Universities in the UK are spending hundreds of millions of pounds on confidentiality clauses and non-disclosure agreements signed by departing members of staff, according to an HE investigation.
HE sent freedom of information requests to about 130 higher-education institutions asking how many non-disclosure agreements—often called “gagging clauses”—had been signed by staff between 2014 and 2017. Universities were also asked to reveal the value of any payments made in connection to those agreements.
A total of 79 universities sent useable information detailing confidentiality payments worth a total of £130.4 million during the period, some £32.6 million a year. The data show that on average, each of the 79 universities made payments worth a total of just under £1.7m between 2014 and 2017.
This article on Research Professional News is only available to Research Professional or Pivot-RP users.
Research Professional users can log in and view the article via this link
Pivot-RP users can log in and view the article via this link.