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Value for Money Report

Introduction

1. Over the past year the issue of the value for money obtained by universities and university students has worked its way up the political and regulatory agenda. ‘Value for money’ in this context is considered from two perspectives: the value generated by the University of Bristol in the way it utilises its public funding, and also the value received by students in exchange for their tuition fees.

2. The focus on value for money has been driven in part by the continued debate over tuition fees, with the government seeking to ensure that prospective students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are not discouraged from applying to higher education institutions by the level at which fees are currently set. Recent industrial disputes within the sector, which have seen students miss out on a proportion of their contact tuition time, have served to heighten scrutiny on what students are paying for.

3. In addition, the government remains ever-vigilant about the level of public spending, including funding for higher education. It is therefore anxious to ensure that the funding which is provided is used efficiently for the core activities of teaching and research, rather than on administration or other ancillary activities.

4. The newly formed Office for Students (OfS) has included value for money as one of its four primary regulatory objectives. In addition, the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 gives the OfS general powers to ensure that universities are monitoring how they provide value for money. Section 444 of the OfS Regulatory Framework requires that providers regular publish

‘…clear information about [the provider’s] arrangements for securing value for money including, in a value for money statement, data about the sources of income and the way that its income is used.’

5. The University included a short value for money statement in the strategic report which formed part of the 2016/17 financial statements. Since then, the University Board of Trustees approved a Value for Money Strategy 2017-2023 at its meeting on 26 January 2018 (this will be updated in January 2019). Given this strategy, and the new OfS guidance, it is proposed that the strategic report in the 2017/18 financial statements include an expanded value for money statement, which would also meet the requirements of the OfS Regulatory Framework.

6. The following report reviews the value for money obtained by the University and its students. It is intended that a version of this report would form the value for money statement in the 2017/18 strategic report.

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7. Throughout the report we use quartile charts to plot the University’s position within a benchmarking group (usually the Russell Group). The median value lies at the boundary between the middle two segments of the chart. The following diagram serves as a key to this type of chart:

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University of Bristol Value for Money Report

1. Value creation at the University can be seen in terms of how our input capitals – the resources which underpin the University’s operations – are enriched, strengthened, and transformed through our institutional activities into output capitals – the benefits which we generate and which are enjoyed by our stakeholders: our staff, students and the wider community.

2. The National Audit Office (NAO) definition of value for money is based on an approach of economy (spending less), efficiency (spending well) and effectiveness (spending wisely). Taken together these examine whether we have made optimal use of resources to achieve our intended outcomes, both in quality and quantity; this is often described as ‘cost effectiveness’.

3. The ways in which our input resources interact to produce outputs can be seen from the following diagram. The difference between output and input is the value which has been added by the University.

Capital inputs Value added output

Natural capital

The environment in which all the other capitals are located

Financial capital

Government and other funding grants, student tuition fees, income from other services (residences etc)

Financial surplus and improved financial ratios

Social and relationship capital

Relationships with government, industry, employers, and the academic community

Strengthened relationships with employers and industry which increase opportunities for students and increase the reach of our academic output.

Human capital

Academic staff, professional staff, and students

Personal formation of students, career progression for staff

Intellectual capital

The experience and expertise of our staff and students

Qualifications awarded to students, academic research outputs

Manufactured capital

The university estate and facilities

Purpose built infrastructure and facilities to support modern curriculum and research

Sustainable operations, guaranteeing the University’s future

4. Value for money, both in terms of the value students receive in exchange for their tuition fee and the value the taxpayer receives in exchange for the public funding allocated to the University, can be seen in terms of the six strategic cornerstones set out by the University’s strategy document, published in 2016.

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Strategy Cornerstone Student value for money University value for money

Education and the student experience

By investing in our taught programmes and facilities we have a direct impact on the quality of the student experience and the quality of the education provided.

Teaching is a core activity of the University and we aim to invest as much of our income as we can to ensure that we are delivering high quality teaching.

Research, innovation and partnerships

Most of our academics both teach and conduct research. By investing in research we ensure that our teaching is delivered by world-class academics working at the cutting-edge of their field.

