One of the most powerful cost-cutting approaches in public services is “economies of visibility”. It is based on the idea that the more transparent you make spending, the less likely people are to spend improperly or extravagantly. The publication of MPs’ expenses means that never again should we see claims for moat cleaning.

In times of tight financial settlements it is therefore right that journalists hold governors and principals to account for our salary levels through stories such as the one Tes ran on the latest figures for 2015-16. They are largely met by taxpayers, who have the right to expect colleges to exercise prudence and responsibility. The government should also be loudly applauded for making principal pay so transparent. In a single spreadsheet, available to anybody, you can access the salary of every principal in England and compare it with the college’s financial performance. As far as I am aware, there is no equivalent report for leaders of schools, academies or multi-academy trusts, and that omission should be speedily corrected. 

It is no surprise that the most-read articles in the education press each year are those revealing the pay of senior leaders. I have the best job at Bedford and have had for the past 20 years. College principals are handsomely rewarded and have jobs that are intellectually stimulating, high status, enormous fun, and allow you to make a huge positive difference to our communities. However, the role is more challenging than in the past and your tenure can end abruptly as financial performance and inspection have become such high-stakes outcomes. This, in turn, has reduced the attractiveness of the role for many and it is also bound to affect the way principals approach their remuneration committees.

Even though I am well paid, I cannot afford to lose my job or be unemployed for any length of time. In a climate where you are only as good as your last set of financial results, job insecurity increases. In these circumstances, there is bound to be an erosion of trust, if not between a principal and the governing body, then between a principal and government. This will present itself in contracts with longer notice periods or more generous compensation for loss of office. It is no coincidence that some of the biggest payments in the Tes report were where there has been a high turnover of principals and where payments were made to a principal losing their livelihood.

Principals’ salaries ‘aren’t obviously extravagant’

The basic salaries of principals do not seem to be obviously extravagant, which suggests that remuneration committees take their role seriously. As far as I can judge, no college breaches the Corbyn test that a leader should not be paid more than 20 times the full-time salary of lowest paid staff. I am also pretty sure that if we could produce an Education Rich List, sector principals would not feature very strongly.

Where I do agree with the University and College Union is around consistency. At Bedford, all staff, from principal to caretaker, are treated the same when it comes to pay rises. It is hard to make a case for routinely giving managers higher pay rises than other staff, and that inequity would be a better focus in terms of making things visible - rather than a focus on principal salaries alone.  

Pay levels and pay rises are something we should reflect on more as a sector. The lesson from Premier League football is that managerial stability produces the best results. When the stakes in college performance become too high, and jobs become insecure (not just top jobs), overall sector performance suffers, as we see in average inspection grades.

The unforgiving focus on college outcomes is right and well-intentioned, but it also has unintended consequences, such as the loss of some very talented people from the sector. I suspect if we accepted that all colleges have the occasional rough patch we might see more stability, better long-term outcomes, fewer big payouts and a more equitable approach to pay rises.

Economies of visibility can also be used to champion positive improvements, so maybe next year we could instead see a league table of the top 10 colleges based on their average pay rises? Now that’s a table every one of us would like to make it on to.

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