BUFDG Digest 27 July

TECH WEEK

BUFDG’s first Tech Week takes place 3-7 October 2022. As the name suggests, it’s a week-long, free event for BUFDG members to hear about trends and themes, issues and challenges, and new and existing products in the HE sector, all in or related to the technology / digital / software space. The week is made up of lots and lots of different sessions, all run as hour-long webinars via MS Teams. 

Members can choose to attend as many or as few sessions as you like - there are no restrictions on numbers! Each session runs for one hour.  There are four sessions running each day across the week - 9.30am, 11am, 1pm and 2.30pm, with the event ending with the 1pm session on Friday. 

Please refer to this document for the full programme and session synopses (opens in new window). If you have any questions or comments please do email Matt Sisson or Ashley Shelbrooke. We look forward to seeing you there!

SECTOR / FUNDING

Scottish unis can apply for low interest loans from a £31m fund for capital investments. The projects must advance the university’s carbon management/net zero plans (and meet some other related carbon/energy criteria). Priority will be given to projects which offer the greatest carbon savings in return for the funding, and demonstrate partnership and collaboration with colleges and other organisations, for example around shared facilities or buildings, and/or the university acting as a civic anchor for city-wide projects.

HESA has published the 2020/21 tranche of provider-level finance data noting a total sector income of £44bn. David Kernohan at Wonkhe digs into the details, and hopes that institutions are ready for the storm.

UCAS has published applicant figures for the 2022/23 recruitment cycle, now that we’ve passed the 30 June deadline.

UKRI has published its decisions on around £8bn in funding for Research England for the period 2022-25. James Coe analyses the announcement over at Wonkhe while, in related news, there are articles covering the independent review of UKRI, Horizon funding (or more likely the lack of), and the launch of ARIA.

FINANCIAL REPORTING

UCISA and BUFDG have begun a joint project to develop guidance for institutions looking to implement a new financial system. The aim is for the outputs to update the BUFDG guidance on the topic (from way back in 2002!), but will also go further in providing a suite of high-level resources that will be useful for both finance and IT professionals in universities. As part of the guidance, we would like to publish some case studies to provide unique and specific insight into the challenges of implementing new financial systems in a university context. If you have experience of being part of an implementation in a past university role, have implemented a system within the last four years at your current institution, or are part-way through an implementation, and feel that you have learnt some lessons you would be happy to share, then we’d love to hear from you. Read this discussion post to find out more.

INCOME COLLECTION

Book your place on the next Income Collection Time to Talk (previously called Credit Control) on Thursday 10 November. This is an on-line meeting where we discuss any current issues or challenges you are facing and we share ideas and best practice across members. It's an informal structure with the option for guest speakers depending on the topics raised ahead of the meeting. The sessions are free to join and take place on-line. For any queries, please contact Rachel.

BUFDG are looking to recruit a member to be the BUFDG representative on the Student Loans Company (SLC) SLC Stakeholder Operations Group. The SLC Stakeholder Ops Group meet roughly ten times a year, with most meetings remaining on-line following the pandemic.  All stakeholders, of which BUFDG has always been one are able to share current challenges and issues and gain updates and proposals from the SLC. BUFDG and the members have really valued the work of our previous rep, Karen Carvell at Northumbria University.  We hope to gain a new BUFDG rep from our Income and Collection members to be able to share the issues facing our members and be a voice for our income collection members. If you would like to know more, please contact Rachel.  

ESG

If you have ever wondered how you would cost your carbon reduction or net-zero plans, then save the date for a webinar on 3pm on 6 September. There is very little guidance on how much carbon mitigation and reduction activities will actually cost the HE sector so BUFDG, in partnership with AUDE and EAUC, is working on a project to provide universities and colleges with the information they need to make good decisions and turn net-zero plans into reality. Look out for further details in the next Digest.

Social Value UK are holding a global symposium inviting participants from HEIs to explore the question: “do you think that Universities and business schools could play more of a role in creating value for society?” The symposium is being held in partnership with Liverpool John Moores and the Liverpool Business School and takes place either in-person or via Teams on 18 and 19 July.  You can find out more and register for your place here.

PROCUREMENT / COUNTER-FRAUD

Mills & Reeve has produced a handy phrasebook to accompany the progress of the Procurement Bill through the Lords. The phrasebook is a useful reference for procurement practitioners and their stakeholders alike, and you can download your copy here. Mills & Reeve has also produced a useful briefing paper providing its review of the first draft of the Bill.

