No 6728
Wednesday 7 February 2024
Vol cliv No 18
pp. 262–265
13 February, Tuesday. Lent Term divides.
24 February, Saturday. Congregation of the Regent House at 10 a.m.
25 February, Sunday. Preacher before the University at 11.30 a.m., The Revd Dr Harriet Harris, MBE, FRSE, Chaplain, University of Edinburgh (Hulsean Preacher).
4 March, Monday. End of third quarter of Lent Term.
|
Discussions (Tuesdays at 2 p.m.) |
Congregations (at 10 a.m. unless otherwise stated) |
|
5 March 19 March |
24 February 23 March 6 April |
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that The Lord Sainsbury of Turville has advised her of his intention to step down later this year from his office as Chancellor of the University. The Council will publish a timetable for the election of a successor once the Chancellor has formally submitted his resignation to the University, which is expected to be in the Easter Term. The process for nominating candidates and electing the Chancellor is set out in the University’s Statutes and Ordinances (p. 109, as revised by Grace 1 submitted to the Senate on 17 January 20241; a complete version of the new Ordinance2 is available).
The Council, on the advice of the Finance Committee, has declared that the University continues to remain outside the scope of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU) as amended by the Public Procurement (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, as it is less than 50% publicly funded. This will continue to be the case under the Public Procurement Act 2023, when it comes into force. The calculation is carried out annually to ensure that it remains possible to make the declaration. The Council intends that the University’s procurement procedures should continue to follow the good practice set out in the regulations, as well as that in the University’s Financial Regulations (Statutes and Ordinances, 2023, p. 1051; see also: https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/policy-and-procedures/financial-regulations).
The Council, on advice of the Finance Committee, has approved two amendments to the Financial Regulations with effect from 1 February 2024 (reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, 2023, p. 1051; see also: https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/policy-and-procedures/financial-regulations). In Section M, in the paragraph on EU Public Procurement Directives, it has replaced the second and third sentences with the following new sentence:
The Council, on the advice of its Finance Committee, reviews and confirms annually whether the University remains outside their scope.
As the University continues to remain outside the scope of these Regulations, the references to EU thresholds and the management of EU Tenders through Procurement Services have been removed from the table in Schedule 1 – Competition Procedures and the reference to EU Tenders has been removed from Schedule 2 – Definitions.
The opportunity has also been taken to make the following minor amendments and correct a previous omission within the Regulations published in Statutes and Ordinances.
Regulation 18.4(d) has been corrected to refer to Regulation 6.2, not Regulation 6.3.
Regulation 31.3 has been updated to reflect the approval by the Council of the Employee Expenses Policy in July 2023, effective since 1 October 2023. Now staff must follow the key principles and rules on expenses reimbursement as set out in the Employee Expenses Policy, rather than the rules that were previously laid out in the Financial Procedures Manual.
Regulation 32.2 has been corrected to refer to Regulation 6.2, not Regulation 2.
Regulation 33.2 has been amended to reflect a change that has been inadvertently omitted from the Statutes and Ordinances. This regulation relates to the inclusion of equipment on the fixed asset register. With effect from 1 July 2015, as a minimum, all equipment costing more than £5,000 had to be listed on the register, not £2,000.
The Council and the General Board have agreed to the transfer of the assets of the Cambridge University Engineers’ Association (CUEA), an external unincorporated association, to the University to hold as trustee. The assets are held in a new University trust fund with the same name and purposes as the CUEA, following the execution of deeds on 29 January 2024. The primary reasons for this revised arrangement are to settle the charitable status of the association and to enable it to invest its assets, which do not include any endowment funding, in the Cambridge University Endowment Fund.
Further to the Council’s Notice of 26 April 2023 (Reporter, 6697, 2022–23, p. 627), the feasibility options study for the University Centre at Granta Place has been commissioned and a consultation exercise is being launched.
The Ordinance for the University Centre (Statutes and Ordinances, 2023, p. 672) sets out the entitlement of members of the Regent House, University officers and Fellows of Colleges, and postgraduate registered students to be members of the University Centre.
The first stage of the feasibility study is to identify options for a use or uses for the building that will guarantee its long‑term productive future. The views of the members of the University Centre are being sought on these options, initially via an online survey which can be accessed here: https://www.em.admin.cam.ac.uk/university-centre-consultation. The deadline for responses is 1 March 2024.
There will be an opportunity for members and interested parties to view the options being explored in person and speak with members of the appointed design team and the University Estates Division. These ‘drop in’ events will take place as follows:
•Thursday, 15 February, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the West Hub
•Wednesday, 21 February, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. online Teams webinar
•Tuesday, 27 February, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the University Centre
Further details and registration for the webinar can be found on the consultation webpage at the link above.
At the conclusion of this initial consultation process, findings from the events and the online survey will be collated into a report to inform any further proposals for presentation to the Council. The outcomes will also feed into the wider Reshaping Our Estate Programme.