Travel and Procurement policies updated from Monday 1 August 2016

Monday, 01 August 2016

Two of the University’s key policies will be updated from Monday 1 August 2016.  

Our Travel and Other Expenses, Benefits, Hospitality and Gifts policy has been updated following feedback from University staff.

The three key amendments to be aware of:

• All UK travel can be booked directly by individual members of staff, either by using your own University purchase card or by paying for it yourself and claiming back through expenses.
• Regardless of where you are travelling, if the total value of your trip (travel and accommodation) is under £300, you can also book it directly using your own University purchase card or by paying for it yourself and claiming back through expenses. You can also continue to use the Travel Management Company if you prefer.
• Economy class flights remain the default option wherever possible, but the wording around when it is possible to upgrade flight class has been amended: flight duration must be in excess of 8 hours and there must be a requirement for sleep and/or work on the flight. It is a matter for the budget holder whether or not to authorise the higher class of travel even if the conditions for the upgrade are met.

In addition, the University’s Procurement policy has been updated to help make it easier for colleagues to understand when to involve the Procurement team in their purchasing activity.

Three key updates are:

• If you are spending £10,000 or less (one-off or aggregated spend) you must use a contracted supplier and if there isn’t one, you can find one yourself.
• Spend valued above £25,000 must involve the Procurement team due to legislative requirements.
• New Single Action Waiver (SAW) form is available for times when there is only one possible supplier.

Full details can be found on the Procurement policy page.