Oxford head in attack on ‘pay lies’ of ministers
OXFORD University accused ministers of “mendacious” behaviour last night as vice chancellors face a crackdown on bumper pay packets.
Jo Johnson, the universities minister, will announce plans this week to stop the “upwards-ratcheting” of salaries by linking pay to performance.
It follows reports that Theresa May is preparing to relax the public sector pay cap after seven years of austerity.
Prof Louise Richardson, who earns £350,000 a year, yesterday defended high salaries by saying that vice chancellors were low paid compared to footballers and bankers.
During a speech in London, she took aim at “mendacious” politicians for accusing institutions of using rising fees to subsidise pay. She added that more than 40 heads of American universities were paid over a million dollars while eight received more than £2 million a year. Last month it emerged that the vice chancellor of Bath University was awarded an 11 per cent salary increase, taking her pay to £451,000 per year and prompting four MPS to quit the institution in protest.
Government sources said ministers would demand the sector “have a look at itself” and are considering plans to alter the way remuneration bodies set pay, and increase rules around transparency while offering incentives to change.
It comes amid attempts by the Government to rein in universities by forcing them to boost student satisfaction through drawing up performance contracts to justify high fees – with financial penalties for those who fail.
Figures show vice-chancellor pay, which is not regulated by the Government because universities are not public bodies, has risen year-on-year over this parliament, with an overall hike of 2.5 per cent in 2016 when fees rose to £9,000 per annum.
On Thursday, the universities minister will call for an end to the “upwardsratcheting” and warn that, while ministers are not in the business of capping pay, changes must be made to avoid accusations that salaries are funded by loans. He will say that the Office for Students, a new body that will oversee public funding for universities, will require universities to justify “exceptional pay with exceptional performance”.
Universities that pay their vice chancellor more than the Prime Minister will be required to demonstrate that they are providing “value for money”.
The changes will be set out in a consultation document later this year. But speaking at the Times Higher
Education’s World Academic Summit , Prof Richardson said it was dishonest to suggest that university bosses had used fees to boost their pay packets.
She also accused politicians of damaging the UK university sector by making “spurious” links between the increase in fees and the rise in vicechancellor pay, which has gone up every year of the last five. The Oxford
University vice chancellor said: “I think it’s completely mendacious by politicians to suggest that vice chancellors have used the £9,000 fee to enhance their own salaries.
“We know that the £9,000 fees were a substitute for the withdrawal of government funding.
“My own salary is £350,000. That’s a very high salary compared to our academics who, I think, are – junior academics especially – very lowly paid.
“Compared to a footballer it looks very different, compared to a banker it looks very different.
“But actually, we operate, as I keep saying, in a global marketplace.”
The highest paid vice chancellor in the country last year was Dame Glynis Breakwell of Bath University, who received £451,000 including pension.
Her salary was increased by 11 per cent and prompted four MPS to quit their roles at the institution in protest at her pay. Labour’s Kerry Mccarthy, one of those who resigned, told The Telegraph yesterday that high pay was “unfair” on students and taxpayers.
She said: “MPS pay comes under a massive amount of public scrutiny which is right, but there are other people who are paid out of the public purse, either directly or indirectly, where there are no questions at all. We need far more awareness and accountability on this.”
The row over university pay comes as the Government reportedly prepares to relax pay caps elsewhere in public sector.
Ministers are expected to announce later this year that nurses and other public-sector workers will see their pay rise above the 1 per cent it is currently capped at.
However, there is growing concern about the largesse of universities where vice chancellors now typically enjoy six-figure packages with graceand-favour homes and enhanced pensions.