University pay-off ‘not authorised in appropriate way’

APAY-OFF to the outgoing registrar of Swansea University was not authorised appropriately, it has emerged.

An undisclosed sum was paid to Raymond Ciborowski, who was the second most powerful executive at the university, when he left his post as registrar in March 2018. He remained an adviser to the university until September when he resigned.

It has now emerged that the payment was not authorised appropriately, according the university’s annual accounts, and that the correct tax was not paid.

The university’s annual accounts say the board became aware of irregularities in the settlement agreement for Mr Ciborowski in October of that year. A review was launched which was subsequently widened to include a small number of other employees.

In November four senior academics were suspended including the vice chancellor of the university Professor Richard B Davies, who was was suspended for alleged gross negligence, and dean of the school of management Professor Marc Clement who was suspended for alleged gross misconduct. Both vehemently deny any wrongdoing.

The suspensions were linked to the £200m Delta Lakes wellness village in Carmarthenshire, which the suspended academics had an involvement in.

Mr Ciborowski also had links to the involved in the Delta Lakes scheme. He was allegedly offered equity in a company, a job and a discounted price for a house by one of the men behind it, Franz Dickmann.

The settlement agreement irregularities

explain a lengthy delay in the publication of the university’s 2017-18 accounts, which have now been released.

The university said the accounts showed it was in a strong financial position but added that they were qualified by auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers for two reasons.

Referring to Mr Ciborowski’s termination payment, it said: “Work undertaken by the university and the auditors in respect of this matter have concluded that the payment was not authorised appropriately and was not initially administered appropriately in respect of HMRC liabilities.”

The university also said there were “suspected breaches of internal control procedures in respect of conflict of interest declarations and other matters”.

The university said it would continue to work with the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and its funders on these matters, but did not expect any long-term problem.

But it declined to comment further when asked by the Local Democracy Reporter Service how much Mr Ciborowski’s termination settlement was. In response to the termination settlement issue relating to the former registrar, a source close to Mr Ciborowski said: “The payment made was signed off by Sir Roger Jones, chairman of the university council, after he took independent legal advice. When it was subsequently established that an error had occurred, Raymond (Ciborowski ) paid the quite modest tax liability within hours.”

The university, in response, said: “The source has stated a number of things which are not true.

“The settlement agreement in question was signed by Professor Richard Davies, not Sir Roger Jones, as Sir Roger does not hold the executive authority to sign such a document, nor was Sir Roger Jones involved in the seeking or reviewing of any legal advice in relation to this matter. The tax liability amounted to over £14,000 and was settled within a few weeks.”

The accounts, which cover July 31, 2017 to July 31, 2018, said the university’s income was £307m compared to £278m the previous year.

Expenditure also increased from £259m to £296m, while the number of employees earning between £100,000 to £259,999 rose from 34 to 40. The university had 18,153 undergraduates and 3,632 postgraduates, just under a fifth of whom were from overseas. In June 2018 it was awarded the highest rating for teaching excellence, and it came joint fifth among UK universities for student satisfaction.

The accounts said Brexit uncertainties, international tax law changes and increased competition could impact on student numbers and financial sustainability.

Also noted was a draw-down of a £60m European Investment Bank loan in April of this year.

The accounts also showed that director of finance Rob BrelsfordSmith was in post until July 16 this year.

In total, six members of staff have been suspended as part of the internal investigation.