BUFDG Digest 1 July

BUFDG

Finance Festival 2026 – we’ll soon be starting the planning for our Finance Festival, taking place 16-18 November. We’re doing things a little bit differently this year, and want to prioritise our university members sharing their stories and expertise directly with colleagues. So, if you have an idea for a session, delivered either on your own or in partnership with others, we’d love to hear about it. Please drop Rachel an email and let her know. And if you’d just like to chat through an idea informally before deciding, then also get in touch.

This edition’s Shared/Sector-owned Services Spotlight is on SUMS Consulting. SUMS is a specialist higher education consultancy working for, and owned by, universities. At the Shared Services showcase in the Spring (recording available here), Nick Pigeon and Joel Arber introduced the work of the organisation, and explained how they operate as 'objective insiders' with deep H E sector expertise, offering membership packages that include consultancy days, communities of practice, and benchmarking opportunities. In 2024/25 SUMS successfully delivered over 330 assignments to universities, focusing on transformation work, target operating models, and helping universities navigate efficiency challenges. You can access the SUMS Consulting recording here.

A reminder that version 2 of our Ahead in the Cloud  guide to implementing Financial (and other) Systems in Higher Education, in partnership with KPMG, is now available for download. The new version is a refresh of the guidance with particular updates in the sections on Procurement, Tax, and post-implementation. The guide draws upon the experience, thoughts, and advice of many senior Finance, IT, HR, and transformation leads in a sample of universities around the country, to help institutions run successful implementations (and hopefully avoid the most common, damaging, and expensive pitfalls!). It's an essential read for anyone implementing new systems (finance or otherwise) in H E, or even just starting to think about it. We hope that this proves a useful resource for transformation in the sector. If you have any questions, please contact Matt.

SECTOR

The IFS published a major report on lifetime graduate earnings (tracked up to the age of 37) last week using LEO data, which has attracted plenty of commentary and discussion from across the sector. The headline estimate is that graduates earn more than non-graduates in their 30s, with women who attended university earning 56% more than their non-university peers, compared to a premium of 28% for men. The IFS believes that around half of the university / non university earning differential can be explained by background and prior attainment. The Guardian decides to lead with a slightly less-optimistic take.  

Similarly, the DfE used the subject-related evidence in the report to signal its intention to further crack down on ‘poor quality’ degrees, with the additional possibility of the introduction of minimum entry requirements (MERs) - an idea questioned at source by David Kernohan in Wonkhe, and ideologically by Mike Ratcliffe. Meanwhile, in a letter to the Guardian, UoNorthampton V-C Prof. Anne-Marie Kilday makes the case for looking beyond earnings to widening participation as a driver for regional growth which should appeal to the agenda of the likely incoming P-M.

And on that note, there’s plenty of thoughts and commentary on what Andy Burnham’s agenda might mean for HE more generally, and the English sector in particular. Wonkhe’s James Coe makes the case for putting universities right at the centre of his plans, while Prof. John Blake suggests how the agenda could be supported with a shake-up of Whitehall.

A reminder The CUC has launched the final version of the new Code of Higher Education Governance, strongly supported by the OfS. The Code was “developed in response to growing pressures around funding, regulation and public trust” and will “support governing bodies to lead effectively in an increasingly complex environment”. It applies to England, NI, and Wales. Chair of the Code steering committee, Iain Cornish, has an accompanying article on Wonkhe.

UCEA have an update that they have written to the unions to set out their intention  to complete a review of the pay spine by the end of the year.

In other news, ‘trusted universities’ will be given the opportunity to sponsor refugees through a study route, according to an announcement from the Home Secretary earlier this week. And a new alliance of universities in the south of England looks to coordinate tech transfer activities and improve commercialisation and the success of spin-outs.

ENGLAND

The DfE have published a couple of LLE-related updates. First up are some case studies covering modular study pilots within colleges, with lessons learned and best practice starting to emerge. Second, a range of resources for universities to use for explaining and communicating the LLE and how it will work to prospective students.

SCOTLAND

We just missed it in the last Digest, but the new Accounts Direction for Scottish universities has been published by the SFC, with minimal updates for this year.

WALES

There have been a few updates from Medr in the last fortnight. It’s running a consultation on its ‘investment policy statement’ – basically how it intends to exercise its funding powers. There’s also the output from the 23/24 Graduate Outcomes survey, and an update of Digital funding allocations, and associated reporting requirements. And the new Chair of the Senedd education committee is former USW employee Sera Evans.

MA / TRAC

The 2026 TRAC Conference will take place online, on 22-23 September. Please save the date and keep an eye out for further details in the next few weeks. As usual, the conference will include a mixture of plenary and breakout sessions and give delegates a thorough overview on the work of the TDG, their activities and of course the latest guidance on TRAC. There will also be the separate TRAC for Beginners session ahead of the conference itself.

Strategic Finance Business Partnering - the next training course takes place on the 7/8 July. This online workshop, spread over two 3-hour modules, is for team members who have experience of operating in a Finance Partnering approach and wish to operate more strategically and with more impact.

EMPLOYMENT

The reinstatement of the Two Tier Code (TTC) under the Employment Rights Act 2025 marks a major statutory shift in the government’s attempts to eliminate unfair workforce practices in outsourced public services. The TTC consists of a set of regulations, the Code and supporting guidance, and contracting authorities will have a legal obligation to "take all reasonable steps" to comply with the regulations and "have regard" to the code. It comes into scope when a public contract involves a staff transfer from the original public sector contracting authority to an external supplier (via TUPE or other statutory transfer schemes), to carry out a service that was previously carried out in-house.

