Cash and complaints 1

You report that students decided not to bring a complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator because they feared they would not get compensation ("Newport spat could set legal precedent", August 11).

I do not know the details of this case, but in general the award of compensation is one of the remedies that is within the powers of the OIA and is regularly used where a complaint is found to be justified.

Details of amounts recommended can be found in the illustrative case summaries on our website or in our annual report for 2005, where it is noted that a total of £260,290 compensation was recommended.

Baroness Deech
Office of the Independent
Adjudicator for Higher Education