to staff mood senses and pulse surveys making positive change as required. The Trickle App is now embedded as a great tool to connect, discuss with staff enabled to openly discuss issues wither anonymously or recognised.
As with Q1-3, Q4 has continued with continuing pressures on staff as a result of new projects and heavy workloads. We remain vigilant and not complacent that the impact of heavy workloads and the unintended consequences of COVID 19 continues to challenge us all. Current planning is underway to continue further Mental Health & Resilience workshops from the Strong Minded Resilience Team and promote our own Mental Health First Aiders to all staff.
b) Organisational Demography
By the end of Q4 2022-23 the organisational make up is 74: staff (67) and Directors (7): 73%:27% female: male, with 21.62% of staff self-identified as disabled, 2.70% BME and 2.70% LGBT.
c) Employment Status
During 2022-23 we have continued our commitment as a supportive life friendly employer offering a suite of life friendly policies. We have listened and reacted to feedback from colleagues through our Staff Survey and TRICKLE mood senses / pulse surveys which has informed positive change. All ILF Scotland staff have employed status; full time or part time with many different flexible working patterns to suit individual and organisational need. This continues to provide stability and continuity for both the organisation and individuals during this time of continued uncertainty. During 2022-23 all staff have worked 100% flexibly and we will continue to ensure staff can have a work life harmony which suits their individual circumstances. Planning work has started to for the 2023-26 Workforce plan which will consider our current staff and current and future workstreams.
d) Recruitment
In Q4, due to heavy workloads across the organisation and in part due to post Covid-19 unintended consequences of changing policies and staff leaving, we have continued to build and strengthen our workforce
During 2022-23 the following roles have been appointed:
Q1:
1 x Business Administrator (1.0 FTE) (6 months - Temp)
1 x Senior Communications Officer – (perm) - replacement post
Q2:
No recruitment
Q3:
No recruitment
Q4:
4 x Assessors (3.2 FTE) replacement posts
1 x Finance Officer (TF) replacement post
1 x Transformation Lead (18 months Fixed-Term)
e) Retention
During 2022-23 there has been a slight increase in staff retiring or moving on to other opportunities.
1 x SDS Manager (NI) - retirement (Q1)
1 x Finance Officer (TF) - resignation (Q2)
3 x Assessors (2 x retirement, 1 x resignation) (Q3)
1 x Self-employed Assessor - retirement (Q3)
1 x Assessor - seconded for 12 months to Network Learning West. (Q3)
1 x Senior Communications Officer (fixed contract ended)
1 x Business Administrator – retirement (seconded from SG)
f) Absence
Sickness Absence
2022-23
Long Term: 2.32%
Short Term: 2.40%
COVID-19 Sickness (Included in Short term): 0.60%
Total: 4.72%
2021-22
Long Term: 2.74%
Short Term: 2.28%
COVID-19 Sickness (Included in Short term): 0.47%
Total: 5.02%
Sickness Absence: Q4: 01 January 2023 - 31 March 2023
Long term: 1.35%
Short term: 3.05%
Total: 4.0%
Following all the wellbeing support and initiatives utilised by staff over the last year we have seen a slight decrease in absence rates.
We believe we are seeing the consequences of continued high tempo of work over the years, with colleagues reporting fatigue and increased stress and anxiety due to both external contributors and a continual heavy workload. We strongly believe our absence rates would have been higher had we not taken such positive action around wellbeing and supporting colleagues through the past year. Some staff have been working with our Occupational Health partners and we hope to see a reduction in our sickness absences as we move into 2023-24. We continue to offer Mental Health & Resilience training and promote our mental health support through our 4 Mental Health First Aiders. The Mental Health First Aiders are meeting quarterly to discuss any concerns and how to promote the organisations Mental Health First Aid work.
g) Disciplinary, Grievance and Performance
Nil to report.
h) Staff Survey
The 2022 staff survey took place for 6 weeks during April and May. Data analysis from the staff survey showed a workforce which, despite the challenges of post COVID-19 remained positive and upbeat. Staff acknowledged positively the supportive offerings from ILF. The report was presented to the Remuneration Committee in September 2022. Overall, the survey was positive despite exiting COVID-19 and the heavy workloads. A working group reviewed the report with 3 key themes identified for review; wellbeing; collaborative working and 35 Hour Working Week. The following were introduced as a result of the work completed by the working group:
introducing champions on TRICKLE and YAMMER
introduced regular Health Awareness Sessions focussing on Finance, Carers, Menopause & Endometriosis and Men's Health
staff consultations and Board approval for the 35 Hour Working Week
The Staff Survey 2023 will be circulated again during April / May 2023.
i) Supporting Activity
To enable the organisation to successfully deliver the strategy and be an employer of choice, and as a small sample, the following activity has taken place:
Monthly - all Staff Meetings
5 x 'Mental Health & Resilience Workshops- ‘Return to the Workplace’ and New Starts workshop
Assessor / caseworker practice days – in-person, throughout May and June
Records Management Training – mandatory for all staff – through May and June
IMSO / DIMSO (records management) training
Employee Passport Training and launched
35 Hour working week – planning meetings / consultation and board approval
Teams workshops – provided free from Scottish Government
Working Families Awards – 1 member of staff on judging panel and presenting award in London – June 2022
Working Families Benchmarking submission
Civil Service Pension workshops – provided free to all staff - May / June 2022
Cyber Security Workshops – all staff
Managers ‘youmanage’ workshops / training to all directorates throughout Q1
Finance Pay Policy – 1 x staff member attended Practitioner session
EQIA training for Managers – June 2022
SMT Away Day – June 2022 / March 2023
BEAMANS – Job Evaluation Training x 2
CIPD conference attendance x 2 (September)
Corporate Parenting Workshops (MANDATORY) Sept or Oct
Staff trained in Fire Safety / DSE and H&S to increase the staff
Health Awareness Sessions x 2
Disability Inclusion in the Workplace – Board Chair and 1 x HR attended
World Mental Health Week – Awareness
Pay award 2022-23 – implemented in November salaries
COO – Podcast recorded and aired for Bruce Tait associates
Payroll / Governance and Health & Safety – Internal Audit – all ‘good’
6. Information Governance and IT Summary
a) Records Management
The new file plan is now in place on the G:Drive and staff are working well within the new structure. The team have submitted a full Progress Update Review to the National Records of Scotland which offers an update of our Records Management Plan. A group has been set up internally to manage Information Governance. This has representation from across the organisation with Information Management Support Officers working in each functional area, managing and feeding back on their own area of the file plan. The internal audit process for the management of organisational records has been created and is currently being trialled by all teams. The trial period is due to be complete by July 2023 with staff feeding back on the process over the summer. The first full scale audit of organisational health in this area will take place in October 2023, in line with our reporting cycle for the National Records of Scotland Progress Update Review.
b) Digital and System Development
Four new LA areas have been added to the LA portal: West Lothian, East Ayrshire, Fife and Perth & Kinross. Additional areas will be added in Q1 of the new financial year. The Scottish Living Wage uplift was processed automatically increasing PA hourly rates by 3.8%. We have made significant developments moving away from paper printouts with the use of notifications and emails for Caseworkers. The ICI transformation project has moved from Discovery to Alpha, working with third party suppliers on potential software solutions.
c) Risk & Resilience
The planned desktop exercise for this quarter had to be postponed until April 2023. Scenario planning is complete and teams are ready to practice our resilience processes and build on lessons learned from the last exercise. The year has seen the resilience programme embed further into the organisation and we aim to build on this in 2023-24 with more coaching and training.
d) Cyber Security
This quarter saw us complete our reaccreditation of Cyber Essentials Plus. We took part in a month-long simulated phishing campaign and staff reporting has been very good during the period. Throughout the year we have remained vigilant and pro-active with infrastructure security and have kept staff up to date with the latest threats, all of which contribute to our stable security posture.
7. Finance Summary
The financial 2022-23 has been very busy for Finance. Not only have we been dealing with the staple of the 2015 Fund and Transition Funds. We have also been instrumental in facilitating the payment to PA's (£500) to both Scotland and Northern Ireland. We received excellent feedback on our work for both countries.
After identifying that our existing Travel & Subsistence policy needed updating, we also developed a new T&S policy, through co-producing this with key colleagues across the organisation. The result has been a policy which is now fit for purpose and one that reflects the cost pressures of the Cost-of-Living Crisis.
We have carried out a programme of three internal audits, all receiving a good rating. We have also changed External Auditors from Deloitte to Audit Scotland. This change has meant we have had to invest considerable time with our new auditors, showing our processes, our business model and all our internal controls.
a) All financial reporting happens via the Audit and Risk Committee and Management Accounts, however some additional points for Finance are as follows:
External Audit
We have new External Auditors; they are Audit Scotland.
They have started their interim audit checks, and everything so far seems to be going smoothly, with no issues currently.
The only change to our Accounting Policies during the year was the introduction of IRFS16 on leases.
We have kept in continuous contact with Health Finance and also Audit Scotland on this and do not foresee any issues with our accounting of this new financial reporting standard.
Internal Auditors
The audit cycle has continued (virtually) and overall has found ILF Scotland to be at a Good level of assurance with no red gaps or findings identified. Additionally, Internal Audits reported completed have all been rated good, which is excellent and backs up the fact that ILF has excellent internal controls and checks in place to ensure operational efficiency and excellence.
In this financial year we have had three audits delayed due to a lack of resource with illness and end of year commitments. These are:
Procurement Audit - This has begun and will be finished by the 14 April
Communications & Engagement Audit - This has been delayed into Q1 of the new financial year
Digital Strategy - This has been delayed into Q1 of the new financial year
We have had 3 very successful audits this in 22-23, with all receiving a Good rating, these were:
Health & Safety
Transition Fund
Payroll
Process Review
Although work on our review of our processes has been ongoing, it has been slower than we would have liked for a number of reasons so other work items have taken priority. However, we aim to have a thorough review of our key financial processes in 23-24.
The processes that we have reviewed have resulted in ensuring any best practice and any procedural efficiencies have been fully maximised. These updated processes have been incorporated into our Accounting Procedures & Policies Manual.
Finance have also been working with the Risk & Resilience Project, helping implement the Resilience Hub and looking at possible risk management digital solutions, although no solutions have been implemented yet, this is down to cost pressures and nothing else.
Annual Report and Accounts - Year Ended 31 March 2022
Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to:
ILF Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston, EH54 6GA Registered in Scotland. Phone: 0300 200 2022. Email: enquiries@ilf.scot
ILF Scotland is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Scottish Government (SG). Our role is to provide a high quality service to, currently, over 6,000 disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland (NI), supporting them to achieve positive independent living outcomes, and to have greater choice and control over their lives.
ILF Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. We work in partnership with 37 Health and Social Care Partnerships/Trusts (HSCP/Ts) across Scotland and NI by jointly assessing and funding person centred care and support.
Operating from our central office in Livingston we employ (at 31 March 2022) 73 dedicated people including our social care professionals and nonexecutive directors. Our assessors visit our recipients in their own homes every two years to identify their needs often in conjunction with local authority or trust social services departments.
Office address
ILF Scotland Denholm House Almondvale Business Park Almondvale Way Livingston EH54 6GA Registered in Scotland
ILF Scotland was set up in 2015 and carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and NI. Its aim is to deliver discretionary cash payments to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities. The organisation became an NDPB of SG in June 2018 (having previously been an Other Significant Public Body) and receives funding in the form of Grant in Aid from SG. There is also an agreement between the SG and the Department of Health in NI for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF recipients based in NI.
Details of the Directors can be found here via the link below or directly on the company website: Board of Directors - ILF
Banker Royal Bank of Scotland 36 St. Andrew Square Edinburgh EH2 2AD
Performance report
Overview
Introduction
The last 12 months has, without doubt, been the busiest and most challenging period since the inception of ILF Scotland, due to the impact of the global pandemic Covid 19. We have worked hard to be supportive, and innovative, in our response to this pandemic, introducing many new measures and initiatives to help recipients, key stakeholders and staff get through the year with as little impact on well-being as possible in such challenging circumstances. However, as we look back over the last 12 months of dealing with the pandemic, as both an organisation and nation, it has clearly taken a heavy toll on us all. That said, the resilience, determination and solidarity shown by our recipients, and the professionalism, empathy, compassion and sheer hard work of all involved in ILF Scotland has been truly humbling to watch.
This section of our Annual Report and Financial Statements sets out an overview of the last year. Such was the impact of Covid-19 on our recipients that much of this report addresses how we dealt with this and how we responded to the many challenges it presented. Performance is therefore measured against both how we dealt with the effects of Covid-19 and how we performed against our Strategic Plan.
Strategic Plan
Our key outcomes from our Strategic Plan are listed below:-
Strategic Outcome 1 - Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people.
Strategic Outcome 2 - Be leaders in enabling independent living.
Strategic Outcome 3 - Operate a high-quality efficient service.
Further information on these outcomes are set out in pages 10 to 15 together with the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) against which we monitor performance.
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
This year our principal risks and uncertainties were mainly in connection the Covid19 pandemic, managing the continued growth of the Transition Fund, the management of resources, managing the movement of personal and sensitive information, managing Information Technology (IT) security and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes. We believe that we responded very well to all risk areas and this is explored further in the “Performance Analysis” section of this report. Risk is further addressed in the Annual Governance Statement on pages 31 to 32.
Executive Summary
As we move slowly out the pandemic, the last 12 months have seen the busiest operational period since we first went live in 2015. This in part has been due to the impact of Covid-19, but also due to the continuing success of the Transition Fund, coupled with day to day operations alongside the delivery of our strategic plan. We have continued to work hard in being supportive, innovative and flexible in our response to the pandemic as we slowly edge to a new normal. However, what is clear from our work with disabled people, is the impact of Covid-19 will take many years to unravel.
Overall there has been significant progress towards the three strategic priorities in our business plan and the sense of high level support for re-opening the 2015 Fund in both Scotland and NI. Of key note alongside the business plan, ILF Scotland also successfully delivered in collaboration with Scotland Excel and Self Directed Support Scotland (SDSS), SG's pandemic “thank you” payment scheme to just under 5,000 Personal Assistants (PAs). This was an exceptionally complicated piece of work, which mainly took place in Quarters (Q) 2 and 3 of our year. Due to this success, ILF Scotland was approached by the NI Government to provide a similar scheme which has been developed and will be delivered in our new financial year.
Operational update
From an operational perspective, we have stayed fully open throughout the financial year, supporting over 6,000 disabled people (this number includes closed cases) across Scotland and NI to have choice, control and dignity. We have dealt with over 18,000 contacts via phone, text and email compared with just over 11,000 the year before, and this increase is mainly due to growth in the number of individuals supported alongside the complexity of issues.
Over the year 2015 Fund (our main fund) recipient numbers have dropped to 2,435 (Scotland 2,056 & NI 379) from 2,572 (Scotland 2,160 & NI 412). This represents an increase in the overall decline trend from around 4.4% (4.2% Scotland & 5.5% NI) in 2020/21 to 5.3% (4.8% Scotland & 8% NI) in 2021/22. Correspondingly the total number of individuals supported through the Transition Fund (our fund aimed exclusively at young disabled people in the age bracket 16-25) has increased by 47.2% from 2,575 to 3,790 by the year end.
Worryingly though, disabled people are telling us that they are experiencing even more difficult times as we relax pandemic protections, which risks further deepening existing societal inequalities.
Though the cost of living has mainly become more acute in the latter half of the financial period, for disabled people this has made scarce resources even harder to stretch. When this is added to the ongoing challenges of living with Covid-19 and the social care staffing predicament, the situation for disabled people is arguably as bleak as it has been for decades.
This is being starkly highlighted as we have returned to physical reviews for the 2015 Fund throughout the year. We are seeing much more complexity in these as a result of the aforementioned reasons, which is further exacerbated by the slow rebuilding of statutory services in the community. To that end, our reviews are taking considerably longer to complete, with our clear priority to ensure disabled people are able to live with choice, control and dignity. The difficulties set out above have further strengthened the case for the re-opening of the 2015 Fund in both Scotland and NI where forward momentum has continued throughout the reporting period. By the year end, there were submissions with Ministers in NI for their consideration and, subject to approval, we look forward to working alongside key stakeholders to make this a reality for disabled people.
To support the increasing year on year work pressures on staff, we have carried on renewing and refreshing our employee offer. This has included the introduction of new measures and initiatives, expanded later in the report, to help our staff get through the year whilst enabling them to bring their best to the workplace. We are very proud to have again been awarded a Top 10 UK Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September 2021, especially in the context of our busiest year ever. But, we are even more proud of the continued excellence, passion, hard work and professionalism of colleagues who have performed brilliantly throughout 2021-22.
In summary, it has been another extraordinary year for ILF Scotland dealing with the profound impact of Covid-19 on us all alongside the increasing cost of living. We have had the busiest, yet in some ways the most rewarding reporting period, by any benchmark since opening in July 2015. Looking forward, we continue to work towards: re-establishing normal operations; continued implementation of our strategy; extending the Transition Fund; re-opening the 2015 Fund to new applications in Scotland and NI (subject to Ministerial approval); supporting SG to deliver the recommendations in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care; and enabling even more disabled people to live independently.
Business Plan Progress
Looking back over the year, overall there has been strong progress towards our three strategic priorities.
Two key areas worth highlighting are the full review of our policy suite to ensure they remain fit for purpose, and the progression of our Equalities Mainstreaming, Corporate Parenting and Charter for Involvement Action Plans. These have been key pieces of work and we are delighted to have progressed these in the year.
Internally, ILF Scotland remains under significant Covid related pressures, and despite media reports that the crisis is now over, infection and hospitalisation rates remain high, with resultant health concerns for our own workforce and our ability to operate safely in the community. We have made a strong start to the very lengthy and complex unravelling of recipient award packages as a result of the pandemic. This has resulted in detailed negotiations around care and support packages, placing additional time pressures on both our Assessors and Caseworkers to follow through on agreed review outcomes and actions. In tandem with this, we have seen considerable growth in the applications coming into the Transition Fund.
Looking to the future and fulfilling the current strategy, significant progress has been made on the digital transformation business case and organisational sustainability. Both areas look to achieve greater efficiency through smarter use of technology, of staff, of resources and operational processes to reduce our consumption and work towards a Net Zero position by 2040. Key work has been completed to create an operational framework for taking all this forward during the final year of this strategy (2020-23), and is on track to deliver our Net Zero Action Plan by the end of this current strategy period.
Overall the business plan is on track to deliver the strategic priorities by the end of this current strategic cycle and we are hopeful about its key priority of re-opening the 2015 Fund.
Organisational Structure
An organisational chart can be found in the People section on page 20.
Analysis
Key Performance Indicators
Strategic Outcome 1 – Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people:
Strategic Objective – Development of the evidence base and proposals to re-open the 2015 Fund.
Target Outcome: The evidence base is further developed to support the reopening of the 2015 Fund.
Key Performance Indicators:
Further research and evidence from the development work in NI by end March 2021 establishes the strategic and business rationale for reopening in NI and informs baseline preparations for Scotland.
Full analysis of welfare check calls and new recovery calls provide sponsor team with up to date impact assessment of current support arrangements on the ground for disabled people.
By March 2021, feedback from disabled people on the impact of Covid-19 on them is used to help shape business plan for 2021-23.
Activity Update: Despite the pressures encountered as a consequence of the pandemic, the Ministerial submission for the reopening in NI was completed in Q4 and has been submitted to the Minister for Health for a decision on next steps, which we expect to happen early in the next financial year.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Develop the Transition Fund
Target Outcome:
Sponsor team fully briefed on demand and financial pressures on the fund.
Staffing levels to support continued levels of demand understood and provisioned.
Based on demand and feedback, develop proposals for a broader based fund for multiple users and uses.
Key Performance Indicators:
Revise maximum award cap implemented from 1 April 2021 at a level that matches demand and is financially sustainable.
One extra staff member recruited to support the fund.
Quarterly demand and usage report and feedback from ambassador group provides evidence base for developments.
Activity Update:
A new maximum award of £4,000 was implemented in April 2021. There has been no detrimental effect on the uptake of the fund of this new, lower level of maximum grant and the fund has received a record number of applications in 2021-22, up 25% on the previous year.
We have increased the staffing levels to help support the demand of the fund with 1 x FTE Assessor, 1 x FTE Caseworker and 0.6 x FTE Finance Officer starting in Q4.
We engage regularly with the Young Ambassadors Group and make adjustments to operating procedures based on their feedback.
Status: Green
Strategic Outcome 2 – Be leaders in enabling independent living:
Strategic Objective - Be leaders and champions in sharing our knowledge of enabling independent living with others.
Target Outcome:
ILF Scotland is recognised as the lead public body for enabling independent living.
Key Performance Indicators:
Membership of national boards and committees.
Membership of integration working groups.
Participation in national social work practice events.
Inclusion in reviews of Self-Directed Support (SDS).
Activity update:
ILF Scotland's profile and reputation continues to grow as evidenced through participation in key strategic forums and the feedback from operational activity.
Our CEO sits on the National Care Service (NCS) Key Stakeholder Reference Group, PA ProgrammeBoard (and its training sub-group) and the Fair Work in Social Care Work stream.
Our Director of SDS sits on NCS Target Operating Model Group, Social Work Scotland Standing Committee for Social Care, and the SG SDS National Collaboration Group.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Develop a shared understanding and best practice model of enabling sustainable independent living outcomes.
Target Outcome:
An agreed and integrated approach from health and social care providers in enabling best practice independent living with a clear role for ILF Scotland.
Key Performance Indicators:
ILF Scotland is seen as an exemplar body in enabling independent living.
ILF Scotland has a clearly defined role and remit in the delivery of an integrated social care model.
ILF Scotland becomes part of the governance or operations board of a new National Care Service.
Activity Update:
A new national SDS Collaboration group started in Q4 with ILF Scotland participating. This group replaces the National SDS Steering Group.
We continue to work with Social Work Scotland on any integration of Health and Social Care issues and the ongoing review of adult social care implementation.
In Q4, we attended and contributed to a number of key events and attendees cascaded key learning points at team meetings e.g. Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) charging committee, the new guidance retains clear guidance for HSCPs in Scotland not to take into account any ILF contribution reduction.
We meet twice yearly with SDS leads in NI Trusts and monthly with the SDS leads in Scotland via Social Work Scotland hosted projects delivering new SDS standards in Scotland. This included supplying information and advice on ILF Scotland’s model of Assessment to help influence the development of new National statutory guidance for SDS practitioners which is being developed with a planned draft for the start of 2022-23.
Status: Green
Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high quality efficient service:
Strategic Objective - Re-establish recipient reviews as soon as possible.
Target Outcome:
Safe review visit model developed.
Recipients trained and supported to participate fully in review visits.
ILF Scotland seen as leading good practice.
Key Performance Indicators:
By December 2020, ILF Scotland has developed a viable and safe method by which exceptional (emergency) review visits can take place.
By end of June 2021, ILF Scotland has worked in partnership with Social Work Scotland (SWS) and HSCP and HSCT colleagues to develop a sector agreed approach to social care review visits.
Activity Update:
Recipient review visits in full from the end of Q2.
Award Manager support: ongoing at reviews and bespoke Award Manager webinars have been designed to allow for a period of end/post pandemic work with Covid-19 policies which are bespoke for the pandemic.
In Q4, we have resumed visits using NHS Inform and using best practice to guide our visit protocol. Colleagues in HSCP/Ts are largely out and about completing review visits, some areas were providing emergency visits only.
We have developed training at the end of the reporting period for Award Managers and other key stakeholders to be delivered throughout 2022-23 including but not limited to Advocacy, Employer Support and Person Centred Planning.
Utilising the Charter for Involvement as our framework, we continue to work to simplify our processes and forms and improve the assessment process.
Status: Green
Strategic Objective - Prepare the full business case for a fully integrated, digitised, ILF Scotland as part of the wider whole systems approach to health and social care delivery.
Target Outcome:
Preliminary discovery of Use Cases to inform tender documentation.
Successful tender and development of target operating model and costings.
Business Case submitted to sponsor team for capital infrastructure investment during 2021.
Key Performance Indicators:
Business Case for capital investment to support service delivery transformation submitted to sponsor team and health finance by May 2021.
Activity Update:
Extensive work has been carried out throughout the reporting period with a draft business case developed. Further work was completed including 10 year cash flow projections and staff modelling around various reopening scenarios. This has been reviewed and submitted to Health Finance and the SG Sponsor Team with a view to determining the most appropriate funding route and assurance framework.
The status is set at Amber as there is no guarantee that the case will be seen as an essential spend for 202223, and the contingency work on the in-year developments continue around the ageing legacy system.
Status: Amber
Efficiencies - We constantly carry out improvement and efficiency work and this has enabled the organisation to deliver more. Over the year we have carried out improvements that have saved 1,548 (2020-21 - 7,600) hours of staff time. This works out at approximately one (2020-21 - four) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff which is around 1.5% (2020-21 - 7.4%) of our workforce. This equates to an approximate overall saving of 1.2% of our cost base (2020-21 - 5.7%) compared to the SG target of 3%.
Our efficiencies are down year on year for a number of reasons. During the year our staff focus was on returning to normal operations following on from the Covid-19 pandemic. We also employed more operational staff to focus on our recipients which in turn affected our ability to generate efficiencies. Due to extensive work in previous years we are moving to a position where only smaller gains can be realised without the capital investment referred to above.
Self-Directed Support
Social Work Update - Over the reporting period we have moved back to physical reviews though due to the infection rates, we have had to constantly adjust our operational posture. To enable reviews to come to a completion, we have temporarily waived a number of key policies and procedures around Local Authority engagement and service input because Local Authorities advise they can currently only deal with emergency assessments in many areas. We anticipated that Local Authorities would be able to return to providing the majority of funding for 2015 fund recipients from April 2022, however the continuation of Covid-19 Policy flexibilities until 30 June 2022 makes that date a better fit. This also fits with early intelligence from contact with HSCP/Ts that the lifting of restrictions has coincided with increased staff absence. It is expected when this peak is passed, a widespread re-opening of statutory services is anticipated in the next financial year.
However the ongoing additional support role currently being undertaken by ILF Scotland Assessors, whilst vital to recipients during the pandemic, is unsustainable. In 2019-20 we completed 1,900 review visits, a typical year. In 2020-21 during the height of the pandemic, we completed 172 visits, though it should be noted we carried out over 5,000 in depth welfare calls during this period instead. Through 2021-22 when pandemic restrictions were largely in place we completed 400 review visits. We need to renew and clarify our role for the next year to stakeholders if we wish to get back to the necessary rate of visits to offer a visit every two years.
This year we continued to engage with NI Trust leads and Scottish HSCP leads. In Scotland this has also meant working closely with Social Work Scotland on various SDS projects and joining the new SDS National Collaboration and a new cross party group on Social Work hosted by SG.
Summary – The operational environment remains challenging for staff supporting very stretched and stressed carers (who very much welcome a visit) and anxious and isolated young people to apply to the Transition Fund. Many ordinary policies and procedures are suspended for good reason yet it adds layers of complexity to decision making and delays in processing reviews. We intent to assert our role and policies in the next financial year to bring better inputs from HSCP/Ts and complete review visits at a rate that sees a return to the two year cycle with the important benefits that a visit brings to recipients.
Policy, Improvements and Engagement
Policy and Improvement - We comprehensively reviewed all of our 2015 and Transition Fund policies in 2021-22.
Covid-19 policy flexibility continued throughout the year with both the Scottish and NI Governments extending this to the end of June 2022. We continue to pay additional sums for replacement awards to a small number of recipients.
We have made good progress in implementing actions in our published Equalities Mainstreaming and Outcomes and Corporate Parenting reports Charter for Involvement Standards.
Communications and Engagement - The Communications team delivered external communication (direct and digital) to all our stakeholders on the following:-
The Special Recognition Payment for PAs in NI.
The Adult Social Care Wage increase for PAs.
The build and development of our new website is on track and we remain on schedule for the planned June 2022 launch date. This improvement will make a significant difference in how our key external stakeholders are able to access and engage with vital information on our website.
In celebration of International Women's Day, we launched a fantastic blog from one of our Scottish Recipient Advisory Group members and recipients, Nic Reid, on why more disabled women are needed in leadership positions.
In conjunction with this we completed extensive online events throughout the year with a number of in-person events in Q4. We also focused this engagement work with key stakeholders and partners in areas where the organisation is receiving the least applications to the Transition Fund - Moray, Western Isles and Orkney. This will continue into Q1 and Q2 of 2022-23 in line with the aims of our Corporate Parenting Plan and Equalities Mainstreaming Action Plan.
To complement this and to encompass an all-round strategic communications approach, we also delivered a successful paid social media and PR campaign, which achieved a combined total reach of 97,172 people.
Complaints - For the full 2021-22 year we received 34 complaints compared to 14 in 2020-21. The majority of these complaints related to the Transition Fund. Complaints in 2020-21 saw a significant drop compared to the previous year. We think this was because people were pre-occupied dealing with the pandemic. In 2021-22, complaints picked up again and were similar in number to that of 2019-20. We received 9 complaints about the 2015 Fund and 25 about the Transition Fund, 5 of which were from the same person. We capture each learning point from this valuable feedback about our service and act to address any issues raised through revised procedures, staff training, etc. in the spirit of continuous organisational improvement.
Our People
Overview - 2021-22 has again been a most challenging and extremely busy year, possibly the most challenging since ILF Scotland was created in 2015. Alongside additional projects, Covid-19 and volume of work we have seen increasing year on year work pressures. This year has again seen a comparatively low attrition rate with one original staff member retiring and two others leaving to promoted posts. Our absence rate has understandably remained higher than we would like as we work our way through the pandemic predominantly with several long term absences. We have continued to offer innovative support to our workforce, introducing new measures and initiatives to help our staff get through the year and are very proud to have again been awarded a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September.
We have, as always, tried to remain an optimistic, open and supportive employer. The Health and Wellbeing programme has remained front and centre of our decision making as we made our way through the year offering several workshops including ‘Reconnecting and dealing with anxiety as we exit Covid-19’. We continued through the year to meet all staff monthly (digitally) and this will continue into 2022-23 as we emerge from the pandemic. ‘Keeping in Touch’ with smaller staff groups remains important to reconnect. Our Trickle App has been used twice monthly to gauge staff mood through our ‘mood-sense pulse surveys’, reacting appropriately to comments and feedback. The Trickle App has built momentum over the last year and is now embedded as a great tool to connect with staff and engage on relevant issues, including anonymously if preferred.
The year has seen continuing pressures on staff as a result of new projects, increased workload and Covid-19. We remain vigilant and not complacent that the impact continues to challenge us all. Current planning is underway to continue offering further Mental Health & Resilience workshops from the Strong Mind Resilience Team and promote our own Mental Health First Aiders to all staff.
During this year we supported another student Social Worker from Stirling University who completed her placement at the end of November 2021. We look forward to welcoming more students through 2022-23.
During Q4, planning started to introduce an ‘Employee Passport’ which is a voluntary scheme to encourage all staff to discuss adjustments they may require for underlying health conditions, disabilities, caring responsibilities and personal needs with their line manager – recording it only once. This passport can be taken from team to team or across SG and other public bodies who use the scheme. This passport ensures employees only have to share their individual needs and adjustments once as it is recorded in the passport. The passport is led by the employee and should be reviewed regularly.
Organisational Demography – By the end of Q4 2021-22 the organisational make up was 73: staff (66) and Directors (7); 74%:26% female: male, with 20.54% of staff self-identified as disabled, 4.10% BME and 1.36% LGBT.
Employment status – During 2021-22 we have continued to be a supportive work friendly employer offering a suite of life friendly policies . We have listened and reacted to feedback from colleagues through our Staff Survey and Trickle which has informed positive change.
ILF Scotland offers different contractual opportunities to all our staff. This continues to provide stability and continuity for both the organisation and individuals at this time of uncertainty. During 2021-22 all staff have worked 100% flexibly and we will continue to ensure staff can have a work/life harmony which suits their individual circumstances and the needs of the organisation. Detailed planning work is underway looking at our Workforce Plan, considering new duties ILF Scotland may be formally requested to discharge in due course.
Organisational Structure
The structure of the organisation can be seen below. The chart sets out our core operational departments:-
Information Governance and IT
Records Management - The reporting period has seen significant progress towards the implementation of the new corporate file plan and Shared Drive reconfiguration. The future state move for ILF Scotland is to be away from the SG IT infrastructure and to have its own instance of a single data repository for its own records. The first step in this is having a fully cleansed and properly structured records management system which at a future state can be "lifted and shifted" into any new cloud based operating platform. There have been some capacity issues with SG not being able to support us through this so additional resource was approved by SMT to use contractors (who are also the main SG contractors). Work progresses well and once our permissions levels are set, all staff will be able to migrate their records into the new structure with the completion date planned in early 2022-23.
Digital and System Developments - The in-year developments have progressed well and are in final testing stage ready for a go-live during Q1 of 2022-23. We have slowed the work down to allow for the implementation of the second Social Care Living Wage uplift and the Special Recognition Payments project in NI, alongside the end of year activities of the Transition Fund and Communications Team. So far the demonstrations of the Local Authority portal and the Technology Grants have been well received and once year-end activities are over, these will be the priority projects. Still in the digital space, much additional work was completed on the business case for transformation funding and has been submitted to colleagues in the sponsor team and health finance for review and consideration. This piece of work, whilst having a strong technical driver, sits in the context of re-opening ILF Scotland to new applicants and what the new operational model might look like and the staffing structure to deliver its services. Whereas the current efficiencies reported equate to the saving of one FTE annually, the digital transformation project has the potential for significant further automation or digitisation of the current line of business activities, and so represents a significant potential change to how ILF Scotland operates in the future.
Risk and Resilience - The work on the resilience project has almost reached the end of Phase 1 which is the creation of the individual resilience solutions for the different work areas. An initial disaster scenario walk through exercise was completed to test these new solutions and once refined, will be taken forward to run a full desktop exercise for senior managers early in the new financial year. This will also be the time period in which the Resilience Hub will become operational and will bring together all critical processes, resilience solutions, crisis communications and crisis response teams. The team has been incredibly busy and alongside all the change activity, have kept us safe from cyber-attacks and protected our data.
Governance and social responsibility
The company is committed to good employee relations and HR policies have been developed from best practice to ensure full compliance with employment and equalities legislation.
ILF Scotland seeks to actively manage sickness absences and has return to work meetings with staff to improve support on resumption of duties and discuss absence patterns and causes.
The company procurement policy ensures fair competition and value for money, with specific arrangements to encourage tenders from employers of disabled people in procurement exercises. ILF Scotland is committed to prompt payment of bills for goods and services received. Payments are normally made within the period specified in the contract. Where there is no contractual or other understanding, we endeavour to pay within 10 days of the receipt of the goods or services, or the presentation of a valid invoice or similar demand, whichever is later.
In 2021-22 ILF Scotland paid 99% of invoices within 10 days (2020-21 97%) of receipt. The number of creditor days outstanding at the end of 2021-22 was 25 days (2020-21 18 days). Our creditor days outstanding has been distorted by one particularly large invoice received at the year end.
Financial review
• Awards Paid – The payments made to recipients for the year 2021-22 was £49.2m (2020-21 £52.7m), of which £1.4m (2020-21 £3.2m), was for the Transition Fund. • Reserves – We have healthy reserves at just over £5m at 31 March 2022 (£2.6m at 31 March 2021). • External Audit – This is the final year that our audit will be performed by Deloitte. Audit Scotland have been appointed for the financial years 2022/23 to 2026/27. • Internal Auditors – We carried out a tender exercise this year and our incumbent internal auditors, Henderson Loggie, were successful and have been appointed for a further three years. • Process Review - Work continues by our Finance department conducting a thorough review of all its key processes. As a result of this review, we will be able to ensure any best practice and any procedural efficiencies are implemented.
We report an increase in taxpayers’ equity for the year amounting to £2,457,015 which has been transferred to general reserve as set out on page 66.
ILF Scotland is financed out of Grant in Aid from SG for the purpose of making regular grants to individuals. Grant in Aid of £55.4 million (2020-21 £57.2 million) was utilised in Scotland and NI to meet the needs of users and related administration costs.
Assets are held only for the purpose of managing the company.
The company requests and receives Grant in Aid on a monthly basis to meet its immediate cash needs. Procurement policies are designed to secure goods and services for immediate consumption during the year with best value for money at current cost, and without setting up complex financial instruments. Company exposure to financial instrument risk is therefore low compared with non-public sector organisations. The policies on financial instruments are provided in the Notes to the financial statements, and appropriate disclosures are included.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2021-22 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. Grants to individuals are paid in arrears and the Statement of Financial Position at 31 March 2022 shows a net assets position of £5,084,033 as set out on page 64.
SG has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2022-23.
There were no events after the end of the financial year that have any material effect on these Reports and Financial Statements.
Environmental Matters and Climate Change
As well as living through the greatest health crisis of our generation, 2021 marked a call to arms from all quarters of the world during the UN COP26 Climate Change conference held in Glasgow in November. For a few weeks, Scotland became centre stage in discussions on literally how best to save the planet and the next 10 years will be crucial in creating sustainable plans to reduce our resource consumption and slow global warming by becoming carbon neutral.
Covid -19, extreme weather conditions across the globe, the semi-conductor crisis and now staffing crisis in critical front line services have rightly focused on “rightsizing” scare resources and setting priorities for organisations to reduce not only their current consumption, but to embed sustainable plans to de-carbonise and become Net Zero by 2040.
Following on from the development of our new Strategy in 2020, as an Executive Public Body ILF Scotland is committed and aligns to the general climate change duties set out under Section 44 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Although not a listed public body with the requirement to report directly against the carbon reduction targets, ILF Scotland takes environmental matters very seriously and is working towards its own Net Zero targets by 2040. ILF Scotland is now linked in to the Scottish Government Climate Change team and are gaining valuable information into responsibilities, requirements, measurement tools, reporting frameworks and bodies of expert knowledge on implementing Net Zero action plans.
Our approach is more than becoming paperless or using green energy sources – it is built into our strategy and operational practices and is an attempt at a whole organisational drive to right-size and appropriately source the resources we require to deliver our business objectives. This approach encompasses five domains and a further five operational practices.
Domains
Governance
Strategy
Risk Management
Metrics
Targets and Timescales
The five Domains provide the framework for a more sustainable and carbon neutral ILF Scotland by 2040.
To bring this together at the whole organisational level, five inter-related activities consider the environmental and carbon reduction measures required to achieve net zero.
Sustainability action plan (and working group)
Change and continuous improvement activity
Efficiency and quality management
HR and workforce planning
Digital delivery transformation plan
It should be noted that the current continuous improvement activity and efficiency management reporting have identified considerable in-year time savings for the front line operations. Once a full baseline activity of current carbon impact is made and understood, future improvements can be strategically prioritised and focused on those activities either contributing most to carbon footprint, or those processes and activities that take up the most amount of time and resources.
There is the potential for further operational and resources consumed savings by becoming more digitally enabled as an organisation, as well as the benefits this will give to our recipients by being able to self-serve at a time and manner convenient to them, without the need to send letters and forms back to us.
At a future point, the more our recipients are able to do for themselves, the fewer staff resources in comparison we would need to support them which in turn reduces the carbon footprint and resources consumed by more staff members. This illustrates our thinking and the next stage is to set realistic targets for carbon reduction, staffing numbers, fuel and buildings costs and travel and devices. This emerging framework will give us a basis to bring all of this together during this last year of our current strategy.
Effect of the UK leaving the European Union (Brexit)
ILF Scotland has been largely unaffected by Brexit. We are a SG and NI
Government funded organisation serving our recipients in Scotland and NI. We will continue to monitor any possible impact.
Human Rights
ILF Scotland is committed to equality of opportunity and has policies and procedures in place to ensure this is achieved. It also fully recognises its legal responsibilities, particularly in respect of race relations, age, sex and disability discrimination and complies with all Scottish Government policies in relation to Human Rights and Equality.
ILF Scotland is subject to the Equality Act 2010 (General Duties) (Scotland) Regulations (see link below) and must also publish statements on equal pay and information about Board members.
ILF Scotland is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity and is committed to the prevention of bribery and corruption as we recognise the importance of maintaining our reputation and the confidence of our stakeholders.
We can report that no instances of corruption or bribery were recorded in 2021-22 (2020-21 nil).
Summary – This has been another strong year, delivering even further progress against our strategic plan.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer on 28 June 2022.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
Accountability Report
Consisting of: Corporate Governance Report; Remuneration and Staff Report; and Parliamentary Accountability Report
Corporate Governance Report
The Corporate Governance Report consists of three sections:
Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities;
Annual Governance Statement; and
Directors’ Report
1. Statement of Directors’ & Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities
The directors and the Accountable Officer are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report (referred to as the “Performance Report” above), the Directors Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2021-22 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Under company law directors must not approve the financial statements until they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period. In preparing these financial statements the directors are required to:
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs ; and
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the company and detect fraud and other irregularities.
The directors have decided to prepare a Directors’ Remuneration Report in order to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual 202122 in accordance with Schedule 8 to the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 made under the Companies Act 2006, to the extent that they are relevant.
The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company’s website.
Disclosure of Information to the Auditors
As Accountable Officer, as far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which ILF Scotland’s auditor is unaware. I have taken all reasonable steps to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that ILF Scotland’s auditor is aware of the information.
Statement by Accountable Officer
As Accountable Officer I am responsible for the regularity and propriety of the public finances for which I am answerable, for keeping proper records and for safeguarding ILF Scotland’s assets, as set out in the Memorandum to Accountable Officers for Parts of the Scottish Administration issued by Scottish Ministers.
Accountable Officer Confirmation on the Annual Report and Financial Statements
As Accountable Officer I confirm that the annual report and financial statements as a whole are fair, balanced and understandable and I take personal responsibility for the annual report and financial statements and the judgements required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer on 28 June 2022.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
2. Annual Governance Statement
Scope of responsibility
The Board of Directors have responsibility for maintaining sound corporate governance systems that support the achievement of our policies, aims and objectives and safeguard the public funds and assets for which we are personally responsible. Our responsibilities for managing public money and the duties assigned to us have been exercised with due diligence and the appropriate professional care.
The role of ILF Scotland is to deliver discretionary cash payments directly to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities.
Director Attendance
Figures for 2021-22 in bold. (Figures for previous year, 2020-21, in brackets).
Name
Board Meetings
Audit and Risk Committee
Renumeration Committee
Susan Douglas- Scott
4/4 (4/4)
2/4* (2/3*)
2/2 (1/2)
Alan Dickson
4/4 (4/4)
4/4 (3/3)
N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth Humphreys
4/4 (4/4)
4/4 (3/3)
N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth McAtear
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
2/2 (2/2)
Mark Adderley
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
2/2 (2/2)
Anne-Marie Monaghan
4/4 (4/4)
N/A (N/A)
2/2 (2/2)
Etienne d'Aboville
4/4 (4/4)
4/4 (3/3)
N/A (N/A)
* Attending as an observer.
Sound Corporate Governance
Our corporate governance systems continue to be drawn up from best practice recommendations and are being strengthened through internal scrutiny, legislative and process compliance and through collaborative working with both internal and external auditors.
These systems address individual and corporate accountabilities, the roles and effectiveness of our boards and our capacity to identify and effectively manage and report risk.
The company strategic aims and objectives have been developed by the directors along with our sponsor team at SG. Our Chief Executive attends quarterly meetings chaired by SG officials. These meetings discuss significant business and programme risks and review ongoing progress against plan.
The programme meetings chaired by SG officials are supported by regular operational meetings with the sponsor team, members of specialist teams and other SG colleagues to ensure clarity of purpose, sound communication and effective reporting.
The Board met four times in formal session this period. There were also various board development days and committee meetings. All meetings have a pre-agreed agenda, are minuted and produced clear actions and matters arising. Meetings are attended by directors and appropriate members of the SMT.
The directors have a responsibility for maintaining sound systems of control to address key financial and other risks, ensuring that the requirements of the ILF Scotland founding documents are met, that high standards of corporate governance are demonstrated, and for reviewing the effectiveness of the systems of internal control.
Capacity to handle risk
The Chief Executive acts as the Risk Champion for the company, whilst lead responsibility for ensuring that appropriate mechanisms are in place for identifying, monitoring and controlling risk, and advising SMT on the actions needed in order to comply with our corporate governance requirements rests with the Chief Operating Officer, who is supported by the Director of Digital and Information in the capacity of the ILF Scotland Senior Information Risk Officer (SIRO).
Our systems and processes are designed to manage risk to a reasonable and appropriate level rather than to eliminate all risk; therefore it can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.
Whilst every member of staff has a responsibility to ensure that exposure to risk is minimised, overall leadership of the risk management processes rests with members of the SMT. The SMT meets fortnightly.
Reviewing our strategic risks is a standing item at Board meetings, supported by the work of the Audit & Risk Committee, which provides a high-level resource to test the adequacy of assurance on our risk management framework and internal control environment. The Audit & Risk Committee is attended by representatives of internal audit and, when appropriate, external audit.
Managing risks
The Risk Management Framework sets out the organisation’s attitude to risk and provides a consistent basis to capture, monitor and report risks and to progress strategies to mitigate these. In assigning lead risk owners at SMT level and in the management control processes, we identify clear lines of responsibility throughout the organisation.
Our overall risk appetite is risk averse. This does not mean that we avoid opportunities to improve. However, it does mean that we are rightly cautious when challenges may hinder or put at risk our core business and service provision to our users. Our risk management processes enable us to identify operational, business and financial risks, customer focus and delivery risks as well as identifying and assessing potential reputational risks and other contingent issues.
Principal risks
All bodies subject to the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) must operate a risk management strategy in accordance with relevant guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
ILF Scotland maintains a strategic and operational risk register which records internal and external risks and identify the mitigating actions required to reduce the threat of these risks occurring and their impact. The Risk Management Strategy and Operational Risk Register are regularly updated and reviewed as a standing item by senior staff and the Audit and Risk Committee. Each individual risk is allocated an owner who ensures that mitigating action is carried out.
This year our principal risks were mainly in connection with the risks associated with managing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, managing the continued growth of the Transition Fund, the management of resources, managing the movement of personal and sensitive information, managing IT security and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes.
The risk and control processes applied within ILF Scotland accord with guidance given in the SPFM and have been in place for the year ended 31 March 2022 and up to the date of the approval of the annual report and financial statements.
A key part of our risk management process is the involvement of all staff in the discussion and identification of risks and their management. Together, we develop mitigating action, supported by management information and identify a specific manager to oversee progress.
The managers’ role is to monitor, report on and manage these issues and risks.
Information Assurance
Within our programme we have a significant challenge and risk involved in transferring sensitive user and confidential corporate data to our partners and client departments. This has required close liaison with relevant partners to ensure that we meet our legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Data and information security has been managed as a high priority item.
In terms of data and information security breaches there have been no reportable incidents.
Review of effectiveness
As directors, we have responsibility for reviewing the effectiveness of the system of corporate governance, including systems of internal control. Our review is informed by the work of the SMT who have responsibility for development and maintenance of the internal control framework, guided by advice from internal and external auditors.
We also have in place independent internal auditors and they have provided their opinion that ILF Scotland has adequate and effective risk management, control and governance processes in place based upon their programme of work during the year. They also report that proper arrangements are in place to promote and secure Value for Money.
Directors take assurance from these sources that effective systems of corporate governance are in place throughout the organisation.
The internal control systems SMT have put in place include:
A comprehensive suite of control checks, which have been refined and adapted to meet our requirements in managing the programme (as reported to the Audit & Risk Committee);
Regular reports to SMT, directors and SG on progress against the company targets and business aims and objectives;
A risk management strategy and risk management framework which comply with best practice;
The organisation’s Strategic Risk Register which is reviewed by Directors at least quarterly, a standing item with Audit & Risk Committee and reviewed monthly by SMT both quarterly at the risk and controls board and monthly at SMT meetings;
A project governance framework that seeks to manage the responsibilities, resources, reporting and programme milestones in order to deliver the planned outcomes on-time and to pre-agreed quality;
The adoption of formal project management arrangements based on PRINCE 2 principles for all key programme and projects, includes the development and maintenance of programme and project risk registers, detailed objectives for each work stream, timeline milestone reports and clear reporting mechanisms.
Board effectiveness and structures that support decisions
The Board has set up its governance arrangements to ensure compliance with best practice and relevant legislation.
The Board has developed terms of reference for all boards and committees, including their purpose, membership, and the election of the lead Director as well as defining the management and reporting requirements for each internal function.
Our governance processes and mechanisms to manage our boards are consistently applied to capture discussions, actions, risks and progress. These provide a basis for consistent reporting and ease of read-across to inform recommendations, actions and outcomes, our boards include the SMT, the Audit & Risk Committee and the Remuneration Committee.
The SMT meets regularly and is responsible for ensuring that corporate risks are identified as early as possible, are properly managed, that cross-functional issues are considered, and that risk management receives a high profile in planning and delivery of our plans. The SMT along with some of our senior managers meets fortnightly to ensure that all attendees understand both the priorities of the week and any emerging issues.
Senior Committees
The Audit & Risk Committee met four times during the period and is responsible for ensuring, as far as possible, that appropriate systems are in place within the company for the assessment and management of risk and advising the Board on the effectiveness of the systems of governance and control, leading to signing off the Annual Governance Statement. The Audit & Risk Committee reviews Strategic Risks as a standing item, it routinely considers the effectiveness of payment security, fraud management and recovered and unspent monies, it reviews the internal audit plans to ensure sufficient rigor and detail and undertakes to provide a questioning and challenging role to obtain assurance.
The Remuneration Committee met twice during the year. It oversees and reports to the directors on the salaries, rewards and conditions of service in place at the company. It also makes sure that ILF Scotland conducts its employee relations fairly, efficiently and effectively.
Significant internal control issues
Internal controls and procedures have been further strengthened with a formal partnership with NHS Counter Fraud Services and the implementation of a continuous improvement plan following in depth internal review.
During the course of the year we have become aware of and have investigated two (2020-21 two) instances of alleged fraud in relation to fund recipients. It has not been possible to quantify amounts involved since the allegations require full investigation before they can be proven and potential amounts quantified. As these payments were recorded as costs when originally advanced they do not represent a further cost if deemed to be irrecoverable.
All cases have been reported to NHS Counter Fraud Services.
Over the course of the year there have been no significant control weaknesses reported, nor has any report been made externally, independently nor via the company Whistle-blower policy.
Our audit and internal management reporting remains vigilant to ensure early identification of issues within normal day-to-day business and no significant issues have emerged.
We have managed our risks and highlighted issues with foresight and taken decisions as required; we have forecast and reported our financial position in a timely accurate manner and maintained our budget within expected parameters.
We continue to develop and improve our internal control and governance systems and in conclusion we believe that they were fit for purpose during the reporting period.
Information and Data Security
ILF Scotland has in place a range of systems and measures which ensure that information held by the organisation, and held by third parties on behalf of the organisation, is secure. ILF Scotland monitors compliance concerning the release of data from the organisation. In addition, ILF Scotland has implemented SG guidance on data security and information risk through the creation of an information asset register, which includes assessment of risk and awareness training for staff.
During 2021-22, we have been closely monitoring the requirements of the General
Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and engaged with all staff regularly. Direct GDPR training has been rolled out to all staff, this is mandatory training and an annual refresher is provided with data protection updates. Physical data security is monitored by office checks, on a quarterly basis.
ILF Scotland continues to focus upon Cyber Security and Resilience and we have Cyber Essentials PLUS accreditation.
There are no significant lapses in data security to report in 2021-22 (2020-21: none).
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the Directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer on 28 June 2022.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
3. Directors’ Report
Company Number SC500075
The directors submit their annual report for the year ended 31 March 2022.
The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2021-22 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Principal activities
The principal activities are described on page 5. The organisation became an NDPB in June 2018, having previously been an Other Significant Public Body.
Directors
Susan Douglas-Scott Chair of the board
Alan Dickson Non-executive director
Mark Adderley Non-executive director
Elizabeth Humphreys Non-executive director
Elizabeth McAtear Non-executive director
Anne-Marie Monaghan Non-executive director
Etienne d’Aboville Non-executive director
For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 29 to 36.
All non-executive directors are considered to be independent.
Beneficial Interests
None of the directors had any beneficial interest in the ownership of the company throughout the period. The company is guaranteed by the Scottish Ministers.
Non-current assets
The only movement during the year was depreciation/amortisation of existing assets held at the beginning of the year and the disposal of fully depreciated assets.
Employees
It is ILF Scotland’s aim to keep employees informed about its affairs and in particular those matters that affect them directly. The company regularly issues all-staff emails and is in the process of developing a staff Intranet site.
ILF Scotland is an Equal Opportunities Employer and actively encourages applications from disabled people.
Pension Scheme
The company previously contributed to a defined contribution stakeholder pension scheme as part of the remuneration package to staff.
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most members of staff chose to join the defined benefit offering known as alpha.
Corporate governance
The Board is charged with maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of the ILF Scotland policies, aims and objectives and regularly reviewing the effectiveness of that system. The Board is also responsible for the Annual Governance Statement.
The Board’s Annual Governance Statement is provided on pages 29 to 36.
The Board & Senior Management Team
The Board is responsible for ensuring that effective corporate governance arrangements are in place that set out how ILF Scotland is directed and controlled and how the assurance on risk management and internal control is provided.
The Board is required to demonstrate high standards of corporate governance at all times and to ensure that best practice is followed consistent with the UK Corporate Governance Code and appropriate adaptations of Corporate Governance in the Central Government Departments Code of Good Practice. The responsibilities of the Board are set out in the Governance Statement.
A link to the company website giving more details about the Board of Directors and the Senior Management Team can be found on page 5. The Board of Directors is also listed on page 37.
Non-Executive Directors
The non-executive directors are appointed by The Scottish Ministers for a fixed term appointment of four years which can be extended at the discretion of The Scottish Ministers.
Register Of Interests
Full details of ILF Scotland’s Register of Interests can be found on our website
Remuneration Committee
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of Committee meetings will be provided to directors for information. Remuneration Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive and the Chief Operating Officer.
For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 29 to 36 and the Remuneration and Staff Report on pages 41 to 52.
Audit & Risk Committee
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of committee meetings will be provided to directors for information. Audit Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive, the Finance Director and the Chief Operating Officer.
Both external and internal audit have the right to independent access to the chair and members of the committee.
Further details regarding the Audit & Risk Committee can be found in the Annual Governance Statement on pages 29 to 36.
Statement of disclosure of information to external auditor
The directors who held office at the date of approval of the Directors’ Report confirm that, so far as they are each aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the external auditor is unaware; and each director has taken all steps that they ought to have taken as a director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the external auditor is aware of that information.
External Auditor
Details of all fees earned by the external auditor are provided in note 5 of the annual financial statements.
Under the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008, a new auditor of the company has been appointed by the Auditor General for Scotland for 2022-23. The new auditor for the company with effect from 2022-23 is Audit Scotland.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
James A Maguire
Company Secretary 28 June 2022
Remuneration and Staff Report
Directors and SMT
Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers for a period of four years which can be extended to a maximum of eight years at the discretion of Scottish Ministers.
The directors are appointed from a variety of backgrounds on the basis of relevant experience gained and skills required.
The Chief Executive together with the SMT are responsible for day-to-day operations and activities.
Personal performance objectives for the SMT are currently being developed.
The Remuneration Policy
This report for the year ended 31 March 2022 deals with the remuneration of the Chief Executive, SMT and directors of ILF Scotland.
ILF Scotland is managed by a Board of Directors appointed by Scottish Ministers. The directors receive remuneration as post-holders and are reimbursed for incidental expenses in line with the company travel and subsistence policy. There are no unpaid persons or volunteers upon whose services the company is dependent.
The Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee is appointed by the Board of Directors and is established to independently review the salary of the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive informs the committee of any annual pay discussions to agree the salary levels for employees and SMT, in accordance with with Scottish Government pay remit guidelines.
Members of the committee for the period of this report were:
Mark Adderley, chair of the Remuneration Committee
Susan Douglas-Scott, member of the Remuneration Committee
Elizabeth McAtear, member of the Remuneration Committee
Anne-Marie Monaghan, member of the Remuneration Committee
The terms of reference of the Remuneration Committee in relation to salary, rewards and conditions of service are:
To ensure that the SMT and staff are fairly and responsibly rewarded for their joint and individual contributions to ILF Scotland management and overall performance.
To agree the Chief Executive’s remuneration in line with Public Sector Pay Policy, in discussion with The Scottish Ministers and ensure that it is managed under the terms and conditions agreed with the company.
To review and where appropriate, approve the Chief Executive’s proposals for the remuneration of the SMT.
To review and where appropriate approve the SMT’s remuneration proposals for all staff below SMT level. This will include approval of the annual pay remit and setting pay bands where appropriate.
Remuneration (including salary) and pension entitlements
The following sections provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of the directors and the most senior company management. The figures below form part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Directors
For the year ended 31 March 2022 the total remuneration paid to directors were:
2021-22 in £'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair) 5-10
Alan Dickson 0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair) 0-5
Elizabeth McAtear 0-5
Mark Adderley 0-5
Anne-Marie Monaghan 0-5
Etienne d'Aboville 0-5
2020-21 in £'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair) 5-10
Alan Dickson 0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair) 5-10
Elizabeth McAtear 0-5
Mark Adderley 0-5
Anne-Marie Monaghan 0-5
Etienne d'Aboville 0-5
Directors’ salary is non-pensionable.
The Chief Executive and SMT
The Chief Executive and the SMT are employed on ILF Scotland terms and conditions.
The directors apply the policy regarding senior management remuneration as follows:
To create a fair and transparent pay structure offering salaries in line with the roles and demands on the personnel in those posts.
To offer competitive salaries to enable the company to attract personnel of the required calibre to fill its senior management posts.
To align decisions in accordance with the key features and parameters of the Scottish Government’s pay policy so as to:
To align reward with the business objectives to encourage high performance and improve the focus on the delivery of service;
To ensure reward arrangements are affordable; and
To create a level of salary progression which is subject to performance expectations (performance below the expectation would mean no progression and management action would be necessary for less than adequate performance).
The Chief Executive’s and SMT performance will be reviewed annually with the overall assessment informed by quarterly one-to-one meetings.
In the event of early severance, compensation would be payable in accordance with company terms and conditions.
Remuneration of Chief Executive and SMT – Subject to Audit
This table represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Salaries include gross salary, overtime and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on payments made within the year by ILF Scotland. There were no bonus payments or benefits in kind.
Figures for 2021-22. (Figures for previous year, 2020-21, in brackets).
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Salary: £80,000 to £85,000 (£80,000 to £85,000)
Pension Benefits: £32,000 (£31,000)
Total: £115,000 to £120,000 (£110,000 to £115,000)
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer/Acting CEO
Salary: £80,000 to £85,000 (£80,000 to £85,000)
Pension Benefits: £30,000 (£31,000)
Total: £110,000 to £115,000 (£110,000 to £115,000)
James Maguire, Director of Finance
Salary: £55,000 to £60,000 (£55,000 to £60,000)
Pension Benefits: £22,000 (£22,000)
Total: £80,000 to £85,000 (£80,000 to £85,000)
Nadeem Hanif, Head of Finance
Salary: £65,000 to £70,000 (£65,000 to £70,000)
Pension Benefits: £24,000 (£24,000)
Total: £90,000 to £95,000 (£85,000 to £90,000)
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Salary: £65,000 to £70,000 (£65,000 to £70,000)
Pension Benefits: £26,000 (£25,000)
Total: £95,000 to £100,000 (£90,000 to £95,000)
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Salary: £70,000 to £75,000 (£65,000 to £70,000)
Pension Benefits: £28,000 (£27,000)
Total: £95,000 to £100,000 (£95,000 to £100,000)
Robert White, Director of Selfdirected Support
Salary: £65,000 to £70,000 (£65,000 to £70,000)
Pension Benefits: £26,000 (£25,000)
Total: £90,000 to £95,000 (£90,000 to £95,000)
Pension Benefits – Subject to Audit
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most members of staff chose to join the defined benefit offering (alpha).
Peter Scott, Chief Executive Officer
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £66,000
CETV at31March 2021: £39,000
Real increase in CETV: £20,000
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer/Acting CEO *
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £15,000-£20,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £214,000
CETV at31March 2021: £189,000
Real increase in CETV: £15,000
James Maguire, Finance Director *
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £71,000
CETV at31March 2021: £49,000
Real increase in CETV: £17,000
Nadeem Hanif, Head of Finance *
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £5,000-£10,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £72,000
CETV at31March 2021: £57,000
Real increase in CETV: £9,000
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement *
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £65,000
CETV at31March 2021: £41,000
Real increase in CETV: £18,000
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £56,000
CETV at31March 2021: £33,000
Real increase in CETV: £17,000
Robert White, Director of Selfdirected Support
Accrued pension atpensionage as at31 March 2022: £0-£5,000
Real increaseinpension andrelated lumpsum at pension age: £0-£2,500
CETV at 31March 2022: £51,000
CETV at31March 2021: £30,000
Real increase in CETV: £15,000
* These employees had transfers in from other personal pension schemes during the previous year and the above figures are reflective of this.
CETV is fully explained on page 47.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme are still assessing the impact of the McCloud judgement in relation to changes to benefits in 2015. The benefits and related CETVs disclosed do not allow for any potential future adjustments that may arise from this judgement.
Pension Schemes
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most staff members chose to join the scheme known as alpha which provides benefits on a career average basis with a normal pension age equal to the member’s State Pension Age. This statutory pension arrangement is unfunded with the cost of benefits met by monies voted by Parliament each year.
Employee contributions are salary related and range between 4.60% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. At the end of the scheme year the member’s earned pension account is credited with 2.32% of their pensionable earnings in that scheme year. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.30% of pensionable earnings.
The accrued pension quoted is the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over pension age. Pension age is the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha.
A few staff members have chosen to participate in the partnership pensions account which is a stakeholder pension arrangement. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member) into a stakeholder pension product chosen by the employee from a panel of providers. The employee does not have to contribute, but where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer basic contribution).
Employers also contribute a further 0.50% of pensionable salary in both schemes above to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).
A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent partner’s benefits payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves the scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the scheme, not just as their service in a senior capacity to which the disclosure applies.
The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the civil service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost. CETVs are worked out in accordance with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.
Real Increase in CETV
This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.
Compensation for loss of office - Audited
There were no ILF Scotland directors or staff that left on Voluntary Exit, Voluntary Redundancy or Compulsory Redundancy terms.
Pay multiples – Subject to Audit
Fair pay
Year 2021-22
25th percentile pay ratio: 2.75
median pay ratio: 2.14
75th percentile pay ratio: 2.02
Year 2020-21
25th percentile pay ratio: 2.70
median pay ratio: 2.19
75th percentile pay ratio: 1.88
The banded remuneration of the highest paid employee in the company in the financial period 2021-22 was £80-85k (2020-21 £80-85k). The table above sets out how the various percentiles compare against the mid-point of the band of the highest paid employee.
We believe that the median pay ratios set out above are consistent with the pay, reward and progression policies for our employees taken as a whole. We adhere to SG pay policy.
All ratios of the are reasonably consistent with the previous year. The 75th percentile has increased year on year due to a number of additional non-senior management employees slotting into the upper quartile compared to the previous year. The effect of this was to pull down average earnings in this category hence the increase shown above.
Total remuneration includes salary only. There were no bonus payments or benefits in kind. It does not include employer pension contributions.
The table above represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
In 2021-22 one (2020-21 Nil) employee received remuneration in excess of the Chief Executive. Remuneration ranged from £21,045 to £83,890 (2020-21 £18,805 to £81,645).
The change in the banded remuneration of the highest paid employee year on year was 0%.
Year on year annualised average staff FTE remuneration decreased by 0.27%. This was due to the fact that staff levels increased during the year and these roles were mainly in pay categories below existing average pay levels within the organisation.
Staff Report
Gender Analysis
The table below shows the gender analysis of ILFS employees at 31 March.
Directors 2021-22: Three Male, Four Female Directors 2020-21: Three Male, Four Female
Senior Management Team - 2021-22 - Six Male, One Female Senior Management Team - 2020-21 - Six Male, One Female
Short term absences remain at a low level at 2.28%. However we had several longer term absences (2.74%) in line with last year’s experience. We continue to offer mental health awareness, personal resilience and suicide prevention workshops to all staff on an annual basis with mental health first aiders being trained and now in post to support our workforce. Our whole-life friendly suite of policies also continues to support the workforce in a positive manner.
Staff Costs & Numbers – Subject to Audit
2021-22
Permanently Employed Staff
Salaries £2,140,710
Social Security Costs £224,223
Other Pension Costs £579,039
Total £2,943,972
Fixed Term Contract Staff
Salaries £12,661
Social Security Costs £884
Other Pension Costs £3,286
Total £16,831
Board Members
Salaries £16,150
Social Security Costs £0
Other Pension Costs £0
Total £16,150
Total 2021-22
Salaries £2,169,521
Social Security Costs £225,107
Other Pension Costs £582,325
Total £2,976,953
2020-21
Permanently Employed Staff
Salaries £1,966,107
Social Security Costs £201,417
Other Pension Costs £502,184
Total £2,669,708
Fixed Term Contract Staff
Salaries £0
Social Security Costs £0
Other Pension Costs £0
Total £0
Board Members
Salaries £20,207
Social Security Costs £54
Other Pension Costs £0
Total £20,261
Total 2020-21
Salaries £1,986,314
Social Security Costs £201,471
Other Pension Costs £502,184
Total £2,689,969
Note that the numbers above exclude non-executive directors. The numbers show staff employed at 31 March.
Staff Policies
Our policy framework enables the delivery of our strategy and also supports the wishes, needs and aspirations of a modern workforce which is underpinned by a strong culture of trust, dignity and respect. This has helped ILF Scotland to be a beacon of independent living and innovative thinking for disabled people and also an award-winning employer of choice. For us there is no such thing as a normal employee and the framework had to take into account values, equality, diversity, young and more mature employees, families, caring responsibilities and make-up of modern society. By doing this, we know we attract and retain the best team possible to achieve our inclusive organisational aspirations.
To support the way we aspire to work, we have co-produced with colleagues a comprehensive approach that supports our collective health and wellbeing alongside delivering our organisational strategy. This methodology is solidly based on organisational development, tailored to support the culture of inclusiveness, diversity, outcomes focus, trust, coaching and continuous improvement.
We have put in place an award winning suite of whole-life-friendly policies, procedures, benefits and systems that can be tailored to meet individual circumstances. This includes working flexibly, compressed hours, being sympathetic to individual/family emergencies or remote working and providing the right technology to do the job.
Our above established policies proved to be invaluable when we, along with everyone in the country and indeed the world, were affected by the pandemic referred to as Covid-19. We quickly extended our remote working practices for all members of staff to keep both them and our recipients safe.
Staff Turnover
Staff turnover was 5% during the year (2020-21 1.85%) and is considered satisfactory. The 5% is made up of three employees, one of whom retired and two of whom left for promoted posts within SG.
Staff Survey
The ILF Scotland staff survey 2021 had a 93% response rate from staff. 100% of survey respondents rated ILF Scotland as a ‘good employer’ and the organisation scored above the public sector average for questions relating to whether the organisational leadership live the core values. 90% of ILF Scotland staff feel they are valued at work by their colleagues, their manager and the senior management team with 92% citing that the whole-life-friendly working policies are what they themselves value most. 100% of ILF Scotland staff say that the flexibility offered enhances their life in general terms. The ‘organisations purpose’ was shown to be the main reason why staff enjoy working for ILF Scotland.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017
We, as an organisation, are happy to recognise trade unions and we make a point of engaging trade unions on important matters affecting staff. An example of this was when we changed the pension scheme offering to staff. Relevant trade unions were actively consulted and involved.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 require public sector employers to publish information relating to facility time. At year end 31 March 2022, ILF Scotland did not have any trade union facility time (2020-21 Nil).
Relevant union officials
What was the total number of your employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period?
Number of employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period: 0
Full-time equivalent employee number: 0
Percentage of time spent on facility time
How many of your employees who were relevant union officials employed during the relevant period spent a) 0%, b) 1%-50%, c) 51%-99% or d) 100% of their working hours on facility time?
Percentage of time / Number of Employees:
0% = 0 Employees
1-50% = 0 Employees
51-99% = 0 Employees
100% = 0 Employees
Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time
Provide the figures requested in the first column of the table below to determine the percentage of your total pay bill spent on paying employees who were relevant union officials for facility time during the relevant period.
Provide the total cost of facility time = 0
Provide the total pay bill = 0
Provide the percentage of the total pay bill spent on facility time, calculated as: (total cost of facility time ÷ total pay bill) x 100 = 0%
Paid trade union activities
As a percentage of total paid facility time hours, how many hours were spent by employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period on paid trade union activities?
Time spent on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid facility time hours calculated as: (total hours spent on paid trade union activities by relevant union officials during the relevant period ÷ total paid facility time hours) x 100 = 0
Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
Signed by the above on 28 June 2022
Parliamentary Accountability Report (Subject to Audit)
Losses and special payments
In accordance with the SPFM, we are required to disclose losses and special payments above £300,000. During 2021-22 there were no losses or special payments within this criteria (2020-21: £nil).
Gifts and Charitable Donations There were no gifts or charitable donations made during the year 2021-22 (2020-21: nil).
Remote Contingent Liabilities
ILF Scotland are required to report any liabilities for which the likelihood of a transfer of economic benefit in settlement is too remote to meet the definition of contingent liability under IAS37. There are currently no remote contingent liabilities.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
Signed by the above on 28 June 2022
Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland, the Auditor General for Scotland and the Scottish Parliament
Report on the audit of the financial statements
Opinion on financial statements
We have audited the financial statements of ILF Scotland for the year ended 31 March 2022 under The Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008. The financial statements comprise the
Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure, the Statement of
Financial Position, the Statement of Cash Flows, the Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards, as interpreted and adapted by the 2021/22 Government Financial Reporting Manual (the 2021/22 FReM).
In our opinion the accompanying financial statements:
give a true and fair view in accordance with the directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers of the state of affairs of the company as at 31 March 2022 and of the surplus for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting standards, as interpreted and adapted by the 2021/22 FReM; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and directions made thereunder by the Scottish Ministers, and the Companies Act 2006.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)), as required by the Code of Audit Practice approved by the Auditor General for Scotland. 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 were appointed by the Auditor General on 17 June 2019. The period of total uninterrupted appointment is 3 years. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK including the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. Non-audit services prohibited by the Ethical Standard were not provided to the company. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern basis of accounting
We have concluded that the 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 company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
These conclusions are not intended to, nor do they, provide assurance on the company’s current or future financial sustainability. However, we report on the company’s arrangements for financial sustainability in a separate Annual Audit Report available from the Audit Scotland website.
Risks of material misstatement
We report in our Annual Audit Report the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement that we identified and our judgements thereon.
Responsibilities of the Accountable Officer and directors for the financial statements
As explained more fully in the Statement of the Directors' and Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities, the Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with the financial reporting framework, and for such internal control as the
Accountable Officer and directors 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 Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for assessing the company'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 there is an intention to discontinue the company’s operations.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
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 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. Procedures include:
obtaining an understanding of the applicable legal and regulatory framework and how the company is complying with that framework;
identifying which laws and regulations are significant in the context of the company;
assessing the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur; and
considering whether the audit team collectively has the appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with laws and regulations.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is affected by the inherent difficulty in detecting irregularities, the effectiveness of the company’s controls, and the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed.
Irregularities that result from fraud are inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error as fraud may involve collusion, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. The capability of the audit to detect fraud and other irregularities depends on factors such as the skilfulness of the perpetrator, the frequency and extent of manipulation, the degree of collusion involved, the relative size of individual amounts manipulated, and the seniority of those individuals involved.
A further description of the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
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. Procedures include:
considering the nature of the company’s control environment and reviewing the company’s documentation of their policies and procedures relating to fraud and compliance with laws and regulations. We also enquired with management, internal audit and those charged with governance about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities;
obtaining an understanding of the applicable legal and regulatory framework and how the company is complying with that framework;
identifying which laws and regulations are significant in the context of the company;
assessing the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur; and
considering whether the audit team collectively has the appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with laws and regulations.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the body operates in, and identified the key laws and regulations that:
had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. This included the Companies Act 2006 and the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978.
do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the body’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. These included the Data Protection Act 2018 and relevant employment legislation.
We discussed among the audit engagement team regarding the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements.
As a result of the performing the above, we identified the greatest potential for fraud was in relation to the: grants to individuals - yearend liabilities. The fraud risk is focused on the year-end accounting treatment of grants to individuals where a constructive obligation exists, but payment is not made until after the year-end as there is an element of management judgement in determining when the constructive obligation exists and the estimated value of the obligation. In addressing this risk of fraud, we evaluated the design and implementation of controls around monthly monitoring of financial performance and year end accruals; performed focused testing of accruals made at the year-end in respect of grants to individuals; and we tested a sample of post year-end payments to assess the accuracy of the year-end accrual.
In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override. In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluated the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
In addition to the above, our procedures to respond to the risks identified included the following:
reviewing financial statement disclosures by testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements;
performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud;
enquiring of management, internal audit and external legal counsel concerning actual and potential litigation and claims, and instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations; and
reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and reviewing internal audit reports.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is affected by the inherent difficulty in detecting irregularities, the effectiveness of the company’s controls, and the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed.
Irregularities that result from fraud are inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error as fraud may involve collusion, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. The capability of the audit to detect fraud and other irregularities depends on factors such as the skilfulness of the perpetrator, the frequency and extent of manipulation, the degree of collusion involved, the relative size of individual amounts manipulated, and the seniority of those individuals involved.
Reporting on regularity of expenditure and income
Opinion on regularity
In our opinion in all material respects the expenditure and income in the financial statements were incurred or applied in accordance with any applicable enactments and guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
Responsibilities for regularity
The Accountable Officer is responsible for ensuring the regularity of expenditure and income. In addition to our responsibilities in respect of irregularities explained in the audit of the financial statements section of our report, we are responsible for expressing an opinion on the regularity of expenditure and income in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.
Reporting on other requirements
Opinion prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report
We have audited the parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report described as audited. In our opinion, the audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report has been properly prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006.
Other information
The Accountable Officer and directors are responsible for the other information in the annual report and financial statements. The other information comprises the Performance Report and the
Accountability Report excluding the audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report.
Our responsibility is to read all 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.
Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon except on the Performance Report and Governance
Statement to the extent explicitly stated in the following opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland.
Opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on Performance Report and Governance Statement
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
the information given in the Performance Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006; and
the information given in the Governance Statement for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers and the Companies Act 2006. Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We are required by the Auditor General for Scotland to report to you if, in our opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements and the audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
We have nothing to report in respect of these matters.
Conclusions on wider scope responsibilities
In addition to our responsibilities for the annual report and financial statements, our conclusions on the wider scope responsibilities specified in the Code of Audit Practice are set out in our Annual Audit Report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the parties to whom it is addressed in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and for no other purpose. In accordance with paragraph 120 of the Code of Audit Practice, we do not undertake to have responsibilities to members or officers, in their individual capacities, or to third parties.
Pat Kenny, CPFA (for and on behalf of Deloitte LLP)
110 Queen Street Glasgow G1 3BX United Kingdom
28 June 2022
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2022
Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2022
Notes
31 March 2022 (£)
31 March 2021 (£)
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment
6
-
-
Intangible assets
7
-
6,561
Total non-current assets
-
6,561
Current assets
Trade and other receivables
9
64,929
58,502
Cash and cash equivalents
10
8,261,376
7,140,016
Total current assets
8,326,305
7,198,518
Total assets
8,326,305
7,205,079
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
11
(341,813)
(238,844)
Other liabilities – grant liabilities
11
(2,900,459)
(4,202,435)
Other liabilities – deferred income
11
-
(136,782)
Total current liabilities
(3,242,272)
(4,578,061)
Total assets less current liabilities
5,084,033
2,627,018
Taxpayers’ equity
General reserve
5,084,033
2,627,018
Total taxpayers’ equity
5,084,033
2,627,018
For the year ending 31 March 2022 the company was exempt under s482 of the Companies Act 2006 (non-profit making companies subject to public sector audit) from the audit requirements of Part 16 of that Act. The company is, instead, subject to audit by an auditor chosen selected by the Auditor General for Scotland by virtue of the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2019, an order made under s483 of the Act. The notes on pages 67 to 86 form part of these financial statements. (View statements in PDF format). These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Directors on 28 June 2022.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2022
Notes
2021-22 (£)
2020-21 (£)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net expenditure
(52,970,566)
(56,226,505)
Depreciation and amortisation
5
6,561
63,377
Amortisation of capital grant
12
(871)
(46,318)
(Increase) in trade and other receivables
9
(6,427)
(6,975)
(Decrease) in trade and other payables, grant liabilities and provisions
11/12
(1,334,918)
(3,091,139)
Net cash outflow from operating activities
(54,306,221)
(59,307,560)
Cash outflows from financing activities
Grant Funding and sundry income
55,427,581
57,221,483
Net cash flows from financing activities
55,427,581
57,221,483
Net Increase/(Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the period
1,121,360
(2,086,077)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period
7,140,016
9,226,093
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period
Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2022
General Reserve
£
£
Balance at 1 April 2021
2,627,018
Grant in aid from departments
55,427,581
Net expenditure
(52,970,566)
2,457,015
Balance at 31 March 2022
5,084,033
Balance at 1 April 2020
1,632,040
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2020-2021
Grant in aid from departments
57,221,483
Net expenditure
(56,226,505)
994,978
Balance at 31 March 2021
2,627,018
General reserve – relates to the ongoing operation of regular payments to individuals and the associated administration costs, financed by Grant in Aid.
Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022
1 Nature and purpose of ILF Scotland
ILF Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. The company is limited by guarantee (company number SC500075). The guarantor is The Scottish Ministers. The company is an NDPB of SG.
ILF Scotland carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and NI. There is also an agreement between SG and the DOH for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF users based in NI.
It is financed by Grant in Aid from SG to provide assistance with the cost of qualifying support and services to disabled applicants and to meet the operating costs of the company. The Grant in Aid amount is approved annually and confirmed in a letter of delegation.
2 Statement of Accounting Policies
The financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the directors have adopted to prepare them in accordance with IFRSs and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2021-22 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. SG has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2022-23. The directors are not aware of any reason why the required Grant in Aid will not be made available in subsequent years.
With regard to Covid-19, the directors do not believe that this will impact on going concern. SG provided all required funding during 2021-22 and there is no reason to suggest that this will not be the case in future periods.
a) Accounting convention
These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
b) Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment consists of IT equipment. ILF Scotland believes that the useful economic life is a realistic reflection of the life of its equipment, and the depreciated historical cost method provides a realistic reflection of the consumption of those assets. The company therefore carries plant and equipment at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment in value.
c) Depreciation
Depreciation on property, plant and equipment is charged on a straight-line basis to write off the cost less residual values over the useful life of the asset: incepting at the purchase date, orwhen the asset is available for use, whichever is the later. IT hardware and equipment is depreciated over a three-year life span.
Residual values, remaining useful lives and depreciation methods are reviewed annually and adjusted if appropriate.
d) Intangible assets
Intangible assets consist of bespoke software developed for the company and software licences held only for the purpose of managing the company. All intangible assets are carried at historic cost less depreciation/amortisation.
Bespoke software assets are capitalised in the year of implementation. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years.
Software licences are capitalised in the year of acquisition. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years.
Amortisation periods and methods are reviewed annually and adjusted if appropriate.
e) Financial instruments
The company procurement policy is to enter into contracts and framework agreements for services and supplies at current agreed costs with annual price reviews, rather than create complex financial instruments.
Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the Statement of Financial Position when ILF Scotland becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are recognised at fair value (the transaction price plus any directly attributable transaction costs, assessed for recoverability where relevant). Subsequent measurement is at amortised cost, although no adjustment for the time value of money is made where the settlement period is short so there would be no significant effect.
Financial assets comprise loans and receivables, which are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market. Loans and receivables comprise cash at bank, accrued bank interest and other receivables. Financial liabilities comprise grant liabilities, trade payables and accruals.
f) Reserves policy
Grant in Aid is not drawn in full in advance but requested each calendar month to meet estimated cash outflow. The company does not hold strategic reserves as it is dependent on public funding.
g) Grant in Aid
Funding to cover grants to individuals and administrative expenditure is provided through Grant in Aid from SG. Grant in Aid is received on the basis of the ILF Scotland estimated cash payments during the financial year. Grant in Aid received forms part of the Departmental Expenditure Limits for the respective Departments. Grant in Aid is treated as financing rather than income and is directly credited to reserves.
h) Grants to individuals
Grants to individuals are discretionary grants made within SG rules and regulations.
2015 Fund grants are paid four weekly in arrears on the basis of authorised awards. Transition Fund grants are paid once applications have been approved and processed. Amounts due but unpaid at the end of the financial year are accrued.
Unused grants returned by individuals in the normal course of business are recognised on receipt and there is no accrual for potential future returns of unspent grants.
i) Formal recovery of grants to individuals
Although grants to individuals are discretionary payments, formal recovery will be sought where the provision of incorrect information has led to incorrect payment or where the grants have not been used for the intended purpose. The company will seek to recover all amounts where it is cost-effective to do so unless it will cause hardship to the individual. Recovery procedures appropriate to the value and circumstances of the case will be used, in accordance with the ILF Scotland guidelines and procedures.
In accounting for recoveries we have adhered to the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting which gives guidance that an asset should not be recognised in the statement of financial position when the expenditure has been incurred for which it is considered improbable that economic benefits will flow. Therefore, a receivable is only recognised when it has been agreed with the individual and there is considered to be a definite prospect of recovery. Any grant recovery recognised will be disclosed as a reduction to expenditure in the year in which it is recognised.
Receivables will be assessed at the end of each accounting period and reduced to the estimated recoverable amount where there are circumstances that indicate full recovery is uncertain.
j) Operating leases
Operating leases are charged to the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure
on a straight line basis over the term of the lease. The main lease is for accommodation and managed facilities under a sub-lease with SG. Charges are set in accordance with a head lease between the Department and the service provider. The company has no direct control of these charges.
k) Pension costs
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most staff chose to join the defined benefit offering.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme in which ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme is accounted for as a defined contribution scheme under the multi-employer exemption permitted in IAS 19 Employee Benefits. A full actuarial valuation was carried as at 31 March 2016. Details can be found in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation (www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk)
Further pension details can be found in the remuneration and staff report on pages 41 to 52.
l) Significant estimates and judgements
In applying the company’s accounting policies, which are described in note 2, the directors are required to make judgements (other than those involving estimations) that have a significant impact on the amounts recognised and to make estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts 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.
a. Significant estimates
the preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions in certain circumstances that affect reported amounts, and for this organisation such estimates are principally in assessing amounts due to recipients. There are no estimates which give rise to a significant risk of a material misstatement in the year ended 31 March 2022 (2020-21 none).
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 if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.
b. Judgements
The following are the critical judgements, apart from those involving estimations (which are presented separately above), that the directors have made in the process of applying the company’s accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in financial statements.
Recipient Accruals - we pay our 2015 Fund recipients four weeks in arrears, therefore we accrue based on the previous months payment information, this being a reliable measure. With regard to the Transition Fund we recognise a liability when applications are approved by management.
In making their judgement, the directors considered the detailed criteria for the recognition of liabilities and are satisfied with the above methodology.
m) Reporting segments
IFRS 8 requires entities to provide information relating to the components of the entity that management uses to make decisions about operating matters. A segmental financial analysis is not considered necessary for the company, as no separate components are used for operating decisions made by the Senior Management Team.
n) Provisions
Provisions are recognised when there is a present obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of an event that occurred in the past and where it is probable that the settlement of that obligation will result in an outflow of resources, but the timing or amount of the settlement is uncertain. The amount recognised as a provision is the best estimate of the consideration which will be required to settle the obligation.
o) Adoption of new and revised Standards
1.Standards, amendments and interpretations effective in the current year
In the current year, ILF Scotland has applied a number of amendments to IFRS Standards and Interpretations that are effective for an annual period that begins on or after 1 January 2021. Their adoption has not had any material impact on the disclosures or on the amounts reported in these financial statements:
Amendments to IAS 39, IFRS 4, IFRS 7 and IFRS 9: Interest Rate Benchmark Reform (Phase 2)
Amendments to IFRS 4: Insurance contracts – deferral of IFRS 9
Covid-19 Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021: (Amendment to IFRS 16)
2. Standards, amendments and interpretations early adopted this year
There are no new standards, amendments or interpretations early adopted this year.
Adoption of new and revised Standards (cont.)
3.Standards, amendments and interpretations issued but not adopted this year
At the date of authorisation of these financial statements, ILF Scotland has not applied the following new and revised IFRS Standards that have been issued but are not yet effective:
IFRS 16: Leases. HM Treasury have agreed to defer implementation until 1 April 2022.
IFRS 17: Insurance Contracts. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 1: Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-Current. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 1: Disclosure of Accounting Policies. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 8: Definition of Accounting Estimates. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendments to IAS 16: Property, Plant and Equipment proceeds before intended use. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
Amendments to IAS 37: Onerous Contracts, cost of fulfilling a contract. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
Annual Improvements to IFRS Standards 2018-2020 Cycle. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
ILF Scotland does not expect that the adoption of the Standards listed above will have a material impact on the financial statements in future periods, except as noted below.
IFRS 16 Leases supersedes IAS 17 Leases and is being applied by HM
Treasury in the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) from 1 April 2022. IFRS 16 introduces a single lessee accounting model that results in a more faithful representation of a lessee’s assets and liabilities, and provides enhanced disclosures to improve transparency of reporting on capital employed.
Under IFRS 16, lessees are required to recognise assets and liabilities for leases with a term of more than 12 months, unless the underlying asset is of low value. While no standard definition of ‘low value’ has been mandated, ILF Scotland has elected to utilise the capitalisation threshold of £5,000 to determine the assets to be disclosed. We expect that existing finance leases will continue to be classified as leases. All existing operating leases will fall within the scope of IFRS 16 under the ‘grandfathering’ rules mandated in the FReM for the initial transition to IFRS 16. In future years new contracts and contract renegotiations will be reviewed for consideration under IFRS 16 as implicitly identified right-of-use assets. Assets recognised under IFRS 16 will be held on the Statement of Financial Position as (i) right of-use assets which represent the company’s right to use the underlying leased assets; and (ii) lease liabilities which represent the obligation to make lease payments.
The bringing of leased assets onto the Statement of Financial Position will require depreciation and interest to be charged on the right-of-use asset and lease liability, respectively. Cash repayments will also be recognised in the Statement of Cash Flows, as required by IAS 7.
ILF Scotland has assessed the likely impact to i) comprehensive net expenditure and ii) the Statement of Financial Position of applying IFRS 16. The figures below represent existing leases as at 31 March 2022.
The standard is expected to increase total expenditure by less than £1,000. Right-of-use assets totalling £50,000 will be brought onto the Statement of Financial Position, with an associated lease liability of £50,000.
3 Grants to individuals
2021-22
2020-21
£
£
Payments made in year
53,779,043
53,107,287
Grant liabilities at start of year
(4,202,435)
(2,497,503)
Grant liabilities at end of year
2,900,459
4,202,435
Grant returns received in year
(3,321,168)
(2,091,768)
49,155,899
52,720,451
Grants to individuals are paid four-weekly in arrears. Grant liabilities consist of the accrued amounts from awards made by the end of the financial year but not fully paid up to the end of the financial year.
Returns received comprised £3,321,168 (2020-21 £2,091,768) in respect of unused funds returned by individuals.
4 Staff costs
4a Staff numbers and related costs
2021-22
2020-21
£
£
Wages and salaries
2,169,521
1,986,314
Social security costs
225,107
201,471
Other pension costs (see note 4b below)
582,325
502,184
Total staff costs
2,976,953
2,689,969
Average number of persons directly employed
2021-22 Number
2020-21 Number
Directors (part-time non-executives)
7
7
Staff
60
54
67
61
4b Other pension costs
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most staff chose to join the defined benefit offering (alpha). Employee contributions are salary-related and range between 4.6% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.3% of pensionable earnings.
Contributions due to the current pension providers were £65,845 at 31 March 2022 (31 March 2021 nil). Contributions prepaid were nil at 31 March 2022 (31 March 2021 nil).
The Civil Service Pension Scheme known as alpha is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme. ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. You can find details in the in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation.
For 2021-22, employers’ contributions of £573,950 were paid in respect of alpha (2020-21 £495,919). Expected contributions in 2022-23 are approximately £630,000.
Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £8,375 were paid in 202122 (2020-21 £6,265) to one or more of the panel of three appointed stakeholder pension providers. Employer contributions are age related and ranged between 8% to 14.75%. Expected contributions in 2022-23 are approximately £12,000.
5 Other operating income and expenditure
2021-22
2020-21
£
£
IT and information security costs
258,020
262,991
Rent, utilities and other estate costs
113,079
121,958
Legal and professional costs
142,495
196,017
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence
196,754
107,289
Auditors remuneration (for auditing the financial statements)
21,120
20,100
Communication and engagement
87,267
79,919
Postage costs
9,059
7,860
Printing and stationary costs
4,231
2,892
Total other expenditure
832,025
799,026
Depreciation and amortisation
£
£
Depreciation and amortisation
6,561
63,377
Amortisation of capital grant
(871)
(46,318)
Net depreciation and amortisation
5,690
17,059
6 Property, plant and equipment
Information Technology
Total
Cost
£
£
At 1 April 2021
37,583
37,583
Disposals
(37,583)
(37,583)
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Depreciation
At 1 April 2021
37,583
37,583
Disposals
(37,583)
(37,583)
At 31 March 2022
-
-
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022
-
-
At 31 March 2021
-
-
Information Technology
Total
Cost
£
£
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021
37,583
37,583
Depreciation
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021
37,583
37,583
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2021
-
-
At 31 March 2020
-
-
7 Intangible assets
Cost or valuation
Information Technology
Total
£
£
At 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022
281,028
281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2021
274,467
274,467
Charge for year
6,561
6,561
At 31 March 2022
281,028
281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022
-
-
At 31 March 2021
6,561
6,561
Cost or valuation
Information Technology
Total
£
£
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021
281,028
281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2020
211,090
211,090
Charge for year
63,377
63,377
At 31 March 2021
274,467
274,467
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2021
6,561
6,561
At 31 March 2020
69,938
69,938
8 Financial instruments and associated risks
As all of the of the company’s cash requirements are met through Grant in Aid, financial instruments play a more limited role in creating and managing risk than would apply to a non-public sector body. The majority of financial instruments relate to contracts to purchase non-financial items in line with the company’s expected usage requirements, so the company is exposed to little credit, liquidity or market risk. The value of financial instruments are considered to be a proxy of their fair value.
Financial Assets
31 March 2022
31 March 2021
£
£
Cash and cash equivalents
8,261,376
7,140,016
Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with The Royal Bank of Scotland held in current accounts to minimise the risk.
Financial liabilities
31 March 2022
31 March 2021
£
£
Grant liabilities
2,900,459
4,202,435
Trade payables and accruals
341,813
238,844
Deferred income
-
135,911
Capital grant liabilities
-
871
3,242,272
4,578,061
Grant liabilities: Represents awards authorised but unpaid at the year end. Trade payables and accruals: Represents amounts payable in the short term, to be met out of cash held at the year-end. Deferred income: Represents amounts received from SG to meet grant payments due in the next financial year. Capital grant liabilities: represents grant monies received in respect of intangible fixed assets.
9 Trade and other receivables
31 March 2022
31 March 2021
£
£
Due within one year
Prepayments
50,296
48,940
Other receivables
14,633
9,562
64,929
58,502
10 Cash and cash equivalents
2021-22
2020-21
£
£
Balance at 1 April
7,140,016
9,226,093
Net cash inflow/(outflow)
1,121,360
(2,086,077)
Balance at 31 March
8,261,376
7,140,016
31 March 2022
31 March 2021
£
£
Benefit accounts
8,172,515
7,086,452
Administration account
88,861
53,564
8,261,376
7,140,016
Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.
11 Current Liabilities
31 March 2022
31 March 2021
Trade and other payables
341,813
238,844
Other liabilities - grant liabilities
2,900,459
4,202,435
Other liabilities - deferred income DG
-
135,911
Other liabilities - deferred income capital grants
-
871
3,242,272
4,578,061
The Deferred Income - SG relates to grant timing differences.
12 Current Liabilities
Deferred Income - Capital Grants
31 March 2022
31 March 2021
£
£
At 1 April 2021
871
47,189
Less amortised in year
(871)
(46,318)
Balance at 31 March 2022
-
871
13 Operating leases
There is a sub-lease for accommodation and facilities with SG that expires on 30 January 2023. The charges to the company are set in the head lease between SG and its accommodation supplier. Total future minimum lease payments under operating leases for each of the following periods were:
31 March 2022
31 March 2021
Land and buildings (Denholm House)
Within one year
62,500
85,000
Within two to five years
-
70,833
Total
62,500
155,833
Lease payments charged in year
75,040
83,007
14 Directors’ remuneration, interests and indemnities
The directors receive remuneration from the company. The total remuneration paid to the directors was £16,150 (2020-21 £20,207) for the year and further information is provided in the Remuneration Report. Directors received reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses amounting to £86 (2020-21 £436) for the year. No directors were a beneficiary of the company and received payments in accordance with the objects of ILF Scotland; a procedure is in place to manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
No other transactions were undertaken in which any director or person connected with any director had a material interest.
SG provides that directors are not personally liable for any loss to ILF Scotland other than that arising from wilful and individual fraud, wrongdoing or omission on the part of a director who is found to be liable.
15 Related party transactions and controlling party
Related parties are the directors and SG. ILF Scotland received Grant in Aid from SG of £55.4m (2020-21 £57.2m). SG makes payments to ILF Scotland on a monthly basis.
The Company’s ultimate controlling party is the Scottish Ministers.
During the year no directors were a beneficiary of ILF Scotland and received discretionary grants in accordance with the objects of the company.
No other related parties, including the directors and key management staff, have undertaken any transactions with the company during the period.
16 Agency Agreement
During the year the company acted as agent for SG (the ultimate owner of the company) to pay a £500 care grant to eligible workers in the care sector in recognition of their contribution at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This arrangement was considered to be an Agency Agreement since the company had no input to the decision regarding who should be paid the award. The company was advised on who the recipients would be and the company had no discretion over the amount of award.
The relevant figures are set out as follows:
2021-22
2020-21
Care grant funding
£
£
Received from SG in year
1,281,230
-
Received from SG in previous year
442,334
-
Income receivable in year
1,723,564
-
Payments made in year
1,723,564
-
Administration funding
Received from SG in year
42,000
-
Received from SG in prior year
5,568
-
Income receivable in year
47,568
-
Administration costs paid in year
47,568
-
Total funding
Received from SG in year
1,323,230
-
Received from SG in prior year
447,902
-
Total receivable in year
1,771,132
-
Total payments
Cost of care grants
1,723,564
-
Administration costs
47,568
-
Grand total payments in year
1,771,132
-
17 Capital commitments and contingent liabilities
There were no capital commitments or contingent liabilities at 31 March 2022.
18 Events after the reporting period
There are no events after the reporting period which would have an effect on the Annual Report and Financial Statements or which would require disclosure.
19 Date of Authorisation
IAS 10 requires the company to disclose the date on which the financial statements are authorised for issue.
The authorised date for issue is 28 June 2022.
Appendix to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022
Accounts Direction
ILF Scotland
DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS
The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
The statement of accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020, and subsequent years, shall comply with the accounting principles and disclosure requirements of the edition of the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) which is in force for the year for which the statement of accounts are prepared, and with the Companies Act 2006.
The accounts shall be prepared so as to give a true and fair view of the income and expenditure and cash flows for the financial year, and of the state of affairs as at the end of the financial year.
This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Signed by the authority of the Scottish Ministers Dated 27 May 2020
Annual Operational Report: 2021 to 2022
2021-2022 Annual Operational Report
1st April 2021 - 31st March 2022
Contents
1. Introduction
3
2. Progress Update
3
3. Self-Directed Support Summary
25
4. Policy, Improvements and Engagement Summary
26
5. People Summary
28
6. Information Governance and IT Summary
32
7. Finance Summary
35
Annex A – Operational Dashboards
37
1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to provide an annual summary of achievements and activities against the business plan during 2021-22.
2. Progress Update
a. Executive Summary – As we move slowly out the pandemic, the last 12 months have seen the busiest operational period since we first went live in 2015. This in part has been due to the impact of Covid-19, but also due to the continuing success of the Transition Fund, coupled with day to day operations alongside the delivery of our strategic plan. We have continued to work hard in being supportive, innovative and flexible in our response to the pandemic as we slowly edge to a new normal. However, what is clear from our work with disabled people, is the impact of Covid-19 will take many years to unravel.
Overall there has been significant progress towards the 3 strategic priorities in our business plan and the sense of high level support for re- opening the 2015 Fund in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Of key note alongside the business plan, ILF Scotland also successfully delivered in collaboration with Scotland Excel and Self Directed Support Scotland (SDSS), the Scottish Government's thank you payment scheme to Personal Assistants (PAs). This was an exceptionally complicated piece of work, which mainly took place in Q2 and Q3. Due to this success, ILF Scotland was approached by the Northern Ireland Government to provide a similar scheme which has been developed and will be delivered in Q1 and Q2 2022/23.
From an operational perspective, we have stayed fully open throughout the financial year, supporting over 6,200 disabled people (this number includes closed cases) across Scotland and Northern Ireland to have choice, control and dignity, which is an increase of 24% from last year. We have dealt with over 18,000 contacts via phone, text and email compared with just over 11,000 the year before and this increase is mainly due to growth in the number of individuals supported alongside the complexity of issues. It has also been a record year for the Transition Fund with 2,275 applications received, a 25% increase from the year before.
Over the year 2015 Fund recipient numbers have dropped to 2,435 ( Scotland 2,056 & NI 379) from 2,572 (Scotland 2,160 & NI 412). This represents a slight increase in the overall decline trend from around 4.4% (4.2% Scotland & 5.5% NI) in 2020/21 to 5.4% (4.8% Scotland & 8% NI) in 2021/22. Correspondingly the total number of individuals supported through the Transition Fund has increased by 47.2% from 2,575 to 3,790 by the year end.
Worryingly, disabled people are experiencing even more difficult times as we come out of pandemic protections, which further deepens societal inequalities already in place. Though the cost of living has only become acute in the last part of the financial period, for disabled people this has made scarce resources even harder to stretch. When this is added to the ongoing challenges of living with Covid-19, and the social care staffing predicament, the situation for disabled people is arguably as bleak as it has been for decades.
This is being starkly highlighted as we have returned to physical reviews for the 2015 Fund throughout the year. We are seeing much more complexity in these as a result for the aforementioned reasons, which is further exacerbated by the slow rebuilding of statutory services in the community. To that end, our reviews are taking considerably longer to complete, with our clear priority to ensure disabled people are able to live with choice, control and dignity. This has further strengthened the case for the reopening of the 2015 Fund in both Scotland and Northern Ireland where forward momentum has continued throughout the reporting period. By the year end, there are submissions sitting with Ministers in both Northern Ireland and Scotland for their consideration and we look forward to working alongside key stakeholders to make this a reality for disabled people. .
To support the increasing year on year work pressures on staff, we have carried on renewing and refreshing our employee offer. This has included the introduction of new measures and initiatives, expanded later in the report, to help our staff get through the year whilst enabling them to bring their best to the workplace. We are very proud to have again been awarded a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September 2021, especially in the context of our busiest year ever. But, we are even more proud of the continued excellence, passion, hard work and professionalism of colleagues who have performed brilliantly throughout 2021-22!
In summary, as can been seen from the brief narrative set out above, it has been another extraordinary year for ILF Scotland dealing with the profound impact of Covid-19 on us all alongside the ever more acute cost of living. We have had the busiest, yet in some ways the most rewarding reporting period by any benchmark since opening in July 2015. We continue to work towards re-establishing normal operations, implementing our new strategy, extending the Transition Fund, re-opening the 2015 Fund to new applications in Scotland and Northern Ireland (subject to Ministerial approval), supporting the Scottish Government to deliver the recommendations in the Independent Review of Adult Social Care and enabling even more disabled people to live independently.
b. Business Plan Progress – Looking back over the year, overall there has been strong progress towards the 3 strategic priorities. Of key note alongside the business plan, ILF Scotland also successfully delivered in collaboration with Scotland Excel and Self Directed Support Scotland (SDSS), the Scottish Government's thank you payment scheme to nearly 5,000 Personal Assistants (PAs). This was an exceptionally complicated piece of work, which mainly took place in Q2 and Q3. Due to this success of this,, ILF Scotland was approached by the Northern Ireland Government to provide a similar scheme. Over Q3 and Q4, ILF Scotland worked extensively with the officials in the Northern Ireland Government to finalise the delivery of the Special Recognition Payment (SRP) service, which opened for business at the end of the financial year. Besides some technical differences with the Scottish scheme, ILF Scotland is not only providing the payments mechanism, but also the majority of the helpline capacity alongside partners in SDSS. Though this has undoubtedly put additional pressure on an already stretched organisation, it was considered the right thing to do getting payments to PAs, as no other organisation in Northern Ireland or Scotland had a workable solution, besides ourselves and two partners,
Alongside the payments service, as mentioned above, normal business has continued and in year progress towards the strategic objectives is on track. Two key areas worth highlighting are the full review of the policy suite to ensure they remain fit for purpose, and the progression of our Equalities Mainstreaming, Corporate Parenting and Charter for Involvement Action Plans. These have been key pieces of work and we are delighted have progressed these in year.
Internally, ILF Scotland remains under significant pressures and despite media reports that the COVID crisis is now over, infection and hospitalisation rates remain high, which places health concerns on our own workforce and ability to operate back out in the community. We have made a strong start in the very lengthy and complex unravelling of recipient award packages as a result of the pandemic. This has resulted detailed negotiations around packages and this is putting additional time pressures on both Assessors and Caseworkers to then implement the new changes. In tandem with this, we have seen considerable growth in the applications coming into the Transition Fund with a record year for the 4th year in a row.
Looking to the future and fulfilling the current strategy, significant progress has been made on the digital transformation business case and organisational sustainability. Both areas look to achieve greater efficiency through smarter use of technology, of staff, of resources and operational processes to reduce our consumption and work towards at Net Zero position by 2045. Key work has been completed to create an operational framework for taking all this forward during the final year of this strategy and is on track to deliver our Net Zero Action Plan by the end of this current strategy.
Overall the business plan is on track to deliver the strategic priorities by the end of this current strategic cycle and is optimistic about its key priority of re-opening the 2015 Fund during it.
Strategic Outcome 1 – Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people:
Strategic Objective 1 – Development of the evidence base and proposals to re-open the 2015 Fund
Strategic Objective 2 - Developing the relationships and protocols to be part of an integrated national model of Health and Social Care delivery
Strategic Objective 3 – Develop the Transition Fund
Strategic Objective 4 - Increase awareness levels of our Funds and the numbers of people it can support
Strategic Objective 5 - Review and update our policies and practices to reflect current and emerging national HSC delivery plans
Strategic Outcome 2 – Be leaders in enabling independent living:
Strategic Objective 6 - Be leaders and champions in sharing our knowledge of enabling independent living with others
Strategic Objective 7 - Develop and shared understanding and best practice model of enabling sustainable independent living outcomes
Strategic Objective 8 - Linking our data and reporting to the National Performance Framework (NPF)
Strategic Objective 9 - Share our knowledge and work with people with lived experience of disability to help improve the delivery of social care and support services
Strategic Objective 10 - Design new services with disabled people at the heart of them
Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high-quality efficient service:
Strategic Objective 11 Re-establish recipient reviews as soon as possible
Strategic Objective 12 - Prepare the full business case for a fully integrated, digitised, ILF Scotland as part of the wider whole systems approach to health and social care delivery
Strategic Objective 13 - Develop and implement the workforce operational model to support a re-opened ILF Scotland
Strategic Objective 14 - Progress organisational risk and resilience programme
Strategic Objective 15 - Be a Top Employer for our staff
Strategic Objective 16 - Reducing our carbon footprint and introducing our sustainability model
Strategic Objective 17 - Develop and enhance communication channels with recipients to reduce reliance on paper based channels
Strategic Objective 18 - Audit and compliance reporting cycle to continue
Strategic Objective 19 - Develop and implement a new reporting model to evidence satisfaction with the delivery of our service
Strategic Objective 20 - Improve the efficiency and ease of financial reporting for the organisation
Strategic Objective 21 - Ensure the financial viability of ILF Scotland
Strategic Objective 22 - Complete and implement the Equalities Duty Action Plan and Gaelic Language Act responsibilities
Strategic Objective 23 - Complete and implement Equalities Mainstreaming Action Plan
3. Self-Directed Support Summary
a. Social Work Update (2015 Fund) - Over the reporting period we have moved back to physical reviews though due to the infection rates, we have had to constantly adjust our operational posture, To enable reviews to come to a completion, we have temporarily waived a number of
key policies and procedures around Local Authority engagement and service input because Local Authorities advise they can currently only deal with emergency assessments in many areas. Initially we hoped to return to the ordinary balance in awards by the end of March 2022, however the continuation of Covid-19 Policy flexibilities until 30th June 2022 makes that a better fit. This also fits with early intelligence from contact with Health and Social Care Partnerships/Trusts that the lifting of restrictions has coincided with increased staff absence. It is expected when this peak is passed, a widespread re-opening of services is anticipated in the next financial year.
During the past year we had approx. 18,000 calls to operations teams which is an increase of 30% from the previous year. This clearly evidences that our role during the pandemic deepened and widened to provide a range of supports.
However, an ongoing part care management type role whilst vital to recipients during the pandemic is unsustainable. In 2019/20 we completed 1,900 review visits, a typical year. In 2020/21 during the height of the pandemic, we completed 172 visits, Though it should be noted we carried out over 5,000 in depth welfare calls during this period instead. Through 2021/22 when pandemic restrictions were largely in place we completed 400 review visits. We need to renew and clarify our role for the next year to stakeholders if we wish to get back to the necessary rate of visits to offer a visit every 2 years. This is despite a reduction in overall recipients in the fund of 5.5% this year to 2,432 2015 Fund recipients. Analysis of the reviews illustrates some key changes from previous review cycles:
Reviews are taking longer, a combination of legacy issues from reviews being COVID delayed, complex issues including carer support due to lack of LA involvement and COVID safety protocols.
People welcome our visits. It is really positive that people want and trust us to visit safely, very few people have declined a visit and requested a video review.
This year we continued to engage with N Ireland Trust Leads and Scottish HSCP Leads. In Scotland this has also meant working closely with Social Work Scotland on various SDS projects and joining the new SDS National Collaboration and a new cross party group on Social Work hosted by the Scottish government.
b. Summary – The operational environment remains challenging for staff supporting very stretched and stressed carers (Who very much welcome a visit) and anxious and isolated young people to apply to the Transition Fund. Many ordinary policies and procedures are suspended for good reason yet it adds layers of complexity to decision making and delays in processing reviews. We intent to assert our role and policies in the next financial year to bring better inputs from HSCP/Ts and complete review visits at a rate that sees a return to the 2 year cycle with the important benefits that a visit brings to recipients.
2. Policy, Improvements and Engagement Summary
a. Policy and Improvement – We comprehensively reviewed all of our 2015 and TF policies in 21/22. Carrying out a further review currently of Policy 26 Managing an ILF Award.
b. Covid-19 Flexibility – Covid-19 policy flexibility continued throughout the year with both the Scottish and Northern Ireland Government's extending this to the end of June 22. We continue to pay additional sums for replacement awards to a small number of recipients.
c. Reporting – Alongside this we have made good progress in implementing actions in our published Equalities Mainstreaming and Outcomes and Corporate Parenting reports Charter for Involvement Standards. We will provide summary reports to the Board and the Stakeholder and Advisory groups in April 22.
d. Transition Fund (TF) – By the end of Q4 we received 2,275 TF applications, an increase of 24.5% on last year. Application numbers have fluctuated throughout the year, linked in part to service and activity restrictions because of Covid-19, although we have seen a significant upturn in Q4 when compared with Q2 and Q3 and we received 642 applications in total, a new record for a single quarter. Challenges around processing applications remain high due to the poor quality of submissions and the lack of necessary supporting documentation but staff are working hard to reduce the backlog. An additional 2.6 FTE was added to the TF team in Q3/4 and the benefit of this is already being felt. Focus on ongoing improvement and efficiency efforts remains.
e. Communications and Engagement – The Communications team delivered external communication (direct and digital) to all our stakeholders on the following::
The Special Recognition Payment for PAs in Northern Ireland.
The Adult Social Care Wage increase for PAs.
The Golden Jubilee Day's Holiday for PAs.
The build and development of the new website is on track and we remain on schedule for the planned June 22 launch date. This improvement will make a significant difference in how our key external stakeholders are able to access and engage with vital information on our website.
In celebration of International Women's Day, we launched a fantastic blog from one of our Scottish Recipient Advisory Group members and recipients, Nic Reid, on why more disabled women are needed in leadership positions.
In conjunction with this, we completed extensive online events throughout the year with a number of in person events in Q4 (19 with around 235 attendees). We also focused this engagement working with key stakeholders and partners in areas where the organisation is receiving the least applications to the Transition Fund – Moray, Western Isles and Orkney. This will continue into Q1 and Q2 of 2022/23 in line with the aims of our Corporate Parenting Plan and Equalities Mainstreaming Action Plan.
To also compliment this and to encompass an all-round strategic communications approach, we also delivered a successful paid social media and PR campaign, which achieved a combined total reach of 97,172.
f. Complaints – For the full 21/22 year we received 34 complaints compared to 14 in 20/21. The majority of these complaints related to the Transition Fund. Complaints in 2020-21 saw a significant drop compared to the previous year. We think this was because people were pre- occupied dealing with the pandemic. In 2021-22, complaints picked up again and were similar in number to that of 2019/20. We received 9 complaints about the 2015 Fund and 25 about the Transition Fund, 5 of which were from the same person. We capture each learning point from this valuable feedback about our service and act to address any issues raised through revised procedures, staff training, etc. in the spirit of continuous organisational improvement.
3. People Summary
a. Overview - 2021-22 has again been a most challenging and extremely busy year since ILF Scotland was created in 2015. Alongside additional projects, COVID-19 and volume of work we have seen increasing year on year work pressures. We have continued to offer innovative support to our workforce, introducing new measures and initiatives to help our staff get through the year. This year has again seen a comparatively low attrition rate with one original staff member retiring and 2 others leaving to promoted posts. Our absence rate, understandably has increased this year as we work out way through the pandemic predominantly with several long term absences. We are very proud to have again been awarded a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September.
We have, as always tried to remain an optimistic, open and supportive employer. The Health and Wellbeing programme has remained front and centre of our decision making as we made our way through the year offering several workshops including ‘Reconnecting and dealing with anxiety as we exit Covid-19’. We continued through the year to meet all staff monthly through ZOOM and this will continue into 2022-23 as we emerge from the pandemic. ‘Keeping in Touch’ with smaller staff groups remains important to reconnect. Our Trickle App has been used twice monthly to gauge staff mood through our ‘mood-sense pulse surveys’, reacting appropriately to comments and feedback. The Trickle App has built momentum over the last year and is now embedded as a great tool to connect, discuss with staff enabled to openly discuss issues wither anonymously or recognised.
As with Q1-3, Q4 has continued with continuing pressures on staff as a result of new projects, increased workload and Covid-19. Staff have recently found it challenging to remain upbeat despite the pandemic restrictions improving. We remain vigilant and not complacent that the impact continues to challenge us all. Current planning is underway to continue further Mental Health & Resilience workshops from the Strong Minded Resilience Team and promote our own Mental Health First Aiders to all staff. The NHS Wellbeing Hub has been heavily promoted throughout the year and feedback has been positive. Our staff also accessed 8 health & wellbeing workshops offered by Scottish Government which was well attended over the months between December 2021 to February 2022.
During this year we supported another student Social Worker from Stirling University who completed her placement at the end of November 2021. We look forward to welcoming more students through 2022-23.
During Q4, planning started to introduce an’ Employee Passport’ which is a voluntary scheme to encourage all staff to discuss adjustments they may require for underlying health conditions, disabilities, caring responsibilities and personal needs with their line manager – recording it only once. This passport can be taken from team to team or across Scottish Government and other public bodies who have introduced the scheme. This passport ensure employees only have to share their individual needs and adjustments once as it is recorded in the passport.
The passport is led by the employee and should be reviewed regularly.
b. Organisational Demography – Organisational Demography – By the end of Q4 2021-22 the organisational make up remains at 73: staff (66) and Directors (7): 74%:26% female.
c. Employment status – During 2021-22 we have continued to be a supportive work friendly employer offering a suite of life friendly policies. We have listened and reacted to feedback from colleagues through our Staff Survey and TRICKLE which has informed positive change.
ILF Scotland offers different contractual opportunities to all individuals employed in some capacity within the organisation. Currently 66 staff have employed status, with one colleague on a freelance contract. This continues to provide stability and continuity for both the organisation and individuals at this time of uncertainty. During 2021-22 all staff have worked 100% flexibly and we will continue to ensure staff can have a work/life harmony which suits their individual circumstances. Our social work student started in September 2021 and reported a positive experience. The student has been supported well by 2 of our experienced Assessors. Detailed planning work is underway looking at our Workforce Plan considering new duties ILF Scotland may be formally requested to discharge in due course.
d. Recruitment – In Q4, due to increasing workloads across the organisation and in part due to the Covid-19, unintended consequences of changing policies, staff leaving and wellbeing calls, we have continued to build and strengthen our workforce. During Q4 2021-22 the following roles have been appointed:
1 x SDS Manager - internal promotion (was Assessor)
1 x Operations Administrator
1 x Social Work Student (Jan-April 2021)
Q2:
4 x Assessors (2.5 FTE) (permanent)
1 x Specialist Caseworker (12 Month FTC)
(Both the Assessors and Specialist Caseworker started towards the end of May 2021)
Q3:
1 x Business Improvement Support Officer (1.0 FTE) (new post)
1 x Freelance Contractor
Q4:
2 x TEMP Specialist Caseworker (Fixed Term -12 month)
1 x TEMP Senior Communications Officer (Fixed Term - 6 months)
2 x TEMP Finance Officer (0.6FTE End of Grant-TF and 0.6FTE NI Special Recognition Payment) (both FTC - 6 months)
1 x Senior Policy Officer (0.6FTE)
e. Retention – During 2021-22 staff retention remains high with 3 staff leaving in the financial year:
1 x Assessor – retired
1 x Senior Communications Officer – promoted post with Scottish Government
1 x Policy Officer – promoted post
f. Absence
Sickness Absence
2021-22
2020-21
Long Term
2.74%
3.01%
Short Term
2.28%
2.01%
COVID-19 Sickness (included in Short term)
0.47%
0.11%
Total
5.02%
5.02%
Sickness Absence : Q4: 01 January 2022 - 31 March 2022
Long term – 2.95%
Short term – 2.70%
Total – 5.65%
Absences have continued to be higher than previous years mainly due to long term illness and Covid-19.
We do believe we are now seeing the consequences of continued high tempo of work coupled with the isolating impact of Covid-19, with colleagues reporting exhaustion and increased anxiety. Indeed we strongly believe our absence rates would have been much higher had we not taken such positive action in the area of wellbeing and supporting colleagues through this unprecedented time. Some staff have been working with our Occupational Health partners and we hope to see a reduction in our sickness absences as we move into 2022-23. We continue to offer mental health support through our 4 Mental Health First Aiders. The Mental Health First Aiders have met quarterly to discuss any concerns and how to promote the organisations Mental Health First Aid work.
g. Disciplinary, Grievance and Performance – Nil to report.
h. Staff Survey – The 2021 staff survey took place for 6 weeks during April and May. Data analysis from the staff survey evidenced a workforce which remained positive and upbeat. Staff acknowledged positively the supportive offerings from ILF Scotland at the start of the pandemic. The report was presented to the Remuneration Committee in September 2021. Overall the survey was very positive despite the 15 month period prior to the survey. A working group reviewed the report and introduced the following – introducing team presentations at the monthly All Staff Meetings to understand how we all work towards the same purpose and the ‘Get to Know Your Board Directors’ presentations which started in December 2021 All Staff Meeting. They will continue every 2 months for the next year. Staff Survey 2022 will be circulated again during April 2022.
i. Supporting Activity – to enable the organisation to successfully deliver the strategy and be an employer of choice, and as a small sample, the following activity has taken place:
Monthly 'All Staff' Zoom meetings, including attendance by Board Directors
Staff Development Days
2 x Health and Wellbeing webinars attended.
‘Reconnecting and dealing with anxiety as we exit Covid-19’ webinar attended by 26 staff.
Leadership Development Workshops commenced for 16 staff members which will progress over future months
Interim Pay Award implemented May 2021
HR Policy and Procedure – Review cycle started through 2022
1 x Staff member invited to speak at Flexibility Works workshop
Interviewed by both Flexibility Works and Manchester University /Working Families research on Flexible Working
Welfare Benefits Training
Risk & Resilience workshops
Adult Support and Protection Training ( all staff)
Child Protection Training (all staff)
Disability Equality Training ( induction and refresher)
4 x Cyber Security and Password workshops (Board Directors and all staff)
Policy & Practice Sharing workshops
Promoted National Work Life Week campaign in October through YAMMER and TRICKLE
Interviewed by both Flexibility Works as part of their future offering research
Promoted World Mental Health Day through TRICKLE and YAMMER
Disability Equality Training for Line Managers – 3 sessions provided by SG across full SG estate – all line managers invited to attend
ACAS Webinars – Hybrid Working/COVID-19/Flexible Working
Self-Employed PA Training for Ops and SDS teams – presented by Forth Valley SDS
Employee Passport Training – HR Team
6. Information Governance and IT Summary
a. Records Management - throughout the reporting period has seen significant progress towards the implementation of the new corporate file plan and G Drive reconfiguration. The future state move for ILF Scotland is to be away from the Scottish Government IT infrastructure and to have its own instance of a single data repository for its own records. The first step in this is having a fully cleansed and properly structured records management system which at a future state can be "lifted and shifted" into any new cloud based operating platform. There have been some capacity issues with Scottish Government not being able to support us through this so additional resource was approved by SMT to use Leidos (who are the main SG contractors). Work progresses well and once our permissions levels are set, all staff will be able to migrate their records into the new structure with the completion date planned in early 2022/23.
b. Digital and System Developments – The in year developments have progressed well and are in final testing stage ready for a go live during Q1 of 2022/23. We have slowed the work down to allow for the implementation of the second Social Care Living Wage uplift and the Special Recognition Payments project in Northern Ireland, alongside the end of year activities of the Transition Fund and Communications Team. So far the demonstrations of the Local Authority portal and the Technology Grants have been well received and once year end activities are over, these will be the priority projects. Still in the digital space, much additional work was completed on the business case for transformation funding and has been submitted to colleagues in the sponsor team and health finance for review and consideration. This piece of work, whilst having a strong technical driver, sits in the context of re-opening ILF Scotland and what the new operational model might look like and the staffing structure to deliver its services. Whereas the current efficiencies reported equate to the saving of 1 FTE annually, the digital transformation project has the ability to automate or digitise 50% of the current line of business activities and so represents a significant potential change to how ILF Scotland operates in the future.
c. Risk and Resilience – Finally this period, the work on the resilience project has almost reached the end of Phase 1 which is the creation of the individual resilience solutions for the different work areas. An initial disaster scenario walk through exercise was completed to "test" these new solutions and once refined, will be taken forward to run a full desktop exercise for senior managers early in the new financial year. This will also be the time period in which the Resilience Hub will become operational and will bring together all critical processes, resilience solutions, crisis communications and crisis response teams. The team has been incredibly busy and alongside all the change activity, have kept us safe from cyber-attacks and protected our data.
7. Finance Summary
a. All financial reporting happens via the Audit and Risk Committee and Management Accounts, however the some additional points for Finance are as follows:
External Audit
The interim audit was completed back in January, remotely by Deloitte. There were no issues and the auditors were happy to close of the interim audit.
The final audit, which audits our annual accounts via substantive testing, will start on W/C 26th April and will last a week. Although this requires the Finance team to share quite a number of documents for the auditors to test, we do not anticipate any real issues going forward.
As our accounting policies have not changed, we don't anticipate any issues, however it is worth noting that IFRS 16 on leases comes into effect for all Public Bodies and Government Agencies, this applies to ILF Scotland.
Internal Auditors
In total we have had 3 audits this financial year, these were:
1. Systems development
2. Appeals & Complaints
3. Corporate Planning/KPI's
We have a further two audits which have had to be carried into this new financial year, simply down to a lack of resource as we continue to be extremely busy.
All three audits received good ratings, which is the highest rating available and with very few recommendations.
We have also successfully tendered for Internal Audit Services and the successful supplier was Henderson Loggie. This is good news as it will ensure consistency going forward.
Process Review
As a result of this review, we will be able to ensure any best practice and any procedural efficiencies are implemented. These updated processed will be incorporated into our Accounting Procedures & Policies Manual.
Finance have also been working with the Risk & Resilience Project, helping implement the Resilience Hub and looking at possible risk management digital solutions
Annex A – Operational Dashboards
As part of the corporate reporting project, the following dashboards show our performance in both the 2015 and Transition Funds:
(NOTE – ALL THESE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE END OF QTR. FIGURES AND ARE INCLUDED FOR INDICATIVE PURPOSES AT PRESENT)
a. The dashboard below provides an overview for both Scotland and Northern Ireland in relation to the 2015 Fund:
b. The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the 2015 Fund specific to Scotland:
c. The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the 2015 Fund specific to Northern Ireland:
d. The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the Transition Fund:
e. The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to Complaints: To be added when technical issue corrected
Annex B - Statistics
The following table shows the key statistics for the period 1st January 2022 - 31st March 2022 and are aligned to standard annual financial reporting cycles as ILF Scotland is now in steady state operations. It does include Transition Fund which is articulated as Group 3.
Annual Report and Accounts - Year Ended 31 March 2021
Independent Living Fund Scotland
Annual Report and Accounts
Year ended 31 March 2021
Company Number SC500075
Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to:
ILF Scotland Denholm House Almondvale Business Park Almondvale Way Livingston EH54 6GA
Registered in Scotland
Phone: 0300 200 2022 Email: enquiries@ilf.scot
Contents
About us…………………………………………………………………………………………………….………….………….…………… 4 Supporting Citizenship : A message from the Chair of the Board …………………….…………….…………… 5 Introducing the people behind ILF Scotland…………………………………………………….………….………….…… 8 Performance Report Principal activities and historical context ……………………….………….………….…………………………………… 13 Overview ……………………………………………………………………….………….………….…………………………………….. 14 Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….………….………….………….………………….. 25 Accountability Report Statement of Directors’ & Accountable Officer Responsibilities …………………….………….……………….. 49 Annual Governance Statement ………………………………………………………….………….………….…………………. 51 Directors’ Report …………………………………………………………………………….………….………….………………………59 Remuneration and Staff Report………………………………………………………….………….………….………………….. 63 Parliamentary Accountability Report ………………………………………………………….………….………….……….… 75 Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland ………………….………….………….……...… 76 Financial Statements Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2021.………….…………. 82 Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2021 …………………………………………….………….……….…. 83 Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2021 …………………………….………….…………..…. 84 Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2021…………….………….……85 Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021 ……………………………….………….………….…… 86 Appendix to the Accounts - Accounts Direction…………………………………………….………….………….……… 104
About us
The Independent Living Fund Scotland (ILF Scotland) is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Scottish Government (SG). Our role is to provide a high quality service to, currently, over 5,000 disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland, supporting them to achieve positive independent living outcomes, and to have greater choice and control over their lives.
ILF Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. We work in partnership with 37 Health and Social Care Partnerships/Trusts across Scotland and Northern Ireland by jointly assessing and funding person centred care and support.
Operating from our central office in Livingston we employ 61 dedicated people including our social care professionals and non-executive directors. Our assessors visit our recipients in their own homes every two years to identify their needs often in conjunction with local authority or trust social services departments.
Office address ILF Scotland Denholm House Almondvale Business Park Almondvale Way Livingston EH54 6GA
The past year at ILF Scotland, like everywhere else, has been dominated by the global Covid-19 pandemic. The impact of this pandemic has, arguably, been felt most severely by disabled people, including recipients of our fund. This is something that we have been acutely aware of, and which has been central to ILF Scotland’s pandemic response. Throughout the year we have focused primarily on doing everything in our power to understand the implications of the pandemic for disabled people generally, and our fund recipients more specifically, and to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic to the best of our ability.
Our recipient survey, conducted in late 2020 and early 2021, received well over 300 responses, and gave us a deep insight into the reality of life for disabled people during the pandemic. The vast majority of respondents reported a negative impact, with almost 20% of people telling us that the pandemic has had a major, lifechanging, negative impact. Specific issues related to mental and physical health; increased isolation; loss of service provision; significant increase in family care; and carer exhaustion. As an organisation ILF Scotland has always focused on flexible and life-friendly working practices. This meant that as the pandemic developed, and restrictions and lockdowns were introduced, we were able to quickly and seamlessly shift to remote working practices. This new operating model allowed our energy and focus to be on supporting disabled people and their closest supporters through the significant challenges they were facing. With face to face engagement not possible, we introduced telephone based welfare checks, conducting over 4,000 such in-depth calls in the year, along with the significant follow up work generated by these calls. With the support of our Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Sponsor Teams, we introduced a range of Covid-19 policy flexibilities, again all designed to best support people through the crisis. As a result, 92% of our 2015 Fund recipients maintained or increased their ILF awards during the pandemic. Independent living outcomes have been enhanced by individuals’ making decisions about how best to utilise this funding in the context of the pandemic.
We are confident that our 2015 Fund Covid-19 response was as effective as it could have been, given the challenges we all faced. As one respondent to our survey put it, “I am fortunate to have both the financial and emotional support for my complex health and mobility conditions, thanks significantly to your team at ILF Scotland”. I would also like to add my thanks to the team at ILF Scotland for their incredible efforts in these most difficult of circumstances. Our teams, including our Board, seamlessly shifted to home working like many other organisations across the globe. We all quickly learned to communicate online and get used to the world of video-conferencing.
The welfare of our staff has been of paramount importance and has been a whole team effort. I want to thank everyone for their care and concern for each other, which has held the team together during times where isolation from one another can lead to stress and anxiety. Connection has remained a constant theme and means that as we begin to gently and safely move out of lockdown we can do so in a way that feels truly supportive.
Our Transition Fund, introduced in 2017/18, has continued to go from strength to strength, with demand growing significantly over the past year. This growth in demand has been partly as a direct consequence of the pandemic, which has, understandably, resulted in a reduction of the broader supports with transition normally available to young disabled school-leavers. We have experienced a resultant increase in applications to our Transition Fund, and we have introduced policy flexibilities to best meet the needs of our growing numbers of applicants and recipients. We also introduced a fast-track, simplified, application process for digital devices to support young people make and keep connections during the pandemic. We are grateful to our Scottish Government colleagues for providing us with additional in-year funding to allow us to meet the exceptional level of demand we have experienced this year, ensuring the fund remained continually open to applications.
Following extensive pre-pandemic engagement with disabled people, carers and others, we were proud to launch our new, co-produced strategy, Hope and Ambition, in December 2020. The experience of many disabled people during this crisis clearly necessitates fresh thinking about the provision of care, support and rights. Our new strategy, therefore, looks to the future during the uncertainty of the present. It outlines a model of social care and support, based on human rights, that puts disabled people at the heart of defining their own needs and how they can be met. As with fighting this virus, the only way we can make progress in social care support is through collaboration, and this strategy shows an ambitious and optimistic way forward, despite the challenging times we currently live in.
We were privileged also to look to the future with hope and ambition during our engagement with the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, chaired by Derek Feeley, and we warmly welcomed the recently published report of the Review. The recommendations clearly embrace the needs, rights and preferences of disabled people and their supporters and align with the values that ILF Scotland has at its heart.
There have been a number of calls in recent years, and especially during the pandemic, for ILF to be re-opened to new applicants in Scotland. We are grateful to Mr Feeley for listening to these calls; for meeting with us a number of times during the review; and for taking the time to consider the ILF model and what it may have to offer within the wider context of a National Care Service. We are of course pleased to see the clear recommendation that ILF Scotland should indeed be re-opened to new applications, as an integral part of a National Care Service, with significant levels of fresh investment.
Throughout the year we have also been engaged in constructive dialogue with our colleagues in our Northern Ireland Sponsor Team and with wider stakeholders. Following widespread engagement, we established a working group, chaired jointly by ILF Scotland and the Northern Ireland Department of Health (DOH), to develop a formal proposal to re-open ILF in Northern Ireland, with significant fresh investment. We expect this proposal to be considered by the Northern Ireland Minister for Health in the very near future.
I will finish with a final thank you. Although I would not normally single out one member of staff for particular praise, I feel that on this occasion it is appropriate, if not imperative, to recognise the immense contribution over the course of the past year of Harvey Tilley, our Chief Operating Officer. With our Chief Executive Officer, Peter Scott, going through lengthy treatment following a cancer diagnosis, Harvey took up the reins just as the pandemic was putting a stop to the normal operations of ILF Scotland. He has shown incredible strength, resilience, creativity and leadership in the most challenging of circumstances, guiding the organisation and its staff with compassion, fortitude and courage. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to offer Harvey our sincerest gratitude. I am also delighted to say that Peter is now in recovery and , following a gradual return to work, is now back with us full time. All of us at ILF Scotland are delighted, and Peter, with Harvey’s gracious support, has eased back in as if he had never been away. As always Peter lives and breathes the values of ILF Scotland and, with me, will lead our very capable Board and executive colleagues as we deliver on the next phase for ILF Scotland.
Susan Douglas-Scott CBE Chair of the Board
Introducing the people behind ILF Scotland
The ILF Scotland Directors
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board and member of the Remuneration Committee
Susan’s career has spanned four decades, always with a focus on equalities, health, disability and social care. As a disabled woman she blends her professional and personal experience in all her roles. In the late 1980’s she supported disabled people to leave institutional care using ILF to fund their own personalised care package. At this time she collaborated with other disabled people to embed disability equality into Scottish society.
Since 2018 Susan has been Chair of NHS Golden Jubilee and this year re-joined the third sector to become Chair of the Board of VoiceAbility, an advocacy organisation. She also continues to offer pastoral care in her role as a humanist celebrant and chaplain.
In all her roles Susan uses her skills as a committed people person, holding strong foundations in supporting those she serves to live their lives in their own way, to achieve the life they choose. She has a keen eye for organisational development and through that lens, guides organisations to deliver services that make a real difference to people.
Susan was honoured that her work over the years was recognised by being awarded a CBE in the Queen’s 2019 New Year honours list for services towards improving Human Rights in relation to Disability and LGBT issues.
Elizabeth Humphreys Vice Chair and member of the Audit & Risk Committee
Elizabeth has 30 years’ experience of working in the public and voluntary sectors, during which time she has championed the needs of disabled people and individuals with other protected characteristics through a wide variety of roles, securing improved services and support for both customers and staff.
At Board level, in addition to her role as Vice Chair of ILF Scotland, she is Chair of Drake Music Scotland, Scotland’s leading music and disability organisation. She is also a non-executive director of the Scottish Ambulance Service and Public Health Scotland, and is a trustee of the Scottish Association for Mental Health.
Alan Dickson, Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee
Alan is a qualified accountant (Fellow Chartered and Certified Accountant) who has operated at a senior level within the public sector for most of his career. Alan was Head of Finance at the Student Loans Company for ten years and has worked in a variety of senior finance roles within local and central government. Alan was also previously the Chair of Good Morning Glasgow (a charity that delivers telephone befriending to older people) and was a Trustee of the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.
Mark Adderley, Chair of the Remuneration Committee
Mark is an executive Coach and non-executive Director, with a passion for people, equality and social justice. He has a particular interest in mental health, wellbeing, and equality.
He has over 20 years’ experience in change, transformation, HR and people, across sectors and geographies. He has previous Executive Director roles with Scottish Water, NHS, Heriot-Watt University and CEO at the National Trust for Scotland.
Mark is currently the Chair of Scottish Squash, an independent non-executive director of CHS Solutions Ltd (part of the NHS) and a director of the Management Advisory Board for Scottish Public Pensions Agency. Mark advises and coaches organisations and leaders in a non-executive, coach or consultancy role.
Mark is a Chartered Director and fellow of The Institute of Directors and a fellow of The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and brings this experience of governance and passion for people to the board.
Elizabeth McAtear, member of the Remuneration Committee
Elizabeth worked mostly in the third sector with involvement in community development for over 30 years, the main achievement of which was the establishment of the Western Isles Citizens Advice Service in 1988. Thereafter she managed the local Citizens Advice Bureau for 25 years.
She further developed her voluntary work in the community through participation in public services, gaining knowledge and experience of service provision across Local Government, the Health Service, housing, and education from primary through to Higher and University level. She acquired a very broad range of skills and experience, including governance, strategic planning, financial control monitoring and the ability to challenge constructively at Board level, all of which she brings to her role on the Board of ILF Scotland.
In addition to caring for her disabled husband Elizabeth tutors Gaelic language on a part-time basis at Lews Castle College. She is also currently Treasurer of the Barra Access Panel which feeds into the national body from a remote island perspective and is a director of the Western Isles Development Trust.
Anne-Marie Monaghan, member of the Remuneration Committee
Anne-Marie has 40 years of experience in social work and community projects coupled with substantial professional qualifications. She has worked in both the voluntary sector and in local authority community care.
Anne-Marie brings to the Board her significant experience of social work delivery and self-directed support with skills in learning disability, policy, community engagement and working in the context of health and social care integration. She has a positive track record of managing change and of developing partnership working.
For the last 10 years Anne-Marie has worked flexibly and in a freelance way. She has supported a range of organisations and her work in community brokerage has been nationally recognised as a model of excellent practice. She is currently the Social Care Advisor for disability benefits in the new Scottish Social Security System.
Anne-Marie is a non-executive director on Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Board and sits on the Glasgow Integration Joint Board. She is Vice Chair of the East Renfrewshire Integration Joint Board having recently, at the end of her term, passed the Chair on to the local Councillor.
Etienne d’Aboville, member of the Audit & Risk Committee Etienne has been an active member of the Independent Living Movement since becoming closely involved in the campaign to legalise direct payments in the 1980’s. Following a spell working on co-production with the Living Options Partnership at the Kings Fund, he became Chief Executive of Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living in 1996, developing a range of user-led support, training, housing and employment services.
Etienne has sat on numerous advisory and consultation bodies on independent living and Self-directed Support (SDS) including the Programme Board which helped establish ILF Scotland.
He is currently a member of the Scottish Government’s Disability and Carers Benefits Expert Advisory Group and is also a director of Community Renewal which works to transform communities by empowering and engaging individuals in community activity to improve their health, learning and employability. Etienne also sat on the Scottish Government’s Social Renewal Advisory Board which recently published its independent report ‘If Not Now, When?’ on how Scotland has the opportunity to ‘build back’ a more socially just society following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Senior Management Team (SMT)
The SMT is responsible for the strategic management of ILF Scotland.
Peter Scott OBE, Chief Executive and Accountable Officer
Peter has over 25 years’ experience working in the voluntary and third sector, specifically in the area of disability. He began his career as a Support Worker in 1993 with a charity called Fair Deal. For the next 17 years, Peter undertook a number of managerial roles with various charities before becoming the Executive Director for Enable in 2008. In 2010, Peter then became Enable’s 6th CEO before moving to ILF Scotland in 2015.
James Maguire, Director of Finance
James is a Chartered Accountant and has over 30 years’ experience operating at senior finance level. After over 20 years in the dairy sector, he moved to the public sector and his previous roles include finance director at the Scottish Police Services Authority and The Student Loans Company.
As Director of Finance, James is responsible for all aspects of financial management and control within ILF Scotland, including close liaison with both internal and external audit.
Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating Officer and Acting Chief Executive/Accountable Officer (during year ended 31 March 2021)
Although the first part of his career was in the British Army, Harvey has spent the best part of the last 20 years working in the voluntary and public sectors.
Specifically, this has been in the areas of homelessness, disability, care, grant giving and employability. Prior to taking up post as ILF Scotland’s Chief Operating Officer, the majority of roles he has held during this time have been leading large scale operations across the UK.
As Chief Operating Officer for ILF Scotland, Harvey not only deputises for the CEO, but is responsible for all service delivery, IT, health and safety, information governance, facilities, human resources and organisational development.
Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services
Paul is a chartered HR professional with over 25 years management experience across government, health, education, defence, consultancy and the charitable sector. Key national projects have included introducing a new mental health service for Scottish veterans and launching a money advice and rights service.
Recently Paul has been more involved in IT projects and has led on the development of a new web based service to allow disabled young people to apply for grants to support their independent living.
Paul is responsible for the corporate planning and performance reporting, as well as the compliance requirements for Data Protection and Cyber Security.
Nadeem Hanif, Head of Finance
Nadeem has around 20 years’ experience in the financial and accountancy sector. After graduating in 2003, he began his career with HMRC, spending the next 9 years working in various finance and tax directorates. In 2012, he left HMRC to work for the Scottish Government as a Finance Manager before becoming ILF Scotland’s Head of Finance.
As Head of Finance, Nadeem has overall management of all day to day financial operations. This includes responsibility for the management accounts, management information, risk management and ILF Scotland’s procurement function.
Working closely with all other Heads of departments, ensuring appropriate and timely provision of management information and close management of organisational budgets.
Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement
Linda left her role in Health & Social Care Integration to join ILF Scotland in 2018. She began her career in Housing Benefits at Glasgow City Council and has since spent 35 years in the public sector, working in social policy, social housing, social housing regulation and social care.
She has held managerial positions in local and Scottish Government and her expertise includes Policy, Strategy, Planning, Project Management, Operational Management, Service Improvement, Regulation Management and Governance, having held positions previously as a non-executive board member.
Linda is responsible for leading the Policy, Improvement and Engagement functions within ILF Scotland, responsible for published policy, driving continuous improvement, developing the Transition Fund and overseeing communications and engagement.
Robert White, Director of Self-directed Support
Robert has over 30 years of experience working in central and local government, beginning his career with the Civil Service in 1991, before working in various local authority social work roles for 16 years until joining ILF Scotland in 2015.
As Director of Self-directed Support for ILF Scotland, Robert is responsible for leading the organisation’s frontline service delivery teams of Caseworkers and Assessors in Scotland and Northern Ireland. He is also strategic lead for 37 statutory social work partners. Robert has a keen interest in promoting Advocacy as a trustee with Speak Out advocacy and the interaction between social welfare and social work as a member of the Poverty Alliance.
Performance Report
Principal activities and historical context ILF Scotland was set up in 2015 and carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its aim is to deliver discretionary cash payments to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities. The organisation became an NDPB of SG in June 2018 (having previously been an Other Significant Public Body) and receives funding in the form of Grant in Aid from SG. There is also an agreement between the SG and DOH for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF recipients based in Northern Ireland.
External auditor Deloitte LLP 110 Queen Street Glasgow G1 3BX
Solicitor Central Legal Office Breadalbane Street Edinburgh EH6 5JR
Banker Royal Bank of Scotland 36 St. Andrew Square Edinburgh EH2 2AD
Overview
Introduction
The last 12 months has, without doubt, been the busiest and most challenging period since the inception of ILF Scotland, due to the impact of the global pandemic. We have worked hard to be supportive, and innovative, in our response to this pandemic, introducing many new measures and initiatives to help recipients, key stakeholders and staff get through the year with as little impact on well-being as possible in such challenging circumstances. However, as we look back over the last 12 months of dealing with the pandemic, as both an organisation and nation, it has clearly taken a heavy toll on us all. That said, the resilience, determination and solidarity shown by our recipients, and the professionalism, empathy, compassion and sheer hard work of all involved in ILF Scotland has been truly humbling to watch.
This section of our Annual Report and Accounts sets out an overview of the last year. Such was the impact on our recipients during the year by Covid-19 that much of this report addresses how we dealt with this and how we responded to the many challenges it presented. Performance is therefore measured against both how we dealt with the effects of Covid-19 and how we performed against our Strategic Plan.
Strategic Plan
Our key outcomes from our Strategic Plan are listed below:-
Strategic Outcome 1 - Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people.
Strategic Outcome 2 - Be leaders in enabling independent living.
Strategic Outcome 3 - Operate a high-quality efficient service.
Further information on these outcomes are set out in pages 25 to 29 and the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) against which we monitor performance are set out on pages 22 to 24.
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
This year our principal risks and uncertainties were mainly in connection the Covid-19 pandemic, the continued growth of the Transition Fund, the management of resources, managing the movement of personal and sensitive information and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes. We believe that we responded very well to all risk areas and this is explored further in the “Performance Analysis” section of this report.
Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on our recipients
The experience of many disabled people during this crisis necessitates fresh thinking about the provision of care, support and rights for disabled people. During this year our model of social care and support, which strives to put disabled people at the heart of defining their own needs and how these needs will be met, has never been more important. This is why it has come as no surprise, to us at least, that the reopening of ILF to new applicants was one of the main recommendations in the recent Independent Review of Adult Social Care in Scotland, led by Derek Feeley. Alongside that, although Covid-19 has undeniably slowed down the momentum in Northern Ireland, we are hopefully on the cusp of taking the next steps in re-opening the fund there as well.
Disabled people have undoubtedly experienced very difficult times throughout the pandemic, which has exacerbated the already deep societal inequalities already in place. For those disabled people that receive our support and rely on personal assistance in these uncertain times, it has been very worrying indeed. Social distancing is not possible when personal care is needed, so disabled people and their supporters are in a very challenging space. As many individuals who receive funding from ILF Scotland are also employers, they have faced further problems as many of their personal assistants have had to take time to self-isolate and they have needed to source personal protective equipment (PPE) to carry on safely with their day to day jobs.
What has been reassuring to see and hear, is the feedback from disabled people on how we have supported them this year and how ILF Scotland funding can have a transformative impact on disabled people, their families, friends and communities even through a global pandemic.
This evidence has come via a myriad of routes from direct feedback, wellbeing calls and letters, through to independent research projects carried out by different organisations.
Organisations such as Inclusion Scotland, Glasgow Disability Alliance, the Centre for Inclusive Living Northern Ireland (CILNI) and Disability NI have carried out various pieces of research throughout the last year, where ILF Scotland and its positive impact has been clearly referenced.
Indeed, comprehensive research conducted by CILNI shows disabled people who have ILF are more resilient and for every £ invested in ILF, it provides £10.89 in social return on investment.
Operational update
From an operational perspective, we have stayed fully open throughout the financial year, supporting over 5,000 disabled people across Scotland and Northern Ireland to have choice, control and dignity. ILF Scotland successfully moved to full remote and agile working in late March and early April 2020 during Covid-19, which was a reflection of our flexible work culture and digital strategy. We have continued providing high quality services to recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland throughout the pandemic with minimal disruption to provision. Our operational model has been completely redesigned in order to provide over 4,000 2015 Fund in-depth wellbeing recipient checks in 10 months, which would normally take approximately three years. This resulted in over 92% of recipients maintaining or increasing their pre-Covid-19 support (support was only reduced for the 8% by their specific instruction and never by ILF Scotland). We have dealt with over 11,000 contacts via phone, text and email compared with just over 10,000 the year before, an increase of around 10%.
It has also been a record year for the Transition Fund with 1,818 applications received, an increase of 39% from the year before. We also passed 4,000 applications received since opening in December 2017 and have approved over £7m of life-enhancing support to help disabled young people, between the ages of 16 and 25, with the transition after leaving school or children’s services. The Transition Fund has continued to deliver life changing support to young disabled people through the whole year when most statutory support was reduced as a result of the pandemic.
Planning for the future
In conjunction with the above, we have carried on consulting, co-producing and developing our plans for the future, ensuring disabled people are at the heart of our thinking. In Quarter 1 (Q1) we completed a public consultation to support the reopening of the fund to new applications in Northern Ireland. In Quarter 3 (Q3) we finished extensive co-production with all stakeholders carried out over the previous 12 months, to launch our person-led strategy. We have continually consulted, developed and implemented our Covid-19 response and recovery plan to play our part in the economic and societal recovery from the pandemic. This included a feedback survey from recipients and award managers that gained our highest recorded response rate in any consultation previously conducted. Finally, we also actively contributed to Government consultations, such as the Feeley Review, and produced responses to various policy areas, including Fair Work and Self Directed Support.
Other initiatives
As with other areas of work, Policy has centred around our response to Covid-19 and we have worked closely with colleagues in the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments to jointly agree flexible policy responses to Covid-19. Numerous policy updates to stakeholders have been issued as the situation has changed. We have ensured ILF Funded Personal Assistants (PAs) and recipients were included in the rollout of vaccination and testing for priority groups, whilst jointly taking forward, with our Sponsor Teams, the development of policy guidance in areas including: the continued payment of normal awards (sustainability payments); additional payments for replacement care; other Covid-19 related expenditure; and the £500 'Thank You' payment promised to Health & Social Care Workers by the First Minister in Scotland.
Alongside this, we have successfully completed the annual Scottish Living Wage uplift, whilst continuing to revise award policies to make them more accessible, compliant with the latest legislation, and targeted at enabling independent living. These have included employer support guidance and the long-term objective to reduce the available income charges for recipients in Scotland, which will provide additional income to disabled people at a time of most need. We are pleased that available income charges will reduce from £83 to £43 per week with effect from 1 June 2021.
During the year we have also published our approach to the Equalities Duty, including Gaelic Language Plan preparations and finalised our first Mainstreaming and Equalities Outcome Report. In addition, in 2020/21 we also managed to formally establish the young ambassadors group, comprised of some young people who have been successful in their applications to the Transition Fund.
Communications and engagement
As communications and engagement have been so important this year, it is no surprise that these areas of work have been exceptionally busy. To keep recipients and other key stakeholders up to date, we have produced two external newsletters sending over 5,000 copies to provide key information through the pandemic. This has been augmented around 7,500 letters over and above normal day-to-day communications, to keep recipients and award managers updated on developments throughout the year, as well as three online mailings to recipients who want to receive communication updates digitally and other stakeholders, such as payroll agencies, care providers and social work professionals. We have also constantly updated our website and social media channels, provided weekly updates and a monthly internal newsletter to colleagues, and produced new and engaging content to explain what we do. Despite restrictions, 36 online engagement events with an audience of around 550 people attending have been completed. In addition, the Communications Team have undertaken four very successful campaigns, including the Northern Ireland consultation survey, ILF Scotland’s 5th birthday campaign to celebrate disabled people achieving independent living outcomes, one to help young disabled individuals apply to the Transition Fund through the pandemic and the International Day of People with Disabilities in December 2020. This work has helped increase our reach and share knowledge with over 10,000 new website users and has resulted in significant increases in all social media engagement and website page views, which are up 76% over the year.
Finance
From a financial viewpoint, we have made independent living payments to recipients totalling approximately £52.7 million (2019/20 £50.7m). Colleagues in Finance have completely digitised all of our internal finance processes during the pandemic to operate more efficiently. We gained a clean external audit for the 5th year in a row and four internal audits were carried out, with satisfactory outcomes in all areas.
Colleagues
Keeping colleagues safe and well whilst delivering high quality support to disabled people has been of paramount importance throughout the year. Overall, the culture that has been created at ILF Scotland, coupled with how we have been staffed, structured and trained, has meant that we have been able to pivot the organisation quickly to respond to the crisis whilst protecting our staff and those we support at the same time. As we have moved through the different stages of the pandemic, one of the main challenges for ILF Scotland has been working with colleagues to mitigate against both the extraordinary workloads and the stresses of the pandemic.
We have invested significant effort around expanding our already market-leading health and wellbeing employee proposition and extended the use of flexible work policies, providing colleagues with the necessary tools to work effectively from home. Throughout the year we have carried out over 1,500 days (2019/20 620 days) of personal development to support the delivery of excellent outcomes for disabled people. In tandem with this, we have regularly communicated with colleagues on a weekly basis to make sure we leave no-one behind and everyone has been fully up to date with the situation as it occurs. To prevent burn-out we have introduced numerous supports, including Covid-19 weekends and initiatives like ‘Ditch the Desk’, whilst encouraging colleagues to take time to decompress away from the day-to-day challenges. We have provided additional support for those with caring responsibilities and constantly reinforced the message ‘do what you can’.
By co-producing solutions with colleagues, listening to them through various feedback mechanisms, we have managed to maintain high levels of engagement, as evidenced through the staff survey and our comparatively low absence rates and high staff retention throughout the reporting period. ILF Scotland has also independently validated its position as a market leading employer of choice by winning the Best Small UK Employer Award from Working Families in May, a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September, a finalist in three categories (the Best for Mental Health/for Employee Engagement/for Best for Family Support) in the 2021 Working Mums Awards and Highly Commended in the 2021 Top Employer Flexibility Works Awards.
