Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was proposing to reclaim at least £15 million for the overpayment in 2008–9. In February 2009 the overpayment figure was revised to £56 million by HEFCE, who were seeking to recover the money.
On 19 March 2009, in response to the crisis, vice-chancellor Brian Roper resigned his position with immediate effect but continued to receive his salary until December 2009. In May 2009, Alfred Morris, former vice-chancellor of the University of the West of England and University of Wales, Lampeter, was appointed interim vice-chancellor.
The government announced in May 2009 that there would be an independent inquiry, exploring the possibility that HEFCE had colluded with London Met by failing to query implausibly low drop-out rates. The inquiry concluded in November 2009 and was reported to attribute responsibility to vice-chancellor Brian Roper, along with other senior administrators and the Board of Governors. Following completion of the report, the chair of HEFCE called on "senior staff" and the entire Board of Governors to resign, noting that HEFCE was not convinced that the university's management could effectively safeguard public funds. After the deadline indicated by HEFCE chief executive Alan Langlands had expired, rumours circulated among staff and government ministers that HEFCE could withdraw funding, effectively forcing the university to close.
A report commissioned by the university, published in November 2009, found that vice-chancellor Roper bore "the major responsibility and culpability" for the financial situation: Roper and some members of the executive had been aware that the university had been applying its own interpretation of funding rules on student drop-outs – rather than the funding council's – since 2003, but had taken no action. The university's board of governors and audit committee had an oversight role, which made them ultimately "accountable for a financial failure of this magnitude" and this meant that they "must take overall responsibility".
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