Introduction

Our Remuneration Committee, under delegated authority from our Council, determines the remuneration of our senior officers. The current Terms of Reference are available on our web pages. The minutes of each meeting are presented to Council by the Committee Chair.

Remuneration Committee membership and meeting attendance for the academic year 2019/2020

Status Name Start of term End of term 02 Oct 2019 18 Dec 2019 25 Mar 2020 1 Jul 2020
Chair Prof Barry Gilbertson 22 Feb 2018 31 Jul 2020 attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting
Members
John Preston, University Treasurer ex-officio ex-officio attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting
Pam Chesters, Chair of Council ex-officio ex-officio attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting
Catherine Mealing-Jones 1 Aug 2018 31 Jul 2021 attended meeting did not attend meeting did not attend meeting attended meeting
Eve Alcock, SU President ex-officio ex-officio attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting not required at meeting
Francesco Masala, SU President ex-officio ex-officio not required at meeting not required at meeting not required at meeting attended meeting
Mesar Hameed 1 Aug 2018 31 Jul 2021 attended meeting attended meeting did not attend meeting attended meeting
In attendance
Emily Commander, Secretary – – attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting
Richard Brooks, Director of HR – – attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting attended meeting
Prof Ian White, Vice-Chancellor – – attended meeting (part) not required at meeting not required at meeting not required at meeting
Katharine Turner, FIT Consultants - – attended meeting attended meeting did not attend meeting did not attend meeting
Darrell Hare, FIT Consultants – – not required at meeting not required at meeting attended meeting did not attend meeting
Francesco Masala, SU President (des) - - not required at meeting not required at meeting attended meeting not required at meeting

At the end of the previous year Council approved a new Framework for the determination of senior remuneration packages. The Remuneration Committee has operated the Framework for this year and will now conduct a review and recommend improvements to Council.

Approach to remuneration

The overall goal of our approach to senior staff remuneration is to offer levels appropriate to attract, retain and motivate senior staff who have the appropriate skills and qualifications to lead delivery of our mission and strategic objectives. We recognise that our status as a public body is a fundamental part of the decisions regarding pay for all employees, particularly senior staff. Students and staff are important stakeholders in the University and we recognise that the reputation of the University as an education provider, and as an employer, can be influenced by perceptions of value for money and the way in which senior remuneration is set and governed.

We offer remuneration packages appropriate to a leading University, benchmarked against other UK HE institutions of comparable scale, status and complexity operating in a competitive market. All decisions regarding the remuneration associated with specific roles are taken, with external advice when required, in accordance with our commitment to equality and diversity; financial position and value for money; the nature of the role; reward levels for other members of our University community; guidance issued by Ofice for Students (OfS) and Committee of University Chairs (CUC); and metrics and benchmarks from across the sector. When considering individuals, this also includes the attributes and skills of the candidate and, any changes in responsibilities and individual performance.

Our policies on expenses and on sharing income generated by individuals from external bodies are published on our webpages.

Decisions in the 19/20 academic year

In October 2019 the Remuneration Committee made decisions regarding the staff within its remit for the preceding academic year. The meeting took written input from the Vice-Chancellor alongside consideration of market data. Context was provided by the Vice-Chancellor who left the meeting prior to any discussion on remuneration decisions. The Committee welcomed the fact that many members of the senior team, recognising the financial context, did not wish to accept any form of pay increase this financial year beyond the national pay award. The Committee decided to award one-off ‘acting-up’ payments to two staff who had taken on additional roles during the previous year.

In December 2019 the Remuneration Committee undertook specialist training provided by FIT Remuneration Consultants which included an update on trends in the broader sphere of executive remuneration. The meeting also received a report from the Chair who had attended the Professorial and Senior Staff salary committee.

In January 2020 the Remuneration Committee approved the recruitment package for the new Dean of the School of Management by correspondence.

In March 2020 the Remuneration Committee approved the recruitment package for the new Chief Operating Officer by correspondence, which was noted at the March meeting. The Committee also discussed the issue of diversity within the leadership team and raised this further with Council.

In July 2020 the Remuneration Committee reviewed the sector salary benchmark data for all of the roles within its remit. Decisions were also take to award one-off ‘acting-up’ payments to two staff who had taken on additional roles during the year.

The Vice-Chancellor

The Vice-Chancellor’s salary was set with reference to external benchmarks on recruitment in April 2019, making comparison with Universities of similar scale, complexity and ranking. The salary is not due for review until the third anniversary of his recruitment and until that point will only be adjusted by the Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff annual pay award. There are no performance-related elements in the remuneration package. One of the key principles adopted was for the Vice-Chancellor to be subject to the same policies as other staff wherever practical and details of the remuneration package were subsequently published.