Edinburgh University principal unable to confirm his salary to MSPs

The principal of the University of Edinburgh was unable to confirm his salary to the Scottish Parliament’s education committee as it took evidence on the institution’s finances.

Professor Sir Peter Mathieson told MSPs that he didn’t “know the exact figure” but that he was “certainly very well paid”.

It comes as university staff plan to strike over proposed cuts to jobs, part of the senior management’s effort to close an unsustainable gap in its finances.

The principal told staff in February that significant action was needed due to the “magnitude of the financial gap that we need to close”, with plans to cut £140m from its spending.

Holyrood’s Education, Children and Young People Committee has been conducting an inquiry into the financial sustainability of Scotland’s universities, following challenges at Edinburgh, Dundee and elsewhere.

Mathieson has been criticised for the size of his salary in recent months, given about £90m of the planned reduction is expected to come from the staffing budget.

Committee convener Douglas Ross repeatedly asked how much Mathieson was paid and was not given a firm answer.

Mathieson said: “I don’t carry that figure round in my head. I recognise that I’m very well paid.”

Pursuing the matter, Ross asked: “Is your basic salary in the region of £418,000 when you add in the total package, the salary and other things?”

Mathieson said his “basic salary” was around £350,000 – on top of which he received a pension supplement.

He also confirmed he received a five per cent pay rise last year and a further 2.5 per cent increase in January this year.

Asked if a reduction to his salary was under consideration given the financial pressures at the university, Mathieson said: “You could pay the senior team of the University of Edinburgh nothing and that would make largely no difference to the size of the expenditure challenge we face.”

He was unable to rule out compulsory redundancies but hoped most cuts could be done on a voluntary basis.

Members of the University and College Union have today confirmed they will take industrial action on 20 June, with a further five days to be scheduled at the start of the academic year in September.

The ballot saw 84 per cent of members backing strike action, while 93 per cent supported action short of strike.

Sophia Woodman, UCU Edinburgh university branch president, said: “The decision to let the strike continue, with all the disruption to students that it entails and a possible marking and assessment boycott, is a matter of choice for Peter Mathieson and the university senior management.

“The union’s door is open to talks and I’d appeal to them to heed this final warning, rule out compulsory redundancies and end this unnecessary dispute.”