28 February 2024 
Joni Rhodes, BUFDG Project Manager
FINANCE FESTIVAL
This is the last Digest before the BUFDG Finance Festival 2024, so our final chance to tell you about the programme of 28 carefully curated sessions running across 3 days from Monday 11 to Wednesday 13 March 2024. Over 1,000 of the BUFDG community have already booked their place at our online extravaganza of all things H E finance.
The conference is designed to let you build your own programme, which includes broader interest plenaries and parallel sessions on specialist topics. Simply register now to access the whole event and attend those sessions most relevant or interesting to you. We have created a handy ‘what should I watch?’ breakdown to help you plan.
SECTOR
In parliament, written evidence on the impact of industrial action on university students was published, and the House of Lords debated the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill at its second reading. Those short on time may prefer the pre-prepared Universities UK briefing which provides a summary of the Bill, key concerns, and confirms the UUK position that universities should not be in scope. Robert Halfon MP also answered questions to the Secretary of State for Education on student loan repayment thresholds, what steps are being taken to ensure that funding allocated to universities for teaching for 2024-25 sufficiently enables institutions to support their students, and the potential policy implications of the PwC & UUK report entitled Financial Sustainability of the UK Higher Education sector, published in January 2024.
Stormont’s Economy Committee agreed to raise tuition fees for full-time undergraduate students to £4,750 from September 2024, in line with inflation, but confirmed that no larger increases are planned anytime soon.
A new ‘What is wrong with franchise provision?’ report from HEPI and Buckinghamshire New University debates the benefits and challenges of franchise provision in higher education, and proposes a new code of practice for the sector. HEPI’s Nick Hillman examines whether the Welsh student funding system is the best in the UK, and encourages those with an interest in student or university financing who find themselves anywhere near Cardiff on the afternoon of Wednesday, 6 March 2024 to attend the HEPI General election briefing.
Universities UK has launched its manifesto recommendations, highlighting the benefits of Higher Education and asking political parties to commit to policies that help universities thrive.
Jo Johnson thinks he knows ‘how to fix the international student debacle (£), and makes the case for retaining global interest in one of the country’s few globally competitive sectors in the Financial Times. Does Wonkhe’s David Kernohan agree?
Wonkhe’s analysis on the UCAS January deadline data is an interesting read and features the usual interactive charts to help you take a deeper dive.
The OfS has published guidance outlining the monitoring information required from all Higher Education Providers with capital funding allocation in the financial year 2023-24.
UKRI have published an update on how Research England will implement the actions falling to them from the Government response to the spinouts review, including updates to Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) guidance, and linkage to innovation friendly policies.
Finally, a reminder that it’s Spring Budget day in England on Wednesday 6 March. The University Alliance has published a list of pre-budget asks relating to international students, Teachers’ Pension Scheme, and the student cost of living crisis. A useful list of reaction and analysis webinars you can sign up for is available on the Discussion Board, and we’ll be bringing you the usual breakdowns in the aftermath.
SCOTLAND
The Scottish Government has announced year-long financial support for undergraduates where students can access some of their funds throughout the summer months, so they have support all year. Meanwhile, NUS Scotland has released a report entitled ‘Broke Students Broken System’, the first in a series of three which intend to “campaign to fix, imagine and build better education in Scotland.”
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has just launched a new calculator tool which models different student funding options for Scotland, to join a similar tool for England's student funding system which it launched last summer. The tools allow you to amend different levers and inputs into the student funding systems and calculate the resulting resources per student as well as all sorts of impacts on graduate repayments plus government outlay etc.
The IFS has also issued a new chapter in its report on the Scottish Budget, focused on higher education spending, as well as a round-up of all their analysis of the Scottish Budget for 2024–25. And for anyone who wanted to watch it but missed the IFS webinar on the Scottish budget, which covered higher education as well as tax changes, and the NHS, you can now watch the recording on the IFS website.
FEATURED EVENTS
Survive or thrive? Grasping the financial sustainability challenge: Join Universities UK in London tomorrow (29 February) to discover innovative ways to enhance the operating model of UK universities. With one in four UK universities reporting an operating deficit in 2021-22, and following UUK’s commissioned PwC report on the financial sustainability of UK universities, this is a chance to be involved in these vital discussions. This is a closed event for senior university leadership and will provide an opportunity to learn from expert speakers as well as discuss issues and experiences with other university leaders. Register here.
BUFDG is pleased to welcome back Emma Scott-Smith, a chartered accountant with over 20 years’ experience of designing and delivering a range of business writing courses, to facilitate Business Writing: how to increase your impact with less effort on Thursday 7 March (£). This 3.5 hour online course will help you improve your writing ability, get your message across, and assist others to make decisions or take action as a result.
