Institutional responsibilities for budgetary planning and control
The amount of input required from an institution for Chest budgetary planning and control can vary by institution and whether the budget is devolved fully. It is important that institutions understand what they have responsibility for within their Chest allocation budgets. It is sensible to liaise with your School or UAS Finance Business Partner or Institution head of finance to clarify these responsibilities. Traditionally all Chest budgets for non-staff costs are fully devolved. This means that all institutions are responsible for controlling this activity within budget.
Where a bottom-up approach to planning is adopted, institutions will be more involved in the planning process and Institution administrators will add value to the planning exercise in several areas including the following:
- Checking the accuracy of information on Chest-funded posts including ratifying any year-on-year changes. Budgets are built up on a post-by-post basis and it is crucial that this information is correct.
- Communicating the institution’s plan for any changes in staff profile.
- Communicating the institution’s plan for making any required savings.
- Communicating changes in student numbers, new courses being introduced, or Surplus Improvement Fund projects (your Finance Business Partner or Institution head of finance will know if these are relevant).
- Input to the research forecasts. By providing valuable insights into trends in volume growth; impact of large grants ending, and replacement funding applied for; and/or changes in sponsor mix and hence, the forecast of Chest overhead/non direct cost recovery, which again impacts on Chest-related income sources received by the institution.
Dependent on the level of devolvement to institution level, the RMC and/or School office may need to approve the filling of certain posts and use of temporary staff where vacancies exist.
Department administrators and heads of finance are responsible for ensuring that the Chest non-staff cost budget is not exceeded. Monitoring should be done monthly, and deficits should not be allowed to accumulate all year before being cleared at year end as this creates problems at University level when forecasting the likely year end position. Other Chest budgets that should be monitored may include (but are not limited to) unpaid leave of absence, vacation study grants and the annual equipment grant (see checklist).
All institutions have a responsibility for budgetary planning and control over non-Chest areas of activity, no matter how large or small that activity is. This includes reviewing financial resources as a whole and, when needed, identifying areas which generate surpluses that can support or subsidise areas in deficit.
For research grants and contracts, it is likely that individual PIs will be responsible for monitoring expenditure on their grants, but the Department Administrator or Accounts section may then be responsible for sending the PIs the appropriate reports.