Oxford Brookes snubs president's complaints

A committee of senior staff at Oxford Brookes University has rejected all but three of the 66 complaints made by former student union president Mags Whelan against her former executive.

But Conservative-voting Ms Whelan, ousted as president last year following a vote of no confidence, is unhappy with the outcome and has called for the appointment of an independent assessor under the university's complaints procedure.

Ms Whelan said that the internal complaints panel, which met on December 20 last year and again on January 12, had "patted the executive on the back" by upholding just one complaint fully and another two partially.

She said: "Is the university ignoring the law? It seems to have just stopped short of blaming me for the whole episode."

The university complaints panel was due to meet again yesterday to decide what redress, if any, is due to Ms Whelan who is considering legal action for loss of earnings.