Reports

Report of the Council on changes to the senior administrative offices

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

1. This Report proposes amendments to the University’s Statutes and Ordinances to redistribute responsibility for the line management of enabling services between the Registrary and a new office of Chief Operating Officer (COO). The main aims of these changes are to create two more manageable and more coherent roles, and to bring together enabling services under the COO to offer opportunities for greater coordination and integration of those services. These proposals have been revised and refined in response to comments received during a consultation earlier this term (Reporter, 6823, 2025–26, p. 447).

2. The Council has published its response to the helpful feedback received in a separate Notice (p. 581), which should be read in conjunction with this Report. It now presents for approval a three-pillar structure to manage services and functions that support teaching and research in the furtherance of the University’s academic mission, with the Academic Secretary becoming a peer of the Registrary and the COO. The Council wishes to acknowledge the important work of the University’s professional services staff in supporting operations and strategy, and providing enabling services.

3. The amendments:

•retain the office of Registrary in Statute;

•move the duties of the Registrary to Special Ordinance and split them between the Registrary and the COO, and recognise the Academic Secretary as their peer, with the Registrary and COO under the direction of the Council, and the Academic Secretary under the direction of the General Board, through the Vice-Chancellor;

•enable the Council to delegate the duties of the Registrary, COO and Academic Secretary to officers or postholders (currently there is only authority for the Council to delegate the duties of the Registrary to officers);

•revise the Ordinance for the UAS so that it reflects that split of duties and also recognises the status of these three officers above the level of Director of a Division;

•create an Investment Oversight and Appraisal Office as a new Division and incorporate UIS as an Information Services Division;

•insert a new office of Assistant Operating Officer (including the grades of Principal Assistant and Senior Assistant), equivalent to Assistant Registrary/Treasurer, so that there is a hierarchy of offices for those reporting to the COO;

•rescind the Ordinance for UIS, as the matters it covers will be provided for by the Ordinance for UAS;

•insert references to the COO alongside the Registrary in some places;

•replace a few references to the Registrary with references to the COO (the majority of tasks currently undertaken by the Registrary remain relevant to the Registrary’s updated duties).

4. If the Regent House approves the changes, the amendments to Statute C VI would be subject to the approval of His Majesty in Council, but the amendments to Ordinances set out in Annex A would take immediate effect, as would the consequential changes noted in Annex B. This is because there is only one substantive change to the text of Statute C VI, to enable the Council to allocate any duty of the Registrary to a postholder instead of only to an officer.

5. The Council recommends:

I.That the Statutes of the University be amended as follows, and that these amendments be submitted to His Majesty in Council for approval.

By amending Statute C VI (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 20) to read as follows:

THE REGISTRARY

1. Provision shall be made by Special Ordinance for the appointment of the Registrary, for the determination of the duties and responsibilities of the holder of that office and for the appointment of an Acting Registrary during a vacancy in that office.

2. There shall be under the direction of the Council administrative officers in categories determined by Ordinance and postholders. So far as the Council may allow or direct, any duty of the Registrary may be performed by such an officer or postholder.

II.That the amendments to Ordinances as set out in Annex A be approved.

30 June 2026

Annex A

If Recommendation II is approved, the following amendments to Ordinances will be made:

(a) By amending Special Ordinance C (iv) (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 79) to read as follows:

The Registrary, Chief Operating Officer and Academic Secretary (Special Ordinance under Statute C VI)

1. (a) The Registrary and the Chief Operating Officer shall be appointed by the Council and placed under its direction through the Vice-Chancellor.

(b) The Academic Secretary shall be appointed by the Council after consultation with the General Board and placed under the direction of the General Board through the Vice-Chancellor.

(c) None of the holders of the offices of Registrary, Chief Operating Officer and Academic Secretary shall be a member of the Council or the Board of Scrutiny.

2. (a) So far as the Council may allow or direct, any duty of the Chief Operating Officer may be performed by an officer or postholder.

(b) So far as the General Board may allow or direct, any duty of the Academic Secretary may be performed by an officer or postholder.

3. During a vacancy in the office of Registrary (or Academic Secretary or Chief Operating Officer), the Council may appoint an Acting Registrary (or Acting Academic Secretary or Acting Chief Operating Officer, as the case may be) upon such terms of remuneration as it thinks fit.

