| 7 July 2000 |  |
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Circular letter number 17/00
For further information contact Heather Williams tel 0117 931 7113, e-mail h.williams@hefce.ac.uk
Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal
Transparency Review reporting requirements
1. This letter sets out the framework for institutional reporting arising from the Transparency and Accountability Review. The framework is designed to enable the higher education funding bodies to meet their responsibilities to report to Government on the use of public funds.
Reporting requirements
2. The recommendations in the 'Transparency Review of Research' were accepted by the Science and Engineering Base Co-ordinating Committee in June 1999. The recommendation in relation to reporting requirements is as follows:
Recommendation 1: Institutions should report the costs of Teaching (publicly funded and non-publicly funded), Research (publicly funded and non-publicly funded), and Other activities annually and retrospectively (based on the previous year's audited accounts) to satisfy the requirements for public accountability.
3. The timetable for reporting during the transitional phase in implementing the Transparency Review requirements was set out in the Transparency Review report. From academic year 2002-03 when the methodology is established, it is intended that reporting should coincide with the timetable for submission of the statutory financial statements.
4. The timetable for reporting is therefore as follows:
| Accounting period reported |
Institutions | Reporting deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 1998-99 | 8 pilot universities | 31 July 2000 |
| 1999-2000 | 8 pilot universities | 31 January 2001 |
| 23 research-intensive institutions (full transparency) All other institutions (improved transparency) |
31 July 2001 | |
| 2000-01 | All institutions (full transparency) | 31 January 2002 |
| 2001-02 onwards | All institutions | 31 December |
5. Recommendation 2 in the report specifies that:
Institutions should calculate costs of Teaching, Research, and Other activities at departmental level and by research sponsor type, both for internal management purposes, and to satisfy needs of sponsors and others.
This information is not required to be reported to the funding councils as part of the Transparency and Accountability Review reporting requirements.
Mechanism for reporting
6. Following consultation with the sector bodies and institutional representatives, it was agreed that data reporting for transparency and accountability purposes should initially be directly to the funding councils. In subsequent periods, after 2002, when the reporting timetable comes into line with that for reporting on the statutory financial statements, it may be appropriate for the funding councils to review whether the data should be reported through the Higher Education Statistics Agency (via the Finance Statistics Return).
Guidance on meeting the requirements
7. The costing standards for Transparency Review reporting were established in the 'Transparency Review of Research' and are replicated in the 'Transparent Approach to Costing: Manual of Guidance and Implementation', the final version of which is due to be issued by the Joint Costing and Pricing Steering Group in July 2000.
Confidentiality and uses of the data
8. The purpose of collecting these data is to enable the funding bodies to report to Government in a transparent and accountable way on the use of funds provided from the public purse for the sector as a whole.
9. The data provided by institutions will be treated as strictly confidential. The HEFCE will report to the Department for Education and Employment on the sector aggregate data only. The HEFCE will take account of the data in providing its advice to the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on the needs of the sector. Similar arrangements will be established for reporting to Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. A summary of the aggregate data for the sector will be made available to institutions.
10. The format for institutional reporting is shown at Annex A. The form will be issued to HEIs on floppy disk at the appropriate time in accordance with the timetable set out in paragraph 4 above. For the pilot institutions reporting on the 1998-99 academic year, electronic copies of the form together with further instructions will be issued to your Director of Finance or nominated contact shortly.
Yours sincerely
Sir Brian Fender
Chief Executive
Annex A
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