University of Sheffield boss claimed £17,000 in business class flights amid £50m shortfall and redundancies

Koen Lamberts, the University of Sheffield's vice-chancellor, spent the princely sum jetting around the world on work trips as his institution faces massive cuts and a voluntary redundancy scheme.

The figures for the chief - who in 2019 forced students to attend ‘compulsory lectures on climate change’ - include £16,778 on long-haul flights for three business trips, according to an exclusive by Sam Burton, from the newspaper The Tab.

They further cover £820 on non-standard rail travel to business events between May and July - with Lamberts' expenses rising 68 per cent compared with 2023.

The total amount of registered expenses for the vice-chancellor for this year is £17,799, with £200 filed for food and drink for business dinner meetings.

This comes as the university’s finances are under scrutiny amid its £50m shortfall and the launch of a voluntary severance scheme to target £23m in staff cuts.

Bosses hope this will allow it to regain a financial surplus by 2026 to 2027.

However, at a meeting of the Sheffield branch of the University and College Union (UCU) this month, 880 staff members voted for a no-confidence motion against the executive board.

Lamberts has been president and vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield since November 2018, having previously held the position at the University of York.

In September 2019, he announced students would undertake compulsory lessons on climate change to address the "emergency" facing the planet.

The Tab reported Lamberts saying at the time: “We are embedding education for sustainable development into the curriculum of every single course.

"There is a reason for doing this: whether our students go on to become engineers, doctors, linguists or historians, it doesn’t matter.

"We want every single one of them to be equipped with the education, the knowledge, the skills, the values and the attributes that they need to work and live in a sustainable way."

A University of Sheffield spokesperson told The Tab there was “a single set of rules for any of its employees (including the Vice-Chancellor) who incur expenses for University business purposes”.

And they said it is “committed to responsible financial management and these expenses are reviewed regularly and are detailed transparently on our website.”

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They added: “It is an important part of the vice-chancellor’s role to represent the University at events and to meet businesses, international partners and donors in the UK and around the world to secure funding and opportunities that benefit our staff, students and research.

“We are committed to ensuring value for money in the way University funds are spent and expenses are detailed transparently on our website.”

The University of Sheffield has been contacted for further comment.