4. It shall be the duty of the Registrary

(a)to act as the principal governance officer of the University, and the head of the University’s administrative staff supporting governance, legal affairs and policy;

(b)to keep a record of the proceedings of the University, and to attend for that purpose all Congregations of the Regent House and such other public proceedings of the University as may be specified by Statute or Ordinance or by the Council;

(c)to act as Secretary to the Council;

(d)to receive reports of Boards, Syndicates, and other bodies, and to deal with them as required by Statute or Ordinance;

(e)to be responsible for maintaining a register of members of the University, and keeping records of matriculations and class-lists, and of degrees, diplomas, and other qualifications;

(f)to edit Statutes and Ordinances and the Cambridge University Reporter;

(g)to issue such certificates as may be required in accordance with Statute A II 8;

(h)to witness the affixing of the Common Seal, or appoint deputies to do so, and to carry out related duties as set out in Statute A II 13(c);

(i)to issue such certificates as may be required in accordance with Statute J 11;

(j)to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by Statute or Ordinance or by the Council.

5. It shall be the duty of the Chief Operating Officer

(a)to act as the principal operations officer of the University, and the head of the University’s administrative staff supporting other operations not within the remit of the Academic Secretary under Section 6(a);

(b)to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by Statute or Ordinance or by the Council.

6. It shall be the duty of the Academic Secretary

(a)to act as the principal academic planning officer of the University, and the head of the University’s administrative staff supporting academic planning and education and research operations;

(b)to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by Statute or Ordinance or by the General Board.

(b) By inserting references to the Academic Secretary and the Chief Operating Officer in the following after the references to the Registrary:

Special Ordinance A (i) (a)(i) (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 67)

Schedule G (i) 1 (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 106)

Regulation 4 of the Ordinance for the Nomination of Members of the Council in Class (e) (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 119)

Regulations 1 and 5 of the Ordinance for the Order of Seniority of Graduates (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 176)

Regulation 4 of the Ordinance for Academical Dress (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 177)

Regulation 3 of the Ordinance for Addresses to the Sovereign and Formal Letters to Other Universities (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 181)

Ordinance for Emeritus Officers (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 674)

(c) In the Ordinance for the Unified Administrative Service (Staff of the University Offices) (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 693)

(i) by amending Regulations 1, 2, 3, 6(c) and 7(a) to read as follows and retaining existing footnotes:

1. The staff of the University Offices shall form a Unified Administrative Service which shall be under the supervision of the Council and shall comprise the following Divisions split between (i) Operations, (ii) Academic Planning and Related Operations, and (iii) Governance and Legal:

Operations

Estates Division

Finance Division

Health, Safety, and Regulated Facilities Division

Human Resources Division

Information Services Division

Investment Oversight and Appraisal Office

Academic Planning and Related Operations

Academic Division

Governance and Legal

Governance and Compliance Division

Legal Services Division

2. (a) Under the provisions of Special Ordinance C (iv), within the Unified Administrative Service the head of Operations shall be the Chief Operating Officer, the head of Academic Planning and Related Operations shall be the Academic Secretary, and the head of Governance and Legal shall be the Registrary.

(b) Under the direction of the Council, the Chief Operating Officer, the Academic Secretary and the Registrary shall manage their staff within University Offices and their staffing, funding, space, and other resources provided to the Offices by the Council. It shall be the duty of the Chief Operating Officer, the Academic Secretary and 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. The Chief Operating Officer, the Academic Secretary and the Registrary shall make such reports on the work of the University Offices to the Council as that body may require.

(c) The Chief Operating Officer, or a University officer appointed by the Chief Operating Officer, shall be the Establishment Licence Holder for facilities regulated by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

3. With the exception of the Academic Division, 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 or the Chief Operating Officer.

[6.] (c) (i)the Chief Operating Officer if the appointment is in an Operations Division, the Academic Secretary if the appointment is in the Academic Division or the Registrary if the appointment is in a Governance and Legal Division (or a deputy appointed by the relevant officer);

(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) Appointments and reappointments to the offices of Director, Deputy Director, Assistant Director, Principal Assistant Registrary, Principal Assistant Operating Officer, Principal Assistant Planning Officer, Principal Assistant Treasurer, Senior Assistant Registrary, Senior Assistant Operating Officer, Senior Assistant Planning Officer 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, which shall consist of the Registrary if the appointment is in a Governance and Legal Division, or the Academic Secretary if the appointment is in an Academic Planning and Related Operations Division, or the Chief Operating Officer if the appointment is in an Operations Division (or a deputy appointed by the relevant officer), 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, and a member of the Standing Appointments Committee in class (b).

(ii) in Regulations 4 and 8 by inserting ‘, Assistant Operating Officer, Assistant Planning Officer’ after ‘Assistant Registrary’, in Regulation 8 by inserting ‘, Academic Secretary and Chief Operating Officer’ after ‘the Registrary’, and in Regulation 11 by inserting ‘, Academic Secretary and Chief Operating Officer’ after ‘the Registrary’ in two locations.

