Student Finance Wales system error

I applied for a student loan in spring 2017 to pay for an OU degree which started in October 2017. After confirming that my application had been received I heard nothing. Anxious for information, any request for updates was met with "You'll hear before the start of your course.", until September when I finally got them to tell me there had been a "system error", which they would soon resolve. Three and a half months later they are still saying the same thing with no indication of who, when or how, they will resolve the system error.

I started my course in October 2017 and the OU have been incredibly patient, but want their fees by 5th Jan 2018.

The staff on the SFW help line are extremely sympathetic but seem powerless to do anything other than pass notes manually to clerical staff who are not directly contactable. There seems to be a firewall set up between me and the individual whose responsibility it is to resolve this issue.

I'm running out of time. Does anyone know who is ultimately responsible (Govt. Committee, MP, Civil Servant, Quango) for the administration of Student Loans in Wales, and how to contact them? I'd appreciate any assistance or information about common experiences.

Thank you Claire, OU have been great, and have contacted SFW through the Higher Education Helpline but have met the same veil of obscurity. "System Error", in a primarily human system, is a euphemism for "someone's messed up, and no-one want's to take the blame". I will set up a formal complaint, but I doubt it will help resolve this issue before 5th Jan. The communication failure within SFW is probably related to location of their helpline staff being in a different part of the UK from the people who fix/cause the issues.

Thank you Claire, OU have been great, and have contacted SFW through the Higher Education Helpline but have met the same veil of obscurity. "System Error", in a primarily human system, is a euphemism for "someone's messed up, and no-one want's to take the blame". I will set up a formal complaint, but I doubt it will help resolve this issue before 5th Jan. The communication failure within SFW is probably related to location of their helpline staff being in a different part of the UK from the people who fix/cause the issues.