BUFDG Digest 11 January

BUFDG

We wish all our readers a Happy New Year! 2022 was an ‘interesting’ one to say the least. I wonder what 2023 will hold for the world, the country, the sector? BUFDG has little control over global politics or the price of bread. But we’re thinking shiny, happy thoughts while we can, and hoping manifestation is real.

In case you missed it in December’s Digest, booking is now open for BUFDG’s 2023 Finance Festival. The 2023 event takes place from Monday 13 to Wednesday 15 March 2023 and is completely free to all those who work in a UK university. The Festival is BUFDG’s extravaganza of all things HE finance and procurement, and features a fantastic line-up of 40 challenging, informative, and entertaining sessions covering everything from Estates to the Economy, from Pensions to Procurement, and from Investment to Insurance.

We don’t expect anyone to be there for every session or pick your sessions in advance – your single booking will let you ‘build-your-own’ conference where you can take part in the sessions of most value to you. We’re confident that every finance person at every institution will be able to find something of benefit. For more information about the event and the programme, and to book, visit the Festival website. And, if you have any questions or comments about the event please do get in touch with Matt. We look forward to seeing you there!

BUFDG has worked over the years to improve understanding of university business models and demystify financial jargon, running a series of events and highly successful publications. This course has been created for non-accountants to understand more about university finance. Please share it with colleagues across the university who will find this training useful. The Demystifying Finance and Budgeting in the HE sector (for Non-Accountants) course is delivered on-line on Wednesday 1 February and Wednesday 8 February from 9.30am – 1pm. For more information click here.

ALSO FROM DECEMBER

The December edition of the Chair's Quarterly is available. It includes articles on the energy market, financial support universities are making available for staff and students, the implications for the sector of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, progress on Open Access publishing negotiations, new e-learning modules, and the challenges of advocating for a varied sector. Readers can Download the Quarterly here. And if you would like to receive it directly as it is published, click here to subscribe. You can find past editions on the Quarterlies page of the website.

Universities UK are kicking off a ‘national conversation’ about how universities are funded, to ensure that the sector is financially sustainable in the long-term, and can continue to offer world-class teaching and research, and drive economic growth. The work is guided by a task and finish group (including some BUFDG members), and those interested in joining in the conversation and hearing more can sign up to receive updates.

Wonkhe is running a webinar series through 2023 looking at how to build a sustainable future for higher education. The first of these webinars, Building a Financially Sustainable Higher Education, takes place on the 26^th January. There is much more information, and a booking link, available here.

The HEPA Responsible Procurement Group Scope 3 sub-group is pleased to release an updated version of the Higher Education Supply Chain Emissions Tool (HESCET). This latest version updates the DEFRA conversion factors in the version released this time last year. We’d also like to extend a ‘thank you’ to Michael Flagg of LUPC for his presentation, demo and insight in the recent HESCET webinar.

SECTOR

TEC is running another energy market update webinar on 31 January at 10am. The team will be looking back at the first half of this winter and, more importantly, will be considering how this winter will likely be shaping next year’s Energy budgets. This is another opportunity for the PHES community to get together to find out more about the current state of the Energy market and to ask questions of the TEC team. The webinar is free as usual, and open to all institutions (not just TEC members). Click here for more information and to book.

The 2022 edition of the AUDE Higher Education Estates Management Report was published on the 13 December. The data covers the period August 2020 to July 2021 – the height of the pandemic, and so a time of immense upheaval for university estates. The disruption is visible in almost every item of data and every graph. AUDE write that “It is reasonable to think that this annual EMR report will be the best at showing that sense of before/after, and therefore be useful as a marker for years to come.” If your institution also subscribes to AUDE, you will be able to access the report with your BUFDG website details. Or, you might prefer to access it digitally, via the new EMR Digital portal.

AHUA has launched a Reciprocal Mentoring Programme between senior Professional Service staff who identify as being from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background in Higher Education. The programme seeks to build mutual understanding between aspiring leaders of colour and those currently in senior leadership roles. The programme will recruit senior staff of colour (Mentors) and AHUA members (AHUA Mentors) to work together in one-to-one pairings over a period of 12 months. As this is a pilot programme, AHUA is funding the cost of all training and facilitated sessions. There is more information on the AHUA website, and the deadline for applications is 17 February.

