Leeds Met governors paid up to £7,500

A YORKSHIRE university has paid its governors up to £7,500 under a controversial remuneration scheme.

Lord Woolmer, chairman of Leeds Metropolitan University’s board of governors, received £7,500 for his role over the past academic year after opting to waive half his full entitlement of £15,000.

Keith Ramsay took his full entitlement of £7,500 as chairman of the employment and staffing committee, while Alan Baker received £3,750 after waiving half of the £7,500 he was entitled to as estates committee chairman.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Brian Bouttell and Sam Marshall declined any payment although they were entitled to receive £7,500 for chairing the finance committee and the audit committee, respectively.

Leeds Met is understood to be the only higher education establishment in the country to pay its governors and eligibility for the payments has been reined in after the policy was questioned in an independent review of its board’s performance.

After payments were first made two years ago, the Yorkshire Post revealed that one of the governors, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, had taken up his full entitlement of £3,000 despite attending only one out of ten board meetings during the academic year.

This year’s payments were made under an amended policy which only allows the board chairman and the chairmen of four committees to receive payment.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A Leeds Met spokeswoman said: “This decision recognises the importance of the roles and the strong commitment shown by our chair of the board and chairs of committees over the past year.”

The total payment of £18,750 is down from last year’s £22,250, which was itself down from the £26,760 which was paid out in the first year of governor payments.