Super salaries for college heads means pennies left for staff
1st July 2009
Unite, the UK’s biggest union has today (Wednesday) accused
governors and college heads of hypocrisy on pay after figures
revealed that 80 colleges across England had boosted their
principals’ salaries by more than 50 per cent in eight years.
Further education unions compiled data on pay in the sector,
showing that principals’ pay increased on average by 41.6 per cent.
This resulted in some salaries, such as the principal of Newcastle
College, being as high as £184,000 a year.
By contrast the Association of Colleges (AoC) this week offered
further education staff a 1.5 per cent increase; worth just 8p an
hour for the lowest paid. As Unite highlights an explosion in
principals’ pay, some colleges are only paying some of their
support staff the statutory minimum wage.
Mike Robinson, Unite national officer for the further education
sector, said: “Boards of governors of our major further education
colleges should be ashamed and brought to account. Ashamed by the
low level of pay in many further education colleges and brought to
account for the hypocritical and financially inept way they have
thrown money at principals’ pay in the sector.
“Bankers and MPs will now be thinking of taking jobs as
principals in further education colleges as the pay increases are
better.”
ENDS
More information contact: Mark Di-Toro on 07918 640 579
NOTES:
Pay levels are made worse because more than a third of colleges
are refusing to pay the nationally agreed minimum salary increase
of £550 to the lowest paid for 2008/09. At the same time as
refusing to honour the nationally agreed pay deals for their lowest
paid staff, some senior post-holders’ pocketed pay increases of up
to 24 per cent in 08/09 (see table 1).
Key findings of work undertaken by Unison show that:
- 80 colleges increased their principals’ pay by more than 50 per
cent between 2001/02 and 2007/08, with seven colleges boosting
principals’ pay by more than 100 Per cent.
- 164 principals earned more than £100,000 in 2007/08.
- The highest earning principal in 2007/08 was at Newcastle
College, earning £184,000 per year, closely followed by the
principal of Barnfield College on £173,000.
- In total, college principals across the UK were paid
£25,568,000 in 2007/08.
- Of the 79 colleges who refused to honour the 2008/09 national
pay deal for college staff, 38 paid their principals more than
£100,000.
- Of these same colleges, 18 awarded their senior post-holders
eye watering pay increases in 2008/09. Increases included North
Devon College (up to 21 per cent) and West Suffolk College (up to
24 Per cent) [see table 1]
- The highest paid principal in 2008/09 at a college that did not
pay the minimum salary uplift for the lowest paid was at Lewisham
College, where the Principal is paid £161,000. Performance related
bonuses for senior managers at this college ranged up to 5 per cent
which, in cash terms, equates to £26,602.
- The lowest pay rates in the 79 colleges that did not pay the
national agreed £550 uplift to staff were £4.17 at Brooksby
Melton College and £5.52 at Orpington College. (see table 2)
TABLE 1
|
College
|
Pay increase to senior managers and/or
post-holders 08/09
|
Principal's pay
|
|
Huntingdonshire Regional College
|
2% - 5%
|
£88,084
|
|
Dunstable College
|
2.5% - 7.03%
|
£101,284
|
|
Strode College
|
3.2% - 4.5%
|
£121,272
|
|
Selby College
|
3.2% - 11.9%
|
£100,000
|
|
Oaklands College
|
3.5% - 9%
|
£130,000
|
|
West Kent College
|
4.5% - 9%
|
£120,330
|
|
Otley College
|
Up to 4.95%
|
£95,500
|
|
South Devon College
|
4.9% - 6%
|
£133,000
|
|
Grantham College
|
5.40%
|
£96,985
|
|
Plumpton College
|
5.20%
|
£83,542
|
|
Bradford College
|
3% - 7%
|
£141,947
|
|
Bridgewater College
|
7.1% - 9.5%
|
£141,464 (07/08)
|
|
Northbrook College
|
3% - 7.3%
|
£124,629
|
|
Alton College
|
7.8% - 8.5%
|
£92,250
|
|
West Suffolk College
|
15% - 24%
|
£115,000
|
|
North Devon College
|
Up to 21%
|
£136,019
|
Notes. Table shows the colleges where the Association of Colleges
deal of a £550 increase for the lowest paid staff was not honoured
in the 2008/09 pay round in comparison to what they gave senior
managers/post-holders pay increases and salaries.
TABLE 2
|
College
|
Bottom rate of
pay
|
|
Plymouth College of Art and Design
|
£3.53
|
|
Brooksby Melton College
|
£4.17
|
|
Orpington College
|
£5.52
|
|
West Kent College
|
£5.73
|
|
Cirencester College
|
£5.82
|
|
Aylesbury College
|
£5.92
|
|
East Durham College
|
£5.88
|
|
Otley College
|
£5.90
|
|
Braintree College
|
£5.92
|
|
Northbrook College
|
£5.92
|
|
South East Derbyshire College
|
£5.98
|
|
Fircroft College
|
£5.99
|
|
Selby College
|
£6.00
|
Notes. Table shows examples of colleges that have minimum pay rates
under £6 per hour. These colleges also refused to pay the
nationally agreed £550 underpinning to their lowest paid staff in
the 2008/09 pay round.
- Unions involved: Unite, GMB, the University and College Union
(UCU) and UNISON.
- Figures are taken from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC)
principals' pay data for 2001/02 compared with the 2007/08
data.
- The £184,000 salary was paid to the principal of Newcastle
College in 2007/08.
- The lowest minimum rate of pay is taken from the Lifelong
Learning UK’s (LLUK) staff individualised record survey for
2007/2008 showing that the average annual pay for a FE college
cleaner including overtime was £11,330 or £5.80 per hour.
- The Association of Colleges 2008/09 pay recommendation
was for 3.2 per cent or £550 to the lowest paid staff (classed as
those staff earning under £17,000).
- Information comes from Freedom of Information requests against
the 79 colleges who failed to pay staff the nationally agreed pay
award this year and from the Learning Skills Council annual survey
of colleges.
- The average cleaner’s salary in FE is £5.80 per hour.
NB Freedom of Information requests were sent to colleges between 5
March 2009 – 1 June 2009.
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