Any new or existing supplier or subcontractor workers deployed alongside those transferred staff to work on that service must be treated "no less favourably" regarding their terms and conditions. The Cabinet Office have produced a factsheet covering the TTC, including information such as timescales and further details, which members can view on gov.uk here.

TAX AND PAYROLL

This year’s Big for Tax annual autumn update at the University of Warwick will take place on 29th and 30th September. The course runs for 24 hours over 2 days in order to give participants time to work through the topical case studies and network with each other. The course cost is £400+VAT per person including accommodation and meals.

Last week HMRC issued a policy paper called Tax update 2026: simplification, modernisation and fairness. You can find the full list of consultations/calls for evidence here. The consultation on Customs Modernisation ends mid-September and focuses on international trade and its impacts on commercial operations and the UK customs regime, among other things. Meanwhile the consultation on the Introduction of Mandatory Registration for Customs Intermediaries closes one week later. If you’re able to support a response to either of these, please add your name to this discussion post.

The most recent TaxHE (18 June) has been added to the website. It includes updates on Expansion of Right to Works Checks and the MyPay Ltd v HMRC case and the implications for Employment Status and Holiday Pay, among many other things. It also lists the staggering number of tax-related webinars and training events coming up over the next few months, the most imminent being the Employment Status / IR 35 Monthly Surgery (7 July), and the KPMG  Global Mobility Workshop ( 9 July).

Finally, thank you again to all those who attended the fantastic Tax Conference in June. If you or your team missed it, don’t worry - tickets are still available to access all session recordings. Contact Rachel if you have any questions.

PROCUREMENT

Section 70 of the Procurement Act 2023 requires contracting authorities to publish information each quarter about payments under public contracts for procurements that commenced from 1 April 2026. Payments must be published within 30 days of the end of each quarter. The first publication window begins today, on 1 July 2026, which means that publication of contract payment information is required by 29 July 2026. To facilitate this, new payment service functionality is now live on the Central Digital Platform to help contracting authorities upload their payment data and meet their obligations.

The Cabinet Office have published two guidance documents on gov.uk: Official Guidance - Contract Payment Information, and A Complete Guide to New Legislative Requirements under the Procurement Act 2023. Procurement and finance practitioners can also access a suite of guidance materials, templates and further information on the Government Commercial College.

Two Procurement Policy Notes (PPN) have also been published: PPN 024: The Public Interest Test and Insourcing Strategy and PPN 025: Protecting the UK’s national security through public procurement. While these PPNs applies to central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies; other contracting authorities may wish to adopt the approaches set out, should they wish. The Government Commercial Function has published three discussion guides on gov.uk.

FINANCIAL REPORTING

A reminder that the next SORP Implementation Forum is on 7 July, and you can register now to share queries or listen in to the discussions and latest updates from the regulators meeting held on 23 June. If you can’t make the time but want to catch up we’re sharing notes and updates from ongoing forums here. 

As well as all the resources on the SORP Knowledge Hub, we are continuing to highlight useful options beyond BUFDG. EY has recently announced a webinar titled “Higher Education SORP transition - practical guidance for implementation” on 10 July, and HaysMac will continue their SORP series later in the year with three remaining sessions scheduled covering income recognition (14 October), leases (3 November), and a final recap session covering Further and Higher Educaton (3 December).

The team from HW Fisher have also put together some questions to explore around the HE SORP and managing the covenant impact. In addition, they also have more HE SORP webinars coming over the next few months, with a Deep dive into lease accounting on 8 July, Revenue recognition on 21 July, and Fair Value (and other changes impacting the SORP on 16 September.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

The most recent Research Finance Forum took place on the 11 June, and the notes and updates from the session have been added to the website.

In other news, Innovate UK are hosting their monthly drop in on the 7 July, while HEPI have published a report on the importance of physical connectivity to the UK research ecosystem.

SUSTAINABILITY / ESTATES

On 16 July the Energy Systems Catapult team is hosting a webinar on Combined Heat and Power (CHP) replacement decisions, including lessons learned from the University of Warwick's transition journey and the risks, opportunities and actions organisations should take now to avoid costly delays and future fossil fuel lock-in.

Jisc and the EAUC have published a guide to help universities understand more about, and tackle, the environmental impact of AI in the sector. There are plenty of risks, but also ‘opportunities’ for it to be used as a ‘force for sustainability’.

And a reminder of the recent news that the National Wealth Fund and Lloyds Banking Group have announced a new financing initiative to make up to £500m in lending available to support the retrofit and decarbonisation of UK university estates. It’s suggested that the loans will help modernise up to 300 university buildings. The National Wealth Fund is providing up to £350m of financial guarantees to enable the bank’s lending, which it says will allow Lloyds to offer longer-period loans and more flexible financing arrangements.

PENSIONS

We’ve published our latest pensions newsletter, bringing together key updates across USS, LGPS, TPS and the wider pensions landscape. Highlights include governance changes at USS and its response to TPR’s strategy consultation, alongside member-focused insights on retirement planning and confidence levels. On LGPS, the latest bulletin sets out new investment and governance requirements, changes to the SCAPE rate, and operational updates affecting employers. We also cover developments on TPS employer contribution expectations, NHSPS performance and policy changes, HMRC updates, current consultations, and wider sector commentary.

JOB OF THE FORTNIGHT

Our Job of the Fortnight is for a Head of Financial Accounting at the University of Surrey. The successful candidate will “play a critical role in ensuring the integrity, accuracy and timely delivery of all financial accounting and reporting activities” and will need, among other things, “Strong technical accounting knowledge including UK GAAP”. The deadline for applications is 19 July.

As usual, there are lots of other vacancies listed on the BUFDG jobs page.