30 September 2020 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
BUFDG
We are delighted to announce that the much anticipated BUFDG Guide to Accounting for Pensions in Higher Education has been published since the last Digest. Miles Hedges, who retired as Finance Director at The Open University in 2016, has written the guide to help explain what to many is a mystery.
It is written for university governors, non-accounting staff, students, staff representatives and student representatives as well as for Finance Directors and colleagues in finance teams tasked with producing financial statements and accompanying notes.
The Guide is not a 30-minute quick-read to furnish the reader with full understanding of a topic that takes accountants many hours to learn. Rather, it is designed to help readers who start with different levels of understanding to navigate the numbers and extensive notes to the accounts to appreciate why pension schemes can cause significant impacts on universities’ reported results and reserves.
The technical content of the chapters increases and we don’t expect all readers will read to the very last chapter. Each chapter can be the end, depending on the reader’s appetite and requirement for knowledge. To the enthusiastic and determined reader, however, perseverance to the end, several times, will be rewarded by a new level of understanding.
This Guide is not a commentary on the rights or wrongs of pension schemes’ funding strategies or their valuation methods and is written with the aim of improving understanding of financial statements and universities’ financial positions. We also hope that it will equip readers with enough knowledge to ask more questions. Please feel free to share and circulate the guide freely. Feedback is very welcome.
PENSIONS
We’re also pleased to launch our first guest blog! The idea of our new blog feature is to provide an alternative view on some of the most pressing HE finance issues. Our first blog comes courtesy of Paul Hamilton, Partner and Head of Higher Education at Barnett Waddingham, who writes about this year’s USS valuation. Paul writes:
“With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to look at the USS valuations over the years and think about what could have been done differently. This year’s valuation feels to me like another instalment of previous discussions; another year of dashed hopes for improved funding. The same story, but each time the news gets worse…”
Read the full blog here and, If you have any comments, or you'd like to write a blog for us, get in touch with Matt.
In other news, the Government is proposing changes that will adversely affect staff in LGPS who are over 55, facing redundancy and want to retire early (free registration required to read in full).
PROCUREMENT
Have you, a new team member or perhaps a colleague in a department outside of procurement ever asked “what is a framework?” or wondered what resources there are to help and assist procurement professionals across the Higher Education sector? UKUPC and HEPA have produced a great video presentation which answers these questions (and many more!). You can watch on YouTube: getting the most from frameworks and sector resources.
After a short break over the summer holiday period, we are very pleased to announce a new set of Time to Talk webinars. Firstly, to support the work of the HEPA Responsible Procurement Group and to increase understanding of Social Enterprises, HEPA Deputy Chair Veronica Daly will host a ‘Time to Talk’ with the CEO of Social Enterprise UK, Peter Holbrook and his colleague Nicola McAvoy at 10AM on 29 October 2020. This session will explain what Social Enterprises do, their importance to the local economy and how they help businesses achieve their sustainability goals. It will also discuss how the university sector can work with Social Enterprises to achieve their social value goals. Booking is free of charge and available to all members here.
Secondly, we are delighted to invite David Hansom, Partner, Clyde & Co. to discuss the hot topic of Brexit from a procurement point of view on 21 October at 10am. For more information and to book your place click here. As always, there is no charge for a place and there is no limit on attendance, so please do feel free to share this event with colleagues within your institution. You can also read David’s guest article for HEPA covering Brexit and universities, and how any new procurement and state aid regimes might affect the sector.
Thirdly, we’ll be joined by KPMG for a demo and discussion of their On Campus solution on 2 October at 2PM. The system can support Universities in understanding how to implement practical measures amidst changing Government guidance, how to build student and employee confidence in on-campus life, and how to leverage technology, amongst other things. The session is free of charge to attend. Click here to find out more and book your place.
Fourth in the list is a session run by Adam Lickorish and Matt Humphrey from RSM Risk Advisory covering Managing Strategic Risks in a Crisis. Our guest speakers will offer their views about how organisations can effectively manage their risks at a strategic level by ensuring that they have in place the 3 risk pillars: Clear objectives, Understanding the strategic risks, and an Agreed risk appetite. The session is, of course, free of charge to members and you can book your place here.
