Universities to curb pay of vice-chancellors
Universities will bring vice-chancellor pay under control by bringing in ratios to limit their salaries to 6.4 times that earned by their academic staff. A code to be announced in the new year will also ban vicechancellors from sitting on the committees that decide how much they are paid. The committees will also have to justify pay increases.
UNIVERSITIES will introduce pay ratios to bring vice-chancellor pay under control amid fears that a new regulator is about to end the “gravy train” of pay rises, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
A “fair remuneration code” due to be announced in the new year will limit vice-chancellors’ salaries to 6.4 times that earned by their academic staff, according to the proposals.
The code, issued by the Committee of University Chairs (CUC), will also ban vice-chancellors from sitting on their remuneration committees, which decide how much to pay them.
The committees will be made to publish an annual report and will need to disclose the salaries of the vicechancellor and their highest earners. They will also have to justify why pay increases have been awarded.
The decision comes amid a backlash against executive pay in the sector, with Jo Johnson, the universities minister, warning that current “governance arrangements” will be overhauled in the coming months.
Speaking to this newspaper last week, Mr Johnson said that he would be tackling the issue at a “structural level”, adding that the new regulator, the Office for Students, will be taking action to ensure “proper accountability and transparency”.
The CUC said last night that it was concerned that public perception had been tainted by recent revelations about some of the highest earners.
John Rushforth, executive secretary of CUC, said: “The CUC has always encouraged transparency, but members were unanimous that institutions can do more in this respect so that the public can understand both the complexity and value of universities.”
His comments follow widespread criticism of the country’s highest-paid vice-chancellor, Dame Glynis Breakwell of Bath University, who is paid £468,000 and has announced she will be stepping down next year with a £265,000 “golden handshake”.
Others scrutinised include Southampton’s Sir Christopher Snowden, who received a pay rise of £81,000 last year, and Christina Slade, of Bath Spa, who was paid £800,00 in her final year.
Elsewhere, Oxford bursar David Palfreyman, of New College, has said that universities must put an end to the “gravy train” of “grossly excessive salaries” enjoyed by senior leaders.