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

Contents

Performance Report

Accountability Report

Independent Auditor's Report to the members of ILF Scotland

Financial Statements

Performance Report

Introduction

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

Tel: 0300 200 2022

Email: enquiries@ilf.scot

Website:  www.ilf.scot

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 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

Details of the Senior Management Team (SMT) can be found here

Important external contacts are noted below:

Statutory auditor
Audit Scotland
8 Nelson Mandela Place
Glasgow G1 1BT

Solicitor
Central Legal Office
Breadalbane Street
Edinburgh
EH6 5JR

Internal auditor
MHA Henderson Loggie
29 Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4QB

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:

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.

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:

  1. Return to normal operational tempo (post Covid-19).
  2. Identify and prioritise reviews (need, urgency, waiting time).
  3. Recharge and re-skill teams in independent living practice.
  4. Review forms and processes for ease of use and accessibility.

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Publicly report on Equalities and Inclusion action plans.
  2. Progress Charter for Involvement Action Plan with Advisory and Stakeholder Groups.
  3. Publicly report and implement Corporate Parenting Action Plan.
  4. Develop Gaelic Language Action Plan.

Activity Update:

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:

  1. A co-production working group is established to frame, discuss and recommend the entry conditions to a re-opened 2015 Fund.
  2. A series of engagement events are held nationally.
  3. Develop strategic approach to identifying and analysing all feedback data points (ie a Data Strategy).
  4. Prepare for public consultation and co-producing for the next strategic plan.

Activity update:

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:

  1. Full review of all Covid-19 support packages and work with HSCP/Ts to focus on approaches to enabling better independent living outcomes.
  2. Innovate and create smarter ways of working with HSCP/Ts (eg data sharing and automation of forms and alerts).
  3. 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:

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:

  1. Embed the resilience hub and move to bi-annual cycle of train, exercise and test.
  2. Ensure and maintain the data protection posture of the organisation.
  3. Ensure and maintain the cyber security posture of the organisation.
  4. Introduce annual cycle of information security monitoring and audit.
  5. Identify and deploy a risk and resilience management solution.

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Upgrade and introduce a new client database system.
  2. Continue in-year developments and upgrade the underlying server infrastructure.
  3. Push thinking and development of the Transition Fund and LA portal to achieve greater line of business efficiencies and data sharing
  4. 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:

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 AllocationFunding not drawn down in yearFinal Grant in Aid AllocationActual ExpenditureNet Underspend
£m£m£m£m£m
Resource Expenditure60.5(3.0)57.557.30.2
Capital Expenditure---(0.3)0.3
Non-cash0.1-0.10.1-
Total Fiscal Resource60.6(3.0)57.657.10.5

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

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

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.

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.

Equality Act 2010: guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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 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: 

  1. Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities; 
  2. Annual Governance Statement; and
  3. 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:

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.

NameBoard MeetingsAudit and Risk CommitteeRemuneration Committee
Susan Douglas- Scott2/2 (4/4)1/3* (3/4*) 1/1 (2/2)
Alan Dickson2/2 (4/4)3/3 (4/4)N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth Humphreys4/4 (4/4)4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth McAtear3/4 (3/4)N/A (N/A)1/1 (2/2)
Mark Adderley4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)1/1 (2/2)
Anne-Marie Monaghan3/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)1/1 (2/2)
Etienne d'Aboville4/4 (3/4)3/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)
Alison Nicholson1/1 (N/A)1/1 (N/A)N/A (N/A)
Stephanie Hayle0/1 (N/A)N/A (N/A)N/A (N/A)
Kirsty Aird0/1 (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:

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 

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 at:

Board Register of Declared Interests 2024 | ILF Scotland

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:

The terms of reference of the Remuneration Committee in relation to salary, rewards and conditions of service are:

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

2022-23 in £'000

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:

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

Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating Officer

James Maguire, Director of Finance

Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement

Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services

Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support

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

Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer

James Maguire, Finance Director

Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement

Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services

Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support

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

Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer

James Maguire, Finance Director

Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement

Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services

Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support

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).

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found at the website http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

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

Year 2022-23

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

Staff 2023-24: 11 Male, 61 Female
Staff 2022-23: 12 Male, 53 Female

Total 2023-24: 19 Male, 69 Female
Total 2022-23: 21 Male, 59 Female

Absence Analysis

The table below shows the staff absence analysis of ILFS employees for the year. 

Absence rate 2023-24: 3.43%
Absence rate 2022-23: 4.72%

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).

2023-2024
Directly Employed: Permanent Contract: 80
Directly Employed: Fixed Term Contract: 0
Temporary Staff Contract: 3
Total: 83

2022-2023
Directly Employed: Permanent Contract: 69
Directly Employed: Fixed Term Contract: 4
Temporary Staff Contract: 0
Total: 73

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?

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:

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.

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?

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

ExpenditureNotes2023-24 (£)2022-23 (£)
Grants to individuals352,092,38351,413,839
Staff costs43,945,3933,413,403
Other operating income and expenditure51,178,641871,042
Interest payable5,6174,731
Depreciation6/775,55858,992
Total comprehensive net expenditure for
the year		57,297,59255,757,276

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

Notes31 March 2023 (£)31 March 2022 (£)
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment - right-of-use6116,064521,098
Intangible assets737,260-
Total non-current assets153,324521,098
Current assets
Trade and other receivables9406,663538,319
Cash and cash equivalents106,280,4947,770,500
Total current assets6,687,1578,308,819
Total assets6,840,4818,829,917
Current liabilities11(2,206,273)(4,038,050)
Total assets less current liabilities4,634,2084,791,867
Non-current liabilities12(126,215)(506,278)
Net assets4,507,9934,285,589
Taxpayers’ equity
General reserve4,507,9934,285,589
Total taxpayers’ equity4,507,9934,285,589

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

Notes2023-24 (£)2022-23 (£)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net expenditure(57,297,592)(55,757,276)
Depreciation575,55858,992
Interest Payable5,6174,731
Adjustment for initial adoption of IFRS16-38,832
Decrease/(Increase) in trade and other receivables9131,656(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 assets6/7(37,260)(580,090)
Re-assessment of right of use asset329,476-
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities292,216(580,090)
Cash outflows from financing activities
Grant Funding57,519,99654,920,000
Leasing finance (re-assessed)/received(326,434)511,257
Net cash flows from financing activities57,193,56255,431,257
Cash outflows from financing activities
Finance lease payments(38,046)(37,342)
Interest payable(5,617)(4,731)
Net cash flows from financing activities57,149,89955,389,184
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		7,770,5008,261,376
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the
period		106,280,4947,770,500

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 20234,285,589
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2023-2024
Grant in aid from departments57,519,000
Net expenditure(57,297,592)
222,404
Balance at 31 March 20244,507,993
Balance at 1 April 20225,122,865
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2022-2023
Grant in aid from departments54,920,000
Net expenditure(55,757,276)
(837,276)
Balance at 31 March 20234,285,589

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.

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.

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:

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:

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

2023-20242022-23
££
Payments made in year59,540,82655,531,220
Grant liabilities at start of year(3,708,496)(2,900,459)
Grant liabilities at end of year1,726,9423,708,496
Grant returns received in year(5,607,939)(4,479,840)
Grants receivable at start of year445,578-
Grants receivable at end of year(304,528)(445,578)
52,092,38351,413,839

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

2023-242022-23
££
Wages and salaries2,884,3852,480,269
Social security costs301,902270,384
Other pension costs (see note 4b below)759,106662,750
Total staff costs3,945,3933,413,403
Average number of persons directly employed2022-23
Number		2022-23
Number
Directors (part-time non-executives)87
Staff7367
8174

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.

http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/about-us/resource-accounts/

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

2023-242022-23
££
IT and information security costs361,959308,237
Agency costs for temporary staff89,948-
Utilities and other estate costs33,52230,496
Legal and professional costs108,96074,455
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence323,185286,843
Auditors remuneration (see below)27,99027,580
Communication and engagement205,539121,600
Postage costs16,38414,654
Research costs7,750-
Printing and stationery costs3,4042,446
Total other expenditure1,178,641866,311

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

PropertyTotal
Cost or valuation££
At 1 April 2023589,922589,922
Adjustment(336,691)(336,691)
At 31 March 2024 as adjusted253,231253,231
Depreciation
At 1 April 202368,82468,824
Adjustment(7,215)(7,215)
Charge for year75,55875,558
At 31 March 2024 as adjusted137,167137,167
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2024116,064116,064
At 31 March 2023521,098521,098
PropertyTotal
Cost or valuation££
At 31 March 2022--
Adjustment589,922589,922
At 1 April 2022 as adjusted
and at 31 March 2023		589,922589,922
Depreciation
At 31 March 2022--
Adjustment9,8329,832
At 1 April 2022 as adjusted9,8329,832
Charge for year589,922589,922
At 31 March 202368,82468,824
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023521,098521,098
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 TechnologyInformation Technology
Under construction		Total
Cost or valuation££
At 1 April 2023281,028-281,028
Additions-37,26037,260
At 31 March 2024281,02837,260318,288
Amortisation
At 1 April 2023281,028-281,028
Charge for year--
At 31 March 2024281,028-281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2024-37,26037,260
At 31 March 2023--
Information TechnologyInformation Technology Under constructionTotal
Cost or valuation££
At 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023281,028-281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2022 and at 31 March 2023281,028-281,028
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 Assets31 March 202431 March 2023
££
Cash and cash equivalents6,280,4947,770,500

Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with a UK bank held in current accounts to minimise risk.

Financial liabilities31 March 202431 March 2023
££
Grant liabilities1,726,9423,708,496
Trade payables and accruals406,666276,460
Deferred income19,44515,457
Leasing109,435473,915
Provisions70,00070,000
2,332,4883,242,272

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 202431 March 2023
££
Due within one year
Trade and other receivables (see below)330,690476,128
Prepayments75,97362,191
406,663583,319

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 provision31 March 202431 March 2023
££
At 1 April100,370-
Provision no longer required(4,775)-
Recovered in year(4,618)-
Provided in year308,388100,370
At 31 March399,365100,370

10 Cash and cash equivalents

2023-242022-23
££
Balance at 1 April7,770,5008,261,376
Net cash (outflow)/inflow(1,490,006)(490,876)
Balance at 31 March6,280,4947,770,500
31 March 202431 March 2023
££
Benefit accounts5,934,6917,532,097
Administration account345,803238,403
6,280,4947,770,500

Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.

11 Current Liabilities

31 March 202431 March 2023
Trade and other payables406,666276,460
Other liabilities - grant liabilities1,726,9423,708,496
Other liabilities - deferred income19,44515,457
Leasing53,22037,637
2,206,2734,038,050

12 Non-Current Liabilities

31 March 202431 March 2023
££
Leasing56,215436,278
Provisions70,00070,000
126,215506,278

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 202431 March 2023
Land and buildings (Denholm House)
Within one year30,45431,046
Within two to five years23,983136,604
Over 5 years-150,265
Total54,437317,915
Lease payments charged in year29,16929,568

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:

2023-242022-23
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:

2023-242022-23
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

Scottish Government logo.

ILF Scotland

DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS

  1. The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Handwritten signature for Jamie MacDougall

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

Contents

Performance Report

Accountability Report

Independent Auditor's Report to the members of ILF Scotland

Financial Statements

Introduction

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

Tel: 0300 200 2022

Email: enquiries@ilf.scot

Website:  www.ilf.scot

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 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

Details of the Senior Management Team (SMT) can be found here

Important external contacts are noted below:

Statutory auditor
Audit Scotland
8 Nelson Mandela Place
Glasgow G1 1BT

Solicitor
Central Legal Office
Breadalbane Street
Edinburgh
EH6 5JR

Internal auditor
MHA Henderson Loggie
29 Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4QB

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:

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:

Organisational structure of ILF Scotland as of 2022.

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:

  1. 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. 
  2. 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. 
  3. 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:

Status: Green

Strategic Objective  - Develop the Transition Fund

Target Outcome:

  1. Sponsor team fully briefed on demand and financial pressures on the fund.
  2. Staffing levels to support continued levels of demand understood and provisioned. 
  3. Based on demand and feedback, develop proposals for a broader based fund for multiple users and uses.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. Revise maximum award cap at a level that matches demand and is financially sustainable.
  2. One extra staff member recruited to support the fund.
  3. Quarterly demand and usage report and feedback from ambassador group provides evidence base for developments.

Activity Update:

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:

  1. ILF Scotland is recognised as the lead public body for enabling independent living.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. Membership of national boards and committees.
  2. Membership of integration working groups.
  3. Participation in national social work practice events.
  4. Inclusion in reviews of Self-Directed Support (SDS).

Activity update:

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:

  1. ILF Scotland is seen as an exemplar body in enabling independent living.
  2. ILF Scotland has a clearly defined role and remit in the delivery of an integrated social care model.
  3. ILF Scotland becomes part of the governance or operations board of a new NCS.

Activity Update:

Status: Green

Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high quality efficient service:

Strategic Objective  - Re-establish recipient reviews as soon as possible.

Target Outcome:

  1. Safe review visit model developed.
  2. Recipients trained and supported to participate fully in review visits.
  3. ILF Scotland seen as leading good practice.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. ILF Scotland to develop a viable and safe method by which exceptional (emergency) review visits can take place.
  2. Work in partnership with SWS and HSCP and HSCT colleagues to develop a sector agreed approach to social care review visits.

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Preliminary discovery of Use Cases to inform tender documentation.
  2. Successful tender and development of target operating model and costings.
  3. 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:

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:

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

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

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.

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.

Equality Act 2010: guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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 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: 

  1. Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities; 
  2. Annual Governance Statement; and
  3. 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:

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.

NameBoard MeetingsAudit and Risk CommitteeRemuneration Committee
Susan Douglas- Scott4/4 (4/4)3/4* (2/4*)2/2 (2/2)
Alan Dickson4/4 (4/4)4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth Humphreys4/4 (4/4)4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth McAtear3/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)2/2 (2/2)
Mark Adderley4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)2/2 (2/2)
Anne-Marie Monaghan4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)2/2 (2/2)
Etienne d'Aboville3/4 (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);

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 

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 at:
Board Register of Declared Interests 2023 | ILF Scotland

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:

The terms of reference of the Remuneration Committee in relation to salary, rewards and conditions of service are:

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

2021-22 in £'000

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:

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

Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating Officer

James Maguire, Director of Finance

Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement

Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services

Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support

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

Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer

James Maguire, Finance Director

Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement

Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services

Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support

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

Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer

James Maguire, Finance Director

Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement

Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services

Robert White, Director of Self-Directed Support

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).

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found at the website http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

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

Year 2021-22

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

Staff 2022-23: 12 Male, 53 Female
Staff 2021-22: 10 Male, 48 Female

Total 2022-23: 21 Male, 59 Female
Total 2021-22: 19 Male, 54 Female

Absence Analysis

The table below shows the staff absence analysis of ILFS employees for the year. 

Absence rate 2022-23: 4.72%
Absence rate 2021-22: 5.02%

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.

Staff Costs & Numbers – Subject to Audit

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 £0
  • Other Pension Costs £0
  • Total £15,840

Total 2022-21

  • Salaries £2,480,269
  • Social Security Costs £270,384
  • Other Pension Costs £662,750
  • Total £3,413,403

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

2022-2023
Directly Employed: Permanent Contract: 69
Directly Employed: Fixed Term Contract: 4
Temporary Staff Contract: 0
Total: 73

2021-2022
Directly Employed: Permanent Contract: 61
Directly Employed: Fixed Term Contract: 5
Temporary Staff Contract: 0
Total: 66

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?

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:

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.

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?

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

ExpenditureNotes2022-23 (£)2021-22 (£)
Grants to individuals351,413,83949,155,898
Staff costs43,413,4032,976,953
Other operating income and expenditure5871,042832,025
Depreciation and amortisation558,9925,690
Total comprehensive net expenditure for
the year		 55,757,27652,970,566

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

Notes31 March 2023 (£)31 March 2022 (£)
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment - owned6a--
Property, plant and equipment - right-of-use6b521,098-
Total non-current assets521,098-
Current assets
Trade and other receivables9538,31964,929
Cash and cash equivalents107,770,5008,261,376
Total current assets8,308,8198,326,305
Total assets8,829,9178,326,305
Current liabilities11(4,038,050)(3,242,272)
Total assets less current liabilities4,791,8675,084,033
Non-current liabilities12(506,278)-
Net assets4,285,5895,084,033
Taxpayers’ equity
General reserve4,285,5895,084,033
Total taxpayers’ equity4,285,5895,084,033

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

Notes2022-23 (£)2021-22 (£)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net expenditure(55,757,276)(52,970,566)
Depreciation and amortisation558,9926,561
Adjustment for initial adoption of IFRS1638,832-
Amortisation of capital grant11-(871)
(Increase) in trade and other receivables9(473,390)(6,427)
Increase/(Decrease) in trade and other payables
and other liabilities		111,302,056(1,334,918)
Net cash outflow from operating activities(54,830,786)(54,306,221)
Acquisition of right of use asset6b(580,090)-
Net cash outflow from investing activities(580,090)-
Cash outflows from financing activities
Grant Funding54,920,00055,427,581
Net cash flows from financing activities54,920,00055,427,581
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		8,261,3767,140,016
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the
period		107,770,5008,261,376

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 20225,122,865
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2022-2023
Grant in aid from departments54,920,000
Net expenditure(55,757,276)
(837,276)
Balance at 31 March 20234,285,589
Balance at 1 April 20211,632,040
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2021-2022
Grant in aid from departments55,427,581
Net expenditure(52,970,566)
2,457,015
Balance at 31 March 20225,084,033
Initial adoption of IFRS16 on I April 2022 (see below)38,832
Balance at 1 April 20225,122,865

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.

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.

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:

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:

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

2022-232021-22
££
Payments made in year55,531,22053,779,043
Grant liabilities at start of year(2,900,459)(4,202,435)
Grant liabilities at end of year3,708,4962,900,459
Grant returns received in year(4,479,840)(3,321,168)
Grants receivable at end of year(445,578)-
51,413,83949,155,899

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

2022-232021-22
££
Wages and salaries2,480,2692,169,521
Social security costs270,384225,107 
Other pension costs (see note 4b below)662,750582,325
Total staff costs3,413,4032,976,953
Average number of persons directly employed2022-23
Number		2021-22
Number
Directors (part-time non-executives)77
Staff6760
7467

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.

http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/about-us/resource-accounts/

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

2022-20232021-22
££
IT and information security costs308,237258,020
Utilities and other estate costs35,227113,079
Legal and professional costs74,455142,495
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence286,843196,754
Auditors remuneration (external audit)27,58021,120
Communication and engagement121,60087,267
Postage costs14,6549,059
Printing and stationery costs2,4464,231
Total other expenditure871,042832,025
Depreciation and amortisation££
Depreciation58,992-
Amortisation-6,561
Amortisation of capital grant-(871)
Net depreciation and amortisation58,9925,690

6a Property, plant and equipment - owned

Information TechnologyTotal
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 TechnologyTotal
Cost££
At 1 April 202137,58337,583
Disposals(37,583)(37,583)
At 31 March 2022--
Depreciation
At 1 April 202137,58337,583
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

PropertyTotal
Cost or valuation££
At 31 March 2022--
Adjustment589,922589,922
At 1 April 2022 as adjusted
and at 31 March 2023		589,922589,922
Depreciation
At 31 March 2022--
Adjustment9,8329,832
At 1 April 2022 as adjusted9,8329,832
Charge for year58,99258,992
At 31 March 202368,82468,824
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2023521,098521,098
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 TechnologyTotal
Cost or valuation££
At 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023281,028281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2021 and at 31 March 2023281,028281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022--
At 31 March 2021--
Cost or valuationInformation TechnologyTotal
££
At 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022281,028281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2021274,467274,467
Charge for year6,5616,561
At 31 March 2022281,028281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022--
At 31 March 20216,5616,561

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 Assets31 March 202331 March 2022
££
Cash and cash equivalents7,770,5008,261,376

Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with a UK bank held in current accounts to minimise risk.

Financial liabilities31 March 202331 March 2022
££
Grant liabilities3,708,4962,860,459
Trade payables and accruals276,460341,813
Deferred income15,457-
Leasing436,278-
Provisions70,00040,000
3,242,2724,578,061

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 202331 March 2022
££
Due within one year
Trade and other receivables (see below)476,12814,633
Prepayments62,19150,296
583,31964,929

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

2022-232021-22
££
Balance at 1 April8,261,3767,140,016
Net cash (outflow)/inflow(490,876)1,121,360
Balance at 31 March7,770,5008,261,376
31 March 202331 March 2022
££
Benefit accounts7,532,0978,172,515
Administration account238,40388,861
7,770,5008,261,376

Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.