Research is core to the purpose of the University and investment in the quality of our research output and partnerships will have an impact on society and commerce and enhance our ability to attract funding for further research.

Our staff and ways of working

The quality and wellbeing of our people directly impacts on the quality of the education and experience that students receive.

By incorporating technology into staff ways of working we can enable students to interact with academic and administrative staff flexibly and effectively.

By increasing the efficiency of the University’s administrative functions, we free up resources which can be applied to increase the scope of our research and educational activities.

Internationalisation and global relations

Most academic programmes have global connections. An international outlook is essential to exploit these worldwide networks.

Internationalisation can ensure that the University continues to attract world-leading academics, maintaining the University’s academic reputation.

Physical and digital infrastructure

Students need modern facilities and a high-quality learning environment to leverage the educational resources provided by their academic programme.

Our IT infrastructure and capabilities enables students to experiment and develop their skills in a digital world.

By investing in purpose-built infrastructure the University can ensure that its estate and facilities support the requirements of a leading-edge institution.

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Strategy Cornerstone Student value for money University value for money

Sustainability

By reducing the University’s environmental footprint we free up resources which can then be applied to the University’s core operations of teaching and research. By operating sustainably, we safeguard the University’s ability to continue to provide value for money for both students and taxpayers for generations to come.

Conclusions

5. The University’s Value for Money strategy, published in January 2017, integrates with the University’s overall strategy, published in June 2016, and sets out a detailed and practical approach for achieving our overall strategic aim of achieving world class teaching and research through managing our resources effectively and efficiently in order to deliver high quality outputs.

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Student value for money

Education

7. The University was awarded a Silver rating in the last (2017) TEF exercise, valid for three years. According to the OfS definition, this means that the University delivers ‘high quality teaching, learning, and outcomes for its students. It consistently exceeds rigorous national quality requirements for UK higher education’.

8. The TEF statement of findings notes that the University of Bristol submission reflects the following:

World-leading research translated into education in which independent learning is encouraged. Students rate the intellectual stimulation of their courses very highly and evidence points to the academically rigorous and research-rich environment in which students study

Inclusion in all programmes, a challenging final-year project that explicitly enables students’ independent learning through development of research skills and critical thinking. This can result in student publications, conference presentations and prizes and participation in visiting guest lectures and seminars

A well-embedded culture of valuing, recognising and rewarding academic staff involved in teaching and learning. Academic promotion structures include a teaching and scholarship pathway and staff are trained in the principles of curriculum design

An institutional internship scheme that promotes new interdisciplinary research and offers undergraduate students the opportunity to plan and undertake a summer research project

Strategic investment in infrastructure that enables students to further their learning through high quality learning spaces and equipment, and through innovative learning technologies.

9. The home undergraduate tuition fee has been set at £9,250 since the 2017/18 academic year, and before that at £9,000 since 2012/13. Further increases have currently been suspended. Since 2012/13 inflation (RPI) has risen by 16% and salary scales by 9%.

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10. The way in which the University uses a home undergraduate tuition fee of £9,250 is set out as follows (data is estimated using the 2016/17 TRAC return, flexed for movements in the 2017/18 draft financial statements. This figure will be updated using the 2017/18 TRAC return when completed):

11. Set up in concert with the students’ union, Bristol Futures is an educational initiative which aims to enhance and enrich students’ education. The aim is to integrate themes of innovation and enterprise, global citizenship, and sustainability into the different aspects of the student experience; the core curriculum, optional units and open courses, together with opportunities for students to gain experience through volunteering, community engagement and part-time work.

Conclusions

12. The University’s teaching has been commended in the latest TEF exercise and has been delivering its taught programmes in an environment in which costs are increasing faster than the related income. However, we recognise that we can improve on our ‘Silver’ rating and that our teaching needs to keep pace with the requirements of a modern institution.

The Student Experience

13. In addition to teaching, University of Bristol students become part of a community and have a plethora of opportunities for participation in extra-curricular activities. The University provides facilities for these, as well as a range of services to support student wellbeing.

