Former v-c David Richardson left crisis-hit UEA with £97K pay-off

The former vice-chancellor of the crisis-hit University of East Anglia got a payout of nearly £100,000 when he resigned, it has been revealed.

David Richardson stepped down with immediate effect in February when it emerged that the Norwich institution faced a £45 million deficit over the next three years. He said that the time had come “for me to step away so that UEA can develop a new long-term vision to take it forward”.

Now UEA’s annual accounts have revealed that Professor Richardson left with a £97,000 pay-off equivalent to six months’ salary in lieu of notice.

A UEA spokesperson said the payment was in line with Professor Richardson’s contract, meaning he received a final pay package of £371,000 for the seven months he served as vice-chancellor last year.

Professor Richardson was replaced initially by Christine Bovis-Cnossen, UEA’s provost and deputy vice-chancellor, and then by former University of Greenwich vice-chancellor David Maguire.

In total, cash-strapped UEA paid out £499,000 in remuneration to its three vice-chancellors – up from £336,000 last year.

Mark Walmsley, chair of the University and College Union branch at UEA, said staff were disappointed to see that the former vice-chancellor felt able to take a sizeable settlement at a time when colleagues were at risk of redundancy.

“It is unconscionable that at the same time colleagues were having to contemplate the end of decades of service to UEA, the leader responsible for the financial crisis walked away with an amount that would have saved their jobs,” he said.

The financial statements revealed a surplus for the year of £5.9 million, but UEA’s underlying financial position, which excludes movement regarding the volatile Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), was a deficit of £18.2 million.

This has worsened from the underlying deficit of £13.9 million last year.

The university says the 2022 student recruitment cycle was challenging, due in part to a lack of on-campus open day visitors in the previous year because of the pandemic and the continued impact on exam results from teacher and centre assessed grades.

“This has seen many higher-ranking universities over-recruit with many mid-tariff universities such as UEA falling short of their undergraduate targets,” it says.

“The financial impact of this has been mitigated by a significant increase in postgraduate recruitment from [the] international market.”

Tuition fees from full-time UK students fell by 7 per cent to £107.1 million year-on-year, but increased by 9 per cent among overseas learners, to £41.3 million.

UEA is also having to address critical work on the grade II-listed Lasdun Wall – named after architect Denys Lasdun – which will continue despite the financial constraints.

Analysis of the financial statements released so far by other institutions reveal large bonuses to university chiefs.

Edward Peck received a £28,000 bonus from Nottingham Trent University, as part of his £397,000 total pay package.

Malcolm Press, vice-chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University, was awarded performance-related pay of £32,000 – to go with the £30,000 bonus he received in 2021-22. And Edge Hill University leader John Cater received a £20,000 bonus, as he did the year before.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com