Head of cash-strapped Scots university where staff face job loses enjoyed luxury junket to Barbados
Professor James Miller, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), claimed an astonishing £37,429 in travelling expenses over the last two years visiting exotic locations.
The head of a cash-strapped university where hundreds of staff face job losses enjoyed a luxury £5970 junket to Barbados.
Professor James Miller, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), claimed an astonishing £37,429 in travelling expenses over the last two years visiting exotic locations which also included Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and South Africa.
The revelations come as lecturers and staff ballot for strike action over potential job losses after the university recorded a £14.4 million deficit in 2023/24.
Despite the financial crisis the uni boss, who earns £288,000 a year including pension contributions, is among 12 senior staff at UWS who have claimed more than £163,000 in expenses in less than two years.
When asked the university refused to confirm if Professor Miller travelled on first or business class flights or reveal which luxury hotel he stayed in while in Barbados.
Last night politicians criticised the eye watering expenditure as scores of staff face losing their job and as universities across the sector face teaching budgets being slashed.
Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for education and skills Miles Briggs said: “Eyebrows will be raised at this spending on overseas trips while the university faces cuts.
“But the entire further education sector is under pressure for every penny thanks to the SNP government’s failure to produce a realistic funding model.”
Meanwhile Scottish Labour Education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy added: “At a time when university finances are stretched to breaking point and jobs are at risk, it is vital that every penny is being spent wisely.
“Right across Scotland universities are facing financial challenges but the SNP is stuck defending a broken status quo.
“Scottish Labour is working with the sector to develop a new funding model that will provide young Scots with opportunities and allow our world-class universities to thrive.”
UWS has previously said it was dealing with a “challenging financial environment” along with the rest of higher education and its governing body has agreed an £8.4million deficit for the current financial year.
However despite the financial challenges, just 12 staff ran up £163,466.18 on flights, hotels, dinners, travel and expenses between April 2023 and September 2024.
We can reveal that a trip to Barbados taken by Professor Miller cost £5,970 for flights and hotel accommodation in November 2023.
The four day event was described on expenses claims as “a Strategic Partnership Agreement” and saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus and the UWS.
In October 2023 Professor Miller also spent £5,631.09 on flights and accommodation to attend COP28 Partnership Meetings in Dubai and £5,867.28 on return flights to South Africa to present at the GEC+Africa 2024 Congress in February last year.
In August, return flights to attend the two day “Going Global” conference held in Abuja, Nigeria, cost £5,058.81 and a trip to Dubai to preside at graduations ceremonies cost £3,717.98 in October the same year.
Other expenses included £3,172.80 for return flights from Dubai to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur as well as £2,782.28 for return flights to New York to attend and participate in the Tartan Day Parade in April 2024.
Expenses claimed also covered additional UK trips to Manchester, Liverpool, Inverness and London between August 2023 and September 2024.
Professor Dr Kasim Sheikh, former Dean of School of Business and Creative Industries, ran up £34,409.37 in expenses for trips to places including Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Dubai.
Flights to Malaysia in April 2024 cost £792.63, with accommodation at £1064.02. Expenses incurred on the trip was £637.71.
Gordon Morison, the Dean of School of Computing, Engineering & Physical Sciences ran up £30,082.67 for travel and accommodation to destinations including Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The Vice-Principal of Planning and Recruitment also cost £28,055.48 for trips to Dubai, Malaysia and China.
Expenses also covered trips to UK destinations like Edinburgh, London and included train, taxi, bus and underground subway tickets, as well as parking, travel to airports and costs for working dinners.
Other senior officials wracked up thousands of pounds worth of claims travelling to Portugal, Germany and Denmark.
Expenses also covered trips to UK destinations like Edinburgh, London and included train, taxi, bus and underground subway tickets, as well as parking, travel to airports and costs for working dinners.
The costs, revealed under freedom of information laws, were amassed over the 2023/2024 financial year and from August 2024 to January.
Last night the university defended the trips taken by staff.
A spokesperson for the UWS said: “Like all universities, growing our income through onshore international student recruitment and global transnational education is essential to the financial sustainability of the University and necessitates travel, the cost of which is more than offset, by orders of magnitude, through the income secured – income that funds several hundred jobs.”
UWS has campuses in Ayr, Dumfries, Lanarkshire, London and Paisley and employs around 2,000 staff.
The university had a student headcount of 21,000 in the 23/24 academic year.
In April the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) announced its teaching allocations for higher education institutions which amount to £727m for the 2025-26 academic year.
The same month both EIS and Unison opened indicative ballots for strike action at UWS.
The EIS vote closed last week ( 9 May) and Unison’s vote will close on 15 May.
In December the principal of Dundee University resigned, days after it was revealed he had taken a £7,000 business trip to Hong Kong with a colleague.
Professor Iain Gillespie had stood down as principal and vice chancellor with immediate effect having held the roles since January 2021.
Details of the trip emerged as the university faced cutting its workforce by 700 as it attempted to tackle a £35 million deficit.
Last month the institution unveiled an alternative recovery plan which proposes 300 job losses from its staff of over 3,000.
Professor Miller took up the role at UWS in November 2022 from the interim Principal and Vice Chancellor, Professor Lucy Meredith.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:“Universities are autonomous institutions and matters relating to remuneration and expenditure are for them to determine.
“Scotland’s universities make a valuable contribution to our economy and wider society. Ministers listened closely to the sector in the development of this year’s budget, and we are investing over £1.1 billion in university teaching and research in 2025-26.
“Ministers continue to engage with the sector and are open to exploring the future funding model of universities, but we are clear that this Government will not reintroduce tuition fees.
"Access to higher education must be based on the ability to learn, not the ability to pay. Broader financial pressures facing the sector remain, including the UK Government’s migration policies, employee National Insurance contributions, and inflationary pressures.”