Cambridge University Reporter


Tenth Report of the Board of Scrutiny: Notice

24 October 2005

This Notice comments on the conclusions of the Board of Scrutiny's Tenth Report (Reporter 2004-05, p. 1059) and on the remarks made at the Discussion of this Report on 11 October 2005 (p. 81).

Finance

The Council agree with the Board that the University should continue with its strategy to contain and reverse deficits, and indeed should be aiming for a sustainable surplus. The Council note, however, that the statement in the Board's Report (paragraph 13) ' ... £50m from reserves will have been spent keeping the University afloat ...' is open to misinterpretation. The Council wish to reassure the Regent House that the financial assets of the University continue to grow in real terms.

The Council also agree that the costing of central academic services, to ensure value for money, is an important field which should be developed further. The Board suggested that the central bodies should explore the possibility of saving money by consolidating certain University-wide support services. The governance and management of some of these services are already under review. It is however, unrealistic to believe that significant cost savings are likely to be achieved without reductions in service, which may not be desirable.

The Board commented that the University and Colleges should work together to evolve a scheme for sharing facilities in the interests of economy in Cambridge as a whole. The Planning and Resources Committee has already initiated work on use of College premises for University activities. Even further co-operation in other fields will be actively explored as opportunities arise.

The Board said that the University should complete the move to budgeting to consolidate Chest and non-Chest income and expenditure and to produce accounts to consolidate CUP as well as UCLES. The Council have a programme of work to this effect.

Committees

In commenting on the preparation of the single spine proposals for the pay and grading of University staff the Board stated that subordinate committees must be given time and data to perform their role of scrutinizing draft reports effectively. The Council believe that all decision-making, advisory, and policy development bodies should have sufficient time and information to do their work properly and in a timely fashion, but it must be recognized that external constraints do not always allow University bodies to work optimally.

Reference is made in the Report to the Council's Audit Committee and its proper responsibilities. The functions of the Audit Committee are set out in Statutes and Ordinances (Regulation 4, p. 900). Regulation 4(j)(ii) specifically refers to consideration of statements about governance.

Governance

The Council intend to comment further on governance matters in their forthcoming Annual Report on the year 2004-05. No major proposals are in preparation.

Professor Edwards and Dr Cowley mentioned the Charities Bill currently before Parliament. It is expected that if it is enacted HEFCE would be designated as the 'main regulator' for the University. Colleges (in Cambridge) would fall to be regulated by the Charities Commission. It is not believed that the legislation would have a necessary direct impact on the governance of the University.

The Board suggested that there should be a thorough revision of the Statutes and Ordinances to ensure that Ordinances fully reflect Graces which have been approved. Preliminary work on a simplified set of draft Statutes has already been undertaken. The Council agree that codifying some decisions approved by Grace, but which are not in the form of regulations, would be advantageous.

The Board suggested that a clearer hierarchy of committees should be drawn up and published. The Council agree, and work is in hand. The Council also intend to authorize and publish a handbook about University administrative matters more broadly, which will appear in instalments as material is prepared.

Finally, the Board recommended that Statute K, 9 should be amended to permit the Council and other bodies to delegate functions to individuals (as well as committees, as at present). A draft Report is already in preparation.