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.
The University and College Union (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.’
