Purpose of the committee
To provide assurance to Council on the long-term financial sustainability of the University, through general supervision of the University’s finances. This includes the principles of good practice in financial management; recommendations on investments, borrowing and capital expenditure; and assessment and monitoring of the financial plan.
Key Responsibilities
- To maintain oversight of the University’s financial plans, highlighting risk and opportunities to Council
- Making all decisions and recommendations with the aim of assuring long-term financial sustainability, including maintaining an overview of fee income against expected expenditure
- To review and recommend the annual budget to Council
- To review and approve the University's annual financial support to the Students' Union
- To recommend to Council the principles of financial management to be applied by the University and approve amendments to the Financial Regulations and Policies
- To consider and approve the Annual Audited Accounts and Financial statements in accordance with the Office for Students Accounts directions and consequently, with the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC), review the Annual report and make recommendations to Council
- To supervise the University’s investments and borrowing, determining the appropriate allocation of funds and their risks and terms, and approving these directly or making recommendations to Council according to the approval limits as set in the Scheme of Delegation
- To oversee capital expenditure, approving expenditure and disposal according to the limits as set in the Scheme of Delegation, and to consider and make recommendations to Council on material changes to capital budgets
- To provide insight to ARAC on key financial risks on the risk register
- To test the validity of financial assumptions made in the business cases of major projects and to provide advice to Council accordingly
- To take any other such decisions as defined in the Scheme of Delegation, or as may be agreed from time to time
Reporting relationships
Finance Committee reports to Council.
Investment Sub Committee and the Infrastructure Working Group report to Finance Committee, with regular summary reports.
Procedural rules
Frequency of meetings: Typically five meetings per year
Quorum: Three, of whom at least two must be lay members
Membership
Ex Officio Members
- Professor Phil Taylor, Vice-Chancellor and President
Appointed members
- Calum Mercer, Chair, Lay Member of Council, appointed by Council, term 2026 - 2027
- William Priest, Lay Member of Council, appointed by Council, term 2026 - 2027
- Professor Anthony Smith, Lay member of Council, appointed by Council, term 2026 - 2027
- Professor Paul Shepherd, Staff Member of Council, appointed by Council, term 2026 - 2027
- Helen Slater, Student Governor, term 2026 - 2027
In Attendance
- Martin Williams, Director of Finance
- Professor Marcus Munafò, Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Provost
- Kirsty Shaw, Chief Operating Officer
- Rebecca King, Director of Finance Operations
- Stephanie Court, Director of Management Accounting
- Ian Blenkharn, University Secretary & Registrar
- Ben Goose, Governance Partner
Observers
- Sharon Flood, Chair of Council
- Angus Gueterbock, Student Governor
Finance Committee has 6 members, with a minimum of 3 lay members including the Chair, and 1 student governor. Members are appointed on a yearly basis through Nominations Committee.
Other attendees may be co-opted or invited to attend for specific meetings at the discretion of the Committee.
Meeting dates and paper deadlines
Find out about our meeting dates and paper deadlines for submitting papers.
The following timescales normally apply:
- Paper submission deadline: Two weeks before the scheduled meeting date
- Circulation of agenda and papers: One week before the scheduled meeting date
Items for future meetings should be discussed with the Governance Partner as early as possible.
Version information
These Terms of Reference are reviewed by the Committee annually or more frequently as needed.
- Owner: Finance Committee
- Approver: Council
- Approval Date: 15 October 2026