Questions have been raised after it emerged that the company which operates Anglia Ruskin University¡¯s London branch campus made a ?50,000 donation to the Conservative Party in an apparent ¡°administrative error¡±.

The university is understood to?have only recently become aware of?the donation ¨C made in?January by?LCA London?Ltd, which trades under the name ARU London ¨C when the Electoral Commission listed the gift on?its website.

Universities, as registered charities, are not permitted to make political donations. LCA London is a private company owned by Ravi Gill, who is also chair of ARU London.

ARU said that the donation was a personal gift from Mr Gill, but the payment was ¡°mistakenly made through an account held by LCA London¡±. The error has since been corrected, the university said.

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However, the University and College Union branch at ARU said that the episode risked damaging trust in the institution and tarnishing its reputation.

¡°The fact that such a large sum can be paid as a result of an ¡®administrative error¡¯ shows, at best, an absence of appropriate financial controls within the company,¡± the branch said.

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LCA originally operated as the London College of Accountancy before being incorporated into ARU in 2010. Mr Gill, a certified accountant, was previously awarded an honorary doctorate by the university.

The union branch questioned why the other directors of LCA London ¨C ARU vice-chancellor Roderick Watkins, ARU secretary Paul Bogle, and Roger Leung, LCA¡¯s finance director ¨C were seemingly unaware of the payment.

Referring to Professor Watkins and Mr Bogle, the branch said it was ¡°left wondering what this all implies about the rigour and competence of these two highly paid custodians of our university¡±.

Jo Grady, UCU¡¯s general secretary, said that the case ¡°raises serious concerns about the opaque corporate structures universities like ARU use, and whether public institutions should be creating subsidiary companies when they can¡¯t even keep track of where tens of thousands of pounds ends up¡±.

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ARU describes LCA London as a ¡°sub-contractual partner¡±. While as the degree-awarding partner it controls the delivery, content and quality of the courses on offer, it does not manage the day-to-day operation of the company.

¡°The owner of LCA London Ltd is a private individual who made a personal donation. Initially, payment was mistakenly made through an account held by LCA London Ltd. That mistake has been corrected,¡± an ARU spokesman said.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com