Role
Considers the College's financial policy and makes
recommendations/reports to the Central Executive Committee.
Chaired by the Treasurer.
Membership
Professor George Ikkos, Treasurer
(Chair)
Other representatives of the Central Executive
Committee:
Dr Josanne Holloway
Dr Rao Nimmagadda
Dr Michael Farrell
Staff:
Chief Executive
Deputy Chief Executive
Head of Financial Services
Deputy Head of Financial Services
Head of Business, College Research and
Training Unit.
A committee secretary will attend to minute
the meetings and carry out the usual related tasks, but will not be
a member of the FMC. Heads of Department or other appropriate staff
should be invited to attend to present particular budgets or
papers.
The Role and Remit of The Finance Management
Committee
1. Purpose of Report
The purpose of this report is to set out
proposals for formalising the role, remit and membership of the
Finance Management Committee within the new College committee
structure which took effect from July 2006. This report was
approved by CEC in February 2007.
2. Background
The Finance Management Committee (FMC) was
established approximately 12 years ago as an ad hoc group tasked
with managing a situation of financial difficulty for the
College. At that time the membership included a
representative of the College’s auditors, the Honorary Treasurer,
the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance. The constitution
was not formalised nor the remit clearly spelt out. That
situation no longer pertains and over time the committee has
developed its current role of scrutinising financial issues before
they proceed to the Executive & Finance Committee and
Council.
The College’s new committee structure became
operational in July 2006, with Council and the Executive &
Finance Committee being replaced by the new Central Executive
Committee (CEC). The FMC is recognised as a formal
sub-committee of the CEC and this is an appropriate time to specify
the FMC’s role and remit.
3. Remit
Council and E&F were never appropriate
vehicles for detailed scrutiny of financial issues, as neither time
nor the large membership enabled this. The situation will be
the same for the CEC. A way needs to be found to ensure that
trustees are involved at this detailed level and the FMC can serve
this purpose with appropriate membership (see below). It is
proposed that the primary purposes of the FMC should be defined
as:
- To monitor the current and longer term financial situation of
the College by regular review of relevant management
information.
- To scrutinise all annual budgets
- To scrutinise Research grant budgets when and if funding has
been approved rather than at the point of application
- To scrutinise in appropriate detail the financial implications
of any new project, initiative, service or contract.
- To review and make recommendations about travel and subsistence
rates, staff cost of living increases, payments to users and carers
and membership subscription & registration fees.
- To develop further, monitor and analyse fund-raising activities
in conjunction with relevant groups.
- To monitor income from all sources and to promote income
generation.
- To monitor risk management aspects of new and ongoing
activities with particular regard to potential financial
risks.
In practice, and on an annual cycle, this
should involve:
(i) Budget scrutiny
(annual)
Scrutinising Annual Business Plans from each
Faculty, Section, Division and Special Interest Group, including
proposals for prizes or bursaries.
Scrutinising the delegate fee recommendations
from Programmes & Meetings committee for the Annual
Meeting.
Scrutinising annual activity plans from the
Examinations Department, the Post Graduate Educational Services
Department, the Facilities & Office Services Department, the
External Affairs Department and the CRTU together with a 3 year IT
budget and annual staff training budget. The Publications
Management Board, which includes in its membership the Honorary
Treasurer, Chief Executive and Head of Financial Services, shall
retain responsibility for its own financial affairs with the
minutes of the Board being copied additionally if required.
(ii) Budget scrutiny (one off
projects)
In principle any new initiative or project
should be considered by the FMC with regard to financial & risk
management implications. This would ensure that the CEC is
presented with all the information needed to make policy
decisions.
Any substantial new proposal to be funded
centrally by the College should be presented first to FMC, and no
funding for new initiatives should be committed without the
scrutiny of this committee. FMC may consider it necessary to
forward proposals to the Central Executive Committee which, as the
constituent body of College Trustees, has the ultimate
authority.
In this context “substantial” will usually
mean involving expenditure in excess of £5,000 in any one financial
year. It might also refer to any initiative which is complex
or unusual, or which has the potential for impact upon the
reputation of the College.
If urgent action is required on
substantial proposals action may be taken by the Chief Executive
but always in consultation with the Honorary Treasurer.
The Chief Executive must approve the
appointment of any new member of staff, consulting with the
Honorary Treasurer if necessary.
(iii) Financial
Monitoring
The following management reports should
continue to be considered at each meeting:
- Monthly management accounts
- Cash Flow projections
- Capital Expenditure summary
- Conference budgets and outturns
- Transactions on the College investment portfolio
- Summary of FSDSIG balances
- Subscription arrears outstanding
The FMC will also review the College’s annual
accounts and liaise generally with the College auditors. It
is likely that other useful monitoring exercises may be identified
and other reports added.
(iv) Financial & Administrative
Recommendations
The FMC should:
Review travel & subsistence rates
annually
Recommend annual subscription &
registration fee rates
Recommend any annual cost of living increase
for staff
Review lists of members to be presented to the
CEC for removal from the Register for non payment of fees.
Make recommendations to the CEC for
signatories to cheques/BACS payments and other College
documents
Review investment strategies and make
recommendations to the CEC
(v) Other management
information
It is likely that other management information
from Departments would be useful for review and monitoring.
Examples might include numbers and 5 year trends in examination
candidates, the monthly membership statistics already circulated to
Officers and donations to the College. Heads of Departments
(HoDs) could agree specific examples.
4. Frequency & timing of
meetings
In order to function effectively the FMC will
need to take account of the CEC meeting schedule. It is
suggested that the FMC meetings follow the CEC meeting schedule and
precede those dates by 2-3 weeks. The FMC meetings should be
included in the annual diary review and set at that time.
APPENDIX 1
Sample agendas:
Standing items
- Financial reports, as above
- New projects
Cyclical items (timings are
notional):
January meeting
Travel & subsistence rates
February/March meeting
Review of annual accounts
Following year membership fees – initial
review
Cost of living increase
April meeting
Membership fees – formal recommendation
May/June meeting
Examinations budget for following year
July meeting
September meeting
Members for suspension
October/November meeting
Departmental budgets for following year
FSDSIG business plans for following year
Risk management (separate meeting inc Heads of
Department)
December meeting
Departmental budgets for following year
FSDSIG business plans for following year
Annual meeting delegate rates
Number of meetings per annum: 6