At a time of student anger over poor value for money, the
TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) today reveals that 29 British
universities (roughly 1 in 5) spent £702,057 on vehicles for
vice-chancellors or their equivalents between 2016 and 2019.
Some of the vice-chancellors provided with cars received total
annual remuneration as high as £479,000. The number of staff
earning in excess of £100,000 at each university was detailed in
the TaxPayers' Alliance University Rich List 2019.
Liverpool Hope university spent most, paying £70,915 over three
years on purchasing, leasing, maintenance and fuel for two
Mercedes E300s (example below). The cost was equivalent to
approximately eight undergraduate students' average annual
tuition fees.
Many of the universities paying for vehicles have declared a
climate emergency, including four of the ten universities to
spend the most (Exeter, Birmingham City, Sheffield and Swansea).
Of these, several showed staggering hypocrisy by funding
gas-guzzling cars. Exeter university leased a BMW 520 diesel
(example below), Sheffield university a VW Phaeton (also diesel)
and Birmingham City university purchased a Jaguar LWB diesel.
Over the three year period, universities purchased more luxurious
cars than even some of the ones used to drive government
ministers. While the government opted for reasonably priced
models including the Honda CR-V and Ford Mondeo, universities
purchased top-of-the-range models including a Mercedes-Benz
E-class, a BMW 730, an Audi A6 (example below), a Lexus NX estate
and a Volvo V60 Sportswagon. Two other universities (Edinburgh
and Liverpool) also owned or leased Jaguars during this period.
These unenvironmental perks were far from necessary, given that
80 per cent of universities did not provide cars for the use of
their vice-chancellors.
Click here
to read the research paper
Key findings
- From 2016-19, at least £702,057 was spent by 29 universities
on vehicles for vice-chancellors or their equivalents. This
includes purchases, leases, fuel, maintenance, tax and other
associated costs.
- These 29 universities spent an average of £24,518 on
vice-chancellors' cars.
- Universities spent £509,610 buying and leasing cars and
£104,269 on fuel over this period.
- Six of the 10 universities to spend the most on vehicles for
vice-chancellors also paid them over £300,000 per year.
Duncan Simpson, research director at the TaxPayers' Alliance,
said:
"With uni bosses complaining of a financial squeeze, splurges on
nice-to-have perks simply have to stop.
"It's hypocritical for chauffeur-driven scholars on six-figure
salaries to be bemoaning budget cuts and campaigning on climate
change.
"Given most universities did not pay for these luxury limos, the
vice-chancellors who did deserve to be given the third degree by
students and taxpayers alike."
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."
