TRUSTEES' REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2022 45
In relation to fraud, the objectives of our audit are to identify and assess
the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud,
to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks
of material misstatement due to fraud through designing and implementing
appropriate responses and to respond appropriately to fraud or suspected
fraud identified during the audit.
However, it is the primary responsibility of management, with the oversight
of those charged with governance, to ensure that the entity's operations
are conducted in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations
and for the prevention and detection of fraud.
In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of
irregularities, including fraud, the group audit engagement team:
l obtained an understanding of the nature of the sector, including the
legal and regulatory framework, that the group and parent charity
operates in and how the group and parent charity is complying with
the legal and regulatory framework;
l inquired of management, and those charged with governance, about
their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities,
including any known actual, suspected or alleged instances of fraud;
l discussed matters about non-compliance with laws and regulations
and how fraud might occur including assessment of how and where
the financial statements may be susceptible to fraud.
As a result of these procedures, we consider the most significant laws
and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements
are FRS 102, Charities SORP (FRS 102), Charities Act 2011, the RSPCA Rules,
tax legislation and Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016.
We performed audit procedures to detect non-compliances which may
have a material impact on the financial statements which included
reviewing the financial statements including the Trustees' report,
remaining alert to new or unusual transactions which may not be in
accordance with the governing documents or requirements imposed
by the Charity Commission and other regulators.
The most significant laws and regulations that have an indirect impact
on the financial statements are those in relation to the Animal Welfare
Act 2006, data protection, health and safety legislation and employment
law. We performed audit procedures to inquire of management and
those charged with governance whether the group is in compliance
with these law and regulations and inspected correspondence with
regulatory authorities.
The group audit engagement team identified the risk of management
override of controls and the completeness of income generated from
donations, legacies, charitable activities, and other trading income as the
areas where the financial statements were most susceptible to material
misstatement due to fraud. Audit procedures performed included but
were not limited to testing manual journal entries and other adjustments,
evaluating the business rationale in relation to significant, unusual
transactions and transactions entered into outside the normal course of
business, challenging judgments and estimates, performing specific audit
procedures on legacies reflected within the legacy system but not the
accounting records, reviewing the reconciliation between the donor system
and accounting records, considering after-date receipts and minutes of
meetings of those charged with governance to identify any instances
of unrecognised income.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the
financial statements is provided on the Financial Reporting Council's
website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities This description
forms part of our auditor's report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charity's trustees as a body, in accordance
with the Charities Act 2011. Our audit work has been undertaken so that
we might state to the charity's trustees 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 charity and the charity's trustees as a body, for
our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
RSM UK Audit LLP
Statutory Auditor
Chartered Accountants
25 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB
28 June 2023
RSM UK Audit LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212
of the Companies Act 2006.
The RSPCA South and South West Rope Rescue Team
rescues a sheep that has become stuck on a cliffside
in Devon. After several hours the team got the ewe to
a higher point on the cliff and successfully caught her.