Due to the high tempo of operations we have constantly looked to be even more efficient, easier to access and better at what we do, resulting in the delivery of over 130 improvements to systems, processes and services saving over 7,600 hours of staff time a year. For example, after seeing the impact of the pandemic on young disabled people around digital exclusion and social isolation, we developed a fast track technology grant application process to enable quicker delivery of life enhancing IT to individuals. The efficiencies arising from the 7,600 (2019/20 – 4,446) hours saving above are further detailed on page 44 where it is noted that this equates to an efficiency saving of 5.7% (2019/20 – 3.3%) of our cost base.
In the background we have also actively contributed to two national infrastructure projects – the Payments Platform and Digital Identity Scotland, whilst keeping forward momentum in launching our new electronic records plan ready for 2021-22. Concurrently with this work, we have been working on the redesign of our risk and resilience framework to make us more robust, and we have finished the first major phase of our digital transformation work.
Organisational Structure
The structure of the organisation can be seen below. The chart sets out our core operational departments:-
Effect of the UK leaving the European Union (Brexit)
ILF Scotland has been largely unaffected by Brexit. We are a Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Government funded organisation serving our recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland. We will continue to monitor any possible impact.
Summary and Future Plans
As can been seen from the narrative set out above, it has been an extraordinary year for ILF Scotland dealing with the profound impact of Covid-19 on us all. Our focus throughout the year has been to rapidly think what the pandemic means for us, the people we support, how we integrate with the wider governmental response and what actions we take in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. We have worked hard to constantly adapt to the changing and dynamic environment throughout the year by listening to disabled people, colleagues and other stakeholders. As such, we believe we are well poised to move confidently into the next phase of recovery, though know the consequences of this global crisis will have a long overhang into the coming years.
In summary, we have had the busiest, most challenging yet rewarding reporting period by any benchmark since opening in July 2015. With the vaccination programme accelerating to over 65% (at the time of writing) of the adult population covered, we are now looking forward to a gradual return to a more physical environment with restrictions lifted. We continue to work towards re-commencing normal operations, implementing our new strategy and the growth agenda, extending the Transition Fund, re-opening the 2015 Fund to new applications in Northern Ireland (subject to Ministerial approval) and supporting the Scottish Government to deliver the recommendations in the Independent Social Care Review report. With strong foundations and an excellent staff team, we aim to build upon our learning through Covid-19, and will work towards enabling even more people to live independently.
Performance Indicators
For the year 2020-21 ILF Scotland measured its performance against key strategic objectives given in the 2020-2023 Corporate Strategy. They have been carefully chosen to reflect the outcomes that matter most to the organisation, our recipients, stakeholders and cover all the major areas of ILF Scotland’s operations. We also developed various key objectives in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our monitoring of KPI’s is also closely linked to our risk register and further details of our approach to and monitoring of risks is comprehensively explained in our Annual Governance Statement on pages 51 to 58. We also reference our principal risks and uncertainties in the “Performance Analysis” section.
Our performance indicators are set out on the following pages and include some key indicators from our Strategic Plan and also our Covid-19 Recovery Plan which has been a key focus for us this year.
Analysis
Key Operational Activities - Over the year, the following key activities have taken place:
Strategic Outcome 1 - Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people:
We continued to work closely with the SG and NI Sponsor Teams to jointly agree flexible policy responses to Covid-19. We are taking forward joint development of guidance in these areas:
Continued payment of normal awards (Sustainability Payments).
Additional payments for replacement care and other Covid-19 related expenditure.
£500 'Thank You' payment promised to health and social care workers by the First Minister in Scotland.
ILF Funded PAs and recipients inclusion in PPE access and the rollout of vaccination and testing for priority groups.
In Q3 we published an Interim Policy which reduced the maximum Transition Fund grant available from £7,500 to £1,500. We received an additional funding allocation from the Scottish Government to allow us to continue on this basis until 31 March 2021. Following fruitful discussions in Q4 with our SG Sponsors, we have secured an increased budget for 2021-22 and this has allowed an increase to the maximum grant, which will be set at £4,000 for the coming year. Within this, the fund retains the discretion to exceed the maximum in exceptional cases where there is deemed to be potential for a life-transforming impact.
In Q4 SG agreed that we could continue with our flexible policy implementation, including replacement support, until the end of Q1 2021-22. We wrote to all recipients to advise them of this. We paid out approximately £860k for replacement support in the last year (2019-20 Nil).
We worked closely with the Sponsor Team, Vaccination contacts in the SG and NHS along with contacts in Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs), Health and Social Care Trusts (HSCTs) and health board area vaccination centres to facilitate access to vaccines for ILF Scotland funded PAs. This is now progressing well.
We continue to discuss arrangements for the roll out of the £500 'Thank You' payment promised to health and social care workers by the First Minister. We have developed procedures and the technical solution to achieve this but are waiting for agreement from SG to proceed.
We have revised and published the ‘Your Responsibilities Guide’ and ‘Employer Support Information Note’. The Sponsor Team have agreed that we change Employer Support from a policy to guidance, which means we will more easily be able to update this quickly in respect of any future legislative changes.
Civil Servants in Northern Ireland are working on a detailed submission for the Minister of Health to reopen the 2015 Fund. We await further information.
One of the recommendations from the Feeley Independent Review of Adult Social Care is that ILF is re-opened in Scotland. We are in discussions about this with our Sponsor Team.
We continue to conduct Stakeholder Group meetings in Northern Ireland and Recipient Advisory Group meetings in Scotland virtually. We worked closely with group members over the last year to establish relevant Charter for Involvement Statements and in collaboration with them, we co-produced our first Action Plan in Q4 to confirm how we will implement these. These Groups also helped us develop a recipient feedback survey about the effect of Covid-19 on our recipients and their support services.
We developed our first Equalities Outcomes Monitoring Report, a requirement for ILF Scotland, as a Public Body, from 2020. This reports on the progress we have made in 2020-21 and the equalities outcomes we aim to achieve in 2021-22.
We developed our First Corporate Parenting Report, again, a requirement for us, as a public body, from 2020. This report on our role as a corporate parent, which for now relates to the Transition Fund, sets out how we intend to deliver on our corporate parenting responsibilities from 2021-24.
Strategic Outcome 2 - Be leaders in enabling independent living:
Whilst our main focus has been on the wellbeing calls with recipients and carers, there are highly significant reforms in progress in both Scotland and Northern Ireland, which ILF is participating in to promote a focus on independent living outcomes.
Our Covid-19 policy and practice has received positive feedback from stakeholders. ILF Scotland has been successful in delivering government policy intent of offering flexibility, choice and maintaining supports. Our flexibility included enabling a number of recipients to employ family members in a time of crisis.
Work has continued throughout the year with ARC Scotland on a new national approach to developing a self-evaluation toolkit, with data model, that can be used to plan and measure the effectiveness of transitions (aimed directly at local authority education and social care departments).
Contributed to various pieces of research and consultations, including the Feeley Review.
Virtual engagement events in the form of online workshops and presentations with a variety of partner organisations continued to take place.
In Scotland, we contributed to the production of SDS national standards, which have now been agreed by COSLA and ILF Scotland has been invited to join Social Work Scotland National Self-directed Support Steering Group. This will oversee the development of a co-produced national action plan for the further implementation of SDS.
In Q4 the continuation of our Carer Respite grant (30 grants) has helped avoid admission to care where carers reported they simply could not continue.
Strategic Outcome 3 - Operate a high-quality efficient service:
Wherever possible, we have attempted to continue our business as usual operation during this period, and have completed meetings, development activities, planning activities, reporting and audit to our normal standards.
Awarded Best Small Employer at Working Families Awards in Q1, gained a Top 10 UK Employer in the Working Families Benchmark in Q2, were a finalist in three categories of excellence as an employer in the UK Working Mums Awards in Q3 and finally we were awarded a Highly Commended in the inaugural Flexibility Work Awards in Q4.
Completed the first stage of an organisational workforce plan preparing for future growth.
Gained Cyber Essentials Plus for the third year running and returned a "satisfactory" level of compliance with a much higher standard than required against the National Cyber Security Centre 10 Steps cyber security framework.
Three main projects continued well over the year despite the time pressure challenges on all staff from the Covid-19 response. The new file plan for our records management is sitting with SG and once the changes are made we can begin the process of records migration into our new Electronic Records and Documents Management (ERDM), which is planned for Q1 of 2021-22. The digital transformation project completed the discovery phase and moved to development of the new service delivery model. During Q4, this has been reviewed by a team of industry experts, including technical architects from Microsoft, and during Q1 of 2021-22 we will see this progress to a fully costed business case for capital investment. Finally, we have progressed the redesign of our risk and resilience framework.
Over the course of the year, we have tried, wherever possible, to continue our business as usual operation albeit remotely. As well as responding to the Covid-19 crisis, we completed and achieved sign off on our new strategic plan for the following three years. As a public body, this one action provided us with the strategic framework to focus our activities on both the Covid-19 response and also our future three year planning and we are pleased to report that alongside Covid-19, all of our public body duties, governance, operations and reporting have all progressed.
In terms of delivery of our services, we have nearly completed two cycles of in-depth wellbeing calls/reviews with every 2015 Fund recipient. The change from physical review to the calls has resulted in a fourfold increase from our normal contact cycle with individual recipients as instead of a two-yearly review, we have now contacted all recipients twice in a year. This has placed significant challenges on the normal service delivery model, but also an opportunity to learn how best to scale and deliver this service and has resulted in the much welcomed developments to the assessor portal.
Video conference, network bandwidth, Skype, Zoom, emails and storage limits were all pushed to the limits during Covid-19 and resulted in much frustration and technology fatigue. The end of Q3 saw the move to a cloud based Microsoft Teams solution for SG and Q4 has seen ILF Scotland fully adopt the platform and begin to realise the benefits of it as a collaboration tool and secure video conferencing channel for external as well as internal people.
Business planning for Covid-19 recovery and also for 2021-23 was completed this period. The new plan has 21 business objectives to achieve the corporate strategy.
Sustainability, change management, improvements and efficiency management have been looked at during this period and two specific business plan objectives set around linking the quality of our performance to the National Performance Framework (NPF) and net carbon neutral planning by 2045.
From initial review of the NPF, it is likely that ILF Scotland is well placed to demonstrate positive contributions to 9 of the 11 NPFs and this work will progress in the next financial year.
Overall, as mentioned in the Feely Report (January 2021), ILF Scotland is a strong example of a public service delivering a high quality service in a highly pressurised and challenging time.
Main Effort - The main effort throughout this reporting period has been responding to Covid-19 whilst carrying on developing our strategic plans for the future. This of course became the main risk/uncertainty to affect the organisation and the following pages demonstrate how we responded.
Call Volumes - This year we have received 11,240 telephone and email enquiries compared with 10,254 in 2019-20. This approximate 10% increase is due to a rise in operational activity, Covid-19 and growth in Transition Fund related calls and a new call recording system that is easier for staff to complete. There are relatively few emails from 2015 Fund recipients, which is explained by the fact that most do not have or use emails, but where we do receive enquiries, these are mainly for respite, requesting forms or queries regarding their award. Most emails come from applications for the Transition Fund and at present, stage one requires an email request to validate the application. Thereafter, applicants are using email to submit quotes, receipts, support letters and to complete the end of grant process. The main areas of enquiry are as follows:
Transition Fund – general enquiries and Identification document enquiries.
Transition Fund – requests to extend funding and application support.
2015 Fund – finance changes.
2015 Fund – Local Authority calls for information including payment schedule, threshold sums, etc.
2015 Fund – completion of agreement forms and the new process.
General (this includes confirmation of information not covered above, new fund enquiries and general information about the organisation and in recent weeks information regarding employer costs and funding during the Covid-19 situation).
Quality Journey – Work has continued on the creation of an integrated sustainability and improvements plan. The five inter-related components remain:
Continuous Improvement
Change Management
Quality Management
Sustainability
Efficiency Management
The mechanism required for highlighting and approving major improvement work within the organisation will be in place in Summer 2021.
Complaints – Across both funds, we received 14 complaints in 2020-21 compared with 21 the previous year. We capture each learning point from this valuable feedback about our service and act to address any issues raised through revised procedures, staff training, etc. in the spirit of continuous organisational improvement.
Intern – Our Communications Intern completed his internship at the end of Q2. He wrote a blog for our website highlighting how positive a learning experience it was for him. He managed to secure a temporary position with another organisation.
Social Work Student - We received numerous requests to accept a social work student last year. Placements are reduced and universities are struggling to find placements for final year and masters students. We accepted a student from Dundee University on a largely virtual placement January to May 2021 and this has again been a resounding success. The fresh perspective and recent theory and practice brought into the organisation is a strong aid to keeping our practice reflective and fit for purpose. We intend to take another student in Q1 2021-22 given the unprecedented demand and lack of opportunities.
Future Work – The focus for the next period will be to look to the future and what this means for our strategy, policy development, our new business plan and our growth agenda based on the findings of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, including work to reopen the fund to new applications in Northern Ireland and expansion of the Transition Fund. Work will continue in relation to wellbeing calls and the Covid-19 recovery plan, but we expect, even with the positive impact of the vaccination programme, our operations will remain the same in Q1 of the new year. After that we are planning for the resumption of physical reviews and a hybrid working solution where colleagues will continue to work flexibly, but with more time in the office. As we have not carried out any physical reviews for over 12 months, there will be a considerable backlog to work through coupled with navigating the long term impact of the pandemic on social care.
2015 Fund
2015 Fund Numbers – Over the year 2015 Fund recipient numbers have dropped to 2,572 (Scotland 2,160 & NI 412) from 2,690 (Scotland 2,254 & NI 436). This represents an overall decline in line with the trend of around 4.4% (4.2% Scotland & 5.5% NI).
2015 Fund Operational Performance – This year saw a reduction of 88% in review reports completed due to being unable to carry out physical visits. Instead, we have completed over 4,000 detailed individual calls that in effect were mini reviews; telephone contacts updated practical matters, such as ILF award changes and also provided a range of supports to recipients. As detailed above, the suspension of home visits, a core part of our role, led to an increase in communication with recipients and a lasting legacy will be increased choice and control for recipients.
Some lessons from Covid-19 have already been identified e.g. we will now continue to offer video call reviews where appropriate and we are designing our own bespoke guidance as there is very little guidance on social care assessments undertaken by video from any sources.
Policy Revision – The area of policy change is one of the risks and uncertainties that have to be effectively managed due to the number of parties that have to be involved. We have completed the following in this reporting period:
SG and COSLA issued guidance on sustainability payments to HSCPs on 14 December 2020. Updated guidance relevant to ILF Scotland recipients also produced. This will acknowledge different contractual arrangements.
We continue to pay additional amounts for replacement care and other Covid- 19 related expenditure where required.
We have drafted a process to allow ILF Scotland to administer the £500 Thank You payment to our recipients employing PAs. It is with SG for consideration.
We have agreed with SG colleagues to further reduce the cap on Available Income contributions from £83 to £43 from June 2021.
We have carried out further work to investigate the reopening of the 2015 Fund in collaboration with Civil Servants and other stakeholders in Northern Ireland. Civil Servants are currently working on a submission to the Minister.
We have completed a revised Policy 44 (Employment Support Guidance) and published.
We are drafting a revised Policy 41 (Use of Funding) to provide recipients with more flexibility and to bring our policy more in line with SDS principles of choice and control. We have submitted this to the Sponsor Team in Q4 for approval.
Scottish Living Wage – We carried out all the work to implement the Scottish Living Wage for all our recipients in Scotland with directly employed and appointed self-employed PAs, effective from 1 April 2021.
Social Work Update – In this reporting period ILF Scotland provided analysis of communication with all 2015 Fund recipients to key stakeholders, including Social Work Scotland and both sponsoring governments. As previously mentioned, 92% of ILF awards were paid in full or increased compared with Health and Social Care Partnerships where 62% of jointly funded supports were functioning as normal and 38% of jointly funded supports were not in place or significantly reduced through the closure of day and respite services. Carer stress resulting in the breakdown of support at home was evidenced during communication with recipients resulting in the provision of direct carer support for the first time in ILF history. We have made 30 emergency respite payments to avoid admission to care.
Despite being the busiest year to date in our history, we have contributed significantly to adult social care reforms in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Scotland we are embedded in the creation of new Self Directed Support Standards with Social Work Scotland, a new PA handbook in partnership with Self Directed Support Scotland and Social Care Charging with COSLA. In Northern Ireland we have helped advocate for consideration of delegated nursing tasks to PAs to enable greater choice and control. We retained the ability to visit people where there was a critical reason to do so and we have completed a small handful of in person reviews with more planned for Q1 2021-22. Increasing pressure to address a number of issues as we exit Covid-19 is clear, resulting in the necessity to conduct full reviews as soon as possible, because of significant changes made permanent during Covid- 19.
As mentioned previously in the report, feedback from recipients over the past 12 months in relation to our support is that we have got it right. People wanted support, reassurance and information. We signposted 40% of recipients to further supports, most commonly Carers Centres and the Wellbeing Hub. We referred 5% of recipients for Income Maximisation. We increased the frequency of Social Work Scotland and ILF Scotland network meetings from four to eight during the past year, and this was valuable in enabling speedy communication about our approaches to various Covid-19 SDS Policy changes. Colleagues in LAs in both Scotland and Northern Ireland report that during the pandemic they have largely only been able to prioritise emergency visits and statutory work, such as protection investigations. This has meant, therefore, that the SDS policy flexibility that SG has promoted via two sets of guidance and a letter from the Cabinet Secretary, has been challenging for statutory authorities to fully implement.
This has meant that, in the best interests of recipients, we have temporarily been able to replace some LA funded care and support on a temporary basis to ensure people could remain at home safely. The consequence of this will be a two year long review cycle of negotiations with LAs around reinstating their maximum input for recipients and ILF Scotland returning to being the minor funder. Our records show that we usually maintain an overall 2/3 LA / 1/3 ILF average support package split, and this is our target for 2021-22. The current position, due to the impact of the pandemic, particularly on building based care services, is estimated to be approximately 50/50. The ILF percentage in Northern Ireland will be higher, because more LA support was building based services which have remained closed. These figures are fluid, as building based services restart the LA contribution will increase. It will be the end of Q2 2021-22 before we can report with confidence on the health of our balance of funding.
Feedback – Standard satisfaction surveys (2015 and Transition Fund) are temporarily suspended so as not to increase pressure on vulnerable families. Recipient feedback will be considered as part of the recovery planning process and a sensitive method for re-issuing surveys will be put in place in due course. We launched a survey in December to get feedback from recipients on how they have been affected by Covid-19. We received over 300 responses with very positive overall feedback on our services at this time with particular emphasis placed on the ongoing flexible policy application to allow for replacement support and the assessor wellbeing calls. However, the responses also confirmed how badly affected a lot of our recipients have been by the pandemic.
Transition Fund
Operational Performance – The challenge of delivering the Transition Fund in the context of Covid-19 has been very real and was one of our key risks and uncertainties which emerged. We detail below how we addressed this.
The closure of other services which previously worked with young disabled people in transition and the inability to meet face-to-face with young people and their supporters to provide the level of support that we have been able to give previously, considerably changed the environment in which the fund operates.
Despite these challenges, over the full year the Transition Fund has seen a record increase in applications. In 2019-20 the fund received 1,312 applications and in 2020-21 this increased by 39% with 1,818 applications received in an environment where direct engagement with prospective applicants was severely curtailed. This was despite the reduction in the maximum grant amount on 1 December 2020 to
£1,500 from the original £7,500, due to very high demand, which resulted in a slow- down in applications received. Even with this reduction and slow down, we were only able to keep the fund open after additional funding was made available by SG. In total we processed over 3,000 applications including those submitted in year right through to the end of grant procedure and case closure.
There have been many challenges for the recipients of the fund in accessing the services and supports that they had chosen to assist them in meeting their identified outcomes. In many cases these have not been accessible at all during the Covid-19 period. Driving lessons, gymnasiums and other commonly requested supports have been largely unavailable throughout the whole reporting period and as a consequence, the fund has adapted to this situation by offering both additional time to complete outcomes by extending grant periods or by allowing some flexibility in how the funds are spent by allowing for alternative methods of meeting those outcomes, e.g. allowing the purchase of home exercise equipment when the gym that the young person had identified to assist them in meeting their goal was not available. We have worked closely with young people throughout this period to allow this type of flexibility where possible and keep the person progressing towards their chosen outcomes.
Fruitful discussions with our SG Sponsors have secured an increased budget for 2021-22 and this has allowed an increase to the maximum grant which will be set at £4,000 for the coming year. Within this, the fund retains the discretion to exceed the maximum in exceptional cases.
Social Work Update – The continued inability to carry out face-to-face visits has caused some difficulties during Covid-19 and continues to make supporting young people, families and non-family supporters to complete and submit applications challenging. Our high rate of applications received in the first half of the year dipped somewhat through Q4, most likely as a response to the reduction in the maximum grant from £7,500 to £1,500 at the end of Q3. On the plus side, this allowed staff to catch up with processing and to return to our 12 week service standard. It is recognised that the return to higher level of maximum grant for the new financial year will further stimulate application numbers. A new specialist caseworker was added to the team during Q3 and they are now fully operational, but in light of the above, a need for further staffing has been identified and a further specialist caseworker is currently being recruited. The non-availability of certain popular activities for periods, such as driving lessons and gym memberships, has meant that funds have been slower to be released than before, with caseworker staff working intensively with applicants to find the best way to meet their needs and also to manage their awards responsibly. Extensions to award periods and allowing the flexible use of funds within the originally stated outcomes has ensured that we have been able to continue to support disabled young people in their transition in spite of the prevailing conditions.
Feedback – The operational environment remains challenging for staff supporting young people to apply successfully to the fund in the current uncertain times. We continue to hear of other statutory and charitable services not meeting the needs of the young people that apply to the fund and the complete non-availability of services through the Covid-19 pandemic. There continues to be significant anxiety in both young people and their families, especially in terms of how this has potentially affected the long-term prospects of 2020’s school leavers, and indeed those due to leave in 2021, who have had little or no time in school for the past 12 months. The Transition Fund has been successful to date in addressing some of the inequalities and barriers that exist for young disabled people trying to make their way in the world by addressing a gap in traditional services, which left with reduced support as they take their first steps towards adulthood. This gap appears only to have widened due to Covid-19, which has resulted in many young people missing out on supports to plan their future. The feedback that we have received, particularly in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, has highlighted this and has demonstrated how much many young disabled people and their families have come to rely on the fund in this vital step in their life. Our recent recipient survey has illustrated the depth of the impact that the fund has made on young disabled people's lives and their ability to move forward in making their future plans a reality.
Our People
Our people are our key resource and are one of the many risks that have to be effectively managed. We believe that the following paragraphs will demonstrate this.
2020-21 has without doubt been the most challenging and busiest year since our inception due to Covid-19 and increasing work pressures. We have tried to be innovative in our support, introducing many new measures and initiatives to help our staff get through the year. Indeed, not only has this been recognised by our colleagues via various feedback routes, our comparatively low absence rates and staff retention, but also externally as a market leading employer of choice winning the Best Small Employer Award in the UK from Working Families in May, a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September, a finalist in three categories (the Best for Mental Health/for Employee Engagement/for Best for Family Support) in the 2021 Working Mums Awards and Highly Commended in the 2021 Top Employer Flexibility Works Awards.
As always, we have tried to remain an optimistic, open and supportive employer. The Health and Wellbeing programme has remained front and centre of our decision making as we made our way through the year. Focus on our own individual Health & Wellbeing and that of our colleagues as a connected team has been of paramount importance. We have and will continue to meet virtually at our All Staff Meetings.
Smaller groups also continue to meet regularly in our peer / team groups. ‘Keeping in Touch’ in this manner allows us to monitor changing behaviours and identify anyone who needs support. Our Trickle App has been used since its launch to gauge mood across the organisation and we have started to signpost to supportive wellbeing materials and websites through the App. The Trickle App is building momentum and is also used to carry out pulse surveys to motivate and praise staff.
There are continuing pressures on staff as a result of Covid-19, particularly due to a 3rd lockdown in the final quarter of 2020/21. Staff have found it challenging to remain upbeat. However, as we move into 2021/22 there is a distinctive change in mood and overall wellbeing with hope on the horizon. As a priority, we continue to promote our life friendly working and the health and wellbeing of all our people.
We have again joined forces with the skill and expertise from the ‘Strong Minded Resilience’ team, who have just completed their final Recharge Workshop, which was delivered three times during Q4. We intend to continue to work closely with Strongminded Resilience to refresh and reinforce previous resilience work. Staff feedback has been positive on those workshops. We have also appointed a Trauma Champion to take some of this work forward and they are currently being trained through the Scottish Government Wellbeing Network.
Our student Social Worker from Dundee University ended her placement at the end of April 2021. Although working entirely remotely, the placement has been successful. We look forward to welcoming more students later in the year. During Q4, 15 staff members attended an AGE Inclusive Scotland workshop: 'Planning for the Future'. Feedback from this has been very positive as some staff start planning their futures away from paid work in the next 10 years or so. We do however move into 2021-22 with renewed optimism looking forward to supporting our workforce, which in turn leads to positive outcomes for our recipients.
Organisational Demography – Organisational Demography – By the end of Q4 the organisational make up remains at 61: staff (54 including SMT) and Directors (7): 74%:26% female: male, with 16.39% of staff self-identified as disabled, 4.92% Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and 1.64% Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT).
Employment status – We remain focussed and promote making ILF Scotland as progressive and positive a place to work. We continue a supportive and work/life friendly approach using our full suite of policies, ILF Scotland offers different contractual opportunities to all individuals employed in some capacity within the organisation. Currently all staff have employed status, which is providing stability and continuity for both the organisation and individuals at this time of uncertainty. During 2020-21 all staff have worked 100% flexibly and we will continue to ensure staff can have a work/life harmony which suits their individual circumstances. We recruited our first intern in February 2020, immediately before the start of the Covid-19 lockdown which was successful and productive in the project work completed. Detailed planning work is underway looking at our Workforce Plan considering new duties ILF Scotland may be formally requested to discharge in due course.
Recruitment – Due to increasing workloads across the organisation and in part due to the Covid-19, unintended consequences of changing policies and wellbeing calls, we have continued to build and strengthen our workforce. We advertised internally for an SDS Manager and this was successfully appointed from March 2021. We are currently recruiting to replace Assessors and an additional Specialist Caseworker.
Those posts should be in place during Q1 2021-22.
Retention – Staff retention remains high with only one (2019/20 three) member of staff leaving in the financial year.
Supporting Activity – To enable the organisation to successfully deliver the strategy and be an employer of choice, and as a small sample, the following activity has taken place:
Monthly 'All Staff' Zoom meetings, including attendance by our chair Susan Douglas-Scott CBE at a few meetings.
Regular Staff Development Days, largely focussing on Staff Wellbeing and our Recovery Plan through the pandemic.
Weekly 'news' bulletins to Staff, Board Directors and Sponsor Team.
Health and Wellbeing webinars attended.
‘Supporting Each other in a Crisis’ webinar attended by 25 staff and Board Directors.
Resilience Leadership workshop for managers.
'Recharge workshops' delivered.
Bereavement Policy review completed (Jack’s Law) – distributed on 06 April 2020.
Information Technology Infrastructure Library Level 4 IT Operations course successfully completed.
Mentorship/Student/Buddying Programme work started.
5 x staff members attended the virtual 'Women into Leadership' conference.
All Managers attended a facilitated 'virtual' Away Day in November 2020.
Health and Safety
There are no RIDDOR reportable incidents. The Health and Safety team continue to offer guidance and support with regard to Covid-19, following SG Guidance and NHS Inform. The team have started developing our recovery plan to ensure we keep the workforce and recipients as safe as possible coming out of this pandemic. Display Screen Equipment (DSE) self-assessments continue with staff being encouraged to re-evaluate their home work areas to ensure they are comfortable and safe.
Activities include:
Continue to follow related Scottish and UK Government//NHS Inform/HSE advice– regularly communicating with staff on guidance and changes in a timely manner.
‘Work from Home’ remains the default position. All staff are set up to work from home and line management are keeping in regular contact. A recovery plan is currently being created as future guidance is received from the UK and Scottish Governments.
Weekly communications to Board, Staff and Sponsor team continue to be recorded to support post Covid-19 reflection.
Track and Trace Diary continues to be active and working well – this monitors staff attendance in Denholm House: numbers in and out of Denholm House. This tool is also used to trace should there be a Covid-19 staff outbreak in the office team.
DSE self-assessments are continuing to be encouraged in the long term as previous self-assessments may have been completed with short term ‘work from home’ timescales in mind.
Annual leave – currently all staff are using appropriately to support wellbeing.
Weekly informal 1-2-1’s continue.
Bi-weekly team meetings continue.
All Staff have access (and have been utilising) to the National Wellbeing Hub and Helpline. This continues to be promoted by the Wellbeing Ambassador and by HR during the Staff Development Days.
Trickle – Staff Engagement tool continues to be promoted to encourage and monitor pulse survey data collation, feedback to staff and positive encouragement.
‘Ditch the Desk’ introduced during January 2021. Staff are encouraged and empowered to get away from their desks for a ½ hour every day to complete a work related task e.g. walking meetings/ strategic thinking away from screens etc.
Health and Safety Policies and Guidance regularly reviewed and updated.
Information Governance and IT
Overview - This has been a period of enormous change and activity to support the organisation’s ability to function seamlessly throughout what has been the busiest year ILF Scotland has ever experienced. At the start of the year we overcame the challenges to ensure effective communications across the organisation and supporting data protection and security management as all staff became home workers. All staff transitioned successfully to agile home working and this in part reflects the flexible culture of the organisation and the wider digital strategy. In effect, ILF Scotland was able to seamlessly continue its normal operations, albeit with some bandwidth and connection issues with the significant pressures on the SG network.
During the mid-part of the financial year things stabilised during this period and all staff had normalised to our remote operations, including use of Skype, Teams and Zoom meetings. All managers now have the ability to organise and run Zoom meetings and all staff can join in on smartphones and tablets. Staff have also responded well to health and safety home working practices and we have now ensured all staff are set up for what has been an extended period of working from home. SG have now launched phase one of their Microsoft Teams rollout.
This year we experienced our first “drive-by” attempt at a cyber-attack which is where randomised websites are selected to see if it is possible to breach their security and perimeter controls by mass action of simple attack types. We are pleased to report that the systems and firewalls worked well, and also that it does not appear the ILF Scotland was specifically targeted. Whilst the Cyber Essentials Plus standard confirmed our protection levels against these simple forms of attack, we sought higher levels of assurance and requested internal audit to assess us against a much higher standard called National Cyber Security Centre 10 Steps. The audit result saw us achieve a satisfactory but with a narrative that suggested a good overall rating here. This has helped identify areas for improvements and these have now been built into the work programme for the resilience project for 2021-22.
Alongside cyber security, on a very positive note, we can also report that following a virtual data protection audit, we have received an overall “Good” rating for our information and data security practices.
The latter part of the year has been more settled and stable overall as some of the network and technology challenges of the last year have been largely overcome by the smooth adoption of Microsoft Teams as a collaboration and video conferencing tool. This period of relative stability has enabled us to focus on high quality data analysis and reporting so as to inform some of the key policy developments which we have now seen. Thus we have been able to plan for the introduction of the Scottish Living Wage, Care Grants, Available Income Reduction, Covid-19 related payments, vaccine notification letters and changes to the Transition Fund to allow for an increase in the maximum grant.
Alongside this data mining and analysis activity, we have also made some significant changes to how our systems operate and what services are needed. We have introduced a bulk emailing service for our recipients which can be broken down by group, country, or even postcode and send messages directly to individuals but via one portal. This is a step change in data security and time efficiency saving for the communications and data protection teams.
We have also set up the capability to send bulk text messages to recipient mobile phones and again this will see an improvement to the speed and number of channels by which we can get information quickly to recipients about changes to policies and awards. Still on the communications front, we have introduced "Softphone" technologies to caseworker laptops so that there is no need for staff to be in the physical office to answer the main 0300 number - this can now be done wherever they have their laptop and access to the internet and has the potential for energy and office materials savings as well as being able to provide higher availability contact centre services during the working week.
Our three main projects continued well this period, and also over the full year despite the time pressure challenges on all staff from the Covid-19 response. The new file plan for our records management is sitting with SG and once the changes are made we can begin the process of records migration into our new ERDM system, which is planned for Q1 of 2021-22. The digital transformation project completed the discovery phase and moved to development of the new service delivery model. This has been reviewed by a team of industry experts, including technical architects from SG, and during Q1 of 2021-22 we will see this progress to a fully costed business case for capital investment.
Last and definitely not least, we moved into Phase 2 of the Resilience Project and this has focused on identifying the critical business activities and core processes likely to have the biggest negative impact on our ability to deliver the operation if a risk event were to materialise. This has also resulted in a rationalisation of our risk register and the development of a risk appetite and tolerance framework which can be used for risk planning as we progress through 2021-22. Despite Covid-19, this has been an exceptional year and, as a crisis-led business disruptor, we have responded quickly to the needs of our staff and our recipients and shown the benefits of our agile digital strategy and the effectiveness of our information security training and awareness programmes.
Records Management - The Senior Information Risk Officer and the Privacy and Improvement Manager successfully completed formal Records Management Training in February/March of 2021. The update of our progress with regard to our overall Records Management programme was submitted to the National Records of Scotland in January 2021. This has been successful in that the Keeper has accepted the delays incurred by the project and, as anticipated, they have issued no change to the overall scoring of our records management arrangements.
Data Protection – This is one of our key risk areas. Incidents have remained low considering the volumes of work being experienced by frontline teams. This year we logged 20 minor incidents (2019/20 – 14). All incidents have been assessed as a low risk to the data subjects and all have been containable and unreportable to the Information Commissioner's Officer. Our Data Protection Officer continues to tailor staff updates and internal newsletter articles to the type of incidents being reported and suggesting process changes for staff to adopt.
Infrastructure and security - The infrastructure continues to manage demand well and all staff remain working remotely. At the end of March 2021 we have seen the removal of Skype for Business, which has not caused any issues as all users have been successfully using MS Teams as their main communication tool over the last few months. Towards the end of the financial year we have seen an increase in the number of phishing emails over the last period. Staff are comfortable reporting these and sharing with colleagues for information. We did experience a targeted spear phishing campaign to several of our assessor colleagues this period which saw a request to process an end of year invoice from a housing association that we have regular dealings with. The association had been hacked and their email system compromised which is why our staff details were found and targeted. The staff members identified this very quickly and we were then able to alert all staff to this potential threat and it is good to report that staff were fully attuned to this classic form of end of year cyber-attack.
Digital transformation - Work has been completed this period and in total a cross organisational team of 14 people attended various workshops looking at who we provided services for, what we did for them and what tools, technologies and processes were used to deliver the required service. From this, a new technology enabled service delivery model has been developed and was being reviewed by industry experts, including security specialists, customer service (sales platforms) specialists and technical architects from Microsoft. 5 out of 6 stages have now been completed and once we review the proposed delivery model, the aim will be to complete Stage 6 which is the costing model. From here we will be able to produce the business case to submit to SG Health Finance via our sponsor team to request the capital funding to adopt the new model.
Forum - The ILF Scotland Forum has been regularly updated and used as a valuable source of information and signposting to all users during the Covid-19 crisis as well as creating a diary of a disabled person living life through these challenging times. It is an exciting and informative service with currently 150 (2019/20 - 90) or so registered users. As the new communications strategy develops we will review how best the Forum sits alongside the now many communication channels we have and develop the messages and information resources we wish to use it for.
National Programmes - The two programmes are proceeding at very different paces with the Payments Platform looking to go live in November 2021 with ILF Scotland as its first on-boarded organisation using its services. We are heavily involved in developing not only the customer service model that will be used, but also with the technical integration of a piece of software that will enable payment instruction from our core client database to be coded, encrypted and sent to the platform for payment. This is very exciting and puts ILF Scotland at the very heart of the single most important digital project Scotland has undertaken in recent years.
With regard to the Digital Identity Project, this has used the lived experiences of some of our Transition Fund applicants to inform the design model for how a national identity verification system might operate in practice.
Efficiencies - We constantly carry out improvement and efficiency work and this has enabled the organisation to deliver more for the same funding. Over the year we have carried out improvements that have saved 7,600 (2019/20 – 4,446) hours of staff time. This works out at approximately 4 (2019/20 – 2.5) Full Time Equivalent staff which is around 7.4% (2019/20 – 4.7%) of our workforce. This equates to an approximate overall saving of 5.7% of our cost base (2019/20 – 3.3%) which compares favourably with the SG target of 3%.
A summary of highlighted changes are found below:
Development of the Assessor portal.
Automatic activation of Transition Fund accounts.
Development of short “technology grants” capability for Transition Fund applicants.
Introduction of cloud based authentication tool for our payments team (security and improved reliability enhancements).
Sending recipient emails from the payments database (quality and security enhancement).
Introduction of virtual meeting technologies.
Introduction of Microsoft Teams as a collaboration platform.
A cross checking function that flags any Transition Fund applications with matching information (potential duplicate/counter fraud detection function).
Governance and social responsibility
The company is committed to good employee relations and HR policies have been developed from best practice to ensure full compliance with employment and equalities legislation.
