BUFDG Digest 19 May

GENERAL / REGULATION

It’s been a bumper week for (proposed) HE regulatory changes, with a Queen’s Speech, followed by a ‘free speech’ in HE bill, an expected overhaul of post-16 education bill, and possible fees and funding changes on the horizon. Your guides on this adventure is the team at Wonkhe, whose informative articles you can read by following the links.

There was considerable pushback last week when the OfS announced plans to cut funding for arts subjects in England. The OfS sought to clarify that tuition fee income remained unchanged, and it was only strategic top-up funding that was impacted, but the damage of the “50% cuts” headline had probably already been done. The British Academy took the opportunities to reiterate its own suggestions.

If you’re institution is an AUDE member, and it has undertaken any significant capital projects recently, then it may well have contributed to the AUDE capital costs database, which launched in 2019. AUDE has just published a review of the first year (and a bit), with lots to learn for institutions wanting to make informed decisions about their own spend.

Following the Queen’s Speech there has been quite a bit of commentary on research funding in the last two weeks. HEPI Director Nick Hillman blogs that the government’s overarching aim – of 2.4% of GDP spent on research – will take a long time at best, and will be unachievable at worst. Andy Westwood has chipped in to consider how the target may be supported by regional policy and the ‘levelling-up’ agenda. Meanwhile, the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) has received a £1m grant to build a campaign for public support for R&D investment, in what it is hoping will become the ‘R&D Decade’. Time will tell.

FINANCIAL REPORTING

As part of the process for the update to SORP 2019 FRC issued a request for views to inform the next periodic review of FRS 102 on 23 March 2021.  The review will include considering if and how UK GAAP (incl FRS 102) should be updated for consistency with IFRS 9, 15 and 16. The effective date for any amendments is currently expected to be 1 January 2024.  However, depending on their nature, certain changes may be available for adoption earlier or later.  Comments on any aspect of the standards are invited by 31 October 2021. There is to be no proposal from FRG as points are likely to be specific to institutions.  FRG would encourage, however, institutions to respond highlighting relevant issues, both good and bad.  This does not need to be in any particular format nor give a solution to a relevant issue. If you have any thoughts or questions, please respond to this discussion post.

INVESTMENT / TREASURY

Attendees at the Annual Conference in March will have come away with their fill of insight and knowledge on ESG considerations in investing. For those with tickets, all the videos can be re-watched via the Conference website. If you’ve been thinking specifically about how to set ESG targets recently, then you may be able to contribute to this discussion board topic, and help out colleagues.

Newton Investment Management are BUFDG supporters, and attended the Annual Conference. Their annual Charity Investment Survey has been running for 7 years now, and produces a fascinating insight into how charities of all shapes and sizes approach their investment responsibilities. The 2021 survey is now open, so please do respond by the 2 July if you have the time. It will take 15-20 minutes.

COUNTER-FRAUD

We are pleased to share an Anti Money Laundering (AML) Policy Template which has been developed by WPM Education and kindly made available to the entire sector.  Institutions can incorporate the content into their own style to fit with their own policies and procedures, and feedback is welcomed. You can download a copy of the AML Policy Template here. The template is a great reference for BUFDG members to make the most of, and is especially relevant following presentations at WPM’s Tuition Fee Fraud Summit, and the BUFDG Conference.

Following on from their fraud and financial crime awareness webinar earlier the month, Barclays have released three additional resources which they have kindly made available to all BUFDG and HEPA members. These are: Protecting education providers from fraud and financial crime; Managing the risks of financial crime in the education sector; and Beware of offers too good to be true.

Don’t forget that you can discuss fraud with colleagues across the BUFDG network on the Discussion Boards, and BUFDG also has several e-learning modules covering subjects ranging from an Introduction to Counter-Fraud to the Criminal Finances Act 2017.  You can check out the Counter-Fraud toolkit here.

PROCUREMENT

Do you want to find out why the answer to the ‘Anti-Plastic’ challenge may well be, er… plastic? Read our latest guest blog from Karen Lynch, CEO of social enterprise Belu. 

We are pleased to share the results report for the Procurement Value Survey (PVS) for the 2019/20 period. 81 institutions responded to the survey, reporting a total impactable spend of £6.5bn, with total gross efficiencies of £269m. You can download the PVS for 2019/20 here. We have some exciting plans to build on the PVS and enable greater benchmarking and collaboration amongst HEPA members – watch this space in the coming months, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with Ashley should you have any questions!

