Accounts come against record income last year

International aid charity Oxfam has seen its income drop by £67 million in its latest accounts.

It has left the poverty relief charity’s books with a £17m deficit following a challenging year up until 31 March 2020.

Total income fell from £434.1m to £367.4m, with spending down from £397.5m to £384.6m.

Last year the organisation recorded record income driven by legacies amounting to £54m.

However this year legacies fell by £17.5m while income from public authorities dipped by £17.4m to £168.5m.

Staff levels fell from 5,101 to 5,033 in the year to 31 March, and £1.4m was paid out in redundancy costs – £700,000 less than in 2018/19.

Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of Oxfam GB, said: “Covid-19 compounded the challenges we were already facing, and we had to close our shops and cancel major fundraising events.

“We are confident that our new strategy and the cost savings we have introduced – combined with the generosity of donors, partners and supporters – will enable us to be more effective.”

Oxfam undertook a root and branch restructure following catastrophic sex abuse allegations in 2018 and subsequent report criticising governance and safeguarding at the charity.