11 March 2026 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
BUFDG
Keen readers may have realised there’s been little news about the Finance Festival so far this year. We have juggled things around a bit, and have moved the Finance Festival from the Spring to the Autumn. The new dates are 2-4 November, so please save the dates in your diary.
As usual, we will be looking for members who’d like to get involved in a session - contributing to the event is both a fantastic development opportunity and great way to support colleagues across the sector. If you have an idea for a session topic, would like to run a session yourself, or just be involved in a panel, please get in touch with Rachel – if you’re not 100% sure then informal chats are available!
We’re pleased to let you know that the report of this year’s Audit Survey is now available to download from the website. We had a really good response (over 60% of BUFDG member institutions), and some interesting results. If you have any questions or spot an errors then let Matt know.
In related news, the Procurement Value Survey (PVS) Results Report for the Financial Year 2024/25 has been released and is available to download here. And while we’re talking procurement, as part of folding HEPA back into BUFDG, we've updated our Procurement Knowledge Hub to include all our procurement resources direct on the BUFDG website. The new pages include:
We hope you like the new pages, but if there's anything you can't find that you used to use on the HEPA website, please let us know. The old HEPA webpages are also being redirected to the new BUFDG pages.
SECTOR
The sector unions have submitted their claim for the latest round of JNCHES pay negotiations, essentially amounting to an increase on all pay points of at least RPI + 3% or £3,000, whichever is higher. There are additional demands including, interestingly for finance staff, "UCEA to work with the unions to develop meaningful and inclusive career pathways for professional services staff”. Wonkhe’s DK has a round-up.
Diana Beech (formerly of HEPI, and London Higher) has an article on the current restrictive visa rules (particularly around post-study employment) and how this is dampening HE recruitment. She argues the sector needs to be more honest with prospective students about how ‘welcoming’ the UK really is for international students, as well as becoming more politically active. There’s a related article from Michael Salmon in Wonkhe on how the governments’ preference for increased TNE activity is not a direct replacement for international study in the UK.
A new report from the Lifelong Education Institute calls for, among other things, improved collaboration between H E and FE, including financial incentives for cooperation on course design and delivery, local skills planning and, perhaps most creatively, mandatory cross-governance (FE representation on H E boards and vice-versa). The latest lifelong learning data though is not encouraging, with DK noting just 352 learners were involved in the latest pilot, of which the interim report has just been made available. The government has also announced the first subjects to be part of the new ‘V-level’ vocational qualification (education, finance, and digital) – as part of its response to the consultation on post-16 education reforms revealed last year. The announcement includes welcoming comments from the Association of Colleges and UUK, among others.
SCOTLAND
This week is Scottish Week over on the HEPI website, with various blogs being posted throughout the week, starting with looking ahead to the Scottish elections, including this blog post from Professor James Miller, Principal of the University of the West of Scotland, which suggests, among other things, that while the Unique Learner Number first recommended in 2016 doesn’t seem particularly revolutionary, a decade on it really must be introduced as it will help reveal “which interventions deliver impact, how learners move across institutions, or where resource is best directed”.
You can also find analysis of Scottish government funding on the IFS Scottish elections page.
The work to create Scotland’s Future Framework for the next 20 years of higher education is underway, with the first task of pillar one of the framework being to reach agreement on a quantification of the funding gap facing universities, the scope of which includes teaching, skills development, and research and innovation.
Salix has published the eligibility requirements for Phase 3 of Scotland’s public sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund. Applicants must register their interest via the website, with the application portal then opening on 24 March.
WALES
Last week was Welsh week on the HEPI site, with five blog posts on Welsh higher education covering the need for action rather than more words, thoughts for the next government on research and development in Wales, the place of higher education in the forthcoming Senedd elections, the NUS hopes for change at the election, and a look at the difficult decisions that need to be made.
Wonkhe reports that Plaid Cymru would launch an H E review in its first 100 days in government, while Welsh Labour has published its priorities for Wales, the Welsh Conservatives pledge to ‘Fix Wales!’, and Reform UK has launched its manifesto for Wales.
The IFS has analysed the Conservative and Reform manifestos on its Welsh Election page.
The Welsh Government has launched a new Wales Regional Defence and Security Cluster. It is “industry-led, chaired by representatives from Airbus Defence and Space and Thales, and supported by Welsh Government and the MoD. It connects businesses with Wales's eight universities and further education colleges, which carry out world-class research in areas including cyber security, opto-electronics and artificial intelligence.”
ENGLAND
There’s considerable discussion around the English press and sector on possible reforms to student loans. It’s a moving picture, but Wonkhe’s Jim Dickinson is a great place to start for a summary (courtesy of the IFS) of the impact of the various corrective policy proposals put forward by the main UK parties (and a few others). It shows (among many other things) how the cost of the system is now almost entirely borne by the graduate (97%) as opposed to the taxpayer (3% - and also graduates), and how government accounting rules mean that redress that balance could be prohibitively expensive to the government in the short term. There is a follow-up article that collects some of the recent competing comments (by UUK CEO Vivienne Stern, and Birmingham V-C Adam Tickell, among others) for further context.
