37
City of Glasgow College Annual Report & Accounts 2020-21
Student Accommodation Service
The College operates 2 sites offering student
accommodation facility. One site is owned by the College
and is located at the Riverside campus. The other site is
a rented accommodation close to the Riverside campus.
The aim is to deliver a high quality and safe environment
to students at competitive rental.
This service generates the undernoted surplus fro the
College:
Residencies 2020-21
£000's
2019-20
£000's
Income £1,223 £1,627
Exepnditure £1,420 £1,340
Surplus (£197) £287
Catering Service
The College awarded a 6-year contract to Baxter Storey
in August 2020 after a competitive tender process. The
tender was awarded balancing the quality of food and
service with the cost of delivery. The aim within the tender
was to deliver a high-quality service and at no cost to the
College.
Catering 2020-21
£000's
2019-20
£000's
Income £136 £1,366
Exepnditure £306 £1,490
Surplus (£170) £124
Statement of Internal Control
The Board of Management is responsible for the
College's system of internal control and for reviewing
its effectiveness. Such a system is designed to manage
rather than eliminate risk of failure to achieve business
objectives, and can only provide reasonable, not
absolute, assurance against misstatement or loss.
The Senior Management Team (SMT) receives regular
reports setting out key performance and risk indicators,
and considers possible control issues brought to their
attention by early warning mechanisms embedded with
the operational units. Each Board Committee regularly
reviews the Risk Management Action Plans (Risk MAPs)
relating to the Strategic Risks within their areas of
responsibility.
The Audit Committee's role in internal control is confined
to a high-level review of the arrangements for internal
financial and other control systems. The Board agenda
regularly includes consideration of risk management and
all reports to the Board and its Committees must include
a risk analysis.
The Board Committees all receive regular updates to the
Risk Management Action Plans for the strategic risks
within their areas of responsibility.
The SMT and a range of Board Committees receive
regular reports from our internal auditors, and health and
safety and environmental monitoring functions, which
include recommendations for improvement.
The Board has a process for identifying, evaluating
and managing the College's risks that has been in
place for the year ending 31 July 2021, up to the date
of approval of the annual report and accounts. This
process is regularly reviewed by the Board and accords
with the internal control guidance as applicable to the
further education sector. The system of internal financial
control is based on a framework of regular management
information, financial regulations and administrative
procedures including the segregation of duties. In
particular, it includes:
• Comprehensive budgeting systems with an annual
budget approved by the Board
• Regular reviews by the Finance Committee of quarterly
and annual financial reports that indicate financial
performance against the forecasts
• Setting targets to measure financial and other
performance measures
• Procedures for the Board to review and agree the
budgets
• Clearly defined capital investment control guidelines
The College has an internal audit service, the focus of
which is on key activities determined by an analysis of the
areas of greatest risk and in accordance with the annual
internal audit plan approved by the Board.
The internal auditors report to the Audit Committee on a
regular basis and have direct access to the Chair of the
Audit Committee.
The internal auditors have issued an annual report,
which gives an opinion of the adequacy, reliability and
effectiveness of the College's internal control system.
The Board's review of the effectiveness of the system of
internal financial control is thus conducted through the
work of the internal auditors, the Board, and the Audit
Committee.
The Board of Management has also provided all
information to the External Auditors upon request.
The Board members who held office at the date of
approval of this report confirm that, to their knowledge,
there is no relevant audit information of which the
College's auditors are unaware; and each Board member
has taken all necessary steps to be aware of any relevant
audit information and to establish the auditors are aware
of that information.