[Responsible-digital-futures] Fwd: Anti-Corruption in UK universities

[Suchith Anand]

            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
<https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ethical-standards-government> –
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*
<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://spspa.exeter.ac.uk/people/profile/index.php?username=sa1131>
*https://ethicaldatainitiative.org* <https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/>
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