Star date: 16th February 2016

VICE CHANCELLOR WHO ORGANISED STAFF SACKINGS PAID ALMOST £400,000

Martin Hall, the University of Salford Vice Chancellor, who oversaw mass axing of staff and course closures during his tenure, was paid £394,000 during the year 2014-15, new University accounts reveal.

Hall left the University last June and was paid £140,000 for loss of office and relocation, plus £121,000 for the previous six months when he was on `sabbatical'.

Full details here...

Martin Hall, the Vice Chancellor who oversaw some of the most bitter divides between staff and management in the University of Salford's history, walked away with a huge pay-off when he finally left the institution last June.

Latest University accounts shows that Hall was paid £92,000 in salary for the period August to December, 2014; then a further £121,000 while on `sabbatical' between January and June 2015; followed by `compensation for loss of office, including legal fees', of £110,000 and relocation costs of £30,000.

Together with £9,000 `benefits in kind' and £32,000 in pension contributions, his total pay for the year was £394,000 – an astronomical amount when students are struggling to pay tuition costs, loans and living expenses. The cost could have put over forty students through the University free.

Martin Hall was instrumental in hounding anti-cuts lecturer Dr Gary Duke through the courts following references in a satirical news sheet and blog, costing the University an estimated figure of over £100,000, while courses were shut and hundreds of posts axed as a result of the University's `transformation programme' (see here and see here).

In April, a new Vice Chancellor, Professor Helen Marshall, was appointed, having held the post as `interim' since January. For the first six months of her position – January to July 2015 - she was paid £122,000 (including benefits and pension). Currently the University has ten staff earning between £100,000 and £150,000.

The financial statements for the year 2014-15 opens with the dictum that "The key future challenge for the University..is the continued management of the pay bill..."

A spokesperson for the University said: "The University of Salford Vice-Chancellor's salary is among the lowest for a UK university and this has been the case for many years. Martin Hall's basic salary was £219,000 (total emoluments £252,000) and Helen Marshall's is £200,000 basic (total emoluments £204,000 pro-rata), one of the lowest in the sector. The figures for 2014/15 set out in the Financial Accounts include one-off compensation payments for loss of office."

Salford University is currently involved with a long and ongoing bitter dispute with its trade union, UCU Salford Branch, over the dismissal of workers in its marketing department for no apparent reason. The dispute brought staff out on strike last year (see here).