The Local Government Association (LGA) and University College London (UCL) are working on a project to bring together local authorities, universities and others to address climate challenges. The Net Zero Innovation Programme provides training and project funding to equip authorities and universities to work in partnership to help achieve local carbon reduction goals. You can find out more information on the LGA’s website here, including FAQ’s and the application form.
TAX
The Making Education Digital – Distance Learning and Overseas Taxes spreadsheet has now been updated, including for UAE and Ecuador. Andrea would like to thank members of the National Tax Group and Harriet Latham who have helped to collate this information. This is a live document, and the taxation on digital services changes frequently. If you find more up-to-date information about a particular country, or if a country needs to be added, please post a note on the discussion board or email Andrea.
HMRC has updated its General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) guidance to reflect changes that came in on 11 September. GAAR is designed to target and counteract abusive tax arrangements. There are three guides....174 pages in total! Fortunately it’s the examples that take up most of those pages. This guide give a broad summary of what the general anti-abuse rule (GAAR) is designed to achieve, and to help with its interpretation and application. Here are all those examples. And this guide sets out the procedures for implementing the GAAR.
This analysis by Grant Thornton might of interest to those of you who have combined heat and power units. The WEG Tevesstraße AG opinion considers the VAT recovery position of costs incurred in relation to running a combined heat and power plant and the VAT liability of onward supplies to property owners in relation to both common areas and individual areas. A case to watch, given that there are not many facts for the AG to base their analysis on!
HMRC has published new guidance on how to apply the VAT reverse charge if you buy in building and construction services. HMRC are presenting a live webinar on Tuesday 6 October on the VAT reverse charge for contruction charges. A link to register for the webinar can be found here.
HMRC has also updated its Guidance Refunds and waivers on customs debt by HMRC. The updates are not major, but we are highlighting this, as some members may not be aware that such guidance exists.
For everything else, there’s TaxHE.
EMPLOYMENT
You have probably already been bombarded with updates following the Chancellor's statement to the house last week. This article highlights what we actually know about the measures introduced and how it might impact HEIs.
The Welsh government have announced a long-term ambition for 30% of Welsh workers to work from (or near) home. The policy is intended to reduce congestion and pollution around the major centres and also improve work-life balance - lessons learnt perhaps during the COVID lockdown? They are considering whether to offer a network of community-based remote working hubs that could be used by public, private and third-sector employees. The Welsh government’s press release is available here.
A factsheet has been produced setting out how the Job Support Scheme is designed to work, read it here - there is a good example and table at the end demonstrating how much is paid for non-worked usual hours by the employer and the government.
HMRC has started issuing letters to employers who they believe may have incorrectly made CJRS claims and more will come given that mistakes were made by around 27,000 employers. Caroline Jones at BDO has written a useful article for BUFDG members on HMRC's letters and checking your claims - available here.
Remember that you can sign up to receive TaxHE, for all tax and employment taxes news, by ticking the box in your preferences (and clicking ‘save’). TaxHE comes out in alternate weeks to the Digest.
COUNTER-FRAUD
The discussion board thread covering Visa and Mastercard Interchange Refunds has been updated with some important information today – you can read it here.
From UCISA: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has today issued an alert to the sector following a recent spike in ransomware attacks. The new alert, Targeted ransomware attacks on the UK education sector by cyber criminals, supplements existing support that the NCSC provides to academic institutions across the UK. Universities and colleges are also urged to read the NCSC’s newly-updated guidance on mitigating malware and ransomware attacks, and to develop an incident response plan which they regularly test.
OTHER
If you missed it first time around, Grant Thornton ran a webinar last month on the possible implications of the pandemic for university financial reporting. The webinar is a practical look at how to apply all the considerations during this busy audit season. You can access the recording here, and if you have any questions please email Oma.
Many of you will be working at institutions with COVID outbreaks, and won’t have been able to avoid the media coverage of what has been a big story across the UK this week. There’s talk of tuition fee refunds, with the government suggesting there’s more to be done to educate students on their rights, and OfS warning against ‘blanket refusals’. Here’s the Wonkhe view. Meanwhile, Gavin Williamson has vague plans to get students home for Christmas.
In other education news, the Prime Minister made an announcement on vocational education, including free college courses to those with no A-levels or equivalent qualification.
Finally, our Job of the Week is for a Procurement Manager at the University of Hertfordshire. The deadline for applications is the 30th October.
