Former University of Aberdeen principal asked to repay £119,000

Prof Sir Ian Diamond revealed his plan to retire in 2017

The former principal of the University of Aberdeen is being asked to repay £119,000 of a pay-off he received.

Prof Sir Ian Diamond announced his plans to retire in 2017, but his 12-month notice period only began when he had actually left his post in 2018.

The university repaid £119,000 of grant money to the Scottish Funding Council in February.

The university's governing body will now "invite him to consider a repayment of the same amount to the university".

The SFC previously said: "We decided to review the payment made to the former principal of the University of Aberdeen because the financial statements did not appear to accord with our understanding of the principal's retirement and we were not satisfied with the university's response to our initial enquiries.

"The former principal's total remuneration disclosed in the financial statements for 2017-18 was £601,000. In addition, a payment of £60,000 was made in relation to the former principal, for 'outplacement support'."

• University repays £119,000 over principal pay-off

• Review into university principal payment

Esther Roberton, senior governor of the University of Aberdeen, said: "Following publication of the Scottish Funding Council's review into the payment made to the university's former principal, a small internal working group was formed to undertake a review and address findings of that report.

"Court - the university's governing body - met and considered the working group's report. A series of actions to be taken by the university in response to the SFC report, around responsibilities, guidelines and governance procedures, were approved.

"Court also resolved that as the SFC had required the university to repay a proportion of its grant in respect of the settlement made to the former principal, we should invite him to consider a repayment of the same amount to the university. The university repaid £119,000 to the SFC in February."

Prof Diamond became chief executive of the UK Statistics Authority after he retired from the university.