University accused of car hypocrisy
SHEFFIELD: A Yorkshire university has been accused of hypocrisy for declaring a climate emergency while leasing a luxury saloon.
The University of Sheffield spent more than £36,000 over three years to 2019 on cars, according to freedom of information (FOI) requests by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
A YORKSHIRE university has been accused of hypocrisy for declaring a climate emergency while leasing a luxury saloon for the use of its Vice-Chancellor, senior staff and VIP visitors.
The University of Sheffield spent more than £36,000 over three years to 2019 on cars, according to freedom of information (FOI) requests by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
Research by the pressure group found one in five of the universities who responded spent £702,000 on vehicles for senior staff.
The group which has previously highlighted the six-figure salaries paid to thousands of staff, said the institutions needed to get to grips with “waste at the top”.
The university that spent the largest amount on vehicles on senior staff was Liverpool Hope, spending £70,915 on purchasing, leasing, maintenance and fuel for two Mercedes-Benz E300s, according to the analysis.
The Alliance said several universities, including Sheffield, showed “staggering hypocrisy” by funding “gas-guzzling” cars.
At a rally last September to mark the global climate strike, Sheffield’s Vice Chancellor Professor Koen Lamberts announced they were putting sustainable development into the curriculum of every course and said they were developing an action plan to become carbon neutral.
The FOI response showed that Sheffield operated two VW Phaetons between 2016 and 2019, reducing to one in January 2019.
The cost of leasing the vehicles, fuel and maintenance came to a total of £36,193.
Birmingham City University purchased a Jaguar LWB diesel, while Exeter leased a BMW 520 diesel, the TaxPayers’ Alliance reported. However 80 per cent of the universities which responded to the survey, did not own or lease cars for senior staff – including York, York St John, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Trinity and Bradford.
Leeds University spent a total of £14,085 over the three years.
Scott Simmonds, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance and currently reading for a BSc in Politics and International Relations, said: “Students and taxpayers are fed up of poor value for money at UK universities. Despite contact hours disappearing and strikes disrupting term times, costs are going up and uni bosses are forever blaming faculty budget cuts.
“It’s time that higher education got a grip on the waste at the top, cutting out the prestigious perks and finally putting the people who pay their salaries first.”
Sheffield University said the pool car was not just for the ViceChancellor but for its executive board, guests and VIP visitors on university-related business.
A spokesperson for the University said: “The University of Sheffield is committed to sustainability and has made a number of changes to reduce our carbon emissions on campus and travel in the most sustainable way possible. Our Vice-Chancellor and other senior leaders now predominantly travel by using either public transport or an electric vehicle.
“We are also looking at how we can integrate video conferencing and other uses of technology more into long-term standard practice – therefore cutting down on the amount of travel needed in the future.”
The FOI response from Leeds University said it previously had a second-hand car, which was used to transport visiting dignitaries, and senior staff, including the Vice-Chancellor, when public transport was not viable. In 2018 it was replaced with a leased BMW 5 Series petrol/electric hybrid. The university was approached for a comment.
It’s time that higher education got a grip on the waste at the top.
Scott Simmonds, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance.