Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010

The following statements are published in accordance with Section 31(1) and 31(2) of the Act.

Public Relations:
Includes branding, design, publications, printing & distribution and cost of in-house staff.

Hospitality & Entertainment:
Includes expenditure in relation to hospitality and entertainment incurred by Board members, employees or third parties.

International Travel:
Includes travel to as well as from the UK; and the cost of hotels, the cost of travel and subsistence during overseas visits and other related expenditure.

External Consultancy:
Includes management, IT, financial, construction or infrastructure relates consultancy, research and evaluation and policy development (including feasibility studies).

We publish this information on a monthly basis in our Monthly expenditure reports.

If you have an enquiry about any payment line please email finance@sfc.ac.uk with Publication of items of expenditure over £25,000 and the month to which your request relates as the subject line, as well as details of the payee, amount, description of the expenditure, and the line number it appears on.

All parts of the Scottish Government including organisations such as the Scottish Funding Council are required to publish details of their senior leadership team’s salaries.

SFC does not have any individuals within the organisation that receive remuneration in excess of £150,000.

Further details about the management of the Scottish Funding Council’s finances can be viewed in our Annual Report and Accounts.

—-

Background

1. The Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, section 32(1)(b) requires public bodies to publish a statement in relation to efficiency, effectiveness and economy as soon as possible after the end of the financial year.
2. The following statement sets out the steps that the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has taken in 2023-24 to promote and increase efficiency, effectiveness and economy through the exercise of its functions.
3. Further information on this is contained in our Annual Report and Accounts and Strategic Plan.

Statement on efficiency, effectiveness and economy

4. We support the Scottish Government’s purpose ‘to focus on creating a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish through increased wellbeing, and sustainable and inclusive economic growth.’
5. Our aim is to “build a connected, agile, sustainable tertiary education and research system for Scotland.”
6. SFC supports efficiency through:

• Allocating resources based on performance and needs.
• Providing a strategic planning framework to help institutions develop long-term plans that align with the Scottish Government’s priorities.
• Promoting innovation and collaboration through funding strategic and infrastructure initiatives.
• Encouraging institutions to collaborate and share services e.g. procurement and data collection via bodies such as APUC, JISC.
• Co-ordinating initiatives across institutions via bodies such as the CDN and Universities UK.
• Gathering data to produce metrics and insight to promote accountability and transparency.
• Providing capital funding to invest in buildings and digital infrastructure that will help reduce the environment impact and improve the quality of teaching resources.

7. SFC promotes effectiveness through:

• Funding research and innovation projects to support cutting-edge research and innovative teaching methods. This advances knowledge and ensures that students receive a high quality education.
• Supporting quality assurance agencies to ensure that high standards of teaching, learning, and research are maintained, and areas for improvement are identified and addressed.
• Sharing lessons learned and best practice.
• Improving decision making through the use of data and analytics.

8. SFC supports economy through:

• Funding institutions to deliver high quality education needed to promote economic growth.
• Supporting research that makes an important contribution to the Scottish economy and society, and advances knowledge which benefits the economy.
• Funding innovation centres that connect Scotland’s academic expertise with industry and with public and third sector organisations to create economic benefits.
• Working with partners to deliver a more coherent, responsive and effective system for current and future students, for the skills needs of employers and for wider social and economic goals.

9. In 2023-24 we delivered a balanced budget after being required to deliver over £100m in revenue savings.
10. To support best value in the use of resources we follow best practice when procuring goods and services.