The discussions made it to PMQs, as well as to a dedicated debate secured by Jas Athwal, MP for Ilford South, who described the current challenges as “not only a only a graduate issue, but a fiscal time bomb”. A second debate was then held this week. The Times reports that “Downing Street said the government will take time to consider potential measures to address the issue.” and “In response, the Department for Education and the Treasury said they were discussing the issue.”
In other news, Wonkhe explores whether more transparency in OfS decisions would make for better regulation, and compares how the OfS operates to other UK regulators in different sectors.
There’s also a reminder that the OfS interim AFR (Annual Financial Return) deadline is 2 April.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Following a recent consultation, the Department for the Economy has confirmed that tuition fee loan limits for postgraduate students will rise from £6,500 to £10,000 for 2026-27. The 54% increase aims to ensure that more students are able to cover the cost of their tuition fees, which average £7,900.
TAX AND PAYROLL (AND INTERNATIONAL)
Our beloved Annual Tax Conference is now open for booking. It takes place online 9-11 June, and is organised into four key themes. Early bird tickets run until 31 March, so don’t wait around!
Wonkhe editor Debbie McVitty partners with KPMG’s Thea Tomison for an article looking at UK H E’s approach to TNE provision. Their suggestions for successful international strategies include greater collaboration between UK institutions, as well as a meaningful long-term commitments.
While we’re on TNE, BUFDG has a new resource - the Transnational Education (TNE) Aide-Mémoire: what information do your tax and global mobility teams need to know about your TNE projects? Overseas taxes and employer regulations can be complicated and costly if you do not get it right.
There is some key information that tax, payroll and global mobility teams will need to know in order to provide an overview of the potential tax issues and costs. The new resource is designed to ensure that all relevant points are captured. We suggest that it is completed by international colleagues and then discussed with the in-house tax, payroll and global mobility teams. It is in a handy Word format, so that you can save and adapt it as required for your own university.
If you have queries about tax, payroll and global mobility issues you can either raise your query on the relevant discussion board where you can receive responses from peers in universities all over the country, or you can attend one of the online topic-specific surgeries or roundtable meetings that we host for members to discuss their live issues, or book onto a regional tax group meeting. Our regular surgeries and roundtable meetings cover:
A second new resource this week is Supplies of Staff – VAT implications for universities and NHS Organisations. This summary will help universities and NHS Trusts determine if VAT should be charged on supplies of staff between the NHS and UK universities. The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) has agreed to signpost to the paper from the HFMA website. Members may recall that we prepared a similar summary on Clinical Trials back in August 2024.
COUNTER FRAUD
Many thanks to all members who attended the Time to Talk with Hinesh Shah, Partner, Pinsent Masons, covering the topic of Fraud Risk Assessments in the ECCTA Era. Members can view the recording of the session and download the slides that Hinesh presented here.
The newly launched Home Office Fraud Strategy (2026-29) commits to using the “Fraud PROTECT Network ... to support university students’ resilience to fraud and exploitative money laundering from 2026 by providing fraud education on campus and through student communities”.
FINANCIAL REPORTING
The next online SORP Implementation Forum takes place 17 March, 2.30-4.30. It will include updates from the recent call with regulators and sector bodies regarding the application of the new SORP, case studies on lease templates and revenue recognition, implementation planning, impact assessment, lessons from US GAAP, and audit planning.
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
After a tumultuous few weeks in research funding, UKRI CEO, Ian Chapman, discusses the rationale for changes in how UKRI delivers its investment in research over on Wonkhe, and in this UKRI video. And UKRI has published a schematic mapping its previous funding lines across to the new funding model.
The Director of Research Strategy and Policy at UCL, Sarah Chaytor, argues in this Wonkhe piece that it’s key for the benefits of university research to be widely shared and felt across the country.
The House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee has heard oral evidence on cuts to STFC funding (watch back here or read here), as has the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee (watch back here or read here).
The next Innovate UK drop-in takes place on Tuesday 17 March, and will focus on queries relating to Horizon Guarantee. The next Research Finance Forum is on 11 June and will have a looser agenda than the last couple of meetings to allow for more discussion.
INVESTMENT
The Banking Engagement Forum, established by the University of Cambridge in 2024, has announced seven banks and building societies that meet strict criteria excluding support for fossil fuel expansion. The Co‑operative Bank, Coventry Building Society, Handelsbanken, Leeds Building Society, Skipton Building Society, Unity Trust Bank and Yorkshire Building Society were confirmed as suitable to hold deposits because they do not finance activities that contribute to fossil fuel growth. This collective initiative enables higher education providers to align their treasury practices with the net zero aims by directing funds only to institutions whose lending policies avoid supporting new fossil fuel projects.
PENSIONS
The latest pensions update is available, and inlcudes updates on USS, LGPS, TPS, SAUL, recent guidance from HMRC and insight from sector bodies and advisors.
JOB OF THE FORTNIGHT
Our Job of the Fortnight is for a Head of Financial Management and Reporting at Aberystwyth University. The successful candidate will become “the lead for Finance Business Partnering across the University”, providing strategic financial advice and guidance to “ensure that budgets are effectively managed and that financial plans are both realistic and ambitious”. The deadline for applications is 22 March.
There are other vacancies listed from across the sector on the BUFDG jobs page.
