England¡¯s new higher education regulator has pledged to publish full details of?the pay of each vice-chancellor in the sector, but the move is ¡°unlikely to reveal any information that wasn¡¯t already publicly available¡±, according to the University and College Union.

The Office for Students announced on 19 June that it would publish details of total remuneration packages paid to vice-chancellors ¡°in an annual report to secure greater transparency¡±.

The move, detailed in an accounts direction to institutions from the regulator, will include information on ¡°the relationship between the head of providers¡¯ remuneration and that for all other employees in their institution, expressed as a pay multiple¡±, the OfS said.

Nicola Dandridge, OfS chief executive, said that ¡°high levels of pay that are out of kilter with pay levels elsewhere and which cannot be justified are unacceptable¡±.

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Institutions will ¡°have to provide detailed justification¡± of their leaders¡¯ remuneration packages, she added. This justification ¡°must include an explanation of what value the head of institution has delivered, and the process by which their performance was judged¡±, the OfS said.

Institutions must also disclose the number of staff with a basic salary of more than??100,000 a year, as is customary in accounts at present, broken down into bands of ?5,000.

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Draft guidance set out by the Committee of University Chairs earlier this month said that institutions should publish the pay multiple of the vice-chancellor compared?with the median earnings of the whole workforce and be ready to justify their decisions if their leaders¡¯ salary is in the highest sector quintile compared with?average staff remuneration.

Sally Hunt, the UCU¡¯s general secretary, said that the new rules would have a limited impact.

¡°While a focus from the Office for Students on vice-chancellor pay is welcome, much of the information being called for is already available in universities¡¯ accounts or through Freedom of Information requests,¡± she said.?

¡°Asking institutions to justify high pay for senior staff is all very well, but they need to do much better than complaining about how they¡¯re being paid less than bankers or footballers. This new guidance seems to allow universities to simply craft excuses for vice-chancellors to hide behind.

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¡°If university leaders are to be held genuinely accountable to students, staff and taxpayers alike, we need proper student and staff representation on the committees?that set their pay.¡±

The University of Bath announced last month that staff and students will be represented on the committee that sets its?vice-chancellor¡¯s pay?after a review of governance prompted by outrage over Dame Glynis Breakwell¡¯s pay and perks.

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com