Policy project 'flawed'

A multi-million pound research project used to inform government policy is "low-level, flawed, and of little or no validity", a senior researcher responsible for the work has said.

The research by Newcastle University's centre for family studies, commissioned by the Lord Chancellor's department to evaluate provisions in the Family Law Act, is "damagingly collusive", the project's principal research associate said.

Research associate Tony Agathangelou, who was number two at the centre, made the claims internally in a letter to the vice-chancellor in February this year. He has just been sacked - following an internal tribunal - for misrepresenting his position when he was first employed by the university in 1997. But Dr Agathangelou believes his dismissal is directly related to his criticism. He is appealing to the university against his dismissal, and is supported by the Association of University Teachers.

The research involves evaluating provisions in the 1996 Family Law Act, under which couples considering a divorce are compelled to attend "information meetings" to evaluate and reflect on their options before they can consider issuing divorce proceedings.

Dr Agathangelou said he was concerned that volunteers in the Newcastle research projects were unrepresentative, as they were already going ahead with divorce plans, and had volunteered for counselling. He claims that his complaints about the research project have been supported by an internal critique.

The researcher warned that the university is too collusive with the Lord Chancellor's department. The project, he said, "is little more than a naive justification for the whims of the department's civil servants". He said the work is "political activity" with little academic value.

Dr Agathangelou, who was employed in September 1997 on a two-year contract for the project, has lodged an appeal against his dismissal. He is expected to claim at appeal that he has been victimised for blowing the whistle.

The internal tribunal that recommended Dr Agathangelou's dismissal upheld university charges that he had misrepresented his position on his appointment. After appointing him, the university discovered that Dr Agathangelou had been dismissed from Nene College in 1996. The tribunal noted that "Dr Agathangelou was unreasonably treated" by Nene, and that he was appointed to Newcastle in 1997 outside formal selection procedures, and that he was never explicitly asked about his departure from Nene.

It noted that he is an "academic of standing", and that "many of the allegations made (against him) by the university did not... constitute good cause for dismissal". It said the case against him had "been overburdened by allegations which should not have been brought".

Chris Harris, the university's director of public affairs, could not comment in detail until after the appeal, but said the university's investigations found that there was no substance to Dr Agathangelou's criticisms of the research. Proceedings had been carried out "according to the university statutes".

The Lord Chancellor's department said: "Our research advisory group, which includes ten assessors, has considered the criticisms raised by Dr Agathangelou, and found them to be groundless. The advisory group has endorsed the high quality of the research."

After first raising concerns with his head of department in November 1997, Dr Agathangelou was suspended in February 1998. A week after his suspension, and three months after he first raised complaints, the university charged him with misrepresenting his previous position.