Money held in banks by largest charities increases to £16.2bn over the past year, report finds

The latest figures, from the charity data website Charity Financials, are based on data from the largest 5,000 UK charities by income, expenditure or net assets

The amount of money held in banks by the UK’s largest charities has increased by £300m over the past year to a total £16.2bn, according to a new report on charities and the banking sector.

The latest Charity Banking Spotlight, which is produced by the charity data website Charity Financials and based on the top 5,000 charities in terms of income, expenditure or net assets, says the most recent figure is still below the peak of £16.8bn in 2012, but almost £600m more than in 2014.

The report identifies the Charities Aid Foundation as having the most cash in hand or at the bank, with the charity having £768.8m.

CAF, which runs its own bank, had the most borrowing with £1bn – about £700m more than the charity in second place, Aston Student Villages.

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The Church Commissioners of England had the greatest change in cash levels over the past year, with a £49.1m increase to a total of £440.7m, the report says.

More than half of the charities surveyed have been with their bank for more than a decade, the report says, and HSBC saw the biggest fall in cash levels, with a drop of £287m.

Barclays, which also sponsored the report, was the most popular bank among the top 5,000 charities, and also is the bank of choice for a third of the top 100 charities in terms of income, the report says.

But NatWest holds the most cash on behalf of charities, with £3.2bn compared with Barclays’ £3.1bn, the report says.

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Shaw Trust increases income to £132m

The accounts for the year to 31 March, which show a rise from £103m, say the improvement can be attributed to assets acquired from the purchase of three new schools, and the money cannot be spent

Income at the employment and skills charity the Shaw Trust increased from £103m to £132m in the financial year ending 31 March 2017.

But the increase, which is revealed in accounts published at Companies House last week, occurred mainly because of the value of assets acquired from the purchase of three new schools, and cannot be spent.

The Shaw Education Trust, which is sponsored by the Shaw Trust, now owns eight schools, which help disadvantaged pupils.

According to the accounts, underlying economic conditions are “challenging”, mainly because of the ending of contracts from the government’s welfare-to-work programmes.

“Economic conditions in the main UK market continue to be challenging, with a further reduction in clients referred to the main welfare-to-work programme, which has resulted in an overall fall in incoming resources from charitable activities,” the accounts say.

“Referrals to the Work Programme ended in March, but the trust secured extensions to its Work Choice contracts until September 2017. It also secured a one-year contract with the Scottish government to deliver its Work First Scotland employability programme.”

The accounts describe the ending of Work Choice and the Work Programme as the trust’s “main risk”.

It is attempting to diversify income in response to this and, in June, acquired the employment and skills not-for-profit Ixion Holdings from Anglia Ruskin University. The Scottish social enterprise Forth Sector became a subsidiary of the trust in January.

The accounts reveal that the number of staff at the Wiltshire-based trust increased from 1,597 to 1,814 and the number of employees earning more than £60,000 increased from 46 to 56. The document says this “is substantially due to the conversion of three new schools into Shaw Education Trust during 2016-17”.

The highest salary paid during the year was in the £170,000 to £180,000 pay band. The recipient of this money is not identified in the accounts. 

The trust’s investments portfolio, which fell in value by £0.7m in the previous year, grew by £2.7m.

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