22 April 2026 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
BUFDG
With the drive from government for universities and higher education providers to be more efficient and share services and resources where possible, we've invited a number of shared service or sector-owned service providers to give you their 'pitch' about the service they provide. What do they provide? Why is it better than providing it yourself in-house or buying from a commercial provider? What are the benefits of joining the other universities already using that service? Book your place at our Shared Services Showcase from 11 to 15 May (online) to find out...
SECTOR
The sector unions 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. UCEA have since come back with their counter-offer and – yep you guessed it – it’s less.
The CUC has published what it calls a ‘near final’ draft of its new Code of Governance for the sector, for public comment. “The draft reflects extensive engagement across the sector and introduces strengthened expectations across governance, including culture, risk, assurance and board effectiveness.” The comment period ends on 10 May, and there’s information on how to submit a response on the website. David Kernohan has praise for the work on an article on Wonkhe.
Erasmus is back! The government has reached agreement with the EU on the UK’s involvement in the Erasmus+ programme, starting formally from 2027. Universities and students can register to receive more information as it comes out via the British Council website.
There has also been an update to the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) webpage run by the Department for Education. The updates cover fee limits figures and examples, the residual entitlement calculation, the EOI process, and DSA.
AdvanceHE have launched a new resource to help support the governance and leadership of mergers and strategic transformation in the sector. Focusing on decision-making, it is designed to be used “in a range of settings including workshops, board meetings and away days”, and “is relevant to a range of transformation types within scope, including full institutional mergers, federated or group models, and joint ventures”.
ENGLAND
A few bits of quick-fire news to start off: The OfS has published guidance for the 2026 Annual Financial Return (AFR); the Education Secretary has made a statement confirming what has been widely reported over the last few weeks that the government is capping the maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and Plan 3 loans, and; the government have added a section on postgraduate loans initially missing from its recent guidance on franchise arrangements.
A HEPI report warns that many English universities are taking excessive financial risks that threaten institutional and sector sustainability. A degree of regulation: Building a more financially sustainable and resilient higher education sector calls for stronger, targeted regulation to curb rapid expansion, heavy borrowing, over‑reliance on international students and to protect students and the reputation of UK H E. Elsewhere, at the PIE Live, experts urged UK universities to embed compliance at the core of institutional governance and stated “institutional risk has never been higher”. The Guardian adds its thoughts in this article, while sector commentator (and employee) Jamie Warner adds his thoughts via LinkedIn.
There are a couple of ‘bigger picture’ articles in Wonkhe over the last fortnight. Following the conclusion of the evidence gathering stage of the Treasury Committee’s student loans enquiry, Jim Dickinson argues that the whole student loans accounting system is flawed, and that adjusting individual factors within that won’t fix the core issues. There’s also a new report from the Wonkhe Post18 project, that argues that the whole post-Dearing settlement has failed, and that we ultimately need “a new comprehensive review of the purposes, shape, structure, size and funding of post-18 education, encompassing higher education, further education, and in-work technical training.”
In other articles, there’s the welcome news of a resolution for the 22,000 weekend students on courses that turned out to be ineligible for student finance who were facing prompt repayments of their loans. The government has now announced that repayments will be collected through the usual student finance route and timetable. Jim Dickinson in Wonkhe adds his thoughts and points out there are still a few questions that need answering.
WALES
With elections looming, all non-election news has ground to a standstill. The IFS are running a webinar on the 23rd (Thursday) detailing what all the various parties’ tax and spending plans amount to. If you’d prefer an individual deep-dive, then you can find the Plaid Cymru manifesto here, and the Green Party one here. For the Conservatives it’s this link, with Labour here and Reform Ltd here.
And just in case you missed it, the Welsh Government has published: Get ready for visitor levy – quick guide.
SCOTLAND
Similarly to Wales, it’s all quiet on the news front in the lead up to the election in a couple of weeks. The IFS election hub is here, with the webinar covering all party plans on the 27th April. Individual party manifestos are just a web search away, or you can use these links for the SNP, Greens, Conservatives, Labour, and Reform Ltd.
TAX AND PAYROLL
Tax news is another area that has gone quiet before election time, as HMRC turn the phones off. So another chance to tell you that we’ve carried out minor updates to a number courses recently and they are now live on the website – they include Introducing VAT in H E, VAT on Purchasing in H E, and Introduction to Tax on Research, among others. You can access all of the BUFDG PRO courses here.
In addition, there are absolutely loads of tax events and webinars to book on to over the coming months, not least June’s annual Tax Conference. Visit the lastest TaxHE newsletter and scroll to the bottom for all the events in one place.
