Fighting fund banner

 

UCU response to Jo Johnson's promise to rein in vice-chancellors' pay

7 December 2017

Universities minister Jo Johnson has told the BBC that senior pay in universities will be brought under control by new regulations to be brought in next year.

UCU welcomed the intervention of the minister who has finally spoken out after a spate of scandals this week involving the University of Southampton obscuring the role its vice-chancellor played in setting his own pay, calls for an investigation into one golden goodbye at the University of Bath and news of a record payout at Bath Spa University.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: 'We are pleased the minister has said he will be doing more to control senior pay in our universities. Jo Johnson is the latest in a long line of ministers to have seen previous calls for pay restraint ignored.

'Put simply, the status quo cannot continue and an urgent overhaul is required. We will need more than a slightly different approach from a watchdog. Over two-thirds of vice-chancellors sit on their own remuneration committees and three-quarters of universities refuse to publish full minutes of the meetings where leadership pay is decided. That must change.

'We need proper transparency of pay and perks in universities and the time has come for staff and student representatives on remuneration committees, as well as the full publication of the minutes.'

Last updated: 8 December 2017

Comments