The recent Queen’s Speech will have a big impact on higher education; amongst all of the headline announcements perhaps the most interesting for HEPA members is that a new Procurement Bill will be introduced in the next session of Parliament. This Bill follows on from the transforming public procurement green paper, and is expected to be introduced from September 2021. The Queen’s Speech is available to read here; public procurement reform is covered in section 4.12. Further details have also been announced in this briefing paper, from page 74, and with an explanation in this news article.

CIPS and Hays are launching their Procurement Salary Guide for 2021 on 26 May – you can sign up for your free place here. The guide aims to help professionals understand how to progress their career and develop their teams; benchmark salaries; and learn about the impact of the pandemic had on the procurement profession, among other things.

The Social Value Portal last week held a webinar which set out their Social Value Framework for 2021 and the National TOMs (themes outcomes and measures). You can re-watch or catch-up on the webinar here, and click here for a copy of the slides. The HEPA Responsible Procurement Group social value sub-group are also working on a set of HE sector specific TOMs with the Social Value Portal which will be made freely available to all. We’ll notify you as soon as these are available.

Following on from Claire Pearson’s inaugural meet the social enterprise session last month, we are pleased to be able to share two resources for members from the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA): The Plastics Toolkit, which will help members understand disposables in hospitality, and also includes a self-audit and questions for your waste contractor, and; A Water Toolkit for hospitality managers – reduce, reuse, recycle. You can catch up on Claire’s superb meet the social enterprise session here.

CIPS have reported the latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) at its highest point since the survey began in 1997 due to demand and supply imbalances, with steel, timber and transportation all rising in price. Price increases are down to a rapid surge in demand for construction inputs, with some firms surveyed suggesting that Brexit related delays are adding to supplier delivery times which are at their third longest since 1997.

Read the latest HEPA Newsletter in full here.

TAX

PwC’s latest HE global mobility update makes for interesting reading on the future of working.  Work patterns are likely to change, leading to more ‘hybrid’ arrangements where employees split their time between campus/office; PwC highlight the implications where ‘elsewhere’ is not in the UK. The publication also provides updates on social security post-Brexit, pensions and UK compliance actions for short term business visitors.

There have been updates on a number of VAT appeals relevant to the sector, in that they cover the provision of sporting and leisure tuition and facilities. Here are the details. There has also been an update to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden case. If you are considering whether VAT on purchases can be treated as an "overhead", and a proportion of it reclaimed, or whether it is directly linked to a taxable or exempt supply, then the case is worth reading.  

HMRC have published a policy paper for businesses that manufactures or import plastic packaging, including those who import packaging that already contains goods. The tax will apply to plastic packaging where the plastic used in its manufacture is less than 30% recycled and commence on 1 April 2022.  The rate of the tax will be £200 per metric tonne of plastic packaging. You can read the paper on gov.uk here to understand how this will impact suppliers.  It will be beneficial if the sector can work with suppliers to limit the tax, thus supporting the sustainability agenda.

PAYROLL / EMPLOYMENT TAXES

HMRC’s latest Covid-19 support email summarises the latest CJRS information, including a reminder that employers must pay the associated PAYE/NIC and if they don’t, they’ll have to repay the whole CJRS grant (it’s a condition of applying for the grant), as well as that, from 1 May, employee eligibility has expanded to include those employees on an RTI submission by 2 March 2021. All the information can be found in HMRC’s CJRS guidance.

BEIS have published a number of guidance documents on checking whether you need a visa or permit to work in European countries, as well as guidance for UK businesses on rules for selling services to various countries. The information has been added to the BUFDG European signposting document.

HMRC guidance has been published on Mini umbrella company fraud to highlight the potential pitfalls of employers entering into these types of arrangements.  A mini-umbrella company is typically one which employs a small number of temporary workers and working arrangements are facilitated by a main promoter business.  Fraud is known to occur around the flat rate VAT scheme as well as the employer allowance for NIC and is explained in this recent BBC article. HMRC recommend that employers using temporary workers through umbrella companies undertake adequate due diligence on their supply chains and look out for warning signs. In addition, a 'call for views' policy paper has now been published by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport on supply chain cyber security.

The latest full TaxHE newsletter can be found here.

JOB OF THE FORTNIGHT

Our job of the fortnight is for a Senior Procurement Manager at the University of Warwick. The successful candidate will, among many other things, support the university’s procurement function by designing, implementing and monitoring procurement strategies to deliver best value contracts and continuous improvement solutions. They will report to the Director of Procurement. The deadline for applications is 2 June. There are lots of other vacancies as usual listed on the BUFDG jobs pages.