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Integrated Annual Report 2020-21
Statement of corporate governance CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Winchester is committed to exhibiting best practice in all aspects of corporate governance. This statement details how Winchester has applied the principles set out in the Committee of University Chairs (CUC) published guidance, the Higher Education Code of Governance (September 2020) and the 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code issued by the Financial Reporting Council in July 2018, in so far as they relate to Higher Education Institutions. Its purpose is to help the reader of the Financial Statements understand how the principles have been applied.
LEGAL STATUS AND PUBLIC BENEFIT The University of Winchester is a company limited by guarantee, registered company number 05969256. Every Director and member of the company is also an acting Governor. Winchester is an exempt charity under the terms of the Charities Act 2011, meaning it is exempt from registration with the Charity Commission, with its Governors as managing trustees. The principal objectives of Winchester, in accordance with Section 124 of the Education Reform Act 1988, are concerned with the provision of Higher Education and the conduct of research. Supporting this, Winchester also undertakes other activities including knowledge exchange, consultancy and the provision of accommodation, catering and conference services. In setting and reviewing Winchester’s strategy and activities, the Board of Governors takes into consideration the Charity Commission’s guidance
on the reporting of public benefit and the supplementary public benefit guidance on the advancement of education. Indeed, Winchester takes seriously its commitment to ensure that it satisfies the Charity Commission’s public benefit requirements. As an exempt charity, the Governors of the University of Winchester have had due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers and performing their duties. The Board of Governors has due regard to any detrimental harm that may arise from Winchester’s activities and particularly to the impact of its campus developments on its immediate locality. We aim to minimise this impact through extensive community discussion and consultation in addition to working closely with Winchester City Council. Winchester does not currently incur private benefit from its activities undertaken in pursuance of its purposes. The Board of Governors recognises that students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, are the principal beneficiaries of the provision of higher education whilst the public at large are beneficiaries of Winchester’s Research and Knowledge Exchange and community engagement activities.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS The Board of Governors of the University of Winchester, which meets formally at least five times a year, are responsible for – but limited to – the determination of the
educational character and objectives of the University of Winchester, the oversight of its activities, the effective and efficient use of resources, Winchester’s solvency, for safeguarding its assets and for approving annual estimates of income and expenditure. Winchester’s Board of Governors comprises of people appointed under the Winchester’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, which were adopted by the Board of Governors on 16 March 2011, a copy of which can be found on the policies and procedures page of our website under: www.winchester.ac.uk/aboutus/leadership- and-governance/ policies-and-procedures/. The responsibilities of the Board of Governors are set out in paragraph 22 of the terms and conditions of the Office for Students funding and paragraph 21 of the terms and conditions of UKRI funding relating to funds administered through Research England. Winchester has been designated by the Secretary of State as an institution in the further and higher education sector, who has its own contract with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The Board of Governors is responsible for the appointment and removal of the external auditor and outsourced internal audit providers. The Board of Governors comprises seven independent diocesan appointed members (non-executive), six independent co-opted members (non-executive), five academic governors, two professional services staff governors, one independent former student governor and one student governor. The Diocesan