AUDE is also hosting 12 one-hour online sessions on different Equity, Diversity and Inclusion topics over a 12-month period. The sessions are free to attend and are open to BUFDG members. You can find out more about all the sessions on the AUDE website (and book here too if you are an AUDE member). If you don't have AUDE membership you can book the sessions via the BUFDG events page (to see all the events in the series, search 'EDI XII' in the events search box). If you are unable to attend live, or would like to catch up on the sessions that have already taken place (an introduction to inclusion, and a session on mental health), you can find the recordings here.

TAXES

Just a reminder that the 3 new systems on VAT penalties and interest charges are now in place. These are: A points system – for late submission; A penalty system – for late payment of VAT liabilities, and; Late payment interest – for late payment of VAT liabilities. There are also changes to how repayment interest is calculated for overpayments or late refunds of VAT. HMRC has issued several notes explain the new systems which aims to simplify and separate penalties and interest. For more information, read the article here.

The Government has announced that making tax digital for income tax (MTD for IT) for the self-employed and landlords will be delayed until April 2026.

In line with previous changes to the Employment Income Manual, HMRC have recently adjusted their view of eye tests and glasses/contact lenses (see Employment Income Manual 21765 and recent discussion board thread here). HMRC now state that where employees are reimbursed the cost of eye tests/glasses/lenses, the exemption for eye tests, et al (see reference to legislative sections here) will not be met and should be reported through the payroll for PAYE/NIC deductions as a cash payment. Only where eye tests/glasses/lenses are paid directly by the employer will the exemption be met.

The last edition of TaxHE provided a link to the latest HMRC Employer Bulletin but due to timings, we weren’t able to include any commentary. Having now had an opportunity to peruse the contents of the bulletin, we have some recommended reading: If you plan on payrolling benefits from the 2023/24 tax year, you can register to payroll your benefits here; The electronic payment deadline for January falls at the weekend. HMRC has reminded employers to ensure payment has cleared its account on or before 20 January 2023; Recurring direct debits can now be set up to pay monthly PAYE liabilities, and; HMRC officers visiting customers about debt will now have a card reader available to take payment.

With thanks to Caroline Jones from BDO, we understand that the Single Enforcement Body (SEB) proposed to take over from HMRC on National Minimum Wage and other employee issues, will not be implemented. Recently the Telegraph reported on plans to shelve the body following Grant Shapps comments to the BEIS Committee, stating “We’ve spent two years plus of this parliament fighting Covid. It may well be with two years left to go that we’re still able to address some of that. But what we’re more interested in is making sure that the bodies that are already there are operating effectively.”

As usual, you can find all the latest Tax news in the TaxHE newsletter – available via the Tax page of the Knowledge Hub.

OTHER BITS

The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) is launching a report on “The Way Forward for University Pensions” in London on Monday (16th January).  The event will be live streamed so attendees can also tune-in without leaving their desks. It will be chaired by Chris Curry (PPI Director) plus a panel of experts including, John Chilman (Railpen and PPI Trustee) and Kevin Wesbroom (Capital Cranfield and PPI Governor). “Sponsored by Kings College London, this new report seeks to answer three questions: How did we arrive in this position regarding university pensions?; What can be done to improve the situation?; How can we ensure the same situation does not arise again?”. For more information and to book, click here.

London Economics published an in-depth report looking at options for reforming the English HE funding system, as alternatives to the proposed changes in the Augar review. An Executive Summary of the analysis is available to download here, the full report is available here. Here’s Jim Dickinson’s take on Wonkhe. And, in related news, there’s an interesting article in the Guardian on what Keir Starmer’s approach to tuition fees might be under a Labour government.

The charity Inspiring Governance is hosting a free webinar on 25 January on volunteering as a school governor.  The webinar is free, suitable for all staff levels and will cover all you need to know about becoming a school governor. Why volunteer as a school governor? Volunteering as a school governor offers the chance to do good, feel good and gain valuable experience. Here are three reasons why you should consider signing up to help children and young people in your local community…

Our Job of the Fortnight is for a Head of Finance Operations at Middlesex University. Among other responsibilities, the successful candidate will take responsibility for “leading the day-to-day operations and longer-term development of all three of the University’s financial processing operations, overseeing the work of around 18 members of staff; and the re-design, development and implementation of working practices and procedures to meet legislative and regulatory requirements”. The deadline for applications is 22 January.