Action for Blind People made 66 people redundant last year as contracts came to an end and it reduced duplication of back office services with RNIB.

The charity became part of the RNIB Group in 2009 when its frontline services were merged and last year the two organisations embarked on a deeper back office integration.

For the financial year ending 31 March 2015 its recently published accounts show that it spent £351,000 on redundancy payments. The charity said this included some voluntary redundancies.

In a statement it said: “We made staffing changes at our hotels with some further roles coming to an end as a result of contracts finishing.

“Action also made changes to the way back office services are delivered, bringing together services within RNIB to reduce duplication, with one team dedicated to supporting the RNIB group of charities. These activities resulted in 66 redundancies, including a number of voluntary redundancies, which allow us to direct more resources towards frontline services.”

Overall headcount fell from 404 full-time equivalent members of staff in 2014 to 320 this year. The charity said that 121 new employees joined during the year.

This is the third successive year that the charity has made redundancies. Last year it made nine people redundant and the previous year around 10 per cent of its workforce was made redundant.

During the year a central resources function was set up which meant some of its corporate support teams were moved to the RNIB Group.

There were six employees with remuneration packages of more than £60,000 and the highest earner received between £100,001 and £110,000.

Income down following new funding agreement with RNIB

In July 2014 a new funding agreement was signed which the accounts said: “Aimed at allocating resources more freely and effectively within the Group to support our ambitious shared strategy and extend the reach of our services.”

Action’s income fell to £14.1m from £20.4m the previous year, with the amount it received from the RNIB Group falling by £4.1m to £6.3m.

Expenditure was £18.6m, compared to £20.7m the previous year. The accounts said that the £3.6m deficit was planned and was funded from its reserves which now stand at £7.1m.

New Association Agreement with RNIB takes effect

In March 2015 the board agreed a new Association Agreement, which came into effect in September, meaning that the activities of RNIB in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been transferred to Action, along with the helpline, advice and emotional support services.

Unison had criticised the plans, which affected more than 400 employees who were transferred from RNIB to Action, and said that were a “serious concern” and said that staff and service users did not understand why the changes were taking place.

Action will now establish four Countries Committees, whose chairs would be trustees of the Action board. Action will also double its representation on the RNIB Group boar to four.

A governance review is set to conclude by the end of the year to determine the details of the Countries Committees.

In a statement the charity said: “After much consideration and consultation, it's been agreed the most effective way for us to reach more people with sight loss, is to bring each of the four countries and our helpline, advice and emotional support services together under the strategic management of Action for Blind People.

“This took effect on 1 September. At the moment, there's fantastic work going on by RNIB and Action teams all over the UK. We want to make it easier for those teams to share this great work, so other teams can learn from it and adapt it so it can benefit people with sight loss in their areas too.”

More volunteers

The accounts reveal that the charity embarked on a new volunteer engagement strategy during the year which resulted in the number of volunteers almost doubling.

In 2013 the charity had 382 volunteers, this increased to 708 volunteers during 2014/15.

The charity said: “We have an ambition to significantly grow our volunteers to extend the reach of our services. Teams at Action over the last year have had an increased focus on growing volunteers within the charity, exploring new ways to involve volunteers, drawing on the experience of RNIB and other good practice within the charity sector.

“This reflects an increase in frontline roles alongside an increase in frontline volunteering roles across the group of charities.”