Two Labour MPs have resigned from their positions at Bath University over the ‘excessive’ salary of its vice-chancellor, who is the highest paid in the country.
Kerry McCarthy and David Drew said they were stepping down ‘in protest’ at Dame Glynis Breakwell’s £451,000 package.
They added it was inappropriate for a university boss to be paid so much when students graduate tens of thousands of pounds in debt.
And they said their young constituents should not have to pay large fees – which next month rise to £9,250 a year – to ‘sustain mega salaries’.
Kerry McCarthy (left) and David Drew (right) said they were stepping down ‘in protest’ at Dame Glynis Breakwell’s £451,000 package
Kerry McCarthy and David Drew said they were stepping down ‘in protest’ at Dame Glynis Breakwell’s (pictured) £451,000 package.
Miss McCarthy, MP for Bristol East, and Mr Drew, MP for Stroud, are the latest politicians to leave Bath University’s court, a statutory body representing the interests of those involved in the institution.
Just over a week ago Andrew Murrison, the Tory MP for South West Wiltshire, announced his resignation from the court over the same issue.
It is understood a number of other Labour MPs on the body are also considering their positions. In a joint statement, Miss McCarthy and Mr Drew said: ‘We are resigning from the court of the university in protest at the excessive salary of the vice-chancellor and senior staff.
‘We do not think a salary of £450,000 can be justified, especially when students are taking on debts of £60,000 to pay fees, and spending 30 years of their working lives paying them off.’
The resignations come after the Higher Education and Funding Council for England said it would investigate ‘governance in relation to the remuneration committee of the university’.
The charities watchdog has been asked to examine whether Dame Glynis’s salary is in line with charitable duties and responsibilities. Most universities have charitable status and are bound by the rules of the Charity Commission.
Kerry McCarthy, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
While the HEFCE has no powers to cut pay, it can remove a vice-chancellor if it finds that governance is inadequate.Former education minister Lord Adonis said after the latest resignations: ‘The only way to resolve this is for the vice-chancellor to resign.’
Dame Glynis earned £451,000 last year in salary, benefits and allowances – an 11 per cent rise on the previous year, when she earned £406,000. This is despite a 1.1 per cent cap on pay for non-managerial staff across the higher education sector.
She also earned £27,000 from non-executive directorships and lives in a £1.6million house in Bath, a benefit in kind thought to be worth £20,000 a year. Meanwhile, 66 senior managers at Bath University are also on six-figure salaries, with 13 earning more than £150,000.
Bath is not in the elite Russell Group but was rated ‘gold’ – the top standard – in recent government rankings on teaching quality. The university declined to comment yesterday.