Agathangelou defended

May I correct some statements in the letter "Project defended" (Letters, THES, October 30). First, I was suspended by the University of Newcastle after, not before, I raised serious concerns with the dean about the management of the research. Second, I have recently been informed that the Lord Chancellor's Department is intending to amend the Family Law Act to introduce "group meetings" despite our research finding no evidence to support them. Indeed, the regional pilot projects all found that people did not wish to attend such meetings and did not turn up. Most group meetings had to be cancelled. Will the research programme team "inform policy" by reminding the LCD of this inconsistency? I assume that the reported reference to "high quality" must be understood in the context of the unique standards that have come to be applied to "policy" research?

Anthony Agathangelou. London NW3