Annual Report and Accounts 2010/11 - Cancer Research UK

Our governance, structure and management
Management of risk
The Trustees are responsible for the Charity’s risk management
and the effectiveness of internal control systems. Council
reviews major risks and the Audit Committee’s work to ensure
that we have taken reasonable measures to manage these risks.
The impact of the continuing economic uncertainty remains a
major risk to the Charity. As a result, we regularly update and
review our rolling five-year financial plan, reserves and
investment policies (see pages 12 and 13). During the year, these
plans demonstrated that we can maintain our research funding
capacity over the long-term. We continued to improve our
reporting procedures to ensure that we are able to anticipate
and respond to changes in the economic environment.
The Audit Committee (for details of committees and advisory
groups see page 17 to 19) provides Council with an informed,
independent opinion on the management of risk and
effectiveness of controls. During the year, the Audit
Committee continued to review the process for identifying
and evaluating risk. It oversaw the appointment of a General
Counsel to whom the Risk Management, Internal Audit,
Health and Safety, Legal and Company Secretariat teams
report. The appointment is intended to further enhance the
focus on governance across the organisation. The Audit
Committee reviewed reports on internal audits undertaken
across key operations of the Charity, and the major risks,
control recommendations and follow-up actions. The Audit
Committee reviewed the progress and delivery of several key
programmes to monitor delivery of benefits. The Audit
Committee also met the external auditors in private sessions.
Taken together, these processes ensure internal controls and
risks are monitored by management and employees with
oversight from the Audit Committee and Council itself.
Cash flow risk
Our activities expose us to some risk of changes in foreign
currency exchange rates, primarily on US dollars through our
trading subsidiaries and Euros on our grants receivable. We use
foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge these exposures.
Liquidity risk
The current economic climate continues to emphasise the
need to ensure we are able to meet our liabilities as and when
they fall due. We have continued to improve our cash flow
management and forecasts. Our reserves policy is explained
on page 12.
Corporate social responsibility and sustainability
Our environmental policy’s key intention is to proactively
manage our environmental impacts.
The consolidation of eight London offices into a single location
at Islington has delivered both financial and environmental
benefits. We now occupy 20% less space and the new building
is more energy efficient than those we have left behind.
Co-location has also enabled us to reduce the level of staff
travelling. The new office has enabled us to implement changes,
such as a zero to landfill waste/recycling scheme and centralised
high efficiency printing/copying. It has also allowed us to
implement thin client information technology which will provide
operational, energy and environmental efficiencies.
The use of technology in research is accelerating, bringing with
it a significant challenge to mitigate environmental impact.
Improvements in efficiency are being sought by focusing on
processes in research, fundraising and administration.
Financial risk management
Our activities expose us to a number of financial risks
including credit risk, market risk, cash flow risk and liquidity
risk. Any use of financial derivatives is governed by policies
approved by Council and we do not use derivatives for
speculative purposes.
Credit risk
The principal financial assets are bank balances, investments,
trade and other receivables. Our credit risk is primarily
attributable to bank balances and a policy is in place to limit
the amount held with any one banking group and to constantly
review their credit ratings.
Market risk
A number of our investments are subject to market
movements and we have recorded some limited realised and
unrealised gains in the year. Our investment policy focuses on
minimising the Charity’s exposure to losses as explained in
‘Investment policy and performance’ on page 13.
We registered with the Government’s CRC Energy Efficiency
Accreditation Scheme. We are also developing energy
efficiency initiatives in key parts of our organisation to reduce
consumption, carbon emissions and costs.
Employees
We continue to strengthen our focus on efficiency and
effectiveness and look at opportunities to develop new ways
of working and to streamline processes. Throughout the year,
we continued to pursue a strong change agenda and to
reposition the Charity to deliver our objectives.
Our wide network of employees, grantees, supporters and
volunteers continues to work enthusiastically to pursue our
vision, purpose and goals. In spite of the recession we have
found that the search for talented people in our field remains
highly competitive in both public and private sectors and we
are actively reviewing our resourcing processes to ensure that
we attract and retain high-calibre individuals.
16 / Annual Report and Accounts / Our governance, structure and management