BUFDG’s corporation tax course, the first in-person tax training event we’ve run since the pandemic, is coming up shortly. This one-day course, ‘How to manage corporation taxes’, will take place in London on Wednesday 6 March. It will build on the basic knowledge covered in our three online training courses for corporation tax, and will cover not just how to do corporation tax, but how to manage corporation tax. From analysing new activities in your university, to preparing your university return in an efficient way, at the end of this course you should feel more confident in managing corporation tax risk and reporting more accurately to HMRC. The course will run from 9am (for a 9:30 start) until 4:30pm and costs just £250 (plus VAT) - find out more and book your place here.
Sarasin & Partners Spring Seminars 2024 - Fake or fortune: are things really as they seem? Join Sarasin on 13 or 20 March 2024 in London for their annual Spring Seminars, which, together with a special video presentation from their US-based guest speaker, Charles Myers, will consider the themes most likely to offer long-term, enduring investment returns in the years ahead. Register free of charge here.
And last but not least, UHR and SUMS Consulting are collaborating on two Empowering Wellness webinars that will recognise, advocate, and support positive initiatives for women's health and wellness. These sessions aim to empower delegates with knowledge and insights into critical aspects of the women’s health journey, covering topics such as fertility and parenthood, menstrual health, and menopause. Book now for Tuesday 5 March and Wednesday 6 March.
COLLABORATION, PARTNERSHIP, AND SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
City, University of London and St George’s, University of London have signed an agreement to merge, creating a powerful multi-faculty institution. Subject to regulatory approvals, the merged institution will be called City St George’s, University of London and will begin operating from 1 August 2024.
This week also sees the completion of the merger of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and Writtle University College, which was announced in July 2023. Writtle's full range of courses will continue to be delivered on the Writtle campus on the outskirts of Chelmsford, which will now be known as ARU Writtle.
On 1 March there is an opportunity to hear from colleagues at NCG, a combination of seven colleges who went on a journey to bring geographically disparate organisations together into one corporate group without the colleges sacrificing their unique identities. This Time to Talk - Collaboration, partnership and sustainability in action will not recorded, and is a chance to quiz those involved in the successful creation of a tertiary education group on how they achieved institutional cohesion alongside a sustainable financial position, consolidation of pension schemes, TUPE, merger accounting, and how they worked with advisers and government agencies. Last-minute bookings are welcome.
SUSTAINABILITY
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has released a Draft Strategy and Policy Statement setting out the government’s priorities for energy policy in Great Britain, and announced the UK will leave the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) after the failure of efforts to align it with net zero.
Following the recent Time to Talk on Climate-related engagements with banks and fund managers, University of Cambridge and over 50 fellow UK higher education institutions launched a Request for Proposals (RfP) to move cash products towards banks and fund managers that are not financing fossil fuel expansion. The RfP was launched on 15 February 2024, as reported in the Financial Times (£). A full list of the current signatories can be found here.
In this Wonkhe comment piece, a Students’ Guild President argues that ‘universities must be bolder in refusing to work with fossil fuel companies, advocating for genuine just transitions through shared decision-making processes.’
Barclays Bank has published a revised Climate Change Statement to progress its climate strategy, which focuses capital and resources on supporting energy companies to decarbonise.
LSE has been granted £2.7m in funding to accelerate carbon reduction targets under the Public Services Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS).
TAX
Following January's announcement that HMRC will make the payrolling of benefits mandatory with effect from the 2025/26 tax year, Caroline Jones of BDO has prepared ‘Mandatory Payrolling of Benefits in Kind, Simplification or Not? The reasons why you should be looking at this now’ for Higher Education Providers.
Is your university/Higher Education Provider utilising the Apprenticeship Levy it pays? Or is it losing it to government tax coffers? Julia summarises a report by Workwhile for the University of London on Leveraging the Levy, with suggestions on how to make the levy work for your organisation.
Julia and Joni have been liaising with a variety of funding bodies including UKRI, Wellcome Trust, British Academy and the Royal Society to agree the final draft of the forthcoming ‘Compliance Considerations for International Fellowships’, which will be published next month.
Lastly, a reminder that an early bird discount is available on tickets to the 2024 Tax Conference for those who book your place before 31 March 2024.
JOB(S) OF THE FORTNIGHT
Two featured roles this time, starting with Bath Spa University’s search for an experienced Director of Finance to lead a high performing finance team and steer financially sustainable decision making with a real focus on providing value for money to students and their families in a challenging economic environment. Closing soon on 3 March 2024.
The Royal Veterinary College, University of London is seeking a CCAB qualified Financial Accountant to support the Assistant Director of Finance (Financial Accounting) with the preparation and delivery of the RVC Group’s annual statutory accounts and those of its subsidiary companies and registered charity. Closing date 17 March 2024.
Visit the BUFDG jobs page for all listed vacancies.