11 Current Liabilities

31 March 202331 March 2022
Trade and other payables276,460301,813
Other liabilities - grant liabilities3,708,4962,900,459
Other liabilities - deferred income15,457-
Other liabilities - deferred income capital grants--
Leasing37,637-
Provisions-40,000
3,242,2724,578,061
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 202331 March 2022
££
Leasing436,278-
Provisions70,000-
Balance at 31 March 2022506,278-

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 202331 March 2022
Land and buildings (Denholm House)
Within one year31,04662,500
Within two to five years136,604-
Over 5 years150,265-
Total317,91562,500
Lease payments charged in year29,56875,040

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:

2022-232021-22
Care grant funding££
Received from SG in year-1,281,230
Received from SG in prior years500442,334
Income receivable in year5001,723,564
Payments made in year5001,723,564
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 years500447,902
Total receivable in year5001,771,132
Total payments
Cost of care grants5001,723,564
Administration costs-47,568
Grand total payments in year5001,771,132

The relevant figures relating to DOH are set out as follows:

2022-232021-22
Care grant funding££
Received from DOH in year835,039-
Payments made in year835,039-
Administration funding
Received from DOH in year96,280-
Administration costs paid in year96,280-
Total funding
Received from DOH in year931,319-
Total payments
Cost of care grants835,039-
Administration costs96,280-
Grand total payments in year931,319-

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

Scottish Government logo.

ILF Scotland

DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS

  1. The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Handwritten signature for Jamie MacDougall

Signed by the authority of the Scottish Ministers
Dated 27 May 2020

Annual Operational Report: 2022 to 2023

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Progress Update
  3. Self-Directed Support Summary
  4. Policy, Improvements and Engagement Summary
  5. People Summary
  6. Information Governance and IT Summary
  7. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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:

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Strategic Objective 3: Develop the Transition Fund

Target Outcome:

  1. Sponsor team fully briefed on demand and financial pressures on TF.
  2. Staffing levels to support continued levels of demand of TF understood and provisioned.
  3. Based on demand and feedback, develop proposals for the TF to a broader based fund for multiple users and uses.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. Revised maximum award cap implemented from 1 April 2021 at a level that matches demand and is financially sustainable.
  2. One extra staff member recruited to support the TF.
  3. Quarterly demand and usage report and feedback from ambassador group provides evidence base for developments.

Status: Green

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Delivery of a national communications strategy to increase awareness levels.
  2. Application to the 2015 Fund start in NI and Scotland and grow steadily.
  3. 10% increase in application to the TF

Status: Green

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Published policy suites.
  2. As above.
  3. Availability of new policies as required to support a re-opened 2015 Fund.
  4. Over two full years, implement and measure effectiveness against the Charter for Involvement Action Plan.
  5. A published and operable Customer Charter.
  6. A published Corporate Parenting Report, based on an implemented Action Plan.

Status: Green

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Membership of national boards and committees.
  2. Membership of integration working groups.
  3. Participation in national social work practice events.
  4. Inclusion in reviews of SDS.

Status: Green

Activity Update:

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:

  1. ILF Scotland is seen as an exemplar body in enabling independent living.
  2. ILF Scotland has a clearly defined role and remit in the delivery of an integrated social care model.
  3. 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.

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:

  1. 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.

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:

  1. Working with the new satisfaction survey and stakeholder groups, identify opportunities and areas for new services or developments.
  2. Data metrics identify and prioritise new developments based on greatest need and greatest impact.
  3. Feedback is captured from stakeholder groups of new services and reported to the service improvements manager.
  4. 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:

Strategic Outcome 3: Operate a high-quality efficient service.

Strategic Objective 11: Re-establish recipient reviews as soon as possible.

Target Outcome:

  1. Safe review visit model developed.
  2. Recipients trained and supported to participate fully in review visits.
  3. ILF Scotland seen as leading good practice.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. By Dec 2020, ILF Scotland has developed a viable and safe method by which exceptional (emergency) review visits can take place.
  2. 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:

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:

  1. Preliminary discovery of Use Cases to inform tender documentation.
  2. Successful tender and development of target operating model and costings.
  3. 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:

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:

  1. A newly designed service delivery model.
  2. A fully resourced workforce plan to support the delivery model.
  3. The technology and supporting infrastructure to enable 30% digital delivery by end 2023.

Status: Green

Activity Update:

See Strategic Objective 12

Strategic Objective 14: Progress organisational risk and resilience programme

Target Outcome:

  1. An operationalised Resilience Hub.
  2. Through test and exercise, a more robust and resilient ILF Scotland.
  3. Revised and improved approach to risk governance.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. Operationalised Resilience Hub and associated business impact assessments and resilience plans.
  2. A test and exercise plan.
  3. Test and exercises confirm appropriateness of resilience plans.
  4. Quarterly resilience reports to SMT.
  5. Introduction of risk management, governance and compliance software to improve management of risk.
  6. 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:

Strategic Objective 15: Be a Top Employer for our staff.

Target Outcome:

Achieve Top Employer status during 2021-22

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. Working Families Benchmarking undertaken.
  2. Staff working group set up to action survey feedback.
  3. Trickle feedback used to identify real time satisfaction and engagement levels using themed “Mood Sense” over the year.
  4. New well-being initiatives introduced keeping ILF Scotland at the leading edge of support to staff post-COVID

Status: Green

Activity Update:

Strategic Objective 16: Reducing our carbon footprint and introducing our sustainability model.

Target Outcome:

  1. An integrated and proactive sustainability model linking continuous improvement activity to organisational efficiency and reduced environmental impact.
  2. Organisational approach to quality links improvement actions to carbon, resource, energy reductions.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. An efficiency and sustainability model linked to quality and continuous improvement is developed by March 22.

Status: Green

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Welfare checks, reviews and recovery calls attempt to obtain current email addresses for all award managers.
  2. ICT team investigate pricing and security options for a 3rd party text messaging service (this is not available via SCOTS).
  3. ICT Team investigate a VOIP replacement for the 0300 office number, recommending and implementing a solution.

Status: Green

Activity Update:

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:

  1. No red findings or gaps identified.
  2. 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:

Strategic Objective 19: Develop and implement a new reporting model to evidence satisfaction with the delivery of our service.

Target Outcome:

  1. 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:

  1. Development of the new survey.
  2. Creation of the communications and survey delivery plan.
  3. Creation of the reporting model.
  4. Links from the reporting model to the organisational improvements and change activity (including policy where relevant).
  5. Development of the approach and mechanism to inform recipients on how we are acting on their feedback.

Status: Amber

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Business case and proposed solution approved and authorised through appropriate governance channels.
  2. Tender and procurement action.
  3. Deployment and integration with existing services and the new SG Payments Platform.

Status: Green

Activity Update:

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:

  1. Funding at the required levels to sustain current and provisional future activities.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. Financial reports clearly state spend to date and future direction of travel.
  2. Funding secured from Scottish Government to deliver current and future operations.
  3. Regular meetings with sponsor teams and health finance to review and confirm required levels of funding.
  4. Medium Term Financial Plans approved via Board and submitted to Sponsor Team.
  5. 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:

Strategic Objective 22: Complete and implement the Equalities Duty Action Plan and Gaelic Language Act responsibilities.

Target Outcome:

  1. Fully compliant with all aspects of the Equalities Duty (as relevant to a small public body).
  2. Fully compliant with all aspects of the Gaelic Language Act (as relevant to a small public body).

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. The creation and sign off of an Equalities Duty Action Plan.
  2. Implementation of the Action Plan.
  3. Development and measurement of the metrics to confirm the successful implementation of the Action Plan.
  4. Successful audit in 2022-23. 5. As 1-4 for the Gaelic Language Act Action Plan.

Status: Green

Activity Update:

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:

  1. 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.
  2. An action plan is created to address initial baseline assessment improvement issues and implemented during Q2-Q4.
  3. 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:

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:

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:

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:

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

  1. We have new External Auditors; they are Audit Scotland.
  2. They have started their interim audit checks, and everything so far seems to be going smoothly, with no issues currently.
  3. The only change to our Accounting Policies during the year was the introduction of IRFS16 on leases.
  4. 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

Process Review

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

Contents

Performance Report

Accountability Report

Independent Auditor's Report to the members of ILF Scotland

Financial Statements

About us

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

Tel: 0300 200 2022

Email: enquiries@ilf.scot

Website:  www.ilf.scot

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 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

Details of the Senior Management Team (SMT) can be found here

Important external contacts are noted below:

Statutory auditor
Deloitte LLP
110 Queen Street
Glasgow G1 3BX

Solicitor
Central Legal Office
Breadalbane Street
Edinburgh
EH6 5JR

Internal auditor
MHA Henderson Loggie
29 Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4QB

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:-

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:

  1. 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. 
  2. 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. 
  3. 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:

  1. Sponsor team fully briefed on demand and financial pressures on the fund.
  2. Staffing levels to support continued levels of demand understood and provisioned. 
  3. Based on demand and feedback, develop proposals for a broader based fund for multiple users and uses.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. Revise maximum award cap implemented from 1 April 2021 at a level that matches demand and is financially sustainable.
  2. One extra staff member recruited to support the fund.
  3. Quarterly demand and usage report and feedback from ambassador group provides evidence base for developments.

Activity Update:

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:

  1. ILF Scotland is recognised as the lead public body for enabling independent living.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. Membership of national boards and committees.
  2. Membership of integration working groups.
  3. Participation in national social work practice events.
  4. Inclusion in reviews of Self-Directed Support (SDS).

Activity update:

Status: Green

Strategic Objective  - Develop a shared understanding and best practice model of enabling sustainable independent living outcomes.

Target Outcome:

  1. 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:

  1. ILF Scotland is seen as an exemplar body in enabling independent living.
  2. ILF Scotland has a clearly defined role and remit in the delivery of an integrated social care model.
  3. ILF Scotland becomes part of the governance or operations board of a new National Care Service.

Activity Update:

Status: Green

Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high quality efficient service:

Strategic Objective  - Re-establish recipient reviews as soon as possible.

Target Outcome:

  1. Safe review visit model developed.
  2. Recipients trained and supported to participate fully in review visits.
  3. ILF Scotland seen as leading good practice.

Key Performance Indicators:

  1. By December 2020, ILF Scotland has developed a viable and safe method by which exceptional (emergency) review visits can take place.
  2. 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:

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:

  1. Preliminary discovery of Use Cases to inform tender documentation.
  2. Successful tender and development of target operating model and costings.
  3. 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:

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 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:-

Organisational structure of ILF Scotland as of 2022.

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

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.   

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.

Equality Act 2010: guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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 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: 

  1. Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities; 
  2. Annual Governance Statement; and
  3. 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:

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).

NameBoard MeetingsAudit and Risk CommitteeRenumeration Committee
Susan Douglas- Scott4/4 (4/4)2/4* (2/3*)2/2 (1/2)
Alan Dickson4/4 (4/4)4/4 (3/3)N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth Humphreys4/4 (4/4)4/4 (3/3)N/A (N/A)
Elizabeth McAtear4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)2/2 (2/2)
Mark Adderley4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)2/2 (2/2)
Anne-Marie Monaghan4/4 (4/4)N/A (N/A)2/2 (2/2)
Etienne d'Aboville4/4 (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:

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 

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:

The terms of reference of the Remuneration Committee in relation to salary, rewards and conditions of service are:

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

2020-21 in £'000

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:

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

Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer/Acting CEO

James Maguire, Director of Finance

Nadeem Hanif, Head of Finance

Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement

Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services

Robert White, Director of Selfdirected Support

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

Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating, Officer/Acting CEO *

James Maguire, Finance Director *

Nadeem Hanif, Head of Finance *

Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement & Engagement *

Paul Hayllor, Director of Digital & Information Services

Robert White, Director of Selfdirected Support

* 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).

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found at the website http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk  

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

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

Year 2020-21

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

Staff 2021-22: 10 Male, 49 Female
Staff 2020-21: Seven Male, 40 Female

Total 2021-22: 19 Male, 54 Female
Total 2020-21: 16 Male, 45 Female

Absence Analysis

The table below shows the staff absence analysis of ILFS employees for the year. 

Absence rate 2021-22: 5.02%
Absence rate 2020-21: 5.02%

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?

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:

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.

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?

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:

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:

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 www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. 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: 

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the body operates in, and identified the key laws and regulations that:  

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: 

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:

We are required by the Auditor General for Scotland to report to you if, in our opinion:

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

ExpenditureNotes2021-22 (£)2020-21 (£)
Grants to individuals349,155,89852,720,451
Staff costs42,976,9532,689,969
Other operating income and expenditure5832,025799,026
Depreciation and amortisation55,69017,059
Total comprehensive net expenditure for
the year		 £52,970,566£52,970,566

All expenditure relates to continuing operations.
The notes on pages 67 to 86 form part of these financial statements. (View statements in PDF format).

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2022

Notes31 March 2022 (£)31 March 2021 (£)
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment6--
Intangible assets7-6,561
Total non-current assets-6,561
Current assets
Trade and other receivables964,92958,502
Cash and cash equivalents108,261,3767,140,016
Total current assets8,326,3057,198,518
Total assets8,326,3057,205,079
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables11(341,813)(238,844)
Other liabilities – grant liabilities11(2,900,459)(4,202,435)
Other liabilities – deferred income11-(136,782)
Total current liabilities(3,242,272)(4,578,061)
Total assets less current liabilities5,084,0332,627,018
Taxpayers’ equity
General reserve5,084,0332,627,018
Total taxpayers’ equity5,084,0332,627,018

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

Notes2021-22 (£)2020-21 (£)
Cash flows from operating activities
Net expenditure(52,970,566)(56,226,505)
Depreciation and amortisation56,56163,377
Amortisation of capital grant12(871)(46,318)
(Increase) in trade and other receivables9(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 income55,427,58157,221,483
Net cash flows from financing activities55,427,58157,221,483
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		7,140,0169,226,093
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the
period		8,261,3767,140,016

The notes on pages 67 to 86 form part of these financial statements. (View statements in PDF format).

Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2022

General Reserve
££
Balance at 1 April 20212,627,018
Grant in aid from departments55,427,581
Net expenditure(52,970,566)
2,457,015
Balance at 31 March 20225,084,033
Balance at 1 April 20201,632,040
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2020-2021
Grant in aid from departments57,221,483
Net expenditure(56,226,505)
994,978
Balance at 31 March 20212,627,018

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 67 to 86 form part of these financial statements. (View statements in PDF format).

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.

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.

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:

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:

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

2021-222020-21
££
Payments made in year53,779,04353,107,287
Grant liabilities at start of year(4,202,435)(2,497,503)
Grant liabilities at end of year2,900,4594,202,435
Grant returns received in year(3,321,168)(2,091,768)
49,155,89952,720,451

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

2021-222020-21
££
Wages and salaries2,169,521 1,986,314
Social security costs225,107 201,471
Other pension costs (see note 4b below)582,325 502,184
Total staff costs2,976,9532,689,969
Average number of persons directly employed2021-22
Number		2020-21
Number
Directors (part-time non-executives)77
Staff6054
6761

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.

http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/about-us/resource-accounts/

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

2021-222020-21
££
IT and information security costs258,020262,991
Rent, utilities and other estate costs113,079121,958
Legal and professional costs142,495196,017
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence196,754107,289
Auditors remuneration (for auditing the financial statements)21,12020,100
Communication and engagement87,26779,919
Postage costs9,0597,860
Printing and stationary costs4,2312,892
Total other expenditure832,025799,026
Depreciation and amortisation££
Depreciation and amortisation6,56163,377
Amortisation of capital grant(871)(46,318)
Net depreciation and amortisation5,69017,059

6 Property, plant and equipment

Information TechnologyTotal
Cost££
At 1 April 202137,58337,583
Disposals(37,583)(37,583)
At 31 March 2022--
Depreciation
At 1 April 202137,58337,583
Disposals(37,583)(37,583)
At 31 March 2022--
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022--
At 31 March 2021--
Information TechnologyTotal
Cost££
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 202137,58337,583
Depreciation
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 202137,58337,583
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2021--
At 31 March 2020--

7 Intangible assets

Cost or valuationInformation TechnologyTotal
££
At 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022281,028281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2021274,467274,467
Charge for year6,5616,561
At 31 March 2022281,028281,028
Net Book Value
At 31 March 2022--
At 31 March 20216,5616,561
Cost or valuation
Information TechnologyTotal
££
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021281,028281,028
Amortisation
At 1 April 2020211,090211,090
Charge for year63,37763,377
At 31 March 2021274,467274,467
Net Book Value
At 31 March 20216,5616,561
At 31 March 202069,93869,938

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 Assets31 March 202231 March 2021
££
Cash and cash equivalents8,261,3767,140,016

Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with The Royal Bank of Scotland held in current accounts to minimise the risk.

Financial liabilities31 March 202231 March 2021
££
Grant liabilities2,900,4594,202,435
Trade payables and accruals341,813238,844
Deferred income-135,911
Capital grant liabilities-871
3,242,2724,578,061

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 202231 March 2021
££
Due within one year
Prepayments50,29648,940
Other receivables14,6339,562
64,92958,502

10 Cash and cash equivalents

2021-222020-21
££
Balance at 1 April7,140,0169,226,093
Net cash inflow/(outflow)1,121,360(2,086,077)
Balance at 31 March8,261,3767,140,016
31 March 202231 March 2021
££
Benefit accounts8,172,5157,086,452
Administration account88,86153,564
8,261,3767,140,016

Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.

11 Current Liabilities

31 March 202231 March 2021
Trade and other payables341,813238,844
Other liabilities - grant liabilities2,900,4594,202,435
Other liabilities - deferred income DG-135,911
Other liabilities - deferred income capital grants-871
3,242,2724,578,061

The Deferred Income - SG relates to grant timing differences.

12 Current Liabilities

Deferred Income - Capital Grants31 March 202231 March 2021
££
At 1 April 202187147,189
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 202231 March 2021
Land and buildings (Denholm House)
Within one year62,50085,000
Within two to five years-70,833
Total62,500155,833
Lease payments charged in year75,04083,007

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:

2021-222020-21
Care grant funding££
Received from SG in year1,281,230-
Received from SG in previous year442,334-
Income receivable in year1,723,564-
Payments made in year1,723,564-
Administration funding
Received from SG in year42,000-
Received from SG in prior year5,568-
Income receivable in year47,568-
Administration costs paid in year47,568-
Total funding
Received from SG in year1,323,230-
Received from SG in prior year447,902-
Total receivable in year1,771,132-
Total payments
Cost of care grants1,723,564-
Administration costs47,568-
Grand total payments in year1,771,132-

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

Scottish Government logo.

ILF Scotland

DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS

  1. The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Handwritten signature for Jamie MacDougall

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. Introduction3
2. Progress Update 3
3. Self-Directed Support Summary25
4. Policy, Improvements and Engagement Summary26
5. People Summary28
6. Information Governance and IT Summary32
7. Finance Summary35
Annex A – Operational Dashboards37

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

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 1

Strategic Objective 2 - Developing the relationships and protocols to be part of an integrated national model of Health and Social Care delivery

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 2

Strategic Objective 3 – Develop the Transition Fund

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 3

Strategic Objective 4 - Increase awareness levels of our Funds and the numbers of people it can support

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 4 (1/2)
Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 4 (2/2)

Strategic Objective 5 - Review and update our policies and practices to reflect current and emerging national HSC delivery plans

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 5

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

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 6

Strategic Objective 7 - Develop and shared understanding and best practice model of enabling sustainable independent living outcomes

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 7 (1/2)
Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 7 (2/2)

Strategic Objective 8 - Linking our data and reporting to the National Performance Framework (NPF)

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 8

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

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 9

Strategic Objective 10 - Design new services with disabled people at the heart of them

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 10 (1/2)
Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 10 (2/2)

Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high-quality efficient service:

Strategic Objective 11 Re-establish recipient reviews as soon as possible

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 11

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

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 12

Strategic Objective 13 - Develop and implement the workforce operational model to support a re-opened ILF Scotland

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 13

Strategic Objective 14 - Progress organisational risk and resilience programme

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 14 (1/2)
Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 14 (2/2)

Strategic Objective 15 - Be a Top Employer for our staff

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 15 (1/2)
Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 15 (2/2)

Strategic Objective 16 - Reducing our carbon footprint and introducing our sustainability model

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 16 (1/2)
Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 16 (2/2)

Strategic Objective 17 - Develop and enhance communication channels with recipients to reduce reliance on paper based channels

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 17

Strategic Objective 18 - Audit and compliance reporting cycle to continue

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 18 (1/2)
Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 18 (2/2)

Strategic Objective 19 - Develop and implement a new reporting model to evidence satisfaction with the delivery of our service

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 19

Strategic Objective 20 - Improve the efficiency and ease of financial reporting for the organisation

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 20

Strategic Objective 21 - Ensure the financial viability of ILF Scotland

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 21

Strategic Objective 22 - Complete and implement the Equalities Duty Action Plan and Gaelic Language Act responsibilities

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 22

Strategic Objective 23 - Complete and implement Equalities Mainstreaming Action Plan

Table of Target Outcomes, KPIs and Activity Updates of Strategic Outcome 23

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:

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 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:

Q1:

Q2:

Q3:

Q4:

e.    Retention – During 2021-22 staff retention remains high with 3 staff leaving in the financial year:

f.    Absence

Sickness Absence2021-222020-21
Long Term2.74%3.01%
Short Term2.28%2.01%
COVID-19 Sickness (included in Short term)0.47%0.11%
Total5.02%5.02%

Sickness Absence : Q4: 01 January 2022 - 31 March 2022

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:

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.

ILF Scotland Information Governance Dashboard January - March 2022

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
Internal Auditors
Process Review

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:

Operations Dashboard - 2015 Fund to 31-03-2022

b.    The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the 2015 Fund specific to Scotland:

Operations Dashboard - 2015 Fund to 31-03-2022 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 31-03-2022 Northern Ireland

d.    The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the Transition Fund:

Operations Dashboard - Transition Fund to 31-03-2022

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.

Table of key statistics for the period 1st January 2022 - 31st March 2022

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

Registered in Scotland

Tel: 0300 200 2022
Email: enquiries@ILF.scot
Website: www.ilf.scot

Supporting Citizenship

A message from the Chair of the Board

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.

DocuSign by Susan Douglas-Scott CBE

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

Internal auditor
MHA Henderson Loggie
29 Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4QB

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:-

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:-

Organisational structure of 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.

Table of task or organisational activity, indicative KPIs and current status (1/3)
Table of task or organisational activity, indicative KPIs and current status (2/3)
Table of task or organisational activity, indicative KPIs and current status (3/3)

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:

Strategic Outcome 2 - Be leaders in enabling independent living:

Strategic Outcome 3 - Operate a high-quality efficient service:

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:

Quality Journey – Work has continued on the creation of an integrated sustainability and improvements plan. The five inter-related components remain:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

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 DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Peter Scott, Accountable Officer DocuSign

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:

  1. Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities;
  2. Annual Governance Statement; and
  3. 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:

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 DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Peter Scott, Accountable Officer DocuSign

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
Table of 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 DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Peter Scott, Accountable Officer DocuSign

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.

Register Of Interests

Full details of ILF Scotland’s Register of Interests can be found on our website at: ILF-Scotland-Governance-REGISTER-OF-DECLARED-INTERESTS-2021.pdf

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 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 DocuSign

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:

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:

Name2020-212019-20
 £'000£'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair)5-105-10
Alan Dickson0-50-5
Fiona O’DonnellN/A0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair)5-105-10
Elizabeth McAtear0-50-5
Mark Adderley0-50-5
Anne-Marie Monaghan0-50-5*
Etienne d'Aboville0-50-5*

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:

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.

Table of Chief Executive and SMT's salary and pension benefits.
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).

Table of pension benefits for Peter Scott, Harvey Tilley*, James Maguire*, Nadeem Hanif*, Linda Scott*, Paul Hayllor, and Robert White.

* 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).

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found at the website http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

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
Table containing Band of highest paid employee’s total remuneration, Median total remuneration and the ratio of employees 2020-21 and 2019-20 salary

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.

Table showing number of male and female staff in 2020-21 and 2019-20
Absence Analysis

The table below shows the staff absence analysis of ILFS employees for the year.

Table showing absence rate in 2020-21 and 2019-20

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
Table of staff costs including salaries, social security costs, and other pension costs.
Table of number of directly employed and temporary staff in 2020-21 and 2019-20.

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).

Table of number of relevant union officials.
Table of percentage of time spent on facility time
Table of pay bill spent on facility time
Table of paid trade union activities
Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair DocuSign

Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair

Peter Scott, Accountable Officer DocuSign

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 DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Peter Scott, Accountable Officer DocuSign

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:

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 Scotland website, 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/auditorsresponsibilities. 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:

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the company operates in, and identified the key laws and regulations that:

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:

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:

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:

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)...........…………………………..

Pat Kenny, CPFA DocuSign

29 June 2021

110 Queen Street, Glasgow G1 3BX, UK          

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2021

ExpenditureNotes2020-212019-20
  ££
Grants to individuals352,720,45150,699,169
Staff costs42,689,9692,316,774
Other operating income and expenditure5799,0261,038,883
 Depreciation and amortisation5 17,05924,641
  Total comprehensive net expenditure for the year   56,226,50554,079,467

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

 Notes31 March 202131 March 2020
Non-current assets ££
Property, plant and equipment6--
Intangible assets76,56169,938
Total non-current assets 6,56169,938
  
 Current assets   
Trade and other receivables958,50251,526
Cash and cash equivalents107,140,0169,226,093
Total current assets 7,198,5189,277,619
Total assets 7,205,0799,347,557
  
 Current liabilities   
Trade and other payables11(238,844)(184,685)
Other liabilities – grant liabilities11(4,202,435)(2,497,503)
Other liabilities – deferred income11(136,782)(5,032,458)
Total current liabilities (4,578,061)(7,714,646)
Total assets less current liabilities 2,627,0181,632,911
Non-current liabilities   
Deferred income – capital grants12-(871)
Net assets 2,627,0181,632,040
Taxpayers’ equity   
General reserve 2,627,0181,632,040
Total taxpayers’ equity 2,627,0181,632,040

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 DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Peter Scott, Accountable Officer DocuSign

Peter Scott, Accountable Officer

Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2021

 Notes2020-212019-20
Cash flows from operating activities ££
Net expenditure (56,226,505)(54,079,467)
Depreciation and amortisation563,37783,699
Amortisation of capital grant12(46,318)(59,058)
(Increase)/Decrease in trade and other receivables9(6,975)1,380,451
(Decrease)/Increase in trade and other payables and grant liabilities11/12(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 57,221,48353,386,841
Net cash inflows from financing activities 57,221,48353,386,841
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 9,226,0935,010,734
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period107,140,0169,226,093

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 departments57,221,483 
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 departments53,386,841 
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

1  Nature 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.

2  Statement 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

  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 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.
  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 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
 2020-212019-20
 ££
Payments made in year53,107,28754,136,155
Grant liabilities at start of year(2,497,503)(3,838,340)
Grant liabilities at end of year4,202,4352,497,503
Grant returns received in year(2,091,768)(2,096,149)
 52,720,45150,699,169

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
 2020-212019-20
 ££
Wages and salaries1,986,3141,779,377
Social security costs201,471180,350
Other pension costs (see note 4b on next page)502,184357,047
Total staff costs2,689,9692,316,774
 2020-212019-20
 ££
Wages and salaries1,986,3141,779,377
Social security costs201,471180,350
Other pension costs (see note 4b on next page)502,184357,047
Total staff costs2,689,9692,316,774
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.

http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/about-us/resource-accounts/

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.

 2020-212019-20
5 Other operating income and expenditure:££
Assessor fees and expenses-60,614
IT and information security costs262,991306,279
Rent, utilities and other estate costs121,95868,302
Legal and professional costs196,017195,659
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence107,289226,452
Auditors remuneration (for the auditing of the accounts)20,10024,000
Communication and engagement79,919101,447
Postage costs7,86026,750
Printing and stationary costs2,8924,630
Research costs-24,750
Total other expenditure799,0261,038,883
Depreciation and amortisation££
Depreciation-1,130
Amortisation63,37782,569
Sub-total63,37783,699
Grant release(46,318)(59,058)
Net depreciation and amortisation17,05924,641
6 Property, plant and equipment
 Information TechnologyTotal
Cost££
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 202137,583                              37,583
  
Depreciation  
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 202137,583                              37,583
  
Net Book Value  
At 31 March 2021--
At 31 March 2020--
   Information Technology  Total
Cost££
At 1 April 2019 and 31 March 202037,583                              37,583
  
Depreciation  
At 1 April 201936,45336,453
Charge for year1,130                                1,130
At 31 March 202037,583                              37,583
  
Net Book Value  
At 31 March 2020--
At 31 March 20191,1301,130

7 Intangible assets

Cost or valuation
 Information TechnologyTotal
 ££
At 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 281,028                        281,028
Amortisation  
At 1 April 2020211,090211,090
Charge for year63,377                              63,377
At 31 March 2021274,467                            274,467
Net Book Value  
At 31 March 20216,5616,561
At 31 March 202069,93869,938
  Cost or valuation  
 Information TechnologyTotal
 ££
At 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020                             281,028                            281,028
Amortisation  
At 1 April 2019128,521128,521
Charge for year82,569                              82,569
At 31 March 2020211,090                            211,090
Net Book Value  
At 31 March 202069,93869,938
At 31 March 2019152,507152,507

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 March31 March
 20212020
 ££
Cash and cash equivalents7,140,0169,226,093

Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with The Royal Bank of Scotland held in current accounts to minimise the risk.

Financial liabilities

 31 March31 March
 20212020
 ££
Grant liabilities4,202,4352,497,503
Trade payables and accruals238,844184,685
Deferred income135,9114,986,140
Capital grant liabilities871                47,189
 4,578,0617,715,517

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 March31 March
 20212020
 ££
Due within one year  
Prepayments48,94035,959
Other receivables9,562              15,567
 58,50251,526

10 Cash and cash equivalents 2020-21 2019-20

2020-212019-20
 ££
Balance at 1 April9,226,0935,010,734
Net cash (outflow)/inflow(2,086,077)4,215,359
Balance at 31 March7,140,0169,226,093
 31 March31 March
 20212020
 ££
Benefit accounts7,086,4528,494,632
Administration account53,564            731,461
 7,140,0169,226,093

Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.

11 Current Liabilities

 31 March31 March
 20212020
 ££
Grant liabilities4,202,4352,497,503
Trade payables39,10136,892
Accruals199,743147,793
Deferred income – Scottish Government135,9114,986,140
Deferred income – Capital Grants871                46,318
 4,578,0617,714,646

12 Non-current Liabilities

 31 March31 March
 20212020
 ££
At 1 April47,189106,247
Less amortised in period(46,318)            (59,058)
Total balance at 31 March87147,189
Less due within one year(871)            (46,318)
Due after more than one year0871

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 March31 March
 20212020
 ££
Land and buildings (Denholm House)  
Within one year85,00085,000
Within two to five years70,833            155,833
Total155,833240,833
Lease payments charged in year83,00786,666

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

Scottish Government logo

Independent Living Fund Scotland

DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS

  1. The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Jamie MacDougall signature

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

  1. Introduction
  2. Executive Summary
  3. 2015 Fund
  4. Transition Fund
  5. Our People
  6. Information Governance
  7. 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:

     ii.     Strategic Outcome 2 – Be leaders in enabling independent living:

     iii.     Strategic Outcome 3 – Operate a high-quality efficient service:

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:

e.     Quality Journey – Work has continued on the creation of an integrated sustainability and improvements plan. The five inter-related components remain:

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:

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:

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

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:

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:

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:

ILFS Information Governance Dashboard for January - March 2021

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:

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
Two pie charts showing split of LA Provisions and ILF Provision in 2020 and 2019
Bar chart showing average number of days to progress offer
Bar chart showing 2020 average payment per recipient
Image showing payments and amount paid (k) in Qtr 4 and YTD 2020
Bar chart of 2020 visits, reports and offers
Bar chart of decisions, complaints and appeals

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
Two pie charts showing split of LA Provisions and ILF Provision in 2020 and 2019
Bar chart showing average number of days to progress offer
Bar chart showing 2020 average payment per recipient
Image showing payments and amount paid (k) in Qtr 4 and YTD 2020
Bar chart of 2020 visits, reports and offers
Bar chart of decisions, complaints and appeals

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
Two pie charts showing split of LA Provisions and ILF Provision in 2020 and 2019
Bar chart showing average number of days to progress offer
Bar chart showing 2020 average payment per recipient
Image showing payments and amount paid (k) in Qtr 4 and YTD 2020
Bar chart of 2020 visits, reports and offers
Bar chart of decisions, complaints and appeals

d.     The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the Transition Fund:

Operations Dashboard - Transition Fund to 31-03-2021
Pie chart of applications submitted by applicant or helper in 2020
Bar chart of average days to process offer in 2020
Bar chart showing 2020 average payment per recipient
Image showing number of applications submitted, in payment and paid, and total amount requested, in payment and paid (k) in 2020
Bar chart of applications received and visits in each quarter of 2020

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.

Table of key statistics for the period 1st January 2021 - 31st March 2021 in line with standard annual financial reporting cycles

Annual Report and Accounts - Year Ended 31 March 2020

Independent Living Fund Scotland

Annual Report and Accounts

Year ended 31 March 2020

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...............................................................................................................................................................20
Accountability Report
Statement of Directors’ & Accountable Officer Responsibilities.....................................................38
Annual Governance Statement for the year ended 31 March 2020...............................................40
Directors’ Report for the year ended 31 March 2020..........................................................................48
Remuneration and Staff Report for the year ended 31 March 2020..............................................52
Parliamentary Accountability Report for the year ended 31 March 2020....................................64
Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland.......................................................65
Financial Statements
Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2020 ................ 70
Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2020............................................................................71
Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2020.............................................................72
Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2020...........................73
Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020..................................................................74
Appendix to the Accounts - Accounts Direction.....................................................................................92

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 4,000 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 60 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

Registered in Scotland
Tel: 0300 200 2022
Email: enquiries@ILF.scot
Website: www.ilf.scot

Supporting Citizenship

A message from the Chair of the Board

This year I feel it is important that I begin this message touching on the last quarter of this financial year. I want to express my concerns for all disabled people relying on personal assistance in these uncertain times. Social distancing is not possible when personal care is needed so disabled people and their supporters are in a difficult space. Also as employers, many disabled people are facing challenges as many of their personal assistants are having to take time to socially isolate. Many disabled people are at high risk should they contract Covid-19. All of these factors along with our duty as citizens to stay at home as much as possible, stay safe and protect our NHS means for many, these are frightening times.

ILF Scotland has been working remotely, offering support and recognising the additional costs to disabled people for absence cover and for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Our team is as ever focused on providing an exemplary service to disabled people at this difficult time and I, and the Board of Directors, appreciate everyone’s hard work, and share their concerns and worries at this unprecedented time. All of us at ILF Scotland stand ready to help in any way we can.

Let me now carry on with a broader message of this past year. Disabled people continue to tell us how they value the Independent Living Fund as a vital part of their support. They tell us how they value using their fund to be active citizens. This means different things to different people and all the personal stories I hear are life affirming.

As ILF Scotland approaches its fifth birthday, I continue to be immensely proud of the achievements and success of our organisation. I know this through our engagement with disabled people who are doing the ordinary things in life by using their share of the fund to enable independence. However, independence is easy to say, not always so easy to achieve.

ILF Scotland was created by the Scottish Government to safeguard the vital support that ILF has provided to severely disabled people since 1988. Arguably, this support has never been more important than it is today. Disabled people tell us that, in many ways, the barriers to independent living are increasing rather than being overcome.

I truly believe ILF provides life-enhancing opportunities for people to overcome these barriers. This is because, at least in part, use of ILF allows people to participate in, and contribute to, their communities and our society, in ways that would not otherwise be available to them. We are all enriched as a result.

As we outlined in this report, last year, you will know that the Fund was closed to new applicants by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in 2010. This means that since then many disabled people are missing out on the life-transforming potential of the Fund. This is a frustration to our disabled partners and to me. To address this inequity, this year we began serious discussions with both the Scotland and Northern Ireland governments to look at how we can recreate a new, similar opportunity for disabled people. We really want to be able to support those people who have missed out on the difference ILF can make to their lives.

I am very grateful to the support we get from Government here in Scotland and in Northern Ireland, so thank you to colleagues in both administrations.

The Scottish Government continues to outline a strong commitment to supporting the development of ILF Scotland, in their 2020-21 Programme for Government. In partnership with Government colleagues and other stakeholders, we intend to “gather views and consider evidence for a potential new national scheme to provide extra financial support to people with the highest social care needs”. We have begun gathering views in partnership with our Northern Ireland Stakeholder Group following last year’s commitment from the Northern Ireland Department of Health (DOH) to garner views on the re-opening of ILF.

However, all of this has been delayed due to the emergency status Covid-19 has placed upon the country, on the world. Once we are beyond this and able to return to a place where can plan for development, we will. I believe with further development of our existing model, ILF Scotland is well placed to deliver such a scheme, building on our success and strong reputation amongst disabled people.

I would like to extend my appreciation to our Stakeholder Groups and for their wider, invaluable contribution to the success of our organisation.

On behalf of the Board, I again want to recognise the hard work and achievements of the ILF Scotland staff team, evidenced by the many awards their hard work has led us to gain this year. To place this in context, let me remind you that ILF Scotland is a small and lean organisation. I love working with them and they continually achieve beyond my expectations.

And of course, a big thank you to my Board colleagues, in recognition of their contribution to our organisation and their support to me throughout the year.

I would not normally use this space to mention individuals but again this is a financial year that has ended in an unprecedented space. Our Chief Executive, Peter Scott, was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2019 and began chemotherapy in January. Peter has remained in constant touch, as his health allows, with colleagues and continues to offer his leadership and professionalism to us all. His treatment is going well and he has been in social isolation since it began. He is doing well and we wish him a full and robust recovery.

So to conclude where I began. We are now connected digitally even more, we are in uncharted waters but, as ever, everyone at ILF Scotland has risen to this challenge with open minds and willing hearts. For this I am forever grateful. My dearest wish is that all the people with any connection with ILF Scotland, disabled people, their families, our stakeholders, colleagues, those at government and beyond, is that you all stay safe and well and that when I write this message next year we will be in a very different world.

Susan Douglas-Scott CBE, Chair of the Board DocuSign

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
For the past ten years Susan has followed a portfolio career as a freelance consultant in equalities, health, disability and social care, as a popular humanist celebrant and as a non-executive director with NHS Scotland. She is currently also Chair of NHS Golden Jubilee.

Prior to this Susan enjoyed an 18 year career in public services and then non- Government organisations in the field of disability and health. In the late 1980’s she supported disabled people to leave institutional care using ILF to fund their own personalised care package.

In all her roles Susan uses her skills as a committed people person, holding strong foundations in supporting people to live their lives in a positive way. She has a keen eye for organisational development and through that lens, guides organisations to deliver services that make a real difference to the people they serve.

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.

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, previously member of the Audit & Risk Committee
Mark is a qualified Coach and Director, in both executive and non-executive roles with a passion for equality and social justice. He has over 20 years’ experience in change, transformation, HR and people skills with 15 years as a HR and Business Services Director at Scottish Water, HR and OD Director NHS and Global HR Director Heriot- Watt 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 is also a Chartered Director and fellow of The Institute of Directors and The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and brings his 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, UHI. She is also currently Treasurer of the Barra Access Panel which feeds into the national body from a remote island perspective.

Anne-Marie Monaghan, board member
Anne Marie has substantial professional qualifications and has over 36 years’ experience in social work. She worked in the voluntary sector in youth and community development projects before working in local authority community care.

Anne-Marie brings to the Board her significant experience of social work delivery 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.

Anne-Marie is a non-executive director on Greater Glasgow Health Board and Clyde NHS Board and sits on the Glasgow Integration Joint Board and is Chair of the East Renfrewshire Integration Joint Board.

Etienne d’Aboville, member of the Audit & Risk Committee

Etienne is currently Chief Executive of Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living, a Disabled People’s Organisation that has been providing a range of support, training, housing and employment services since 1996.

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.

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 20 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 Finance Director, 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 (with effect from 1 January 2020)
Although Harvey began his career in the British Army, he has spent the best part of the last 20 years working in the voluntary and public sector.

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 service delivery, IT, health and safety, information governance, facilities, human resources and organisational development. Harvey also acts in the capacity of company Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO).

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 preparation of management accounts and management information.

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, Quality & 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.

At ILF Scotland, Linda is responsible for leading the Policy function within ILF Scotland, driving continuous improvement, developing the Transition Fund and overseeing communications and engagement.

Robert White, Director of Self- directed Support
Robert has over 25 years of experience working in central and local government and has a keen interest in the interaction between social welfare and social work.

Robert began his career in the DWP, undertaking various roles, from Benefits Officer to Social Fund Officer, before becoming a Social Worker, Mental Health Officer and Chair of a Practitioner forum in Ayrshire. Prior to starting with ILF Scotland in 2015, Robert managed a team of Social Workers in South Lanarkshire Council.

As Director of Self-directed Support for ILF Scotland, Robert is responsible for managing and coordinating the organisation’s 25 Assessors who work across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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

Internal auditor
MHA Henderson Loggie 29 Greenmarket Dundee
DD1 4QB


Banker
Royal Bank of Scotland 36 St. Andrew Square Edinburgh
EH2 2AD

Overview

The purpose of this overview section is for readers to develop an understanding of ILF Scotland’s performance in this financial year across both Scotland and Northern Ireland, looking at the challenges that ILF Scotland and our recipients have had to face and overcome during the year.

As we come to the end of another successful year for ILF Scotland, we are also all coming to terms with the global crisis caused by the Covid-19 that has impacted on everyone in the country and indeed the rest of the world. Specifically, we have had to rapidly think what this 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.

For those disabled people that receive our support and rely on personal assistance in these uncertain times, it has been very difficult indeed. Disabled people and their supporters are in a very challenging space. Also as many individuals who receive funding from ILF Scotland are also employers, they face further problems as many of their personal assistants are having to take time to socially isolate or need proper protection to carry on their day to day jobs. Coupled with this, those individuals who commission support through providers, are further tested due to the radical change in how that is delivered.

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 to respond to the crisis almost overnight; to protect our staff and those we support. At national level though, with the initial priority on the NHS and the economic challenges of employment and caring for families at home, there has been less initial attention given to the people who provide care – the Personal Assistants (PAs) and the ability of our recipients to find PPE or replacement PAs when theirs self-isolate.

The key challenge for ILF Scotland was to be flexible in our policy suite and to allow recipients to continue to pay their PAs, whilst trying to find additional support and we worked quickly with Scottish and Northern Irish Governments to make sure we could do this. Though this is still a very dynamic situation and we have more to do, colleagues in our Government Sponsor Teams have performed brilliantly and have enabled our already agile posture, to be even more responsive to the shifting landscape.

This final quarter of reporting has seen a transition to a new way of working, which is likely to be the new normal for the first part of 2020-21. The most significant change has been the suspension of physical review visits for 2015 Fund recipients and we have started conducting interim reviews and welfare checks by telephone, email and video calls. Feedback to date suggests this is working well.

Technically, the organisation has moved almost seamlessly to remote/home working and the digital strategy to date has supported this well. 60% of the workforce were already home based workers with a further 15% regular agile workers operating from several different locations during the working week. The biggest operational challenge has been managing inbound post and telephone calls, but this has been addressed through a skeleton operational team on rotation and all staff equipped with mobile telephones to retrieve voicemail and contact recipients. Should the office close, business will continue as per our new normal with staff local to Livingston collecting the mail direct.

As we look back over the full year, ILF Scotland also achieved a significant milestone towards the end of the year with us reaching more than 4,000 people (2018-19 3,200) we are supporting, which is the first time we have exceeded this number. This growth is due to the increase in take up of the Transition Fund.

Internal communications and staff wellbeing have been uppermost in our minds this period, both addressing the new working practices and supporting staff through unsettling times. To date, this is working well with regular twice weekly communications, bi-weekly newsletters, social media and Yammer posts and the use of WhatsApp and Skype for Business video conferences.

Externally, we have also informed our recipients about our practices regarding Covid-19 and prior to the lockdown period they all received a personal letter. Since then, we have used our social media channels, our website and our forum to communicate and signpost information and resources for recipients and partner agencies and organisations. Of note, we recorded a video from our Chair who made a very personal statement during this difficult time and we now have this as our main website feature.

Over the year, ILF Scotland has continued to develop the organisational strategy as shown in the connected business plan report. The extensive engagement with approximately 500 individuals and numerous organisations in Scotland and Northern Ireland to date has been incredibly positive forming the basis of the new 2020-23 strategy planned for publication in 2020-21. What is very clear from this extensive engagement is the ever increasing challenges disabled people face with constant pressure on their ability to live independently.

Reopening the 2015 Fund to new applications is a key priority. Widening further the criteria for the Transition Fund, stopping charging for fund use and digitisation of service provision is all coming through strongly in the whole consultation. Towards the end of Q4, it also became very apparent that people were looking to ILF Scotland for advice and support regarding employment of personal assistants, care providers, furloughing and employing family members as replacement care. This has highlighted a future leadership and signposting role for ILF Scotland, as well as continuing to develop our policies and finances to respond to the needs of disabled people and their carers.

The operational tempo overall has increased slightly if measured directly in terms of reviews. The number of 2015 Review reports completed in Q4 increased by 3% compared to last year and Transition Fund applications by 58%. What has become apparent and hugely pressing, is that the volume and complexity of work has increased significantly over this last year.

This in turn has placed tremendous strain on the infrastructure and the operational processes. Even with some efficiency gains made over the year, the historical nature of our systems, processes and communication capabilities coupled with the lack of recipient self-service and automation has meant that we are using legacy systems which now require to be updated.

This is being addressed. We have had extremely constructive conversations with the SG Sponsor Team and Health Finance Team to plan next steps for 2020 and beyond. This has resulted in a formal submission of an Outline Business Case for major capital investment in 2021 to undertake the required digital and process transformation, although this may be further delayed due to the current crisis.

On the 4th November at the Celebration event for the first year of the Transition Fund, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Jeane Freeman MSP announced the extension of the age range from 16-21 to 16-25, which has potentially opened up access to the Fund for many more disabled people in transition. Since the change in policy around age range, we have received 80 new applications from young people in this group in this financial year. That said, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Transition Fund is being forced to plug major gaps in local provision and as a result has become a transition service, rather than a more simple grant scheme. This has implications for resourcing and the way the scheme operates in the future. Q4 was also a significant turning point for the number of applications being received online and we believe this is due to a combination of the communication campaign, increased engagement activities and what we are calling “the big green button”, which is making it a lot easier to go straight to the online application form. The good news is that we have spent all of our allocated grant budget for this year and are likely to be requesting a drawdown of larger sums next year.

In Northern Ireland, extensive background work has been completed to prepare for the potential reopening for the 2015 Fund. Alongside this, a major piece of research has been completed which demonstrates the impact and social return on investment (SROI) of ILF Scotland funding which will go towards the business case for reopening. Now verified, it shows that for every pound of ILF Scotland funding invested in social care, it returns £10.89, which equates to £74.569 million of SROI in Northern Ireland this year alone. The report for this work has been finalised in Q4 and will have considerable relevance to Scotland in the future. In tandem with this, work has also been carried out to set up an advisory board to co-produce the new scheme and its first two meetings were held in January and March 2020.

Over the year, the organisation has been proudly recognised as a Top 3 UK for Care Services in the Guardian Public Sector Awards 2019, we were a winner at the Working Mums Best Employer Awards, a Top 30 UK Employer for Working Families, have been a finalist in the Family Friendly Working Scotland 2020 Awards, were awarded a Healthy Living Bronze, achieved Carers Positive status and gained Cyber Essentials Plus for a second year. This external recognition is due to the hard work and professionalism of our staff, always going the extra mile to make a real, positive impact for disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Finally, as this year concludes the full successful delivery of the strategy set in 2016, we look forward with optimism to building on the foundations created to enable even more people to live independently with control, choice and dignity through our new strategy.

Performance Indicators

For the year 2019-20 ILF Scotland measured its performance against key strategic objectives given in the 2016-2020 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.

Our monitoring of Key Performance Indicators (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 40 to 47.

2015 Fund performance indicators are set out on the following page

2015 Fund
Table of 2015 Fund performance review
Transition Fund
Table of Transition Fund performance review

Analysis

Key Operational Activities - Over the year, the following key activities have taken place:

Strategic Outcome 1 - The Existing Fund has been maximised for effective value:

Strategic Outcome 2 - A New ILF scheme is successfully introduced and established in Scotland:

Strategic Outcome 3 - The knowledge gained through our work across all of Scotland and Northern Ireland has been shared to develop best practice:

Main Effort - The main effort during 2019-20 has been the development of our new strategy and policy suite, whilst maintaining the operational tempo of the 2015 Fund and the Transition Fund. This has seen a tremendous effort with running engagement activities, consultations, stakeholder review events, applications processing and implementing the end of grant process and responding to the Covid- 19 situation. Alongside the re-accreditation for Cyber Essentials Plus, a full technical server upgrade and the continuous improvement work, the records management project and commencing the risk and resilience project, ILF Scotland has seen possibly its busiest year yet and has transitioned to the new way of working almost seamlessly.

Call Volumes – This year we have received 10,254 (6,866 telephone and 3,388 email enquiries) in 2019-20 compared with 9,903 (7,956 telephone and 1,947 email enquiries) in 2018-19. This 4% increase is due to a rise in operational activity and growth in Transition Fund related calls. On average, 96% of all calls are from Scottish recipients with 4% from Northern Ireland. 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:

Quality Journey – Further progress has been made with internal communications, recipient feedback based policy development and meaningful meetings reporting. Q4 also saw a small re-configuring of the organisational structure with the formal appointment of an Improvements role which sits under the new Director of Policy, Quality and Engagement. The thinking is that we are moving more towards data driven change management and the Policy Team are foremost in capturing feedback from those that use our services, therefore best placed to identify the priorities for change. We will be adopting the Quality Improvement Model advocated in the Scottish Government’s “3-Step Improvement Framework for Scotland’s Public Services” to ensure a more systematic approach to improving quality and leading change across the organisation.

Complaints – Staff are becoming increasingly skilled at identifying areas of dissatisfaction, classifying and recording these as complaints and taking immediate action to try to resolve informally at the earliest stage possible. We capture each learning point from this valuable feedback about our service and act to address this through revised procedures, staff training, etc. in the spirit of continuous organisational improvement. Across both funds, we received 21 complaints this financial year compared with 13 received in 2018-19. We expected this increase as we implemented an enhanced feedback loop, which is helping us deliver even better support to recipients.

Intern – ILF Scotland has worked with Inclusion Scotland and Scottish Government to recruit and place our first intern who will review and make recommendations for improvements to our Transition Fund communications and application forms used by recipients.

Social Work Student - Our third very successful social work student placement, in partnership with Stirling University has cemented our reputation as an excellent placement and increased our credibility across the social work landscape.

Future Work – The main aim for the next reporting period will be to launch our new strategy and accompanying business plan when it is appropriate to do so. This includes the key areas of strategic planning, preparatory work for reopening the 2015 Fund in Northern Ireland, new approaches for Scotland, records management, business resilience and development of the digital transformation roadmap. Initially, however, our focus will be on maintaining high quality business as usual operations as we move through the Covid-19 crisis. When we are able to resume conduct of recipient reviews as movement restrictions ease, we will look to re-establish our normal cycle as quickly as possible, prioritising our reviews to help address those most affected by it.

2015 Fund

2015 Fund Numbers – Over the year 2015 Fund recipient numbers have dropped to 2,690 (Scotland 2,254 & NI 436) from 2,813 (Scotland 2,346 & NI 467). This represents an overall decline in line with the trend of around 4.4% (3.9% Scotland & 6.6% NI) per annum. This attrition is sadly mainly due to the deaths of recipients.

2015 Fund Operational Performance –This year saw an increase of 12% in reviews completed compared to last year. Combined with a 16% reduction in overall processing time, this has been our best operational performance to date despite the challenges faced internally and externally articulated elsewhere in this report.

Policy Revision - We have completed the following in this reporting period:

Scottish Living Wage (SLW) – We implemented the new SLW on the 1st April 2019 and completed all work for the 2020 uplift to £9.30 per hour before the year end, as agreed by Scottish Government. We do not have approval to implement an automatic update to the national minimum wage for Northern Ireland recipients, but can continue to match Direct Payment rates and increase on an individual, case by case basis.

Social Work Update – As reported above, whilst we saw Assessor reviews increase, on 16th March 2020 all visit and engagement activity was suspended and the review cycle continued by telephone. Assessors have since started to provide a Welfare Check for all recipients prioritising Group 1 recipients as they may not have active social work input.

At a strategic level, as part of the review of adult social care, a meeting in February 2020 of the SG Investment Workstream helped contribute to a national conversation about a new scheme for independent living, as part of a range of potential improvements to social care. Alongside this, ongoing engagement work has been carried out with Northern Ireland ILF Trust Leads to look at improvements in outcomes for recipients and any impacts of Self-directed Support as it rolls out.

Maintaining these key relationships has helped foster a supportive stance from Social Work Departments in Northern Ireland towards the potential re-opening of the 2015 Fund.

In Q4, we also provided formal input and revision of Scotland’s Social Care charging policy. COSLA have accepted several ILF Scotland recommendations to embed SDS principles. Specifically these feed into charging, for national consistency and greater involvement of disabled people in the process.

This year has seen ILF Scotland become an established social work partner of choice for many public and 3rd sector organisations which is evidenced by the number of invitations to present, contribute or formulate policy and practice in Scotland and Northern Ireland: we are maximising the opportunity that ILF Scotland brings to have difficult conversations that promote real change and in providing a leadership role in this area.

Feedback – The way that we request and receive feedback from 2015 Fund recipients remains hugely important to ILF Scotland. With work being undertaken through research into the Transition Fund and 2015 Fund Northern Ireland by external bodies, the decision was taken to implement an improvement project based around recipient feedback. This project has looked at all surveys and engaged with external organisations to transform the way that we interact with recipients. On average in 2019-20 feedback has remained high, at 95% satisfaction. Work is ongoing in this area and it remains an improvement priority for the coming year.

Transition Fund

Operational Performance – On a like for like basis, the number of applications received is up 58% from 831 in 2018-19 to 1,312 in 2019-20. It should be noted that final figures of applications received, processed and decisions made on funding will take between three to six months to finalise. The trend of declined and withdrawn applications has reduced from around 21% in 2018-19 to 16% in 2019-20. This is due to better information at the front end, more engagement, more online applications and triaging of all applications introduced this year. As a result of this, not only does this save a huge amount of time for staff, but more importantly prevents disappointment and wasted effort from potential applicants

Numbers of recipients in payment have grown from 520 by the end of 2018-19 to 1,350 in this reporting period, an increase in 160%. The average time to process an application is 73 days, which is better than 87 days in 2018-19 due to aforementioned reasons coupled with exceptional hard work from staff over and above the normal. However this masks the challenges faced by staff to process applications, since many applicants need major support to get their documentation to the evaluation stage.

This has implications for resourcing and the way the scheme operates. It is of note that the 2019-20 funding budget has been fully committed in this financial year, while we have in progress a considerable number of applications at various stages of authorisation, which will be paid in 2020-21. This may place significant pressure on the fund at existing budget levels in the coming year and we will discuss this with our Sponsor Team at SG should this turn out to be the case..

Practice has become further developed and we have put in place an authorisation matrix for commonly requested items and services, which allows the casework team to more easily process requests and has created additional processing capacity to manage the increase in applications that we have seen over the year.

Social Work Update – This year has seen a significant increase in Transition Fund applications and resultant awards. This is very much linked to two major developments in the team within the year; the creation of a dedicated casework team for the fund and the secondment of two assessors from the 2015 Fund. The further addition of the engagement officer post to the communications team in support of the engagement strategy has really started to pay dividends in take-up. This increase in the capacity for engagement work has seen us continue to target statutory and 3rd sector organisations who work with the young people that we seek to assist. In addition, we have specifically targeted schools in the most deprived areas, according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. Assessors initially targeted the schools in the indicated areas in Edinburgh and Glasgow and had more recently begun to expand out into Lanarkshire and Lothians.

Real life examples of the fantastic outcomes young people can achieve have been presented at several national conferences, creating dialogue and demands that SDS integrated in transition is delivered in a way that meets real world outcomes. We helped create a National Framework for Transition, which can significantly improve transitions for all young disabled people in Scotland. The framework will be presented to SG and COSLA and recommended for adoption by all statutory stakeholders - the Transition Fund has begun to create a legacy beyond the individual benefit recipients have evidenced.

Our People

The final quarter of 2019-20 has been challenging, but also commendable as all the staff team have transitioned to remote and home working almost seamlessly during the Covid-19 situation. Our priority is always to put disabled people at the heart of what we do and the efforts of everyone to safeguard, check and ensure that our recipients have the resources and support they need to continue their lives has been the focus of our entire team.

A vast amount of work has been done at pace to ensure the policies, practices, finances and technologies are in place to support this effort and all staff have to be praised for how they have risen to these challenges.

Whilst we have a Business Continuity Plan (BCP), we have not needed to instigate it formally in response to Covid-19. This is because our normal agile approach to changing work arrangements was sufficiently flexible to enable us to adapt quickly to the required new restrictions. We have been able to build on and enhance our support for employees to enable them to work safely and effectively. One issue which has been helpfully highlighted through the new arrangements has been the need for improved group video communication channels which we will be addressing early in 2020-21.

Over the last year we saw the sad loss of a colleague and also had the retiral of a long standing staff member who have both been with ILF Scotland from the start. Due to the strength in depth and good succession planning, this has not impacted on operations but we will miss these brilliant colleagues very much.

In terms of activity, even discounting the addition of Covid-19 to contend with, we have had a very busy year.

Health and Wellbeing has been a central plank to our developmental work, gaining a Healthy Living bronze award in year. We have enhanced the support to staff driven by last year’s staff survey, including but not limited to increased activity through our staff wellbeing group and a 4th Mental Health First Aider being trained. We have also engaged our Mental Health trainers at ‘strongmindedresilience’ to create an online eLearning tool 'Dealing with stress, trauma and loss' specifically targeted to deal with the potential impact of Covid-19. We are working to have this online by mid-April for all staff to access during what may be a harrowing time. Our work has been highlighted as best practice, being a finalist in the 2020 Family Friendly Working Awards in the Health and Wellbeing category.

Following a Work Impact Assessment last summer, we have now concluded the full structural review. This was well received with a full presentation during the Staff Development Day. This will be fully implemented by 1st April 2020 to support the delivery of the new strategy.

This last year also saw the full consultation and implementation of the Civil Service Pension Scheme which has been hugely welcomed by all staff.

Finally, we have continued to work closely with Family Friendly Working Scotland and Working Families with both organisations supporting our innovative Flexible Working policies. ILF Scotland achieved a number of accolades, being awarded the Top 30 UK organisations in the Working Families 2019 benchmarking, winning the best SME at the Working Mums 2019 Awards and achieving Carers Positive Accreditation.

In the coming year as part of our new strategy, we aim to develop our employee offering further especially around flexible working.

Employment status – We have continued to foster and build a life friendly approach using our full suite of policies. ILF Scotland continues to offer 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. We have also worked with Inclusion Scotland, being fortunate to employ an Internship supporting our Transition Fund. We are learning invaluable lessons through this opportunity to help make ILF Scotland even more accessible.

Recruitment – We have continued to strengthen the staff team with various internal promotions and appointments. This has been as a consequence of the growing Transition Fund and increased administrative burden placed on the organisation as we grow and plan to deliver even more services in both Scotland and Northern Ireland:

Retention – Has been strong, however as previously reported, we saw the sad loss of a colleague and also had the retirement of a long standing staff member who had both been with ILF Scotland from the start.

Health and Safety

There have been no reportable incidents under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 over the last year.

Information Governance and IT

Overview This has been an overall busy year for the digital and information services team. The critical achievement towards the end of the year has been the upgrade of our server network and this single step means ILF Scotland can continue to operate its core Customer Relationship Management system for the foreseeable future.

The server upgrade, whilst essential to maintain the service delivery operation, has highlighted that ILF Scotland has an infrastructure nearing the end of its useful life, legacy systems and processes and no customer facing digital services apart from the online application form for the Transition Fund.

Over the last six months we have been developing an Outline Business Case (OBC) for a whole organisation digital transformation which will ultimately align ILF Scotland with Scottish Government’s Digital Strategy. This OBC was submitted to the Scottish Government Sponsor Team in Q4 with a plan to create a full commercial tender by October 2020. This would bid for significant capital funds to modernise internal processes to gain the advantages of digitisation, and externally to develop a wide range of accessible customer services offered in both digital and non-digital channels. If the Full Business Case successfully bids for these capital funds, the transformation work would begin in 2021-22.

Digital and Information Services also successfully tendered for a programme of work to provide a whole organisational approach to Risk and Resilience and the work formally started in Q4. The programme is being led internally by the new IT Security and Resilience Manager and is likely to take between 15-20 months to fully develop. As this report is written, ILF Scotland is like all public bodies, reviewing its business continuity arrangements and emergency responses during the Covid-19 pandemic and the programme will benefit from any lessons learned from our current practices and responses. The IT Security and Resilience Manager has also fully taken over the day to day security management of the organisation and is using a wide range of security tools and new relationships to safeguard our operation. Over the year, the number of incidents and breaches has been very low and we believe this is in the main due to extensive staff awareness and engagement with security and data protection matters.

Lastly in this section, we have now developed and are using on a daily basis our new dashboards and reporting services which provide real time management information. This includes the status and usage of our core operations, from financial values, numbers of applications, accounts in payment, operation processing times and regional analysis. This ability has greatly enhancing our capabilities for data driven decision making and is allowing much more accurate analysis and forecasting of our activities. We plan to fully roll this out over the coming year.

Records Management - This year has been transformative in terms of the management of ILF Scotland records. The organisation’s first Records Management Plan was approved by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland in October 2019. The implementation of this plan has seen the creation of a Working Party charged with migrating the existing shared platform into an electronic records management system and smarter records control practices. The process to create a Memorandum of Understanding between ILF Scotland and The National Records of Scotland / Public Records Northern Ireland got underway in Q3. This will enable the safe transmission and permanent archive of key ILF Scotland records which are deemed within the public interest of both countries.

As an organisation, ILF Scotland has committed to a progress update review with the National Records of Scotland. This will offer a fixed timescale for records management improvements and will better enable us to undertake focussed staff and management training with respect to the Records Management function. The landscape for smarter, more efficient ways of working and interacting with the bodies which govern records in Scotland and Northern Ireland is much changed. The project to implement the new eRDM has seen programmes of internal and external staff training, staff consultations and positive interactions with the Scottish Government eRDM Programme Team. This has led to the organisation being seen a model of best practice in terms of staff involvement and ownership of records management.

Infrastructure and security - ILF Scotland has been successfully re-accredited for Cyber Essentials Plus and has continued to meets its commitments as a Cyber Catalyst organisation for the Scottish Government, including making a presentation on steps to cyber security at a national conference. The most complex work this period has been the development of the new server infrastructure (to Windows 2016) to replace the end of life Windows 2008 R2 servers. The build, configuration, hardening and finally testing have all been completed in this period seeing the migration of our current databases and applications onto these new servers. This will protect ILF Scotland from having end of life unsupported infrastructure and provide a secure environment for at least a further five years.

Digital transformation - Progress in this area has been slower than hoped since the proposed support to undertake a pilot cloud migration project with Scottish Government has not been available. During the year, the Director of Digital and Information Services successfully completed the National Digital Champions programme, which brought together some 50 leaders across the public and third sectors. The purpose was to understand and develop the thinking on what new opportunities and practices are possible for digitally enabled organisations to enhance the “customer experience”.

Forum - The new ILF Forum has been launched this year. The core purpose from ILF Scotland’s perspective, is that of increased engagement with the entire disabled community, so that we can identify areas of interest, trends and themes so as to inform policy development activities. From the user/recipient perspective, it is providing an independent, non-commercial secure platform for disabled people to have a voice, choice and control of their own agendas. They are able to set the debate that they are interested in without being targeted by third parties or commercially incentivised parties. It is truly their forum, their voice, their say and we hope to see a significant increase in the numbers of those using it next year.

National Programmes - Although not directly related to ILF Scotland at the moment, two members of the team are involved in the two critical national infrastructure programmes of Scottish Government. One is involved in the project delivery team for the new National Payments Platform and the other acts in a governance and advisory capacity for the Digital Identity Scotland programme. These programmes are linked and it is anticipated that over the next three years, these two projects will become mainstream offerings/services delivered by Scottish Government and will simplify and improve processing efficiencies across the entire public administration in Scotland.

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 2019-20 ILF Scotland paid 95% of invoices within 10 days (2018-19 95%) of receipt. The number of creditor days outstanding at the end of 2019-20 was 13 days (2018-19 23.4 days).

Financial review

We report a decrease in taxpayers’ equity for the year amounting to £692,626 which has been transferred to general reserve as set out on page 73.

ILF Scotland is financed out of Grant in Aid from SG for the purpose of making regular grants to individuals. Grant in Aid of £53.4 million (2018-19 £53.3 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 2019- 20 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 2020 shows a surplus net assets position of £1,632,040 as set out on page 71.

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 2020-21.

There were no events after the end of the financial year that have any material effect on these Reports and Accounts

Environmental Matters

Whilst ILF Scotland currently has no environmental targets set by Scottish Government, it 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 are in the process of extending 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.

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 2019-20 (2018-19 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. ILF Scotland’s Business Plan for 2020-21 articulates the detailed priorities for the coming year.

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 Acting Accountable Officer on 30 June 2020.

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer DocuSign

Harvey Tilley, Acting 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:

  1. Statement of Directors' & Accountable Officer's Responsibilities;
  2. Annual Governance Statement; and
  3. Directors’ Report
1. Statement of Directors’ and Accountable Officer Responsibilities

The directors and the Accountable Officer are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report (referred to as the “Per5formance 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 2019- 20 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:

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 2019- 20 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 Acting Accountable Officer on 30 June 2020.

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer DocuSign

Harvey Tilley, Acting 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
Attendance of Directors table

* Transferred from Audit & Risk Committee to Remuneration Committee in January 2020.

Directors who are not members of a committee can attend on occasion as an observer with permission of the Chair of that committee.

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 ILFS 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 previously met fortnightly, but have been meeting weekly during 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 growth of the Transition Fund which commenced making payments in April 2018, 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.

Towards the end of the financial year we had to deal with additional risks emerging from the outbreak of the world pandemic known as Covid-19.

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 2020 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.

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 effective risk management, control and governance processes in place based upon their programme of work during the year. They did however report that, as a new NDPB, we need some improvements in the area of Compliance with Legislation which we have committed to resolve by 30 September 2020. 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:

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 weekly to ensure that all attendees understand both the priorities of the week and any emerging issues.

Senior Committees

The Audit & Risk Committee met five 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 three (2018-19 seven) 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.

Whilst as a relatively new organisation we continue to develop and improve our internal control and governance systems, 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 2019-20, 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 2019-20 (2018-19: 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 Acting Accountable Officer on 30 June 2020.

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer DocuSign

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer

3. Directors’ Report

Company Number SC500075

The directors submit their annual report for the year ended 31 March 2020.

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 2019- 20 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

Fiona O’Donnell
Non-executive director (resigned 23 January 2020)

Mark Adderley
Non-executive director

Elizabeth Humphreys
Non-executive director

Elizabeth McAtear
Non-executive director

Anne-Marie Monaghan
Non-executive director (appointed 1 September 2019)

Etienne d’Aboville
Non-executive director (appointed 1 September 2019)

For further information, please see the Governance Statement on pages 40 to 47. 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

Full details of the movement in non-current assets are given in Notes 6 and 7 to the Accounts.

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 40 to 47.

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.

Register Of Interests

Full details of ILF Scotland’s Register of Interests can be found on our website at:

https://ilf.scot/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ILF-Scotland-Governance-REGISTER-OF-DECLARED-INTERESTS-2021.pdf

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 40 to 47 and the Remuneration Report on pages 52 to 63.

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 40 to 47.

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 2020/21.

Authorised for issue by the Board of Directors.

James A Maguire, Company Secretary DocuSign

James A Maguire
Company Secretary
30 June 2020

Accountability Report

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 2020 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:

Fiona O’Donnell, chair of the Remuneration Committee until January 2020

Mark Adderley, chair of the Remuneration Committee from January 2020 S

usan 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:

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 2020 the total remuneration paid to directors were:

Name2019-20 £'0002018-19 £'000
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair)5-100-5
Alan Dickson0-50-5
Fiona O’Donnell0-50-5
Bridget SlyN/A0-5
Elizabeth Humphreys (Vice Chair)5-100-5
Elizabeth McAtear0-50-5
Twimukye Macline MushakaN/A0-5
Mark Adderley0-50-5
Anne-Marie Monaghan0-5*N/A
Etienne d'Abroville 0-5*N/A

* 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:

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.

Chief Executive and SMT salaries table
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).

Pension benefits of Chief Executive and SMT table

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. During the year, the Government announced that public sector pension schemes will be required to provide indexation on the Guaranteed Minimum Pension element of the pension. The Civil Service Pension Scheme has updated the methodology used to calculate CETV values as at 31 March 2020. The impact of the change in methodology is included within the reported real increase in CETV for the year.

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).

Further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements can be found at the website http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

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
Remuneration of highest paid employee and median of total table.

The banded remuneration of the highest paid employee in the company in the financial period 2019-20 was £75-80k (2018-19 £70-75k). This was 2.61 times (2018-19 2.51 times) the median remuneration of the workforce, which was £29,759 (2018-19 £28,462).

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 2019-20 Nil (2018-19 Nil) employees received remuneration in excess of the Chief Executive. Remuneration ranged from £19,314 to £77,734 (2018-19 £17,642 to £75,108).

Staff Report
Gender Analysis

The table below shows the gender analysis of ILFS employees at 31 March.

Numbers of male and female employees table
Absence Analysis

The table below shows the staff absence analysis of ILFS employees for the year.

Absence rate of employees table

Short term absences remain at a low level with very few absences of two days or less. However we had several longer term absences 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
Costs of staff including salaries, social security costs and other pension costs table
Table of number of directly employed and temporary staff

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.

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 31st March 2020, ILF Scotland did not have any trade union facility time (2018-19 Nil).

Number of relevant union officials table
Table of percentage of time employees spent on facility time
Table of percentage of pay bill spent on facility time
Table of paid trade union activities
Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair DocuSign

Mark Adderley, Remuneration Committee Chair

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer DocuSign

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer

Signed by the above on 30 June 2020

Parliamentary Accountability Report

Losses and special payments

In accordance with the Financial Reporting Manual, we are required to disclose losses and special payments above £250,000. During 2019-20 there were no losses or special payments within this criteria (2018-19: £nil).

Gifts and Charitable Donations

There were no gifts or charitable donations made during the year 2019-20 (2018-19: 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 DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer DocuSign

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer

Signed by the above on 30 June 2020

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 2020 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 accounts, 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 2019-20 Government Financial Reporting Manual (the 2019-20 FReM).

In our opinion the accompanying financial statements:

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 one 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 nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

Risks of material misstatement

We have reported in a separate Annual Audit Report, which is available from the Audit Scotland website, the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement that we identified and our conclusions 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 Directors and the Accountable Officer 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 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.

The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting 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. We therefore design and perform audit procedures which respond to the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud.

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 our auditor’s report.

Other information in the annual report and accounts

The directors and Accountable Officer are responsible for the other information in the annual report and accounts. The other information comprises the information other than the financial statements, the audited part of the Remuneration and Staff Report, and our auditor’s report thereon. 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 matters prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland to the extent explicitly stated later in this report.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read all the other information in the annual report and accounts and, in doing so, consider whether the 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 there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.

Report 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. 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.

Report on other requirements

Opinions on matters prescribed by the Auditor General for Scotland

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.

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

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:

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 DocuSign

Pat Kenny, CPFA (for and on behalf of Deloitte LLP)
110 Queen Street
Glasgow
G1 3BX
United Kingdom

30 June 2020

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2020

ExpenditureNotes2019-20 £2018-19 £
Grants to individuals   350,699,16950,574,497
 Staff costs   42,316,7741,710,713
 Other operating income and expenditure   51,038,883776,772
 Depreciation and amortisation   524,64129,329
Total comprehensive net expenditure for the year54,079,46753,091,311

All expenditure relates to continuing operations.

The notes on pages 74 to 91 form part of these accounts.

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2020

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2020

For the year ending 31 March 2020 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 74 to 91 form part of these accounts. These accounts were approved and authorised for issue by the Directors on 30 June 2020.

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board DocuSign

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer DocuSign

Harvey Tilley, Acting Accountable Officer

Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2020

Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2020 table

The notes on pages 74 to 91 form part of these accounts.

Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2020

Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2020 table

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 74 to 91 form part of these accounts.

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020

1. Nature 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.

2. Statement 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 2019- 20 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 2020-21. 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 has already committed to provide additional funding, if required, to cover Covid-19 related matters for the three months to June 2020 and this will be re- evaluated at that point. At the date of signing this Annual Report, the company has not been required to request any additional funding for Covid-19 related matters.

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 52 to 63.

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 2020 (2018-19 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

1. Standards, amendments and interpretations effective in the current year

In the current year, ILF 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 2019. Their adoption has not had any material impact on the disclosures or on the amounts reported in these financial statements:

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 has not applied the following new and revised IFRS Standards that have been issued but are not yet effective:

ILF 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 from 1 April 2021. 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 have elected to utilise the capitalisation threshold of £5,000 to determine the assets to be disclosed. 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 ILF’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 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 2020.

The standard is expected to increase total expenditure by less than £1,000. Right- of-use assets totalling approximately £133,000 will be brought onto the Statement of Financial Position, with an associated lease liability of approximately £133,000.

3 Grants to individuals
 2019-202018-19
 ££
Payments made in year54,136,15550,391,759
Grant liabilities at start of year(3,838,340)(1,574,019)
Grant liabilities at end of year2,497,5033,838,340
Grant prepayments at start of year-43,276
Grant returns received in year(2,096,149)(2,124,859)
 50,699,16950,574,497

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 £2,096,149 (2018-19 £2,124,859) in respect of unused funds returned by individuals.

4 Staff costs
4a Staff numbers and related costs
 2019-20 £2018-19 £
Wages and salaries1,779,3771,421,621
Social security costs180,350131,819
Other pension costs (see note 4b below)357,047157,273
Total staff costs2,316,7741,710,713
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 £87,322 (2018-19 £157,273).

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 2020 (31 March 2019 nil). Contributions prepaid were nil at 31 March 2020 (31 March 2019 nil). Contributions due to a previous pension provider were £6,410 at 31 March 2020 (31 March 2019 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.

http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/about-us/resource-accounts/

For 2019-20, employers’ contributions of £265,181 were paid in respect of alpha

(2018-19 nil). Expected contributions in 2020-21 are approximately £514,000.

Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £4,402 were paid in 2019- 20 (2018-19 nil) 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 2020-21 are approximately £8,000.

  5 Other operating income and expenditure:2019-20 £2018-19 £
Assessor fees and expenses60,61474,155
IT and information security costs306,279141,623
Rates, utilities and other estate costs68,30289,428
Legal and professional costs195,659109,752
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence226,452204,210
Auditors remuneration (for the auditing of the accounts)24,00014,730
Communication and engagement101,44784,641
Postage costs26,75012,786
Printing and stationary costs4,6303,007
Research costs24,75042,440
Total other expenditure1,038,883776,772
Depreciation and amortisation££
Depreciation1,1304,403
Amortisation82,56983,880
Sub-total83,69988,283
Amortisation of capital grant(59,058)(58,954)
Net depreciation and amortisation24,64129,329
6 Property, plant and equipment
Cost and depreciation of property, plant and equipment table
7 Intangible assets
Table of cost or valuation of intangible assets
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 March31 March
20202019
££
Cash and cash equivalents9,226,0935,010,734

Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with The Royal Bank of Scotland held in current accounts to minimise the risk.

Financial liabilities
31 March31 March
20202019
££
Grant liabilities2,497,5033,838,340
Trade payables and accruals184,685183,578
Deferred income4,986,140143,517
Capital grant liabilities     47,189106 247
7,715,5174,271,682

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
Table of trade and other recievables
10 Cash and cash equivalents
Table of cash and cash equivalents

Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.

11 Current Liabilities
Table of current liabilities

The Deferred Income (Scottish Government) relates to grant timing differences.

12 Non-current Liabilities
Table of non-current liabilities
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:

14 Directors’ remuneration, interests and indemnities

The directors receive remuneration from the company. The total remuneration paid to the directors was £19,918 (2018-19 £17,886) for the year and further information is provided in the Remuneration Report. Directors received reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses amounting to £10,084 (2018-19 £7,600) 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, all parts of the SG including its agencies, and the DOH. There is an agreement between SG and the DOH for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF users based in Northern Ireland. ILF Scotland received Grant in Aid from SG of £53.4m (2018-19 £53.3m). 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 at 31 March 2020.

Appendix to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020

Accounts Direction

Scottish Government logo

Independent Living Fund Scotland

DIRECTION BY THE SCOTTISH MINISTERS

  1. The Scottish Ministers, in accordance with section 19(4) of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 hereby give the following direction.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. This direction shall be reproduced as an appendix to the statement of accounts.
Jamie MacDougall signature

Signed by the authority of the Scottish Ministers
Dated 27 May 2020

Annual Executive Summary and Operational Report: 2019-2020

Executive Summary Annual Operational Report

1st April 2019– 31st March 2020

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Executive Summary
  3. 2015 Fund
  4. Transition Fund
  5. Our People
  6. Information Governance
  7. Finance

Annex A Operational Dashboards Annex B Statistics

1. Introduction

The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of achievement and activities against the 2019/2020 business plan between 1st April 2019 – 31st March 2020.

2. Executive Summary

a.     Overview – As we come to the end of another successful year for ILF Scotland, we are also all coming to terms with the global crisis caused by the Coronavirus or Covid-19 that has impacted on everyone in the country and indeed the rest of the world. Specifically, we have had to rapidly think what this 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.

For those disabled people that receive our support and rely on personal assistance in these uncertain times, it has been very difficult indeed. Social distancing is not possible when personal care is needed, so disabled people and their supporters are in a very challenging space. Also as many individuals who receive funding from ILF Scotland are also employers, they face further problems as many of their personal assistants are having to take time to socially isolate or need proper protection to carry on their day to day jobs. Coupled with this, those individuals who commission support through providers, are further tested due to the radical change in how that is delivered.

Many ILF Scotland disabled people are at high risk should they contract Covid-19. All of these factors, along with our duty as citizens to stay at home, stay safe and save our NHS means for many, these are worrying times.

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 to respond to the crisis almost overnight; to protect our staff and those we support. At national level though, with the initial priority on the NHS and the economic challenges of employment and caring for families at home, there has been less initial attention given to the people who provide care – the Personal Assistants and the ability of our recipients to find Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or replacement PAs when theirs self-isolate.

The key challenge for ILF Scotland was to be flexible in our policy suite and to allow recipients to continue to pay their PAs, whilst trying to find additional support and we worked quickly with Scottish and Northern Irish Governments to make sure we could do this. Though this is still a very dynamic situation and we have more to do, colleagues in our Government Sponsor Teams have performed brilliantly and have enabled our already agile posture, to be even more responsive to the shifting landscape.

This final quarter of reporting has seen a transition to a new way of working, which is likely to be the new normal for the first part of 2020/21. The most significant change has been the suspension of physical review visits for 2015 Fund recipients and we have started conducting interim reviews and welfare checks by telephone, email and video calls. Feedback to date suggests this is working well.

Technically, the organisation has moved almost seamlessly to remote/home working and the digital strategy to date has supported this well. 60% of the workforce were already homed based workers with a further 15% regular agile workers operating from several different locations during the working week. The biggest operational challenge has been managing inbound post and telephone calls, but this has been addressed through a skeleton operational team on rotation and all staff equipped with mobile telephones to retrieve voicemail and contact recipients. Should the office close, business will continue as per our new normal with staff local to Livingston collecting the mail direct.

As we look back over the full year, ILF Scotland also achieved a significant milestone towards the end of Q4 with us reaching more than 4,000 people we are supporting, which is the first time we have exceeded this number. This growth is due to the increase in take up of the Transition Fund.

Internal communications and staff wellbeing have been uppermost in our minds this period, both addressing the new working practices and supporting staff through unsettling times. To date, this is working well with regular twice weekly communications, bi-weekly newsletters, social media and Yammer posts and the use of WhatsApp and Skype for Business video conferences.

Externally, we have also informed our recipients about our practices regarding Coronavirus and prior to the lockdown period they all received a personal letter. Since then, we have used our social media channels, our website and our forum to communicate and signpost information and resources for recipients and partner agencies and organisations. Of note, we recorded a video from our Chair who made a very personal statement during this difficult time and we now have this as our main website feature.

Over the year, ILF Scotland has continued to develop the organisational strategy as shown in the connected business plan report. The extensive engagement with approximately 500 individuals and numerous organisations in Scotland and Northern Ireland to date has been incredibly positive forming the basis of the new 2020-23 strategy planned for publication in 2020/21. What is very clear from this extensive engagement is the ever increasing challenges disabled people face with constant pressure on their ability to live independently.

Reopening the 2015 Fund to new applications is a key priority. Widening further the criteria for the Transition Fund, stopping charging for fund use and digitisation of service provision is all coming through strongly in the whole consultation. Towards the end of Q4, it also became very apparent that people were looking to ILF Scotland for advice and support regarding employment of personal assistants, care providers, furloughing and employing family members as replacement care. This has highlighted a future leadership and signposting role for ILF Scotland, as well as continuing to develop our policies and finances to respond to the needs of disabled people and their carers.

The operational tempo overall has increased slightly if measured directly in terms of reviews. The number of 2015 Review reports completed in Q4 increased by 3% compared to last year and Transition Fund applications by 58%. What has become apparent and hugely pressing, is that the volume and complexity of work has increased significantly over this last year. This in turn has placed tremendous strain on the infrastructure and the operational processes. Even with some efficiency gains made over the year, the historical nature of our systems, processes and communication capabilities coupled with the lack of recipient self-service and automation has meant that we are using legacy systems which now require to be updated. This is being addressed. We have had extremely constructive conversations with the SG Sponsor Team and Health Finance Team to plan next steps for 2020 and beyond. This has resulted in a formal submission of an Outline Business Case for major capital investment in 2021 to undertake the required digital and process transformation, although this may be further delayed due to the current crisis.

On the 4th November at the Celebration event for the first year of the Transition Fund, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Jeane Freeman MSP announced the extension of the age range from 16-21 to 16-25, which has potentially opened up access to the Fund for many more disabled people in transition. Since the change in policy around age range, we have received 80 new applications from young people in this group in this financial year. That said, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Transition Fund is being forced to plug major gaps in local provision and as a result has become a transition service, rather than a more simple grant scheme. This has implications for resourcing and the way the scheme operates in the future. Q4 was also a significant turning point for the number of applications being received online and we believe this is due to a combination of the communication campaign, increased engagement activities and what we are calling “the big green button”, which is making it a lot easier to go straight to the online application form. The good news is that we have spent all of our allocated grant budget for this year and are likely to be requesting a drawdown of larger sums next year.

In Northern Ireland, extensive background work has been completed to prepare for the potential reopening for the 2015 Fund. Alongside this, a major piece of research has been completed which demonstrates the impact and social return on investment (SROI) of ILF Scotland funding which will go towards the business case for reopening. Now verified, it shows that for every pound of ILF Scotland funding invested in social care, it returns £10.89, which equates to £74.569 million of SROI in Northern Ireland this year alone. The report for this work has been finalised in Q4 and will have considerable relevance to Scotland in the future. In tandem with this, work has also been carried out to set up an advisory board to co-produce the new scheme and its first two meetings were held in January and March 2020.

Over the year, the organisation has been proudly recognised as a Top 3 UK for Care Services in the Guardian Public Sector Awards 2019, we were a winner at the Working Mums Best Employer Awards, a Top 30 UK Employer for Working Families, have been a finalist in the Family Friendly Working Scotland 2020 Awards, were awarded a Healthy Living Bronze, achieved Carers Positive status and gained Cyber Essentials Plus for a second year. This external recognition is due to the hard work and professionalism of our staff, always going the extra mile to make a real, positive impact for disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Finally, as this year concludes the full successful delivery of the strategy set in 2016, we look forward with optimism to building on the foundations created to enable even more people to live independently with control, choice and dignity through our new strategy.

Finally, as this year concludes the full successful delivery of the strategy set in 2016, we look forward with optimism to building on the foundations created to enable even more people to live independently with control, choice and dignity through our new strategy.

b.     Key Operational Activities - Over the year, the following key activities have taken place:

     i.     Strategic Outcome 1 - The Existing Fund has been maximised for effective value:

     ii.     Strategic Outcome 2 - A New ILF scheme is successfully introduced and established in Scotland:

     iii.     Strategic Outcome 3 - The knowledge gained through our work across all of Scotland and Northern Ireland has been shared to develop best practice:

c.     Main Effort - The main effort during 2019/20 has been the development of our new strategy and policy suite, whilst maintaining the operational tempo of the 2015 Fund and the Transition Fund. This has seen a tremendous effort with running engagement activities, consultations, stakeholder review events, applications processing and implementing the end of grant process and responding to the Coronavirus situation. Alongside the re-accreditation for Cyber Essentials Plus, a full technical server upgrade and the continuous improvement work, the records management project and commencing the risk and resilience project, ILF Scotland has seen possibly its busiest year yet and has transitioned to the new way of working almost seamlessly.

d.     Call Volumes – This year we have received 10,254 (6,866 telephone and 3,388 email enquiries) in 2019/20 compared with 9,903 (7,956 telephone and 1,947 email enquiries) in 2018/19. This 4% increase is due to a rise in operational activity and growth in Transition Fund related calls. However, the number of enquires would have been at least 10% higher had Covid-19 not impacted on a reduction in enquires in March 2020. On average, 96% of all calls are from Scottish recipients with 4% from Northern Ireland. 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:

e.     Quality Journey – Further progress has been made with internal communications, recipient feedback based policy development and meaningful meetings reporting. Q4 also saw a small re-configuring of the organisational structure with the formal appointment of an Improvements role which sits under the new Director of Policy, Improvement and Engagement. The thinking is that we are moving more towards data driven change management and the Policy Team are foremost in capturing feedback from those that use our services, therefore best placed to identify the priorities for change. We will be adopting the Quality Improvement Model advocated in the Scottish Government’s “3-Step Improvement Framework for Scotland’s Public Services” to ensure a more systematic approach to improving quality and leading change across the organisation.

f.     Complaints – Across both funds, we received 4 complaints over Q4 compared with 9 in Q3. Staff are becoming increasingly skilled at identifying areas of dissatisfaction, classifying and recording these as complaints and taking immediate action to try to resolve informally at the earliest stage possible. We capture each learning point from this valuable feedback about our service and act to address this through revised procedures, staff training, etc. in the spirit of continuous organisational improvement. Across both funds, we received 21 complaints this financial year compared with 13 received in 2018/19. We expected this increase as we implemented an enhanced feedback loop, which is helping us deliver even better support to recipients.

g.     Intern – ILF Scotland has worked with Inclusion Scotland and Scottish Government to recruit and place our first intern who will review and make recommendations for improvements to our Transition Fund communications and application forms used by recipients during Q4 2019 - 20/Q1 2020-21.

h.     Social Work Student - our third very successful social work student placement, in partnership with Stirling University has cemented our reputation as an excellent placement and increased our credibility across the social work landscape.

i.     Future Work – The focus for the next reporting period will be in line with launching the strategy and implementing the new business plan post Covid-19. The key areas of strategic planning, preparatory work for reopening the 2015 Fund in Northern Ireland, new approaches for Scotland, records management, business resilience and development of the digital transformation roadmap. Once we are more settled and allowed to conduct recipient reviews following the future easing of movement restrictions with Coronavirus, we will then look to re-establish the normal cycle as quickly as possible, prioritising our reviews to help address those most affected by it. We will aim to launch our new strategy, but the business plan for the first two quarters of 2020/21 is likely to remain a continuity of normal operations until we establish at Ministerial level our priorities for moving forward.

3. 2015 Fund

a.     2015 Fund Numbers – Over the year 2015 Fund recipient numbers have dropped to 2,690 (Scotland 2,254 & NI 436) from 2,813 (Scotland 2,346 & NI 467). This represents an overall decline in line with the trend of around 4.4% (3.9% Scotland & 6.6% NI) per annum.

b.     2015 Fund Operational Performance – This year saw an increase of 12% in reviews completed compared to last year. Combined with a 16% reduction in overall processing time, this has been our best operational performance to date despite the challenges faced internally and externally articulated elsewhere in this report.

c.     Policy Revision - We have completed the following in this reporting period:

d.     Scottish Living Wage (SLW) – We implemented the new SLW on the 1st April 2019 and completed all work for the 2020 uplift to £9.30 per hour before the year end, as agreed by Scottish Government. We do not have approval to implement an automatic update to the national minimum wage for NI recipients, but can continue to match Direct Payment rates and increase on an individual, case by case basis.

e.     Social Work Update – As reported above, whilst we saw Assessor reviews increase, on 16th March 2020 all visit and engagement activity was suspended and the review cycle continued by telephone. Assessors have since started to provide a Welfare Check for all recipients prioritising Group 1 recipients as they may not have active social work input.

At a strategic level, as part of the review of adult social care, a meeting in February 2020 of the SG Investment Workstream helped contribute to a national conversation about a new scheme for independent living, as part of a range of potential improvements to social care. Alongside this, ongoing engagement work has been carried out with NI ILF Trust Leads to look at improvements in outcomes for recipients and any impacts of Self Directed Support (SDS) as it rolls out. Maintaining these key relationships has helped foster a supportive stance from Social Work Departments in Northern Ireland towards the potential re-opening of the 2015 Fund.

In Q4, we also provided formal input and revision of Scotland’s Social Care charging policy. COSLA have accepted several ILF Scotland recommendations to embed SDS principles. Specifically these feed into charging, for national consistency and greater involvement of disabled people in the process.

This year has seen ILF Scotland become an established social work partner of choice for many public and 3rd sector organisations which is evidenced by the number of invitations to present, contribute or formulate policy and practice in Scotland and Northern Ireland: we are maximising the opportunity that ILF Scotland brings to have difficult conversations that promote real change and in providing a leadership role in this area.

f.     Feedback – The way that we request and receive feedback from 2015 Fund recipients remains hugely important to ILF Scotland. With work being undertaken through research into the Transition Fund and 2015 Fund Northern Ireland by external bodies, the decision was taken to implement an improvement project based around recipient feedback. This project has looked at all surveys and engaged with external organisations to transform the way that we interact with recipients. On average in 2019/20 feedback has remained high, at 95% satisfaction. Work is ongoing in this area and it remains an improvement priority for the coming year.

2. Transition Fund

a.     Transition Operational Performance – On a like for like basis, the number of applications received is up 58% from 831 in 2018/19 to 1,312 in 2019/20. It should be noted that final figures of applications received, processed and decisions made on funding will take between 3-6 months to finalise. There is always a difference in those received via all channels and those processed on the system and numbers may slightly drop if applications are withdrawn. The trend of declined and withdrawn applications has reduced from around 21% in 2018/19 to 16% in 2019/20. This is due to better information at the front end, more engagement, more online applications and triaging of all applications introduced this year. As a result of this, not only does this save a huge amount of time for staff, but more importantly prevents disappointment and wasted effort from potential applicants

Numbers of recipients in payment have grown from 520 by the end of 2018/19 to 1,350 in this reporting period, an increase in 160%. The average time to process an application is 73 days, which is better than 87 days in 2018/19 due to aforementioned reasons coupled with exceptional hard work from staff over and above the normal. However this masks the challenges faced by staff to process applications, since many applicants need major support to get their documentation to the evaluation stage.

This has implications for resourcing and the way the scheme operates. It is of note that the 2019/20 funding budget has been fully committed in this financial year, while we have in progress a considerable number of applications at various stages of authorisation, which will be paid in 2020/21. This may place significant pressure on the fund at existing budget levels in the coming year and we will discuss this with our Sponsor Team at Scottish Government should this turn out to be the case..

Practice has become further developed and we have put in place an authorisation matrix for commonly requested items and services, which allows the casework team to more easily process requests and has created additional processing capacity to manage the increase in applications that we have seen over the year.

b.     Social Work Update – This year has been nothing short of transformational for the Transition Fund. There have been two major developments in the team within the year; the creation of a dedicated casework team for the fund and the secondment of two assessors from the 2015 Fund. The further addition of the engagement officer post to the communications team in support of the engagement strategy has really started to pay dividends in take-up. This increase in the capacity for engagement work has seen us continue to target statutory and 3rd sector organisations who work with the young people that we seek to assist. In addition, we have specifically targeted schools in the most deprived areas, according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Assessors initially targeted the schools in the indicated areas in Edinburgh and Glasgow and had more recently begun to expand out into Lanarkshire and Lothians.

Real life examples of the fantastic outcomes young people can achieve have been presented at several national conferences, creating dialogue and demands that SDS integrated in transition is delivered in a way that meets real world outcomes. We helped create a National Framework for Transition, which can significantly improve transitions for all young disabled people in Scotland. The framework will be presented to Scottish Government and COSLA and recommended for adoption by all statutory stakeholders - the Transition Fund has begun to create a legacy beyond the individual benefit recipients have evidenced.

c.     Feedback– 2019/20 has been the first full year of data from the Transition Fund suite of surveys which cover the satisfaction ratings for those who have been declined a grant, those who made successful applications and those who have reached the end of their grant period. The averages have remained high and a vague comparison can be made between this year’s figures and results from 2018/19, although this should be treated with caution as the averages for 2018/19 only cover Q3 and Q4, for ‘declined’ and ‘successful’ applicants, and only Q4 for ‘end of grant’. The averages are below:

 2019/20 av. return rate2018/19 av. return rate2019/20 av. satisfaction2018/19 av. satisfaction
Declined15%   (80 sent)8%     (40 sent)33%50%
Successful26%   (394 sent)26%   (345 sent)91%99%
End of Grant10%   (254 sent)43%   (7 sent)94%100%

It should be noted that the return rates for declined applications are so low that they greatly affect the satisfaction ratings in this category. For instance in 2019/20 3 surveys were returned as opposed to 2 in 2018/19 and that is enough to cause a % satisfaction reduction of 34%.

5. Our People

a.     Overview - The final quarter of 2019/20 has been challenging, but also commendable as all the staff team have transitioned to remote and home working almost seamlessly during the Coronavirus situation. Our priority is always to put disabled people at the heart of what we do and the efforts of everyone to safeguard, check and ensure that our recipients have the resources and support they need to continue their lives has been the focus of our entire team. A vast amount of work has been done at pace to ensure the policies, practices, finances and technologies are in place to support this effort and all staff have to be praised for how they have risen to these challenges.

Whilst we have a formal Business Continuity Plan (BCP), we have not needed to instigate it due to Covid-19 because of our business as normal flexible working. This has not only validated what we have done in the past, but enabled us to enhance our employee offering so all staff regardless of role are even more flexible. Though none of our triggers have been reached for formally instigating the BCP, the key weakness has been the availability of group video communication channels due to bandwidth pressures, however this will be addressed early in 2020/21.

Over the last year we saw the sad loss of a colleague and also had the retiral of a long standing staff member who have both been with ILF Scotland from the start. Due to the strength in depth and good succession planning, this has not impacted on operations but we will miss these brilliant colleagues very much. In terms of activity, even discounting the addition of Covid-19 to contend with, we have had a very busy year.

Health and Wellbeing has been a central plank to our developmental work, gaining a Healthy Living bronze award in year. We have enhanced the support to staff driven by last year’s staff survey, including but not limited to increased activity through our staff wellbeing group and a 4th Mental Health First Aider being trained. We have also engaged our Mental Health trainers at ‘strongmindedresilience’ to create an online eLearning tool 'Dealing with stress, trauma and loss' specifically targeted to deal with the potential impact of Covid-19. We are working to have this online by mid-April for all staff to access during what may be a harrowing time. Our work has been highlighted as best practice, being a finalist in the 2020 Family Friendly Working Awards in the Health and Wellbeing category.

Following a Work Impact Assessment last summer, we have now concluded the full structural review. This was well received with a full presentation during the Staff Development Day. This will be fully implemented by 1st April 2020 to support the delivery of the new strategy.

This last year also saw the full consultation and implementation of the Civil Service Pension Scheme which has been hugely welcomed by all staff.

Finally, we have continued to work closely with Family Friendly Working Scotland and Working Families with both organisations supporting our innovative Flexible Working policies. ILF Scotland achieved a number of accolades, being awarded the Top 30 UK organisations in the Working Families 2019 benchmarking, winning the best SME at the Working Mums 2019 Awards and achieving Carers Positive Accreditation.

In the coming year as part of our new strategy, we aim to develop our employee offering further especially around flexible working.

b.     Organisational Demography – By the end of Q4 the organisational make up is 61: staff (54) and Directors (7): 61:39 female: male, with 21.31% of staff self-identified as disabled, 4.91% BME and 1.64% LGBT.

c.     Employment status – We have continued to foster and build a life friendly approach using our full suite of policies, ILF Scotland continues to offer 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. We have also worked with Inclusion Scotland being fortunate to employ an Internship supporting our Transition Fund. We are learning invaluable lessons through this opportunity to help make ILF Scotland even more accessible.

d.     Recruitment –Our staff team has been strengthened with various internal promotions and appointments. This has been as a consequence of the growing Transition Fund and increased administrative burden placed on the organisation as we grow and plan to deliver even more services in both Scotland and Northern Ireland.

e.     Retention – Has been strong, however as previously reported, saw the sad loss of a colleague and also had the retirement of a long standing staff member who have both been with ILF Scotland from the start.

f.     Absence – Q4 - 2019/20:

Annual Absence statistics:

Short term absences remain at a low level with very few absences of 2 days or less. We continue to offer mental health awareness, personal resilience and suicide prevention workshops to all staff on an annual basis. Our life friendly suite of policies also continues to support the workforce.

g.     Disciplinary, Grievance and Performance – 1 x Disciplinary. 3 x Grievances – ongoing.

h.     Staff Survey – The staff survey has been delayed due to COVID 19 and will be issued in Q1 2020-2021. The completed staff survey will be circulated to the Remuneration Committee once prepared.

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:

Health and Safety

There have been no RIDDOR reportable incidents over the last year and the following activity has taken place:

6. Information Governance and IT

a.     Overview - This has been an overall busy year for the digital and information services team. The critical achievement towards the end of the year has been the upgrade of our server network and this single step means ILF Scotland can continue to operate its core Customer Relationship Management system for the foreseeable future.

The server upgrade, whilst essential to maintain the service delivery operation, has highlighted that ILF Scotland has an infrastructure nearing the end of its useful life, legacy systems and processes and no customer facing digital services apart from the online application form for the Transition Fund.

Over the last six months we have been developing an Outline Business Case (OBC) for a whole organisation digital transformation which will ultimately align ILF Scotland with Scottish Government’s Digital Strategy. This OBC was submitted to the Scottish Government Sponsor Team in Q4 with a plan to create a full commercial tender by October 2020. This would bid for significant capital funds to modernise internal processes to gain the advantages of digitisation, and externally to develop a wide range of accessible customer services offered in both digital and non- digital channels. If the Full Business Case successfully bids for these capital funds, the transformation work would begin in 2021/22.

Digital and Information Services also successfully tendered for a programme of work to provide a whole organisational approach to Risk and Resilience and the work formally started in Q4. The programme is being led internally by the new IT Security and Resilience Manager and is likely to take between 15-20 months to fully develop. As this report is written, ILF Scotland is like all public bodies, reviewing its business continuity arrangements and emergency responses during the Coronavirus pandemic and the programme will benefit from any lessons learned from our current practices and responses. The IT Security and Resilience Manager has also fully taken over the day to day security management of the organisation and is using a wide range of security tools and new relationships to safeguard our operation. Over the year, the number of incidents and breaches has been very low and we believe this is in the main due to extensive staff awareness and engagement with security and data protection matters.

Lastly in this section, we have now developed and are using on a daily basis our new dashboards and reporting services which provide real time management information. This includes the status and usage of our core operations, from financial values, numbers of applications, accounts in payment, operation processing times and regional analysis. This ability has greatly enhancing our capabilities for data driven decision making and is allowing much more accurate analysis and forecasting of our activities. We plan to fully roll this out over the coming year.

b.     Records Management - This year has been transformative in terms of the management of ILF Scotland records. The organisation’s first Records Management Plan was approved by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland in October 2019. The implementation of this plan has seen the creation of a Working Party charged with migrating the existing shared platform into an electronic records management system and smarter records control practices. The process to create a Memorandum of Understanding between ILF Scotland and The National Records of Scotland/ Public Records Northern Ireland got underway in Q3. This will enable the safe transmission and permanent archive of key ILF Scotland records which are deemed within the public interest of both countries.

As an organisation, ILF Scotland has committed to a progress update review with the National Records of Scotland. This will offer a fixed timescale for records management improvements and will better enable us to undertake focussed staff and management training with respect to the Records Management function. The landscape for smarter, more efficient ways of working and interacting with the bodies which govern records in Scotland and Northern Ireland is much changed. The project to implement the new eRDM has seen programmes of internal and external staff training, staff consultations and positive interactions with the Scottish Government eRDM Programme Team. This has led to the organisation being seen a model of best practice in terms of staff involvement and ownership of records management.

c.     Infrastructure and security - ILF Scotland has been successfully re-accredited for Cyber Essentials Plus and has continued to meets its commitments as a Cyber Catalyst organisation for the Scottish Government, including making a presentation on steps to cyber security at a national conference. The most complex work this period has been the development of the new server infrastructure (to Windows 2016) to replace the end of life Windows 2008 R2 servers. The build, configuration, hardening and finally testing have all been completed in this period seeing the migration of our current databases and applications onto these new servers. This will protect ILF Scotland from having end of life unsupported infrastructure and provide a secure environment for at least a further five years.

d.     Digital transformation - Progress in this area has been slower than hoped since the proposed support to undertake a pilot cloud migration project with Scottish Government has not been available. During the year, the Head of Digital and Information Services successfully completed the National Digital Champions programme, which brought together some 50 leaders across the public and third sectors. The purpose was to understand and develop the thinking on what new opportunities and practices are possible for digitally enabled organisations to enhance the “customer experience”.

e.     Forum - The new ILF Scotland Forum has been launched this year. The core purpose from ILF Scotland’s perspective, is that of increased engagement with the entire disabled community, so that we can identify areas of interest, trends and themes so as to inform policy development activities. From the user/recipient perspective, it is providing an independent, non-commercial secure platform for disabled people to have a voice, choice and control of their own agendas. They are able to set the debate that they are interested in without being targeted by third parties or commercially incentivised parties. It is truly their forum, their voice, their say and we hope to see a significant increase in the numbers of those using it next year.

f.     National Programmes - Although not directly related to ILF Scotland at the moment, two members of the team are involved in the two critical national infrastructure programmes of Scottish Government. One is involved in the project delivery team for the new National Payments Platform and the other acts in a governance and advisory capacity for the Digital Identity Scotland programme. These programmes are linked and it is anticipated that over the next three years, these two projects will become mainstream offerings/services delivered by Scottish Government and will simplify and improve processing efficiencies across the entire public administration in Scotland.

ILF Information Governance Dashboard April 2019 - March 2020

7. Finance

a.     The majority of reporting happens via the Audit and Risk Committee and Management Accounts, however the key points for finance are as follows:

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:

Image of Operations Dashboard - 2015 Fund to 31-03-2020 for both Scotland and Northern Ireland

b.     The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the 2015 Fund specific to Scotland:

Image of Operations Dashboard - 2015 Fund to 31-03-2020 specific to Scotland

c.     The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the 2015 Fund specific to Northern Ireland:

Image of Operations Dashboard - 2015 Fund to 31-03-2020 specific to Northern Ireland

d.     The following dashboard provides an overview of operational activity in relation to the Transition Fund:

Image of Operations Dashboard - Transition Fund to 31-03-2020

Annex B - Statistics

The following table shows the key statistics for the period 1st April 2019 - 31st March 2020 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.

Table of key statistics for the period 1st April 2019 - 31st March 2020 aligned to standard annual financial reporting cycles

Annual Report and Accounts - Year Ended 31 March 2019

Independent Living Fund Scotland

Annual Report and Accounts

Year ended 31 March 2019

Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to:

ILF Scotland Denholm House
Almondvale Business Park
Almondvale Way
Livingston
EH54 6GA

Phone: 0300 200 2022
Email: enquiries@ilf.scot

Contents

About us.....................................................................................................................................................................................3
Supporting our users A message from the Chair of the Board...............................................................................4
Introducing the people behind ILF Scotland................................................................................................................6
Performance Report
Strategic Report Incorporating Management commentary...................................................................................11
Accountability Report
Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities...................................................................................................................... 26
Remuneration and Staff Report for the year ended 31 March 2019....................................................................27
Annual Governance Statement for the year ended 31 March 2019....................................................................34
Directors’ Report for the year ended 31 March 2019...............................................................................................40
Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland..........................................................................44
Financial Statements
Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2019.....................................48
Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2019...............................................................................................49
Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2019................................................................................50
Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2019..............................................51
Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019.....................................................................................52

About Us

The Independent Living Fund Scotland is a Public Body of the Scottish Government. Our role is to provide a high quality service to, currently, around 3,500 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 was established in July 2015. We work in partnership with 37 local authorities and health & social care trusts across Scotland and Northern Ireland by jointly funding individually tailored care and support packages.

Operating from our central office in Livingston we employ up to 45 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 social services departments.

Office address

ILF Scotland Denholm House
Almondvale Business Park
Almondvale Way
Livingston
EH54 6GA

Tel: 0300 200 2022

Email: enquiries@ILF.scot

Website: www.ilf.scot

Supporting our users

A message from the Chair of the Board

As ILF Scotland approaches its fourth birthday, I am immensely proud of the achievements and success of our young organisation.

ILF Scotland was created by the Scottish Government to safeguard the vital support that ILF has provided to severely disabled people since 1988. Arguably, this support has never been more important than it is today. Disabled people tell me that, in many ways, the barriers to independent living are increasing rather than being overcome.

The ILF provides life-enhancing opportunities for its recipients to overcome these barriers, at least in part, allowing them to participate in, and contribute to, their communities and our society, in ways that would not otherwise be available to them. We are all enriched as a result.

However, our Fund recipients also tell me that they are unhappy that more people who are just as significantly disabled as they are cannot access ILF and enjoy the same benefits as they do. The Fund was closed to new applicants by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in 2010, and therefore many disabled people are missing out on the life-transforming potential of the Fund. This is a frustration to our disabled partners, and to me.

I am pleased that, following on from the Scottish Government’s commitment, made in the 2018-19 Programme for Government “Delivering for today, investing for tomorrow”, there is an intention to “gather views and consider evidence for a potential new national scheme to provide extra financial support to people with the highest social care needs”. I believe that, with further development of our existing model, ILF Scotland is well placed to deliver such a scheme, building on our success and strong reputation amongst disabled people.

Our Northern Ireland Stakeholder Group has been very proactive in raising the profile of ILF amongst key decision makers and, jointly with their Scottish counterparts, held a recent event in Stormont’s Parliament Buildings. The outcome from this event has been a commitment from the Northern Ireland Department of Health to do some preparatory work, looking at the merits and feasibility of re-opening ILF. Again, I am delighted at this prospect, and all of us at ILF Scotland stand ready to help in any way we can. I would like to extend my appreciation to our Stakeholder Groups for making this event such a success, and for their wider, invaluable contribution to the success of our organisation.

The new ILF Scotland Transition Fund was first opened to applicants in December 2017. The first payments were made in April 2018, and we are now at the end of the first full annual cycle of grant payments. Although still in its infancy, early indications, both from our own evidence gathering and through independent research carried out by Glasgow University’s Strathclyde Disability Research Centre, point to significant, life transforming, outcomes for young disabled people across Scotland. We look forward to receiving the full report from Strathclyde Disability Research Centre, and using this evaluation to inform further developments with the Transition Fund.

In previous years, I have expressed my gratitude to the Scottish and Northern Ireland Government Sponsor teams for their continued support and interest in our work, and my gratitude to these people continues. On behalf of the Board, I again want to recognise the hard work and achievements of the ILF Scotland staff team, evidenced by the many awards their hard work has led us to gain this year. To place this in context, let me remind you that ILF Scotland is a small and lean organisation. I love working with them and they continually achieve beyond my expectations.

The team is always focused on providing an exemplary service to existing recipients of the fund and most recently also to the new young recipients of our grant scheme. I, and the Board of Directors, appreciate the team’s hard work, and share their excitement and enthusiasm.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to my Board colleagues, in recognition of their contribution to our organisation and their support to me throughout the year.

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 Douglas-Scott lives and works in Prestwick, Scotland. For the past nine years Susan has followed a diverse portfolio career as a freelance consultant in equalities, health, disability and social care, as a popular humanist celebrant and as a non- executive director with NHS Education for Scotland (NES)

In April 2018 Susan was delighted to be appointed as Chair of NHS Golden Jubilee Foundation which worked well as her term with NES ended in May the same year.

At ILF Scotland Susan relishes the opportunity it gives her to help enable disabled people to live the lives of their choice. Susan is delighted the way ILF Scotland has developed as an organisation over the last four years and is especially pleased that it can showcase its excellent progress having won multiple awards including ones for being positive employers and for excellence from the finance team.

Susan enjoyed an 18 year career in local authorities and non-Government Organisations in the field of disability and health, including the CEO of PHACE Scotland, CEO of Epilepsy

Scotland and then the first CEO of the Health and Social Care Alliance.

In 2008 Susan was lead author of “Gaun Yersel” the Scottish

Government’s self-management strategy for people living with long term conditions. This year this strategy celebrated its 10th anniversary and Susan was invited to speak at an event where the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport gave a keynote speech outlining its continued relevance on today’s health and social care landscape.

In all her roles Susan uses her skills as a committed people person, holding strong foundations in supporting people to live their lives in a positive way. Susan has a keen eye for organisational development and through that lens, guides organisations to deliver services that make a real difference to the people they serve.

Susan is very proud that ILF Scotland has a positive staff and recipient index of worth and will continue to give her full support.

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.

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.

Fiona O’Donnell, Chair of the Remuneration Committee

Fiona O’Donnell is a qualified solicitor with a specialist accreditation in commercial mediation.

She has 38 years public sector experience with local government and the higher education sector in Aberdeen, Angus and Dundee and has worked part time as Company Secretary for the Legal Defence Union for 13 years.

As Director of Legal at the University of Dundee, she worked with employment, discrimination and disability issues for both staff and students and set up the early dispute and mediation service at the University 10 years ago.

Having retired, Fiona is now Honorary Fellow at the University and mediates regularly in the public, voluntary and business sectors to help individuals and groups overcome disputes and reach better understandings by engaging in mediation.

Elizabeth Humphreys Deputy Chair and member of the Audit & Risk Committee

Elizabeth has 30 years’ experience of working in the public and voluntary sectors. At Board level, in addition to her experience as Deputy Chair of ILF Scotland, she is Chair of Drake Music Scotland, Scotland’s leading music and disability organisation.

She is also a member of Changing the Chemistry, a Scottish charity with the aim of promoting diversity within organisations, particularly at Board level, and was an Independent Prison Monitor.

During her career as a civil servant, Elizabeth 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.

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 CAB 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, UHI. She is also currently Treasurer of the Barra Access Panel which feeds into the national body from a remote island perspective.

Mark Adderley member of the Audit & Risk Committee

Mark is an experienced executive and non-executive director with a passion for equality and social justice. He has over 20 years’ experience in change, transformation, HR and people skills with executive roles in utilities, NHS, Higher Education and not for profit activity. Mark is also a Chartered Director and fellow of IOD and CIPD and brings his experience of governance and passion for people to the board.

The Senior Management Team (SMT)

The SMT is responsible for the strategic management of ILF Scotland.

Peter Scott OBE, Chief Executive

Peter has over 20 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.

Jim Maguire, Finance Director

Jim is a chartered accountant and has over 30 years’ experience operating at senior finance level. After over 20 years in the dairy sector, Jim moved to the public sector and his previous roles include finance director at the Scottish Police Services Authority and The Student Loans Company.

As Finance Director, Jim 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

Although Harvey began his career in the British Army, he has spent the best part of the last 18 years working in the voluntary and public sector.

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 service delivery, IT, health and safety, information governance, facilities, human resources and organisational development. Harvey also acts in the capacity of company SIRO (Senior Information Risk Owner).

Paul Hayllor, Head of Corporate Planning and Development

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 over 17 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 preparation of management accounts and management information.

Working closely with all other Heads of departments, ensuring appropriate and timely provision of management information and close management of organisational budgets.

Linda Scott, Head of Policy

Linda is responsible for leading the Policy function within ILF Scotland. She joined in August 2018 after working in Health & Social Care Integration for just over three years.

She has spent her career of more than 30 years in the public sector, primarily in social housing and has held managerial positions in both local and Scottish Government. 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.

Robert White, Head of Social Work

Robert has over 25 years of experience working in central and local government and has a keen interest in the interaction between social welfare and social work.

Robert began his career in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), undertaking various roles, from Benefits Officer to Social Fund Officer, before becoming a Social Worker, Mental Health Officer and Chair of a Practitioner forum in Ayrshire. Prior to starting with ILF Scotland in 2015, Robert managed a team of Social Workers in South Lanarkshire Council.

As Head of Social Work for ILF Scotland, Robert is responsible for managing and coordinating the organisation’s 22 Assessors who work across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

PERFORMANCE REPORT

Strategic Report Incorporating Management commentary

Strategic Report
Notes to Strategic Report
Principal activity and historical context

The Independent Living Fund 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 a Non- Departmental Public Body of the Scottish Government (SG) in June 2018 (having previously been an Other Significant Public Body) and receives funding in the form of Grant in Aid from SG for Scotland. There is also an agreement between the Scottish Government and the Department of Health (DOH), Northern Ireland for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF recipients based in Northern Ireland.

External auditor
MHA Henderson Loggie 20 Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4QB

Solicitor
Central Legal Office
Breadalbane Street
Edinburgh
EH6 5JR

Internal auditor
TIAA Limited Aerodrome Road
Gosport
PO13 0FQ

Banker
Royal Bank of Scotland
36 St. Andrew Square
Edinburgh
EH2 2AD

Directors’ appointments, training and remuneration

Following public advertisement and recruitment procedures in line with Scottish Government Public Appointments guidance directors are appointed on a fixed term basis. At such time as the current Chair’s term of appointment ends or she resigns the Scottish Ministers under such guidance will also appoint the Chair. Directors’ appointments can be extended at the discretion of Scottish Ministers.

The Directors receive remuneration under arrangements agreed with the Scottish Government and are reimbursed for their incidental expenses in line with the company travel and subsistence policy.

Relationships and related parties

Directors are appointed by the Scottish Ministers to administer ILF Scotland. Related parties are Directors, the Scottish Government (SG) and the Department of Health (DOH), Northern Ireland. There is an agreement between SG and DOH for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF users based in Northern Ireland. ILF Scotland received Grant in Aid from SG of £53.3m (2017-18 £52.3m). SG makes payments to the company on a monthly basis. The Company’s ultimate controlling party is the Scottish Ministers.

Operating and performance review

Overview

ILF Scotland is now approaching the end of our first 3 year strategy, and we are pleased to report strong progress against our three key strategic themes: -

  1. The existing 2015 Fund (inherited from ILF UK) has been maximised for effective value;
  2. A new scheme (Transition Fund) is effectively introduced and established in Scotland, and;
  3. The knowledge gained through our work across all of Scotland and Northern Ireland has been shared to develop best practice.

As well as achieving, ahead of schedule, the majority of our strategic objectives set in 2016, we have fully established our identity and credibility to support those disabled individuals with the most complex needs and circumstances in Scotland and Northern Ireland, whilst delivering the first stage of the new Transition Fund for young disabled people in Scotland.

This has been achieved against a backdrop of significant change in the policy and practice of health and social care and an austere financial climate. As our numbers grow in the Transition Fund and we look to increase our services to our 2015 Fund recipients, we are excited to start the process of developing our new strategy and strategic partnerships in 2019/20, to make independent living a reality for even more disabled people living in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In the last year, ILF Scotland has continued to deliver against the organisational strategy. Our main activities have included: the successful implementation of key policy changes; a Northern Ireland cost of living uplift; a reduction in recipient financial contributions; a Scottish Living Wage (SLW) uplift; overnight hours adjustments for SLW; growth of the new Transition Fund; and the organisation supporting the first joint stakeholder meeting and event held in Northern Ireland. All of these developments are making a real and positive impact on thousands of disabled people and their families across Scotland and Northern Ireland.

To support this work, we have endeavoured to develop our technical capabilities through a comprehensive programme of improvement including a new technical capabilities and online functionality, whilst investing in our skills and knowledge to improve outcomes for disabled people. These new capabilities represent a real paradigm shift in the way we administer the Funds, allowing, for example, multiple interventions for 2015 fund recipients and online applications for the Transition Fund. ILF recipients get timely and high quality support, ensuring that they are at the centre of what ILF Scotland does.

Alongside this, significant organisational effort has gone into increasing the operational tempo around the applications and awareness of the Transition Fund, including our highly successful campaign launch of #TrySomethingNew. This has resulted in strong growth in applications received throughout the year, seeing a 44% jump in Qtr 4 alone. We are also delighted to report that we have launched our first online service co-designed by young disabled individuals to make the application process simpler for the Transition Fund, which has now seen over 100 requests for online accounts in the last three months of the reporting period.

As a consequence of the aforementioned work, we have had our busiest year operationally with 2015 Fund and Transition Fund visits, reports, applications and offers. Though we have spent considerable time improving internal process and had a small uplift in frontline staff, the numerous efficiencies and limited staffing increases are now being outstripped by the complexity and volume of administration of both funds.

To put this into perspective, in our first fully operational year 2016/17 we carried out just over 2,000 key enabling interventions. This year we carried out over 5,000 - an increase of 250%.

Finally, in the past year, the organisation has been proudly recognised as a Best Small UK Employer at the Working Families 2018 Special Awards, the Best Finance Team in the 2018 CIPFA UK Finance Awards, Top 10 UK Employer by Working Families and we were a finalist alongside our marketing partner in the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards in the Digital Marketing category. This external recognition has been due to the hard work and professionalism of our staff, who always go the extra mile to make a real positive impact for disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is backed up by feedback reporting satisfaction from the 2015 recipients of 98% and in our first year of operations in relation to the Transition Fund, recipients report 97.5% satisfaction. This not only shows we are delivering high quality services but that these services are greatly valued by disabled people.

Key Operational Activities - Over the past year the following key activities have taken place:

Strategic Priority 1 - The Existing Fund has been maximised for effective value:

Strategic Priority 2 - A New ILF scheme is successfully introduced and established in Scotland:

Strategic Priority 3 - The knowledge gained through our work across all of Scotland and Northern Ireland has been shared to develop best practice:

2015 Fund Highlights

         Policy Revision - We have completed the following in this reporting period:

Recipient Feedback - Based on 159 surveys received, over 98% of recipients reported satisfaction with their service from ILF Scotland. This is the same as last year but is based on a higher response rate and, although positive, we hope to get an even richer sample when our new online survey is fully rolled out in 2019/20.

Scottish Living Wage (SLW) Implementation – in line with Scottish Government policy we have implemented the May 2018 SLW increment. This proved to be slightly more straightforward following the learning from previous uplifts, coupled with additional systems development. That said, this was still a highly complex task which requires significant work to ensure all recipients can benefit from the Scottish government’s policy intent.

We also took a different approach with provider agencies this year, as the blanket uplift approach used previously caused confusion and anxiety for some fund recipients. It also generated significant amounts of unspent money in recipients’ bank accounts, which are now being returned to ILF Scotland. Therefore, as the annual SLW increase moves to normal business activity, we will not be applying blanket uplifts for providers going forward, but will manage things through ILF Award Managers and Assessors on a case by case basis.

This approach has been agreed with Scottish Government, and we will monitor this to ensure it is working for all. One further variation this year also saw a policy change that enabled us to exceed the maximum award to facilitate the SLW uplift which meant that every Scottish recipient was to benefit from the uplift. The new SLW increased to £9.00 per hour effective from 1 April 2019.

We applied this on this date to all of our recipients employing PAs, and are applying it on a case by case basis to those using agencies. For the first time, overnight hours are now paid at the SLW rate, which has added significant additional complexity to the implementation process.

Transition Fund Highlights

The transition to adult life is known to be a particularly challenging time for many young disabled people and their families in Scotland. It was not surprising therefore that, through our co-production work, ILF Scotland was asked to prioritise this area of work as we developed our new fund. We are pleased to report that, over the course of the last year, the fund has become firmly established, with growing awareness among key partners. Most importantly, we are beginning to learn about the life-transforming impact the fund is having for so many young disabled people as they navigate from school to adult life.

Since the launch of the Transition Fund in late December 2017, there has been continued steady growth in the number of applications received. Over the past 12 months we have seen the following numbers of applications:

This steady growth clearly shows a positive direction of travel, demonstrating that all of the hard work carried out to grow awareness of the new fund amongst key target audiences is now beginning to pay off. In particular the targeted work of the #TrySomethingNew media campaign, coupled with extensive direct engagement, has had a significant impact.

Finally we plan to use the intelligence gained through: our internal audit/review; recipient/applicant feedback; management data; independent evaluation and research, to further enhance the fund and grow its reach over 2019/20. Note that at time of writing over 1000 applications have been logged on our database.

Social Work Highlights

As reported above, we have had successful negotiations with our colleagues in COSLA this year. COSLA’s Health and Social Care Board have agreed to revise guidance on Local Authority Social Care charging of ILF recipients to mitigate the risk of any double charges and to protect any increased income ILF recipients receive as a result of ILF charging reductions linked to reform of our operational policies.

Despite the significant pull on Assessor Team resources resulting from the continued development of the Transition Fund, we are working through the second cycle of 2015 Fund bi-annual reviews in Scotland and NI. We are slightly behind schedule with these visits, however additional assessor capacity from 1st April 2019 should enable us to get back on schedule in the coming months.

During 2018/19 one of our key tasks during review visits has been rebalancing of support plans to reflect the additionality and independent living focus of ILF Scotland. This has progressed well in almost all local areas during the year. We have visited specific Local Authority partners to redress the last elements of historic imbalances inherited from our antecedent UK wide public body. In particular Glasgow City have agreed full rebalancing of all cases and we are working to agree a joint review schedule with a new dedicated Glasgow review team. Northern Ireland has rolled out Self Directed Support to its 5 Health and Social Care Trust areas and we have met with each Trust to re-enforce the additionality of ILF support and sharing learning from Scotland.

We have seen further increases in the complexity of Assessor reviews over the last year, which has seen an increase in time spent in working through the issues in the most complex cases. These are mainly grouped around: tightened SDS Eligibility Criteria putting pressure on quality of life funding for disabled people; incorrect benefits due to DWP errors; mitigating the negative impact of increased employment costs; the inconsistent implementation of SDS nationally; and, implementation of ILF Policy changes. We expect these issues to reduce as the effect of Policy change works through this review cycle, whilst a review of 2015 Fund operational efficiency is underway.

IT, Digital Transformation and Continuous Improvement – Digital Transformation has continued on two fronts for ILF Scotland with the introduction of the new Transition Fund Web Service and our Cyber Catalyst role for Scottish Government. The back office systems have worked well to receive, process and evaluate the applications for the new Transition Fund, but the paper based approach has introduced time delays to processing which will not be an issue when the web service becomes live. The project team to deliver the technical solution has been increased and most of the work has focused on the upgrade of the infrastructure ready to deploy the new web service.

Finance – This has been another strong year from a financial perspective with another clean external audit, further strengthening of finance systems and being a winner in the Public Finance Innovation Awards . Other key achievements or activities of note are as follows:

Information Governance – The bulk of the information governance this year has focused on GDPR with a whole organisational approach to information and data security. The high point of the year was an internal audit which confirmed that ILF Scotland had met the requirements for GDPR and the DPA 2018 with only one suggestion for improving our approach.

The audit identified that ILF Scotland was probably operating in the top 10% of all public bodies in this area and commented on the whole organisational approach to sound data protection practices. Key to the overall success in this area have been the appointments of a dedicated Data Protection Officer and IT Security Manager who collectively ensure the integrity of the organisational approaches to information security.

People – During this year we have continued to strengthen our approach and systems relating to HR and organisational development, to ensure our employee proposition is inclusive, life friendly, market leading and skills appropriate. This also included finalising the pay structure with the Scottish Government. Of particular note ILF Scotland has become a Top 10 UK wide employer in the Working Families 2018 Benchmark and the Best Small Employer at the 2018 Working Families Special Awards.

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. This has dropped from 1.8% to 1.78% over the reporting period.

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 2018-19 ILF Scotland paid 95% of invoices within 10 days (2017-18 97%) of receipt. The number of creditor days outstanding at the end of 2018-19 was 23.4 days (2017-18 15.2 days).

Financial review

We report an increase in taxpayers’ equity for the year amounting to £217,696 which has been transferred to general reserve as set out on page 51.

ILF Scotland is financed out of Grant in Aid from SG for the purpose of making regular grants to individuals. Grant in Aid of £53.3 million (2017-18 £52.3 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 2018- 19 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

All financial and other matters necessary for an effective external audit have been disclosed to the auditors. As far as the Directors are aware there is no relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware; the Directors have taken all the steps necessary to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to ensure that the auditors are aware of that information.

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 2019 shows a surplus net assets position of £2,324,666 as set out on page 49.

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 2019-20.

There were no events after the end of the financial year that have any material effect on these Reports and Accounts.

Future developments and organisational risks

The company provides estimates of expenditure to support the requests of Grant in Aid. Directors are required to take reasonable steps to ensure expenditure does not exceed available funding.

The company continues to develop a robust risk management programme, identifying major risks against business objectives and implementing appropriate risk management measures. The SMT reviews risks and reports to the Audit Committee and Board of Directors on a quarterly basis. Appropriate controls and action plans for risk management are put in place and these are reviewed at the risk management meetings. A separate Annual Governance Statement is provided in this document.

Summary – This has been another strong year, delivering even further progress against our strategic plan with the strong growth of the new Transition Fund and improvements to the 2015 Fund. ILF Scotland’s Business Plan for 2019/2020 articulates the detailed priorities for the coming year.

Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the Directors on 25 June 2019.

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT

Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report, 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 2018- 19 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:

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 2018- 19 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.

Signed by the Chair of the Board on behalf of the Directors on 25 June 2019.

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Remuneration and Staff Report for the year ended 31 March 2019

Remuneration Report

Directors and Senior Management Team

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 Senior Management Team are responsible for day to day operations and activities.

Personal performance objectives for the Senior Management Team are currently being developed.

The Remuneration Policy

This report for the period ended 31 March 2019 deals with the remuneration of the Chief Executive, SMT and Directors of the Independent Living Fund 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:

Fiona O’Donnell, 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:

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 2019 the total remuneration paid to Directors were:

Name2018-192017-18
 ££
Susan Douglas-Scott (Chair)4,9205,199
Alan Dickson2,0692,275
Fiona O’Donnell1,9011,004
Bridget Sly2222,028
Elizabeth Humphreys4,2173,066
Elizabeth McAtear1,8961,520
Twimukye Macline Mushaka1,8871,099
Mark Adderley774N/A
Total17,88616,191

In line with the company travel and subsistence policy a Director may also be reimbursed all reasonable and proper expenses incurred in carrying out their duties as a Director.

The Chief Executive and Senior Management Team

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:

The company is developing plans to have in place for the Chief Executive and the Senior Management Team, agreed objectives which are set by the Chairman 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.

Table of salaries and pension benefits of the Chief Executive and SMT
Bonus Payments

There were no bonus payments arising during the period.

Other Pension Benefits

Both the company and employees contribute to a defined contribution stakeholder pension arrangement.

Pay multiples
Table of employees remuneration

The banded remuneration of the highest paid employee in the company in the financial period 2018-19 was £70-75k (2017-18 £70-75k). This was 2.51 times (2017-18 2.65 times) the median remuneration of the workforce, which was £28,462 (2017-18 £26,765).

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.

Pension Contributions

Pension benefits are provided through a defined contribution stakeholder scheme.

The employer makes a basic contribution of between 6% and 12% depending on the employee contribution. Employee contributions are salary-related and range between 2% and 5% of pensionable earnings.

Staff Report

Gender Analysis

The table below shows the gender analysis of ILFS employees at 31 March.

Table of gender analysis of ILFS employees
Absence Analysis

The table below shows the staff absence analysis of ILFS employees for the year. Our absence rate falls within acceptable relevant comparable parameters. The current year includes two staff members on long-term sickness absence.

Table of absence rate of ILFS employees
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. This methodology is solidly based on an Organisational Development strategy, tailored to support the culture of inclusiveness, diversity, outcomes focus, trust, coaching and continuous improvement. We have put in place a 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. We trust our staff to complete the work when they can around their agreed working hours and there is no expectation of taking work home or outside of hours working – unless it meets their needs.

Fiona O’Donnell, Remuneration Committee Chair

Signed by the above on 25 June 2019

Annual Governance Statement for the year ended 31 March 2019

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
Table of Director attendance at meetings and committees

* Not a committee member. Attendance as an observer on occasion.

** Transferred from Remuneration Committee to Audit & Risk Committee in January 2018.

*** Transferred from Audit & Risk Committee to Remuneration Committee in January 2018. Also acted as temporary member of Audit & Risk Committee in 2018/19.

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 the Scottish Government (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 also acts in the capacity of the ILF Scotland Senior Information Risk Owner (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.

Our Directors meet quarterly to address our strategic business priorities and the strategic risks associated whilst the SMT meets fortnightly.

Reviewing our strategic risks is a standing item at Board meetings, the SMT and the Audit & Risk Committee.

The Audit & Risk Committee provides a high-level resource that tests 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.

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.

Managing risks

The Risk Management Framework (RMF) 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.

This year our emerging risks were mainly in connection with the setting up of the Transition Fund which commenced making payments in April 2018, the management of resources, the deployment of independent contractors and managing the movement of personal and sensitive information.

Our risks have been discussed within the organisation and where necessary we defined new roles and responsibilities, we introduced new measures, with improved management information and where appropriate attached a specific manager.

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 has responsibility for development and maintenance of the internal control framework, and guided by advice from internal and external auditors.

We have been advised on the implications of my review of the effectiveness of the system of internal control by the SMT and the Audit & Risk Committee. As Chair of the Board I am confident that the Board of Directors and Audit & Risk Committee can draw significant assurance from the activity and reporting from SMT.

We also have in place independent internal auditors to examine our governance, risk management and control processes and they have provided their opinion that there is reasonable assurance that effective risk management, control and governance processes are in place based upon their programme of work during the year.

The internal control systems SMT have put in place include:

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 weekly to ensure that all attendees understand both the priorities of the week and any emerging issues.

Senior Committees

The Audit & Risk Committee met five 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 seven instances of suspected fraud in relation to fund recipients. The total amount estimated to be involved is up to £199,000 (2017-18 £49,000).

All cases have been reported to NHS Counter Fraud Services for investigation and one case has been progressed to the Procurator Fiscal. As these payments were recorded as costs when originally advanced they do not represent a further cost if deemed to be irrecoverable.

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.

Whilst as a relatively new organisation we continue to develop and improve our internal control and governance systems, in conclusion we believe that they were fit for purpose during the reporting period.

Susan Douglas-Scott
Chair of the Board
25 June 2019

Directors’ Report for the year ended 31 March 2019

The directors submit their annual report for the year ended 31 March 2019.

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 2018- 19 where these go beyond the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Principal activities

The principal activities are described on page 11. The organisation became a Non- Departmental Public Body in June 2018, having previously been an Other Significant Public Body.

Directors

Susan Douglas-Scott
Chair of the board

Alan Dickson
Non-executive director

Fiona O’Donnell
Non-executive director

Bridget Sly
Non-executive director (resigned 9 June 2018)

Elizabeth Humphreys
Non-executive director

Elizabeth McAtear
Non-executive director

Twimukye Macline Mushaka
Non-executive director (resigned 29 January 2019)

Mark Adderley
Non-executive director (appointed 29 January 2019)

For further information, please see the Governance Statement on pages 34 to 39. All non-executive directors are considered to be independent.

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

Full details of the movement in non-current assets are given in Notes 6 and 7 to the Accounts.

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 contributes to a defined contribution stakeholder pension scheme as part of the remuneration package to staff.

Information losses

There were no reportable Information losses in the period.

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 Governance Statement.

The Board’s Governance Statement is provided on pages 34 to 39.

The Board

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.

Remuneration

The remuneration for the Chair and Non-Executive Directors is determined by The Scottish Ministers. The remuneration of the Chief Executive is determined by the Board, subject to approval by The Scottish Ministers.

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.

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 Remuneration Report on pages 27 to 31 and the Governance Statement on pages 34 to 39.

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 and the Chief Operating Officer.

Both external and internal audit have the right to independent access to the Chairman and members of the Committee.

Further details regarding the Audit & Risk Committee can be found in the Governance statement on pages 34 to 39.

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 themself 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.

A resolution regarding the appointment of Auditor to the Company was approved at the June 2019 Board meeting.

By order of the Board

James A Maguire
Company Secretary
25 June 2019

Independent Auditor’s Report to the members of ILF Scotland

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of ILF Scotland for the year ended 31 March 2019 which 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 the related notes, 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 (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union and as applied in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006, and as interpreted and adapted by the 2018-19 Government Financial Reporting Manual (‘the 2018-19 FReM’).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

Other information

The directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the 2018-19 FReM

In our opinion:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Strategic Report or the Directors' Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion

Responsibilities of directors

As explained more fully in the Statement of Directors' Responsibilities set out on page 26, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the 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 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 the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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. We are also responsible for giving an opinion on the regularity of expenditure and income in accordance with the 2018-19 FReM.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: http://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Stephen Cartwright (Senior Statutory Auditor)
For and on behalf of MHA Henderson Loggie
Chartered Accountants
Statutory Auditor
The Vision Building
20 Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4QB

25 June 2019

MHA Henderson Loggie is a trading name of Henderson Loggie LLP.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure for the year ended 31 March 2019

ExpenditureNotes2018-192017-18
  ££
Grants to individuals  350,574,49749,780,857
  Staff costs  4  1,710,713  1,435,148
  Depreciation and amortisation  5  29,329  27,788
  Other expenditure  5  776,772  686,627
  Total comprehensive net expenditure for the year   53,091,311  51,930,420

 All expenditure relates to continuing operations.

The notes on pages 52 to 66 form part of these accounts.

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2019

 Notes31 March 201931 March 2018
Non-current assets ££
Property, plant and equipment   61,1305,533
Intangible assets   7152,507161,511
Total non-current assets 153,637167,044
Current assets   
Trade and other receivables   91,431,97786,691
Cash and cash equivalents   105,010,7344,851,136
Total current assets 6,442,7114,937,827
Total assets 6,596,3485,104,871
Current liabilities   
Trade and other payables   11(183,578)(1,258,681)
Other liabilities – grant liabilities   11(3,838,340)(1,574,019)
Other liabilities – deferred income   11(202,575)(76,025)
Total current liabilities (4,224,493)(2,908,725)
Total assets less current liabilities 2,371,8552,196,146
Non-current liabilities   
Deferred income – capital grants   12(47,189)(89,176)
Net assets 2,324,6662,106,970
Taxpayers’ equity   
General reserve 2,324,6662,106,970
Total taxpayers’ equity 2,324,6662,106,970

The notes on pages 52 to 66 form part of these accounts.

These accounts were approved and authorised for issue by the Directors on 25 June 2019.

Susan Douglas-Scott, Chair of the Board

Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2019

Notes   2018-192017-18
Cash flows from operating activities ££
Net expenditure (53,091,311)(51,930,420)
Depreciation and amortisation   588,28342,827
Amortisation of capital grant   12(58,954)(15,039)
(Increase) in trade and other receivables   9(1,345,286)(45,666)
Increase/(Decrease) in trade and other payables, grant liabilities and provisions  11/121,308,434(6,450,398)
Net cash outflow from operating activities (53,098,834)(58,398,696)
  Purchase of Fixed assets   7  (74,876)  (160,072)
Net cash outflow from investing activities (74,876)(160,072)
Cash outflows from financing activities   
Grant Funding and sundry income 53,309,00752,157,826
Capital grant   1224,301152,872
Net cash flows from financing activities 53,333,30852,310,698
Net Increase/(Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the period 159,598(6,248,070)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period 4,851,13611,099,206
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period   105,010,7344,851,136

The notes on pages 52 to 66 form part of these accounts.

Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year ended 31 March 2019

  General Reserve
 ££
Balance at 1 April 2018 2,106,970
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2018-2019  
Grant in aid from departments53,193,483 
Net expenditure(53,091,311) 
  102,172
Sundry Income 115,524
Balance at 31 March 2019 2,324,666
Balance at 1 April 2017   1,879,564
Changes in Taxpayers’ equity 2017-2018  
Grant in aid from departments52,157,826 
Net expenditure(51,930,420) 
  227,406
Balance at 31 March 2018 2,106,970

General reserve – relates to the ongoing operation of regular payments to individuals and the associated administration costs, financed by Grant in Aid.

Grant in Aid is not drawn in full in advance but requested each calendar month to meet estimated cash payments during the year.

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 2019-20.

The notes on pages 52 to 66 form part of these accounts.

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2019

1. Nature and purpose of the Independent Living Fund Scotland

The Independent Living Fund Scotland commenced operations in July 2015. The company is limited by guarantee. The guarantor is The Scottish Ministers.

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 Department of Health (DOH), Northern Ireland 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.

2. Statement 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 2018- 19 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 2019 shows a net assets position.

Scottish Government has provided a letter of 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 2019-20.

International Financial Reporting Standards Amendments and Interpretations effective in 2018-19

No amendment or interpretations have been issued but are not yet effective, and that are available for early adoption, have been applied by the company in these financial statements. There are no amendments or interpretations issued, but not yet effective, which are expected to have a material effect on the financial statements in the future.

  a) Accounting convention

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention modified for the revaluation of non-current assets.

  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 fair value.

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.

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 ILFS 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 reasonable prospect of recovery.

Any receivable 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.

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.

  j) Pension costs

Both the company and staff contribute to a defined contribution pension scheme.

  k) 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 the recoverability of grants to individuals.

Where the estimated period of recovery of a grant is under 10 years, it is assumed that the full amount will be recovered. Where the period is over 10 years only the amount likely to be recovered within 10 years is included.

  l) 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.

  m) 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 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.

3. Grants to individuals

 2018-192017-18
 ££
Payments made in year50,391,75953,154,783
Grant liabilities at start of year(1,574,019)(3,772,057)
Grant liabilities at end of year3,838,3401,574,019
Grant prepayments at start of year43,276-
Grant prepayments at end of year-(43,276)
Grant returns received in year(2,124,859)(1,132,612)
 50,574,497 49,780,857
Number of individuals in receipt of payment at 31 March 2,805 2,906

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 £2,124,859 (2017-18 £1,132,612) in respect of unused funds returned by individuals.

4. Staff Costs

4a Staff numbers and related costs
 2018-192017-18
 ££
Wages and salaries1,421,6211,195,723
Social security costs131,819114,048
Other pension costs (see 4b below)157,273125,377
Total staff costs1,710,7131,435,148
 2018-192017-18
 NumberNumber
Average number of persons directly employed:  
Directors (part-time non-executives)67
Staff3937
 4544
4b Other pension costs

Employees can opt to contribute to a defined contribution pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employer contributions range from 6% to 12% of pensionable pay. Employers match employee contributions up to 5% of pensionable pay.

Contributions due to the pension providers were nil at 31 March 2019 (31 March 2018 nil). Contributions prepaid were nil at 31 March 2019 (31 March 2018 nil).

5. Running costs

 2018-192017-18
££
Assessor fees and expenses74,155148,313
IT and information security costs141,623149,063
Rates, utilities and other estate costs89,428125,840
Legal and professional costs109,75250,223
Services, training, recruitment, travel and subsistence204,210149,600
Auditors remuneration (audit fee only)14,73014,730
Communication and engagement84,64134,852
Postage costs12,78610,536
Printing and stationary costs3,0073,470
Research costs42,440-
Total other expenditure776,772686,627
Non-cash items££
Depreciation4,40312,527
Amortisation83,88030,299
Sub-total88,28342,826
Grant release(58,954)(15,038)
Total non-cash items29,32927,788

6 Property, plant and equipment

 Information Technology  Total
Cost££
At 1 April 201837,58337,583
Additions in year--
Balance at 31 March 201937,583                            37,583
Depreciation  
At 1 April 201832,05032,050
Charge for year4,4034,403
Balance at 31 March 201936,453                            36,453
Net Book Value  
At 31 March 20191,1301,130
At 31 March 20185,5335,533
 Information Technology    Total
Cost££
At 1 April 201737,58337,583
Additions in year--
Balance at 31 March 201837,583                            37,583
Depreciation  
At 1 April 201719,52319,523
Charge for year12,52712,527
Balance at 31 March 201832,050                            32,050
Net Book Value  
At 31 March 20185,5335,533
At 31 March 201718,06018,060

7 Intangible assets

 Cost or valuationInformation Technology  Total
 ££
At 1 April 2018206,152206,152
Additions in year74,876                            74,876
Balance at 31 March 2019281,028                          281,028
Amortisation  
At 1 April 201844,64144,641
Charge for year83,880                            83,880
At 31 March 2019128,521                          128,521
Net Book Value  
At 31 March 2019152,507152,507
At 31 March 2018161,511161,511
  
 Information Technology  Total
 ££
At 1 April 201746,08046,080
Additions in year160,072                          160,072
Balance at 31 March 2018206,152                          206,152
Amortisation  
At 1 April 201714,34114,341
Charge for year30,300                            30,300
At 31 March 2018 44,641                            44,641
Net Book Value  
At 31 March 2018161,511161,511
At 31 March 201731,73931,739

Intangible assets mainly comprise bespoke software and software licences. There is no significant difference between historic cost and fair value.

8 Financial instruments and associated risks

As all of the majority 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 201931 March 2018
 ££
Cash and cash equivalents5,010,7344,851,136

Cash and cash equivalents: represents money with The Royal Bank of Scotland held in current accounts to minimise the risk.

Financial liabilities
 31 March 201931 March 2018
 ££
Grant liabilities3,838,3401,574,019
Trade payables and accruals183,5781,258,681
Deferred income143,51724,301
Capital grant liabilities106,247         140,900
 4,271,6822,997,901

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 201931 March 2018
 ££
Due within one year  
Prepayments49,69781,198
Debtor – Scottish Government1,370,080-
Other receivables12,200           5,493
 1,431,97786,691

The Scottish Government debtor relates to Grant in Aid for March 2019.

10 Cash and cash equivalents

2018-192017-18
 ££
Balance at 1 April 20184,851,13611,099,206
Net cash inflow/(outflow)159,598(6,248,070)
Balance at 31 March 20195,010,7344,851,136
 31 March 201931 March 2018
 ££
Benefit accounts4,951,3894,544,569
Administration account59,345           306,567
 5,010,7344,851,136

Cash and equivalents comprise bank balances which are held in current accounts in a UK commercial bank.

11 Current Liabilities

 31 March 201931 March 2018
 ££
Grant liabilities3,838,3401,574,019
Trade payables61,76935,280
Accruals121,809271,692
Deferred income – Scottish Government143,51724,301
Deferred income – Capital Grants59,05851,724
Other payables-                    951,709
 4,224,4932,908,725

The Deferred Income (Scottish Government) relates to grant timing differences.

Non-current Liabilities

Deferred Income - Capital Grants
 31 March 201931 March 2018
 ££
At 1 April 2018140,9003,067
Capital grant received24,301152,872
Less amortised in period(58,954)     (15,039)
Total balance at 31 March 2019106,247140,900
Less due within one year(59,058)     (51,724)
Due after more than one year47,18989,176

13 Losses and special payments

Although grants to individuals are discretionary payments, formal recovery is sought where the provision of incorrect information has led to incorrect payment or where the grants have not been used for the intended purpose.

Where recovery is deemed to be unachievable, a loss is recorded. There are seven cases currently being investigated which may involve fraud in relation to fund recipients. The total amount estimated to be involved is up to £199,000 (2017-18 £49,000). All cases have been reported to NHS Counter Fraud Services for investigation including one which has been reported to the Procurator Fiscal.

Losses are recorded when it becomes evident that there are no practical avenues remaining by which to pursue recovery, and therefore no further action is taken by the specialist team. As these payments were recorded as costs when originally advanced they do not represent a further cost if deemed to be irrecoverable.

No other losses have been incurred by the company that require reporting in this note.

No special payments, which fall under the disclosure requirements of the FReM, were made during the period.

14 Operating leases

There is a sub-lease for accommodation and facilities with the Scottish Government that expires on 30 January 2020.

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 201931 March 2018
 ££
Land and buildings (Denholm House)  
Within one year68,58321,250
Within two to five years-                    -
Total68,58321,250
Lease payments charged in year58,56685,000

15 Directors’ remuneration, interests and indemnities

The Directors receive remuneration from the company. The total remuneration paid to the Directors was £17,886 (2017-18 £16,191) for the year and further information is provided in the Remuneration Report. Directors received reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses amounting to £7,600 (2017-18 £6,480) 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.

16 Related party transactions and controlling party

Related parties are the Directors, all parts of the Scottish Government (SG) including its agencies, and the Department of Health (DOH), Northern Ireland. There is an agreement between SG and DOH for ILF Scotland to administer ILF payments to ILF users based in Northern Ireland. ILF Scotland received Grant in Aid from SG of £53.3m (2017-18 £52.3m). 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.

17 Capital commitments and contingent liabilities

There were no capital commitments at 31 March 2019.

18 Events after the reporting period

There have been no events which affect these accounts since the reporting date. IAS 10 requires the company to disclose the date on which the accounts are authorised for issue.

The authorised date for issue is 25 June 2019.

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