MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CARDIFF UNIVERSITY POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE HELD ON TUESDAY 9 MAY 2017 IN ROOM 0.51, MAIN BUILDING AT 3.

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1 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CARDIFF UNIVERSITY POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE HELD ON TUESDAY 9 MAY 2017 IN ROOM 0.51, MAIN BUILDING AT 3.00PM Present: Professor Stuart Palmer (Chair), Mr Alastair Gibbons [via teleconference], Vice-Chancellor, Professor George Boyne, Mr Mo Hanafy, Professor Karen Holford, Ms Jan Juillerat, Mr David Simpson and Ms Sophie Timbers. Apologies received from the Reverend Canon Gareth Powell. In attendance: Mr Dev Biddlecombe, Mr Mike Davies, Ms Jayne Dowden, Ms Mairwen Harris, Mrs Sharon Orton and Mr Chris Tatner [Minute 377] Observer: Ms Hollie Cooke, SUON. 373 MINUTES that the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2017 (16/363) were signed by the Chair as a correct record. 374 MATTERS ARISING Translational Drug Discovery Centre Received and considered paper 16/440B, Drug Discovery Centre update..1 that the business case had been considered and approved by Policy and Resources Committee and Council in November 2016;.2 that this paper presented the final costs of the Centre and had been brought back to the Committee for consideration;.3 that costs of the project had increased largely due to salary costs, some of which would be borne by the College;.4 that the size of the team to transfer to the University had expanded, resulting in a change to the income and spend profile for the project;.5 that the scale and type of the estates work meant that it was unlikely that capital costs would increase beyond the forecast;.6 that it was hoped that the transfer of the Centre would take place in time for the next academic session;.7 that staff performance targets would be set but that it was unlikely to include teaching;.8 the minimal change in the Net Present Values [NVP]. RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL.9 that the final costs of the project be approved. 1

2 374.2 Sports Strategy and Facilities Received and considered paper 16/455B, Sports Strategy and facilities update..1 that the initial business case for additional student residences would have necessitated building on a pitch at the Talybont site but this requirement had been obviated by the option to purchase land adjacent to the site;.2 that it was hoped to submit the land purchase proposal to the next meeting of Policy and Resources Committee;.3 that a review of the Sport Strategy was still going ahead and would be finalised early in Session ;.4 that it would be helpful to include the Strategy in the next University Way Forward, given its importance to the student community and to potential students Dementia Research Institute Received and considered paper 16/467B, Dementia Research Institute..1 that the inclusion of Cardiff as part of the MRC UK Dementia Research Institute hub was a significant achievement and would enhance the reputation of the University;.2 that the Centre required a financial commitment from the University;.3 that the match funding for this project was a good deal for the University and that the Institute would be expected to attract grant funding in addition to that already identified;.4 that the paper should be amended for Council to include an explanation of the funding model. RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL.5 that the final costs of the proposal be approved. 375 REPORT FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR Received and considered paper 16/462, Vice-Chancellor s Report to Policy and Resource Committee, May Student Applications and Offers.1 that final numbers on applications and offers would be available shortly, following the end of the UCAS cycle;.2 that the figures indicated areas where the University might need to take action to address potential shortfalls; 2

3 .3 that the University was trying to diversify its student profile to minimise risk should recruitment reduce for a given area that there was good news on research awards, where the total value for the period 1 August 2016 to 31 March 2017 was 92.5M, a significant increase over the same period in 2015/16; that the University was working to ensure that research grant funds are expended during the lifetime of the award and that the unspent monies returned to funders was small; the report on a recent visit to Namibia where the University had committed to a further five years of funding for the Phoenix project and was seeking to take forward the next phase of our co-operation with the University of Namibia; that the University was continuing to provide support and advice to EU nationals working for the University and was also involved in lobbying on the subject through UUK and the Russell Group. 376 HEFCW REMIT LETTER AND HEADLINE STEER Received and considered paper 16/441B, Remit Letter and Headline Steer that the headline steer on HEFCW funding was likely to mean a 14M reduction for the University, unless additional funding was allocated; that potential income from the implementation of the Diamond Review would not start to come through until 2018/19 and it would be a number of years before any cumulative shortfall would be recouped; that a 14M shortfall could not be absorbed through the normal budgeting process and that a deficit budget would be presented to Council and in the forecasts to HEFCW; that the shortfall would affect the University s cash flow and it might be necessary to use investment funds to cover the deficit. 377 PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT OFFICE AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT Received a presentation from Chris Tatner, Director Portfolio Services, together with paper 16/437, Project Management Office Overview that the University Project Management Office [PMO] currently had two core functions: administrative support for project governance bodies and the overall production of key reports and documentation and support for the programme and project teams in giving advice, answering queries and maintaining the overall toolset; development and management of the financial, resourcing and benefits aspects associated with the programmes and projects ensuring that any frameworks, standards or controls fit within the 3

4 overall University processes and existing governance and performance arrangements; that the PMO was focussed on developing capability and discipline to ensure that projects deliver their aims, within timescales and budget and that benefits are realised and transitional arrangements are in place; that a member of University Executive Board was responsible for each capital expenditure project and chaired the Steering Board; that there was often a lay member of Council involved in the Steering Board; that progress was reviewed regularly, with control points/gateways within a project, and issues escalated upwards if appropriate; that future work would be to develop different project management pathways for different types of projects; that benefits management and behavioural and change management went beyond the lifetime of a project; that Investment and Banking Sub-Committee required regular updating of the bond model and the financial profile of projects; that it would be beneficial if the University was to use information held by PMO to add value, possibly in the form of dissemination of lessons learned and examples of good practice; that by focussing on outcomes/benefits and how this impacts on other areas, especially post-project, the PMO was able to contribute to the wider aims of institution. 378 FINANCE REPORT Received and considered paper 16/439B, Finance Report as at March that the forecast income from tuition fees and residences had been increased following firmer information on performance, resulting in a forecast of a small surplus of 0.2M; that one area of risk was a second instalment of HEFCW Research Capital Grant expected in July 2017; that if that was not forthcoming, the shortfall would probably be offset by a corresponding reduction in expenditure; that the internal loan of 29M from the University s bond funds was due to be repaid by the end of May; that the cash flow statements had taken account of interest to be paid on bond monies. 379 THE WAY FORWARD Received and considered paper 16/463B, The Way Forward

5 379.1 that this iteration included minor amendments to the text and draft highlevel key performance indicators [KPIs] and sub-strategies; that costing of the proposed top-level KPIs would be undertaken; that the league performance targets had been included in the overall statement of the aims of the University; that enabling strategies had been added to the top level document; that KPIs for the sub-strategies were still in development; that the civic mission sub-strategy was possibly the most difficult area for which to develop meaningful KPIs; the following comments on the draft paper: that student references could be more inclusive that the student role should be presented in a more active way that inclusion of a reference to the development of leadership should be considered whether it would be more helpful to use percentage change rather than absolute numbers in KPIs that the linkage between research and innovation should be strengthened; that Council might find it helpful to see KPIs from other HEIs to inform its deliberations. 380 CAPITAL INVESTMENT AND BUSINESS CASES Received and considered paper 16/400B, Capital Investment and Business Cases Forward Plan that the paper would need to be updated following approval of the latest business cases, including forecast income lines; that the funding source for projects identified in the Priority C list was unclear. 381 STRATEGIC ESTATES UPDATE Received and considered paper 16/456B, Strategic Estates Update. that the paper contained an update on progress in respect of six capital projects and four potential land acquisitions. 382 TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH FACILITY/INNOVATION BUILDING Received and considered paper 16/469B Additional funding for Cardiff Innovation Campus (CIC) programme. 5

6 382.1 that reasons for the increase to the cost of the project included: increased costs of materials demand/competition for specialist and building services in Cardiff Brexit/currency fluctuation effect on prices that a two-stage design and build approach to procurement for the project had been followed to enable the award of a contract to commence site preparation works using external funding secured for the Translational Research Building which was time-constrained; that this approach did not commit the University to contracting with the same contractor for the main build contract and the plan was to retender the second stage to secure an improved price through increased competition; that the deadline for the use of the grant from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund had been extended to 31 March 2018; that the University had commissioned a second consultant to look at the design proposals and provide costings; that if the build could not be secured for the revised estimate, the University would need to re-think the project; that the re-design had allowed for more staff capacity, resulting in a reexamination of potential income, using prudent assumptions; a discussion of how the situation had arisen and concern that this could happen with other projects; that the Centre for Student Life [CFSL] project was very different to the TRF/Innovation buildings and was being closely monitored and any issues that might increase costs were being worked through with the architects; that the TRF/Innovation buildings included marginal additionality in respect of central services whereas the CFSL had more of this factored in; that there was a positive NVP for the TRF/Innovation buildings despite the increased costs, whereas the CFSL had a negative NVP; that it was important that the rationale for investment in projects was made clear to the student community; the risk to awarded and future grants if the University did not deliver on the TRF/Innovation buildings; that other universities were facing similar problems where there were significant differences between cost consultants estimates and contractors prices. RESOLVED that the paper for Council should be revised to include: a fuller explanation of the reasons for the increased costs 6

7 an explanation of how income has been arrived at, based on potential increase to staff capacity a fuller explanation of the value of the project to the University s ambitions. RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL to approve the request for a further M funding for the project. 383 INVESTMENT AND BANKING SUB-COMMITTEE Received and considered paper 16/459 being the minutes of the Investment and Banking Sub-Committee meeting held on 25 April that the Sub-Committee had approved the use of Certificates of Deposit and the use of brokers to access CDs and Bank deposit and notice accounts; that a discussion on divestment from fossil fuels had taken place and investment managers had been requested to supply additional specific information before the issue was brought back to Policy and Resources Committee and Council for consideration and decision; that a tender process for the management of the University s endowment funds would take place at the start of next session with a recommendation to be submitted to the November meeting of Policy and Resources Committee. 384 THE WAY FORWARD: PROGRESS AGAINST TARGETS Received and considered paper 16/401B, The Way Forward: Progress Against Targets. that there had been little change to progress against current KPIs. 385 UEB RISK REGISTER Received and considered paper 16/417B, UEB Risk Register a discussion of the UEB top-level risk register and whether the risk for items was sufficiently clear; the view that maintaining Moody s credit rating should not be removed from the register. 386 BREXIT REGISTER Received and paper 16/458B, Brexit Register March DATE OF NEXT MEETING that Policy and Resources Committee would next meet on 21 June at 3.00pm. 7X