Ministers have vowed to streamline the arduous process of approving high-end principal salaries, as colleges fume over “unacceptable” lengthy delays impacting the recruitment of leaders.
Bosses have slammed the bureaucracy involved in applying for government permission to hire senior staff with a pay package of £150,000 or more through a process which is causing waiting times of up to five months, FE Week has learned.
Following reclassification to the public sector in late 2022, colleges are required to get permission from the Department for Education and then the chief secretary to the Treasury for pay of £150,000 and above.
The threshold comprises of base salary, fees, pension in excess of normal levels and benefits in kind. Colleges also now need to get permission to award bonuses of more than £17,500.
