Large academy trust sees chief executive’s pay rise much faster than that of teachers as a whole, at at least 7 per cent

One of England’s larger academy trusts saw its chief executive’s salary rise by at least seven per cent last year –well in advance of the national pay rise for teachers –while his pension package climbed by ten per cent to approaching �55,000 annually.

Paul Tarn, chief executive of the 51-school Delta Academies Trust, based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, saw his pay increase by around £20,000, from £205-£210,000 in 2019-20 to £225-£230,000 last year, its just-published annual accounts show. This constitutes a rise in the range of 7.1 to 12.1 per cent, or a 9.6 per cent increase if he were paid in the middle of the published range for each year.

Meanwhile, Tarn’s employer’s pensions contributions rose from £49,039 to £53,945, the latter being a sum of approaching £4,500 a month. This is a rise of exactly 10 per cent.

The trust said Tarn’s remuneration had been set “following a robust review and market benchmarking process”. However, his rise was comfortably larger than those of other large trusts which have published accounts so far during this month’s academy reporting season.

Tarn’s remuneration rise, which took his total pay and pensions package during 2020-21 to a minimum of £278,945, is clearly higher than that awarded by the government to all teachers nationally.