Exclusive: Former Glasgow president's £4,000 'golden goodbye'

The former president of Glasgow University's chief student body has pocketed a 'golden goodbye' of around £4,000 in the wake of his resignation, The Journal can today reveal.

Stuart Ritchie, who last month stepped down as leader of Glasgow University Students' Representative Council (GUSRC) amid mounting pressure over his conduct, has walked away with a three-month severance package totalling £3,838, excluding holiday entitlement and toil time for which, The Journal understands, the 22-year-old was also owed.

The revelation has raised serious questions over a failure by union officials to clarify the destination of remaining funds in the days after Ritchie's resignation. Speaking a fortnight ago, vice-president Iain Smith claimed the former head's salary would be "redistributed to fund GUSRC's core services and activities".

However, GUSRC has now issued an apology over the affair, which the remaining three vice-presidents insisted was not designed to be intentionally misleading but instead resulted from the delicate commercial nature of negotiations.

An embattled Ritchie stepped aside after just four months at the helm following a request by his fellow executive members to do so in light of a series of revelations relating to his stance on rest-of-UK fees together with a close relationship shared with university senior management.

The student body, which represents 24,000 students at the University of Glasgow, is to continue without a president for the remainder of the academic year after a decision was taken to share responsibilities among the remaining trio of vice-presidents.

In a statement released following Ritchie's exit, vice-president for media and communications Smith said a by-election would be bypassed with James Harrison, Amy Johnson and himself sharing duties.

"Following what has been a turbulent period for the organisation, we’re keen now to focus on core issues and activities which GUSRC are involved with without further disruption which would be caused by the near two-month election process, and subsequent training and induction period," he added.

However, in response to questions of what was to become of Ritchie's remaining salary, which stood at £15,353 over the course of his elected term of 12 months, Smith added: "The President’s salary will be redistributed to fund GUSRC’s core services and activities.

"These services are coming under increasing financial pressure and we’re keen that any unaccounted funds go toward supporting our activities which benefit students."

However, The Journal can now disclose the exact nature of those 'unaccounted' funds. A senior source close to GUSRC initially intimated Ritchie could be in line to receive salary payments until the end of March, though senior staff at the student body have now confirmed a three-month agreement was reached with the package commencing in the immediate aftermath of his exit on November 2.

A copy of the contract signed by GUSRC sabbatical officers passed to The Journal states: "If a Sabbatical Officer resigns he/she must give four weeks written notice of resignation to the Executive Committee. 

"Payment of expenses will cease from the time of resignation. Any ex gratia resignation payment, for extenuating circumstances, will be subject to the decision of the Permanent Secretary."

Officers at GUSRC told The Journal the pay-off was "reasonable" and the best option available to ensure a smooth transition for the organisation. If Ritchie had sought to pursue a grievance procedure over his requested departure then an ensuing investigation could have taken weeks and maybe even months to undertake.

In a statement issued to The Journal regarding the revelations, the three vice-presidents said: "The severance package of three months was agreed upon following discussions with and advice from the Permanent Secretary, taking into account GUSRC precedent and normal employment practice.

"This decision was a reasonable one under the circumstances and ensured that GUSRC, as an organisation, could swiftly move on from issues without the prospect of an appeal or legal threat which might have dominated GUSRC business for months."

Asked why the payment was not clarified when first asked, they added: "In our initial response to the question of severance packages on November 7th, we erred on the side of caution as we were unable to disclose the financial details of Stuart's resignation from both employment and a data protection viewpoints; following recent speculation we contacted Stuart who gave permission for us to clarify the matter.

"We'd like to apologise if any students feel mislead by the statement, that was not our intention and we hope you can respect that the statement was made at a time when details were still uncertain."