14. The University’s Education Strategy states that the University will ‘make a significant significant contribution to the creation and development of the culture of a ‘Healthy University’ by providing sport, exercise and health programmes of the highest quality that are accessible to all students.’ Participation in sport has increased significantly over the last three years, with 7,747 unique participants in 2015/16 (representing 35% of the student population) to 10,765 in 2017/18 (representing 43% of the student population).

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15. The University student union helps to run over 330 societies, provides a social hub for students and campaigns on issues affecting student life. In 2016/17 over 26,000 memberships were taken out, and over 250 student-led events were supported.

16. Student wellbeing is a priority for the University. Every student has a personal tutor, every academic School has a Student Wellbeing Advisor, and those in university accommodation have access to a Residential Life Advisor. The Student Wellbeing Service is a central support service which co-ordinates support, ensuring that students get the right help from the right people.

17. The University also provides specialist services. We are one of only two UK universities to provide a full NHS General Practice service on campus, and there are additional services for disabled and international students. A range of self-help resources are available on line.

Employability

18. An independent study by High Fliers Research, The Graduate Market in 2018, published in January 2018, includes a ranking of ‘Universities targeted by the largest number of top employers 2017-2018’. This ranking looks at the number of employers included in The Times’ Top 100 Graduate Employers who have targeted each university; the University of Bristol appeared fourth in the list, ahead of Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and Imperial College.

19. Of considerable interest to students is the value their University of Bristol degree will offer them throughout their future careers. As with other Russell Group universities, University of Bristol graduates are highly employable, with just 5% unemployed six months after leaving the University (data source: HESA):

20. However, it is clear that there is some room for improvement with respect to this metric. The quartile chart below shows that the level of unemployment amongst University of Bristol graduates six months after graduating (marked in red), is above the third quartile. This means that at least 75% of Russell Group institutions have lower unemployment rates. The Russell Group mean is marked in white.

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2016/17 UoB graduates unemployed six months after leaving, compared with Russell Group institution

University League Tables

21. Another resource regularly used by students and prospective students to gauge the value of education provided by universities are league tables. There are a range of league tables available and each uses a slightly different methodology, however domestic tables all show a year-on-year improvement over the past three years. This reflects the work we have done in that time to improve our staff-student ratios and our performance in the National Student Survey, both of which are metrics used by most university ranking methodologies.

22. The position with regard to international league tables is more mixed. Tertiary education systems differ greatly between countries and comparisons between the University of Bristol and institutions abroad are perhaps less useful. However, all three major rankings show a decline in the University’s position over the past three years. On the other hand, the University’s ranking against other UK institutions has remained consistently within the top ten throughout the period. This indicates that the drop may be due to overseas institutions performing better against the UK sector, rather than factors specific to the University. In particular, investment in higher education by Asian economies is driving performance amongst these institutions.

2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7%

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23. Amongst UK institutions, the University of Bristol ranks as follows within the world league tables:

2015 2016 2017 2018 THES 9 9 9 9 ARWU 8 8 8 8

QS 9 9 9 9

THES – Time Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings ARWU – Academic Ranking of World Universities QS – Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings

National Student Survey

24. The National Student Survey (NSS) also gives an indication of the value received by students. The NSS consists of a set of positive statements, with participants being invited to respond to each statement with one of the following: strongly disagree/disagree/neither agree nor disagree/agree/strongly agree. Thus, a response of ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ is taken to indicate a positive statement about the University.

25. The proportion of students agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement ‘Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of my course’ was 82% in 2018, compared to a Russell Group median of 84%. Historically, the University has always scored slightly below the median on this question, although the gap is much closer now than it has been in the past (see the second chart below). Data from the 2017 survey is missing for the University of Bristol due to a boycott.

