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UCU responds to new Office for Students requirements on VC pay

19 June 2018

UCU has warned new requirements on reporting of senior pay in universities are unlikely to reveal any information that wasn't already publicly available.

The union was commenting on new requirements released today by the Office for Students aimed at promoting greater transparency.

  • UCU says much of information being asked for is already available
  • Union repeats call that students and staff should sit on remuneration committees

The union said vice-chancellors' previous attempts to defend their pay deals while boasting about Bentleys or comparing themselves to Premiership footballers embarrassed the sector and did little to suggest they understood why their huge pay hikes were a problem.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: 'Whilst a focus from the Office for Students on vice-chancellor pay is welcome, much of the information being called for is already available in universities' accounts or through freedom of information (FOI) requests.  Asking institutions to justify high pay for senior staff is all very well, but they need to do much better than complaining about how they're being paid less than bankers or footballers. This new guidance seems to allow universities to simply craft excuses for vice-chancellors to hide behind.

'If university leaders are to be held genuinely accountable to students, staff and taxpayers alike, we need proper student and staff representation on the committees which set their pay.'

Last updated: 19 June 2018