Reports

Report of the Council on the office of Chief Financial Officer

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. This Report proposes changes to Ordinances to enable the offices of Director of Finance and Chief Financial Officer to merge into one new office of Chief Financial Officer.

2. In its Notice dated 23 September (Reporter, 6752, 2024–25, p. 4), the Council reported on plans to combine the two offices as part of a longer-term proposal to consolidate the University’s financial management. The Council discussed those plans in more detail at its meeting in October. It expects to start the search for a new Chief Financial Officer in good time so that the appointee can take up office by early 2026, to align with the planned departure of Mr Odgers in December 2025. However, there is some flexibility in the dates, to allow for the possibility of an overlap for a handover from Mr Odgers to the new appointee.

3. In 2017, the Council appointed the University’s first Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to oversee the University’s wider operating assets and investment portfolio as well as its long-term strategic and financial plan.1 The CFO currently shares financial leadership responsibilities with the Director of Finance. The proposal is now to consolidate the University’s financial management in a new CFO role that incorporates the oversight responsibilities of the Director of Finance. In this new role the CFO will:

•remain a member of the University’s senior leadership team, reporting to the Vice-Chancellor, and providing strategic oversight of the University’s financial position;

•continue to be the main adviser to the Council on financial matters, conveying the views of the Finance Committee, which is responsible for the consideration of the financial resources available to the University and for recommending to the Council the medium-term financial strategy for the University;

• take on responsibility for leading and managing the Finance Division (250 FTE) in support of all aspects of operational financial accounting, management and control of the Academic University and its subsidiary companies; and

• become the key sponsor for the University’s Finance Transformation Programme (FTP), providing unified and focused leadership during the delivery and embedding of this programme.

4. The Council fully intends this consolidation of two senior positions to result in overall savings, although they will be marginally offset by other staffing changes to ensure that the role of CFO, as revised, is manageable.

5. The Ordinances currently state that the CFO is a Council appointment, under the direction of the Council, and the Director of Finance is a senior officer heading the Finance Division and reporting to the Registrary. The proposed changes to Ordinances are set out in Annex A. The amendments include:

•an explicit reference in the Ordinance for the CFO stating that the CFO reports to the Vice-Chancellor; and

•changes to the Ordinance for the Unified Administrative Service to set out that the CFO heads the Finance Division, is responsible to the Council for the performance of that Division, and is a member of relevant appointment committees.

The opportunity is also being taken to allow the Chair of the Standing Appointments Committee to approve the appointment of additional members to the membership of Appointing Committees.

6. If this Report’s recommendations are approved:

•the Council will determine the date that the changes to Ordinances are to take effect, to reflect the start date of the appointee to the office of CFO, as revised; and

•the Council has agreed to make changes to the Financial Regulations and the Sites and Buildings Regulations2 to replace references to the Director of Finance with references to the Chief Financial Officer, and to remove references to the Director of Finance where there are already references to the Chief Financial Officer.

7. The Council recommends that the changes to Ordinances as set out in Annex A be approved, to take effect on a date agreed by the Council.

13 November 2024

ANNEX A

The Council proposes the following changes to Ordinances:

(a)By amending the Ordinance for the Chief Financial Officer (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 693) to read as follows:

Appointments and reappointments to the University office of Chief Financial Officer shall be made by the Council. The Chief Financial Officer is placed under the direction of the Council through the Vice‑Chancellor, with such duties as the Council shall determine from time to time.
 

(b)In the Ordinance for the Unified Administrative Service (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 693) by amending Regulations 2, 3, 6(c) and 7(a) to read as follows (retaining the existing footnote):

2. (a)   Save as provided in Regulation 3:

(i)under the provisions of Statute C VI, the Registrary shall be the head of the Unified Administrative Service;

(ii)the Registrary, under the direction of the Council, shall manage the University Offices and their staff, budgets, space, and other resources provided to the Offices by the Council. It shall be the duty of the Registrary to ensure that arrangements for the quality assurance of the services provided by the Offices are presented to the Council and are implemented as agreed by the Council;

(iii)within each Division of the Unified Administrative Service there shall be the University office of Director (or such other title as may be determined from time to time by the Council) who shall be head of the Division and whose duties shall include the management of the Division, under the overall responsibility of the Registrary.

(b) The Registrary, or a University officer appointed by the Registrary, shall be the Establishment Licence Holder for facilities regulated by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Registrary shall make such reports on the work of the University Offices to the Council as that body may require.

3. The Chief Financial Officer shall be the head of the Finance Division and shall have the same responsibilities as the Registrary under Regulation 2(a)(ii) in respect of that Division.

[6.](c)  the Registrary (or a deputy appointed by the Registrary) and

(i)  the Chief Financial Officer (or a deputy appointed by the Chief Financial Officer) if the appointment is to be made in the Finance Division; or

(ii)  the Director of the Division in which the appointment is to be made (except where it is the Director of the Division who is to be appointed or reappointed);

[7.]  (a)   (i)  Appointments and reappointments to the offices of Director, Deputy Director, Assistant Director, Principal Assistant Registrary, Principal Assistant Treasurer, Senior Assistant Registrary, and Senior Assistant Treasurer shall be made by the Standing Appointments Committee on the recommendation of an Appointing Committee, the membership of which shall be approved by the Chair of the Standing Appointments Committee.

(ii)  Subject to sub-paragraph (iii) below, the Appointing Committee shall consist of the Registrary (or a deputy appointed by the Registrary), the Director of the Division in which the appointment is to be made, an appropriate senior academic-related officer, a senior academic with experience and interest in what the role of the office entails, a member of the Standing Appointments Committee in class (b), and such additional members as the Chair of the Standing Appointments Committee sees fit to approve.

(iii)  If the appointment is in the Finance Division, the Appointing Committee shall consist of the Chief Financial Officer (or a deputy appointed by the Chief Financial Officer), two appropriate senior academic-related officers, a senior academic with experience and interest in what the role of the office entails, a member of the Standing Appointments Committee in class (b), and such additional members as the Chair of the Standing Appointments Committee sees fit to approve.