ILF Scotland seeks to actively manage sickness absences and has return to work meetings with staff to improve support on resumption of duties and discuss absence patterns and causes.
The company procurement policy ensures fair competition and value for money, with specific arrangements to encourage tenders from employers of disabled people in procurement exercises. ILF Scotland is committed to prompt payment of bills for goods and services received. Payments are normally made within the period specified in the contract. Where there is no contractual or other understanding, we endeavour to pay within 10 days of the receipt of the goods or services, or the presentation of a valid invoice or similar demand, whichever is later.
In 2021-21 ILF Scotland paid 97% of invoices within 10 days (2019-20 95%) of receipt. The number of creditor days outstanding at the end of 2020-21 was 18 days (2019-20 13 days).
Financial review
Awards Paid – The payments made to recipients for the year 2020-21 was £52.7m (2019-20 £50.7m), of which £3.2m (2019-20 £1.7m), was for the Transition Fund.
Reserves – We have healthy reserves at just over £2.6m at 31 March 2021 (£1.6m at 31 March 2020).
External Audit – Our new auditors performed their first audit last year. They have also audited this year’s Annual Report and have been appointed for a further year.
Internal Auditors – We appointed new internal auditors last year and the new arrangements are working very well.
Process Review - Work continues by our Finance department conducting a thorough review of all its key processes. As a result of this review, we will be able to ensure any best practice and any procedural efficiencies are implemented.
We report an increase in taxpayers’ equity for the year amounting to £994,978 which has been transferred to general reserve as set out on page 85.
ILF Scotland is financed out of Grant in Aid from SG for the purpose of making regular grants to individuals. Grant in Aid of £57.2 million (2019-20 £53.4 million) was utilised in Scotland and Northern Ireland to meet the needs of users and related administration costs.
Assets are held only for the purpose of managing the company.
The company requests and receives Grant in Aid on a monthly basis to meet its immediate cash needs. Procurement policies are designed to secure goods and services for immediate consumption during the year with best value for money at current cost, and without setting up complex financial instruments. Company exposure to financial instrument risk is therefore low compared with non-public sector organisations. The policies on financial instruments are provided in the Notes to the Accounts, and appropriate disclosures are included.
Company law requires the directors to prepare accounts for each financial year. The directors have elected under the Companies Act to prepare the accounts in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2020- 21 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
The accounts are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. Grants to individuals are paid in arrears and the Statement of Financial Position at 31 March 2021 shows a surplus net assets position of £2,627,018 as set out on page 83.
SG has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2021-22.
There were no events after the end of the financial year that have any material effect on these Reports and Accounts.
Environmental Matters and Climate Change
ILF Scotland takes environmental matters seriously and adopts environmentally focussed practices where possible.
As tenants within a shared office space with Education Scotland and Building Standards Scotland, The Scottish Government carry responsibility for the building, therefore ILF Scotland are only able to address internal factors such as resource usage, travel and awareness.
The main area of emissions for ILF Scotland is travel. As our assessors conduct the vast majority of our travel, visiting recipients in their own homes to conduct assessments, finding opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint is limited, as we have an obligation to visit recipient at least once every two years. Also, as some of our recipients are based within the Highlands & Islands of Scotland, this reduces our access to public transport when visiting these remote communities. However, when visiting recipients in these rural communities, we ensure we cluster visits together, therefore reducing the need for multiple travel.
We continue to extend our online capabilities which will lead to greater savings. Looking at the Transition Fund, we are seeing a significant increase in applications received online, therefore reducing the need to print off and send out paper applications.
We are also increasing communication via email, thus helping to further reduce paper usage.
Furthermore, we have appointed a green Information and Communication Technologies officer and have adopted a virtualised server environment and moved away from desktop PC’s to lower power consuming laptops.
Finally, with the new strategic and business plan in place, we will use 2021-22 to identify and develop our post-Covid-19 build better plan. This will build on our change and improvements management work to date and look to building a more sustainable ILF Scotland which is leaner and greener and working towards the net carbon neutral by 2045.
Human Rights
ILF Scotland is committed to equality of opportunity and has policies and procedures in place to ensure this is achieved. It also fully recognises its legal responsibilities, particularly in respect of race relations, age, sex and disability discrimination and complies with all Scottish Government policies in relation to Human Rights and Equality.
ILF Scotland is subject to the Equality Act 2010 (General Duties) (Scotland) Regulations and must also publish statements on equal pay and information about Board members.
Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery matters
ILF Scotland is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity and is committed to the prevention of bribery and corruption as we recognise the importance of maintaining our reputation and the confidence of our stakeholders.
We can report that no instances of corruption or bribery were recorded in 2020-21 (2019-20 nil).
Summary – This has been another strong year, delivering even further progress against our strategic plan with the strong growth in the Transition Fund and improvements to the 2015 Fund.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer on 29 June 2021.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
Accountability Report
Consisting of: Corporate Governance Report; Remuneration and Staff Report; and Parliamentary Accountability Report
Corporate Governance Report
The Corporate Governance Report consists of three sections:
Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities;
Annual Governance Statement; and
Directors’ Report
1. Statement of Directors’ & Accountable Officer’s Responsibilities
The directors and the Accountable Officer are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report (referred to as the “Performance Report” above), the Directors Report and the accounts in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the directors to prepare accounts for each financial year. The directors have elected under the Companies Act to prepare the accounts in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2020- 21 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Under company law directors must not approve the accounts until they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period. In preparing these accounts the directors are required to:
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU; and
Prepare the accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the company and detect fraud and other irregularities.
The directors have decided to prepare a Directors’ Remuneration Report in order to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2020- 21 in accordance with Schedule 8 to the Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 made under the Companies Act 2006, to the extent that they are relevant.
The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company’s website.
Disclosure of Information to the Auditors
As Accountable Officer, as far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which ILF Scotland’s auditor is unaware. I have taken all reasonable steps to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that ILF
Scotland’s auditor is aware of the information.
Statement by Accountable Officer
As Accountable Officer I am responsible for the regularity and propriety of the public finances for which I am answerable, for keeping proper records and for safeguarding ILF Scotland’s assets, as set out in the Memorandum to Accountable Officers for Parts of the Scottish Administration issued by Scottish Ministers.
Accountable Officer Confirmation on the Annual Report and Accounts
As Accountable Officer I confirm that the annual report and accounts as a whole are fair, balanced and understandable and I take personal responsibility for the annual report and accounts and the judgements required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer on 29 June 2021.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
2. Annual Governance Statement
Scope of responsibility
The Board of Directors have responsibility for maintaining sound corporate governance systems that support the achievement of our policies, aims and objectives and safeguard the public funds and assets for which we are personally responsible. Our responsibilities for managing public money and the duties assigned to us have been exercised with due diligence and the appropriate professional care.
The role of ILF Scotland is to deliver discretionary cash payments directly to disabled people, allowing them the choice and control to purchase personal support and live independent lives in their communities.
Director Attendance
* Attending as an observer. ** Transferred from Audit & Risk Committee to Remuneration Committee in January 2020.
Sound Corporate Governance
Our corporate governance systems continue to be drawn up from best practice recommendations and are being strengthened through internal scrutiny, legislative and process compliance and through collaborative working with both internal and external auditors.
These systems address individual and corporate accountabilities, the roles and effectiveness of our boards and our capacity to identify and effectively manage and report risk.
The company strategic aims and objectives have been developed by the directors along with our sponsor team at SG. Our Chief Executive attends quarterly meetings chaired by SG officials. These meetings discuss significant business and programme risks and review ongoing progress against plan.
The programme meetings chaired by SG officials are supported by regular operational meetings with the sponsor team, members of specialist teams and other SG colleagues to ensure clarity of purpose, sound communication and effective reporting.
The Board met four times in formal session this period. There were also various board development days and committee meetings. All meetings have a pre-agreed agenda, are minuted and produced clear actions and matters arising. Meetings are attended by directors and appropriate members of the SMT.
The directors have a responsibility for maintaining sound systems of control to address key financial and other risks, ensuring that the requirements of the ILF Scotland founding documents are met, that high standards of corporate governance are demonstrated, and for reviewing the effectiveness of the systems of internal control.
Capacity to handle risk
The Chief Executive acts as the Risk Champion for the company, whilst lead responsibility for ensuring that appropriate mechanisms are in place for identifying, monitoring and controlling risk, and advising SMT on the actions needed in order to comply with our corporate governance requirements rests with the Chief Operating Officer, who is supported by the Director of Digital and Information in the capacity of the ILF Scotland SIRO.
Our systems and processes are designed to manage risk to a reasonable and appropriate level rather than to eliminate all risk; therefore it can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness.
Whilst every member of staff has a responsibility to ensure that exposure to risk is minimised, overall leadership of the risk management processes rests with members of the SMT. The SMT meets fortnightly, and were meeting weekly in the early months of the Covid-19 crisis.
Reviewing our strategic risks is a standing item at Board meetings, supported by the work of the Audit & Risk Committee, which provides a high-level resource to test the adequacy of assurance on our risk management framework and internal control environment. The Audit & Risk Committee is attended by representatives of internal audit and, when appropriate, external audit.
Managing risks
The Risk Management Framework sets out the organisation’s attitude to risk and provides a consistent basis to capture, monitor and report risks and to progress strategies to mitigate these. In assigning lead risk owners at SMT level and in the management control processes, we identify clear lines of responsibility throughout the organisation.
Our overall risk appetite is risk averse. This does not mean that we avoid opportunities to improve. However, it does mean that we are rightly cautious when challenges may hinder or put at risk our core business and service provision to our users. Our risk management processes enable us to identify operational, business and financial risks, customer focus and delivery risks as well as identifying and assessing potential reputational risks and other contingent issues.
Principal risks
All bodies subject to the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) must operate a risk management strategy in accordance with relevant guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
ILF Scotland maintains both strategic and operational risk registers which record internal and external risks and identify the mitigating actions required to reduce the threat of these risks occurring and their impact. The Risk Management Strategy and Operational Risk Register are regularly updated and reviewed as a standing item by senior staff and the Audit and Risk Committee. Each individual risk is allocated an owner who ensures that mitigating action is carried out.
This year our principal risks were mainly in connection with the risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the continued growth of the Transition Fund, the management of resources, managing the movement of personal and sensitive information and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes.
The risk and control processes applied within ILF Scotland accord with guidance given in the SPFM and have been in place for the year ended 31 March 2021 and up to the date of the approval of the annual report and accounts.
A key part of our risk management process is the involvement of all staff in the discussion and identification of risks and their management. Together, we develop mitigating action, supported by management information and identify a specific manager to oversee progress.
The managers’ role is to monitor, report on and manage these issues and risks.
Information Assurance
Within our programme we have a significant challenge and risk involved in transferring sensitive user and confidential corporate data to our partners and client departments. This has required close liaison with relevant partners to ensure that we meet our legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Data and information security has been managed as a high priority item.
In terms of data and information security breaches there have been no reportable incidents.
Principal risks
All bodies subject to the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) must operate a risk management strategy in accordance with relevant guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
ILF Scotland maintains both strategic and operational risk registers which record internal and external risks and identify the mitigating actions required to reduce the threat of these risks occurring and their impact. The Risk Management Strategy and Operational Risk Register are regularly updated and reviewed as a standing item by senior staff and the Audit and Risk Committee. Each individual risk is allocated an owner who ensures that mitigating action is carried out.
This year our principal risks were mainly in connection with the risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the continued growth of the Transition Fund, the management of resources, managing the movement of personal and sensitive information and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes.
The risk and control processes applied within ILF Scotland accord with guidance given in the SPFM and have been in place for the year ended 31 March 2021 and up to the date of the approval of the annual report and accounts.
A key part of our risk management process is the involvement of all staff in the discussion and identification of risks and their management. Together, we develop mitigating action, supported by management information and identify a specific manager to oversee progress.
The managers’ role is to monitor, report on and manage these issues and risks.
Information Assurance
Within our programme we have a significant challenge and risk involved in transferring sensitive user and confidential corporate data to our partners and client departments. This has required close liaison with relevant partners to ensure that we meet our legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Data and information security has been managed as a high priority item.
In terms of data and information security breaches there have been no reportable incidents.
Principal risks
All bodies subject to the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) must operate a risk management strategy in accordance with relevant guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
ILF Scotland maintains both strategic and operational risk registers which record internal and external risks and identify the mitigating actions required to reduce the threat of these risks occurring and their impact. The Risk Management Strategy and Operational Risk Register are regularly updated and reviewed as a standing item by senior staff and the Audit and Risk Committee. Each individual risk is allocated an owner who ensures that mitigating action is carried out.
This year our principal risks were mainly in connection with the risks associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, the continued growth of the Transition Fund, the management of resources, managing the movement of personal and sensitive information and our core long standing risks in relation to funding and policy changes.
The risk and control processes applied within ILF Scotland accord with guidance given in the SPFM and have been in place for the year ended 31 March 2021 and up to the date of the approval of the annual report and accounts.
A key part of our risk management process is the involvement of all staff in the discussion and identification of risks and their management. Together, we develop mitigating action, supported by management information and identify a specific manager to oversee progress.
The managers’ role is to monitor, report on and manage these issues and risks.
Information Assurance
Within our programme we have a significant challenge and risk involved in transferring sensitive user and confidential corporate data to our partners and client departments. This has required close liaison with relevant partners to ensure that we meet our legal responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Data and information security has been managed as a high priority item.
In terms of data and information security breaches there have been no reportable incidents.
Significant internal control issues
Internal controls and procedures have been further strengthened with a formal partnership with NHS Counter Fraud Services and the implementation of a continuous improvement plan following in depth internal review.
During the course of the year we have become aware of and have investigated two (2019-20 three) instances of alleged fraud in relation to fund recipients. It has not been possible to quantify amounts involved since the allegations require full investigation before they can be proven and potential amounts quantified. As these payments were recorded as costs when originally advanced they do not represent a further cost if deemed to be irrecoverable.
All cases have been reported to NHS Counter Fraud Services.
Over the course of the year there have been no significant control weaknesses reported, nor has any report been made externally, independently nor via the company Whistle-blower policy.
Our audit and internal management reporting remains vigilant to ensure early identification of issues within normal day-to-day business and no significant issues have emerged.
We have managed our risks and highlighted issues with foresight and taken decisions as required; we have forecast and reported our financial position in a timely accurate manner and maintained our budget within expected parameters.
We continue to develop and improve our internal control and governance systems and in conclusion we believe that they were fit for purpose during the reporting period.
Information and Data Security
ILF Scotland has in place a range of systems and measures which ensure that information held by the organisation, and held by third parties on behalf of the organisation, is secure. ILF Scotland monitors compliance concerning the release of data from the organisation. In addition, ILF Scotland has implemented Scottish Government guidance on data security and information risk through the creation of an information asset register, which includes assessment of risk and awareness training for staff.
During 2020-21, we have been closely monitoring the requirements of the General Data Regulations (GDPR) and engaged with all staff regularly. Direct GDPR training has been rolled out to all staff, this is mandatory training and an annual refresher is provided with data protection updates. Physical data security is monitored by office checks, on a quarterly basis.
ILF Scotland continues to focus upon Cyber Security and Resilience which culminated in the award of Cyber Essentials PLUS accreditation during the reporting year.
There are no significant lapses in data security to report in 2020-21 (2019-20: none).
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the Directors and also signed by the Accountable Officer on 29 June 2021.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
3. Directors’ Report
Company Number SC500075
The directors submit their annual report for the year ended 31 March 2021.
The directors have elected under the Companies Act to prepare the accounts in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2020- 21 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
Principal activities
The principal activities are described on page 13. The organisation became an NDPB in June 2018, having previously been an Other Significant Public Body.
Directors
Susan Douglas-Scott Chair of the board
Alan Dickson Non-executive director
Mark Adderley Non-executive director
Elizabeth Humphreys Non-executive director
Elizabeth McAtear Non-executive director
Anne-Marie Monaghan Non-executive director
Etienne d’Aboville Non-executive director
For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 51 to 58.
All non-executive directors are considered to be independent.
Beneficial Interests
None of the directors had any beneficial interest in the ownership of the company throughout the period. The company is guaranteed by the Scottish Ministers.
Non-current assets
The only movement during the year was depreciation/amortisation of existing assets held at the beginning of the year.
Employees
It is ILF Scotland’s aim to keep employees informed about its affairs and in particular those matters that affect them directly. The company regularly issues all-staff emails and is in the process of developing a staff Intranet site.
ILF Scotland is an Equal Opportunities Employer and actively encourages applications from disabled people.
Pension Scheme
The company previously contributed to a defined contribution stakeholder pension scheme as part of the remuneration package to staff.
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most members of staff have chosen to join the defined benefit offering known as alpha.
Corporate governance
The Board is charged with maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of the ILF Scotland policies, aims and objectives and regularly reviewing the effectiveness of that system. The Board is also responsible for the Annual Governance Statement.
The Board’s Annual Governance Statement is provided on pages 51 to 58.
The Board & Senior Management Team
The Board is responsible for ensuring that effective corporate governance arrangements are in place that set out how ILF Scotland is directed and controlled and how the assurance on risk management and internal control is provided.
The Board is required to demonstrate high standards of corporate governance at all times and to ensure that best practice is followed consistent with the UK Corporate Governance Code and appropriate adaptations of Corporate Governance in the Central Government Departments Code of Good Practice. The responsibilities of the Board are set out in the Governance Statement.
The composition of the Board of Directors and the Senior Management Team can be found on pages 8 – 12.
Non-Executive Directors
The non-executive directors are appointed by The Scottish Ministers for a fixed term appointment of two years which can be extended at the discretion of The Scottish Ministers.
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of Committee meetings will be provided to directors for information. Remuneration Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive and the Chief Operating Officer.
For further information, please see the Annual Governance Statement on pages 51 to 58 and the Remuneration and Staff Report on pages 63 to 74.
Audit & Risk Committee
Members of the committee are appointed by the Board. The Board determines the membership and terms of reference. The chair of the committee will report back to the Board after each meeting as required and the minutes of committee meetings will be provided to directors for information. Audit Committee meetings will normally be attended by the Chief Executive, the Finance Director and the Chief Operating Officer.
Both external and internal audit have the right to independent access to the chair and members of the committee.
Further details regarding the Audit & Risk Committee can be found in the Annual Governance Statement on pages 51 to 58.
Statement of disclosure of information to external auditor
The directors who held office at the date of approval of the Directors’ Report confirm that, so far as they are each aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the external auditor is unaware; and each director has taken all steps that they ought to have taken as a director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the external auditor is aware of that information.
External Auditor
Details of all fees earned by the external auditor are provided in note 5 of the annual accounts.
Under the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008, the auditor of the company has been appointed by the Auditor General for Scotland for 2021/22.
Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.
James A Maguire Company Secretary 29 June 2021
Remuneration and Staff Report
Directors and SMT
Directors are appointed by Scottish Ministers for a period of two years which can be extended at the discretion of Scottish Ministers.
The directors are appointed from a variety of backgrounds on the basis of relevant experience gained and relevant skills required.
The Chief Executive together with the SMT are responsible for day to day operations and activities.
Personal performance objectives for the SMT are currently being developed.
The Remuneration Policy
This report for the year ended 31 March 2021 deals with the remuneration of the Chief Executive, SMT and directors of ILF Scotland.
ILF Scotland is managed by a Board of Directors appointed by Scottish Ministers. The directors receive remuneration as post-holders and are reimbursed for incidental expenses in line with the company travel and subsistence policy. There are no unpaid persons or volunteers upon whose services the company is dependent.
The Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee is appointed by the Board of Directors and is established to independently review the salary of the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive informs the committee of any annual pay discussions to agree the salary levels for employees and SMT. The company complies with Scottish Government pay remit guidelines.
Members of the committee for the period of this report were:
Mark Adderley, chair of the Remuneration Committee
Susan Douglas-Scott, member of the Remuneration Committee
Elizabeth McAtear, member of the Remuneration Committee
The terms of reference of the Remuneration Committee in relation to salary, rewards and conditions of service are:
To ensure that the SMT and staff are fairly and responsibly rewarded for their joint and individual contributions to ILF Scotland management and overall performance.
To agree the Chief Executive’s remuneration in line with Public Sector Pay Policy, in discussion with The Scottish Ministers and ensure that it is managed under the terms and conditions agreed with the company.
To review and where appropriate, approve the Chief Executive’s proposals for the remuneration of the SMT.
To review and where appropriate approve the SMT’s remuneration proposals for all staff below SMT level. This will include approval of the annual pay remit and setting pay bands where appropriate.
Remuneration (including salary) and pension entitlements
The following sections provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of the directors and the most senior company management. The figures below form part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Directors
For the year ended 31 March 2021 the total remuneration paid to directors were:
Name
2020-21
2019-20
£'000
£'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair)
5-10
5-10
Alan Dickson
0-5
0-5
Fiona O’Donnell
N/A
0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair)
5-10
5-10
Elizabeth McAtear
0-5
0-5
Mark Adderley
0-5
0-5
Anne-Marie Monaghan
0-5
0-5*
Etienne d'Aboville
0-5
0-5*
Full year equivalent 0-5 Directors’ salary is non-pensionable.
The Chief Executive and SMT
The Chief Executive and the SMT are employed on ILF Scotland terms and conditions.
The directors have a policy regarding the senior management remuneration as follows:
To create a fair and transparent pay structure offering salaries in line with the roles and demands on the personnel in those posts.
To offer competitive salaries to enable the company to attract personnel of the required calibre to fill its senior management posts.
To align decisions in accordance with the key features and parameters of the Scottish Government’s pay policy so as to:
To align reward with the business objectives to encourage high performance and improve the focus on the delivery of service;
To ensure reward arrangements are affordable; and
To create a level of salary progression which is subject to performance expectations (performance below the expectation would mean no progression and management action would be necessary for less than adequate performance).
The company is developing plans to have in place for the Chief Executive and the SMT, agreed objectives which are set by the chair of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive respectively.
The Chief Executive’s and SMT performance will be reviewed annually with the overall assessment informed by quarterly one-to-one meetings.
In the event of early severance, compensation would be payable in accordance with company terms and conditions.
Remuneration of Chief Executive and SMT
This table represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
Salaries include gross salary, overtime and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on payments made within the year by ILF Scotland.
Pension Benefits – Audited
Both the company and employees contributed to a defined contribution stakeholder pension arrangement until 31 August 2019. The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most members of staff have chosen to join the defined benefit offering (alpha).
* These employees had transfers in from other personal pension schemes during the year and the above figures are reflective of this.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme are still assessing the impact of the McCloud judgement in relation to changes to benefits in 2015. The benefits and related CETVs disclosed do not allow for any potential future adjustments that may arise from this judgement. Last year, the Government announced that public sector pension schemes would be required to provide indexation on the Guaranteed Minimum Pension element of the pension. The Civil Service Pension Scheme therefore updated the methodology used to calculate CETV values as at 31 March 2020. The impact of the change in methodology was included within the reported real increase in CETV in the previous year’s figures.
Pension Schemes
Up until 31 August 2019, pension benefits were provided through a defined contribution stakeholder scheme.
The employer made a basic contribution of between 6% and 12% depending on the employee contribution. Employee contributions were salary-related and ranged between 2% and 5% of pensionable earnings.
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019. Most staff members have chosen to join the scheme known as alpha which provides benefits on a career average basis with a normal pension age equal to the member’s State Pension Age. This statutory pension arrangement is unfunded with the cost of benefits met by monies voted by Parliament each year.
Employee contributions are salary related and range between 4.6% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. At the end of the scheme year the member’s earned pension account is credited with 2.32% of their pensionable earnings in that scheme year.
Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.3% of pensionable earnings.
The accrued pension quoted is the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over pension age. Pension age is the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha.
A few staff members have chosen to participate in the partnership pensions account which is a stakeholder pension arrangement. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member) into a stakeholder pension product chosen by the employee from a panel of providers. The employee does not have to contribute, but where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer basic contribution).
Employers also contribute a further 0.5% of pensionable salary in both schemes above to cover the cost of centrally-provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).
A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent partner’s benefits payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves the scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the scheme, not just as their service in a senior capacity to which the disclosure applies.
The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the civil service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost.
CETVs are worked out in accordance with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.
Real Increase in CETV
This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.
Compensation for loss of office - Audited
There were no ILF Scotland directors or staff that left on Voluntary Exit, Voluntary Redundancy or Compulsory Redundancy terms.
Pay multiples - Audited
The banded remuneration of the highest paid employee in the company in the financial period 2020-21 was £80-85k (2019-20 £75-80k). This was 2.70 times (2019-20 2.61 times) the median remuneration of the workforce, which was £30,502 (2019-20 £29,759).
Total remuneration includes salary and benefits only. It does not include employer pension contributions.
The table above represents the part of the Remuneration Report to be audited as referred to in the Auditor’s Report.
In 2020-21 Nil (2019-20 Nil) employees received remuneration in excess of the Acting Chief Executive. Remuneration ranged from £18,805 to £81,645 (2019-20 £19,314 to £77,734).
Staff Report
Gender Analysis
The table below shows the gender analysis of ILFS employees at 31 March.
Absence Analysis
The table below shows the staff absence analysis of ILFS employees for the year.
Short term absences remain at a low level at 2.01%. However we had several longer term absences (3.01%) than previously experienced. We continue to offer mental health awareness, personal resilience and suicide prevention workshops to all staff on an annual basis with mental health first aiders being trained and now in post to support our workforce. Our life friendly suite of policies also continues to support the workforce in a positive manner.
Staff Costs & Numbers - Audited
Note that the numbers above exclude non-executive directors.
Staff Policies
Our policy framework not only enables the delivery of our strategy but also supports the wishes, needs and aspirations of a modern workforce which is underpinned by a strong culture of trust, dignity and respect. This has not only helped ILF Scotland to be a beacon of independent living and innovative thinking for disabled people, but also an award-winning employer of choice. For us there is no such thing as a normal employee and the framework had to take into account values, equality, diversity, young and more mature employees, families, caring responsibilities and make-up of modern society. By doing this, we know we attract and retain the best team possible to achieve our inclusive organisational aspirations.
To support the way we aspire to work, we have co-produced with colleagues a comprehensive approach that supports our collective health and wellbeing alongside delivering our organisational strategy. This methodology is solidly based on organisational development, tailored to support the culture of inclusiveness, diversity, outcomes focus, trust, coaching and continuous improvement.
We have put in place an award winning suite of life-friendly policies, procedures, benefits and systems that can be tailored to meet individual circumstances. This includes working flexibly, compressed hours, being sympathetic to individual/family emergencies or remote working and providing the right technology to do the job.
Our above established policies proved to be invaluable in the last quarter of the financial year when we, along with everyone in the country and indeed the world, were affected by the pandemic referred to as Covid-19. We quickly extended our remote working practices for all members of staff to keep both them and our recipients safe. I am pleased to report that there has been no reduction in the support and funding that we provide to our recipients, indeed it has allowed us to provide more tailored services during this challenging time.
Staff Turnover
Staff turnover was 1.85% during the year (2019-20 3.84%) and is considered satisfactory.
Staff Survey
The ILF Scotland staff survey 2020 had a 93% (2019/20 81%) response rate from staff. 100% of survey respondents rated ILF Scotland as a ‘good employer’ and the organisation scored above the public sector average for questions relating to whether the organisational leadership live the core values. 90% of ILF Scotland staff feel they are valued at work by their colleagues, their manager and the senior management team with 92% citing that the life-friendly working policies are what they themselves value most. 100% of ILF Scotland staff say that the flexibility offered enhances their life in general terms. The ‘organisations purpose’ was shown to be the main reason why staff enjoy working for ILF Scotland.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017
We, as an organisation, are happy to recognise trade unions and we make a point of engaging trade unions on important matters affecting staff. An example of this was when we changed the pension scheme offering to staff during the year. Relevant trade unions were actively consulted and involved.
The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 require public sector employers to publish information relating to facility time. At year end 31 March 2021, ILF Scotland did not have any trade union facility time (2019-20 Nil).
Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
Signed by the above on 29 June 2021
Parliamentary Accountability Report
Losses and special payments
In accordance with the SPFM, we are required to disclose losses and special payments above £300,000. During 2020-21 there were no losses or special payments within this criteria (2019-20: £nil).
Gifts and Charitable Donations
There were no gifts or charitable donations made during the year 2020-21 (2019-20: nil).
Remote Contingent Liabilities
ILF Scotland are required to report any liabilities for which the likelihood of a transfer of economic benefit in settlement is too remote to meet the definition of contingent liability under IAS37. There are currently no remote contingent liabilities.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
Signed by the above on 29 June 2021
Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland, the Auditor General for Scotland and the Scottish Parliament
Report on the audit of the financial statements
Opinion on financial statements
We have audited the financial statements in the annual report and accounts of Independent Living Fund Scotland for the year ended 31 March 2021 under The Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2008. The financial statements comprise of the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Cash Flows, the Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity and 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 International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union, and as interpreted and adapted by the 2020/21 Government Financial Reporting Manual (the 2020/21 FReM).
In our opinion the accompanying financial statements:
give a true and fair view in accordance with the directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers of the state of affairs of the company as at 31 March 2021 and of the surplus for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union, as interpreted and adapted by the 2020/21 FReM; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers.
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)), as required by the Code of Audit Practice approved by the Auditor General for Scotland. 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 were appointed by the Auditor General on 17 June 2019. The period of total uninterrupted appointment is 2 years. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK including the Financial Reporting Council’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. Non-audit services prohibited by the Ethical Standard were not provided to the company. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern basis of accounting
We have concluded that the 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 body’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Risks of material misstatement
We report in a separate Annual Audit Report, available from the Audit Scotlandwebsite, the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement that we identified and our judgements thereon.
Responsibilities of the directors and Accountable Officer for the financial statements
As explained more fully in the Statement of the Directors' and Accountable Officer Responsibilities, the directors and Accountable Officer are responsible for the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with the financial reporting framework, and for such internal control as the directors and Accountable Officer 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 Accountable Officer is responsible for assessing the company'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 deemed inappropriate.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements
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.
A further description of the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website www.frc.org.uk. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud
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. Procedures include:
considering the nature of the company’s control environment and reviewing the company’s documentation of their policies and procedures relating to fraud and compliance with laws and regulations. We also enquired with management, internal audit and those charged with governance about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities;
obtaining an understanding of the applicable legal and regulatory framework and how the company is complying with that framework;
identifying which laws and regulations are significant in the context of the company;
assessing the susceptibility of the financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur; and
considering whether the audit team collectively has the appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with laws and regulations.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the company operates in, and identified the key laws and regulations that:
had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. This included the Companies Act 2006 and the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978; and
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. These included the Data Protection Act 2018 and relevant employment legislation.
We discussed among the audit engagement team regarding the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements. As a result of the performing the above, we identified the greatest potential for fraud was in relation to the requirement to operate within the expenditure resource limits set by the Scottish Government. We have considered the fraud risk to be focused on the year end accounting treatment of grants to individuals where a constructive obligation exists but payment is not made until after the year-end, as there is an element of management judgement in determining when the constructive obligation exists and the estimated value of the obligation.
The risk is that the expenditure in relation to year-end liabilities may be subject to potential manipulation in an attempt to align with its tolerance target or achieve a breakeven position. In response to this risk, we evaluated the design and implementation of controls around monthly monitoring of financial performance and tested a sample of year end grant liabilities and invoices received around the year- end to assess whether they have been recorded in the correct period.
In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override. In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluated the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
In addition to the above, our procedures to respond to the risks identified included the following:
reviewing financial statement disclosures by testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements;
performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud;
enquiring of management, internal audit and external legal counsel concerning actual and potential litigation and claims, and instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations; and
reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and reviewing internal audit reports.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is affected by the inherent difficulty in detecting irregularities, the effectiveness of the company’s controls, and the nature, timing and extent of the audit procedures performed.
Irregularities that result from fraud are inherently more difficult to detect than irregularities that result from error as fraud may involve collusion, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. The capability of the audit to detect fraud and other irregularities depends on factors such as the skilfulness of the perpetrator, the frequency and extent of manipulation, the degree of collusion involved, the relative size of individual amounts manipulated, and the seniority of those individuals involved.
Reporting on regularity of expenditure and income
Opinion on regularity
In our opinion in all material respects the expenditure and income in the financial statements were incurred or applied in accordance with any applicable enactments and guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers.
Responsibilities for regularity
The directors and Accountable Officer are responsible for ensuring the regularity of expenditure and income. In addition to our responsibilities to detect material misstatements in the financial statements in respect of irregularities, we are responsible for expressing an opinion on the regularity of expenditure and income in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.
Reporting on other requirements
Opinion prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report
We have audited the parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report described as audited. In our opinion, the audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report has been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers.
Statutory other information
The directors and the Accountable Officer are responsible for the statutory other information in the annual report and accounts. The statutory other information comprises the Performance Report and the Accountability Report excluding the audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report.
Our responsibility is to read all the statutory other information and, in doing so, consider whether the statutory other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in 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 statutory other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.
Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the statutory other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon except on the Performance Report and Governance Statement to the extent explicitly stated in the following opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland.
Opinions prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland on Performance Report and Governance Statement
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
the information given in the Performance Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers; and
the information given in the Governance Statement for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and that report has been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and directions made under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 by the Scottish Ministers.
Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We are required by the Auditor General for Scotland to report to you if, in our opinion:
adequate accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements and the audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
We have nothing to report in respect of these matters.
Conclusions on wider scope responsibilities
In addition to our responsibilities for the annual report and accounts, our conclusions on the wider scope responsibilities specified in the Code of Audit Practice are set out in our Annual Audit Report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the parties to whom it is addressed in accordance with the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 and for no other purpose. In accordance with paragraph 120 of the Code of Audit Practice, we do not undertake to have responsibilities to members or officers, in their individual capacities, or to third parties.
Pat Kenny, CPFA (for and on behalf of Deloitte)...........…………………………..
29 June 2021
110 Queen Street, Glasgow G1 3BX, UK
FINANCIALSTATEMENTS
Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2021
Expenditure
Notes
2020-21
2019-20
£
£
Grants to individuals
3
52,720,451
50,699,169
Staff costs
4
2,689,969
2,316,774
Other operating income and expenditure
5
799,026
1,038,883
Depreciation and amortisation
5
17,059
24,641
Total comprehensive net expenditure for the year
56,226,505
54,079,467
All expenditure relates to continuing operations.
The notes on pages 86 to 103 form part of these accounts.
Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2021
Notes
31 March2021
31 March2020
Non-current assets
£
£
Property, plant and equipment
6
-
-
Intangible assets
7
6,561
69,938
Total non-current assets
6,561
69,938
Current assets
Trade and other receivables
9
58,502
51,526
Cash and cash equivalents
10
7,140,016
9,226,093
Total current assets
7,198,518
9,277,619
Total assets
7,205,079
9,347,557
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
11
(238,844)
(184,685)
Other liabilities – grant liabilities
11
(4,202,435)
(2,497,503)
Other liabilities – deferred income
11
(136,782)
(5,032,458)
Total current liabilities
(4,578,061)
(7,714,646)
Total assets less current liabilities
2,627,018
1,632,911
Non-current liabilities
Deferred income – capital grants
12
-
(871)
Net assets
2,627,018
1,632,040
Taxpayers’ equity
General reserve
2,627,018
1,632,040
Total taxpayers’ equity
2,627,018
1,632,040
For the year ending 31 March 2021 the company was exempt under s482 of the Companies Act 2006 (non-profit making companies subject to public sector audit) from the audit requirements of Part 16 of that Act. The company is, instead, subject to audit by an auditor chosen selected by the Auditor General for Scotland by virtue of the Companies Act 2006 (Scottish public sector companies to be audited by the Auditor General for Scotland) Order 2019, an order made under s483 of the Act.
The notes on pages 86 to 103 form part of these accounts. These accounts were approved and authorised for issue by the Directors on 29 June 2021.
Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board
Peter Scott, Accountable Officer
Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2021
Notes
2020-21
2019-20
Cash flows from operating activities
£
£
Net expenditure
(56,226,505)
(54,079,467)
Depreciation and amortisation
5
63,377
83,699
Amortisation of capital grant
12
(46,318)
(59,058)
(Increase)/Decrease in trade and other receivables
9
(6,975)
1,380,451
(Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables and grant liabilities
11/12
(3,091,139)
3,502,893
Net cash outflow from operating activities
(59,307,560)
(49,171,482)
Cash flows from financing activities
Grant Funding and sundry income
57,221,483
53,386,841
Net cash inflows from financing activities
57,221,483
53,386,841
Net (Decrease)/Increase in cash and cash equivalents in the period
(2,086,077)
4,215,359
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period
9,226,093
5,010,734
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period
10
7,140,016
9,226,093
The notes on pages 86 to 103 form part of these accounts.
Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2021
General Reserve
£
£
Balance at 1 April 2020
1,632,040
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2020-2021
Grant in aid from departments
57,221,483
Net expenditure
(56,226,505)
994,978
Balance at 31 March 2021
2,627,018
Balance at 1 April 2019
2,324,666
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2019-2020
Grant in aid from departments
53,386,841
Net expenditure
(54,079,467)
(692,626)
Balance at 31 March 2019
1,632,040
General reserve – relates to the ongoing operation of regular payments to individuals and the associated administration costs, financed by Grant in Aid.
The notes on pages 86 to 103 form part of these accounts.
Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021
1Nature and purpose of the Independent Living Fund Scotland
The Independent Living Fund Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. The company is limited by guarantee (company number SC500075). The guarantor is The Scottish Ministers. The company is an NDPB of the Scottish Government.
ILF Scotland carries out the functions previously carried out by the Independent Living Fund (2006) within Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is also an agreement between the Scottish Government and the DOH for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF users based in Northern Ireland
It is financed by Grant in Aid from Scottish Government to provide assistance with the cost of qualifying support and services to disabled applicants and to meet the operating costs of the company. The Grant in Aid amount is approved annually and confirmed in a letter of delegation.
2Statement of Accounting Policies
The directors have elected under the Companies Act to prepare the accounts in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and applicable law and to provide additional disclosures required by the Government Financial Reporting Manual 2020- 21 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
The Accounts are prepared on a ‘going concern’ basis. Grant in Aid is received on a cash basis to meet immediate need. Scottish Government has provided a letter to the Chief Executive to confirm that Grant in Aid will be made available to cover the financial obligations of the company for the financial year 2021-22. The directors are not aware of any reason why the required Grant in Aid will not be made available in subsequent years.
With regard to Covid-19, the directors do not believe that this will impact on going concern. SG provided all required funding during 2020-21 and there is no reason to suggest that this will not be the case in future periods.
a)Accounting convention
These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
b)Property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment consists of IT equipment. ILF Scotland believes that the useful economic life is a realistic reflection of the life of its equipment, and the depreciated historical cost method provides a realistic reflection of the consumption of those assets. The company therefore carries plant and equipment at cost less accumulated depreciation and any recognised impairment in value.
c)Depreciation
Depreciation on property, plant and equipment is charged on a straight-line basis to write off the cost less residual values over the useful life of the asset: incepting at the purchase date, or when the asset is available for use, whichever is the later. IT hardware and equipment is depreciated over a three-year life span.
Residual values, remaining useful lives and depreciation methods are reviewed annually and adjusted if appropriate.
d)Intangible assets
Intangible assets consist of bespoke software developed for the company and software licences held only for the purpose of managing the company. All intangible assets are carried at historic cost less depreciation/amortisation.
Bespoke software assets are capitalised in these accounts in the year of implementation. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years.
Software licences are capitalised in these accounts in the year of acquisition. Amortisation is on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of three years.
Amortisation periods and methods are reviewed annually and adjusted if appropriate.
e) Financial instruments
The company procurement policy is to enter into contracts and framework agreements for services and supplies at current agreed costs with annual price reviews, rather than create complex financial instruments.
Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised in the Statement of Financial Position when ILF Scotland becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are recognised at fair value (the transaction price plus any directly attributable transaction costs, assessed for recoverability where relevant). Subsequent measurement is at amortised cost, although no adjustment for the time value of money is made where the settlement period is short so there would be no significant effect.
Financial assets comprise loans and receivables, which are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market. Loans and receivables comprise cash at bank, accrued bank interest and other receivables. Financial liabilities comprise grant liabilities, trade payables and accruals.
f)Reserves policy
Grant in Aid is not drawn in full in advance but requested each calendar month to meet estimated cash outflow. The company does not hold strategic reserves as it is dependent on public funding.
g)Grant in Aid
Funding to cover grants to individuals and administrative expenditure is provided through Grant in Aid from the Scottish Government. Grant in Aid is received on the basis of the ILF Scotland estimated cash payments during the financial year. Grant in Aid received forms part of the Departmental Expenditure Limits for the respective Departments. Grant in Aid is treated as financing rather than income and is directly credited to reserves.
h)Grants to individuals
Grants to individuals are discretionary grants made within Scottish Government rules and regulations. 2015 Fund grants are paid four weekly in arrears on the basis of authorised awards. Transition Fund grants are paid once applications have been approved and processed. Amounts due but unpaid at the end of the financial year are accrued in these accounts.
Unused grants returned by individuals in the normal course of business are recognised on receipt and there is no accrual for potential future returns of unspent grants.
i)Formal recovery of grants to individuals
Although grants to individuals are discretionary payments, formal recovery will be sought where the provision of incorrect information has led to incorrect payment or where the grants have not been used for the intended purpose. The company will seek to recover all amounts where it is cost-effective to do so unless it will cause hardship to the individual. Recovery procedures appropriate to the value and circumstances of the case will be used, in accordance with the ILF Scotland guidelines and procedures.
In accounting for recoveries we have adhered to the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting which gives guidance that an asset should not be recognised in the statement of financial position when the expenditure has been incurred for which it is considered improbable that economic benefits will flow. Therefore, a receivable is only recognised in the accounts when it has been agreed with the individual and there is considered to be a definite prospect of recovery. Any grant recovery recognised will be disclosed as a reduction to expenditure in the year in which it is recognised.
Receivables will be assessed at the end of each accounting period and reduced to the estimated recoverable amount where there are circumstances that indicate full recovery is uncertain.
j)Operating leases
Operating leases are charged to the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure on a straight line basis over the term of the lease. The main lease is for accommodation and managed facilities under a sub-lease with the Scottish Government. Charges are set in accordance with a head lease between the Department and the service provider. The company has no direct control of these charges.
k)Pension costs
Both the company and staff previously contributed to a defined contribution pension scheme. The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most staff have chosen to join the defined benefit offering.
The Civil Service Pension Scheme is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme in which ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme is accounted for as a defined contribution scheme under the multi-employer exemption permitted in IAS 19 Employee Benefits. A full actuarial valuation was carried as at 31 March 2016. Details can be found in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation (www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk)
Further pension details can be found in the remuneration report on pages 63 to 74.
l)Significant estimates and judgements
The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions in certain circumstances that affect reported amounts, and for this organisation such estimates are principally in assessing amounts due to recipients.
a.Significant estimates There are no estimates which give rise to a significant risk in the year ended 31 March 2021 (2019-20 none). b.Judgements Recipient Accruals – we pay our 2015 Fund recipients four weeks in arrears, therefore we accrue based on the previous months payment information, this being a reliable measure. With regard to the Transition Fund we recognise a liability when applications are approved by management.
m)Reporting segments
IFRS 8 requires entities to provide information relating to the components of the entity that management uses to make decisions about operating matters. A segmental financial analysis is not considered necessary for the company, as no separate components are used for operating decisions made by the Senior Management Team.
n)Provisions
Provisions are recognised when there is a present obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of an event that occurred in the past and where it is probable that the settlement of that obligation will result in an outflow of resources, but the timing or amount of the settlement is uncertain. The amount recognised as a provision is the best estimate of the consideration which will be required to settle the obligation.
o)Adoption of new and revised Standards
Standards, amendments and interpretations effective in the current year
In the current year, ILF Scotland has applied a number of amendments to IFRS Standards and Interpretations that are effective for an annual period that begins on or after 1 January 2020. Their adoption has not had any material impact on the disclosures or on the amounts reported in these financial statements:
Amendments to References to the Conceptual Framework in IFRS Standards.
Amendment to IFRS 9: Applying IFRS 9 with IFRS 4.
Amendment to IFRS 3: Definition of a Business.
Amendments to IAS 1 and IAS 8: Definition of Material.
Amendments to IAS 39, IFRS 4, IFRS 7 and IFRS 9: Interest Rate Benchmark Reform (Phase 1).
Annual Improvements to IFRS Standards 2015-2017 Cycle.
Standards, amendments and interpretations early adopted this year
There are no new standards, amendments or interpretations early adopted this year.
Standards, amendments and interpretations issued but not adopted this year
At the date of authorisation of these financial statements, ILF Scotland has not applied the following new and revised IFRS Standards that have been issued but are not yet effective:
IFRS 16: Leases. HM Treasury have agreed to defer implementation until 1 April 2022.
IFRS 17: Insurance Contracts. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 1: Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non- Current. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 1: Disclosure of Accounting Policies. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendment to IAS 8: Definition of Accounting Estimates. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023.
Amendments to IAS 16: Property, Plant and Equipment proceeds before intended use. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
Amendments to IAS 37: Onerous Contracts, cost of fulfilling a contract. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
Amendments to IAS 39, IFRS 4, IFRS 7 and IFRS 9: Interest Rate Benchmark Reform (Phase 2). Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2021.
Annual Improvements to IFRS Standards 2018-2020 Cycle. Applicable for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2022.
ILF Scotland does not expect that the adoption of the Standards listed above will have a material impact on the financial statements in future periods, except as noted below.
IFRS 16 Leases supersedes IAS 17 Leases and is being applied by HM Treasury in the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) from 1 April 2022. IFRS 16 introduces a single lessee accounting model that results in a more faithful representation of a lessee’s assets and liabilities, and provides enhanced disclosures to improve transparency of reporting on capital employed.
Under IFRS 16, lessees are required to recognise assets and liabilities for leases with a term of more than 12 months, unless the underlying asset is of low value. While no standard definition of ‘low value’ has been mandated, ILF Scotland have elected to utilise the capitalisation threshold of £5,000 to determine the assets to be disclosed. ILF Scotland expects that its existing finance leases will continue to be classified as leases. All existing operating leases will fall within the scope of IFRS 16 under the ‘grandfathering’ rules mandated in the FReM for the initial transition to IFRS 16. In future years new contracts and contract renegotiations will be reviewed for consideration under IFRS 16 as implicitly identified right-of-use assets. Assets recognised under IFRS 16 will be held on the Statement of Financial Position as (i) right of-use assets which represent ILF Scotland’s right to use the underlying leased assets; and (ii) lease liabilities which represent the obligation to make lease payments.
The bringing of leased assets onto the Statement of Financial Position will require depreciation and interest to be charged on the right-of-use asset and lease liability, respectively. Cash repayments will also be recognised in the Statement of Cash Flows, as required by IAS 7.
ILF Scotland has assessed the likely impact to i) comprehensive net expenditure and ii) the Statement of Financial Position of applying IFRS 16. The figures below represent existing leases as at 31 March 2021.
The standard is expected to increase total expenditure by less than £1,000. Right-of-use assets totalling £87,000 will be brought onto the Statement of Financial Position, with an associated lease liability of £87,000.
3 Grants to individuals
2020-21
2019-20
£
£
Payments made in year
53,107,287
54,136,155
Grant liabilities at start of year
(2,497,503)
(3,838,340)
Grant liabilities at end of year
4,202,435
2,497,503
Grant returns received in year
(2,091,768)
(2,096,149)
52,720,451
50,699,169
Grants to individuals are paid four-weekly in arrears. Grant liabilities consist of the accrued amounts from awards made by the end of the financial year but not fully paid up to the end of the financial year.
Returns received comprised £2,091,768 (2019-20 £2,096,149) in respect of unused funds returned by individuals.
4 Staff costs
4a Staff numbers and related costs
2020-21
2019-20
£
£
Wages and salaries
1,986,314
1,779,377
Social security costs
201,471
180,350
Other pension costs (see note 4b on next page)
502,184
357,047
Total staff costs
2,689,969
2,316,774
2020-21
2019-20
£
£
Wages and salaries
1,986,314
1,779,377
Social security costs
201,471
180,350
Other pension costs (see note 4b on next page)
502,184
357,047
Total staff costs
2,689,969
2,316,774
4b Other pension costs
Employees could previously only opt to contribute to a defined contribution pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employer contributions ranged from 6% to 12% of pensionable pay. The Employer matched employee contributions up to 5% of pensionable pay. Contributions paid in the year amounted to £Nil (2019-20 £87,322).
The company joined the Civil Service Pension Scheme on 1 September 2019 and most staff have chosen to join the defined benefit offering (alpha). Employee contributions are salary-related and range between 4.6% and 7.35% of pensionable earnings. Employer contributions are salary-related and can be up to 30.3% of pensionable earnings.
Contributions due to the current pension providers were nil at 31 March 2021 (31 March 2020 nil). Contributions prepaid were nil at 31 March 2021 (31 March 2020 nil). Contributions due to a previous pension provider were £Nil at 31 March 2021 (31 March 2020 £6,410).
The Civil Service Pension Scheme known as alpha is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefit scheme. ILF Scotland is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. You can find details in the in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office:Civil Superannuation.
For 2020-21, employers’ contributions of £495,919 were paid in respect of alpha
(2019-20 £265,181). Expected contributions in 2021-22 are approximately £543,000.
Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £7,764 were paid in 2020- 21 (2019-20 £4,402) to one or more of the panel of three appointed stakeholder pension providers. Employer contributions are age related and ranged between 8% to 14.75%. Expected contributions in 2021-22 are approximately £8,000.
2020-21
2019-20
5 Other operating income and expenditure:
£
£
Assessor fees and expenses
-
60,614
IT and information security costs
262,991
306,279
Rent, utilities and other estate costs
121,958
68,302
Legal and professional costs
196,017
195,659
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence
107,289
226,452
Auditors remuneration (for the auditing of the accounts)
20,100
24,000
Communication and engagement
79,919
101,447
Postage costs
7,860
26,750
Printing and stationary costs
2,892
4,630
Research costs
-
24,750
Total other expenditure
799,026
1,038,883
Depreciation and amortisation
£
£
Depreciation
-
1,130
Amortisation
63,377
82,569
Sub-total
63,377
83,699
Grant release
(46,318)
(59,058)
Net depreciation and amortisation
17,059
24,641
6 Property, plant and equipment
Information Technology
Total
Cost
£
£
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021
37,583
37,583
Depreciation
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021
37,583
37,583
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2021
-
-
At 31 March 2020
-
-
Information Technology
Total
Cost
£
£
At 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020
37,583
37,583
Depreciation
At 1 April 2019
36,453
36,453
Charge for year
1,130
1,130
At 31 March 2020
37,583
37,583
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2020
-
-
At 31 March 2019
1,130
1,130
7 Intangible assets
Cost or valuation
Information Technology
Total
£
£
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021
281,028
281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2020
211,090
211,090
Charge for year
63,377
63,377
At 31 March 2021
274,467
274,467
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2021
6,561
6,561
At 31 March 2020
69,938
69,938
Cost or valuation
Information Technology
Total
£
£
At 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020
281,028
281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2019
128,521
128,521
Charge for year
82,569
82,569
At 31 March 2020
211,090
211,090
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2020
69,938
69,938
At 31 March 2019
152,507
152,507
8 Financial instruments and associated risks
As all of the of the company’s cash requirements are met through Grant in Aid, financial instruments play a more limited role in creating and managing risk than would apply to a non-public sector body. The majority of financial instruments relate to contracts to purchase non-financial items in line with the company’s expected usage requirements, so the company is exposed to little credit, liquidity or market risk. The value of financial instruments are considered to be a proxy of their fair value.
Financial Assets
31 March
31 March
2021
2020
£
£
Cash and cash equivalents
7,140,016
9,226,093
Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with The Royal Bank of Scotland held in current accounts to minimise the risk.
Financial liabilities
31 March
31 March
2021
2020
£
£
Grant liabilities
4,202,435
2,497,503
Trade payables and accruals
238,844
184,685
Deferred income
135,911
4,986,140
Capital grant liabilities
871
47,189
4,578,061
7,715,517
Grant liabilities: Represents awards authorised but unpaid at the year end.
Trade payables and accruals: Represents amounts payable in the short term, to be met out of cash held at the year-end.
Deferred income: Represents amounts received from Scottish Government to meet grant payments due in the next financial year.
Capital grant liabilities: represents grant monies received in respect of intangible fixed assets.
9 Trade and other receivables
31 March
31 March
2021
2020
£
£
Due within one year
Prepayments
48,940
35,959
Other receivables
9,562
15,567
58,502
51,526
10 Cash and cash equivalents 2020-21 2019-20
2020-21
2019-20
£
£
Balance at 1 April
9,226,093
5,010,734
Net cash (outflow)/inflow
(2,086,077)
4,215,359
Balance at 31 March
7,140,016
9,226,093
31 March
31 March
2021
2020
£
£
Benefit accounts
7,086,452
8,494,632
Administration account
53,564
731,461
7,140,016
9,226,093
Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.
11 Current Liabilities
31 March
31 March
2021
2020
£
£
Grant liabilities
4,202,435
2,497,503
Trade payables
39,101
36,892
Accruals
199,743
147,793
Deferred income – Scottish Government
135,911
4,986,140
Deferred income – Capital Grants
871
46,318
4,578,061
7,714,646
12 Non-current Liabilities
31 March
31 March
2021
2020
£
£
At 1 April
47,189
106,247
Less amortised in period
(46,318)
(59,058)
Total balance at 31 March
871
47,189
Less due within one year
(871)
(46,318)
Due after more than one year
0
871
13 Operating leases
There is a sub-lease for accommodation and facilities with the Scottish Government that expires on 30 January 2023.
The charges to the company are set in the head lease between the Scottish Government and its accommodation supplier.
Total future minimum lease payments under operating leases for each of the following periods were:
31 March
31 March
2021
2020
£
£
Land and buildings (Denholm House)
Within one year
85,000
85,000
Within two to five years
70,833
155,833
Total
155,833
240,833
Lease payments charged in year
83,007
86,666
14 Directors’ remuneration, interests and indemnities
The directors receive remuneration from the company. The total remuneration paid to the directors was £20,207 (2019-20 £19,918) for the year and further information is provided in the Remuneration Report. Directors received reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses amounting to £436 (2019-20 £10,084) for the year. No directors were a beneficiary of the company and received payments in accordance with the objects of ILF Scotland; a procedure is in place to manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
No other transactions were undertaken in which any director or person connected with any director had a material interest.
The Scottish Government provides that directors are not personally liable for any loss to ILF Scotland other than that arising from wilful and individual fraud, wrongdoing or omission on the part of a director who is found to be liable.
15 Related party transactions and controlling party
Related parties are the directors and SG. ILF Scotland received Grant in Aid from SG of £57.2m (2019-20 £53.4m). SG makes payments to ILF Scotland on a monthly basis.
The Company’s ultimate controlling party is the Scottish Ministers.
During the year no directors were a beneficiary of ILF Scotland and received discretionary grants in accordance with the objects of the company.
No other related parties, including the directors and key management staff, have undertaken any transactions with the company during the period.
16 Capital commitments and contingent liabilities
There were no capital commitments or contingent liabilities at 31 March 2021
17 Events after the reporting period
There are no events after the reporting period which would have an effect on the Annual Report and Accounts or which would require disclosure.
18 Date of Authorisation
IAS 10 requires the company to disclose the date on which the accounts are authorised for issue.
The authorised date for issue is 29 June 2021.
Appendix to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021
Accounts Direction
Independent Living Fund Scotland
DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS
The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
The statement of accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2020, and subsequent years, shall comply with the accounting principles and disclosure requirements of the edition of the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) which is in force for the year for which the statement of accounts are prepared, and with the Companies Act 2006.
The accounts shall be prepared so as to give a true and fair view of the income and expenditure and cash flows for the financial year, and of the state of affairs as at the end of the financial year.
This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Signed by the authority of the Scottish Ministers Dated 27 May 2020
Annual Executive Summary and Operational Report: 2020-2021
Executive Summary Annual Operational Report
1st April 2020 - 31st March 2021
Contents
Introduction
Executive Summary
2015 Fund
Transition Fund
Our People
Information Governance
Finance
Annex A Operational Dashboards Annex B Statistics
1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of achievement and activities between 1st April 2020 – 31st March 2021 and provide an overview of the activity across the whole year. This report will naturally focus on our actions as we responded to the global Covid-19 pandemic, detailing how we endeavoured to ensure the safety and well-being of our recipients and staff members. It will also expand on some of the key developments in delivering our business plan and preparatory work undertaken to inform the potential re-opening of the 2015 Fund in both Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2021-22.
2. Executive Summary
a. Overview – The last 12 months has, without doubt, been the busiest and most challenging period since the inception of ILF Scotland, due to the impact of the global pandemic. We have worked hard to be supportive, and innovative, in our response to this pandemic, introducing many new measures and initiatives to help recipients, key stakeholders and staff get through the year with as little impact on well- being as possible in such challenging circumstances. However, as we look back over the last 12 months of dealing with the pandemic, as both an organisation and nation, it has clearly taken a heavy toll on us all. That said, the resilience, determination and solidarity shown by our recipients, and the professionalism, empathy, compassion and sheer hard work of all involved in ILF Scotland has been truly humbling to watch.
The experience of many disabled people during this crisis necessitates fresh thinking about the provision of care, support and rights for disabled people. During this year our model of social care and support, which strives to put disabled people at the heart of defining their own needs and how these needs will be met, has never been more important. This is why it has come as no surprise, to us at least, that the reopening of ILF to new applicants was one of the main recommendations in the recent Independent Review of Adult Social Care in Scotland, led by Derek Feeley. Alongside that, although Covid-19 has undeniably slowed down the momentum in Northern Ireland, we are hopefully on the cusp of taking the next steps in reopening the fund there as well.
Disabled people have undoubtedly experienced very difficult times throughout the pandemic, which has exacerbated the already deep societal inequalities already in place. For those disabled people that receive our support and rely on personal assistance in these uncertain times, it has been very worrying indeed. Social distancing is not possible when personal care is needed, so disabled people and their supporters are in a very challenging space. As many individuals who receive funding from ILF Scotland are also employers, they have faced further problems as many of their personal assistants have had to take time to self-isolate and they have needed to source personal protective equipment (PPE) to carry on safely with their day to day jobs.
What has been reassuring to see and hear, is the feedback from disabled people on how we have supported them this year and how ILF Scotland funding can have a transformative impact on disabled people, their families, friends and communities even through a global pandemic. This evidence has come via a myriad of routes from direct feedback, wellbeing calls and letters, through to independent research projects carried out by different organisations. Organisations such as Inclusion Scotland, Glasgow Disability Alliance, the Centre for Inclusive Living Northern Ireland (CILNI) and Disability NI have carried out various pieces of research throughout the last year, where ILF Scotland and its positive impact has been clearly referenced. Indeed, comprehensive research conducted by CILNI shows disabled people who have ILF are more resilient and for every £ invested in ILF, it provides £10.89 in social return on investment. Our recipient survey, conducted in late 2020 and early 2021, which received over 340 responses, mirrors the findings of external organisations. This collectively has given us an in depth perspective on the reality of life for disabled people during the pandemic. The vast majority of respondents reported a negative impact from the pandemic, with almost 20% of our survey respondents stating that it had resulted in a major life-changing negative impact. Specific issues related to: mental and physical health being affected; increased isolation; loss of service provision; significant increase in family care; and carer exhaustion. We will be using this research to help plan our next steps out of lockdown in the year ahead.
From an operational perspective, we have stayed fully open throughout the financial year, supporting over 5,000 disabled people across Scotland and Northern Ireland to have choice, control and dignity, which is an increase of over 25% in the numbers of disabled people supported from the previous year. ILF Scotland successfully moved to full remote and agile working in late March and early April 2020 during Covid-19, which was a reflection of our flexible work culture and digital strategy. We have continued providing high quality services to recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland throughout the pandemic with minimal disruption to provision. Our operational model has been completely redesigned in order to provide over 4,000 in depth wellbeing recipient checks in 10 months, which would normally take approximately 3 years. This resulted in over 92% of recipients maintaining or increasing their pre-Covid-19 support (support was only reduced for the 8% by their specific instruction and never by ILF Scotland). We have dealt with over 11,000 contacts via phone, text and email compared with just over 10,000 the year before, an increase of around 10%.
It has also been a record year for the Transition Fund (TF), with 1,813 applications received, an increase of over 36% from the year before. We also passed 4,000 applications received since opening in Dec 2017 and have approved over £7 million pounds of life enhancing support to help disabled young people, between the ages of 16 and 25, with the transition after leaving school or children’s services. To manage the growth in demand this year, we had to reduce the maximum award in December 2020 to £1,500, which resulted in the volume of applications received slowing down in Quarter 4 (Q4). Coupled with this, we received additional funding and as a consequence of this, and the reduced maximum award, the TF has continued to deliver life changing support to young disabled people through the whole year when most statutory support was reduced as a result of the pandemic.
In conjunction with the above, we have carried on consulting, co-producing and developing our plans for the future, ensuring disabled people are at the heart of our thinking. In Quarter 1 (Q1) we completed a public consultation to support the reopening of the fund to new applications in Northern Ireland. In Quarter 3 (Q3) we finished extensive co-production with all stakeholders carried out over the previous 12 months, to launch our person-led strategy. We have continually consulted, developed and implemented our Covid-19 response and recovery plan to play our part in the economic and societal recovery from the pandemic. This included a feedback survey from recipients and award managers that gained our highest recorded response rate in any consultation previously conducted. Finally, we also actively contributed to Government consultations, such as the Feely Review, and produced responses to various policy areas, including Fair Work and Self Directed Support.
As with other areas of work, Policy has centred around our response to Covid-19 and we have worked closely with colleagues in the Scottish and Northern Irish Governments to jointly agree flexible policy responses to Covid-19. Numerous policy updates to stakeholders have been issued as the situation has changed. We have ensured ILF Funded PAs and recipients were included in the rollout of vaccination and testing for priority groups, whilst jointly taking forward, with our Sponsor Teams, the development of policy guidance in areas including: the continued payment of normal awards (sustainability payments); additional payments for replacement care; other Covid-19 related expenditure; and the £500 'Thank You' payment promised to Health & Social Care Workers by the First Minister in Scotland.
Alongside this, we have successfully completed the annual Scottish Living Wage uplift, whilst continuing to revise award policies to make them more accessible, compliant with the latest legislation, and targeted at enabling independent living. These have included employer support guidance and the long-term objective to reduce the available income charge from £83 to £43 for recipients in Scotland, which will provide additional income to disabled people at a time of most need. During the year we have also published our approach to the Equalities Duty, including Gaelic language preparations and finalised our first Mainstreaming and Equalities Outcome Report. As part of our commitment to keep disabled people at the heart of decision making, meetings with our Stakeholder Group in Northern Ireland and Recipient Advisory Group in Scotland have been conducted virtually. This has supported the work in progressing the Charter for Involvement and as such, the action plan to implement the charter statements has been completed by the end of Q4. In addition, in 2020/21 we managed to formally establish the young ambassadors group, comprised of some young people who have been successful in their applications to the Transition Fund. They have contributed to a number of communications campaigns, provided their assistance with online engagement events and offered their expertise in supporting Scottish Government colleagues with an upcoming digital project.
As communications and engagement have been so important this year, it is no surprise that these areas of work have been exceptionally busy. To keep recipients and other key stakeholders up to date, we have produced two external newsletters sending over 5,000 copies to provide key information through the pandemic. This has been augmented by 7,500 letters over and above normal day to day communications, to keep recipients and award managers updated on developments throughout the year, as well as 3 online mailouts to recipients who want to receive communication updates digitally and other stakeholders, such as payroll agencies, care providers and social work professionals. We have also constantly updated our website and social media channels, provided weekly updates and a monthly internal newsletter to colleagues, and produced new and engaging content to explain what we do. Despite restrictions, 36 online engagement events with an audience of around 550 people attending have been completed. In addition, the Communications Team have undertaken 4 very successful campaigns, including the Northern Ireland consultation survey, ILF Scotland’s 5th birthday campaign to celebrate disabled people achieving independent living outcomes, one to help young disabled individuals apply to the TF through the pandemic and the International Day of People with Disabilities in December 2020. This work has helped increase our reach and share knowledge with over 10,000 new website users and has resulted in significant increases in all social media engagement and website page views, which are up 76% over the year.
From a financial viewpoint, we have made around 33,000 independent living payments to 2015 Fund recipients totalling just under £50 million. Colleagues in Finance have completely digitised all of our internal finance processes during the pandemic to operate more efficiently. We gained a clean external audit with no qualifications for the 5th year in a row and carried out 3 internal audits, achieving the highest possible results in both Data Protection and HR.
Keeping colleagues safe and well whilst delivering high quality support to disabled people has been of paramount importance throughout the year. Overall, the culture that has been created at ILF Scotland, coupled with how we have been staffed, structured and trained, has meant that we have been able to pivot the organisation quickly to respond to the crisis whilst protecting our staff and those we support at the same time. As we have moved through the different stages of the pandemic, one of the main challenges for ILF Scotland has been working with colleagues to mitigate against both the extraordinary workloads and the stresses of the pandemic. We have invested significant effort around expanding our already market leading health and wellbeing employee proposition and extended the use of flexible work policies, providing colleagues with the necessary tools to work effectively from home. Throughout the year we have carried out over 1,500 days of personal development to support the delivery of excellent outcomes for disabled people. In tandem with this, we have regularly communicated with colleagues on a weekly basis to make sure we leave no one behind and everyone has been fully up to date with the situation as it occurs. To prevent burn out we have introduced numerous supports, including Covid-19 weekends and initiatives like ‘Ditch the Desk’, whilst encouraging colleagues to take time to decompress away from the day to day challenges. We have provided additional support for those with caring responsibilities and constantly reinforced the message ‘do what you can’.
By co-producing solutions with colleagues, listening to them through various feedback mechanisms, we have managed to maintain high levels of engagement from colleagues, as evidenced through the staff survey and our comparatively low absence rates and high staff retention throughout the reporting period. ILF Scotland has also validated its position independently as a market leading employer of choice by winning the Best Small Employer Award in the UK from Working Families in May, a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September, a finalist in 3 categories (the Best for Mental Health/for Employee Engagement/for Best for Family Support) in the 2021 Working Mums Awards and Highly Commended in the 2021 Top Employer Flexibility Works Awards.
To support the above work, colleagues from our IT and Information Management Teams have performed brilliantly throughout the year, keeping our systems running safely and securely. This has included the quick roll out of Zoom and Microsoft Teams to enable new virtual ways of working. We have gained Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation for the 3rd year in a row, protecting the organisation from cyber-crime and during the summer of 2020 we successfully replaced 5 servers with no disruption to services, which was a first for ILF Scotland. Due to the high tempo of operations we have constantly looked to be even more efficient, easier to access and better at what we do resulting in the delivery of over 130 improvements to systems, processes and services saving over 7,600 hours of staff time a year, the equivalent of £175k. For example, after seeing the impact of the pandemic on young disabled people around digital exclusion and social isolation, we developed a fast track technology grant application process to enable quicker delivery of life enhancing IT to individuals. In the background we have also actively contributed to two national infrastructure projects – the Payments Platform and Digital Identity Scotland, whilst keeping forward momentum in launching our new electronic records plan ready for 2021-22. Concurrently with this work, we have been working on the redesign of our risk and resilience framework to make us more robust, and we have finished the first major phase of our digital transformation work. Lastly, we have Introduced a new safe and secure bulk electronic mailing system and updated data sharing agreements with key partners.
As can been seen from the above, it has been an extraordinary year for ILF Scotland dealing with the profound impact of Covid-19 on us all. Our focus throughout the year has been to rapidly think what the pandemic means for us, the people we support, how we integrate with the wider governmental response and what actions we take in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. We have worked hard to constantly adapt to the changing and dynamic environment throughout the year by listening to disabled people, colleagues and other stakeholders. As such, we believe we are well poised to move confidently into the next phase of recovery, though know the consequences of this global crisis will have a long overhang into the coming years.
In summary, we have had the busiest, most challenging yet rewarding reporting period by any benchmark since opening in July 2015. With the vaccination programme accelerating to over 65% (at the time of writing) of the adult population covered, we are now looking forward to a gradual return to a more physical environment with restrictions lifted. We continue to work towards re-commencing normal operations, implementing our new strategy and the growth agenda, extending the Transition Fund, reopening the 2015 Fund to new applications in both Northern Ireland and Scotland and supporting the Scottish Government to deliver the recommendations in the Independent Social Care Review report. With strong foundations and an excellent staff team, we aim to build upon our learning through Covid-19 and will work towards enabling even more people to live independently.
b. Key Operational Activities
i. Strategic Outcome 1 – Facilitate the independent living needs of disabled people:
We continued to work closely with the SG and NI Sponsor Teams to jointly agree flexible policy responses to Covid-19. We are taking forward joint development of guidance in these areas:
Continued payment of normal awards (Sustainability Payments).
Additional payments for replacement care and other Covid-19-19 related expenditure.
£500 'Thank You' payment promised to health and social care workers by the First Minister in Scotland.
ILF Funded PAs and recipients inclusion in PPE access and the rollout of vaccination and testing for priority groups.
In Q3 we published an Interim Policy TF02, which reduced the maximum Transition Fund grant available to £1,500. We received an additional funding allocation from the Scottish Government to allow us to continue on this basis until 31 March 2021. Following fruitful discussions in Q4 with our Scottish Government Sponsors, we have secured an increased budget for 2021-22 and this has allowed an increase to the maximum grant, which will be set at £4,000 for the coming year. Within this, the fund retains the discretion to exceed the maximum in exceptional cases where there is deemed to be a potential for a life-transforming impact.
In Q4 SG agreed that we could continue with our flexible policy implementation, including replacement support, until the end of Q1 2021/22. We wrote to all recipients to advise them of this. We paid out approximately £860k for replacement support in the last year.
We worked closely with the Sponsor Team, named Vaccination contacts in the SG and NHS along with contacts in Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs), Health and Social Care Trusts (HSCTs) and health board area vaccination centres to facilitate access to vaccines for ILF Scotland funded PAs. This is now progressing well.
We continue to discuss arrangements for the roll out of the £500 'Thank You' payment promised to health and social care workers by the First Minister. We have developed procedures and the technical solution to achieve this but are waiting for agreement from SG to proceed. Delays have related to COSLA and Payroll agency concerns.
We have revised and published the ‘Your Responsibilities Guide’ and ‘Employer Support Information Note’. The Sponsor Team have agreed that we change Employer Support from a policy to guidance, which means we will more easily be able to update this quickly in respect of any future legislative changes.
Civil Servants in Northern Ireland are working on a detailed submission for the Minister of Health to reopen the 2015 Fund. We await further information.
One of the recommendations from the Feeley Independent Review of Adult Social Care is that ILF Scotland is reopened in Scotland. Development work has been put on hold until after Purdah.
We continue to conduct Stakeholder Group meetings in Northern Ireland and Recipient Advisory Group meetings in Scotland virtually. We worked closely with group members over the last year to establish relevant Charter for Involvement Statements and in collaboration with them, we co-produced our first Action Plan in Q4 to confirm how we will implement these. These Groups also helped us develop a recipient feedback survey about the effect of Covid-19 on our recipients and their support services.
We developed our first Equalities Outcomes Monitoring Report, a requirement for ILF Scotland, as a Public Body, from 2020. This reports on the progress we have made in 2020/21 and the equalities outcomes we aim to achieve in 2021/22.
We developed our First Corporate Parenting Report, again, a requirement for us, as a public body, from 2020. This report on our role as a corporate parent, which for now relates to the Transition Fund, and sets out how we intend to deliver on our corporate parenting responsibilities from 2021 - 2024.
ii. Strategic Outcome 2 – Be leaders in enabling independent living:
Whilst our main focus has been on the wellbeing calls with recipients and carers, there are highly significant reforms in progress in both Scotland and Northern Ireland, which ILF is participating in to promote a focus on independent living outcomes.
Our Covid-19 policy and practice has received positive feedback from stakeholders. ILF Scotland has been successful in delivering government policy intent of offering flexibility, choice and maintaining supports. We maintained or increased funds for 96% of recipients, in contrast to HSCP/T’s average of 62% of packages of support maintained or increased (largely due to the necessity of closing building based services). Our flexibility included enabling a number of recipients to employ family members in a time of crisis.
Work has continued throughout the year with ARC Scotland on a new national approach to developing a self-evaluation toolkit, with data model, that can be used to plan and measure the effectiveness of transitions (aimed directly at local authority education and social care departments).
Contributed to various pieces of research and consultations, including the Feely Review.
Virtual engagement events in the form of online workshops and presentations with a variety of partner organisations continued to take place.
In Scotland Self Directed Support (SDS) national standards, which we helped create, have now been agreed by COSLA and ILF Scotland has been invited to join Social Work Scotland National Self-directed Support Steering Group. This will oversee the development of a co-produced national action plan for the further implementation of Self-Directed Support.
In Q4 the continuation of our Carer Respite grant (30 grants) has helped avoid admission to care where carers reported they simply could not continue.
iii. Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high-quality efficient service:
Wherever possible, we have attempted to continue our business as usual operation during this period, and have completed meetings, development activities, planning activities, reporting and audit to our normal standards.
Awarded Best Small Employer at Working Families Awards in Q1, gained a Top 10 UK Employer in the Working Families Benchmark in Q2, were a finalist in three categories of excellence as an employer in the UK Working Mums Awards in Q3 and finally we were awarded a Highly Commended in the inaugural Flexibility Work Awards in Q4.
Completed the first stage of an organisational workforce plan preparing for future growth.
Gained Cyber Essentials Plus for the third year running and returned a "satisfactory" level of compliance with a much higher standard than required against the National Cyber Security Centre 10 Steps cyber security framework.
Three main projects continued well over the year despite the time pressure challenges on all staff from the Covid-19 response. The new file plan for our records management is sitting with the Scottish Government and once the changes are made we can begin the process of records migration into our new ERDM, which is planned for Q1 of 2021/22. The digital transformation project completed the discovery phase and moved to development of the new service delivery model. During Q4, this has been reviewed by a team of industry experts, including technical architects from Microsoft, and during Q1 of 2021/22 we will see this progress to a fully costed business case for capital investment. Finally, we have progressed the redesign of our risk and resilience framework.
