BOSSES at Bournemouth University have been accused of “lining their pockets” after it emerged that the vice-chancellor took a 19 per cent pay rise.

Senior managers’ pay rose 30 per cent in 2013 at a time when staff staged two strikes in protest at a one per cent pay offer. The University and College Union has called the one per cent offer “miserly”.

UCU spokesperson John Brissenden said: “Bosses at Bournemouth University are lining their pockets at the expense of staff and students. UCU members have seen their pay cut in real terms by 13 per cent in the past five years as bosses have pleaded poverty to keep pay down.

“These eye-watering pay rises demonstrate the startling hypocrisy of a leadership who believe there is one rule for them and one for everyone else.

“Staff, students and parents will understandably wonder how the university can justify such huge pay rises at a time when staff have been forced to accept pay cuts.”

The union pointed to figures in the university’s financial statement showing the vice-chancellor Professor John Vinney had seen his salary rise by nearly 19 per cent to £211,000 in 2013. His pay package was worth £244,000 including pension contributions and benefits in kind, the union said.

It said the pay for six top managers at the university – all on six-figure salaries – had risen 30 per cent.

The number of academic staff at the university had decreased by eight per cent since 2008, the university said.

The union plans another one-day strike in February, in conjunction with the Unison and Unite unions, and a series of weekly two-hour strikes from January 20.

A university statement said senior staff’s pay increases were set at one per cent in 2013 and remuneration was set by an independent committee according to “benchmark data for the sector”.

It added: “The vice-chancellor of BU did receive a pay increase in 2012, but is still paid below the average for vice-chancellor roles in the UK. He was paid substantially below the benchmark for the first two years of his appointment.

“In relation to the other senior management at BU, their annual cost of living increases have been set at, or below that, of other staff for the past four years.”