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has published its annual report and accounts for 2020 to 2021. You can read the report on gov.uk here. CCS report £22bn of spend through its commercial agreements by organisations across the public sector; of this figure, £1.5bn was spent directly with SMEs. The report also highlights projects that CCS is undertaking in the sustainability space, such as the development of passivhaus designs for university sports halls (these are buildings that are energy efficient, and maintain a constant temperature).

The Government Commercial Function is running a series of Masterclasses this summer which provide attendees with a fantastic range of training delivered by experts free of charge.  HEPA members can attend the sessions, all of which are listed in the HEPA training calendar.  Simply follow the links in the calendar or below to book your place! Negotiations Masterclass: Back to Basics, Wed, 3 August 2022; Planning and Using Commercial Pipelines, Wed, 17 August 2022; Supply Market Engagement and Early Market Analysis, Wed, 31 August 2022.

Many thanks to Dave, Simon and the team at OTG for their recent webinar focusing on how incorporating digitalisation into your supply chain can create procurement excellence. A copy of the slides are available for you to download here.

In addition, thank you to Allie and Richard of Unite for their fascinating session exploring how to build supply chain diversity, sustainability and social value into your e-procurement. Here are the slides.

The finalists of the 2022 Green Gown Awards have been announced! You can see all the finalists in each category on the Green Gowns website here. Congratulations to all 51 institutions represented – keep an eye out on the Green Gowns website over the coming months for highlights showcasing the great works of the nominees.

There has been a recent fraud attempt using a twist on the usual procurement fraud process. Andrea shares the details in this post. Thank you to colleagues for being willing to share their experiences. It helps keep everyone safer.

CIFAS is running a webinars to which BUFDG and HEPA members are invited, looking at the impact of insider threat on the public sector. The session takes place virtually and is being held on 29 September – find out more and register here.

TAXES

Members can access the full list of BUFDG’s current e-learning courses here.  We are shortly going to begin to discuss potential topics for development during 2022/23.  If you have any suggestions, please contact Andrea or Julia.

Marie Christie, the current Payroll & Expenses Group (PEG) chair of the northern region is stepping down.  We would like to thank Marie for all her efforts, contributions and genuine positivity in chairing this group. This means that we are now seeing seeking a member to act as a regional chair of the PEG group, representing the northern region. If you would like to find out more about the role, including the requirements and likely time spent through-out the year, please read the role description here.  

Thanks to the member who shared this letter from HMRC with Andrea.  The letters relate to transactions where the university’s EORI number has been quoted incorrectly at import.

How to apply for a repayment of import duty and VAT if you've overpaid (C285) states that: If you are a VAT registered business, you must not use form C285 to claim for repayment of overpaid VAT, any adjustment must be made through your VAT return. Adjustments to a VAT return are subject to normal VAT rules. Andrea has contacted HMRC to seek clarification on this for the sector.

CTG has provided some commentary on the revised business/non-business guidance. 

The European Commission: Annual Report on Taxation 2022 has been issued.  This is a rather long report - running to 161 pages!  We do not suggest that you read the whole thing, but for those of you interested in the areas below, we have highlighted the main sections that you may wish to read through on a coffee break! These include: Global Mobility issues, section 5.1.1 (page 102) - some of the stats are staggering; Taxation of the digital economy, section 5.1 (page 101), and; Taxation of multinational organisations, Chapter 6 (page 124).

Burges Salmon have produced a useful article on the legal requirements and risks of getting rights to work checks right.  It covers: how to conduct right to work checks depending on the way you carry out your review (whether manually, online, or a third party); rules on EU, EEA and Swiss nationals; Evidence and record keeping; Timing, and; Next steps.

JOB OF THE FORTNIGHT

Our Job of the Fortnight is for a Senior Procurement Manager at Queen’s University Belfast. The successful candidate will “be an experienced procurement professional you will have a passion for procurement; have core values of integrity and ambition; be positive about change projects including the forthcoming Procurement Bill; be resourceful and flexible, and; be able to collaborate to find solutions to challenges in new and innovative ways that may not have been used before.” The deadline for applications is 8 August.

There are lots of other jobs listed as usual on the BUFDG jobs page.