From suchith.anand at ethicaldatainitiative.org Wed Aug 5 13:28:24 2026 From: suchith.anand at ethicaldatainitiative.org (Suchith Anand) Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2026 13:28:24 +0100 Subject: [Responsible-digital-futures] Anti-Corruption in UK universities Message-ID: Dear colleagues, According to the Guardian article dated 8 July 2026 , three people have been arrested as part of an investigation into financial crimes involving the University of Greater Manchester, including allegations of fraud, bribery and money laundering. Details at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/jul/08/three-arrested-investigation-university-of-greater-manchester https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0ly5550jkxo https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/dec/04/regulators-inquiry-university-greater-manchester-fraud-claims These news on alleged financial irregularities at the University of Greater Manchester raises questions on the governance and financial structures in UK Higher Education. This also raises some serious questions of the Office for Students and why they didn't catch any of this? The police only got involved thanks to some good local investigative journalism. Let's protect actual journalism, and let's change the governance & funding system of UK Higher Education. What does Andy Burnham?s promise to transfer power from Westminster to local communities mean for academic communities? This article *?UK devolution must extend to its authoritarian universities?* published in Times Higher Education might be of interest. Institutions whose managers are unaccountable to their staff can never be truly civic universities, says Krzysztof Nawratek. Details at https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/uk-devolution-must-extend-its-authoritarian-universities This article on *?A Co-operative Future for Britain?s Universities?*? by Dr Michael Paraskos might be of interest. Details at https://party.coop/2026/07/03/a-co-operative-future-for-britains-universities/ This book launched in July 2026 titled ?*Corrupted Kingdom: Britain?s Disappearing Integrity ? and How We Can Get It Back? * by Professor Robert Barrington (Professor of Anti-Corruption Practice at the University of Sussex) might be of interest. Details at https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/centre-for-study-of-corruption/index The UK's universities are facing an unprecedented crisis. Across the sector, thousands of jobs are being lost, departments are shrinking, and research capacity is being eroded. I request the UK government to investigate the role of consultancy firms involved in advising the university senior managements on ?restructuring? and senior university management of many UK universities taking significant pay rises and bonuses throughout a worsening national economic situation. Best wishes Suchith Professor Suchith Anand Professor of Practice in Science Policy | Senior Adviser to Governments and International Organisations | Scientist | Global Citizen | Science Diplomacy | SDG Volunteer and Advocate https://spspa.exeter.ac.uk/people/profile/index.php?username=sa1131 https://ethicaldatainitiative.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From suchith.anand at ethicaldatainitiative.org Fri Aug 14 15:41:26 2026 From: suchith.anand at ethicaldatainitiative.org (Suchith Anand) Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2026 15:41:26 +0100 Subject: [Responsible-digital-futures] Fwd: Anti-Corruption in UK universities In-Reply-To: <22DBBBC3-D47D-482C-A1E2-6BF4714B222A@gmail.com> References: <22DBBBC3-D47D-482C-A1E2-6BF4714B222A@gmail.com> Message-ID: This hybrid event might be of interest. Does the UK do enough to guard against corruption in public life? As concerns about standards in public life grow, is the UK prepared to tackle the problems? Thursday 17 September 2026, 17:30 ? 18:30 (BST) High-profile incidents of misconduct, political donations, and freebies have all raised concerns about standards and integrity in UK public life ? so what more can be done to tackle corruption in national and local government? In his new book Corrupted Kingdom, Robert Barrington argues that corruption in Britain is not just a matter of isolated scandals but reflects deeper systemic vulnerabilities that risk undermining trust in democratic institutions. This Institute for Government event will bring together a panel of experts ? including Robert ? to explore the scale and nature of corruption risks in the UK today, examine where current safeguards are working or falling short, and discuss what reforms may be needed to strengthen transparency and accountability. Details at *https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/does-uk-do-enough-against-corruption-public-life* Best wishes Suchith On 9 Aug 2026, at 19:41, Suchith Anand wrote: Dear colleagues, The University of Greater Manchester vice-chancellor suspended last year over allegations of financial mismanagement and other misconduct has been sacked from his post. Details at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1j19yx4026o Are UK universities doing enough to monitor internal fraud or financial misconduct? UK universities should enforce strict anti-corruption measures under the UK Bribery Act 2010. UK universities would do well to learn from the mistakes of Australian and Canadian institutions foolish enough to engage with corporate consultants Nous etc. These companies promises of efficiency and savings have ultimately proven costly and incredibly damaging to higher education, staff and students. ?Nousferatu?: Are corporate consultants extracting the lifeblood from universities? Details at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10714413.2023.2290972#d1e114 ?Mind-boggling stupidity?: The consultancy that captured universities https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/education/2025/06/14/mind-boggling-stupidity-the-consultancy-that-captured-universities "Campus Chaos" on Australian ABC is a must watch for anyone working in a UK university - sobering to see what is going on in Australian Universities, and how inflated VC and executive salaries, institutional opacity, and terrible advice from consulting firms has led to needless job and course cuts in many Australian universities. This is essentially vandalism of an essential social good. Working at the University of Exeter where over 500 of my academic colleagues were notified in June 2026 that they are at risk of redundancy , the revelations in this documentary are familiar. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-30/campus-chaos/106513874 Please sign our petition to defend Humanities and Social Science. Over 35,000 have signed the petition to stop redundancies at the University of Exeter. Details at https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/geoforall/2026-July/006684.html I request the UK government to investigate the role of consultancy firms involved in advising the university senior managements on ?restructuring? and senior university management of many UK universities taking significant pay rises and bonuses. Best wishes Suchith On 5 Aug 2026, at 13:18, Suchith Anand wrote: Dear colleagues, According to the Guardian article dated 8 July 2026 , three people have been arrested as part of an investigation into financial crimes involving the University of Greater Manchester, including allegations of fraud, bribery and money laundering. Details at https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/jul/08/three-arrested-investigation-university-of-greater-manchester https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0ly5550jkxo https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/dec/04/regulators-inquiry-university-greater-manchester-fraud-claims These news on alleged financial irregularities at the University of Greater Manchester raises questions on the governance and financial structures in UK Higher Education. This also raises some serious questions of the Office for Students and why they didn't catch any of this? The police only got involved thanks to some good local investigative journalism. Let's protect actual journalism, and let's change the governance & funding system of UK Higher Education. What does Andy Burnham?s promise to transfer power from Westminster to local communities mean for academic communities? This article *?UK devolution must extend to its authoritarian universities?* published in Times Higher Education might be of interest. Institutions whose managers are unaccountable to their staff can never be truly civic universities, says Krzysztof Nawratek. Details at https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/uk-devolution-must-extend-its-authoritarian-universities This article on *?A Co-operative Future for Britain?s Universities?*? by Dr Michael Paraskos might be of interest. Details at https://party.coop/2026/07/03/a-co-operative-future-for-britains-universities/ This book launched in July 2026 titled ?*Corrupted Kingdom: Britain?s Disappearing Integrity ? and How We Can Get It Back? *by Professor Robert Barrington (Professor of Anti-Corruption Practice at the University of Sussex) might be of interest. Details at https://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/centres/centre-for-study-of-corruption/index The UK's universities are facing an unprecedented crisis. Across the sector, thousands of jobs are being lost, departments are shrinking, and research capacity is being eroded. I request the UK government to investigate the role of consultancy firms involved in advising the university senior managements on ?restructuring? and senior university management of many UK universities taking significant pay rises and bonuses throughout a worsening national economic situation. Best wishes Suchith Professor Suchith Anand Professor of Practice in Science Policy | Senior Adviser to Governments and International Organisations | Scientist | Global Citizen | Science Diplomacy | SDG Volunteer and Advocate *https://spspa.exeter.ac.uk/people/profile/index.php?username=sa1131* *https://ethicaldatainitiative.org* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From suchith.anand at ethicaldatainitiative.org Sat Aug 15 23:02:40 2026 From: suchith.anand at ethicaldatainitiative.org (Suchith Anand) Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2026 23:02:40 +0100 Subject: [Responsible-digital-futures] The need for Anti-Racism in UK Universities Message-ID: Dear colleagues, I am deeply saddened to learn about the tragic death of Professor Jason Arday. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, colleagues, and students. Much love and solidarity to all Black and Brown sisters and brothers in the face of this ugly racism. The level of harassment that Jason suffered and the racism he was subjected to has been sickening and must be investigated. The press, wider media circles and the University of Cambridge have so much to answer for. Jason?s death should be a wake-up call for higher education worldwide, forcing us to confront the structural racism, unequal scrutiny, exclusion, and lack of compassion that still persist within academia and wider society. There are many questions that University of Cambridge have to answer. I was shocked to read this article by Byline Times raising serious concerns about the safeguarding of students and foreign influence at Cambridge University. Details at https://bylinetimes.com/2026/07/09/peter-thiel-and-reform-uks-cambridge-university-pipeline-project/ Why is the Office of Students and the UK Government not investigating the University of Cambridge? I am an opponent of racism in science and academia. It is sad fact that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and students are suffering racial discrimination in silence for many years in UK universities. There is a huge pressure to hide racial discrimination, bullying, harassment under the carpet and silence colleagues who raise these issues. I am grateful to the International Science Council for giving me the courage to share about racial discrimination that I had to suffer over 10 years during my early career at a UK university. I decided to share my experience so that in future colleagues and students don?t suffer racism. Details at https://council.science/current/blog/no-problem-is-too-big-combating-discrimination-in-geospatial-science/ In March 2023, I have emailed an Open Letter on *?Racism in UK Universities?* to the Vice Chancellors of all UK universities, Research Funders, Russell Group, Universities UK to look into the issue of racial discrimination happening in many universities in the UK as it is affecting thousands of Black and minority ethnic staff and students. Details at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/open-letter-racism-uk-universities-suchith-anand *Open Letter on REF 2029 - Research Culture * https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/geoforall/2025-September/006617.html We must continue Professor Jason Arday's important work to provide opportunities to more people from disadvantaged backgrounds and truly democratise higher education. This includes developing anti-racist strategies in higher education. I want to publicly express my gratitude and admiration to all Black and Global Majority colleagues who I work with and learn from everyday. Your work and wisdom makes our society better. Thank you. ?Be the change that you wish to see in the world.? - Mahatma Gandhi Let?s build a world beyond racism and discrimination, where we all exercise our human rights. Be a human rights champion! Suchith -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: