It is a requirement of the Academies Accounts Direction (1.17) that a trustees’ report is included to support the figures within the financial statements which are due for submission to ESFA by the 31 December 2023.
The trustees’ report must cover off certain elements and should include the following:
- reference and administrative details,
- information on the structure, governance and management of the academy trust,
- its objectives and activities,
- a strategic report,
- a financial review,
- information on any funds held as custodian trustee,
- its plans for future period,
- its policies towards employees and disabled persons (large only),
- streamlined energy and carbon reporting (large only),
- and a disclosure to the auditor.
For 2023 the only change highlighted is around principal risks and uncertainties it should now include consideration of those risks impacting on trustees’ responsibilities to ensure the trust’s estate is safe, well maintained and complies with relevant regulations.
The model accounts, which can be found here, are a great starting point for those who have never drafted such a report before however feedback from ESFA year on year continues to highlight that trusts are relying too much on this boiler plate template and therefore the annual report does not appear to fairly reflect the circumstances and performance of the academy trust. This fundamentally comes down to it being drafted near the end of the year, much closer to the December deadline so why not start earlier this year?
The next step
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