(d) By rescinding the Ordinance for University Information Services (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 672).

(e) By replacing references to the Registrary with references to the Chief Operating Officer in the following Ordinances:

Regulation 1(b)(ii), University and Staff Joint Board (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 127)

Regulation 1(g), Information Services Committee (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 138).

Annex B

If Recommendation II is approved, the following changes to Notices and Regulations not in Ordinance would also be made:

(a) In the Notice on Appointing arrangements for certain academic-related offices (reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 675), in paragraph 3 by replacing references to ‘the Registrary’ with references to ‘the Registrary, the Academic Secretary or the Chief Operating Officer, as appropriate’, and in the Schedule to paragraph 9 by replacing the paragraph about the Head of the institution for an office established in an institution under the supervision of the Unified Administrative Service with ‘The Chief Operating Officer’.

(b) In the Notice on University maternity leave and other family-related leave policy (reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 679, as amended with effect from 1 October 2024) by revising the first paragraph to read as follows:

A University officer who intends to take maternity leave shall give notice of that fact by the fifteenth week before the expected week of childbirth, through the Personnel Consultant assigned to the officer’s institution, to the Chief Operating Officer.

(c) In the Financial Regulations (reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1056), in paragraphs 6.4 and 7.1 by inserting references to the Academic Secretary and the Chief Operating Officer in the bulleted lists, in paragraphs 8, 18.3(a) and 20.1 by replacing the references to the Registrary with references to the Chief Operating Officer, and in paragraph M by replacing the seventh bullet with the following:

The Registrary, the Academic Secretary and the Chief Operating Officer are the heads of the University’s administrative staff supporting, respectively, governance and legal, academic planning and related operations, and other operations.^[1]

^[1] Special Ordinance C (iv) 1 and 2.

(d) In the Sites and Buildings Regulations (reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1066), in paragraphs 1.6 and 3.4 by replacing references to the Registrary with references to the Chief Operating Officer.

(e) By replacing a reference to the Registrary with a reference to the Chief Operating Officer in the footnote attached to the Joint Notice on Additional Payments for Administrative Responsibility (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 688).

Report of the Council on the removal of references to the University Chest in Ordinances

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

1. This Report proposes changes to Ordinances to remove or replace references to the University Chest and related matters in preparation for the implementation of Enhanced Financial Transparency (EFT). The Chest is a mechanism that has been used to monitor the use of certain sources of funding separately from others. The University has developed EFT as an alternative means for financial reporting, in which income and expenditure are matched to activity undertaken, which is a common accounting practice and a methodology that has been adopted by many higher education institutions.

2. Plans for the transition to EFT are on track. The Council provided an update on progress on EFT and on the wider developments as part of the Financial Transparency Programme earlier this term, which also noted a timetable for implementation of EFT (Reporter, 6822, 2025–26, p. 438). The launch of the new finance system and the switch‑over to EFT are planned for Easter Term 2027. The Report setting out the budget for the 2026–27 financial year, as published earlier this term, is therefore expected to be the last recommending allocations from the Chest.

3. The Reports recommending the budget and allocations published since 2022 have included increasing levels of detailed analysis of the University’s finances. This data has expanded beyond the confines of the Chest to include information on all sources of income and expenditure. Schools and individual institutions have also received more in-depth management information, which has enabled them to make better-informed decisions to assist in planning and budgeting.

4. The Report recommending the budget and allocations for 2026–27 described the steps for transition to EFT following the new finance system going live in Easter Term 2027 (Reporter, 6827, 2025–26, p. 510). In anticipation of that switch-over, the Finance Transformation Programme team will continue to work with academic and professional services stakeholders to refine plans for the two-year initial phase that will start from the go-live date. The Financial Statements and the associated Remuneration report will continue to be published annually, as will the Financial Management Information (FMI), although with content and format adaptations to reflect the new Chart of Accounts and EFT. In order to support greater transparency once EFT is embedded, high-level management information will also be published with links to a drillable dashboard.

