Brady's remuneration decreases as pay award rejected

President Brady's remuneration package has decreased by £15,000 for the 2023-24 academic year as Imperial's payments to the USS pension fund decreased. He also waived his pay award for the period between August 2023 and July 2024, opting to donate it to the Student Hardship Fund.

The changes mean that Brady now earns only 8.8 times more than the median employee, opposed to 9.2 times across 2022-23.

The reduction in remuneration is due to a reduction in Imperial's contributions to his pension. Due to a £14.1 billion deficit in the USS in 2020, the College was obligated to pay 6.2% of salaries into the deficit from April 2022 to 31st March 2024 as part of the pension's recovery plan. However, following the 2023 valuation of the pension scheme, a deficit plan was no longer required, and a new Schedule of Contributions, introduced from 1st January 2024 removed the requirement for universities to pay into the deficit. As a result, the remaining provision of £244.7 million was reversed, allowing for the College to accelerate part of their pay award into 2023-24.

Last year the JTU and the College agreed to a minimum 4% pay award as a result following several bouts of industrial action including a marking and assessment boycott.

Given President Brady's salary has remained at £375,000, it has amounted to real terms pay cut, as the Consumer Price Index increased by 2.2% in the 12 months between August 2023 and August 2024. Similarly, his housing allowance has remained at £76,000. Brady has opted not to live in College accommodation during his presidency, in contrast to his predecessor Alice Gast, who received a total of £269,000 towards College accommodation in the 2021-22 period.