Over the course of the year, we have tried, wherever possible, to continue our business as usual operation albeit remotely. As well as responding to the Covid-19 crisis, we completed and achieved sign off on our new strategic plan for the following 3 years. As a public body, this one action provided us with the strategic framework to focus our activities on both the Covid-19 response and also our future 3 year planning and we are pleased to report that alongside Covid-19, all of our public body duties, governance, operations and reporting have all progressed.
In terms of delivery of our services, we have nearly completed two cycles of in depth wellbeing calls/reviews with every 2015 Fund recipient. The change from physical review to the calls has resulted in a fourfold increase from our normal contact cycle with individual recipients as instead of a two-yearly review, we have now contacted all recipients twice in a year. This has placed significant challenges on the normal service delivery model, but also an opportunity to learn how best to scale and deliver this service and has resulted in the much welcomed developments to the assessor portal.
Video conference, network bandwidth, Skype, Zoom, emails and storage limits were all pushed to the limits during Covid-19 and resulted in much frustration and technology fatigue. The end of Q3 saw the move to a cloud based Microsoft Teams solution for Scottish Government and Q4 has seen ILF Scotland fully adopt the platform and begin to realise the benefits of it as a collaboration tool and secure video conferencing channel for external as well as internal people.
Business planning for Covid-19 recovery and also for 2021-23 was completed this period and once 3 carry forward response actions have been closed out, the new plan has twenty one business objectives to achieve the corporate strategy.
Sustainability, change management, improvements and efficiency management have been looked at during this period and two specific business plan objectives set around linking the quality of our performance to the National Performance Framework and net carbon neutral planning by 2045.
From initial review of the National Performance Framework (NPF), it is likely that ILF Scotland is well placed to demonstrate positive contributions to 9 of the 11 NPFs and this work will progress in the next financial year.
Overall, as mentioned in the Feely Report (January 2021), ILF Scotland is a strong example of a public service delivering a high quality service in a highly pressurised and challenging time and could be seen as a role model for others.
c. Main Effort – The main effort throughout this reporting period has been responding to Covid-19 whilst carrying on developing our strategic plans for the future.
d. Call Volumes – This year we have received 11,240 telephone and email enquiries compared with 10,254 in 2019/20. This 10% increase is due to a rise in operational activity, Covid-19 and growth in Transition Fund related calls and a new call recording system that is easier for staff to complete. There are relatively few emails from 2015 Fund recipients, which is explained by the fact that most do not have or use emails, but where we do receive enquiries, these are mainly for respite, requesting forms or queries regarding their award. Most emails come from applications for the Transition Fund and at present, stage one requires an email request to validate the application. Thereafter, applicants are using email to submit quotes, receipts, support letters and to complete the end of grant process. The main areas of enquiry are as follows:
Transition Fund – general enquiries and Identification document enquiries;
Transition Fund – requests to extend funding and application support;
2015 – finance changes;
2015 – Local Authority calls for information including payment schedule, threshold sums, etc;
2015 – completion of agreement forms and the new process;
General (this includes confirmation of information not covered above, new fund enquiries and general information about the organisation and in recent weeks information regarding employer costs and funding during the Covid-19 situation.)
e. Quality Journey – Work has continued on the creation of an integrated sustainability and improvements plan. The five inter-related components remain:
Continuous Improvement
Change Management
Quality Management
Sustainability
Efficiency Management
The control mechanism required to be in place, and the initial assessment outcomes for strategic improvement projects, as well as the new improvement and sustainability model has incurred significant delays due to operational workload across all areas of the organisation. The mechanism required for highlighting and approving major improvement work within the organisation will be in place in Summer 2021.
f. Complaints – Across both funds, we received 14 complaints in 2020/21 compared with 35 the previous year. We capture each learning point from this valuable feedback about our service and act to address any issues raised through revised procedures, staff training, etc, in the spirit of continuous organisational improvement.
g. Intern – Our Communications Intern completed his internship at the end of Q2. He wrote a blog for our website highlighting how positive a learning experience it was for him. He managed to secure a temporary position with another organisation in Q3.
h. Social Work Student - We received numerous requests to accept a social work student last year. Placements are reduced and universities are struggling to find placements for final year and masters students. We accepted a student, from Dundee University on a largely virtual placement January to May 2021 and this has again been a resounding success. The fresh perspective and recent theory and practice brought into the organisation is a strong aid to keeping our practice reflective and fit for purpose. We intend to take another student in Q1 2021 given the unprecedented demand and lack of opportunities.
i. Future Work – The focus for the next period will be to look to the future and what this means for our strategy, policy development, our new business plan and our growth agenda based on the findings of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, including work to reopen the fund to new applications in Northern Ireland and expansion of the Transition Fund. Work will continue in relation to wellbeing calls and the Covid-19 recovery plan, but we expect, even with the positive impact of the vaccination programme, our operations will remain the same in Q1. After that we are planning for the resumption of physical reviews and a hybrid working solution where colleagues will continue to work flexibly, but with more time in the office. As we have not carried out any physical reviews for over 12 months, there will be a considerable backlog to work through coupled with navigating the long term impact of the pandemic on social care.
3. 2015 Fund
a. 2015 Fund Numbers – Over the year 2015 Fund recipient numbers have dropped to 2,572 (Scotland 2,160 & NI 412) from 2,690 (Scotland 2,254 & NI 436). This represents an overall decline in line with the trend of around 4.4% (4.2% Scotland & 5.5% NI) per annum.
b. 2015 Fund Operational Performance – This year saw a reduction of 88% in review reports completed due to being unable to carry out physical visits. Instead, we have completed over 4,000 detailed individual calls that in effect were mini reviews; telephone contacts updated practical matters, such as ILF award changes and also provided a range of supports to recipients. As detailed above, the suspension of home visits, a core part of our role, led to an increase in communication with recipients and a lasting legacy will be increased choice and control for recipients. Some lessons from Covid-19 have already been identified e.g. we will now continue to offer video call reviews where appropriate and we are designing our own bespoke guidance as there is very little guidance on social care assessments undertaken by video from any sources.
c. Policy Revision – We have completed the following in this reporting period:
Got approval to continue to pay normal awards to the end of June 2021.
SG and COSLA issued guidance on sustainability payments to HSCPs on 14 December 2020. Updated guidance relevant to ILF Scotland recipients also produced. This will acknowledge different contractual arrangements.
We continue to pay additional amounts for replacement care and other Covid-19 related expenditure where required for the same time period.
We have drafted a process to allow ILF Scotland to administer the £500 Thank You payment to our recipients employing PAs. It is with SG for consideration.
We have agreed with Scottish Government colleagues to further reduce the cap on Available Income contributions from £83 to £43 from June 2021.
We have carried out further work to investigate the reopening of the 2015 Fund in collaboration with Civil Servants and other stakeholders in Northern Ireland. Civil Servants are currently working on a submission to the Minister.
We have completed a revised Policy 44 (Employment Support Guidance) and published.
We are drafting a revised Policy 41 (Use of Funding) to provide recipients with more flexibility and to bring our policy more in line with SDS principles of choice and control. We have submitted this to the Sponsor Team in Q4 for approval.
d. Scottish Living Wage (SLW) – We implemented the Scottish Living Wage for all our recipients in Scotland with directly employed and appointed self-employed PAs, effective from 1 April 2021.
e. Social Work Update – In this reporting period ILF Scotland provided analysis of communication with all 2015 Fund recipients to key stakeholders, including Social Work Scotland and both sponsoring governments. As previously mentioned, 92% of ILF awards were paid in full or increased compared with Health and Social Care Partnerships where 60% of jointly funded supports were functioning as normal and 40% of jointly funded supports were not in place or significantly reduced through the closure of day and respite services. Carer stress resulting in the breakdown of support at home was evidenced during communication with recipients resulting in the provision of direct carer support for the first time in ILF history. We have made 30 emergency respite payments to avoid admission to care.
Despite being the busiest year to date in our history, we have contributed significantly to adult social care reforms in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Scotland we are embedded in the creation of new Self Directed Support Standards with Social Work Scotland, a new PA handbook in partnership with Self Directed Support Scotland and Social Care Charging with COSLA. In Northern Ireland we have helped advocate for consideration of delegated nursing tasks to PAs to enable greater choice and control. We retained the ability to visit people where there was a critical reason to do so and we have completed a small handful of in person reviews with more planned for Q1 2021-2022. Increasing pressure to address a number of issues as we exit Covid-19 is clear, resulting in the necessity to conduct full reviews as soon as possible, because of significant changes made permanent during Covid-19.
As mentioned previously in the report, feedback from recipients over the past 12 months in relation to our support is that we have got it right, people wanted support, reassurance and information. We signposted 40% of recipients to further supports, most commonly Carers Centres and the Wellbeing Hub. We referred 5% of recipients for Income Maximisation; the internal cases where we took a lead in maximising income would indicate this means approximately £350k of additional income to recipients. We increased the frequency of Social Work Scotland and ILF Scotland network meetings from 4 to 8 during the past year, and this was valuable in enabling speedy communication about our approaches to various Covid-19 SDS Policy changes. Colleagues in Local Authorities in both Scotland and Northern Ireland report that during the pandemic they have largely only been able to prioritise emergency visits and statutory work, such as protection investigations. This has meant, therefore, that the SDS policy flexibility that the Scottish Government has promoted via 2 sets of guidance and a letter from the Cabinet Secretary, has been challenging for statutory authorities to fully implement. Recipients have reported to us that the flexibility to temporarily pay a family member as a PA has often been declined by Local Authorities, as have requests to switch SDS options, e.g. to take a temporary direct payment.
This has meant that, in the best interests of recipients, we have temporarily been able to replace some Local Authority funded care and support on a temporary basis to ensure people could remain at home safely. The consequence of this will be a 2 year long review cycle of negotiations with LAs around reinstating their maximum input for recipients and ILF returning to being the minor funder. Our records show that we usually maintain an overall 2/3 LA / 1/3 ILF average support package split, and this is our target for 2021-22. The current position, due to the impact of the pandemic, particularly on building based care services, is estimated to be approximately 50-50%. The ILF percentage in Northern Ireland will be higher, because more LA support was building based services which have remained closed. These figures are fluid, as building based services restart the LA contribution will increase. It will be the end of Q2 2021-22 before we can report with confidence on the health of our balance of funding.
f. Feedback – Standard satisfaction surveys (2015 and Transition Fund) are temporarily suspended so as not to increase pressure on vulnerable families. Recipient feedback will be considered as part of the recovery planning process and a sensitive method for re-issuing surveys will be put in place in due course. We launched a survey in December to get feedback from recipients on how they have been affected by Covid-19. We received 350 responses with very positive overall feedback on our services at this time with particular emphasis placed on the ongoing flexible policy application to allow for replacement support and the assessor wellbeing calls. However, the responses also confirmed how badly affected a lot of our recipients have been by the pandemic. Our report is in draft at this stage.
4. Transition Fund
a. Transition Fund Operational Performance – The challenge of delivering the Transition Fund (TF) in the context of Covid-19 has been very real. The closure of other services which previously worked with young disabled people in transition and the inability to meet face-to-face with young people and their supporters to provide the level of support that we have been able to give previously, considerably changed the environment in which the fund operates.
Despite these challenges, over the full year the TF has seen a record increase in applications. In 2019-20 the fund received 1,337 applications and in 2020-21 this increased by 36% with 1,813 applications received in an environment where direct engagement with prospective applicants was severely curtailed. This was despite the reduction in the maximum grant amount on 1st Dec 2020 to £1,500 from the original
£7,500, due to very high demand, which resulted in a slow-down in applications received. Even with this reduction and slow down, we were only able to keep the fund open after additional funding was made available by the Scottish Government.
There have been many challenges for the recipients of the fund in accessing the services and supports that they had chosen to assist them in meeting their identified outcomes. In many cases these have not been accessible at all during the Covid-19 period. Driving lessons, gymnasiums and other commonly requested supports have been largely unavailable throughout the whole reporting period and as a consequence, the TF has adapted to this situation by offering both additional time to complete outcomes by extending grant periods or by allowing some flexibility in how the funds are spent by allowing for alternative methods of meeting those outcomes, e.g. allowing the purchase
of home exercise equipment when the gym that the young person had identified to assist them in meeting their goal was not available. We have worked closely with young people throughout this period to allow this type of flexibility where possible and keep the person progressing towards their chosen outcomes.
Fruitful discussions with our Scottish Government Sponsors have secured an increased budget for 21-22 and this has allowed an increase to the maximum grant which will be set at £4,000 for the coming year. Within this, the fund retains the discretion to exceed the maximum in exceptional cases.
b. Social Work Update – The continued inability to carry out face-to-face visits has caused some difficulties during Covid-19 and continues to make supporting young people, families and non-family supporters to complete and submit applications challenging. Our high rate of applications received in the first half of the year dipped somewhat through Q4, most likely as a response to the reduction in the maximum grant from £7,500 to £1,500 at the end of Q3. On the plus side, this allowed staff to catch up with processing and to return to our 12 week service standard. It is recognised that the return to higher level of maximum grant for the new financial year will further stimulate application numbers. A new specialist caseworker was added to the team during Q3 and they are now fully operational, but in light of the above, a need for further staffing has been identified and a further specialist caseworker is currently being recruited. The non-availability of certain popular activities for periods, such as driving lessons and gym memberships, has meant that funds have been slower to be released than before, with caseworker staff working intensively with applicants to find the best way to meet their needs and also to manage their awards responsibly. Extensions to award periods and allowing the flexible use of funds within the originally stated outcomes has ensured that we have been able to continue to support disabled young people in their transition in spite of the prevailing conditions.
c. Feedback– The operational environment remains challenging for staff supporting young people to apply successfully to the fund in the current uncertain times. We continue to hear of other statutory and charitable services not meeting the needs of the young people that apply to the fund and the complete non-availability of services through the Covid-19 pandemic. There continues to be significant anxiety in both young people and their families, especially in terms of how this has potentially affected the long-term prospects of 2020’s school leavers, and indeed those due to leave in 2021, who have had little or no time in school for the past 12 months. The TF has been successful to date in addressing some of the inequalities and barriers that exist for young disabled people trying to make their way in the world by addressing a gap in traditional services, which left with reduced support as they take their first steps towards adulthood. This gap appears only to have widened due to Covid-19, which has resulted in many young people missing out on supports to plan their future. The feedback that we have received, particularly in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, has highlighted this and has demonstrated how much many young disabled people and their families have come to rely on the TF in this vital step in their life. Our recent recipient survey has illustrated the depth of the impact that the Transition Fund has made on young disabled people's lives and their ability to move forward in making their future plans a reality.
1. Our People
a. Overview - 2020-21 has without doubt been the most challenging and busiest year since our inception for ILF Scotland due to Covid-19 and increasing work pressures. We have tried to be innovative in our support, introducing many new measures and initiatives to help our staff get through the year. Indeed, not only has this been recognised by our colleagues via various feedback routes, our comparatively low absence rates and staff retention, but also externally as a market leading employer of choice winning the Best Small Employer Award in the UK from Working Families in May, a Top 10 Employer in the annual Working Families benchmark in September, a finalist in 3 categories (the Best for Mental Health/for Employee Engagement/for Best for Family Support) in the 2021 Working Mums Awards and Highly Commended in the 2021 Top Employer Flexibility Works Awards.
As always, we have tried to remain an optimistic, open and supportive employer. The Health and Wellbeing programme has remained front and centre of our decision making as we made our way through the year. Focus on our own individual Health & Wellbeing and that of our colleagues as a connected team has been of paramount importance. We have and will continue to meet monthly on Zoom at our All Staff Meetings. Smaller groups also continue to meet regularly in our peer / team groups. ‘Keeping in Touch’ in this manner allows us to monitor changing behaviours and identify anyone who needs support. Our Trickle App has been used since its launch to gauge mood across the organisation and we have started to signpost to supportive wellbeing materials and websites through the App. The Trickle App is building momentum and is also used to carry out pulse surveys to motivate and praise staff.
As with Q1-3, Q4 has continued with continuing pressures on staff as a result of Covid-19, particularly due to a 3rd lockdown since December 2020. Staff have found it challenging to remain upbeat. However, as we move into Spring there is a distinctive change in mood and overall wellbeing with hope on the horizon. Q4 has been another busy quarter across the organisation with further recruitment within the Operations Team of Assessors and a Specialist Caseworker. Interviews are planned for April 2021. As a priority, we continue to promote our life friendly working and the health and wellbeing of all our people.
We have, during Q4, again joined forces with the skill and expertise from the ‘Strong Minded Resilience’ team, who have just completed their final Recharge Workshop, which was delivered three times during Q4. We intend to work closely with Strongminded Resilience later on in the year to refresh and reinforce previous resilience work. Staff feedback has been positive on those workshops. We have also appointed a Trauma Champion to take some of this work forward and they are currently being trained through the Scottish Government Wellbeing Network.
Our student Social Worker from Dundee University will end her placement at the end of April 2021. Although working entirely remotely, the placement has been successful. We look forward to welcoming more students later in the year. During Q4, 15 staff members attended an AGE Inclusive Scotland workshop: 'Planning for the Future'. Feedback from this has been very positive as some staff start planning their futures away from paid work in the next 10 years or so. We do however move into 2021-22 with renewed optimism looking forward to supporting our workforce, which in turn leads to positive outcomes for our recipients.
b. Organisational Demography – Organisational Demography – By the end of Q4 the organisational make up remains at 61: staff (54) and Directors (7): 72:28 female: male, with 16.39% of staff self-identified as disabled, 4.92% BME and 1.64% LGBT.
c. Employment status – As we come to the end of Q4 we remain focussed and promote making ILF Scotland as progressive and positive a place to work. We continue a supportive and work/life friendly approach using our full suite of policies, ILF Scotland offers different contractual opportunities to all individuals employed in some capacity within the organisation. Currently all staff have employed status, which is providing stability and continuity for both the organisation and individuals at this time of uncertainty. During 2020-21 all staff have worked 100% flexibly and we will continue to ensure staff can have a work/life harmony which suits their individual circumstances. We recruited our first intern in February 2020, immediately before the start of the Covid-19 lockdown which was successful and productive in the project work completed. Our social work student started in January 2021 and through working remotely has had a positive experience. Our student is due to complete her placement at the end of April 2021. The student has been supported well by 2 of our experienced Assessors. During Q1 2021- 22 we will be recruiting an IT Modern Apprenticeship through QA Apprenticeships. Work has started on this process and we hope to welcome our apprentice by the end of Q1. Detailed planning work is underway looking at our Workforce Plan considering new duties ILF Scotland may be formally requested to discharge in due course.
d. Recruitment – In Q4, due to increasing workloads across the organisation and in part due to the Covid-19, unintended consequences of changing policies and wellbeing calls, we have continued to build and strengthen our workforce. We advertised internally for an SDS Manager and this was successfully appointed from 01 March 2021. We are currently recruiting to replace Assessors and an additional Specialist Caseworker. Those posts should be in place during Q1 2021-22. During 2020-21 the following roles and internal promotions have been appointed:
1 x SDS Manager - internal promotion (was Assessor)
1 x Operations Administrator
1 x Social Work Student (Jan-April 2021)
e. Retention – Staff retention remains high with only one member of staff leaving in the financial year.
f. Absence –01 April 2020 to 31 March 2021
Annual Overall: 5.02% Average days loss per person: 11.32.
Long term: 3.01% /Avg 6.7 days ppn.
Short term: 2.01% / Avg 4.53 days ppn.
Absences have continued to be higher than previous years mainly due to long term illness and Covid-19. However, we are starting to see a return to work of several of the long term absences. Several staff over 2020-21 have been recorded as isolating, however remained working from home. A few staff were recorded as formally reducing hours/workload for a short period due to caring responsibilities or Covid-19 fatigue with this option temporarily ongoing. A number of staff also continue to shield and have been notified to continue this through to 26 April 2021.
We are however starting to see the consequences of a high tempo of work coupled with the isolating impact of Covid-19, with colleagues reporting exhaustion and increased anxiety. Indeed we strongly believe our absence rates would have been much higher had we not taken such positive action in the area of wellbeing and supporting colleagues through this unprecedented time. Some staff have been working with our Occupational Health partners and we hope to see a reduction in our sickness absences as we move out of lockdown restrictions and into a more positive period particularly as the vaccination programme is rolled out across the population. We continue to offer mental health support through our 4 Mental Health First Aiders with one staff member as a Psychological First Aider. The Mental Health First Aiders meet quarterly to discuss any concerns and how to promote the organisations Mental Health First Aid work.
g. Disciplinary, Grievance and Performance – Following a lengthy process 1 staff member left the organisation by agreement on 01 April 2020.
h. Staff Survey – The 2020 staff survey took place later than planned (May/June 2020) due to Covid-19. Data analysis from the staff survey evidenced a workforce which remained positive and upbeat. Staff acknowledged positively the supportive offerings from ILF Scotland at the start of the pandemic. The report was presented to the Remuneration Committee in September 2020. The 2021 staff survey will be launched early in Q1 2021-22. The staff have been working closely with one of our Board Directors to include some new and innovative questions to gauge mood and gather evidence to support future workforce decision making. This year we will include questions relating specifically to Covid-19. The staff survey will be open to staff for completion for a period of 1 month. Thereafter the data will be externally analysed before reporting back to our workforce and Remuneration Committee in Autumn 2021.
i. Supporting Activity - To enable the organisation to successfully deliver the strategy and be an employer of choice, and as a small sample, the following activity has taken place:
Monthly 'All Staff' Zoom meetings, including attendance by Susan Douglas-Scott CBE at a few meetings.
Regular Staff Development Days, largely focussing on Staff Wellbeing and our Recovery Plan through the pandemic.
Weekly 'news' bulletins from COO continue to Staff, Board Directors and Sponsor Team.
3 x Health and Wellbeing webinars attended.
‘Supporting Each other in a Crisis’ webinar attended by 25 staff and Board Directors.
Resilience Leadership workshop for managers.
'Recharge workshops' delivered during Jan -Feb 2021.
Bereavement Policy review completed (Jack’s Law) – distributed on 06 April 2020.
HR Policy and Procedure – Review cycle through 2020.
Information Technology Infrastructure Library Level 4 IT Operations course successfully completed.
In September we signed up to the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Scheme to raise awareness and support Breastfeeding in Scotland.
Mentorship/Student/Buddying Programme work started.
Online Halloween Party in October.
Online Christmas Party Quiz on 16th December.
1 x staff member attended (in person) a First Aid Refresher Course in December.
1 x staff member attended a 'virtual' Disclosure Scotland Conference.
5 x staff members attended the virtual 'Women into Leadership' conference.
All Managers attended a facilitated 'virtual' Away Day in November.
1 x Staff member interviewed by Flexibility Works as part of ongoing Scottish Government research on flexible working.
Weekly Cuppa and Chat - 'virtual' for any staff - non work related chat for 1/2 hour.
j. Health and Safety - There are no RIDDOR reportable incidents over the last quarter. The Health and Safety team continue to offer guidance and support with regard to Covid-19, following SG Guidance and NHS Inform. The team have started developing our recovery plan to ensure we keep the workforce and recipients as safe as possible coming out of this pandemic. Display Screen Equipment self-assessments continue with staff being encouraged to re-evaluate their home work areas to ensure they are comfortable and safe. Activities include:
Continue to follow related Scottish and UK Government//NHS Inform/HSE advice– regularly communicating with staff on guidance and changes in a timely manner.
‘Work from Home’ remains the default position and as advised by Scottish Government will remain till 31st March 2021. All staff are set up to work from home and line management keeping in regular contact. A recovery plan is currently being created as future guidance is received from the UL and Scottish Governments.
Weekly communications to Board, Staff and Sponsor team continue to be recorded to support post Covid-19 reflection.
Track and Trace Diary continues to be active and working well – this monitors staff attendance in Denholm House: numbers in and out of Denholm House. This tool is also used to trace should there be a Covid-19 staff outbreak in the office team. Maximum 8 staff members and only those who are essential workers to ensure helpline and mail is ‘business as usual’ as much as possible.
DSE self-assessments are continuing to be encouraged in the long term as previous self-assessments may have been completed with short term ‘work from home’ timescales in mind.
Annual leave – currently all staff are using appropriately to support wellbeing.
Resilience Recharge workshops attended by staff during January, Feb and March 2021.
Weekly informal 1-2-1’s continue.
Bi-weekly team meetings continue.
All Staff have access (and have been utilising) to the National Wellbeing Hub and Helpline. This continues to be promoted by the Wellbeing Ambassador and by HR during the Staff Development Days.
Monthly ‘All staff meetings’ continue virtually.
Pulse surveys promoted in Q4 – gauging organisational mood and staff engagement on a regular basis.
Trickle – Staff Engagement tool continues to be promoted to encourage and monitor pulse survey data collation, feedback to staff and positive encouragement. Staff training underway to promote the use of TRICKLE. 83% staff signed up to use Trickle.
2 day - Covid-19 Long Weekends (pro-rated) introduced during the months of February and March 2021 to help combat Covid-19 fatigue. Feedback has been positive and this leave will be reviewed regularly as we gather and monitor mood sense feedback.
‘Ditch the Desk’ introduced during January 2021. Staff are encouraged and empowered to get away from their desks for a ½ hour every day to complete a work related task. E.g. walking meetings/ strategic thinking away from screens etc.
Scottish Government Risk Assessment circulated to all staff to consider reasonable adjustments to tasks and workforce planning for the future.
Health and Safety Policy 2020-21 reviewed and updated.
Health and Safety Guidance documents reviewed and updated.
Health and Safety – Covid-19 Office Risk Assessment completed and circulated.
Health and Safety – Covid-19 Guidance regularly reviewed, updated and circulated to support staff.
Next Annual Health and Safety Audit planned for July 2021.
6. Information Governance and IT
a. Overview – This has been a period of enormous change and activity to support the organisation’s ability to function seamlessly throughout what has been the busiest year ILF Scotland has ever experienced. At the start of the year we overcame two key challenges to ensure effective communications across the organisation and supporting data protection and security management as all staff became home workers. All staff transitioned successfully to agile home working and this in part reflects the flexible culture of the organisation and the wider digital strategy. In effect, ILF Scotland was able to seamlessly continue its normal operations, albeit with some bandwidth and connection issues with the significant pressures on the Scottish Government network.
During the mid-part of the financial year things stabilised during this period and all staff have normalised to our remote operations, including use of Skype, Teams and Zoom meetings. All managers now have the ability to organise and run Zoom meetings and all staff can join in on smartphones and tablets. Staff have also responded well to health and safety home working practices and we have now ensured all staff are set up for what has been an extended period of working from home. Scottish Government launched phase one of their Microsoft Teams rollout, and as this is cloud based, we saw a much improved return to video conferencing capabilities as it was no longer delivered across the SG network.
This year we experienced our first “drive-by” attempt at a cyber-attack which is where randomised websites are selected to see if it is possible to breach their security and perimeter controls by mass action of simple attack types. We are pleased to report that the systems and firewalls worked well, and also that it does not appear the ILF Scotland was specifically targeted. Whilst the Cyber Essentials Plus standard confirmed our protection levels against these simple forms of attack, we sought higher levels of assurance and requested internal audit to assess us against a much higher standard called National Cyber Security Centre 10 Steps. The audit result was returned this period and saw us achieve a satisfactory but with a narrative that suggested a good overall rating here. This has helped identify areas for improvements and these have now been built into the work programme for the resilience project for 2021-22. Alongside cyber security, on a very positive note, we can also report that following a virtual data protection audit, we have received an overall “Good” rating for our information and data security practices.
Q4 has been more settled and stable overall as some of the network and technology challenges of the last year have been largely overcome by the smooth adoption of Microsoft Teams as a collaboration and video conferencing tool. This period of relative stability has enabled us to focus on high quality data analysis and reporting so as to inform some of the key policy developments which we have now seen. Thus we have been able to plan for the introduction of the Scottish Living Wage, Care Grants, Available Income Reduction, Covid-19 related payments, vaccine notification letters and changes to the Transition Fund to allow for an increase in the maximum grant.
Alongside this data mining and analysis activity, we have also made some significant changes to how our systems operate and what services are needed. We have introduced a bulk emailing service for our recipients which can be broken down by group, country, or even postcode and send messages directly to individuals but via one portal. This is a step change in data security and time efficiency saving for the communications and data protection teams. We have also set up the capability to send bulk text messages to recipient mobile phones and again this will see an improvement to the speed and number of channels by which we can get information quickly to recipients about changes to policies and awards. Still on the communications front, we have introduced "Softphone" technologies to caseworker laptops so that there is no need for staff to be in the physical office to answer the main 0300 number - this can now be done wherever they have their laptop and access to the internet and has the potential for energy and office materials savings as well as being able to provide higher availability contact centre services during the working week.
The three main projects continued well this period, and also over the full year despite the time pressure challenges on all staff from the Covid- 19 response. The new file plan for our records management is sitting with Scottish Government and once the changes are made we can begin the process of records migration into our new ERDM, which is planned for Q1 of 2021/22. The digital transformation project completed the discovery phase and moved to development of the new service delivery model. During Q4, this has been reviewed by a team of industry experts, including technical architects from Scottish Government, and during Q1 of 2021/22 we will see this progress to a fully costed business case for capital investment.
Last and definitely not least, we moved into Phase 2 of the Resilience Project during Q4 and this has focused on identifying the critical business activities and core processes likely to have the biggest negative impact on our ability to deliver the operation if a risk event were to materialise. This has also resulted in a rationalisation of our risk register and the development of a risk appetite and tolerance framework which can be used for risk planning as we progress through Q1-2 of 2021-22. Despite Covid-19, this has been an exceptional year and, as a crisis-led business disruptor, we have responded quickly to the needs of our staff and our recipients and shown the benefits of our agile digital strategy and the effectiveness of our information security training and awareness programmes.
b. Records Management – The Senior Information Risk Officer and the Privacy and Improvement Manager successfully completed formal Records Management Training in February/March of 2021. The Scottish Government eRDM Programme Team issued a number of queries with the updated File Plan and final amendments were submitted to them in early March 2021. All staff will undertake refresher training via the eRDM e-learning module in early 2021-22 with Information Management Support Officers in each area commencing that role in May 2021. The migration from G:Drive to eRDM is due to take place in May/June 2021, subject to the Scottish Government Programme Team's completion of the File Plan within March/April.
The update of our progress with regard to our overall Records Management programme was submitted to the National Records of Scotland in January 2021. This has been successful in that the Keeper has accepted the delays incurred by the project and, as anticipated, they have issued no change to the overall scoring of our records management arrangements. The two amber scores remain in place and are dependent upon the implementation of an electronic records management system. We fully expect the Progress Update Review cycle of 2022 will see these two elements accepted as green by the Keeper.
c. Data Protection – As with the last quarter incidents have remained low considering the volumes of work being experienced by frontline teams. There have been 7 incidents this past quarter which remain entirely due to human error. All of have been assessed as a low risk to the data subjects and all have been containable and unreportable to the Information Commissioner's Officer. The similarity in type and number of these minor incidents seems to point to an increased willingness to report minor incidents which can be taken as a positive step forward in data protection reporting. The DPO continues to tailor staff updates and internal newsletter articles to the type of incidents being reported and suggesting process changes for staff to adopt. It is hoped that this, alongside the mandatory annual Data Protection refresher for all staff in first part of 2021/22, will show a reduction in incidents going forward.
d. Infrastructure and Security – The infrastructure continues to manage demand well and all staff remain working remotely. At the end of March 2021 we have seen the removal of Skype for Business, which has not caused any issues as all users have been successfully using MS Teams as their main communication tool over the last few months. Security scanning software alerted that two ILF Scotland email addresses were identified on the dark web. The severity was low as passwords were “uncrackable”. Both were advised to change passwords on all systems where they use their ILF Scotland email address as a login. They were also advised to remain extra vigilant over the coming months as they may be more susceptible to phishing emails. Towards the end of the financial year we have seen an increase in the number of phishing emails over the last period. Staff are comfortable reporting these and sharing with colleagues for information. We did experience a targeted spear phishing campaign to several of our assessor colleagues this period which saw a request to process an end of year invoice from a housing association that we have regular dealings with. The association had been hacked and their email system compromised which is why our staff details were found and targeted. The staff members identified this very quickly and we were then able to alert all staff to this potential threat and it is good to report that staff were fully attuned to this classic form of end of year cyber attack.
e. Digital Transformation – Work has been completed this period and in total a cross organisational team of 14 people attended various workshops looking at who we provided services for, what we did for them and what tools, technologies and processes were used to deliver the required service. From this, a new technology enabled service delivery model has been developed and towards the end of this period was being reviewed by industry experts, including security specialists, customer service (sales platforms) specialists and technical architects from Microsoft. 5 out of 6 stages have now been completed and once we review the proposed delivery model, the aim will be to complete Stage 6 which is the costing model. From here we will be able to produce the business case to submit to Health Finance via our sponsor team to request the capital funding to adopt the new model .
f. Forum – The Forum has been regularly updated and used as a valuable source of information and signposting to all users during the Covid-19 crisis as well as creating a diary of a disabled person living life through these challenging times. It is an exciting and informative service with currently 150 or so registered users. As the new communications strategy develops we will review how best the Forum sits alongside the now many communication channels we have and develop the messages and information resources we wish to use it for.
g. National Programmes – The two programmes are proceeding at very different paces with the Payments Platform looking to go live in November 2021 with ILF Scotland as its first onboarded organisation using its services. We are heavily involved in developing not only the customer service model that will be used, but also with the technical integration of a piece of software that will enable payment instruction from our core client database to be coded, encrypted and sent to the platform for payment. This is very exciting and puts ILF Scotland at the very heart of the single most important digital project Scotland has undertaken in recent years. The Digital Identity Project has used the lived experiences of some of our Transition Fund applicants to inform the design model for how a national identity verification system might operate in practice. We have yet to see what this might look like and a prototype demonstration is planned for this period but our interest in this is around making our whole applications processes more streamlined, quicker and an overall better experience for anyone who may already have had their identity verified by another public body or trusted service. As with the Payments Platform, ILF Scotland is seen as a trusted, respected and critical partner in developing these two national infrastructure projects for Scotland.
h. Efficiencies – We constantly carry out improvement and efficiency work and this has enabled the organisation to deliver more for the same funding. Over the year we have carried out improvements that have saved 7,600 hours of staff time, the equivalant of £175k, and a summary of highlighted changes are found below:
Development of the Assessor portal.
Introduction of the automated corporate reporting tool.
Introduction of a new call/email logging tool.
Set up of two factor authentication for caseworker portal (security enhancement).
Automatic activation of TF accounts.
Development of short “technology grants” capability for TF applicants.
Introduction of cloud based authentication tool for our payments team (security and improved reliability enhancements).
Capability to upload and view audio/video files to the ICI database.
Sending recipient emails from the ICI database (quality and security enhancement).
Introduction of virtual meeting technologies.
Introduction of Microsoft Teams as a collaboration platform.
“Email” section on ICI that automatically saves emails to recipients.
A cross checking function that flags any TF applications with matching information (potential duplicate/counter fraud detection function).
7. Finance
a. All financial reporting happens via the Audit and Risk Committee and Management Accounts, however there are some additional points for Finance, which are as follows:
i. External Audit - An interim audit by our External Auditors did not raise anything significant and we do not envisage any issues for the year end audit which starts W/C 26th April for two weeks. We plan to have a draft set of Annual Accounts to go to the Audit and Risk Committee on the 10th June, which will then also be presented for approval to the Board on the 29th June.
ii. Internal Auditors - A total of four internal audits completed this financial year:
Transition Fund – applications, assessment, award and payment.
Staff recruitment and retention / staff development (including succession planning).
IT Network Arrangements / Cyber Security.
Data Protection.
Out of these four audits, three received a good overall rating, with one receiving a satisfactory rating. Due to Covid-19 priorities and other work pressures, one audit, Corporate Governance, has been rescheduled into Q1 of FY 2021/22.
iv. Process Review - Work is continuing in Finance conducting a thorough review of all its key processes, this is a major piece of work and will continue into the next financial year. As a result of this review, we will be able to ensure any best practice and any procedural efficiencies are implemented. These updated processed will be incorporated into our Accounting Procedures and Policies Manual. Finance are also working with the IT team on the Digital Transformation project, where we are looking at ways where Finance can digitise its existing processes, making them more efficient and less prone to human error. Finance have also been working with the Risk and Resilience Project, ensuring all processes are fit for purpose.
v. Payment of Invoices - We have exceeded the payment of invoices KPI, as we have paid 97% of invoices within 10 days, with the Scottish Government KPI set at 95%.
Annex A – Operational Dashboards
As part of the corporate reporting project, the following dashboards show our performance in both the 2015 and Transition Funds:
a. The dashboard below provides an overview for both Scotland and Northern Ireland in relation to the 2015 Fund:
Operations Dashboard - 2015 Fund to 31-03-2021
b. The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the 2015 Fund specific to Scotland:
Operations Dashboard - 2015 Fund to 31-03-2021 Scotland
c. The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the 2015 Fund specific to Northern Ireland:
Operations Dashboard - 2015 Fund to 31-03-2021 Northern Ireland
d. The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the Transition Fund:
Operations Dashboard - Transition Fund to 31-03-2021
Annex B - Statistics
The following table shows the key statistics for the period 1st January 2021 - 31st March 2021 and are aligned to standard annual financial reporting cycles as ILF Scotland is now in steady state operations. It does include Transition Fund which is articulated as Group 3.
