Raising Skills, improving life chances
CIPFA has responded to the above White Paper. CIPFA welcomes its aims, particularly proposals for a simplified system for planning and funding provision.
Procurement in Higher Education – A time for change
CIPFA welcomes the emphasis on the need for strategic leadership in relation to procurement contained in this consultation document. However, CIPFA is concerned that the advice and guidance should not be too prescriptive. Where institutions have a proactive procurement function which is working well, they should continue to be able to make their own decisions in this area and manage their operations as they see fit.
The full text of both consultation responses can be found at www.cipfa.org.uk/panels/fehe/responses.cfm
The Technical Information Service (TIS) Education Editorial Board is looking for volunteers from the further education sector to assist in revising the education TIS volume.
If you are interested in this project, please contact Maria Menezes, Technical Information Services, Institute of Public Finance on 020 8667 8153 or email her at maria.menezes@ipf.co.uk
Balance Sheet Management in the Public Services: A Framework for Good Practice (2006)
Public service organisations have major incentives to manage their balance sheets well. Effective balance sheet management can generate real savings for organisations. These savings can be redeployed to help in the achievement of key delivery objectives. Effective balance sheet management can also assist in developing stronger communications between finance and operational teams and can enhance decision-making by ensuring that the full financial implications of decisions are taken into account. As well as this, an organisation that manages its balance sheet well is less likely to make accounting errors and to suffer financial loss or reputational damage.
CIPFA’s Financial Management Panel has responded to these issues by compiling Balance Sheet Management in the Public Services: A Framework for Good Practice to help organisations understand their balance sheets better and to face the challenges and reap the benefits of managing them more effectively.
The framework provides an assessment tool which organisations can use to develop a much closer knowledge of their balance sheets. It also includes a powerful analysis tool to identify the areas where greatest focus is required for improvement. Finally, the framework provides practical ideas on how organisations can improve and gives links to other sources of guidance.
The framework comprises a printed guide and an interactive CD-ROM which enables users to conduct their assessment and analysis electronically, and comes complete with 15 awareness-raising briefing notes for distribution to key individuals throughout the organisation.
The framework will appeal especially to public service finance professionals, but other senior managers and directors will be keen to see their organisation’s performance optimised through its adoption.
To purchase a copy visit:
http://secure.cipfa.org.uk/cgi-bin/CIPFA.storefront/EN/product/FM023
Partnerships and Other Alliances – case studies from the further and higher education sectors
In recent years there has been major diversification and expansion in the further and higher education sectors. This in turn has increased the complexity of institutions’ operations and the need to fulfil them both efficiently and effectively. Funding systems have continued to evolve and resources are limited. Therefore, there are strong incentives for institutions to work together and with other partners by entering into partnerships and alliances to assist in meeting their many different challenges.
Partnerships take many forms and raise a whole variety of management challenges. In particular, a new set of skills and competencies are required for those involved in the new organisational arrangements. At the same time, methods of evaluating partnerships and alliances to establish their effectiveness need to be introduced.
Successful partnerships and alliances can be hugely beneficial to institutions and the services to their students, but equally, insufficient prior consideration or poorly operated ones can be extremely costly, have a negative impact on services and become a significant drain on scarce resources.
CIPFA’s Further and Higher Education Panel believe that the sectors’ institutions could benefit from sharing the experiences of successful partnerships and highlighting the key areas including potential pitfalls and risks. Accordingly, this volume has been developed by describing four very different partnerships and alliances in place in four very different institutions. It also contains a section at the beginning which develops key themes and provides guidance and advice for institutions that are considering entering into partnerships or alliances, which should be considered along side the examples shown.
The volume illustrates that universities and colleges are adopting a variety of approaches to forming partnerships and alliances and provides an excellent opportunity for practitioners to learn from other colleagues experiences. We trust it will be of interest and assist with institutions’ future developments in this area.
To purchase a copy visit:
http://secure.cipfa.org.uk/cgi-bin/CIPFA.storefront/EN/product/ED018_
Further details on the Further and Higher Education Panel’s forthcoming guidance will be included in future editions of this bulletin. For information on all CIPFA’s publications, please visit the CIPFA shop at www.cipfa.org.uk/shop
by Stephen Court, Senior Research Officer, Association of University Teachers.
Seven years on, the proportion of undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds has barely expanded – and the government is set to miss its target. So what has gone wrong?
To read the full text go to www.publicfinance.co.uk/news_details.cfm?News_id=26848
by Stephen Court
Free further education for 19-25 year olds and a radical White Paper suggest that the long neglected college sector is finally getting its day in the sun. But what about the funding gap?
To read the full text go to www.publicfinance.co.uk/news_details.cfm?News_id=27352
CIPFA and RSM Robson Rhodes have produced a report setting out the key messages from consultation on the discussion paper ‘Public Benefit OFRs – a catalyst for enhancing accountability?’ The discussion paper was issued in January 2006, aiming to provoke discussion and debate on optimising narrative reporting in the public benefit sector. To further stimulate discussion, a round table event was held on 31 March 2006. The consultation showed substantial support for improvement in narrative reporting, and CIPFA and RSM Robson Rhodes will be carrying out further work to promote and develop good practice in this area.
The follow-up report and the discussion paper are available at www.cipfa.org.uk/panels/accounting
This article analyses the advantages and disadvantages of costing models for public universities. The authors propose a new model which uses the best of the traditional and the newer activity based costing (ABC) models. The new model will be of interest to universities worldwide.
This article was first published in the September 2006 edition of Public Money and Management (PMM) -
click here to download the article in PDF format.
Further information on PMM and details of how to subscribe can be found at www.cipfa.org.uk/pt/pmm
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