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1. Independent Assessor Student Finance Appeals and Complaints

1.1 Purpose:

The purpose of an Independent Assessor is to:

• review appeals and complaints from Higher and Further Education student finance customers; and

• provide the customer with an impartial view of their case and to make recommendations, or confirm there are no recommendations where appropriate, to the Student Loans Company (鈥淪LC鈥�) on the case.聽 Recommendations will take account of either HM Treasury鈥檚 鈥楳anaging Public Money鈥� or Managing Welsh Public Money, guidance, and all financial clarification notes which The Department of Education (鈥淒fE鈥�), and/or The for Education, Culture and Welsh Language (鈥淒ECWL鈥�) has issued to the Independent Assessor.聽 The final decision rests with the Secretary of State (鈥淪oS鈥�) or Welsh Minister (鈥淲M鈥�) but the SLC will abide by Independent Assessor鈥檚 recommendation unless directed to do otherwise by DfE or DECWL.

1.2 Background

The SoS for Education, together with the WM for Education, wants customers to have access to an independent review route if they are dissatisfied with their student finance experience once they have exhausted the SLC鈥檚 internal processes.

A student finance customer may raise two types of dispute:

• an appeal against decisions on eligibility or entitlement to financial support, for England and Wales domiciled customers or,
• a complaint about the standard of SLC customer service, irrespective of domicile.

2. STATUTORY PROVISION :

Section 23(4) of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, in relation to functions delegated or transferred to the SLC, provides for the SoS to 鈥渕ake arrangements for any person or body specified in the arrangements to exercise on his behalf, to such extent as is so specified, any function exercisable by him by virtue of regulations under section 22 (including any such function in relation to appeals)鈥�. While the Independent Assessors have no legal powers to overturn decisions and their recommendations are not binding, the SLC will abide by their recommendation unless directed by the DfE or DECWL 聽to do otherwise.聽 Ultimately the customer still has recourse to the courts to challenge decisions.

Section 23(5) of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 makes clear that 鈥淎ny arrangements made under subsection (4) shall not prevent the Secretary of State from exercising the function in question himself.鈥澛� The Governments remain ultimately responsible for ensuring the student finance regulations are applied correctly and, where judged appropriate, the SoS will make a final decision.聽 This can include accepting the Independent Assessors recommendations.聽聽

Ministers have agreed that one person can consider both appeals and complaints cases.

Pursuant to section 23(4) of the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, Independent Assessors are empowered to take the actions set out in these Terms of Reference.聽 The Independent Assessors鈥� personal term of service, conduct and duties are specified in their appointment letter, which they must follow in conjunction with these Terms of Reference.

3. Benefits Provided by an Independent Review

Ministers are accountable for what SLC does and dissatisfied customers may refer to Ministers for help.聽 SLC has robust procedures to ensure customers鈥� concerns are resolved effectively; but if they are still dissatisfied, customers should be offered access to an independent body.

The Independent Assessor will provide the following benefits:

• additional assurance from a customer perspective that the process to consider appeals and complaints is sufficiently rigorous/ robust.
• may mitigate the risk of cases going to Judicial Review.
• (If the Independent Assessor upholds SLC鈥檚 original decision) provide an additional robust view of the decision, which may be considered by the courts, adding rigour to any future defence.
• supplement SLC鈥檚 continuous improvement process by feeding back recommendations for improvements to SLC鈥檚 procedures and decision-making processes.

3.1 Functions of the Independent Assessor

The main functions of the Independent Assessor are to conduct impartial investigations into cases which have not been resolved by SLC鈥檚 internal review processes relating to:

Customer appeals:聽 the Independent Assessor will consider SLC鈥檚 decisions relating to the assessment of customers鈥� entitlement to financial support.聽 The Independent Assessor will not be able to consider appeals against the student support regulations; they can only examine how SLC has applied the student support regulations.

Customer complaints:聽 which are about dissatisfaction with SLC customer service.

The Independent Assessor will be required to:

a)聽聽聽聽聽聽 review the original decision and examine all available evidence, or seek further written evidence where necessary, in order to provide an independent view.

b)聽聽聽聽聽聽 provide clear, credible, equitable and defensible decision-making.

c)聽聽聽聽聽聽 give an independent view as to whether SLC staff accurately applied student support regulations.

d)聽聽聽聽聽聽 identify and make recommendations on areas where the quality of decision-making and customer service standards can be improved.

e)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 meet the performance measures set out in their appointment letter and as specified by the DfE and DECWL; and

f)聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 provide an annual report, in liaison with the other appointees, to Ministers and the SLC Board for the year ending 31 March summarising the year鈥檚 activity and making recommendations about areas for improvement.