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26. On most of the questions in the 2018 NSS, the proportion of University of Bristol students responding ‘agree/strongly agree’ is below the median. For no question did the University score above the third quartile, and for only two is it above the median. By contrast, for nine questions the proportion responding agree/strongly agree was less than the first quartile. Questions are shown by quartile below:

Above third quartile for proportion of agree/strongly agree responses

[None]

Between median and third quartile for proportion of agree/strongly agree responses

Staff are good at explaining things The course is intellectually stimulating

Below first quartile for proportion of agree/strongly agree responses

My course has challenged me to achieve my best work My course has provided me with opportunities to bring information and ideas

together from different topics I have received sufficient advice and guidance in relation to my course Good advice was available when I needed to make study choices on my course The course is well organised and running smoothly I feel part of a community of staff and students

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I have had the right opportunities to work with other students as part of my course

I have had the right opportunities to provide feedback on my course The students’ union (association or guild) effectively represents students’

academic interests

27. The University is seeking to improve NSS scores through canvassing and actioning feedback from students. As part of this feedback loop, The University has improved its student/staff ratios, enhanced its academic support structures, revised and significantly invested in the provision of student wellbeing services and refurbished its indoor sports centre. In the coming years, the creation of a new academic and social heart to the campus (‘Campus Heart’) with a new library and more study spaces is expected to improve student satisfaction further. In addition to responding to student feedback, the University, through the Bristol Futures initiative, has initiated systemic, large-scale changes to improve performance in areas such as assessment and feedback.

Value for Money strategy

28. The University recognises that improving student value for money is an ongoing process. A value for money strategy was approved by the Board of Trustees in January 2018. The following agreed actions have been taken to improve student value for money in the short to medium term:

Initiative Action Outcome 2017/18 Action 2018/19

Education and the Student Experience

Embed assessment in learning such that a common approach to assessment is formed articulating the cyclical relationship between learning, assessment and feedback and improving students’ understanding of their learning experience.

All Bristol Forum was used as a way of discussing assessment with students and ideas have fed from this to new Assessment Literacy initiatives.

Planned introduction of a ‘Toolkit’ for programme teams. This will incorporate types of assessment related to the objectives of the programme.

Careers: We will enhance the employability of our students by offering a wide variety of opportunities (including specifically tailored courses delivered by the Careers Service and others) for students to acquire and develop skills to enhance their competitiveness in the world of work.

270 employers visited campus with an increased proportion of SMEs.

320 central events scheduled (excl. careers fairs) with spaces for >11,700 students.

New Enterprise Competition directly invested £14,500 into 32 student start-up ideas.

In 2018/19 the Careers Service expects to see ongoing, increased engagement across all areas of activity: student; academic; employer engagement; start-up support; and graduate engagement and data optimisation.

Wellbeing: We will work closely in partnership with our Students’ Union (SU) to support student wellbeing and the wider University experience for all of our students. We will develop the quality and

Active Residences programme

Increased student support roles while the review of residences was delivered.

Two new services (residential life and wellbeing service) will be in place and fully functional.

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Initiative Action Outcome 2017/18 Action 2018/19

consistency of support available across schools, professional services and residences for student wellbeing, and personal and professional development.

Supported the SU’s Mind Your Head week.

We have a developed a Suicide Prevention Plan with Public Health England, Public Health Bristol, and UWE.

Trialling and testing activities and gathering evidence of practice, in preparation for delivering a fully coordinated approach and package of evidence-based activities that support student wellbeing and health gain from 2019/20 onwards.

We will give students’ academic support to facilitate their success at the University, supporting transition to study at University and progress through their academic programmes. We will review the academic support offered within schools via the personal tutor /senior tutor system and develop enhanced support provision across all schools. We will improve the coordination and promote the development of our professional support services that support student learning with particular reference to the needs of specific groups

Work on this Action has been incorporated into the Bristol Futures initiative.

Developed resources supporting personal development planning including videos, and explanatory documents as well as a growing number of workshops.

Developed study skills resources in collaboration with students including online resources, drop-in sessions, one-to-one tutorials and workshops.

We will have worked with schools to help them transition to implementation of the personal development planning policy. This will include further development of a complete set of resources for tutors to support them in their role. The current focus on UG students will broaden to include PGT students.

We will have considered how our tutoring practices can be made more inclusive to better support the academic development of black and minority ethnic, and other under-represented students.

We will work to provide the best available learning environment in terms of teaching and learning spaces, laboratory and clinical spaces, as well as resources such as books and IT systems.

Work began to identify new opportunities for teaching spaces. Design work has progressed well in building two lecture theatres and up to five seminar spaces planned.

Senate House will be partially repurposed for teaching spaces and temporary teaching spaces will be erected in Royal Fort Gardens. Planning permission will be sought for the new Lecture Hall building and for rooms in Priory Road. We plan for the Fry Building to come back

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Initiative Action Outcome 2017/18 Action 2018/19

on stream, and that good progress will be made on the new Humanities Hub.

Conclusions

29. The University remains highly sought-after by employers and has performed strongly against its peers, particularly in domestic university rankings. The University offers a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities, whilst our NSS results have remained behind the Russell Group median, the gap is not as wide as in recent years.

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University value for money

Research

30. Over half the University’s expenditure is attributable to research. The results of this research are shared nationally and internationally amongst the academic community, increasing knowledge and expertise, driving developments in technology, and fuelling economic growth.

31. The Research Excellence Framework 2014 (the last time the exercise was performed) ranked Bristol amongst the UK’s top research universities. Over a third of the University’s research output was classified as 4*, or ‘world leading’. This is the tenth-highest proportion of world leading research in the Russell Group, which already comprises research-intensive institutions.

32. Research outcomes from the past year include the following key advances, which demonstrate the value for money arising from money invested in research:

An international team led by the University of Bristol have developed a chip which enables more complicated quantum computing processes to be carried out. Quantum computers, which are still at an early stage of development, have the potential to be vastly more powerful than conventional computers.

A major advance towards targeting cancer without harming healthy tissues has been discovered by a team of University of Bristol researchers. The team found a way to identify a signalling mechanism which, in the future, could be used to target cancer cells without harming the normal cells nearby.

The veterinary school’s Antimicrobial Resistance research group won a prestigious award sponsored by Public Health England, in recognition of the group’s achievement in tackling antimicrobial resistance. The group’s efforts have helped farmers and veterinary surgeons move away from the use of antibiotics which are of critical importance to human medicine.

A new book by three academics in the Faculty of Arts, Who Are Universities For? argues for a radical change in the organisation of higher education in the UK. The work is a significant contribution to a wider policy debate and has been described by the former universities minister David Lammy as ‘urgent, radical and prescriptive’.

The Italian Government has recognised research undertaken in the University Engineering faculty into electric propulsion of helicopters. Together with new design and modelling capabilities, the team, working in conjunction with Leonardo Helicopters, delivered the world’s first prototype of an electrically-driven tail rotor, sized to suit a medium twin-engined aircraft.

An academic from the University law school has, together with two collaborators, submitted evidence to the House of Lords tackling potential treaty problems posed by the Brexit process. The submission makes recommendations for enhancing democratic accountability and suggests practicable mechanisms for parliamentary scrutiny.

33. Commercialisation and the creation of new companies is one of multiple routes to achieve economic and social impact from university research – the team works with academics and external advisors to identify the route most likely to achieve impact.

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34. In 2017-18 the Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) funded team supported the creation of 6 new companies alongside the signature of 14 new licences; continuing to work with and support 46 companies created over the past 10 years and 164 licences.

35. The research commercialisation review (endorsed by UMT January 2018) confirmed that the university’s main rationale for commercialisation is reputation enhancement and impact generation rather than financial return. This is consistent with the fact that the largest financial return to the university from commercialisation, including spinout creation, is via the REF assessment. In the 2014 REF all but one of the 11 spinout related impact case studies were ranked 4*.

36. Direct financial return from spinout creation is extremely unpredictable and largely outside the university’s control. Nevertheless, we have received over £1m from the sale of equity in 4 of the last 5 years. Following the announcement of the sale of Ziylo in August to Novo Nordisk, that figure will also be exceeded in 2018-19.

