‘I would have to check my P60’: Edinburgh University chancellor ‘doesn’t know’ how much he is paid

In a meeting with the Education, Children and Young People Committee, Sir Peter Mathieson said that he doesn’t know his exact salary and said he “doesn’t scrutinise” his pay slips and “doesn’t know the exact figure”, despite earning over £400,000 per year.

Sir Peter, the vice chancellor of Edinburgh University, was called to give evidence of and explanation to the committee on Wednesday the 5th of June after the announcement in February that the university was looking to make cuts of £140m in cuts.

In the meeting, Sir Peter was questioned over his salary and pay package of £418,000 which makes him the highest paid university principal in Scotland.

He responded to committee convener, Douglas Ross, when asked about his high salary, saying: “The figure that’s often quoted in the press is something around £400,000 a year.

“I don’t think it’s quite as high as that, but I’m certainly very well paid.”

Douglas Ross, a Scottish Conservative MSP and former leader of the party, responded that the committee would have a “very difficult meeting” if he couldn’t answer a “very basic question” about his salary to which Sir Peter reaffirmed that he “didn’t carry the figure around in his head”.

Ross continued to challange the university’s principal revealing that he is paid more than the Scottish first minister and the Prime Minister of the UK.

Sir Peter confirmed he accepted a 5 per cent pay rise in 2024 and a 2.5 per cent pay rise in January amidst the university’s financial crisis.

However, he argued that CEOs of other organisations with a £1.5bn turnover (the estimated revenue of the university) are making between £5m and £17m per year.

In light of the university’s funding cuts, Douglas asked if his salary was an area which could see a reduction.

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Sir Peter insisted that “you could pay the senior team at the University of Edinburgh nothing and it would make almost no difference to the size of the expenditure challenge” it is facing.

This has come with some controversy as Sir Peter also admitted during the committee meeting that the university is seeking to reduce recurring costs by £140m-£90m of which will come from staffing costs and others from non-staff costs.

Earlier this year the chancellor came under fire after a Freedom of Information investigation by The National found he had spent over £40,000 on flights in less than a year, many of which business class tickets to locations like Hong Kong, Washington and Milan.

Staff at the university are also set for a six day strike in protest over the planned cuts to the staffing budget.

He told the committee “The only way to put the University of Edinburgh back onto a sustainable footing is to reduce our recurrent expenditure, and 58 per cent of our recurring expenditure is on staff”

This is in light of  the university’s top academic body declaring “no confidence” in the principal’s handling of the financial crisis.

The no-confidence vote was passed with a large majority of members at a University Senate meeting at the end of May.

Featured image via University of Edinburgh.