Minister: no place for vice-chancellors ‘on football pay’
OXFORD University’s vice-chancellor should not be in her job if she wants to be paid like a footballer, Jo Johnson has suggested.
Mr Johnson, minister for universities and science, launched a thinly veiled attack on Professor Louise Richardson as he announced a crackdown on the spiralling salaries of vice-chancellors.
Speaking at the Universities UK annual conference at Brunel University yesterday, Mr Johnson appeared to hit back at Prof Richardson over her comments that vice-chancellors were not highly paid compared to footballers or bankers. He said: “I have heard in recent days a prominent VC [vice-chancellor] noting that she was paid less than footballers or bankers. If university managers want those kinds of wages, I guess they’re not in the right business.”
Earlier this week, Prof Richardson took aim at “mendacious” politicians for accusing institutions of using rising fees to subsidise pay. However, there is growing concern about the largesse of universities where vice-chancellors now typically enjoy six-figure packages.
Yesterday it emerged that Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell, the highest paid vice-chancellor in the country, had claimed more than £8,000 for housekeeping and laundry bills at her private apartment last year.
Freedom of Information requests revealed that Prof Breakwell, who earns £450,000 for her role as vice-chancellor of Bath University, also has her utilities and council tax paid for by Bath University. Mr Johnson told delegates at the Universities UK conference: “It is of course true that many of our universities are large and complex organisations, requiring highly skilled individuals to run them effectively.
“Some will be competing for managerial talent in a global market. But it is important to remember that universities are generally still charities with a not-for-profit public service mission and that, when it comes to vice-chancellor remuneration, finding the right benchmarks is essential.” He said that the new regulator, the Office for Students, would take series of measures to curb pay rises, including publishing the number of staff who earn over £100,000 a year, and to provide a “clear justification” for paying any employee more than £150,000 or risk a fine.
Prof Richardson has been forced to issue a statement clarifying her comments on free speech, following a furious backlash from students.
Earlier this week, Prof Richardson said that it was not her job to shield students from controversial opinions. She has now issued a statement on the university website saying it was a “matter of great regret” that her comments were “being used to call into question this impressive, sustained endeavour to make Oxford a diverse and inclusive university”.
She said: “I might have hoped that my track record over many years of speaking out against discrimination in all its forms would have answered some of those concerns, but I can see that I need to be crystal clear about where I stand.”