37. Ziylo, a biochemical technology company founded in 2014 based on University of Bristol research, has been sold to global healthcare company Novo Nordisk in August 2018. The technology developed has many therapeutic applications and could lead to novel treatments for diabetes sufferers.

38. The University research ranks amongst the best in the Russell Group on two standard comparative measures: Research income per academic FTE and the percentage of research publications which are highly-cited by other academic papers.

Metric UoB rank within RG UoB RG 3rd quartile

Research income per academic FTE

6 £135k £135k

% research publications highly-cited

7 21.3% 21.5%

39. However, the University’s research is comparatively expensive compared to our peers. The table below reviews the recovery achieved by the University on its research income, for each different type of funding organisation, and compares against a peer group defined by the Office for Students (the peer group is almost all the Russell Group, and a small number of specialist medical schools), and the UK HE sector. Note that each category is less than 100%, indicating that the University does not make a surplus on any class of research funding.

40. Whilst this table shows that the University achieves a better than average recovery on research funded by research councils and the EU, recovery is significantly lower than average on charity and industry-funded research. This may be related to the willingness of research funders to cover overhead costs on projects, or it may indicate that the University’s research cost base is comparatively high.

Recovery of full economic costs on:

Institution Peer

Group UK

Sector

Postgraduate research (%) Average 57.9 53.4 49.5 1st Quartile 41.6 28.7 3rd Quartile 57.9 55.1

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Recovery of full economic costs on:

Institution Peer

Group UK

Sector

Research councils (%) Average 76.1 74.2 72.4 1st Quartile 68.4 57.2 3rd Quartile 77.7 74.2 Other government departments (%) Average 77.7 79.1 78.7 1st Quartile 69.0 60.9 3rd Quartile 83.9 83.1

European union3 (%) Average 73.1 68.4 65.8 1st Quartile 63.1 53.3 3rd Quartile 70.9 70.2 UK Charities (%) Average 54.6 62.8 61.1 1st Quartile 54.6 41.2 3rd Quartile 64.3 60.6

Industry4 (%) Average 67.5 81.0 77.0 1st Quartile 65.9 51.6 3rd Quartile 84.3 78.5

Conclusions

41. Research at the University is a key strength and we rank highly in world university rankings which emphasise this measure. We also perform well, with respect to the Russell Group, in terms of research income attracted by each academic, and the citations received for their output papers. Our academics produce original and innovative work which has the potential to benefit society at large. However, there are indications that research at the University is comparatively expensive, at least on some research projects

Serving our students, staff and researchers

42. The University’s core activity is the provision of education services to students and the research programmes undertaken by academics. The more efficient the University is able to be in allocating its resources, the greater the proportion of its funding can be applied directly to its core activities. Value for money in this context is therefore about an efficient operating model and in keeping administration and overhead costs low. It should however be borne in mind that ‘admin costs’ include functions such as student recruitment and admissions, without which it would not be possible for the university to function. Moreover, effective support services are required if we are to provide a high quality service to students and academic staff, and this implies that low-cost provision of these services is not an unqualified benefit.

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43. Administration costs include staff and non-staff costs associated with the University’s support services, including finance, human resources and IT services. It also includes depreciation costs on the estate occupied by those services. In the past two years for which data is available, the level of admin costs as a proportion of the University’s expenditure has been lower than the Russell Group median, as shown in the charts below:

2016/17 UoB admin costs as a % of total expenses, compared with Russell Group institutions

44. In 2016/17 the University participated in the Uniforum program. This was an external exercise to benchmark support services for 45 institutions, including 18 in the UK. The results, which were presented in February 2018, showed that the University had the second lowest normalised operations cost in the comparator group, 5 percentage points below the lower quartile.

45. In addition, the University had the third lowest normalised operations capacity of the group, 4 percentage points below the lower quartile. Taken together with our cost ranking, this indicates that the University is, compared to the comparator group, a ‘low cost low capacity’ institution.

46. Another way to establish the degree to which University resources are expended on its core teaching and research activities is to look at the proportion of staff FTEs who are academics. On this measure Bristol is above the third quartile of the Russell Group with 51% academic staff.

