Financial Transactions Programme Support 2020-2021

Tender description

Objectives To support the Scottish Funding Council’s University Financial Transactions Programme, by: Assisting in the selection and monitoring of projects, and Advising SFC on realistic timescales for the repayment of grant based on savings from the funded projects, and Monitoring and reporting on funded projects. Support tasks Support for the programme will involve three broad sets of activities: inviting and assessing proposals; project monitoring, and programme reporting. Inviting and Assessing Proposals The programme support team will help invite and assess proposals by: Communicating the programme opportunity and objectives to Scottish universities; Informing the development of university proposals by, for example, providing best practice examples; Supporting the application process with template forms and supporting documentation; Reviewing all proposals for technical feasibility, ability to implement quickly (including any required planning consents), and return on investment; Participating on an advisory panel to assess and prioritise proposals received; and Working with SFC to communicate the panel’s decisions to universities. Project Monitoring The programme support team will undertake the following project monitoring tasks: Establishing standard processes for project monitoring and reporting, involving the receipt of reports from universities at regular intervals; Advising SFC on appropriate timescales for the re-payment of loans based on the projected savings accruing from the funded projects; Ensuring that institutions are measuring savings correctly, so that loans can be repaid within the agreed timeframe; and Monitoring the funded projects and ensuring any progress issues are identified at an early stage. Programme Reporting The programme support team will undertake the following programme reporting tasks: Reporting to SFC on an exceptions basis, flagging up any progress issues as they occur; Working with the universities to produce short case studies on each report for public dissemination; Providing (three) update reports to SFC on the progress of the programme; and Providing a final report to SFC documenting the overall impact of the programme.