Clause 1
Sale of Student Loans Bill
4:00 pm
John Hayes (Shadow Minister, Innovation, Universities and Skills; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
What an immense pleasure it is to serve under your illustrious chairmanship, Miss Begg.
The Minister has made a case for what is essentially a technical change. However, clause 1 permits the Secretary of State to sell to a purchaser his rights and obligations relating to student loans, and sensitivities were expressed on Second Reading and again during the scrutiny that we enjoyed this morning about the precise nature of that transfer of competence. In particular, many concerns have been raised about the impact on students past, future and present, and about commercial issues relating to the sale and possible subsequent resale.
I entirely accept the Minister’s assurances about the effect on students and that his intent is that they should see no difference. I accept that the process is meant to be transparent and that students should fully understand what is going on; indeed, they will be written to with an explanation of the process. I also accept that they will see no difference, because the circumstances will be identical; indeed, that has been made clear in the explanatory notes, and in the Minister’s comments on Second Reading and this morning.
However, there is the matter of Ministers’ judgment as to how they use these powers in practice. For example, there is nothing in the Bill to prevent different loan repayment arrangements, as long as those arrangements are made with the Secretary of State’s consent. The Minister dealt with that this morning and said that if a future Government took a different view about loans, it might be a matter of political imperative that the circumstances changed in respect of the treatment and condition of graduates. Had the Committee been considering these issues over a longer period, we might have tabled a probing amendment.