To whom it may concern,

To say that I am discontent with your level of service would be a massive understatement.

I moved to Norwich and began studying at the UEA in 2004. In 2006, it became very clear that my daughter had prolific special needs and was significantly behind her peers. This unfortunately coincided with my studies and I felt I had not achieved the results to as high a standard as what they had been. After liaising with my senior advisor at the university, Timothy Marshall, at the end of May 2006, I decided that intercalating until the following January 2007 would be beneficial to me as it would allow me to get Alicia more settled and issued with a statement of Special Educational Needs. However, the university told you that I started my break from my studies in the May 2006; I am currently in the process of asking the university to amend this as I sat my exams and completed the majority of my work before deciding to start the intercalation period. If I can prove this, I will be contacting you again as I believe you will owe me some money. On applying for my student loan from January 2007 to June 2007, I received a letter shortly after applying stating that I had been overpaid £4,518.28 collectively for grants in the year previous. I was baffled as I had primarily thought that I had intercalated from September to January, but even so, how can you justify my apparently being overpaid this much if I had left university in the May? Surely, this amount was for the full year not for the period at the end of the academic year.

After realising I had a significantly smaller payment than in previous years, I saw a Dean at the Dean of Students office called Vivienne Castleton who was equally baffled as I was. She then contacted John Potter to discuss the amount which I had taken directly out of this years entitlement as she had highlighted that I had been award a full year’s student loan, instead of the two-thirds required, as I wasn’t studying for a complete year. He admitted to her that he had failed to override the system to consider this. This discrepancy subsequently meant that I was unable to apply for support with my rent payments as my income was apparently too high and I was forced into financial hardship. I could not afford to pay for childcare, I had to sell my car and walk the four miles to university, as I could not even afford the bus. This ‘mistake’ has never been apologised for or rectified, or explained to me in any way, however, I have an official at the university who will verify this as it is in my file kept in the Dean office. I believe my childminder at the time also contacted you as she was also affected, as toward the end of the academic year, I had no money to pay her. If you have record of this, which I believe you should have, you will see that Linda Hardy was in touch with John Potter on at least one occasion.

This mistake also meant that, in order to attempt to catch up with my priority debts I had to work as well as study and look after my children. After several months of juggling this mess around, I was signed off work ill and had to undergo an operation associated with ongoing health problems, all of this was triggered by stress and exhaustion.

Furthermore, after finally completing my course in June 2008, I received a letter in November from the Student Loans Company regarding an apparent £2608.28 I need to pay back. Having realised I had overlooked the CCG form; I rang in to request why I had not received one. I was informed that forms had been issued but I had not received them. I requested that the forms be sent again and after waiting for them to come, and not receiving anything, I contacted the office again. This time I was informed that I could download them, and when I checked this and realised that the only forms available for download were for the current academic year and weren’t appropriate so I again called and was informed they would be issued via the post. Again, nothing came, so I rang into the LEA again and was informed that I could still apply using the online form, as the dates were the same for the period. Therefore, I downloaded the form and had to email a friend to print it as I could not afford to get a printer and filled it in accordingly.

On 6 July 2009, I arrived home from work to find a letter from you stating that you are not going to award my claim for this period, subsequently meaning that I have to pay back £2,608.28 for this period. This is despite the fact I have already paid MORE than this in childcare to my childminder (and have proved, she also written verification of this as requested by you despite you not settling the claim), meaning that I will be paying over and above what I should be. This letter from David Andrews included one of the ‘apparently’ issued letters following your attempt to issue me a form and high-lighted the deadline – however, why would you continually advise me this year that I could still apply if you were simply going to revert to the initial deadline quoted in one of the letters I had not received? This information led me to believe that the period I had provided evidence for would be covered as I thought you would still consider my application, but you have not at all. In fact, from a note scribbled on the letter received on the 6th July, you did not contact me at all, I was the first to contact you to enquire as to why I had not heard anything from them.

I have always believed that the Local Education Authority were supposed to support the students in the local area instead of forcing them into hardship and make them repay back unfair debts. Why have the discrepancies on your part overlooked my circumstances? Do you realise the affect it has had on my life as well as my degree, most prolifically the period in 2007 when I paid all that money back without you even considering that I may need it in order to pay for the current year? In addition, if that amount was overpaid, why was it not vocalised before January 2007 when I returned to university? You had from May 2006 in which to contact me. Why couldn’t I have paid the grant overpayment off in instalments? I believe you would have received the evidence from the intercalation as I remember my senior advisor telling me that you required evidence in order to support my future finance. You knew that I had no other income than that I was receiving as a student, so why does it feel like I have been treated very unfairly.

I have paperwork to support my claim, apart from the letter and form which was ‘apparently’ issued to me prior to November 2008. I have contacted the Local Government Ombudsman to make a complaint about the above information, as I believe I need compensating. I am also liaising with the student union on Friday (10th July 2009) regarding this matter as I have been very much affected by all of this and feel that the nonchalant conversations I have had with ‘Student Support’ staff regarding any of the issues I have. I want this to be taken seriously and for my complaint, whether you look at it independently or separately, to be answered in full.

Yours impatiently,

Gemma Standen