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 – made in January by LCA London Ltd, which trades under the name ARU London – 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.

����Vlog

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.

����Vlog

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 – ARU vice-chancellor Roderick Watkins, ARU secretary Paul Bogle, and Roger Leung, LCA’s finance director – 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”.

����Vlog

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