Joint Audit and Risk and Finance and Resources Committee Minutes 14 November 2023

Minutes of the meeting of the Cardiff University Joint Committee of Audit and Risk Committee and Finance and Resources Committee Held on Tuesday 14 November 2023 at 10:00 in rooms 1.24/1.25, Centre for Student Life and via Zoom.

Present: Dr Robert Weaver (Chair), Angie Flores Acuña, Pers Aswani, Chris Jones, Jan Juillerat, Professor Urfan Khaliq, Professor Wendy Larner, Micaela Panes, Suzanne Rankin, David Selway, John Shakeshaft, Professor Damian Walford Davies, Jennifer Wood and Pat Younge.

In Attendance: Anita Edson, Jonathan Brown (KPMG), Clare Eveleigh, Rashi Jain, Sian Marshall, Carys Moreland, Melanie Rimmer, Claire Sanders, Laura Sheridan, Natalie Stewart, Darren Xiberras.

01 Welcome

01.1  All were welcomed to the meeting.

01.2   The Chair reminded members that the meeting was being recorded to assist with the production of the minutes.

01.3   The Chair reported that the decision to approve or recommend papers would be made in principle and ratified by the Audit and Risk Committee in line with the Scheme of Delegation. The follow up of any actions agreed would be by the responsible Committee.

02 Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Agnes Xavier-Phillips.

03 Declarations of Interest

The Chair reminded Committee members of their duty to disclose any potential conflicts of interest. No declarations of interest were received.

04 Reconciliation of the Forecast Outturn vs Statements Year End

Received and considered paper 23/256C ‘Reconciliation of the Forecast Outturn vs Statements Year End’.  The Chief Financial Officer spoke to this item.

Noted

04.1  [Redacted]

04.2  [Redacted]

05 Q1 Forecast

Received and considered paper 23/257C ‘Q1 Forecast’.  The Chief Financial Officer spoke to this item.

Noted

05.1  [Redacted]

05.2   [Redacted]

05.2  That there was no reference to the EBIDA forecast within the paper, which had been established as the key financial sustainability target metric; that it was imperative for the University to achieve the target to sustain its investments and achieve its strategy; that without reporting against the metric, it was difficult for the Committee to monitor performance and provide effective challenge.

05.3  [Redacted]

05.4   [Redacted]

05.5   [Redacted]

05.6  That Council would need to understand the challenges around financial sustainability and the University’s performance in the international student market relative to other institutions; that the imperative for taking decisive strategic action was clear.

Resolved

05.7  For an update to be provided on the EBIDA forecast.

06 Final Judgements and Estimates for the Financial Statements for the year ending 31 July 2023

Received and considered paper 23/271C ‘Final Judgements and Estimates for the Financial Statements for the year ending 31 July 2023’.  The Chief Financial Officer spoke to this item.

Noted

06.1  [Redacted]

06.2   That pensions assumptions work was outsourced and independently reviewed by Mercer before being challenged by KPMG as part of the audit.

06.3   [Redacted]

06.4   [Redacted]

06.5   [Redacted]

06.6   [Redacted]

06.7   [Redacted]

Resolved

06.8  To approve the final Judgements and Estimates for 22/23 under delegated authority from the Council.

06.9   For further sensitivity testing to be undertaken to consider scenarios around income variation.

07 Letter of Representation Evidence of Assurance

Received and considered paper 23/255C ‘Letter of Representation Evidence of Assurance’.  The Chief Financial Officer spoke to this item.

Noted

07.1  That the letter had been provided as standard by KPMG and contained no unusual assurances; that the letter was in draft, and the Schedule of Uncorrected Audit Differences would be updated once finalised.

Resolved

07.2  To approve the Letter of Representation Evidence of Assurance.

07.3   For the final version of the letter to be updated with gender neutral language.

08 Annual Report and Financial Statements

Received and considered paper 23/255C ‘Annual Report and Financial Statements’.  The Chief Financial Officer spoke to this item.

Noted

08.1   That the EBIDA key performance financial metric was referenced but no outturn or comparison to prior year performance was detailed.

08.2  [Redacted]

08.3  That there was reference to the final performance bonus of the previous Vice-Chancellor, but the amount was not detailed within the paper.

Resolved

08.4   To recommend to Council the Annual Report and Financial Statements subject to the following amendments:

1. To include the outturn and comparison to prior year performance in relation to the EBIDA key performance financial metric;
2. To include the final performance bonus amount of the previous Vice-Chancellor.