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RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
In accordance with the Education Reform Act 1988, the Board of Governors of Staffordshire University is responsible for the administration and management of University affairs. An important part of this duty is presenting audited financial statements for each financial year.
The Board of Governors is required to keep proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the University. These statements are all prepared in accordance with the Education Reform Act 1988, the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), Accounting for Further and Higher Education Institutions, and other relevant accounting standards.
The Office for Students regulatory framework obliges us to ensure these statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the University and of the surplus or deficit and cash flows for that year.
In preparing the statements, we are required to:
• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently. • Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. • State whether applicable UK accounting standards are followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. • Assess the group and the parent
University’s ability to continue as a growing concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and • Use the going concern basis of accounting, unless they either intend to liquidate the group or the parent University, or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
All our financial statements are prepared on a “going concern basis”. This means they always assume we know there are adequate resources to keep operating for the foreseeable future. This will always be the case, unless there is a valid reason to think otherwise.
The Board of Governors takes its responsibility for the University’s financial affairs very seriously. It has therefore taken all reasonable steps to:
• Ensure that funds from OfS and other funding bodies are used only for the purposes for which they have been given. All funds will be used in accordance with the Memorandum of Assurance and Accountability and any other conditions that the OfS might prescribe. • Ensure there are appropriate financial and managerial controls in place to safeguard public and other funds. • Safeguard the assets of the
University, and to prevent and detect fraud. • Secure the economical, efficient and effective management of resources and expenditure
How we maintain internal financial control
There are several key elements to the University’s system of internal financial control. Each is designed to discharge the steps and responsibilities outlined above.
These include:
• A comprehensive medium and short-term planning process, supplemented by detailed annual income, expenditure, capital and cash flow budgets. • Regular reviews of academic performance and monthly reviews of financial results, with variance reporting and updates of forecast outturns. • Clearly defined and formalised requirements for approval and control of expenditure. • Investment decisions involving capital and revenue expenditure are subject to formal detailed appraisal review, according to levels set by the Board. • Comprehensive financial regulations, detailing financial controls and procedures. These are approved by the Sustainability and Resources Committee and the
Board of Governors. • Clear definitions of the responsibilities and authority of the Executive, Deans of Schools and
Directors of Services. • A Professional internal audit team whose annual programme is approved by the Audit and Risk
Committee.
Any system of internal financial control can only provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss. That’s why throughout the year, the Audit and Risk committee has reviewed the effectiveness of the University’s system of internal financial control to make sure all risk is appropriately managed.
