Salary bill for university senior staff skyrockets

The total salary bill for senior staff tasked with running universities across Scotland has risen by a third in five years, figures obtained by The Journal have revealed.

Spend on senior management pay jumped 31 per cent from around £12.5 million in 2005 to more than £16 million last year in the face of staff in the top tiers of Scottish institutions staying largely static over the five-year period.

The findings, contained in a submission by lecturers’ union University and College Union (UCU) Scotland to a recently-launched review on the governance of higher education, has attracted fierce criticism at a time when staff and courses across the country have been earmarked for the axe.

Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde registered an increase of £162,916 and £242,057 respectively between 2005 and 2010 – despite the senior management team falling by three at Glasgow and remaining unchanged at Strathclyde.

Glasgow School of Art, meanwhile, saw senior management pay surge almost £300,000 as two new members of staff were added to the institution’s top table, the figures show.

A UCU Scotland spokesman said: “As the executive has taken over the running of institutions, management teams have grown in size and pay. While academic pursuit is seen as a vocation, management have seen salaries increase as they take over responsibility for running the institution from the academic body. We fundamentally believe that this relationship has to be rebalanced.”

MSPs lined up to condemn the recorded rise in wages, which takes the average senior management salary bill within each higher education to more than a million pounds.

Claire Baker, Scottish Labour shadow spokesperson for higher education, warned leaders of Scotland’s universities would have to answer serious questions as a Scottish Government-backed review continues into the way universities are run.

She added: “The question of who runs Scotland’s universities and how much they are paid is very important. It seems rather strange that at a time when sky high fees are being set for students from the rest of the UK that we see pay levels for senior managers rising by up to seven per cent, well above the rate of inflation.”

Liam McArthur, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, called on members of the higher education sector to take note of the current economic climate. “SMT staff owe it to students and other staff to consider the impact of their increasing wage bill, especially as university courses are being slashed and other staff are laid off,” he said.

“They need to take all necessary measures to ensure that this bill doesn’t continue to sky rocket.”

National Union of Students Scotland president, Robin Parker, said: "It is shocking that senior management at Scottish universities have awarded themselves above inflation pay-rises and added to their numbers while simultaneously pleading poverty for their institution.

“Universities have been calling for the introduction of tuition fees and increased public funding, left ordinary lecturing staff with below-inflation pay increases and made scores of staff redundant."

However, Glasgow University insisted every effort had been made to stem a rise in senior staff wages. A spokesman said: “The salary levels for senior management at the University of Glasgow have been frozen for the past three years as part of our cost reduction project.

“We have also reduced the size of the senior management team, again as part of the cost reduction and restructuring process. The fact that the overall salary bill has risen over the past five years reflects the impact of inflation.”

A spokesman for Strathclyde said a pay freeze in place for the last two years had prevented staff costs soaring.

He added: “Strathclyde is one of the country's largest universities with more than 16,700 students and 3,200 staff. It has a turnover of more than £220 million, and contributes significantly to the economy of Scotland and the UK. As such, it requires leaders with the experience and vision to help it compete globally. The senior management team’s salaries appropriately reflect the leadership qualities and high levels of responsibility placed on them.

“As a result of the current economic climate, the University’s senior management team has chosen to forego any salary increase since 2009.”