5. Annex A shows the proposed amendments to Ordinances, to take effect from a date agreed by the Council once all necessary preparations are complete, expected to be in Easter Term 2027. The amendments:

(a)describe the activities to be addressed in the budget for the University as the activities of the University other than those of its subsidiaries and those under the direction of the Press and Assessment Syndicate (i.e. excluding the activities of Cambridge University Press & Assessment);1

(b)replace a reference to an annual Report recommending the Chest allocations to the General Board and the Council with a reference to an annual Report recommending the budget for the University, which is to include a breakdown to show line items above a threshold set by the Council, which will be £100k until further notice (a more granular breakdown will still be provided to the Planning and Resources Committee and to the institutions concerned);

(c)remove Ordinances for funds that were originally set up to provide transparency on the use of Chest funding. The University Education Fund was set up in 1968 to receive Chest funding for allocation by the General Board, and added to Ordinances in 1974. It has no current balance. The Quinquennial Equalization Fund was also established in Ordinances in the same year; surplus Chest income was transferred to this Fund at the end of each financial year and applied by the Council as a contingency fund. This fund is currently in deficit. The Strategic Planning Reserve Fund was established in 1993 to set aside Chest funding to support strategic goals for which no other funding was available. It was closed in 2022, with unspent funds returned to the Chest;

(d)remove other references to the Chest.

If the changes in Annex A are approved, the Council, the General Board and the Finance Committee have agreed to make the consequential changes set out in Annex B to other provisions from the same date.

6. The Council recommends, with effect from a date to be agreed by the Council, that the amendments to Ordinances as set out in Annex A be approved.

30 June 2026

Annex A

The following amendments to Ordinances are proposed:

(a) In Special Ordinance F (i) (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 106) by rescinding existing Section 51 and by amending Sections 1 and 2 to read as follows:

1. The Council shall:

(a)include in its general supervision over the finances of the University the supervision of reserves and investments and income and expenditure;

(b)make a Report on the University’s financial position at least once in each year recommending the budget for the next financial year for the University.

2. Save as is otherwise provided in Statutes and Ordinances, all income accruing to the University for the purposes of teaching and research shall be credited to such account or accounts as the Council shall determine. The Report prescribed by Section 1(b) shall address the activities of the University other than those of its subsidiaries and those under the direction of the Press and Assessment Syndicate. It shall include or exclude such further activities as the Council shall determine from time to time.

(b) By removing the words ‘from the Chest’ from the following regulations:

Regulation 2, Chancellor’s Medal for an English Poem (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 809)

Regulation 5, Gedge Prize (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 851)

Regulation 1, Prince Philip Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 723)

(c) In the Ordinance for the Hulsean Fund (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 879) by inserting the following new Regulation 2 and renumbering the remaining regulations:

2. Sums received for defraying expenses connected with the administration of the Hulsean Fund shall be paid out of the income of the Fund.

(d) By removing the words ‘to the Chest’ from the following regulations:

Regulation 3, Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 703)

Regulations 2 and 4, Whewell Trust Fund and Whewell Scholarship (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1029)

(e) By amending the General Regulations for University Funds (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1085) to read as follows:

In addition to the several funds prescribed by Statute there shall be such other funds as may be prescribed by Ordinance or as the Council shall from time to time determine.

(f) In the Ordinance for the Funds of Faculties, Departments, and Other Institutions (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1086) by replacing references to ‘funds’ with ‘budgets’ in the title and in Regulations 1–3.

(g) By replacing Regulations 3 and 4 of the Ordinance for Estimates (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1086) with the following and retitling the Ordinance as the Ordinance for the University Budget:

3. In the first half of the Easter Term, or as soon as possible thereafter, the Finance Committee shall submit to the Council a statement of the income and expenditure of the University during the preceding financial year, a revised estimate of the corresponding figures for the current financial year, and an estimate of the corresponding figures for the ensuing financial year.

4. Before the end of the Easter Term or as soon as possible thereafter, the Council shall publish a Report on the financial position of the University in accordance with Special Ordinance F (i) 1(b), recommending a budget for the University for the ensuing financial year. That Report shall include a breakdown of the budget for line items above a threshold set from time to time by the Council.^[1]

^[1] The Council has determined that the threshold shall be £100k until further notice.

(h) By rescinding the following:

Funds allocated to the Council (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1086)

Quinquennial Equalization Fund (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1088)

Strategic Planning Reserve Fund (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1089)

University Education Fund (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1089)

Annex B

If this Report’s recommendation is approved by Grace, the following changes will be made.

(a) The General Board has agreed to remove the words ‘for the Chest’ from the following General Board Regulations:

Regulation 3, Bachelor of Divinity (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 449)

Regulation 3, Doctor of Divinity (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 450)

Regulation 3, Doctor of Law (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 463)

Regulation 3(c), Doctor of Music (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 487)

Regulation 5, Doctor of Philosophy: Special Regulations (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 492)

Regulation 3, Doctor of Science and Doctor of Letters (Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 544)

(b) In the Sites and Buildings Regulations (reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, 2024, p. 1066), the Council, the General Board and the Finance Committee have agreed to replace the final sentence of the definition of the ‘Non‑Operational Estate’ in Schedule 5 with ‘It is managed on a self-funded basis.’