PROCUREMENT
The Cabinet Office has launched the first component of the Procurement Capability Programme in the form of the Procurement Awareness eLearning module. Members can find out more information about the programme in this flyer, and access the Awareness Module of the Procurement Capability Programme via the Government Commercial College (GCC) here. You can search for the module by name for self-enrolment on the GCC, or by following the direct link in the flyer.
The Procurement Capability Programme offers three levels of learning:
Section 70 of the Procurement Act 2023 went live this month. This means that contracting authorities (unless exempt) need to publish information about any payment of more than £30,000 (inc. VAT) made against public contracts. This requirement is only for procurements that are commenced under the new regime from 1 April 2026. Payments will need to be published within 30 days of the end of each quarter i.e. by 29 July 2026 for Q1 (1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026). Members can find out more in the Cabinet Office guidance available on gov.uk.
The UK17 Payments Compliance Notice is now available on FTS and should be used to report a contracting authority’s average time taken to pay invoices to suppliers and demonstrate compliance with 30-day payment terms. The first reporting period started on 1 October 2025 and ended on 31 March 2026. As such contracting authorities should make sure their UK17 Payments Compliance Notices are published by 30 April 2026. Members can find out more about these new legislative requirements in the Cabinet Office’s Complete Guide available on gov.uk here.
The Cabinet Office has published the Contract Management Playbook, which members can download on gov.uk here. This new guidance provides a standardised, best-practice roadmap for the effective management of contracts through the whole of the lifecycle. The Contract Management Playbook outlines 11 key policies and six core objectives designed to optimise contract management.
The Central Digital Platform (CDP) has been live for over a year. The Cabinet Office are now seeking high level feedback on your experience using various aspects of the system. Please do take the time to provide your feedback via this short survey.
Finally, a reminder that the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) came into existence at the beginning of the month. You can find out what this means for you on the GCA website here.
FINANCIAL REPORTING
BUFDG members can register for the next SORP Implementation Forum, scheduled for 19 May, and find summaries from previous forums here.
For those looking for all the SORP information they can get their hands on, HW Fisher is hosting an FRS 102 webinar on 6 May, described as a practical session that “provide clear guidance, expert insight and key considerations to help you and your organisation prepare”.
HaysMac have also jumped in with some useful webinars for members – there’s HEFE SORP leases focus on 5th May at 11am, followed by a whole SORP recap session on 3rd June at 3pm.
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Discussions at the April Innovate UK dropin included new Horizon Guarantee PCR guidance, changes to general guidance, new Project Impact Form requirements, and more. A link to the Innovate UK recording, along with notes and relevant files from the meeting, can be accessed via the BUFDG website until 20 May, along with dates for the remaining monthly dropins scheduled until July 2026.
The Russell Group have put out a press release calling for International PhD students to be exempted from the International Student Levy, saying the move would be low-cost but have a big impact on the UK research talent pipeline and future R&D capabilities.
A reminder that the next Research Finance Forum will be held on Thursday 11 June, and we are aiming for a more relaxed agenda to enable plenty of discussion. If there are specific topics you would like to address you can raise them when registering, or email Joni.
SUSTAINABILITY / ESTATES
We have updated our list of funding for decarbonisation projects to reflect some recent updates, including the extension of the Workplace Charging Scheme until March 2027, and Round 12 of the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme, which closes to applications on 22 May.
MISCELLANEOUS
A reminder that a new Organisational Efficiency Maturity Assessment (OEMA) tool, commissioned by Universities UK following the 2025 Transformation Taskforce report, is the first higher education specific framework for assessing organisational efficiency and maturity. OEMA has been co-developed with the Association of Heads of University Administration, SUMS consulting, and a reference group of 12 universities, along with input from CUC, BUFDG, HESPA, UHR, Advance HE, and DfE. It provides a framework to assess organisational efficiency against sector benchmarks, a baseline to measure from, and actionable insights and recommendations for improvement. It’s free to use, and you can find more information and guidance on the SUMS website.
Jisc are alerting members to a ‘sophisticated AI enabled phishing campaign’ targeting universities globally. “Unlike traditional phishing campaigns that rely on static, manual scripts, this activity uses AI-driven infrastructure and multiple end-to-end automations, marking a notable shift in attacker sophistication and enabling rapid scaling and adaptation.” They’re urging all university staff to remain vigilant and there’s more information, including contact details, on the blog post.
Our Job of the Fortnight is for a Head of Financial Accounting at the University of Salford. The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring the accurate recording of all financial data, coordinating the preparation of the Group annual accounts, including year-end audit files, and making tax returns. In addition, the post holder will ensure the integrity of the University balance sheet, promote a strong internal control environment, liaise with external and internal audit and ensure policies are reviewed regularly and maintained in line with relevant legislation.”
The deadline for applications is 26 April. As usual, there are lots of other vacancies listed on the BUFDG jobs page.