Any disputes for Mortgage Style loans should refer the customer to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

4. Conduct of Investigations

In conducting investigations, the Independent Assessor shall:

a)聽聽聽聽聽聽 provide decisions that are transparent, and fair.

b)聽聽聽聽聽聽 consider any relevant written evidence and representations submitted by the customer, SLC, DfE and DECWL.

c) 聽聽聽聽聽 not conduct oral hearings.

d) 聽聽聽聽聽 if the Independent Assessor deems it appropriate, they may seek expert advice, whether written or orally, from relevant bodies for example expert advice from the Home Office on residency status.

e)聽聽聽聽聽聽 document justification to support their review and recommendations.

d)聽聽聽聽聽聽 take account of service standards as specified in their appointment letter e.g., aim to meet targets on submitting written decisions to customers.

5. Exclusion from Investigation

1. The Independent Assessor shall not investigate where:

a)聽聽 the appeal or complaint is, in their view, frivolous, or vexatious.

b)聽聽 the action complained of is currently under judicial consideration (sub judice).

c)聽聽 the action has been the subject of legal proceedings in which a judgement on the merits has been given.

d)聽聽 the SLC internal procedures have not been invoked or has not been exhausted. However, in exceptional circumstances this procedure may be cut short, and a case 鈥榝ast-tracked鈥� to an Independent Assessor, if specifically requested by SLC, DfE or DECWL.

e)聽聽 the appellant/complainant has delayed unduly before bringing the matter to the Independent Assessor鈥檚 attention.

f)聽聽聽 the action occurred outside the United Kingdom.

g)聽聽 the Independent Assessor has already investigated and reported on the appeal and/or complaint and no new evidence has been presented.

h)聽聽聽 the complaint refers to a decision made by the Secretary of State under regulation 3(3) (c) of the Education (Teacher Student Loans) (Repayment etc) Regulations 2002.

i)聽聽聽 the circumstances relate to any admission or allegation of a breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 or a complaint about how personal data has been handled. These are matters which are under the jurisdiction of the Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office (ICO) and cannot be investigated by the Independent Assessor.

j)聽聽聽 the circumstances relate to allegations of discrimination based on a protected characteristic as defined in the Equality Act 2010.

1. For the purposes of paragraph 1(d) the internal procedures shall not be treated as having been exhausted unless the appeal and/or complaint has been made to the SLC鈥檚 offices, and either

• the SLC has communicated a final decision on the appeal/complaint to the appellant/complainant, or

• more than three months have elapsed since the appellant/complainant invoked the procedure without an acceptable solution being reached and they make a formal request for referral.

1. For the purpose of paragraph 1(e) undue delay means that at least six months have elapsed since the matter came to the appellant/complainant鈥檚 knowledge.聽 In calculating that period, there shall be left out of account any period during which the SLC was considering the complaint under its internal complaints procedure (whether or not that procedure could be treated as exhausted by virtue of paragraph 2(b).

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1(a), the Independent Assessor may review the service-related issues concerning the handling of a customer鈥檚 data.

3. The Independent Assessor shall not question any decision taken by:

a)聽聽聽聽聽聽 the SLC with reference to the taking or conduct of legal proceedings to enforce its rights; or

b)聽聽聽聽聽聽 the SoS acting in person (as opposed to the SLC acting on his behalf) in relation to his responsibilities

1. Independent Assessors shall exercise independent judgement after conducting an investigation. They may recommend the SLC to take or desist from taking such steps as they specify. They may recommend that the SLC award, by way of compensation, an ex-gratia sum up to 拢5,000 for any documented loss or expense. Up to 拢500 can be recommended for an unreasonable degree of inconvenience suffered by the appellant/complainant. The recommended award can be a combination of both within these limits, but the total recommendation cannot exceed 拢5,000 in totality as this would exceed SLC鈥檚 delegated authority limits. They shall communicate their final reports in writing to the SLC and the appellant/complainant.聽 They shall not disclose any information or opinion furnished in confidence to. themselves or to the SLC for the purpose of the investigation.

6. Allocation of Cases

The SLC shall refer cases direct to the Independent Assessors, bearing in mind respective workloads.

7. Reimbursement of Cost

The SLC is committed to pay on a case-by-case basis at the chargeable rate of 拢500 (or part thereof) per day. The Independent Assessor will invoice monthly in arrears direct to the SLC.

Information regarding timescales that Independent Assessors are required to adhere to can be found in the Service Level Agreement.

Peer review payments will be paid annually in March, pro-rated at 拢1500, provided the requirement of peer reviewing 20% of cases across the year (April-March) has been met. Failing to meet the overall threshold will result in no peer review payment.