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2016/17 UoB academic FTEs as a proportion of total staff FTEs, compared with Russell Group institutions

47. Moreover, this comparatively high proportion of academic staff translates into a relatively positive ratio of students to academics, with 7.4 students to each academic; this is lower than the Russell Group mean and median.

2016/17 UoB student FTEs per academic FTEs, compared with Russell Group institutions

48. The value for money strategy, as approved by the Board of Trustees in January 2018, includes the following agreed actions to improve University value for money in the short to medium term:

Initiative Action Outcome 2017/18 Action 2018/19

eMarket place purchasing

Decrease transactional costs of purchasing by increasing usage of eMarketplace (saving an estimated £20 per transaction)

The total number of transactions on the eMarketplace for 2017/18 was 40,532 (2016/17: 38,708), with a total value of £9.3m (2016/17: £6.3m).

We intend the numbers of transactions purchased via the eMarketplace to continue to increase in 2018/19.

MyERP

Ongoing IT project to replace the ageing and disparate Finance, Procurement, Payroll and HR systems with a fully integrated ERP solution

Finance and HR go-live in April 2018

Follow-up FHBI (Finance and HR Business Improvement) programme to embed and further develop MyERP

Energy and carbon reduction initiatives

Energy and carbon reduction initiatives: efficient use of laboratories, LED lighting and intelligent lighting controls, heating modifications, installation of renewable technologies.

Improved lighting and fume cupboards in Synthetic Chemistry; reprovision of LED lighting at Wills Memorial Building; Implementation of air source heat pumps to provide domestic hot water instead of immersion heaters at Stoke Bishop, saving £60k per year; draughtproofing heritage buildings and enabling

Lighting in corridors in large science buildings on the Precinct and at Langford, where electricity is more expensive; laboratory lighting trial where occupancy information is used to control air flow systems, magnifying savings; we are surveying Wills Memorial Building, Churchill Hall and Wills

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Initiative Action Outcome 2017/18 Action 2018/19

diesel generators to run an extra 30 hours a year to avoid network peak prices, saving a net £80k a year.

Hall to identify how heat transfer round these complex buildings could be achieved more effectively

New Ways of Working (NWOW)/agile working

Introduction of modern working practices to reduce space utilisation and improve collaborative working.

Agile environments introduced to Augustine’s Courtyard, Great George St; senior team move to Beacon House

Continued roll-out over a number of school and faculty offices; Old Park Hill currently being refitted.

Development & Alumni Relations Office (DARO) investment

Investment in DARO via the increase in headcount by 8.9 FTE to enhance the capability to bring in significant philanthropic donations.

Headcount has increased as planned; £1m instalment received from largest ever pledge from an individual of £10m (pledge received in April 2017); largest ever legacy pledge of £2.5m; legacy cash income of £1.1m

Fundraising appeals for 7 strategic University corner stone projects, including £15m fundraising target for the new library (over 5 years); target increase for new funds raised by c10%; extended international presence especially in SE Asia and USA; new Leadership Giving programme (£1-10k gift level)

Vice Chancellor and Senior team expenses

49. A key focus of public scrutiny of the higher education sector has continued to be the level of senior team remuneration. Emoluments for key management personnel is now a statutory disclosure in the financial statements and on this measure the University of Bristol is below the first quartile of the Russell Group, with the total salary cost of the senior team at £1,810k.

2016/17 UoB key management personnel total remuneration, compared with Russell Group institutions

50. Vice Chancellor remuneration in particular is a sensitive issue, and the University has in common with other institutions disclosed this figure for many years. Here as well the

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University compares favourably, with VC emoluments being the median within the Russell Group, and below the mean.

2016/17 UoB Vice Chancellor emoluments, compared with Russell Group institutions

Conclusions

51. The University performs well when its administration overheads are compared to other Russell Group institutions. A greater proportion of our staff are academics, compared to other institutions, and we have a lower proportion of administrative costs. Remuneration of key management personnel is also at a comparable or lower level than in our peer group.

Approved for publication by the University Audit Committee, 22 October 2018