Plans to force English universities to publish the salary details of all staff earning more than ?150,000 have been criticised as ¡°disproportionate¡± and potentially damaging by leading institutions.

While the new Office for Students has pledged to tackle the ¡°excessive pay of vice-chancellors¡±, its new proposals go much further on the issue by insisting that institutions publish the job descriptions of all staff earning more than ?150,000 a year. Universities must also disclose ¡°full details of the remuneration packages of those staff, including bonuses and pension contributions¡± and provide a justification of this pay that references ¡°performance against outcome measures¡±.

Under the plans, in the OfS¡¯ consultation on its new regulatory framework, releasing these details would be an ¡°ongoing condition of registration¡± to the new higher education regulator.

The proposed new requirement is likely to oblige universities to report details of hundreds of academics and high-earning administrators, in addition to vice-chancellors.

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In its ?to the OfS consultation, the Russell Group, which represents 24 research-intensive universities, says that ¡°around three-quarters of those paid over ?150,000 are on academic contracts (including clinical academics where the pay scales are set by the NHS)¡±.

Describing the plans as ¡°disproportionate¡±, the Russell Group says that they ¡°risk undermining the ability of institutions to compete in an international market for academic and professional services talent¡±.

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¡°It would be counterproductive to UK higher education and research to make the reward arrangements of top-performing academics and managers known to competitors,¡± it adds.

The Russell Group has urged the OfS to allow universities to continue with current arrangements under which they sign up to the Committee of University Chairs¡¯ voluntary code on pay, which is currently under review.

The University of Birmingham also opposes the OfS plans, describing the proposed requirement as ¡°very onerous¡± in its consultation .

¡°We support the need for greater transparency in senior staff remuneration but have concerns about the regulatory burden that will be imposed by [these] detailed requirements,¡± says the university, which, according to its annual , paid 48 individuals more than ?150,000 in 2016-17.

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The requirement is also likely to lead to greater transparency in the rare cases in which some universities¡¯ staff are paid more than the vice-chancellor.

At the University of Cambridge, four staff members were paid more than the ?355,000 salary earned by Sir Leszek Borysiewicz in 2016-17, with the highest-paid earning between ?640,000 and ?650,000, university??state. Three staff members at the University of Oxford earned more than Louise Richardson, its vice-chancellor, whose salary was ?366,000 that year, with the highest-paid .

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com