The Social Council approved the 2021 Annual Accounts in an extraordinary session chaired by Ángel Tristán
Roberto Moreno, the ULPGC manager, presented the accounts which yielded a financing capacity of one million euros for the university
The settlement of the Social Council 2021 budget, of which 92.98% was implemented, was approved.
The ULPGC manager, Roberto Moreno, presented the ULPGC Annual Accounts for the 2021 financial year during an extraordinary plenary session held on Tuesday 28th June. He highlighted the high level of implementation which exceeded 86%, the level of investment in research, and the balance sheet for healthy liquid assets. Attending the plenary session were: the ULPGC rector, Lluís Serra; the chairman of the Social Council, Ángel Tristán; the vice chairman, José Carlos Naranjo; the secretary general, Miguel Ángel Acosta, and the other members of the council.
The 2021 Annual Accounts, prepared by the ULPGC Vicegerencia de Asuntos Económicos [the team in charge of managing economic affairs], include the balance sheet, the profit and loss account including all assets, the state of changes in the net worth, the state of cash flows, the state of the budget settlement, and the activity report. Moreover, it includes the accounts of ULPGC dependent entities and data regarding compliance with budgetary stability.
In 2021, the implementation of budgeted expenditure exceeded 86%, which is six percentage points higher than in 2020. Implementation of revenue reached almost 90%. As Roberto Moreno stressed, the 2021 financial year signifies the recovery of activity and of budget implementation levels.
The largest expenditure was for staff, which represented more than 71% of payments made, but the ULPGC manager emphasised the level of investment in research, which bordered on 13% of expenditure. “In fact, this has been the financial year with the highest amount committed to research investment, exceeding 8 million euros, compared with 4.89 million euros in 2020, 5.6 million euros in 2019 and 4.85 million euros in 2018”.
The ULPGC accounts show that the institution has financial sufficiency, budget stability, and no future debt, although Roberto Moreno did highlight the need to have a multi-annual plan for the public funding of Canary Island universities, as “in 2022 we will have to deal with unforeseen situations, such as the rise in inflation and subsequent rise in the cost of supplies, and goods and services, in addition to the considerable extra cost of electricity ”.
The financing capacity reached one million euros for the ULPGC and -1.17 million euros for the dependent entities. This results in a total of -0.17 million euros. If costs directly related to COVID are not taken into account the latter amount would rise to 0.8 million euros.
Approval of the Social Council 2021 budget settlement
The ULPGC Social Council also approved the settlement of its own 2021 budget presented by its secretary general, Miguel Ángel Acosta. That budget amounted to 509,119.96 euros, 0.13% less than in 2020, although over the course of the financial year it reached 522,503.93 euros – due to the inclusion of money carried over and new revenue. The Social Council 2020 budget was 525,961.52 euros. In 2021 the Social Council implemented 92.80% of its resources.
The budget implementation and activities carried out by the Social Council in 2021 were marked by the “new normality” that emerged following the effects caused by the economic and healthcare crisis brought about by Covid19. With regard to the actions undertaken in 2021 the secretary general, Miguel Ángel Acosta, highlighted the presentation of the Canarias Importa [the Canary Islands are Important] initiative to different bodies from the Canary Island’s government and to representatives of society, culture, trade unions, and politics. Another of the initiatives with the greatest impact is related to the call for grant applications aimed at ULPGC doctorate students in order to undertake educational visits outside of the Canary Islands.
With regard to the 2021 budget breakdown, the largest share was allocated to staff costs (51.93%), followed by current goods and services (45.72%). The Social Council passed resolutions which made it possible to increase area 4 and area 6 expenditure relating to current transfers and capital transfers respectively. This allowed the call for applications for 26 grants directed at doctoral students with the aim of promoting mobility during research and doctoral student visits, of at least one month, to other universities and research centres from outside the Canary Islands, and of promoting the participation of these students in conferences or other types of scientific meetingswhich contribute to increasing their interaction with national and international specialists and with the aim of presenting the results of their doctoral research.
In 2021, the Cátedra del REF [Organisation for the Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands], which is managed by the ULPGC Social Council, received the 10,000 euros in annual funding from the Círculo de Empresarios [Society of Entrepreneurs] as established in the collaboration agreement signed between the ULPGC, its Social Council and the Gran Canaria Círculo de Empresarios.