DEPUTY First Minister John Swinney has been urged to make a statement on the "outrageous" 17 per cent pay hike for a college executive.

The Scottish Parliament's public audit committee acted after hearing evidence that the Glasgow Colleges Regional Board (GCRB) made the payment despite warnings that is was difficult to justify.

Earlier this week, The Herald revealed that Robin Ashton, the executive director of the GCRB, will see his salary rise from £81,000 to £95,000.

The letter to Mr Swinney from committee chairwoman Jackie Baillie called on him to issue a public statement that "excessive pay demands” are wrong.

It said: "After an extended period of public pay restraint and with established pay policies in place, it would be entirely inappropriate for anyone in the college sector to be awarded a pay increase significantly higher than that received by other workers.

“This would not only be an insult to those who provide vital public services, but may also send a signal across the college sector, and beyond, that excessively high pay rises are acceptable.”

A spokeswoman for GCRB said: "We would be happy to provide the public audit committee with the full information considered by its board and which members of the committee did not have available to them when they raised matters in the session."

On Thursday, funding bosses came under pressure to block the pay increase.

MSPs criticised the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) for failing to prevent the rise.

The public accounts committee heard that SFC interim chief executive Dr John Kemp had decided not to use his power to step in over the decision because such a move should only happen in extreme circumstances.

Mr Kemp said he had instead written to Mr Smith making his views clear and was therefore “disappointed” about the subsequent decision that was reached.

He said: “My view was that I had confidence in the governance of GCRB and I have to say my anticipation was that, after having seen my letter and considered the facts, it was unlikely they would take the decision to increase the salary. This is a decision that I don’t agree with, but it was properly taken.”

SNP MSP Alex Neil pressed Dr Kemp on whether he could still step in to prevent the rise, which he described as “absolutely beyond belief” and “outrageous”.

He said: “Here we are still in a year when we’re telling nurses that they get one per cent and we’re talking about a nearly 20 per cent rise for somebody who is already on a very substantial salary which you clearly have indicated that you don’t agree with. Why are you not using your powers?

“The public are really getting pretty fed up and the people, the nurses for example, who are paid about one third of this chief executive’s current salary in some cases, their taxes are funding these increases.

“Why are you not using your powers to set an example? If you don’t use your powers you’re sending out the wrong message to the rest of the college sector about these excessive pay rises.”

In response, Dr Kemp said he would consider whether the next option was to use the power to intervene or whether it was appropriate to open further dialogue with GCRB.

Paul Johnston, the Scottish Government’s director general of education, told the committee the Scottish Government was concerned about bodies that were awarding pay increases “well in excess of what would be expected in terms of public sector arrangements”.

He said he understood “the matter is not yet fully concluded” and further discussions would be held with the SFC about the “most appropriate way to proceed”.