Ministers warn academy heads as salaries soar past £400,000
ACADEMY heads are being warned they must justify their pay packets after it was revealed a top-earning school executive raked in £420,000 – nearly three times the Prime Minister’s salary.
In guidance issued this week, the Department of Education has told the heads that they will be required to justify pay increases through a transparent, “robust evidence-based process”, to ensure value for the taxpayer. It is the latest development in the Government’s offensive against the “ratcheting up” of top-level pay in schools and universities, with ministers concerned that executives are taking huge increases against a backdrop of cuts and real-term pay stagnation for their staff.
It comes a week after Jo Johnson, the universities minister, challenged vice chancellors over excessive pay. While pay of vice chancellors – £275,000 on average – has been a long-standing controversy, salaries paid to multi-academy trust executives are increasingly mirroring those in higher education. Sir Dan Moynihan, chief executive of the Harris Federation, which runs 41 schools, was paid £420,000 in 2016, while Toby Salt, of Ormiston Academies Trust, was paid £205,000.